what are you reading today?

[Vampyrvargfesten]

just finished this

starting this now

[NatseOklim]

Just started reading a bunch of John le Carre, spurred on by the new Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy film. Read that first and enjoyed it, so read A Call for the Dead today. Quite a quick read (2-3 hours maybe?) but enjoyable. Need to branch out from the pulpy Fantasy and Sci-Fi I normally read....

[chantheman]

[IsaakM]

just started:

[ordo]

Been a fan for some time, as you can tell from my username. Hope its good.

[chantheman]

[Brienneoftarth]

reading Empire of the Sun and browsing the Tastemakers.

[Sugar Mountain]

Still making my way through Underworld and loving every minute of it. Not sure what to read next. Maybe more Bolano...

[Dead_Wizard]

I'm about 400 pages into Underworld and it's still not clicking. Occasionally it's absolutely brilliant (opening chapter, the chapter with the nuns and monks in the ghetto) but so much of it is

he spread the mayonaise on the bread. He spread it on the top side of the bread. He didn't like to put the mayonaise on the bottom. He spread the mayonaise on the bread

I understand the realist style, but it comes off as so dry sometimes. Much preferred White Noise (so far)

Very excited for new Jeffrey Eugenides coming out at the start of October, The Marriage Plot Really need to mash through my current list to open up time for that and the new Nadas, Parallel Stories.

[Sugar Mountain]

Hmm, I can see where you're coming from but feel that the way Delillo writes lends the story and characters space and clarity that more flowery language might obstruct. There have been so many paragraphs in Underworld where I'm just gobsmacked that someone could write so brilliantly and totally capture a feeling or moment. The way in which the book ties the lives of all the different characters together with its overarching themes and events has impressed me in way that no other book has since reading Tom Wolfe's A Man in Full.

On the subject of new releases: despite the title of this thread, is anyone else looking forward to the publication of Murakami's new novel 1Q84? I had a phase of ploughing through all his books a few years ago and even though that phase has passed, I'd still consider myself a fan of his better work.

[timber]

[robbie]

[Baeyer-Drewson]

On the subject of new releases: despite the title of this thread, is anyone else looking forward to the publication of Murakami's new novel 1Q84?

Has this taken forever to get an English translation? I remember hearing about it in German of French probably more than a year ago...

I haven't read Murakami in a while for the same reason I don't read Palahniuk anymore; he's just a one-trick pony. That said, his good stuff is quite fun and it's been a sufficiently long time since I read Murakami that I'd probably enjoy reading 1Q84.

[Sugar Mountain]

Yeah, believe the Dutch translation also came out sometime ago. Strange eh? A friend has read the Chinese version and rated it. I like that it's a lengthy book as I reckon his ideas bear greater fruit when he gives them some depth. Not such a fan of his short stories although they can be enjoyable as 'sketches' and I do agree that he can be one-trick.

Good call on the Ishiguro Timber. Not seen the movie and might keep it that way...

[mmg]

@ Sugar Mountain - I saw the movie first and actually I just really liked them both, didn't ruin anything for me since I already knew the premise. Rare experience. But normally I agree with your impulse.

@ Baeyer - But Murakami's trick is more interesting and beautiful than Palahniuk's....

Recently finished

Pretty good companion to Never Let Me Go if you end up liking it

[Baeyer-Drewson]

@ Baeyer - But Murakami's trick is more interesting and beautiful than Palahniuk's....

I was hoping that I wouldn't have to explicitly state that I consider Murakami a much greater writer than Palahniuk. Although, Invisible Monsters and Fight Club are both pretty amazing in their own way. The rest of his stuff is pretty crappy. Actually, Non-Fiction was kinda interesting, too.

Currently reading this when I'm not reading Infinite Jest:

Someone please tell me how to feel about Baudrillard. I feel like his ideas are interesting but he is terrible at elucidating them.

[ke1]

^First Murakami I read was After Dark, maybe 2 weeks ago. Wasn't really feeling the characters nor the writing. The type of characters an pseudo-intellectual conversations they were having were way too blatant imo.

@Baeyer, I know nothing of that book other than that it was in The Matrix, and for that alone I will read it.

[Sugar Mountain]

Ke1 -- you have to read the Wind Up Bird Chronicle. Easily his best.

[ke1]

I figured I was jumping the gun by criticizing him on one of his lesser books. I'll be sure to check it out. Thanks.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

After Dark is awful

[denimdestroyedmylife]

Someone please tell me how to feel about Baudrillard. I feel like his ideas are interesting but he is terrible at elucidating them.

i love Baudrillard and that one is really good

Seduction is my favorite of the several i've read

not sure if he's in fashion now or not but he's one of the great philosopher poets (along with roland barthes)

clarity is not necessarily his goal (as he makes plain in Seduction)

as another philosopher poet pointed out, when we drag something out of the depths it loses its magic - it is the void that attracts us (sunglasses at night concept)

[denimdestroyedmylife]

I'm about 400 pages into Underworld and it's still not clicking. Occasionally it's absolutely brilliant (opening chapter, the chapter with the nuns and monks in the ghetto) but so much of it is

he spread the mayonaise on the bread. He spread it on the top side of the bread. He didn't like to put the mayonaise on the bottom. He spread the mayonaise on the bread

I understand the realist style, but it comes off as so dry sometimes. Much preferred White Noise (so far)

that's sort of the point of it all - to revel in the quotidian

[denimdestroyedmylife]

ah well... i am experimenting with non-reading except tintin, cat manga and language poetry

feeling burned out by novels

[fruitbrute]

I bought this a while ago, but have only read very little of it so far. It seems very interesting, but I'm struggling a bit because of the language, which is beautiful but difficult, even more so (to me, a non-native speaker) than in, say, Blood Meridian. But I'll try to get more into it now, since I'm starting university in October and I want to finish it before that.

[chantheman]

[chubby]

i just bought light boxes by shane jones for a quick sunday read. anyone read it?

[rgray]

engaging with:

and

read a chunk of Chomsky/Herman a few days ago and it was as I expected. It felt a lot like Hitchens' Trial of Henry Kissinger.

I am reading a PDF of Falk until I can grab a copy from the library. It is pretty wishy-washy.

[gramps]

[Dead_Wizard]

Burned through The Friends of Eddie Coyle in two days. Real fun read; you can tell this guy had an absolute pitch perfect knack for dialogue and zero skill at prose. Ridiculously sparse descriptions of everything, but for a book that's 80% dialogue it works as a way to set the scene.

On to Lush Life right now. So far it's excellent.

[Sugar Mountain]

Finally reached the end of Underworld last night and what a book. I've made some good, rewarding choices in my reading lately but thought this was a seriously great piece of literature. I need to spend some time digesting everything over a glass of wine at some point, ha.

Though I'd grab a short story collection as a breather before starting another long novel so picked up:

I've real respect for Bolano's reverence for literature and his depiction of the lives of writers. Enjoying the read so far.