what are you reading today?

[Baeyer-Drewson]

What can one say about a book that is solely a catalogue detailing the biographies of American men and women of letters who happen to have varying shades of sympathy for Nazi ideologies, all of whom are entirely fictional?

I really liked how Bolaño includes references to some real American authors as well as fictional characters from his other novels, like the Romanian general (from 2666), Eugenio Entrescu. It feels like Bolaño fleshing out the universe in which all of his books are set.

What is the relationship between Harry Sibelius and the novel 2666? I can't help but feel the two are connected in some way. Sibelius' novels is 1333 pages long, he makes frequent reference to actual historical figures (using their real names), just as Bolaño does with partially masked names in 2666. Maybe it's nothing...

The tedium of Epilogue for Monsters was brilliant. So much marginalia of seemingly little importance. The comparison of penis lengths, etc. Are any of these authors/publishers/magazine/books based on actual, consensus reality-dwelling people?

I'll probably read Amulet next to find out more about Carlos Ramirez Hoffman. Is the nature of his avant-garde "artwork" revelaed in more specific terms in Amulet?

[Guest roastedchickenwing]

topless protest rights for women tomm (8/21/11)

[Quiver]

I need to make more time to read; started this at the airport lounge and over a four hour flight a few months back and still haven't finished it. Remember it conjuring up emotions and watery eyes, which I haven't experienced from a book for as long as I can recall. On a more rational leve, I find the way in which Steinbeck casts the agricultural revolution an over-exaggeration, but I suppose one can draw upon a few modern analogies without too much difficulty.

[bfan]

I think I've been waiting all of my life to read this book

[Quiver]

^Haven't checked out the background on it Bayer, but that is an interesting comment you've read. I'll keep an eye out.

[Baeyer-Drewson]

Quiver: It was an online excerpt from this book;

Pretty interesting article here though:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/feb/02/johnsteinbeck.socialsciences

[Midnight Marauders]

re: American Psycho.

The book was 100% more intense than the movie. I think the scene towards the beginning with the bum/dog was the most gut wrenching. Christian Bale captured Bateman's character and I couldn't help but visualize him while reading. I am not sure what to make about the part towards the end where the prose switches to third person. Could this be another part of Bateman talking or is it the same Bateman just referring to himself in the third-person?

I lost my copy of this when I was overseas, and I had only just started reading it too. Definitely need to pickup another one because people keep telling me its fuckloads better than the film.

[gramps]

I'll probably read Amulet next to find out more about Carlos Ramirez Hoffman. Is the nature of his avant-garde "artwork" revelaed in more specific terms in Amulet?

Distant Star. Yeah it is, but it's pretty much what you think. I actually prefer the way it's handled in Nazi Lit. Glad you liked it.

[Baeyer-Drewson]

^Hahaha thanks for the correction, Gramps! I meant Distant Star (although Amulet is also on the "to read" shelf atm.

[Sugar Mountain]

Liking the Bolano discussion on here btw. Finished the Savage Detectives last week and thought it was incredible. I can honestly say it has made me see literature and the role of the writer in a new light. Bolano lived his art to the very end it seems. Inspirational and I cannot recommend the book enough. Will certainly pick up more of his work but am off to Portugal in a few weeks, hence the Saramago.

[NESK]

Anyone read brothers by yu hua? Want to jump right into it but the translation is killing me after 1 chapter. It reads robotically.

[Mfd00m]

fashion inside out. daniel vosovic.

[broneck]

I took a break from my Jest re-read to burn through the Corrections while I was up north. Really lived up to the hype, but it made Freedom feel almost unnecessary. The themes dealt with are just way too similar (family torn apart by tradition v. progressive mores, political leanings and ideas about what life is about/how it should be lived, etc. etc.).

There's also a possibility that Freedom was better, but it just almost feels like a refined remake now, almost like Evil Dead 2 vs. Evil Dead.

Despite this, both books were really enjoyable reads, almost popcorn reads (rarely do i run through a 600 page book in three days, and this was the case with both). Recommend either, or both, if you want to read something that's quick without being dumb, stimulating without being too much work.

[koven]

48 laws of power

[rgray]

I just finished reading

Both were quick reads.

[decades777]

Recently re-read Tropic of Cancer, now onto Tropic of Capricorn.

[Dead_Wizard]

re-reading Sartor Resartus

is there any english translations of Peter Nadas' "Parallel Stories" available yet? Don't want to wait until October

The Tin Drum blew my mind, highest recommendations. Probably up there with Under the Volcano and Ulysses as my top books.

[fallen angels]

Anyone read brothers by yu hua? Want to jump right into it but the translation is killing me after 1 chapter. It reads robotically.

let us know how that goes, i really liked his other books

[gramps]

Couldn't get into the Lyn Hejinian book right now, so I'm onto:

So far so good. I like his articles and it all sounds interesting but sometimes that whole HTML giant style can be a bit of a jerk off.

[Magsåvningsreserven]

can you guys recommend really good whodunit/conspiracy/subterfuge/espionage titles please.

[Dead_Wizard]

@Magnetic Neil Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon" is a lot of fun.

[gramps]

Not exactly Bourne territory but David Peace's Tokyo Year Zero's good.

[Guest roastedchickenwing]

reading "the findings" i recently download from the barnes and noble shop on my nook.

[Bislane]

can you guys recommend really good whodunit/conspiracy/subterfuge/espionage titles please.

Kraken, China Mieville, posted a while back was kind of zany but at the same time a pretty deep 'whodunit' that wasn't hard to enjoy. It's set in London too, if you're into that kind of thing. Offputting as a midwestern american I thought but only insomuch as it just seemed a nonessential bit of pretense for all this mythical underground stuff thrown in. Damn expensive for a paperback though: http://www.amazon.com/Kraken-China-Mieville/dp/034549749X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314288127&sr=8-1

[Magsåvningsreserven]

thanks guys

[lil brown brother]

bought book a while back just getting around to reading it

[mitcho]

Finishing up:

about to start:

[IsaakM]

^ really liked Blue Bamboo.

[Baeyer-Drewson]

can you guys recommend really good whodunit/conspiracy/subterfuge/espionage titles please.

Not classic "espionage" titles as such, but pretty much all of Philip K Dick's books deal with ontology and conspiracy in some form.

Cryptonomicon and Tokyo Year Zero have been sitting on my shelf forever. Really need more reading time.

I'm gonna have to disagree on Kraken though. One of the few books I haven't been able to finish in recent times. It just grinds after a couple hundred pages. Mieville has a great imagination but his prose style can be pretty tedious. I'd suggest The City and The City as a much more enjoyable (and shorter) alternative.

Currently reading this. Interesting take on a topic I am already very familiar with. Good balance of narrative and citation-based facts.

[Ol_Dirty_Btard]

Kurtz is the symbol of man's deepest desires