Books: Last Book You Read and Rate It

[Spring in Fialta]

I've read a little of "Mashenka" translation, and there are no changes compared to the Russian version, it's all the same, only in English, so don't quite understand what you're talking about, buddy

I've read Mary as well, though as I obviously don't read Russian, I can't speak on it. I know it's the last one he translated in English and it's the one he held in the lowest regard (it was his first), so I'm not sure if that plays a part. But books like Laughter in the Dark definitely went through radical changes between the Russian and English versions. And I mean, you don't have to take me at my word. It's not like Nabokov hid it. He admitted to reworking his books during their translations from Russian to English.

 

[sdf]

I've read Mary as well, though as I obviously don't read Russian, I can't speak on it. I know it's the last one he translated in English and it's the one he held in the lowest regard (it was his first), so I'm not sure if that plays a part. But books like Laughter in the Dark definitely went through radical changes between the Russian and English versions. And I mean, you don't have to take me at my word. It's not like Nabokov hid it. He admitted to reworking his books during their translations from Russian to English.

What do you think about the 1997 film? It seems to me that the actor corresponds very well in appearance to how he is described in the book

 

[sdf]

I meant lolita movie that came off in 1997

 

[Spring in Fialta]

What do you think about the 1997 film? It seems to me that the actor corresponds very well in appearance to how he is described in the book

I thought it sucked, both from a technical level and from an adaptation standpoint. It's been a long time, but I don't remember the 1997 retaining any of the book's dark humour. In fact, it kinda plays out - in sentiment - the way Humbert Humbert believes himself to be, instead of how Nabokov plays off of him, which is far more pathetic and funny.

 

[sdf]

I thought it sucked, both from a technical level and from an adaptation standpoint. It's been a long time, but I don't remember the 1997 retaining any of the book's dark humour. In fact, it kinda plays out - in sentiment - the way Humbert Humbert believes himself to be, instead of how Nabokov plays off of him, which is far more pathetic and funny.

You're probably right, I can also add that unlike Ironce - Humbert, I absolutely don't like the choice of an actor for the role of Quilty, they screwed up in this film in terms of reproducing the specific charisma of this character

 

[sdf]

Nabokov's English vocabulary and talent for writing in English is far superior to most writers in the English language. Though to be fair, he was first schooled in and exposed to English at a young age before he truly learned to write in Russian at school, since like many aristocratic families his family were cosmopolitan (he also was fluent in French). Still remarkable though.

Joseph Conrad is another author where it is amazing that English was their second language.

Most likely this is the key factor why he absorbed it so well.

Interesting moment, in the afterword to Russian version he made a lot of compliments to the English language. He said that in certain aspects it is clearly superior to Russian. All due respect to him, but it seems that what he said is some kind of nonsense

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Most likely this is the key factor why he absorbed it so well.

Interesting moment, in the afterword to Russian version he made a lot of compliments to the English language. He said that in certain aspects it is clearly superior to Russian. All due respect to him, but it seems that what he said is some kind of nonsense

He was obviously in love with English, especially America's English, but he admitted that he felt like he had given up his Russian - considering his own superior to his English - for what he deemed to be an 'offbrand' English. While he, sometimes, couldn't be taken at first word, I always thought it was pretty obvious he regretted Russia and his Russian and felt like he could have had a higher artistic peak - if that's possible - in the former language.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

The Thursday Murder Club #2: The Man Who Died Twice (2021) by Richard Osman

This was a hoot to read, arguably better than the first one. The mystery is solidly written but this is an example where the mystery is second to the writing and the characters. The advantage of this is the characters were established in the first so Richard Osman's writing style can shine. It isn't exactly an Agatha Christie when it comes to the chase, far more character focused, and probably longer than it needs to be as it can get grating in long doses but a fun read.

 

[sdf]

He was obviously in love with English, especially America's English, but he admitted that he felt like he had given up his Russian - considering his own superior to his English - for what he deemed to be an 'offbrand' English. While he, sometimes, couldn't be taken at first word, I always thought it was pretty obvious he regretted Russia and his Russian and felt like he could have had a higher artistic peak - if that's possible - in the former language.

Not sure if the Russian language really became his "former", I read the translation of Lolita that he did (haven't read this book in English), and in the afterword to it, which I mentioned, he said that his mastery of that language has become much worse, and that he considers the English version of this text the best, but his speech didn't look like he had really forgotten Russian a bit, he still spoke quite excellently, and honestly I think that he was just exaggerating about his skills have become that worse

 

[sdf]

Oops, looks like I misunderstood your post, Spring, and did not really correct reply

 

[kihei]

Of All That Ends, by Gunter Grass

Nobel Prize winning novelist Gunter Grass (The Tin Drum; Dog Years; Cat and Mouse; Local Anaesthetic; The Flounder; My Century; et al) thought that he was on his deathbed and then he wasn't. He went from seriously ill to having a brief period of recovery and he used the time to keep writing. Of All That Ends contains prose snippets, poetry and black-and-white drawings that reflect the ideas and feelings that Grass chose to explore as the end neared. Of course, the book is uneven...how could it be anything else under the circumstances. The quality of the expression declines as Grass' faculties begin to deteriorate. Nonetheless. this is a remarkable document of a great artist for whom death is a fast approaching reality. As David Bowie showed in Blackstar, his final album, great art can communicate insights about life and death from the very edge of existence. I feel fortunate that literature had one last exposure to Grass' humanity, humour and sense of inquisitiveness about what a decidedly mixed bag of a species we are.

 

[Thucydides]

Socrates is basically a smartass who walked around Athens asking irritating questions until they decided to kill him.

We are walked through dialogues between Socrates and other characters, and while nothing is really answered concretely , it does make you think about your beliefs and opinions.

The last bit was probably the most interesting where Socrates talks about death and the soul.

The end of the book is known - Socrates sentenced to death, drinks the poison happily and bravely, showing the reader that death is nothing to fear .

my favourite quote from the book “an unexamined life is not a life worth living”.

 

[Thucydides]

I’ve been following the Peter Khill self defence case here in Canada
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/can...orders-new-trial-in-test-of-self-defense-law/
Supreme Court orders new trial in test of self-defence law

and stumbled upon this book. It’s mostly geared toward US audience , but it was interesting nonetheless especially when discussing court cases involving when self defence was used - George Zimmerman.

It is not well written, but it’s interesting . Canada has changed a lot in regards to self defence - back in 2012 Stephen Harper quietly passed a new law that makes claiming self defence a lot easier, and some law critics say it makes the laws more sweeping than Florida’s stand your ground law .

I’ve been reading other court cases involving self defence and it amazes me how many successfully win trials claiming self defence.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Socrates is basically a smartass who walked around Athens asking irritating questions until they decided to kill him.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

Isaac Asimov on Socrates:

"In his discussions of such matters as "What is justice?" or "What is virtue?" he took the attitude that he knew nothing and had to be instructed by others. (This is called "Socratic irony," for Socrates knew very well that he knew a great deal more than the poor souls he was picking on.) By pretending ignorance, Socrates lured others into propounding their views on such abstractions. Socrates then, by a series of ignorant-sounding questions, forced the others into such a mélange of self-contradictions that they would finally break down and admit they didn't know what they were talking about.

It is the mark of the marvelous toleration of the Athenians that they let this continue for decades and that it wasn't till Socrates turned seventy that they broke down and forced him to drink poison."

 

[Thucydides]

Isaac Asimov on Socrates:

"In his discussions of such matters as "What is justice?" or "What is virtue?" he took the attitude that he knew nothing and had to be instructed by others. (This is called "Socratic irony," for Socrates knew very well that he knew a great deal more than the poor souls he was picking on.) By pretending ignorance, Socrates lured others into propounding their views on such abstractions. Socrates then, by a series of ignorant-sounding questions, forced the others into such a mélange of self-contradictions that they would finally break down and admit they didn't know what they were talking about.

It is the mark of the marvelous toleration of the Athenians that they let this continue for decades and that it wasn't till Socrates turned seventy that they broke down and forced him to drink poison."

he was a jackass.

 

[Thucydides]

Great little book about looking at what you fear and taking it head on. Some great stories he shares , and lots of good advice. nothing groundbreaking, but definitely inspiring .

7.5/10

 

[Hippasus]

Socrates is basically a smartass who walked around Athens asking irritating questions until they decided to kill him.

We are walked through dialogues between Socrates and other characters, and while nothing is really answered concretely , it does make you think about your beliefs and opinions.

The last bit was probably the most interesting where Socrates talks about death and the soul.


my favourite quote from the book “an unexamined life is not a life worth living”.

The Meno is perhaps one of the most important Platonic dialogues for the presentation of a couple influential theses in philosophy: (1) Knowledge as recollection. This is a prominent account of Plato's theory of Forms and is important for metaphysics, or theories accounting for the nature of reality. He claims that the apprehension of eternal or atemporal forms is necessity, as well as the grounding or establishment of our knowledge of truth. This theory is meant to cease infinite regress, or an endless chain of reasoning, provided fundamental knowledge is actually possible in a manner resembling Plato's account. (2) Knowledge as justified true belief. This is an influential classical account for epistemology, or the theory of knowledge. [I actually think I didn't read this dialogue. I just know about it and Plato is important for me as a historical figure.]

 

[Thucydides]

The Meno is perhaps one of the most important Platonic dialogues for the presentation of a couple influential theses in philosophy: (1) Knowledge as recollection. This is a prominent account of Plato's theory of Forms and is important for metaphysics, or theories accounting for the nature of reality. He claims that the apprehension of eternal or atemporal forms is necessity, as well as the grounding or establishment of our knowledge of truth. This theory is meant to cease infinite regress, or an endless chain of reasoning, provided fundamental knowledge is actually possible in a manner resembling Plato's account. (2) Knowledge as justified true belief. This is an influential classical account for epistemology, or the theory of knowledge. [I actually think I didn't read this dialogue. I just know about it and Plato is important for me as a historical figure.]

what I took from it is that all knowledge is within us, and when we search for and find the truth, we recognize it and know it to be the truth and that comes from within, hence it was already there to begin with.

Kierkegaard had the same theory for God.

 

[tarheelhockey]

The genius of this novel is undeniable, but I couldn’t wait to be finished with it. Everything about it seemed excessive. It’s The Great Gatsby rewritten in the style of Fear and Loathing, and bloated to 600 pages.

 

[Thucydides]

The genius of this novel is undeniable, but I couldn’t wait to be finished with it. Everything about it seemed excessive. It’s The Great Gatsby rewritten in the style of Fear and Loathing, and bloated to 600 pages.

good job on finishing . I started that but couldn’t get through it .

 

[soothsayer]

Socrates is basically a smartass who walked around Athens asking irritating questions until they decided to kill him.

We are walked through dialogues between Socrates and other characters, and while nothing is really answered concretely , it does make you think about your beliefs and opinions.

The last bit was probably the most interesting where Socrates talks about death and the soul.

The end of the book is known - Socrates sentenced to death, drinks the poison happily and bravely, showing the reader that death is nothing to fear .

my favourite quote from the book “an unexamined life is not a life worth living”.

Quick note: The ulterior motive for putting Socrates on trial was that he made the sophists look foolish, which was a dangerous thing to do given that many of them were highly influential and made their money selling lessons to people some of whom were very high in office. He thought they were enriching themselves by exploiting ignorance--we all know how that goes still today.

Also, Socrates as he's known in the literature is believed to be more-or-less a creation of Plato, though he was a real person. Most scholars think that Socrates' speech in the Apology is as close to his real voice as there is in the literature. So, if you want to hear how Socrates actually spoke, the Apology is a good place to look.

And it might also be worth noting that he essentially chose to kill himself, though technically he was sentenced to death. (He basically chose that sentence.)

 

[tarheelhockey]

good job on finishing . I started that but couldn’t get through it .

It gets better, but only very marginally.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Rum Punch (1992) by Elmore Leonard - Fun, slick if lacking a bit in visual vividness. I'm always a fan of making physical places more part of a story's characterization and it feels like Leonard misses a bit of an opportunity here with South Florida. Really enjoyed it, though. I'll largely stick to a crime fiction for the next while.

 

[Thucydides]

Before reading this I thought perhaps I had OCD, but after reading it I can see that I don’t, just an obsessive & addictive personality , which is probably a disorder in itself, but no compulsions. These days who doesn’t have something ? I think everyone is addicted to something or other .

I feel for the people who have OCD- some of the stories in this book were unimaginable . But the book offers hope , and a way out for those suffering from OCD, and there’s lots of good advice here for just about anyone.

8.5/10