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NoHall

hmmmm......can't remember
May 28, 2007
9,032
996
Northern Hall County, GA
SOMEBODY SHOOT ME! :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang:

For one of my classes I have to read a biography of Johannes Brahms. My professor (love him, but he's a classical music geek) thinks it's the greatest biography ever. It's touted as the "definitive work" on Brahms.

As if there are that many books that anyone would want to read about Brahms, for Pete's sake.

Had to vent that. (Is there a chance that one of you is a classical music geek who reads this mind-numbing crud on the beach and can send me some cheat sheets so I can go to sleep?)
 

Rudyjohn

SoWal Insider
Feb 10, 2005
7,736
234
Chicago Area
SOMEBODY SHOOT ME! :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang:

For one of my classes I have to read a biography of Johannes Brahms. My professor (love him, but he's a classical music geek) thinks it's the greatest biography ever. It's touted as the "definitive work" on Brahms.

As if there are that many books that anyone would want to read about Brahms, for Pete's sake.

Had to vent that. (Is there a chance that one of you is a classical music geek who reads this mind-numbing crud on the beach and can send me some cheat sheets so I can go to sleep?)
I can say that Brahms wrote some of the most awesome classical music for his time. He was definitely considered musically eccentric, far out and way ahead of his time. Probably made Mozart look tame. This is my son's favorite composer and loves playing his pieces the most. Don't think of the Brahms Lullaby. He's sooo much more and then some. Good luck.

P.S. Give Academic Festival Overture a listen. And turn it UP!!! It's pretty amazing. :love:

P.S.S. I realize this doesn't help you at all...
 
Last edited by a moderator:

NoHall

hmmmm......can't remember
May 28, 2007
9,032
996
Northern Hall County, GA
I can say that Brahms wrote some of the most awesome classical music for his time. He was definitely considered musically eccentric, far out and way ahead of his time. Probably made Mozart look tame. This is my son's favorite composer and loves playing his pieces the most. Don't think of the Brahms Lullaby. He's sooo much more and then some. Good luck.

P.S. Give Academic Festival Overture a listen. And turn it UP!!! It's pretty amazing. :love:

P.S.S. I realize this doesn't help you at all...

Comfort is always helpful.

I have nothing against Brahms. I just hate reading anything that is non-fiction. (And, honestly, this biography isn't that bad. It's just incredibly long.) I managed to earn my undergrad degree without completing a single reading assignment.

The part where I actually learn something about Brahms' music is a good thing, too. I managed to miss out on him until now. I'll listen to the Overture!
 

Rudyjohn

SoWal Insider
Feb 10, 2005
7,736
234
Chicago Area
Comfort is always helpful.

I have nothing against Brahms. I just hate reading anything that is non-fiction. (And, honestly, this biography isn't that bad. It's just incredibly long.) I managed to earn my undergrad degree without completing a single reading assignment.

The part where I actually learn something about Brahms' music is a good thing, too. I managed to miss out on him until now. I'll listen to the Overture!
Awesome! :clap:

Hey, this has interested me enough to where I might even try reading the Brahms bio.!
 

scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,706
3,339
Sowal
I just hate reading anything that is non-fiction.I managed to earn my undergrad degree without completing a single reading assignment.

I wouldn't brag about that! You probably missed out on some great books and a good part of your education. Non-fiction doesn't have to mean a boring biography. Some of the greatest stories are true.
 

NoHall

hmmmm......can't remember
May 28, 2007
9,032
996
Northern Hall County, GA
I wouldn't brag about that! You probably missed out on some great books and a good part of your education. Non-fiction doesn't have to mean a boring biography. Some of the greatest stories are true.

Yikes, Scooter...I feel a bit admonished. Didn't mean to brag (although I see that it did come off that way.) I'm just awful when it comes to reading that sort of thing. I enjoy reading; it's hard to do that when you have to read 50 pages of complex material in one night. That's all I'm sayin...

The biography I'm reading isJohnannes Brahms by Jan Swafford, and if you like biographies you would probably enjoy it.
 
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Teresa

SoWal Guide
Staff member
Nov 15, 2004
30,693
9,477
South Walton, FL
sowal.com
Comfort is always helpful.

I have nothing against Brahms. I just hate reading anything that is non-fiction. (And, honestly, this biography isn't that bad. It's just incredibly long.) I managed to earn my undergrad degree without completing a single reading assignment.

The part where I actually learn something about Brahms' music is a good thing, too. I managed to miss out on him until now. I'll listen to the Overture!

NoHall - I am with you. give me fiction! any kind of fiction! but love historical fiction of any kind. For example, Colleen McCullough's First Man in Rome series of immense novels about roman civilization. Uncle Timmy and I both read all of them - you are reading and learning about real people, events, cultures, history, but they are woven into a beautiful tale that you just cannot stop reading. much detail and depth.

also love science fiction. just finished two incredibly wonderful books by Mary Doria Russell that I highly recommend (The Sparrow, Children of God)...

from amazon:
Children of God is the sequel to Mary Doria Russell's 1996 The Sparrow, which saw a Jesuit mission to the planet Rakhat end in disaster. The sole survivor of that mission, a priest named Emilio Sandoz, returned a beaten and broken man, having suffered rape and mutilation at the hands of enigmatic aliens. Now the Jesuits want to go back to Rakhat, and they want Sandoz aboard the new mission. But Sandoz has renounced his priesthood and even found a measure of happiness with his new wife and stepdaughter. Meanwhile, on Rakhat, contact with the humans has thrown the local culture into turmoil, precipitating a war between Rakhat's two sentient races. As forces conspire to send Emilio back to Rakhat--and toward a possible reconciliation with God--the planet verges on genocidal destruction. Children of God is a more polished novel than The Sparrow, and the story is equally compelling.

 

30Arunaway

Beach Comber
Jan 5, 2007
6
0
52
I, too, have to say that I prefer fiction!!!!!! However, with that being said, I HAVE to suggest that Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy be added to the summer reading list. It is amazingly written, compelling, and so unbelievable that it reads like fiction. It is also a relatively short read.
 

scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,706
3,339
Sowal
Majority of what I read is fiction as well, I just didn't want NoHall to dismiss all non-fiction.

I also have been forced to slog through some horrible non-fiction and fiction books/texts as part of school and I didn't want it to ruin reading for NoHall.
 
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