Books

[bertine]

You know what annoys me about books? That I read them so fast. I went to the library this morning and started reading the book I checked out at about 5:30pm. Now, at 9:30, I am 3/4 of the way done and I won't have time to get another one until next Saturday. I really don't have a stack of "to read" books since I try not to buy books anymore because they just aren't a good investment.

Comments

[bertine.livejournal.com]

True, I am reading modern books, so they are easier to read but I have read most of the Russian classics and you know what? They are like TV shows now days, they are supposed to be long because it is a way to kill time. Seriously, did you know that Anna Karenina has 15 pages celebrating harvesting grain? Though to this day I think about some of the more exciting scenes (where things happened) I don't think I would want to reread it.

Someone recommend a polish sci-fi writer from the 50s I haven't read before. I forgot to see if his books were at the library today.

[bertine.livejournal.com]

OK, somehow I deleted seattleforge's comment "Stop reading Nurse Jane and dig into some Russian classics. That'll teach you. ;-)"

[purplesquirrel.livejournal.com]

I assume you've read Stanislaw Lem.

[bertine.livejournal.com]

Nope and that is who someone else recommended to me. I'll be going through that section of the library next week.

[jonthedull.livejournal.com]

I second the recomendation for Stanislaw Lem.

[emkachan.livejournal.com]

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! So many classic novels started out as serial stories. I was just explaining this to someone today. No one said, "Ooh, 400 pages of Dumas x 3 Musketeers books + The Count of Monte Christo and minor works." They said, "I wonder what D'Artagnan will be up to during my morning coffee for the next year and a half." It's like watching Buffy every day for six months vs. once a week for seven years. In principle, it was made for the latter purpose.

I like owning good books. I've been trying to pare down but it's hard because I have so many books I like and so many books that I haven't read yet. If you ever want to borrow books, feel free.

Two great books I randomly found at the library:
Red Land, Black Land by Barbara Mertz (who is usually Elizabeth Peters)
Growing Up in Medieval London