I started Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell but could not finish it. Based on many endorsements here, I will give it a try again (I don’t usually, if I book is bad enough to put down, there are usually too many in the queue to try it again.)
I dunno, it just did not catch me.
Me neither. I finished it, but I wouldn’t mind having those hours back. (Too many words, not enough story. )
I think I understand the attraction of the book – language, tone, setting, wit, sly humor, expert observation of the time period, etc., but it never grabbed me. There was too much distance between me and the characters. I felt like Clarke didn’t want me to get too close.
I’ve heard rumors of a sequel. If it’s shorter, I think I’d read it, just to see what happens to Stephen Black. (He’s the only character I liked.)
:eek:
I’m embarrased! A passer-on of ignorance! Thanks Interrobang!?, I’ll pass that information on as I see fit - a shame, because it’d be nice to have that sentiment summed up in a word.
I’m reading [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/076790818X/qid=1114840848/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/104-8544499-2583944?v=glance&s=books&n=507846]A Short History of Nearly Everything** by Bill Bryson. So far, it’s fantastic. I’m only a hundred pages in or so, but it’s very entertaining, and a decent historical overview of various scientific fields and a good explanation of various scientific principles and discoveries. Bryson has a very engaging writing style. Highly recommended.
I’m currently going through a “good but not quite first-rate” science fiction stage, so I’m reading a lot of Keith Laumer. Just finished The Time Bender (it’s a hoot), and am currently on the Retief volume published by Baen.
When I get around to reading something non-fiction, I plan to start on Temporal Matters in Social Psychology.
What Philosophy Is By Anthony O’Hear. It’s a good summary of the major issues dealt with by twentieth century anglo-american philosophy. You just have to remember that there’s a lot more to philosophy than the analytic concerns of modern english speaking philosophers.
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick. Barely science fiction, it’s Dick’s look at the drug culture he was immersed in in the sixties. Recommended if you like PKD’s quirky melancholy writing.
I made a trip to an English-language library earlier in the week, so I have a pile of this-n-that waiting for me - new books, old books, and all sorts of topics. I just finished reading One Child by Torey Hayden - very disturbing in a gotta-finish-this sort of way. Now I’ve started Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women by Elizabeth Wurtzel, which I’m finding difficult to get into. I don’t know if it’s just me, if it’s because she expects her reader to be familiar with too many movies and music videos I’m not familiar with, or if it’s just not that well-written.
I’m also reading The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology by Simon Winchester and enjoying it a good deal more. I guess I’m a geek at heart.
Just out of curiosity, what are you researching?
Yes. Yes they must. It’s in the constitution somewhere. 
If this is the first time you’ve read that, you’re in for a treat. I’d drop everything else until you finished the whole–khadaji take note!–tetralogy
Just finished The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, and about to start Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. I’m looking forward to it.
“Nothing’s Sacred” by Lewis Black. The part about Dan Quayle had me laughing out loud at the Starbuck’s in B&N where I was previewing it over my vanilla latte venti.
“Mediterranean Winter” by Robert D. Kaplan-bought the same day he was interviewed on BookSpan. It’s about his mid-'60’s and more recent visits to several countries around the Med, where I spent a couple of years.
“Once Upon a Town-The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen” by Bob Greene-about the midwest town that was a layover (in more ways than one) for the troops railroading across the US during WWII.
I’ve seen a couple mentions here of Bill Bryson and his Short History of Nearly Everything. Anybody enjoying that should go back and find a copy of Daniel Boorstin’s “The Discoverers”. THAT is a truly not-so-short history of damn near everything.
Origin of Species by Charles Darwin as well as How to Practice : The Way to a Meaningful Life by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
I’m finishing up The Blank Slate right now; it’s excellent. You must have a knack for blazing through dense material – I’ve been savoring it for several weeks.
Next on my list: Ghost Wars
I’ve just finished White Noise by Don DeLillo. On the whole I really liked it. It’s very thought provoking and uproariously funny, albeit in a rather bleakly ironic way. The ending was a little bit of a let down but on balance I’d give it 4[sup]1/2[/sup] out of 5.
I’m also about 4 fifths of the way through Time’s Arrow by Martin Amis. It concerns the life of a Nazi doctor in Auschwitz who resettles in the United States under the pseudonym Tod Friendly. The gimmick is that ‘Time’s Arrow’ is pointing in the wrong direction. Everything happens backwards. The characters walk backwards, talk backwards, eat, excrete and screw backwards, everything. What’s more, the story is told from the point of view of a nameless ghost inhabiting Tod’s body (the ghost is aware of Tod but Tod isn’t aware of the ghost) who thinks linearly, like we do and consequently gets very befuddled at times. It’s a real headfuck of a book but it is certainly entertaining and very moving in parts (The Nazi camp commandants blunt sentiment that “There is no why, here” resonated particularly with me). And lines like “The Reagan Administration seems to be doing wonders for Tod’s self-esteem” spoken in complete earnest by the ghostly narrator are absolutely priceless!
I’m reading poetry this week.
The Street of Clocks by Thomas Lux, which I wanted to like but didn’t much.
The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice For Beginning Poets and Delights and Shadows by Ted Kooser are both as wonderful as I thought they’d be.
New and Selected Poems by Gary Soto, I’m still working on and enjoying.
I’m also reading Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud, which is great fun – I think I like it better than the Harry Potter books.
Oh, and a special thank you to twicks for recommending English Passengers by Matthew Kneale, in the last reading thread. It’s the best novel I’ve read in 5 years. I’ve hand sold about 20 of 'em at the bookstore where I work and so far, no one has come back and hurled it at me.
P.S. - I just want to add to the many recommendations that Bill Bryson’s ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ has received in this thread. A tremendously informative and extremely readable introduction to science for the non-scientist.
Cool! Now we can take turns jumping in when there’s a “recommend a good novel” thread!
Just finishing a re-read of “Between Facts and Norms” by Jurgen Habermas. I don’t know that I’d recommend it unless one is a social philosophy sort of person, or a Frankfurt School junkie, but it is relevant to me.
I really need to find time to read some light stuff just for the entertainment value.
Upon finishing the Rule Of Four I have to take back my recommendation. All though the writing was better than the Da Vinci code, the plot was less engaging and in the end, I just didn’t care what happened…