What Are You Reading

[Feraud]

Received two from Amazon.
Cinderella Man by Jeremy Schaap.
Faces, Form, Films: The Artistry of Lon Chaney by Robert Anderson.

 

[Inusuit]

Just finished "Patton: Genius for War" by Carlo D'Este. Excellent portrait of a complex man. Now reading "Saving Savannah" by Jennifer Jones. Class and race struggles in Georgia lowlands before, during and after the Civil War. Very good, a bit slow going in the middle.

All time favorites: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, and anything by Cormac McCarthy but especially Blood Meridian and No Country for Old Men.

 

["Skeet" McD]

THE CRUEL SEA by Nicholas Monsarrat

[QUOTE="Skeet" McD]Boy, ain't it, just: I've never read the book, but you're making me want to (frankly, didn't even realize it had been a book before the film).[/QUOTE]

Well, I acted on that desire and got the book (in a nicely produced, workmanlike hardbound edition from a series entitled Classics of Naval Literature published by the Naval Institute Press: I recommend it as an excellent, pleasurable, and cheap way to read this novel).

The work is extremely well written: prose with a classic diction which reads as clean rather than mannered; Monsarrat knows when and how to drop the odd off-note for effect. His understanding of very subtle motivations and ability to describe them with surgical accuracy is impressive. And the story is made of stuff which is both exciting and significant.

As much as I have loved the film....as usual, the book is better. Highly recommended, and thanks to fellow-Lounger CORTO for the tip.

 

[skyvue]

I'm reading Manhattan Love Song, Cornell Woolrich's first stab at the sort of thriller/crime stories for which he became so well known.

It's dark and gritty and very well-written. Too bad no movie's ever been made of it (published in 1932, it'd have made a great Precode picture).

There was a movie made with this title, and I think Woolrich gets story credit, but the plot has nothing whatsoever to do with Woolrich's tale.

 

[Lamplight]

Currently re-reading News From Nowhere by William Morris, who is often credited for starting the Arts and Crafts movement.

 

[Tiller]

Finished Fer-De-Lance by Rex Stout, and I'm now moving onto The League of Frightened Men also by Stout.

 

[blacklagoon]

Enid Blyton - mystery of the hidden house.

 

[JennyLou]

Right now I am reading a book on Army nurses during WWII. I want to join a WWII nurse reenacting group so I thought I do some research. Those women were amazing.

 

[Spiffy]

The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell.
It's the only think keeping me sane in the midst of exams.

 

[John Boyer]

Soldiers, as a rule, make exceptional priests.
The late Pedro Arrupe SJ, Society General and Hiroshima witness
is another fascinating Jebbie, and Ignatius' opposite in so many ways.
Ever read Thomas Merton's The Seven Storey Mountain?

Harp,

It was many years ago that I read Merton's The Seven Storey Mountain. I remember admiring his convertion from a rebellious unmotivated youth and appreciated his later respect and dialogue with other faiths; on this count, he reminds me of Bede Griffiths. I agree, Merton's monastic life is inconsistent with my own perception of the profession.

My most revered "spiritual" writer remains, C.S. Lewis. I am attempting, for the first time, to work through his book, Miracles and am finding it very difficult. Although, I can't help thinking it is worth understanding.

I am familiar with Pedro Aurrupe, in name only...

John

 

[Harp]

Harp,

It was many years ago that I read Merton's The Seven Storey Mountain. I remember admiring his convertion from a rebellious unmotivated youth and appreciated his later respect and dialogue with other faiths; on this count, he reminds me of Bede Griffiths. I agree, Merton's monastic life is inconsistent with my own perception of the profession.

My most revered "spiritual" writer remains, C.S. Lewis. I am attempting, for the first time, to work through his book, Miracles and am finding it very difficult. Although, I can't help thinking it is worth understanding.

I am familiar with Pedro Aurrupe, in name only...

John

John:

Merton's conversion on the heels of his Columbia University/teaching experience
seemed almost too abrupt, nor did he appear the hellraiser rake,
for whom a spark enflamed his soul; also, his writing itself indicated
something less than total monastic enclosure, all the more remarkable
for the Trappists. I've been invited to a retreat at Merton's monastery
in Kentucky, where he's buried in the monks' cemetery. May go, books
in hand, to question the brethern sentiment. If they'll even talk.
Trappists are quite taciturn. The Jesuits, on the other hand, can
always be counted on to argue; and from the most unorthodox perspective. [angel]

I gave Lewis a brief try in college when Tolkien was all the rage
as speculative fodder. Ever read The Screwtape Letters?
May have another go with him.

Pedro A. and the Jebbies, date back to my brief fling with Loyola University,
where liberals abounded, scholarships were virtually nonexistent--
the Jesuits are tight with a buck--and Jebbie Phil/Theol profs assign the
most expensive textbooks ; while straying beyond doctrine. :rage:
Arrupe, an extraordinary man, unfortunately led the dissent, and cast
the Order outside orthodoxy. For a Christian Brothers of Ireland alum,
the Jebbies looked in need of an exorcism. lol
Ignatius L. seemed to have been abandoned by the very Order he founded.
So I transferred to the University of Illinois-Chicago, where liberals
abounded. lol

 

[MrNewportCustom]

I'm working my way through some vintage Mike Shayne (Brett Halliday) and Shell Scott (Richard S. Prather) paperbacks that I found recently. I finished Ride a High Horse (Scott) and had started Murder Wears a Mummer's Mask (Shayne) when I got distracted by a book on glamour photography. I'm almost finished with it. When I am, then I can get back to the Shayne mystery.


Lee

 

[deadpandiva]

I just started The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.hope I like it as much as The Woman in White. Some one here recommended a book on the dust bowl quite q while ago. I must have the title wrong though becasue I can not find it. I thought it was called the Hardest Hard Time. Does that sound familiar to anyone?

 

[Harp]

...Some one here recommended a book on the dust bowl quite q while ago. I must have the title wrong though becasue I can not find it. I thought it was called the Hardest Hard Time. Does that sound familiar to anyone?

Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath?

Just a suggest.

 

[Undertow]

Nabakov's Lolita and a slightly interesting book called The Time Paradox.

 

[John Boyer]

I just started The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.hope I like it as much as The Woman in White. Some one here recommended a book on the dust bowl quite q while ago. I must have the title wrong though becasue I can not find it. I thought it was called the Hardest Hard Time. Does that sound familiar to anyone?

I like Harp's suggestion below, however, you might be thinking of the title
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan

 

[Feraud]

After finishing the book on Jack Johnson I started Cinderella Man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer, and the Greatest Upset in Boxing History by J. Schaap.

 

[Mike1939]

I'm reading The Road to Los Angles, by John Fante. Although completed in 1936 this book was not published till 1985 because of the provocative subject matter. The main character Arturo Bandini is a nut but I just can't put the book down.

 

[Harp]

Harp,
My most revered "spiritual" writer remains, C.S. Lewis. I am attempting, for the first time, to work through his book, Miracles and am finding it very difficult. Although, I can't help thinking it is worth understanding.
John

John:
I haven't read Lewis' Miracles, but yesterday I stumbled across
The Screwtape Letters inside a small Franciscan bookstore downtown,
where it was shelved under Philosophy. Thought it was time for a
revisit with Wormwood. Found an excellent study of Hopkins which
I left for later. Will look for Miracles next week.

 

[vonwotan]

Today I'm reading Dead Man's Handle by Peter O'Donnell while waiting for the mint infused simple syrup to cool... The julep cups are in the freezer and we have more than an hour until our guests arrive.