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Post by mln59 on Apr 11, 2018 19:46:49 GMT -5
i have read none of those....and i know how hard it is to make lists.
i'll throw out: middlesex by jeffrey eugenides, the tiger's wife by tea o'breht, the known world by edward p. jones, a farewell to arms by hemingway, and neverwhere by neil gaiman.
i've got many many more but those come to mind first.
i think middlesex is one of the best books ever written
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Post by Wolfgang on Apr 11, 2018 21:14:48 GMT -5
Even though I have a science and tech background, I don't read sci-fi and fantasy novels and short stories. The few that I read were good though. I tried to read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit when I was in the 6th grade, but I got bored quickly.
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Post by ironhammer on Apr 11, 2018 22:08:38 GMT -5
Even though I have a science and tech background, I don't read sci-fi and fantasy novels and short stories. The few that I read were good though. I tried to read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit when I was in the 6th grade, but I got bored quickly. Fantasy don't exactly comply with known laws of physics, so that would not be up your alley as someone with a tech and science background (the sci-fi genre often don't resemble real science either, but at least some do). Now maybe if you are someone who studied mythology and fairy tales, then that might be a different story...
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Post by Wolfgang on Apr 11, 2018 22:41:42 GMT -5
Even though I have a science and tech background, I don't read sci-fi and fantasy novels and short stories. The few that I read were good though. I tried to read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit when I was in the 6th grade, but I got bored quickly. Fantasy don't exactly comply with known laws of physics, so that would not be up your alley as someone with a tech and science background (the sci-fi genre often don't resemble real science either, but at least some do). Now maybe if you are someone who studied mythology and fairy tales, then that might be a different story... Well, the reason I say this is because a lot of my science and math geek friends (back in school) were big fans of sci-fi and fantasy novels. I was the odd man out because I preferred the more "literary" writers.
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Post by ironhammer on Apr 11, 2018 22:53:38 GMT -5
Fantasy don't exactly comply with known laws of physics, so that would not be up your alley as someone with a tech and science background (the sci-fi genre often don't resemble real science either, but at least some do). Now maybe if you are someone who studied mythology and fairy tales, then that might be a different story... Well, the reason I say this is because a lot of my science and math geek friends (back in school) were big fans of sci-fi and fantasy novels. I was the odd man out because I preferred the more "literary" writers. Fair enough, that's true, I do remember way back as a kid there was the usual bunch of geek and nerds in school obsessing about Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time or Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Some grew out of it, some had a life long passion and some, I don't know what their interest are now.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2018 23:22:07 GMT -5
Reading the first of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels and hoping I will like it, since my brother keeps giving me more. There's millions.
So far, it's way too much work. But ...
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Post by nowhereman on Apr 24, 2018 23:54:05 GMT -5
I'm currently reading tried by war: Abraham Lincoln as commander in chief by James macpherson. Others I already read this year include 1) David Halberstam's the coldest winter, 2) the greatest game: the Montreal Canadiens, the red army and the night that saved hockey, 3) Jacques plante: the man who changed the face of hockey, 4) all the gallant men: a survivor's account of Pearl Harbor, and 5) hey ranger: true tales of humor and misadventure from america's national parks.
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Post by mln59 on Apr 25, 2018 18:10:26 GMT -5
finished the book by martin buber. just picked up vita brevis by ruth downie. it's book 7 in her medicus series. i highly recommend all of them finished this today. going to start reading the october 2017 issue of the atlantic next
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Post by Sorry Ass Sal on Apr 25, 2018 18:19:56 GMT -5
I would look up 'read' in the dictionary, but I can't read.
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Post by Wolfgang on May 1, 2018 2:42:49 GMT -5
This will sound racist but I've discovered that I like writers of certain cultures more than other cultures, most probably because of exposure. In order of preference:
1. English, e.g., Charles Dickens, Ian McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro (yes, sounds Japanese, but he's British), Julian Barnes, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala 2. Canadian, e.g., Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Michael Ondaatje 3. Indian, e.g., Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, V.S. Naipaul 4. Jewish, e.g., Philip Roth, Saul Bellow, E.L. Doctorow, Bernard Malamud 5. American, e.g., Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edith Wharton, Henry James, Flannery O'Connor, Stuart Dybeck, Russell Banks 6. Australian, e.g., Peter Carey 7. Irish, e.g., Roddy Doyle 8. Russian, e.g., Fyodor Dostoevsky, Vladimir Nabokov, Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Turgenev 9. Japanese, e.g., Haruki Murakami, Yukio Mishima. (I haven't read a lot of Japanese writers and of the ones I read, e.g., Murakami, I'm okay with, but not a big fan.)
I'm less familiar with German, African, and South American writers.
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Post by Wolfgang on May 1, 2018 11:19:55 GMT -5
So, I'm wrong about German and African.
I forgot that I'm a fan of W.G. Sebald, a German writer.
Also, I like Lynn Freed, a South African writer, who currently teaches at UC Davis. She's actually within driving distance (roughly 2 hours) from my house!
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Post by Vacation on May 1, 2018 13:13:23 GMT -5
That's a great list. Have you read Bleak House by Dickens?
If I were to expand the list with some personal additions, I'd include Willa Cather and Barbara Kingsolver (American) and Chinua Achebe (Nigerian).
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Post by Wolfgang on May 1, 2018 14:35:41 GMT -5
I borrowed two books from the library today:
The Anatomy Lesson -- Philip Roth Anger of Repose -- Wallace Stegner
I know Stegner isn't read a lot by modern readers. I don't get it. His All the Little Live Things is one of my favorite novels of all time. And his writings and observations are remarkable. They actually echo my feelings and philosophies on life.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2018 14:40:58 GMT -5
Tim O'Brien: If I Die in a Combat Zone (Box Me Up and Ship Me Home)
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Post by mln59 on May 1, 2018 15:23:47 GMT -5
I borrowed two books from the library today: The Anatomy Lesson -- Philip Roth Anger of Repose -- Wallace Stegner I know Stegner isn't read a lot by modern readers. I don't get it. His All the Little Live Things is one of my favorite novels of all time. And his writings and observations are remarkable. They actually echo my feelings and philosophies on life. i am super pumped that you went to your local library. good stuff.
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