What Are You Reading

[Trenchfriend]

Started Dean Koontz - The Eyes Of Darkness (1981), right now.

Very comfortable to read! Already finished 2. capitel.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Finished page 50 of Dean Koontz - The Eyes Of Darkness (1981) and it's already thrilling.

 

[minsoochoi]

Ron Chernow's Mark Twain. Looking forward to learning a lot about this American writer!

 

[jchance]

I just finished a book titled Die with Zero which is a book that explains why and how to balance wealth, health, and time to maximize experiences in life, which pay far more life dividends than material accumulation.

Now that’s not something I’d expect to see here. What made you pick up and read this book? Are you into FI/RE? (I am, more so than I’m into leather jackets actually.)

 

[Biff42]

Now that’s not something I’d expect to see here. What made you pick up and read this book? Are you into FI/RE? (I am, more so than I’m into leather jackets actually.)

I'm middle-aged and I realize that some of the things I want to put off until retirement might not be feasible when I actually retire. It's more of a blueprint for retiring at the right age and maximizing life experiences, versus the pursuit of things and more money for retirement when you might not need it.

That said, I love things like leather jackets, but I know they won't bring me the joy and fulfillment of experiences with friends and family. I'm trying to do better.

 

[Tiki Tom]

In my unthought out and scatter-shot (scatter-brained?) effort to read the classics, I just finished “The Belly of Paris” by Emile Zola. How do I know it’s a classic? I recently visited Victor Hugo’s grave at the Pantheon in Paris. Well worth a visit. What a stunningly beautiful building. Anyway, I was surprised to find that Victor Hugo shares a room with Emile Zola. Zola is famous for his multi book series following a French family through nineteenth century France. The Belly of Paris is book three in that series. Zola is also famous for defending Alfred Dreyfus at great personal risk. Anyway, yes, Zola is considered to be a French national treasure and pretty much everything he wrote has the ”classic” label slapped on it.

In short, BoP is about Florent, a poor slob who, by accident, was swept up in the police roundup following an aborted uprising after Napoleon III’s seizure of power in 1851. He was just an idiot bystander, but gets sent to Devil’s Island for his troubles. Eventually he escapes and makes his way back to Paris, where he is taken in by his brother’s family who run a charcuterie in Les Halles, the giant covered food market of 1800s Paris. He gets a job as an inspector among all the vegetable, fruit, fish, meat, poultry, and cheese vendors of the market. (Among Americans, this book is a bit of a cult classic for its loving descriptions of all the glorious food in that legendary market.) In his spare time Florent hangs out at a pub with some friends and they eventually start fantasizing about revolution against the corrupt government. The book is brilliant in that it’s hard to discern if all this revolutionary talk is in earnest, or if it’s just the pipe dreams of a few low self esteem guys who are “all talk”. Anyway, the real story is about all the ladies who run the shops in the market. Some hate Florent; some have crushes on him. Gossip flies and stories are invented, and petty side arguments are fought between the various shopkeepers. There are a few people who are full time busybodies. Eventually Florent and his idiot friends are brought to the attention of the police…. Throughout the book is a sub theme of the low level, petty warfare going on between the middle class shop keepers and the people scraping away doing odd job, etc, beneath them. The petite bourgeoisie are portrayed as smug, plump, indifferent, a bit dull, and obsessed with order and respectability.

The Belly of Paris is well written and you will recognize many of the characters as types recognizable from your own life. The description of 1860ish Paris is vivid, especially the sights and smells of Les Halles. Overall, I couldn’t escape the thought that the story kind of resembles a Follow-up or next chapter of Les Miserables. I enjoyed it for what it is, a window into another world and another time.

 

[Trenchfriend]

From 15. capitel of Dean Koontz - Eyes Of Darkness (1981) on, thrill goes hot! Yesterday evening, after 20. capitel, I didn't want to stop reading and go to bed.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Finished page 280 of Dean Koontz - Eyes Of Darkness (1981). Just GOOD!

 

[Tiki Tom]

So, what’s your opinion of Lord of the Rings?
You know how, sometimes, books just keep jumping into your path to the point that you suspect that you should read them? That’s how it is with LOTR. It seems that I can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a reference to Tolkien and his most famous work. Now it turns out that my daughter’s boyfriend is a big LOTR’s nerd. I’ve read The Hobbit, so I think I probably have an idea of the general style and content. I enjoyed it well enough. But I’m a little hesitant to dive into LOTR, because it seems like a big time commitment and I’m not really into fantasy worlds. Also, is it basically a young adult book written for grownups? On the other hand, I’m hearing much about how deep it supposedly is. What’s your take? Modern classic? Deep insights into morality and meaning? Or just an entertaining bit of adventure fluff?

 

[Fading Fast]

My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in 1919


Since the long-running series of books and short stories about Bertie Wooster and his inimitable gentleman's gentleman, Jeeves, doesn't depend on fresh plots or major character development, writing reviews for each one is an exercise in saying the same thing with slight variations.

My Man Jeeves is, though, the collection of short stories that introduced Wooster and Jeeves to the public. Half of the stories in the collection are Jeeves tales, and half are a precursor effort with Reggie Smith as a Wooster antecedent.

The Smith stories are entertaining, but for Jeeves fans, you can see in Smith how Wodehouse was refining his Wooster character. The contrast shows how even slight tweaks make a big difference in the series's central Wooster-Jeeves dynamic that needs perfect calibration.

Smith is a bit too smart and confident. In one story, his gentleman's gentleman lightly blackmails him, something Jeeves would never do. Smith handles it better than Wooster would. It shows that, if Wooster is too self reliant, the Wooster-Jeeves relationship fails.

Beyond those somewhat 'origin story' details, these eight stories are all entertaining. Even this early on, though, it's clear that Wodehouse had hit on something special with Wooster and Jeeves, a magic that is missing in the Reggie Smith tales.

The magic is all in the details, like how Jeeves "just appears:"

'Sir?' said Jeeves, kind of manifesting himself. One of the rummy things about Jeeves is that, unless you watch like a hawk, you very seldom see him come into a room. He's like one of those weird chappies in India who dissolve themselves into thin air and nip through space in a sort of disembodied way and assemble the parts again just where they want them.

When a friend of Wooster has money, woman or any kind of trouble, and sincere, but not-that-bright Wooster wants to help him, it's normally Jeeves to the rescue. Jeeves usually has a plan, often inspired by inside knowledge acquired from other households' servants.

It's formulaic, but it works because you simply enjoy watching Wooster flail until Jeeves, opening with a respectful but confident "Sir," suggests a plan. It's all subtle British humor enhanced by Wodehouse's talent for sharp dialogue and often perfect timing.

Channeling his inner Wooster, Smith gives his assessment of why his fiancée broke off their engagement to marry, instead, a balding, reedy painter. It was not due to love or passion or romance, but in Smith's words, "Honestly, I believe women do it out of pure cussedness."

With that succinct, funny and silly analysis, Wodehouse moves on to Wooster and Jeeves' next adventure; an adventure that will be like one of their previous adventures. This is why reading a Wooster and Jeeves story is more like visiting with an old friend than picking up a new book.

You can start anywhere in the Jeeves "anthology," but if you are new to it, start with My Man Jeeves. It is as close to a 'Kal-El leaving Krypton' origin story as you're going to get from befuddled Wooster and unflappable Jeeves, making it the perfect entry point into Wodehouse's delightful world.

 

[Thranmir]

So, what’s your opinion of Lord of the Rings?
You know how, sometimes, books just keep jumping into your path to the point that you suspect that you should read them? That’s how it is with LOTR. It seems that I can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a reference to Tolkien and his most famous work. Now it turns out that my daughter’s boyfriend is a big LOTR’s nerd. I’ve read The Hobbit, so I think I probably have an idea of the general style and content. I enjoyed it well enough. But I’m a little hesitant to dive into LOTR, because it seems like a big time commitment and I’m not really into fantasy worlds. Also, is it basically a young adult book written for grownups? On the other hand, I’m hearing much about how deep it supposedly is. What’s your take? Modern classic? Deep insights into morality and meaning? Or just an entertaining bit of adventure fluff?

Personally I'm not sure if it would be your cup of tea given that you've stated you're not big into fantasy worlds.

I wouldn't say it's a young adult book by any definition. It has detailed world building, more complex language and themes compared to the hobbit.

At the core you have good Vs evil as the theme. Trust, friendship and hope Vs greed, corruption and the desire to consolidate individual power to reshape things. There's a running theme of appreciating the beauty of nature and the dangers of industrialisation impacting the world.

A little of what is lost on the movies is the importance of hope and spirit. The oppressive, dominating influence of evil and the significance of overcoming that.

A lot of the depth you may have heard of likely comes from the lore of the world, the different entities and their origins. The gods, how the world was made that sort of thing which you'd find more of in the Silmarillion.

In summary I would say these themes are approached in a mature and intelligent way. It's not like a simple cartoon story, but at the same time it's not written in a way where everyone is grey and everything is gritty in order to make it more "adult".

Anyway, I'm no scholar. Just my two cents

 

[Trenchfriend]

Finished Dean Koontz - Eyes Of Darkness (1981).

Good read, thumbs up! And I loved the setting.

"Wuhan 400"...

 

[BarryMcCockiner_PhD]

Blindsight by Peter watts

 

[jchance]

M. Scott Peck’s The Road Less Traveled trilogy (my fave is the third book). It was strange to have found and read books about thinking, but they were an interesting read. I wish there was more like these out there.

Memorable quote: “Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult ―once we truly understand and accept it― then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.“

 

[Trenchfriend]

Today starting Francois Mauriac - Le Noeud de vipères (1932).

 

[Fading Fast]

Today starting Francois Mauriac - Le Noeud de vipères (1932).

I'm aware of this book but have never read it. I'll be looking forward to your thoughts on it.

 

[charlieknie]

Is a river alive by Robert MacFarlane - highly recommend!

 

[Trenchfriend]

I'm aware of this book but have never read it. I'll be looking forward to your thoughts on it.

The readability is okay! I already finished page 24, capitel 2.

 

[Fading Fast]

The readability is okay! I already finished page 24.

Thank you. When you get further in, I look forward to you thoughts on the story / style / etc.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Thank you. When you get further in, I look forward to you thoughts on the story / style / etc.

I will not spolier. It's about recalling the past, grown hate and reckoning with other.