Author Topic: Fave Books / Currently Reading  (Read 947354 times)

Rick in Salt Lake

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1485 on: February 16, 2011, 07:58:26 PM »
Less than 100 pages to go with Brothers Karamazov.  If you people knew how long I've been reading it you'd bludgeon me to death (naturally).

Is it worth the effort? I read "Crime and Punnishment" something like ten years ago and really, really liked it. The ending was a bit of a let down, however...

I'm just about done with "The Monster" by Michael Hudson. I'm on a bender with regard to reading about the sub-prime lending crisis... God, I get so livid when I read this stuff...
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TheeChrisDee

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1486 on: February 16, 2011, 08:56:42 PM »
Manchild #5, which is a comic/oral history of the Raleigh Hardcore scene in the 80s, written/drawn by Brian Walsby.  Awesome stuff.  Jon Wurster has already had a few quotes/stories in the book.
Can I use the "F-word", Tom?

B_Buster

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1487 on: February 16, 2011, 09:17:48 PM »
I'm reading J. G. Ballard's short story collection, The Terminal Beach, and loving it. He's one of my favorite writers...

Isn't "Crash" a great book?

Crash is certainly a unique book in that you wonder about the sanity of its writer while you're reading it. I didn't really enjoy it as much as High Rise or Concrete Island or Hello America though.
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buffcoat

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1488 on: February 17, 2011, 01:09:58 AM »
Manchild #5, which is a comic/oral history of the Raleigh Hardcore scene in the 80s, written/drawn by Brian Walsby.  Awesome stuff.  Jon Wurster has already had a few quotes/stories in the book.


One of my high school classmates got killed as an innocent bystander outside the Fallout Shelter.
I really don't appreciate your sarcastic, anti-comedy tone, Bro!

Bryan

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1489 on: February 17, 2011, 07:06:29 AM »
I'm reading J. G. Ballard's short story collection, The Terminal Beach, and loving it. He's one of my favorite writers, but I've never read any of his short stories before. "The Drowned Giant" is one of the best stories I've ever read. After this I'll be moving onto The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard which should keep me busy for a while.

Ballard's one of my favorites, too. I recently read Empire of the Sun, which I'd avoided for years because I associated it with Spielberg, and thought it would be too sentimental or something. Silly me. It's astounding - probably his best that I've read. It really clarifies some of Ballard's apocalyptic obsessions - the guy saw firsthand how fast the world can change, like the flip of a switch, from "normal" to "end of the world".

And of course, it's not sentimental at all, as my favorite passage will illustrate:
Quote
[Jim] welcomed the air raids, the noise of the Mustangs as they swept over the camp, the smell of oil and cordite, the deaths of the pilots, even the likelihood of his own death. Despite everything, he knew he was worth nothing. He twisted his Latin primer, trembling with a secret hunger that the war would so eagerly satisfy.

I've just started The Kindness of Women, which is the sequel to Empire of the Sun, which tells about the backstory to his weirder, countercultural phase - Crash, The Atrocity Exhibition, etc. I love it.

JonFromMaplewood

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1490 on: February 17, 2011, 09:05:34 AM »
Less than 100 pages to go with Brothers Karamazov.  If you people knew how long I've been reading it you'd bludgeon me to death (naturally).

Took me a long time as well.  Fyodor Dostoevsky is no Elmore Leonard.
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Steve of Bloomington

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1491 on: February 17, 2011, 09:21:18 AM »
Less than 100 pages to go with Brothers Karamazov.  If you people knew how long I've been reading it you'd bludgeon me to death (naturally).

It's OK, Chris. Likely I've been reading Ulysses for longer. I keep getting sidetracked to other books.

JustNicole

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1492 on: February 17, 2011, 09:34:51 AM »
I recently read Guru about Del Close. I really loved it. I also read one of Helen Keller's autobiographies. Her descriptions were lovely and I learned that she went through a huge court trial because of a story she wrote that was direct plagiarism.

I also tried to read The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao but I couldn't get into it. Gave up halfway.
Doing it Mentos style.

masterofsparks

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1493 on: February 17, 2011, 09:37:48 AM »
I'm reading Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart. It's my first experience with him and, honestly, I'm not sure if I'll finish it. I don't necessarily have a problem with it or dislike it, but it's not really grabbing me.
I'll probably go into the wee hours.

TheeChrisDee

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1494 on: February 17, 2011, 10:14:28 AM »
Manchild #5, which is a comic/oral history of the Raleigh Hardcore scene in the 80s, written/drawn by Brian Walsby.  Awesome stuff.  Jon Wurster has already had a few quotes/stories in the book.


One of my high school classmates got killed as an innocent bystander outside the Fallout Shelter.


I believe that story is in the book.
Can I use the "F-word", Tom?

Keith Whitener

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1495 on: February 17, 2011, 10:37:27 AM »
Going through the books of Matt Taibbi and Charles Taylor's Sources of the Self. The latter is for my philosophy thesis. Might be picking up some Habermas for that soon.

wood and iron

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1496 on: February 17, 2011, 01:24:00 PM »
I'm reading J. G. Ballard's short story collection, The Terminal Beach, and loving it. He's one of my favorite writers, but I've never read any of his short stories before. "The Drowned Giant" is one of the best stories I've ever read. After this I'll be moving onto The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard which should keep me busy for a while.

I absolutely love The Drowned Giant. It was fun being an assistant to the PhD candidate trying to teach this story to his science fiction overview class. Surprisingly, kids just looking for an English elective weren't too into Ballard. I was transfixed however.

wood and iron

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1497 on: February 17, 2011, 01:25:30 PM »
Going through the books of Matt Taibbi and Charles Taylor's Sources of the Self. The latter is for my philosophy thesis. Might be picking up some Habermas for that soon.

How are Taibbi's books? My flash impression of the guy after reading a couple of short pieces and his appearances on television is of a guy who is astoundingly intelligent and righteously angry but also as smug as the day is long. Does he write well or is he just strident and self important?

dave from knoxville

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1498 on: February 17, 2011, 02:05:23 PM »
Still on War and Peace, 8 - 12 pages a day, now going on day 135 or so. I will finish it in about a month, when my time here among you will ultimately come to an end.

Chris L

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1499 on: February 17, 2011, 03:45:17 PM »
Less than 100 pages to go with Brothers Karamazov.  If you people knew how long I've been reading it you'd bludgeon me to death (naturally).

Is it worth the effort? I read "Crime and Punnishment" something like ten years ago and really, really liked it. The ending was a bit of a let down, however...

I'm just about done with "The Monster" by Michael Hudson. I'm on a bender with regard to reading about the sub-prime lending crisis... God, I get so livid when I read this stuff...

Yes, it's worth it, especially if you like C&P.