What BOOK are you reading right now?

Wy, As I was telling D'artagnan. I haven't read a book in four years. Haven't found one that I care to read. Soooooo, when I'm at a cocktail party and someone blandly looks at me and says: "Read any good books lately?" All I can do is lie and say. "Of course, and you."

I'm still waiting for Larry to explicate "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot. An allusion to Mayerling, of course.

Wow. I read probably four books a week. Some of them are trash, but I'm a sucker for a well-told story even if it is a bodice-ripper. Others are nonfiction but generally not political. I may make an exception for Bill's Book.

Do you like nonfiction? My sister gave me a book called Colours for christmas that explored the evolution of dyes and paints through history -- quite entertaining! I also liked Salt (guess what that's about)...

A bodice ripper? Love it! the last book that I tried reading was Atlantis Found by Clive Cussler. Somehow Dirk Pitt just didn't hold that old charm.

Letty

I stopped reading for a few years, as a result of "emotional disorientation"! (i.e. Relationship trauma. ) But recently I returned to my normal book worm state with a vengeance. And it's wonderful to be back!

Last night I finished a talking book: Tim Winton's Dirt Music. Wonderful! Love, loss & redemption in the wonderful wide open spaces of Western Australia. I haven't read anything of Winton's before, but definitely will now. His feeling for place: the land, the sky, the sea as the backdrop to this story is masterful. And his understanding of how people tick, what makes them what they are is impressive, too.

I'm also about two thirds of the way through Gillian Slovo's Red Dust. I love her books. I'm fascinated by the politics of the ANC's struggle in South Africa, a subject of many of her novels, being the child of white ANC activists. This particular novel is about a Truth Commission hearing in small town in SA. It is by no means a one sided political tale ... full of twists, surprises, disappointments & small triumphs.

Olga, my friend. I played bridge; I played chess; I read and read and read; but somehow all that has lost its luster. I guess it's because I must maintain a bedside manner.

goodnight book worms of the world.

From your friend in Florida.

Sweet dreams, Ms Letty!

Lawrence
Thanks, Msolga. I learned a too from this exchange.

Letty, I've got a copy of The Rocking Horse Winner. Will read it and comment.

Larry, your powers of summarization are awe inspiring.

I can't imagine stopping reading. No matter what traumas I have experienced--and there have been plenty--I always read, because I find reading consoling. It takes me out of myself and gets me to think about other people (whether fictional characters or historical figures).

Sunday night I just started THE HAMLET by Faulkner...the first volume of his Snopes Trilogy. It is marvelous, comic, beautifully detailed and paints an incredibly vivid portrait of the Deep South at the turn of the last century complete with sharecroppers, ignorant country people, and the Snopeses, who are among the great characters in American literature. This book is also a good introduction for Faulkner for those who might find his more famous novels too difficult. Unlike them, it is highly readable and Faulkner keeps his enormous sentences to a minimum.

I liked Tim Winton! When in Oz I kept going into bookshops and asking for local authors, which threw people's knickers into astounding twists - but did manage to find Winton when I was in Perth.
Carrying on with da Vinci's somewhat signposted code. Has anyone on this thread read the Philip Pullman trilogy and what do they think of it??

Clary Dirt Music was my first Winton. And I was very impressed. A wonderful feeling for people, place & the general flow of the world. I very much like his character's searching for higher meaning, or "redemption" as I called it in an earlier post. I will definitely read more. For starters, I've reserved Cloud Street at my local library tonight.

Knickers into astounding twists? Ah, you should have asked me! Where would I start? So many Oz books, so little time!

But right now I'm juggling a number of books, a talking book & videos that I've wanted to see for a long time. Ah, bliss!

"A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" by HD Thoreau. This is an account of a canoe trip he and his brother made, but it's far more than a description of a physical journey. HDT was well-versed (and respectful of) Hinduism, the history of his region and Classic literature, and he had a healthy suspicion of the leading institutions (gov't and church) of his time.

Next month is the 150th anniversary of the publication of "Walden"!

My copy of Faulkner's THE HAMLET literally fell apart (it was an old paperback) so I switched to the Stephen B. Oates biography of Faulkner, which is well written and very informative. I never knew that Faulkner was a high-school dropout whose first published book was a collection of verse. He started writing fiction when poetry got too difficult for him, and immediately discovered he had a talent for story-telling.

I am reading Papa Hemingway by A.E. Hotchner, which is a biography. This is written by a man who was a Hemingway associate and friend for the last 14 years of H's life. The beauty of the book so far is that it is a friendly account of Hemingway's life sans all the usual amateur psychologizing that is usually found in biographys of authors.

I enjoyed "A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry
so much that I am now reading another of
his books "Family Matters".

Do tell us a little more about these books, shepaints. A toatally unknown author to me.

Rohintan Mistry is my favorite author. A fine balance is a book which affected me very deeply, to the exent of changing my outlook of life somewhat. This book was one of those rare ones which bought tears to my eyes when I was reading it, and frankly speaking, I will have to muster up quite a bit of courage to read it again.

I just started reading "Around Ireland with a fridge" by Tony Hawks - its a laugh riot. I was laughing on the train on my way to work today morning, which is a complete no no in London !!

Now I HAVE to know more!

Msolga, Mistry is absolutely magnificent at capturing the nuances of family life, friendships and relationships. He can move you to tears and also be hysterically funny.

A Fine Balance is seen through the eyes of four unlikely people
who end up living together for awhile in a seaside city. There are many
completely mesmerising characters who populate his India of 1975....
completely unforgettable.

Gautam's remarks are very apt.

That's done it, shepaints & Gautam! Now I MUST find this author! It sounds like a perfect msolga read! Thanks for the information, shepaints.

Tom Robbins-Villa Incognito