What are you reading? - Page 6

His Excellency: George Washington

Joseph Ellis

Any good? I've been meaning to read this.

Dogs of Winter, Kem Nunn
Against the Day, Thomas Pynchon

Recently finished (and enjoyed):
Absurdistan, Gary Sheytngart
The Confession, Olen Steinhauer

Very. I just finished "Founding Brothers" which was also exceptional.

Just finished The Sun Also Rises for the first. Made me want to move to Europe.

Presently, I'm about 60 pages deep in 1984.

I read so little long-form stuff now (i.e., not political news magazines or sites); it's truly pathetic, espec for a guy who once had some ridiculous romantic notion of becoming a novelist.

Anyway, I feel like I still have some work to do as far as the classics are concerned, so Death in Venice and To the Finland Station have been living at the side of my bed receving far too little attention for far too long. The former is only a novella, and I still haven't finished the goddman thing...

Honestly, don't bother with the other unless you have a good reason. Sappy caricature of Hemingway, compared to his great works. Agreed on The Sun Also Rises--and I did move to Europe

Middlemarch. It's outstanding. I had to read two lesser Eliot books in grad school, and they were so lame I gave her up. But this book is great.

Agreed. Pointless free-associative ancecdote:
12-13 years ago I was interviewing with one of my now partners for a position as an associate with the firm. Perusing my resume, she noted that I'd been an English major.
She: "You've read Middlemarch, of course?"
Me: "Of course."
She: "And you loved it, of course?" (In the biz, we refer to this as a "leading question").
Me: "Of course."
The rest, as they say, is history.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Quite an interesting read, I had not realized that Malcolm X grew up not far from my family homestead in Michigan.

I am firmly of the opinion that this is one of the top 5 books ever written by humankind. I first read it my senior year in high school and have tried to read it every spring since. Some years I never got around to it, but I still have a pretty good record over these last 17 years.

b

I think I'm on record on these forums as having said this before, but I +1 all the praise for The Sun Also Rises.

Makes me want to chill some wine in a cool stream, fishing on a clear day. Except I'll probably never do that. Miller High Life and tuna melts it is! Edit: Reading Zadie Smith, "On Beauty." Maybe trying a little too hard, but she draws a good character. Also recently read "What Is the What" by Dave Eggers. Eggers can be a jerk, but this is very good.