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Himself

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    Himself's 2011 - And Beyond - Reading Log

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Sat down a finished up a few books I'd been working on recently (Death of Ivan Ilyich, Portnoy's Complaint, and King Lear). Will get some reviews up soon. Started Contact, by Carl Sagan. I also took to making my priority list for my coming reads, in no particular order:

     

    Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess

    Catch-22, Joseph Heller

    Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce

    The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner

    Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky

    Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon

    Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro

    Zeitoun, Dave Eggers

    The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon

     

    Hopefully I'll be able to work through these pretty quickly. So much great stuff to read, can't wait to dig in. Any recommendations on where to go first would are very welcome.

    Himself's 2011 - And Beyond - Reading Log

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Point Omega, by Don Delillo

     

    Synopsis:

     

    In the middle of a desert ‘somewhere south of nowhere’, to a forlorn house made of metal and clapboard, a secret war adviser has gone in search of space and time. Richard Elster, seventy-three, was a scholar – an outsider – when he was called to a meeting with government war planners. For two years he tried to make intellectual sense of the troop deployments, counterinsurgency, orders for rendition. He was to map the reality these men were trying to create.

     

    At the end of his service, Elster retreats to the desert, where he is joined by a young filmmaker intent on documenting his experience. Jim Finley wants to make a one-take film, Elster its single character – ‘Just a man against a wall.’

     

    The two men sit on the deck, drinking and talking. Finley makes the case for his film. Weeks go by. And then Elster’s daughter Jessie visits – an ‘otherworldly’ woman from New York – who dramatically alters the dynamic of the story. When a devastating event follows, all the men’s talk, the accumulated meaning of conversation and isolation, is thrown into question. What is left is loss, fierce and incomprehensible.

     

    Review:

     

    Another first experience with an author. Based on this book alone I like Delillo's style. The conversations between Elster and Finley are exceptionally crafted. Elster's probing thoughts on war and life are, at the very least, interest, and, at their best, mind boggling. Delillo manages to expertly twist seemingly banal situations into insights into the feelings and thoughts of his characters, and, by extension, forces the reader to ponder those same issues.

     

    This quotation from near the beginning of the book is highly applicable: "The less there was to see, the harder he looked, the more he saw."

     

    4/5

    Himself's 2011 - And Beyond - Reading Log

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Did you happen to watch the BBC4 (I think?) showing of this over the Christmas period? I've not read this book, although I have read the Hitchhikers books. I enjoyed it and thought the lead character was excellent (and the supporting cast too, come to that) but I've no idea if it was good in terms of the book?

     

    I have not watched it yet, but my friend says that there are a couple major plot differences. I know it starred Stephen Mangan, and he's great. I have it recorded, hopefully I will be able to get to it this weekend.

    Himself's 2011 - And Beyond - Reading Log

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    I have both of these books on my TBR list and I've been putting of reading them forever. Perhaps I should put them even further back... I want to read some classics but sometimes I get the feel that they are overrated.

     

    If you are going to read classics I would not go with one of those. Time Machine is still worth a read, though, and it is very short. My favourite author from the late 19th century and turn of the century period is Joseph Conrad. Give him a try.

     

    You have some awesome books on your list, please let me know what you think of the Ray Bradbury once! I've been wanting to read the forever but had not had the time nor resources t buy them.

     

    Will do. I think I am going to read a classic or two next, but I will prioritise him on my sci-fi list.

     

    I am gonna but The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins though cause I've been wanting that one forever.

     

    I loved the Count of Monte Cristo, you should really read that one!

     

    I hope you have a great year of reading!!

     

    Thanks, you too!

    Himself's 2011 - And Beyond - Reading Log

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy

     

    This is the first Cormac McCarthy book I have read. I found his style a little difficult at first, but eventually I got the hang of it and began to really enjoy read it. Much of the action - and the book is almost entirely action - is extremely concisely written and I often found myself having to read entire passages more than once to really get what was happening. I also had to reread many and much of the soliloquys of the character judge.

     

    This book is violent. Easily the most violent book I have read. Fortunately McCarthy does a truly excellent job with the - many - violent scenes, so there is no feeling of gimmick. It is comparable to a Peckinpah film, in terms of shear gore.

     

    I want to go back and read this again at some point.

     

    4/5

    100 books

    in General Book Discussions

    Posted

    1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

    2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien

    3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

    4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling

    5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

    6 The Bible -

    7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

    8 1984 - George Orwell

    9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

    10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

    11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

    12 Tess of the D�Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

    13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

    14 Complete Works of Shakespeare

    15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

    16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

    17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk

    18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

    19 The Time Traveller�s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

    20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

    21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

    22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

    23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens

    24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

    25 The Hitchhiker�s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

    26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

    27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

    28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

    29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

    30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

    31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

    32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

    33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

    34 Emma - Jane Austen

    35 Persuasion - Jane Austen-

    36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis

    37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini -

    38 Captain Corelli�s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

    39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

    40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne

    41 Animal Farm - George Orwell -

    42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

    43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

    44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

    45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

    46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery -

    47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy-

    48 The Handmaid�s Tale - Margaret Atwood

    49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding

    50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

    51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

    52 Dune - Frank Herbert

    53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

    54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

    55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth -

    56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

    57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens-

    58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

    59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

    60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez-

    61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

    62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov-

    63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt

    64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

    65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

    66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac-

    67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

    68 Bridget Jones�s Diary - Helen Fielding

    69 Midnight�s Children - Salman Rushdie

    70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

    71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

    72 Dracula - Bram Stoker-

    73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

    74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

    75 Ulysses - James Joyce

    76 The Inferno - Dante-

    77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

    78 Germinal - Emile Zola

    79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray -

    80 Possession - AS Byatt -

    81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

    82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

    83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

    84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

    85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

    86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry -

    87 Charlotte�s Web - EB White

    88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

    89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton -

    91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

    92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

    93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

    94 Watership Down - Richard Adams

    95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

    96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

    97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

    98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

    99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

    100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

     

    20

    Ben's Reading 2011

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Ah sounds like it's written perfectly; Stephen Fry always comes across as an honest and genuine person, so it's nice to see that it's reflected in his writing. I can't wait to get through this and then make a start on The Fry Chronicles as well. Interestingly I've got that one on audiobook as well. As Fry is always a pleasure to listen to, I have some options there. Happy reading to you too. (:

     

     

    Fry's voice is like the audio equivalent of pouring melted chocolate into one's ear. Pure euphony.

    Himself's 2011 - And Beyond - Reading Log

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Hey Himself, I have Douglas' Hitchhiker series on my to-be-read list. As you've given Dirk gentley's Holistic Detective Agency a 4/5 and say his other stuff is better, I'm guessing you'd recommend me pushing them up the list a little?

     

    The Hitchhiker's Guide is a great series, and the individual books are very quick reads. I'd recommend you give them a read whenever you get the chance.

    Himself's 2011 - And Beyond - Reading Log

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted · Edited by Himself

    Reviews at light speed:

     

    Dirk gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Douglas Adams

     

    Very funny, though not as funny as the Hitchhiker's series, though I enjoyed the references, idea, and stories much more. Give it a read

     

    4/5

     

    The Time Machine, H. G. Wells

     

    Long rambling, exceptionally formal sentences. The style of the era, I suppose. Decent sci-fi jaunt across time.

     

    3/5

     

    Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut

     

    My first experience with Vonnegut; I thoroughly enjoyed it. Vonnegut is extremely witty and deeply sardonic the whole way through.

     

    4/5

     

    Around the World in 80 Days, Jules Verne

     

    Similar in style to Wells' Time Traveller. Enthralling enough, but lacking in...something.

     

    3/5

     

    Just updated my TBR pile, added my actual books to the list. 220 books, I'm intimidated.

    Vodkafan's 2010 reading log

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Oh I hadn't noticed that Himself, thanks! I have had a small joy already tonight. I found a link on Amazon to a free e-book site called project gutenberg (or similar) and was happy to find a Jack Vance novel that I have never read, plus many more interesting old novels.

     

    Projectgutenberg is amazing. A large portion of my e-TBR pile can be traced back to there.

    Vodkafan's 2010 reading log

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    I wouldn't like that, when I start a new book I always look to see how many pages it has so I know where the halfway mark is :)

     

    Well, you do get a % reading on the bottom of the screen, so you always know where you are, it just won't be as tactile a representation as you would get with a physical book.

    Himself's 2011 - And Beyond - Reading Log

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl

     

    Let me begin by saying how extremely impressed I am, not only with the book, but with its author. Viktor Frankl was a holocaust survivor who lived through the horrors of Auschwitz and Dachau, as, essentially, a slave labourer and, at times, a doctor. This makes the very objective, yet utterly heartfelt, analysis of the psychology of the holocaust prisoner all the more amazing. His style is excellent, extremely clear, neither verbose nor laconic, yet he wastes not a single word.

     

    The second part of the book deals more directly with the school of psychotherapy he developed, called logotherapy. Many of my own thoughts are echoed in his writing, with regards to the source and, by extension, methods of treatment for sufferers of mental illness. That is not to say there are not points on which I disagree, but they are incidental to the thrust of his school of thought.

     

    Please read this.

     

    5/5

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