What book are you currently reading?

[AlasdairUK]

I'm a big fan of Neil Gaiman, Jim Butcher and Kelly Armstrong, but I'm currently reading Michael J fox's autobiography. Any recommendations for similiar authors would be great. Cheers, Al

[Annig83]

Reading Edgar Allen Poe's Greatest Works, and a book by Camilla Lackberg- "The Ice Princess", it's a murder mystery/drama.  Very interesting, I would highly recommend it!!

[galvo]

Michael MacConnell's "Maelstrom". A juicy serial killer tale.

MooseMom, I dips me lid to you for your finishing "Ulysses". Blowed if I could.

[jbeany]

I finished my Butcher book before the day ended...*sigh* - now the wait for the next one begins!

On to "Middlesex."  Slow starter, but interesting.

[MooseMom]

MooseMom, I dips me lid to you for your finishing "Ulysses". Blowed if I could.

" '...he said biscuitfully.' "

[kyshiag]

@AlasdairUK, have you read Gaiman's entire Sandman series?

[MooseMom]

I've never heard of Jim Butcher...can y'all tell me more?

Riki, sometimes an author's "masterpiece" is too pretentious by half!

[jbeany]

Jim Butcher writes 2 series, MM.  The most popular (New York Times bestseller popular) is a series called the Dresden Files, about a wizard named Harry Dresden who works as a private eye in Chicago.  It's Harry Potter for sarcastic adults who are either former high school nerds or knew some.  (Think Dungeons and Dragons and Star Wars fans.)  The writing is filled with hysterical pop culture references, in a setting that's a mix of ghosts, magic, monsters and a real fairy godmother who is Sidhe, not Disney inspired.  The main character has a warped sense of humor that involves things like snatching magical artifacts from under a monster's nose while yelling Road Runner's classic "Meep Meep" before tearing out of sight.  There's also sex scenes and a lot of serious, intense relationship issues with his family and friends.  There are 13 books in the series, and a collection of related short stories. 

Butcher's other series is more traditional sword and magic in a feudal realm.  I've not been able to get into that one.

[Jean]

I am reading " The Help". It is about the negro side of the days of black people being considered " not human". Very interesting but scary when you think about the white folks intolerance of the blacks. Terrible!!

[monrein]

Just finished "The Long Song" by Andrea Levy...takes place in Jamaica when slavery was a feature of life...of particular interest to me since my family was there since the 1700's.  I hope that my ancestors were not among the jerkiest of the jerks but no one really gets a pass.

Currently reading "The Dogs and the Wolves" by Irene Nemirovsky (I loved Suite Francaise) which takes me back to Paris and to the early 1920's.

Also recently read "The Disappeared" by Kim Echlin...Canadian girl in love with young Cambodian musician in Montreal but his family trauma takes them back to Cambodia and to the tragedies of the Pol Pot regime.

[Rerun]

I'm reading "Larry's Kidney"  A true story about this guy named Dan who takes his cousin Larry to China to buy a kidney.  Good so far.  A lot of humor for such a dark subject.  I'm not done yet.

[MooseMom]

Currently reading "The Dogs and the Wolves" by Irene Nemirovsky (I loved Suite Francaise) which takes me back to Paris and to the early 1920's.

Oh oh oh...Suite Francaise is one of my favorite books on planet Earth!.  I know that it was to be a trilogy/suite, but she never got to finish it.  How stupid of me to have not thought about reading her other works.  How does "The Dogs and the Wolves" compare to "Suite Francaise" in tone, construction and style?  Oh, I loved this book so much!

[cariad]

You guys are way above me, when it comes to literature, I think.  I have a hard time with books that are someone's masterpiece, as there are usually layers upon layers of symbolism that I just don't get.  I enjoy the story, even with nonfiction books, as they all tell a story of some sort, but if they're supposed to have a deeper meaning, I'm just not going to see it.

I discovered this issue, and I think it's probably a reading comprehension issue of some sort, in my grade 12 English class.  We read A Separate Peace, and from what I was told, it was full symbolism about choices and separation and stuff like that.  All I saw in it was a story about 2 friends, one of which caused an accident which eventually killed the other, but he wasn't sure if he did it purposefully or not.  Kind of sad, really.  It's no real wonder why I repeated that class

I fell in love with literary interpretation in prep school - it quite clearly saved my sanity. I am one of those people who cannot handle certain subjects, and whilst I'm getting better in my advanced years, if something in a book really bothers me, I have a truly difficult time putting it out of my mind. So it was with this attitude that I was forced to read Kafka's Metamorphosis. I was so freaked out by the detailed description of Gregor's life as a 6ft cockroach (and I give nothing away - this is how the book opens) and I can still remember when he first managed to get himself out of bed, how his legs (all six of them) buckled and bent down into shape. Oh, it was just ghastly. Then one of the students in my English class said something to the effect of "I saw it as a description of how people with a certain disease are treated, like AIDS." OK, Kafka obviously cannot have known about AIDS, but it was a clean and tidy story of ostracism. I was describing it to Gwyn, and all of these years later, having never reread it, I remember how the housekeeper was the only one who was nice to him. But by nice, it meant she continued to clean his bedroom and to get him to move she would beat him out of the way with a broom. It only occurred to me now that that detail alone was very telling - this is what passed for decent treatment in Gregor's life. Author's intention does not matter, each generation in a work like that may have their own interpretation, and for me, as an allegory to life with a stigmatized condition, it was very nearly perfect. Also, it allowed me to appreciate the book despite the gruesome subject.

Then I read Lolita, and  underage sex is another topic that repels me, more so when it is actually underage rape. However, that book is an allegory for European relations with America. And I laughed myself silly - Nabakov was a rare and breathtaking talent. If you are easily disturbed, The Tin Drum will give you nightmares, but I read a bit of literary analysis and learned that Gunther Grass was writing about Germany, which makes perfect sense if you've read the book. Oskar decided to stop growing at three years old (I always took that as an allusion to the Third Reich) and when he does decide to grow again, he grows deformed. He is also a child of uncertain parentage, who may or may not be the father of a boy who beats him up. Disturbing and deeply clever.

Anyhow, you don't have to be able to pick these things out yourself, read some (good) literary analysis, or join a book club. There is nothing I enjoy more than talking literary analysis with my friend Mark, who like I said, has read nearly everything. Ulysses is his favorite book by far. And we have a theory of authors like that, Joyce and Mann and Pynchon and perhaps even David Foster Wallace. They have their break out book, then the book that represents them in peak form, then they go stark raving bonkers and we get Finnegan's Wake. Follow the career trajectory of any of those true literary innovators and tell me you don't see that pattern.... 

Oh, and one last thing, if you're still reading my babbling, Riki. No one should feel bad for either not enjoying or not getting the point of A Separate Peace. That was the first book I had to read at prep school, and I am quite confident in saying that that book is ridiculously overrated. We read it because it is set in the academy that I attended, and I can still remember the clear descriptions of the assembly hall and the cage. Beyond the thrill of seeing locations I recognised in the story, it was a full-on snore.

[monrein]

Currently reading "The Dogs and the Wolves" by Irene Nemirovsky (I loved Suite Francaise) which takes me back to Paris and to the early 1920's.

Oh oh oh...Suite Francaise is one of my favorite books on planet Earth!.  I know that it was to be a trilogy/suite, but she never got to finish it.  How stupid of me to have not thought about reading her other works.  How does "The Dogs and the Wolves" compare to "Suite Francaise" in tone, construction and style?  Oh, I loved this book so much!

This was written in 1940 so pre-dates Suite Francaise.  Stylistically they're similar but while no Jews appear in the completed sections of Suite, this novel has jewish protagonists which is interesting given that Nemirovsky has been accused of being anti-semitic (or self-loathing since she was herself jewish).  I regret that I've only read her in English and would like to get hold of an original version of Suite at some point.  The translation stuff is always tricky and I think that in this particular novel                   (Dogs and Wolves) some of the subtleties are in fact lost...despite the best efforts of any translator.  This one notes for example that the title in French is Les Chiens et les Loups which translates literally into the English title BUT also, the french expression "entre chien et loup" means dusk or twilight and so a time when it is difficult to distinguish clearly between things of similar shapes plus of course the clear theme that dogs and wolves are of the same family but some domesticated and some wild.  Any translation of any work can obscure some of the layered meanings that are often present in the original.

Still very much worth reading though I think and for me (and for many others) the facts of Nemirovsky's own life make her novels even more compelling.
I'll try to remember and pack it for Vegas and you're welcome to have it.

[billybags]

I am devouring all the books by Louise and Tilly Bagshawe. I love the glitz and sparkle and the sex that goes on in Hollywood, is it may be because It reminds me of what I once had (the sex I mean) . I read in the bath every night for about an hour, that is my escape from real life. I love it.

[Poppylicious]

I'm reading "Larry's Kidney"  A true story about this guy named Dan who takes his cousin Larry to China to buy a kidney.  Good so far.  A lot of humor for such a dark subject.  I'm not done yet.

I read a review for that and am tempted to try and get it out of the library.  Is it really a true story? Wow! (I know the title suggests it is, but I just assumed it was titled that way because it makes for an appealing title, not because it's true!)

[cariad]

Finished Water for Elephants and rushed it back to the library. It did get a bit better, but I still cannot say I liked it.

This might contain a few spoilers:

Had the author ever been within 10 feet of an elephant, or a non-human primate? Chimpanzees are not 'so human' and it takes a lot to train one to act like one. The elephant was tapping people on the shoulder with her trunk and it did not occur to people that this animal would have to be trained to do this? (Of course, she seemed to lack so much basic knowledge about animals that I could not tell if this was a plot point or just her baffling ignorance.) I am by no means an elephant expert, but spent a week at an elephant sanctuary in South Africa, plus have ridden both African and Asian elephants. My son even rode an African elephant (briefly) and he was beyond scared. Elephants cannot lift anyone onto their backs with their trunk, nor do they spray people with water like a fire hose. Am I the only person who found these details cartoonish and implausible? How can you mention the trunk without taking note of just how slimy they are? I remember my son absolutely terrified when we told him to feed an orange to an elephant, and me thinking that I did not want to touch the end of the trunk.

She had no ear for dialogue, and this is something I am very sensitive to after years in theatre. She seemed to use terms from the era, but had no idea how to construct an authentic sentence, and bizarrely chose to add in a few Anglo Britishisms ('a right state') and that somehow translated to 1930s-style, American speech? If anyone wants to read lovely patois from that era, read Babbit, he is excellent with conversational styles. Oh, and I seemed to have the same problem that many others did - it was obvious it was written by a woman, and while not normally an issue, the fact that she chose a male protagonist added another fake element to it. Ooooo, I just had so many problems with this book! I could go on, but will spare everyone.

[jbeany]

Maybe I liked it better because I read it as a fantasy novel!

[cariad]

Maybe I liked it better because I read it as a fantasy novel!

Yes, that may well be my problem - I do tend to insist on a certain degree of accuracy/realism. Rarely been one for fantasy or sci-fi. Also, you probably did not take the time to read a rant from a real-life Cornell-educated vet who spluttered that horses have 50 LITRES OF BLOOD and therefore they simply could never be euthanized that way. Anyone who thinks I'm too picky should track down his review.

[jbeany]

I do read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy, so I guess I'm quicker to jump into a "willing suspension of disbelief."  Accuracy doesn't bother me much when I'm reading a novel, as long as the story flows for me.  I finished Middlesex a couple days ago.  The narrator describes a scene in which she, as an elementary school child, rides a banana bike after the tanks that entered Detroit during the riots, on a self-imposed mission to save her father at the family diner in the middle of the worst section of rioting, with gunfire everywhere.  Realistic?  Not at all.  A fabulous part of the story?  Yes.

Hey, when you get used to magic and totally impossible science, a little bad biology doesn't really stand out!

[jbrock]

The Help by Kathryn Stockett's

Love it! Can't wait to see the movie!

[MooseMom]

Jbeany, re The Dresden Files, did they make a TV series out of those books because my husband put it on our Netflix queue some time ago.

Monrein, gosh, if you wouldn't mind bringing "The Dogs and the Wolves" to Vegas, I'd appreciate it.  I tried to get it from the library, but none of them in my area own a copy.  Thanks so much.

I'm still plowing through "The Pale King".  The chapters about the IRS guy bore me silly, but the chapters about the other characters contain some truly magical writing.  I'll forge ahead.

Saw the movie "The Tin Drum" yonks ago and hated hated hated it.  Oskar was so incredibly annoying, and I didn't really care that much about Germany to find any interest in the film.  My feelings about Germany are complicated tinged with irrationality.

[jbeany]

Yes, the Dresden Files lasted a season or maybe two before they pulled it, much to the dismay of a a number of fans.  I liked the books better, but I usually do no matter what the book.

[cariad]

Saw the movie "The Tin Drum" yonks ago and hated hated hated it.  Oskar was so incredibly annoying, and I didn't really care that much about Germany to find any interest in the film.  My feelings about Germany are complicated tinged with irrationality.

My great friends are a bit obsessed with the celebrated German writers, probably because Germans seem to favor challenging, often absurdist works. Zoo Story, which launched Edward Albee's career, premiered in Berlin, not America. I am not interested in Germany today, despite its omnipresence in my life. My brother got his PhD in Germany, the person who was more of a mom to me than my own mother is German, my family is of German descent and my father was fluent in Yiddish, though bizarrely chose not to pass the language down to his kids. He used to do a lot of business in Germany, with his business partner/best friend who is, you guessed it, German. Still, The Tin Drumwas just a rich, fascinating story, well told. And I only read the translation. I have heard that film was awful. In fact, my literary friend says it was banned in this country, which I can fully understand. No one wants to see a child of three assaulted or having sex, I did not particularly relish reading about it, but given the analytical distance that I spoke of above, overall I found the novel superb. Not for the faint of heart, though. I am told that the kid who played Oskar in the pic was more like 12, which would destroy the story in and of itself.

I guess I find Water For Elephants inexcusable, because it was just not good writing. I don't know what I expected. I love absurdism, but that was not what she was writing here, or if that was her attempt, she failed. I do love Vonnegut, who is very much an absurdist/sci-fi writer, and also has the advantage of being completely accessible to people who don't read often (Gwyn's read him and enjoyed it, there's your proof) and when the main character in Water for Elephants said that he seemed to be reliving his life out of order, or whatever he said, SURELY she knew, I desperately hope she knew, that she was invoking Slaughterhouse Five and the main character becoming 'unstuck in time'. I love Magical Realism that came out of Latin America. One Hundred Years of Solitude, for example, is a masterwork. When Garbiel Garcia Marquez writes about a flock of yellow butterflies carrying a woman off, or a line a blood from a woman's murdered son traveling the streets of town to stop at her feet, you are reading poetry, the words seem to sing, and the implausibility of it does not matter. It is a new world, one we recognise, but one whose rules we must learn through reading. (Sorry, I'll shut up now.)

For what it was, The Help was very well written, though I am sure criticism of it revolves around the Great White Saviour sweeping in to deliver them all from oppression. Whether she realises it or not (and I am sure she does) it takes a fair bit of bravery to attempt a book like that, and while she did not succeed in all places, I thought she captured the language and the mood of the era quite well, and I thought the main characters showed enough autonomy and ability to solve their own problems while remaining realistic to the times.

[MooseMom]

Oh yes, One Hundred Years of Solitude was magical, and I enjoyed Love in the Time of Cholera.  Gosh, I read those books so long ago...I had such a different life back then.

I know there has been criticism about The Help due to the reasons you mentioned, and while I can't disagree, I confess to being a middled aged white lady, so while I try to be sympathetic to that criticism, I do not have the life experience to truly understand it, and as such, I enjoyed the book as a good hearted attempt to see the world through the eyes of someone very much unlike yourself.  I always applaud such attempts although they often fall short.  I am a huge fan of Viola Davis ever since Doubt, so I intend to see the movie for that reason.

Has anyone here read Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale?  One year for my birthday, my husband arranged for the owner of a local bookstore to come to the house, dress up and sing a song and present me with a bag filled with books he had chosen for me.  One of those books was Suite Francaise, and another was The Thirteenth Tale.  It's one of those books that ends with each chapter eliciting a "Whoa!  Didn't see THAT coming." from the reader.