Well, the book I am reading at the moment is not new - it is a leather bound collection of all the Sherlock Holmes stories. I read them about 10 years ago, and try to refresh my memory... They are a good read, even when you know the plot... I especially like the narration of Victorian Era England. And the language is hilarious, I�d say...

Out of Control by Kevin Kelly. I just started it. I *think* it's about consciousness emerging from complex processes/structures. The first 65 pages are good. This morning I was reading about the intregral part wildfires play in balancing prairie ecological systems.

"Creating Cool Databases on the World Wide Web"

Actually I am searching for the 'austen read line'. But I can tell you that I am just finishing Smiley's A thousand acres. I came across the title through my interest in actor Colin Firth, who is/has just finished filming that story. Rather interesting story based on the old King Lear theme - A father giving his 'kingdome' away to his three daughters. And then it all starts to fall apart, families, properties,the love they thought they shared... Sad tale of our loneliness actually.

Ann2: glad to see you finally here. Are you also reading -- or have you already read -- the other originals that spawned new adaptations featuring Firth: Nostromo and The English Patient? Amy

Finished the Sherlocks, and read some Wodehouse. At the moment I am tackling (not counting Malleus Maleficarum and several scientific journals for my studies) LeGuin's "Tehanu", and then I'll attack the Gormenghast-trilogy... I guess it is my fantasy period once more...

No new reading until after final exams are given and graded, thank you. But I bought The English Patient for the plane ride to San Diego for the holidays. The cover pic is the advert w/ Kristin Scott Thomas & Ralph Fiennes. I also found some new books about Jane Austen that I shall dig into over semester break.

I am in the middle of the 1st book of Peake's Gormenghast, Titus Groan. I have to say I am very impressed. The Brits really know how to write (among with the Russians and some American eccentrics).

I'm just starting The English Patient. I'm having a hard time getting into the rhythm of it. Should I see the movie before or after I read the book?

Mich, I read the book before I saw the movie. I loved both. They share the rhythm, but use it in different ways. The movie is very faithful to the spirit and poetry of the book. The director has interpreted rather than mirrored the book and done it very well. I think you could either see the movie or read the book first and not lose. Enjoy.

I am presently reading a collection of short stories called "Revenge". All the stories are written by women and are all about revenge. It is really great and very creative. Gives me all sorts of ideas. I highly recommend it, but not suitable for those of you prone to nightmares. So far, none of the stories have been gruesome, just rather disquieting. The editor of this collection is Kate Saunders. My personal favorite at this time is "Why Herbert Killed His Mother". It is a comical tale rather than haunting.

I AM PRESENTLY READING THE BOOK BY M.R JAMES,IT IS A COLLECTIONS OF GHOST STORY MR. M.R.JAMES,HE LIVED IN THE LATER1800 AND THE EARLY 1900, WROTE BETTER THAN I EXPECTED.AND I DO HAVE A INTERST IN THE SUSPENSE FICTIONS.ANYBODY WHO HAVE READ THE THRILLER ON ECONOMIST 96/12/21? DO LET ME KNOW YR FAVOURITES I DO LIKE READING THE NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES YOU MAY E-MAIL ME AT CHENJIAXIN@HOTMAIL.COM BYEBYE MEET ME IN CYBER BY THE WAY I AM LOGGING FROM THE P.R.CHINA,PRECISELY SHANGHAI ,CHINA

I AM PRESENTLY READING THE BOOK BY M.R JAMES,IT IS A COLLECTIONS OF GHOST STORY MR. M.R.JAMES,HE LIVED IN THE LATER1800 AND THE EARLY 1900, WROTE BETTER THAN I EXPECTED.AND I DO HAVE A INTERST IN THE SUSPENSE FICTIONS.ANYBODY WHO HAVE READ THE THRILLER ON ECONOMIST 96/12/21? DO LET ME KNOW YR FAVOURITES I DO LIKE READING THE NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES YOU MAY E-MAIL ME AT CHENJIAXIN@HOTMAIL.COM BYEBYE MEET ME IN CYBER BY THE WAY I AM LOGGING FROM THE P.R.CHINA,PRECISELY SHANGHAI ,CHINA

This week I have read: Songs in Ordinary Time by Mary McGarry Morris and Symposium by Muriel Spark. I am beginning Kinds of Minds by Daniel Dennett.

All fiction? What are they about?

I read voraciously, constantly and with an eye toward help in my own writing. I did not, do not, can not understand nor apppreciate The English Patient. A friend says it is all about the state of the world--the burned man is the whole of humanity suffering, the nurse is the small fation of people trying to save mankind, the east Indian bomb defuser is the larger faction trying to prevent the demise of the world. Even this erudite friend of mine can't decide what the other guy was all about. And I can' help but wonder where the nurse got her eternal, unending supply of morphine. Symbolically--TV, drugs, alcohol, etc whidh keep us all sedated in this world. I think it is pretty far fetched but certainly better an anlysis than mine which is----well I just don't get it. Help!!

Pooy typing, sorry. I should proof read but these tri-focals of mine let me down and I can't read what I have just typed. Shocked to see it come up in big type.

If you check in to the austenarchive, you'll find a discussion of the English Patient with quite a few comments.

A completely "out of character" book for me, but the novel I'm presently reading is "The Horse Whisperer." Horses have never really done much for me, nevermind a story centered around one. But this is beautifully written, surprisingly exciting and has pulled me in completely.

who's the author?

Nicholas Evans, isn't it? I just finished a terrific book by Elizabeth Berg, "Pull of the Moon." Definitely a chick book, but she expresses so well the inner discord a woman can feel when she is so focused on others that she isn't really (dare I say it?) "in touch" with her own identity. I plan to re-read it when I'm menopausal (hopefully no time soon!!) Just started "Mrs. deWinter," the so-called sequel to Daphne DuMaurier's classic thriller/romance "Rebecca". It's slow going, a bit Dickensian in its descriptiveness, but I'm plodding through it.

Yes, Nicolas Evans.

I'm supposed to be reading Thoreau's "Walden" for my book group. It was my suggestion, but I'm not getting very far. I've read it a couple of times in high school and college, so I thought it would be familiar enough to be comfortable mid-winter reading, and a change from the women's voices that completely dominate our group, but I can't focus on it. I think I may have lost some brain cells in childbirth...and maybe there's a reason I don't read the famous dead guys anymore; I don't expect Thoreau to b a feminist, but it's hard for me to listen to someone who doesn't appear to know women exist! Anyway, it will give us something to talk about at book group besides "yeah, I liked it", and "yeah, me too."

thoreau's dealings with/attitude toward women does seem rather twisted, especially taken within the context of modern attitudes (though applying that standard would seem to negate the work of nearly every male writer of any antiquity at all, i should think)... perhaps he idealized them, in his way... it is probable that the 3 closest re- lationships of his life were with women (his mother, sister, and lydian emerson, wife of waldo, whom he probably loved)... seem to recall that he received a proposal of marriage from a concord schoolteacher, who was somewhat older than he, and his response to have been something along the lines of "i never expected to encounter such a foe, at this stage in my career"... regardless of his peculiarities (or maybe because of them, because they are certainly an aspect of what makes him such a compelling personality), perhaps one should attempt to approach his work from a "sexless" point of view... even read 150 years later, his words still have vigor, and many of his ideas still seem provocative, stirring, and i would think they apply to everyone... "The greater part of what my neighbors call good, i consider in my soul to be bad, and if i repent of anything, it is likely to be my good behavior. What demon possessed me that i behaved so well? You may say the wisest thing you can, old man- you, who have lived seventy years, not without honor of it's kind- I hear an irresistable voice that calls me away from all that. One generation abandons the enterprises of another like so many stranded vessels..." that moves me still, and it will always be true (and sorta reads like abby hoffman, when you think about it... anybody read "steal this book"?)...

You're absolutely right, of course, about context. Nothing frustrates me more than when a conversation about a book gets stopped in its tracks by a stubborn readers' inability/unwillingness to consider the times the author was writing in and his/her world view. My beloved Virginia Woolf has been shot down twice as an elitist (and a bore, but that's another story) by book groups I otherwise loved and agreed with most of the time. I know I'll be defending Thoreau, too. I'm probably just mad because it's ge ting harder and harder for me to focus on a book that doesn't start with a dead body and/or have a foil cover. You're right--Thoreau was a revolutionary, and his views on living a simple life are probably more applicable to my life than anyone he knew in Concord. I'll try again.

Well, this has nothing to do with Thoreau, but i'm reading Kathleen Woodiwiss' new novel Petals on The River. so far so good. fell in love with her stuff as a teenager and still like it (even though I'm not a professed romance novelee). I like that her stuff is full of details of historical reference. Of course the story line is good IMO. My absolute fav is A Rose in Winter. (the masked character was such a....hmmmm, can't say it here, I don't think). Oh, and another of my favs is Amy Tan. She can really move me and I have learned much from her pieces. Can't wait until a new one comes out.

Tell us more about Amy Tan if you will.

I liked Amy Tan's "Joy Luck Club" but absolutely loved the movie. One of those rare instances where I preferred the film to the book (others include Forrest Gump and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter).

"the graduate" (better movie than book, i mean... extremely, excruciatingly rare occurence)

Amy Tan writes historical Chinese/American fiction. Her characters are so real and vivid. She just reaches out and grabs my attention and my heart. Have read all her stuff (save the children's books) and my favorite was "The Hundred Secret Senses." Watched the Joy Luck Club and I cried the whole thing through. Couldn't even get through the book. Forrest Gump was good, of course I bawled. (yeah, I'm a wimp, cry at everything). ET was a better book too.

Never read "The Graduate"--and now I won't bother! Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock is one of the few actors I "firth" (synonym for drool now!) over!

Essential Zen Men are from Mars-Women are from Venus Shaping a personal myth to live by Life 101 (concurrently although not simultaneously)

Wow, lighten up, wer! (just kidding! :) Maybe there should be a top 10 category in the Philosophy conference! No Celestine Prophecy? You can borrow mine if you like--I got it for xmas 2 years ago and haven't opened it yet, but it came highly recommended. You don't like any fiction?

I love fiction, go back and look at my top ten, or maybe I should go post a new one...1998 is turning into a very wierd year for me, and I felt that I needed some outside perspectives...

and it's early, yet, wer!

I know, Iknow! Everyone keep your fingers crossed, my mom is having her triple bypass on Friday...

I will keep a good thought for her, and you, wer.

yeah, me too, wer (she'll be in my prayers...)

Prayers for you mom, wer.

Gracias, mi amigos.

Well, wer, how did her surgery go? I'm eager to hear the good news...(thinking positively)

It went exceedingly well, and I thank everyone here for their good thoughts and wishes...Now, if you've got any left *wink* send a couple to my Dad, he might be in worse shape than her right now...Thanks again, my friends!

What a load off, I'm sure! However, worrying can bring on that urge to smoke...did you succumb? Or should I say how much?

Actually, due to the nature of the weekend, it's help curb the urge somewhat...Thanks for all the support, Autumn.

You're welcome--supportive people can be a blessing or a nuisance, I know...I live with one!

The book i just finished readingis Marcovaldo of the seasons in the city by Italo Calvino. a bit heavy for this romance addict. I felt like the girl in the movie The truth about cats and dogs who had to have a dictionary to understand the book? any way its a strange book and i sure had too deep of a sub meaning for me to gather. but it was fun reading it.

I am making a note of it & will check the library for it after I finish this 700 page monster I've been working on.

I'm almost afraid to mention it in this esteemed group of readers, but I just finished a collection of Shirley Jackson short stories that was wonderful (mostly unpublished, altho some were simply published long ago in long-defunct magazines). The collection is called An Ordinary Day (sorry, still don't know how to put that in italics). And in a similar vein, I bought a Dave Barry collection today. Any fans of the absurd out there? Or just short-story lovers?

Like this, <em>An Ordinary Day</em> or <i>An Ordinary Day</i>

Thanks, wer. May I call you wer? I've read so many of your posts, I feel like I know you. So, to experiment. Yesterday, after reading here, I went out and bought a second Shirley Jackson short story collection, The Lottery and Other Stories. So I guess the short fiction kick continues. So, now we'll see if I can post this and the italics come out right.

Wee! That's fun. I wonder what I was doing wrong, 'cause that looks like what I tried in the past that never worked and always brought up error messages. Thanks again!

What I'm reading right now... my grade book -- report cards go out tomorrow! Read The Story of Ruby Bridges to my kids today. We had an insightful and productive discussion on racism today (most specifically segregation). I'd love to get into some smut novels but I haven't had the time! *grin* Read a few essays by Ayn Rand the other day. On selfishness. A lesson we should all take -- how to truly be selfish!

read rand pretty extensively, long ago... her intelligence is captivating, and her ideas almost persuasive, by virtue of their clarity, alone... that, however, is because they are as old (and persuasively clear) as hell... it was the influence of rand (and scott fitzgerald, though for different reasons, obviously) that led me to become a marxist... objectively, what difference is there between the ideology of rand, and nietzsche (for example)? seems to me that beyond differing experience (and a little more intellectual honesty, on his part), there is none... one is an extension of the other... and really, don't you find the suggestion that human beings require any (further) justification for their selfishness a little disingenuous? akin to tigers "celebrating their claws", as nietzsche might say? bourne out by nature, and experience (and sort of redundant)? (sigh... i oughta stop here, but i'm not... nothing personal, but i'm really pissed off tonight, and ayn rand seems as hospitable a host for that as any) the thing that irritates me most about the rand crowd (of which the esteemed alan greenspan is a charter member/thug) is the attempted intellectualizing (even idealizing) of ideas with roots in the most primitive, most bestial aspect of human behavior... it is, i think (using the words marx used for a more benign transgressor, thomas malthus) a "libel on mankind"... or so it is my everlasting wish to believe...(and "objectivism", in my judgement, and within the context rand suggested, is as "libelous", and dishonest a conclusion regarding human potential as i know)... anyway... since i'm really pissed off (seething) at ken starr, maybe i oughta take this over to politics... and, to tell the truth- though i stand by every word i said- all in all, i think ayn rand was a great old broad... (even though i didn't buy a word she said, could always count on her to get the juices flowing... she did not shy from controversy)...

That settles it, Nick, definitely want you on my side in any conquest tour... Yes, Lorie, you may call me wer, in fact I've grown quite accustomed to it here. And, in reality when I've met Spring folks, wer sounds more natural than William when spoken by them. *wink-ta-you-know-who*

Nick, it's great to hear someone else who likes Rand's writing (she's interesting, after all, and sometimes that's so hard to find) but discounts her "philosophy." Have lately had her work foisted on me by some huge fans, and since I hadn't read it since high school (terribly long ago), I gave her another shot. In fact, I was looking at a collection of previously unpublished stuff just the other day, but I passed on it to buy some more fictional fiction. After all, there are days when you just don't wa t to think so much. At least, I have days like that.

me too, like today.

I had a heady-thinking weekend. And enjoyed every minute of it. Okay... maybe not EVERY minute!

So, what did ya think about?

(was reading "the making of the president 1960"...a third of the way through, skipped to near the end... the part describing kennedy's waterbury speech, near election day... made me so sad, i just said to hell with it... jack kennedy really is dead, and he's deader every day... and the american century is nearly over, and soon no one will care too awfully much about that, either (or even remember what the fuss was all about)... and aren't we closing it out in fine fashion? yeah... some days it's best to just not think at all...)

thought about happier days... past and future. Thought about how the only one that can make me happy is myself. Thought about how inconcievable it is that I could 'save the world' but how very possible it is for me to make a difference in the life of another. Thought about things that make me smile, thought about smiling... the way it is contagious toward the rest of my body... And then I just reflected on what a complex being means...

man, Stacey, you need to take a break (but what you said is soooo true) *smile*

Days of inward reflection are important,no? But they leave you feeling so raw afterwards.

this is often true. Colorado sunshine and warm weather helped! I feel pretty good now. Finally able to enjoy fresh outdoors instead of just the stuffy gym.

good, good, good...

Hi all. Good to see a book group here at the Spring. I just finished Funerals For Horses by Catherine Ryan Hyde. It was a random pick off the shelves at my local library. I couldn't put it down. It is a story of a family, centrally the youngest girl and her on-again-off-again fight against insanity... Findit. Read it.

Read "A Hundred Brothers" by I don't know who: thought provoking, idiotic, brownish feeling, scattered. (BTW that is read as in I "red" not as in you should read!) Also read "Rent Boy" by Gary Indiana: graphic depiction of the life of a 'rent boy' (homosexual male prostitute) through letters to an unnamed loved one. Very graphic! I enjoyed the perversity and honesty of this one. Am now reading "The Dark Rivers of the Heart" by Dean R. Koontz: been a Koontz fan for almost ten years and this is similar in style to all the rest of his novels. Chilling, well-researched, technical, complicated.

i've read 7 or 8 of koontz's books... along with sue grafton, prob. my favorite "mind candy" books (that i read just for the sheer enjoyment of it)...

Can't get into Koontz...don't know why, either... Enjoyed Whispers but the other two or three I read have kept me from reading any more... I likes Ellison for Mind Candy...

finished Dark Rivers last night and am beginning A Confederation of Dunces. Sadly enough (to some) this is my first reading of it.

Just finished John Grisham's THE PARTNER. Pretty interesting... remind me to call Grisham if I ever need a lawyer. His characters never lose. Am also reading Jackie Joyner-Kersee's autobiography. Have a visit to library in my near future.

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My tastes are pretty divergent right now. I just finished "Prince of Tides", which was a little too dysfunctional and poignant for me. So when in the library I picked up "Healing Foods", "1001 Pitfalls in English Grammar," and (of all things), "The Rules" (wanted to see if I did it right!) I guess after "Prince" I need a break from fiction for a while.

reading "She Loves Me" --- I'll let you all know...

i have just read "The Essence of the Thing" by Madeleine St. John. brilliant book. made me cry, which is the first time in ages.

*smile*

(scribbling the title on my reading list)

damn. i bought twenty-five pounds worth of books, and read all four in under a week. i've got too much time on my hands, obviously. now i'm stuck again, and have no money to buy anything new :-((

Don't you have a library???

only a college library, which isn't the most prolific fiction establishment, as you may imagine :)

In addition to all the faculties' boring doctoral theses, I bet they have a lot of the classics in their lit section, anyway...Come on, a little Jane Austen and you'll be drooling with the best of them!

ok, i read, in two sittings, The Horse Whisperer. It was well-done and not based on the movie (the other way around, actually). Some parts seemed rushed, but i was captured anyway. good read. glad i haven't seen the movie (yet)...

I read that one in the springtime, Wolf. I'm glad you enjoyed it, but I didn't like it. For one thing, I absolutely hated the arrogant, pushy heroine, which really violates my first rule for a good novel. As for the rest, the characters just didn't hold my interest. I realize I am the lone dissenting opinion on this book, because everyone I know liked it! I've been working on "Miserly Moms" and "Tightwad Gazette" these days for thrifty ideas--I need some fresh inspiration!

Ever read "Living Cheaply With Style"?

autumn: i didn't like her much either until i understood what her major malfunction was.

What was it? I forget already! Wer, thank you for the recommendation. I will check the library for it tomorrow. The one I just finished included recipes for for making your own Grape Nuts and baby wipes! Geez, I don't think I'm THAT frugal...

autumn: she was a control freak and when the bad stuff happened, it threw her out of whack and even though she knew she couldn't control it, she tried. the book focused more on her and the whisperer than the horse and the girl. the changes in their behavior (everyone's) was too abrupt. it was a good story and perhaps i'll read his next one (think it's The Loop) just to see. the frugal stuff is in Woman's Day or Family Circle. they're good ideas but i guess i'm too lazy to incorporate most of them. but look at her now! kinda like Martha Stewart. speaking of her, does she have any other job? (she's a perfectionist too, you know)....

Ha ha! I'm imagining Martha Stewart playing the role of Annie in the "Horse Whisperer!!" LOL! I consider myself a very frugal person (e.g. I made all my own baby food), but there's no way I'm saving cereal boxes and using them for storage containers!

cereal boxes do make cool postcards, though...

... and something to read if a newspaper isn't handy.

I use cereal boxes all the time in my classroom. Only problem is I have to bribe others to eat cereal quickly because I refuse to buy it at all. (Too much sugar, too many preservatives, too expensive... AND I prefer eggs and hash browns for breakfast (even if it means I have to get up WAY early!)

Same here, eggs, hash browns and toast are my breakfast, very rarely do I eat cereal. I used to be into Total, Shredded Wheat, Raisin Bran and Wheat Chex. Oh, and I forgot, Grape Nuts. My grandpa used to eat nothing but Grape Nuts around the clock.

s'mores poptarts and splash V-8 juice (at least of late)

ah, that explains it... the food conference moved to books!

ha ha, we have so much overlap here at the spring, don't we? None of us is ever able to remain on topic!

I don't know, as Stacey said, you can pretty much count on food or sex being representative of our discussions... maybe should just get rid of the all the conferences except those two...

If we restricted ourselves to those two, we'd probably start talking about music and films!

picked up a couple more Belva Plain books (the continuation of Evergreen, only i don't know which one starts first, so i bought both-good excuse, eh?) hi Autumn!

been reading a lot of safety manuals, guidance documents and OSHA regulations as of late... (newest second(third)job)

ooh, ooh... does that mean there's gonna be a Safety Stacey doll?

So, what's the new job? I am intrigued... Just finished Alice Walker's "Possessing the Secret of Joy", about female circumcision amongst African women. Heady stuff.