tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229875339727095184.post2121899163941660755..comments2024-03-18T15:17:26.003-05:00Comments on l'astronave: Rewrite ReadsFrescahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323129046492056942noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229875339727095184.post-81659955904103193422008-08-31T13:18:00.000-05:002008-08-31T13:18:00.000-05:00Thanks, Manfred!I'll give History Man another try-...Thanks, Manfred!<BR/>I'll give History Man another try--though I think the trouble was that I'm not intimately familiar enough with the culture to get it.<BR/><BR/>Both Greene and Maugham's people suffer from damp and mold all right, but I don't agree that Greene's characters are mean-spirited. I find them--at least the protaganist of "Heart of the Matter"-- to be too small for circumstances they get themselves into, but that's different.<BR/>I can see liking Maugham-he's good.<BR/>I just don't myself.<BR/><BR/>Orwell's novels are really political essays in disguise, which makes them good teaching tools, maybe, but not good novels.Frescahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15323129046492056942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229875339727095184.post-16823514757208893982008-08-29T15:31:00.000-05:002008-08-29T15:31:00.000-05:00Yes, erm, I'm not really qualified, but...The Hist...Yes, erm, I'm not really qualified, but...The History Man is about how an essentially corrupt person can use the political, social and sexual mores of the day - the left in Higher Education in the 70's, in this case - to dominate the lives of those around him and pursue a grab for power and fame/notoriety...and because that era was already past and the subject of ridicule by the early eighties (Lady Thatcher...)the book was literally about recent History, as well as about the always fascinating theme of a man on the make (Room At The Top did this for a slightly earlier era) so its not as funny as Lucky Jim, its actually quite horrifying in parts, but is it a great read? Yes!!<BR/><BR/>(they made a TV series of this in the UK, and at the end of the last episode added a line of text - Howard Kirk voted Conservative in 1979. Just to ram the point home for the TV audience...!)<BR/><BR/>I just love Maugham, not so much for his novels though, just the short stories....and as for mean spirited trapped people - those folks teem from the pages of Green, but I love them too...<BR/><BR/>Maybe its Schadenfreude!!!<BR/><BR/>...... but I hope not!<BR/><BR/>I think you are right about Orwell...he was a better essayist than novelist - Keep The Aspidistra Flying makes me cringe with embarrassment!ooooooooooooooooooooooooooohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15347076050510425951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229875339727095184.post-54365577002918968172008-08-28T20:25:00.000-05:002008-08-28T20:25:00.000-05:00Whew--thanks, Deanna!I am going to the library tom...Whew--thanks, Deanna!<BR/>I am going to the library tomorrow to check out a couple of these books. I've read everything I recommend, except the Henry James (pick up from Sister, whom I trust), but some of them, well....it's been a long time. (I'm afraid that means high school in the case of Call of the Wild.)Frescahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15323129046492056942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229875339727095184.post-90248269989558734312008-08-28T17:51:00.000-05:002008-08-28T17:51:00.000-05:00Recently I reread Call of the Wild and Whitefang (...Recently I reread Call of the Wild and Whitefang (I also downloaded them for fun from free sites). Though the stories are far from politically correct, they don't take pains to make Native Americans look silly or bad. London was more interested, I think, in portraying the stupidity of "soft" white people surging to the arctic for gold without a clue about that environment and the cultures therein.deannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16352855975153416194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229875339727095184.post-30608187039376175032008-08-28T09:21:00.000-05:002008-08-28T09:21:00.000-05:00Bennett! Alan Bennett.I also like David Lodge quit...Bennett! Alan Bennett.<BR/>I also like David Lodge quite a lot.<BR/><BR/>Upon reflection, I realize I don't love all the books I list, I just can't stomach Maugham. I wonder if its his own everyday repression that peoples his stories with such mean-spirited, trapped people. <BR/>Do you see it differently?Frescahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15323129046492056942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229875339727095184.post-29147320692750773062008-08-28T09:04:00.000-05:002008-08-28T09:04:00.000-05:00Deanna: Oh, I think you will love the "Periodic Ta...Deanna: Oh, I think you will love the "Periodic Table"--writing about struggle and compassion, cheeck by jowl. <BR/>I'm glad the post intrigued you. I have been loving pulling it and its upcoming second halftogether.<BR/><BR/>Sister: I wondered too about replacing "Color Purple," since it's fluffy compared to "Beloved," but I liked it a lot when I read it many years ago...<BR/>Thanks for the ideas for more lists, but I haven't even finished with the rewrite of this list! <BR/>Maybe On My Plate could do a book feature?<BR/><BR/>Momo: That's hysterical! Just like the girl in Oranges, who makes that diorama--wasn't it "The summer is over and we are not yet saved?" : ) <BR/>God that was a funny book!<BR/>I have a small worry: it's been soooooo many years since I read iCall of the Wild," I can't honestly recall if London's treatment of Native Americans is really awful. Do you?<BR/><BR/>Manfred: Thanks. I tried but couldn't get into "The History Man." Can you say more about it? Is it funny?<BR/> (I did like "The History Boys," by Alan ...I'm drawing a blank...the guy who wrote "Madness of King George III."<BR/> DId you know that when that was made into a movie, in the USA they dropped the "III" because they worried--probably rightly--that people might think it meant "Part III," like Star Trek III.<BR/><BR/>Oh, Maugham... I'm only putting on books I really like, and while I think he's a good writer, his short stories fatigue me---Too often he resolves the character's pain (grimy, everpresent pain, this guy reeks of it) with suicide (really, count 'em up), which is a bit of a cheat for a writer--kind of a psychological deus ex machina.Frescahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15323129046492056942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229875339727095184.post-23478546567153545222008-08-28T04:05:00.000-05:002008-08-28T04:05:00.000-05:00oh wait, The History Man is probably plate glass r...oh wait, The History Man is probably plate glass rather than redbrick, thinking about it...ooooooooooooooooooooooooooohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15347076050510425951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229875339727095184.post-28659048495617524392008-08-28T04:03:00.000-05:002008-08-28T04:03:00.000-05:00While Lucky Jim is wonderful (bought another copy ...While Lucky Jim is wonderful (bought another copy of it last week) the best redbrick novel must surely be The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury...<BR/><BR/>No Somerset Maugham? Best short stories in the language, I think...<BR/><BR/>Excellent post, by the way!ooooooooooooooooooooooooooohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15347076050510425951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229875339727095184.post-23473563439997850332008-08-27T21:15:00.000-05:002008-08-27T21:15:00.000-05:00I can't remember what grade I was in, but made a s...I can't remember what grade I was in, but made a shoebox diorama based on Call of the Wild with Buck made out of clay pulling a sled with white cotton ball snow.momohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12149328149132703479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229875339727095184.post-4495915167043773932008-08-27T21:01:00.000-05:002008-08-27T21:01:00.000-05:00So glad you added Beloved. I think you can count t...So glad you added Beloved. I think you can count that as a replacement for both GWTW and The Color Purple, which--dare I say it--is pablum compared to Morrison's ravaging tale of the scourge of slavery.<BR/><BR/>This book list is almost as much fun as your movie posts! Maybe you could do a theme-based set next....the best romances, the best science, the best French, the best fantasy....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229875339727095184.post-10066691966774677862008-08-27T19:44:00.000-05:002008-08-27T19:44:00.000-05:00I'm intrigued. Glad you added Call of the Wild, o...I'm intrigued. Glad you added Call of the Wild, one of my great favorites. I did like Little Women, though, in seventh grade...but I didn't make my daughter read it. I looked up The Periodic Table and promptly ordered it. Can't wait. This is all to say thanks for the list work.deannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16352855975153416194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229875339727095184.post-84679163538953379452008-08-27T16:52:00.000-05:002008-08-27T16:52:00.000-05:00Um, that's "Momo", not "Mom."Proofread? Who, me?Um, that's "Momo", not "Mom."<BR/>Proofread? Who, me?Frescahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15323129046492056942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229875339727095184.post-45084731211161268682008-08-27T16:51:00.000-05:002008-08-27T16:51:00.000-05:00OOoooh, Mom:I wish you had hours and hours to do t...OOoooh, Mom:<BR/>I wish you had hours and hours to do this with me!<BR/>Join in any time.<BR/><BR/>Guess what?<BR/>I DO have the Prydain Chronicles coming up --as a replacement for His Dark Materials. (I just can't get into these Oxbridge boys.).<BR/><BR/>My sister loves Gordimer--for some reason I haven't really read her, so now I must.<BR/>Sorta along those lines, I hope to squeeze Doris Lessing in here, coming up. <BR/><BR/>I can't get "Waiting for the Barbarians" out of my head, though, and I read it twenty years ago--and that's the best recommendation I could give--and pretty much my criterium for selection on this lists, as I admit I haven't read most of these books recently.<BR/><BR/>Speaking of work, I've been putting off writing an index on the Russian Revolution all day, which means I will be up half the night.<BR/>Ah, but literature is worth it!<BR/>I'm glad you enjoyed my efforts to far.<BR/><BR/>As Sherman Alexie (also coming up) books should give you a "boner"--I guess I'd say, books should make you wet.Frescahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15323129046492056942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229875339727095184.post-42774854814216403932008-08-27T16:37:00.000-05:002008-08-27T16:37:00.000-05:00First of all, I am so overwhelmed with back to sch...First of all, I am so overwhelmed with back to school tasks and a sudden financial surprise that I cannot possibly do justice to this genius post, except to say: <BR/>1) this is what I get to do when I advise my graduate students on their reading lists for their PhD prelim exams, where they are supposed to come up with 30 works, but NOT repeat authors, so I am on board with your general starting principle: representative works, not multiples by the same author.<BR/>2) YES Wide Sargasso Sea must be read as the companion to Jane Eyre 3) I just reread Winterson's Oranges are not the only fruit and she it absolutely must be on this list 4) Madeleine L'Engle belongs on this list, but I'd replace both Harry Potter and the Narnia books with the Prydain chronicles, 5) if I had to choose one white South African writer it would be Nadine Gordimer, and Burger's Daughter is one of my favorite books by her.<BR/>OK, I see this is way too much fun and I must get back to work! but I would love nothing better than to join you in this discussion later!momohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12149328149132703479noreply@blogger.com