Just finished E. L. Doctorow's Jack London, Hemingway & the Constitution: Selected Essays, which I've been dipping into most of the summer. I've not read Doctorow's novels, so had little idea about him and his writing. Published in 1993, these essays are at times challenging. His discussions of London and Hemingway are thoughtful and interesting to anyone who's read them, and maybe to someone just considering reading them. When he delves into national politics, his dissection of the Nixon, Reagan and Bush (41) years offers up insights and conclusions indicating that even then he saw the trajectory of the national discourse heading toward the current discord. He also gives a reading of the U.S. Constitution as a sort of sacred screed, or perhaps as a document perceived by some as such -- it's an essay I think takes more than one reading to encompass, at least for me. Other essays discuss subjects like what makes a standard (song) and its function, and a more personal essay about his friend, James Wright, whom he met while both attended Kenyon College after WWII, when a combination of the G.I Bill and the presence of John Crowe Ransom made the college briefly more accepting of a wider range of students than it had been (at least, according to Doctorow).
September Reading Discussion.
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Danny McG
Lid closed, monkey dead.
Danny McG
Lid closed, monkey dead.
Today, after I finished All the President's Men, I've started a re-read of The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
good book . stilletto not bad also.looking forward for the third. reading white devil by paul hoffman... wtf?... i mean i kind of like it but... wtf. and for the people that read the other 3... i know as a critic there's not much in here but honestly without spoilers this is what i can say.
HoopyFrood
It's me! Hurrah!
Well, I finished Normal People. There was much ranting about it along the way to my friend who lent me the book. Mainly because for a long time there feels like there's no explanation or motivation for why the two main characters are doing what they do. And the literariness did get a bit much for me at times, I get that it's being used in a way to describe the human experiences, the inconsistencies, the anxieties, the internal introspection, the moments that mean everything, but it was all a bit too much and people don't think such grand and deep things on a constant basis like the characters seemed to always do, so I couldn't take that seriously. And it got to a point where it felt like I was being made to believe this deep, profound thing, but I didn't, so the words felt empty.
Buuuut then towards the end things do start coming together and that's not to say that the writing isn't good, particularly a part that dealt with anxiety and depression, but having personal experience with those perhaps meant I just identified with it more. I think that was my overall main issue throughout most of the book, it's obviously this deep exploration of a very intense relationship between two people but I didn't latch onto much for a large majority of it so I felt like an observer. But having reached the end and got more of an understanding of things, I'm feeling less harsh towards it that I did while reading through it.
Mainly though I think I'm just too straightforward to tolerate such faffing about these days
Buuuut then towards the end things do start coming together and that's not to say that the writing isn't good, particularly a part that dealt with anxiety and depression, but having personal experience with those perhaps meant I just identified with it more. I think that was my overall main issue throughout most of the book, it's obviously this deep exploration of a very intense relationship between two people but I didn't latch onto much for a large majority of it so I felt like an observer. But having reached the end and got more of an understanding of things, I'm feeling less harsh towards it that I did while reading through it.
Mainly though I think I'm just too straightforward to tolerate such faffing about these days
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Danny McG
Lid closed, monkey dead.
It sounds utterly crap TBHWell, I finished Normal People. There was much ranting about it along the way to my friend who lent me the book. Mainly because for a long time there feels like there's no explanation or motivation for why the two main characters are doing what they do. And the literariness did get a bit much for me at times, I get that it's being used in a way to describe the human experiences, the inconsistencies, the anxieties, the internal introspection, the moments that mean everything, but it was all a bit too much and people don't think such grand and deep things on a constant basis like the characters seemed to always do, so I couldn't take that seriously. And it got to a point where it felt like I was being made to believe this deep, profound thing, but I didn't, so the words felt empty.
Buuuut then towards the end things do start coming together and that's not to say that the writing isn't good, particularly a part that dealt with anxiety and depression, but having personal experience with those perhaps meant I just identified with it more. I think that was my overall main issue throughout most of the book, it's obviously this deep exploration of a very intense relationship between two people but I didn't latch onto much for a large majority of it so I felt like an observer. But having reached the end and got more of an understanding of things, I'm feeling less harsh towards it that I did while reading through it.
Mainly though I think I'm just too straightforward to tolerate such faffing about these days
HoopyFrood
It's me! Hurrah!
I don’t think I can quite honestly form an opinion about it. But that’s OK because I don’t have to have an opinion about absolutely everything.
My friend is going to lend me another book she’s ambivalent about so there may be more confusion and ranting in my future. But until then I’m going to try this to keep this unexpected fiction phase going and picked up Brideshead Revisited.
My friend is going to lend me another book she’s ambivalent about so there may be more confusion and ranting in my future. But until then I’m going to try this to keep this unexpected fiction phase going and picked up Brideshead Revisited.
Warship is the one I picked. Since I my fav. zone is mil. SF, I think it was a good choice. Made a start last night and I really like the beginning.
Danny McG
Lid closed, monkey dead.
Yeah, I've finished The Rook reread and I'm now doing a reread of Stiletto
you reread the rook in about 5 hours?that's some speed reading
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Frank Waters "The Yogi of Cockroach Court" (1947)
Powerful story of life in the red light area of A Mexican border town, focusing on just a few characters: some sink, some swim. Like all of Waters' work has the stench of authenticity. A re-read from over forty years ago: well merited.
Powerful story of life in the red light area of A Mexican border town, focusing on just a few characters: some sink, some swim. Like all of Waters' work has the stench of authenticity. A re-read from over forty years ago: well merited.
Danny McG
Lid closed, monkey dead.
I was sat in the spare room in a cosy armchair.
My wife had the neighbour housewives downstairs for coffee and gossip, meaning I was blissfully undisturbed
Danny McG
Lid closed, monkey dead.
This weekends entertainment...
for 5 hours? you mean to tell me that the firemen didn't come to put out your burning ears?
@Danny McG .... Is this the normal trope of "a found starship on your property?" Or is this more in the line of a genius level tinker putting together a star ship in his backyard. (By the cover it looks more like a barn.)
Danny McG
Lid closed, monkey dead.
He inherits his Grandad's farm.
The old guy has spent years telling him tall tales about his adventures around the galaxy.
Then he opens up the barn and is stunned to realise the old codger was telling the truth!
A couple of stories into, The Women of Weird Tales, a collection of thirteen (!) stories by four women who published in the original incarnation of Weird Tales: Mary Elizabeth Counselman, Greye La Spina, Everil Worrell and Eli Colter. Valancourt Press' has started a Monster, She Wrote line based on the non-fiction book of that name by Lisa Kroger and Melanie Anderson (who wrote an introduction). I've also just started Monster, She Wrote.
you know there's another series just like that
Ian Fortytwo
A Poet, Writer and eclectic Reader.
I'm currently reading Inspector Morse: The Remorseful Day, by Colin Dexter.
Now giving Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr Ripley a go. I like Highsmith’s writing - superior stuff.
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