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The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test  It was the first nonfiction I've read in a very long time, and it was pretty awesome. I think a lot of it was due to the style. I might have gotten a contact high, guys, what do I do? 
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Sep 21, 2007 01:26
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LooseChanj posted:If you just finished it, I think you mean "wanted to read it before I saw the movie", don't you? He must not have liked it much as we got barely a sentence out of him about it, too. I hate it when people do that.
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Sep 21, 2007 02:11
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perceptual_set posted:He must not have liked it much as we got barely a sentence out of him about it, too. I hate it when people do that. I'm always conflicted about not wanting to spoil the plot, yet not wanting an entire post to consist of "OMG WOW YOU GOTTA READ/SEE/TASTE/SMELL THIS" or "don't bother, it sucks".
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Sep 21, 2007 02:21
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LooseChanj posted:I'm always conflicted about not wanting to spoil the plot, yet not wanting an entire post to consist of "OMG WOW YOU GOTTA READ/SEE/TASTE/SMELL THIS" or "don't bother, it sucks". It's an important balance one must maintain, tis true!
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Sep 21, 2007 02:38
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Stan Lee Jeans posted:The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test Further your psychedelic odyssey with Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs.
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Sep 21, 2007 04:20
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LooseChanj posted: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 06:23
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Candide by Voltaire. It was very interesting, especially after reading some of the commentary written about the text. It definitely gives one a great deal to think about; among other things, I still can't decide whether Voltaire posited Martin's philosophy positively, or as one that is as flawed as Candide's.
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Sep 21, 2007 06:38
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Just finished Jonathon Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. It was short, sweet, and didn't need to be a word longer or shorter. I loved its simplicity and found it intelligent and slightly touching on a strange level. It reminded me of a modern-day parable. For a short fable about seagulls, it stirred thoughts and emotions on a wonderful level. Easily one of the best and most refreshing books i've read in a good while. Also, i'd just finished House of Leaves, so the length of Bach's book was a welcome break. Next: Onto Survivor by C.P. Having read and enjoyed Fight Club, Haunted and Non-Fiction, I have high hopes. Rubber Biscuit fucked around with this message at 16:20 on Sep 21, 2007 |
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Sep 21, 2007 16:18
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Rubber Biscuit posted:Having read and enjoyed Haunted THANK GOD I'm not the only person in this thread that enjoyed Haunted. I nearly had everyone ripping me apart for that one. I'm very persecuted.
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Sep 21, 2007 16:31
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I must have felt Twainier, because in the end Letters From the Earth won. It's actually a collection of various post-humously published and intentionally unpublished (usually by his children) small works of Twain's, capped on the beginning by the title piece which is a rather funny (by the standards of 19th century satire) series of letters from Satan back to the angels in Heaven about his observations of man on Earth. The endcap was also a comparatively longer work for the collection, a fairly interesting and unfinished 50 page story about a man dreaming of a voyage across the wonders he'd seen in a drop of water under a microscope. Also of note are some lost bits to his raving criticism of James Fenimore Cooper from the Literary Offenses which is much more widely published than the bits here. Ultimately it's worth the read if you're into Twain, but if you aren't it probably isn't going to convert you. Twain is (some might say peculiarly) a sort of warm fuzzies author for me whose work makes me feel better, and with that in mind I enjoyed the read. I think I'm going to abstain from Joyce until he's covered at the end of the semester in my Irish Lit class so Dubliners is out for now, which means next up is most likely the Daily Show crew's America. I loved my first experience with Eco though; having read Foucault's Pendulum what of his should I pick up next? The Name of the Rose? I also think I'll look for a copy of Hunter S. Thompson's The Great Shark Hunt the next time I'm out. I really enjoy his political writings and supposedly a lot of his earlier political stuff is in there.
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Sep 21, 2007 18:13
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perceptual_set posted:THANK GOD I'm not the only person in this thread that enjoyed Haunted. I nearly had everyone ripping me apart for that one. I'm very persecuted. The sooner you accept Haunted as being more like pure entertainment, the more insanely entertaining it becomes. I saw it more as a break from his more serious work. Ok sure, it's no walk in the park but you know what I mean.
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Sep 21, 2007 23:03
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Dr. Junga posted:I loved my first experience with Eco though; having read Foucault's Pendulum what of his should I pick up next? The Name of the Rose? Depends. Name of the Rose is my personal favorite, but if you're interested in, say, medieval myths, "what is history?" stuff, or unreliable narrators, you might want to try Baudolino (the plot is a little meandering, so keep that in mind). I hear really mixed things about The Island of the Day Before. Some people around here seem to love it, others absolutely hate it.
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Sep 22, 2007 01:15
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I Am Legend, Richard Matheson Love the Vampire novel, but the short stories were hit and miss. I wasn't expecting them either, I thought it was just a novel. It's a bit surprising I didn't like all of them, I remember seeing Matheson's name on episodes of the Twilight Zone and that being pretty much a guarantee of awesome. I loved the cold, analytical approach Neville had to the whole problem and all the stuff about the bacteria that caused it made sense. The ending really sucked.
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Sep 22, 2007 01:44
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Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak What can I say? I can see how this won a Nobel Prize. It's about a guy from a family that used to be rich and powerful and how his life becomes messy from the end of the Russian Empire (he's an Army doctor in WW1) to the beginning of the Soviet Union (he's a Red Army doctor in the civil war) and how he toughs it out. There are lots of minor characters and odd coincidences involving one or two dozen of them getting reunited at different times in different parts of Russia (a few of them are in many of the same scenes throughout the book but never actually meet)... I never watched the movie, and now I really want to. It also makes me want to read more Russian literature. For some reason I want to read Anna Karenina, War and Peace, The Idiot, The Brothers Kamarazov, and Yevgeniy Onegin. I wonder if it's better in its native Russian
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Sep 22, 2007 02:40
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marty4286 posted:I never watched the movie, and now I really want to. It also makes me want to read more Russian literature. For some reason I want to read Anna Karenina, War and Peace, The Idiot, The Brothers Kamarazov, and Yevgeniy Onegin. I wonder if it's better in its native Russian 1. Make sure you get the pevear translations. It is a whole different book otherwise. 2. You may want to throw Dead Souls on there as well.
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Sep 22, 2007 04:54
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Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. I had read The Wind-up Chronicle a few months back and liked it a lot, and although they're totally different stylistically, I thought this one blew it out of the water. I think Murakami is one of my favorite authors now. I've never seen so much sex and sorrow put into a single book so well...
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Sep 22, 2007 10:36
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Idoru by William Gibson. His second book in his "Bridge" trilogy, I enjoyed it more than Virtual Light but still did not enjoy it nearly as much as Neuromancer/Count Zero/Mona Lisa Overdrive. There's something about that first trilogy that really surpasses everything else he has written. I was planning on moving on to the last book in the second trilogy, All Tomorrow's Parties, but decided to shift out of Gibson for now since the last three books I've read were Idoru, Virtual Light, and a re-reading of Neuromancer. I started Slaughterhouse-Five today and it is my first Vonnegut reading; I'm really surprised that I made it this long without reading him.
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Sep 22, 2007 20:23
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I just finished Nabokov's Lolita after being inspired to pick it up by the TBB Lolita thread. What I had heard of the plot had put me off until now but I'm so glad I got past that because I've fallen in love with it, a new favourite  . I haven't seen either of the movies of the same name & don't intend to, there is no way that they could live up to the book's effortless, subtle beauty.
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Sep 22, 2007 23:47
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After much pestering from my girlfriend and a workmate, I've finally read and just finished The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. It's without a doubt the most interesting piece of pulp romance that I've ever seen try to masquerade itself as something more weighty and important. Given the nice concept I went in expecting something that could parallel or equal Heinlein's Time Enough for love but annoyingly it's just a very simply and flawed love story with a momentarily interesting but awkwardly handled time-travel conceit. A shame really as the prose is all nicely written and has some good touches woven in. I never thought I'd say this but it's definitely one for the girls rather than the boys.
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Sep 23, 2007 02:17
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Slaughterhouse Five, moments ago. Finished it in two sittings, and I too wonder how I've gone so long without reading it. Two days ago, I went through The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea, which, too was, quite interesting. I literally have no new books in my house to read until the mail comes in. Then I get Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon, and Fury by Rushdie. I'm psyched.
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Sep 23, 2007 07:35
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CrimsonGhost posted: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. Your comments got me interested in Grimwood (as VanderMeer and Stephenson are two of my favorites). I picked up his Arabesk trilogy from the library and I'm partway into the first book Pashazade. Pretty interesting so far. Coincidentally, I also just finished Monstrocity by Jeffrey Thomas. Pretty good read, though I thought it could have been better.
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Sep 23, 2007 20:24
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Just finished A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson. It mostly alternated between being horribly depressing and incredibly fascinating. To sum it up: if you're alive today should you thank your lucky starts for it and go appreciate some rare species before it goes extinct. Also flew through Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs real quick. My first time reading Chuck Klosterman, he's a good writer and has interesting things to say, even if he sometimes comes off as egotistical and unnecessarily witty. Now I'm on to A Walk in the Woods, which is really good so far, and then...probably more Klosterman.
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Sep 24, 2007 01:37
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As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner was the last book I finished. I'm not sure why it took me until this year to finally read it, but I want more. I love the style Faulkner writes in. I could read his books all day. I'm about to finish up Lolita by Nabokov. So far, I'm not sure what to think, but I'm not entirely turned off by it. Parts of the narrative are really comical and others are kind of interesting to chew through.
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Sep 24, 2007 03:44
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I just finished Notes from the Underground and I was completely blown away. I loved every minute of it. I'm almost finished The Double, and it's so heart-wrenching, fascinating, and awesome I can't wait to check out some more Dostoyevsky afterwards.
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Sep 24, 2007 04:24
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I just finished up Special Topics on Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl and now I have this very empty feeling in my stomach. I just cannot accept her dad leaving her...I just can't. It seems so...out of the blue, and I'm absolutely crushed. Ugh
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Sep 24, 2007 05:21
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I just finished His Master's Voice which teetered between extremely dense and confusing philosophical meanderings and light-hearted conversations / action narratives. These would switch mid paragraph, and often left me with a giant headache. It was a great book, but its going to take a few re-readings before I think I'll get some of the subtler points. I finished Solaris just before this, and I enjoyed it a lot more as it was a bit easier to get into and understand. The last few chapters are eerie, wonderful, and profound. They really blew me away. Up next is Fiasco also by Lem (I haven't bought The Cyberiad yet), and then I might take a break from Lem and work on Tom Robinson or maybe retry 1000 Years of Solitude.
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Sep 24, 2007 12:35
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I just finished "The Clash of Civilizations" by Samuel Huntington. I had seen it cited in some modern international history books I had read, which caused me to want to read the source material. The premise is that the world can be modeled as split along "civilization" lines (the West, the Mid-East, Orthodox East, China East, Japan, etc..) and that using that model, you can better understand why various civilizations behave. I would encourage anyone interested in why the Mid-East and China act they way they do to read it.
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Sep 24, 2007 14:10
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Well over the weekend I got through Tuesdays with Morrie... What an unimportant book. I had some real problems with Morrie. Like, somebody should have told Morrie that funerals are not for the dead, they are for the living and that have a living funeral is one of the most vain hosed up things I can imagine. HEY IM ABOUT TO DIE SO EVERYONE THAT KNOWS ME SHOULD CROWD TOGETHER AND TELL ME HOW GREAT I AM. NEVER MIND CANDID HEARTFELT RANDOM MOMENTS - YOU ARE COMING HERE FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF CELEBRATING ME WITH EGO BLOWJOBS. Also, the "aphorisms" that got Morrie noticed are the most inane, watered-down, hallmark card, poo poo. "when you're in bed, you're dead." Wow, let me go pick up my jaw. Those took no thought and to demonstrate, I'll make some up right now on the spot: "A word is actually worth a thousand pictures, they decide how you are seen." "The days of your life are like building blocks, make something beautiful." That took 10 seconds and I think they are 2318752378532x better than Morrie's. The whole book was rushed and I expected at any moment for Mitch to lean Morrie back, open his limp jaw and slide his tongue into Morrie's mouth. Yes, I get it, people change over time. Go choke on a coffin full of dicks.
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Sep 24, 2007 14:42
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Im just got back from my holiday to Spain, read Stephen King's CELL thought it was really good, the action started on page one and didnt include any long winded back stories like some of his other books. Starts off very "zombie, survival horror" with blood and guts and slowly moves towards Sci-fi. A really good read.
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Sep 24, 2007 16:44
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Magician, by Raymond E. Feist. Onto the next book on the overly large pile.
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Sep 25, 2007 00:58
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The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers. This book was absofuckinglutely one of the most intruiging and creative books I've ever had the pleasure of picking up. The book is high fantasy, but without the pompous attitude and dense plot you'll often find in the genre. Its is suprisingly fun and witty, but with solid, tightly written writing, and dazzling and dark story. The story itself is a joy, a tale of an epic world almost utterly devoted to the writing and reading of books. Our not so brave hero is bequeathed the single greatest story ever made, by his dying godfater. He travels to Bookholm, a sprawling city dedicated to the written word, to find the author. What follows is an epic tale about books, books, books, their beauties and their dangers. If you have the slightest interest in fantasy or a love for books, do yourself a favor and read this. I finished it and immediately went to the library for his other two titles, The The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear and Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures which apparently are excellent in their own right. I'm considering making a thread about this. It knocked the wind right out of me. 
spec|ter fucked around with this message at 01:44 on Sep 25, 2007 |
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Sep 25, 2007 01:42
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I just finished Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying" - which was extraordinary. The extremely multifaceted narrative and the dark, dark, dark humor completely won me over. I don't think it was as moving or involving as The Sound and the Fury, but it was still a fantastic book.
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Sep 25, 2007 07:03
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I just completed the final novel of the tetralogy of The Book of the Long Sun , rounding it out with the Exodus from the Long Sun. Ho man, that look at the planets and the inhumi at the end was chilling. Throughout the Book of the Long Sun the Whorl felt like a comfortable place for the characters; now they're cast adrift with little to assist them, ahd the conclusion was so bleak. A fantastic series. Not as inaccessable as The Book of the New Sun, but almost as clever. I am very much looking forward to The Book of the Short Sun. I have to say that I'm very, very suspicious that these planets are actually St. Anne and St. Croix of The Fifth Head of Cerberus, particularly with their shapeshifters. A neat link.
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Sep 25, 2007 11:54
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The Plot Against America by Philip Roth. I wasn't thrilled by this, especially after reading Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here, but I don't understand the hate for it. It's more of a memoir of something that didn't happen than an alternative history. It lingers on Roth's childhood in 30's/40's Newark, and that interested me more than the cockamamie plot. I enjoyed the characters and his childhood adventures, but found the closing of the story and its explanation unsatisfying. It leaves us hanging, unlike Lewis's novel which doesn't give us a happy ending but gives us hope and a hint of the struggle to return to democracy. The first few chapters were quite engrossing, despite a few characters who seem important and go nowhere. Lewis's book is much better, but this one is still interesting.
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Sep 25, 2007 15:43
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I finished The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch and it was a fun read. The book really lives up to the hype. When I look at a 700 page book these days, it's hard for me to work up the enthusiasm to crack the cover, let alone finish it. It doesn't start off like lightning, but by the time the book ended, I was turning pages like crazy, muttering 'Holy poo poo' on occasion, and ordering the sequel... The book is a bit like the Godfather crossed with Pirates of the Carribean. Its focus is the criminal underworld, the fraternity of crime and the power struggles within an analog of Venice, with fantastical elements and larger than life characters. Locke Lamora is the quintessential lovable rogue, a con artist with a heart of gold. Making me like a character who is an amoral thief is a good trick, and his outrageous antics amuse greatly, particularly his final 'gently caress you' to the ruling powers of his city. I enjoyed the book immensely, and would reccomend it for anyone who enjoys fantasy, or enjoyed the Pirates franchise, and even those who enjoy crime fiction and wouldn't normally pick up a fantasy novel. The only caveats I would have would be the somewhat slow start (which is mostly setting the stage and introducing characters), it's overall length (long, but worth it), and the turn for the gory toward the end.
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Sep 25, 2007 17:07
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Ripley's Game (1974) By Patricia Highsmith - This novel, the third in Highsmith's "Ripliad" (starting with The Talented Mr. Ripley), follows the amoral protagonist and his ongoing life in France. Ripley's Game is told in a different manner than the previous two novels, though; much of the book follows Jonanthan Trevanny, a young picture framer with a terminal illness. Half of the book is mainly from his point of view, giving the reader a view of Ripley from the outside. We also see Ripley not scheming out of self-preservation for once, but out of curiosity; hence, the "Game" in the title. With Ripley's manipulative actions, Highsmith questions what a person will do when their mortality is staring them right in the face. Ripley's Game was a little better than Ripley Under Ground, if only because that book never drifted too far from the topic of art forgery (which is only exciting for so long). It's clear Highsmith is interested in painting and painters, but she works these topics into this novel in a less solipsistic way. Ripley's Game is also more intense than the last novel, bringing the intensity up to levels approaching the first book by involving The Mafia in Ripley's life. This does come with some problems, though; given the publication date of Ripley's Game, it's clear that -- mostly due to The Godfather -- The Mafia was the topic du jour on everyone's mind. As a result, their portrayal is a little cliched and lacking the characterization Highsmith usually gives her characters. I haven't been disappointed by the series yet, and I encourage you to start reading it, too -- especially if you're only familiar with the Matt Damon film.
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Sep 25, 2007 18:33
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The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I usually have problems finishing books, but the pages just flew by with this one. The writing has such a wonderful flow and poetry to it. Gripping stuff. As soon as I get off work tomorrow, I'm heading to the book store to get me a copy of No Country For Old Men.
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Sep 25, 2007 20:53
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Tendler & May's new edition of The Brotherhood of Eternal Love was an eye opener. Too bad it's sort of a cop's eye viewpoint rather than an inside story account. Still, this was a very interesting and informative book for anyone interested in the history of the psychedelic movement. http://www.amazon.com/Brotherhood-E...90758404&sr=8-2
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Sep 25, 2007 23:17
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John Dies At The End by David Wong. This was an incredibly good read. I absolutely loved the frame narrative and everything else about the book. Really, really fantastic.
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Sep 26, 2007 00:36
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I just finished The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos, who is a writer and producer for the HBO show The Wire. I decided to read this book because it had gotten some great reviews. I was not at all disappointed. Every character is so well thought out and the reader gets a great sense of who each character is. The plot is also well put together. About a third of the way through the book, two new plots are introduced to go along with the main plot. One of them hooked up with the main plot fairly quickly, but the other took some time to see how it was connected. Once it did come to fruition, though, it was amazing. Pelecanos weaved plots, characters, and emotions together into a wonderful story. I will definitely be picking up more of his work.
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Sep 26, 2007 02:47
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