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Old 03-22-2011, 10:43 PM
 
Location: Katonah, NY
21,192 posts, read 25,159,151 times
Reputation: 22276

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Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88 View Post
"Runaway Horses", a 40-year old novel by Yukio Mishima. It promises to be an interesting story, but by a tiresome writer, and I don't think I can blame it on the translator. It brings to mind John Fowles.
I've read three of his books - well, two and a half, really. One of them - Sound of Waves - I absolutely loved. The other two - The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea and Confessions of a Mask - I absolutely hated. One of my favorite authors - Haruki Murakami - said that Mishima was one of his inspirations so I thought I'd read some of his stuff. So far - it's been a love/hate thing!

Right now, I'm rereading Emma because I just watched the latest mini-series and loved it so much that I wanted to reread the book! I'm also trying to get through Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik. It's for book club but I don't think I can finish it - it's just not up my alley.
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Old 03-23-2011, 05:28 AM
 
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,016,638 times
Reputation: 28903
I gave up on the Old Friends, Rare Books book. It felt too choppy. Maybe I'll go back to it one day. Maybe.

I'm going to start on My Dog Tulip by J.R. Ackerley tonight. It sounds sweet and British, both of which I like.

Amazon.com: My Dog Tulip: Movie tie-in edition (New York Review Books Classics) (9781590174142): J.R. Ackerley, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas: Books
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Old 03-23-2011, 07:03 PM
 
2,963 posts, read 5,450,146 times
Reputation: 3872
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88 View Post
"Runaway Horses", a 40-year old novel by Yukio Mishima. It promises to be an interesting story, but by a tiresome writer, and I don't think I can blame it on the translator. It brings to mind John Fowles.
Mishima really needed to spend more time crafting the tetralogy. He ranges quite a bit and his various intentions don't always gel. I guess he was in too much a rush to commit suicide.

There are some absolutely gorgeous passages though.
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Old 03-23-2011, 10:56 PM
 
Location: Spokane via Sydney,Australia
6,612 posts, read 12,837,980 times
Reputation: 3132
2012 by Whitley Strieber (and no it's nothing to do with the movie of the same name lol)
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Old 03-24-2011, 07:36 AM
 
Location: Bangor Maine
3,440 posts, read 6,545,155 times
Reputation: 4049
I would like to recommend "Harriet and Isabella" which is about Harriet Beecher Stowe and her half sister Isabella when they were adults and their family was split appart because of the indescresion of their brother. Harriet was a neighbor of Mark Twain (Sam Clemens) in Ct. This is an historical novel and a great read.
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Old 03-24-2011, 03:59 PM
 
Location: Texas
15,891 posts, read 18,315,804 times
Reputation: 62766
I finished Why Sinatra Matters (which I really enjoyed). The author, Pete Hamill, is one of my favorites.

I'm now reading Tomorrow! by Philip Wylie. It was written in the 50s and is somewhat like Alas, Babylon. Its the story of how two small, semi-connected towns in the middle of the country react to a nuclear attack on the US. The townsfolk are exactly what you would expect from midsized towns in middle America. The shutdown of the grid spreads throughout the country and by that time the reader knows the main characters very well. There are a lot of interesting folks in this book

Wylie's prose is exceptional. At times I have to look up words. I like that. I like authors who teach me things. Plus, I am in love with words.

This is not a zombie book. It's more along the lines of following the good guys and the bad guys, as found in "It's a Wonderful Life", except they have to deal with no clean water, no electricity......all the systems that would fail in a nuclear attack.

I'm not far into it but it has grabbed me. I feel like I'm reading about "Our Miss Brooks" or "Good Morning, Miss Dove" in a contaminated zone.
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Old 03-24-2011, 06:56 PM
 
Location: Lincoln County Road or Armageddon
5,017 posts, read 7,220,428 times
Reputation: 7303
"World War Z" by Max Brooks. I love this book. Up next is "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein.
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Old 03-24-2011, 10:18 PM
 
Location: Spokane via Sydney,Australia
6,612 posts, read 12,837,980 times
Reputation: 3132
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ketabcha View Post
I finished Why Sinatra Matters (which I really enjoyed). The author, Pete Hamill, is one of my favorites.

I'm now reading Tomorrow! by Philip Wylie. It was written in the 50s and is somewhat like Alas, Babylon. Its the story of how two small, semi-connected towns in the middle of the country react to a nuclear attack on the US. The townsfolk are exactly what you would expect from midsized towns in middle America. The shutdown of the grid spreads throughout the country and by that time the reader knows the main characters very well. There are a lot of interesting folks in this book

Wylie's prose is exceptional. At times I have to look up words. I like that. I like authors who teach me things. Plus, I am in love with words.

This is not a zombie book. It's more along the lines of following the good guys and the bad guys, as found in "It's a Wonderful Life", except they have to deal with no clean water, no electricity......all the systems that would fail in a nuclear attack.

I'm not far into it but it has grabbed me. I feel like I'm reading about "Our Miss Brooks" or "Good Morning, Miss Dove" in a contaminated zone.
I have that one on my wish list. I'll get to it eventually lol
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Old 03-24-2011, 10:34 PM
 
Location: Texas
15,891 posts, read 18,315,804 times
Reputation: 62766
Quote:
Originally Posted by vaughanwilliams View Post
"World War Z" by Max Brooks. I love this book. Up next is "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein.
Call up World War Z on amazon. Scroll down and look at some of the titles of the books they are listing of a similar genre. Some of them sound good but a couple look like they might be hysterical. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. ahahahahaha. Zombie Pride and Prejudice. bwwaahahaha

I wish Bourne would hurry up with book 3 in his Armageddon series. I am really hooked on those books.
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Old 03-24-2011, 11:14 PM
 
Location: Spokane via Sydney,Australia
6,612 posts, read 12,837,980 times
Reputation: 3132
Whitley Strieber's 2012 is more horror than scifi (unless you count the fact the "monsters" are aliens from a parallel universe as the scifi part that is). Supposedly Strieber had his own personal 1st person interaction with aliens which he wrote about in Communion
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