STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

I read the Alchemist. It was pretty good, a really quick read, and very inspirational.

My friend loves Tom Robbins, everything he writes, I have yet to attempt. I am still reading the Davinci Code (late yes I know)

 

white teeth by zadie smith. i loved it.

"I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere"

It's a book of short stories.  Short stories are my new thing, because I have time to finish one each night and I don't get bored if it hasn't "caught me" from the first chapter.

I also love Edgar Lee Masters "Spoon River Anthology".  It's a bit weird, because it is a colletion of post-mortem autobiographical "epitaphs".  Basically former citizens of a fictional town (Spoon River) tell their life stories, dashed hopes, etc.  It is a look at honesty of one's self after death.  Anyway, when I was struggling with a life decision, one of my friends gave me a copy and highlighted the story of George Gray.   

So, my favorites are:  

64. George Gray

I HAVE studied many times
 

The marble which was chiseled for me—
 

A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.
 

In truth it pictures not my destination
 

But my life.
         5

For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment;
 

Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid;
 

Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances.
 

Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.
 

And now I know that we must lift the sail
  10

And catch the winds of destiny
 

Wherever they drive the boat.
 

To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness,
 

But life without meaning is the torture
 

Of restlessness and vague desire—
  15

It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.
 

and

111. Ernest Hyde

MY mind was a mirror:
 

It saw what it saw, it knew what it knew.
 

In youth my mind was just a mirror
 

In a rapidly flying car,
 

Which catches and loses bits of the landscape.
         5

Then in time
 

Great scratches were made on the mirror,
 

Letting the outside world come in,
 

And letting my inner self look out.
 

For this is the birth of the soul in sorrow,
  10

A birth with gains and losses.
 

The mind sees the world as a thing apart,
 

And the soul makes the world at one with itself.
 

A mirror scratched reflects no image—
 

And this is the silence of wisdom.
  15

and

222. Faith Matheny

AT first you will know not what they mean,
 

And you may never know,
 

And we may never tell you:—
 

These sudden flashes in your soul,
 

Like lambent lightning on snowy clouds
         5

At midnight when the moon is full.
 

They come in solitude, or perhaps
 

You sit with your friend, and all at once
 

A silence falls on speech, and his eyes
 

Without a flicker glow at you:—
  10

You two have seen the secret together,
 

He sees it in you, and you in him.
 

And there you sit thrilling lest the Mystery
 

Stand before you and strike you dead
 

With a splendor like the sun’s.
  15

Be brave, all souls who have such visions!
 

As your body’s alive as mine is dead,
 

You’re catching a little whiff of the ether
 

Reserved for God Himself.

 

Ayo, Have you read a lot of other Atwood? I was on a big Atwood kick in high school and read maybe 4 of her books but they were all pre-90s I think. I think I remember liking The Edible Woman and Cat's Eye, but that The Handmaid's Tale creeped me out a lot (not that the others didn't but I don't really like futuristic stuff).

I've heard good things about The Kite Runner too.

And jah -- I love Spoon River Anthology. Or at least I did when I read it in high school, I haven't looked at it since.

I just finished this actually (right before picking up this one) and I agree it's a wonderful book. I really enjoyed it!

cc- this is my first book I'm reading by her, I had heard so much about her writing (most people seem to think she's a little quirky I tend to agree) and I thought I'd give it a try..

Thanks everyone for the recommendations..

I think I'll give Spoon River Anthology a try it sounds really interesting.

Thanks!

quote:

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Originally posted by: Mara
"My favorite book that I have read in a couple of years is THE KITE RUNNER (I read ALOT) Highly, highly, highly recommend for anyone!"

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when i was in school (i just graduated-yay!) i would get sick of science textbooks, and i would go through magazines soo quickly, but i would want a super-light read, i read:

p.s. i love you (easy to read...makes you think of people who are important to you)

the confessions (of a shopaholic, etc...)

 

I also recommend Middlesex. I'm about halfway through now and it's such a wonderfully written book.

quote:

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Originally posted by: janey831
"white teeth by zadie smith. i loved it. "

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2nd this one too- great book!!!

janey...white teeth is one of my all time favorites. I also strongly recommend Middlesex.

a couple others...

The God of Small Things -Arundhati (sp?) Roy

Devil in the White City - Erik Larsen

Lost in Translation  (not related to the movie - Nicole Mones

I also liked Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (it's sort of a tongue-in-cheek adult fairy tale) - Gregory Maguire

I just realized I have The Kite Runner on my bookshelf right now. I have no idea where it came from, but I've never read it.