What book are you reading?

Who Princess

I read an interview with Anthony Burgess several years ago. He said that the version of A Clockwork Orange that was published in the U.S. omitted the final chapter. Kubrick didn't realize that and used the American version of the novel for the movie. So Burgess thought the movie was horrible. There wasn't anything he could do about it because he had sold the rights years before and had no involvement in the making of the film.

And yes, Burgess was very much a linguist. He was an expert on James Joyce, which says a lot about his facility with language.

kw18

Who Princess said:

I read an interview with Anthony Burgess several years ago. He said that the version of A Clockwork Orange that was published in the U.S. omitted the final chapter. Kubrick didn't realize that and used the American version of the novel for the movie. So Burgess thought the movie was horrible. There wasn't anything he could do about it because he had sold the rights years before and had no involvement in the making of the film.

And yes, Burgess was very much a linguist. He was an expert on James Joyce, which says a lot about his facility with language.

The version of the book I have has an introduction from the author, and Burgess says as much. Apparently the American publishers thought ending the book without the last chapter was more suited to American tastes or some such nonsense.

kw18

23scidoo said:

dankind said:

kw18 said:

23scidoo said:

kw18 said:

I just finished Heart of Darkness. I enjoyed it, but feel it's one of those books you have to read a couple times. There's a lot to chew on!


Now I've started this:

one of my fev movies..but man..i dropped the book after of 60-70 pages??..very tired and difficult to read..

I totally get that about the difficulty. All the nonsense words are a bit weird and hard to follow. But I've found there's a nice little flow, and you get used to what's being said. I'm only about 20 pages in or so, but I'm really enjoying it.

And, apparently, the book has a different ending than the movie. Looking forward to finding out!

Yes, misanthropic and cynical bastard that he was, Kubrick left out the last chapter from his film adaptation.

Still a great film and a great book (knowing Russian helped me a lot with the language; Burgess was something of a linguist, I believe). The Wanting Seed is also a great read.

i think Kubrick had some issues with books adaptations..(2001: A Space Odyssey,A Clockwork Orange,The Shining)

Yeah, I've never quite understood that about him ... all the changes. Granted Clockwork Orange wasn't entirely his fault, but still ... I guess he felt the need to express his own interpretations on these works? I dunno.

afroannnie

Finished up Mr. Know it All last night....I really enjoyed it. It was a perfect balance of random little facts (which I like) and questioning what does it mean to be intelligent? Can you become a "smarter" person by reading the encyclopedia from A-Z? I have to admit, I consider myself a voracious reader, but reading the entire encyclopedia (33,000 pages) is a daunting task.

I think I'm going to read this next....

F Me In The Brain

I love the idea of reading the encyclopedia from front to back (I used to randomly pick a 'Letter" from the shelf sometimes as a kid and open to a page and read.....) but the issue is that I would not retain. I frequently need to go back to the start of a series and re-read books so that I can remember all of the plot turns when the newest book is released.

afroannnie

F Me In The Brain said:

I love the idea of reading the encyclopedia from front to back (I used to randomly pick a 'Letter" from the shelf sometimes as a kid and open to a page and read.....) but the issue is that I would not retain. I frequently need to go back to the start of a series and re-read books so that I can remember all of the plot turns when the newest book is released.

Yeah..this is the problem the author experienced...especially since the encyclopedia contains so much information that's hard to string together...it probably helped that he was taking notes for the book...but he admitted that sometimes the encyclopedia was so dense that it took a lot of effort to read each and every word. It's still a cool idea...but it takes quite a bit of reading endurance and time...

Wobbie

cornnifer said:

imalive said:

this guy can really tell a tale:

Just finished this one..., "...Mountains..." that is. Meh. i really like Hosseini's prose, but i didn't get very much from this particular story. To me it seemed more like a collection of short stories. I had a lot of unanswered questions about some of the characters and i was generally unmoved.

I liked it....surprised I was able to keep track of the characters

:-O

Wobbie

this a**hole fascinates me

kw18

kw18 said:

I just finished Heart of Darkness. I enjoyed it, but feel it's one of those books you have to read a couple times. There's a lot to chew on!

Now I've started this:

I finished this up over the weekend, and quite enjoyed it. Once I got used to the rhythm of the book's language, it was easy to follow. I can't believe the original American version cut out the last chapter -- totally changes everything about this book! Crazy. Going to have to watch the movie now ... it's been ages, and I don't think I've ever seen the picture the whole way through.

Now I'm reading this:



I've always been interested in this idea ... what if there are dimensions that exist but we simply do not have the capacity to see them? It's pretty good so far, and gets the brain thinking.

23scidoo

kw18 said:

kw18 said:

I just finished Heart of Darkness. I enjoyed it, but feel it's one of those books you have to read a couple times. There's a lot to chew on!

Now I've started this:

I finished this up over the weekend, and quite enjoyed it. Once I got used to the rhythm of the book's language, it was easy to follow. I can't believe the original American version cut out the last chapter -- totally changes everything about this book! Crazy. Going to have to watch the movie now ... it's been ages, and I don't think I've ever seen the picture the whole way through.

Now I'm reading this:



I've always been interested in this idea ... what if there are dimensions that exist but we simply do not have the capacity to see them? It's pretty good so far, and gets the brain thinking.

crazy book..you gonna love it..

F Me In The Brain

Read the Short Story lead in, Fire Watch, last night, and thought it was awesome. Excited to start with this first book in a celebrated series tonight:

Attaway77

"Johnny Cash: The Life" Great book, highly recommend for any JC fans….

http://www.cmtedge.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/johnny_cash_the_life2-540x340.jpg

PJ_Soul

Well I finished the Hunger Games trilogy.
They are really fucking bad books actually, lol! I DO think that the premise is great, so understand why movies were made, but the books are just so badly written, and melodramatic, and Katniss is probably the most unlikeable protagonist of all time in the books (Peeta is a good character though I guess). I actually had some people say the books were BETTER than the movies. Say what??? I totally disagree! Sure, a lot of details are left out of the movies so far, but these are really shitty books, so I actually appreciate that the movies left out detail, lol. Like the movies fine. And like the basic story line of the books.... but the main character is an idiot, and the focus of these books are super teenie-bopper in a very inappropriate setting. I know these books are supposed to be for teens or something, but christ, Katniss Everdeen is just the worst female character for young women to be reading about. Her priorities are all fucked up. Anyway, I think my opinion of the people I know who told me these are really good books has changed, lol. :P

jmuscatello

Haven't read Hunger Games trilogy but just last night heard some people talking about the disappointing female character as a role model for teen readers....

Has anyone read "The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving" by Jonathan Evison? I highly recommend.
Seattle-area writer, and this story reminded me of Michael Chabon ("Mysteries of Pittsburgh", "Manhood for Amateurs", "Wonder Boys" etc.). One of the best novels I've read in years, quirky and smart but kind of heart-warming too. After I read it I saw that it got this review from LA Weekly:
"Smart and bittersweet and attuned to the absurdity of life - Evison's book is the literary version of a good grunge song."
No wonder I loved it.

riotgrl

About halfway through Ken Follett's Fall of Giants. It follows 5 interconnected families through the first half of the 20th century. Fall of Giants primarily focuses on WWI. I am really enjoying it because Follett does a pretty good job researching history to make the fiction coincide nicely with the reality.

afroannnie

Finished up the Happiness Project and while I can say I'm the happiest I've ever been, it was still a beneficial book to read. Even if you're at good point in your life, this book is a helpful reminder not to take things for granted, try to keep a positive outlook, reduce clutter in your life (this one I'm still working on) and refrain from procrastinating (ok..I'm not the best at that either). I like that the author points out that everyone's "happiness project" is different. Be true to yourself.

Only about 15-20 pages into this...but I'm pretty sure I'm really going to like it

kw18

23scidoo said:

kw18 said:

Now I'm reading this:



I've always been interested in this idea ... what if there are dimensions that exist but we simply do not have the capacity to see them? It's pretty good so far, and gets the brain thinking.

crazy book..you gonna love it..

I did indeed love it!

It's crazy to think such conversations about higher dimensions were being had 150 years ago. Love how Abbott used this logic exercise as a social commentary, too. Very good, without too much math (which is always a good thing!)

Now I'm on to read this:



This is one of those "I should have read it earlier but never did, and now I'm embarrassed by that fact, especially considering I was an English major" books. I've gotten through a forward on the book going over some of what I can expect in the book (riddles! commentary! realism! more!), but I've barely begun the actual book. Looking forward to it, and I hope i can get into enough that it doesn't slow my reading down ...

23scidoo

James Hilton - Lost horizon
great book and great movie..a vision for humanity..

F Me In The Brain

riotgrl said:

About halfway through Ken Follett's Fall of Giants. It follows 5 interconnected families through the first half of the 20th century. Fall of Giants primarily focuses on WWI. I am really enjoying it because Follett does a pretty good job researching history to make the fiction coincide nicely with the reality.

You will like the follow up as well if you like this, I loved these 2 and look forward to the 3rd.

Newch91

Two new books for two different classes.

Children's Lit



Last book for my English Restoration class