Books, books, books

[Zombie]

Totally diggin' all the Cormac McCarthy love up in this thread. McCarthy is one of my all-time favorite writers. The Road is stunning, but as stunning as it is, it's not even his best work (I vote for Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West on that one).

It IS, however, his most accessible, I think. I cracked up when Oprah picked The Road for her book club, because it's so good, I knew people would read it and then want to check out other McCarthy books. Oprah has a wide reach and it's a good thing to bring McCarthy into the spotlight more, but I can just envision some random mild-mannered housewife out there picking up Child of God and going all head a'splodey.

I'm currently re-reading Connie Willis' Dooms Day Book, one of my all-time fav books. Highly recommended.

[GypsySorcerer]

Originally Posted by Zombie

Totally diggin' all the Cormac McCarthy love up in this thread. McCarthy is one of my all-time favorite writers. The Road is stunning, but as stunning as it is, it's not even his best work (I vote for Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West on that one).

It IS, however, his most accessible, I think. I cracked up when Oprah picked The Road for her book club, because it's so good, I knew people would read it and then want to check out other McCarthy books. Oprah has a wide reach and it's a good thing to bring McCarthy into the spotlight more, but I can just envision some random mild-mannered housewife out there picking up Child of God and going all head a'splodey.

Blood Meridian is excellent...and you're right, probably his greatest achievement.

Do you think The Road was his last work?

[Zombie]

Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer

Blood Meridian is excellent...and you're right, probably his greatest achievement.

Do you think The Road was his last work?

Ah, you've read it? Wonderful! I find that most people that I run across that have read McCarthy have only read The Road. Which is fine - it's the most popular right now, due to all that Oprah attention, and at least they've read SOMETHING he's written. Everyone should experience McCarthy at least once.

But man...Blood Meridian. That book is pure poetry - grotesque and gorgeous - definitely McCarthy at his best, in my opinion, and definitely not something anyone other than McCarthy could have pulled off so beautifully. I can't count how many times I've read it now.

I hear they are making a movie, which concerns me greatly. I don't think the film adaptation of The Road came even close to capturing the book, and with The Road being so much more accessible than Blood Meridian is, I just don't think a film is a good idea. For me, McCarthy's brilliance is partly story, but mostly language - the WAY he tells that story. "Your heart's desire is to be told some mystery. The mystery is that there is no mystery."

But yeah - I honestly hope it is not his last book, because I hate the idea of never getting to read something new from him again. But if it is, then I'd have it "just so and no different," like the man in The Road would, because I consider each of his books to be a gift and I'm lucky I got to read what I did.

/end total fangirl

[Kayli]

Originally Posted by Zombie

Totally diggin' all the Cormac McCarthy love up in this thread. McCarthy is one of my all-time favorite writers. The Road is stunning, but as stunning as it is, it's not even his best work (I vote for Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West on that one).

It IS, however, his most accessible, I think. I cracked up when Oprah picked The Road for her book club, because it's so good, I knew people would read it and then want to check out other McCarthy books. Oprah has a wide reach and it's a good thing to bring McCarthy into the spotlight more, but I can just envision some random mild-mannered housewife out there picking up Child of God and going all head a'splodey.

I'm currently re-reading Connie Willis' Dooms Day Book, one of my all-time fav books. Highly recommended.

This was my first McCarthy read. I have no doubt I will love his other books. I might take up your recommendation and have Blood Meridian be my next McCarthy

Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer

I revisited Ariel not that long ago. It was the edition edited by her daughter and featured Plath's original selections and sequencing. LOVE her.

I picked up her collected journals recently, but haven't started it. Might be something I get into during the winter.

You'll love her journals!

Originally Posted by daniellaaarisen

I love your tattoo! I remember that line in the book very well (the simplicity of it is so lovely)! How awesome Thanks for sharing!

[Erin]

Originally Posted by Zombie

I'm currently re-reading Connie Willis' Dooms Day Book, one of my all-time fav books. Highly recommended.

That book was so depressing, although the premise was great. Have you read To Say Nothing of the Dog? Same time-traveling set-up, but it's the 19th century instead. It's very funny.

[GarboSpeaks!]

@daniellaaarisen

Know Knew Books on California Ave. (415 S California ave)
Bill is the owner, and he's a wild one. Go visit...and beware. lol. So kidding. There isn't a single thing in the universe to NOT love about that guy!

[Zombie]

Originally Posted by Kayli

This was my first McCarthy read. I have no doubt I will love his other books. I might take up your recommendation and have Blood Meridian be my next McCarthy

Awesome! Let me know what you think. But be aware that it can get gruesome.

Originally Posted by Erin

That book was so depressing, although the premise was great. Have you read To Say Nothing of the Dog? Same time-traveling set-up, but it's the 19th century instead. It's very funny.

I haven't read that one, but I will keep an eye out for it. Why depressing, though? It's always been one of my favorites. It's sad, for sure, but I think Willis handled the sadness really well.

[Erin]

Originally Posted by Zombie

.



I haven't read that one, but I will keep an eye out for it. Why depressing, though? It's always been one of my favorites. It's sad, for sure, but I think Willis handled the sadness really well.

I guess I'm just relating the sadness of the story with depression. I certainly wasn't happy after I finished reading it, although it was a good read. I took a class on the history of disease as a grad student, so I think I've spent too much time with the Black Death.

[Zombie]

Originally Posted by Erin

I guess I'm just relating the sadness of the story with depression. I certainly wasn't happy after I finished reading it, although it was a good read. I took a class on the history of disease as a grad student, so I think I've spent too much time with the Black Death.

Oh, I see. I would love to take a class like that - what was your degree in, that you would have that class, if you don't mind my asking?

I always cry much of my way through the last quarter of the book, but I also marvel at the way the experience made history real for Kivrin, and by extension, the reader. At the beginning, before she's sent through, she's all about observing quaint customs and crop rotations and whatnot, like she's going to look at an ant farm and make note of where the ants go instead of living with actual people she might actually come to care about.

I think, for a lot of people, things like the Black Death are just ideas - really remote. We can read scary statistics and say, "Wow, that must have been horrifying," but it happened so long ago, we don't have a frame of reference for really empathizing with the actual people that lived it. And we see through Kivrin's initial experiences that the ideas everyone had about what it was going to be like were really wrong. The concept fascinates me, so even though the book makes me cry, I guess I look at it differently?

[Erin]

Originally Posted by Zombie

Oh, I see. I would love to take a class like that - what was your degree in, that you would have that class, if you don't mind my asking?

I always cry much of my way through the last quarter of the book, but I also marvel at the way the experience made history real for Kivrin, and by extension, the reader. At the beginning, before she's sent through, she's all about observing quaint customs and crop rotations and whatnot, like she's going to look at an ant farm and make note of where the ants go instead of living with actual people she might actually come to care about.

I think, for a lot of people, things like the Black Death are just ideas - really remote. We can read scary statistics and say, "Wow, that must have been horrifying," but it happened so long ago, we don't have a frame of reference for really empathizing with the actual people that lived it. And we see through Kivrin's initial experiences that the ideas everyone had about what it was going to be like were really wrong. The concept fascinates me, so even though the book makes me cry, I guess I look at it differently?

It was a history class. I specialized in British and Irish history during the Early Modern Period (1485-1714), although this class spanned from ancient times to modern. For this class my own research centered on the plague's last major appearance in London in 1665(of course I also read quite a bit about the original 14th century appearance of the Black Death). 1666 is the great fire which destroyed most of the thatched roof,wooden, etc. type buildings, thus the fleas and rats lost their homes and ability to spread the plague to humans. New construction used better materials less conducive to rats and the disease carrying fleas living in the home.

Back on topic I just finished reading The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory. Historical fiction about Margaret Beaufort (Henry VII's mother). I would not recommend it. The author had very little to go on to make Margaret a compelling figure. Next book is Adam Bede by George Eliot. I've read Middlemarch, the Mill on the Floss, and Daniel Deronda. I love her novels.

[Ghost_Tracker]

Originally Posted by Zombie

I'm currently re-reading Connie Willis' Dooms Day Book, one of my all-time fav books. Highly recommended.

I've been meaning to read that; I like Science Fiction a lot.