The Alchemist

Nah, more people have read it than you would expect... and basically all have said that it is the greatest work of art mankind has ever created.


Those people are either:
a) very smart
b) good at research
c) lying



If I was banished to the moon and could only bring one book, it wouldn't be Ulysses or Gravity's Rainbow (my two faves). It would be Finnegans Wake, cause I know that would keep me busy for a loooong time (when I wasn't fighting off moon badgers, that is).
 
I'm pretty sure if you only brought that book, you would become a moon badger. Specifically, their king.
 
You know, I'm so out of the loop when it comes to modern literature. I didn't even realize The Alchemist had sold over 20 million copies worldwide and that it was THIS famous!! I'm only reading it because my mum thought I'd dig it. (She also recommended Life of Pi so she's on a roll already).
 
I've also read how much Tony Robins, that chunky motivational speaker, loves it. Seriously, don't let these things put you off, just read the fucking thing.
 
Experimental novel by James Joyce. Extracts of the work appeared as Work in Progress from 1928 to 1937, and it was published in its entirety as Finnegans Wake in 1939. The book is, in one sense, the story of a publican in Chapelizod (near Dublin), his wife, and their three children; but Mr. Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker, Mrs. Anna Livia Plurabelle, and Kevin, Jerry, and Isabel are every family of mankind. The motive idea of the novel, inspired by the 18th-century Italian philosopher Giambattista Vico, is that history is cyclic; to demonstrate this the book begins with the end of a sentence left unfinished on the last page. Languages merge: Anna Livia has "vlossyhair"--wlosy being Polish for "hair"; "a bad of wind" blows--bad being Persian for "wind." Characters from literature and history appear and merge and disappear. On another level, the protagonists are the city of Dublin and the River Liffey standing as representatives of the history of Ireland and, by extension, of all human history. As he had in his earlier work Ulysses, Joyce drew upon an encyclopedic range of literary works. His strange polyglot idiom of puns and portmanteau words is intended to convey not only the relationship between the conscious and the unconscious but also the interweaving of Irish language and mythology with the languages and mythologies of many other cultures.


o_O
 
Ah, but she was the queer old skeowsha anyhow, Anna Livia,
trinkettoes! And sure he was the quare old buntz too, Dear Dirty
Dumpling, foostherfather of fingalls and dotthergills. Gammer
and gaffer we're all their gangsters. Hadn't he seven dams to wive
him? And every dam had her seven crutches. And every crutch
had its seven hues. And each hue had a differing cry. Sudds for
me and supper for you and the doctor's bill for Joe John. Befor!
Bifur! He married his markets, cheap by foul, I know, like any
Etrurian Catholic Heathen, in their pinky limony creamy birnies
and their turkiss indienne mauves. But at milkidmass who was
the spouse? Then all that was was fair. Tys Elvenland! Teems of
times and happy returns. The seim anew. Ordovico or viricordo.
Anna was, Livia is, Plurabelle's to be. Northmen's thing made
southfolk's place but howmulty plurators made eachone in per-
son? Latin me that, my trinity scholard, out of eure sanscreed into
oure eryan! Hircus Civis Eblanensis! He had buckgoat paps on
him, soft ones for orphans. Ho, Lord! Twins of his bosom. Lord
save us! And ho! Hey? What all men. Hot? His tittering daugh-
ters of. Whawk?
 
NADatar said:
Yeah if I can comprehend 5 words per page, I consider myself way ahead of the game. The edition I have has a nice introduction that basically says that's the best you can ever hope for really, it's a book that certain people get certain little things from, and that's it.

I'm sure one could (and has) totally dissected the thing, but I'm pretty content just understanding what little I do and enjoying the rest on a hOumoUroUs level.

Oh yeah, and I've read 10 pages over the past year and a half. Woo. :)
Click to expand...
ugh so the edition my sister has is about 1/3 book and 2/3 footnotes... they've tried their best to explain things but obviously they could go on and on for pages about every little obscure reference and pun (and they do) but still noone's going to get anything out of 99% of it

yeah and she's read it and it's full of fucking notes she made and shit

some people
 
I'm just trying to impress your sister, Erik.


There are a lot of "guidebooks" to FW but none of them are all that masterful. It would take a book 3 times the size of FW to fully get at what Joyce is doing. I've got the first 100 pages mostly figured out, with the help of a lot of supplemental resources, but I don't really have the stamina right now to get through the whole thing. That said, I spent a year and a half on Ulysses and have read a fuckton of essays/supplementals on it and... OK, I'll stop before I start cybersexing a guy who's been dead for 55 years. Anyhoo, yeah... Everyone read Ulysses. It's a labyrinth of fun fun fun.
 
This book: Big thumbs Down from me.

So this is some pseudo "self help" book with massive religous themes -- might be inspiring for people stuck in a rut, looking to find their "personal legend" what with the universe conspiring to help you.

Blah. Remind me to slap my mum with a dead fish.
 
Siddhartha >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The Alchemist
 
ADS BY GOOGLE: Joyce Theatre - Ulysses Annotated - Araby Study Guide - Cliff Notes - Dublin
 
Dick Sirloin said:
You did just now. :)
Click to expand...

Damn, I had to go back to page 1 to even remember what you were quoting. Then the UM server died for 2 minutes!

I hope this does not make you reluctant to read "Siddhartha", certainly not a self-help book.
Click to expand...

I've got Siddhartha ready and waiting. I cannot wait. Likewise I have Satanic Verses waiting (probably before Siddhartha).

BUT, I promised Chief B that I'd quickly read "We need to talk about Kevin" by Lionel Shriver and so I'm into that now. Seriously, I needed a break from all the metaphysical / religion entwined dissertations, so I've gone into 'dear diary' land for a short while.
 
Siddhartha takes like a day to read, do that one first so we can finally discuss it. :D

The Satanic Verses took me 3 weeks, and I had to read another book in the middle of it (forgot what though, I probably ended up burning it as a sacrifice to Gibreel), and many nights were spent wide awake while dreaming, then going about my daily business very hesitantly.

I need to read that again. :heh:
 
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