This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Belle E. Flops wrote: »

Finished Rosemary's Baby. It was good but I guess I was expecting more.

Starting Daphne Du Maurier's 'My Cousin Rachel' now. Looking forward to it because I really enjoyed Rebecca and Jamaica Inn.

Saw the play My Cousin Rachel in the Gate last Nov and I was completely blown away! I am really looking forward to reading the book. I loved Rebecca !

a0ifee wrote: »

school has taken over my time, but I'm starting Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks, looking forward to getting into it

A truly fascinating book IMO: probably my favourite Faulks book, and I've read all his books. Human Traces is amazing and absorbing.
Hope you like it as much as I did.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I love a horror in Oct so grabbed Carrie yesterday and I'm just finished very good story, Im really enjoying it. I'm looking for something else a little creepier along the lines of The Hounds of the Baskervilles/ Nocturnes but not as scary as IT (I still cross the road near storm drains 2 years after reading it), any recommendations guys?

Slattsy wrote: »

Really enjoyed this. Loved the inventiveness of it, really remarkable stuff.

Me too.

I, Partridge: We Need To Talk About Alan by Alan Partridge
Back of the net! Very good, Partridge-o-philes™ will not be disappointed (though you've all probably read it already!)

Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
Charming little tale featuring Norse mythology. This was written for World Book Day as part of an initiative to get kids reading, but despite being an aged haggard man-person I loved it. My copy had lovely illustrations by Brett Helquist.

I also read some short works*:
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Written as the journal of woman suffering from "temporary nervous depression", and confined to a bedroom by her physician husband. Eerie and powerful.
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry I remember reading this for school at some point (Junior Cert maybe?), It's somehow even more cloyingly sentimental and schmaltzy than I remembered, a Hallmark card in short story form.
Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti (Sister of Pre-Raphealite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti no less) Narrative poem in the fairy tale mould, very enjoyable. The rhyming scheme seems quite complex in parts so I lost the flow a bit (not being a regular reader of poems) but that's my failing really isn't it .

*All Public Domain

Slattsy wrote: »

I hate cats.

???? what has my to read pile got to do with cats.

I love cats my self.

Started 'The Beach' by Alex garland 2 nights ago, one you'd fly through. dialogue is very well put together imo.

Finally finished Vanity Fair. It's going have to take something special to beat this as my favourite book of the year. I would highly recommend it to everyone. As I was coming near the end I was reading less and less each time to try and make it last a bit longer. They just don't write then like this any more.
Next up is either Notes from the Underground by Dostoyevsky OR Don Quixote. Not sure which to read first but I'm slightly leaning towards the Don.

Monkeybonkers wrote: »

Finally finished Vanity Fair. It's going have to take something special to beat this as my favourite book of the year. I would highly recommend it to everyone. As I was coming near the end I was reading less and less each time to try and make it last a bit longer. They just don't write then like this any more.
Next up is either Notes from the Underground by Dostoyevsky OR Don Quixote. Not sure which to read first but I'm slightly leaning towards the Don.

When selecting books originally written in a different language it's essential that you research the best available translation.

A bad translation could turn you off a book or writer who you may otherwise love.

I'm not sure about Don Quixote, but for Dostoevsky you should be on the lookout for the Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky translations. Here's their Bibliography.

It's really not worth reading an older, discredited translation just to save a few euros.

Gamayun wrote: »

When selecting books originally written in a different language it's essential that you research the best available translation.

A bad translation could turn you off a book or writer who you may otherwise love.

I'm not sure about Don Quixote, but for Dostoevsky you should be on the lookout for the Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky translations. Here's their Bibliography.

It's really not worth reading an older, discredited translation just to save a few euros.

I was reading the introduction at the beginning of DQ and it deals with this very topic. It lists all the various translations, giving a short critique of each one. Naturally it concludes that the one which I am currently reading is the best of the lot. Think I'll just go with it regardless although it does sound like it makes a big difference, especially to DQ. Maybe I'll do a bit more research first. Thanks for the info Gamayun

Callan57 wrote: »

This weekend I'm finally going to tackle The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

good luck with that! havent read anything other than science journals the last few wks. college gets in the way of my reading, I think I'll have to give it up. college I mean, of course :D:D

I am guaranteed to end up in Chapters this wknd. I have a credit note, so I technically wont be buying books. just taking them home :rolleyes:

I started Breakfast At Tiffany's by Truman Capote last night.

Just back from a lovely week in London - read Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld when I was there - enjoyed it.

Also started The Mist in the Mirror by Susan Hill (picked it up in a second hand book shop and started it because it was set in London) and Mariana by Monica Dickens (which I am racing through and enjoying as much as when I read it as a teenager - also largely set in London.) I love reading books set where I am holidaying.

OT - we went to the biggest bookshop in Europe and also to a tiny packed second hand bookshop in Putney, where the diversity of my selection was commented on. We brought back 26 new books altogether!

The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín
2013 Booker Shortlisted, at just over one hundred pages this is a really novella . A first person account from the sceptical and weary mother of Jesus, beautifully written. I was initially a bit apprehensive about picking this up as I hate "spiritual" books (e.g. The Alchemist, Siddartha et al) but I wasn't to worry. Great.

The Eye of Argon by Jim Theis
Novelette originally written by 16 year old Jim Theis for a fanzine this has become somewhat of a classic due its awful prose and malapropisms. Great fun though, here's an excerpt:

"Thou hast need to occupy your time, barbarian",questioned the female?

"Only if something worth offering is within my reach." Stated Grignr,as his hands crept to embrace the tempting female, who welcomed them with open willingness.

"From where do you come barbarian, and by what are you called?" Gasped the complying wench, as Grignr smothered her lips with the blazing touch of his flaming mouth.

The engrossed titan ignored the queries of the inquisitive female, pulling her towards him and crushing her sagging nipples to his yearning chest. Without struggle she gave in, winding her soft arms around the harshly bronzedhide of Grignr corded shoulder blades, as his calloused hands caressed her firm protruding busts.

"You make love well wench," Admitted Grignr as he reached for the vessel of potent wine his charge had been quaffing.

:pac:

The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson
There's a lot of Sanderson recommendations over in the Sci-Fi & Fantasy forum so I thought I'd dip my toe in this standalone novella instead of jumping into one of the series. This was great, very enjoyable indeed. I'll definitely be reading more of Mr. Sanderson.