[Noll's 2010 Reading List]

I finally finished Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell!! After several months of reading it on and off, I flew through the last 250 pages recently and must say it's definitely one of my all time favourite books. Absolutely fantastic. And I definitely want to buy a proper copy/set of the book/volumes. Mine is the red paperback, and it's secondhand, so it's pretty beaten up - perfect for reading a 1000 page book but I'd like a pretty copy for display purposes (I'm such a loser). I'm thinking of buying the boxset of the three individual black/red/white volumes.

... aaand this gets a further bump up the wishlist I too am a loser by the way, and join you in coveting the pretty three-volume box-set.

[Your Book Activity Today - Thread 11]

I was in Forbidden Planet with OH on Saturday to choose me some belate birthday presents but, as the half an hour we stayed in there was not nearly sufficient for me to make my mind up, I was back bright and early this morning when they opened with a voucher in my hand after a good hour's browsing, I emerged carrying:

 

Stephen Brust, The Phoenix Guards

Charles de Lint, The Blue Girl

Ursula K. LeGuin, Lavinia

 

... now. Choices, choices, choices!

[When do you give up on a book?]

Aw of course not Pixie; in fact, I am flattered I could even PM you a little list myself if you like?

[Have you ever missed the message of a book?]

But sometimes I think that people are over-analyzing things when there may be no hidden message.

Did somebody say my name ? Seriously though, I wish it was something I could turn off at will, as I know full well that not every book requires the same level of analysis - but alas, my brain does it automatically whether I ask it to or not. Close Reading ruined me !

[Have you ever missed the message of a book?]

Put in spoiler tags just for you, Noll LOTR and Narnia

were actually the result of a bet of sorts between Tolkien and Lewis to see who could write the best Christian parable in fantasy form!

[Required Reading in School]

To be quite honest, I don't know what kind of reader I'd be if it wasn't for my own inclination and my family's encouragement.

 

In middle school most of the Italian books we were set were dire, as the interesting stuff (such as Ariosto's genius epic poem Orlando Furioso) was considered difficult and only read in extract form; while for English we were usually asked to read heavily simplified - urgh! - versions of the classics.

 

In high school, the Italian books we read in full continued to be mostly dire thanks to a particularly uninspired and uninspiring professor, and the English curriculum was simply laughable (particularly for a modern languages prep schoool!): I remember we spent 6 months on Shakespeare and only got through what was on our book, i.e. two speeches from Hamlet, two from Macbeth, and all of three Sonnets I let you imagine how behind I was when I went to the UK to read English Lit.

[When do you give up on a book?]

I certainly don't feel guilty abandoning books I'm not enjoying at all (I learnt my lesson after trawling through the bajillion pages of Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant only to discover that no, it didn't get better).

 

I love good solid characters, poetic language and interesting philosophical themes, ideally all together but I will continue reading a plainly written book if I care for the characters and the themes intrigue me (i.e. Daniel Water's Generation dea) and so on.

 

I guess if all three of the above are completely lacking, the book's toast. I am pretty good at judging whether I'll like a book or not before committing to it, so this happens rarely.

[Have you ever missed the message of a book?]

Ditto everything Noll said about Norwegian Wood - what was all that about? While there's books which, like NW, I have failed to see any point in, I can't actually remember any book where I thought the message was A and in fact it turned out to be B.

[Bookmarks!]

Ooooh, pretty cornery things! How does one make them, you clever Kell?

[How many books do you read at once?]

I don't think this 'one book at a time' malarkey is working for me; once a book polygamist, always a book polygamist I fear *goes back to bad old ways*!

[King Lear by William Shakespeare]

Kidsmum - it's fascinating how the same words can arouse such different feelings in people ! Although I'm both jealous and insecure, I've never sympathised with Othello (that saint of his wife never gave him a reason to doubt her, so it was his own fault he allowed Iago's words to get to him, IMHO), whereas I never fail to cry at Lear loss of daughters, status and sanity, selfishly obtuse though he can be.

 

Fruska - you love Shakespeare? Looks like we have something in common, then !

 

Lol Giulia, that clip is brilliant! And thanks for the recommendation. I will definitely be looking for that DVD!

Hehe isn't Sir Ian marvellous *builds shrine*?

[Computer printout of book before the release]

Now - I don't know whether the book itself is worth much, but considering that uncorrected proof / advance reading copies are rarer hence more valuable than the first editions you find in bookstores, I would expect a legit pre-publication printout to be even rarer hence even more valuable. The value we're talking here might not be anything major though, considering the book's quite recent and all.

[King Lear by William Shakespeare]

Admittedly, it's not the quickest starter and some bits (particularly the dialogue of the Fool, Edgar as Poor Tom and Lear's ramblings right before the end) are quite difficult to understand; this isn't one I fell in love with overnight like I did with Antony and Cleopatra, which I read in three hours flat barely glancing at the notes.

 

BUT, there's so much of worth in this play for those willing to soldier on! Elements such the touchingly misplaced fatherly affection of Lear & Gloucester and Edmund's superb villainy - he's an even better baddie than Iago, in my opinion, his 'Why b*stard, wherefore base?' speech is pure genius - alone justifying getting to the end with tears streaming down one's face *sob*.

 

ETA: Andrea, I heartily recommend the RSC DVD to you. Ian McKellen can bring the instructions for changing a flat tire to life (and here, from 2.10' onwards, is

to back up this claim), so just imagine what he can do to Shakespeare!

[King Lear by William Shakespeare]

Sorry to hear that, Kidsmum any particular reason you didn't like it?

[Stephen King]

That all depends on your definition of scary are you looking for psychological horror, a nice gorefest or something in between?

[King Lear by William Shakespeare]

One of my favourite of Billie's, this 'un so much so that, mad as I am, I chose to do a scholarly edition of the last 60 lines for a 'Working with Early Modern Texts' essay last year. Not one of the easiest plays IMHO - so you can be proud of yourself, Janet - but definitely one of the most rewarding.

 

I remember our Global/Local Shakespeares professor showed us the RSC version with Ian McKellen at the end of the term, it's funny 'cos she intended to demonstrate just how dogmatic the RSC is when compared to funky interpretations influenced by postcolonial theory... except, the postcolonial interpretations had been all funkily dire and we ended up almost crying with joy upon hearing McKellen's majestic voice speaking the lines properly .

 

Have a nice theatre trip, do let us know whether it was any good !

[Sci-Fi or Fantasy???]

The philosopher in me is attracted by the conceits of science fiction, though I would like to point out that if one thinks fantasy isn't about Ideas too, one simply hasn't been reading the right kind of fantasy.

 

But the poet, the storyteller, the scholar and the dreamer in me - which beat the philosopher 4 to 1 - are primarily fantasy readers. Sure there can be clich

[Did anyone encourage you to read]

My Mum, Dad and older sister are all avid readers, so the way I've turned out is hardly surprising my Mum in particular always read to me (way after the socially acceptable age I'm happy to say, down with propriety and go quality time) and took me and my sis on regular outings to the library - going to the bookstore to browse for hours was the biggest treat ever, it's still something we still do as a family when the occasion arises in fact, synchronising watches and all .

[What vexes you?]

Amen Pixie I've spent so much time, energy and money sending back mis-described books that any saving I might have made in the first place vanished entirely up its own rabbit hole...!

[time for some fiction!]

Marvellous in which case, may I heartily recommend for starters:

 

- Keith Miller, The Book of Flying, about a librarian of books only he reads who goes on a journey to acquire wings so that he may win the heart of a winged girl

 

- Carl-Johan Vallgren, The Horrific Sufferings of Mind-Reading Monster Hercules Barefoot, His Wonderful Love and His Terrible Hatred (the plot's in the title )

 

If you're looking for heart-wrenching stories where beauty and horror are spoken of in stunning language, these are for you.

[time for some fiction!]

A question before I start suggesting half a million titles - as long as they feature emotional, heartbreaking journeys, can the books be speculative fiction (i.e. fantasy & science fiction) or do you like your books more or less realistic?

[Your Book Activity Today - Thread 11]

Indeed it does Chrissy, indeed it does .

[Books With Exotic Adventures]

Emilio Salgari is your man. Most of his series (including my favourite, The Black Corsair) have sadly not been entirely translated into English, however you should be able to find all of his Sandokan books on Amazon - they tell of noble, swashbuckling pirates vs. imperialism in India, all with such luscious, feel-like-you're-there description you'd never believe poor Emilio never set a foot out of Italy.

[Sci-Fi / Fantasy with architects in it?]

My sis is an architect - she asks whether anyone knows of any good Science Fiction or Fantasy with her kind in it? She thanks you all in advance for your fabolous suggestions !

[What do you collect?]

I'm a bit of a hoarder of everything and anything, but my main pusuits are signed & dedicated first and / or limited edition books and Beatles merch I used to be a pretty avid coin collector as a child, I still have a folderful thereof gathering dust in a drawer at my parents' house !