MERGED --> What are you reading? + Eragon + Interference, What Are You Reading?

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corianderstem said:
What did you think of Underworld? I have it on my shelf, and keep looking at it, wondering if I'll ever get around to reading it.

Underworld made me feel :crack: for the six weeks it took me to read it. As far as the writing goes, it's DeLillo at his best--really lovely sentences. The reverse chronology of the book makes it really confusing in places, though, and frankly I felt a little let down by the end. You don't read 800 pages without expecting a bang at the end, but I gues it makes sense based on the story that there isn't a bang, but rather something more quiet.

The sections about Klara Sax were especially amazing to me, though, and you can read the opening section of the book (about the baseball game) without needing to read the rest. In fact, DeLillo actually published it separately as a novella. I'm not even that much of a baseball fan and I loved it. I'd say give that a read, and if you like it, try to keep going.

I've also read The Body Artist, which I hated, and am slowly working through Great Jones Street, which is from early in DeLillo's career and lacks that beautiful sentence style he developed later. Underworld is massive and overwhelming, but in the long run, I think it's a book I'm glad I read.
 
The only DeLillo I've read is White Noise, which I didn't get much out of ... I'm sure I breezed through it too fast, like I do with most books. :wink:

It sounds like Underworld might be one of those books where I read a hundred pages or so, then pick up something fluffy to read, then go back to the behemoth, etc.

I'm so glad people are enjoying this thread! :)

Bookworms unite! :rockon:
 
jenU2child said:



I read the Green Mile a few years ago...I can't remember if it was before or after I had seen the movie, but I really enjoyed the book. I am not much for King's books, but The Green Mile was excellent, I thought. I read it in six mini volumes. I guess there is an edition with them all compiled into one book?


Yeah, they put it out when the movie came out...tom hanks is on the cover :love:
 
I'm reading The Dark Tower, the final book in Stephen King's seven book Dark Tower series. I'm excited to be finishing up the series, but at the same time, I'm sad because I don't want it to end :(

I'd recommend the story to anyone that likes Sci Fi/Fantasy books. The first book is a little difficult to get into, but once you get about 30 pages into the second book, you'll be hooked, and it just gets better from there. Except for the fourth book, which is about 80% backstory, and somewhat tedious to get through, though the 20% of it that's not backstory is great as ever.
 
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vivalapopedge said:



Loved that book :love:


I'm in the middle of Prozac Nation right now, and it's really.......um........depressing. :happy: I can't stop reading books once I start them, but this book is a huge downer, to state the obvious :(


Once I finish that, I'm reading The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve and Waiting for Snow in Havana byyyyy.....I can't remember the author :reject:



ps.....Also reading a book of Norse mythology for a class next year :wink:





Update: I am SICK of Prozac Nation, so I threw that down and decided to read The Weight of Water. I started it this morning and I'm on page 50, and I love it already :heart:
 
Gettysburg by Newt Gingrich & Wm. Forstchen. It is a historical fiction about what if the South won this battle.
 
Doozer61 said:



Hi Carrie! I actually just saw the movie "The Motorcycle Diaries". It was good too!

Hi Doozer! :D
YES I have the movie and have been waiting to watch it until the book is done. :)
 
BonoIsMyMuse said:


Wow, even for grad school that's a :crack: semester. I knocked off Don DeLillo's 800+ page Underworld last fall for my first prelim exam (along with maybe 20 other books), and I didn't want to come anywhere near a book for awhile!

omg, tell me about it. :banghead: Plus the projects, class meetings and mandatory online discussions and essays... I did a minimum of 30 hours of homework a week. In addition to my fulltime job! :crack:

thank God it's over! for now!
 
I enjoy reading but just read anything I've heard some good reviews about. (and I agree with many of you that Da Vinci Code was a let-down, but I did find Angels and Demons a bit more amusing)

Right now I'm reading The Philip K. Dick Reader, which is a collection of some of his short stories. I didn't know what it really was until my brother told me to read it. I love sci-fi stuff so I guess it's something that's been entertaining my mind.

I'm also reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. I finished Slaughter House Five a while back and hope to read the majority of his works this summer. For school I have to read The Razor's Edge by W Somerset Maugham and Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.

I have to admit though, I've got a large stack of books waiting for me in my room. So many books and so little time :sad: :(
 
piomike said:
Gettysburg by Newt Gingrich & Wm. Forstchen. It is a historical fiction about what if the South won this battle.


How is that? I saw it at the bookstore and was curious.

I am so impressed at the variety of books that you all are reading. What a smart group:wink:

I am tackling Les Miserables for the summer. 90 pages in and I just know it will pick up soon!
 
After trying twice to read The Wife by Meg Wolitzer, I gave up and moved on to the next book: Oh The Glory Of It All by Sean Wilsey.

It's a memoir by a guy who seems to have had a pretty outrageous upbringing. All I know is that some point his parents divorce and his dad marries Danielle Steel!

So far, it looks to be a pretty darned good read.
 
The World According to [Jeremy] Clarkson - extremely funny. Well worth reading, I read a couple of 'chapters' every few days, it's all stuff he's written for his weekly Sunday Times column compiled in one book and very very British in the way he's always right on the money whatever it is he complains about and uses great language and humour.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - keep forgetting to read the second half. I had to stop at one point since I was borrowing the book off someone and they needed it back. :wink:

American Desert - This is on my to-read list. Bought it a few months ago and it sounds very funny.
 
Love, Rosie is turning out to be a fantastic read.

It's all in narrative through emails, letters and even instant messages but it's getting better and better. :up:
About 200 pages in right now, and I still have 2/3 of the way to go. If I had more time I'd be done already. :mad:
 
piomike said:
Gettysburg by Newt Gingrich & Wm. Forstchen. It is a historical fiction about what if the South won this battle.

Also, if you enjoy the movie 'Gettysburg', read Killer Angels by Michael Shara (sp?). The book is basically the script for the movie. I'm not a civil war buff, but I've always loved both.
 
Re: reply

wizard2c said:
"Atlanta Review Istanbul and beyond...Turkish Poetry, Spring/Summer 2006"....{page 44}. Bought it the other day at the book store.

:|

I have to go to the bookstore and get this.
 
So I went to the bookstore last night with the intention of buying Erargon (or whatever), but I just couldn't do it after reading the first 2 chapters.

Now, I understand that the kid was just 17 when he wrote it, but really .... did he not have an editor? His use of adjectives drove me nuts!

Does anyone have his address? I have a few collections from Hemmingway, Steinbeck, and Borges I would like to send him.

For all young writers: remember the English language has a vast vocabulary. Don't settle for common adjectives without looking to see if their is a more descriptive noun that you can use.

On a side note, I started rereading East of Eden last night...:drool:
 
Dalton said:
Oh, do explain....

you know what happens when you give kids hemingway? they grow up hating to read. but give them something that will spark their imaginations (even if it isn't a thousand feet deep) and they may develop a passion for reading that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. none of this generations new classics are on the same level as some of the authors you listed (the eragons, the potters, the sisterhoods) but kids ARE reading them and that's what matters.

just the fact alone that you're comparing young adult literature to adult masters of the written word (hemingway, steinbeck, etc) is ridiculous. it's apples and oranges. it's like saying " that disney film wasn't any good because it wasn't directed by roman polanski." you aren't even the targeted reader for this kind of book.

but does that make it as bad as your post suggests? of course not.
 
bonosgirl84 said:


you know what happens when you give kids hemingway? they grow up hating to read. but give them something that will spark their imaginations (even if it isn't a thousand feet deep) and they may develop a passion for reading that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. none of this generations new classics are on the same level as some of the authors you listed (the eragons, the potters, the sisterhoods) but kids ARE reading them and that's what matters.

just the fact alone that you're comparing young adult literature to adult masters of the written word (hemingway, steinbeck, etc) is ridiculous. it's apples and oranges. it's like saying " that disney film wasn't any good because it wasn't directed by roman polanski." you aren't even the targeted reader for this kind of book.

but does that make it as bad as your post suggests? of course not.


A few points:

1. I never said that it was a bad book. I said that I couldn't read it.

2. I never said that I wanted kids to be reading Hemmingway, Steinbeck, or Borges. I said that this author should. Obviously, to have written this at the age of 17, he has the desire and talent to be a very good writer. IF that is the case, then someone (his editor should have done a much better job) should help him fulfill his potential. The fact of the matter is that, having worked in the publishing business, I don't think that this book would have been published had it been written by a 30 year old. Again, that doesn't mean that I don't think it shouldn't have been published; I think that the author should have had an editor who cared enough about the story and about the craft that he/she would have pushed the author farther.

3. I love both the Harry Potter and the Traveling Pants series. While not Hemmingway, Faulkner, Wolff, etc., they are very well written which I have discussed on these forums a number of times. I don't believe that children's authors should aspire to be the next Joyce. I think they should aspire to write AND craft amazing stories. And part of that crafting is learning how to manipulate words - even adjectives.

So, I was not being tongue in cheek when I wrote that I would like to send him those collections. I think he would profit greatly from reading and studying them. Do I hope that he begins to write like them? God no! Do I hope that they stretch him to value words more? Absolutely.

And I don't agree that our modern classics will never touch the hallowed few that we have put into the 'classics pantheon'.
 
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