Books The BOOK thread

Bill.s.preston said:
I've not long started it. Not sure if I like the writing style at the moment.
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It's the second American book I've read lately after Cormac McCarthy and it always takes me a while to get used to- a bunch of references you don't get etc...but Proulx does have a hell of a turn of phrase. Would recommend it.

Not sure what to read next - there must be at least 15 books on my shelves that I haven't got round to reading yet.
 
Morrissey's Autobiography. Fascinating if you're a Smiths fan but interesting regardless. It's highly contradictory - show-off prose leads to passages both succinct and memorable; spite and a seeming dissatisfaction with everyone leads to tenderness and likeability, and so on. Just when you think 'No wonder the band broke up - he must've been very difficult to work with,' you find yourself considering 'Well, actually, he does have a (good) point about many things...'

Entertaining stuff.
 
I had begun reading Singapore Sapphire, but it does not agree with me. I also have a Carol Higgins Clark book on the boil; Zapped.
 
Finished reading the Signal by Maxime Chattam, it was ok though I suppose I should avoid horror books since my reaction was more the end is "so many awful deaths". I read him mostly for his thrillers (granted even in these ones, the corpses are described with lot of details) since he is one of the rare french contemporary writers I like the writing.

Now should I try again to resume the second book of the Grisha trilogy, knowing the 3rd book is bad.
 
Got Anna Karenina on the shelf. I should read it soon but it's not exciting me. Can someone get me hyped up for it?
 
Nickosaur said:
Got Anna Karenina on the shelf. I should read it soon but it's not exciting me. Can someone get me hyped up for it?
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I haven't read that one but I did just start War and Peace having never read Tolstoy before and I find his prose, especially his characterizations to be remarkbly immersive. His way of distinguishing characters really makes you want to get involved in their lives and know what happens
 
I'm enjoying zapped but not by much. I see these kind of authors writing so many books. I'm thinking of writing something. I really do. It's an ambition that's even higher up than getting fit.
 
oneniltothearsenal said:
I haven't read that one but I did just start War and Peace having never read Tolstoy before and I find his prose, especially his characterizations to be remarkbly immersive. His way of distinguishing characters really makes you want to get involved in their lives and know what happens
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Cheers. I know I'll enjoy it once I'm in, it's just choosing it ahead of other smaller reads.
 
Bill.s.preston said:
Not at all. Now I'm a couple of hundred pages in, I've adjusted to it and I'm enjoying it.
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I was curious because I can't do that. I stick very much to the same authors. Maybe you have more patience than I do.
 
K13 said:
I was curious because I can't do that. I stick very much to the same authors. Maybe you have more patience than I do.
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Mostly it's quite easy to adjust. My last 4 books have been by Stephen King, H.G. Wells, Pratchett and Gaiman and now Annie Proulx. The latter two being authors I'd never read before. I'd recommend trying to read something by somebody new to you every now and then. You could discover your new favourite author.
 
I've started on a series of very short cosy mystery books all belonging to the Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria series and it's great. The first book is Pall Bearers and Pepperoni. The first death in that book left me astonished and breathless.
 
Finally the cosy mystery was way too simple. Now I am reading Cursed by Carol Higgins Clark. I'm also steeling myself to begin reading Northanger Abbey.
 
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I rated Cursed 4/5 stars on Goodreads. Now I'm about to begin Wrecked, by Carol Higgins Clark again. Also a quick read; Bacon Cheddar Murder by Patti Benning.
 
Bacon Cheddar Murder by Patti Benning is proving to be a dud. I'm branching off in another direction. I'm going to read Oeuvres completes de Paul Verlaine volume 1.
 
Luffy said:
Bacon Cheddar Murder by Patti Benning is proving to be a dud. I'm branching off in another direction. I'm going to read Oeuvres completes de Paul Verlaine volume 1.
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I can only take Verlaine's poetry in small doses. I've begun another cosy mystery that is underwhelming. I must admit once and for all that I'm running out of ideas.
 
I've settled on a trio of books. 'Our Oriental Heritage', by Will Durant, Murder at a Mansion, by Sheila Connolly, and my freaking cosy mystery whose title I've forgotten.
 
Read one more chapter of The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe. I started this book more than 6 months ago and I probably should DNFing it but since I have read one third of the novel, I feel the rest can't be that bad especially since I am finally at the castle. It is just so slow and the MC mostly just tries to behave gently to every thing that happens to her.

I have started the Dragon Republic, it is easy to read even if I don't like much the MC, so I am quite satisfied when things get in her way. It is really hard for me to sympathize with her because of a decision she made in the previous book.
 
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I ditched Murder in a Mansion. Gave the cosy mystery 3 stars. Now with tomorrow being a holiday, I'm pinning my hopes on a Sue Grafton book. Of course I'll be reading Our Oriental Heritage too. It's a fantastic book written by a genius.
 
I've been reading 'And Then There Were Crumbs', by Eve Calder, and it's first few chapters are among the finest I've read in the cosy mystery genre.
 
BD said:
About 150 pages into Catch 22, and not sure I'll finish it to be honest. I enjoy it when I'm reading it, but it hasn't quite grabbed my full attention yet. I'd finish it for sure if there was another 100-150 pages left, but I've the guts of 400 pages left. Also, maybe I'm just dumb, but I'm finding the narrative a bit hard to follow. At the moment it seems more like a book of skits that are all related, but which would also work well independent of eachother.
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Its a bit dense and hard to get through but I'd urge you to finish it. One of the best books I've ever read.
 
Currently reading The Plague by Albert Camus. Good stuff and much better than Stranger/Outsider which I found a bit boring.
 
Also finished the highly rated Kafka on the Shore. Maybe I'm just dumb but I did not understand what the feck was going on.
 
Suv666 said:
Also finished the highly rated Kafka on the Shore. Maybe I'm just dumb but I did not understand what the feck was going on.
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Yeah that was a weird one for me. I love magical realism and surrealism but Kafka on the Shore just opened a weird can of worms and didn't really address any of them. Enjoyable enough but nothing special.
 
Nickosaur said:
Yeah that was a weird one for me. I love magical realism and surrealism but Kafka on the Shore just opened a weird can of worms and didn't really address any of them. Enjoyable enough but nothing special.
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Whats your favorite surreal novel (or several favorites if you can't decide) ?
 
oneniltothearsenal said:
Whats your favorite surreal novel (or several favorites if you can't decide) ?
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Anything by (Franz) Kafa, Naked Lunch by William Burroughs (although I read that years ago - need to read it again some time soon), and a lot of Philip K Dick (sci-fi) is surrealist too - Ubik probably being my favourite.

Actually, anything that's a bit weird and postmodernist is great with me. Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon, Hopscotch by Cortazar, some of Calvino's short stories.
 
oneniltothearsenal said:
Whats your favorite surreal novel (or several favorites if you can't decide) ?
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If you're still on the prowl for surreal/abstract suggestions, I quite enjoyed these...
  • The Melancholy of Resistance (Krasznahorkai)
  • People of Paper (Plascencia)
  • Blow-Up / Other Stories (Cortázar)
  • Valerie's Week of Wonders (Nezval)
  • The Shadow of the Wind (Zafón)
  • My Body and I novella (Crevel)
  • The Old Woman novella (Kharms) @harms might know more about the most sincere translation, I read the Aizlewood version.
  • 2666 (Bolano)
  • Power of Silence (Castaneda)
Caveat emptor: I take zero responsibility for you being disappointed or feeling that you've wasted your time, sorry! :nervous:
 
Nickosaur said:
Anything by (Franz) Kafa, Naked Lunch by William Burroughs (although I read that years ago - need to read it again some time soon), and a lot of Philip K Dick (sci-fi) is surrealist too - Ubik probably being my favourite.

Actually, anything that's a bit weird and postmodernist is great with me. Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon, Hopscotch by Cortazar, some of Calvino's short stories.
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Excellent. I have these two lined up for my Sept. reads
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Invictus said:
If you're still on the prowl for surreal/abstract suggestions, I quite enjoyed these...
  • The Melancholy of Resistance (Krasznahorkai)
  • People of Paper (Plascencia)
  • Blow-Up / Other Stories (Cortázar)
  • Valerie's Week of Wonders (Nezval)
  • The Shadow of the Wind (Zafón)
  • My Body and I novella (Crevel)
  • The Old Woman novella (Kharms) @harms might know more about the most sincere translation, I read the Aizlewood version.
  • 2666 (Bolano)
  • Power of Silence (Castaneda)
Caveat emptor: I take zero responsibility for you being disappointed or feeling that you've wasted your time, sorry! :nervous:
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I'll check out the bolds in 2020. Already have about 15 unreads now so can't get more yet hahah (plus reading War and Peace for a few sections in between other novels)

2666 is on my Top 5 all time favorite novels though and Bolaño and Pynchon are my two favorites of all time.
 
Finished Radical Technologies by Adam Greenfield yesterday, which is all about radical technologies: smartphones, the internet of things, bitcoin, machine learning, etc.

Greenfield is a fairly critical chap and he doesn't hold them too highly. I took his words mostly a message not to take technology for granted and lose touch with reality. Not the most original point but one that's valuable upon repetition. It was further interesting to learn about bitcoin/machine learning because I didn't really understand them beforehand.

Edit: To add to the surrealist debate, Kobo Abe's Woman in the Dunes is definitely worth checking out. They call him the Japanese Kafka.
 
Invictus said:
If you're still on the prowl for surreal/abstract suggestions, I quite enjoyed these...
  • The Melancholy of Resistance (Krasznahorkai)
  • People of Paper (Plascencia)
  • Blow-Up / Other Stories (Cortázar)
  • Valerie's Week of Wonders (Nezval)
  • The Shadow of the Wind (Zafón)
  • My Body and I novella (Crevel)
  • The Old Woman novella (Kharms) @harms might know more about the most sincere translation, I read the Aizlewood version.
  • 2666 (Bolano)
  • Power of Silence (Castaneda)
Caveat emptor: I take zero responsibility for you being disappointed or feeling that you've wasted your time, sorry! :nervous:
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How did you find that? I read The Angel's Game from the same series recently. It was interesting, claustrophobic and flowed pretty well until about three quarters in when he became Liam Neeson on a revenge mission, which got a bit silly.
 
Jippy said:
How did you find that? I read The Angel's Game from the same series recently. It was interesting, claustrophobic and flowed pretty well until about three quarters in when he became Liam Neeson on a revenge mission, which got a bit silly.
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I'd say it's better and more grandiose...similarly vivid, enchanting prose — also based in Barcelona, but with a stronger framework supporting the story (one that didn't call for an absolute suspension of disbelief). The Angel's Game felt more intimate (Martín's interactions with Cristina were particularly captivating for some reason), and really had me hooked until the third act — where Martín's apparent schizophrenia and the Faustian business of “Lux Aterna” with Corelli were painfully brought to boiling point with a series of ambiguous and boring expositions! :mad:
 
Archie Leach said:
Portnoy's Complaint - admittedly very funny, but 250 pages of someone whining about their parents to their therapist is a bit of a slog.
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Even though I think Roth's a fantastic writer a lot of his books often end up feeling like a slog at certain points. Sort of writer who tends to make the same point again and again - the only thing that saves him is the fact he's usually making said point with excellent prose. But always feel like his books, even when very good, could use a more strenuous edit. Recently read The Plot Against America and while there are profound passages that are superb it's remarkable how little happens for stretches of it despite the overarching plot.
 
Invictus said:
I'd say it's better and more grandiose...similarly vivid, enchanting prose — also based in Barcelona, but with a stronger framework supporting the story (one that didn't call for an absolute suspension of disbelief). The Angel's Game felt more intimate (Martín's interactions with Cristina were particularly captivating for some reason), and really had me hooked until the third act — where Martín's apparent schizophrenia and the Faustian business of “Lux Aterna” with Corelli were painfully brought to boiling point with a series of ambiguous and boring expositions! :mad:
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That's a brilliant summary, far more eloquent than I could ever muster. The disappointment of how it ultimately ended has put me of reading Shadow of the Wind a bit tbh.
 
I've rediscovered my local library in recent months. Staff are brilliant and I can order a book online from their whole catalogue if I just wait a few weeks. It's excellent and is saving me space and money too as I don't buy books I just borrow them :) Just finished Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks and did it while on a cycling holiday in France. Great book. Brought WW1 to life with a wonderful story too.
 
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