The Legacy by John Coyne (1937- )
Published 1978
The Legacy by John Coyne (1937- )
Published 1978
Just started Sara Collins' The Confessions Of Frannie Langton (2019)
A "did she do it?" situated in London 1826.
Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway. Part of a multi-year project of reading her complete works in (roughly) chronological order. This is her first "masterpiece", and the first one I've found at all difficult to get into.
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
Whoa! You're at the beginning of a really spectacular four novel run.Originally Posted by Sturgeon's Lawyer
Difficult? Yep. Rewarding? Yes. In my opinion, the resplendent prose of modernists like Woolf, Faulkner, Forster, Joyce, Conrad, and Lawrence remains unsurpassed. Oh, there's Poe, Undset, Marquez, and a few others, but still...
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding (1707-1754)
Published 1749
The Road to Mars by Eric Idle
Sci fi novel set in the year 2300. A comedy duo is desperately trying to get to Mars (where are the good clubs are). Aided by their humanoid Carlton, who is
modeled after David Bowie. Danger, suspense, hijinks, and lots of laughs. This is brilliant!
A Comfort Zone is not a Life Sentence
If I remember correctly, there was a promotional quote from Steve Martin on the back cover that says something like: "I laughed. I cried. Then I read the book." -Steve Martin
You are correct sir!If I remember correctly, there was a promotional quote from Steve Martin on the back cover that says something like: "I laughed. I cried. Then I read the book." -Steve Martin
A Comfort Zone is not a Life Sentence
I read that one back in the early 2000s. Great book! Idle is obviously a very witty wordsmith and storyteller.
I would add Mother Night and God Bless You Mr. Rosewater to that list.
While a translation of Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle lies waiting to be read, I'm working my way through Kathryn Kalinak's Film Music: A Very Short Introduction (2010).
This can be tough stuff, but Kalinak knows how to reach the reader, by starting to explain why Stuck In The Middle With You worked so well in Reservoir Dogs.
Now on my Kindle: The History Of The Hobbit, a presentation of and commentary on the drafts of Tolkien's book.
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
The Nightwalker by Thomas Tessier (1947- )
Published 1979
Good stuff. I'm a big fan of TT's work.
Last edited by Lopez; 09-24-2019 at 06:24 AM.
Lou
Looking forward to my day in court.
Didn't do much justice to the book with this last line. Although the novel is about a trial, the real story is about slavery and racism.
Although I read gobs great literature, I must feed my horror fetish. I buy horror books in bulk lots off Ebay. I have several boxes of unread novels. A few days ago, I started "Power of Six" by Pitticus Lore. I threw in the towel after 50 pages. Couldn't read it anymore, because it felt juvenile. At age 10, I would have finished the the book. Unbeknownst to me, "Power of Six" is the 2nd novel in a sci-fi, young adult series. I'm not the target audience. Not the books fault...probably.
I always feel a slight feeling of displeasure with myself, when I give up on a novel. Does that happen to you?
What books thwarted your best efforts to finish? Why? Did you feel displeasure with yourself?
Last edited by Crawford Glissadevil; 09-26-2019 at 10:45 AM.
I used to feel the same way. The first time I quit a book was about 30 years ago, I started the supposed sci-fi "classic" A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay. Man, what a snoozer. I got about 50 pages in and decided, nope, this is not doing it for me. So I stopped. I had bought the book, so there's the double whammy. Quitting a book and having paid for it. There are so many books out there that I want to read, that I'll stop a quarter of the way in if I'm not being entertained on some level. I want a good story first. If it's got symbolism and all that literary crap, so much the better. Heck, Moby-Dick is loaded with literary crap, but it's a damn great story. Too many books, not enough time.
Lou
Looking forward to my day in court.
@Lopez: I'm sorry you had that experience with Voyage to Arcturus; it's a favorite of mine. Perhaps you were too young for it? I certainly didn't "get" it until I was in my 40s!
At any rate, it's intentionally surreal, which means "not for everyone", so maybe it just isn't for you.
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
Gotta love iBooks. I am reading a trilogy that is not sold as a bundle. I paid 8.99 for book 1, 1.99 for book 2, but they want 16.99 for book 3! They're like pushers once they got you hooked....
"Corn Flakes pissed in. You ranted. Mission accomplished. Thread closed."
-Cozy 3:16-
Now I'm intrigued. I'll have to give it another try.
Lou
Looking forward to my day in court.
[QUOTE=Sturgeon's Lawyer;929011]@Lopez: I'm sorry you had that experience with Voyage to Arcturus; it's a favorite of mine. Perhaps you were too young for it? I certainly didn't "get" it until I was in my 40s!
At any rate, it's intentionally surreal, which means "not for everyone", so maybe it just isn't for you.[/QUOT I don't think I would have got it at age 10.
I read it and liked it. It would have baffled me at age 10 too.
Ghosts by Noel Hynd (1952- )
Pubished 1993
Last edited by Crawford Glissadevil; 09-27-2019 at 06:38 AM.
Finally started reading Haddon's The Porpoise. Well, he sure knows how to catch the attention of the reader right from the beginning. And he also knows how to change the atmosphere in one sentence. Curious how this will lead to.
The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce
(1842- 1914)
How To: Absurd Scientific Advice For Common Real-World Problems, by Randall Munroe, who also does this:
We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
The only time I can recall that happening to me was with Peter F. Hamilton’s The Reality Dysfunction. A fascinating concept for a sci-fi story that blended some strong horror elements. But after a couple hundred pages probably, I stopped. The cast of characters was really large, and none of them were likable. Not even the “protagonist”, a young stud starship captain who proceeded to bed every single female he encountered.
Between the gratuitous sex, and the lack of any likable (or even just decent) people, I couldn’t take anymore. It just became an ugly, unpleasant slog for me.It was unfortunate, because I’d read some of Hamilton’s later books and really enjoyed them.
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