Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading? - Page 287

kennyc · 03-24-2010, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Just finished reading The Days of Babylon: An Autobiography of a Former Stoner by Timothy L. Nix. It details events that are sometimes funny, other times tragic, and best of all, it tells how the author met his wife Bambi; better known to folks here at MobileRead as DixieGal. The book has a ring of brutal honesty, and is especially recommended for everyone who wants to know D.G. a bit better.

whaaaat? Are you serious?

Yes I see you are, I missed DG's announcement til now....

WT Sharpe · 03-24-2010, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

whaaaat? Are you serious?

Yes I see you are, I missed DG's announcement til now....

I forgot to mention that you can get The Days of Babylon: An Autobiography of a Former Stoner by Timothy L. Nix here.

kennyc · 03-24-2010, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I forgot to mention that you can get The Days of Babylon: An Autobiography of a Former Stoner by Timothy L. Nix here.

Thanks sounds like it might be a mirror of my life ..... well except for that marryin' bambi thing...

Dr. Drib · 03-25-2010, 06:00 AM

A Brief Message of Thanks:

Let me extend my thanks to all the contributors (and future contributors) to this thread. This thread has been an enjoyable resource for opinions and recommendations for me personally and I'm sure for other Members as well.

There have been more than 200,000 views and over 4,200 posts, which makes this a very popular and well-contributed Thread.

This can be a reminder for all of us that we can get along on an International forum that discusses books and the reasons we enjoy books, no matter what digressions may occur in some other Forums/Threads here. (And believe me, it's quickly dealt with by caring Members and the Moderation Team.)

"We" (meaning you and I) police ourselves wonderfully in this thread, and only once [?] - it was quite a while back - did I have to remind a group of people to get back on target from a digression that was off-track - the 'target' being the discussion of what we're reading. Sillinesses and stupidities do not run rampant here, for which I thank the entire group of contributors.

Again, a BIG THANKS to the wonderful Members of MobileRead!

Now, I've got to go skin a dead cat....it's screams are agonizing.

Don
(Moderator)

lilac_jive · 03-25-2010, 08:03 AM

Woohoo! Past 200,000 views! That's awesome! I bet a bunch were me

kennyc · 03-25-2010, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

Woohoo! Past 200,000 views! That's awesome! I bet a bunch were me

I'll bet most of them were you.

beppe · 03-25-2010, 08:33 AM

Until recently I did not know Wallace, I was not aware he even existed.(*)

I started with the first interviews of obnoxious people and felt that unique focal sharpness for details, right away. I said to myself: this guy is something. Let's keep this good stuff for later and let's read the silly things first. Like when I read the paper I start from the back pages so that when I arrive at the important news my interest has not been saturated yet.

The Lobster thing. It starts with a rendition of a porno event in Las Vegas. A town that I know because of business, a business that I do not know and do not want to. He neither. Then there is a piece about the fine art of writing dramatical tension and its release in a funniness contest (of Kafka of all the subjects, whom I read when I was a kid and after reading Wallace I might go back to). He talks of Kafka's funniness like the Master Kitano talks of his films, the pendulum. A third piece on John Updike's "Toward the End of Time" and we both think he is a backward anatomical singularity. Not much juice either. And then the gift! Ha, the marvel!

An 127 pages account of an obscure episode of the war between two schools of lexicographers, the last frontier of self-abusing academic philosophers. Technical, highly technical. Abstract - in the sense of being remote from real life. Very abstract.

But studded with gems of Clarity, Honesty, Wisdom, Moral Rectitude and Educational Usefulness. A triumph. When he wrote this essay he was less than 40.

It has taken me time to read through it. It is dense and profound and useful. I will call my friend and tell him to forget the black and blue underpants.

A writer that reminds me closely of Wallace and of his (loose? but wonderfully worded) style made of micro detailed exposition of high concepts, footnotes embedded with meaningful trivia is the Italian Carlo Emilio Gadda, who is very little known outside Italy, his language being so hard to translate. As I imagine it would be for Wallace.

(*) A friend told me to start with the Lobster and promised that if I did not like it, he would wear underpants with the colors of Inter F.C. A team that we both adverse and despise. He is my last resort for funky computer operations and I wanted to be able to read on my Sony the more than 500 bucks I spent with e-reader for my palm. With the e-reader people telling me that it was not their problem and that if I wanted to read books on the Sony I could buy them from Fictionwise which doesn't sell them to me because I am not in USA or Canada. My friend the debugger did not know right away how to revenge me but wanted a book to try and I sent him The short stories of Hemingway and he wrote back urging me to refresh a little my tastes with something new and enough with this old and dusty stuff. And he mentioned a bunch of writers, that either I had read already, or that I commented as being mental self-abusers and he said not Wallace and so on. He did not succeed in liberating my books. I did eventually, and for him not to feel bad, after a brief glance to Wikipedia, I got a bunch of books by Wallace. Yes a bunch because as I was able to trick the distributor with an American address, I thought that maybe they will be forced to close that door and so let's get the books and run.

P.S. I paid hard earned money to buy the Lobster. Then in the Wikipedia page of the Lobster I found a link to the "Tense Present, Democracy, English, and the Wars over Usage" where one can read it for free.

DixieGal · 03-25-2010, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Just finished reading The Days of Babylon: An Autobiography of a Former Stoner by Timothy L. Nix. It details events that are sometimes funny, other times tragic, and best of all, it tells how the author met his wife Bambi; better known to folks here at MobileRead as DixieGal. The book has a ring of brutal honesty, and is especially recommended for everyone who wants to know D.G. a bit better.

Wow! That is so nice! And

for buying the book!

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

whaaaat? Are you serious?

Yes I see you are, I missed DG's announcement til now....

Kenny, how could you miss it? It's the most important book announcement of the season!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I forgot to mention that you can get The Days of Babylon: An Autobiography of a Former Stoner by Timothy L. Nix here.

Did I mention how much I love you?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

Thanks sounds like it might be a mirror of my life ..... well except for that marryin' bambi thing...

Oops, missed me by nearly 21 years. Sorry!

FlorenceArt · 03-25-2010, 02:50 PM

Just finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, a beautiful book. I must have missed at least half of the nerdy references, and I did miss most of the Spanish words and sentences, but it's not the kind of thing that stops me enjoying a book, and I did. Sad but humorous and very human.

kennyc · 03-25-2010, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DixieGal

..

Kenny, how could you miss it? It's the most important book announcement of the season!!

..

I know I know. please forgive me!

Dr. Drib · 03-25-2010, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Just finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, a beautiful book. I must have missed at least half of the nerdy references, and I did miss most of the Spanish words and sentences, but it's not the kind of thing that stops me enjoying a book, and I did. Sad but humorous and very human.

I agree with you about this book. I, too, thoroughly enjoyed it.

It won the Pulitzer Prize for Best Novel, one or two years ago.

Don

Bilbo1967 · 03-25-2010, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Just finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, a beautiful book. I must have missed at least half of the nerdy references, and I did miss most of the Spanish words and sentences, but it's not the kind of thing that stops me enjoying a book, and I did. Sad but humorous and very human.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I agree with you about this book. I, too, thoroughly enjoyed it.

It won the Pulitzer Prize for Best Novel, one or two years ago.

Don

Coincidentally I flicked through this in Waterstones at the weekend and thought it looked like a good read. I didn't buy it because my TBR list is already too long but maybe it'll get bumped up a bit now

neilmarr · 03-25-2010, 04:51 PM

***Let me extend my thanks to all the contributors (and future contributors) to this thread. This thread has been an enjoyable resource for opinions and recommendations for me personally and I'm sure for other Members as well***

Hear, hear, Don. This is always my first port of call; a club within a club. Advice and recommendations and short reviews are all so useful. I've already read several books that were tipped here.

Just wish I had more recreational reading time so that I could contribute more effectively. Most of my reading is, by necessity, for editing, proofing work by my own authors or checking out books published by my own company but handled by other editors on my wee team.

200,000 visits -- Can't say I'm surprised. Thanks to everyone for thoughtful input and for making this place as warm and friendly as any book cafe.

Hoots. Neil

JSWolf · 03-25-2010, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I enjoyed it. And, like his other books I've read, I can see how good it is. But I must admit that it doesn't grab me like some other books do. Definitely worth the time to read through.

And now onto Nation by Terry Pratchett. I find it hard to believe I've had this for over a year without reading it! (But I have.)

I've started Nation but have been unable to get myself to get back into it. I may convert it to ePub and then have another go at it. But I can wait until you've read it and tell us if it's worth reading.

Bluesman7 · 03-25-2010, 08:05 PM

The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen.

I was kind of approaching this one with a bit of trepidation but I am thoroughly enjoying it thus far.

03-25-2010, 08:33 AM	#4297
beppe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,161 Karma: 81026524 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Italy Device: Kindle3, Ipod4, IPad2	Try Wallace Until recently I did not know Wallace, I was not aware he even existed.() I started with the first interviews of obnoxious people and felt that unique focal sharpness for details, right away. I said to myself: this guy is something. Let's keep this good stuff for later and let's read the silly things first. Like when I read the paper I start from the back pages so that when I arrive at the important news my interest has not been saturated yet. The Lobster thing. It starts with a rendition of a porno event in Las Vegas. A town that I know because of business, a business that I do not know and do not want to. He neither. Then there is a piece about the fine art of writing dramatical tension and its release in a funniness contest (of Kafka of all the subjects, whom I read when I was a kid and after reading Wallace I might go back to). He talks of Kafka's funniness like the Master Kitano talks of his films, the pendulum. A third piece on John Updike's "Toward the End of Time" and we both think he is a backward anatomical singularity. Not much juice either. And then the gift! Ha, the marvel! An 127 pages account of an obscure episode of the war between two schools of lexicographers, the last frontier of self-abusing academic philosophers. Technical, highly technical. Abstract - in the sense of being remote from real life. Very abstract. But studded with gems of Clarity, Honesty, Wisdom, Moral Rectitude and Educational Usefulness. A triumph. When he wrote this essay he was less than 40. It has taken me time to read through it. It is dense and profound and useful. I will call my friend and tell him to forget the black and blue underpants. A writer that reminds me closely of Wallace and of his (loose? but wonderfully worded) style made of micro detailed exposition of high concepts, footnotes embedded with meaningful trivia is the Italian Carlo Emilio Gadda, who is very little known outside Italy, his language being so hard to translate. As I imagine it would be for Wallace. () A friend told me to start with the Lobster and promised that if I did not like it, he would wear underpants with the colors of Inter F.C. A team that we both adverse and despise. He is my last resort for funky computer operations and I wanted to be able to read on my Sony the more than 500 bucks I spent with e-reader for my palm. With the e-reader people telling me that it was not their problem and that if I wanted to read books on the Sony I could buy them from Fictionwise which doesn't sell them to me because I am not in USA or Canada. My friend the debugger did not know right away how to revenge me but wanted a book to try and I sent him The short stories of Hemingway and he wrote back urging me to refresh a little my tastes with something new and enough with this old and dusty stuff. And he mentioned a bunch of writers, that either I had read already, or that I commented as being mental self-abusers and he said not Wallace and so on. He did not succeed in liberating my books. I did eventually, and for him not to feel bad, after a brief glance to Wikipedia, I got a bunch of books by Wallace. Yes a bunch because as I was able to trick the distributor with an American address, I thought that maybe they will be forced to close that door and so let's get the books and run. P.S. I paid hard earned money to buy the Lobster. Then in the Wikipedia page of the Lobster I found a link to the "Tense Present, Democracy, English, and the Wars over Usage" where one can read it for free.

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03-25-2010, 06:00 AM	#4294
Dr. Drib Grand Sorcerer Posts: 45,472 Karma: 60119087 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Peru Device: KINDLE: Oasis 3, Scribe (1st), Matcha; KOBO: Libra 2, Libra Colour	A Brief Message of Thanks: Let me extend my thanks to all the contributors (and future contributors) to this thread. This thread has been an enjoyable resource for opinions and recommendations for me personally and I'm sure for other Members as well. There have been more than 200,000 views and over 4,200 posts, which makes this a very popular and well-contributed Thread. This can be a reminder for all of us that we can get along on an International forum that discusses books and the reasons we enjoy books, no matter what digressions may occur in some other Forums/Threads here. (And believe me, it's quickly dealt with by caring Members and the Moderation Team.) "We" (meaning you and I) police ourselves wonderfully in this thread, and only once [?] - it was quite a while back - did I have to remind a group of people to get back on target from a digression that was off-track - the 'target' being the discussion of what we're reading. Sillinesses and stupidities do not run rampant here, for which I thank the entire group of contributors. Again, a BIG THANKS to the wonderful Members of MobileRead! Now, I've got to go skin a dead cat....it's screams are agonizing. Don (Moderator)

03-25-2010, 08:03 AM	#4295
lilac_jive Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,870 Karma: 27376 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Device: PRS-505	Woohoo! Past 200,000 views! That's awesome! I bet a bunch were me

03-25-2010, 02:50 PM	#4299
FlorenceArt High Priestess Posts: 5,761 Karma: 5042529 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Montreuil sous bois, France Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus	Just finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, a beautiful book. I must have missed at least half of the nerdy references, and I did miss most of the Spanish words and sentences, but it's not the kind of thing that stops me enjoying a book, and I did. Sad but humorous and very human.

03-25-2010, 04:51 PM	#4303
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,215 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	*Let me extend my thanks to all the contributors (and future contributors) to this thread. This thread has been an enjoyable resource for opinions and recommendations for me personally and I'm sure for other Members as well* Hear, hear, Don. This is always my first port of call; a club within a club. Advice and recommendations and short reviews are all so useful. I've already read several books that were tipped here. Just wish I had more recreational reading time so that I could contribute more effectively. Most of my reading is, by necessity, for editing, proofing work by my own authors or checking out books published by my own company but handled by other editors on my wee team. 200,000 visits -- Can't say I'm surprised. Thanks to everyone for thoughtful input and for making this place as warm and friendly as any book cafe. Hoots. Neil

03-25-2010, 08:05 PM	#4305
Bluesman7 Book 'em Danno Posts: 156 Karma: 180 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Blue Ridge Mtns, NC Device: Kindle 2	The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen. I was kind of approaching this one with a bit of trepidation but I am thoroughly enjoying it thus far.

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