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Pit Book/Discussion Thread

I usually read pretty fast but I've been trying to mix in some classics and Moby Dick is currently kicking my ass.
 
It ain't about quantity to me. It is what you take from it that, IMHO, dictates a successful time period's worth of reading.
 
Next book club book is Signs Preceding the End of the World.

Anyone read it?
 
tiltdeac said:
I usually read pretty fast but I've been trying to mix in some classics and Moby Dick is currently kicking my ass.
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Complete waste of time in my opinion. Maybe OGB or townie can announce death but I finished it and felt cheated.
 
timdunkandthefunk said:
Complete waste of time in my opinion. Maybe OGB or townie can announce death but I finished it and felt cheated.
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In hindsight, I don't think I enjoyed it as much in the moment of reading as I do reflecting on the content postreading. Rereading passages is great, too. That being said, I did enjoy reading it and wish I could read it again for the first time with fresh eyes.
 
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I guess I'm just a #rube.

Got my hands on an advanced copy of Ron Currie's new book The One Eyed Man. I loved Everything Matters! so I'm looking forward to reading this one.
 
Moby Dick is fine. It probably would have been a hell of a lot better abridged though.
 
gee, who would imagine that a book about a whaling expedition would involve philosophizing on long stretches of boredom, tedious ship maintenance and character study punctuated with short bursts of violence? hm
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
Next book club book is Signs Preceding the End of the World.

Anyone read it?
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Signs Preceding the End of the World is a sparse, beautiful book; the obvious style comparison is Cormac McCarthy. Deals with border crossing and family. Had me feeling feelings at the end. It's only about 100 pages -- one could knock it out in an hour or so.
 
I have not. I haven't read much Chicano lit -- seems like a good entry point.

Next up is The Lonely City by Olivia Lang.
 
I don't read a lot of poetry, but a friend gave me a Dana Levin collection called Banana Palace, and I'm enjoying it so far. Cynical but also a bit vulnerable, maybe? Or I'm projecting. Anyway.
 
On a Yates kick, finished Revolutionary Road. Whoof, not much by way of redeemable qualities portrayed by any human. Cannot say I disagree with that views most days.
 
Working on a bunch of C.S. Lewis books right now starting with Mere Christianity and then The Screwtape Letters and a couple of others ones. I think there are 7 in the same big volume. As an atheist turned Christian he has always struck me as an interesting read.

Any commentary on Lewis from the masses here? Would particularly like to hear from a Christian POV on what he brings to the table/how you view him.

Also going to re-read Animal Farm & 1984 by Orwell soon given the current political landscape.
 
Deacsfan27 said:
Working on a bunch of C.S. Lewis books right now starting with Mere Christianity and then The Screwtape Letters and a couple of others ones. I think there are 7 in the same big volume. As an atheist turned Christian he has always struck me as an interesting read.

Any commentary on Lewis from the masses here? Would particularly like to hear from a Christian POV on what he brings to the table/how you view him.

Also going to re-read Animal Farm & 1984 by Orwell soon given the current political landscape.
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One of the interesting things about Lewis is that his writings are held in esteem by both liberal (progressive) and conservative (evangelical) Christians.
 
LilburnDeac said:
One of the interesting things about Lewis is that his writings are held in esteem by both liberal (progressive) and conservative (evangelical) Christians.
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I am drawn to his writing style (particularly since it is basically the written word of radio talks), but I find myself disagreeing with a lot of the presuppositions that he establishes to formulate the conclusions.

That's difficult to overcome when looking simply at the conclusions of his arguments.

He has a lot of conditional "if-then" statements where the "ifs" don't make sense, therefore rendering the "then" obsolete as well.

It is definitely challenging to read, as I am attempting to be open-minded, but come from a fairly staunchly atheist POV to begin with.
 
Lewis writes very well and has some good insights, but I don't find his works to be particularly persuasive
 
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