dann@wxlvax.UUCP (Dan Neiman) (07/19/83)
This news group has been awfully quiet as of late... Anyone in the mood for some lightweight summer reading? You could try something by Thorne Smith. He did Topper, The Stray Lamb, Turnabout, Rain in the Doorway, Did She Fall? and so on. Most of these are fantasies of some sort of another, following the basic pattern of staid incredibly normal businessman is jolted out of his conformist routine by some odd phenomena, usually with the aid of an attractive and uninhibited young lady. The books were written somewhere around 1935 (at a guess). Reasonably good fun. About the same era, P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves books make for a reasonably well-spent evening. These authors be taken in fairly small doses. Dann
jdd@allegra.UUCP (07/20/83)
From wxlvax!dann Wed Dec 31 19:00:00 1969
Newsgroups: net.books
Subject: Summer Reading
... P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves books make for a reasonably
well-spent evening.
These authors be taken in fairly small doses.
Dann
The Jeeves novels and stories would make for a \large number/ of well-spent
evenings! But why take them in small doses? Pig out on them! Read them
all! No sooner put down one than read another! Wodehouse lived until his
late nineties and was evidently typing the whole time. When you finish the
Jeeves cycle you can start on the exploits at Blandings, and then...
Cheers,
John ("Bertie Wooster Is My Hero") DeTreville
Bell Labs, Murray Hillthomas@utah-gr.UUCP (Spencer W. Thomas) (07/23/83)
Wodehouse: One of the first Wodehouse books I ever read had a blurb about the author on the back which said "P.G. Wodehouse is 87 years old and has written about a million books. Or else, he is about a million years old and has written 87 books. Either way, the figures are amazing." Read "Leave it to Psmith". I think it is one of his best. In Psmith, you can see the beginnings of a number of future Wodehouse characters, including Jeeves. I also recently read (but can't remember the author or exact title), a "biography" of Jeeves. It was quite good, but is best read AFTER you have devoured a large amount of Wodehouse, or you will miss a lot of the references. =Spencer
and@ariel.UUCP (R.ANDERSON) (07/29/83)
Yes, Topper is great. When it first came out as a move, I sat thru every performance shown in my local theater. And enjoyed it more each time. Wodehouse and Thorne Smith run neck and neck. Richard Anderson
hope@gatech.UUCP (08/21/83)
If you want a good, thought-provoking, short book, try Hermann Hesse's
"Demian". Can anyone recommend any other good Hesse books?
Ted
--
Theodore Hope
CSNet: Hope @ GaTech ARPA: Hope.GaTech @ UDel-Relay
uucp: ...!{sb1,allegra,ut-ngp}!gatech!hope
...!duke!mcnc!msdc!gatech!hopeka@spanky.UUCP (08/23/83)
_T_h_e_ _G_l_a_s_s_ _B_e_a_d_ _G_a_m_e is my favorite of Herman Hesse's books. Kenneth Almquist
sts@ssc-vax.UUCP (Stanley T Shebs) (08/24/83)
*All* of them are good, or at least, if you liked one, you'll like the others. The most impressive are "Siddhartha", "Steppenwolf", "Narcissus and Goldmund", and the greatest of all: "Magister Ludi". After reading it, all I could do was sit there. Several years later, it still gives me shivers to think about it. No, it's not a dice'em and slice'em, stan the leprechaun hack ssc-vax!sts (soon utah-cs)
myers@uwvax.ARPA (Jeff Myers) (08/24/83)
While I found *Demian* thought provoking, I would recommend it to no one other than Hesse fans. The book starts out well, looking like it will go somewhere interesting, only to conclude with "We must submit to what our nation's fate brings our way." If you don't mind depressing yet thought provoking books, read *Steppenwolf*. When reading Hesse, always remember to take him with a grain of salt. Jeff Myers ...seismo!uwvax!myers
dave@lsuc.UUCP (08/24/83)
I just finished reading "XPD", by Len Deighton. Kept me up
till 5 a.m. last night, actually. Quite an entertaining spy
story. It doesn't end with a tremendous bang, but there's enough
complication in the middle to make it pretty good.
Dave Sherman
--
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