Hyperion, because someone here recommended it as a good sci-fi read. I almost gave it up. It started off with too much junk. I know some people like that stuff, spaceships, wars all that junk. Meh, I want story. But I stuck it out and now I think the story is starting.
The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart, by Jesse Bullington. Found it by accident at my local bookstore and it seemed to fit my tastes exactly. I'm merely on the first chapter, so let's see how it turns out!
I just finished Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine" today and changed my mind. It's a gorgeous coming-of-age and it doesn't pull back its punches. Life is beautiful and worth living, even if it inevitably ends someday.
The Odyssey of Homer, translated by Robert Fagles. I am on my break, I need a 'guys' book, and it shouldn't take me too long to read it now - unlike The Iliad which I had to stop and start a few times because of work - now I have nothing but the book and plenty of wine to enjoy it with. I am also reading Virgil's Eclogues in the original Latin. I started translating these in the summer, but had to stop because of work. I even finished one of them too, and now want to do a little bit more to my manuscript before I have to go back to teaching.
I read a part of the Odyssey (a Swedish translation) as part of an assignment in school and I must say that is was the bloodiest thing I've ever read. Quite interesting though, so maybe I'll go read the whole thing one day...
I am guessing that would have been one of the later books when Odysseus returns to Ithaca and kills the suitors of his wife, Penelope. He has finally returned to Ithaca after twenty years, ten fighting the Trojan war, ten journeying home. If my guess is right, and that was it, that bit is intentionally violent - it was written to echo the Trojan war, and The Iliad according to Bernard Knox. The poem is quite violent all the way through, though, it reflects life during the Bronze Age. I love the poem though, it's amazing.
That's correct. We worked in groups, researching literature from ancient Greece and Rome and my group worked with that part of the Odyssey. Though of course we read a little about the general storyline as well.
Upon @edamame 's recommendation, I read and just finished Me Before You. Really sad, but excellent book. I don't really consider this a romance, and the only other romance I've ever read is FSOG. Both are by British authors, but this is like FSOG without the sex and psychopathy and ridiculous situations. It's actually written by someone who can write.
Woohoo! So glad you liked it. I still consider it a romance, but so unlike typical romances that perhaps that's why I also liked it.
Just finished The Odyssey. It was amazing! I've loved this poem ever since I first read it some many years ago now. It still keeps it's power, the later books are still as effective, and touching, and terrifying; and the adventure between books 5 and 14 is still as mysterious and epic-seeming as always. I want to read another translation of it now - actually, I want to read as many translations of it as possible.
I'm reading this thread. Actually, I'm spending more reading time on workshop stuff here. Beyond that it's textbook stuff including Equine Anatomy, Neurological Surgery Practices, Curing MS and Theories of Personality. I could probably stand acquiring a book on masonry techniques...
Finished "Do androids dream of electric sheep" by Philip K Dick the other day. Just finished the first part of "Smut" by Alan Bennett. Never read any Alan Bennett before although I have seen his films. I had some preconceptions of a cosy little story. I was wrong.
Numerous things: Diarmaid MacCulloch, Reformation: Europe's House Divided. Still reading this. It's not a light read, it clocks in at ~900 pages for the paper back version. You can't say he's not thorough. There's a bit of crossover with his other work, A History of Christianity (only slightly longer at ~1200 pages), to the extent which he lifts entire passages from one to the other. Some people say that that is plagiarism. They are wrong, especially if that passage used the word 'gambol'. Ninian Smart, The World's Religions. 2nd ed. Exactly what it says on the time. Not what I expected, I expected a sort of 'These are the religions of the world today, and this is what they believe'. Instead it's more a historical survey, which I much prefer. Stephen Baxter, Musings of a Monkey. Kevin Arscott, The Winterval Myth: A Festive Tale of Bad Journalism. These two are both bloggers I follow, usually commenting on our bad journalism.
In the middle of Nabokov's "Lolita" for book club. Don't see what the fuss is all about, except for the subject matter.
Lucky enough to receive a pile of books for Christmas. I've just started Stephen King 'Doctor Sleep' and I'm really enjoying it! James Lee Burke 'Light of the world' next. That's some gooood reading!
What I got for Christmas: Aeschylus's The Oresteia, translated by Robert Fagles, the Complete Poems of Catullus (a bilingual edition), and Beowulf in the original Angle-Saxon with a glossy of all the Angle-Saxon words and their meanings in English. Yes, I am reading all three at the same time. How could I not!
Just finished Portnoy's Complaint. Wow. I never realized just how much masturbation could be in a work considered a classic. (No reason American Pie should have been so shocking.) I had a little trouble at the end, though. Really not a very likable protagonist. Now I'm onto a book called Quiverfull, then I'll read a novel for my book club. I'm really not excited about that pick, so I'm dreading it a bit. I hope I can get through that one quickly. (I am so close to having read 50 books this year -- I'm hoping I can do it. Right now I'm on #48.)
Alisdair Gray's Lanark. A modern classic comprised of four interrelated books. Rich, descriptive monologues reminiscent of Joyce or Kafka at their best. Not finished it yet but on the evidence of what I've read thus far, I'd recommend it. I'm probably slightly biased as it is partially set in my home city of Glasgow and it's refreshing for me to see places I know first hand, described in print.
I'm making my way through some of Maupassant's stories. I have a love-hate relationship with his writing to be honest. Some of the stories are really good, while some of the others I wouldn't really categorize as stories.
I'm reading 'Crime and Punishment' by Dostoyevsky. It's not as difficult as I thought I would be and pretty philosophical, which is handy as I'm studying philosophy. If anyone likes philosophy they should try it out.
Reading the Collected Ghost Stories of M.R. James. These are to be honest, corny, cheesy, and from the advantage of years very cheap and tacy horror stories, but they are still some fun and I enjoy reading them. They simply do not have any literary merit what-so-ever.
I am currently reading The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. His writing style is quite distinctive - he infuses realism with the strange, and deliberately confuses the reader with many "wtf?!" moments. There are some interesting themes involved, bits and pieces of philosophy and spiritual or supernatural elements. I'm enjoying it, but looking forward to moving on to something else soon.
I've read quite a number of books since last posting. I read the entire Riyria Revelations by Michael J. Sullivan, as well as the first and nearly all of the second of the Riyria Chronicles (still need to finish it up). I really enjoyed the world of Apeladorn and hope he continues writing novels in it. I also reread The Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch to prepare for his latest release, Republic of Thieves. I'm about 4/5 through it and have to say that Lynch is easily one of my favorite fantasy authors.
