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My 'favourite' novel seems to rotate amongst about 10 books, but if I could only read one novel for the rest of my life, it would be a A Prayer for Owen Meany. I don't even know how many times I've read it, but I still enjoy it (and get more out of it) every time.

Part of it is the characters. I like 'offbeat', and he certainly writes memorable, 'different' characters. But even though his characters are usually more than a little bit odd, they're also very human- they're not one-dimensional, but usually show something about the experience of life, and how to live it. Even when they're otherworldly (as Owen is, to a great extent), they are still firmly grounded in being human.

Themes- A lot of the themes are universal, and things that I've been thinking about for decades- sex, war, religion, fate, friendship, parenting, wealth, child/parent relationships, growing up, etc. One of the things that I love about the book is that as I've matured, I see different things in it. I think that I was in my early 20s when it was published- the way that I've thought about religion/love/sex/parenting has changed considerably over the years, and the novel has more than kept pace with that.

I've always been drawn to the religious aspect of it. Not just about the big questions (Owen as Christ figure, the pastors/priests in the book, pre-destination etc), but I've got a very strong connection to John Wheelwright's practice of his religion. Even though I've been an atheist for a long time, I grew up with the type of Anglicanism that he practices, and the forms and rituals are still very comfortable for me. Johnny could be any number of the 'neuter' older men that I would see in our church every week. And a good number of my friends went to Bishop Strachan, so there's that :-)

And while I've heard some younger readers say that the Vietnam aspect doesn't do anything for them, it's pretty integral to the novel for me. At that point (late 80s) there was a huge amount of Vietnam discussion going on where I live- not only constant new revelations about the war, but discussions about draft dodgers (in the late 80s in Canada there were questions/discussions going on about the draft dodgers who had come here from the U.S., as well as about govt. responsibility/transparency), and because it was the time that Reagan/Mulroney/Thatcher and their cronies were all going batshit crazy while still being extremely popular, a lot of the political/moral/military questions of the day were being asked through the filter of Vietnam, rather than head-on.

The humour- aside from all of the constant funny absurdities, the Nativity Play scene is one of the funniest things that I've ever read. It still puts me on the floor every time I read it.

The plotting. You don't really get the intricacies of the plot until the last few pages, where everything comes together brilliantly. It's a fun book just to sit down and read, but once you get to the end, you realize that there's not a wasted scene/event in the book- everything leads up to the last section. Even the parts that seemed extraneous or rambling lead directly to the last few pages- while I don't actually believe in predestination or fate, it's the one book that I always go back to if I want to believe for a while that everything happens for a reason.

This week I finished the first book in the Hyperion series. Solid reading experience was loving all the stories that the travelers were telling. The only thing is now I don't really know if I want to continue the series right away, which is fine maybe I will later. As a stand alone story it isn't the strongest which makes me want to continue because everything in this book is basically background information for the series ahead. I don't really know why I picked it up because I already knew I didn't want to be wrapped up in a long series, but I did and I'm glad I did. But I gotta say I love the exotic planets in this book there is a lot beauty in these words.

Another little note is that this was the longest book I have read on my kindle I have only been using the thing for shorter books because I was still getting used to it. But gotta say I love that damn device.

O.K. on to the book I finished this morning just so I could talk about it at length Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them. Alright I stumbled along this book on amazon and was drawn in by the names of the chapters, take a look inside the book on the amazon page and look at the table of contents. Simple concepts like words and sentences start the thing off and it moves into the bigger concepts of literature later. This really drew me in I thought about how in my high school AP English class we talked about the more "hidden meanings" in the books we were reading and just thinking how I would have never have picked up on that and how much I must miss in literature.

So I bought the book and gotta say I feel like a better reader now, well I haven't read anything since I finished it but still. She goes in detail about the subject of each chapter and looks at lots and lots of examples so be prepared to read lots passages from lots of books....lots. Then she dissects them and brings to light those things I would have missed. After doing this time and time again I feel like I now know what to look for. Really if you want to make your reading comprehension better or feel like you are missing something when it comes to reading I recommend the shit out of this book. Just be ready to learn when you pick it up it isn't dense by any means but you do have to get into a bit of a student mindset to get into it. Also there is a little list at the back of "books to read immediately" I indulged myself and bought three of them in the physical format, I can't wait to read them.

I didn't get this book for the writing insights, not my thing, I do feel that it would have benefited me if I was a writer but I'm sure there are better things to learn from for writers. But as a non-writer I feel like if I started now I would have a better idea of what to do with my words then I would have before I read this book.

You don't need to know Russian history to love and learn from Dostoevsky.

I agree that the Pevear and Volokhonsky translations are the best.

If you do want to read Russian history I recommend:

The Icon and the Axe is truly foundational, you have to read this book if you want to understand Russia and join the conversation about Russian history

Massie's biography of Peter the Great is one of the best books I've ever read. Reads like a novel, amazing story of Russia's move from a medieval/dark ages mentality to an enlightenment/scientific mindset. His bio of Catherine is also good--but his Peter is a classic across disciplines.

This is the best recent biography of Stalin.

Happy reading. Russian history is a hole you go into and don't easily come out. So much there, so interesting, so horrifying, so engrossing. American history is all about optimism (from the the non-native perspective). Russian history is all about suffering--from every perspective.

Have you read How to Read Literature Like a Professor? I wonder how it compares. I know, for example, it doesn't take a historical perspective, and might not even count as Literary Criticism at all...

I know little about literary criticism, but I would be interested in learning - did you learn about it in school?

> On the whole I'd say it's great and I've really gotten something out of it.

That's great, I will have to check it out.

Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures, by Walter Moers. Available in the original German too. Absolutely one of the most startlingly creative and fun stories I've ever read.

Read a few others by him too, The City of Dreaming Books is similarly fantastic, as was The Alchemaster's Apprentice.

Non mobile link www.amazon.com/White-Noise-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe/dp/0143105981/

I've not heard of White Noise before now but the summary on Amazon sounds interesting to say the least

I used Terrence Killeen's Ulysses Unbound during a recent reading and found it to be very helpful. It is structured in that each chapter is given a plot summary, along with it's Odyssey parallel, as well as a stylistic analysis and a more general, overall discussion, topped off with historical notes and a glossary of the more obscure terms employed by Joyce (of which there are many, particularly for non-Irish readers). Everything you need, really.