Hugh Mughnus Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 (edited) Sorry, I realize this is a bit of a weird question, but is anyone familiar with Dostoyevsky's works? I was hoping to get a recommendation for one of his books other than "Crime and Punishment". I know that's uh, a bit of a weird leap from me reading Stephen King and Ken Kesey novels lol. Edited September 24, 2017 by Bulk VanderHooj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublename Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 (edited) I’d start with The Double and/or Notes From Underground (I think you can get them in a single volume). Edited September 24, 2017 by doublename Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Mughnus Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 Nice, thank you very much. In an intense moment of sobriety I remembered how much I enjoyed reading Tolstoy, thought it a good idea to explore Dostoyevsky as well. Amazon has Notes for $6, paperback. Ordered! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redruth Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 th king in yellow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Mughnus Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 (edited) Robert Chambers? Unfamiliar with him, is it a similar vein (existentialism etc)? welcome back btw mr inactive Troony for-EVER Edited September 24, 2017 by Bulk VanderHooj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 (edited) Sorry, I realize this is a bit of a weird question, but is anyone familiar with Dostoyevsky's works? I was hoping to get a recommendation for one of his books other than "Crime and Punishment". I know that's uh, a bit of a weird leap from me reading Stephen King and Ken Kesey novels lol. why not crime and punishment? if you haven't read it, you should. otherwise brothers karamazov is his best, but very different. notes requires some amount of context to really come to grips with. btw tolstoy is a completely different writer in almost every way possible. so if you enjoyed one that doesn't mean you'll like the other. Edited September 24, 2017 by zaphod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Mughnus Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 Thank you for the advice, for whatever reason I figured they would be similar writers, perhaps because they gave each other accolades? Maybe Crime and Punishment isn't a terrible place to start, it's not too long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bechuga Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 Keep seeing really old editions of The Brothers Karamazov on Amazon for dirt cheap, tempted to get one and see how moldy and rancid they are. Also, Huuge, if you have a kindle or digital device, all those books are available for free from their digital store. No copyright and shit. I have Karamazov and Proust's In Search of Lost Time, for zilch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Mughnus Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 (edited) Negatory, no e-reader here. But perhaps I should invest! I don't know, I like the way a book feels in the hands, the grain of the paper, sound of turning to the next page. I'm lame, I know. lol. To be clear, I am not experienced with classic literature or anything, I just really enjoyed War and Peace, despite not remembering most of it, and felt motivated to explore that domain a bit more. Thank you guys for sharing the recommendations. =) Edited September 24, 2017 by Bulk VanderHooj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bechuga Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 (edited) Me too, but I also like not carrying 4000 pages of melancholic French literature around. But then again, what would build better muscles than a log with words printed in it? I read paper too, but when it's something that's free, like Moby Dick (read it on kindle), I see no reason to buy a £12 copy. I mainly bought a kindle for books I could not get for a reasonable price, and that I could download and transfer to that. It's a nice option, but not essential. (That said, some of those hardcover editions of the classics sure look lovely...) Edited September 24, 2017 by Bechuga Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Mughnus Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 I'm back into reading for pleasure now, I took years off due to school (hard to read for pleasure after staring at textbooks for 6-10hrs right?). So I MAY just look into a kindle or similar now, might be worth the investment =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 (edited) you have to be careful about old editions of russian writers. there's a lot of debate on translations. the pevear and volokhonsky ones are the most widely read and the most "modern" but they're also very literal and quite awkward, resulting in a kind of halting, flat reading experience, though it's supposedly the most similar to the way dostoevsky actually wrote in russian. i recommend the oliver ready translation of crime and punishment if you're going to read that. otherwise p&v are probably the best for dostoevsky given what's available. the constance garnett translations are written in the tone of the english upper class and often leave out details found in the newer editions. i'm not a fan of magarshack either. a bad translation can be a major disservice to a good book. happened to me with master and margarita, a book i read in college (ginsburg) and hated and then reread a couple years ago (o'connor and burgin) and loved. with russian lit other than tolstoy, historical context is very important too. i don't think dostoevsky is as effective without some sense of history and biography (this could probably be said of literally all writers). Edited September 24, 2017 by zaphod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Mughnus Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 Wow, really interesting. Now that I think about it a bit more, the translation would be critical to tone/intent, flow of the reading, etc. Must provide for an extremely different reading experience from one translator to the next. Makes me wish I could read Russian to just go with the originals. I think the War and Peace I read was a P&V translation, but that was almost a decade ago. Thank you again, much appreciated. I feel a bit plebby not having thought of that before, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echolalia Posted September 25, 2017 Share Posted September 25, 2017 Tim Lane's Abandoned Cars. Whilst reading this I asked a girlfriend "Reckon I could get away with giving this to my brother's son (14 yrs old)?" Anyway it seems Tim was pre-emptive about my question with his cover. If you believe in the tried and tested this book is not for you. Insight into a life of free thinking and may destroy some children's learned beliefs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spratters Posted September 28, 2017 Share Posted September 28, 2017 A fair way into Richard North Patterson - Protect & Defend, got it for jury service after being recommended it. I'm liking the flow between the two stories which are now starting to intertwine. Maybe I've just not read decent fiction before but this seems so much more in depth and much better at getting you to know each character. An enjoyable read so far, would be better if the girl doing jury duty too who loves the sound of her own voice would tone it down though cause it's difficult to block out and read when she's constantly at such a volume. Cunt. Got it for 70p at a charity shop, all 70p for one and so many books. Saw another one which I'm sure was simply called "Mars", and I think there was a second one there too. Wich I bought them now but not sure whether I've found them here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy I'm sure it didn't say "Red", "Green" or anything, just Mars. Maybe an old edition? Anyone know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QQQ Posted September 29, 2017 Share Posted September 29, 2017 i have Red Mars which i'm yet to read. i've heard good things but it's a weighty tome and i haven't got in the mood to invest the time into it yet. i've just finished The Western Lands by Burroughs and completed the trilogy. imo this was the weakest of the 3 and the most difficult to read. still a good book and i'm sure it'd sink in more after a few passes, but when the other books in the trilogy are as strong as they are i can't see myself returning to it any time soon. i'm reading Solaris now which is a lot easier to read - breezed through more than half in a couple of days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spratters Posted September 29, 2017 Share Posted September 29, 2017 Cool, might pop back and see if it's still there. Still need to watch Solaris (Tarkovsky), got it on dvd but just haven't got round to it. Maybe should even invest in the book first, not sure from previous experience whether to read before watching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dpek Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 I didn't really want to say anything on WATMM since it's in Slovenian language but fuck it - I wrote a novel and published it :) Just saying: https://blazh.bandcamp.com/merch/tat-not Anyway, carry on with more international material! Actually, this weekend I read Ham On Rye by Bukowski after a decade or so. It was my first Bukowski novel and it still holds up. The guy knows how to write even tho there is no structure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxien Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 I certainly can’t read Slovenian but congrats on completing and publishing it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tec Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 Just finished Johnny Marr's autobiography, despite the cringe there's a reason why Morrissey will always get more attention. Dull. October is horror month so I will finally be reading me some Clive Barker. Beginning with The Book of Blood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echolalia Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 Alan Moore's Jerusalem. 100 pages in, this will not take me long to read at all. Come and step into Northampton with a guided tour by the man with a magic stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumplings Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 Far From the Madding Crowd. Wanted to hit some classics and this was recommended. I didn't read the blurb, jumped straight in like a mad man. Bit of a slow burner, think the period English is a bit of a curve ball but I'm trudging through. Big G needs to dip his Oak in the Bath already heheh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usagi Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 (edited) I've spent the better part of 10 years trying to read House of Leaves. this is the furthest I've gotten (100 pages). yes it's very clever and experimental etc etc but I fear it simply does not make for a good read at bottom. I'm not even sure what the artistic value is really of bunging a load of dry pseudo-academic analysis in there. it's so facken tedious. I really want to like this book. other than that, I re-read Trainspotting, finished One Bullet Away by former Marine officer Nate Fick (a basis for Generation Kill), and am working through Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy bit by bit. Edited October 4, 2017 by usagi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxien Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 I really really hate pretentious drivel as well as long drawn out bullshit but made it through House of Leaves relatively easy. It definitely picks up around where you are or a little past it, can't remember right now, but the middle and after was all really good, but it sort of drug on at the end and in some passages elsewhere. I guess if you're not getting into in the first 100 pages and have tried this before maybe it's just not for you? No harm in giving up really. I would say it does make for a good read despite the 'extra' layers, but imo those extra layers are integral to the core story and how it's told to/discovered by the reader. In that sense, not a conventional 'good read' as in it's just a basic horror story with extra crap on top....it's all necessary to the story. I dunno. I thought it was very good but definitely not for everyone. Obviously. I wasted my time and yours, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usagi Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 (edited) "good read" does not imply convention, it just has to be enjoyable in any sense. I'm not finding that with this. the Truant story is so lame with its hackneyed portrayal of the "seedy underbelly" of city life and the pointless/ridiculous sexual interludes, and it interrupts the Navidson story (which is the only bit I find engaging) constantly. I will finish it but I think it won't be worth it. Edited October 4, 2017 by usagi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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