-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
What are you reading? (February 2016)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
- Status
Maklershed
Member
Just got an alert that the kindle version of The Passage by Justin Cronin is $1.99 right now. I've never read it but I see it mentioned and recommended a lot so I figured I'd pass the word on.
Mind putting that in spoilers? I kinda wanted to read that.
whatevermort
Member
Here's why it definitely won't happen.
http://deadline.com/2015/12/neil-cross-hard-sun-drama-bbc-one-luther-1201650784/
Tragicomedy
Member
Finally finished (after some weeks of not reading):
While the main character surviving was necessary for a "welp" ending, I would have preferred a darker one.
I also finished it this AM. Decent book, but ultimately unfulfilling for me. I think I would like it a lot more had I read it back in 1975, but it was fairly generic by modern science fiction standards.
Not the reasoning I was going to argue, but there you go.
I feel like this is akin to calling Lord of the Rings generic because every major epic fantasy since has stolen from it. Or the Bible. It's important to consider the context in which something is written and published, so that we're able to recognize that it influenced tropes, rather than suffers from them.
This isn't a criticism of your opinion, I see that you recognize how your experience reading it in '75 might have been different, but your complaint is a common one, thrown especially against older SF and Fantasy, and it always surprises me a little.
The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami: This historical fiction is an imagined backstory for Estebanico, a Moroccan-born slave who was part of a Spanish expedition in Florida that saw all but four members perish; the three Spaniards all left their own accounts of the voyage. Highly readable, though having finished it I wondered if Estebanico (or Mustafa, the name Lalami conjures for him) could have been given a bit more shading as a character. Lalami uses his POV and the course of the voyage to offer what feel like very multifaceted takes on the Spaniards in the voyage (particularly how they become more like Mustafa's peers while in the wild for eight years, but on returning to Spanish civilization they gradually fall back into their old roles), but Mustafa kind of feels like a 21st century liberal as opposed to having attitudes, etc. more consistent with the backstory Lalami creates for him. All the same, well worth reading.
I finished Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy last night. This book is pure horror. The scariest thing I've read and also one of the most interesting and beautifully written. It captivated me from the very first sentence. "See the child." I loved it. I'm still trying to figure out what happened in the end, but I can't wait to have a re-read in the future.
TwntyOneTwlv
Member
I might need to give this another chance. I read it a few years ago and found it to be a complete and total slog.Next up:
BodySystem Lars
Neo Member
PKD's The Man in the High Castle
Jared Diamond's Germs, Guns and Steel
David W Maurer's The Big Con ( Actually a challenging read because of the lingo, thank god there is a dictionary in the back)
I'm a fan of The Great Gatsby and sometimes open up to random chapters and read a few. Always have a copy bedside.
Beginning, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, but I will probably be reading that for months.
First time reading multiple books at once, not sure if I like it.
Jared Diamond's Germs, Guns and Steel
David W Maurer's The Big Con ( Actually a challenging read because of the lingo, thank god there is a dictionary in the back)
I'm a fan of The Great Gatsby and sometimes open up to random chapters and read a few. Always have a copy bedside.
Beginning, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, but I will probably be reading that for months.
First time reading multiple books at once, not sure if I like it.
BodySystem Lars
Neo Member
According to wikipedia (Hollywood Reporter), he is not involved with Star Wars anymore.
Fuck! Bought. Just pile on these huge books I'll read by 2022. Thanks for the heads-up
That's one of the books I think everybody should read. I don't go as far as Diamond does in geographical determinism, but it's an important factor in the way the world developed that people don't usually think of.
Tragicomedy
Member
That's exactly what I'm saying, though. I can see how the book would be mind-warping 40 years ago, and recognize it feels less fresh because of how much it has been plagiarized. Unfortunately, I've read better versions of this story.
I do like older science fiction and fantasy, but the super influential stuff sometimes suffers unjustly at the hands of time. It's akin to saying the Beatles don't sound too innovative by today's standard when in fact they wrote the book...wrong, but it is what it is.
As far as the Bible goes...meh. It's a retelling of vastly more ancient myths and cultural norms. And I've read the whole thing.
The Museum of Science Fiction has published their first Journal of Science Fiction, and released it for free.
http://publish.lib.umd.edu/scifi/article/view/265/29
http://publish.lib.umd.edu/scifi/article/view/265/29
Whoops. Thought that because there is a sequel with the same main character, that outcome at least would be clear.
I recently completed SOMA on PS4. In the OT, I noticed many people recommending Philip K. Dick's Ubik. It sounds exciting, so I'm gonna check it out.
I just wish the cover was less, uh, terrible.
But that's the only English edition available on my regional Amazon, so I have no choice.
I just wish the cover was less, uh, terrible.
But that's the only English edition available on my regional Amazon, so I have no choice.
wild wild rice
Member
Great book. That ending was just haunting.
KingHenrik30
Member
On month #2 of infinite jest. 100 pages in haha.
Maklershed
Member
Finished The Bottoms which was great. I need more country noir. Any recs?
Now on to Consider Phlebas.
Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
Now on to Consider Phlebas.
Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
Was in the mood for more football, particularly college football, as well as a sort of road trip book. This has been on my to-read list for a while, and randomly it was on sale at Amazon kindle, so started this last night. Should be another fun read.
Dixieland Delight: A Football Season on the Road in the Southeastern Conference by Clay Travis
Dixieland Delight: A Football Season on the Road in the Southeastern Conference by Clay Travis
flintstryker
Banned
Sackett Land by Louis L'amour
RepairmanJack
Member
Wanted something disturbing and went through a whole list of gore and disturbing stuff and nothing was in at my library and ended up settling on Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.
I'm about half way through and I'm kind of surprised at how much I like this book. It's certainly disturbing and the main character comes off as a lying psychopath that sort of belittles everything he is doing, but it's just written sooo damn well. I'm also always into a book that seems to have a unreliable narrator but is still good at selling you along with the story.
I'm about half way through and I'm kind of surprised at how much I like this book. It's certainly disturbing and the main character comes off as a lying psychopath that sort of belittles everything he is doing, but it's just written sooo damn well. I'm also always into a book that seems to have a unreliable narrator but is still good at selling you along with the story.
InfiniteBento
Member
Just got back into 1Q84. I forgot how much I love Murakami's writing.
RepairmanJack
Member
I'll check it out.
Lolita definitely wasn't what I was expecting when i was looking for disturbing, but I was in need of a book and I went down a list I found. Not too disappointed though, so far it's definitely been worth checking out.
sparky2112
Member
I would only recommend Saramago if you can handle/like/love unconventional writing styles (which I clearly do). Man was a genius.
wild wild rice
Member
Thanks, never heard of Saramago. I didn't find Lolita disturbing at all really, I felt like it kind of just ended up being an expression of the love of language moreso than creepy pedos.
Yeah it's really not a good fit. I know why it'd be listed as such but I think that does the book a disservice.
RepairmanJack
Member
I'd say it's a little disturbing in the first quarter or so but after that it kind of becomes something else. It's also oddly where the best writing is, at least so far.
In the first quarter Lolita is described and written about as more of an actual person. After that she almost becomes an object and the story sort of takes a different turn. It becomes more about his frustrations and annoyance dealing with keeping his object. The first quarter seems more disturbing because you see these things written and then you actually read about this 12 year old but after that what actually happens is less descriptive and Lo's moments of personality are a lot fewer and farther between.
It was unfulfilling for me as well, because it only mentioned or grazed certain themes or issues. While that made for an interesting read, in the end, it lacked substance in that regard.
He he. Thankfully, I have no issues with that.
Well, it can be both. It's an incredibly disturbing story told in the most beautiful language possible. Makes for an interesting disconnect. I don't think it's a disservice to the book to acknowledge that the subject matter is really fucked up and hard to read about for some people.
I'm just wary that people will write off the book as "shock" material.
Like if I just described Cabin in the Woods as "horror". I can imagine someone going "oh well, I don't like scary stuff so that's a pass". Personally, I don't like scary stuff either and I would've never watched it if a friend who wasn't very familiar with my tastes pushed it onto me. This is the kind of risk I see in labeling fiction with words that feed preconceptions.
I get you. I think it's also important to not be like: "Oh, the book isn't really about chid sexual abuse" because it totally is and I don't blame people for not wanting to read it for that reason. Especially since it's something people are more likely to have lived through than stuff that's usually under the shock label.
So disturbing, but incredibly well written and definitely worth reading if you feel up to it.
In other news, really enjoying City of Blades. This world is so good. Can it be the next Discworld where I get 40+ books in the universe? Please.
Finished The Machine by the incomparable James Smythe. Since I'm yet again in the mood for southern noir I started reading The Bottoms.
The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale
Haven't read this one, but Joe R. Lansdale is one of my favorite authors. Have you ever read "The Drive-In"?
The Museum of Science Fiction has published their first Journal of Science Fiction, and released it for free.
http://publish.lib.umd.edu/scifi/article/view/265/29
Cool! Thanks.
Maklershed
Member
sparky2112
Member
I thought about reading this, but I'm reading about the Enfield Tennis Academy instead.
Yes, but it could be the classic case of it being my first from him. All the stuff I've read from him is great though. The Drive-In is a trip. It gets pretty "out there". It's like the ultimate twisted popcorn B-movie. Fantastic stuff.
Axelstream
Member
Let me know what you think. The Unconsoled and Artist of the Floating World are the last ones I haven't read from him.
Tragicomedy
Member
Ignore/look beyond the gender pronouns and press on! It gets really interesting.
Book two, however...meh.
- Status