A question I've been asking myself with damn near every prominent author lol, it's tough to know. I was thinking about reading some of his work, I've never been into horror themed stuff (fiction at least, history is often times a horror story), I was gonna start with Agatha Christie And Then There Were None because that's the one I've been hearing about since like 3rd grade. I think I'll follow the adaptations for King. Read Carrie, watch the movie, The Shining, Cujo. I've never seen any of them. Just went to his Wikipedia and I didn't know he wrote the Green Mile. I think the one I want to read most is IT with the new movie coming out but it's so long. Looking at the list of novels he's written, I'm not sure there's a bad place to start.
OS Book Club Pt II
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Re: OS Book Club Pt II
A question I've been asking myself with damn near every prominent author lol, it's tough to know. I was thinking about reading some of his work, I've never been into horror themed stuff (fiction at least, history is often times a horror story), I was gonna start with Agatha Christie And Then There Were None because that's the one I've been hearing about since like 3rd grade. I think I'll follow the adaptations for King. Read Carrie, watch the movie, The Shining, Cujo. I've never seen any of them. Just went to his Wikipedia and I didn't know he wrote the Green Mile. I think the one I want to read most is IT with the new movie coming out but it's so long. Looking at the list of novels he's written, I'm not sure there's a bad place to start.Originally posted by G PericoIf I ain't got it, then I gotta take it
I can't hide who I am, baby I'm a gangster
In the Rolls Royce, steppin' on a mink rug
The clique just a gang of bosses that linked up -
Re: OS Book Club Pt II
Finished Things Fall Apart. By Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, it's the story of a Nigerian farmer and his life before and after colonization. I gotta say, I was really captured by it. Beautifully written, vivid imagery. It's split in 3 parts, the first before colonization, the second he leaves his village, and the third is his return after. Seeing the way the customs of the Nigerian people played into the hands of the colonizers was interesting. It's like first contact with aliens to a degree. Because it was done through missionaries instead of through force it's even more interesting. It's like the Civil War, the idea of sons leaving their fathers and brothers leaving brothers. There's probably a great Civil War novel out there that I would like too but that's beside the point. That's such an interesting time.
Spoiler
"How could she know that Ekwefi's bitterness did not flow outwards to others but inwards into her own soul; that she did not blame others for their good fortune but her own evil chi who denied her any?"
In a village trial for a woman who ran away from her husband: "If, in the other hand, Uzowulu should recover from his madness and come in the proper way to beg his wife to return she will do so on the understanding that if he ever beats her again we shall cut off his genitals for him."
"If you had been poor in your last life I would have asked for you to be rich when you come again. But you were rich. If you had been a coward I would have asked you to bring courage. But you were a fearless warrior. If you had died young, I would have asked you to get life. but you lived long. So I shall ask you to come again the way you came before. If your death was the death of nature, go in peace. But if a man caused it, do not allow him a moment's rest."
Explaining their spiritual customs to the Anglican Englishman: "We approach a great man through his servants. But when his servants fail to help us, then we go to the last source of hope. We appear to pay greater attention to the little gods but that is not so. We worry them more because we are afraid to worry their master."
Onto old people and their feels in Our Souls at Night. After that, I'm not sure. It's not long so I'll probably read the whole thing tomorrow. I've got a few things that I planned to get through this month but I'm really getting an urge to read either Blood Meridian or Contact. I'll figure it out tomorrow, flip a coin or something.
Rethinking it, both Contact and Blood Meridian will take me more than a day, so I'll take the weekend to figure out which I'm gonna read and start it on Monday. I think I'm gonna try to read The Great Gatsby on Friday. Read it a long time ago, should be interesting to see what I take from it now.Last edited by DieHardYankee26; 06-14-2017, 09:26 PM.Originally posted by G PericoIf I ain't got it, then I gotta take it
I can't hide who I am, baby I'm a gangster
In the Rolls Royce, steppin' on a mink rug
The clique just a gang of bosses that linked upComment
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Re: OS Book Club Pt II
I finished Our Souls At Night by like 10 AM. Quickest I think I've ever sat down and read a book. The premise is an elderly widow goes up to a widower who she doesn't know that well but has been around for a long time and ask if he would be willing to sleep with her at night and talk. ****ing adorable, very sweet, kinda sad at times. Netflix is making a movie with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda as the main characters, I'm gonna be all over it and ready to cry. Even happiness with old people has a kind of tragedy to it, they've been through so much. Crazy to imagine, drives home the point of making sure not to live with too many regrets. One weird thing was the dialogue isn't cordoned off with quotation marks, it was almost like reading a love story by Cormac McCarthy lol. Kent Haruf finished it right before he died apparently, and he was 71, which makes it even more sad to me. I'm gonna add Plainsong to my list.
Spoiler
"You're still in love with her." "No. But I think I'm in love a little with the memory of her." Relatable for everyone
"Who does ever get what they want? It doesn't seem to happen to many of us if any at all. It's always two people bumping each other blindly, acting out of old ideas and dreams and mistaken understandings. Except I still say that this isn't true of you and me. Not right now, not today."
"I know what I think of you and how much you mean to me. But I can't get it in my head that I mean anything like the same to you."
I finished that so early I figured I should start something else but I didn't want to do Gatsby and ended up reading the first 7 (out of 11) books (chapters) of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I think I said this before, but just the idea that we basically can read a Roman Emperor's journal and the things he felt important to keep himself on the right path blows my mind. It's so cool, just a book of wisdom.
Spoiler
"...to refrain from fault-finding, and not in a reproachful way to chide those who uttered any barbarous or solecistic or strange-sounding expression; but dexterously to introduce the very expression which ought to have been used, and in the way of answer or giving confirmation, or joining in an inquiry about the things itself, not about the word, or by some other fit suggestion."
"Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil. But I who have seen the nature of the good that it is beautiful, and of the bad that is ugly, and the nature of him who does wrong, that it is akin to me, not only of the same blood or seed, but hat it participates in the same intelligence and the same portion of the divinity, I can neither be injured by any of them, for no one can fix on me what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kinsman, nor hate him. For we are made for cooperation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth. To act against one another then is contrary to nature, and it is acting against one another to be vexed and turn away."
"For nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom from trouble does a man retire than into his own soul, particularly when he has within him such thoughts that by looking into them he is immediately in perfect tranquility; and I affirm that tranquility is nothing else than the good ordering of the mind."
"But perhaps the desire of the thing called fame will torment thee. See how soon everything is forgotten, and look at the chaos of infinite time on each side of the present, and the emptiness of applause, and the changeableness and want of judgement in those who pretend to give praise, and the narrowness of the space within which it is circumscribed, and be quiet at last."
"What then is worth being valued? To be received with clapping of hands? No. Neither must we value the clapping of tongues, for the praise which comes from the many is a clapping of tongues."
"Near is thy forgetfulness of all things; and near the forgetfulness of thee by all."
"Take care not to feel towards the inhuman, as they feel towards men."
So yeah, ****ing dope. I saw another thread on reddit yesterday (I should stop going there) that was asking for everyone's Mount Rushmore of prose, I saw a lot of mentions of Nabokov, which reminded me of Lolita on your list, and also William Faulkner. I'm gonna add The Sound and the Fury to my list for Faulkner. I have no idea whatsoever what Lolita is about, but having read a part of the description on wiki, and having vague memories of a Long Island Lolita from I Love the 90's, I don't know what to make of it lol. Our media ruins everything. I'm sure it'll be good.Originally posted by G PericoIf I ain't got it, then I gotta take it
I can't hide who I am, baby I'm a gangster
In the Rolls Royce, steppin' on a mink rug
The clique just a gang of bosses that linked upComment
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Re: OS Book Club Pt II
I do IT help desk work so for 8 and a half hours a day I sit at my computer, waiting for a phone call or a ticket to come in. There's two of us and hardly any tickets so I almost never have to do anything. I'm essentially getting paid at this point to read and teach myself programming before I gear up to go back to school in a couple years.Originally posted by G PericoIf I ain't got it, then I gotta take it
I can't hide who I am, baby I'm a gangster
In the Rolls Royce, steppin' on a mink rug
The clique just a gang of bosses that linked upComment
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Re: OS Book Club Pt II
I'm somewhat jealous. I can barely find 2-3 hours where an opportunity could arise, but by the time it actually comes around I'm fighting to stay awake.
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Re: OS Book Club Pt II
Somewhat being the operative word lol. The kinda ironic thing for me is what started as a way to fill time I was bored in has almost become the reason I want to save myself from boredom. My free time activity is the thing that inspires me to want to put in the work so that in the future I'll have no free time. Go figure.
Finished Meditations. I really loved it. It's now my most quoted book, I ended up taking 72 quotes from it, and it's only 96 pages according to Kindle. Random backstory, Aurelius was the last of the Five Good Emperors, and his death apparently coincided with the end of Pax Romana, so I take it he was a great leader. Clearly, from the writings, a wise one. I'm just curious as always about the historical context it was written in. He died like 2 centuries before Constantine took over and orthodoxy emerged, but he did mention "the Christians" somewhat disparagingly, at least in terms of as he said their "obstinance" in regard to salvation, which I thought was interesting. I eventually will look into a book that explains to me the origin and spread of Christianity. It's hard to get a picture of the world without it for me. Either way, Aurelius's death also brought on the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, or started the events that precipitated it, so that's fun. I'll just say, it was refreshing to read the thoughts of a world leader so selfless and worried about the greater good in these times lol. Other thing is he kept talking about Socrates, who I have a very superficial knowledge of so I may have to travel down that rabbit hole eventually. I found out my public library somehow rents out Kindle ebooks so I figure I'll try to opt for that and then spend my money on hardcover copies that I want to keep or the Kindle books that aren't there. First thing I checked was Sound and The Fury, and it's already checked out. As soon as that comes free, I'm in there.
Spoiler
"Dost thou wish to be praised by a man who curses himself thrice every hour? Wouldst thou wish to please a man who does not please himself? Does a man please himself who repents of nearly everything that he does?"
"For who can change men's opinions? And without a change of opinions what else is there than the slavery of men who groan while they pretend to obey?"
"No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such."
"...consider how much more pain is brought on us by the anger and vexation caused by such acts than by the acts themselves, at which we are angry and vexed."
"I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value in his opinion of himself than the opinions of others."
"The safety of life is this, to examine everything all through, what it is itself, what is its material, what it's formal part; with all thy soul to do justice and to say the truth. What remains except to enjoy life by joining one good thing to another so as not to leave even the smallest intervals between?"
Like I said, awesome. On to the American classic which I will definitely not finish today, The Great Gatsby.Originally posted by G PericoIf I ain't got it, then I gotta take it
I can't hide who I am, baby I'm a gangster
In the Rolls Royce, steppin' on a mink rug
The clique just a gang of bosses that linked upComment
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Re: OS Book Club Pt II
Its been awhile since I read The Great Gatsby. As a teenage boy I really disliked Daisy, but still enjoyed the literary analysis work and discussions for class. Lit. analysis is one of the few subjects I truly miss from school.
Man, downtime at work is one of the weirdest things to me. Having none of my normal tools to combat boredom with was an exercise in trying not to break through my skull.
I'm very routine based so typically when I get off work I go home and run through the same routine 4/5 days. Trying to balance multiple hobbies (and even more during the summer) in the evenings is rough. I get home, tend to the yard/garden in some way, unwind with the guitar for an hour or so, exercise, eat dinner, do whatever chores in the house need to be done, and then is when I usually set time for reading.
I guess its a priority thing more than a time thing (though sleep comes earlier than its scheduled to). I WANT to read for hours on end, but prying the guitar from my fingers or keeping myself from exercising is tough.
This is why I haven't turned on a game system in 3 months.
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Re: OS Book Club Pt II
I've always been one for routine but I think the shock of transitioning from school to work killed it for me. I can't tell up from down sometimes, I'm still waiting for my 3 month vacation lol. My normal distraction would be my phone or iPod, and I've got both so I just throw on a podcast and start reading.
I feel you on the gaming, it used to be my go to hobby at home but I haven't been too into it lately aside from The Show. I always played games for the story, they don't generally have good story, now I've got a much easier way to find good stories... So it'll be interesting to see how this plays out for me long term. I was telling a friend the other day in an alternate universe I'd be blowing up the Switch thread, I could play all day at my desk with no issues if I chose to. I guess this is that growing up thing I've been waiting for. Leaves a lot of time to think and plan, that's for sure.
I also just feel compelled. If Frederick Douglass could sneak off the plantation and find somebody to teach him the alphabet, I HAVE TO take some time out to read. If FDR says education is the safeguard for democracy, I HAVE TO learn something. I feel like I'm seeing the results of people not listening to them and I don't want to end up like those people lol.Originally posted by G PericoIf I ain't got it, then I gotta take it
I can't hide who I am, baby I'm a gangster
In the Rolls Royce, steppin' on a mink rug
The clique just a gang of bosses that linked upComment
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Re: OS Book Club Pt II
That's the thing that's bothering me, too. Maybe its me maturing and reaching that big 3-0 milestone, but feeling compelled, like you said, is that thing that just keeps eating at me when I'm not able to read.
The rise of Netflix and binge watching has really turned me off (no pun intended) from watching TV in general. I can't remember the last time I actually sat down and watched a TV show that wasn't Friends or Golden Girls as I'm falling asleep on the couch waiting for Ashleigh to get home from work at midnight.
Even games. Like you said the compelling parts of TV shows and most games is the story and characters. For some reason they just aren't resonating with me like they once did. Gaming is supposed to be advancing, but outside of the scope of production I don't see much progress in narrative and character building outside of a handful of games.
As limitless as the internet is supposed to be it just doesn't feel like it offers a wide breadth of information anymore as everything is funneled into the same sites.
For me reading has morphed from a somewhat entertaining chore as a kid to something that is not only entertaining, but engaging and enlightening when a lot of other things aren't anymore.
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Re: OS Book Club Pt II
Finished Gatsby, unsurprisingly I appreciate it a lot more than I did freshman year of high school. Daisy is fairly unlikable based on her actions but I guess it speaks to the quality of the book that I wonder the events that led her to be the way she was like she's a real person. Up until the accident I sympathized with her being the character that everything was happening to and that she was forced to react. As soon as it's her turn to make a move, she does something awful and the consequences are obviously what they are. Gatsby, my guy, put through some ****. It's easy to feel for him despite the impossibility of achieving the dream of recreating a moment in time. I see why they called it the Great American Novel, a country so shrouded in fantasy can only be represented by a book where the tragedy is belief in false dreams.
Spoiler
"Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their show of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by inexhaustible variety of life."
"At the enchanted metropolitan twilight I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others - poor young clerks who loitered in front of windows waiting until it was time for a solitary restaurant dinner - young clerks in the dusk, wasting the most poignant moments of night and life."
"Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have always been obstinate about peasantry." LOVE IT
"There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams - not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghastly heart." Too real
"What was the use of doing great things if I could have a better time telling her what I was going to do?"
One thing that occurred to me while reading this is that Don Draper is Jay Gatsby, illusory life and all, and now I want to go watch Mad Men again. Amazing book, more great prose. Next my boy Sagan and Contact.Originally posted by G PericoIf I ain't got it, then I gotta take it
I can't hide who I am, baby I'm a gangster
In the Rolls Royce, steppin' on a mink rug
The clique just a gang of bosses that linked upComment
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Re: OS Book Club Pt II
Looking back I think its a missed opportunity of discussion for The Great Gatsby is how a teenage boys interprets Daisy's and Jay's interactions (not necessarily with each other) versus teenage girls. As a boy in high-school Daisy came off as phony and a tease, but looking back I'm wondering if that was really case. Was Jay Gatsby, in fact, an actual obsessive, creeping, dork? I'm sure the answer is more likely to be in the middle, but as a teenage boy I related to Gatsby's unrelenting "love" for Daisy.
It makes sense that high-school kids read this, but the discussions miss opportunities. Plus, I know we glossed over a lot of the class and society themes.
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Re: OS Book Club Pt II
Yeah it definitely has a "boy trapped in time" feel to it but I imagine that's relatable for any age. Daisy is hard to hate for the same reason I find most people hard to hate: she's just doing her thing like the rest of us. It's unfortunate for Gatsby that she couldn't be what he wanted her to be, but that's not her fault or problem. I think my reaction to her softened reading the "I want my daughter to be a pretty little fool" line. Brings me back to Frederick Douglass and learning being a gift and a curse. It's like in her time the only quality that would benefit her is to be gorgeous and subservient, so that's what she did. Even knowing that there was more out there, she made herself fit into the picture that everyone had already placed her in, even if it was going to hurt her. She's like a child who never had to grow up. His feeling toward her though is very relatable like you said. Even back to Our Souls at Night and "Im not in love with her as much as the idea of her." It's hard to know whether what you see is what is there or what you want to be there, even harder when you're not even asking the question as much as declaring the answer, like Gatsby did basically canonizing her. We've all got a little Gatsby in us, I guess we just hope we aren't blinded so as to end up in the same fate as him.
Agreed on high school kids. Gatsby is like Tony Soprano, so much more interesting than a description would lead you to believe. I've already got a few of the other "Great American Novels" according to Wikipedia on my list so I can't wait to get to some of the ones I've never read.Originally posted by G PericoIf I ain't got it, then I gotta take it
I can't hide who I am, baby I'm a gangster
In the Rolls Royce, steppin' on a mink rug
The clique just a gang of bosses that linked upComment
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Re: OS Book Club Pt II
Have you read any Steinbeck? Grapes of Wrath is one of my favorite "required readings" from high-school. There's just so much discussion and analysis to be made from that book.
Are you on Goodreads.com? I just made an account last week. I'm not sure how useful it will be, but I had time to kill. https://www.goodreads.com/friend/i?f...g1MjE5MjE6NDIy
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Re: OS Book Club Pt II
I have not but will add Grapes to my list. The books I remember reading in school were Fahrenheit 451, Gatsby, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Anthem, Do Androids Dream, All Quiet on the Western Front, Catcher in the Rye, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Having read Gatsby again, I now want to reread all of them to see the different takeaways, minus Anthem. I hated it then and I probably hate it even more now. The only thing good that book led to was 2112 by Rush.Originally posted by G PericoIf I ain't got it, then I gotta take it
I can't hide who I am, baby I'm a gangster
In the Rolls Royce, steppin' on a mink rug
The clique just a gang of bosses that linked upComment
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