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So, fun fact: I actually scored a date by reading Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and writing a critique on it, including my own personal observations. The girl was so blown away that she agreed to see me after that, and we've gone on a few dates. Without directly asking her, I'm looking to find more books that may be in the realm of books she'd enjoy - for me to read and eventually decide whether or not to loan them to her. So far I know she is very fond of: The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath The Devil and the White City - Erik Larson On the Road - Jack Kerouac She seems to really like the semi-biographical books, so I was thinking Charles Bukowski? I don't really know where to start. Any suggestions?
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Nov 2, 2013 00:25
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Ignited posted:So, fun fact: I actually scored a date by reading Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and writing a critique on it, including my own personal observations. The girl was so blown away that she agreed to see me after that, and we've gone on a few dates. Without directly asking her, I'm looking to find more books that may be in the realm of books she'd enjoy - for me to read and eventually decide whether or not to loan them to her. Women by Charles Bukowski
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Nov 2, 2013 01:03
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An edition of Naked Lunch where you've highlighted the bits on women. e: also how on earth does lit-crit game work?
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Nov 2, 2013 01:10
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barkingclam posted:Women by Charles Bukowski Any literary works from similar - or different - authors you might also like?
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Nov 2, 2013 01:15
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Are there any decent books that discuss the evolution of personality? I'm interested in reading a non-emotional (or emotional, I don't really care so long as it approaches the subject with at least some professionalism) analysis of how some people become more interesting, others boring, some charismatic, others reclusive, etc.
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Nov 2, 2013 02:37
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Ignited posted:So, fun fact: I actually scored a date by reading Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and writing a critique on it, including my own personal observations. The girl was so blown away that she agreed to see me after that, and we've gone on a few dates. Without directly asking her, I'm looking to find more books that may be in the realm of books she'd enjoy - for me to read and eventually decide whether or not to loan them to her. Betcha she likes DH Lawrence Also Virginia Wolfe
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Nov 2, 2013 07:32
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Ignited posted:Any literary works from similar - or different - authors you might also like? Get her like four or five books by Chuck Klosterman (any will do, just not the novels), Then ask her questions like "Do you think Radiohead can be both under- and over-rated at the same time?" I bet she'll love that
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Nov 2, 2013 21:47
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barkingclam posted:Get her like four or five books by Chuck Klosterman (any will do, just not the novels), Then ask her questions like "Do you think Radiohead can be both under- and over-rated at the same time?" I bet she'll love that Yeah, then put on some Kiss or GnR to seal the deal.
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Nov 2, 2013 22:14
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Ignited posted:So, fun fact: I actually scored a date by reading Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and writing a critique on it, including my own personal observations. The girl was so blown away that she agreed to see me after that, and we've gone on a few dates. Without directly asking her, I'm looking to find more books that may be in the realm of books she'd enjoy - for me to read and eventually decide whether or not to loan them to her. Special by Peter Sotos.
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Nov 3, 2013 13:45
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I remember seeing a book called "What the Papers Mean" a while ago, a non fiction book about why newspapers use words like "romp" etc that no one uses in everyday speech. I can't find anything about it now, definitely not by that name - does anyone recognise it or can recommend something similar?
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Nov 3, 2013 18:30
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I heard of a similar book and so crawled back through the archives of Radio 4's The Media Show and hit upon this: Romps, Tots, and Boffins: The Strange Language of News by Robert Hutton. Not read it, don't know if it's any good, but if it doesn't tell you what's the deal with "romp" then you can probably sue.
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Nov 3, 2013 19:07
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Mr. Squishy posted:I heard of a similar book and so crawled back through the archives of Radio 4's The Media Show and hit upon this: Romps, Tots, and Boffins: The Strange Language of News by Robert Hutton. Not read it, don't know if it's any good, but if it doesn't tell you what's the deal with "romp" then you can probably sue. That's exactly it! No idea why I thought it had a different name, but thank you for your efforts 
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Nov 3, 2013 23:47
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Has anyone read Dead Harvest by Chris F. Holm? Any good?
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Nov 4, 2013 13:33
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Ignited posted:So, fun fact: I actually scored a date by reading Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and writing a critique on it, including my own personal observations. The girl was so blown away that she agreed to see me after that, and we've gone on a few dates. Without directly asking her, I'm looking to find more books that may be in the realm of books she'd enjoy - for me to read and eventually decide whether or not to loan them to her. She's either in ninth grade English, or hasn't really read books since ninth grade English. See this: http://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/28-favorite-books-that-are-huge-red-flags?s=mobile
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Nov 4, 2013 17:16
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'Six "favorite" buzzfeed links that are actually giant red flags (that you might actually be a complete dildo) I came into the thread to ask for a book on Chinese economic history starting in 1900 or so, can anyone recommend one after they make sure it's okay with the poster above me? Gay Horney fucked around with this message at 20:09 on Nov 4, 2013 |
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Nov 4, 2013 20:04
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Transistor Rhythm posted:She's either in ninth grade English, or hasn't really read books since ninth grade English. That article states that if your favorite book is The Great Gatsby, you stopped reading in the tenth grade. e; what the gently caress is wrong with you?
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Nov 4, 2013 20:08
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Transistor Rhythm posted:She's either in ninth grade English, or hasn't really read books since ninth grade English. Roughly 1/3 of the books on that list are indeed crap 1/3 are just kinda there, I have no strong feelings about them And the last third are legit good books. Bad list, written by someone who thinks they are far smarter than they are.
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Nov 4, 2013 20:48
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gently caress lists like that. "I can summarize this book in a sentence in a way that is slightly insulting." Congratulations.
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Nov 4, 2013 21:10
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Sharzak posted:I came into the thread to ask for a book on Chinese economic history starting in 1900 or so, can anyone recommend one after they make sure it's okay with the poster above me? A friend suggests Economic Growth in Prewar China by Thomas Rawski, but good luck finding it. I think Rawski has other books that may be relevant that are probably more available.
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Nov 4, 2013 21:19
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DirtyRobot posted:gently caress lists like that. "I can summarize this book in a sentence in a way that is slightly insulting." Congratulations. Yeah, my feelings towards anyone who posts a list of books without more than 10 words regarding the topic.
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Nov 4, 2013 21:57
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dokmo posted:A friend suggests Economic Growth in Prewar China by Thomas Rawski, but good luck finding it. I think Rawski has other books that may be relevant that are probably more available. I'm actually more interested in the postwar to present period, but I did find a book cowritten by Rawski that seems to sort of fit what I'm looking for. http://www.amazon.com/Chinas-Balance-Influence-Security-Continuum/dp/0822959674 on the off chance anyone else is interested. It seems light on history in favor of current policy recommendations but that might have to do--the most in depth thing I've been able to find has been a howstuffworks article. Thanks for the suggestion! Edit--would also like an exhaustive economic review on post imperial India too but I feel like that might be even harder. Gay Horney fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Nov 4, 2013 |
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Nov 4, 2013 23:33
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Sorry for being a dick.
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Nov 5, 2013 02:30
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Ignited posted:So, fun fact: I actually scored a date by reading Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and writing a critique on it, including my own personal observations. The girl was so blown away that she agreed to see me after that, and we've gone on a few dates. Without directly asking her, I'm looking to find more books that may be in the realm of books she'd enjoy - for me to read and eventually decide whether or not to loan them to her. This is a cliché because Proust and his most well-known work In Search of Lost Time is seen by some (many?) as the archetypical Serious (Yet Sensitive) Young Man's go-to author-plus-Great-Work to show a girl that he's a deep thinker and/or romantic. All that said, Proust and In Search of Lost Time is rightfully hailed as a great piece of literature, eminently worth reading, for this, or any other reason. It is long, however, and dense on top of it. It may not be practical in your precise situation. That The Devil and the White City is in that admittedly short list of books she's fond of along with its company strikes me as a little out of place. But whatever. Reading Ted Hughes would keep you in the Plath/Hughes discussion orbit, which might be interesting conversational fodder. Birthday Letters is the latter-day collection which published a poem where he broke his silence on Plath. Of course, he also had an entire career's worth of content up to that volume. I have some more recommendations of generally biographical (in some sense, anyway) fiction and poetry, but I'm not sure if you want to stay kinda within the categories that three-item list implies, or take wider suggestions as well. minidracula fucked around with this message at 09:33 on Nov 5, 2013 |
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Nov 5, 2013 09:31
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barkingclam posted:Women by Charles Bukowski I'm 15% in this book already... what the Christ, man. Please tell me there is more to it than just drinking-oval office-sex-puking-repeat.
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Nov 5, 2013 17:43
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It ends eventually.
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Nov 5, 2013 17:46
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minidracula posted:I feel like I'm contributing to a cliché (because I am, I guess), but an honest suggestion from me that happened to be mentioned last page (in an entirely different context) is Proust. minidracula, Thank you so much for your well written, and thought-out response. I'll be reading both of these - now, if I can't stomach any more of Bukowski's Women. I'd always be interested in what you might think is an interesting read. Much appreciated.
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Nov 5, 2013 17:53
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Ignited posted:So, fun fact: I actually scored a date by reading Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and writing a critique on it, including my own personal observations. The girl was so blown away that she agreed to see me after that, and we've gone on a few dates. Without directly asking her, I'm looking to find more books that may be in the realm of books she'd enjoy - for me to read and eventually decide whether or not to loan them to her. Try Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson, which is a semi autobiographical story of a young lesbian girl growing up in a Pentecostal town. It also won the Whitebread Award. Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides is also pretty great. A pretty hipster-ish option is Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood. Seems she reads a lot of American fiction, maybe branch out and introduce her to some amazing world literature? Yasunari Kawabata wrote the beautiful and amazing Beauty and Sadness and won the Nobel prize, or you could try the fiction of Jorge Luis Borges, one of the forefathers of magic realism. I personally hate Bukowski (no offense to those who love him - he tends to be polarizing) so I don't fault you for not really wanting to read Women.
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Nov 5, 2013 21:53
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Poutling posted:Try Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson, which is a semi autobiographical story of a young lesbian girl growing up in a Pentecostal town. It also won the Whitebread Award. Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides is also pretty great. A pretty hipster-ish option is Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood. I just Primed Beauty and Sadness to my front-door, as well as Ted Hughes' Birthday Letters. I expect to see her after Thanksgiving - so hopefully I'll be done with these by then. Bukowski is being shelved for the time being. Ignited fucked around with this message at 23:03 on Nov 5, 2013 |
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Nov 5, 2013 22:51
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Ignited posted:I just Primed Beauty and Sadness to my front-door, as well as Ted Hughes' Birthday Letters. I expect to see her after Thanksgiving - so hopefully I'll be done with these by then. Bukowski is being shelved for the time being. A short read that I'm fond of and that's written from a first-person "biographical" point of view (but not really biographical fiction in the way The Bell Jar or On the Road is), and that I think would be good conversational fodder is The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. I'll also second Poutling's recommendation of The Virgin Suicides. minidracula fucked around with this message at 00:22 on Nov 6, 2013 |
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Nov 6, 2013 00:19
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I'm interested about something in which the character develops as a person. I feel I'm in period of personal growth in my life myself and this kind of reading interests me. Overcoming one's flaws, becoming better, that kind of stuff. Something inspirational and not depressive. Japanese literature has also started to interest me lately, so if these two birds could be killed with one stone it'd be awesome.
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Nov 7, 2013 11:06
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Rurik posted:I'm interested about something in which the character develops as a person. I feel I'm in period of personal growth in my life myself and this kind of reading interests me. Overcoming one's flaws, becoming better, that kind of stuff. Something inspirational and not depressive. While short, it definitely amused me - Kurt Vonnegut's Basic Training.
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Nov 7, 2013 17:51
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Rurik posted:I'm interested about something in which the character develops as a person. I feel I'm in period of personal growth in my life myself and this kind of reading interests me. Overcoming one's flaws, becoming better, that kind of stuff. Something inspirational and not depressive. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Disregard the hippy-dippy title and connotation, it's legit good and covers exactly what you're looking for.
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Nov 7, 2013 19:15
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Rurik posted:I'm interested about something in which the character develops as a person. I feel I'm in period of personal growth in my life myself and this kind of reading interests me. Overcoming one's flaws, becoming better, that kind of stuff. Something inspirational and not depressive. Shogun is a pretty epic story about a British sailor who is shipwrecked in Japan in 1600 and has to learn to adapt to an alien culture. Its pretty great if you can get past the liberties Clavell takes toward history and his occasionally outdated "orientalism".
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Nov 7, 2013 19:39
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KingAsmo posted:Shogun is a pretty epic story about a British sailor who is shipwrecked in Japan in 1600 and has to learn to adapt to an alien culture. Its pretty great if you can get past the liberties Clavell takes toward history and his occasionally outdated "orientalism". Shogun was my first thought also but it's probably not the sort of uplifting narrative he's looking for. I would recommend some fantasy novels, especially the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander and maybe the first three Earthsea books by Ursula K. LeGuin.
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Nov 7, 2013 20:15
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Just read Black Prism, Blinding Light (Can't wait for the third book), and now the hunger games. Anyone have any recommendations for me?
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Nov 7, 2013 21:27
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I dunno who was asking for it, but whoever is looking for something similar to The Devil in the White City I've just read The Inventor and the Tycoon by Edward Ball and it is fantastic and quite similar.
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Nov 8, 2013 02:43
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Sandwolf posted:I dunno who was asking for it, but whoever is looking for something similar to The Devil in the White City I've just read The Inventor and the Tycoon by Edward Ball and it is fantastic and quite similar. That was me, I'm guessing Tesla / Edison?
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Nov 8, 2013 07:02
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Ignited posted:That was me, I'm guessing Tesla / Edison? Eadweard Muybridge, Leland Stanford, and the "birth of moving pictures."
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Nov 8, 2013 08:38
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RisqueBarber posted:Just read Black Prism, Blinding Light (Can't wait for the third book), and now the hunger games. Anyone have any recommendations for me? Anthony Ryan's Blood Song.
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Nov 8, 2013 09:09
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RisqueBarber posted:Just read Black Prism, Blinding Light (Can't wait for the third book), and now the hunger games. Anyone have any recommendations for me?
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Nov 8, 2013 13:10
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