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[Hylas]

I finished the book Atonement today. I don't know if I can say I liked it for the reasons I told you before. It has good things in it, but I was bored most of the time.

Now I'm starting A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I haven't read The Kite Runner, but this is another writer I always find everywhere and I always hear good things about his books. I'm a little discouraged after McEwan's book, because I also heard only positive comments about him and didn't like his book much. I will stop reading bestsellers if this one isn't good

[Aubrey McFatum]

Originally Posted by Redpyramidhead

I just bought The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama.

I havent read that far but so far I am enjoying it. Barack is an extraordinarily amazing writer. What I like about the book so far is that it... well I definately can't say it doesn't have an agenda...BUT... it is presented in an approachable manner. Even if you didn't or don't plan to vote for him, I would reccommend checking out this book. Obama is pretty motivational in a seemingly more genuine way than your average politician... and you may not get that impression from his campaign ads.. thats why I dug a little deeper and decided to read some of his writing.

I was thinking of getting this book to read. It's one of the things I'll do in the next days, when I have some time.

Last book I read was Kureishi's Buddha of Suburbia.

[Pu the Owl]

I just finished Sherlock Holmes Selected Stories and Magic Seeds. I am now willing to read Howl's Moving Castle, bought back in November and delivered only today in the mail - very quick delivery, isn't it? I don't know what else. Maybe I will also start another Naipaul, like A House for Mr Biswas.

[Meiko]

Currently reading Of Mice and Men by J. Steinbeck. Usually I'm not into "classic" stuff, but it's a very good book so far.

[Pu the Owl]

Just finished reading Breakfast of Champions and Howl's Moving Castle.

Vonnegut's book is one of the wittiest thing I've read in a long time. It's written with in mind a very different way of considering a book, and it's a complex work without being pretentious. It's actually quite the opposite of a pretentious book. It's also incredibly hilarious, but in a not reassuring manner. I mean, laughing about yourself is normal and makes you feel better, but laughing about the very worst part of yourself, aknowledgingng it all the time, it's another matter.

Jones' book is... funny. Yes. It plays well with average fairy tales commonplaces, and the characters are comedians, mostly. There are some fancy parts and inventions in it, but for the greatest part the best aspect is how characters interact. The plot is a mess at some points, so very confusing, but I doubt it's intentionally like that. Anyway I had a good time with it. Which means the book is ok, but the Miyazaki movie is on a completely different level.

[Pu the Owl]

Twain's Huckleberry Finn and Hardy's Wessex Tales. I'm going for classics right now. BTW, I read Twain when I was a kid. For some odd reason his main works are labeled as children literature. Fun books are most of the times supposed to be for children? Why? Hardy's book on the other hand is very depressing.

[merylsilverburg]

Originally Posted by Psychopu

Jones' book is... funny. Yes. It plays well with average fairy tales commonplaces, and the characters are comedians, mostly. There are some fancy parts and inventions in it, but for the greatest part the best aspect is how characters interact. The plot is a mess at some points, so very confusing, but I doubt it's intentionally like that. Anyway I had a good time with it. Which means the book is ok, but the Miyazaki movie is on a completely different level.

Sorry for this late comment, I never got around to posting a reply to this. I read Howl's Moving Castle last year or so and I feel the book is good on certain levels but also somewhat unmemorable. I don't know why but I never got the impression that Sophie considered herself plain or ugly nor did I feel that she actually fell in love with Howl. The conversations between all of the characters were good and I enjoyed some of the unique story elements like the whole our real world considered as the fantasy world twist in the book. This was funny and clever. And there are other stuff not included in Miyazaki's film that were quite good too.

But, I think I enjoyed Miyazaki's adaptation more for these reasons:

Spoiler: show

I like how the mom was heartless in the film version because it lended better to the plot rather than the book where everyone was just so happy and no one was "evil." I like how Sophie's sisters switching roles were left out too. It was amusing in the book but was unnecessary in the film. I also think Miyazaki's vision of Howl's castle was much better than the crickety, dark, thin-towered castle that was described in the book. I know it's the original and I shouldn't be so mean but Miyazaki's heart-shaped castle lended more symbolism to the overall story since it was all about Howl's heart.

There are more reasons but since the book was a bit unmemorable to me, I've forgotten them now.

I haven't read books at all lately and the only books I managed were children's books (because they're quick and not too long-winded). So, I finished reading a few months ago this lovely story called The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. Just a simple story of a snooty, vain china rabbit who was lovingly cared for by a little girl when he suddenly gets lost at sea one day. He undergoes a journey that changes his personality forever. Yes, this doll has a soul. No, the story is not as strange as it sounds.

I'm currently reading Alice in Wonderland, hooray! I hope I can manage through it without having no time to read it thus losing interest and forgetting what I read earlier thus attempting to re-read it again or abandoning it like so many of my other books.

[Berserker]

Originally Posted by merylsilverburg

I'm currently reading Alice in Wonderland, hooray! I hope I can manage through it without having no time to read it thus losing interest and forgetting what I read earlier thus attempting to re-read it again or abandoning it like so many of my other books.

Lol, very recognisable!

Currently reading --> Peter Senge - The fifth discipline. A book on economics based on the principle of what Senge calls a learning organisation.

[Pu the Owl]

Whoa... I must have read at least 15 books from my last post... I can't remember them all, also because some were not so great.

Some of the stuff I read:

McCarthy - No Country for Old Men
Solzhenitsyn - A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich
Buzzati - Barnabo of the mountains
Calvino - The Watcher and A plunge into real estate
Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse 5
Hardy - Tess of the D'Ubervilles
Coe - The House of sleep
Hemingway - The Sun also rises

There is also Faulkner's As I lay dying which I have not completed yet, for the reason I keep on starting new books while reading it

Now I am reading Kitano's Boy, but it's only 80 pages. Apart from Faulkner - I'll finish it someday - I don't know what I'll read next.

[Meiko]

Originally Posted by merylsilverburg

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. This is a fantastic book and watching the film based off it made me like the book better. It's so controlled in its tone and narration which really fits the mind of the main character and the overall story is just very sweet and sad.

I'm reading this one now

[merylsilverburg]

Ooh, I hope you enjoy it Meiko! Are you reading it for simple reading or is it for a class?

[tempted]

Requiem For A Dream by Hubert Selby, Jr. I saw the movie for the first time this week, and somehow i felt compelled to read the book.

[trunks69420]

"a stubbornly persistent illusion: the collected scientific works of Albert Einstein'

all about the theory of relativity and many other of Einsteins' works... watching way too much discovery and science channel and really wanted to know exactly what it was and how it worked instead of just nodding my head.


also re reading 'Rant' by chuch pallanuch or however you spell his name... and 'the watchman' graphic novel.

[Berserker]

Originally Posted by tempted

Requiem For A Dream by Hubert Selby, Jr. I saw the movie for the first time this week, and somehow i felt compelled to read the book.

I loved that movie, what a great OST by the way. Never read the book, will try to pick up a copy.

[Hylas]

Anybody read Pullman's books? I've been wanting to read The Golden Compass so badly, but the movie made me change my mind. Is it worth reading?

[Faile]

Yes! Do read the series - so much better than the film which was pretty terrible. The books deal with greater issues and are quite racy considering they're kids fiction. Great trilogy.

I am currently reading two books; some Lovecraft short stories and Everett True's biography of Nirvana which makes me wonder why the Pumpkins never got the attention Nirvana did. Everett True likes to attack Billy Corgan a whole lot.

[merylsilverburg]

Originally Posted by Faile

Do read the series - so much better than the film which was pretty terrible.

Ugh, how right you are. I never read the books but the film was so awful I couldn't even finish it. Not that the visuals or casting was bad (except for Kidman) but the story was so "Eh?" and there seemed to be so many characters popping up out of nowhere then disappearing - it's like as if they're popping up just to say "Hey! I was in the book too! Don't forget meeee!"

I finished reading Alice in Wonderland a while back but I've yet to read Through the Looking Glass. No time to read lately, much less reading new ones, so I think I'll have to stick to Through the Looking Glass and try to finish it.

[Hylas]

I bought the books, but couldn't find the time to read them yet. I'm gonna do it soon!

[Berserker]

I started reading John Dickie's Cosa Nostra, plan on taking it with me on my trip to Greece.

[Pu the Owl]

Just finished Vonnegut's Hocus Pocus. Now I am reading Percy's The Moviegoer.