Summer listenings thus far...
In case some of you were curious as to what I've been read...err... listening to of late, here's what I've gone through since I started back up again in May...
Herman Melville, Moby Dick (1851)
The Irish in America, collected essays, ed. Michael Coffey and Terry Golway (1997)
Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)
Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance (1893)
Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband (1895)
Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot (1869)
Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes: A Memoir (1996)
Albert Camus, The Stranger (1942)
Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost (1887)
Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince and Other Stories (1888)
Oscar Wilde, Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories (1891)
Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook (1998)
Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy (1961)
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: Or, the Children's Crusade, A Duty-Dance with Death (1969)
Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones (2002)
Scott Hahn, Letter and Spirit: From Written Text to Living Word in the Liturgy of the Church (2005)
And I'm currently in the middle of the following two:
Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov (1880)
Thomas Cahill, How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe (1996)
posted by Chris @ 7/12/2006
7 comments
7 Comments:
Which one has been your fav. so far?
and what the hell, which one have you actually read?
have you laughed? cried? opined on the meaning of life?
The Brothers Karamazov is hands down the best so far, at least based upon the first 2/3 of the book. It's an excellent story full of darkness and mystery, humor and thrills. Honestly, it may be the best example of Dostoevsky's talent, the likes of which time has shown we don't come by very often. This isn't a criticism to the many authors of more slender books, but I'm amazed more and more by how few truly good and lasting long epic-type stories there are out there.
As for which book on the list was my least favorite, I'd probably have to say Will Durant's The Story of Philosophy. While it had some interesting information on some later 19th and 20th century philosophers (such as Bergson and James), it's rather dated (already!) in most other respects. The book as a whole is also often rather dry and could have been written much better. Though I wouldn't know what to recommend off the top of my head, I'm sure there are better introductions to philosophy and its history out there.
Finally, regarding what I've actually read on this list, I did read the first 100 or so pages of Brothers Karamazov, before switching over to audio because I realized I just don't have time to read a book of that magnitude this summer when I'm also supposed to be reading some philosophy and learning German. I also own a number of the books, so I'd at times check back and read part of a section that really struck me while listening, such as some of the philosophical musings and the whale chases in Moby Dick.
But I've also really been reading other books too...I suppose I'll post that (shorter) list shortly...
Whoops, forgot one...
"have you laughed? cried? opined on the meaning of life?"
Yes to questions one and two. Though I've definitely had some form of anxiety and sadness at times, I haven't cried. To be honest, while I've shed some tears for various movies, I can't recall ever having cried from reading a book. Gabe, didn't you cry for one of the Harry Potter books?
Anybody else have any extremely sorrowful book moments?
Yes I did actually cry at the end of the half-blood prince! And I have no problem saying that I have cried with other books before. I can become so incaptivated with them at times :) And maybe I will have to look into The Brothers Karamazov.
the lovely bones.. i love that book :)..
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