@Finn dAbuzz,
I did look those up, they're on the wish list. That list is getting longer..
@ossobuco,
You'll enjoy them I'm sure.
I LOVE reading and rotate my daily sessions between three. Currently working through:
- George Meredith's "The Egoist" a very well-written 19th century fiction allegory about ego, self absorption and manipulative people
- Virgil's "The Aeneid"
- Michel de Montaigne's "Complete Essays" - a behemoth compilation that's some of the best "down to earth" philosophical musings available.
Great stuff
@ossobuco,
Osso, I ordered a used PB copy of Sacred Games, after reading the review you posted.
@Khethil,
I read the Aeneid in Latin when I was in high school, which was a long time ago. Read being a bit of a fudge in that by then I could translate faster that when I first learned latin, but it was still essentially a translation process. By now I forget the story, but I'll go look it up.
All I've read of Montaigne is his Travel Journal, very engaging at the time.
"The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay." Like it so far, not totally blown away by it but I like it. It feels a little derivative but I have to remember it was written in 2000 and some of the books it seems derivative OF probably are actually deriving from it. For example, I get whiffs of "Middlesex," but that came later.
@ossobuco,
Geez, I lost it on apostrophes in that post. What was I thinking..
@ossobuco,
ossobuco wrote:I read the Aeneid in Latin when I was in high school, which was a long time ago. Read being a bit of a fudge in that by then I could translate faster that when I first learned latin, but it was still essentially a translation process. By now I forget the story, but I'll go look it up.
It's quite good, though not epic. Filled with the typical over embellishments and not so awesome thus far; but I'm withholding judgment as I've only gotten a small ways in
ossobuco wrote:All I've read of Montaigne is his Travel Journal, very engaging at the time.
His essays are good, some outstanding. He has a simple, "Here's how I see it"-manner that goes on to justify, in plain and understandable terms, why everyone should. It's nothing 'epic', but quite insightful - definitely a man of his time
Thanks
@Theaetetus,
I really liked
The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break. It would be interesting and unlikely to see an independent director like
Wes Anderson adapted it for the big screen.
@sozobe,
Soz, interesting comment. I've read Middlesex but not Kavalier and Clay.
@ossobuco,
Me, too, Osso. Read the Aeneid in Latin many years ago in high school. When Latin was still taught. Latin was the basis of my understanding of grammar and syntax and serves me to this day. Do you find yourself decoding a word from its Latin root?
Trying to work my way through Walter Kaufmann's translations of Nietzsche's Birth of Tragedy, Beyond Good and Evil, and Genealogy of Morals, along with some shorter essays and such by N. that are also in this book (Wagner, Ecce Homo, aphorisms, letters).
@Pangloss,
I had to read that book for my senior capstone. I enjoyed it, and I may have actually enjoyed it more by being force to read more Nietzsche than any human should be allowed in semester.
Just finished "Hater" by David Moody and thought it was great.
It's difficult to describe why it is so good without potentially spoiling the effect of reading it, but if anyone has read it, please send me a PM, as I would love to discuss it.
What I will say is that it takes an entirely unrealistic situation and makes it entirely realistic.
Violence is central to the story and while I wouldn't consider Moody's use if it at all gratuitous or sensational, the scenes in which it appears are harrowing.
For the first two thirds of the story it is quite good on a number of levels, but it is in the final third that it soars.
So, today involved a trip to the stores by Diane and I, grocery and otherwise, including GoodWill (a thrift).
I made quite a haul, some negligible procedurals, but some books I very glad to have.
A book I did not buy was The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir. I'm an old broad and have read enough reviews of it. But, glad it was there on the shelf.
What did I get?
History of Rome, Michael Grant. I've read quite a bit of history of Rome, several books worth, but not this exact one. Nice and thick. A book I'll probably kill, reading in bed.
Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier, I looked at the blurb in the back of the book and doubt that I've read this at the same time I presume I've read this. Or maybe it was on an amazon wish list.
Ebay for Dummies. Well, I'm a dummie and I need ebay at hand fairly soon. Naturally, I know to read online, but a book in hand? I'll look at it before I get aggravated.
Penguin Classics/ Guy de Maupassant, Selected Short Stories
As it happens, I read a fair swath of his short stories back in the late fifties, early sixties, when I was, say eighteen. I am older now than then, will try them again.
Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad - I've been beaten and flailed to read this by others for decades.
Apache, by Lorenzo Carcaterra.
I like his writing, will read anything by him. On amazon, too expensive for me, so that was a nab today, from my point of view. It had been on my wish list.
The rest are a batch of procedurals, well written or lame. I'll report back on the good ones.
What will I look at first, after Rabbit is Rich by Updike, and House of Sand and Fog (presently reading) by Andre Dubus? - never mind the shoulds..
Carcaterra, definitely.
@ossobuco,
I liked House of Sand and Fog and have seen the film twice.
I read his recent book some months ago. The Garden of Last Days. Timely and compelling.
@Finn dAbuzz,
I haven’t read it Finn, but now I want to.
Osso, that’s expansive list. When I imagine your place, in my mind’s eye I see stacks of books overflowing the shelves and bedside table. I like it.
Last night I wound up finishing a throw away novel. Splat against the wall. Never mind.
BUT, I’m looking forward to the next in my own pile:
The Lunatic and the Lords by Richard Schneider:
Quote:On January 20, 1843 a wood turner named Daniel M’Naughten shot Edward Drummond, secretary to Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel. Drummond died a few days later and M’Naughten’s murder trial at the Old Bailey became the leading story of the day as reported in painstaking detail by The Times. Drummond came from a noble Scottish family, related to Queen Victoria, and with significant banking interests in the City. It was revealed at trial that M’Naughten’s intended victim was in fact the Prime Minister. Both the Crown and the accused were represented by leading barristers with the Lord Chief Justice of England presiding. According to The Times, extra constabulary were required to manage the crowds seeking access to the court’s gallery. It was a spectacle.
However, this compelling story might only have been an historical footnote were it not for the verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity and fallout that ensued. The verdict so outraged the Queen that she ordered a committee of the House of Lords to review the court’s decision. The result was the so-called ‘M’Naughten Rules’ which formed, and continue to form, the basis of the insanity defence in England and most English-speaking jurisdictions around the world including the United States. The rules also remain extremely controversial.
The Lunatic and the Lords, by Richard Schneider is a riveting account of the events surrounding Drummond’s murder, M’Naughten’s trial at the Old Bailey, and its aftermath. But it is also an analysis of the legacy of M’Naughten’s case in the context of contemporary criminal law and medical science. Few authors are better suited to this task. Richard Schneider is a former criminal lawyer and clinical psychologist who now, as a judge of the Ontario Court of Justice, presides at the Mental Health Court in Toronto where M’Naughten’s case is of relevance on a daily basis. In the course of telling M’Naughten’s story, Schneider describes the evolution of the notion of criminal responsibility as it applies to mental disorder, and the not always comfortable interface between the criminal justice system and medicine.
www.irwinlaw.com/store/product/629/the-lunatic-and-the-lords
@Joeblow,
That sounds very interesting, Joeblow.
signed, woman with too many books..
[bI'm reading all the Prey books by John Sandford.[/b]
@Kara,
I'm reading the book you sent me, Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan and I like it very much.
She writes well. When you read a well-written book words just fill your mind.
And, it seems a fictionalized version of the situations described in Slavery by Another Name.
A great read that I am recommending to my daughter and few others.
