Just wondering ... what is everyone reading now?
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licia
Executive Chef
What does "tosh" mean?
Well Ishbel, I respect your opinion on books, so I may just chuck the dang thing. Sometimes I just get a weird feeling about books and can't bring myself to read them.
Guess I'll just have to jump into Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich.
Guess I'll just have to jump into Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich.
Sandyj
Sous Chef
Alix, know what you mean about "getting a funny feeling" about a book. The same thing happens to me with books and movies. In my case, I think I'm a big wimp - couldn't / wouldn't see "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" until about 20 years after it was released (I just knew it would be too sad to bear), and.... I was right. Same thing with books. Now that my daughters are older though, sometimes they'll read something they really like and enthuse about it - this happened with the whole Harry Potter series as well as with the Da Vinci code. Harry Potter series was okay for me...Da Vinci code...suspected a lot of it was (sorry to say) drivel. Sandyj
Maidrite
Contest Winner
men's health magazine ! boy do I need it !
I used to LOVE to visit Roslin Chapel 
Peaceful, with some really amazing 'unexplained' things, like the carving of 'Indian Corn' from a time before the Americas were 'discovered' etc! All making for a major mystery. I often got talking to American visitors who had read about the apprentice pillar (the corn thingy) in various places and so they added the Chapel to their holiday itinerary. Lots of interesting conversations were had!
Now? Full of loads of tourists - particularly from America (but also Canda, Aus, S.Africa) - who are absolutely SURE that the story in the Da Vinci Code was HISTORY.... Some of them are even demanding (what a cheek!) permission to dig up the floors and find the 'secret' crypt etc....! Mind you, it's making the Chapel a fortune!
The book wasn't HISTORY, it was fiction! I also wasn't too impressed with his writing style - and cannot believe that so many of his books were in the best sellers' charts for so long!
http://www.rosslynchapel.org.uk/
There is an interesting article in my newspaper today saying that yesterday, Lincoln Cathedral was being picketed by a group, led by a nun, to stop the filming of part of the Da Vinci Code with Tom Hanks. They are using Lincoln in place of Westminster (London) presumably because there are slightly less tourists in Lincoln!
Peaceful, with some really amazing 'unexplained' things, like the carving of 'Indian Corn' from a time before the Americas were 'discovered' etc! All making for a major mystery. I often got talking to American visitors who had read about the apprentice pillar (the corn thingy) in various places and so they added the Chapel to their holiday itinerary. Lots of interesting conversations were had!Now? Full of loads of tourists - particularly from America (but also Canda, Aus, S.Africa) - who are absolutely SURE that the story in the Da Vinci Code was HISTORY.... Some of them are even demanding (what a cheek!) permission to dig up the floors and find the 'secret' crypt etc....! Mind you, it's making the Chapel a fortune!
The book wasn't HISTORY, it was fiction! I also wasn't too impressed with his writing style - and cannot believe that so many of his books were in the best sellers' charts for so long!
http://www.rosslynchapel.org.uk/
There is an interesting article in my newspaper today saying that yesterday, Lincoln Cathedral was being picketed by a group, led by a nun, to stop the filming of part of the Da Vinci Code with Tom Hanks. They are using Lincoln in place of Westminster (London) presumably because there are slightly less tourists in Lincoln!
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I spoke to the friend who lent me the book and he was a bit baffled by my response to it. We usually have very similar taste in reading material. He says his feelings won't be hurt if I don't read it, WHEW! I am going to give it another go today and if I can't do it, well I will return it to him.
Ishbel, doesn't it amaze you that folks forget they are reading fiction sometimes? I have to confess to getting really wrapped up in what I am reading (to the point of not wanting to put stuff down because something might happen while I am away ) but I am always aware of whether or not I am reading fiction.
Anyone else do that? Get so engrossed in your book you just can't bear to put it down? I used to have that trouble especially with Desmond Bagley and Alistair MacLean.
Ishbel, doesn't it amaze you that folks forget they are reading fiction sometimes? I have to confess to getting really wrapped up in what I am reading (to the point of not wanting to put stuff down because something might happen while I am away
) but I am always aware of whether or not I am reading fiction. Anyone else do that? Get so engrossed in your book you just can't bear to put it down? I used to have that trouble especially with Desmond Bagley and Alistair MacLean.
mudbug
Chef Extraordinaire
Alix said:
oooooooooh yeah. Read the Exorcist in one sitting. Out in the country. All by myself in this house. It was that good.
eek.
OK, I have spent the day nose down in Eleven on Top, and have laughed out loud in the coffee shop (receiving odd looks from the old duffers playing cards). I have laughed all day and my sides ache. Janet Evanovich never fails to amuse the heck out of me. This is a perfect summer read. Quick, funny and just all around light hearted.
htc
Head Chef
I just started Life of Pi.
Sandyj
Sous Chef
I thoroughly enjoyed Life of Pi. Great book.Sandyj
Claire
Master Chef
Loved The life of Pi. pretty strange, but I thought it was great. The most interesting book I'm reading right now is The Shadow ofthe Wind. Luckily, it was sent to me from a friend who I share "odd" books with, because the ladies I read to might be interested. I loved so many books recomended in the same genre.
I guess what I'm getting at is ... how many of you have read books that are translated into English? Some are better than others. I've read many (the given is that I cannot read a novel or anything else in any language but English), and sometimes I love it, sometimes I get frustrated. For example, I've read the Maigret mysteries translated by two different people, and one set are great, another frustrate the holey hades out of me. Translations are interesting and frustrating. Anyone got a comment on that? Umberto Eco comes to mind. Right now it is The Shadow ofthe Wind (Great). Asian-to-English might be the hardest. Anyone out three interested?
I guess what I'm getting at is ... how many of you have read books that are translated into English? Some are better than others. I've read many (the given is that I cannot read a novel or anything else in any language but English), and sometimes I love it, sometimes I get frustrated. For example, I've read the Maigret mysteries translated by two different people, and one set are great, another frustrate the holey hades out of me. Translations are interesting and frustrating. Anyone got a comment on that? Umberto Eco comes to mind. Right now it is The Shadow ofthe Wind (Great). Asian-to-English might be the hardest. Anyone out three interested?
Sandyj
Sous Chef
More Books...
I know what you mean about the translations, but I was thinking about some books I've read by writers for whom English is not their first language:
"Hanna's Daughters" by Marianne Frederickson was translated from Swedish into English, French, you name it....even Chinese, and it was a best seller everywhere. This book resonated so for me. It's the story of several generations of Swedish women. I was reminded of the women in my own family, and I think this must have been true for people all over the world.
Works by Chinese writers often seem to translate beautifully. I am in awe of the prose - how can it be that good when it wasn't even written in English? I'll try to think of some names for you.
"God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy - a young writer from India. Actually, she probably did write this in English, and English is probably not her first language. I had to mention it, it was just beautiful.
"Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri......
I know what you mean about the translations, but I was thinking about some books I've read by writers for whom English is not their first language:
"Hanna's Daughters" by Marianne Frederickson was translated from Swedish into English, French, you name it....even Chinese, and it was a best seller everywhere. This book resonated so for me. It's the story of several generations of Swedish women. I was reminded of the women in my own family, and I think this must have been true for people all over the world.
Works by Chinese writers often seem to translate beautifully. I am in awe of the prose - how can it be that good when it wasn't even written in English? I'll try to think of some names for you.
"God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy - a young writer from India. Actually, she probably did write this in English, and English is probably not her first language. I had to mention it, it was just beautiful.
"Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri......
I love the novels of Isabel Allende (no, NOT because we share a forename!) which are translated from Spanish to English.
I first read her novel 'House of Spirits'. I don't remember who does her translations, but a Spanish-speaking friend tells me that they are very 'near' to the originals.
I first read her novel 'House of Spirits'. I don't remember who does her translations, but a Spanish-speaking friend tells me that they are very 'near' to the originals.
SierraCook
Master Chef
My other hobby besides cooking is reading. Here is my current reading list:
Graced by Pines-The Ponderosa Pine in the American West by Alexandra Murphy (Pines are living constants in the landscape. They hold the West's history, both in the rings of their heartwood, hidden with like human memory, and in the outward manifestations of their daily living--in their blackened fire scars, the borings of beetles and woodpeckers, the goshawk nests high in their wolfy crowns, the wind-sculpted drape of their branches, and the stumps, smooth as tables, left by logging. By apprehending this history, we come to know the pines, and in turn, to know the West.) This is my favorite paragraph of the book. It is so true, pines and other trees are the living history of an area.
Eldest by Christopher Paolini (Darkness falls....Swords clash....Evil reigns.)
The Birds of America by John James Audubon (My mom gave me this book. It was given to her by my great great aunt. It was printed in 1946.)
What are you reading?
Graced by Pines-The Ponderosa Pine in the American West by Alexandra Murphy (Pines are living constants in the landscape. They hold the West's history, both in the rings of their heartwood, hidden with like human memory, and in the outward manifestations of their daily living--in their blackened fire scars, the borings of beetles and woodpeckers, the goshawk nests high in their wolfy crowns, the wind-sculpted drape of their branches, and the stumps, smooth as tables, left by logging. By apprehending this history, we come to know the pines, and in turn, to know the West.) This is my favorite paragraph of the book. It is so true, pines and other trees are the living history of an area.
Eldest by Christopher Paolini (Darkness falls....Swords clash....Evil reigns.)
The Birds of America by John James Audubon (My mom gave me this book. It was given to her by my great great aunt. It was printed in 1946.)
What are you reading?
urmaniac13
Executive Chef
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2005
- Messages
- 4,764
I am trying to improve my reading skill (or lack of.. should I say...) in Italian, so I am tackling an Italian translation of some Sherlock Holmes short stories. I can only read as Beavis and Butthead would do..."C-c-c-a...r...o Watson, eh um uh huh huh, a quuuuaaaantoooo...uh huh huh, uh huh huh...parrrrreee p-p-p...e...r me....eh heh heh..."...well as you can imagine it is going on a snails speed, but it helps that I know these stories by heart. I just hope it will improve into at least a turtle's speed eventually...
I would also like to get my hands on some more recent releases of Donald Westlake, John Dortmunder series in particular....
I would also like to get my hands on some more recent releases of Donald Westlake, John Dortmunder series in particular....
