Ben's Reading 2011

[vodkafan]

Searching for all the correct editions of these books is such a pain. I've had to trawl through and sign up to at least four websites to get all the correct editions, and the total cost is going to be extensive, in the region of a hundred pounds. It's a necessary evil, however, so later today I'm going to buy them all and start getting them delivered to my house for when I get home. That way, I can start using the next month to get ahead on some of my reading material before term starts. Something I'm quite excited about, I must admit.

 

I know this is probably too late Ben as you may have bought them already, but an alternative source for these books would be the students on the same course at your uni , who have just done their first year and have finished with these particular books. That's what my son found when he got there, everybody was selling course books at cheaper prices and he later did the same. If you live near your intended uni you could visit their bookshop or maybe register on the student forum and get in touch with these students online-my son found loads of ways to save money this way.

[Ben]

I know this is probably too late Ben as you may have bought them already, but an alternative source for these books would be the students on the same course at your uni , who have just done their first year and have finished with these particular books. That's what my son found when he got there, everybody was selling course books at cheaper prices and he later did the same. If you live near your intended uni you could visit their bookshop or maybe register on the student forum and get in touch with these students online-my son found loads of ways to save money this way.

Ah drat that is a good idea that I haven't seen until it's a little too late. I have already ordered the books, but I guess that it will be good to have new, fresh copies for my own perusal anyway; if it wasn't books I was buying then I'd complain about the cost. However, my parents don't seem to mind at all as it is for my studies after all, and they're so proud that I've been accepted. It's a shame I didn't see this before, but nevertheless I am looking forward to the many parcels that will be waiting for me when I get home.

[Ben]

Right a few posts coming in the next few days with my thoughts on the books I read on holiday, and I also want to post my reading list below. It's long for the first semester but just thought all you fellow book-lovers would enjoy a good ponder at the books I'm going to be studying come September.

 

These are just primary texts - there's also loads of secondary material they don't expect you to buy but which is there for reference.

 

Fitzgerald, F. Scott (2007) The Great Gatsby.

Beckett, Samuel (2006) Waiting for Godot.

Rushdie, Salman (1991) Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

Khan-Din, Ayub (1997) East is East.

Carter, Angela (2006) Nights at the Circus.

 

We will also be studying Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis and Coleridge's Christabel.

 

Edgar Allan Poe, The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown.

Cox, Michael and Gilbert, R. A. (eds) (2003) The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories.

Henry James (1898; 1999), The Turn of the Screw.

Behn (1997) Oroonoko.

Defoe (1993) Robinson Crusoe.

Defoe (1973) Moll Flanders.

Richardson (2003) Pamela.

Fielding (1994) Tom Jones.

Sterne (1998) A Sentimental Journey.

Austen (2000) Pride and Prejudice.

 

Poetry

 

Hadfield, Jen (2008) Nigh-No-Place.

Hughes, Ted (1970) Crow.

 

So folks, where do I begin?

[chesilbeach]

That sounds like a really interesting list, Ben. Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus keeps popping up lately - I heard a couple of authors mention it on radio programmes recently, and someone else was chatting to me about it recently too. I'll be intrigued to hear your thoughts on it after you've read it.

[Kylie]

Fitzgerald, F. Scott (2007) The Great Gatsby.

Beckett, Samuel (2006) Waiting for Godot.

Rushdie, Salman (1991) Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

Khan-Din, Ayub (1997) East is East.

Carter, Angela (2006) Nights at the Circus.

 

We will also be studying Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis and Coleridge's Christabel.

 

Edgar Allan Poe, The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown.

Cox, Michael and Gilbert, R. A. (eds) (2003) The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories.

Henry James (1898; 1999), The Turn of the Screw.

Behn (1997) Oroonoko.

Defoe (1993) Robinson Crusoe.

Defoe (1973) Moll Flanders.

Richardson (2003) Pamela.

Fielding (1994) Tom Jones.

Sterne (1998) A Sentimental Journey.

Austen (2000) Pride and Prejudice.

 

Poetry

 

Hadfield, Jen (2008) Nigh-No-Place.

Hughes, Ted (1970) Crow.

Excellent list, Ben! Well, for the most part anyway. I hated Waiting for Godot, myself.

 

You've already read The Great Gatsby, haven't you? By the way, did you know they're remaking a movie of this? Leonardo DiCaprio has just flown into Australia to begin filming it (Baz Luhrman's directing).

 

I love what little I've read of Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne (actually Hawthorne's writing reminds me of Poe). Angela Carter is supposed to be excellent too. The Victorian ghost stories sound awesome.

 

Have you read any Jane Austen before? Pride and Prejudice is probably in my top two favourite books of all time. I simply love it.

 

I would love to read Defoe and Flanders one day, and I have Oroonoko and Tom Jones on my TBR pile. Oroonoko is short but I think it's written in ye olde worlde English, or something. Whatever it is, I find it a little intimidating, so maybe I'll just wait and see how you get on with it.

 

I haven't read any of Ted Hughes' poetry, but I do have a book of his letters on my TBR pile (he was married to Sylvia Plath).

 

I don't suppose you could sneak webcam into your course and let me in on all the fun? It sounds like you're going to have an awesome time, Ben. Happy reading!

 

ETA: Dang! Every time I post, I find that Chesilbeach is just sneaking in ahead of me. I'm not following you, I swear!

Edited August 27, 2011 by Kylie

[Kidsmum]

Great to see Tom Jones on your list I thought it was a fabulous romp

[Ben]

Right, so holiday reading; not as much as I would have liked, but still managed to get through four books and I'm a good way through the fifth.

 

The first book I read while away was Hell Gate by Linda Fairstein. It was the first book of hers that I have read, and I have to say I enjoyed it immensely. It tells a story of corruption, betrayal, and dark, menacing secrets whispered between the high powers in the city. A congressman's mistress found dead, a shipwreck off the Manhattan coast, and a connection that will ruin New York's elite. The shipwreck is found to be part of a secret people-trafficking operation, and DA Alex Cooper must attempt to pick apart the two separate cases in an attempt to get to the bottom of the truth. The further she searches, the more she realises not all is how it seems; she must work out who she can trust and who is attempting to stop her digging closer to their secrets.

 

4/5.

 

After Linda's gruesome read, I thought I'd go for something a little lighter and settled down to read From Dead To Worse by Charlaine Harris. As usual, I know what to expect when I pick up one of these books; plenty of action and laughter. Once more Sookie is suffering from guy issues; her bond with Eric has become increasingly worse, and the elation she feels upon seeing him cannot be helped. In addition her boyfriend Quinn is among the missing from the explosion at the vampire summit. Where is he and what is he doing? Once more Sookie is caught up in vampire politics, with the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, the world of the supernatural is changing and once more Sookie has become involved.

 

4/5.

 

My next holiday read I decided upon was Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton. This is a beautiful and elegant read; her poetic writing style really makes for enjoyable reading, and I must say I enjoyed the premise behind the novel and how she managed to pull it off. One day a young girl is caught in a mysterious fire at a local school, and her mum runs in to save her. Afterwards there's nothing but darkness, until the two find themselves able to see everything going on around them, floating out of their bodies. As it becomes clear the school fire wasn't just an accident, it becomes a race against time to find out what really happened, and who's responsible. Grace - the mother - even though unable to be seen, must watch as the police and her husband race against time to save a family that has been left in ruin. This is a fantastic read that had me gripped; a tear-jerker that will have you guessing and wondering at every brilliantly written twist.

 

5/5.

 

Lastly, I enjoyed David Nicholls' novel One Day. This was another fantastically written book; this time hilariously funny and charming, as we follow two individuals through their separate but ultimately intertwined lives. The premise is this: every chapter is on the same day of the year, but further into the future which each one. Through this we watch as these two, Dexter and Emma, go through numerous ups and downs in life; often in complete contrast too each other. Emma is hard-working, has a wonderful yearning for literature and the arts, and Dexter is a rich, spoiled, famous person who likes to splash his cash wildly and go through numerous women. Despite this, he always comes back to Emma, the girl he met at the night of the graduation party, and who loves him dearly; more than he can possibly know. It's sad in some senses to watch as Emma has to put up with Dexter and his ways while all the time knowing he's the only guy she's ever wanted, but as events transpire it becomes clear that this friendship is one which won't let go. Enjoyable and witty, One Day is full of thrills, spills, and is ultimately a story of life.

 

5/5.

 

On another note, I'm half-way though Andrea Levy's novel Long Song which is about slavery in the West Indies and which is absolutely fantastic so far..

[Ben]

That sounds like a really interesting list, Ben. Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus keeps popping up lately - I heard a couple of authors mention it on radio programmes recently, and someone else was chatting to me about it recently too. I'll be intrigued to hear your thoughts on it after you've read it.

I've read the synopsis and it does indeed sound interesting, as do most of the books on my list; a few of which I've definitely not even heard of.

 

[/b]

Excellent list, Ben! Well, for the most part anyway. I hated Waiting for Godot, myself.

 

You've already read The Great Gatsby, haven't you? By the way, did you know they're remaking a movie of this? Leonardo DiCaprio has just flown into Australia to begin filming it (Baz Luhrman's directing).

 

I love what little I've read of Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne (actually Hawthorne's writing reminds me of Poe). Angela Carter is supposed to be excellent too. The Victorian ghost stories sound awesome.

 

Have you read any Jane Austen before? Pride and Prejudice is probably in my top two favourite books of all time. I simply love it.

 

I would love to read Defoe and Flanders one day, and I have Oroonoko and Tom Jones on my TBR pile. Oroonoko is short but I think it's written in ye olde worlde English, or something. Whatever it is, I find it a little intimidating, so maybe I'll just wait and see how you get on with it.

 

I haven't read any of Ted Hughes' poetry, but I do have a book of his letters on my TBR pile (he was married to Sylvia Plath).

 

I don't suppose you could sneak webcam into your course and let me in on all the fun? It sounds like you're going to have an awesome time, Ben. Happy reading!

 

ETA: Dang! Every time I post, I find that Chesilbeach is just sneaking in ahead of me. I'm not following you, I swear!

Waiting For Godot seems to be one of those books that probably won't be a great read but which will be brilliant for analysing critically - which of course is the whole point of the course I guess. I'm looking forward to reading Hawthorne and Poe, as I've always wanted to read them and just never got around too it. Now is my chance!

 

Yeah I've read The Great Gatsby numerous times should have a massive foot-hold with that book going into lectures - it was one of my A Level texts so I still have it firmly in my mind. I knew there was activity around a remake again; let's hope they do a great job. As for Austen, I haven't read anything of hers, but I always wanted too; which was why I was definitely excited to see it on the list. I think it's one of the one's I'm going to start with, actually.

 

I've just flicked through Oronooko now and it seems to be written a little differently, but I studied The Canterbury Tales last year, so I've had my fair share of difficult language there.

 

I did not know he was married to Sylvia Plath, that's interesting! Learn something every day here, haha. I could try with the webcam thing but I'm not sure that I'll get away with it. I'll post here all about my lectures and things; but I'm guessing that'll be a poor substitute.

 

Thanks for the well wishes, I'm sure it's going to be fantastic.

 

Great to see Tom Jones on your list I thought it was a fabulous romp

That's great news; looking forward to it already.

Edited August 27, 2011 by Ben

[Ben]

I'm making a start on Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen tonight, which is actually something I've always wanted to read but just never bothered with for some reason.

 

'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife'. So begins Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's classic novel of manners and mores in early nineteenth century England. Attention centres on haughty Elizabeth Bennet and the dashing but aloof Fitzwilliam Darcy. Adversaries at first in the endless rounds of balls, parties and social gatherings, they soon develop a grudging respect for one another that blossoms into romance when each comes to appreciate the tender feelings that course beneath the veneer of their propriety and reserve.

 

Looking forward to this one I have to admit.

[chesilbeach]

I'm rather jealous, Ben, as I'd love to be reading it for the first time again. One of my favourite uses of a single word occurs in this book; the perfect word to describe the character - obsequiousness. I had to look it up the first time I read it, but it completely sums him up!

[Ooshie]

I'm glad you enjoyed Hell Gate, Ben, Linda Fairstein is one of my favourite writers - I got to like her when Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs books started going downhill.

[willoyd]

...I also want to post my reading list below. It's long for the first semester but just thought all you fellow book-lovers would enjoy a good ponder at the books I'm going to be studying come September.

 

These are just primary texts - there's also loads of secondary material they don't expect you to buy but which is there for reference.

 

Fitzgerald, F. Scott (2007) The Great Gatsby.

Beckett, Samuel (2006) Waiting for Godot.

Rushdie, Salman (1991) Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

Khan-Din, Ayub (1997) East is East.

Carter, Angela (2006) Nights at the Circus.

 

We will also be studying Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis and Coleridge's Christabel.

 

Edgar Allan Poe, The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown.

Cox, Michael and Gilbert, R. A. (eds) (2003) The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories.

Henry James (1898; 1999), The Turn of the Screw.

Behn (1997) Oroonoko.

Defoe (1993) Robinson Crusoe.

Defoe (1973) Moll Flanders.

Richardson (2003) Pamela.

Fielding (1994) Tom Jones.

Sterne (1998) A Sentimental Journey.

Austen (2000) Pride and Prejudice.

 

Poetry

 

Hadfield, Jen (2008) Nigh-No-Place.

Hughes, Ted (1970) Crow.

 

So folks, where do I begin?

 

Much as I love the classics and demanding reads, that's quite a tough list of 18C work. I think you're right to start with P&P - to my mind comfortably the best book in the list (not least because Miss Austen is one of the best writers, if not the best!). I have to say I find 18th century literature very difficult to read - and Sterne and Richardson pretty much unreadable. Moll Flanders is OK readingwise, but I thought it somewhat overrated (Alex Kington was wonderful though!). To my mind, Tom Jones is definitely the pick of that bunch.

 

An interesting mix though. Quite envious in fact!

[Ben]

I'm rather jealous, Ben, as I'd love to be reading it for the first time again. One of my favourite uses of a single word occurs in this book; the perfect word to describe the character - obsequiousness. I had to look it up the first time I read it, but it completely sums him up!

That is a brilliant word, and I too had to look it up also. You're also making me even more excited about reading Pride and Prejudice now..

 

I'm glad you enjoyed Hell Gate, Ben, Linda Fairstein is one of my favourite writers - I got to like her when Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs books started going downhill.

Yeah I thought Helll Gate was a good effort and I'm definitely keeping an eye out for some more of her work.

 

Much as I love the classics and demanding reads, that's quite a tough list of 18C work. I think you're right to start with P&P - to my mind comfortably the best book in the list (not least because Miss Austen is one of the best writers, if not the best!). I have to say I find 18th century literature very difficult to read - and Sterne and Richardson pretty much unreadable. Moll Flanders is OK readingwise, but I thought it somewhat overrated (Alex Kington was wonderful though!). To my mind, Tom Jones is definitely the pick of that bunch.

 

An interesting mix though. Quite envious in fact!

Ah you make it sound such a struggle!

 

Nah I'm only kidding, I'm really excited to get cracking with this list even if some of them will certainly be a challenge to me. It's all part of the studies though, and I'll tackle it with enthusiasm, at least until I'm being really dragged down by difficult language. I think I'll have a shot at Tom Jones next to be honest, as that's two enthusiastic recommendations for it already; a good sign.

[willoyd]

Ah you make it sound such a struggle!

Nah I'm only kidding, I'm really excited to get cracking with this list even if some of them will certainly be a challenge to me. It's all part of the studies though, and I'll tackle it with enthusiasm, ...

 

Didn't mean to - although it does read a bit like that in hindsight! I actually love to be challenged with my reading sometimes, and part of my envy is the fact that you can do this reading as part of your work, whilst all too often when I'm reading, especially during termtime, I have that niggling feeling that I should be working!

Edited August 28, 2011 by willoyd

[Ben]

Didn't mean to - although it does read a bit like that in hindsight! I actually love to be challenged with my reading sometimes, and part of my envy is the fact that you can do this reading as part of your work, whilst all too often when I'm reading, especially during termtime, I have that niggling feeling that I should be working!

That's what I'm so excited about - obviously it won't be quite like recreational reading, because I'll have to be thinking and analysing all the time, but ultimately I'm still going to be doing something I really enjoy, but still earning a degree out of it. It's working but still enjoying myself at the same time, something I can't wait for.

[Ben]

Okay, reading news! In other words, a lack of, as I've really been struggling getting into anything at the moment. It couldn't be a worse time for me to be having another reading drought, as I have so much reading to do for university that it's unbelievable, but what can I do? Sometimes a loss of mojo just happens and you have to deal with it. In regards to my lectures that start on Monday, we're apparently going to be working at a book per week! When I was told this I did a little bit of a double-take, as that is quite a lot, even for someone who loves to read. I know a lot of people on here would manage it, but it's still a tenacious pace. In any case, I've started Oroonoko by Aphra Behn, which I need to finish for Monday. It's not long but looks fascinating.

[Ben]

Just finished Oroonoko by Aphra Behn and in the end I thought it was a charming little read, although for the most part I definitely struggled. It's written in a very difficult style as it's such an old novel - well, I guess I should say novella. However, once I got used to the writing style I found myself engrossed and wondering what was going to happen. It was remarkable how much of a story Behn manages to tell in such a short amount of pages, and the novella on a whole offers an interesting portrayal of slavery, and a captivating story of two lovers' journey to be together despite the odds.

 

3/5.

[Roland Butter]

Aphra Behn's important for who she was as much as what she wrote, Ben. She's sometimes portrayed as a "proto-feminist", and it's certainly true that, by and large, women didn't write (or at least, not for publication) in those days. Read yourself a bit of background on her, and I'm sure you'll find it helpful in informing your understanding of her work. And it'll make you sound brainy in your tutorials ...

[Ben]

Aphra Behn's important for who she was as much as what she wrote, Ben. She's sometimes portrayed as a "proto-feminist", and it's certainly true that, by and large, women didn't write (or at least, not for publication) in those days. Read yourself a bit of background on her, and I'm sure you'll find it helpful in informing your understanding of her work. And it'll make you sound brainy in your tutorials ...

I'm reading the background on her as we speak. The edition that we were given to buy has loads of critical essays and background information; different ways of interpretation for the text, that sort of thing. It's fascinating actually, and I'm definitely making sure I know as much about the background to my texts and the authors, as essentially that's what the lectures and seminars will all be about.

[Ben]

Well it's been a long time coming but I've finally finished Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Despite taking such a long time with it, I'm quite certain it isn't because the book wasn't enjoyable; on the contrary, I enjoyed it immensely. Austen has a writing style that I feel moves the narrative at a quick pace, and for such a young author (in her twenties when she wrote this), she has a wonderful insight into the world. In essence the book revolves around the protagonist Elizabeth Bennet, and the fact that her mother's simple aim in life is to have her daughters married-off to rich men. Despite this, the novel's real message is of how a young man changes his manners, and how a young woman changes her mind and heart. The novel is packed full to the brim with content; romance, humour, wit, all of which certainly put a smile across my face as I read. Overall then, the mixture of entertaining characters, engaging plot developments, and witty dialogue make for a fabulous novel that many will enjoy.

 

5/5.

[Kidsmum]

Sometimes a book takes a long time to read because it's worth savouring . I totally agree Ben, Pride & Predjudice is a great read

[Ben]

Sometimes a book takes a long time to read because it's worth savouring . I totally agree Ben, Pride & Predjudice is a great read

It certainly is. Oh and that's entirely true, just that when it's university reading I'm not allowed that luxury of slow reading.

Edited September 29, 2011 by Ben

[Ben]

Hey folks, know I haven't really been in this thread much, but I've updated the first post with a bunch of stuff I've been reading while here at university, and I must say I'm enjoying the new, different reading experiences. I've been reading a lot that I probably wouldn't normally pick out and the books we're reading are taking on whole new meanings with the additional studying we're doing on them.

[Ben]

Reading Update.

 

I know I haven't commented much on what I've been reading in this thread recently (probably because half the time my discussion on what I've read is exhausted in essays/questions or seminar discussion), but I have updated the list on the front page with the books I've read and studied already. I do a module called 'Reading Short Narratives' so I have a lot of fascinating short stories to read. I wasn't sure whether to list these individually as a books read, so I settled with posting some as individual tales while the majority I've just listed as read from one anthology; The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories which has been extremely engaging and has included tales from Henry James, Robert Louis Stevenson and Elizabeth Gaskell, amongst others of course.

 

As for the novels I've completed, I've read Defoe's Moll Flanders and Robinson Crusoe both of which I didn't really enjoy. I'm not sure if it's because of the long-windedness of the two tales, or if it's just not for me, but either way I struggled with both texts. I've also read Shakespeare's Venus & Adonis which I thought was fantastic and Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett which wasn't 'enjoyable' as such, but the background and idea behind it was utterly fascinating. What else have we got? Oh Ayub Khan-Din's play East is East Is a fantastically funny read (as you will know if you've read the book or indeed watched the film). Probably one of my favourite texts of the course so far was Richardson's Pamela which although is an 18th century text and therefore hard to get your teeth into (at least for a lot of people including me most times, these 'old-y' kind of texts are), held me interested throughout. I was fascinated by how the central protagonist doesn't conform to what is expected of her, and all around it was just an enjoyable read.

 

I'm now going to go read 'The Canterville Ghost' by Oscar Wilde, who I've astonishingly never read much of, but who still holds the title of one of my favourite authors for The Picture of Dorian Gray. I'm understandably looking forward to studying him and I'll probably read around the subject and check out some of his other tales too.

 

Well, that's a bit of an update, feel free to comment on anything and happy reading to you all.

Edited November 15, 2011 by Ben

[Ben]

More reading news!

 

I've recently finished Haroun and the Sea of Stories which I have to admit has been one my favourite reads on the course so far this year. It's a children's book and as a result is a lovely, easy read (something I've needed with the difficult 18th century fiction work I've had to tackle this term). In any case, even though it's a simplistic text to read, it's not difficult to recognise how Rushdie writes about his own experiences, and the whole idea of freedom of speech is an important one throughout. It's also very cleverly written character-wise - I wouldn't want to ruin it for anyone that's planning on reading it, but I'd certainly suggest it to anyone that enjoys a charming tale about stories and the real power they have (as I'm sure many of my fellow readers will know).

 

Okay, so recently I've also finished A Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne, which I have to admit is a bit of a chore at times. This is one of the first real 'stream of consciousness' type of books, and as a result the plot is virtually non-existent. The central protagonist Yorrick goes travelling through Italy and France, simply on a bet with a friend, and this typifies the type of character and book that we're dealing with. Things seem to happen spontaneously for Yorrick and he often goes off and devotes three or four pages on something that has randomly captured his attention. So, although it is a tricky book to read, I did in the end find it enjoyable (once I had got used to the style a little more). All in all it was an interesting read, even if I wouldn't recommend it as a bit of light reading.