The Books/Reading Thread

[Einherjar86]

I haven't read nearly as much Ligotti as others here have, but he attended Wayne State and so I assume that the environs of Detroit feature significantly in some of his work.

Journals and other projects on specific authors typically find interest in connections between said author's geographical background and their literary work. For example, it's standard to see scholarship on the relation between James Joyce's Ulysses and the city of Dublin.

 

[EspaDa]

Look at my syllabus, guys. Some really nice reads I'll have to make myself acquainted with in literally no time.

1. Puritan beginnings. Histories and life-writing: William Bradford, Of Plymouth
Plantation—Book I, Chapter IX. "Of Their Voyage and How They Passed the Sea
(...)" 21.02
2. Poetry: Anne Bradstreet, “The Author to Her Book,” “To My Dear and Loving
Husband” 21.02
3. Dark Romanticism, Gothicism. Edgar Allan Poe: poetry— “The Raven”; short story –
“Fall of the House of Usher” 28.02
4. Romantic revisions of Puritanism. Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlett Letter 7.03
5. Herman Melville, “Bartleby, the Scrivener” 14.03
6. Transcendentalism: Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The American Scholar” 21.03
7. Transcendentalism: fragments from Henry David Thoreau, Walden [chapter I.
Economy] 28.03
8. Poetry of mid-nineteenth century. Walt Whitman “Song of Myself” (fragments) 04.04
9. Poetry of mid-nineteenth century: Emily Dickinson (Water is Taught [125],Hope is
the Thing with Feathers [254], There is a Certain Slant of Light [258], I’m Nobody
[288], The Soul Selects her own Society [303], After Great Pain [341], Much Madness
[435], The Heart asks Pleasure [536], One Need not be a Chamber [670], Because I
couldn’t Stop for Death [712], Title Divine [1072],Tell all the Truth [1129],
Apparently with no Surprise [1624]). 11.04
10. American Realism and Regionalism: Mark Twain Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
18.04
11. Psychological realism: Henry James, Daisy Miller. 25.04
12. The Jazz Age. Francis Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby 09.05
13. High Modernism. Portrait of the Lost Generation: Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also
Rises 16.05
14. Modernist experimentation and the writing of the South: William Faulkner, “Rose for
Emily” or/and “Barn Burning” 23.05
15. Postmodernism; black humor novel: Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five 30.05

 

[EternalMetal]

Ive read a few books since my last post in the thread.

Dune

Great read, can't wait to get my hands on the sequel to see how this develops. Im glad that I indulged in a hardcover edition because ill probably re-read this someday.

Ready Player One

I was skeptical going into this because it sounded like it would just be nostalgia porn for retro nerds bogged down by ostentatious references, but it ended up being a really enjoyable listen (decided to audiobook this one). The story was original enough and compelling in its own right, and had me dying for more of the same so I picked up Cline's other book.

Armada

This is where things got stale. Basically this was the book I expected RPO to be. References for the sake of references, stupid plot, bland characters, this book had none of the heart and soul of RPO. Do not recommend.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

This is one of the wackiest books ive ever read, and one of the most entertaining. Actually listened to, since when I was reading reviews I saw that the narrator did a fantastic job, and surely enough he did not disappoint. Plenty of laugh out loud moments, and the concept of becoming a disembodied AI computer with the ability to make copies of yourself was done really well.

 

[Talos of Atmora]

Ready Player One

I was skeptical going into this because it sounded like it would just be nostalgia porn for retro nerds bogged down by ostentatious references,

That's exactly what it was though.

 

[EternalMetal]

That's exactly what it was though.

Honestly I found Cline's grab at nostalgia to be a bit before my time (I was a 90s kid), and the adventure still took hold of my attention. It was fun, and not just because of some references to nerd/pop culture. If you take it too seriously you obviously wont enjoy it, but you have to just take it for granted that everyone in the book is essentially obsessed with 80s pop culture because they think it will make them rich (I mean, lol). The worldbuilding was good enough imo to dismiss the idea that the only reason why people liked this book was because of nostalgic references. It is kind of ironic that I feel I have to justify this comment on a forum that is practically a shrine for early era throwback metal.

Admittedly the book probably wouldnt have been so damn popular if it werent for all them references, so I guess you can hate it for that if you want. Or maybe you liked the references. Id be lying if I said I didnt, but for the sake of argument I dont think they were the main reason why I enjoyed the book so much.

 

[Einherjar86]

We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

This is one of the wackiest books ive ever read, and one of the most entertaining. Actually listened to, since when I was reading reviews I saw that the narrator did a fantastic job, and surely enough he did not disappoint. Plenty of laugh out loud moments, and the concept of becoming a disembodied AI computer with the ability to make copies of yourself was done really well.

A colleague just told me about this a couple days ago. Sounds like a trip!

 

[Dak]

Not a terrible overview of the progression of ideas since the classical Greeks.

 

[EspaDa]

 

[tagradh]

Not really expecting much here but if anyone can recommend some fucked up (graphically violent, sexual, whatever) books, that'd be great.

I tried Clive Barker recently and some of it was entertaining but it's way too comic like to be remotely disturbing. Read all the obvious stuff like Ellis. Read all the more 'literature' like stuff like de Sade and Bataille (who probably comes closest to what I'm looking for). Whenever I google this sorta thing I end up back with lists of obvious stuff, with Naked Lunch, etc. and... Eh.

I think I want an author that couples that brilliant descriptions and realness of McCarthy with Bataille's depravity.

 

[Einherjar86]

The first thing that comes to mind is American Psycho, but I'm guessing that falls too much along the comic or satirical lines.

Have you ever read anything by Kathy Acker? It might be too Burroughs-esque for you, but it's definitely disturbing. Her best-known book is Blood and Guts in High School, but I'd recommend Empire of the Senseless, which is a kind of obscene retelling of William Gibson's Neuromancer.

 

[The Ozzman]

I liked Ready Player One. Interested to see the film adaptation.

Anyone know of any books related to the situation in the Balkans or Bosnia/Kosovo?

 

[tagradh]

The first thing that comes to mind is American Psycho, but I'm guessing that falls too much along the comic or satirical lines.

Have you ever read anything by Kathy Acker? It might be too Burroughs-esque for you, but it's definitely disturbing. Her best-known book is Blood and Guts in High School, but I'd recommend Empire of the Senseless, which is a kind of obscene retelling of William Gibson's Neuromancer.

Read most of Ellis's stuff but will check out Acker.

 

[The Ozzman]

My book haul today. Stuff I read digitally and wanted a physical copy of and books I want to read. Haven't had a haul like this in a minute. Finally gave me an excuse to put up a second book case

 

[EspaDa]

Not really expecting much here but if anyone can recommend some fucked up (graphically violent, sexual, whatever) books, that'd be great.

I tried Clive Barker recently and some of it was entertaining but it's way too comic like to be remotely disturbing. Read all the obvious stuff like Ellis. Read all the more 'literature' like stuff like de Sade and Bataille (who probably comes closest to what I'm looking for). Whenever I google this sorta thing I end up back with lists of obvious stuff, with Naked Lunch, etc. and... Eh.

I think I want an author that couples that brilliant descriptions and realness of McCarthy with Bataille's depravity.

You can check out William Faulkner's Light in August, it was a great read. Love Faulkner.

 

[Einherjar86]

Trying to sink my teeth into the unwieldy territory that is observation...

Trying to get a hold of Paul Feyerabend's Problems of Empiricism too.

 

[Master_Yoda77]

I'm trying to get back into actively reading a little bit every day. I just cracked open my copy of the first book of the Wheel of Time since I'm burnt out on Malazan and Dune didn't do much for me after reading half of it. Doubt I'll finish the series or anything, but I figured the first few books were worth a shot.

 

[TageRyche]

My book haul today. Stuff I read digitally and wanted a physical copy of and books I want to read. Haven't had a haul like this in a minute. Finally gave me an excuse to put up a second book caseView attachment 14516

That Star Trek book is excellent.

 

[Einherjar86]

I'm trying to get back into actively reading a little bit every day. I just cracked open my copy of the first book of the Wheel of Time since I'm burnt out on Malazan and Dune didn't do much for me after reading half of it. Doubt I'll finish the series or anything, but I figured the first few books were worth a shot.

First one, at least. I will admit, the beginning of the first book feels quite classic.

I was really unimpressed with that series. Felt very juvenile compared to ASOIAF, Malazan, Second Apocalypse, etc.

 

[The Ozzman]

That Star Trek book is excellent.

My soon to be ex brother in law lent me that trilogy and I couldn't put it down. I'm trying to find the other two. They are on Amazon, but combing through a bookstore is more fun

First one, at least. I will admit, the beginning of the first book feels quite classic.

I was really unimpressed with that series. Felt very juvenile compared to ASOIAF, Malazan, Second Apocalypse, etc.

Last 200 pages of The Wheel of Time are bonkers. I bought the prequel and the second book but haven't cracked them open yet.

 

[Dak]

I was really unimpressed with that series. .

I'll second that sentiment, but more forcefully. I was actively dis-impressed with each book. The first book feels like the beginning of something epic, but instead is the beginning of a bunch of meandering meh. I have no idea how it all "ended" since I didn't buy the books published after his death.