OK, I want to read it. You can converse me (the verb equivalent of PM, since we don't, you know, have PMs any more) No.
In addition to the Wharton listed above, I'm reading Roth's Our Gang. Finished The Breast and Portnoy's Complaint. I'll read When She Was Good after finishing the Wharton on vacation (starting tomorrow!).
You guys are giving me a headache.. It's light reading time this summer. I spent most of the day doing yard work yesterday. Yes, the rain had stopped and while the temps have been 10 degrees below average all year it actually got up to 70 here. (Got to be carefull here or the rest of the country will move over) Later in the afternoon I picked up a book my wife brought home from the library, and finished it before dinner. Robert Parker's Jese Stone novel, "High Profile" Easy reading, he does pretty good dialog and plot.
I have just the thing: 95 degrees here. 97 tomorrow. I think I'll mow the grass at high noon. That will make it think twice about growing the rest of the summer. I'll get more reading done that way,.
Ouch.....that's migrane time...! Wasn't Eduard Von Hartmann a prison guard at Colditz? If / when it gets to 97 up here, in the top left corner, we lose a good percent of the population. It's not the mowing of 2 1/2 acres, I don't mind just mindless riding on the john deere it's theraputic. It's the bloody weed whacking that gets the back. Didn't even wear a jacket doing it this week, that was the nice thing. I hear it's going to get up as high as 80 next week.
I know this isn't the telly page, so person of control is sure to mention it... I know you guys like the word, the written one that is. There was a public TV show this week called "Michael Wood's Story of Britain" The first episode is from the Romans to Normans. It's worth looking at. But what was fun was, that the basis of the language hasn't changed a lot in the 2000 years, despite the Romans, Angles Saxon, Jutes. Then later came the Vikings and took over the north east. Then later came the Normans with 100 years of apartheit. (Those frogs weren't about to mingle with the locals, were they.) Of course the language has evolved. through Chaucer, Shakespeare etc. (Oh yeh, and then we took it to north America. that did change it somewhat!) But the basic english from 2000 years ago are still there. He quoted the words: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" as being words that they'd use from then. Not a great description but it's well worth trying to find the show.
Picked up a couple of books by David Baldacci or summat! That came highly recomended....Hmmm! I gave them a chance, let the characters unfold but became more and more disillusioned with the first. I was almost half way in to it before I slammed it shut. Seemed like he was descibing people for a movie. "Everyone" involved, male or female, good guys or bad were film star quality, six pack abs, iron hard pecs, reflexes off the scale, sniper quality with rifle and all the handgun shots went in the same hole while they were diving off a roof. Oh and did I mention "Martial arts"??! Just to much for me, swapped them for another Robert Parker book from his Sunny Randall series. "Blue Screen" Taking my Corona and buritos out onto the deck along with said book right now. A nice 75 out there today. Might even have to check the inside of my eyelids for light leak later...!
Finally made time to get to book store over the weekend and decided to feed my inner midieval history nerd. Dino Campagni's Chronicle of Florence
You might want to read this, too. I'm about halfway through. Essays by the novelist Marilynne Robinson, touching on politics, culture, religion, and of course, books in general. Edit: Sorry that's so big, but I don't see how to delete it since I can't find the code that I tpyed in.
Thanks, Dr W, but it is summer reading time for my kids and I am reading alongside them: Dune, by Frank Herbert, which my daughter is reading. and Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins, which my son is reading. My daughter normally loves to read, but in the past year she has gone much more the fan fiction route and is actually struggling to read serious literature. My son always hates to read, so accompanying him as he reads allows us to have great discussions. But geeze, how sad is it to have to read Dune?.?.?.?.
You could do worse than Dune, if Herbert supporters are to be believed. But the Robinson book isn't going to disappear, and reading with your kids is a noble calling. BTW, when I was a kid, I read a lot, but nothing anywhere close to serious literature. Lots of sports books, mostly. In fact, I just bought a good paperback of the very first grown up book I ever read back when I was in second grade. A LONNGGGG time ago: Strangely enough, CrewArsenal is reading the most recent baseball book that I read.
When I was in Jr. Hi., I read every Wilfred McCormick/Bronc Burnett book written. The librarian tried to get me to read other stuff. Ya gotta applaud her for trying. Eventually, I switched to John Locke and John Stuart Mill, but it took some time.
Yeah, you two read a looooot of baseball books. These were my first two books: Amazing that I can find these images on the first page of a google images search... Can I infer that you haven't read Dune? If not, please let me recommend it, it's not often you get to read the absolute best in a particular genre.
I read quite a bit of scifi, I actually read about half of dune before it hit the opposite wall and went in the trash can. Surprised I got that far but I wanted to try.
Finished this this morning. "Field of Stars" I've brought this up before but I believe on the movie thread. The hike, journey, pilgrimage from the French/Spanish border to Santiago De Compostela has been on my bucket list for a while now. Not a religious thing for me, strange I know. It's a human thing of people and history and I like both, for the most part.500 miles or 800K. About 35 days. I've hiked in many countries but not like this. I may not make it to this one, too much football too late in my live hasn't done my knees any favours.Never say never though. "The story of stars dancing over a field in a faraway land may so draw you away from the ordinary business of daily life that you find yourself, quite to your surprise, in a new world of unexpected adventures and remarkable people and some very profound mysteries. - from the introduction Pilgrimage is a strange notion to our modern, practical minds. How many of us have sought on foot a distant holy place in order to come close to God and speak to him where he may hear best? The idea is laughable in this age of cars and churches on every corner. Nevertheless, looking for a way to take stock of his life, priest Kevin Codd set out on a pilgrimage that would change his life. To the Field of Stars tells the compelling story of this modern-day pilgrims spiritual and physical journey on foot across Spain to Santiago de Compostela, the traditional burial place of the apostle James the Greater. Seen through the eyes of a Catholic priest who is respectful of the spirituality and religious worldview that originally gave rise to medieval pilgrimage, this is a fascinating and engaging account of a most unusual journey."
That reminds me of a sci fi joke I first heard told at the expense of Samuel DeLaney, but it works for countless writers of 800+ page books: Name three places no human being has ever been. 1) the dark side of the moon 2) the center of the sun 3) beyond page 97 of Dahlgren