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What have you been reading lately?

Mr Peat said:
No novel is good translated. You should know that Sam. Much is lost in the process but that is a sacrifice one is willing to take while reading a novel thats been translated. I've noticed the huge difference between the translated version of Crime and Punishment. But at the same time, you have other things going on in Russian literature like the pet names. One character could have 10 different names and thus it looks like a ton of characters. When in reality, its just a hand full. :laugh:
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Good point. I don't think 'good translation' exists, on any level. I remember walking down a street in Kenya and seeing a man reading an English newspaper with this 'lost in deep thought' look upon his face. Then I noticed he was holding the paper upside down. That was as good a translation as you could expect.
 
Never could stop reading Anna Karenina part way through and pick it up again later. I think that's what makes Tolstoy painful; you almost got to read his books in one sitting.

Been reading The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart. Not bad.
 
Currently in the middle of Thor Ewing's Gods & Worshippers in the Viking & Germanic World, which is a survey of what we know, via textual and archeaological evidence, about pre-Christian religion in Northern Europe. Not so much the mythology, with which most people are at least a little familiar, but the actual local practices. Really good stuff.

I'm cross-referencing parts of it with Jon Hnefill Adalsteinsson's A Piece of Horse Liver: Myth, Ritual and Folklore in Old Icelandic Sources, which is equally good, but more a collection of scholarly essays than a comprehensive overview like Ewing's work.

~Boar
 
A book on Documentation Management. Not very well written, and geared too specifically to a certain type of business model.
I'm going to finish it. You never know, one sentence or idea out of it may be a gem.

Other than that I'm reading one that is Erudite, unconventional, and controversial.
 
Two of the smartest books I ever read were Wild Willie Faulkner's "Sound and the Fury" and Thomas Wolfe's "Look Homeward, Angel". If you want to read beautiful, brilliant writing... read Wolfe.


NA
 
Right now I'm finishing up Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell. Most of it is a review for me, but I like the real-world examples and applications of economic theory that he uses. A very interesting read if you're vaguely excited by the subject.

When I get tired of that, I'm rereading The Hitchhiker's Guide Trilogy ( :laugh: ) by Douglas Adams. Always an entertaining read. :thumbs:
 
tsmckenney said:
Mr Peat said:
I am reading Crime and Punishment in the English text and also the Cyrillic text. I am getting cheated by reading the English version. I am thinking of getting a copy of War and Peace next. But I kick myself for not getting a Cyrillic version of it. Oh well...maybe next time. Either way the copy of Crime and Punishment is pretty good in English so if you haven't read it, do it. :thumbs:
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Crime and Punishment is eerily good. Dostoyevsky though, well, he was no Steinbeck. Anyone ever read The Idiot? WTF was that all about? It was appropriately named I guess, and Dostoyevsky definitely has a handle on writing the 'uncomfortable'.
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You would have to know about him. He had about a 17,000 word vocabulary. But it would also explain about the book, The Idiot. If there is one man if I could go back in time and talk with, I would talk with Dostoyevsky. Definitely an interesting writer from Russia. I have his entire works but unfortunately, the set I have, one of the Том aka volumes is a different book. I would love to complete it with the actual one to the set but its never going to happen. Due to the fact I picked it up in Russia. When I go back, I will have to see if they have another copy of it.
 
Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul. A very succinct little book on America, what's wrong, and how to fix it. It also has a reading list that is 50 books long which I'm going to start on next which expand many of the basic points in the book.

Ery
 
SamClemmons said:
Two of the smartest books I ever read were Wild Willie Faulkner's "Sound and the Fury" and Thomas Wolfe's "Look Homeward, Angel". If you want to read beautiful, brilliant writing... read Wolfe.


NA
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I'll throw "Look Homeward, Angel" on the list. Faulkner's an interesting subject. My understanding of him, is that unlike Steinbeck or Hemingway, he was broke all the time. Hence, he spent a good amount of his career writing for fast cash. I think if that had not been the case, we would have gotten some much different work from the man. Whatever though, "Sound and the Fury" is some kind of masterpiece, that's for sure. Certainly not one I would reach for a second time. That's not a criticism, I just didn't find it to be a 'fun' read. :)
 
Thanks for the info, Mr. Peat! I would love to brush up on my Russian or lack thereof. My verbal skills were always much better than my reading, but I'd like to eck those up. (Not that my verbal skills have been too great - too many years of disuse.)

I've always preferred Dostoevsky to Tolstoy.

If anyone is looking for a good Fantasy novel the Fire and Ice series by RR Martin is excellent. Every bit as engaging as LOTR.
 
Eryxis said:
Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul. A very succinct little book on America, what's wrong, and how to fix it. It also has a reading list that is 50 books long which I'm going to start on next which expand many of the basic points in the book.

Ery
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I read that a couple of months ago. Very enlightening, and very well written.
 
With schoolwork always looming, I don't have as much time to read for pleasure as I wish I did, but I just finished The Driver by Alex Roy. It's about illegal endurance racing and breaking the record from NY to LA. Lots of hubris throughout, but I found it to be exciting throughout and surprisingly well-written. There are a few parts where it's kind of tough to follow and a few places with large gaps, but I think that mainly stems from the illegal nature of much of the subject matter.

If you enjoy driving or enjoy driving fast, you'll love it.
 
Been chewing up the pages lately with the holidays and such:

The Fatal Revenant -Stephen R. Donaldson
The Gates of Rome - Conn Iggulden
Death of Kings - Conn Iggulden
The Princes of Ireland - Edward Rutherfurd
Master and Commander - Patrick O'Brian
Post Captain - Patrick O'Brian
Flashman - George MacDonald Fraser

Reading currently:

H. M. S. Surprise - Patrick O'Brian
 
I'm re-reading CS Lewis' Prince Caspian for the third time. I originally read the entire series when I was in grade school, then re-read it again about 5 years ago when we got a special edition set as a gift. Now the movies are coming out so I thought I'd give it another go to refresh my memory, especially since it's next in our Netflix queue.
 
I'm revisiting Steinbeck, given our most recent circumstances.

Putz Mulligan said:
Been chewing up the pages lately with the holidays and such:

The Fatal Revenant -Stephen R. Donaldson
The Gates of Rome - Conn Iggulden
Death of Kings - Conn Iggulden
The Princes of Ireland - Edward Rutherfurd
Master and Commander - Patrick O'Brian
Post Captain - Patrick O'Brian
Flashman - George MacDonald Fraser

Reading currently:

H. M. S. Surprise - Patrick O'Brian
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Master and Commander is a member of my all time top 10, as is the movie!
 
Dewey Read More Books!

the small town library cat who touched the world! :laugh:

no, seriously.

I knew this cat personally growing up. This all took place in my home town of Spencer, Iowa.
 
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