apropos of absolutely nothing

by Hortensia 18 Replies latest social entertainment

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  Hortensia

  I occasionally go on self-improvement benders, as witness my attempt to eat healthy food this week. That is going well, so I thought I'd check out where I am intellectually. The Guardian recently published a list of the 100 greatest novels of all time. I read down the list, thinking I'm doing all right, I've read more than half of them. Sometimes I actually finish one of them.

  So they recommended Anna Karenina. I've tried to finish that one, but haven't succeeded. I recently read the summary on Wikipedia and figure that's enough. They also say that Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat is the funniest book ever written. I've tried to read that one, never have been able to finish it. Personally I think that Dwarf Rapes Nun, Flees in UFO is the funniest book ever written. I don't know anyone else who has read it, though, so maybe I'm wrong.

  So do you have any favorites for greatest novels of all time? Nothing by the WTBTS please, although they do publish a lot of fiction.
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  Black Sheep

  Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen might entertain you.
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  WinstonSmith

  I'm reading 1Q84 at the moment and am utterly engrossed in it.
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  wha happened?

  My speed is more like Bears on Wheels. Nice illustrations
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  Hortensia

  Thanks for the recommendations. I'll go look them up -- always need something new to read.
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  Hortensia

  I see the author of IQ84 -- Haruki Marukami (sp?) is one of the authors included on the Guardian list. And Beautiful Losers sounds good, too. Both have some good reviews on Amazon. I added them to my wish list.
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  WinstonSmith

  Murakami used the JWs as the basis for one of the cults in 1Q84. In the book they go by the name "Society of Witnesses" and the comparison is unmistakeable - door to door work, Sunday worship, can't have birthdays etc. I'm only up to page 235 of 1300 and already I don't want it to ever end. A brilliant work of subtle plot development.

  Highly recommended.
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  Hortensia

  That makes it sound even more interesting! Definitely going to read these books.
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  Lozhasleft

  I've just read Child 44 which was excellent, a thriller based in Stalin's Russia. I have too many favourites, probably my all time is Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee. I hope this thread grows I love a good book thread!

  Loz x
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  talesin

  The Women's Room, by Marilyn French (1980s fiction/philosophy)

  The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley (fiction, Arthurian legend)

  Women Who Run With The Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estes (examination of female archetypes)

  Chronicles of Narnia (4 book series), by C.S. Lewis (well, you know this one!)

  The Dream of the Celt, by Mario Vargas Llosa (fictionalized biography of Roger Casement by a nobel laureate)

  Persepolis, by Marjane Satripi (autobiographical graphic novel)

  Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad (historical fiction, Britain/Congo)

  Some of my old and recent favorites ...

  tal