What 📔book are you reading right now?

[Sir Eowyn]

Gregg Allman's autobiography, "My Cross to Bear."

 

[Rivendell_librarian]

I've tried (and failed) to read W&P a few times before, and it's this aspect that made it difficult. I need to find that webpage!

War and Peace characters order by appearance - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[rollinstoned]

I couldn't find a thread here on this subject, so I decided to create one...

So... what is everyone reading right now? anything of note?

Me - I am planning on starting CIRCE by Madeline Miller, the blurb paints an interesting picture and i do know it is Greek inspired from the Amazon reviews!

 

[frodolives7601]

I couldn't find a thread here on this subject, so I decided to create one...

So... what is everyone reading right now? anything of note?

Me - I am planning on starting CIRCE by Madeline Miller, the blurb paints an interesting picture and i do know it is Greek inspired from the Amazon reviews!

Interesting you should mention "Greek inspired"--I like the historical novels of Mary Renault, who often wrote about ancient Greece and the area thereabouts. I recently re-read her Fire from Heaven, about the early life of Alexander the Great. Next I plan to re-read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer (I seem to have been re-reading a lot of books lately; it's a comfort food thing).

 

[Phuc Do]

Welcome.

 

[rollinstoned]

Interesting you should mention "Greek inspired"--I like the historical novels of Mary Renault, who often wrote about ancient Greece and the area thereabouts. I recently re-read her Fire from Heaven, about the early life of Alexander the Great. Next I plan to re-read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer (I seem to have been re-reading a lot of books lately; it's a comfort food thing).

I re-read books a ton too, well written books always have little things you notice on re-reads.

LOTR is a perfect example of that i think...

 

[Starbrow]

I'm reading The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin. It's a rather dark science fiction/fantasy series, but I got hooked. I'm going to look for some more upbeat reading next.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

I couldn't find a thread here on this subject,

Here it is:

https://thetolkien.forum/threads/what-book-are-you-reading-right-now.10249/page-89

Maybe you missed it, because it's a sticky.

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

I couldn't find a thread here on this subject, so I decided to create one...

So... what is everyone reading right now? anything of note?

Me - I am planning on starting CIRCE by Madeline Miller, the blurb paints an interesting picture and i do know it is Greek inspired from the Amazon reviews!

We have a post stickied to the top of this forum. No worries, I'll add your thread to that one.

What 📔book are you reading right now?

I'm currently reading LotR (again :D) and The Canterbury Tales, by Chaucer. What about you guys?

thetolkien.forum

 

[Olorgando]

John D. Rateliff's "The History of The Hobbit". The original edition from 2007 was of two volumes, I opted for (and had to order) the 2011 single-volume expanded edition of 938 pages. I contains the "complete unpublished manuscript version of The Hobbit". Which covers the entire book. Humphrey Carpenter erroneously stated in his 1977 Biography that only an incomplete typescript existed when Susan Dagnall read it in 1936 and then recommended it for publication to George Allen & Unwin. The "Third Phase Manuscript" (which I'm just getting into on page 648) which completed the first edition TH already existed when C.S. Lewis read it in early 1933 (and stated so in a letter to his friend from earliest days Arthur Greeves in early February 1933). Somehow Carpenter must have missed that manuscript, but he was at a disadvantage at having to write so early. JRRT did have to complete the typescript version to submit it for publication to GA&U, but the story was complete.

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

 

[frodolives7601]

I re-read books a ton too, well written books always have little things you notice on re-reads.

LOTR is a perfect example of that i think...

It is indeed!

 

[rollinstoned]

Lol i must as blind as a bat.

(I know Bats are not blind...)

 

[rollinstoned]

Has anyone read that 'Fevre Dream' by George RR Martin? the plot sounds really interesting and he is a solid writer.... but it penned when he was a fair bit younger... the haunted steamboat thing sounds like nightmare fuel

 

[Hisoka Morrow]

Fanfics written by you guys^^

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Yesterday, I was repacking boxes of books, and came across one by my favorite mystery writer, Walter Mosley, that I hadn't read, so I'm reading that.

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

Yesterday, I was repacking boxes of books, and came across one by my favorite mystery writer, Walter Mosley, that I hadn't read, so I'm reading that.

What's the title?

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Known to Evil. It's the second of his Leonid McGill series. Not part of his more famous Easy Rawlins series, it's set in present-day NYC.

 

[Rivendell_librarian]

Thanks for your answer. Now I want to read Hugo's epic. And can you tell, what do you think of War and Peace as an epic? I mean, is it interesting to read. I'm just willing to know, what people think of Russian classics and of War and Peace as a symbol of it

Recently finished Les Miserables. I think it's better than War and Peace

Spoiler alert!

Why?

1. The exciting action sequences that often come at the end of each book. My favourite is the escape to the convent with Javert and his men closing in but there are many others e.g the confrontation in the Gorbeau house when Valjean sticks the hot iron (meant for his torture) into his forearm.

2. The time taken to describe the life of the bishop of Digne - skipped over by the dramatic versions but so important to what Hugo is saying.

3. The religious themes combined with scepticism of the Catholic church e.g. Valjean carrying Marius on his back and the description of life in the convent

4. The darkness of the relationship between Valjean and Marius: so important to Hugo's message about prejudice against convicted criminals

5. Fewer characters than W&P yet each one is an essential building block to the story.

6. Gavroche and what Hugo is saying through him e.g. the moment when Gavroche asks
"This word, Hercle, struck Gavroche. He sought all occasions for learning, and that tearer down of posters possessed his esteem. He inquired of him:—

“What does Hercle mean?"

7. Javert is not a monster but a believable character who has taken a wrong path

8. Hugo even evokes pity for the Thenardier parents though he paints them much darker than the musical! They also are Les Miserables.

9. Eponine's teenage love for Marius and its consequence - tissues required

10. The digressions

There is one moment in the film of the musical that scores for me: when Javert puts his medal of honour on the dead Gavroche. That's not in the book as we next see Javert chasing Thenardier who escapes into the sewers which plays an important part in Hugo's story.

 

[Rivendell_librarian]

Right now I'm reading a book I was given in a reading group I'm part of.

It's Let me tell you about a man I knew by Susan Fletcher. The man is Vincent van Gogh during his time in the asylum and the narrator of the book is the wife of the warden of the asylum who got to know van Gogh while he was painting outside, Now you could say this is a woman's novel but I'm enjoying it: it captures the feeling of Provence very well and the human story of the characters is quite fascinating.