Or in my case, hot Utah nights...what are you reading?

I just finished John Updike's Rabbit Run. Ugh, what a disgusting story about a true anti-hero. I disliked the story and characters. But like all good literature, whether intentional or not, Updike forces me to examine myself through the mirror of Rabbit. Books are in my home because I like them. My pristine copy of Rabbit is now at the local DI, where I hope it was not put in the children's section!

I just started Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire having enjoyed and appreciated The Monkey Wrench Gang. I did not like Hayduke Lives.

With my friends Dante and Beatrice, I've now left the moon and am moving up through the celestial spheres in Paradisio. This will finish my reading of the Commedia, but I do go visit a few friends in hell from time to time. Gotta love that Franchesca di Remini and Paolo!

Oh, a special call out to SusanI/S, did you read the Swan Thieves?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2016 05:54PM by BYU Boner.

I'm reading "Grunt" by Mary Roach.
Love all her stuff: Stiff, Packing for Mars, etc.
If you enjoy science, weirdness, and humor...she's great.

The Badass Librarians of Timbuktu. It's non-fiction, about an archivist in Timbuktu, Mali. When a portion of the local muslim community became radicalized and affiliated with Al-Qaeda, they wanted to destroy pre-Islamic artifacts of all kinds. This one man in Timbuktu put together a network of smugglers, a la Indiana Jones, to get over 35,000 manuscripts of pre-Islamic origin out of the country and to safety.

I love stories about those who preserve knowledge from the forces of barbarism.

Some dirty free book I got for my Kindle app off of amazon. You know, quality literature at it's finest.

I've been there! The Navy Seal Billionaire's Boner.

I'm reading Beneath
Beneath Ben Lomonds peak by the DUP sisters. It's very good history,

And Stop Acting Rich by Dr. Stanley (wrote the millionaire next door).

If I ever meet John Updike, I'm just going to stand there and shake my head.

He is a masterful writer. He wields the English language like few others. I am in awe of him when I read the words.

But then I look at the thoughts he's written and I despair.

Boner, maybe we're just not in his 'brain league' but if so, I'm glad. I read most of the *Rabbit" books, and they were elegant, but unsatisfying.

"Witches of Eastwick" was okay, but if he was trying to provide a message, I missed it.

"In the Beauty of the Lillies" completely knocked me out, in terms of a craftsman putting words together, but the people and the plot left me completely devoid of feeling. I swear, when I want to write well, he's the man I try to emulate.

But nothing he has written has left a "message".

If you want fun summer reading, start John Sandford's "Prey" series. Here's the Amazon listing of the series. But the majority of them are going to be in your library.
https://www.amazon.com/Prey-26-Book/dp/B0159I0H2I/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467237345&sr=1-7&keywords=john+sandford

While transfixed by Updike's genius, I learned nothing from reading his work. It was like being with a gorgeous woman with whom I had nothing in common. You're left with an image, but what the hell can you do with it? (I mean other than the obvious.)

In contrast, Lucas Davenport, Sandford's hero, is as real to me as Jason Day or Bubba Watson! I may never meet any of them, but I'd be comfortable with them if I did.

I did like his Gertrude and Pollonius--a series of precursors myths to Shakespeare's Hamlet. Brilliant! In one tale, Hamlet is so bratty that it's no wonder Gertrude didn't strangle him herself. You felt for Hamlet's parents!

I haven't been able to get into the Sandford books. Probably, my favorite mysteries are by Paul Doiron whose main character is a dysfunctional Maine Game Warden.

BTW, Dawg, did you ever read Lolita?

The Rabbit books (are there three or four?) are some of my all time ever favorite books. Odd that they should come up here because I've been thinking of re-reading them.

Of course, the best novel ever written by anyone in any time is "To Kill a Mockingbird".

I do love me some Dickens ,though.

Hi Steve, any thoughts about why you loved the Rabbit books? Dickens seems too verbose for my tastes, but I love Chaucer and Shakespeare, go figure? BTW, I enjoy reading your posts and your outlook on life. Boner.

Boner, man, it has been thirty years since I read the Rabbit books. As I recall, probably the very sort of things that you and elderolddog don't care for were what I related to.

Thirty years ago I was a very recently widowed raging alcoholic. I had just lost the best job I had ever had because I had near terminal wounds from the same attack that had killed my spouse and I could no longer do the job. Life was horrible and I had no courage to hasten my exit from it.

Rabbit lived the life I felt like I was living. Nothing meaningful, no happiness, nothing worthwhile. Just slogging along, trying to keep it together until my time was up.

I didn't "enjoy" the books. I found myself in Rabbit. Ultimately it was all pointless and empty, but what was I going to do about that? (Man, that's dismal!)

Plus, as the two of you said, Updike's art and skill are are stunning. I've always been a word person.

I agree Dickens is verbose, but I enjoy his novels immensely. Don't care for his short stories at all. You know, they used to say he got paid by the word.

Thanks for the kind words. I am a NeverMo and I often fear my comments might be inappropriate. Two different people have told me to get off the board and stay off. Rereading THEIR posts about other stuff, I suspect their problems with me have to do with things other than me.

Wow Steve! I don't have words for that kind of suffering. Rabbit was leading a wounded life, so it makes sense that you could have related going through the unthinkable.

As for the Board, I only saw one thread where a younger man accused you of not being sufficiently outraged enough at Orlando (if my memory serves correctly). He was not a regular poster and I think you very appropriately communicated how your life experiences have tempered the more zealous part of anger.

Anyway, along with many others here, welcome to the Board! There are several nevermos who post here; and like you, have great insights for those of us hurt by Mormonism.

I'm a pretty earthy guy who cusses a lot, drinks beer, and basically cares about people. There are many here who also care deeply about others. If folks don't like what you've posted, that their fucking problem. Keep writing, Steve, and don't let any wanker get you down!

BTW, did you ever read Lolita? The Dawg seems to be sleeping. STANDING UP for Steve!

Thanks for some great suggestions! Hie, I'll check out "Grunt." "The Badass Librarians of Timbuktu" definitely sounds like a terrific read. Thanks to all who've posted. You've given me some great ideas!

And Ron, my friend, thanks, as always for your friendship! Let us know what you're rereading, even if it's Penthouse Forum! (Hey, I wasn't always a Mormon!). Da Bone.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2016 09:21PM by BYU Boner.

Boner:

I read a lot of 'age inappropriate' stuff when I was a kid. In fourth grade they let me start using the junior high library
because the elementary library had nothing of interest to me. In junior high I was hanging out with high school books. Etc., etc.

Anyway, sometime way too early (I don't remember when) I tried "Lolita". I remember being kind of vaguely confused. I got about one-third through and quit. Never went back to it.

Now I never quit on a book, even if it is torture.

Same here, Boner. I tried reading Lolita about the same time I was wanking my way through Terry Southern's "Candy" and also "The Story of O." Lolita was literature, when I was looking for hard core verbal porn.

Boner:

Not related to books, but I am amazed by the pain I read in these posts. Some of these folks have been through hell. My heart goes out to them--except for one or two!

Steve, just remember you're fucking awesome!

I've got a couple of Robert Kirby's books to read this summer. Not a big book reader anymore but looking forward to it.

RB

"Desert Solitaire" is one of my all-time favorite books. I've read it several times, and I'm probably about do for another read. I love Edward Abbey and have all his books, usually multiple editions of each. I spent several hundred for a first edition of Desert Solitaire.

I just finished reading the Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling) mystery series and enjoyed them. I'm finishing up a book on Egyptology. I have a collection of Jonathan Carroll short stories waiting for me.

A couple volumes in my miniscule library bear re-reading as I've forgotten some details in my dotage.

RB



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2016 07:05PM by Lethbridge Reprobate.

Updike's The Centaur is one of my favorite books!

I loved Desert Solitaire, Boner. Hope you like it!

I'm now reading "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes, about the founding of Australia--so far, so good. Just finished the first volume of Shelby Foote's Civil War trilogy. Also recently finished Yuval Noah Harari's "Sapiens" and Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything"--both very engaging, IMO.

I want to get back to reading about horrific epidemics, my favorite genre. This year I read Richard Preston's "The Hot Zone" about Ebola, David Oshinsky's "Polio: An American Story," and Steven Johnson's "The Ghost Map" about London's cholera epidemic. Nothing grips me more than a detailed account of thousands of people suffering from some horrible disease. I'm kinky that way.

getbusylivin:

Have you tried "And The Band Played On" by Randy Shilts?

It is not the soppy, docu-drama sort of thing I would expect. Shilts is a recognized quality journalist. Don,t remember year of publication, but history is history. It ends in 1985.

Steve, I believe Randy Shilts wrote "And the Band Played On" in 1988. It was fascinating and heartbreaking. I also recommend his book "Conduct Unbecoming" about gays and lesbians in the armed forces. He died of AIDS sometime around 1994.

Thanks, Doxi. Your info makes a whole lot more sense than mine.
The epidemic began in about '80 as I recall. Conclusion of the story in '85 makes no sense at all.

I'm a never-mo, too. I don't recall being told to get off the board, but my dog (The StalkerDog™) was, a few times. He loved to post a dog's-eye view of things. I told him it was just speciesism.

He passed away a couple years ago. I told our Chihuahua Sophie no when she wanted to take his place.

I've got the Shelby Foote trilogy on my bookcase. My worry is when I start, I won't stop until I'm done. Did you ever read April 1865?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2016 09:24PM by BYU Boner.

getbusylivin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I loved Desert Solitaire, Boner. Hope you like
> it!
>
> I'm now reading "The Fatal Shore" by Robert
> Hughes, about the founding of Australia--so far,
> so good. Just finished the first volume of Shelby
> Foote's Civil War trilogy. Also recently finished
> Yuval Noah Harari's "Sapiens" and Bill Bryson's "A
> Short History of Nearly Everything"--both very
> engaging, IMO.
>
> I want to get back to reading about horrific
> epidemics, my favorite genre. This year I read
> Richard Preston's "The Hot Zone" about Ebola,
> David Oshinsky's "Polio: An American Story," and
> Steven Johnson's "The Ghost Map" about London's
> cholera epidemic. Nothing grips me more than a
> detailed account of thousands of people suffering
> from some horrible disease. I'm kinky that way.

I love to read about the Plague... have you read "Justinian's Flea"?

Bill Bryson: YES!

Fatal Shore - tough going, but brutal and moving account of our beloved country.

For a lighter 'piss take' approach, "Girt" is also good (not Girl, GIRT as in G-I-R-T, from the line: "girt by sea" in the national anthem).

The Making of Australia is also quite good, well researched but in a fairly easy to read style.

Other good books:
1984 by George Orwell (powerful writing, one of the most powerful endings to a book ever. Just the sheer magnificent poetry of the last paragraph and all that it encapsulates, is truly brilliant). And the story has so many layers of meaning and parallels (whatever side of politics we're on, or if we've experienced a dictatorial/ authoritarian cult, whatever).

Not 'happy go lucky' kind of reading, but certainly touches both the head and the heart.

"People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks is quite good. Bit long and takes abit to get into, but well worth it once you're into it.

CS Lewis Narnia series (for fantasy).
Roald Dahl (For sheer delightful story telling)
The biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer 'Prophet, Pastor, Martyr, Spy' by Eric metaxas. Very well researched but very easy to read as well (it's a pretty decent sized book, so not something you could read in a weekend, but well worth it). Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor who was involved in a plot to kill Hitler.
'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' - a beautiful little book. Very easy to read and reasonably short, but really good. Better than the film.
'Arthur and George' - a novel about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (who invented sherlock holmes) and a real-life mystery he was involved in solving. Not short, but entertaining.

I'm reading "In the Country of the walking dead" by Walter O'mera that I found in a cruise of Goodwill, plus I'm reading
Kurt vonnegut , "Breakfast of Champions", I love his mind.
finally I'm reading "An Open life" by Joseph Campbell.

All in all , a mixed bag.

I recently started reading Following Atticus. It's a man and his dog story, but so much more. I have already both cried and laughed while reading it.

I read Lolita a year or so ago. It, like James Joyce's Ulysses, shows up frequently on must reads or highly influential books that everyone should read.

Years ago, I read Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and told myself, damn it, I'm going to make it through this even if I don't catch all the meaning. I've heard that Joseph Campbell struggled for a long time trying to understand Ulysses. Ugh! Sure, someday I'll try it and then go after Finnigan's Wake for more shits and giggles. Pardon me, but I like my literature to make sense when I read it.

Okay, back to Lolita...Nabokov was a genius with the English language. On every page there were dozens of words I didn't know. Fortunately, context clues revealed at least surface meanings. If one were to read Lolita, I would suggest getting it on an ebook, such as a Kindle, so one could use the e-dictionary to look up words on the spot.

As to the plot...well almost everyone knows it's about a horny college professor with a fixation on little girls--he refers to them as "nymphettes." There is comedy, a plenty, as each of Humbert's plans for Lolita fall through. For example, after lots of plans for Lolita's seduction, Humbert finds out that she has been de-flowered by a junior high boy! The book IS funny, but I felt dirty reading it, although there's no actual sex in it.

Reading about a pedophile's planned seduction of a nymphette? Hey, even I have standards of decorum (although they may be low). I couldn't help but laugh at parts, but then thinking, I can't believe I'm reading this, at other points.

Of course, for EXMOs, there's a parallel with a particular individual in Mormon history with his own take on 19th Century Nymphettes. But unlike Humbert, Horny Joe was successful with his conquests.

But to bed, to bed, to bed...there's reading to be done! Have a great night y'all!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2016 12:21AM by BYU Boner.

James Herriot - All Creatures Great and Small, All things Wise and Wonderful, All things Bright and Beautiful, The Lord God Made them
All.

Sweet and touching - and laugh-out-loud funny sometimes. There is just too much ugly going on in the world right about now and escaping to a simpler time is just the ticket.

Wow, a whole bunch of good ideas from the folks on this forum (Why am I not surprised--a diverse collection of interesting brains hanging hereabouts)

My Kindle's wish list is suddenly a mile longer...

This is a very rich thread.

Steve, I'm sorry for your losses. The little bits I've read make me very sad.

The books listed in this thread are fascinating. I'd note, Boner, that Dickens and Shakespeare were pretty much opposites in that one was paid by the word and the other by the performance. Very different incentives, so different approaches to writing. Both, I think, were great (though one greater than the other!).

Others. . . Vonnegut. . . What can one say?

On Lolita, that's a tough one. I love old Vladimir and have read almost everything he wrote: Pnin, Pale Fire, others. He is like an extremely talented kid who discovered a new toy (English) and couldn't stop playing with it.

I have to say Lolita is fraught. It is a wonderful piece of literature, not pornographic or voyeuristic, but it does focus on a topic that is today, with good reason, hugely controversial. In the 1960s the subject was more acceptable for discussion and people could concentrate more on the literature; but today, being older and more experienced than when I read Lolita, having seen more of the damage that child molestation can do to people, I find it harder to ignore the subject matter and appreciate the literature. Is that fair to the book? Probably not.

In any case, it made a deep impression on me; I can still remember some of the phrases in that first paragraph. Unlike most books, I can remember where I was when I read it--in Vienna, with some friends bumming through Europe--and what I read immediately after--Milan Kundera's The Joke. So Nabokov moved me deeply.

You nailed Nabokov! I especially like how you put it...a talented kid who discovered a new toy (English)! And, I hadn't considered it, but I think you're accurate with today's awareness of pedophilia, the book may be more controversial in many ways.



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Joseph Conrad was another non-native English speaker who used his arms-length perspective to enliven his writing. But Conrad was not as enthusiastic, as constantly delighted, as Nabokov.

I remember hearing an interview with Nabokov's son on NPR. He said that his parents, progressives and realists, knew he would be sexually active and told him "whenever young Robin goes out riding, he must always wear his hood."

Relevant? No, but amusing!