Job Discussion Forums

yeka · Joined: 24 Oct 2004 Posts: 24 Location: Japan

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets... yay! Smile

Tamara · Joined: 24 Jul 2004 Posts: 108

The Mother Tongue, by Bill Bryson, for the second time. Actually, I've been wondering about some of your opinions on this book or his scholarship. The first time I read it, I thought it was great. Now, second time around, I'm questioning the validity of some points.

Also, Language in Society, by Suzanne Romaine. It's required reading for the Language and Culture class I begin next week.

Just finished Lasping into a Comma, by Bill Walsh.

Two books waiting to be read, Made in America, by Bill Bryson, and Eats, Shoots & Leaves, by Lynne Truss. Where will I get the time?

Sadken · Joined: 11 Aug 2004 Posts: 341

Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler. It's fantastic; the book that George Orwell said was his greatest influence when writing 1984. It's all about a member of the Communist party who is one of the last ones standing during the Stalinist purges of the old guard. He is then imprisoned and begins to wonder whether or not he can accept his fate from the stance that it is better for the party that his generation die.

Basically, I'm reading that and this month's Razzle.

hesterprynne · Joined: 16 Sep 2003 Posts: 386

I am so jealous! Where and how are all of you obtaining real books? A teacher who was here loaned me a Milan Kundera. But largely this place is a cultural wasteland. I read quickly and seldom reread books, so can't afford to buy a new one full price all the time. I found one used book store in Hong Kong with a few interesting things. Anyone have suggestions?

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Is there a youth hostel near you? You can often trade in books for what's in the library there.

Twisting in the Wind · Joined: 20 Oct 2003 Posts: 571 Location: Purgatory

Hesterprynne,

BTW, why thatusername, of all names (LOL) Laughing

Must be a story behind your name!!!Think I'll start a thread on that theme.

Can't you order books etc (they have so much nowadays) from Amazon.com from just about anyplace in the world if you have access to the internet? Oh, well, I guess in some countries you might have delivery problems, huh? Like outer Mongolia, Iraq, Somalia, now Indonesia and Sri Lanka for ex. wonder if FedEx delivers there???

Twisting in the Wind · Joined: 20 Oct 2003 Posts: 571 Location: Purgatory

BTW, Amazon has used books now too that are much cheaper than before. They contract with varius used bookstores around the country, or maybe now, the world, and get the best prices for customers.

justcolleen · Joined: 07 Jan 2004 Posts: 654 Location: Egypt, baby!

The Merry Wives of Windsor. I took a Shakespeare class in college and kept the book. I'm working through the plays we didn't read in class, a little at a time.

Paradise Lost. It's a joint reading project; I've coaxed one of my friends into reading it along with me, and we have leetle discussion sessions about it as we go along.

Watt - Samuel Beckett. Truth be told, I'm not reading it cover-to-cover, although I've done that a couple of times. Instead, I keep it handy and grab it up whenever I feel the notion, crack it open, read some, and laugh - usually out loud. Q: Are anthyp and I the only Beckett fans on this forum?

Colleen

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Twisting in the Wind · Joined: 20 Oct 2003 Posts: 571 Location: Purgatory

Roger,

"The Years of Salt and Rice" an interesting counterpoint (is that the correct word?) for the thread running on the off topic China forum: "5000 years and still Failing"

moonraven · Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 3094

I don't know that I would call myself a "fan" of Beckett, but there are some days that I feel like Mercier--or Camier....

italianstallion39 · Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 6:27 am Post subject:

The foreign policies of Arab states: The challenges of change by Bahgat Korany and Ali Dessouki
It's informative, but a bit dry. Given the title, that was quite a surprise to me Laughing

I'm also reading a book called Surr�alisme that contains a lot of great French surrealist poems as well as some great insight into the Dada period in the early 1900s.

Like Guy, the Bible is also a constant. I just finished In retrospect by Robert McNamara. It was an interesting look at some of the mistakes the USA made in Vietnam, mistakes, I might add, that seem just a bit cyclical.

I'm hoping to get around to Bill Clinton's autobiography pretty soon, but until then. Fear and loathing in Las Vegas was a quick, yet thought-provoking book. Thats by Hunter S. Thompson. If anyone is looking, Elie Weisel is probably by far one of my favorite writers. I know his book "La nuit" was translated into English ("Night") but I'm not sure of any others.
For those who are looking for books, check with local universities and local libraries, as foreigners can often get library cards. It's well worth any hassle in order to feed the mind something more intelligent than those dialogues found in level one kids' textbooks!

voodikon · Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 1363 Location: chengdu

almost finished we got the neutron bomb: the untold story of l.a. punk (marc spitz and brendan mullen)

in the middle of closer (dennis cooper) and call to arms (lu xun) -- just visited the shanghai lu xun museum, which i thought was quite interesting, and scored a bunch of modern chinese lit (english translations), including lao she, ding ling, ye shengtao ... .

just started a short history of chinese philosophy (yu-lan fung)

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

God, I've never even heard of half these books. I'm reading Stephen King's Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower. Before you pass him off as a hack, you should read this series (#7 is the last, or is it?). It at least equals the Lord of the Rings trilogy, in my opinion. It's juicy, detailed, long-winded, and very emotional - - lots of highs and lows. I've been following the Gunslinger and his ka-tet for about 20 years now. I'll be sad to get to the end of this one.

jr1965 · Joined: 09 Jul 2004 Posts: 175

At the moment I'm reading "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying."

italianstallion

Elie Weisel is also one of my favorite authors. I recently reread "Night" as well as "The Fifth Son"--a story told from the perspective of the child of a Holocaust survivor. An amazing book.