What are you reading?

[jhefflol]

I'm currently working on Aphra Behn's The Widow Ranter for one of my classes. I might end up using this play for my thesis in this class because of the inclusion of the feminine oracular tradition (my current project) and multiple strong female roles! Including an "Indian" Queen that catches the audience's sympathy and is well spoken/portrayed!

[drownsoda]

I've been reading Elizabeth Wright's Psychoanalytic Criticism for a class I am taking right now. It's... sort of fun(?) I'm not too much into psychoanalysis, but I've actually kind of enjoyed it in correlation with the class.

 

I also have been re-reading The Devils of Loudun on my own time, just because I love Huxley and I think that that story is so fascinating. 

[Dr. Old Bill]

I also have been re-reading The Devils of Loudun on my own time, just because I love Huxley and I think that that story is so fascinating. 

 

Ah, The Devils of Loudun! What a great novel. So dense...but so good.

 

Since I'm fully in the thick of a busy semester, all of my reading is for classes these days. I'll be reading As I Lay Dying and Two Gentlemen of Verona over the next couple of weeks. A very odd combination, to be sure...

[TeaOverCoffee]

I'm reading The Monk by Matthew Lewis, and it's such a strong novel. I mean, it's the typical gothic novel, but who doesn't love gothic? 

 

Ah, The Devils of Loudun! What a great novel. So dense...but so good.

 

Since I'm fully in the thick of a busy semester, all of my reading is for classes these days. I'll be reading As I Lay Dying and Two Gentlemen of Verona over the next couple of weeks. A very odd combination, to be sure...

 

I read As I Lay Dying in high school, and I grew obsessed with Faulkner. There's just something so gothic/morbid about his work. Maybe it's how he marries normality to the disturbing aspects of life and death? Read his short stories; you'll thank me later.

[Dr. Old Bill]

I read As I Lay Dying in high school, and I grew obsessed with Faulkner. There's just something so gothic/morbid about his work. Maybe it's how he marries normality to the disturbing aspects of life and death? Read his short stories; you'll thank me later.

 

Yes, I've read some Faulkner and enjoyed most of it, even though I'm generally not fond of Modernism. Actually, I gave an 80-minute presentation / discussion on "Barn Burning" last year that seemed to be very well-received. It may, in fact, be my favorite short story, period. I also read his novella "The Bear" recently, and enjoyed that too. I remember trying to read The Sound and the Fury about a decade ago, when my literary reading was an avocation, rather than a study...and I made it about thirty pages in before I stopped. I suspect that I'll give it another try at some point, and that when I do, I will appreciate it far more, knowing what I know now!

 

I have a couple of collections of Faulkner's short stories, but as is always the case when I'm in my "busy" season, I regret not reading more stuff when I had the time. There's just so much good stuff out there. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to get through even a quarter of it.

Edited February 4, 2015 by Wyatt's Torch

[__________________________]

I'm reading The Monk by Matthew Lewis, and it's such a strong novel. I mean, it's the typical gothic novel, but who doesn't love gothic? .

Lol YES. I love The Monk. That book is among the most ridiculous, puerile, morally disgusting, and over-the-top annoying novels I've read.

[Dr. Old Bill]

Lol YES. I love The Monk. That book is among the most ridiculous, puerile, morally disgusting, and over-the-top annoying novels I've read.

 

Oh! I totally missed ToC saying that.

 

Yes! I love The Monk too! The day I finished reading it, my wife posted this status update on Facebook:

 

The Perils of Being Married to an English Major: Coming home to swap stories about your day, only to find out your husband's day consisted of reading a book about a monk who raped his 15-year old sister in a sepulcher full of dead bodies.

 

[kurayamino]

WT, LOL!! That's pretty hilarious!

I'm back in class so I'm currently reading Lyly's Gallathea and Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy.

[margeryhemp]

I'm still on page 70-something of The Goldfinch which I started a few weeks back. I don't know why but I'm having troubles focusing on reading fiction---I just want to delve into some theory/criticism once I get back to my apartment. That, and/or I'm just not finding The Goldfinch to be the amazing work that it's been praised to be. 

 

Ugh, I feel your pain. I found the first half pretty interesting but by the time I reached the end I was left with the impression that it coulda been waayyyyy more succinct. Have you tried The Secret History?

[Lycidas]

Count me in among lovers of The Monk! Amazing that Lewis wrote it before he turned 20. And here I am thinking applying to graduate schools is an accomplishment...

[JeanCalvin]

Relative newcomer here, but I thought I'd be fearless and answer this question honestly. I'm currently reading Neil Gaiman's new collection of short stories, Trigger Warning. It's a welcome break from my thesis work, breezy and fun, but with an edge, like all Gaiman's stuff.

[__________________________]

Relative newcomer here, but I thought I'd be fearless and answer this question honestly. I'm currently reading Neil Gaiman's new collection of short stories, Trigger Warning. It's a welcome break from my thesis work, breezy and fun, but with an edge, like all Gaiman's stuff.

No shame, and welcome!  Both my SO and my undergraduate lit studies advisor have been trying to get me to get into him for a while, and what short stories I've read by him have been a lot of fun.  Maybe I'll check out that collection when I get a chance.

 

Count me in among lovers of The Monk! Amazing that Lewis wrote it before he turned 20. And here I am thinking applying to graduate schools is an accomplishment...

I think upper crust teenagers in the late 18th century had a lot more free time than us.  I think of it as being about as much of an accomplishment as someone publishing a pulpy science fiction or horror novel (on like Tor or Baen or DAW books) in their first or second year of college.  Pretty sure that book was considered a particularly trashy and adolescent example of the trashiest genre (Gothic) in a medium already considered pretty vulgar (the novel).   

[Dr. Old Bill]

I think upper crust teenagers in the late 18th century had a lot more free time than us.  I think of it as being about as much of an accomplishment as someone publishing a pulpy science fiction or horror novel (on like Tor or Baen or DAW books) in their first or second year of college.  Pretty sure that book was considered a particularly trashy and adolescent example of the trashiest genre (Gothic) in a medium already considered pretty vulgar (the novel). 

 

What's great, however, is that he went on to become a Member of Parliament while he was still quite young! It was indeed considered a scandalous novel at the time, but clearly not so scandalous that it affected Lewis' political career. (Imagine the author of 50 Shades of Grey getting elected to the Federal government?)

 

I've moved on to The Two Gentlemen of Verona. I'm about halfway through, and am only moderately enjoying it. I've never been a big fan of Shakespeare's comedies, however. Fortunately I (like most) think many of his tragedies (Coriolanus and Hamlet in particular) are among the best works ever written in English, so it all balances out.

Edited February 7, 2015 by Wyatt's Torch

[__________________________]

What's great, however, is that he went on to become a Member of Parliament while he was still quite young! It was indeed considered a scandalous novel at the time, but clearly not so scandalous that it affected Lewis' political career. (Imagine the author of 50 Shades of Grey getting elected to the Federal government?)

Ohhh yeah, forgot about that for a second.  Dude, 18th century Britain was weird as shit.  Horace Walpole and William Beckford were in Parliament as well, yes? 

 

I dunno about federal government, but I could totally imagine an erotic novelist getting elected to California state government. And the author of 50 Shades of Grey could also very well be the next big host on Fox News and I wouldn't bat an eye.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Those_Who_Trespass)

[Mattie Roh]

I'm currently working on Aphra Behn's The Widow Ranter for one of my classes. I might end up using this play for my thesis in this class because of the inclusion of the feminine oracular tradition (my current project) and multiple strong female roles! Including an "Indian" Queen that catches the audience's sympathy and is well spoken/portrayed!

 

I love Aphra Behn and I haven't read this one yet. Thanks for the suggestion!

[obrial42]

I thought I'd chime in because a good book is sometimes the only thing to distract me from checking my email every 5 minutes. I recently found a used bookstore near the campus where I teach, and I picked up a few books I've been meaning to read: Summertime (Coetzee), Song of Solomon (Morrison), and Midnight's Children (Rushdie). I'm halfway through Summertime, and it is definitely serving its purpose to distract me.

[Dr. Old Bill]

 Midnight's Children (Rushdie).

 

That would be in my top 10 favorite books of all time, for what it's worth.

 

Rushdie's a little hit and miss, but his hits are amazing. Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a great little novel as well. Almost a Y.A. novella, but delightful for all ages.

[HesseBunuel90]

Right now I'm reading Walker Percy's Love In the Ruins, a brilliant social satire with allusions to More's Utopia throughout.

[obrial42]

That would be in my top 10 favorite books of all time, for what it's worth.

 

 

 

I struggled through The Satanic Verses, but I've heard such good things about Midnight's Children that I had to get the book. 

[1Q84]

I'm taking a gender and sexuality at the fin de siecle course right now and after having to suffer through Wilde (whom I quite despise only partly because I don't enjoy Victorian Lit), I have been surprised to be enjoying George Gissing, of all people. The Odd Women is terrible in parts but pretty thrilling as an early articulation of feminist resistance to traditional marriage and family (that is, as far as a man's articulations of the women's movement can go).

[__________________________]

1Q84, have you read any Huysmans, perchance? Reading Against Nature with The Picture of Dorian Grey was one of the most fun pairings I did when I was aimlessly bumming around between jobs and getting by on stolen food and books in Chicago... Idk if it'll make Wilde any more palatable, but Des Esseintes (the main character in Huysmans' novel) is a Fop To Be Reckoned With -- its also the crazy weird book that makes Dorian lose his innocence.

Victorians drive me nuts too, but pairing them with their cooler French contemporaries can help? Maybe? You've sparked my interest in Gissing though...

[1Q84]

1Q84, have you read any Huysmans, perchance? Reading Against Nature with The Picture of Dorian Grey was one of the most fun pairings I did when I was aimlessly bumming around between jobs and getting by on stolen food and books in Chicago... Idk if it'll make Wilde any more palatable, but Des Esseintes (the main character in Huysmans' novel) is a Fop To Be Reckoned With -- its also the crazy weird book that makes Dorian lose his innocence.

Victorians drive me nuts too, but pairing them with their cooler French contemporaries can help? Maybe? You've sparked my interest in Gissing though...

 

Ah that's where I recognized the name from. I haven't but it definitely sounds like it's worth reading now that you describe it. Would love to have that epithet on my tombstone (1Q84 - Fop To Be Reckoned With).

 

As an aside, I'm curious about everyone's reading speeds here. I feel sometimes that I crawl when I read novels (Victorian ones, in particular) and I'm not sure if I have a problem or not. I can usually do 40-50 pages an hour.. (that's a complete guess)? Critical writing is a whole other bag, though.

[unræd]

Would love to have that epithet on my tombstone (1Q84 - Fop To Be Reckoned With).

 

Why wait until then? I mean, a boy needs business cards.

[Hannalore]

As an aside, I'm curious about everyone's reading speeds here. I feel sometimes that I crawl when I read novels (Victorian ones, in particular) and I'm not sure if I have a problem or not. I can usually do 40-50 pages an hour.. (that's a complete guess)? Critical writing is a whole other bag, though.

 

I think it just depends on the person. I can finish a lengthy novel in a day or so without feeling rushed (I read All the Light We Cannot See on Saturday) and tend to be able to do that with all the fiction I read for research or classes regardless of period. Critical writing, however, takes me ages. I spend a day on one article or essay. All of my peers in the MA program here have different speeds and we all seem to have generally the same level of comprehension so I've decided speed is meaningless as long as everything gets done.

[1Q84]

Why wait until then? I mean, a boy needs business cards.

 

Have been inexplicably out of upvotes for 24 hours so I'll just have to comment it: you're amazing.

 

I think it just depends on the person. I can finish a lengthy novel in a day or so without feeling rushed (I read All the Light We Cannot See on Saturday) and tend to be able to do that with all the fiction I read for research or classes regardless of period. Critical writing, however, takes me ages. I spend a day on one article or essay. All of my peers in the MA program here have different speeds and we all seem to have generally the same level of comprehension so I've decided speed is meaningless as long as everything gets done.

 

That makes me feel a little better. But wow, what I would give to be able to finish 500+ pages in a day!