tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post942771955009199144..comments2023-10-03T11:41:21.191+01:00Comments on The Truth About Lies: Judging a book by everything bar its coverJim Murdochhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-80589524952168263132008-01-24T17:09:00.000+00:002008-01-24T17:09:00.000+00:00Yes, Jim, my close relations and books are easier ...Yes, Jim, my close relations and books are easier also--mostly because all my family (myself included) are trained to say for birthdays, "I'm interested in this author now, here's a list of the titles I don't have yet." All my family are avid readers, and although books aren't as expensive as the Steinbeck (!)here, it still saves time and money. (And we don't know which title we're getting, so it's a surprise.)Conda Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12972790965426924941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-55931539824553247022008-01-23T23:32:00.000+00:002008-01-23T23:32:00.000+00:00Actually, my Penguin Classic edition of Bend Sinis...Actually, my Penguin Classic edition of <EM>Bend Sinister</EM> has £9.99 on the back, the price of most of the John Updike's Penguin are reissuing as classics.<BR/><BR/>I find myself stuck in a quandary because I do love the Penguin Modern Classics, almost to a fetishistic level, having over one hundred of them, never mind the Penguin Classics. But I would like it if they were just a little cheaper. But then I don't want those awful pound shop copies.<BR/><BR/>I don't mind the consistency though, in that the prices hover within a range, the Steinbeck a wild blip. It's the hardbacks that drive me mental, coming in anywhere between £12.99 right up to £30, in the case of <EM>Due Considerations</EM> by John Updike and both <EM>On Ugliness</EM> and <EM>On Beauty</EM> by Umberto Eco.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-62129513828819906312008-01-23T23:17:00.000+00:002008-01-23T23:17:00.000+00:00Stewart, you're right, it was the Penguin Modern C...Stewart, you're right, it was the Penguin Modern Classics edition and the price for the Steinbeck is obscene. I bet it's only $13.99 in the States too. That's something else I find had to live with. And like you I buy from wherever is cheapest – I have no loyalty – but my main problem is a limited budget; there are simply too many damn books out there and when the money's spent it's spent.<BR/><BR/>Conda, yes, I've been there. It depends on who's asking me. I never go far wrong with my wife and daughter but they're very much the exceptions.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-32412797876604523362008-01-23T21:28:00.000+00:002008-01-23T21:28:00.000+00:00Your post is a good reminder that all writing is s...Your post is a good reminder that all writing is subjective. And good writing is in the opinion of the reader. This was borne home to me again and again when I worked in a bookstore. Many of our regular customers would always ask, "Will I like this novel?" To which I would reply, "I read it and I liked/disliked..." "Yes," the customer would say, "but you know what I like, should I read it?" I often guessed wrong--it's too subjective.Conda Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12972790965426924941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-77196090989551339422008-01-23T20:41:00.000+00:002008-01-23T20:41:00.000+00:00If you thought £8.99 for Nabokov's 'Bend Sinister'...If you thought £8.99 for Nabokov's 'Bend Sinister' was too much (and I'm assuming you mean tht Penguin Modern Classics edition) then go look at the Penguin Modern Classics edition of John Steinbeck's <I>To A God Unknown</I>. That's right, it's not even 185 pages but the price tag says £13.99. This is no doubt because of the lengthy introduction and the Steinbeck estate and introduced both can't survive without royalies. <BR/><BR/>It's a grievance, true enough. But I get round it by picking up New copies cheap (or as cheap as I can) from Amazon Marketplace, AbeBooks, and eBay.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-88247340443049029342008-01-23T20:12:00.000+00:002008-01-23T20:12:00.000+00:00Yes, Gabriel, there's many the time I've regretted...Yes, Gabriel, there's many the time I've regretted not owning all the books I've read – I keep wanting to quote from them or check things and I can't even remember what I've read. I used to keep a list but you know what happens to lists.<BR/><BR/>Love the idea that literature is what is left when you subtract the story, Dave. I've never been that big on stories anyway; most of my short stories don't have 'em and the novels only pay lip service to 'em. I've always believed that a story can survive without a plot but not without a point.<BR/><BR/>BTW, gentlemen, I went away and measured – it's only 4' of Beckett; those shelves aren't as wide as I imagined. I suppose though if you printed out all the articles I've got on my computer there's got to be a good 6" – 8" there. I tried formatting the whole lot once, it was hundred and hundreds of pages and <I>Word</I> gave up on me.<BR/><BR/>The actual Beckett probably only comes to 1' and that's everything he ever wrote; all the rest are biographies and books about his writing.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-81849881848566329732008-01-23T11:20:00.000+00:002008-01-23T11:20:00.000+00:005' of Beckett, eh? I envy you that! In the main I ...5' of Beckett, eh? I envy you that! In the main I am in total agreement with what you say, but especially so when it comes to gut feeling, which I would link with browsing. There is nothing to beat reading a random passage or two. I used to find the story synopsis helpful, but these days I don't. I'm coming round to the thought that literature is what is left when you subtract the story.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-14382624327814551252008-01-23T11:07:00.000+00:002008-01-23T11:07:00.000+00:00Geeze... I maybe have 2" of Beckett. Not that I wo...Geeze... I maybe have 2" of Beckett. Not that I would not have more. I suspect 5' of Beckett is an equivalence worth 50' of writing books. The writing books you read once and that is about the end of it unless for a refresher now and then.<BR/><BR/>There is something said well for quality over quantity. Whenever I go out and about and run across any sort of a book store on return home my wife says she thinks I am bringing offers to appease the book god.<BR/><BR/>I have a short story not yet finished about a fellow that lives in his RV in the driveway because he has too many books in his house.<BR/><BR/>I got into a habit of buying books rather than borrowing them as I always felt guilty that I could not remember to return them to the library. Books tend to fade into the upholstery in our house. The last time I wanted to return books to the library it was a Saturday morning. I got distracted and set them down. It was two years before I found them again. I immediately grabbed them up and ran off to the library to liberate them. I have vowed to try not to go into the public library unless under dire need.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887517793752604788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-41066610338267137842008-01-23T10:50:00.000+00:002008-01-23T10:50:00.000+00:00Thanks for all that, Gabriel. 10' of book on writi...Thanks for all that, Gabriel. 10' of book on writing, eh? And here I was pleased with my 5' of book on Beckett.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-52226353646949543632008-01-22T12:47:00.000+00:002008-01-22T12:47:00.000+00:00My reading habits are all over the place.I have ba...My reading habits are all over the place.<BR/><BR/>I have backed off on science fiction and mystery mainly because I go through spurts of saturation in various genres. <BR/><BR/>For mystery, as an example, I like Crumley, Jim Thompson, Chesbro, von Gulik, Chester Himes, Constantine, Rex Stout, Simenon, Elmore Leonard, James Lee Burke and Carl Hiaasen. There is also a list of female mystery authors that I like.<BR/><BR/>What I don't like is Pynchon, Snow Crash, or any of the cerebral derivatives. I don't seem to care for books that are meant to be effin puzzles. I figured a long time ago that these types of books are not in my culture and have no need to be. That said, Finnegans Wake has always been a friend. <BR/><BR/>In old age as a reader though I tend to go towards books that are relatively simple and clean in their prose, like The Great Gatsby or anything by Joyce Cary or Daniel Defoe or Hawthorne. I really like Rabelais a whole lot even if it is in translation. Along w/ Flaubert. And there is the standby Dostoevsky... read Crime & Punishment the first time during a brief stint in jail. That was fun and memorable... at the same time reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Sometimes you have to read what is at hand. The same for my reading the Shorter History of Poland (a thick book) while in cardiac intensive care in a Polish hospital.<BR/><BR/>I do not read Romance as in Bodice Rippers... I suppose that is one genre I see no particular need for. I also have problems with Fantasy. My Horror I like to scare the crap out of me... but I rarely if ever read any of the popular genre of horror fiction. I also particularly hate Ken Follett, but that is for deep personal reasons best not dwelt on here. My family reads him and I tolerate the situation.<BR/><BR/>I like to read philosophy, mainly because it puts me to sleep. I am gearing myself up for an Ian Fleming James Bond marathon. I like to read books on UFOs, have quite a few of them (it is what my friends & family know to buy for me) and books about sport fishing, hunting, sailing, and goat husbandry and poultry raising. I have about 10' of shelves that are solely books about writing.<BR/><BR/>I am one of those who will buy a book before buying food.<BR/><BR/>I find the books I tend most to read, though on average, are the ones that I pick up out of a remainder pile. I like to read a whole lot of crap, as it is, and I kind of drive my wife nuts when I go about reading the texts of various madmen such as Saddam Hussein or the unibomber or the psychotic guy that writes a column of gibberish for our local penny newspaper.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887517793752604788noreply@blogger.com