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Can we have a rolling "a list of books I've read in 2013" thread, please?

plasticniki [Edit] [Delete] 410 replies 12:29 January 30th, 2013

Like the fillums one.

1. Aquariums of Pyongyang by Kang Chol-Hwan and Pierre Rigoulot. Harrowing account of a North Korean prisoner who's eventually released and escapes to the South. Not as good as Nothing To Envy or Escape From Camp 14, but essential if you have any interest in the fucked-upness which is North Korea.

2. All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. Probably should have thought twice about reading a couple of heartbreaking books in a row, but there we are. Loved it. Dunno why it took me so long to read any of his books after reading The Road years ago :/

View NestedLinear

1. J.D. Bernal: The Sage Of Science by Andrew Brown
2. If This Is A Man/The Truce by Primo Levi
3: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

c&ped from the notepad file on my desktop. About 200 pages from the end of Brothers K, obviously it's a corker but I just want to get it over and done with now so I can read something else. Next up will either be And Quiet Flows The Don by Mikhail Sholokov or Mimesis & Alterity by Michael Taussig

fuckyeahdubstep | 30 Jan '13, 12:34 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Mimesis & Alterity is acesome
  
  robluvsnic @fuckyeahdubstep | 30 Jan '13, 14:55 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - Bit boring innit but it was alright
    
    fuckyeahdubstep @robluvsnic | 9 Feb '13, 18:39 | X | ^ This | Reply
That Dead Man Dance — Kim Scott

A Dance with Dragons — George RR Martin (will finish tonight).

robluvsnic | 30 Jan '13, 12:36 | X | ^ This | Reply
- finished
  
  onto Mr Vertigo next.
  
  robluvsnic @robluvsnic | 30 Jan '13, 14:54 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - Auster <3
    
    plasticniki @robluvsnic | 30 Jan '13, 14:57 | X | ^ This | Reply
    
    DaddyorChips and robluvsnic this'd this
Margaret Atwood - Year of the Flood
so-so follow up to Oryx and Crake

Ryu Murakami - In the Miso Soup
pretty brutal, one part was so disturbing I had to put it down when I was reading in bed :|

Melville - Moby Dick
Slow-going but pretty great so far, love the language.

ethricdouble | 30 Jan '13, 12:38 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Read the last one while listening to Leviathan by Mastodon, obviously.
  
  TheoGB @ethricdouble | 30 Jan '13, 12:40 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I really liked Oryx and Crake.
  
  Apart from the few brief moments which pass by, or you can see the events of Oryx and Crake in the distance, Year of the Flood is a bit ho-hum, I agree.
  
  johnwiddop @ethricdouble | 30 Jan '13, 12:59 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - basically seemed like a 500 page excuse
    
    to explain the last paragraph in O&C
    she's released a third to make it a trilogy this year about MaddAddam
    
    ethricdouble @johnwiddop | 30 Jan '13, 13:18 | X | ^ This | Reply
    
    johnwiddop this'd this
    - releasing*
      
      ethricdouble @ethricdouble | 30 Jan '13, 13:19 | X | ^ This | Reply
Hmm.

The third Hunger Games book (Mokingjay).
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Reading: Perdido Street Station

TheoGB | 30 Jan '13, 12:39 | X | ^ This | Reply
- might read another Miéville next actually,
  
  loved The City & The City. Shall I get on with Perdido Street Station?
  
  plasticniki @TheoGB | 30 Jan '13, 12:46 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - Dunno.
    
    It's much more 'fantasy' - complete world that is quite baffling at first but you understand the more you go through. I'd almost say it's 'steam punk' but it's not steam punk. I like that sort of thing.
    
    I think he has a bunch of ones about London. Kraken was being mentioned as a good'un.
    
    TheoGB @plasticniki | 30 Jan '13, 13:24 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - I really liked Perdido Street Station
      
      and the Scar. I found the Iron Council really dull though, despite ridiculous critical acclaim.
      
      not read anything else by him. probably will at some point. his newish one seems to be a retelling of Moby Dick with a giant mole
      
      anal_schwarzenegger @TheoGB | 30 Jan '13, 13:27 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - go for Embassytown
    
    definitely my favourite
    
    oh_gerardus_MERCATOR @plasticniki | 30 Jan '13, 17:11 | X | ^ This | Reply
...

The Blind Watchmaker - Richard Dawkins
> Really good, very interesting and well written, tails off towards the end.

The Greatest Show on Earth - Richard Dawkins
> Slightly less interesting but still good. Bit too heavy on the wah wah wah I hate religion boring stuff.

Bad Vibes & Post-Everything - Luke Haines
> Brilliant. Very, very funny and readable, but actually quite depressing and demotivating.

Royter-Hatfood | 30 Jan '13, 12:42 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I imagine Dawkins' writing being about as obnoxious as he is in real life
  
  I might be wrong
  
  lemonbrickcombo @Royter-Hatfood | 30 Jan '13, 13:36 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - No, it's very, very good
    
    Patient, thorough, well explained. At least in his earlier books about evolution, I've read a few recently and you can sense he's much further up his own arse nowadays.
    
    Royter-Hatfood @lemonbrickcombo | 30 Jan '13, 14:27 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - Might try some of the earlier stuff then.
      
      Blind Watchmaker I guess?
      
      lemonbrickcombo @Royter-Hatfood | 30 Jan '13, 15:30 | X | ^ This | Reply
      - I'd suggest starting with the Selfish Gene, actually.
        
        It's a great book which examines evolution from a gene's perspective (not literally, ofc). Then The Blind Watchmaker.
        
        Stu_ @lemonbrickcombo | 30 Jan '13, 15:41 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        Royter-Hatfood and Oissin_ this'd this
        
        ^
        
        I actually had The Selfish Gene on my shelves for about a year and didn't get round to reading it because Dawkins is such a tedious bore these days. Very pleased I did.
        
        Royter-Hatfood @Stu_ | 30 Jan '13, 16:15 | X | ^ This | Reply
Thus far:

Planet of the Apes-Pierre Boulle
A Song of Stone-Ian Banks

DaddyorChips | 30 Jan '13, 12:42 | X | ^ This | Reply
1. Sugar Ray Leonard- 'The Big Fight: My Autobiography'

(badly written, but really candid and personal. Loved it.)

2. Nietzsche- 'Also Sprach Zarathustra' (terrible set of ideas, really, but written in such a beautifully immediate way that you can't help but not your head in agreement)
3. Virgil- 'Georgics' (stunning)
4. Gerard Genette- 'Narrative Discourse (had to read this for uni, very dry and hard to get through, but interesting and useful nonetheless)
5. Kasia Boddy- 'Boxing: A Cultural History' (just finished, recommended)

... and bits of books for essays and stuff

_TheBeautifulOnes_ | 30 Jan '13, 12:43 | X | ^ This | Reply
- "terrible set of ideas, really"
  
  them's fighting words.
  
  robluvsnic @_TheBeautifulOnes_ | 30 Jan '13, 15:12 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  keith, anal_schwarzenegger, and DaddyorChips this'd this
Good idea, though I already can't remember

Will post the couple I can then check tonight - this will be a great way to remember!

1. Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasie - literary fiction about a successful Ghanaian-born surgeon who abandons the US and his family after suffering a terrible injustice. His death at the beginning is the catalyst for bringing his brilliant but troubled family back together. All about big issues - FAMILY, IMMIGRATION, RACE, GUILT, LOVE, etc, but beautifully written (though it took 50 pages to get going). Will be this year's White Teeth/Brick Lane.

2. Just My Type by Simon Garfield - non-fiction book about the history of fonts and typography and its place in the world. A bit geeky but very accessible, one of those books that proves all topics are interesting if you look at them in the right way.

hip_young_gunslinger | 30 Jan '13, 12:50 | X | ^ This | Reply
- that's why I made the thread!
  
  I make book threads all the time, people probably get bored of them, so instead I can bump this to see what people are reading. Also loads of us here have similar tastes. Win win.
  
  First one sounds good actually. I've got that Type book to read too.
  
  plasticniki @hip_young_gunslinger | 30 Jan '13, 12:54 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - It's not my usual thing (I've never read Zadie Smith or Monica Ali - might do now)
    
    but I was impressed by it. It's not out till March I think, but well worth a read when it is. It's a debut too, the author has a ridiculously impressive CV as well as looking like a supermodel.
    
    hip_young_gunslinger @plasticniki | 30 Jan '13, 13:09 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - Brick Lane by Monica Ali is well worth reading
      
      I didn't expect to enjoy it, but it's excellent.
      
      _TheBeautifulOnes_ @hip_young_gunslinger | 30 Jan '13, 13:12 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - White Teeth has some woefully pretentious writing in it.
      
      And by that I mean literally, that it's clear she's trying to write in a style that she thinks sounds good. What works is that she forgets about this some pages into each chapter and writes very naturally.
      
      TheoGB @hip_young_gunslinger | 30 Jan '13, 13:26 | X | ^ This | Reply
- 3. Bonjour tRistes
  
  hip_young_gunslinger @hip_young_gunslinger | 3 Feb '13, 12:45 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - FUCK OFF DIS.
    
    3. Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan - Short, sweet, dark tale of teenage alienation and manipulation set on the French Riviera. Contains the lines:
    
    *I did not sleep, but played records on my gramophone at the foot of my bed. I chose slow rhythms, without any tune. I smoked a good deal and felt decadent, which gave me pleasure. But I was not deluded by this game of pretence: I was sad and bewildered.*
    
    How DiS is that? Could almost be a nightshift post: *Listening to drone and smoking. Feeling a bit low*. And this was written in 1954!
    
    4. The Fault in our Stars by John Green - Remembered I read this around New Year. It's technically YA but don't let that put you off - it's about two teenagers who fall in love after meeting at a support group for people with cancer. It's full of black humour and Sorkin-esque dialogue and made me profoundly uncomfortable. It's very, very good.
    
    hip_young_gunslinger @hip_young_gunslinger | 3 Feb '13, 12:53 | X | ^ This | Reply
- 5. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
  
  Really enjoyed this, was looking for a good, self-contained novel and this ticked all the boxes - it really built its own world, it was dark, funny, and had a great, great twist - can't really remember reading much else like it. Will definitely read some more of his stuff.
  
  hip_young_gunslinger @hip_young_gunslinger | 12 Feb '13, 12:29 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - Read this in High School
    
    lots of people in my class seemed to be into it because it was by a Scottish writer and a bit gross.
    
    Just about vomited at 'that' bit.
    
    Excellent book though.
    
    hanshotfirst @hip_young_gunslinger | 12 Mar '13, 12:51 | X | ^ This | Reply
- 6. White Chapell Scarlet Tracings, by Iain Sinclair.
  
  Wow. Fucking loved it. The subject matter - arcane London, ripperology - is right up my street, so throw in some post modern twists and so forth and I am sold. The only issue is it's so referential you can only go half a page before you want to Wikipedia something. Would love to see an annotated version. Would love go write an annotated version. Need to read me some more Sinclair!
  
  hip_young_gunslinger @hip_young_gunslinger | 23 Feb '13, 20:40 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  _TheBeautifulOnes_ this'd this
  - London Orbital is my favourite of his
    
    _TheBeautifulOnes_ @hip_young_gunslinger | 24 Feb '13, 00:17 | X | ^ This | Reply
- 7. Kick-Ass 2 by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.
  
  Urgh. At his best, Mark Millar is one of the best comic writers I can think of - Superman Red Son and Marvel Civil War are both amazing. And I appreciate that Kick-Ass is his own passion project away from the big franchises where he can be as crazy and controversial as he wants, but I just think it's terrible. I know he wants to shock me and it's meant to be cheap and nasty, but it's a horrible read, and I think the art is pretty shoddy too. At least it didn't take long to read.
  
  hip_young_gunslinger @hip_young_gunslinger | 24 Feb '13, 16:07 | X | ^ This | Reply
- 8. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
  
  Australian romantic comedy soon to be released over here - being compared to One Day and the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time since it's a romcom with an Autistic spectrum protagonist. It's funny and enjoyable, though I didn't quite fall in love with it. Suspect it will be a very popular summer read.
  
  9. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenidies.
  
  I've had this on my shelf for ages, and I don't know why it took me so long to get to it, especially when I loved the Virgin Suicides when I sensed in it that Eugenidies might be the writer most likely to reach Nobokovian levels of greatness. Well, I read it, and it was even better than I hoped. An incredible book, jumps straight into my best evers. I don't know where to start with the praise. Although it does make me think that The Marriage Plot was something of a confusing backwards step - a fine book, but nothing to match this.
  
  hip_young_gunslinger @hip_young_gunslinger | 11 Mar '13, 14:37 | X | ^ This | Reply
- 10. The Interrogative Mood by Padgett Powell.
  
  A bit of an oddity this - a 150-word 'novel' where every sentence - and there are thousands of them - is a question. Ranging from the straightforward to the profound, sometimes both at once. It's debatable as to whether there's actually a plot or a character emerges, but it's certainly an engaging reading experience. If cat_race got hold of it, he'd have enough material to last a generation.
  
  hip_young_gunslinger @hip_young_gunslinger | 12 Mar '13, 12:19 | X | ^ This | Reply
- 11. Butter by Erin Lange
  
  Had the potential to be a great cult novel - the premise is a hugely overweight teenager, bullied at school, who announces a plan to eat himself to death on webcam, and finds that his idea suddenly makes him popular. A great writer could have really run with it, but Lange is not quite great. A solid novel, but ultimately a bit meh.
  
  hip_young_gunslinger @hip_young_gunslinger | 17 Mar '13, 17:31 | X | ^ This | Reply
- 12. Jimmy Corrigan by Chris Ware
  
  I had really high hopes for this following various glowing reviews and mentions on here - a bit too high probably. While I thought aspects of it were beautiful, a lot of it left me pretty cold, not least the main character, which made it hard going. I still want to read Building Stories though.
  
  12.5 The Hedge Knight by George RR Martin - I can't claim this as a full book as it's barely 100 pages and included in a collection of other stories, though I guess it's technically a novella. First read it years ago, a really enjoyable story about a low-born knight taking part in a tourney. It's set before the events of A Game of Thrones, and I'll probably have to read them now.
  
  13. The Library of Unrequited Love by Sophie Divry - very odd French novel (read in translation), written as a single monologue from an unappreciated librarian. It's a quick read, and I'd recommend it to any library lovers (plastikniki?) but it's not the most gripping book ever.
  
  hip_young_gunslinger @hip_young_gunslinger | 3 Apr '13, 14:10 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - hi!
    
    I've got Jimmy Corrigan to read actually, thanks for the reminder.
    
    UNAPPRECIATED LIBRARIAN you say! Hah! This is going on my list.
    
    plasticniki @hip_young_gunslinger | 3 Apr '13, 14:16 | X | ^ This | Reply
- 14. Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner
  
  Has got a lot of press since it was nominated for the Costa Prize, and rightly so - it's YA, but puts a lot of lit fic to shame. Narrated by a 15-year-old dyslexic boy living in occupied 1950s Britain, it's dark with a really powerful narrative. Lots of nice touches.
  
  15. Necronomicon by HP Lovecraft - been reading a selection of his stories - The Call of Cthulhu, At the Mountains of Madness, The Dunwich Horror, The Shadow over Innsmouth - and it's damn good stuff. I love the glassy early 20th century prose and the unspeakable horror within. It occasionally veers into B movie territory, but some of it is genuinely unsettling - the mix is all part of the fun.
  
  hip_young_gunslinger @hip_young_gunslinger | 20 Apr '13, 14:48 | X | ^ This | Reply
- 16. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
  
  A seminal short story cycle that helped create the American short story as we know it, set in a small rural town at the dawn of the 20th century. Good stuff, but not exactly cheerful.
  
  17. Rivers of London by Ben Aaranovitch - a kind of Men in Black retread, which sees a new copper recruited to the Met's secret paranormal unit. A mix of gritty and gruesome police procedural and Pratchett-esque humour, it's a good romp, but a bit light weight.
  
  hip_young_gunslinger @hip_young_gunslinger | 7 May '13, 19:47 | X | ^ This | Reply
- 18. Damage by Josephie Hart
  
  Dark psychological novel about a mild mannered politician who risks everything to have an affair with his son's fiancee. Was turned into a film with Jeremy Irons and Juliette Bincoche which is pretty great casting. It's a little overwrought, but a good novel all the same.
  
  19. The Dark Judges by various writers/artists - Like Damage, this was one of the World Book Night titles. Enjoyed it, I've never read any 2000AD before, but it was pretty good - annoying episodic which is obviously due to the original format, but some stunning art (especially Brian Bolland) and the writing is a mix of fun CRIPES Beano stuff and ultra-violent film noir.
  
  hip_young_gunslinger @hip_young_gunslinger | 20 May '13, 17:04 | X | ^ This | Reply
haven't had time to do much reading but

1. Trout Fishing in America - Richard Brautigan. reread it. absolutely amazing book, surreal, funny, some of the most lyrical prose I've ever read. fucking great. reminds me a bit of Kurt Vonnegut except, um warmer? need to read some of his other stuff
2. the Pirates in an Adventure with Napoleon - Gideon Defoe. I've been really enjoying these books. the only misstep of the series is characterising Nietzsche as a fascist

in the middle of reading 1982, Janine by Alasdair Gray. pretty great so far.

anal_schwarzenegger | 30 Jan '13, 12:57 | X | ^ This | Reply
- fucking love trout fishing.
  
  Teeej @anal_schwarzenegger | 3 Feb '13, 18:18 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  TheComedian this'd this
Eminent Elizabethans by Piers Brendon

slightly baffling Christmas present from my parents. Not sure why they thought'd I'd like it. Was basically like reading 4 extra long Wikipedia articles.

Snow by Orhan Pamuk. By second attempt at a Pamuk book. Much more successful. I really enjoyed this, and wondering what do to do next (The Black Book was the one I failed to finish previously)

Nileism: The Strange Course of The Blue Nile by Allan Brown. I haven't finish this yet, but it won't take long. It's a sufficiently brief biography of The Blue Nile. Who I love.

johnwiddop | 30 Jan '13, 12:58 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Snow is really good. Get The Museum Of Innocence next for sure, the second best novel I read last year. Usually about fifty copies of it in your local chazzer.
  
  fuckyeahdubstep @johnwiddop | 30 Jan '13, 13:13 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - haha
    
    funnily enough, I bought a copy in a charity shop in Winchester last year when I was home. I might read it next. I like that he references 'The Museum of Innocence' in 'Snow'
    
    johnwiddop @fuckyeahdubstep | 30 Jan '13, 18:42 | X | ^ This | Reply
- one interesting fact gleaned from The Blue Nile book
  
  David Fincher was a fan, and circa 1989, the release of 'Hats', proposed a video treatment for 'Headlights on the Parade' involving The Kennedy Assassination. If only...
  
  johnwiddop @johnwiddop | 30 Jan '13, 22:14 | X | ^ This | Reply
there's a possibility some of these are from the end of 2012...

but
-- 'Mother Night' by Kurt Vonnegut
-- 'The Psychopath Test' by Jon Ronson

Currently on 'Vineland' by Thomas Pynchon, really into it now after a brief period of uncertainty.

mute-branches | 30 Jan '13, 12:59 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I'll say things about the two books, too...
  
  *
  'Mother Night' was great. Short, but like with 'Slaughterhouse Five', Vonnegut explores the looming topic of the Second World War uniquely through his distinctive voice, and explores an array of really interesting themes like the fluid nature of identity, the inability to trust in authority / the media, etc.
  
  *
  'The Psychopath Test'
  Really funny in points, and throughout a really interesting look at mental illness and how it effects various parts of our society. Made me worried that I may have OCD, though.
  
  mute-branches @mute-branches | 30 Jan '13, 17:03 | X | ^ This | Reply
- a pynchon fan ey?
  
  welcome, pilgrim
  
  (we have a club and everything)
  
  flickmyturtletoo @mute-branches | 3 Feb '13, 12:52 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  mute-branches this'd this
  - how do I know that this club isn't some sort of elaborate hoax?
    
    mute-branches @flickmyturtletoo | 3 Feb '13, 18:25 | X | ^ This | Reply
ok

1. Essays - George Orwell. Really interesting to see how hes evolved as a thinker and writer over the years.
2. Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning - Guillem Balague. 500 pages on why Guardiola is the best guy ever - bit boring tbh. The bit on Ibrahimovic is pretty funny though.
3. La Roja: A Journey Through Spanish Football - Jimmy Burns. Not as good as Morbo, but not bad on the whole.

prof-kitsch | 30 Jan '13, 13:02 | X | ^ This | Reply
so far, 0

zero books.

inside-outside | 30 Jan '13, 13:04 | X | ^ This | Reply
Rabbit, Run - Updike ...cracking
The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Chabon....cracking

Noblet | 30 Jan '13, 13:11 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Rabbit, Run is so good, make sure you read Rabbit Redux and Rabbit is Rich too.
  
  DaddyorChips @Noblet | 30 Jan '13, 13:22 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  malick this'd this
  - looking forward to them
    
    wasn't sure whether to do them all one after the other though so having a break
    
    Noblet @DaddyorChips | 30 Jan '13, 13:37 | X | ^ This | Reply
revolutionary road

it's pretty much a satire isn't it. can't think of a less pleasant main character than frank wheeler. quite good though
also

tony judt- ill fares the land. alright
don delillo- cosmopolis. alright
penelope lively- moon tiger. this is really lovely
been dipping in and out of infinite city by rebecca solnit. makes me want to go to san francisco. i won't though

shrewbie | 30 Jan '13, 13:15 | X | ^ This | Reply
Suttree by McCarthy

after a slowwwwwwwww start ( i felt) it got to a funeral and really lifted up and away.

Just about to finish House of the dead which strikes me as dull and enthralling and depressing all at the same time - maybe this is the point, dunno.

bones_howe | 30 Jan '13, 13:20 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Suttree is amazing
  
  takes a while to get going but i really inhabited that world after a wile
  
  Noblet @bones_howe | 30 Jan '13, 13:35 | X | ^ This | Reply
Tell you what I haven't read

Anyone else's posts in this thread.

Royter-Hatfood | 30 Jan '13, 13:24 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Get out.
  
  plasticniki @Royter-Hatfood | 30 Jan '13, 13:27 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  _TheBeautifulOnes_ this'd this
At the moment

The Signal & The Noise - Why most predictions fall but some don't by Nate Silver
Because I love me some pop-stats.

The Third Industrial Revolution by Jeremy Rifkin
About the transition to a different economy based on new methods of energy production and consumption. It's kinda for class, but I enjoy it anyway.

Tender Is The Night - F. Scott Fitzgerald
I think I like this maybe even more than The Great Gatsby

On the next up list:
new Umberto Eco
33 Revolutions Per Minute - A History of the Protest Song (after spying it on joeymahone's shelf)
Jerusalem: A Biography
The Art of Fielding

lemonbrickcombo | 30 Jan '13, 13:31 | X | ^ This | Reply
- The Art of Fielding is ok. The writing is quite good, but the narrative has too many curveballs
  
  fuckyeahdubstep @lemonbrickcombo | 30 Jan '13, 13:33 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - Actually finished it today
    
    Would say the opposite, the narrative is gat, but the writing and the characters sometimes let it down. Not as good as Franzen.
    
    lemonbrickcombo @fuckyeahdubstep | 3 Feb '13, 13:29 | X | ^ This | Reply
I'm currently reading Heart of Darkness by Conrad.

It is leaving my feeble mind pretty uninspired so far. Does it get better?

iquitelikeradiohead | 30 Jan '13, 14:33 | X | ^ This | Reply
- His style takes a little getting used to, it's so dense.
  
  I don't think that's anywhere near his best though, but it is the most famous and the most accessible. The Secret Agent and Nostromo are my favourites.
  
  lemonbrickcombo @iquitelikeradiohead | 30 Jan '13, 15:21 | X | ^ This | Reply
- i didn't think it was grate
  
  it's ok. mildly interesting narrative device, with some generally good bits
  but i wasn't wild about it
  
  anal_schwarzenegger @iquitelikeradiohead | 30 Jan '13, 15:48 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I read that this year also
  
  I thought it was OK, shockingly racist if you look at it in today's terms.
  
  steinbolt @iquitelikeradiohead | 30 Jan '13, 15:57 | X | ^ This | Reply
The Death of WCW
its about wrestling. its very entertaining if you like wrestling or behind the scenes television politics

Equal Rites - Terry Pratchett
discworld turns 30 this year

soapy | 30 Jan '13, 15:03 | X | ^ This | Reply
I finally finished George Alec Effinger's When Gravity Fails

Now I'm reading Game of Thrones and John Green's Looking for Alaska(everyone was raving about it so I thought I'd try it) and Etgar Keret's collection of shorts called Suddenly, a Knock at the Door which I can't recommend enough. Here is a one of the stories: http://www.foyles.co.uk/etgar-keret

Ichor | 30 Jan '13, 15:04 | X | ^ This | Reply
- My next reads:
  
  God Hates Us All - Hank Moody ( loved the series, interested in the book)
  
  S.E Hilton - The Outsiders
  
  Ichor @Ichor | 30 Jan '13, 22:23 | X | ^ This | Reply
Haven't read much this month

Unapologetic: Why, despite everything, Christianity can still make surprising emotional sense - Francis Spufford. Highly entertaining, read it just for the snide remarks about Dawkins, which are genuinely funny. You'd all hate it.

You Can't Read this Book by Nick Cohen - Really good, very much of the zeitgeist but not quite the epoch defining work he clearly thinks it is.

Re read the Count of Monte Cristo for the millionth time. Still my favourite book.

Kitchmo | 30 Jan '13, 15:55 | X | ^ This | Reply
So far

Manhood For Amateurs - Michael Chabon's memoirs. I gave up on it about half-way through. Usually a big fan of Chabon, but the entire thing is about being a father, which as a non-father I couldn't really relate to and I got bored very quickly.

Angelmaker - Nick Harkaway. Just about finished this now so happy to include it. I really like it. Think I prefered his earlier book (The Gone Away World), but I’m still enjoying it. Has the same mix of being playful with genre tropes, ideas, and general enthusiasm. So yeh, it’s good.

monpot | 30 Jan '13, 16:13 | X | ^ This | Reply
Um, not many

The Secret Race - Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle
A few of the Sherlock Holmes short stories for the 1000th time, love re reading those).

Got Gravity's Rainbow and a book on the history of cycling mountain climbs by Rapha on the go at the moment.

rich-t | 30 Jan '13, 16:16 | X | ^ This | Reply
michel faber - under the skin

pretty good, quick read, bit heavyhanded in the MORAL MESSAGE delivered through direct analogies that don't even qualify as metaphors, but the surrounding stuff is quite good

keith ridgway - the spectacular: new novella for one pound on kindle, VALUE, more writers should do that. dead good, thematically similar to martin mcdonagh's pillowman and now i quite want to write an essay about policemen and writers as interpreting truth-figures in irish literature ohhhhh yeah

now i'm reading the sun also rises (first hemingway i've tried), it's good. fucking hell though i'm meant to be doing a literature postgrad i should probably start reading faster

tiramisu | 30 Jan '13, 16:21 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Not my favourite Hemingway I've gotta say, I loved the bull fighting though!
  
  Ichor @tiramisu | 30 Jan '13, 16:42 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - which is your fav?
    
    i'm living in the spanish basque country at the moment so enjoying the backdrop (haven't been to pamplona yet tho)
    
    tiramisu @Ichor | 30 Jan '13, 18:11 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - Movable Feast, I never liked Paris till I read that.
      
      Ichor @tiramisu | 30 Jan '13, 22:21 | X | ^ This | Reply
      
      broomstick this'd this
      - My first
        
        and favourite Hemingway. Hell, one of my favourite books.
        
        broomstick @Ichor | 16 Apr '13, 12:00 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Love love Fiesta.
  
  Stu_ @tiramisu | 30 Jan '13, 18:06 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Best Hemingway is A Farewell To Arms for my money.
  
  lemonbrickcombo @tiramisu | 30 Jan '13, 18:36 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  paranoid_eyebolts, colossalhorse, and NeillyNeil this'd this
- I loved Under the Skin
  
  Not sure how the film is going to work, what with the main twist of the story being in the bloody synopsis on IMDB. I enjoyed the book not knowing what the fuck was really going on.
  
  johnwiddop @tiramisu | 30 Jan '13, 18:45 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - I really want to know if Faber is a vegetarian.
    
    sophiacherryx @johnwiddop | 12 Feb '13, 13:22 | X | ^ This | Reply
This is going to make me feel inadequate about how long it takes me to get through books

I only really read on the bus on the way home from work and I often fall asleep. Currently halfway through On The Road by Cormac Mccarthy, it's pretty good in a slightly green late-teens early twenties kind of way. Appealing in it's almost naive worldview

andyvine | 30 Jan '13, 16:42 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Fuck
  
  Jack Kerouac not Cormac Mccarthy :D
  
  andyvine @andyvine | 30 Jan '13, 16:43 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  broomstick this'd this
  - A father and his son in a post-apocalyptic wasteland
    
    going to William S. Burroughs' house and soliciting underage prostitutes.
    
    mute-branches @andyvine | 30 Jan '13, 16:49 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I'm the same to be honest!
  
  I try and read as much as I can but mostly it's just commuting and when I'm waiting for the kettle to boil.
  
  Ichor @andyvine | 30 Jan '13, 17:24 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Oh!
  
  Have read the latest Walking Dead book this year. Does that count? That counts.
  
  andyvine @andyvine | 31 Jan '13, 11:11 | X | ^ This | Reply
So far I've read a couple of very interesting, well-written books on international development/global poverty:

Banerjee and Duflo - Poor Economics: Barefoot Hedge-fund Managers, DIY Doctors and the Surprising Truth about Life on less than $1 a Day.

Paul Collier - The Bottom Billion.

Both have significantly improved my understanding of why international aid sometimes works, and why it sometimes actually makes things worse, as well as what causes a country to remain in poverty.

s_p_g | 30 Jan '13, 17:54 | X | ^ This | Reply
- The Bottom Billion's an interesting one
  
  in that Collier almost makes his right-wing freemarket neoliberalism sound compassionate.
  
  -dan- @s_p_g | 30 Jan '13, 20:03 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - Do you not agree with his analysis then?
    
    I didn't think he particularly came across as neoliberal, and there's interesting stuff on geography, natural resource traps, military interventions, and dealing with pre and post-conflict societies. He seems quite balanced on aid, and hardly argues that free markets are the answer to everything; he talks about the need to use aid to invest in infrastructure (particularly transportation) because the free market won't do it.
    
    s_p_g @-dan- | 31 Jan '13, 02:03 | X | ^ This | Reply
1. The Lighthouse - Alison Moore

She's a very strong writer and the (almost) last scene is wonderfully tense and foreboding. I just wish it wasn't so short, but being left wanting more is good, right?

2. So many ways to begin - John McGregor. The last one of his I had to read, it's probably my second favourite after even the dogs. Becoming my favourite modern writer, it's another lovely stark book.

wonton | 30 Jan '13, 18:15 | X | ^ This | Reply
- On the Black Hill - Bruce Chatwin
  
  Wasn't expecting to enjoy this so much. I have a thing for books than span entire generations of a family within their pages, like One Hundred Years of Solitude. It can lay on the hard-done-by emotion pretty thick at times but I found it impossible not to be moved on numerous occasions.
  
  wonton @wonton | 5 Feb '13, 16:45 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  NeillyNeil this'd this
  - I was never really sure how I felt about the main characters
    
    probably pitied them in the end, but I also found them a bit eerie.
    
    NeillyNeil @wonton | 24 Feb '13, 03:14 | X | ^ This | Reply
So far

David Byrne - how music works (Christmas / new year reading)
Upton Sinclair - Oil!
Currently reading Roberto Bolano - 2666. That'll keep me going for a while.

Spicer | 30 Jan '13, 19:46 | X | ^ This | Reply
- is it good the David Byrne one?
  
  It sounded good in the Wire but I only have one Talking Heads record so I dunno
  
  mug_mug_mug @Spicer | 30 Jan '13, 19:52 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - Aye very good
    
    Lots of interesting information and little thought pieces all told through his own personal experiences. Not autobiography, not essay. Just a very interesting read and makes you think about sound in new ways (did for me, anyway.)
    
    Spicer @mug_mug_mug | 30 Jan '13, 19:55 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - nice thanks!
      
      that's what I was hoping it was
      
      mug_mug_mug @Spicer | 30 Jan '13, 19:58 | X | ^ This | Reply
- how was oil!?
  
  i've got it lying around lying around somewhere, probably on the 'you're never going fucking read these you chump' pile
  
  anal_schwarzenegger @Spicer | 31 Jan '13, 00:03 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - It's very good
    
    Though you want to rinse your mind of the film first really, as they're very different and even though the characters are very similar at the start of the book, it starts to hamper you as the story develops. Not sure I liked the ending that much but still enjoyable to read.
    
    Spicer @anal_schwarzenegger | 1 Feb '13, 11:49 | X | ^ This | Reply
zero books

DarwinDude | 30 Jan '13, 19:50 | X | ^ This | Reply
atm:

many subtle channels by daniel levin becker - about oulipo. it's great. made me write lipograms and all kinds of other constraint based stuff, and made me want to reread perec.

how should a person be? by sheila heti - pretty good so far. snappy writing, but with depth and stuff.

and previously this year:
the fallback plan by leigh stein
the ICE trilogy by vladimir sorokin
island beneath the sea by isable allende (had to read this for a readers group)
the heart is a lonely hunter by carson mccullers

paranoid_eyebolts | 30 Jan '13, 21:29 | X | ^ This | Reply
Only just started reading again

it stalled for a year after the birth of my daughter for some reason. Just managed to finish The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. Bloody difficult to read, some great parts though. One to re-read with some kind of study guide I think. I watched Trainspotting recently, probably seen that scores of times. I think I have only read the book once and I love Welsh's stuff, so I am reading that again. Bloody brilliant. The film gets the characters spot on, Begbie is just fantastic.

steinbolt | 31 Jan '13, 08:16 | X | ^ This | Reply
i think

i maybe finished re-reading The Bell Jar this year, which i enjoyed just as much second time round.
Also The End of Mr Y by Scarlet Thomas, which was rubbish and one of the most intensely irritating (Special Topics in Calamity Physics irritating) books i've read in a long time.
I think the Secret History by Donna Tartt was last year, although i'm not certain, it's brilliant either way.
Into the Wild by John Krakauer, after having recently watched the film. The Epilogue where Chris McCandless' parents go to the bus is proper lump in the throat stuff.
Now rereading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Is very good indeed. Amazing to think it was written eighty-two years ago.

chickenbones | 31 Jan '13, 08:43 | X | ^ This | Reply
- For some reason I can *never* be arsed the read the book if I've already seen the film.
  
  But I *might* make an exception for Into The Wild.
  
  plasticniki @chickenbones | 31 Jan '13, 09:48 | X | ^ This | Reply
- not gonna lie
  
  I really liked Special Topics In Calamity Physics but it does seem to be quite divisive.
  
  wewerewerewolvesonce @chickenbones | 9 Feb '13, 21:54 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - only just spotted this
    
    the stuff with Blue and her Dad was just so LOOK HOW MUCH STUFF I KNOW, ruined the book for me. Would have enjoyed it even less had i read The Secret History prior to it, couldn't quite believe when reading TSH how similar elements of STICP were.
    
    chickenbones @wewerewerewolvesonce | 24 Feb '13, 18:43 | X | ^ This | Reply
Just getting into Iain M. Banks / Culture Novels:

Consider Phlebas - For 460 pages, this felt lik quite a long, tough read. I guess because it's an introduction to that universe, and has a lot of backstory to explain. That said, I think it's the best place to start in the series and the actual storyline it follows is really exciting with a load of action and brilliant protaginist.

The Player of Games - only 120 pages into this but I love it already, the sometimes gruelling detail in Consider Phlebas has made TPoG a lot easier to get to grips with. Considering not a great deal has happened up until this point, it still somehow manages to be really, really exciting because it's just so well written. Phlebas took me nearly a month to read 460 pages, TPoG I'm 120 pages in from about 3 short sittings.

Already purchased Use of Weapons

unfamiliar | 31 Jan '13, 09:47 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Good stuff
  
  Have read all of them (except Inversions and the new one - waiting for it to come out in paperback, can't be arsed with lugging around hardbacks anymore. Should really get a Kindle I suppose). Read a few of them twice. Excession three times I think.
  Recently read an Essential Sci-Fi 50 blog and he had someone called Colin Greenwood in lieu of Banks for his New Space Opera choice. Ordered Take Back Plenty and looking forward to reading it. Need to get Light by M John Harrison too.
  
  Anyway. Enjoy.
  
  stormcrow @unfamiliar | 3 Feb '13, 18:06 | X | ^ This | Reply
- The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson
  
  Convinced me everyone was a psychopath. Loads of fun / easy read with some proper interesting bits.
  
  Use of Weapons - Iain M Banks - Didn't actually enjoy it as much as Player of Games, the format was a bit frustrating I found. Also thought the 'twist' was quite obvious. Still great though.
  
  Currently reading Kill Your Friends by John Niven - there's a lot of great reviews of it online, but it's just American Psycho lite, innit? Some very funny bits about the music industry, and lord knows I love the constant britpop / late 90's culture references, but the way I've previously had this book built up for me I definitely expected more.
  
  unfamiliar @unfamiliar | 26 Mar '13, 10:23 | X | ^ This | Reply
January

On Writing - King
Vendetta - Dibdin
The Magicians - Grossman
The Laughing Policeman - Sjowall & Wahloo
The Walking Dead (Compendium 1) - Kirkman & Adlard
(King Suckerman - Pelecanos)

stormcrow | 31 Jan '13, 09:50 | X | ^ This | Reply
- How was On Writing? Educational?
  
  Ichor @stormcrow | 1 Feb '13, 11:43 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - I found it useful
    
    Nice and simple with some good tips. There's nothing especially amazing, some of it seems kind of obvious, but it's somehow reassuring to see the basic, obvious stuff written down. I've not read many How To Write things but I liked this as it wasn't too prescriptive. It was just light and conversational. Also, there's a good appendix where he shows a few pages of the first draft of a short story and then a comparison with the edited version.
    I should also mention that the first half is a short autobiographical section which could probably be skipped if you're not too bothered about why he writes or the word he and his brother used as a euphemism for shitting.
    
    EDIT (January): forgot about Death and the Penguin - Kurkov.
    
    stormcrow @Ichor | 3 Feb '13, 16:34 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - I don't really like horror books but I might give this a read.
      
      I never finished The Shining because the intro was so sodding long. Maybe I should give it another bash?
      
      Ichor @stormcrow | 4 Feb '13, 09:15 | X | ^ This | Reply
      - Yeah The Shining is pretty cool
        
        Not all his stuff is horror though. Maybe try Different Seasons. It's a collection of four novellas including Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, The Body (Stand By Me) and Apt Pupil.
        
        stormcrow @Ichor | 6 Feb '13, 11:22 | X | ^ This | Reply
yo

i read on average 1 - 1.5 hours Mon - Fri and have only managed 2 and a half books so far this month...how much do some of you guys read to put away so many in 4 weeks?

Noblet | 31 Jan '13, 11:34 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I was kind of wondering this.
  
  My commute means I get about 2.5 hours of reading time a day, but I've only read two books (halfway through a third). Actually, I *did* start Infinite Jest but have stopped for a bit, so that's probably another 2 books' worth.
  
  plasticniki @Noblet | 31 Jan '13, 11:37 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - ^pretty much exactly this
    
    Right down to the part about putting Infinite Jest to one side. (Brief Interviews with Hideous Men is tiding me over when I’m on a DFW comedown - better suited to the commute, just as engrossing.)
    
    whatisthewhat @plasticniki | 3 Feb '13, 18:34 | X | ^ This | Reply
- novellas?
  
  Ichor @Noblet | 1 Feb '13, 11:42 | X | ^ This | Reply
I've been reading stuff for uni mostly

but stuff I've read outside of that:
Bad Pharma - Ben Goldacre - admittedly I didn't read it all because I skimmed parts of it but it's very thorough and well-written (though it's crammed full of statistic etc. it reads like your average pop science book). it's rather depressing but I'd say essential reading if you're at all interested in the pharmaceutical industry/are taking any medication.

part way through the illustrated version of A Brief History of Time - sort of don't need to say anything about this one. obviously really well-written and totally mind-blowing.

after that it's on to Evolutionary Biology, the author of which has totally slipped my mind.

brainfeedr | 31 Jan '13, 12:01 | X | ^ This | Reply
good books about/introductions to urban geography, please?

thanks.

_TheBeautifulOnes_ | 1 Feb '13, 11:06 | X | ^ This | Reply
- guntrip to thread?
  
  plasticniki @_TheBeautifulOnes_ | 1 Feb '13, 11:45 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  _TheBeautifulOnes_ this'd this
- something about Iain Sinclair
  
  Loui_Tacceh @_TheBeautifulOnes_ | 3 Feb '13, 19:40 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  DaddyorChips this'd this
  - obvs him
    
    _TheBeautifulOnes_ @Loui_Tacceh | 4 Feb '13, 08:25 | X | ^ This | Reply
- edgelands
  
  reading it now. dead interesting, sends you off to look for loads of poets/artists doing cool stuff.
  
  mijbear @_TheBeautifulOnes_ | 5 Feb '13, 13:56 | X | ^ This | Reply
+1

Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher. Very good, succinct critique of the state we're in today, and oddly readable.

_TheBeautifulOnes_ | 1 Feb '13, 12:34 | X | ^ This | Reply
george saunders - 10th of december

the man is incredible. incredible.

codpieceface | 2 Feb '13, 02:48 | X | ^ This | Reply

Noblet this'd this
- you know that whole herzog thing about
  
  the lack of new images threatening humanity or whatever he says. saunders just rolls up every few years and in a few pages creates something so funny and humane and real that i don't think werner should be worried about it, all while being accessible enough for someone as dumb as me to be on board.
  
  codpieceface @codpieceface | 2 Feb '13, 03:02 | X | ^ This | Reply
going through some classics and some newbies atm

since mid-december/start of january:

david peace - fairly transparent ellroy-aping. much prefer damned utd.

james ellroy - blood's a rover: one of my favourite ever authors. the american underworld trilogy is one of my favourite series.

alan moore - league of extraordinary gentlemen vol 1: loved it

pynchon - v: i think he's my favorite ever writer. he must have sold his soul to write books the way he does.

armageddon in retrospect - vonnegut: brilliant as expected, although the short stories are a bit hit and miss.

ulysses: fuck james joyce. fuck him to hell. third attempt to read this and i still couldn't motivate myself to continue after fifty pages. what a magnificent bastard.

currently reading:

nabokov - lolita: first time i've read it and i'm knocked out. the story flows majestically, the humour is incredibly unsettling and hilarious. think this is already in my top ten ever.

to read:

rushdie - midnight's children: read and loved satanic verses, so seems only right to check this one out. apparently it's hella trippy and mind-bending, so i'm looking forward to it.

also:

padgett powell - you & i
padgett powell - the interrogative mood
^check this fellow out friends, he is a perfectly weird and extremely cool guy.

might also try some zadie smith (i hear nw is great although i've not been overly impressed by the excerpts i've read online).

flickmyturtletoo | 3 Feb '13, 12:23 | X | ^ This | Reply
- should point out i like to read books in tandem
  
  flickmyturtletoo @flickmyturtletoo | 3 Feb '13, 12:25 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Yeah Lolita is absolutely fucking brilliant
  
  That's all I can really say about that.
  
  Spicer @flickmyturtletoo | 3 Feb '13, 12:32 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  anal_schwarzenegger, plasticniki, gonad, and robluvsnic this'd this
  - humbert is such a great character
    
    and lolita herself is even better. it's the kind of book you get addicted to.
    
    flickmyturtletoo @Spicer | 3 Feb '13, 12:36 | X | ^ This | Reply
- such a big Pynchon fan
  
  Can't believe just in the last two years I've gone from not having read a word of his, to having read 'V.', 'Crying of Lot 49', 'Gravity's Rainbow' (and wrote a dissertation on it) and am almost finished 'Vineland'.
  
  Planning a break for a bit before getting onto 'Mason and Dixon' or 'Against the Day', though.
  
  mute-branches @flickmyturtletoo | 3 Feb '13, 17:52 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - in the last 6 months I've gone from 0 to G's R and ATD
    
    the latter finished three days ago, and yes, I wept. WEPT.
    
    my two favourite books of all time, as it stands. ATD is monstrous, brilliant, spiritual, everything - get reading. it turns out we have guardian angels after all...
    
    Loui_Tacceh @mute-branches | 3 Feb '13, 18:55 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - It does look so good
      
      just massive turn of the century Pynchonian history? AAAAWWW YEEEAAAHHHH.
      
      No doubt I'll pick up 'Bleeding Edge', too, whenever that's out.
      
      mute-branches @Loui_Tacceh | 3 Feb '13, 18:57 | X | ^ This | Reply
      - so stoked
        
        I actually have a slight fear of reading Pynchon's shorter books - I don't suppose they're quite as proficient at the total mindjack the longer ones can perform - but I would like to get around to them soon-ish (after I read a few other things like Moby Dick and Pale Fire and some William Gaddis stuff). Mason & Dixon is unsurprisingly waiting on my bookshelf and will also cause some sort of fractal recalibration of my cerebral neurons
        
        Loui_Tacceh @mute-branches | 3 Feb '13, 19:18 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        of the shorter ones,
        
        I've only read 'Crying of Lot 49' and (most of) 'Vineland'.
        *
        '...Lot 49' probably suffers most from its brevity (though I should really re-read it), just cause there's a lot going on but in a more shambling, rushed-feeling way. I hear a lot of people talking about how it's a good way in to 'Gravity's Rainbow', but I found it way more inaccessible than that implies.
        *
        As for 'Vineland', it's great. It's got the stuff that makes Pynchon great (the obvious research, the thematic content, funny names and unique tone, etc.) but on a smaller scale that's got some real emotional depth at times -- some of the bits at the point involving Zoyd's relationship with his (then) baby daughter can be quite moving.
        
        mute-branches @Loui_Tacceh | 3 Feb '13, 20:37 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        absolutely LOVED vineland
        
        genuinely amazing. not as good as gv obvs
        
        I quite like crying of lot 49. pretty enjoyable. same with inherent vice - definitely not his best work but really fun - it's basically a hardboiled private eye story with the dude outta the big lebowski as the main character.
        
        anal_schwarzenegger @mute-branches | 4 Feb '13, 00:21 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        flickmyturtletoo this'd this
        
        inherent vice also has my favourite final sentence of any of his books.
        
        it's heartbreaking.
        
        flickmyturtletoo @anal_schwarzenegger | 4 Feb '13, 09:34 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        strong claim!
        
        ...seeing as the dude seemingly can't write a novel that doesn't get better and better as it progresses...
        
        Loui_Tacceh @flickmyturtletoo | 4 Feb '13, 09:43 | X | ^ This | Reply
- RE: Pynchon
  
  Have you seen this?
  
  http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_essays_dailyshow.html
  
  :D
  
  I'm in the same boat as you with Ulysses. The next will be my 3rd attempt; I got to p.112 the last time round. Thought it was starting to click, but I put it down for whatever reason.
  
  broomstick @flickmyturtletoo | 16 Apr '13, 12:36 | X | ^ This | Reply
out of interest

does anyone notice the symbols and themes and whatnot in a book while reading it? or is it just something you discover after discussion, a second or third read, or reading analysis or reviews?

flickmyturtletoo | 3 Feb '13, 12:56 | X | ^ This | Reply
- i would say
  
  that that rather depends on the book, non?
  
  ethricdouble @flickmyturtletoo | 3 Feb '13, 13:30 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  DaddyorChips and broomstick this'd this
Solaris - Stanislaw Lem

Got an e-reader for Christmas and I started with this because it's a new translation that isn't available in print. Way, WAY better than the original translation, I'm now convinced that Solaris is his masterpiece.

Shaun Tan - The Arrival: Beautiful graphic novel about emigration, told entirely without words.

I'm currently partway through Channel SK1N by Jeff Noon (another eBook exclusive). Not far enough in to pass any real judgement, but it doesn't seem like he's lost anything in the 10 years since his last book.

lyserge | 3 Feb '13, 13:13 | X | ^ This | Reply
3. The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz.

Liked it, but I preferred the bits about Oscar's life rather than his extended family. Dunno why I dislike flashback-y bits in books but I pretty much always do.

4. Shoplifting From American Apparel by Tao Lin. Jeez, this guy. Is anyone a fan? Really don't think I like him. Just literally OH WE TALKED ON GMAIL CHAT WE RODE AROUND WE ATE VEGAN bollocks.

plasticniki | 3 Feb '13, 14:50 | X | ^ This | Reply
- i really like tao lin
  
  hipster lit at it's best
  literally just OH WE TALKED ON GMAIL CHAT WE RODE AROUND WE ATE VEGAN
  great stuff
  
  eee eeeee eee's slightly different tho - it incorporates those sections with weird fantasy scenes about bears and dolphins going eee ee e eeeee, and abe lincoln on the moon (or something)
  
  reads like he was literally making it up as he went along
  
  anal_schwarzenegger @plasticniki | 3 Feb '13, 14:59 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - yeah eee eeeee eee's the other one I've read.
    
    I enjoyed that more. Yeah, I guess when you put it like that it doesn't sound as bad. I'll probably give his other stuff a read cos it's all really short, innit?
    
    plasticniki @anal_schwarzenegger | 3 Feb '13, 15:30 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - Tao Lin is really good. I think he is easily about 10x better than Steve Rogenbuck or w/e he is called and the rest of that shit. Feels like he has more in common with proper books as well with motifs and themes and stuff but it is just wrote in a light, minimal prose style. My favourite by him is Richard Yates.
    
    can't wait for Taipei in a few months. gonna queue outside Waterstones at midnight.
    
    fuckyeahdubstep @anal_schwarzenegger | 3 Feb '13, 16:39 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - the cover for taipei is super.
      
      rlly excited for it.
      
      paranoid_eyebolts @fuckyeahdubstep | 3 Feb '13, 17:23 | X | ^ This | Reply
Just finished Zeutoin by Dave Eggers

Pretty harrowing and unbelievable. I enjoyed it though, despite the sadness.

Teeej | 3 Feb '13, 18:15 | X | ^ This | Reply
Reading Concluding by Henry Green

fucking amazing, just the most brilliant, sense-shifting prose, cut into ribbons by dissonant bursts of dialogue where even the speakers don't know what they're really saying (or why), and casual authorial observations that contradict and abet in equal measure

and all set in the lovely english countryside too

Loui_Tacceh | 3 Feb '13, 18:58 | X | ^ This | Reply
Just bought the Black Mask collection

Stories include:

“Murder Is Bad Luck'
“Ten Carets of Lead'
“Drop Dead Twice.'

Gorkys_Forever | 4 Feb '13, 08:30 | X | ^ This | Reply
Just ordered Errata by Michael Allen Zell because the reviews are

properly rave for it.

Will finish John Green's Looking for Alaska tonight, good young adult book, honestly it's kind of what I wanted Catcher in the Rye to be like. Only 20 pages left, hoping they tie it up nicely because it's lost it's way since the first half ended.

God Hates Us All by 'Hank Moody' is surprisingly good as well. Worth a look if you liked Californication.

Half given up on Game of Thrones, I know is going to happen so I'm not that pulled to read it.

Ichor | 4 Feb '13, 10:26 | X | ^ This | Reply
- If you liked that John Green book try The Fault in Their Stars.
  
  It's properly shudderingly good.
  
  hip_young_gunslinger @Ichor | 5 Feb '13, 13:59 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - Shudderingly good eh? I'll pop it on my Goodreads todo list.
    
    I definitely enjoyed it, had it's moments.
    
    Ichor @hip_young_gunslinger | 5 Feb '13, 16:29 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - I loved The Fault In Our Stars
    
    <3
    
    shucks @hip_young_gunslinger | 16 Apr '13, 12:01 | X | ^ This | Reply
Can I just say a big thanks to everyone who's posted in this so far please.

Given me loads of ideas for stuff to read and there's PROPER discussions, too.

THANK YOU <3

plasticniki | 4 Feb '13, 10:29 | X | ^ This | Reply
this week I'm reading the three Judge Dredd stories

that have been published in a regular paperback format rather than a larger traditional comicbook tpb format.
Cursed Earth Saga, The Judge Cal story and a compilation of the Dark Judges finest early appearances.

They got some stick on amazon for compromising the artwork but unless you're half-blind it's all still in there if you pay even half the attention that the work deserves.

top notch stuff

soapy | 5 Feb '13, 14:02 | X | ^ This | Reply
Finally got through A Song of Fire and Ice

now I can join the ranks of people waiting for George to either finish the next one or snuff it. Some great stuff all in all but I'm really looking forward to reading something else.

Also read The Manhattan Projects vol.1 at the weekend. Really, really liked it. The characterisation of Oppenheimer and Einstein is..unhinged, to say the least. It comes over a little League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and a little bit Hellboy. Can't recommend it enough.

I Am Legend is next on the list.

colossalhorse | 5 Feb '13, 16:54 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I really, really liked I Am Legend
  
  much more than I was expecting to. I didn't realise it was going to be a story of isolation and a descent into madness. I thought it'd be more of a vampire fighting horror story.
  
  I'm jumping from vampires to zombies and reading World War Z now. It's all highbrow stuff for me this year.
  
  colossalhorse @colossalhorse | 12 Feb '13, 12:39 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - World War Z was ace
    
    the prose was occasionally a bit clunky but Brooks has clearly spent a ridiculous amount of time contemplating how a zombie uprising would go down. The level of detail, across the globe, is scary. Sadly the new trailer for the film was released just as I finished it, which looks fuckawful.
    
    Started the Savage Detectives afterwards. Really enjoying it but not spending enough time with it. Been at it for ages now.
    
    colossalhorse @colossalhorse | 16 Apr '13, 12:07 | X | ^ This | Reply
5. No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July

Hmmm. Intriguing. Still trying to find a bunch of short stories I *really* like, this wasn't really it.

plasticniki | 6 Feb '13, 11:01 | X | ^ This | Reply
- have you tried any of these (my favourite short story collections):
  
  Werewolves in their Youth - Michael Chabon
  The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios - Yann Martel
  Magic For Beginners - Kelly Link
  
  commandercool @plasticniki | 6 Feb '13, 11:34 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - Nope!
    
    Thank you. Actually it appears I have Magic For Beginners on my Kindle from the Humble Ebook Bundle!
    
    plasticniki @commandercool | 6 Feb '13, 11:35 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - it's a great collection
      
      all really varied books linked by magical realism :)
      
      commandercool @plasticniki | 6 Feb '13, 11:48 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - I loved Werewolves In Their Yourth
    
    monpot @commandercool | 6 Feb '13, 11:53 | X | ^ This | Reply
- What sort of thing are you looking for?
  
  Here are some of my favourites:
  
  Asylum Piece - Anna Kavan: collection of interlinked stories about the mental breakdown of an unnamed narrator. Has a fever-dream kind of atmosphere, often likened to Kafka.
  
  A Man And Two Women - Doris Lessing: has some great stories showing her acute understanding of sexual politics and human relationships in general.
  
  The Cyberiad - Stanislaw Lem: Funny, philosophical, thought-provoking collection of SF stories, mostly revolving around a pair of robotic inventors.
  
  Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives - David Eagleman: Each story (though most are more like short essays) explores a different possible afterlife.
  
  And if you've not read any Raymond Carver or Jorge Luis Borges, you should definitely give them a go too.
  
  lyserge @plasticniki | 6 Feb '13, 11:56 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - Raymond Carver seconded
    
    I can never get enough of JG Ballard's short stories
    
    johnwiddop @lyserge | 6 Feb '13, 12:00 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - anything really,
    
    I'm struggling to remember what collections I *have* read, apart from Murakami's.
    
    Thanks!
    
    plasticniki @lyserge | 6 Feb '13, 12:04 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - Absolutely love Sum
    
    and I'll second that Borges recommendation.
    
    colossalhorse @lyserge | 6 Feb '13, 12:14 | X | ^ This | Reply
    
    Spicer this'd this
    - Oh, and Barthelme is really good
      
      I've always loved this story, "Some of us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby."
      
      http://www.jessamyn.com/barth/colby.html
      
      colossalhorse @colossalhorse | 6 Feb '13, 12:23 | X | ^ This | Reply
      - Barthelme is really really great
        
        definitely one of my favourite short story writers
        
        anal_schwarzenegger @colossalhorse | 6 Feb '13, 12:27 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        I've only read Forty Stories I think
        
        I just remembered that one and realised that I've always meant to read more. I should get on that.
        
        colossalhorse @anal_schwarzenegger | 6 Feb '13, 12:28 | X | ^ This | Reply
- My two favourites are...
  
  J.D Salinger - For Esme ~ With Love and Squalor
  and
  Julian Barnes - A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters
  
  If you haven't read them give them a go. They're real good.
  
  stormcrow @plasticniki | 9 Feb '13, 23:31 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - You've just reminded me
    
    that I wanted to re-read 'The Laughing Man' and 'De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period'.
    Also I read (some of) 'A History...' for uni, I think I ought to finish it as what I read seemed pretty interesting.
    
    mute-branches @stormcrow | 9 Feb '13, 23:51 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - For Esme has a couple of short story gems in it
    
    kostenurky @stormcrow | 26 Mar '13, 08:46 | X | ^ This | Reply
finished lolita

definitely in my top ten methinks.

if anyone's interested, ulysses is in the public domain now:

http://www.planetpdf.com/planetpdf/pdfs/free_ebooks/ulysses_nt.pdf

just begun midnight's children. it's okay, has some interesting things brewing.

speaking of magic realism, i remember reading a book a couple of years ago about a park several different characters pass through, all of them suffering some kind of social/mental problem, and encountering magical figures (puck, elves, etc). i think a doctor wrote the book, but i cannot for the life of me remember what it was called. any help?

flickmyturtletoo | 6 Feb '13, 11:08 | X | ^ This | Reply
- the great night
  
  mijbear @flickmyturtletoo | 6 Feb '13, 12:34 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - ...should have finished my typing...
    
    by Chris Adrian. (haven't read it)
    
    mijbear @mijbear | 6 Feb '13, 12:35 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - a thousand thank yous
      
      flickmyturtletoo @mijbear | 6 Feb '13, 13:16 | X | ^ This | Reply
bump-shanka

just finished 'Vineland' (realising that the last three fictional novels I've read (that, 'Mother Night' and 'American Gods') have all dealt with the theme of the ubiquity of the media in US culture and ('...Night' and 'Vineland' especially) the illusory nature of American 'freedom', amongst others. Yup.

Started 'Wind Up Bird Chronicle' by Haruki Murakami today. Liking it a lot, that weird Murakami - sorta Lynchian - atmosphere's there, which I've emphasised by listening to Labradford and Pan American while reading. Second yup.

mute-branches | 9 Feb '13, 17:33 | X | ^ This | Reply
6. Man In The Dark by Paul Auster.

Still the greatest writer ever, IMO. Loved it, but I'm a huge fan.

plasticniki | 9 Feb '13, 18:56 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Oh, speaking of Auster: I've only read the New York Trilogy of his quite recently
  
  which I utterly adored. What should I read next?
  
  (This to everyone talking about Auster in this thread btw.)
  
  colossalhorse @plasticniki | 12 Feb '13, 12:35 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - ahhhhhhhh SO MUCH
    
    you really could go with anything next but, Moon Palace or Oracle Night if you want typical Auster themes or In The Country Of Last Things if you want something slighty different in a dystopian nightmare sort of way.
    
    plasticniki @colossalhorse | 12 Feb '13, 12:42 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - ohmygod,
      
      I've just realised I've not read The Music Of Chance. I just rectify this immediately after I finish A Confederacy of Dunces.
      
      plasticniki @plasticniki | 12 Feb '13, 12:44 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - The words dystopian nightmare are enough to sell me on most things
      
      but I haven't read enough to know what typical Auster themes are so I should probably try the first two first.
      
      Cheers!
      
      colossalhorse @plasticniki | 12 Feb '13, 13:00 | X | ^ This | Reply
Just finished reading 1984

really enjoyed it, whilst I was aware of many of the concepts the book touches on, surveillance culture, censorship etc it was great to explore them in greater detail.

Currently reading The God Of Small Things

wewerewerewolvesonce | 9 Feb '13, 22:05 | X | ^ This | Reply
- finished the The God Of Small Things
  
  starts off quite slowly but the last few chapters were incredible, the Roy has some exceptionally vivid prose and her description of the caste system is amongst the best I've read.
  
  Now reading David Copperfield (embarrassingly this will be the first Charles Dicken's novel I've ever read)
  
  wewerewerewolvesonce @wewerewerewolvesonce | 12 Mar '13, 14:26 | X | ^ This | Reply
Has anyone read Sarah Silverman's book?

Seeing her talk about it on Graham Norton has intrigued me - is it any good?

badmanreturns | 10 Feb '13, 13:32 | X | ^ This | Reply
hey i'm going to do this too!

1. White Noise - Don DeLillo

didn't really connect with this one, though i enjoyed it whenever the main guy spoke with his lecturer friend

2. The Music of Chance - Paul Auster

Really liked seeing where this was going to go - wished it was longer.

3. Ada, or Ardor - Nabokov

this was great - really enjoyed it - almost purely as an exercise in writing - almost every sentence has some wordplay or in-joke going on, his mastery of english is intimidating, though the first 20 pages or so were a bit rough with all the family backstory etc.

4. The Old Man and The Sea - Hemmingway

felt like i'd read a much longer book (in a good way)

Wasted_Opportunity | 10 Feb '13, 14:03 | X | ^ This | Reply
- You read Ada!
  
  <3
  
  My favourite ever book - such an ambitious, if flawed masterpiece.
  
  Agree the first 20 pages are hard going, but it's similar to the very opening of Lolita (the doctor's note) - it doesn't really make sense until you read it for a second time. Ada definitely bears re-reading if you feel up to it one day.
  
  hip_young_gunslinger @Wasted_Opportunity | 12 Feb '13, 12:27 | X | ^ This | Reply
i tell you what i'm not reading

Horrible Histories

http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/local/all-news/sunderland-libraries-facing-closure-under-850-000-savings-plan-1-5401946#.URogx-8VS5M.twitter

soapy | 12 Feb '13, 12:37 | X | ^ This | Reply
- fucking HELL
  
  "Libraries have had their day. They are a Victorian idea and we are in an electronic age. They either have to change and adapt or they have to go."
  
  As a librarian this makes me weep a bit.
  
  plasticniki @soapy | 12 Feb '13, 12:39 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - i know right
    
    and terry fucking deary as if he doesn't owe his entire career to kids reading horrible histories from libraries
    
    soapy @plasticniki | 12 Feb '13, 12:43 | X | ^ This | Reply
    
    plasticniki and DaddyorChips this'd this
    - Yup.
      
      I hate the idea in loads of these articles that only "the poor" use libraries. Such fucking bullshit.
      
      plasticniki @soapy | 12 Feb '13, 12:46 | X | ^ This | Reply
      - That is bullshit,
        
        but I would say that it is the poor who are disproportionately affected by library cuts.
        
        hip_young_gunslinger @plasticniki | 12 Feb '13, 13:04 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        Oh yeah, deffo.
        
        plasticniki @hip_young_gunslinger | 12 Feb '13, 13:06 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        having worked in all but two of Newcastle's 18 libraries
        
        and knowing the areas that they're in this is massively true
        
        soapy @hip_young_gunslinger | 12 Feb '13, 13:13 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - argh
      
      I wouldn't call myself 'poor' but I can't afford an e-reader or kindle or whatever :(
      
      sophiacherryx @soapy | 12 Feb '13, 13:36 | X | ^ This | Reply
      - don't worry about it
        
        academic research suggests that people take more in and learn more effectively from a printed page than a digital display at the moment anyway
        
        soapy @sophiacherryx | 12 Feb '13, 13:37 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        I much prefer reading from a book anyway
        
        I love the smell of books.
        
        sophiacherryx @soapy | 12 Feb '13, 14:06 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Christ.
  
  hip_young_gunslinger @soapy | 12 Feb '13, 12:49 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - i don't want to look more up on him now
    
    in case he's fully, y'know, Frank Miller
    
    soapy @hip_young_gunslinger | 12 Feb '13, 13:17 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - Look at this quote from his Wikipedia page
      
      "I've no interest in schools. They have no relevance in the 21st century. They were a Victorian idea to get kids off the street. Who decided that putting 30 kids with only their age in common in a classroom with one teacher was the best way of educating?"
      
      Hmm, interesting...
      
      plasticniki @soapy | 12 Feb '13, 13:21 | X | ^ This | Reply
      - also in 2010 he was the 10th most-borrowed author in British Libraries.
        
        Whatacunt.
        
        plasticniki @plasticniki | 12 Feb '13, 13:25 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        soapy this'd this
        
        and most of the top nine were just the people James Patterson gets to write his books for him (library-jokes lol)
        
        soapy @plasticniki | 12 Feb '13, 13:29 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        were the library users of Newcastle big fans of Miss Read?
        
        cos they were on the Isle of Wight.
        
        plasticniki @soapy | 12 Feb '13, 13:38 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        not as much as the ones in county durham
        
        but there were definitely still some big fans on newcastles housebound service
        
        soapy @plasticniki | 12 Feb '13, 13:42 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        also
        
        do you file under M or R because I know some places where she was always an M and always had been and people didn't like it if you moved her to the 'wrong' place
        
        soapy @soapy | 12 Feb '13, 13:44 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        R, always R.
        
        plasticniki @soapy | 12 Feb '13, 13:47 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        I discovered loads of new writers on this year's PLR results.
        
        Mainly saga writers. You'd never see them in shops, but huge in libraries. It's like obscure bands - 'big in Japan'.
        
        hip_young_gunslinger @soapy | 12 Feb '13, 13:42 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        saga writers cannot write fast enough to keep up with demand
        
        soapy @hip_young_gunslinger | 12 Feb '13, 13:43 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        Nora Roberts!
        
        MC Beaton!
        
        plasticniki @soapy | 12 Feb '13, 13:49 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        isn't mc beaton a cosy crime author
        
        rather than one of the emma blair, anna jacobs, rosie goodwin, katie flynn, dilly court crowd?
        
        soapy @plasticniki | 12 Feb '13, 13:51 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        surely there can only be so many stories you can write
        
        about a pretty young woman and a dirty faced baby/small child on the streets of industrial liverpool
        
        soapy @soapy | 12 Feb '13, 13:50 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        ah shit you're right
        
        she writes that saga shit under Marion Chesney which is her ACTUAL name
        
        ohmyWORD can't really believe this conversation
        
        plasticniki @soapy | 12 Feb '13, 13:53 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        in your face
        
        i know old lady reading better than you
        
        soapy @plasticniki | 12 Feb '13, 13:54 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        to be fair,
        
        I last worked in public libraries about 10 years ago.
        
        plasticniki @soapy | 12 Feb '13, 14:09 | X | ^ This | Reply
      - he has a point here
        
        Loui_Tacceh @plasticniki | 12 Feb '13, 13:44 | X | ^ This | Reply
So far

The Buddha, Geoff and Me - Ed Canfor-Dumas
The Complete Persepolis (A Childhood and A Return) - Marjane Statrapi
Life of Pi - Yann Martel

I'm sure there was something else but I can't think what.
I really need to make more time for reading!

sophiacherryx | 12 Feb '13, 13:12 | X | ^ This | Reply
so to recap

thomas pynchon - against the day 10/10
henry green - concluding 10/10
tom mccarthy - remainder 10/10

in the middle of joseph o'neil - netherland, which is shaping up a solid 9/10. then i'm going to read zadie smith's essay on it and remainder

Loui_Tacceh | 12 Feb '13, 13:48 | X | ^ This | Reply
SyFy to adapt Man In The High Castle with Ridley Scott

didn't the BBC announce that they were doing this with him yonks ago?

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/11/syfy-plans-adaptation-of-philip-k-dicks-man-in-the-high-castle/

soapy | 12 Feb '13, 13:52 | X | ^ This | Reply
Beyond Black - Hilary Mantle

Really good fun, has anyone read any of her other books?

Now on to something lighter, Danny Baker's autobiography.

roastthemonaspit | 12 Feb '13, 13:53 | X | ^ This | Reply
1. Estates by Lynsey Hanley

Wanted to read this for a few years, don't know why it took so long to actually buy it as it's the perfect combo of reading for research purposes as well as for pleasure. Social housing, architecture, and kicks off the book with a Smog lyric. It's like it was written just for me <3

Scout | 12 Feb '13, 13:53 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Wait, wait, wait
  
  is the Smog lyric 'Let's move to the country'?
  
  stormcrow @Scout | 12 Feb '13, 14:54 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - nope...guess again
    
    Scout @stormcrow | 12 Feb '13, 15:46 | X | ^ This | Reply
Woman in Black sequel won't be written by Susan Hill

I don't really think this book needs a sequel
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/feb/12/the-woman-in-black-follow-up?CMP=twt_fd

soapy | 12 Feb '13, 13:57 | X | ^ This | Reply
- The Woman in Black 2: The Woman in Blacker
  
  mute-branches @soapy | 12 Feb '13, 14:44 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - The Blackening
    
    soapy @mute-branches | 12 Feb '13, 14:45 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - Back In Black - The Woman In More Black
      
      A Good Day To Wear Black
      Black 2 tha Old Skool
      Woman In Black 2: This Time It's Emo
      Womans In Black
      Contractual Obligations: The Film Sequel Needs A Story
      Zero Black Thirty
      
      amyblue @soapy | 12 Mar '13, 13:35 | X | ^ This | Reply
+2

William Mark Poteet- 'Gay Men In Modern Southern Literature'- not very interesting, but has got me into Charles Nelson in quite a big way, reading his 'The Boy Who Picked Up Bullets' at the moment and it's bizarre but brilliant.

Mike Wallace-Hadrill- 'Team You'- pamphlet of poems by a friend. Very good stuff, quite experimental but that's how I roll.

_TheBeautifulOnes_ | 13 Feb '13, 09:26 | X | ^ This | Reply
- you know mike wallace-hadrill??
  
  whoa
  
  i know him too, tenuously
  
  Loui_Tacceh @_TheBeautifulOnes_ | 11 Mar '13, 14:39 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - I know him a bit, yeah.
    
    Strange guy, but a good writer.
    
    _TheBeautifulOnes_ @Loui_Tacceh | 12 Mar '13, 12:21 | X | ^ This | Reply
I've just started Bret Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero...

Gotta say I'm a little dubious, I'm going to stick it out but at the moment I think his writing style is that of a 10 year old. I understand he's trying to portray a catcher in the rye style but there seems to be no life there....tell me it gets better.

Ichor | 15 Feb '13, 09:55 | X | ^ This | Reply
- It gets better
  
  In a horrible manner.
  
  PenguinPants @Ichor | 15 Feb '13, 09:56 | X | ^ This | Reply
- nope
  
  had a chat with my friend who likes him and it basically boiled down to me going ."but it's shit!?" and him replying ."ah, but it's meant to be shit" and then doing smugface.
  
  codpieceface @Ichor | 15 Feb '13, 09:58 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - It's meant to be shit?
    
    Well it's got a few more chapters to gain to speed. Instead of telling me in dead pan prose that he had dinner with his mum and he looked at his hands.
    
    Ichor @codpieceface | 15 Feb '13, 10:16 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - Well looks like he admits it himself.
      
      I don't think it's a perfect book by any means, but it's valid. I get where it comes from. I get what it is. There's a lot of it that I wish was slightly more elegantly written. Overall, I was pretty shocked. It was pretty good writing for someone who was 19.
      
      Ichor @Ichor | 15 Feb '13, 10:33 | X | ^ This | Reply
Casino Royale

Live And Let Die
Moonraker

Just started Diamonds Are Forever

Raanraals | 15 Feb '13, 09:57 | X | ^ This | Reply
The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler

very entertaining (if a little homophobic at times) but fell apart towards the end - the plot became a little too loose and even though Marlowe was basically constantly under threat it never actually felt like he was in danger.

White Noise - Don Delillo
The bits where Jack's talking to Murray are often very funny and fairly 'deep' but huge swathes of the book seem basically meaningless, aside from hammering home the pervasiveness of the idea of death and how people hide from it which didn't need quite so much hammering if you know what I mean. Some very good lines and the writing was solid overall (if a little too functional) apart from the bits where he threw in brand names - seemed like a weak stab at consumerism that didn't really hit any mark. Might have misconstrued his aims though.

brainfeedr | 15 Feb '13, 10:04 | X | ^ This | Reply
- that brand name stuff always hits a bum note with me
  
  even with authors i properly love like george saunders and david foster wallace it just always feels like stepping into teenage green day fan satire. maybe missing the point though aye.
  
  codpieceface @brainfeedr | 15 Feb '13, 10:11 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  brainfeedr this'd this
I've decided to work my way through the SF Masterworks series as they are £3 on Kindle

But need to split the Sci Fi with "proper" books.
Phillip K Dick - Valis
Wilkie Collins - The Moonstone
Christopher Priest - The Affirmation

the-breacher | 15 Feb '13, 10:10 | X | ^ This | Reply
finished the new york trilogy

earlier this week.
enjoyed it. not sure i have a fucking clue what was going on though. suprised it didn't piss me off being all like oooh look how post modern and clever and meta and that i am...but it didn't

chickenbones | 15 Feb '13, 12:57 | X | ^ This | Reply
- need to re-read that
  
  mute-branches @chickenbones | 15 Feb '13, 15:33 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  DaddyorChips this'd this
+1

Queer Externalities by W.C. Harris. Dunno why I'm reading so much queer theory stuff at the minute. This was superb, really provocative and readable.

_TheBeautifulOnes_ | 15 Feb '13, 13:00 | X | ^ This | Reply
1. J.D. Bernal: The Sage Of Science by Andrew Brown
2. If This Is A Man/The Truce by Primo Levi
3: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
4: Mimesis & Alterity by Michael Taussig
5: Dreams Of A Final Theory by Steven Weinberg
6: A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace
7: Albert Angelo by B.S. Johnson

fuckyeahdubstep | 15 Feb '13, 16:06 | X | ^ This | Reply
Just finished 'The White Man's Burden'

Another one about how international aid has probably not done much good for Africa because of the way it has been done in the past, but how there have been some clear successes which can be repeated if aid agencies/charities are made more accountable. Rather witty, and at the same time infuriating.

s_p_g | 15 Feb '13, 16:14 | X | ^ This | Reply
Finished on Wednesday

Niave. Super. by Erland Loe

sophiacherryx | 15 Feb '13, 16:32 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Wanna read this.
  
  plasticniki @sophiacherryx | 24 Feb '13, 16:18 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - s'alright
    
    not mind blowing.
    
    sophiacherryx @plasticniki | 1 Mar '13, 16:40 | X | ^ This | Reply
+1

Post Office by Charles Bukowski
Yes, he's a horrible man, but it's good OK?

_TheBeautifulOnes_ | 24 Feb '13, 00:18 | X | ^ This | Reply
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

Obvious I know, but fucking great.

Now reading One Fat Englishman by Kingsley Amis, which I find quite amusing, but I'm not sure I feel anything for the characters or plot.

NeillyNeil | 24 Feb '13, 03:17 | X | ^ This | Reply
I've neglected PROPER books last week and read the entire series of

The Walking Dead, plus some of The Manhattan Projects and also Pyongyang: A Journey In North Korea. Whoops.

Can I count these?

plasticniki | 24 Feb '13, 16:21 | X | ^ This | Reply
I have read . . .

Camu - The Stranger (L'etranger )
R.L. Stevenson - Catriona
Trying to read 'Life - A Users' Manual' but it's a mission.

Read lots of poetry and recently bought volumes by Pablo Neruda and Kathleen Jamie.

gaborszabo | 24 Feb '13, 18:30 | X | ^ This | Reply
So far

Bradley Wiggins My Time and Mark Cavendish Boy Racer
Dracula Cha Cha Cha by Kim Newsom
World War Z by Max Brooks
Just Started Anansi Boys by Neil Gaimen

DillingersWheelman | 24 Feb '13, 18:41 | X | ^ This | Reply
Funny selection

The Patrick Melrose quintet
Some game of thrones
Absolute friends by Le Carre
Most of:
At home: A short history of private life by Bill Bryson
The Human Right to a Green Future by Richard Hiskes

gecko | 24 Feb '13, 18:52 | X | ^ This | Reply
February

King Suckerman - Pelecanos
Magician King - Grossman
The Fields of Grief - Blunt
The Passage - Cronin
The Fire Engine That Disappeared - Sjowall & Wahloo
Take Back Plenty - Greenland

stormcrow | 28 Feb '13, 20:36 | X | ^ This | Reply
thought I'd have finished 'Wind-Up Bird Chronicle' by now

but I've got a very annoying cold that's making it quite difficult to concentrate on reading.

Trying to decide what I want to read next; I'm thinking of reading a couple of short stories before going on to another novel.

mute-branches | 1 Mar '13, 18:02 | X | ^ This | Reply
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Even The Dogs - Jon McGregor
Cowboys and Indians - Joseph O-Connor

sophiacherryx | 11 Mar '13, 14:43 | X | ^ This | Reply
- oh I love Even the Dogs
  
  Jon McGregor is one of those writers I always forget about till someone mentions him, and then I remember how much I've enjoyed his writing.
  
  _TheBeautifulOnes_ @sophiacherryx | 16 Apr '13, 13:16 | X | ^ This | Reply
Just on the epilogue of The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt

really enjoying it, a bit like a more lighthearted Blood Meridian.

Things I've read/am reading this year that I've really liked:

Remainder by Tom McCarthy
Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem
The Secret History by Donna Tartt

commandercool | 11 Mar '13, 14:46 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I loved that book.
  
  Really fun read!
  
  oojimaflop @commandercool | 12 Mar '13, 12:40 | X | ^ This | Reply
I'm currently reading China Mieville's The City and The City

It's great, really interesting look at a crime novel.

Just finished this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Self-Editing-Fiction-Writers-Second-Yourself/dp/0060545690

If you write, can't recommend it enough.

Ichor | 11 Mar '13, 15:13 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I really liked City and the City
  
  but felt it was missing something to make it great. Not sure if it came down to writing style or plot but it didn't have that something to push it over the line.
  
  commandercool @Ichor | 11 Mar '13, 15:40 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - I might agree with you already but I'm still enjoying it.
    
    Ichor @commandercool | 11 Mar '13, 16:15 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - just read that, first hundred pages or so i thought i was gonna bloody love it
    
    when the references to cross-hatching and breach are really oblique and austery it's dead exciting but towards the latter half when all the blurry stuff sort of comes into focus all the magic is emptied out and and turned into plot points. had to force myself to sit down for 6 hours and plough through the back end 'cause i was just dipping in and out on the train. the ending was a bit limp too. still enjoyed it like, but you;re right, definitely missing something.
    
    codpieceface @commandercool | 12 Mar '13, 14:08 | X | ^ This | Reply
If anyone is interested in buying some good books

I've got a fire sale going on at the minute:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuiGRpXIFV8AdHlidjVQd2pvMzNWck5JMV9SQnprV3c#gid=0

Can do deals on multiple purchases and posting. PM if interested.

olegrich | 11 Mar '13, 15:20 | X | ^ This | Reply
Read A Confederacy of Dunces recently

thought it was very funny in parts but got really rather bored towards the end - I thought everything would coalesce into some type of grand finish but it didn't at all and the ending was a bit of a damp squib. The funny bits were really funny though, and Ignatius is a great antihero.

brainfeedr | 12 Mar '13, 12:26 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I'm reading this ATM - it's taking me FOREVER,
  
  and is the reason I've not posted for a while. Bloody hell. Will probably finish it tonight though, finally.
  
  plasticniki @brainfeedr | 12 Mar '13, 12:44 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - and I dunno, I've not enjoyed it *that* much.
    
    like you say, the funny bits are REALLY funny and Ignatius is great, but I was expecting a bit more from it I think.
    
    plasticniki @plasticniki | 12 Mar '13, 12:48 | X | ^ This | Reply
Charles Nelson- The Boy Who Picked The Bullets Up

Bitchy, revealing and downright terrifying epistolatory novel about closeted gay soldiers in the Vietnam War, satirises military culture in general as well. Like Catch-22 with more cocksucking. Recommended.

_TheBeautifulOnes_ | 12 Mar '13, 12:28 | X | ^ This | Reply
- +2 because I re-read Saul Bellow's 'Herzog'
  
  Didn't get it the first time, this time around I thought it was excellent. A big book of ideas, even if his prose is a like wading through treacle from time to time.
  
  _TheBeautifulOnes_ @_TheBeautifulOnes_ | 12 Mar '13, 12:43 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - up next- Lear in Love by Michael Montgomery
    
    Edward, not King.
    
    _TheBeautifulOnes_ @_TheBeautifulOnes_ | 12 Mar '13, 12:46 | X | ^ This | Reply
Not sure I've read a story book since I did English and English Lit at GCSE

About 7 years then.

urbanfox | 12 Mar '13, 12:43 | X | ^ This | Reply
I'm reading Papillon.

wilykit | 12 Mar '13, 12:45 | X | ^ This | Reply
Started with Boyracers by Alan Bissett

Got put on to this by a mate of mine. The author is local and it brought back an awful lot of nostalgia. Laughed my ass off for most of it but it gets a bit hard hitting at the end. Loved it and will be checking out his other books.

The Great Gatsby - don't know what made me decide to read this, I think I'd seen so many people raving about it on here and decided to give it a go, really enjoyed it.

To Kill A Mockingbird - think this was off the back of the Great Gatsby, realised there were a lot of these 'classics' I'd never read and my girlfriend had always said how much she loved this book so I gave it a go. Absolutely rifled through it, excellent.

Currently reading: Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon - Jesus... I'm going to stick with it.

hanshotfirst | 12 Mar '13, 12:59 | X | ^ This | Reply
Paul Auster — Winter Journal

Was alright. Has its interesting features (written in the second person), but I have to admit having skimmed it a bit, which is not something I'd ever imagined doing with an Auster book.

robluvsnic | 12 Mar '13, 13:21 | X | ^ This | Reply
- huh, interesting.
  
  as a big Auster fan, I should still give it a go, right?
  
  plasticniki @robluvsnic | 12 Mar '13, 14:22 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - it's no Red Notebook or Hand to Mouth
    
    but if you're a fan of his non-fiction as much as his fiction, then it's still worth a read.
    
    I guess my problem with it is that I'm not really into autobiographies, and while he certainly fucks about with and refuses to conform to the conventions of the autobiography/memoir genre (e.g. written in second person; jumping from fragment to fragment, rather than running in chronological order; revealing nothing about his writing process or any of the details surrounding the composition/publication of any of his books), there's much less in the way of *story* than there is in, say, the Red Notebook, and it's much more focused on his relationships with the people close to him, and so quite unlike Hand to Mouth in that respect.
    
    It's probably closest to The Invention of Solitude, but it just doesn't have the *philosophical* thrust that defines that first book, and indeed all of Auster's best work.
    
    robluvsnic @plasticniki | 18 Mar '13, 01:05 | X | ^ This | Reply
7. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy O'Toole.

Didn't enjoy this as much as I'd hoped. Felt a bit long.

Got the last Murakami novel I've not read up next.

plasticniki | 13 Mar '13, 14:21 | X | ^ This | Reply
Thinking of some Ray Badbury next...

Recommendations?

Ichor | 13 Mar '13, 15:20 | X | ^ This | Reply
finished Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

which I enjoyed a lot, though is one I think I'll have to re-read at some point (as I keep meaning to with Kafka on the Shore).

After having read Salinger's The Laughing Man and De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period again (so damn good), I'm moving on to Neil Gaiman's Sandman (the Preludes and Nocturnes collection). Never read them before, though I really liked American Gods, so I look forward to this.

And I'm debating with myself as to the next novel to read after that...

mute-branches | 17 Mar '13, 18:19 | X | ^ This | Reply
- speaking of my last paragraph...
  
  Can anyone recommend any Jonathan Lethem? I'm quite interested in Motherless Brooklyn, but is that the best place to start?
  
  mute-branches @mute-branches | 17 Mar '13, 19:26 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - i really really like motherless brooklyn
    
    and his omega the unknown comic remake thing. thought fortress of solitude was good but kind of overrated. you don't love me yet's awful. some of his early sci fi stuff's quite good, can't remember what i've read though
    
    shrewbie @mute-branches | 17 Mar '13, 19:42 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - so yeah motherless brooklyn
      
      shrewbie @shrewbie | 17 Mar '13, 19:44 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Murakami's thicker books - Kafka and Wind-Up Bird are clear examples
  
  need re-reading, and you get more the second time.
  
  At the same time, so many of his little books are great instant reads - Sputnik Sweetheart, South of the Border/West of the sun, After Dark, etc...
  
  kostenurky @mute-branches | 26 Mar '13, 08:59 | X | ^ This | Reply
Just finished Cloud Atlas

really good. Would recommend.

Can't for the life of me see how they managed to make it into a film though so will probably avoid that.

Anna Karenina next, loved war and peace so high hopes..

didyousayhand | 17 Mar '13, 19:39 | X | ^ This | Reply
since last time...

5. The Kraken Wakes - John Wyndham

Didn't live up to the promise of the title - it wasn't even a proper kraken, just a bunch of alien gunge living at the bottom of the ocean - disappointing.

6. The Sun Also Rises - Hemmingway

Really liked this, especially the whole doomed nature of it. Though thought the fact they hated that kind of creepy guy for seemingly primarily being jewish was a bit much.

7. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Yeah it was tough in those camps - felt cold reading it.

8. The Outsider/Stranger - Camus

felt sorry for Meursault.

9. To Have and Have Not - Hemmingway

Not as good as the others - bit weird the way it's essentially three connected short stories, but everything happens in the last one. The switching between characters after the climax was cool though.

Wasted_Opportunity | 17 Mar '13, 20:06 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Yeah I didn't like that about The Sun Also Rises.
  
  He was written to be very irritating though, made my skin crawl.
  
  Ichor @Wasted_Opportunity | 18 Mar '13, 09:53 | X | ^ This | Reply
FINALLY finished 2666 this morning

It's taken me about two months but fucking hell it's incredible isn't it? I know loads of you have read it, humour me with your thoughts on it.

Spicer | 26 Mar '13, 08:11 | X | ^ This | Reply
Paul Theroux - My Other Life

Moved me a lot. Writer takes elements of his real life, and creates a parallel universe retelling of various key events in his life, through a collection of short-stories cleverly melded into a kind of autobiographical piece of fiction.

Contains the most moving short story I've ever read on the last date a couple have before the next morning parting for separation, acrimony and divorce.

kostenurky | 26 Mar '13, 08:45 | X | ^ This | Reply
Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt - Joe Sacco and Chris Hedges

Cartoonist and Journalist get together and make an amazing book combining the two forms to tell the tale of how different sections of American society have been sold out or left to wither and die by the American state, in the name of modern day rapacious capitalism.

The political is always so much more effective when it goes through the medium of the personal, and the lives of the ordinary people chronicled in the book really capture a sense of a country in decline and a spiralling of the underclass.

kostenurky | 26 Mar '13, 08:56 | X | ^ This | Reply
Currently booshing through A Farewell to Arms. Beautifully metallic prose.

wilykit | 26 Mar '13, 08:57 | X | ^ This | Reply
FInished Sartre's Nausea the other day

He's a really powerful writer - the book made me feel pretty sick basically the whole time so I'm glad it was pretty short. Shit gets real towards the end with the forest of dicks and everything.

Mid-way through Vonnegut's Galapagos at the moment. It's got a really great concept - it's written from a million years in the future when humans have evolved to have much smaller brains and look back in disbelief at what our big brains made us do. It's very funny and he's eminently readable, I can see myself reading a bunch of his stuff.

brainfeedr | 26 Mar '13, 08:59 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Get a copy of timequake next if you want his high concept stuff.
  
  wilykit @brainfeedr | 26 Mar '13, 09:08 | X | ^ This | Reply
I'm reading Ray Badbury's Fahrenheit 451 at the moment.

It's really strangely written. I'm not really sure if I like his style, it is slowly growing on me but it is odd.

I think I'll rip through this pretty quick.

Ichor | 26 Mar '13, 09:02 | X | ^ This | Reply
Just finished The Secret History

which I thought was brilliant.

Now reading Cock & Bull by Will Self which is incredibly odd but very compelling and well written.

commandercool | 26 Mar '13, 09:53 | X | ^ This | Reply
nearly finished the first volume of The Sandman

really good, I'd look forward to seeing how the series develops; and I should add that I wasn't expecting so many references to the DC universe.

Ordered Mason & Dixon for my next novel to read. Almost went for Against the Day to complement Bioshock Infinite for early 20th century American historical revisionist fiction fun, but caved due to wanting some ever-so slightly shorter Pynchon to read.

mute-branches | 26 Mar '13, 16:50 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I've been meaning to get this.
  
  Can't be Gaiman!
  
  Ichor @mute-branches | 27 Mar '13, 09:55 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - It's good (what I've read)
    
    The first volume is frequently described as the series in its infancy (even in the introduction and afterword), it's definitely something I've enjoyed. Humour, horror, wit, post-modern playfulness.
    
    Definitely enthused about checking out the other volumes.
    
    mute-branches @Ichor | 27 Mar '13, 12:59 | X | ^ This | Reply
Doing alright this year after a slow couple of months where I couldn't seem to get through a book.

Finished John Jeremih Sullivan's 'Pulphead'- which took me ages as I kept getting busy with work. He's now my new favourite person. I sought out everything he's ever written and now I'm checking literary news every day to see what he's up too. Think he's locked himself away somewhere to write a book. CONSIDER ME EXCITED.

Everyone in the world should read this:
http://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/201001/american-grotesque-john-jeremiah-sullivan-birthers?printable=true

Other's:
- Middlesex- Eugenides (talked about this in that other book thread, loved it.)
- The Old Man & the Sea (was the only Hemingway I hadn't read, bizarrely. Stunning, finished it in one sitting)
-Death of the Heart - Elizabeth Bowen (loved this. Especially the first half in London. Very evocative)
- A Supposedly Fun Thing....- David Foster-Wallace (Never read any DFW. Seemed a natural progression after Sullivan. Making my way through this still, great stuff so far. Will probably attempt one of his novels next- where should I start? Straight in with Infinite Jest?)

Currently on Kavalier and Clay. Can't stop reading it to be honest it's consuming all my free time.

coolerthantv | 26 Mar '13, 17:00 | X | ^ This | Reply
- JJS has a new book in the offing about this guy:
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overhill_Cherokee#Christian_Priber.2C_1730s
  
  Don't think it will be out until next year though.
  
  hip_young_gunslinger @coolerthantv | 3 Apr '13, 14:00 | X | ^ This | Reply
8. Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami.

One of my least favourite Murakami novels, shockingly. I got pretty lost about halfway through and I'm not a fan of the one chapter about character x, one about character y approach. Ah well.

Currently reading Besieged: Life Under Fire on a Sarajevo Street by Barbara Demick. Heartbreaking stuff.

plasticniki | 3 Apr '13, 13:28 | X | ^ This | Reply
Went home for the weekend

Which was really boring but meant I read Slaughterhouse 5 for the first time, as well as No one Writes to the Colonel / Big Mama's Funeral by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Both good, I didn't realize Marquez had built up and reused Macondo in so much other stuff.

Spicer | 3 Apr '13, 13:47 | X | ^ This | Reply
Just finished Flann O'Brien - The Third Policeman

I read it a couple of years ago and much preferred it then I think. It's really funny in parts but the absurdity drags a little and the ending is far too obvious (that might be an anachronistic judgement though - maybe it wasn't a cliche back then). It's still great, just not as great as the first time.

Reading Brian Greene - The Fabric of the Cosmos now for a philosophy of science module. It's fascinating and really well-written. Exactly what pop science should be; accessible but not watered down.

brainfeedr | 3 Apr '13, 13:50 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Greene's a great science writer
  
  Excellent speaker, too. Would recommend to anyone looking to get into science.
  
  Stu_ @brainfeedr | 20 Apr '13, 15:28 | X | ^ This | Reply
reading Mason & Dixon now

Only about 60 pages in, but I'm finding the style quite alright to read, though it initially seems like it would be challenging. I like the narrative-within-a-narrative thing, too, which is a nice way of expressing the whole postmodern history is subjective message / idea.

Some really funny moments too so far (espcially the description of boredom at sea) and I look forward to reading on.

mute-branches | 3 Apr '13, 13:57 | X | ^ This | Reply
Graphic novel binge ahoy!

9. Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle
He's probably my new favourite comic book / graphic novel person. Love the style of his cartoons. A great way of communicating such a sad yet important topic.

10. Maus by Art Spiegelman
Ronseal really. What I said above.

11. Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle
I knew nothing about Burma before I read this. Now I know a little bit.

Might start some Joe Sacco next.

plasticniki | 16 Apr '13, 10:55 | X | ^ This | Reply
01. J.D. Bernal: The Sage Of Science by Andrew Brown
02. If This Is A Man/The Truce by Primo Levi
03: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
04: Mimesis & Alterity by Michael Taussig
05: Dreams Of A Final Theory by Steven Weinberg
06: A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace
07: Albert Angelo by B.S. Johnson
08: House Mother Normal by B.S. Johnson
09: Trawl by B.S. Johnson
10: Richard Yates by Tao Lin
11: Tenth Of December by George Saunders
12: Leviathan or, The Whale by Philip Hoare
13: Does God Play Dice? by Ian Stewart
14: Tripticks by Ann Quinn
15: Kuhn vs Popper by Simon Fuller
16: Disgusting Bliss: The Brass Eye of Chris Morris by Lucian Randall
17: Collected Stories by Lorrie Moore **ONGOING**
18: The Fractal Geometry of Nature by Benoit Mandelbrot
19: An Essay on Liberation by Herbert Marcuse

fuckyeahdubstep | 16 Apr '13, 11:41 | X | ^ This | Reply
- i'm going to read Steppenwolf next
  
  fuckyeahdubstep @fuckyeahdubstep | 16 Apr '13, 13:21 | X | ^ This | Reply
just read johnno by david malouf

all his books seem to be long descriptions of obtuse male friendships and australia but he's such a great writer that i don't mind

shrewbie | 16 Apr '13, 11:55 | X | ^ This | Reply
Uhg, just realised how little I've read this year.

Just books people have recommended/lent/bought for me:

1. What We All Long For -- Dionne Brand
2. Your Voice in My Head: A Memoir -- Emma Forrest
3. The Road -- Cormack McCarthy

Currently Reading:

4. Prague Winter -- Madeleine Albright

broomstick | 16 Apr '13, 12:07 | X | ^ This | Reply
Just starting Orlando by Woolf.

Any good?

iquitelikeradiohead | 16 Apr '13, 12:37 | X | ^ This | Reply
finished Grapes of Wrath last night.

what a sucker punch, not sure how i didn't see that coming, but given my past, i cried, possibly for the first time at a book. Feeling a bit fragile today as a result.

Probably start of Slaughterhouse 5 next, which i've been meaning to read for years, not read any Vonnegut before, but am looking forward to it.

chickenbones | 16 Apr '13, 13:01 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Read Timequake instead.
  
  wilykit @chickenbones | 16 Apr '13, 13:03 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - Lend me Timequake instead
    
    deadonthestairs @wilykit | 16 Apr '13, 13:08 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - You say this on the internet to seem like you're cool and read but
      
      then never chase it up.
      
      wilykit @deadonthestairs | 16 Apr '13, 13:12 | X | ^ This | Reply
      - Everyone on the Internet knows I'm not cool, you dick.
        
        deadonthestairs @wilykit | 16 Apr '13, 13:14 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        i can corroborate this statement
        
        chickenbones @deadonthestairs | 16 Apr '13, 13:30 | X | ^ This | Reply
      - haha
        
        no one cool reads you nerd
        
        chickenbones @wilykit | 16 Apr '13, 13:15 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        :(
        
        plasticniki @chickenbones | 16 Apr '13, 13:22 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        aprt from you obvs
        
        (NERD)
        
        chickenbones @plasticniki | 16 Apr '13, 13:24 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        Machine gun approach here from Cb. Nobodies safe.
        
        wilykit @chickenbones | 16 Apr '13, 13:31 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        i can corroborate this statement
        
        chickenbones @wilykit | 16 Apr '13, 13:36 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        Nobodies? In a thread about books ffs.
        
        wilykit @wilykit | 16 Apr '13, 13:38 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        chickenbones this'd this
  - don't have timequake
    
    have slaughterhouse 5.
    will read slaughterhouse 5.
    (don't lend timequake to dots)
    
    chickenbones @wilykit | 16 Apr '13, 13:12 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - Lend me Slaughterhouse 5
      
      deadonthestairs @chickenbones | 16 Apr '13, 13:16 | X | ^ This | Reply
      - nah
        
        will read slaughterhouse 5
        
        chickenbones @deadonthestairs | 16 Apr '13, 13:20 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - Love Timequake
    
    not sure it's the best place to start with Vonnegut though. I think getting to know him a bit first lends the sad bits a lot more weight.
    
    colossalhorse @wilykit | 16 Apr '13, 13:22 | X | ^ This | Reply
Woody Guthrie - House Of Earth

Martin Amis - Time's Arrow
Henry Miller - Tropic of Cancer

sunstroke_house | 16 Apr '13, 13:19 | X | ^ This | Reply
I've only read

The Savage Detectives by Bolano. Started in early January, finished the first 200 pages in about 2 pages then took about 4 months to finish the rest. Enjoyed it a lot, although it's hard to keep focused when it moves onto all these different people who you don't know.

Seize the Day by Saul Bellow-short but good. One of those writers who likes to describe the internal machinations of a character rather than externalize it.

Half way through Post Office by Bukowski. Everything he says about the work is absolutely true.

malick | 16 Apr '13, 13:40 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I'm having the exact same experience with The Savage Detectives
  
  Loved that first section but now it's started skipping through characters I'm finding it a much harder read.
  
  colossalhorse @malick | 16 Apr '13, 13:44 | X | ^ This | Reply
+ a few

all collections of poetry
Ahren Warner- 'Confer'- completely brilliant, really excited about him
Robin Robertson- 'Swithering'- patchily stunning
Matthew Welton- 'We needed coffee but...'- Interesting wordgames
Don Paterson- 'Rain'- better than Landing Light

I'd recommend any of them.

_TheBeautifulOnes_ | 16 Apr '13, 13:42 | X | ^ This | Reply
- oh and Richard Meier- 'Misadventure'
  
  This won the Picador Prize but I didn't think much of it at all.
  
  _TheBeautifulOnes_ @_TheBeautifulOnes_ | 16 Apr '13, 13:45 | X | ^ This | Reply
just finished wise children by angela carter

which was decent but by far the least interesting of hers i've read. now on italo calvino's if on a winter's night a traveler which is dead good and i'm speeding through it. also dipping into zadie smith's essay collection which is full of really great sharp thinking (with the exception of the jarring bit of stupid transphobia i just encountered)

tiramisu | 16 Apr '13, 16:40 | X | ^ This | Reply
Currently reading Nick Hornby - High Fidelity

Loved the movie then found out the book was based in Holloway (where I live) so had to give it a whirl.

I really struggled with Fahrenheit 451, the prose were overly thick and I just couldn't wriggle into it. I gave up on it half way through, frowned upon I know.

Ichor | 18 Apr '13, 13:06 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I'm not a fan of Farenheit 451 either.
  
  Which is odd given I usually love dystopian fiction.
  
  plasticniki @Ichor | 18 Apr '13, 13:08 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  Scout this'd this
  - Ditto.
    
    Just couldn't get into it. Have read some of his other work? Worth a pop?
    
    Ichor @plasticniki | 18 Apr '13, 13:18 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - I've not read anything else of his,
      
      though I'll probably give The Illustrated Man a go at some point. I might enjoy his short stories more.
      
      plasticniki @Ichor | 18 Apr '13, 13:25 | X | ^ This | Reply
1. The Continental Op - Dashiell Hammett

Good stuff, I love film noir so this collection of short stories from the father of the Private Detective was a great way to ease myself back into reading regularly.

2. New York Trilogy - Paul Auster

Loved it, thanks a lot to PlasticNiki for the recommendation, a set of detective stories which go a whole lot further than simple mysteries which need to be solved. Self-referential and meta with the mystery itself becoming increasingly unimportant as you read on. It reminded me a bit of a film called Providence insofar as it became more about the process of investigating and in turn writing about that process than it did about what was being investigated all coming from a series of unreliable narrators who's identities you're constantly questioning. It was absolutely brilliant.

I started The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao this morning purely as it was a book I already owned that kept coming up when I was putting together my Amazon wishlist of things I want to read. It seems good so far although I'm finding the constant footnotes are breaking my flow a bit, hopefully I settle into it soon.

Antpocalypsenow | 18 Apr '13, 13:14 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I was recommended the New York Trilogy on Tuesday.
  
  I've got it primed and waiting for after High Fidelity. I love noir/detective stories so I'm quite excited to give it a go. Goodreads (is anyone on that btw?) reviews seem to be a bit marmite.
  
  Ichor @Antpocalypsenow | 18 Apr '13, 13:20 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - I wouldn't describe it as noir at all really
    
    But it's certainly ostensibly a collection of detective stories, if someone had described the book in detail to me before I read it I probably wouldn't have bothered but I absolutely loved it.
    
    Antpocalypsenow @Ichor | 18 Apr '13, 13:23 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - Read it.
    
    It's one of those books I recommend to everybody.
    
    plasticniki @Ichor | 18 Apr '13, 13:24 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - It's already on my KOBO!
      
      It's getting done.
      
      Ichor @plasticniki | 18 Apr '13, 14:34 | X | ^ This | Reply
Just starting Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy

it's work bus reading so probably won't be done til september.

Jordan_229_2 | 18 Apr '13, 13:20 | X | ^ This | Reply
I've finally started Lanark

I've not read fiction for quite a long time so thought I'd find it a struggle but I'm really enjoying it so far.

Scout | 18 Apr '13, 16:04 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Lanark is amazing
  
  Some of his other stuff is great too, but nothing is as bewilderingly brilliant as Lanark.
  
  lyserge @Scout | 18 Apr '13, 18:12 | X | ^ This | Reply
Just finished the childhood of jesus by coetzee

predictably dry and odd, fucking amazing though

MrBones | 18 Apr '13, 16:06 | X | ^ This | Reply
Almost finished Decline and Fall - Evelyn Waugh

Then moving onto a birthday present - My Friend Leonard by James Frey. Read a million little pieces some time ago in about 3 days and instantly became one of my favs, I think about it frequently. Any other James Frey fans? I imagine he is a love him or hate him type writer.

we_blew_it | 18 Apr '13, 16:09 | X | ^ This | Reply
- *raises hand*
  
  Though, I've only read those 2 above (great) and The Final Testament of the Holy Bible, which is actually abysmal.
  
  plasticniki @we_blew_it | 18 Apr '13, 16:11 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - oh dear I was quite excited about Last Testament.
    
    we_blew_it @plasticniki | 18 Apr '13, 16:13 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - :D
      
      You should probably read it then. I dunno, to me it just sounded like a massive parody of himself. It was laugh-out-loud clichéd at some points.
      
      plasticniki @we_blew_it | 18 Apr '13, 16:23 | X | ^ This | Reply
Picked up Stephen King's On Writing over the weekend.

Having never gotten through one of his books (I found The Shining a chore when I first tried, I'm due another bash)I'm surprised how easy it is to read. Very personal style and very interesting.

I need to stop buying books before I finish other ones.

Ichor | 22 Apr '13, 10:40 | X | ^ This | Reply
somebody recommend me something to read

something modern, existential, labyrinthine and maybe a bit scifi
anything?

ethricdouble | 23 Apr '13, 11:10 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Not really labyrinthine, but Childhood of Jesus ticks most of the other boxes ....
  
  MrBones @ethricdouble | 23 Apr '13, 11:13 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - nice, sounds interesting
    
    ethricdouble @MrBones | 23 Apr '13, 11:17 | X | ^ This | Reply
- how modern?
  
  ohgood @ethricdouble | 23 Apr '13, 11:41 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - from the past 30 years ish?
    
    ethricdouble @ohgood | 23 Apr '13, 11:53 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Tech Wars
  
  Royter-Hatfood @ethricdouble | 23 Apr '13, 11:54 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  ohgood this'd this
  - I believe it's 'TekWar' though
    
    so now you look silly
    
    ohgood @Royter-Hatfood | 23 Apr '13, 11:58 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - It was a trap
      
      and YOU fell for it
      
      Royter-Hatfood @ohgood | 23 Apr '13, 12:10 | X | ^ This | Reply
      - uh oh, now everyone will know that I have bothered to remember how to spell 'TekWar'.
        
        I hope potential employers don't find this
        
        ohgood @Royter-Hatfood | 23 Apr '13, 12:19 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - sounds good
      
      just ordered five copies, thanks!
      
      ethricdouble @ohgood | 23 Apr '13, 12:24 | X | ^ This | Reply
      
      Royter-Hatfood this'd this
another Q

has anyone read don delillo's underworld?

ethricdouble | 23 Apr '13, 11:25 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I have. It is pretty great.
  
  But I would put in behind White Noise and possibly Libra as his best.
  
  MrBones @ethricdouble | 23 Apr '13, 11:35 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - will be my first
    
    looking forward to it
    
    ethricdouble @MrBones | 23 Apr '13, 12:00 | X | ^ This | Reply
- yes
  
  it is magnificent.
  
  couldbebrianmay @ethricdouble | 23 Apr '13, 12:01 | X | ^ This | Reply
- read just over half
  
  some of it's great but it got really tedious and I had to give up
  
  not his best, by far
  
  anal_schwarzenegger @ethricdouble | 24 Apr '13, 16:32 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - i'm loving it so far
    
    only 200 pages in but still really digging it
    
    ethricdouble @anal_schwarzenegger | 3 May '13, 19:50 | X | ^ This | Reply
Has anyone read any Ozick and if so could you recommend me a good starting point?

wilykit | 23 Apr '13, 11:37 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Only read Bear Boy
  
  Liked it.
  
  Sorry not much use.
  
  MrBones @wilykit | 23 Apr '13, 11:41 | X | ^ This | Reply
Many recommendations from DiS...

Infinite Jest - last hundred or so pages as started it end of last year. One of the best things I've ever read. Is the Pale King worth reading even though it's unfinished?
Grapes of Wrath - Great but much prefer East of Eden. Hell of an ending.
Andrew Marr's History of the World - Was alright.
The Kindly Ones - Intense. Watched The Pianist recently and I thought that the German officer at the end of the film could in some way be Aue from the book...
Manhood for Amaters - Really like Chabon so this was a pleasure to read. Due to become a dad later this year so this was my alternative to reading some self-help guide to being a parent.
Currently reading Underworld by DeLillo. Excellent so far.

Le-Roy | 23 Apr '13, 12:23 | X | ^ This | Reply
1. Brief Interviews with Hideous Men - David Foster Wallace

Beautifully written short stories, predictably meta and brain-rattlingly complex in its execution at times but largely the most plainly enjoyable short story collection I’ve ever read (although the Angel Esmerelda looks promising...).

2. Our Band Could Be Your Life - Michal Azzerad

Totally propulsive, each profile as fascinating as the last. I suppose I’d always found the DIY message the book seemed to hinge on to be slightly hackneyed. I was wrong, it’s a treat.

3. Delta of Venus - Anaïs Nin

Kind of sad that she wrote these stories for a stuffy old dude with too much money. It’s neatly written but as much as they stretch the parameters of sexy storytelling the whole run does get sort of derivative after a while.

3. The Road - Cormac McCarthy

I mean, at risk of totally missing the point I found the prose kind of dull after reading DFW. It’s a unique sort of love story between the father and son, and the post-apocalyptic world was convincing, and the dialogue had a charm, but it’s a difficult book to fall in love with, I think.

4. This Book is Broken: A Broken Social Scene Story - Stuart Berman

Mostly read to buttress a review but it’s a pretty engrossing thing, if you’re into the more recent developments in Canadian music. It’s mostly told in the words of the key figures in Arts & Crafts, so you get a nice view of the whole scene and it’s covered pretty exhaustively.

5. But Beautiful: A Book About Jazz - Geoff Dyer

Probably my favourite music book. Profiles of 8 mid-century jazz musicians (Lester Young, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell etc) told in a jazzy prose style, and presented as sort of fictional novellas - the facts are muddled into imagined, revealing narratives about the artist, usually focussing on a short period to elucidate a greater truth about the trajectory of their lives.

6. Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle

Not sure what to say. Sherlock Holmes innit.

7. The Fall - Albert Camus

Enjoyed it, although I read it in one sitting and was a bit sickly so might’ve missed some of the subtleties. Vaguely fascinating series of anecdotes that gradually turns into a man’s moral and existential examination of himself and society and that. Not sure I fully understood it, tbh.

8. Cosmopolis - Don Delillo

Disappointed, as White Noise totally blew my mind and this just sort of wiggled it a bit. It’s set in 2000, written in 2003, but seems to be set on an Earth slightly different to this one, a billionaire watching fetishistically from his limousine’s sunroof as capitalism begins to crumble and somehow fuck with time in some way. It didn’t bother me that the protagonist isn’t likable, more that the dialogue and reactions lack the compassion and subtle paranoia of White Noise.

9. Portraits and Encounters - Gay Talese

Recommended for any journalist, or writer, really. Predominantly in the ’60s the guy was a New York Times and Esquire writer who specialised in detailed, new journalism-style portraits of aging super-celebrities, told in the style of Fitzgerald short stories. Frank Sinatra has a Cold is the classic, a brilliant portrait constructed from observations of the man and interviews with those around him, but there’s a bunch more of a similar standard - Joe DiMaggio, a few boxers, and perhaps the best one is on the New York Times obituary writer, an endlessly sad and fascinating old man who spends his life predicting who’s going to die next.

whatisthewhat | 23 Apr '13, 18:04 | X | ^ This | Reply
- That Jazz one sounds amazing.
  
  It's on my Goodreads now!
  
  Ichor @whatisthewhat | 24 Apr '13, 13:56 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - SO GOOD man.
    
    Apparently the author started out planning to write a more traditional jazz book but felt like he was betraying the spirit of music or something by writing conventionally. He totally pulls it off, and I went in as a massive jazz amateur.
    
    whatisthewhat @Ichor | 24 Apr '13, 15:39 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - Well that is me sold. I'll buy it on pay day.
      
      Ichor @whatisthewhat | 29 Apr '13, 14:51 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - Half way through this jazz book now, really enjoying it.
      
      The prose are a little purple but I think it suits the subject matter.
      
      Ichor @whatisthewhat | 20 May '13, 17:13 | X | ^ This | Reply
finished slaughterhouse 5 yesterday

really really enjoyed it. Where next with Vonnegut (timequake, wilykit?)?

chickenbones | 24 Apr '13, 08:59 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I'd recommend Cat's Cradle next
  
  colossalhorse @chickenbones | 24 Apr '13, 09:48 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  TheBeautifulOnes_ and badmanreturns this'd this
- Timequake. It's his best book.
  
  wilykit @chickenbones | 24 Apr '13, 09:54 | X | ^ This | Reply
- I've only read Slaughterhouse 5
  
  and Breakfast of Champions. They were both excellent. I need to read more Vonnegut.
  
  plasticniki @chickenbones | 24 Apr '13, 11:51 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/social/4424375#r7468371
    
    wilykit @plasticniki | 24 Apr '13, 11:57 | X | ^ This | Reply
- a good sort of companion, I guess, would be Mother Night
  
  it's all about Howard W. Campbell, Jr. (who is mentioned briefly in Slaughterhouse-Five), and really interestingly deals with themes of identity (and the subjective perception of it), truth (and the subjective perception of it), and stuff like that (and the subjective perception of stuff like that)
  
  mute-branches @chickenbones | 24 Apr '13, 12:51 | X | ^ This | Reply
Reading Tristram Shandy, it's pretty difficult to follow but despite that I'm really enjoying it.

wilykit | 24 Apr '13, 10:55 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Reminds me a lot of Candide, kind of, which is one of my favourite books.
  
  wilykit @wilykit | 24 Apr '13, 10:57 | X | ^ This | Reply
+1

William Morris- News from Nowhere

Best book I've read all year. Absolutely loved it. It's been ages since I read any utopian/dystopian fiction so I think I'll go back to Island and Cat's Cradle for a while. I used to read that sort of thing pretty much exclusively.

TheBeautifulOnes_ | 24 Apr '13, 15:42 | X | ^ This | Reply
12. Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli.

Incredible graphic novel.

I'm reading The Art of Fielding at the moment which is absolutely fantastic.

plasticniki | 24 Apr '13, 15:44 | X | ^ This | Reply
3. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

I liked this a lot once I got my head around the format, footnotes and some of the spanish phrasing I had no concept of. I've always wondered why people are so fascinated by tracing their family trees and that sort of thing but this book really gave me a great sense of understanding what can be gained by knowing your own background. I loved the way it spanned eras and how it felt like short stories at times but all of it added up to a great collective whole.

Started The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay this morning. I have high hopes for it.

Antpocalypsenow | 29 Apr '13, 13:39 | X | ^ This | Reply
- SUCH. A. GOOD. BOOK.
  
  That I typed that in capitals and put a full stop after every word to emphasise my point.
  
  chickenbones @Antpocalypsenow | 3 May '13, 19:36 | X | ^ This | Reply
just finished leviathan by paul auster

Only the second of his I've read but I think I <3 him.

chickenbones | 3 May '13, 19:39 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Yay.
  
  Another Auster convert!
  
  plasticniki @chickenbones | 7 May '13, 14:21 | X | ^ This | Reply
Just finished Crime and Punishment

Now I'm reading I, Claudius

Sibley | 3 May '13, 19:44 | X | ^ This | Reply
can i come in?

1. the hotel new hampshire by john irving
2. to kill a mockingbird by harper lee
3. the third man by graham greene
4. i know why the caged bird sings by maya angelou
5. until i find you by john irving
6. now i'm reading freedom by jonathan franzen.

john irving is good, but what's his deal with incest, huh?

also still meandering through the tin drum in german, but i'm finding it so much more depressing the second time around. why is that? is it a depressing book? i went a bit off gunter grass after that whole sueddeutsche zeitung thing, ergh.

haven't read enough of freedom to make a judgment yet.

ghostpony | 3 May '13, 19:53 | X | ^ This | Reply
13. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

Absolutely brilliant 10/10 book for me. Loved it. I wanna go watch some baseball now please.

plasticniki | 7 May '13, 13:56 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Really liked that book last year - just my kind of thing.
  
  Thought Harbach started to lose it at the end but I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.
  
  hip_young_gunslinger @plasticniki | 7 May '13, 19:48 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - any recommendations for owt similar?
    
    plasticniki @hip_young_gunslinger | 7 May '13, 20:32 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - I guess Jonathan Franzen is the closest touch stone - Corrections and Freedom.
      
      And Jeffrey Eugenedies - Virgin Suicides, Middlesex and The Marriage Plot. Sorry these are all really obvious but you won't regret reading them!
      
      On a sporting tangent, Kitchmo recommended Moneyball as a good book which is obviously all about baseball, and if you like Friday Night Lights at all, the book is brilliant.
      
      hip_young_gunslinger @plasticniki | 7 May '13, 21:10 | X | ^ This | Reply
Just finished Neverwhere

other recent reads

- Discordia by Laurie Penny & Molly Crabapple
- Software and Wetware by Rudy Rucker

Now just started Tristram Shandy (the Visual Editions version, which is beautiful: http://www.visual-editions.com/our-books/tristram-shandy )

lyserge | 7 May '13, 14:20 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Loved Neverwhere.
  
  Ichor @lyserge | 20 May '13, 17:12 | X | ^ This | Reply
Hadn't read any books this year when I first saw this thread.

Took that as a motivation to READ MORE BOOKS.
I have now read:
- John Steinbeck - East of Eden
- Bret Easton Ellis - American Psycho
- BS Johnson - Christie Malry's Own Double Entry
- Kurt Vonnegut - Cat's Cradle
And a whole load of sciency/non-fiction books I can't really remember. I think I have read a couple of other novels this year actually.

Oissin_ | 7 May '13, 19:54 | X | ^ This | Reply
+1

Troilus and Cressida by Billy S. It's a set exam text, but it's obviously really great anyway.

TheBeautifulOnes_ | 7 May '13, 20:37 | X | ^ This | Reply
more

10. Metamorphosis and other stories - Kafka
11. Lolita - VladNab
12. Memories of My Melancholy Whores - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
13. Glory - VladNab
14. Chronicle of a Death Foretold - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
15. Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
16. Nausea - Jean Paul Sartre

Those Gabriel Garcia Marquez ones are all novellas (like 100 pages each), I'd previously written him off after getting bored about half way into 100 years of solitude, but these were really great so maybe I'll give it another go...

Think Nabokov is now my favourite writer - can't get enough of him at the moment, might go with Pale Fire next - that looks good.

Also was pretty ill with a fever when I read metamorphosis, which kind of added to it I think - I kept waking up all confused and delirious convinced I was living out the story.

Wasted_Opportunity | 7 May '13, 20:50 | X | ^ This | Reply
Bit late to be jumping in on this thread but it should be a good motivator

1. Joseph Conrad - The Secret Agent,
Genuinely funny comedy about pre-WWI anarchists, early terrorism and spies. Got some very profound bits in it about human fear and whatnot, as well as an interesting family drama.

2. Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness
Read across one day, and it's just as good as everyone always said. Spent ages afterwards lying in bed thinking about it like any good book. Easy read, would recommend to all.

rainmaker | 20 May '13, 17:13 | X | ^ This | Reply
01. J.D. Bernal: The Sage Of Science by Andrew Brown
02. If This Is A Man/The Truce by Primo Levi
03: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
04: Mimesis & Alterity by Michael Taussig
05: Dreams Of A Final Theory by Steven Weinberg
06: A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace
07: Albert Angelo by B.S. Johnson
08: House Mother Normal by B.S. Johnson
09: Trawl by B.S. Johnson
10: Richard Yates by Tao Lin
11: Tenth Of December by George Saunders
12: Leviathan or, The Whale by Philip Hoare
13: Does God Play Dice? by Ian Stewart
14: Tripticks by Ann Quinn
15: Kuhn vs Popper by Simon Fuller
16: Disgusting Bliss: The Brass Eye of Chris Morris by Lucian Randall
17: Collected Stories by Lorrie Moore **ONGOING**
18: The Fractal Geometry of Nature by Benoit Mandelbrot
19: An Essay on Liberation by Herbert Marcuse
20: Poems by B.S. Johnson
21: Deciphering The Cosmic Number by Arthur I. Miller
22: Aren't You Rather Young To Be Writing Your Memoirs by B.S. Johnson
23: The Urban Guerilla Concept by Red Army Faction
24: After The Future by Franco "Bifo" Berardi

fuckyeahdubstep | 20 May '13, 17:16 | X | ^ This | Reply
Read Out of Sight in a day last week

Can't remember the last time I read a book in a day. Enjoyed it. Obviously.

Not seen the film but stuck it straight on my LoveFilm list as high priority.
Anyway, what are the best Elmore Leonard adaptations? Get Shorty? Jackie Brown? Out of Sight? 3:10 to Yuma?

AcceptanceIII | 21 May '13, 11:27 | X | ^ This | Reply
Just finished Blindness

which was a great story but I didn't like the style of writing, and it was very obviously a translation, but scary stuff.

Started on The Wasp Factory, not enjoying that much right now though.

Scout | 21 May '13, 11:59 | X | ^ This | Reply

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