What do you like to read Friday? MKF 12-06-02

[taralicious]

Xanadu-"Where the Sidewalk Ends" has been one of my favorite books of poetry since I was in 6th grade, some years ago now.
He has the same anarchic glee and devilish vision that Roald Dahl had when writing "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and its sequel "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator", my two favorite books from childhood.

[darkmagicwillow]

I don't read a lot of poetry, but I also love Shel Silverstein. I've started reading some of the poetry on Pens recently and have been happily impressed with the quality.

[Garner]

For some reason I have always had a problem getting into poetry. I don't know why, but the meanings always seem to escape me. I do like T.S. Eliot and Lord Byron though. And some of the stuff on Pens is really good.

Garner

[mollyig]

I adore poetry. As in everything I have an interest in, I have quite a varied collection, Amongst it are: Margaret Atwood, Emily Dickinson, WB Yeats, The Brontë's, Patrick Kavanagh, Seamus Heaney, Dylan Thomas. I could go on, but won't! [img:d4d0ee73cd]http://homepage.eircom.net/~mollyig/revolve.gif[/img:d4d0ee73cd]

[seurat]

Poetry,now this is more difficult. Poetry is arguably the most honest writing, an immediate if finely crafted response to a strong emotion or important event. And whether you respond to a particular poet positively (sorry, couldn't stop myself) is entirely subjective. One of my favorite writers is Robert Graves and I love most of his books, with special applause for the Claudius books and Goodbye To All That, but i've never been able to feel any attachment to his poetry. And yet he considered himself a poet, first and foremost. Is that my fault or his, or no one's fault at all? It reaches you, or it doesn't.

There are always safe recommendations though. Frost and Dickinson, Shelley and Byron, Yeats and Thomas and Auden and e.e. cummings. I read a lot of Canadian poets, some of whom I've been lucky enough to meet or to hear read, among them George Bowering, Susan Musgrave, the late b. p. nicol and Michael Ondaatje. But if I have to read only one to myself aloud late at night it would be Margaret Atwood, and if only one book of hers it has to be Interlunar.

[bronwyn]

mollyig - I love Seamus Heaney. He is such a brilliant brilliant writer - poetry and prose. Have you read Sweeney Astray, his version of Buile Suibne?

a fun poet to mention is liz lochead. she's a scottish feminist who has a wicked wit.

i like r.s.thomas too.

-Bronwyn

[darkmagicwillow]

I didn't know Robert Graves wrote poetry, but I loved his Claudius books, and I have his [i:795ba3190d]Belisarius[/i:795ba3190d] on my toread shelf.

Gore Vidal's [i:795ba3190d]Julian[/i:795ba3190d] is a great history of one of my favorite emperors, the bookish younger cousin who no one expected to survive much less turn out to be one of the ablest late emperors. If only he hadn't been assassinated...

[KittenPokerPlayer]

I know I already posted in thread but I found a great new book I think W/T and all of you would enjoy. Its called Kiss My Tiara by Susan Jane Gilman. I aboslutely love it! I found in it in the self help section. Its a bit like Dr. Phil only specifically for women and way more funny. It touches on topics like lesbian weddings, marriage, feminism, beauty, and money. Plus a few more mature topics.

~Erica

[Firefoot]

I hope it's okay to "dust off" older threads like this.

Books:

Well, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Those almost go without saying. I'm impatiently drumming my fingers waiting for #5.

I second Neil Gaiman. I just finished Neverwhere, and it is simply terrific. I also read American Gods, but it's so similar in many ways to Neverwhere that I found it hard to decide how I feel about it. It's a good book, and a fun read, but it lost a bit of its glow when I realized how similar it was to Gaiman's earlier book.

One book that really surprised me is Rebecca's Tale by Sally Beauman, a sequel of sorts to Daphne du Maurier's classic, Rebecca. This is leagues better than the ghastly Mrs. de Winter, which I wouldn't use to line a catbox. Beauman's novel is like really, really, really well-written fanfic: she has a fan's deep knowledge and appreciation of the source material, and wisely doesn't try to re-create the voice of the original novel--she finds her own voice. Not only is the story terrific as a sequel, it stands alone as a novel in its own right. Very well-worth checking out if you loved the original (which I also recommend if you haven't read it! ).

Poetry: hmm, I'm partial to Anne Sexton and Edna St. Vincent Millay.

I also devour mysteries by the crate, and am particularly fond of the Rina Lazarus/ Peter Decker series by Faye Kellerman.

That's all I can think of for now!

Firefoot

[aimbly]

Seen as this has been brought back to life again today i though i'd add my tuppence worth as another Seamus Heaney fan. Well I say fan, i hadn't actually looked at any of his work for about five years - until this afternoon! I studied him at school and although i was pretty disinterested back then he was the only poet out of the ones we studied whose poems i got some enjoyment from, So i decided today he was worth looking up again. And yes, he was. He is. A particular favourite of mine is 'Mid-Term Break'

I also looked through some Simon Armitage works while i was in the bookstore, i intend to go back and buy one of his books when i have the money, cus i was moved to tears by one poem 'To His Lost Lover'.

[SobeitUK]

Hi! I've been a luker for ages Just wanted to post, as I love reading! I hardly do anything else. If possible, I would eat them.

I'm not such a great reader of novels, though I love short stories and have various collections; I love Theodore Sturgeon's the Professor's Teddy Bear, and anything by Karl Edward Wagner. His short story, Beyond Any Measure is darkly erotic and worth hunting down. I also love Peter Beagle's works, The Last Unicorn, esp. and one called Tamsin, a ghost story set in the present day, a bit of Canterville Ghost, only the ghost is a girl and she's got a ghostly cat as well.

Mostly I lvoe reading Kitten fics!

Soph

[taralicious]

In mentioning all of the graphic novels awhile back in this thread, I forgot to mention one of my favorite "underground" adult comic series, which is "Omaha, the Cat Dancer" by Reed Waller and Kate Worley.
Strange goings-on in the man's life but he could portray intimate sex scenes as just a natural occurence of everyday life in his illustrations with the best of them.