response 51 of 119:

Sep 6 02:02 UTC 2003

Not at all!  I think it's great there are people who like that stuff.  
I do, however, respectfully object to them being allowed the power to 
declare their preferences -- inaccessible to most literate people -- 
to be "the great works of literature".  Real culture is not exclusive 
by design.

response 53 of 119:

Sep 6 13:01 UTC 2003

I can't suggest much, with the initial rejection of science fiction.  I'd be
pretty curious as to why "no sci-fi", though.  Some stuff like Ursula LeGuin
is extremely good stuff which is just barely about the future, or rocket
ships, or whatever else tends to define science fiction for most people.

response 55 of 119:

Sep 6 18:06 UTC 2003

I'd recommend almost anything by Ursula K. LeGuin, although she's not 19th
century since she's still alive and writing.  "The Lathe of Heaven" is a
pretty good starter - it's about dreaming.  Most of her stuff is essentially
sci-fi because it is set in some far future, but basically it's a way for her
to set up her characters in much different societies than we have in reality.

response 57 of 119:

Sep 7 02:29 UTC 2003

I just finished an interesting book called "HEre's to the Ladies", by Carla
Kelly, about the frontier forts in the late 1800s. She worked as a ranger and
living historian at a couple of the forts, and these are fascinating stories.
But of course it was published this year. Recommended anyhow. She used several
true incidents in her stories and, as a writer, she is very upbeat, even wehn
the story is tragic. She lets the quiet heroism of everyday kindness and life
shine through. 

If you want 19th century, I'd recommend Kipling (I love Kipling, both his
poetry and his prose -- Kim is my favorite, although I 've read Stalky and
Co. about twenty times in the last three years) and H. Rider Haggard (She is
his most famous work, I think, although I like King Solomon's Mines) -- I read
him when I was in kindergarden, which started a lifelong adoration of things
Egyptian and pharaonic.

response 59 of 119:

Sep 7 12:43 UTC 2003

And then of course there's Jules Verne -- "Twenty Thousand Leagues
under the Sea", "From the Earth to the Moon", etc.

response 61 of 119:

Sep 7 16:00 UTC 2003

I read Kim twice but not the other Kiplings.  I have downloaded this item and
we will see what is in the catalog.  Today I am still so exhausted from our
day on the town Friday that I have no energy to even turn pages so it may be
a video day instead.  I can type with my arms resting on the table.

response 63 of 119:

Sep 7 19:27 UTC 2003

I wont' be buying books.  Tried to use the library catalog but it was not
accessible this morning.  I only buy dictionaries. Saves space, the library
can buy the others.  They take requests and bought all sorts of strange things
that we asked for including a book on what we thought was residential but
turned out to be agricultural insulation techniques.  We could heat the house
with pigs or apples.

Here are some suggestions from another translator (who is doing a lot of
reading while waiting around for radiation).

-----------------
<<I am going to educate myself about literature.  The local computer
conferencing people are all listing their favorite books.  Sort of random
way to study.>>

I have an eclectic bunch of favorites.  
Do w/this list what you will.

from h.s.:
the trilogy by Sigrid Undset [Kristen Lavransdatter, The Ax, and The Cross, I 
think]; she got a Nobel prize for the first one in the '30's.  Story of a 
young girl in 14th century Norway and her life and experiences.  Fascinating to
 me then and now.  

from college:
Catch 22 by Heller

from afterwards:
The World According to Garp by Irving
[wonderful quirkiness, combination of comedy and tragedy and the unlikely.  a 
couple of my female friends hate Irving and Garp, bkz they are anti-feminist. 
 I just enjoyed it for what it was; guess I'm not PC enough in the eyes of 
some people. ohwell]

anything by Nelson DeMille, but the best is Gold Coast, second best Word of 
Honor.
[for fun; sharp writing, my first response to Gold Coast was--wow, he writes 
popular books expecting that his audience will actually have a brain]

amazing little books:
Painted Bird by Jerzy Kozinsky
King Rat by ..... can't think of the author.  same guy who wrote Shogun I 
think.  Ah. yes.  James Clavell.

novels by Pat Conroy [I'm reading Prince of Tides now, and loved Beach Music 
-- two good beach reads].  His first autobiographical book was interesting -- 
The Water is Wide - and this summer I went to Daufuskie Island where it 
actually took place [he taught in a 2-room still-segregated schoolhouse in
1969]

Anthony Adverse [one of my mother's; a fascinating book at the time I read 
it, though I can't tell you now any of the details]

Tom Jones by Fielding

for fun and mental gymnastics, I enjoy some detective novels written by 
women:  Reichs' books:  Deja Dead, for instance, and Patricia Cornwell's books 
w/Kay Scarpetta character in them, and Grafton's A is for Alimony series, B is 
for..... etc.



Comments?

response 65 of 119:

Sep 8 03:22 UTC 2003

I'm reading "Shogun" right now.  I'm not sure I like it enough to look 
up Clavell's other books, but am only just starting the 2nd volume so 
maybe it'll dazzle me later.

response 67 of 119:

Sep 8 10:07 UTC 2003

Segou by Marise Condee. But I honestly don't know if it's translated 
into english

response 69 of 119:

Sep 8 13:16 UTC 2003

What classic and good Dutch fiction is available in English?  I don't recall
ever reading any at all?  Jim has heard of Shogun.

response 71 of 119:

Sep 9 02:27 UTC 2003

"The Decline of the West" Oswald Spengler

response 73 of 119:

Sep 9 03:47 UTC 2003

I'll second the recommendation of Feynman's autobiographies.  They're a lot
of fun.