Books: Book(s) you are Currently Reading | Part II

[Papa Francouz]

Will be alone and away for the week. Packed Journey to the End of the Night (re-read from a very long time ago. Might as well say I've never read it at this point) by Celine, Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (re-read, part of my all-time favorites) and a fat collectiom by Alice Munro, who I've never read.

Just saw this. I had to read “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” by Munro for my class this quarter, and it really is a masterwork in realist fiction. Nails every aspect of that concept to a tee. It’s also a very good story with very complicated and compelling characters. It’s one of the few literary stories I wish I could read for the first time again.

 

[Thucydides]

Can’t read Tropic of Cancer straight through, want to take my time with it, so in between :

 

[Babe Ruth]

Study of (specific) American communities in decline, and their 2016 Presidential voting patterns.
Author addresses/dissects the generalizations of working class 2016 Trump voters. Even tho the book is specific to contemporary America, the cultural story is universal..
I'm about 50+ pages in, book seems fair so far. It hasn't been about demonizing Trump (or Clinton) voters, it's more about understanding diverging American subcultures..

 

[Thucydides]

 

[GB]

Really slacked off on posting here lately.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

After the trip that was Journey to the End of the Night, I decided to go the complete opposite way. I'm reading some Hemingway short stories. Talk about a contrast.

 

[Thucydides]

 

[GB]

I read There There a few weeks ago, it's a good book.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

 

[Thucydides]

I read There There a few weeks ago, it's a good book.

Just finished it. Thought it was good. Have you read Ali Smith’s Spring yet ? Saw it at the bookstore the other day but didn’t want to drop $30 on it so I’ll wait for it to come out in paperback.

 

[Thucydides]

 

[GB]

Just finished it. Thought it was good. Have you read Ali Smith’s Spring yet ? Saw it at the bookstore the other day but didn’t want to drop $30 on it so I’ll wait for it to come out in paperback.

Not yet but soon. Once I've finished Everything Flows I'm reading Giovanni's Room and then Spring.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Not yet but soon. Once I've finished Everything Flows I'm reading Giovanni's Room and then Spring.

Came so close to buying Giovanni's Room the other day. If you could, posr your thoughts.

 

[Thucydides]

This just showed up from the library today so starting it .

 

[Spring in Fialta]

This just showed up from the library today so starting it .

Let us know how you feel about it! It's very long, but I think you're a bit of a faster reader than I am.

 

[Oscar Acosta]

Cormac McCarthy - The Crossing

Fairly sure it's the only book by my 2nd favourite author I've never read yet. About finished. And I get it, it's an American journey story. And in McCarthy style also know it'll end in some horrible yet satisfying way.

I reckon it'd be a lot better if I could read Spanish. As most conversations in the novel are in that, and the paragraph explanations are vague but enough you're supposed to get the gist of it all. I don't though, and not really digging using Google Translate 7 times a page.

Truthfully, I didn't like the other 2 books of the Border Trilogy by McCarthy. Took me years to even open this one because of it, and it's what I expected it to be.

 

[Thucydides]

Let us know how you feel about it! It's very long, but I think you're a bit of a faster reader than I am.

I’m about 50 pages in, and it’s dark & depressing as hell. I don’t see it getting any lighter , but he’s such a great writer and there’s so much humanity on every page that it’s not a slog to read.

How far in was the passage you really liked on humanity ?

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I’m about 50 pages in, and it’s dark & depressing as hell. I don’t see it getting any lighter , but he’s such a great writer and there’s so much humanity on every page that it’s not a slog to read.

How far in was the passage you really liked on humanity ?

The one about the general and his niece? It's set when he's working in Africa, and the edition I have was in very small print, but it was around page 150.

 

[Chili]

Great book on a true genius.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Great book on a true genius.

Thanks for the heads up. I picked it up from a local library a couple nights ago.. good so far. I've been intermittently reading about Leonardo since I was a kid. His life story never gets old.. this book has some serious weight too.

 

[Chili]

Thanks for the heads up. I picked it up from a local library a couple nights ago.. good so far. I've been intermittently reading about Leonardo since I was a kid. His life story never gets old.. this book has some serious weight too.

Some of his findings were amazing. i.e. Through his disections he learned how a heart valve works. His work wasn't published though, so it wasn't confirmed that he was right until the 1960's, ~450 years later with probably sophisticated equipment that he didn't have.

He was always trying to learn more and found creative ways to go about that.

The book was very well researched and has a lot of Leonardo's drawings & quotes from his notebooks. I do recommend the book.

 

[Thucydides]

Some of his findings were amazing. i.e. Through his disections he learned how a heart valve works. His work wasn't published though, so it wasn't confirmed that he was right until the 1960's, ~450 years later with probably sophisticated equipment that he didn't have.

He was always trying to learn more and found creative ways to go about that.

The book was very well researched and has a lot of Leonardo's drawings & quotes from his notebooks. I do recommend the book.

Thanks for your review. I read Isaacson’s book about Ben Franklin about a month back , but found it dry in spots. I’ve heard this one and his book on Einstein are much better. Looking forward to reading it.

 

[Chili]

Thanks for your review. I read Isaacson’s book about Ben Franklin about a month back , but found it dry in spots. I’ve heard this one and his book on Einstein are much better. Looking forward to reading it.

I have had my eye on the Ben Franklin book too. I did pick up the Einstein book but haven't read it yet.

There's a lot of art references in the Leonardo book. I've never had interest in art but it was well explained and I got an appreciation for the detail that Leonardo put into his work.

 

[GB]

I saw some of Leonardo's sketches a few weeks ago, they were magnificent.

Giovanni's Room will have to wait a little while, I stumbled across this book that I've been wanting to read for years.

 

[Thucydides]

I finished Ali Smith’s Spring. It’s probably my second favourite of the series , next to Autumn. It was great, less artsy than the other two . Already looking forward to ‘Summer’.