The CC Bookshelf

[Sampaguita]

Now, I know you all read. And as one of my majors is English, I like to discuss writing. So, I thought that I'd just start a thread to discuss what we're reading: literature, fanfic, articles, song lyrics, poems etc. (Though not for posting of original work... we'll leave that to another thread.)

So, the first question up for discussion that I'd like to throw out there is this: What have you all read recently (past year) that has greatly affected you? That you loved? That you recommend? Or if the piece affected you negatively?

As for books, over the past year, there have been 3 books that have moved me: "Tijuana" by Federico Campbell (actually just the novella "Everything About Seals" within the book); "Nelson's Run" by Peter Bacho; and "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt.

"Everything About Seals" is about a man who follows an American woman through the streets of Tijuana much the same way that Tom Cruise follows Penelope Cruz around in "Vanilla Sky." (The book came first, btw.) I loved it because it unsettled me, but grounded me at the same time. The story made me feel things that I wasn't necessarily comfortable with feeling, but a necessary discomfort.

"Nelson's Run": The young, rich, white American antihero of Nelson's Run heads for the Philippines as a "sexual tourist" after his father is accidentally killed by the mistress the two men shared. There he slings propaganda for a crooked regime, then gets stuck in a guerrilla war and a sexual triangle with politically radical Marta and the wealthy, well-connected Anita. Peter Bacho uses political and sexual satire to create some memorable scenes offering wild sendups of gender roles, colonialism and corruption. I connected to this story for personal reasons. It gutted me, it gutted the protagonist, and-- through satire-- spoke some truth.

"The Secret History" was about so much for me. Words cannot describe what that book put me through. Tartt took me on a journey through my emotions, making me fall in love with one of her characters (Henry) making me feel like I wanted to kill someone (Bunny, Judy, and Marion) as well as settling me in a pleasant sort of oxymoronic hybrid of unresolved tension and catharsis (as with Camilla... as with Richard). For the few weeks (on and off) that I had read this book, every time I opened her book I was part of and implicated in everything happening in the story. And she accomplished this without breaking any of the rules of the literary canon (almost... she broke character in Richard sometimes when talking about Henry... Tartt must have loved him).

On the fanfic front: A few months ago, I read "I Am Lord Voldemort" on fanfiction.net by Nemesis. I have to say, that was the best thing I've EVER read on ff.net. Tom's journey from the most innocent and pure-hearted young boy to the feared and hated Lord Voldemort was so realistic and almost dead-on accurate in terms of characterization. I was surprised that the story was that good AND stayed true to the HP canon (different from canon above).

As for lyrics: I'm really feeling the Jay-Z & Beyonce rendition "Bonnie and Clyde."

[lizifer]

today i started to read "the little friend" so far it seems good, have only read the 1st 20 or so pages tho. i haven't read "the secret history" yet, will get round to reading it at some point tho!

books i've loved over the past year....
*lotr [yes i only started reading it february 2002!] absolutely love it! people told me it was hard to read and get into, i totally disagree!
*the hobbit - absolutely love it can't explain why, i just do!
*anne rice's vampire chronicles, especially 'tale of the body theif', 'merrick' and 'the vampire armand'. rice is amazing, creates these characters that seem so real and makes u fall in love with the characters.
*anything oscar wilde's written, he was a genius, there's no other way of describing him.
*the harry potter books - first read them a little over a year ago, no explanation needed really!

fanfics....
*a harry/draco one called "irresistable poison" amazing piece of work, like a novel in terms of length and quality of writing.

i keep meaning to read "i am lord voldemort"

[Sampaguita]

OOOH!!! "The Little Friend"! I'm currently reading that too! I finally broke down and spent the money on it because I loved "The Secret History" so much. I'm about 50 pages into it. It really is pretty good.

Read from the bottom of pg 28 to the end of 29. It's HILARIOUS!!!! The bottom of pg 31 is pretty funny too, but its so sad.

I have to say, though, that Harriet reminds me of me when I was young.

[lizifer]

i only bought it coz it was half price on amazon! usually i would have waited for the paper-back! i'm on page 24 now, think i'll read some more of it later. i actually had to take the outside cover off mine coz the picture was scaring me so now i'm left with a nice plain black cover

[Sampaguita]

LOL! The cover scared my younger siblings too. My little sister refuses to look at it. And my brother does some superstitious things around it. I don't know why it doesn't scare me.

[lizifer]

i just found it increadably creepy as soon as i saw it, i dunno why its just creepy!!! i couldn't open it untill i'd taken off the cover! lol

[jencoulson]

I love The Buried Life, on fanfiction.net. It's the best Harry Potter fanfiction I've ever read. I printed it out, all 200 pages of it! It eventually becomes a Snape/Hermione romance, but it's not at all what you'd expect. The author provides great insight into Harry's feelings about fame. It's extremely well-written; it may even rival Rowling's work.

[Voldie_M]

in the past year i've read a hell of a lot of books,but only some really stick in my mind...

Blood Brothers - i love it! we did it in school,as part of the GCSE course,and its amazing it really is,its a play and a musical,i went to see it performed at a theatre on tour,and it was great.I just really love that book,the story,the songs,the way its written,its great.

Harry Potter and the goblet of fire- i read this on holiday in the south of france last year,whenever i was on the beach or just lying around or before i went to bed i'd read it,and i finished it in two weeks,and it now brings back memories of that fantastic holiday,and the book is great

the bed and breakfast star - ok so its a childrens book,but its fab! lol

under milk wood - book by a welsh writer,(seen his house i have! lol) Dyland Thomas,he's does poetry too but this is like a play,and its really good and quite funny.

A child called "it" - this book,i dont quite know what to make of,its a great book,written really well,but..its so sad,i cried my eyes out when i read it *sniff*

the diary of anne frank - again,a great book,but so sad



In school at the moment we're doing "Tess of the D'urbervilles" ,its ok so far,but i havent managed to get completely into it

also we've been reading a poetry book called "the whitsun weddings" some of the poems are pretty good,but some are really strange and morbid lol

Othello was something we have done recently too,but i didnt get into that at all

[Mandragora]

WOW, book-discussion

The stuff I read last year. Let me start off with my 2002 book, a book that I bought on January 1, 2002. It's called "Einstein's Dreams", written by Alan Lightman, a physicist-writer who teaches in MIT. It's a collection of shorts, though it is a novel, on how Einstein might have arrived at his theory on relativity. It discusses the different possibilities of time in a rhetorical way. It tells of stories on alternate realities, the 'what ifs', the so-called mechanical time versus the 'time' which evryone wants to suspend for the rest of their lives. Incredibly wonderful book, its philosophical themes somehow reflect how my year turned out.

I also got to finish the whole LOTR, plus the Hobbit. I am engaged to Tolkien. Am currently considering joining the local chapter of the Tolkien Society. Am not kidding

I read F. Scot Fitzgerald last year, "The Great Gatsby", which I finally got myself a copy of, and his collection of short stories, "Bernice Bobs Her Hair". The guy sheds a new angle at writing versus the contemporary ones.

"The Secret History" by Donna Tartt. I've raved about it here, and Sampaguita has discussed it. Let me just say it affected me in such a manner I wrote Henry Winter verses and Camilla verses.

I finished "The Unberable Lightness of Being" by Milan Kundera just last night, and it's so heavy like honey. It has a simple premise but heavily discussed, as narrated by, ta-da! Kundera himself. Brings discussions on Nietzsche myth of the Eternal Return, Betthoven's sonata with the line "Es muss sein", and that German line "Einmal ist keinmal".

Also includes an interesting "Dictionary of Misunderstood Words". And the debate on lightness versus weight... oh well, I got teary eyed last night, especially at the part where he discusses that there are four types of people depending how they are looked at. Oh, I can just go on and on!

Since that I am doing my dissertation, I have also come across very interesting academic books. Guy Debord, Henri Lefebvre, all those social and architectural theories. Speaking of architectural books, Rem Koolhaas is a winner. I just love "S, M, L, XL", it is like my inspirational book. I have yet to look for his old publication, "Delirious New York".

Oh, and screenplays! I love reading screenplays. I got to read "Magonolia", "Boogie Nights", "Almost Famous", "Jerry Maguirre", "Erin Brokovich", "Basquiat" and "American Beauty".

So... my next fictional read is Ian McEwan's "Atonement", while finishing Lefebvre on the side. Then after McEwan, I am to look for Paulo Coellho's "Veronika Decides to Die", if not, Salman Rushdie's "Fury". Too many books, so little time!

[Sampaguita]

There's this book that I read this past year that didn't exactly MOVE me but I thought that it was great. Mostly based on style and characterization.

It's by this London based author Keith Lowe. It's called "Tunnel Vision." Here's the book description:

Andy's obsession with the London Underground is interfering with his life. On the eve of his wedding, he makes a drunken bet that challenges him to travel through every single Tube station in just one day. Only by completing the entire map will Andy retrieve the Eurostar tickets he needs to get to his wedding in Paris. At 1 AM, Andy's fiancée, Rachel, will be on the Eurostar, with or without him.

It was a cute story, slick style, great characterizations... I think it could have been a bit shorter, but overall, it was a good reading experience.

Oh-- and as far as screenplays go, my favorites are "Good Will Hunting" and "A Knight's Tale." (God, wouldn't I love to be married to Paul Bettany's Chaucer.)

[Catriona]

Books that I have read in the past year that I have just loved: "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden. This book is amazing and definately deserved all the praise it got. Also "Year of Wonders" by Geraldine Brooks about a woman in the seventeenth century battling against plague in her village. Very thought-provoking.

As for fanfics, I love the one, though I can't remember the name, that focuses on the twisted relationship between Tom Riddle and Ginny when she's a little older. I think it's so eerily erotic the way the author describes how he brushes her hair off her forehead.

[lizifer]

sampaguita, i read more of "the little friend" today. u were right pages 28/29 were funny, that conversation sounded like conversations i've had in the past!! theres some other funny bits in the book too so far [i'm up to page 145]. i'm starting to see a bit of harriet in myself.

[Angelamyte]

if it's sooo funni..can someone post it so we can ALL laugh about it? lol ;D

[Sampaguita]

Don't worry Angela, I'll start typing it as soon as I get home.

Wow, pg 145... things are probably just barely getting exciting. Wonderful. I think she's got her suspect by that point.

Our Christian was right. This book is pretty good. I wonder what he thought of the end...

I just used a bit of "The Secret History" in my "Paradise Lost" paper. I think there are a few more laugh-out-loud funny parts to "Secret History" than to "Little Friend." I think Tartt has a preoccupation with the fatal/tragic flaw... and she likes hubris and self vindication (or validation) to be part of the character's fall. It's like she took John Milton's characterization of Satan, but made that character more likable and slapped another name on him and put him in a different set of circumstances.

I also see Harriet as a mixture of TSH's Henry and Richard. If Richard had been a woman and had Henry's lovechild, the result would be little Harriet.

Also in terms of TLF, my heart aches for Robin. And he's only alive for 2 pages. I think if he'd have lived, he would have had a Charles and Camilla MacCaulley type of relationship with Allison...

So Liz, can you see the little 9 yr old version of CC as Robin Cleve?

[Mandragora]

HEY come on, you two, "The Little Friend" readers... don't spoil it too much! ;D Am starting to turn as green as my shorts (which is fatigue, haha)... though I am in the middle of a great book too, I just cannot wait to get my hands on DT's second book! And it's not even HERE yet! Augh!

By the way, I highly recommend Ian McEwan's "Atonement"... I bet you guys will also identify with the characters. I bet there are Brionys here, and Cecilias, probably Robbies. I quite notice that McEwan's characterization is pretty similar with Donna Tartt's...

By the way, Sampaguita, or anyone, have you read Jessica Hagedorn? "The Dogeaters"? I don't understand why I cannot bring myself to read her... I think it's pretty strange to be reading a novel set in your own country that is published in the West... I mean, particularly the real 'dogeaters', I have been offered to try eating it, and I did, and ew, I don't like eating dogs. I don't know, it just FEELS strange, I think my imagination will be a little biased with what is the imagination and the actual texture of reality.

How about the "The Balut Eaters"? That TV Show "Fear Factor" likes daring their contestants to eat 'balut'... that premature duck's egg with the duckling zygote in it. I love to eat that delicacy. By the way, hopefully I'll finally get around with this conflict and finally have "The Dogeaters" or "The Gangster of Love".