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Just put Shovel Ready on my GoodReads wishlist. Thanks for the recommendation!
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Feb 28, 2015 23:57
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Finished In the Heart of the Sea by Nathan Philbrick, about the whaleship Essex. It was a thorough and thoughtful account of the ship's wreck and ensuing survival (and demise) of its crew. I had no idea whaling was so metal: Philbrick, in excruciating detail, discusses the harpooning, slaughter, and rendering process of 19th century whaling. He does a good job, especially, of discussing whaling as a cultural center stone of the burgeoning New England economy.
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Mar 2, 2015 02:35
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Who knew you could write a decent novel about the intricacies of whaling?
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Mar 2, 2015 08:05
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I just finished American Gods by Gaiman. There was a ton of cool things in that book. Before that I finished Starship Troopers by Heinlein and boy am I glad I didn't read that when I was 14, I'm confident that I would be a radically different person. I kicked off my reading spree with The Stranger by Camus. I like existentialism and I like Camus. I had a pretty great week with tons of emotions and junk.
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Mar 2, 2015 21:16
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Bear, by Marian Engel. I picked this up because of a tumblr post about a year ago, your standard "hey there's this Canadian book from the 70s about a lady who fucks a bear and it won the Governor General's Award isn't that messed up???". So I bought it, and now I've read it. There is a lot of intimacy and outright erotica involving our heroine and the bear, and it is strange (and uncomfortably well-researched, anatomically). But that all comes to a head in the latter half of the book, after a long and blossoming friendship/courtship between the two. A lot of people have written about this as "one of the greatest Canadian novels", and I don't have nearly enough experience nor expertise to judge that, but it was clearly steeped in allegory: the woman rediscovering the past, connecting with the natural world, her own femininity and sexuality. I'm sure it asks a lot of questions about how narratives of place and belonging are formed, and a lot of other interesting metaphors. Unfortunately, a lot of it was lost on me. The prose was flowery and not bad, but I zoned out more than a few times, especially the long monologues about local history and 18th-century biography. Maybe I'm just the wrong audience, but I came for the bear, and the bear parts were strange and (en)gross(ing) enough to hold my attention. As a whole though, I'm not sure I got much more out of it than being able to say "Yeah, I read that".
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Mar 3, 2015 01:40
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Recently finished Room by Emma Donoghue, a story about a woman who is being kept captive in a shed along with her 5 year old son (fathered by her captor). Pretty fascinating stuff - sad and terrifying. It's told from the perspective of the son, so it took me 30-40 pages to get used to the writing style, but I really liked the book and thought that the story was enhanced by the choice to tell it from the kid's perspective. Apparently this is a topic that people love to argue about on the internet. Also finished The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat (free translation available online) for the Booklord Challenge. I can safely say I've never really read anything like it - it was confusing at times, and left me feeling unsettled. I found myself re-reading passages often to see if I was sure about what I had read - maybe that was part of the point. It was certainly an experience, and I loved the line "My life had sunk to the depths of those eyes" (and that entire chunk, really).
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Mar 3, 2015 04:16
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Tumbleweed Chingada posted:I just finished American Gods by Gaiman. There was a ton of cool things in that book. I've already got Anansi Boys waiting to go when I'm done. If you're not aware, there's 2 more stories that feature Shadow in Smoke and Mirrors and Trigger Effect. Speaking of Niel Gaiman, I just finished Good Omens, and quite liked it. I was reading Wikipedia, and it seems that the version of Death that is in that book is also in the Discworld books. I'm thinking of starting that as a series, but it's insane how many books there are in the series. Are there any that are definitely worth reading, do I need to read them in order and are there any worth skipping? I see a lot of reading in my future. AFewBricksShy fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Mar 3, 2015 |
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Mar 3, 2015 19:51
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Speaking of Neil Gaiman, I recently read The Ocean at the End of the Lane. The jacket copy had me expecting something like Patrick Suskind's Mr. Summer's Story. There is enough similarity in tone and setting, IIRC, that I wouldn't be surprised if Gaiman had read it (well, except for there being no Mr. Summer and it having a plot). But it's still very Gaiman (very supernatural), and very Coraline in particular.
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Mar 3, 2015 20:00
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AFewBricksShy posted:I'm just about to start that. I accidentally got the Spanish version from the library, but will hopefully have the english version by this weekend. Here you go. I quite like all of them, although you can tell his writing definitely changed throughout the years. e: If you really any a specific recommendation, the Watch series generally highly appreciated, as are the Witch and Death series. If you liked Death in Good Omens then that might be a good start.
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Mar 3, 2015 20:16
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AFewBricksShy posted:I'm just about to start that. I accidentally got the Spanish version from the library, but will hopefully have the english version by this weekend. There are several sub-series, basically. You can read them one at a time or you can just read in order. The main thing I'd keep in mind is that the first three books are okay, but they're not like the rest of the books, that everyone actually likes. The first two books, The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic are straight up a parody of sword and sorcery fantasy and like most parodies they're funny but you don't exactly feel any connection to the characters. The third one is where the series starts to gel into what it is now, but I feel it doesn't quite get there yet. I'd recommend you start with Mort, the fourth book, and read the rest in publication order. Or, if you want to check out some of the stand-alone-ish highlights, try Going Postal, Guards Guards and Small Gods and see if you want to read the rest. If you do, just read Mort and so forth.
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Mar 3, 2015 20:30
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Finished Norwegian Wood tonight, my first Murakami novel. It was .... okay. Not quite what I was expecting, and it left me feeling underwhelmed and ambivalent. He's been so highly recommended (and I've been told this novel isn't indicative of his style or ability) that I'll certainly read more, though. I have The Wind Up Bird Chronicle on-deck for the next few weeks. Bitchkrieg fucked around with this message at 05:28 on Mar 4, 2015 |
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Mar 4, 2015 05:25
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I wish i coud read good enough to enjoy a book 
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Mar 4, 2015 13:39
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Nonviolent J posted:I wish i coud read good enough to enjoy a book audiobooks?
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Mar 4, 2015 13:47
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Some lessons to correct your illiteracy? Or is this like a dyslexia thing?
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Mar 4, 2015 13:52
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In the past week I have read, he Long Way Down - Craig Schaefer Urban Fantasy, book one of his Daniel Faust series. A magician ex hitman/mob "problem solver" on the path to good gets mixed up in bad business (of course) and has to fight to save the world from a twisted porn director and others intent on opening a box akin to pandoras box. Pretty good urban fantasy considering, not fantastic but still pretty good would definately recommend to someone who likes pulpy urban fantasy. Redemption Song - Craig Schaefer Book two of the Daniel Faust series. The same magician yet again gets in trouble when the boss of his lover demands he do him a favour that goes against his morals, ontop of that a bunch of lunatic half demons threaten him. Also pretty drat good, the series has been pretty consistent so far, introduces an incredibly annoying FBI agent who unfortunately doesn't go away but as usual for this series there are some cathartic scenes of the bad guys getting whats coming to them. The Living End - Craug Schafer Book three of the Daniel Faust series. Daniel discovers a massive conspiracy revolvign around the dissapearance of the homeless around his neighbourhood and agrees to take up the case as a favor. Still in good form with some great scenes and some old enemies returning and being dealt a losing hand, suffers a little from a very dresden like "coincidence preventing the hero from using his powers" but nevertheless very good, FBI agent is still annoying. A Plain Dealing Villain - Craig Shaefer Book four and currently the last of the Daniel Faust series. Daniel has to move away temporarily due to the FBI bringing unwanted heat on his shoulders, things go wrong (of course) and he is left playing games with demons in territory where he doesnt have the home field advantage. Great book but pity its the last so far, the FBI agent continues to be incredibly annoying to the point where i swore in frustration. Gil's All Fright Diner - A Lee Martinez A wereolf and a vampire walk into a diner... and zombies happen. Strange goings on surround a roadside diner and the southern good old boy duo are obligated to help. Great book with some good humor, very much recommended. Theres a few scenes which are a bit odd surrounding descriptions of a 17 year old girl but its written from the opinion of the characters and fits fairly well, only slightly weird. The Automatic Detective - A Lee Martinez A taxi driving ex engine of destruction robot gets caught up in a mystery involving the few people he cares about as he tries to keep himself on the good side of the law so he can earn his right as a person. Fantastic, great main character, good story, none of the slightly weirdness of the previous book, definately a good read with an interesting world.
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Mar 4, 2015 20:15
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Harmony (the FBI agent) is pretty great and if Daniel even let her in a little on how he saved the world so many times she's probably ease up on him. I had a laugh at her trolling him in the first half of book four, I have to admit. Just finished Doha 12 by Lance Charnes. It's pretty great, and a hell of a lot better than most conventionally published crime/terrorism thrillers. Jake Eldar and Miriam Schaeffer are two Israeli expatriates living in America who are targeted by a Hezbollah direct action squad when their names are used in a Mossad assassination. Great, three dimensional characters on all sides of the conflict and excellent action (refreshingly, Miriam's pretty capable and not a useless screaming woman the protagonist drags around by the wrist everywhere) that's written in a way that the characters don't become superhuman.
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Mar 4, 2015 21:04
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Let me just say i also thought Norwegian Wood was a pile of poo poo
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Mar 4, 2015 21:16
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The Bone Clocks - David Mitchell This is the first thing I've read all the way through by Mitchell. I didn't get all the way through The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet because it caught on fire. Bone Clocks was such a fun book to read. It's divided into six different parts, jumping ahead by a decade or so each part. I really admire Mitchell's prose. It's crystal clear and has a such a varied rhythm that I never feel like it's droning on or is too rushed. Even though it switched to a different narrator in almost every new part, each of them managed to grab me from the start and made me care about them. That said, I feel like it could have been shorter by about 200 pages, two of the parts seemed inconsequential to the overall arc of the story, although they were still a pleasure to read through. Highly recommend this, and was curious if anyone could recommend me something else of his to read.
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Mar 5, 2015 07:56
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bromplicated posted:The Bone Clocks - David Mitchell if you havent seen the movie, read Cloud Atlas. If you have seen the movie, then still read it to see how they destroyed a good novel.
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Mar 5, 2015 14:26
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TommyGun85 posted:if you havent seen the movie, read Cloud Atlas. If you have seen the movie, then still read it to see how they destroyed a good novel. It only "destroyed" the novel if you're an incredible cynic. (and/or if you really liked the nesting doll format of the stories I guess)
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Mar 5, 2015 16:42
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bromplicated posted:The Bone Clocks - David Mitchell
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Mar 5, 2015 19:03
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Read Emergence by John Birmingham. I liked the Axis of Time and After America series, but this one was just loving awful. Main character is "lol politically incorrect" unfunny and often just annoying, everybody else is about as flat as a board, and the demonic badguys are just astoundingly awful. It's a lovely 13 year old's "Normal schlubby guy gets to fight good" fanfiction, only written for dudes undergoing their midlife crisis
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Mar 5, 2015 19:26
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computer parts posted:It only "destroyed" the novel if you're an incredible cynic. Yeah, I didn't enjoy the movie due to that format. Instead of nesting they aligned moments from each story; I felt this was forced and jarring.
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Mar 5, 2015 20:41
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Still too scared to watch it. Love the book, and ghostwritten
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Mar 6, 2015 01:27
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Number9Dream is really good, too. But my favorite David Mitchell book is Black Swan Green. As much as I like Cloud Atlas and Bone Clocks, I love his more ordinary stories.
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Mar 6, 2015 06:55
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The Sean posted:Yeah, I didn't enjoy the movie due to that format. Instead of nesting they aligned moments from each story; I felt this was forced and jarring. the worst part was having the same actors play different parts with terrible prosthetics. Youre supposed to make the connections between characters yourself and they knew they couldn't achieve this so they just slapped a goatee on tom hanks instead.
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Mar 6, 2015 14:50
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I'm reading through Mitchell's oeuvre now (up to Cloud Atlas, loved Ghostwritten and number9dream). Nobody ever seems to mention Thousand Autumns. Could any goons vouch for it? edit: Oh! I'm blind -- there are posts talking about it on this very page. Mira fucked around with this message at 15:51 on Mar 6, 2015 |
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Mar 6, 2015 15:42
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Mira posted:
I've seen it recommended a fair number of times- a few of them by me. It's beautifully written and historically interesting, but there's one element that seems to rub some people the wrong way. It's the only novel of his I've managed to finish, though, so I'm not sure if that means it's better or worse than his others.
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Mar 6, 2015 15:49
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funkybottoms posted:I've seen it recommended a fair number of times- a few of them by me. It's beautifully written and historically interesting, but there's one element that seems to rub some people the wrong way. It's the only novel of his I've managed to finish, though, so I'm not sure if that means it's better or worse than his others. I think it's a pattern I've seen: if you've read a lot of his other novels, you're a little cold about it. If it's the first book of his you've read and it sounds like something you'd enjoy, you probably will.
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Mar 6, 2015 15:53
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Thousand Autumns is probably in my top three favourite novels. If you're being anal it's the only 'novel' Mitchell has ever written, as opposed to a bunch of thematically linked short stories. It certainly stands apart from his 'style' for this reason. Also the historical setting prevents him from wandering into the fantastical whimsy he sometimes goes into - at least until you read the bone clocks and all its retroactive changes - which I think is the weakest part of his writing.
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Mar 6, 2015 16:00
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Just finished The Death of Virgil by Hermann Brosch. It was very good. If say about 50% of it was good--25% was really really good--and the rest I didn't really get. Shoul you read it? If you like stream of consciousness, poetry, and philosophy...yes. If you have no patience for such things don't bother. 3/5
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Mar 7, 2015 03:25
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TommyGun85 posted:the worst part was having the same actors play different parts with terrible prosthetics. Youre supposed to make the connections between characters yourself and they knew they couldn't achieve this so they just slapped a goatee on tom hanks instead.
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Mar 7, 2015 15:20
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or is it shite? I've no seen it, i don't know
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Mar 7, 2015 15:38
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I finished Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley. As a follow up to Scott Pilgrim it was fine enough. Much like Pilgrim, it had some great art and some interesting "small moments", but totally fizzled out at the end. Plus, the main character was kind of a pain in the rear end, barely defined beyond a couple of annoying traits. I also finished HHhH by Laurent Binet, which is about two assassins sent to kill Reinhard Heydrich during World War 2. A sort of post-modern take on historical fiction, with the author inserting himself into the story or saying he didn't know all the details and to take certain things with a grain of salt. It was good, but the whole post-modern take got pretty tiring, pretty quickly. When it dealt with the actual events it was quite thrilling, and I would recommend the last third of the book - almost completely devoted to the assassination itself - to everyone. Other than that it was "meh".
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Mar 7, 2015 20:20
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Tumbleweed Chingada posted:I just finished American Gods by Gaiman. There was a ton of cool things in that book. I started Anansi Boys and I'm very disappointed in it so far. I don't like any of the characters and I'm half way through it already. It's not as funny as Good Omens, and the story isn't nearly as engrossing as American Gods. I think part of it was that I was expecting a sequel to American Gods, so coming right off of that, it's quite an abrupt change. Hopefully something flips in the second half. This is pretty much the first thing out of Gaiman that I haven't liked. The only full length stories of his that I haven't been exposed to in either film or book form are the interworld books and the Graveyard book, I loved all 3 of his short story books and I enjoyed the hell out of Sandman. I'm kind of bummed.
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Mar 9, 2015 15:33
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AFewBricksShy posted:I started Anansi Boys and I'm very disappointed in it so far. I don't like any of the characters and I'm half way through it already. I had the same experience and I never bothered finishing Anansi Boys- definitely not his best work.
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Mar 9, 2015 16:28
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funkybottoms posted:I had the same experience and I never bothered finishing Anansi Boys- definitely not his best work. I finished it last night, and I'm pleased to say it got remarkably better in the second half. I really enjoyed the last quarter of the book, but overall I'm still disappointed in it as a follow up to American Gods. I'm getting Terry Pratchett's "Mort" from the library later this week. I figure I'll follow through Death's stories as recommended earlier in the thread (thanks Taeke and Megazver). I'm assuming I'll like them, from there I'll move on to the Watch stories, and make my way out from there.
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Mar 10, 2015 14:59
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Just re-read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. I've been revisiting Philip K Dick's work (fiction and essays) this year, and have been consistently impressed with his prescience and insight. The novel is an exemplar of Dick's preoccupation with 'the real'/reality, and authenticity; thematic elements that make a strong appearance in The Man in the High Castle, too. (Incidentally, the two novels I believe are his strongest and most literary). More than a decade since my first reading, it's held up beautifully. I was swept up in this work, in its world, and the competing realities and meanings of each character. (Also, to totally sperg: The inquiries Dick was making in the late 1960s -- about androids and their personhood (or lack thereof) -- later appear, philosophically, in Daniel Dennett's, et al, writings on subjective human experience and "zombies.")
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Mar 11, 2015 00:57
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That's good to know. I've been meaning Rio read that for a while and have decided to stick it out this time.
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Mar 11, 2015 01:17
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Finished Greg Egan's Axiomatic scifi short story collection (based on a recommendation from this thread, I believe). It had some really interesting ideas and cool story hooks. I bet Egan would get along well with David Cronenberg, they seem to have some similarities in how they like to play with subverting the human body.AFewBricksShy posted:Discworld books. I'm thinking of starting that as a series, but it's insane how many books there are in the series. Are there any that are definitely worth reading, do I need to read them in order and are there any worth skipping? I see a lot of reading in my future. This is a pretty helpful overview. Captain Hotbutt posted:I finished Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley. As a follow up to Scott Pilgrim it was fine enough. I read Seconds not too long ago and really liked it. Not as much as Scott Pilgrim but a lot. I'm a sucker for both O'Malley and food/restaurant stuff though. quote:A sort of post-modern take on historical fiction, with the author inserting himself into the story or saying he didn't know all the details and to take certain things with a grain of salt. I know this is pedantic and I haven't read the book, so maybe it is in fact post-modern but what you described sounds a lot like what Cervantes did in Don Quixote and its sequel. In fact, Radiolab did a show recently where they compared meta-narratives in Cervantes and pro wrestling that's worth a listen, the episode is called "La Mancha Screwjob".
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Mar 11, 2015 13:41
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