Books Read in 2008

[SLROnline]

You might have noticed that Campbell's Skeleton Key to Finnegan's Wake followed Finnegan's Wake. After three weeks of reading and rereading the first 100 pages of Joyce's work, I caved and sought Campbell's help. Finnegan's Wake is harder than a Rubik's Cube, Video Game, and a level six forged metal puzzle rolled together. I can only claim to have seen all the words in the book. My comprehension is somewhere in the ten percent range at present. I will read and reread this one, despite having found an anecdote where Mrs. Joyce is alleged to have tossed the Wake aside in frustration, chastising J.J. "for writing damnable books that no one can understand." =-)

[Timbuktu2]

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SLROnline wrote:
You might have noticed that Campbell's Skeleton Key to Finnegan's Wake followed Finnegan's Wake. After three weeks of reading and rereading the first 100 pages of Joyce's work, I caved and sought Campbell's help. Finnegan's Wake is harder than a Rubik's Cube, Video Game, and a level six forged metal puzzle rolled together. I can only claim to have seen all the words in the book. My comprehension is somewhere in the ten percent range at present. I will read and reread this one, despite having found an anecdote where Mrs. Joyce is alleged to have tossed the Wake aside in frustration, chastising J.J. "for writing damnable books that no one can understand." =-)

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Perfectly understandable, which is more than I can say for Finnegan's Wake!  I looked at the first sentence 40 years ago and haven't been back since.

[Laurel]

SLR wrote: "I can only claim to have seen all the words in the book."

Good one! 

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SLROnline wrote:
You might have noticed that Campbell's Skeleton Key to Finnegan's Wake followed Finnegan's Wake. After three weeks of reading and rereading the first 100 pages of Joyce's work, I caved and sought Campbell's help. Finnegan's Wake is harder than a Rubik's Cube, Video Game, and a level six forged metal puzzle rolled together. I can only claim to have seen all the words in the book. My comprehension is somewhere in the ten percent range at present. I will read and reread this one, despite having found an anecdote where Mrs. Joyce is alleged to have tossed the Wake aside in frustration, chastising J.J. "for writing damnable books that no one can understand." =-)

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[bdNM]

I've been looking for a group to read "Finnegan's Wake" for a long time.  It has proven too tough a nut for me to crack by myself -- "Ulysses," yes, "FW," no. 

[Peppermill]

 Fiction Reading Increases for Adults

It would be nice to think that resources like these book clubs may be an aid to the statistics reported -- or, at least, that they will in the future.

[Laurel]

Thanks for the article, Pepper. I hope Steve Jobs reads it. He said a few months ago that he was not interested in bringing out an electronic reading device because people do not read books anymore.

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Peppermill wrote:

 Fiction Reading Increases for Adults

It would be nice to think that resources like these book clubs may be an aid to the statistics reported -- or, at least, that they will in the future.

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[Laurel]

Andrew Wyeth, Revered and Ridiculed Artist, Dies

I hadn't realized that he was still living. I'm one of the unwashed who really enjoy his art.

[Timbuktu2]

I can't believe Wyeth was still alive.  Someone once suggested that in addition to obituaries there should be announcements  of those who are still alive.  

[Laurel]

Here's more on the reading report. And yet another list.

[rbehr]

A no charge lecture on ML King, Jr is available for distribution/listening from the Teaching Company.  Here is info on the lecture if you'd like to listen to it.  You should be able to get the lecture by Cntrl+click on the link below or the link in the letter from Teaching Company or copying the link below into your browser. 

http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/MLK09FreeLecture.aspx?ai=34001&WT.mc_id=FLAct20090109

Rae

From: The Teaching Company [mailto:teaching_company@teach12.net]
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 10:26 AM
Subject: Free Audio Lecture on Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr.—through his stirring speeches, introspective writings, and effective leadership—is an essential part of our national consciousness. His powerful legacy remains with us even today, more than 50 years after the Montgomery bus boycott sparked the American civil rights movement. While King's 1968 assassination was a tragic chapter in American history, it did nothing to prevent the work he spent so much of his life carrying out. As Professor Dalton notes, "Violence ended King's life, but his increased stature in America since his death shows that his voice was not silenced."

Professor Dalton is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University. A scholar of classical and modern political theory, nonviolence and violence in society, and ideologies of modern political movements, he is the author of Indian Idea of Freedom and Mahatma Gandhi: Nonviolent Power in Action. Professor Dalton has been honored with numerous teaching awards, scholarships, and grants, including the 2008 Barnard Commendation for Excellence in Teaching award and a Gandhi Peace Foundation grant.

Listen to Martin Luther King, Jr.: Stride Toward Freedom between now and Monday, February 2, 2009, to discover how the words and actions of this iconic civil rights leader embodied the core values of freedom.

Download this free lecture at your computer, transfer it to your iPod or MP3 player, or burn it to a CD. Send the link to this lecture to family or friends who might enjoy it; the lecture is free for them as well.

Sincerely,

Brandon C. Hidalgo
President and CEO
The Teaching Company

Message Edited by rbehr on 01-17-2009 09:29 PM

Message Edited by rbehr on 01-17-2009 09:30 PM

[Laurel]

Thanks, Rae!

[Laurel]

I have been listening with great admiration to the Teaching Company course on The Divine Comedy. It is on sale right now, and I highly recommend it. We'll be spending March-August 2009 on Dante's great poem.

Message Edited by Laurel on 01-19-2009 03:36 PM

[Laurel]

I guess.  But I certainly miss Robert Frost.

[Laurel]

Here's what I read this month:

1. Kipling, The Light That Failed First time for this. I really enjoyed the glimpse into the world of an artist who is going blind.
2. Maugham, The Painted Veil Another first read for me. This is a startling novel of redemption. In the introduction Maugham says the idea came to him while he was reading Dante. An important quotation in the novel is from Goldsmith's 'Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog': "The dog it was that died!" A new word that I learned: tiffin.
3. Austen, Sense and Sensibility  Not my favorite Austen, but for a first novel it is amazing.
4. Bronte, Wuthering Heights  Breathtaking. It gets better each time I read it.
5. Wodehouse, The Adventures Of Sally
6. Virgil, The Aeneid You know what I think about this.
7. Eliot, Silas Marner Another beautiful story of redemption.
8. Dumas fils, La Dame aux Camelias A first reading and a real disappointment. It makes for wonderful opera, though (Verdi's La Traviata).
9. Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra
10. Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale
11. Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well It's amazing what Shakespeare can do with such a silly story.
12. Johnson, God's Trombones These wonderful poems have been favorites of mine for many years.

I have The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare  and plan to listen to all 38 plays this year.

I also read from the Bible each day (mostly from 1 Samuel and Matthew this month) and am reading through Spurgeon's Morning and Evening  

Message Edited by Laurel on 01-31-2009 10:36 AM

Message Edited by Laurel on 01-31-2009 10:38 AM

[rbehr]

You either speed read or don't sleep.  When America's "Average books/person/Mo" rate is calculated, I want you in my group. 

The lectures on the Aeneid have been great so I picked up The Teaching Company lectures on Dante also.    

[Laurel]

Some were very short, and I just lay and listened to some of them. None were abridgements, though. And January is a long month. Oliver Twist may take up most of my reading time in February.

You won't be disappointed by the Teaching Company Dante Duo. For the rest of you--it's still on sale for a week or so.

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rbehr wrote:

You either speed read or don't sleep.  When America's "Average books/person/Mo" rate is calculated, I want you in my group. 

The lectures on the Aeneid have been great so I picked up The Teaching Company lectures on Dante also.    

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[Laurel]

What is it about Henry James that gets me so riled up? I argue with him every time I read "The Turn of the Screw" or see a film production of it or the opera, and then I go right back and read the thing again. It's like banging my head against the wall.

Last night I finished reading Washington Square. I hated it! It's cool, cruel, and calculating. It took me hours to get to sleep after putting the thing away. How could such a gentleman write something so foul so well?

[foxycat]

Why foul?

And what do you argue about in Turn, which I've also experienced in many versions? And has he been answering you? And what does he say?

Message Edited by foxycat on 02-16-2009 02:06 AM

Message Edited by foxycat on 02-16-2009 02:08 AM

[Laurel]

You can be sure he always answers politely. As for The Turn of the Screw, it's just that it's maddening to never be able to figure out just what has been going on. He means to madden me, I'm convinced.

In Washington Square, there is so much cruelty that I can't turn anywhere for consolation.  The American is next on my list.

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foxycat wrote:

Why foul?

And what do you argue about in Turn, which I've also experienced in many versions? And has he been answering you? And what does he say?

Message Edited by foxycat on 02-16-2009 02:06 AM

Message Edited by foxycat on 02-16-2009 02:08 AM

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foxycat wrote:

Why foul?

And what do you argue about in Turn, which I've also experienced in many versions? And has he been answering you? And what does he say?

Message Edited by foxycat on 02-16-2009 02:06 AM

Message Edited by foxycat on 02-16-2009 02:08 AM

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[RickyNeil]

Regarding readings for 2008, I read the following:

War and Peace

Leviathan by Hobbes

The Republic and The Laws by Cicero

Two Treatises of Government by Locke

The Structure of Scientific Revoultions by Kuhn

Politics by Aristotle

The Flanders Panel by Srturo Perez-Reverte

Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Wurthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Maps and Legends by Michael Chabon

Nixonland