^ If you can make it until around chapter 3, then you're probably good for the lot of it. The book is a mixed bag, and Joyce is using every trick in the literary book. Some will work, others won't--a fair warning and all. It took me 6 months to read it all at a pace where I felt I understood what was going on instead of just "reading words".
All of that said, the final few chapters are amazing in a way I cannot properly describe.
(and, fyi, everyone I've ever known, whether through the internet or otherwise, gets second thoughts around page 6 or so. Buck Mulligan is pissant).
not to show off how super intellectual i am but The Myth of Sisyphus with its collection of essays is my favorite book, ever. i've read Summer in Algiers sooo many times, and i keep an old edition of it in a plastic bag on the windowsill, it's 5 feet away from me right now.
as for the guy who disliked neuromancer, i gotta say you'll either love it or hate it. i thought it was brilliant and phenomenal, like fireworks going off in my head.
Currently wrapping up my night-time reading which is White Noise by Don Delillo, a pretty short little novel from the 80s that most people have probably heard of. I don't really read a lot of fiction so this was a nice change of pace. Delillo is a brilliant writer and his wonderful use of the english language makes me feel profoundly stupid on a nightly basis. I have enjoyed this novel so much that I went and picked up his much longer work Underworld the other day to get cracking on next. All I know is there is something about the Cold War in it... + Show Spoiler +
I couldn't get through that one. I mean I think I could see where it was going and what the points he was making were, but it felt like a chore to actually do the reading, ingenious as it was.
On Neuromancer: I also could not get into this one, although it was a long time ago and mainly because I comprehended only like 25% of what was actually happening. I'm thinking of giving it another go, I'm significantly more worldly/well read/comprehending than I was then.
On June 29 2010 17:06 scrdmnttr wrote: I have a page-long list now of books from this thread. Well I guess it's good I have nothing to do this summer .
I'm really happy to see everyone's choices in books! Atheist books, sci fi, science & history!? Yay! Even Thomas Paine?! Yay some more!
Just Read:
This was recommended in a different tl thread, but I really loved it. It has quirky humor with some manly appeal to manliness (adventures and beautiful women) and a really interesting plot.
You should try Another Roadside Attraction by him. That is my favorite of his so far, it's quite amazing. I've also read Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas and part of the above but wasn't really in the mood for a while and ended up losing my enthusiasm
Yeah, so in my latest attempt to beat procrastination I've resorted to reading sport psychology books. Motivational books don't work for me period. I feel very motivated after reading them, for about a day. Then my enthusiasm quickly peters off. It's the same thing with inspiring quotes. Sure, they're inspiring, for five minutes. Then what?
So this book looks promising (I have a few books lined up after this one as well). Mental toughness is a trait most coaches assume athletes already have. The author of this book disagrees with that. A sports psychologist himself who works with all sorts of athletes, he has this mental workout program, that's practical, short, and builds mental toughness the way an exercise program builds muscle.
Table of Contents: Phase 1 The Mental Workout
Chapter 1 Centering Breaths: Controlling Your Biology 17 Chapter 2 The Performance Statement: Simple and Concrete 29 Chapter 3 The Personal Highlight Reel: Seeing Is Believing 47 Chapter 4 The Identity Statement: Influencing Self-Image 69 Chapter 5 Another Centering Breath and Away We Go 79
Phase 2 Goal Setting for Greatness
Chapter 6 Effective Goal Setting: Creating and Achieving the Dream 87 Chapter 7 Personal Rewards Program: Enhancing Motivation 101 Chapter 8 Tapping the Power of Goals: Train Hard Enough to Make Competition Easy 119
Phase 3 Relentless Solution Focus
Chapter 9 Always Have a Solution on the Board 137 Chapter 10 The Solution-Focused Tool 149 Chapter 11 Mental Toughness: Knowing What and How to Think 169 Appendix A Mental Training Through the Year 179 Appendix B Work Sheets 183 Notes 191 Glossary 193 Index 195
I study German literature and this is just one of those classics you need to have read before the end of your studies. Great book.
Thomas Mann is the bomb, yo.
You might want to try Death In Venice if you haven't read it already. In the mean time, I'm going to read the one you posted.
Seeing German books with their English titles is so weird. :o
Yeah I've read Death in Venice but I didn't really appreciate it because I was very young and forced to read it for school. I should probably pick it up again sometime.
Gl if you're going to read Buddenbrooks, it's probably the Thomas Mann book (he wrote it when he was 25 and later got the nobel prize for it) but it's a lot longer than Death in Venice.^^
I've seen this a couple of times already (I think) in this thread, how good is it? Do you actually recommend it?
I know quite a bit about North Korea being Chinese, have relatives who visited, and have done research on NK for a grad lvl course.
It's fairly easy to read and it shines a light on matters that are pretty unknown to westerners. I've read a few books on the relation China has with Communism and so far I'm really enjoying this one because there aren't a lot of books on NKorea. It's not a big book (169 pages, but maybe 1/4 of the page is blank or used to put pictures) but it goes straight to the point. It doesn't try to shove information down your throat but there's a lot to digest. The parts on propaganda were amazing, but I'm a big fan of WWII propaganda so that might be biased.
The latter is a free ebook from her website. Practical, plain-spoken advice for writing, especially novel writing. I'm finding it very helpful since I'm working on a novel at the moment.