Books (and hopefully some discussion)
It looks like we have all the bases covered here (movies, music, and games) except for books, so I suppose it's about time that at least one thread is made devoted to it.
Three questions: (1) What was the last book you finished? (2) What are you reading now? (3) What's the next book you plan to read?
1. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. It's a book about a butler named Stevens and the life that spreads ahead and behind him. A very dry and austere book that has two main themes: The matter of servitude and the dangers of living in the past. Throughout the entire book, Stevens recollects moments and stories of his life that were key to his future actions, even as new events are constantly unfolding. His inability to deal with the present and to live only by hindsight has virtually ruined him as a human being ("The Remains of your Pitiful and Pathetic Existence" would be too obvious of a book title). I'm not sure if I like the book considering how Stevens painfully overanalyzes everything and how all Americans are portrayed as obnoxious yahoos (this was written by a British author). This is the first book I've read by Ishiguro so I can't judge too much I guess.
2. Pylon by William Faulkner. I'm only about 40 pages into it but it seems like an analysis of the Lost Generation, slightly similar to Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, though this one deals with the lower middle-class rather than the upper-crust. Better written than Great Gatsby too, of course.
3. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. I checked this out from the library a few months ago but the stream of consciousness and constantly shifting narrative threw me off. This time around, I bought a new edition with critical text so maybe that can give me some insight into the novel.
Note: In not responding to this thread, you'll be blacklisted as an illiterate fool!
