All About Books discussion

Greg wrote: "I actually love short stories! Like poems they can suggest a huge amount in a small space - I feel like the best short stories do more in 30 or 40 pages than many novels do in 500. But I think shor..."

I love your explanation Greg! And, I agree. I haven't read any of the authors you listed...yet.

Joan wrote: "Pam wrote: "I just finished Tash Hearts Tolstoy, a YA novel about an asexual (ACE) teenage girl who achieves surprise success with her web series, a modernization of Anna Karenina. ..."

Joan - I hear a lot of readers say they don't read SF. It's really a diverse genre, though, which people may not realize. I think The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories was so good because of the diversity of the stories and settings. Great writing helps, too! Hope you get a chance to read it or at least a few of the stories.

Greg wrote: "I actually love short stories! Like poems they can suggest a huge amount in a small space - I feel like the best short stories do more in 30 or 40 pages than many novels do in 500. But I think shor..."

For a long time I avoided short stories because in school, they always held up O. Henry as the exemplar & I hated his stories. My dad talked me into trying again about 5-6 years ago & I have discovered that I don't actually hate short stories, I just hate O. Henry!

I find some short stories work for me and others don't -- but one thing I have noticed is that when I read a collection, it is important to space them out rather than reading one right after another.

I like the list Greg gives. Not surprisingly, I also like mystery short stories - I think that often mystery writers have a plot idea but it doesn't have enough characters or whatever to make a full book. Agatha Christie wrote many (over 100, I think) marvellous short stories (in fact, most of the TV adaptations of Poirot were from her short stories rather than her novels).

I started reading Io non mi chiamo Miriam by Majgull Axelsson. There is no English translation.
LauraT talked about it very well when she was reading it (not a long time ago). One day it was on Amazon's daily deals and I decided to buy it.

Esther, what does DT format mean? Thanks.

DT- dead tree?

Just started a Christmas novel for the season - Kristin Hannah's Comfort & Joy. Should be a much easier read than the one I just finished - Dickens' Great Expectations.

Also listening to Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See. Have a great week everyone!

Chinook wrote: "DT- dead tree?"

Exactly.

I've started The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway.

I just noticed that my Currently Shelf shows no books, but it should have the novel I'm reading on it. Anyone else have this problem?

Anne (Booklady) wrote: "I've started The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway.

I just noticed that my Currently Shelf shows no books, but it should have the novel I'm reading on it. Anyo..."

That is a really good book! My current shelf is working properly.

*******************************

Now I am going to pick up a shorty by Stefan Zweig - Letter From An Unknown Woman.

The dates on mine are all mixed up. They supposedly are working on it.

Ah, thank you for explaining Chinook and Esther

I'm about half way through "Little Women" and it is truly a classic. I love the writing as well as the plot and time period. Does anyone have any book recommendations of classic books? :)

I have begun Winter: A Berlin Family, 1899-1945. I have to level out the short ones I have been reading with now something long. LauraT said this was good. Thanks, Laura, for suggesting it.

I am re-reading Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. I rarely re-read books, but anything by Austen is perfect for the holidays.

I just started the recently published The Overneath by Peter S. Beagle. This is my first book by this author. It's a collection of short stories including one about a popular character from The Last Unicorn.

I hope to start today The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil. It's the last book of my challenge to read books I already own! It lasted two years, but finally I'm done with this challenge.
If I won't finish the book this year (it has 1000 pages!), I will continue next year, and then, finally, I will buy again books!

Nichole wrote: "I am re-reading Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. I rarely re-read books, but anything by Austen is perfect for the holidays."

And she can't be read only once! I've re-read all her books at least three or four times!

dely wrote: "I hope to start today The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil. It's the last book of my challenge to read books I already own! It lasted two years, but finally I'm do..."

Good luck with that, dely. I have it on my Kindle, but I'm always quite frightened by its bulk, so I've never started it yet. I sometimes read big books, but I find that one really intimidating.

Marina wrote: "dely wrote: "I hope to start today The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil. It's the last book of my challenge to read books I already own! It lasted two years, but f..."

Thanks! If I see that it will be a hard read, then I give up. I don't want to force myself anymore to finish books I don't like.

dely wrote: "I hope to start today The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil. It's the last book of my challenge to read books I already own! It lasted two years, but finally I'm do..."

Well done dely, on your success in reading your own books! I have been making an effort, but still have trouble avoiding both library books and the various free ebook & audiobook offers I come across (and I have even purchased a few). :/

dely wrote: "I hope to start today The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil. It's the last book of my challenge to read books I already own! It lasted two years, but finally I'm do..."

dely, congrats on meeting your challenge! Reading books I already own is a challenge I would like to set for myself after I'm done with my current writing project, which will probably take up the entire 2018 :)

Thanks Leslie and Alice! It was hard, above all now towards the end because the books I knew I would like less were left. I'm only sorry for those books I didn't finish because I really didn't enjoy them. I feel as if I didn't succeed 100% with this challenge, but I don't want to waste anymore my time with books I don't like. I also have less patience respect to the past: if I don't like a book, nowadays I rarely give it a chance while in the past I forced myself to finish them.
Well, now and then I bought a book also in these two years, but only very few and nearly always only because of some good discounts.

I think I will give up with The Man Without Qualities. The Italian edition is full of missing letters and sometimes also entire words are missing, so it's impossible to read.
I switched to the German edition, read 3% of it but it's too difficult, and since the book has more than 1000 pages, I really don't want to torture myself. I also won't buy another Italian edition because it isn't a book I'm still interested to read.

Laura T, no she can't be read only once. I find that true of several English writers: Austen, Thackeray, Shakespeare, Bronte, Eliot, du Maurier, etc.

dely wrote: "I think I will give up with The Man Without Qualities. The Italian edition is full of missing letters and sometimes also entire words are missing, so it's impossible to read.
I switch..."

Sorry to hear that. Is your Italian edition an ebook version? Can I ask you what publishing house it is? Just so I can avoid it :-P I have a German edition but my fear is, as you say, that it will be too difficult. We'll see when I get to it.

Marina, I have sent you a private message.

dely wrote: "Marina, I have sent you a private message."

Thanks, dely.

I started The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway last night. It's too early yet to say what I think but it started well.
Hemingway is a hit/miss author for me. Reading The Old Man and the Sea in high school made me avoid him for many years. But then I picked up Islands in the Stream a couple of years back and really enjoyed it.

Yesterday I began Autumn. So far, I like it because of how the author plays with words and the lines make me think and they make me laugh. Yeah, good writing. It is scarcely about Brexit, as so many others have claimed.

You will see Chrissie as you go on how she weaves current events such as Brexit into her writing.

Reading for my nightly short stories Funeral Platter: Stories.

Diane S ☔ wrote: "You will see Chrissie as you go on how she weaves current events such as Brexit into her writing.

Reading for my nightly short stories Funeral Platter: Stories."

Ok, maybe there will be more about Brexit, but I find other issues compelling.

Chrissie, yes Ali Smith is a master with wordplay. Even more so in her next seasonal book Winter

Pink, I am enjoying Autumn a lot! We definitely agree on this one. Good to hear Winter is even better! I will probably follow up with that next moth. After reading this, I am even considering her earlier book which could be read in different order. I thought that sounded gimmicky, but now I do not know. A talented author can do just about anything.

I’m planning on reading Winter in January. I really enjoyed Autumn so I’m looking forward to getting to it

Nichole wrote: "Laura T, no she can't be read only once. I find that true of several English writers: Austen, Thackeray, Shakespeare, Bronte, Eliot, du Maurier, etc."

Totally agree!

At the moment I am reading

I am dying to read another by Muriel Spark. This time it will be The Ballad of Packham Rye.

Pam wrote: "I just finished Tash Hearts Tolstoy, a YA novel about an asexual (ACE) teenage girl who achieves surprise success with her web series, a modernization of Anna Karenina. I usually do..."

That one sounds interesting Pam! I'll add it to my to-read list.

Pam wrote: "
I love your explanation Greg! And, I agree. I haven't read any of the authors you listed...yet. .."

Thanks Pam! :)

If you haven't read "Bliss" by Katherine Mansfield, I highly recommend it .. one of her stories that is very often anthologized .. a slice of life story but beautifully done. You can probably find an online copy for free somewhere if you don't have access to an anthology through a library.

Pink, Chrissie, and Heather, I have been eager to try Ali Smith for a while!

I just started The Member of the Wedding tonight, and I am absolutely loving it! .. some wonderful humor and enough unique oddity to feel "true" to me. This is a childhood I instantly related to!

I am very pleasantly surprised by how much I am loving this book because if I am honest with myself, I really didn't care for The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter at all. Intellectually, I could of course appreciate the literary style of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, but I didn't "like" it or connect to it, either the characters or the worldview - both felt heavy-handed. I think it was one of those books that I could appreciate the qualities of but not really like.

But The Member of the Wedding feels to me like it comes from a much more mature and nuanced perspective (not the characters of course who are quite young but the writer behind them). A slightly softer touch. I am really enjoying it! It could very well end up 5 stars.

That’s helpful to hear, Greg. I also didn’t love Heart, so I’d put of reading Wedding.

I’m reading a few things at once - Grand Hotel and The Library at Mount Char on kindle, though I’m making little progress. We all caught a bug and Maddie threw up so much she got dehydrated and we had to take her to the ER. So, not a lot of time for eye reading. The Passage is my present audio - not only is it a reread but a reread I loved before. And I want to read the rest of the series finally.

I’m also really liking the Serial app for classics. I’m rereading Wuthering Heights and reading Persian Letters. It’s a small chunk of reading that fits in nicely even on busy days and has been helping me get over a bit of a reading. Slump.

Chinook wrote: "That’s helpful to hear, Greg. I also didn’t love Heart, so I’d put of reading Wedding. ..."

So far, it's much less philosophically bleak Bette. I am loving it!

I have begun Ordinary Grace, on the recommendation of many of my friends.

Still trying to finish The Witch's Daughter which was an October book group read... In the car, I'm listening to Conspirata which has me thinking not much has changed in politics in over 2000 years.... !

Laurel wrote: "Still trying to finish The Witch's Daughter which was an October book group read... In the car, I'm listening to Conspirata which has me thinking not much has changed ..."

So true Laurel! If you look back at some speeches from Roman times, they sound like many things today. Same complaints, both real and imagined. It's eerie. Human nature is what it is I guess.

Greg, I have The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter as one of my "I-own-it" books but which I never got round to reading. Your comments may well help me put it at the bottom of the pile :)

Alice wrote: "Greg, I have The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter as one of my "I-own-it" books but which I never got round to reading. Your comments may well help me put it at the bottom of the pile :)"

Don't take my comments too seriously Alice! It is just my personal reaction. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is a critically acclaimed modern classic! A great many smart and avid readers would disagree with my view of it!

My very personal feeling though is that McCullers wrote it when she was very young (23 years old). The absolute philosphical bleakness of the book feels off to me ... the sort of book a young person with little life experience and a grieved bitterness would write. To me, life is just nothing like she describes. I have lived through some truly harrowing things in my younger years, but looking back, I can see the goodness too ... trodden down and bloodied but still there.

Now, in The Member of the Wedding, it seems very clear to me where that deep grievance at the heart of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter might have come from, but The Member of the Wedding is much more nuanced and mature. This book matches my experience of the world much better.

Let me put it this way: if I had a camera and some of the pictures were dark in some places or some days, I'd appreciate the shadows of the composition. But if every picture were black, I might start to suspect something was wrong with the camera. If some characters have perspectives that are self-defeating and dark, my heart breaks for their brokenness. But if every character in a book is equally lost, broken, and misguided and yet I can find no clear sociological reason for it, I start to suspect not heartbreaking flaws in the individual characters' perspectives but instead flaws in the presence behind them that has drawn them all.

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is an artful book, a beautifully done book, but the vision behind it is one I cannot quite trust in or fully believe. The Member of the Wedding so far though is for me close to perfection!!

Thank you so much, Greg, for giving such a lucid account of your thoughts about the two books. I personally tend to avoid books that purposely accentuate bleakness and despair for no good reason. I can accept bleakness in the accurate recording of historical facts, though.