what are you reading today?

[dino might]

^i swear, i was meursault in a past life

i was supposed to read the great gatsby for school years ago, i didnt, but from what was discussed in class it sounded pretty good though

[mpcec]

Right now I'm reading Y- The Last Man on Earth, it's pretty good, I haven't read too many graphic novels/ comics so what would be some good ones to check out after this? Preferably finished series.

[hey]

Y - The Last Man is fucking great. It just ended, and I've been reading it issue-by-issue as it came out. One of my favorite comics ever. If you liked Brian K. Vaughn's style, I would recommend anything else he's written. He's a really phenomenal writer. Pretty much any Vertigo stuff (though not all) is good too. American Virgin is fairly short and just ended, and some of the grittier stuff like Preacher and Transmetropolitan is fantastic.

Just finished Lolita and started reading Slaughterhouse-Five. Every new page makes me love that book more and more.

Edit: Dino, I hated The Stranger. I can't put my finger on why. I just...hated it. Maybe I'm too dumb or something.

[enatoka]

check out peter beste he shot photos of gaahl and other crazy black metal guys in norway. he also produced a doc about it. they talk about that book in it.

such a good book. yea i love beste's photo work in "norwegian black metal", i dont think they sell it here in america though, and i tried to find it somewhere else but too much money, you know of a decent price?

im about to read this, took it from barnes and nobles.

[dino might]

Edit: Dino, I hated The Stranger. I can't put my finger on why. I just...hated it. Maybe I'm too dumb or something.

youre lucky i cant give out any more rep today or youd get a heaping helping of red for that remark.

its ok though, a friend of mine hated it too. im a bit of a nihilistic bastard, i just loved how much i identified with the main character

[Guest chemi]

It's essentially the dissertation of a (white male) sociology student at The University of Pennsylvania who moved to South Philly to chronicle Black life from 1969-1971. He chose not to tell people of his intentions to study them while jotting his observations and experiences down on organized note cards at night. What's fascinating about this book is how he ends up finds himself to be such a member of the community, despite being one of the only colorless residents in the neighborhood. It's also written in a beautiful, poetic style that's much more like documentary than any sort of academic work, and includes illustrations and diagrams like how the men used to walk close to buildings on the street and bow around front stoops.

Oh and anyone read Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh? Kinda the same thing (was mentioned in Freakonomics)

[superBobo]

just finished Murakami - south of the border, west of the sun. Really beautiful little story, uncomplicated on the surface, and weird underneath. Strong sense of the human isolation aswell, as in sputnik sweetheart.

and just started with Foucaults pendulum by umberto eco. Seems interesting, and like my years of studying history of religion will finally pay off

[Yardsale]

[landho]

just finished Murakami - south of the border, west of the sun. Really beautiful little story, uncomplicated on the surface, and weird underneath. Strong sense of the human isolation aswell, as in sputnik sweetheart.

God, I love Haruki Murakami. One of my all-time favorite writers. Sputnik Sweetheart may be my least favorite of all his novels, however, except for maybe Hear the Wind Sing.

One interesting thing about South of the Border is that he wrote it at the same time that he wrote Wind-up Bird Chronicle, which explains a lot of the thematic and emotional similarities between the two novels. Murakami said that both works started out as a single story in his mind that split in two, like a cell, and that he felt compelled to write both.

I just finished reading Fashion Today by Colin McDowell and I am trudging through Dead Souls by Gogol now. I have the sinking suspicion that I don't know enough about mid-nineteenth century Russian social history to really understand what's going on.

[mpcec]

Thanks for the recs hey. Also Dino you should read Y- The Last Man, he name drops Zen and the Art, you might like it... The Stranger was okay, helped me understand it a bit more after reading Sartres commentary. I'll probably re-read it again in a couple years.

[mouko]

Right now I"m reading God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens. I'm going a religious criticism phase.

[OptimaDies]

Right now I"m reading God is Great by Christopher Hitchens. I'm going a religious criticism phase.

^^I'm sure he doesn't think that :eek:, but I think God is wonderful.

[jayrock]

just started The Fountainhead

[mojinho]

i'm halfway through "What Color Is My Parachute," it's fantastic for job-hunters (even if you're not currently job-hunting). excellent, intriguing suggestions about finding yourself professionally

[dino might]

Right now I"m reading God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens. I'm going a religious criticism phase.

you should report back with how good it is, i thought about picking it up

[chantheman]

[mouko]

you should report back with how good it is, i thought about picking it up

Just finsihed it last night. Actually my favorite literary criticism on Religion. He does a better job than Richard Dawkins in my opinion, who seems to come off too much like a pretentious annoyed internet flamer a lot of the time.

His argument is much easier to follow I think, and reads more like a history and dissection of religion itself (he discusses how religions develop and gives really interesting examples of religions being developed in the 20th century, such a small islands that worship American GIs who flew in during WWII), to how conflicts arise because of differences in religious beliefs and things like that.

Def recommended if you're into this sort of thing.

[dino might]

oh cool. i just started the god delusion, so maybe ill make it a set..

[jeepster]

i'm re-reading The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman (doing the whole trilogy)

gonna start on Gonzo by Jann Wenner soonish

thinking of trying my hand at Joyce's Ulysses, but i barely know his work, so i might start with Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man or Dubliners

[Leeacto]

Just finished Thing I've Learned from Women Who Dumped me, which was funny

Now it's on to High Fidelity

[dino might]

thinking of trying my hand at Joyce's Ulysses, but i barely know his work, so i might start with Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man or Dubliners

my old english teacher (who ill someday run away with) loves joyce, she recommended portrait non stop, i read parts of dubliners, kind of neat but havent paid it much attention

[almondcrush]

paging through "on the road" again

fell down as i was straightening up my closet

kerouac calling out to me i guess

re-read "the stranger" last week

spotted it in a coffeeshop bookshelf and didnt feel like going to class

truth be told i didnt enjoy it nearly as much as i did in high school

the nihilism espoused struck me as so crass this time around

regarding graphic novels, "jimmy corrigan: the smartest kid in the world" was fantastic imo

[kakemono]

V for Vendetta graphic novel.... pretty cool. I have never read a graphic novel before

[whizkit]

starting on this, too lazy to read the original texts.

[eightynine]

slowly edging my way through the kite runner by kahled hosseini, it's good i just haven't been too consistent with sitting down and reading it.

[jo3 b]

just finished catcher in the rye, never actually read it in highschool and found it lying around the house.

then after that was extremely loud and incredibly close by jonathan safran foer,

and after that was the witch of portabello by paulo coehlo

i just watched the diving bell and butterfly and it reminded of The Count of Monte Cristo which has been looming over my head, so i plan on starting that today.

[hamburglar]

[hey]

V for Vendetta graphic novel.... pretty cool. I have never read a graphic novel before

I've read a fucking ton of comic books and graphic novels in my life, and this still stands above all the rest as my favorite. Absolutely fucking amazing. Moore is a genius. I'd really recommend his Swamp Thing run too. A lot of people also like The Watchmen, but it sort of requires a knowledge of comic book heroes and tropes on a certain level.

Just finished Slaughterhouse-Five. Fucking amazing. On to Rules of Attraction and then Breakfast of Champions.

[poliopoliopolio]

just started the autobiography of alice b. toklas - gertrude stein. i can't wait for the pillowfights and jello wrestling.

[mrjuby]

just finished this in one sitting and its alright. doesn't have anything to do with tribe making the album though. just the author's listening experiences.

next up is vinyl junkies

also reading jonanthan lethem's fortress of solitude. good so far.