Mystic River was more than a good movie. A great movie. I haven't read the book.
So, listen, I got Burning the Map from one of the shelves at my local book emporium. The percentage of new books they have there must be now approaching 2.5 percent...
I have, hate to have to tell you this, Gussy, a soft spot for travel memeroparaphenalia. Have read Montaigne and whatsisname, Dickens and so what. It is some sort of disease, this travel bug, the more if one can't, the bitter'er if one can, sometimes.
Burning the Map looks like piffle, but I'll give it a look and report back.
Durriken, welcome. I have read Dubliners several times. Yes, Joyce does know human nature. You might enjoy the John Huston movie of The Dead.
I'm about a hundred pages into A Passage to India by E.M. Forster.
Also about to finish The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope
Oh I loved A Passage to India!
I'm feeling your style, tell me about The Last Chronicle...
Please?
Finished Nightbird...onto Neon Rain- Burke
Last Chronicle of Barset
Durriken, In case your are not familiar with Trollope, he wrote 6 novels (among perhaps 50 others) called the Barchester Series. The last Chronicle is the last of the series, and ties up a few lose ends in addition to having its own characters who did not appear in the earlier books.
In the series most of the action takes place in the fictitious county of Barchester, and the center of the action is the town of Barchester which is a cathedral town and the seat of Bishop Proudy a good but rather weak man ruled over by his haughty wife, who really exercises most of his ecclesiastical power. In fact, if it were not for her ambitions, he would probably not be Bishop. Over and against him is the Archdeacon Grantly a wealthy, powerful, and basically good and judicious (however human) man. A minor character in the first five books, but the main character in the Last Chronicle, is Pastor Crawley, the poor, scholarly, pius, and very upright pastor of Hogglestock, an outlying village given over to brick making. He is the father of the young and budding beauty, Grace, educated at her fathers knee and full of every desirable characteristic.
Grace and Major Grantly, the son of the Archdeacon, are in love, but, alas, they cannot marry because of a scandal in the Crawley family. Poor Crawley is accused of stealing 20 pounds, and is facing disgrace and prison. Crawley is opposed by Mrs. Proudy, who wants him out of his church so she can instal one of her sycophants.
This is only the principle of several intertwining plots that take some 800 pages of small type to unravel. Great fun.
'The Last Juror' by John Grisham.
John Vorholt's Star Trek: TNG novel "A Time to Die". I just finished "A Time to Be Born".
The first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The first 70-80 pages were a bit cumbersome, but it's starting to move now.
The last four issues of The New Yorker magazine which might as well be a book.
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, and The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.
Had to abandon "Koran", may come back to it again.
Am now doing a book my aunt gave me called "Historical Jesus".
On deck:
"Perfectly Legal".
Notes from a small Island - Bill Bryson
I am way mixed on Bryson.
Back on this sometime later.
Not to be unsympathetic, he is probably mixed on himself, I recognize it, he thinks in swathes and views his own behavior as part of it.
Finally, I like him a lot, but I wanted to swat him about once or twice.
margo wrote:Gautam wrote:Notes from a small Island - Bill Bryson
I read that. Did you feel that he covered your small island well? He does have an interesting view. I might dig it out to read on the plane this weekend.
Also read his book on Oz (has various titles - Downunder; A Sunburnt Country). He probably has the best understanding of Australia of any American author. Some sense of irony. Should be compulsory reading for tourists.
I think he was pretty accurate - though I dont love the UK as much as he does. he is hilarious though !! Several times I burst out laughing loudly - and in London, a person who laughs on a train or a bus is considered mad !!
Neo Gun, If you are reading The Historical Jesus by Crossam. I've read large parts of that book. I bought it because I'm interested in the subject, but i've not read it all. After seeing Gibson's film, The Passion, I reread Crossan's chapters on how those stories were likely compiled.
Right now I'm reading Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence.
Dr. Phil's "Self Matters" ............
I'm reading 'An Anthology of Childhood' produced by Past Times, Oxford.
My mum got it for me for my birthday and it contains prose, passages and poetry nostalgically linking all ages and eras of childhood, Beautiful!
