What's The Last Book You Read?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,508]

(based on the Kate Bush song) 

[bruce marshall 1,315]

They didn't publish books like this when I was in grade school!

[bruce marshall 1,315]

I just compared the number of views and posts for this reading thread  compared to the multiple video game threads.

This explains alot.😞

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

On 2/8/2021 at 10:31 AM, Jay said:

Trent is back?

 

Vosk?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,508]

On 2/7/2021 at 11:31 PM, Jay said:

Trent is back?

Yea, Trent!

[Jay 37,323]

Nope, different Trent

[Naïve Old Fart 9,508]

Oh...

 

Yea, different Trent!

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

Unfortunately, Trent is @Deleted.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,508]

Oh... 

 

 Yea, @Deleted!

[theMaestraX 106]

HAROLD LLOYD: Master Comedian by Jeffrey Vance with Suzanne Lloyd. A

lavish picture book and a terrific read on this pioneer of the thrill comedy genre.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

A picture says more than a thousand words.

[theMaestraX 106]

Silent pictures..

[JacobCl1989 1]

Forrest Gump. This is a modern classic. Great story. I love the details in the book vs. the movie. Great humor in truth observations!  

[Naïve Old Fart 9,508]

The novel stamps all over that right wing propaganda of a film.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

2 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

The novel stamps all over that right wing propaganda of a film.

You noticed that too?

I mentionef the right-wing slant to a film scholar and he scoffed that I was " imagining" it!😗

Never read the book. Didn't know the difference perspective😳

[Richard Penna 3,676]

Sphere.

 

The film is surprisingly faithful.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,508]

47 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

Sphere.

The film is surprisingly faithful.

I've never read the novel, but I really like the film.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, bruce marshall said:

You noticed that too?

I mentioned the right-wing slant to a film scholar and he scoffed that I was " imagining" it!😗

Never read the book. Didn't know the difference perspective😳

In a nutshell: the film says: "In America, even those who are disadvantaged, can make something of themselves", while the book's message is: "Any eejit can grow up to become the President of the United States". The novel is an attack on Reaganism.

Bruce, you are definitely not imagining it, although a lot of fans (and film critics) don't see the right wing slant, of the film. Strange.

 

 

[bruce marshall 1,315]

I saw it as glorifying Vietnam Vets and slandering the counter culture/Vietnam War resisters.

Plus, Forrest was constantly beating people  up and it was treated lightheartedly

Hate that film for many more reasons not worth mentioning

I'm shocked to know the book is anti-Reagan!

[Holko 9,499]

Immortals: Fenyx Rising made me want to restart Stephen Fry's Mythos and I also bought Heroes this time.

 

Fry approaches these classic myths with a very entertaining contemporarily irreverent reverence - I suppose in a way similarly to the greeks making this all up in the first place, making their heroes and gods still so flawed and human. He doesn't really "explain" the stories "away", he tells them straight enough and leaves you to wonder about their meaning or origin, with the exception of footnotes about multiple versions, evolutions and to my delight, quite interesting etymological connections to show how much their influence can still be felt on culture and language. That latter point is also illustrated by - what else, illustrations, pieces of art depicting or inspired by the material over the millennia.

 

Mythos deals with the early era of the gods' direct influence, and I very quickly remembered why I put it down initially a couple years ago - the first third is very readable until the narrative throughline of the Olympians being born and assembling finishes, and we're left with a couple hundred pages of disconnected very short stories of mostly Zeus screwing things (sometimes 20 pages, sometimes half a page long), organised loosely thematically into shorter "chapters" (love, metamorphoses, etc.) but not adding up to much more than what they are: short stories that give some context to that name you know from somewhere. Thankfully Heroes is more focused: 8 chapters (3 longer, 5 shorter) all focusing on one hero and their stories each, with all their necessary backstory and side characters too. IMO Mythos after the gods start assembling is better read piecemeal, one or two story at a time when you have 5-10 minutes, Heroes is better read as a novel, one large chapter in a sitting or five.

 

I can very much recommend both with the above "reading guide"! Obviously cOnTeNt WaRnInG for sexual content, these are greek myths after all, and the occasional surprising strong language in the latter. I'll take a break before getting Troy, maybe even wait to see if/when he does the Odyssey too, then read those two back to back.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

[Wojo 2,453]

I'm not familiar with those Stephen Fry books but I will put them on my wish list. Maybe I'll just reread Bullfinch's Mythology as a start. 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I had to read Edith Hamilton's Mythology for 9th grade World Lit 20 years ago, and I remember being beyond bored by it.  I've been meaning to try out Fry's book to hopefully be more involving.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,508]

@Holko, I've not read Mythos, but, if you like that sort of thing, then I wholeheartedly recommend THE MARRIAGE OF CADMUS AND HARMONY, by Roberto Calasso.

Of course, there's always THE ILIAD, and THE ODYSSEY, in the only translation that matters.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

5 hours ago, The Big Man said:

They put this out on VHS!?😳

[Disco Stu 15,495]

This is Ragtime by Terry Waldo

 

I'm not a great fan of Terry Waldo as a pianist, but he is undeniably important as an educator and evangelizer for pre-1930s black American music.  He's also a good writer!  45 years after its publication this book is still a great introduction to the history and form of ragtime and I would maybe even call it an essential text for those interested in American musical history, which I would describe as the chief interest of my life.

 

https://archive.org/details/thisisragtime00terr/mode/2up

 

Also, I'm pretty sure you can hear almost the entire foundation of Randy Newman's style in this classic (and gorgeous) Joplin waltz

 

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,179]

On 4/14/2021 at 5:02 PM, Holko said:

Immortals: Fenyx Rising made me want to restart Stephen Fry's Mythos and I also bought Heroes this time.

 

I read Mythos recently and am in the middle of Heroes right now - picked them both up at Heathrow two years ago. I pretty much agree with your assessment, though somehow I still found the piecemeal bits in Mythos more straightforward than some of the long form stuff in Heroes - perhaps because much of that is, ultimately, also pieced together from more or less loosely connected (and sometimes repetitive) episodes. And in the end, based on what I remember from Latin back in school, I was surprised there wasn't even more Zeus-screwing-stuff stuff.

 

I'm a big fan of Fry's etymological excurses.

9 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

I'm a big fan of Fry's etymological excurses.

 

(The alliteration was fitting but unintentional, because halfway through Heroes I think even Wagner would get a bit tired of Fry's constant triple and quadruple alliterations)

[bruce marshall 1,315]

Much better than I thought it would be.

Her analysis of the fantastic GRAN TURINO is especially poignant!

 

[pete 906]

I just started reading Earth Abides, a post-apocalyptic novel written in 1949. 

 

I'm enjoying it, but the premise is ridiculous!
 

 

[Jay 37,323]

Ever seen a trailer for a book before?

 

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,179]

And an age-restricted trailer for a book, no less.

[Nick1Ø66 4,689]

16 hours ago, Jay said:

Ever seen a trailer for a book before?

 

 

They've been doing it for YA titles for a while now.

[Jay 37,323]

yea I forgot this one too

 

 

[theMaestraX 106]

READY PLAYER TWO

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Just bought and started reading these two books (switching back and forth).  I spent the Spring obsessively learning all I could about Scott Joplin, I've circled back to the Duke this Summer (I've gone through an obsessive period of listening to and reading about him a couple of times before).  That's generally how my interests work: obsessive learning/listening periods of 2-3 months before moving to something else that's either new to me or diving even deeper into something I've been into before.

 

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I will begin Billy Summers by Stephen King tonight

 

[rough cut 1,714]

Same date as release date. 
 

What did you think of The Institute?

[JoeinAR 1,949]

22 hours ago, rough cut said:

Same date as release date. 
 

What did you think of The Institute?

I enjoyed it quite a bit. It fell just short of great.  I didn't start Billy Summers yet. i will probably start it Thursday since I have all day friday, Eat, & Sun. to read. My Fav book from King is 11-22-63.

[rough cut 1,714]

I also liked The Institute a lot. 11-22-63 is a great read.

 

I’ve been a Stephen King fan for 25 years and have read most of his work with some gap here and there that I’m bridging as the years go by.

 

In recent years, I’ve made the habit of always purchasing his latest work as they come out - I got the feeling that maybe you did the same (but I don’t ever think I’ve been as punctual as starting reading on release day!).

 

Did you also catch If It Bleeds and Later?

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Yes. I don't always get it the release date but it wasn't any more expensive. My King experience started in 1976 with his 2nd book Salem's Lot.  My sister and I both read that and then Carrie. The we got the Shining and Night Shift.

We loved King because he wrote about where we grew up.

[rough cut 1,714]

That’s awesome. 

[Trent Hoyt 13]

I finished The Brethern by John Grisham. His books are my go-to for beach reading.

[Bespin 8,480]

The Always Expanded Release booklet.

[Jay 37,323]

Trent is back?

[Faleel 5,342]

Deja vu!

4 hours ago, Jay said:

Trent is back?

 

On 2/7/2021 at 6:31 PM, Jay said:

Trent is back?

 

[Bespin 8,480]

Déjà lu!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,508]

I went down to my local thrift store the other day yes and picked up a copy yes of Ulysses by James Joyce yes I can't wait to read it yes and delve into yes its lovely prose yes I'm looking forward to it yes

[bruce marshall 1,315]

[Jay 37,323]

I started reading:

 

The Complete Making of Indiana Jones: The Definitive Story Behind All Four Films by J.W. Rinzler

 

So far - it's utterly fascinating!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

For anyone who enjoys fun "pop fiction" crime thrillers, I can highly recommend this relatively new series by Lee Goldberg about a detective named Eve Ronin (great name).  I've just finished the newly published third one and they're good character-based mysteries that aren't annoyingly grimdark and are light on the more worn cliches of the genre (no serial killers, not too much forensics).  They're all set in western Los Angeles County in the Calabasas/Malibu/Santa Monica Mountains area and the main character is a young detective with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (which is a distinct entity from the LAPD).

 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

What JWFans should be reading