I'm not sure why, but for the last few months I've had a hard time motivating myself to read much. It's not like me, and I don't like it.
All that changed in the last few days. I'm back to my normal self. I just finished Blue Like Jazz (loved it! - more on that later) and feel like I'm back in the swing of things. I just started Schaeffer's True Spirituality last night.
So tell me, what's on your reading list at the moment?
Hatushili
Friday, December 14, 2007
Difficulty reading
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At the moment I'm reading "Notes from Underground" by Dostoevsky. (I'm slowly gobbling up all his later works.) I'm technically in the middle of "Nine Princes of Amber," a relatively famous sci-fi/fantasy novel by Roger Zelazny. There's a copy of Les Miserables on my book shelf that's been calling my name, but I don't know when I'll get to it.
Nick, I'm jealous of your ability to read Dostoevsky (or even spell it!). I've tried over the years to get into some of these "classics" (a term I still reserve for Sophocles and Euripides, personally). I know you love his work - what's his entry point book? One that a guy like me could actually get through and perhaps cultivate a love for... ?
Hatushili
Well, I read "The Brothers Karamazov" first but I don't know that that's the best to start with. Personally, I found "Crime and Punishment" the easiest to get into of the three I've read. "Notes from Underground" is much shorter, but I haven't finished it so I can't tell you if it's as gripping. It's actually partially a rebuttal to some Russian radical's book.
Basically, with any of his books, I don't expect to read it all in one go. "Crime and Punishment," for example, is split into six "books," and I'll take breaks between the books.
But, yeah, I have strange reading tastes. For example, I read "Orthodoxy" by Chesterton in three days or so, but I've given to other people who struggle through it (although they enjoy it). I ate up "The Silmarillion," but most people find reading it like trudging through a swamp. But my brother gave me a John Grisham to read and I stopped only a little in because it didn't hold me. Go figure.
Nick
P.S. I had to look up how to spell Dostoevsky. Those Russian names are killers.
Well as always I'm reading a variety of children's and young adult books in order to stay abreast on what our youth are reading, and because I personally enjoy them. Right now I am finishing "His Dark Materials" trilogy as well as the "Artemis Fowl" series.
I saw mention in the above comment about "The Silmarillion" which is hands down one of my favorite books of all times! Although reading such books usually requires weeks not days for me to enjoy.
After Christmas, I would like to swing by Borders and pick up Blue like Jazz. You're not the only one I've talked to that has really enjoyed that book. Plus its probably time I start reading some big kids books...aye?
One of these days I've got to read The Silmarillion. Part of the problem is that I'm a "buy the book" kind of guy, not a "borrow the book" kind of guy. Consequently, I have to be careful about how many expensive books I try to consume at a time!
Nick, you've read His Dark Materials, right? Do you have any thoughts about it (read: would you like to do a guest post on the topic)?
JB, yes - you do need to read some big kid books now and again!
I'm on the third chapter of Schaeffer's True Spirituality right now, and I'm really enjoying it. I'm also chewing my way through "The Alchemist" (an early 17th century play). I read it in college and enjoyed it then ... apparently my grasp on KJV-ish English has slipped and I'm now struggling a bit to comprehend what I'm reading. Thank God for editor's footnotes!
Hatushili
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