en-US Thu, 08 May 2025 10:49:22 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 148190 588 Graham Robb 039332267X Charlie 4 4.25 2000
author: Graham Robb
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2000
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/05/08
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]]> 18626866 33 Henry David Thoreau Charlie 4 3.96 1849
author: Henry David Thoreau
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1849
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/04/29
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]]> 21182 In The Wisdom of Life, an essay from Schopenhauer's final work, Parerga und Paralipomena (1851), the philosopher favors individual strength of will and independent, reasoned deliberation over the tendency to act on irrational impulses.

He examines the ways in which life can be arranged to derive the highest degree of pleasure and success, presents guidelines to achieving this full and rich manner of living, and advises that even a life well lived must always aspire to grander heights. Abounding in subjects of enduring relevance, Schopenhauer's highly readable work appears here in an excellent translation.]]> 77 Arthur Schopenhauer 0486435504 Charlie 4 4.18 1851
author: Arthur Schopenhauer
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1851
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/03/20
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]]> 20943 Shedding all polemic, Bloom addresses the solitary reader, who, he urges, should read for the purest of all reasons: to discover and augment the self. His ultimate faith in the restorative power of literature resonates on every page of this infinitely rewarding and important book.]]> 288 Harold Bloom 0684859076 Charlie 4 3.63 2000
author: Harold Bloom
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2000
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/03/12
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]]> 4406
Adam Trask came to California from the East to farm and raise his family on the new rich land. But the birth of his twins, Cal and Aaron, brings his wife to the brink of madness, and Adam is left alone to raise his boys to manhood. One boy thrives nurtured by the love of all those around him; the other grows up in loneliness enveloped by a mysterious darkness.

First published in 1952, East of Eden is the work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence. A masterpiece of Steinbeck's later years, East of Eden is a powerful and vastly ambitious novel that is at once a family saga and a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis.]]> 601 John Steinbeck 0142000655 Charlie 4 4.41 1952
author: John Steinbeck
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1952
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/03/12
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]]> 58082714 The Nineties: a wise and funny reckoning with the decade that gave us slacker/grunge irony about the sin of trying too hard, during the greatest shift in human consciousness of any decade in American history.

It was long ago, but not as long as it seems: The Berlin Wall fell and the Twin Towers collapsed. In between, one presidential election was allegedly decided by Ross Perot while another was plausibly decided by Ralph Nader. In the beginning, almost every name and address was listed in a phone book, and everyone answered their landlines because you didn't know who it was. By the end, exposing someone's address was an act of emotional violence, and nobody picked up their new cell phone if they didn't know who it was. The '90s brought about a revolution in the human condition we're still groping to understand. Happily, Chuck Klosterman is more than up to the job.

Beyond epiphenomena like Cop Killer and Titanic and Zima, there were wholesale shifts in how society was perceived: the rise of the internet, pre-9/11 politics, and the paradoxical belief that nothing was more humiliating than trying too hard. Pop culture accelerated without the aid of a machine that remembered everything, generating an odd comfort in never being certain about anything. On a '90s Thursday night, more people watched any random episode of Seinfeld than the finale of Game of Thrones. But nobody thought that was important; if you missed it, you simply missed it. It was the last era that held to the idea of a true, hegemonic mainstream before it all began to fracture, whether you found a home in it or defined yourself against it.

In The Nineties, Chuck Klosterman makes a home in all of it: the film, the music, the sports, the TV, the politics, the changes regarding race and class and sexuality, the yin/yang of Oprah and Alan Greenspan. In perhaps no other book ever written would a sentence like, "The video for 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' was not more consequential than the reunification of Germany" make complete sense. Chuck Klosterman has written a multi-dimensional masterpiece, a work of synthesis so smart and delightful that future historians might well refer to this entire period as Klostermanian.]]> 370 Chuck Klosterman 0735217955 Charlie 4 3.86 2022
author: Chuck Klosterman
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2022
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/02/16
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]]> 53344030
Nick and Charlie are very much in love. They've finally said those three little words, and Charlie has almost persuaded his mum to let him sleep over at Nick's house ... But with Nick going off to university next year, is everything about to change?

By Alice Oseman, winner of the YA Book Prize, Heartstopper encompasses all the small moments of Nick and Charlie's lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.

Contains discussions around mental health and eating disorders, and sexual references.]]> 336 Alice Oseman 1444957651 Charlie 4 4.47 2023
author: Alice Oseman
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2023
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/02/12
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]]> 43449920
Meanwhile Tao and Elle will face their feelings for each other, Tara and Darcy share more about their relationship origin story, and the teachers supervising the trip seem… rather close…?]]> 384 Alice Oseman Charlie 4 4.55 2020
author: Alice Oseman
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2020
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/02/12
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]]> 56060300 Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. The bestselling LGBTQ+ graphic novel about life, love, and everything that happens in between: this is the fourth volume of HEARTSTOPPER, for fans of The Art of Being Normal, Holly Bourne and Love, Simon.

Charlie didn't think Nick could ever like him back, but now they're officially boyfriends. Charlie's beginning to feel ready to say those three little words: I love you.

Nick's been feeling the same, but he's got a lot on his mind - not least coming out to his dad, and the fact that Charlie might have an eating disorder.

As summer turns to autumn and a new school year begins, Charlie and Nick are about to learn a lot about what love means.

Heartstopper is about love, friendship, loyalty and mental illness. It encompasses all the small stories of Nick and Charlie's lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.

This is the fourth volume of Heartstopper, which has now been optioned for television by See-Saw Films.]]> 384 Alice Oseman 1338617567 Charlie 4 4.57 2021
author: Alice Oseman
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2021
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/02/12
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]]> 43307358
But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is discovering all kinds of things about his friends, his family ... and himself.]]> 320 Alice Oseman 1444951408 Charlie 4 4.52 2019
author: Alice Oseman
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2019
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/02/12
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]]> 40495957
Charlie Spring is in Year 10 at Truham Grammar School for Boys. The past year hasn't been too great, but at least he's not being bullied anymore. Nick Nelson is in Year 11 and on the school rugby team. He's heard a little about Charlie - the kid who was outed last year and bullied for a few months - but he's never had the opportunity to talk to him.

They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn't think he has a chance. But love works in surprising ways, and sometimes good things are waiting just around the corner...]]> 288 Alice Oseman 152722533X Charlie 4 4.43 2018
author: Alice Oseman
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2018
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/02/12
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]]> 329866 32 Fyodor Dostoevsky 1419160222 Charlie 5 4.15 1877
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1877
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/12/14
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]]> 1772910 82 Fyodor Dostoevsky Charlie 4 4.16 1848
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1848
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/12/05
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]]> 48258 thought we knew, from Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 73” to Shelley’s “Ozymandias,” from Donne’s “The Flea” to Lowell’s “Man and Wife,” and from Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” to Plath’s “Daddy.”

ĚýPaglia also introduces us to less-familiar works by Paul Blackburn, Wanda Coleman, Chuck Wachtel, Rochelle Kraut–and even Joni Mitchell. Daring, riveting, and beautifully written, Break, Blow, Burn will excite even seasoned poetry lovers, and create a generation of new ones.

ĚýIncludes a new epilogue that details the selection process for choosing the 43 poems presented in this book and provides commentary on some of the pieces that didn't make the final cut.]]> 304 Camille Paglia 0375725393 Charlie 4 3.96 2005
author: Camille Paglia
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2005
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/12/02
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]]> 497199
Charles Bukowski's posthumous legend continues to grow. Factotum is a masterfully vivid evocation of slow-paced, low-life urbanity and alcoholism, and an excellent introduction to the fictional world of Charles Bukowski.]]> 205 Charles Bukowski 0876852630 Charlie 3 3.95 1975
author: Charles Bukowski
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1975
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/12/01
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]]> 14595 A Time Out and Daily News Top Ten Book of the Year upon its initial release, Please Kill Me is the first oral history of the most nihilist of all pop movements. Iggy Pop, Danny Fields, Dee Dee and Joey Ramone, Malcom McLaren, Jim Carroll, and scores of other famous and infamous punk figures lend their voices to this definitive account of that outrageous, explosive era. From its origins in the twilight years of Andy Warhol's New York reign to its last gasps as eighties corporate rock, the phenomenon known as punk is scrutinized, eulogized, and idealized by the people who were there and who made it happen.
]]> 488 Legs McNeil 0802142648 Charlie 4 Want a stable relationship,
Are secure in your sexuality,
Don't want to become a drug addict,
Aren't completely disenfranchised with America,
Can feel joy,

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY...

Can't make some of the greatest music of all time. ]]> 4.19 1996
author: Legs McNeil
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/19
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Don't start a punk band if you...
Want a stable relationship,
Are secure in your sexuality,
Don't want to become a drug addict,
Aren't completely disenfranchised with America,
Can feel joy,

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY...

Can't make some of the greatest music of all time.
]]> 5107 It's Christmas time and Holden Caulfield has just been expelled from yet another school...

Fleeing the crooks at Pencey Prep, he pinballs around New York City seeking solace in fleeting encounters—shooting the bull with strangers in dive hotels, wandering alone round Central Park, getting beaten up by pimps and cut down by erstwhile girlfriends. The city is beautiful and terrible, in all its neon loneliness and seedy glamour, its mingled sense of possibility and emptiness. Holden passes through it like a ghost, thinking always of his kid sister Phoebe, the only person who really understands him, and his determination to escape the phonies and find a life of true meaning.

The Catcher in the Rye is an all-time classic in coming-of-age literature- an elegy to teenage alienation, capturing the deeply human need for connection and the bewildering sense of loss as we leave childhood behind.

J.D. Salinger's (1919–2010) classic novel of teenage angst and rebellion was first published in 1951. The novel was included on Time's 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923. It was named by Modern Library and its readers as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. It has been frequently challenged in the court for its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality and in the 1950's and 60's it was the novel that every teenage boy wants to read.]]> 277 J.D. Salinger 0316769177 Charlie 4
An American classic to be sure, if suffering from being so influential that it is hard to understand the extreme reactions people had to it at the time. The thing you need to understand about this book is it's about grief and hating who you're becoming. Salinger's influence is noticeable in almost every major American author after this book was published. This was an extremely unique voice, but it's been done so much by this point that it's become cliche, kind of like my problems with The Great Gatsby. I also partially wanted to like this book more than I did because of how much people shit on Salinger. So do what you will. Still deeply influential.]]> 3.81 1951
author: J.D. Salinger
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1951
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/19
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DISCLAIMER: PLEASE DO NOT KILL ANYONE AFTER READING THIS BOOK OR BECOME AN OVERNIGHT SUCCESS AFTER WRITING THIS BOOK AND RETREAT INTO TOTAL SECLUSION A PREY ON YOUR YOUTHFUL FOLLOWING BY GROOMING TEENAGE GIRLS. PLEASE AND THANK YOU.

An American classic to be sure, if suffering from being so influential that it is hard to understand the extreme reactions people had to it at the time. The thing you need to understand about this book is it's about grief and hating who you're becoming. Salinger's influence is noticeable in almost every major American author after this book was published. This was an extremely unique voice, but it's been done so much by this point that it's become cliche, kind of like my problems with The Great Gatsby. I also partially wanted to like this book more than I did because of how much people shit on Salinger. So do what you will. Still deeply influential.
]]> 306150 288 Dante Alighieri 0451527984 Charlie 4 3.91 1320
author: Dante Alighieri
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1320
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/16
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]]> 15195
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus tells the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler’s Europe, and his son, a cartoonist coming to terms with his father’s story. Maus approaches the unspeakable through the diminutive. Its form, the cartoon (the Nazis are cats, the Jews mice), shocks us out of any lingering sense of familiarity and succeeds in “drawing us closer to the bleak heart of the Holocaust” (The New York Times).

Maus is a haunting tale within a tale. Vladek’s harrowing story of survival is woven into the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father. Against the backdrop of guilt brought by survival, they stage a normal life of small arguments and unhappy visits. This astonishing retelling of our century’s grisliest news is a story of survival, not only of Vladek but of the children who survive even the survivors. Maus studies the bloody pawprints of history and tracks its meaning for all of us.]]> 296 Art Spiegelman 0141014083 Charlie 4 4.57 1980
author: Art Spiegelman
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.57
book published: 1980
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/10/06
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]]> 249 Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller’s masterpiece, was banned as obscene in this country for twenty-seven years after its first publication in Paris in 1934. Only a historic court ruling that changed American censorship standards, ushering in a new era of freedom and frankness in modern literature, permitted the publication of this first volume of Miller’s famed mixture of memoir and fiction, which chronicles with unapologetic gusto the bawdy adventures of a young expatriate writer, his friends, and the characters they meet in Paris in the 1930s. Tropic of Cancer is now considered, as Norman Mailer said, "one of the ten or twenty great novels of our century."]]> 318 Henry Miller 0802131786 Charlie 4
OLD REVIEW:I really wanted to like this, but unfortunately, Tropic of Cancer has left a bad taste in my mouth, to which Henry Miller would probably say, "Good." For a guy who has so much to say, Henry Miller is surprisingly pointless. I just don't see how this plot-less, directionless, pseudo-memoir is a good time for anyone but Henry Miller. It's the literary equivalent of getting drunk in a bar. And while drunk you try to give some life changing speech, but just end up saying nothing. Complete self indulgence isn't how a good book is made. Only certain writers can pull it off. (Thompson, Kerouac) I'm really not that interested in reading a book where the longest chapter is about all of the characters trying to get laid. No commentary, no real reason, Henry Miller just wants us to know that they had sex with multiple women. I'd be willing to read another Henry Miller book though, surprisingly. I do think that He is a lot more interesting than many other writers. I've also been known to come around on books I dislike, usually shortly after proclaiming my dislike of them, so who knows? All I can say is that I currently dislike it.]]> 3.69 1934
author: Henry Miller
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.69
book published: 1934
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves:
review:
UPDATE: I have a love-hate relationship with Miller. He is a chore to read but some of the excerpts in here will outlive anything written in the 2010s. A transgressive classic that paved the way for many.

OLD REVIEW:I really wanted to like this, but unfortunately, Tropic of Cancer has left a bad taste in my mouth, to which Henry Miller would probably say, "Good." For a guy who has so much to say, Henry Miller is surprisingly pointless. I just don't see how this plot-less, directionless, pseudo-memoir is a good time for anyone but Henry Miller. It's the literary equivalent of getting drunk in a bar. And while drunk you try to give some life changing speech, but just end up saying nothing. Complete self indulgence isn't how a good book is made. Only certain writers can pull it off. (Thompson, Kerouac) I'm really not that interested in reading a book where the longest chapter is about all of the characters trying to get laid. No commentary, no real reason, Henry Miller just wants us to know that they had sex with multiple women. I'd be willing to read another Henry Miller book though, surprisingly. I do think that He is a lot more interesting than many other writers. I've also been known to come around on books I dislike, usually shortly after proclaiming my dislike of them, so who knows? All I can say is that I currently dislike it.
]]> 29906980 Lincoln in the Bardo is a literary experience unlike any other—for no one but Saunders could conceive it.

February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. "My poor boy, he was too good for this earth," the president says at the time. "God has called him home." Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returned to the crypt several times alone to hold his boy's body.

From that seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its realistic, historical framework into a thrilling, supernatural realm both hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself in a strange purgatory, where ghosts mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel, and enact bizarre acts of penance. Within this transitional state—called, in the Tibetan tradition, the bardo—a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie's soul.

Lincoln in the Bardo is an astonishing feat of imagination and a bold step forward from one of the most important and influential writers of his generation. Formally daring, generous in spirit, deeply concerned with matters of the heart, it is a testament to fiction's ability to speak honestly and powerfully to the things that really matter to us. Saunders has invented a thrilling new form that deploys a kaleidoscopic, theatrical panorama of voices—living and dead, historical and invented—to ask a timeless, profound question: How do we live and love when we know that everything we love must end?]]> 368 George Saunders 0812995341 Charlie 3 3.75 2017
author: George Saunders
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2017
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/09/13
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]]> 412732 On the Road put the Beat Generation on the map, The Dharma Bums is sparked by Kerouac's expansiveness, humor, and a contagious zest for life.]]> 244 Jack Kerouac Charlie 3 3.94 1958
author: Jack Kerouac
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1958
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/08/30
shelves:
review:
Still fresh and exciting, but lacking the lucid moments and speed of On the Road. Also I kind of blame this book for some of the commodification of Buddhism in the modern age. Still good, just not as essential. That mountain climbing episode is one of the best things I've ever read.
]]> 15802147
Calvin and Hobbes is unquestionably one of the most popular comic strips of all time. The imaginative world of a boy and his real-only-to-him tiger was first syndicated in 1985 and appeared in more than 2,400 newspapers when Bill Watterson retired on January 1, 1996. The entire body of Calvin and Hobbes cartoons published in a truly noteworthy tribute to this singular cartoon in The Complete Calvin and Hobbes . Composed of fourĚýpaperback, four-color volumes in a sturdy slipcase, this New York Times best-selling edition includes all Calvin and Hobbes cartoons that ever appeared in syndication. This is the treasure that all Calvin and Hobbes fans seek.
Ěý±Ő±Ő> 1456 Bill Watterson 1449433251 Charlie 5
And that's the highest praise a book can receive.]]> 4.91 2005
author: Bill Watterson
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.91
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/08/14
shelves:
review:
A childhood classic. Certain strips I can quote from memory. One of those rare perfect works of art. Calvin and Hobbes are the perfect duo. Period. Watterson really just understood what it was like to be 6 years old. I grew up with Calvin and Hobbes and I will continue to for the rest of my life.

And that's the highest praise a book can receive.
]]> 35036409 My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense and generous-hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante’s inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighbourhood, a city and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her two protagonists.]]> 331 Elena Ferrante Charlie 4 4.08 2011
author: Elena Ferrante
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2011
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/08/01
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]]> 765418
A Penguin Classic
Ěý
When Walt Whitman self-published his Leaves of Grass in July 1855, he altered the course of literary history. One of the greatest masterpieces of American literature, it redefined the rules of poetry while describing the soul of the American character.ĚýThroughout his great career, Whitman continuously revised, expanded, and republished Leaves of Grass , but many critics believe that the book that matters most is the 1855 original. Penguin Classics proudly presents that text in its original and complete form, with an introductory essay by the writer and poet Malcolm Cowley.

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700Ěýtitles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theĚýseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-dateĚýtranslations by award-winning translators.]]> 145 Walt Whitman 0140421998 Charlie 5 4.09 1855
author: Walt Whitman
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1855
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/08/01
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Finished reading this edition on Walt Whitman's birthday. A fantastic bundle of phenomenal poetry. This could just be a book of quotes from these poems and it would still be great. Walt Whitman had the most positive, benevolent, and perfect view of humanity. I will probably spend the rest of my life trying to emulate the supreme altruism and vivaciousness that these poems radiate. Whitman is all of life, all of America and a perfect poet in every sense.
]]> 40409718 162 Charles Bukowski Charlie 3 3.89 1971
author: Charles Bukowski
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1971
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/08/01
shelves:
review:
Utterly fine. Bukowski's story of how he got published is incredibly inspirational, and I urge anyone who is interested in literature to read about it. Bukowski's skill is making it look easy. Probably because of how unambitious he was in his works. Still a quite distinctive and memorable voice. Bukowski's prose is extremely readable, but I just wish he had tried to make some sort of statement with his work, rather than just being a passive observer of everything. Also I find him to be unbearably cynical at times. Still, Bukowski is a gifted writer and worth some of your time. I just don't necessarily think he's my thing. Also, that part where he drives the van through a flooded street just so he can get home? Hysterical.
]]> 4981 Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous World War II firebombing of Dresden, the novel is the result of what Kurt Vonnegut described as a twenty-three-year struggle to write a book about what he had witnessed as an American prisoner of war. It combines historical fiction, science fiction, autobiography, and satire in an account of the life of Billy Pilgrim, a barber’s son turned draftee turned optometrist turned alien abductee. As Vonnegut had, Billy experiences the destruction of Dresden as a POW. Unlike Vonnegut, he experiences time travel, or coming “unstuck in time.”

An instant bestseller, Slaughterhouse-Five made Kurt Vonnegut a cult hero in American literature, a reputation that only strengthened over time, despite his being banned and censored by some libraries and schools for content and language. But it was precisely those elements of Vonnegut’s writing—the political edginess, the genre-bending inventiveness, the frank violence, the transgressive wit—that have inspired generations of readers not just to look differently at the world around them but to find the confidence to say something about it.

Fifty years after its initial publication at the height of the Vietnam War, Vonnegut's portrayal of political disillusionment, PTSD, and postwar anxiety feels as relevant, darkly humorous, and profoundly affecting as ever, an enduring beacon through our own era’s uncertainties.]]> 275 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Charlie 5
I view this book as the anti-Man's Search for Meaning. I mean that pretty highly. All throughout life, we try to eke out meaning in our suffering. Vonnegut shows us the limits of this. Sometimes, when faced with a truly monumental amount of suffering, as one is prone to do while alive, it is healthier and far more wise to accept that there may be no meaning than desperately try to search for one.

Oh, and this book is a comedy.

Vonnegut is one of the greats.

So it goes.]]> 4.10 1969
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1969
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/07/27
shelves:
review:
"There is no why."

I view this book as the anti-Man's Search for Meaning. I mean that pretty highly. All throughout life, we try to eke out meaning in our suffering. Vonnegut shows us the limits of this. Sometimes, when faced with a truly monumental amount of suffering, as one is prone to do while alive, it is healthier and far more wise to accept that there may be no meaning than desperately try to search for one.

Oh, and this book is a comedy.

Vonnegut is one of the greats.

So it goes.
]]> 7745 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken.]]> 204 Hunter S. Thompson 0679785892 Charlie 4 4.07 1971
author: Hunter S. Thompson
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1971
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/07/27
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How on earth is this book equal parts hilarious, horrifying, witty, paranoid, messy and profound at the same time? I don't know. I don't think the drugs helped, but maybe there was something Thompson uncovered about the rhythm language. No other book serves as both the best anti-drug and pro-drug book. Thompson was a man who clearly understood why America was the way it was at this time. We, like Thompson, are high on the vision of our country. The same way we are driven by the American Dream, so too are addicts driven by the drugs they use. As good as this book is, I think that the film version is just as good, so I don't think it's necessarily flawless. Nonetheless, a great American novel if there ever was one.
]]> 13641208 Tenth of December is his most honest, accessible, and moving collection yet.

In the taut opening, "Victory Lap," a boy witnesses the attempted abduction of the girl next door and is faced with a harrowing choice: Does he ignore what he sees, or override years of smothering advice from his parents and act? In "Home," a combat-damaged soldier moves back in with his mother and struggles to reconcile the world he left with the one to which he has returned. And in the title story, a stunning meditation on imagination, memory, and loss, a middle-aged cancer patient walks into the woods to commit suicide, only to encounter a troubled young boy who, over the course of a fateful morning, gives the dying man a final chance to recall who he really is. A hapless, deluded owner of an antique store; two mothers struggling to do the right thing; a teenage girl whose idealism is challenged by a brutal brush with reality; a man tormented by a series of pharmaceutical experiments that force him to lust, to love, to kill—the unforgettable characters that populate the pages of Tenth of December are vividly and lovingly infused with Saunders' signature blend of exuberant prose, deep humanity, and stylistic innovation.

Writing brilliantly and profoundly about class, sex, love, loss, work, despair, and war, Saunders cuts to the core of the contemporary experience. These stories take on the big questions and explore the fault lines of our own morality, delving into the questions of what makes us good and what makes us human.

Unsettling, insightful, and hilarious, the stories in Tenth of December—through their manic energy, their focus on what is redeemable in human beings, and their generosity of spirit—not only entertain and delight; they fulfill Chekhov's dictum that art should "prepare us for tenderness."]]> 251 George Saunders 0812993802 Charlie 4 3.98 2013
author: George Saunders
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2013
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/07/26
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review:
Superb collection. Saunders is the real deal. Not all of them were winners, (Still don't get Al Roosten), but the winners are some of the best ever written. I laughed, I cried, I panicked, and I got lost in Saunders endlessly engaging stories. With further rereads could prove to be a 5 star collection.
]]> 4934
This award-winning translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky remains true to the verbal inventiveness of Dostoevsky’s prose, preserving the multiple voices, the humor, and the surprising modernity of the original. It is an achievement worthy of Dostoevsky’s last and greatest novel.]]> 796 Fyodor Dostoevsky 0374528373 Charlie 5 4.36 1880
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1880
rating: 5
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Wow. Dostoevsky is one hell of a writer. No one writes characters in suffering quite like him. Not even going to pretend to have understood all of this but the 40% I did understand was life-changing. Dmitri's dream about the wee one...Just sublime. I'm excited to read and re-read this book over and over again of the course of my life.
]]> 168668
Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy—it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he’s assigned, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.

This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller’s masterpiece with a new introduction by Christopher Buckley; a wealth of critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos from Joseph Heller’s personal archive; and much more. Here, at last, is the definitive edition of a classic of world literature.]]> 453 Joseph Heller 0684833395 Charlie 5
Why is this overly long, headache inducing, mess of a novel rated five stars? Because it's one of the most accurate portrayals of human existence in the modern age of all time. And it's fucking funny. Catch-22 is a thrill ride of non-stop jokes, circular reasoning and endless rage against a system not just poorly designed, but maliciously. War is insane. No man can enjoy war and call himself sane. We're all just living in Joseph Heller's world. It took me a while but I now see this book as a masterpiece. Every time is the right time to read Catch-22.]]> 3.99 1961
author: Joseph Heller
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1961
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/07/26
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review:
"That's some catch, that catch-22."

Why is this overly long, headache inducing, mess of a novel rated five stars? Because it's one of the most accurate portrayals of human existence in the modern age of all time. And it's fucking funny. Catch-22 is a thrill ride of non-stop jokes, circular reasoning and endless rage against a system not just poorly designed, but maliciously. War is insane. No man can enjoy war and call himself sane. We're all just living in Joseph Heller's world. It took me a while but I now see this book as a masterpiece. Every time is the right time to read Catch-22.
]]> 135479 Told with deadpan humour and bitter irony, Kurt Vonnegut's cult tale of global destruction preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon and, worse still, surviving it ...

Dr Felix Hoenikker, one of the founding 'fathers' of the atomic bomb, has left a deadly legacy to the world. For he's the inventor of 'ice-nine', a lethal chemical capable of freezing the entire planet. The search for its whereabouts leads to Hoenikker's three ecentric children, to a crazed dictator in the Caribbean, to madness. Felix Hoenikker's Death Wish comes true when his last, fatal gift to humankind brings about the end, that for all of us, is nigh...]]> 306 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Charlie 4 4.17 1963
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1963
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/07/26
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Carefree, joyous and outrageously cynical, Cat's Cradle is certainly a unique book. Vonnegut's view of humanity and society is extremely bleak, but he offers an antidote to the absurdity of life with plenty of laugh out loud moments, In classic Vonnegut style. The best critiques of science and religion I've ever read. The book ends up siding more with religion in the end was surprising for Vonnegut. While this book contains some of Vonnegut's best ideas, it also is extremely cynical, even for Vonnegut. And while it plays into the themes of the novel, the general aimlessness of the main character is not as interesting here as in Slaughterhouse Five. Still an essential read for fans of postmodern literature, sci-fi, and good books.
]]> 485894 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 0553213695 / 9780553213690

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes."

With it's startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first opening, Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. It is the story of a young man who, transformed overnight into a giant beetle-like insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family, an outsider in his own home, a quintessentially alienated man. A harrowing—though absurdly comic—meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation, The Metamorphosis has taken its place as one of the most widely read and influential works of twentieth-century fiction. As W.H. Auden wrote, "Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man."]]> 201 Franz Kafka 0553213695 Charlie 4
But seriously, wow, consider me shocked. I struggled to get into Kafka for a while, but this story has made me a born-again Kafka fan. Kafka's strong suit is his ideas and emotions. His prose is kind of dry and clunky, but this story is so dream-like and hypnotizing that it still works. I am just obsessed with the ambiguous nature of the story. It's clearly a metaphor, but of what is anybody's guess. Kafka also has a wicked sense of humor. I laughed more than once, which is surprising considering how depressing the tone of the story is. Reject Capitalism, embrace cockroach.]]> 3.90 1915
author: Franz Kafka
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1915
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/04/03
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What a feel good book! Gregor's Family is so nice to him!

But seriously, wow, consider me shocked. I struggled to get into Kafka for a while, but this story has made me a born-again Kafka fan. Kafka's strong suit is his ideas and emotions. His prose is kind of dry and clunky, but this story is so dream-like and hypnotizing that it still works. I am just obsessed with the ambiguous nature of the story. It's clearly a metaphor, but of what is anybody's guess. Kafka also has a wicked sense of humor. I laughed more than once, which is surprising considering how depressing the tone of the story is. Reject Capitalism, embrace cockroach.
]]> 4980 Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

In Breakfast of Champions, one of Kurt Vonnegut’s most beloved characters, the aging writer Kilgore Trout, finds to his horror that a Midwest car dealer is taking his fiction as truth. What follows is murderously funny satire, as Vonnegut looks at war, sex, racism, success, politics, and pollution in America and reminds us how to see the truth.]]> 303 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 0385334206 Charlie 4 4.08 1973
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1973
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/04/03
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This book is one of the most post-modern things ever written. It's almost post-post-modern. Vonnegut wrote this during one of the worst times in his life and it comes through a bit on the page. The jokes are still funny, but there is a certain pain behind all of them that is hard to deny. Kilgore Trout's stories are the highlight of the book for me. Dwayne's story was decent, but I was much more interested in Kilgore Trout's American Odyssey. I do wish Vonnegut had had more faith in his own story and the climax is kind of lame, probably on purpose, but still. Good time, but probably better suited for people who know they are already fans of Vonnegut.
]]> 9592 Librarian note: Alternate cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense. American Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of gray with a verdict that will haunt us all.]]> 282 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 0385334141 Charlie 4 4.23 1961
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1961
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/04/03
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What better writer than Kurt Vonnegut to pen a great dark comedy based on the atrocities of the 20th century? This book is hilarious, but it is difficult to stomach. It'll probably leave you with some righteous anger. Howard Campbell Jr's. very existence challenges our ideas about the culpability of America in WWII. Vonnegut holds a mirror up to America and lets us see all of the similarities between some of our political parties and those of the Nazi's. The very same ideas that were used to justify one of the most terrible atrocities in human history were in America around the same time and afterwards. Vonnegut also mocks fascism, racism, white supremacists, anti-semites, and all manner of monster in his book. He shows us that we are closer to these things then we might like to admit. Fascism thrives in fear and respect, so we must never fear it and always disrespect it, with books and writers like these.
]]> 7805
Nabokov's darkly witty, richly inventive masterpiece is a suspenseful whodunit, a story of one-upmanship and dubious penmanship, and a glorious literary conundrum.

Part of a major new series of the works of Vladimir Nabokov, author of Lolita and Pale Fire, in Penguin Classics.]]> 246 Vladimir Nabokov Charlie 4
What a book. What a hilarious, disturbing, sad, and confusing time. Kinbote may be one of the most unreliable narrators in all of literature. It is insane the amount of detail Nabokov crams into this book, and also how easily the reader falls into Kinbote's traps. MZD could never. I most certainly will have to reread this book many times over, as I'm sure I missed a ton of stuff.]]> 4.17 1962
author: Vladimir Nabokov
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1962
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/03/13
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review:
...

What a book. What a hilarious, disturbing, sad, and confusing time. Kinbote may be one of the most unreliable narrators in all of literature. It is insane the amount of detail Nabokov crams into this book, and also how easily the reader falls into Kinbote's traps. MZD could never. I most certainly will have to reread this book many times over, as I'm sure I missed a ton of stuff.
]]> 34080 The Waste Land, first published in 1922, is often regarded as T.S. Eliot's masterpiece, as well as one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry.

The work, divided in 5 sections, juxtaposes the legend of the Holy Grail and the Fisher King, with a snapshot of early twentieth-century British society. In contemporary times, it is often read published within The Waste Land and Other Poems and has come to be Eliot's most popular poem.

T.S. Elliot was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor. Born in 1888 in St. Louis (MO, USA), he is considered one of the 20th century's major poets, and a central figure in English-language Modernist poetry."In ten years' time," wrote Edmund Wilson in Axel's Castle (1931), "Elliot has left upon English poetry a mark more unmistakable than that of any other poet writing in English." In 1948, Eliot was awarded the Nobel Price "for his work as a trail-blazing pioneer of modern poetry."]]> 288 T.S. Eliot 0393974995 Charlie 4 4.11 1922
author: T.S. Eliot
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1922
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/02/24
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]]> 49552 The Stranger has long been considered a classic of twentieth-century literature. Le Monde ranks it as number one on its "100 Books of the Century" list. Through this story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on a sundrenched Algerian beach, Camus explores what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd."]]> 123 Albert Camus Charlie 4 4.04 1942
author: Albert Camus
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1942
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/02/24
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review:
What a book. What an incredibly powerful and painfully tragic book. One of the saddest books I've ever read. No other book puts into better perspective the condition of man in the modern era than The Stranger. I feel almost as if Meursault is aware that he is trapped inside the novel and that he doesn't really exist. All of the things he goes through in the novel could be enough for their own individual story, but Meursault is unable to care. Camus stares death straight in the eye and makes it blink. I find Meursault to be one of the most fascinating characters in modern literature. He represents how man should live if he truly believes that life has no intrinsic meaning. Nothing really even phases him for most of the book. But don't we secretly crave this? Don't we wish to be free of our emotions most days? Meursault isn't crazy, as the judge believes him to be. He's simply reacting as one would expect when faced with the absurdness of everyday living. In a way, it's freeing to not be effected by anything. The pressures of society are arbitrary and we shouldn't have to accept them if we don't want to.
]]> 13
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is saved by Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised Guide. Together they stick out their thumbs to the stars and begin a wild journey through time and space.

"The Restaurant at the End of the Universe"

Facing annihilation at the hands of warmongers is a curious time to crave tea. It could only happen to the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his comrades as they hurtle across the galaxy in a desperate search for a place to eat.

"Life, the Universe and Everything"

The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky- so they plan to destroy it. The universe, that is. Now only five individuals can avert Armageddon: mild-mannered Arthur Dent and his stalwart crew.

"So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish"

Back on Earth, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription conspires to thrust him back to reality. So to speak.

"Mostly Harmless"

Just when Arthur Dent makes the terrible mistake of starting to enjoy life, all hell breaks loose. Can he save the Earth from total obliteration? Can he save the Guide from a hostile alien takeover? Can he save his daughter from herself?

Also includes the short story "Young Zaphod Plays It Safe".]]> 815 Douglas Adams 0345453743 Charlie 5 4.38 1996
author: Douglas Adams
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1996
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/02/18
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]]> 4982 224 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Charlie 3 4.16 1959
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1959
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/02/18
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]]> 168642
As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.]]> 343 Truman Capote 0679745580 Charlie 4 4.08 1966
author: Truman Capote
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1966
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/01/17
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]]> 16842 186 Christopher Isherwood 0816638624 Charlie 4 4.08 1964
author: Christopher Isherwood
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1964
rating: 4
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date added: 2023/11/23
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review:
Genius. An outrageously intelligent novel. Isherwood writes with wild insight. A book that should be talked about far more often. Check it out.
]]> 70401 307 Jack Kerouac 0140042598 Charlie 4 3.63 1957
author: Jack Kerouac
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1957
rating: 4
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date added: 2023/11/23
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review:
A wild, impassioned ride of the highest caliber. Kerouac fills the reader with such energy and so much love for living that it is truly inspiring. You wish you could see everything the way Kerouac does. A manifesto for life and living. My only real gripe is the objectification of women and some of the dated beliefs and values. Also, Dean is just a bit much. Some people call Kerouac crazy. Maybe. But you have to be crazy about life, about everything and this book is a shining example of that. Kerouac was a truly gifted writer. That being said, this is very much a novel that you'll either completely absorb into yourself or it will completely bounce off of you. There's very little I've seen in between. A must try novel.
]]> 24800
Of course, neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of that impossibility, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story—of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of that unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams.]]> 710 Mark Z. Danielewski Charlie 2 4.11 2000
author: Mark Z. Danielewski
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2000
rating: 2
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date added: 2023/09/16
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review:
The words that come to my mind when thinking about this book are, "Pseudo-intellectual", and "Indulgent excess." Pointless also works. I really thought I was going to love this book, but I can safely say that I didn't. I was mesmerized at first, but when I was about 400 pages in, I realized that I had put so much time and energy into reading this book and had gotten nothing in return. There are frightening elements and upsetting subject matter here, but the book spends far to much time going into mind numbing parodies and satires of academic criticism. Johnny is deeply unlikable as well as a raging and violent misogynist, and Danielewski tries to flesh him out by giving him a traumatic past, which is exceedingly lazy and dull. I really didn't feel sorry for Johnny at all. That's not a good sign. Also, the academic parody is infuriating. I know that's supposed to be the point, but that doesn't make it any better. In fact, I'd say that's even worse. Zampano is also one of the most infuriating narrators you'll ever suffer through, which isn't great when he's telling the bulk of the story. I will say that this book is well engineered, and the way it forces you to obsess about it, much like the characters, was unique. This is a book for people who hate books. Maybe that's why it's so popular. Also, I touched briefly upon this earlier, but this book is exceedingly misogynist. This is coming from a major fan of Hemingway. All of the sex scenes are atrociously written, and Danielewski goes into stomach-churning detail. I found this to be harder to read than all of the pages that force you to read them in a mirror. This is a selfish book. It demand so much energy and time and commitment and it just takes, and takes, and takes and takes. Maybe someday I'll re-read it but I can't do this anymore. Also, can anyone explain to me what the message or moral of this book was? Maybe Danielewski put it in the 3 APPENDIXES TO THIS WASTE OF TIME. I have to move on. Away from this book, and away from the awful writing, characters, and everything. Don't waste your time.
]]> 4671 The only edition of the beloved classic that is authorized by Fitzgerald’s family and from his lifelong publisher.

This edition is the enduring original text, updated with the author’s own revisions, a foreword by his granddaughter, and with a new introduction by National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward.

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published by Scribner in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.]]> 180 F. Scott Fitzgerald 0743273567 Charlie 3 3.93 1925
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1925
rating: 3
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date added: 2023/09/16
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A bit lacking. Fitzgerald's writing is far too flowery and sentimental for my tastes. That being said the ending line is an all-timer. I also find it ironic how this book is beloved for its portrayal of The Jazz Age, but was meant to be a scathing critique of America. Still, it's hard to deny its far reaching influence, but it's just not my speed. Short enough to justify a read for most people.
]]> 5297 272 Oscar Wilde Charlie 5 4.13 1890
author: Oscar Wilde
name: Charlie
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1890
rating: 5
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date added: 2023/09/16
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Oscar Wilde writes better than any other writer in the English language, not just in his time, but for all time. I punched the air while reading just because of how well this book is written. An extremely compelling tragedy. Not to be missed. For those trying to get into classic literature, this is the place to start.
]]> 45035018
Frankenstein has been a pursuit of the gigantic man observed by Walton's crew. Frankenstein starts to recover from his exertion; he sees in Walton the same obsession and has destroyed him. and recounts a story of his life's miseries to Walton as a waring. The recounted story serves as the frame for Frankenstein's narrative.]]> 128 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 9382576541 Charlie 3 3.81 1818
author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1818
rating: 3
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date added: 2023/09/16
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]]> 310612
His mother thinks he needs to go to work. He does, in a succession of jobs. Each job rapidly escalates into a lunatic adventure, a full-blown disaster; yet each has, like Don Quixote's, its own eerie logic.

His girlfriend, Myrna Minkoff of the Bronx, thinks he needs sex.

Ignatius is an intellectual, ideologue, deadbeat, goof-off, glutton, who should repel the reader with his gargantuan bloats, his thunderous contempt, and one-man war against everybody: Freud, homosexuals, heterosexuals, Protestants, and the assorted excesses of modern times.

A tragicomedy, set in New Orleans.]]> 394 John Kennedy Toole 0802130208 Charlie 3 3.89 1980
author: John Kennedy Toole
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1980
rating: 3
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date added: 2023/09/16
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]]> 2165 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

This short novel, already a modern classic, is the superbly told, tragic story of a Cuban fisherman in the Gulf Stream and the giant Marlin he kills and loses—specifically referred to in the citation accompanying the author's Nobel Prize for literature in 1954.]]> 96 Ernest Hemingway 0684830493 Charlie 4 3.81 1952
author: Ernest Hemingway
name: Charlie
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1952
rating: 4
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date added: 2023/09/16
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]]>