30 minutes? He thinks that's reading?

Today, we have the Sony Playstation.

Possible excuses:



DVDs, CDs, videogames and the Internet.

Let me amend that to "good excuses".

Brothers Judd blog?

Read the reviews at Brothers Judd--then go read one of the books.

I fell out of reading somehow. I grew up a voracious reader into one who didn't read a book in a year. I'm trying to fix that, but I find it odd that I went from someone who had to force himself to stop reading to one that has to force himself to read.



I do read a lot...but it's all internet. Hours a day though. But somehow it doesn't count.

OK. First, go to your library or bookstore and pick up Master and Commander
by Patrick O'Brien, the first book in the Aubrey/Maturin series. They are not, as OJ notes, for everyone. But if you happen to like them, there are twenty installments to enjoy and the first four, in my opinion, are one of the great novels of the 20th century (with a really extended epilogue). The main problem people have is all the sailor's jargon, but try to let it wash over you. Before too long, it'll become second nature. I read between three and six books a week; I probably reread one of these books every two weeks or so. Besides, there's a Peter Weir movie coming out this summer starring Russel Crowe, so act now and you can be into O'Brien before O'Brien is cool.



I've also been reading through Dumas. Even though you think you know these books (from the Mr. Magoo interpretations, if no where else), they are well-worth reading in new translations. In particular, there is an excellent new translation of The Count of Monte Cristo
out (somehow Mr. Magoo missed the lesbian subplot).



Dickens, too, repays rereading in a good modern unabridged edition.



Phil Dick, both the novels and the collected short stories, is also excellent.



My wife throws in High Fidelity
, which is excellent, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, which is pretty funny and has evolved into an interesting libertarian commentary on modern life and good Michael Crichton (Timeline
, Jurassic Park
) but not bad Michael Crichton (Prey
). My wife also insists that I add a note about the pleasure of reading good children's literature to your children (Harry Potter, Roald Dahl, Brian Jacques) even after they can read themselves.



Geez, guys, there's so much to read out there. We'll never get through it all unless everyone pitches in.

AUTHOR: David Cohen
EMAIL: general@dcohen.net
IP:
URL:
DATE: 12/22/2002 10:34:00 PM
AUTHOR: David Cohen
EMAIL: general@dcohen.net
DATE: 12/22/2002 10:34:00 PM

And my wife just called down the stairs (1) Dick Francis (particularly the earlier books) and (2) get up here. So I bid you all adieu
.

I don't read much fiction. There's far too much fact out there I need to know about. But on anybody's list of something fun to read, you've got to put the now nearly forgotten "Diary of a Nobody" by George and Weedon Grossmith.

One should read "The Catcher in the Rye" at least once a year. Charles Jackson's "The Lost Weekend" is also worth reading and rereading with a Guinness or a Manhattan in hand.

I found Brian Jacques far too simplistic even for a children's author.



Pratchett's Discworld is excellent, he's a superior author to either Dickens or Tolkien IMO.



Good reads I've rediscovered include the Sherlock Holmes novels by Conan Doyle and the fantastic novel Captain Blood.



Check out Project Gutenberg on the Web for loads of free texts.



Currently reading a history of the Korean War by Max Hastings and rereading The Two Towers.



Although generally I prefer nonfiction to fiction since the real world is a lot more interesting and bizarre than most things people can dream up.

Captain Blood by Sabatini? Check out the Errol Flynn movie too.

Phil Dick is good, but only his early stuff. Avoid his paranoid later-life works, especially Valis.



Neal Stephenson is the only current Sci-Fi writer that is worthwhile, IMHO. He needs an editor, though. I'm on my third attempt to digest "Cryptonomicon".



Other than that, I've totally lost my taste for fiction, non-fiction rules my attention. I don't think that the modern literary "imagination" can keep up with the real world.

Fact v. Fiction



Far be it from me to suggest that it's not important, especially now, to keep up-to-date with current events, the latest scientific theories and other cultures.



But if the natural study of man is man, then the best tool is fiction. A good novel can tell you more about the nature of man and how to live, or how not to live, then every psychology text in the library. Even for the irreligious, the Bible, considered purely as story, is not only beautiful and compelling, but explains much of what might otherwise seem confusing about western civilization.



In fact, I would argue that Shakespeare and Twain (Twain, how could I have forgotten Twain) are as important to understanding contemporary America as de Tocqueville. This is true not only because of their insight into humanity, but because they are part of our commen vocabularly and, consciously or unconsciously, our behavior runs on the paths they blazed. Trent Lott, considered through the lens of Julius Caeser
or Huckleberry Finn
makes much more sense then Trent Lott seen through the prism of political science or a purely political history.



But the most important gift of fiction is self-knowledge. The Aubrey/Maturin books were the work of a semi-recluse in southern France of indifferent education and with a scandalous semi-secret past. He wrote naval historical fiction, generally considered a worthless niche of a degenerate genre. Yet he wrote twenty books about the importance, the strengths, the weaknesses and the limits of male friendship. My own closest friendships are now over 20 years old and I doubt I will ever form another as close. They are as important to me as anything except my family, and O'Brian has taught me how and why to be a better friend. He has also taught me lessons about aging gracefully, accepting limits, valuing the gifts I've been given and living an honorable life. No work of non-fiction could have taught me any one of those lessons so well.



Of course, few works of fiction rise to these levels. Some are nothing but brain candy. In my experience, though, no entertainment is as complete, as all-encompassing, as a good, fun novel, in which all the senses are engaged from within.



I have been, as I tend to be, overly pompous. Reading fiction is fun and I enjoy it. I think most of you would, too.

RobertD & David:



When folks wish to understand the '80s in twenty or thirty years, one wonders if any text will explain them as well as Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities.