What books have you read so far in 2004?

Lary--Thanks!

I have confidence in your list since I just finished part one of Dead Souls, and I love Gogol.


Also, Master and Margarita is my second all time favorite book, coming in behind Lolita.

Gargamel--thanks for your confidence. The first part of DEAD SOULS is by far the strongest. If you like Gogol, you should check out his wonderful short stories, like "The Overcoat", or the comic masterpiece "How The Two Ivans
Quarrelled." Glad you like Bulgakov. Have you read his great novel about the Russian Revolution THE WHITE GUARD? Highly recommended.

I finished up Ellis Peter's Brother Cadfael series earlier this year.
Been working my way through the "Hornblower" novels, currently on _Flying_Colours_.
_A_Short_History_of_Nearly_Everything_
_Infidels_
_The_Da_Vinci_Code_
_Troilus_and_Cressida_
_The_Return_of_the_King_
_Flashman_at_the_Charge_
_Mr_Timothy_
_The_Once_and_Future_King_

Has anyone read On Paradise Drive, by David Brooks?

I've been thinking of picking it up but can't find any reader reviews on Amazon...

I've read in no particular order:

The Politics of Experience by R.D.Laing
( dated, but I still enjoyed it. )

Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guide by Aryeh Kaplan
(Actually this is very worthwhile, except for some of his history. Before merkaba mysticism he found that stuff because he was looking for it, not because it was there. The practical stuff is good though.)

Tales of the Hasidim: Early Masters by Martin Buber
(Cool tales. Better then Elie Weisel's stuff.)

Between God and Man by Abraham J Heschel
(Awesome stuff there.)

History & Torah by Jacob Neusner
(This is really good because it advocates scientifically and historically informed scriptural scholarship rather than brushing that stuff under the carpet.)

Sabbath: Day of Eternity by Aryeh Kaplan
(He took a bad approach. Made it seem unfriendly. Heschel covers it much better.)

This is my Beloved, This is my friend: A Rabbinic letter on intimate relations by Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff
(Good. Tackles important issues like premarital sex, which it does not condone, but sets realistic guidelines for.)

Think Jewish: A Contemporary View of Judaism, A Jewish View of Today's World by Zalman I. Posner
(Okay this one was just bull. What they do explain on the back cover is that it's all about the Lubavitcher point of view. Actually I found it fascinating.)

And right now I'm in the middle of reading:

Everett Fox' Translation of the Torah entitled Five Books of Moses
( This is THE GREATEST TRANSLATION OF THE TORAH OF ALL TIME. I'm serious. This guy's an artist. Somehow he maintained the rhythms and patterns of the Hebrew. And his choice of words, beautiful! Soujourner in a foreign land? What could be more accurate?)

and for school:

Essential Papers on Hasidism: Origins to Present edited by Gershon Hundert
(Prof Hundert is head of Judaic studies at McGill and a bigwig in the study of hasidic history. He's at my college for 2 weeks to teach a course. This book is actually dated. He adds a whole packet of newer material to it and selects some things from here.)


I keep telling myself I'm going to go to the store and pick up the next Dune book or some other junk but ever since I've rediscovered that this stuff is important to me it's all I've been reading. Which is really since January. Which wasn't very long ago. Well, politics of experience wasn't Jewish.

Dauer

To list everything I've read this year would take up too much space, and I would still be here in a year, trying to think of them all.
The most recent that come to mind are...

To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Taylor
Drop Shot - Harlen Coben
The Burma Legacy - Geoffrey Archer
Catch Me If You Can - Frank Abagnale
Cutter - Thomas Laird
The Kill Box - Chris Stewart
The Surgeon / The Apprentice - Tess Gerritsen (BTW, GREAT!)
Twelve Red Herrings - Geoffrey Archer
Various Bond Books - John Gardener / Raymond Benson
The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time - Mark Haddon
Fire Eaters - David Almond
A Gathering Light - Jennifer Donnelly
The Garbage King - Elizabeth Laird
Private Peaceful - Michael Morpurgo
Sisterland - Linda Newbury
Grass For His Pillow - Lian Hearn
Artemis Fowl : The Eternity Code - Eoin Colfer
Abhorsen - Garth Nix
Montmorency - Elenor Updale
Greed / The Kremlin Device / All other books by Chris Ryan
The Alex Rider Books (Stormbreaker, Point Blanc, Skeleton Key, Eagle Strike, Scorpia) - Anthony Horowitz
Stravaganza, City Of Masks / City Of Stars - Mary Hoffman

If I visited the library, and flicked through the shelves, I could name a hell of a lot more. All of the list above were excellent! I'll probably come back, and write some more.

AFTERTHOUGHT : From now on, I'm going to keep a list of the books that I read. Then I can come and write them down if a topic like this ever comes up again.
Thanks for listening to my ramblings guys!

Brimstone: you said that all the books on your list were excellent. What exactly can such a statement mean? That you enjoyed them all, I suppose. They certainly couldn't all
have been equally excellent. If you thought they were, you must be a very undiscriminating reader. Maybe you should include cereal boxes and ketchup labels on your next list.

By saying these books were excellent, I mean they were all excellent. I didn't say they were all as excellent as each other, I just said they were excellent. There is no need to be so rude to me, just because I enjoy most books I read. I choose my books well. I have had some that I've disliked. I would expect your reading list is:
My First Words
C-A-T

People, don't fight fire with fire. Reading habits are individual, and that's that.

Brimstone:

the juvenile level of your "wit" is what I'd expect from someone who says all the books on his list were "excellent."

Why are you looking to pick a fight, Larry?

The Liar's Club
The Lovely Bones
A Fine Balance
Family Matters
A House for Mr. Biswas
Where I am Calling From
Gustav Klimt
Women Artists
Fifties Style

Thalion, that's a damned fine list you've got there ... looks like not only are you getting an education, but that you're taking pains to expand on it. Well done. Keep that up, and you'll have the base required for valid literary criticism.

Of course, having a solid base doesn't guarantee one's literary criticisms ... or other philosophy ... necessarilly will be valid. Personal preference has a way of coming into play.

Hi, Larry. I see you again, among few others, are enjoying yourself. From your list, the inclusion of Bierce struck me. Apropos is that curmudgeon's definition of "Critic:

His definition of "Preference" comes to mind as well:


Yes indeed, Larry,
... and Let Enjoy.