BOOK CLUB

[-Lily-]

It's been a while since we had a book discussion. I have just spent 45 min of my lunch break browsing Books etc. book store depleting my life savings.

 

Has anyone read anything fascinating or insightful lately that they would like to share? I'm constantly looking out for new things to add to my reading list. I mean it could be a book on any topic ( although anything with historical relevance sends thrills down my spine).

 

I will start reading 'Birds Without Wings' by Louis De Bernieres on my tube journey home. Will share when I've finished it. The blurb says its a historical (fictional)tale about Christian/Muslim Turks and how the onset of war will has effected their lives.

 

I await your responses.

[Resistance]

Well i been searching for a new read for a while .. the Metro is to blame, cause i need my dose of it every morning, their Soduku is nice and easy and makes me look clever nooh.

but i read the Rule of Four recently and i must say it was cool compared to the diet of Dan Brown i had last summer.

well next on my list is The Broker .. sorry Grishm just has to be read no matter how predictable it is these days .. then maybe something thriller or code cracking.. am addicted to them now

[-Lily-]

lol@Metro, that paper annoys me, it gives the impression that it's dumb while being informative at the same time, I can never make up my min.

 

I did the whole Dan Brown thing last year too, glad that is over. I was recently gripped by Katherine Slaughter, some chilling stuff. Also if you are into thriller read The Straw Men.

[Resistance]

OK. then i will check out for that book..

well the Metro is fast becoming a bit edotorial for my liking, and yes the publishers are those middle -england racists who Publish Mail and Feedka Standarad, can;t stand those two papers .. but i ignore that fact .. Beside their carton strips are good, Nemi and this Life...

 

oh well now u tempting to get a book on my way home.

 

and when will have a missive a book ecchange thingy .. saves money ... but my problem is i read it and then lose it somewhere in the house ..

[Peplow throb]

Read from broken rib by Nudding Farah, YOU 'll love it.

[Socod_badne]

Jared Diamond's Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs and Steal. He effectively debunks the racial myth often used to explain discrepant human achievements. Why are some civilisations able to conquer, colonise, dominate, excell at warring and inventing powerfull weapons while others are unable to extricate themselves from the rut gravitating them to yesteryears or avert being displaced, colonised or annihilated? His answer is the confluence of contigent historical and geographical factors. At painstaking lengths he shows how ALL successful civilisations had certain advantages over others. What ever your taste, it's thoroughly good read.

[Viking]

WaTerLily,

If you want history then I'd recommed Muqaddimah by the father of Sociology and Sciences of History ibn Khaldun because he does more that just relay historical events. He sees patterns in civilisations and looks closely at their conception and their inevitable downfall. A long but good read. I'd also recommend Cultural Forces in Word Politics by Prof Ali Mazrui. A giften man who gives you a whole different view of the world.

Both are currently available at Waterstones.

[Khayr]

Has any nomad heard of 'LITERARY THEORY'?

 

Literary theory is the theory (or the philosophy) of the interpretation of literature and literary criticism. Its history begins with classical Greek poetics and rhetoric and includes, since the 18th century, aesthetics and hermeneutics. In the 20th century, "theory" has become an umbrella term for a variety of scholarly approaches to reading texts, most of which are informed by various strands of Continental philosophy. (In much casual academic discussion in the English-speaking world, the terms "literary theory" and "Continental philosophy" are roughly interchangeable, though there are clear distinctions between the two.)

 

Literary theory and literature

One of the fundamental questions of literary theory is "What is literature?", though many contemporary theorists and literary scholars believe either that the term "literature" is undefinable or that it can potentially refer to any use of language. Specific theories are distinguished not only by their methods and conclusions, but even by how they define a "text." For some scholars of literature, "texts" means "books belonging to the literary canon". But the principles and methods of literary theory have been applied to non-fiction, popular fiction, film, historical documents, law, advertising, etc., in the related field of cultural studies. In fact, some scholars within cultural studies treat cultural events like fashion, football riots, etc. as "texts" to be interpreted. Taken broadly, then, literary theory can be thought of as the general theory of interpretation.

 

Since theorists of literature often draw on a very heterogeneous tradition of Continental philosophy and the philosophy of language, any classification of their approaches is only an approximation. There are many "schools" or types of literary theory, which take different approaches to understanding texts. Most theorists, even among those listed below, combine methods from more than one of these approaches (for instance, the deconstructive approach of Paul de Man drew on a long tradition of close reading pioneered by the New Critics, and de Man was trained in the European hermeneutic tradition).

 

Broad schools of theory that have historically been important include the New Criticism, formalism, Russian formalism, and structuralism, post-structuralism, Marxism, feminism and French feminism, new historicism, deconstruction, reader-response criticism, and psychoanalytic criticism.

Source

[-Lily-]

Khayr what is your point? Literary theory, yes I know about it I studied for an entire semester (it was compulsory) in my final year. If you are interested in it read Literary Criticism, Norton Anthology volume, it has lots on literary theory from Plato to current day.

[Socod_badne]

Shiekh Kheyr,

 

Are you solipsist?

[Blessed]

Currently reading 'The Road To Mecca' by Muhammed Asad. It's a Jewish converts biography on his journey to Islam, his adventures through the desert, Iran, the Muslim world and the Sauds in the 1930's... Great read..

 

Aparently, he was the first to translate The Quraan into English.

[Castro]

I'm trying to remember my lost Arabic by reading Risalat-al-Ghufran. Intense chronicles of the life and poetry of Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri.

[Dhimbil]

Good recommendations there. Nonetheless, WaTerLily if you want something lighter but not less interesting you should read "illiberal Democracy" by that Indian Sakaria of Newsweek.

[Khayr]

Originally posted by WaTerLily:

Khayr what is your point? Literary theory, yes I know about it I studied for an entire semester (it was compulsory) in my final year. If you are interested in it read Literary Criticism, Norton Anthology volume, it has lots on literary theory from Plato to current day.

I also found this out about continental philosophy/literary theory on Wikipedia

 

One common theme of continental philosophy might be a certain kind of anti-transcendent skepticism, which holds that thought can not be abstracted away from some natural or material preconditions, and also that the philosopher must struggle with this impossibility

Waterlilly,

 

can you help me out as to give me YOUR definition of Literary Theory is. I Am curious as I am learning about it.

 

 

I find it interesting that the books that nomads mentioned, are a reflection of their personality and for some-their values.

[Khayr]

Lately,

 

I've been reading Imam Suyutis' Jami Al Saghir which is a small (10,000) hadith collection.

MashaAllah, what a wonderful work b/c these hadiths are ordered in letters and phrases and not subject matter.

 

 

Waterlilly,

 

I still need your assistance with literary theory.

what is your definition?