tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89731833563361039902024-02-19T07:57:30.367-07:00Reading 100 All TIME NovelsFollow my quest to read every book from Time Magazine's 100 All Time Novels.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.comBlogger251125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-62362650679083207532016-07-07T08:49:00.002-06:002016-07-07T08:50:43.987-06:00The Battle of AlbertaContinuing with these "bad books", I recently read a non-fiction doozie called The Battle of Alberta, written by Edmonton journalist Mark Spector. Having grown up in Calgary, the battle between the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s, has always been close to my heart and I had been looking forward to this one since it came out in December. It would be a chance to relive the excitement of hockey in Alberta, in the 1980s.<br>
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I had been expecting a deeply researched book offering a behind-the-scenes look at one of hockey's great rivalries. Instead, this was only a collection of present day interviews with players reminiscing about events that took place 30 years ago.<br>
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The problem is that nobody can accurately remember things that happend 30 years ago. In the afterword of this book, Spector even concedes the players had a lot of their facts wrong; who scored that big goal, who was in that fight, and even in a few instances, who that playoff opponent was. But he never corrects them, and instead tries to omit the incorrectly remembered details, thus leaving us with a bland, innaccurate account of a few hockey games from long ago.<br>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-battle-of-alberta.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-25841263729181291482016-06-13T22:19:00.001-06:002016-06-13T22:19:45.076-06:00Selecting Number Eighty-Four<div style="text-align: justify;">
I have started number 84 of the list, <i>An American Tragedy</i>. I didn't start it right away, because, to be honest, it took me a few days to decide what to read next. This was a fairly easy task when I had 65 book left to ready, but as I'm now down to only 17, the choice becomes a little more complicated.</div>
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First off, I need to have the book, which isn't too bad, as I own 13 of the remaining 17. And, I did manage to plan ahead on the other four, and had them all checked out from the library. So, really, I had all 17 book sitting on my bookshelf. Wanting to save the 13 I own for last, I only needed to decide between <i>An American Tragedy, A Clockwork Orange, Lord of the Flies, </i>and <i>Watchmen.</i></div>
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Next, I also need to keep in mind the...what's the word...the heftiness of the book. Of the 17 remaining, the ones that might be the most daunting in my mind are <i>An American Tragedy, A Dance to the Music of Time, </i>and<i> At Swim-Two Birds </i>(the first two because they have a lot of pages, and the other for no reason other than it strikes me as one that might take awhile).</div>
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Since there is only one lengthy one left of the four I need to get from the library, I figure I'll start with that, leaving me three books I'm anticipating will go by quite quickly. <i>An American Tragedy</i>, at 850 plus pages, is longer than the other three combined, by several hundred pages.</div>
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So I guess the decision ended up being a fairly easy one. But I still hemmed and hawed. I also read a couple of other books too, which might have also delayed the process.</div>
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My aim is to finish <i>An American Tragedy </i>sometime before July 7th, leaving me the summer to read the other three. If all goes as planned, I could find myself with only fourteen books to read come September.</div>
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Wish me luck!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-18009911310556528102016-06-06T17:00:00.000-06:002016-06-06T17:03:03.305-06:00#83 - "The Death of the Heart" by Elizabeth BowenThis is the second book in the "Death Trilogy" that features on this list; the others being <i>A Death in the Family, </i>and <i>Death Comes for the Archbishop. </i>I guess the novelization of <i>Death to Smoochy</i> just didn't make the cut.<br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4BVk8n9HL3c8ZM0U0zSVZWgiQZkcGIcLhMaJPw_4YN-ZjE5vGLR6BUBwWE0R1jXRpDQAgh43VeSlM564oPsTFReE_HSGgnD86NuZOZBdBql8J_wA9sRJtGkDbNkZuqmW5WA1KzAEknzh/s1600/20160519_084454.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4BVk8n9HL3c8ZM0U0zSVZWgiQZkcGIcLhMaJPw_4YN-ZjE5vGLR6BUBwWE0R1jXRpDQAgh43VeSlM564oPsTFReE_HSGgnD86NuZOZBdBql8J_wA9sRJtGkDbNkZuqmW5WA1KzAEknzh/s320/20160519_084454.jpg" width="320"></a></div>
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I didn't know anything about this book when I started reading it, but shouldn't have been surprised that I enjoyed it. First off, it's on this list, and I've enjoyed most of the books on this list. Secondly, it's set in inter-war Europe, and I don't think there has been an inter-war European book I haven't enjoyed (remember, <i>Gravity's Rainbow</i> was during the war).<br>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2016/06/83-death-of-heart-by-elizabeth-bowden_6.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-91862832952625913192016-04-15T12:19:00.001-06:002016-04-15T12:19:21.162-06:00Eunoia: Unquestionably Educational, Tenaciously ElocutionaryFor the weekend, here's a little something "off-list;" an interesting and very unique book I read this week, Eunoia by Christian Bok. I first came across Christian while writing for WordFest a few years ago, and have been following him on Twitter ever since. Perhaps best described as an experimental poet, he’s published several books, and is well known in the literary community<br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9XZf_xNeqvciVKHqacQ_XoUSJVT2BymUW1B3EKrmXvnYPt26rqjatznuNqvZtdeWtS7B-_XfsXrHhdigjYVO1TXSg3oZqvbYJrn7WPUhS1IK-awfB_PA6ROWhMRnkWvABqvH7xKbb-R7t/s1600/20160414_104456.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9XZf_xNeqvciVKHqacQ_XoUSJVT2BymUW1B3EKrmXvnYPt26rqjatznuNqvZtdeWtS7B-_XfsXrHhdigjYVO1TXSg3oZqvbYJrn7WPUhS1IK-awfB_PA6ROWhMRnkWvABqvH7xKbb-R7t/s400/20160414_104456.jpg" width="400"></a></div>
here in Calgary.<br>
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While I was aware of the nature of his work, I had never read anything of his. A few months ago however, he had tweeted a link to an interview with Penn Jillette, who talked about Eunoia as one of the most influential books he’d ever read. Normally I wouldn’t be one to read a book because some celebrity recommended it, but the unique nature of this book made it hard to resist.<br>
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Eunoia is the shortest English word to contain all five vowels, and foreshadows the writing to come. Basically, there are five chapters, one for each vowel, and each containing words with ONLY that vowel.<br>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2016/04/eunoia-unquestionably-educational.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-68366339224385019402016-04-11T11:07:00.002-06:002016-04-11T11:07:33.009-06:00#82 - "Invisible Man" by Ralph EllisonI finished my 82nd book, Invisible Man, in January. Ralph Ellison’s 1952 work is a novel of racial tension in Interwar America; not an uncommon theme on this list, and one I was expecting to be similar (which isn’t a bad thing), to Native Son.<br>
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Invisible Man is the story of an unnamed narrator’s journey from the South in an unspecified time, to New York, where he works for social justice and racial equality. Starting as a gifted but underprivileged orator, he is able to obtain a scholarship through a humiliating “battle royale,” where he defeats other young, blindfolded, black men, fighting for a sac of fake gold pieces.<br>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2016/04/82-invisible-man-by-ralph-ellison.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-40022047206799993552016-03-24T11:58:00.002-06:002016-04-07T14:15:13.203-06:00#81 - "Pale Fire" by Vladimir NabokovMy exodous from blogging about these books is over. I continue to find it difficult to not just write this blog, but also to read the books from the List. Since my last post, I have read this one and only one other, <i>Invisible Man.</i> Very little progress to say the least, but I am continuing, and just picked up <i>The Death of the Heart</i> by Elizabeth Bowen.<br>
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After taking such a long break from writing here, it became more and more difficult to start up again. The good news is I've decided I needn't dwell on why I haven't been reading or writing, but instead just to start up again, and continue on.<br>
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WIth out further ado, my review of <i>Pale Fire</i>, which I finished reading in September.<br>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2016/03/81-pale-fire-by-vladimir-nabokov.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-81724150046695348402015-06-22T12:41:00.001-06:002015-06-22T12:41:55.142-06:00#80 - "Gravity's Rainbow" by Thomas PynchonFrom dictionary.com:<br>
<header class="main-header oneClick-disabled head-big" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;"><div class="waypoint-wrapper header-row header-first-row" data-href="source-luna" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 13px;">
<h1 class="head-entry" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; float: left; font-size: 36px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; padding-right: 20px;">
<span class="me" data-syllable="un·read·a·ble" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 50px;"><span class="js-headword" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="syllable" style="box-sizing: border-box; z-index: 2;">un</span><span class="syllable" style="box-sizing: border-box; z-index: 2;">read</span><span class="syllable" style="box-sizing: border-box; z-index: 2;">a</span><span class="last-syllable" style="box-sizing: border-box; z-index: 2;">ble</span></span></span></h1>
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<a class="speaker" href="http://static.sfdict.com/staticrep/dictaudio/U01/U0112900.mp3" style="background: url(http://dictionary.reference.com/drc/img/responsive/serp-lowdpi-6c95e.png) -77px -329px no-repeat no-repeat scroll; box-sizing: border-box; color: #307dbc; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; height: 28px; margin-top: 16px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; width: 26px;"></a></div>
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<div class="header-row header-extras pronounce pronset" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #979797; font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 18px;">
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<span class="pron spellpron" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline;">[uhn-<span class="dbox-bold" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-weight: bold;">ree</span>-d<span class="dbox-italic" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-style: italic;">uh</span>-b<span class="dbox-italic" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-style: italic;">uh</span> l] </span><span class="pre-def-data" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic;"></span></div>
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<button class="prontoggle pronounce-button pronounce-Spell-button" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://dictionary.reference.com/drc/img/responsive/serp-lowdpi-6c95e.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -76px -367px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: white; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; text-align: right; top: -2px; width: 69px;">Spell</button> <button class="syllable-button syllable-button-off" data-header="1" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://dictionary.reference.com/drc/img/responsive/serp-lowdpi-6c95e.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -147px -367px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; height: 22px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 11px; outline: 0px; padding-left: 3px; position: relative; top: -2px; width: 69px;">Syllables</button></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; margin: 0px 35px 0px 0px;"><a data-href="source-example-sentences" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3d7bbf; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px;">Examples</a></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; margin: 0px 35px 0px 0px;"><a data-href="source-word-origin" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3d7bbf; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px;">Word Origin</a></li>
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<section class="def-pbk" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><header class="luna-data-header" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="dbox-pg" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 20px;">adjective</span></header><div class="def-set" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 17px;">
<span class="def-number" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; padding-right: 5px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">1.</span></span><div class="def-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 37px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">not</span> </span><a class="dbox-xref dbox-roman" href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/readable" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #307dbc; display: inline; text-decoration: none;">readable</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">; <span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available" style="box-sizing: border-box;">undecipherable;</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">scribbled:</span></span><div class="def-block def-inline-example" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #979797;">
<span class="dbox-example" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">His</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">scrawl</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">was</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">almost</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">unreadable.</span></span></span></div>
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<div class="def-set" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 17px;">
<span class="def-number" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; padding-right: 5px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">2.</span></span><div class="def-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 37px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">not</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">interesting</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">to</span> <span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available" style="box-sizing: border-box;">read;</span> <span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available" style="box-sizing: border-box;">dull;</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">tedious;</span> </span><span class="dbox-italic" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-style: italic;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">an</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">unreadable</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">treatise.</span></span></span></div>
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<div class="def-set" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 17px;">
<span class="def-number" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; padding-right: 5px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">3.</span></span><div class="def-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 37px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">extraordinarily</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">difficult</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">to</span> <span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available" style="box-sizing: border-box;">read</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">or</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">comprehend;</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">obscure;</span><span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">incomprehensible:</span></span><div class="def-block def-inline-example" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #979797;">
<span class="dbox-example" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">an</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">unreadable</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">dream;</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">an</span> <span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box;">unreadable</span> <span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available" style="box-sizing: border-box;">expression.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">Time's Richard Lacayo starts off his summary on why this one is on the list with "no, it is not unreadable." He then describes the plot as "unsummarizable," which as far as I know isn't a word.</span><br>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2015/06/80-gravitys-rainbow-by-thomas-pynchon.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-53698981637318513252015-06-15T18:25:00.000-06:002015-06-15T18:25:03.294-06:00Different Books, Same Design<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well, I'm on the homestretch with <i>Gravity's Rainbow.</i> Really, I am. With only 47 pages to go, I should finish it in the next couple of days. Actually, it's a nice night out, maybe I'll sit on the patio and finish it right now. I can smell the freedom already!</div>
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But before I do that, I thought I would share some more book covers with you. Many times I've found the same photo on two different <a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.ca/2012/07/with-this-remembrance-that-you-use-same.html" target="_blank">books</a> (three different books on one <a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.ca/2012/08/three-covers-and-little-boy.html" target="_blank">occasion</a>!), but yesterday I found something new.</div>
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These are two very different books; one is a novel by Martin Amis (who wrote my <a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.ca/2012/07/55-money-by-martin-amis.html" target="_blank">55th read</a> from the list) and one is a political book about how Stephen Harper is evil. I read <i>Lionel Asbo: State of England</i> a couple of years ago when he was appearing at WordFest, so I was familiar with the cover. When I came across the 2nd book at the library, looking for something else, it jumped out at me.</div>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2015/06/different-books-same-design.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-77951947807742912882015-06-04T11:59:00.002-06:002015-12-18T10:08:21.442-07:00The Infinite Rainbow<div style="text-align: justify;">
I've now decided that my current book, <i>Gravity's Rainbow</i>, is my toughest assignment so far. And I can't imagine any of the remaining 20 book will be this difficult either.</div>
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I'm currently sitting on page 605 of 776, and feel completely helpless. I'm not really sure what is going on, nor who the main characters really are, which makes it difficult to pick it up. For the past six weeks, this book has rarely been more than five feet away from me, but has spent more time as a paper weight than an open book. I just can't bring myself to open on most days. This results in me not reading anything else either, as I feel guilty when I do so, knowing I should be reading <i>Gravity's Rainbow</i>.</div>
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Sadly I think I am now at a point where my only goal is to finish the book, even if that means my eyes are only glossing over the words within. I'm still reading it, but I don't think very much of it is sinking in. This is a book, perhaps the first from the list, that I definitely would not finish, were it not for this project. And I don't think I can really imagine anybody finishing it voluntarily.</div>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-infinite-ranbow.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-34164788344198013202015-05-04T11:53:00.001-06:002015-06-15T17:36:32.861-06:00Siam Scarlett<div style="text-align: justify;">
I can't believe I forgot to mention this last week, but while in Thailand, I had a run-in with one of the list books. It wasn't until we were going through our photos last night that I remembered...</div>
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As I've mentioned many times before, I always enjoying perusing a bookshelf. It could be in somebody's home, at a hotel, in a library, or in a bookstore; it doesn't really matter, I just like walking my eyes over the spines of books. I suppose the fun is that you might come across something unique or something you've never heard of, and it just might take your reading in a new direction.</div>
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After having spent over five years reading through this list, I'm still little amazed how often I come across these titles. Of course it shouldn't really come as any surprise, after all they are 100 "all-time novels."</div>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2015/05/siam-scarlett.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-69213724750705187992015-04-29T15:17:00.000-06:002015-04-29T15:17:03.907-06:00#79 - "A Handful of Dust" by Evelyn Waugh<div style="text-align: justify;">
I finished Evelyn Waugh's second book from the list, <i>A Handful of Dust</i> about two weeks ago, while still in Thailand. It was one I had been looking forward to for quite some time, having enjoyed his other list book, <i>Brideshead Revisited</i>, when I read it five years ago, at #2.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt0oNhYVN2G-PJiDOaV7Pq-nqCtnNAuF2hiSleogw2mtQ3hM_M8j8Uvsj5DbHSztplprwZiUQ5z9TPI77jcF6vSdZjD0L2d5I4x6FFdaY3JV1ki3cDC-7cpVxbwKXXkYxLzhTNcnnOs4zD/s1600/79+-+A+Handful+of+Dust.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt0oNhYVN2G-PJiDOaV7Pq-nqCtnNAuF2hiSleogw2mtQ3hM_M8j8Uvsj5DbHSztplprwZiUQ5z9TPI77jcF6vSdZjD0L2d5I4x6FFdaY3JV1ki3cDC-7cpVxbwKXXkYxLzhTNcnnOs4zD/s1600/79+-+A+Handful+of+Dust.jpg" height="179" width="320"></a>Written in 1934, <i>A Handful of Dust</i> follows Tony and Brenda Last, as they live out their happy, but mundane life at Hetton Abbey, Tony's beloved estate in the English countryside. The couple has one son, and lives very comfortably on their inherited wealth, sticking to old fashioned, aristocratic social norms.</div>
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Soon, life becomes too routine for Brenda and while at a party she becomes interested in John Beaver, a rather common man, who finds himself at these parties more as a novelty than a guest. Brenda is pulled toward him, finding him exciting and different, when in reality he is merely ordinary, if not mediocre. But she continues a relationship with him, even going so far as to rent a flat in London, for weekday rendezvous.</div>
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</div><a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2015/04/79-handful-of-dust-by-evelyn-waugh.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-70780582483010695922015-04-28T13:17:00.000-06:002015-04-28T13:17:27.974-06:00Non-List Reading in Thailand and Malaysia<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm back in Canada now, after a fantastic trip to Thailand and Malaysia. Like most of my trips, I am never afforded as much time to read as I think, so most of my reading was confined to airplanes and trains. Fortunately for my reading habits, this trip included two flights over 12 hours and a 15 hour train ride, so I was able to get something done.</div>
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From the list, I read Evelyn Waugh's <i>A Handful of Dust</i> (review to follow), and not from the list, I read <i>The Great Train Robbery</i> and <i>American Psycho; </i>two very different novels, to say the least!</div>
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I first read Michael Crichton's <i>The Great Train Robbery</i> over 15 years ago, and enjoyed it very much. I've also seen the 1979 movie with Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland about 300 times, so it's one with which I am quite familiar.</div>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2015/04/non-list-reading-in-thailand-and.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-26359291283853644642015-03-28T12:24:00.001-06:002015-03-28T12:24:10.097-06:00That what they do delay, they not deny.<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Gravity's Rainbow.</i> What can I say? It's living up to all of my expectations; it's difficult to follow and quite a tedious read. But I have been slowly making my way through it.</div>
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I'm leaving on a trip to South East Asia today, and was hoping to have it finished before I left. Things were seemingly going well, as in I thought I'd be able to finish before today. Or at least by today. But last week, I had an accident of sorts, and found myself in the hospital for a spell, which sort of put my reading pace off track. I learned quite quickly that <i>Gravity's Rainbow</i> is not the book to read when you've been given several large doses of morphine.</div>
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My first attempt to read while lying in a hospital bed, stoned to the bejezus, lasted less than one sentence before dropping the book and falling asleep. My second attempt a few hours later ended after one paragraph. Although to be fair, there probably aren't any books that would be ideal for reading after the amount of morphine I'd been given!</div>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2015/03/that-what-they-do-delay-they-not-deny.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-45161348955194932082015-02-20T11:12:00.001-07:002015-02-20T11:12:15.749-07:00#78 - "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After reading three consecutive 500+ page books, I enjoyed a well-deserved break, with the 156 page <i>Wide Sargasso Sea </i>by Jean Rhys. Not only was it short, but also very readable, and I suppose I enjoyed it somewhat.</span></div>
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Written in 1966, the book is billed as a prequel to Charlotte Bronte's <i>Jane Eyre.</i> And I'd guess it is the first ever prequel, coming out over 30 years before "Star Wars Episode 1" created one of my least favorite cinematic terms/trends. For me though, it was just a book, as I haven't read <i>Jane Eyre</i>, nor do I know anything about the plot or characters. Now I just have to determine who in <i>Wide Sargasso Sea</i> is the equivalent of Jar Jar Binks.</div>
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</div><a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2015/02/78-wide-sargasso-sea-by-jean-rhys.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-55115506455291689202015-01-29T17:54:00.000-07:002015-01-29T17:54:52.387-07:00Beaten myself into all the colours of the rainbow;<div style="text-align: justify;">
As I make my way through #78, <i>Wide Sargasso Sea</i>, I can't help think ahead to the next book, which I plan to be <i>Gravity's Rainbow</i> by Thomas Pynchon. I'm not sure where my fears originated, but I think I've had them for as long as I've been reading through this list.</div>
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My first mention of these fears on this blog was on <a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.ca/2010/10/come-and-take-choice-of-all-my-library.html" target="_blank">October 1, 2010</a>, when I admitted I was intimidated by the book's 750+ pages. I've since read several books that were 750 pages, and some quite a few more, so I don't think that really turns me off anymore. Unless, of course, it's 750 pages of something I'm not enjoying (see <i><a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.ca/2012/06/53-recognitions-by-william-gaddis.html" target="_blank">The Recognitions</a></i>). It could turn into a disaster if I'm not enjoying it.</div>
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It was soon after that post, that I first started to think I might not enjoy the book, when I heard from a couple of people, who I would describe as 'advanced readers,' that it was complicated and difficult to follow/understand. One person said they had to keep notes just to avoid getting lost. While I often make notes while reading, it isn't because I can't follow the book; frankly I don't think a book should require that much effort.</div>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2015/01/beaten-myself-into-all-colours-of.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-42656375386396554212015-01-22T12:43:00.003-07:002015-01-22T12:43:54.678-07:00#77 - "The Golden Notebook" by Doris Lessing<div style="text-align: justify;">
What can I say about #77, <i>The Golden Notebook</i>? It took me nearly three months to read it, and at times I'm not even sure what I read. It's a long, complicated, and often very frustrating book. It is often described as a "feminist novel," but I wouldn't say that at all. In fact, I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean. I would describe it is an emotional novel, exploring the deep, personal thoughts of its protagonist. I'd also say that despite moments of brilliance, I don't think I really enjoyed reading it.</div>
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Anna Wulf, a writer, records her life in four coloured notebooks, black, blue, red, and yellow, each dealing with a different part of her life. Mixed in with this, is a narrative of her real life, which helps provide some context to the diary-style of her notebooks.</div>
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The black notebook records her time in Africa before and during World War II, which led to her writing a successful novel; the royalties from which, she lives off of, and supports her daughter from a failed marriage. The blue notebook records her emotional dreams, and more often, her emotional failures and breakdown. In the red book, she chronicles her dabbling with the Communist party, while the yellow notebook deals with her struggles to write a second novel while suffering through writer's block.</div>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2015/01/77-golden-notebook-by-doris-lessing.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-35716744359191786372014-12-04T14:28:00.001-07:002014-12-04T14:28:28.127-07:00A Big Ol' Pile of Books<div style="text-align: justify;">
This past Friday marked the 5th anniversary of my first book review on this blog about <i>The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. </i>It's hard to believe it's already been five years, as it really doesn't seem that long ago that I decided to embark on this mission.</div>
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For the longest time, I had expected to be finished after five years. In fact there was a time I thought I'd be done in four! Now that I'm older and wiser, I figure I might be done in a year and half, and that two more years is probably more realistic. I've read 76 books from the list in those five years, which is more than one a month. I've also read about 170 non-list books in that time. I guess if I had stuck to only list books, I would have been done quite some time ago, but I also might have succumb to madness. Really, I don't think my pace has been that bad when put into perspective, and 76 books really is a lot of books. </div>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-big-ol-pile-of-books.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-34273168376416650922014-11-20T12:56:00.000-07:002014-11-20T12:56:15.644-07:00The Next Chapter<div style="text-align: justify;">
My renewed interest in reading this list is still alive and well. But unfortunately this current book, <i>The Golden Notebook</i>, is one that isn't going too quickly.</div>
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Whenever I start a new book, I can usually tell within the first fifty or so pages, if it is going to be a quick read or not. This one is the latter. There are a few reasons for that. First and foremost, there doesn't seem to be much of a plot. It seems to be written more as a diary than a novel; despite parts of it being excerpts from a novel. There isn't a lot of character development, and it seems to jump all over the place, often without warning. Through the first 200 pages, I sometimes feel as if I've started a new book five or six times.</div>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-next-chapter.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-67576345060499070632014-10-31T13:50:00.001-06:002014-10-31T13:50:25.231-06:00A Peaceful Progress...<div style="text-align: justify;">
Look at me go! With my rejuvenated zeal for this project, I'm already 20% finished #77, <i>The Golden Notebook. </i>I'm still not really sure what to think of the book yet. Some parts are interesting, some not so much. As a result, some parts seems to be moving a little faster than others. And the way the book is written, I think I have a good idea of which parts are going to be the quicker reads. Regardless, this shouldn't be one that gets me bogged down too much.</div>
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One thing of note is a reference to another list book, something that has always interested me. In <i>The Golden Notebook</i>, one character calls another couple "The Gatsbys", an obvious reference to Fitzgerald's novel, to remark on their social nature.</div>
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I recall the first time a list book referred to another, when Gary from <i>The Corrections</i> was reading <i>The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe</i> to his children. At the time I found it very interesting, and I suppose quite surprising. Having read an additional 64 list books, it isn't as surprising anymore but it is still interesting. To me anyway.</div>
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The last book to reference another, was <i>White Teeth</i>, which easily holds the current record for most references to other list books, with six. <i>A Passage to India</i> is read, Judy Blume, EM Forester, and Vladimir Nabokov are quoted, <i>The Catcher in the Rye</i> is burned, and Salman Rushdie is protested.</div>
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I suppose I should summarize all these references sometime...another day perhaps.</div>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2014/10/a-peaceful-progress.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-26151210289972899722014-10-28T12:20:00.000-06:002014-10-28T12:20:14.104-06:00#76 - "A House for Mr. Biswas" by V.S. Naipaul<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is done. #76 on the list, <i>A House for Mr. Biswas</i> by V.S. Naipaul. By no means the longest book on the list, but I believe 2nd only to <i>Lord of the Rings</i> in how long it took me to read, at nearly four months.</div>
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This was a bit of a different one for me; I enjoyed reading it, the entire time in fact, but when I put it down I had little to no motivation to pick it up again. Reminds me of <i>Possession</i>. Looking back on the book, this actually makes sense; the writing was wonderful, with complex characters, interesting settings, and vivid descriptions. There was just one thing missing, a plot. It didn't seem to be a book I needed to pick up on a regular basis, as I wasn't really concerned with what was going to happen.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGrj8wTREtR54EeWYfu0A4T-Lj0yh7iVNXVZMRxlyzr2qcBEuXTJvSeGzqsf0pifFmyzqQActp7WSZqLML8LldRPduXUQtPTCN776LCow4uZSq9068XRGiuucH4xgX-fAruJ49DScJDRZO/s1600/a+house+for+mr+biswas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGrj8wTREtR54EeWYfu0A4T-Lj0yh7iVNXVZMRxlyzr2qcBEuXTJvSeGzqsf0pifFmyzqQActp7WSZqLML8LldRPduXUQtPTCN776LCow4uZSq9068XRGiuucH4xgX-fAruJ49DScJDRZO/s1600/a+house+for+mr+biswas.jpg" height="200" width="121"></a></div>
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Mohun Biswas is born into a poor, Indian family in Trinidad, sometime in the early part of the 20th century. His birth is looked upon as a stroke of bad luck, as he is born with an extra finger, and comes out feet first. And for the following 500 or so pages, it seems that prophecy turns out to be true. Mr. Biswas lives a life without many successes.</div>
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His troubles start when he hides from his parents, fearing harsh punishment. Mr. Biswas' father, fearing his sun has drowned, dives into a lake to find him, only to drown himself. And it goes downhill from there. He is pulled out of school to begin a career, but fails at nearly everything he does. Eventually, through cowardice, he becomes engaged to Shama Tulsi, daughter of a shop owning family; a family that would come to dominate him for the rest of his life.</div>
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</div><a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2014/10/76-house-for-mr-biswas-by-vs-naipaul.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-34104542218511841942014-10-27T13:44:00.001-06:002014-10-27T13:44:39.969-06:00To beautify thy triumphs and return,<div style="text-align: justify;">
Like MacArthur to the Philippines, I have returned. I took a hiatus of sorts; not from reading, but from writing this blog. There are probably a million reasons, but most importantly, I seemed to have lost my motivation.</div>
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I'm still eager to read through this list of 100 books, but I seemed to have lost my desire to write about it. I'm sure there were probably several reasons for this, but the most likely was I'd just run out of things to say, especially when I'd been bogged down in a book as I was with the most recent read, <i>A House for Mr. Biswas</i>. There are only so many things you can say about reading a 500 page book for close to four months. </div>
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</div><a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2014/10/to-beautify-thy-triumphs-and-return.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-81252013662572734952014-06-19T14:39:00.000-06:002014-06-19T14:39:26.639-06:00The excuse that thou dost make in this delay<div style="text-align: justify;">
I seem to be making the same mistake I've been making for quite some time now, in that after I finish one book, I don't seem to start the next book for a week or two. The good news is I have started #76, <i>A House for Mr. Biswas</i>, but the bad news is I didn't start it until yesterday.</div>
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I'm not really sure of the reason for doing this, but I think the problem might be that there are currently 199 books on my "to-read" list, and only 25 of them are from <i>the</i> list. Add to that, I have 17 non-fiction books out from the library right now, and they're all screaming to be read!</div>
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After finishing a list read, I think my mind set is that I'll just whip through one of these non-fiction books, and then start my next list read. Of course I never read as fast as I think I'm going to, and before I know it, a week has passed.</div>
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The culprit this time, since I finished <i>White Teeth</i>, was <i>Walls: Travels Along the Barricades</i> by a Calgarian author, Marcello Di Cintio. He travels the world, visiting different places where walls have divided a society or city or culture. It was kind of a combination political essay and travelogue; basically it was right up my alley.</div>
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But that book is finished, so I have moved on to #76. I just really need to make sure I go back to reading two books at the same time; one list read and one non-fiction read. When I have done this, it's really worked well, and I seem to get a lot more reading done.</div>
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<script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");</script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-28616293388815858942014-06-11T16:29:00.002-06:002014-06-11T16:29:41.529-06:00#75 - "White Teeth" by Zadie Smith<div style="text-align: justify;">
I've finished #75, <i>White Teeth</i> by Zadie Smith. Actually, I finished it about a week ago, but haven't had a chance to write anything until now.<br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1lG8qUUZQuEuQhuUPViR2JkKFDdTd2uj1YxojkCcWTVNX6iRygbnA04t8JgxpKmOAAncDjPNJ84tDzc33X7qF89egc3WSkeoCwl1mPymoEVx2QW2j_AS0leZwRMEJ21yRH_dQUhOFJlXo/s1600/White+Teeth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1lG8qUUZQuEuQhuUPViR2JkKFDdTd2uj1YxojkCcWTVNX6iRygbnA04t8JgxpKmOAAncDjPNJ84tDzc33X7qF89egc3WSkeoCwl1mPymoEVx2QW2j_AS0leZwRMEJ21yRH_dQUhOFJlXo/s1600/White+Teeth.jpg" height="200" width="150"></a>It's tough to say what, or rather, who this story is really about. I suppose it's the story of a group of people, three families, whose lives become intertwined over the course of several decades. It begins with Archibald Jones, recently divorced from his wife, as he attempts to commit suicide. After being rescued by a passer-by, Archie gets a new lease on life, and before too long, is re-married to a Jamaican woman named Clara, who is 30 years his junior.<br>
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After marriage, Archie is reunited with an old Army pal, Samad Iqbal, a Bengali Muslin who has recently immigrated to the United Kingdom. Both men are married to much younger women, and both are soon raising young families. From there, the book follows their lives, as they struggle with a variety of topics, including race, religion, substance abuse, infidelity, and...genetics.<br>
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</div><a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2014/06/75-white-teeth-by-zadie-smith.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-28190507576213861202014-05-29T10:39:00.000-06:002014-05-29T10:39:50.703-06:00On the Road at the Library - Seattle<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm heading to Seattle this afternoon on a trip that will be dominated by golf and baseball, and I doubt it will afford me any time to read. Of course I will have my books with me, but reading doesn't seem to be in the cards.</div>
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In light of the destination, I thought it was time for my second "On the Road at the Library" post, this time in Seattle, about my visit to their Central branch. The difference between Seattle and my previous library visit in Philadelphia is incredible; the two are night and day.<br>
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Philadelphia's central branch is a classic stone structure from 1927, while Seattle's is a shiny modern glass and steel building opened in 2004. To say the Central Library in Seattle is a unique building would be a massive understatement. Designed by architects Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus, the building reminds me of Rubik's Magic, the far less successful sequel to the Rubik's Cube.</div>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2014/05/on-road-at-library-seattle.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973183356336103990.post-69535148089101549542014-05-27T10:55:00.000-06:002014-05-27T10:55:31.800-06:00The Final Twenty-Five BooksYesterday I wrote of my planned reading list, but didn't mention what it was. Since I've spent countless hours planning this reading order, I figure I should share it. It will be a road map of sorts for the next year of my reading.<br>
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A lot of the order is because I own nine of the final 25 books, so they all find themselves in the final 10. I also wanted to be sure to space out the more difficult reads, which right now I am anticipating to be <i>Gravity's Rainbow, Call it Sleep, </i>and <i>A Dance to the Music of Time</i>. Not only are these three quite lengthy, but I also just have a feeling they will be quite taxing reads.<br>
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To ease the pain, so to speak, of reading these tomes, I have followed them with books I anticipate to go quite quickly. Two of the remaining books that I've previously read, <i>Lord of the Flies</i> and <i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i>, will follow <i>Gravity's Rainbow </i>and <i>A Dance to the Music of Time</i> respectively. And I plan for <i>Watchmen</i> to follow <i>Call it Sleep.</i><br>
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<a href="http://readingalltimenovels.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-final-twenty-five-books.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696410090017955303noreply@blogger.com0