This used to be the Jolly Molly's thread; the thread, if I recall, centered on darts, beer, and banter (or was it "bant"?) I believe the title to the thread got cutoff.

Let's welcome our newest member, amaranthic. A student of Arabic, amaranthic has a blog devoted to Arabic studies right here: http://atheling.wordpress.com/

Anna, fullmoonblue, are you familiar with amaranthic's blog? Now that we have three Arab experts here, seems like we should have some Mahfouz (in the least) listed up above as a future group read. Glad you found us amaranthic!

Message edited by its author, Aug 8, 2009, 10:38pm.

Thanks for the warm welcome; I'm embarrassed! But please, I'm by no means an expert on Arabic. I have just begun my studies of that beautiful language and its accompanying literatures, and my blog I'm afraid is largely filled with sophomoric attempts at journaling in said language. I'm planning to create a Chinese teaching blog in the near future that will be more useful to passerby, though. (shameless and premature advertisement)

Mahfouz, now - I'd love a group Mahfouz read one day, although that Proust looks like it's going to take a while. I am attempting Karnak Cafe in the original right now, which is going very slowly but is exciting indeed.

I actually have been lurking here for a long time, but when I saw that the Salon might quickly become very private, I thought it best to join instead of just remaining on the list of watchers, so as to make sure that I get access to all your erudite and/or humorous musings.

Message edited by its author, Aug 8, 2009, 11:46pm.

Thank you amaranthic. You really should connect with anna_in_pdx and Fullmoonblue (assuming you haven't already), as they're all over Arab writing and culture. And I believe Ben Waugh has a great North African, Arab writing group, though the exact title slips my mind at the moment, that's definitely worth checking out.

And yeah, that Proust may be a bit over-ambitious. We'll probably limit it to Swann's Way at first, before tackling the next installment.

here's a link to that group I mentioned above: http://www.librarything.com/groups/arabi...

Welcome Amaranthic! My ear twitched at the mention of a Chinese teaching blog. Please do tell us more!

I'll definitely keep those two names in mind for Arabic literature recommendations and conversation. And someone mentioned to me that group the other day, so now that it's been pointed out twice, I guess I'll have to take a closer look!

Chinese teaching blog - Right now I'm thinking recordings with transcript in pinyin and simplified as well as maybe traditional. Sorry, I can't type zhu yin fu hao and don't want to handwrite it, although I wish I could include it as I find that learners of the Taiwanese phonetic system end up with much better pronunciation!

Thanks for expressing interest; it's really encouraging to me that this project may be useful to others.

Message edited by its author, Aug 9, 2009, 3:04pm.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome the newest member to the salon, my friend, wisewoman!

wisewoman, as most of you probably know, is one of the most prolific writers here in LT of quality reviews. Nary a week goes by when she doesn't have something on Hot Reviews. In fact, she had three Hot Reviews simultaneously just this past week.

Welcome aboard, you woman of wisdom!

*waves* Thanks for the welcome, Enrique, and hello, denizens of the salon! I've been lurking here for a little while and have finally taken the plunge. I'm not sure if this is a group I would normally have joined, but it's good to be exposed to new people and ideas.

I think I will try to join your group read of Les Misérables. I read it for the first time a few years ago and it quickly vaulted into my top three books of all time. Hugo was a genius. I've read it twice now on my own, and I think it will be interesting to reread a third time with a group. So thanks for letting me join you :)

Has anybody read "The Colossus of Maroussi" from Miller ? Is it worth reading ?

#7/8: I saw those three simultaneous hot reviews this week. Très impressionnant!

>9, yes, Mac, I have. Definitely worth reading, especially after your sojourn in the isles this summer. Among other delights it has an interesting portrait of Lawrence Durrell in it. An evocation of pre WWII Greece - a vanished age and place.

Fabulous reviews everybody, and welcome Wisewoman!

thanks
up to amazon

Thanks Medellia and Mr. Murr. I've seen your reviews there as well. I never thought of reviewing books as a competitive sport, but it does give it that extra spice!

The Saloon is very pleased to welcome its newest member, one of LTs funniest and feistiest citizens, richardderus! Richard gets around. Just take a quick glance at Hot Topics to see how active he is in LT circles gallore, fighting whatever good fight needs fighting for. Somehow he's also made time to be a prolific reviewer knocking out high quality reviews one right after the other, the majority of which end up Hot. And do take the time to peruse at your leisure his eclectic reading list on his profile page - very interesting & impressive & erudite. What more can be said, other than, welcome once again to the saloon, Richard!

Welcome Richard! Do you like herring?

A shoutout to our newest member, theaelizabeth, who is not only ahead of the curve in reading The Master and Margarita, but also In Search of Lost Time! As soon as I figure out where she lives, I'll be sneaking over under cover of darkness to steal her Folio Society Proust.

Only the picture of it, my friend, on the picture. The books are borrowed. Thanks for the welcome!

For the first time in the salon's ignoble and sordid history, we have a member of royalty in our midst. Let's welcome, everybody, Princess Paulina!

Princess Paulina is also one of the few members among us who speak Russian, joining Pim & Lola (anybody else?) as our in-house Russian speakers. Very happy that you've joined us Princess!

Please join me in welcoming my friend castel15(Luis) to the salon. He will be joining the upcoming M&M group read. Luis is an invaluable resource of information about all sorts of literature and has created an excellent and exhaustive website(en espanol) on El Modernismo authors and poets and related literature.

Welcome Princess Paulina! We do have another blue blood in the group. Tomcat Murr is a descendant of Puss in Boots(see Ludwig Tieck and E.T.A. Hoffmann).

Message edited by its author, Aug 27, 2009, 1:10am.

Welcome to both of you!

Enrique that is no way to address royalty. you should say Your Royal Higness, in your first post, and thereafter Ma'am.

Here is a guide.

http://www.debretts.com/forms-of-address...

I apologize for the lack of etiquette, Your Royal Highness, and hope you will forgive this serious breach of manners.

Oh do forgive me, Ma'am!...What can I say - other that I'm obviously an ugly American!

'But that's the point!' the young man cried,
'The puzzle that I wish to pen you in -
How are the public to decide
WHICH articles are genuine?'

('The Majesty of Justice', 1863)

Hello everyone, and thanks for the welcome :)

As a bilingual/native proficiency speaker in English and Russian, I would love to join your M&M group read!

Like most of my Russian friends and family, this is one of my favorite books ever and I've read it numerous times (in Russian). It would now be both culturally and linguistically fascinating for me to re-read it from an English perspective.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to check in regularly during September because this is a busy travel month for me; however I look forward to joining you discussion full-steam in October!

Great having you here Paulina! We'll be looking forward to hearing what I'm sure will be some insightful commentary come October.

I would like to say hello to new member inaudible, a smart dude from the Lit Snobs group. Welcome to the friendly fun! Inaudible and I share an interest in Jeanette Winterson, and many of you here, I know, share his love for Pynchon.

Very pleased to welcome our newest member to the salon - and his impressive collection of over 10,000 volumes - eromsted. Yes, I realize you don't actually own all 10M, but who cares, fascinating collections nonetheless. Welcome aboard! Glad to have you.

henry !!!

Big Mac !!! thumbs up, my favorite Belgian!

If you've been around here at LT for awhile, and have routinely spied out Hot Topics, then there's no way you haven't encountered the prolific postings of the salon's newest member, geneg. geneg gets around, whether it's in Pro & Con, or my favorite group to spy on, Lit. Snobs, or a host of other locales.

Happy to have you aboard, geneg! And is it really true you can't stand The Book of the New Sun?

Message edited by its author, Sep 17, 2009, 7:47pm.

Welcome Geneg! Another Dickens fan!

Thanks for the welcome! :) Currently reading Dostoyevsky.

I found this group from a post in Snobs. It pays to advertise!

As far as my relationship to The Book of the New Sun, I read the first section and found it too fantastic for my taste and the sense of ennui is stifling. I think Wolffe may have been aiming there, but it's not generally where I want to go. I have spent the last year trying to find SF as good as I remember from my youth, but as it turns out, the SF from my youth really wasn't that good, and for the most part, based on the group reads I've participated in (always looking for someone else to tell me what to read) SF still hasn't found its stride. Someone said the Golden Age of SF is thirteen. I think there may be more truth to that than one might like.

Dystopias seem to be the order of the day, or some anti-hero driven destructo-mashup, neither of which I care for as themes or settings.

I'm a romantic at heart. Stories about ordinary people living ordinary lives, but engaged in living rather than lamenting the vagaries of life are my cuppa. The book I return to over and over is The Heart of Darkness.

And yes, I'm a big fan of Dickens. I think Our Mutual Friend is the sign of a master story-teller at his most mature and at the height of his powers.

I'm not a fan of series and SF is eat up with them. I love the classics and find comfort in them. It's true, it's possible to write really well and tell a whopping good yarn at the same time.

Lay on, MacDuff! (I'm a big fan of Shakespeare, too).

Message edited by its author, Sep 18, 2009, 10:05am.

Gene! a Herring!

I'm totally with you on OMF!! What Dostoevsky are you currently reading?

Demons. I don't have the time to devote to it that it deserves, but I'm trying to clear some so I can plow on it a while.

I'm reading the second volume of Orwell's letters, reviews, and general writings, as well. Since it is mostly short stuff, one or two pages, I keep it in the throne room. I'm really enjoying it. He is the most astute observer of his own time I think I've ever read.

Message edited by its author, Sep 18, 2009, 11:33am.

Oh good, all my favorite Snobs are becoming Salonistas....

veritable Snobanistas!

Hey geneg,

I know what you mean about the golden age of sci-fi being 13. I've tried re-reading Dune on occasion as an adult, and the magic just isn't there anymore. I'll admit Foundation still did it for me at 30, and I'm glad it did, but beyond it and maybe Childhood's End and The Sheep Look Up, I just can't get "in" to it anymore. Have you read or attempted Dhalgren by any chance? I couldn't finish it.

Flaubert said you should never touch your idols, Some of the gold might come off on your fingers. I have always taken this as a warning not to revisit the books that rocked your world when you were young.

There are of course exceptions.

Never read Dhalgren but I tried Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand and didn't make it out of the prologue.

But then I tried M&M (yes, the same one this group is currently reading) and really couldn't get into it. Since you have it up through November, I might try it again. I ran out of time and had to turn it back to the library just as it was beginning to pique my interest (one reason I like to own my books).

I think Flaubert was really on to something. In another group I told the story of my reading In Dubious Battle at 17 and having it "rock my world" and trying to reread it a couple of years ago. Couldn't get past the first thirty pages.

Funny, I read the Foundation trilogy at around age forty, for the first time. It didn't make a lick of sense, as I recall. Everytime I read the word "mule" I thought of the line from Visions of Johanna about the jewels and binoculars hanging from his neck. Very distracting.

Flaubert rocks ! Read his letters and journals when he went to the East with his buddy Maxime. Super ! he prefigures Celine's fury !

LOL, geneg. Hey I remember that "mule" reference, but for the life of me, I couldn't tell you right now who or what the "mule" signified. Was the mule Hari Seldon? Or did the mule have something pertinent to do w/the secret, hidden foundation? I don't know. Don't ask me.

Forget the mules, we've got ourselves a panda bear who's just joined us. Joining the salon from Louisville, KY, let's give a hearty welcome to...ToTheWest! Welcome to the salon, ToTheWest!

She, self-admittedly, wasn't around to see the Middle Ages, but she saw WWII firsthand. She's got a great sense of humor, she obviously likes cats, and she's written some stellar reviews. Joining us from Ohio, let's welcome MarianV! Pleasure making your acquaintance, Marian!

The Mule had no other name but The Mule. He was a mutant capable of altering the emotional makeup of entire populations and as such posed the only serious threat to the Seldon Plan. A good portion of the last two books is involved in Foundationers trying to thwart him.

I'm still a helpless Sci-fi fan, I figure all the dreaming of fantastic futures keeps me young.

Here's a shoutout to our latest & greatest new members: Oregonreader and Torikton. Welcome to the fun!

Welcome! Gee, now there are at least 4 oregonians on this list...

Hey, thanks for the welcome. I joined because you guys are reading M&M, which is one of my absolute favorites. I'd join in and read it with you, but I loaned my copy to my mom. However, I am going to try to secure a copy of The Octopus to read with you this month.

I'm not from Oregon, I just like the airport. (only kidding!)

From Melbourne Australia, let us welcome mattplozza! Welcome to the salon, Matt!

I no get welcome?

I so sad tonight. Cold here, dark, no friends, no Katrina, no poetry.

This verdammte country has no poets. I love Holan. Hora. Milosz. Seifert. Pushkin. Esenin.

But I have all my poetry books back in Brno and poetry in English too hard for me.

Is no hope.

Oh virapol, do forgive me (and the mother$%#@*^&) salon, for not officially welcoming you. Everyone, do please personally welcome, virapol, to le salon litteraire du peuple pour le pueple! I could've sworn we already did! But perhaps we didn't. Who can really say for sure. Sometimes the salon, to my shame and chagrin, is very lax when it comes to welcoming. Way to go slickdpdx! Not welcoming poor virapol!

Did you know that when you're welcomed into a group, you're 97% more likely to remain in that group?...unless you're already a snob, apparently.

Oh please, virapol!...I'd (we'd) I'm sure, love to hear some English poetry. Also, might you enlighten us as to what it was like growing up in Check-us-slovakia? (sp?) - that's for you Urania!

edited to change "de" to "du" since I obviously don't know my French muy bueno.

Message edited by its author, Oct 5, 2009, 12:30am.

virapol,

I refuse to welcome you to the group even if you do have good taste in poetry. You're a wicked, wicked woman. How dare you??????

I'd like everyone to welcome our new member devondoyle. Just clap your hands once or twice, or leave profane comments on her (her, EF, not his!) profile page (while being sure to goad her into taking part in discussions and group readings & to not be a lurker like I once was!-----for she feels--and she related tihs to me personally--not smart enuff for the Salon! Bullhonkey!).

She's really big on alligators and Heinekin.

I asked you to welcome the young man, Todd (!), your friend, not mercilessly insult her him like that! Damn you! He might leave now! Devon, Todd is having a most unusual day today, I think the notoriety has gone to his head. ;-) Welcome, I'm truly glad you've joined us.

And may we also welcome semckibbin! semchibbin, I just looked at your profile page and saw that you live literally like 20 minutes to the east of me in Riverside, just a hop, skip & a jump down the 60. I love old town Riverside, especially during the holidays, around The Mission Inn, in particular. There used to be some nice bookshops in old town too; I think only one remains now. My family regularly hikes to the top of Mt. Rubidoux overlooking old town, except in the summer, when the rattlesnakes are out. Thanks for joining!

Enrique,

I know I no speak English very good and I miss many good joke.

You told that you from from Cuba and you show picture of muscle granny. Is joke? You live is USA? Riverside? Highway 60? Is like Bob Dylan? Or is joke again?

I think I cry now. I need my Katrina.

Enrique,

Ignore virapol. She's just looking for someone in whom to sink her teeth. I say, "Let her eat 'stake.'"

Thanks for the kind welcome Toddells, specially after making me join the group! ANYWAY.

EF, I am a girl, not a guy. Promise. And no worries about Todd, he’s always that mean, once you get to know him. Thanks for the welcome. :)

!!! And I like Heinlein, not Heinekin. :(

Welcome, welcome ! Jenna Opfer to Le Salon! You shall fit right in here among all the anti-intellectual delinquents & Brent. Just promise not to disappear and/or become a lurker! Devon: it's your turn.

WELCOME Jenna!!! Thanks so much for joining. Now speak UP!

urgh. hi.

53...No offense Virapol (uh-oh, here comes some offense!) but maybe it's time you took yourself, say, an online English course to better help your communication skills. And you know, everytime you mention "Katrina," people here in the United States can't help but think about those poor people in New Orleans, many of which are still suffering, so thanks for bumming everybody out Virapol!

I said I was from Cuba, didn't I? Past tense. Meaning I no longer live there. There's no joking goes on that I'm aware of in this salon. And if you're making fun of my grandmother, God so help me....

Message edited by its author, Oct 7, 2009, 2:58pm.

Thank you for the warm welcome, Enrique. You have a good group.

And it is a very pleasant hike up Mt. Rubidoux, I go often myself; perhaps members of your family and I have crossed paths---I'm the guy with the dog. Wait a minute, that's everybody on the mountain.

Thank you for the welcome. I started reading your group posts and was hooked! I'll be reading The Octapus this month and look forward to the discussions.

Enrique,

I so sorry.

You mad now. I no try to hurt. I am poor Czech girl who know few people in this cold cold country. I no understand many joke.

I stop talk about my K. I only call her MostLoved now.

Is OK you from Cuba and now on Highway 61 with Dylan. Nobody make fun. You start poor and now you rich American. Is good.

I love my grandmother Anastazie and I sure you love your beautiful muscle granma. Is good to love granma.

So sorry.

Hello - I'm not sure if the protocol here is to introduce oneself or wait for another to do so.

I'm fannyprice, which I know disturbs some people, but there it is. The wonderfully feisty Murr made me aware of the salon but I've been out of the country for a while with no internet, so I'm just now joining.

Like Miss Price, I am far too serious for my own good. I lack the delicious sense of humor so often found in this group. Unlike Miss Price, I am (I hope) not an irredeemable prig. To plagiarize from my own profile, "My background is in Middle Eastern studies, with a focus on Judaism & Islam, Arabic literature, and Middle Eastern history & politics, and although I have fled academia, I still try to read a lot in these fields." I also have a moral and intellectual failing in the form of a serious weakness for young adult urban fantasy and dystopias.

I am a reviewer on Belletrista, avaland's recently-debuted web magazine celebrating women's literature from around the world.

63: Welcome! I just finished yet another re-reading of Mansfield Park! I also lived in the Middle East for about 10 years. Glad to see you! I already think we are kindred spirits.

Fannyprice, I read Mansfield Park for the first time just a few months ago, and I just loved Miss Price. I might be jealous of your LT name, if my own literary shy-girl heroine wasn't Agnes Grey instead. But I've been Medellia so long here that I think I'm stuck with it.

I see another new member, marciliogq, has also joined us. Welcome! Marciliogq is a Clarice Lispector fan, so we look forward to your contributions next month when we read The Hour of the Star!

63 Hello - I'm not sure if the protocol here is to introduce oneself....

Hello fannyprice

1. You can start by buying us a drink. ( Chilled Zubrowka please )
2. Say three times "James Joyce is great" !
3. Dance the "dance of the seven veils"

Mac

4. And swallow a herring whole, (don't forget that one mac!)

Welcome Fanny! and marciliogq (geeeeze could that be any harder to type...)

Yes, welcome everbody!

I love this salon, so erudite. Welcome fannyprice, and thanks to all for clearing up my confusion with Fanny Brice and Gosford Park (seriously). Like Paul Atreides, I fear to trespass on the eternal feminine.

>67, Murr, as long as I am not required to eat lutefisk, I think I can cope.

>66, Macumbeira - how about Nyquil shots? I'm nursing one hell of a cold. ;)

Anything to stop the drip !

It has been a long time, but wasn't that one of the themes in Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me?

Robert

Le salon is blowing up!

your library is stunning, southernbooklady! Welcome to the salon!

Another welcome, belatedly to southernbooklady. Not only do you have an awesome library, your hair is also fabulous. (Looks like a lot of work!)

Message edited by its author, Oct 12, 2009, 3:33pm.

Southernbooklady,

you much remind of my MostBeloved. I only a poor Czech girl now working hard in Canada, but my K., she read many many books, like you. You have beautiful library, beautiful hair. I wish I could know you.

I have been perusing The Le Salon threads here and this looks like a group of literary punishment gluttons. I have just ordered a copy of Melville's Clarel, his 500 page epic poem about a journey to the Holy Land. Anyone game?

not me, but I'll love to read your review !

1. I am not a masochist.
2. I have Clarel
3. Why do you want to read it? And please dont respond you want to read it because you are a masochist.

A love of epic poetry and of Melville, and a curiosity about great though unusual works overlooked by the makers of canons (though I note Bloom likes Clarel, even if everyone else overlooks it). A curiousity about an odd rhythm and its ends. A desire to understand more of Melville's evil thoughts on the diety.

And as winter comes on (it snowed today in Boston), it's good to have a really big book nearby.

Message edited by its author, Oct 16, 2009, 2:11pm.

A_musing, if you want to start on the first day of winter Dec 21, I am in.

Rock and roll! That's about right for me - I always have a week with a lot of reading between Xmas and New Years.

Is there any telling which is the better edition of Clarel? I see that the scholarly edition has about 400 more pages than the trade paperback and costs two and a half times as much. Is there any telling ahead of time what those extra pages are used for?

Robert

Couldnt tell you, Robert. I have the 2008 Northwestern University Press edition. It has only an 18-page Preface by Parker.

I found three available editions, all from Northwestern University Press. Yours apparently is the $20 trade paperback weighing in at about 500 pages. There is also a 1991 scholarly edition weighing in at about 900 pages, available for a little over $100 in hardcover and under $50 in paperback. I think I'll put the scholarly paperback on my BN.COM wishlist and see whether it draws me in.

Robert

If you go to addall.com there many copies for under $20.

Let's welcome edierose to the salon! - and to LibraryThing! A new LT member since Oct. 10th. Great having you here edierose.

Hmm. I ordered the non-scholarly Northwestern edition. But now I want the other one. If no one else gets one, I think I will, so we have someone else's brilliant thoughts to lean on while reading. As long as I'm getting others into this.

Message edited by its author, Oct 18, 2009, 6:51pm.

A_musing, I also found this (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Melvill...) for those of us who like to hear expert opinion. I will probably not order one without the other, and I am leaning towards ordering them.

Robert

Where's Wilf? He's a Melville fan.

Just arrived, hibernating with the snows of October. Fortunately, the Titans did not bring their snow game.

Not a Melville fan per se, but a fan of Moby-Dick. Also not a fan of author biographies in general, but I did like Melville, his world and his work, which I had to read because it was a gift. It spoke more to Melville's works than details of his life, because the latter apparently wouldn't fill a book. That's actually why I like it.

Alas, Delbanco's bio of Melville did not encourage me to pursue his other works, except for Bartleby. I see more of a literary connection to Camus, and, through Camus, Don Quixote and Don Juan. Amazingly, I just learned from cracked.com that Don Juan was written by Lord Byron. Where was I during that class?

I'd like to welcome theoldman to the salon. Can I get a show of hands, er, the online equivalent of that, whatever it is, of everyone who has received a lovely, unsolicited poem from theoldman during their tenure here in LT? And the poems he sends, I've noticed, seem to somehow mysteriously apply to the sendee personally.

Welcome aboard oldman!

welcome theoldman!
PekoeTheCat has not received a poem (sigh).

After all the poetry I posted all over, I am truly heartbroken not to have made an earlier acquaintance of theoldman either. I would LOVE a poem.

You know, I didn't want to say anything, but since the subject has been breached: I, or, two of my sock puppets, received poems from theoldman, but I, EnriqueFreeque, have yet to receive a poem either. I do hope that will soon change. Everybody needs the right poem at the right time every now and again, and nobody provides that service any more superiorly than theoldman.

What a coincidence! I was surprised with a poem today from theoldman, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. It's a lovely poem and a great way to start my day.

Very cool Oregonreader,

Hey OldMan, where's my poem?! And what about a poem for the salon? I may send you a poem, OldMan!

How about a welcome for redkit of New Zealand.

And an official welcome for Porua too! So glad you've joined the salon, and I'm very curious to find out why you don't like The Time Traveler's Wife. Do tell, please!

Mihess was welcomed in another thread, but I thought I'd say hi here, too. Welcome, mihess!

Whhhy thank you Medellia! Glad to be aboard. Also, anyone is free to call me by my name, Marie.

Message edited by its author, Oct 26, 2009, 2:24pm.

As the Clarel begins arriving, I'm wondering what I should do about a thread - it's not really in the stream of planned reading, but it sounds like several of us are aboard. Should I open a Clarel thread or create a separate group (perhaps add a "non" or two to the group's name)? I had invited a couple other groups, but these were the grounds where the fish took the bait.

fish (n.)
O.E. fisc, from P.Gmc. *fiskaz (cf. O.H.G. fisc, O.N. fiskr, Du. vis, Ger. Fisch, Goth. fisks), from PIE *piskos (cf. L. piscis). The verb is O.E. fiscian. Fishy "shady, questionable" is first recorded 1840, perhaps from the notion of "slipperiness," or of giving off an intrusive odor. Fish story attested from 1819, from the tendency to exaggerate the size of the catch (or the one that got away). Fishtail (v.), of vehicles, first recorded 1927. Fig. sense of fish out of water first recorded 1613.
"Of all diversions ... fishing is the worst qualified to amuse a man who is at once indolent and impatient." Scott, 1814

Oh do start a new thread here A_Musing! I'd be very interested to follow along. In fact, I've kept my eyes open since you brought up Clarel for a lucky, needle-in-the-haystack find of it in my weekly rounds of the used shops.

105...btw I've edited the salon's title page to reflect the Clarel read. Dec. was the start date right?

Thanks - yes, Dec.

We'll start on the equinox.

From the land down under, Sydney, New South Wales, let's welcome ChocolateMuse!

And while you're welcoming her, be sure and read her fine review of Ghostwritten - http://www.librarything.com/profile_revi... - that she just posted today. Well done, ChocolateMuse!

Message edited by its author, Oct 25, 2009, 10:50pm.

Thanks Enrique. A 'fine' review. I shall savour that. I see it pays to be in this group - three thumbs already... I've never had so many in my life before! :)

Something about the way non-Australians say New South Wales, even in writing, makes it sound so colonial. That metallic sound you hear is just my convict chains clanking...

Do call me Rena if you like, since my screen name is annoying to type.

Welcome Chocolatemuse!

Welcome ChocolateMuse!

And hello everyone! This is the former martinmccarvill, who has had some of the advantages of online anonymity drawn to his attention of late, and has thus changed his name. But please (please) feel free to call me Martin:)

Okay, i stumbled in here on the way to WhereTheHellEver....i don't read fast (spare me that one) and do really shitty on GroupReads..but i'm here until i get my compass fixed.........

Welcome, jdthloue! I always have the best intentions of participating in group reads, but I never seem to follow through. I'm hoping the Salon will cure me (starting next month with Lispector).

Another welcome to karenmarie! Your profile makes me hearken back to my own high school band days. Memories!

But why read Shamela without reading Pamela beforehand?

That's a good question, Irene. Pamela is about the most virtuous lady who ever lived, as imagined by Samuel Richardson, facts you probably already know. SR so idealized Pamela as to turn her into a veritable Virgin Mary: perfect in thought and conduct, allowing no misdeeds or immoralities into her upstanding, halo'd life whatsoever.

In my opinion, that's all you need to know about the character (and the book) Pamela, in order to be equipped to read Shamela. I could be wrong - and if I am, someone please set me straight - I'll admit you might miss a detail or twenty not having read Pamela before Shamela, but SR rakes you over the head repeatedly with how pristine and perfect prissy Pamela was, that reading it start to finish, very well could induce vomitting. I would not wish Pamela on my most worst enemies. Clarissa, however, is a different story (but very tedious, like Pamela, too).

I did consider a quick one-two punch: Pamela and then Shamela, but Pamela, while no Clarissa, is still pretty darn long.

You simply must join this group Irene! Le Salon Litteraire formally requests that you become a member.

So, welcome to the salon, in advance.

Message edited by its author, Oct 27, 2009, 10:41pm.

Hello to you, too Medellia...and i've duly noted the Lispector...

Shamela/Pamela notwithstanding..i loved all gazillion pages of Clarissa and downloaded it to my Kindle so as not to get a Hump from lugging the actual book around...

Le Salon is pleased to welcome its newest member, dchaikin. dchaikin has a voluminous catalog of eclectic reviews, ranging from children's books to non-fiction and politics to genre fiction and literary fiction. Well worth a look!

Welcome also to janeajones. I've been a lurker in your Club Read thread this year--and yours too, dchaikin.

Uh oh, ClubRead is infiltrating the Salon!

You'll have to blame A_musing with his lure of Clarel -- I've just ordered my, non-scholarly, copy. I'm afraid I may be toe-dipping rather than plunging into it, but I'm intrigued.

Let the brilliant ClubReaders arrive in force! Where's avaland, highly esteemed creator of ClubRead and Reading Globally (and who knows what all else)?

OMG!! We have another LT author in our midst!http://www.librarything.com/author/jonesjaneanderson

janeajones, I do hope you'll feel at home here and perhaps Porius (you around, Porius?) could introduce you to the three poetry threads he started hereabouts in Le Salon.

Message edited by its author, Oct 30, 2009, 10:07pm.

Yes sir.

Thanks Por. You're gettin' some lovin' in those other threads! Woo-hoo!

Joining us from Manchester, England, is reading_fox. reading_fox has written 532(!) reviews (and these are not one or two liners, salonistas). Welcome to Le Salon reading_fox!

Welcome also to alceinwdld. Her profile states that she is a therapist with a special interest in trauma--I think we could've used you in the Salon post-Ulysses, Sheri! ;)

I just wanted to point out that as of 4:07pm (AZ never-changing-time) we have 100 members! Woo!

Good eye mihess!

100 members now...wow...a goof that turned into a triple-digit group. I'm thankful for EVERY member.

Welcome ta yis, Fox. I also feel it only fair to warn you that I will be gunning to beat your lifetime review total. Currently I've got 401, although not all of those are quality.

Welcome to number one-oh-one: maryjanemanolos. I saw your list in the top 10 favorites thread, and we share three (since I finished Les Mis a week ago, it is now a part of my top 10). I remember that you're a Forster fan--you'll find friends here.

thank-ee kindly, medellia

Welcome to joezbar!!

Joe gives 5 stars to Melville and Dostoevsky but only 2 to Hemingway. He's going to fit right in.

Message edited by its author, Nov 5, 2009, 7:12pm.

Le sigh...I love Hemingway...am I going to be ostracized? Run out of town by cowboys, and/or a mob with pikes? Stealthily hunted down by the tomcat fellow? Should I be nervous?

Settledown there mjm old Hem is not the cat's meeow but he has something to say to us. He was reacting to the romantic excess of a former world. One consolation: he would never have jumped out of an upper-story window to prove his admiration for a writer whose characters, very few of them, had much money and were wormwood to the Russell Square hunta.

Thanks! I feel right at home. Been having a lot of fun reading the many wonderful posts in this group. I'm presently in the throes of preparing an outline for my thesis on the nature of cultural capital in online literary communities, and there have been some truly inspired examples I've found on here. There we go - I just demonstrated some of my own cultural capital.

Hemingway is the bain of my existence, as my partner continues to try and force him and his stilted prose upon me. Moby Dick I read while on a European adventure, and helped me discover a love of whaling lore I never imagined I could have.

If you want some very fine examples of Australian writing, have a look at Breath by Tim Winton, The Boat by Nam Le, and Wanting by Richard Flanagan. Each one of them superb in their own way.

Looking forward to being active in this group!

Ah, welcome, welcome. Looks like we get to initiate you two with a three round bout over Ernest. Well, then, Queensberry rules, and we want a clean, well-lighted fight. Winner gets to fight the bull. And, yes, plenty of bull about.

131 maryjanemanolos

I love Hemingway. I continue to love him. I have been slapped around repeatedly by friend and foe here but I remain unrepentant. I have heard from a Great One that Hemingway is Dumb. H. does have a great many faults, no doubt. His machoism is offputting to a great many. He is uneven. But I believe he also possessed genius. Many of the Nick Adams stories are examples of perfection in the short story form.

You will still feel at home in this group and we will allow no one to run us out!

>135 - a resolution with no punches thrown? Come on. What kind of Hemingway fan are you?

On a mildly more serious note, after reading The Garden of Eden, I found the rest of Hemingway better, and went from a Hemingway hater to one who could read it without unpleasant incident. And I do see his poetic voice, even if it is a bit of a monotone one.

A punch must be thrown? All right then, here it is:

"Is dying hard, Daddy?"
"No, I think it is pretty easy, Nick. It all depends.'

They were seated in the boat, Nick in the stern, his father rowing. The sun was coming up over the hills. A bass jumped, making a circle in the water. Nick trailed his hand in the water. It felt warm in the sharp chill of the morning.

In the early morning on the lake sitting in the stern of the boat with his father rowing, he felt quite sure he would never die.

The conclusion of 'Indian Camp'.

So is that the best he's got? I mean, it's sweet, perfectly readable, not a bad cadence at all, and probably makes sense in context. Better than most commercial writers, certainly.

But I'm trying to figure out whether to counter with one of the better stretches of the Octopus or some nice, clean language from one of Faulkner's mysteries. Either way I'm pulling the punches.

So I am going to have to obfuscate now???

Even on Olympus there is a whole pantheon of gods. There is Zeus, and then there is Demeter or Ares. They would not pit themselves against Zeus.

No point in you bringing out any lines from Faulkner. I throw in the towel. Faulkner wins.

Now Norris. that is a cheap crack not worthy of you. I took a thirty second glance at that masterpiece and will not spend any more time. He does not make it into the Olympian conversation, IMHO.

OK, OK, we'll leave Norris down on earth tilling the wheat fields (where he wants to be, anyways), while we let Ernest clean Zeus/Faulkner's spittoon up in Olympus.

Fight's over. Let's head to the Salon Saloon for a drink.

Message edited by its author, Nov 6, 2009, 10:45am.

Gore for Myra !

Thank you for Hemingway !

Thank you for letting us hold a 1000 kg Marlin on a thread in the gulf of mexico

Thank you for pinpointing to us that frozen leopard on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro

thank you for the bullet holes in the ceiling of the Bar of the Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi

thanks for the boozing and the brawling

and thank you mister Hemingway for taking care of the cats in cuba

Hemingway is great !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Camus sucks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Who is An Raynd ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Ernest went fishing
While Ayn Rand was knitting
And fought the fascist Falange

He wrote good books
About women with looks
And all the good men gone wrong

While Rand ran away
To Hollywood to play
And didn't write well but wrote long

OK, someone help me finish. What can I say about Camus that rhymes with "long".

Message edited by its author, Nov 6, 2009, 12:05pm.

Although I was the dirty bird that suggested Hemingway's inclusion on "The List" (viva "The Hills Are Like White Elephants") I will say Vote Gore for Myra! and be done with it. (Ah, does only seeing the movie count?)

"While Rand ran away
To Hollywood to play
And didn't write well but wrote long"
Camus penned The Plague
A classic for every age
Despite Mac's belittling: Mac is wrong!

#145 A_musing: What can I say about Camus that rhymes with "long".

Depends on how blue you wanna go. :)

While rand ran away
to Hollywood to play
And didn't write well but wrote long,

Camus held the fort,
"Maman, elle est morte"
With that old existentialist song.

Hm. I am not a poet.

I like it, Anna. Mine was obscene and censored. But yours is much better.

My first draft had Hemingway writing about "good men sans _ong" - it's hard to avoid the blue sometimes.

I think we're getting somewhere here.

Just so long as its full of Mac and cheese.

146 No, the movie doesn't do justice to the book. Myra's voice is what makes the book so great.

talk the hand because the face ain't listening

Well, um, back to welcoming new members: hi, LisaCurcio! We're glad to have you here. And your puppies are just so cute, I wanna give 'em a little squeeze! Is the one nearest us in the picture a Westie? My sister has a Westie--at 14, he's a cute little old man dog.

# 102 Oh no! I’m so sorry! I missed my welcome! It’s just that what with exams and assignments and deadlines I’ve been really distracted for the past few months and it’s only getting worse! Anyway, thank you for welcoming me!

And as for hating The Time Traveler’s Wife go to my 50 Book Challenge thread for my full rant,

http://www.librarything.com/topic/72408

or read my review,

http://www.librarything.com/work/3067/re...

and find out why I do so!

"If I could time travel and stop my three days younger self from reading this book, I would. The plot summaries on various web sites (which is one of the things that got me interested in this book in the first place) are actually better than the real narrative.

And the sex scenes! Oh the dreadful sex scenes and the use of appalling words to describe them! Words that actually made me cringe"!

Hysterical Porua! Thank you for starting my morning off right w/your wonderful rant!

#157 You are so welcome! I'm glad that you’ve enjoyed my rant. At least some good came out of my reading that awful mess!

#155--Thanks for the welcome. Actually, both of the dogs are Westies and they are only 2 now. Not siblings, but from rescue at the same time. We had one that lived to 16--wonderful dogs.

And I joined partly because of you, Medellia, and "Les Mis"! I lurk in your Club Read thread. Tracked down the Modern Library, unabridged, Wilbour translation and I am so looking forward to December 1.

Not much of a poster, but lurking in the Salon is the one of the best entertainments of the day--and you all add to the TBR pile, too.

Lisa--How nice to know! You have a great read ahead of you.

Aren't these latest "top 10" threads just too delicious? Dangerous for my pocketbook, I'm sure, but the fun I'm having creating a wishlist, ah!

117: EnriqueFreeque - Just noticed the really nice welcome you posted here. Thanks. I've only been lurking here — I've been too busy trying to keep up to actually post anything. I did pick up a copy of Les Miserables Friday...

>#159;
Hi Lisa. Did you end up having to order the "mass market" paper back of Les Miserables? I don't want a hardback but cannot find a trade paperback anywhere. I think the Wilbour translation is the only unabridged one.

And to you (you know who you are) no roaming in and out of the room, rolling your eyes and going "wow".

thanx,
belva

I promise no eye rolling or going wow from these parts, but I may indeed wander in and out of the room. Sometimes I'm just lost...

I downloaded mine, and am going to listen to Les Mis rather than read it. 66 hours. I'm preparing for a charity bicycle ride and will listen while on a stationery bicycle in a room full of sweaty people - I figure I'll be pretty miserable.

OK, now YOU stop rolling your eyes at me. I saw that.

I love L.T. Hey, did you really know I was talking about you, oh yeah-----------I guess I did call you an amusing smartarse, didn't I? And I do understand; sometimes I get lost as well. Tee hee.
What is the charity you are riding for? Duhd I end that sentence with a preposition? Oh, well. St. Richard says that they changed that rule.
belva

Brain tumor research. I have a relative fighting the battle now. The ride isn't for 6 months, but I'm about to start the prep.

That is very important research. They know so little about the brain.
My niece is recovering from a (given a 3 per cent chance to even live) brain injury and it is beginning to look as if she may make an almost complete recovery. From removal of a 2 inch square section of her brain and losing almost a third of her skullcap in the injury, the coma, the "meeting" (no hope, no hope) to now walking with a walker, making noises and attempting to talk, writing random words, laughing, flipping her doctor off.....................I could write a book and if you go back through my 50 book challenge, you will probably find one in my Chrissy updates.
But, please....now or later....P.M. me the info and I will pledge or send you a donation for your hard work and your ride for that very worthy cause.
I wish your family member a complete recovery and I know that miracles do happen. I also know that when things like this happen it is not just to the patient, but to the entire family and all their loved ones, even communities. Another one for my evergrowing list.
Good luck to you as you prepare for your "battle" against brain tumors.
big hug,
belva

Wow, Belva, good luck to your niece! That's so great that she's come so far along the road to recovery. Thoughts and wishes to you all.

Le Salon has now passed the Harry Potter group for activity here at LT. Where are your royalty checks, Freeque?

#162--Belva,

Sorry, it was a hardcover and I found it at--believe it or not--Borders. The paperbacks were the new translation that has been pretty universally panned. It is a heavy stinking book, but I just won't be carrying it anywhere :-).

Lisa

168> Yeah that's something (if only for one day, I bet). Must've been a slow day for Hogwarts. Proverbial check's in the mail I presume ;(

So, this is the gathering place. I guess I took a wrong turn about seven forums back.

Well I jumped out of the salon a few months ago, but it is just too irresistable. I've found myself lurking about quite a bit lately.

So, I've jumped back in!

Yay!

Welcome again, Sandydog1. I've been meaning to drop by your profile and tell you that I attempted to buy a copy of The New Lifetime Reading Plan. Love books about books! I say "attempted" because I have apparently, for the first time, been ripped off by an Amazon seller. I'll get that book yet!

Welcome, Sandy. Are you the one we've been waiting for?

Silly A_musing. We are the ones we've been waiting for.

Glad you're back too Sandydog! Sandydog's one of the original salonistas, or, rather, BTUers from The Quest for the Last Page of Ulysses days.

Did you finish Ulysses Sandydog1? Don't mean to put you on the spot...I didn't finish it myself. And I'm proud that I didn't too.

And another new member today: Allie_Mag_79. Another Austen, Brontë (both Charlotte and Emily), and Forster fan--I like. Welcome!

Welcome Allie! (Wow, this salon enthusiasm is contagious...)

Yes, EF, I did finish Ulysses. Mrs. Marian Bloom's concluding monologue was a bit of a challenge. But I went back to my old crutch (an audio version) and wouldn't you know, that chapter turned into a perfectly understandable internal conversation?

I'm a Bronte and Foster fan meself. Speaking of dysfunctional family stories, I'm currently reading The Brothers Karamazov.

177 and 179: I thought there were many chapters much more difficult to get through than Mrs. Bloom's monologue. In fact her monologue was like a dessert after a dinner filled with strange food I was not very familiar with. Skip some of the other chapters and read it!

Yea! A cohort who likes audiobook crutches.

Sometimes I don't walk at all, just swing on two crutches.

Unbeknownst to anyone, while the salon was doing its Ulysses thing and I wasn't paying attention, I was listening to Ulysses in audio book form (I haven't yet finished, but will some day). I've been contemplating going back and inserting comments in all of the threads as if I were there at the time.

Welcome to Chanale!!

She's got a kitten on her profile page - could she have been lured in by our puppies and kittens thread?

So that's what it is. Bait!

Welcome to all the new peeps!

Welcome to Le Salon, freckles1987. You've joined us at a very troubled time in our history, so glancing through the delectable photos in your wonderful blog - http://phimberly.blogspot.com/ - is welcome relief!

How long has your dog had it's drivers license?

Yes, welcome freckles, but Chuck is WAY TOO young to be driving!

Welcome to joltbklyn. I'm all in favor of giving Bklyn a big jolt!

Yes, joltbklyn is my best friend. I'm glad she's here! We share enough books that you'd think we are married or live together or something..

Message edited by its author, Nov 15, 2009, 8:49pm.

Thank you, A_musing and slickdpdx. Must confess that joltbklyn is a nickname left over from a former life. I really should change it to joltpdx after six years here in Oregon. I bought les mis today at Powell's, and I'm looking forward to reading it.

I was convinced he was a sock puppet. I publicly "denounced" him as a sock puppet! And did so w/out any concrete evidence to support my claim, just going on a hunch. Oh he possibly still could be a puppet, but he'd have to be very very crafty if indeed he were one.

I do apologize, Third_Cheek, for falsely accusing you of vile sock puppetry. There's no excuse for what I did, but let me provide one anyway.

See, having a sock puppet genetic predisposition myself, I possess an innate understanding of sock puppet psychology and practice. I believe it takes a sock puppet to know a sock puppet, and as a, now reformed, sock puppeteer, I thought I had you nailed.

But you're sounding less and less like a sock puppet to me now as the days and weeks go by.

So, with that said, welcome to Le Salon, Third_Cheek!

Vive le SockPuppet, AKA Marionnette Chaussette.

Vive la Revolution! Vive le Dictateur!

Thank you Comrade Polutropos!

Viva Las Vegas!

And welcome to Talbin!

There's been an influx of these people with dog profiles. I think Medellia was on to something with that puppies and kittens thing.

Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome!

180:

You speaketh the truth, anna.

Hey, who wants to spend the next 10 years in the maternity ward, where we could analyze the 30 or so different stylistic forms?

Maybe next time. For now, I'll keep my analyses limited to Me Write Book.

That Me Write Book is a monstrosity, Sandydog! I certainly hope Anna doesn't make a bad decision and decides to pick it up at the library and actually read it. She might review it then, and give glory to Sasquatch when glory to Yeti is due.

>192 Thanks for the welcome, A_musing. I've been lurking for at least a month, drawn by the idea of reading Les Miserables with the group, but now that I've read and reviewed The Hour of the Star (wow - a reread will be coming this week) I figured I should jump into the fray.

Hello to all!

Aw, Enrique, I don't care what Malcolm Gladwell says. There is no cultural evidence that ice cave-phillic hard working Tibetan Yetis are any smarter or better than good ol' indigenous North American, beer swillin', moldy-smellin', Nascar-lovin' Sasquatches.

I thought Sasquatch and Yeti were cousins. Like the Native Americans and the Chinese. Sasquatch followed the Native Americans across the Ice Bridge, searching through their camp sites for beer and jerky.

196, 197> Everybody knows, at least anecdotally, that Sasquatch are wimps and Yetis are real men (and women).

Here's a shout out to Singout, the salon's newest member! And only on LT since Nov. 10th. Welcome to LT too!

Welcome soylentgreen23! Is it possible you have joined us in anticipation of the Les Mis salon read? :)

Le Salon is very pleased to welcome alwaysafutilecloche to the group! alwaysafutilecloche is both a friend of ImNotDedalus and an aficionado of Sylvia Plath, which automatically makes her a friend of the salon's, imo. Welcome alwaysafutilecloche! Say hello to Ded for us when you can. We miss him here.

Message edited by its author, Nov 22, 2009, 1:01pm.

This is a BIG Sunday - three new initiates beyond alwaysafutilecloche.

Welcome to AlexAustin, another in the ranks of LT authors to join here. He has an oldman poem. Eat your heart out, Enrique.

The_bastard is also an LT author, and we can tell from the beginning that he'll be a fun new edition to the salon.

Clunita has been welcome by Todd on her page with a simple post, to wit, "Yo!" Clunita's random books when I looked at her profile included books in three languages (Spanish, French, English)! Clunita, check out the mini-salon Todd has started up focused on Faulkner, but, please, come on back afterwards. Yo!

Message edited by its author, Nov 22, 2009, 4:13pm.

I'd like to welcome copyedit52 (a.k.a., Peter Weissman) a real-live published writer (woohoo!) to le salon. What better gift, I say, could he have given himself on this his birthday, than joining le salon? Happy birthday dude!

Le Salon, as a matter of fact, sometime this weekend, once all the food has sufficiently digested, will be starting what I hope becomes a monthly thread (one writer per month) devoted to spotlighting "real live, underappreciated authors here in LT" - or something like that.

A forum of spontaneous Q&A, laid back interviews, etc. Peter Weissman will be the first featured author. So mark your calendars, sometime this weekend. Those who won't be reading Les Mis in Dec. might want to chew the fat some with Peter Weissman.

Le Salon is also very pleased to welcome MoiraStirling!

Check out this quote from MoiraStirling's profile: "My books are my most prized possessions..."

Here here! I think a few of us around here can relate to that, eh?

Uh, Medellia (do hope you're feeling better) but have you met Moira? - she plays the cello!

Hey Enrique,

the Empire she groweth!

Vive le Dictateur! (And remember to watch your back LOL)

Cheers, all.
Here's to witty banter and eye-opening discussion!

New members over Thanksgiving!

>Let's welcome another musician to le salon, wflooter480! Listen, wflooter480, we're more than just some run-of-the-mill online group (we're family... amen everyone?!) so, if you need support and encouragement to get that tattoo, we're here for you!

>from London, let us welcome another blessed Brit, stephen-boldre. And with stephen-boldre now among us, we also have yet another Austenite in our glorious midst. Stephen, or anyone from Britain, when oh when is Prince William going to pop the question and put this ridiculous they're-on-they're-off business to bed?!

>and new both to LT and le salon, welcome winterpere! I do long to say more about you winterpere, but I'll wait till you've had time to acclimate to your new environs....

Long-time lurker, loving the back and forth among some very smart and witty people. I'm joining to participate in the group reads, and looking forward to it.

Very glad you've joined us, arubabookwoman!

Hi Debroah;
I am really glad you are here. The group reads here are awesome and my world has grown considerably the past few months since I have been here. This group reads books and authors I have never even heard of so even at 62, I am still growing up. Love it.
hugs,
belva

Message edited by its author, Nov 28, 2009, 5:58pm.

You are an inspiration, Belva, setting an awesome example that one's literary education (or education just in general) never need come to an end as long as you look to keep growing and learning. Your enthusiasm is contagious!

I do what I can.
belva

Wow! EnriqueFreeque, thanks for the warm welcome. I have been lurking in the shadows for some time now and finally decided to join this amusing and very interesting group. I am very much looking forward to reading Les Mis and to making many witty and charming friends here in the group. This is truly a group after my own heart!

I may very well need the support to get that tattoo!

I've always wanted to read les mis and excited to start it as soon as I finish Eleanor Rigby. Thanks for the warm welcome!

anytime winterpere wflooter480.

Let's also welcome FinanceMinister, also relatively new to LT.

I would like to welcome my friend TonyH to the group. I've been hanging out at his reading threads for some time now. He's nibbling away at Infinite Jest and is also reading Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.

Yes, welcome indeed TonyH! Lovely sunset logo you've got there. And if you're friends w/Medellia & tomcat, you're certainly a friend of the salon.

TonyH, I see that you're also a Mary Oliver devotee. Excellent! Welcome to the Salon.

saphi has just joined le salon so let's be sure and welcome her and make her feel both at home here and as a brand new member to LT.

Glad you found us saphi!

Welcome to le salon, delbertmills!

I absolutely love that you're a volunteer w/IRIS and that you read stuff over the radio for the visually impaired. That is so cool! And I'm with you on having that dream of opening a small cluttered bookstore someday.

Glad you found us and hope you like it here.

Hey, thanks Medellia for linking me to this -- and thank you for the welcome and Enrique and theaelizabet too (yes always good to meet other Oliver fans). I'm looking forward to some of the reads you've set up - especially Infinite Jest (it should help me get on with the last 500 pages or so), the Proust (another I have unfinished) and some of the shorts, have Paradise Lost caling to me from the shelf recently.

Two blank messages in a row!! Dare I attempt a post? Will it be eaten by the LTMonster lurking below my left wrist? Only one way to find out!

My copies of Les Miserables, Paradise Lost, and Miss Lonelyhearts arrived today.

I am digging into Les Mis as soon as I hang up and will meet others over in that corner of the Salon.

Welcome to le salon Celine! Celine-dupont is French!

Welcome to le salon Mr. Durick!

Also, let's welcome Mark to le salon. Mark has great taste in literature. How do I know this? Because four of the last six books he's entered, I own. That's how. Thanks for joining, Mark!

Joining us from Hemlock, NY, is....hemlockgang! If you're a dog lover, be sure and click on "larger" below her logo.

I can't believe, hemlockgang, that we share over 400 volumes and yet I can't recall ever having bumped into you around these LT parts. Very delighted to have you on board, and hope you'll enjoy your stay....

Henri, I have a philippine women in my inbox begging for money. As my esteemed leader, can you tell me what to do ?

she says :

Hello Dear Friend,
I'm sending you a special greeting which I hope it will meet you in good health, I am Mrs Gloria Pelaez a complete citizen of philippines,There is something i will like you to handle with faith and trust, please get back to me for more details. for more details
contact me via this Email: mrsgloriapz1@sify.com ,

Waiting to hear from you soon.
Thanks And God Bless You.
Mrs Gloria.

Message edited by its author, Dec 20, 2009, 1:47am.

Notify Tim Spalding. She says she's from the Phillipines, and yet she's actually operating out of Cote 'd Ivorie, Africa. I know this because she sent me the same message and because I have a Visitor tracking-thing, I know she's lying when she says she's from the Phillipines.

THIS IS COMPLETE, OUTRIGHT FRAUD, AND NO ONE SHOULD EITHER RESPOND TO HER OR SEND HER ANYTHING.

I made the mistake of deleting her post before notifying Tim. I would let Tim know of this immediately. I really hope no one falls for this operation's ruse.

I had the same message. Revenge of the Pinoy Spammers!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm glad she is a complete citizen of the Phillipines, and not just a small bit of one.

229>

Your comment made me think of Amos Tutuola's Complete Gentleman in The Palm-Wine Drinkard. For those of you who do not know who I am talking about, go forth and read this book of my childhood! Alternately, being lazy, hear me and know that the Complete Gentleman is neither Complete nor a Gentleman, being in fact a mean-spirited skull who leases all his body parts from various forest-dwellers.

The skull as complete gentleman!! One of my favorite parables. I loved The Palm-Wine Drinkard.

I was so completely obsessed with that book as a child - that and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. It's funny because as a preteen I thought these books were totally sexy and now I come across childhood annotations and just go, WHAT???? I must have been a prepubescent sadomasochist because I was especially excited about the episode in the red town where the narrator and his wife get tortured by having all their hair crudely shaved off/peppered/set on fire and then all the little kids play hopscotch on their heads after they are buried up to their neck and pissed upon. (Why do I remember this in such detail?) I also have an old copy of Ulysses that is absolutely pristine except for the Circe chapter, which, while thankfully devoid of strange stains, has clearly been well loved.

Go figure.

Lolol. Here my preteen friends and I thought we were totally wild with our trashy bodice-ripper novel that we passed around (the sexy bits were highlighted, of course).

232, 233> Woohoo you two!!

There's this bit in Erica Jong's Fear of Flying about the narrator's adolescence where she and her friends are just passing around this typewriter and writing an erotic story together. It's a funny passage - I think one of the kids was especially fond of the phrase "paroxysms of passion" which felt very true to life for me - but reminded me of exactly how secretly uptight and paranoid I was circa middle school. I would write vaguely pornographic stories and then I would rip them up and eat them because I was so scared that someone would find out. "Oh my god!!! Look at that little girl writing crappy love stories!!! Quick, put her in a reform school!" If you had told the preteen me that you and your adolescent friends were (gasp!) actually SHARING the bodice-rippers with each other, I probably would have fainted, if only so that I couldn't be incriminated when Authority came to cart you away to juvie.

234: LOL. If this was a porn film, you could cue the house music any moment now!

I'm dying amaranthic! Perhaps you might regale us with an excerpt of your middle school "paroxysms of passion" writing, inspired by Erica Jong?

LOL ;-)

Well, because I was soooo paranoid that someone might know I was what I was up to, I managed to destroy almost everything racy. The remaining fragments are a feat of disguise and camouflage if I do say so myself, sounding pretty much like your average piece of shitty purple teenager emo poetry:

You cry black tears into
the deep dark Abyss
of my writhing soul
(Black like My heart)
i watch from darkness
as your life Leaves you
it is my turn, to Cry

Now replace "soul" with "vagina."

Woo-Hoooooooo

Although thankfully I left that particular stage of my life far behind, I often apply the same "decoding" process when reading others' writing.

At times he regarded the wounded soldiers in an envious way. He conceived persons with torn bodies to be peculiarly happy. He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage.

If you just learn a single trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... until you climb inside of his skin.

etc.

I'm sure many of us do this but I am a loud laugher and have gotten kicked out of libraries before for such juvenile antics.

(apologies to anyone who was offended by my candor)

Message edited by its author, Yesterday, 11:55pm.