last few good books you read?

[blackdoglab]

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

 

[skieur]

skier . . . i feel like i'm missing out by reading them in english, is it worth learning german to appreciate the structure and original intent?

In my opinion, yes. I studied German Literature in German at university and discussed it in German as well as writing my essays in German. Nietzsche, Kant and Schoppenhauer and other German philosphers were much more understandable in German, then they were in English.

skieur (the French form of skier by the way)

 

[Iron Flatline]

skier . . . i feel like i'm missing out by reading them in english, is it worth learning german to appreciate the structure and original intent?

I'm German, and I'm pretty fluent in English. The German vocabulary is considerably bigger than English, But the answer to your question is still No. Although I have found that inspite of an occasionally-lost nuance, ultimately the the point comes across quite acurately. I think you're fine reading them in English. What skieur did is different - studying Literature is a whole different discipline from reading. It's more Talmudic, whereby you really parse every phrase and mine it for meaning. The good thing about Hesse is that it's possible to read it is a Literature text, but it also works well as just interesting reading.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Oh, and regarding reading recommendations:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Yiddish-Policemens-Union-Novel/dp/0007149824/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-8360752-0804859?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185307633&sr=1-1"]The Yiddish Police Man's Union[/ame] by Michael Chabon (and all his other books)

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Absurdistan-Novel-Gary-Shteyngart/dp/1400061962/ref=ed_oe_h/002-8360752-0804859?ie=UTF8&qid=1185307742&sr=1-1"]Absurdistan[/ame] by Gary Shteyngart

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Return-Player-Michael-Tolkin/dp/0802118011/ref=ed_oe_h/002-8360752-0804859?ie=UTF8&qid=1185307696&sr=1-1"]The Return of the Player [/ame]by Michael Tolkin

 

[wolfepakt]

Ok I am not as Cultured as yall:
Business Plans for Dummies
Before you Quit your Job by Robert Kiosaki (sp)
The Entrepenuers source book

(by the way did yall know I am into business and entrepenurship)

 

[newrmdmike]

yay ray bradbury i have all his short stories.

also, just started "the glass house"

 

[skieur]

I don't remember the authors but for some unusual auto biographies:

"For Those I Loved": the author was captured and in Auschwitz at one point, a member of the KGB later, and finally a spy for the west during the Cold War.

"Biography of A Counter-Terrorist" A deniable free-lance assassin hired by the United States, Britain, France and other European countries to kill terrorists.

Both were hard to put down.

skieur

 

[lifeafter2am]

"Biography of A Counter-Terrorist" A deniable free-lance assassin hired by the United States, Britain, France and other European countries to kill terrorists.

That sounds REALLY interesting!!

 

[nabero]

On my bedside table now are Survivor- Chuck Palahniuk and Love Dance of the Mechanical Animals- Maggie Estep. I've been plucking my way through some collections of E.E. Cummings too. Next up will be Delillo's Underworld.

A couple of my favorite books are Joan Didion's Play It As It Lays, Capote's In Cold Blood, Daniel Quinn's Ishmael, and Huxley's Brave New World.

 

[Tangerini]

Brave New World remains one of my favorites too

 

[EBphotography]

Just finished Anderson Cooper's autobiography, now starting "Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder."

 

[blackdoglab]

Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat (the film is great too)

any book by John Muir