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This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

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Comments

  • #7052
    Wyldwood
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,163 ✭✭✭Wyldwood


    Don't let me put you off, it could just be me. Would be interested in others opinions.


  • #7053
    Fathom
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 9,419 CMod ✭✭✭✭Fathom


    The Book Worm
    by Mitch Silver


  • #7054
    eire4
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,907 ✭✭✭eire4


    Wyldwood wrote: »
    Don't let me put you off, it could just be me. Would be interested in others opinions.

    I would have to say I am not a Banville fan myself either. I have tried him in the past and it is just way too heavy going for me reading John Banville.


  • #7055
    marienbad
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,463 ✭✭✭marienbad


    Opinions please . I will be starting Moby Dick and Don Quixote and I have been advised by a friend that I am on a hiding to nothing , endless pages on knots harpoons etc and that I should read the abridged versions .

    Now I have never read an abridged book and I am reluctant to start at this stage .

    Anybody have a view on abridged books ?


  • #7056
    New Home
    Moderators, Arts Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 78,100 Mod ✭✭✭✭New Home


    I haven't read Moby Dick, but I wouldn't be a fan of abridged books on principle. Besides, I'd like to be the one who decides what parts of a book I should skip, if any at all.


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  • #7057
    Aenaes
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,677 ✭✭✭Aenaes


    I haven't read Moby Dick either but it sounds like a bit of a slog according to a few people on here. Don Quixote can drag on a little and get repetitive so it's not really a book you can dive into if you want a break from Moby Dick. Don Quixote is broken up into small chapters and the best way I found reading it was stopping after one or two of those.

    I'm not sure if they're suited to being read simultaneously though.


  • #7058
    TICKLE_ME_ELMO
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 23,997 Mod ✭✭✭✭TICKLE_ME_ELMO


    Haven't read either of the above but my personal experience with these kind of huge "classic" novels have never been good. I think East of Eden is the only massive book I've ever felt was worth wading through.


  • #7059
    Joe_ Public
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,023 ✭✭✭✭Joe_ Public


    Abridged versions can serve a worthwhile purpose - schools, adult literacy programs etc. But otherwise you haven’t read Moby-Dick properly if you’ve merely tackled the abridged version. That’s just my opinion anyway. The laboursome technical passages can be skimmed through pretty quickly if needs be.


  • #7060
    marienbad
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,463 ✭✭✭marienbad


    Aenaes wrote: »
    I haven't read Moby Dick either but it sounds like a bit of a slog according to a few people on here. Don Quixote can drag on a little and get repetitive so it's not really a book you can dive into if you want a break from Moby Dick. Don Quixote is broken up into small chapters and the best way I found reading it was stopping after one or two of those.

    I'm not sure if they're suited to being read simultaneously though.

    Oh I wont read both simultaneously , might even be weeks apart .


  • #7061
    marienbad
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,463 ✭✭✭marienbad


    Joe_ Public wrote: »
    Abridged versions can serve a worthwhile purpose - schools, adult literacy programs etc. But otherwise you haven’t read Moby-Dick properly if you’ve merely tackled the abridged version. That’s just my opinion anyway. The laboursome technical passages can be skimmed through pretty quickly if needs be.

    I think I agree with you , I have never read an abridged version of any book and I don't think I will start now .

    Interesting to hear other opinions


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  • #7062
    marienbad
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,463 ✭✭✭marienbad


    TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »
    Haven't read either of the above but my personal experience with these kind of huge "classic" novels have never been good. I think East of Eden is the only massive book I've ever felt was worth wading through.

    Oh my God !! Heresy - off to the stake with you !

    Some of the greatest books of my life are the huge classic novels - War And Peace , In Search Of Lost Time , Ulysses and many more .


  • #7063
    GLaDOS
    Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 23,242 Mod ✭✭✭✭GLaDOS


    I started a thread on this forum about Moby Dick ages ago :D

    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=94032264

    I did read it in the end. My thoughts are it's a great story, and the start and ending are very engaging. However the middle does get seriously boring and there are a lot of chapters discussing the ins and outs of 19th century whaling.

    I enjoyed it personally, but I read a lot of classics so I may have some tolerance for a lot of the waffle in the middle.

    Cake, and grief counseling, will be available at the conclusion of the test



  • #7064
    TICKLE_ME_ELMO
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 23,997 Mod ✭✭✭✭TICKLE_ME_ELMO


    marienbad wrote: »
    Oh my God !! Heresy - off to the stake with you !

    Some of the greatest books of my life are the huge classic novels - War And Peace , In Search Of Lost Time , Ulysses and many more .

    Don't get me started on War and Peace!


  • #7065
    Belle E. Flops
    Closed Accounts Posts: 747 ✭✭✭Belle E. Flops


    TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »
    Haven't read either of the above but my personal experience with these kind of huge "classic" novels have never been good. I think East of Eden is the only massive book I've ever felt was worth wading through.

    The Count of Monte Cristo is a great story. It does dip a bit in the middle but I really loved it even though it took me absolutely ages to get through it.


  • #7066
    TICKLE_ME_ELMO
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 23,997 Mod ✭✭✭✭TICKLE_ME_ELMO


    Belle E. Flops wrote: »
    The Count of Monte Cristo is a great story. It does dip a bit in the middle but I really loved it even though it took me absolutely ages to get through it.

    Quite a few people have recommended that book in here before. I might give it a go eventually.


  • #7067
    quickbeam
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 16,287 Mod ✭✭✭✭quickbeam


    I disagree with Belle about it dipping in the middle. I think it's fantastic the whole way through and would highly recommend it.


  • #7068
    eire4
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,907 ✭✭✭eire4


    Belle E. Flops wrote: »
    The Count of Monte Cristo is a great story. It does dip a bit in the middle but I really loved it even though it took me absolutely ages to get through it.


    Agree with you on The Count of Monte Cristo a timeless classic.


  • #7069
    The White Feather
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,741 ✭✭✭The White Feather


    The Aspern Papers by Henry James

    Really like it so far.


  • #7070
    marienbad
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,463 ✭✭✭marienbad


    Poems - Ezra Pound ( selected by Thom Gunn)

    The Speckled People - Hugo Hamilton

    The Little Art - Kate Briggs


  • #7071
    Callan57
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,160 ✭✭✭Callan57


    Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout


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  • #7072
    Callan57
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,160 ✭✭✭Callan57


    The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris


  • #7073
    Xofpod
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 792 ✭✭✭Xofpod


    Zone One, Colson Whitehead


  • #7074
    Fathom
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 9,419 CMod ✭✭✭✭Fathom


    THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW
    by A.J. Finn


  • #7075
    The White Feather
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,741 ✭✭✭The White Feather


    Fathom wrote: »
    THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW
    by A.J. Finn
    Fathom wrote: »
    THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW
    by A.J. Finn
    Fathom wrote: »
    THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW
    by A.J. Finn

    It's a good read.

    Have you not finished it yet or are you the author? :pac:


  • #7076
    Fathom
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 9,419 CMod ✭✭✭✭Fathom


    The White Feather wrote: »
    Have you not finished it yet or are you the author? :pac:
    I lost it on plane. Before finishing. Checked out again.


  • #7077
    Oops69
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,477 ✭✭✭Oops69


    Fathom wrote: »
    I lost it on plane. Before finishing. Checked out again.
    buying your own book twice is pretty sad:D


  • #7078
    marienbad
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,463 ✭✭✭marienbad


    Kyrie - Tim Cunningham

    So You Don't Get Lost In The Neighbourhood - Patrick Modiano

    Easter Widows - Sinead McCoole


  • #7079
    eire4
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,907 ✭✭✭eire4


    Finished The Colour of Blood by Declan Hughes. A decent PI detective novel although the plot was very complicated and hard to follow at times.


  • #7080
    Xofpod
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 792 ✭✭✭Xofpod


    The Girls - Emma Cline, and Substance:Inside New Order - Peter Hook


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  • #7081
    Callan57
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,160 ✭✭✭Callan57


    Finished The Dancers Dancing by Eilish Ni Dhuibhne .... lovely read

    Now it's Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene - know I read it years ago but just came across it on my shelf & decided it was worth a second read.


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