Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Adventurer
Mountain climber
Virginia
|
|
|
Nov 10, 2015 - 08:17am PT
|
"M" Train by Patti Smith
|
|
mcreel
climber
Barcelona
|
|
|
Nov 10, 2015 - 09:25am PT
|
I recently finished "Bloodsucking Fiends" by Christopher Moore. It's one of the funniest books I've ever read.
Regarding Joseph Conrad, mentioned on the previous page, I have recently read Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness, and Typhoon. I have a hard time understanding why Conrad's writing has the reputation it does, I really didn't find much to appreciate. I was so surprised by this fact that it took me 3 works to decide that I really wasn't going to go for it.
|
|
looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Lassitude 33
|
|
|
Nov 10, 2015 - 10:00am PT
|
And a good follow up to Neil Irwin's book:
|
|
looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Lassitude 33
|
|
|
Nov 10, 2015 - 10:03am PT
|
Just read this the other. Better than I expected.
|
|
Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
|
|
|
Nov 23, 2015 - 03:15pm PT
|
Invisible Man by Ellison and "The Guest" by Camus.
The former is stellar but haven't read the latter. I have been meaning to reread The Plague though, which is terrific.
|
|
losbill2
climber
|
|
|
Nov 23, 2015 - 03:32pm PT
|
"Reading Lolita In Tehran" by Azar Nafrsi published in 2003. What a wonderful writer. She paints scenes that draw you into her apartment and into her circle of students in Tehran in the mid-90's. As real and vibrant and relevant today as the day it was written. It offers the reader tremendous insight into the culture and politics of Iran and the Revolution still playing out today,
|
|
Adventurer
Mountain climber
Virginia
|
|
|
Nov 23, 2015 - 04:53pm PT
|
The Ghosts of K2 by Mick Conefrey
|
|
DanaB
climber
CT
|
|
|
Nov 23, 2015 - 05:01pm PT
|
The Life of Samuel Johnson.
Crapshoot: Rolling the Dice on the Vice Presidency.
|
|
pud
climber
Sportbikeville & Yucca brevifolia
|
|
|
Nov 23, 2015 - 05:59pm PT
|
[photoid=435496
current
|
|
Reptyle195
Trad climber
Ca
|
|
|
Nov 23, 2015 - 09:33pm PT
|
Esse tial Genetics
D-<
|
|
MH2
Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
|
|
|
Nov 30, 2015 - 10:33am PT
|
The Ugly Swans
Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky
translated from the Russian by Alice Stone Nakhimovsky and Alexander Nakhimovsky
Wild and strange but strangely true
|
|
ydpl8s
Trad climber
Santa Monica, California
|
|
|
Nov 30, 2015 - 12:06pm PT
|
I'm about 1/2way through The Mountain Shadow by Gregory David Roberts.
It is the follow-up to Shantaram. Last time I read anything like these 2 books was the Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan series.
|
|
Gary
Social climber
Hell is empty and all the devils are here
|
|
I'm getting old, and need to get serious about my bucket list. Just took a train to Indiana and had time to read.
Finished Crime and Punishment on the way out. It was a good translation apparently and it was a real page turner, especially as things started closing in on Raskolnikov. The only issue I had with it was trying to figure out why Nastasia, Dunia, Sofia and Razumihkin were so devoted to Raskolnikov.
After that Shooting Polaris by John Hale. Hale was a summer temp for the BLM's cadastral survey in Utah in the early '80s, right before technology caught up with surveying. The book is about the conflict with his personal views on nature and conservation with his love of surveying. Good read.
Just started East of Eden and it might be better than Grapes of Wrath.
|
|
Gregory Crouch
Social climber
Walnut Creek, California
|
|
Lots of 19th Century American, Californian and Western history and commentary: Vigilantes in Gold Rush San Francisco, Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs, The Rush, Rush for Riches, Eldorado, Mining in the Pacific States of North America, Days of Gold, The Telegraph in America, The Life and Legend of Jay Gould, Five Points, The Great Hunger, American Colossus, Mining Frontiers of the Far West, Scenery of the Plains, Mountains and Mines, and The Irish Americans, My Memories of the Comstock, Comstock Women... phew. There's more, too. A lot more.
Of those, only The Great Hunger, The Irish Americans, Five Points, and Rush for Riches were good. And only then if you're psyched to learn about those topics.
Also the Stegner (Where The Bluebird...). But Stegner worries me. Angle of Repose is one of my favorite novels, but he unarguably directly cribbed about ten percent of that book from the writings of Mary Hallock Foote. All the beautiful descriptions of the 19th Century west? Foote. Ten percent. Uncredited. That is a colossal amount. I suspect that cost him the Nobel Prize.
Okay, that said, I detected another one in Where the Bluebird Sings...
In it, Stegner writes to the effect of: "California, it's America, only more so."
Great quote, one you see widely attributed to him...
Problem is, I just happened to be perusing back issues of The Overland Monthly, and there it is, that exact quote, in the December 1883 issue.
Ouch.
After awhile, it's a bit much.
So when I'm not plowing through skull-crushing 19th Century history, I've been reading pulp for funzies: The Mask of Dimitrios, Masie Dobbs (#1 & #2), Glitz, Freaky Deaky, Maximum Bob, Brown's Requiem, The Hot Country, The Star of Istanbul, and The Martian.
That last was a real thriller.
And then three WSJ reviews I've done: Snowblind by Daniel Arnold, Alone on the Wall by Honnold, and The Oregon Trail by Rinker Buck. All three of which were very good. The Oregon Trail is almost great. I think most of us following this thread would enjoy all of them.
|
|
Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
|
|
^^^
Interesting. The Oregon Trail sounds intriguing. I need another good nonfiction to start and then put aside when I find I lack the time to finish it. Nonfiction is interesting in that it can either be a relatively quick read, like one of Steve House's books, or it can be really, factually dense and make for interesting but slower going, like Cadillac Desert, which I'm now about 80% through.
|
|
Gregory Crouch
Social climber
Walnut Creek, California
|
|
Funny. It was the exact opposite for me. Took me a good while to get through Beyond the Mountain, but I read Cadillac Desert in one sitting, noon to two a.m.
|
|
little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
|
|
My brother just came down for a visit and left two books with me. Both are baseball books. Baseball has always been a big part of our family, so his gift was all the more meaningful. It also helps keep the stoke going during baseball's doldrums between the end of the World Series and the start of Spring Training.
First was Driving Mr. Yogi by NY sportswriter Harvey Araton. Published in 2012 and based on much material gathered in 2011. It explores the relationship between Yogi and his "keeper", another former Yankee star, Ron Guidry. Of course Yogi passed away earlier this year, and I'm sure there are going to be a bunch of "Yogi" books coming out to take advantage of the momment, but it was nice to read this that was written while Yogi was still alive. You don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this book.
The other is Fridays with Red by Bob Edwards, the host of NPR's Morning Edition. It's about Bob's 12 year gig with the great radio announcer Red Barber. I remember these broadcasts (they lasted only 4 minutes! I would have sworn theye were longer) and loved tuning in on Fridays just to catch these two having fun. Just starting to read it. So far so good. Again, baseball is not the central theme, so don't shy away because of that.
|
|
Gregory Crouch
Social climber
Walnut Creek, California
|
|
baseball books
LittleZ, I'm assuming you and your people have read Roger Angell's baseball books, because if not...
|
|
little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
|
|
Hey Greg,
yes, a long time follower of Roger. My Mom used to clip his New Yorker bits and send them too me. Before the internet, his stuff helped keep me afloat as a baseball fan here in Costa Rica, where futbol is king. I've also got his books A Pitcher's Story and Season Ticket, both well dog-eared.
|
|
Gregory Crouch
Social climber
Walnut Creek, California
|
|
Phew... I revisit a few of his stories during the dark time of each year as I attempt to survive the dull thuds of the football season and connect the end of the World Series with the start of spring training.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!