The Reading Joy & Delight Thread

[drofgnal]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I am currently reading Anna Karenina. I had been determined to read it in 2022, but life happened, and I started listening to the audiobook on January 1. Before that, I had read nothing for months--I had a difficult, tiring 2022, and when I had downtime, I didn't want to read; I wanted to stare at mindless TV. When things eased up, I found I was out of the habit of reading, and still preferred mindless TV (and I really mean mindless). I thought Anna would jumpstart me--that I'd be motivated to finish it so I could read some nice little domestic thriller--but that's not happening. I've read a few chapters a day of Anna, and I'm only about halfway through Part Three (of eight).

The audiobook is actually good--it's the Maude translation with Wanda McCaddon as the narrator. The language seems sufficiently modern, and I don't have to deal with the strange-to-me names that defy pronunciation, which has been a stumbling block in my previous halfhearted attempts to read Anna. I'm enjoying it, not just feeling virtuous about finally reading the darn thing after blowing it off in high school back in the Dark Ages. But I still don't want to read more than a few chapters at a time.

The names can be problematic. I've read War and Peace three times so I'm familiar with how Russian names are done, having read intros i both books describing how they do their names. I was reading a more recent translation and the maddening thing is that x-ray won't always pick up on a particular form of someone's name if I want to look up a character, so it requires a good understanding of how names are handled.

[hildea]

For some reason writing about my reading slump got me out of it, so now I'm in the middle of the latest Murderbot (after rereading Network Effect to remind me of what happened just before that book starts. It's maybe not up with the best of the series, but it's good.

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

This got me to thinking about the particular joy I had a few years ago when I discovered the "genre" of reading the letters of great writers and others.

I have a book of letters -- some from famous people, others just interesting in themselves. I remember there was one from Jane Austen to the Prince Regent (I think?) which was deliciously snarky.

What new genres have you discovered later on in your reading life?

Not discovered, but rediscovered: Romance.
I read a lot of romance as a teenager and in my early twenties. But much of the romance I read in 1980s-1990s is, when seen in hindsight, pretty horrible. A lot of it, including books I loved then, is rapey and slutshaming. (Those written by Madeleine Brent aka Peter O'Donnell (author of Modesty Blaise) are quite good in that regard, though.) Then I stopped reading the genre, until in 2013 when I saw a review of one of Courtney Milan's books, describing it as feminist romance. I checked it out, and she didn't disappoint -- she's now one of my favourite authors. There's a lot of really good romance written now, by and about people of all genders.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by hildea

Not discovered, but rediscovered: Romance.

Been reading some of the free Choc Lit free Friday books (now owned by Joffe – rhymes with coffee) and bought some too. Some are not actually romance. The Sussex Romance series is actually a cosy murder mystery series set in Regency era.

I've often read books the Wife bought in the past.

I also read Adventure, Detective /Mystery /Spy, some thrillers, Fantasy, SF, Westerns, some Historical fiction, school stories, horse/pony, ballet, some old fiction 17th C. to early 20th C. which often is less rigid in genreness. Even some Westerns like the Riders of the Purple Sage are also romance / adventure/mystery/robinsonade. Zane Grey (a dentist) was inspired by reading the Virginian (not much like TV series, far better), got his wife to teach him about writing, learned to ride and visited the West.

We can maybe lose a bit by big publisher insistence these days on exact narrow catalogue of a story's genre.

[SomeSteve]

Originally Posted by SomeSteve

I'm reading Marlowe by John Banville (a.k.a. The Black-Eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black), a Philip Marlowe novel. I had planned on reading all of Chandler ... before tackling it ... But now that the movie version of Marlowe with Liam Neeson is available for streaming, I thought that ... I'd hurry and read the book and then watch the movie.

The movie was -- what's the mot juste here -- terrible, awful, dreadful, or perhaps more appropriate to the genre, lousy. And whatever you do, don't forget boring. Take your pick, mix and match. They're all pretty juste, so you can't go wrong. The filmmakers departed in several ways from the book, and not for the better. I don't know who my idea of Philip Marlowe is, but though I'm happy enough to see him slugging and plugging thugs in his other movies, it's not Liam Neeson.

In my previous post I said that I didn't know whether Banville tried to mimic Chandler. In a conversation with The Guardian he said, "I wanted to write the spirit of Chandler, not to parrot." How well he succeeded, I'm in no position to say, but the book was enjoyable, though it turns out I really should have read the genuine Marlowes first.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by SomeSteve

In my previous post I said that I didn't know whether Banville tried to mimic Chandler. In a conversation with The Guardian he said, "I wanted to write the spirit of Chandler, not to parrot." How well he succeeded, I'm in no position to say, but the book was enjoyable, though it turns out I really should have read the genuine Marlowes first.

I'm glad you brought this back up. I was thinking about how you mentioned you had only read The Big Sleep and then a continuation and wanted to recommend you read more of the actual Chandler novels instead.

I just finished The Long Goodbye this morning and am planning on re-watching the movie this week.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I used to buy and read novelizations when I was a kid, before videotapes. It was... not very satisfactory, but at least it was something.

I enjoyed the novelizations as a similar but deeper experience. Re-watching the movie, it is the same movie every time. But novelizations (good ones anyway) gave an experience that was... I dunno. More involved, if you see what I mean?

Having said that, if videotapes were available, I may have never tried the novelizations in the first place. Renting/streaming has undoubtedly helped kill off the novelization.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

<SNIP>I have on my shelves waiting for me the letters of Virginia Woolf, Hannah Arendt, and a book called The Love That Dares: Letters of LGBTQ+ Love & Friendship Through History.

What new genres have you discovered later on in your reading life?

I have also added the letters of Shirley Jackson and Flannery O'Connor to the mix.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

This reminds me of the Inpector Kubu series set in Botswana by "Michael Stanley" - two South Africans.

After finishing the Leningrad mystery (again, not bad, but not outstanding either) I now started the Kubu series. I just couldn't get it out of my head for some reason, after you mentioned it. And well, it was in my Read Soon pile anyway.

It'll be good to read something set in Africa on a cold, dark January night. The previous book took place in winter with lots of snow and temperatures near -30°C.

After Kubu, it'll be something in another genre; probably science fiction.

[ownedbycats]

The feeling after finally getting through a very, very, very long book. (Even when it's enjoyable.)

[Renate]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

It'll be good to read something set in Africa on a cold, dark January night. The previous book took place in winter with lots of snow and temperatures near -30°C.

I just finished a couple of arctic ones ("Hell on Ice" & "Icebound") and although it's in the 60s (°F) here I've still got a chill.

[Uncle Robin]

I've just given 5/5 at The Storygraph to "Writely or Wrongly", an entertaining, balanced and informative look at English 'rules' and usage tips. Often genuinely laugh out loud funny, the final paragraph sums up why I loved it:

Dear English, you’re not perfect and never will be. We grumble and argue about you, but that doesn’t mean we’re not fond of you. Grammar and usage basics matter, but they’re not your whole story. You’re untidy. You’re dynamic. You’re exuberant. You’re expressive. Deployed well, you’ve given us great literature, great clarity of thought, great elegance, great ways of saying what needs to be said. Keep up the good work.

[neil_swann80]

My ereader is still absent, having been sent off for a warranty repair. I fear it may have been lost by the postal service in the country it was shipped to.

On a whim I picked up a pulp horror paperback from a "borrow and return" selection at a local coffee shop. I only picked up the book to keep myself amused whilst I drank my coffee, but ended up wanting to finish it so away with me it went! The novel is surprisingly well written and is providing that wonderful lust of "just one more page".

The pages of the book are that glorious orangey-brown colour from being well seasoned by time. The pages smell divine; that heady, woody, delightfully musty perfume of adventure only old books seem to provide.

I have to admit, I've very much missed the simple joy in the experience of reading a physical book.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by neil_swann80

The pages of the book are that glorious orangey-brown colour from being well seasoned by time. The pages smell divine; that heady, woody, delightfully musty perfume of adventure only old books seem to provide.

I have to admit, I've very much missed the simple joy in the experience of reading a physical book.

I absolutely hate the look, feel and smell of old paper books, and dislike even that of the new ones. Never understood the fascination with the physical aspects of paper, especially old paper. Your description actually made me want to puke.

[neil_swann80]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I absolutely hate the look, feel and smell of old paper books, and dislike even that of the new ones. Never understood the fascination with the physical aspects of paper, especially old paper. Your description actually made me want to puke.

Ha! Well my description made you feel something I suppose.

I challenge you when next passing a used bookshop to hold your breath and enter. Make you way to the very centre...then take in a lovely deep breath...

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by neil_swann80

My ereader is still absent, having been sent off for a warranty repair. I fear it may have been lost by the postal service in the country it was shipped to.

On a whim I picked up a pulp horror paperback from a "borrow and return" selection at a local coffee shop. I only picked up the book to keep myself amused whilst I drank my coffee, but ended up wanting to finish it so away with me it went! The novel is surprisingly well written and is providing that wonderful lust of "just one more page".

The pages of the book are that glorious orangey-brown colour from being well seasoned by time. The pages smell divine; that heady, woody, delightfully musty perfume of adventure only old books seem to provide.

I have to admit, I've very much missed the simple joy in the experience of reading a physical book.

I'm with you on this: The smell of paper is intoxicating, and makes me miss my Hardback book collection numbering close to 3,000 - many First Editions. My collection is currently stored in a climate-controlled environment in the U.S.