|
Just finished Donald Barthelme's Paradise. It was horrible. Maybe I just didn't "get it" but I normally enjoy quirky books but this one seemed to have great promise (3 young girls loving/living with a older guy), but this was just strange. Lacked plot, character development, and any semblance of storytelling.
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2007 17:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 22:55 |
|
|
Moving Pictures, Terry Pratchett Definitely my least favorite of the Discworld novels. It's Pratchett, so it can't suck as such, but the amount of shoehorning (roughly 90% of the book, leaving little to nothing for the standard Discworldness) needed to make most of the plot elements work in the discworld setting was irritating. Felt like...hell, it was Flinstones' techish. Little imps painting on film, etc. This one's dispensable, sad to say.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2007 10:28
|
|
|
Last night: Charles Stross, The Atrocity Archives. I dig Stross; he writes the way Neal Stephenson did before Neal Stephenson lost it. And unlike Stephenson, Stross can write a half-decent ending now and then. As for the book itself: well, Charlie wrote a huge long essay at the end about what he was trying to get at, so I can't take credit for this description. It's essentially a Cold War thriller, but with Lovecraftian Great Old Ones in place of the threat of nuclear annihilation. Plus a heaping helping of civil service/corporate satire for those who like that sort of thing.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2007 16:55
|
|
|
Just finished The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Such an awesome book. Great story telling, great prose, great characters, great everthing. I especially loved... Clay and Kavalier's relationship. I've never seen anything like it before. Each one of them has their own strengths and completely unique. Clay possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of the competition and gets them into the business through his know how and writing. Kavalier has incredible, inspired talent with art. They never have that cliched falling out that I expected. I shall definitely be checking out more of Chabon's work in the future. Up next at bat, Don DeLillo's Underworld.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2007 18:41
|
|
|
I just finishedThe Doors of Perception. I'm hoping to sink into The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, time permitting of course. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2007 02:16
|
|
|
I just finished Devil in the White City, which reminds me, I wanted to ask how popular this book is (or was when it came out in paperback maybe 2 years ago now) elsewhere in the country? The book was huge here in Chicago because it's essentially local history. Brilliant book, it really is great to read it and feel like you're in the middle of it all, despite it having taken place at the end of the 19th Century. I don't want to derail the thread, so you can message me if you had any comments about it. I have to finish the rest of The Three Musketeers and then I'm undecided. The new Lethem book sounds good.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2007 19:28
|
|
|
My fiance bought me The History of Love by Nicole Krauss after trying for months to try and find me something similar to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which I loved. She was struck by the fact that the writing style was similar, and then we found out she's the wife of Foer. Who would have known? As stated it has a very similar writing style, even down to pages with only a couple sentances. If this type of thing bothers you, I suppose you should stay away. Overall though I really ejoy the style of untraditional paragraphing (as in, very short sentances, and one paragraph not always about the same thought all the way through), and it certainly makes it seem more realistic and human. The story's about a book (The History of Love incidentally) and how it effects the lives of an old, lonely immigrant from Poland named Leopold Gursky, and a 14 year old girl named Alma who is searching for a way to make her mother happy after losing her father. It was incredibly confusing for parts in the middle (I think I was trying to read too much into it, and conversely didn't pay enough attention at first) but it all came together at the end, in a way that, while somewhat obvious, was also incredibly moving. Certainly recommended.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2007 03:47
|
|
|
Dave Barry Does Japan is a pretty cool book. I'm considering doing one of those "teach abroad" things and seeing his take on Japan is extremely helpful. I don't think Barry is hysterically funny like most goons seem to, but I do find him to be a very enjoyable read. He's just such a regular guy. A lot of other books about Japan are scholarly or from dedicated world travellers. I think Dave NAILED the "Wow, this place is completely alien to an outsider" aspect. It's a short, silly, harmless read. Recommended.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2007 04:17
|
|
|
I just finished Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. I bought the book because I'm a fan of the film Fight Club and knew that people on the forums always said that his books are pretty similar and that one of his books (either Survivor or Choke) was much much better than Fight Club. I couldn't remember which one so I just grabbed Survivor on a whim. Initially I really liked it. It was kind of weird but it certainly had the same feel as Ed Nortons narative in the film which was a very good thing from my point of view. Late in the middle of the book I found myself putting it down for longer and longer periods becasue of all the personal trainer/steroid descriptions that were happening, but after about 50 pages it got back on the right track. I really enjoyed this book and at some point will check out Choke for more Palahniuk goodness.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2007 16:47
|
|
|
I started reading Jane Austen's Mansfield Hall in college, got worn out by it, and quit. Yesterday (almost exactly eight years later) I tried it again. I'm a fast reader, and this combined with some skimming got me though it in one day, and this time around I liked it. Mrs. Norris and her green baize are underrated in literature. Edmund Bertram is kind of an idiot. I can understand how people think that Fanny Price is a boring doormat, but I thought it was an excellent portrait of a very shy, principled woman. I could relate to her very well. (Makes me wonder what that says about me.) I did not like the way everything turned around for her marvelously at the end, it seemed a bit of a deus ex machina and she didn't even gloat over it to herself that she was right and everyone needed her. But it was altogether a satisfying read. My brother is trying to convince me to read some Mercedes Lackey. It's not the sort of thing I normally like, but he has praised it so I'll give it a try.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2007 17:26
|
|
|
I know, this is not a literary work of any sort, but The Bad Book by Aranzi Aronzo. I'm happy that they've decided to translate this series from Japan, the never ending weirdness gets to me. It's a picture book with some pictures and a really strange set of stories that somehow... isn't very appropriate for children, I think. It's the story about the Bad Guy ("Always doing bad; Also kind of timid and easily flattered"), the Liar ("Always telling lies; Also thoughtful of his friends and altogether ok") and the Meanie ("Always being mean; Also upset that he didn't get much face time or chances to be mean"). It's kind of wacky and surreal and sometimes strangely poignant. Here is the cover Waiting for Machine Gun Vol 1 to come out!
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2007 18:52
|
|
|
I just finished The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond. The nice thing about this book is that it covers each of his books: Why is Sex Fun?, Guns, Germs, and Steel, and Collapse. So if you're looking to get the drift of Diamond's thoughts of things this book would be easier than reading those other three. Like all of Diamond's books they are enjoyable reads, well researched, and very persuasive. Great book.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2007 22:24
|
|
|
I've been forgetting to come here after finishing so now I can't remember where I left off. The very last book I read was Augusten Burroughs’ Running with Scissors. I actually saw the movie first and thought the movie was very blah and assumed the book would be better. I actually wasn't all that impressed, to be honest. It's all interesting and crazy but somehow it just wasn't very enjoyable for me. It is a quick read at least; I finished it in a day.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2007 22:29
|
|
|
On my way to work I completed the audio-book of the third Dresden Files story. Maybe it's the fact that this is the first one I've listened to, rather than read, but Harry says "Hell's Bell" FAR too much for my tastes. It's really kind of annoying and I don't remember him having this catchphrase in the other 2 books. Also, the book felt pretty weak to me, even though it's supposedly when the series, reportedly, starts to get "good." I liked the first two books because it was basically Sam Spade with crazy magic spell powers, but this one is starting to lean very close into "Neo, you are the ONE" territory. This was a solid 3 out of 5, but I'm not sure I like where the rest of the series is headed. Can someone just write a book that doesn't about some chosen one who saves the whole world in the end? That theme's a bit worn out lately. (Oh and In case you think I'm spoilering, this is just where it sure seems like the later books are heading, not the end of this book. It's only hinted at, but it's been hinted at since book 1.) It's not a bad book, but it's not really anything too crazy. I guess I usually just hate fantasy, so my biases may be coming out.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2007 22:49
|
|
|
I just finished Swarmthief's Dance, by Deborah j Miller. Its an oddly short book, that reminds me uncomfortably of early Anne McAffery but without being able to hold it all together. Not worth the time really.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2007 23:15
|
|
|
Final Impact by John Birmingham. The end of the Axis of Time trilogy in which a US-led multinational naval force from 2021 lands in 1942 to severely gently caress up world war II. I really enjoyed the series and look forward to the rumored sequels. It's the only book I've been embarrassed to pull out and read in public. Probably because it has a giant helicopter shooting lasers with swastikas painted on it. It looks SO nerdy and stupid. Just started reading 1984 I read it many years ago and just felt like reading it again.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2007 00:16
|
|
|
From Russia With Love, Ian Fleming. Yeah, another Bond novel, but I love them so. Fleming's spy world is mundane enough to be believable, yet lurid enough to be totally engaging. This installment in the series broke ground by being told completely from the Russian POV for the first half. We saw the planning of the operation, and then switched to Bond when it all started going down. This novel's stereotype (and it's always fun looking out for in these books)was only truly bad evil scummy perverted people serve the Soviet Union of their own free will without coercion. Ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, if it weren't for the other books on the shelf one might wonder if Bond hadn't died at the very end.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2007 10:43
|
|
|
Anna Karenina, finally. I enjoyed it, and the translation (Joel Carmichael did it, I believe) was lively enough to keep me interested. There were definite periods of boredom - like when Levin decided to plow the fields and think about field-plowing and agriculture etc etc - but overall it was a great book thanks to the characters and their relationships.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2007 19:45
|
|
|
I just finished Lolita last night. Then immediately re-read it. It is so loving good. Every single page has something hilarious on it, and every scene is so perfectly set up and portrayed. I went to my mom's house for easter and she said something along the lines of 'why are you reading Lolita, that Nabokov's a pervert.' I hope not too many other people think the same thing, because they are missing one of the best novels ever written
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2007 20:12
|
|
|
nyquil posted:I went to my mom's house for easter and she said something along the lines of 'why are you reading Lolita, that Nabokov's a pervert.' I hope not too many other people think the same thing, because they are missing one of the best novels ever written A LOT of people think that way. I don't think turning it into a movie was good for the book's reputation. I never thought Nabokov was a pervert, but even I was completely ignorant of Lolita's literary value until I saw people going crazy over it in here. I've been reading it for the past few months (don't ever agree to read something along with someone who can never "find the time.") and it's amazing. Its already one of the best books I've ever read, but any time I try to tell someone about it, I hear some iteration of this: "Isn't is just some old guy who fucks a kid? Why are you reading that?" Ah well. If you buy the copy with all the footnotes you can see who cavernously deep the writing really is. Practically every line is referencing something. I just think that along the way, people have gotten the completely wrong idea about it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2007 21:29
|
|
|
White Noise by Don de Lillo, which was just fantastic; I'd only read Cosmopolis, which was poo poo and really put me off him, and started Underworld (which I'll now go back to), but not got very far due to starting other books. But White Noise was just one of the most beautifully written books I've read for a while, and I tried to slow down my reading just to savour how well put together the passages were. The way the characters were fleshed out was brilliant.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2007 23:45
|
|
|
Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence I loved this book. I liked how it shifted emphasis from the family as a whole and onto Paul for that second half of the book. I loved the 'weird' tension between the mother and Morel - they loved each other but they never knew how to express it due to their pride. At every instance where they are brought close, I found myself hoping that they would fall back in to what they originally were. I really liked Morel's dialog also, with the 'thee' and 'thou's'. I couldn't help but notice how Paul would use those words every know and then either. Though, I finished the story hating Paul. I just found myself getting so angry at him over how he treated Miriam. I loved Miriam  Time to head in to his other stuff. Rereading The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Rules of Attraction first though. ShadyMilkman fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Apr 12, 2007 |
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2007 02:55
|
|
|
Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe. It was written in 1722 and tells the story about a girl who was born to a mother in Newgate prison. She wants to be a lady and will lie cheat and steal to get there. It was a really good story and it was interesting reading about life in the 1700s.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2007 03:31
|
|
|
I just breezed through Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man. I've never read much sci-fi, so I thought I'd pick up some classics and give the genre a shot. The book is a collection of short stories, woven together by the most tenuous narrative thread I've ever seen. I liked it, though, and would gladly read more Bradbury given the chance. While the stories might seem tame or generic by today's standards (Sweet, another story about guys in a rocket!), they're pretty mind-blowing when you consider that they were all published around 1949/50. During that time the human race's advancement toward spaceflight basically consisted of flinging some jets and V-2s around in the sky and hoping they didn't disintegrate. During that period, the idea of living in space or on other worlds was transforming into something that people could, for the first time, clearly imagine as a future reality, not just as fantasy. As I read Bradbury's stories, I kept imagining how I'd react to them if I was some kid growing up in the 1950s. Inspirational stuff. Of course if you're a sci-fi fan you probably don't need to be told any of this. My favorite stories were The City (a gruesome sci-fi horror story that caught me off guard) and The Rocket (which made me ).Anyway, while I'm waiting for more good classic sci-fi to arrive, I have a beat up old paperback of Strange Wine by Harlan Ellison that I'm going to try out. I hope he's as good at writing as he is at filing frivolous lawsuits. Trustworthy fucked around with this message at 06:45 on Apr 12, 2007 |
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2007 06:14
|
|
|
Bookish posted:Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe. I had to read that in one my college classes and I just couldn't get in to it. I'd hazard the reason mainly being that it was required reading and that the classs was a waste of time. I should go back and give it an honest shot.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2007 15:28
|
|
|
Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber. It's not his best work, but I still found the entire story compelling. I can't wait for the sequels to the series to come out. It has an interesting view of social engineering, and his naval battles are as good as they are in the rest of his books. I fully recommend it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2007 16:06
|
|
|
The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore. It was ok until the end, where it seemed as though the writer became tired with his story and just decided to wrap everything up. The entire book was heavy into characterization, and all the way up to the end that is really all you get: the background of each character. Throw in some zombies at the end, then it ends. It was easy to read but it left me with nothing.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2007 05:41
|
|
|
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini I thought the story was excellent until the last section of the book (Where the little kid tries killing himself). That was too much for me, the story was already tragic enough as it was, it seemed like the author was just trying to rachet up the tragedy to sort of out-tragedy itself. Apart from that, it was a great read and I'll probably be reading about Afgahnistan on wikipedia for a while now.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2007 10:16
|
|
|
Whirlwind by James Clavell While it certainly wasn't epic enough to rival Shogun/Tai-Pan/Noble House, I thoroughly enjoyed this story about a group of 50-60 year old war veterans embroiled in the unstable Iranian Revolution. Well written and easy to read, this book also educated me on a number of facets of Iran and its culture that I would have otherwise ignored. I managed a few inward smiles as I was updated on the adventures of certain characters from Clavell's Asian Saga and learned a bit more history about the Struans. The only significant bad point for me is that this was the last (chronlogically) book in the series that Clavell wrote, and after having first read Shogun 8 years ago, it is depressing to know that there wont be anymore additions to this epic series. James Clavell, I salute you 
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2007 10:24
|
|
|
A Clash of Kings, and I've begun A Storm of Swords now. Please, don't die before you finish, Mr. Martin  .(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2007 23:51
|
|
|
Painkiller posted:The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini I just finished this for class and agree that the suicide attempt was a little obnoxious. Also, I didn't like that hey remember the evil kid? HE'S AN EVIL ADULT NOW. It was still an alright book though.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2007 00:18
|
|
|
Dune,Frank Herbert I read this way back in the depths of time (the price on the massmarket paperback is $3.95), and I'd all but forgotten everything. I don't think I liked it so much back then, but I tore through it this time, read the last ~200 pages just today. I really liked it. Religion, politics, war, fantastic planets.  I just love hating on the Bene Gesserit too. drat bloodline meddling masterminds!  I'm planning on re-reading the entire series, at least the ones Frank wrote.
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2007 00:34
|
|
|
Consciousness Explained by Daniel Dennett. Wow. This was a treat. I've read some of his essays ("Quining Qualia" being the one that stands out in my mind) as well as Breaking the Spell and finally got around to reading this. Dennett is a damned genius, and he wrote this perfectly for anyone who graduated high school and is interested in the issues of mind but kept the philosophical work top-notch. I really liked his response to Putnam's brain in the vat argument, as well as his discussion of Nagel's "What is it Like to be a Bat?" and the entire method of heterophenomenology. While I am skeptical of his conclusions and the book needs a closer reread I am far more sympathetic to him than I am to Chalmers, Searle, or Churchland. If you're interested in philosophy of mind, read this and be happy. The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin. Read this for a class in utopian literature and it is probably the best work we've had to read (other than Utopia). She really knows how to make something believable and the subtitle "an ambiguous utopia" fits perfectly. The characters are interesting and I really have no idea what to make of it yet. A complex book, and while I'm not a fan of most sci-fi I expect to read quite a few of her other books like The Left Hand of Darkness soon enough. Her style isn't bad, either. Not great, but it works well enough. The ideas are what make the book work. I also reread Slaughter-House Five in remembrance of Mr. Vonnegut last Wednesday  .
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2007 04:47
|
|
|
What an ending Ender's Game has. The last third or so of the book was extremely captivating in terms of both the action, and the psychological studies of the characters, which was finally brought up deeply. The ending is so satisfying and awesome, but still seems so bittersweet. Every character is magnificent, and it's such a shame the novel only lasts as long as it does. I've started Ender's Shadow, and after that, will probably look into the other three novels in the Ender Quartet.
|
|
#
?
Apr 17, 2007 02:58
|
|
|
Just finished reading Ulysses and it's like a great weight was lifted from me. I liked it a lot and encourage anybody intimidated by it to give it a go. I've already started rereading a few of the Chapters(Scylla and Charybdis, Circe, and Proteus) and find myself catching all kinds of stuff I never gave a second thought to before. I think it deserves most of the hype.
|
|
#
?
Apr 17, 2007 04:49
|
|
|
I just finished Raptor Red. When I was little, I remembered listening to the audio book with my dad on the way to school and around the town. The white dactyl's relationship with the Ratpors in this book has always fascinated me, and now I finally read it again and it is as amazing as I remember it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 17, 2007 04:50
|
|
|
I just finished The Lost by Jack Ketchum. It didn't really grab me at first becuase I was expecting more ridiculous action/horror/violence/whatever, but as a thriller it was amazing. Ketchum's writing style is incredibly natural and his dialogue believable, with characters that I was interested in, regardless of whether I liked them or not. The conclusion was utterly insane. I also just found out today that it's been made into a movie which most consider to be pretty good, but I can't find it on DVD or anything I also "finished" The Hour Before Dark by Douglas Clegg in that I elected to stop reading that boring piece of crap about 2/3 of the way through. I have no idea how that book has gotten all the praise it has, but every day I dreaded continuing it. It's supposed to be "atmospheric horror", with pages of praise from critics calling it "disturbing and creepy" and speaking of a "palpable sense of dread" and whatnot, but all I've gotten from it so far is 200 pages of stilted, unnatural dialogue, characters that I'm supposed to feel an intense emotional connection to only pages after they're introduced (in the middle of the book), pretentious wordiness, a complete lack of anything "scary" going on, and oh apparently if you have everybody speaking without using contractions and ending every sentence with a period (even supposed emotional outbursts) that makes things atmospheric. I think he's trying to cultivate a sense of despair or something, but it just comes across as the author being bored and having an uncaring attitude toward the story. And hell, even the ending has been telegraphed since the beginning of the book, though so far it's being intended as a sort of surprise. I probably should have been warned by the blurb in the front of the book, prominently displayed, by Peter Straub of all people, which reads: "...This is pure imagination, and it is wearing speed skates." 
|
|
#
?
Apr 17, 2007 07:05
|
|
|
Contrabassoon posted:Last night: Charles Stross, The Atrocity Archives. I dig Stross; he writes the way Neal Stephenson did before Neal Stephenson lost it. And unlike Stephenson, Stross can write a half-decent ending now and then. Whoah, excuse me? Is that literally what it's about, or is that some kind of metaphor? Because that sounds amazingly awesome.
|
|
#
?
Apr 17, 2007 07:10
|
|
|
Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev. Great book about a charismatic political nihilist named Barazov who is at odds with his parents, friends, and other associates. Eventually Barazov becomes at odds with himself, as he finds himself falling in love with a wealthy aristocratic widower, and love does not fit in to his nihilistic worldview. It has a really fantastic tragic ending. There is a lot of Russian literature from this time period (1860-1880) that deals with nihilism. I guess it was a fad among the elite? Thats been wierding me out for the past few days.
|
|
#
?
Apr 17, 2007 07:59
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 22:55 |
|
|
I just finished Their Eyes Were Watching God for class. I think it was a little overrated, but I blame Operah and her drat book club for that. I liked it, but I thought it moved pretty slow until the end, and then suddenly it was EPIC. It could've been shorter I guess, but overall it was worth the read.Zero Karizma posted:If you buy the copy [of Lolita] with all the footnotes you can see who cavernously deep the writing really is. Practically every line is referencing something. I just think that along the way, people have gotten the completely wrong idea about it. Ah, yes, the Annotated Lolita is awesome. I'm reading it right now and I can't believe that there are usually about five footnotes per page. Oh, that Nabokov! He knew what he was doing. Guerilla fucked around with this message at 08:08 on Apr 17, 2007 |
|
#
?
Apr 17, 2007 08:04
|
|
