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February Reads

Anamnesis

Anamnesis

Active Member
Mine were:

-Sacrament by Clive Barker. 4/5

-Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. 4/5

-Clash By Night (The Crow) by Chet Williamson. 4/5

-Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs. 3.5/5

I tried reading James Reese's The Book of Spirits but couldn't get into it. Maybe I'll try again this month.
 
The Half Brother-Lars Christensen 4/5 (Norway)

Freedom From Fear-Aung San Suukyi 3/5 (Burma)

Sightseeing- Rattawut Lapcharoensap 3/5 (Thailand)

Fateless-Imre Kertesz 4/5 ( Hungary)

A Dream in Polar Fog- Yuri Rytkheu 5/5 (Russia)

Esau and Jacob-Joachim Machado deAssis 2/5 (Bolivia)

Angela's Ashes-Frank McCourt 5/5 (Ireland)

'Tis-Frank McCourt 4/5
 
February 2007
The Half Brother; Lars Saaybe Christensen-This was a book of the month selection on Colin's forum. I will admit that I was very biased against it at first, though when I started reading it, it turned out to be very good. A family's life is traced from post-WWII life on through to the modern day. The neurosis of a modern writer and his relationship with his half-brother from a rape episode was told in a fascinating way. A mammoth book to read, but a definite treat.

The End of Faith; Sam Harris-An unexpected surprise from an usual source. Not only does Harris take on religion, but he also takesp pacfists and moral relativists to task for their alleged moral cowardice. I don't agree with his criticism of Noam Chomsky in this book as he fails to distinguish between intent in regards to killing in war. Chomsky's golden rule of "first, do no harm" clearly is the superior model here.

Our Gang; Philip Roth-This was a hilarious piece of writing. If you enjoy history as I do, this is a wonderful book to read. The Vice President speaking in alliteration at various conferences was just a riot, I never laughed so hard really. This work definitely shows that Roth is also a hit when it comes to satire.

Brutal:The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger's Irish Mob;Kevin Weeks-A book that scared the hell out of me. I love the history of the mob and enjoy stories about them. This one really went into the details of how certain people were dealt with. You come out of reading this with a begrudging respect for Whitey Bulger, who although is a killer, is highly intelligent.

To the Lighthouse; Virginia Woolf-Re-reading it a second time, it was that good. An interesting piece that contains existential overtones, not to mention a strong "subjective reality" and the prominence of uncertaintiy in it.

It; Stephen King -Started out grabbing me and then wouldn't let go, a definite joy to read.

Mayflower Nathaniel Philbreck-A dreadful bore, other than some snippets of fact that I found interesting, not worth reading after page 250 where every minor skirmish between Englishman and Native was told in a Joseph S. Ellis wanna be style.
 
SFG75 said:
Our Gang; Philip Roth-This was a hilarious piece of writing. If you enjoy history as I do, this is a wonderful book to read. The Vice President speaking in alliteration at various conferences was just a riot, I never laughed so hard really. This work definitely shows that Roth is also a hit when it comes to satire.
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Really? This was my least favorite of all of Roth's works that I've read so far. It was amusing enough that I wanted to finish, but some of the observations were rather superficial and I don't think it's aged quite well (to be fair, it is a satire of Nixon politics; one wouldn't necessarily expect it to...)

Of course, it is also home to one of my favorite quotes:

"I mean, nobody's perfect. One President chooses this target, one President chooses that target, for fortunately we have in this country a political system that can accomodate itself to that kind of disagreement, without recourse to assassination. And by and large I think you can say that in the end the mistakes in judgment and so shake themselves out, and we pretty much destroy the places that need destroying."

Oh, and I read White Noise. Busy month.
 
I made Nixon a project of mine when I was a senior in college. I wrote a psychobiography of sorts on him and read just about everything that has ever been written about him in regards to history and some speculative psychology. I was impressed with the football locker room scene in the basement of the White House. The guy undoubtedly had some issues in regards to insecurity. The constant mentioning of his sweating brow was another item of fond recollection.:D The way that they turned and twisted the facts regarding anything of substance reminds me a lot. . . .of what the current occupant of the White House does, but that is for another time and another thread.:D Reading Roth's press conference writings were pretty dead on as far as that goes. Roth didn't receive a ton of good press aqbout Our Gang. He hasn't ventured the way towards satire since then, perhaps he felt he shouldn't?
 
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 4/5
Storm Front by Jim Butcher 4/5
King's Dragon by Kate Elliot 3.5/5
 
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama

I kept picking up other books to read, but I never managed to finish them. I hope March will end up a more productive month when it comes to reading books.
 
The Shadow of the Wind ~ Ruiz Zafón, Carlos
Money: A Memoir ~ Perle, Liz
Everything in its Place ~ Summers, Marc
The Undomestic Goddess ~ Kinsella, Sophie
Never Let Me Go ~ Ishiguro, Kazuo
Eat, Pray, Love ~ Gilbert, Elizabeth (this was FANTASTIC)
 
I read:

- Jasvinder Sanghera - Shame (Highly recomment)
- Melissa P. - The scent of your breath (Very strange book)
- David Pelzer - A child called It (Very moving)
- A thousand days in Venice (I forget the author...and read 3/4 and couldnt finished it)
- Rita Golden Gelman - Tales of a Female Nomad (Fantastic read. I also highly recommend).

Lani
 
Finished:
Capote - Gerald Clarke
Daughters in Law - Henry Cecil
Martian Time-Slip - Philip K. Dick
A Million Little Pieces - James Frey
The Messiah of Stockholm - Cynthia Ozick

Started:
The Memoirs of Hadrian - Marguerite Yourcenar

So, after Oprah told off James Frey, how did he respond? Anyone know?
Library sale today!
 
-- David Pelzer - A child called It (Very moving)
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This is a very popular book where I work. The clients/students really get a lot of out of it and it helps them deal with what they themselves have gone trhough to some extent. I didn't know it, but Pelzer's brother has also written a book about his experiences and their mother. I can't remember which one-but the mother was so upset, that she would force one of them to take ammonia baths that greatly damaged their lungs.
 
The Barbary Plague - Marilyn Chase

Alma Hitchcock: The Woman Behind the Man - Pat Hitchcock O'Connell

Thou Shalt Not Grill - Tamar Myers

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

So Many Books, So Little Time - Sara Nelson
 
Here are mine:

Marketing Plans, by Malcolm MacDonald- sooooo boring, but I had to read it for work.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer- I was completely charmed by the main character, a 9-year-old who loses his father on Sept 11. A sad, funny, and very unique book.

Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk- Too weird for my taste, but certainly imaginative. It's not for the easily offended, since necrophelia, witchcraft, and ghosts are prominent throughout the novel.

Freakonomics, by Steven D Levitt and Steven J Dubner- Interesting and well written. My favorite chapter was a study of how the Roe v Wade verdict affected crime rates in the US.

My Name is Red, by Orhan Pamuk- First published in Turkish, the translator did an excellent job of capturing the rich and elegant sense of the original prose. The story itself was a bit dry, though, and the first half really dragged. I almost gave up on it, but I am glad I didn't!

I Am Charlotte Simmons, by Tom Wolfe- meh, it was OK. Not great by any stretch of the imagination, but I suppose it could have been worse.

False Impression, by Jeffrey Archer- One word: Horrible.
 
I enjoyed Lullaby. The references to necrophilia were pointless and felt like Palahniuk threw that in just so he could shock some of his readers. Also, there was one glaring error in the beginning: he refers to "Athena" as the Greek goddess of love. Even the folks who produced "Hercules" and "Xena" didn't make so careless a mistake.
Still, I do feel that Lullaby is one of the newer works by Chuck Palahniuk that I really enjoyed (mainly for the wacky cast of characters...).

As for I Am Charlotte Simmons, I've been wanting to read that book for quite some time. Barnes and Noble recently had copies priced as low as $6.98. Should have gotten it when I was there last time... then again, there's always the library.
 
"Mao II" - Don DeLillo
"The Witch and other stories" - Alexandr Kuprin
and i also finished "Mrs. Dalloway" - Virginia Woolf
 
How to be Popular: Meg Cabot(4/5)
And Only to Deceive: Tasha Alexander(3/5 for historical inaccuracies)
Star Wars On Trial: Mathew Woodring Stover + David Brin (5/5 + very amusing)
Germinal: Emile Zola (3/5 for being rather dull. Or maybe it's because our history teacher shoved it down our throat)
Fortunes of Captain Blood: Rafael Sabatini(4/5-the prequels were better)
The Inferno: Dante (4.5/5)
Forever in Blue: Ann Brashares (3.5)
Deathnote(manga), books 1-9(6/5!!! I loved these!!)
Othello: William Shakespeare(4.5/5)
All quiet on the western front: remarque(4/5)
Court Lady and Country Wife: forgot author(3.5/5)
Angel Sanctuary(manga): 2.5/5 (reading any manga except death note was a mistake)
 
This is a great thread! I read four Terry Pratchett books-
The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Sourcery, and Eric. I think I'm in love...
 
Anamnesis said:
The references to necrophilia were pointless and felt like Palahniuk threw that in just so he could shock some of his readers.
...Still, I do feel that Lullaby is one of the newer works by Chuck Palahniuk that I really enjoyed (mainly for the wacky cast of characters...).
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Agree on both fronts. I loved the quirky characters and their insecurities, especially contrasted with the anarchist (Oyster) who was so very self-assured and driven. But some elements of the book were just too strange for me to swallow,
like when Carl and Helen had sex while floating alongside the chandelier. Weird... just weird. And unnecessary. I had a difficult enough time suspending reality for the main premise of the book, without him adding in bizarre sex scenes and cryogenic babies.

As for I Am Charlotte Simmons, I've been wanting to read that book for quite some time. Barnes and Noble recently had copies priced as low as $6.98. Should have gotten it when I was there last time... then again, there's always the library.
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I would suggest sticking with the library, if possible. I wasn't that impressed with the book, although there were some bright spots. I definitely wouldn't recommend actually paying to read it, though. Just my 2 cents!
 
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