Read in the last 2 months:
Tin Drum - Gunter Grass
A Hero of Our Time - Lermontov
Cannery Row - Steinbeck
Chronicle of a Death Foretold - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Currently Reading:
The Possessed (The Demons) - Dostoyevsky
Waiting in the wings:
The House of the Dead - Dostoyevsky
War and Peace - Tolstoy
Invisible Man - Ellison
Mrs. Dalloway - Wolfe
Clockwork Orange - Burgess
Does anybody give a $h!t?
In the non-fiction arena I'm reading the ipd spring catalog & the Bentley Bible.
In fiction I'm reading The Odyssey by a gent named Homer and The Virgin Blue by Travy Chevalier (huge disappointment after the Girl with a Pearl Earring).
I'm also re-reading the The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi by Mohandas K. Gandhi.
Next up on my nightstand is Ninety Three by Victor Hugo.
Budgie - I care.
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BTW - Dan How do I change my links in this post to give you the credit if any one purchases a book?
STTG: what did you think of Killer Angels? I am not a big fan of historical novels, so I'm debating whether to give it a go. I'm looking for a used copy of the history of the 19th Indiana, one of the "western" regiments of the famous Iron Brigade. I have always felt that the Iron Brigade never has gotten the respect they deserve for the first day at Gettysburg.Originally posted by SlaveToTheGrind
I just finished Diana Preston's Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy. A breezy, even-handed examination of the tragic torpedoeing of the Cunard ocean liner in May 1915 and the sad aftermath.
I have seen
old ships sailing
like swans asleep
Lord of the Rings - J.R. Tolkein
I won't watch the movies until I've read most, if not all, of this book. At the rate I'm going, it's going to take a while.
"A witty woman is a treasure, a witty beauty is a power!"
Killer Angels was a hands-down Top-10 book of my life. It is a must read for anyone wanting to understand the sacrifice some men made to keep our nation whole and free a people. My biggest reward from reading it was learning about Joshua Chamberlin. He is the pinacle of the Citizen-Soldier in my book.
Good to know... I really liked Girl with a Pearl Earring, so I probably would have picked this one up eventually.The Virgin Blue by Travy Chevalier (huge disappoinment after the Girl with a Pearl Earring).
EG and Gedunker:
I thought The Killer Angels was a great book, and deserved the Pulitzer Prize in 1974. It is also the book the movie Gettysburg was based on - for those who don't know. The interesting thing about seeing the movie and then reading the book was that the movie was filmed at Gettysburg National Military Park and in Adams County, PA and putting the visuals from the movie while reading the book was helpful.
Pulitzer Prize winner (1988's Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era James McPherson's recent book For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought the Civil War is fascinating because he uses thousands of personal letters from both sides for his research. Contrary to what many people think, a vast majority of the soldiers in the Civil War were educated enough and that writing letters home was a common practice and probably helped keep them sane.
Guns don't kill people. Husbands who come home from work early kill people.
Killer Angels was almost word for word the script for Gettysburg. I have never seen a movie follow a book as closely.
Right!Just not right before going out for a big steak dinner.
I just found out my reply was too short. Story of my life.
WALSTIB
EG and STTG: You guys would like the three-part history of Gettysburg written by Harry W. Pfanz (Gettysburg: The First Day; Second Day; Third Day -- UNC Press). Pfanz was the Park Service historian at Gettysburg for many years and has probably written the definitive account.
EG: I strongly agree with you, but for every Joshua Chamberlain there is a Daniel Sickles, the anithesis of the Citizen-Soldier.
I have seen
old ships sailing
like swans asleep
Now for my obligatory cheer for Mr. Chamberlain (lived about 8 miles from here) and the 20th of Maine!
Hey Donk:
I'm about 20 pages from the end of Jiterbnug Perume. What an Epic! I can't wait to read more of Robbins' stuff. Reminds me of Vonnegut in a way - odd asides, blue humor, impossible storylines, and quirky characters. But thet's where the comparison stops .Favourite Tom Robbin's book are Jitterbug Perfume (Portions take place in a bicycle shop) or "Even Cowgirls get the Blues"(lesbians)Really favourite is "Jitterbug Perfume" and the idea that gods only exist as long as people believe in them and some other concepts in the book are great.
I find with Robbins, that if you can accept the crazy premise of the story then everything is fine. I've enjoyed his newer works less than his older stuff. I liked "Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas", but struggled reading "Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates" and pretty much have given up on "Villa Incognito" (tried to read it 5 times, and could not get into it).I'm about 20 pages from the end of Jiterbnug Perume. What an Epic! I can't wait to read more of Robbins' stuff. Reminds me of Vonnegut in a way - odd asides, blue humor, impossible storylines, and quirky characters. But thet's where the comparison stops .
Favourite Vonnegut book is definitely Jailbird. (And the weather sympathized- favourite line ever in a book). Also liked the short stories in "welcome to the monkey house" and "foma and granfalloons". I like vonnegut so much I bought one of his silkscreens, and would buy more if I could afford them.
I was also going to recommend to everyone to read "On the Beach" great story.
I need to find some new authors. Any suggestions? My favourites, in no particular order, are as follows:
Phillip Jose Farmer (Sci-fi)
Robert A Heinlein (Sci-fi)
Spider Robinson (Sci fi)
Frederick Pohl (Sci Fi)
Kurt Vonnegut (Jailbird, Sirens of Titan)
Tom Robbins (Jitterbug Perfume)
Tom Wolfe (Hooking Up, Man in Full)
Hunter Thompson (Rum Diaries, Curse of Lono, Hells Angels)
Douglas Coupland (Generation X, Shampoo Planet, Hey Nostradamus)
Mordecai Richler (Duddy Kravitz, Barney's Version, Jacob Two-Two)
Daniel Richler (Kicking tomorrow was great)
Daniel Pinkwater (Alan Mendelsohn-Boy From Mars)
Nick Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity, Being Good)
Know I don't like
Gibson (neuromancer, cyber punk etc)
Robertson Davies (Fifth Business)
F Scott Fitzgerald (Great Gatsby)
Tolkien (Have tried repeatedly to read, but get bored)
Irvine Welsh (Porno was tough reading, pretty much had to read it out loud and sound out every word)
Too lazy to beat myself up for being to lazy to beat myself up for being too lazy to... well you get the point....
[QUOTE=Gedunker]EG and STTG: You guys would like the three-part history of Gettysburg written by Harry W. Pfanz (Gettysburg: The First Day; Second Day; Third Day -- UNC Press). Pfanz was the Park Service historian at Gettysburg for many years and has probably written the definitive account.
The last time I was at Gettysburg I picked up a set of 3 topo maps, one for each day of the battle. They show all the troop placements etc. I think they were done in 1883. They combine my interest in history and geography.
WALSTIB
The Great Gatsby is an easy little read. What do you not like about F. Scott Fitzgerald? I'm not a fan of his or anything. Just wondering.
My favorite authors:
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
George Eliot (Sarah Ann Evans)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Isaac Asimov
John Steinbeck
James Howard Kunstler
Molly Ivins
Wise decision!
The movies are about as good as the book(s), but you get extra depth from the book(s) then you get in the movies.
I'm sorry. Is my bias showing?
Having read the book, seen the movie, been to Gettysburg (when I was at emmitsburg for FEMA training)
I agreed with eG on that point.
Oddball
Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves?
Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here?
Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
From Kelly's Heroes (1970)
Are you sure you're not hurt ?
No. Just some parts wake up faster than others.
Broke parts take a little longer, though.
From Electric Horseman (1979)
It's one of my frustrations with battle histories: typically the maps are of horrific quality -- too small, too cartoonish, too vague. I wish I was enough of a digithead to create an electronic map from those topos so I could "fly" the battlefield and truly understand how the topography effected the events, and ultimately, the outcome.The last time I was at Gettysburg I picked up a set of 3 topo maps, one for each day of the battle. They show all the troop placements etc. I think they were done in 1883. They combine my interest in history and geography.
I have seen
old ships sailing
like swans asleep
Gedunker: You seem to like quirky, socially aware science fiction. I'm amazed that Phillip K. Dick is not on your list! A definite recommendation.
I found it difficult to identify or understand the characters and the story seemed way to contrived and trying to be deep for deepnesses sake.
I've gone back and tried to read it as an adult and just given up after 20 pages or so. Maybe too many bad memories from that rotten english teacher/class.
Too lazy to beat myself up for being to lazy to beat myself up for being too lazy to... well you get the point....
[QUOTE=Gedunker]It's one of my frustrations with battle histories: typically the maps are of horrific quality -- too small, too cartoonish, too vague.
The ones you get from the NPS are topo sheet size and very detailed.
WALSTIB
"Oil in troubled waters" the book compares different approaches to offshore oil extraction/mining in Louisiana and California. Recommended.
Also Harvey's "New imperialism." Good one as well.
I'm going to go with the crowd and say that my favorite from Vonnegut is probably either Slapstick or Cats' Cradle. Have you seen the move for "Breakfast of Champions"? A lame attempt at best. Well, perhaps his books just don't lend well to movies...
I have a hard time keeping all the vonnegut books straight - I managed to read all his books over the course of about 6 mos. my sophomore year in college, so to be honest, I don't particularly remember much of Jailbird. I need to re-read those books!
"On the Beach" is an excellent read, and a quick and easy one at that. One of my faves. They made a movie out of that one too, and boy is it horrendous!
I just finished the Charter of the New Urbanism, almost finished with The Death and Life of Great American Cities,
Jailbird is about the poor guy whose office was in the basement of the crooks who caused watergate and his life after being released from prison. Plus the crazy old lady (richest in the world) who had acquired so much wealth because she was a socialist.
Too lazy to beat myself up for being to lazy to beat myself up for being too lazy to... well you get the point....
About once every 3 months we have a debate about some of Jane Jacobs observations.
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