what are you reading today?

[(10chars)]

I'll save you several irrecoverable hours of your life. Read Snuff if you need some Palahniuk, but skip Rant and Pygmy. Chuck is a one-trick pony. If you haven't read any of his stuff yet, then I'd really only recommend Invisible Monsters or Fight Club.

from palahniuk ive read fight club, survivor, lullaby, and the last one i read was choke (probably my favorite from him). so i figured id give some more a try -- i read all of those before rant or any of the new ones came out. i may have to skip spook country as well..

thanks for your input!

[denimdestroyedmylife]

my favorite by old Chuck is Haunted

[american_hearts]

Cortazar

Fuuuck yes.

[Grim Ryan]

you guys who are reading william gibson - have any of you read Stephenson? If you really like gibson you'll like him too I think

Snow Crash is one of my favorites. Trying got borrow my friends copies of his other books but we work complete opposite schedules.

I'm currently reading this, the copy in the main section of the library was out so I had to grab one from the young adult section. Its got yellow tape all over it that says YOUNG ADULT READING, i feel embarrased opening it at the coffee shop.

[gramps]

Please educate me. Convoluted storyline that needs to be unravelled by following each characters appearances separately?

Oh, at the beginning of the book there's a cheeky page of instructions that looks something like this:

[Baeyer-Drewson]

I should have worded that differently. It wasn't bad, I just wasn't enjoying it.

This is a more factually correct statement.

I had a long, heated literature argument with a friend who maintained that Twilight was a "great" book because; a) it was so popular, and she personally enjoyed it. Needless to say she is dead fucking wrong.

[sawyer]

right now im reading emerson, thoreau, melville, max weber and carl jung

this one on deck:

[Baeyer-Drewson]

[entropy kid]

Just finished this after reading it in the background for close to forever. Not sure what to think of the end.

I think I might enjoy some good old fashioned conspiracy stuff. Any suggestions? Anything better than Dark Alliance?

[mpcec]

Hey Grim Ryan, mind checking who did the cover illustration on that book for me?

[Baeyer-Drewson]

I think I might enjoy some good old fashioned conspiracy stuff. Any suggestions? Anything better than Dark Alliance?

The thing about Dark Alliance is that I wouldn't even consider it "conspiracy stuff". It can't really be called a conspiracy when the evidential documents come from various US government departments.

Another good book on the CIA strategy of indirectly using drug trafficking to fund proxy/illegal/unpopular wars is "Whiteout" by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair.

I used to read a few conspiracy books back in the day but they get old fast once you realise that all conspiracy theories (as opposed to actual conspiracies) are the same.

I'd just check out some Robert Anton Wilson, he treats conspiracy theories as a form of entertainment, kind of like palm reading or a seance.

[KidSqueaky]

I've recently finished up Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Amazing book with tons of brain food.

[GoonjoshGoon]

Im reading Brave New World right now, so far its really good im only on chapter 3 but has anyone else read that book (I am new to SuFu i didnt go through other pages) and if you did, did it remind you of The Giver almost?

[chubby]

Just started it. Already I can tell David Mitchell is a man after my own literary heart. Incredible writer. Especially after reading the useless droll of Ishiguro in 'Never Let Me Go'

I wanted to read "1000 Autumns of Jacob de Zoet," but my local book shop only had a hard cover, and thats like 20 quid. I figure by the time I finish this I'll be able to find a paper back or I'll just reluctantly buy it for my e-reader.

[chubby]

I've recently finished up Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Amazing book with tons of brain food.

Just finished back to back Wind up Bird Chronicles and then KotS (then I read Ishiguro's never let me go, but I wont get in to that).

I can't decide which one I enjoyed more. I think at the time I enjoyed WuBC more addictively, and I do prefer its length (what is it- like 100 pages longer?). I think it was the better novel- it seems more mature, more expansive, a bit more brooding and immersive. KotS shares almost all the same features of Murakami's surrealism, and the similarities between the two are huge, but the quasi-'coming of age' format seemed (to me) to limit Murakami and that breadth he displays in WuBC.

What do you guys think? I know a lot of you have read Murakami. Any input on his other works I'd love to hear as well (particularly norwegian wood).

[KidSqueaky]

Just finished back to back Wind up Bird Chronicles and then KotS (then I read Ishiguro's never let me go, but I wont get in to that).

I can't decide which one I enjoyed more. I think at the time I enjoyed WuBC more addictively, and I do prefer its length (what is it- like 100 pages longer?). I think it was the better novel- it seems more mature, more expansive, a bit more brooding and immersive. KotS shares almost all the same features of Murakami's surrealism, and the similarities between the two are huge, but the quasi-'coming of age' format seemed (to me) to limit Murakami and that breadth he displays in WuBC.

What do you guys think? I know a lot of you have read Murakami. Any input on his other works I'd love to hear as well (particularly norwegian wood).

I'm actually deciding between Norwegian Wood and The Wind-up Bird Chronicles to read next. Your post just made me lean towards WuBC.

[american_hearts]

Wind up Bird is bloated. A few interesting sketches, but none of them are tied together in any meaningful way. If you haven't read Hard Boiled Wonderland, I'd recommend it head and shoulders above Wind-up.

Norwegian is my personal favorite, but it's a totally different style, short and sweet.

Side note: Can we stop treating Murakami this way? He's fine, not a god. Left alone, he's got a competent, quiet style -- the kind of style that can't withstand the backlash that will come from undeserved praise.

He's written a few stories that spoke to me during adolescence, but let's be real about who he is as a writer -- he's cribbing from Raymond Carver, which lends itself well to the dry charm that comes out of the translation over from Japanese, and he makes rock and pop music references so the whole thing feels like it has a soundtrack.

He's good, not great, and definitely not an essential read.

[Baeyer-Drewson]

Side note: Can we stop treating Murakami this way? He's fine, not a god.

Can't rep this line enough. And I co-sign as an avid reader who has consumed most of Murakami's books. His books are definitely better than your average airport novel, but honestly, they aren't that great.

Japanese protagonists listening to American pop-rock and eating spaghetti all the time?! The fuck outta here... I love reading Murakami when I want some fiction but don't feel up to some heavy lit. His books are like the thinking man's Harry Potter.

I used to really love Murakami, but having read almost his entire bibliography I feel almost the same way as I do about Palahniuk; one-trick pony.

[chubby]

I don't think anyone said he was a God- although I haven't gone through the majority of this thread.

I had never heard of hardboiled wonderland- the next time I pick up a Murakami novel I'll check it out. Although, that might be a while. I was reading the amazon description which outlined some key vehicles of the book including, a librarian, reuniting the self and the shadow self, and split conciousness, etc etc- all too much like WuBC and KotS, which I just finished.

[viv1984viv]

Im reading Brave New World right now, so far its really good im only on chapter 3 but has anyone else read that book (I am new to SuFu i didnt go through other pages) and if you did, did it remind you of The Giver almost?

Hello

- yup - good book, also try 1984 by Orwell, We by Zamyatin and Oryx and Crake by Atwood if you're looking for polarizations or close comparisons in the dystopian-lit realm.....

Always reading loads - into ergodic literature to a Sunn 0))) soundtrack right now.....

[GoonjoshGoon]

Hello

- yup - good book, also try 1984 by Orwell, We by Zamyatin and Oryx and Crake by Atwood if you're looking for polarizations or close comparisons in the dystopian-lit realm.....

Always reading loads - into ergodic literature to a Sunn 0))) soundtrack right now.....

Ill keep that in mind, i plan on reading The Book of Five Rings next though has anyone ever read that? I read Art of War and loved it, and i also read Hagakure and it was also really good.

[GoonjoshGoon]

Along the lines of "classic literature" though what do yall think about The Return of the Native, i checked it out from the library and its just been sitting on my dresser i plan on reading it but i was too engrossed in these H.G Well's books. I loved the invisible man, and The Time Machine was equally good

[duck sauce]

Mitchell Heisman's suicide note. guy should have hired a proofreader.

If it turns out to have a coherent and convincing argument... well so long.

[jackg]

[Grim Ryan]

Mitchell Heisman's suicide note. guy should have hired a proofreader.

If it turns out to have a coherent and convincing argument... well so long.

I started reading this but didn't get very far. I just hated how often he repeated himself. Still absolutely crazy stuff.

[AndreasF]

Understanding Ethics, An Introduction to Moral Theory.

[superbeveridge]

[dzerzhinsky]

Lawrence Durrell - Mountolive.

Also, because of Durrell,

But for some reason I find the bittersweet tone of Cavafy overwhelming, and I only read three or four at a time. A lot of the poems are about aging, the end of youth, remembering past loves, and it's not something you want to think about when you're young.

[Baeyer-Drewson]

[NESK]

baey: mao II is the only delillo ive had to put down. i cant even tell you how far i got into it because it was that unmemorable. i LOVE dellilo when hes shining, but i cant recall a single sentence from what i read of mao. i havnt exactly gotten into underworld yet because its so fucking daunting, but mao made me realize there might be a side to DD i cant fuck with. i hope you have better luck than i.