Okay folks, let's get this party started.
What book(s) are you reading right now, and what do you think of it?
Instant Review: Kafka on the Shore
slightly disappointing
Quick Review: Jorge Luis Borges, Fictions
This should actually be called sci-fi in today's terminology, although it is simple, straightforward fiction written in an era when sci-fi meant outrageous space opera. Borges writes about totally fascinating "what if"s that bring philosophy down to earth. Themes in this book are repeated in everything else he writes, but he does it here first and best. Here's a story from Fictions, worth your time:
http://jubal.westnet.com/hyperdiscordia/library_of_babel.html
I'm reading Good Omens, so far it's pretty good, but I'm only a few chapters in...
Reading Iron & Silk, about 1/3 through it. Good stuff - an American in his 20s, traveling through 1980s China.
Very amusing anecdotes that still describe China today - EVERY driver on the road honking ALL the time, day and night; regulations against everything, waivers for said regulations, new regulations created on the spot to invalidate what those waivers are permitting, etc.
I just read The Futurological Congress by Stanislaw Lem. Someone said his fiction was a lot like Philip K. Dick's sometimes... they were right.
It's basically about someone attending a convention at a hotel where all sorts of other weird societies and groups have congressed, and soon the place is sacked by the rioting local populace. The narrator hides and then undergoes a series of hallucinatory realities.
I haven't read much of his work, but I love Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius to death, even though it does take quite an effort to get through it, as short as it is. The whole text is available on the net, for those curious:
http://aegis.ateneo.net/fted/tlontext.htm
And on the subject of the thread, last thing I read was Iain M. Banks' The Algebraist, which was highly entertaining. It did feel a bit like he took all his earlier books and melted them down and poured them into a cast for this book, but I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing.
Stanisław Lem - Solaris
Been reading this for a while. Not a lot of text, but seriously creepy. Refreshingly different, and I'm looking forward to reading other Lem stuff (several people have recommended him).
Jorma Ojaharju - Valkoinen kaupunki ('(the) White City')
Book about my hometown of Vasa (Vaasa). I doubt anyone is interested. ; )
just finished:
Boris Vian - L'Ecume des jours
loved it, almost as good as the ever-brilliant arrache-cœur. If you like the gruesome brand of absurdist-dadaist surrealism that oscillates between acidic humour and utter bile, this is for you.
Jan Hendrik Frederik Grönloh - De uitvreter
Liked Titaantjes better, which was amazing. De uitvreter also exhibits some serious greatness, but I'm missing those golden peppercorn sentences à la »..."Springen kon je het niet noemen", had de brugwachter gezegd, die te laat kwam om hem tegen te houden, "hij was er afgestapt"...«.
Joseph Roth - Hôtel Savoy
Still undecided whether Radetzkymarsch, Kapuzinergruft or that is his best work. In any case: Man could that guy write! His narrative is remorseless and very clear - no euphemisms. At the same time, he maintains a light air of sympathy for his characters - chapeau!
Владимир Сорокин - Голубое Сало
It was puerile and/therefore boring. Pushed by the likes of Yerofeev for a reason (Choroschi Stalin was similarily shitty), I don't see neither what's so great or so scandalous about this puberal waste of paper. F-
>>4
I loved Good Omens. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman really made a good author pair for that book. If nothing else, it was just really funny and clever.
"The kraken stirs. And ten billion sushi dinners cry out for vengeance."
Donna Tartt - My little Friend
I read it in the original and the RS traduction, and the traduction was almost better. The original is just so fucking lo-fi (grave mistypes), that I couldn't help but dot at it. I mean, I don't really want the fucking internet outside of it's confined habitat inside my computer, and I especially don't want it inside my books, thanks!
The wording is very "english", which I didn't like so much, and there's some severe problems with the speed of the narrative sometimes, but the ending is good, the storyline is delightfully uneventful in parts, and when the author dedicates herself to situations and characters instead of the "action", it's pretty decent. Additional points for the theory of mind working even for meth-heads and tranq-addicts in this book. Too bad my favorite character (Allison) is somewhat of a slop-job. Otherwise largely negligible, 4/6 pts.
>it's
haha
I tend to read a few books at a time, mostly because I'm a master of misplacement, and because I'm wired that way.
Currently:
"Regulators" by Stephen King as Richard Bachman
"Cryptonomicon" by Neil Stephenson
"Vampire Hunter D": the first novel translated into English.
>I mean, I don't really want the fucking internet outside of it's confined habitat inside my computer, and I especially don't want it inside my books, thanks!
Hehe
The Puttermesser Papers by Cynthia Ozick
Best review at: http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/ozickc/putterp.htm
The chick-book thread should pay attention... this book contains 5 odd stories about Puttermesser, a woman between thirty and sixty years old depending on the story. She creates a golem in her sleep, she becomes mayor of New York, she is murdered and then raped posthumously, she visits Paradise. Each story starts out fairly realistically and then becomes rapidly abstract and fantastical. The words are carefully chosen, written with great skill. This Ozick person is a master.
Benito Mussolini - Rudolph
Instant Review: "Lol".
Исаак Бабель - Собрание сочинений
I'm afraid to list this on Amazon with all the good reviews, but the Penguin Classics translation of this book SUCKS HAIRY COCKS. Book itself is pretty sweet writing, but it's ruined by some translator who decided "hey it's a Russian book so let's use random Russian words all over the place".
(hint: Isaac Babel - Collected Works)
Just finished:
Lord of the flies :William Golding.
Reading:
Band of Brothers : Stephen E Ambrose.
Mobile suit Gundam : Yoshiyuki Tomino [Translated into English]
Andrzej Stasiuk - Dukla
(in the O.K. traduction)
Didn't expect something like that to come from Poland. Stunning.
>>22
they're suddenly really keen on suicide and rape in the subway there now, aswell?
>>25
oh, to keep with the tradition of twentieth-century misogynists.
Actually, no.
tl;dr: WORDS, WIT, WORLD!!!
long:
The work's strongest point is the very elegantly maintained balance throughout the whole book, I liked that. Also, I enjoyed the somewhat Gogolian collapse into into chaos.
On the weaker side - which somewhat bogged down the experience for me - is prima facie the language (I don't quite follow the "The words are carefully chosen, written with great skill."). While it's agreeably written, it didn't strike me as quite as pristine as I'd expected from >>17. As mentioned in >>12, probably a very unfair bias on my side. Sorry. Otherwise, I must admit, that a fair amount of ennui just stemmed from the fact that I'm probably miles away from the writer's world. We don't share the same brand of humour, my interest in the cultural environment employed is negligible, her intellectual affiliations that seep through the whole work are lightyears far from mine; and so I remained reasonably entertained, but largely unimpressed.
>>26 So you're saying you're unimpressed because of an unfair bias?
probably.
Iain Pears - An Instance of the Fingerpost
Light read, but extremely entertaining, because well-plotted (polyphonic!) and placed in my favorite epoch of british hystory (Restoration/Ministry of Clarendon) and elegant use of famous figureheads of the fledgling science (Wallis, Morland, Boyle) and politics (Clarendon, Thurloe, Arlington), modelled after details gleaned from historical correspondence etc.
Especially Wallis' arrogant, hateful and bitter brilliance and Morland's monomanic, wily borderline-genius truly shine.
World well-built, closely following Plessis' humorous bonmot about the Englishmen of that time being "an odd gang of ill-mannered louts which spend most of their time in joust by seeking to crush each other by endlessly sputing biblical quotes".
Ending uneventful, writing so-so, overly nattering at times, entertaining.
3/6
To be fair, a person's taste in literature doesn't always have to be fair. People do have preferences when it comes to writing styles, and what they consider humorous.
I'm not really a huge fan of a few of the writers listed, and I see that an author of which I am a big fan, Steven King, has coming under some criticism. For those who wonder why I'm a big fan, I like his characterisation, and imagery.
Others don't like it, but it's what I like. I don't like other things, but other people do.
How could you even judge a work of fiction without subjective bias? It's a big set of lies packaged to evoke emotional response of one form or another. Pretending you can be objective about literature is just silly.
The book of imaginary creatures by Jorge Luis Borges
instareview: reeks of 'invisible cities' but is moste awesome in its own righte
ps. i also have the 'whatshisname' book, inwhich he doesn't use a single e
pps. Umberto Eco, i think, but i can't be bothered to look it up
Then how does he sign his name?
Kurt Tucholsky - Gesammelte Werke
While I disagree with some of his political views, as a writer, an aphorist and satirist he is quite unbeatable. In the (german, nota bene!) 1920s this guy was intellectually already in the 21st century. Also, his brilliant writing and his caustic wit are utterly funny.
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
It's not as good as I expected, but okay.
I'm actually re-reading it right now because I was too young to quite get it the first time.
But it's still kind of annoying.
I even finished it! It was kind of annoying most of the way through, though. Holden's repetitive narration gets old pretty fast.
Maybe you need to space out reading it over the course of time, to lessen the annoyance. My interest was piqued with it's interesting/cryptic reference in Ghost in the Shell, and was furthered when I read about John Lennon's murderer. Can't remember his name now though (´д｀)
Baltasar Gracián y Morales - El Criticón
Every page a letdown. I can see (by a long stretch) how people might have "enjoyed" this book in the fundamentalist Spain of 1651, but how today's critics manage to praise this as "a pleasurable read", "aesthetically pleasing" and "entertaining" is beyond me.
F-
Luisa Famos - Poesias
(original - there is a Camartin traduction I'm curious about but haven't yet looked at)
Partly incredible (Pitschna indiana, Meis nom, Hoz valutuon a fün), partly horrible (np 4 "GOD").
Overall pleasing, 4.5/6
Bernhard Hennen - Die Elfen
Well, a pretty well written Fantasy book. If you're into fantasy stuff and are in need of a good book ( And able to read german, obviously ), I can only recommend it.
Kenzaburô Oë - Tagame Berlin-Tokyo
(in the SF traduction)
I'm not sure how much I agree with the ostentatious autobiographical element, but the subtle and carefully crafted narrative is very enjoyable. The book is more complex than his earlier works - in my eyes a plus. Can't comment too much on the writing per se, because I'm unable to read the original.
Overall a solid novel, nice.
Terry Pratchett — The Colour of Magic
I'd put off reading any Pratchett for ever and ever and finally go around to checking him out. He's great. Silly yet well-written fantasy: looking forward to finishing this book and reading more of his stuff.
Umberto Eco - The Name of the Rose
I read this alongside an encyclopedia to understand various refernces. I think I read the encyclopedia 90% of the time. o.o;
I just finished an August Wilson play, "Joe Turner's Come and Gone." It was pretty good, but I still like "Ma Rainey's Big Black Bottom" better.
Mercedes Lackey — By The Sword
I'm a fantasy buff, and Lackey is an old-school fantasy writer... which means the chances of me liking her stuff are slim to none. Most of the older fantasy is clichéd as all hell and is no fun to read no matter how well it's written. However. By The Sword is freaking great, despite the fruitiest and most demeaning cover art I've ever seen in my life. Excellent writing, interesting characters and plot: I'm about 2/3 of the way through and I reward it **_4 out 5 internets**, and may rate the coveted 5 internets if there's lots of explosions and sex in the last third of the book.
...who am I kidding — who the hell else here reads fantasy?
Christoph Ransmayr - Morbus Kitahara
A morose narration about people in a post-ww2 Europe where instead of the Marshall-Plan, an extreme version of the Morgenthau-Plan/JCS1067 (thinly guised as "Stellamour" in the book) has been implemented.
Quality through the skies, the somewhat cyclic structure works out great (which is quite the feat), and instead of all-out focusing on a monomanic dystopia, it places the protagonists in the spotlight, preventing the narrative from getting lost in uninteresting and repetitive details. Writing tailorfit for the story.
6/6 pts.
I bought a copy of "Wicked" and will probably start it this weekend. it's written as a prequel to the wizard of oz about the wicked witch of the west before she became the wicked witch of the west.
Wicked - I read it recently, it really was not that good. First 1/4 of it was very interesting though!
Ian McEwan - Saturday
I'm somewhat tempted to describe it as the textual equivalent of someone masturbating over a neurology textbook. However, masturbation usually involves some sort of enjoyment, while this book definitely doesn't.
Cardboard-flat characters propped into an uninteresting narrative, which far too often stretches to give way to the author's monomanic ego-stroking over the neurological knowledge that would fail to impress even a freshman student of medicine.
Every neuro-post-op is more entertaining, and at the same time at least educating, while containing even more of the author's fetish, neurology.
-10/6 pts, F---
Chingiz Aitmatov - Dshamilja
(union edition)
The undoubtedly skillful writing is hampered by the fact that, if you dislike wading through a pit of molasses, this book is not for you. Therefore, this book wasn't for me. His artistic allusions to Kyrgiz traditions and the situation during the great patriotic war are worth a lot, but they don't make the book work for me. Too syrupish.
2/6 pts.
Pierre Bourgeade - Téléphone rose
Light, but extremely entertaining. Mornios and Le Têtard are some of the choicest flics to ever grace a book with their existence, the writing is very amusing, and the plot is so parodistic it almost wraps around itself. Extra points for being devoid of any respect for anything whatsoever.
5/6pts
Finished reading Memoirs of a Geisha, and an started on reading Geisha, a life.
Nagib Mahfous - Rihlat Ibn Fattouma
(Kilias traduction)
In a parabolic voyage (the title translates to "the journey of the son of fattouma"), a man named muhammad el-innabi ibn fattouma travels through unique regions, seeking the mysterious land of Gabal.
This plot serves as a metaphorical pretext for Mahfous' philosophical assessments of the world at large. Much more careful than "the children of our district" (indexed by el-Ashar U. for "heresy"), but largely also much too tame for my taste.
Narratively very stereotypically "arabic" (cf. Shota, Shamee, ..), which needs some getting used to. A hint of knowledge about critical developments in arabic history helps, but it's generally very easy to see what he hints at.
Overall, solid, but somewhat mediocre.
3/6pts
>>50
really?
I'm halfway through the book and I just love it! I am so very much in love with Elphaba! MOEEEEE!!!
Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel
The paperback version of this book is far too cubical for comfort, but just one chapter in, I'm already enjoying it immensely. Page-long footnotes mocking ancient acadamic traditions are a definite plus.
Ursicin Gian Gieli Derungs - Il saltar dils morts
oh, how typical.
The Chrestomanci set of stories by Diana Wynne Jones.
Very light reading, since it's for kids. It's similar to Harry Potter, just older, shorter, and more entertaining.
Eastern Standard Tribe by Cory Doctorow for the umpteenth time.
Can anyone recommend authors with a similar style?
Andreas Maier - Klausen
I always found Wäldchestag to be a masterpiece of almost Bernhardian proportions. Klausen isn't of the same...grandezza, but by no means a letdown.
Frank Rich - <i>Hot Seat</i>
Not exactly a work of eternal literature, but a fascinating collection of Rich's theatre criticisms and essays during his tenure at the New York Times. I'm currently up to the 1986-7 season (the book starts at 1980 and goes through 1993).
Before that I was working on Michael Kunze's <i>High Road to the Stake</i>, but lost my concentrated reading time to make progress on it....<i>Hot Seat</i> is something that can be read for 5 min here and 10 min there.
>>54
I read that a few years ago. Good book, but nothing overly spectacular.
Currently I'm reading 世界の終わりとハードボイルドワンダーランド by Murakami Haruki. I read the english translation (Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World) a few years ago and loved it, but I'm just now getting to the point where I can actually follow it in the original language.
(anonymous) - plitoscht plitäza plibluscht
finally some belles lettres between all the academic sludge.
Written by an anonymous court clerk of the late 17th from Sariisa, published last year in a hist. annotated edition. Very coarse, very fitting language, describing the (somewhat agonizing) "life" in a small village of the time, which consists mostly of starving and then croaking. Very poetic in an awkward way, a bit like cuntrasts. I like!
The Communist Manifesto - Karl Marx
kim - rudyard kipling
the hero of a thousand faces - joseph campbell
Peter F. Hamilton - Judas Unchained. No matter how far back in head my eyes keep rolling, it's still very entertaining. Except for the eye-rolling parts. As a writer, Hamilton lacks any kind of subtlety or finesse, but his silly space melodrama is second to none! I wish he'd write more about SPACE and less about PEOPLE.
I'm reading Journey to the West, the three volume set.
three-volume journey to the west? wu cheng'en's journey to the west?
did I read an abridged edition? the penguin classics ('monkey') is single-volume.
Well, in a way, yes. I first read the Arthur Waley version, and thought it was so great, I purchased the unabridged, illustrated version. The poetry is lovely. Here's a link to see what I'm talking about:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/7119006533/sr=8-3/qid=1143555158/ref=pd_bbs_3/002-3287713-7698469?%5Fencoding=UTF8
Battle Royale.
What? ._.
Samuel Pepys - Diary 1660-1669, Wheatley Edition
best book ever.
EVER.
Just started the WoT series last month. I'm on Path of Daggers now.. if i can find a copy of it at my library
La bas, by Hyusmans.
>>73
Finished that one last week.
I'm out of books now...
I just went to a Christopher Moore signing, and purchased A Dirty Job, Lamb, and Bloodsucking Fiends. He said that his next book will be a sequel to Bloodsucking Fiends.
And he wrote the most sympathetic portrayal of zombies ever.
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
Soon to start on Banana Yoshimoto's N.P.
Death of a Salesman
Depressed yet, >>82?
I'm currently reading The Stupidest Angel, thanks to the urgings of Cosmo Gunny. The author, Christopher Moore, seems to casually meander through the story, both in tone and pace.
It's a change from the last few books I read, which took themselves Seriously.
I always have several on the go, but currently
master of petersberg by JM Coetzee
and
City of Dreaming books by Walter Moers
David Weber - On Basilisk Station
According to The Internet Top 100 SF/Fantasy List it's supposed to be quite good, but so far I'm unimpressed. On the one hand it's a fun and brainless romp, but the rather heavy Mary Sue vibes I'm getting are ruining my enjoyment of it a bit.
PROTIP TO AUTHORS: please stop beating readers' heads with third-person evaluatios of how awesome the protagonist is at X, Y, and Z, mmkay?
hell yeah Catcher in the rye is my favorite book. Read carpenter raise high the roof beam and seymour an introduction. he makes alussions to catcher and his life. Holden Caulfield was hilarious, yet hypocritical, but enjoyed his uber harsh review of all the people in his life!
Holden Caulfield is a whiny brat on the verge of a nervous breakdown (there is a reason he's in a mental institution as he tells the story). As an insight into a troubled mind I guess it works, but overall he just gets kind of annoying. He's not hilarious, he's pitiable.
>>88 Holden isn't in a mental institution he has walled himself away alone from the world in the end of the book. I thought his observation about people were quite amusing. I like how he ogled girls and got angry at things that he himself did.
I was recently reading "Metamorphs", http://very.net/~nikolai/sf/meta/meta-1a.html. It grabbed me at first, but then at about part 3 it got really weird and lost direction altogether and then sort of went nowhere. But it was still an interesting read.
The Good Person of Setzuan by Bertolt Brecht
I really like it, but can't help feeling I'm missing a lot by not seeing it performed.
The Black Company by Glen Cook.
It's a fantasy novel in a sketchy, almost stream-of-consciousness fashion. No excessive detail here.
And it's about the "bad guys". These people are on the wrong side, and they largely don't care, although they're scared stiff of their employers. They're gray people, each with agendas and rationalizations, trying to survive as members of a mercenary unit in a much larger game.
So far I'm liking it.
Amrita by Banana Yoshimoto
I just love her writing. Ity really makes you feel warm and fuzzy; it's dramatic but sweetly mundane at the same time. She deals mostly in relationships and the theme of family, so if you like 'human' writin, I'd recommend her.
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Marai Remarque.
Good book. Currently reading it for a novel exam.
The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
As far as novels with many allusions to history and other works go, Pérez-Reverte makes me feel much less stupid than Eco.
Anyone ever read Romance of the Three Kingdoms? I want to get that book.
http://www.futrelle.com/stories/TheProblemOfCell13.html
It's entertaining!
About to read The Great Shark Hunt by Hunter S. Thompson. any good?
David Feintuch - Midshipman's Hope
The protagonist is an inflexible masochistic sadist, lashing out at everyone and constantly loathing himself.
Cheer up, emo kid.
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart.
It's difficult to classify, but I think it's wonderful. A rather fantastic adventure filled with colourful characters, great escapes, and plenty of humor. The novel almost dances its way through the story.
Be forewarned though, the humor is often ironic and irreverent. Hughart treats everything in a light-handed manner, even rape and murder; some may take offence.
i found that a good series is the wheel Of Time by Robert Jordan. it's about eleven books and growing. It is classified as fantacy and justly so. There are basically 3 main characters. Mat, Perrin and Rnad. Rand is the most important character though because he is suppose to destroy "The Dark One" at Tarmon Gai'don (the last battle). As the story progresses the reader finds out that these three guys are ta'verren. instead of going with the flow they inwittinly change the flow to suit their situation. There are several other keky character's who are all intersting to read about in their own respect but you'll have to read the series to find out who else there is.
Okay, maybe one hint. In Rand's land the raven is a bad omen as well as being a spy for the dark one, BUT!! in another kingdom across the ocean it is the imperial symbol! Any chance of a mod deleting that? It's not like the thread is going to disappear any time soon.
ya, sorry bout that. i didn't know that it would do that.
if i had known it was going to do that i would have done it better.
who or what is Wakabamark?
>>108
Markup that allows you to do things like this, this, notthis, and other things too.
It usually works transparently, but sometimes kicks in unexpectedly for those that don't know about it. If you want to disable it, click on the "More Options..." next to the reply button.
James Patterson - "Mary, Mary"
Any other Alex Cross fans here?
the ring of five dragons by Eric Van Lustbader.
it is a very interesting read, but it would make you read it
tice in order to understand everything.
It is a kind of blend between fantasy and sci-fi in the way that
the two races work. The Kundallans (i think that's how to spell
it) are the natives of the planet and are a race that is spiritually
inclined while the Vorrn are very scientific,
the Vorrn are a planet invading race and through out the
three book series you come to find out more abou the two races.
David Sedaris, "I talk pretty some day"
Heh. I'm reading "Dress Your Family In Corduroy and Denim" by David Sedaris, too.
Susan Hill - The Woman In Black
Dan Brown- Da Vinci Code
>>112 wow! "Me Talk Prety Someday," i'm reading that now too =)
i really like his writing style so far from what i've read in that book and also pieces from "Naked."
Hyperion by Dan Simmons.
Concept-wise, it was quite entertaining. Writing-wise, filled with clichés and eye-rolling awkwardness. The author seems to be overreaching his capabilities. But I suppose I will read the next book, if for nothing else then because of the cliffhanger ending.
And yes, I have been watching too much Haruhi.
The Fellowship of the Ring. For someone who's had this series for six years now and is just reading it, I feel terrible. Alas, alas~
The Remains of The Day Kazuo Ishiguro
I recently finished The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Hippies are funny. What amazed me is that they would get all goofed up on acid, speed, and god knows what else, jump into a car and drive up a mountain and not die. It was also one of those stranger-than-fiction moments to find out what kind of life was led by the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Just finished The Foundation Trilogy by Asimov. Very intellectual Sci-Fi. First time reading an Asimov novel instead of any of his short stories.
Just finished Fall of Hyperion. It was better, not because the writing was better but because the author was not overreaching any longer, and just writing straight computers-and-spaceships scifi. The eye-rolling moments were far fewer, although they did exist.
PS: >>120, speed makes you a better driver, generally.
>>122 Also a better student. You may refer to it by its proper name, "Study Aids."
Oh, yes. I just finished reading the third volume of WJF Jenner's translation of Journey to the West. Magnificent story, beautiful poetry. As nearly every chapter is an individual ordeal, it's easy to pick it up and drop the series, and not lose the thread.
Jumping between:
"Teach Yourself Neuro-Linguistic Programing"
"Stumbling on Happyness"
and
"Misquoting Jesus"
And I just realised that none of 'em are fiction.
Silence of the lambs
Runaway Horses by Yukio Mishima
do you read like a book a day to be able to post so much bookworm?
130: Guess what happens if you leave the name field empty.
Into the Wild
"Going Postal" by Terry Pratchett.
I am reading a few different books at once and switching between them.
The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
From Here to Eternity (James Jones)
Uncle Tom's Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe)
Ahh, james jones, he is the best!
Boogiepop and Others
David Gemmell, 'Quest for lost heroes'. Start the series with 'Legend'. Druss rocks.
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
I just finished reading Dune(1965) by Frank Herbert and I loved it. It was much more political and much less religious than the 1982 movie by David Lynch. I'll soon be starting the second book, Children of Dune, as soon as I find a copy.
"The Messenger" and "The Usurper" by Angus Wells.
the plot and characters are not bad, the descriptiveness of sword play is very good.
School reading! I was just given Old School by Tobias Wolff to read, which is a wonderful, easy read, but as I never took a particularly comprehensive American literature class, I fail to understand some of the literary references within. Thus, I am closely chasing the novel with The Sun Also Rises.
And there's nothing like delving into Understanding Language Structure, Interaction, and Variation: And Introduction to Applied Linguistics and Sociolinguistics for Nonspecialists.
the zahir by paulo cohelo (highly recommend his books)
>>143
That sounds very pomo. Will you use the Postmodernism Generator to produce all your class papers?
ttp://www.elsewhere.org/pomo
sense and sensibility
I read Endymion some time ago and now I want to kill Dan Simmons so he doesn't write again.
I'm reading the fine fiction of E. Nesbit, currently The Story of the Amulet.
The Hacker Ethic.
Very interesting.
Markus Heitz - Schattenjäger
It's a collection of three shadowrun novels.
Naked Lunch.
I'll really have to finish it sometime..
>>149
I downloaded it maybe six months ago and read it all in like three days. I don't know why, but it's still the most entertaining comic I've read
>>155 I'm reading it too. Rather, I'm like one page into it and I'll probably just start from the beginning when I pick it up again since I don't read very often.
Night Watch - Sergei Lukyanenko
The Gods Themselves, Asimov. Kinda getting boring . . . trying to finish.
Sue Tounsend 'Adrain Mole: cappuccino years' and a play of a british author (don't remember the name) based on biblical history. Rather interesting
The time traveler's wife by..Audrey..sumthing O_o
I needed a good cry n the title says it ALL
>>161
I've heard that novel is quite good. What's your opinion on it?
The Ground Beneath Her Feet - Salmon Rushdie
The Dubliners - James Joyce
Koushin Takami - Battle Royale
That makes me cool, rite?
M. John Harrison - Light
Again. It was good the first time, and awesome the second. Recommended for anyone who wants more Literature in their sci-fi.
Ian McDonald - Terminal Cafe
King Dork - Dr. Frank
it's pretty rad, has a LOT of rock and roll, and nerdy references in it, and I can relate to it pretty easily.
2001: a space odyssey and a confederacy of dunces
both very, very slowly
Garth Nix - Sabriel
for the 2nd time. I loved this series.
-the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy-
Raymond Feist -- Magician (Actually just finished Apprentice again, but I don't have Master, the second half, and am in a hotel in oregon trying to head home, and away from this horrible runon sentance)
i love stephen kings!!!!
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
The synopsis didn't seem promising at all. It sounded downright cheesy, the kind found on the back of cheap romance novels. But the writing thus far is vibrant, the backdrop is lush, and the tale enjoyable. No whiffs of harlequin yet.
Kinski Uncut, the autobiography of Klaus Kinski.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. It's really interesting but was sort of a let-down for me. I usually root for the underdogs in literature (Morgan le Fey, Grendel, The Phantom of the Opera, etc) and I thought that I'd fall in love with the creature and be on his side the whole time. Sadly, he's not quite the hero that I had imagined but all hope is not lost; I haven't completely finished the book yet.
Grendel in Beowulf? What could possibly make you sympathize with it?
Little Green Men- Christopher Buckley
I just finished Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. It was a long read and a little dry in a few parts it is worth it.
I just started reading The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I have read it several times but I love it more every time. For anyone that hasn't read it, it is basically the Arturian legend told from the point of view of the women (including Arthur's mother, the lady of the lake and Morgaine LeFay and others). It's really a very different story when told from these viewpoints.
I'm more than halfway done with Anne Rice's Interview with The Vampire, and I hate it. Her style of writing bores me. I desperately want to read something else, something interesting.. but I already paid for the book, so I'm forcing myself to read it.
>>180
That never stopped me from saving myself from horrible writing.
Theif of Time, by Terry Pratchett. It's absoluetly fantastic. Read it or be missing a part of your soul forever.
Sorry, I get carried away when it comes to Pratchett. ^^;
My father does this all the time, even with books he gets from the library. He'll go on at length telling me how terrible the latest book he's reading is, and then end with "Luckily, I've only got a few hundred more pages to go." I don't get it.
VALIS by Philip K Dick
>>145
Nope, that sounds structural (or modernist, rather than postmodernist) to me. The pomo thugs tried to murder structuralist linguistics, replacing attempts at scientific (or scientistic, depending on your prejudices) methodology with narcissistic gobbledygook philosophy.
Thankfully, their influence in linguistics is at last beginning to wane... the other social sciences aren't so lucky.
Oh, and to be vaguely on-topic, I'm reading John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead. He's a great writer.
Earth: David Brin.
Fragile things: Neil Gaiman.
Neverwhere: Neil Gaiman.
Earth: David Brin.
Fragile things: Neil Gaiman.
Neverwhere: Neil Gaiman.
Pedestrian Wolves by James L. Grant.
in the middle of:
Generation of Swine by Hunter S. Thompson
Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
and Hot Water Music by Charles Bukowski
i'm such a fucking hipster.
Hardcore Zen by Brad Warner
Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian
Totto-chan by Tetsoko Kuroyanagi
Just finished The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I enjoyed it, along with Starship Troopers. Might read more Heinlein in the future, but for now I'm moving on to A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bryson.
>>192
heinlein is the shit. if you are interested, I recommend Friday and have space suit- will travel.
the latter because it's so campy and 1950's pulp-y.
I've regressed and been reading the Artemis Fowl series. They're children's books, and filled with eye-rolling moments, but fun all the same.
What caught my interest was the synopsis of the first novel: kid criminal mastermind wants to take over the world, and does it by terrorizing a secret society of sci-fi fairies living underground.
ya rly
I borrowed one of my roomates' books which has H. G. Wells' "Time Machine" and "Invisible Man". I finished "Time Machine" at work and I'm working on "Invisible Man" right now.
yey.
>>195
You can get his works online, since they're all out of copyright. Time Machine is great, no film adaptation ever did it justice.
I'd recommend Land of the Blind
People magazine
Down To A Sunless Sea - David Graham
LaGrange Five - Mack Reynolds
Tristan, by Gottfried von Strassburg.
Maybe it's better in the original German, but I'm thinking of dropping it. Long, bad prose, wierd misinterprations of the story, etc.
i'm reading a translation of the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya novel. its great :)
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
In Search Of Lost Time by Marcel Proust in Finnish. I'm about to finish the second book of In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower.
>>200
From whence did you receive this translation?
>>203 there's one at http://baka-tsuki.something (org I think)
I'm reading bastard operator from hell, I have a pdf with pretty much all of it.
More light reading: Sweet Silver Blues by Glen Cook. Think of detective noir in a low-key low fantasy setting; it's an entertaining twist.
Like his other set of books I've read -- Black Company -- it's written in a rather sketchy style, reminiscent of stream-of-consciousness. Unlike Black Company, it's humorous.
I usually don't recommend fantasy novels, but so far I think this is worth a read.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
You should all read that book, brilliant. :D
a complicated kindness
William Gibson - Neuromancer
Just started yesterday. Seems dark and gritty! I didn't know it was set in Japan. I need to look up the definition of some words.
this thread
>>208
Only the first part is set in Japan.
Sidney Lumet - Making movies
It's pretty interesting so far. Lumet basically describes the various processes involved in, uh, making movies. Too bad I've never really liked his films that much.
>>208
it's teh rox, don't forget to read count zero and monalisa overdrive.
The Case Against Adolescence, by Robert Epstein. Genius nonfiction. Looks at education, history, sociology, psychology, etc...
I just finished All Quiet on the Western Front. Good book.
yesterday:The Monitors (Keith Laumer)(Purchase it in the secondhand bookstore.JP)
today:THE BEAST THAT SHOUTED LOVE AT THE HEART OF THE WORLD
（REPRINT in JAPAN 2005 (trancelate to JAPANESE)
mmm... OLD SF days.
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. It's really too young for my liking, but the movie's coming out, so I thought I should read it.
The Trouble with Physics, by Lee Smolin. About how since the 70s, in physics, theory has gotten way ahead of experiment and people are imagining all this string theory and fantastic stuff like that, which may not be possible to actually test.
I'm not by any means a physics geek, but it's fascinating so far.
Lolita, again. The writing is so poetic and full of alliteration that it makes for a very tiring read, it took me far too long to finish reading it.
The Golden Bough by James Frazer. For a rambling obsolete anthropological work, it's pretty cool I guess.
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman et al. Oh god oh god oh god I love this thing.
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami. I have no idea what the hell I'm reading and I'm enjoying every word of it.
I have a problem with reading many things at once ;_;
V for Vendetta.
It's a graphic novel (har har har).
Finished Siddhartha and Prelude to the Foundation
Now reading Foundation.
just finished snow by orhan pamuk. real good
Tokyo Cancelled, by Rana Dasgupta. It is sort of like a "modern" Canterbury Tales, really.
"The Man Who was Thursday" by G.K. Chesterson: it is a fantastic turn-of-the-century metaphysical thriller about the conflict between order and anarchy.
"Roadside Picnic": the inspiration for the movie "Stalker" and the game "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.", and I gottta say it is some of the best soviet sci-fi I have ever read.
After Dark by Haruki Murakami
>>225
Just finished this morning. Its my first Murakami book and it was pretty good makes me want to read more of his stuff. Didnt really understand the whole people in reflections thing but i did love the ending
Hi, I'm >>218, and I'd like to join in your murakami circlejerk.
Started Noctes Atticae by Aulus Gellius. It's a commonplace book of an ancient Roman.
Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
finished the Harry Potter series. WAY too overhyped.
The Fermata by Nicholson Baker
Im reading about zen budism ideology, its better than read the bible.
>>231 lol, first learn to spell before criticizing a book
finished Foundation, going to start Foundation and Empire
Almost Transparent Blue by Ryu Murakami
Trying to read Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis, but it's a tough journey.
A Note of Madness, by Tabitha Suzuma. It's quite interesting, it's about a talented music student who's been having crazy mood swings.
Just finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Amazing book.
Starting on Fall on Your Knees by Anne-Marie Macdonald.
I just finished reading train man by nakatano hitori. it drove me to post here...
1984 by Orwell
Against a dark background - Iain M Banks
The green knight - Iris Murdoch
I was surprised to like the second one so much; I am not used to these Bronte-like themes.
the wind-up bird chronicle by haruki murakami
i wish he didn't namedrop so much
Just finished Strange Wine by Harlan Elison, collection of fantasy and science-fiction stories.
Now nearly done Visonary In Residence, a genre spaning short story collection by Bruce Sterling, with a collaboration with other other authors on a couple stories
In the middle of the Great Gatsby and A Brave New World (I really should finish them, but I'm kind of ADD)
I lost my collection of Kafka short stories when I was part way through and my father refuses to by a new copy ;_;
I did love The Metamorphosis though. Is it strange that I relate to Gregor Samsa? (I am about as close to Hikkomori as is possible in America...)
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami (Yuji Oniki translation); last read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
The Handmaid's Tale by Margarete Attwood. What a pain, it's so frustrating somehow
I never really liked Margarete Attwood. Ursula Leguin does better feminist commentary.
Reading The Book of Lost Things by John Conolly. Don't know if want, but leaning toward do not want. Which sucks because I bought it new.
The Bible, by God OR some random dudes over a period of several generations
The Lord is a bit of a douche in the first couple chapters. Are things going to stay this formulaic (i.e. God: hey guys lemee help you all out; Jews: Haha whoops we disobeyed you; God: FUCK YOUFUC KYOU FUCK YOU okay that's out of my system)?
Archetype and Allegory in The Dream of the Red Chamber by Andrew H. Plaks
I think I could just stop reading everything else and just read critical essays on The Dream of the Red Chamber and I'd be perfectly happy.
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
Just finished William Gibson, Virtual Light. I'll be starting Idoru (the sequel) as soon as I have some free time.
And I'm also reading Vladimir Nabokov, Despair. It's not as good as Lolita - kind of boring.
The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
I'm close to the end of Marque and Reprisal by Elizabeth Moon.
It's a space-opera type novel, about some female captain in charge of a bucket of bolts with a small army of assassins after her.
It's okay. I think the prior novel, Trading in Danger, was much better.
1984 right now.
I don't have any money for Discworld books right now, so I'm going through my list of out of copyright books right now.
Its a bit of a pain reading on my screen though.
Space odyssey
The Ransom Trilogy by C.S. Lewis.
Its good. I might get into science fiction after all.
He talks about being in space and instead of it being full of nothing, its full of life because it is where life came from.
Never thought of it that way.
My advice on 1984, Put 1984 down right now and never pick it up unless you need it for a class.
There are many better books.
>>259
Its okay so far...
Also good choice on C.S. Lewis's space trilogy. Those in my opinion beat the shit out of most of the Narnia books.
Missing by Gakuto Coda.
I thought 1984 was quite good...
Finished this Malay thriller novel entitled "My Heart is in Harajuku" (original title: Hatiku di Harajuku). Very good story, if not a bit boring, it's about a Malay yakuza who relinquished his lifestyle and left Japan but had to return to the country to settle some unfinished business.
I'm currently engrossed with Milton's <i>Paradise Lost</i>... not as good as I thought it'd be.
i just finished reading "World War Z" by Max Brooks. made up of monologues and dialogues of future survivors of the global zombie war. pretty entertaining, decently written, although there were a handful of cliche memories too.
I'm reading house made of dawn and it.ls good but the author tends to draw out his scenery discriptions.
Just got World War Z. I'm enjoying it a lot so far. It's great how each individual story stands alone... easy to get others hooked on the story by reading some of the cooler parts.
Also reading The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and just loving it. I'm such a sucker for mystery and tragic loves. And the language is just beautiful, without being distracting. It's set to become one of my favorite books.
I'm starting to read Portal by Brian Reaves, Relentless by Robin Parrish, and Things I've Overheard While Talking To Myself by Alan Alda.
Awesome. Alan Alda is the man :P
Indeed he is.
I just got done reading Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, and I soon will begin Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell.
But as a break, I'm reading The Little Prince by Antoine Saint-Exupéry. (in English and Spanish. =P)
Clair de Lune, by Guy de Maupassant.
French literature is awesome.
>>271, it's a shame you don't read it in french/english. And it's Antoine de Saint-Exupéry :p
About to start 'After Dark" by Haruki Murakami.
I just started The War of the Worlds, having just finished Neverwhere.
Heh, I have The Little Prince somewhere. I remember reading it and thinking it was the dumbest thing ever before suddenly realizing years later with no real prompting whatsoever that it was allegorical.
wanderlust by rebecca solnit
the first 10 pages are great
Just finished up Pyramids in the Discworld series.
Gotta go buy some more of those soon...
I read Momo. Very nice.
Just finished: "Time's Arrow" by Martin Ames
One of the more unique books I've read.
Now starting on: Riverrun Trilogy by S. P. Somtow
Meh, not his best work so far.
Just finished:
"The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
Still reading:
"Branded" by Alissa Quart
"Welcome to the NHK" light novel by Tatsuhiko Takimoto
"No One Writes to the Colonel" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (short story collection)
Various sci-fi and fantasy literary journals
I like to be reading lots of things at once...it helps my attention span to be able to read a chapter of one thing, than a chapter of another, sort of like word Dim Sum
Just finished:
"Battle Royale" by Koushun Takami
currently reading:
"The Human Be-In" by Helen Swick Perry
Want to read next:
"Out" by Natsuo Kirino
"Hwangjini" by Hong Seok-Jung (but I don't know if my Korean is really good enough, it would be a challenging read)
or maybe "Heart of a Dog" by Mikhail Bulgakov
>"Out" by Natsuo Kirino
Hey, I'm just about to start reading that. It's been lying on my floor for a couple of weeks, I kept getting distracted by other things.
Last night I finished reading Dispatches, by Michael Herr. Then I had a dream that featured lots of helicopters and jungle.
Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Geochemistry: An Introduction, by Francis Albarede.
Some Bruce Lee biography. I bought it for £3 in HMV and its actually pretty good.
Diplomacy by Henry Kissinger.
He's not one of my favorite statesmen, but he is a good political science writer, I'll give him that.
Re-reading The Brothers Karamazov. It's a good novel. I like it more than Crime & Punishment: it's more succinct, and it has a totally freaky sub context.
On the other hand, I'd rather be re-reading Chekhov; so much less depressing.
>>284
Have you read Profiles in Courage by JFK? I found it to be a good read. It's also relatively short.
>>285
Fun Fact: JFK didn't actually write that book, it was ghost written for him. If you did this in college, it would be called plagiarism.
R.A. Salvatore - Paths of Darkness (Forgotten Realms)
Weis/Hickman - Dragons of the Fallen Sun
Ayn Rand - Atlas Shrugged
All alright so far.
I'm currently addicted to the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher.
Brocas Brain - Carl Sagan
Just reread Snow Crash.
Now it's time to read "Quranic Studies" by John Wansbrough. One line at a time.
Strange, I just put down Snow Crash. I enjoyed the pop-linguistics, but the weeaboo was a little too strong for me. Also reading Foucault's Capitalism and Schizophrenia, just finished Borges' Labyrinths, and I'm just about to move into the infinite jest.
re-reading for the i don't know time The Stand, by Stephen King.
Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami
I don't actually know what else to read, so I'm making it through as much Murakami as I can.
The Man In The High Castle by Philip K. Dick
It's OK so far.
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Taking a Murakami break at the moment.
Finished The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, started The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu.
I just finished Haruki Murakami's South of the Border, West of the Sun. It was amazing. Moving onto some Vonnegut now.
Currently reading Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher, will start on Death Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Case soon.
>>293
Are you me? I'm doing the exact same thing. Well, I was. But I just finished Dance Dance Dance. Now I've got four Murakami novels left to read, starting with South of the Border, West of the Sun.
Suddenly shifted my focus from rich historic cultural experience to intricate magic related fantasy. Peril's Gate, by Janny Wurts.
I'm reading the dream cycle of H. P. Lovecraft right now. I was expecting stories of horror and death, but was pleasantly suprised at how beautifully detailed and extensive Lovecraft's dream world is.
I finished reading Le Rouge et le Noir (Translated into English), by Stendhal. Somewhat humorous, all in all.
I'm going through Discworld again.
Most recently Night Watch, possibly the best book in the series.
Bilingualism and the Latin Language by J.N. Adams. It's a text on the various intersections of language in the Roman world.
A New Introduction to Greek by Chase & Phillips. Your basic ancient Greek primer.
Selected Poems of Jorge Luis Borges, edited by Alexander Coleman, translators various. Of what I've read, the poem Amorosa anticipación has really touched me.
NIV Bible. lol
I'm really not reading as much as I should, it's just spread out over different things.
Persepolis
Starship Troopers.
In reading Heinleins other books I always feel he places to much of himself in them, or even creates a character for himself to speak through. But this book just feels like Heinlein's personal military masturbation fantasy. I kept hoping it would get better but I think I'll stop now and find something else to read.
Currently reading Sabriel. Not sure what to make of it yet considering I just started (chapter 3).
Sputnik Sweetheart, my first Murakami
>>308
I liked that book. I, in fact, have ruined my eyes by reading the whole book via LCD in 2 days. I actually was interested in their whole philosophy of government.
>>308
GREAT CHOICE!
unrelated note: I really need to find a copy of I, Robot again. =|
I'm going to read 'The Alchemist' soon. I've heard good things.
my mom bought me a book on water resources engineering today, so, that
w00t
1632 by Eric Flint
awesome
you can read it online for free here: http://www.baen.com/library/0671319728/0671319728_toc.htm
the devils by dostoyevsky...pretty much a masterpiece theater with guns, but since you're imagining it instead of watching it...it gets rid of all the gayness of masterpiece theater
I'm going between Innocent Mage by Karen Miller and Lost Horizon by James Hilton
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein.
The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury, hilarious satire of leftist university life and hypocrisy.
Currently reading Perdido Street Station by China Mieville after it I´ll start Starship Troopers
Currently reading Perdido Street Station by China Mieville after it I´ll start Starship Troopers
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
Poe.
shadow at evening by Chirs Walley
Cannery Row
monstrous regiment by terry pratchett
just finished his going postal, so...
just finished reading The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfeild
one of the best and involving novels i have ever read!!
now i am rereading The Crysalids by John Wyndham
it amused me in high school so i bought it.
a good light post apocalyptic sci-fi
>>329
was a good novel, the second one was also good
just waiting for the special order i put out for the third one to come in
Currently reading Lolita.
Currently reading Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
Les Miserables
Altered Carbon
Harry Potter
Diamond Age: or a young lady's illustrated primer.
Recently finished Edward Abbey's book The Monkey Wrench Gang
1) Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
2) Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
1 is awesome; 2 quite the opposite.
A compilation of Lovecraft tales named "The Intruder". Third volume of of 4.
Next, Abarat, by Clive Barker.
The Great Gatsby
The Other Boleyn Girl
The Dragonlance Saga
The Old Kingdom Series
Currently reading Villa Incognito, by Tom Robbins. Finding it highly amusing, but not really as good as Still life with Woodpecker.
Stahlfront part 2, you won't know it , it isn't brought out in america because it is not politicly correct enough
I've been reading my way through Discworld, and just finished the latest of the Harry Dresden novels by Jim Butcher.
I've finished Discworld 1 - The Colors of Magic! What a great novel!
I'm reading mostly stuff in Spanish. Finished a book called Los Mártires del Freeway (not very good). I'm currently reading Norwegian Wood and Albina y los Hombres Perro. Crime and Punishment on hold for an indefinite time.
herodotos' histories
Some crap of Kant's. It sure is crap, and I mean that in the affectionate way.
the Thin Man one-book
classical binge
adelphi by terrence
history by herodotos
greater hippias by plato
I'm not reading anything because i can't even afford bus fare to get to the library.
>>355
Yet you're posting on the Internet.
Also, e-books. And you have two legs, why don't you use them?
im reading The Complete Works of Lewis Carol (sp) im at the start, Alice in Wonderland is good, though Alice herself is pissing me off....dumb bitch
I plan on reading Plato's Republic, and Mein Komph...
yeah..I cant spell, nor do i have good grammer....
Jonathan Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I picked it up off a sale rack outside a bookstore a couple days ago.
