Just finished Calvino's 'Collection of Sand' ,it is my favorite work that I've read so far by him, but I still have a couple more of his books on my to-read list. Currently reading 'Labyrinths' by Borges, the story 'The Circular Ruins' in their was excellent, redolent of the literary style of Malcolm Lowry's 'Under the Volcano'. And whilst everything I've read in that book so far has been stellar, that piece in particular has really "taken the cake" for me.
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
@MightyDemon82 "All That Remains" sounds like a perfect addition to my non-fiction reading list. I endeavor to read non-fiction every now and then and some of them have been absolutely brilliant.
"Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred to Hope" by Megan Phelps Roper, "Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood" by Danny Trejo and "Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice" by Bill Browder are all recent favourites.
I also enjoyed "The Premonition: A Pandemic Story" and "Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt" by Michael Lewis (the latter giving a frightening look at the wild west that is the finance sector).
@MightyDemon82 Hope you'll enjoy them
Fair warning, though: "Unfollow" is chock full of Bible verses/quotes, due to her illustrating the cult's mindset (and how they justify their actions through the Bible)., and it can be a bit too much at times. I sort of tuned out and glossed over most of the quotes after a while, but the Phelps Roper's story is definitely worth reading anyway
Still reading Labyrinths by Borges, getting to the end of the 'Fictions' section of the work. Obviously, a lot of it has religious tonality, which you will know if you are at all familiar with Borges, but, as he was an agnostic it is more theosophical in tone than dogmatic, and preachy, so, yes, it is an excellent work, and it makes you think, so far at least.
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
Finished Labyrinths by Borges, a profound and enlightening read. I especially enjoyed his 'parables' at the end of the book. It was very theosophical, as I've posted before, and I got the impression that Borges was somewhat of a lofty intellectual type, whilst still alive. A reflective man, who liked to think about the world and universe around him. Highly recommend.
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
just started reading Hunters of Dune. Trying to enjoy it but i remember Heretics and Chapterhouse were just dull and too many new characters where i couldnt tell who were the good guys and who were the bad guys
Currently reading Italo Calvino's 'Why Read the Classics?' I've got another book that he recommended along with a short story by Borges on my to-read list next. But so far, he has analysed both Homer's 'The Odyssey' and Xenophon's 'Anabasis' to my great satisfaction so far. I am just going through his reading of Pliny's fantastical encyclopedic descriptions of beasts and men at an earlier stage of the world that he depicted, perhaps an alternative world history, you could call it, maybe. But, yes, I am looking forward to his analyses of more contemporary classical fiction as the work progresses.
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
@Kidfried Oh really? That's cool. It's not my favourite by him, prefer Invisible Cities & Collection of Sand, but hope you enjoy it.
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
@Kidfried If you have a good time with it, I would definitely recommend Invisible Cities. Collection of Sand is very good, but non-fiction, so I don't know if you would like that one unless you are into that genre.
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
I finished Calvino's 'Why Read the Classics?' it was a thoroughly enjoyable and edifying read, I really liked Calvino's interpretations of the "classics" referenced in the book, particularly the works of Gadda that he described, as I was unfamiliar with the author. I also read 'Into the War' by Calvino, which is a collection of three short stories on the Second World War. I thought that was good, but not nearly as good as 'Why Read the Classics?' and I am now reading 'The Maker' by Borges.
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
I finished the Green Bone Saga last night. Excellent series, Jade City and Jade War were both superb and Jade Legacy was a fantastic end to the series. It could have been more books but Lee went with a series of time jumps to get to her ending and wrapped it up in a satisfying way.
Next up I'm reading Before your memory fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.
@MightyDemon82 Love to hear that the Green Bone Saga is good! It's been on my reading list for a while (how could it not be, when it has been described as " a gripping Godfather-esque saga of intergenerational blood feuds, vicious politics, magic, and kungfu"?)
And now I've added "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" to the list as well. Feels like it could be a fun read
I just finished 'The Aleph' by Borges, it didn't take long, as, unfortunately, I overlooked the fact that most of the same stories are in 'Labyrinths' ,which I read earlier. Now onto 'The Baron in the Trees' by Calvino. Yes, another Calvino book, I know. This one is different to the others I've read so far, good but not spectacular, 'Invisible Cities' is still my favourite.
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
@MightyDemon82 Wow, that is pretty impressive. Those aren't short books! I may bump them up and put them in the next slot reserved for trilogies (that slot is currently occupied by The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin, which I'm also very eager to read).
There a few books lined up before that, however, so I've got plenty of time to decide.
Finished James Clavell's Shogun (Goodreads page) and what a phenomenal novel that was! Wow, what a phenomenally good novel this was! Lengthy, but never, ever boring and never felt drawn out or padded. It took me a month and a half to read it and in that time the characters have taken up residence both in mind and heart. Finished it last night and already I miss them. I have no idea how authentic the historical details are, but it feels very authentic and it's immensely fascinating, regardless (I am given to understand the book is quite historically accurate, though).
This is one of those rare novels that upsets my scoring policy on Goodreads, because 5 stars seems nowhere near enough.
Looking forward to the adaptation coming to Disney+ in ten days
Next up: Wrapping up Geralt and Ciri's saga with The Lady of the Lake (Goodreads page), the penultimate book in the Witcher series (the last book is, as I understand it, a prequel).
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