What five books do you wish everyone had read/you most love to talk about? And WHY???

Hmmm. Lucky Jim...Kingsley Amis. Something by Peter Carey...pick one. I was going to say "A Suitable Boy"...but I think I'd choose "The Siege of Krishnapour" by Farrell, from the Trilogy. Evelyn Waugh's trilogy about the war...blanking on the names of those wonderful books. I'm trying to think of something American...oh, Walker Percy..."The Moviegoer," and then "A Confederacy of Dunces."

Thank you....but did you not see the bits about the importance of answering why?

As it stands, I have no way of even beginning to evaluate any of your choices that I am not familiar with.

hmmm..

well, anything by Jim Crace. I love him because he doesn't try feed you what you are supposed to feel about his writing. Let's you figure out what you emotions are. I especially loved "being dead" "pest house" and "quarantine" I'll count that as one.

The Little Friend by Donna Tartt....just an excellent excellent read. I've said this before, but I would have to put the book down while reading and think "Get out of my HEAD" The little girl in the story, I felt that strongly she was writing about me (except for wanting to lead the bible study plays)

House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. Get ready for a wild ride. I read it years ago, and just finished rereading it. You mind has to be really open so you don't give up on it. I recently referred it to a co-worker, and whenever we spoke while he was reading it, he would say "Why did you do this to me?!" But, he kept reading.

Colors Insulting to Nature by Cintra Wilson. Wilson is funny, sassy, rude, smart, and honest.

Naked by David Sedaris. How can you not love someone who has this to say about their bout with OCD "I didn't HAVE to put my nose on the lawn gnome, I WANTED to"

Kipling's "Kim". I would have judged the old abbot to be another shiftless, panhandling begger. The respect he was given was revealing. There was also an understated theme that a person's word completely reliable - and I'm assuming Kipling knew the culture he was writing about.

Oh, you said five, didn't you?

Just a guide!

I'd NEVER have thought of Kim, though I have had it strongly recommended before. Hmmmmm...sounds like it needs investigating.

Excellent, thank you.

Picked up some Crace, but never bought one...worth buying next time, it would appear.

As it happens I have both The Little Friend (LOVED her first one!) and House of Leaves...but haven't read them yet.

Naked sounds interesting...

Never heard of Cintra...

Well, Id start with Darwins jounal of the TRAvels on the Beagle and The Origin of Species... The obvious reasons is that everyone appears to be satisfied with their own understandings of how the theory of evolution by natural selection was developed by Darwin, yet, most people are not very familiar with any of his works. They mostly "Quote" stuff out of context.

A body of work by John Steinbeck includes several novels "Cannery Row" , Sweet Thursday" , "The Sea of Cortez" and "Among the Tidepools" are books that were written in an almost collaborative effort between two dissiapate buds , Steinbeck and Ricketts. Thes ebooks must be read as a body that chronicles a time in US history and a way of life among the denizens of Monterey Calif "bumhood".

A series of works on "HOW TO" by an artist , TEd KAutsky. Mr Kautsky was dead by the time I was a serious watercolorist. Ive read several of his series "ways with watercolor" and have never been as imporessed with how a scene must be understood in its entire pallette before a drop of paint is put on the paper.

The Studies of Appalachian Geology (The Fisher Volume series)
1-Geology of the Northern Appalachians
2The Geology of the Centarl and SOuthern Appalachians
These two volumes best compile a sense of the growing understanding of the movement of continental land masses under drift conditions better than just about any book has been able to do until the "Continenst and SUpercontinents " Chronicles of 2005.

The works of Sam Clemens, must be read, again, as a body of work to appreciate why this witer captured and defined an age both in the US and in Europe.

His ability to narrate and analyze with his unique way of avoiding narrative and using mostly dialogue to set his stages and develop his characters. I think Twain did more to bring our American literature into a new age than anyone except maybe Henry James and Stenibeck (see above).

Ive always been waaay impressed with a writers talents at getting thigs rolling with dialogue rather than pages and pages of insufferably boring narratives and triteness.

Can I go to lunch now?

Thanks. I hadn't even heard of Sweet Thursday, Sea of Cortez, and Among theTidepools. I keep Cannery Row and Tortilla Flats on the shelf, as does everyone else, I suppose.

Not sure I love to talk about books the way I used to. But there are a few books that pop to mind.

The Light in August. Granted Faulkner can be kind of inaccessible, but his characters are real and sufficiently nuts to make them interesting--and infuriating.

Crime and Punishment. Probably my all-time favorite novel. The passion in the book just bowls me over. And again, major meshuginas make for interesting reading.

The Wall by Marlen Haushofer. A woman deals with the strangest of events in a mundane way. Then things get extreme again. I had some major discussions and disagreements with friends over this. (I recommended, they read, we argued.) Don't know if I remember it well enough at this point to sustain an argument. But it was a fascinating read.

I have to cogitate some more to come up with others. There are authors I admire, but I'm not sure that their books lead to interesting discussions.

Whoa!!! That's an esoteric list!!!


I dipped into the Journals and Origin as a much younger lowan.....

I've not read Steinbeck for years....interesting.


I didn't know you were a water-colourist. Wanna show us some of your stuff? Pretty please?

I am afraid I shall not dip into your beloved geology books!!!

I love Twain too....though I have only read Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and a Connecticut Yankee...plus a few short stories.

Fascinating list, thankee.

Hey, bunny. Go back a post. Ya missed me.

Aaaah....do you know, I have never actually made it through Crime and Punishment.....it goes on the list!

Faulkner.....loved him years ago, but have not read that book.


The Wall...never heard of it!!! But I will go and look it up..exactly the sort of trigger I was wanting!

I recall you took some German classes. You might try Twain's "A Tramp Abroad". A brilliant and hilarious monolog on the German language is included. Thomas said he once delivered it as a speech, in flawless German.

Did not!!!

Lol!!!

Well, I missed that you didn't miss me.

I'm remembering some discussions from long ago that you and I have very different taste in reading. (Not surprised at your Crime and Punishment comment.)

Loved some of Twain's Letters from the Earth. Hilarious. Vicious. Nasty. Insightful. I ultimately had to stop reading this one. But the man was a hell of a writer.

Hesse
1. Siddhartha " to commune with a philosophy of existence. (available free online)
2. The Glass Bead Game " to speculate on some directions of existence.

(Reading Hesse feels like taking a cool shower)

Ouspensky
3.In Search of the Miraculous " for its authentic psychology based on its weird cosmology

Heller
4. Catch 22 " for its tragic hilarity.

Reynolds
5. In Command of History " for insight of the interplay between “reality” and Churchill’s selective reporting of it.

dlowan,

It strikes me that you'll get to know more about us than the books !