What Are You Reading Now?

[SteelBlue]

I read this. Devoured it is more like it. Thanks for reminding me of it.

Diop's second novel is a perfect novel. Easier to accomplish if the novel's 150 pages long, but still a major achievement. An instant classic. So often the novels that win awards are overrated. This one is most emphatically not.

It has everything. A stunning opening, authentic voice, dark dark humor, spectacular imagery, weighty themes, plot, an ending that leaves you puzzling and wanting to reread the book but actually makes a lot of sense if you think about it. A great French novel.

Spoiler for Spoiler for ending:

Curious what your take was on the ending. Like you, it left me wanting to start over immediately. I have a few theories running through my head, but the one I keep returning to is that they were one person all along. Obviously this is a bit absurd, and upon re-skimming is problematic on a concrete level, but abstractly and thematically it could make sense. I plan to read it again this week, wanted to give it time to bounce around in my head. Just a fantastic novel all around. I'd like to say more but work calls.

[SeattleUte]

Spoiler for Spoiler for ending:

Curious what your take was on the ending. Like you, it left me wanting to start over immediately. I have a few theories running through my head, but the one I keep returning to is that they were one person all along. Obviously this is a bit absurd, and upon re-skimming is problematic on a concrete level, but abstractly and thematically it could make sense. I plan to read it again this week, wanted to give it time to bounce around in my head. Just a fantastic novel all around. I'd like to say more but work calls.

I sent you a private message. Don't know how to use the spoiler button.

[Pelado]

Just finished Boys In the Boat. Enjoyed it, though it was a bit lighter on WWII-Nazi history than I expected it to be. Still, an amazing story. Joe Rantz's childhood was so effed up. Nearly unbelievable what he overcame and how he survived (and eventually thrived).

I'm finally listening to the audio book of this one. Pretty interesting so far.

[The_Tick]

I'm finally listening to the audio book of this one. Pretty interesting so far.

It's a great book. I've listened to it 3x now. I cried the first time, and misted up the other two.

[Northwestcoug]

Having loved 'The Broken Earth' trilogy, I was about to buy another NK Jemisin book. But I decided to ask my daughter's friend's recommendation, who is a much huger fantasy nerd than I am. He recommended 'The Library at Mount Char', by Scott Hawkins. He's a computer engineer who has experience in technical writing, but this was his first novel. I thought it was great. It had a 'The Stand' kind of vibe to it, at about a third of the length. Interesting characters and a very original plot. Some scenes of graphic violence and disturbing stories, but nothing worse that you'd read from a King novel. Very satisfying ending. People have asked for a sequel but he's already ruled that out. I'm waiting to see what his next novel is.

Now on to 'The Three Body Problem', another of the nerd's recommendations.

[Northwestcoug]

I enjoyed 'Three Body Problem'. Not a sci fan per se but the story is done very well. The physics is out of my comfort zone but you don't need a great understanding to enjoy the book. It's actually not a bad stand alone book but I'll try the second in the trilogy and see where I'm at.

[BigPiney]

I enjoyed 'Three Body Problem'. Not a sci fan per se but the story is done very well. The physics is out of my comfort zone but you don't need a great understanding to enjoy the book. It's actually not a bad stand alone book but I'll try the second in the trilogy and see where I'm at.

I liked the first, but got bored with the second and never finished. I just stopped caring.

[Northwestcoug]

I liked the first, but got bored with the second and never finished. I just stopped caring.

Crap. You could say things are getting serious with my daughter and her friend who recommended it to me, so I might be forced to read it.

[Mormon Red Death]

I recently finished James Joyce's Ulysses. Reminded me of reading the Old Testament. Stretches of staggering beauty and depth and exoticism. Much of it a mind numbing slog. Some of it impossible to understand try as I might. It should probably be read like scripture. That's how John E. Woods, the translator of Thomas Mann's Joseph and His Brothers, recommends that book be read (I have read it that way but never read all of it). Absolutely essential to get the most out of Ulysses: Read alongside it one of those book-length synopses of the novel.

About halfway through Ulysses I started "The Most Dangerous Book" by Kevin Birmingham, a biography of Ulysses the novel, which is a masterpiece in its own right. Also a wonderful, very literary history of a time in our history that was very illiberal. It took over 10 years for Ulysses to gain publication in our country because customs officials etc. deemed it "obscene." Not even a court, but back then there were 5-10 year prison terms for publishing "obscenity," so disincentives to publishing were massive. Amazing that now porn is protected by the First Amendment. Ulysses is important like 1984 or Uncle Tom's Cabin--in part because of the historical context in which it appeared and how its very existence advanced liberalism.

Ulysses is lusty, sensual, even pornographic in parts. But oddly not arousing at all, even though the writing is terrific.

Presently I have no desire to read Ulysses again. But I'm nearly through rereading Moby Dick, and getting a ton out of it. I'm convinced that rereading great books is not just worth it but sometimes essential.

.

I heard a speaker once talk how a Brittish sailor was marooned on some island for a week with only Ulysses and finnegan's wake and how those books made him want to kill himself more than anything.

[Maximus]

Anyone read epics /series that you can recommend

[BigPiney]

Anyone read epics /series that you can recommend

I just read "The Last Kingdom" series. I really enjoyed it. 13 books, but really fun. Historical fiction.

The Knightsbridge series by Ken Follett was great as well.

[falafel]

Reading "The Institute" by Stephen King. He is so good at children protagonists.

[BigPiney]

Reading "The Institute" by Stephen King. He is so good at children protagonists.

I really like that one. But I am a sucker for Stephen King. He is so readable for me.

[pelagius]

I just finished this book. https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780...er-liberalism/

An intellectual history of the radical right. I picked it up because Ezra Klein recommended it in an excellent essay. It's actually unputdownable. The premise of all their arguments is undeniable. The vital importance of culture. It is the very means by which we interact with the world. Yet the radical right thinkers all want culture to be immutable and lament its plasticity. In this sense, the radical right and left share identity politics values.

I'm with you SU. This is a really good book, and probably an important book. My only complaint is I want a cultural history of these movements by the author as well.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I'm with you SU. This is a really good book, and probably an important book. My only complaint is I want a cultural history of these movements by the author as well.

Added to my Audible queue