What book are you currently reading?

Currently, I'm reading an anthology titled Great Modern Short Stories (amusing title these days, for a book published in 1942.) The book includes:

"Heart of Darkness" - Joseph Conrad
"The Apple-Tree" - John Galsworthy
"The Prussian Officer" - D.H. Lawrence
"Miss Brill" - Katherine Mansfield
"The Letter" - W. Sommerset Maugham
"The Snows of Kilimanjaro" Ernest Hemingway
"Paul's Case" - Willa Cather
"I'm a Fool" - Sherwood Anderson
"Haircut" - Ring Lardner
"Turn About" - William Faulkner
"The Old Demon" - Pearl S. Buck
"The Red Pony" - John Steinbeck

A couple of novellas in there but mostly short stories. I just finished Heart of Darkness. It would've been more interesting if Conrad was more down to earth. I had a hard time following him and the conflict was too ambiguous to keep me interested. I nearly fell asleep several times while reading (seriously) and it took self-discipline for me to finish the book. I hope "The Apple-Tree" is better.

I read "Heart of Darkness" and actually liked it. Of the others there I have read the stories by Maugham, Hemingway, Cather, Anderson, and Faulkner. I have read various pieces (none listed there) by the other authors. Let us know how you like the other stories!

Dormouse, if you like any of the novels, or want to comment on them, you can post a review on https://literarycabinet.forumotion.com/review-section-f19/

I'm interested in your thoughts concerning Earnest Hemingway....

I am currently reading "The Crossing" by Cormac McCarthy, the second novel of the "Border Trilogy". I am almost halfway through it. While McCarthy's prose, as usual, amazes me, this has yet to catch me emotionally and viscerally like his other work has done. We shall see!

I'm reading Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews. I found out that this author specializes in family sagas, and this particular book is the first in the Dollanganger series. A pretty disturbing book in so many levels, yet I just love it so much.

Louisa wrote:

I'm reading Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews. I found out that this author specializes in family sagas, and this particular book is the first in the Dollanganger series. A pretty disturbing book in so many levels, yet I just love it so much.

Ahhhh ... nervous laugh inserted here.

I stayed away from that book series, mainly because the squick factor
Glad to see you're reading something you enjoy, though.

I finished up Tess of the D'Urbervilles earlier today. It's lengthy with overly-detailed descriptions of location/its history, but those flaws pale in comparison with the rest of the novel. Good characters, good story, good stuff.

With Tess finished, I'm currently reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Mayor of Castro Street, and The Black Unicorn (a collection of poetry). All are wonderful so far.

I'm in the middle of Dorian Gray, too. It's my sixth or seventh attempt, not counting the audiobooks I've tried, and this time I. Will. Finish. It.

Because it was given to me by a friend, I am reading "Under the Dome" by Stephen King. Truthfully, I have been less than thrilled with King's last few outings, but with this one he is showing some ambition and better-than-average writing. It is a 1000-page book, and I am 300 pages into it. I will post a review when I am finished.

Has anyone here read "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley? I think I will be diving into that one shortly. If you have read it, what are your thoughts about it?

Lillian wrote:

Ahhhh ... nervous laugh inserted here.

I stayed away from that book series, mainly because the squick factor
Glad to see you're reading something you enjoy, though.

I can see how these books would make someone vomit. I've read the reviews and people go, "I hate it because of the you-know-what." Could the same thing be said of Lolita? The subject of that book is not all unicorns and rainbows either.

I gotta say, FitA made me cringe in some parts. But hey, isn't it nice to try out a disturbing book once in a while?

Paul wrote:

Has anyone here read "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley? I think I will be diving into that one shortly. If you have read it, what are your thoughts about it?

Read it, analysed it, did my finals about it... It's part of a thorough German education

It took me a while to begin to like it. The first chapter is extraordinarily boring, which is part of Huxley's approach, but when he begins to actually introduce characters into the story, it all becomes better.

Funny you mention it. Just last night, I was thinking about the main character's claim that he had a right to be unhappy.

Paul wrote:

Because it was given to me by a friend, I am reading "Under the Dome" by Stephen King. Truthfully, I have been less than thrilled with King's last few outings, but with this one he is showing some ambition and better-than-average writing. It is a 1000-page book, and I am 300 pages into it. I will post a review when I am finished.

Ahh Stephen King.
I am actually quite divided on him as far as my opinion. I've read some books that I loved (Misery) and others that I found less intriguing, such as Cujo and, yes, even The Shining. The former I just didn't find interesting, and the latter failed to scare me much, and I found the child an unrealistic character. The way he retained his calmness and sanity in the face of horror at the final showdown is not how a five year old would act, regardless of any 'powers'.
I knocked off the Mist in one day when I decided to screw my studies and engage in a little pleasure. I actually enjoyed it immensely, much more than I thought I would. The supermarket scene, how order and control were maintained, the interactions, how anarchy and murder were brewing, the general situation, the sanity and lack of it in the people, etc caught my interest. My favorite will probably always be Misery. With only two characters, King takes special care into sculpting the protagonists, especially Paul Sheldon. He delved into the mind of an author in an interesting way.
Anyway,
I'm interested in how his latest work is. Thanks for the review.

Now reading Night Train to Lisbon. In English, because the original German wasn't available at my bookstore. That makes it a little - I don't know, it feels weird. Usually, I read German texts in German and English texts in English or (rarely) as a German translation. This is a first, I think.

My reading is suffering a bit right now. Life is quite busy for your good ol' buddy Paul. It's nothing either really good or bad. It's just life in general, which always speeds up and slows down with cyclical regularity. I'll be contributing more here in time.

Louisa wrote:

Lillian wrote:

Ahhhh ... nervous laugh inserted here.

I stayed away from that book series, mainly because the squick factor
Glad to see you're reading something you enjoy, though.

I can see how these books would make someone vomit. I've read the reviews and people go, "I hate it because of the you-know-what." Could the same thing be said of Lolita? The subject of that book is not all unicorns and rainbows either.

I gotta say, FitA made me cringe in some parts. But hey, isn't it nice to try out a disturbing book once in a while?

Oh, I don't mind that it's disturbing. But what I am concerned about is that the author never really seems to reach a conclusion about what the real issue is and what stance the author is taking.
Yes, the siblings are haunted by misfortune, but is that a 'punishment' for incest? Or simply because their relatives are loathsome serpents?

I should be starting Dr. Faustus soon. I began The Count of Monte Cristo (I started it around a year ago, but developed a hate for reading on the computer, so I gave it up), again, this time on paperback. I finished A Perfect Spy, which was one of the best novels I have ever read. It was more or less flawless, in my opinion. I don't have much time, as my sociology book (which I'm also reading) is what I spend most of my brain power on these days. Right now the section I'm studying is just SCREWED UP. It defies common sense if every way .

I've finally started "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller. I am about 80 pages into it, and while much of the book's "war is absurd" message is spot on, Heller sometimes goes a bit over the top. I will review it once I am done.

I'm reading "Jane Austen and the Madness of Lord Byron". It's interesting and the Austen-style word usage is interesting, but I wish the author would stop inserting sentences from Austen's books.

@Lillian: It's probably just the author trying to show off how well he/she knows Austen's works. Sounds like a typical case of trying-too-hard.

Recently, I've finished reading "The Apple Tree" by John Galsworthy and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll.

I've started Gullivers Travels but I don't really like it. I'm afraid a lot of it's satire is lost on me as I'm not living in the 1700's and a few of the political/philosophical points he's trying to make I just plain disagree with. And just as a story it's not quite exciting for me and the characters aren't very deep. (You have to remember it's not actually a novel, just a fictional travelogue.) I'll try and write a review on it sometime when I'm finished. Keep your fingers crossed.

@Dormouse: Probably. I wish she hadn't, though, because it's good without it.

As far as Gulliver's Travels:
I liked the movie, but never the books. Jonathan Swift may be a genius, but it's lost on me.

Anyway - now reading Eoin Colfer's "Artemis Fowl" series. On book 5. Will post a review when I am done.
I also think I might reread the Hunger Games series.

How about you people?

Right now I am reading "The Metamorphoses" by Ovid. Basically Ovid, a Roman during the time of Augustus, is looking to combine the Greek mythological stories to their Roman counterparts. Like Homer, he writes in a poetic style. So far I am enjoying it. Apparently this book was quite scandalous when it was first written, and it was even banned during Victorian times. I guess the scene where Jove (Jupiter) and Juno debate who does the most work and gets the most pleasure during sex, the man or the woman, made a few eyebrows rise for its time.

One thing is for certain. If you are a mortal, don't get a god or goddess mad. Ever.

Paul wrote:

One thing is for certain. If you are a mortal, don't get a god or goddess mad. Ever.

And now, in post-Percy-Jackson times, the younger generation is aware of this valuable piece of advice, too

I admit, I have always steered clear of the Greek & Roman classics if I didn't have to read them for studying purposes. In those cases, though, I had to read mostly historians such as Herodotus and Thucydides, along with some Marcus Aurelius. This collection, though, may not be accurately depicting the literary landscape of their respective times. I did read some Sophocles, and always wanted to get to the other Greek playwrights, but somehow I never made it.

See? Another in-the-middle-of-the-year resolution.

I am also reading "Cities of the Plain" by Cormac McCarthy, the final book of the "Border Trilogy" (the other two books being "All The Pretty Horses" and "The Crossing"). Actually, I am almost finished with it. Excellent novel, but I expect no less from Mr. McCarthy. I am anxiously awaiting his newest novel, "The Passenger", to come out.

I'm considering reading his books in the near future. 'Near' is when I finish the current novels I am going through, which may take rather long...
I'm most inclined to read The Road or No Country for Old Men. Which one would you recommend? Or should I try a different novel...?