I am not sure how the translation to English changed the piece, since Machado is a master at playing with the literal estructure and with the Portuguese language. Here is a quote taken from the beginning of the book:
"For some time I debated over whether I should start these memoirs at the beginning or at the end, that is, whether I should put my birth or my death in first place. Since common usage would call for beginning with birth, two considerations led me to adopt a different method: the first is that I am not exactly a writer who is dead but a dead man who is a writer, for whom the grave was a second cradle; the second is that the writing would be more distinctive and novel in that way. Moses, who also wrote about his death, didn't place it at the opening but at the close: a radical difference between this book and the Pentateuch."
Machado's undestand the human nature and presents us with an acid and cynic view of the world. His dark humor and social criticism are brilliant.
The story begins by the end, showing the narrators death. The author take us to see how the character's life had been, his evaluations, regrets and happy moments. One of the best Brazilian authors.
Has anyone here read 100 years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I thought it was a darn good book.
Others that I have read for school this semester (other then 100 years of Solitude) are ******* Out of Carolina, The Color Purple, and Fahrenheit 451. Not your average h.s. English class's list, eh?
I really enjoy Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but have yet to catch One Hundred Years of Solitude and I am looking to read Farenheit 451. Nice books to be reading for school.
I enjoy Science Fiction books, so I decided to make a list with some of my favorite authors and books. If anyone has suggestions feel free to speak up.
Animal Farm, by George Orwell- I read this when I was fourteen so maybe it might be a little easy for you
1984-Great Beginning but the end and middle kinda lags. . . all it is is Julia and the main character trying to have sex.
HucK Finn and Tom Sawyer are very entertaining
My favorite book is The Phantom Tollbooth. I read it when I was eleven, but I never enjoyed a book as much. Amazingly creative and witty. I probably would find it simple now but back then I was really into it.
JGK-If you start reading 100 years of Solitude, DON'T give up. It's a very challanging book but the ending is worth it.
JGK-If you start reading 100 years of Solitude, DON'T give up. It's a very challanging book but the ending is worth it.
Yeah, I like challenging books. I know Marquez's style and "100 Years" is a classic, when I get the free time to read it I will let you know. I am pretty sure I will like it.
I read Tom Sawyer and liked it, but probably not being American made me lose some aspects of the book.
I loved The Lord of the Rings Series. The books are simply masterpieces, they set the bar for all the fantasy writers. Contributed to the world culture in a lot of different ways. Tolkien created a new world, his mind is amazing. Middle Earth is as deep as you can imagine. I don't have to explain what they are about, since with the movies, I guess almost everyone knows a little about LOTR.
Another series I enjoy is Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, I read them when I was a little bit younger, but I had a great time with those. There is a bunch of books about Sherlock, like A Study in Scarlet, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
I've posted some of my favorite books a couple of times on EBB.
Here is one of the lists:
Quote:
On the topic of SF, who do you like to read?
My favorite SF/Fantasy writers include:
Harlan Ellison (short stories, esp. "I have no Mouth and I must Scream" "Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes" "The Beast Who Shouted 'Love' at the Heart of the World" "Paingod" "The Deathbird" "Repent! Said the Harlequin to the Ticktock Man" "Paladin of the Lost Hour"and "Jefty is Five" Also responsible for the highly influental anthologies "Dangerous Visions" --ed. "again Dangerous Visions" --ed.) Phillip K. Dick (esp. "The Man in the High Castle" and "Do Androids Dream of Electic Sheep") Stanislaw Lem (esp "Solaris" and "Memoirs Found in a Bathtub") Stephan R. Donaldson (esp Thomas Covenant Series) Gene Wolf (esp Book of the New Sun series) Phillip Jose Farmer ("To Your Scattered Bodies Go" and the rest of the Riverworld series) Harry Turtledove (various "Alternate History" novels) Frederick Pohl ("Gateway") Roger Zelazny (Chronicles of Amber, "Roadmarks") Michael Moorcock (Elric of Melniborne series, Corum series, Runestaff series) Ursula Le Guinn (Earthsea Trilogy, "The Left Hand of Darkness") Norman Spinrad ("The Iron Dream", "Songs from the Stars") Poul Anderson ("Tau Zero" "Harvest of Stars") Ann McCaffrey (Dragonriders of Pern series) William Gibson ("Neuromancer") Robert Silverberg ("Lord Valentines' Castle" "Stochastic Man" "Nightwings") Harry Harrison (Stainless Steel Rat series, "Hammer and the Cross") Theodore Sturgeon ("More than Human" "Killdozer" and various short stories) Larry Niven ("Lucifer's Hammer" Ringworld series) Cordwainer Smith (a/k/a Paul Linebarger) ("Scanners Live in Vain" "The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal" "A Planet Called Shayol" "The Dead Lady of Clown Town") JRR Tolkein (Duh) Ray Bradbury ("Fahrenheit 451" "Illustrated Man" Martian Chronicles) Clifford Simak ("City" "All Flesh is Grass" "Our Children's Children") John Varley ("Titan" and the rest of the Gaean series, "The Persistence of Vision") Arthur C Clark ("2001" "Childhoods End") Frank Herbert (Dune series) CS Lewis (Out of the Silent Planet series, Narnia series) Robert Heinlein ("Stranger in a Strange Land" "I Will Fear No Evil" "Starship Troopers" "Number of the Beast" "The Past Through Tomorrow") Isaac Asimov (Foundation Series, "I Robot" and the Robot series) HG Wells ("Time Machine" "War of the Worlds")
To the extent they can be considered SF/Fantasy, I also include: Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse 5 , Cat's Cradle, Player Piano and others) Anthony Burgess (Clockwork Orange) William S. Burroughs (Naked Lunch) JG Ballard (Crash, Empire of the Sun, High Rise and others) George Orwell (1984, Animal Farm) Aldous Huxley (Brave New World) Daniel Keyes (Flowers for Algernon) Shirley Jackson (The Lottery) HP Lovecraft (At The Mountains of Madness" "The Tomb" "The Call of Cthulu")
Various Existentialist writers whose writings border on the fantastic and "head games" (Camus, Dostoyevsky, Sartre, and especially Kafka)
Anyone else read these? Like them? Hate them? Have other favorites to share?
Here is another list I posted. There are some repeats:
Quote:
The Man in the High Castle -- Phillip K. Dick Interesting "what if the Axis had Won the War" book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? -- Phillip K. Dick Basis for the movie Blade Runner, but the book runs much deeper into the social ramifications of replicants and a mechanical society The Stranger -- Albert Camus Classic existentialisim. Bonus points for relation to the Cure song. Understanding Chomsky -- Noam Chomsky Radical dissenter. One of the most original thinkers of this century, like him or not Stranger in a Strange Land -- Robert Heinlein Terrific story exploring the alienations of modern society as seen through the eyes of an outside observer Dune Trilogy -- Frank Herbert Don't let the horible movie renditions scare you off Foundation Trilogy -- Isaac Asimov One of the great Whodunnits of Science Fiction Nausea -- John Paul Sartre More existentalism Notes from Underground -- Fyodor Dostoyevsky russion literature often does not translate well. This is an exception Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas -- Hunter Thompson Gonzo journalism at its best Naked Lunch -- William S. Burroughs Weird as all get out. On the Road -- Jack Keroac Dharma Bums -- Jack Keroac Run with the Hundred, A Bukowski Reader -- charles Bukowski Portable Beat Reader -- various, edited by Ann Chambers Something about Beat writers really gets me going The Dubliners -- James Joyce Classic of Irish literature I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream -- Harlan Ellison Paingod and Other Delusions -- Harlan Ellison Dangerous Visions and More Dangerous Visions -- various, edited by Harlan Ellison
basically anything by Harlan Ellison Ellison writes short stories. Stuningly original, often creepy science fiction (although Ellison despises that term). Psychotic Reactions and Carbourator Dung -- Lester Bangs collected works of the famous rock critic Memoirs Found n a Bathtub -- Stanislaw Lem Solaris -- Stanislaw Lem Lem wrote from behind the Iron Curtain. He wrote in secret and his works were smuggled out. Memoirs is very cool -- a lot like Kafka. A Clockwork Orange -- Anthony Burgess horrorshow for your gulliver, my droogs The Autobiography of Malcolm X Ozzy will tell you -- an interesting man, indeed. A great read. The Man With the Golden Arm -- Nelson Algren Walk on the Wild Side -- Nelson Algren noone brings out the seedy underbelly of the dirty city like Algren Slaughterhouse Five -- Kurt Vonnegut Cat's Cradle -- Kurt Vonnegut Vonnegut's canon is required reading for wanna be intellectual college freshman everywhere. that being said, they're still great books Boss -- Mike Royko Alternates between funny and infuriating. story of Mayor Richard J. Daley by one of the greatest newspaper columnists Chicago ever had The Longest Day -- Cornelius Ryan One of the best WWII books ever written I Claudius -- Robert Graves semi historical account of Roman emporers, treachary and debauchary Deep Cover -- Cyril Payne story of an FBI agent who infiltrated the Weatherman radical/terrorist organization. Which side is the good guys? Neither Shadow of the Panther -- Bobby Seale more radical politics The Damnable Question -- George Dangerfield interestng account of the history of "The Troubles" in Ireland Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test -- Tom Wolfe required reading for deadheads. also ties in neatly with my Beat writings fascination because of the presence of Neal Cassidy Food of the Gods -- Terence McKenna Semi-academic writings about psychedelics The 13th Valley -- John Del Vecchio View from the treches of the Viet Nam war Deus Lo Volt -- Evan Connell fascinating, fictional first hand account of The Crusades Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage -- Alfred Lansing incredible story of an antarctic shipwreck and the crew's amazing struggle to survive
last but not least:
the above mentioned Speak, Memory -- Vladimir Nabokov the rare autobiography that qualifies as literature -- almost poetry. The images of his growing up as a nobleman's son in Czarist Russia and the families flee to Europe makes for fascinating reading. Dense, rich, sometimes difficult, but well worth the effort.
I'd also note that I am also an organized crime buff and could rattle off a couple dozen books on that subject worth a look, but frankly, I'm as tired of typing this list as you are reading it. If you made it this far with me, thanks for your attention.
It's just a big classic. Great and powerfull story. The book is about the fight of a man against a fish, it show the human dignity, the will to survive and the confrontation of limits. The book really got me.
Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and the Noble Prize in literature in 1954.
Originally posted by <b>alex</b>!
Invisible Man was my favorite. Very long and dramatic, the ending is a little far out, but nice.
Well, I never knew about that book, but doing some research I think you are talking about Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Seems like an American classic.
I'm glad you liked it. When it comes to writing style it may not be the best ever, but the plot and an ultra-politically correct society that dominates everything in that world are very realistic. Hopefully we never come to that . . .
JGK-try to read 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marques next. Such a great book. Right after reading it I thought it was very good, but looking back on it I realized it was one of the best books that I have ever read.
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