Books: What are you reading tonight? - Page 252 - The Lounge Discussion and Review on Literature, Arts, Culture

jontsef · 04-23-2010, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMa

I edited!

If the idea is to capture their bad grammar in an oral conversation there are so many better ways than of/'ve. Oh well.

It's important to remember that he also wants the conversation to flow well. I can't really think of a better spot to use bad grammar, mainly because of the reason that is sounds similar to correct usage.
Two birds with one stone.

Malcolm X · 04-24-2010, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dominic

Malcolm, Bonfire of the Vanities is by Wolfe, In Cold Blood by Capote...they are not written by the same author...or did you not mean to suggest they were?

sorry, i didn't mean to suggest they were. i'd quite like to read some more Wolfe but i've never been suggested any of his other stuff. After watching Capote I have to say I'm pretty excited about In Cold Blood.

emmemere · 04-24-2010, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vhawk01

Give Phantoms in the Brain a try, or if you dont want to invest the time, watch VS Ramachandran's TED video "On Your Mind", he goes over a couple of the cases that he talks about in the book.

I actually watched a lot of the video's of his cases in my cognitive neuropsych course and found them really interesting.

jontsef · 04-24-2010, 05:13 PM

Hey emme, you might like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, by the same author of PP&Z.
I remember you're into serial killers, or maybe just reading about them

RussellinToronto · 04-24-2010, 06:02 PM

I just got a PM from a student who wanted me to answer some questions on a book I'd recommended on this list because he has an essay to write. I told him he'd have to do his own homework -- but it left me curious: has this happened to others? Did he (Todd) solicit others?

Blarg · 04-24-2010, 06:25 PM

I don't know who Todd is, but I've been PM'd that way before. Not for a while though.

Bostaevski · 04-24-2010, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMa

Finished Steinbeck's Cannery Row just now. Easy but not all that interesting read though.

Anyway, in one of the conversations towards the end John wrote "I should of..." instead of "I should have". I don't really get this. I realize that they both sound alike, but since they sound alike, why would you write the wrong form?

I rather liked Cannery Row. Also liked Tortilla Flat which takes place in the same era and town as Cannery Row. I have the Grapes of Wrath staring at me next to the bed but haven't cracked it yet. Can't decide if it should be my next book or if I should go with Moby Dick.

MarkD · 04-25-2010, 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bostaevski

I rather liked Cannery Row. Also liked Tortilla Flat which takes place in the same era and town as Cannery Row. I have the Grapes of Wrath staring at me next to the bed but haven't cracked it yet. Can't decide if it should be my next book or if I should go with Moby Dick.

Grapes of Wrath, and it's not even close. I liked Grapes and disliked Moby... I mean, unless you are really really curious about whale anatomy.

SnotBoogy · 04-25-2010, 12:55 AM

I'm not going to rec the entire book cuz its damn near 1000 pages, but everyone should read the intro chapter to Underworld by Don Delillo. Classic historical fiction about the shot heard round the world. Excellent bit. You could probably read it in a bookstore in 30 min.

"On the fiftieth anniversary of "The Shot Heard Round the World," Don DeLillo reassembles in fiction the larger-than-life characters who on October 3, 1951, witnessed Bobby Thomson's pennant-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Jackie Gleason is razzing Toots Shor in Leo Durocher's box seats; J. Edgar Hoover, basking in Sinatra's celebrity, is about to be told that the Russians have tested an atomic bomb; and Russ Hodges, raw-throated and excitable, announces the game -- the Giants and the Dodgers at the Polo Grounds in New York. DeLillo's transcendent account of one of the iconic events of the twentieth century is a masterpiece of American sportswriting."

SoloAJ · 04-25-2010, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkD

Grapes of Wrath, and it's not even close. I liked Grapes and disliked Moby... I mean, unless you are really really curious about whale anatomy.

and knots. There's a lengthy chapter devoted to types of knots.

I loved Moby for what it's worth.

emmemere · 04-25-2010, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jontsef

Hey emme, you might like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, by the same author of PP&Z.
I remember you're into serial killers, or maybe just reading about them

I'll add that to my to-read list. i just took out 2 books from the library, Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet and The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

jontsef · 04-25-2010, 11:59 PM

Tammet is a very interesting case. I remember the documentary about him where he met fellow megasavant Kim Peak (the inspiration for the movie Rain Man).

RussellinToronto · 04-26-2010, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnotBoogy

I'm not going to rec the entire book cuz its damn near 1000 pages, but everyone should read the intro chapter to Underworld by Don Delillo. Classic historical fiction about the shot heard round the world. Excellent bit. You could probably read it in a bookstore in 30 min.

"On the fiftieth anniversary of "The Shot Heard Round the World," Don DeLillo reassembles in fiction the larger-than-life characters who on October 3, 1951, witnessed Bobby Thomson's pennant-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Jackie Gleason is razzing Toots Shor in Leo Durocher's box seats; J. Edgar Hoover, basking in Sinatra's celebrity, is about to be told that the Russians have tested an atomic bomb; and Russ Hodges, raw-throated and excitable, announces the game -- the Giants and the Dodgers at the Polo Grounds in New York. DeLillo's transcendent account of one of the iconic events of the twentieth century is a masterpiece of American sportswriting."

I read this opening when it was published as a stand-alone piece in Esquire as "Pafko at the Wall" and thought it was terrific (but that piece would take longer than 30 mins to read). I've long intended to read the whole of Underworld, but haven't yet made time for it ...

DanHartGWS · 04-26-2010, 01:52 AM

Currently reading

Pride and Prejudice
Harrington on Cash v1
Special Topics in Calamity Physics

Loce · 04-26-2010, 02:51 AM

While I was waiting for "Shutter Island" to arrive (damn volano, btw...) I started reading the Stu Ungar biography "One of a kind" for a second time. Very good read. I can highly recommend it.