What did you just finish reading?

#201
#201
Finished Silence by Endo, definitely fizzles out at the end don't get the "masterpiece" label it receives although it was an interesting time and place and described quite beautifully in that unique way of Japanese authors.

Started The Obscene Bird at Night by Jose Donoso
 
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#204
#204
I reread No Country for Old Men and read The Road (the only McCarthy novel I'd never read). The Road (or the combination with No Country's pursuers) stirred an impulse to go back to Outer Dark (or maybe The Orchard Keeper) and read forward again. I'll definitely do that one day, but I decided to move along to something I've never read, so I've started Philip Roth's Sabbath's Theater. That so far is a wild ride. I have a copy of American Pastoral, too, and will probably buy a copy of his first novel Goodbye Columbus and the included short stories.

I still have Mason & Dixon and Gravity's Rainbow on deck. Which one would your recommend reading first? I guess it's fine either way.
 
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#205
#205
Orange. said:
I reread No Country for Old Men and read The Road (the only McCarthy novel I'd never read). The Road (or the combination with No Country's pursuers) stirred an impulse to go back to Outer Dark (or maybe The Orchard Keeper) and read forward again. I'll definitely do that one day, but I decided to move along to something I've never read, so I've started Philip Roth's Sabbath's Theater. That so far is a wild ride. I have a copy of American Pastoral, too, and will probably buy a copy of his first novel Goodbye Columbus and the included short stories.

I still have Mason & Dixon and Gravity's Rainbow on deck. Which one would your recommend reading first? I guess it's fine either way.
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Between the two I think I enjoyed Gravitys Rainbow more but both are worth the challenge. Out of all the Pynchon I read I prefer V.
 
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#206
#206
Orange. said:
I reread No Country for Old Men and read The Road (the only McCarthy novel I'd never read). The Road (or the combination with No Country's pursuers) stirred an impulse to go back to Outer Dark (or maybe The Orchard Keeper) and read forward again. I'll definitely do that one day, but I decided to move along to something I've never read, so I've started Philip Roth's Sabbath's Theater. That so far is a wild ride. I have a copy of American Pastoral, too, and will probably buy a copy of his first novel Goodbye Columbus and the included short stories.

I still have Mason & Dixon and Gravity's Rainbow on deck. Which one would your recommend reading first? I guess it's fine either way.
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Did you read The Passenger/Stella Maris?
 
#207
#207
bignewt said:
Did you read The Passenger/Stella Maris?
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Yes, when they came out, Stella twice, and I still don’t know quite what to think about them. I thought about those books when the nuclear test lit up the night sky before sunrise in The Crossing.
 
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#208
#208
Sabbath's Theater is a tour de force. High energy, dark comedy, often laugh out loud, much to reflect on. If you are not put off by foul language and fouler deeds, I think you'll enjoy the rants, gusto, monomaniacal life and insanity of Mickey Sabbath: a libidinous Falstaff-on-steroids. I started Roth's American Pastoral early this morning.
 
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#212
#212
I am at the very end of the book the Swamp fox. It is about Francis Marion and his partisan Rangers in the south east South Carolina region during the revolutionary war. Very good read if you are into history.

I am about to start the Wide Wide Sea about imperialism first contact and the fateful voyage of James Cook.

My favorite book of the year, is tough to narrow down.I am torn between a biography on Napoleon and the devil in the white city.
 
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#213
#213
barknoxbrawler said:
I am at the very end of the book the Swamp fox. It is about Francis Marion and his partisan Rangers in the south west South Carolina region during the revolutionary war. Very good Reid if you are into history.

I am about to start the Wide Wide Sea about imperialism first contact and the fateful voyage of James Cook.

My favorite book of the year, is tough to narrow down.I am torn between a biography on Napoleon and the devil in the white city.
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Half of Devil in the White City is good. Ill let you deduce which half.
 
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#216
#216
American Pastoral by Philip Roth. This is a great novel: the writing, the subject (three generations from the early 40s to the early 70s), and the ingenious way the plotting proceeds such that every turn is not restricted to advancing the storyline in surprising ways but invites a reinterpretation of all that goes before (especially the characters). My second Roth, and I am really impressed.

I was going to proceed to Roth’s novella and stories in Goodbye Columbus, but it didn’t arrive in time: I just got to the beach last night. Poor me. So I ordered more Roth for later and I brought along Gravity’s Rainbow. I liked Newt’s idea of starting with V but I already had GR and Mason & Dixon on hand.
 
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#217
#217
barknoxbrawler said:
I am at the very end of the book the Swamp fox. It is about Francis Marion and his partisan Rangers in the south east South Carolina region during the revolutionary war. Very good read if you are into history.

I am about to start the Wide Wide Sea about imperialism first contact and the fateful voyage of James Cook.

My favorite book of the year, is tough to narrow down.I am torn between a biography on Napoleon and the devil in the white city.
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Which Napoleon bio?
 
#219
#219
Finished The Obscene Bird at Night by Jose Donoso. Those South American masters cannot be touched when it comes to that eerie mysticism. A truly strange and beautiful work.

Started Butcher's Crossing by John Williams. I consider his novel "Stoner" to be one of America's best so I'm excited to see how he tackles a western. I've heard great thngs.
 
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#220
#220
I know its cheating, but i listen to audio books now, have about an hour an half drive round trip to work and it is soothing. I'm big on the "dramatized versions" and my favorite is the First Mountain Man Series.

I love westerns in this style more than anything but still listen to regular versions in other genres.
 
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#221
#221
BigOrangeCrush32 said:
I know its cheating, but i listen to audio books now, have about an hour an half drive round trip to work and it is soothing. I'm big on the "dramatized versions" and my favorite is the First Mountain Man Series.

I love westerns in this style more than anything but still listen to regular versions in other genres.
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I know its self serving but the guy that did the audiobook of my novel The Alternator is amazing:

Amazon.com: The Alternator (Audible Audio Edition): B.H. Newton, Timothy Howard Jackson, Next Chapter Audio LTD: Books

Amazon.com: The Alternator (Audible Audio Edition): B.H. Newton, Timothy Howard Jackson, Next Chapter Audio LTD: Books
www.amazon.com
 
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#222
#222
BigOrangeCrush32 said:
I know its cheating, but i listen to audio books now, have about an hour an half drive round trip to work and it is soothing. I'm big on the "dramatized versions" and my favorite is the First Mountain Man Series.

I love westerns in this style more than anything but still listen to regular versions in other genres.
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I prefer books but I don’t think audiobooks are “cheating” in the least. Wifey has always been a huge reader but due largely to car time I bet she is 3:1 audiobooks to books now. We were driving home from the airport last night and I enjoyed listening in on a random portion of her current Wuthering Heights audiobook. I loved the language.
 
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#223
#223
1776 by David McCullough. Good read. Lot's of interesting information about Washington that I didn't know. The man had charisma....Also, didn't know just how close we were to the war being over. That midnight crossing of the Delaware was a hail mary and it worked.
 
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#224
#224
Ryjam282 said:
1776 by David McCullough. Good read. Lot's of interesting information about Washington that I didn't know. The man had charisma....Also, didn't know just how close we were to the war being over. That midnight crossing of the Delaware was a hail mary and it worked.
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Good one. I am a fan of McCullough.
 
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#225
#225
Ryjam282 said:
1776 by David McCullough. Good read. Lot's of interesting information about Washington that I didn't know. The man had charisma....Also, didn't know just how close we were to the war being over. That midnight crossing of the Delaware was a hail mary and it worked.
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if your interested in the revolution I recommend John Adams also by McCullough as well as Washington's Crossing and Paul Rever's Ride both by David Hackett Fischer.
 
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