My sis-in-law's husband recommended Alex Cross years back. I read the first and wasn't impressed. I liked the first 3-4 Reacher books, until Hollywood cast a 5'6" actor that I can't stand to portray the 6'5" Reacher. I haven't picked up a Reacher book since.
What Are You Reading?
- Thread starter TimmyBoston
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My sis-in-law's husband recommended Alex Cross years back. I read the first and wasn't impressed. I liked the first 3-4 Reacher books, until Hollywood cast a 5'6" actor that I can't stand to portray the 6'5" Reacher. I haven't picked up a Reacher book since.
For a standalone, try The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton.
Pathways of Reconciliation
The Force Of Family
Repatriation, Kinship, and Memory on Haida Gwaii
The Force Of Family
Repatriation, Kinship, and Memory on Haida Gwaii
So I'm about 2/3 of the way through this short early McCarthy novel and I have to say the protagonist Lester Ballard, is perhaps the most wretched, vile, cunning, depraved character I've ever read. Much more so than those better known McCarthy creations, Anton Chigurh of No Country for Old Men or Judge Holden of Blood Meridian. Now that is saying something my fellow book lovers. That is saying something indeed.
Followers of this thread may be aware of my penchant for Stephen King. Well here's some irony for you. The few McCarthy novels I've read are immensely more dark and horrific than any of the numerous works of SK that I've read.
This is likely due to the fact that classic SK villians like Randall Flag or Pennywise the Clown are fantasy monsters. Men like Lester Ballard have actually existed. Just think of Ernest T. Bass mixed with a necrophiliac serial killer like Ted Bundy and you've got the perfect picture.
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Pretty crazy book. I loved it.
An eye-opening and thought provoking book about the future of warfare. I know several USAF pilots that were transitioned to unmanned systems. This book showed me how much I didn’t know.
Ulysses is truthfully my favourite book I've ever read, but I tackled it in university where it was the subject of an entire course on its own with a small seminar twice a week to discuss it in depth. We had several 'companion' books that served as guides and additional points of reference as we navigated the book's 'episodes' (the professor was fond of reminding us they're not 'chapters'). It was a lot of work, but it paid off enormously. The book is incredibly funny, and certainly challenging to read. It's full of puzzles and word play, if you're into that sort of thing -- there are even sections in the book that effectively function as 'instructions' on how to read/interpret the rest of the book, but it's up to the reader to decode their meaning. Familiarity with The Odyssey, Hamlet, the bible, and Irish literature (e.g. Yeats and other Irish Revival writers, and separately, Oscar Wilde who has a near-avatar in the character of Buck Mulligan) will be particularly helpful; Irish history and the contemporary politics of the day figure prominently as well. At it's heart though, the book tells a story that is profoundly moving and 'human' in its scale, about what it means to be a father, a husband, and a member of one's community.
As an aside: I will pretty much never pass up an opportunity to geek out about Ulysses, if you've ever looking for somebody to discuss the book with. Feel free to PM me.
Thanks for the generous offer, and for "geekeing out" a bit about the book. I am facing with two main obstacles, one is the language play, puns and the general twisting the english language, my knowledge and understanding is clearly barely enough to interpret all of it. The other is the lack of deep knowledge of the greek classics and the shakespearian realm, and the unfamiliarity with the irish literature. I have small victories though, they feel way bigger for me that they are, so it's worth the struggle
Thanks for the generous offer, and for "geekeing out" a bit about the book. I am facing with two main obstacles, one is the language play, puns and the general twisting the english language, my knowledge and understanding is clearly barely enough to interpret all of it. The other is the lack of deep knowledge of the greek classics and the shakespearian realm, and the unfamiliarity with the irish literature. I have small victories though, they feel way bigger for me that they are, so it's worth the struggle
Ulysses is one of just a handful of books where using a reading guide actually makes sense. Maybe one of the options listed here might help.
I can tell you from experience that Blamires' New Bloomsday book is a particularly helpful guide in terms of situating you in the narrative and how it relates back to the corresponding episode of the Odyssey. Looks like you can pick up a used copy from online vendors at a reasonable price -- I'd recommend giving that one a shot, it's succinct and thoughtfully put together.
The "Re:Joyce" podcast series sounds intriguing and could be a cool resource as well. I actually think I might give that one a listen myself.
For the course I was taking we had both Gilbert's and Gifford's books (also mentioned in the above article), although unless you're engaged in a more 'academic' reading of Ulysses, I'm not sure they're necessary. Never used the online Joyce Project, but glancing through it, it also looks like it's really geared towards a much closer reading than I suspect you're in the mood for.
As much as anything else, Ulysses is a celebration of the lyricism and quirkiness contained within the English language (especially with an Irish cadence). It can be read like poetry in that respect, and is meant to be enjoyed. For fun, you can try listening to this recording of Joyce himself reading an excerpt from the book. There's also this recording of Joyce reading from Finnegans Wake (his last book), which is just otherworldly.
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Thanks very much for the links, I'm gonna do my research to understand Ulysses better and more deeply. I don't say I'm not enjoying it I like the challenge and the book helps me to widen my understanding of the language way deeper than I imagined. I really hoped you won't mention Finnegan's Wake, which is something that hard to describe. Tehcnically it's a book... but the content is hardly fathomable. I have tried a version translated to my tribal language but according to the translator's notice, the translated version is roughly the 30-35% of the original text, the rest is simply refused to be translated
When I finish Ulysses with the help of what you have listed above, and I feel I actually understand the most of it, I'll give Finnegan's Wake a try in it's original. Although I am truly freightened of a book that needs an Ulysses as a stepping stone When I started Ulysses the first time I though is a mess written by a confused mind of a genius. With the current attempt, I think Joyce is a genius and I am a mess...
Currently working on True Believer. Jack Carr’s Book #2 in the Terminal List series. The Terminal List was superb! And this was is very enjoyable so far as well!
I just started this one.
McCarthy. Man, that guy is good. I have not gone dark with him yet, but absolutely loved his Border Trilogy. If you like the dark novel with more real villains (not SK), I highly recommend Peter Matthiessen’s ‘Shadow Country’ trilogy starting with ‘Killing Mister Watson.’ The three books tell the same story from 3 different perspectives. Loosely based on turn of the 20th century lore set in the Everglades.
My granddaughter’s fiancé (there are words I thought I’d never type) graduates AF boot camp next month, then goes for training as a drone pilot.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
That book was the first of a series, and over the last couple of weeks, I've been working through them. I finished the fourth one tonight. I do have the next two as well, but might take a break with something else for a while. I have some Dickens and Orwell that have been patiently waiting for me to get round to them, and now seems like a good time. Here's what I'll be choosing from...
George Orwell:
The Road To Wigan Pier
Keep The Aspidistra Flying
A Clergyman's Daughter
Charles Dickens:
Hard Times
Great Expectations
The Pickwick Papers
Bleak House.
Can I interest you in some Cormac McCarthy?
I read "The Road" several years ago, one of my favorite books.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
Not until I've cleared some of the backlog
I think I've got at least 16 unread books lined up here already 
No kidding! Same with me and this thread isn’t helping.Not until I've cleared some of the backlog
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