What have you been reading?

Hi, All:

Every writer is a great reader. What have you all been reading lately? It is an enriching experience to go back and read again a book one has not read for many years. My latest reading adventure of this kind was "All Quiet on the Western Front." You know, life could be tougher. When I was in the Army (combat in Vietnam), I used to hear -- aggravatingly -- soldiers say how tough they had it. "I've had it tougher than you..." And so forth.

Really? They should read this book. As Remarque states, a whole generation of guys, not lost to the trenches were lost after the war. They spent the rest of their lives sitting on park benches staring at the grass. They had it tough. Having it tough, it can fairly be said, destroys the soul. Anyone who comes out of the experience intact, got off easy.

Before that, I read again "To Kill a Mockingbird." I didn't like this book a lot. It does not get at the hard issues of racism and bigotry. Beautifully written, though.

I can highly recommend "Sons and Lovers" by DH Lawrence. And, is there any better prose in the 20th century than "Dubliners" by Joyce? I doubt it. The short story "The Dead" is a pearl of the English language.

I won't go on. But I'd like to hear from others on their reading -- or anything else for that matter. Lots of snow in Minnesota.

Take care,

Pat

Oprah Winfrey is recommending the classics; they are taking on new force with her support.

The great thing is that they are free all over the Internet in ebook formats. I just downloaded a slug from Kindle to start reading again.

My favorites were the Russian writers. I like some of the little philosophical works that are more modern too like The Little Prince and his wife's book, The Rose.

I try to read the new books by authors I know; so, my time is limited for the old favorites.

Bertrand Russell and I don't agree with him. He has his viewpoints, which seem to me to be rather jaded. I am glad they are his and not mine.

I am reading "How I Killed Pluto And Why It Had It Coming" by Mike Brown. After that, I have a couple of books of novellas for xmas to read, one of them edited by a family friend.

12/31/2010

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Cheers..Joe

Hi, All:

What an interesting assortment of books you mention! I've taken some notes -- I'll have a look at them. Thanks.

I, too, like the Russian writers. I prefer a spare, non-stylized kind of rhetoric. In my view Tolstoy is the best in prose. Also, Turgenev, Gogol and Chekhov. The latter is my hero. Tolstoy liked writing that is simple, earthy and direct -- thus, he did not like Shakespeare (they all learned English to read him). He was a scholar of ancient Greek.

I mentioned Joyce... If you have a chance you might consider readind his short story in "Dubliners" called "Ivy Day in the Committee Room." It's about a clique of guys taking a break from their efforts canvassing for votes for a local political figure. It is as vivid and sharp as anything I've read in prose.

It's interesting -- and a little sad -- to read Joyce's correspondence with a publisher for "Dubliners." They didn't like his earthy language. The guy tried to get him to make changes. The young Joyce, ever a gentleman, kept writing back encouragingly. But it's clear, he wasn't about to change anything. He had a wife and kid; he needed money; he wanted to write. But they wouldn't take the book. It took nine years -- till after "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" -- before "Dubliners" was published. -- I wouldn't be such a gentleman.

The photos on this site are terrific. Thanks.

Happy New Year,

Pat

Thanks for inside information about the authors! That makes their work more interesting to me for a second reading. I haven't read many short stories, but that may be a way to refresh my reading without taking time from my present list.

I am reading The Wind In the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. I have read it many times. Some books are like beautiful dreams, like songs that sing to the heart and make music in the soul.

The Little Prince is one of these, too.

Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton, also.

Love,
Betty

One of my DISH temporary free channels was INSP for a while. I think it had The Wind in the Willows series, a delight to watch. Sort of on the order of Ann of Green Gables or The Waltons or even Little House on the Prairie.

A book on how to speak and read conversational Chinese. We're booked for a trip in a few months and I want to make sure I'm walking in the right bathrooms. lol

LC wrote:

A book on how to speak and read conversational Chinese. We're booked for a trip in a few months and I want to make sure I'm walking in the right bathrooms. lol

Very good idea. Be careful of the bathrooms.

Our surgeon friend went there and observed their cleaning techniques. He was so put off he didn't use the facility. He said the cleaning man took a mop washed the toilet the floor and then the ceiling.

This was several years back and maybe they have improved. I certainly hope so.

LC wrote:

A book on how to speak and read conversational Chinese. We're booked for a trip in a few months and I want to make sure I'm walking in the right bathrooms. lol

对不起，厕所在哪儿?

Zizban,

What does it say?

It means "Where is the bathroom?", or more literally, "Please show me where I can urinate".

Hi, All:

What a fascinating collection of ideas! I've heard of many of these books, but it takes a push to pick one of them up. I must get a hold of "The Wind in the Willows," "The Little Prince," and "Ghost Orchid." I've read "Cry, the Beloved Country."

Is there not an inertia to any form of artistic expression? I need a push to get started, but then, once going, it would take a hard push in the opposite direction to stop me. I've been carrying around "The Great Gatsby" for a week. I've read it several times before, but not for years.

A good hard look at the life of an artist is Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast." The title refers to Paris -- which, like a moveable feast (Easter), that changes dates, but is the same, is the same no matter where you settle later in life. It remains with you. In your soul.

(I will hang on to the quote from Betty, above: "Some books are like beautiful dreams, like songs..." Thanks)

The key ingredient of any artist is a rock-solid genuineness. Hemingway makes this clear in the book. He's a genuine guy -- if difficult. Just after publishing "The Great Gatsby" what was Fitzgerald's main concern? Money? Fame? Glory? No -- how well endowed he was. Zelda was belittling him. Hemingway had to reassure him he was okay. I can just see those two geniuses discussing it in the bathroom. It's in the book.

I mentioned Joyce earlier... He couldn't get published. All the rage was a book by George Moore called "The Untilled Field." Dutifully, Joyce got it and read every word. "Oh, dear me," he wrote in a letter. "It is rather dull and flat, isn't it? And it's ill-writ." So I got it. I tried hard. I couldn't read that book. It's very dull and flat. It would take a humbler man than me to read that book.

I'll go on later... Hope to hear from you all again. We can start a discussion on our favorite writers. Or the merits of this or that genre. Romance, for example. You know, "Sense and Sensibility," "Jane Eyre," and so on.

Talk later,

Pat

Mina Hemingway, his granddaughter, had an independent book store in Naples and was very good to local authors. Unfortunately, even her store with the recognized name (and she actually ran the store) went the way of many indie book stores. She had a great section on Hemingway that I intended to exploit (a regular reading corner), but she closed before I had the chance.

I was listening to a writer's conversation about writing and depression today; and the consensus was that many famous writers suffered immensely from depression and bipolar type disorders but refused to get help except to self medicate for fear of interfering with their creative genius.

Wow! If you want a reading rush, go to Google ebooks and look at the Best of the Free ebooks http://books.google.com/ebooks?uid=2278874564547928826&as_coll=1040&lr=&sa=N&start=30 There's enough exciting reading for the rest of a lifetime.

Any ereader or netbook or excuse for a computer can read ebooks from Google. What a fantastic opportunity for the world to have access to all these fantastic books. I'm overwhelmed. I can read them on my HTC smart phone, my netbook, my pc - anywhere!!!

Go look...and pass it around.

Hi, All:

Some interesting remarks by dkchristi. My understanding is that all good writing comes of a conflict between inner opposing forces. A person who is happy to the core would probably not be able to write much that was more than flat and dull. The hard feelings inside force out expression that has life. But having that ferocious energy is not easy. It is a price too high for me to pay.

Battling their demons ruined many a writer. Tennessee Williams, brilliant in his early days, of course, was boring as a writer for the last 20 years of his life. Truman Capote was reduced at the end to preening on talk shows.

The scroll of alcoholic writers is long: Hemingway was a confirmed alcoholic. He wrote in the morning when he was still sober, then drank through the rest of the day. The life-style wrecked him. He was a good-looking man at 40, but a wreck in his 50's. F Scott Fitzgerald was a terrible alcoholic. Faulkner was a hard drinker. Jack Kerouac was awful, as was Jack London. A woman writer who suffered from alcoholism was Carson McCullers.

I'm struggling with my writing myself right now. I would like to hear what other writers do to get the juices flowing again. (This helps.) It is the old paradox of writing, If you try hard, you freeze yourself and can get nothing done. But how can you do anything if you don't try? Every writer had the same problems we do. Shakespeare had his best year in 1599 (scholars think). In the next four years, he wrote just two minor plays. The man was worn out.

I'll start another discussion on this topic.

Pat

Poregan, according to your post, great writers were drunks.
I'm not sure my desire to become famous is worth becoming a drunkard.
I like the good feeling of wine, that is healthy, but not to the point of becoming drunk. I hate the feeling, especially the day after.
When my lips start tingling, I know it's time to stop, and I do.

Do you think there might be a story in tingling lips.

Of course, there are as many great writers who had no afflictions. However, to pump the emotion into a great book, it needs to come from somewhere - and great misery may lead to great emotion just as great joy may do the same.

It's difficult, I think, for an ordinary person to feel compelled to put in the energy required. Some very ordinary people churn out best sellers - but their literary quality may be a little short.

There's a bit a mania involvled in the compunction to write as the world disappears and the pages pour forth.

By the same analysis, a person with deep seated emotional and addiction issues does not necessarily write a great work either (as evidenced by declining careers as addictions take hold).

Dear Abe,
Drinking has always helped me to write. I am not talking drunk and falling down, but a little bit. Perhaps it is that it unleashes my tongue and lets it wag on and on. I find that writing anything needs a release from the days stress ( I know there is another word but it escapes me) a letting go so your mind can be expressed in words and can be put onto paper. I may be a little insane. I do not mind that.

I wrote Wooffer when I was at my most unhappy moments. Wooffer, the animal and the book saved me from desperatation. I know that you can understand that.

Love,
Betty

If I could spell, you could understand it more clearly.

Love, Betty

I've never believed that drinking or drugs inspired great writing or any other art. I think those afflicted managed to do their art in spite of their drinking or drugs.

I don't believe they inspire; I do believe that chemicals affect different people in different ways and for some, the effects of alcohol and drugs have effects that positively impact their work initially. However, the problem with addictions is their terminal nature. What starts as helpful ends up destructive.

I drink caffeine when I write but I have no idea if it helps or hurts.