Originally Posted By JohnS1 TDG - that was just my my little attempt at humor. What I mean is that there seem to be no ethical or moral standards or rules or guidelines adhered to by characters in the books I've been looking through. It's one thing if bad people do bad things and are shown to have paid the price for their actions by the end of the book. But so far, all I see is people from all walks of life committing violent or unkind acts, initiating sexual relationships with little thought at all, at all ages with all sorts of people and while they are already engaged in monogamous relationships, etc. Sex is treated as casually as a trip to the grocery store, which I suppose some academics would claim is "reflecting" our society, whereas I can't help but wonder if society's actions follow the literary and film professions' lead. I guess what I'm saying is that I have read three or four works of contemporary fiction over the past few months, and have yet to meet one character I would be interested in befriending were they real people, not fictional characters. Or - are fictional characters simply supposed to be characatures, larger-than-life fictional entities whose actions in the books exaggerate the sorts of actions taken by real people in the real world???
Originally Posted By TALL Disney Guy <TDG - that was just my my little attempt at humor.> Ahhh...I'm sorry. I've had a bad day and I'm tired. I'll try to be smarter next time. *sheepish* (lol) <But so far, all I see is people from all walks of life committing violent or unkind acts, initiating sexual relationships with little thought at all,> Hmm, sounds sorta like what I see on the news every day here at work...
Originally Posted By alexbook >>Or am I just living in the past and expecting contemporary fiction to rise to the level of 19th century authors such as Bronte and Austen and Hardy and Dickens and Twain and Hemingway and Steinbeck, et al?<< Some of it does. Most of it doesn't. Then again, most of the books published in the 19th century were terrible, too. It's just that most of the bad ones have been forgotten. From Wikipedia, here are 1906's best-selling novels: 1. Coniston - Winston Churchill 2. Lady Baltimore - Owen Wister 3. The Fighting Chance - Robert W. Chambers 4. The House of a Thousand Candles - Meredith Nicholson 5. Jane Cable - George Barr McCutcheon 6. The Jungle - Upton Sinclair 7. The Awakening of Helena Ritchie - Margaret Deland 8. The Spoilers - Rex Beach 9. The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton 10. The Wheel of Life - Ellen Glasgow From USA Today, here are last week's best-selling novels: 1. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown 2. Two Little Girls in Blue - Mary Higgins Clark 3. Full Scoop - Janet Evanovich & Charlotte Hughes 4. No Place Like Home - Mary Higgins Clark 5. Time & Again - Nora Roberts 6. Angels & Demons - Dan Brown 7. Countdown - Iris Johansen 8. Dark Demon - Christine Feehan 9. The Mermaid Chair - Sue Monk Kidd 10. Gone - Jonathan Kellerman Is 1906's list really any better than 2006's?
Originally Posted By MissCandice The House of Mirth is one of my favorite books. It can certainly hold its own with the books of today as far as depravity and human wretchedness, without any swear words.
Originally Posted By avromark I need to learn to read and write soon, will you teach me Miss Candice of Washington by the Pacific?
Originally Posted By DVC_dad I just finished Oliver Twist, and read a real fast read The Adventures of Huch Finn, and now today I started Uncle Tom's Cabin. I already have my next book lined up, that will be David Copperfield. Anyone read any of these? Thoughts?
Originally Posted By irishfan >>Anyone read any of these? Thoughts?<< You cant really go wrong with Dickens, tale of two cities is probably my favourite of his.
Originally Posted By irishfan Theft, by Peter Carey. It's his latest one, not yet published in the UK, not sure about the U.S. Anyway, I have a love hate relationship with Carey's books, so far I'm enjoying this one.
Originally Posted By Chedstro An old ARC of The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelley. The first of his I have read. I am relly enjoying it so far!
Originally Posted By alexbook >>I'll bet the 1906 list had a higher Gunning Fog Index score! (-:<< Huh? Just started "Rachel & Leah" by Orson Scott Card. (All this religious talk got me thinking.)
Originally Posted By BlueDevilSF Stephen King's "Christine" I'd almost forgotten what a fantastic book it is, probably my favorite of all his stuff...
Originally Posted By 999HAUNTS I am an avid Stephen King reader. I found a book at the swapmeet that I don't know how I missed... I am midway through "Desperation"
Originally Posted By JohnS1 I can't believe how when you work for a bookstore, all of a sudden you find yourself reading, like - four books at once! I have never read more than one book at a time my entire life and all of a sudden I am multi-tasking my literature! I am currently finishing Double Whammy by Carl Hiassen, in the middle of The Architect of Genocide (forget the author's name but it's a biography of Heinrich Himmler) reading WC Fields and me, by his former mistress, Carlotta Monti, starting the first Dave Barry novel (the name of which I forget) and just finishing up Treason, by Ann Coulter. I like to read books I've heard about, just to see what all the fuss is about.
