Stone-
I haven't read Ulysess so I can't make any of the parallels. I can say Heartbreaking Work was one of the better books I've read, easily in the top 10.
His follow-up 'You Shall Know Our Velocity' is fantastic as well.
Printable View
Stone-
I haven't read Ulysess so I can't make any of the parallels. I can say Heartbreaking Work was one of the better books I've read, easily in the top 10.
His follow-up 'You Shall Know Our Velocity' is fantastic as well.
I read that book along with Atlas Shrugged and Anthem. Later I read her philosophy book (on objectavism) and it really shook me. It changed my whole perspective on that woman's mentality. She basically portrays that she is right, everyone else is wrong and you have to step on everything and everyone to get at what you want.Quote:
Originally posted by enigmajelly
I'm currently reading Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" and its excellent
Bah...
All said, the books alone are fantastic.
Anyhow. Last book I read was "Wampeters Foma and Granfalloons" by Kurt Vonnegut... I really enjoy his work.
Unfortunately I haven't been in the reading mood over the past couple of months... :(
I just read Robin Hobb's "Farseer Trilogy" last week. I'm trying to work my way through Kushiel's Chosen at the moment.
I had to take a train Ride to Maryland this past weekend for my Grandparent's 80th birthdays and 60th wedding anniversary. I had 7 hours of train ride, each way, so I read Chuck Palahniuk's Survivor cover to cover.
Good read. Not as good as fight club. Very interesting. He goes a little overboad with the detail here and there, and its quite an easy read to say the least. I would definitely suggest it, especially if you liked Fight Club.
There are worse ways to spend an afternoon that with this novel.
I'm working on the Harry Potter books (I hate the writing, but since I liked the movies, I wanted the background info you don't get in them); a book called "Wuhu Diary" about a woman who takes her adopted child back to China to find out about her past; and I, Asimov - Asimov's memoirs.
Just finished The Rules of Attraction. quite good, but i like less than zero and american pyscho better. I hope Ellis writes a new book soon, and I hope its a departure from the subject matter he has dealt with so far.
Just started Kubrick: Inside a Film Artist's Maze. Not exactly light reading.
Re-Read Tom Clancy's Executive Decision and The Bear and The Dragon. Good, but repetitive, predictable and such. I think I'm burnt out on Clancy, since I can't even bring myself to re-read Rainbow Six again.
Translating Buddhisim from the Tibetan Language, Joe. B. Wilson.
I picked this up years ago, but have never gotten through it. In fact, I've never gotten past chapter 3. On the whole, Tibetan is a beautiful language to look at on the page (looks like Hindi etc.), and I like that.
It's interesting to see the things that correspond with Japanese, and how some of the Tibetan Letters look like the Hiragana (it's easy to see how Daruma modifed things like Ma in Tibetan to Ma for Hiragana, and so forth).
I don't think that I will ever get through the book, because it is so utterly frustrating and maddening that it discourages me. Silent letters, Letters that can only go in certain places and letters that change what preceeds and follows, are so common it hurts.
I definately want to finish the book, but it's going to take years to get to a point that's barely passable.
Still, a great project book to pick up (runs around 70 dollars).
Just finished The Art of War by Sun Tzu and Bias by Bernard Goldberg.
The former was fabulous. If ever I am to go to war against someone, I have found my primer. As for the latter, it was much better than I expected it to be. And different. For someone talking about 'liberal bias' in the media, you'd expect a conservative Republican to be writing it, but Bernie Goldberg is a Democrat, which I found interesting. His points and illustrations were iron-clad, which was nice to see, as most claims of bias are very weak.
Previous to these two, I finished Animal Farm and The Great Gatsby.
Next up, 1984 by George Orwell. Good so far. I'm trying to get through Leadership by Rudy, but wow, is it tough. I'm really having a hard time making my way through it. I thought the book was going to be more of an autobio but instead, it's Rudy's take on leadership (guess the title should've given it away).
I just finished the first Disc World book.
Just read John Adams by David McCullough, and absolutely loved it. I'd never read a serious biography before, and only picked this up because I was bored at the airport and it was the only thing that stood out from the sea of John Grisham, Stephen King and Sue Grafton crap. I think I may have a new interest in history now, but I'm not sure if it's because I find the topic inherently interesting or just because this book was so engagingly written. I think it may be the latter, because I'm not finding my current reading as interesting so far.
My current book is A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn. It examines the nation's history from the perspective of the downtrodden victims, rather than the famous statesmen and politicians. It's not as gripping
as John Adams so far, but I'll never look at C. Columbus the same way again.
On deck is Lies my Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, by James Loewen. It supposedly reveals omissions and distortions commonly taught in American history textbooks.
Does TNL count?
I hate Commies.
I don't think you read his post very carefully, Stone.
Me, I'm reading Christopher Durang Explains It All, a compendium of Durang plays.
Ahahah, you're right. I like taking shots at Zinn, heheh, sue me. What sort of stuff does Durang write? I don't really read any modern (?) drama at all, kind of deficient in that area.
reading Less Than Zero by Brett Easton Ellis... It's okay right now, but I hope it picks up like Glamourama did, or i'll be dissapointed
... Still waiting for Lullaby on paperback :rolleyes:
The Hook, a novel by Donald E. Westlake.
Writer A has a $1.1 million advance for his next novel, but his deadline was last year. He has horrendous writer's block, and is being bled dry by his wife, who he's in the process of divorcing. Writer B is a career mid-level author who's working under yet another pen name, and is seriously considering a new career and uprooting his family, much to his and his wife's chagrin.
Writer A meets up with Writer B, and says, "I've got an idea - why don't you give me your next manuscript, in secret? I put my name on it, send it to my publisher, and we split the advance - whaddya say?"
Writer B: "Hm. What's the catch?"
Writer A: "I want you to kill my wife."
Things proceed from there in very interesting fashion.
I picked this up immediately after finishing Westlake's The Ax , in which a white-collar guy gets fired from his job. Worried about the competition for his next interview, he creates a fake ad for his ideal job in the Classifieds, and kills everyone who applies.
Westlake is loads and loads of fun, one of the best pure entertainment writers I've read. Carl Hiaasen is good fun in that area, too. I haven't read either of them in a long time, but I used to really like it before I became too good for that sort of book.
Have a Nice Day is one of my favorite books. I read it constantly. I just picked up the sequel tonight.Quote:
Originally posted by 88mph
Mick Foley's Autobiography (again).
Has anyone here read The Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace? I'm thinking of starting that after exams.
I dunno about his books, but I like him on Page 2.Quote:
Originally posted by Ichabod
Last book read: Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson.
Thompson finding his voice as a writer. Excellent. I love the chapter devoted to tracing the lineage of the Hell's Angels back to the Linkhorns.
My current obsession with The Ring led me to Lullaby - I'm thinking of picking that up too. Speaking of The Ring, I would read the original novel if I didn't pick up so much of the story online and read chunks of it in the store.Quote:
Originally posted by Rick
The latter has become my second favorite by Palhuinuk besides Lullaby, with probably the best protaginist out of all his novels.
It's just "Infinite Jest" - yeah, I read it, as much as you can read a book like that. It's interesting in parts, stultifyingly boring in others. You'll get tired of checking footnotes really quickly, and now, what, 7 years after its release, the writing style is almost self-parodying. Like most of the literature in the genre (other than Eggers'), a lot of the jokes are pretty bad - stuff like calling a newly developed NAFTA analogue the "Organization of North American Nations" (oh hohoho, O.N.A.N., yes, politics is masturbation, very good David).
There's a book in there that's actually worth really going through - the thing is, there are too many other books that offer similar rewards for less work. Saul Bellow said something about how he was going to wait until he's in a retirement home before he tries to read "Finnegan's Wake", and "Infinite Jest" should probably be in that category, too.
Still, it's probably worth half-reading the entire book just for the injokes with other people who have 'read' it. Wistfully making fun of guys like Wallace seems to have become a sub-genre of hip literary conversation. Still, it's probably even better, now, to say "I don't have time for stuff like that" or something else along those lines.
It is one of the few pieces of literature that I think resonates with people our age, sort of a touchstone. "A Heartbreaking Work of Genius" is another.
Safran Foer's Everything is Illuminated is funnier, and it's got more emotion (the raw clumsy attempts to actually say something, cloaked in layers and layers of everything else, are what make these novels worth reading). Pynchon's Pynchon, hm, I dunno what else. I have a hard time reading modern fiction without feeling like I'm not ready for it, that I ought to reread Shakespeare or the Bible or finish reading all of Richardson or Fielding or whatever.
What do you mean by that?Quote:
Originally posted by Stone
I became too good for that sort of book.
Just a bad joke/sarcasm, I was trying to make fun of myself for being stuck-up as far as literature goes (with all these posts on David Foster Wallace and stuff like that). I'm 'too good' to read anything that's not 'serious' literature, you know, it's silly.Quote:
Originally posted by BioMechanic
What do you mean by that?
Well, I picked up "Animal Farm" by Orwell, which I'll give a read as soon as my time frees up. It's only 139 pages, so I have no excuses in not finishing it off quick.
I rarely read books, it's just something I've always viewed as drudgery :/. I stick to just reading what I need to know (be it school or job related).
The Sex Revolts by Simon Reynolds and Joy Press. It's an examination of gender in rock and roll. Pretty good so far.
The Pillar of Salt by Albert Memmi...
I got another book (I think have a problem): "Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order," by Robert Kagan.
Yeah, damn it. Go read something that doesn't bore your teeth out of your head you uppity snob. ;)Quote:
Originally posted by Stone
Just a bad joke/sarcasm, I was trying to make fun of myself for being stuck-up as far as literature goes (with all these posts on David Foster Wallace and stuff like that). I'm 'too good' to read anything that's not 'serious' literature, you know, it's silly.
Hehe.
Reading as of 5/5/2003: The Standing Dead by Ricardo Pinto (interesting - to say the least - fantasy novel with no magic or other common fantasy elements), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Oh! The Things I Know! by Al Franken (which is nowhere near as funny as Rush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat Idiot).
Good stuff.
Currently reading Memnock(sp?) The Devil by anne rice
It will be the first of her books that ive taken the time to read. So far its pretty good. I read probably 1/3 of it the first time I picked it up.
That book about her philosophy wouldn't have been Plilosophy: Who Needs It, would it? I read that book in like the 6th or 7th grade. Gripping book. One of the few books I just could not put down, the other being The Power Of Myth.Quote:
Originally posted by Atlas
I read that book along with Atlas Shrugged and Anthem. Later I read her philosophy book (on objectavism) and it really shook me. It changed my whole perspective on that woman's mentality. She basically portrays that she is right, everyone else is wrong and you have to step on everything and everyone to get at what you want.
Bah...
All said, the books alone are fantastic.
Anyhow. Last book I read was "Wampeters Foma and Granfalloons" by Kurt Vonnegut... I really enjoy his work.
Unfortunately I haven't been in the reading mood over the past couple of months... :(
Amazing book, or I thought so. Her arguments for all her vews were very logical and well thought out. Her writing style, at least in that book, was very logical, cold, and exact.
There are some flaws though with some of her vews, such as space not being infinite.
I'd really like to start reading.
A book I want to get my hands on is "The Holographic Universe" by Michael Talbot. heres a quick summary:
Today nearly everyone is familiar with holograms, three-dimensional images projected into space with the aid of a laser. Now, two of the world's most eminent thinkers -- University of London physicist David Bohm, a former protege of Einstein's and one of the world's most respected quantum physicists, and Stanford neurophysiologist Karl Pribram, one of the architects of our modern understandingofthe brain -- believe that the universe itself may be a giant hologram, quite literally a kind of image or construct created, at least in part, by the human mind. This remarkable new way of looking at the universe explains not only many of the unsolved puzzles of physics, but also such mysterious occurrences as telepathy, out-of-body and near-death experiences, "lucid" dreams, and even religious and mystical experiences such as feelings of cosmic unity and miraculous healings.
I'd also like "Exploring the world of lucid dreaming" by Steven LaBerge and Howard Rheingold. basically, its a book about dreaming by the man who pioneered research in lucid dreaming.
I'd love some good fiction, though I'm not sure where to start.
This thread reminds me, I need to go get the second discworld novel after work today.
Yarg.
Just finished 'Animal Farm' (wicked fast read, but fantastic) and I am now reading '1984'. Orwell really hated those Commies, yet considered himself a Socialist? Odd fellow, great writer.
off topic, but I just had to say that I love your comic Kidnemo :)
Thanks much!Quote:
Originally posted by arjue
off topic, but I just had to say that I love your comic Kidnemo :)
But probably not as much as I love making them. :D
I know, canned response, but it really is true!
Just finished "The Last Days of John Lennon: A Personal Memoir by Frederic Seaman". Pretty good read. If you're curious about just how completely insane Yoko Ono was/is, and how much control she had over John in the late 70's up to his death, this is a good book. I have a newly recharged dislike for that soul-less money grubbing psychopath.
Starting on "An American Paradox - Censorship in a Nation of Free Speech" by Patrick Garry.
Ishmael. Only about 80/260 pages through, but this book is truly provoking. It throws so much stuff at you to consider that it's nearly overwhelming.
Good stuff. It brings to light many things I have not considered.
One of those books that everyone should read...
Finished 1984. Fantastic read. Now onto Letters To A Young Conservative by Dinesh D'Souza. And then Tender Is The Night.
Right now, I'm reading Trading for a Living by Dr. Alexander Elder. Next up, I'm shooting to finish Mario Puzo's The Sicilian.
Terry Prachett is a genius, did you know he did a book with Neil Gaimen (of Sandman fame) called Good Omens? great read. what do you like in the disc world series?Quote:
Originally posted by Kidnemo
This thread reminds me, I need to go get the second discworld novel after work today.
Yarg.
I'm still reading Miles Davis' Autobiography and reading and re-reading my favorite Zelazney novels in between.
I just finished "Journey Into The Whirlwind" by Eugenia Semyonovna Ginzburg. The first in a two volume account of a womans experiences in Stalinist Russia and the horrible things she endured over 18 years in Russia's prison and labor camps. Excellent book, incredibly vivid account of mans inhumanity to man and the effect that communism had on normal people within Russia. I give it a 10/10.
I am currently reading:
Cicero by Anthony Everitt. A biography of Marcus Tullius Cicero, who is generally considered to be Rome's greatest politician. So far it has been quite excellent, the author has done impeccable research but has still written it in a way that is easy to read even for those not knowledgeable of those times and events.
Volume 1 of A History of Philosophy by Frederick Copleston. The entire nine volume set is probably the best history of philosophy in english available today. Written by a classically trained Oxford Jesuit for Catholic seminary students, it offers a very objective history of philosophy. So far is has been very good, not a light read though.
The People's Pottage by Garet Garrett. Small books of three essays written specifically about the loss of individual freedoms in the USA and the creation and enlargement of a centralized government and the methods that are used to create and sustain it. The author as a anti-war advocate obviously has a slant to his views but is a very strong supporter of freedom and our fundamental rights. The first essay on The New Deal is quite good, certainly illustrates FDR's political methods and the design behind the fundamental change in outlook and makeup that occured within our government towards its role in our society.
The Quest For Cosmic Justice - Thomas Sowell. A book of larger essays on the differences between specific views of justice and equality that exist today, and the differences between the results and processes of these views.
Heaven On Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism. Excellent history on the beginnings and different forms of socialism, only flaw that I have seen is perhaps the brevity of the different sections, not to say that it is a short book, just that it ignited a much greater interest in certain historical events and people. Very well researched, although some might find it a bit upsetting to see Fascism included as a form of socialism (get over it, its ideological basis was socialist). :p
I haven't read all of Letters To A Young Conservative, only a specific part concerning Lincoln that I had heard about before. There are some serious flaws in his arguments there, and he has specifically accepted the views of Jaffa and his pro lincoln crowd without acknowledging any of the points made by others about Lincoln and his presidency.Quote:
Originally posted by Jimmy Carter
Finished 1984. Fantastic read. Now onto Letters To A Young Conservative by Dinesh D'Souza. And then Tender Is The Night.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo39.html
This is from a libertarian site, but that shouldn't detract too much from the factual basis of the article. :)
I'm reading Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke.
A fascinating read.
I'm currently reading (& immensly enjoying) ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE, By Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
JM
Mm JM isn't that the Nobel prize winner? I'm reading The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, a nice book but not revolutionary.
Now I'm reading the third discworld novel.
I think he got the Nobel Prize for his overall work in literature, not for "One Hundred Years Of Solitude" in particular. I do believe that this is considered his finest work, along with "Love In The Time Of Cholera", which I also highly reccommend.Quote:
Originally posted by Starfox
Mm JM isn't that the Nobel prize winner? I'm reading The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, a nice book but not revolutionary.
JM
I am quoting the first post in the thread to report that I fiiinally finished Aberystwyth Mon Amour... No, it didn't take me that long to read it. It actually took me 3 days to read the whole book (and I am a slow reader). I just forgot about it after I first started... and only just picked it up again the other day.Quote:
Originally posted by sggg
I am also reading "Aberystwyth" by Malcolm Pryce. It's an interesting book which takes place in Wales. I like Wales and my girlfriend highly recommended it. I only just started it though.
Here are some links to more info on both, if anyone is interested:
¬ The Last Samurai
¬ Aberystwyth
It was a real page-turner. Very well written, zany plot, strange characters, great Welsh atmosphere...
Apparently a sequel is due out this year. I'll look forward to that. :)
Just got Six Armies in Normandy and The Face of Battle from my uncle, both written by John Keegan. I'm looking forward to reading 'em, even if I can't for a few weeks. These are some of the first books I've gotten for non-academic reading. :wtf:
I just read a good book today...
actually it was a great book.
hard core sci-fi, interesting read.
bit hard to get through at times with how into the science this guy goes.
Greg Bear's "Darwin's Radio" 538 pgs.
I recommend it highly.
Currently reading England, England by Julian Barnes. Just started reading it so don't have that much of an impression. So far, so good though. Interesting / funny plot about recreating England as a theme park. Very quirky. :p
Probably some of the best book cover art. A really cool picture of a puzzle of the southern counties of England.
Montaigne's Essays. Just reread 'Julius Caesar' for the I-don't-know-how-many-th time, 'Merchant of Venice'. I'm reading this foolish little novel that someone gave me called On the Wings of Angels (I think) by Ken Follett - it's about corporate executives that are trained by an ex-Army-Ranger for a rescue mission into Iran. More Emerson, Wodehouse, Samuel Johnson. Next on the list is some Racine and I'm going to have a go at Beckett. Ah, summer.
Have you read Foer's Everything is Illuminated? I like that a lot better than The Corrections.Quote:
Originally posted by Starfox
Mm JM isn't that the Nobel prize winner? I'm reading The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, a nice book but not revolutionary.
Currently reading Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre by HP Lovecraft. My vocabulary sucks.
Got two more books: "The Trial of Henry Kissinger" by Christopher Hitchens, and "What Went Wrong? The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East," by Bernard Lewis.
Quote:
Originally posted by Click_Stick
Ishmael. Only about 80/260 pages through, but this book is truly provoking. It throws so much stuff at you to consider that it's nearly overwhelming.
Good stuff. It brings to light many things I have not considered.
One of those books that everyone should read...
My opinion: Ishmael is a work so full of shit its not even funny.
Currently Reading:
-National Geographic May and June
-Civilization in the West: Europe until 1750
-The Tao of Jeet Kune Do (older, more complete edition)
heh, you sure spend a lot of time here for a heavy reader. TNL sucks up too much time for me anymore.Quote:
Originally posted by Stone
Montaigne's Essays. Just reread 'Julius Caesar' for the I-don't-know-how-many-th time, 'Merchant of Venice'. I'm reading this foolish little novel that someone gave me called On the Wings of Angels (I think) by Ken Follett - it's about corporate executives that are trained by an ex-Army-Ranger for a rescue mission into Iran. More Emerson, Wodehouse, Samuel Johnson. Next on the list is some Racine and I'm going to have a go at Beckett. Ah, summer.
Have you read Foer's Everything is Illuminated? I like that a lot better than The Corrections.
Well, you are probably off topic quite a bit, i didn't thread, its fucking long, So i'll just answer the initial Question.. I'm reading Survivor, By Chuck Palahniuk. hes the guy that write Fight Club.. I'm about 10-15 chapters in and so far its amazing!! Just like all of his books!! :D