tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post113028310418733337..comments2023-07-10T00:22:11.785-07:00Comments on Yossarian Lives: How to make friends and get marriedVeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06064708986711901612noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130522270624086432005-10-28T10:57:00.000-07:002005-10-28T10:57:00.000-07:00Neela,Finally someone who seems to have gotten the...Neela,<BR/><BR/>Finally someone who seems to have gotten the point! You have no idea how glad I am to read your comments. :)<BR/><BR/>VeenaVeenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06064708986711901612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130511093859695392005-10-28T07:51:00.000-07:002005-10-28T07:51:00.000-07:00Red: Can hardly cite professional reasons for read...Red: Can hardly cite professional reasons for reading Dan Brown? C'mon.<BR/>As for SF, it depends on what kind of SF you are reading - genre by itself doesn't guarantee any respectability :)<BR/><BR/>Emma: Complete Asterix and Tintin? Yoi don't need anything else. We are friends for life now. :)<BR/><BR/>Jaganmohan: So nowadays people want to date nerds? What's the world coming to? :)Veenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06064708986711901612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130469151393548292005-10-27T20:12:00.000-07:002005-10-27T20:12:00.000-07:00Came here via desipundit, and I was like WOW! Trul...Came here via desipundit, and I was like WOW! Truly interesting post. And to take off from ludwig and red, here is my take:<BR/><BR/>test #0: bookshelf exists<BR/>test #1: a lot of java, j2ee programming stuff. <I>Paapi pet ka sawal hai</I><BR/>test #2: No GRE, GMAT or Rich Dad Poor Dads. Does that mean I will never make any money in my life? :(<BR/>test #3: Sidney Sheldon, Dan Brown, Alistair Maclean and even Erle Stanley Gardener (if he counts). There have been times when I have enjoyed reading them as well.<BR/>test #4: Coelho, Kahlil Gibran and Ayn Rand, yes. And Milan Kundera as well. But no, I don't start enunciating on philosophy at the drop of a hat!<BR/>test #5: Have some of Rushdie, Sen, Naipaul, Toni Morrison (have done my research on her works), Wole Soyinka, Gunter Grass and other Bookers and Nobel prize winners too. Have read some of the others, though don't have the books. Have also not read quite a lot that I possess. The percentage - don't really want to get into that :). Ehem... the books that I buy are sometimes "retirement" plans.<BR/><BR/>Yes, to Henry James; have read Auden can't really quote on the fly though.<BR/><BR/>Politics - not really much, though I have read Chomsky and Plato as well. <BR/><BR/>Humor - a lot from P G Wodehouse to Oscar Wilde. And yes to desi literature too - from the comprehensive two-volume Indian Women Writing in India to Telugu writers such as Chalam.<BR/><BR/>Yes, there is a whole lot of stuff I have on my bookshelf that I haven't necessarily read; but then there is a whole lot that I don't possess but have read. So, how does one do here on your rating scale? <BR/><BR/>BTW, would the complete collection of Asterisk and Calvin & Hobbes count? Also Tintin.Emmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16996612252178277988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130464551946654182005-10-27T18:55:00.000-07:002005-10-27T18:55:00.000-07:00Following up from Ludwigtest #0 - pass - bookshelf...Following up from Ludwig<BR/><BR/>test #0 - pass - bookshelf exists <BR/>test #1 - pass. No technical books ever. Does Shariat Law and Society and Constitutional History of India count as technical works?<BR/>test #2 - pass. One battered LSAT book <BR/>test #3 - fail -Have Dan Brown, Maclean, John Grisham (can I plead professional reasons), <BR/>test #4 - Pass. I HATE AYN RAND and I had a roomate who carried a copy of Kalhil Gibran to impress the ladies. That put me off. <BR/>test #5 - fail - Damn. I read the entire booker list, or as much as I can get hands on. But I read them, if that helps.<BR/><BR/>What about genre based writing? Is'nt reading science fiction a stamp of respectability?<BR/><BR/>Also, have to confess own a Tagore which have barely skimmed through. Maybe thats a Bengali thingRohit Dehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10974780088015911428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130423727897874162005-10-27T07:35:00.000-07:002005-10-27T07:35:00.000-07:00Quizman: Yes, I did forget audiobooks! I thought t...Quizman: Yes, I did forget audiobooks! I thought the whole idea of listening to a book was quite stupid until I spent an enjoyable six hours(driving from NYC to Pittsbugh) listening to a good part of War and Peace. <BR/><BR/>Abhishek: Not a big fan of Kipling or the Yogi book but the rest seems like common ground!<BR/><BR/>MR: We will discount such books while we calculate your % read metric - don't worry. My new theory is that some people strategically plan and leave such books in Chicago so that they have an excuse for not reading them. Btw, if such people were to read this comment, they would run away and write a post about how they really really read depressing German philosphers :)<BR/><BR/>Ludwig: Thanks for your comments and hope you visit us here often!<BR/><BR/>Abi: Say you go to a nice restaurant with dim lighting and all that nonsense, have wine and fondue and then what? You talk about books anyway so might as well do it at home, don't you think?<BR/><BR/>Karthik: You remind me of why I am really going to get married to the boy. He cooks, he washes dishes and he does my laundry. Did I mention he cooks? Yeah yeah yeah..(running around my cube)<BR/><BR/>Greensatya: Don't think any of us here read books for making friends or getting married. The point is how to be friends or get married to someone who also reads :)<BR/><BR/>Daily unusual: Let me ask the boy and my mom while I am at it :)Veenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06064708986711901612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130403012881423622005-10-27T01:50:00.000-07:002005-10-27T01:50:00.000-07:00Umm, would it be too forward of me to ask you to c...Umm, would it be too forward of me to ask you to cxome and please be kind oenough to give me your valued comments on where I stand. And while you're at it, how about a date? Hmm. Shite!Subramaniam Avinashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07854755090851944419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130400209092866822005-10-27T01:03:00.000-07:002005-10-27T01:03:00.000-07:00For record, I don't agree with your classification...For record, I don't agree with your classification.<BR/> John Grisham can be coupled with Ayn Rand and sharing space with Hemingway in my bookshelf. Readers of Orwell also read Adam Smith and all these does not need to be in the bookshelf, library is enough. Ah yeah, did I forget to mention Nabokov with Naipaul...<BR/>Left out is 'Imre Kertesz' don't know to fit with whom, may be 'Mein Kempf'<BR/><BR/>And I read books not for making friends or getting married.<BR/><BR/>Cheers,<BR/>happy reading.greensatyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02193494379330186846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130389142541221272005-10-26T21:59:00.000-07:002005-10-26T21:59:00.000-07:00:-)Oh, dear! You actually do all that? When does t...:-)<BR/><BR/>Oh, dear! <BR/><BR/>You actually do all that? When does the, um, other -- rather less fun -- things start? You know, like, going out on a date an' stuff? At 60?Abihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06790560045313883673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130382030697134062005-10-26T20:00:00.000-07:002005-10-26T20:00:00.000-07:00Ah, so you did spot the italicized V. :) 1. Alista...Ah, so you did spot the italicized <I>V</I>. :) <BR/><BR/>1. Alistair M (atleast his WW2 and his nautical ones), somehow, figures quite high in my list. I find that I keep revising such ones as 'H.M.S. Ulysses', 'San Andreas', 'South By Java Head', 'Ice Station Zebra' and the Navarone books. Stephen King, I also find revisable. "Salem's Lot", "Needful Things" and so on. Not so much for the cheesy horror, which is good per se, but his descriptions of small-town New England. Very Grace Metalious. <BR/><BR/>2. Hmm. I do really like the books. Which helps memory. However, yes, I do enjoy the trivia thingies too. I am not sure if I was educated in certain institutions, but I suspect I fail at this obstacle too. <I>Errare ludwigum est</I>.<BR/><BR/>3. Agree completely about the writings of the young man of #42, but cannot join you in the rest of your comment, not knowing him at all!<BR/><BR/>Must trundle on now.<BR/><BR/>Cheers.Ludwighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03710107146505111876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130379883734119882005-10-26T19:24:00.000-07:002005-10-26T19:24:00.000-07:00How does this collection sound:1. Edgar Allan Poe ...How does this collection sound:<BR/>1. Edgar Allan Poe Collection<BR/>2. Douglas Hofstadter (there is one of his pulitzer winners, but i see you have something against techies)<BR/>3. Autobiography of a Yogi<BR/>4. Chekhov<BR/>5. A few puzzle books and one on Fermat's Enigma<BR/>6. And finally my favorite, all Calvin & Hobbes.<BR/>Guess what I am planning to add now: All of Asterix, O. Henry and Kipling.<BR/>What kind of snob does that make me ? This is actually fun, we can make up formulae based on CD collection, DVD collection, wardrobe, silver !Abhishekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01137321186317985116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130366471640565092005-10-26T15:41:00.000-07:002005-10-26T15:41:00.000-07:00LOL.I've discovered one way of getting around the ...LOL.<BR/><BR/>I've discovered one way of getting around the problem of reading difficult books that <I>everyone says that one should read</I>. I don't read them. I <A HREF="http://146.74.92.11/ipac20/ipac.jsp?npp=20&ipp=20&spp=20&profile=scco&aspect=subtab27&term=electronic%2Bresource&index=.TW&uindex=&oper=&term=recorded%2Bbooks&index=.GW&uindex=&oper=&ri=4&menu=search&aspect=subtab27&npp=20&ipp=20&spp=20&profile=scco&ri=4&source=%7E!horizon&sort=3100015&limit=&go_sort_limit.x=12&go_sort_limit.y=15" REL="nofollow">listen </A>to them on my way to and back from work. <BR/><BR/>So before you make up your mind hastily about a sparse bookshelf, do give your friend's car, a peek. :-)Quizmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11954917456386552531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130359381547706972005-10-26T13:43:00.000-07:002005-10-26T13:43:00.000-07:00Falstaff: That there are different ways of being a...Falstaff: That there are different ways of being a snob is besides the point. The point is that you will always find a way to be snobbish about some obscure thing or the other, so there's really no hope for you.<BR/><BR/>Well, if Roth were to win the Nobel Prize in a couple of years, don't think I can claim to be all original and stuff since I had the entire Roth before he won the Nobel. Long before these people win Nobels, everyone talks about them and they win other minor awards, so you are only listening to the critics anyways. <BR/><BR/>Sunil: Thanks for the link. I can relate to Lahar alright!Veenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06064708986711901612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130352493811964952005-10-26T11:48:00.000-07:002005-10-26T11:48:00.000-07:00hehe....you might enjoy this recent post by my old...hehe....<BR/><BR/>you might enjoy this recent post by my old pal, lahar, <A HREF="http://cultureczar.blogspot.com/2005/10/my-pseudo-bookstore-self.html" REL="nofollow">here</A>Sunilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07776658071546232685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130352324413824962005-10-26T11:45:00.000-07:002005-10-26T11:45:00.000-07:00Veena: You wrong me. I would never, ever run away ...Veena: You wrong me. I would never, ever run away to read more obscure stuff - I would just switch the conversation to something else - like music, for instance (say something like "And speaking of fantasy tales, don't you just love Zemlinsky's setting of the Little Mermaid"). There is more than one way of being a snob. :-). <BR/><BR/>And how about if you can prove that you had all the Nobel / Booker winning books on your bookshelf BEFORE they won? Like my Coetzee collection, for instance?Falstaffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09791162324919462038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130340446770526632005-10-26T08:27:00.000-07:002005-10-26T08:27:00.000-07:00Ludwig: Phew! I see the beginnings of a beautiful ...Ludwig: Phew! I see the beginnings of a beautiful friendship alright. Must say what clinched it was the V I missed in OVV. :)<BR/><BR/>Couple of comments / clarifications though:<BR/>1. Agree that Alistair Maclean, James Clavell etc. are in a different league from the Sheldons and the Dan Browns. The former, imho, can be read while taking long flights or in your case, while on long train journeys while the latter should be completely avoided.<BR/><BR/>2. Glad to know you know all about Gwaihir and Landroval but here's the question - are you one of those people who memorizes names of these characters so that you could win the next trivia event(this is esp true of people who supposedly get educated in certain "institutions") or do you really like the book(s)?<BR/><BR/>3. Reg the young man at #42 - Concur that he has put it very well as he almost always does on whatever he writes about. But the key here is not to tell him that often as its prone to get to his head(if you know what I mean)!<BR/><BR/>Falstaff: No, if you have read all the Bookers and Nobels on you shelf, it only means that you read stuff which people think are good. But yes, its definitely way above the Dan Brown types.<BR/><BR/>And really, I don't think my formula can be applied in your case. You see, you are so much of a snob that if you were to find someone who has all the books you want and more, you would run away and read more obscure stuff. Come to think of it, think you are a masochistic snob.Veenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06064708986711901612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130331343299254482005-10-26T05:55:00.000-07:002005-10-26T05:55:00.000-07:00Interesting. So, if you have tons of Booker / Nobe...Interesting. So, if you have tons of Booker / Nobel winners and have actually read them all, does that count? <BR/><BR/>Think you underemphasise poetry in your list - anyone who has less than a dozen well-thumbed collected poems on his / her shelf doesn't make the grade for me (you see why I have no friends)<BR/><BR/>Haven't really read that much Chomsky - my non-fiction reading tends to veer towards depressing German philosophers. <BR/><BR/>And let's not even talk about making money. Sigh.Falstaffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09791162324919462038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130301481119809752005-10-25T21:38:00.000-07:002005-10-25T21:38:00.000-07:00And if that post wasn't long enough...P.S. Find my...And if that post wasn't long enough...<BR/><BR/>P.S. Find myself empathizing quite a bit with the gentleman at #42. Especially w.r.t<BR/><BR/>1. "...the rate at which I buy books far exceeds the rate at which I actually read them..."<BR/><BR/>2. "...there are all the books that I started to read but didn't finish..."<BR/><BR/>3. "...means that I have tons of books on my bookshelf that I couldn't (and wouldn't) honestly claim to have read in their entirety, but that people would assume I had read by virtue of their being on my bookshelf..."<BR/><BR/>He has put it very well, that young man of 42.Ludwighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03710107146505111876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14282752.post-1130301004626611242005-10-25T21:30:00.000-07:002005-10-25T21:30:00.000-07:00Gosh! What a revelation. Are you thinking like tha...Gosh! What a revelation. Are you thinking like <I>that</I> when you eye my bookshelf? Let's see:<BR/><BR/>test #0 - pass - bookshelf exists <BR/>test #1 - fail - Java programming, J2EE programming, operations research, etc. are scattered willy-nilly<BR/>test #2 - pass (<I>I think</I>) -<BR/>Only have one copy of Barron's GRE thing lying somewhere, waiting to be donated, and <I>no</I> GMAT stuff at all. <BR/>test #3 - fail - Don't actually have a Sidney Sheldon or John Grisham, but did have a Dan Brown at some point in time. Also Alistair Maclean, Stephen King, James Clavell, Michael Crichton. But I would argue that these are in a different league than Sidney Sheldon and Dan Brown. <BR/>test #4 - fail? (you decide) - No Coelho, or Kahlil Gibran, never read either of them. No Ayn Rand. Have the seagull book. <BR/>test #5 - fail - Have Rushdie, Sen, Ishiguro, Stiglitz, Naipaul, not all of which I've gotten around to reading or understanding. So I "...can be easily made to shut up..."! #5 also contains that kicker question: What is the percentage read? Ewww. Don't even want to go there.<BR/><BR/>Who, pray is Henry James? And the only thing by Auden that comes to mind is the "Stop all the clocks and turn off the telephone..." bit. Silver lining (?): Know all about Gwaihir and Landroval and so on.<BR/><BR/>Politics: Err...yes, have heard of Plato (and Admetus, Electra, and Demeter!) and Chomsky (used to work more or less next door to old Noam, 'owz he doin'?). <BR/><BR/>Humour: Pass. Nash exists, in various bits here and there. 2-3 PGWs. Wilde exists, but haven't read all. Also (<I>En garde</I> counter-attack!) Lawrence Durrell, Giovanni Guareschi.<BR/><BR/>No O.<I>V</I>.Vijayan. But other schtuff in translation, some unread. Thakazhi S. Pillai, Kiran Nagarkar, Velcheru Narayana Rao and David Shulman, Lee Siegel, and so on. Pass, methinks.<BR/><BR/>So, not really passing with flying colours. And I'm too snobbish to talk about money, so won't tell you <I>anything</I> about that.Ludwighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03710107146505111876noreply@blogger.com