What are you reading?

I still correspond with a teacher from way back in high school (an e-mail or two every few weeks). He's a prolific reader and gave Fallada's "Every Man Dies Alone" an emphatically positive review. It's been on my list for months so maybe I'll bump it to the top. How is it?

Just picked up: and (Required reading, I know. It's been on my "to read" list for a year now) I can't decide which to start first.

fuuu. i took me 4 hours to read the first 25 some pages of ulysses with the annotations and all. going over the summary and analysis right now, i realize how much stuff i missed. i should reread without annotations this time. i think i get most the references.

i really like the book so far. the imagery is vivid and beautiful and i love how physical characteristics are expressed as emotions. like the grey points of anxiety in his eyes. i loved how mulligan referred to God as the collector of pupices. so much stuff in this novel.

i do feel that joyce is laughing to his grave. i can imagine him writing his novel with malicious intent to make fun of his readers. almost selfishlike. like all he cares about are the things that are concerned with him and the readers are just along for the ride whether or not they understand whatever it is he is talking about. cracked looking glass of a genius is correct

Dream of the Red Chamber, with ample annotations. Hopefully I can get past the first 10 chapters.

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Werewolves in their Youth Michael Chabon

I'm on a short story kick

Torture Garden- Octave Mirbeau

^ awesome

Just finished "Ahab's Wife", by Sena Naslund, and am starting "In the Heart of the Sea: the Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex" by Nathaniel Philbrick. In case it doesn't show, Moby Dick is one of my absolute favorite books.

war&peace... this is going to take a while....

Originally Posted by Strombollii

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I'm on a short story kick

I urge you to check out Steps by Jerzy Kosinski. It's the best book of short stories I've ever read. Marginally better than Kafka.

Just finished The Plague by Albert Camus. Great read. About to start Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.

Originally Posted by Strombollii

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Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Werewolves in their Youth Michael Chabon

I'm on a short story kick

Might I suggest Andre Dubus' short stories?

and

Originally Posted by indesertum

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fuuu. i took me 4 hours to read the first 25 some pages of ulysses with the annotations and all. going over the summary and analysis right now, i realize how much stuff i missed. i should reread without annotations this time. i think i get most the references.

i really like the book so far. the imagery is vivid and beautiful and i love how physical characteristics are expressed as emotions. like the grey points of anxiety in his eyes. i loved how mulligan referred to God as the collector of pupices. so much stuff in this novel.

i do feel that joyce is laughing to his grave. i can imagine him writing his novel with malicious intent to make fun of his readers. almost selfishlike. like all he cares about are the things that are concerned with him and the readers are just along for the ride whether or not they understand whatever it is he is talking about. cracked looking glass of a genius is correct

Sounds like a pretty good analysis. And my recommendation, for whatever it's worth, is that you absolutely should read it through without the annotations. You can always go back and check out the annotations later, but if you're constantly interrupting the narrative flow to check the annotations you're significantly changing the reading experience.

Originally Posted by johnapril

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Might I suggest Andre Dubus' short stories?

Seconded, and I'd add Raymond Carver to the list.