This wouldn't affect Hayden, but DC seems awfully humid for summer.
It's either mold or lack of sleep or extra-boring workload or any combination thereof.
From Joe's link
Before venturing further into the depths and delights of Pale Fire theories, I want to pause here for the benefit of those who have not yet tasted the pleasures of Pale Fire. Pause to emphasize just how much pure reading pleasure it offers despite its apparently unconventional form. Following a brief foreword, the novel opens with a 999-line poem in rhymed heroic couplets formally reminiscent of Alexander Pope, but written in accessible American colloquial language at least on the surface. Please don’t be intimidated by the poem’s length or formality; it’s a pleasure to read: sad, funny, thoughtful, digressive, discursive, filled with heart-stopping moments of tenderness and beauty.
Following the poem (entitled "Pale Fire") which is identified in the foreword as the last work of John Shade, a fictional Frost-like American poet, another voice takes over: the commentator Charles Kinbote. A delightful, deluded, more than a bit demented voice whose 200 pages of commentary and annotations on the poem constitute the remainder of the novel. Kinbote’s voice is completely mad–he is the ultimate unreliable narrator, the mad scholar colonizing the poem with his own baroque delusion–but also completely irresistible. Kinbote weaves into his footnoted annotations on the poem the story of his own relationship with the poet, John Shade. How he befriended him during the last months of his life while Shade was composing "Pale Fire." How he’d disclosed to Shade, a colleague at the college where they both taught literature, the fantastic story of his (Kinbote’s) supposed secret identity: that he was not really Charles Kinbote, but rather the exiled King of Zembla, a "northern land" where he once ruled as Charles the Beloved until he was deposed by evil revolutionaries from whom he fled into exile. Revolutionaries who sent an assassin to hunt him down, an assassin whose bullet, meant for Kinbote, mistakenly killed John Shade instead.
And now, having absconded with the dead poet’s manuscript of "Pale Fire," holed up in a cheap motel in the mountains, Kinbote attempts to demonstrate with his commentary that Shade’s last masterpiece is really about him, about Kinbote, about his own tragic and romantic life as King of Zembla, his flight and exile. All this despite the fact that, on the surface, neither Kinbote nor Zembla appears anywhere in "Pale Fire," despite the fact that the poem seems on the surface to be John Shade’s attempt to come to terms with his own tragedy, the suicide of his beloved daughter Hazel Shade–and his efforts to explore the possibility of contacting her in the Afterlife, across the border between life and death which has exiled her from him.
As I said, it only seems complicated and cerebral. In fact, reading Pale Fire, both novel and poem, is an almost obscenely sensual pleasure. I guarantee it.
The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh
Possibly the most viciously funny book novel ever written.
In Hollywood, at Whispering Glades, a full-service funeral home for departed greats, the mononymonous Mr. Joyboy and Aimee Thanatogenos fall in love...with each other and their work. He is chief embalmer, she a crematorium cosmetician. They spend their days contentedly prepping the loved ones for a final appearance.
Into this idyllic scene comes Denis Barlow, aspiring poet and funerary colleague. But Denis is downscale, his employer the Happier Hunting Ground, a pet cemetery. Denis looks to Aimee for professional reconstruction, falls in love with her instead, and sets up a triangle that is literally more than Aimee can bear.
So, are we calling the recommendation giiving over or extending it through this evening? We have 45 recommendations so far.
I'm for calling it. That's a lot to go on.
Okay, I'll post the full list in a few minutes.
45? How are we ever going to whittle that down?
perhaps -t could list the suggesters and that could be whittled?
perhaps -t could list the suggesters and that could be whittled?
Do you mean asking the suggesters to keep it to only, say, two recommendations? That makes sense to cut it initially. Or we could ask everyone to suggest only one book to start.
Suggested Books
NOTES (mostly stolen from Cindy):
1) Some entries are marked with a number. See bottom of post, for explanation.
2) I have used bold font, for titles and/or authors who seemed to garner either interest or support from at least one person, in addition to the person who floated the suggestion. If an author was mentioned more than once, his/her name was only put in bold in his/her first entry on the list.
3)Blurbs have been included when short enough, otherwise linked to
The Education of Henry Adams, by Henry Adams
Part autobiography, part cynical observation of politics and progress. An insightful and at times darkly humorous exploration of both a remarkable man and the tumultuous age in which he lived.
Ginger "The Buffista Book Club: [insert quotey thing here]" Jul 13, 2004 2:28:05 pm PDT
Persuasion, by Jane Austen
Susan W. "The Buffista Book Club: [insert quotey thing here]" Jul 13, 2004 10:05:27 pm PDT
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
The Alienist, by Caleb Carr(1)
Kathy Astrom "The Buffista Book Club: [insert quotey thing here]" Jul 13, 2004 9:27:39 pm PDT
House of Sleep, by Jonathan Coe
hayden "The Buffista Book Club: [insert quotey thing here]" Jul 14, 2004 7:58:20 am PDT
The Devil's Larder, by Jim Crace
hayden "The Buffista Book Club: [insert quotey thing here]" Jul 14, 2004 8:12:46 am PDT
Available Light, by Ellen Currie
A book so good I tracked down her scant short stories. A woman, a man with a saxophone. Romantic, Irish again. Finding your place in the world after mistakes. Beautifully written and affecting.
The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant
Topic!Cindy "The Buffista Book Club: [insert quotey thing here]" Jul 13, 2004 2:00:55 pm PDT
Hard Times, by Charles Dickens
In our discussions in Literary, a number of people said they'd like to read Dickens, either because they never had or because they'd only read Great Expectations in high school, which is a good way to learn to loathe Dickens. (It's a great book, but perhaps not something to tackle in the 9th grade.) Hard Times is a relatively short work that explores Dickens' social concerns and the affects of an abusive system on both the abused and the people who profit from their work.
An American Tragedy, by Theodore Dreiser
Very long (my copy is about 875 pages), but a relatively fast read. Young man on the make gets job at factory owned by wealthy uncle, dates fellow employee with tragic results.
Louisiana Power and Light, by John Dufresne
Heather Alayne "The Buffista Book Club: [insert quotey thing here]" Jul 13, 2004 1:50:24 pm PDT
Rides of the Midway, by Lee Durkee
Growing up Southern, teen boys, beautifully rendered. Also a ghost from a baseball mishap.
Jaran, by Kate Elliot
Susan W. "The Buffista Book Club: [insert quotey thing here]" Jul 13, 2004 10:05:27 pm PDT
The Good Soldier, by Ford Madox Ford
Strega "The Buffista Book Club: [insert quotey thing here]" Jul 13, 2004 11:49:45 pm PDT
Sandman, by Neil Gaiman(3)
Mister Sandman, by Barbara Gowdy
Lyra Jane "The Buffista Book Club: [insert quotey thing here]" Jul 14, 2004 10:55:11 am PDT
Mariette in Ecstasy, by Ron Hansen
AmyLiz "The Buffista Book Club: [insert quotey thing here]" Jul 13, 2004 1:48:59 pm PDT
Into the Forest, by Jean Hegland
Lilty Cash "The Buffista Book Club: Isn't the Point of Computers to Replace Books?" Jul 14, 2004 8:28:33 pm PDT
The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro
Polter-Cow "The Buffista Book Club: [insert quotey thing here]" Jul 13, 2004 1:35:09 pm PDT
The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson(1)
Kathy Astrom "The Buffista Book Club: [insert quotey thing here]" Jul 13, 2004 9:27:39 pm PDT
Girl in Landscape, by Jonathan Lethem
hayden "The Buffista Book Club: [insert quotey thing here]" Jul 14, 2004 8:12:46 am PDT
If Not Now, When?, by Primo Levi
Stranger Things Happen, by Kelly Link(2)
Kate P. "The Buffista Book Club: [insert quotey thing here]" Jul 13, 2004 7:11:11 pm PDT
Small World, by David Lodge
Not only one of the funniest books I've ever read, but also (a) a neat structural parody of Medieval romances - so a history lesson tossed in, (b) a satire of academia and specifically deconstruction jargon. But don't worry - it's incredibly fun and absorbing, the kind of book you can't wait to pick up again.
Mary Reilly, by Valerie Martin(1)
AmyLiz "The Buffista Book Club: [insert quotey thing here]" Jul 13, 2004 1:48:59 pm PDT
Birds of America, by Lorrie Moore(2)
Like Life, by Lorrie Moore(2)
Who Will Run the
