Books Ok for the high brow crowd what books you are reading - Page 82

big nasty kcnut · 03-11-2006, 10:37 PM

I'm reading The New American Revolution by tammy bruce. She is a great thinker and funny.

Mastashake · 02-07-2010, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L.A.Chieffan

i wouldnt say that. at the time it was pretty extraordinary. its dated, but still a very important piece of literature.

Its beautifully written. I can relate to Holden, as I figured some to most teenage men would. He starts out as a unique person who sees the world with different-colored glasses. Then he starts resenting others for not accepting him by not accepting them in retaliation. This only exacerbates the problem, and works against him. He craves sex like a young man should, but would much rather be accepted. At one point he is so horny he hires a hooker, but finds out what he really wants is for her to like him. That doesn't work out which only adds a stone to the wall. By the end of the story he's been admitted to an institution because his withdrawal from society has reached a unsafe level.

Its brilliant. I don't understand why people say its crappy or outdated.

'Hamas' Jenkins · 02-07-2010, 02:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EyePod

trying Ulysses by James Joyce. really tough so far, this is the first i've read of his. hopefully it picks up.
Posted via Mobile Device

It doesn't. The only redeeming part of the novel, IMO, are the fleeting moments where you get the analogies and can tie it all together for a paragraph or two.

'Hamas' Jenkins · 02-07-2010, 02:15 AM

My problem is that during the semester I rarely get any pleasure reading.

I finished The Book of Basketball on Monday. I assigned my Freshman English class Candide over the course of a week, but sadly, I don't think are sharp enough to get the stinging satire, which is troubling, given that it's laid on so thick.

I want to start Dr. Faustus, but I've got teaching-related readings to do.

Mastashake · 02-07-2010, 02:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

My problem is that during the semester I rarely get any pleasure reading.

I finished The Book of Basketball on Monday. I assigned my Freshman English class Candide over the course of a week, but sadly, I don't think are sharp enough to get the stinging satire, which is troubling, given that it's laid on so thick.

I want to start Dr. Faustus, but I've got teaching-related readings to do.

Whenever I took my literature class in College, we read "A Modest Proposal." There were people who were horribly offended and couldn't believe he would seriously promote eating babies. I hung my head in disbelief. They said, "How could he seriously want to do that." I finally blurted out (in a rather loud, annoyed tone), "He didn't!"

BTW Hamas, how about some light reading of Finnegan's Wake?

'Hamas' Jenkins · 02-07-2010, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mastashake

Whenever I took my literature class in College, we read "A Modest Proposal." There were people who were horribly offended and couldn't believe he would seriously promote eating babies. I hung my head in disbelief. They said, "How could he seriously want to do that." I finally blurted out (in a rather loud, annoyed tone), "He didn't!"

BTW Hamas, how about some light reading of Finnegan's Wake?

I've never had a desire to ever read Joyce again. I actually have a Dover Thrift edition of Dubliners, but I've never opened it.

Personally, the most difficult text to read that I've ever encountered is The Arcades Project by Walter Benjamin. However, it was unfinished when he committed suicide, but the fragmented nature of the construction probably wouldn't have been any more tied together even had he finished it.

NewChief · 02-07-2010, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EyePod

trying Ulysses by James Joyce. really tough so far, this is the first i've read of his. hopefully it picks up.
Posted via Mobile Device

Don't start with Ulysses, seriously. Not unless you're into disjointed, modernist stuff. If you want a nice introduction to Joyce, you should read Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man or Dubliners. I've read Ulysses twice, and I still don't really like it or even get it that well. And this is from someone who actually likes reading stuff like Pynchon, Gaddis, and Wallace.

blaise · 02-07-2010, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

I've never had a desire to ever read Joyce again. I actually have a Dover Thrift edition of Dubliners, but I've never opened it.

Personally, the most difficult text to read that I've ever encountered is The Arcades Project by Walter Benjamin. However, it was unfinished when he committed suicide, but the fragmented nature of the construction probably wouldn't have been any more tied together even had he finished it.

Dubliners is much different than the others. Especially stories like Clay. They're basically straightforward short stories. It reminds me of Faulkner. I get no enjoyment from books like The Bear when he does the crazy literary stuff, but I love his short stories like Barn Burning.

Earthling · 02-07-2010, 10:45 AM

Repairman Jake series...F Paul Wilson
On order now

'Hamas' Jenkins · 02-07-2010, 10:49 AM

Phin,

Have you ever read any Don DeLillo? I've always had a desire to read White Noise, because he wrote it while teaching where I went to grad school and somewhat drew from experiences there (regardless of the death of the author).

Delano · 02-07-2010, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Phin,

Have you ever read any Don DeLillo? I've always had a desire to read White Noise, because he wrote it while teaching where I went to grad school and somewhat drew from experiences there (regardless of the death of the author).

Read it for, at the very least, its' satire of academia.

Did you take any classes from the college of Hitler studies at college on the hill?
Posted via Mobile Device

**Baby Lee** · 02-07-2010, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EyePod

trying Ulysses by James Joyce. really tough so far, this is the first i've read of his. hopefully it picks up.
Posted via Mobile Device

Might want to acclimatize yourself with 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' more accessible and terribly gripping at times. I imagine it would be exponentially moreso if one were raised Catholic.

**Rausch** · 02-07-2010, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

Might want to acclimatize yourself with 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' more accessible and terribly gripping at times. I imagine it would be exponentially moreso if one were raised Catholic.

NewChief · 02-07-2010, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Phin,

Have you ever read any Don DeLillo? I've always had a desire to read White Noise, because he wrote it while teaching where I went to grad school and somewhat drew from experiences there (regardless of the death of the author).

White Noise is very good, and it's not even that long or hard to get through. I really, really liked his novel Underworld, though (but that's because my tastes run toward encyclopedic, vast pomo novels). White Noise is, of course, considered his best work.

**Baby Lee** · 02-07-2010, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rausch

There are extended fevered ruminations on Catholic guilt. The eternity of rot and digestion by worms attendant to the tugging of one's giblets and the like.

NewChief · 02-07-2010, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

There are extended fevered ruminations on Catholic guilt. The eternity of rot and digestion by worms attendant to the tugging of one's giblets and the like.

They resonated pretty well with my Baptist guilt as well when I was about 20 years old.

03-11-2006, 10:37 PM
big nasty kcnut The pizza king of kansas Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Somewhere in the u.s.a. Casino cash: $1510900	Ok for the high brow crowd what books you are reading I'm reading The New American Revolution by tammy bruce. She is a great thinker and funny.
Posts: 18,857

02-07-2010, 02:15 AM	#1218
'Hamas' Jenkins Now you've pissed me off! Join Date: Jan 2006 Casino cash: $7989572	My problem is that during the semester I rarely get any pleasure reading. I finished The Book of Basketball on Monday. I assigned my Freshman English class Candide over the course of a week, but sadly, I don't think are sharp enough to get the stinging satire, which is troubling, given that it's laid on so thick. I want to start Dr. Faustus, but I've got teaching-related readings to do. __________________ "When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”--Abraham Lincoln
Posts: 74,832

02-07-2010, 10:45 AM	#1223
Earthling MVP Join Date: Apr 2001 Casino cash: $10008447	Repairman Jake series...F Paul Wilson On order now __________________ AND SOMETIMES IT'S NOT SO EASY ESPECIALLY WHEN YOUR ONLY FRIEND TALKS SEES LOOKS AND FEELS LIKE YOU AND YOU DO JUST THE SAME AS HIM -Jiimi Hendrix
Posts: 5,995

02-07-2010, 10:49 AM	#1224
'Hamas' Jenkins Now you've pissed me off! Join Date: Jan 2006 Casino cash: $7989572	Phin, Have you ever read any Don DeLillo? I've always had a desire to read White Noise, because he wrote it while teaching where I went to grad school and somewhat drew from experiences there (regardless of the death of the author). __________________ "When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”--Abraham Lincoln
Posts: 74,832