*What book are you reading ?
- Thread starter ck
- Start date
- Status
transparent
Fitter happier
Fury by Salman Rushdie, was put off by his writing style at first, very pretentious (by my standards anyway 
), but there's definitely potential, bit of a grower.
), but there's definitely potential, bit of a grower.Soft as Shite
S.a.S.
Been away a while, but been doing lots of reading....!
I went on a bit of a Charles Bukowski feast and read his biography: "Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life" - worth it for the brilliant photos. Then read "Ham on Rye" and "Postoffice" too. I love his crisp writing and black humour.
JG Ballard "High Rise"- more twisted than Super Cannes and Cocaine Nights....
"Norweigan Wood" by Haruki Murakami- given to me by Onemonkey and painfully exquisite.
Just ordered:
"The Myth of Monogamy, Fidelity and Infedility in Animals and Humans" by David Barash
"Vurt" by Jeff Noon and
"Naive. Super" by Erland Loe
all second hand from Amazon.....why have I never used this before?!!! So cheap!
I went on a bit of a Charles Bukowski feast and read his biography: "Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life" - worth it for the brilliant photos. Then read "Ham on Rye" and "Postoffice" too. I love his crisp writing and black humour.
JG Ballard "High Rise"- more twisted than Super Cannes and Cocaine Nights....
"Norweigan Wood" by Haruki Murakami- given to me by Onemonkey and painfully exquisite.
Just ordered:
"The Myth of Monogamy, Fidelity and Infedility in Animals and Humans" by David Barash
"Vurt" by Jeff Noon and
"Naive. Super" by Erland Loe
all second hand from Amazon.....why have I never used this before?!!! So cheap!
that jonathan safran froer is dead good.
some of these new american writers are sound, only spoiled by the fact that they are younger than me. David Foster Wallce and George Saunders are well worth getting into. i just read the former's A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again. If you ignore the essay on tennis the pieces at the agricultural fare and the Caribbean cruise are brilliantly observed and very funny w/out being "clever". And the essay on how TV has influenced American Lit is bang-on. He sees himself as anti- POMO, which is fine in my book. George Saunders only has two short story collectiosn out. Weird stuff set in futuristic theme parks - which is where i guess he sees USA going. Again, LOL funny.
A good introduction to some of this stuff is a collection called The Burned Children Of America. Its got an intro by Zadie Frost, but don't let that put you off. Its got stuff by Wallace and Saunders and David Eggar, etc No William T Vollmann though. I guess he's getting to be too old!
some of these new american writers are sound, only spoiled by the fact that they are younger than me. David Foster Wallce and George Saunders are well worth getting into. i just read the former's A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again. If you ignore the essay on tennis the pieces at the agricultural fare and the Caribbean cruise are brilliantly observed and very funny w/out being "clever". And the essay on how TV has influenced American Lit is bang-on. He sees himself as anti- POMO, which is fine in my book. George Saunders only has two short story collectiosn out. Weird stuff set in futuristic theme parks - which is where i guess he sees USA going. Again, LOL funny.
A good introduction to some of this stuff is a collection called The Burned Children Of America. Its got an intro by Zadie Frost, but don't let that put you off. Its got stuff by Wallace and Saunders and David Eggar, etc No William T Vollmann though. I guess he's getting to be too old!
chemical_girl__
troll
lolita by vladimir nabokov
i'm only a short way in, and im willing to stick to it if someone convinces me that it is worth it, but its boring me and i dont like it
i like books that i can relate to, the feelings and characters, if not the situations............. and lets face it, humbert is a nasty piece of work, and consequently everyone he describes is scorned and shown in a bad light.
nor can i even empathise with his paedophilia, or even put his desparate temptation in a guise i can understand.
i appreciate nabokov's skill, but im considering giving up (which i never do)
do i stick to it, or ditch it?
i'm only a short way in, and im willing to stick to it if someone convinces me that it is worth it, but its boring me and i dont like it
i like books that i can relate to, the feelings and characters, if not the situations............. and lets face it, humbert is a nasty piece of work, and consequently everyone he describes is scorned and shown in a bad light.
nor can i even empathise with his paedophilia, or even put his desparate temptation in a guise i can understand.
i appreciate nabokov's skill, but im considering giving up (which i never do)
do i stick to it, or ditch it?
Orangesanlemons
Inamorati Anonymous
Stick it out, Chemical girl, it's the second greatest novel ever written (after 'Pale Fire'). The first time I read it I was 18, and I think for the first 50 pages or so I was feeling a little queasy at having to exist in Humbert's disturbing little world. This will fade as the novel progresses, don't worry. Humbert is one of the greatest unreliable narrators in literary fiction, a self-deluding genius incapable of understanding the concepts of 'right' or 'wrong' in relation to anything but himself.
Nabokov's use of language is, as ever, astonishing, and in it's own way 'Lolita' is a tragic, touching love story. Nabokov's greatest achievement: by the end of the novel the reader finds him/herself empathizing (against their better nature) with the tragically misguided, selfish figure of Humbert. He's not a sympathetic character by any means, yet Nobokov almost makes him so.
Do yourself a favour, stick it out.
And then read 'Pale Fire' or 'Ada'.
Nabokov's use of language is, as ever, astonishing, and in it's own way 'Lolita' is a tragic, touching love story. Nabokov's greatest achievement: by the end of the novel the reader finds him/herself empathizing (against their better nature) with the tragically misguided, selfish figure of Humbert. He's not a sympathetic character by any means, yet Nobokov almost makes him so.
Do yourself a favour, stick it out.
And then read 'Pale Fire' or 'Ada'.
Have just finished The Plague by Albert Camus. This book was amazing - if you can get through the sickening first few chapters. Basically, I thought it had everything - all emotions and a very good example of how against suffering, we can behave humanely. It think it was written just after the second world war and lots of the scenes seem very warlike. Of course, if you're well clever you'd be reading the French version but the English translation was excellent.
Oranges... is right about Lolita - fantastic stuff.
Currently reading 'Bonfire of the Vanities' by Tom Wolfe (excellent) and 'The Great Game' by Peter Hopkirk - a bit full of dashing officers and their derring do for my taste. Still, I'm currently in China and the choice of books in English is, erm, limited...
Bass
Currently reading 'Bonfire of the Vanities' by Tom Wolfe (excellent) and 'The Great Game' by Peter Hopkirk - a bit full of dashing officers and their derring do for my taste. Still, I'm currently in China and the choice of books in English is, erm, limited...
Bass
just read 'stairway to heaven' the new updated zeppelin biography, written by 'i'm a complete tosser and illiterate fuckhead'
what a fucking crock of shite.
reasonably large book, managed to read it in three minutes, with one eye shut, standing on my head, underwater with a squint.
very painful.
what a fucking crock of shite.
reasonably large book, managed to read it in three minutes, with one eye shut, standing on my head, underwater with a squint.
very painful.
Orang Utan
They cannot crucify you if your hand is in a fist
With the peeps on Camus and Nabokov, esp Nabokov.
My current reading is King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hothschild.
It's about the murderous King of the Belgians' annexation of the Congo. Shocking reading.
My current reading is King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hothschild.
It's about the murderous King of the Belgians' annexation of the Congo. Shocking reading.
Miss Caphat
I want it that way
I've been reading 'Tender Is The Night" by F. Scott Fitzgerald at work. For the first 1/2 of the book I was really enjoying it.....beautifully written, such unique descriptions of people and events...but more and more it seems like some navel-gazing soap opera about overprivleged Americans of the 1920's and their boring (ooh, shockingly decadent) shenanigans. I really am starting to wonder whether there is a point to it at all.
time for a new book?
time for a new book?
pinkychukkles
Feed Your Head
Just finished Down And Out In Paris And London by George Orwell
a sobering read, especially as I'm really fed up in my job...makes you think how lucky and priveliged you are.
aah NVP, Bez's book is on my list of Books To Read, however I've just had a bumper amount of books delivered from Amazon as they're offering free p&p if you order over £39... got some nice juicy titles to feast my eyes upon.
<slobber drool>
a sobering read, especially as I'm really fed up in my job...makes you think how lucky and priveliged you are.
aah NVP, Bez's book is on my list of Books To Read, however I've just had a bumper amount of books delivered from Amazon as they're offering free p&p if you order over £39... got some nice juicy titles to feast my eyes upon.
<slobber drool>
pinkychukkles
Feed Your Head
ahh books just arrived:
William Dalrymple The Age Of Kali
Travel book about his journeys on the indian sub-continent
Paul Martin Counting Sheep
science book about sleep
George Orwell Animal Farm
I've yet to be disappointed with anything I've read of Orwell
Steven Pinker The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial Oh Human Nature
Another science book, hmm maybe I should be at school again...
Martin Rees Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape The Universe
I've got a couple of Martin Rees books now and he manages to explain complicated err stuff pretty well, some of it is still over my head but I doubt I will get any clearer explanations for a layman like myself.
Karl Jansen Ketamine: Dreams And Realities
another drug book to add to my growing pile of drug literature...
T.E. Lawrence The Seven Pillars Of Wisdom
white man in an arab world...quite a weighty tome, this one will keep me busy for awhile.
William Dalrymple The Age Of Kali
Travel book about his journeys on the indian sub-continent
Paul Martin Counting Sheep
science book about sleep
George Orwell Animal Farm
I've yet to be disappointed with anything I've read of Orwell
Steven Pinker The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial Oh Human Nature
Another science book, hmm maybe I should be at school again...
Martin Rees Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape The Universe
I've got a couple of Martin Rees books now and he manages to explain complicated err stuff pretty well, some of it is still over my head but I doubt I will get any clearer explanations for a layman like myself.
Karl Jansen Ketamine: Dreams And Realities
another drug book to add to my growing pile of drug literature...
T.E. Lawrence The Seven Pillars Of Wisdom
white man in an arab world...quite a weighty tome, this one will keep me busy for awhile.
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
Currently reading:
The New Harry Potter one
Fences and Windows, Naomi Klein
The New Harry Potter one
Fences and Windows, Naomi Klein
Cassius Belli
VIR EGREGIUS CLARISSIMUS
Illustrated History Of World War Three-Dr J Bradley
Centuries Of Darkness- Peter James, Egypt's dark age 1200-800B.C
Messianic Revolution-David S Katz & Richard H Popkin, subtitled Radical religious politics to the end of the second millennium.(Christian that is).
Centuries Of Darkness- Peter James, Egypt's dark age 1200-800B.C
Messianic Revolution-David S Katz & Richard H Popkin, subtitled Radical religious politics to the end of the second millennium.(Christian that is).
pinkychukkles
Feed Your Head
If you liked Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser then you'll like his latest release which I recently finished, Reefer Madness.
The title is a little misleading because it is not totally about US state's war on drugs, but also examines the plight of illegal migrant workers and often contradictory attitudes that prevail against the pornography industry. In short, looking at the underground in the States and drawing conclusions about what that says of mainstream US society.
top read.
The title is a little misleading because it is not totally about US state's war on drugs, but also examines the plight of illegal migrant workers and often contradictory attitudes that prevail against the pornography industry. In short, looking at the underground in the States and drawing conclusions about what that says of mainstream US society.
top read.
The book - right by my side but not touched yet - is "In seach of Schrodinger's cat" by John Gribbin... the blurb "... is a fascinating and delightful introduction to the strange world of the quantum - an essential element in understanding today's world"
I haven't even read page 1 yet, it scares me
Not going to be a light read I feel...
I haven't even read page 1 yet, it scares me
Not going to be a light read I feel...
just finished Embers by Sandor Marai - found the narrative, or rather, monologue, deeply fascinating.
before that, The Good Women of China, by Xinran...would recommend this to all...wonderful, courageous, inspiring, disturbing...and about time!
bit stuck now tho...after reading a post about Lolita on here, i might try again with that (got a bit stuck/sick re the paedophilia)...or maybe Hitchhikers Guide, hmmm...or perhaps Shakey, neil young biog...
ed for sp
before that, The Good Women of China, by Xinran...would recommend this to all...wonderful, courageous, inspiring, disturbing...and about time!
bit stuck now tho...after reading a post about Lolita on here, i might try again with that (got a bit stuck/sick re the paedophilia)...or maybe Hitchhikers Guide, hmmm...or perhaps Shakey, neil young biog...
ed for sp
proud american
United States of Hysteria
"Lies my teacher told me"
Everything your American History Textbook Got Wrong
It's a fascinating read. definetly kinks the brows.
Everything your American History Textbook Got Wrong
It's a fascinating read. definetly kinks the brows.
Nina
muftysludge
Hanif Kureishi"s Gabriel's Gift.
about a 15 year old's way of dealing with the break up of his parents. Very tender and amusing....and bought back some of my own experiences. Really hits the spot.
Think I might be addicted to Kureishi..he just gets better.
Am panicking now as only have one book left to read and stuck in a place with no english books. ARRGGHH.
(also thought Siddhartha was amazing NVP!)
about a 15 year old's way of dealing with the break up of his parents. Very tender and amusing....and bought back some of my own experiences. Really hits the spot.
Think I might be addicted to Kureishi..he just gets better.
Am panicking now as only have one book left to read and stuck in a place with no english books. ARRGGHH.
(also thought Siddhartha was amazing NVP!)
- Status
Similar threads
- Poll
