BOOKS THREAD

Am recommending "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" to everyone. Great novel about a mute boy which is a retelling of Hamlet. Went into it with trepidation but it's a tremendous read.

 

Finished McCarthy's "No Country" and "The Road." I found both very readable, although McCarthy is known as someone whose writing is hard to adjust to. I just picked up "Blood Meridian" because of the reviews on Amazon, although I'm starting to question the purchase because it does look like a tough one to get through. Any other fans have suggestions on the next McCarthy book I should read?

 

I've started and stopped Blood Meridian a few times. It is very meaty, but I'm told it is a fantastic book.

Have you read All the Pretty Horses?

 

Haven't read All the Pretty Horses, though I've heard great things about it. I have a friend at work who had trouble getting through it. Have you read it? Any thoughts?

 

I loved it and have read it a few times. I do like Westerns, though. The only thing that is hard about it is McCarthy doesn't use quotation marks, the same as many of his novels, but since there is a lot of dialogue, it can be pretty tough to follow at times.

I have yet to read the rest of the trilogy, but I really liked All The Pretty Horses.

 

Just about finished My Turf, William Nack's best-of. It is quite superb. If I had to pick a favourite, it would be the story on Rocky Marciano. Do read it

 

I thought about Taylor myself, when I heard the Martin Luther King.

 

Those two are definitely his most "readable," at least of the ones I've read (also the two that get made into movies). I've heard No Country described as basically a screenplay, though I'm not sure I'd go that far.
Blood Meridian is wild. A demanding book, but rewarding. All the Pretty Horses is quite good, too. And people rave about The Crossing, that's next of his for me.

 

All The Pretty Horses was made into a movie too. A very, very bad movie. It is a damn fine book, as are all of Cormac's.

 

Just finished Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers." Interesting, interesting book, although I could have done without the constant tangent-jumping. But the overall premise of the book was fascinating and something I've subscribed to for quite some time: that there is more to success than hard-work and industriousness.

There's more than a bit of luck.

 

Anyone read this? It's from the author of House of Sand and Fog. Didn't read that one, but saw the movie and enjoyed it.

I got this from my sister's library. She hadn't read it yet so she couldn't give me any help.

 

A bit late but I just finished Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. Its a study on how we make thousands of unconscious decisions every day. Its a pretty interesting read and he takes a bunch of scientific stuff and makes it interesting. I do want to pick up his latest book Outliers on the success of people like Bill Gates.

I agree with Ben's earlier assessment of Pat Buchanan. I just started "Where the Right Went Wrong" and it starts off with those US/British parallels. Seems kind of interesting. We'll see.