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MechEngDropout
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 Posted: 10/18/05 - 02:05 Post subject: My semester in books.
Much like the movie thread, except the goal is 20 books, and the quality of books I will read will probably be much higher. I'm also adding the condition that the book has to be a first-time read for me to count as one of the twenty. I will include all books that I read, and books that have previously been read will be marked with an asterisk (*).
1) Mr. Muo's Travelling Couch by Dai Sijie (7.5)
2) Parasites Like Us by Adam Johnson (8.0)
3) Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston (8.5)
4) Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut (8.0)
5) The Catcher in the Rye* by J. D. Salinger (10.0)
6) The Culture of Fear by Barry Glassner (8.5)
7) A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (9.0)
8) The Alchemist by Paul Coelho (7.5)
9) Jurassic Park* by Michael Crichton (7.5)
10) A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (7.5)
11) Sein Language by Jerry Seinfeld (8.5)
12) The Amphora Project by William Kotzwinkle (6.0)
13) Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas by Tom Robbins (7.0)
14) Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon by Chuck Palahniuk (8.5)
15) Far Appalachia: Following the New River North by Noah Adams (8.5)
16) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon (8.5)
17) Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom (8.0)
18) Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser (8.5)
19) The Preservationist by David Maine (8.0)
20) Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond (8.5)
21) The Underground Man by Mick Jackson (9.0)
22) The King's Evil by Will Heinrich (9.5)
And, in case you're wondering about the rating, The Catcher in the Rye is my perfect book. I cannot possibly imagine a book being better than that.
Last edited by MechEngDropout on 12/17/05 - 13:52; edited 8 times in total
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Pug
The Movie Geek
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Posted: 10/18/05 - 07:31 Post subject: Re: My semester in books.
| MechEngDropout wrote: |
And, in case you're wondering about the rating, The Catcher in the Rye is my perfect book. I cannot possibly imagine a book being better than that. |
Really? I can imagine a lot of books being better than Catcher.
That said, I look forward to seeing this list progress and what all you read this semester.
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TOsteve
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Posted: 10/18/05 - 08:06 Post subject: Re: My semester in books.
| Pug wrote: |
Really? I can imagine a lot of books being better than Catcher.
That said, I look forward to seeing this list progress and what all you read this semester. |
William Faulkner's Sound and the Fury is, hands down, my favourite piece of American literature. Its what inspired the quote from Macbeth in my sig line. But being from the south (Mech not Pug), you're probably force fed Faulkner.
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MechEngDropout
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Posted: 10/18/05 - 10:57 Post subject: Re: My semester in books.
| Pug wrote: | | MechEngDropout wrote: |
And, in case you're wondering about the rating, The Catcher in the Rye is my perfect book. I cannot possibly imagine a book being better than that. |
Really? I can imagine a lot of books being better than Catcher.
That said, I look forward to seeing this list progress and what all you read this semester. |
I can relate to Catcher in the Rye, which is probably why I like it so much. Heck, I even love the font and print layout of the book.
And I've never read any Faulkner.
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TOsteve
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Posted: 10/18/05 - 12:15 Post subject: Re: My semester in books.
| MechEngDropout wrote: |
And I've never read any Faulkner. |
Well you should.
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Pug
The Movie Geek
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Posted: 10/18/05 - 13:08 Post subject: Re: My semester in books.
| TOsteve wrote: | | MechEngDropout wrote: |
And I've never read any Faulkner. |
Well you should. |
I like As You Lay Dying. Despite winning the Pulitzer, didn't love The Reivers.
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TOsteve
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Posted: 10/18/05 - 15:13 Post subject: Re: My semester in books.
| Pug wrote: |
I like As You Lay Dying. Despite winning the Pulitzer, didn't love The Reivers. |
The Reivers won Faulkner his second Pulitzer and I believe it was awarded post mortem (The Reivers was definitely his last published work) . I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was one of those situations where they were more honoring the man's body of work and that the novel on its own is actually one of his weakest.
I've only read a handful of his works (ordered from most to least favourite):
1. The Sound and the Fury
2. Absalom, Absalom!
3. Light in August
4. As I Lay Dying
5. Go Down Moses
6. The Unvanquished
The only one I didn't care for was The Unvanquished. I was told a while back (by an English major friend) that there is good Faulkner and bad Faulkner and its pretty obvious early on in each book which one you're reading. If you enjoy reading literature I would recommend any of the first three books on the list.
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shelee
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Posted: 10/18/05 - 18:52 Post subject: Re: My semester in books.
| TOsteve wrote: | | Pug wrote: |
Really? I can imagine a lot of books being better than Catcher.
That said, I look forward to seeing this list progress and what all you read this semester. |
William Faulkner's Sound and the Fury is, hands down, my favourite piece of American literature. Its what inspired the quote from Macbeth in my sig line. But being from the south (Mech not Pug), you're probably force fed Faulkner. |
The Sound and the Fury is my favorite Faulkner book...and all of his work is amazing. What he does with space and time and how he portrays the South's flaws in the decline of the Compson's family was so incrediblely brilliant.
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MechEngDropout
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Posted: 10/28/05 - 23:31 Post subject:
Bump.
More titles added. I was very impressed with A Confederacy of Dunces, despite loathing nearly every character. I have to give Toole credit for writing such a great novel that is both comedic and tragic at the same time. Highly recommend.
The Alchemist... eh. Several people have told me that it's a favorite, but I couldn't really see why. It's basically a long parable, and though it has a good message, it was overly simple and reminded me of Who Moved My Cheese (which is not a good thing). However, it was a very short read and still entertaining, so many people will probably enjoy it.
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MechEngDropout
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Posted: 11/28/05 - 15:28 Post subject:
Bump. More titles added. I was a little disappointed with the most recent ones I've read.
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MechEngDropout
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Posted: 12/08/05 - 23:03 Post subject:
Bump. More titles added. 9 days to go and I'm 4 books away. I've been cruising for the past week, so this should be a very attainable goal.
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MechEngDropout
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Posted: 12/16/05 - 15:43 Post subject:
Bump. More titles added.
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MechEngDropout
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Posted: 12/17/05 - 14:01 Post subject:
My semester ends today, and I've just finished reading the last book. I couldn't have ended with a much better book than The King's Evil. For the past several weeks I've been yearning for a book that would make it onto my very short favorites list, and this book has done it. For those of you looking through the list, I'd recommend pretty much any book on there with the exception of The Amphora Project. And those with ratings of 8.5 and up are must reads. Well, that's it. Enjoy!
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