~Neurotica
perfectly insane
- Mar 27, 2006
- 7,913
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The Books/Reading Thread
- Thread starter Matt
- Start date
clschniffer
New Metal Member
It's one of the retarded movies I've ever seen. That and Pink Flamingos. But this is about books, not the typical and yet obliged metalheads' addiction to all-kind-of-gore art.
Cronopio
Glorious Imperator
rms
Active Member
It's one of the retarded movies I've ever seen. That and Pink Flamingos. But this is about books, not the typical and yet obliged metalheads' addiction to all-kind-of-gore art.
Naked Lunch? How is it retarded?
Einherjar86
Active Member
I'd pay him no mind, he's rather trollish. Rather than contribute thoughtfully to the thread, he's more interested in mocking other people's contributions.
clschniffer
New Metal Member
clschniffer
New Metal Member
~Neurotica
perfectly insane
- Mar 27, 2006
- 7,913
- 236
- 63
rms
Active Member
Reading the second part, I think (the second part of the second part, i.e. 'Shift') of the Wool trilogy/series. Glad I missed the sticker on the first book declaring it 'THE NEXT HUNGER GAMES' when I picked it up at the station. Decent stuff so far.
Also reading A Line in the Sand by James Baar, Catastrophe by Max Hastings and Iraq: From War to A New Authoritarianism by some dude.
And trying to read the Koran in Arabic.
Also reading A Line in the Sand by James Baar, Catastrophe by Max Hastings and Iraq: From War to A New Authoritarianism by some dude.
And trying to read the Koran in Arabic.
Master_Yoda77
Juggalo
I love this man's poetry. Fucking magnificent sonnet work in Astrophil and Stella, but this is SLOOOOOOOOOOW so far.
Funerary_Doom
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Any Kurt Vonnegut readers? Just grabbed a few books by him I have yet to read ( "Cats Cradle" and "Mother Night"). He's definitely among my favorite writers. Anyone know any other great postmodernist authors please send my way.
monoxide_child
New Metal Member
- Jul 30, 2008
- 6,210
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Einherjar86
Active Member
I'm really happy this thread is getting so much love.
Somebody recommended those books to me. Don't know when I'd ever get to them, but I'm intrigued.
Tables turned, my friend; I'm glad I'm not you, and I don't know how you can get through that stuff.
Vonnegut's great. I've read Breakfast of Champions, Slaughterhouse Five, Sirens of Titan, Galapagos, and Cat's Cradle. Went through a bit of a kick in high school.
As far as postmodernist authors go, that's my favorite "period" (postmodernism isn't really a period in my opinion, but it's the only way we can talk about it). Some of my favorites are:
Cormac McCarthy (it's really unfair to call him postmodernist; he's a modernist through and through)
Don DeLillo
Richard Powers
Thomas Pynchon
Kathy Acker (super weird shit)
David Foster Wallace
Margaret Atwood
Paul Auster
Also, for really good "postmodern" science fiction, Samuel Delany and William Gibson are must-reads.
Somebody recommended those books to me. Don't know when I'd ever get to them, but I'm intrigued.
I love this man's poetry. Fucking magnificent sonnet work in Astrophil and Stella, but this is SLOOOOOOOOOOW so far.
Tables turned, my friend; I'm glad I'm not you, and I don't know how you can get through that stuff.
Vonnegut's great. I've read Breakfast of Champions, Slaughterhouse Five, Sirens of Titan, Galapagos, and Cat's Cradle. Went through a bit of a kick in high school.
As far as postmodernist authors go, that's my favorite "period" (postmodernism isn't really a period in my opinion, but it's the only way we can talk about it). Some of my favorites are:
Cormac McCarthy (it's really unfair to call him postmodernist; he's a modernist through and through)
Don DeLillo
Richard Powers
Thomas Pynchon
Kathy Acker (super weird shit)
David Foster Wallace
Margaret Atwood
Paul Auster
Also, for really good "postmodern" science fiction, Samuel Delany and William Gibson are must-reads.
unknown
fuck ftagn
Funerary_Doom
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Thanks guys for all the reccommendations! I'll have to make another trip to the bookstore very soon. I've read one Cormac McCarthy book, Blood Meridian, and enjoyed that very much so will have to look further into his other works. And if it's cool to ask, why is postmodernism not really a period in your opinion? Just curious, ha, but thanks for the recommendations. Have you read any Pynchon novels by any chance?
I have not read Douglas Addams or Jasper Ffrorde, so will definitely keep a look out for all those. Thanks!
I have not read Douglas Addams or Jasper Ffrorde, so will definitely keep a look out for all those. Thanks!
Einherjar86
Active Member
Blood Meridian is possibly my favorite 20th-century American novel.
When I say that postmodernism isn't really a "period," all I mean is that it was basically created out of necessity. The history of literary analysis caught up with itself, and we called the early twentieth century "modernism"; then, when critics realized that authors of the 1970s and '80s were doing something different, we needed something else to call it; since it was so close to us, all we could really think of was to say: "Well, it's not modernism; it must be postmodernism."
In my opinion, I don't think postmodernism describes a period but rather a specific shift in aesthetic principles and in values with which we approach literature. We can find moments of this aesthetic shift as early as the eighteenth century in Lawrence Sterne's Tristram Shandy. Since the '80s, we've seen the emergence of writers that seem to revert back to the original modernist principles, albeit with new subtle differences; and we have no good label for these writers.
So, long story short, postmodernism has always seemed (to me) more like a quick fix to a conceptual problem than a legitimate historical development.
EDIT: just saw the question on Pynchon. The only thing I've read is Mason & Dixon, and it was incredibly difficult (the style and language of the novel are very particular and dense). The Crying of Lot 49 is known to be an easier work by Pynchon, far more accessible, and yet considered to be an important literary milestone. So that might be a good place to start. I still haven't read it, but it's on my shortlist.
When I say that postmodernism isn't really a "period," all I mean is that it was basically created out of necessity. The history of literary analysis caught up with itself, and we called the early twentieth century "modernism"; then, when critics realized that authors of the 1970s and '80s were doing something different, we needed something else to call it; since it was so close to us, all we could really think of was to say: "Well, it's not modernism; it must be postmodernism."
In my opinion, I don't think postmodernism describes a period but rather a specific shift in aesthetic principles and in values with which we approach literature. We can find moments of this aesthetic shift as early as the eighteenth century in Lawrence Sterne's Tristram Shandy. Since the '80s, we've seen the emergence of writers that seem to revert back to the original modernist principles, albeit with new subtle differences; and we have no good label for these writers.
So, long story short, postmodernism has always seemed (to me) more like a quick fix to a conceptual problem than a legitimate historical development.
EDIT: just saw the question on Pynchon. The only thing I've read is Mason & Dixon, and it was incredibly difficult (the style and language of the novel are very particular and dense). The Crying of Lot 49 is known to be an easier work by Pynchon, far more accessible, and yet considered to be an important literary milestone. So that might be a good place to start. I still haven't read it, but it's on my shortlist.
Hermann Hesse may appeal to you as well, depending on what you enjoyed about Cormac McCarthy.
Master_Yoda77
Juggalo
I'm really happy this thread is getting so much love.
Somebody recommended those books to me. Don't know when I'd ever get to them, but I'm intrigued.
Tables turned, my friend; I'm glad I'm not you, and I don't know how you can get through that stuff.
Vonnegut's great. I've read Breakfast of Champions, Slaughterhouse Five, Sirens of Titan, Galapagos, and Cat's Cradle. Went through a bit of a kick in high school.
As far as postmodernist authors go, that's my favorite "period" (postmodernism isn't really a period in my opinion, but it's the only way we can talk about it). Some of my favorites are:
Cormac McCarthy (it's really unfair to call him postmodernist; he's a modernist through and through)
Don DeLillo
Richard Powers
Thomas Pynchon
Kathy Acker (super weird shit)
David Foster Wallace
Margaret Atwood
Paul Auster
Also, for really good "postmodern" science fiction, Samuel Delany and William Gibson are must-reads.
I'd rather sit down with Philip Sidney than read most of that "modernism" and POMO stuff. I get shivers just thinking about reading "As I Lay Dying" again.
