Books

[Wren]

Hi all, I thought I'd just create a place to talk books, either OCD related or not, ie what we are currently reading, what we would recommend, what we want to read next etc. 

I'm quite bad and end up reading several books at once and never finishing them, but one that I'm halfway through and enjoying is 'Other Minds' by Peter Godfrey Smith.

[Lynz]

I'm a massive book nerd and I'm constantly reading and looking for new books to read. At the moment I'm making my way through the complete works of James Joyce. I've just finished Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and I'm also reading his complete letters, which are just as fascinating as his actual books IMO (I'm a huge Joyce fan haha).

I've also recently read Shadow and Bone from the Grishaverse, I read the Six of Crows books first which were much better though.

Generally I will read absolutely anything and I don't really have favourite genres as such. I'm also making my way through all of the Agatha Christie books too.

Some nice books to read that always chill me out and relax me are the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith. I've read them all!

Hmmm what else can I mention... The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman was good, so was Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, and so was Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I'm on Goodreads and my reading challenge for this year is 50 books. I read 40 last year and 37 the year before that! I don't have much of a life at the moment but I do have my books! 

I reckon the forum should start an online book club, even if it's just done by a thread on the forum where members vote a book to read each month, read it, and then come back and discuss it. I think books are great for mental well-being and promoting reading would be a good thing to do IMO. I will do it if no-one else wants to!

[Wren]

Hi Lynz, that's an impressive number of books!

When I wrote this post I did think of setting up a book club but there was one on this forum a few years ago and it kind of fizzled out, or maybe it was cancelled, I can't remember now. It was specifically for OCD related books though. I was hoping this thread may turn into an informal book club of sorts, but if you want to make it more formal and set up another thread please do! I would join, or help you, although I'm on a limited budget so I'm restricted to books that I can get at my local library (which is a very good library).

I tried to read Ulysses when I was about 19 and it went completely over my head so I've not read any James Joyce since. In hindsight I was too young. I'm finding it interesting to re-read classic books I read when I was young, now that I'm older, and seeing how my interpretation of them and how I relate to them has changed. I heard a Vincent Van Gogh's book of letters serialised on radio 4 and it was amazing.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series are good comfort books, especially on audio books. When I was at my worst the only thing I could do was listen to audio books and podcasts.

W

[bendylouise]

hi

I also really liked the No 1 ladies Detective Agency series and I've read most (If not all) of them they are delightful and i imagine they're very good on audio as Wren says. I couldn't get on with The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osmon for some reason. Something I've listened to on audio recently is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, read brilliantly by Sissy Spacek. It was fantastic, really seeming to transport you to the deep South of America at that time.  The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt is an incredible book as are The Little Friend and The Secret History, both by Tartt.

 

[howard]

I remember being impressed by Van Gogh's letters. Weren't they mostly to his brother Theo. In the book I've got they match his paintings with his letters.

I did read as many classics as possible and tried to find good novels from most countries. I like books that challenge my way of thinking, or the way I perceive reality.

I've even read some non-fiction for fun; Umberto Eco The Open Work, Darwin's Theory of Evolution and some Zizek.

[Wren]

The Secret History is one of my favourite books, I read when it came out, but I've never dared re-read in case I spoil the memory I have of it and end up disappointed! 

Yes most of the letters were to Theo, on radio 4 it was read by a famous Shakespearean actor I like, whose name escapes me, and I think that was part of the charm. 

I read a lot amount of non-fiction, probably more than fiction actually, although I go through phases in what I'm interested in.

[howard]

I've never tried audio books but as you @Wren and @bendylouise have pointed out the reader can bring out a sense of place and depth to the reading. Another layer.

It's interesting to read something like Darwin's theory, knowing what a stir it caused at the time and how a certain mythology has developed.

The Theory was spun by religiously faithfull people and the elites of the day. The line about 'survival of the fittest' was added by the publisher after the first edition. I understood from the book that all life is connected and interdependant, in fact that all life on the Earth is one being adapting to many very different environments.

So despite his sometimes bad press, Darwin was an early environmentalist. Sometimes it's best to ignore the critics and read the source.

[Wren]

I guess using sensationalism and encouraging polarisation in order to sell books has a long history then! 

I think some books can be better on audio. It used to be common practice in the past for people to read aloud to each as evening entertainment, so some books were written with that in mind, Dickens's novels are a good example. I know some writers working now are starting to write specifically so it sounds good on audio, seeing it as an art form in its own right rather than an addition to the print book. The problem I find is it also adds another layer which can go wrong, so I may like the writing, but not like the speaking style of the reader. 

[howard]

I think you'd have to imagine the impact Darwin's book had. Mainly because it challenged the established religious or political views, which were held by the most powerful. It's probably why he's still slurred to this day.

I respect him as a scientist, travelling the globe in wooden boats, making notes, drawings. Obsessively checking his findings in his greenhouse. Then not releasing his theory for ten years out of respect for his religious wife. 

It's one of those books that completely shifted my understanding.

I think an early piece of audio many remember is Richard Burton reading Dylan Thomas. Yes I'm all into new art forms or ways of passing on human stories.

 

 

[howard]

I also follow how the new art form, gaming, tells human stories. There's a lot of crossover between films and gaming, and both look to writers for stories to engage the audience. In Senua's Sacrifice Tameen Antoniades based his character in Celtic history and wanted the player to experience what her psychosis felt like.

The company Ninja Theory consulted with neuroscientists and The Welcome Trust, who went on to fund the project. It's an interesting idea. In Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky made the reader feel Raskolnikov's guilt and think his ruminations about his crime.

'it is not so easy to see the mental suffering or trauma or severe mental illness. But what if we could find a way to see it? Games are capable of drawing you in for hours on end, playing the role of a character who's different from you, experiencing their perspective, and actively involving you in a world that functions with a different set of rules'.(Antoniades)