Bob Dylan Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 (edited) pretty sure everyone on this forum has read house of leaves. I bought it, but still haven't read it. It look like such a task, I back off every time I go to start it. It's not that hard, House of Leaves is not that of a big book, and there's large portions of text where a page will be read in 30 seconds or less. It's a descriptive kind of writing, it's not that hard to read, thought it demands a lot of imagination on the reader's part. P.s.: Get the hardcover version if possible, it's one of those books where it's just better to have it bigger / more solid Edited December 31, 2013 by Philip Glass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Dylan Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 (edited) Oh I'm really waiting for Danielewski's next book, The Familiar, due who-the-fuck-knows when. It's supposed to be a serial book, published each 3 months, and it'll be 27 volumes. Edited December 31, 2013 by Philip Glass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baph Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 (edited) Annoying as shit post incoming, soz: Not sure what the fuck to read next. I've got these unreads clattering around: The Recognitions Some Remarks (Neal Stephenson) The City and The Stars Bleeding Edge American Gods The last couple installments of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, may need to re-read The Black Dossier first, I unno About half of the "Complete" works of HP Lovecraft WATMM, please select, I'm having a shit of a time deciding. Or recommend something. Something not Cormac McCarthy. I've got 10 bucks left on an amazon gift card. Autechre, please name my kindle. Edited December 31, 2013 by baph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcofribas Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 your kindle is now called derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hello spiral Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 (edited) it's a bit hard on the wrists maybe but not particularly difficult Not trying to be a douchebag. I quite liked it. It's fun. It requires active participation from the reader, and some ability to be ok with ambiguity, which I guess really pushes it for most readers. It's a decent formal puzzle. Some parts are gorgeous and very effective. The prose itself is not particularly difficult. The book shows you how to read it. It's more Stephen King rewriting Pale Fire than late-period Joyce... rewriting Pale Fire. Johnny's voice gets a bit Kathe Koja at times, I guess. There's nothing wrong with any of that. But it's a lot less difficult than people make it out to be. Fuck, I'm trying to defend it by saying it's not a "task," that's all. lol, wasn't calling you a douchebag. That's Finbar Saunders, he's a Viz character that sniggers at double entendres. I agree that the actual prose of House of Leaves is not difficult at all. Book recommendations: Have you read I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan? Also a good chance read last year was A Handbook For Visitors From Outer Space by Kathryn Kramer. Edited January 1, 2014 by hello spiral Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Dylan Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 (edited) Annoying as shit post incoming, soz: Not sure what the fuck to read next. I've got these unreads clattering around: The Recognitions Some Remarks (Neal Stephenson) The City and The Stars Bleeding Edge American Gods The last couple installments of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, may need to re-read The Black Dossier first, I unno About half of the "Complete" works of HP Lovecraft WATMM, please select, I'm having a shit of a time deciding. Or recommend something. Something not Cormac McCarthy. I've got 10 bucks left on an amazon gift card. Autechre, please name my kindle. I would read the A C Clarke book. I remember reading this when I was a late teen, about humanity and how it changes through 1 billion years, and how it was written, like some form of bible. The kind of book you could re-read when you're fifty again. Edited January 1, 2014 by Philip Glass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomczar Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Annoying as shit post incoming, soz: Not sure what the fuck to read next. I've got these unreads clattering around: The Recognitions Some Remarks (Neal Stephenson) The City and The Stars Bleeding Edge American Gods The last couple installments of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, may need to re-read The Black Dossier first, I unno About half of the "Complete" works of HP Lovecraft WATMM, please select, I'm having a shit of a time deciding. Or recommend something. Something not Cormac McCarthy. I've got 10 bucks left on an amazon gift card. Autechre, please name my kindle. Walter M. Miller - A Canticle for Leibowitz was a fun read. I also enjoy most Lovecraft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baph Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 I definitely need to pick up a copy of A Canticle for Leibowitz. Annoying as shit post incoming, soz: Not sure what the fuck to read next. I've got these unreads clattering around: The Recognitions Some Remarks (Neal Stephenson) The City and The Stars Bleeding Edge American Gods The last couple installments of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, may need to re-read The Black Dossier first, I unno About half of the "Complete" works of HP Lovecraft WATMM, please select, I'm having a shit of a time deciding. Or recommend something. Something not Cormac McCarthy. I've got 10 bucks left on an amazon gift card. Autechre, please name my kindle. I would read the A C Clarke book. I remember reading this when I was a late teen, about humanity and how it changes through 1 billion years, and how it was written, like some form of bible. The kind of book you could re-read when you're fifty again. Thanks, just started. Good choice; I haven't read anything by Clarke in a decade or so. Incidentally, if anyone has Amazon Prime, a good percentage of Clarke's books appear to be free to borrow at the moment on the Kindle Lending Library (which is usually extremely dismal). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cryptowen Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 All the Strange Hours by Loren Eiseley. I dunno if it's just my emotional state right now, but this book has made me tear up at work five times already & I'm only 30 pages in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimpyLoo Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Currently reading Morrissey's Autobiography. Very well-written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tec Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Currently reading Morrissey's Autobiography. Very well-written. It's a fun read, I was probably most surprised by his use of the euphemism bearded clam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest A/D Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Well I'm sure he wouldn't eat one of those. *drunkenly falls into orchestra pit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doorjamb Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Annoying as shit post incoming, soz: Not sure what the fuck to read next. I've got these unreads clattering around: The Recognitions Some Remarks (Neal Stephenson) The City and The Stars Bleeding Edge American Gods The last couple installments of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, may need to re-read The Black Dossier first, I unno About half of the "Complete" works of HP Lovecraft WATMM, please select, I'm having a shit of a time deciding. Or recommend something. Something not Cormac McCarthy. I've got 10 bucks left on an amazon gift card. Autechre, please name my kindle. I chickened out of The Recognitions a while back, but now I'm nearly through with A Frolic of His Own and really enjoying it, so Gaddis gets my vote. I know lots of people liked American Gods, but it was a bit gimmicky for me. I do like Gaiman, but he's almost got the storytelling thing down too pat; his stuff can feel overpolished in some ways, like reading an AMC drama. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soloman Tump Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 The wise mans fear by Patrick Rothfuss. Love his style, enjoying this as much as name of the wind so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zaphod Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 (edited) just finished the son by phillip meyer. it's sort of a panoramic of a texas family in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. most of the storylines aren't that interesting but the eli story, of a boy who is captured by comanches and eventually comes to live like his captors, is probably the best thing i've read in a couple of years. i found myself speed reading through the other chapters to get back to his story, which is a good sign for that part of the book and a bad sign for the book as a whole. but it's worth checking out for that. Edited January 14, 2014 by zaphod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Blue Peter Cheat Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 How I Escaped My Certain Fate - Stewart Lee. It's essentially three of his routines transcribed with numerous footnotes. A written dvd commentary I suppose. Anyway... I'm laughing. A lot. The Ang Lee bit never fails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 (edited) Just finished Chapterhouse: Dune, and the whole Dune series for that matter (I won't read anything by Brian Herbert): very enjoyable. pretty dense at some parts. I'll probably revisit it in the future! Next up: Lolita. I've been looking forward and dreading this all at once: I wonder how it will pan out. Edited January 19, 2014 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprillian Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Just finished Chapterhouse: Dune, and the whole Dune series for that matter (I won't read anything by Brian Herbert): very enjoyable. pretty dense at some parts. I'll probably revisit it in the future! Next up: Lolita. I've been looking forward and dreading this all at once: I wonder how it will pan out. Lolita is def worth reading imo. It's very very well written, in that you don't feel like the author's chosen a contraversial subject for the sake of contraversiality. It reads like a memoir of sorts (in a good way). I'm in that nice 'reading two books' place: The World According to Garp and the Preacher comics - my first real comic dip. On the second Preacher now, so Garp is being neglected a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zaphod Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 reading revival, comic book. pretty good, not great yet. also reading empire of illusion by chris hedges, which i like so far. also reading three stigmata of palmer eldritch by philip k. dick. i'm not sure how to feel about it. as with all of his work, i admire the conceptual ability but the writing is often stale, sometimes incomprehensible. i feel like pynchon does this whole paranoid/acid trip thing better and you don't have to read forty novels to get to maybe two books worth of actual strong writing. also don't have to read his crackpot theological ideas. i do enjoy the sometimes surreal imagery that pkd's novels conjure up in my mind, but i have yet to read one (i've read twenty so far) that coheres into something worthwhile. started 1q84, didn't get far. boring as fuck, badly written, goes absolutely nowhere. murakami really went downhill since wind-up bird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprillian Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 started 1q84, didn't get far. boring as fuck, badly written, goes absolutely nowhere. murakami really went downhill since wind-up bird. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running was a great read. The only other I've read by him is Norwegian Wood, which is considered his most accessible I suppose. I'd like to read others, so is The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle the place to go first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zaphod Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 i would start with wild sheep chase, actually the whole rat trilogy is pretty representative of his work. wind up bird is his best though. hard boiled wonderland is interesting. i actually started with his short story collection "the elephant vanishes" which is as good a place as any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tec Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Anyone read any China Mieville? Might give him a go when I finish Lynch on Lynch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zaphod Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 (edited) yeah he's good. just avoid iron council and kraken. he's also pretty evenly split into two phases. perdido street and the scar are his "weird fiction" and offer very imaginative, almost purple prose fantasy worlds. they're also very political in nature, although it's hidden behind metaphor. iron council is just a straight up socialist novel and basically shoves his political beliefs down the reader's throat in an unsubtle way. i think city and the city and embassytown are his strongest works. city and the city is a kind of political detective story, very minimal and restrained. embassytown is fairly indebted to ursula le guin and deals with language. it's definitely his only real science fiction novel. Edited January 22, 2014 by zaphod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tec Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Thanks, I was considering Un Lun Dun but I'll give either of those a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny O Flannagin Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Waiting for Brave New World in the library. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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