Readers thread: what or who are you reading right now?

[whiteraven]

Just started Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick... have always meant to read it, but never got around to it.

Would love to know if you liked it. I bought a copy a long while back and never did read it.

 

[whiteraven]

The Talisman (for the 2nd time).
Grimm's Fairy Tales
When Bad Things Happen to Good People (still)
Staring at the Sun (still)

Embarrassed. Still reading these.

 

[Rose White]

Just finished Great Russian Short Stories and I was floored by the last one called “The Seven Who Were Hanged,” by Leonid Andreyev. And when I looked him up he looks so... attractive, like a cross between Johnny Depp and Keanu Reeves. Almost all the classic Russian authors (Pushkin to Chekhov) are intriguing to me.

I started reading off “Modern Library’s 100 greatest novels” list around age 27, had not read many novels before that, didn’t have the ability, then somehow realized I could keep a dictionary close by (this was before smart phones) and eventually make my way through some fascinating stories.

Authors who have stood out to me: Vladimir Nabokov, Salman Rushdie, Iris Murdoch, J.P. Donleavy, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Marcel Proust, Marge Piercy, and now a plethora of Russians, the father of all is Tolstoy—almost mythological.

It’s the way the Russians capture the inner landscape of humans that is so intriguing. Like seeing an exquisite sculpture or listening to beautiful music, there’s a question of, “How did they *do* that?!” Even though you know the physical parts of the thing, the composition is almost dumb-founding.

 

[Sideways]

Like seeing an exquisite sculpture or listening to beautiful music, there’s a question of, “How did they *do* that?!”

Your post was inspiring to read. I've struggled in the past with Russian literature. For much the same reason as I couldn't handle Hardy for a long time - too darn tragic. Like, capturing a very mundane but profound, timeless and frighteningly relatable kind of tragedy. How being human can be so profoundly tragic just by the way we are to each other.

Maybe I should give the Russians another go...with some degree of trepidation. Or try some different ones, if you have suggestions of who might be slightly lower on the Tragic Literature scale?

 

[Rose White]

Good point about the tragic quality. I hadn’t considered that maybe I like tragedies, similar to how some people are drawn to sad songs. That said, of the ones I read not all were tragic.

I found Tolstoy’s “What Men Live By” very uplifting. And his “Kholstomer: The story of a horse” contains tragedy but wrapped in astonishing beauty.

Dostoyevsky’s “The Crocodile” made me laugh out loud for the biting satire.

Pushkin’s “Queen of Spades” delivers a satisfying tale of comeuppance, no tragedy at all.

I never read Thomas Hardy but now I am curious about “Tess of the d’Urbervilles,” especially since it was censored for challenging Victorian sexual morals—nothing like a good scandal!

Incidentally, Andreyev and Tolstoy were also accused of salaciousness—the first for his novella “In the Fog” and the second for his short story “The Kreutzer Sonata.” I like the ones that challenge literary conventions and social norms.

 

[Sideways]

I've never tried Pushkin, so I reckon that might slide to the top of my To-Read list, as something a bit different. Ta:)

I managed to get all the way through Tess on the second go, but only because my senior year English teacher told me not to!

It was Jude The Obscure that I bashed my head against for ages. I don't know how many times, or for how long I persisted with that one. I called Mercy and gave up something like 50 pages from the end. When I finally persuaded my sister to just tell me the ending, I definitely made the right call for me!!

I get why people like tragedies, just...knowing in advance what you're in for is sometimes definitely called for!!

 

[blackemerald1]

Dean Kootz - The Whispering Room

Well the female protagonist is just how I like em. Which tells you nothing but yeah... she's strong & smart.

It's another good novel with Kootz's amazing prose like delivery with vivid descriptions of things unimaginable. I loved it. But the plot is sort of possible but very scary if it were to happen. :cautious:

 

[siniang]

I could really use some suggestions. I'm browsing Amazon and I blank...blank...blank...

I don't even know what I'm feeling like reading at the moment.

My last reads were A dog's purpose and a mental disorder book. I've been lurking around The Body Keeps Score, but somehow I'm not quite drawn to it, either. Also really indecisive about whether or not I actually want to read The Art of Racing in the Rain. Feeling a little reluctant to pay $12 for it, given its mixed reviews.

I tried reading Anathem a while ago because it really really REALLY sounds super interesting.... but I just. couldn't. get. past the first couple chapters. Maybe I should give it another try?

I'm wavering between something non-fiction (mental health, science, ...) and fiction (I'm a big SciFi and Fantasy fan, but most everything I've seen recently really didn't appeal). I'm wavering between re-reading something I've read before (last year I re-read the Harry Potter series and I've been meaning to re-read LotRs, though I'm not sure I have enough endurance for this one.... also lurking around Earthsea) or something new.... but what?!

For having been a MAJOR bookworm that was quite literally glued to a book at all times when I was younger, this is really frustrating.

Oh, and I'm definitely open-minded to other suggestions outside of any of the above mentioned genres!

ETA: Really itching to re-read the Hitchhiker's guide series. I never made it past book 3.5 for some reason. Also wondering if A dog's journey is worth it... also reluctant on spending the money. While I really enjoyed A dog's purpose, it was kinda a tad too clichee and easy to read/short-lived.

 

[blackemerald1]

Hey @siniang - my recommendation is something in the Dean Kootz area. He has a wonderful list of books under his belt - they're all fiction of course but weave in and out of the real world & fantasy genres.

or,

J. K. Rowling under her pseudonym of Robert Galbraith where she's written her Comoran Strike series. If you do go that way I hope you too enjoy her fantastic writing to develop characters & scenes. And yes, in one of the books, there is a brief mention of a wizard. I won't tell you which or what page. lol If possible get the first book of the series and work you're way through because the characters are developed with each book.

ETA: I'm steering away from non-fiction atm. Things are just too real for me right now and I'd rather escape. lol

 

[siniang]

Dean Kootz area

Will look him up, thank you! Intersection of fiction/fantasy and the real world is absolutely perfectly fine, actually, even better than your clichee SciFi or Fantasy story that all follow pretty much the same patterns and have the same standard types of characters.

J. K. Rowling under her pseudonym of Robert Galbraith where she's written her Comoran Strike series.

Thank you!! I'm not actually big into mystery/crime but I LOVE JKRs writing style and have always made exceptions for really good examples of the genre. Will definitely give it a look and possibly a try.

 

[whiteraven]

I was floored by the last one called “The Seven Who Were Hanged,” by Leonid Andreyev.

Thanks for this...definitely adding it to my list!

I love Dostoevsky, but Kafka is my absolute favorite. Not Russian, I know, but...

I am reading a memoir - The Yellow Envelope; it's one of about 5 I have to read that were written by friends.

 

[Mee]

How to be right by James o Brian.

Highly recommended.