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Thread: The Things We Read In Quarantine

  1. #1
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    The Things We Read In Quarantine

    I thought there was a thread about what we were reading, but I couldn't find it. I know we have "What are you listening/driving/playing/building" threads, so I thought I'd try this one.

    Normally, on a day by day basis, I don't spend much time with my nose in a book. I reserve that kind of reading for air travel, deck chairs, or waiting rooms.

    But here we are, in unusual circumstances, with more time on our hands than usual, so when my fingers start bleeding from playing ("I've got blisters on my fingers!") and I'm not ZOOMing with co-workers and friends, out running/biking/walking or in the kitchen cooking, I now find I can take a break and just sit and read with some nice music playing.

    My library notified me today that a hold I'd placed (electronically) on a book had arrived, so I downloaded it (electronically) to read on my iPad. I don't often read biographies, band histories or autobiographies, but I wanted to read this one.



    (Personal note: When I ordered my Fender Artist Series Stratocaster, I was torn between getting a Jeff Beck or an Eric Clapton signature model. I chose the Clapton model).

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: The Things We Read In Quarantine

    I just finished a comic novel by Christopher Moore, about a French painter and a paint seller and a femme fatale of course.

    I am reading a book called Rumo, His Miraculous Adventures. It's a fantasy work that looks and reads like a children's book, illustrations, etc. but it is deceptively a young readers' novel and has much to do with adult life. It's not War and Peace, almost as long though. Still, it's a fun read.


    I've recently become obsessed with Charles Dickens. I've liked him a long time, but in the past couple of years, I've read and enjoyed a lot of his book. He was humane and had a heart for the powerless and poor. I just ordered the rest of his novels from Amazon. When I was a young literary scholar, I discounted him as a verbose windbag. but when I got into my late 20s, I realized how good he was. I had so much that I had to read for my job that I rarely read for pleasure. Since I've had more time, I've read so many of his books, all of them masterpieces. I admit I can't wait until I'm through with Rumo so that I can read Dickens's Little Dorrit.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: The Things We Read In Quarantine

    I took reading for pleasure so much for granted. When my eyesight started going bad about 20 years ago (probably well before that) I read less and less, especially after I went online circa '95 or so. Who knows, maybe it was the computer screens that ruined my eyes.

    I haven't read anything but the newspaper and now that's gone, too. Last Saturday was the final paper print day, they're online only now and it totally suck balls. I hate online papers, it allows them to be lazy and the level of journalism, already a treacly pale version of its former self, drops even lower. One thing I hate more than anything else is the lack of separation between 'publication' if you will. The same damn headline is there every freaking day for a week to 10 days when you open the site. If I want to look something up, I'll use the search. Give me a new day every day, that's what a damn newspaper is supposed to be.

    sorry about the rant. I'm still in morning of the death of the local print version.
    "Live and learn and flip the burns"

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: The Things We Read In Quarantine

    Dan, are audio books an option? I know how great the physical sensation of reading is, touching the book cover and spine, opening a book for the first time, picking it out, smelling the fresh ink. One of my fave things at the university was to go to the stacks where you could smell the old books doing their natural thing of slow decomposition.

    But I have listened to audio books on my walks. I'm not sporty, and they made the time go by quickly.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: The Things We Read In Quarantine

    unfortunately audio books are not an option. I have a thing about disembodied voices, I've never like radio for that reason. Commercials are bad enough with the voice blabbing away, talk radio is worse than torture. When I read a book, I create a visual in my mind based on the words I read. I re-read a sentence if I didn't get it the first time. I can't do that trying to follow a disembodied conversation, hell I can't even do that while watching talking heads on TV. If I can't have the speaker repeat something I didn't get the first time then I get lost even worse.
    "Live and learn and flip the burns"

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    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: The Things We Read In Quarantine

    I’m polishing my English by revisiting some Beat Generation writers.

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    Forum Member CoyotesGator's Avatar
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    Re: The Things We Read In Quarantine

    What happend?
    Who let the magic smoke out?

  8. #8
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: The Things We Read In Quarantine

    Love it! Well done, CoyotesGator!

  9. #9
    Forum Member CoyotesGator's Avatar
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    Re: The Things We Read In Quarantine

    What happend?
    Who let the magic smoke out?

  10. #10
    Forum Member dirtdog's Avatar
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    Re: The Things We Read In Quarantine

    Currently reading a lot of non-fiction.

    Kissinger’s biography, a history of the Mossad and the recent tell all by Steve Gorham, the Black Crowe’s ex drummer. Good stuff!

  11. #11
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: The Things We Read In Quarantine

    I have to say I'm enjoying Clapton's autobiography. Knowing full well that sometimes the desire to paint oneself in the best light overcomes the need to tell the truth, it seems to me that Clapton is quite sincere in his failings and shortcomings (well, since he's one of those who is quite open about his addictions, that may be part of it). It surprises me that he downplays the wealth he accumulated, and I am constantly surprised how he admires and speaks well of so many others. It's almost as if he is dismissive of his own talents, preferring instead to highlight those of others.

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: The Things We Read In Quarantine

    I plan to read Clapton's autobio soon. He's a humble man, and that comes through in what I've read and heard about it.

    I bought a copy of Philip Norman's bio of Clapton, a book done with Clapton's blessings. Norman cuts corners too much, but he has interesting observations on musicians of the era. I read his book on McCartney, and some of it was worthless--he spends so much wasted time on Heather Mills and the divorce when he could have centered in on the music; but there's a lot of stuff about McCartney in the studio and with other musicians, and that makes it a worthwhile read.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member gibsonjunkie's Avatar
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    Re: The Things We Read In Quarantine

    I'm having a difficult time focusing on any book right now. Maybe it's the stress of working from home, but my attention span is terrible right now and I can't focus enough on reading to make it through a chapter at a time. I'm usually a voracious reader , but haven't finished a single book I've started in the last month. I'll read a few pages, pick up my tablet and play a game of solitaire, check e-mail and repeat. It really sucks because I really love to read!
    "We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain

  14. #14
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: The Things We Read In Quarantine

    I am really excited because I've recently bought 8 Charles Dickens novels that I've never read. His stuff used to turn me off, and then I read and reread six or seven of his books, and I realized his genius.

    GJ, I read a lot, but there was a space of about 10 years that I read only what I had to in order to teach. I couldn't focus. Part of it was my anxiety, part fatigue after decades of dedication to close analysis of literature and writing. Part of it was my job and its demands. Even though I wanted to read, I couldn't. I had also developed the bad habit of reading the equivalent of sound bite video.

    Then I put away all distractions, especially the internet and social media. At first, I had to fight with my attention span, but soon, I was reading again and enjoying it. I tackled books I'd always wanted to read. War and Peace, Faust, a lot of contemporary novels, many novels from across the world during the late 1800s to mid 1900s. I like well-written books, "literature" or not. I'm alternating fiction with rock bios.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: The Things We Read In Quarantine

    GJ and Willie, I've found that it helps me to turn off the TV, sit on the sofa away from any electronics, and turn on some easy (non-vocal) background music. Then I pick up my book and read. Before I know it, I've completed several chapters, and I have to stand and stretch!

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