2489 ratings (3.41 avg)
2062 reviews

Chris Gager

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Chris is Currently Reading

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War and Remembrance (The Henry Family, #2)

by Herman Wouk

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

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Chris Gager said: " I think I watched some of the TV miniseries B.I.T.D. As I recall Robert Mitchum played the lead. That's about all I remember. Anyway, Mr.Wouk falls comfortably into the category of 1950's American male authors of "BIG" books. Sagas... epics... think ...more "

Nov 19, 2025 12:32PM · see review

Chris Gager is currently reading

Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour

by Neil deGrasse Tyson (Goodreads Author)

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Chris Gager said: " Just picked this one off of the local library's sale shelves. A heavy book in more ways than one. ...more "

Dec 12, 2023 12:33PM · see review

Chris Gager is currently reading

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

by Henry Fielding

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Chris Gager said: " Not the correct edition but close enough. My rescued edition is by A. L. Burt of New York with no date(s) given. Looks to be either late-19th or early 20th century. Pretty good condition. Well... this is a long one and won't be finished any time soon Not the correct edition but close enough. My rescued edition is by A. L. Burt of New York with no date(s) given. Looks to be either late-19th or early 20th century. Pretty good condition. Well... this is a long one and won't be finished any time soon, mainly because I'll be reading other books as well. I saw the film when it first came out and liked it a lot, though I might not like it so much now. It was definitely "different" in style from other classics. Apparently I'll be recognizing a diverting from the path of the book. Tough to do justice to a 900-page(plus) book in a couple of hours. Albert Finney says he hated the experience and was bored most of the time. Fielding has already been giving us the tonal "attitude" for which this book is famous. Smart-alecky... irreverent..

I'm done with Narnia so it's back to England. Mr. Fielding breaks from the whimsical/chatty history of the doin's at the Squire's house with some noisy-bloody dust-ups at the schoolteacher's house. SEX! VIOLENCE! That must have been a shock to those 18th c. readers!

Progress here is slow, but progress nonetheless. The most memorable character so far is a religious bore named Thwackum, who loves to beat children. Peter Bull(well-cast) played him in the movie. The author is making a point... get it?

I'll be trudging through this one for quite a while. Speed is not possible. Already I've run into incomprehensible 1750 paragraphs, but not so many as to discourage me. Mostly it's OK, if slow-going. Like Anthony Trollope, writing 100 years later on, HF desires to give us the whole story. Good for him - worked for Tolstoy! It's interesting to compare Trollope to Fielding(100 years apart) and see how the narrative language turns slowly through time. Things go smoother and comprehension comes easier. As for Henry James... fugedaboudit!

- More rural amusement = the grrrl riot outside the church. Tom to the rescue of his dubious maiden/sex pal Molly. Was this scene in the movie? I can't remember.

- "Nolo episcopari" = "I don't want to be a Bishop."

- The unwed mother "thing" reminds of "The Scarlet Letter" - both in the 17th century.

- I'm up to page 166 now and wondering if this edition of the book might have some muddled-up chapter sequence and/or a repetition of chapters. Seems like I ran into that last night. Or... it could be my fault for not sticking with the book for more than 20 or so pages at a time. Maybe I got lost?

- Like Trollope HF comments on the financial challenges of poorly paid clergy. ...more "

Jul 17, 2023 01:41PM · see review

Chris’s Quotes

“The celestial hypothesis is sheer propaganda formulated by the haves to delude the havenots.”
― John Fante, The Road to Los Angeles

3 likes

“I wasn't smart, but I always passed. Here was one: Arithmetic 70; History 80; Geography 70; Spelling 80; Religion 99; English 97. Never any trouble with religion or English for Arturo Bandini. And here was one of Mona's: Arithmetic 96; History 95; Geography 97; Spelling 94; Religion 90; English 90. She could beat me at other things, but never at English or religion. Ho! Very amusing, this. A great piece of anecdote for the biographers of Arturo Bandini. God's worst enemy making higher marks in religion than God's best friend, and both in the same family. A great irony. What a biography that would be! Ah Lord, to be alive and read it!”
― John Fante, The Road to Los Angeles

4 likes

“It is the persistent delusion of an hoodwinked mankind.”
― John Fante, The Road to Los Angeles

3 likes

“Black man cleans the streets but mustn't walk freely on the pavement; Black man must build houses for the white man but cannot live in them; Black man cooks the white man's food but eats what is left over. Don't listen to anyone bluff you and say Black and white are brothers.”
― Es’kia Mphahlele

tags: black, men

217 likes

“I think healthy user bias is also the single biggest confounder in the exercise epideminology literature.
Healthy people tend to do more exercise in part because they are healthy.”
― Peter Attia MD

tags: exercise, live-longer

1 likes

More of Chris’s quotes…