Comments on: An observation of sorts…

By: Bec

Bec — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:23:13 +0000

Maybe the Vile Bodies just isn’t a good maiden Waugh to read.

By: traceyk

traceyk — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:38:48 +0000

Evelyn Waugh can be a good read. I was surprised at no Wodehouse… but maybe Bec hasn’t persuaded you in that direction.

By: Bec and Adrian

Bec and Adrian — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:51:35 +0000

Evelyn Waugh? Really?

By: Rev. Alex Klages

Rev. Alex Klages — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:37:42 +0000

No particular category in mind, but I had borrowed Dune from the library and it brought to mind trying to read Pullman a couple years ago. I really got into Anne Rice’s Christ the Lord novels, though, which I also borrowed from the library.

I’ll give Melville and O’Brien a try next time I’m down to the library.

By: Rick Ritchie

Rick Ritchie — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:34:48 +0000

I’m still wondering if you had a category in mind here. Was it that you were leaning toward science fiction and have had some good experiences in the past, but lately can’t find anything good so you’re backing off that genre? Or something else?

Ever tried Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian? (I had to attempt three times, but the third attempt, it flowed really easily.) I’d also recommend the first 300 pages of Moby Dick. The plot wasn’t enough for me to justify reading the boring second half, though I did finish it. But the first half does introduce unforgettable characters. In my opinion, that’s Melville’s best skill. While I’m mentioning sea stories, Mutiny on the Bounty is also great.

By: Rev. Alex Klages

Rev. Alex Klages — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:42:39 +0000

For what it’s worth, Herbert wasn’t an atheist, and I didn’t mean to imply he was. Just that Dune, the widely lauded sci-fi novel of the 1960s, doesn’t work for me. I don’t find the characters interesting and the world doesn’t come alive for me.

By: Darrin Smith

Darrin Smith — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:38:56 +0000

I have to agree with you on Frank Herbert, both times I started reading the Dune series I was unable to get to the end. Likewise I find DA and IA very good reads (although I’ve totally detested all the other Authours forays into IA’s universe that I’ve read so far).

For me I think it comes down to whether it feels like Authours are trying to push their own philosophies htrough their writings – something that puts me off an awful lot of ‘christian’ Authours. In the case of the good ones you have mention you (that I know about) you often can’t tell from their writing where their own personal philosophies fall.

This has particularily come through to me in the demise of my interest in Terry Pratchett as an authour, as more and more his later books seem to be becoming vehicles of his own world outlook.