Now reading...

[ghost of miles]

There's a new biography of O'Connor out (by Brad Gooch)--also new bios of John Cheever and Donald Barthelme. Wouldn't mind reading any or all of them, though it's unlikely I'll get to them anytime soon.

[Matthew]

Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood

Flannery O'Connor described Wise Blood as a "comic novel". I laughed a few times while reading it but, for the most part, its characters scared the hell out of me. I'll never forget them.

And she wrote that in her early twenties, no one should write like that so young. It's an amazing book with a lot of unforgettable scenes an images.

I'd only read a few of her stories before reading Wise Blood. After reading that one, I'll be reading all of her works. Just have to decompress first.

Know what you mean, her books always scare the hell out me also. Where the idea came from that O'Connor writes comedy, I don't know. I've never been to the south, so I have this warped view of the south being like what I read in Faulkner & O'Connor.

[Jazzmoose]

Know what you mean, her books always scare the hell out me also. Where the idea came from that O'Connor writes comedy, I don't know. I've never been to the south, so I have this warped view of the south being like what I read in Faulkner & O'Connor.

The south I knew wasn't too far off, though it was more a sixties version of The Hamlet than and Sound and the Fury.

As for O'Conner writing comedy, I guess I haven't been exposed to many discussions of her. I hadn't heard that before. I know I haven't read enough of her work, but what I have read I would describe as 'unsettling' rather than 'funny'.

[sal]

I read Kurt Vonnegut's "A Man Without A Country" this morning. A fine, short, memorable read.

I'm going to read Philip K. Dick's "The Man in the High Castle" next.

[BillF]

I'm going to read Philip K. Dick's "The Man in the High Castle" next.

Strongly recommended!

[BruceH]

Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood

Flannery O'Connor described Wise Blood as a "comic novel". I laughed a few times while reading it but, for the most part, its characters scared the hell out of me. I'll never forget them.

And she wrote that in her early twenties, no one should write like that so young. It's an amazing book with a lot of unforgettable scenes an images.

I'd only read a few of her stories before reading Wise Blood. After reading that one, I'll be reading all of her works. Just have to decompress first.

Know what you mean, her books always scare the hell out me also. Where the idea came from that O'Connor writes comedy, I don't know. I've never been to the south, so I have this warped view of the south being like what I read in Faulkner & O'Connor.

Wise Blood the film didn't scare me so much as make me feel physically ill.

[jazzbo]

Second time. Been a while.

[jlhoots]

Ethan Canin: America, America

[Matthew]

Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood

Flannery O'Connor described Wise Blood as a "comic novel". I laughed a few times while reading it but, for the most part, its characters scared the hell out of me. I'll never forget them.

And she wrote that in her early twenties, no one should write like that so young. It's an amazing book with a lot of unforgettable scenes an images.

I'd only read a few of her stories before reading Wise Blood. After reading that one, I'll be reading all of her works. Just have to decompress first.

Know what you mean, her books always scare the hell out me also. Where the idea came from that O'Connor writes comedy, I don't know. I've never been to the south, so I have this warped view of the south being like what I read in Faulkner & O'Connor.

Wise Blood the film didn't scare me so much as make me feel physically ill.

I always wanted to see the film version, was it any good?

[BruceH]

Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood

Flannery O'Connor described Wise Blood as a "comic novel". I laughed a few times while reading it but, for the most part, its characters scared the hell out of me. I'll never forget them.

And she wrote that in her early twenties, no one should write like that so young. It's an amazing book with a lot of unforgettable scenes an images.

I'd only read a few of her stories before reading Wise Blood. After reading that one, I'll be reading all of her works. Just have to decompress first.

Know what you mean, her books always scare the hell out me also. Where the idea came from that O'Connor writes comedy, I don't know. I've never been to the south, so I have this warped view of the south being like what I read in Faulkner & O'Connor.

Wise Blood the film didn't scare me so much as make me feel physically ill.

I always wanted to see the film version, was it any good?

I liked it (in a weird way) but I still haven't read the book.

[BillF]

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

[A Lark Ascending]

Just re-read Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' - I last read it around 1973 and didn't really get it. Still not an easy read but very powerful.

Has led me to:

[jazzbo]

He's such a tough guy

[jlhoots]

Gene Guerin: Cottonwood Saints

[Jazzmoose]

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

You're a bad influence; I started A Study in Scarlet last night.

[Jazzmoose]

Just re-read Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' - I last read it around 1973 and didn't really get it. Still not an easy read but very powerful.

Has led me to:

Excellent book!!!

[EKE BBB]

Re-reading:

"Pee Wee Russel. The life of a jazzman" by Robert Hilbert

[BillF]

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

You're a bad influence; I started A Study in Scarlet last night.

That's next up! I have my public library copy here ready to start.

[BillF]

Taking a break from Sherlock to read Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on a Train. Read three Ripley novels a few years ago, but this is a new one on me.

[Guest Bill Barton]

Greg Bear - The City at the End of Time

(I'm getting rather addicted to his writing after being introduced to it through Darwin's Radio and Darwin's Children.)

[Jazzmoose]

Definitely one of the biggies of modern SF.

[jlhoots]

Thrity Umrigar: The Space Between Us

[Jazzmoose]

I forced myself to finish A Study in Scarlet last night. What a chore, and what a bore. It didn't help that the last book I read was a Louis L'Amour novel; Doyle's description of the American West, and the people who lived there is atrocious. The idea that a westerner of that time would leave camp on a hunting trip and get lost because he wasn't watching his backtrail is something only a city dweller could come up with. And the idea of building a big, huge fire in the middle of nowhere, thereby attracting god-knows-who is absurd.

Oh, well; it's the short stories I remember fondly anyway. That and the Hound of the Baskervilles. I won't give up on my revisit to Holmes yet, but this was a bad first step.

[BillF]

I forced myself to finish A Study in Scarlet last night. What a chore, and what a bore. It didn't help that the last book I read was a Louis L'Amour novel; Doyle's description of the American West, and the people who lived there is atrocious. The idea that a westerner of that time would leave camp on a hunting trip and get lost because he wasn't watching his backtrail is something only a city dweller could come up with. And the idea of building a big, huge fire in the middle of nowhere, thereby attracting god-knows-who is absurd.

Oh, well; it's the short stories I remember fondly anyway. That and the Hound of the Baskervilles. I won't give up on my revisit to Holmes yet, but this was a bad first step.

That's not encouraging! I'll probably move it further down the queue.

[A Lark Ascending]

Just re-read Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' - I last read it around 1973 and didn't really get it. Still not an easy read but very powerful.

Has led me to:

Excellent book!!!

Just finished this - excellent indeed.

With a walk-on role by Conan Doyle who supported the protest movement against Leopold's Congo (whilst being a defender of British colonialism).

Interesting to read of Sir Roger Casement's role - I know him only for his part in the Easter Rising. Though I've come across mention of of his humanitarian work before I'd not realised how extensive it was.