What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

[VictoriaF]

A Guide to the Good Life : The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. Irvine.

This book was recommended to the Bogleheads by renata in the "Personal Development Books" thread. Thanks again!

Victoria

[gkaplan]

I definitely would want to read the play before seeing it performed on stage.

[stemikger]

Waiter to the Rich and Shameless: Confessions of a Five-Star Beverly Hills Server - by Paul Hartford

A down-and-out musician chops off his hair to become a server at the top of the Hollywood food chain, discovering a cloistered world of money, fame, bad behavior and intrigue.

Waiter to the Rich and Shameless is not just a peek into the secretive inner workings of a legendary 5-star restaurant; it is not just a celebrity tell-all or a scathing corporate analysis. It is a top-tier waiter's personal coming-of-age story, an intimate look into the complicated challenges of serving in the country's most elite, Hollywood-centric dining room while fighting to maintain a sense of self and purpose.

A fast and easy read. It is perfect for my commute to work from the Staten Island Ferry to Manhattan every night.

[Fallible]

\

I have been reading Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. The play could easily have been titled The Tragedy of Marcus Brutus, since Caesar is slain early in Act III, and the rest of the play sees the tragic circumstances and events that lead to the downfall of Brutus and his co-conspirators. ...
I enjoyed this play as much as any play of Shakespeare's plays I have read. As much I enjoyed reading the play, however, I thought throughout how much better it would be see the play performed live on stage, for this truly is a play to be performed. ...

It's not always true that Shakespeare is better seen than read and that's not just my amateur opinion. Scholars like Harold Bloom write: "Charles Lamb, admirable critic, has been much denigrated ... for insistiing that it was better to read Shakespeare than to watch him acted. If one could be certain that Ralph Richardson or John Gielgud or Ian McKellen was to do the acting, then argument with Lamb would be possible. But to see Ralph Fiennes, under bad direction, play Hamlet as a poor little rich boy, or to sustain George C. Wolfe's skilled travesty of "The Tempest," is to reflect upon Lamb's wisdom. When you read, then you can direct, act, and interpret for yourself... In the theater, much of the interpreting is done for you, and you are victimized by the politic fashions of the moment."

And Bloom goes on about this in the book, which you might enjoy: "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human." No one has more fully or deeply explained the Shakespeare I wanted to understand better than Bloom.

Understanding a work by Shakespeare has to be at least a two part process doesn't it? You have to read/study the work first and then go to see it. Otherwise, due to the language, it is more or less incomprehensible. I've spent a couple of long evenings viewing Shakespeare without knowing the play beforehand .... a frustrating experience.

I forgot who it was that said something like ... people nowadays go to plays by Shakespeare mainly to listen for the (famous) quotes.

A few years ago, I took a college course that included reading two plays, classroom instruction on them, attending their local productions, and meeting with a few of the actors and producers to discuss their roles. That, I would think, is an ideal way to approach Shakespeare, yet what impressed me most were the varying interpretations of him and the plays. There was little agreement on anything, from the plays to the productions to the actors and I'm still not certain what conclusions to draw from that, other than, overall, I had a great time. "All's well that ends well"?

[jginseattle]

The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron, by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind. I was just fascinated by this story of corporate greed told with great clarity and driving momentum.

[MP173]

Robert Galbraith's "The Cuckoo's Calling".

Interesting private detective "whodunit" set in London. Some of the language was challenging, but I picked it up pretty quickly. The first in a series....looking forward to the next one.

Ed

[Crimsontide]

The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron, by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind. I was just fascinated by this story of corporate greed told with great clarity and driving momentum.

Haven't read the book but have watched the documentary many times. Reinforced my belief that many corporate officers are out and out sociopaths...

[nisiprius]

Just finished The Innocents Abroad, by Mark Twain. It was his first big book success. Well, it's readable, and it's funny... but what a sourpuss he is. He hardly seemed to enjoy anything. And while it contains the famous quotation "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness," he does not seem to have much empathy for the actual people he saw on the trip. It is full of descriptions like these.

Well, I was going to quote them but I've changed my mind. What he has to say about the Mosque of St. Sophia, which he calls "the rustiest old barn in heathendom," and about the region generally, is actually so very sour that my quoting them at length might well give offense.

[ruralavalon]

Just finished The Innocents Abroad, by Mark Twain. It was his first big book success. Well, it's readable, and it's funny... but what a sourpuss he is. He hardly seemed to enjoy anything. And while it contains the famous quotation "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness," he does not seem to have much empathy for the actual people he saw on the trip. It is full of descriptions like these.

Well, I was going to quote them but I've changed my mind. What he has to say about the Mosque of St. Sophia, which he calls "the rustiest old barn in heathendom," and about the region generally, is actually so very sour that my quoting them at length might well give offense.

I have noticed that some travel writers often don't like the places they visit or the people that they meet. Such as Mark Twain, Bill Bryson. Odd?

[black jack]

Just finished The Innocents Abroad, by Mark Twain. It was his first big book success. Well, it's readable, and it's funny... but what a sourpuss he is. He hardly seemed to enjoy anything. And while it contains the famous quotation "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness," he does not seem to have much empathy for the actual people he saw on the trip. It is full of descriptions like these.

Well, I was going to quote them but I've changed my mind. What he has to say about the Mosque of St. Sophia, which he calls "the rustiest old barn in heathendom," and about the region generally, is actually so very sour that my quoting them at length might well give offense.

I have noticed that some travel writers often don't like the places they visit or the people that they meet. Such as Mark Twain, Bill Bryson. Odd?

Or perhaps it's just easier to be entertaining by criticizing than by praising. There's an aphorism to the point that miserable trips make the best stories, and vice versa.

[bertilak]

In Innocents, Twain disparaged his fellow American travelers as much or more than the locals.

He's an equal opportunity grouch!

[VictoriaF]

Just finished The Innocents Abroad, by Mark Twain. It was his first big book success. Well, it's readable, and it's funny... but what a sourpuss he is. He hardly seemed to enjoy anything. And while it contains the famous quotation "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness," he does not seem to have much empathy for the actual people he saw on the trip. It is full of descriptions like these.

Well, I was going to quote them but I've changed my mind. What he has to say about the Mosque of St. Sophia, which he calls "the rustiest old barn in heathendom," and about the region generally, is actually so very sour that my quoting them at length might well give offense.

I have noticed that some travel writers often don't like the places they visit or the people that they meet. Such as Mark Twain, Bill Bryson. Odd?

Or perhaps it's just easier to be entertaining by criticizing than by praising. There's an aphorism to the point that miserable trips make the best stories, and vice versa.

You have just helped me to understand something.

A famous German comedian Hape Kerkeling walked el Camino de Santiago in 2000 and then wrote a book I'm Off Then: Losing and Finding Myself on the Camino de Santiago. Many German pilgrims learned about the Camino from this book and highly praised it. I read the English translation, which understandably could not be as funny as the original. But I also was somewhat disappointed how critical Kerkeling was about food, lodging, and other aspects of the Camino that most other people found reasonable.

Now, I am realizing that it's a characteristic of the genre: Twain, Bryson, Kerkeling.

Victoria

[nisiprius]

In Innocents, Twain disparaged his fellow American travelers as much or more than the locals.

He's an equal opportunity grouch!

Yes, one of the running gags is the way his fellow "pilgrims" keep chipping off bits of things as souvenirs.

We entered, and the pilgrims broke specimens from the foundation walls, though they had to touch, and even step, upon the "praying carpets" to do it. It was almost the same as breaking pieces from the hearts of those old Arabs. To step rudely upon the sacred praying mats, with booted feet—a thing not done by any Arab—was to inflict pain upon men who had not offended us in any way. Suppose a party of armed foreigners were to enter a village church in America and break ornaments from the altar railings for curiosities, and climb up and walk upon the Bible and the pulpit cushions? However, the cases are different. One is the profanation of a temple of our faith—the other only the profanation of a pagan one.

The final payoff:

One of our most inveterate relic-hunters had his hammer with him, and tried to break a fragment off the upright Needle and could not do it; he tried the prostrate one and failed; he borrowed a heavy sledge hammer from a mason and tried again. He tried Pompey's Pillar, and this baffled him. Scattered all about the mighty monolith were sphinxes of noble countenance, carved out of Egyptian granite as hard as blue steel, and whose shapely features the wear of five thousand years had failed to mark or mar. The relic-hunter battered at these persistently, and sweated profusely over his work. He might as well have attempted to deface the moon. They regarded him serenely with the stately smile they had worn so long, and which seemed to say, "Peck away, poor insect; we were not made to fear such as you; in ten-score dragging ages we have seen more of your kind than there are sands at your feet: have they left a blemish upon us?"

[TimDex]

Just finished "An Officer and a Spy: A Novel" by Robert Harris, a writer of some pretty decent thrillers.

It concerns the Dreyfus Affair, which tore France apart in the late 19th century. Well written, and sticks very close to the actual history. Makes the culture war, as it were, in France understandable, and gave me some pause for reflection on our ongoing culture war.

Worth reading.

Tim

[Fallible]

In Innocents, Twain disparaged his fellow American travelers as much or more than the locals.

He's an equal opportunity grouch!

And then there's the grouch's "Mark Twain On The Damned Human Race" (collection).

Also, an intriguing quote from the book cover (at least my copy) from George Bernard Shaw: "Mark Twain and I are in very much the same position. We have to put things in such a way as to make people who would otherwise hang us, believe that we are joking."

[pezblanco]

The Weather Experiment by Peter Moore

From the Amazon blurb:

In 1865 Admiral Robert FitzRoy locked himself in his dressing room and cut his throat. His grand meteorological project had failed. Yet only a decade later, FitzRoy's storm warning system and "forecasts" would return, the model for what we use today.
In an age when a storm at sea was evidence of God's wrath, nineteenth-century meteorologists had to fight against convention and religious dogma. Buoyed by the achievements of the Enlightenment, a generation of mavericks set out to decipher the secrets of the atmosphere and predict the future. Among them were Luke Howard, the first to classify clouds; Francis Beaufort, who quantified the winds; James Glaisher, who explored the upper atmosphere in a hot-air balloon; Samuel Morse, whose electric telegraph gave scientists the means by which to transmit weather warnings; and FitzRoy himself, master sailor, scientific pioneer, and founder of the U.K.'s national weather service.
Reputations were built and shattered. Fractious debates raged over decades between scientists from London and Galway, Paris and New York. Explaining the atmosphere was one thing, but predicting what it was going to do seemed a step too far. In 1854, when a politician suggested to the Commons that Londoners might soon know the weather twenty-four hours in advance, the House roared with laughter.
Peter Moore's The Weather Experiment navigates treacherous seas and rough winds to uncover the obsession that drove these men to great invention and greater understanding.

This is a superb book on so many levels. One may think that nothing could be a more torpid and dull subject than the science and history of meteorology but this book proves that wrong. The coming to grips with the nature of the winds, storms, and atmosphere is one of the truly great romantic tales in the history of science ... populated with heroism, vision, villains, and towering egos. Finally, Admiral FitzRoy usually remembered for being Darwin's disagreeable and taciturn captain on the second Beagle expedition (a very very small part of his illustrious career) is finally vindicated and shown for the great complex man that he was ... just one of many great stories presented in this history.

[black jack]

Just finished The Innocents Abroad, by Mark Twain. It was his first big book success. Well, it's readable, and it's funny... but what a sourpuss he is. He hardly seemed to enjoy anything. And while it contains the famous quotation "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness," he does not seem to have much empathy for the actual people he saw on the trip. It is full of descriptions like these.

Well, I was going to quote them but I've changed my mind. What he has to say about the Mosque of St. Sophia, which he calls "the rustiest old barn in heathendom," and about the region generally, is actually so very sour that my quoting them at length might well give offense.

I have noticed that some travel writers often don't like the places they visit or the people that they meet. Such as Mark Twain, Bill Bryson. Odd?

Or perhaps it's just easier to be entertaining by criticizing than by praising. There's an aphorism to the point that miserable trips make the best stories, and vice versa.

Not the aphorism I was thinking of, but close enough:

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit:
Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway.

[heartwood]

I'm half way into Lee Child's "Make Me", his 20th Jack Reacher novel.

Good writing style, but the story is very formulaic, pure Reacher speak. I'm a great fan of Child's and his character, but all the tropes are there: coffee, clock in the head, toothbrush, etc. Something happens in a very short first chapter with no explanation. Then Reacher and another investigator move around doing little and finding out less (so far). Then there's the obligatory Child's plot device of travel. Reacher arrives; Reacher walks around town; Reacher goes to another city; Reacher goes back to town; Reacher leaves town and goes to a large West Coat city, then on to a large mid-west city. It seems he's about to go to another city next and we're only half way through the book. We still don't know much about what's happening.

There is a love interest, several fights, one perhaps not proceeding in the usual Reacher fashion, and some clever writing and plotting. Child's has at least one observation of things we take for granted in a new way, but also a misstatement about a one in a million thing not being a coincidence but implying the opposite.

There's more, but I am enjoying the book. I will finish it and wait for more from Mr. Child.

[gouldnm]

Just finished "An Officer and a Spy: A Novel" by Robert Harris, a writer of some pretty decent thrillers.

It concerns the Dreyfus Affair, which tore France apart in the late 19th century. Well written, and sticks very close to the actual history. Makes the culture war, as it were, in France understandable, and gave me some pause for reflection on our ongoing culture war.

Worth reading.

Tim

[OT comments removed by admin LadyGeek]

[bertilak]

Just finished Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Bronte

This got mixed reviews when first published. Here are a couple of review quotes from Wikipedia:

Graham's Lady Magazine wrote:

• How a human being could have attempted such a book as the present without committing suicide before he had finished a dozen chapters, is a mystery. It is a compound of vulgar depravity and unnatural horrors.
  
  [The book was published under the name Ellis Bell and everyone assumed that was a “he” as in the above quote.]

Atlas Review wrote:

• We know nothing in the whole range of our fictitious literature which presents such shocking pictures of the worst forms of humanity. There is not in the entire dramatis persona, a single character which is not utterly hateful or thoroughly contemptible.

Yup, there is not a likeable character in the book. There are perhaps one or two that you don’t hate but it is hard to sympathize with any of them, at least for the first nine tenths of the book. Even then you wonder at how they could have been so obtuse up to that point.

The characters are unrealistic. They are like movie actors that “chew the scenery.” Here is an example from about half way through the book:

• “I wish I could hold you,” she continued, bitterly, “till we were both dead! I shouldn’t care what you suffered. I care nothing for your suffering. Why shouldn’t you suffer? I do! Will you forget me – will you be happy when I am in the earth? Will you say twenty years hence, ‘That’s the grave of Catherine Earnshaw. I loved her long ago, and was wretched to lose her; but it is past. I’ve loved many others since – my children are dearer to me than she was, and, at death, I shall not rejoice that I am going to her; I shall be sorry that I must leave them!’ Will you say so, Heathcliff?”

Overwrought much? Heathcliff should have said “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!” It wouldn’t have been out of character. Heathcliff is the chief villain of the story. His motives are evil and are based first, on a childhood misunderstanding, and second, on the deliberate provocations of the character quoted above. And by nature he is easily provoked!

Not all reviews were negative. The positive ones focus on the “power” of the book, which does come through in the last few chapters.

I did read “Heights” all the way through so there must be something in there that grabbed me, even well before I got to the end. It was worth the read even if it did require persistence. I’m glad I made it all the way.

It is hard not to compare this book to Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables (1851) which I posted about earlier. Both books are famous Gothic novels covering multiple generations of troubled families. Both were written at about the same time, one from America and one from England. “Gables” (American) is more refined and subtle. Compare the above quote to the quote in my review of "Gables". "Heights" is darker and a bit off-putting since the characters are harder to believe in and there is no one to "root for" as you work your way through the book.

Emily Bronte died, at age 30, a year after publishing this, her only novel.

[steve roy]

Reading the third volume (just released) of the "Autobiography of Mark Twain." And once again it strikes me how Clemens's dictation shadows his writing style. For instance this quote from S.L. Clemens regarding his much-hated publisher Charles Webster:

“The times when he [Webster] had an opportunity to be an ass and failed to take advantage of it were so few that, in a monarchy, they would have entitled him to a decoration.”

[pezblanco]

Just finished Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Bronte

This got mixed reviews when first published. Here are a couple of review quotes from Wikipedia:

Overwrought much? Heathcliff should have said “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!” It wouldn’t have been out of character. Heathcliff is the chief villain of the story. His motives are evil and are based first, on a childhood misunderstanding, and second, on the deliberate provocations of the character quoted above. And by nature he is easily provoked!


I did read “Heights” all the way through so there must be something in there that grabbed me, even well before I got to the end. It was worth the read even if it did require persistence. I’m glad I made it all the way.

It is hard not to compare this book to Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables (1851) which I posted about earlier. Both books are famous Gothic novels covering multiple generations of troubled families. Both were written at about the same time, one from America and one from England. “Gables” (American) is more refined and subtle. Compare the above quote to the quote in my review of "Gables". "Heights" is darker and a bit off-putting since the characters are harder to believe in and there is no one to "root for" as you work your way through the book.

Emily Bronte died, at age 30, a year after publishing this, her only novel.

You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din! It takes a stiff resolve and a lot of moral backbone to plow
through a Victorian pot boiler. Chapeau!

[mindboggling]

I just finished re-reading Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. He's such a great storyteller! MC won the Booker Prize back in the 80's and was later voted the best book to have ever won it. Possibly one of the great novels of the 20th century.

steve

[MP173]

Catch Me by Lisa Gardener...it was better than the previous novel by her.

Will read another by her.

Ed

[bertilak]

If you are another Snoopy fan, you might enjoy the book, "Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life." Includes essays by well-known writers and lots of Snoopy strips as he tries to write a novel. Another example: "Some nights were dark. Some nights were stormy. Some shots rang out. Some maids screamed. Some more editors sent rejection slips."

I have this one.

And I just ordered this one.

You'll probably find some repetition, but the essays will be new and they're nicely written to tie into the strips.

Finally got the book -- delivery took a while since it came from England! (I didn't notice that when I ordered it used.)

Both books are needed. The one I already had has the complete Dark and Stormy Night story. The one you recommended has only parts of it scattered about, but overall it is much more fun. It has a HUGE selection of Snoopy-as-Author cartoons that are simply hilarious. I think they may be the highlights of the whole Peanuts oeuvre.

I thought the little essays were pretty lame. A bunch of people not known for their humor trying, and failing, to be funny. Others took it seriously and just came off as oblivious. Perhaps I missed some intended irony or self-directed satire. If so it was too dry for me to detect it! Perhaps when they were asked to participate they felt duty-bound to say something.

[Fallible]

If you are another Snoopy fan, you might enjoy the book, "Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life." Includes essays by well-known writers and lots of Snoopy strips as he tries to write a novel. Another example: "Some nights were dark. Some nights were stormy. Some shots rang out. Some maids screamed. Some more editors sent rejection slips."

I have this one.

And I just ordered this one.

You'll probably find some repetition, but the essays will be new and they're nicely written to tie into the strips.

Finally got the book -- delivery took a while since it came from England! (I didn't notice that when I ordered it used.)

Both books are needed. The one I already had has the complete Dark and Stormy Night story. The one you recommended has only parts of it scattered about, but overall it is much more fun. It has a HUGE selection of Snoopy-as-Author cartoons that are simply hilarious. I think they may be the highlights of the whole Peanuts oeuvre.

I thought the little essays were pretty lame. A bunch of people not known for their humor trying, and failing, to be funny. Others took it seriously and just came off as oblivious. Perhaps I missed some intended irony or self-directed satire. If so it was too dry for me to detect it! Perhaps when they were asked to participate they felt duty-bound to say something.

Glad you got the book. I certainly know what you mean about these cartoons being the highlights of the “Peanuts” oeuvre. Even “hilarious” doesn't capture it all, or maybe just the joke but not the cleverness.

And I also know what you mean about the essays. It really is an odd book in that it's supposed to be mainly for writers, yet it's also a tribute to one of the world's greatest cartoonists by his son, who is a writer and not a cartoonist. Add to the mix essays on writing forced to praise one of the world's greatest cartoon characters in Snoopy, and you have a book more for cartoonists than writers. Also, some of the essays were reprints from other publications and about other subjects, which is what it felt like reading them. But I think some of the essays do offer tips on writing, creativity, and humor (e.g., the Freud quote on pg. 98) that both could find useful.

Now I have to find my copy of the earlier "dark and stormy" book, which I haven't read in quite awhile.

[bertilak]

Even “hilarious” doesn't capture it all, or maybe just the joke but not the cleverness.

You are right. "Hilarious" sells it short. We at least need to add "endearing."

And then there is the appreciation one must have for the skill and craftsmanship Schulz demonstrates in getting his deceptively simple artwork and terse dialog to to produce the effects he gets. Sheer genius.

Somewhere in that book there is a short discussion of why Snoopy's doghouse is only shown in a two-dimensional profile and never in a more realistic "3D" view. Any more realism would destroy the magic (paraphrasing). There are no lessons to be learned from that other than somehow Schulz just knew.

[Valuethinker]

Just finished Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Bronte

This got mixed reviews when first published. Here are a couple of review quotes from Wikipedia:

Overwrought much? Heathcliff should have said “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!” It wouldn’t have been out of character. Heathcliff is the chief villain of the story. His motives are evil and are based first, on a childhood misunderstanding, and second, on the deliberate provocations of the character quoted above. And by nature he is easily provoked!


I did read “Heights” all the way through so there must be something in there that grabbed me, even well before I got to the end. It was worth the read even if it did require persistence. I’m glad I made it all the way.

It is hard not to compare this book to Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables (1851) which I posted about earlier. Both books are famous Gothic novels covering multiple generations of troubled families. Both were written at about the same time, one from America and one from England. “Gables” (American) is more refined and subtle. Compare the above quote to the quote in my review of "Gables". "Heights" is darker and a bit off-putting since the characters are harder to believe in and there is no one to "root for" as you work your way through the book.

Emily Bronte died, at age 30, a year after publishing this, her only novel.

You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din! It takes a stiff resolve and a lot of moral backbone to plow
through a Victorian pot boiler. Chapeau!

The appeal of Wuthering Heights is, very much, the same thing that appeals in the Twilight saga, and its offshoot 50 Shades of Grey.

Fans of Star Trek will remember the discussion between Kirk and Spock re "colourful metaphors" (used when they are visiting 20th Century San Francisco):

Spock: Admiral, may I ask you a question?
James T. Kirk: Spock, don't call me Admiral. You used to call me Jim. Don't you remember "Jim"? What's your question?
Spock: Your use of language has altered since our arrival. It is currently laced with, shall I say, more colorful metaphors-- "Double dumb-ass on you" and so forth.
Kirk: You mean the profanity?
Spock: Yes.
Kirk: That's simply the way they talk here. Nobody pays any attention to you unless you swear every other word. You'll find it in all the literature of the period.
Spock: For example?
Kirk: [thinks] Oh, the complete works of Jacqueline Susann, the novels of Harold Robbins....
Spock: Ah... The giants.

[a]

Incognito by David Eagleman

13% into it by Kindle counting

It is remarkable how persistent the brain is at storing
a snatch of information gleaned at a particular time insighting
that it may be useful in the future. I felt upon seeing
Incognito referenced in a blog post about "chicken sexing"
that the name as a neuroscience book was familiar. It has
indeed been mentioned on Bogleheads by tc101 a couple years
ago and by kayanco in 2014.

David Eagleman's writing is smooth, taking ideas from his head
and transplanting them into yours with not too much time
and mental effort.

He mentions quite a few already
experiments that are illuminating yet had not been mentioned
by other authors in this vein I have read.

[Fallible]

Even “hilarious” doesn't capture it all, or maybe just the joke but not the cleverness.

You are right. "Hilarious" sells it short. We at least need to add "endearing."

And then there is the appreciation one must have for the skill and craftsmanship Schulz demonstrates in getting his deceptively simple artwork and terse dialog to to produce the effects he gets. Sheer genius.

Somewhere in that book there is a short discussion of why Snoopy's doghouse is only shown in a two-dimensional profile and never in a more realistic "3D" view. Any more realism would destroy the magic (paraphrasing). There are no lessons to be learned from that other than somehow Schulz just knew.

Right on about the craftsmanship and the doghouse. The fantasy that the strip gradually became is probably most evident in Snoopy on the doghouse, fighting the Red Baron, writing his novel. Yet readers young and old accepted it immediately, willingly, happily. You often don’t realize the fantasy it is until you imagine an adult coming into the strip, even off-panel and just a speech balloon, and Poof!, the fantasy’s gone, the fun is gone, something is way off, somebody needs to get out of the strip - NOW - and it’s definitely the all-too-realistic adult. Same with a three-quarter-view doghouse.

Of all the tons of stuff written about Schulz, I think Bill Watterson’s 1999 essay, “Drawn Into a Dark But Gentle World,” nails much of what made Schulz great. One comment in particular I like, referring to “the expressiveness within the simplicity that made Schulz’s artwork so forceful.” (Simplicity is not just for Boglehead-type investing. )

BTW, if you haven’t read the Schulz bio, “Schulz and Peanuts,” by David Michaelis, it’s worth a read for any “Peanuts” fan, though it should’ve been a much better book.

[dubsem]

Thinking Fast, and Slow

[MP173]

Looking for some new blood regarding mystery novels....hopefully involving a series.

I have read most (if not all) of the following:

Michael Connoly, John Connoly, James Lee Burke, Lawrence Block, Lee Child, Harlan Coban, Robert Crais, Nelson DeMille, John Dunning, Greg Isle, Jonathan Kellerman, John Sandford.

Also started reading Patricia Cornwell series. Years ago I read John Mcdonald's Travis McGee series (absolutely great).

Suggestions along those lines?

Ed

[pezblanco]

Just finished Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Bronte

This got mixed reviews when first published. Here are a couple of review quotes from Wikipedia:

Overwrought much? Heathcliff should have said “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!” It wouldn’t have been out of character. Heathcliff is the chief villain of the story. His motives are evil and are based first, on a childhood misunderstanding, and second, on the deliberate provocations of the character quoted above. And by nature he is easily provoked!


I did read “Heights” all the way through so there must be something in there that grabbed me, even well before I got to the end. It was worth the read even if it did require persistence. I’m glad I made it all the way.

It is hard not to compare this book to Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables (1851) which I posted about earlier. Both books are famous Gothic novels covering multiple generations of troubled families. Both were written at about the same time, one from America and one from England. “Gables” (American) is more refined and subtle. Compare the above quote to the quote in my review of "Gables". "Heights" is darker and a bit off-putting since the characters are harder to believe in and there is no one to "root for" as you work your way through the book.

Emily Bronte died, at age 30, a year after publishing this, her only novel.

You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din! It takes a stiff resolve and a lot of moral backbone to plow
through a Victorian pot boiler. Chapeau!

The appeal of Wuthering Heights is, very much, the same thing that appeals in the Twilight saga, and its offshoot 50 Shades of Grey.

Fans of Star Trek will remember the discussion between Kirk and Spock re "colourful metaphors" (used when they are visiting 20th Century San Francisco):

Spock: Admiral, may I ask you a question?
James T. Kirk: Spock, don't call me Admiral. You used to call me Jim. Don't you remember "Jim"? What's your question?
Spock: Your use of language has altered since our arrival. It is currently laced with, shall I say, more colorful metaphors-- "Double dumb-ass on you" and so forth.
Kirk: You mean the profanity?
Spock: Yes.
Kirk: That's simply the way they talk here. Nobody pays any attention to you unless you swear every other word. You'll find it in all the literature of the period.
Spock: For example?
Kirk: [thinks] Oh, the complete works of Jacqueline Susann, the novels of Harold Robbins....
Spock: Ah... The giants.

Funny. They should have included Gene Roddenberry among "the giants" also.

I love the language employed by the Victorians (and Edwardians) .... When you read old letters written by even non-literary people of those times, the ability to expound their thoughts and express their emotions is far beyond what would be commonly seen today. We've lost something with our now easy access and instant communication via electronic media. And a comparison of literary works! How can you compare a modern thriller or detective story to Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles? To Kipling's Kim? I also think that the English have been better at maintaining that flame of erudition and poetic word choice than we Americans. But I still maintain that plowing through the plot of something like Wuthering Heights would be a heavy price to pay just to enjoy the writing style of Ms. Bronte. (I'm just speaking for myself .... I just don't have much patience with works that are not to my taste. I recognize that the book is very well written and is considered a classic. In no way do I mean to disparage someone's taste in liking it or reading it .... quite the contrary.)

[bertilak]

Looking for some new blood regarding mystery novels....hopefully involving a series.

I have read most (if not all) of the following:

Michael Connoly, John Connoly, James Lee Burke, Lawrence Block, Lee Child, Harlan Coban, Robert Crais, Nelson DeMille, John Dunning, Greg Isle, Jonathan Kellerman, John Sandford.

Also started reading Patricia Cornwell series. Years ago I read John Mcdonald's Travis McGee series (absolutely great).

Suggestions along those lines?

Ed

Two series:

• Donald E. Westlake's Dortmunder books. These are comedies about an inept but likable crew of thieves. Inept may be too strong as much of their troubles come from simple bad luck. They do manage to put food on the table and stay out of jail! Of course you are rooting for their success.
• Richard Stark's Parker novels. These are far from being comedies.They are about a ruthless criminal who lets no one stand in his way. He has a redeeming quality, though. He is totally honest and loyal to anyone he is working with. Despite killings and robberies, you root for him all the way.

The thing is, Westlake and Stark are the same author.

A third series:

• Janwillem Van De Wetering's Grijpstra and de Gier series. These are two cops in Amsterdam. These are serious crime mysteries with a Zen flavor. Very likable characters. Unique take on Police Procedurals."

[bertilak]

I love the language employed by the Victorians (and Edwardians) .... When you read old letters written by even non-literary people of those times, the ability to expound their thoughts and express their emotions is far beyond what would be commonly seen today. We've lost something with our now easy access and instant communication via electronic media. And a comparison of literary works! How can you compare a modern thriller or detective story to Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles? To Kipling's Kim? I also think that the English have been better at maintaining that flame of erudition and poetic word choice than we Americans. But I still maintain that plowing through the plot of something like Wuthering Heights would be a heavy price to pay just to enjoy the writing style of Ms. Bronte. (I'm just speaking for myself .... I just don't have much patience with works that are not to my taste. I recognize that the book is very well written and is considered a classic. In no way do I mean to disparage someone's taste in liking it or reading it .... quite the contrary.)

Yes, for today's reader the "old fashioned" language is part of the charm, but note that the reviews I quoted or referred to in my post were contemporary, not looking back at some old tome. Also, they were reviewing the work of a complete unknown. They didn't even know the author's real name nor that "he" was a "she." No nostalgia involved there!

Kim is sitting on an end table waiting for me to get serious about it. You may think it odd that I can slog my way through Bronte, Hawthorne and Trollope, enjoy doing so, and then get stuck on the language of a kid's book, but that's what happened. I only made a few pages headway and gave up. There were too many words I didn't understand, Indian words. Indian underworld slang, even, I think! I think one is supposed to pick up on them from context and incrementally build one's vocabulary but it went too fast for me. I will get back to it since the time period, location and back story ("The Great Game," a term invented by, or at least popularized by Kipling) are of interest to me. Maybe I will read The Man Who Would Be King first. Same back story.

[Valuethinker]

I love the language employed by the Victorians (and Edwardians) .... When you read old letters written by even non-literary people of those times, the ability to expound their thoughts and express their emotions is far beyond what would be commonly seen today. We've lost something with our now easy access and instant communication via electronic media. And a comparison of literary works! How can you compare a modern thriller or detective story to Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles? To Kipling's Kim? I also think that the English have been better at maintaining that flame of erudition and poetic word choice than we Americans. But I still maintain that plowing through the plot of something like Wuthering Heights would be a heavy price to pay just to enjoy the writing style of Ms. Bronte. (I'm just speaking for myself .... I just don't have much patience with works that are not to my taste. I recognize that the book is very well written and is considered a classic. In no way do I mean to disparage someone's taste in liking it or reading it .... quite the contrary.)

Yes, for today's reader the "old fashioned" language is part of the charm, but note that the reviews I quoted or referred to in my post were contemporary, not looking back at some old tome. Also, they were reviewing the work of a complete unknown. They didn't even know the author's real name nor that "he" was a "she." No nostalgia involved there!

Kim is sitting on an end table waiting for me to get serious about it. You may think it odd that I can slog my way through Bronte, Hawthorne and Trollope, enjoy doing so, and then get stuck on the language of a kid's book, but that's what happened. I only made a few pages headway and gave up. There were too many words I didn't understand, Indian words. Indian underworld slang, even, I think! I think one is supposed to pick up on them from context and incrementally build one's vocabulary but it went too fast for me. I will get back to it since the time period, location and back story ("The Great Game," a term invented by, or at least popularized by Kipling) are of interest to me. Maybe I will read The Man Who Would Be King first. Same back story.

I have not read the below, but they look like they would add considerable background knowledge to your reading of Kim:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Game-St ... 1568360223

http://www.amazon.com/Mission-Tashkent- ... 0WREBGEW0P

http://www.amazon.com/On-Secret-Service ... R114%2C160_

http://www.amazon.com/Quest-Kim-Search- ... 0WREBGEW0P

http://www.amazon.com/The-Road-Oxiana-R ... CB616T2DDB

that one (immediately above, by Robert Byron) I know is very good. So is the modern travel writer Colin Thubron (and Eric Newby's Travels in the Hindu Kush).

http://www.amazon.com/Tournament-Shadow ... 0WREBGEW0P

[black jack]

I love the language employed by the Victorians (and Edwardians) .... When you read old letters written by even non-literary people of those times, the ability to expound their thoughts and express their emotions is far beyond what would be commonly seen today. We've lost something with our now easy access and instant communication via electronic media. And a comparison of literary works! How can you compare a modern thriller or detective story to Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles? To Kipling's Kim? I also think that the English have been better at maintaining that flame of erudition and poetic word choice than we Americans. But I still maintain that plowing through the plot of something like Wuthering Heights would be a heavy price to pay just to enjoy the writing style of Ms. Bronte. (I'm just speaking for myself .... I just don't have much patience with works that are not to my taste. I recognize that the book is very well written and is considered a classic. In no way do I mean to disparage someone's taste in liking it or reading it .... quite the contrary.)

Yes, for today's reader the "old fashioned" language is part of the charm, but note that the reviews I quoted or referred to in my post were contemporary, not looking back at some old tome. Also, they were reviewing the work of a complete unknown. They didn't even know the author's real name nor that "he" was a "she." No nostalgia involved there!

Kim is sitting on an end table waiting for me to get serious about it. You may think it odd that I can slog my way through Bronte, Hawthorne and Trollope, enjoy doing so, and then get stuck on the language of a kid's book, but that's what happened. I only made a few pages headway and gave up. There were too many words I didn't understand, Indian words. Indian underworld slang, even, I think! I think one is supposed to pick up on them from context and incrementally build one's vocabulary but it went too fast for me. I will get back to it since the time period, location and back story ("The Great Game," a term invented by, or at least popularized by Kipling) are of interest to me. Maybe I will read The Man Who Would Be King first. Same back story.

I have not read the below, but they look like they would add considerable background knowledge to your reading of Kim:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Game-St ... 1568360223

http://www.amazon.com/Mission-Tashkent- ... 0WREBGEW0P

http://www.amazon.com/On-Secret-Service ... R114%2C160_

http://www.amazon.com/Quest-Kim-Search- ... 0WREBGEW0P

http://www.amazon.com/The-Road-Oxiana-R ... CB616T2DDB

that one (immediately above, by Robert Byron) I know is very good. So is the modern travel writer Colin Thubron (and Eric Newby's Travels in the Hindu Kush).

http://www.amazon.com/Tournament-Shadow ... 0WREBGEW0P

And don't forget "Flashman in the Great Game"!

[bertilak]

I have not read the below, but they look like they would add considerable background knowledge to your reading of Kim:

Thanks for the pointers!

The first two I have already read and are what led to my interest in this topic in the first place. I think I have reviews up-thread somewhere. Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Game-St ... 1568360223

http://www.amazon.com/Mission-Tashkent- ... 0WREBGEW0P

Perhaps someday

http://www.amazon.com/On-Secret-Service ... R114%2C160_

Already on order based on your pointer. I knew there were several Hopkirk books books on this subject but didn't realize there was one with a Kim tie-in.

http://www.amazon.com/Quest-Kim-Search- ... 0WREBGEW0P

The rest will have to wait.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Road-Oxiana-R ... CB616T2DDB

that one (immediately above, by Robert Byron) I know is very good. So is the modern travel writer Colin Thubron (and Eric Newby's Travels in the Hindu Kush).

http://www.amazon.com/Tournament-Shadow ... 0WREBGEW0P

[Nicolas]

My Struggle (Book One) by Karl Ove Knausgaard, English translation from the original Norwegian.

[heartwood]

My Struggle (Book One) by Karl Ove Knausgaard, English translation from the original Norwegian.

I started the same book a week or so ago. I put it aside to read other books. I may go back to it, but am not sure. The reviews are generally wonderful, but the first hundred pages left me wondering why I was reading it. I'd welcome any encouragement.

[Nicolas]

My Struggle (Book One) by Karl Ove Knausgaard, English translation from the original Norwegian.

I started the same book a week or so ago. I put it aside to read other books. I may go back to it, but am not sure. The reviews are generally wonderful, but the first hundred pages left me wondering why I was reading it. I'd welcome any encouragement.

I'm enjoying it. I'm about halfway through. I decided to read it after seeing the author on Charlie Rose. I identify with his experiences and emotions as an adolescent. I see myself in him. I went through similar feelings, so reading about his difficulties struck a chord with me.

[Rotsevni]

Currently i'm reading All about asset allocation - Richard ferri,
Last 20 pages left

[ruralavalon]

Currently i'm reading All about asset allocation - Richard ferri,
Last 20 pages left

That is a very good choice for leaning about asset allocation issues. It's one of my favorite books about investing.

[Rotsevni]

Currently i'm reading All about asset allocation - Richard ferri,
Last 20 pages left

That is a very good choice for leaning about asset allocation issues. It's one of my favorite books about investing.

It's a great book for sure and it helped me a lot, before this book i read All about index funds and now im doubting to buy All you need to know about ETFs. However i'm wondering if there are some new things in it which I didn't read yet in the two previous books.

[nbseer]

"The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" by Haruki Murakami. Just discovered this author... although he's been around for a while. Amazing!

[ruralavalon]

Currently i'm reading All about asset allocation - Richard ferri,
Last 20 pages left

That is a very good choice for leaning about asset allocation issues. It's one of my favorite books about investing.

It's a great book for sure and it helped me a lot, before this book i read All about index funds and now im doubting to buy All you need to know about ETFs. However i'm wondering if there are some new things in it which I didn't read yet in the two previous books.

I don't know how useful the ETF book might be, I haven't read it and don't use ETFs.

[nisiprius]

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, by Lew Wallace... of all things. I'm finding it surprisingly engaging and readable and expect to finish it. Perhaps it's not so surprising. This was the first book to outsell Uncle Tom's Cabin; it remained the bestselling book of all time until it was eclipsed by Gone with the Wind in the 1930s--only to regain the lead over Gone with the Wind when the appearance of the 1959 movie led to a burst of new sales.

In a strange kind of way, it reminds me of writers like J. R. R. Tolkien and Guy Gavriel Kay: the very, very fully imagined depiction of an historically-based universe. Apparently Wallace did seriously intensive research in libraries in the U.S. but had never actually visited the Middle East.

In the book, it is Ben-Hur who drives the hub of his chariot into the wheel of Messala's, not the other way around! And it's no accident--in fact he has someone spy on Messala's chariot to verify that the two have hubs at different heights:

The axle, in keeping with the wheels, was tipped with heads of snarling tigers done in brass....

..."Can you not make its display an excuse which will enable you to find if it be light or heavy? I would like to have its exact weight and measurements--and, Malluch, though you fail in all else, bring me exactly the height his axle stands above the ground...."

...."from his report, its hub stands quite a palm higher from the ground than yours...."

....The thousands on the benches understood it all: they saw the signal given--the magnificent response; the four close outside Messala's outer wheel; Ben-Hur's inner wheel behind the other's car--all this they saw. Then they heard a crash loud enough to send a thrill through the Circus, and, quicker than thought, out over the course a spray of shining white and yellow flinders flew. Down on its right side toppled the bed of the Roman's chariot. There was a rebound as of the axle hitting the hard earth; another and another; then the car went to pieces; and Messala, entangled in the reins, pitched forward headlong.

[TimDex]

In terms of mystery series, I've found the C.J. Box series about a Wyoming game warden to be pretty well written. Tim

[gkaplan]

I just finished The English Spy by Daniel Silva.

"She is an iconic member of the British Royal Family, beloved for her beauty and charitable works, resented by her former husband and his mother, the Queen of England. When a bomb explodes aboard her holiday yacht, however, British intelligence turns to one man to track down her killer: legendary spy and assassin Gabriel Allon. Gabriel Allon is soon on the tail of Eamon Quinn, a master bomb maker and mercenary of death who sells his services to the highest bidder. Why would Quinn kill a member of the royal family, however, and draw unwanted attention to himself? Allon seeks the aid of Christopher Keller, a British commando turned professional assassin who knows Quinn's murderous handiwork all too well. The two are up against a cabal of evil with an intricate plan for revenge."

(Summary is a composite from various sources.)

With Chiara, the wife of Allon, having given birth to twins, and Allon, due to take over as chief of the Office, one wonders where this series is going next.

[TimDex]

Two recommendations. Ian Toll's Pacific Crucible is a very well written history of the Pacific war. I think I finally understood what the battle of coral sea was about, and how the code breakers at Pearl Harbor worked to set up the victory at midway.

Marc Morris has written some wonderful works on medieval England, on the Norman conquest and king Edward. His latest on King John and the Magna Carta is now available and I am really looking forward to it. I can recommend it without having even started it, based on just how good his two previous works were.

Tim