Reading List Thread
- Thread starter hyena
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wonderful, that one.
my first and so far only murakami, though, which i'll have to do something about pretty soon. any suggestions?
marduk1507
Member
wonderful, that one.
my first and so far only murakami, though, which i'll have to do something about pretty soon. any suggestions?
Besides Kafka... Ive only read Norwegian Wood, which is excellent. However, two more books from Murakami should arrive soon, so Ill be able to suggest more.
ah, perfect. i already have that one plus the elephant vanishes and hard-boiled wonderland... in my bookshelf waiting, so i hoped you'd mention one of them. norwegian wood next it is, then.
anyone here can give me opinions on houllebecq? every time i hear his name i think of gwen stefani, but really, that's besides the point.
marduk1507
Member
Well, not me. But I am definitely planning to check him out. Plus Marrie Darrieussecq (yes, because she also has a funny name).
Wolfman Von Jones
The trouble with you
If you're in the mood for a 'normal guy against a world of evil' type book, I strongly suggest F. Paul Wilson's Repair Man Jack series.
Nick
Nick
i recently read khaled hosseini's the kite runner and a. m. homes' this book will save your life. both are, in different ways, morality tales. i enjoyed homes more than hosseini, if only because of how she managed to take a world that was substantially created by bret ellis and infuse it with compassion without becoming sentimental in the slightest. her protagonist is a guy who is out of touch with the world and gradually blends back in by way of small acts of goodness, yet remains kind of detached in a cool way.
the main character in hosseini's book, on the other hand, is the most infamous coward i've ever read in a book not written by hanif kureishi, and manages to atone for his dreadful inaction more or less after 30 years. while there is realism to his suffering and to the description of class and race issues in a rigid, traditionalist country, and what he does in the end is actually good, it's not inspiring at all, and occasionally borders on mushy sloppiness.
i also picked up ian mcewan's atonement, but i haven't read it yet. will report back when i'm done, which is not going to be immediate because i also bought a couple of entertainment novels - most notably john le carré's latest - and will spend a bit of time reading those.
by the way, i don't know if i ever recommended him in this thread, but: if you never read any book by william sutcliffe, you need to rectify that right now. he's a surprisingly versatile british author, who did a splendid job on themes of youth violence with bad influence, cracked me up with gap-year satire are you experienced?, and entertained me gently with the romantic silliness of the love hexagon. I still have to get his first novel the new boy, and unfortunately he didn't publish anything new since 2004, but i really hope he's going to write something soon.
oh, also, there's a new douglas coupland novel in the stores. i'm not sure i want it, especially because i don't like traveling with hardback books, but i might give it a try.
the main character in hosseini's book, on the other hand, is the most infamous coward i've ever read in a book not written by hanif kureishi, and manages to atone for his dreadful inaction more or less after 30 years. while there is realism to his suffering and to the description of class and race issues in a rigid, traditionalist country, and what he does in the end is actually good, it's not inspiring at all, and occasionally borders on mushy sloppiness.
i also picked up ian mcewan's atonement, but i haven't read it yet. will report back when i'm done, which is not going to be immediate because i also bought a couple of entertainment novels - most notably john le carré's latest - and will spend a bit of time reading those.
by the way, i don't know if i ever recommended him in this thread, but: if you never read any book by william sutcliffe, you need to rectify that right now. he's a surprisingly versatile british author, who did a splendid job on themes of youth violence with bad influence, cracked me up with gap-year satire are you experienced?, and entertained me gently with the romantic silliness of the love hexagon. I still have to get his first novel the new boy, and unfortunately he didn't publish anything new since 2004, but i really hope he's going to write something soon.
oh, also, there's a new douglas coupland novel in the stores. i'm not sure i want it, especially because i don't like traveling with hardback books, but i might give it a try.
DisplayofCharacter
Are You Scared Enough?
I have an honest inquiry, based on contemporary literature. What's the trend in popular fiction? I honestly don't know, and I don't know where to look (besides best-seller lists, but they don't really apply - the newest pop record might sell a few million copies but the music therein may be of trashy quality). I am a huge fan of the English language (its my major) and as such I consider myself relatively informed with the classics. I also enjoy contemporary pulp-fiction e.g. Stephen King, Michael Crichton, Tom Clancy, the Harry Potter series etc. etc. But what is that really? I mean, I love those types of books for the entertainment value and because I love to read, not because they are exceptionally worded.
I'm asking where the best contemporary writing is from a quality of verbal texture, not necessarily subject matter. As such, fiction or non-fiction, genres, subject matter, etc. doesn't matter, so long as the book was originally written in English (or translated exceptionally well). I also want to add that my favorite fiction writer, linguistically speaking, is Vladimir Nabokov. If that makes a difference.
I'm asking where the best contemporary writing is from a quality of verbal texture, not necessarily subject matter. As such, fiction or non-fiction, genres, subject matter, etc. doesn't matter, so long as the book was originally written in English (or translated exceptionally well). I also want to add that my favorite fiction writer, linguistically speaking, is Vladimir Nabokov. If that makes a difference
.@DoC: try the aforementioned ian mcewan, or nobel prize j. m. coetzee; you might also have a fair chance with john irving, but it depends on the book. one of my favorite contemporary authors is also lionel shriver, but in her case i guess the attraction lies in subject matter rather than style itself. for a creative use of language and borderline topics, try irvine welsh and stewart home. also the guy who wrote 'cocaine nights', whose name escapes me now. and yes, even kureishi, although i entirely hate him. reckon he can write
edit: come to think of it, i can perfectly see mcewan writing something in the vein of nabokov's fevered venus (now that passage was entirely unforgettable), eventhough probably it would be a bit more detached, less passionate.
edit: come to think of it, i can perfectly see mcewan writing something in the vein of nabokov's fevered venus (now that passage was entirely unforgettable), eventhough probably it would be a bit more detached, less passionate.
DisplayofCharacter
Are You Scared Enough?
@hyena: Honestly, thank you (especially because that's the best answer I've gotten since I started asking those I know). I'll be doing some research and I'll hit my college's library this weekend when I have time. I've heard of John Irving, but the rest I'm unfamiliar with (even the Pulitzer winner, tsk tsk) so it will be fun to check it out. I'm in a mood where I'm reading absolutely everything I can get my hands on, so the more, the better. Its appreciated.
marduk1507
Member
@hyena: why do you hate Kureishi?
@DoC: hyenas tips are great, you could also try Graham Swift (anything, but Waterland and Last Orders stand out more), Julian Barnes (especially Flauberts Parrot) and Chuck Palahniuk (anything).
@DoC: hyenas tips are great, you could also try Graham Swift (anything, but Waterland and Last Orders stand out more), Julian Barnes (especially Flauberts Parrot) and Chuck Palahniuk (anything).
@marduk: well, it's more of a love-hate relationship, in the sense that every time i pick up one of his books i end up having a compulsion to finish it, yet i didn't like any of them. he revels in the obnoxious weakness of his characters, for a start. take the black album: his protagonist ditches the islamist fanatics for an ambiguous, going-nowhere relationship with an oldish hippie. at the end of the book, the precariousness of the situation is celebrated as if it were a great conquest of civilization: we're tolds that adults living day by day and deliberately shunning long-term plans are teh cool, and it is implied that this mental attitude is the one response to religious extremism. now, if you ask me, that's all screwed up. a writer doesn't necessary need to focus on morality tales, and i like nihilist authors as much as the next person, but kureishi's conclusion is just stupid. in the end, i almost wished the two happy-go-lucky lovebirds were bombed by the islamists, and you all know i don't like islamists. to take another example, intimacy is even worse: you get to take a deep look into the head of this idiot who makes detailed plans to leave his wife and children without ever letting them know he's planning to do a runner, and the whole book is construed so as to glorify the main character as an oversensitive, deep victim of his own self, entirely forgetting the plight of his abandoned family. i kind of cannot stand that. and i could go on, it's just his style, i think he's a poster boy for a certain kind of secularist superficiality, and i'm also suspicious - there's a whole host of good writers with a muslim background who talk about living in europe or america and trying to make the most of the two cultures, with the obvious elements of conflict, and in kureishi we have someone who finds that what there is to embrace in western culture is the absolute worst we ever produced. i'm not saying that it's conscious sabotage, but it certainly is a disaster.
marduk1507
Member
Yeah, I hear you on that. I havent read The Black Album, but I remember having quite mixed feelings about the motivations and the whole portrayal of the main character from Intimacy (My Beautiful Launderette was also a bit disturbing). I keep having these difficulties with Graham Swift, whose main characters are all the slowish, quiet yet knowing, always open to carry the burden of life types. His style is excellent, but I remember, when reading The Sweet Shop Owner, wanting to kick the guys ass to wake him up from his fucking limbo.
RampageSword
AWARE! BEWARE! WAR!
Right now I'm going through "Le nez qui voque" from Réjean Ducharme. He is probably unknown to most of you but, if you read French and can enjoy good plays on words, neology and originality, he would be the man to read.
Next on my list is Melville's Moby Dick
Next on my list is Melville's Moby Dick
Somber Soul
Member
- Oct 12, 2001
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I enjoy authors who are truly gifted with words and their many layers, and who thereby create witty prose (or poetry). One modern author who comes to mind is David Lodge. I read his "Changing Places" and "Small World", and they are just amazing in almost every respect (narrative structure, expression, word plays etc.). I recommend these books to anyone who has a connection to or an interest in university life (i.e. the life of the teachers). Such witty prose.
Unfortunately, the only two languages I can truly appreciate literature and the author's own idiom in are English and German. The rest has to be consumed via translation.
Enjoy your Moby Dick!
"And he piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the rage and hate felt by his own race. If his chest had been a cannon, he would have shot his heart upon it."
Somehow these words have stuck with me. Probably because they come across so powerfully.
@somber soul: hehe, my dad was a Lodge fan, I need to go back to his books. if you like that type of thing, i also suggest you read David Forrest, who is actually two guys I recommend above anything else The great dinosaur robbery, which is one of the silliest books ever written and right up my street where humor is concerned. Hilarious, really.
I recommend above anything else The great dinosaur robbery, which is one of the silliest books ever written and right up my street where humor is concerned. Hilarious, really.
Somber Soul
Member
- Oct 12, 2001
- 972
- 4
- 18
@somber soul: hehe, my dad was a Lodge fan, I need to go back to his books. if you like that type of thing, i also suggest you read David Forrest, who is actually two guys
Now you make me feel old! But your dad knew good books.
I haven't heard of the ones you mention. Good thing we have amazon.com.@somber soul: well, i wasn't even born when forrest wrote his books, i am by no means that old.
just out of curiosity, do you have a university job?
just out of curiosity, do you have a university job?
