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When in Rome
| Favorite team: | LSU  |
| Location: | Telegraph Road |
| Biography: | |
| Interests: | |
| Occupation: | |
| Number of Posts: | 36201 |
| Registered on: | 1/17/2011 |
| Online Status: | Not Online |
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re: What are you reading?
Posted by When in Rome on 3/2/26 at 4:06 pm to dirtsandwich
I am currently reading The Three Musketeers. I'm about 3/4 of the way through. It's really good, but not as good as The Count of Monte Cristo which spurred me to stick with Dumas. Still, I'm thoroughly enjoying it and would recommend it to anyone. I am curious to know if people on this board have read the other 2 d'Artagnan stories (the story of d'Artagnan is continued in Twenty Years After and The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later). I may start a thread asking if nobody sees this post.
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re: Kill Tony Episodes Discussion: 3/2/26 - Donnell Rawlings and Trevor Wallace
Posted by When in Rome on 2/26/26 at 1:37 pm to SUB
quote:100% agree
It was pretty good. I feel like the Popeye's buffet is maybe a little too niche for a show like KT. Overall, the bit got laughs...I thought it was funny and laughed, but it would probably get more laughs from a south Louisiana crowd due to the local lore of the Popeyes buffet known amongst those that live or lived in South LA..
re: East of Eden is a fantastic book
Posted by When in Rome on 2/26/26 at 10:26 am to CBandits82
quote:Agreed
Sam Hamilton and Lee will go down as some of the best characters I've ever seen in a novel.
re: Kill Tony Episodes Discussion: 3/2/26 - Donnell Rawlings and Trevor Wallace
Posted by When in Rome on 2/26/26 at 10:20 am to facher08
quote:Really nice guy. When Harland Williams came to town a few weeks ago, we were eating before the show and saw him eating with Harland. As a lifelong Harland fan (thanks to Rocketman) I went over and said hi, asked Harland sign my picture of him as Rocketman (he graciously did, really nice guy), and went back to our table. Talked to JP later at the show and he was very nice. He validated that what I did wasn’t too crazy or annoying :lol: I think what JP is doing for Lafayette comedy is highly impressive. He gets great comedians on the books year round. Happy he got on KT! He practiced the Popeyes joke at the Harland show and it was slightly longer if I recall correctly. The crowd enjoyed it.
Whoa, JP got up. He's a good dude, and the reason why Lafayette is the best comedy city in Louisiana.
re: Blood Meridian thoughts
Posted by When in Rome on 2/25/26 at 5:20 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:Preface: I am a huge fan of border trilogy and blood meridian. I've tried to read Suttree twice and couldn't get into it. I WANT to get into it. Is it just a slow beginning? I do think with all books it can just be a matter of what you have going on in your life that can make or break your experience of a book so I like to give different books different tries if I can't get into one. I'm sure Suttree is fantastic and want to try to read it again.
His best work is Suttree.
re: A Book that made you ask "What did I just Read?"
Posted by When in Rome on 2/25/26 at 5:18 pm to Gerry Laval
quote:Not about the entire book, but when I read the ending of The Grapes of Wrath (people who have read it will know what I am talking about) I definitely asked myself WTF I just read before I started thinking about what he was trying to convey, the symbolism and meaning etc. which helped me digest it. That for me came out of nowhere. lol.
A Book that made you ask "What did I just Read?"
re: How often do you actually sit down and read a book?
Posted by When in Rome on 2/25/26 at 9:52 am to CBandits82
quote:Great book! Speaking of Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath was worth the read as well, although I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did East of Eden.
Just finished East of Eden, highly recommend.
re: How often do you actually sit down and read a book?
Posted by When in Rome on 2/25/26 at 9:51 am to CBandits82
quote:This. I read a little bit every night and during pockets of downtime. I virtually watch zero TV now.
late night before bed instead of watching TV?
I only read physical copies of books; mainly hardcovers. In case you’re looking for recs, my last several reads (all good!):
The Three Musketeers (current read)
The Master and Margarita
The Count of Monte Cristo
Tender is the Night
Lonesome Dove
The Grapes of Wrath
East of Eden
Cormac McCarthy’s border trilogy
Blood Meridian
And I’ll always recommend Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. War and Peace is my favorite novel of all time. I also love A Confederacy of Dunces.
If you are looking for an entertaining nonfiction I’d recommend the memoirs of Richard Feynman.
I find that classic literature enriches the mind and the soul. Much better bang for your buck than all the viral self help books out there.
re: Napoleon
Posted by When in Rome on 2/18/26 at 7:47 pm to rebelrouser
quote:Same :Lol: I will get around to it someday.
sitting on my bookshelf unread
re: If you were featured in a yearbook at this stage of your life, what would your quote be?
Posted by When in Rome on 2/16/26 at 5:40 pm to 3BlockUber
I’d probably quote Feynman:
If not that, I’d probably pick something from Meditations. That Marcus Aurelius knew how to concisely impart wisdom.
If not that, I’d probably pick something from Meditations. That Marcus Aurelius knew how to concisely impart wisdom.
re: East of Eden is a fantastic book
Posted by When in Rome on 2/14/26 at 7:16 pm to GreenRockTiger
I was just curious. I’m looking for ideas for my next few classic novels!
re: East of Eden is a fantastic book
Posted by When in Rome on 2/13/26 at 3:51 pm to GreenRockTiger
Have you made your list yet?
re: Man has a pet squid
Posted by When in Rome on 2/12/26 at 10:16 am to Snipe
quote:Agreed
If aliens ever actually came to Earth, this is them, and the octopus as well.
re: Just finished The Count of Monte Cristo
Posted by When in Rome on 2/10/26 at 12:10 pm to iwyLSUiwy
I have learned in delving into these classics that for all of the novels originally written in non-English, there are often multiple translations from over the years by different scholars who interpret the words differently. There is not necessarily one "regular version" of a translated novel; rather, there can be multiple translations of the same story that can vary slightly or widely. Some translators tend to stick to what they think the author meant, while others take into account words that might make more sense in today's day and age, for example. So now, when I find a book I want to read, I do some research (mainly Reddit or a chatbot :lol:) to find out which translation people tend to gravitate toward. What I like about Pevear and Volrhonsky is that they typically include excellent footnotes that explain a lot about what the author references throughout a novel. They wrote the English version of War and Peace I read, and then I just kind of stuck with them for Russian/French literature after that. However, I just read the Master and Margarita translated by them and noticed that readers tended to prefer the Ginsburg translation for a better feel for the story combined wtih Pevear's footnotes to go more deeply into the references.
I have seen examples of translators doing really poor translation jobs in trying to make it their own. For example, recently this lady, Emily Wilson, tried translating the Iliad and the Odyssey and was lambasted for her over-simplification of the language, effectively ruining the story for readers. Someone created a great table to show hers side by side with previous translations, and I think this is a good example of why picking a good translation is important for the reading experience:
I have seen examples of translators doing really poor translation jobs in trying to make it their own. For example, recently this lady, Emily Wilson, tried translating the Iliad and the Odyssey and was lambasted for her over-simplification of the language, effectively ruining the story for readers. Someone created a great table to show hers side by side with previous translations, and I think this is a good example of why picking a good translation is important for the reading experience:
re: East of Eden is a fantastic book
Posted by When in Rome on 2/9/26 at 4:10 pm to GreenRockTiger
I read Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden back to back last year and loved them. I'd imagine if I had read them in college I wouldn't have enjoyed them as much, but reading them now in my 30s I found them quite worth the while. Could be worth it for you to give them another try!
re: Just finished The Count of Monte Cristo
Posted by When in Rome on 2/9/26 at 3:52 pm to iwyLSUiwy
quote:I just ordered the Pevear translation and will start it when it comes in. I'm excited!
Started The Three Musketeers because of this thread. Burning through it. Definitely a similar vibe to The Count of Monte Cristo.
re: Just finished The Count of Monte Cristo
Posted by When in Rome on 2/7/26 at 9:12 am to Lawyered
quote:I am having the opposite experience--I find them OVERWHELMING in things they cause me to think and feel. I am only just now in my 30s discovering the classics, as I skipped all of the English and literature classes in college. I think exposure to this stuff as an adult is such a gift. I find each classic novel I read to be so enriching that I can't believe I missed out; then again, I don't think I would have appreciated them as much in my youth.
I’m not one for the classics, usually I have a hard time with them and they underwhelm me
re: East of Eden is a fantastic book
Posted by When in Rome on 2/7/26 at 9:08 am to Alyosha
quote:
some of the lengthy narrative descriptions of the farmland just didn't do it for me.
quote:Agreed.
This is what made it so great!
re: What are you reading?
Posted by When in Rome on 2/7/26 at 7:40 am to Lawyered
I just finished The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. I went into it blind and was pretty shocked by the themes at first, but then I settled in and came around to enjoying the novel. It was a masterful tale. I’d recommend it.
re: Ray Mouton from Lafayette, key figure in exposing Catholic clergy abuse crisis, dies at 78
Posted by When in Rome on 2/6/26 at 1:51 pm to ItzMe1972
I was lucky to enjoy a fantastic dinner with him among other friends during the running of the bulls in Pamplona one year. He had a vast knowledge of the subject and provided some interesting insights. He actually wrote a great book about Pamplona/San Fermin/running of the bulls for those who might be interested: amazon
re: Lawyer told Epstein in Email that Shreveport was a "dump beyond your imagination"
Posted by When in Rome on 2/3/26 at 6:12 pm to StrongOffer
quote:With the island?
Jeff Epstein? The New York financier?
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