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Subject: "some of my favorites" This topic is locked.
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King_Friday
Member since Nov 22nd 2002
3087 posts
Thu Jun-01-06 10:51 PM

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41. "some of my favorites"
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AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY - Theodore Dreiser

This is my favorite novel. I can't think of another author who has taken apart the "american dream" as well as Dreiser did in this book. The story of Clyde Griffiths as he goes from poor, small town nobody to working in his rich uncle's factory desperately hoping to become a somebody is a long and sad journey we know is doomed from the start. Griffith destroys himself trying to fit into the image of success that's been laid out before him and it only gets worse as it goes along, especially when he falls in love with a rich girl while dating a poor girl who--of course--becomes pregnant. I can't recommend this one highly enough (sounds awfully depressing though, doesn't it).


THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN - Mark Twain

I doubt it's necessary to remind anyone of the story here. This book is an essential and that's all there is to it. Every once in a while it's accused of being racist by a lot of middle class liberals totally lacking in historical perspective. It's not racist of course, it's actually anti-racist. That's what's so great about it. Huck's decision not to return Jim into slavery, saying he would rather go to hell than send Jim back into that is one of the greatest moments in book history (book history?). Yep.


JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE NIGHT - Louis-Ferdinand Celine

This one's about a fellow named Bardamu. . . and his misadventures during the first world war. . . and also his time in a french colony in africa. . . there's a brief trip to america. . . and then he becomes a doctor for the poor back in france. . . you know, all the hot spots of world suffering. . . (this last doctor to the poor part provides some of the most memorable moments in the book). . . Celine begins the novel with biting, completely cynical humor. . . but as it progresses. . . the character seems. . . less able to make light of the whole thing. . . he's still pessimistic. . . but it isn't funny anymore. . . I love this book. . . and Celine's unique use. . . of. . . ellipses. . .


THE RAGAZZI - Pier Paolo Pasolini

Before he was a filmmaker, Pasolini was a poet and novelist. This novel, like much of Pasolini's poetry and his early films, tells the story of a group of young people living in the slums in Italy. They steal scrap metal in order to survive or turn to more severe types of crime. Most of the time they wander around drunk and get into trouble. There's prostitution, a parent gets stabbed by their child, other children play games where they pretend to burn each other at the stake. It's a portrait of the so-called "sub-proletariat". It was condemned as obscene when it was first released in 1955 (so you know it's good).


IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK - James Baldwin

What moves me most about James Baldwin is his compassion. I don't know if any other writer tapped into the psychological trauma of racism the way James Baldwin did. He sees the way racism affects its victims but also the ways in which it destroys the racist too. One feels even in his "anger" at injustice there is more sorrow than actual anger. . . or at least sorrow is the starting point.

If Beale Street Could Talk tells the story of young black couple seperated by prison walls. Tish, the girl, is pregant and outside. Fonny is in jail for a crime he didn't commit. Baldwin shows the way this affects the couple and their working class families. It's a very moving story. A must-read for sure.


BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ - Alfred Doblin

You might describe Doblin as a cross between James Joyce and Bertolt Brecht. Like Joyce, he gives you stream-of-consciousness inner monologues mixed with sounds heard in the characters' environment. . . There's glimpses of news reports thrown in and a few lines here and there from a popular song. And like Brecht, Doblin tends to let you in on what's going to happen before it happens. He also has Brecht's class consciousness. This novel follows Franz Biberkopf as he is released from prison completely disoriented and feeling like all the buildings are going to topple over on him. Determined to go straight and avoid a life of crime, Franz gets odd jobs selling things on the street or door to door. But he soon finds he can't escape the underworld, and before long he's a pimp for his prostitute girlfriend and he's part of a gang of thieves. As he sinks deeper and deeper into all of this his psychological state begins to crumble. It's a pretty chilling book when you get right down to it. If An American Tragedy is the story of a man destroying himself on the way up, then Berlin Alexanderplatz is the story of a man destroying himself (or being destroyed) on the way down.

  

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Another dumb book post [View all] , janey, Fri May-12-06 05:36 PM
 
Subject Author Message Date ID
thanks...
May 13th 2006
1
You might like Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
May 15th 2006
10
      Middlesex is amazing and i loved The Virgin Suicides
May 19th 2007
51
A question about Paul Farmer that I never bothered to research
May 13th 2006
2
He's married....
May 15th 2006
3
      Exactly
May 15th 2006
5
           well and plus he was practically homeless while growing up
May 15th 2006
6
                I don't know if you know how ridiculous that last statement is
May 16th 2006
14
                     Are you a doc?
May 16th 2006
15
                          He's closely aligned with Brigham & Women's in Boston
May 16th 2006
16
                          Third year med student
May 16th 2006
21
                               I think that;s what we're saying
May 16th 2006
23
                                    Thanks
May 16th 2006
24
                                    Well, I will say if you are interested in trying to provide universal he...
May 17th 2006
25
                                         Yeah I guess there's a dual reason
May 17th 2006
26
                                              I just started reading
May 30th 2006
27
                                                   You've convinced me, thanks for reminding me
May 31st 2006
37
                                                        I LOVE that Anne Fadiman book
May 31st 2006
39
                                                             Thanks, janey
May 31st 2006
40
                                    *ears perk up*
May 20th 2007
53
i'm FINALLY starting Secret History
May 15th 2006
4
I named my imaginary baby Henry
May 15th 2006
7
i just read one of the funniest lines i've ever read in any book
May 15th 2006
11
      Oh yeah, most definitely
May 15th 2006
12
I just started it, and am thoroughly enjoying it
May 30th 2006
31
      okay, and I've told you before
May 31st 2006
32
           you hadn't told me specifically
May 31st 2006
33
                you MUST do it sequentially
May 31st 2006
34
I just started the Glover
May 15th 2006
8
I just took it really slowly
May 15th 2006
9
      I'm already reading paragraphs over 3 times
May 15th 2006
13
my list...
May 16th 2006
17
Gilead came this -----><----- close to making my list
May 16th 2006
18
      a powers post?
May 16th 2006
19
           by the way, re: Gilead
May 16th 2006
20
                RE: by the way, re: Gilead
May 16th 2006
22
RE: Another dumb book post
May 30th 2006
28
Yesterday, a friend of mine returned the copy I loaned him
May 30th 2006
29
      well I adored them both
May 30th 2006
30
I've already read two books this week
May 31st 2006
35
I just finished...
May 31st 2006
36
Check post #37 for some "medically" themed fiction and non-fiction
May 31st 2006
38
another word on The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Jun 15th 2006
42
      I believe that's reading for an International Health class
Jun 15th 2006
43
           no -- should I?
Jun 15th 2006
44
                I'm not sure yet
Jun 16th 2006
45
                     I finished The Spirit Catches You this morning.
Jun 16th 2006
46
^
May 18th 2007
47
I just checked out The Road and Little Children from the library
May 18th 2007
48
Roughly halfway thru The Road, and I'm ready to slit my wrists.
May 31st 2007
57
3/4 of the way through Lolita
May 18th 2007
49
booksz!
May 19th 2007
50
RE: Another dumb book post
May 20th 2007
52
just finished Cloud Atlas, gotta talk about it (spoilers!)
May 31st 2007
54
Mitchell's books ranked & very briefly described:
May 31st 2007
56
I finished "A Fighter's Heart" by Sam Sheridan last month
May 31st 2007
55

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