What book are you currently reading?

[SaintsFan_Webby]

Currently reading Pride and Prejudice.

It may well be a classic, it may be well written, but it's just so twee that I'm struggling to get into it. Were it not part of my course, I doubt I could be bothered to finish it. Don't actually mind the country-house genre too much, but this is grating a bit.

 

[Laetca]

first, what does twee mean? and the grating?

Second, how can you not enjoy that book? Agreed, it might be a bit mushy for a guy, but still. If you realize it's been written at the end of the 18th Century, and rewritten at the beginning of the nineteenth, doesn't it strike you as remarkably modern? At least appreciate it for that part of it. Elizabeth is one of the most admirable characters ever created by an author, she has her mistakes, and she admits them! Same with Darcy! They're stuck up, they're snobbish in their own ways, and they admit it in the end!

The Drama by that god awful mother is enough to send you hysteric fits of laughter, and the dry wit displayed by the girls' father is to die for. I admit Mary is so boring you'd like to kill her by stuffing old books down her throat, as would (I personally) like to do with Lady Catherine DeBourgh, that Git Collins and Caroline Bingley, but they all serve their purpose.

Jane and Bingley are worth a Greek tragedy (except that no one dies), Wickham and Lydia an episode in the bold and the beautiful.

All that, all in that one book, all the while defending women's educational rights, and you don't like it?

To be honest, I'm biased on this one, read it too many times to look at it from an objective point of view.

 

[SaintsFan_Webby]

Twee = far too 'nice' and clean-cut for my liking. I realise the time it was written is a different world away from the modern day, but the worst thing to have happened so far is that someone is judged to be a bit too rude for country society.

Grating = it's basically annoying me to read, I can't get into it etc.

There are some positives I have to admit, such as the wit of Mr Bennett and the fact that Mr Darcy isn't completely wet. However, I just prefer some like Wuthering Heights, something with a bit of an edge to it.

 

[Warriors#1]

Hey,

I am currently reading Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien.

It's a bit different from what I would normally read and it's got alot of introduction at the moment.

But it's still a good book.

 

[RC]

I'm with SFW on this one. I did enjoy Pride and Prejudice - after my teacher forced us to read through it when i was 17 - but without a doubt Wuthering Heights has something P+P just doens't.
Maybe it's the gritty realism, maybe it's the character relations - howeven though they are a wrorld away from our here and now the story still pangs deep down inside. You're pushed through a multitude of emotions liking someone at one point, going onto then disliking them before going full circle and hating this person again.
The name Heathcliff strikes a different note with everyone that has read the book.
Emily Bronte just takes you on a rollercoaster of a ride and in my mind creates a magnificently painted canvas of imagery for the reader.

 

[Laetca]

I have yet to read that book, I have it; since I do intend to read it. I once splurged on paper backs on the book fair, there's always one english book shop that sets up their merchandise, have been able to buy about 6 books for 10â'¬ like that, all 'classics', but mostly children's books.
Haven't read them all yet, but some day I will.

As soon as I read it, I'll give my opinion, but I'm afraid that I won't enjoy gritty realism, heartstruck maidens and people marrying everyone they don't really want to marry, better than I do P&P. Plus, no one dies in P&P, always nicer xD

 

[Laetca]

Sorry for double posting, but:
I looked up which books I am to read next year (if I make it into next year, but I passed all my lit courses, it's the grammar that's been getting me in trouble) and I was hoping some people here had read some of the books I am to read and tell me how hard, tedious, amusing, ... they are.

The ones I have to read:
E. Brontë, Wuthering Heights (have that one, never read it though)
N. Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
C. Dickens, Hard Times
G. Elliot, Middlemarch
W.D. Howells, A Hazard of New Fortunes
H. James, What Maisie Knew

The ones that come with courses I can choose to take:
H. Walpole, The Castle of Otranto
J. Austen, Northanger Abbey
M. Shelley, Frankenstein
P. Carey, My life as a Fake
V. Woolf, To the Lighthouse
N. Hornby, High Fidelity
J. Barnes, England, England
I. McEwan, Atonement
T.Litt, Finding Myself

And finally, don't know if anyone reads books in German here, but, the books that come with German Lit:
J. Becker, Jakob der Lügner
G.E. Lessing, Nathan der Weise
W.G. Sebald, Die Ausgewanderten. Vier lange Erzählungen.
J.W. Goethe, Faust, Der Tragödie Erster Teil
I. Bachman, Malina
A. Geiger, Es geht uns gut.
H.Hesse, Der Steppenwolf
A.Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz
[/b]

So, can anyone tell me which ones you enjoyed, and which ones you tried to lit your fireplace with for sheer frustration?

It'd be much appreciated.

 

[SaintsFan_Webby]

E. Brontë, Wuthering Heights: I really enjoyed it. Takes the country-house novel and spices it up. No one has any idea of exactly which genre it fits into, but that is part of the beauty of it. Just don't go in expecting Heathcliff to be the same type of character as Mr. Darcy.

C. Dickens, Hard Times: Zzzzzzz. Dickens is highly overated in my opinion. Has a very long-winded style of story telling.


G. Elliot, Middlemarch: Elliot is a good writer. Not one of my absolute favourites or anything, but you can get a fair amoun out of it.

M. Shelley, Frankenstein: Very disappointed when I first read it. Seems to take a long time to really get anywhere. The horror genre was fairly slow moving and tame to begin with it seems.


N. Hornby, High Fidelity: Just finished this. Probably more of a book which men are going to sympathise with, but it will give you a valuable insight into the male psyche.

 

[shtove]

Laetca, I have read:


E. Brontë, Wuthering Heights - great story, stuffed with angst and secrets, perfect for teenagers and romantics.
C. Dickens, Hard Times - hard read, a bit of a (grad)grind from a sentimental author
G. Elliot - have read Silas Marner, author's a bit worthy, moral finger wagging.
H. James - have read a couple of his: huge brain, huge ego, huge sentences. And snobby.

M. Shelley, Frankenstein - demand your money back, a waste of time.

J. Barnes - have read History of the World in 10 1/2 chapters - demand double your money back.
I. McEwan, Atonement - superb writer, brilliant story - but big novels are a bit of a stretch for him - he's better at short macabre stuff. I think he's the most imaginative writer we have in English.

W.G. Sebald - have never read this guy, but he has a good reputation over here.

 

[RC]

Don't listen to SFW!
He doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to Dickens!
One of the greats, his story telling is immaculate! His characters from loveable to dispicable, from common to unnervingly outrageous are sublime.
He moves you with tales of hardship overcome by friendship and love.
And he paints a portrait so vivid you can almost believe you are looking at the very same place that he has in his head.

He can be difficult to read, but to poo-poo him like so i shall not stand for!!!

 

[DC]

arms and the man - bernard shaw

had to for school

 

[Laetca]

I actually started Frankenstein half a year ago, i always try and read first three chapters of a book before tossing it aside because I find it boring. Didn't finish it, didn't read first three chapters Had to return it to the library.

In secondary/high school (whatever it is called) our english teacher had the disgusting habit of discussing books with us, without making us read them. So we saw part of a Wuthering Heights Film, Part of the Pride and Prejudice Miniseries, read only quotes from Wilde. And she gave us summaries she picked off of Gradesaver!! In short, she was incompetent. And my pronunciation was better dan hers!!

I know Heathcliff is no kitten, more of an asshole with a heart burried deep inside him if I recall correctly ^o)
We're reading it for realism I think, not Romanticism. If I make it into next year there will be modernism and post-modernism.

I'll write down recommendations,
If anyone else has any remarks on the books posted, by all means, post them, I can use all the help I can get preparing myself for next year xD

 

[SaiNTLY SiNNeR]

currently reading austin healeys me and my mouth, good read, just started 5th chapter..

 

[mrs cohen]

I've just read "World Cup 2003" again, before this World Cup. Really liked it.

Have also read Matt Dawson's and Sir Clive W's autobiographies which were interesting reads.



On a non-rugby side, the Landover series by Terry Brooks are great if like me, you love fantasy books.

 

[Axe]

Just read the latest James Patterson - Double Cross

His usual quick entertaining read, got through the whole book in one sitting!

I recommend you start at the beginning of the Alex Cross series with Along came a spider, if you like that, then you have loads to enjoy

 

[VoLGio]

I'm reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s "One Hundred Years of Solitude", one of the best rated books on the Spanish literature.

 

[Laetca]

That one is on my to read list. Is it righfully one of the best rated books in spanish literature, or is just boring, but sounding sophisticated so everyone rates it good to look smart?

Only other spanish book on my to read list is Don Quichote, only read children's version in dutch up til now, and since I'm sometimes stuck with the first six words of the book in spanish, I think I should read it in the original language some day, with a dictionary right next to me xD

 

[RC]

I finished 'The Shrinking Man' by Richard Matheson last night.
It took me ages to finish (about 3 weeks) and in the end i felt cheated. It's almost as if the author couldn't think of a good ending and so pretended that his character was totally ignorant and left the ending with no clarity.
Bullshit!
You do one good book (I Am Legend) and i'm fooled into believing he'll write another good un!
Twat.


Just started reading, Already Dead by Charlie Huston this morning.

 

[SaintsFan_Webby]

Just finished Trainspotting. Loved the film for ages but only just got around to picking up the book. Despite a friend prodding at me to read it for years.

I don't know why I enjoyed it. As a novel, it technically shouldn't work.

There are too many characters to focus on at times; the main plot isn't exactly thrilling when you think about it logically; it doesn't progress in a logical manner, with periods of time between chapters varying from hours to months; it's written in an initially confusing mix of Standard English and full-on Scottish dialect; a lot of characters are introduced and then barely developed at all - on a technical level there is a lot wrong with it.

However, for some reason once you get into it, it's impossible to put down. And I've inadvertantly found myself picking up lots of colloquialisms from it, so it must be a powerful read.

If they had tried to adapt the film in an identical manner to the book, it simply wouldn't have worked, yet they managed to restructure it in such a way as to keep a lot of the core issues from the book in place.

Definately have to be taken as seperate entities of the same story.

 

[Laetca]

Started Wuthering Heights on holidays, not exactly light reading but not as bad as some other books I could have taken with me. Turns out I AM reading it for romanticism, mixed up my book lists when posting above.

Except for the 'slang' (was a dialect considered Slang already in those days?) by Joseph, I understand most so wootwoot for me. I think I once read a simplified version of it, everything seems familiar.

Also started reading Steppenwolf by H. Hesse (I'm forgetting what the first H stands for right now, I'm guessing Herman). Haven't read enough of it to say anything of it. I do know that it will be analysed meticulously, as it's one of two books we'll read for a course.

I'll keep posting the other books I have to read this year, a list of them is found higher in this topic, although I'm not taking any optional literary classes (instead, Cultural History of the UK, next year I'll do the US) so never mind those books. I migh read them for fun, I just won't discuss them in class (if it's any consolation, I do think it sucks that I don't get to take those classes, but I can only choose a limited number of classes)