What Are You Reading?

[noodles hovar]

The Untouchables by Eliot Ness

 

[The Knize]

Moby Dick is now done.

So what do you think? Is it really the great American novel?

I have put the notion of tackling Ulysses right out of my head.

I bought an audio version of an Irish actress reading the Molly Bloom soliloquy in what is supposed to be a definitive version. I find I cannot get through even that, which I feel sad about. Parts of it are so good:

"I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish Wall and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my . . . all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes."

But overall it reminds me of girlfriends who simply talked too much about too little for my tastes. And, ironically given that, I get the feeling that Joyce did not understand women all that well--not that I do. I get the feeling that some of what Molly says is not what a real woman would ever say or think.

Again, it seems sad. I would like to be able to say that I have read Ulysses and got a lot out of it.

 

[beginish]

So what do you think? Is it really the great American novel?

So I don’t think I can judge that. My reading took months and shouldn’t have taken more than a couple of weeks under normal circumstances. There were runs of it, especially in the beginning on Nantucket when I was more engaged and I was gobsmacked. It was that good. Then covid set in and I’d do a snatch here and there, without getting into the flow. I did the last 100 pages in one straight multihour run and it was great. A real page turner. I’ll take another read in the future when things are normal and see where I come down on it.

 

[The Knize]

Thanks, beginish. I remember reading it in high school in an abridged version and thinking even it that version there was too much about the specifics of whaling and other things that took away from the story. But it does have a heck of a reputation as an important novel.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Thanks, beginish. I remember reading it in high school in an abridged version and thinking even it that version there was too much about the specifics of whaling and other things that took away from the story. But it does have a heck of a reputation as an important novel.

I am the opposite. For me, the specifics built a picture of the type of man needed to do such a difficult job. I am a weirdo, though.

 

[craigq]

Reading two right now, a sci-fi novella and non-fiction:
All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries Book #1) - Martha Wells
Barbarians at the Gate - Fall of RJR Nabisco - Bryan Burrough and John Helyar

I'm a big fan of science fiction, and stories from Wall Street. 2nd time reading All Systems Red, going to go through the series as I just bought the latest entry and wanted a re-cap. Barbarians at the Gate reiterates for me that all CEOs are pscyho-sociopaths, interesting so far.

 

[RSC]

Quichotte, by Salman Rushdie.

 

[The Knize]

I am the opposite. For me, the specifics built a picture of the type of man needed to do such a difficult job. I am a weirdo, though.

I doubt that you are the weirdo. This is a highly thought of novel. And no reason to to think my impressions as a barely adolescent boy based on an abridged version should be given credence!

Barbarians at the Gate - Fall of RJR Nabisco - Bryan Burrough and John Helyar

Great book about a great story. I remember reading the series in the WSJ soon after all that happened and the book was even better. If it were a work of fiction, people would not believe it.

 

[fella]

Old Flames - John Lawton


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[shoelessjoe]

Just started reading, Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds

 

[craigq]

I've been going back through this thread (not the whole thing). You guys do some deep/heavy reading. Eeeek.

 

[Ravenonrock]

Just finished reading ISHMAEL An Adventure Of The Mind And Spirit.
-With man gone, will there be hope for gorilla?
Timing is everything and this book came at just the right time for me. Oh, the humanity.

 

[Brompton]

Want some light summer reading? This one is great. I'm almost finished.

The history of Action Park, NJ.

Home | Action Park Book

www.actionparkbook.com

 

[njpaddy]

Want some light summer reading? This one is great. I'm almost finished.
The history of Action Park, NJ.

I have to pick that one up. I remember the stories from back then. My teen daughter in the 1980s once asked us to take her there. My wife and I looked at each other, laughed, and not so politely, told her that there was no way in hell. We took her to Great Adventure twice in the 80s and hated that park. As a concession to our two daughters in the 90s, we would drive several hours to Knobles in PA. It was a nice relaxing family park. We'd make it a 2-3 day trip and get connecting hotel rooms nearby, one for us and one for our daughters or friends they would bring. They loved it. They got to go on rides, eat in restaurants and sleep in their "own" hotel room. No complaints from the kids, and no packs of mental-defects roaming the park and ruining it for us adults.

 

[Ravenonrock]

ZEN And The Art Of Happiness

 

[njpaddy]

My new book that came in the mail today brings "light" reading to a new low: Guy N. Smith's KILLER CRABS: THE RETURN, the 7th book in the in the Killer Crab series from the 1980's. Junk food for the brain. At the top of my bookshelf, where no one can reach, are my paperback Brit/Aussie and other horror nasties from the 1980s. No thinking required because most characters don't live beyond a page or two. Besides the original 6 Killer Crab books, one will find such mindless classics as The Fungus, Carnosaur, Death Spores, Worm, Panzer Spirit (a Nazi tank made of elven metal comes back to life), Blizzard (it snows, doesn't stop, everyone dies), The Wolfen (movie sucked, book was great) and other mindless classics.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Badger and Blade at the moment. I do read often and different sorts of books but I would say Hemingway is my favorite writer. Jim Harrison is another superb writer. I have a degree in English Lit so I’ve read many I didn’t like at all.

Steve, if you were thinking of someone like me reading a Hemingway book or two at the beach what might you recommend.

I've read a fair number of his short stories and at least one or two of the novels but I'm not sure which ones. The man can write!

Visiting the Hemingway house in Key West is one of my favorite vacation memories. If you've not been there, it's a small house on a small estate in a small city. It's bite sized and exactly right for a lazy vacation afternoon. It's also precisely where I'd like to live one day when I'm rich and famous.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Firstly: The D.J. Molles Hardin Series. Great second series to his Survivor books!
Second: After hitting the end of my pile, and trade offs at work getting scarce, I needed books! But, all this locked down world has any and all thrift shops, book shops, and anything where I can find books closed. So I decided to give the E-Reader a whirl. So far so good. I went with the Amazon Paperwhite. I had a bunch of books I wanted to buy, but after comparing the cost to the Kindle cost, WoW! None of my books were under 15$, but none of the Kindle versions were over 3$! Some were even free. So Basically, after the cost of the reader, I have enough reading for at least 6 or 7 months, all for the cost of a book and a half. The real benefit is, is that as soon as I click buy, there's no mail to wait for, the book is already in my reader, on my desk, ready to go!

I'm puzzled.

I have a Kindle Paperwhite, but most of the Kindle books I've purchased and read have certainly not been under $3. Many have been over $10. The few $3 books I've tried were terrible and the reviews were written by the author's dotting mom.

That said, there are a great many Kindle books available free or at very inexpensive prices if you're looking for old books no longer protected by copyrights.

What are you reading that's under $3?

Thanks and happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Merle]

I hate to admit. I'm caught well and truly by a 'pulp novelist' Clive Cussler's 'Sam & Remi Fargo' Adventures. I've been gulping these down over the past week or two and currently starting the eighth novel "The Solomon Curse."

 

[craigq]

Still trucking along with the RJR Nabisco fiasco, and on novella #2 of the Murderbot Diaries, Artificial Condition.