What book are you reading?
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Athens 2006 / Milton Keynes 2014 / London 1&2 2022 / Seattle 1&2 2024 / Dublin 2024 / Manchester 2024 / New Orleans 20250 -
Read Catcher in the Rye and Lady Windermere’s fan last week.0
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Reading this for my book discussion group:
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Athens 2006 / Milton Keynes 2014 / London 1&2 2022 / Seattle 1&2 2024 / Dublin 2024 / Manchester 2024 / New Orleans 20250 -
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Jearlpam0925 said:
I bought that for my Dad after we visited Belfast. I haven't read it, but he said it was excellent.
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Maggie O'Farrell - Hamnet
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Steal it off him and give it a read, highly recommend. It's been the best way, at least for me personally, to learn more re: The Troubles/the history of it in a meaningful way.eddiec said:Jearlpam0925 said:
I bought that for my Dad after we visited Belfast. I haven't read it, but he said it was excellent.
My wife's mom is from Letterkenny, and we try to get over there when we can, so speaking to her family it's wild some of the stories - even not that long ago - while living so close to Derry.Post edited by Jearlpam0925 on0 -
@brianlux I was wondering if you have read any Wendell Berry? He seems like someone that is very aligned with your close to nature pro environment worldview. He just came up on my radar, via his essay The Idea Of A Local Economy, and I was hoping you had some reccomendations?Scio me nihil scire
There are no kings inside the gates of eden0 -
The 2nd and 3rd books of Mark Lanegan and Wesley Eisold’s poetry trilogy have arrived
The first book, Plague Poems, was released in 2020. Year Zero and Ghost Radio were released posthumously in May this year.“Do not postpone happiness”
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)0 -
static111 said:@brianlux I was wondering if you have read any Wendell Berry? He seems like someone that is very aligned with your close to nature pro environment worldview. He just came up on my radar, via his essay The Idea Of A Local Economy, and I was hoping you had some reccomendations?Hey static111 , sorry for the late response, just saw this.Yes, I have read several books by Berry. One of my very favorites is a collection of his stories called, The Wild Birds. But one of my other favorite novels of his that I loved is Nathan Coulter and, in terms of his fiction, that would be a better place to start, partly because it is excellent, and partly because it gives you a good sense of some of the characters in Wild Birds like Uncle Burley. Remembering is also a fine shorter work.
For Berry's non fiction, I would definitely recommend The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture. It's probably his most widely recognized work and considered a classic in American letters. That book lit a spark in me when I read it in 1988 that still resonates. I keep a card file on all books I read and at the top of that card I listed it as "essential."
The 80's were a transitional time in my life, and ready people like Wendell Berry and Edward Abbey helped me hugely, Many of those books were like a compass for my life. I wrote to Mr. Berry and a few weeks later, received at rather lengthy hand typed letter in which he addressed some of my concerns.
And the one day in (around) 2004 or so, I was given tickets to see Berry do a reading at the Crest Theater in Sacramento. After the reading I met him very briefly and told him how grateful I was for his work and his guidance. He looked at me sheepishly and said, "Thank you, I'm glad I did something right." I thought, "Oh my God, you are Wendell Berry. Of course you did!" But of course I just smiled in embarrassment and said, "Oh yes! Thank you so much!"
Also, about 5 years ago I was talking to Ken Sanders, a long time major book seller from Salt Lake City, and Ken told me stories about he and Wendell going fishing and camping together. At one point he looked right at me and told me quite seriously, "I believe Wendell Berry is the greatest living American writer of today." I nodded in agreement.I hope you find some works of his to be enjoying. I think you very likely will!Oh, I almost forgot to mention his books of poetry. Collected Poems 1957-1982 is excellent. And, yes, that's a fine essay you came across!"It's a sad and beautiful world"-Roberto Benigni0 -
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Well now, this one is really interesting!A few weeks ago, we were watching a Star Trek Next Generation episode called "Darmok" that was base on the ancient classic poem, Epic of Gilgamesh. It occurred to me that in all my years of schooling and reading, I had never read any version of Gilgamesh. So out in the garage/ bookstore I found a modern translation by Stephen Mitchell's Gilgamesh. Mitchell has translated some other ancient classics and seems well regarded, so I figured I'd give it a go. The 67 page introduction got me hooked from the get go- just scholarly enough to be appropriate for an ancient classic, yet at the same time, highly readable and enjoyable. What a great read this has been- perfect!Beside the Star trek connection, there are two other things I found fascinating. One, that Mitchell, a literary minded writer is married to Byron Katie, a pop-psychology author. Nothing at all wrong with that- it just surprised me. I actually did very much like the quote of hers Mitchell included in the introduction:"When I argue with reality, I lose," Byron Katie writes, "- but only 100% of the time." Ha! Great!The other really big surprise to me was finding some passages of Gilgamesh to be so highly erotic. Holy cow! Shamhat did WHAT? Move over, Henry Miller, lol! I just didn't know ancient classics could be so racy!But seriously, this was a terrific read and the long introduction is marvelous.
"It's a sad and beautiful world"-Roberto Benigni0 -
@enkidubrianlux said:Well now, this one is really interesting!A few weeks ago, we were watching a Star Trek Next Generation episode called "Darmok" that was base on the ancient classic poem, Epic of Gilgamesh. It occurred to me that in all my years of schooling and reading, I had never read any version of Gilgamesh. So out in the garage/ bookstore I found a modern translation by Stephen Mitchell's Gilgamesh. Mitchell has translated some other ancient classics and seems well regarded, so I figured I'd give it a go. The 67 page introduction got me hooked from the get go- just scholarly enough to be appropriate for an ancient classic, yet at the same time, highly readable and enjoyable. What a great read this has been- perfect!Beside the Star trek connection, there are two other things I found fascinating. One, that Mitchell, a literary minded writer is married to Byron Katie, a pop-psychology author. Nothing at all wrong with that- it just surprised me. I actually did very much like the quote of hers Mitchell included in the introduction:"When I argue with reality, I lose," Byron Katie writes, "- but only 100% of the time." Ha! Great!The other really big surprise to me was finding some passages of Gilgamesh to be so highly erotic. Holy cow! Shamhat did WHAT? Move over, Henry Miller, lol! I just didn't know ancient classics could be so racy!But seriously, this was a terrific read and the long introduction is marvelous.
Interesting work. Read this in college - keep saying I will repeat read at some point.The love he receives is the love that is saved0 -
F Me In The Brain said:
@enkidubrianlux said:Well now, this one is really interesting!A few weeks ago, we were watching a Star Trek Next Generation episode called "Darmok" that was base on the ancient classic poem, Epic of Gilgamesh. It occurred to me that in all my years of schooling and reading, I had never read any version of Gilgamesh. So out in the garage/ bookstore I found a modern translation by Stephen Mitchell's Gilgamesh. Mitchell has translated some other ancient classics and seems well regarded, so I figured I'd give it a go. The 67 page introduction got me hooked from the get go- just scholarly enough to be appropriate for an ancient classic, yet at the same time, highly readable and enjoyable. What a great read this has been- perfect!Beside the Star trek connection, there are two other things I found fascinating. One, that Mitchell, a literary minded writer is married to Byron Katie, a pop-psychology author. Nothing at all wrong with that- it just surprised me. I actually did very much like the quote of hers Mitchell included in the introduction:"When I argue with reality, I lose," Byron Katie writes, "- but only 100% of the time." Ha! Great!The other really big surprise to me was finding some passages of Gilgamesh to be so highly erotic. Holy cow! Shamhat did WHAT? Move over, Henry Miller, lol! I just didn't know ancient classics could be so racy!But seriously, this was a terrific read and the long introduction is marvelous.
Interesting work. Read this in college - keep saying I will repeat read at some point.
I thought about @enkidu when I read this book. Have not seen that member here in some time.
Funny thing is, until I read Gilgamesh, I'd always just figured "Enkidu" was somehow Japanese related, lol. Man, haha, I need to brush up on those ancient classic more often!
"It's a sad and beautiful world"-Roberto Benigni0 -
Thanks Brian. My first purchase of his work is the April 2002 issue of harper's that feature's the essay The Idea of A local Economy. I could only find a partial of the text online and wanted to check out the whole essay. I was thinking of starting with The Unsettling of America and going from there. I will definitely take your recommendations into consideration going forward. Just when I thought I had read all the life changing authors I would come across in my life! So many books so little time.brianlux said:static111 said:@brianlux I was wondering if you have read any Wendell Berry? He seems like someone that is very aligned with your close to nature pro environment worldview. He just came up on my radar, via his essay The Idea Of A Local Economy, and I was hoping you had some reccomendations?Hey static111 , sorry for the late response, just saw this.Yes, I have read several books by Berry. One of my very favorites is a collection of his stories called, The Wild Birds. But one of my other favorite novels of his that I loved is Nathan Coulter and, in terms of his fiction, that would be a better place to start, partly because it is excellent, and partly because it gives you a good sense of some of the characters in Wild Birds like Uncle Burley. Remembering is also a fine shorter work.
For Berry's non fiction, I would definitely recommend The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture. It's probably his most widely recognized work and considered a classic in American letters. That book lit a spark in me when I read it in 1988 that still resonates. I keep a card file on all books I read and at the top of that card I listed it as "essential."
The 80's were a transitional time in my life, and ready people like Wendell Berry and Edward Abbey helped me hugely, Many of those books were like a compass for my life. I wrote to Mr. Berry and a few weeks later, received at rather lengthy hand typed letter in which he addressed some of my concerns.
And the one day in (around) 2004 or so, I was given tickets to see Berry do a reading at the Crest Theater in Sacramento. After the reading I met him very briefly and told him how grateful I was for his work and his guidance. He looked at me sheepishly and said, "Thank you, I'm glad I did something right." I thought, "Oh my God, you are Wendell Berry. Of course you did!" But of course I just smiled in embarrassment and said, "Oh yes! Thank you so much!"
Also, about 5 years ago I was talking to Ken Sanders, a long time major book seller from Salt Lake City, and Ken told me stories about he and Wendell going fishing and camping together. At one point he looked right at me and told me quite seriously, "I believe Wendell Berry is the greatest living American writer of today." I nodded in agreement.I hope you find some works of his to be enjoying. I think you very likely will!Oh, I almost forgot to mention his books of poetry. Collected Poems 1957-1982 is excellent. And, yes, that's a fine essay you came across!Scio me nihil scire
There are no kings inside the gates of eden0 -
Lincoln Lawyer #10
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A fascinating read about a woman raised out in rural Idaho by conspiracy theorist parents who did not provide any education beyond survivalist training and religious indoctrination but who managed to go on to get a PhD after first stepping into a classroom at the university level.my small self... like a book amongst the many on a shelf0
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