what are you reading today?

[gramps]

Worth bearing in mind that often his reverence is contempt and his depiction is satire.

[Baeyer-Drewson]

Worth bearing in mind that often his reverence is contempt and his depiction is satire.

Nazi Literature in the Americas makes this abundantly clear :)

[Sugar Mountain]

Yup, understand the satire. I mean, many of his characters are incredibly vain and he's clearly poking fun at establishment writers much of the time. When I talk about reverence, I mean for the words themselves and the life or death role that literature can play in the world. Dig?

[gramps]

I feel like that's there, but I think he's also talking a lot about ways in which literature is inadequate in the face of the kind of political and social violence going on in the world.

[Sugar Mountain]

Something interesting to consider as I read. Well observed, cheers.

[bfan]

are you guys still reading gravity's rainbow? I was reading about IG farben yesterday on wikipedia and I had my mind blown yet again by that book. I've been slowly rereading it and it's so much better the second time

[Dead_Wizard]

rename thread HARDCOVER SAVED MY LIFE imo

William Gibson in ACR on cover of his new essay book.

also

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Color-Multi-touch-Display-Wi-Fi/dp/B0051VVOB2/ref=amb_link_357575542_4?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=gateway-center-column&pf_rd_r=0YPTEZ9P17VN96E8S9CZ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1321408942&pf_rd_i=507846

thoughts on this thing? I still don't know about ebooks, but I like the idea of them for magazines.

[Baeyer-Drewson]

Breaking up IJ with some smaller books. This was interesting and quick. Transcribed from taped interviews with no serious editing, so you get a real feel for PKD's diction. (Are there any biographical documentaries about PKD himself, featuring interview footage?)

The major interview is primarily concerned with his concepts for the book he was planning before he died, The Owl in Daylight. Also contains lots of random miscellanea about his life and thoughts. Definitely an intense guy. His typical timeframe for writing a complete draft novel (excluding conceptualisation) was 8-10 days. Get up at 8 am, write without disturbance til 3 or 4 am, get up at 8 am, repeat. Insane.

[dro-_-]

re-reading the joy luck club by amy tan, and it gets better after every read.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

i am loving this. nearly done reading it. so strange. i tried reading this a number of years ago but it didn't click for some reason. not sure if this a minor work of thompson's or what but i will certainly read more. thought it would be just tough guy fiction but thompson is a strange one. descriptions of egg carton placement in the refrigerator, vomiting at the dinner table, etc. each chapter is written from a different character's perspective, so there's something of a rashomon quality to it. i am so into this right now.

[ericdw]

[jackg]

rereading.

[Sugar Mountain]

Finished reading Bolano's Last Evenings on Earth. Not a compelling read, but still a strong collection of stories. A real sense of unease throughout.

Now re-reading Kenzaburo Oe:

Not a book you'd go to in search of good times!

[gramps]

Took me forever to find a copy of this at a bookshop. Really good.

[Dead_Wizard]

Finished Clockers yesterday. Hell of a book. Loved that part where they're in the abandoned children's hospital, reminds me of this scary place in Newark I'd always pass on the way to school.

Starting today

There is a great piece in NY Magazine about how this book is heavily inspired by the intertwined lives of David Foster Wallace, Franzen, and Eugenides himself.

http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/jeffrey-eugenides-2011-10/

[Quiver]

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/11/all-the-single-ladies/8654/?single_page=true

Really worth a read.

[gramps]

Real good also.

[robbie]

There is a great piece in NY Magazine about how this book is heavily inspired by the intertwined lives of David Foster Wallace, Franzen, and Eugenides himself.

http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/jeffrey-eugenides-2011-10/

Did you hear his interview on WHYY where he disputes this? It's a good interview, and gave a lot insights into Eugenides' writing style and approach to character development.

Only a handful of things about DFW he used in the book.

but seriously, listen to the interview...

I am waiting on this to arrive :

there is a trailer for the book on simon & schusters website IIRC

[Baeyer-Drewson]

Interest article. An aspect of e-books that I really hadn't considered.

http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/12/putting-down-the-ipad-so-my-kids-can-see-me-read/

[fruitbrute]

I got this from a used book shop today, very cheap but in excellent condition. It's excellent so far, very happy I picked it up.

[gramps]

That Eula Biss book read fast. I'd recommend it to everyone though.

Onto a short one:

[vagrant]

the master and margarita by mikhail bulgakov

[gramps]

I have a feeling a lot of people came to this book before I did, but I'd like to at least share the wealth and recommend it. Great stuff, good for when you start to hate the wallpaper:

[jackg]

[Canuk]

Influence - Robert Cialdini

Fascinating research into the psychology of persuasion

[Denton]

tim blanks likes paul t's book

[kawsneffect]

for my literature class

[redX]

camus - the stranger

[bfan]

pretty cool

[t3hcoke]

60pages in, really touching so far.