What Are You Reading?

[Pepper Young]

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling). It's a crime thriller. The way Rowling describes the main character, Cormoran Strike, I keep wondering how big his dick is.

[+ quoththeraven]

I got three books today

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Aventures_de_Télémaque

 

I have been looking forward to this book for awhile.

 

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The second book contains three works - "Utopia" by Thomas More and these two

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Atlantis

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Isle_of_Pines

 

I was familiar with "Utopia" but not the others.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

https://www.cokesbury.com/product/9781621642206/the-eighth-arrow/

 

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I'm expecting one more book. Several plays by Miguel Cervantes. Especially this one

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Siege_of_Numantia

Perhaps your reading should not be 100% stuck several centuries ago.

[+ quoththeraven]

I am reading the fourth mystery novel, Lethal White, in the Cormoran Strike detective series, by J.K. Rowling writing under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith. It has been a very entertaining read so far: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethal_White_(novel)

 

Review: https://www.dallasnews.com/arts/books/2018/10/02/jk-rowlings-er-robert-galbraiths-lethal-white-crime-novel-worthy-name

 

I am grateful that Rowling continues to write other works besides those set in the Potterverse, although I am looking forward to the release of the film sequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, in November!

 

TruHart1

Thanks for letting me know the fourth book is out. I like the Cormoran Strike series better than HP - not that I don't like HP.

[+ SundayZip]

Joe College by JPM 770. Be sure to start with Chapter 1.

 

http://jpm770.blogspot.com/

[Rod Hagen]

I'm rereading it to see if I still love it 40+ years after I last read it. So far so good.

 

I read Jude the Obscure for the first time a couple of years sgo. I have friends, including an English professor who has taught it, who have issues with it, and I agree that the writing isn't as stellar as Tess, but it's still a powerful piece. Now I understand why Hardy got such pushback for it that he abandoned novel writing for poetry.

 

I saw Polanski's adaptation of Tess when it came out. It was extraordinarily good, but not only is it not on Netflix, which is the only streaming service I have, I am not sure I have the stomach to watch it again considering Polanski's history. On the one hand, if seeing that he pay for drugging and raping a thirteen year old girl is important, the government should have done it long ago. And his victim is opposed to dragging him back to serve his sentence. On the other hand, industry defenses of him because of his artistry are disgusting and tone deaf, particularly now that #MeToo, which was created by a Black woman in 2006, has attained traction.

 

For some reason, that he had drugged his victim wasn't part of the narrative I read until recently. No one focused on it back then.

 

Getting back to the movie itself, when I saw it, someone roughly my age or younger (mid-20s) was openly scoffing at the storyline until I shushed him by telling him premarital sex was a big deal back then. While it's clear in the final version of the novel that Tess was raped, if I remember correctly it's not as clear in the film. That would be another reason not to rewatch Polanski's adaptation. Did he make that choice because of his own experiences?

 

Tess is on Netflix DVDs: https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Tess/60010978

You can watch it again. Polanski's victim has said multiple times she didn't feel like a victim then, and she doesn't consider herself a victim, then, now, and he was not the first person to have sex with her, and that if the culture needs her to forgive him, she does.. The slaves likely never forgave the Egyptians, yet we still appreciate the Pyramids. Bad people can make beautiful things. Norman Mailer was a terrible misogynist, and his books are remarkable. John Updike was no fan of the gays, and his short stories are divine.

 

I read Jude the Obscure for the first time last summer. I liked it a lot. And it also made me sad for nearly all men, gay and straight. I noticed in an episode of LOUIE where Louie CK tried very hard to stand his ground against a very entitled millenial. He was doing well (this is the episode where the young woman owned a kitchen store in Manhattan), but eventually he caved in, and her being young (and therefore attractive) had so much to do with his pussiness.

 

So my point: Hardy, and most other straight men, and most gay men, give young folks undue aderation due to their being young. And I don't fucking get it. Adoration should be earned. If I'm not mistaken, the main character in Jude the Obscure was obsessed with this woman, though I don't remember her being particularly interesting or engaging.

 

I know what everyone takes away from the book is the horrible section of the dead kids, but for me, the take away is that Thom Hardy, and nearly all men are, when it comes to youth, as Louie CK.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Rod Hagen

[+ quoththeraven]

Tess is on Netflix DVDs: https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Tess/60010978

You can watch it again. Polanski's victim has said multiple times she didn't feel like a victim then, and she doesn't consider herself a victim, then, now, and he was not the first person to have sex with her, and that if he culture needs her to forgive him, she does.. The slaves likely never forgave the Egyptians, yet we still appreciate the Pyramids. Bad people can make beautiful things. Norman Mailer was a terrible misogynist, and his books are remarkable. John Updike was no fan of the gays, and his short stories are divine.

 

I read Jude the Obscure for the first time last summer. I liked it a lot. And it also made me sad for nearly all men, gay and straight. I noticed in an episode of LOUIE where Louie CK tried very hard to stand his ground against a very entitled millenial. He was doing well (this is the episode where the young woman owned a kitchen store in Manhattan), but eventually he caved in, and her being young (and therefore attractive) had so much to do with his pussiness.

 

So my point: Hardy, and most other straight men, and most gay men, give young folks undue aderation due to their being young. And I don't fucking get it. Adoration should be earned. If I'm not mistaken, the main character in Jude the Obscure was obsessed with this woman, though I don't remember her being particularly interesting or engaging.

 

I know what everyone takes away from the book is the horrible section of the dead kids, but for me, the take away is that Thom Hardy, and nearly all men, are when it comes to youth as Louie CK.

I know some of what you say about Polanski's victim, but my ability to enjoy the movie has more to do with my feelings about Polanski and the material, and not only am I as a woman fed up with male entitlement around this issue, I did not know until recently that he drugged her, which I consider reprehensible and rape even though she doesn't. I would be the one watching, not her.

 

Nevertheless, Nastassia Kinski will always for me be the ultimate embodiment of Tess.

 

I think you're referring to Sue Bridehead. My friend who teaches Jude the Obscure (though this year she's teaching Tess instead) can't stand her. I didn't get the same impression of her as you did; I felt her moral certainty, intellectualism and embrace of the unconventional were what attracted Jude. But I found Jude's wife (Arabella, I think?) fascinating. She's both awful and impressive, and she goes through life getting a lot more of what she wants than Jude or Sue do.

[BroadwayDave]

Highly recommend “The Golem and the Jinni” by Helene Wecker and “Memnoch the Devil” by Anne Rice, two wonderful books I’ve read this year. Also read Ron Chernow’s “Alexander Hamilton” before I saw the show back in July. Currently working on the 2nd book of Ken Follett’s Century Trilogy, “Winter of the World”.

[+ Avalon]

Highly recommend “The Golem and the Jinni” by Helene Wecker.

 

Looks interesting!

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golem_and_the_Jinni

[BroadwayDave]

Looks interesting!

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golem_and_the_Jinni

 

It’s a truly lovely book, and a great read. Love the ending. It makes you smile.

[Rod Hagen]

I know some of what you say about Polanski's victim, but my ability to enjoy the movie has more to do with my feelings about Polanski and the material, and not only am I as a woman fed up with male entitlement around this issue, I did not know until recently that he drugged her, which I consider reprehensible and rape even though she doesn't. I would be the one watching, not her.

 

Nevertheless, Nastassia Kinski will always for me be the ultimate embodiment of Tess.

 

I think you're referring to Sue Bridehead. My friend who teaches Jude the Obscure (though this year she's teaching Tess instead) can't stand her. I didn't get the same impression of her as you did; I felt her moral certainty, intellectualism and embrace of the unconventional were what attracted Jude. But I found Jude's wife (Arabella, I think?) fascinating. She's both awful and impressive, and she goes through life getting a lot more of what she wants than Jude or Sue do.

 

Maybe my understanding is off. I thought they took drugs consenually as much as a 13 year old can take drugs consensually. Did Polanski in fact slip her a micki as they used to say? That's awful. I did not know that, or I conveniently forgot it.

 

I don't remember books afterward like I used to. I do remember finding Arabella compelling. Oh dear, I don't remember well enough why this book made me think men too often allow their dicks to be their ultimate compass, only that I did.

[+ quoththeraven]

Maybe my understanding is off. I thought they took drugs consenually as much as a 13 year old can take drugs consensually. Did Polanski in fact slip her a micki as they used to say? That's awful. I did not know that, or I conveniently forgot it.

 

I don't remember books afterward like I used to. I do remember finding Arabella compelling. Oh dear, I don't remember well enough why this book made me think men too often allow their dicks to be their ultimate compass, only that I did.

No, my understanding is he slipped her something to make her unconscious.

 

Now that I think about it, Arabella, not Sue, was probably the one Jude thought with his dick over, which is how they wound up married. Arabella conforms to a lot of the worst stereotypes about women and their fickleness, yet Hardy shows how society encourages such behavior as a way to protect herself in a moralistic, patriarchal world.

[keefer]

I live quite a distance from my elderly mom (Arizona to London) - she inspired my love of reading and libraries and bookstores from an early age, and she's still a voracious reader... thus I'm a frequent recipient of the random book of the week club... two of the best I've read this year were:

• Lincoln's last trial - Dan Abrams
  
• Fascism, a warning - Madeleine Albright
  

and I'm currently sleeping my way through Sapiens (a brief history of humankind)...

[+ Avalon]

I live quite a distance from my elderly mom (Arizona to London) - she inspired my love of reading and libraries and bookstores from an early age, and she's still a voracious reader... thus I'm a frequent recipient of the random book of the week club... two of the best I've read this year were:

• Lincoln's last trial - Dan Abrams
  
• Fascism, a warning - Madeleine Albright
  

and I'm currently sleeping my way through Sapiens (a brief history of humankind)...

 

http://www.dan-abrams.com/lincolns-last-trial/

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapiens:_A_Brief_History_of_Humankind

 

Looks interesting.

Edited October 14, 2018 by Avalon

[+ g56whiz]

I'm currently sleeping my way through Sapiens (a brief history of humankind)...

I switched to Audible.com. That way I don’t wake up when the book drops out of my grip.

[+ Avalon]

I switched to Audible.com. That way I don’t wake up when the book drops out of my grip.

 

I don't like audio books. I can read alot faster. I had this friend who was big into audio books. So came by and set Suetonius "The Twelve Caesars". I have read it several times. So he left to do errands. When he returned it was still on Caesar.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Caesars

[+ FreshFluff]

Life Magazine from mid-1940s

https://books.google.com/books/about/LIFE.html?id=R1cEAAAAMBAJ

[+ Avalon]

Life Magazine from mid-1940s

https://books.google.com/books/about/LIFE.html?id=R1cEAAAAMBAJ

 

When I was a boy my paternal grandmother with whom I spent the Summers with kept old issues of the National Geographic under her bed for late night reading.

[+ g56whiz]

When I was a boy my paternal grandmother with whom I spent the Summers with kept old issues of the National Geographic under her bed for late night reading.

Likely story. She was more likely getting off on pics of those half nude African warriors dancing round in a circle.

[+ Avalon]

Likely story. She was more likely getting off on pics of those half nude African warriors dancing round in a circle.