Charlotte Posted January 26, 2008 Author Share Posted January 26, 2008 Do an OU course then lol Noooo not in the studying sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 I just don't know if I'm a mature enough reader. I love reading, I love getting completely absorbed by a well written passage or a description of an amazing scene, or heartbreak of relationship break down etc. But should I be challenging myself more? I don't think reading should be about challenging yourself. It should be about enjoying yourself. Like Mr. Brain, I can get totally absorbed in a book. I hear their voices as they speak and see them in my minds eye as they play the scenes. I don't need to feel challenged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class One Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 If you want a challenging read then try In the name of the rose by Umberto Eco. That book very very nearly beat me. The only book ever to have beaten me was by Neil Sheehan called A Bright Shining Lie, which was about how America involved itself in Indochina and the Vietnam War. I was going through a period of reading accounts of the war by soldiers themselves and this was more of a political analogy and exploration into American policy at the time. It was too damned much. The magic of books is that they can be about learning or escapism, you choose what you want from a book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerous brain Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 O B one we drink from the same trough. Reading if you are going to do it needs to be entertaining. Start pressurising yourself to see more in literature and you start to reduce the experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannhauser Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Hi Charlotte, A books thread - cool. After years of wasting time on the Internet, I started reading more fiction again last year and kept a list, which I'll cut and paste below: Life of Pi, Yann Martel The Devil and Miss Prym, Paulo Coelho Veronika Decides to Die, Paulo Coelho The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy The Information, Martin Amis Complicity, Iain Banks What a Carve Up!, Jonathan Coe The Crow Road, Iain Banks Time’s Arrow, Martin Amis Foucault’s Pendulum, Umberto Eco A Maggot, John Fowles Rabbit is Rich, John Updike Rabbit Redux, John Updike V., Thomas Pynchon Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut Rabbit, Run, John Updike The Wonderful “O”, James Thurber Keep the Aspidistra Flying, George Orwell Thank You, Jeeves, P.G. Wodehouse Vile Bodies, Evelyn Waugh Tono-Bungay, Herbert George Wells Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad The Island of Dr. Moreau, Herbert George Wells Hunger, Knut Hamsun Persuasion, Jane Austen Emma, Jane Austen Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift There were many books that rocked my world in that list. The ones I would never recommend to anyone were V (incomprehensible), Foucalt's Pendulum (turgid), and Hunger(creaky and long-winded). I also couldn't get on with Heart of Darkness. If you want something challenging and brilliantly original, Time's Arrow is Amis at his best, though the subject matter is gruesome. The 'Rabbit' books are just about as good as it gets, fiction wise, but very, very male. Iain Banks is good for a straightforward read with a dash of real style. Jonathon Coe is a bit more post-modern and ironic, but good fun. A Maggot is one of the best historical novels I've read, with John Fowles' magic realism running through it. If you want something 'uplifting', Coelho writes modern-day fables. Not really my cup of tea, but he's beloved by zillions. Anyway,just a few thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerous brain Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 So out of all of those if you were to point me in a I need to read something to get me back into it sort of book which author would you point me at? I can take heavy reading (lord of the rings fellowship is very hard going but I trudged through it). I would like to find an author I haven't read yet and start consuming books again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class One Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Good list there Cliff. I like Martin Amis and Iain Banks as well. Charlotte another book I can heartily recommend would be Birdsong by Sebastian Faulkes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 A general question here: What do we consider the meaning of "challenging" when we refer to it in the context of reading a book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannhauser Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Some more ideas from this year's list: In Cold Blood Truman Capote (the perfect journalistic novel,just brilliant in a disturbing way) Breakfast at Tiffany's Truman Capote (bittersweet and surprisingly dark) At the Mountains of Madness H P Lovecraft (dated and dull) Babbitt Sinclair Lewis (a forgotten classic, brilliant, but probably suited best to middle-aged men) We Vergheny Zamyatin (not finished this - weird, pre '1984' dystopia). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted January 26, 2008 Author Share Posted January 26, 2008 A general question here: What do we consider the meaning of "challenging" when we refer to it in the context of reading a book? I personally mean something which I wouldn't normally read. For example when I was about 12 I used to read sweet valley twins. I'd buy two books from the series every Saturday and finish them by 3pm. My dad started refusing to buy me them because I read them too quickly so he started choosing books for me, mostly Dickens. I really resented him but the books were hard and felt like an achievement and kind of a journey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannhauser Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 So out of all of those if you were to point me in a I need to read something to get me back into it sort of book which author would you point me at? I can take heavy reading (lord of the rings fellowship is very hard going but I trudged through it). I would like to find an author I haven't read yet and start consuming books again. Well, you may well hate my tastes and vice versa. But - Complicity is pacy, well written, tightly-plotted with some mild S & M thrown in for good measure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerous brain Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 I like out of your comfort zone books. Best one I remember is one about an Agincourt conscript and his journey there. Completely not my thing but very entertaining nonetheless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerous brain Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Well, you may well hate my tastes and vice versa. But - Complicity is pacy, well written, tightly-plotted with some mild S & M thrown in for good measure. OK just ordered it from amazon. Be home next weekend when I am. Looking forwards to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannhauser Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 A general question here: What do we consider the meaning of "challenging" when we refer to it in the context of reading a book? To me, it could mean lots of things. You've got books that are challenging because of their moral standpoint or subject matter, like Nabokov's Lolita. Then there are books that are challenging because they demand hugely sustained attention,such as Heller's Something Happened or Melville's Moby Dick (both of which are utterly brilliant). There are books which are challenging to understand because of their vocabulary and writing style, like Will Self's My Idea of Fun or Pynchon's V. And there are books that are challenging because they contain difficult concepts, like all of Nietzsche. Still others are challenging because they are horribly written,like Su Pollard's autobiography. Yes, I really did read that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 ...Still others are challenging because they are horribly written,like Su Pollard's autobiography. Yes, I really did read that. I don't think I would have admitted to that on a public forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannhauser Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Good list there Cliff. I like Martin Amis and Iain Banks as well. Charlotte another book I can heartily recommend would be Birdsong by Sebastian Faulkes. Ah, excellent. Birdsong is on my list to read, some friends of mine rave about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jevansio Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Has anyone read "Trainspotting", I found it very difficult to read at first, had to pretend I was Scottish & read it very quickly. Did any of the Scottish members find it easier to read? Also, my favourite genere is Horror / Scifi, with King & Koontz being my favourites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannhauser Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 I just don't know if I'm a mature enough reader. I love reading, I love getting completely absorbed by a well written passage or a description of an amazing scene, or heartbreak of relationship break down etc. But should I be challenging myself more? Personally, I quite often find that: effort in = reward out. In music, this means that music I have to work hard at, like Wagner and Jazz Fusion, often turns out to be the stuff that I can't live without. Same with film - 99% of Hollywood fare is the same t*ts -and-explosions formula that really demand nothing from you- and ultimately, in return, are about as satisfying as the popcorn they accompany. In reading, take a book like Something Happened. It's one of the most 'difficult' books I've read. It's so relentless that it's almost unendurable - a journey through the desolate inner landscape of a not-very-likeable man. But for me, there are passages of such breathtaking honesty and even beauty that it was more than worth it. Of course, plenty of stuff is challenging and completely unrewarding. I spent months reading Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel and it did nothing for me, I only finished it so that I didn't feel like a lightweight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted January 27, 2008 Author Share Posted January 27, 2008 Thank you. My brother (who is doing a music scholarship) recently introduced me some of Kandinsky's music and I am now fascinated with it, although I found it challenging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xanderroan Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 I'm reading Jackie Stewarts Autobiography - 'Winning Is Not Enough' - Really interesting read and quite inspirational - would recommend that one to everyone. I also just listened to Gordon Ramsie's 'Humble Pie' (first book) on audio, a bit less relevant to us lot - but it was pretty good too, audiobooks are particularly good for autobiographies- having the actual author tell their story adds another dimension of meaning to the words. Other than that, I've only been reading some trashy fantasy novels by Trudi Canavan - pretty decent escapism Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted February 6, 2008 Author Share Posted February 6, 2008 Sorry for a bit of a weird bump. Cliff, have you read anything by Philip Roth? I'm not sure whether it's really my thing but I've heard good things about him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARTIN R Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 I am reading the Long way down, a lot more detail than the excellent series:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keancy Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 I like Books by Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs, but that's not everyones thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorin Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 I read a fantastic book a while ago now but completely forgot to post about it on here. Very involving, I just couldn't put it down. From looking it up on Amazon I realise it's just one book in a series. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thats-Tractor-Usborne-Touchy-Feely-Board/dp/0794500110/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202311255&sr=1-1 Unfortunately it only took me 5 minutes to read it in Tesco's, but a thoroughly enjoyable 5 minutes they were Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian C Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 I should have called it The Saga Of the Exiles, Author Julian May First book....The Many Coloured Land Second...The Golden Torc Third....The Non-Born King Fourth...The Adversary Just seen this. I got The Many Coloured Land and although the start was intriguing if a tad whimsical, it ended up filed on the very very small pile of "books I started and didn't finish". Especially when I realised it was book one of a series there was no point in finishing it as I certainly wasn't going to read the others Wasn't my thing at all. Went fast from scifi to fantasy Songs of Earth and Power by Greg Bear if you want a scifi and fantasy crossover that actually works and isn't ghastly tat. There is a dearth of good hard scifi at the moment, if anyone has any recommendations...? -Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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