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Posts tagged ‘reading’

May 20

610px-Salon_du_livre_de_Paris_2011_-_Ian_McEwan_-_003
16 Comments

When You’re Writing An Essay About Your Dad’s Novel…

Let’s say your dad’s a famous novelist. Let’s say you’re taking a literature class and your professor asks you to write an essay on your dad’s novel—presumably, without knowing about your dad.

Do you ask your dad for help writing the essay?

Ian McEwan’s son did when he was given the assignment of writing an essay about his dad’s novel, Enduring Love.

The funny part? He got a C on the essay because the professor disagreed with his interpretation of the novel.

As Ian McEwan explains it:

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May 17

dogreading6
25 Comments

12 Photos Of Dogs Who Love To Read

Because it’s Friday.

And why not?

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May 16

Philip-Roth-picture
19 Comments

Philip Roth On Writing, Awards, and Napping

A few years ago, Philip Roth hung up his pen/typewriter/keyboard and retired from writing novels.

For a guy that’s won a Pulitzer and a ridiculous amount of other awards, and for a guy who’s written a crapload of highly acclaimed novels, that’s significant.

Not long after his retirement, NPR sat down with Roth for an interview. And, as you would expect, he uttered brilliance. Some great quotes from the interview (all interview quotes via NPR):

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May 15

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4 Comments

Character Description At Its Finest

My first experience with Philip Roth was American Pastoral. I loved the book.

Roth’s storytelling and writing style just blew me away.

Portnoy’s Complaint is a completely different style of novel, written a few decades before American Pastoral.

And it’s graphic. Really graphic. Almost all of it in a sexual nature. Shocking in some places. Roth’s narrator, Alexander Portnoy, uses variations of words I’m unsure I’ve ever heard before. It’s a little overdone, in my view, but I can see the forest through the trees and still appreciate Roth’s writing style.

If you can get past the lewdness, and there’s a lot of it, this can be a funny book. One particular scene from early on stands out to me.

Alex is Jewish, but has been turned off to the faith by his crazy mother, who is a devout Jew. She treats their Rabbi as if he’s the King of England, so when he shows up to see her at the hospital, Alex’s mom just about passes out from excitement. It’s a celebrity!

Alex explains his disgust:

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May 14

gatsby
54 Comments

Why I Disagree With Critics Of The New Gatsby Film

I missed the boat.

I missed the boat filled with people who believe the new Gatsby movie sucked. That ship sailed and I wasn’t on it. I don’t know what’s up with those people.

In this post, I’ll explain why I disagree with most critics on The Great Gatsby movie. The film has been critically panned, receiving 49% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’ve read several recurring arguments online, and I want to take a look at each of those.

As a reminder, I’ve read the Gatsby novel five times. It’s my favorite book, and if a director did a crappy job of putting Fitzgerald’s story on screen, I would be more than happy to ridicule said director.

In this case, I think Baz Luhrmann did a (mostly) excellent job of making this classic novel into a Hollywood film. But let’s take a look at what some of his critics are saying.

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May 10

would-you-intro
47 Comments

A Game Of Literary Would You Rather (Third Edition)

It’s that time again.

It’s that time when I ask stupid would you rather questions that absolutely make no sense–and then you answer them!

What a delightful experience.

We’ve done this twice before with moderate success, so I thought I’d give it another try since it’s been a while.

Here we go.

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May 9

V73tdPn
8 Comments

This Guy’s Dad Read 10,000 Books (And Rated Each One)

Today’s post comes from the land of really cool things you find on the internet.

A guy named BigZ7337 posted this on the Reddit Book forums a couple of weeks ago.

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May 8

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12 Comments

Next Up: Portnoy’s Complaint

Love Philip Roth. Loved American Pastoral.

Portnoy’s Complaint? I have no idea.

The only thing I’m sure of is that this book has been called controversial. And explicit. And lewd. Here’s how the Wikipedia literary experts describe it:

“Portnoy’s Complaint (1969) is the American novel that turned its author Philip Roth into a major celebrity, sparking a storm of controversy over its explicit and candid treatment of sexuality.”

Oh, wonderful. One of those novels.

Like I said, I really loved American Pastoral, so I’ll be interested to see how this one differs, as it was Roth’s big breakthrough novel.

Sexuality aside, the setup is unique: It’s a continuous monologue from the protagonist, Alex Portnoy, as he meets with his therapist.

Here’s a few quick facts about Portnoy’s Complaint and Philip Roth:

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May 7

ragtime
7 Comments

Book #56: Ragtime

Meh.

I didn’t really like Ragtime. I didn’t really hate Ragtime.

The novel was a little like a plain, dry biscuit without much seasoning. It might nourish you a little bit, but you’ll probably have forgotten about it by the time you take the last bite, or close the back cover—if you get that far.

I don’t know that I ever really got Ragtime. Maybe it’s the historical fiction angle. Like, why do I care to read about people like Harry Houdini and J.P. Morgan and Henry Ford and Booker T. Washington (all of whom are characters in the novel) if the story is just that—a made-up story.

If I’m going to read about Booker T. Washington or J.P. Morgan, then I want to know what really happened in their lives, not a concocted, fictional account. But that’s just my view of historical fiction. And that’s definitely what I’m left thinking after having read Ragtime.

In full disclosure, the above historical figures aren’t main characters or protagonists, but they appear enough to be a distraction to the main plot, at least in this amateur reviewer’s opinion.

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May 3

blogstats
47 Comments

The Anatomy Of A “Viral” Blog Post

It’s been a crazy week here on 101 Books, and I thought I’d share that experience with you.

The main purpose of this blog is obvious: To read through the Time list. That’s my priority. But 101 Books is also a blog about writing, and even blogging in general at times, and that’s where this post falls.

Last Friday through this past Tuesday was just nuts. I’ve experienced abnormally high traffic with one post before, but that traffic usually comes from one or two main sources, like the WordPress Freshly Pressed feature, for instance.

I also have steady traffic from all of you guys who read the blog every day—for which I’m extremely grateful. So I guess you could say I’ve had some success here and there, after many failures too.

But my post on Friday, April 26—My 2-Year-Old Judges Books By Their Covers—was the first time I’ve experienced a legitimately viral post. That is, a post that was picked up by several sources and produced a week-long enormous spike to my blog traffic.

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