🐈
» Groups » Writers & Translators » Forum » Re: Books
Page options
richardsmith94
Community Member

Books

Hi all.

 

I was wondering if anyone had a book recommendation that they could share, because, much as I love them, I seem to be constantly reading either 'The House At Pooh Corner' or 'Catcher In The Rye'! New or old, it dosn't matter.

 

Any suggestions would be great.

 

 

25 REPLIES 25
luce-neidert
Community Member

A book I recently read, that I thought well written and full of information about what is (unfortunately) going on in the real world:

Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century 

It's written by an American journalist, Jessica Bruder. It one one of those rare books that made me wake up in the middle of the night to read some more.


Luce N wrote:

A book I recently read, that I thought well written and full of information about what is (unfortunately) going on in the real world:

Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century 

It's written by an American journalist, Jessica Bruder. It one one of those rare books that made me wake up in the middle of the night to read some more.

 

Thank you Luce, that's now on the list!


 

thebookdoc
Community Member

Can you give me an idea of what you enjoy? I tend to read at the literary fringe. Weird fact. I'm a freelance editor and I haven't read a physical book in 6 years. I have 5 books here in Spain (I had about 1000 in the US before I left). Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable by Beckett in Romanian (I tried to learn Romanian by trying to read it); La Machina de Follar by Buchowski (in Spanish, translates to the f-ing machine); Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges (Spanish short stories  by an Argentinian magical realism author); The Koran in Arabic (someone who rented a room from me left it here and didn't pay for the room); The Book of Not Knowing (actually in English. My daughter left it with me after her trip to visit me). I am finding it difficult to read in a second language. I read and edit about 100 books a year on the computer, so I am less not reading than doing it as a job via Siskel and Ebert. 

I could name probably all of the books on my shelves in my office before I left the US. I had a shelf dedicated to unusual people (e.g., biographies of Change and Eng, Sid and Nancy, Side Show Freaks, etc.), a shelf of poetry, a shelf of the best books, a shelf of the worst ones. Nothing was alphabetized but I could find anything immediately. I had a shelf that was mostly my own publications. When you publish books in English and they get translated into Chinese or whatever, they take up space. I gave my grandmother a Japanese version of one of my books because it wasn't worth her trying to read my book in English. She was 101 at the time and it gave her bragging rights at the home. It was dedicated to her (in English and various languages).

So...tell me what you like. Post a list of favorites. I'm sure I can share. One of my creative writing instructors said to me "Who is putting this stuff in your hands?" when referring to my reading list. I was resourceful.



Richard L wrote:

Can you give me an idea of what you enjoy? I tend to read at the literary fringe. Weird fact. I'm a freelance editor and I haven't read a physical book in 6 years. I have 5 books here in Spain (I had about 1000 in the US before I left). Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable by Beckett in Romanian (I tried to learn Romanian by trying to read it); La Machina de Follar by Buchowski (in Spanish, translates to the f-ing machine); Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges (Spanish short stories  by an Argentinian magical realism author); The Koran in Arabic (someone who rented a room from me left it here and didn't pay for the room); The Book of Not Knowing (actually in English. My daughter left it with me after her trip to visit me). I am finding it difficult to read in a second language. I read and edit about 100 books a year on the computer, so I am less not reading than doing it as a job via Siskel and Ebert. 

I could name probably all of the books on my shelves in my office before I left the US. I had a shelf dedicated to unusual people (e.g., biographies of Change and Eng, Sid and Nancy, Side Show Freaks, etc.), a shelf of poetry, a shelf of the best books, a shelf of the worst ones. Nothing was alphabetized but I could find anything immediately. I had a shelf that was mostly my own publications. When you publish books in English and they get translated into Chinese or whatever, they take up space. I gave my grandmother a Japanese version of one of my books because it wasn't worth her trying to read my book in English. She was 101 at the time and it gave her bragging rights at the home. It was dedicated to her (in English and various languages).

So...tell me what you like. Post a list of favorites. I'm sure I can share. One of my creative writing instructors said to me "Who is putting this stuff in your hands?" when referring to my reading list. I was resourceful.


Hey Richard. Yep, that's exactly where I am...I read so much with work that I don't do it enough anymore for it's simple enjoyment....Well, apart from 'Pooh' and 'Catcher', I'm a fan of Cormac McCarthy and Dickens and as regards non fiction, 'Stalingrad' by Anthony Beevor is one of the best things I have ever read...Hopefully that may give you an indication about what I like, but I'm really open to anything.


 

Beckett: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable
Tom Kromer: Waiting for Nothing
Brautigan: So the Wind Won't Blow it All Away

Jerzy Kozinsky: The Painted Bird

John Brunner: Stand on Zanzibar
D. Keith mano: The death and life of harry Goth or Take Five (a lot of his other books suck)

michael_skaggs
Community Member

If you're into cold-war era cloak & dagger stuff that leans toward technical thriller, snag a copy of Storming Intrepid by Payne Harrison. American space shuttle with parts for the "Star Wars" platform is hijacked by a Soviet operative, and it goes into great detail about how that happened, as well as all the surrounding events to get it back and prevent things from escalating into WW3.

 

Bit of a Hunt for Red October in space vibe, but really enjoyable. I've lost count of the number of times I've gone through it cover to cover.

The Midnight Folk by John Masefield (as an extension of  Pooh) - a true classic. The Kite Runner (which you have probably read),  as well as A Thousand Splendid Suns, and And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hossein, and if you are looking for a bit of enjoyable best-seller crime, the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith (AKA J.K. Rowlings)

 

And then, the standby classics of all the Brontes and Jane Austen etc.  If you like French writers: Balzac, Proust, Baudelaire, Gide, Camus, Sartre  and a thousand others ... 


Nichola L wrote:

The Midnight Folk by John Masefield (as an extension of  Pooh) - a true classic. The Kite Runner (which you have probably read),  as well as A Thousand Splendid Suns, and And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hossein, and if you are looking for a bit of enjoyable best-seller crime, the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith (AKA J.K. Rowlings)

 

And then, the standby classics of all the Brontes and Jane Austen etc.  If you like French writers: Balzac, Proust, Baudelaire, Gide, Camus, Sartre  and a thousand others ... 

 

Thank you Nichola. Not sure why you thought I would have read The Kite Runner, but you're right, I have and loved it 🙂 I'll definitely look to get The Midnight Folk.


 

Brilliant, thank you for taking the time to reply Michael

abinadab-agbo
Community Member

Go read Lune Noire by Monique Molière. The book is so literary I don't think it's translatable, even by Nichola L. Even the most knowledgeable translator will either know too much French to be unable to perfectly translate it into English, or know too much English to be able to capture the most literary of contours therein.

 

Then read (or reread) Le Mystère de la Chambre Jaune. It was published early 20th century.

 

Bummer I have no English books in my read list.


Abinadab A wrote:

Go read Lune Noire by Monique Molière. The book is so literary I don't think it's translatable, even by Nichola L. Even the most knowledgeable translator will either know too much French to be unable to perfectly translate it into English, or know too much English to be able to capture the most literary of contours therein.

 

Then read (or reread) Le Mystère de la Chambre Jaune. It was published early 20th century.

 

Bummer I have no English books in my read list.

 

Hi Abinadab, I'm going to get it on your recommendation, just to make me feel more intelligent than I am 🙂


 


Abinadab A wrote:

Go read Lune Noire by Monique Molière. The book is so literary I don't think it's translatable, even by Nichola L. Even the most knowledgeable translator will either know too much French to be unable to perfectly translate it into English, or know too much English to be able to capture the most literary of contours therein.

 

Then read (or reread) Le Mystère de la Chambre Jaune. It was published early 20th century.

 

Bummer I have no English books in my read list.


___________________________________

Lune Noire is  now on  my list! Thanks! 


Nichola L wrote:

Abinadab A wrote:

Go read Lune Noire by Monique Molière. The book is so literary I don't think it's translatable, even by Nichola L. Even the most knowledgeable translator will either know too much French to be unable to perfectly translate it into English, or know too much English to be able to capture the most literary of contours therein.

 

Then read (or reread) Le Mystère de la Chambre Jaune. It was published early 20th century.

 

Bummer I have no English books in my read list.


___________________________________

Lune Noire is  now on  my list! Thanks! 


You're welcome, Nichola L.!

 

mikaelaraujo
Community Member

Hi, I'm reading now "Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup" from Bill Aulet .

 

He has an interesting approach regarding startup model and concept.

For something noir in the cinematic sense, Double Indemnity by James M. Cain is a classic.
__________________________________________________
"No good deed goes unpunished." -- Clare Boothe Luce

I have another idea: now is the time to read or re-read 1984 by George Orwell.

 

I had, a long time ago, but now, with all the events that are undermining democracy, with the way we are being tracked, there is something scary added to the book. I did a year ago, and the parallels with our daily lives are very upsetting. It truly adds something to the book.

For thinking, Claire North's books, especially The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, Touch and The Sudden Appearance of Hope.

 

For laughing, Malcolm Pryce's Aberystwyth Noir series.

 

 

The Forging of a Rebel (trilogy consisting of The Forge, The Track, and The Clash) by Arturo Barea. 

 

@ Jonathon L > originally in Spanish and worth the effort; excellent English translations by Ilsa Barea, the author's wife.

 

@ Luce > your recommendation of Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by American journalist, Jessica Bruder is now on my 'Must Read' list.  Thanks!

 


Wendy C wrote:

 

@ Luce > your recommendation of Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by American journalist, Jessica Bruder is now on my 'Must Read' list.  Thanks!

 


Great, Wendy! Maybe we'll be able to share about it.

Thank you everyone that took the time and effort to reply, it's much appreciated. I've now got a very long list to work through.... Smiley Happy


Richard S wrote:

Thank you everyone that took the time and effort to reply, it's much appreciated. I've now got a very long list to work through.... Smiley Happy


Longer:

  • Jane Austen's novels, including the (unfinished versions of) the unfinished ones. Some of the juvenilia may require a degree of fandom, though I enjoyed Lady Susan.
  • Thomas Mann: Buddenbrooks and Dr. Faustus
  • Edgar Pangborn, A Mirror for Observers
  • Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
  • Maurice Druon, Tistou les pouces verts (First edition with original illustrations by Jacqueline Duhème is my favorite.) 
  • Hubert Selby, Jr. Last Exit to Brooklyn
  • Anatole France, L'Île des Pingouins/Penguin Island
  • From Dickens, Great Expectations is a personal favorite, and David Copperfield rewards rereading.
  • John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, The Pearl
  • Robinson Jeffers, Dear Judas
  • If no other Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
  • Arthur Miller, The Crucible

Some of these are of course classics, often worth catching up with or revisiting. When I become king, The Autobiography of Malcolm X will be made required reading for all (US) Americans.

In case you need smaller things to fill gaps, Neil Gaiman's short stories are sublime.

 

However, they aren't as sublime as Saki's short stories - many of which are little pieces of perfection.  Like an evil Oscar Wilde, in case you need an idea. (Btw, don't read the plays and novels unless you feel like undergoing some sort of Edwardian dystopian torture).


Douglas Michael M wrote:

Richard S wrote:

Thank you everyone that took the time and effort to reply, it's much appreciated. I've now got a very long list to work through.... Smiley Happy


Longer:

  • Jane Austen's novels, including the (unfinished versions of) the unfinished ones. Some of the juvenilia may require a degree of fandom, though I enjoyed Lady Susan.
  • Thomas Mann: Buddenbrooks and Dr. Faustus
  • Edgar Pangborn, A Mirror for Observers
  • Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
  • Maurice Druon, Tistou les pouces verts (First edition with original illustrations by Jacqueline Duhème is my favorite.) 
  • Hubert Selby, Jr. Last Exit to Brooklyn
  • Anatole France, L'Île des Pingouins/Penguin Island
  • From Dickens, Great Expectations is a personal favorite, and David Copperfield rewards rereading.
  • John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, The Pearl
  • Robinson Jeffers, Dear Judas
  • If no other Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
  • Arthur Miller, The Crucible

Some of these are of course classics, often worth catching up with or revisiting. When I become king, The Autobiography of Malcolm X will be made required reading for all (US) Americans.

 

Douglas, I like the look of this list.

 

Whilst even the mention of 'Austen' still makes me shudder (flashback to High School, studying 'Emma', having no connection with it at that time and being forced to read parts of it to the rest of the class, something I absolutely hated (probably more significantly)), The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn and David Copperfield are two of my favourites.

 

So whilst apologies to Jane (she won't mind, being dead), I'm looking forward to reading your other suggestions.

 

 


 

ezzatt
Community Member

Hello, 

If you are into investment, financial literacy, I'm reading an amazing book I'd love to share with you. Just let me know.