From: kamorgan@athena.mit.edu (Keith Morgan)
Subject: Re: Call For Discussion: rec.arts.books.reviewed
Keywords: reviews books
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 18:55:39 GMT

Ron Hogan writes:

>I also support the idea of having a forum for reviews that are
>geared more towards critical appreciation and analysis rather
>than simply being the equivalent of thumbs up and thumbs down.
>The latter is useful in some cases, but I think most of us in
>r.a.b.-- of course, I speak with very little time in the newsgroup--
>care more about literature than that.

	While I wouldn't vote for such a group as Ron proposes I am
curious about the rise of the controversy threads vs. the books
threads. I realize much of the controversial stuff has been
cross-posted and while I do enjoy it (that's why I don't want a new
group) there has been somewhat of a falling off in book discussions
lately. I think of the "funniest books" thread as a good example. I
found many good titles in that thread. So It was in an attempt to get
such a thread going that I posted my "Books for Christmas" inquiry on
Dec. 3rd. All I was doing was asking r.a.b. for your "ten best of the
year" list. To start things off I posted ten personal favorites. Now
"best of" lists are pretty much of a staple at year-end and I thought
that this group, in all its diversity, would produce an interesting
sample. There was only one response which was good since it indicated
the message did get out; however, I remain perplexed. The request was
pretty open-ended, it didn't have to be ten, they didn't have to be
newly published. Perhaps the subject line "Books for Christmas" was
misleading. But in a mood of radical experimentalism I thought I'd
repost the article. Of course, people who aren't interested in
r.a.b.r.m. won't read this far down either - ah well.

Keith

Original Post:
********************************************************************

For rabblistas the holiday season is, I suspect, an interesting
occasion to give, and sometimes receive, books. In the spirit of both
that sentiment and the season I propose a Christmas Books List. All
participants could list ten books that they recommend for holiday
giving or reading. The only requirement being that said books were
read during 1992, although they may have been published at any time
during human history. The list might also be enhanced with a one or
two sentence summary of why the book is recommended. To start the thread
my own recommendations follow. If you think my suggestions stink
please respond with alternatives. 

************************************************************************

1. _All the Pretty Horses_, by Cormac McCarthy. A powerful, evocative
account of coming of age in the South-West; McCarthy's sparse dialogue
and expansive descriptions mesh wonderfully.

2. _Annals of Imperial Rome_, by Tacitus. The horrific and
spell-binding saga of decadent Rome, a story all school-boys should
know. This school-boy, alas, never did.

3. _Desierto_, by Charles Bowden. Spooky tales of strange goings-on in
the Sonora desert, the flora and fauna include witch-doctors, S&L
scamsters, big cats, and sea turtles in white-hot, powerful prose.

4. _Elective Affinities_, by Goethe. The master's mature tale of love
and obsession gathered together with memorable characters and an
interesting theory of why men and women are attracted to each other.

5. _The Ennobling of Democracy_, by Thomas Pangle. Pangle asks if 
the problems of liberal democracy can be alleviated by embracing the
political and philosophical programs of the deconstructionists; his
conclusions may be unsurprising but his analysis of the shortcomings
and hidden assumptions of those theories is striking.

6. _The Last World_, by Christoph Ransmayr. Another r.a.b.
recommendation. A haunting meditation on time and fame complete with a
mythological cast of moderns.

7. _Native Tongue_, by Carl Hiassen. The latest novel from the
funniest writer of murder mysteries, all his works are equally
hilarious. 

8. _The T.E. Lawrence Puzzle_ edited by Stephen Tabachnik. Essays of
varying quality but all worthwhile as they consider the enigma of one of
the twentieth century's most fascinating men. 

9. _The United States of Ambition_, by Alan Ehrenhalt. A lucid and
dispassionate analysis of the changes in the way people now become
politically successful in American politics. Although Ehrenhalt
doesn't spell it out the new state of the Congress seems to be the  
Hobbesian state of nature.       

10. _West of Everything: the Inner Life of Westerns_ by Jane Tompkins.
An interesting exegesis of why Westerns fascinated us and what character
traits were exhibited in the novels and movies of the Western.
Tompkins is especially attractive when she documents how she became
attracted to a genre she was previously disposed to dislike.

--Keith
--
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Keith Morgan		 	|A nice man is a man of nasty ideas.
kamorgan@athena.mit.edu  	|		Jonathan Swift
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Newsgroups: rec.arts.books