The Reader’s Nook - The N&G Book Thread

ayayrawn said:
RIP Larry McMurtry.

If anyone here has yet to read Lonesome Dove, I can't recommend enough.
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I finished Lonesome Dove near the beginning of lockdown, and got through Streets of Laredo pretty quickly. One podcast I listen to (The Watch, which has nothing to do with books) stans McMurtry pretty hard; I'd like to finish out the other two Lonesome Dove books, maybe some of his other work (if anyone has suggestions, lemme know). Truly a great storyteller; one of those authors whose prose and themes can be easily overshadowed by his ability to spin a yarn.
 
RIP Beverly Cleary

Reading her books was definitely part of my growth into the reader I am today. I remember my dad bringing a stack of Henry and Ribsy books home one day. Oddly enough, I now live not far from Beverly Cleary School here in Portland, and the public library has a big map mural of all the notable locations from her books, as many of them take place in Northeast Portland itself. She was 104, so she got to live quite a full life, but I'm definitely feeling the loss here.
 
Bull Shannon said:
RIP Beverly Cleary

Reading her books was definitely part of my growth into the reader I am today. I remember my dad bringing a stack of Henry and Ribsy books home one day. Oddly enough, I now live not far from Beverly Cleary School here in Portland, and the public library has a big map mural of all the notable locations from her books, as many of them take place in Northeast Portland itself. She was 104, so she got to live quite a full life, but I'm definitely feeling the loss here.
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Just saw the news, damn. So many of her books were staples for me growing up, especially the Mouse and the Motorcycle. Or the Henry and Beezus and Ramona books. I hope she passed peacefully.

Fadatta, fadatta, fadatta,
Beepum, boopum, bah!
Ratta datta boom sh-h
Ahfah deedee bobo.
 
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Tyr said:
I really enjoyed The Name of the Rose. And while I agree that it is not Eco’s best, I still think it is lovely for what it is. I didn’t go into the read expecting a traditional modern mystery though so my expectations were somewhat tempered. It may have appealed to me more because of my deep affinity for theology. Approached with a focus on theological concepts and different schools of thought, I’d say it was very successful.
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I enjoyed NOTR -- although full confession that Foucault's Pendulum* is far and away my favorite Eco, NOTR is a close second. Like you, I enjoyed the theological aspects and I found myself really enjoying the historical religious minutia. Depending on the version you've got, there's an author's afterword where he writes about writing NOTR and how he found himself writing in a century/setting that was not the one he was most familiar with, due to logical constraints within the story, and that he intentionally made the opening hundred pages or so intentionally difficult to get through.

* As far as I'm concerned, the only negative thing that can be said about Foucault's Pendulum is that typist Dan Brown got "inspiration" from it for his typing excercise Da Vinci Code.
 
yukbon said:
As far as I'm concerned, the only negative thing that can be said about Foucault's Pendulum is that typist Dan Brown got "inspiration" from it for his typing excercise Da Vinci Code.
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I used to think Da Vinci Code was the ultimate "what if we made Foucault's Pendulum, but dumber," but then Qanon came along lowered the floor on self-perpetuating conspiracy stupidity.
 
yukbon said:
I enjoyed NOTR -- although full confession that Foucault's Pendulum* is far and away my favorite Eco, NOTR is a close second. Like you, I enjoyed the theological aspects and I found myself really enjoying the historical religious minutia. Depending on the version you've got, there's an author's afterword where he writes about writing NOTR and how he found himself writing in a century/setting that was not the one he was most familiar with, due to logical constraints within the story, and that he intentionally made the opening hundred pages or so intentionally difficult to get through.

* As far as I'm concerned, the only negative thing that can be said about Foucault's Pendulum is that typist Dan Brown got "inspiration" from it for his typing excercise Da Vinci Code.
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I don't think I have the version with the afterword, but I may have to look into it. And I agree, Foucault's Pendulum is his opus for sure.

AHAHAHAHA on the Dan Brown burn.
 
I know there was some BOTM conversation in this thread previously. I just saw the April picks and...this may be the fifth month in a row I'll have skipped. I read some really good books through them last year (The Vanishing Half, Leave the World Behind), but the picks have become increasingly samey and predicable; I'll find myself passing over selections because they just sound like a variation of something I'd already read from a previous month. Luckily they don't charge you for skipping a month, though I have a free add-on f which I haven't been able to take advantage.
 
If anyone is interested, the eBook of Dave Eggers' The Captain and the Glory is free today at McSweeneys. epub and mobi.

store.mcsweeneys.net

The Captain and the Glory (e-book)

Now Available for FREE: The Captain and the Glory by Dave Eggers Now that it’s over, you can look back at the last four years, allegorical-style, and maybe even laugh. When the captain of a venerable ship retires, its thousands of passengers have a choice between installing a new captain who...
store.mcsweeneys.net store.mcsweeneys.net
 
All this talk of The Name of the Rose reminded me that I think of that book every time I hear Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible:" "Don't lick your fingers when you turn the page..." is a line I always assumed was a reference to the novel.
 
Finished Warlock last night; its story and revisionism are a bit quaint in a post-70s, post Dead Man, post Deadwood world. The prose really elevates it, however; lotsa on-the-button conversations about the nature of law.

That took me a month, so I'm going to try and clear out my backlog (an R. A. Lafferty collection and Patricia Lockwood's No One is Talking About This from the library, and a couple of BOTM hardcovers I should read and/or donate to the neighborhood little free library).

Warlock was published through the NYRB and I'm starting to pore over their club selections; subscriptions are 30% off. I mentioned it earlier, but BOTM is getting very same-y for me to an extent that I'm getting pretty down on contemporary literature; I might put my monocle on and get hoity toity with some New York Review over here.
 
Bennnnn said:
View attachment 94024

now reading this. Hanif Abdurraqib is an amazing writer and I’m already completely all in on this one.
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Hanif is one of my top 3 contemporary writers. He can write about a band or sport I don't even like, and I'll still devour and enjoy it. Every book he releases is an event for me, and I'll be sure I have the space to finish it within 24 hours of starting!
 
HELLO READERS,

Is the author who is on THE CIRCLE on Netlfix in here? Asking for a friend/fellow poptart!
 
Bennnnn said:
Wait what. I have been watching The Circle (both UK’s recent season and the new US one).
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Guy who's the author on the show has used the term Poptart which has caused a conspiracy theory to develop in the poptart thread
 
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