2226 replies to this topic

[Harmsway]

LOVE IN THE RUINS by Walker Percy.

Don't you ever get tired of reading such fluff?

I have no idea as to whether you're being sarcastic, but I assume you are.

Walker Percy is by far my favorite novelist, and one of the most insightful and profound writers of the 20th century.

[ImTheMoneypenny]

Over the holidays I was given a paperback of Modesty Blaise by CBner craig arthur. I've just started reading that. It has an awesome photo cover btw.

[Loomis]

LOVE IN THE RUINS by Walker Percy.

Don't you ever get tired of reading such fluff?

I have no idea as to whether you're being sarcastic, but I assume you are.

Walker Percy is by far my favorite novelist, and one of the most insightful and profound writers of the 20th century.

Really? I'm ashamed to say I'd never even heard of him until I read your post, Harms.

Looking him up on Wikipedia, I'm intrigued that he wrote only six novels between 1961 and 1987 (and one of them does not even have a Wikipedia page devoted to it), an almost Kubrickian level of productivity, although I note that he wrote a lot of nonfiction.

So what exactly is so great about this guy? Which book(s), in particular, would you recommend?

[Harry Fawkes]

Destroying Angel by ImTheMoneypenny. Fab read and nothing short of a great Bond story with a twist! Anyone into Fanfic should pick it up!

Harry Fawkes

[Harmsway]

Really? I'm ashamed to say I'd never even heard of him until I read your post, Harms.

I'm not surprised. Despite receiving a fairly consistent level of acclaim throughout his career, and holding some weight afterwards (his novel THE MOVIEGOER made it onto the TIME's "greatest novels" list, the same one that features WATCHMEN), has never really had the widespread notoriety and acclaim of, say, Toni Morrison or the like.

So what exactly is so great about this guy?

Well, his beliefs about the dislocated self in the twentieth century are quite thought-provoking. All of his major works, in one way or another, come back to the state of the self and the decay of Western civilization. I think Percy's insights on this topic are not only interesting, but well-articulated, often drawing from his background in scientific study (he was a doctor before he became a writer) and his Roman Catholic background (though he's unlike any other Christian figure I'm acquainted with, and would likely enrage both conservatives and liberals with his commentary).

But all this stuff could easily be accomplished in nonfiction rather than fiction (and make no mistake, Percy's nonfiction material is quite good). But what makes him a great fiction writer? Well, not only are his novels are thinking-person's literature with a great deal of thought informing them, but they tell unusual and engaging stories ranging across a rather wide spectrum, ranging from lighter romances (THE SECOND COMING) to suspenseful thrillers (THE THANATOS SYNDROME), with elegant, witty prose, and a sea of bizarre but endearing (or at least interesting) characters. Weight and entertainment... what more could you ask for?

Which book(s), in particular, would you recommend?

Well, you can always read THE MOVIEGOER, which is his most widely-read and acclaimed novel. But, while very good, it's not my favorite. I'm partial to LANCELOT, a darker story about a lawyer in an insane asylum. And, if it keeps up the way it's been going, LOVE IN THE RUINS might be right up there, too. But I haven't read a piece by him that hasn't been worthwhile, including his nonfiction.

[Loomis]

Cheers, Harms. I'll have to investigate this guy.

[BlackFire]

New Moon - Stephenie Meyer.

[ImTheMoneypenny]

Destroying Angel by ImTheMoneypenny. Fab read and nothing short of a great Bond story with a twist! Anyone into Fanfic should pick it up!

Harry Fawkes

Earlier, I was going to post I was reading The Moment Before You Die, but wasn't sure if I could. Since I can, when I'm not flipping through that MB paperback, I'm reading The Moment Before You Die by Harry Fawkes! Actually it's been easier to jump into our Harry's adventure than MB.

Honestly, TMBYD (along with Troubleshooter) is one of the very best modern 007 thrillers I've read. I highly recommend looking into Harry's thrillers in the the fan fic section.

[AgentBentley]

On Writing - Stephen King.

Part autobiography about his start as a writer in his youth, and about his car accident, and part book with tips about writing.
Enjoyable and getting me interested in his other books. I'm not really a horror fan so the only one I've read so far is The Shining.

[golrush007]

I am currently half way through Jack Higgins' The Eagle Has Landed. So far so good, I really enjoyed the film and am finding the novel equally enjoyable.

[MkB]

I'm finishing the Chronicles of Narnia series.
Interesting read. It's a shamelessly Christian yarn: it's a bit like a catechism disguised in a heroic fantasy story

[golrush007]

I have just finished The Eagle Has Landed - a fantastic WWII thriller. The film version was good, but the book was even better, although I couldn't help but picture Michael Caine and Donald Sutherland as Steiner and Devlin. Even though I knew what the outcome would be, having seen the film, I couldn't put the book down in the last 100 pages or so. Outstanding stuff.

[Agent 76]

A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin

[Qwerty]

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

Yet another strong output from King, who personally calls this book his scariest one ever.

---

Running with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs

Shockingly twisted and positively hilarious at the same time. I can't remember the last time I laughed out loud so much while reading a book.

[Johnboy007]

Recently finished: Eye of the Needle - Ken Follett.

A heck of a lot of fun, that one.

Now reading: The Honourable Schoolboy - John le Carre

[Kilroy6644]

I'm about halfway through Man-Eaters of Kumaon by Jim Corbett. It's pretty good. Incidentally, if anybody knows how Kumaon is pronounced, could you fill me in? The other people I've asked don't seem to want to answer me.

[Agent 76]

at this moment:

George RR Martin's
A Storm of Swords

John Gardner's
Licence Renewed

[Tarl_Cabot]

The End of Prosperity: How higher taxes will doom the economy-if we let it happen. By Arther Laffer and Steven Moore.

Great read. If anyone takes the position that George W Bush is the worst president in American history™ as gospel I think you'll reconsider after reading about Richard Nixon. He did some truly damaging things to the economy that we never hear about because his critics are so focused on Watergate, Vietnam..etc. He took the us dollar off the gold standard for starters(the fed is printing money 24/7 as we speak to fund these bailouts,wars and pork bills and we will go broke eventually), which resulted in massive inflation and doubled unemployment under his watch. He then created all of these ABC regulatory agencies that crushed the private sector. But worst, he implemented price and wage controls to curb inflation(didn't work) which was dictatorial intervention into the private sector.Telling businesses how much they can charge for goods and services and how much they can pay their workers is about as commie as you can get and he was considered a cold warrior!

And he launced the war on drugs. And vietnam had ten times the casualty rate as Iraq and many of those men were not sent voluntarily.

So, I think I'd take a 100 years of W over another 4 years of President Nixon.

[dodge]

Ovid's Metamorphoses. The astonishing David Slavitt translation which makes a musty old classic fresh, new and full of life.

[dogmanstar]

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Collected Short Stories of Flannery O'Connor

The Centaur by John Updike

Edited by dogmanstar, 09 February 2009 - 04:45 AM.

[Byron]

I'm about halfway through Man-Eaters of Kumaon by Jim Corbett. It's pretty good. Incidentally, if anybody knows how Kumaon is pronounced, could you fill me in? The other people I've asked don't seem to want to answer me.

I was looking around for that book, a little while back. Good to hear it's not a bad read. In addition to the main theme of the tigers, do you get a good feel for life in colonial India?

Sorry but can't help with the pronunciation!

[Kilroy6644]

I'm about halfway through Man-Eaters of Kumaon by Jim Corbett. It's pretty good. Incidentally, if anybody knows how Kumaon is pronounced, could you fill me in? The other people I've asked don't seem to want to answer me.

I was looking around for that book, a little while back. Good to hear it's not a bad read. In addition to the main theme of the tigers, do you get a good feel for life in colonial India?

Sorry but can't help with the pronunciation!

I don't really get a feeling of life in colonial India. The book mostly goes from man-eater to man-eater. You do get a lot of descriptions of the flora and fauna, and that's quite interesting, but there's not a lot of daily life described. It's mostly just Corbett out in the forest with a rifle (usually without enough cartridges ), and sometimes a few guys who don't follow his orders to stay put.

[Kilroy6644]

Just started Peter Capstick's Death In The Silent Places.

[Jose]

I won't be reading for pleasure for a while unless I start to enjoy the assigned reading which I probably will. I loved Paradise Lost last semester. I was freaked out when people groaned but it was a breeze! Anyway, I'm currently reading Kafka's Metamorphosis.

[Matt_13]

BLOOD FEVER

Outstanding so far, definitely better paced than Silverfin. Love it!

[Qwerty]

Amidst some less-than-enjoyable college textbooks, I'm also working my way through Mystic River by Dennis Lehane.

[Pete]

I'm on the last of R D Wingfield's "Frost" Books. A Killing Frost. I've been a fan of the TV series and thought I'd give the books a once over. They are brilliantly written and the TV series capture the characters perfectly.

[Brian Flagg]

I'm re-reading The Mission Impossible Dossier by Patrick J. White, in anticipation of the April DVDs of M:I's sixth season.

[AgentBentley]

Neil Gaiman's American Gods.

Not my cup of tea. Sort of gets exciting near the end, but he could've cut 200 pages out of this 600-page pocket edition.

I'll go back to thrillers, non-fiction and mainstream lit for my next reading.

[Vauxhall]

Fighting my way through The Amber Spyglass - the final part of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. I vastly preferred The Subtle Knife to Northern Lights.