
- Catch-22 (Hilarious, intricate, and a portrait of war that is simultaneously tragic, comic, desolate, and awesome.)
- The Hobbit (Expert, wondrous, awe-inspiring, and a journey worth embarking on and revisiting time and time again.
- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Beautiful, heart-breaking, heart-making, sweet, sad, lovely.)
- Cloud Atlas (Dream-like, rich, brilliant, modern, challenging, a tale of many and one, all at once.)
It’s just been a really fucking great break.
Asked by liljoonbug
OMG BOOK CLUB LILIA I WOULD BE SOOOOO DOWN. Let’s get all the people in our directing class to join!?!??!
Starting tomorrow morning! I figured I should read it because my sister adores it and has fabulous taste. Also she has the second and third installments at home so I won’t have to pine for them. In her words, it is a fantastic story, even if it’s not overly-flowery in it’s telling of it. I’m stoked!
It was so fantastic— very much what I’ve heard of Wilde and his reputation through the ages. The best thing about the novel is the incredible insight from Oscar Wilde on himself, art, beauty, and the world through his narration and through his characters revelations. That, and the story! What an original idea. It takes you back in time, too. I love the socialite lifestyle of the 19th century! I have a whole mess of beautiful quotes to share with you, but it’s 4:16 AM and I probably should sleep a little. :)
300 Books I’ve Read or That My Friends Have Read That I (and You) Should Read
Special Thanks To: All my beautiful, intelligent, and well-read friends for the suggestions.
Note: I’ve read a few of these and plan to read all of them. I’ll be publishing some of my favorites and favorite quotes from the books on readingsafeena.tumblr.com if you’re interested! Let me know what you think of the books too, if you’ve read or will read them!
Also, for those of you interested, I’ll be starting a sort of book club for those in the Berkeley area where we all read one or two of the books from this list and all get together to meet new people, talk books, drink wine, and eat food. Let me know if you’re interested!
Another note: This list took forever to compile and I got a bit lazy, so if there are spelling mistakes, please do let me know!
Einstein’s Dreams was captivating, delicate, and intricate. It was a beautiful mix of physics, creative writing, imagery, metaphor, and Einstein all written by a theoretical physicist.
The Plot: The book is written in a series of vignettes, which are dated renditions of the fictional dreams of Einstein about his various ideas on time. It is interluded with bits about Einstein and his family and friends, and his desire to express those dreams and ideas about time. The vignettes place you in different worlds in which time operates in a way that totally changes the framework of how we function and interact. More than a tale of physics and space-time, though, the novel is about the human experience, the nature of man, no matter what time frame he may be in, and what is important, what is beautiful, and what it means to be human.
Favorite Quotes:
“It is a world of impulse. It is a world in which every word spoken speaks just to that moment, every glance given has only one meaning, each touch has no past or future, each kiss is a kiss of immediacy.” —Page 32
“The tragedy of this world is that no one is happy, whether stuck in a time of pain or of joy. The tragedy of this world is that everyone is alone. For a life in the past cannot be shared with the present. Each person who gets stuck in time gets stuck alone.” —Page 49
“Some say it is best not to go near the center of time. Life is a vessel of sadness, but it is a noble life to live, and without time there is no life. Others disagree. They would rather have an eternity of contentment, even if that eternity were fixed and frozen. like a butterfly mounted in a case.” —Page 56
Notes: The book is a quick and fascinating read. If you’re looking for something to read piece by piece over a few nights, or something you can sit down and read at all at once, this book is a great choice. Definitely recommend!
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