The book thread

[naughtylady]

I though I would create a spin off thread after reading the thread The Davinci Code.

EagerBeaver described the book by saying:

As for the Da Vinci Code, I read the book and was not so impressed with it. I think what really made the book was the controversial theme. It did hold my interest, but it was hardly the best novel I have read in recent years.

Personally I enjoyed the book for two reasons: It was written well enough to hold my interest, and two It's theme led to some rtruly wonderful conversations with some of my friends where we ended up pondering life, history and the meaning of the universe.

I am always on the lookout for new books (both fact and fiction) to add to my book list. What are some of the books you have read that you can reccomend? What are some of your all time favorites? Which do you consider to be must reads?

Naughtylady, (and book worm)
Ronnie

If I have a little money, I will buy a book, If there is any left over I wll worry about food and rent.

 

[naughtylady]

All I have been reading lately is stuff for school...

Spiderman>>> So are you enjoying the biography? Is it well written? Entertaining? Easy to follow? (A man with such a diverse life has got to have a complicated biography to complie!)

Ronnie,
Naughtylady

 

[General Gonad]

Fyodor Dostoevsky

I read everything and have what is known as a classical liberal arts background. Nowadays, I do not read enough novels, however, when I do, I prefer classics like Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. This man's genius is unparalleled - he penetrates the human psyche like no other author I have ever read.

GG

 

[naughtylady]

Keep it coming, I am so glad I started this thread.

Kaempferrand>>> Dare I ask which two are required reading for an agency in training their companions? Also could you tell us a little about your choices, such as why they made it to your list? Also if you can include the authors it helps.

GG>>>Interesting choice but for some reason this does not suprise me based on your on line personality... I am looking forward to meeting you one day...at a get-together perhaps...

JacknJill>>> another classic of a different genre, been a long time since I picked that one up (probably because one of my EXs has my copy!)

One I would like to re-read is Hitchhikers Guide...I just saw the film on satelite and it made me realise how long it has been since I read the book...


Ronnie,
Naughtylady

 

[General Gonad]

GG>>>Interesting choice but for some reason this does not suprise me based on your on line personality... I am looking forward to meeting you one day...at a get-together perhaps...

Ronnie,
Naughtylady

Ronnie,

Any time darling! Basically, I love books that describe the 'human condition.' Another classic is Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (I have read it many times over):

"Do you know how long a year takes when it's going away?" Dunbar repeated to Clevinger. "This long." He snapped his fingers. "A second ago you were stepping into college with your lungs full of fresh air. Today you're an old man."

"Old?" asked Clevinger with surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"Old."

"I'm not old."

"You're inches away from death every time you go on a mission. How much older can you be at your age? A half minute before that you were stepping into high school, and an unhooked brassiere was as close as you ever hoped to get to Paradise. Only a fifth of a second before that you were a small kid with a ten-week summer vacation that lasted a hundred thousand years and still ended too soon. Zip! They go rocketing by so fast. How the hell else are you ever going to slow down?" Dunbar was almost angry when he finished.

"Well, maybe it is true," Clevinger conceded unwillingly in a subdued tone. "Maybe a long life does have to be filled with many unpleasant conditions if it's to seem long. But in that event, who wants one?"

"I do," Dunbar told him.

"Why?" Clevinger asked.

"What else is there?"

--from Catch-22

 

[joelcairo]

"The Wanderers" by Richard Price
"The Favourite Game" by Leonard Cohen
"Going Down Slow" by John Metcalf
"Fast Times at Ridgmont High" by Cameron Crowe
"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
"The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler
Anything and Everything by Henry Miller

 

[Gee]

I'm currently reading a historical fiction novel called Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

It is set in a version of Japan where they never really recovered after the war and fell under an isolationist dictatorship and is about a class of junior high school students who are kidnapped, taken to a deserted island, given weapons and rations and forced to kill one another within 3 days until there is only one left alive as part of a military program.

It is extremely violent and descriptive in it's violence but it's not gratuitous and does a really good job of briniging depth to the various students. It was a best seller in Japan after the controversy died down and people actualy sat down and read it and it spawned 2 movies of the same name as well as a series of graphic novels.

 

[The Wizard of Oz]

Ah!

No secret for anyone ...
The Wonderfull Wizard of Oz witch a have a original copy of ...
Even if my favorite author is Agatha Christie, a very remarquable woman, I did also appreciate a lot '' Le meilleur des mondes '' version from Aldous Huxley.

 

[chef]

- Anything by Hemingway

- The books by James Clavell (Noble House, King Rat, Tai Pan, Shogun, Whirlwind, Gai Jin).

- Thayer's Life of Beethoven. You have to be a real Beethoven fan (I am!) to go through this tome. There is one very compelling story in there where a friend of his miscarries, and he sends her a note asking her to visit him. When she arrives he says nothing, but sits down and plays piano for her - he was awkward with words - she understood that this was his way of expressing sympathy.

- Perhaps we need to start a music thread too, but please, no rap (I consider it alternative entertainment, not music)

 

[Elvis]

"For anything you gain, you lose something"

Ronnie, may I suggest you an amazing, full of insights, book:

"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", by Robert Pirsig. It is about a motorcycle journey across the United States. But it is not really about motorcycles neither it is about USA.

Actually, I would love to see if one can develop a ZEN-view of escorting. I wonder if a woman practicing ecorting can become a Zen master...

Elvis

 

[JustBob]

If you are looking for light summer reading and enjoy "polar" (crime/detective novels), I'd recommend Swedish author Henning Mankell. His books are now being translated all over the world and they are selling like hot cakes. Thru word of mouth, there's hardly anyone I know that has not read at least one of his novels. They are well written, the central character (Inspector Kurt Wallander) is flawed and fascinating, and since they are set in Sweden, they provide a refreshing change in scenery. Here's an extremely complete site with tons of info on the author, the books and even the tv/film adaptations. You read one of these novels and you're hooked!

http://www.inspector-wallander.org/

 

[naughtylady]

What a great thread! If I do say so myself


Ronnie,
Naughtylady

 

[Gee]

now now Ronnie, you shouldn't toot your own horn, you have you clients for that. ;p

 

[naughtylady]

I am obviously not the only bibliophile out here...

I am quite certain that there are others who are making notes about which books to read this summer...

Ronnie,
Naughtylady

 

[Gee]

why not? a good book under the shade of a tree while looking up periodicaly at the lovely ladies that pass you by.

Only thing better than that would be having sex intimate moments with all of them too.

 

[The Wizard of Oz]

I'm such a lucky person!

Talking about The Wizard of Oz ...
I just had the most wonderfull present ever ...
The Restored and Remastered: The Definitive Three-Dics Collector's Edition!!!
I love this board!!! And thank to Ronnie for this thread!

 

[naughtylady]

You're welcome. I have popcorn, when is movie night?

Hey guys! Many of you still haven't shared your reading reccomendations.

What are you reading now?

What have you just read?

What book is your all time favorite?

What book can you not wait to get your hands on?


Ronnie,
Naughtylady

 

[CryWolf]

Deception Point

Just finished DECEPTION POINT by Dan Brown. Breathtaking story but as usual D. Brown tends to finish off his book in a haste. I'm still a fan of him though.

Starting ICON from F. Forsyth, one of my favorite authors. I liked Day of the Jackal, Devil's Alternative and Fourth Protocol.

 

[Fat Happy Buddha]

Mao-The Untold Story

Last week I finished Mao--The Untold Story by Jung Chung.

For anybody interested in modern Chinese history or communism, this book is a must read. It documents the well known milestones on China's journey under Mao: the Great March, the Korean War, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. But what is new, probably even to many who are well read in Chinese history, is the detailed narration of the personal relations between the top Chinese leaders. One by one, Mao crushes men who accompanied him from his earliest days as a revolutionary. Field Marshall Peng Dehuai dies in prison because he alone dares to tell Mao that millions (30,000,000 is the final count) are dying of hunger because Mao is sending food to the Soviet Union and other communist countries in an effort to get military technology and build up his prestige. Mao refuses to allow Premier Zhou Enlai cancer treatment in order to assure that Zhou dies before him. Such downfalls were the norm for those surrounding Mao.

In the seventies, Mao was respected by many in the west. I still have intelligent, well-educated friends who like Mao. Unlike Stalin or Hitler, Mao somehow became a pop icon. For me, the numbers always got in the way. Seventy million Chinese died because of Mao's schemes. For this reason, I'm no more tempted to display a figurine of Mao in my office than one of Hitler, Pol Pot or Idi Amin.

Finally, Jung Chung's description of Mao's lifelong obsession with obtaining nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them is particularly relevant today. Jung makes it clear that Mao would have had no qualms about starting a war that would see half his countrymen die. He himself said so. To him, the Chinese people were just cannon fodder and fertilizer.

I learned from this book that we must never underestimate the insanity or brutality of some world leaders. Nuclear war is unthinkable for most of us, but there are a few individuals willing to comtemplate it, and their innate viciousness seems to guarantee that they are the one's to make it to the top.

 

[volvo2006]

hi naughty lady, i recommend this fat anthropology book: Blood Relations: menstruation and the origin of culture by the british anthropologist Chris knight. if you do a search on the summary of this book, you'll know why you'd like it.