Random books from jwhenderson's library
A Christmas Memory (Modern Library) by Truman Capote
For the Love of Books: 115 Celebrated Writers on the Books They Love Most by Various
Franz Liszt: Volume 3: The Final Years, 1861-1886 (Franz Liszt) by Alan Walker
Delmore Schwartz and James Laughlin : selected letters by Delmore Schwartz
Henry James : Novels 1886-1890: The Princess Casamassima, The Reverberator, The Tragic Muse (Library of America) by Henry James
How the Reformation Happened by Hilaire Belloc
South wind (The Modern library of the world's best books) by Norman Douglas
Members with jwhenderson's books
Member connections
Friends: ajourneyroundmyskull, anaall, AshRyan, cameralucida, EdwardEinhorn, michaelbartley, NADiaman, paddlebook, rebcamuse, timk56, walshga
Interesting libraries: almigwin, AshRyan, Brent, carolcarter, claudeboyd, donandpatti, DouglasAtEik, dustinfr, ellenandjim, Gypsy_Boy, henkl, Jamie638, jodavid, lawecon, markell, michaelbartley, MikeFarquhar, Pirrip, pitjrw, pomonomo2003, praymont, rjacobs17, rpeckham, Stig_Brantley, tomcatMurr, walshga, wirkman
LibraryThing authors: Colum McCann (ColumMcCann), James Elkins (JimElkins), Jonathon Green (abecedary), Arthur Phillips (arthurphillips), Craig Nelson (craigz), David Mitchell (davidmitchell), Michael Thomas Ford (grumbledog), Nicholas Nicastro (nicastrobooks), Patricia Jean Wagner (patwagner), Barry Strauss (publipor)
Member: jwhenderson
CollectionsYour library (4,534), Wishlist (1), Currently reading (5), To read (5), Read but unowned (6), Favorites (70), All collections (4,534)
Reviews342 reviews
Tagsnovel (1,018), philosophy (529), poetry (239), music (239), literary criticism (211), 20th cen british literature (200), folio society (172), literary biography (139), essays (129), history of ideas (129) — see all tags
Cloudstag cloud, author cloud
GroupsBooks Compared, Books in Books, Chicagoans, Classical Music, Folio Society devotees, Gay Men, Libertarian and Market Liberals, Philosophy and Theory, Poetry Fool, Themes in Literature — show all groups
Favorite authorsSherwood Anderson, Hannah Arendt, Aristoteles, Richard Armour, W. H. Auden, Julian Barnes, Jacques Barzun, Claude Frédéric Bastiat, John Bayley, Samuel Beckett, Sybille Bedford, Alan Bennett, Isaiah Berlin, Jorge Luis Borges, Alfred Brendel, Richard Brookhiser, Anatole Broyard, Anthony Burgess, Albert Camus, Elias Canetti, Lewis Carroll, E. M. Cioran, J. M. Coetzee, Joseph Conrad, Hart Crane, Guy Davenport, Michael Dirda, Alexandre Dumas, D. J. Enright, John Enright, Antony Flew, Milton Friedman, Roger Martin du Gard, José Ortega y Gasset, Peter Gay, André Gide, Graham Greene, Julien Green, Lars Gustafsson, Knut Hamsun, F. A. Hayek, Henry Hazlitt, Herodotus, Hermann Hesse, Gilbert Highet, Paul Hindemith, Christopher Hitchens, Eric Hoffer, Sidney Hook, Victor Hugo, David Hume, Aldous Huxley, Christopher Isherwood, Ryszard Kapuściński, Walter Arnold Kaufmann, Nikos Kazantzakis, Rudyard Kipling, Ivan Klíma, Wolfgang Koeppen, Arthur Koestler, Milan Kundera, Pär Lagerkvist, John Locke, John Lukacs, Maurice Maeterlinck, Naguib Mahfouz, Alberto Manguel, Klaus Mann, Thomas Mann, François Mauriac, Czesław Miłosz, Ludwig von Mises, Michel de Montaigne, Nicholas Mosley, Iris Murdoch, Robert Musil, Vladimir Nabokov, V. S. Naipaul, Robert Nozick, Sherwin B. Nuland, George Orwell, Orhan Pamuk, Walker Percy, Ralph Peters, David Plante, Karl Popper, John Cowper Powys, Marcel Proust, James Purdy, Raymond Queneau, Mary Renault, Gregor von Rezzori, Romain Rolland, Charles Rosen, Murray N. Rothbard, Joseph Roth, George Santayana, José Saramago, Simon Schama, Arthur Schopenhauer, Thomas Sowell, George Steiner, Robert Louis Stevenson, David Storey, Wislawa Szymborska, Lewis Thomas, Colm Tóibín, Georg Trakl, B. Traven, A. E. van Vogt, Jules Verne, Glenway Wescott, Edith Wharton, Edmund White, Patrick White, Oscar Wilde, James Wood, Marguerite Yourcemar (Shared favorites)
Favorite bookstoresBooklegger's Used Books, Bookworks, Selected Works Used Books and Sheet Music, The Book Cellar, Unabridged Bookstore
Favorite librariesArt Institute of Chicago - Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, Chicago Public Library - Harold Washington Library Center, Chicago Public Library - Lincoln Park Branch, Newberry Library
About meMy reading and writing interests focus mainly on the humanities. Through literature classes and discussion groups I am continuing my education. Long ago I received a BA in economics and an MS in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin. More recently I have been spurred by courses in the Basic Program of Liberal Education at the University of Chicago and also at the Newberry Library. I enjoy reading literary memoirs, literary criticism and commmonplace books (James, Enright, Auden and Connoly). "Wisdom begins in wonder" - Socrates
About my libraryMy library encompasses a variety of subjects with a primary emphasis on fiction, philosophical, poetic, musical and historical works. Some works are saved from my youth while I have collected some Folio Society, biography and literature in translation over the years. I agree with Proust who described a book as "magic as potent as the deepest slumber".
Homepagehttp://frugalchariot.blogspot.com/
Also onFacebook
Real nameJames Henderson
LocationChicago, Illinois
Emailjwhend1021
yahoo.com
Account typepublic, lifetime
Connection NewsConnection News
URLs
http://www.librarything.com/profile/jwhenderson (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/jwhenderson (library)
Common KnowledgeSeries (318), Awards (309), Characters (4791), Places (889)
Member sinceSep 29, 2006
Currently readingNarrow Rooms (Gay Modern Classics Series) by James Purdy
The Moral Life and the Ethical Life by Eliseo Vivas
Napoleon's Russian Campaign by Count Philippe-Paul De Segur
Tokyo Cancelled by Rana Dasgupta
A Johnson reader by Samuel Johnson



(
(



Leave a comment
Sign up or sign in to leave a comment.
posted by existanai at 9:46 pm (EST) on Nov 12, 2009
Just stopped by to say I enjoyed your review of The Origin of Species. Then I read several of your other reviews, and enjoyed them as well!
Best,
Ash
posted by AshRyan at 3:18 am (EST) on Sep 2, 2009
I had to laugh--with delight-- at your list of favorite authors. Is there anyone you don't like? :-)
I just read your review of Dandelion Wine--one of my favorite novels--and really enjoyed it. Well written and thoughtful. (I clicked on the green thumb up icon) It was also good to learn that Bradbury had a sequel to it, Farewell Summer. I hadn't known that. I'll definately look for it.
I just joined LibraryThing a week or so ago and really enjoy it.
Charles
posted by CharlesBoyd at 1:17 pm (EST) on Aug 16, 2009
posted by GSLulos at 9:57 am (EST) on May 4, 2009
I note that Green Mansions is on your "recently read" list. This is one of my top 10 all time books going all the way back to my first reading of it in the late 1950's. It was a book I read every year or two for many years, but whether it was because I was finally jaded on it because of too many re-readings, or because the more mature perspective I brought to it in my later adult years spoiled the freshness of my first response, at some point I decided not to re-read it again for fear of losing altogether even the memory of my enchantment with it. Of course there is a question here: was this your first reading or a re-reading? Either way, I would be interested in how you responded to the more ethereal or fantasy-like elements of it.
posted by GSLulos at 9:31 pm (EST) on May 2, 2009
Anyway my own book Convergence documents the surprisingly cut-throat world of science and reflects the real-world experiences of tens of thousands of young researchers everywhere. There are four main storylines, each involving a woman seemingly unrelated to the other three. Convergence begins by slowly taking the reader into the world of science and discovery, an apparently benign culture full of supportive people. However, despite the moral purity of the four main protagonists, sinister undercurrents undermine each storyline as the novel progresses. Thus, although starting out purely as a science mystery, Convergence develops into a slow-burning political drama. At the core of the novel are ethical and moral issues that are frequently revisited throughout the book, echoing similar themes contained within The Demon Haunted World and Contact (by Carl Sagan).
Subject to availability, a limited number of free copies of Convergence have been set aside for review purposes. Send email to Christopher Turner at general@convergence-cpt.com if you wish to have a free copy for review. Please mention Library Thing in the body of your email.
Thanks
posted by ChristopherTurner at 8:06 pm (EST) on Feb 15, 2009
posted by carolcarter at 3:57 pm (EST) on Jan 24, 2009
Thanks. I can say on my reread that my memory remains intact which an experience I rarely have with books I reread decades later. I will check out your library in a bit. I have been trying not to look at people's libraries because it leads to more book purchases.
Take care.
Candy
posted by carolcarter at 3:40 pm (EST) on Jan 24, 2009
how embarrassing!
posted by Makifat at 6:12 pm (EST) on Dec 23, 2008
I haven't read Ali and Nino, but picked it up after having read and enjoyed The Orientalist.
As luck would have it, I'm expecting a copy of Yourcenar's Oriental Tales to plop into my mailbox any day now. That Mighty Sculptor, Time (if that's what it's called) was good as well.
I've been casting about for what to read next. The inclusion of Gide in your favorite authors reminds me that I've meant to read The Vatican Cellars. Any opinion on that one?
Regards,
Maki
posted by Makifat at 6:11 pm (EST) on Dec 23, 2008
Bart
posted by BartGr. at 2:41 am (EST) on Dec 4, 2008
posted by BartGr. at 6:50 am (EST) on Nov 29, 2008
posted by ajourneyroundmyskull at 1:56 pm (EST) on Oct 20, 2008
Thanks for your comments concerning Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman. I think you'll enjoy it, but in any event, I'd be interested in your comments when you've finished. I've ordered other works by Grossman detailing his experiences traveling with the Red Army during WWII.
I appreciate your recommendations on WWI reading material. I've read All Quiet on the Western Front, but have always been fascinated by the dearth of reading material on such an important historical event. Thanks again.
Steve Anthony
posted by santhony at 10:28 am (EST) on Sep 29, 2008
I see that you added Gore Vidal's Washington. Have you read the whole series?: Narratives of Empire. Stupendous, if you haven't done it yet. I think his masterpiece, though, has got to be Myra Breckinridge/Myron. It's very underrated, but one of the best books I've read. Probably cost GV his Nobel.
posted by tomcatMurr at 1:08 am (EST) on Aug 8, 2008
No, to the Thousand Cranes. The Kawabata, yes, I would recommend it if you're interested in Japan. it's a haunting book, exquisitely written, and a couple of hours read as it's so short.
On a completely different topic, another book I would wholeheartedly recommend to you as an Auden man, is Thekla Clark's memoire of Auden and Chester, which I am reading now. it's the best book on Auden I've read, and also fills out the portrait of Chester, who I always felt has been overshadowed in the Auden biographical canon. Thekla Clark writes very well, and movingly conveys what it must have been like to spend time with the 'odd couple'.
Best wishes
Murr
posted by tomcatMurr at 6:54 am (EST) on Mar 24, 2008
Reading your blog, I am often struck by what a marvellously rich cultural life you enjoy. Must say, I am quite envious!
What Dickens are you reading?
I'm currently reading Kawabata's Beauty and Sadness, which is both beautiful and sad.
Best wishes,
Murr
posted by tomcatMurr at 11:59 pm (EST) on Mar 22, 2008
His verse is interesting, and as one would expect, thoughtful, philosophical, aphoristic and engaged politically, morally and viscerally with the world around him. It's something all fans of Kapuscinski should read, a book that meant a lot to him, and that he worked very hard to see published before his death. It's a shame, alas, that he did not quite make it.
Anyway, it's available from Biblioasis. Online (www.biblioasis.com, www.amazon.com) and anywhere else you can find good books. Check it out.
(Sorry: I am an interested party: the publisher. But we're a small, literary press, and we're just doing our best to let anyone who might be interested know about this collection. Pardon my intrusion.)
Dan Wells
posted by biblioasis at 4:18 pm (EST) on Feb 29, 2008
I just read your review of "Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned", by Walter Mosley. It is a great review. I am not adept at literary criticism, but your comments precisely reflected my view of the book. I mentioned my interest in the mystery genre to a colleague in the English department and he recommended Mosley. "The King's English" suggested this book.
David
posted by HorusE at 9:33 am (EST) on Feb 25, 2008
I started CT about 15 years ago and gave up, but I'm willing to give it another try....
I'm just about to finish Europe Central by Vollman, which offers a penetraitng and extremely moving analysis of Shostakovich's life and music (among other things.) highly recommended.
Best wishes
posted by tomcatMurr at 10:30 am (EST) on Feb 15, 2008
Thanks for your comment on the lectern today. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks we are living in the Age of Twilight.
I keep meaning to ask you about your reading of Mahfouz's Cairo trilogy. How's it going?
posted by tomcatMurr at 10:08 am (EST) on Feb 7, 2008
posted by praymont at 6:23 pm (EST) on Jan 20, 2008
I noticed that we share several favorite authors. We live in Denver, but I am a native Chicagoan - grew up in Hyde Park and South Shore - and usually visit for conferences once a year. My husband Leif has been a scholar of the Austrian School for decades - we are "small l" libertarians. Like your description and look forward to browsing your library. We have about 3,000 books to go (grin) a few at a time.
Pat Wagner
patwagner
patternresearch
straycat
ExplorersFoundation - my husband is building a collection online related to his foundation - http://explorersfoundation.org/
posted by patwagner at 11:29 am (EST) on Jan 20, 2008
I see you are a Chicagoan- I envy you. Chicago is the greatest and most truly American city in the USA. My wife and I eloped there in 2005 staying at the Palmer House and seeing all we could for a week. Perchance have you read or own any books by Joseph Epstein, an essayist and U. of Chicago alumnus. If not check out his latest collection, In a Cardboard Belt.
How's the weather in Chitown- a miserable room temperature here in SoCal. Floyd Dangle
posted by floyd_dangle at 5:33 pm (EST) on Jan 14, 2008
Happy reading!
Murr
posted by tomcatMurr at 11:34 pm (EST) on Dec 12, 2007
Thanks for your comments on my Dylan Thomas piece, and for posting the link to The Lectern on your blog. (I need to find out how to do that: I dont seem to be as computer literate as you are; but when I get the hang of it I will link to your blog as well, if I may.)
I'm having a bit of a Keats phase at the moment, and of course Dylan Thomas. Other than that, I'm also catching up on my Chinese history, which is woefully sketchy considering that I live in the Chinese world.
I need to win the lottery so that I can give up work and just read!
Best wishes,
Murr
posted by tomcatMurr at 5:31 am (EST) on Dec 5, 2007
posted by nancyewhite at 7:39 pm (EST) on Oct 9, 2007
For another interesting incorporation of Herodotus, have you ever read The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje? It is a novel (that was made into a fairly popular movie in the 90's) about a pilot hospitalized in Italy downed in Africa during WWII who carried and read Herodotus with him, and refers to a few of the accounts in The Hisrories. Not everyone likes Ondaatje-his language and style is very poetic and beautiful but many people thing its a little over the top.
DEGEE
posted by degee at 8:39 am (EST) on Oct 4, 2007
David Gee.
posted by degee at 2:17 pm (EST) on Oct 2, 2007
Thank you for the Victor Hugo recommendation. I've only read a couple of his books and found them enjoyable. Ninety-Three is definitely going on my to-be-read list. I love your library! Your wide selection of poetry, literature, literary criticism, philosophy... is just heavenly to browse through! Most of my Lit. and philosophy books are in storage, because my place can't handle any more shelves. Your reviews are great as well.
It's a challenge to recommend favorite books/authors you haven't already read, but I'll give it some thought :) I'm partial to Fyodor Dostoyevsky (especially The Brothers Karamazov) and Charles Dickens (especially David Copperfield).
Happy Reading!
Tina
posted by TinazReading at 11:42 pm (EST) on Sep 21, 2007
Best,
Jim
posted by walshga at 5:46 pm (EST) on Aug 20, 2007
How's life in Chicago? I lived in the Streeterville area for five years back in the '90s - what a great town!
My word, you have a remarkable collection. I see you like Nabokov, Auchincloss and Waugh. Three of my favorites. Yeah, people just don't understand why I buy books that I don't read. I guess it's that pragmatic strain in American thought. I just like having books around - even just to flip through from time to time.
Keep smiling!
Jim
posted by walshga at 9:15 am (EST) on Aug 14, 2007
posted by MyopicBookworm at 9:32 am (EST) on Jul 19, 2007
posted by MyopicBookworm at 1:03 pm (EST) on Jul 18, 2007
posted by henkl at 4:08 am (EST) on Jul 14, 2007
Joe
posted by pomonomo2003 at 5:42 pm (EST) on Jul 12, 2007
Thanks for the note and thoughts. We had different reactions to the Murakami (which, I'll concede is the only book of his that I've read so far). I liked it. I enjoyed his writing, though I'll concede that the book is...different. I want to read another book or two of his before I decide what I think. I'm not expecting a lot, but I'd love to be pleasantly surprised.
Of the "favorite authors" you mentioned, I remember very much enjoying Utz and All Passion Spent. I have tried unsuccessfully to read Mann--something that I suspect may be as much a translator issue as an author issue. (Though, in fairness, after reading some 250 pages of Magic Mountain, I simply didn't care enough about the protagonist to continue.) Hamsun is on the list as is Saramago, though from what limited browsing I've done, I'm not entirely optimistic about either.
You're likely to get to the Marai before I do--let me know what you think.
Dave
posted by Gypsy_Boy at 7:52 pm (EST) on Apr 4, 2007
Thanks for your kind note. We do, indeed, share an interest in European fiction--one that appears to extend quite a bit. Interestingly, I also just got the latest Marai and have put it on the nightstand--behind the first 397! Sadly, I have never been able to read Dostoyevsky. I have had better luck with some translators than others and with more out of the way pieces than "mainstream" works, but I guess he's just too...interior...for me. I wish it were otherwise, especially since I have great interest in Russian fiction generally (something apparently true of you as well). He's just a little too obtuse for me. You also have quite a bit by Lagerkvist--we must be two of a relatively few addicts. One area, among others, that you might be interested in exploring is Japanese fiction. You have some, but others you might particular enjoy are Shusaku Endo (esp. Silence and The Sea and Poison), Yasunari Kawabata (Snow Country, Sound of the Mountain, etc.), and Natsume Soseki (esp. Kokoro). Also, given your interest in Eastern European as well, some Polish authors like Herling (The Island) and Huelle (Who Was David Weiser?), among others.
Your recommendations?
Dave
posted by Gypsy_Boy at 7:46 am (EST) on Apr 3, 2007
I just saw your blog for the first time, and at first glance I thought it was mine! We're using the same template and are writing about many of the same things. I love some of the things you are saying up there.
I'm also a huge fan of Auden. Actually, I think more than any other writer he has had the most impact on my life. What are you reading by him at the moment?
"All we are not stares back at what we are."
Best wishes, Murr
posted by tomcatMurr at 1:13 am (EST) on Mar 15, 2007
posted by protikche at 1:17 am (EST) on Mar 11, 2007
i saw that i have the book, "Tamas" in common with you (you and no other, librarything informs me)...i was wondering if you could tell me, how you liked it, esp since the beauty of most works is lost in translation...
and btw, you have a lovely library..the range of titles gets a little overwhelming on first sight but then, hopefully would be able to build up my 'armory' over the years :)
posted by protikche at 3:46 am (EST) on Mar 8, 2007