Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 02 Dec 14 - 04:00 PM

Currently reading...
Soldier of Orange

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

AND Whistling Season

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: Bert
Date: 02 Dec 14 - 03:39 PM

GUEST #, I did read HMS Ulysses, a long time ago, yes it was good. I read all of his that I can find.

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: EBarnacle
Date: 02 Dec 14 - 10:43 AM

I am currently reading Gladwell's "Blink." When I got to Chapter 4,I realized that it directly contradicted a course I had just taken. I will be teaching that chapter in another course. This is a book that will make you think.

Regarding "Confederacy...," I have never been able to get into it. This book is further evidence, at least for me, that there is no accounting for taste.

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 02 Dec 14 - 06:16 AM

Just saw this great thread - been away from the computer lately (amazing what a dent the real world puts in yer internet time).

Currently enjoying All The Wrong Notes by Dave Hadfield. Come all ye British folkies of a Certain Age...

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: Jack Campin
Date: 01 Dec 14 - 12:53 PM

I like writers who have the self-control to write one short book and stop.

Juan Rulfo: Pedro Paramo
Peter Currell Brown: Smallcreep's Day
John Mulgan: Man Alone

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: GUEST,#
Date: 01 Dec 14 - 11:20 AM

Bert, if you haven't read HMS Ulysses by Alistair MacLean, I'm pretty sure you'd like it, lots.

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 01 Dec 14 - 09:58 AM

Neon Bible

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 01 Dec 14 - 09:37 AM

David:

I've searched by Toole's name, and also by the title you
you cite, "Neon Bible". I found no reference to that
title in Wikipedia. Google gives me no results for such
a book, and the search function at the Indianapolis
Marion County Public Library also gives me nothing.

Was Neon Bible published, or just written and never published? Or, maybe self-published by Toole in a very limited run? Or, was it published under a pseudonym? Or under some related but different title?

I'm intrigued.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: David C. Carter
Date: 19 Nov 14 - 11:58 AM

Dave,He wrote a book before that callend"Neon Bible",which I haven't read yet.
Walker Percy got"Dunces" into print;which I've read I don't know how many times.
A fantastic piece of writing!



David

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 19 Nov 14 - 10:49 AM

In my (not so humble) opinion, the greatest American novel ever in print is A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole (not "O'Toole"). It stands out for the wonderful collection of well-drawn, believable, and hilarious characters, as well as the individualized display of the multitudinous and distinct accents native to New Orleans. It's the picaresque adventures of an eccentric (to say the least) fat slob genius named Ignatius J. Reilly, filled with a long list of those great characters I mentioned.

Now that it's come back to mind, I've just GOT to dig out my copy, to read again (for the fourth time or so) this fascinating Pulitzer-winning novel, the author's only novel.

It's his "only novel" because he committed suicide after repeated rejections. About eleven years later his mother stumbled upon the battered and smudged manuscript, read it, and embarked on a campaign to get it published. After getting it refused by publisher after publisher, she was able to enlist the initially reluctant help of an eminent literary scholar whose name I disremember just now, who finally approached the Louisiana State University Press, who "never published fiction", but who were impressed and broke their own "no fiction" rule because this was a book that just had, had, had to be published!

(You just might form the idea that I like this book.)

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: Bill D
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 04:40 PM

I just visited some friends who had several book on Lewis Carroll, and I found out more than I ever dreamed about Charles Lutwidge Dodgson and his life and adventures.

I also discovered this introduction to one of his poems,,, his parody of 'Hiawatha'..

"[In an age of imitation, I can claim no special merit for this slight attempt at doing what is known to be so easy. Any fairly practised writer, with the slightest ear for rhythm, could compose, for hours together, in the easy running metre of 'The Song of Hiawatha.' Having, then, distinctly stated that I challenge no attention in the following little poem to its merely verbal jingle, I must beg the candid reader to confine his criticism to its treatment of the subject.]"

After that, the actual poem is but a sideline.

"FROM his shoulder Hiawatha
Took the camera of rosewood,
Made of sliding, folding rosewood;
Neatly put it all together.
In its case it lay compactly,
Folded into nearly nothing;
But he opened out the hinges,
Pushed and pulled the joints and hinges,
Till it looked all squares and oblongs,
Like a complicated figure
In the Second Book of Euclid.

This he perched upon a tripod -
Crouched beneath its dusky cover -
Stretched his hand, enforcing silence -
Said "Be motionless, I beg you!"
Mystic, awful was the process....

etc. (you may look up the details.)

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: bubblyrat
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 02:05 PM

The master of the frenetically occult novels such as "The Devil Rides Out" ,"To The Devil a Daughter" etc , changed tack completely with "Saturdays With Bricks" , in which not once did he exhort his readers to "NOT try this at home " !! ( I preferred "Mayhem in Greece" personally ).

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 01:12 PM

I should have said he spelt it thus. He died in 2000.

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 01:10 PM

I think whether you are put off a book at school will depend largely on the teacher, who can either fill you with enthusiasm or turn the whole process into a chore.

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 01:09 PM

In 'legendary pedant' mode:

Altho it is a pseudonym, he spells it O'Brian. I have often wondered why!

≈M≈

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 01:02 PM

If you do read more of The Patrick O Brien books, I would suggest you read them in order. The stories make more sense that way. I have read all 22 and they are a right treat.
Also, I am always amazed when people say they have been put off certain books because of reading them at school... reading at school had the opposite affect on me..I fell in love with lots of authors because of having read them at school. Funny how these things affect us differently.

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: Mo the caller
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 10:39 AM

Sylvie and Bruno. An interesting experiment. Can't remember if he wrote it as a try out before, or to cash in after Alice. It's more of a dipper than a stay-up-and-finish.

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: Bert
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 12:07 AM

No problem TOPSIELUV. Thanks for joining in my thread. One of the reasons I started it is to get some fresh ideas; and maybe to find some different authors.

Thanks, HiLo for reminding me of Patrick O'Brien. I'd completely forgotten about him, the only one that I've read is Master and Commander. I loved it and must look out for more of his.

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 17 Nov 14 - 03:31 PM

I love book threads. I am always happy to see what others read. I am a huge fan of Thomas Hardy. I think he is a much better novelist than Dickens. However, even he has written a few dreadful thing; Two On A Tower, for example..dreadful.
   One of my all time favourite books is Wuthering Heights and I often wonder if Emily Bronte had lived to write another, would it have been as good. Vita Sackville-West wrote one Good book, The Edwardians. the rest are a bit dire.
   I read all of the Patrick OBriens, loved them..but obviously some were better than others.
    As for Dickens.. well I really do want to like him, I feel that I should like him, but alas, i don't..except for Bleak House which seems almost to have been written by someone else.
    I hope I have not missed the message of your thread because it is an interesting one. Thanks

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 17 Nov 14 - 05:37 AM

Don't be offended, Bert. I was just trying to match the discussion to the original proposition. I am sure there are authors who wrote one masterpiece and not much else of note, which is interesting in itself and a good subject for discussion, especially regarding why this happens - leaving aside those authors whose careers were cut short by their early death.

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: Bert
Date: 17 Nov 14 - 05:24 AM

Hey I was trying to start a discussion here, not an argument. All of this is personal opinion anyway.

Often the first book is the masterpiece and the follow up is close, but no cigar. Other examples being The Wilt Alternative, and Trapp's Peace.

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 17 Nov 14 - 05:16 AM

If those authors produced many masterpieces, or at least more than one, why try to choose just one of their masterpieces in order to include them in a list of authors who only wrote one - a list where they obviously don't belong?

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: Bert
Date: 17 Nov 14 - 05:08 AM

Yes it sure does Topsie; there are also authors, who produce many masterpieces.

But I did say it was difficult to choose, not impossible.

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 17 Nov 14 - 04:42 AM

Bert, if you are finding it difficult to choose between two or more great books by the same author, surely this contradicts your original post, which was a list of examples where there was only one outstanding masterpiece by the author:

"some popular ones seem to have a single masterpiece among many good works.

Frinstance,"

Subject: RE: Books: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: Bert
Date: 17 Nov 14 - 03:46 AM

Thanks Joe.

MGM, Huckleberry Finn, Yes, difficult to choose there. I didn't like Great Expectations. Oliver Twist wasn't too bad but Lionel Bart's musical was better than the book. I think that Bart had a greater talent than Dickens. But then again, we had Dickens forced upon us in School; there's nothing more guaranteed to put you off a book than reading around the class. They buggered up Shakespeare for me that way as well.

Topsie, ...and what about Through the Looking-Glass? Yes another difficult choice. Lewis Carroll was a weird character, a mathematical genius, a great author and poet; but somehow his Sylvie and Bruno didn't seem to work so well. My favorite work of his is The Hunting of the Snark, but a single poem doesn't qualify as a book. It should be required reading for all Mathematics courses simply because of its brilliant illustration of the concept of zero.

Subject: RE: BS: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 17 Nov 14 - 02:48 AM

. . . and what about Through the Looking-Glass?

Subject: RE: BS: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 17 Nov 14 - 02:33 AM

Huckleberry Finn even greater -- IMO greatest of all American novels. Great Expectations the greatest Dickens.

≈M≈

Subject: RE: BS: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Nov 14 - 01:48 AM

Hi, Bert -
Just leave the tag blank and put Books: whatever in the title - like what I did with this thread. If it's a workable prefix, others will use it.

-Joe-

Subject: BS: We need a 'Books' prefix.
From: Bert
Date: 17 Nov 14 - 12:36 AM

Having said that, I enjoy many authors but some popular ones seem to have a single masterpiece among many good works.

Frinstance,

The Golden Keel by Desmond Bagley
73 North: The Battle of the Barents Sea by Dudley Pope
Dover Goes to Pott by Joyce Porter
The Wreck of the Mary Deare by Hammnond Innes
Trapp's War by Brian Callison
Wilt by Tom Sharpe
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol