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Post by Sphi on Sept 28, 2006 19:55:53 GMT -5
Currently reading A Clockwork Orange. I'm surprised that I'm reading something recreational at all, and it's a bonus that the book is pretty unique so far. I like trying to decipher Burgess' language.
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Post by nancy on Sept 29, 2006 22:42:21 GMT -5
Julio Cortazar's "Las armas Secretas" (The Secret Weapons), a collection of short stories I bought today. Awesome, as usual. I read another book of his last week, my friend lent it to me and it was great as well. I think I might be ready to read Rayela (Hopscotch) and NOT lose it this time...
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Post by Me on Oct 10, 2006 22:40:22 GMT -5
I'm not reading anything at the moment. Well that's a lie, I'm reading Sherlock Holmes stories for my detective fic class. It's great fun actually. It makes me want to make a banner of little dancing men.
Wicked the musical will be in L.A for a while this month. I want to go, but I'm broke because not having a job kind of sucks. That and I don't want to get lost in Los Angeles.
I'm going to see if my roommate has any McGuire books I can steal and read.
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Post by Fluffy on Oct 15, 2006 19:05:59 GMT -5
I haven't had anywhere near as much time to read as I'd like, but I have a couple of thumbs-up or thumbs-down things:
Blindness by Jose Saramago - thumb WAY up Lempriere's Dictionary by Lawrence Norfolk - wanted to say thumbs up, but no, sorry Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres - thumb sideways; it's kind of patronisingly moral, in its weird way
but the winner is:
Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban. You guys... this is like the best book I've read in years. I couldn't even begin to tell you how incredibly amazingly excellent it is, literarily and as a story. It's so gleamingly brilliant! (There's a longer explanation of this in my journal at Glenmore, if you're interested, and you should be! Especially Sphi - if you like Burgess' language, you'll dig this, plus it's such an awesome story. I mean, government by puppet show, and it only gets cooler....)
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Post by Me on Oct 24, 2006 22:34:07 GMT -5
I haven't read anything recreational in a couple of weeks now. Well I just finished Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye. I don't usually read detective fiction but it's for class. I liked the plot line, although it was a bit predictable. I have to say I really did not like the Philip Marlow character. The book didn't have any likeable characters. I think this may be the first book in a while I don't like.
I've just started on King Leopold's Ghost for my political science class. I haven't gotten too far into it so I can't say much about it. I liked the explorer Henry Morton Stanley. As a person he's just despicable, but reading about him in the book makes him seem funny. He seemed to have a lot of luck, and cunning to rise and escape sticky situations.
I bought 1776 by David McCullough. I've always wanted to read it. I haven't started yet though. I'm not sure what to expect, but I've heard good reviews.
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Calavera Diablos
Ravenclaw Alumni
Draws grown men wearing underpants outside their trousers
Posts: 1,547
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Post by Calavera Diablos on Oct 28, 2006 6:42:05 GMT -5
I read on previous pages that there is another avid Pratchett fan? I've just bought Wintersmith, part of the Tiffany Aching series.
I'm getting through Chuck Palahnuik's Haunted at a very slow pace. I'm also battling my way through The Coming Storm by Paul Russell, a highly praised novel about an elderly, gay professor at a traditional boy schools and his illicit relationship with one of his troubled students.
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Post by Fluffy on Oct 29, 2006 10:55:46 GMT -5
I like McCullough way better than Stephen Ambrose. Let me know how 1776 treats you, k Sands?
Stanley always struck me as an interfering creep, but it's true that his ingenuity and luck made him a massively popular figure among his own people - kind of an Odysseus figure. I wonder who the Odysseus is for present-day western civilisation? (Please don't say the Crocodile Hunter )
Cal, have you read any Paul Auster? I haven't, but it seems like people who dug Palahniuk really liked him too. Oo, I should look into this Paul Russell book (I try to carry as much fiction with gay characters in as possible).
I'm reading Corelli's Mandolin right now and would love to hear what Zeph thinks of it, if she's read it.... It's interesting from a historical point of view and has loads of linguistically-related jokes, though I find some of it kind of didactic
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Post by hermoine on Oct 29, 2006 11:15:09 GMT -5
I'm reading Corelli's Mandolin right now and would love to hear what Zeph thinks of it, if she's read it.... It's interesting from a historical point of view and has loads of linguistically-related jokes, though I find some of it kind of didactic Alas I haven't yet but I'm positive that my mother has so I'll scourge round the house to try and find it.
In the meantime I'm currently reading The Abortionist's Daughter by Elisabeth Hyde. It's a good read so far. Probably not as good P. J. Tracy's Want to Play? but it has its good moments, mostly because it reflects the way my beliefs seem to be changing at the moment. I must say I'm proud of myself though for being back in my book-loving mood. My reading this year has sadly been particularly poor.
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Post by Sphi on Nov 8, 2006 21:21:15 GMT -5
Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban. You guys... this is like the best book I've read in years. I couldn't even begin to tell you how incredibly amazingly excellent it is, literarily and as a story. It's so gleamingly brilliant! I'm not sure I can turn down a recommendation like that. After A Clockwork Orange, I realized how much I miss reading for fun. I'll be sure to add it to my must-read list.
Currently reading The Great Influenza, but this one's a school-assigned book. Learning about the history is interesting, but it can be a bit drawn-out at times.
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Post by hermoine on Nov 10, 2006 15:10:40 GMT -5
So I've started reading Captain Corelli's Mandolin. Am still towards the beginning I'm afraid but it's proving to be quite an interesting read actually. Plus, I'm finding perfect quotes for my English essays for Wilfred Owen's War Poems. I'll be able to comment more on it though once I finish it.
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Post by Fluffy on Nov 12, 2006 12:40:43 GMT -5
Yeah, one of the things I liked about it were the opinionated remarks about war and leadership, especially those in the Doctor's history
Will, if you liked A Clockwork Orange that much, you're going to love what Russell Hoban does with language in Riddley Walker. I haven't read The Great Influenza - besides the history-drawn-out-ness, is it good? I need to read Guns, Germs and Steel too, but it's going to be low on the reading list, I fear. So many good ones lately.
Right now I'm partway into Bard by Morgan Llewellyn, which I'm mostly reading to have a paperback handy at the laundromat (it's not terribly special, though interesting if you're into Celtic history), and about a third of the way into Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which is... weird. I'm reserving judgment until I figure out what the heck is going on.
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Post by Me on Nov 18, 2006 15:05:20 GMT -5
I'm re-reading Catch-22 because it's great.
I just finished reading Birdman for class. The end was definitely disturbing. I'll stick to me nice books from now on. Oddly enough though, I was one of the least disturbed people... I blame it on watching too much Law and Order.
My friend recommended I read Gregory Maguire's Mirror, Mirror after we talked about Machiavelli in English class. I don't remember if she had it or not...
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Sarah
Gryffindor Head of House
Posts: 2,865
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Post by Sarah on Nov 18, 2006 16:26:20 GMT -5
Greg Maguire is a marvelous author; i highly recommend ANY book of his xD Currently, i'm reading Running With Scissors by Chuck Palahniuk. it's been on my to-read list for years, but i've just discovered they're coming out with a movie version of it, and i'm OCD when it comes to reading a book before seeing the movie it was made into. O.o soo yeah also, we're about to start The Great Gatsby in english.
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Post by Fluffy on Nov 19, 2006 13:22:04 GMT -5
I think Mirror, Mirror is the only Maguire I haven't read, and that includes his long-ago almost-children's book The Dream Stealer, which is cool in kind of a Russian fairy tale way. I wonder why they haven't rereleased that? What with the musical and the sequel to Wicked and all...? But anyway, my favourite remains Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, which I would teach in combination with Girl with a Pearl Earring if I were a lit professor.
I still haven't read any Palahniuk (don't smack me, Calavera), or Irvine Welsh, or even William Burroughs. I keep meaning to, but then other stuff comes up (such as the suspiciously book-shaped packages Hart thinks I haven't noticed yet).
Still trundling along through Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It's good, but boy, I'm still hard pressed to think of a theme; it kind of goes all over the place. There's a lot of humour, slightly-variant historical fiction, a bit about how much it stunk to be a Black man in England in the early 19th century, some interestingly Ravenclawy bits about books, and footnotes worthy of comparison to William Golding's parentheticals in The Princess Bride, but yeah - no central issues are really taking the spotlight
OK, can I just insert an aside here wondering how in heck Laurie King's books got so popular? I mean, sure, they have some cool research behind them and the characters are interesting, and everyone loves a little Sherlock Holmes, but dude, the Mary Russell books are so Mary Jane fanfic
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Post by superstitious13 on Nov 20, 2006 21:31:30 GMT -5
Wicked and Son of a Witch. LOVE. I accidentally read Son of a Witch before Wicked and so now I'm finishing up Wicked. I love them both.
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