What are you reading right now?

The Beet Queen by Louise Erdrich

 

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

 

The Bible. Not because I'm religious, but because if a book managed to save so many lives, and ruin so many others, it must contain something worth reading.

 

the violin~anne rice

 

hey i just said that lol..then read above..anyways..this is the fourth time i'm reading it...it is by far in the top three of my fave books..i love it..have you ever read it before?

 

The Devil's Notebook - Anton LaVey

 

James Clavell - King Rat

 

Don't Eat This Book(Fast Food and the Supersizing of America) Morgan Spurlock

I havent started reading it yet, but I will let you know...

 

The Ramayana

 

i'm reading a icelandic book called "englar alheimsins" or angels of the universe and it's about a pshycotic icelander who ends up killing himself because of pressure from society and the fact that he could not be free... it's a sad book but it makes you realize how far away freedom can be...

 

Ecstasia-- Francesca Lia Block
The Godfather
Less than Zero-- Brett Ausbel
Thoreau's Journals


I love Francesca lia block's book because they are mystical and whimsical.

Thoreau had a really interesting mind.

And Less Than Zero is fairly disturbing, but a good read none the less.

 

I love Louise Erdrich! I think she the best writer today. I just borrowed Four Souls from the library, but I haven't started it yet.
My favorite book she has written is The Master Butcher's Singing Club. It is amazing.

 

Yesterday, I took all of students on a field trip. I had lots of bus time, so I picked up a mindless book to read. Jimmy Buffet's A Salty Piece of Land. Actually, it is kind of fun.

 

Dude, Wheres My Cournty?
Michael Moore

 

I am reading
Pain:the Gift Nobody Wants by Dr Paul Brand. It is an awesome book about leprosy and the loss of nerves. It goes over why everyone needs pain and the road to studying leprosy. Paul Brand grew up in Africa and Europe and later lived in the US. I love it!

I just finished Spontaneous Mind a collection of interviews with Allen Ginsberg and Timequake by Vonnegut

 

Laura Esquivel: Como agua para chocolate

i'm actually reading it for the 3rd time..this time cause i gotta write an essay about it..
anyway..i love that book

 

I'm reading The Name Of The Rose by Umberto Eco. And poetry by Leonard Cohen.

 

The Birth of Tragedy by Nietzsche
The Poverty of Philosophy by Karl Marx
The Holy Bible
About to start: Manic-Depression and Creativy

 

I'm on the third part of Erdrich's series, Tracks.

I absolutely LOVE Louise Erdrich. The way she crafts language is simply amazing and beautiful. Some of the most poetic prose in all of modern literature. I really like the way she shows the depth of her characters through showing all the characters view points and the same action.
A good example of this is in her character Russell. In The Beet Queen there is a chapter where Russell is sitting on a float as the decorated war hero, and the audience is told through the langauge that Russell is sitting on a float designed as a military graveyard, the white crosses.
But later, Dot tells us how she sees Russell on his float from her perspective and she tells us he's not in a graveyard, but a battlefield. Sitting between two bunkers and there is no mention of any white crosses. Erdrich writes Russell's death song in such a way that it is both beautiful, but requires the attention of the audience to catch just how far into death he is. If it weren't for Dot's chapter, the audience would have never known he was hallucinating (well, some might figure it out!).

I went and checked out some of the reviews from Amazon.com and there were a few folks that seemed to be totally lost with her books. Her books are a little more difficult than they appear at first, they are not easy reading. So, my suggestions for reading Erdrich (especially if you are interested in the 5 part series) is this...study up on American Indian culture, specifically the Ojibway, Anishinabe, Chippewa cultures. And maybe read and try to understand what 'world view' is. (what critics may call magical realism I consider to be the difference in American culture and spirituality vs. American Indian culture and spirituality).

If you plan on reading the series: Love Medicine, The Beet Queen, Tracks, The Bingo Palace, and the Antelope Wife, read them in the correct order. I've read a few interviews with Erdrich, and she's really adament about reading the books in the order she wrote them. They are not chronological, and if you try to read them chronologically you'll probably get lost or miss something. That's one thing I noticed with the Amazon reviews, people were complaining because they were lost and didn't like the way the book was set up, they felt it jumped too much from one character to the next. But, if you start with Love Medicine, it all makes sense and fits together well, and flows pretty well also.

Also, if you haven't learned the awful truths yet, maybe do some research on what our government actually did to the Natives when they attempted to assimilate all the different tribes. (and hey, if you find that interesting, dig a little deeper and look at what the French, Spanish, English, and The American Government did to the Native's, though that's not actually something you have to study...it makes for a great history lesson in imperialism/colonization, you can make plenty of connections to what's going on politically today!)


I'm waiting on the 4th book to arrive. It's been over a month since I ordered it, and I'm almost done with Tracks I want to read them all in a row, but I don't want to wait forever, I guess I'll go to the library and check it out.