Hello, friends and enemies.
I come to you in need of a recommendation.
Any time I pack, the most stressful part of the whole process is books. Firstly, I usually have to pack a lot of them, because reading is sort of... I don't know, my "thing." Also, I read uber fast. Boy, this is getting unpalatable really fast, isn't it?
Anyway, books are heavy and even worse, take up a lot of space, and this conflicts with my number one travel rule (though I have many, due to many many years of frequent travel): never. ever. check. luggage.
It just should never be done.
In the near future I'll be going to the middle of nowhere for about two weeks, and I need a book to read. A big book.
What should I read?
Before you suggest it, the last time I went to the middle of nowhere, I took War and Peace.
Whatever it is, it needs to be over or around 1,000 pages, or, if you prefer, you could suggest two 500 page books, but then they need to be paperbacks.
Possibilities already on the list include The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (nothign says "Vacation!" like...) and Infinite Jest, although with all due respect to Mr. DFW and all my dear friends to whom his work is meaningful and important, I've struggled with his essays (Consider the Lobster). He is, roughly put, not my style.
So! While I would be tickled pink for me to actually show up with a huge tome on the Nazis (because really, can you ever know enough about them?) I though I would ask the internets: what should I read?
11 comments:
Third Reich! Third Reich! Seriously, I bet it's very interesting and disturbing.
From Hell, Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell. Yes it's a comic book, but as comic books go it is exceedingly dense at times and comes with 50-ish pages of end notes... not to mention a lesson in the Pagan history of London and good dose of whoring and serial killing.
Also, if you like-a-tha Star Wars books and you haven't read Timothy Zahn's Conqueror trilogy, I recall enjoying them very much. Conqueror's Pride, Conqueror's Heritage, and Conqueror's Legacy. A good dose of sci-fi adventure and interstellar politics... all available in mass market trade form.
no one believes me, but read the percy jackson series. it will take you two days. then read Freddy and Fredricka by mark helprin. also his Winter's Tale.
Sarah Waters double feature: The Night Watch and Fingersmith. I believe both hit 500 pp at least, and are fab. I read the latter on vacation and it was perfect.
Oh, well in that case if you're looking for actual suggestions:
The City of Thieves and the Lost City of Z. Despite the names, no connection at all.
The first is historical fiction, but very well written and researched, about two criminals and their search for eggs in Leningrad during the German siege. Much more complicated than that obviously.
The second is the true story of the search for the lost city of Z in the Amazon and all the people who disappeared looking for it. Really amazing.
Also Hurry Down Sunshine, about this guy and his daughter who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Sad, but really well written and interesting.
Have you ever read Little, Big? If not, that gets my vote. Also, The Savage Detectives should be given ample consideration.
I'm soon to be off to the middle of nowhere for a week and here's what I'm taking:
DROOD by Dan Simmons (so excited to read this) -784 pages
And, because it's written by one of the characters in DROOD, THE WOMAN IN WHITE by Wilkie Collins -617 pages
Have fun!
They're all classics and probably already read by you (but all worthy of a re-read, certainly): The Once and Future King, A Suitable Boy, and The Iliad. Pages a go-go!!
Or just re-read the Dark Materials books. I'm obsessed.
E.J., I just returned from a trip to Louisville (Kentucky) on business, and I packed some small, hardcover books, because I am an inexperienced traveler: "Why Europe Will Run the 21st Century" by Mark Leonard; "Why the Ten Commandments Matter" by D. James Kennedy; and "Liberty and Tyranny" by Mark R. Levin. I should have stuck with my little pocket paperback edition from Shambhala Pocket Classics: "Awakening Loving-Kindness" by Pema Chodron. Other small paperback books I wish I had taken on my own trip, include "Life 101: Everything We Wish We Had Learned About Life in School -- But Didn't" by John-Roger and Peter McWilliams; "The Order of Things" by Michel Foucault; "Myths to Live By" by Joseph Campbell; "Blake" (The Viking Portable Library) edited by Aldred Kazin; and "Del Corso's Gallery" by Philip Caputo (a novel about war journalists.) Of course, when you get wherever you are going, you can have shipped ahead the paperback books "The Search for Modern China" by Jonathan D. spence (Norton) and maybe "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power" by Daniel Yergin (Free Press) and maybe "The Tale of the Genji: A Novel in Six Parts, Volumes One and Two" by Lady Murasaki; Translated by) Arthur Waley. As for Hitler, the biography written by his supplies minister, Albert Speer, was pretty good: "Inside the Third Reich: Memoirs." Unfortunately, this book is more appropriate reading today, than ever. I could ship my entire library, one or two at a time, and we could read books together, and maybe even write something ourselves, now and again. Hollywood scripts pay the best word for word, and are the most disrespected, ephemeral writing, this side of financial publishing. If I knew you better, I could gift you better books. More generally, I think you would not want to read a travel novel while you are traveling, such as "At Play in the Fields of the Lord," which is one of Peter Matthiesen's books (Vintage paperback.) I like biographies, how about you? I like History as a subject, more today than ever. You can combine genres effectively by choosing either historical romance fiction, or novels set effectively in a place and time. I have always liked writing by Saul Bellow, and by John Updike. Just pick one of theirs, you will enjoy it. Or pick a book, any book, by James Michener. Hmmm, speaking of 1,000 pages, either "The Source" or "Hawaii" comes to mind quickly. Both are great books in my view. He has another dozen or more books, including one, "Poland" that I intend to read myself, because I am Catholic, and so is Poland. I have previously suggested that you read a book called "The Silver Chalice" written by Thomas B. Costain. Oh, and that wonderful novel I have always had a hard time remembering, but enjoyed reading, is "Lost Horizon" by James Hilton. Even though his book is now quietly dated, it is a magnificent book, in my view. I think everyone should read it, at least until Mary Jane is quasi-legalized once again. People need to mellow out, gain perspective on life, "chill." This book fits that bill. Enjoy your trip(s).
http://quarterlyconversation.com/tinkers-by-paul-harding-review
Tinkers by Paul Harding
Review by Michele Filgate
Tinkers, Paul Harding. Bellevue Literary Press. 192pp, $14.95.
I recommend "star trek and philosophy- the wrath of Kant".
Or check out "the science of Harry Potter" by Roger Highfield!
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