Books

lizard said:
no, its
Faulkner,_William_632.jpg

He also gave me a pint of whiskey.
 
Ellestin said:
I haven't read anything else than "The Foucault Pendulum" and "The Name of the Rose". The first one I can recommend, along with a truckload of aspirine.
i'll have to pick that up, read a description the other day. sounded nifty. and yeah, Eco isn't exactly light reading. :D

finished Dune tonight instead of going to the pub, so i'm celebrating with two pints of the black stuff. i was bored at over the halfway point, but the end was pretty good and i might someday read the other books.

i think it's time i picked up Asimov's Foundation series. the Robot Series ruled, except the last book (which wasn't bad, just didn't have the charm of the first 3).
 
i'm reading el vuelo de la reina, and i wish i could say how i felt about it but considering that i understand only the plot and not the style i don't think it would do it justice.

oh man, i need to read something in english, i read about quarter-speed in spanish and taking 3 mins per page for a 250+ page novel is killing me
 
stayed up reading Lovecraft by candlelight last night (power went out, some morAn still hasn't figured out the whole heater v. a/c configuration so they ALWAYS turn both on/off/on/off/on/off spastically and last night it threw a fuse apparently :Smug: ), i can really see the attraction of this dude now.

my quite vivid dream was about a 19 year old asian chick who was a total bitch to everyone but me (read: full of spunk) and now i wish i could find a real-life version. i hate those dream woman dreams.
 
Man, I love Amazon.com customer reviews!

These refer to the novel "Big Sur and The Oranges of Hieronymous Bosch" by Henry Miller:


Review 1:

saved my life = 5 stars
I first read this book exactly ten years ago when I was struggling through a profound period of depression. I don't want to say that the book cured me, because that would be too facile and too drastic a declaration, but I will say that Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch was the first real beacon, the first glimmer of light to lead me out of a suffocating psychological cave. I don't know why, exactly, but when I began reading the book, a deep sense of peace came over me for the first time in several months. The book seemed to open up my eyes and my ears and my throat and even my lungs; I found myself sucking in big sweet gulps of air, and I started to detect a freedom and a limitlessness in the world that I had previously failed to recognize. Of course, there is no way that I can promise that you will have the same reaction. Over the years I have passed the book along to various friends: Some of them have fallen in love with it and some of them have been utterly bored. That is understandable. The book has no plot; in fact, it doesn't really pretend to have any forward momentum. The narrative just floats. As other reviewers have noted (both enthusiastically and bitterly), Henry Miller delivers in this book a seemingly random swirl of philosophy, wit, character studies, soaring observations of topography and weather, literary and arty musings, puzzles, koans, epigrams, aphorisms, scripture, historical trivia, astrological forecasts, and jokes. It does not, upon first glance, have any point whatsoever. But that, friend, is the point. What Miller is laying out here (in a unique way, free of the usual hippie jargon) is a meditation on how to live a different life, a vibrant life, a life of the spirit, which is, by his definition, a narrative that refuses to conform to the usual numbing standards of conduct. So if you are looking for a "story," per se, keep driving until you get to Monterey. And if you are looking for some of Henry Miller's famously invigorating foulness and fury, pick up Tropic of Cancer instead. If you are looking for peace, stop here.
Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch is for any reader who is in the mood for a beguiling rumination on how a man once tried to bring peace into his life. The story, as such, is this: Henry Miller moves to Big Sur, one of the most beautiful places on the planet, and sets out to create a new home infused with energy, creativity, a sense of community, and an appreciation of nature, while at the same time he copes with intrusions and financial pressures and the charisma and creepiness of other people. That's it. If that sounds dull to you, steer clear. If it sounds seductive to you, plunge in. Because if these are issues that gnaw at your soul (and maybe they should, since our media-saturated culture is becoming more programmed and conformist every day), then you might find this book to be a page-turner as gripping as any of John Grisham's potboilers. I could not put it down. I read it straight through, and afterwards, I felt like every step I took was charged up with a new vitality. Crazy, huh? The way I see it, Henry Miller's big lascivious grin was one of the bravest acts of American rebellion, because it came roaring out of his heart, and the heart is where all true liberation takes place. That's the appeal of this book, for anybody who cares to explore it. In my case, this book said to a depressed man: There is another way to live. Choose it.



Review 2:
ramblings of an old man = 1 star
"big sur and the oranges of Heronymos bosch" is just the ramblings of an old henry Miller trying to remember different things that have happened to him. A complete waste of time.




:lol: :lol: :lol:
 
never heard of "collapse"
"guns germs and steel" rules but "the third chimpanzee" is even better.
 
Started V. today. Wow. Those of you who haven't read Pynchon don't know what you're missing.
 
finished Pale Fire. cool shitz, although i know i missed a lot of references since i'm not a total litfag (yet). will probably read more Nabokov.
 
But the castle has cool passageways and shit. And you know some hottie Russian chick lives in that bedroom now.