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Go in fear of abstractions! \ 
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Jul 4, 2017 07:55
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CelestialCookie posted:ah cool, it seems Amazon still have some in their stock. I assume his commentaries on Don Quixote is going to be an exciting read as well. My copy (the Harcourt one called Lectures on Literature) doesn't have anything on Don Quixote, although I've read pieces of his essay on it somewhere else.
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Jul 4, 2017 09:50
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Zesty Mordant posted:I've been liking a lot of the books I've read so far that have no conventional narrative, that are basically just a collection of scenes. "Inner Tube" was basically this. I just read elizabeth hardwick's "sleepless nights" and it was exactly that, really good too. What are some more books that are similar? Early surrealist stuff is this. Paris peasant by Louis Aragon is my favourite off the top of my head
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Jul 4, 2017 10:41
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Zesty Mordant posted:I've been liking a lot of the books I've read so far that have no conventional narrative, that are basically just a collection of scenes. "Inner Tube" was basically this. I just read elizabeth hardwick's "sleepless nights" and it was exactly that, really good too. What are some more books that are similar? Transit by Rachel Cusk
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Jul 6, 2017 02:50
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Guy A. Person posted:I'm reading The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy and it is extremely good y'all Same here. Not that far in but really love the voice and style of writing.
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Jul 7, 2017 03:30
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Zesty Mordant posted:I've been liking a lot of the books I've read so far that have no conventional narrative, that are basically just a collection of scenes. "Inner Tube" was basically this. I just read elizabeth hardwick's "sleepless nights" and it was exactly that, really good too. What are some more books that are similar? 253 by Geoff Ryman
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Jul 8, 2017 00:53
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Naked Lunch too.
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Jul 8, 2017 11:03
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1984. I like the clothes.
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Jul 9, 2017 15:29
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Is there a recommended English translation of Water Margin? I tried reading it in my native language but then I found out it was translated from German, not Chinese, and that's bullshit.
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Jul 10, 2017 09:15
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Ventadour posted:Is there a recommended English translation of Water Margin? I tried reading it in my native language but then I found out it was translated from German, not Chinese, and that's bullshit. Unless there's been a new one lately, Sidney Shapiro is probably your best bet for an unabridged version. Some people do like Pearl S. Buck's better but it is abridged and has some errors, mostly things like character names and overall the translation is more literal.
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Jul 10, 2017 09:54
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If you were to subscribe to one big name lit mag which would it be? I'm torn between The Paris Review because of their pretty great online presence, and Granta because they're based in the UK which means they're closer to me and maybe more likely to feature Irish authors. Cost and reading time wise means I would probably only get one, along with the other less prestigious lit mags I get.
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Jul 10, 2017 12:00
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LRB is the only good literary magazine because it's not very "literary"
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Jul 10, 2017 12:17
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Zesty Mordant posted:I've been liking a lot of the books I've read so far that have no conventional narrative, that are basically just a collection of scenes. "Inner Tube" was basically this. I just read elizabeth hardwick's "sleepless nights" and it was exactly that, really good too. What are some more books that are similar?
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Jul 10, 2017 12:26
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it's better to just buy an issue here and there, when you see something really interesting, rather than subscribing, imo, because usually there's a bunch of stuff in each mag that just won't interest you.
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Jul 10, 2017 12:34
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Burning Rain posted:it's better to just buy an issue here and there, when you see something really interesting, rather than subscribing, imo, because usually there's a bunch of stuff in each mag that just won't interest you. There's nowhere in my mid-sized Euro city that stocks any of them. There's a few of the Irish journals in the biggest of the bookshops, but if you're talking about getting anything beyond that you pretty much have to subscribe.
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Jul 10, 2017 13:01
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Mrenda posted:If you were to subscribe to one big name lit mag which would it be? I'm torn between The Paris Review because of their pretty great online presence, and Granta because they're based in the UK which means they're closer to me and maybe more likely to feature Irish authors. Cost and reading time wise means I would probably only get one, along with the other less prestigious lit mags I get. If you're willing to wait, LRB and the Paris Review often run a combo subscription deal. e: I prefer Harper's, if only for the Weekly Review, but it's definitely more US-focused. Eugene V. Dubstep fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Jul 10, 2017 |
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Jul 10, 2017 14:17
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at the date posted:If you're willing to wait, LRB and the Paris Review often run a combo subscription deal. For anyone wondering that's running right now. I just don't have $120 spare for the international option. ($80 US, $100 CA.) https://twitter.com/LRB/status/881436671325155328
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Jul 11, 2017 15:11
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That's honestly piss-cheap and in terms of quality you're not gonna get a better deal on any magazine. My yearly LRB subscription alone is more than that.
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Jul 11, 2017 15:16
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^^ LRB is pretty good, yeah, but I have a whole bunch of them at home given to me by a friend, but I don't think I've read more than a third of the pieces in any of them. ^^Mrenda posted:There's nowhere in my mid-sized Euro city that stocks any of them. There's a few of the Irish journals in the biggest of the bookshops, but if you're talking about getting anything beyond that you pretty much have to subscribe. yeah, good point, it's not like I can find them in my city either. Still, you can find some materials online for both of them, and Granta offers to buy issues with 1 pound flat shipping fee. I did subscribe to Paris Review for a year, but I felt it just wasn't worth the money, as I could buy quite a few second-hand books for the same amount. Burning Rain fucked around with this message at 15:20 on Jul 11, 2017 |
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Jul 11, 2017 15:18
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Burning Rain posted:^^ LRB is pretty good, yeah, but I have a whole bunch of them at home given to me by a friend, but I don't think I've read more than a third of the pieces in any of them. ^^ I don't read every review of random new novels either, but their subscriber-only archive is awesome
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Jul 11, 2017 15:25
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Apart from a few short stories available for free on some decent websites and a few Irish lit journals (of which there is an abundance, with a resulting quality of writing) I've never read some real literature. My sole attempt in the past year was trying to get through The Castle, but the quality of the prose didn't whip me through it (apart from one early scene) so when I decided it was a bit of a shaggy dog story about a shaggy dog life/situation/pursuit I put it down (also, I was quite ill reading it, so that wouldn't have helped.) I'm not looking for literature for the sake of appearance in reading high falutin' thinky books, I would actually like to read something with a degree of profundity. I'm particularly looking for something that deals with mental health and how that applies to isolation and relating to the world outside of the self (inspired by the illness I was in the depths of while reading Kafka.) Any recommendations would be appreciated.
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Jul 11, 2017 21:38
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Mrenda posted:Apart from a few short stories available for free on some decent websites and a few Irish lit journals (of which there is an abundance, with a resulting quality of writing) I've never read some real literature. My sole attempt in the past year was trying to get through The Castle, but the quality of the prose didn't whip me through it (apart from one early scene) so when I decided it was a bit of a shaggy dog story about a shaggy dog life/situation/pursuit I put it down (also, I was quite ill reading it, so that wouldn't have helped.) Perhaps The Stranger from Camus? It's about somebody who is very detached from reality and is just a very good, accessible and profound book.
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Jul 11, 2017 23:12
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Mrenda posted:Apart from a few short stories available for free on some decent websites and a few Irish lit journals (of which there is an abundance, with a resulting quality of writing) I've never read some real literature. My sole attempt in the past year was trying to get through The Castle, but the quality of the prose didn't whip me through it (apart from one early scene) so when I decided it was a bit of a shaggy dog story about a shaggy dog life/situation/pursuit I put it down (also, I was quite ill reading it, so that wouldn't have helped.) You might enjoy Fernando Pessoa's The Book of Disquiet
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Jul 12, 2017 02:01
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Mrenda posted:Apart from a few short stories available for free on some decent websites and a few Irish lit journals (of which there is an abundance, with a resulting quality of writing) I've never read some real literature. My sole attempt in the past year was trying to get through The Castle, but the quality of the prose didn't whip me through it (apart from one early scene) so when I decided it was a bit of a shaggy dog story about a shaggy dog life/situation/pursuit I put it down (also, I was quite ill reading it, so that wouldn't have helped.) The Bell Jar might be what you're looking for.
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Jul 12, 2017 02:43
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Mrenda posted:I'm not looking for literature for the sake of appearance in reading high falutin' thinky books, I would actually like to read something with a degree of profundity. I'm particularly looking for something that deals with mental health and how that applies to isolation and relating to the world outside of the self (inspired by the illness I was in the depths of while reading Kafka.) Any recommendations would be appreciated. Ignore these other nerds, read Samuel Beckett's trilogy of novels starting with Molloy. Exactly what you're after.
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Jul 12, 2017 02:48
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The Castle is one of my favourite books
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Jul 12, 2017 10:07
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at the date posted:Ignore these other nerds, read Samuel Beckett's trilogy of novels starting with Molloy. Exactly what you're after.
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Jul 12, 2017 10:09
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Thanks for the recommendations. It seems the libraries near me have some of the books. The Beckett is even available as an e-book if I wait a week or so.fridge corn posted:The Castle is one of my favourite books I appreciated what was happening. K on a futile quest, or what seemed to me was being set up as being futile, with a whole village either working against him, or him simply not counting in their concerns. A lot of the town pretty much finding ways to make him settle and be at some level of peace or acceptance of his situation, but him relentlessly ignoring them all the while thinking he is correct in what he's doing. Then all of this happening with the reader having no understanding of whether his desire to reach the castle is justified. It's just that after seventy or so pages I thought this is what's going to play out for the rest of the book; K pursuing, K being pushed back, and K being sure of his purpose despite this. It dealt well with someone chasing a goal (or actualisation to go all high school business class) in spite of everything pulling him back, and possibly the foolishness of letting that certainty in your desire override better knowledge, including that of those around you. Basically the foolishness of chasing something, and looking for purpose when so much stands in your way, even to the point of not accepting what you're looking for is even valid. It's just that after hundred or so pages I'd already seen that, and was looking for more from it Worse, as it went on K didn't seem to have any insight on his situation, and was steadfast in his pursuit of The Castle and I thought it had been established and dealt with what this meant for him. I was looking for more. And in that way the prose didn't pull me through (apart from the early dancing scene) when the underlying meaning was getting laboured and tired.
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Jul 12, 2017 10:56
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Powering through Recognitions. Is this worth it? I love the stuff about forgeries and art in there but every time it switches to characters that I can't possibly track in my daily commute readings I just drift off.
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Jul 12, 2017 11:54
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Beckett first, then Pessoa. Always Beckett first.
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Jul 12, 2017 14:04
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fatherboxx posted:Powering through Recognitions. I have been mocked in this thread for my enthusiasm for Gaddis but yes it is. The stuff about forgeries is.... basically all of the book, and the profusion of characters is deliberately baffling - but if you must be able to keep track of a guy called Rektall Brown right?
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Jul 12, 2017 14:18
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Mr. Squishy posted:I have been mocked in this thread for my enthusiasm for Gaddis but yes it is. The stuff about forgeries is.... basically all of the book, and the profusion of characters is deliberately baffling - but if you must be able to keep track of a guy called Rektall Brown right? Good to know! Yeah he is among those I am very interested in.
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Jul 12, 2017 14:21
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I created a SHAMEFUL thread for The Book Barn so everyone can dig through their backlogs outside of the BOTM and Year Challenge. I'm hoping it creates more traffic in TBB and pushes more people towards literature and away from genre fiction.
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Jul 12, 2017 15:20
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fatherboxx posted:Powering through Recognitions. I just finished this after like six months. I decided it would make good bedtime reading so basically read about 20 pages at a time every couple of days. I think that was a good way to read it, actually, just popping in on these peoples' lives every once in a while. Anyway there is some cool stuff in the book, and Gaddis writes some of the best prose I've ever read. I definitely want to check out JR sometime soon.
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Jul 12, 2017 16:52
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Mover posted:You might enjoy Fernando Pessoa's The Book of Disquiet This was my exact thought reading this post. Possibly the most isolated book I've read.
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Jul 12, 2017 20:14
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Anyone here read Celestial Harmonies by Peter Esterhazy? I just started it the other day and the first 80 pages have been real good. Guy is just talking about "my father" who is apparently a bunch of different people or something. I'm not really sure. But it is funny and good.
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Jul 13, 2017 00:19
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Mrenda posted:Apart from a few short stories available for free on some decent websites and a few Irish lit journals (of which there is an abundance, with a resulting quality of writing) I've never read some real literature. My sole attempt in the past year was trying to get through The Castle, but the quality of the prose didn't whip me through it (apart from one early scene) so when I decided it was a bit of a shaggy dog story about a shaggy dog life/situation/pursuit I put it down (also, I was quite ill reading it, so that wouldn't have helped.) Nausea or Journey to the End of the Night might give you a ticklin
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Jul 13, 2017 04:57
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Mrenda posted:Apart from a few short stories available for free on some decent websites and a few Irish lit journals (of which there is an abundance, with a resulting quality of writing) I've never read some real literature. My sole attempt in the past year was trying to get through The Castle, but the quality of the prose didn't whip me through it (apart from one early scene) so when I decided it was a bit of a shaggy dog story about a shaggy dog life/situation/pursuit I put it down (also, I was quite ill reading it, so that wouldn't have helped.) Anything by Camus, basically. He's immensely readable and his prose has a subdued and wonderful power. The Fall and The Stranger are probably your best bets. Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (and the rest of the Africa trilogy) is another one like that. It's best read in opposition to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (which he was immensely critical of) but it stands by itself as a great book. On that note, Conrad's The Secret Agent is also fantastic. I think it's by far his best novel. Three Sea Stories by him are also really quite great. Lorrie Moore's Birds of America is a short story collection that's also tremendous and easily accessible. It's mostly about people feeling like poo poo. Depending on your tolerance for metafictional weirdness, J. M. Coetzee's novels are really quite simple even if they deal with authors stepping into the books, rewriting the Robinson Crusoe mythos to incorporate its author, and so forth. Foe requires a basic familiarity with Crusoe, and is very very good.
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Jul 13, 2017 07:56
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Mrenda posted:Apart from a few short stories available for free on some decent websites and a few Irish lit journals (of which there is an abundance, with a resulting quality of writing) I've never read some real literature. My sole attempt in the past year was trying to get through The Castle, but the quality of the prose didn't whip me through it (apart from one early scene) so when I decided it was a bit of a shaggy dog story about a shaggy dog life/situation/pursuit I put it down (also, I was quite ill reading it, so that wouldn't have helped.) the clown by heinrich böll
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Jul 13, 2017 10:59
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Oooh, I didn't know Coetzee was like that. I have a fondness for Crusoe, so maybe I'll pick up Foe.
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Jul 13, 2017 13:41
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