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What are you reading Chapter 4
- Thread starter slobake
- Start date
Was it Blitzed by Norman Ohler? I've heard a lot of good things about that one.
It was, and I can confirm it to be an excellent book. At least for my tastes! I'd talk about it more, but don't want to ruin anything. (Not that it's fiction, and contains spoilers, necessarily, but I feel similarly to many of my areas of curiosity as I do movies - the curiosity and interest in "discovering" it for the first time wanes if someone's told me too much.)
That was me originally. The book was written by a neighbor and high school friend, Burkhard Bilger. Me, my wife, my mom and my older brother got to see him during his tour for this book here in Tulsa. He did a short reading then a Q&A. It was so great to see him since he went to college at Yale (a brilliant guy, which isn't surprising since his entire family is) and we hadn't crossed paths since he left high school.
That's cool, my dad went to Yale too (was a classmate and friend of Johnny Apple - R.W. Apple from the NYT if anyone here remembers him).
Edited: my dad went to boarding school with Apple, and they remained friends despite Apple going to Princeton/Columbia and my dad being a 'Yale Man'.
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I'm currently working through Hein de Haas' How Migration Really Works. It's a good survey of where the sociological research stands on migration issues, which I'll be leading a class on in the Fall. Obviously this has all kinds of political ramifications in our current moment (and has for a long time), so I'll not go into detail about it due to TB rules, but it's refreshingly nonpartisan, devoted to exploding myths on all sides, and I'd strongly suggest looking at it for anyone who wants to look at current debates from an informed perspective. I thought I knew a fair amount about this stuff but de Haas has opened my eyes a couple of times.
Simultaneously re-reading The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings (near the end of the Fellowship), much to my enjoyment. I'm not one of those people who reads it religiously every year, but I come back around every few years and go through it again, maybe half a dozen times since I first read it at age 11. I'm really struck by the poetry this time around, and I wonder (I'm sure someone has researched this) how much of it Tolkien wrote before doing the novel. Also, I'm really feeling this time around like the Tom Bombadil chapter is some of the most exquisite wordsmithing I ever read.
And ALSO (my habit is to juggle multiple books, reading each a chapter at a time in rotation) going through The Last Lecture. It was all the rage a few years ago. I'm feeling it's poignant and has some gems, but nothing in it has hit me in the mind-blowing way I had been led to expect. But maybe I'll come upon something in the upcoming chapters.
Simultaneously re-reading The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings (near the end of the Fellowship), much to my enjoyment. I'm not one of those people who reads it religiously every year, but I come back around every few years and go through it again, maybe half a dozen times since I first read it at age 11. I'm really struck by the poetry this time around, and I wonder (I'm sure someone has researched this) how much of it Tolkien wrote before doing the novel. Also, I'm really feeling this time around like the Tom Bombadil chapter is some of the most exquisite wordsmithing I ever read.
And ALSO (my habit is to juggle multiple books, reading each a chapter at a time in rotation) going through The Last Lecture. It was all the rage a few years ago. I'm feeling it's poignant and has some gems, but nothing in it has hit me in the mind-blowing way I had been led to expect. But maybe I'll come upon something in the upcoming chapters.
I read both the Hobbit and LoTR to my son multiple times, it will be a while before I read them on my own again.
I'm reading Holly, by Stephen King. It's like sitting down with an old friend I haven't seen in a long time. I first read King on summer vacations when I was in fifth grade or so, and I've read most, though not all, of his books. Holly is excellent.
I'm reading Holly, by Stephen King. It's like sitting down with an old friend I haven't seen in a long time. I first read King on summer vacations when I was in fifth grade or so, and I've read most, though not all, of his books. Holly is excellent.
I've read both of those I don't know how many times in the past 25 years or so - they're likely my single favorite story. I'd estimate I've read them at least 7 times each - in addition to (literally) nearly everything Tolkien has published (via his son Christopher, in many cases). I'm slowly working on filling the small gaps of his that I haven't read! Bombadil has always been one of my favorite characters and is an enduring enigma to many Tolkien fans. I absolutely love Bombadil. And given how part of the story of LOTR's creation was that he needed a way to explain the languages he had created, it would not surprise me in the least if the poems pre-dated the novels. I'd almost bet on it.
One thing I've noticed about myself is that light beers, IPAs, and Chardonnay make no sense to me. I drink stout and chianti, because beer is supposed to be BROWN and wine is supposed to be RED. I realized a few years ago, I'm that way because of reading so much Tolkien so early. I've read the Silmarilion, the poems and tales in the short selection ("Adventures of Tom Bombadil" I think it was published as, though most of it isn't Bombadil material) and some of the posthumously published stuff from his notes, but not with the frequency or focus of the published novels.
I think probably the biggest question about Bombadil is whether he's essential to LOTR or not. Like I said, I think he's one of Tolkien's best creations. Every adaptation leaves him out, even the BBC radio play IIRC. The story of the quest of the Ring makes perfect sense without him. But reading it coming directly off a re-read of the Hobbit, one thing that strikes me about both books is that, in a way, they're kind of like the Odyssey. They aren't "action" stories, they're travel stories, and each stage of the journey is about a different kind of hospitality the travelers receive. So in the Hobbit, it's:
- Bilbo's hosting of the Dwarves
- Trolls
- Rivendell
- Goblins
- Gollum
- Eagles
- Beorn
- Spiders
- Wood-Elves
- Lake-Town
- Smaug
In Fellowship, it's
- Bilbo's Party
- Frodo hosts Gandalf
- Crickhollow (actually there's a series of brief guest/host events, with the traveling elves, and Farmer Maggot first)
- Tom Bombadil
- The Barrows
- Bree
- Rivendell (it might be a stretch, but you could almost see the journey between as Strider "hosting" the hobbits in the wilderness and at Weathertop).
- Moria
- Lothlorien
In a sense, a succession of visits in which the hosts variously feed, or try to feed on, their guests. From that perspective, Bombadil is an essential example of idealized hospitality. Just my own amateur attempts at literary interpretation.
I enjoy most King, but I still maintain that The Shining is legitimately a great work of Literature with a capital L as well as great genre fic.
If you're interested in how Bombadil may or may not fit into the grand scheme of Tolkien's Middle Earth, this website makes a compelling argument. It's the most thoroughly researched theory of Bombadil I've ever read, and after having read it, I have to say I agree.
Re-reading Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon with help from Harvey. Outdoor temp 99 degrees F.
The Crossing - Cormac McCarthy
The next in my quest to complete unfinished series, my third McCarthy, and my second audiobook. McCarthy is an unusual author for me because, apart from The Road, his books fall outside of genres I typically read. And I can't necessarily say I enjoy myself while I'm reading them. However, I'm drawn to the books and his uncommon formatting. There's also the undeniable fact that I can still vividly remember scenes from the books of his that I have read. I can recognize the quality of the craft, even if it's not in a style I typically appreciate. I was concerned that the audio format wouldn't do McCarthy's style justice, but it seems to translate pretty well so far.
The next in my quest to complete unfinished series, my third McCarthy, and my second audiobook. McCarthy is an unusual author for me because, apart from The Road, his books fall outside of genres I typically read. And I can't necessarily say I enjoy myself while I'm reading them. However, I'm drawn to the books and his uncommon formatting. There's also the undeniable fact that I can still vividly remember scenes from the books of his that I have read. I can recognize the quality of the craft, even if it's not in a style I typically appreciate. I was concerned that the audio format wouldn't do McCarthy's style justice, but it seems to translate pretty well so far.
