2018 50 Book Challenge

clockwise · Jun 3, 2013

California Dreamer said:
That's on the list? I reviewed it a while ago; I didn't think it was anything special.

I basically agree. Good book in its own right but one of the 1001 you must read before your die? No bloody way.

Steve B. · Jun 5, 2013

THE LIST is so subjective. I shudder to think how many times it will change before I finish. Given its vagaries I probably never will.

I'm hoping the 3000 pg ones are dropped.

California Dreamer · Jun 5, 2013

Steve B. said:
THE LIST is so subjective. I shudder to think how many times it will change before I finish. Given its vagaries I probably never will.

I'm hoping the 3000 pg ones are dropped.

You need them so that the workout you get from carrying them around will give you more time to read the rest before you die.

California Dreamer · Jun 5, 2013

Jerome said:
I should maybe get in to this. So no scientific and technical manuals or anything for 'work' (in my case obscure occult and humanistic literature, myth and art). That's difficult but since I have the ability to acquire any book's content by sheer osmosis alone it oughtn't be a problem. Haven't read too many belle-lettristic works this year though. Let's see:

1) recently Donna Tartt: The Secret History

2) another one: Hodgson: The House on the Borderland

3) Machen: The Secret Glory

That's all I can remember for now....

Am planning to peruse another of the Wodehouse novels though, my second one: Carry On, Jeeves- so that'd be no. 4!

Welcome Jerome. I'm a big Wodehouse fan, been reading him ever since I was a teenager. Lots of fun to be had there.

clockwise · Jun 6, 2013

Clockwise counting 57/50: Stieg Trenter - The Golden Goose (1964)

A good crime novel from the latter stage of Trenter's production. His earlier novels are usually superior to the later ones but his standard is overall high and it is no surprise that he is viewed as the old grandmaster of Swedish crime fiction.

A female pop singer makes her comeback backed by a group of financiers. She is soon after her comeback found murdered and several surprising life insurances with unlikely beneficiaries are discovered. The members of the finance group are all suspects. Famous photographer Harry Friberg and the head of the Stockholm police homicide squad, the annoying but entertaining Vesper Johnson, solve the crime by unorthodox means. Fabulous entertainment!

I aim to reach 60 by the end of the 6th month. My target for the year is 100 and I hope to add quite a few from the 1001 list as well. My strategic plan in order to achieve this is to avoid the books aKula is reading, not drink more than one bottle of red per day and buy a robot lawn mower. If it works well I may relax the wine rule by early autumn / late-midish summer.

clockwise · Jun 6, 2013

California Dreamer said:
Welcome Jerome. I'm a big Wodehouse fan, been reading him ever since I was a teenager. Lots of fun to be had there.

I read a few Jeeves books as a teenager (which was not yesterday) and really enjoyed them. May give Wodehouse a new shot. Thanks for the tip Jerome and Kali Dreamer.

clockwise · Jun 6, 2013

California Dreamer said:
You need them so that the workout you get from carrying them around will give you more time to read the rest before you die.

Reading faster or dying later, which is the more intelligent approach?

I would personally aim to do no less than 501 of the 1001 before I die. Many choices are questionable but you can easily chose half of the books from that list and achieve damn good and important reading. The list is in my view an interesting guideline for "great literature", some heavy stuff and a lot of lighter but nevertheless worthwhile reading.

I also hope to stay one step ahead of Steve B on my LIST percentage score as long as possible. I have a competitive streak but can't beat him on numbers of books read in a year unless I want to invite a nasty divorce. This thread is dangerous for addictive personalities.

Steve B. · Jun 6, 2013

clockwise said:
Clockwise counting 57/50: Stieg Trenter - The Golden Goose (1964)

A good crime novel from the latter stage of Trenter's production. His earlier novels are usually superior to the later ones but his standard is overall high and it is no surprise that he is viewed as the old grandmaster of Swedish crime fiction.

A female pop singer makes her comeback backed by a group of financiers. She is soon after her comeback found murdered and several surprising life insurances with unlikely beneficiaries are discovered. The members of the finance group are all suspects. Famous photographer Harry Friberg and the head of the Stockholm police homicide squad, the annoying but entertaining Vesper Johnson, solve the crime by unorthodox means. Fabulous entertainment!

I aim to reach 60 by the end of the 6th month. My target for the year is 100 and I hope to add quite a few from the 1001 list as well. My strategic plan in order to achieve this is to avoid the books aKula is reading, not drink more than one bottle of red per day and buy a robot lawn mower. If it works well I may relax the wine rule by early autumn / late-midish summer.

clockwise said:
I read a few Jeeves books as a teenager (which was not yesterday) and really enjoyed them. May give Wodehouse a new shot. Thanks for the tip Jerome and Kali Dreamer.

Read them all. I come from a reading family.

clockwise said:
Reading faster or dying later, which is the more intelligent approach?

I would personally aim to do no less than 501 of the 1001 before I die. Many choices are questionable but you can easily chose half of the books from that list and achieve damn good and important reading. The list is in my view an interesting guideline for "great literature", some heavy stuff and a lot of lighter but nevertheless worthwhile reading.

I also hope to stay one step ahead of Steve B on my LIST percentage score as long as possible. I have a competitive streak but can't beat him on numbers of books read in a year unless I want to invite a nasty divorce. This thread is dangerous for addictive personalities.

I have ridden myself hard, and put myself away when wet. No time like the present.

California Dreamer · Jun 7, 2013

clockwise said:
Clockwise counting 57/50: Stieg Trenter - The Golden Goose (1964)

A good crime novel from the latter stage of Trenter's production. His earlier novels are usually superior to the later ones but his standard is overall high and it is no surprise that he is viewed as the old grandmaster of Swedish crime fiction.

A female pop singer makes her comeback backed by a group of financiers. She is soon after her comeback found murdered and several surprising life insurances with unlikely beneficiaries are discovered. The members of the finance group are all suspects. Famous photographer Harry Friberg and the head of the Stockholm police homicide squad, the annoying but entertaining Vesper Johnson, solve the crime by unorthodox means. Fabulous entertainment!.

These sound really good. I wish somebody would translate them.

Are there any film or TV versions around?

California Dreamer · Jun 7, 2013

28. The Tiger's Wife, by Tea Obreht (2011)

Natalia is a doctor working in the war-riven former Yugoslavia when the news comes that her grandfather has disappeared. The book recounts Natalia's memories of her grandfather, especially the two stories he told her: that of the tiger's wife, a young Islamic woman living in his Christian village, who was thought to have fallen pregnant to a tiger roaming the nearby hills, and that of the deathless man, whom he encountered repeatedly through his adult life. As Natalia dwells on these stories, she comes to grips with the fate of her grandfather.

Obreht uses these two motifs to highlight the indiscriminate deaths of wartime and the sectarian resentments that led up to the war. It's original and beautifully written, and you can see why it won literary awards like the Orange Prize, but it simply lacks the spark to engage the reader until the very end, as she approaches her resolution.

clockwise · Jun 7, 2013

California Dreamer said:
These sound really good. I wish somebody would translate them.

Are there any film or TV versions around?

Swedish Television made a number of movies based on Stieg Trenter's novels in the 1980s. They are available on DVD from Swedish web shops but unfortunately no foreign language subtitles. I haven't seen any of them but heard they are decent adaptations. It is strange that no one has translated and published Trenter's books in English, especially considering the recent trend with best selling Swedish crime from Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell and others. I am sure the long series of Trenter books (28 in total) could easily become cult classics for an international audience.

Steve B. · Jun 7, 2013

My favorite Swede is a Muppet. Or was, till I met Lee Marvin here.

clockwise · Jun 8, 2013

Steve B. said:
My favorite Swede is a Muppet. Or was, till I met Lee Marvin here.

clockwise · Jun 8, 2013

Clockwise counting 58/50: Cornell Woolrich - I Married a Dead Man (1948)

Psychological thriller about identity theft and murder. A young pregnant woman is in a train crash and gets mistaken for someone else, she is suddenly transferred from poverty and misery to wealth and the possibility of happiness. Deceptions and murder follow. Very good entertainment, my first Woolrich but I intend to read more.

clockwise · Jun 9, 2013

Clockwise counting 59/50: Charles Willeford - Pick-Up (1955)

Two depressive down-and-out San Francisco alcoholics fall in love, engage in heavy drinking, love-making and a suicide pact. It is a depressive but fascinating story and I really liked it. The final two lines of the novel makes you completely rethink everything you have just read. Brilliant!

2018 50 Book Challenge

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