tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718195565973839216.post7271769668823527917..comments2023-08-28T20:55:37.738+08:00Comments on Satima's Blogspot: Yet another reading listSatima Flavellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17427849961195148899noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718195565973839216.post-4861845601174066652009-01-24T10:23:00.000+09:002009-01-24T10:23:00.000+09:00I think you've hit the nail on the head, Jo - a lo...I think you've hit the nail on the head, Jo - a lot of the classics are indeed hard going to the modern reader, and if you're anything like me, Marilyn, that's probably why you think you've already read too many "must-reads". Some of them have excellent stories and a lot to tell us about what it means to be human, but writing styles change radically over time - try reading Robinson Crusoe or Moll Flanders, or better yet, trying to get a teenager to read them:-) Even Dickens and Kipling, even Georgette Heyer and Ernest Hemingway - all are very removed in style from anything written in the last decade. In most cases, I'd rather watch a movie, if there is one, than read the book.<BR/><BR/>Nevertheless, this particular list can be useful because it has short synops of each book, and I think it's worth checking out just for that. If I've read a synopsis and a couple of reviews, I find I can at least discuss a book in theory when I come across someone who is an enthusiast, and perhaps better appreciate why anyone could get so enthusiastic over such difficult material.Satima Flavellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17427849961195148899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718195565973839216.post-10058546285152749032009-01-24T05:53:00.000+09:002009-01-24T05:53:00.000+09:00Yes, I get a tad annoyed when people propound a li...Yes, I get a tad annoyed when people propound a list of books they consider any reader worth their salt should have read. Tastes are, as you said Marilyn, absolutely personal. I do listen if someone describes a book to me that I like the sound of and frequently get hold of it. In a lot of the classics for instance I often found the writing to be particularly hard going.Johttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14087140585742801854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718195565973839216.post-74098865213467656532009-01-24T00:27:00.000+09:002009-01-24T00:27:00.000+09:00Satima --I think our choice of books is like our c...Satima --<BR/><BR/>I think our choice of books is like our choice of food, films, flowers, whatever. I therefore never take notice of what someone else says I "must" read. I have too many of such "must" reads already ...<BR/><BR/>MarilynMarilyn Z. Tomlinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03393948791752045902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718195565973839216.post-90114962732421568782009-01-23T23:18:00.000+09:002009-01-23T23:18:00.000+09:00Sounds like a long list and the few authors mentio...Sounds like a long list and the few authors mentioned by you and Juliet I have never heard of. No time right now, but will browse it later.Johttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14087140585742801854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718195565973839216.post-81632891430079837772009-01-23T21:05:00.000+09:002009-01-23T21:05:00.000+09:00I'm suprised there's not more Gaiman. He d...I'm suprised there's not more Gaiman. He doesn't do anything badly:-) Of course, there is certain sameness to some of his works, but it's a good sameness! I would have liked to have seen the best of GGK on there, too, such as The Lions of Al-Rassan and /or The Sarantine Mosaic. No LeGuin. No Olivia Butler - but then, it's a British paper. I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't read JS & MrN, although I've read excperts and thought I'd love it. I know nothing of Cloud Atlas, and I guess that's the beauty of having the little synopses - you can get an idea of whether you'd like that book or not.Satima Flavellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17427849961195148899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718195565973839216.post-52285070449460249582009-01-23T20:20:00.000+09:002009-01-23T20:20:00.000+09:00Thinking person's SF&F list - the comments...Thinking person's SF&F list - the comments on each book are great! Many of my favourites are on here, such as David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas (never really thought of it as fantasy, though), Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker, Neil Gaiman's American Gods and Susannah Clark's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. <BR/><BR/>Lists make so much more sense when the listmaker tells us something about each book and why it's there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com