What Are You Reading

[Patrick Murtha]

I always have a number of books in progress. Currently:

Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit -- halfway through, loving it
Georges Simenon, Dirty Snow -- ferocious noir
Lemony Snicket, A Series of Unfortunate Events -- pausing between Books Eight (The Hostile Hospital) and Nine (The Carnivorous Carnival). Brilliant series!
Louis Menand, The Metaphysical Club -- superb intellectual history about the Pragmatists
Zora Neale Hurston, Mules and Men -- one of Hurston's fine accounts of collecting black folklore in the field
Joseph Epstein, In a Cardboard Belt! -- curmudgeonly but excellent essays
Riccardo Orizio, Lost White Tribes -- fascinating study of the last remaining pockets of colonial stragglers around the world
James Harvey, Movie Love in the Fifties -- one of the best books of film criticism I've read in a while
Clive James, Cultural Amnesia -- miniature essays about 20th century world culture. James's erudition is staggering.

Among the books I've recently completed:

Daniel Kalder, Lost Cosmonaut -- terrifically funny and illuminating travels through the obscure Russian republics
Louis Couperus, The Hidden Force -- great turn-of-the-century Dutch novel about the Indonesian colonies
Seth, It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken -- I can't imagine any Lounger not enjoying this nostalgic graphic novel
Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game -- one of the comic masterpieces of contemporary "children's" literature, a deserved Newbery Award winner

 

[Miss Brill]

I think that's my favorite book of the series. The Long Winter is better written but By The Shores of Silver Lake is more upbeat (except I still tear up everytime I read the bit with Jack).

I was looking at Wiki's page on LIW, and it said Jack basically stayed behind when they moved, because he was fond of the horses, Pet and Patty. Laura's younger readers liked Jack, so she kept including him, until she decided to kill him off.

 

[Marlowe P.]

I was looking at Wiki's page on LIW, and it said Jack basically stayed behind when they moved, because he was fond of the horses, Pet and Patty. Laura's younger readers liked Jack, so she kept including him, until she decided to kill him off.

Farmer Boy is one of my all-time great memories from childhood..

 

[sweetfrancaise]

Rosie Little's Cautionary Tales for Girls. Wolves, black magic, and wit. Very entertaining!

 

[Antje]

I always have a number of books in progress. Currently:

Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit -- halfway through, loving it
Georges Simenon, Dirty Snow -- ferocious noir
Lemony Snicket, A Series of Unfortunate Events -- pausing between Books Eight (The Hostile Hospital) and Nine (The Carnivorous Carnival). Brilliant series!
Louis Menand, The Metaphysical Club -- superb intellectual history about the Pragmatists
Zora Neale Hurston, Mules and Men -- one of Hurston's fine accounts of collecting black folklore in the field
Joseph Epstein, In a Cardboard Belt! -- curmudgeonly but excellent essays
Riccardo Orizio, Lost White Tribes -- fascinating study of the last remaining pockets of colonial stragglers around the world
James Harvey, Movie Love in the Fifties -- one of the best books of film criticism I've read in a while
Clive James, Cultural Amnesia -- miniature essays about 20th century world culture. James's erudition is staggering.

Among the books I've recently completed:

Daniel Kalder, Lost Cosmonaut -- terrifically funny and illuminating travels through the obscure Russian republics
Louis Couperus, The Hidden Force -- great turn-of-the-century Dutch novel about the Indonesian colonies
Seth, It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken -- I can't imagine any Lounger not enjoying this nostalgic graphic novel
Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game -- one of the comic masterpieces of contemporary "children's" literature, a deserved Newbery Award winner

Hey I'm not the only person on earth reading a lot of books at once.
I have to say I loved the story of louis couperus, "de stille kracht" in dutch,
I've read it a couple of times, it's real great.

I myself just finished the latest harry potter in dutch, Now i'm working on Elvis the fbi files
Last train to memphis, about elvis.
War and Peace by tolstoy
and the cronicles of narnia

 

[Miss Brill]

Farmer Boy is one of my all-time great memories from childhood..

I love the story about the strange dog. That scares me to pieces.

 

[Patrick Murtha]

I have to say I loved the story of louis couperus, "de stille kracht" in dutch,
I've read it a couple of times, it's real great.

I'm so glad to hear from someone else who has read it, and in the original Dutch! The Hidden Force is one of the major novels of world literature in its time period (it was published in 1900) and is certain to please any discriminating novel reader. I strongly recommend the modern edition from the University of Massachusetts Press; the generally good Alexander Teixera de Mattos translation has been touched up, corrected, and de-bowdlerized by E.M. Beekman, who also contributes excellent introductory materials and end notes.

If reading this novel whets a reader's appetite for the East Indies (as it ought to), a couple of very interesting follow-up reads are Multatuli's Max Havelaar and Maria Dermout's The Ten Thousand Things. I've got more novels of Dutch colonialism on my reading list as well; there are a surprising number of them available in English.

 

[Feraud]

Reading Cagney by John McCabe.

Just purchased a biography of Carol Reed and will read that next.

 

[Diamondback]

Once I finish my work on the Bourne trilogy--I refuse to count the van Lustbader knockoffs as part of it--next up is a translated Infanterie gereift an, written by no less than the Desert Fox himself. Should be a good companion to Old Blood and Guts' War As I Knew It...

"Rommel, you magnificent ba***rd... I READ YOUR ... BOOK!"-- George S. Patton (as depicted by George C. Scott)

 

[Ugarte]

Masquerade: The amazing camouflage deceptions of World War II
by Seymour Reit

Amazon Listing.

Mark
.

 

[jake_fink]

Each Man In His Darkness by Julien Green, about a young man's struggle with his faith.

Seriously.

Please come to my house for coffee... and shoot me.

 

[carebear]

next up is a translated Infanterie gereift an, written by no less than the Desert Fox himself

If you can't read it in German, it's "Infantry Attacks" to you Mr. High-and-Mighty, Low-and-Slithery.

...about a young man's struggle with his faith. Please come to my house for coffee... and shoot me.

Don't despair, I finished "Why I Am A Catholic" (by Garry Wills) a couple months ago and I'm still on the edge of conversion from non-denominationalist Protestantism, despite my southern Irish blood and the need to be a "real" godfather for my god-sons and -daughters.

 

[Diamondback]

If you can't read it in German, it's "Infantry Attacks" to you Mr. High-and-Mighty, Low-and-Slithery.

Actually, I'm gunning for both, but my German's so darn rusty it ain't funny, and none of my classes covered military terms... The English copy is part crutch when it gets too thick, part refresher-course...

Either way, it's still gonna be OB&G-time when I'm done--but Patton had to have it translated into English...

 

[carebear]

Actually, I'm gunning for both, but my German's so darn rusty it ain't funny, and none of my classes covered military terms... The English copy is part crutch when it gets too thick, part refresher-course...

Either way, it's still gonna be OB&G-time when I'm done--but Patton had to have it translated into English...

Well then, I'll give you a pass when you can make a Lipizzaner stallion dance while you horrify newsmen with your views on Commies.

 

[Diamondback]

Well then, I'll give you a pass when you can make a Lipizzaner stallion dance while you horrify newsmen with your views on Commies.

When I was a journalist, I horrified my colleagues by simply being... answering directly to the editor (who was also my best friend) and only to her made it even worse... lol

 

[Luigi Vampa]

I'm sure his dad would be nice to you - he liked Pierre. As long as you didn't try and court the poor Mary you'd be ok!

Just out of interest, are you in love with Natasha? It seems like Tolstoy wrote her for people to be in love with.

Heck no! Natasha is a brat. Sonya or Princess Marya seems more to my liking.

 

[volatile]

A new book arrived from Amazon today:

Mutter Museum: Of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia
by Gretchen Worden.

An absolutely stunning collaborative project photo-book that marries an amazing collection of medical specimens with some cutting-edge photography.

 

[Antje]

I'm so glad to hear from someone else who has read it, and in the original Dutch! The Hidden Force is one of the major novels of world literature in its time period (it was published in 1900) and is certain to please any discriminating novel reader. I strongly recommend the modern edition from the University of Massachusetts Press; the generally good Alexander Teixera de Mattos translation has been touched up, corrected, and de-bowdlerized by E.M. Beekman, who also contributes excellent introductory materials and end notes.

If reading this novel whets a reader's appetite for the East Indies (as it ought to), a couple of very interesting follow-up reads are Multatuli's Max Havelaar and Maria Dermout's The Ten Thousand Things. I've got more novels of Dutch colonialism on my reading list as well; there are a surprising number of them available in English.

they even made a tv serie about de stille kracht,
but I never saw this because it was I guess a 70's serie and of all those things they replay they don't do this one,

never read Max Havelaar but I always wanted to maybe when I'm finnished with the rest.
I have a really great interest in Indo's maybe because of the dutch influences and I really love their food and music also.

I did'nt know there where so many books translated to english, but I stick to dutch.

 

[Miss Brill]

A new book arrived from Amazon today:

Mutter Museum: Of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia
by Gretchen Worden.

An absolutely stunning collaborative project photo-book that marries an amazing collection of medical specimens with some cutting-edge photography.

Oooooh! I love when they show that museum on TV, I didn't know they had a book though.

 

[volatile]

Oooooh! I love when they show that museum on TV, I didn't know they had a book though.

There's a couple - one more scholarly, and that one which is more artistic!