flight paths discussion

[Tomorrow !] I have just finished Birdsong,
perhaps a book marketed too far.

Really? Why? I've been trying to make myself read it for months but for some reason it keeps getting pushed down the list.

For me the book did not flow, and added little or nothing to my knowledge of the 'Great War'. We had a romance which wandered away, with mixed up chronology. Its ok for a 'holiday' read, perhaps I naturally avoid popular authors or the topic sits too far outside my usual genre's. My parents on the otherhand thought it was excellent.

It's not the kind of book I ordinarily read. Thanks for your input. It stays hovering towards the bottom of my list (I don't really need to go searching for my next read!).

Started Oulipo: A Primer of Potential Literature this morning. Very challenging, very cerebral, very French...

Now that's something I really want to read: I'm very interested in Oulipo. Please let us know how you find it-I may buy a copy. Right now, I'm struggling with Derrida's Writing and Difference

Ellie wrote: "Now that's something I really want to read: I'm very interested in Oulipo. Please let us know how you find it-I may buy a copy. Right now, I'm struggling with Derrida's [book:Writing and Difference..."

I'll let you know as I go. Early warning: Will be creating an Oulipo section in Brain Pain later this year, after I explore the territory...

Oooh good. Harry Matthews? Even better, Georges Perec? (Maybe I'll finally finish Life: A User's Manual!).

Ellie wrote: "Oooh good. Harry Matthews? Even better, Georges Perec? (Maybe I'll finally finish Life: A User's Manual!)."

Definitely Harry and George, but also Raymond Queneau and Italo Calvino, plus whomever else makes sense...

WOW! Authors I have never heard uf! Oulipo? Harry mathews? I lked Life: A Users Manual and adored Calvino
so whats the connection?

My machine has been acting up and I have been reading more and on line less. I am reading a translation from the Korean, The Shaman Sorceress
Its fascinating and offers a glimpse of a totally different mindset.
Same with the Starseed Transmissions which challenge my credibiblity sorely, occassionally offering some amazing insights that I have always secretly believed....

Magdelanye wrote: "WOW! Authors I have never heard uf! Oulipo? Harry mathews? I lked Life: A Users Manual and adored Calvino
so whats the connection?..."

From wikipedia:
Oulipo (French pronunciation: [ulipo], short for French: Ouvroir de littérature potentielle; roughly translated: "workshop of potential literature") is a loose gathering of (mainly) French-speaking writers and mathematicians which seeks to create works using constrained writing techniques. It was founded in 1960 by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais. Other notable members have included novelists Georges Perec and Italo Calvino, poets Oskar Pastior Jean Lescure and poet/mathematician Jacques Roubaud.

The group defines the term littérature potentielle as (rough translation): "the seeking of new structures and patterns which may be used by writers in any way they enjoy."

Constraints are used as a means of triggering ideas and inspiration, most notably Perec's "story-making machine", which he used in the construction of Life: A User's Manual. As well as established techniques, such as lipograms (Perec's novel A Void) and palindromes, the group devises new techniques, often based on mathematical problems, such as the Knight's Tour of the chess-board and permutations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oulipo

Ice wrote: "For me the book did not flow, and added little or nothing to my knowledge of the 'Great War'. We had a romance which wandered away, with mixed up chronology. Its ok for a 'holiday' read, perhaps I ..."

Read Mark Helprin A Soldier of the Great War

Jim wrote: "Magdelanye wrote: "WOW! Authors I have never heard uf! Oulipo? Harry mathews? I lked Life: A Users Manual and adored Calvino
so whats the connection?..."

From wikipedia:
Oulipo (French pronunciat..."

Where have I been all my Life???

Just reread soul catcher, a native american version of the conflict expressed in the shamaness sorcerer. Here, the focus is not limited to the religious conflict, but extended to the overwhelming cultural dissonance and the political disgrace and the evils done to the Native nations. When I finished it the other night I wanted to run into the street and shake people.I wanted to yell and scream and change the direction we are headed to our peril.
It bothers me that I so completely blocked the ending to remember a differnt outcome.
Frank Herbert was a genius.

I'm halfway through The Distant Hours by Kate Morton. I've read her other novels and discovered that although the tension may be slow to develop, it's a comfortable pace that completely wraps me into the book. And for some reason, the elderly female characters she creates always remind me of long lost relatives! Not sure if that means anything or not.

finally, a book I can gallop with, halfway through Shadow Box and surprised by its panoramic view

I have reached that fork in the road where I have free choice over the next tbr to be toppled, perhaps Mr G Bear will make a reappearance from the library with Cryptum.

Of course I have House on its way from the warehouse, which was sneaked in to the order for my wife's birthday next week.

so what hooked you Ice bear/ and how did you decide?

I finished Shadow Box (managed a brief review) which featured a crucial scene, the wife waving goodbye from the shore, the husband sailing off to be engulfed in a violent storm and never seen again.

I decided I needed a prosaic read, something homey and unglamorous and not emotionally demanding. I chose Laurie Colwin. Lo and behold, what is it about? A young woman who watches her husband sail out into a storm and yup, he drowns.
What eerie synchronicity...
I couldnt have arranged that if I had tried...

From left field, borrowed from my parents A Most Wanted Man by John le Carré.

been offline for a couple of days, frustrating computer issues.
In the meantime I read the short novel by William MaxwellSo Long, See You Tomorrow

and began

Hi Magdelanye-it's scary that I can't imagine life offline! I liked So Long, See You Tomorrow. If you liked it, I recommend The Folded Leaf.

I just finished which I loved. It's the kind of book I can imagine reading over and over, except that I found it painful.

I'm also reading which, after a great start, I got distracted (by Skippy) and lost momentum. And I'm reading The Translator by Ward Just, an author I like very much.

Ice-I'm curious about the le Carre. Please post what you think of it. He's a writer I keep meaning to read but never get around to.

Le Carre
Very well written espionage/spy genre - obviously popular at present - Tinker,Tailor .... I was disappointed in the last one I read, but intend to go back to some of the earlier one's - perhaps he was at his best in the cold war.

my Name is Red...dont give up on it, it has some marvelous indights and writing, once you get over ponderous confusing beginning

I started Surprised by Joy, meaning to read this for about 30n years, prompted by all out discussion on Mere Christianity. He is immediately likeable but I havent got very far.

Sister Alice is harder to get into but good writing carries the reader along until one of those wtf just happened here moments.

I am still struggling with the wordy Pinker