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[Tenrius]

So I'm a bit into A Confederacy of Dunces and don't know what to think yet. I enjoy the dialogue and everything, but some of the descriptions are too grotesque for my tastes (especially the main character with his pyloric valve, vomiting etc). I wanted something light-hearted and slightly absurd, essentially, and it fits the bill so far. Any opinions?

 

[User 479360]

I borrowed Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King from the local library. It's what I'm reading during a break from 12/22/63, which I borrowed from a friend a while ago and have been reading slowly.

 

[postcyberpunk]

Just finished the intro... incredibly interesting.

 

[Mumei]

Finished:

The Wages of Destruction was enlightening. I hadn't realize just how bad Germany's economic position in World War II was. Imagination and Meaning in Calvin and Hobbes is surface level and not really worth reading. Please Save My Earth is still fantastic.

Currently Reading:

Dickinson continues to be on backlog until I get it back from whoever stole it from me by putting it on hold while I had it checked out.

 

[Tenrius]

Currently Reading:

Is this your first time reading Catch-22? I read it earlier this year (after seeing it mentioned in this thread, no less) and ended up absolutely loving it.

 

[Rich!]

Bacon sandwich just now with HP sauce

Damn good. Next up will probably be chicken later

 

[Tragicomedy]

Finished two books:

★★½

This is the only Star Wars book I've read since the Timothy Zahn trilogy from the early 90s. It was enjoyable in its own way, but it didn't really feel like a Star Wars story. The scope was incredibly narrow, focused on mining and corruption of a planet and its orbiting moon. While there technically was one lightsaber in the story, there really wasn't. There wasn't any memorable space battles, and the characters were largely disposable.

I understand the purpose behind this story was to introduce the characters of the upcoming cartoon series, but its obvious the show will have to provide background on everyone. They aren't going to assume people have read this book. As such, it feels largely redundant and not something I can really recommend,

-----

★½

This book was a mess for me. It's easier to talk about what it was not about than what it was. It was not about a young boy with autism. It was not about the struggles that children on the spectrum deal with, or how their families cope. It wasn't really about a person at all, at least not in the traditional sense.

It was about an imaginary friend who exists almost independently of his creator. The imaginary friend travels places his creator hasn't visited and therefore couldn't "create" in this imaginary world. The vast majority of the book is spent following this imaginary friend as he selfishly looks for ways to preserve his own existence at the expense of the little boy who created him.

Spoiler

He repeatedly (and I do mean repeatedly) struggles to decide if he should help a young boy escape from a kidnapper, since that might mean he will cease to exist. WTF?

Entire chapters are spent with the imaginary friend talking to other imaginary friends about whatever the author felt like putting on that specific page. There's a mini-UFC brawl between two imaginary friends, one being a 7-foot tall giant with a uni-brow.

Spoiler

There are asides where the imaginary friend witnesses the death of someone he considers a friend but is in fact a complete stranger. The entire kidnapping thing feels totally out of place in the book.

Definitely a kitchen sink approach.

 

[Mumei]

Is this your first time reading Catch-22? I read it earlier this year (after seeing it mentioned in this thread, no less) and ended up absolutely loving it.

Yes, it is. I'm really enjoying it. My first impression was that it really reminded me of Gravity's Rainbow, but less surreal.

 

[leroidys]

On Roberto Bolano's "The Savage Detectives" for the third time.

 

[Tragicomedy]

Yes, it is. I'm really enjoying it. My first impression was that it really reminded me of Gravity's Rainbow, but less surreal.

You are reading my favorite book of all-time.

Enjoy Major Major Major Major.

 

[Tenrius]

You are reading my favorite book of all-time.

Enjoy Major Major Major Major.

It became my all-time favorite as well. I have always had trouble naming one single book before, but Catch-22 is just too good.

 

[Aurelius]

Very funny book.

 

[Necrovex]

<3

How far are you?

I only completed volume one, but it's a strong ass introduction, stronger than 20th Century Boys.

Please Save my Earth Series

Is anyone in the series like "Nah, I won't save your earth. Peace."?

Never! Actually, I've borrowed my mom's Nook and I just didn't enjoy it as much as having a physical book. I'm one of those people.

I'm sorry, Travis, but we can't be friends anymore. Bye, Gal.

 

[Pau]

Finished the two volumes of The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing. The second volume dragged on and was more about battles which I found kind of boring compared to the more mystical tone of the first volume. I get why it changed, but it's pretty much a downer on most fronts. Still, I think it should be in American school curriculums. At that age, I definitely was not exposed to thinking about American "liberty" in the context of a nation built upon bondage. The novels do a good job of presenting such ideas in a way that's accessible to kids.

Yes, it is. I'm really enjoying it. My first impression was that it really reminded me of Gravity's Rainbow, but less surreal.

Hmm, I've stayed away from Pynchon but if Gravity's Rainbow has the same tone (and impact) as Catch-22 I should give it a try.

 

[Ashes]

Book by Nella Larsen
Passing is a novel by American author Nella Larsen, first published in 1929. Set primarily in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the 1920s, the story centers on the reunion of two childhood friends of mixed-race ancestry—Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield—and their increasing fascination with each other's lives.
Published: April 1929
Author: Nella Larsen
Genre: Tragedy

The prose thus far is wonderful.

 

[The Auxiliary]

Just finished reading Uncle Tom's Cabin and have moved on to Moby-Dick for my 19th Century American Literature class.

Uncle Tom's Cabin wasn't as reprehensible as I've been led to believe. It drove me to tears a few times, but I thought it was a rather decent book. Sure, its social politics are quite outdated compared to today, but I can see how it helped spur the abolitionist movement in its time.

In my spare time, I've started this: Doctor Who: The Blood Cell. Not too bad so far, but we'll see how things turn out by the end.

And earlier this month, I started to barrel through the Doctor Strange comics, (if that even counts). I've never read a comic book before, but I'm really, really loving this! It makes me want to dive headlong into other characters' comics, but there's just so many out there that it'd be a ridiculous task to try to read everything. But as for Dr. Strange's series itself, it's taken a while (hour-wise), but right now, I'm on volume 2, issue 69, having started from the character's inception in Strange Tales 110 (?). I'd say I'm addicted. And the conclusion of the Shuma-Gorath (?) storyline while it was running in the Marvel Premiere (1972)... Man that was some of the most entrancing stuff I've ever seen. Edit: As you can tell, Gene Colan has been my favorite artist in the entire series so far, by far.

 

[lightus]

I'm sorry, Travis, but we can't be friends anymore. Bye, Gal.

Haaha, all good things must come to an end I suppose. Sorry it had to be this way. Force me to choose between friendship and physical books and I'll have no option but to choose books every time. ;(

 

[daydream]

Now, onto another of those books that have collected dust in my bookshelf for years and years: Alexander Pushkin: The Collected Stories. I adore Russian 19th-century literature, and Pushkin was supposedly the one that started it all. I have the Everyman's Library edition (without the nice dust cover, though), which contains most of his short stories. It does not have his best known works, though - Eugene Onegin and the plays. I'll get to those later, no hurry. Anyone here who's read Pushkin? Is he as good as they say?

He is. You can never go wrong reading classic authors, my friend.

Onegin is a must, as is Boris Godunov, probably his most important play.

 

[Mumei]

I only completed volume one, but it's a strong ass introduction, stronger than 20th Century Boys.

Definitely. Monster is my favorite, because of the story and how partial I am to the characters, but Urasawa has definitely gotten better since then. I can't really explain it, but he seems more proficient in his paneling, and better at eliciting an emotional reaction. I never connected emotionally with a character in Monster the way I did with North No. 2, or Robbie's wife.

Is anyone in the series like "Nah, I won't save your earth. Peace."?

Well, Please Save My Earth is really a rather silly name for the series! It's about a Japanese high school girl, Alice Sakaguchi, and five other people around her age - and a seven year old boy - who have inter-connected dreams where they are living on the moon as scientists in a past life. The story mostly centers around trying to figure out what happened in the past, and dealing with how jealousies, rivalries and old hurts from the past are finding their way to their current lives, and trying to hold onto their identities now. What happens when a woman reincarnates as a high school boy, and falls in love with his best friend because of memories of a past life? What happens when an adult scientist reincarnates as a seven year old boy?

It's methodically plotted, and takes until almost halfway through the series before we begin seeing long extended sequences set on the moon or on the alien planet(s) that the previous incarnations came from. One of the characters has much more complete memories of the time on the moon, to the extent that his previous incarnation has basically taken over as the primary personality entirely, and he functions as a sort of antagonist by manipulating the others by pretending to be a different person than he was in the previous life. There's also psychic powers like telepathy and telekinesis and phytokinesis!

The artwork is solid to start in terms of, like, organization of the page and expressions, but the drawings themselves feel a bit crude. She takes some time to find her feet, I think, but it's a huge improvement as she goes. I do have one problem with the series, and that's how it handles (spoiler text because it is spoilers about plot events, but no names mentioned)

Spoiler

a rape scene. The problem is not that someone is raped, but that that person is so completely untraumatized by the experience that it seems to me to sanitize it, and it seems to make use of the "fall in love with your rapist" trope. It knocks it down a peg for me, and if it weren't how great the rest of it was I wouldn't recommend it.

I recommend it with a caveat because of that.

Also, did you see this post?

I was bored at work, and look what I came across. So, two interesting observations: One, Vertical has already tried to license Asano before; they just haven't gotten it yet. So, there's a third possibility. Two, Seven Seas Manga seems to think that there's some sort of relationship the creator has with Fantagraphics; I know that creator rights are considerably more respected in the Japanese manga industry at least compared to how they have been in the American comics industry. Maybe that matters? I wish Matt Thorn had contact information so I could bug him (or her, I can't remember what pronounce he prefers).

I wasn't sure if you had because I didn't see you respond to it!

Hmm, I've stayed away from Pynchon but if Gravity's Rainbow has the same tone (and impact) as Catch-22 I should give it a try.

Mm. It's difficult but not impossible. I need to reread it; it's the sort of thing you need to just muddle through the first time to get a sense of how to read it, and then read it a second time (and a third, and fourth, and fifth) to have it really click.

 

[sparky2112]

On Roberto Bolano's "The Savage Detectives" for the third time.

Huh. After all the Bolano hydrogen bomb-sized hype, I read about 1/5 of Detectives and it just made no impression on me. Did I give up too soon? Obviously, or you wouldn't be re-reading it.

Finished the two volumes of The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing. The second volume dragged on and was more about battles which I found kind of boring compared to the more mystical tone of the first volume.

YES. I RIPPED through the first volume, but not so much the second, although it was good, it was very different in tone, for sure.

 

[ShaneB]

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend[IMG]

&#9733;½

This book was a mess for me. It's easier to talk about what it was not about than what it was. It was not about a young boy with autism. It was not about the struggles that children on the spectrum deal with, or how their families cope. It wasn't really about a person at all, at least not in the traditional sense.

It was about an imaginary friend who exists almost independently of his creator. The imaginary friend travels places his creator hasn't visited and therefore couldn't "create" in this imaginary world. The vast majority of the book is spent following this imaginary friend as he selfishly looks for ways to preserve his own existence at the expense of the little boy who created him. [SPOILER]He repeatedly (and I do mean repeatedly) struggles to decide if he should help a young boy escape from a kidnapper, since that might mean he will cease to exist. WTF?[/SPOILER] Entire chapters are spent with the imaginary friend talking to other imaginary friends about whatever the author felt like putting on that specific page. [SPOILER] There's a mini-UFC brawl between two imaginary friends, one being a 7-foot tall giant with a uni-brow. There are asides where the imaginary friend witnesses the death of someone he considers a friend but is in fact a complete stranger. The entire kidnapping thing feels totally out of place in the book.[/SPOILER] Definitely a kitchen sink approach.[/QUOTE]

Like I said, I really wish you had liked it =( It&#8217;s my favourite book, so just sad it&#8217;s a miss for you. Your first comment is so confusing though, it just seems like you expected something completely different?? It is about those things in a way, it&#8217;s just not presented as a sort of self help book, nothing like &#8220;the reason why I jump&#8221; for a quick example. [spoiler] It does deal with the struggles Max faces, and how their families cope, as it is clearly presented that Max&#8217;s parents are often fighting and at different terms with how they think Max should be helped, etc, it is just told through the eyes of Budo, presenting a unique scenario[/spoiler]

[spoiler] Your second point, Budo does travel to places he is familiar with, that is established early on, the gas station, the hospital, etc etc, and later on Budo clearly says he will get lost because he is not sure where to go, so he is not all-knowing, but he was &#8220;imagined&#8221; to be very smart. And a MAJOR theme of the book is the struggle Budo has of his own existence. He loves Max very very very much, he wants to be around forever, and even during the kidnapping, he struggles with thinking that while Max is in trouble, it would mean Budo stays forever. Near the end though, that VERY pivotal moment happens, when Max asks Budo &#8220;Are you Real?&#8221;. This is the culmination of everything, Budo wondering how to answer in what it ultimately means for him, knowing the right choice has to be made, and being brave for that choice.

And Budo witnessing what happens in the Gas station is very moving too, they are not strangers to him, he hangs out there a lot, and has grown to love them, and then mentions how much he will miss them when he is fading away. The epilogue confirms that of how much it means to him to see Donna again.

The kidnapping is no doubt out of left field, and very unexpected, that much I will agree with, and the book does venture to very dark territory for it. The book certainly has a fantastical element, or I guess &#8220;magical realism&#8221; tone with the world of imaginary friends, so it is not all doom and gloom. It pulls on a range of emotions.[/spoiler]

Sorry for the wall of black bars everyone =(

 

[leroidys]

Huh. After all the Bolano hydrogen bomb-sized hype, I read about 1/5 of Detectives and it just made no impression on me. Did I give up too soon? Obviously, or you wouldn't be re-reading

Ah, actually it's my third attempt at reading it, but the first time I made it past Garcia Madero's section. It gets a lot more engaging.

If it doesn't click though I still highly recommend By Night in Chile.

 

[Vio-Lence]

Stalingrad: The fateful Siege by Antony Beevor.

 

[Alavard]

Over the past few years I decided I wanted to read all of Stephen King's novels and short stories.

I'm currently reading From a Buick 8.

I've read ~40 of his books, and so far, this is one of my favorites. A perfect blend of creepiness and mystery, and some of the concepts in the story remind me a lot of The Tommyknockers, which was another of my favorites.

 

[Necrovex]

Haaha, all good things must come to an end I suppose. Sorry it had to be this way. Force me to choose between friendship and physical books and I'll have no option but to choose books every time. ;(

Now who gets who from our former relationship? You can have Kitchenmotors, and I'll have Delio. I'm sorry it turned out to be this way. Now I'll wash away my tears with Goodkind's poignant prose.

Definitely. Monster is my favorite, because of the story and how partial I am to the characters, but Urasawa has definitely gotten better since then. I can't really explain it, but he seems more proficient in his paneling, and better at eliciting an emotional reaction. I never connected emotionally with a character in Monster the way I did with North No. 2, or Robbie's wife.

The North No. 2 story is what told me Pluto will be a god-damn amazing manga. I placed a reserve on both the second volume of Pluto and Century Boys.

Please Save My Earth...well, it sounds interesting.

I completed the fifth book (the big volumes) of Preacher. Again it reminds as such a witty, brilliant piece of work. I only need to finish part of the 8th volume and the final volume, then I'll be done with this fine ass series. Arseface, I hope you save the day.

 

[TheSoed]

So I know I've posted here already, but I just started Peter F. Hamilton's The Reality Dysfunction and it's kinda blowing my mind. I just can't tell if in a good way or a bad way.

Anyone else read it? I'm literally only 60 pages in so I've just started, but dang. I like it but at the same time, I don't want to spend a bunch of time reading a book that has a ton going on that leads nowhere. So I'm excited, but cautious. Should I continue?

 

[Mumei]

The North No. 2 story is what told me Pluto will be a god-damn amazing manga. I placed a reserve on both the second volume of Pluto and Century Boys.

Please Save My Earth...well, it sounds interesting.

I completed the fifth book (the big volumes) of Preacher. Again it reminds as such a witty, brilliant piece of work. I only need to finish part of the 8th volume and the final volume, then I'll be done with this fine ass series. Arseface, I hope you save the day.

Not you ignoring my post about Punpun again after I re-quoted it for you.

 

[superrobot]

So I know I've posted here already, but I just started Peter F. Hamilton's The Reality Dysfunction and it's kinda blowing my mind. I just can't tell if in a good way or a bad way.

Anyone else read it? I'm literally only 60 pages in so I've just started, but dang. I like it but at the same time, I don't want to spend a bunch of time reading a book that has a ton going on that leads nowhere. So I'm excited, but cautious. Should I continue?

I think you've only just scratched the surface if it's only 60 pages.
I really enjoyed the series when I read it, so I say keep going.

 

[Necrovex]

Not you ignoring my post about Punpun again after I re-quoted it for you.

I dreamt that I replied to that post a while back. And I completely missed your last post reposting that quote! It'd be a good time to license PunPun, as it completed its run late last year, so the publisher wouldn't have to worry about a long wait in between volumes.

I'm still waiting for the post, "Necrovex, I read through PunPun, and I'm now a broken individual."

 

[Splash Wave]

This, currently:

And I'm sad to say that I'm struggling to get through it. I'm a *huge* Conrad fan, and I can appreciate it on several levels, but it's missing something.

 

[aidan]

So I know I've posted here already, but I just started Peter F. Hamilton's The Reality Dysfunction and it's kinda blowing my mind. I just can't tell if in a good way or a bad way.

Anyone else read it? I'm literally only 60 pages in so I've just started, but dang. I like it but at the same time, I don't want to spend a bunch of time reading a book that has a ton going on that leads nowhere. So I'm excited, but cautious. Should I continue?

It's considered one of the finest modern SF trilogies, so I'd say you're safe to push ahead.

 

[Tragicomedy]

Peter F. Hamilton is of interest to me, mainly because I've never read anything of his. I won't get to him anytime in the near future since I have several books I'm eager to read, but where should I start with his stuff? He has lots of books and it seems several different series.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

As I mentioned I'm listening to "No Country For Old Men" and there's a part that I'm not getting. I understand Chigurh found Moss by accident the first time, more or less, and I can accept that. The second time however? Maybe it's just because I don't know TX geography and there's a quirk there where it made sense for Chigurh to end up at the same place as Moss? Otherwise I don't understand how that happened outside of "it has to for the story".

 

[ShaneB]

Peter F. Hamilton is of interest to me, mainly because I've never read anything of his. I won't get to him anytime in the near future since I have several books I'm eager to read, but where should I start with his stuff? He has lots of books and it seems several different series.

Seems like everything he writes is 1000+ pages, and if I ever get over that hurdle to take on something so daunting, but I've had 'Great North Road' on my radar for a while. Seems really cool.

Also Tragicomedy, hope you saw my post about Memoirs in response to yours!

 

[bennywhatever]

Just started listening to this audiobook, narrated by WILL WHEATON.

 

[aidan]

Peter F. Hamilton is of interest to me, mainly because I've never read anything of his. I won't get to him anytime in the near future since I have several books I'm eager to read, but where should I start with his stuff? He has lots of books and it seems several different series.

Might as well start with The Reality Dysfunction. It's the first volume of a completed trilogy which is his most popular work.

 

[mephel]

So Perks of being a wallflower ending apparently hits like thousand bricks into the head.

wow

 

[Zerokku]

Yes, it is. I'm really enjoying it. My first impression was that it really reminded me of Gravity's Rainbow, but less surreal.

I grew up watching MASH all the time, which it definitely reminded me of (Of course Catch 22 was likely a huge inspiration for MASH, but yeah.)

Currently reading -

In the fourth section and so far I would give it a solid 3/5. The later stories are getting better/much more interesting but the early stuff was definitely pretty lacking. And kind of hokey Out of all the short stories the highlight for me so far has definitely been "The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr". Not one I see mentioned as much when people talk about Dreamsongs, but I loved it.

I will say It has been amusing catching all the names that he would end up using later in ASOIAF spread out across his earlier works.

 

[AsfaeksBR]

People always told me that "Pet Sematary" was Stephen's scariest book, but I'm finding "It" much more terrifying!

 

[Stasis]

Read the Mistborn trilogy.

So many problems. It's at times very brisk and engaging, especially in the first book, but the overall quality of the writing is atrocious, and declines sharply as it progresses. Maybe 75% of the word count in the second and third books is reiteration of already explained concepts and events. Every time someone uses a power, it is explained all over again. Every time a character has a thought molded by an event at some time prior in the trilogy, the event is described all over again. I have rarely seen such blatant disregard for the reader's ability to retain information.

Beyond that, the author's mormonism rears its ugly head more and more as the trilogy progresses, culminating in full on proxy mormon creation myth with accompanying preaching. Before that point the author's background was just lightly entertaining with the prose's complete absence of profanity and grade school cheek-kissing and sleeping-in-separate-beds romances between adults.

I'm shocked by how popular Brandon Sanderson seems to be, and the near-universal praise of these books on Amazon.

Totally with you and also baffled at his popularity.

I liked book one, but barely made it through #2 and abandoned #3 halfway through which is something I really never do. It's soured me on reading the rest of his stuff despite high praises.

 

[Mumei]

I dreamt that I replied to that post a while back. And I completely missed your last post reposting that quote! It'd be a good time to license PunPun, as it completed its run late last year, so the publisher wouldn't have to worry about a long wait in between volumes.

I'm still waiting for the post, "Necrovex, I read through PunPun, and I'm now a broken individual."

Necrovex, I read through Punpun, and now I'm a broken individual.*

 

[Haly]

I think PunPun is a lot of squandered potential. The story just went off the deep end in the final volumes, although I didn't read the latest yet.

 

[Mumei]

I think PunPun is a lot of squandered potential. The story just went off the deep end in the final volumes, although I didn't read the latest yet.

Necrovex is probably going to scalp you or something.

 

[King Cobra]

I love his humor.

 

[thomaser]

He is. You can never go wrong reading classic authors, my friend.

Onegin is a must, as is Boris Godunov, probably his most important play.

Thank you. I love reading the classics, and the Russian ones are among my favourites. Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy are both in my top 5. Gogol is good too. Really looking forward to delving into Pushkin.

As for 20th-century Russian/Soviet authors, I love Bulgakov and Nabokov. Mikhail Shishkin is also represented in my bookshelf, but I haven't read his book yet.

 

[besada]

Hmm, I've stayed away from Pynchon but if Gravity's Rainbow has the same tone (and impact) as Catch-22 I should give it a try.

GR is a wonderful book, but be prepared to have your brain bent the fist time you run through, and come out gasping on the other side, saying "What the fuck just happened to me?"

Giant adenoids, banana breakfasts, Poisson distributions, Pavlovian responses, the connection between the rocket and a man's penis, underage sex slaves, fecal carnivores, Schwarzkommandos, blowjobs from Jesus, and the Kenosha Kid.

Can you do the Kenosha, kid? Can you do the Kenosha Kid? Can you? Do You? The Kenosha Kid.

You don't need drugs to enjoy GR, because it's essentially a drug itself.

 

[Vyrance]

Just got done with Forever War, really liked it. Think I'm going to read Hyperion next.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Might as well start with The Reality Dysfunction. It's the first volume of a completed trilogy which is his most popular work.

This. It is a mind-blowing series and gets plenty crazy.

I also liked Fallen Dragon but couldn't quite get into his detective series. I know a few folks in here really like Pandora's Star but I thought it was bloated and boring.

 

[bonesmccoy]

Because I kicked off the month with a nasty case of strep throat, I was able to catch up on a bunch of reading that I'd ignored for too long:

- Finished the 'First Last' trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. You can see Abercrombie's growth as a writer from book 1 to 3, which is nice! But I made the mistake of reading his newer stuff first, so I found it difficult to get stay engaged and make it through the books.

- Started 'Best Served Cold', also by Abercrombie. A fun story.

- Finished 'Authority' by Jeff VanderMeer. Excellent, but I think 'Annihilation' is the superior book.

- Started 'Acceptance', also by VanderMeer. It's ok so far, but I can't shake the worry that VanderMeer is over-writing the mystery and suspense out of the story.

 

[Maklershed]

Peter F. Hamilton is of interest to me, mainly because I've never read anything of his. I won't get to him anytime in the near future since I have several books I'm eager to read, but where should I start with his stuff? He has lots of books and it seems several different series.

The Commonwealth Saga was great. Some say it was too long. I say it wasn't too long enough!