Recently Begun Books

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Igu Soni

Reader
I thought it might be interesting to have a thread where we talk about the books we've just begun; initial impressions etc.

I'll begin:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
It seemed written in a laughably singsong voice at first, but got more and more immersing as the pages went on. The conversations between the dad and the kid are amazing. Read around 20 pages this sitting.
 
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Eric

Former Member
This thread is a good idea of Igu Soni's for various reasons:

1) You may start, but never finish a book.

2) It is interesting to compare your thoughts about a book by writing down what you thought after ten pages, and then compare it later with what you thought by the end of the book.

3) With poetry, you don't necessarily read a book from cover to cover. You may start, leave off and resume again later. This is, of course, harder to do with a novel, but can also be done with books of short-stories.
 
saliotthomas

saliotthomas

Reader
OOhhhh boy but you got yourself some support here.

Ok then, i have started Shutter island and so far it's a very good thriller, good pace and dialogues, just what i need after super gloomy McCabe winterwood.
 
peter_d

peter_d

Reader
One practical/logistical issue with regard to Eric's 2nd argument: where are you going to post what you think of the book when you finished it? If you put that under 'recently finished', it's going to be a hassle to compare, switching from thread to thread...

Anyway, I do think it's good idea.

I just started Die Leiden des Jungen Werther (The sorrows of young Werther) by Goethe. I read it in secondary school and can't remember it moved me very much. But now I find it quite good, so far. Impressive that he was only 25 when he wrote it. Must have been a smart kid.
 
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Igu Soni

Reader
peter_d said:
One practical/logistical issue with regard to Eric's 2nd argument: where are you going to post what you think of the book when you finished it? If you put that under 'recently finished', it's going to be a hassle to compare, switching from thread to thread...
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Would it be a good idea to ask Stewart or Bjorn to merge the two threads?

peter_d said:
Anyway, I do think it's good idea.
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Thanks for that ( and to you too, Eric).
 
saliotthomas

saliotthomas

Reader
On paper, Isaac Bashevis Singer-The manor, which i enjoy a lot, the easter style, the familly saga, the humour. Interesting too for a Nazaretan like me to discover old Jewish customs and funny to see the impact of Darwinism there too.
Fairly sure i will like it the all way through.

Audio jean Hegland-Into the forest, an end of the world survivor story (love those) with two sisters in a forest house. I start very well, but it might turn wrong.
A positive clue is the photo of the author who look like a smart woman to me, i trust faces.
What you think?
19551977.jpg
 
waalkwriter

waalkwriter

Reader
Started reading The Master of Go by Kawabata Yasunari, the later version. He supposedly kept editing all of his novels for a terser aesthetic canon. About 50 pages in. A simply amazing book. Quite wonderful.
 
waalkwriter

waalkwriter

Reader
Come on Daniel, we agree all the time :D

Reading Oe right now huh? Try Nip the Buds, Shoot the Children, another mindblowing novel. I've been meaning to write a more thorough review of it.
 
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duygutekgul

Reader
I've started reading The Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier, and I can't say I'm impressed. The opening is a bit clich? and I've asked "why?" many times while reading. I'm reading it for a book club so I think I'll cheat and just read the end.
 
Daniel del Real

Daniel del Real

Moderator
waalkwriter said:
Come on Daniel, we agree all the time :D

Reading Oe right now huh? Try Nip the Buds, Shoot the Children, another mindblowing novel. I've been meaning to write a more thorough review of it.
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Yes, it's true. I read that novel last year and when I just finished I wasn't that impressed, but the novel kept growing on me and now I can tell I really enjoyed it. Many people say The Silent Cry is Kenzaburo's masterpiece. First chapter so far is fabulous.
 
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Stiffelio

Reader
Daniel del Real said:
Many people say The Silent Cry is Kenzaburo's masterpiece. First chapter so far is fabulous.
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I'm glad you are reading The Silent Cry. Please, take your time, don't just browse, don't rush through it. Every sentence counts; and then go back and re-read back chapters. You'll need it. It's like 'peeling the onion' effect till you get to the core.
 
Daniel del Real

Daniel del Real

Moderator
Stiffelio said:
I'm glad you are reading The Silent Cry. Please, take your time, don't just browse, don't rush through it. Every sentence counts; and then go back and re-read back chapters. You'll need it. It's like 'peeling the onion' effect till you get to the core.
Click to expand...

I had to do that with the first chapter, I was back and forward, reading pages twice. After I got used to Oe's style on this book I'm reading a little faster now. I finished chapter 4 yesterday and it's just getting better.
Did you also read it in Anagrama's translation. I have no idea who is the translator but I assume it's a good one since it is directly from Japanese.
 
S

Stiffelio

Reader
Daniel del Real said:
I had to do that with the first chapter, I was back and forward, reading pages twice. After I got used to Oe's style on this book I'm reading a little faster now. I finished chapter 4 yesterday and it's just getting better.
Did you also read it in Anagrama's translation. I have no idea who is the translator but I assume it's a good one since it is directly from Japanese.
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Daniel, it's not so much O?'s writing style that may be hard reading for a first timer; it's his obsessive nature, how he goes forwards and backwards deliberately to hammer in through his interior ruminations, each time piercing deeper into his soul...and into the reader's.

And yes, I read O? in Spanish. They did manage to get good translators direct from Japanese for O? (unlike for Kawabata!).
 
waalkwriter

waalkwriter

Reader
Stiffelio said:
Daniel, it's not so much O?'s writing style that may be hard reading for a first timer; it's his obsessive nature, how he goes forwards and backwards deliberately to hammer in through his interior ruminations, each time piercing deeper into his soul...and into the reader's.

And yes, I read O? in Spanish. They did manage to get good translators direct from Japanese for O? (unlike for Kawabata!).
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Well, I must say I've been very impressed with the English translations for the major Japanese writers. Some very good works.
 
peter_d

peter_d

Reader
J.M. Coetzee - In the heart of the country

Starts out impressively, although I hope the complaining tone of the major character will not go on like this throughout the whole book.

The language is eloquent and poetic. I have the feeling that I need my dictionary more than for other books I read in English.
 
I

Igu Soni

Reader
peter_d said:
J.M. Coetzee - In the heart of the country

Starts out impressively, although I hope the complaining tone of the major character will not go on like this throughout the whole book.

The language is eloquent and poetic. I have the feeling that I need my dictionary more than for other books I read in English.
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My favourite Coezee; took me three months (on and off) to read.
Btw, the whole book is a major complaint.

I started Crime and Punishment. Raskolnikov is Underground Man (though twenty years younger), it seems.

Also started the Philosophy textbook I borrowed. Heavy stuff.

I finished the first Alice book, felt disappointed but will be giving it another try because I deeply suspect my reading conditions of the time.
 
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