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What are you reading? (September 09)
- Thread starter Undeux
- Start date
Celery&Lager
Member
I'm reading Assasin's Quest. 750 pages to go.... not sure how I feel about
We'll see how it works out.
Next it's either the Brothers Karamazov or Wuthering Heights or Accelerando.
Fritz's "resurrection" and the subsequent disconnection with all the characters I came to love and care about!
Next it's either the Brothers Karamazov or Wuthering Heights or Accelerando.
hack646 said:Just finished:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/713Z0WA7DZL._SL500_AA240_.gif
I don't exactly know what I read, but at least I can say I read it.
Now that I'm done with that beast, I've decided to go back to the Russians. Since I've already read most of Dostoyevsky's works, I'm moving on to Tolstoy.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images...ow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg
It's a big book, but it should be good. Hopefully I can finish it by the end of the month.
Follow War & Peace up with the Kingdom of God is Within You. The contrast between Tolstoy's frame of mind in each is an awesome thing to take in.
Finished up Infinite Jest, which was wonderful and amazing and every great thing you've heard about it.
Now I'm about halfway through Pynchon's Inherent Vice.
At first, I was all like, "This ain't no Pynchon!" But now all the coincidences and conspiracy theories are piling up and, yep, it's him alright. Fun read so far.
Now I'm about halfway through Pynchon's Inherent Vice.
At first, I was all like, "This ain't no Pynchon!" But now all the coincidences and conspiracy theories are piling up and, yep, it's him alright. Fun read so far.
Blackace
if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
besada said:And then Glen Cook's newly re-collected Dread Empire triology:
If you're interested in Glen Cook, but haven't been able to find the out of print Black Company books, look again -- they've done a series of re-releases, combining multiple books into single TPB volumes.
Just found these volumes, and ordered two of them last night.. I found book 1 and was having a hell of a time finding book 2 :lol :lol
Just finished reading this
and polishing off the first black company book, and waiting for the rest and waiting for "Paddy Whacked"
Jugendstil
Member
ant1532 said:
Maybe try The Rules of Attraction by Brett Easton Ellis. It's the only Ellis novel I've read, but I liked it quite a bit. It's definitely very dark, it takes place at a college, and it's really funny (at least I thought so). Please disregard the stupid movie adaptation and just read the book instead.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Just Churchill running around, being badass, partially in his own words.
movie_club
Junior Member
After reading Catcher five times i decided to get all of Salingers other books, starting with this:
Read the first two stories so far. Enjoying it so far
Read the first two stories so far. Enjoying it so far
whatsinaname
Member
For the second time.
ant1532 said:
Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk
The Lie by Chad Kultgen
Like Kastro though I would also fucking appreciate it if some of you can point me towards some books i might like lol. I find Chuck Palahniuk sense of humor amazing(love his gritty, very sexual, and frank writing) But he is the only author I know of the dark comedy style. I think it would help if I tell you some of my favorite movies which I would like to read something similar. I love the life aquatic with steve zissou, rushmore,(basically any wes anderson movie), kiss kiss bang bang, cohen brother movies like the big lebowski, fargo, burn after reading, etc. I also wouldn't mind books about college-ish comedy romance like garden state and nick and norahs infinite playlist(i am aware that is actually a book too) and real love depictions like movies such as
500 days of summer. I also read all the harry potters which i absolutely love so yeah lol, i guess you can use that too.
jon bones said:
um loooking at Kurt Vonnegut and he seems like his books have serious undertones and i am looking for something more light hearted and entertaining.i also prefer books to take place in a contemporary world...hXc_thugg said:
looks good to me! ty ty.Jugendstil said:
way more
Member
hXc_thugg said:
Let us know how that goes. I remember only seeing a brutally violent scene from the movie when I was young and that title has always stuck with me. Besides that single savage act I have no idea what the book or film are about.
Besides some David Sedaris I'm starting this book.
Also, every time I pass this cover in the used book store I very nearly buy it.
But then I flip it open and the most I can read is three sentences before feeling horrible despair. One day I will defeat it.
I also ordered this based on a NPR review.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103930835
Skittleguy
Ring a Bell for me
Want to see what all the hubbub is about.
Just recently finished:
&
Picked up RoG on a GAF recommendation. It was a very entertaining book and I would pass on that recommendation to Sci-Fi/Postcyberpunk? fans. Chindi is supposedly a character driven mystery SCi-Fi novel... I liked it I guess, but there are many parts not to like. The characters adapt to their situations rather quickly.
Now reading:
So far so good. I'll finish it pretty quick once I get some reading time set aside. I'm hoping to pick up a few more books about NK in the near future.
Picked up RoG on a GAF recommendation. It was a very entertaining book and I would pass on that recommendation to Sci-Fi/Postcyberpunk? fans. Chindi is supposedly a character driven mystery SCi-Fi novel... I liked it I guess, but there are many parts not to like. The characters adapt to their situations rather quickly.
Now reading:
So far so good. I'll finish it pretty quick once I get some reading time set aside. I'm hoping to pick up a few more books about NK in the near future.
ant1532 said:
i hate to be a dick here but you gave your favorite books and asked a bunch of avid readers who they suggested - we suggested vonnegut.
i'm not sure what your criteria are for 'looking' at an author and judging his entire catalog of books but i'd suggest looking again.
vonnegut's books are full of dark humor and can be read at face value (for the harry potter/chuck palahnuik fan in you)
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
I'm about 20 or so pages in and so far it is a hoot.
Tim the Wiz
Banned
I've been trying to make some headway on my first China Mieville novel, Perdido Street Station, over the past few days. Well-written so far, but I can't make any real judgments yet.
Afterward, a tidy backlog awaits as always, including: already-half-way-completed War & Peace; last month's love child, Infinite Jest; this month's love child, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and Dostoevsky's last novel, The Brothers Karamazov.
Afterward, a tidy backlog awaits as always, including: already-half-way-completed War & Peace; last month's love child, Infinite Jest; this month's love child, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and Dostoevsky's last novel, The Brothers Karamazov.
Eaten By A Grue
Member
I can't believe I have finally gotten around to reading this book. Definitely lives up to its reputation.
I just finished this tonight, having devoured it in two days. Admittedly, it was a short read, but the experience was made much richer after some reflection, and reading an analysis or two of it online.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Road is a fatalistic, post-apocalyptic novel that follows the futile journey of a man and his son across a scarred American landscape. While McCarthy never explains the reason for the current sad state of the world, he does not truly need to, as it is merely a backdrop for the true story of love and survival that permeates the narrative. When everything is stripped away and the world turns to anarchy, it is only our personal beliefs and love, even when lacking in genuine truth, that separate us from devolving into beasts.
It must be emphasized that this book is rather bleak, and its comments on the natural state of humanity are not very attractive. However, I think the world McCarthy imagines is likely a realistic depiction of the types of actions that people would take in this type of situation. While dystopias have certainly been done before, the existential angle of The Road gives it a unique place in the genre. The best part of the novel is that while he dabbles with ideas of God, atheism, the stubborn instinct to survive, and the power of hope, it never fully commits to one of these belief systems. It simply says that these are the numerous ways of dealing with this particular situation, and lets the reader decide which ethical ground they're going to stand on.
The Road is a short book. While it technically runs 287 pages, its font size is rather large, and paragraphs are seemingly quadruple spaced. This makes it easy to pick up, and more enjoyable to take apart, as the reader can quickly scan pages they want to read over again. McCarthy seems to be striving for the poetic with his prose, but I honestly did not think a lot of his stylistic choices, such as abandoning the use of apostrophes and quotation marks, as well as using nouns as verbs, served a greater purpose. If I am missing something, I would welcome a second opinion. Perhaps the stark writing style was meant to mirror the stark world of the characters that inhabit the book.
Stylistic points aside, I would fully recommend The Road to literary majors and casual readers alike. For a short novel, it has plenty to explore, and its theme of finding hope in hopelessness, stubborn though it may be, leaves a lasting impression and poses piercing questions about the vanity of our own existence, and the realities and mysteries of human life. Regardless of how I felt about the setting and stylistic choices, the book left me with plenty to ponder about human nature, and its nebulous conclusions ensure that I will be coming back to explore this deceptively simple world in the future. 9/10.
Next up: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Road is a fatalistic, post-apocalyptic novel that follows the futile journey of a man and his son across a scarred American landscape. While McCarthy never explains the reason for the current sad state of the world, he does not truly need to, as it is merely a backdrop for the true story of love and survival that permeates the narrative. When everything is stripped away and the world turns to anarchy, it is only our personal beliefs and love, even when lacking in genuine truth, that separate us from devolving into beasts.
It must be emphasized that this book is rather bleak, and its comments on the natural state of humanity are not very attractive. However, I think the world McCarthy imagines is likely a realistic depiction of the types of actions that people would take in this type of situation. While dystopias have certainly been done before, the existential angle of The Road gives it a unique place in the genre. The best part of the novel is that while he dabbles with ideas of God, atheism, the stubborn instinct to survive, and the power of hope, it never fully commits to one of these belief systems. It simply says that these are the numerous ways of dealing with this particular situation, and lets the reader decide which ethical ground they're going to stand on.
The Road is a short book. While it technically runs 287 pages, its font size is rather large, and paragraphs are seemingly quadruple spaced. This makes it easy to pick up, and more enjoyable to take apart, as the reader can quickly scan pages they want to read over again. McCarthy seems to be striving for the poetic with his prose, but I honestly did not think a lot of his stylistic choices, such as abandoning the use of apostrophes and quotation marks, as well as using nouns as verbs, served a greater purpose. If I am missing something, I would welcome a second opinion. Perhaps the stark writing style was meant to mirror the stark world of the characters that inhabit the book.
Stylistic points aside, I would fully recommend The Road to literary majors and casual readers alike. For a short novel, it has plenty to explore, and its theme of finding hope in hopelessness, stubborn though it may be, leaves a lasting impression and poses piercing questions about the vanity of our own existence, and the realities and mysteries of human life. Regardless of how I felt about the setting and stylistic choices, the book left me with plenty to ponder about human nature, and its nebulous conclusions ensure that I will be coming back to explore this deceptively simple world in the future. 9/10.
Next up: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly.
afternoon delight
Member
I read that book once every six months. It's so damn great.
And better than Blood Meridian.
Then avoid Rules of Attraction. It's funny, I'll give it that. But it's most definitely a Bret Easton Ellis novel.
Just finished:
The Ugly American: Very satisfying, very ethical, very analytical. Think of it as an extended Edward Murrow report, at his finest.
PantherLotus
Professional Schmuck
I'm torn on what to read after I finish On the Road. I'm going to start a new fantasy series (either The First Law or Book of the New Sun) but I also wanted to keep diving into great American authors.
What Hemingway novel should I start with? Perhaps his most accessible?
What Hemingway novel should I start with? Perhaps his most accessible?
AlternativeUlster
Absolutely pathetic part deux
I just picked up these two books today (first one due to gaffer's recomendations):
I am going to read the latter first though. I am breezing through it pretty quickly.
I am going to read the latter first though. I am breezing through it pretty quickly.
Cosmic Bus
pristine morning snow
Got this in the mail the other day and have only read the first section (John Boorman's summarized account of what was, at the time, the previous year in his directing career) so far. I'm not sure how the following volumes of this series are supposed to stack up, but with sections by Sam Fuller, Emeric Pressburger, Gus Van Sant, and Hal Hartley, this first book was certainly a great way to kick it off.
Night_Trekker
Member
About done with The Demolished Man.
Starting on Watchmen soon.
Hemingway's lean style makes pretty much everything anything accessible (based on what I've read, at least).
I really enjoyed In Our Time (a collection of thematically connected short stories), for what it's worth.
That's just the way he writes. Stay away from Faulkner if you didn't like that.
The story is an allegory, so the simple language was particularly fitting and effective, I thought. The only other book he's written in that style is No Country for Old Men (also a great book and yes, better than the movie!). The rest are far more detailed and dense.
Starting on Watchmen soon.
jon bones said:
Hemingway's lean style makes pretty much everything anything accessible (based on what I've read, at least).
I really enjoyed In Our Time (a collection of thematically connected short stories), for what it's worth.
Alucard said:
That's just the way he writes. Stay away from Faulkner if you didn't like that.
The story is an allegory, so the simple language was particularly fitting and effective, I thought. The only other book he's written in that style is No Country for Old Men (also a great book and yes, better than the movie!). The rest are far more detailed and dense.
muttyeah416
Member
mike23 said:
omg this is cool. thanks for the recommendation!!
Alucard said:I just finished this tonight, having devoured it in two days. Admittedly, it was a short read, but the experience was made much richer after some reflection, and reading an analysis or two of it online.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Road is a fatalistic, post-apocalyptic novel that follows the futile journey of a man and his son across a scarred American landscape. While McCarthy never explains the reason for the current sad state of the world, he does not truly need to, as it is merely a backdrop for the true story of love and survival that permeates the narrative. When everything is stripped away and the world turns to anarchy, it is only our personal beliefs and love, even when lacking in genuine truth, that separate us from devolving into beasts.
It must be emphasized that this book is rather bleak, and its comments on the natural state of humanity are not very attractive. However, I think the world McCarthy imagines is likely a realistic depiction of the types of actions that people would take in this type of situation. While dystopias have certainly been done before, the existential angle of The Road gives it a unique place in the genre. The best part of the novel is that while he dabbles with ideas of God, atheism, the stubborn instinct to survive, and the power of hope, it never fully commits to one of these belief systems. It simply says that these are the numerous ways of dealing with this particular situation, and lets the reader decide which ethical ground they're going to stand on.
The Road is a short book. While it technically runs 287 pages, its font size is rather large, and paragraphs are seemingly quadruple spaced. This makes it easy to pick up, and more enjoyable to take apart, as the reader can quickly scan pages they want to read over again. McCarthy seems to be striving for the poetic with his prose, but I honestly did not think a lot of his stylistic choices, such as abandoning the use of apostrophes and quotation marks, as well as using nouns as verbs, served a greater purpose. If I am missing something, I would welcome a second opinion. Perhaps the stark writing style was meant to mirror the stark world of the characters that inhabit the book.
Stylistic points aside, I would fully recommend The Road to literary majors and casual readers alike. For a short novel, it has plenty to explore, and its theme of finding hope in hopelessness, stubborn though it may be, leaves a lasting impression and poses piercing questions about the vanity of our own existence, and the realities and mysteries of human life. Regardless of how I felt about the setting and stylistic choices, the book left me with plenty to ponder about human nature, and its nebulous conclusions ensure that I will be coming back to explore this deceptively simple world in the future. 9/10.
Next up: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly.
Great review for a great book. As for the writing style, my interpretation is that the book was written for a world where punctuation no longer matters, if that makes any sense at all.
MickeyKnox
Member
I'm on a Palahniuk binge right now, went through Choke yesterday, almost done with Rant today, Invisible Monsters tomorrow.
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Trax416 said:Debating getting
Oh.My.God
HarryHengst
Member
For one of my MA courses i have to read
Ira Lapidus - History of Islamic societies
An excellent book detailing the rise and development of the Islamic world in all it's diversity, from Mohammed until around 2000. It's really long (1000+ pages) but an example of excellent scholarship, written in a very readable style. Maybe a bit too overwhelming for the average reader looking for some basic introduction though.
For fun i'm reading Stanislaw Lew - Solaris
Not sure what to think of it. It keeps me entertained and it's quite the interesting take on contact with extra-terrestrial life, but being 3/4th into the book i have no idea where it's headed. Guess it's more about the journey than the destination though.
After Solaris i'm going to start reading:
Tom Hodgkinson - How to be Idle & How to be free
They were cheap and seemed like fun reads. Reading reviews on Amazon How To Be Free is a bit too hippy-like to really work (yes, lets bake our own bread to safe a few cents), but How To Be Idle seems like a book just for me. Doing nothing all day long is awesome, but society as a whole has this attitude that being idle is terrible and you should always be doing something productive. Hoping this book can help deal with this guilt i still feel when having wasted a day with just walking around. It also fits right in with such other movements as Slow Food, and generally living more like South-Europeans tend to live.
Ira Lapidus - History of Islamic societies
An excellent book detailing the rise and development of the Islamic world in all it's diversity, from Mohammed until around 2000. It's really long (1000+ pages) but an example of excellent scholarship, written in a very readable style. Maybe a bit too overwhelming for the average reader looking for some basic introduction though.
For fun i'm reading Stanislaw Lew - Solaris
Not sure what to think of it. It keeps me entertained and it's quite the interesting take on contact with extra-terrestrial life, but being 3/4th into the book i have no idea where it's headed. Guess it's more about the journey than the destination though.
After Solaris i'm going to start reading:
Tom Hodgkinson - How to be Idle & How to be free
They were cheap and seemed like fun reads. Reading reviews on Amazon How To Be Free is a bit too hippy-like to really work (yes, lets bake our own bread to safe a few cents), but How To Be Idle seems like a book just for me. Doing nothing all day long is awesome, but society as a whole has this attitude that being idle is terrible and you should always be doing something productive. Hoping this book can help deal with this guilt i still feel when having wasted a day with just walking around. It also fits right in with such other movements as Slow Food, and generally living more like South-Europeans tend to live.
roosters93
Member
Good stuff.
iamcool388
Member
Its about the Mittal Steel takeover of Arcelor, and its been excellent so far... quick read and quite informative. It meanders a little and imo sometimes spends time talking about stuff which would have better been left out. However, it contains lot of insider talks and conversations as well, along with details of all the maneuvering going on behind the scenes by all parties involved. I'm particularly interested in the various government's reactions throughout the length of the deal. Good stuff, and recommended.
Eaten By A Grue
Member
The first Hemingway book I read was a A Farewell to Arms and I loved it.jon bones said: