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Postby reversemigraine » Fri Jul 14, 2017 9:42 am

Battle Cry of Freedom + Reconstruction + A Nation Under Our Feet should be required reading.
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Postby rilkean » Fri Jul 14, 2017 9:43 am

guy, what do you think of du bois's black reconstruction

i haven't read it or the foner, but i mean to (read both) at some point, eventually
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Postby nakedlunch » Fri Jul 14, 2017 9:53 am

reversemigraine wrote:Battle Cry of Freedom + Reconstruction + A Nation Under Our Feet should be required reading.


BCoF is great. I haven't read ANUOF yet

Has anyone read The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865–1896 by Richard White? It's the reconstruction book in the oxford history of the US series. I've read all the other books in the series up until that one but everyone told me Foner's book is the best so I decided to read that one.
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Postby nakedlunch » Fri Jul 14, 2017 10:04 am

That sounds interesting. I would definitely be interested in a deeper dive on those topics (re: White)

There are elements of the Foner book that have felt a little overly specific (to a non historian, history enthusiast anyway) but getting towards the end and looking back I can see the greater purpose those parts served.
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Postby reversemigraine » Fri Jul 14, 2017 10:08 am

nakedlunch wrote:
reversemigraine wrote:Battle Cry of Freedom + Reconstruction + A Nation Under Our Feet should be required reading.


BCoF is great. I haven't read ANUOF yet

Has anyone read The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865–1896 by Richard White? It's the reconstruction book in the oxford history of the US series. I've read all the other books in the series up until that one but everyone told me Foner's book is the best so I decided to read that one.


It's not out yet. Pnin has an advance copy.
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Postby nakedlunch » Fri Jul 14, 2017 10:08 am

Guy Incognito wrote:Oh man c vann Woodward wrote a positive review of Dinesh d'souza


:?
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Postby vivian darko » Fri Jul 14, 2017 1:11 pm

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I also found this old book of the 25 Best Short Poems of the 19th Century as voted by critics etc in 1899, which is interesting to see how tastes have changed and wonder about how they formed. (Plus there are some cool poems in there that I'd never heard of.)

Now:
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Postby walt whitman » Fri Jul 14, 2017 1:52 pm

thus bad begins is blowing up everywhere. is it REALLY good? tone: sincere
“Short film, Long film, It’s ALL film!” - Walt Whitman
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Postby Eyeball Kid » Fri Jul 14, 2017 1:56 pm

If Marias has written a bad novel, I haven't read it.
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Postby whatabout tim » Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:25 pm

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My first DFW.

Only a few stories in, but I am definitely glad this is my first foray into DFW. I've had infinite jest on my shelf for ages and was always too intimidated to give a shot.
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Postby Pnin » Fri Jul 14, 2017 3:17 pm

Guy Incognito wrote:My guess is he puts a lot more emphasis on he west and corporate capitalism and conquest and Indian Wars than Foner


you guessed right! a good chunk of it is about labor unrest, too, and the numerous ways that life just got generally worse for a lot of people. normally i would be happy to send along my copy, but the book will probably be out by the time i finish reading it.
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Postby Seamus » Fri Jul 14, 2017 3:27 pm

Eyeball Kid wrote:If Marias has written a bad novel, I haven't read it.


He has definitely written a couple of not-very-good novels though.

Vivian, would you recommend that Svevo?
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Postby vivian darko » Fri Jul 14, 2017 3:56 pm

Seamus wrote:
Eyeball Kid wrote:If Marias has written a bad novel, I haven't read it.


He has definitely written a couple of not-very-good novels though.

Vivian, would you recommend that Svevo?

Highly
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Postby Eyeball Kid » Fri Jul 14, 2017 3:58 pm

Seamus wrote:
Eyeball Kid wrote:If Marias has written a bad novel, I haven't read it.


He has definitely written a couple of not-very-good novels though.

That's possible! I happen to have Dark Back of Time in my to-read pile at the moment.
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Postby quaker city » Fri Jul 14, 2017 4:01 pm

(first post. Thanks for all the recommendations from my time lurking).

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Somehow this is the first time I've come across this. Read some Albee before (Sylvia being particularly memorable) but I was stunned by this. One sitting, skipped dinner and just hung out with this play's text. Feel like I am still torn between whether George and Martha had been liberated or defeated by the end. Best reading experience of the year for me. Now I am on a tear reading 20th century plays.
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Postby ahungbunny » Fri Jul 14, 2017 4:09 pm

it's not a novel but I remember strongly disliking when I was mortal, and it's still the only marias I've read
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Postby walt whitman » Fri Jul 14, 2017 5:26 pm

whatabout tim wrote:My first DFW.

Only a few stories in, but I am definitely glad this is my first foray into DFW. I've had infinite jest on my shelf for ages and was always too intimidated to give a shot.

yea, the most successful attempts with DFW among newbies seem to be with his nonfiction
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Postby Seamus » Fri Jul 14, 2017 6:07 pm

ahungbunny wrote:it's not a novel but I remember strongly disliking when I was mortal, and it's still the only marias I've read


Haven't read this but I didn't like The Infatuations or The Man of Feeling
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Postby Eyeball Kid » Fri Jul 14, 2017 6:09 pm

Seamus wrote:
ahungbunny wrote:it's not a novel but I remember strongly disliking when I was mortal, and it's still the only marias I've read


I didn't like The Infatuations

Dude
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Postby Seamus » Fri Jul 14, 2017 6:13 pm

Eyeball Kid wrote:
Seamus wrote:
ahungbunny wrote:it's not a novel but I remember strongly disliking when I was mortal, and it's still the only marias I've read


I didn't like The Infatuations

Dude


tbf I had read a lot of Marias that year so it's entirely possible that I was burnt out on him but... still...
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Postby gargamel » Fri Jul 14, 2017 6:34 pm

thus bad begins doesn't reach the heights of your face tomorrow or the infatuations but if you like marias then yes you're gonna mainline it
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Postby mudd » Fri Jul 14, 2017 7:22 pm

the sheltering sky is wonderful, yeah, though there's that big caveat in the third act. if the book had ended when kit walked about in the desert at the end of the second act it would probably have been perfect, though i think the humor of the book required the resolution as it is.

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Postby vivian darko » Fri Jul 14, 2017 8:59 pm

I disagree about The Sheltering Sky's third act--it creates a thematic symmetry that I think is important, even if it's less entertaining to read than the earlier stuff. Port's complete absorption in the abstract and unreal ends with him having to confront actual death, and Kit's total immersion in the immediate/visceral/material is reversed as she has to confront emptiness and unreality.Toggle Spoiler
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Postby mudd » Sat Jul 15, 2017 6:57 am

right I agree that the ending is necessary and that what it accomplishes is valid but positioning Arab culture as a savage force of nature puts the whole project into tenuous territory. basically what is valid from kit's perspective is well enough, but people are not the desert. the same crtiticisn could be targeted at the first section, but in that case the humor of it makes it feel less inhuman. that's the humor that needed to be answered in the ending, and while ultimately it was successful and even enjoyable, the way it happened remains a fundamental flaw with the book.

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Postby mudd » Sat Jul 15, 2017 7:02 am

it's been a really long time since I've read under the volcano but I'd love to see how similar the consul's dissolution is and if it was accomplished without dehumanizing the local people. In my memory the Mexicans present were bemused or put-upon witnesses, not amoral or immoral actors.

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Postby madness and chaos » Sun Jul 16, 2017 4:16 am

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after six years as a lurk, I'm glad I can finally post on this board, & in this thread
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Postby abs » Sun Jul 16, 2017 8:43 pm

welcome m&c!

I started this today and holy moly it's beautiful. never read her non-fiction. finding it more enjoyable than passion according to gh, which I really loved.

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Postby danno » Mon Jul 17, 2017 2:00 am

what's a good place to start with lispector?
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Postby abs » Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:44 pm

Passion According to GH is as good a place as any, IMO.
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Postby The Emperor's Son » Tue Jul 18, 2017 11:02 am

reading selected writings of charles olson and paradise lost

figured it would be a good, hot n sexy summer blockbuster
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