quote:

Originally posted by FragileKidA:
I’ll wait a while though to see if anyone can get it without “googleing” it.

Aw, you're just waiting so you can savor it!

Well it was The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. Here is another:

“Nobody stole, nobody grumbled over his rations, the quarreling and biting and jealousy which had been normal features of life in the old days had almost disappeared.”

A veritable breakfast of a book! Just remember, all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others!

I've never read any of the Mitch Albom books, though I think my wife has read one or two.

Here is a super easy one, but I found out that someone is trying to film this. I expect the dullest film ever made.

And once again I had recognized the taste of the crumb of madeleine soaked in her decoction of lime-flowers which my aunt used to give me (although I did not yet know and must long postpone the discovery of why this memory made me so happy), immediately the old gray house upon the street, where her room was, rose up like the scenery of a theater.

quote:

Originally posted by kendocubano:

I found out that someone is trying to film this.

Good god! Are you serious?

According to Wikipedia, Alfonso Cuaron is planning a 2010 release. For what that's worth.

So, two quick questions for you erudite fellows, since this topic came up:
a)Is Proust really worth the effort? I've picked up Swann's Way a few times in the store, and then set it right back down again.
b)(on an unrelated note, but I wanted to ask) I was browsing through the bookstore today and came across The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud once again. It received some glowing reviews last year but I never ended up reading it. Any thoughts?

quote:

Originally posted by blueskyoas:
So, two quick questions for you erudite fellows, since this topic came up:
a)Is Proust really worth the effort? I've picked up Swann's Way a few times in the store, and then set it right back down again.
b)(on an unrelated note, but I wanted to ask) I was browsing through the bookstore today and came across The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud once again. It received some glowing reviews last year but I never ended up reading it. Any thoughts?

Padraig will likely disagree with me, but I do not think Proust is worth the trouble. I read him in a mid eighties translation that was very popular at the time. I found him dull and irritating. I'm not especially sensitive, but I found him sickly, and simpering, and wanted to punch him hard in the face.

I wrote about The Emperor's Children in the "What are you reading now" thread. I kind of liked it, though wasn't sure I understood why it received such glowing reviews. It's clearly modeled on the literature of manners of, say, a Jane Austen, and is amusing as some sort of modern hommage, but I never once found the characters credible. It certainly kept my interest, but, six months later, I don't find myself going back and rolling it around in my mind.

If you'd like to see what a modern author can do with Jane Austen, I far prefer Vikram Seth's book A Suitable Boy, from 1994. It's set against the partition of India, and makes for terrific reading. In my mind, it is one of the greatest of the new, high quality, anglo-indian lit.

quote:

Originally posted by kendocubano:


Padraig will likely disagree with me, but I do not think Proust is worth the trouble. I read him in a mid eighties translation that was very popular at the time. I found him dull and irritating. I'm not especially sensitive, but I found him sickly, and simpering, and wanted to punch him hard in the face.

I hate to disappoint you, KC, but we're in agreement that Proust is not really worth the trouble. I read all of Swann's Way, and I've read bits and pieces of the others. While I definitely don't think In Search of Lost Time is in anyway essential, I really like his ideas of "involuntary memory" and how he uses it in the novel. If nothing else, I'd check that out.

I'm with the camp who rates Proust as an interesting stylist, but a dull as dishwater storyteller.

As a literature major, I find some worth in his syntax and metaphorical conceits, his attempts to write the dream state, but for a general reader he's not much fun.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Guess I derailed the thread topic a little; here's a new one:

A father has a right to raise his son in his own way

I'm buggered if I know.

Perhaps Raymond Carver?

I should have posted a longer excerpt. This quote is better:

And then I was crying too, crying with Danny, silently, for his pain and for the years of his suffering, knowing that I loved him, and not knowing whether I hated or loved the long, anguished years of his life.

I’ve also got nothing.

As for the Proust issue, though I don’t know nearly as much as the others on here, I also wouldn’t waste my time. I have read a few things and what I have has resulted in the same response, “OK, this isn’t stylistically bad but boy is the storytelling really, really tedious and not worth my time.”

Danny? It sounds vaguely familiar, but no, I can't place it.

Here I come to save the day!

blues' quote is from The Chosen by Chaim Potok.

As many of you know, I have a bit of a background in religious studies. And within those studies, I was/am particularly fascinated with Judaism. I read this book while on this path.

I'll try to post something later. And if not, tomorrow.

Oi vey! The Chosen

I read that about 20 years ago, and it left me with a really odd feeling. Still can't put my finger on it...

quote:

Originally posted by PaddyG:
Here I come to save the day!

I think today there's only one term fit to describe PaddyG:

Hero

Thanks for saving all of us from our ignorance

quote:

Originally posted by PaddyG:
Here I come to save the day!

Yay! (I didn't want to come up with another one. )

quote:

Originally posted by PaddyG:
I'll try to post something later. And if not, tomorrow.

I feel lied to. You're no hero.

Sometimes it can be hard to live up to the labels society has placed on me.

I hereby designate MajorNougat my surrogate in this matter. Make me proud.