tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post7064146037785374099..comments2023-11-03T11:32:01.540+00:00Comments on Thought Experiments : The Blog: The Baseline BookBryan Appleyardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276787058430388582noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-31012656025099090532008-12-03T21:22:00.000+00:002008-12-03T21:22:00.000+00:00Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye or E.L. Doctor...Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye or E.L. Doctorow’s Book of DanielAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-68431454793971142712008-12-03T19:49:00.000+00:002008-12-03T19:49:00.000+00:00Elizabeth Kostova's 'The Historian' for no good re...Elizabeth Kostova's 'The Historian' for no good reason other than I just love it for some reason or other.<BR/><BR/>Other than than, any Philip Roth book from ' The Ghost Writer' onwards, and 'Letting go' from his earlier work.RichardShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08860877314792165124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-54614559339047982742008-12-03T08:47:00.000+00:002008-12-03T08:47:00.000+00:00Peter Fleming's One's Company. vicarious travel. N...Peter Fleming's One's Company. vicarious travel. No eggs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-89291263610643694942008-12-03T03:27:00.000+00:002008-12-03T03:27:00.000+00:00"Leaves of Grass".Nothing else is even in the ball..."Leaves of Grass".<BR/><BR/>Nothing else is even in the ballpark.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-21807941588766310532008-12-02T23:53:00.000+00:002008-12-02T23:53:00.000+00:00Richard Ford's The SportswriterRichard Ford's The SportswriterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-35106994339963374142008-12-02T21:27:00.000+00:002008-12-02T21:27:00.000+00:00And heres me thinking Elberry was more like Chuck ...And heres me thinking Elberry was more like Chuck Norris. He didn't read books, just stared them down till he got the information he wanted.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-27200149367973368712008-12-02T21:15:00.000+00:002008-12-02T21:15:00.000+00:00The Borrowers....The Borrowers....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-58682283085305008282008-12-02T21:13:00.000+00:002008-12-02T21:13:00.000+00:00Dante - he can be read in any mood and you'll find...Dante - he can be read in any mood and you'll find something new, something good.<BR/><BR/>Tolstoy's 'Hadji Murad' is an old favourite, taut, good stuff.<BR/><BR/>i find something consoling, in the best sense, about 'Hamlet' and some books of the King James (eg Isaiah), and Kierkegaard generally perks me up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-84127557367502160942008-12-02T17:35:00.000+00:002008-12-02T17:35:00.000+00:00Jim Thompson- The Grifters, Patricia Highsmith- St...Jim Thompson- The Grifters, Patricia Highsmith- Strangers on a Train, Stephen King- The Shining, Charles Bukowski- Post Office and Ham on Rye.<BR/><BR/>I find dark books comforting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-79464827022090378032008-12-02T16:52:00.000+00:002008-12-02T16:52:00.000+00:00Dorothy Sayers' "Gaudy Night," which I am in fact ...Dorothy Sayers' "Gaudy Night," which I am in fact rereading right now, having just spent three months reading nothing but Engdahlian eurofiction with a Japanese title thrown in for good measure (see my long essay on this in the winter issue of the Hudson Review -- at the moment my brain hurts).<BR/><BR/>Other comfort books: Aubrey/Maturin, yup. I read the first two of those again before I began Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-85054330259133643532008-12-02T15:09:00.000+00:002008-12-02T15:09:00.000+00:00Narcissus and Goldman, man. Herman Hesse.Narcissus and Goldman, man. Herman Hesse.James Markshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13496398783757113686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-31074143976304527552008-12-02T15:08:00.000+00:002008-12-02T15:08:00.000+00:00Any Jeeves, Frank L Baum's Wonderful Wizard of Oz,...Any Jeeves, Frank L Baum's Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Mary Renault's The Persian Boy, Ian Fleming's Bond series and Sellars and Yeatman's 1066 and all that, which concludes with the end of World War One when 'America was thus clearly Top Nation, and history came to a .". Shades of Fukuyama.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-39545609361221864122008-12-02T14:07:00.000+00:002008-12-02T14:07:00.000+00:00Definitely Tove Jansson’s Moomin stories. Generall...Definitely Tove Jansson’s Moomin stories. Generally, rereading the books you loved as a child is a bad move: wherever the magic was, it’s gone, and you’re left feeling a little sad. But the Moomin saga stays strange - it’s still full of funny, scary wonders whenever you go back to it.<BR/><BR/>Otherwise, and quite differently, Anthony Powell. The Dance novels don’t come close to being great jonathan lawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05986943428040953041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-30366675797609338462008-12-02T14:01:00.000+00:002008-12-02T14:01:00.000+00:00I like a bit of Philip K Dick, especially 'The...I like a bit of Philip K Dick, especially 'The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch'. As a nipper, like Brit, Just William & Greek Myths, especially Enid Blyton's renditions in tales of long ago. also. When I can't be bothered to concentrate I tend to crack out what are pretentiously called 'Graphic Novels'. Old clasics such as Watchmen or Judge Dredd, plus there's a Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-1775821014778578272008-12-02T13:42:00.000+00:002008-12-02T13:42:00.000+00:00oh and of course The Beano Annualoh and of course The Beano AnnualAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-2015738338550064242008-12-02T13:19:00.000+00:002008-12-02T13:19:00.000+00:00Three Men in a Boat; England Their England; The Co...Three Men in a Boat; England Their England; The Compleet Molesworth, any William book; The Magic Pudding; anything by Bill Bryson; Poe's poems, especially Annabel Lee and The Bells (great name for a rock group!); Yeats.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-66389829322511116712008-12-02T12:25:00.000+00:002008-12-02T12:25:00.000+00:00Ah Brit me old fruit, man after me own heart, Wind...Ah Brit me old fruit, man after me own heart, Wind in the Willows it is.<BR/>Dare one mention Tom Sawyer.<BR/>When clapped out, Maigret, interesting, undemanding. For the warming of the cockles then On the Eve. For the geekside, George Johnstons A shortcut Through Time.<BR/><BR/>Bryan, may I pre-empt tomorrows test....Twice a month except when one of us has a cold.maltyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02936465848907794425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-6265908794432533682008-12-02T12:08:00.000+00:002008-12-02T12:08:00.000+00:00Also, Wind in the WillowsAlso, Wind in the WillowsBrithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-17916111804494131952008-12-02T12:07:00.000+00:002008-12-02T12:07:00.000+00:00I'm an Aubrey/Maturin fan, too. I've read them all...I'm an Aubrey/Maturin fan, too. I've read them all but not actually any of them twice, but there's so many that you can escape into that world whenever you need to. Austen, Dickens, Wodehouse provide similar refuge.<BR/><BR/>That's what this baseline thing is really about, isn't it? Going into a world that pleases you more than the real one. Thus the appeal of Tolkien, Harry Potter, Pratchett etcBrithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-22270156701855134802008-12-02T11:29:00.000+00:002008-12-02T11:29:00.000+00:00Further Cuttings from Cruiskeen Lawn by Myles na G...Further Cuttings from Cruiskeen Lawn by Myles na Gopaleenmahlermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14469854614938507153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-84452291289254289472008-12-02T10:52:00.000+00:002008-12-02T10:52:00.000+00:00Always Graham Swwift's 'Waterland'Always Graham Swwift's 'Waterland'Steve Buckleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03191955839398601843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-67728632376430266912008-12-02T10:13:00.000+00:002008-12-02T10:13:00.000+00:00fup me, if you won't tag us for memes next!Super-t...fup me, if you won't tag us for memes next!<BR/><BR/>Super-tramp and Three men in a boat (the first has poems at the back but I would skip those).Ian russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11106519805045337505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-35723986225663642932008-12-02T09:54:00.000+00:002008-12-02T09:54:00.000+00:00O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series; the Moom...O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series; the Moomintroll books; Pride & Prejudice; the novels of Mary Renault; Stalky & Co.Sophie Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05212037697701712380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-45109955146751475962008-12-02T09:41:00.000+00:002008-12-02T09:41:00.000+00:00Do plays count? In which case always, always Henry...Do plays count? In which case always, always Henry IV pt1. Otherwise: The Wind in the Willows. And a copy of Keats is never far away.Johnnyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12678545794431822288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-37945300083099566212008-12-02T09:34:00.000+00:002008-12-02T09:34:00.000+00:00It's more a case of baseline writers, for when bra...It's more a case of baseline writers, for when brain hurts. Elmore Leonard, James Lee Burke, much of Norman Lewis, P.G. Wodehouse. Poetry is usually too demanding when brain hurts, but I will open Collected Auden at random and read, say, ten pages.Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06074816573442173758noreply@blogger.com