Anyone else just enjoy "no think" books?

[Spy Car]

OT: Bill, what is the source of the quote in your signature? It sounds familiar but I can't place it.

 

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner.

 

It is only part of the opening sentence (due to limitations imposed on signature text length by the previous forum software). It is a master work.

 

Bill

[TXMomof4]

 

 

See, I too am a bit of a fact girl, yet I love historical fiction. Of course, when I read historical fiction, I always have my iPhone by my side ready to google the "real" situation. For me, historical fiction sparks an interest in a specific time period. It takes me forever to get through a historical fiction book because I get so distracted reading about and researching the specific time period/important people. While I am learning, I still consider historical fiction fluffy.

 

 

Exactly this. I love reading different perspectives on historic personalities and seeing them "fleshed out". Anya Seton wrote a book about Katheryn Swynford that was fantastic. The historical facts of the book were pretty accurate as far as I could determine but the story was given a little life, kwim? It's hard to find first hand accounts of some of these lives so FOR FUN I enjoy the ' imagine it this way' of historical fiction.

[Spy Car]

 

 

Bill, regarding your quote.

 

Most people in Australia shut up their windows and blinds during the day, because the heat is definitely carried in the hot north wind, and having the blinds drawn helps stop the heat coming into the house.

 

 

Interesting.

 

Here, for anyone interested, are the first two opening lines of Absalom, Absalom!:

 

FROM a little after two o'clock until almost sundown of the long still hot weary dead September afternoon they sat in what Miss Coldfield still called the office because her father had called it that—a dim hot airless room with the blinds all closed and fastened for forty-three summers because when she was a girl someone had believed that light and moving air carried heat and that dark was always cooler, and which (as the sun shone fuller and fuller on that side of the house) became latticed with yellow slashes full of dust motes which Quentin thought of as being flecks of the dead old dried paint itself blown inward from the scaling blinds as wind might have blown them. There was a wistaria vine blooming for the second time that summer on a wooden trellis before one window, into which sparrows came now and then in random gusts, making a dry vivid dusty sound before going away: and opposite Quentin, Miss Coldfield in the eternal black which she had worn for forty-three years now, whether for sister, father, or nothusband none knew, sitting so bolt upright in the straight hard chair that was so tall for her that her legs hung straight and rigid as if she had iron shinbones' and ankles, clear of the floor with that air of impotent and static rage like children's feet, and talking in that grim haggard amazed voice until at last listening would renege and hearing-sense self-confound and the long-dead object of her impotent yet indomitable frustration would appear, as though by outraged recapitulation evoked, quiet inattentive and harmless, out of the biding and dreamy and victorious dust.

 

Bill

[Giraffe]

 

 

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner.

 

It is only part of the opening sentence (due to limitations imposed on signature text length by the previous forum software). It is a master work.

 

Bill

 

 

Ahhhh... I actually haven't read that one; I'll put it on my list. Sounds a LOT like something my family would do, and has done, sort of.

[Spy Car]

 

 

Ahhhh... I actually haven't read that one; I'll put it on my list. Sounds a LOT like something my family would do, and has done, sort of.

 

 

As fair-warning this novel is at one time over-brimming with literary expression and at the same time confounding in the development of the narrative. Faulkner's approach in this novel is quite perverse. It takes hundreds of pages before the reader develops a full appreciation of what is going on, as details of the plot drop into place as the narrative cycles round and round rather like one is riding a merry-go-round.

 

One might be tempted to toss this book aside in the early going thinking it incomprehensible with questions about either the author or ones self being brain-addled or insane, but perseverance pays off.

 

Bill

[Giraffe]

 

 

As fair-warning this novel is at one time over-brimming with literary exp<b></b>ression and at the same time confounding in the development of the narrative. Faulkner's approach in this novel is quite perverse. It takes hundreds of pages before the reader develops a full appreciation of what is going on, as details of the plot drop into place as the narrative cycles round and round rather like one is riding a merry-go-round.

 

One might be tempted to toss this book aside in the early going thinking it incomprehensible with questions about either the author or ones self being brain-addled or insane, but perseverance pays off.

 

Bill

 

 

You just described my family, and my in-laws. Sounds perfect! :p

[Spy Car]

 

 

You just described my family, and my in-laws. Sounds perfect! :p

 

 

You are in for a ride!

 

Bill

[AimeeM]

One day... James Patterson and JD Robb will be considered classic literature.

Okay, not really, but that's what I read (and Harry Potter - love, love, love HP!).

[Spy Car]

I read a LOT. Some books are easier to read than others. My brain sometimes needs a break. I think I read 6 lighter books in between sections of Crime and Punishment. I read lots of sci-fi and fantasy in addition to "heavy" literature and non-fiction. I love Wodehouse and Christopher Moore (not that zombie Santa one though, it was too silly). Lots of Douglas Adams. I will say the teens I do lit discussion with did not find The Inferno as funny as I find it, so my perspective on what is light literature could be skewed.

 

I once asked someone if he had ever read Agatha Christie. He said that he didn't read novels, only quality literature like Dickens. I said, "Dickens wrote novels." This thread reminds me of that conversation.

 

My son and I have been really enjoying the illustrated Inferno translated into California surfer-dude vernacular by Sandow Birk and Marcus Sanders. Occasionally I will edit the Anglo-Saxon on the fly, which son delights in catching, Hey, you changed that!.

 

Some purist might not like this version, but I think it is marvelous. And is a telling likely to captivate young people.

 

Bill

[Violet Crown]

 

 

As fair-warning this novel is at one time over-brimming with literary exp<b></b>ression and at the same time confounding in the development of the narrative. Faulkner's approach in this novel is quite perverse. It takes hundreds of pages before the reader develops a full appreciation of what is going on, as details of the plot drop into place as the narrative cycles round and round rather like one is riding a merry-go-round.

 

One might be tempted to toss this book aside in the early going thinking it incomprehensible with questions about either the author or ones self being brain-addled or insane, but perseverance pays off.

 

Bill

I found myself repeatedly distracted by all the characters sounding exactly like Faulkner. I kept wanting the listening character to say, "You sure are having long, chain of consciousness sentences today. Been reading Faulkner?"

[Spy Car]

 

I found myself repeatedly distracted by all the characters sounding exactly like Faulkner. I kept wanting the listening character to say, "You sure are having long, chain of consciousness sentences today. Been reading Faulkner?"

 

 

I put it down to writing while (extremely) inebriated :D

 

Bill

[I.Dup.]

The last time I read fiction or brain candy was in high school. Then I found this forum :laugh: There are just so many interesting book suggestions I couldn't help myself. I started with Laurie Notaro and honestly I had no clue a book could be so funny. Now I read quite a bit of fiction. Right now I'm on an end-of-life kick so I'm reading a lot of books on the subject (I tend to get morbid when pregnant).

 

I, too, love train wrecks. I can't stay away. Dh and I watch Honey Boo-Boo in wide-eyed wonder.

[Ottakee]

Looks like I am not alone in this then.

 

I like some light fluffy Christian romances, etc. but I also like other light fiction and non fiction. Right now I am reading a book about doctors in very rural Tennessee. Very light, funny, but true stories.

[Baseball mom]

Brain candy is a must!! I want to be entertained and escape for awhile!!

[LMD]

 

 

All very fun dudes!

 

Bill

 

 

I just finished reading grapes of wrath for the first time... Fun is not the word I'd choose!

[Lisa in SC]

I very much enjoy "no think" books. However, have to say, it must be too early in the morning, because I read the thread title as meaning the other type of bOOks. I just had to find out how to achieve never having to think about them. As I said, it's way too early. I must have serious issues. (I'd put in a running away smilie or something, but I cannot make them work on an iPad.)

[Ottakee]

I very much enjoy "no think" books. However, have to say, it must be too early in the morning, because I read the thread title as meaning the other type of bOOks. I just had to find out how to achieve never having to think about them. As I said, it's way too early. I must have serious issues. (I'd put in a running away smilie or something, but I cannot make them work on an iPad.)

I would be happy if I didn't have to think about those bOOks either :laugh:

[swellmomma]

I figured out why Bill does not read brain candy (beyond the fact he is not completely human) he is a man. Men have never experiences pregnancy brain or mommy brain. So to him reading what he does is fun, because he has never experienced what it is like to have a brain like a sieve as a result of birthing these lovely children and then running on no sleep for the next 18 years taking care of them. AND by the end of the day we have all read mountains of classics with our kids, and are D.O.N.E done. Bill on the other hand has not spent the day doing so, since his son is in a b&m school and so therefore he has the eagerness and brainpower to read those things to his kid for fun, or to himself for fun at the end of the day.

 

So whether he is an alien or human, he is still a different breed than the rest of us. He is a B&M schooling dad, and we are hsing moms.

[Robin M]

Interesting.

 

Here, for anyone interested, are the first two opening lines of Absalom, Absalom!:

 

FROM a little after two o'clock until almost sundown of the long still hot weary dead September afternoon they sat in what Miss Coldfield still called the office because her father had called it that—a dim hot airless room with the blinds all closed and fastened for forty-three summers because when she was a girl someone had believed that light and moving air carried heat and that dark was always cooler, and which (as the sun shone fuller and fuller on that side of the house) became latticed with yellow slashes full of dust motes which Quentin thought of as being flecks of the dead old dried paint itself blown inward from the scaling blinds as wind might have blown them. There was a wistaria vine blooming for the second time that summer on a wooden trellis before one window, into which sparrows came now and then in random gusts, making a dry vivid dusty sound before going away: and opposite Quentin, Miss Coldfield in the eternal black which she had worn for forty-three years now, whether for sister, father, or nothusband none knew, sitting so bolt upright in the straight hard chair that was so tall for her that her legs hung straight and rigid as if she had iron shinbones' and ankles, clear of the floor with that air of impotent and static rage like children's feet, and talking in that grim haggard amazed voice until at last listening would renege and hearing-sense self-confound and the long-dead object of her impotent yet indomitable frustration would appear, as though by outraged recapitulation evoked, quiet inattentive and harmless, out of the biding and dreamy and victorious dust.

 

Bill

 

 

thanks for sharing the beginning - it's intrigued me enough to want to read the book. Adding to my christmas buy me list.

[Wildcat]

I love to read and sometimes read a book or more a day if I have the time, other times it is less than a book a week.

 

I see all these threads about these wonderful, life changing books, classical books, etc. Honestly, right now when I read, I just want a nice, "no think" book. This can include Christian fiction, light humor and memoir type books, and other fiction/non-fiction books. I just don't have the desire or brain power left at night to read anything really heavy or thought provoking/life changing.

 

Anyone else like this?

 

 

This is me. The last book I read took me about a month to read. It was just a slasher/cop novel, so nothing "heavy".

 

I'm just too tired at the end of the day to read, even though I *love* to read.

 

I have never enjoyed reading books that make me 'think' (unless it's trying to figure out "whodunit"). I tried and tried the challenge that's done here on the forums, and I just can't do it. In fact, for 2012, I'm only going to have 23 books on my list, and they are all "fluff"!!!

[Robin M]

This is me. The last book I read took me about a month to read. It was just a slasher/cop novel, so nothing "heavy".

 

I'm just too tired at the end of the day to read, even though I *love* to read.

 

I have never enjoyed reading books that make me 'think' (unless it's trying to figure out "whodunit"). I tried and tried the challenge that's done here on the forums, and I just can't do it. In fact, for 2012, I'm only going to have 23 books on my list, and they are all "fluff"!!!

 

 

Not all fluff is created equal. :tongue_smilie: The great thing about the challenge is it's encourages people to read. Reading is a mind voyage no matter what you read.

[YourFidgetyFriend]

I love all types of books. I'm always surprised when people only want to read real literature. When I was in grad school for English, all of us read fluff right along with those mind stretching books so I've never felt any sort of stigma when I pick up a YA book about the vampire-fairy-angel war.

[Spy Car]

 

 

 

thanks for sharing the beginning - it's intrigued me enough to want to read the book. Adding to my christmas buy me list.

 

Just to reiterate, if you begin the book and find the plot less that fully comprehensible at first don't question your powers of reading comprehension. It is an oddly developed narrative that cycially fills in the pieces. As such it is a challenging work for readers. But if you press on you will experience one of the most masterful (and somewhat disturbing) works in American literature.

 

Not "fluffy."

 

Bill

[KarenNC]

If you ask my husband, I *only* read "brain candy" when I'm reading for me rather than prepping for teaching my daughter. :) It's likely true---I just finished the new Harry Dresden, am in the middle of the new Sookie, and have a box of various Regency romances (old style and new style), paranormals and urban fantasy books waiting for the next break in library books. :D Other than that, I love "window-shopping" through cookbooks (or should that be "window-cooking?") and magazines like Family Circle, Woman's Day, Cooking Light, etc. He, OTOH, barely reads fiction at all.

 

It may also be telling that he was an English lit major, while I was physics with a minor in psych (and most of a minor in education). :D

[Luanne]

I usually have two books (at least) going at a time. One is usually a book I have to concentrate on and one is a book that is easier, but usually one I think about anyway. I don't know if I could read a book without thinking about it. Sometimes I think I think too much though. LOL