I read Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, but I think it was written before Oprah came along. I'm kind of partial to Russian literature, although it tends to be terribly tragic (remember Dr. Zhivago?) and is usually kinda depressing.
Other than that, I don't know or care much about Oprah.
Ron, I'm surprised. I'm not sure why, though, but I am. I'm not familiar with Russian literature. The only Russian novel I (almost) made it through was The Russian Debutante's Handbook, except it's set in New York City, and the writer is American (a Russian immigrant), but it's supposedly written in the tradition of Russian literature, which means it's long. Too long. I don't remember if I liked it or not -- it was sort of raw and seedy, that much I remember -- but I do remember that I didn't finish it.
Well, it wasn't because of "fans" like me, of that much I'm certain. I don't get it at all. What's she got?
A seriously lightweight intellect from what I can tell.
I've read Faulkner. Don't care for him much, though he was obviously a talented writer. I think those are pretty safe recommendations for a reading list, no? Sorta like putting "Gone with the Wind" on a recommended movie list. Gosh, really, you think it's any good?
I also read "Memoirs of a Geisha", though I'm a bit embarassed about it now. It was a good read for the first half, then sorta turned into a Harlequin Romance or something. He shoulda had somebody help him come up with an ending. The last half of the book was trash.
Mostly I'm not much of a fiction reader at all. I'm just not into stories. I read history, technical journals, even auction and exhibition catalogs, but I hate to waste the reading time if I'm not going to learn something productive. Yeah, I know, I'm Mr. Excitement...
Why surprised? The novelists of the Russian classical period (pre soviet) could spin a yarn with unequaled lyric qualities and very human characters. Dostoevsky, Tolstoi, Turgenev, et al and of course Chekhov's plays and short stories.
During the soviet era, the classic tradition continued with Boris Pasternak and a few others, but with little hope of their work being published until after their deaths. Expatriot writers such as Alexandr Solzhenitsyn and poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko thrived outside the Soviet Union.
Russian literature is very compelling and interesting. Oprah would do well to include more of it in her book lists.
George, evidently what she has is charisma, but I don't understand why her audience isn't put off by her self-absorbtion. I remember a long time ago, she had invited a guest that I wanted to hear, so I tuned in, but it really bugged me that they kept the cameras on Oprah practically the entire time the guest was talking. The interview was all about Oprah, not about the guest.
Lightweight intellect? I don't know. She's surely shrewd, very shrewd, to manage (and keep) her empire, despite the inevitable opportunists and traitors she must be surrounded by. I know I sure don't have that kind of business sense. What irks me, though, is how her minor annoyances can make the national news. Like the time she went to an exclusive handbag store after hours when she wanted to purchase a last-minute birthday gift, and they wouldn't unlock the door for her. We were supposed to feel some sort of national outrage over it or something. I mean, really, does anyone care? They wouldn't have unlocked the door for me either, sister. I guess I just don't understand celebrity, and the feeling of entitlement it brings. Take a number like the rest of us.
Don't give up on novels, though, especially if you're interested in history. It brings to life those endless recitations of fact, so you can understand the whys and wherefores of life, or at least someone else's take on it. You strike me as a Camus type, if anything. He's someone you might be able to relate to.
Ron, now that I think of it, I did do a stint in Russian short stories at some point. Yeah, impressive, if dark and twisted, not in a Poe sense, but even more eerily, because it was all so believable. Solzhenitsyn is one of those names I hear referenced quite frequently, especially on NPR, but I've never read anything of his. Any recommendations?
If you've not read I Know This Much is True, I strongly recommend it. I didn't read it because it said Oprah, either. In fact I found it, then forgot it, then had some time to read again this last fall and WHOA! I couldn't put that bad boy down.
I don't know how a book gets on her list, don't really care and it doesn't influence me. In fact I might otherwise NOT read a book that she's endorsed just because of the starstruck crud.
Ron has now turned me onto Russian Literature, so I will be checking that out. Read War and Peace years ago, didn't get into it, think I'll read it again.
George, evidently what she has is charisma, but I don't understand why her audience isn't put off by her self-absorbtion. I remember a long time ago, she had invited a guest that I wanted to hear, so I tuned in, but it really bugged me that they kept the cameras on Oprah practically the entire time the guest was talking. The interview was all about Oprah, not about the guest.
Oprah is an opportunist, plain and simple.
With a syndicated show like hers,
she can say or do anything with impunity.
Though maybe not without immunity.
Doesn't make her right -- and as a matter of fact ~~~~
It makes her suspect!!
Who bought her off to promote the books she does???
She got conned big time for the *Million Pieces* book.
Ron, I got my name because Mama watched Dr. Zhivago while she was pregnant with me. :D
I'm interested in this Russian literature now. I'll have to check it out. I've never even read or seen Dr. Zhivago.
My mom is in a book club and they very rarely pick books from Oprah's list but I think it's because there are men in the group, I know my mom thinks Oprah is "da bomb". They were reading the Million Pieces book and I haven't talked to her about her thoughts upon the dude getting busted for lying.
I LOVE Faulkner and his books, but I read all of his books before anyone knew who Oprah was. I would suspect that there is definitely an agenda surrounding how the books are chosen.
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Ron G.
I read Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, but I think it was written before Oprah came along. I'm kind of partial to Russian literature, although it tends to be terribly tragic (remember Dr. Zhivago?) and is usually kinda depressing.
Other than that, I don't know or care much about Oprah.
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laleo
Ron, I'm surprised. I'm not sure why, though, but I am. I'm not familiar with Russian literature. The only Russian novel I (almost) made it through was The Russian Debutante's Handbook, except it's set in New York City, and the writer is American (a Russian immigrant), but it's supposedly written in the tradition of Russian literature, which means it's long. Too long. I don't remember if I liked it or not -- it was sort of raw and seedy, that much I remember -- but I do remember that I didn't finish it.
I wonder how Oprah got so popular.
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George Aar
"I wonder how Oprah got so popular."
Well, it wasn't because of "fans" like me, of that much I'm certain. I don't get it at all. What's she got?
A seriously lightweight intellect from what I can tell.
I've read Faulkner. Don't care for him much, though he was obviously a talented writer. I think those are pretty safe recommendations for a reading list, no? Sorta like putting "Gone with the Wind" on a recommended movie list. Gosh, really, you think it's any good?
I also read "Memoirs of a Geisha", though I'm a bit embarassed about it now. It was a good read for the first half, then sorta turned into a Harlequin Romance or something. He shoulda had somebody help him come up with an ending. The last half of the book was trash.
Mostly I'm not much of a fiction reader at all. I'm just not into stories. I read history, technical journals, even auction and exhibition catalogs, but I hate to waste the reading time if I'm not going to learn something productive. Yeah, I know, I'm Mr. Excitement...
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Ron G.
Why surprised? The novelists of the Russian classical period (pre soviet) could spin a yarn with unequaled lyric qualities and very human characters. Dostoevsky, Tolstoi, Turgenev, et al and of course Chekhov's plays and short stories.
During the soviet era, the classic tradition continued with Boris Pasternak and a few others, but with little hope of their work being published until after their deaths. Expatriot writers such as Alexandr Solzhenitsyn and poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko thrived outside the Soviet Union.
Russian literature is very compelling and interesting. Oprah would do well to include more of it in her book lists.
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moony3424
The books on her list that I've read. I didn't read them because of her, just because (some of them were assigned for school).
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laleo
George, evidently what she has is charisma, but I don't understand why her audience isn't put off by her self-absorbtion. I remember a long time ago, she had invited a guest that I wanted to hear, so I tuned in, but it really bugged me that they kept the cameras on Oprah practically the entire time the guest was talking. The interview was all about Oprah, not about the guest.
Lightweight intellect? I don't know. She's surely shrewd, very shrewd, to manage (and keep) her empire, despite the inevitable opportunists and traitors she must be surrounded by. I know I sure don't have that kind of business sense. What irks me, though, is how her minor annoyances can make the national news. Like the time she went to an exclusive handbag store after hours when she wanted to purchase a last-minute birthday gift, and they wouldn't unlock the door for her. We were supposed to feel some sort of national outrage over it or something. I mean, really, does anyone care? They wouldn't have unlocked the door for me either, sister. I guess I just don't understand celebrity, and the feeling of entitlement it brings. Take a number like the rest of us.
Don't give up on novels, though, especially if you're interested in history. It brings to life those endless recitations of fact, so you can understand the whys and wherefores of life, or at least someone else's take on it. You strike me as a Camus type, if anything. He's someone you might be able to relate to.
Ron, now that I think of it, I did do a stint in Russian short stories at some point. Yeah, impressive, if dark and twisted, not in a Poe sense, but even more eerily, because it was all so believable. Solzhenitsyn is one of those names I hear referenced quite frequently, especially on NPR, but I've never read anything of his. Any recommendations?
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Shellon
If you've not read I Know This Much is True, I strongly recommend it. I didn't read it because it said Oprah, either. In fact I found it, then forgot it, then had some time to read again this last fall and WHOA! I couldn't put that bad boy down.
I don't know how a book gets on her list, don't really care and it doesn't influence me. In fact I might otherwise NOT read a book that she's endorsed just because of the starstruck crud.
Ron has now turned me onto Russian Literature, so I will be checking that out. Read War and Peace years ago, didn't get into it, think I'll read it again.
Have also read from the talk show queen's list:
White Oleander by Janet Fitch
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
A Virtuous Woman by Kaye Gibbons
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen
While I Was Gone by Sue Miller
We Were The Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Light in August by William Faulkner
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
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dmiller
Oprah is an opportunist, plain and simple.
With a syndicated show like hers,
she can say or do anything with impunity.
Though maybe not without immunity.
Doesn't make her right -- and as a matter of fact ~~~~
It makes her suspect!!
Who bought her off to promote the books she does???
She got conned big time for the *Million Pieces* book.
Oprah hasn't a clue. She's in it for the money.
Hmmmmm. Wonder if she took lessons from docvic???
Naw ---- she's got a bigger audience than he had.
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dmiller
deleted ~~~ It made no sense. :)
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Zshot
I don't watch Oprah... Or read books based on her recomendations...
The one thing I know about Oprah is: She knows how to make money, and has a strong fan base.
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Belle
Ron, I got my name because Mama watched Dr. Zhivago while she was pregnant with me. :D
I'm interested in this Russian literature now. I'll have to check it out. I've never even read or seen Dr. Zhivago.
My mom is in a book club and they very rarely pick books from Oprah's list but I think it's because there are men in the group, I know my mom thinks Oprah is "da bomb".
They were reading the Million Pieces book and I haven't talked to her about her thoughts upon the dude getting busted for lying.
I LOVE Faulkner and his books, but I read all of his books before anyone knew who Oprah was. I would suspect that there is definitely an agenda surrounding how the books are chosen.
Here are the ones I've read:
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hiway29
I read a fair number of books, but was surprised that the only Oprah club book I've read is 'East of Eden'.
I liked it, but if I were to choose one Steinbeck book that would be far down the list. It does seem to be the most "Oprah -friendly", however.
I can't imagine referring to Oprah for book recommendations anyway.
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