wrathofkublakhan

Well, thanks to this thread, I'm suddenly all sensitive about it. My current book, The Privilege of the Sword has the main character in first person and the other three characters in third person (meaning one chapter will all be I, the next will all be he or she). And ... it pretty much blows. I'll I care about are the I chapters and I'm impatient with the he/she chapters.

I just finished Literacy and Longing in L.A. by Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack This is "a novel" that is set in West L.A., which means valet parking, movie industry people and occasionally book snobs. The story part of the book is about a recently separated woman who is struggling with the decision of divorce, struggling with direction and all those mid-life crisis issues. The appeal, for me, of this book is that she is a reader. A big time reader, the entire book is shaped around literature, reading, books and bookstores. Each chapter begins with a quote about reading, the story is laced with anecdotes of Twain, Dorothy Parker, Dr. Seuss and oh-so-many more. It's delightful. We read her take on book clubs, different genres, types of readers and even a break-down of the types of people who work in bookstores. For anyone who's taken refuge in a book, picked an author to reflect one's mood or joined a book club forum: this is a fine little story. Currently in process: The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner Next On The Pile: Bangkok 8 by John Burdett The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren WeisbergerThe Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri The 'person of dubious parentage' by John Jakes Dracula by Bram Stoker (Comparative Reading Circle) Carmilla by J. Sheridan LeFanu (Comparative Reading Circle) Recently Finished: Literacy and Longing in L.A. by Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack Lady Chatterley's Lover by DH Lawrence (July Reading Circle) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya The Nymphos of Rocky Flats by Mario Acevedo Maximum Ride - The Angel Experiment by James Patterson Maximum Ride - School's Out Forever by James Patterson Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich

King Rat by James Clavell It's about a WWII prison camp. Yeah, it was disturbing - I dreamed about this book while reading it. A very good book that I'll never read again. My experience was that I got used to the environment while reading it, almost immune - and so was doubly disturbed when the camp is freed and shocked at the conditions they were living in. The personal dynamics are brilliant to which I almost felt I could apply "prison camp dynamics" to my "small college faculty dynamics" -- wotta book! Wotta disturbing book!

This forum has a section on "specific books" and another section on "reviews" take some time to glance over them ~ maybe, just maybe you'll find one that you like.

Rex Stout wrote his Nero Wolfe series over a long period of time - the first books take place in Manhattan. I'm not sure if they were exactly in the roaring twenties, I do know a dollar went a long way in those early books. His first Nero book was published in 1934. Good stuff.

I've bought and read many a book just on it's title alone, currently: Literacy and Longing in L.A. (catchy, eh?) My first thought was that it was a riff on Fear and Loathing ....

Maybe it's a good rut ~ who are you reading?

I just finished the book with a mad 75 page dash to the end, simply could not / would not put it down. I had to know how it'd turn out. What a splendid read! To the very end I could not be sure how it would end or what shape the end of the story might take. Some of the predictions in my beginning posts came true, some did not - it was a very good reading experience. I'm sure many of us will have critiques and comments on the story and I'll be ready to chime in as people finish up their own journey.

Currently in process: Lady Chatterley's Lover by DH Lawrence (July Reading Circle)(Page 192 of 326) One of the best, most wonderful, things about joining this forum is that I've learned that it's perfectly alright to add to a book pile before finishing all the books yet to be read. What a feeling of freedom! I also bought two CDs: Oh Yeah by Charles Mingus and Ballet: Greatest Hits. I've worked a few ballets and I was recently inspired by . Recent Additions to My List a.k.a. "The Pile": The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner Literacy and Longing in L.A. by Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack Bangkok 8 by John Burdett The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger Next Five On The Pile: The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri The 'person of dubious parentage' by John Jakes Dracula by Bram Stoker (Comparative Reading Circle) Carmilla by J. Sheridan LeFanu (Comparative Reading Circle) Recently Finished: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya The Nymphos of Rocky Flats by Mario Acevedo Maximum Ride - The Angel Experiment by James Patterson Maximum Ride - School's Out Forever by James Patterson Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich

How about Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis?

After just finishing The Kite Runner and now about half-way through LCL; it strikes me how authors who've main characters who are writers, really paint these characters in an unflattering light. I wonder what is going on in their heads because I might think that a writer character would be a projection, of sorts, of the author. Look at Mr. DH, belittling poor Clifford for writing and detailing about characters and their relationships ~ which really is exactly what Mr. DH is doing even as I read the book. (pardon the spoiler, its just ramblings)

It'll probably be vilified by this forum but some pornography is written in the second person* *At least, that's what someone told me ~ of course, I'd never venture into that arena.

I think the first person point of view is a literary convention that works very well when appropriate. Flowers for Algernon is a great example. What comes to my mind is the funky detective novels! The street-wise PI with all the trimmings, "she walked into my life like a dog pissing on her territory." I think when the bulk of the story is character driven, that's when first person works so well. I suppose I mean unusual character driven, knowing how the main person thinks is as important as the events taking place.

Oblomov, I think you stumped the panel!

I bought Back to Basics by Christina Aguilera and finally listened to it. Sigh, it's just not my cup of tea. I saw her on the NBA All-Star half time and thought she did some pretty good tunes but I guess it was not representative of her milieu.

As far as the Harry Potter books go: my reading world was not nearly as dark as the movies. I tend to want the level of description to just be enough to drive the story forward, I don't want to get bogged down too much with descriptions of a manor unless it's a really different manor. I can imagine a manor, hut, forest, horse, river without needing buckets of words. I'll contradict myself by saying I love descriptions of food! I think those descriptions really serve to prove just how different some locale is from my own and how unique my hero's experience is in the story.

That's an interesting observation - I'll tune my reader's eye to see if I notice that as well. The things that make me pause while reading are the broad assumptions, almost saying "and that is how women are" or "that is what men think". I'll blink and wonder, wow - that's a big leap from whatever was the prior line. If you follow Uncle Wrath's postings, you'd know I jump on tangents quite a bit -- I'd prefer to think it's the product of a keen mind rather than distracted by "ohhhh, bright, shiny!" My current tangents from reading this book is that I am beginning to wonder about the discussions of the men while Connie is in the room - that it takes a certain feeling of privilege to candidly discuss intimate details with such cardboard candor and to not treasure things that are commonly weighty; like sex with another partner. The other tangent that I might explore is the brief discussion about things industrial because I think the period that the book is written in the world is still reeling from the impact of factories to the extent that there were art movements based just on that. So, the context which some of these statements and assumptions may need to be understood in the time of writing. I dunno, I'll look into it - stuff like that makes the book just a little more enjoyable.

When the "mood strikes me", I'll finally manage Far From The Madding Crowd - I know exactly where it is sitting on my shelf. Someday, I promise! My reading moods tend to be more like, "I want a book just like ---- -----." For example, I completely enjoyed One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. What I want is another Cuckoo's Nest! THAT is what I'm in the mood for: we know it doesn't exist, it was a unique adventure. Sometimes the only choice is to re-read the book again - I could make a list of books I've re-read several times. Sometimes I can count on an author - I'm in the mood for Rex Stout or Terry Pratchett or Louis L'Amour, where I can depend on a certain reading experience. I also know I can depend on "mood safety" way too much by going back to my sure authors over and over again: which is one reason I am right here, right now: checking the book club forum posts for new directions.

I've read the first four chapters now and I have to say Mr. DH is very "wordy", the discussions by the men almost feel like satire though I think our author is gently mocking the culture as much as allowing the characters to make a point. New to me euphemisms are just great, I chuckled at the choice of "crisis", for example. Now I giggle at news flashes on the television, "Crisis in Hollywood!" Ever since George said, "I have to go the euphemism" in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - I've cherished each and every example I come across in literature.

Here's the cover of mine - I think it's great there are so many different versions!

Wow, I'd love to see your collection. Tell us more! I only have four Bibles (hardly a collection) - a Revised Standard, a wide-margin King James Version*, a Scofield Study Bible with insane cross-referencing and a kid's version I got when I was a kid; it has cartoony pictures of Jesus and lambs and other odd bits; quite fun to peek at many many years later. I've seen some old family Bibles that trace family and births through generations that are incredible. *It's my main one, it somehow seems to fall open to the verse I'm looking for.

First Impressions: I just finished the first two chapters and I am enchanted by the writing style, the descriptions of how people are is very fun. My copy has plenty of words emphasized by "quotes" and even some CAPS, which is uncommon today and pretty ...er ... quaint. Also my copy must be a text book since it has a huge opening section (which I skipped) and a huge introduction (which I skipped) and a lot of footnotes, explanations of unique words (bath-chair, for example) - I don't mind this at all. I have no idea what happens in the book (yay-oh-yay) but my cover has a naked woman in a bed looking ... uh ... relaxed, with a man getting dressed in a white shirt as he looks at her. I'll take a picture later, maybe we can compare covers. Or ... between the sheets, lol. (sorry all)

Fair question. I'm not sure yet ~ our hero was a self-centered coward who mocked and then stood by while his faithful friend endured some trauma. He lives with his shame his entire life, slowly over three phases does he feel the burden lift; all the while being no more successful at being a good man. Maybe a hint at a redeemed man in the very last paragraph. There is no denying that it is a powerful book and, perhaps, an important book. But I wonder if we, as readers, would be as forgiving if taken out of the context of the place and time. How many sympathy points are given due to the reality and current horrors existing in that arena right now? This is what I meant by a rough ride ~ it is a story taking place in a very shitty part of the world right now; the closed minds and the prejudices of the Baba and the old times are better than the brutality of Assef and the Taliban. But even so, both worlds pretty much suck. The bitterness of his wife about the dual standards for men and women hit all the harder. So much pride that a General refuses to work and prefers to strut about the flea market making sure that a standard is maintained. Those poor abused little boys.... It's a powerful book and, perhaps, an important book ~ certainly hard to take on an emotional level, painful to read in almost every aspect, terribly sad in a very real sense - I guess ultimately I won't know if I liked it: but I can be glad I read it and proud that I finished it.

Right on, Kell - thanks for naming the book that I've actually read by King. It's been a struggle, someone gave me The Stand many years ago - dog-eared and obviously cherished, I quit half-way through. I've always felt a little shame quitting on that book, but I just couldn't bear the burden anymore of having to love it. I read the first of the Dark Tower series (Gunslinger, right?) and sorta felt ho-hum. The collection that Kell mentions was very good and I enjoyed them all, even though a little creeped out at The Apt Pupil. I also read a book called The Colorado Kid, which had an awesome vintage cover. It's hard for me to discuss my feelings about that book. King tells us that he won't give us the solution to the mystery - which could come across as rather arrogant and hint that he felt it was merely an exercise in story-telling. There is an old adage, "a comp exercise shouldn't make it to the stage", and if his publisher is taking stuff he's just fooling around with: I feel suckered. I like his writing style, it's almost conversational and not "a novel" at all. Someday I'll come across some of his books that I like, so far it's been the short stories in the collection that Kell mentioned - and that, seems to be that.

I'm with ya on that one, Stiggy. Jimi Hendrix was at his best on Electric Ladyland, I had that sucker on vinyl way back when it came out -- scared the pee out of my parents when they heard, "....and the God's made love"