What are you reading?

I love Red Harvest by Hammett, basis for Yojimbo and A Fistful of Dollars.

 

hello,

@Wilson Red Harvest is next.

 

Just finished War and Peace last night!

It's without a doubt the best book i've ever read. Like a secular bible in many ways due to the variety of topics and questions it covers- War, peace, life, death, youth, age, good, evil, love, hate, and so on. Its hard to explain really, it simply describes life. I think everyone should read it at least once, it's truly a beautiful experience. Although you have to slug through all the pages on Tolstoy's theories about History. They are interesting too however the fiction is so well written I think his interjections detract from the overall story. It's almost as if he didn't appreciate his own writing talents and just wanted to talk about how stupid historians are. Still, at his best he stands head and shoulders above every other writer I've come across.

I've been on a Russian novelist kick for the past year and I haven't been left disappointed yet. It's some of the more profound literature there is.

 

I will put the book on my short list.

 

To that end, maybe look out for "Life And Fate" by Vasily Grossman, which has been likened to a modern equivalent- set during the holocaust and Stalinist excesses of the second world war.

It's an amazing book, which was smuggled out of Russia by various people including Andrei Sakharov, and was only finally published after the author's death. It's an amazing tour de force, and a little-known twentieth century Russian classic. I found it completely compulsive reading (though in translation, obviously).

 

You might as well order the newest book by Ernest Kline, Andromena. You will be hooked pretty quickly.

 

I'm not a gamer and really enjoyed it. It has a bunch of 80's pop culture references, including gaming, movies, music, etc. I liked the sci fi / possibilities of a future world aspect of it more than anything else.

 

JoshMorr will do. Thanks for the tip.

Pretty much what JoshMorr said. You need not be hardcore gamer to enjoy the book although it might help to understand some references more deeply. Really entertaining read.

 

Bought these four in one go on a lark this summer. Was interested in boning up on the history of the Mediterranean basin, naval warfare, and oceangoing exploration. All by Roger Crowley, all thoroughly excellent.

Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World
1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West
City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Seas
Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire

Once I'm done with Empires of the Sea, I'll have (finally) finished the set.

 

Have you ever read the Jack Aubury/Steven Marturin tales by Patrick O'Brian? My wife bought all 20 novels for me for my thirtieth birthday and I read through them about once every three years. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, these are boys' own adventures for the thinking man/woman written in the language of Jane Austin.

 

Regrettably, I have not. Appreciate the recommendation! Yet more to add to the heap. I should certainly read more fiction. I tend to favor narrative history almost exclusively these days.

 

hello,

abandoned Red Harvest as it was getting a bit TOO dark at this point in my reality.

started these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_P.I.

which seem a bit more light hearted.

 

"The Celestial Home-care Omnibus" ...

and when I'm done with that I fully intend to embark on a proper-going-over-of ...

"53 more things to do in zero-gravity".

...

But, being serious for a moment ...

"Algorithms to Live By" and "How not to be wrong: The power of Mathematical Thinking" were entirely delightful reads ...

 

An old post from @Skyline , but reminded me of one I finished a few months back:


...One of the better JFK conspiracy books I've come across.

 

Met him once years ago (decades, of fudge!) - Asked him to write something cool on my copy of Sandman ---> "Don't Die"

Last few I can remember..

I actually found some adrenochrome from the 1940's in my grandparent's house. No I did not.


Old fav


The first 50 or so pages were some of the most lucid stream of thought stuff I have ever read...rest of the book, well..., check it. Movie does it no justice.


Just the intensity of how it was written scared the Harpo out of me!


Further!


Most beautiful book I read in years. I could/would have stopped 2/3s of the way through and it still would have shook.



On the hit list...
Jung! Can't find anything by him out here. It's literally just stumbling upon stuff by chance at the local markets; most bookstores only carry the latest and greatest.








And finally (again). I've read this 4 times already about 5 years apart, and can never remember a thing about it besides that he get's into an elevator? I'm getting worried, it actually bothers me.


Have mined a whole lot of stuff to check out from this thread. Interesting crowd here.

 

Ah the reading thread! I just finished another collection of short stories by Ali Smith- Public Library and Other Stories. I've been a fan of her short stories for quite a while, as she has a way with stream of consciousness. This collection was very readable, and I was hoping for more.

My girlfriend pointed out that Ali Smith has a way of coming off as pretentious, but I don't get that impression. I like her observations on life, particularly relationships, connections to others, and death.

For a taste of Ali Smith, here is one of my favourite stories from the collection, The Art of Elsewhere. https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/new-writing/the-art-of-elsewhere

Currently reading The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride. She has a raw, captivating style of writing that portrays the everyday with simplicity and complexity at the same time. The thought process is narrated as it occurs, as are events, without judgement, refinement or explanation. I enjoy the way McBride writes, however I have a feeling that it's a "love it or hate it" style.

Here is an excerpt of the story. And yes, the entire book is written this way... http://lithub.com/the-lesser-bohemians/