white whale – Page 2 – Cannonball Read 17

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter – Carson McCullers (1940)

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

July 10, 2021 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

CBR13Bingo – White Whale From a combination of reading a lot of Southern literature in college and beyond, from various book lists like the MLA Top 100 and plenty of other sources, this is one of those books that’s been in my conscientiousness for a long time, and for whatever reason, I avoided reading it. It’s interesting too because I’ve A Member of the Wedding a few times, and all of McCullers’s short stories, but for whatever reason, I find myself only reading it now. […]

White whale for a blackout (cbr12bingo 2: white whale)

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

October 31, 2020 by octothorp 1 Comment

This is a door stopper of a book at 754 pages, but I’ve read longer books quicker. I don’t read enough history, and despite my historian father being obsessed with the civil war in particular, I know the highlights and half-remembered tidbits from AP history. Team of Rivals has been THE Lincoln book since its publication, so it seemed like a good enough place to start. So I did. Years ago. And this whale got beached. I’m glad I finished it, but it is a […]

“Man errs, till he has ceased to strive.”

Doctor Faustus: The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkuhn As Told by a Friend by Thomas Mann

October 30, 2020 by blauracke Leave a Comment

In this modern take on the Faust myth, composer Adrian Leverkühn, a cold but brilliant character, sells his soul to the devil for twenty-four years of unparalleled and innovative accomplishments in his chosen field. His life is chronicled by his childhood friend Serenus who is the only one close to Adrian, since isolation from others and abstaining from loving anyone is part of the pact, too. I bought this book about 15 years ago, read the first 300 pages, decided that I had absolutely lost […]

cbr12bingo – white whale (and BLACKOUT!!!! now I if only I could blackout and forget that this book exists!)

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

October 24, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos 8 Comments

Lolita is absolutely vile, and I cannot be convinced otherwise. Yes, Humbert Humbert is the worst, and yes, we are supposed to know that he is a monster, but good lord this book is venerated from here to kingdom come as if it is the be all-end all of twentieth century literature. The edition that I picked up, which was published in 1997 as a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the original pressing- and is still the one in current re-prints and mass circulation, STILL […]

“A dreamer, I walked enchanted, and nothing held me back.”

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

October 24, 2020 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

Rebecca has been on my literary radar for 20 years and on my to read list for 6. It has felt like a big, important work that I needed to read, if only to more easily understand some of the references that are out and about: Mrs. Danvers, the opening line of “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again”, and so on. Rebecca joined the list of books I categorized as White Whales (Daughter of Fortune, The House of the Spirits, The Lottery, […]

I hated it

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

October 20, 2020 by Wanderlustful 2 Comments

I am pegging this one down as my CBRbingo white whale for two reasons: 1) I have been starting and failing to read this book for years- a lot of people kept telling me how great it is, and how much they loved it, but up until recently, I just couldn’t get into it enough to get past the first 50 pages; and 2) it is so long- close to 600 pages- and so finishing it feels like a real accomplishment (especially because ‘white whale’ […]

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Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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