THE BEST OF AUGUST

HOMER - ODYSSEY

"Could a man be more self-centered? Why do we revere and praise this guy as a hero? The ONLY reason this book gets any star, is because I love Greek mythology. I thought, like with other classics I'm reading or re-reading as an adult, maybe I can interpret it differently and appreciate it better, whereas I might not have as a teen. Nope. Book sucks. I don't care if it is a classic and the oldest recorded story of man. It is a Mary-sue of wishful thinking and just as I would harshly judge a contemporary piece that replaces good story with fluff, I gladly shuffle this book back under my coffee table, hoping it does a better job of keeping my drinks from sliding to the floor, than it did at entertaining me."


MACHADO DE ASSIS - POSTHUMOUS MEMOIRS OF BRAS CUBAS

"Some say it is a novel but the author, the Brazilian Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1839-1908) says that is is a memoir. However, a memoir is supposed to be fiction. But how could this be fiction if it was written by the protagonist, the Brazilian rich and indolent Bras Cubas after his death? Dead people cannot write a novel"


JOYCE - ULYSSES

"The author did not seem interested in trying to communicate anything to the reader. When I checked Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joyce ) I see that Pound promoted Joyce. I put 2 and 2 together and suspect Joyce is part of the Imagist school and that actually explains why the writing doesn't make sense."


HORACE - ARS POETICA

"Its odd that for the first time physics reflects actual life philosophy (not the college coarse you took to have it look good on your transcripts), and yet people are still hung up on these order systems like morality.

Morality is dead.
Nihilism is dead.
Ethic is dead.

And this is all so obvious with QM and string theory, yet yuppie college grads are so presistent with their dead greeks ... Horace was an idiot people, and it would be best to read him to learn to hate him better."


SALINGER - THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

"I am very open minded when it comes to literature (I even read through Mein Kampf without any objection) but I just hated this book!"

"The things Holden does aren't very realistic, which 16-year-old boy would hire a prostitute in stead of visiting his mum who lives a few blocks further? I think Holden is a sick person"


WEBER - THE PROTESTANT ETHIC AND THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM

"The idea that God brings you economic success (and by extension an omnipresent repression of success for others) is because you are part of his 'elite.' It's a Calvinist principle. They believe in predestination, so basically if you are doing well, it's because God wants you to and that makes it okay. Max Weber actually supported that ridiculous belief in his book."


BALDWIN - GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN

"Maybe this book just was not right for me, but I really would not recommend this to anyone who has a cheerful personality. The reader has to enjoy thinking about and pondering ideas in a book"


AUSTEN - PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

"Ohmigod, have I mentioned that I hate Jane Austen?!? I really, really hate Jane Austen. It took me a year to make it through this book. So much talking about nothing. So much of nothing happening in general. Someone enters a room, someone leaves a room.

A couple of notable scenes: Elizabeth Bennett's snappy comments when Darcy slights her and Darcy's lovelorn letter. Guess what? Both are just as good in films. Honestly, even though I teach English, I firmly believe every Jane Austen book makes for a better movie."