jlhoots Posted June 23, 2020 Report Share Posted June 23, 2020 Megha Majumdar: A Burning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted June 23, 2020 Report Share Posted June 23, 2020 11 minutes ago, jlhoots said: Megha Majumdar: A Burning In queue at the library. Let us know what you think. Thanks. Finally buckling down and finishing Camus's The Plague. Probably will wrap up tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted June 23, 2020 Report Share Posted June 23, 2020 2 hours ago, ejp626 said: Finally buckling down and finishing Camus's The Plague. Probably will wrap up tonight. Sounds painful. If so, why bother? I’m making another run at Berlin Alexanderplatz. If it won’t take off, I will probably sell my copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgcim Posted June 23, 2020 Report Share Posted June 23, 2020 Halfway through "Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace. It's great reading, but the hundreds of footnotes can make you lose your place consistently. I read Mason and Dixon before this, and while he's not as great a writer as Pynchon, he is easier to read. That doesn't mean he writes for retards, like Dan Brown or someone of that ilk, it just means that he doesn't use as many allusions as someone like Pynchon or Gaddis does. And if he does, there are always the footnotes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 5 hours ago, Brad said: Sounds painful. If so, why bother? I’m making another run at Berlin Alexanderplatz. If it won’t take off, I will probably sell my copy. I've actually enjoyed it when I've sat down and read (despite it hitting a bit too close to home) but have been very distracted by work creeping into all other aspects of my life (Zoom calls ending at 7:30, etc.) as I do my part in planning to help the recovery up here. The two places I do the most sustained reading (while riding transit or stationary bikes at the gym) are both off limits for time being. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 12 minutes ago, ejp626 said: I've actually enjoyed it when I've sat down and read (despite it hitting a bit too close to home) but have been very distracted by work creeping into all other aspects of my life (Zoom calls ending at 7:30, etc.) as I do my part in planning to help the recovery up here. The two places I do the most sustained reading (while riding transit or stationary bikes at the gym) are both off limits for time being. When I used to commute to NY by train years ago, I got a lot of reading in. The bikes are for music! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 5 minutes ago, Brad said: When I used to commute to NY by train years ago, I got a lot of reading in. The bikes are for music! I used to live in Brooklyn almost at Coney Island. I always had a seat coming in to work, so often used that for writing (pretty sure I finished a couple of dissertation chapters on the inbound train) but stood all the way going home, so would read then. In Toronto I virtually never get a seat on the bus or train (except for weekends) back when I was still taking transit, so that was generally fine for reading (unless the bus was really crowded). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 Don’t recall the TTC being over-full much back in the day but I guess Toronto is a busier and much more crowded place these days. Population at several million was hardly sparse even then though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 23 minutes ago, sidewinder said: Don’t recall the TTC being over-full much back in the day but I guess Toronto is a busier and much more crowded place these days. Population at several million was hardly sparse even then though. Subways are (well, were) just incredibly packed in rush hour. When transferring at Bloor-Yonge you can expect to have to wait for three trains to pull in before actually squeezing onto one! Fortunately trains are every 1.5-2 minutes in rush hour, though this is still annoying (and didn't feel safe even pre-COVID). This is driven by huge downtown office growth. Very different from my memories of Toronto in the early 90s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, ejp626 said: Subways are (well, were) just incredibly packed in rush hour. When transferring at Bloor-Yonge you can expect to have to wait for three trains to pull in before actually squeezing onto one! Fortunately trains are every 1.5-2 minutes in rush hour, though this is still annoying (and didn't feel safe even pre-COVID). This is driven by huge downtown office growth. Very different from my memories of Toronto in the early 90s. Totally different by the sound of it - I don’t recall even the likes of Bay and Bloor being that packed, even during busy times. The 80s/early 90s were probably a golden period, in retrospect. Always a damned expensive place to live though ! The ‘Urban Toronto’ Forum has some very interesting photographs taken of sites back then and what they are now. Quite an eye-opener. Back in the 1990s the old Victorian era downtown landmarks were somehow hanging on, although rapid growth was already evident. Skydome was the latest and greatest new thing (and I even saw a cricket Test Match Friendly there with the legendary West Indies Team v Rest of the World ). Edited June 24, 2020 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcy62 Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 On 18/6/2020 at 6:40 AM, Brad said: A newly discovered Hemingway story, Pursuit as Happiness, that appeared in the New Yorker. Here’s an interview with Sean Hemingway, Hemingway’s grandson, Ernest Hemingway’s Grandson on an Unpublished Story from the Author’s Archive By coincidence I am rereading Hemingway in these days, I found Farewell to Arms quite naive but For Whom the Bell Tolls a strong novel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 Re-reading this series in order of publication. This one is from '42. Fun series! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 2 hours ago, porcy62 said: By coincidence I am rereading Hemingway in these days, I found Farewell to Arms quite naive but For Whom the Bell Tolls a strong novel. I have to confess I haven’t read Farewell to Arms, although I do have it. His booms about Spain are my favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 12 hours ago, ejp626 said: I used to live in Brooklyn almost at Coney Island. I always had a seat coming in to work, so often used that for writing (pretty sure I finished a couple of dissertation chapters on the inbound train) but stood all the way going home, so would read then. In Toronto I virtually never get a seat on the bus or train (except for weekends) back when I was still taking transit, so that was generally fine for reading (unless the bus was really crowded). I would commute to New York City from Stamford, Connecticut on the Metro North, about a 50 minute ride. Lots of time to read. My hats off to you for reading on the subway. Too distracting for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted June 28, 2020 Report Share Posted June 28, 2020 On 6/23/2020 at 4:08 PM, Brad said: I’m making another run at Berlin Alexanderplatz. If it won’t take off, I will probably sell my copy. Don’t have to worry about reading this. Turbo took care of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted June 28, 2020 Report Share Posted June 28, 2020 Wrapped up The Plague only to discover that the university library isn't processing returns after all. Oh well. If I had known I had another month to return it, I probably would have procrastinated some more. Currently a chapter into Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which I've meant to read for the longest time. Will also be starting The Night Buffalo by Guillermo Arriaga. Apparently this was made into a movie, though not sure I'll watch that (have to get through the novel first...) After this, most likely I will reread Don Quixote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felser Posted June 29, 2020 Report Share Posted June 29, 2020 Excellent writer, very entertaining read: And my current inspirational read is: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted June 29, 2020 Report Share Posted June 29, 2020 (edited) I first read many of these stories 60 years ago. Most of them hold up. Edited June 29, 2020 by medjuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted June 29, 2020 Report Share Posted June 29, 2020 40 minutes ago, felser said: And my current inspirational read is: I like Keller also, I found his book Preaching very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted June 29, 2020 Report Share Posted June 29, 2020 (edited) I’m waiting for my new copy of Berlin Alexanderplatz to arrive so in the meantime I’m reading Abigail by Magda Szabo. I love all her books that have appeared in English. I came across this article about Moby Dick tonight. Worth a read. Melville’s Whale Was a Warning We Failed to Heed Edited June 29, 2020 by Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted July 1, 2020 Report Share Posted July 1, 2020 Just ordered my Dad's latest and possibly last book, which went up for ordering overnight after a long period of preparation. Looking forward to reading it! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08C4525MW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Now reading this funny book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted July 3, 2020 Report Share Posted July 3, 2020 (edited) Added this to my list: Edited July 3, 2020 by Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.D. Posted July 3, 2020 Report Share Posted July 3, 2020 Just finished this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted July 3, 2020 Report Share Posted July 3, 2020 Don Winslow: The Savages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted July 3, 2020 Report Share Posted July 3, 2020 James Ellroy - This Storm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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