The Chirimoya Book Thread

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pollogringo

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Dec 26, 2011
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For one of DR1's most literate contributors...

Please share your book recommendations, English and Spanish(or any language I guess).

One request:

As this is not Off Topic but General Stuff, please refrain from overly acerbic commentary on any and all book recommendations.
 
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GinzaGringo

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Sep 29, 2010
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Pollo, I just finished Ken Follett's 'Winter of the World' which is the second novel in his trilogy covering the first half of the 20th Century mostly set in Europe but some in the USA. The first book in the trilogy is Fall of Giants. Both books are great, riveting, page turners that educate in an entertaining and compelling way. The characters are full and there is plenty of action to be had, as well as romance, if you like that stuff. The third book is forthcoming. These historical fiction novels are highly recommended.

I also just finished 2313 by Kim Stanley Robinson, a science fiction novel set in... 2312. The vision of the future it presents is awfully fun but I must say the characters are a tad bit weak in spots, the story too is not exceptionally strong either. All in all, not recommended.

I am looking forward to reading Junot Diaz's latest, to bring it back to the topic of the website.
 
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frank12

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Sep 6, 2011
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My background is English Literature. I own a few books...but for the sake of time and space, I will only recommend two here:

Non-Fiction (the funniest non-fiction book you'll read...perhaps in your life):

1. The Sex Lives of Cannibals: adrift in the Pacific, (2004) by Maarten Troost.



Fiction (The second funniest book perhaps you'll ever read):

1. Lamb: The gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood pal, (2003) by Christopher Moore


I challenge anyone here to find a funnier book then these two.

Frank
 
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dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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gosh, my list of best ever would be as long as my list of driving offences... ;) but let's see...

i think my leading writers are brits.
robert nye: faust and falstaff
tom sharpe: indecent exposure and wilt
grahame greene: travels with my aunt and our man in havana

then french:
brant?me: vie des dames illustres and vie des dames galantes
brillat-savarin: physiologie du go?t, ou m?ditations de gastronomie transcendante
emile ajar: la vie devant soi
journals of gide and renard
 
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neural

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Dec 12, 2012
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I have made mention of Junot Diaz in previous posts...he is amazing. Other Latin voices in literature I really like would be Gabriel Garcia Marquez ("Love in the Time of Cholera", "The One Hundred Year Solitude"). Right now I'm re-visiting one of my favorite authors, Alice Munro.
 
AlterEgo

AlterEgo

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neural said:
I have made mention of Junot Diaz in previous posts...he is amazing. Other Latin voices in literature I really like would be Gabriel Garcia Marquez ("Love in the Time of Cholera", "The One Hundred Year Solitude"). Right now I'm re-visiting one of my favorite authors, Alice Munro.
Click to expand...

My son majored in Spanish Literature, and his all-time-hands-down-favorite-book is One Hundred Years of Solitude. Of course, he read it in Spanish, and I read it in English. Excellent book. Personally, I liked Cholera a little better.

Junot Diaz is fantastic, anyone interested in DR should read his books if they haven't already.
 
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dv8

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my favorite of garcia marquez is autumn of the patriarch. and i read his stuff in polish, i think.
 
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suarezn

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dv8 said:
my favorite of garcia marquez is autumn of the patriarch. and i read his stuff in polish, i think.
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Yikes...that sounds painful.

Anybody still actually reads books? I'm like...OMG...You guys are old...:cheeky:

I just finished re-visiting "100 anos de soledad"...don't ask me why as the book is loooong and can be boring sometimes IMO. Now I've got some nostalgia for the old Spanish language stories that I read back in middle and high school, but never really paid that much attention, so just bought a large book containing a bunch of these stories (i.e. el Periquillo sarniento, Dona Barbara, Martin Fierro, El estudiante de Salamanca, etc).
 
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London_Calling

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Aug 19, 2004
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"In the Time of the Butterflies" - by Julia Alvarez. Read this recently and thought it was a well written novel though unsure of its historical accuracy. What do others think?

One observation on tripadvisor there have been threads on novels to read whilst in the DR - out of about 70 responses I think I was the only one who suggested Dominican authors :disappoin
 
Abuela

Abuela

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May 13, 2006
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Herman Wouk's ....Don't Stop the Carnival...a must read to understand ex-pat initiations to the Caribbean especially for wannabe hotel/ bar owners. Every time someone on DR1 asks about wanting to run a bar/restaurant/or hotel I want to go back and re-read this classic.
 
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frank12

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Sep 6, 2011
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Abuela said:
Herman Wouk's ....Don't Stop the Carnival...a must read to understand ex-pat initiations to the Caribbean especially for wannabe hotel/ bar owners. Every time someone on DR1 asks about wanting to run a bar/restaurant/or hotel I want to go back and re-read this classic.
Click to expand...

Yes, this is an excellent recommendation, and it would have been my third recommendation had i included another book on my list; it's a fantastic read, it's funny, and it's true!

frank
 
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GinzaGringo

Member
Sep 29, 2010
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I love a challenge!

frank12 said:
My background is English Literature. I own a few books...but for the sake of time and space, I will only recommend two here:

Non-Fiction (the funniest non-fiction book you'll read...perhaps in your life):

1. The Sex Lives of Cannibals: adrift in the Pacific, (2004) by Maarten Troost.



Fiction (The second funniest book perhaps you'll ever read):

1. Lamb: The gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood pal, (2003) by Christopher Moore


I challenge anyone here to find a funnier book then these two.

Frank
Click to expand...
 
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GinzaGringo

Member
Sep 29, 2010
382
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This thread has got me thinking. Anyone interested in forming the first (as far as I know) dr1.com book club! Hahaha :eek:gre:
 
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Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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Thanks for starting this thread, pollo

dv8 said:
i think my leading writers are brits.
robert nye: faust and falstaff
tom sharpe: indecent exposure and wilt
grahame greene: travels with my aunt and our man in havana

then french:
brant?me: vie des dames illustres and vie des dames galantes
brillat-savarin: physiologie du go?t, ou m?ditations de gastronomie transcendante
emile ajar: la vie devant soi
journals of gide and renard
Click to expand...
I've read several of these too - Graham Greene is one of my favourites, have you read The Comedians? Also La vie devant soi, I'd love to reread it, I remember the movie too, with Simone Signoret.

On the DR list, a not so famous but excellent book is Dead Man in Paradise by JB MacKinnon
Dead Man in Paradise: J. B. MacKinnon: 9781553651383: Amazon.com: Books

I have a 'thing' for Indian writers, especially Rohinton Mistry - every single one of his books. I wish he'd write a new one, it's been about 10 years since Family Matters was published. I also recommend White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.

Recent reads - Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie, reasonably interesting account of his years in hiding, unwittingly revealing about his personal quirks; Sweet Tooth by Ian MacEwan, and The Magus by John Fowles, a book that many of my friends read and raved about at university but I only got round to reading recently.
 
Auryn

Auryn

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Apr 22, 2012
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I would recommend a book called: “I, Rigoberta Menchu”, which I just finished. I found “One Hundred Years of Solitude” difficult to get through, although completely worthwhile.

“The Life of Pi” by Yann Martel is one of my absolute favorites. I have refused to watch the movie…so far.

I have not watched “The Rum Diary” movie either, but anything by Hunter S. Thompson as well.

Excellent thread. :D
 
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dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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oh, the magus is good, when you are at the uni age. i am not sure i'd like to go back now to the books i read back then...

i haven't read anything new new in a while. i like to revisit books, i read terry pratchett and glen cook every year, the same stuff all the time. probably fantasy/SF is my favorite genre ever. i loved the three stigmata of palmer eldritch, a less known novel by philip k. dick, then the moon is a harsh mistress by heinlein, monday begins of saturday from strugacky brothers and anything by h. p. lovecraft...

i have a whole collection of ebooks but somehow paper is more magical to me. i do have some of my books here, once i bring them all i'll be settled big time ;)

what i am continuously reading is anomalies and curiosities of medicine by george m. gould and walter l. pyle. i go through few pages at a time because i get distracted by checking all those freakish conditions on the internet, then i start reading some links, case studies and so on and i get too busy.

maybe my new year resolution should be to read more?
 
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