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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Susan47 on February 12, 2005, at 1:18:04
Do you have any writers you like to read, people who give you hope or cheer consistently when you're feeling down? Comfort writers?
I have two comfort writers.
One is Gerald Durrell, the naturalist and writer. He wrote a "My Family and Other Animals" - I better find it and re-read bits. Each chapter is its own story. I need to find more comfort writers, new ones. Anybody have any suggestion? I can't handle cruelty or violence in comfort reading. Newspapers have to stay away, haven't read a newspaper properly for years. Do read a couple of literary papers once in a while, when I have the concentration. I like the New York Review of Books, also the London Review but sometimes that's a bit too sloggy for my mind.
So, comfort writers, anyone? Come on, please?
Posted by smokeymadison on February 12, 2005, at 1:18:04
In reply to Writers who Cheer me, Writers who Calm me, posted by Susan47 on February 9, 2005, at 22:28:49
i love Gabriel Garcia Marquez. i get caught up in the world he creates and totally forget about my own. it is beautiful writing. i suggest "One Hundred Years of Solitude" or "Of Love and Other Demons" like i said, it is comforting in the sense that the worlds he create are beautiful and bold and full of life. you might like them.
SM
Posted by Susan47 on February 12, 2005, at 1:18:04
In reply to Re: Writers who Cheer me, Writers who Calm me, posted by smokeymadison on February 10, 2005, at 0:11:12
Yes, I love Isabel Allende but I've never been able to get into Marquez, I don't think I'm smart enough, I don't have enough background or something. Mind you I haven't tried him for several years, I think he's on one of my shelves, I should look him up. My mind right now just can't take that kind of depth, other than in small doses, story material. Ew, I like Alice Munro, she's a comfort.
Posted by smokeymadison on February 12, 2005, at 1:18:04
In reply to Re: Writers who Cheer me, Writers who Calm me, posted by Susan47 on February 10, 2005, at 0:36:45
ok. i know what you mean about not being able to get into long, complex stories right now. i can't concentrate enough to read for than 40 pages at a time. so i will make another suggestion. how about Madeleine L'Engle? technically, they are listed as teen books, but they are wonderful to read. My favorites include "A Ring of Endless Light", "A Wrinkle in Time", and "A Wind in the Door".
Posted by sunny10 on February 12, 2005, at 1:18:04
In reply to Re: Writers who Cheer me, Writers who Calm me, posted by Susan47 on February 10, 2005, at 0:36:45
I read too much to stick to a favorite writer. They couldn't possibly write fast enough to keep me comforted!
I usually go to the library once a week or so, and pick up seven or eight books from the "new fiction" section. I choose them depending on what's written on the flyleaf. If I particularly enjoy one, the next week I'll look for other books written by the same author on the regular fiction shelves.
Don't know if that helps- it sure helps me....
Posted by Susan47 on February 12, 2005, at 1:18:04
In reply to Re: Writers who Cheer me, Writers who Calm me, posted by smokeymadison on February 10, 2005, at 9:25:15
I have "A Wrinkle in Time" I've read it but now I see it's time to read it to my children, and if they like it, the others as well. Thank-you for the suggestion ...
Posted by Gabbi-x-2 on February 12, 2005, at 1:18:05
In reply to Re: Writers who Cheer me, Writers who Calm me, posted by Susan47 on February 10, 2005, at 13:40:57
> I have "A Wrinkle in Time" I've read it but now I see it's time to read it to my children, and if they like it, the others as well. Thank-you for the suggestion ...
If you enjoy that type of complex fantasy
I think you'd love "The Golden Compass" by
Phillip Pullman, even when I was very depressed
I couldn't put that book down. There are two other books in the series, I'd picked it up at a friends house and she actually warned me not to start it if I didn't have the following books because I'd *have* to get them, she was right.I think though, just a hunch, you'd really like " A natural history of love" Diane Ackerman It's non-fiction, but her prose is so beautiful so rich, it's poetic science.
There are chapters on the changing ideals of love in different societies, the nature of obsessions, fantasies, anecdotes about famous lovers, almost any facet of love/romance you can think of. It's fascinating and comforting because it makes you realize that nothing you're going through hasn't been felt by someone before, almost to the final nerve ending.
This is probably going to get re-directed to the book board, you may get some ideas there too.
Posted by Susan47 on February 12, 2005, at 1:18:05
In reply to Re: Writers who Cheer me, Writers who Calm me » Susan47, posted by Gabbi-x-2 on February 10, 2005, at 16:51:02
I don't think it will necessarily get re-directed unless we call attention to that. I have the Golden Compass here, actually, my children haven't been interested in it yet so I'm waiting for that to develop, I really want to read it aloud. My children and others tell me I'm very good at reading aloud, and I do love to engage in that. It's great fun to create with my voice, I love it.
Thanks for the suggestions ...
Posted by sunny10 on February 12, 2005, at 1:18:42
In reply to Re: Writers who Cheer me, Writers who Calm me, posted by Susan47 on February 11, 2005, at 1:32:42
yes, I loved the Golden Compass! I have the third, but am waiting to get my hands on the second one so I don't read them out of order!!
Posted by Gabbi-x-2 on February 12, 2005, at 1:18:42
In reply to Re: Writers who Cheer me, Writers who Calm me, posted by sunny10 on February 11, 2005, at 15:25:53
> yes, I loved the Golden Compass! I have the third, but am waiting to get my hands on the second one so I don't read them out of order!!
It was so good to be able to be engrossed in a book again! Before then I hadn't been able to concentrate on anything but books on depression.
I read it during the height of the Harry Potter frenzy (before the movie) and I tried to read Harry Potter also but it just didn't have the same effect. Unfortunately what goes up must come down, and I suffered from post-book depression : (
Posted by NikkiT2 on February 12, 2005, at 15:28:14
In reply to Re: Writers who Cheer me, Writers who Calm me » sunny10, posted by Gabbi-x-2 on February 11, 2005, at 16:29:16
*giggles* This is my specialist subject!!!
The books are amazing in my opinion (The first is "Northern Lights" in the UK, not the Golden Compass, and I hate that they changed its name for the US market, especially as the aletheometer isn't a compass!). I saw the plays it has been adpated into last year, and they are also superb.. Unfortunately i couldn't afford tickets to see them this year, but I am going to 5 talks being held in the theatre. The one I am looking forward to most, in April, is Philip Pullman and the previous Arch Bishop of Canterbury giving a talk on the religious aspect of the books.
The first one is next week with the guy hwo adapted the books into the play.I'm a slightly Pullman obsessed too.. though I didn't have a good experience at the reading / signing I went to last year with him.. but that was mainly down to an anxiety attack.
I love the art work he did for the books.. the wood cut pictures. I have two t-shirts with some of them on which I live in and must buy replacements of!!
They really are the most remarkably written books, and the under lying theme left me with so much to ponder.. so many things matched my beliefs who clarified them for me.
I've read alot of Pullmans other books since and they're all wonderfully written. the Sally Lockhart series is great too.. And even the ones for younger kids are great fun.
Not sure I am looking forward to the film though.. I worry that it just won't match any of my images and feelings surrounding it. And also, turning it onto one film will be tough.. But, you never know, it might work! It all depends on finding some truly talented wonderful child actors.
SUCH a talented man
Nikki
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