The Books/Reading Thread

[Sirjack]

Hmm reading this. Not as great as l hoped so far but it might grow on me. Mort(e)



Also just about to start reading these.

 

[Blurry_Dreams]

just re-read stoner and spaz
i love the way the "loosing virginity scene" is done in a way that's a million times more realistic than any other fictional character loosing their virginity in any other fiction book

 

[Einherjar86]

A book that has long haunted my bookshelf, taunting me. Now one hundred pages in, and I'm hooked.

 

[dwellerINTHEdark]

Currently reading

 

[CiG]

Run out of Warhammer 40k books, so until I buy some more I'm doing some light reading.

 

[TageRyche]

You can check out my review of the new Michael Connelly novel Dark Sacred Night, which was printed in the new issue of Mystery Scene magazine, via this link.

 

[The Ozzman]

Finished this. I probably won't read another Hemingway work the rest of my life because I wasn't impressed with this one although the ending was pretty heavy

 

[Einherjar86]

Finished this. I probably won't read another Hemingway work the rest of my life because I wasn't impressed with this one although the ending was pretty heavy

I've never been a huge fan of Hemingway, although I completely understand the importance. For what it's worth, For Whom the Bell Tolls is probably more up your alley.

I'm still chugging through Bolaño's 2666, almost 350 pages in. Not a quick read, but still very good. Been enjoying this on the side:

 

[CiG]

Do you get much time to read for pleasure vs what you need to read for your profession?

 

[The Ozzman]

I completely understand the importance.

Why is this work so important though?

 

[Einherjar86]

Why is this work so important though?

This question deserves a complex answer that I'm not equipped to give (as I'm not a Hemingway scholar); but I can give a simpler answer that I give to students when I teach Hemingway in a survey course of modernist and/or American lit.

I usually say that Hemingway is notable and his work is important for two reasons: one is his lifestyle, which affected those around him and made him something of a tidal wave in his contemporary literary community (I'd also say that later writers like Burroughs, the Beats, Hunter S. Thompson, etc. modeled their lifestyles on Hemingway's).

The second (and more important) reason is his writing style, which has been hugely influential on later writers. Basically, it was a show-don't-tell approach; Hemingway believed that a story should be told as directly as possible and in as few words as possible. He shied away from the experimentalists of his day (the Joyces, Faulkners, Steins, Woolfs, etc.), even if he still respected them. His style has also had ripple effects throughout later generations. For instance, I don't think creative nonfiction (i.e. Capote, Thompson, Mailer, etc.) would look the way it does if it weren't for Hemingway; and I also credit his style with influencing major postwar writers like Updike, Roth, and Bellow, not to mention swathes of realist writers since WWII. Most mainstream fiction published today is indebted, to some degree, to Hemingway's style.

Do you get much time to read for pleasure vs what you need to read for your profession?

Yeah I do, especially now that I'm out of coursework and basically just doing research and teaching. Obviously research dictates what I read to an extent, but I also choose the projects I work on; so in a way I pick the books.

I've had more time lately since I finished my dissertation. Bolaño's 2666 is just taking me a while because it's almost 1000 pages long.

 

[The Ozzman]

The second (and more important) reason is his writing style, which has been hugely influential on later writers. Basically, it was a show-don't-tell approach; Hemingway believed that a story should be told as directly as possible and in as few words as possible.

This was evident in AFTA and probably what I liked most about the book.

 

[CiG]

Yeah I do, especially now that I'm out of coursework and basically just doing research and teaching. Obviously research dictates what I read to an extent, but I also choose the projects I work on; so in a way I pick the books.

I've had more time lately since I finished my dissertation. Bolaño's 2666 is just taking me a while because it's almost 1000 pages long.

1000 pages is pretty damn epic. Do you read fast generally speaking?

 

[Einherjar86]

No, I actually read pretty slowly. Not ideal when I was prepping for comprehensive exams, but ultimately it's not a huge deal; I just need to budget more time for reading. When it's reading for work, I usually write while I'm reading, which helps me remember certain passages/pages.

And it makes no difference when I'm reading for pleasure, as long as I'm enjoying the novel.

Speaking of reading while writing, I jotted down some thoughts on Bolaño's novel, even though I'm not finished yet (in case anyone's interested ): https://experimentalitymusings.blogspot.com/2018/12/no-one-pays-attention-to-these-killings.html

 

[dwellerINTHEdark]

Weird fucking book.

 

[CiG]

 

[dwellerINTHEdark]

My buddy lent me this a little while ago, really captivating and reads quickly too.

 

[The Ozzman]

Finished this late last night. New personal record for books finished in a calendar year with 8.

 

[EternalMetal]

I just got gifted the First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie for Christmas and was wondering if anyone here has read it? Im relatively easy to please when it comes to fantasy, especially since ive been soaking up the Wheel of Time for the past 6 months and am kind of glad that it dragged on as long as it did (at least now than im into the Sanderson books and shit is finally getting to the point).

 

[The Ozzman]

Wheel of Time

Just the first book? I still need to continue past the first book in the series.

Also: Started this based on Jocko Podcast recommendations: