What are you reading? (1 Viewer)

[t_rav_82]

Kudos to you. I wish I was fluent in Spanish. I don't think I have read that book-- Love in the Times of Cholera?

I have read a Clockwork Orange and Great Expectations. I really liked Great Expectations (more than a Tale of Two Cities). I didn't get into A Clockwork Orange. Had a really hard time getting around the slang that was used in the book, and trying to figure out what he was talking about some time.

I am reading Devil in the White City now. I have heard good things. I am also doing World War Z (which so far is told differently than the movie).

WWZ is miles above the movie. Obviously that’s true of most movie/book comparisons, but the book was very good and that movie was exceedingly bad.

Devil in White City is also excellent. If you enjoy that, check out some of Erik Larson’s other books. He has some really good stuff out there.


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[t_rav_82]

I’m in the middle of The Leftovers. So far there are enough differences from the show to make the book enjoyable. Wish I had read the book first though.


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[buzd]

WWZ is miles above the movie. Obviously that’s true of most movie/book comparisons, but the book was very good and that movie was exceedingly bad.

Ugh, I though WWZ was terrible. I had to put it down.

 

[t_rav_82]

Ugh, I though WWZ was terrible. I had to put it down.

Ehh, I thought Brooks did a good job of capturing different cultures and showing how each one handled the crisis in their own unique way. To each his own though.


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[buzd]

Ehh, I thought Brooks did a good job of capturing different cultures and showing how each one handled the crisis in their own unique way. To each his own though.


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Yeah, I got what he was going for, I just didn't find any empathy for anyone in the stories.

 

[Sandman]

WWZ is miles above the movie. Obviously that’s true of most movie/book comparisons, but the book was very good and that movie was exceedingly bad.

Devil in White City is also excellent. If you enjoy that, check out some of Erik Larson’s other books. He has some really good stuff out there.


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I have picked up and put down Devil in the White City a number of times. I just couldn't get into it. Finally, I got the audio version of it since I have a long commute, and thought it might be easier to go that route. I am about 1/4 of the way through the book and I figured out why I had trouble getting into it. There is no dialogue. It is like a documentary in book form. To be honest, it almost appears that he was writing a book about the Worlds Fair that was kind of boring, and then came across the H.H. Holmes story and threw that in there to spice it up--because the two different story lines do not seem to be on any path of merging.

 

[pmiceli]

I have picked up and put down Devil in the White City a number of times. I just couldn't get into it. Finally, I got the audio version of it since I have a long commute, and thought it might be easier to go that route. I am about 1/4 of the way through the book and I figured out why I had trouble getting into it. There is no dialogue. It is like a documentary in book form. To be honest, it almost appears that he was writing a book about the Worlds Fair that was kind of boring, and then came across the H.H. Holmes story and threw that in there to spice it up--because the two different story lines do not seem to be on any path of merging.

That is Larson's thing. Two seemingly unconnected story lines in history.

Something along somewhat similar lines is The Professor and the Madman. It tells the story of the Oxford English Dictionary. Interesting.

https://www.amazon.com/Professor-Madman-Insanity-English-Dictionary/dp/0062564617

Currently, I am bouncing between a collection of Joseph Conrad's works, slogging through Colleen McCollough's ancient Rome series, "Turning the Tide" (A history of the Battle of the Atlantic) and The Fall of the Roman Empire by Heather.

 

[Sandman]

well, it should go on my "What are you reading (again)?" list

This is probably my 6th or so time reading it. I think it's incredible. I don't think you need to have read Jane Eyre to really get what's going on. I have a pdf with relevant passages from that novel that give you the requisite background to understand what you need to understand about Antoinette/Bertha

I like it for a number of reasons. First, I think it's a beautifully managed setting. It's gorgeous, but the beauty is although menacing and threatening. It has a very Gothic-esque macabre shade to it. Paradise, superficially, but malevolent and hostile. I just love the setting. And the man made buildings are also hanging on for life, typically falling apart or in ruins.

I also absolutely love the sadness surrounding the character of Antoinette. One tragedy after another and she's just trying to hold on to a fleeting sanity. She's perpetually marginalized from her childhood. A mixed race girl in a segregated, patriarchial society. A family now-rich-once-poor-once-rich in an economically hierarchial society, post-emancipation (but not really). She doesn't belong anywhere and constantly seeks safety, never able t find it. And when she thinks she has the best chance at it, it's taken away.

The depiction of the relationship is also heart wrenching. There are some excellent descriptions of a relationship in which someone invests himself/herself and his/her own happiness in someone else. That's a precarious and vulnerable place to be. And it doesn't always work out.

It also helps if you understand 'death' can also mean sexual climax - le petit mort. There's a seminal scene in which this meaning is key to understanding the male's oppressive dominance over Antoinette.

Setting is amazing. Characterization is deep and conflicted. Relationship is complex and feels real despite being overtly surreal.

There's also the class commentary, and a bit of historical background on the various islands and places and how slavery worked and colonization operated will probably help. If you can get the Norton Critical Edition, it has a lot of helpful footnotes.

It's a beautiful book.

But don't watch the movies. They turned it into softcore porn. I know at least one of the versions is NC-17.

I'm happy to share additional thoughts when you get around to it.

I first picked it up years ago, when my wife and I were dating. She loved the feminine main character and felt that the struggles and vulnerabilities she went through were real - some she'd experienced.

Definitely recommend - glad it's on your list.

After looking in some book stores (and not finding it), I ordered a hard copy online. Very good book. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had not read Jane Eyre first. I kind of liked Rochester in that book where he was more a victim of circumstances beyond his control and is not stuck with a crazy wife. In WSS, he at least partially creates the being that is Bertha.

I don't like it when characters I like turn out to be lesser than previously depicted. For instance, I have not, and will not read Go Set a Watchman. From the reviews I have read, Atticus is substantially lessened in this book. He is one of my all-time favorite characters. I won't have him diminished by what I consider a rough draft of the character.

 

[Fallout]

Child of God by Cormac McCarthy and I gotta say.... it's pretty messed up.

Not for the sensitive soul that's for sure.

 

[boutrous]

Child of God by Cormac McCarthy and I gotta say.... it's pretty messed up.

Not for the sensitive soul that's for sure.

I have not read this one, but Cormac McCarthy is one of my favorite authors. I have read a lot of his other books. I wouldn't consider any of them to be light reading.

 

[RazorOye]

After looking in some book stores (and not finding it), I ordered a hard copy online. Very good book. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had not read Jane Eyre first. I kind of liked Rochester in that book where he was more a victim of circumstances beyond his control and is not stuck with a crazy wife. In WSS, he at least partially creates the being that is Bertha.

I don't like it when characters I like turn out to be lesser than previously depicted. For instance, I have not, and will not read Go Set a Watchman. From the reviews I have read, Atticus is substantially lessened in this book. He is one of my all-time favorite characters. I won't have him diminished by what I consider a rough draft of the character.

Yes, it changes the perspective of Rochester. But that's also sort of why I liked it - it put into stark relief the reality that he had his wife locked away in an attack for decades. You don't get to that point by being pure of heart. Jane Eyre presents in such a way that it seems he had limited options, and perhaps he did.

But among the beautiful things about WSS is that it broadens those options to include a series of places along the way things could have been different and didn't exclusively restrict Rochester to victim.

My favorite thing, though, about the narration is how hauntingly sad and beautiful Antoinette is as a character. The setting/backdrop is gothically natural and foreboding, while being stunning to look at. But the colors and the temperature were all too much. it becomes stifling. And Anotinette becomes a wretchedly pitiable figure and her desperation jumps off the page.

I don't know if there is another character in anything I've read that made me feel sorrier for him/her.

As for what I'm reading - just started Station Eleven. It's a look at the world after a fever wipes out 99.95% of the population and the US is an apocalyptic wasteland, and it follows a Traveling Symphony trying to preserve music and literature (esp Shakespeare) in this world.

I'm only about 50 pages in, but it's been gripping.

One of my colleagues is a novelist and she recommended it glowingly - the last time she recommended something (Wonder - by the same author of Room), I loved it. Still early, but really good so far.

And, I'm also re-reading Grendel.

Similar to WSS and Jane Eyre, Grendel tells the story of his life and encounter with Beowulf from his perspective, rather than Beowulf's. Another imminently pitiable character.

A pretty quick and easy read too.

 

[Heathen Saint]

The Evolution of Everything by Matt Ridley

 

[Sandman]

Yes, it changes the perspective of Rochester. But that's also sort of why I liked it - it put into stark relief the reality that he had his wife locked away in an attack for decades. You don't get to that point by being pure of heart. Jane Eyre presents in such a way that it seems he had limited options, and perhaps he did.

But among the beautiful things about WSS is that it broadens those options to include a series of places along the way things could have been different and didn't exclusively restrict Rochester to victim.

It was well done. I like to see stories where the villain is shown in a different light (such as Wicked). I guess that is somewhat done here, although I wouldn't call Bertha a "villain." Sure she impedes Rochester's affections for Jane, but I never had the feeling it was her fault and it isn't something she does intentionally or maliciously. She is insane. She really can't help that. It is just one of those things where you like a character, and here is a version where, to be honest, they pretty much suck (I'm just going to start calling you Bertha). Back in those days, I can see people hiding insanity in their family, so I didn't necessarily take it as a character flaw of Rochester as more of a sign of the times.

Still, all in all a good book that I am definitely glad I read.

Right now, I am reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. It is slow going because you really have to pay attention to get the gist in a lot of it, and work has been draining me mentally lately. Hard to go home and read how gravity bends light and time when you are mentally drained.

 

[RazorOye]

It was well done. I like to see stories where the villain is shown in a different light (such as Wicked). I guess that is somewhat done here, although I wouldn't call Bertha a "villain." Sure she impedes Rochester's affections for Jane, but I never had the feeling it was her fault and it isn't something she does intentionally or maliciously. She is insane. She really can't help that. It is just one of those things where you like a character, and here is a version where, to be honest, they pretty much suck (I'm just going to start calling you Bertha). Back in those days, I can see people hiding insanity in their family, so I didn't necessarily take it as a character flaw of Rochester as more of a sign of the times.

all fair points

when Rhys wrote it, she was in a different time and was reacting against assumptions about "Creoles" that still existed. And a compelling way to fight against those assumptions that still, in large part, continued.

pretty powerful

but all points well taken

Right now, I am reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. It is slow going because you really have to pay attention to get the gist in a lot of it, and work has been draining me mentally lately. Hard to go home and read how gravity bends light and time when you are mentally drained.

When I went and saw him speak in Houston years ago - in the Woodlands - I had just finished trying to read it. After his lecture, I tried again. I muddled my way through and it was a challenge, but even then I think I got a fraction of it. The focus and re-reading of passages makes for quite a slog.

 

[t_rav_82]

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta.