|
 Although the following two threads exist: Perhaps it would be interesting to know what people start (and when) before the conclusion is reached or text read. Or we could trash talk people for what they spend $ on.
|
#
¿
Apr 21, 2009 15:06
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 13, 2024 23:45 |
|
|
Example post i guess... began Infinate Jest - David Foster Wallace began Travels in Hyperreality - Umberto Eco started somewhere in the middle of The Idot - Fydo purchased Liberation: Being the Adventures of the Slick Six After the Collapse of the United States of America - Brian Slattery breasts
|
|
#
¿
Apr 21, 2009 15:07
|
|
|
Dacap posted:
|
|
#
¿
Apr 23, 2009 10:26
|
|
|
The Adama posted:I just started Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Yarbald posted:i just bought this today... Reading Infinite Jest David Wallace like right now. Still early stages but absolutely captivated by all characters so far. Mostly enjoying a thoroughly original writing style that i couldn't try to explain without coming across as a total tosser. I'm really into it at this early stage though..
|
|
#
¿
Apr 30, 2009 09:56
|
|
|
thegloaming posted:And so begins my foray into Infinite Jest.  this one's in my started pile too
|
|
#
¿
May 17, 2009 00:21
|
|
|
thegloaming posted:I'm on page 32 so far. I really like it. It's like a mother bird chewed up Gravity's Rainbow and fed it to me in a slightly more digestible and contemporary sludge. It's still challenging, though. I thought it'd be a walk in the park until I got to the part where Hal meets the "professional conversationalist" who I guess is just his father in some elaborate disguise? Maybe? Really enjoyed some tangent explaining the rise and fall of video calls. << Pretty sure that won't spoil anything Also, wtf is with the "year of the depend adult undergarment" headers? I'm sure it will all make sense in due course but it certainly is deliciously unconventional. I have theories about the authors reasons for this although I think i'll shut my mouth until I've read more.
|
|
#
¿
May 18, 2009 01:45
|
|
|
Just bought Umberto Eco's Turning Back the Clock: Hot Wars and Media Populism and The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. Also The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace. While I should have read Turning Back the Clock when it came out I suppose it's better late than never. Just started Chesterton's The Club of Queer Trades. robomechatronsaurus fucked around with this message at 08:57 on Dec 1, 2009 |
|
#
¿
Dec 1, 2009 08:54
|
|
|
wickles posted:..the problem many seem to have with remembering who's who when it comes to Russian names (the 2 names per person issue).
|
|
#
¿
Dec 9, 2009 04:50
|
|
|
Been on an Umberto Eco fest recently. Last night I finished Hot Wars and Media Populism and sunk my teeth into The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. So far the discussion of memory and identity are making for an interesting story, as well as being an excellent device for summing up Yambo's (central character's) life and influences using fiction for autobiographical purposes (i think). Seems this book could have simply been Eco compiling "Quotes and Cartoons that influened me", but is instead shaping up to be an intriguing slab of fiction rich in intertextuality. So far, in parts, about half of what is said & thought by Yambo is from other texts, I am unaware of the origin of 90% of these references. The coloured plates are exquisite, especially considering the price of the book. Blah blah blah my eyes are frothing.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 23, 2010 01:37
|
|
|
Syrinxx posted:It's a 32 hour audiobook Just curious, why audiobook?
|
|
#
¿
Jan 27, 2010 11:12
|
|
|
Syrinxx posted:I fill up my daily commute with audiobooks, plus my ADD would never let me finish a thousand page book in less than a year. I really might need to go back and read the Baroque Cycle before I tackle this one, I don't really know how much of a followup/sequel it is.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 27, 2010 19:06
|
|
|
Cakebaker posted:Unfortunately my English isn't the best and I find I need to look words up all the time so whenever I'm not around a computer I'm reading Singularity Sky by Charles Stross. I haven't gotten very far yet and while it's entertaining I find the characters a bit annoying. Meanwhile I thought Charles Stross' Accelerando was worth the read, but Halting State was rubbish. My friend and I have joked that Halting State must have been written by someone else and for children.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 17, 2010 14:47
|
|
|
Busted out Europe Central by W.T. Vollmann. Only a hundred pages through. Rather than try and come up with some eloquent adjectives I'll just say it's really awesome and I'm totally loving it. I havn't read Vollmann before and it's interesting how he occasionally writes directly to the reader as author. For example he'll note that "I'm writing this in 2002".
|
|
#
¿
Mar 4, 2010 20:10
|
|
|
just read Schopenhauer's Studies in Pessimism and Voltaire's Candide. These two critiques of optimism were incredibly enjoyable and cathartic experiences for my mind. I've never laughed so hard while also kinda wanting to take a shotgun to the face. Also read Kafka's Metamorphosis. It made it's point but I found it was otherwise unremarkable. To be fair (I'm told) Kafka plays around a lot with the German language and most/all of this is lost in translation to English. I'm waiting for Emotional Awareness: Overcoming the Obstacles to Psychological Balance and Compassion. This is the result of a conversation spanning years between Paul Ekman (responsible for the science that the show Lie to Me rapes) and the Dalai Llama (joke about China raping Tibet). This could be hit or miss depending on how intelligent Ekman proves to be I suppose. Coming with this should be my long awaited Gil Elvgren: All His Glamorous American Pin-Ups. I hope this is allowed into Australia: where art better not be sexy or you're in big trouble mate.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 30, 2010 19:45
|
|
|
arvash posted:I've just begun to read Idoru by William Gibson.   Didn't rate Spook Country but whatever. Got the hard cover
|
|
#
¿
Apr 4, 2010 21:19
|
|
|
Spent yesterday arvo reading Chesterton's The Man Who Knew Too Much. Absolutely gorgeous, anyone who likes Sherlock Holmes would enjoy these episodes. A rich and exquisitely cultivated landscape of language.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 10, 2010 06:05
|
|
|
muscles like this? posted:Got Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse from the library the other day. I'm not too far into it but man is it good.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2010 01:21
|
|
|
muscles like this? posted:It has been years but I'll read it again by the looks. It can be hard to find in print
|
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2010 08:29
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 13, 2024 23:45 |
|
|
The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science. This book has now been recommended to me by 3 people. drat interesting so far, nice writing style. I'm having to re-evaluate all the neuroscience I never knew. I'd recommend it already to anyone interested in any facet of cognitive science.
|
|
#
¿
May 13, 2010 03:21
|
|