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Haven't read Arto Paasilinna in a while but I just finished Hirtettyjen kettujen metsä (never been published in English; "Forest of Hanged Foxes"). I know he made millions by publishing the same Finnish-guys-have-mid-life-crisis-and-go-to-Lapland-or-wherever-to-drink-and-whore-and-somehow-they-always-have-loads-of-money-and-there's-probably-an-animal-in-it-and-maybe-someone-dies-but-they-were-Swedish-or-Russian-or-German-or-otherwise-deserved-it story with minor variations every year since 1972 in time for father's day, but especially the older books are rather entertaining. I don't blame the French for loving him enough to have made two movies adapted from his books because I guess Finns drinking is exotic for non-Finns. (For some reason the ones the French made movies out of are the only two novels translated into English.) e: No foxes get hanged, just a reindeer policeman (who lives), a multiple murderer (who dies), and sixty German tourists (who die).
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Mar 24, 2019 06:04
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Just finished Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers. Since it was just a BotM selection two months ago I'll not summarize. Its super good and you should read it.
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Mar 25, 2019 05:32
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For what was supposed to be a short interesting cyberpunk romp, Rememory by John Betancourt sure ended in a horrifying way. The government won, the main character got brainwashed, everything sucks. And to think for half the book I was doubting if it even qualified as cyberpunk despite the bodymods and criminal protagonists. Jeez.
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Mar 26, 2019 15:34
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Haven't read anything Finnish lately(current thread title pun/laugh?), however I did read Messing with the enemy: surviving in a social world of hackers, terrorists, Russians and fake news, via a library copy. The book aged super-instantly given the findings of the 2019 Mueller report, so keep that in mind if you decide to read it too. TLDR summary: the book was terrible. I tend to grab books if the title sounds interesting. Usually this leads to disappointment when the title promises one thing and the book delivers something else entirely. Given the book title, I was expecting something about surviving in a social world of hackers, terrorists, Russians and fake news.....what I got was a humblebrag memoir/hire_me_please screed by a dude who has a Doctorate in Douchebaggery, with maybe 20 pages at very end briefly covering his advice for living in a social media world full of hackers, terrorists, Russians, and fake news. Let's see...Douchebaggery countdown... ...grew up wanting to be US army officer and went the full 4yr cycle at West Point (+1 douchebag point)....bragged about constantly harassing + prank calling the blue collar workers of West Point while a cadet at West Point (+2 pts minimum)...became a US Ranger officer (+1 pt).....immediately became a FBI agent after getting out of the Army(+1 pt) and immediately complained about it being boring (+1 pt)...left the FBI to become a MilContractor during the GWOT (+1 pt)...rejoined the FBI a 2ND TIME(+2 pts)...then left the FBI again to become a DC beltway social media consultant (+2 pts)....spent months chatting up literal terrorists online (+1 pt) to turn them anti-terrorist?/bang them?/get their grindr info?/etc....and became involved in the 2016 US presidential election cycle where everything that happened in the 2016 US presidential election clearly broke the authors brain deeply (+0 to +15 pts, depending on your sympathy level/lol'ing at the butthurt level). 2016 presidental voting results, especially for Michigan + Wisconsin + Russian Hackers + fake news + Collusion with authors take on things feature heavily in the back half of the book.
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Mar 27, 2019 17:53
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I haven't sat down and read a book in a few years. Since my kids were born. But I just finished 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster partly reading it, partly listening to the 35 hour long audiobook. What a magnificent read. Auster can get a bit long-winded at times, with repetitions, listing stuff, descriptions of old baseball games etc. but I was completely sucked in by the life and times of 4 Archie Fergusons. As much as it was a story of fate, choice and a young man's life, it was also a view of America in the 50s and 60s, which I found equally interesting. Perhaps for an American it would be different, but being Danish and (relatively) young I didn't know alot about moat of the historical events that are significant in the story (the Vietnam War, Colombia student protests, Newark riots etc) and found it all very interesting. What a wonderful book. And what a wonderful way to reenter the world of reading. I'm spent, but already have The House Of God by Samuel Shem on my bookcase ready to go.
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Mar 28, 2019 08:10
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Metro: 2035. The original was far too Coelho / Borges inspired for me. If I wanted to read... well, I didn't, that's kinda the point. But while I disagreed with that book's subtext wholesale, at least the subtext wasn't blaring text, screaming that THE AUTHOR HAS VERY IMPORTANT OPINIONS ABOUT THE RUSSIAN ELECTORATE. Unlike the original, 2035 has no subtle mood pieces or particularly interesting worldbuilding. Just the very important message of WAKE UP SHEEPLE. (Not a fan of Putin. But also not a fan of this book)
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Mar 30, 2019 17:44
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Let's just conflate Coelho and Borges. That seems normal.
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Mar 31, 2019 01:15
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Skullcrack City by Jeremy Robert Johnson. The book started off a little too bizarro overdrive for my liking, but once both it and the main character settled down I enjoyed it much more. If you like guns, body mods, monsters and nihilism then you'll really enjoy this.
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Apr 2, 2019 01:51
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Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak. Was a bog standard biography of the two women primarily doing the ghostwriting behind the Carolyn Keene pen name. Started at childhood for both of them and includes the usual quibbles about money, deals, rights, and who gets credit as the books rise in popularity. Naturally there's a lot of discussion of Nancy Drew's cultural significance in regard to women in America too. Still feel as though I could have saved time by just reading the Wikipedia article instead. Though this book is well researched and quotes a lot from first hand accounts and letters: the bulk of the narrative is built around this.
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Apr 2, 2019 04:45
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Robot Wendigo posted:Skullcrack City by Jeremy Robert Johnson. The book started off a little too bizarro overdrive for my liking, but once both it and the main character settled down I enjoyed it much more. If you like guns, body mods, monsters and nihilism then you'll really enjoy this. I really enjoyed this as well, and I’m not into Bizarro at all. His recent book of short stories, Entropy in Bloom is pretty good too. Some fun body horror stuff in there.
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Apr 3, 2019 04:51
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In the Night Wood by Dale Bailey Largely forgettable, unfortunately. There’s a few moments of dread, and there’s a pretty decent ramp of tension, but I have to say that the ending flopped for me and the manifestation of the book’s horrors didn’t live up to the hype within the book. In the House in the Dark of the Woods by laird hunt Really great. Do not go into this book expecting consistent narrative or understanding who the characters are or what they necessarily represent. After a while I just sort of rode the wave and while I saw the ending coming it brought the entire experience into clarity. Really loved it. I’m writing this about three months after I actually read it, and now that I’m saying all this I want to read it again.
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Apr 3, 2019 07:56
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areyoucontagious posted:In the Night Wood by Dale Bailey I like the concept of a guy who only reads books that are about darkness and forests.
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Apr 3, 2019 08:53
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A human heart posted:I like the concept of a guy who only reads books that are about darkness and forests. It was coincidence but I do live in the pacific NW, so Edit: I should post a thread
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Apr 3, 2019 09:04
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areyoucontagious posted:It was coincidence but I do live in the pacific NW, so Read The Willows by Algernon Blackwood next Then In The Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware. Haven't actually read this one but the name practically necessitates it
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Apr 3, 2019 16:43
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MockingQuantum posted:Read The Willows by Algernon Blackwood next I was actually going to pick In a Dark Dark Wood up at the bookstore when a woman came up to me and asked “are you going to buy that?” I told her I was thinking about it and she said “Don’t. It’s the worst of wannabe airport ‘horror’ and it’s a terrible book. Look at who’s quoted on the dust cover.” It was Reese Witherspoon.
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Apr 3, 2019 17:04
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areyoucontagious posted:I was actually going to pick In a Dark Dark Wood up at the bookstore when a woman came up to me and asked “are you going to buy that?” But but your brand! Actually no, I 100% believe that.
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Apr 3, 2019 17:10
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areyoucontagious posted:I was actually going to pick In a Dark Dark Wood up at the bookstore when a woman came up to me and asked “are you going to buy that?” That lady is a loving champ. She's cool as hell.
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Apr 3, 2019 17:38
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Reese Witherspoon was quoted, or was the lady who said the book was bad, which
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Apr 3, 2019 21:24
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Reese Witherspoon was quoted, or was the lady who said the book was bad, which Reese Witherspoon was quoted on the Dark Dark Wood jacket as stating “Prepare to be scared... Really scared!” Although I just now realize that my punchline was along the lines of “... and that marine was Albert Einstein” from the STDH thread. The woman warning me was not Reese Witherspoon but that would have been an incredible story.
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Apr 3, 2019 21:34
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The woman tells me, "Look who's quoted on the cover." I look down and see the name Reese Witherspoon. I look back at the woman. She is now Reese Witherspoon.
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Apr 3, 2019 21:49
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Franchescanado posted:The woman tells me, "Look who's quoted on the cover." Now I am Reese Witherspoon.
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Apr 3, 2019 21:51
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Franchescanado posted:The woman tells me, "Look who's quoted on the cover." I'd consider reading that horror novel
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Apr 3, 2019 22:44
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I read the Finnish translation of Simenon's Lettre à mon juge which you can tell is very bad right from the beginning as it's a novel written in letter form (a 200-page letter) and they are never ever good. Two hundred pages of a bored upper middle-class guy in a loveless marriage who falls in love with a younger woman and casually beats her and finally strangles her because he's insanely jealous of her past faffing on about how people can't understand him except you, my judge! The worst thing? Of course it's autobiographical (apart from the ending). e: Also I bought 2666 and it cost 26,66€ 
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Apr 4, 2019 13:54
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Jerry Cotton posted:
Please tell me how that book is, because I tried to read it and got so bored. I wanted to like it but after about 1/3 it just felt like the book was about nothing. I think I’m too stupid for it.
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Apr 4, 2019 15:23
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areyoucontagious posted:Please tell me how that book is, because I tried to read it and got so bored. I wanted to like it but after about 1/3 it just felt like the book was about nothing. I think I’m too stupid for it. It's insanely good. It's about violence
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Apr 4, 2019 16:14
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Ras Het posted:It's insanely good. It's about violence Man, must be me then 
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Apr 4, 2019 16:34
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its too long. books should be 280 pages max. i have things to do. im a busy man
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Apr 4, 2019 19:28
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300 if they have endnotes and a bibliography
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Apr 4, 2019 19:28
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chernobyl kinsman posted:its too long. books should be 280 pages max. i have things to do. im a busy man Plus books are hard Why isn’t there a tv show or whatever
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Apr 4, 2019 19:41
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areyoucontagious posted:Man, must be me then its not just you. Also, the first Part is the best one so if that bored you, it doesnt get any better.
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Apr 4, 2019 21:23
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TommyGun85 posted:its not just you. Also, the first Part is the best one so if that bored you, it doesnt get any better. The first part was pretty compelling, actually. I made to section three and it just couldn’t hold my interest. I felt like I was missing the larger message but couldn’t force myself to find it.
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Apr 4, 2019 22:06
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Read Alt Right: From 4chan to the White House by Mike Wendling. Well researched book, everyone in it was insane. And the bookkept adding layers of insanity until the very end of the book.
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Apr 4, 2019 23:55
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NoNostalgia4Grover posted:Read Alt Right: From 4chan to the White House by Mike Wendling. I heard SA didn't really feature in the book, which is probably for the best
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Apr 5, 2019 05:31
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Bilirubin posted:I heard SA didn't really feature in the book, which is probably for the best Not a mention at all in it. 4chan, 8chan?, plus lots of sites I had never heard of before, and tons of grifting-attention seeking trolls as the talking heads of the "alt-right + alt-light?" communities.
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Apr 5, 2019 14:26
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I'm reading a collection of novellas by Veikko Huovinen and this bit in one of them made me LOL out loud in IRL life on the bus this morning (translation mine, sorry): [...] At last, Lispe Ryynänen asked: - Did your husband go out. We didn't come at a bad time, did we. - My husband is in hiding, laughed Jutta Grahn. Hannele Nygård and Lispe Ryynänen tried to smile as well, even though it all felt a bit odd. They looked around alertly. The door to the bedroom was open, and white twin beds were visible. At least those were new! Suddenly, the hem of the bed spread swung and a man's face peeked from under the bed. - Arse, said the man, and quickly retracted his head into cover. It seemed like he was snickering in his hiding place. Lispe Ryynänen went red. Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. She was undergoing menopause. Hannele Nygård went all pale. She was almost feeling faint. How sorry they felt for Jutta Grahn. - My husband is a bit extravagant, said Jutta Grahn. [...] (Jutta Grahn's Husband, Veikko Huovinen) I'm rather easily amused.
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Apr 5, 2019 15:02
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Finished Royall Tyler's Tale of Genji and have started a re-read of Seidensticker's for a fresh comparison. Always difficult to re-read this, as I need to be in a mindset to push past all the sexual assault. I appreciated Tyler's little summaries at the start of each chapter. I didn't do as well with the changing titles. They are true to the original but since I don't have time to do a straight read-through (and sometimes just have to put the book down for the above reason), I wound up having to keep checking the summaries to figure out who was who. I will definitely buy this translation at some point. Does anyone know if there are other recent English ones that are worth reading? xcheopis fucked around with this message at 18:33 on Apr 7, 2019 |
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Apr 7, 2019 18:31
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xcheopis posted:I will definitely buy this translation at some point. Does anyone know if there are other recent English ones that are worth reading?
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Apr 7, 2019 18:43
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Sham bam bamina! posted:The Dennis Washburn translation from a few years ago is one to check out. The guy who's translating The Decagon House Murders in this thread swears by it. Thanks!
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Apr 7, 2019 18:44
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chernobyl kinsman posted:300 if they have endnotes and a bibliography what about footnotes explaining my fantasy world Finished Octavia Butler's Bloodchild and Other Stories today. Stories ranged from meh to quite good. I like the essay where she says for a while Sam Delaney was the only black person prominent in the sci fi community, and then there was him and her and two others. I'm sad she passed away early.
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Apr 8, 2019 06:41
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All of the original five (or so) books of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, ending with Mostly Harmless. They were all contained in a single volume I bought from Barnes and Noble a month ago. Very good, entertaining reads. The Hitchhiker universe was so interesting that I kept reading long after I had intended to stop. The last story ended on a really bleak note, though. Is Douglas Adams dead? I'd like to read more Hitchhiker books if they exist. I really enjoyed the originals.
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Apr 9, 2019 04:33
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