|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/2/2009
Posts: 11,101
Neurons: 39,933
Location: Booligal, New South Wales, Australia
|
I am sure we had this topic some time ago, but couldnt find it in my search.
I wanted to share with you a book I am reading by an Australian author, Tom Keneally.
Tom is an historian as well as an author and has written 28 boks of fiction, 13 non-fiction and 2 childrens books.
This book, 'The Daughters of Mars' is about two women who were nurses in world War 1, it is not a 'girly' book,
and certainly not a dull historical novel.
It is a fasinating recount of the conditions and nursing experiences of that time, as Keneallys'
books are factually founded from the journals of nurses and letters they wrote home.
The description of different campaigns and the tragic loss of lives.
I am half way through so will tell you more.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 10/18/2009
Posts: 1,928
Neurons: 6,180
|
Found it! (Not FounDit) Currently on the brink of finishing Christopher Hitchens' biography of Thomas Jefferson "Thomas Jefferson: Author of America" though not knowledgeable enough on the subject to comment on the book. Also Right Ho! Jeeves to while away the minutes on the train, though I don't seem to spend enough of those there to come near to finishing it. Also Money by Martin Amis but I find mahogany easier to penetrate with a spoon. Tolstoy's War & Peace, delectable but I still have quite a bit of it left.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/2/2009
Posts: 11,101
Neurons: 39,933
Location: Booligal, New South Wales, Australia
|
This book is fasinating with the limited medical supplies they were using with amputations and horrific wounds, ordinary old peroxide and condys crystals andcarbolic soap.
Of course all before anti Bs.
That sounds heavy uus.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 6/30/2010
Posts: 10,965
Neurons: 32,652
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
|
Currently a history of the Knights Templar, next up Macbeth ( I'm assisting my local theatre youth group with some text work ) followed by a history of the Vikings
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/30/2012
Posts: 400
Neurons: 1,328
|
next up Macbeth ( I'm assisting my local theatre youth group with some text work
Good for you ex.
Once upon a time... etc.,
I played the "Prince" on stage back in another (early) liftime. (Mid 17th centuary, as I recall, and was hounded by my fellow thespians by the line, "You are amiss, and do not know it".)
I hope your kids, "break a leg", on every performance..
The Knights Templar are not to be admired by what we understand as "civilized" culture.
Losty
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/12/2011
Posts: 33,908
Neurons: 219,474
Location: Livingston, Scotland, United Kingdom
|
Losty wrote:Quote:The Knights Templar are not to be admired by what we understand as "civilized" culture. Oh - I don't know. They were sort of a Christian(ish) version of the IMF, the Swiss Banks and Al Quaida combined. What's not to admire? I'm currently reading a pretty awful Sci-Fi book I got free with my new Kindle. The author had a good idea for a new 'slant' (the Earth being a live 'Reality TV' show for bodiless aliens), but the story line is not well put over. It starts with two dictators at opposite ends of Asia, called Ajadinamad and Kam Jang-Il deciding to nuke each other; with several groups of perfectly ethical Americans (from the CIA to the President's Office, to a bunch of schoolkids) all working miracles to save mankind. I'll finish it during my daily bus-journeys, but not really to be recommended.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 4/13/2012
Posts: 1,770
Neurons: 5,765
|
Skipping around through "Jerry of the Islands" and "English Literature for Boys and Girls"
waiting to read instead of skip when the hardcopies arrive sometime next week.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 4/10/2009
Posts: 120
Neurons: 540
Location: Kemi, Lapponia, Finland
|
Just reading C.Ferguson's Predator Nation.Quite a book, gives much to think about!
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/9/2010
Posts: 1,937
Neurons: 45,980
Location: Orange, New South Wales, Australia
|
I have pushed my historical novels aside for a spell and I am having a relaxed reading period with Bryce Courtenay's latest, and unfortunately, last novel.
It is "The Jack Of Diamonds", and so far I have only read 2 chapters but, it is in Bryce's usual well researched easy flowing style about a boy growing up in a slum area of Toronto during the depression(story starts about 1930). Ex may know if the area is fact or fiction, or whether it is even known, Cabbage Town is what it is called in the book and, as the author has often used authentic place names in other books, it may well exist?
Bryce Courtenay was the author of "The Power Of One". A fantastic depiction of South Africa under apartheid, and the follow up named "Tandia". I wish he had written a sequel to "Tandia".
Bryce passed away on 22 November, 2012, age 79, from stomach cancer, shortly after completing this last book.
Another good author gone, may he rest in peace knowing that he has brought great pleasure to innumerable readers.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 3/20/2009
Posts: 258
Neurons: 1,715
|
"The Fine Print: How Big Companies Use "Plain English" to Rob You Blind"
by David Cay Johnston
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/2/2009
Posts: 11,101
Neurons: 39,933
Location: Booligal, New South Wales, Australia
|
RIP Bryce.
I have read most of his books, but not the one you are reading Ray, keep us posted.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 6/30/2011
Posts: 964
Neurons: 3,950
|
I am (almost) embarrassed to say I'm reading the oh-so-forbidden/exciting Fifty Shades of Grey. I had to find out what all the fuss was about. Good Lord?!?! I am not being enlightened in the way you are Tov, but I am enlightened!  Reading can be for pleasure, as well as educational. Right?
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/2/2009
Posts: 11,101
Neurons: 39,933
Location: Booligal, New South Wales, Australia
|
How are you going with those fluffy handcuffs Listening, or is that another book?
Enjoy, then tell us all about it, I have not read the book yet.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 6/30/2010
Posts: 10,965
Neurons: 32,652
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
|
LostinSC wrote:next up Macbeth ( I'm assisting my local theatre youth group with some text work Good for you ex. Once upon a time... etc., I played the "Prince" on stage back in another (early) liftime. (Mid 17th centuary, as I recall, and was hounded by my fellow thespians by the line, "You are amiss, and do not know it".) I hope your kids, "break a leg", on every performance.. The Knights Templar are not to be admired by what we understand as "civilized" culture. Losty Another of my functions with this particular group is fight choreography - so I get to teach them how not to really kill each other while understanding and beautifully enunciating Early Modern English verse drama - WHY OH WHY DO I VOLUNTEER FOR THIS TORTURE ? ( "'cos I love it and I think it's important" says a little voice in my head )      
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/7/2011
Posts: 298
Neurons: 733
Location: United States, VA
|
"The Knights Templar are not to be admired by what we understand as "civilized" culture." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_TwfpFXz6A
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/2/2009
Posts: 11,101
Neurons: 39,933
Location: Booligal, New South Wales, Australia
|
Little voices in your head should always be listened to.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/12/2011
Posts: 33,908
Neurons: 219,474
Location: Livingston, Scotland, United Kingdom
|
Hi Tovarish!
Just to put your mind at rest.
I also had a 'little voice in my head' that said there was an earlier thread "What are you reading now?", but I have gone back, line by line, through the indices of the "Literature", "Grammar" and "Vocabulary" Forums (Fora??, Fori? Fors?) - back in each one to a time before I joined the group - and it is NOT there.
You are not going mad, it was there and someone has stolen it...
I've just finished two 'novellas' by Marion Zimmer Bradley - "Door Through Space" and "The Colours of Space". They were very good. The first seems to be a precursor to the "Darkover" novels. The planet "Wolf" shares many attributes (geographical and cultural) with Darkover.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/21/2009
Posts: 43,125
Neurons: 582,214
Location: Helsinki, Southern Finland Province, Finland
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/30/2012
Posts: 400
Neurons: 1,328
|
"Everything is Obvious*
*once you know the answer.
How Common Sense Fails Us
By
Duncan J. Watts
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/2/2009
Posts: 11,101
Neurons: 39,933
Location: Booligal, New South Wales, Australia
|
Some times they really are out to gets us Drag, ha ha
I have finished the book, wonderful research, the author is to be commended.
The 'War to end All Wars' I can see why they must have believed that.
My Grandfather went snow blind on the Western Front in WW1, conditions not fit for man or beast, or nurses.
The book does not glorify war by any stretch of the imagination, but it helps to be reminded what previous generations endured.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/12/2011
Posts: 33,908
Neurons: 219,474
Location: Livingston, Scotland, United Kingdom
|
Thanks JJ - the last 'post' was a few months before I joined.
I must have read it, but never posted in it.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 3/22/2009
Posts: 4,267
Neurons: 165,946
|
"A Universe of Consciousness" One of Gerald Edelman's more recent books explaining his theory of the physiological substrate for consciousness. Straight up stalled on this one at about chapter 6, I suspect there is something missing in my conceptual model of his theory that is responsible for that "deer in the headlights", feeling I get when I try to just read through my confusion. On the other hand, it may be that I just still do not understand the question well enough, to grasp the answer, this book is back-burnered for now, as I think the next one will remedy that.
"Consciousness Explained" Daniel Dennett, thus far, perhaps the most excellent example of the application of rigorous philosophical investigation of the subject I have ever read. I've been reading this book for over 6 months now, taken a number of breaks, to digest, and then return to re-read significant chunks of what I've read so far. His discussion of what he calls Cartesian Materialism, or what happens when you discard dualism but keep the Cartesian theater, is what has me re-examining my working conceptual model of the issue.
"Dragon Riders of Pern" Anne McCaffrey, recreational reading, delightful pure fantasy/sci fi about an odd world where a knightish breed of riders, mount teleporting, telepathic, fire-breathing dragons, to keep their world free of devastating, de-forestation thread like spores that launch from a companion planet in an elliptical orbit.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/12/2011
Posts: 33,908
Neurons: 219,474
Location: Livingston, Scotland, United Kingdom
|
Hi Epi!
That sounds a bit beyond me right now - I would need to start with "consciousness and materialism 101" and learn the words. I know 'substrate' and 'physiological', but I thought "Cartesian" was a linguistic theory, or a branch of rectangular vector geometry!
However, I like the Pern series (there are many of them now - I think Anne McCaffrey's son has continued the series). Of course, I like the dragons.
Hi dusty!
Your selection made me realise how much I enjoy fiction "aimed at" an adolescent 'market'.
I'm not sure of the expected age of readers of "English Literature for Boys and Girls", but I bet I would enjoy it.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 4/20/2009
Posts: 2,281
Neurons: 12,855
Location: Spindletop, Texas, United States
|
"The Confession" by John Grisham. More political than I was hoping for. Also, he paints Texans in a very unflattering light. Fiction yes, but not the entertainment I was seeking. Prior to that, "The Associate" by John Grisham. That one was entertaining, fairly good plot line, but ended without tying up all the loose ends like I was hoping. Prior to that, "Surviving Prostate Cancer" by Dr. Patrick Walsh, my new friend.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/21/2009
Posts: 43,125
Neurons: 582,214
Location: Helsinki, Southern Finland Province, Finland
|
Mika Waltari - Turms kuolematon (translated into English as "The Etruscan")
|
|
Rank: Newbie
Joined: 2/8/2013
Posts: 1
Neurons: 3
Location: Turkey
|
reading skakerspeare 'cuz his works have caught perfectness . also i read harry potter books and i recommend u to read charlotte bronte.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/12/2011
Posts: 33,908
Neurons: 219,474
Location: Livingston, Scotland, United Kingdom
|
Hello myriad thoughts!
Welcome to the English Forum.
That is a very 'mixed' selection - but I agree they are all good.
Do you read them in English, or translated?
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/6/2012
Posts: 4,907
Neurons: 16,769
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
|
JJ,
How do you do it? You can always find old posts.
Photographic memory, I bet.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 3/19/2011
Posts: 185
Neurons: 1,369
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
|
I am reading Five Stories by Willa Cather who is an American writer of the early to mid 1900’s. This particular book is a book of short stories that feature the Nebraskan prairie and the world of art. From the technical side of things, I found the stories to be very well written. Author’s use of language is superb and stories are very well crafted. The dialog between characters deserves special mention.
On the content side of things, I found author to be very successful in portraying some large issues of life (love, hope ...) in the lives of ordinary, yet special, people. I found myself eager to read each of the stories and each gave me pause to think about how brave and noble people can be and how life can veer in unexpected, sometimes tragic, directions.
This is the first work of Cather that I’ve read and I must say I will read this author again.
To those on this forum who are just learning English and looking for examples of very written prose, this is a good example of proper use of English.
Joe
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/21/2009
Posts: 43,125
Neurons: 582,214
Location: Helsinki, Southern Finland Province, Finland
|
Hope2 wrote:JJ,
How do you do it? You can always find old posts.
Photographic memory, I bet. I've been here three and a half years now. I can remember some words used in old threads, especially if I was involved myself. Sometimes I have used some Finnish term, which helps to utilise the Forum Search. I can remember you started a thread of Old Sayings for Rogermue as Hope1, and I can remember I used the Finnish phrase "Syvänmeren rysäkeppi" in that thread. Quite easy to search that ;-)
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 7/6/2012
Posts: 4,907
Neurons: 16,769
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
|
I remember I searched 'Old Sayings for Rogermue' not too long ago and got nothing.
I just tried again. The exact title also had -'Add Some'
It brought it up under 'exact phrase' instead of 'all words'. I had forgotten that I had issued the invitation.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 4/22/2011
Posts: 2,812
Neurons: 7,024
Location: Japan
|
Light in August - William Faulkner PS I could find http://forum.thefreedictionary.com/Old Sayings for Rogermue, Hope1 because I remember the phrase "he could care if..." which I posted.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/2/2009
Posts: 11,101
Neurons: 39,933
Location: Booligal, New South Wales, Australia
|
I enjoy the writing of Lee Child, with his character Jack Reacher, but was disappointed to hear the movie to be made on one of his books was
to star Tom Cruise.
Jack Reacher is supposed to be ex-military and 6'6" tall, something the vertically challenged Cruise is not.
What a shame when a character is not portrayed by someone similar to the authors description.
I am still smarting over Richard Chamberlain in the Thorn Birds.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 6/30/2010
Posts: 10,965
Neurons: 32,652
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
|
Or Shogun ???
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/2/2009
Posts: 11,101
Neurons: 39,933
Location: Booligal, New South Wales, Australia
|
What a shocker, maybe we shouldnt read the books before we see the movies?
|
|
|
Guest |