Troll Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Finished Moby Dick. Feel like I've just made it through a three year whaling voyage too. One of the best endings I've ever read. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OpenC Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 (edited) I felt like the stark and brutal and relatively quick finish made plain the point of the endless detail in the rest of it, a contrast between the mundane and endless cruising punctuated by brief interludes of incredible danger and violence. I really like it, though - one of the strangest books I've ever read and loaded with weird throwaway chapters on things and people that never really feature except in those chapters (the carpenter, Father Mapple, the weird build up about Bulkington and the chapter on him following which he never appears again), but I found it completely compelling despite how hard work it sometimes was. The chapters about paintings and the nature of the colour white made me feel like I was never going to get through it but I don't even mind them any more I started it again as soon as I finished it Edited March 9 by OpenC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 (edited) I love the way he'll have a chapter dedicated to Ahab on deck doing a soliloquy worthy of Shakespeare, then follow it up with a chapter on how to make a coat out of a whale's penis. It's nice to finally get this joke. Edited March 9 by Troll Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OpenC Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 aye. Ahab is a world class character, so well done. Starbuck and Stubb (particularly Stubb, love the way he inspires his crew) brilliant as well, and Bildad and Peleg were great minor characters too. Going to have to start it again I think Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubaricho Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 On 24/01/2023 at 11:59, cubaricho said: Stoked to get stuck into this: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717356/the-creative-act-by-rick-rubin/ This is absolutely incredible by the way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Honestly, think it might be the greatest thing I've ever read. Lots of people said they gave up during the Cetology chapter, but I loved it (granted, I've read Darwin so it wasn't that difficult in comparison). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OpenC Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 (edited) I thought that cetology was fairly easy going compared to some of it but the whole thing is just full of highlights for me now. The first meeting with Queequeg; the landlady thinking Queequeg has committed suicide; Peleg going on and on about the provisions before he leaves the ship; the chapter where Ishmael invents perceived slights against whaling as an occupation and rebuffs them to the imaginary critic; pretty much all the chapters on the detail of whaling as an occupation; Stubb alternating between relaxed and furious (particularly liked, "come, why don't some of ye burst a blood-vessel? Who's that been dropping an anchor overboard—we don't budge an inch—we're becalmed. Halloo, here's grass growing in the boat's bottom—and by the Lord, the mast there's budding. This won't do, boys. Look at that Yarman! The short and long of it is, men, will ye spit fire or not?"); Ahab is amazing all the way through and Starbuck perfect as well. It's absolutely fucking brilliant, wish I hadn't left it so long to read it but at the same time I'm not sure a younger me would have got through it. Edited March 9 by OpenC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 Scarred for life. Vol 1. The 70s A 740 page very well researched trawl through kids culture TV, Comics, Games etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shays Given Tim Flowers Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 Anyone read Naked Lunch? Found that to be a bit of an incoherent slog. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingkerouac Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 12 hours ago, Shays Given Tim Flowers said: Anyone read Naked Lunch? Found that to be a bit of an incoherent slog. Yeah, read all of Burrough's stuff in the 80s. Haven't revisited it since, so that says a lot. The only writer of that ilk that I could read again, would probably be Bukowski. Burroughs struck me as an idle-rich fop, who took up writing because all of his lower class acquaintances were doing it. It must be easy, right? Nope. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbandit Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 I liked Bulowski, very easy to read although I don’t have a strong desire to return to his stuff. I didn’t particularly like Kerouac’s work. Never read any Burroughs Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 3 hours ago, kingkerouac said: Yeah, read all of Burrough's stuff in the 80s. Haven't revisited it since, so that says a lot. The only writer of that ilk that I could read again, would probably be Bukowski. Burroughs struck me as an idle-rich fop, who took up writing because all of his lower class acquaintances were doing it. It must be easy, right? Nope. I couldn't re read Bukowski but I could read stuff of his I hadn't read before. Kerouac ? I liked On The Road but never got into anything else he wrote. Differing style but still American, really like Philip Roth as a writer of the American novel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingkerouac Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 (edited) 1 hour ago, madras said: I couldn't re read Bukowski but I could read stuff of his I hadn't read before. Kerouac ? I liked On The Road but never got into anything else he wrote. Differing style but still American, really like Philip Roth as a writer of the American novel. I've read all of Kerouac's novels - but haven't returned to any of them in over 20 years. The two that left a good impression were Desolation Angels, and Big Sur. Bukowski was, considering his background, an interesting writer and human being. I consider a lot of the 'Beat' writers I read back in the 80s and 90s as 'gateways' to better writers. I read Portnoy's Complaint back in the 80s, I remember finding it 'difficult'. Edited March 17 by kingkerouac Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 (edited) 20 minutes ago, kingkerouac said: I've read all of Kerouac's novels - but haven't returned to any of them in over 20 years. The two that left a good impression were Desolation Angels, and Big Sur. Bukowski was, considering his background, an interesting writer and human being. I consider a lot of the 'Beat' writers I read back in the 80s and 90s as 'gateways' to better writers. I read Portnoy's Complaint back in the 80s, I remember finding it 'difficult'. How old were you then ? Don't think I'd have like Roth when I was younger. Edited March 17 by madras Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingkerouac Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 27 minutes ago, madras said: How old were you then ? Don't think I'd have like Roth when I was younger. Probably 23. Found it a bit hard going. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Django Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 Just finished the Alexander Pope collection and although the man was clearly a genius I found it tough going and had frequent recourse to google to help me work out what was going on at times particularly in his epic parody Dunciad (Dunce - Iliad get it?). The problem was that not only was the poetry involved enough but the references and names were so topical as to be 60/70% incomprehensible without no only heavy usage of footnotes but also summaries and commentaries. Perhaps I didn’t approach it as studiously as I should have. I definitely want to read the Dunciad again and I have Pope’s Iliad translation of which I enjoyed a brief extract in this collection. Not sure what I’m reading next but will keep you posted 😉 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 Like most people, I've never read Shakespeare outside of school, so decided to give him a proper go. Picked up Hamlet, King Lear, Henry V, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar. Doing Hamlet first, and watching each scene after I read it. It's crazy how much of it is in the delivery, there are lines that are really funny when Patrick Stewart says them, that I didn't pick up on at all when reading them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Django Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 I’m reading the Arden edition of Romeo & Juliet for a bookclub and feel like if you don’t know your way round after reading the extensive annotations then Shakespeare probably isn’t for you (not saying this to anyone in particular!) BTW I’ve read that R&J and/or Macbeth are the best to start with. I started with Macbeth, Polanski film first. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrownBottle Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 On 10/03/2023 at 06:14, Troll said: Finished Moby Dick. Feel like I've just made it through a three year whaling voyage too. One of the best endings I've ever read. Moby Dick also references Newcastle, which of course bumps it up on the ‘best classic novels ever’ scale. Even if it is just referencing a proverb. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Django Posted 18 hours ago Share Posted 18 hours ago After really enjoying the poetry of Shakespeare with the Arden Romeo & Juliet I've rather gone off the deep end in purchasing the Longman Annotated Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser. I've just recently discovered this series and it seems to have the perfect combination of footnote layout and detail, certainly in the Spenser and I might explore more of the series if I enjoy this one. I consider that I have a poetry sized gap in my reading and am looking at this longman series to introduce me to the classics: Milton & Pope (some of which I've already read), Marvel, Spenser, Dryden, Shelley, Shakespeare et al. https://www.routledge.com/Longman-Annotated-English-Poets/book-series/LAEP?publishedFilter=alltitles&pd=published,forthcoming&pg=1&pp=48&so=az&view=grid I'm very much interested in the heritage of English literature at the minute hence why I've been reading the likes of Chaucer, Shakespeare & Milton recently. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superior Acuña Posted 6 hours ago Share Posted 6 hours ago A lovely new edition of the Motorcycle Diaries just came out so I'm going to try and read it in Spanish. I've not read it in English. Let's see how it goes. I recently finished Alex Niven's The North Will Rise Again (in English) , which I really enjoyed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouldy_uk Posted 1 hour ago Share Posted 1 hour ago About 75% through Ubik by Philip K Dick. It’s a bit mind bending, but really enjoying it so far. Will be interesting to see if he sticks the landing (the ending). My first go at his books (seen the films), will definitely try some more of his. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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