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The books you read
Could do with yr thoughts & advice.
I was wondering how you find out about the books that you read. Friends recommendations? Amazon? Magazines? Browsing around Waterstones? Any others?
I was just intersted, this isn't for a report or anything. I feel like I'm missing out on a lot. Thanks.
thelondonpaper
anything free
i'm currently reading 'high society' by ben elton. and by 'currently reading' i mean it's been sat in my bag for a week but i haven't got round to starting it yet because i'm on the lookout for my black suited jack. and i can't listen to music and read at the same time.
burn it
I realise that might sound a bit nazi-esque but Ben Elton? C'mon...
I only really buy mine
from Waterstones and things. But then I read what a lot of people on here would probably deem to be crap books, so you might not want to listen to me. I'm not about the high brow.
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I'm basically interested in what sources people use for finding out about books, rather than recommendations as such.
i.e. people come on here, pitchfork, stylus etc. to (supposedly) find out about new music. Is there an equivalent?
i don't buy that many new books
i really like early 20th century literature [fitzgerald, waugh, hamilton, sagan, colette], so i tend to work my way through those authors & their contemporaries - recommendations from people who've read them, raiding my folks' amply stocked shelves, bookstore browsing... or articles/books about those authors that mention related authors. currently reading patrick hamilton, then i have some gertrude stein to move onto.
other than that, i just browse bookstores that i really like [waterstones overwhelms me a bit, i like the big old place on picadilly, foyles and the kilburn bookshop, they're small but i really like their selection.]
A combination
Fortunately I have friends who know a lot about books so I get recommendations from them.
I read up on the internet about authors and genres I like.
I'm in a book group so that is probably the best way, so long as it is full of people with good taste (luckily it is).
I'm a lot more choosy with the books I read than the other media I consume, I suppose because it takes that much more effort. I mean I love so many trashy films and TV programmes but with books Im slightly snobby about chart fiction, 3 for 2 books etc. and tend towards the worthy or obscure.
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I get most of the books I read now from friends advice, as like me they have done English/Literature related degrees. I've just felt over the last year or so that I'm stuck in a rut in terms of the genre of book I read and could do with a change.
I feel lame reading through book/author links on amazon from stuff I like, but I'm not too sure where else to look to be honest.
Also, I rarely by 3 for 2 as well, as they almost never appeal to my tastes. Its almost like I want some huge list of genre's with the key authors in each of them listed underneath.
I'll try to avoid specific recommendations
but what kind of stuff do you like e.g genres you like/avoid/are curious about?
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20th century American Literature is something I've only really touched upon, so I'd be interested in more obscure books & authors from that period.
To give you a clue, these are some I've read recently and loved & would be intersted in similar stuff:
The Rides Of The Midway - Lee Durkee
Pastoralia - George Saunders (all of his actually)
Oblivion Stories - David Foster Wallace (not Infinite Jest just now!)
The Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon
Also, I really dont like Thomas Pynchon.
Did we discuss David Foster Wallace before?
I'm glad you're reading him anyway because he is my favourite author. It's hard to recommend books like his because I've never read anyone who writes so well.
I don't know the first book you mention but I know the rest. I see you're not averse to short fiction so my first suggestion would be some JG Ballard short stories (not American but very much amazing).
Actually a good thing would be to get hold of a Granta collection of young American novelists short stories and see who you get on with in that.
Have you read Confederacy of Dunces, thinking of comic novels?
What about the mainstays of American writing, people like John Updike, Philip Roth?
I can very much understand the Pynchon thing. He is very hard work and not always immediately enjoyable, or even enjoyable.
sorry that wasn't very constructive
it's hard to recommend books!
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I've read Confederacy of Dunces, I really enjoyed it, pretty funny. The author killed himself after he wrote it because it got rejected by the publishers at first, right?
I've never read any JG Ballard, so I might give him a go. Where would you say is a good place to start?
I think we talked DFW once before, and I basically cant hack trying to read Infinite Jest on the train each day (where all my reading it done). However, I did really like Infinte Jest, so are there any more managable books of his? I've been told that A Supposedly Funny Thing That I'll Never Do Again is meant to be worth reading.
My favourie American novel is still The Day Of The Locust, is that considered 'Classic' now?
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Argh, I meant I really like Oblivion Stories, not Infinite Jest. I haven't even bloody read it.
For JG Ballard
Id say go straight for the complete short stories. They have republished it in 2 volumes now. Also they are quite sci-fi in places (although not of the conventional type) but I wouldn't let that put you off. I think he really is best as a short story writer so I won't recommend any novels.
As for DFW, Infinite Jest would be a terrible train book as would the Broom of the System (his other novel). Supposedly fun thing is great though it is a collection of non-fiction. He has 2 short-story collections other than Oblivion: Girl with Curious Hair and Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. I'd recommend the former but I don't have the latter.
I've never read The Day of the Locust. I'll check it out.
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Great, thanks for the advice. Day of the Locust is incredible, well worth reading. Really bizarre in places.
i used to go into Fopp
and buy stuff that looked interesting that was £3/£5
i don't know what i'll do now :(
kill yourself
Im working my way through the "classics" just now
i dont read as much as I should. Im doing a dissertation on 3 graham greene novels and i have to read 3 fucking jane austens.
Well, I read The Quiet American
About a year ago, and have read nothing but Graham Greene ever since. Seriously.
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I went through a Graham Greene phase a few years ago after read The End Of The Affair. Kinda burnt out on him a bit, but he is a truly superb author.
I burnt out for a bit
But got my second wind! There are about 3 of his novels left that I haven't read.
For a better response to your original post though, I usually just go to charity shops and see what's there - if you buy something that turns out to be shit it only costs a quid, and it's a good way of 'testing out' authors.
I usually
wander round a book shop until I find something I like. I have a bunch of authors I know I like, so I'll either find something by them I haven't read yet or I'll keep an eye out for something that looks interesting.
I sometimes get ideas from the book threads on here, or sometimes from review sections in papers.
I'm very fortunate
to have a girlfriend who's a total literature egghead. so she's very good at recommending stuff. she got me into Pynchon.
Other than that, reading reviews in the papers. Oddly enough, I've ended up becoming a massive Philip K Dick fan after reading a review in the Daily Mail of all places.
I'm reading The Man in the High Castle at the moment
S'very good.
'tis indeed
he wrote so much and his style changed a lot over the course of the 60s and 70s. Valis is possibly my favourite. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch is also amazing. A real mind bender.
Have you read Against the Day yet?
I have it but fear I will never start it. Looks too daunting.
nope
I'm still working my way through Gravity's Rainbow, and I've got Mason & Dixon lined up after that. I'll probably have a break from Pynchon after that. His books are pretty mammoth
Mason and Dixon
is a challenge. I've never managed to finish it.
you read gravity's rainbow?
yes
many years ago
I'm not sure if I remember much or even if I enjoyed it that much. I think I will try and re-read it
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What other Phillip K Dick is good then? I've only ever read The Man In The High Castle, quite enjoyed it but never continued with him for some reason.
see post above!
Flow My Tears the Policeman Said is another mindfucker. Oh! and A Scanner Darkly. How could I forget... brilliant book
my parents read a lot,
so our house is full of books and they always recommend stuff to me. I usually browse Waterstones from time to time, or read reviews in the paper. I'm re-reading 'Tripwire' by Lee Child at the moment.
I go into waterstones
and wander around until i find something that looks interesting.
I just judge books by the cover
seen me ok so far.
reading the backs of books
and from buying them on amazon, looking at recommendations, or what other people looked at/bought after looking at that book. Also friends, and a pretty front cover will make me pick it up to look at the back. I am reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides at the moment, interspersed with some Harry Potter, playing catch up for book 7...
One of my favourite writers (Brautigan)
always mentions other writers in his books. I usually just read what he likes.
bf
i trawl charities and car boots looking for records, and sometimes if there aren't any, I resort to buying an old penguin or something.
This is how i find books. Also- books I've already read, like 'day of the triffids'
Where do you keep the penguins?
I would love a pet penguin
richard and judy,
or artful pictures of nekkid girls on the front cover usually gets me buying.
Not really, i use the library, and just picked random ones.
I've read two shaun hutson (sp?) ones now - it was a gross error of judgement the first time, as for the second time - goodness only knows.
mostly recommendations from friends
but also just browsing in the library/reviews
i just read a bit
of a black lace book that someone brought back to my library. old lady erotica = hott.
Push Pineapple shake the tree
Does anyone else...
...kind of read books that link in someway to previous ones? Like the author of a book you liked's influences or favourites, or books alluded too in other books, that kind of thing? That seems to be the strongest influence on me.
hi
I got into...
Tom Holt books and that kinda genre 'cause at a house where I ocne lived there was a book of his (and a clutch of other gems) on the windowsill of the toilet. Wonderful. I left them there after reading of course.