Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?

[yaxomoxay]

The Name of the Rose (1980) by Umberto Eco, audiobook.

This novel is a favorite of mine, if not my favorite novel. I’ve read it four of five times so far, and it always manages to surprise. So here’s the question: why have I listened to it in English when I can read and understand Italian perfectly? Simple: to give it a twist. Words might convey similar meaning, but the sound, the cadence, and even the selected word can provide slightly different feelings.

I must admit that in part it felt like I was reading a familiar tale, while at other times it felt like something different as it allowed for some “fresh air” to a book I virtually memorized.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The Name of the Rose (1980) by Umberto Eco, audiobook.

This novel is a favorite of mine, if not my favorite novel. I’ve read it four of five times so far, and it always manages to surprise. So here’s the question: why have I listened to it in English when I can read and understand Italian perfectly? Simple: to give it a twist. Words might convey similar meaning, but the sound, the cadence, and even the selected word can provide slightly different feelings.

I must admit that in part it felt like I was reading a familiar tale, while at other times it felt like something different as it allowed for some “fresh air” to a book I virtually memorized.

An absolutely gripping and brilliant book; I loved it.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The Name of the Rose (1980) by Umberto Eco, audiobook.

This novel is a favorite of mine, if not my favorite novel. I’ve read it four of five times so far, and it always manages to surprise. So here’s the question: why have I listened to it in English when I can read and understand Italian perfectly? Simple: to give it a twist. Words might convey similar meaning, but the sound, the cadence, and even the selected word can provide slightly different feelings.

I must admit that in part it felt like I was reading a familiar tale, while at other times it felt like something different as it allowed for some “fresh air” to a book I virtually memorized.

Actually, it is one of those very rare books that succeeds in being both an interesting philosophical (and historical) examination of the culture of the Middle Ages and - simultaneously - a genuinely gripping thriller/whodunnit.

My own copy is a first edition English language hardback (I had heard of the book - passionately recommended by a German boy with whom I was friendly that summer in Heidelberg - and was watching out for it, long before it was translated into English).

These days, - and this is a much read book - some of the pages are about to fall out, or attempting an escape from their binding.

 

[pachyderm]

oops !

 

[pachyderm]

Michael Angelo and the Pope’s Ceiling by Ross King.
Fascinating look into not just the painting of the Sistine Chapel, but also the time, key families and players, and more.
Brutal family factions.

That's next for me!

 

[pachyderm]

So far so good!

it's a biography but the author, Ms. Miller, tosses a bit about her own life struggles and why she was so drawn to her subject, David Starr Jordan in there too...

David Starr Jordan was a brilliant man... who turned out to be a monster !

He believed in eugenics! If you're not familiar, click the link, it's horrible!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics

And he probably murdered Jane Lathrop Stanford !

Who Killed Jane Stanford?

New investigations confirm she was poisoned by strychnine, but the case will never be solved. Someone got away with murder.

stanfordmag.org

Jane Stanford - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Author Lulu Miller tries to tie it up in a nice bow but IMHO she fails...

 

[yaxomoxay]

Actually, it is one of those very rare books that succeeds in being both an interesting philosophical (and historical) examination of the culture of the Middle Ages and - simultaneously - a genuinely gripping thriller/whodunnit.

My own copy is a first edition English language hardback (I had heard of the book - passionately recommended by a German boy with whom I was friendly that summer in Heidelberg - and was watching out for it, long before it was translated into English).

These days, - and this is a much read book - some of the pages are about to fall out, or attempting an escape from their binding.

Ah, good to see that the book is so read and old that its pages are falling off!

Every word you said is true. As a matter of fact I purchased this artifact some time ago:



The “key” contains a few interesting essays on Eco and the book:







A chronology of the actual historical events that are needed for a better understanding of the book:



A biography of all the individuals, groups, and events mentioned in the book either directly or indirectly:





And - most importantly - a translation and explanation of every single non-English sentence in the book which, as you remember, is a substantial amount:





The key will shine new light on this book.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Ah, good to see that the book is so read and old that its pages are falling off!

Every word you said is true. As a matter of fact I purchased this artifact some time ago:

View attachment 2208503

The “key” contains a few interesting essays on Eco and the book:

View attachment 2208505


View attachment 2208504


A chronology of the actual historical events that are needed for a better understanding of the book:

View attachment 2208506

A biography of all the individuals, groups, and events mentioned in the book either directly or indirectly:

View attachment 2208508

View attachment 2208507

And - most importantly - a translation and explanation of every single non-English sentence in the book which, as you remember, is a substantial amount:

View attachment 2208509

View attachment 2208510

The key will shine new light on this book.

When The Name of the Rose was finally translated into English, and published in that language, I do recall how popular it was among my teachers at university, - the Classics Department had a clear advantage with their scholarship and knowledge of Latin, but many in the Humanities - Medieval History, obviously (their professor - a wonderful man, and a true scholar, spoke at least six languages, Latin among them), and German, (their professor, and their specialist in Middle High German) - all devoured the book that autumn.

However, I do remember coffees with some of my teachers where they were discussing the book and teasing one another, "How's your Latin, old boy? Time to brush it up a little, don't you think.."

 

[KaliYoni]

Then there's the SEAN CONNERY angle...
;-)

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Then there's the SEAN CONNERY angle...
;-)

Usually, my heart sinks whenever I hear that a book I have loved is to be made into a movie, not least because so many of them are so dire - but, I must admit that this was an unusually good movie adaptation of what was an excellent book.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Usually, my heart sinks whenever I hear that a book I have loved is to be made into a movie, not least because so many of them are so dire - but, I must admit that this was an unusually good movie adaptation of what was an excellent book.

Now, trust me on this:
Whatever you do, wherever you are, do not watch the 2019 drama starring John Turturro and Rupert Everett among others. Don’t watch it, ever. If you’re put in a situation in which the choice is between watching the series and death, choose death. Choose a painful, slow death under torture over the miniseries. The cost of watching that abysmal monster is something of the like that not even an angry Medusa could fancy.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Now, trust me on this:
Whatever you do, wherever you are, do not watch the 2019 drama starring John Turturro and Rupert Everett among others. Don’t watch it, ever. If you’re put in a situation in which the choice is between watching the series and death, choose death. Choose a painful, slow death under torture over the miniseries. The cost of watching that abysmal monster is something of the like that not even an angry Medusa could fancy.

I'll take your word on this.

Especially a word so eloquently and graphically expressed.

In general, I dread - truly dread - the TV or movie adaptation of a text - or book - that I have loved.

Most of them are so dire, so execrable, so uniformly ghastly, - missing the tone, nuance, subtlety, complexity and sheer intelligence, of the original.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Too often books that are made into movies are just terrible.

 

[KaiFiMacFan]

I've always hoped some day there would be a movie made of Donna Tartt's The Secret History, but then I fear it would be a disaster, and maybe it's best that after all 30+ years, there's still no film adaptation. I'd like to see one, but it would have to do the book justice, and that's unfortunately asking a lot.

I think a film adaptation is harder to appreciate if you love the book. If the book is kind of underwhelming, then the film can often be better, by taking the story much further. I read The Talented Mr. Ripley and I liked it, but the movie just did so much more with that story.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Too often books that are made into movies are just terrible.

Agree completely with you.

All too often, the movie misses all of the nuance, context, and subtlety of the book it may have been based on, and frequently excludes everything except the broad brush strokes of the main plot.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I've always hoped some day there would be a movie made of Donna Tartt's The Secret History, but then I fear it would be a disaster, and maybe it's best that after all 30+ years, there's still no film adaptation. I'd like to see one, but it would have to do the book justice, and that's unfortunately asking a lot.

I think a film adaptation is harder to appreciate if you love the book. If the book is kind of underwhelming, then the film can often be better, by taking the story much further. I read The Talented Mr. Ripley and I liked it, but the movie just did so much more with that story.

I am not sure that it is possible to do proper justice to this story in a movie; a really good TV series might be a better format.

 

[scubachap]

The Secret History - remember it well, massive book at the time (I did all the UK sell in, and consumer advertising etc for it). I'm not sure she liked the Goldfinch film (but then I found that book a slog but YMMV) so I suspect there won't be one of the Secret History.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The Secret History - remember it well, massive book at the time (I did all the UK sell in, and consumer advertising etc for it).

I thought that The Secret History was excellent, a genuinely compelling work.

I'm not sure she liked the Goldfinch film (but then I found that book a slog but YMMV) so I suspect there won't be one of the Secret History.

Agree about the Goldfinch book; I found that hard going, as well.

 

[Huntn]

I have spent an embassisingly long time to read this book and am still working on it: 11/22/1963 by Stephen King. Bottom line, it’s because I’m not devoting enough time to my casual reading.

Anyway, this not a typical time travel story. As most of us know the date in the title is significant as the day President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas and the idea is the huge presumption by 2 characters who discover a time portal, that if Kennedy was not killed, how much better would the present be? And it just so happens this portal is fixed to a time a couple of years before the Dallas tragedy.

​

If you want no more info or spoilers stop here, but there are no revelations in my description.
I’ll say it finally grabbed me when the character because of the limited mechanics of time travel has to go back in time several years early than the target date (not an original idea for a time travel mechanic, saw something like this in Timeline) and basically establishes a life for himself getting involved with people living in a small town. This tied to his tracking of Oswald for when he is scheduled to arrive in Dallas with his Russian wife, and I‘m sure there will be surprises as there have been some already.

So far handles time travel paradoxes well, using the idea of a single time line (I think at least so far ) and discusses the worry of the Butterfly effect and unintended consequences. What I really like is the mechanic that if you go back once and return, the past and present changes, but if you go back a second time, all the changes from the last trip are undone. And I really like the idea that the past does not like change and will resist. Where I’m at in the story, this is a King book so I’m bracing myself.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

For people who really liked The Secret History (by Donna Tartt), I would also recommend (the book) Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl.

 

[KaiFiMacFan]

^Just looked it up. That sounds interesting, I'll add it to my TBR. The Secret History also inspired me to read If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio and I can recommend that one as another in the "dark academia" genre.

 

[ilawlin]

I hope this doesn't seem like butting in, but I really like Donna Tartt's works too. I especially couldn't fathom the number of reviews that called The Goldfinch a mediocre book. It is in fact quite sad what reviews in general have become. They insist on oversimplifying novels and plays; the force canonical interpretations onto works, but the worst part is people citing these reviews as if they are the final word. The (mis)conception that if prose is straightforward it's not literary enough is a particularly weak but popular argument sadly. Well, anyway, I'm also doing ecology-related readings, and am currently focusing on what they call biomagnification, which sounds a lot like Marx's idea of "the metabolic shift"

 

[Lee_Bo]

It’s part of a 4 year EFM course.

 

[scubachap]

I hope this doesn't seem like butting in, but I really like Donna Tartt's works too. I especially couldn't fathom the number of reviews that called The Goldfinch a mediocre book. It is in fact quite sad what reviews in general have become. They insist on oversimplifying novels and plays; the force canonical interpretations onto works, but the worst part is people citing these reviews as if they are the final word. The (mis)conception that if prose is straightforward it's not literary enough is a particularly weak but popular argument sadly. Well, anyway, I'm also doing ecology-related readings, and am currently focusing on what they call biomagnification, which sounds a lot like Marx's idea of "the metabolic shift"

You're absolutely not butting in and remember your option is valid as anyone else's on here. Personally I really enjoyed the Secret History but struggled to finish the Goldfinch, but it was quite a while ago so I can't remember what I did and don't like about it. So I'm not going to be much help!

Post your biology books - they sound interesting. Sandeels and commercial fish food?

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I hope this doesn't seem like butting in, but I really like Donna Tartt's works too. I especially couldn't fathom the number of reviews that called The Goldfinch a mediocre book. It is in fact quite sad what reviews in general have become. They insist on oversimplifying novels and plays; the force canonical interpretations onto works, but the worst part is people citing these reviews as if they are the final word. The (mis)conception that if prose is straightforward it's not literary enough is a particularly weak but popular argument sadly. Well, anyway, I'm also doing ecology-related readings, and am currently focusing on what they call biomagnification, which sounds a lot like Marx's idea of "the metabolic shift"

You are not butting in, at all, in fact, for, as @scubachap rightly says, you are more than welcome to do so, and your thoughts, comments, and opinions about books are as valid as anyone else's here, and please feel free to join in whatever conversations or discussions are taking place.

However, I'm with @scubachap, in that I did find Goldfinch a bit of a struggle, but I did love The Secret History and I'm very glad that you reminded us about it.