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What are you reading? (March 2017)
- Thread starter Maklershed
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Funyarinpa
Member
Battle Royale and House Of Leaves are both masterclass horror.
BR is actually my favorite novel of all time
If you like his books but dont want to risk a burnout, why not read his essay collections or short stories?
Funyarinpa
Member
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman is a collection of short stories already.
Thanks for the recommendations, I'll be sure to check these out after I'm done with Trigger Warning!
Should have a bit more time to read again after I'm done with Nier Automata. Gotta read as much as I can before Persona 5 comes out, cause that'll for sure dominate my free time for a couple of months lol.
They are all weird and they all share some similar elements (the presence of another world with various metaphysical / mythological elements, mysterious women, loneliness, jazz, cooking of noodles, etc.)..
I really recommend people start with A Wild Sheep Chase, or perhaps now that it is out again, Pinball, 1973 and Hear the Wind Sing, though.
Yeah, A Wild Sheep Chase benefits from the reader having read Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball 1973 first. Same main character and you can feel Murakami getting progressively more comfortable with his own brand of weird (A Wild Sheep Chase is the one where he starts playing more with surrealism).
And once again, as much as I enjoy his work I don't recommend reading his novels without taking a break between them.
Kyleripman
Member
I'm surprised to see so much love for House of Leaves. I really hated it. The worst part was that there is a pretty good core of a story in there, too. The
was killer. But I couldn't stand the present-day narrator and reading about his dubious sexual conquests. And the formatting stuff felt largely gimmicky to me.
Not that people shouldn't try it or anything, just wanted to offer a counterpoint.
video transcript of exploring the house
Not that people shouldn't try it or anything, just wanted to offer a counterpoint.
Yep, that definitely got grating. You could cut pretty much all of his sexual adventures and the book would be better for it. It's the only problem I have with the novel since I loved everything else about it.
Yeah, A Wild Sheep Chase benefits from the reader having read Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball 1973 first. Same main character and you can feel Murakami getting progressively more comfortable with his own brand of weird (A Wild Sheep Chase is the one where he starts playing more with surrealism).
And once again, as much as I enjoy his work I don't recommend reading his novels without taking a break between them.
Mm. I think you see the differences when you space them out, and starting with the earlier stuff you see how his style develops.
Thanks Mumei! This is exactly what I was looking for, I'll probably just start throwing things in Goodreads->Amazon and start from the bottom.
@Peru - I'll check that out, seems like something I would be interested in.
@Funyarinpa - I've read the comic of Battle Royal and seen the Film, usually horror novels just don't do it for me which is weird because it is my favorite genre of film but I'll check out House of Leaves and see if it can change my mind
There are also some things past that 50 year mark that I felt terrible leaving out:
- The Eye, by Vladimir Nabokovv (1965)
- A Personal Matter, by Kenzaburō Oe (1964)
- Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut (1963)
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson (1962)
- Pale Fire, by Vladimir Nabokov (1962)
- The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick (1962)
- One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
- Catch-22, by Joseph Heller (1961)
- Beauty and Sadness, by Yasunari Kawabata (1961)
- To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee (1960)
- The House of Sleeping Beauties and Other Stories, by Yasunari Kawabata (1960)
- A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller, Jr. ((1959)
- The Once and Future King, by T.H. White (1958, though the works within were written in the late 30s and early 40s mostly)
- Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids, by Kenzaburō Oe (1958)
- The Baron in the Trees, by Italo Calvino (1957)
- Exile and Kingdom, by Albert Camus (1957)
- The Quiet American, by Graham Greene (1955)
- Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov (1955)
- The Master of Go, by Yasunari Kawabata (1954)
- Pnin, by Vladimir Nabokov (1953)
- The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov (1952; various)
- The Killer Inside Me, by Jim Thompson (1952)
- Barabbas, by Pär Lagerkvist (1950)
- 1984, by George Orwell (1949)
- Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton (1948)
- Comedy in a Minor Key, by Hans Keilson (1947)
Which covers the rest of the post-war period for me!
Servbot #42
Unconfirmed Member
White Noise by Don DeLillo and Neuromancer by William Gibson appear to be on sale on kindle, i bought them. Your mileage may vary though.
Killed off The Mirrors Truth by Michael R. Fletcher and I'm pretty disappointed. The first book in this series was amazing, but this sequel, in my opinion, was a step backwards so big, that I don't care how the rest of the series pans out. This book is supposed to by Grimdark, but the main characters are so whiny and self involved, I thought the author was trying to create a new sub-genre called, Whinydark. I eventually skipped those parts of the book. And then, one female character would be constantly lifting up her skirt to reveal her luscious thighs in almost every chapter she was in, just like in another book series where the girl constantly plays with her braid. Yeah, yeah, we get it she has sex appeal, please stop being so juvenile about it. The book wasn't all bad, but it feels like a big let down, specially after all the glowing goodreads reviews.
So I'm done with recently released books. For the next bit, it's just classics and old books. Next up is going to be The Border Legion by Zane Grey. Funny story about the next book. I was at a used book store and found this copy of The Border Legion and thought my gf would like it for her birthday. 2 years later we broke up and she gave me back the book with a bunch of my other stuff. So now I'm reading the book I gave her and every time I open it, I can see the inscription I put in for her on the inside front cover. I haven't read a word yet and this book has already made me sad. And that's why they're called classics!
So I'm done with recently released books. For the next bit, it's just classics and old books. Next up is going to be The Border Legion by Zane Grey. Funny story about the next book. I was at a used book store and found this copy of The Border Legion and thought my gf would like it for her birthday. 2 years later we broke up and she gave me back the book with a bunch of my other stuff. So now I'm reading the book I gave her and every time I open it, I can see the inscription I put in for her on the inside front cover. I haven't read a word yet and this book has already made me sad. And that's why they're called classics!
Maklershed
Member
Finished The Long Way To a Small Angry Planet. It was .. meh. Kind reminded me of Firefly a bit but nothing happened. Now on to Finn ..
Finn by Jon Clinch
Finn by Jon Clinch
I stumbled across this while browsing the Business section at my local B&N and the title describes me in a nutshell. I'm a few chapters in and it's shocking how on-point this book is. I've struggled internally with the paradox of being a huge introvert who's trying to start his own business for a while now. It's a breath of fresh air to read about successful entrepreneurs who dealt with the same problems and how they pushed through them.
Maklershed
Member
Finished The Long Way To a Small Angry Planet. It was .. meh. Kind reminded me of Firefly a bit but nothing happened. Now on to Finn ..
Finn by Jon Clinch
Update: About 20% in and I'm loving this. It's about Huck Finn's dad who is an insane, alcoholic, murderer. Very dark but really fun so far.
I loved Girl Next Door. Was a really easy read for me, but having tried a few of the authors other books, I haven't been able to find anything as good. Made it maybe half way into Off Season.
I got a Kindle Paperwhite yesterday and downloaded Goth on a whim because it was recommended to me through the Kindle.
It feels like a collection of stories that vaguely connect, maybe the sort of thing that would be in a monthly magazine or something aiming toward teens. I haven't looked into it, but I'm 90% sure that's what it is. I occasionally feel embarrassed while reading the book, like the author is holding my hand through the whole thing even though I would have been more than fine on my own.
Regardless of all this, it's been a fun little read. I don't get a ton of free time, so it was nice to just shut my brain down and move on through.
Also, Kindle Paperwhite is amazing and I can't wait to lay in bed tonight and get to use it again. 100 steps up from the old Kindle Keyboard I had.
...but as it was the combination of urgency, scope and ace characters (plus ideas) that made AFUTD ;_;
Thanks for giving your impressions so far. Entertaining is good. And yeah the characters in AFUTD were great. I just loved Wickwrackscar, and the Tines are one of the best scifi ideas ever.
After having dropped Count Zero during my vacation, I was off to Edinburgh for the weekend, last week, and couldn't find any book to bring with me on the trip, so I brought it with me, and after powering through the first 3 chapters, I sort of got into it. But damn those first 2 chapters were slow as hell to get through.
Finally got around to finishing A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
This book...I loved the first one but this sequel was just a whole 'nother level. The issues it tackles are so relatable while still being stewed in that lovely sci-fi theme that Chambers does oh so well.
Next up is The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden.
Mainly found out about this one because someone in last month's thread was reading it but it seems like it's going to be right up my alley.
This book...I loved the first one but this sequel was just a whole 'nother level. The issues it tackles are so relatable while still being stewed in that lovely sci-fi theme that Chambers does oh so well.
Next up is The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden.
Mainly found out about this one because someone in last month's thread was reading it but it seems like it's going to be right up my alley.
I've been meaning to post this for a while but I kept forgetting.
Ico Castle in the Mist - Miyuki Miyabe (Translated by Alexander O Smith)
I really enjoyed this. It's not at all what I expected from an adaptation of Ico. Far from a straight or even faithful adaptation of the game, it is instead a total reimagination of what the game -could- be about, from the mind of the author alone. While much of the game was about solitude and the mystery of not knowing why anything was happening in the first place, the book here is a dark fantasy fairy tale which has more in common with Neil Gaiman's Stardust but filtered through the world of Ico. There's a ton of world building, expanding on the nature of ICO's origin, the world he lived in, the history of the world, Yorda's origins, the true nature of the castle, and so on. It transforms the story of Ico from one about a mysterious boy who meets a mysterious girl and escapes from a castle, to a generations spanning fable of light and dark, with the relationship that builds between Ico and Yorda at the core of that. The translation is super duper good too.
If you like Gaiman's brand of fantasy you'll probably dig this. Highly recommended.
Ico Castle in the Mist - Miyuki Miyabe (Translated by Alexander O Smith)
I really enjoyed this. It's not at all what I expected from an adaptation of Ico. Far from a straight or even faithful adaptation of the game, it is instead a total reimagination of what the game -could- be about, from the mind of the author alone. While much of the game was about solitude and the mystery of not knowing why anything was happening in the first place, the book here is a dark fantasy fairy tale which has more in common with Neil Gaiman's Stardust but filtered through the world of Ico. There's a ton of world building, expanding on the nature of ICO's origin, the world he lived in, the history of the world, Yorda's origins, the true nature of the castle, and so on. It transforms the story of Ico from one about a mysterious boy who meets a mysterious girl and escapes from a castle, to a generations spanning fable of light and dark, with the relationship that builds between Ico and Yorda at the core of that. The translation is super duper good too.
If you like Gaiman's brand of fantasy you'll probably dig this. Highly recommended.
Whoa, I didn't know this existed, much less in English. I like Ico, Alexander O. Smith's translations and Gaiman's novels. I'm gonna check this out.
Having set out to cover works by every Laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature, I had already ready Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt in 2011, so when the 2016 election suddenly generated new interest in Lewis' most famous later work and led to new copies showing up in bookstores nearby, I had some background with his writing. It Can't Happen Here was written in 1935, during FDR's first term, projecting what might happen in the then-upcoming 1936 presidential election if the incipient fascist movements in Europe spread to America.
If one was to approach this purely as a blueprint for how an American fascist movement might emerge, it doesn't particularly stand up to scrutiny on the specifics, I don't think. However, this is a vehicle for a lot of very pointed commentary about existing American institutions; it's worth noting that Lewis was writing this at a point in American history when women had only been comprehensively enfranchised for about 15 years, where Jim Crow was in force throughout the South (and, albeit in unofficial form, in much of the North as well), and where anti-Semitism was very much a going concern (to the point where a film about the Dreyfuss Affair released a couple of years later would avoid mentioning anything to do with it). Moreover, the violent repression of labour organization was within living memory, as characters themselves note.
Some of the most interesting (and perhaps, relevant to contemporary times) commentary relates to the novel's main character, Doremus Jessup (the first name appears to have been chosen primarily so that his wife can give him the nickname "Dormouse"), a milquetoast newspaper editor who gradually becomes a resistance member after going through a variety of intellectual attempts to accommodate himself to the regime or scorn the more violent and active forms of resistance to it.
Maklershed
Member
^ I don't know why but I just read about him. I think he won a Pulitzer for that but turned it down because he thought he should've gotten one sooner for Babbitt. Hopefully I have my facts straight on that.
ClosingADoor
Member
Finished: Pilot X
Story about a race that can travel through time and protects the timelines. Pilot X is one of them and the story starts after he has ended his timeline and then you learn how and why. Would be nice if this became a series or so, it's a simple read, but the character (and his AI ship) are enjoyable.
Now reading: Last Citadel
Tells the story of one of the major battles from World War 2 from the perspective of a German officer who spies for the Russians and a Russian family fighting in the war.
Story about a race that can travel through time and protects the timelines. Pilot X is one of them and the story starts after he has ended his timeline and then you learn how and why. Would be nice if this became a series or so, it's a simple read, but the character (and his AI ship) are enjoyable.
Now reading: Last Citadel
Tells the story of one of the major battles from World War 2 from the perspective of a German officer who spies for the Russians and a Russian family fighting in the war.
DeviantBoi
Member
Bought the Kindle version on sale and I'm really digging it. Here's a blurb:
Ravensmash
Member
Broken Angels by Richard Morgan certainly picked up towards the end - the final third was fantastic.
I don't think it's something that will stay with me very long but it was entertaining and makes me want to read Woken Furies.
... I've also taken the plunge and started Game of Thrones....
Only a few chapters in but bloody hell is there a lot of names and places, haha. Absolutely love the writing though.
It's a very long read so I'm not going to obsess over names and connections etc. just yet - just hope that the narrative blends well enough!
I don't think it's something that will stay with me very long but it was entertaining and makes me want to read Woken Furies.
... I've also taken the plunge and started Game of Thrones....
Only a few chapters in but bloody hell is there a lot of names and places, haha. Absolutely love the writing though.
It's a very long read so I'm not going to obsess over names and connections etc. just yet - just hope that the narrative blends well enough!
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
Finally got around to finishing A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
This book...I loved the first one but this sequel was just a whole 'nother level. The issues it tackles are so relatable while still being stewed in that lovely sci-fi theme that Chambers does oh so well.
Next up is The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden.
Mainly found out about this one because someone in last month's thread was reading it but it seems like it's going to be right up my alley.
lol These are the exact two books I was planning to read next. Let me know what you think of the Bear and the Nightingale!
FlowersisBritish
fleurs n'est pas britannique
I am shocked such a thing exists but damn if im not glad it does. Adding to the to read list.
I have a hardcover with a similar title, which is about 1100 pages. I've read about 300 so far, haven't gotten to any of the Cthulhu stories yet.
In this case I don't think they "got" her to write the novel. She was a fan of the game, and basically wanted to tell the story she imagined in her head from playing the game, from what I understand. It's basically authorized fan fiction from an accomplished author lol.
It worked out really well because Ico is such a great concept template for the imagination imo.
I somehow forgot she's also the author of Brave Story, I should really get around to reading the behemoth English volume I bought years ago (also translated by O. Smith).
Oh, right. That is probably another reason it turned out well.
He's translated quite a few novels. Good stuff.
BorkBork (poster on GAF if you don't know him) has a great set of posts on his blog about the series. You should check them out when you finish (ctrl-f "Earthsea").
Baconsaurus Rex
Member
Does anybody have some good sci-fi or fantasy anthologies to recommend, or good stories and novellas in general? I'm open to anything but I've been reading a lot of '50s and '60s sci-fi lately and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'm planning on reading a short story or two in between chapters of other books. I've noticed I get burnt out easily and often drop a novel for weeks on end before finishing it. I usually end up not reading for a while, since I don't want to end up with an endless sequence of unfinished books. It's a bad habit.
Maklershed
Member
Sorry to gush some more but to all my fellow lovers of southern noir and authors like Daniel Woodrell, Donald Ray Pollock, Joe Lansdale, William Gay, Nic Pizzolatto, etc - do yourself a favor and get Finn immediately. It is so damn dark and good.
Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse by John Joseph Adams
I thought there was a lot of enjoyable stuff in Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse. Quite a few well respected authors in there.
Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse by John Joseph Adams
Stories of Your Life and Others, Ted Chiang
Paper Menagerie, Ken Liu
I loved both of these short story collections. The Paper Menagerie has a bit more variety (a mix of sci fi, fantasy, and historical fiction, sometimes within the same story) but both are top tier short story collections.
Baconsaurus Rex
Member
Thanks! Ken Liu was the translator of The Three Body Problem which is, as far as I can tell, a great translation. Eager to see what his original works are like.
I came across a copy of Stories of Your Life at my local bookstore a month or so ago. I'll pick it up next time I go. Must be the movie reprint.
Wasteland looks depressing 😁
I came across a copy of Stories of Your Life at my local bookstore a month or so ago. I'll pick it up next time I go. Must be the movie reprint.
Wasteland looks depressing 😁
Gene Wolfe's Innocents Aboard.
Seconding both of these recommendations. Ted Chiang is (in my opinion) the greatest SF short fiction writer of our generation, and Liu's collection (which I'm making my way through now) is uniformly excellent.
I finished reading Uzumaki by Junji Ito the other day after borrowing it from a friend and fellow Gaffer. It was pretty good, quite disturbing in places which I don't mind so much. Felt the ending was a little rushed, but that may have just been me.
I haven't got anything lined up for now, but I recently got into The Expanse on Netflix and was wondering about starting those books. It's been a while since I last got my teeth into some good ol' fashioned Sci-Fi.
I haven't got anything lined up for now, but I recently got into The Expanse on Netflix and was wondering about starting those books. It's been a while since I last got my teeth into some good ol' fashioned Sci-Fi.
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