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After having read Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, I'm continuing on with Ulysses. I'm enjoying it so far, and I'm glad that not only did I read the first two works first, but that the volumes were annotated. It informed me about Irish history and politics that were still at issue when Joyce was writing, which generally doesn't get taught about in the US, even at the university level (unless you take a course on Joyce, I imagine). Having that background information, as well as already having spent a good deal of time with one of the main characters, makes for much easier reading. I'm on the chapter in the library right now, where Stephen and his friends are discussing Shakespeare, and I've got to say that though it be written down, yet forget not that Buck Mulligan is an rear end.
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May 14, 2021 20:20
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Meaty Ore posted:After having read Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, I'm continuing on with Ulysses. I'm enjoying it so far, and I'm glad that not only did I read the first two works first, but that the volumes were annotated. It informed me about Irish history and politics that were still at issue when Joyce was writing, which generally doesn't get taught about in the US, even at the university level (unless you take a course on Joyce, I imagine). Having that background information, as well as already having spent a good deal of time with one of the main characters, makes for much easier reading. I'm on the chapter in the library right now, where Stephen and his friends are discussing Shakespeare, and I've got to say that though it be written down, yet forget not that Buck Mulligan is an rear end. He is indeed. Go post your thoughts as you go in the Joyce thread think its still on page two
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May 15, 2021 17:12
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lost in postation posted:devoid of preciosities learned a new word for pompous, nice it seems like all the best, and by that I mean favorite, French writers express themselves more or less plainly
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May 16, 2021 01:35
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lost in postation posted:I appreciate that every translation is a compromise and so on but Proust doesn't sound luxurious or aristocratic in French. His style is complex but very neat and deliberate and basically devoid of preciosities like rare grammatical constructions or gratuitous metaphors. From what I've read, SC's word choice and sentence structure make him sound almost florid which isn't at all the impression one gets in the original To be fair the revisions by Kilmartin and Enright correct the course in that respect. They also focus on the dialogue, which Moncrieff had a tin ear for, but the advantage of this translation in particular is the descriptions are just, honestly, gorgeous
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May 16, 2021 02:49
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finished: - For Whom the Bell Tolls. great war novel, really transports you into the guerilla fighter hideouts during Spanish Civil War - The Woman in the Dunes. courtesy of this thread. Loved it. suspenseful and straightforward but with plenty of weird philosophical passages. I see parallels to Kafka's The Castle, but dare I admit I prefer this? - the 'Oxen of the Sun' chapter in Ulysses. that was BRUTAL to read. I'm now on the Circe episode which is zany and fun, what an unexpected relief.
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May 16, 2021 20:14
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Yeah oxen of the sun can be a bit of a trek to be honest. It's smooth sailing from that point onwards imo, including some of the best stuff ever put in a novel
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May 17, 2021 00:40
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for whom the bell tolls is pretentious self-insert bullshit written by an egomaniacal rear end in a top hat
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May 22, 2021 11:30
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QuarkJets posted:for whom the bell tolls is pretentious self-insert bullshit written by an egomaniacal rear end in a top hat Yeah OK but is it really boring like A Farewell to Arms?
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May 22, 2021 11:41
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A Farewell to Arms is interesting because (and this might be present in other Hemingway books but i haven't read them) because the alcoholic drinks get more care and description than anything else Dude loved a bevvy
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May 22, 2021 13:04
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The North Tower posted:Better than that! It’s not even done and it’s been over 10 years! On the subject of the new Proust translations, did Viking print any hardcover versions of volumes 5 and 6, or are the (admittedly nice) paperback ones by Penguin Classics the only copies out there ? I really dig the snazzy dust jackets on the first four. And how much longer until the final volume is released, anyways? I know the delays have been due to copyright law issues. Meaty Ore fucked around with this message at 19:58 on May 22, 2021 |
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May 22, 2021 19:54
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just started on To the lighthouse. thirty-odd pages in, but fantastic so far
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May 23, 2021 14:09
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I'm reading Conrad's short stories. They're pretty good this guy knows how to write!
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May 23, 2021 17:47
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Ngugi's a grain of wheat ... excellent book.
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May 24, 2021 00:05
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I'm reading The Three Musketeers and its awesome because if these first 85 pages are any indication, its a book entirely about dudes finding literally the thinnest possible excuses to duel each other. Everything from "Your horse is ugly" to "You bumped into me in the hallway" to "Lmao you fuckin' suck at tennis".
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May 28, 2021 01:56
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I just read The Metamorphosis and it was incredible. It was kinda weird reading the interpretations of it, though, cause they focused quite a bit on the social/familial aspects. To me it was very clearly a critique of industrial/capitalist society (the dude turns into a loving bug and his first thought is "omg I missed my train to work"). What do ya'll think? I am excited to keep reading this book of Kafka stories.
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May 28, 2021 17:17
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what to read next, thread? Trieste, second to last volume of Proust, or something else entirely
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May 28, 2021 19:16
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The Field by Robert Seethaler (A Whole Life is really good too) At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop Rock, Paper, Scissors, and Other Stories by Maxim Osipov Childhood by Tove Ditlevsen Such Small Hands by Andrés Barba
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May 28, 2021 21:09
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mb
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May 28, 2021 21:10
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ulvir posted:Trieste highly recommend, but man, it is rough. i felt physically ill
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May 28, 2021 21:23
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camoseven posted:I just read The Metamorphosis and it was incredible. It was kinda weird reading the interpretations of it, though, cause they focused quite a bit on the social/familial aspects. To me it was very clearly a critique of industrial/capitalist society (the dude turns into a loving bug and his first thought is "omg I missed my train to work"). What do ya'll think? I am excited to keep reading this book of Kafka stories. it's been a while since i read it, but i remember a palpable and unsettling sensation of the 'walls closing in' - his world is constantly shrinking, he can't go outside anymore, then he can't leave his room anymore, then all the furniture is removed and it's just bare walls, then he's just under the bed hiding in a blank empty room, listening to his family live on without him outside his door. strong feelings of isolation and being an outcast, cemented at the end by his family smiling cheerfully with relief when he finally dies. I got similar feelings of claustrophobia and helplessness from the castle and the trial, too. it must be his 'thing'
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May 28, 2021 21:30
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Lex Neville posted:The Field by Robert Seethaler (A Whole Life is really good too) some of these sound bleak, and thus good derp posted:highly recommend, but man, it is rough. i felt physically ill I can imagine. I skimmed it quickly once I got it in the mail.
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May 28, 2021 21:35
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derp posted:it's been a while since i read it, but i remember a palpable and unsettling sensation of the 'walls closing in' - his world is constantly shrinking, he can't go outside anymore, then he can't leave his room anymore, then all the furniture is removed and it's just bare walls, then he's just under the bed hiding in a blank empty room, listening to his family live on without him outside his door. strong feelings of isolation and being an outcast, cemented at the end by his family smiling cheerfully with relief when he finally dies. I got similar feelings of claustrophobia and helplessness from the castle and the trial, too. it must be his 'thing' snailshell fucked around with this message at 02:00 on May 29, 2021 |
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May 29, 2021 01:58
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I had a very visceral reaction to the apple getting stuck in his carapace Also how his family members differently react felt very real I can definitely read both as alienation from capitalist society and as commentary on mental illness taboo
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May 30, 2021 15:23
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derp posted:it's been a while since i read it, but i remember a palpable and unsettling sensation of the 'walls closing in' - his world is constantly shrinking, he can't go outside anymore, then he can't leave his room anymore, then all the furniture is removed and it's just bare walls, then he's just under the bed hiding in a blank empty room, listening to his family live on without him outside his door. strong feelings of isolation and being an outcast, cemented at the end by his family smiling cheerfully with relief when he finally dies. I got similar feelings of claustrophobia and helplessness from the castle and the trial, too. it must be his 'thing' He has some nice short stories on themes like those as well: "Alas," said the mouse, "the whole world is growing smaller every day. At the beginning it was so big that I was afraid, I kept running and running, and I was glad when I saw walls far away to the right and left, but these long walls have narrowed so quickly that I am in the last chamber already, and there in the corner stands the trap that I must run into." "You only need to change your direction," said the cat, and ate it up. The titular Hunger Artist also lives willingly in a cage. Prisons and variations of self-imprisonment often occur in his aphorisms too, which I'd highly recommend: "There are innumerable hiding places and only one salvation, but the possibilities of salvation are as numerous as the hiding places." The aphorisms and some of the shorter stories are a great place to see more of his humor come through too, I think, like here: "Evil is an emanation of human consciousness at certain transitional points. It is not really the physical world that is illusion, but the Evil of it, which to our eyes constitutes, admittedly, the physical world."
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May 30, 2021 16:52
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I’m looking for a book that I won’t be able to put down, but that is still real literature. Previous examples include Lincoln in the Bardo, The Secret History, The Corrections. Preferably something with a gripping plot but just compulsively readable like Corrections is good too
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May 30, 2021 21:07
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blue squares posted:Preferably something with a gripping plot but just compulsively readable like Corrections is good too  (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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May 30, 2021 21:19
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Also what are some of the methods that people itt use to choose which book to read next? I struggle so hard to make decisions.
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May 30, 2021 21:22
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I have a huge to-read pile that I constantly re-sort based on factors including but not limited to language variation, new/classic, fiction/non-fiction and then eventually I tend to just pick whatever is on top when I finish my current book. It helps for me to not dwell on it for too long, but then again I cannot remember when I added a bad book to my to-read list on my own volition, so it's pretty easy to just have faith that the book is going to own. e: Or do you mean "how do you find books you want to read?" Lex Neville fucked around with this message at 21:31 on May 30, 2021 |
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May 30, 2021 21:27
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Lex Neville posted:I have a huge to-read pile that I constantly re-sort based on factors including but not limited to language variation, new/classic, fiction/non-fiction and then eventually I tend to just pick whatever is on top when I finish my current book. It helps for me to not dwell on it for too long, but then again I cannot remember when I added a bad book to my to-read list on my own volition, so it's pretty easy to just have faith that the book is going to own. Both. I really should make a list instead of just having a bunch of titles sitting in my head. Then instead of having 20 things I’ve heard of and want to read, I have a ranked list already I also need to stop my FOMO issues where I worry that be reading book A, I can’t be reading book B at that exact moment. blue squares fucked around with this message at 22:16 on May 30, 2021 |
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May 30, 2021 21:37
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Lotta good posts about Kafka. I hadn't really thought about the isolation aspect but that's very interesting. I also thought an apple being what crippled him was real weird, and was trying so hard to work out the logistics of it that it didn't really emotionally affect me at all haha blue squares posted:Both. I really should make a list instead of just having a bunch of titles sitting in my head. Then instead of having 20 things I’ve heard of and want to read, I have a ranked list already I have an Amazon wishlist that I use. You could also use goodreads (now owned by Amazon). At the risk of derailing things a bit I would encourage you to not actually use Amazon to make your book purchases, just track what you wanna buy and then buy them elsewhere.
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May 30, 2021 21:42
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blue squares posted:Both. I really should make a list instead of just having a bunch of titles sitting in my head. Then instead of having 20 things I’ve heard of and want to read, I have a ranked list already My method is to hoard at least a hundred or so unread books in either physical or electronic format. Then I read whatever feels the most attractive at the moment. I also read several books in parallel, usually something demanding, something light and a non fiction title at the same time, switching between them. The method might not work fo everyone but I find it enjoyable.
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May 30, 2021 22:25
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Reading capitalism and the like into Kafka is totally acceptable. buuuuuuut I prefer a closer internal read which feels the revulsion from both the transforming subject and the parents. Absolute loss of control over self and body, helpless to repair oneself (the apple), rejection/horror from the closest (blood) bonds because one has changed to become monstrous overnight. Sitting in that before labeling anything, even mental health, rules imo.
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May 30, 2021 22:31
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blue squares posted:Also what are some of the methods that people itt use to choose which book to read next? I struggle so hard to make decisions. This thread (lol) and the discord. If I hear a book rec'd enough times I'll get it, or if I hear a book compared to one I love
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May 30, 2021 23:03
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blue squares posted:I’m looking for a book that I won’t be able to put down, but that is still real literature. Previous examples include Lincoln in the Bardo, The Secret History, The Corrections. Preferably something with a gripping plot but just compulsively readable like Corrections is good too Last samurai by Helen Dewitt, possibly
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May 30, 2021 23:04
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derp posted:Last samurai by Helen Dewitt, possibly That's a solid one that I read for the first time a few months ago after reading Vulture's best books of the 21st Century article https://www.vulture.com/article/best-books-21st-century-so-far.html
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May 30, 2021 23:19
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weird that so many people don't get how centuries are counted another one i read very quickly was Agamemnon's Daughter in most cases though, i think if a book is 'unputdownable' then there's probably not much to think about or be impressed by or to savor--(all things that would make me put down the book for a moment and think 'wow' or something of the like) in which case it's probably not great literature.
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May 30, 2021 23:36
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blue squares posted:I’m looking for a book that I won’t be able to put down, but that is still real literature. Previous examples include Lincoln in the Bardo, The Secret History, The Corrections. Preferably something with a gripping plot but just compulsively readable like Corrections is good too Read Blinding.
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May 30, 2021 23:45
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The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Quit Being a loving Child and Read Blinding
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May 30, 2021 23:47
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Bilirubin posted:Read Blinding. Just put a request in at my library
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May 31, 2021 00:02
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derp posted:This thread (lol) and the discord. If I hear a book rec'd enough times I'll get it, or if I hear a book compared to one I love There's a goon book discord?
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May 31, 2021 00:11
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