What BOOK are you reading right now?

No Country For Old Men-Cormak McCarthy

Saw the movie and was curious as to why the Coen brothers saw such potential

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Gasa-Gasa Girl - Naomi Hirahara

read the first Mas Arai book, Summer of the Big Bachi, so had to read the sequel. i'm almost finished, and hoping the ending won't spoil what's been an enjoyable read.

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Let us know what you think about "No Country..." Panzade.

Im finishing up "The Horseshoe Curve" by Dennis McIlnay. Its a story of a little known sabotage plot by Hitlewr to blow up the Horseshoe Curve and cripple the US war effort in 1942. Associated with the plot, were the ruthless roundup and detainment of hundreds of German Families in the Bedford to Altoona (PA)area , in order to thwart the plot.

The story was kept from Americans in the same level as was the news of the Japanese capture of several Aleutian Islands.
FAscinating bit of real history

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farmerman wrote:

Let us know what you think about "No Country..." Panzade.

Im finishing up "The Horseshoe Curve" by Dennis McIlnay. Its a story of a little known sabotage plot by Hitlewr to blow up the Horseshoe Curve and cripple the US war effort in 1942. Associated with the plot, were the ruthless roundup and detainment of hundreds of German Families in the Bedford to Altoona
(PA)area , in order to thwart the plot.

The story was kept from Americans in the same level as was the news of the Japanese capture of several Aleutian Islands.
FAscinating bit of real history

My parents owned a gentleman's farm about 4 miles from Bedford. (Schellsburgh) I remember that all the neighbors had German surnames, but I can't imagine they were Nazi sympathisers.
Interesting subject...thanks for the tip

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An American Story by Debra Dickerson.

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Just finished Mike Royko's "Boss," a biography of Czar Richard J. Daley. Now I'm back to fiction, reading "Geek Love" by Katherine Dunn.

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Have been catching up on lost reading time. Recently finished: "I've Got a Home in Glory Land -- A Lost Tale of The Underground Railroad" by Karolyn Smardz Frost, "Ann the Word -- The Story of Ann Lee, Female Messiah, Mother of the Shakers, The Woman Clothed with the Sun" by Richard Francis, and "Dead Cold" by Louise Penny (second in a mystery series set in Quebec with a very appealing Chief Inspector).

Promised to report on "A Gentle Axe" by R.N. Morris. Patterned after Dostoyevsky (think poor people with inadequate clothing in bone chilling temperatures, not enough to eat, and religious mania). I enjoyed it.

Just started "Thirteen Steps Down" by Ruth Rendell.

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These are assigned in ENG4780 (and a few here I should have already read...I did read the Faulkner in my 20s, and I have no recollection at all....it'll be new again)

White Noise...DeLillo
Vineland....Pynchon
Sula....Morrison
Passing.....Larsen
The Left Hand of Darkness....LeGuin
You Must Remember This....Oates
The Sound and the Fury....Faulkner
Ther Big Sleep.....Chandler

I could hardly put down the Pynchon to read the assigned Oates. Although I'm really liking the Oates. DeLillo was also hard to put away. I'm nuts over Pynchon and DeLillo. This semester, I'm actually having time to read deliberately and I'm enjoying it.

I got some enjoyment from the Morrison book.

I have to say the LeGuin plodded for me. I'll try again later.

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Lash wrote:

Ther Big Sleep.....Chandler

gives me the chance to quote one of my fave Chandler passages (from The Long Goodbye):

" 'I grow old ... I grow old ... I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.' What does that mean, Mr. Marlowe?"

"Not a bloody thing. It just sounds good."

He smiled. "That is from the 'Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.' Here's another one. 'In the room the women come and go/Talking of Michael Angelo.' Does that suggest anything to you, sir?"

"Yeah- it suggests to me that the guy didn't know very much about women."

"My sentiments exactly, sir. Nonetheless I admire T. S. Eliot very much."

"Did you say 'nonetheless' ?"

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yitwail wrote:

Lash wrote:

Ther Big Sleep.....Chandler

gives me the chance to quote one of my fave Chandler passages (from The Long Goodbye):

" 'I grow old ... I grow old ... I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.' What does that mean, Mr. Marlowe?"

"Not a bloody thing. It just sounds good."

He smiled. "That is from the 'Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.' Here's another one. 'In the room the women come and go/Talking of Michael Angelo.' Does that suggest anything to you, sir?"

"Yeah- it suggests to me that the guy didn't know very much about women."

"My sentiments exactly, sir. Nonetheless I admire T. S. Eliot very much."

"Did you say 'nonetheless' ?"

YESSSS!!!

Raymon Chandler was not just a fine writer of detective stories, he was a very fine writer, indeed. Compare that to today's detective fiction idols, e.g. Grisham whose writing is so execrable I generally have difficulty getting past the first couple of paragraphs before trash-canning the volume. I can't for the life of me understand how this sad hack has become a best-selling author. People tell me his books are so well plotted. So what? They're unreadable.

That's my rant for today. Sorry. I'm all right now. Carry on.

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MA,

since i seem to have struck a responsive chord, here's a brief Chandler encore from The High Window:

His smile was as faint as a fat lady at a fireman's ball.

it may be non-PC now, but it's oh so clever Laughing

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Lash wrote:

These are assigned in ENG4780 (and a few here I should have already read...I did read the Faulkner in my 20s, and I have no recollection at all....it'll be new again)

White Noise...DeLillo
Vineland....Pynchon
Sula....Morrison
Passing.....Larsen
The Left Hand of Darkness....LeGuin
You Must Remember This....Oates
The Sound and the Fury....Faulkner
Ther Big Sleep.....Chandler

I could hardly put down the Pynchon to read the assigned Oates. Although I'm really liking the Oates. DeLillo was also hard to put away. I'm nuts over Pynchon and DeLillo. This semester, I'm actually having time to read deliberately and I'm enjoying it.

I got some enjoyment from the Morrison book.

I have to say the LeGuin plodded for me. I'll try again later.

Interesting list... I'm surprised "The Left Hand of Darkness" is there. I thought it was the most fabulous book ever when I was, like, 12. And I'm not sure the gender themes age that well -- have they? (I think I've only read it that one time.)

The list overall seems kind of 80's.

I just picked up the new Salman Rushdie -- "The Enchantress of Florence." It seems like it might actually be good (again). (Rushdie was one of my top five favorite authors until "Fury," then had a bad patch.)

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Finally reading The God Delusion which is honest, funny and interesting.

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That's funny, Soz. I'll have to share that with my professor...haha.

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Has anyone read Being There, by Jerzy Kosinsky?

It was made into a film starring Peter Sellers and Shirley Maclaine, but the book is better.

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Beyond the world of Pooh (C.R. Milnes)

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"A passage to India"

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McTag wrote:

Has anyone read Being There, by Jerzy Kosinsky?

It was made into a film starring Peter Sellers and Shirley Maclaine, but the book is better.

read it maybe 25 years ago, very good and better than the film as most books are, but the film was pretty well done

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I found a new-ish Niven book to read. The Draco Tavern features a multi-species tavern for interstellar travelers and xenobiologists. It's set in the near future which is a tough era to write for. It's fun. I'd missed Niven.

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Clary wrote:

Finally reading The God Delusion which is honest, funny and interesting.

My brother lent me this on audio book. It is really good isn't it? I love the affection he has for Douglas Adams. On audio he co-narrates it with his wife, Lalla Ward (Doctor Who fans take note).

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