Kevin's Watch

I'm working on "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco. One of those classics that I've been meaning to read for a while, but never got around to it. Just happened to see it on the shelf at the library while looking for something else and decided to check it out.

I'm enjoying it so far, although it certainly isn't light reading by any means.

Hitler's Peace by philip kerr

The World is Flat by friedman

Encryptic wrote:I'm working on "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco. One of those classics that I've been meaning to read for a while, but never got around to it. Just happened to see it on the shelf at the library while looking for something else and decided to check it out.

I'm enjoying it so far, although it certainly isn't light reading by any means.

I agree with you, Encryptic: Liked the book very much, and it is not light reading. I skipped over some of the ornate descriptions. [hush] It became a very different animal when translated to film.

I'm reading THE EYRE AFFAIR, Jasper Fforde. Now that's light, as long as you know your classics, of course.

Encryptic wrote:I'm working on "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco. One of those classics that I've been meaning to read for a while, but never got around to it. Just happened to see it on the shelf at the library while looking for something else and decided to check it out.

I'm enjoying it so far, although it certainly isn't light reading by any means.

Best of luck to you! It's one of my all time favorite movies (just bought it the other day, as a matter of fact) but was never able to get into the book. I've made 3 attempts so far. But, perhaps, some day?

Encryptic wrote:I'm working on "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco. One of those classics that I've been meaning to read for a while, but never got around to it. Just happened to see it on the shelf at the library while looking for something else and decided to check it out.

I'm enjoying it so far, although it certainly isn't light reading by any means.

A good book! Your right though, not light reading.

I'm just finishing up Peter Straub's Floating Dragon- still not sure how I feel about it. It's a compelling read, and I think I'm digging it, but it has yet to really gel for me- I'm hoping the end will tie some stuff together.

Next, I'm going to read a collection of Dashiell Hamett novels. Some I've read (Red Harvest and Maltese Falcon), but the rest are new to me.

Damelon wrote:

Encryptic wrote:I'm working on "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco. One of those classics that I've been meaning to read for a while, but never got around to it. Just happened to see it on the shelf at the library while looking for something else and decided to check it out.

I'm enjoying it so far, although it certainly isn't light reading by any means.

A good book! Your right though, not light reading.

I enjoy it thoroughly every time I read it. (And it's pretty light compared to Focault's Pendulum. ) The only thing that gives me pause is having to translate the bits that are in different languages.

--Avatar

Avatar wrote:

Damelon wrote:

Encryptic wrote:I'm working on "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco. One of those classics that I've been meaning to read for a while, but never got around to it. Just happened to see it on the shelf at the library while looking for something else and decided to check it out.

I'm enjoying it so far, although it certainly isn't light reading by any means.

A good book! Your right though, not light reading.

I enjoy it thoroughly every time I read it. (And it's pretty light compared to Focault's Pendulum. ) The only thing that gives me pause is having to translate the bits that are in different languages.

--Avatar

Heh, I'm almost afraid to try Foucault's Pendulum, given that I've heard the same thing about it from other people. Some passages in Name of the Rose came dangerously close to making my head explode as it is.

I just finished Name of the Rose last night. Now I just gotta get the movie and see how it compares to the book while it's still fresh in my mind.

Avatar wrote:(And it's pretty light compared to Focault's Pendulum. )

That's an understatement! I had to backtrack while reading that book several times.

Right now I'm in a historical mood. I've been reading Citizens, Simon Schama's book on the French Revolution.

Damelon wrote: Right now I'm in a historical mood. I've been reading Citizens, Simon Schama's book on the French Revolution.

Good one.

Kind of fits in with my general interest lately. France and French.

Long ago, I took French in school. I can't speak it well, but can read it well enough to make sense of most of what's being written. Here and there, I've been looking at the news at Le Monde's website. Just trying to shake a little rust off, I suppose.

Well, according to my son, the French are a very friendly, kind, tolerant, and encouraging people when it comes to Americans and their attempts at speaking French in flat Midwestern accents. He absolutely loved it over there, and I think he's going to try to get me to go over there someday.

I finished THE BATHHOUSE by Farnoosh Moshiri. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Iranian political prisons, from the point of view of a prisoner. The author has a talent for showing emotional pictures of a character from inside his or her own head, and she definitely knows whereof she speaks, but this was obviously written as a political gambit.

Finished Attilla, and am now starting Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Resurrection by the same author. (He actually wrote it first, but I chose to read them choronlogically, according to subject.)

I've realised what my problem was/is with the author. He's trying to write a narrative history, about a period from which no real narrative remains, and he's not all that brilliant at it. The books are easily readable, but unless you have a particular interest in the subject matter, I don't know for sure if I'd recommend them.

There's a noticable anti-christian bias when he discusses the "historical records" of the age, (which didn't bother me, but might some others) but I finally put my finger on why I wasn't enjoying the writing so much when I read his description of the Porta Negra, the Black Gate, of some ancient ruins. He describes it as...wait for it...Schwartznegger -ish.

Perhaps he's trying to bring history to the modern masses, but that description just crystallised the problems I have with his writing. He is appropirately sceptical of "accepted" legend though, and as I said, the actual subject matter, for me, makes up for many things.

--Avatar

It can be difficult to find well written history books. The one Damelon mentioned a couple of posts above is one -- meticulously researched and also written in an interesting and engaging style. One I read about a year ago that was amazing was The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. She was (I saw on the news awhile back that she has passed on) a journalist and knew how to write, and well as do research.

It just seems to be that there are a lot of books out there that either do not have good basic research (the one about the history of tobacco I was asking about in the Africa thread in the Think Tank would be an example of that) or are written in a very dry and academic style that put me to sleep every few pages. A lot of those tend to lose sight of the big picture and get bogged down in millions of tiny trivial details.

There are certain authors I have tended to gravitate to like Stephen Ambrose who seem to deliver both readable and well researched books.

For readable, well researched and insightful bio, try A BEAUTIFUL MIND by Sylvia Nash. If I remember right it won the Pulitzer before being converted into the Acadamy Award winning movie. Both awards well deserved.

Recently picked up The Last Judgement by Ian Pears - I really liked his Instance of the Fingerpost, so I'm giving it a shot.

Isn't that one of his contemporary Italian art mysteries? Totally different approach, that series.

Isn't that one of his contemporary Italian art mysteries? Totally different approach, that series

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Indeed it is, which is okay, I have become a fan of mysteries as of late, anf this book is only slightly above 200 pages so won't take me longer than a couple hours to read at any rate.

I'm about to start KEIKO SPEAKS, written by a Speaker for Animals. Whether or not you believe in animal communicators -- individually or as a general possibility -- Keiko the orca is a symbol who fascinated me and many others.