Books you're reading (8 Viewers)
- Thread starter mikhail
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The English version is only 760 pages. Nice and short. 
Mine is 910 pages I think. Plus it's a bit bigger format than others.
That's still fucking insane as I imagine it's not Coelho who's piss poor writing is like reading a newspaper. 760 is huge for me. I think I'm a slow reader. I give it way more time
Mine is 910 pages I think. Plus it's a bit bigger format than others.
Mine is 910 pages I think. Plus it's a bit bigger format than others.
I think I fall among those who read a lot. Sure, there are tons of people who read way more than I do. But 8 hours per day is IMO really crazy and impressive, especially when it comes to more serious books. The level of concentration required is huge and much higher than studying since when doing so you even take a pause to digest a certain paragraph or get the meaning out of it. Literature, however, is more about the flow. And your flow seems great. I had only some days when I read 6-8 hours but it felt like walking on the edge to become crazy considering the amount of theories and sentences that I had in my head. Back then I was reading Pekic who also requires more concentration than majority of others writers.
@Post Ironic you read Robertson Davis' work? Mainly The Deptford Trilogy?
- Fifth Business (1970)
- The Manticore (1972)
- World of Wonders (1975)
So I finished reading Ficciones by Borges. That was the first book by him that I read and oh boy was it good. I'd say he's quite hard to read and requires lots of concentration. One second you have him and the next second you lose him. I had similar experience while reading Nietzsche, although totally different types of book. Borges is a genius imo. There's that x factor that certain authors have which gives them an instant edge over others. Those usually bring very unique style and something rather authentic. It's like their brain operates on a whole different level (I've tasted similar with Pekic and to a lesser extent Lovecraft). Each sentence counts and that labyrinth inside the book requires focus which is very rewarding in the end. I really enjoyed reading The Library of Babel but I doubt there's even one which I didn't like. I'm gonna read it multiple times, surely.
Afterwards, I went ahead to read Ishiguro and his most famous and most rated book -- The Remains of the Day. For those who do not know, the guy won Nobel prize for literature. That's basically all I knew before buying the book. I wanted a new experience within modern literature and I wanted to give him a shot (honestly, it was mostly due to the Nobel prize...). Man, I'm so disappointed. Unlike the book above, this one was so easy to read, it was like reading a newspaper. Oh and no, it's not that I rate only books which are hard to read. But it's just that I expected so much more from a guy who won a Nobel prize for literature. It was very shallow IMO. I also think a prize of that calibre requires author's subject to have way more depth and layers. If I were to rate the book I'd give it 3 stars out of 5. It was okay. It's not like it was dogshit and I'd even understand quite easily if somebody told me they'd give it 4 stars. Sure, 4 stars. However, anybody rating it max 5 out of 5 triggers some kind of fear inside me since our views are totally different IF we're talking about one of the best writes that popped up in modern literature. If you wanna read a book which presents a perfect old school butler with a little humor and greatly shown dignity in one person, reflecting passively on the lost love and mistakes, then yeah, I guess you're gonna enjoy it. I did it, as it was fine, but I still have the bitter taste considering how this is the best work from a guy who won such a prize. I've been hearing stories how winners were/are shit over the past 10-15 years and I personally wouldn't know. I read this, and yeah, I'd surely confirm such statement if I were to comment based on this book only. I talked to my friend who recently read Never Let Me Go, written also by him, and it seems we both agree on 95% of the things despite being two different books. Huge let down for me. As life is rather limited, I mean the time and everything, I highly doubt I'll read another of his work.
I read Home of the Gentry by Turgenev. It was pretty much what I always expect from him. Another great book. Quite light read but highly enjoyable. His style is perfect and I love the guy for the simplicity and brilliance. The book pretty much portrays on him, a guy (Lavretsky) whos wife left him, then he returned to his old town, trying to cope. Different generations are always his thing, like in Fathers and Sons, and characters are flawless. Really liked it.
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose - Some interesting things but I find this to be shit. I don't like such books.
Afterwards, I went ahead to read Ishiguro and his most famous and most rated book -- The Remains of the Day. For those who do not know, the guy won Nobel prize for literature. That's basically all I knew before buying the book. I wanted a new experience within modern literature and I wanted to give him a shot (honestly, it was mostly due to the Nobel prize...). Man, I'm so disappointed. Unlike the book above, this one was so easy to read, it was like reading a newspaper. Oh and no, it's not that I rate only books which are hard to read. But it's just that I expected so much more from a guy who won a Nobel prize for literature. It was very shallow IMO. I also think a prize of that calibre requires author's subject to have way more depth and layers. If I were to rate the book I'd give it 3 stars out of 5. It was okay. It's not like it was dogshit and I'd even understand quite easily if somebody told me they'd give it 4 stars. Sure, 4 stars. However, anybody rating it max 5 out of 5 triggers some kind of fear inside me since our views are totally different IF we're talking about one of the best writes that popped up in modern literature. If you wanna read a book which presents a perfect old school butler with a little humor and greatly shown dignity in one person, reflecting passively on the lost love and mistakes, then yeah, I guess you're gonna enjoy it. I did it, as it was fine, but I still have the bitter taste considering how this is the best work from a guy who won such a prize. I've been hearing stories how winners were/are shit over the past 10-15 years and I personally wouldn't know. I read this, and yeah, I'd surely confirm such statement if I were to comment based on this book only. I talked to my friend who recently read Never Let Me Go, written also by him, and it seems we both agree on 95% of the things despite being two different books. Huge let down for me. As life is rather limited, I mean the time and everything, I highly doubt I'll read another of his work.
I read Home of the Gentry by Turgenev. It was pretty much what I always expect from him. Another great book. Quite light read but highly enjoyable. His style is perfect and I love the guy for the simplicity and brilliance. The book pretty much portrays on him, a guy (Lavretsky) whos wife left him, then he returned to his old town, trying to cope. Different generations are always his thing, like in Fathers and Sons, and characters are flawless. Really liked it.
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose - Some interesting things but I find this to be shit. I don't like such books.
Yeah. I enjoy both books, but Don Quixote is definitely higher on the list than Gargantua and Pantagruel.
Agree with you on both Borges and Ishiguro. Never Let Me Go is rubbish. Even worse than The Remains of the Day. Ishiguro paints a pretty surface with his words, but it's pretty vapid and shallow once you scrape that surface layer away. Definitely neglects the primers, the underpaintings.
Borges, however, is a genius. I have trouble ever picking a favourite from his stories, as on re-reading, the majority of them become favourite in that moment. The best from Ficciones imo are The Lottery in Babylon; The Sect of the Phoenix; The Garden of Forking Paths; The Library of Babel; The Circular Ruins.
Two favourites that don't show up there, but are in the English translated collection Labyrinths are The Zahir; The Aleph; Ibn Hakkan Al-Bokhari - Dead in his Labyrinth. So damn good. There's something so enigmatic and mysterious about even the simplest of his works, the labyrinth, the mirror, the stripes of the tiger, obsession, chaos, time, eternity... subtle nuances that are so easy to drift by without noticing, and thereby missing the most poignant revelations of his stories and parables. A writer of uncertainties and paradoxes and the logical (and sometimes illogical) pathways they lead us along.
Agree with you on both Borges and Ishiguro. Never Let Me Go is rubbish. Even worse than The Remains of the Day. Ishiguro paints a pretty surface with his words, but it's pretty vapid and shallow once you scrape that surface layer away. Definitely neglects the primers, the underpaintings.
Borges, however, is a genius. I have trouble ever picking a favourite from his stories, as on re-reading, the majority of them become favourite in that moment. The best from Ficciones imo are The Lottery in Babylon; The Sect of the Phoenix; The Garden of Forking Paths; The Library of Babel; The Circular Ruins.
Two favourites that don't show up there, but are in the English translated collection Labyrinths are The Zahir; The Aleph; Ibn Hakkan Al-Bokhari - Dead in his Labyrinth. So damn good. There's something so enigmatic and mysterious about even the simplest of his works, the labyrinth, the mirror, the stripes of the tiger, obsession, chaos, time, eternity... subtle nuances that are so easy to drift by without noticing, and thereby missing the most poignant revelations of his stories and parables. A writer of uncertainties and paradoxes and the logical (and sometimes illogical) pathways they lead us along.
Bram Stoker - "Dracula". I love reading books in my super soft chair https://thebestreclinersreviews.com/best-small-recliners/ . Come from work, get a book, turn on the floor lamp, and read books until night. What else do you need?
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@DAiDEViL @lgorTudor
Do you know anything about Eberhard Werner Happel? I came across a reference to a book of his, a collection of stories. It’s called:
größte denkwürdigkeiten der welt oder sogenannte relationes curiosae
Rather curious about it.
Do you know anything about Eberhard Werner Happel? I came across a reference to a book of his, a collection of stories. It’s called:
größte denkwürdigkeiten der welt oder sogenannte relationes curiosae
Rather curious about it.