The Cellar - Books you're currently reading???

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- - Books you're currently reading??? (http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=4348)

Just started on the James Bond novels. Quite a mental readjustment required as I have mostly been reading contemporary (and therefore relatively PC stuff) recently. Live and Let Die was a jolt. Not an overly bad one, but a jolt. I never make white/black/whatever assumptions, but I live near Detroit and I previously lived in Birmingham, England. Both noted for their "ethnic minorities". (I am pinkish with hazel eyes). And I have never lived in the 1950s. Apparently, if none of these apply, it may be necessary to specify that your non-white characters are non-white/pinkish. Every time you mention them. Describing some physical characteristic helps -especially for negroes- like the nose or lips. Just in case the reader is unable to pictue a non-white. Which might have been a real concern when the book was written, but is now so uniumaginable (to me at least) that is makes the book "interesting".

Just wait til you come upon the Chigroes in Dr. No.

I'm reading Ghost Stories from the American South - W.K. Neil

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clodfobble (Post 319223)

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell[/url] by Susanna Clark. The style of writing is kind of mock-Dickens, so it doesn't exactly let you get lost in the story, but it definitely succeeds at being amusing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by grant (Post 319690)

I'm still struggling with this book off and on. I feel that if I'm going to be bored with footnotes I'd rather read Eco, or a textbook. Pratchett can keep me interested in his footnotes because they're so short and usually a bit funny.

I don't know why, but it reminds me more of Jane Austen (which I can't penetrate at all) than Dickens.

I really want to like JS&MN, just like I really want to like Eco's The Island of the Day Before.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolf (Post 319998)

The first chapter hooked me, then a lot of the middle bored me. It's a heck of a project to read through!

I thought it was more faux-Austen than mock-Dickens ... overblown comedy of manners style and all, I loved the footnotes.

There are a lot of interesting little bits in this book, it's just unfortunately inconsistent.

I am4/5 of the way through and enjoying it immensely. I do love a book where you can't predict the next few chapters - and this is one. I am surprised that other people aren't able to lose themselves in it though - I have. Perhaps it's because I like Austen...?

Glad for the recommendation though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by monster (Post 320127)

snip~ Describing some physical characteristic helps -especially for negroes- like the nose or lips. Just in case the reader is unable to pictue a non-white. Which might have been a real concern when the book was written, but is now so uniumaginable (to me at least) that is makes the book "interesting".

Keep in mind the throughout the whole Bond series, Fleming spends half the pages describing the most minute, arcane, and often boring, details. He can spend half a page on a doorknob. Almost like reading a screenplay with stage directions.:D

Ghost wars : the secret history of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet invasion to September 10, 2001

Reiki: The Ultimate Guide, Volume One - Steve Murray

I haven't found the part that explains how if this guide is so ultimate, there are two additional volumes.

Tales - H.P. Lovecraft

Stiff - Mary Roach (After I go belly up, I'm donating my body to Wright State Medical school and want to know what might happen to it. The cool thing is after they are done with it, they cremate it and it's all free!)

A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson

My mother-in-law just arranged to have that done. That reminds me of a John Prine tune.

The Accidental Buddist - Dinty Moore Irish American ex-catholic writes about his exploration... good stuff right in the wheel house.

The Cellar has a unique connection to Mr. Dinty Moore, as he attended our 1994 BBQ and wrote a chapter about us in his book about the fledgling Internet.

Neat, I didn't realize that was the guy!

Definitely him, as I folled his career a little and noticed that he had picked up the Buddhism.

Bone Dry, A Blanco County, Texas, Novel, by Ben Rehder. The book jacket claims it's like, "Carl Hiaasen with a Texas accent." But I never did read the one Hiaasen book I picked up (I don't remember the name...it had a dog head on the cover). So, I just imagine Joe Bob Briggs narrating it.

The Carl Hiassen book you (everyone) need(s) to read is "Skin Tight".

It's the best of all of them.