Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Moderators: Shirley, Sabo, brian, rass, DaveInSeattle
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Just finished
On to
then will finally finish
On to
then will finally finish
- Pruitt
- The Dude
- Posts: 18105
- Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:02 am
- Location: North Shore of Lake Ontario
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
When I was a younger man, opening a book was a big deal as 95% of the time I finished the book. Even when it was a tough slog, I always managed to finish it.Johnnie wrote:Started reading Born To Run finally. I'm about a third of the way in and I like it a lot.
Overall, I have this knack for owning books and never actually bothering to read them. It's like I think I'll get to them through osmosis or something. It's funny when people look at my bookcase they make this weird face and can only go "Wow...what a wild set of books you have. There's no particular genre and they all seem pretty cool." Then I say "I have yet to read most of these, so I'll let you know....eventually." For a moment I feel smart and then I'm too much of an honest person to keep the lie afloat.
Now, my patience is thin and I finish maybe a third of the books I start. Luckily the Toronto library system is amazing - that's where I get the majority of my books. That way, if I get bored or fed up by page 25, I am under no financial obligation to finish the book. My record for giving up on a book is 16 pages.
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
- A_B
- The Dude
- Posts: 23526
- Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:36 am
- Location: Getting them boards like a wolf in the chicken pen.
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
I enjoyed Lunatics. I listened to it, and they each read half the book. I think that enhanced the experience.
You know what you need? A lyrical sucker punch to the face.
-
- Maude Lebowski
- Posts: 179
- Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:08 am
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Correct. The amount of reading/television viewing/free time of any type decrease with every passing month. Its all good though.phxgators wrote:Just wait a few months...BTTG wrote:Amazing, a one-month old child has not really slowed reading down
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Same here. Every word, right to the bitter end.Pruitt wrote:When I was a younger man, opening a book was a big deal as 95% of the time I finished the book. Even when it was a tough slog, I always managed to finish it.
Absolutely, yes. While I stop short of getting angry for my time having been wasted (I picked up the damn book after all) life is too short and there is copious amounts of brilliance to explore. If it sucks, it gets tossed.Pruitt wrote:Now, my patience is thin and I finish maybe a third of the books I start. Luckily the Toronto library system is amazing - that's where I get the majority of my books. That way, if I get bored or fed up by page 25, I am under no financial obligation to finish the book.
C'mon! Don't leave us hanging like that! What was it?Pruitt wrote:My record for giving up on a book is 16 pages.
I can't say for certain how many pages was my quickest trashing but I recently made it through about 15-20 minutes of In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made by Norman Cantor before firing it across the room; thank goodness for libraries, indeed. I was looking for a decent history of the plague in Europe (don't ask) and that hunk of junk is hands down the worst non-fiction writing I've come across in ages.
Your own personal AR-15 wielding Jesus
- A_B
- The Dude
- Posts: 23526
- Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:36 am
- Location: Getting them boards like a wolf in the chicken pen.
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
The latest book i gave up on was Absurdistan. Just didn't care for it at all.
Picked up my mother's copy of Shakespeare that she used in college and decided to read some of the stuff that she did way back in the day. On A Comedy of Errors. Shakespeare is difficult to read, you almost have to imagine you're watching a play and not just a scene in your head. Best part is seeing her familiar handwriting in the margins, taking me back to fifty years ago when she was reading the exact same passages.
Picked up my mother's copy of Shakespeare that she used in college and decided to read some of the stuff that she did way back in the day. On A Comedy of Errors. Shakespeare is difficult to read, you almost have to imagine you're watching a play and not just a scene in your head. Best part is seeing her familiar handwriting in the margins, taking me back to fifty years ago when she was reading the exact same passages.
You know what you need? A lyrical sucker punch to the face.
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
I've always maintained that reading a play and expecting to get to the heart of it is like reading sheet music and expecting to hear a symphony.
There are exceptions, of course, and Shakespeare is one of them in the sense that the plays can be read for the pure enjoyment of the poetry. And, let's face it, he did say it all.
The Comedy Of Errors in particular should be seen, given that the two sets of identical twins are very much visual ("twins" being an effect that was in Shakespeare's time achieved with make-up or masks). Granted, the wordplay Shaker provides for the two sets of identical twins is tremendous in its own right.
There are exceptions, of course, and Shakespeare is one of them in the sense that the plays can be read for the pure enjoyment of the poetry. And, let's face it, he did say it all.
The Comedy Of Errors in particular should be seen, given that the two sets of identical twins are very much visual ("twins" being an effect that was in Shakespeare's time achieved with make-up or masks). Granted, the wordplay Shaker provides for the two sets of identical twins is tremendous in its own right.
Your own personal AR-15 wielding Jesus
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
I hear you, I fully expected to have done nothing of the sort over the last four weeks, so what time I have had has been a very pleasant surprise. A 30-40 minute commute each way helps.Yard of Junk wrote:Correct. The amount of reading/television viewing/free time of any type decrease with every passing month. Its all good though.phxgators wrote:Just wait a few months...BTTG wrote:Amazing, a one-month old child has not really slowed reading down
Still, I'd much rather spend time with her, so my to-read list has now been pared down to the barest of essentials - if a book doesn't have the potential to either be a) brilliantly mind-expanding or b) a vapid break from having my mind expanded, it won't be getting much of a look. At least not for the next 18 years or so.
- A_B
- The Dude
- Posts: 23526
- Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:36 am
- Location: Getting them boards like a wolf in the chicken pen.
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
I actually found that I was able to read a fair amount, assuming you don't mind to read with a child in your arms.
And at nap time. And at 10 PM when you might have gone out before. Etc.
And at nap time. And at 10 PM when you might have gone out before. Etc.
You know what you need? A lyrical sucker punch to the face.
- Pruitt
- The Dude
- Posts: 18105
- Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:02 am
- Location: North Shore of Lake Ontario
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
J-Pod by Douglas Coupland.Scottie wrote:C'mon! Don't leave us hanging like that! What was it?Pruitt wrote:My record for giving up on a book is 16 pages.
Saw it at the library and vaguely remembered liking something he'd written years earlier. Barely started it and was getting irritated. Looked at the size of the book and said "fuck it."
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
I read Battlefield Earth beginning to end. BEAT THAT.
well this is gonna be someone's new signature - bronto
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Yikes. Can't say I blame you; it's unspeakably bad. Unsurprisingly, the CBC turned it into a television series.Pruitt wrote:J-Pod by Douglas Coupland.
Your own personal AR-15 wielding Jesus
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time by John Kelly was quite good.Scottie wrote:I was looking for a decent history of the plague in Europe (don't ask) and that hunk of junk is hands down the worst non-fiction writing I've come across in ages.
Did you see that ludicrous display last night?
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Thanks, Rush. Very much. I had that on an ILL hold over in YYJ but had to cancel it when we moved. Forgot about that. The Burnaby Library just happens to have a copy on the stacks; I'll grab it on the weekend.
Years ago I read The Black Death by Philip Ziegler. That's a good one, too, although dry as could be. Highly informative, fascinating, sure. But oh so dry. Like it needed a vacuuming.
Years ago I read The Black Death by Philip Ziegler. That's a good one, too, although dry as could be. Highly informative, fascinating, sure. But oh so dry. Like it needed a vacuuming.
Your own personal AR-15 wielding Jesus
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Well Kelly has a very interesting theory on where the plague came from (before the rats in Venice and the other Mediterranean city-states.)
I really should reread that. Been 8-9 years since I've read it (and I own two copies.)
I really should reread that. Been 8-9 years since I've read it (and I own two copies.)
Did you see that ludicrous display last night?
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
I thought the theory was that the Mongols brought the plague with them from Asia as they crashed across western Europe. They even intentionally spread it in some cities, hurling diseased bodies over city walls via catapults (the first biological warfare?).
Totally Kafkaesque
- Pruitt
- The Dude
- Posts: 18105
- Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:02 am
- Location: North Shore of Lake Ontario
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
In the recent History channel show Mankind they showed a graphic re-enactment of this. I've been on an anti-Mongol rampage since I saw this...Shirley wrote:I thought the theory was that the Mongols brought the plague with them from Asia as they crashed across western Europe. They even intentionally spread it in some cities, hurling diseased bodies over city walls via catapults (the first biological warfare?).
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
- The Sybian
- The Dude
- Posts: 19052
- Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:36 am
- Location: Working in the Crap Part of Jersey
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
But you'll still eat their BBQ, right?Pruitt wrote:In the recent History channel show Mankind they showed a graphic re-enactment of this. I've been on an anti-Mongol rampage since I saw this...Shirley wrote:I thought the theory was that the Mongols brought the plague with them from Asia as they crashed across western Europe. They even intentionally spread it in some cities, hurling diseased bodies over city walls via catapults (the first biological warfare?).
An honest to God cult of personality - formed around a failed steak salesman.
-Pruitt
-Pruitt
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Marmots.Shirley wrote:I thought the theory was that the Mongols brought the plague with them from Asia as they crashed across western Europe. They even intentionally spread it in some cities, hurling diseased bodies over city walls via catapults (the first biological warfare?).
Did you see that ludicrous display last night?
- Pruitt
- The Dude
- Posts: 18105
- Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:02 am
- Location: North Shore of Lake Ontario
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
I'm slowly making peace with them.The Sybian wrote:But you'll still eat their BBQ, right?Pruitt wrote:In the recent History channel show Mankind they showed a graphic re-enactment of this. I've been on an anti-Mongol rampage since I saw this...Shirley wrote:I thought the theory was that the Mongols brought the plague with them from Asia as they crashed across western Europe. They even intentionally spread it in some cities, hurling diseased bodies over city walls via catapults (the first biological warfare?).
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Rush2112 wrote:Marmots.Shirley wrote:I thought the theory was that the Mongols brought the plague with them from Asia as they crashed across western Europe. They even intentionally spread it in some cities, hurling diseased bodies over city walls via catapults (the first biological warfare?).
(yep. Any excuse for me to reference TBL. Almost bought this yesterday: )
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TIME-MAN-OF-THE ... 417516340c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Who knows? Maybe, you were kidnapped, tied up, taken away and held for ransom.
Those days are gone forever
Over a long time ago
Oh yeah…
Those days are gone forever
Over a long time ago
Oh yeah…
- Brontoburglar
- The Dude
- Posts: 5876
- Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 7:20 am
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Maybe I should post this in the soccer thread too -- but this is awesome.
"We're not the smartest people in the world. We go down the straightaway and turn left. That's literally what we do." -- Clint Bowyer
- A_B
- The Dude
- Posts: 23526
- Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:36 am
- Location: Getting them boards like a wolf in the chicken pen.
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Lonesome dove.
You know what you need? A lyrical sucker punch to the face.
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
If you like McMurtry, try Anything For Billy.
Your own personal AR-15 wielding Jesus
- Pruitt
- The Dude
- Posts: 18105
- Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:02 am
- Location: North Shore of Lake Ontario
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
I must read this one!Brontoburglar wrote:Maybe I should post this in the soccer thread too -- but this is awesome.
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
- A_B
- The Dude
- Posts: 23526
- Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:36 am
- Location: Getting them boards like a wolf in the chicken pen.
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Scottie wrote:If you like McMurtry, try Anything For Billy.
This is my first exposure to McMurtry, actually.
You know what you need? A lyrical sucker punch to the face.
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Anything For Billy, although it is ostensibly about Billy The Kid, is written from the viewpoint of a dime store novelist. And it is written in the form of a dime store novel; that is what is appealing about it. McMurtry fans (and they are typically hard core) complained that "Hey, this isn't like Lonesome Dove! What the hey? Therefore this sucks!" They're wrong, of course. No, it is nothing like Lonesome Dove, nor is it supposed to be. McMurtry is a big fan of century-old dime store novels so he wrote one himself. I've read a few McMurtry novels (including the one you're now reading); Anything For Billy is my favorite. As far as Western genre writing goes, yeah, Dove is his best, for sure; it's the most McMurtry of the McMurtry novels.
Your own personal AR-15 wielding Jesus
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
So, I'm listening to The Gunslinger, by Stephen King, the first book in his Dark Tower series. I listened to this one many years ago, but was never interested enough to go further into the series. Now, I remember why. This book is pretty meh. King is a great storyteller, usually creating page turners even when you don't find the story otherwise silly. This one is a bit more of a slog though.
So tell me, folks. Is it worth it? Does the Dark Tower series get better? I mean, I'll go ahead and finish this one, as it's not that long, but dare I go on to book 2?
So tell me, folks. Is it worth it? Does the Dark Tower series get better? I mean, I'll go ahead and finish this one, as it's not that long, but dare I go on to book 2?
Totally Kafkaesque
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Started in on Brave New World. I'm through the first 50 pages or so. I'm having trouble following it because of the way he writes. Or I'm just dumb. Either way.
mister d wrote:Couldn't have pegged me better.
EnochRoot wrote:I mean, whatever. Johnnie's all hot cuz I ride him.
- Pruitt
- The Dude
- Posts: 18105
- Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:02 am
- Location: North Shore of Lake Ontario
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Shirley wrote:So, I'm listening to The Gunslinger, by Stephen King, the first book in his Dark Tower series. I listened to this one many years ago, but was never interested enough to go further into the series. Now, I remember why. This book is pretty meh. King is a great storyteller, usually creating page turners even when you don't find the story otherwise silly. This one is a bit more of a slog though.
So tell me, folks. Is it worth it? Does the Dark Tower series get better? I mean, I'll go ahead and finish this one, as it's not that long, but dare I go on to book 2?
I recently read the first 100 pages of his Joyland and just didn't care enough to pick it up again.
Buddy of mine has become a Stephen King maniac and he tells me that 11/22/63 is incredible. Any opinions?
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
- A_B
- The Dude
- Posts: 23526
- Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:36 am
- Location: Getting them boards like a wolf in the chicken pen.
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
I like pretty much all Stephen King. I liked 11/23/63, but it isn't King's best. THe first 300 pages were tough for me, but it got better.
Joyland was supposed to be different, and I ended up really liking it. He created some good characters in that one, with a decent twist involved.
I have read the first three Dark Towers and will eventually end up finishing it I am sure as I run out of King that I haven't read, but I am not as big of a fan of that series as most of his other stuff.
And I am really enjoying Lonesome Dove.
Joyland was supposed to be different, and I ended up really liking it. He created some good characters in that one, with a decent twist involved.
I have read the first three Dark Towers and will eventually end up finishing it I am sure as I run out of King that I haven't read, but I am not as big of a fan of that series as most of his other stuff.
And I am really enjoying Lonesome Dove.
You know what you need? A lyrical sucker punch to the face.
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
11/23/63 was the most I've enjoyed a new King book in QUITE some time (15 or so years?), so while incredible seems a little too lofty I did very much enjoy it.
Bandwagon fan of the 2023 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Since I get pretty much all my recommendations from this thread, I'm now reading Double Feature after finishing up that Pullman Jesus/Christ book in one day.
Mo Meta Blues was awesome as well. Went back and rediscovered some awesome hip-hop.
Mo Meta Blues was awesome as well. Went back and rediscovered some awesome hip-hop.
well this is gonna be someone's new signature - bronto
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Did you neglect to take your soma before your allotted reading time?
Johnnie wrote:Started in on Brave New World. I'm through the first 50 pages or so. I'm having trouble following it because of the way he writes. Or I'm just dumb. Either way.
Did you see that ludicrous display last night?
- A_B
- The Dude
- Posts: 23526
- Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:36 am
- Location: Getting them boards like a wolf in the chicken pen.
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
I was unimpressed with Brave New World. Most of the so called classics I can get a sense for why they endure, and i suppose it was something entirely different given when it was published, but just not my cup of tea.
You know what you need? A lyrical sucker punch to the face.
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
AB_skin_test wrote:I was unimpressed with Brave New World. Most of the so called classics I can get a sense for why they endure, and i suppose it was something entirely different given when it was published, but just not my cup of tea.
I liked it very much, then again I listened to it before I read it, so perhaps I gained something from that.
I've found that the classics or other readings that I had a hard time getting through in HS were very enjoyable when I read them as an adult.
Did you see that ludicrous display last night?
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
For one of my all-time favorites, it has been decades since I've re-read BNW. I'll get on it, and see if the language seem dated. I will be shocked if I don't love it just as much or more this time around.
Who knows? Maybe, you were kidnapped, tied up, taken away and held for ransom.
Those days are gone forever
Over a long time ago
Oh yeah…
Those days are gone forever
Over a long time ago
Oh yeah…
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
I binged on Huxley in my hippie college days. Should go back and see if he holds up.
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
There must be something in the air. I just checked a new edition of Brave New World out of a local library a few days ago; it's next in line. Odd.howard wrote:For one of my all-time favorites, it has been decades since I've re-read BNW. I'll get on it, and see if the language seem dated. I will be shocked if I don't love it just as much or more this time around.
On a related note, Huxley's letter to Orwell: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/03/19 ... world.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Your own personal AR-15 wielding Jesus
Re: Spring Thaw Reading Thread
Just finished it. I love this book more than ever. I recall the difficulty I had with some of the language at age 15, with no familiarity with London geography, and the tighter sexual morality of the early 20th century compared to the early 70s (even for a naive 15yo).
Gonna hit BNW Revisited, which I skimmed once in college I think.
Gonna hit BNW Revisited, which I skimmed once in college I think.
Who knows? Maybe, you were kidnapped, tied up, taken away and held for ransom.
Those days are gone forever
Over a long time ago
Oh yeah…
Those days are gone forever
Over a long time ago
Oh yeah…