|
Just finished Shalimar the Clown, by Salman Rushdie. Holy poo poo, what a desolate loving book. I've taken out nearly Rushdie's whole bibliography and, while he never shies away from the uglier aspects of human nature, his stories tend to have a dreamy romanticism that pushes most of them into the optimistic side. Shalimar is just hate, hate, hate all the way through. Every redemption is fleeting, every good deed's punished, every moment of peace has the threat of violence looming over it. Appropriate, since it's about the bloody conflicts of Kashmir, but still, Christ. One paragraph in particular, where Pachigam is finally razed, forced me to put the book down and recover for a bit, which does not often happen. The dead, passionless repetition drove the imagery home better than any amount of bombast or vocabulary ever could. quote:Who raped that woman? Who raped that woman again? Who raped that woman again? Who raped that woman again? Who raped that dead woman? Who raped that dead woman again? Great book, but I kind of wish I could've finished Rushdie's ouvre on a less downbeat note.
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2013 15:09
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 30, 2024 07:34 |
|
|
mdemone posted:I don't think Camus would have seen Meursault as either protagonist or antagonist, instead something more like a lens through which it is easier to discern the true human condition, perhaps exactly because the enlightened and amoral Meursault is already so far from it. I do think The Plague is vastly superior both as a novel and in illuminating Camus's philosophy (if you read his essays, he settles on a rousing spirit of defiance in the face of the absurdity of the universe). Where Mersault is merely representative of a state of being, Tarrou (with Rieux) represents the resistance to that state and its injustice, however futile such resistance may be.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 04:27
|
|
|
Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer . Great characters, splendid prose. Really shameful that censors kept it suppressed for so long. It has a jarring blend of explicitly described picaresque adventures and rambling, reflective and cathartic stretches of pure narration.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 06:26
|
|
|
I just finished Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman. He could have saved me a lot of time if he'd just written a list of why adults are dumb and kids are super awesome to the max. WastedJoker fucked around with this message at 16:17 on Jun 28, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 16:12
|
|
|
He wrote Neil Gaiman on the cover what more do you want from the man?
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 16:18
|
|
|
Mr. Squishy posted:He wrote Neil Gaiman on the cover what more do you want from the man? Anything anywhere near Anansi Boys 
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 16:20
|
|
|
I'm not very well read, but recently picked up a few books for the summer. I just finished American Psycho by Bret E. Ellis. I'm a fan of the movie and knew what to expect.. except I was really underwhelmed by the book as a whole. I'm equally surprised to find very few criticisms of it, and most focus on the torture scenes. Perhaps someone can enlighten me as I might be missing something! On it's surface it is laden with pedantic descriptions of clothing, mostly meaningless conversation in restaurants, and a very simple plot (rich psychopathic killer escalates. Was it all real?). I always try to see the underlying messages or symbolism in books, but no matter how important that is, I think the plot should at least be engaging. Aside from my extreme reduction of it above, even Patrick's relationships felt flat and uninspiring. Looking beneath the story, and likely the real essence of what BEE meant to write, I felt like all that was presented could have been done in a short story. As I said the plot escalated, but virtually nothing was added over the course of it. I understand that it was an attempt to deeply characterize the modern aristocratic psychopath (and that was very well done) but is that it? I think the author achieved that quite early in the book. What am I missing? I just don't understand why this book is so highly regarded and I hope it's not just due to the shock value.
|
|
#
?
Jun 29, 2013 10:13
|
|
|
I think the shock is less for pure novelty and more to contrast against Patrick's dull narcissism/consumerism/relationships. BEE mentions that he often felt the ennui of yuppie culture in the 80's, and Patrick was a (much crazier) reflection of himself. That being said, there's also some gross fantasy in there as well.
|
|
#
?
Jun 29, 2013 14:52
|
|
|
The Sicilian by Mario Puzo, he of The Godfather fame. I find Mario Puzo's style to be easy reading which is useful because I'm a chronic sufferer of the 'reading yips'- the feeling you may have missed a nuance so you read the same sentence over and over again until all meaning is lost. I didn't get that nearly as often with this one which is nice, but I got some reading rulers too. As for the book itself, I enjoyed it. The main criticism would be that a lot of it was just sequential descriptions of events, but these were well-written and achieved a worthwhile amount of characterization in themselves. I'm just left wondering if a twist counts as a twist if it's a fictionalized account of a thing that actually happened.
|
|
#
?
Jun 29, 2013 19:44
|
|
|
Abaddon's Gate by James S. A. Corey. I enjoyed the first two books in this series, but this one felt much weaker. Not a whole lot actually happens in the book, and only two look like they'll have any lasting consequences. The main conflicts of the book also feel very weak despite an excellent premise, and the weird/creepy stuff lacks the gravity it should have had and that it had in the previous two books.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2013 00:10
|
|
|
Just finished A crackup at the race riots by Harmony Korine. I thought I knew what to expect going in as a fan or Harmony's work but this book was just so odd. It read like ideas for a sketch show set in a small corner of hell. It was brilliant and funny but also untouchable. Many people would hate this book.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2013 02:42
|
|
|
Finished Oliver Twist last night. It's a fun read, although darker than I remember as a kid. I was surprised by how dull Oliver was, though: he doesn't seem to exist for any reason other than to have bad things happen to him. But there's a great supporting cast: WIlliam Sikes, Fagin and Mr. Bumble, who'd I'd argue is just as much a villain as anyone in the book; at least Sikes feels remorse when people die around him.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2013 04:11
|
|
|
The Frodo Franchise by Kristin Thompson. Not really a making-of, but more of a scholarly examination of the Lord of the Rings movie franchise from inception to its long-term success and influence. As a Jackson fan and a LOTR fan, I really appreciated this book. The author had the benefit of being able to conduct her own interviews with many of the cast and crew, which lends this book a bit of an original voice. The first third of the book focused on the early period where Jackson and co struggled to get the movies financed; then the pre-production and production periods when the filmmakers were doing their thing, and the fans and the media were going crazy with speculation. There are chunks of making-of type passages here and there, but it's more of an analysis than a narrative. Lots of quotes from articles, and so on. Then the book starts to focus on the marketing of the movies and the ancillary enterprises: websites, merchandising, home media releases, videogames, etc. This is all still pretty fascinating as it gives another dimension to the now well-known story of how the films got made (well-known to fans, anyway). Finally it spends about 80 pages looking at how the trilogy changed the movie industry, and how it boosted New Zealand's economy and global image. I have to say I find economics and business-related things incredibly boring, so I did skip over some sections (such as the 5 or 6 pages on finding international distributors for the movies). But mostly this book spoke to, educated and entertained the LOTR fan and the filmmaking geek in me. If you're one of those LOTR nuts who has watched the extended edition documentaries back to back, several times, then this book might feed your need for more behind the scenes info. It also serves as a great text on the movie business in general, kind of a case-study on the workings of modern blockbuster franchises, from the very first dollar to the billionth. I'd love to see this book updated once the Hobbit trilogy is finished.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2013 15:57
|
|
|
Cythereal posted:Abaddon's Gate by James S. A. Corey. I enjoyed the first two books in this series, but this one felt much weaker. Not a whole lot actually happens in the book, and only two look like they'll have any lasting consequences. The main conflicts of the book also feel very weak despite an excellent premise, and the weird/creepy stuff lacks the gravity it should have had and that it had in the previous two books. I felt the same way about the book after I finished. I was really disappointed with how little information we got about The Station then I realized the reader know just about as much as anyone in the book. I'm curious to know how many of these books they are planning on writing. I'd like to get a sense of where we are in this story, after this last book it could go almost literally anywhere.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2013 17:48
|
|
|
For the second time this week, I've been unable to complete a book on account of its terribleness: first The Alchemyst by Michael Scott and now Rubicon by Tom Holland. I got 100 pages into the former and 260 into the latter. The first book was simply complete garbage, I can't remember how I came to purchase it, or if anyone recommended it to me - it's YA Lit written with some of the worst prose I've ever read, the worst "old man author trying to sound hip" tone, and the most transparent case of "I'm struggling to pay the bills, so I'll write the kind of garbage that a movie executive would love". Just awful in every way. The second book, Rubicon, was more of a surprise. It's one of the most praised history books I've heard of, and it's been recommended to me frequently. It has brought me to the conclusion that popular history is the worst thing ever. I have never read such a stupid piece of nonfiction. I posted my impressions of it in another thread, and they still hold true:Qwo posted:I'm 100 pages into Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland and I'm not enjoying it very much. It's incredibly schlocky, hyper-popularized history, written with all the depth and judgment of a celebrity tabloid - and like all popularized history/science books, it received rave reviews and is praised by fans of HBO's Rome as being "exhaustive" and "tremendously intelligent". I'm not a classics expert by any means, but the book is still noticeably shallow. I can see how the strong narrative voice, plus the judgment of ancient figures according to modern sensibilities, would draw novice readers in, however.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2013 20:54
|
|
|
I just finished (in the past month and a half) Ready Player One, Ender's Game, and Ender's Shadow. I'm trying to start Hyperion, but having a difficult time getting into it. Thinking about picking up Speaker For the Dead though.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2013 18:24
|
|
|
I finished up Brooklyn and, although it was very well written, the content just was not appealing to me. The author's prose are delightful, so I might see if he's written about anything I might find more engaging. I followed that up quickly with Super Sad True Love Story, which I found much more interesting. I'm glad I didn't allow the title to dissuade me because there was so much more here than a love story. The author vividly paints a near future that is so unsettlingly frightful in how likely it is to come.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2013 19:31
|
|
|
Grawl posted:All five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. It started off so strong and funny, but I wish the last book was never written. It has a horrible ending, and the ending of book four was perfect. Going to read the unofficial sixth book to give it some closure. So I finished the sixth book, written by Eoin Colfer (And Another Thing...). It's a much better closure to the series than the fifth book. Also it's not a horrible book like some people on GoodReads claim, it has some hilarious parts in it and it at least tells a satisfying ending, other than and then the Vogons came and they destroyed Earth and everyone died bye.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2013 21:56
|
|
|
LTBS posted:I'm trying to start Hyperion, but having a difficult time getting into it. If you don't like the priest's tale, then you should probably just quit. My frustration with that series is how it starts out so well but after that swings so wildly and suddenly from brilliant to dull or ridiculous.
|
|
#
?
Jul 3, 2013 05:01
|
|
|
LTBS posted:Thinking about picking up Speaker For the Dead though. Yes. Then stop after that.
|
|
#
?
Jul 3, 2013 05:09
|
|
|
A Dance to the Music of Time (First Movement) (Anthony Powell): There were 14 individual books in the series, but they were bundled into separate "movements" (I think there are four). This one contains the first three books. In them, we are first introduced to four schoolboys, Nick Jenkins, who doubles as our narrator, Charles Stringham, Peter Templer and Kenneth Widmerpool. The latter is a bit of an outcast. After the first chapter or two, Stringham only pops up every now and then - at least in this volume. Nick spends an unexpected summer with Widmerpool and Templer only really gets a storyline in the third book. As you progress further, it becomes quite apparent that England is the smallest world of them all. You start with a small set of people and gradually the circle grows wider and wider. It's a guarantee that if you're introduced to someone, he or she will be popping up again. Everybody knows everybody. It does work, though, as somehow everyone has a firmly established personality. Also as you progress, you see that it's the great game of wife swapping. Everybody's divorced or estranged and they're all having an affair with someone else's wife. After a slow start, it really started warming up. I do want to finish the series, but it will be some time before I start the next volume. Long chapters and 700+ pages per volume are a long investment of time.
|
|
#
?
Jul 3, 2013 09:33
|
|
|
Groke posted:Yes. Then stop after that. I've heard from many different people so many different views on the original and the parallel series. Some friends saying read all of them and ignore the parallel series. Some friends saying read the parallel but ignore the original. Some people even saying to stop after Ender's Game. Ender's Shadow was ok. I really thought Card could have gone a different, more interesting way in several parts, but still enjoyed it.
|
|
#
?
Jul 3, 2013 13:41
|
|
|
Just finished Kalki by Gore Vidal. I've read a fair amount of his essay and non-fiction work but this was the first of his novels I read. I liked it a lot. Heavy cynicism and not-so-subtle satire couched in an interesting plot with memorable characters. Wasn't a huge fan of the main narrator all of the time. The climax of the story was also not at all what I expected, even though in retrospect it was heavily telegraphed earlier in the novel. Going to pick up another of his novels next, I really like his writing style.
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2013 00:27
|
|
|
LTBS posted:I've heard from many different people so many different views on the original and the parallel series. Some friends saying read all of them and ignore the parallel series. Some friends saying read the parallel but ignore the original. Some people even saying to stop after Ender's Game. Really, just stop before Ender's Game. It's a pretty dated and mediocre story, more importantly it's written by an absolutely monstrous excuse for a human being who shouldn't get any praise or attention and should just go gently caress himself and die in a hole.
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2013 01:52
|
|
|
Irsh posted:I followed that up quickly with Super Sad True Love Story, which I found much more interesting. I'm glad I didn't allow the title to dissuade me because there was so much more here than a love story. The author vividly paints a near future that is so unsettlingly frightful in how likely it is to come. Gary Shteyngart has a gift for character voice. The book reads like Lenny and Eunice, not Lenny and what Lenny thinks Eunice sounds like. I assume you've read Absurdistan before?
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2013 07:46
|
|
|
Grawl posted:So I finished the sixth book, written by Eoin Colfer (And Another Thing...). It's a much better closure to the series than the fifth book. Also it's not a horrible book like some people on GoodReads claim, it has some hilarious parts in it and it at least tells a satisfying ending, other than and then the Vogons came and they destroyed Earth and everyone died bye. Really? I'll have to read the sixth one then. I was really into that series a decade ago, still have them on my shelf, but the appearance of the last one must have slipped by me. I remember being dissatisfied with the fourth and fifth books; closure would be nice. In my opinion, Douglas Adams's other great books are Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and its sequel The Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul. They're really very clever. I like them a bit more than the Hitchhiker's Guide Trilogy. Pertaining to the topic, I just finished The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima. Pretty profound intellectual stuff, all about aestheticism and self-loathing; it translates well because the ideas are so cruel and fresh. The main character is an ugly, stuttering amoral person who has a lifelong obsession with the concept of beauty as represented by the Golden Pavilion (an old Buddhist temple and a Japanese national treasure). To him, the beauty of the temple makes him ugly, and the more beautiful it is, the uglier and less deserving of life he is. Eventually, he decides that he has to burn the temple down in order to have the right to live in the world. It's really a very challenging book, and asks all kinds of questions about the unity or duality of mind and body (ugly spirit=ugly body and vice versa) and about the nature or beauty. Cool stuff. This is only my second Mishima, other than this I've read the Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. I'm thinking about one of the Sea of Fertility book next, maybe Temple of Dawn or Wild Horses. Any suggestions?
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2013 16:13
|
|
|
OntologicalWarfare posted:Really? I'll have to read the sixth one then. I was really into that series a decade ago, still have them on my shelf, but the appearance of the last one must have slipped by me. I remember being dissatisfied with the fourth and fifth books; closure would be nice. In my opinion, Douglas Adams's other great books are Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and its sequel The Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul. They're really very clever. I like them a bit more than the Hitchhiker's Guide Trilogy. In my opinion, the best book by Adams is Last chance to see, where he travels around the world with a zoologist, tracking down some of the most interesting endangered species. Really interesting subject, and I honestly find it funnier than his novels. On topic, I just finished Voltaire's Candide. It's certainly interesting how easy it is to make horrible things happening to people seem really, really funny. Oh, and it's really fast paced. The annotated version also makes it clear how much Voltaire loved to make potshots at his literary "enemies."
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2013 22:00
|
|
|
LARGE THE HEAD posted:Gary Shteyngart has a gift for character voice. The book reads like Lenny and Eunice, not Lenny and what Lenny thinks Eunice sounds like. I thought that aspect was fantastic. Even the messages that Eunice receives are written so uniquely to the character who sent it (Eunice's mother being my favourite to read!). I absolutely love that Gary Shteyngart managed to make Lenny's chapters actually read like a proper diary. I don't remember the title, since it wasn't notable, but I've read other books that attempt this and fail miserably at it. This was the first of his books I've read, but I will definitely be picking up Absurdistan in the near future! I was at a cottage when I finished Super Sad True True Love Story and swapped it with a friend who'd just finished a book. It was This One Is Mine and was the worst thing I think I've ever read. Poorly written with not a single relatable character. You just wanted them all to die by the end of it and they don't! Definitely avoid this book at all costs. On the bright side: every book I read from here on out will seem amazing in comparision. I hope to never hit this literary low again.
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2013 23:47
|
|
|
The Scar by Mieville. While it didn't have as much imagination as Perdido Street Station and dragged for a hundred pages or so, it was overall a more well-written book that relied less on gimmicks and more on character development to make for a good read. The ending, although predictable, was satisfying. 4/5
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2013 02:00
|
|
|
I just finished the 11th book of the Donovan Creed series by John Locke. I highly recommend starting with the first book, Lethal People and seeing how these characters develop. The author has 3 other series and some characters cross over. Short, fast reads with plenty of over the top action and lovably amoral characters. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Locke_(author)
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2013 02:47
|
|
|
Read Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass, and The Princess and the Goblin. I was on a classic YA Lit binge for the past week. I liked Alice in Wonderland a lot, it was short and simple, and generally inoffensive. Through the Looking Glass was maybe twice as long (or felt as much), and so I liked it less - it dragged on and on. I feel the pointless whimsy worked better in shorter form. Overall I didn't particularly like or dislike the second book. The idea that the story played out a kind of chess game throughout was the most impressive thing, but I was so bored with the book that I didn't go back through and check (heh!) that aspect of the narrative out, which I would have otherwise. I give the first book 4 stars and the second one 2 or 3, which I mathed out to 3 overall on goodreads. The Princess and the Goblin, on the other hand, was much nicer. Completely inoffensive, it didn't drag, it has some really fun ideas. I loved all the goblin quirks - from their creepy animals to their hatred of music and the foot-stamping fight scenes. It was a really fun book that I finished in 2 days. It was also interesting as a sort of prototype of modern fantasy. The latter half of the book made me think "this would make a great Studio Ghibli movie"! I'm also glad to see that there's a sequel! I'll check that out someda; the premise sounds really interesting.
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2013 03:08
|
|
|
The Little Prince. I'd never read that poo poo. Must say, I thought the Little Prince topping himself was a bit dark. Just me?
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2013 16:53
|
|
|
A A 2 3 5 8 K posted:If you don't like the priest's tale, then you should probably just quit. My frustration with that series is how it starts out so well but after that swings so wildly and suddenly from brilliant to dull or ridiculous. The last story is good, too, although the ending (with "We're off to See the Wizard" is appalling. Maybe it seems better to US readers though, as neither the book nor the film really have any cultural traction here. Qwo posted:The Princess and the Goblin, on the other hand, was much nicer. Completely inoffensive, it didn't drag, it has some really fun ideas. I loved all the goblin quirks - from their creepy animals to their hatred of music and the foot-stamping fight scenes. It was a really fun book that I finished in 2 days. It was also interesting as a sort of prototype of modern fantasy. The latter half of the book made me think "this would make a great Studio Ghibli movie"! I'm also glad to see that there's a sequel! I'll check that out someda; the premise sounds really interesting. The sequel is a bit weirder and darker but very similar, and yes, very Ghibli-ish now you mention it. His adult books are also interesting - I'd say Phantastes is the first fantasy novel - but At the Back of the North Wind is sentimental Victorian crap, and the poetry's worse. OntologicalWarfare posted:This is only my second Mishima, other than this I've read the Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. I'm thinking about one of the Sea of Fertility book next, maybe Temple of Dawn or Wild Horses. Any suggestions? I've only read The Sound of Waves - it's good, but I think not very representative of his books. It's fairly calm and traditional. My copy has an inscription saying "We want you to be a happy couple like the couple of this story" 
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2013 19:24
|
|
|
Finished Portait of the Artist as a Young Man this morning. I enjoyed it: his portrayal of Dublin, both as a city and as the place where Stephen lives (Joyce sometimes described complete poverty in a way where it didn't completely hit me until later) and of Stephen growing up and becoming his own person. Some of it was over my head - especially when Stephen lays out his artistic theory - but I started to get it after a while and going over stuff a second time helped a bunch, too. I'm sure I'll get a lot out of it in a second reading.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2013 01:09
|
|
|
The Third Bear by Jeff VanderMeer is a collection of wonderful, surreal and unsettling flight of imagination short stories. The atmosphere is dripping wet with existential threats and dystopian imaginings. This is the first I've ever read of VanderMeer, but I'm very impressed and I've already ordered one of his novels (City of Saints and Madmen), which I'm hoping will be even half as good as this. I think that if you have any love for the short story medium, then you won't be disappointed with this.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2013 02:56
|
|
|
I just finished Decision at Thunder Rift, the novel that kicks off the battletech franchise, and really the first start to what would eventually become the fleshed out battletech universe. Overall, I thought it was okay. It introduces the reader to many of the core concepts of battletech, and as the first novel I think it does a good job of not assuming the reader will be knowledgeable of the tabletop game it derives from. It is good old fashion stompy mech sci-fi. I look forward to finishing the sequel shortly.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2013 19:50
|
|
|
I just finished The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. One of the main themes of the book is that one person's tragedy may be another's prayer answered, and it was extremely interesting to see how it played out throughout the novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it does draw upon your emotions pretty well.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2013 05:27
|
|
|
I just finished Neptune's Brood, by Charles Stross. It was good! One of his best novels, I think! (I'd rate Glasshouse and book 6 of the Merchant Princes series as competitors.) It has robots, mermaids, interstellar finance, and more!
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2013 05:33
|
|
|
The Magicians by Lev Grossman. If you read Harry Potter and/or any of The Chronicles of Narnia as a kid, you'll more than likely enjoy the novel. It has a snark about it that doesn't deprive it of heart and bases itself around a bunch of self-loathing, developed characters. Highly worth the read if you enjoy the fantastic.
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2013 00:39
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 30, 2024 07:34 |
|
|
I just finished Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw (the mind and voice behind the game review show "Zero Punctuation"). I found it a very original and very funny interpretation of the common tropes in the fantasy genre today. Definately would recomend it to anyone who is interested in fantasy in any way such as books, movies, and games.
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2013 05:54
|
|