Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Guy A. Person
May 23, 2003

Finished JR, it was really great. Feel like I missed some stuff with the heavy dialogue but I guess that was supposed to be the point. Also I felt really smart when he made references to Agape Agape and the kid getting trapped in the sculpture like A Frolic of His Own.

I realized I have never read anything at all from the Beat Generation so I figured I might as well add one of those:

Moby Dick
Ulysses
Don Quixote
The Count of Monte Cristo
War and Peace
The Brothers Karamazov
JR
Lolita
100 Years of Solitude
Foucault's Pendulum
Naked Lunch

USMC_Karl read:

USMC_Karl posted:

Wuthering Heights

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Mr. Squishy
Mar 22, 2010

A country where you can always get richer.
I'm not sure it counts as a reference, rather he revisited the idea. Have you read Frolic? What did you think of it?

Guy A. Person
May 23, 2003

Mr. Squishy posted:

I'm not sure it counts as a reference, rather he revisited the idea. Have you read Frolic? What did you think of it?

I liked Frolic a lot, it was similar to JR being heavily dialogue based with eccentric characters navigating the legal system (as opposed to the financial system) but with actual chapter breaks so it was easier to follow. It similarly had some really funny bits, like the aforementioned kid trapped in the sculpture and I especially liked the parts where the protagonist kept pulling in random lawyers and visitors to read and act out his play to compare it to a newly released film that he was claiming ripped it off

USMC_Karl
Nov 17, 2003

SUPPORTER OF THE REINSTATED LAWFUL HAWAIIAN GOVERNMENT. HAOLES GET OFF DA `AINA.

Guy A. Person posted:

USMC_Karl read:

Roger that, boss. Will start is when I finish my current book.

Mahlertov Cocktail
Mar 1, 2010

I ate your Mahler avatar! Hahahaha!

Guy A. Person posted:

Foucault's Pendulum

I haven't read any of your list but I loooove The Name of the Rose so this is your next book!

Fran got me into this thread so here's MY FIRST LIST:

1. Suttree by Cormac McCarthy - Jenny Angel of CineD fame gave this to me and it's been sitting on my bedside table for months even though I adore McCarthy.
2. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner - I've never read any Faulkner and this seems like as good a place as any to start.
3. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin - I love the Earthsea books, and I've always meant to read more of her work. RIP.
4. Hell House by Richard Matheson - I love horror movies but haven't read that many horror books.
5. Light Years by James Salter - Former forums poster and all-around cool dude penismightier called this the best book of the 20th century and I trust his judgement.
6. Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty - Economics corner! Probably gonna put some lefty stuff here later to fill out some acade
7. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas is one of my favorite books, but I haven't read many other Mitchell books. Also boner clocks lol
8. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty - Memoirs from niche professions/walks of life are fun, and I remember this one being recommended to me several years ago.
9. Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks - Love The Wasp Factory and State of the Art but haven't read any proper Culture novels.
10. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - Awful book slot for people who just want to torture me.

Hit me and help me push myself to read more than I have been lately!

Guy A. Person
May 23, 2003

Mahlertov Cocktail posted:

I haven't read any of your list but I loooove The Name of the Rose so this is your next book!

Sounds good, placed a hold on an ebook at my library

Solitair
Feb 18, 2014

TODAY'S GONNA BE A GOOD MOTHERFUCKIN' DAY!!!

Mahlertov Cocktail posted:

Fran got me into this thread so here's MY FIRST LIST:

1. Suttree by Cormac McCarthy - Jenny Angel of CineD fame gave this to me and it's been sitting on my bedside table for months even though I adore McCarthy.
2. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner - I've never read any Faulkner and this seems like as good a place as any to start.
3. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin - I love the Earthsea books, and I've always meant to read more of her work. RIP.
4. Hell House by Richard Matheson - I love horror movies but haven't read that many horror books.
5. Light Years by James Salter - Former forums poster and all-around cool dude penismightier called this the best book of the 20th century and I trust his judgement.
6. Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty - Economics corner! Probably gonna put some lefty stuff here later to fill out some acade
7. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas is one of my favorite books, but I haven't read many other Mitchell books. Also boner clocks lol
8. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty - Memoirs from niche professions/walks of life are fun, and I remember this one being recommended to me several years ago.
9. Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks - Love The Wasp Factory and State of the Art but haven't read any proper Culture novels.
10. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - Awful book slot for people who just want to torture me.

The Bone Clocks is dope. Go read it.

Six months later, I finished reading my Voltaire collection, Candide included. The entire collection has given me a surfeit of food for thought, so I’ll try to keep things brief.

Candide is a satire on philosophical optimism, the belief that our world is the best one God could have made, in the form of a naďve youth wandering the earth and running into one senseless atrocity after another. Most of the laughs came from Candide’s pessimistic companion, Martin, who only joins Candide in the last third. There’s also humor in the form of dry sarcasm, which occasionally made me chuckle when I got the joke, and also the unintentionally hilarious sequence where Candide takes a break to see some plays and Voltaire makes veiled jabs at people who didn’t like him, just like Dante did in The Divine Comedy.

Another aspect of Candide that distinguishes it from modern books is that there’s almost no attempt to build tension. Candide always escapes death and, unlike some of his friends, disfigurement, and after he visits El Dorado, he’s never lacking for money and his journey gets more comfortable. The El Dorado segment had me stumped for a while, but I think that other than Voltaire being fanciful (as he is in other stories), Candide and Cacambo visit a paradise to outline how much better the outside world could be, despite Pangloss’s assertions to the contrary.

While I got the impression that Voltaire agrees with Martin’s downbeat comments, I also got the impression that Candide isn’t completely pessimistic as a whole. On multiple occasions one of Candide’s acquaintances shows up after Candide thought they were dead, and at the end they all find a plot of land where they can live in peace. They have a garden and everything! It ends with the implication that philosophy should be practical and conform to the real world, though it's vague on how to do so beyond "don't think like Leibniz."

Highlights from other Voltaire stories:
Zadig: Apparently Candide is a sendup of the picaresque, so I guess Zadig is a picaresque played straighter. Zadig is a more proactive and clever protagonist than Candide, but if there was a joke, I didn’t see it.
Micromegas: A man from another solar system visits Earth, and because of his impossible height, he has to use a microscope and a toenail megahorn to talk philosophy with local humans.
Ingenuous: A Native American moves to England and converts to Christianity, but butts heads with his adoptive family when they try to make him take up customs differently than what the Bible describes. That aspect was funny for a bit, but then it got melodramatic and I lost interest.
The World As It Is: Voltaire rewrites the book of Jonah to conform to then-modern sensibilities, to the point where he disses Jonah at the end.

They’re worth a shot if you liked Candide.

My new list, redone to suit the intention of the thread:
The Count of Monte-Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Locus Solus by Raymond Roussel
Jealousy by Alain Robbe-Grillet
The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino
Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavic
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov
Myra Breckinridge by Gore Vidal
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold by John le Carré
Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard

Furious Lobster
Jun 17, 2006

Soiled Meat

Solitair posted:

The Count of Monte-Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Dumas' writing can be a bit overdone here but it's a fun read overall.

--

I finished the Vonnegut today and didn't realize I was trading one absurdist hat for another one. His writing is very clear, easy to follow and the easy segues from one point of time to another were not that jarring. The best parts of the book are from his own experience of the war, while the other absurdities do highlight them, I wish I could have read a version with just his view from the war.

List

Moby Dick. Never read it though I know the characters' names, motivations and the other billion or so literary references made to it from the time it was published. (1.3.18)

Gravity's Rainbow. Keep starting it and then putting it back down to the point where I have 3 separate publications of the book sitting on my desk (one is serving as a monitor stand). (1.3.18)

The Brothers Karamazov. I think the hardest part for me and something I didn't realize until I finished War & Peace is that I didn't really jive with the particular translator at the time. If someone picks this, please also include the name of a translator that one likes since it'll make the reading that much easier to do. (1.3.18)

Three Men in a Boat. Another book that I've continually started and then secreted under a load of seemingly more accessible novels. Maybe it's the British humor? (1.3.18)

Waiting for Godot. (assuming plays are kosher) First time I heard of it was on the application form for the University of Chicago (needless to say, I didn't apply there) and tried it out for a bit before putting it back on the shelf. It's always been in the back of my mind. (1.3.18)

Slaughterhouse-Five. Remembered Vonnegut from a NPR podcast recently and that I've never read any of his books. (1.3.18)

In Search of Lost Time. I start reading his novels and then invariably end up falling asleep under the covers. Maybe the ebook versions will keep me up longer. (1.3.18)

Pale Fire. Always been on my list since I've heard many people recommend it to me but haven't yet ventured to take another crack at Nabokov. I've even bought it for others but not for myself. (1.22.18)

Waiting for the Barbarians. I think I found the title from the English Prof thread as well as some other ones in the subforum; it sounds like it'd be fun. (2.19.18)

BravestOfTheLamps
Oct 12, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
Lipstick Apathy

Furious Lobster posted:

Waiting for the Barbarians. I think I found the title from the English Prof thread as well as some other ones in the subforum; it sounds like it'd be fun. (2.19.18)

Read this.

---

I never expected to end Imagined Communities with appreciation for nationalism. While Anderson is implicitly critical of nationalism as a phenomenon, his definition of it is nuanced, especially in his elegant explanation of how nationalism and racism are not synonymous. As he points out early on, nationalism is not so much an ideology but a social and political phenomenon akin to religion. His melding of disciplines for the purposes of political history displays highly holistic scholarship, as he is able to analyse history as fluently as literature and psychology. Definitely ashamed for nothing having read this before.

My list:

Old Goriot by Honore de Balzac. No idea why I've let this lie around for so long.

Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer (Penguin Classics). Bought it with a lot of other books, so didn't get around to it.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. I have no excuse not to have read this!

Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson. This was an impulse buy years ago since a lecturer talked about it, but I wasn't really that interested in the topic.

Demian by Hermann Hesse. I feared I got too old for another life-changing novel by acclaimed author Hermann Hesse

Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958–62 by Frank Dikötter. Impulse buy, and it's pretty long!

BravestOfTheLamps fucked around with this message at 17:35 on Feb 24, 2018

ulvir
Jan 2, 2005

Pere Goriot is a nice read and you should do it

BravestOfTheLamps
Oct 12, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
Lipstick Apathy
There are rules, ulvir.

Burning Rain
Jul 17, 2006

What's happening?!?!
yes, but Pere Goriot is a nice read and you should do it

BravestOfTheLamps
Oct 12, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
Lipstick Apathy
You scoundrels. You barbarians.

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment

Grimey Drawer

BravestOfTheLamps posted:

Old Goriot by Honore de Balzac. No idea why I've let this lie around for so long.

I haven't read this, but since ulvir and Burning Rain like it, it's probably good.



Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)

I never read this in high school. I'm not really into stories of romance, and the premise of a bunch of sisters trying to get married hadn't really held interest for me. However, I've been more interested in older literature and I've been trying to read more female authors. Austen has quite the reputation as being one of the greatest, and she deserves it.

The writing is sharp, layered and witty. I laughed quite a few times in the first book. The characters are charming and sometimes ridiculous, and the portrait of the society of the time is fascinating.

Highly Recommended.


MY SHAMEFUL LIST

Macbeth supposedly by William Shakespeare (1606)
(3.4.18) I've only read Hamlet.

A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2011)
(1.3.18) Sounds weird and fun, but I haven't read it yet, despite my friends really enjoying it.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (1930)
(7.12.17) I've never read any Faulkner, despite my love of Southern Gothic lit and stream-of-conscious prose.

Under The Volcano by Malcolm Lowry (1947)
(7.12.17) A depressed drunk in a terrible relationship during Dia de los Muertos? Sign me up. Just kidding, it's been on my shelf for years despite being right up my ally.

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (1934)
(7.12.17) I've heard of this book's reputation. I like books about assholes and artists.

Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out by Mo Yan (2011)
(7.12.17) This was recommended to me a while ago by the Lit. Thread. I've enjoyed the Eastern novels I've read, but there's so much more to explore.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (1986)
(7.12.17) I don't really care to watch the Hulu series, everyone talks about this book now due to the political climate in the US, but I don't really read sci-fi. Everyone I know loves this book, though.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1859)
(7.12.17) I was supposed to read this in high school and didn't. I've somehow always avoided reading Dickens, mainly due to book length, not quality.

White Noise by Don DeLillo (1985)
(7.12.17) I'm a big fan of PoMo lit, but I haven't read DeLillo yet. I know it's his most accessible, but also very different than his other work.

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (2001)
(7.12.17) Probably the only Franzen I'll read.

COMPLETED: Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, Pride & Prejudice
Goodreads

Furious Lobster
Jun 17, 2006

Soiled Meat

Franchescanado posted:

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (1986)
(7.12.17) I don't really care to watch the Hulu series, everyone talks about this book now due to the political climate in the US, but I don't really read sci-fi. Everyone I know loves this book, though.

I think it'll be interesting for you to read this after Pride & Prejudice. While this is one of my favorites of Atwood's works, it doesn't hold a candle to Austen but is still a decent read.

Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee

Waiting for the Barbarians is sparse, plain, and still relevant as long as there are majorities & minorities. I felt like the book kept taking me by surprise be it through the description of the barbarians, or the simple awe of the long journey in the second part of the book.

The narrator's guilt or confused sympathy did overcome my problems with his unreliability somewhat.


List

Moby Dick. Never read it though I know the characters' names, motivations and the other billion or so literary references made to it from the time it was published. (1.3.18)

Gravity's Rainbow. Keep starting it and then putting it back down to the point where I have 3 separate publications of the book sitting on my desk (one is serving as a monitor stand). (1.3.18)

The Brothers Karamazov. I think the hardest part for me and something I didn't realize until I finished War & Peace is that I didn't really jive with the particular translator at the time. If someone picks this, please also include the name of a translator that one likes since it'll make the reading that much easier to do. (1.3.18)

Three Men in a Boat. Another book that I've continually started and then secreted under a load of seemingly more accessible novels. Maybe it's the British humor? (1.3.18)

Waiting for Godot. (assuming plays are kosher) First time I heard of it was on the application form for the University of Chicago (needless to say, I didn't apply there) and tried it out for a bit before putting it back on the shelf. It's always been in the back of my mind. (1.3.18)

Slaughterhouse-Five. Remembered Vonnegut from a NPR podcast recently and that I've never read any of his books. (1.3.18)

In Search of Lost Time. I start reading his novels and then invariably end up falling asleep under the covers. Maybe the ebook versions will keep me up longer. (1.3.18)

Pale Fire. Always been on my list since I've heard many people recommend it to me but haven't yet ventured to take another crack at Nabokov. I've even bought it for others but not for myself. (1.22.18)

Waiting for the Barbarians. I think I found the title from the English Prof thread as well as some other ones in the subforum; it sounds like it'd be fun. (2.19.18)

The Magic Mountain. Haven't read much German literature to be honest and I only vaguely remember this title from when I was punishing myself with Murakami but it looks like one of the greats, or so they say. (3.4.18)

Guy A. Person
May 23, 2003

Still flipping waiting for my libraby hold on Foucault's Pendulum to release :mad:

I started as #2 on the list like a month and a half ago, so it shouldn't be too much longer (max is 21 days) so I assume it's a real good book that people are putting in the time to really enjoy, and that they aren't just lazy fuckers who aren't returning books in a timely fashion

MockingQuantum
Jan 20, 2012



Furious Lobster posted:


Pale Fire. Always been on my list since I've heard many people recommend it to me but haven't yet ventured to take another crack at Nabokov. I've even bought it for others but not for myself. (1.22.18)


Never buy a book for others that you don't get around to reading yourself, I say!

Though I guess that means I should step up and lay my shameful secrets out on the lawn.

My list!

Moby Dick. I've been meaning to read it forever, mostly haven't because it's long and the last time I tried to read it I got bored of ~boat facts~.

The Sound and the Fury. Started reading it once in junior high, and I think I was too young to really grasp it. Never got back to it for some reason.

The Grapes of Wrath. I've read a bunch of other Steinbeck, just not this. Probably because I had a freshman lit teacher in high school who had us watch the movie and told us that was "good enough."

The Sun Also Rises. Never read any Hemingway, don't know why.

Pride and Prejudice. I've never been remotely interested in Austen.

The Great Gatsby. This one's particularly shameful because I used to work at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theater part-time.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I've always just watched the movie instead.

The Maltese Falcon. Never even seen the movie in this case.

Things Fall Apart. Probably the top of my list of books people tell me I need to read, over and over. Also I just read Heart of Darkness for the first time so I feel like it's time to read this one too, given Achebe had a lot to say about it.

One Hundred Years of Solitude. Not sure why I've missed this one, either. I just finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which I know isn't strictly speaking magical realism, but it's close enough to get me interested.

fridge corn
Apr 2, 2003

NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN :black101:

MockingQuantum posted:

My list!


One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I've always just watched the movie instead.

Read this one

Anyway, finally finished The Count of Monte Cristo and it was a good enough story I guess but it was toooooo loving looooooong and I can't really say I feel any better having read it. I'm glad authors aren't paid by the word anymore what an awful idea that was.

Updated list:

The Book of Disquiet Fernando Pessoa
Cannery Row John Steinbeck
Dubliners James Joyce
Broken April Ismail Kadare
The Idiot Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Inner Tube Hob Broun
Molloy Samuel Beckett
Underground Railroad Colson Whitehead
Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver 
The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco

poisonpill
Nov 8, 2009

The only way to get huge fast is to insult a passing witch and hope she curses you with Beast-strength.


Dubliners. The best Joyce. Highly readable, insightful, and lyrical without being pretentious.

I'm trying to go back and fill in the gaps on my ancient Western canon over the next year or so until life gets hectic again. Please suggest preferred translations, as well. Here's the ones on my list that I want to get to (classics edition):

thucydides history of the peloponnesian war: This is the next logical step for me but I don't know how much more classic historians I can take. How is this in terms of readability?
xenophon anabasis: Cool fanfic prequel to The Warrior. Again, not sure how readable it is. Is this a footnotes-only read?
Plutarch's Lives: I read a good portion of this a long time ago and remember none of it. I thought it was ok? Is this worth ever finishing?
Ovid Metamorphasis: I think I had this assigned in a gen-ed a long time ago and didn't read any of it. Been meaning to fix that ever since.
Caesar's commentaries: Read most of this in bits and pieces. Would like to circle back and finish it some afternoon.
aurelius Meditations: Tried to get into this a few times, but I think I'm finding bad translations. What's the preferred modern translation?

Anything glaring missing on this list? There's a good chance I've read it, but this might be the last time I visit the ancient world, so please suggest things that need to be read to understand the rest of the canon, or that are awesome.

MockingQuantum
Jan 20, 2012



poisonpill posted:

Dubliners. The best Joyce. Highly readable, insightful, and lyrical without being pretentious.

I'm trying to go back and fill in the gaps on my ancient Western canon over the next year or so until life gets hectic again. Please suggest preferred translations, as well. Here's the ones on my list that I want to get to (classics edition):

thucydides history of the peloponnesian war: This is the next logical step for me but I don't know how much more classic historians I can take. How is this in terms of readability?
xenophon anabasis: Cool fanfic prequel to The Warrior. Again, not sure how readable it is. Is this a footnotes-only read?
Plutarch's Lives: I read a good portion of this a long time ago and remember none of it. I thought it was ok? Is this worth ever finishing?
Ovid Metamorphasis: I think I had this assigned in a gen-ed a long time ago and didn't read any of it. Been meaning to fix that ever since.
Caesar's commentaries: Read most of this in bits and pieces. Would like to circle back and finish it some afternoon.
aurelius Meditations: Tried to get into this a few times, but I think I'm finding bad translations. What's the preferred modern translation?

Anything glaring missing on this list? There's a good chance I've read it, but this might be the last time I visit the ancient world, so please suggest things that need to be read to understand the rest of the canon, or that are awesome.

I couldn't tell you the scholarly consensus on Meditations translations, but a book club I was in a couple of years back read the Gregory Hays translation and it was definitely the best I've come across.

EAT FASTER!!!!!!
Sep 21, 2002

Legendary.


:hampants::hampants::hampants:
The Greek stuff I'm going to have to plead ignorance, sadly, although I know Meditations is continually recommended so go with the translation suggested. One above that, I think The Idiot is absolutely amazing, but Dostoevsky is my favorite 19th century author.

I just discovered this thread and had bumped my reading up a couple of years back from like 1-5 books a year into the 30-50 books a year sweet spot so I toppled a lot of my "books to be slayed" but now I've accumulated some works being read that have frozen me out.

Underworld I started this in 2016 and lost my copy of the book (most books I read are ebooks but I have this in paperback) and someone was nice enough to send me another copy but it didn't catch me like White Noise
JR I started this in 2016 and have managed to get like 40% of the way through but it never really hooks me and I keep getting pulled away by more captivating books
Capital in the 21st Century on it's second lend from the library, I'm probably 40% of the way through and might work on it this week
Ulysses the last time I tried to read it was 10 years ago and I found it essentially impenetrable

And a further 6 books that have been on my "to read" list for > 2 years at this point.

Mother Night I think the only Vonnegut I haven't read
The Picture of Dorian Gray it's been on my list for a long time
Hosseini Novels my wife thinks I should read these
War and Peace I've read every Dostoevsky, many Gogol and Nabokov, very nearly managed to compile a Russian Literature minor in college and never read Anna K or W&P
Song of Solomon I liked Beloved okay, and I like a diverse group of voices in my canon

EAT FASTER!!!!!! fucked around with this message at 14:37 on Apr 9, 2018

Ras Het
May 23, 2007

when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child - but now I am a man.

poisonpill posted:

Dubliners. The best Joyce. Highly readable, insightful, and lyrical without being pretentious.

I'm trying to go back and fill in the gaps on my ancient Western canon over the next year or so until life gets hectic again. Please suggest preferred translations, as well. Here's the ones on my list that I want to get to (classics edition):

thucydides history of the peloponnesian war: This is the next logical step for me but I don't know how much more classic historians I can take. How is this in terms of readability?
xenophon anabasis: Cool fanfic prequel to The Warrior. Again, not sure how readable it is. Is this a footnotes-only read?
Plutarch's Lives: I read a good portion of this a long time ago and remember none of it. I thought it was ok? Is this worth ever finishing?
Ovid Metamorphasis: I think I had this assigned in a gen-ed a long time ago and didn't read any of it. Been meaning to fix that ever since.
Caesar's commentaries: Read most of this in bits and pieces. Would like to circle back and finish it some afternoon.
aurelius Meditations: Tried to get into this a few times, but I think I'm finding bad translations. What's the preferred modern translation?

Anything glaring missing on this list? There's a good chance I've read it, but this might be the last time I visit the ancient world, so please suggest things that need to be read to understand the rest of the canon, or that are awesome.

Thucydides is very boring. I really wouldn't recommend him unless you're extremely enthusiastic about Greek military history
Anabasis is a very readable, but I'm not sure what you mean by footnotes only read
Parallell Lives is pretty big, idk if it's worth treating it as one unit that you thru to slog through
Metamorphosis is great, read it
Caesar is quick and fun
Meditations doesn't really teach you much in historical terms, so it's more about whether you want to read this weird sad guy's self flagellations

That list is... not necessarily very helpful in understanding "the Western canon", except for Ovid, who's pretty fundamental. Have you read Sophocles? Or Plato? Herodotus? Any of the Roman historians?

As for translations, just pick up the Penguin or Oxford World Classics edition you happen to come across. They deserve their reputations.

poisonpill
Nov 8, 2009

The only way to get huge fast is to insult a passing witch and hope she curses you with Beast-strength.


EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:

Ulysses the last time I tried to read it was 10 years ago and I found it essentially impenetrable
I meant what I said about Joyce above. Ulysses is unreadable at parts, and essentially blends a lot of Latin with Odysseus, Hamlet, and Irish history in an impenetrable mess. Parts of it are sublime, but you have to wade through trash to get there. It's the kind of thing to read during a whirlwind trip to Dublin.


Ras Het posted:

Thucydides is very boring. I really wouldn't recommend him unless you're extremely enthusiastic about Greek military history
Anabasis is a very readable, but I'm not sure what you mean by footnotes only read
Parallell Lives is pretty big, idk if it's worth treating it as one unit that you thru to slog through
Metamorphosis is great, read it
Caesar is quick and fun
Meditations doesn't really teach you much in historical terms, so it's more about whether you want to read this weird sad guy's self flagellations

I'll shoot for Metamorphosis and then see how much weird guy's self flagellations I can take. Maybe I'll just hit E/N and circle back to excepts from Thucydides. Meditations after that.

Ras Het posted:

That list is... not necessarily very helpful in understanding "the Western canon", except for Ovid, who's pretty fundamental. Have you read Sophocles? Or Plato? Herodotus? Any of the Roman historians?

Herodotus, Sophocles, Plato, yeah. Roman historians: Only Livy. Suggestions?

Guy A. Person
May 23, 2003

Finally started Foucault's Pendulum and am going to finish it tonight. It reminded me of several worse books which it predates, which makes it funnier that it is obviously parodying a bunch of those conspiracy theories. Really enjoyed the part where protagonist's GF destroys the dumb numerology connections but I did find some of the historical accounts a bit repetitive an drawn out.

It was still really good overall.

Guy A. Person
May 23, 2003

Finished Pendulum last week I've just been lazy about updating. Ready for my next challenge!

Decided not to add anything new this time, cause I think I still have a pretty robust list:

Moby Dick
Ulysses
Don Quixote
The Count of Monte Cristo
War and Peace
The Brothers Karamazov
JR
Lolita
100 Years of Solitude
Foucault's Pendulum
Naked Lunch

Also based on the last few posts I am not sure who needs a pick still. It looks like poisonpill picked for EAT FASTER!!!!!! after Ras Het had made a pick for him? Either way if someone still needs a pick from me lemme know, I'm around.

poisonpill
Nov 8, 2009

The only way to get huge fast is to insult a passing witch and hope she curses you with Beast-strength.


Not picking, warning off. Eat Faster still wide open.

EAT FASTER!!!!!!
Sep 21, 2002

Legendary.


:hampants::hampants::hampants:
Just gently caress me up, fam.

Guy A. Person
May 23, 2003

EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:

Just gently caress me up, fam.

I'll take it easy on you this time and assign you Mother Night, cause it's a seriously good Vonnegut

EAT FASTER!!!!!!
Sep 21, 2002

Legendary.


:hampants::hampants::hampants:

EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:

The Greek stuff I'm going to have to plead ignorance, sadly, although I know Meditations is continually recommended so go with the translation suggested. One above that, I think The Idiot is absolutely amazing, but Dostoevsky is my favorite 19th century author.

I just discovered this thread and had bumped my reading up a couple of years back from like 1-5 books a year into the 30-50 books a year sweet spot so I toppled a lot of my "books to be slayed" but now I've accumulated some works being read that have frozen me out.

Underworld I started this in 2016 and lost my copy of the book (most books I read are ebooks but I have this in paperback) and someone was nice enough to send me another copy but it didn't catch me like White Noise
JR I started this in 2016 and have managed to get like 40% of the way through but it never really hooks me and I keep getting pulled away by more captivating books
Capital in the 21st Century on it's second lend from the library, I'm probably 40% of the way through and might work on it this week I have made some headway, I'm working on it now.
Ulysses the last time I tried to read it was 10 years ago and I found it essentially impenetrable

And a further 6 books that have been on my "to read" list for > 2 years at this point.

Mother Night I think the only Vonnegut I haven't read This was incredible.
The Picture of Dorian Gray it's been on my list for a long time Read this too, for good measure, I think it's 5 stars.
Hosseini Novels my wife thinks I should read these
War and Peace I've read every Dostoevsky, many Gogol and Nabokov, very nearly managed to compile a Russian Literature minor in college and never read Anna K or W&P
Song of Solomon I liked Beloved okay, and I like a diverse group of voices in my canon

Gertrude Perkins
May 1, 2010

Gun Snake

dont talk to gun snake

Drops: human teeth

I've not read it myself but I bet once you're done and able to say "Oh, I've read War And Peace" you'll feel pretty good about yourself.

MY SHAME LIST:

The Master And Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.
I hear it's a classic.
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.
Stole my dad's copy ages ago, didn't manage to get past 20 pages. I need to try again!
Crime And Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
I know basically nothing about Russian literature and this is meant to be one of the best books ever written, so...
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.
I love the few examples of her poetry I've read, but I've never properly gone into her stuff. Her novel seems like a good place to start.
Metamorphoses, by Ovid.
I studied Latin for like nine years, but never actually read through the whole of this! Also, if I do read it, which translation should I go for?
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess.
I love the film, but the book has been languishing on my to-read shelf for ages!
Nausea, by Jean-Paul Sartre
Acclaimed French philosopher I don't know enough about, and a novel I've heard nothing bad about.
The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas.
I also know nothing about classic French literature outside of Voltaire, and I know dumas is meant to be excellent.
The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde.
Literally owned a copy of this for ten years without getting round to reading it!

Guy A. Person
May 23, 2003

Hey EAT FASTER!!!!!!

gimme a book bro

EAT FASTER!!!!!!
Sep 21, 2002

Legendary.


:hampants::hampants::hampants:

Guy A. Person posted:

Finished Pendulum last week I've just been lazy about updating. Ready for my next challenge!

Decided not to add anything new this time, cause I think I still have a pretty robust list:

Moby Dick
Ulysses
Don Quixote
The Count of Monte Cristo
War and Peace
The Brothers Karamazov
JR
Lolita
100 Years of Solitude
Foucault's Pendulum
Naked Lunch

Also based on the last few posts I am not sure who needs a pick still. It looks like poisonpill picked for EAT FASTER!!!!!! after Ras Het had made a pick for him? Either way if someone still needs a pick from me lemme know, I'm around.

I legitimately wept at the end of Karamazov, I'm all about that Dostoevsky. You'll have no trouble with it if you can get through JR, it's just typical Dostoevsky. Keep in mind every character will have at least 3 different names to which they can be referred because of the abbreviations for their first and patronymic names.

EAT FASTER!!!!!!
Sep 21, 2002

Legendary.


:hampants::hampants::hampants:

Gertrude Perkins posted:

I've not read it myself but I bet once you're done and able to say "Oh, I've read War And Peace" you'll feel pretty good about yourself.

MY SHAME LIST:

The Master And Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.
I hear it's a classic.
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.
Stole my dad's copy ages ago, didn't manage to get past 20 pages. I need to try again!
Crime And Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
I know basically nothing about Russian literature and this is meant to be one of the best books ever written, so...
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.
I love the few examples of her poetry I've read, but I've never properly gone into her stuff. Her novel seems like a good place to start.
Metamorphoses, by Ovid.
I studied Latin for like nine years, but never actually read through the whole of this! Also, if I do read it, which translation should I go for?
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess.
I love the film, but the book has been languishing on my to-read shelf for ages!
Nausea, by Jean-Paul Sartre
Acclaimed French philosopher I don't know enough about, and a novel I've heard nothing bad about.
The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas.
I also know nothing about classic French literature outside of Voltaire, and I know dumas is meant to be excellent.
The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde.
Literally owned a copy of this for ten years without getting round to reading it!

YOU, you go ahead and read the Portrait of Dorian Gray right now. I read it in a single day, it's 200 pages, you'll blaze through it and absolutely love it. It's a masterpiece.

fridge corn
Apr 2, 2003

NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN :black101:
Guy with John Terry av not understanding how the thread is supposed to work colour me surprised

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment

Grimey Drawer

EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:

YOU, you go ahead and read the Portrait of Dorian Gray right now. I read it in a single day, it's 200 pages, you'll blaze through it and absolutely love it. It's a masterpiece.

Stop.
Go to page one.
Read the instructions.
Follow the rules.
Repeat as necessary.

Your Guy A. Person choice stands, but your Gertrude pick does not.

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment

Grimey Drawer

Gertrude Perkins posted:

A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess.
I love the film, but the book has been languishing on my to-read shelf for ages!

I loved this in high school. I had to have a meeting with a teacher who was concerned why I was "reading a book about a rapist". I hope you will be able to take the book on its own terms, since Kubrick took a lot of liberties (to make a great film). Enjoy.


The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)

This left me unimpressed. Once past the first act I found this mostly boring. The writing is bland, though there were a few passages near the end that I thought were good. It's kinda like a book-long look at the affair in 1984 from the woman's perspective. I probably would be more interested if I read this in high school. I think it's interesting that people are claiming this as some prophetic work of some of our current political, but I found a lot of the messages, if you want to call them that, as soft and uninspired. I guess if you present basic ideas to someone for the first time it'll feel like an epiphany to them. "Religion controls the people" and government corruption and women not being considered citizens... Important topics, yes, but nothing new is served here. The final chapter reviewing everything already understood by an adept reader and the explanation of the title being a sexual pun induced eye-rolls.

Not Recommended, unless you're under the age of 18 I guess.


MY SHAMEFUL LIST

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino (1982)
(5.14.18) "This book's a mind-gently caress, bro." :420:

Macbeth supposedly by William Shakespeare (1606)
(3.4.18) I've only read Hamlet.

A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2011)
(1.3.18) Sounds weird and fun, but I haven't read it yet, despite my friends really enjoying it.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (1930)
(7.12.17) I've never read any Faulkner, despite my love of Southern Gothic lit and stream-of-conscious prose.

Under The Volcano by Malcolm Lowry (1947)
(7.12.17) A depressed drunk in a terrible relationship during Dia de los Muertos? Sign me up. Just kidding, it's been on my shelf for years despite being right up my ally.

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (1934)
(7.12.17) I've heard of this book's reputation. I like books about assholes and artists.

Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out by Mo Yan (2011)
(7.12.17) This was recommended to me a while ago by the Lit. Thread. I've enjoyed the Eastern novels I've read, but there's so much more to explore.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1859)
(7.12.17) I was supposed to read this in high school and didn't. I've somehow always avoided reading Dickens, mainly due to book length, not quality.

White Noise by Don DeLillo (1985)
(7.12.17) I'm a big fan of PoMo lit, but I haven't read DeLillo yet. I know it's his most accessible, but also very different than his other work.

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (2001)
(7.12.17) Probably the only Franzen I'll read.

COMPLETED: Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, Pride & Prejudice, The Handmaid's Tale
Goodreads

EAT FASTER!!!!!!
Sep 21, 2002

Legendary.


:hampants::hampants::hampants:

Franchescanado posted:

Stop.
Go to page one.
Read the instructions.
Follow the rules.
Repeat as necessary.

Your Guy A. Person choice stands, but your Gertrude pick does not.

I had read two books so I get to assign two books, instructions unclear.

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment

Grimey Drawer

EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:

I had read two books so I get to assign two books, instructions unclear.

In these situations, you will pick one book for someone in the thread that needs one chosen. One book was chosen for you to read, so you only get to give one book. If you read more than one book on your list, add your write up and then just replace that book on your list with a different book. One person reading three books on their list and then giving out three recommendations is going to gently caress up the flow more than help.

I'll update the FAQs section to reflect this.

For those curious about this logic, the rules of this thread are the same as the SHAMEFUL thread in CineD.

fridge corn
Apr 2, 2003

NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN :black101:

Franchescanado posted:

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (2001)
(7.12.17) Probably the only Franzen I'll read.

The only one on your list that I've read, so enjoy.

So just finished Dubliners which was my first foray into the wonderful world of Joyce and I was quite impressed. I've been reading a lot of short stories lately including dipping in and out of collections of Hemingway and Borges and Joyces work is definitely well placed among them though I suppose this comes as no surprise to anyone.

My list:

The Book of Disquiet Fernando Pessoa
Cannery Row John Steinbeck
The Satanic Verses Salman Rushdie
Broken April Ismail Kadare
The Idiot Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Inner Tube Hob Broun
Molloy Samuel Beckett
Underground Railroad Colson Whitehead
Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver 
The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco

Finished: Blood Meridian, The Count of Monte Cristo, Dubliners

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Guy A. Person
May 23, 2003

My hold for Brothers K finally came in and I picked it up today, just taking a break from longer books with some Kobo Abe then I'll start by end of week (I just finished Middlemarch the other day)

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply