Since last we met for this I finished Hollywood by Charles Bukowski. I've read almost all of his prose and this one was near the bottom but still not bad.
Then I read Mother Night by Vonnegut which was good but not very Vonnegut-y if that makes sense. No sci-fi I guess.
I read The Sun Also Rises which I didn’t care much for even though I really like A Farewell to Arms.
I read The Princess Bride which probably makes me the only person my age since 1987 to read the book before seeing the movie. Movie was OK. Book made me tear up.
Now I'm reading A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan which is really good but has like zero focus.
I'd like to get a recommendation. Next, should I read White Noise by Don Delilo or something by Tom Robbins. I have Still Life with Woodpecker and Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates.
And what say you hubski? Whatcha been reading?
Months and months ago, kleinbl00 recommended I read "Earth Abides" by George R. Stewart. It is post-apocalyptic sci-fi like you have never seen before. Written in 1949, it doesn't dwell on how most of the population of the world dies, but on what happens after. It is quiet, and practical, and odd, and after reading it, kb and I sent probably 20 emails back and forth discussing it in depth. It has a twist ending that seems like a twist at the time, but now - months later - makes me think it wasn't a twist at all. This book has made me examine my life, and the way I live in the world. I've read 4 or 5 books since then, but this is the one that stays. I'd love to have more conversations with Hubskiers about it...
This book is amazing. This and Lucifer's Hammer cemented my love of stories about the end of civilization. Earth Abides is a must read.
Bitch you'd love it. The best part about Earth Abides is it's an accidental book. George R Stewart was commissioned by The Atlantic to describe what would happen to the world if all the people went away - sort of a World Without Us circa 1948. In order to make it not a long boring essay, he interspersed his dry analyses with the subjective experience of "The Last American" exploring this new world. Halfway through writing it he determined that his interludes were more interesting and, since it didn't fit his contract, he regretfully declined the assignment. He's a fascinating dude.His 1941 novel Storm, featuring as its protagonist a Pacific storm called "Maria," prompted the National Weather Service to use personal names to designate storms and inspired Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe to write the song "They Call the Wind Maria" for their 1951 musical Paint Your Wagon.
Look at that shit. Look at it. See those fuckers? They average about a thousand pages each. I'm doing them as audiobooks as I ride, which means they average about 50 hours. Each. I was stoked to make it through the Renaissance, 'cuz it was 60 hours. Then I discovered that "The Reformation" was actually "The Renaissance everywhere that isn't Italy" which means I'm over 100 hours/1500 pages into "the Renaissance" and I'm not quite 2/3rds through. I believe I'd be through the Harry Potter series twice through. I know that all the Game of Thrones books so far are less than the first four books. And I mean, I've read two Bill McKibben books, Paul Roberts' The End of Oil, Solaris for the 3rd time and a half dozen other books since starting these monsters but they are a constant presence in my life. They are the tallest matterhorn I have ever climbed. And they're full of pithy little insights but I'm here to tell you - 6000 pages into the history of civilization and what you learn is that civilization is anything but. GRRM's Game of Thrones is, according to the Author, his version of the 100 Years War. Which is pretty much Book 5 of this series, and it's clear that Game of Thrones is this book. I mean, he even stole some of the titles. "A Feast for Crows" and "A Storm of Swords" are phrases coined by Durant. Here's another: "From barbarism to civilization requires a century; from civilization to barbarism needs but a day."
Honestly, how do you even remember a tenth of what you've read? The closest thing to your Everest I've read is Destiny Disrupted, coming it at a comparatively measly 18 hours. Most history books have an above average amount of names, places and events, such that even with DD I don't think I remember most of it. Let alone with something that's thirty times the length, while driving a bike, through Los Awfulnes, listening at 1,5x.
There's this style of history pedagogy whereby rather than go through it chronologically, you go through the culture chronologically then the art chronologically then the religion chronologically etc etc etc so you end up hearing the same names over and over again. I bitched about it here but it makes a lot of sense when you're blowing through a thousand pages covering 100 years. I'm listening at 1.8x.
So many books. I'm reading the Dune Chronicles again. I broke down and bought the Folio Society edition of the first book, and it is amazing. Definitely worth collecting, and will likely outlive me (it's very well made). Sometimes, though, I despair at reading these books, because I don't feel like I'll ever be able to create anything like it. Every time I think one is my favorite, I get into the next and am blown away all over again. (Currently on Dune Messiah, the second.) I've begun One Hundred Years of Solitude as well. I'm reading it in Spanish, and can say that the prose is incredible; you can tell this is a master at work. I hope there are some translations out there that do it justice. It's just the rhythm, the way he can create these brutally short sentences where that full stop at the end feels like a fist. Amazing book. Greek continues as well, and I've much more to write about there that I'll save for a ramblings post. I will say that I've learned some interesting things about the Bible, since I'd read very little of it before. I haven't actually sat down to read it yet or anything, but I'm seeing blurbs in the book that make me go "huh" a little. I can see why so few people want to follow what Christ says--it would be really hard. I will also say that I understand when physicists and mathematicians talks about a formula's "elegance." That's what a well-written Greek sentence feels like to me. My wife and I celebrated our anniversary yesterday (actual day was Sunday), and included in that celebration was a trip to the bookstore where I spent far too much money. I bought (but haven't started): The Peripheral by William Gibson. Supposed to be a return to his cyberpunk roots, and very good. Lightless by C.A. Higgins. Sci-fi (naturally) where the main character is mentally linked to the ship on which she's flying. From the description though it still involves more internal threats rather than being a rehash of The Ship Who Sang. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Humanity is forced to colonize another world, that seems tailor-made for us, perhaps too much so. Los Señores del Narco (The Lords of Narco) by Anabel Hernandez. The author is an experienced Mexican journalist, and she gives a chronicle of the Mexican Drug War going back to 1970, running up through the (re)capture of El Chapo. Goes into government complicity (and attempts to fix the problem), how the cartels operated and were structured, the works. She was apparently able to get her hands on an interview between El Chapo and agents of the DEA, which forms the last chapter of the revised edition. I'm excited about this one; I've always been fascinated by underground economies.
Still Life With Woodpecker was the book that brought me into puberty, and pretty much defined my sexual life for many years. Tom Robbins is amazing, and I think Still Life is his finest work. It also is completely and unabashedly a Seattle book. Lots of insider stuff. So fun!
I finished Musk, Hashish and Blood by Hector France. He was a colonial soldier in French Algeria and his stories are absolutely crazy. I like the perspective, because there's so much that's different, so much that isn't. He has Bedouin friends, but looks down on (In a racist way) the various other tribes. There's a strange hierarchy wherein a 'Mohammedan' can be both the epitome of culture and progressive thinking or a completely unknowable savage, depending on context. I should probably re-read it, there's a metric ton of footnotes that I mostly ignored the first time through.
Before you do, I recommend Edward Said's Orientalism. He'll break down that strange heirarchy for you in a way that you probably won't be able to shake every time you read anything touching on muslims and the Middle East. It's basically an academic version of your black friend pointing out what a racist cracker you are without you even knowing it.
Glad you like it. Truth be told, I'm using similar text-based browser quite often. It's called ELinks that offers some extra functionality. If I'm on a slow connection (some websites will make you download 2MB in media and pictures along with a 15 KB worth of text that I'm after) or some website's design pisses me off (I'm colour-blind and prone to eye strain), ELinks is my browser of choice. Try it out sometimes yourself if any of that feels remotely reletable. :D
I feel obligated to unsubtly pitch #scificlub. Mostly short stories and such, not always good, but oh boy does the material have a pretty broad range. I'm curious what Vonnegut you would recommend. I've hardly read any and I've been meaning to get into him.
Personally I'd recommend Cat's Cradle. Reddit seems to swear by Sirens of Titan and Slaughter House Five is supposed to be his opus but I like the satire of religion in Cat's Cradle. Sirens of Titan seemed too pulpy to me, it's an early work and lacks a lot of his more biting satire of society and human nature. Slaughterhouse Five is a WWII book that could probably stand on its own without the sci-fi. Cat's Cradle the sci-fi is essential and he basically makes fun of religion and human nature in general for 300 pages so I think it's got the right balance of what he does. Here's a short story of his just for fun in case you haven't read it. "Harrison Bergeron"
I was in a bit of reading slump at the beginning of the year and for some reason decided that Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace would be a good way to start things up again. The majority of my reading is done in the once a day 20-30 minute bus commute to work (I get a lift home). Needless to say, it took me a long time to finish. It was excellent though. I was especially drawn in by the feeling that it was this entire world I was looking over, on a level above the narrative itself. My favourite character was Don Gately. Since finishing that I've zipped through Flatland by Edwin Abbott, which I got after a recommendation from a book thread I have pinned from a while back. A nice, quick and funny read. It's one of those reads that makes you smile and do those little nose exhalation laughs with the way it describes things and makes you view them in a new way. Now I'm on to Orlando by Virginia Woolfe and enjoying it thoroughly. In some ways it reminds of Herman Hesse's writing. Most probably because often his stories follow a troubled person trying to find purpose and reason too. Not to mention that, like Orlando, Hesse's magnum opus The Glass Bead Game is written in the style of a biography.
I loved it, but only got about a quarter of the way through because I'm a hopeless dilettante :( OP has inspired me to order it on audiobook, though. I drive about 6 hours a week, and just got an Audible subscription that I was initially sceptical about but has proved invaluable.
That probably wasn't a bad estimation on your part. It took me about 6-8 months to read it at pace that probably averages around 1 hour a week. And I took a break to read The Unbearable Lightness of Being during that time too. Now I come to think of it, I have about 1/4 left to read of that.
As I've said before in these pages, go get also worth your time.Mother Night by Vonnegut
I found this very interesting. Why did he suicide at the end? Did he have anything more to live for? You are, indeed, what you pretend to be. I even assigned it to a class once to read -- but that was long ago and possibly on a planet far far away.
I've been reading "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury. I read half of it a few years ago and couldn't get through it because of how wordy Bradbury is. But I started it again and this time I like it. Not sure why I didn't before. (I was going to add a passage showing his very wordy descriptions but now I can't find the book. I'll update later I guess)
I'm reading The World Beyond Your Head, a treatise on attention. Here are some choice quotes from the first 50 pages. The first one sort of stands alone: This second page deals with the conversation that a person with mastery of a subject--in this instance, a firefighter's mastery of structural fires--might have with others with similar or greater mastery. I think we have an intuition to listen to those smarter than us, even if that person threatens our unfounded confidence. kleinbl00, what do you think? This might just be obvious to the point of mundanity, but kind of cool to me.
Last night I finished "Purity" by Jonathan Franzen, and now I'm having withdrawal symptoms. It's probably not the Great American Novel that he perhaps intended it to be - i think it's too embedded in our time for it to be relevant beyond one generation - but I loved it. I found a character who reminded my (disturbingly) of myself, another that perhaps made me understand my mother, and some fun visits to a Bolivian jungle and Stasi East Germany.
I've been reading The Song Machine by John Seabrook, which reads like a behind-the-scenes look at how 90s and 00s pop stars and songs were made. A fun listen, especially when the smooth voice of John Seabrook imitates Britney Spears songs. I also started reading The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life. Judging by the title it sounds like yet another self-help book. However, this is one of the most popular Harvard courses turned into a book so it should be better than that. So far, I like its focus on pragmatism and on real-world issues.
Slowly but surely slogging my way through As I Lay Dying. Just can't really get into it...the writing is fantastic, but...
With the exception of a few floppies I've picked up out of curiosity, I haven't read much of anything since the last book thread. I tried reading The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell but I didn't like the direction it was going, so I decided to put it down and I don't think I'll pick it back up. My Bret Harte books are still left untouch this summer, which is a crime that I think I'm gonna fix a bit tomorrow. I just gotta find my dictionary first.
I loved The Sparrow, but I will say that book is one of the biggest emotional kicks in the teeth you're likely to come across in book form.