tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post2996403427113570329..comments2024-03-28T17:53:43.541-04:00Comments on DarwinCatholic: Bookish MemeDarwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-54281271850798458442010-06-27T11:29:51.304-04:002010-06-27T11:29:51.304-04:00For what it's worth - Darwin consistently post...For what it's worth - Darwin consistently posts the LONGEST "quick takes" in Catholic Blogdom. Crescat should come up with a special award just for this feat. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-22603038614509500322010-06-26T10:34:51.501-04:002010-06-26T10:34:51.501-04:00Funny, I just read "A Secret History" wi...Funny, I just read "A Secret History" with my book group. It was interesting, although personally, I thought it meandered way too long in the middle. I'm surprised this wasn't made into a film.<br /><br />Please check out David Sedaris. He can be dicey, but I have never laughed harder in public while reading a book. I particularly liked "Dress your family in corduroy & denim".JMBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02542004362101344466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-27308895160054280002010-06-25T13:20:36.011-04:002010-06-25T13:20:36.011-04:00Though, of course, there's also Procopius'...Though, of course, there's also Procopius's <i>Secret History</i> in which he levels some of the most impressive (and physically unlikely) charges of perversion imaginable against the Empress Theodora. That's a blast, but I wouldn't list it as a favorite book, and I only read the exciting bits... :-)Darwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-32806821538251485852010-06-25T13:17:33.111-04:002010-06-25T13:17:33.111-04:00Kate,
Indeed -- I'm always a sucker for these...Kate,<br /><br />Indeed -- I'm always a sucker for these sorts of lists because I love to see other people's. Though it's always unsettling when someone you like hated a book you loved.<br /><br />Ben,<br /><br />Opps. Most over-rated was one of the questions I had the hardest time answering, and it seems I still blew it. Somehow picking an author who simply sells a lot (say, Dan Brown) but who is lousy didn't seem a sufficient pick, it had to be someone who was highly regarded but not actually worth much. Oh well...<br /><br />Jim,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400031702?ie=UTF8&tag=humaniprogra-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1400031702" rel="nofollow">The Secret History</a> was a novel (first novel, actually) by Donna Tartt. It centers around a group of classics students at a elite private liberal arts college in Vermont -- a sort of backwards murder mystery in that it opens with a murder, and spend the rest of the movel examining why it was committed and what the results will be. <br /><br />It's very well written, and I strongly recommend it, though it probably had an overly strong impact on me in that I read it just as I was heading off to college, and so a dark and brooding book about Greek and Latin and the nature of sin had a particular grasp on my imagination just then.Darwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-10919468446029496682010-06-25T11:17:22.592-04:002010-06-25T11:17:22.592-04:00Speaking of Brideshead (which we're reading th...Speaking of Brideshead (which we're reading this month for my KofC book club) I just read a review in the Washington Times of this book: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mad-World-Evelyn-Secrets-Brideshead/dp/0060881305/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277478909&sr=8-1" rel="nofollow">Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead</a>. Looked pretty interesting.Paul Zummohttp://crankycon.politicalbear.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-30602488820651762412010-06-25T09:48:21.086-04:002010-06-25T09:48:21.086-04:00What is "The Secret History" and who is ...What is "The Secret History" and who is the author?Jim Janknegthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02971229049336038270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-64758798369921011562010-06-25T07:59:11.405-04:002010-06-25T07:59:11.405-04:00Howard Zinn died recently, but I have to agree wit...Howard Zinn died recently, but I have to agree with you that he was overrated.Benjamin I. Espenhttp://www.benespen.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-70248462017118341942010-06-25T01:21:54.300-04:002010-06-25T01:21:54.300-04:00Why is it so satisfying to see our favorites on so...Why is it so satisfying to see our favorites on someone else's list? If someday we meet in person we'll have to compare notes on what makes Brideshead so great - I really believe it may be the most perfect novel I've ever read. Certainly my favorite. That you've read LOTR multiple times is also satisfying, and it is fantastic that you are familiar with Giovanni Guareschi. But I do think hollywood would just mess up any of Power's novels. Too much internal consistency, which is not the forte of the silver screen.<br /><br />On the other hand, to have a good conversation on the wine and beer side of things, I'd have to introduce you to my father. :-DKatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03787892622804373968noreply@blogger.com