Summer Book Haul | Classics, Sci-Fi + More!

[@TheActiveMind1]

Correction: Grass was born in Danzig not Lübeck

[@summitsp]

Great finds! You have some wonderful reading ahead.

[@lulygok]

The Tin Drum is one of my favorite books!

[@MJ-bo9xp]

I bought Solenoid because of you, thank you! I also like philosophy and you might like: Anti-Oedipus, Fanged Noumena, Ahmed the Philosopher. Freud is a great writer. Children of Time and Project Hail Mary are also fun sci-fi. Thank you for all the recs!

[@TheActiveMind1]

I’ll check those out! Thank you!

[@humaidah]

I love Oblomov, still got a hangover from it

[@jackwalter5970]

13:58 I just read whatever catches my attention. I always have tons of books to choose from. Also, read LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness.

[@noorghattas274]

As someone who got into James Joyce this year I cannot recommend a portrait of the artist as a young man enough. I read both dubliners and portrait back to back alongside a reading guide and it was an amazing experience

[@BobkidMcconville]

Heart of darkness is one of the most beautifully written books ive ever read. Also read Lord Jim and Nostromo, both masterpieces.

[@dragoscbutuzea]

Congratulations! I'm writing you from Romania, the country of Mircea Cărtărescu (by the way, which I know). I like your videos: You speak about philosophy and serious literature. My all time favourite authors are Checkov - complete stories -, Michel de Montaigne and Marcel Proust. Lately, I like Javier Marias (The trilogy: Your Face Tomorrow), Siegfried Lenz (The Gunter Grass Friend) with The German Lesson and Orahan Pamuk, The Black Book.

[@TheActiveMind1]

You’ve named 3 authors (Chekhov, Montaigne, and Proust) that are all high on my list but I sadly haven’t read them yet. Definitely soon!! Than you for the other recommendations! Hope things are going well in Romania 🇷🇴

[@mjmadis]

Love listening to you’re commentary. Very well spoken and interesting to see what books interest you. I’ve already read two of the books you have recommended. 5:50

[@leedsdevil]

John Irving is one of my favorite modern authors; I just repurchased used editions of all his books, most of which I sacrificed in a big move I made 15 years ago. I look forward to rereading Garp, Hotel New Hampshire, Cider House Rules, and Prayer for Owen Meany. I hope you enjoy. After you've read The World According to Garp, watch the film with Robin Williams and Glen Close in principal roles; one of my favorite book-to-movie adaptations ever.

[@casper_z1259]

I go to Goodwill and Youth Ranch once in a while just to scan their used books sections and have found tons that were popular when I was growing up in the 00s that I want to read but also gems from the 50s and 60s, and even older - RIP the poor grandpa who got his stuff donated after they expired. But I'm so close to finishing the first draft for my own book that I don't want to derail myself with reading the stuff on my TBR until I'm done.

[@michaelsimpson952]

Donna Tartt and Hermann Hesse. We all need them in our lives

[@TheActiveMind1]

...you know I keep seeing their names at the book store...but I need to fix my bought to read ratio first 😂

[@noteworthyfiction]

Excellent haul! I'm sure you'll enjoy them all! Based on personal experience Things Fall Apart (Achebe) goes well with Heart of Darkness and A Hero of Our Time with War and Peace.

[@ireadbooks3475]

Yo! Garp! It makes me so happy to see you picking up a copy -- and such a nice one too. I have profound respect for the way you carry yourself as well as the way you talk about these books you've been diving into. I hope you enjoy Garp (whenever you do read it) and am happy that I could contribute to the TBR-list! This video made my night :)

[@TheActiveMind1]

It was meant to be! I saw it a few days after your comment. Thank you again!

[@gmcenroe]

I haven't read The Tin Drum yet but am currently reading To Far Afield which I had tried years ago and gave up. The central theme is early reunification and earlier history surrounding two main characters and their families. If you like Gunther Grass you will like this book, but it has a definite German character to the book.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Interesting! I'll check that book out depending on how The Tin Drum goes!

[@miabenak]

I have noticed from many of yours videos that you enjoy kafkaesque books - so you definitely have to read Kobo Abe’s The Woman in the Dunes and/or Face of Another!! I loved these.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Perfect! I’ll add them to my list!

[@Teofilo87]

I love the selection! Quite diverse, each book interesting in its own way. I absolutely loved The hero of our time for it's beautiful prose. Dubliners on the other hand felt quite bland, only 3 stories appealed to me. Wuthering heights drove me insane yet I still loved it! :D I just finished reading Stoner by John Williams, a story about the unassuming professor of English literature - it was so gripping, written with almost a perfect flow. Another recommendation, if you haven't got to it yet, would be Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse which is brilliant and beautiful.

[@Sarah_Jean86]

The Heart of Darkness was a book assigned in my English class in high school and made an impression on me. I just recently reread it and it still holds up❤.

[@hatethenewyou]

Never heard of some of these, will definitely have to keep an eye out at some used bookstores.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Very happy to hear that! Hope you're able to find a few!

[@BandicootLava]

Great haul! I typically stick to Amazon or online delivery for books I'm unlikely to find in physical bookstores (e.g. Brazilian lit, Indian lit) or any book that requires a particular translation, but I've been easing up on that recently. I managed to find some great second-hand bookstores here in Vancouver and grabbed an awesome copy of Plutarch's Lives (Vol I) that I'm excited to dive into someday. Weirdly enough, I also found a copy of Oblomov, so it was wonderful to see you got a copy too! Heart of Darkness was a great read. It's insane Conrad could write so well with English being his fourth language. If you find the prose is becoming a bit murky and shadowy, stick with it; I think Conrad intended that when writing it. If you're a movie fan, Apocalypse Now is heavily inspired by Heart of Darkness and is what got me interested in the book.

[@curtjarrell9710]

Make sure you read "The Dead" last story in Dubliners. It's a masterpiece.

[@joan98610]

I was in Lübeck last year, beautiful city with three Nobel Prize Laureates (Mann and Grass and former Chancellor Willy Brandt)! Just found your channel and really like your content!

[@TheActiveMind1]

Grateful to have you here!

[@kathleendale5981]

The Tin Drum❤❤❤

[@simonbailey8814]

Conrad is one of the greatest novelists. Try The Secret Agent.

[@ayahshark]

I’ve also been wanting to read ‘A Hero of Our Time’ specifically because there is a Circassian character in the novel. I’m especially excited since I am of Circassian descent and want to see how Russians’ depiction of us was during that time period.

[@crawfishpi]

If yoou like Joyce and end up wanting to read more Irish lit and learn more about their history and the political tensions there I HIGHLY recommend the play Translations by Brian Friel. I'm very grateful that my Brit Lit class in college was heavily Ireland centered, I learned so much in that class and Translations is my favorite play to this day.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I likely will want to read more about the historical and political context so thank you for the recommendation!

[@camillodimaria3288]

Love Oblomov & Heart of Darkness … did you know English was his third language, Joseph Conrad?

[@BobkidMcconville]

An obscure recommendation: 1962 Pulitzer Prize Winner, The Edge of Sadness, by Edwin O'Connor. Deeply moving drama concerning a priest returning from alcohol rehabilitation, beautifully wrought, deeply moving characters, nothing groundbreaking or innovative but very satisfying.

[@myepictbr6968]

I am always fascinated to hear non-Russian takes on Lermontov. I look forward to your thoughts.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I've heard great things so I'll definitely make a video on it!

[@myepictbr6968]

@@TheActiveMind1 I don’t know if you are familiar with the whole notion of the “surplus people”, but if you aren’t, it would be really interesting to hear how this novel comes across to someone without that context.

[@suzannebousquet2710]

I like to have a variety of genres on my bookshelves because I am a mood reader. Those books that are at the forefront of my list are just those that I feel like reading. Russian books to checkout: Envy by Yuri Olyesha and Hope Against Hope by Nadezdha Mandelstam.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Wonderful! Thank you very much for those recommendations

[@tonybennett4159]

For Russian books, I would recommend also Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons" and Maxim Gorky's luminous memoir "My Childhood", both having the advantage of brevity and therefore ideal for those scared by weighty Russian tomes. However, "the Master and Margarita" is as good as they come in any language.

[@simonbailey8814]

Have you read Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian? A difficult, confronting read.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I have! I had mixed feelings reading it but the last 60 or so pages salvaged it from me disliking it

[@tonybennett4159]

@@TheActiveMind1 More specifically, the last ten pages or so still have me speculating on what exactly happened.

[@manukan_hokyaa]

Have you read robert musil's the man without qualities?

[@TheActiveMind1]

Not yet!

[@paulfillingham2958]

Gunter Grass was a member of the Hitler Youth as all young Germans had to be and was called up at the end of the war. Tin Drum is a brilliant novel, in my top 10 all time. Dog Years is another one of his you should read. Also you should look up Alfred Doblin’s Berlin Alexanderplatz published in 1929 about the death of the Weimar Republic and forseeing the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party.

[@walters3020]

Günter Grass was born in Danzig - you'll realize the importance of that when you read his works. He died in Lübeck.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Thank you for the correction!

[@ralphjenkins1507]

Fabulous 🎉🎉❤❤

[@justinyarbro2671]

Garp is easily a top 10

[@tonybennett4159]

I think you're going to get a lot out of these. I've read all but "Dr Faustus", "Oblomov" and "The Lathe of Heaven" and while I found Wuthering Heights rather a miserable experience, I know others who love it. If you're interested in movie tie-ins, famed director John Huston's film of Joyce's story "The Dead" (considered by many to be one of the greatest short stories ever) is amazing and was described by an Irish friend as being made by somebody who knows and loves the Irish people. "Heart of Darkness" provided the basic plot for the river journey in "Apocalypse Now". For further reading about the "heart of darkness" which Conrad describes, I would thoroughly recommend the non-fiction book "King Leopold's Ghost". "Tin Drum", "The World According to Garp", and of course "Wuthering Heights" have also had movie adaptations.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I'll be sure to check those adaptations out!

[@roawr59]

HoD was one of the first books I read that made me realize that books can be, 'great'

[@TheActiveMind1]

I think I'll dive into it this month!

[@wayne0220]

First time watching your channel, sounds like you’re mostly into fiction. However given the themes, I am wondering if you’ve read any Chomsky? Manufacturing Consent or Understanding Power are some of his best.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I actually got into reading through philosophy and purely read books within that genre for about a year. I think I’ve just fallen in love with fiction and the crossover between the genres lately. I haven’t read Chomsky yet though. I’ll make a note to check those out!

[@wayne0220]

@@TheActiveMind1 I love to hear that, and fiction is a great medium for exploring so many topics. Chomsky (still alive) is probably one of the greatest intellectual minds in modern American history.

[@bananasplit3805]

Such beautiful hands!

[@NoorAli-qc8ik]

I want to know, what makes you "not" want to buy a book whenever you're out there buying For me personally, I judge it on the possibility of me reading it (or something similar) in the near future. I know it's dumb but kinda helps me not to over buy stuff sometimes 😅

[@TheActiveMind1]

I do much of the same. I actually turned down a copy of Lolita by Nabokov for that reason as I didn’t plan to read it any time soon. Typically I’ll buy a used copy if I doubt I’ll see another copy like it pop up again soon OR if it’s been on my mind and I see it there

[@theplatinumpoo4447]

Bookshelf tour when?

[@TheActiveMind1]

Perhaps soon!

[@02thore]

Hows gravities rainbow?

[@TheActiveMind1]

As complex and enigmatic as it's proclaimed to be. I'll make a video on my impressions and thoughts once I finish it!

[@giannidewaele4355]

Do you know when you're gonna read Wuthering Heights? I think it's the best classic I've ever read. The characters, the relationships, the quotes, ... It's amazing. Btw you're talking about the Bröntes (Emily and Charlotte), but there's also Anne. She might be interesting to check out too.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Yes, I didn’t forget about Anne :) I plan to read one from each of them in 2025!

[@felixarquer7732]

Favorite Dostoevsky?

[@TheActiveMind1]

Currently The Brothers Karamazov but I’m curious if a re-read of Demons will change that

[@karolyseregi6888]

It was great listening to your reading list. Finally not Lucy Score and Ali Hazelwood, Sarah J Mass. Enough of all the shallow stories

[@elizabethgrossman3700]

What a surprise awaits you with Lermontov! 🤭🫣 I Recommend pairing it with Camus’s “The Fall”

[@TheActiveMind1]

I can't wait! I'll keep that pairing in mind!