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Kentucky Shark posted:Just finished The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon. I had trouble getting into it at first, in part because the unfamiliar setting and nmumber of Yiddish words make it a little disorienting. I stuck it out for a bit, and couldn't put it down after the first couple chapters. An awesome detective story in so many ways; I feel like writting Chabon a love letter right now. That book is amazing. I just finished Roth's I Married a Communist, which I thought was actually better than American Pastoral, though most people will say otherwise.
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Sep 12, 2007 22:46
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I just finished two books for my Contemporary British Literature class: Saturday by Ian McEwan, well written but I just didn't find it to be all that interesting. White Teeth by Zadie Smith, I really enjoyed this book, comical and a good commentary on multiculturalism.
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Sep 13, 2007 09:40
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For the first time in a long time, I pulled an all-nighter for a book. About a Boy was note for note just what I was looking for, frothy and light, with a hard, rich core. At first I was a little turned off by how straight-forward it's written. It's definitely a book to be devoured, rather than munched. Technically, it's nothing to write home about, but it's just the right consistency to be read in a sitting late at night (can you tell that I'm famished?).
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Sep 13, 2007 12:17
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I finished Storm of Swords some time ago. Well there's the huge thread about it already so lets just say it was as good as the rest of the series. I'm gonna take a break from that series for a while though before reading the latest. Candide by Voltaire It starts off sort of silly, but gets better and better near the end. I had no idea it was that short, just 87 pages. So it's definitely worth reading if you want to read some quick classics or just overall fun stories.
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Sep 13, 2007 20:20
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9Tail by Jon Courtenay Grimwood. a fantastic orientalist post-cyber punk type book about a police officer that must solve his own murder. After his murder, the Celestial 9-tailed fox gives him the chance to make everything right with his family and co-workers by getting those responsible for his murder. It was smart, fun and fast paced. Based on the strength of this novel I plan to purchase an assload of his other novels. If anyone here has read any, I would love recommended reading. If not I plan to work my way through all of them. This one goes to people who like the stylings of Jeff Vandermeer, Jeffrey Thomas, William Gibson and a less verbose Neil Stephenson.
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Sep 13, 2007 22:37
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I just finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro a few hours ago and I've felt like crying ever since. The imagery in the final section really got to me, all the grey skies and dilapidated buildings. I'm kind of interested in checking out some of Ishiguro's other stuff, but not right away.
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Sep 14, 2007 06:52
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I just finished reading Call of the Wild again. drat, I love that book.
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Sep 14, 2007 12:39
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The James Bond novels. My posts in this thread have made it obvious I've been working through the series this year, but when You Only Live Twice ended on not exactly a cliffhanger and being there were only two more books left (The Man With The Golden Gun and Octopussy & The Living Daylights) I decided to just go ahead and shotgun the lot. It's a shame Fleming died, I loved these stories and wish there were more. 
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Sep 14, 2007 17:13
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Recent Finishes: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. To put it shortly, I adored this book. It was sentimental without being soppy, beautiful characterization, and a touching, melancholy story. Despite this, it had some of the most endearing, hilarious lines I've seen in a book. The humor was exceptionally well done. This is on my list of favorites, now. Julian by Gore Vidal. I really enjoyed it. It was dry, factual, and probably should have been very boring, but Gore Vidal's writing and characterization hooked me into it. There weren't many surprises, since it is historically accurate, but it was a good read, and a good look into Roman society.
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Sep 15, 2007 04:33
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Seize the Day by Saul Bellow. I enjoyed it quite a lot, but it didn't grip me the way I'd expected it to. I love Bellow's style and dialogue and the little character vignettes that he puts in every now and then, but I must admit that I preferred Herzog. Perhaps I'll go back and reread Seize the Day in a few years, once I've read more of Bellow's work. Any suggestions for what I should tackle next to satiate my growing interest in Saul Bellow?
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Sep 16, 2007 02:26
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Just finished re-reading The Compass of the Soul, the second half of Sean Russell's The River Into Darkness series (the first book is Beneath The Vaulted Hills). I've read the series quite a few times over the years and it still stands in my mind as one of the better (but evidently under-appreciated works) in the fantasy genre, especially due to the avoidance of the cliched "save the world from evil" plot and Russell's obvious gifts with prose (something that the fantasy genre isn't always noted for) The setting is the realm of Farrland (standing in for Victorian England), home to the mysterious mage Lord Eldrich, last of his kind in the world. For reasons of his own, Eldrich has devoted his life to eradicating the last remnants of magic in the world, which draws a host of diverse characters into the story, each seeking their own ends. In a Gene Wolfe-ish fashion, Russell gradually builds a number of mysteries up before gradually revealing the answers to some but not all, leaving a bit up to the reader to ponder. One of my personal favorites, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for something off the beaten path of fantasy. Going to pick up Russell's other two-book series Moontide and Magic Rise, which is set in the same world several decades later and give it another re-read as well.
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Sep 16, 2007 22:22
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Just finishedThe Road I'm not sure what i was expecting this book to be, i brought it cause a few goons kept mentioning it and it sounded pretty cool. Basically i brought the book with out reading anything other than the short blurb on the back. Overall i enjoyed the story but i didn't really enjoy the whole prose thing.
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Sep 16, 2007 23:10
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joedevola posted:If you liked that you should check out A Clergyman's Daughter. There's a fantastic chapter that's just one long, rolling transcript of the inane and insane chatter of the London homeless who can't sleep because of the cold. Its claustrophobic and horrible, but a great read. Yeah, I read in Crick's biography of Orwell that A Clergyman's Daughter was his only novel that he thought didn't have any redeeming features, but I still think it's well worth reading. You can see how his experiences in Down & Out informed that book.
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Sep 16, 2007 23:44
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If course materials count, Rebecca Goldstein's "Incompleteness." Which is actually about Godel's incompleteness.
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Sep 17, 2007 09:21
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I just finished Pynchon's Against the Day. It took me about three months but I finished it. I really really liked it, but for some reason just couldn't read it for long stretches. I think it was because the prose is so dense - I swear Pynchon knows everything. It was like he took the entire world between the Chicago World Fair and the end of WWI and put it into novel form. The locations, the people, the science, the languages were all just too much to keep track of. I realize that was part of the point; it was a time in history when there was just so much going on and so much development that no one could keep track of it all, but it made me finish the book knowing that I missed so much and that I need to read it at least one more time sometime in the future.
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Sep 17, 2007 15:00
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I also just finished The Road by McCarthy. He doesn't do anything new with the post-apocalyptic genre, from a plot perspective (I got echoes of Lucifer's Hammer and The Stand) but the spare prose, haunting story and utter hopelessness make this book the best example of it.
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Sep 17, 2007 15:22
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I just finished The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It was 983 pages and I hated to get to the end, I wish the story had just kept going. It's set in the 1100s, detailing the trials of trying to build a cathedral in England, but it was an engrossing story. To think I almost didn't buy it, I'd picked it up and set it back down before figuring "What the hell" and getting it. Now I'm going to check out some of Follett's other books.
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Sep 18, 2007 02:20
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Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall. In my ignorance I'd expected it to be a dry society drama for whatever reason, and got mindless goofy fun instead. I'd wanted something a little lighter recently, so it really hit the spot. Not so hot on the episodic structure though, felt like he milked an idea dry then just ditched it a little too conveniently. I doubt Waugh wrote it with any pretensions to greatness though, so who cares? Also Svetlana Alliluyeva's 20 Letters to a Friend, which is a loose autobiography by Stalin's daughter. Probably not that wise take her entirely literally (can't see how someone could distance themselves enough to give an accurate picture), but it was surprisingly compelling. Strange tension too between passages like "XXXXX often used to visit our Kremlin apartment with hedgehogs, who were alowed to run wild through the rooms" and the footnote telling how they were lined up against a wall and shot a year or two later.
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Sep 18, 2007 07:53
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Witches Abroad, Terry Pratchett As much as I love Pratchett, and liked this book, I can barely remember much of it. I did prefer the journey to "foreign parts" much more than the actual goings on in the foreign parts.
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Sep 18, 2007 13:02
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Calde of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe. A fantastic novel, I'm really enjoying the Book of the Long Sun . It's not quite as inscrutable on first reading as Book of the New Sun, and the world is every bit as good. Although there are less narrator games Wolfe can play, the narrative itself is quite good, easily superior to the New Sun prima facie. I doubt it's as rich on each re-reading, but it's still excellent. Very much looking forward to the Book of the Short Sun once I'm done with Exodus from the Long Sun.
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Sep 18, 2007 13:30
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A Linear Algebra textbook. All the characters are painfully multi-dimensoinal, and there's no plot.
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Sep 18, 2007 16:36
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Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk It was kind of like a modern Canterbury Tales, with a group of individuals going on a writer's retreat for three months to complete their masterpiece. With the prospects of their masterpieces being completed look more and more dim, they start inventing a story to tell the press when they are eventually "rescued". In order to make the story "better" things get more and more disturbing throughout the story. This is occasionally interrupted by short stories told by the individuals of the retreat and each story was pretty entertaining. This book should have been a lot shorter. There's something like 24 short stories packed into this while the events are trying to piece together their own story. Chuck could have cut out half the characters and cut the book in half. Some of those short stories would have made awesome novels by themselves and I really wished a few of them went on longer. Chuck is still one of my favorite writers. My girlfriend gave me a copy of Tuesdays with Morrie that she has told me I have to read so that will be next. On the side I'm also reading Richard Dawkins' The Blind Watchmaker. Total Party Kill fucked around with this message at 17:06 on Sep 18, 2007 |
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Sep 18, 2007 17:03
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perceptual_set posted:My girlfriend gave me a copy of Tuesdays with Morrie that she has told me I have to read so that will be next. You'll be fine. That book is an easy one day read, or over a few days while on the can. It's quick, of little substance and hopelessly sappy. It's definitely forgivable and I didn't really have a problem with it when my mother sucker punched me into reading it. (My grandmother had just died and yadda yadda yadda...) Think every "young man learns from wise old man" movie you've ever seen. A lot of people hate it, but if you didn't pay for it and it only takes you a day it's a really inoffensive book. Plus, if you can still swallow Chuck Palahniuk overexposed tripe, then you've got a fair tolerence for overblown pop-trash. That's right. I took a swipe at Chuck Palahniuk while defending Mitch Albom. Chew on that little conundrum while I go slide a razor over my pathetic veins.
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Sep 18, 2007 17:13
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perceptual_set posted:Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk I like me some Palahniuk but Haunted goes right behind Atlas Shrugged for Worst Books I've Ever Read. Pure unadulterated shock fiction. If he'd just written the 24 short stories by 24 characters in 24 different voices, then I would have been impressed. Instead it was Chuck on Chuck action. Also, I was under the impression that the short stories were interrupted for the flimsy writers' colony arc, not the other way around.
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Sep 18, 2007 17:24
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Zero Karizma posted:A lot of people hate it, but if you didn't pay for it and it only takes you a day it's a really inoffensive book. Plus, if you can still swallow Chuck Palahniuk overexposed tripe, then you've got a fair tolerence for overblown pop-trash. Yeah, I'm not really worried about the Albom book. I might get some enjoyment out of it, I might not. Oh, I think I'll survive the Palahniuk comment. I recognize that his stuff isn't deep or meaningful, heh. Defenestration posted:A very kind review. I agree and disagree with you at the same time. Definitely not the worst I've ever read by far but not one of the best by far either. There's some plot holes and like I said it's way too long and is, like Zero Karizma said, "overblown pop-trash", but worst ever? I agree that it would have been much better as 24 non-related stories and possibly some made into their own novels. Defenestration posted:Also, I was under the impression that the short stories were interrupted for the flimsy writers' colony arc, not the other way around. I think it's one of those 'is the glass half empty or half full' things.
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Sep 18, 2007 19:06
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Just finished Foucault's Pendulum today. It was my first Eco, and ultimately I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some of the chapters were a bit long-winded in their discussion of pseudo-historical events, but in the context of the book it made perfect sense and I appreciated them much more in retrospect. I want to read it again already, actually. Some of the imagery near the end was very, very powerful. Next up is either Dubliners, America (the faux-textbook by the Daily Show writers), or Letters From Earth. It all depends on whether I feel heavier, lighter, or... Twainier in the next few days.
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Sep 18, 2007 22:23
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Charles Bukowski's Ham On Rye. I was very disappointed with with his first novel Post Office but nonetheless compelled to read Ham On Rye and I finished that sucker in one sitting. While the writing was rather dry, the story itself is pretty drat entertaining and introspective. It was amusing to discover the origins of Henry Chinaski's hedonistic, virile and ultimately cynical views of life.
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Sep 19, 2007 11:24
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perceptual_set posted:Yeah, I'm not really worried about the Albom book. I might get some enjoyment out of it, I might not. Oh, I think I'll survive the Palahniuk comment. I recognize that his stuff isn't deep or meaningful, heh. Albom truly isn't worth reading. His prose is mediocre and his plots are at the very best predictable. I was required to read The Five People You Meet in Heaven for a class in high school, and it was remarkably terrible. I actually see he and Palahniuk as contemporaries who appeal to different crowds, but are basically both "deep" writers. Palahniuk has done some great stuff, don't get me wrong, but he really is just the underground Albom.
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Sep 19, 2007 11:28
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I finished Catch-22 by Joseph Heller the other night. While I wouldn't call it one of the best books ever, it certainly made me laugh more than anything I've read in recent memory. Initially it seemed like I would get tired of its one joke (contradictions, great), but as I approached the end of the book, I realized that I wouldn't mind reading it again at some point. I really liked the way that the book danced around various points in time, sometimes touching on an event multiple times before going into the full detail of it. The last thing I finished before that was Cormac McCarthy's The Road, which was good, but not quite as awesome as I was expecting it would be. I like the way that McCarthy writes; I just didn't feel that strongly about the boy character and I was hoping for a story that was slightly more plot-based. There were some great scenes in it though and I'm looking forward to Blood Meridian. Oh yeah, I thought McCarthy's allusion to Back to the Future was great. Dude at the end being all like "Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads." Autolyze fucked around with this message at 12:59 on Sep 19, 2007 |
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Sep 19, 2007 12:48
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russia is HERE posted:Albom truly isn't worth reading. His prose is mediocre and his plots are at the very best predictable. I was required to read The Five People You Meet in Heaven for a class in high school, and it was remarkably terrible. I actually see he and Palahniuk as contemporaries who appeal to different crowds, but are basically both "deep" writers. Palahniuk has done some great stuff, don't get me wrong, but he really is just the underground Albom. I understand. I've never pretended either of the two writers was any Bill Shakespeare. I'm a pretty pessimistic person and I really enjoy Palahniuk's shitastic view of the world, that's all. Coming from someone who read nothing but science fiction until this year, this is a big step. I'd love to get into other writers who not necessarily write like Palahniuk but have a similar outlook on the world. I'm reading the Albom book only because my girlfriend told me I should. I got her to read some books I thought were great so I'm returning the favor. A week from now I'll write my little blurb about it and I'll never speak of ti again.
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Sep 19, 2007 13:08
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perceptual_set posted:I understand. I've never pretended either of the two writers was any Bill Shakespeare. I'm a pretty pessimistic person and I really enjoy Palahniuk's shitastic view of the world, that's all. Coming from someone who read nothing but science fiction until this year, this is a big step. I'd love to get into other writers who not necessarily write like Palahniuk but have a similar outlook on the world. JESUS CHRIST! Will you ever stop telling us about your undying love for Mitch Albom and Chuck Palahniuk!? We get it. Nothing can top them. EVER. But yeah, I read it as a favor too. There are infinitely worse books you could be obligated to read for other people. The Secret and any lunatic left wing propaganda books come to mind...
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Sep 19, 2007 15:41
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Zero Karizma posted:JESUS CHRIST! Will you ever stop telling us about your undying love for Mitch Albom and Chuck Palahniuk!? We get it. Nothing can top them. EVER. Just because the world of literature has never birthed such talent as what has been realized in Palahniuk and Albom doesn't mean you have to get pissed because they make every other writer to EVER hold a pen look like a pile of puke.  Zero Karizma posted:But yeah, I read it as a favor too. There are infinitely worse books you could be obligated to read for other people. The Secret and any lunatic left wing propaganda books come to mind... No one will ever get me to read The Secret. People lose all respectability points when they praise that book in front of me.
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Sep 19, 2007 16:25
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Autolyze posted:I finished Catch-22 by Joseph Heller the other night. The version I read gave away the ending in the foreword, which I had decided to read before reading the book, for once. I still liked the book, but seriously, gently caress that foreword  I won't read them to this day because of that one incident.perceptual_set posted:I'm a pretty pessimistic person and I really enjoy Palahniuk's shitastic view of the world, that's all. You might like Iain Banks's The Wasp Factory. His prose isn't all that similar to Palahniuk's, but the main character/plot reminded me of something Palahniuk would have written (it predates him by about a decade though). He writes sci-fi too, but I haven't been able to get in to his "Culture" series that much. I posted something a few pages back asking people that liked it for some input, but never got any response :-\
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Sep 19, 2007 17:25
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Pompous Rhombus posted:You might like Iain Banks's The Wasp Factory. I just read some about it on Amazon and its got some good reviews so sometime in the near future I'll give it a try.
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Sep 19, 2007 18:00
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Just got back from a week and a half long vacation in Mexico, where I spent some decent time reading in a hammock attempting to drown myself in Corona. I read four books: 1984 by Orwell, Survivor & Choke by Palahniuk, and Children of Men by James. -1984 was great. Had never read it before. -Survivor & Choke were both moderately enjoyable. Choke got a few more laughs out of me, but the storyline for Survivor, and the way it was delivered, was better. -Both my wife and I read "Children of Men" intending to watch the movie when we got home. Theyre a lot different from eachother, but I thought both squandered an awesome concept with a mediocre storyline.
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Sep 20, 2007 00:23
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I finished Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness just the other day. The things is, I read it in swedish and it didn't really catch my attention. Mostly because of the overall tone. I hope rereading it in english will make it "feel" better.
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Sep 20, 2007 15:13
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The Book of Flying by Keith Miller. It's a magical realism yarn about a librarian travelling to the ends of the earth to impress a girl. It's a good read if you like Marquez and similar authors.
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Sep 20, 2007 20:07
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The Snapper by Roddy Doyle Modern Day (1992) Irish Family deals with a pregnancy. This was a good book to read right after finishing Blood Meridian. A quick, uplifting read with some laugh out loud moments. oh uckfay fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Sep 20, 2007 |
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Sep 20, 2007 22:13
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Stardust by Neil Gaiman. Good, quick read. Basically wanted to have it read before the movie came out. And now I've done that.
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Sep 20, 2007 22:23
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Semprini posted:Stardust by Neil Gaiman. If you just finished it, I think you mean "wanted to read it before I saw the movie", don't you?
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Sep 21, 2007 01:07
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