Now Reading

[Lewps]

About 1/3 of the way through Infinite Jest and something like 150th on the library waiting list for Bleeding Edge.

Howzit?

[Cryptowen]

Found a french copy of Ubik on a bench. Haven't read the original but I figured it'd be good language practice. The cover is post old newage wave as frick

 

[logakght]

The Monk

[Guest Jimmy McMessageboard]

Tipping Point

 

lots of anti malcolm gladwell pieces in the press at the moment. whatever. so far it's interesting but not as good as outliers

 

 

 

I also started 1Q84. It's a big book, should I read it? (I didnt buy it yet (kindle samples ftw))

[Guest Ron Manager]

I thought 1Q84 was really good, but I'm sure many here would disagree. I was on a major Murakami kick at the time and must have read the whole thing in like 5 days. not as good as say Wind-up Bird Chronicle or Kafka on the Shore, but if you're familiar with his work in general, then you know the kind of stuff you're in for.

[Dpek]

the first and the second part of 1Q84 are some of the finest writing and world-creating I've read. it should have ended there, because the third part, even if not really bad, just lacks the energy of the first two. I heard that Murakami first published the first two parts and then in a year decided to add the third act, which is a shame I think.

[Leon Sumbitches]

I can't believe I've never read Hyperion (just started)

 

 

 

My subway read is Lynch on Lynch :

 

 

Just started Hyperion myself, went to the library for the first time in years and got a stack of classic sci-fi, Asimov, PKD and the like

[Guest]

http://www.cetteadressecomportecinquantesignes.com/Luigi.Serafini.-.Codex.Seraphinianus.pdf

[azatoth]

Just started Iain M. Banks (rip) last Culture novel, The Hydrogen Sonata. It's off to a good start.

[Guest Jimmy McMessageboard]

I thought 1Q84 was really good, but I'm sure many here would disagree. I was on a major Murakami kick at the time and must have read the whole thing in like 5 days. not as good as say Wind-up Bird Chronicle or Kafka on the Shore, but if you're familiar with his work in general, then you know the kind of stuff you're in for.

 

i haven't read anything by him, or know aything about him. i just remember some good reviews of this and I came across it. so i have no idea what i am in for, infact i know nothing about it at all, which is how i like to read books and watch movies (no trailers). I am expecting some time travel because of the title but as i say i have no idea and am probably way off.

 

the first and the second part of 1Q84 are some of the finest writing and world-creating I've read. it should have ended there, because the third part, even if not really bad, just lacks the energy of the first two. I heard that Murakami first published the first two parts and then in a year decided to add the third act, which is a shame I think.

 

hhm a lesser third act. shame.

[tec]

Just ordered this in, looks fucking wicked and if it doesn't arrive tomorrow I'm burning my book shop to the ground.

 

[Guest Ron Manager]

 

I thought 1Q84 was really good, but I'm sure many here would disagree. I was on a major Murakami kick at the time and must have read the whole thing in like 5 days. not as good as say Wind-up Bird Chronicle or Kafka on the Shore, but if you're familiar with his work in general, then you know the kind of stuff you're in for.

 

i haven't read anything by him, or know aything about him. i just remember some good reviews of this and I came across it. so i have no idea what i am in for, infact i know nothing about it at all, which is how i like to read books and watch movies (no trailers). I am expecting some time travel because of the title but as i say i have no idea and am probably way off.

 

the first and the second part of 1Q84 are some of the finest writing and world-creating I've read. it should have ended there, because the third part, even if not really bad, just lacks the energy of the first two. I heard that Murakami first published the first two parts and then in a year decided to add the third act, which is a shame I think.

 

hhm a lesser third act. shame.

 

 

if you've never read him then I won't see anything apart from that I think book 3 is just as good, but it does feel a little different - I believe this is primarily due to the fact that Philip Gabriel was the lead translator of 3, whereas Jay Rubin was on 1 & 2. I read somewhere that they worked somewhat in tandem on the translations, but it just goes to show you how subjective translation in general is.

[Dpek]

well I read the slovenian translation which was done by a single translator... so I don't think this is the case for me. the third book still feels different, more spacious, without a clear high-point

[Guest Ron Manager]

ah OK, apologies for assuming you read the English! i guess it's not just the English translators then.

[azatoth]

 

I can't believe I've never read Hyperion (just started)

 

Just started Hyperion myself, went to the library for the first time in years and got a stack of classic sci-fi, Asimov, PKD and the like

 

The Hyperion Cantos is good. If you start with just Hyperion, make sure you get the next part The Fall of Hyperion, otherwise you will get stuck in the middle of the story. Endymion and The Rise of Endymion are also worth a read. Simmons Ilium and Olympos are also good reads, although Simmons unfortunate current wingnut views shine through such as a Global Caliphate having created and released a genetic virus to kill Jews but it ending up killing most of Earths population.

[Bob Dylan]

I was told Hyperion can be read as a stand-alone, and if necessary you can jump into the whole shebang and read all the rest?

 

I'm holding on it as a stand-alone novel, in a sense that I have so much other stuff to read.

[azatoth]

Hyperion has that thing where every chapter is a single episode from one of the characters stories so I guess you could read it how ever you want (although I don't know why you would want to), but it ends before they get to do what they were supposed to do and definitely ends with the reader hanging. When reading it I remember being glad that I had the omnibus version since if I didn't have the sequel right at hand I would have been slightly miffed.

Edited October 12, 2013 by azatoth

[Bob Dylan]

Thanks, I'll get the next one so I don't get hung up on a cliffhanger

[Guest Jimmy McMessageboard]

finished the tipping point. interesting but not as good as outliers. will read blink next i think after..

 

 

next up hallucinations by oliver sacks.

[Guest Ron Manager]

finished Suttree by McCarthy. on the whole i found it his most difficult read. it's a very sad story, brutally so at times, but it just wasn't as compelling as some of his other books for me.

 

now i believe i'm going to read Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières. i have no idea what it's really about, my girlfriend bought it for me, she reckoned i'd like it. also, the front cover has an approving quote from Paxo, so it must be good.

[Bob Dylan]

You'll probably have no choice but to read the book with Nicholas Cage as the protagonist. Which is LOL

[Guest Ron Manager]

yeah i had a search for the book after posting that and immediately discovered the existence of the film...

[Cryptowen]

Reading the 4th dune book was like watching your cool hippie friend turn into a weird conservative nutjob, but so slowly & couched in so much stoner mysticism that you try to pretend like it isn't happening.

[baph]

Reading the 4th dune book was like watching your cool hippie friend turn into a weird conservative nutjob, but so slowly & couched in so much stoner mysticism that you try to pretend like it isn't happening.

This is exactly what happens with every hippie friend everywhere, too.

Edited October 20, 2013 by baph

[Guest]

Eh wow, I just finished reading God Emperor of Dune a few weeks ago. I guess you could say I felt sympathy towards God Leto, but the book in all was just really.. It had deviated so much from what I expected after finishing the trilogy. I did like a lot of the pieces from the stolen journals, though. Fun fact, I read most of the book while soaking in the bath.

 

As to what I'm reading now: I started with one chapter of Dune Heretics, and then decided I should read through the Harry Potter series again, seeing as how it was pretty much the thin red line through my teen years: I've been feeling nostalgic lately, which has probably to do with some of my sadness (yes, they are linked). Still, I am enjoying it, and am halfway through The Goblet of Fire. I guess I am looking for a way to rekindle my wonder, or maybe it's just a way to cope. I'm also almost done with Fatale : Death Chases Me. It's a great story: compelling, gruesome, and just very, very good. I'm also halfway through Carlos Castaneda's "The teachings of Don Juan": It's an interesting read, and I feel that I'm being watched by crows.

 

Still on the list : Ray Monk - The Duty of Genius. And I still have to finish The Divine Comedy (translated by Lawrence Grant White): currently, Dante and Virgil approached the city of Dis. Maybe I should finish it.

Edited October 21, 2013 by Guest