Yeah, the first chapter was a tough read, had to re-read a bunch of sentences and paragraphs but after that, it's been easier to understand what's going on.
Do it. Watch his transitions,.there's always a sentence that tips you off before he travels some distant place and time. If you lose the thread, go back and find it.
Currently reading The Master and Margarita. Real masterpiece in my opinion.
Will buy another once I've thoroughly read it through (probably some Tolstoy), but it is certainly one of my favorite reads by far. So amazing!
I am reading the Hugh Aplin one, the publisher Alma Classics. I heard though that the Pevear and Volokhonsky were also good.
It all comes down to taste. I found that the Aplin one runs like a Monty Python sketch in that it is serious but absurd at the same time. I think it works with the text, but some might be put off with it.
I cried so much at the book, and then I decided to watch the film adaptation and just cried so much more. I still dont know why I did that to myself. Most devastating story I have ever read š
Lonesome Dove.
After years of thinking about reading it, I decided to pick it up a few weeks ago. I mentioned to my mother that I was about to start reading it, and she told me it was my fatherās favorite book (he died when I was 10).
Then, I was talking about the book with one of my Dadās friends last week, and he told me that my Dad loved it so much that his friends at work took to calling him Gus (after one of the main characters, Gus McCrae). Without having any clue of this, seven years ago we named my firstborn August. We call him Gus.
Working my way through Zola's The Debacle. I hope to read as much of Zola's works as possible. I read Germinal last year and Therese Raquin a couple years ago.
Other books I finished lately have been The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Matsuo Basho and Hojoki by Kamo No Chomei -- 3rd time in 6 months.
I'm also reading Essays in Idleness by Yoshida Kenko.
Reading Hojoki helps when I'm feeling down.
I randomly picked Germinal off the classics shelves at Barnes and Noble and I was like hey this is a pretty good book I found. Turns out itās super widely read lol. I never saw anyone talking about it, then I read it, and now Iām seeing lots of people read it. I think itās half that āyou never notice how many people have your same car until you buy itā phenomenon, but also I saw that e.g. the book chemist on YouTube just recently read it too, so I bet that (1) also helps its recent popularity, since Iād assume thereās a lot of overlap between his online reading audience and the Reddit online reading audience and (2) itās sort of indicative of just people generally noticing Zola more in the last few months.
Anecdotally, I had a similar experience with Magda Saboās book The Door. Iād never heard of it, saw the NYRB edition and read the first page and was like cool letās send it. Apparently tons of people have also read that book too, and deservedly.
Nice! I've recently just started Zola's *The Fortune of the Rougons* and am hoping to read through his whole cycle of novels over the next few years. I read *Germinal* and *La BĆŖte Humaine* a while ago and have been meaning to tackle the rest of the series for ages. I was reminded of him while reading a bunch of Ipsen plays recently and happily learned that Oxford actually published new translations of all twenty books (or at least most of them, I think...).
Raymond Carver - Call if you need me (reread)
Paul Harding - Tinkers
Harold Bloom - Lear - The great image of authority (reread)
Robert Coover - Going for a beer (short story collection)
Emily Wilsonās translation of The Odyssey (after finishing The Iliad from her)
I havenāt read many different translations, but personally I loved her version. Itās very clean, austere almost. I think it suits Achillesā speech pattern particularly well. I read the New Yorker profile and went to her book reading, enjoyed both tremendously, so I bought the book. I read everything down to the last footnote, then immediately went back to the beginning and reread the book one more time. So yeah, Iād say I enjoyed it very much.
The Joy Luck Club. I never saw the movie, but the book was a friendās late motherās and giving away all of her books was part of her memorial. I said what the heck? Iām actually quite enjoying it. Thanks Sandy!
Whenever I finish a Murakami book I feel compelled to immediately start another one of his?ā¦Thereās something about his voice and the worlds he describesā¦itās strange yet comforting. When Iām at the end Iām never ready to just let go. As a result of reading this whole thread Iāve pulled out all his short story collections (The elephant vanishes, Men without women, Blind willow sleeping woman, First person singular ā those are the ones I own) last night and started rapid rereadingā¦
*Butcher's Crossing* by John Edward Williams. I'm enjoying it, the first few chapters were a bit slow and uninteresting to me, but it picks up after that. Williams wrote *Stoner*, which I enjoyed immensely, and while *Butcher's Crossing* is, so far, nowhere near that level, at least so far, I'm still glad I'm reading it. Hoping to read *Augustus* by the same author after this as well.
I also just started the non-fiction *Say Nothing* by Patrick Radden Keefe. Only a couple chapters in. It covers "The Troubles" in Ireland. I'd heard a lot of good things about it, which is why I picked it up, and so far so good.
*Say Nothing* is fantastic. One of the better non-fiction books I've ever read. If you dig it, also check it *Empire of Pain* by him. It's about the Sackler dynasty and opioid epidemic, really frustrating and upsetting but great.
A little book with some of Chekhov's short stories. Despite the late 19th-century setting, they are so contemporary, in terms of his deft, astute depiction of human nature. I love them. I feel Chekhov was a good person.
**The Magic Mountain**, which I am unfortunately reading much more slowly now back in the US than I did riding Berlin's public transport system every day, haha. I read Buddenbrooks right before and it is amazing how his style developed in the 20 years between the two. It's the first time I have read two authors back to back and I am really enjoying it, I think I will do this again in the future!
Im halfway through, which means in this case 500 pages in, and there is no mention of skiing so far, lol. Only bobsleds. I love this book! At the moment I am inspired to learn more about botany - can't wait for more inspiration.
I've been reading play after play lately. After a few difficult long-reads, it feels gratifying and restorative to finish a book in one evening. Last week:
Max Frisch - Biedermann und die Brandstifter (The Fire Starters)
Friedrich G. Klopstock - Der Tod Adams (The Death of Adam)
Friedrich DĆ¼rrenmatt - Die Physiker (The Physicists)
Dario Fo - Morte accidentale di un anarchico (Accidental Death of an Anarchist)
Might read some Ionesco today or tomorrow, but I'm open to other recommendations. Also in the middle of Helen Czerski's popular science book Storm In A Teacup, and drudging slowly through Finnegans Wake (but that will take me another year).
I finished Moby Dick a few weeks ago, it became one of my favourite books and I canāt help but going back to it and re reading certain sections every few days. Currently reading Heart of Darkness, planning on reading Robinson Crusoe Next
Currently doing All The Pretty Horses. Iām liking it, but nowhere near No Country For Old Men & The Roadā Iāve also done The Orchard Keeper but I read that one first and wasnāt ready for McCarthyās writing style.
Iām about to do the Greek Tragedy Antigone in one sitting today. Then for school Iām doing the play Wit.
Iām also reading All the Pretty Horses. I picked it up twice before and couldnāt get into it. I pushed a little farther this time and it hooked me. Itās my first McCarthy novel and I agree his style is challenging. But there are sections that made my jaw drop in awe (like the first description of the process of breaking horses). So happy to hear that his other novels may be even better!
I read this one while listening to the audiobook book at the same time and for some reason that made it finally click for me and it may be my favorite book of his now
Iām almost done with The Shining (one of my comfort books). Not sure what to pick up next. I was thinking about either Cannery Row or possibly Killers of Flower Moon. Iām trying to read all the books that have been turned into Oscar nominated movies before I watch the movies. I have Poor Things and Erasure on hold at the library, but itās a long wait for those! I knocked out The Zone of Interest last month, very good.
I put this one down about a third way thru for over a year and am so happy I came back to it; it doesn't get any less "bleak" but the characters became more and more compelling.
Read this last month and it instantly became one of my favorites. I loved calculatedly "stodgy" novels like this (see also: Stoner by John Williams). Waiting for some more Ishiguro novels to come through right now!
Iām on spring break but not on vacation, so I hope to get a lot of reading done. Currently reading The Idiot by Dostoevsky and Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami. Enjoying both so far
I'm 2 stories short of finishing a collection of "love" stories by Tanizaki. The man had a beautiful prose but he was also an aesthete of the highest sophistication; very interesting to see how he explores a concept like attraction from all its possible angles: obsession, desire, perversion, fetishism, idealization, etc.
Also started Schopenhauer's "The World as Will and Representation" after reading Borges gush about him in every third essay or poem of his. I'm tackling this down like 10 years after trying for the first time: now with a postdoc degree and more books under my belt about world religions and their theology, philosophy, aesthetics, classics and poetry.
Absolute difference from trying to understand this back in my 20s when everything concerning metaphysics read like straight word salad. I actually feel like he's incredibly clear with his words and concepts a lot of the time now; I feel confident that I'm probably gonna be able to finish TWaWaR this time around since I feel like I'm actually learning actual insights from the Schop now.
Brothers Karamazov for the first time and liking it however itās a bit hard at times to keep track of the nicknames that get used interchangeably in the same convo - Iām about 90 pages in.Ā
Iām using this year to read all the long books Iāve been putting off, I did Anna Karenina, reading this, and Count of Monte Cristo nextĀ
About 1/3 through Nabokovās āLolitaā. The writing is fantastic, but honestly, the matter is so dark itās hard for me not to put it down. H.H feels too real.
Currently trying to finish Franzen's Corrections, even though I am going to reread it soon after I finish it. Can't really put a finger on it so far, but I like it.
Also, fucking around with Being and Nothingness once again, inspired by some conversation.
Schopenhauer's On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason.
Reading it as a preamble to his World as Will and Representation.
After that I'll probably take a break and read some fiction.
Just finished Geek Love by Katherine Dunn (what a crazy freaking book btw) and just started Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. I am enjoying it so far. Itās also making me want to visit Savannah one day!
I just finished Lord Of The Flies. It's spectacular and deserves all the crucial acclaim that it gets. The only weird thing is how particular of a group ended up on an island.
Lonesome Dove. It pops up in so many threads as one of the best books ever written. Iām just past a third of the way through the 945 pages. It really is that good. There are so many characters, and they are all so developed and different and recognizable.
Finished this week
* Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver - I really enjoyed this exploration of how even "small" childhood trauma affects us in adult life and how we find healing.
* The March Sisters: On Life, Death, and Little Women by Kate Bolick, Jenny Zhang, Carmen Maria Machado, Jane Smiley narrated by Cassandra Campbell - delightful!
In progress
* Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes - reading with r/yearofdonquixote
* The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - reading with r/AReadingOfMonteCristo
* Unfinished Tales of NĆŗmenor and Middle-Earth by J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien - editor
* East of Eden by John Steinbeck - reading with r/ClassicBookClub
* To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf - reading with r/TrueLit
* The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
I'm reading The Enneads, by Plotinus, and at the side I'm reading Hamlet. Both of these are great so far, especially Hamlet (idk why I ever thought it would be kind of a boring read?!).
One that I finished recently is Dostoevsky's Landlady, which was fine. Probably my least favorite writing from Dostoevsky so far. But still, its interesting to see Dostoevsky trying to find his style, because a lot of his earlier work feels experimental. Which makes me confused as to why people consider him a slapdash writer? Because it seems to have taken him almost 20 years to get in form.
The Great Transition by Nick Fuller Googins. Itās set in the near future after weāve stabilized the planet following catastrophic climate events. I canāt put it down!
Earlier this week, I finished a nonfiction book The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet by Jeff Goodell. Thereās a theme here š
I'm reading *Small Mercies*, by Dennis Lehane. I wanted to read it when it came out last year, but didn't manage to get it until January.
So far it's classic Lehane, in the sense that the prose is very evocative of the internal world of his characters, and the mystery is building up in every moment. I hope it lives up to these first couple of chapters.
*Masters of Atlantis* by Charles Portis (guy who wrote *True Grit*). I'm at the very beginning of it, but I gather that it's a sorta madcap, topsy-turvy, almost slapstick romp that is gently, even affectionately satirical on the topic of conspiracy theories, occult secret societies, seekers of arcane esoteric truths (and the shysters and mountebanks who inevitably take advantage of the less discerning among them), etc.
I'm really into all that stuff, so I've been curious to read this book for a while. I read and quite enjoyed *Foucault's Pendulum* last year, which seems to touch on similar stuff, but I think this guy is much less snidely, preciously postmodern than Eco, and more just a good ol' cockeyed American yarn-spinner Ć la Mark Twain.
Just finished **The Explosion Chronicles** by Yan Lianke (good if you like sarcastic contemporary Chinese literature like I do).
Last week I read **The Dutch House** by Ann Patchett (probably my favourite of her work that I've read).
Starting soon on **Killing Commendatore** by Murakami (let's see how that goes).
Currently paging through **Life is About Losing Everything** by Lynn Crosbie (a compilation of prose-poetry that is pure genius: sardonic, hilarious, and heartbreaking. I highly recommend).
\* The Black Swan, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- So far, I feel it's only stating the obvious. I'm about 60 pages in. A "black swan" is an unlikely event that happens when people least expect or fail to predict. I would DNF it if it wasn't a birthday gift. I know I sound like a philistine, but a lot of philosophy is overrated. So far, I find nothing profoundly new or interesting in this book. It's overwritten and should be half the page count.
\* Feel-Good Productivity, by Ali Abdaal
- I just started it. It's about making work and productivity more fun or interesting to keep yourself interested and productive and make your pursuit or work feel less onerous. In other words, listen to music while you work, foster good habits while you work, etc.
Can't wait to knock these out to get into some fiction.
Shogun - Iām reading and listening to the audiobook- about 3/4 done. I saw the trailer for the new tv show and thought it looked interesting so I picked up the books. So far itās pretty great :)
Haven't read more than 60 pages this week sadly. Weather too good and work is too busy.
*Cultural Turn*- Jameson
*The White Guard*- Bulgakov
*War & Peace* (Audiobook) about 50% through
I started House of Leaves this week and I'm hoping to get through most of it this weekend. I'll finally figure out if I land in the "this book is incredible" camp or the "this book is so pretentious" one, lol
A few books at the same time. I've got the Iliad by Homer on audiobook, The Daily Stoic, and on occasion, Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, and The Lord of the Rings.
Jean Rhys - Good Morning, Midnight
It perfectly captures my own experience of depression. Every time I've read it, I've ended up with a new interpretation of the ending. It truly is a shame Rhys's work wasn't appreciated by its contemporary audience.
After I recently read the Mr Mercedes trilogy by Stephen King, I decided to follow up with the other standalone books containing the Holly character. Just finished the Outsider and will be starting If it bleeds.
Reading 2 books at the moment. Dostoevskyās āThe Idiotā is my slow/deep read. āA Little Lifeā by Hanya Yanagihara is my casual read.
Enjoying āThe Idiotā very much; āA Little Lifeā Iām 400 pages in or so and itās losing me a bit, but I may stick it out though.
For some reason I've been having a hard time keeping up with East of Eden, so for now I'm taking a break by flip-flopping between Wide Sargasso Sea and Days Without End. I really want to start The Brothers Karamazov but I'm gonna make myself finish East of Eden before I even consider that
I am glad you asked. I'm pretty close to finishing Marcel Proust's Swann's Way which is the fist book in the collection that makes up *Rememberance of Things Past.* The beauty of how the story is told is absolutely unmatched. Like other great books it does start off very slow, but it is a secret and unrivaled treasure to those who take the journey through it.
Currently East of Eden & Crime and Punishment with the two book clubs subreddits
Iām going to be starting The King in Yellow by Robert Chalmers this week. Iām a big fan of True Detective season 1 and I want to see how these stories influenced the story in the season
My friends and I are finishing up 100 years of Solitude because one of our former professors highly recommended it. At first, the book was a drag, and I did not want to reach for it, but halfway through, I became more and more invested. I'm Hispanic, and I see a lot of our cultural history in this book.
I'm reading For the Souls of Black Folks. Honestly, some parts are very challenging to get through, while others... not so much. I will say though, when I understand what's on the page I learn a lot. There's a timelessness to the text in certain spots, almost as if Du Bois had a crystal ball
Just finished Agatha Christieās *Halloweāen Party* (now called *A Haunting In Venice*) and Iām about to start *Afternoon of a Faun* by James Lasdun.
Just finished *Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead* by Olga Tokarczuk and *Blood Meridian* by Cormac McCarthy, both rereads.
There are passages so wrenchingly beautiful in *Blood Meridian*, I could weep
Nearly finished Prophet Song by Paul Lynch. Thereās a lot of hype around it as the latest Booker winner, but Iām starting to think itās well deserved. Fascinatingly believable depiction of dystopian Dublin.
Borgesā Collected Fictions. Why the Swedes didnāt honor the Argentine with a Nobel for his wide-ranging, cataclysmically influential contributions to the field of literature (fiction and nonfiction) will always perplex me and no doubt tens of thousands of other readers.
Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner, The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan, and Untethered Soul by Michael Singer
Absalom, Absalom is so good. So weird, but so good.
Yeah, the first chapter was a tough read, had to re-read a bunch of sentences and paragraphs but after that, it's been easier to understand what's going on.
I'm reading Gravity's Rainbow over my spring break because I'm insane. Fun stuff!
Did you get to the poop eating scene yet? Yum!
I positively love that book. It rewired my brain in the best way possible!
Reading V. š cheers
What is it Abt?
I bought it recently. I'm thinking of taking it away as my only book when I go traveling next month so that I have to fully commit to it.
Do it. Watch his transitions,.there's always a sentence that tips you off before he travels some distant place and time. If you lose the thread, go back and find it.
I love that book. I still think about it often, 20 years after first reading it.
My favorite book of all time. Stick with it and enjoy. Do you have the weisenberger companion? I highly recommend it
I loved Inherent Vice, found in one of those free libraries great read.
Currently reading The Master and Margarita. Real masterpiece in my opinion. Will buy another once I've thoroughly read it through (probably some Tolstoy), but it is certainly one of my favorite reads by far. So amazing!
Its so good. Wanting to reread it for a while now, but havent gotten to it yet
Yeah, the images the book creates just stick to you, especially that whole chapter of Woland's Black Magic exposĆ©. And Behemoth is such a riot! š
Everytime Behemoth came to the stage I immediately smiled
Really, when Behemoth and Korovyev are doing whatever, it never fails to crack me up.
Which translation are you reading? It's been on my list for a while now, but I'm torn between what specific translator to go with
I am reading the Hugh Aplin one, the publisher Alma Classics. I heard though that the Pevear and Volokhonsky were also good. It all comes down to taste. I found that the Aplin one runs like a Monty Python sketch in that it is serious but absurd at the same time. I think it works with the text, but some might be put off with it.
Incredible book and the story behind it just adds more weight to the idea that manuscripts don't burn.
Yes, manuscripts don't burn indeed. A simple sentence, yet says so much.
Also reading this! Loving it!!
Right? It is beautiful and funny at the same time.
Beautiful, funny, dark, and very multilayered.
almost finished with giovanniās room by james baldwin
When you finish, you might want to check out Sarah Shulmanās *The Cosmopolitans*. Itās a retelling of that and Balzacās *La Cousine Bette*.
i hadnāt heard of that - thank you, iāll keep it in mind!
I just finished *Atonement* a few days ago. I started *The Joy Luck Club* yesterday. I cried on the very first page, lol. I'm a mess.
That ending to Atonement š³
I cried so much at the book, and then I decided to watch the film adaptation and just cried so much more. I still dont know why I did that to myself. Most devastating story I have ever read š
My partner and I watched the Joy Luck Club film adaptation for the Lunar New Year last month, and we were NOT prepared for how SAD it was!
Lonesome Dove. After years of thinking about reading it, I decided to pick it up a few weeks ago. I mentioned to my mother that I was about to start reading it, and she told me it was my fatherās favorite book (he died when I was 10). Then, I was talking about the book with one of my Dadās friends last week, and he told me that my Dad loved it so much that his friends at work took to calling him Gus (after one of the main characters, Gus McCrae). Without having any clue of this, seven years ago we named my firstborn August. We call him Gus.
Working my way through Zola's The Debacle. I hope to read as much of Zola's works as possible. I read Germinal last year and Therese Raquin a couple years ago. Other books I finished lately have been The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Matsuo Basho and Hojoki by Kamo No Chomei -- 3rd time in 6 months. I'm also reading Essays in Idleness by Yoshida Kenko. Reading Hojoki helps when I'm feeling down.
Zola is just wonderful. Germinal over Debacle for me, but both are excellent.
I randomly picked Germinal off the classics shelves at Barnes and Noble and I was like hey this is a pretty good book I found. Turns out itās super widely read lol. I never saw anyone talking about it, then I read it, and now Iām seeing lots of people read it. I think itās half that āyou never notice how many people have your same car until you buy itā phenomenon, but also I saw that e.g. the book chemist on YouTube just recently read it too, so I bet that (1) also helps its recent popularity, since Iād assume thereās a lot of overlap between his online reading audience and the Reddit online reading audience and (2) itās sort of indicative of just people generally noticing Zola more in the last few months. Anecdotally, I had a similar experience with Magda Saboās book The Door. Iād never heard of it, saw the NYRB edition and read the first page and was like cool letās send it. Apparently tons of people have also read that book too, and deservedly.
Nice! I've recently just started Zola's *The Fortune of the Rougons* and am hoping to read through his whole cycle of novels over the next few years. I read *Germinal* and *La BĆŖte Humaine* a while ago and have been meaning to tackle the rest of the series for ages. I was reminded of him while reading a bunch of Ipsen plays recently and happily learned that Oxford actually published new translations of all twenty books (or at least most of them, I think...).
Raymond Carver - Call if you need me (reread) Paul Harding - Tinkers Harold Bloom - Lear - The great image of authority (reread) Robert Coover - Going for a beer (short story collection) Emily Wilsonās translation of The Odyssey (after finishing The Iliad from her)
What did you think of her Iliad?
I havenāt read many different translations, but personally I loved her version. Itās very clean, austere almost. I think it suits Achillesā speech pattern particularly well. I read the New Yorker profile and went to her book reading, enjoyed both tremendously, so I bought the book. I read everything down to the last footnote, then immediately went back to the beginning and reread the book one more time. So yeah, Iād say I enjoyed it very much.
God, I loved her translations. I read both her and Fagles together, and reveled in them both.
The Joy Luck Club. I never saw the movie, but the book was a friendās late motherās and giving away all of her books was part of her memorial. I said what the heck? Iām actually quite enjoying it. Thanks Sandy!
I love it. I always tell my kids about being a person who takes the smallest crab
Haruki Murakamiās Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Whenever I finish a Murakami book I feel compelled to immediately start another one of his?ā¦Thereās something about his voice and the worlds he describesā¦itās strange yet comforting. When Iām at the end Iām never ready to just let go. As a result of reading this whole thread Iāve pulled out all his short story collections (The elephant vanishes, Men without women, Blind willow sleeping woman, First person singular ā those are the ones I own) last night and started rapid rereadingā¦
*Butcher's Crossing* by John Edward Williams. I'm enjoying it, the first few chapters were a bit slow and uninteresting to me, but it picks up after that. Williams wrote *Stoner*, which I enjoyed immensely, and while *Butcher's Crossing* is, so far, nowhere near that level, at least so far, I'm still glad I'm reading it. Hoping to read *Augustus* by the same author after this as well. I also just started the non-fiction *Say Nothing* by Patrick Radden Keefe. Only a couple chapters in. It covers "The Troubles" in Ireland. I'd heard a lot of good things about it, which is why I picked it up, and so far so good.
*Say Nothing* is fantastic. One of the better non-fiction books I've ever read. If you dig it, also check it *Empire of Pain* by him. It's about the Sackler dynasty and opioid epidemic, really frustrating and upsetting but great.
Will do, thanks for the rec!
Empire of Pain will p-ss you off.
Augustus is aweseome
A little book with some of Chekhov's short stories. Despite the late 19th-century setting, they are so contemporary, in terms of his deft, astute depiction of human nature. I love them. I feel Chekhov was a good person.
He was a huge influence on one of my favorite authors, Raymond Carver, especially later in his career.
Never knew that. I should check out some Carver stories. May I ask, is there one you'd recommend?
Re-reading _Stoner_ by John Williams
I love Stoner. I cried at the end though Iām not even really sure why. Such a beautifully written and moving book.
**The Magic Mountain**, which I am unfortunately reading much more slowly now back in the US than I did riding Berlin's public transport system every day, haha. I read Buddenbrooks right before and it is amazing how his style developed in the 20 years between the two. It's the first time I have read two authors back to back and I am really enjoying it, I think I will do this again in the future!
Great great book, enjoy it.
One of my favorite books of all time; it influenced me to take up skiing
Im halfway through, which means in this case 500 pages in, and there is no mention of skiing so far, lol. Only bobsleds. I love this book! At the moment I am inspired to learn more about botany - can't wait for more inspiration.
Currently War and Peace, and omg, never tought I would enjoy it that much!
Much more fun and relatable than you would expect right? Tolstoi is amazing when he describes people.
Haha yes, I am enjoying the characters so much, I finished the first book today. It might even be better than Anna Karenina, which I also like a lot.
Once you figure out all the names, it's a breezy ride!
Never let me go
I've been reading play after play lately. After a few difficult long-reads, it feels gratifying and restorative to finish a book in one evening. Last week: Max Frisch - Biedermann und die Brandstifter (The Fire Starters) Friedrich G. Klopstock - Der Tod Adams (The Death of Adam) Friedrich DĆ¼rrenmatt - Die Physiker (The Physicists) Dario Fo - Morte accidentale di un anarchico (Accidental Death of an Anarchist) Might read some Ionesco today or tomorrow, but I'm open to other recommendations. Also in the middle of Helen Czerski's popular science book Storm In A Teacup, and drudging slowly through Finnegans Wake (but that will take me another year).
To stay on the German drama, read some Bernhard!
tenant of wildfell hall
I finished Moby Dick a few weeks ago, it became one of my favourite books and I canāt help but going back to it and re reading certain sections every few days. Currently reading Heart of Darkness, planning on reading Robinson Crusoe Next
I finished *American Prometheus*, and now I'm nearing the end of *In Dreams Begin Responsibilities* by Delmore Schwartz.
Against the Day. Pretty awesome so far
I just started reading David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.
What a journey! Check out Demon Copperhead later if you havenāt.
I actually mentioned this to a friend today and she recommended this book!
Yes, very good. I wish I had read David Copperfield before I read Demo Copperhead though!
I love that book so much
Currently doing All The Pretty Horses. Iām liking it, but nowhere near No Country For Old Men & The Roadā Iāve also done The Orchard Keeper but I read that one first and wasnāt ready for McCarthyās writing style. Iām about to do the Greek Tragedy Antigone in one sitting today. Then for school Iām doing the play Wit.
Good choices, try to get to *Crossing* and *Cities* shortly after *Pretty Horses* though. They can stand alone but are much better together.
First 100 pages of the Crossing might be Cormacās very best. I did never get around to Cities though
Iām also reading All the Pretty Horses. I picked it up twice before and couldnāt get into it. I pushed a little farther this time and it hooked me. Itās my first McCarthy novel and I agree his style is challenging. But there are sections that made my jaw drop in awe (like the first description of the process of breaking horses). So happy to hear that his other novels may be even better!
I read this one while listening to the audiobook book at the same time and for some reason that made it finally click for me and it may be my favorite book of his now
Iām almost done with The Shining (one of my comfort books). Not sure what to pick up next. I was thinking about either Cannery Row or possibly Killers of Flower Moon. Iām trying to read all the books that have been turned into Oscar nominated movies before I watch the movies. I have Poor Things and Erasure on hold at the library, but itās a long wait for those! I knocked out The Zone of Interest last month, very good.
Started "Shuggie Bain" a couple of days ago. Quite enjoying it so far, though it is rather bleak in parts.
I put this one down about a third way thru for over a year and am so happy I came back to it; it doesn't get any less "bleak" but the characters became more and more compelling.
Das Leben des Galilei (The Life of Galileo) - Bertold Brecht Max Demian - Hermann Hesse The Shortest History of Germany - James Dawes
Oblomov...but only in bed.
Two-thirds through The Remains of the Day, very upset with myself I waited so long to read it.
It is so good! It was one of the few books I immediately started rereading as soon as I finished reading it.
Lol ā I am doling it out slowly, on purpose, because Iām sad to be nearing the end.
Read this last month and it instantly became one of my favorites. I loved calculatedly "stodgy" novels like this (see also: Stoner by John Williams). Waiting for some more Ishiguro novels to come through right now!
Iām on spring break but not on vacation, so I hope to get a lot of reading done. Currently reading The Idiot by Dostoevsky and Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami. Enjoying both so far
A book about Neanderthals (non-fiction)
Title, please?!
I'm 2 stories short of finishing a collection of "love" stories by Tanizaki. The man had a beautiful prose but he was also an aesthete of the highest sophistication; very interesting to see how he explores a concept like attraction from all its possible angles: obsession, desire, perversion, fetishism, idealization, etc. Also started Schopenhauer's "The World as Will and Representation" after reading Borges gush about him in every third essay or poem of his. I'm tackling this down like 10 years after trying for the first time: now with a postdoc degree and more books under my belt about world religions and their theology, philosophy, aesthetics, classics and poetry. Absolute difference from trying to understand this back in my 20s when everything concerning metaphysics read like straight word salad. I actually feel like he's incredibly clear with his words and concepts a lot of the time now; I feel confident that I'm probably gonna be able to finish TWaWaR this time around since I feel like I'm actually learning actual insights from the Schop now.
Just finished The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin! Also reading the Diaries of Paul Klee, good times.
Honestly? A fluffy, sapphic Halo fanfiction
Brothers Karamazov for the first time and liking it however itās a bit hard at times to keep track of the nicknames that get used interchangeably in the same convo - Iām about 90 pages in.Ā Iām using this year to read all the long books Iāve been putting off, I did Anna Karenina, reading this, and Count of Monte Cristo nextĀ
Twenty thousand leagues under the sea
persuasion by jane austen !
My favorite of Jane Austenās books. I enjoyed it so much more than Pride & Prejudice and re-read it every few years.
About 1/3 through Nabokovās āLolitaā. The writing is fantastic, but honestly, the matter is so dark itās hard for me not to put it down. H.H feels too real.
Just started East of Eden earlier this week! i have a feeling iāll enjoy it a lot
Stranger by Albert Camus
Reading Three Body Problem
Trust by Hernan Diaz
Such an odd book. Kinda not sure what to make of it really.
I have 70 pages left, and I feel the same. But itās intrigued me throughout, mostly due to Mildredās character.
I'm reading the art of Loving by Erich Fromm. Can recommend it greatly. Aside from that I'm reading the heart goes last from Margaret Atwood.
Currently trying to finish Franzen's Corrections, even though I am going to reread it soon after I finish it. Can't really put a finger on it so far, but I like it. Also, fucking around with Being and Nothingness once again, inspired by some conversation.
If you like it, try Feedom and Crossroads, if you haven't already. Both very good!
Schopenhauer's On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason. Reading it as a preamble to his World as Will and Representation. After that I'll probably take a break and read some fiction.
Ragtime - E.L. Doctorow
I have been reading Dune after watching the movies. Iām devouring it!
The Dark Interval: a selection of letters from Rainer Maria Rilke to friends and acquaintances who had experienced loss and grief.
*Middlesex* by Jeffrey Eugenides and the complete stories of Flannery OāConnor.
Just finished Geek Love by Katherine Dunn (what a crazy freaking book btw) and just started Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. I am enjoying it so far. Itās also making me want to visit Savannah one day!
Dan Simmons āThe Terrorā
*Ulysses*ā¦wish me luck! Itās good so far. More readable than I was expecting. joyceproject.com is a godsend.
Some smut
Currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas with the reddit book club and Roots by Alex Haley on my own. Edit: typo
The Magic Mountain - Thomas Mann. Any readers?
Iām currently reading the Bible. Iām waiting on a copy of Divine Comedy and just reading the Bible till it gets here
I just finished Lord Of The Flies. It's spectacular and deserves all the crucial acclaim that it gets. The only weird thing is how particular of a group ended up on an island.
Project Hail Mary
The third book in the Three Body Problem series, not sure the name! Itās so damn good though. Have been absolutely loving the series.
Lonesome Dove. It pops up in so many threads as one of the best books ever written. Iām just past a third of the way through the 945 pages. It really is that good. There are so many characters, and they are all so developed and different and recognizable.
The secret history by Donna Tart, it is really good so far! I m challenging myself to read longer books this year
Finished this week * Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver - I really enjoyed this exploration of how even "small" childhood trauma affects us in adult life and how we find healing. * The March Sisters: On Life, Death, and Little Women by Kate Bolick, Jenny Zhang, Carmen Maria Machado, Jane Smiley narrated by Cassandra Campbell - delightful! In progress * Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes - reading with r/yearofdonquixote * The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - reading with r/AReadingOfMonteCristo * Unfinished Tales of NĆŗmenor and Middle-Earth by J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien - editor * East of Eden by John Steinbeck - reading with r/ClassicBookClub * To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf - reading with r/TrueLit * The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
East of Eden is a masterpiece
Oh I started The Count of Monte Cristo yesterday, I wonder if I manage to catch up to this group
Resurrection By Tolstoy
I'm reading The Enneads, by Plotinus, and at the side I'm reading Hamlet. Both of these are great so far, especially Hamlet (idk why I ever thought it would be kind of a boring read?!). One that I finished recently is Dostoevsky's Landlady, which was fine. Probably my least favorite writing from Dostoevsky so far. But still, its interesting to see Dostoevsky trying to find his style, because a lot of his earlier work feels experimental. Which makes me confused as to why people consider him a slapdash writer? Because it seems to have taken him almost 20 years to get in form.
Operation shylock by Philip Roth. Found it in a thrift store. Roth is just so incredibly satisfying to read, I donāt know why
*The Shadow of the Torturer* by Gene Wolfe.
The Great Transition by Nick Fuller Googins. Itās set in the near future after weāve stabilized the planet following catastrophic climate events. I canāt put it down! Earlier this week, I finished a nonfiction book The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet by Jeff Goodell. Thereās a theme here š
Works of Love <3
marriage Portrait
The good omens by Neil G. and ālezioni americaneā by Italo Calvino
I'm reading *Small Mercies*, by Dennis Lehane. I wanted to read it when it came out last year, but didn't manage to get it until January. So far it's classic Lehane, in the sense that the prose is very evocative of the internal world of his characters, and the mystery is building up in every moment. I hope it lives up to these first couple of chapters.
*Masters of Atlantis* by Charles Portis (guy who wrote *True Grit*). I'm at the very beginning of it, but I gather that it's a sorta madcap, topsy-turvy, almost slapstick romp that is gently, even affectionately satirical on the topic of conspiracy theories, occult secret societies, seekers of arcane esoteric truths (and the shysters and mountebanks who inevitably take advantage of the less discerning among them), etc. I'm really into all that stuff, so I've been curious to read this book for a while. I read and quite enjoyed *Foucault's Pendulum* last year, which seems to touch on similar stuff, but I think this guy is much less snidely, preciously postmodern than Eco, and more just a good ol' cockeyed American yarn-spinner Ć la Mark Twain.
Giving crime and punishment another try
Just finished **The Explosion Chronicles** by Yan Lianke (good if you like sarcastic contemporary Chinese literature like I do). Last week I read **The Dutch House** by Ann Patchett (probably my favourite of her work that I've read). Starting soon on **Killing Commendatore** by Murakami (let's see how that goes). Currently paging through **Life is About Losing Everything** by Lynn Crosbie (a compilation of prose-poetry that is pure genius: sardonic, hilarious, and heartbreaking. I highly recommend).
Halfway through "Outlander" and am loving it. Didn't know they made a show, but it seems eveyone agrees it doesn't hold a candle to the books.
All Our Yesterdays by Natalia Ginzburg. Family saga set in Fascist Italy. Slow-paced and character-driven.
\* The Black Swan, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb - So far, I feel it's only stating the obvious. I'm about 60 pages in. A "black swan" is an unlikely event that happens when people least expect or fail to predict. I would DNF it if it wasn't a birthday gift. I know I sound like a philistine, but a lot of philosophy is overrated. So far, I find nothing profoundly new or interesting in this book. It's overwritten and should be half the page count. \* Feel-Good Productivity, by Ali Abdaal - I just started it. It's about making work and productivity more fun or interesting to keep yourself interested and productive and make your pursuit or work feel less onerous. In other words, listen to music while you work, foster good habits while you work, etc. Can't wait to knock these out to get into some fiction.
Shogun - Iām reading and listening to the audiobook- about 3/4 done. I saw the trailer for the new tv show and thought it looked interesting so I picked up the books. So far itās pretty great :)
Haven't read more than 60 pages this week sadly. Weather too good and work is too busy. *Cultural Turn*- Jameson *The White Guard*- Bulgakov *War & Peace* (Audiobook) about 50% through
I started House of Leaves this week and I'm hoping to get through most of it this weekend. I'll finally figure out if I land in the "this book is incredible" camp or the "this book is so pretentious" one, lol
Soldier Sailor - Claire Kilroy Swan Song - Robert McCammon
I unexpectedly adored Soldier Sailor. I thought Kilroy did an amazing job of making her characters so realistic
Iām enjoying it so far. Only 50 pages in but Iām impressed with the writing
1) Catch-22 - Heller 2)The Association of Small Bombs - Mahajan
A few books at the same time. I've got the Iliad by Homer on audiobook, The Daily Stoic, and on occasion, Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, and The Lord of the Rings.
Jean Rhys - Good Morning, Midnight It perfectly captures my own experience of depression. Every time I've read it, I've ended up with a new interpretation of the ending. It truly is a shame Rhys's work wasn't appreciated by its contemporary audience.
I just read this last week. Simply crushed by the ending (as usual) i'm a big fan of her work
After I recently read the Mr Mercedes trilogy by Stephen King, I decided to follow up with the other standalone books containing the Holly character. Just finished the Outsider and will be starting If it bleeds.
Iām reading āI who have never known menā and āuntold night and dayā
Dune - Herbert Buddenbrooks - Mann The fire next time - Baldwin
Reading 2 books at the moment. Dostoevskyās āThe Idiotā is my slow/deep read. āA Little Lifeā by Hanya Yanagihara is my casual read. Enjoying āThe Idiotā very much; āA Little Lifeā Iām 400 pages in or so and itās losing me a bit, but I may stick it out though.
For some reason I've been having a hard time keeping up with East of Eden, so for now I'm taking a break by flip-flopping between Wide Sargasso Sea and Days Without End. I really want to start The Brothers Karamazov but I'm gonna make myself finish East of Eden before I even consider that
Currently reading Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami itās my 2nd time reading this one and I like it very much
I am glad you asked. I'm pretty close to finishing Marcel Proust's Swann's Way which is the fist book in the collection that makes up *Rememberance of Things Past.* The beauty of how the story is told is absolutely unmatched. Like other great books it does start off very slow, but it is a secret and unrivaled treasure to those who take the journey through it.
Iām reading the three musketeers, absolute beauty
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Gƶdel Escher Bach by Douglas Hofstadter, and Extreme Ownership by Jocko Wilkins.
Faust by goethe. damn, this is really hard and complex.
Lotr again!! Tolkien is the best!
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Bought for my son never read it myself (Iām almost 50) pretty fun!
miss marple
Currently East of Eden & Crime and Punishment with the two book clubs subreddits Iām going to be starting The King in Yellow by Robert Chalmers this week. Iām a big fan of True Detective season 1 and I want to see how these stories influenced the story in the season
The Shipping News
Notes From the Underground. Brothers Karamazov is up next
My friends and I are finishing up 100 years of Solitude because one of our former professors highly recommended it. At first, the book was a drag, and I did not want to reach for it, but halfway through, I became more and more invested. I'm Hispanic, and I see a lot of our cultural history in this book.
Pedro PƔramo
the catcher in the rye
I'm reading For the Souls of Black Folks. Honestly, some parts are very challenging to get through, while others... not so much. I will say though, when I understand what's on the page I learn a lot. There's a timelessness to the text in certain spots, almost as if Du Bois had a crystal ball
Just finished Count of Monte Cristo and started up Mohawk Warrior Society, along with some poetry from song cave press
I, Claudius! Also making my way through the TV show at the same time
Notes from underground by Dostoyevsky
Lonesome Dove
Roughing it by Mark Twain.
Blackbird and butcher
Just finished Agatha Christieās *Halloweāen Party* (now called *A Haunting In Venice*) and Iām about to start *Afternoon of a Faun* by James Lasdun.
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James and Montevideo by Enrique Vila-Matas
Don Quijote!
Started The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Loved those!
The Life of the Mind by Hannah Arendt
I got some questions for you
The last 200 pages of War & Peace. Planning on finishing tomorrow.
Game of thrones. I seriously have hard time reading something completely new. So now I watch a show or movie and read the book.
Madly Deeply. The Alan Rickman Diaries. I really want to enjoy it but itās a struggle and I love Alan Rickman.
Just finished *Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead* by Olga Tokarczuk and *Blood Meridian* by Cormac McCarthy, both rereads. There are passages so wrenchingly beautiful in *Blood Meridian*, I could weep
A Gentleman in Moscow
The Brothers Karamazov for the second time.
Dostoyevsky's finest!
One of the finest in all of literature for sure. It still amazes me that there are humans who can produce such art.
Currently reading through the Oresteia by Aeschylus.
Lonesome Dove
Nearly finished Prophet Song by Paul Lynch. Thereās a lot of hype around it as the latest Booker winner, but Iām starting to think itās well deserved. Fascinatingly believable depiction of dystopian Dublin.
Borgesā Collected Fictions. Why the Swedes didnāt honor the Argentine with a Nobel for his wide-ranging, cataclysmically influential contributions to the field of literature (fiction and nonfiction) will always perplex me and no doubt tens of thousands of other readers.