What Are You Reading Right Now?

[hippilil86]

Just finished:
The History of Love--Nicole Krauss

Working on:
The Last Party; Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the Night--Anthony Haden-Guest

[Zombie]

Originally Posted by Erin

Zombie,
I thought about reading the Rhett Butler book, but I haven't heard one good review, and I love Gone with the Wind.

Yeah, don't do it. I was okay with the idea in theory, but the execution left a whole lot to be desired. It begins before GWTW and ends after it. He turned Rhett into a wuss & the ending made absolutely no frackin' sense. Book purports to be from Rhett's point of view, but it doesn't really do that. It's just a hot mess.

[Sugar]

Just finished Third and Indiana by Steve Lopez. Compelling read, though not exactly cheerful. Need to look on my (considerable) stack of unread books for something lighter!

[daniellaaarisen]

Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer

Fitzgerald is one of my favorites. Tender is the Night was a great read. His writing is so lyrical and beautiful, but he displays such desperation in his characters. Knowing the circumstances of Scott and Zelda just make this book heartbreaking to read. Tender is probably tied with Gatsby for me.



You know, I've never read The English Patient. I've seen the movie and thought it was HORRIBLE. Couldn't believe it won Best Picture.

Yeah, I know a lot about Scott and Zelda's relationship as well, and it definitely gives Fitzgerald's work an unworldly depth (that his novels have regardless....). He's just fantastic.

And you NEED to read The English Patient. Every paragraph or so, you have to stop reading, look up and take a deep breath before starting again because a sentence will totally FLOOR YOU. I mean, the book is pure poetry.

"We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves. I wish for all this to be marked on my body when I am dead. I believe in such cartography- to be marked by nature, not just to label ourselves on a map like the names of rich men and women on buildings. We are communal histories, communal books. We are not owned or monogamous in our taste or experience. All I desired was to walk upon such an earth that had no maps."

Favorite. Passage. Ever.

[Stew_Matthews]

Originally Posted by LikeAWillow

How is it so far? I'm guessing you've read The New York Trilogy. Paul Auster is incredible.

It is very good indeed. It is a while since I read an Auster book where he has crafted one of those multi-threaded stories. It is very clever and the drafting is as beautiful as ever. I've read all his work and re-read the New York Trilogy a few times, but I think Oracle Night is his best work. I don't think he is quite as incredible as Richard Ford or Philip Roth but it is a pleasure to read in his work.

[tilthefirefades]

For my birthday I got "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins and "The Fabric Of The Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality" by Brian Greene.

So far The God Delusion is quite good

[LikeAWillow]

American Gods- Neil Gaiman. The story of how this book came into my hands is so far more interesting than the novel itself, but I'm still keeping my hopes up.

[Black_Moon]

Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. I'm creeped out by this book, but I think it's amazing so far.

[Travis]

I just picked this up yesterday since I knew I was going to be snowed in all weekend.




Synopsis

Madonna up close, by the brother who knows her better than anyone.

Christopher Ciccone's extraordinary memoir is based on his forty-seven years of growing up with, working with, and understanding the most famous woman of our time, who has intrigued, scandalized, and entertained millions for half a century.

Through most of the iconic star's kaleidoscopic career, Christopher played an important role in her life: as her backup dancer, her personal assistant, her dresser, her decorator, her art director, her tour director.

If you think you know everything there is to know about Madonna, you are wrong. Only Christopher can tell the full scale, riveting untold story behind Madonna's carefully constructed mythology, and the real woman behind the glittering façade.

From their shared Michigan childhood, which Madonna transcended, then whisked Christopher to Manhattan with her in the early eighties, where he slepton her roach-infested floor and danced with her in clubs all over town — Christopher was with her every step of the way, experiencing her first hand in all her incarnations. The spoiled daddy's girl, the punk drummer, the raunchy Boy Toy, Material Girl, Mrs. Sean Penn, Warren Beatty's glamorous Hollywood paramour, loving mother, Mrs. Guy Ritchie, English grande dame — Christopher witnessed and understood all of them, as his own life was inexorably entwined with that of his chameleon sister.

He tangled with a cast of characters from artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, to Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Moss, Demi Moore, and, of course, Guy Ritchie, whose advent in Madonna's life splintered the loving relationship Christopher once had with her.

Themirror image of his legendary sister, with his acid Ciccone tongue, Christopher pulls no punches as he tells his astonishing story.

Life with My Sister Madonna is the juicy, can't-put-it-down story you've always wanted to hear, as told by Madonna's younger brother.

[GypsySorcerer]

Just finished the Harry Potter series (yes, really late to the party, I realize!) Now, I'm reworking my way through some classics that I probably didn't appreciate enough the first time around, starting with Lolita.

[daniellaaarisen]

Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer

Just finished the Harry Potter series (yes, really late to the party, I realize!) Now, I'm reworking my way through some classics that I probably didn't appreciate enough the first time around, starting with Lolita.

Lolita is amazing if you stick with it. It has slow parts but every second of that novel is crucial to understanding the characterization that Nabokov flawlessly creates.

[GypsySorcerer]

Originally Posted by daniellaaarisen

Lolita is amazing if you stick with it. It has slow parts but every second of that novel is crucial to understanding the characterization that Nabokov flawlessly creates.

His use of language is incomparable. That first page!

I read it in high school, but didn't really give it the thought I should have. I've had to train myself to quit reading for "what happens."

[Ghost_Tracker]

Originally Posted by Travis

...who has intrigued, scandalized, and entertained millions for half a century. <----------
.

OH, bunk!

On Edit: Oh - *I* get it, now . . . They mean "ever since she was born"???

[Ghost_Tracker]

Anyway I've just started in on an autobiography of Jonathan Swift, who wrote Gulliver's Travels. Written by someone named Victoria Glendinning. It's AMAZING! She's a REALLY good writer, which I hadn't expected at ALL - she's very clever and she "gets it," she knows what this guy was really like and she understands why; and she understands why he was SO angry, and how that entered into his stories. Excellent researcher, as well. I'd highly recommend it for anybody who's into Gulliver's Travels.

[LikeAWillow]

Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer

His use of language is incomparable. That first page!

I read it in high school, but didn't really give it the thought I should have. I've had to train myself to quit reading for "what happens."

If you're interested in the way Nabokev crafts his stories, and really, who that likes him isn't, you should definitely pick up Pale Fire. It's a much shorter read than Lolita, but it's a much more difficult and much more interesting work.

Oh and shameless plug for my college, Nabokev founded our Russia department when he taught here, and rumor has it that Lolita herself had a few traits pulled from a Wellesley girl. A source of pride, I'm sure you'd agree.