I really enjoyed it as well. Check out "Die of shame" by Mark Billingham if you like that sort of book, it's a similar mystery/thriller set in London.
Books The BOOK thread
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I really enjoyed it as well. Check out "Die of shame" by Mark Billingham if you like that sort of book, it's a similar mystery/thriller set in London.
Well I did write that I couldn't think of a single line of memorable prose.
And I admit it's the only King line I could come up with ^^Well I did write that I couldn't think of a single line of memorable prose.
Well I did write that I couldn't think of a single line of memorable prose.
What about Shawshank, the Shining and Green mile? Lots of good lines in those.
Yeah, in truth, my original point is wrong.
If you are interested in the human mind.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
Well I did write that I couldn't think of a single line of memorable prose.
I haven't read a King book in years, but I formed a different impression. Technically a good writer, and a great storyteller, but with nothing to say.
Everything in a SK novel is predigested. Ideas, themes, characters, even dialogue, are all drawn from popular culture - tv shows, movies, other books. Nothing to surprise or disturb the reader - the novel's setting and its inhabitants are already familiar.
There's never a sense that King has thoughtfully observed the world, reached some conclusions about the human condition, and rushed to commit them to print. It's all secondhand. His source isn't life, it's other fiction.
The guy has never had an original thought.
How are you getting on with it? Hes the king of prose.
Well. Well well. I'm a bit torn with the Kingkiller Chronicle. I do like his writing mostly, and there are bits which I love - some scenes with Elodin made laugh out loud, and the conversations with Auri are often truly beautiful and poetic, The Little Prince-kind of beautiful. I also loved the Story of Kvothe's development throughout the university years.
But after that, I feel the storytelling is increasingly falling apart, and the reason is the Chandrian background story. For hundreds of pages they play nearly no role at all, which is where the flow of the story is in my opinion the best. Then at some point Rothfuss seems to have remembered that they exist and he somehow needs to tick off all those hints/story bits that were given in the Chronicler-Kote conversations, and having spent over one book of not furthering this plot, which is supposed to be the center of Kvothe's story, he just starts to skip forward.
Kvothe leaving the university out of the blue. His travels to Vintas - shipwreck and robbery included, Kvothe losing the hard-won protective charm he finished making mere pages ago - all crammed into half a page. Then a nice interlude at the court of the Maer, only to be ended abruptly once more, because the plot needs to be furthered and Kvothe still needs to pick up his Ninja- and superhuman lover skills!
So let's team up with a Samurai-guy and hunt down some bandits, who happen to be led by one of the super-baddies to make that plotline less random. Oh and then there was that nymph who is fabled for driving men insane over a thousand years, but of course not our Bard-mage-soon-to-be-ninja-and-superlover protagonist. It's just too much heroism and awesomeness at this point, and the handling of sexuality throughout the story has put me off from the start. For one and a half books Kvothe is a monk or ascetic, despite turning womens' heads left and right, but he is way too pure and focused to actually act on that, or something, because his one true love is unreachable for him.
But, since it was hinted from the start that Kvothe was a famous ladykiller besides an awesome mage and superninja, he had to run into the embodiment of sexuality who grants him the secret knowledge of all-conquering lovemaking skills, instead of awkwardly finding out stuff with normal girls.
Ahem. I find myself ranting.
So, to make it short: I do enjoy reading the books (I'm close to the end of vol.2 now), no matter how negative my views lined out above may come across. But I feel that the Chandrian back-story is effectively a millstone around Rothfuss' neck, forcing his hand and forcing him to take shortcuts to meet key points of that story. The other option would have been to expand the series to 4 or 5 books, but apparently he's firmly set on his three days/three books thing. Anyway, I hope he'll finish the third one soon, because I can't take another ASOIAF situation.
Anybody here a fan of Flannery O'Connor? I've just finished Wise Blood having only previously read The Violent Bear It Away. I thought both were fantastic, and very tempted to pick up some of her shorter stories.
Reading The War against Cliché (by Martin Amis). I find his nonfiction to be incredibly hit-or-miss but it's always interesting and instructive.
Amazon blurb:
Amazon blurb:
By and large I agree with you. He rightly gets praise for his writing style and his prose flow so easily. But the story seems to halt almost entirely in Wise Man's Fear, when you consider where we are at the beginning of the book and where we are at the end, its barely progressed at all.
Though I agree his self glorification becomes nauseating at times I suppose it's being told from Kvothes own perspective, so he can be forgiven.
The Denna story arc is the worst of it for me. Kvothe going out to stalk her every couple of pages isn't good reading for me.
Posts in this thread are like corpses that you drop in the deep ocean expecting never to see again. Then they rise to the surface long after you've forgotten all about them.
There's no point arguing about King's creativity, I think. There are literary critics who've come to believe he's an great writer. I always thought he was faking it.
I've only read Wise Blood. I liked it a lot too, it read like a Coen brothers movie at times. I've heard good things about her short story collections, particularly A Good Man Is Hard to Find.
Finished Marquez' One Hundred Years of Solitude last week, great novel. Covers such a long span of time and has an epic feel, but in a relatively limited number of words. Moves at a frenetic pace but still manages to keep you invested in what's happening, and the characters etc. Rather funny in certain parts, too.
I'm aiming for 52 books this year. So far I've read:
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Junky by William S. Burroughs
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Sculpting in Time by Andrei Tarkovsy
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Wolff
Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin
Orson Welles: The Road to Xanadu by Simon Callow
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Junky by William S. Burroughs
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Sculpting in Time by Andrei Tarkovsy
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Wolff
Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin
Orson Welles: The Road to Xanadu by Simon Callow
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Finished Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz over the weekend. Popped up in my recommendations on Amazon and had a 4 star rating on Goodreads so got it for Christmas.
The structure is interesting; a book within a book, both of which contain a whodunit mystery. Bases itself on classic whodunit stories like Poirot and Sherlock Holmes but is very upfront about it. Took a while to get going, but overall its a good read.
The structure is interesting; a book within a book, both of which contain a whodunit mystery. Bases itself on classic whodunit stories like Poirot and Sherlock Holmes but is very upfront about it. Took a while to get going, but overall its a good read.
Anyone here read the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch?
I'm on the sixth and latest book in the series. Urban fantasy, sly dark humour, great characters.
Really enjoyable stuff.
I'm on the sixth and latest book in the series. Urban fantasy, sly dark humour, great characters.
Really enjoyable stuff.
Reading a lot of Bolano's short stories at the moment. The man was a genius.
His Bloody Project - Its the kind of book you appreciate for its authenticity but having it so steeped in reality means there's little in the way of escapism, you feel like you're genuinely reading historical documents. A triple murder in a 19th Century Scottish village is recounted through witness statements, the accused's memoir, a psychological analysis and press reporting on the trial. A little bit meh.
Superb book !
Read Death of a Chronicle Foretold earlier in the week which was a nice little short story as well...Marquez manages to cover so much with so little, if that makes sense.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Such a strange / unique reading experience. I hadn't read anything by Shirley Jackson before so didn't know what to expect but this book verges on the bizarre. Nonchalant in its most disturbing moments and clear to see how it influenced the likes of King and Straub. Only 177 pages, bought it on Friday finished it this lunch time.
Just noticed its being released as a film and was filmed locally. Weird.
Just noticed its being released as a film and was filmed locally. Weird.
It's a book that's seemingly artless yet is unforgettable. Me, I especially love the parts about Merricat's 'charms (the book nailed to a tree etc etc): a tiny suggestion or snapshot of American history here, perhaps, from Salem to Lizzie Borden.
What are people's thoughts on East of Eden?
Started it about 6 months ago. About 200 pages through. I haven't found it particularly compelling yet.
Started it about 6 months ago. About 200 pages through. I haven't found it particularly compelling yet.
So I have of late been looking for shorter books to read, I've done the whole Ulysses thing and with a full time job and a young daughter I find the prospect of a big book off putting as I know anything over 200 pages is likely to be split up over multiple weeks.
So a lot of the lists online include the standard short novels that i studied in college (Animal Farm, Crying of Lot 49, Heart of Darkness) but a recurring author was Agatha Christie. I had liked the old-timey crime fiction from Magpie Murders (where Christie is mentioned a lot) so had a look to see what the best reviewed book was and bought And Then There Were None yesterday. I read about half of it last night and have to say its one of the easiest reading experiences I've had, cuts to the chase, keeps you guessing and while there is no deeper meaning or great literary merit to its mindless fun.
So what is the Caf's opinion on Christie in general, does the novelty wear off? Is she the Dan Brown of her generation? Should i feel dirty for enjoying it?
So a lot of the lists online include the standard short novels that i studied in college (Animal Farm, Crying of Lot 49, Heart of Darkness) but a recurring author was Agatha Christie. I had liked the old-timey crime fiction from Magpie Murders (where Christie is mentioned a lot) so had a look to see what the best reviewed book was and bought And Then There Were None yesterday. I read about half of it last night and have to say its one of the easiest reading experiences I've had, cuts to the chase, keeps you guessing and while there is no deeper meaning or great literary merit to its mindless fun.
So what is the Caf's opinion on Christie in general, does the novelty wear off? Is she the Dan Brown of her generation? Should i feel dirty for enjoying it?
Might I suggest Joyce's "Dubliners" as a shorter Joyce experience?
It has its niche. Every read needn't be a soul searching epic. Sometimes you just wanna read a good story and not have to put a lot of effort into the analysis of it. Nothing wrong with that imo
Ive decided to re-read some classic books that I haven't read for years, starting with Moby Dick!
Is the game of thrones book going to be out before the show?
not likely
I need him to finish the books. I've spent a lot of hours on these books. The series is genius but the books are something else.
I'm a huge fan of Steinbeck, but I have to admit to being let down by Eden. I read the whole thing expecting it to eventually get better, but it never did.
If I had to point to one novel as my "all-time favorite," it would be this one. Marquez's talent for prose was truly awe-inspiring.
Speaking of prose masters, I'm completely in love with James Baldwin's writing. Giovanni's Room is something else, style wise. And a real gut punch emotionally.
Yeah the manner in which he's able to keep control of the story and tell it with fantastic prose that constantly moves the plot along is superb.
Have you ever read Go Tell it on the Mountain? I know it's a classic and arguably his best known work, but I've had it on my book shelf for years and have never gotten around to it. I'd like the incentive of someone insisting that I read it so I can finally get started on it.
I've just started on this, and it's really good. Breezed through the first 50 pages this afternoon.
Quiet by Susan Cain
Absolutely loved this. As an introvert, this book helped me learn so much more about myself with little nuggets of information of how I can improve both my social situations as well as my productivity at work. It just gives you an assurance that it's normal to be someone who prefers solitude in a world that exagerrates extroversion as an ideal. Highly recommended for any introvert.
Absolutely loved this. As an introvert, this book helped me learn so much more about myself with little nuggets of information of how I can improve both my social situations as well as my productivity at work. It just gives you an assurance that it's normal to be someone who prefers solitude in a world that exagerrates extroversion as an ideal. Highly recommended for any introvert.