The Books/Reading Thread
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Dak
mentat
The Ozzman
Melted by feels
Current reading.
This seems interesting and I would probably read this after everything else on my bookshelf I need to read
Doing some more readings for an upcoming interview after receiving a positive reply from a potential adviser.
Finished the introduction of this. Provocative and intriguing. I'm looking forward to flipping through the rest.
Will be reading through this next. Looks very promising.
Both of these seem up my alley given my collegiate background (Finance) but I imagine the bottom would put me to sleep lol. I still have some finance books I bought years ago that I have yet to read since my interests are on other things at the moment. I should probably move them up on my list.
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
no country for old wainds
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enjoyed murakami's HARD BOILED WONDERLAND... a lot more than i expected to (i feared one of those postmodern ironic spot-the-reference things, but this actually seemed classical and sincere in the ways i care about). begins as a very readable pastiche of chandler, kafka, gibson and some other stuff, but with a bittersweet existential throughline that really sneaked up on me over the last quarter.
Einherjar86
Active Member
Man, Murakami is someone I really should like, but I haven't been able to get into. I tried Kafka on the Shore and it didn't take, then tried 1Q84 and it really didn't take.
no country for old wainds
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this is my first murakami so i can't really comment, but if you could explain why you didn't like them i could say whether the same qualities apply to this one. i might check out one of those soon anyway and find out for myself, though.
TageRyche
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TageRyche
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TageRyche
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It's interesting but pretty dry. I usually do my reading at night when I'm already tired and I've been reading a few pages and falling asleep.
Einherjar86
Active Member
Just realized I missed this.
I'd have to go back and look at those books again, it was so long ago. Both failed to hold my interest, although Kafka was a bit more pleasantly written. It just felt somewhat meandering. 1Q84 was rather clunky--one of those cases where a writer thinks to themselves "I'm going to write a mammoth book!" but doesn't have the endurance for it. Some of this could be the result of translation, I'm not exactly sure how hands-on Murakami is (if at all).
You're also right when you describe his work as existential, which is something I'm not fond of in most writing. I find it too personalized in a psychological way (the fragile ego, the authentic self, etc.). Language is already alienating, so I'm somewhat suspicious of literature that tries to overcome that quality by searching for something like sincerity, confession, or honesty.
no country for old wainds
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hard boiled was 200+ pages shorter than kafka and 500+ shorter than 1Q84, so it probably has greater economy in its favour for what that's worth.
it's also very couched in genre and stylisation (it's basically alternately riffing on kafka and chandler in its writing style), and the existential resonance kinda gradually crept up through the cracks of that style rather than being delivered directly, for me anyway. i'm not sure i fully appreciate what you mean though re: language being alienating.
it's also very couched in genre and stylisation (it's basically alternately riffing on kafka and chandler in its writing style), and the existential resonance kinda gradually crept up through the cracks of that style rather than being delivered directly, for me anyway. i'm not sure i fully appreciate what you mean though re: language being alienating.
Einherjar86
Active Member
Cool, thanks. Maybe I'll give it a try at some point.
I meant that language calcifies lived experience, e.g. the word "love" isn't love, etc. etc. Sure it connects us, but it also acts a screen between us. I tend to be interested in writers who explore the dynamics of that screen. Writers invested in authenticity/sincerity and related principles tend to downplay language's alienating potential.
I meant that language calcifies lived experience, e.g. the word "love" isn't love, etc. etc. Sure it connects us, but it also acts a screen between us. I tend to be interested in writers who explore the dynamics of that screen. Writers invested in authenticity/sincerity and related principles tend to downplay language's alienating potential.
Blurry_Dreams
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Sirjack
Stinkupuss
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.
Also just about to start reading these.
Blurry_Dreams
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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
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
Active Member
A book that has long haunted my bookshelf, taunting me. Now one hundred pages in, and I'm hooked.
