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What are you reading? (July 2013)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
Still reading Roberto Bolaño's "2666". Just started the second volume, which contains part four (out of five... the first three parts or "books" are in the first volume).
Without spoiling much, this is how it's structured:
Part 1: Tells the story of four European professors in literature (one French, one Spanish, one English and one Italian) and their obsession with an elusive German author. They are the world's foremost experts on his works, but none of them have ever seen him. So they try to find him, and clues send them to Mexico, to the fictional town Santa Teresa (which is molded on Ciudad Juarez). There, they meet a few people including a Spanish professor in philosophy.
Part 2: Is about the life of the Spanish philosophy professor. He lives with his daughter in Santa Teresa, and is a nervous wreck because he's afraid his daughter will be killed. The last few years, hundreds of women have been killed in the city, and nobody knows why or who does it (the murders are in fact real, and have happened for years in Ciudad Juarez).
Part 3: Is about an afro-American journalist from New York called Fate. He writes about social issues for a local "black" magazine, and is suddenly sent to Santa Teresa to cover a boxing match (which he knows nothing about). There, he meets several strange people including the beautiful daughter of the Spanish professor, and a female journalist who writes about the killings and is scheduled to interview a suspected killer in jail.
Part 4: I'm only a little bit into it, but it seems to be a catalogue of all the murders, with details about every single one of them.
No idea about part 5 yet, obviously, but I suspect the stories are somehow connected there.
It's a strange, sprawling book so far, but very fascinating and readable. I have trouble putting it down, and often read until the early hours instead of sleeping. The fourth part seems as if it might become challenging, though, with the detailed descriptions about hundreds of murdered women...
this is pretty gosh darn wonderful. i never felt like i really got catcher in the rye as a teenage, maybe because i wasn't all that rebellious or just too stupid but i'm finding this a revelation. each piece is beautifully observed, the dialogue is absolutely impeccable and like all great short stories it's very stripped down and so much is achieved with so little.
my favourite so far is called a perfect day for bananafish, it's a striking, tragic story about a ww2 vet struggling with life in ordinary post-war america, haunted with pain from the war and unable to truly relate to his emotionally detached wife, yet it's only communicated through two brief conversations contrasting his wife with this child he meets on a beach, followed by a short ending paragraph.
i'm not sure why my parents insist on always buying me a new boris johnson book for my birthday :/. anyway this is a history of london told through brief chapters focused on scores of famous londoners like shakespeare and churchill. it's pretty breezy and johnson keeps it witty and personable, i'm surprised and ashamed how little i knew about a lot of the history.
Looking to get into Bolano. Would this be a good place to start?
EverythingShiny
Member
Just finished. It took me a while to get into it, but I really enjoyed it. Le Guin's exploration of gender was fascinating and
I was pretty bummed about Estraven's death.
Trying to figure out what to read next. Is Shift as good as Wool? Maybe I'll read that before Dust comes out in a few weeks.
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Just finished this. It's a quick read as it originally was a short story taken into a full novel or maybe novella depending upon your distinction.
I've been reading Ringworld, but I don't seem to be able to get into it even though I'm well past halfway now. While the concept is great, the story hasn't been that interesting and some of characters are very unlikable/annoying.
I'm used to reading older science fiction and I can even expect a certain degree of sexism from it, but wow, Teela's characterization is depressing :0
Overall I really liked Shift. Might be a bit uneven compared to Wool ( I found some storylines not too interesting), but the main storyline makes up for it. Looking forward to Dust!
I'm used to reading older science fiction and I can even expect a certain degree of sexism from it, but wow, Teela's characterization is depressing :0
Overall I really liked Shift. Might be a bit uneven compared to Wool ( I found some storylines not too interesting), but the main storyline makes up for it. Looking forward to Dust!
It's where I'm starting with him, and I love it so far. It's his most famous work, but keep in mind that he died before finishing it, so it was edited together by other people following Bolaño's wishes (sort of what happened with David Foster Wallace and The Pale King, although 2666 was in a much more complete state). I also have The Savage Detectives, which is another of his best known works.
Start with The Savage Detectives. If you like that you'll love 2666, if you don't it's not as big a time investment.
Maklershed
Member
Finished 600 Hours of Edward on the bus this morning. Very good. I'd recommend it. I may have misted up (a lot) during the final chapters.
Back to The Terror
Back to The Terror
Way of Kings. Not only my favorite Sanderson but probably the best book I've read last year. Other than that I also really enjoyed Warbreaker, which has the advantage of being available for free.
So glad you liked '600 Hours of Edward' bud. I cried quite a few times reading it. Hope you'll check out 'Edward Adrift' sooner than later
Welcome!
AngmarsKing701
Member
Did you finish the entire trilogy or just the first book? If you haven't finished the trilogy, go ahead and finish it before moving on.
As stated above, The Way of Kings is a good read, but be warned that it is ~1000 pages and is the first in what is planned to be a 10-book series. So expect a time sink.
Elantris is a stand-alone novel and thoroughly enjoyable.
Warbreaker is also quite good.
The one thing you'll see about Sanderson is that he usually has an interesting magic system... and he can crank out books in record time.
So glad you liked '600 Hours of Edward' bud. I cried quite a few times reading it. Hope you'll check out 'Edward Adrift' sooner than later
Welcome!
As my inspiration for a lot of the books I read (you have great taste it seems, or at least the same as me), which book have you enjoyed most recently?
I'm currently reading "Jacked: The Outlaw Story Of Grand Theft Auto" and really enjoying it so far. 39% in and I imagine I'll need a new book in a few days and have already bookmarked "The Walk", "600 Hours Of Edward", "Cyberstorm" and "Wonder".
Thank you for the kind words, it does mean a lot to know the books I've chosen to read would influence someone else to do the same.I was just telling Mak last night that I was hoping someone was paying attention to my posts
I'm just finding myself more drawn to personal, uplifting stories about underdogs, or redemption arcs from characters in troubled situations, that make me reflect on what I am going through myself.'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" was my favourite book I read this year until I read '600 Hours of Edward" (and the sequel "Edward Adrift"), so those will generally my go-to recommendations moving foward. I think you would really love them, I hope you do. It also helps that 600 Hours of Edward was a sort of discovery I made on my own after it was the Amazon Daily, just something that Amazon seem perfectly tailored saying "Shane, you will LOVE this".
The Walk series I am really loving (currently on book 3 of 4), no idea if the 4th is the last one, they are very quick reads since I get so absorbed in them, Cyberstorm was really great as well, and quite terrifying. Wonder was a fun read, but a hard sell since it does skew very young with the writing at times, but it does share a wonderful message of dealing with being different.
Jag
Member
And he likes to sign his books in Airport bookstores and leave little gifts in them!
Recently Finished:
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
After finishing, and loving,The Wind Up Bird Chronicles, I chose this as my second Murakami book. Overall I had very mixed feelings about it, mostly because I drastically preferred one of the alternating narratives to the other. Overall, it was a solid 3/5 kind of book for me with some brilliant parts, but nowhere near as good as Wind-Up Bird. I'll probably go with Kafka on the Shore as my next Murakami book.
A Wanted Man (Jack Reacher 17) by Lee Child
It's amazing that after 17 books, most of the Jack Reacher books are still good enough to finish, and usually I read them really fast. This one wasn't amazing, but I enjoyed it for the most part, and had a good time. The one written just before this one, (a prequel of sorts called The Affair) was actually excellent and one of the best books in a while, so I'm still on board for more Jack Reacher, even if the coincidences Child uses to get Reacher into trouble in each book are starting to really strain credulity. More and more, Reacher's sort of turning into a super hero anyway, so it's easier to deal with a little implausibility.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
After finishing, and loving,The Wind Up Bird Chronicles, I chose this as my second Murakami book. Overall I had very mixed feelings about it, mostly because I drastically preferred one of the alternating narratives to the other. Overall, it was a solid 3/5 kind of book for me with some brilliant parts, but nowhere near as good as Wind-Up Bird. I'll probably go with Kafka on the Shore as my next Murakami book.
A Wanted Man (Jack Reacher 17) by Lee Child
It's amazing that after 17 books, most of the Jack Reacher books are still good enough to finish, and usually I read them really fast. This one wasn't amazing, but I enjoyed it for the most part, and had a good time. The one written just before this one, (a prequel of sorts called The Affair) was actually excellent and one of the best books in a while, so I'm still on board for more Jack Reacher, even if the coincidences Child uses to get Reacher into trouble in each book are starting to really strain credulity. More and more, Reacher's sort of turning into a super hero anyway, so it's easier to deal with a little implausibility.
EverythingShiny
Member
Sweet, I'll pick that up next, then.
I also have The Name of the Wind to read, but I keep reading such mixed reviews that I'm not that excited to read it, at this point.Mackenzie 92
Member
The Sisters Brothers is $2 today. Have heard good things.
sparky2112
Member
Anyone read Rutherford before? So far, this is good stuff - not ultra-stellar writing (but *certainly* no more pedestrian than, say, Follett, whose 'Pillars of the Earth' I never did manage to finish), but I think this is strong historical fiction - a good balance between explaining history and character(s) development. Despite the large leaps in years between the chapters, he really does give good overviews of what has transpired on the larger scale of things during these leaps. Plus, a lot of interesting tidbits that you wouldn't get out of a straight history text.
He's basically an English-born and educated James Michener.
Holy shit! I've always heard how great Crane was but my god he more than meets the hype. His poetry is a sublime mix of experimental syntax and traditional lyrical imagery in a way that's been described as "soft avant garde". They are as songlike as modern poetry is allowed to be, but they are never sentimental or mawkish. These are poems that move, like Yeats, Blake, or Keats.
He is often classified as a futurist and while he doesn't share their unqualified optimism for technology, he seems to be interested in how the modern world can untether the soul of mankind. As he says in his "For the Marriage of Helen and Faustus", "The imagination spans beyond despair,/Outpacing bargain, vocable and prayer." Truly amazing and I'll leave a passage from his six-part Voyages series as a taste:
sparky2112
Member
I so very much want to love poetry, but I'm just not smart enough. At least not smart enough for the abstract, terribly erudite stuff. I'm more of the earthy, Charles Simic school of poetry, I guess - dazzled, despite the use of fairly plain language.
Don't buy into that argument. Disliking poetry does not mean that you are not smart enough. Its simply personal taste. Personally, I find poetry boring because I need the work to have good characters to keep me invested. Well, that sure isnt going to be present in poetry
Shakespeare is poetry and he has cool characters????
sazabirules
Unconfirmed Member
I've been reading Bird on Fire. I'm halfway through it and enjoying it. Reading the chapter about all of the chemicals being dumped was very upsetting. I think I found out about this book in a thread about urban sprawl here.
Was getting a little burned out on genre fiction, so I tried out this gem:
Read it in about a day. Books don't usually make me cry, but this one really touched me for some reason. Maybe it was because my own gay uncle left us too soon, though I can't claim to have anything remotely similar to the relationship that June had, nor can I admit to getting to know his partner that he kept secret from our family for many years. We weren't close, but this books makes me wish we had been.
Writing was clean and simple and very effective. I'm always really appreciative of books that explore the concept of love in its many forms, and this one is fairly unique in its themes. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but those even remotely interested in the subject matter should check it out.
Read it in about a day. Books don't usually make me cry, but this one really touched me for some reason. Maybe it was because my own gay uncle left us too soon, though I can't claim to have anything remotely similar to the relationship that June had, nor can I admit to getting to know his partner that he kept secret from our family for many years. We weren't close, but this books makes me wish we had been.
Writing was clean and simple and very effective. I'm always really appreciative of books that explore the concept of love in its many forms, and this one is fairly unique in its themes. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but those even remotely interested in the subject matter should check it out.
bengraven
Member
I haven't read anything in over a month (Sabriel was my last) and I honestly have no idea what to read.
I know I should read Ocean at the end of the Lane, but I want to save Neil for when I really really am desperate for the kind of comfort only Gaiman can give.
Maybe I'll give Leviathon Wakes a try. I want to read some real sci-fi space opera kind of stuff, but without the overwhelming philosophy or spiritualism that the recommended space opera books usually feature.
I know I should read Ocean at the end of the Lane, but I want to save Neil for when I really really am desperate for the kind of comfort only Gaiman can give.
Maybe I'll give Leviathon Wakes a try. I want to read some real sci-fi space opera kind of stuff, but without the overwhelming philosophy or spiritualism that the recommended space opera books usually feature.
thats a play, not poetry
WeAreStarStuff
Member
Never got around to reading it before. I've read most of the material in other books by now, but I guess that's to be expected.
AngmarsKing701
Member
Weber's Honor Harrington series is pretty good "popcorn" space opera.
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
Finished several Neil Labute plays (ugh), and just started this:
Let's see what all the hype is about!
Let's see what all the hype is about!
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
Stayed up till 1am to finish the first Ciaphas Cain Omnibus, and decided to do some sailing with The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson. I hear it's good.
If I had to judge a book by its cover, I'd declare this the greatest book of all time.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Stayed up till 1am to finish the first Ciaphas Cain Omnibus, and decided to do some sailing with The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson. I hear it's good.
i don't know who you are, but i like you
Finished The Blade Itself last night. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was a lot different than I was expecting. Started off rather slow but I was never bored reading it. The fight scenes are really great. Can't wait to read the next one.
Starting on Shift now. Anyone else who has a physical copy have some weird distortion on their cover? It looks like they took a .jpg of the cover and stretched it. It's not bad or anything, just being nit picky.
Starting on Shift now. Anyone else who has a physical copy have some weird distortion on their cover? It looks like they took a .jpg of the cover and stretched it. It's not bad or anything, just being nit picky.
Maklershed
Member
Ahh to read this for the first time ever. I envy you.Stayed up till 1am to finish the first Ciaphas Cain Omnibus, and decided to do some sailing with The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson. I hear it's good.
You're not far off.
Thanks. I was wondering about his new book of poetry, as well (The Unknown University?). Not normally a fan a poetry, but I read a few and they were awesome.
I decided to take a break from fiction for a while.
The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power
This might be the most thoroughly researched book I have ever read. I am extremely impressed so far.
The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power
This might be the most thoroughly researched book I have ever read. I am extremely impressed so far.
Jag
Member
I think so too. I love historical fiction, but I've been living mostly on a diet of Bernard Cornwell. His books are decent, but almost every book is so formulaic and predictable at this point.
sparky2112
Member
I decided to take a break from fiction for a while.
The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power
This might be the most thoroughly researched book I have ever read. I am extremely impressed so far.
Read this a looong time ago (as reading goes). Basically, 'he who has the resources AND can get them where they need to be *when* they need to be there, wins'. The WWII portion was especially informative: don't invade Russia if you can't get fuel your tanks.
EverythingShiny
Member
I'm just starting Shift now, as well! I have the Kindle edition and the cover looks weird. I think it's just poor design.
What'd you think of Mr. Penumbra's...?