What are you reading?

[Alan Gage]

For something different than the regular outdoor and paddling books I finished Lolita yesterday and watched the movie again last night (the one from 1997 with Jeremy Irons). I'd seen the movie before, probably 12 or more years ago, but had never read the book. I usually find the movie compares very poorly against the book but, while a bit different, I still enjoyed this movie. Great book.

Started reading "To the Lighthouse" by Virginia Woolf. I'm trying to make a point to read more women authors. I normally find myself reading male authors and am very much taken in by some of their female characters and, to me, it seems like they have quite an insight into the female mind (not necessarily thinking of Lolita here). But then I wonder if it's mostly BS and when women read those characters they just roll their eyes. So I'm curious to see how the thoughts and actions of women are depicted by female authors, as well as how they portray males. I've asked this of some female acquaintances and was referred to "50 Shades of Gray" or something by Nora Roberts. While I haven't read either, and don't plan to, I hope they were either kidding or wrong.

Alan

 

[memaquay]

Stick to canoe building, the female mind is unknowable.

 

[Philtrum]

Rereading "Care of the Soul" by Thomas Moore. Also Charles Duncan's "The Art of Classical Guitar Playing."
In the background awaiting my eyes is my dad's 1917 set of the Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction (all 20 volumes).

 

[Iskweo]

LOL...Good advice Rob.
Alan...women want everything all the time but not necessarily the same things at the same time. Make sense? It isnt meant to. Good luck with your quest.

Christy

 

[oldie moldy]

Hi Alan, If I might make some suggestions: recent writing of Molly Gloss "The heart of horses". The real old west that was just about gone when I was a pup.

Jane Austen: the writing is popular for good reason. I like to ponder what I've read of hers. England was at that time a agrarian society, the big news was "Boney" over in France and other places. (uninvited) Yet I can readily identify characters of her's that I've known in my own life. People are still running to a type. And yet..........consider what it was for a woman at that time to marry. She most probably would be starting on never ending cycle of pregnancy and births, broken all too frequently by death in childbirth. She really was dependent and all too vulnerable to any imperfections her husband might have.
Then ponder the effect of the "pill" : we are still feeling the shudders and thumps of the shifting of the sexual tectonic plates. Not always a smooth process but then what in life is?

Anyway, I like to think about these and other things. It's fun feeling the mental gears working their way through all the rust and sludge.

Best Wishes, Rob

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Since August, medieval murder mysteries: the Matthew Shardlake series and currently the Brother Cadfael series. Before that all summer, John P. Meier's multi-volume study of the historical Jesus ("A Marginal Jew").

 

[Odyssey]

It's Boxing Day morning, and I'm not doing a lot. I'm not amongst the bustling masses of let's make a deal thrill seekers in the shopping malls. I'm not jumping up, jumping to it in a desperate spasm of a New Year's fitness resolution. And I'm not wading into my growing pile of reading material waiting for me in a bookish leafy pile beside my favourite chair. The chair with a napping cat curled up in.
What I am doing is sipping a good cup of coffee and planning for the next wave of family fun to surge up to our homely shores. With a brief respite of a few hours before more hugging, kissing, gift giving and tearful laughter, I'm telling myself 'Pace yourself old man. You may not deserve all this happiness around you." Well, I'll take it and give it anyway. Something else I'm saying to myself is "Are you gonna crack open any of these books under the Christmas tree?" I hope to.
The first is by Pierre Burton, Starting Out 1920-1947. Burton was a prolific writer of Canadian history, but hated the label historian. He much preferred writer or journalist. His style is easy going easy reading. I'll enjoy learning about his early years spent growing up in the Klondike.
The second is Waterlog - A swimmer's journey through Britain by Roger Deakin. He was a nature writer full of wit and wisdom, and may well have been the first to reintroduce the UK to "wild swimming", the notion of crawling out of chlorine swimming pools and front crawling through natural waters of ponds, lakes and streams instead. I'm not much of a swimmer, but much prefer to dog paddle amongst rocks and trees than concrete and plexiglass. I'll enjoy this book.
The third is Sigurd Olsen's Listening Point. "Listening Point is about the spiritual human connection to the environment...is the nature lover's companion for hearing the depth and beauty of the great outdoors." At this moment I can hear the wailing of a siren and the rushing of cars hurrying past our street. I'm ready for some Sigurd Olsen.
I've made the small step of placing these three books on the topsy turvy pile of reading material beside my chair. The one with a cat keeping my place warm. When this domestic deluge subsides, I'll coax the cat aside, pick a book off the stack and dive in...and escape for an hour or two, a month or two.

 

[Seeker]

Finally ordered a bunch of Calvin Rutstrum's books, and they're starting to arrive in the mail... have already read The Wilderness Cabin and am reading North American Canoe Country... New Way of the Wilderness should be arriving shortly. Short, easy to read, mostly straightforward, and thoroughly enjoyable. Wish I'd gotten them years ago.

Not sure if I mentioned it earlier in this thread, but I also recently purchased Rowland's "Cache Lake Country" and Townsend Whelen's and Bradford Angier's "On Your Own in the Wilderness".

I find myself continuously reading a chapter of "Cache Lake Country" at a time before bed... very nice.

"On Your Own in the Wilderness" seems to be mostly Whelen's words, but I got a lot out of it, especially in regard to his packing list, hunter's pack, and lean-to, which I've now made two of (out of a poly tarp). Love this shelter, and at 3.5lbs, it's a valued addition to my canoe load. On solo trips, it will replace a much larger flat tarp, though I may still carry a small 6x8 if a lot of rain is expected (to make a porch over the fire.)

 

[Philtrum]

Just finished a 700+ page book of Joseph Conrad stories. Sometimes I think he competed with Edward Bulwer-Lytton for the "most obtuse psychological nonsense" award.

 

[ppine]

Good books and good folks on this forum.

Oldie,
Some would say that the Frontier was over by 1900. Don't worry though, the real West is alive and well in Nevada. I was watching a bald eagle feed on calf placentas yesterday in my neighborhood. We were out doing the Christmas Bird Count. The Pine Nut Mountains were alive with people ahorseback on a nice January day. This is Buckaroo Country in the Great Basin, where horsemanship and livestock handling come directly from Mexican vaqueros. Silver bits with rein chains, rawhide reins, slick fork saddles with buckin rolls, and 60 foot rawhide riatas. People dally rope and still hold rodear out in the rough country where there are no fences or corrals. Calves are dragged to a sagebrush fire for branding. People still "go out on the wagon" for the summer. Some of the old traditional chuck wagons have been replaced by old military vehicles. It is a heritage and a way of life for many. We have a saying here, "there are plenty of cowboys out there, you just can't see them from the road."

 

[Guest]

This is the best time of year to be a reader. Not just the early nights and cold temps, which certainly lend themselves to hunkering down with a good book by the woodstove, but more importantly the “Best Books of 2014” lists have come out.

I’m waiting for another half dozen to come in on inter-library loan. The best so far:

In the Kingdom of Ice, the Grand and Terrible Voyage of the USS Jeannette (Hampton Sides)

I knew some of the Jeannette story from reading past compilations of polar exploration (Arctic Grail, the Quest for the Northwest Passage and the North Pole is one of the finest), but Side’s telling of the whole story and backstory well deserved inclusion on a best-of list.

If you are a fan of the golden age of polar exploration put this one on your list.

 

[Greywolf]

Bushcraft 101 by Dave Cantebury, good book, very informative.

 

[Guest]

This is the best time of year to be a reader. Not just the early nights and cold temps, which certainly lend themselves to hunkering down with a good book by the woodstove, but more importantly the “Best Books of 2014” lists have come out .

Two more recommendations from the Best Non-fiction of 2014 lists

Congo, the Epic History of a People (David van Reybrouck). I was aware of some of that earlier history from reading about Stanley and Leopold, but had less understanding of the modern day chaos.

http://www.amazon.com/Congo-History...f+a+people&pebp=1421779679338&peasin=62200119

How We Got to Now, Six Innovations That Made the Modern World (Steven Johnson).

http://www.amazon.com/How-We-Got-No...rn+world&pebp=1421779734402&peasin=1594632960

I missed the eponymously named PBS series, but the book was an excellent if short read with many fascinating sidetracks. I had not heard that prior to affordable illumination:

“Humans had historically divided their long nights into two distinct sleep periods. When darkness fell they would drift into ‘first sleep’, waking after four hours to snack, relieve themselves, have sex and chat by the fire before heading back for another four hours of ‘second sleep’.

What are you supposed to do between 5:00 and 10:00 for 2 weeks in the middle of nowhere, alone? I always end up going to bed way too early only to wake up at 4:00am still having to deal with another 3-4 hours of darkness before sunrise.

You’re welcome Alan.

And I’d never heard of the 10,000 year “Clock of the Long Now” before reading the chapter on Time.

http://longnow.org/clock/

 

[Alan Gage]

“Humans had historically divided their long nights into two distinct sleep periods. When darkness fell they would drift into ‘first sleep’, waking after four hours to snack, relieve themselves, have sex and chat by the fire before heading back for another four hours of ‘second sleep’.

Looks like the sex part is what I've been missing. I can see where it wouldn't be so bad then.

I might have to check out that book on the congo. Africa in general always seems to fascinate me. Every time I read about it I'm both drawn to it and repulsed.

That clock is really something else. Oh to be a fly on the wall when they're rediscovered many centuries from now to listen to everyone put forth their hypothesis of why they were built, what they mean, and what will happen when they reach a predetermined time? Little will they know the real answer for their existence is, basically, just because.

I started Crime and Punishment a week ago and it's really starting to battle with my other priorities. It's unclear who is going to come out ahead but what is clear that I don't have the time I'd like to devote to them all. I guess there are worse problems to have since none of these "priorities" are what most people would consider a priority.

Alan

 

[Guest]

I might have to check out that book on the congo. Africa in general always seems to fascinate me. Every time I read about it I'm both drawn to it and repulsed.

Alan, from the 2013 best non-fiction list – Between Man and Beast, an unlikely explorer and the African adventure that took the Victorian world by storm (Monte Reel, 2013)

http://www.amazon.com/Between-Man-B...onte+reel&pebp=1422385838074&peasin=307742431

I’d put that one at the top of any list of Africa reads from the past few years.

 

[memaquay]

Crime and Punishment was like a bad dream when I read it. It made me so anxious, I wasn't sure I could finish it. Took me about 6 weeks, and I usually read a book in a few days. I like the Russians though, Tolstoy in particular. I really liked Anna Karenina, that had so many good thing in it, I was sad to finish reading it.

 

[Alan Gage]

Alan, from the 2013 best non-fiction list – Between Man and Beast, an unlikely explorer and the African adventure that took the Victorian world by storm (Monte Reel, 2013)

http://www.amazon.com/Between-Man-Be...asin=307742431

I’d put that one at the top of any list of Africa reads from the past few years.

Thanks. Just ordered it.

Crime and Punishment was like a bad dream when I read it. It made me so anxious, I wasn't sure I could finish it.

No kidding. In my dreams I'm invariably either terribly embarrassed or terribly guilty and it's always such a relief to wake up and realize it's not real. Poor Rodya has no such luck, however, and it's painful to see.

I like the Russians though, Tolstoy in particular. I really liked Anna Karenina, that had so many good thing in it, I was sad to finish reading it.

They were books I've always meant to read but always put off because it seemed like so much work. Last winter I finally broke down and started with Anna Karenina and was blown away. A lot easier to read than I anticipated and some great writing. I rounded out last winter with the Brothers Karamazov and have been looking forward to getting back into them this winter. War and Peace is looming but I've been putting it off. It's always so hard to start a long read.

Alan

 

[seuss]

I just finished River of Doubt by Candice Millard. It's the story of Theodore Roosevelt's 1913-1914 canoe trip down an uncharted 1000 mile long river in the Amazon basin. If you aren't already a TR fan, this could close the deal.

It includes some interesting asides about the various kinds of boats the expedition intended (and subsequently failed) to use and whether or not Canadian style wood/canvas canoes would have performed better than the dugout canoes they eventually used. (Short answer: heck Yes, if they could have gotten them to the launch point.)

http://www.amazon.com/The-River-Doubt-Theodore-Roosevelts/dp/0767913736

 

[Guest]

I go off on reading tangents, most recently back to reading about maps and geography.

I am enamored of maps, and of books about maps. Fortunately mapheads are prolific writers. In fact Maphead is a good start.

http://www.amazon.com/Maphead-Chart...23429239&sr=1-1&keywords=maphead+ken+jennings

Recent inter-library loans include:

On the map, a mind expanding exploration of the way the world looks

http://www.amazon.com/Map-Mind-Expa...+map,+a+mind+expanding+exploration+of+the+way

And Unruly places, lost spaces, secret cities and other inscrutable geographies.

http://www.amazon.com/Unruly-Places...cret+cities+and+other+inscrutable+geographies.

Reading about maps is almost as much fun as looking at them.

And, wandering a little further afield, how humankind came to populate the map.

Beyond the Blue Horizon, how the earliest mariners unlocked the secrets of the Oceans

http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Blue-H...t+mariners+unlocked+the+secrets+of+the+Oceans

Gawd bless libraries, the backbone of a well-read democracy. Although if Homeland Security took note of my lendee history when I was off on some Sun Tzu, von Clausewitz, Mao’s Little Red Book, Che Guevara (asthmatic idiot) North Korea, Stalinist dynasty or Islamist/radical/revolutionaries reading tangent bent I’d be on their Watch List.

If I didn’t have a file started before I guess I do now.

 

[ppine]

Alan Kesselheim's excellent book on wilderness canoeing. He is a very practical writer and has lots of long distance trips to write about.