In A Typical Year, Do You Read Any Literary Novels?

[mauGR1]

I'm also battling my way through the collected short fiction of J G Ballard which is a huge tome of a book, he was my favourite living author up until last year when he sadly died of cancer.

IMHO, Empire of the Sun is one great book - a modern classic - as is the movie which Speilberg never got enough credit for.

Agree on the movie.Stunning.

[anonymouse]

Recently I also read part of Theroux' "Train to the eastern star", the part playing in Thailand, but I wasn't much impressed.

In the past I read many of his books and liked them, but now I got the impression he is writing too much and too fast living on his name.

I enjoyed the chapter on his travels in Thailand, one of the few countries that he seemed to really enjoy travelling in.

Not sure about writing too fast, his last travel book before Eastern Star was published six years ago.

Personally I thought it was a perfect meditation on travel and his meetings with fellow writers such a Murakami and Orhan Pamuk were very interesting.

But of course we are all entitled to our own views

[anonymouse]

I'm also battling my way through the collected short fiction of J G Ballard which is a huge tome of a book, he was my favourite living author up until last year when he sadly died of cancer.

IMHO, Empire of the Sun is one great book - a modern classic - as is the movie which Speilberg never got enough credit for.

A great film and a great book, as was the sequel to it 'The Kindness of Women'. His Autobiography Miracles of Life covers much the same ground but is also a very good read.

[Jingthing]

News flash, J.D. Salinger (The Catcher in the Rye) just died, age 91.

It turns out I got very bored with the book I mentioned before by Paul Bowles. It held me for about 70 pages and then it just seemed like a waste of time (about 270 pages total). When I realized I was no longer interested, I still quickly skimmed through every page until the end of the book to pick up snippets of what was happening with the characters and also for any compelling passages. It turned out there were a few highlights that made that worthwhile.

So my question is this. When you start a book and then you realize it bores you, do you always finish it anyway? If not, do you usually do what I did, skim it quickly just in case you are missing something juicy?

[Ulysses G.]

I'm also battling my way through the collected short fiction of J G Ballard which is a huge tome of a book, he was my favourite living author up until last year when he sadly died of cancer.

IMHO, Empire of the Sun is one great book - a modern classic - as is the movie which Speilberg never got enough credit for.

A great film and a great book, as was the sequel to it 'The Kindness of Women'. His Autobiography Miracles of Life covers much the same ground but is also a very good read.

I love books that cover the same ground as another great book, but examine things from a different persective.

Pat Conroy recently wrote a autobiography called My Losing Season in which he tells many of the true stories that were turned into fiction for hs books. I love his writing and really enjoyed finding out more about him.

Norman Mailer wrote the Executioner's Song about the criminal Gary Gilmore. It won many prizes and, in my opinion, is the best thing he ever wrote (many people would disagree as the Naked and the Dead is probably his most popular). Gary Gilmore's younger brother, Mikal Gilmore, known for his writing for Rolling Stone magazine, wrote Shot in the Heart which is also about Gary Gilmore. It is just as good of a book with a lot of family secrets that Mailer did not have access to, but never got the attention that Mailer's book did.

Anyone who is a fan of the Executioner's Song needs to read his brothers book.

Edited January 29, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[sceadugenga]

Pat Conroy is one of America's greats. No one describes the relationship between abusive fathers and their sons better than him. Beach Music is a fine novel.

I'll watch out for "My Losing Season", as it's one of his I haven't read.

John Irving is an enigma to me, I loved The World According To Garp, The Hotel New Hampshire and The Cider House Rules. A Prayer For Owen Meany slowed me up and I've found his later novels tedious.

Larry McMurtry is a personal favourite. Duane's relationship with his wife in "Texasville" really hit home.

I'm surprised one of our English teacher members hasn't explained to us why some novels are literature and some aren't.

[Ulysses G.]

Larry McMurtry is a personal favourite.

Me too, but I never read Texasville - but I did read the Last Picture Show. I will have to check it out. Lonesome Dove is a masterpiece as far as I am concerned and even the sequels were not bad.

[chantaal]

Some of the titles of books I have read over the past year or so and enjoyed:

The Art of Murder by Jose Carlos Somoza

Smoking Poppy Graham Joyce

Marching Powder Rusty Young

Holy Cow Sarah MacDonald

Autofiction and Snakes and Earrings Hitomi Kanehara

I share and exchange books with colleagues at work too. I have shared and exchanged many Haruki Murakami (my favourite author!) books, informed a friend that The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is "required reading", reminisced about some of Ayn Rand's books while others around the office were reading her work, and received Marching Powder and Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra from a colleague/friend. I liked Sleepers too, but I just don't like too many disturbing books because they really do affect my mood. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts and Platform (mentioned by another member) are definitely worthwhile, but I don't like to feel sad.

I read The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde this year and I LOVED it!

I love reading and exchanging and sharing books. It's fun.

Many many times I start reading a book immediately after I finish it. I start right over. Especially if I like it. I read The Picture of Dorian Gray three times in a week before loaning it out at work.

Also love Belle de Jour by Joseph Kessel, and The Scorpion's Sweet Venom by Bruna Surfistinha

Edited January 29, 2010 by chantaal

[sceadugenga]

Larry McMurtry is a personal favourite.

Me too, but I never read Texasville - but I did read the Last Picture Show. I will have to check it out. Lonesome Dove is a masterpiece as far as I am concerned and even the sequels were not bad.

Texasville is the sequel to The Last Picture Show set more than 20 years on. Duane is a millionaire oilman on the verge of going broke and Sonny is a local businessman. There are two further sequels one of which is recently released and I haven't seen yet.

Lonesome Dove is a superb novel. They made a TV series out of it which was OK but I felt it failed to describe the relationship between Call, McRae and Call's unacknowledged son adequately.

[Ulysses G.]

You might be right, but I thought that it was a wonderful mini series and Robert Duval and Tommy Lee Jones and the whole cast were superb. I had not read the book first, so I never noticed any real differences, but I am not sure that I would have cared.

[Ulysses G.]

So my question is this. When you start a book and then you realize it bores you, do you always finish it anyway? If not, do you usually do what I did, skim it quickly just in case you are missing something juicy?

I will not usually force myself to read something that I do not enjoy, but on the other hand, I usually am very careful about what I buy. I open books at random and read a page or two in several places and if I do not enjoy most of what I am reading, I will choose something else.

This is why I have little interest in ebooks or ordering online. I am very aware that everyone does not like the same thing or the same styles of writing, so recommendations are only worthwhile as far as making me examine a book in depth to see if I like it - and that does not mean just the parts that the publisher wants me to read. I've got to hold a book in my hand and look through it to know if I want to spend time on it, or not.

[Jingthing]

I'm surprised one of our English teacher members hasn't explained to us why some novels are literature and some aren't.

I ain't no stinking English teacher (schools out!), but to be clear I was not talking about literature; rather the topic was literary novels and literary fiction (as opposed to that GENRE garbage, ha ha).

I'll post that link again --

http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2007/02/wh...n-literary.html

Edited January 29, 2010 by Jingthing

[Mosha]

I don't know if my reading falls into the definition of Literary Novels. I usually read from my small collection for a short time every night. I love LOTR and if anyone likes Historical Faction, try Conn Iggulden's Emporer series. Based on the life of Julius Caesar. The last 3 books were written using Caesar's own notes. Apparently he was very thorough in recording both the ups and the downs in his campaigns.

Edited January 29, 2010 by Mosha

[sceadugenga]

You might be right, but I thought that it was a wonderful mini series and Robert Duval and Tommy Lee Jones and the whole cast were superb. I had not read the book first, so I never noticed any real differences, but I am not sure that I would have cared.

It's the curse of those who read the book first, then see the movie. I never really appreciated "The Godfather" as much as I should have because I kept comparing it to the book.

[sceadugenga]

I don't know if my reading falls into the definition of Literary Novels. I usually read from my small collection for a short time every night. I love LOTR and if anyone likes Historical Faction, try Conn Iggulden's Emporer series. Based on the life of Julius Caesar. The last 3 books were written using Caesar's own notes. Apparently he was very thorough in recording both the ups and the downs in his campaigns.

I've read LOTR a number of times, I've owned four copies, three of which have come to interesting ends.

I love Historical fiction as well, particularly of a military nature. I'll watch out for the books you mention.

[Gerontion]

I tend to read non-fiction - at the moment a few books on evolutionary psychology - but I read fiction from time to time. I think the last thing I finished was Resurrection by Tolstoy - assuming Lemony Snicket (my Thai reading practice) doesn't count. I started to read The Pope's Rhinoceros fairly recently but it's unbearably over-written and I couldn't build up a sufficient head of steam to plough through so it petered out after about 100 pages.

[Mosha]

I don't know if my reading falls into the definition of Literary Novels. I usually read from my small collection for a short time every night. I love LOTR and if anyone likes Historical Faction, try Conn Iggulden's Emporer series. Based on the life of Julius Caesar. The last 3 books were written using Caesar's own notes. Apparently he was very thorough in recording both the ups and the downs in his campaigns.

I've read LOTR a number of times, I've owned four copies, three of which have come to interesting ends.

I love Historical fiction as well, particularly of a military nature. I'll watch out for the books you mention.

I googled and he's also started a series on Genghis Khan.

[Samuian]

The recent passing of Mr.Salinger reminded me to stick my nose into "The catcher in the rye" again...

... "Gravity's Rainbow", "Joy Luck Club", "The Divine Comedy".... "Lysisstrata", "The Master & Margerita".. are just a very few I consider worth to be read again, once in a while, while many others aren't even worth considering the time it takes...

[anonymouse]

I don't know if my reading falls into the definition of Literary Novels. I usually read from my small collection for a short time every night. I love LOTR and if anyone likes Historical Faction, try Conn Iggulden's Emporer series. Based on the life of Julius Caesar. The last 3 books were written using Caesar's own notes. Apparently he was very thorough in recording both the ups and the downs in his campaigns.

I've read LOTR a number of times, I've owned four copies, three of which have come to interesting ends.

I love Historical fiction as well, particularly of a military nature. I'll watch out for the books you mention.

My favourite piece of historical fiction is Umberto Eco's 'The Name of the Rose' an amazing multi-levelled book which can be read many times.

It's a real book lovers book as from the translated Latin text in the introduction,

'I have sought tranquility in everything, but found it nowhere except in a corner with a book.'

[mauGR1]

My favourite piece of historical fiction is Umberto Eco's 'The Name of the Rose' an amazing multi-levelled book which can be read many times.

It's a real book lovers book as from the translated Latin text in the introduction,

'I have sought tranquility in everything, but found it nowhere except in a corner with a book.'

Great Umberto Eco,i would like to know how it reads translated in English.

May i suggest you to read "The Island of the day before"( literal translation) which is a less known,but not less great piece of historical fiction?

And you are right,those books can be read several times!

[BangkokHank]

So my question is this. When you start a book and then you realize it bores you, do you always finish it anyway? If not, do you usually do what I did, skim it quickly just in case you are missing something juicy?

Very good question. What I do in this circumstance depends on the book. If it is a great classic and I have trouble getting through it, I put it back on my bookshelf with the intention of trying to crack it again later. If it's not a famous book, then I'll quickly skim through it to see if it might somehow redeem itself. Life is too short, though, for me to waste time reading books that don't pull me through them on their own.

By the way, the best book I've read in a long long time was "Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts. A masterpiece!

[anonymouse]

So my question is this. When you start a book and then you realize it bores you, do you always finish it anyway? If not, do you usually do what I did, skim it quickly just in case you are missing something juicy?

Very good question. What I do in this circumstance depends on the book. If it is a great classic and I have trouble getting through it, I put it back on my bookshelf with the intention of trying to crack it again later. If it's not a famous book, then I'll quickly skim through it to see if it might somehow redeem itself. Life is too short, though, for me to waste time reading books that don't pull me through them on their own.

By the way, the best book I've read in a long long time was "Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts. A masterpiece!

Shantaram is a very good book.

If I can't get into the book in the first 50 or so pages I give up usually.

Saying that I am a big fan of John Le Carre and have read about half of what he has written, the only one I've given up on is The Honourable Schoolboy which I've tried three times now. I am currently listening to the radio adaption on BBC radio 4 and enjoying it, so my next reading project is to read or reread all Le Carre's books from his first to his latest including The Honourable Schoolboy.

[SeanMoran]

Shantaram is a very good book.

I much enjoyed Shantaram, from the second page, where the author mentions the smell of the place that tells him he's come home. I couldn't help but parallel my own experiences in Thailand throughout the book.

One thing that was a mild disappointment was the conclusion, for as much as it finished cleanly, it left me with the impression that there was an intended sequel. Still, it was one of the best novels I've read, and I'm glad that it's classified as 'literary' fiction albeit an autobiography. Thanks for mentioning it.

[Jingthing]

Thanks a lot, another 900 page "must read" book.

The poll results are funny here. I don't believe them. The non literary novel readers couldn't even be bothered to open the thread and vote. That's how bored they were with this topic.

Edited February 3, 2010 by Jingthing

[SeanMoran]

Thanks a lot, another 900 page "must read" book.

The poll results are funny here. I don't believe them. The non literary novel readers couldn't even be bothered to open the thread and vote. That's how bored they were with this topic.

Literally speaking, 'Literary' covers a wide range of novel. Rather subjective that's the whole point, eh wot eh?

[Jingthing]

Thanks a lot, another 900 page "must read" book.

The poll results are funny here. I don't believe them. The non literary novel readers couldn't even be bothered to open the thread and vote. That's how bored they were with this topic.

Literally speaking, 'Literary' covers a wide range of novel. Rather subjective that's the whole point, eh wot eh?

True, a wide range, but generally not including genre books.

[SeanMoran]

Thanks a lot, another 900 page "must read" book.

The poll results are funny here. I don't believe them. The non literary novel readers couldn't even be bothered to open the thread and vote. That's how bored they were with this topic.

Literally speaking, 'Literary' covers a wide range of novel. Rather subjective that's the whole point, eh wot eh?

True, a wide range, but generally not including genre books.

Well then, THAT certainly narrows it down somewhat...

[Jingthing]

Yes it does. Look it up, it is a definable concept and understood by publishers if not readers.

[SeanMoran]

Yes it does. Look it up, it is a definable concept and understood by publishers if not readers.

I apologise for my ignorance. I tend to see almost all fiction novels as literature, although I understand that certain genres might be discarded. eg. Jaws by Peter Benchley I read in paperback and classified as 'literature', while Jaws II derived by Hank Searls from the movie screenplay, I classify as 'better to watch the movie'. He probably had his typewriter and a torch in the cinema. That's a plain objective difference I can understand.

Has anyone read Nicholas Evans' Horse Whisperer ?

That was literature, and I read it before I saw the movie.

[Ulysses G.]

Thanks a lot, another 900 page "must read" book.

I have not read Shantaram myself, but, for years, when I have a used one fo sale, it has flown off the shelves within minutes. I can't keep any in stock. In fact, it sells so well that even the stores that only sell new books were sold out completely for a while.

Edited February 3, 2010 by Ulysses G.