2018 50 Book Challenge

[California Dreamer]



8. What we talk about when we talk about love

A collection of Raymond Carver short stories that mainly are set in lower-middle class America. I don't really know what to make of these - I enjoyed, very much, reading the stories, and I particularly liked how inconclusive each one was. A few standouts stories were "So much water so close to home", "The Calm", and "Everything stuck to him" . The prose was quick, very subtle and incredibly sparse - made for a great variation of Murakami's more winding and whimsical stylings.

I couldn't help but feel that these stories would be better enjoyed with a group of people - each one I read I felt contained a lot to discuss, and I was unable to unpack many of them on my own. One quick example of this was the story "Tell the Women we're going" in which two characters decide to leave a family gathering to relax and one ends up killing two girls. The story was laden with meaning, but I wasn't sure exactly what. This reactino was indicative of how I felt about the collection - there was the promise of some extreme insight, but I'm not sure I was up to scruff.

Matt, do you know the Paul Kelly song Everything's Turning to White? It's based on So Much Water So Close to Home.

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]

Ok about to take the plunge with this

50 The Tournament by Matthew Reilly not an author I am familiar with or would normally read but it was Xmas gift and a good holiday read. A who dun-nit in the tradition of the Name of the Rose set within the Sultans palace as told by an ageing Queen Elizabeth to one of her handmaidens. A page turner which is well constructed and ties in certain topical events involving the Catholic Church. Not tempted to read any more of his after this.

As for Murakami The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore are by far my favourite of his books I have read.

Next 49 The Sleepwalkers How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark.

Also have biographies of George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Charlie Parker and by the bed 48 A Life Worth Living Albert Camus and the Quest for Meaning Robert Zaretsky

 

[noob in 89]



So does that count as two reads, or just one?

Two, definitely two. It felt like four.

I thought it might be really neat, helpful, maybe even synergistic as the commercials say, to go through the list and try grouping works by theme. That could be instructive, right? But this first one really bit me **********. They really were the same book.

Ok about to take the plunge with this

Sweet, I like the confidence your reverse-numbering system implies.

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[LonerMatt]

GF - what was the book on Camus like?

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]

Matt If you have read The Rebel and The Myth of Sisyphus then I would recommend it as it is a intellectual biography which examines the major themes in Camus work. Only read two chapters since Sunday night would like to find a good biography of Camus know of any?

47 Mindset The New Psychology of Success by Carol S Dweck PHD The author a leading figure in the motivational and personality fields of psychology has identified what she describes as two distinct mindsets. The Fixed, where the individual believes that everything in terms of ability is given at birth and we make the most of what we have got. The Growth takes the approach that we live we grow we develop our skill sets as we move through life. A quick read, read half of it on Monday should finish it tonight. For some reason the logic behind the argument reminded me of De Bono and his theory of Rock Logic and Water Logic. From my perspective I have picked up a few things for the toolbox. She is persuasive in her argument and it does makes sense more so if you believe and advocate Life Long Learning and the acquisition and development of personality and skill set.

 

[Steve B.]

12. Matagordo 1967 Louis L'Amour

A man rides into a Texas town to meet a friend from the Civil War. They plan to make money by driving cattle to Kansas.

Problem is the gentleman has walked into a full-blown feud. He becomes involved reluctantly.

Bad guys lose, good guys win, and our hero gets the girl.

 

[LonerMatt]

1. All Tomorrow's Parties
2. Undivided: Part 3
3. High Fidelity
4. Hard Boiled Wonderland at the End of the World
5. Polysyllabic Spree
6. Armageddon in Retrospect
7. South of the Border, West of the Sun
8. What we talk about when we talk about love
9. Norweigan Wood

9. Norweigan Wood

Loved Norweigan Wood. Very soulful, very interesting, very beautiful. I really enjoyed how it was basically a love story, but told without pretentiousness - the characters are matter-of-fact, their situations are simultaneously simple and complex, nothing is gained without something being lost. While there was a certain element of the dramatic (really, THAT many suicides?), I didn't really mind at all. As a story that's both coming-of-age, romantic, reflective and internally autobiographical (the main character reliving his past) it was incredibly deep, but delightfully accessible.

Almost as great as South of the Border, West of the Sun.

Some favourite lines:

"I don't want to talk to you," she said.
Her friend with glasses looked at me with eyes that said: she doesn't want to talk to you. Sorry.

We were like kids that grew up naked on a desert island. If we were hungry, we'd eat a banana; if we got lonely, we'd go to sleep in each others' arms. But that kind of thing doesn't last forever.

 

[klewless]

klewless book 3/50: The Last Dead Girl by Harry Dolan

This is the 3rd title in the David Loogan series. Set up as a prequel this tale develops the backstory for the main character, explaining who he is, and where he came from. For those not familiar with Mr. Dolan, his writing is fantastic, and almost feels noir in style. I highly recommend this series, he is getting better with age. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

 

[klewless]

klewless book 4/50: POINT & SHOOT by Duane Swierczynski

This is the 3rd book in the Charlie Hardie series. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to try and read a comic book as a novel, this is it. The series starts out strong, and the first 2 books are fast, enjoyable reads. This last one was just as rapidly paced, however lacked the conclusion that will satisfy most readers. This is probably a series that can be completed over a weekend or long flight, just make sure to read them in order.

 

[LonerMatt]

Matt If you have read The Rebel and The Myth of Sisyphus then I would recommend it as it is a intellectual biography which examines the major themes in Camus work. Only read two chapters since Sunday night would like to find a good biography of Camus know of any?

I've read the Rebel (or The Outsider, as my version is known) and The Plague, am familiar with Myth, but haven't read it. Might grab it, the autobiography yoou're talking about and some more Satre for my French philosophy kick in mid 2014.

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]



I've read the Rebel (or The Outsider, as my version is known) and The Plague, am familiar with Myth, but haven't read it. Might grab it, the autobiography yoou're talking about and some more Satre for my French philosophy kick in mid 2014.

Interesting never seen the Rebel titled as the Outsider which is actually the title of a short novel. Here is a link to a pdf of The Rebel http://www.lightforcenetwork.com/sites/default/files/Camus - The Rebel.pdf

Don't bother with Sartre in philosophical terms, he gets more across philosophically in the novels. However that said I would recommend The Transcendence of the Ego, ( i have to read it again this year) forget Being and Nothingness. If want to read French Philosophy send me a PM and there is some stimulating works I can recommend the issue is that you need to engage in discourse with someone to get the full benefit from reading it. By the way read Descartes Meditations?

 

[Journeyman]



Interesting never seen the Rebel titled as the Outsider which is actually the title of a short novel. Here is a link to a pdf of The Rebel http://www.lightforcenetwork.com/sites/default/files/Camus - The Rebel.pdf

Don't bother with Sartre in philosophical terms, he gets more across philosophically in the novels. However that said I would recommend The Transcendence of the Ego, ( i have to read it again this year) forget Being and Nothingness. If want to read French Philosophy send me a PM and there is some stimulating works I can recommend the issue is that you need to engage in discourse with someone to get the full benefit from reading it. By the way read Descartes Meditations?

I read "Being and Nothingness" at university and, whilst interesting, I found it to be fairly heavy going and it took me a few weeks to get through it (reading a bit, taking a break and reading something else, then going back to it again).

I did, however, enjoy reading Sartre's autobiographical work "Words".

As GF says, Sartre's "non-philosophical" works (ie novels or autobiographical works that are not overtly philosophical) still contain a lot of philosophy and clearly illustrate Sartre's worldview.

 

[LonerMatt]

Only Satre I've read is 'Existentialism is a humanism' - was thinking of grabbing 'Nausea' and having a go.

I'm able to read hello-kitty philosophy.

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]



Only Satre I've read is 'Existentialism is a humanism' - was thinking of grabbing 'Nausea' and having a go.

I'm able to read hello-kitty philosophy.

***** Philosophy? Sounds nice.

Nausea is one of my favourite books and its worth reading the Roads to Freedom trilogy.

 

[noob in 89]

Yeah, Nausea is like the one book that is rote philosophy without feeling like rote philosophy. Very sensuous and 3-D, unlike those long Russian novels where the characters are just ventriloquist's dummies or cardboard cut-outs standing in for Big Ideas. So....thumbs up for Sartre. A synchronized reading might be fun.

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