Non-fiction?

Just wondering, does anyone here actually read non-fiction passionately? I have been reading a lot of it lately, which appears odd even to myself. My friends are all into fiction, even my mother confesses she hardly ever reads anything that is not at least fictionalized. Am I the odd one out with my travelogues and biographies, or has anyone else discovered the pleasure of reading about women travelling in the 19th century or Polish Jews emigrating to the US?

I seldom touch non-fiction.

I have read "Follow the river" which is based on a true story about a woman that is captured by indians and then escapes by following the river.

Also, "They Cage the Animals at Night" is based on a true story as well. It is absolutely heartbreaking.

As for biographies, I watch them on TV sometimes. An hour is the most they could hold my interest anyway.

It depends on the type of non-fiction. Few subjects rarely disinterest me. For the most part, it is all about how the information is presented. For example, take the subject of King Leopold II of Belgium. He was a tyrant who ruled over the Congo in the late 1800s and early 1900s. One book, King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hothschild presents the information as a narrative. But another book I was assigned (the name slips my mind) was just a fact dump, if you will.

So it is usually about presentation at that point, rather than the subject matter. But there are some subjects, like modern physics, that go straight over my head. Even if the information is presented nicely, I will never understand the topic, so by default, I'm likely to not like the book.

I've recently read Barbara Hodgson's "No Place for a Lady". I wonder if you'd like that, Dara - it is about women travelling in the 1700s-1900s, with heaps of pictures, sources and maps. I dearly love this book, and reread it on a regular basis (i.e., whenever I can).

I rarely read non-fiction, but this year I've been trying to read more of it. That is due to the fact we were required to read a non-fiction book in English my sophomore year. Had I not been required to pick non-fiction, I probably would have continued to avoid it.

Anyway, for what I do plan on reading, the subject has to interest me. I might try to find something on Marie Antoinette, if I can find an accurate-enough book.

I have read very little non-fiction. Not that I wouldn't like to, though. I am awed by the history and biography sections of my bookstore. I just wouldn't know where to begin.

While I don't read non-fiction as much as I do fiction, I do enjoy it, especially history. For American history I loved the three-volume "The Oxford History of the American People" by Samuel Eliot Morison, which covers North American prehistory up to the assassination of JFK. Another good book is "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond. His theories are interesting in that he blends geography and history to show how Europeans rose from the most primitive society in the world to become the people who branched out and essentially took over everything. I also enjoyed "Seven Ages of Paris" by Alistair Horne and "No Simple Victory" by Norman Davies. The non-fiction work that floored me the most, however was "The Gulag Archipelago" by Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn. This work shows the stunning inhumanity man is capable of showing to his fellow man.

I have never really read non fiction on a random subject for enjoyment, but if I am getting in to something with genuine interest I usually am obsessive about getting a non-fiction book or two on the topic.

I do usually have one non-fiction book in progress in regards to writing, always trying to learn more. I don't go through them nearly as fast as a good fiction book, though.

I just finished reading "Manhunt" by James Swanson. It is the story of the search for John Wilkes Booth and his accomplices after the Lincoln assassination. It almost reads like a novel, with dialogue lifted from letters and official transcriptions of witness accounts. I had read many good reviews of it, and while I thought it was an interesting enough read I did not think it was quite that good.

Paul wrote:

I just finished reading "Manhunt" by James Swanson. It is the story of the search for John Wilkes Booth and his accomplices after the Lincoln assassination. It almost reads like a novel, with dialogue lifted from letters and official transcriptions of witness accounts. I had read many good reviews of it, and while I thought it was an interesting enough read I did not think it was quite that good.

So, do you mean the dialogues are partly fictional?

Grace wrote:

Paul wrote:

I just finished reading "Manhunt" by James Swanson. It is the story of the search for John Wilkes Booth and his accomplices after the Lincoln assassination. It almost reads like a novel, with dialogue lifted from letters and official transcriptions of witness accounts. I had read many good reviews of it, and while I thought it was an interesting enough read I did not think it was quite that good.

So, do you mean the dialogues are partly fictional?

Supposedly the dialogue is based on historical documents and records of words that were actually spoken by Booth and others. I'm sure quite a bit of it is, but who's to say in what context, or under what conditions, the words were spoken. After Booth shot Lincoln and leapt down to the stage of Ford's Theatre multiple witnesses have said that he yelled out "Sic semper tyrannis!", which translates into English as "Thus always to tyrants". That I can accept. Words that he supposedly spoke to others while he was on the run, however, I cannot see how anyone can be too sure about.

Right now I am reading "Collapse" by Jared Diamond, the same guy who wrote "Guns, Germs, and Steel". In this book he studies various past cultures who, while starting strong, ended up disappearing, such as the Mayans, the Khmer in Cambodia, and others. Diamond hypothesizes that environmental damage, overpopulation, and over-use of resources are the main culprits.

Sound familiar?

I sometimes read non-fiction, including biographies. In the past few months I have been working my way through the diaries of Anais Nin (both the original expurgated diaries and also the unexpurgated versions that were released after her death, i.e. Henry and June.) Of course, with Nin it is at time difficult to say just how much of her diary was literal truth. (The unexpurgated version is not recommended for younger readers or anyone who is easily offended.) I also feverishly read Capote's "In Cold Blood" which is regarded by many as the first non-fiction novel, though I found the murders rather hard to stomach.

The bulk of non-fiction that I read normally relates to Australian or South Australian history - I think there is something magical about discovering some of the most important things that happened in ones home city or country.

I have picked up "Last Call" by Daniel Okrent. It is about the events leading up to the enactment of the Volstead Act of 1919 in the US, or as it is better known, Prohibition. I am about 60 pages into it, and I am surprised at the myriad factors that went into the passage of this "dry" Amendment into the US Constitution (this Amendment prohibited sale, transport, and consumption of alcoholic beverages in the US). Factors such as women's sufferage, the implementation of income tax, both religious and "progessive" views, and other, unfortunate factors such as racism and a strong anti-immigration attitude among many in the population went into the passing of Prohibition into law. This law lasted for fourteen years (1919-1933) and was, for the most part, never successfully enforced. So far I find this to be a good, informative book.

I have just finished "Föhn mich nicht zu" (roughly translates as "Don't blow-dry me", quite literally) by Stephan Serin. It is an account of his teacher's training, which was a complete fiasco. It demonstrates quite impressively why exactly teachers suffer from such a bad reputation in Germany.

I am reading X-Ray, which is described as "the unauthorized autobiography" of Ray Davies of the Kinks. And yes, much of the book is as tongue-in-cheek as the title description. It is written by Davies almost as a novel. He uses third-person narrative, with the "main character" not necessarily himself, but a young man who works for an Orwellian "Corporation". The young man is told to get Ray Davies's life story, so he approaches Davies, a 70-year-old man (an age Davies almost is in actual life), looking for the singer/songwriter's life story.

I have always been a big fan of the Kinks, and of Davies's song writing. I am enjoying the book, but I am almost done, and it looks like it will end with much of Davies's life unrecorded. We shall see.

x-ray sounds cool- i love the kinks!
ive only recently begun reading much non fic... ive been really interested in ww2 - from the home front perspective, rather than political or military- the past couple of years, so reading first hand stuff was a natural progression...
'millions like us', a new book was serialised bbc radio 2 recently, which was really funny- womens' stories of the war- working in factories, as land girls, in the WRENS etc- painting their legs w gravy when there were no stockings, snogging men behind the office etc- i love the shock they had from their sudden freedom. ;D
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/may/15/millions-like-us-women-wartime-virginia-nicholson

i read the occasional biog- alan clark's political diaries are excellent, very waspish, and his father's too are excellent- he was active in the war, moving all the paintings from the national gallery in central london to caves in wales to protect them, and was friends with lots of artists and writers- henry moore etc.

it often feels a bit...stuffy... though- all that solid text, no speech, huge slabs of WORD... the best ones are by writers who knew the subj, or interviewed their friends, feels more alive... im not sure i could face a starkey, much as i like him...

Nice! Another Kinks fan! *Paul high-fives violet*

I agree, many people focus on the military and politics during war, not on what is going on with civilians. You can learn a lot of fascinating details in this area (such as women painting their legs with gravy because there were no stockings...they must have smelled like stew!)

For the first time in more than two decades, I have decided to pick up A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman. It is a non-fictional account of the 14th Century and revolves around the world of the historical figure of Enguerrand de Coucy VII, a powerful French nobleman who was the last of his dynasty. I did not finish it all those years ago. Let's see if I can do a better job this time.

Having read The Guns of August, I am a huge fan of Barbara Tuchman. Some parts might drag, but I can assure you that you'll be happy you read it.

The Guns of August is also on my to-read list. Thank you for the positive post about it, Lilli.