I am terribly good at creating lists and remarkably bad at doing anything with them. I have no clue as to the number of lists I must have made though I have a fair idea of the number of fruitful actions that arose from them (the number is very close to 0). Nevertheless, I decided to create one more list for myself. This is the list of books that I am definitely going to read in April!! :-D
- Shakespeare - Bill Bryson
- What do I do when I want to do everything - Barbara Sher
- Serious Creativity - De Bono
- Unbearable lightness of being - Kundera
- 10 Short Stories - Nabokov
And a few chapters of a book that I read with my soul! :-)
I'll mark this post as 30th April so that this stays on top. Readers (if there are any) are requested to scroll down for the latest posts...
Hmmm. Let me give you a lowdown on each of these books and spoil your surprise before you venture into them ;-)!
ReplyDelete1.Shakespeare - Bill Bryson
Avoid wasting time on this book, instead read Shakespeare's original works unless you want to know the colour of his eyes and how frequently he stole deer from other people's lands.
I would vociferously advise you to replace this with
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. For the brilliant intelligence and analytical powers the writer shows here. I actually had to read twice of thrice his peculiar discussions on cannibalism, the deplorable effects of the railways on the character of Russians - you name it. Amazing insight, a different unique thinking power - an experience that I will never forget nor can replace with any other writer I am sure. The 'novel' is less of a novel than a jolly ride in an intellectual terrain that is hard to come by in this time and age.
2.What do I do when I want to do everything - Barbara Sher
Hahaha. If your claims of drawing up lists and not doing anything about them are true, this is THE book that will remedy your situation soon. You will become a doer in no time.
Besides the immense utility value that Barbara Sher offers people like you whom she calls Scanners, unlike those like Howard Roark (since you are under the Ayn Rand Aura today ;-)) whom she calls Divers, she also is a thorough writer, and a professional who writes extremely well and in an interesting manner.
A wonderful book, which warmed my heart for the complete accuracy, thorough compassion with which the writer looks as scanners; and it makes a very good reading even for non-scanners, that is people who have a lot of lists and tick them away successfully after completing the tasks.
3.Serious Creativity - De Bono
Sincerely written and thought out. But the subject matter doesn't interest me personally. Maybe a manager who wants to make creativity a truly institutionalised part of his team at work, would find this book a boon..
4. Unbearable lightness of being - Kundera
Hmmm. What do I say? - before reading The Idiot, I may have waxed eloquent about Kundera's ruminations throughout the book and his intellect, though of course, there is not much of a story in his story-book as it were, but he is just ok, despite the cult classic that this book has attained in history.
Read it for the record, enjoy the thoughts and expansive comments and ideas on various happenings of the day. But I dont fancy this book much.
5.10 Short Stories - Nabokov
Since you haven't exactly hidden your awe for Nabokov, I shall maitain a silence that behoves that at least in your blog. You read this book and critique on all the 10 stories for the assistance of lesser mortals like us, who cannot even write like an Eroteme, let alone like a Nabokov ;-).
# Again, hope you do complete the list and read Sher's book not as a help for you, but just out of curiosity..
Hope there is progress towards exhausting this reading list and you wouldn't have to change the date to something further away than 30th April 2008, as in 30th April 2028 ;-)!
ReplyDeleteWill power is all. Cling to it and finish the books in your middling-quality reading list before the 30th of this month.
Hey that The Unbearable Lightness of Being is one of the best works of fiction i have ever read.
ReplyDeleteWell did you finish the books
ReplyDeleteDear P,
ReplyDeleteI would love to respond to your opinion, but my fingers are so reluctant. There was some progress but...
Dear AW,
Really? You think so? I didn't find it that great. Nice thoughts and ideas and interpretations but... not sure.
Dear M,
Welcome to this blog. No. :-D
visiting blogspot after a long time. hope you are doing great!
ReplyDeleteinteresting. i did not like 'unbearable' too much either. i thot it tried too hard...