Eratosphere - our reading

Eratosphere (https://www.ablemuse.com/erato/index.php)

- General Talk (https://www.ablemuse.com/erato/forumdisplay.php?f=21)

- - our reading (https://www.ablemuse.com/erato/showthread.php?t=34797)

Walter, yes, it's fun to read how little fun Wallace had on that ship.

I'm enjoying these lists, descriptions, and quotes. I hope they keep coming.

I judge the value of a book by how many times I feel compelled to read it Reading for me is often rereading. I've read some books two or three times, some five or six, and some 10 or 12. And then there is the one I've read so many times that I know it by heart.

I've probably read 'Dispatches,' by Michael Herr 10 or 11 times. Same with 'Outer Dark,' by Cormac McCarthy, a book that is not for the squeamish. 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' was another book I revisited often.

Max, DFW's 'Consider the Lobster' is a deeply moral essay that rewards repeated reading.

Orwn Acra, I once visited Mircea Eliade in his office at the University of Chicago. He was very gracious to me, a stranger, and knew that I was on a quest, like you, for religious knowledge and experience.

Christine, I love Mary Roach's one-word titles such as 'Bonk' and 'Stiff'. Just last night, I watched her give a TED talk on YouTube. She is as bright and funny as you'd expect.

A large portion of my reading life is consumed by audiobooks. They relieve the tedium of household chores like washing clothes and dishes. They also lull me to sleep. And if I wake up during the night, I love to let the rich, rolling sentences of 'Moby-Dick' sweep me back into an unconscious state.

Tim, which Moby Dick audiobook do you listen to? There are many. I have found that the one by Anthony Heald is my favorite.

Hi Roger. Yes, it is critical to find a narrator you like. I listen to Frank Muller's reading, but, as you say, there are many others. I just listened to a sample of Anthony Heald's version, and it too would work for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim McGrath (Post 487186)

DFW's 'Consider the Lobster' is a deeply moral essay that rewards repeated reading.

Thanks, Tim. I've just read it. As elsewhere, Wallace finds and examines complexity in a clear way. And in the collection Consider the Lobster I also highly recommend "Authority and American Usage," especially for anyone who teaches English language use.

I've been reading John McPhee's Draft no. 4, which is a delightful collection of essays about writing, both writing-as-process and writing-as-career. Here are two passages I copied out into my notebook tonight:

Quote:

The writing impulse seeks its own level and isn't always given a chance to find it. You can't make up your mind in a Comp Lit class that you're going to be a Russian novelist. Or even an American novelist. Or a poet. Young writers find out what kind of writers they are by experiment. If they choose from the outset to practice exclusively a form of writing because it is praised in the classroom or otherwise carries appealing prestige, they are vastly increasing the risk inherent in taking up writing in the first place. It is easy to misjudge yourself and get stuck in the wrong genre. You avoid that, early on, by writing in every genre. If you are telling yourself you're a poet, write poems. Write a lot of poems. If fewer than one work out, throw them all away; you're not a poet. Maybe you're a novelist. You won't know until you have written several novels.

---John McPhee, "Editors & Publishers," Draft no. 4, pp. 78-9.

and:

Quote:

...no two writers are the same, like snowflakes and fingerprints. No one will ever write in just the way you do, or in just the way that anyone else does. Because of this fact, there is no real competition between writers. What appears to be competition is nothing more than jealousy and gossip. Writing is strictly a matter of developing oneself. You compete only with yourself. You develop yourself by writing. An editor's goal is to help writers make the most of the patterns that are unique about them.

---John McPhee, "Editors & Publishers," Draft no. 4, p. 82.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christine Pennylegion (Post 487444)

I can relate to the second quote. A few years ago I felt some consternation over my style but eventually came to terms with it. I might need to put your book on my to-read list.

With all the talk of Alicia Stallings lately, I picked up her title Like this week, the one that nearly caught her a Pulitzer. I've been enjoying it.

Nick, you might enjoy her reading of "Pencil" from Like. Her TED talk was earlier, but also enjoyable, and will enhance your experience of the book. Both of these videos are helpful reflections on writing poetry, as well.

Kafka's Diaries
Roberto Calasso's The Book of Books
Marosa Di Giorgio
Alejandra Pizarnik Diana's Tree and Extracting the Stone of Madness

I shouldn't have started this. It goes on and on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim McGrath (Post 487186)

There aren't many titles I've read multiple times, but I'm up to about four or five with Cohen's Book of Longing.

It's less a book of poetry, and more a book of ruminations / philosophy from the end of his life. Likely more rewarding if you're a man and can relate to his experiences (I can and do).

I've also read his title Death of a Lady's Man a few times and own a first edition of it. I'll take older Cohen over middle-aged Cohen, though.