The Book Thread [Archive] - N-Europe Forums

Oxigen_Waste

26-11-2007, 12:37 AM

Good thread!

I'd love to read a few more books, other than textbooks and journals. But instead I lurk on Nintendo forums..!

Would you recommend Hemingway?

Hemingway? Well... The old man and the sea is always great. It's so easy to read, as it's fairly short. Start from there... if you like it, try "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and be surpised. :D

We had a book thread but alas, it is lost to the depths of where ever the old threads go!

My recently read favorite book of all time is Dune. Its fantastic. I prefer its writing style to Lord of The Rings. At the moment I'm making my way through its sequel, Dune: Messiah, but uni work has forced me to put it down. I'll pick it up again in Xmas hols!!

I've already promised myself... it's the last fantasy book I'll read. And I have them all at hand.

as resident English sudent supremo, i expect you to treat my opinion in this thread as law.

with that in mind, I'd recomend Philip Roth to anyone- he's an American Jewish writer with a taste for the emotionally brutal, political end of the spectrum with a talent for intensity and intricate character portraits. my favourite author.

I loved American Pastoral.. but as you may imagine, it was the only thing I read by him, as many... =/

As for favourite author... I'd have to say Haruki Murakami. He's a fucking genious.

Supergrunch

26-11-2007, 12:39 AM

As for favourite author... I'd have to say Haruki Murakami. He's a fucking genious.
Have you read After Dark yet? I very much enjoyed its cinematic style, it was one of the most gripping books I've read... ever.

LazyBoy

26-11-2007, 12:42 AM

I've just finished Crime and Punishment, which was naturally incredible. I'd recommend it to Death Note fans first funnily enough because it provides the same kind of entertainment.

I've read 3 out of the 4 books of Hitchikers guide to the Galaxy, which is absolutly hilarious, and i'm taking a break before the final book. I never saw the movie so this is all new.

At the moment i'm reading Bill Bryson's "The lost Continent", since i've spent a lot of time in the areas he covers and its interesting to see what he says. Funny book, but on a deeper context it provides a nice account of how America has changed in the last 50 years. Nice book, easy to read.

with that in mind, I'd recomend Philip Roth to anyone- he's an American Jewish writer with a taste for the emotionally brutal, political end of the spectrum with a talent for intensity and intricate character portraits. my favourite author.

Would you recommend any book in particular?

Oxigen_Waste

26-11-2007, 01:30 AM

Have you read After Dark yet? I very much enjoyed its cinematic style, it was one of the most gripping books I've read... ever.

Yes, I have. It's near perfect... BUT, as far as I live, my favourite Murakami book will be Hard-Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World.

Cube

26-11-2007, 02:28 AM

I don't read tonnes of books, but when I do they're usually from Michael Crichton - I haven't read a bad one from him.

EEVILMURRAY

26-11-2007, 03:54 AM

At present I can't have time to read recreationally in such a fashion. I've got too much textbooks and academic reading raping my literature senses. Tis technically all on videogames for my dissertation, so that makes it more bearable.

I'll go into books I have later, but I noticed a coupla days ago the new book from Al Murray, and I instantly fell in love with it the moment I saw a picture of Issac Newton with the word "Lightweight" written over it. Has anyone given it a proper read yet?

Iun

26-11-2007, 04:43 AM

I strongly urge people to pick up Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K Jerome, it's hilarious. There are a number of great classics to be read, check out the back of your Penguin book and try titles like "The Prisoner of Zenda" and "King Soloman's Mines". Also, the Barsetshire Chronicles are worthy of a read, and if you've never read Hardy, try at least one. And of course, you are almost legally required to read Treausre Island.

By the way, does anyone remember/know a book about a group of children who meet a man living in the forest, and the guy is in a cave covered over by vines or something...? Sorry to be vague, but this I remember from my childhood. I thought it was The Children of the New Forest, which I picked up recently, and it wasn't. Still, I'd recommend that one too.

Dan Dare

26-11-2007, 07:18 AM

Would you recommend any book in particular?

Oxigen already mentioned American Pastoral, which is a particularly great one- it's about how one man is destroyed by his faith in the American Dream when his life makes it impossible to follow. Really good stuff.

It's also part of a trilogy of novels including I married a communist and The Human Stain which, again deal with self/social destruction in America, taking the themes of Macarthy era witch hunts and racism respectively. Both ace books.

he's also done some stranger books- Portnoirs complaint is like a 250 page jewish sex joke and it's just hilarious. I've also read The Plot Against America which imagines the pilot of the spirit of st louis gets elected President in 1940- as a far right anti Semite, America never joins WW2 and jews start becoming an abused minority.
Also worth a curiosity is Everyman which is a biography of a man told through the significant medical events of his life. quite interesting

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

26-11-2007, 10:37 AM

I'm reading Will you please be quiet, please! by Raymond Carver at the moment, along with about 50 other books. It's... interesting, and the plain style is sort of refreshing.

Two of my favourite authors are David Mitchell and Haruki Murakami.

David mitchell is ace :) Love his explorative narrative style. I've only read Cloud Atlas (awesome) and number9dream (awesome), I think I have Black Swan Green in a pile somewhere, but I've not invested in Ghostwriter (isn't it? or ghostwritten). How do they fare.

Iun; I'm currently reading Three Men In A Boat in small chunks and it's quite good! Fairly timeless observations.

Also started Jack Kerouac's On The Road, but my course and my laziness means my reading's been going slow. If any of you have facebook, there's this application which is called Visual Bookshelf (http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2481647302&ref=s) and it's a neat way to show off what you've read and what you're reading, and what you want to read.

I would whole-heartedly recommend The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Neffenegger (spellingwtf) to everyone and anyone.

A Million Little Pieces by James Fray has one of very, very few scenes in it which made me wince. Good stuff. I think that's his name, anyway.

Not really appropriate to make a seperate topic about this i guess, and seeing as a couple of Hemmingway's semi-short stories have been mentioned already, do many people on here read short stories? What do you enjoy?

I've just finished Crime and Punishment, which was naturally incredible. I'd recommend it to Death Note fans first funnily enough because it provides the same kind of entertainment.

Have you read any othe Dostoevsky? I've got The Idiot Sitting here, having read about ten pages of it sometime in summer and I couldn't get into it. I've got Crime and Punishment (saw it for 20p, how could anyone not buy it?) and not read that either.

I've seriously got a shelf of books i brought with me to uni that I hadn't read, and another twenty sitting on the floor by my door that I got mostly from charity shops that I've always wanted to read.

Daft

26-11-2007, 10:43 AM

Supergrunch

26-11-2007, 10:47 AM

David mitchell is ace :) Love his explorative narrative style. I've only read Cloud Atlas (awesome) and number9dream (awesome), I think I have Black Swan Green in a pile somewhere, but I've not invested in Ghostwriter (isn't it? or ghostwritten). How do they fare.
Well, if I were to rank his books, then I'd probably say Ghostwritten > Cloud Atlas > Black Swan Green > number9dream, though they're all brilliant. Ghostwritten is by far the most complicated, and has a sort of superstory running above the invidividual parts that you have to infer... I had to read it three times to fully understand it. Cloud Atlas was about manipulation, whereas Ghostwritten is more about chance - how individual people can alter the course of events, and how random occurences can change your life for ever. It's a beautiful book that works on multiple levels, an I recommend everyone here read it. And then read it again, and possibly again.

Black Swan Green is an interesting one, it's more traditional than the rest of Mitchell's books, but still somehow feels the same. Like number9dream, it's very much a Bildungsroman, only this time one that is semi autobiographical. There are still clever connections, and the book will no doubt yield more when I get around to reading it a second time.

Dan Dare

26-11-2007, 10:54 AM

Any William Gibson fans? Cyber Punk pioneers ftw

Daft

26-11-2007, 11:03 AM

Any William Gibson fans? Cyber Punk pioneers ftw

I saw him a couple months ago give a reading of his latest book Spook Country but I haven't actually read any of them. Neuromancer is just one of those book I forget I want to read until I'm half way through another book. :(

Dan Dare

26-11-2007, 11:16 AM

aw you really should. it's proper awesome'

The sky was the colour of a television set tuned to nothingness

he's such a good writer :)

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

26-11-2007, 11:17 AM

The best short stories I've read are from Hunter S Thompson's Happy Birthday Jack Nicholson. It is hands down the funniest book I've read, no contest.

I've also read Hell's Angels by HST and I recommend that to everyone. Its a great read, I just couldn't put it down. And of course Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a great read which also has a pretty good film adaptation with Johnny Depp.
Yeah i've read Happy Birthday Jack Nicholson, it's mental to think HST actually did that to poor Jack. I got it for 99p from Penguin's 75th anniversary celebration of something or other, where they had 75 pieces of work from different authors, either a single story or a collection of them. I got about six of them but lost a few more.

LazyBoy

26-11-2007, 11:29 AM

Have you read any othe Dostoevsky? I've got The Idiot Sitting here, having read about ten pages of it sometime in summer and I couldn't get into it. I've got Crime and Punishment (saw it for 20p, how could anyone not buy it?) and not read that either.

I haven't yet, though I plan to. Taking a break from the heavy going Russian Novels for a bit (it takes its tole on your brain). However my Dad has read it and recommends it highly.

From what he has told me, and I know having read C&P, his stuff his nigh on impossible to get into, but once you're in, you're in. I think it took me 6 months to read the first 50 pages, then I read 400 in 3 days. This power play he devolps is just incredible, and you're hooked. I think it is No.3 for me (I like to rank my books).

Supergrunch

26-11-2007, 11:50 AM

I'm reading The Idiot, it's intriguing. I've put it on hold at the moment, but I'll continue soon. Prince Myshkin is great.

Haver

26-11-2007, 12:22 PM

Half-way through Martin Amis's The Information. That is my bed-read, my coffee-shop-read. He is our best novelist I think. Also three-quarters through Sons and Lovers, which I think I will read once a year if I can.

Also on the desk: John Worthen's D.H. Lawrence biography, Christopher Hitchens's Regime Change (which I have read twice but keep around for reference) and Martin Amis's Visiting Mrs Nabokov and Other Excursions (my bus-read).

Amis's London Fields and Saul Bellow's The Adventures of Augie March are on the TV.

I am more excited about London Fields than anything else I must admit. Amis stays in the mouth like toothpaste: hard to read anything else for a while. Next I want to get into J.G. Ballard, read him for a bit. Then maybe Norman Mailer, and Kafka.

I only have Notes From The Underground from Dostoevsky. I felt it quite hard but it is fatty. Must read The Brothers Karamasov soon.

Also: I can't not think of Brent when I read Dostoevsky.

Double Also: Is the HST story the one with the Elk heart?

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

26-11-2007, 02:27 PM

Double Also: Is the HST story the one with the Elk heart?

Yup :)

I've only read Money by ol' Amis Jr. I think I read the beginning of another of his books but it didn't seem as gripping as Money. Which ones do you recommend?

Daft

26-11-2007, 02:38 PM

aw you really should. it's proper awesome'

The sky was the colour of a television set tuned to nothingness

he's such a good writer :)

I know, I know! I will make an effort to start it after Dune Messiah. I'm half way through and its not very long so it looks promising!

Yeah i've read Happy Birthday Jack Nicholson, it's mental to think HST actually did that to poor Jack. I got it for 99p from Penguin's 75th anniversary celebration of something or other, where they had 75 pieces of work from different authors, either a single story or a collection of them. I got about six of them but lost a few more.

That whole collection is great! I've got loads of them, because my big sis works at Penguin, and they are fantastic. Try The Country of the Blind by H.G. Wells if you haven't yet.

Talking about getting free books I get off my sister :heh: Has anyone read Chess by Stefan Zweig? Its a fantastic book, definitely one of my favorite three books ever. You don't have to like chess to enjoy it but its an amazing read. Not surprisingly, it really got me interested in chess.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/paradorlounge/9780141023373.jpg

The Bard

26-11-2007, 05:19 PM

I'm currently reading through The Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin. I'm loving it, most of the poems are really really great, too bad that poem that gives it's name to the compilation is a bit shit.

Alsoooo...currently reading The Spire. It's one of the most densely written books I've ever read. I've found new stuff reading through chapters multiple times. It's very good. Golding is phat yo.

ipaul

26-11-2007, 05:22 PM

The last book I read through was American Psycho, I thought it was very good even if the story was very loose. That was a while ago though, I need a new book to read now =/

The Bard

26-11-2007, 05:22 PM

I only have Notes From The Underground from Dostoevsky. I felt it quite hard but it is fatty. Must read The Brothers Karamasov soon.

Also: I can't not think of Brent when I read Dostoevsky.

Double Also: Is the HST story the one with the Elk heart?

Most of his books are quite "fatty," or so I've heard, I've only read through Crime and Punishment, but after the first hundred and fifty pages or so...it's like three hundred of him declaring his guilt over and over. Loved the book though.

Haver

26-11-2007, 05:33 PM

Yup :)

I've only read Money by ol' Amis Jr. I think I read the beginning of another of his books but it didn't seem as gripping as Money. Which ones do you recommend?

I can only recommend The Information and Visiting Mrs. Nabokov. London Fields will get read after TI. And Money is Out at the library so I will have to wait for that.

I will probably buy Yellow Dog/The Rachel Papers/Koba the Dread to read over Christmas.

Whoever asked about Hemingway: I would start with The Sun Also Rises. It's a good access point.

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

26-11-2007, 05:36 PM

That whole collection is great! I've got loads of them, because my big sis works at Penguin, and they are fantastic. Try The Country of the Blind by H.G. Wells if you haven't yet.
I can't find them anymore. I used to get one every time I went to leeds to see my now ex-girlfriend :(

Talking about getting free books I get off my sister :heh: Has anyone read Chess by Stefan Zweig? Its a fantastic book, definitely one of my favorite three books ever. You don't have to like chess to enjoy it but its an amazing read. Not surprisingly, it really got me interested in chess.

My dad told me something about that book. I'm already into chess, so I'll definitely look into it.

Daniel

26-11-2007, 06:23 PM

the last thread like this suggested i read the dark tower series, which i did, and loved :) so whats next...

Coolness Bears

26-11-2007, 06:30 PM

The last book i read was Slaughterhouse 5 which was an excellent read. :)

I'm currently reading Mister Pip which is a very interesting read, it was on the shortlist for this years man booker prize. :D

Daft

26-11-2007, 07:15 PM

the last thread like this suggested i read the dark tower series, which i did, and loved :) so whats next...

Read Dune.

I can't find them anymore. I used to get one every time I went to leeds to see my now ex-girlfriend :(

I've given my sister the task of finding me one of these for Xmas. You can find different editions of the stories if you really want, but these were so convenient...and cheap!

My dad told me something about that book. I'm already into chess, so I'll definitely look into it.

Its a great read. I think I might go and read it again actually! :heh:

Cube

26-11-2007, 07:57 PM

I'm currently reading Airframe by Michael Crichton. While I don't realy care about the mechanics of Aeroplanes, it's still drawing me in. Great book so far.

Mr_Odwin

27-11-2007, 09:38 AM

Lots of heavy reading going on round these parts it seems. I can't read heavy books, they just don't interest me. I tend to go for either books that are funny, or that are in the "Teenage Fantasy" section of Waterstones. But, as loser-ish as that sounds, there's some nice stuff in there.
That's where Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, etc can be found.

I'm currently reading Lirael. It's alright, but it's not gripping.

somme

27-11-2007, 02:50 PM

I'm reading

Russell Brand - My Booky Wook.

It's good.

KKOB

27-11-2007, 03:03 PM

http://trashotron.com/agony/images/2003/03-columns/06-19-03/pullman-northern_lights-uk.jpg

I'm re-reading Nothern Lights in time for the film which comes out in a couple weeks :D:D:D

Wooooooooooooo!!

This book is awesome! Just thought i'd get that out there for those of you who are too busy living under a koopa shell to have heard about it.

Mr_Odwin

27-11-2007, 03:09 PM

I've read 3 out of the 4 books of Hitchikers guide to the Galaxy, which is absolutly hilarious, and i'm taking a break before the final book. I never saw the movie so this is all new.

Forgot to say this earlier; there are five hitchhiker books. The fifth is called Mostly Harmless (and is much better than the very average fourth).

The Bard

27-11-2007, 03:15 PM

I'm re-reading Nothern Lights in time for the film which comes out in a couple weeks :D:D:D

Wooooooooooooo!!

This book is awesome! Just thought i'd get that out there for those of you who are too busy living under a koopa shell to have heard about it.

Jesus, that is an amazing book, but I'm pretty much certain that the film is going to taint it's image forever.

Mr_Odwin

27-11-2007, 03:18 PM

Jesus, that is an amazing book, but I'm pretty much certain that the film is going to taint it's image forever.

It is a great book, and the film probably won't follow the books exactly. However, the cool thing is that it'll probably get more people to read the series.

Supergrunch

27-11-2007, 03:39 PM

Oxigen_Waste

30-11-2007, 04:35 AM

Am I the only one who's hyped to see Northen Lights despite knowing it won't live uo to the movie? :S

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

30-11-2007, 10:17 AM

Am I the only one who's hyped to see Northen Lights despite knowing it won't live uo to the movie? :S

nope :P

It's been a few years since I read the books so the film can be viewed as a film, too.

Shorty just gave me a bunch of books that he rates highly, and would mention if he came in here;

Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland
Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Snow Falling on Cedars David Guterson
Atonement by Ian McEwan. Only read the Cement Garden by Mcewan before.

can't remember if I mentioned The Secret History by Donna Tartt, but that's another of the books he recommended me before and it was a good read.

Supergrunch

30-11-2007, 10:18 AM

Atonement is one of the books I'm reading at the moment... I'd like to finish it before seeing the film.

MindFreak

30-11-2007, 10:22 AM

I'm reading a book at the moment, it's really good! If you're into Harry Potter or fantasy in general, read this trilogy by Trudi Canavan: "The Black Magician" consisting of "The Magicians' Guild", "The Novice", and "The High Lord". They are really great, although they could have been written a little better, in my opinion. The story is cool, but it's the characters that really make these books readable. The character development and the way they behave is really compelling, you just want to read on because you want to know what happens to them!
In the first book, there is not much action, but it's still a bit thrilling. The action comes in the second book, though.

Just read it!

Ah, I love Northern Lights, the series is fantastic! I am just sad that they have made them into films now. I don't like them doing that to books. *sigh*

The Bard

30-11-2007, 11:45 AM

I'm having to re-bloody-read Heart of Darkness for university interviews. Damnit, that book is only like a hundred pages, but it's like wading through treacle. Doesn't mean I love it any less though :)

Fierce_LiNk

30-11-2007, 12:42 PM

We're reading books based on the Holocaust for my course at the moment.

So, books like Maus (graphic novel) by Art Spiegalman.
Austerlitz, by Sebald. Which is a chore to read. There's one section which features an 11 page sentence.
And If This Is A Man by Primo Levi.

We're also reading Wide Sargasso Sea, which is pretty decent, as well. Not far into it yet, so hoping it gets better.

Daft

30-11-2007, 04:46 PM

Maus is fantastic!! Everyone should read it.

Fierce_LiNk

30-11-2007, 05:21 PM

It really is! Definitely had loads of enjoyment reading it. :)

I definitely recommend, even if you're not an avid reader, which I am not.

Haver

03-12-2007, 01:10 PM

I bought Money (Amis) and Ian McEwan's Saturday for the Christmas break.

Also a '57 Pelican copy of The Mentality of Apes because it had an awesome bookmark in it advertising a bookshop called 'Bumpus', opening on Baker Street in November 1958.

Oxigen_Waste

27-12-2007, 05:22 PM

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/c1/c5624.jpg

+

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/c1/c5625.jpg

So that's all six books in two.

Can anyone tell me if the ones written by Frank Herbert's son after FH's death to give the story closure are any good? Same with the prequels please...

So... herm... anyone know?

ipaul

09-01-2008, 07:44 PM

I recently finished reading Morvern Callar, found it quite entertaining - 7/10.

Cube

09-01-2008, 07:45 PM

I recently re-read His Dark Materials. Awesome books.

Supergrunch

09-01-2008, 08:18 PM

I read Atonement... It was brilliant, I give it 9/10. I have yet to see the film.

Currently reading Heart of Darkness, The Stuff of Thought, and Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go. (again)

DomJcg

09-01-2008, 08:18 PM

<3 maus, weirdly awesome

And lirael is the best of the trilogy in in my opinion, second is sabriel and sadly the worst is Abhorsen.

Hellfire

09-01-2008, 09:02 PM

I'm reading Star Wars- Path of Destruction and I'm really liking it. As a Star Wars fan I'm finding pretty interesting and the writer is great (he was one of the writers for KOTOR, so it makes sense). I look forward to keep reading Star Wars books.

knightendo_phil

09-01-2008, 09:57 PM

I'm currently reading Airframe by Michael Crichton. While I don't realy care about the mechanics of Aeroplanes, it's still drawing me in. Great book so far.

That's the great thing about Michael Crichton, subjects that would normally turn me away become incredibly intriguing in his hands. For heaven's sake Jurassic Park was all about cloning and went into great depth about it and chaos theory. In theory (ahem) the book should have been shit - but it was shit hot! My girlfriend got me his book "Next" for Christmas so hopefully get to start it soon.

I'm re-reading Nothern Lights in time for the film which comes out in a couple weeks :D:D:D

Wooooooooooooo!!

This book is awesome! Just thought i'd get that out there for those of you who are too busy living under a koopa shell to have heard about it.

These Northern Lights books are definitely on my wish list, especially after reading on the Wii News Channel about all the hoopla from the church. They sound very interesting, and I'll be holding off on watching the movie until after I've read them.

Favourite books of all time (so far) are HG Wells' The War Of The Worlds (still to be made into a movie properly imo) and Peter "Jaws" Benchley's White Shark, which was made into an alright tv movie called Creature. Jaws just happens to be my 2nd fave film of all time, but I thought the novel it was based on was quite trashy! Benchley's other works though are superb, especially since I'm interested in the ocean myself.

Recent reads have included David Hasselhoff's Autobiography Making Waves (a light-hearted account of the man's life that is a very enjoyable read, written as if he's right beside you and chatting like he's your best mate), and am currently halfway through "Transformers Premiere Edition". Yes, it's a comic book compilation of two years worth of the new IDW series, but at over 500 pages it's certainly intense and bloody good!

Got a good few books for Christmas, Next is... um... next, and Gordon Ramsey's second autobiography too.

Daft

09-01-2008, 10:01 PM

Almost finished the first Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell book. So far so good. Its seamlessly written.

Ashley

09-01-2008, 10:03 PM

Reading Murakami's 'Norweigan Wood' again as I got it for Christmas. A great kind of drifter book, or just taking life as it goes book. However you want to describe it. Makes me want to visit Japan (which I should hopefully do next summer).

Oh and Uni books (currently ones about horror, teen tv and music) which I do find interesting normally, except when assignments are due and they're for an actual purpose.

The fish

09-01-2008, 10:08 PM

Currently reading Dawn of the Dumb by Charlie Brooker - it's very, very funny! I highly recommend it, so far. :smile:

welsh_gamer

09-01-2008, 10:21 PM

Currently reading Dawn of the Dumb by Charlie Brooker - it's very, very funny! I highly recommend it, so far. :smile:

Tell me more! I've seen that about, but havent picked it up to have a closer lool. It's something to do with zombies no? Is it a diary/spoof/story?

Supergrunch

09-01-2008, 11:05 PM

Reading Murakami's 'Norweigan Wood' again as I got it for Christmas. A great kind of drifter book, or just taking life as it goes book. However you want to describe it. Makes me want to visit Japan (which I should hopefully do next summer).
That's a great book... I think it's the only non-surreal novel Murakami has written - he wrote it to prove that he could.

M-PG71C

10-01-2008, 06:19 AM

I've read, recently, The Imperium, The Exception, An Inconvenient Book, and The Looming Towers. The first is about Roman politics through the eyes of Cicero's secretary, the second is about micropolitics in the workplace through the perspectives of four different women, the third is about American issues and how to solve them conservatively, and the last is about 9/11.

It is funny, I love politics in a sense and I absolutely hate it in another. :P

Oxigen_Waste

10-01-2008, 02:47 PM

That's a great book... I think it's the only non-surreal novel Murakami has written - he wrote it to prove that he could.

And he sure as fuck proved it. Sublime.

Charlie

10-01-2008, 03:55 PM

I'm currently readying "World Without End" by Ken Follett and its the sequel to his masterpiece, "The Pillars of the Earth" (which I personally feel is one of the best books ever written, it really is superb).

It's great so far, very similar to TPOTE though, I can see a lot of similarities between the characters in each book (World Without End is set 200 years later, mid-1300s, starts just after the Scottish Wars of Independence). I love books set in times like this, I find all the stuff you learn about ancient life.

Those 2 books are well worth a read. Highly recommended.

gmac

10-01-2008, 11:50 PM

Jus started reading Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko, first in a trilogy of books, pretty good so far.

Also just read Steve Martin's autobiography about his time in stand up, it was quite revealing.

Oxigen_Waste

10-01-2008, 11:51 PM

Jus started reading Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko, first in a trilogy of books, pretty good so far.

Also just read Steve Martin's autobiography about his time in stand up, it was quite revealing.

There's movies too. Of the first two, so far.

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

11-01-2008, 01:42 AM

Just read a couple of books lent to me - Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland and Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

Girlfriend is actually a fun read. It spans the lives of six friends after a pair of tragedies affecting other amigos. It is paced in such a way that you don't suddenly jump from a 17 year old kid to a 35 year old man, and it isn't your simple, predictable sentimental romp through how a guy deals with love.

Coupland is known to write well aimed books, focused on the youth of today's apathetic yet worrisome views on the world around them. It's not as unwavering as books like fight club or as beautiful as Time Traveller's Wife, but it paints an accurate image of the unquestioning nature of society today, and has a sweet unpredictable nature in the lines. I did feel that it became a little lazy with describing the world that the main characters were plunged into after a certain plot point two-thirds in, but perhaps it's just a personal desire to have heard more about that scenario, but I can admit that the book was different to other similar ones, and certainly an 'easy' and enjoyable read. 7/10

Lovely bones - admittedly I still have 15 pages to read, which I shall have finished by the time anyone has read this post - but I think it's fair to say that I get the gist of it. Roughly speaking, the novel is spoken from the omnipotent voice of a girl, viewing from heaven, narrating the unfolding lives of her friends and relatives after being raped and killed in her mid-teens. It was heavily praised in america due to its handy timing -- it was published around 9/11, and also came out shortly before a media-clamouring event that was a girl's kidnapping, and thus got a fair bit of publicity. I found it hugely sentimental from the get go, and largely predictable and, to be fair, up its own arse. It doesn't really seem to attempt any thing too deep, despite its superficial promises. The characters are see-through, and the relationships are, as I said, fairly blatant and obvious. But the charm of the story is in the telling, in the description. There is no doubt that I read it and was able to imagine the neighbourhood it was set in, and the characterised individuals in the story. Perhaps I am missing a helpful chunk of my life that would hugely increase the benefit of the book; Death. I'm lucky enough to have not witnessed or experienced much death at all, and as such I do not have the questions that the book attempts to answer; do the dead watch us? Can they hear us? Is there a heaven?

But as I said, it is all too predictable. By taking the easy route, it feels weak. The only area it works hard in is in comforting and pleasing the reader - but there is no challenge in that, and I am sure that when I finish the book I will feel cheated out of several hours worth of reading. Admittedly, my position as a budding creative writer means I've surely learned from the book - the descriptive element, the homely and lived-in world Sebold has written is to be commended, but the dialogue is rarely humerous and usually perceived too heavily-handed to be anywhere near subtle in the aims of the novel. I've got a Marquez book next, and I look forward to it.

5/10. It's a lot harder to rate books than it is movies, for in my mind there are a lot more shitty books out there. I don't think Barbara Cartland would even get onto my scale.

Starting a new module soon -- will be reading some children's literature :) Golden Compass, Harry Potter, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and all. No Roald Dahl though... Shocking.

Daft

11-01-2008, 07:32 PM

So... herm... anyone know?

I've heard mixed things. I'm still half way through Messiah which I put down because of too much work and now I've started reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell so i won't carry that on for a bit.

Slaggis

15-01-2008, 09:59 PM

Ashley

15-01-2008, 10:03 PM

Junk by Melvin Burgess (Has since been renamed "Smack" a couple of years ago)

I really enjoyed this book. Really nicely written and some of the characters were brilliant. Really, really recommended.

9/10

I really liked Melvin Burgess' 'Doing It'. A great funny read.

And adapted into 'Life As We Know It' which I also liked.

Jimbob

15-01-2008, 10:20 PM

I'm currently reading The World According to Clarkson part 2 after an extensive session with finishing the first part of it. So far, it is pretty good but i have only just started it though.

Slaggis

15-01-2008, 10:43 PM

I really liked Melvin Burgess' 'Doing It'. A great funny read.

And adapted into 'Life As We Know It' which I also liked.

Oh, cool. I might try and find that and give it a read. Thanks for the suggestion!

Portlett

15-01-2008, 10:48 PM

Just started reading Atonement, read Enduring Love about 4 years ago and thought it was great.

Slaggis

20-02-2008, 03:39 PM

I'm currently reading "My Loose Thread". It's really rather dirty!

This bit made me (and a few mates) laugh:

"She straddles his face and begins to masturbate him".

killthenet

20-02-2008, 03:41 PM

Currently reading "The Fall" by Albert Camus. Not as intense as "The Outsider" so far, but I can feel it coming.

MoogleViper

20-02-2008, 03:53 PM

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Author: Douglas Adams (Hitchiker's guide to the galaxy)

8.5/10

A good read. I haven't read HGTG I've justs seen the film. But this is a really good buch. The way it is written is quite different. There is a lot of digression. "It is my firm belief in the interconnectedness of all things" This is pretty much what the book is like.

"A thumping good detective-ghost-horror-who dunnit-time travel-romantic-musical-comedy-epic." -The author

Beardy Man

20-02-2008, 05:14 PM

MURAKAMIMURAKAMIMURAKAMIMURAKAMIMURAKAMIMURAKAMIMU RAKAMIMURAKAMIMURAKAMIMURAKAMIMURAKAMIMURAKAMIMURA KAMIMURAKAMIMURAKAMIMURAKAMIMURAKAMIMURAKAMI
started to read The wind-up bird chronicle last november. Couldn't believe how brilliant he is! Everyone should read his work! A true original modern masterpiece!

welsh_gamer

20-02-2008, 06:09 PM

I finished John Grisham's The Innocent Man on Monday. Very good read. It's also a true story which makes it a sad and shocking tale.

If anyone can recommend me anymore top quality Grisham novels, I would be very grateful.

Supergrunch

20-02-2008, 06:30 PM

Haver

20-02-2008, 06:33 PM

Reading House of Meetings and Herzog.

Oxigen_Waste

20-02-2008, 08:10 PM

Daft

20-02-2008, 09:05 PM

Started reading this because of BioShock and Kotaku's article. (http://kotaku.com/354717/no-gods-or-kings-objectivism-in-bioshock)

http://nathiyalai.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/fountainhead.jpg

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. I'm really enjoying it so far. A lot of people don't seem to like her style of writing but I can't put it down.

Oxigen_Waste

20-02-2008, 09:15 PM

So anyway, about Dune, can anyone tell me if the ones written by Herbert's son to provide closure are any good?

Slaggis

20-02-2008, 09:18 PM

I'm currently reading "My Loose Thread" by Dennis Cooper. It's really rather dirty!

Update: Wow, this book is written in such a confusing style. It bounces from one place to the next, and then suddenly gets either all sexual or all violent. I love it though!

Beardy Man

20-02-2008, 11:02 PM

Hard-Boiled Wonderland & The End Of The World.

Reading it right now :D

Iun

20-02-2008, 11:06 PM

If you're into Professor Layton, then I strongly suggest you pick up the Sherlock Holmes books. There's a completed edition with everything available and it's really rather good.

Hellfire

20-02-2008, 11:32 PM

So anyway, about Dune, can anyone tell me if the ones written by Herbert's son to provide closure are any good?

I've always heard they were crap, but I never read them.

Beardy Man

21-02-2008, 12:37 PM

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee23/Beardy_Man/12022411146291.png

This is the best piece of work i've ever read, mind blowing I say! :D

Mundi

21-02-2008, 12:56 PM

You should look up more of his stuff on fanfiction.com it´s amazing

KKOB

21-02-2008, 09:34 PM

If you want to read Murakami i'd say Dance, Dance and Kafka on the shore are my favorites by far!

ATM i'm reading The Hippopotamus by Stephen Fry after bingeing on cheaps books in HMV in London last weekend.

LazyBoy

21-02-2008, 09:41 PM

KKOB

21-02-2008, 09:46 PM

Just finished To Kill A Mockingbird. What a beautiful little book, filled with charm and character, Lee gives you an amazing atmosphere to work with and a story filled with depth presented through an ingenious narrative. Loved it.

Now then, now then,

To Kill A Mockingbird is without a doubt the greatest book i've ever read, even greater than tLOTR or Murakami novels. It's like concentrated novelistic perfection, spread over a couple hundred pages. It has a beautiful plot which conjures up majesty and the racial tension of the times, along with the inequality and how ill treated black people were in the deep south in the early/mid 1900s.

Anyone who doesn't read this book, the only one Harper Lee has ever written, seriously needs their head looking at.

ipaul

06-03-2008, 10:45 PM

The Bard

06-03-2008, 10:50 PM

Pride and Prejudice is fantastic, it's a pretty easy read too, and the chapters are pretty short. I thought it was pretty great throughout, but it gets more interesting as the whole Darcy/Elizabeth thing develops.

Currently reading: The Great Gatsby, again. Because it's perfect.

Supergrunch

06-03-2008, 10:52 PM

Bumpdebumpbump. Started reading through Pride and Predjudice and I'm about 60 pages through but I'm not finding it interesting at all. To anyone who has read it, does it remain similar throughout or does it 'pick up' somewhere?
If you haven't read any other Jane Austen, then no, it's like that all the way through. Personally I find Austen interesting to analyse but boring to actually read.

ipaul

06-03-2008, 10:54 PM

Back when I was doing A level literature we were studying that book(Gatsby), but I haven't looked at it since =/ The teacher was always very enthusiastic about it, I imagine I would have liked it as well. Enjoyed the first three chapters enough =P

The Bard

06-03-2008, 10:58 PM

It's such a brilliantly written book, I love it. You need to read it more than once to take it all in though.

Supergrunch

06-03-2008, 10:59 PM

I need to read the Great Gatsby, to become a real person. It's on my shelf, in a queue.

Daft

06-03-2008, 11:04 PM

I need to read the Great Gatsby, to become a real person. It's on my shelf, in a queue.

Ditto!

I'm half way through The Fountainhead and I'm really loving it. Its not amazingly written but its really immersive and there are some really interesting ideas in it.

The Bard

06-03-2008, 11:07 PM

Oddly, a lot of my favourite literature is actually American.

Gatsby, Moby Dick, Catcher in The Rye, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest...

Haver

06-03-2008, 11:42 PM

Same. Bellow, Nabokov, Hemingway, Faulkner, Twain, Fitzgerald, Updike, Roth, to an extent Thompson and Vonnegut. They're the guys for me. Even the English novelists I like are Americanized (Amis).

Supergrunch

06-03-2008, 11:50 PM

Nabokov is actually a god.

welsh_gamer

07-03-2008, 10:15 AM

mario_jr

07-03-2008, 12:21 PM

I'm currently reading The Heroin Diaries: A year in the life of a shattered rock star by Nikki Sixx.:heh: Its a good read, so far, and I'm sure it will be all the way to the end.:awesome:

Oxigen_Waste

07-03-2008, 04:47 PM

Nikki Sixx... yeah.

Haver

07-03-2008, 05:32 PM

Which might in itself be a reference to London Fields?

Edit: Nope, 1) Pre dates it, 2) Is a man. Maybe Amis is into Motley Crue.

darksnowman

07-03-2008, 08:28 PM

Cell - Stephen King

Epic first half, but the second half was nonsense, and the ending was poor. I wanted to know what happened to the characters dammit! This book actually creeped me out a bit, so kudos to King.

7/10

Yeah, he's been at a stage where he likes to have open ended novels. I read this t'other year when it came out and thought it was a lot better than I expected. I was expecting just some zombie book that wouldn't be that amazing (seeing as SK had "retired") so I was surprised by how good it was. I reckon things turned out ok, but its up to you really.

Coolness Bears

07-03-2008, 08:33 PM

I have just got to the third part of the Heart of Darkness at school! :)

It is a great book! and studying it makes it even better! :grin:

MoogleViper

07-03-2008, 09:32 PM

Oddly, a lot of my favourite literature is actually American.

Gatsby, Moby Dick, Catcher in The Rye, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest...

That is the most irritating, depressing and by far the worst book I have ever had the misfortune to read.

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

08-03-2008, 01:06 AM

So you've not read many books?

The fish

08-03-2008, 01:52 PM

Currently just over half way through the Reginald Hill crime novel On Beulah Height. It's one of the Daziel and Pascoe ones, and it's very, very good, even for Hill...

The Bard

08-03-2008, 02:58 PM

That is the most irritating, depressing and by far the worst book I have ever had the misfortune to read.

It's because you're ginger.

Yeah, it's depressing at times, but how is it irritating in any way? Your problem is that you probably read it at school and never saw it as anything more than work.

Dog-amoto

27-03-2008, 11:42 PM

I'm currently reading The Heroin Diaries: A year in the life of a shattered rock star by Nikki Sixx.:heh: Its a good read, so far, and I'm sure it will be all the way to the end.:awesome:

It's awesome! The Dirt is another good read as well. Especially the part with Ozzy Osbourne and the ants. Yuck!

Chris the great

27-03-2008, 11:58 PM

just finnished wolf of the plains, its the first part of a serise about gengis kahn. hes a pretty likable fella so far.

the books great. realy takes you to mongolia, and almost every chapter was great. the fights and battles are extreemly good, im fairly sure this will be made into a movie.

richard and judy get me onto anouther winner.

killthenet

28-03-2008, 02:14 AM

I prefered it when Richard And Judy suggested porno flicks. Now they're just touting airport literature. They used to be cool damn it!!

Mundi

28-03-2008, 09:12 AM

Started reading A Scanner Darkly again.
I love that book... The beginning is just kind of weird

Samm_the_Barberrior

28-03-2008, 11:14 AM

I've been reading Solzenitsyn recently - books about life in Stalinist Russia. 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch' is brilliant, a single day in the life of a gulag prisoner. No great drama, just a really well written work which manages to really give you the thoughts and feelings of an individual in a prison camp. I'd really recommend it 'Cancer Ward' and 'The Red Wheel' are also both very good.

ipaul

28-03-2008, 03:59 PM

How To Be Good - Nick Hornby

A very addictive book, very easy to read and interesting. Wasn't too sure on the ending and it starts to feel slightly tired by the end, but nonetheless an entertaining, easy read. 8/10 :)

Dan Dare

28-03-2008, 04:27 PM

That is the most irritating, depressing and by far the worst book I have ever had the misfortune to read.

That'd be you being wrong, then.

Daft

05-04-2008, 11:50 AM

I finished The Fountainhead and I absolutely loved it. There are a lot of extremes but some fascinating ideas. Definitely one of my favorite books ever. It really is quite something. I wouldn't say it changed my view of myself or the world but it definitely reinforced ideas I already had. I'm saving Atlas Shrugged for the summer.

Went on and read The Great Gatsby right after. I enjoyed it a lot but I didn't really feel it was personally relevant so it didn't blow me away. Good book though. Interesting pacing.

I just bought The Proud Highway by Hunter S. Thompson. I love HST. I can't wait to get stuck into this!

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/0747536198.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Oxigen_Waste

26-04-2009, 11:59 PM

Aye, so here I am with a semi-authorized bump on the Book thread because I don't really want to create a new thread, and this bump is primarily due to 3 things:

A: The Road is definitely uber awesome, and I'm wondering what other books of his (except Blood Meridian, which I've read already) might one be inclined to suggest to moi. Also I'm not that keen on the movie adaptation. Except for the casting (which seems pretty solid).

B: Dostoyevsky is possibly the best thing ever to occur in all of human history.

C: I'm deeply enfatuated with Charles Bukowski, particularly Ham on Rye. YAY!

So, yes, books, my fellow N-Ers, get to it, what the f have you been reading?

Ashley

27-04-2009, 12:01 AM

Semi-authorised by me!

I'm currently part way through Hell's Angels and just started What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. Hoping to read more over the summer/when this dissertation is done.

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

27-04-2009, 12:19 AM

Erm.

Got The Road, A Scanner Darkly, Matter, and Xenocide sitting next to my bed, on top of Mr. Nice, Three Men In A Boat, Joy Luck Club and the Bible, all variously opened to pages that I can't seem to remember to read past.

I hear The Road, while novel and smorgasmic, is unable to uphold its own spectacle, and Phillip K. Dick similarly has the genius ideas but tends to simmer on about the wrong thing for too long.

I am just tempted to read my favourite book again while my flatmate is - and it's not a dostoyevsky for sure - it's The Time-Traveller's Wife. And I don't care what anyone thinks.

Dan Dare

27-04-2009, 12:21 AM

The Road is something else. Read it immediately.

Daft

27-04-2009, 12:29 AM

http://www.psypress.com/images/book-img/weblarge/9780415289771.jpg

Marcuse - One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society

Mundi

27-04-2009, 12:43 AM

Finished recently reading up About a Boy and Pay it Forward for school work but after that I´m gonna finish a few that I started but got set aside.
Those would be: The Prince, 2001 A Space Oddysey and The Miserables

@Jay
Props for getting A Scanner Darkly, it was the first Philip K. Dick novel I read and I loved it.
I have put it down as one of my life goals to read all of his novels and I got 3 down from loads of them :Þ

Supergrunch

27-04-2009, 12:50 AM

I'm reading Ray Monk's biography of Wittgenstein at the moment, The Duty of Genius. Extremely interesting book.

LazyBoy

27-04-2009, 09:34 AM

Anyone else read "One Hundred Years of Solitude"? I'm about half way and absolutely loving it. For lack of a better word, its quite 'magical'.

dan-likes-trees

27-04-2009, 12:42 PM

C: I'm deeply enfatuated with Charles Bukowski, particularly Ham on Rye. YAY!

So, yes, books, my fellow N-Ers, get to it, what the f have you been reading?

I picked up Ham on Rye a while ago but never actually bought it, what is it about? Any relation (aside from obviously the namesake) to Catcher?

Havn't been reading much of late myself, exams and the like, though I now have a hefty pile of books I've started and plan to finish in the summer...

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Virgin Suicides
Real World
Ghostwritten

And moar

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

27-04-2009, 01:15 PM

Anyone else read "One Hundred Years of Solitude"? I'm about half way and absolutely loving it. For lack of a better word, its quite 'magical'.
*waves hand in the air*

Yes, a mysticla book that is hard to put down. I've nearly finished it for the 2nd time. One of my faves :)

Paj!

27-04-2009, 05:05 PM

I'm reading Mrs. Dalloway. Slowly. And technically not finished To The Lightouse yet.

Both = great, great writing. The humanity Woolf puts into the work I've read is amazing.

Dan Dare

27-04-2009, 06:09 PM

I fucking despised To The Lighthouse and promptly set about erasing the lamentable afternoon spent wasted on it from my memory with good books

Dannyboy-the-Dane

27-04-2009, 06:29 PM

A trilogy of Danish fantasy books that I enjoy immensely:

Striden om Natkrystallerne (roughly translated: The Fight for the Night Crystals)

The story revolves around an English village, Compton Bassett, in which the main character, who most of the story is told to, experiences first-hand several strange events relating to the village's past. I've read the two first books, Det blå lys (The Blue Light) and Skyggeringen (The Shadow Ring), but it's so long ago that before I begin reading the third book, Stjernedråberne (The Star Droplets), I want to re-read the first two.

Paj!

27-04-2009, 08:19 PM

I fucking despised To The Lighthouse and promptly set about erasing the lamentable afternoon spent wasted on it from my memory with good books

...

I can understand not liking it, but saying it's not a brilliant piece of literature?

What's wrong with it?

Ganepark32

27-04-2009, 08:37 PM

Paj!

27-04-2009, 08:42 PM

^ it's a slog to get through. Really, the book never steps out and grabs hold of you to make you read more. It may just be me but by christ, I felt so bored reading the damn thing. I will give it its dues as a classic piece of literature but it's by no means a truly great book for the reason I mentioned. A great book should grab you and make you want to read more; to read it several times. By the time you finish To The Lighthouse, you'll either want to blow your brains out or poke your eyes out due to the prolonged story. Just my opinion mind.

But...it's an exploration of time, and how it affects people and shit. I think it's brilliantly done. The way she plays with time too, emphasises many of the issues she tackles, I love that the long first section takes place over a single day, yet the short middle section spans 10 years.

And so on. When I read it in class, It's annoying to read, as it requires a lot of concentration. But that doesn't make it bad. Not everything has to have pleasing hooks.

It's not exactly a life-affirming book (in some respects, aspects could be seen as such, but overall, it's pretty sad/depressing).

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

27-04-2009, 09:01 PM

It is a tricky book to read, and definitely benefits from re-readings over the years, but essentially it is egotistical and self-involved. While this is perhaps an accurate portrayal of the human mind's way of experiencing reality (the messing with time an attempt to parallel our reality with our thoughts and memories and day-dreams), it doesn't necessarily make for a 'fun' read.

A classic, still, for the era and the movement it was involved in, but many might argue that it was the beginning of teh end of the golden age of literature.

Paj!

27-04-2009, 09:19 PM

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

27-04-2009, 10:00 PM

haha - yeah, that's fair enough :) It is definitely the sort of book I would love to have written, mind you, but it sort of oversteps the idea that anyone should be able to appreciate good art on some sort of level by excluding a lot of people through its viscous nature.

I think, simply, I would feel guilty if I liked it, to some extent!

Molly

27-04-2009, 10:19 PM

On my bedside table I have Papillon, The Rum Diary, Life of Pi and The Fountainhead, an eclectic mix, heh. I need to spend more time reading them though.

The Bard

28-04-2009, 09:26 PM

I read surprisingly little for an English student. Maybe that's just cause I refuse to waste my time reading anything that doesn't come with the highest reccomendation, seeing as I am a freaking slow as hell reader. I need more RAM. Anyway, been reading "Not I" by Samuel Beckett and "The Figure In The Carpet" by Henry James, the former being a load of babble so far, and the latter a pretty damn interesting exploration of the relationship between author and reader and simultaneously between critic and author.

Going to read some Nietzche and some Melville over the holidays. Should be bare good. Brah.

Oxigen_Waste

30-04-2009, 05:21 AM

I picked up Ham on Rye a while ago but never actually bought it, what is it about? Any relation (aside from obviously the namesake) to Catcher?

Just the namesake, and the ocasional nod. The main character (who, incidently, is the writer himself) is always the same in all of C.B.'s books, and is pretty much what give birth to the character of Hank Moody (from Californication). It's existentialism, pretty much.

Anyone else read "One Hundred Years of Solitude"? I'm about half way and absolutely loving it. For lack of a better word, its quite 'magical'.

Yup. And I actually read it on it's original language, so suck on that! :kiss:

Also, you should definitely read Love in the Time of Cholera and Chronicle of a Death Foretold by monsieur Márquez.

Life of Pi

I also have that one on the bedside table, along with The God of Small Things. But it's gonna be tricky, I'm currently reading My Name Is Red (truly fantastic, by the way), and intend on reading Dune 2 & 3 after that and after those 2, I plan on re-reading Neuromancer.

By the way, on the subject of Neuromancer, can anyone advise me on the sequels? Because I absolutely loved Neuromancer (the sig is a bit of a giveaway) and I don't really want to ruin it unless it's really worth it.
So, Sprawl trilogy, yes? Or stick with no. 1?

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

30-04-2009, 06:47 AM

My cyberpunk knowledge is only limited to Neil Stephenson's Snow Crash (and as for steampunk? I could never finish Diamond Age, but I've always been meaning to check out William Gibson. For some reason, I can picture it being apt to dig his way after some more Phillip K. Dick. Sorry I can't help you out, but from what one of my friends said, he found the other two enjoyable, the third mostly, but didn't think the middle one aged well? Ho hum.

I just started/finished Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee. A tale of a south african university cassanova, whose affair with a student leads him to try life out in the country at his daughter's. A predictable series of events and not-so-subtle comparisons between dogs and the proles of, suggestively, pre-aparthaid days, then more-so-subtly, many allusions of the loss of ownership, of control; of retrospect and remorse - especially after finishing the book you realise there's a lot of loss.

Anyway - good, succinct read, if not perhaps a little depressing, in that sentimental, nostalgic sort of way.

EDIT: Oh, I read Life of Pi just before I came to uni. I thought it was going to be along the lines of Ishmael or The Alchemist, or even Empire of The Ants, so maybe I was a little dissapointed by the light-weight pseudo-philosophy it lurks about in. Well, I remember feeling that after I read it, but I couldn't say I truly remember the book much.

I'm sure the indian boy has ice cream at some point...

Ganepark32

30-04-2009, 11:34 AM

^ I really need to get round to reading some J.M. Coetzee. My english tutor specialises in South African literature and constantly goes one about him and In The Heart Of The Country amongst other texts. She's also mentioned Zoe Wicomb and You Can't Get Lost In Capetown so I may get both and read through them. I'm not reading anything at the moment, although I need to read Frankenstein, Dorien Grey and Dr. Faustus for next semester at Uni.

Also reminded I need to read Nostromo as it was recommended to me as well. Anyone read that and have an opinion on it?

Dan Dare

30-04-2009, 11:56 AM

Man Neuromancer is the absolute tits. Jay, remind me to lend you my copy. Not read the sequels though. I read All Tomorrow's Parties which was really cool.

edit: I'm reading The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler atm. Fascinating deconstruction of the mythic structure behind most modern stories. I dabbled in it during my creative writing classes last year but I'm going back to it now to really get in to it.

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

30-04-2009, 03:29 PM

although I need to read Frankenstein, Dorien Grey and Dr. Faustus for next semester at Uni.
lol, read and did an essay on all of those :P The Picture of Dorien Gray can be read in a couple of hours, and is well worth reading several times. I'm sure you'll learn/read about there being two 'versions' - the latter one is miiles better and, er, probably the one you get by default when you buy it anyway. Wilde, as always, is TEH WIT MEISTROOPOO. Without the poo.

Dr. Faustus I adore - got me a first on an essay comparing that to Everyman, which you should read. It's available online here (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/everyman.html), and I think you said you didn't like Waiting for Godot, but read this and Faustus first, then perhaps Rosencrantz and Guildenthorn are dead (i hope that spelling is right) and you'll hopefully love 'em all.

Frankenstein is lovely nice MONSTAR GOFFIK shizzle. I had to force myself to read it, though.

Man Neuromancer is the absolute tits. Jay, remind me to lend you my copy. Not read the sequels though. I read All Tomorrow's Parties which was really cool.

edit: I'm reading The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler atm. Fascinating deconstruction of the mythic structure behind most modern stories. I dabbled in it during my creative writing classes last year but I'm going back to it now to really get in to it.

Lend me both! Yayaya!

Supergrunch

30-04-2009, 03:52 PM

Reading Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey.

"And I, who claim to know so much more, isn’t it possible that even I have missed the very spring within the spring? Some say that we shall never know, and that to the gods we are like the flies that the boys kill on a summer day, and some say, on the contrary, that the very sparrows do not lose a feather that has not been brushed away by the finger of God."

Good stuff so far.

Molly

02-05-2009, 12:00 AM

I am just tempted to read my favourite book again while my flatmate is - and it's not a dostoyevsky for sure - it's The Time-Traveller's Wife. And I don't care what anyone thinks.
Just seen this; I read it while I was travelling and although I may have been high on passion or drugs at the time, I enjoyed it too :heh:

I also have that one on the bedside table, along with The God of Small Things. But it's gonna be tricky, I'm currently reading My Name Is Red (truly fantastic, by the way), and intend on reading Dune 2 & 3 after that and after those 2, I plan on re-reading Neuromancer
I read Life of Pi about 5 years ago I think, thought it was remarkable; I want to read it again to see how I feel about it now. With regards to Dune, I've been told I have to read them, I need to really.

navarre

02-05-2009, 02:37 PM

I finished Animal Farm yesterday. Probably one of the best books I've had the fortune of reading. I love how it transforms from 'All animals are equal' at first to 'all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others' at the end. Forget historical accounts, this book tells the tale of a Communist dictatorship (especially Stalin's USSR) better than anthing else out there, and does so in a gripping manner.

chairdriver

28-05-2009, 05:06 PM

I just read Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

Somebody please restrain me from burning down a church.

Somebody please sedate me next time I hear of a British person being patriotic.

So many emotionally poignant moments, all built up into one lethal attack upon my emotional stability.

Probably the best book I've ever read.

10/10

Mundi

28-05-2009, 05:38 PM

Just finished reading trough The Prince and now I know the ins and outs of being a successful ruler :Þ
Had a bit of a trouble reading some parts as it is written in old boggled english but I got trough it pretty well.
Also reading this and comparing it to Hitler in terms of some acts he has committed to what is suggested in this novel is pretty interesting.

Started on 2001: A Space Oddysey, just 70 pages in so I can´t comment much on that

Chris the great

28-05-2009, 10:40 PM

six sacred stones

the sequal to seven anchient wonders, a book which contined the imortal lines "jack west jr was coming, and he was pissed as hell,". needless to say, the book is not of an overly serious nature. over a year has passed since the events of 7 ancient wanders (world saved by ancient magic, brought about during the climactic battle atop the great pryamid at giza) and turns out, the world aint out the shit yet. jack west jr, an aussie super soilder with a robotic arm is forced to once again lead his small team of international super agents in a desperate bid to save the world.

personal highlites of the book involve jack wresteling a crocodile under water, and winning, and a desperate race up a train dangeling over a cliff. i dont think i need to explain that jack west jr is quiet possibly the single greatest character in any book, film, play, program or any thing else, or that the book will leave you in fits of laughter at its cheesyness, followed by general awe of how awsome it is.

1,000,000,000/10

for the record, my favorite line in the book was "alby was black and deaf with thick glasses, but could still rumble with the best of em"

Wesley

28-05-2009, 10:46 PM

This last two weeks I read Brave New World, The Giver, Fight Club and Fahrenheit 451. I'd recommend all apart from The Giver (it's a shallow kids' book).

Dan Dare

29-05-2009, 12:26 AM

Brave New World is bloody brilliant.

dan-likes-trees

29-05-2009, 10:07 AM

This last two weeks I read Brave New World, The Giver, Fight Club and Fahrenheit 451. I'd recommend all apart from The Giver (it's a shallow kids' book).

Fight Club's a cracker... never finished Brave New World for some reason, I need to...

I'm planning on having a massive summer of reading once my exams finish, so that I don't end up at uni doing English having barely read anything... Gonna aim for 20ish books, t'will be a challange!

In Fact

On the Road - Jack Kerouac

To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

Catch-22 - Joseph Heller

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Atonement - Ian McEwan

Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe

Emma - Jane Austen

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

The Call of the Wild - Jack London

Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf

The Wind Up Bird Chronicles - Murakami

Books I have and Haven't started

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest - Ken Kesey

Sons and Lovers - D.H. Lawrence

Neuromancer - William Gibson

Ubik - Philip K Dick

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Ghostwritten - David Mitchell

Dan Dare

29-05-2009, 10:42 AM

Don't read robinson crusoe. It'll make you want to kill yourself it's so shit.

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

29-05-2009, 12:01 PM

I would've said the same about Jude the Obscure. But then, I hate thomas hardy. 100 Years of Solitude is one of my favourite books :D 20 books in a summer is easy. I read over 10 in a 3 week holiday to australia.

Supergrunch

29-05-2009, 12:07 PM

Atonement - Ian McEwan

The Wind Up Bird Chronicles - Murakami

Ghostwritten - David Mitchell[/SPOILER]
Very big fan of these three, especially the third. You have to read it multiple times to get a proper impression of it, but it's really good the first time all the same. Atonement starts out utterly brilliant, and tails off a bit as it goes on, but is still very much worthwhile. And Wind up Bird is just... insane, but in a good way.

dan-likes-trees

29-05-2009, 12:25 PM

Don't read robinson crusoe. It'll make you want to kill yourself it's so shit.

I would've said the same about Jude the Obscure. But then, I hate thomas hardy. 100 Years of Solitude is one of my favourite books :D 20 books in a summer is easy. I read over 10 in a 3 week holiday to australia.

Haha, might take your word(s) for it... what didn't you like about em, out of interest?
And yeh should be farly easy. Similarly on a one and a half holiday to Greece I got through five so a similar rate. And yeah Im looking forward to 100 years of Solitude ^.^

Very big fan of these three, especially the third. You have to read it multiple times to get a proper impression of it, but it's really good the first time all the same. Atonement starts out utterly brilliant, and tails off a bit as it goes on, but is still very much worthwhile. And Wind up Bird is just... insane, but in a good way.

Yeah, I'm actually halfway through Ghostwritten, it's really good... only problem is that because of the structure, what with the 9 short stories, they're far too good stopping points... got distracted by the Petersburg story and haven't gone back to it yet, really should. And haha yeah I've read a few Murakamis, if it's anything like those it should be pretty mad :D

Dan Dare

29-05-2009, 12:30 PM

Haha, might take your word(s) for it... what didn't you like about em, out of interest?

on crusoe:

total lack of narrative, pace or characterization. Next to no plot, worthwhile prose or literary skill. It's basically a long, boring list of things he does on an island for hundreds of shitty fucking pages.

Terrible.

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

29-05-2009, 01:04 PM

I would say with Crusoe that it hasn't really aged well. The subject matter's been done on multiple formats over the years and in more interesting ways. The (... what're they called, travel journals? or something) genre was pretty much launched with Crusoe, and you have to think that the contemporary readers were stunned by this alien scenario...

With Thomas Hardy I just find he waffles on, and on, and motherfucking on, with an average page count of something like 600, his books are too leisurely and puffy. I'm not really too keen on many books pre-1900, because I just don't have the days of dawdling of an 18th century housewife. Ok, maybe I do BUT I have far more distractions :P

You say you're starting uni after the summer? Are you doing an english course? If so, I'm sure a list of books can be thrown together for you. Your list is very excellent, mind you! When I get back to brighton I'll compose my own summer schedule for comparison :)

dan-likes-trees

29-05-2009, 04:01 PM

With Thomas Hardy I just find he waffles on, and on, and motherfucking on, with an average page count of something like 600, his books are too leisurely and puffy. I'm not really too keen on many books pre-1900, because I just don't have the days of dawdling of an 18th century housewife. Ok, maybe I do BUT I have far more distractions :P

You say you're starting uni after the summer? Are you doing an english course? If so, I'm sure a list of books can be thrown together for you. Your list is very excellent, mind you! When I get back to brighton I'll compose my own summer schedule for comparison :)

Haha yeah I agree, I much prefer post 1900 writing... which perhaps isn't ideal for someone doing English lit but Leeds has a huge choice of modules so should be able to lean toward more modern stuff..

So yeah doing English lit at Leeds, any book recommendations would be great! Thanks :) I only threw together my list this morning to avoid revision so it's definitely open to suggestions.

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

29-05-2009, 11:51 PM

Have you any idea what the modules you're covering yet? I know that the Leeds Uni library is very good, so you've got that to look forward to. In your first year you won't have too much diversity. My course focused heavily on the origin of the novel, and the three year course pretty much covered the growth of the novel chronologically, from epistolar things like Pamela (shudder) up to the post-industial and post-ww2, post-colonial, postmodern and other post- nonsense... I'll give my 'library' an overview and try to recommend you a few good books that have stood out over the years as seminal works.

Chuck

29-05-2009, 11:53 PM

Don't read robinson crusoe. It'll make you want to kill yourself it's so shit.

I have it on my phone/ipod. I will read it.

Naomi

30-05-2009, 04:54 AM

Haven't heard of some of these books...I need to catch up.
Well we just finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee in class.
Even though its mandatory reading I probably would of read it on my own.

Loved it to death. Southern Gothic is now one of my favorite genres.

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

30-05-2009, 09:19 AM

have. Would have.

I have to make this post at least once a month.

Ashley

30-05-2009, 10:09 AM

You don't have to :heh:

Recently I have finally finished Hell's Angels and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

HA was good, insightful into a group I didn't really know a great deal about and wouldn't mind exploring more Thompson (outside of F&L) at some point. Although it suprised me he had a wife and child.

WITAWITAR (lol say that out loud) was better than I expected. I had no plans to buy it as I figured it was just a running...log. But its actually a mix between that, a travel diary and at times autobiographical. Not bad for £4.

So now I need to decide what reading material to take on holiday. I still have Murakami's Wind Up Bird Chronicles and Hard Boiled Wonderland and the Edge of the World to read, but part of me wants to read Norweigan Wood again, its such a comforting read for me.

Or I did recently find my old copy of Battle Royale I never got round to reading. Hmm.

Naomi

30-05-2009, 09:33 PM

have. Would have.

I have to make this post at least once a month.

wow? really.
I didn't know grammatical errors really mattered in a online world filled with Lol's and Tttyl's

Paj!

30-05-2009, 09:42 PM

wow? really.
I didn't know grammatical errors really mattered in a online world filled with Lol's and Tttyl's

I think people consider a meme (is that what those are called?) and the use thereof acceptable in normal language, but more often than not, people here speak "normally".

Lord, "speak". Type.

Plus "would of" grates on the surface of my brain when spelt out.

Supergrunch

30-05-2009, 10:45 PM

I think people consider a meme (is that what those are called?) and the use thereof acceptable in normal language, but more often than not, people here speak "normally".

Lord, "speak". Type.

Plus "would of" grates on the surface of my brain when spelt out.
A meme in it's original sense (from The Selfish Gene) is more like an idea of sorts, that is capable of transferring from one mind to another, but in the modern internet 4chan sense the term refers basically to a kind of in-joke that spreads through the internet. So 4chan memes are a proper subset of traditional memes I suppose, but anyhoo.

"Could of" isn't a meme but a variant way of writing "could've," that was initially just misinterpretation of the contraction, but is becoming so widespread that it arguably isn't really an error any more, but it still annoys lots of people when you use it. And of course it's still wrong when typing in standard written English. I guess people here generally use a pretty informal version of that, unless you're ReZ or something. :heh:

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

31-05-2009, 11:51 AM

If it is arguably acceptable, then it is also arguable unacceptable.

It's not a grammar nazi thing! If I spell/misuse a word I'd hope someone would point it out to me, For Great Justice.

Supergrunch

31-05-2009, 12:21 PM

If it is arguably acceptable, then it is also arguably unacceptable.

It's not a grammar nazi thing! If I spell/misuse a word I'd hope someone would point it out to me, For Great Justice.
For Great Justice. :wink:

Dan Dare

31-05-2009, 12:23 PM

haahahahaha

dan-likes-trees

31-05-2009, 11:07 PM

Recently I have finally finished Hell's Angels and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

WITAWITAR (lol say that out loud) was better than I expected. I had no plans to buy it as I figured it was just a running...log. But its actually a mix between that, a travel diary and at times autobiographical. Not bad for £4.

Haha, being a Murakami fan I recommended that to my girlfriend as she needed books to do with running for her Art course, she wasn't a fan, said he just rambled on and on... I might give it a go anyway though, I love the man.

Have you any idea what the modules you're covering yet? I know that the Leeds Uni library is very good, so you've got that to look forward to. In your first year you won't have too much diversity. My course focused heavily on the origin of the novel, and the three year course pretty much covered the growth of the novel chronologically, from epistolar things like Pamela (shudder) up to the post-industial and post-ww2, post-colonial, postmodern and other post- nonsense... I'll give my 'library' an overview and try to recommend you a few good books that have stood out over the years as seminal works.

Yeah not sure yet, as you say in year one there isn't much choice... Semester One modules are just a general English language one and a general prose introduction, looking at Mrs Dalloway, Great Expectations and others that I hadn't heard of but sound quite interesting like The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. Then there's Poetry and Medieval lit in Semester 2.
And yup the library seemed pretty amazing from what I saw on the open day ^.^

Did you do English lit as well then? Which uni did you go to?

Ashley

31-05-2009, 11:46 PM

Haha, being a Murakami fan I recommended that to my girlfriend as she needed books to do with running for her Art course, she wasn't a fan, said he just rambled on and on... I might give it a go anyway though, I love the man.

But the ramble is the fun. It would be kind of bland if it was "I ran this marathon on such a such day, then trained for another".

I'm still undecided as to whether to take Norweigan Wood or Hard-Boiled Wonderland on holiday. I've read NW a few times and I think it might be a nice homely book (even if, ironically, it will be set in Japan) in case I'm feeling homesick. But then HBW I haven't read and probably should. Someone decide...now! :p

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

01-06-2009, 09:12 AM

Yeah not sure yet, as you say in year one there isn't much choice... Semester One modules are just a general English language one and a general prose introduction, looking at Mrs Dalloway, Great Expectations and others that I hadn't heard of but sound quite interesting like The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. Then there's Poetry and Medieval lit in Semester 2.
And yup the library seemed pretty amazing from what I saw on the open day ^.^

Did you do English lit as well then? Which uni did you go to?
Sheffield Hallam; English Studies was a mix of language, literature and creative writing. It all seems like a previous life!

But the ramble is the fun. It would be kind of bland if it was "I ran this marathon on such a such day, then trained for another".

I'm still undecided as to whether to take Norweigan Wood or Hard-Boiled Wonderland on holiday. I've read NW a few times and I think it might be a nice homely book (even if, ironically, it will be set in Japan) in case I'm feeling homesick. But then HBW I haven't read and probably should. Someone decide...now! :p
You shouldn't read murakami over there, you'll look so silly!

Ashley

01-06-2009, 10:03 AM

Other than 'They Fuck You Up' I have no new books to read and canne afford me. (and not in the mood to read a pysch book).

He's popular over there. It'll look cliche but whatever. They can mock me in Japanese, I'll be none the wiser ^_^

And I'm also taking Battle Royale.

Oxigen_Waste

03-06-2009, 01:17 AM

wow? really.
I didn't know grammatical errors really mattered in a online world filled with Lol's and Tttyl's

This world is filled with titties? Awesome! Can someone point me towards them, please?

:geek:

Right, anywho, currently reading Foundation & Empire, the second novel on the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov and I must say it's... great, so far. :)

Dyson

03-06-2009, 01:23 AM

http://www.yeshivakishiniev.org/images/book_lg-penguins.jpg

Good book tbh.

Paj!

03-06-2009, 01:39 AM

http://www.mediabistro.com/mediajobsdaily/original/Penguin%20Books%20GI.jpg

It can see you.

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

22-06-2009, 08:35 PM

I just started/finished I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Feel like I should write up some awesome eng lit review; but I can't. Instead I'll say that it took me about 3 hours to read, and not a page felt wasted. The differences between the Will Smith movie and this source material are quite vast; I would say that in both incarnations the role of the woman 'Ruth' was maybe forced, maybe happened too fast. I laughed out loud at the unbroken glass... erm... yeah. I enjoyed it. Got Omega Man and The Last Man On Earth coming at me for comparison's sake.

Ashley

22-06-2009, 09:51 PM

You shouldn't read murakami over there, you'll look so silly!

Following up on this; I didn't end up reading it til my trip home but the lady on the plane seat adjacent to mine did speak to me about it. She said her husband was a big fan and I kept conversation brief (as she was Japanese herself).

But umm yeah, read it all in one day nearly (had a few pages left but last ten minutes of my second flight I got a huge painful headache so had to stop). I liked it but didn't connect with it really. I get this feeling all of Murakami's protaganists are just aspects of himself but this one...meh. Did he even have a name?

And Battle Royale was good. Film did a good job of adapting, the book just went a bit deeper.

I think I still have the Wind Up Bird Chronicles left and They Fuck You Up. Then its either buy more books or re-read Norweigan Wood.

mariosmentor

23-06-2009, 04:05 PM

Gizmo

23-06-2009, 08:08 PM

My annual summer holiday books are secured: finish the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy compilation I got at christmas (yes, I haven't read H2G2 yet...shameful, I know). Then, some light reading with "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking and "Finding Schroedingers Cat" by John Gribbin. Hopefully, reading these two will either motivate me further to pursue a future in Physics, as I am currently planning, or scare me away now so that I can choose an alternative Uni course.

uəʌəsʎɐɾ

24-06-2009, 12:02 AM

Just read this autobiography about Howard Marks. The notorious marijuana smuggler

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/514E4ABMGYL._SS500_.jpg

Great book about his drug exploits with his college, the IRA, MI6, various mafias, yakuzas, smugglers, mass media, afridi marijuana cultivators, narcotics agents and high security prisons. Of course mixed in with his globe trotting adventures with his family and as the king of smoke.

A great read but don't be fooled, you don't have to be a big toker to enjoy this. A great inside look at the drugs industry of the 70s and 80s.

Funnily enough, I've been reading this for a while. Got about 80 pages left; it's his second book, I believe, and someone else wrote his biography, too. I do think the tales are slightly stretched, and his spells in Brighton are just, clearly, not long enough for my liking :P

For some reason, I want to recomment to you A Million Little Pieces, by James Someone. The book is sold under the "true story" type genre, but in actuality he fabricated most of it, got a slot on Oprah because of his lies... but it has a few scenes you'll never forget, and a nice, touching ultimatum.

Wesley

24-06-2009, 12:24 AM

So I bought bought another dozen or so books off Amazon again (I think bulk buying is the way to go) and finished The Islamist a couple of days ago (I felt the need to buy a book while waiting for my other books to come). It was really good and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone with an interest in this type of stuff. Can anyone suggest a factual (while keeping the narrative sense) book on Islam? It was hugely interesting.

Paj!

24-06-2009, 04:56 PM

Was just given this by a friend.
http://www.mantex.co.uk/hogarth/hogarth_27.jpg
I quoted it in my Cold Comfort Essay (might b my Hamlet essay) in my exams, so will be nice to read.

Daft

24-06-2009, 05:01 PM

http://server40136.uk2net.com/~wpower/images/product_images/9780140124866.jpg

I started reading this a couple weeks ago. Turns out it is on my reading list for next year, which is nice.

http://www.aphrohead.co.uk/authors/theproudhighway.jpg

I got half way through this before university got in the way last year. Back on it now. It's amazing.

Dan Dare

24-06-2009, 05:38 PM

is that the fatty hardback of all his letters? I found that in Oxfam for a fiver a while ago.

I need to start reading it again. Thankfully, it's the kind of book where simply having a copy to dip in to from time to time is a good read. It's about a million pages long.

Daft

24-06-2009, 05:48 PM

It's the massive one...and it is the first of three books. :heh: I don't think the third one is out yet. My copy isn't hard back.

Yeah, it's perfect to dip into, maybe read a letter or two. It's good to have on the go with another book.

It's amazing having so much access to someone's life, especially someone as remarkable as HST.

EchoDesiato

24-06-2009, 06:02 PM

But umm yeah, read it all in one day nearly (had a few pages left but last ten minutes of my second flight I got a huge painful headache so had to stop). I liked it but didn't connect with it really. I get this feeling all of Murakami's protaganists are just aspects of himself but this one...meh. Did he even have a name?

A lot of Murakami's protagonists are called "boku", which is Japanese for "I, me". So when translated it's just translated as that.

Bought Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World today too, can't wait to start it.

Oxigen_Waste

25-06-2009, 01:55 PM

Bought Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World today too, can't wait to start it.

It's his best. That and Wind-up Bird Chronicle.

Mundi

25-06-2009, 07:36 PM

2001: A Space Odyssey
Finally got trough it and all in all it is a very good read.
I was not really sure what to expect when I read it but it lived up to my expectations.

EchoDesiato

29-06-2009, 09:24 AM

Finished Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. I read it in 4 days (I'm a slow reader). I've never read anything like it. I like how even without any names it's easy to get attached to characters, I miss the chubby girl already. I still have one question about the story though, anyone have any ideas?

How come in Hard-Boiled Wonderland the skull lit up when the narrator was with the librarian, supposedly at the same time when in The End of the World the narrator was with the Librarian and the skulls there lit up as well? I thought the skull the professor gave him was a fake? So if it isn't, and this is a skull from a Beast, how the hell did it get into the real world??

I need to check out more of his "magical realism" stuff. Norwegian Wood was amazing, but I like it even more when weird shit is going on.

chairdriver

01-12-2009, 01:25 AM

I just read Giovanni's Room.

Really emotive. The end cuts me so deep with its blonde curls.

It just annoys me when people don't express what they really feel. It's obvious he loves Giovanni with all his heart, but for some reason leaves him for an American girl. And there's so much opportunity for him to admit to her that he loves another man, but he just doesn't. I can't cope with people feeling regret either; I tossed, turned and bawled at the misery of their lives at the end of the book.

It's really audacious as a book too, and I can imagine it would have been really controversial at the time of publishing. Probably really important in terms of LGBT history too.

It demands to be made into an Atonement-esque movie.

9/10