My interpretation, and this might be from the movie more than the book, I can't remember, is that they were choosing novels, as opposed to important non-fiction works.

So it's more, in my opinion, what fiction novel are you passionate enough about to carry on when all others are lost.

Book #43 of 2008:

I finished reading Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. First impression on reading the play is that I'm really glad I saw the movie beforehand. The reading of it, as with many plays, falls sort of flat for me. So much of the humor in it would be in the tone and physical responses of the characters, and all of that is lost in the reading.

It's still a fantastic play, though. I absolutely love some of the humor of the two characters. I can't decide what exactly they're portraying, but I get some sort of innocent ten year old with Alzheimer's. It's so weird. They're fascinating characters that talk about a variety of topics, some of which are also fascinating, and others are not (though the characters are sure engaged).

I really don't know what to write on it, because I feel like others in The Lounge could write more useful reviews to try and recommend it for someone. I'll just say that I love Hamlet, struggle with postmodern fiction (which this has elements of), and enjoyed R&G Are Dead a lot.

5*/5.

Next Up: The Fall by Albert Camus. I've read the Stranger and own The Plague. Against better judgment (because Plague was written first), I'm reading The Fall first because it's shorter.

The Fall is awesome.

I'm going to take your lack of words as an indication that I'm in for something special.

Jackie I admit defeat and solemnly resign. You are too much for me

Of course F451 is on my list, the question is where. I don't have a definitive list but I'm guessing it's around spot 30 maybe even lower down. I don't have a good reason for that tho :-\

This is a loaded question, I can think of so many answers.

My first instinct is to pick is a book that many people on this forum would probably prefer if it really bacame extinct: The Old Testament in Hebrew.

Another good choice is the one and only Shakespeare. Probably Hamlet, maybe King Lear.

It's deceptively simple, like some of the best insights.

Ah, Camus. The Fall is great. I enjoyed Exile and the Kingdom like nothing else. Short stories, but it looks like you have enough of him for now. The Plague is probably my favourite novel by him.

I have The Fall, La Chute, in French too. How pretentious is that? :P

Resignation accepted!


So what is your answer?

I'll go with my first instinct.

I decided to leave it on my coffee table. My Hebrew could use some practice.

Mine actually might be a book of Yeats or something like that.

You sound a bit farblonjet to me. Perhaps you should memorize Leo Rosten's The Joys of Yiddish.

lol why do i sound farblonjet?

I have a couple of books on Yiddish phrases.

I'm fluent in Hebrew but I just don't read it enough anymore.

I have looked at this one and am interested in it. I have a lot of books on my plate though, and may look at some of the ones on your new list when I do purchase new ones.

Actually, I want to sink my teeth into McCarthy's Border Trilogy early 2009. I've read Blood Meridian, No Country for Old Men, and The Road and liked them all.

Still, I'm sure I will read "Under the Banner of Heaven" sometimes in 2009.

For those whose read "5 people you meet in Heaven" or "Tuesday with Morrie", I just found a book 'for one more time' by Mitch Album. Amazing.

I apologize for the extreme ignorance of the following question, but why does one become fluent in Hebrew? (or at least, in your case?)

I'll grant you that Hebrew is pretty useless.

In my case it wasn't by choice, I was born in Israel. If I were born somewhere else, and even if I wanted to achieve fluency in a few foreign languages, I doubt learning Hebrew would be one of my top choices.

If I could pick 10 it would be Spanish, French, Mandarin, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Vietnamese (random I know, it's for a silly reason), Arabic, and German.

Obviously, as I'm sure you're aware, there are many reasons to learn another language. But, as you pointed out, one can choose more useful languages to master.

Although from what I've read about polyglots who speak 10 or more languages, I'm pretty sure all of them knew Hebrew as well.

Just finished Outliers yesterday. Easy but engaging read that I thoroughly enjoyed. Leaves a lot of room for some deeper thought about its content but also can be read out of sheer interest and/or for entertainment. I'll probably reread it soon for more of the former.

Also reading Better about improving the medical profession, seems okay so far, though maybe a little repetitive since I hear this sort of stuff every day in school.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is holding my attention quite well. Michael Chabon can be both hilarious and heartbreaking without letting you know that he has made the transition from one to the other.

Also rereading The Black Swan to try to get a more thorough understanding of it and pick up on some stuff I undoubtedly missed the crux of on the first time through. This is a book I would recommend to anyone.

Would you recommend A Song of Ice and Fire to someone who has never really read any fantasy books and doesn't have too much interest in the genre?

Women?

Thanks for the reply. That was sort of my thinking, in terms of why someone would choose that of all languages, given how it seems of limited use in America (assuming you're in America now and not still in Europe, where I have no idea how prevalent it is).

Of course, being born in Israel probably explains it better than anything else.

To be honest the first book isn't all that fantasy-heavy. It's more of a medieval knights and swords story with some lore thrown in. To be fair as the books continue there is more and more "magic" thrown in there, but that sort of thing isn't what makes the books great IMO.

The plot is almost solely character-driven; each chapter focuses on a specific character and is told from their perspective. There's lots of scheming and treachery, some forbidden romance, and loads of storytelling within the book that gives you a better idea about how the characters' pasts have shaped them.

I haven't really read much fantasy; I'm a huge LotR fan but besides that my scope is fairly limited. If I were you I'd get hold of the first book and give it a try. You should know within the first few hundred pages whether its for you or not.

Stephen Colbert's- I am America(and so can you). Just started it and it is really goot. It is even better if you are familiar with Colbert and can picture him saying everything.

Highly recommend this book. I give it two thumbs in

Had a little more free time lately so I've been trying to power through as much of my reading list as possible, also stopped and picked up a few new ones.

Just finished Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. So...I got about 100 pages into it before I realized that its kind of a book for teenage girls? Not entirely sure, but it was...really good? I'm not sure if I'm embarrassed to enjoy it or not, but it was very good. I'm a sucker for future dystopia type books, and this one was right up my alley. I cant say as I've read many female coming of age books, so it was interesting although it was subtle. I'd honestly recommend it, LOL.

Also occurred to me the other day that, despite LOVING Encyclopedia Brown books when I was a kid, and any sort of book or movie or show to that effect, I've gone my entire life without ever reading a Sherlock Holmes story. Well, time to remedy that. Went out and book the Complete Works Vol. 1, and have so far read Study in Scarlet and Sign of Four. It isnt exactly what I expected. I assumed it would be more...interactive? Like, I would read along and try to figure it out, and then feel stupid because I missed the clues. Instead, the clues arent really given to you, at least not enough for you to "solve" the mystery ahead of time. And, coupled with the preface about Doyle's life and works, the entire story sort of reads like a superficial gimmick to write a non-fiction history book that someone might actually read. He uses the characters to illuminate cultures and events. Apparently, Doyle HATED the Holmes stories and thought of them as low-brow and crass, and what he would rather do is write proper scholarly work.

What redeems the books, in my view, is how damn CLEVER they are. To make the obvious analogy, its like House. The plots arent that engaging, you know whats going to happen and you dont really care that much, but the characters are just so engaging and well-done and the dialogue is so sharp and amusing that you plod through yet another formulaic "mystery."

Also picked up and have just barely started Stuff of Thought by Pinker, sort of the third in his loose trilogy about language and semantics. Havent read enough to have much opinion on it yet, but I loved Blank Slate and How the Mind Works, so I'm optimistic.

Oh yeah and I also have read just over half of Malcolm Gladwell's new book Outliers. I've read Blink and Tipping Point, but I guess I never realized before how much of a...hack?...Gladwell is. It is readily apparent that his background is in science JOURNALISM, and not in science. His use of statistics is somewhat embarrassing and he makes fallacy after fallacy in order to get his conclusions to come out right. Nonetheless, as always he does a good job of getting me thinking about things I've never even considered before, even if I cant agree with many of them. Its an interesting read...and short. Dont buy it, 30 bucks is way too much to spend on a book you can read in 3 hours.

Absolutely, its a GREAT choice especially for someone who isnt really into fantasy. As opposed to something like Wheel of Time, for example, which you might have a difficult time getting into.

Did you ever read Complications? I enjoyed that (I'm in medical school as well) and I've heard Better is...well, better, but I havent picked it up yet.

Find a book you REALLY want to read. Something you are super excited about. Go out and buy it. Then start reading The Stand by Stephen King first.