tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post869120549094212468..comments2024-03-27T23:53:59.771-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: The Wrong BooksLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-63701462201657472612018-07-06T11:00:07.622-04:002018-07-06T11:00:07.622-04:00David - I agree about "The Duelists" for...David - I agree about "The Duelists" for a starter Conrad. And I'll try to find the Bondarchuk War & Peace!<br />Leigh - I've read the Gormenghast trilogy, but I was younger then and thought I had more time... Still, I have to admit it's a unique universe, and we can always use more of those. I agree with you about the Thomas Covenant series.<br />Janice - I'm on the waiting list at the library for the Christie biography.<br />Steve - I should have put Conrad on the list; and I agree that Heart of Darkness is the last one to start with. You have to have had a few illusions of your own shattered before you can appreciate how dark the world can get. <br />Thanks all, and glad to be back!Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-75517134087996746062018-07-05T23:54:02.968-04:002018-07-05T23:54:02.968-04:00Six or seven years ago, Umberto Eco announced he w...Six or seven years ago, Umberto Eco announced he was rewriting his famous book The Name of the Rose to make it more "accessible". I thought the original was fine, but apparently others weren't satisfied. I don't know if he completed the project.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-91375905942568456382018-07-05T23:44:56.776-04:002018-07-05T23:44:56.776-04:00I know exactly what you mean, Eve, and I've oc...I know exactly what you mean, Eve, and I've occasionally been put off by books by their sheer, er, volume. That goes for some modern books, too, including at least one by a favorite author. I'd pick it up, read a few pages, put it down.<br /><br />I know of only two people who've read The Silmarillion, although one enjoyed it immensely. Even Tolkien's own publisher didn't read it.<br /><br />Friends recommended two different trilogies I couldn't wade through. Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy wreaked havoc with my ADD. The first trilogy (of a trilogy trilogy) Stephen R. Donaldson's Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever depressed the hell out of me.<br /><br />My introduction to Russian literature was relatively gentle. First came a short story, depressing, but that was the point of the story. Then I picked up Turgenev and found that pleasurable.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-51206807377387116442018-07-05T18:37:48.862-04:002018-07-05T18:37:48.862-04:00PS -
There's a terrific Russian version of W...PS -<br /><br />There's a terrific Russian version of WAR AND PEACE, directed by Sergei Bondarchuk, released as three or four separate features (it runs about 7 hours total) in 1967 or thereabouts. I saw the first two parts in Berlin, at the time. Spectacular, but of course bewildering until you get used to the size of the canvas. The set-piece Battle of Borodino is both enormous and coherent - with a cast, literally, of thousands, you can still figure what the heck's going on, which is no small thing. I'm pretty sure it's available on DVD, and worth the investment.David Edgerley Gateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05302818835018859164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-50497754584089428242018-07-05T18:23:17.687-04:002018-07-05T18:23:17.687-04:00Eve -
This is terrific (and terrifically enter...Eve - <br /><br />This is terrific (and terrifically entertaining). <br /><br />I'm personally fond of SLEEPING MURDER, even though I'm generally lukewarm on Christie. I agree absolutely about Doyle and Holmes, start with "The Red-Headed League," and you might get a clue what all the fuss is about (Doyle's two historicals, SIR NIGEL and THE WHITE COMPANY, are better novels than the Holmes books). <br /><br />Steve: Conrad? I'd suggest "The Secret Sharer" or THE DUELLISTS, for pacing and word count, and then maybe LORD JIM. Kipling and Stephen Crane are two other guys whose short fiction is better than the long ones. By the same token, if you don't know Lehane, and aren't ready to commit, try his novella THE DROP. I agree wholeheartedly about OUR MUTUAL FRIEND.<br /><br />The hard fact is that you can't convince somebody to like something they simply can't warm up to. You can convey your own enthusiasm, but you're not going to talk 'em into it. Who doesn't love Lowell George and Little Feat? You know who you are, you barstids. <br />David Edgerley Gateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05302818835018859164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-29069872979939925082018-07-05T10:34:37.858-04:002018-07-05T10:34:37.858-04:00Excellent suggestions. You might really enjoy Laur...Excellent suggestions. You might really enjoy Laura Thompson's new biography of Christie which makes a good case for her abilities as a writer.janice lawnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-22516208858706955592018-07-05T10:09:54.187-04:002018-07-05T10:09:54.187-04:00Fascinating. I haven't read most of the non-m...Fascinating. I haven't read most of the non-mysteries, although I enjoyed both Doestoevsky books. Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-92223057202201975772018-07-05T08:49:50.029-04:002018-07-05T08:49:50.029-04:00Fun post, Eve, and I agree with many of your selec...Fun post, Eve, and I agree with many of your selections. I've never made it through War and Peace, and I loathe Silas Marner, but not as much as I hate Middlemarch.<br /><br />The Brothers Karamazov is one of my favorite novels, and I don't mind Crime & Punishment. I'm a little surprised you left Conrad off your list, though. I adore Lord Jim, which is much more teachable than Heart of Darkness, the usual classroom choice. <br /><br />I agree with most of your crime suggestions, except that I think any Lehane except Shutter Island (which never did it for me) before Live by Night is great. No Sherlock Holmes story published after The Hound of the Baskervilles is worth reading, though. The Valley of Fear recycles the clunky flashback structure that didn't work in Study in Scarlet, and the last two volumes of short stories are unanimously embarrassing.<br /><br />Absolutely, DON'T tell someone a book is a classic or great. Reading a book is like getting to know a person. You start slowly. If you get to a second and third date, you'll both enjoy it more, but there are no guarantees. <br /><br />(Thank you for leaving Dickens off the list. He's so wonderfully approachable, especially is later work, like Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend)<br />Steve Liskowhttp://www.steveliskow.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-30493596168067784142018-07-05T08:38:11.710-04:002018-07-05T08:38:11.710-04:00Thanks, Art! The "right book" is a matt...Thanks, Art! The "right book" is a matter of personal taste, of course - just like music. And thank God there's a lot of variety. I love "Anna Karenina", obviously, and "Brothers K" BTW, I'd say, skip the Grand Inquisitor if you can't stand it, and get back to the action - and there's a lot of action. Fyodor... I'm surprised someone isn't/hasn't made a Netflix series out of it yet, because there's an envelope-pushing character, even today!Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-12090036391418409192018-07-05T07:56:00.795-04:002018-07-05T07:56:00.795-04:00Such a good and thoughtful post here, Eve! I'd...Such a good and thoughtful post here, Eve! I'd read Anna Karenina four times before I tried (and failed) my first time with War and Peace--though eventually did read that too, on second try. <br /><br />I read and appreciated Crime & Punishment in school--so much that I tried to read Brothers K as well, but then just gave up (Grand Inquisitor!) and never went back. So interesting how the reverse held there for me.<br /><br />It's been years since I've read Nemesis, but remember enjoying. My wife and I read another Miss Marple (They Do It With Mirrors) and it felt lackluster. Need to check that one out instead. <br /><br />Enjoyed the post! Art Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02409008167752619352noreply@blogger.com