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What are you reading? (July 2013)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
BurakkuEmparaa
Neo Member
thomaser said:
Yeah, I gave up on understanding all of it about 200-300 pages ago. But the flow is definitely great. Even if nothing is really happening and/or you don´t understand what´s transpiring, it´s still a great read. Pynchon´s language is complex, but not convoluted. I can see why so many are a big fan of his. And I do agree that most of the time something amazing happens. Such as the sudden part about
time travel
However, thanks thomaser, Sleepy and the other guys that gave me advice on how to proceed in the Pynchon-cosmos. I´ll try Inherent Vice next, and then The Crying of Lot 49. Wish me luck.
DieUnbekannte
Member
I finished Death Masks by Jim Butcher yesterday. The first book of his Dresden Files series didn't convince me completely but the story sounded interesting, so I kept on reading. And I'm really happy about it, because this series is absolutely great. The combination of a private investigator story and fantasy elements fits perfectly and I really like how Butcher wrote his main character.
Today I'm going to start with Terry Pratchett's Reaper Man. I always thought I already read this book, but I was browsing through my bookshelves a few days ago and saw that the book looked completely new and the book description didn't sound familiar. It's a good thing, because it's one more discworld novel I can enjoy reading!
Today I'm going to start with Terry Pratchett's Reaper Man. I always thought I already read this book, but I was browsing through my bookshelves a few days ago and saw that the book looked completely new and the book description didn't sound familiar. It's a good thing, because it's one more discworld novel I can enjoy reading!
Finished reading Kokoro today. I was a bit worried that Sensei was overselling his backstory, but after reading more I was thoroughly moved by his anguish. Great novel.
Since The Scar still isn't here, I picked up The Phantom Tollbooth. For a children story I heard a lot of praise so I wanted to check it out. Only problem is I got the annotated edition (I thought maybe the story would be 2deep4me) and it's really big to carry so I won't be able to read it on the bus.
Oh man I love The Phantom Tollbooth!!! One of the few books I read voluntarily as a kid.
BriareosGAF
Member
He is generally admiring of Marshall and Eisenhower (especially Ike's dealing with Montgomery). Bradley is described as competent but timid given the resources. Patton is the interesting anomaly to Marshall's preferred style of commander, and they talk about how he was managed. Clark gets mostly savaged as the example of Ike's friendship protecting a poor general, one of Ike's few significant failings.
I've just started on the Korean War parts and so far it's essentially knives-out for MacArthur, who is loathed by Ricks (and many of course). Looks like 96 pages on Korea.
Also, re: above, Phantom Tollbooth is one of my favorite books. Still worth re-reading occasionally, especially the lovely Jules Feiffer illustrations.
Ventilaator
Banned
Finished The Road
Back to reading The Eye of the World then. Read Game of Thrones and then Vonnegut and then McCarthy instead of finishing it.
I choose to believe that the man who showed up at the end was totally a passing cannibal. Him being a good guy who then led the kid to safety where everything was awesome (well, as awesome as things can be in this world) is just the complete opposite of what I think this story should be. The father dying, the son being all "Now what?" the end would have been way more effective.
Back to reading The Eye of the World then. Read Game of Thrones and then Vonnegut and then McCarthy instead of finishing it.
fredrancour
Member
I bought a collection of 3 of chandler's phillip marlowe stories. Finished The Big Sleep. Still have Farewell, My Lovely and The High Window.
Mackenzie 92
Member
teruterubozu
Member
Interesting. The movie has the same ending but I thought it worked out OK. The only thing different in the movie is
they see a green beetle just before getting attacked by the bow & arrow - hinting that life may be returning to the planet
Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
Taking a break from my current fad (noir and crime) to read Song of Ice and Fire.
After Rains of Castamere I just cannot wait a year to know how the story unfolds... I need fanservice... I mean justice!
After Rains of Castamere I just cannot wait a year to know how the story unfolds... I need fanservice... I mean justice!
Mackenzie 92
Member
Tragicomedy
Member
After reading The Road and what that father and son went through to survive, you wanted to believe the boy was picked up by cannibals?
WTF is wrong with you? I don't even...
TheKaeptain
Banned
This is how I felt reading that post.
Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
George RR "fuck you lol" Martin eh?
Oh well... I've got like 200 pages left from book 2, then it's onto book 3.1.
Gotta say, despite knowing the story it's being enjoyable... I dig the extra character development, sometimes the TV shows feels like they are just rushing from one segment to the next to move the story along.
Ventilaator
Banned
EDIT: Yeah I'll just spoiler this whole thing.
What's wrong with me is my complete and utter disgust when there's drama through most of a story, but then oh god it's almost over EVERYTHING WORKED OUT AND ALL WAS FINE THE END.
Set the happy ending up a bit, jeez.
The dude of safety is introduced like a paragraph before the story ends. That just makes the whole thing sound like Ned Flanders reading Harry Potter to me.
Have him show up earlier and offer help, but the father doesn't trust him at all. Then he dies and the kid decides to go with him. Ending is still open, because why didn't the father trust him, but he doesn't appear out of nowhere in the last paragraph anymore.
Set the happy ending up a bit, jeez.
The dude of safety is introduced like a paragraph before the story ends. That just makes the whole thing sound like Ned Flanders reading Harry Potter to me.
Have him show up earlier and offer help, but the father doesn't trust him at all. Then he dies and the kid decides to go with him. Ending is still open, because why didn't the father trust him, but he doesn't appear out of nowhere in the last paragraph anymore.
Tragicomedy
Member
It was an open ended conclusion in the sense that even though the family appears friendly, there's no guarantee of their survival, hope for the future, or anything.
I still take the OPPORTUNITY of hope for the future over the kids being picked up by cannibals. I repeat myself here: WTF.
I still take the OPPORTUNITY of hope for the future over the kids being picked up by cannibals. I repeat myself here: WTF.
Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
Oh, allright.
Well then I can suggest you give it a try. Having watched the TV show then reading the source material gives you a window into how the HBO team managed to adapt the books.
Maklershed
Member
Can we get spoiler tags on the past few posts about The Road? I mean ultimately it doesn't matter since the book is so great that you should read it even if you know what happens but still - it would be nice to keep people spoiler free in this thread.
teruterubozu
Member
Again I'll allude to the movie because it treats the end kind of differently - In the movie, the family
doesn't come out of the blue because the dog appears earlier, hinting that they are being followed. HOWEVER! The family is oddly well fed and healthy for a large group, and having a dog is a LUXURY in these conditions. (The dog is non-existent in the novel) One has to wonder if the family are in fact cannibals, compared to the destitute conditions of everyone else.
The Road spoilers
I think the ending was fitting considering the whole hope theme of the novel. Not to mention the whole pattern of them starving nearly to death then finding large reserves of food constantly throughout the book made me not question the luck of the kid at the end that much. Beside I never took it as a completely happy ending. It seemed to me that it's just temporarily safety until that family runs out of supplies or face something worse. Also I think if that man met the father the outcome would have either been one of them dying or the main characters running away fearing for their life. The father would have never trusted him.
chertipros
Member
American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I'm really liking it. The writing reminds me of his work on the sandman
The whole point of The Road's ending is that
the father finally lets him go. Instead of killing him out of mercy or having him commit suicide, he's willing to entrust in the boy the key to his own fate, referred to here as 'the fire.'
What I'm saying is that it's immaterial as to just who he meets in the end - the boy's story is left open on purpose, sinister or not (and obviously the movie takes a grimmer view). The story received its thematic conclusion once the father passed away; what you got was a postscript of sorts, similar to how Cities on the Plain ends, or Blood Meridian, or etc. The family's role is less as cannibals or rapists or slavers, it's more figurative, a stand-in for the past the man and the boy fled.
What I'm saying is that it's immaterial as to just who he meets in the end - the boy's story is left open on purpose, sinister or not (and obviously the movie takes a grimmer view). The story received its thematic conclusion once the father passed away; what you got was a postscript of sorts, similar to how Cities on the Plain ends, or Blood Meridian, or etc. The family's role is less as cannibals or rapists or slavers, it's more figurative, a stand-in for the past the man and the boy fled.
Ventilaator
Banned
Looking at it on paper (ha... you know what I mean), it's not a happy ending. Not in the least. I just have a problem with the way it was presented, appearing three seconds before the ending and all that. This makes me see it as a forced happy ending, no matter the actual intention.
All it would take is moving the character back a few pages.
All it would take is moving the character back a few pages.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Count me in the camp that thought the ending sucked as well. I wasn't a big fan of the book overall though.
Also this. Come on guys.
Also this. Come on guys.
lastflowers
Banned
Good post. Open-ended endings with a reassertion of the theme prevalent throughout the novel. It's also what people hated so much about No Country For Old Men, and what I found refreshing about the novel.
I should reread it. I haven't read it in - shit - twelve years, after all. And I saw a different translation than the McClellan translation I read in high school recently that I might want to try.
lastflowers
Banned
For anyone else that wants to read some critical analysis on McCarthy, some books I've liked (rent them from the library..amazon is ouch-worthy):
Myth Legen Dust
American Exceptionalism
Perspectives on Cormac McCarthy
Myth Legen Dust
American Exceptionalism
Perspectives on Cormac McCarthy
On the subject of The Road's ending...
Over the course of the story, with all the hell the characters went through, I thought the very slight reprieve at the end was well earned. At best it was extremely bittersweet, and there's nothing intrinsically wrong with happy endings anyway, unless they're cheap, which this certainly wasn't.
Finished Wool today. I loved it! It wasn't particularly complex or anything, but it was fun. Can't wait to read the other works in the series.
Now, I was supposed to be reading Lolita for the book club but I'm just not in the mood. I'm going to be reading The Blade Itself instead.
Now, I was supposed to be reading Lolita for the book club but I'm just not in the mood. I'm going to be reading The Blade Itself instead.
Maklershed
Member
On the hard copy side of things I finished Empire Falls and started State of Fear
State of Fear by Michael Crichton
State of Fear by Michael Crichton
On the hard copy side of things I finished Empire Falls and started State of Fear
State of Fear by Michael Crichton
Such a weird story. Better than Next at least.
Reading Snow Crash again because I love it. Tomorrow I think I may try YOU.
The middle of the Road:
Currently, Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore
I just wanted them to find some food and a clean bed and some water. Then they did, and I realized I got exactly what I wanted. Which meant I had been well manipulated and really feared what was coming up next. For good reason.
Currently, Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore
Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming
Spy stuff and fallible Bond was pretty great but the casual racism is too much at times and marks it as a product of its time.
Reading all of Storm of Swords will give you some closure. Enjoy book 3 cause 4 and 5 take a different turn and slow the story down completely...
I think I'm going to kick Daemon to the curb.
Taking 2 pages to explain logging out of then into an MMO (the guy was logged in already, why would you need to explain logging in AGAIN??? WHY WHY WHY???) was the last freaking straw. Maybe I'm biased because half the dialog reminds me of a previous support job where I had to explain step by step to computer illiterate users. It wasn't fun to do then and it's not fun to read about now.
None of the characters are particularly likable and the antagonist makes everyone else seem like incompetent buffoons. I don't understand how this book was rated so highly.
Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
I see, thanks.
By the way, I read somewhere he initially planned for 8 books but he's thinking of making it a 9 book series... Is that just a rumor or has he said anything about it?
I thought there are only 2 more books left?
At GRRM's normal storytelling pace, Winter alone should be an be an additional 10 extra books, lol. Not sure how he's going to wrap these stories up in Winds of Winter and Dream of Spring without some kind of time skip.
I haven't followed GRRM stuff in a while. I thought it was originally 7 books?
As long as the next book isn't like AFFC, I can deal with the wait. Coming from Storm, it was a major let down.
Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
I couldn't stomach that book. I found the first book to be a great detective story, but the second one is overreaching... seriously
a smalltime police officer turned international spy? and the romantic subplot was poorly written I found
he gets involved in a conspiration to murder the president of south africa for fuck's sake! And a quarter of the book is the murderer talking about ancestral africa and the animal spirits.
To wipe off the sour taste, I started reading Petros Markaris books with the police officer Kostas Jaritos. Much, much better. Have to say tho, there's a lot of costumbrism in his books about present day Greece... I love costumbrism so that was a boon for me but I can see it being a problem for some people. It only irks me that he tends to deus ex machina the crime solution in the last chapters; granted most police investigations end up being soldved thanks to a stroke of luck but it gets too predictable. However, the portrati of Greece through the eyes of Jaritos is fantastic and is the true subject of the books I think.
I think I'm one of the few people who enjoyed AFFC more than ADWD
Still reading:
The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch.
I'm about 25% through at this point and it's very, very good. Some other early impressions seem to be down on the pacing of the novel, and it is slow, but I enjoying being in Lynch's world, surrounded by his characters, that I find all of it a huge pleasure to read and I wouldn't care if the book was twice as long. It's like being among good friends again. At this point, the novel has dealt mostly with the repercussions of events at the end of Red Seas Under Red Skies, but it seems to be opening up a bit now and Lynch's trademark 'heist' storyline is starting to form. The flashback story is terrific, some of the best stuff that Lynch has written.
For those of in last month's thread asking about how I have a copy: I edit a website called A Dribble of Ink. It's linked to in the OP of this thread each month. The publisher (Del Rey) supplied me with a copy.
The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch.
I'm about 25% through at this point and it's very, very good. Some other early impressions seem to be down on the pacing of the novel, and it is slow, but I enjoying being in Lynch's world, surrounded by his characters, that I find all of it a huge pleasure to read and I wouldn't care if the book was twice as long. It's like being among good friends again. At this point, the novel has dealt mostly with the repercussions of events at the end of Red Seas Under Red Skies, but it seems to be opening up a bit now and Lynch's trademark 'heist' storyline is starting to form. The flashback story is terrific, some of the best stuff that Lynch has written.
For those of in last month's thread asking about how I have a copy: I edit a website called A Dribble of Ink. It's linked to in the OP of this thread each month. The publisher (Del Rey) supplied me with a copy.
Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
Oh, of course, I don't follow GRRM that much.
Anyways if he really plans to make it a 9 book series, when is it gonna end, 2030? Assuming natural causes don't end the series prematurely.
Nappuccino
Member
The one think I personally don't get about McCarthy (granted, I've only read The Road and No Country for Old Men) is that he gets praised for doing things most other writers do, but McCarthy does the art school thing of "but no, this is what it /means/" and suddenly everyone is ok with it.
For me, at least, I had a hard time getting past the incredibly simplistic writing style of The Road and all the damn coincidences in NCfOM.
For me, at least, I had a hard time getting past the incredibly simplistic writing style of The Road and all the damn coincidences in NCfOM.
Rug Monkey
Member
Whenever I see GRRM these days I think he's gonna do a 'Robert Jordan' and hope he's left lots of notes to make Brandon Sanderson's job easier
lastflowers
Banned
Blood Meridian, Suttree, and The Crossing show a lot more sophistication in weaving archaic diction, environmental imagery, dark characters, and dialogue. Suttree has some of the most interesting 'characters' I've ever read. The writing in NC and TR are his worst, imo, other than cities of the plain.
The violence and evil found within Blood Meridian reminds readers that their glowy perception of the our western expansion is built on blood and lies. The Border Trilogy does a very good job of interweaving a bloody western with the theme of being 'unfit' for the changing times. That wild frontier was collapsing in on itself, while the protagonists are struggling to hold on to that old lifestyle, unable to adapt to modern society. After the Border Trilogy, NCfoM reads as this different twist on his previous theme. Chigurh is this ever-pressing notion of changing times. The novel talks about the varying clash of ethics and moral philosophies. Sherriff Bell, Chigurh, Wells, Mexican Drug lords, Carla Jean, Llewelyn. The frontier is now plagued with 'degenerate times', and the one person who manifests this degeneration is Chigurh. His philosophy is confounding to everyone he comes across. Sherriff Bell is the old guard, much like his father was before him. He can't protect the world against this type of evil, and retires instead of continuing to confront it and die like everyone else. It's an interesting novel theme-wise, but the writing itself (other than the dialogue) isn't up to his previous works and the themes themselves aren't explored very heavily. There isn't a lot of speculation and room to grow, it just is what it is. There is a lot more to explore in The Crossing and Blood Meridian, which is probably why I like them more. That reminds me, I should do another reading of The Crossing