holiday reading lists (1 Viewer)

[Bolkonski]

So hows everyone going with holiday readings lists? That is to say, hows the reading going? THat is if people have made such dorky things as I have.

Ive read War and Peace, Secret Agent and 1984 so far... very interesting books... what else have people read now for enjoyment after the big event.. whos acronyms we will never utter again...

 

[Gregor Samsa]

My reading has been productive. On top of 'leisure' reading (30 books or so in the post-'nameless event' period), I've managed to read, for various university English courses.

Samuel Beckett-Endgame
Drusilla Modjeska-The Orchard
George Orwell-Nineteen Eighty-Four (re-read, in this case)
Arundhati Roy-The God Of Small Things
James Joyce-Ulysses
Virginia Woolf-Mrs Dalloway.

Still have a few texts left (Notably Frankenstein and A Room Of One's Own), but on the whole, its been going well.

 

[Bolkonski]

my bro was telling me how 1% of academics who discuss Ulysses have actually read it... so Id feel proud of that one..

did you find his constantly changing style of form and language technique interesting? or confusing?

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Originally posted by Bolkonski
my bro was telling me how 1% of academics who discuss Ulysses have actually read it... so Id feel proud of that one..

did you find his constantly changing style of form and language technique interesting? or confusing?

Hehehe.. I found it interesting, seeing its cleverly done, and reflects the Modernist ethos of trying to capture human experience through varying means.. The hardest chapter to understand was probably 'Oxen Of The Sun', with the evolution of the English language being depicted throughout.

Even leaving the technical virtuosity aside however, Ulysses is an excellent book, with the thousands of intertextual references (Some of these are quite humourous) and human feeling throughout. ('Cyclops' is sad in that Leopold's reasonable views are constantly ignored and/or dismissed by 'The Citizen' and others..)

What do you think of it?

 

[Bolkonski]

havent read it. its on the bottom of my pile.. under conrad. Ive only read a portrait so far... but now doubt ulysses will appear on a uni reading list for me sometime in the future.

 

[spin spin sugar]

am i the only one whos been disgustingly lazy and read a bunch of cheesy patricia cornwell mysteries instead?? seriously i cant handle the energy required for a meaty book at the moment.. i have a few virginia woolf books that ive been meaning to read for ages, as well as a whole load of Proust awaiting me... but the holidays have dumbed me down.

Gregor, did you like The Orchard by Drusilla Modjeska?

 

[MiuMiu]

The holidays have sooo dumbed me down too, I just don't feel like thinking!

 

[irene adler]

The Dumas Club and The Seville Communion by Arturo Perez Reverte - does anyone else here read him?
The Concert by Ismail Kadare (I tell a lie, am still reading this one).
The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass.
and a pile of books I must read...english texts and a few others.

 

[picaresque]

The Collected Short Stories Jean Rhys
Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh
Good Bones Margaret Atwood
The Illiad and The Odyssey translated by Robert Fagles
Insects and Angels A.S. Byatt
Selected Poems of Anna Akhmatova forgot the translator...

Trotsky: the Eternal Revolutionary Dmitri Volkogonov (for Mod.)
and copious readings for Philosophy. heh.

Next on list:
House of Leaves: A Novel Danielewski
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Milan Kundera (hello Prague.)

 

[Serpentia]

Originally posted by Gregor Samsa
My reading has been productive. On top of 'leisure' reading (30 books or so in the post-'nameless event' period), I've managed to read, for various university English courses.

Samuel Beckett-Endgame
Drusilla Modjeska-The Orchard
George Orwell-Nineteen Eighty-Four (re-read, in this case)
Arundhati Roy-The God Of Small Things
James Joyce-Ulysses
Virginia Woolf-Mrs Dalloway.

Still have a few texts left (Notably Frankenstein and A Room Of One's Own), but on the whole, its been going well.

WOW

that has been productive

Ulysses is MASSIVE!

 

[spin spin sugar]

Originally posted by picaresque
House of Leaves: A Novel Danielewski
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Milan Kundera (hello Prague.)

both these books are amazing!

 

[= Jennifer =]

i have read:

King lear-shakespeare
Lionheart-Jesse martin
the bone people-keri hulme
emma- jane austen

only because they are my hsc texts after hsc is when my serious reading starts

 

[Courtenay]

HSC???

 

[Alexander]

"We aren't allowed to know our HSC text until the exact moment when the bitch has to tell us (she doesnt want us advantaged). Everyone elses teacher lets them know. Not fair.
Anyway, these hols ive only read War Diaries of Weary Dunlop, Salmon of Doubt and Crime and Punishment. The latter is so much faster paced and interesting then i imagined...pleasant surprise" - Prof.High-Brow

 

[grk_styl]

I really wish I had time for leisure reading. I despise the HSC right now!

My holiday reading list includes (and I have 2 more weeks to get them all done:
Emma - Jane Austen
Anna Karenina - Tolstoy
King Lear - Shakespeare
Pride & Prejudice - Austen
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Originally posted by Serpentia
WOW

that has been productive

Ulysses is MASSIVE!

Thanks. Ulysses is massive, but compelling reading. [Finished it in five days, and read the last 180 pages in one sitting. I love the flow of the concluding section, with the reiterated 'yes' giving it another rhythm..]

Also, texts have been added to my reading list. I also need to read;
Mary Shelley-Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus
Virginia Woolf-A Room Of One's Own.

 

[Serpentia]

You're a freak lol!!!!!

woahness to the max!

 

[lazybum]

I've been very productive over the hols

Classics:
JANE Eyre - Bronte' sisters
Ulysses - ( weel, the first few chapters!)James Joyce
Animal Farm and 1984 - Orwell
Sons and Lovers - DH Lawrence (very tedious)
Invisible man- HG Wells (dont recommend it)
Phantom of Opera - Leroux Gaston
Great Expectations and Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

Others include
In hitler's bunker - a NAZI youth who was a courier for Axmann, one of Hitler's henchmen,
The Trouble with Islam - Irshud Munji
Forbidden Love ( about Honour killings in Saudi Arabia)

and other bestsellers by Fay Kellerman, Dean Koontz, Bryce Courtney, Grisham (unimpressive), etc, etc

Additonally, i've read some books on the Kabbala by Joseph Telushkin, and learnt all about the Middle East Conflict (Palestinians vs Israeli's ) through documentaries I've watched. v interesting

 

[Serpentia]

wow I wish I could read as much as you guys do

I keep getting off track personally.......... ah well

I am actually a very quick reader, but been lazy recently lol

 

[Melanie Jane]

Geez! Some of you guys have read heaps! :jaw:
I'm reading about 5 books simultaneously at the moment.
Berlin by Antony Beevor
Leadership by Rudy G. (can't spell name - ex-NY mayor)
Plus I've read some Paulina Simons novels and loads and loads of magazines (mag-addict).