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Current reading - Page 46

post #2251 of 4874
10/10/08 at 12:00pm
I read Election because I was such a big fan of the movie and what I mostly took from it was appreciation for how it was adapted, and made more satirical as a film. That may be an expectation thing.

Just finished What is the What? by Eggers/Deng, liked it a lot, wish I had a chart explaining what was real and what was fictionalized.

Reading Indignation, by Phillip Roth. It's short and has a device I hate in modern fiction. But it won me over around the 100th page, when the quiet narrator just pours forth a rant forth against religion which sounds a lot like some of the atheist arguments here. He's angry at his college for making him go to chapel, and he's kind of screwing himself over talking to a religious and powerful dean. Since it's the fifties, it's in the guise of worshipping Bertrand Russell.
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post #2252 of 4874
10/10/08 at 12:01pm
Maps & Legends by Michael Chabon.
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post #2253 of 4874
10/10/08 at 12:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Olson View Post
Maps & Legends by Michael Chabon.
I didn't even know this existed. Let us know how it is.
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post #2254 of 4874
10/10/08 at 1:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobClark View Post
I didn't even know this existed. Let us know how it is.
So far it's good. It's basically just him writing scholarly articles about fiction, imagination, and pop culture. I'm only about halfway through so far, but I really liked the sections on Sherlock Holmes and Norse Mythology (but I'm a Norse Mythology nut, so I was kinda predisposed to like that one).
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post #2255 of 4874
10/15/08 at 9:25am
Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Much, much easier for me to get into than the Baroque Cycle (which I still have not slogged through all of the way yet).
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post #2256 of 4874
10/15/08 at 10:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcjsavannah View Post
Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Much, much easier for me to get into than the Baroque Cycle (which I still have not slogged through all of the way yet).
Speaking of which, I've decided to take another stab at it. I hope to skim Quicksilver to reacquaint myself with the characters and situations, then start on the other two.
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post #2257 of 4874
10/15/08 at 12:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt M View Post
Speaking of which, I've decided to take another stab at it. I hope to skim Quicksilver to reacquaint myself with the characters and situations, then start on the other two.
I've contemplated doing the same when I'm done with Anathem, just because I feel like I'll be in his wheelhouse then. I still never bought the third of the trilogy, just have the first two gathering dust on my bookshelf.
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post #2258 of 4874
10/17/08 at 6:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Miller View Post
20th Century Ghosts was great. Some incedible short stories in there, specifically Pop Art.
Cool. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow. I just finished The Long Walk by King.

That one left me feeling like I had just gotten bitchslapped. I think it's one of his best novels, hands down.

I still have to finish Ghoul by Keene. My mom read it but she never told me how it was.
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post #2259 of 4874
10/18/08 at 5:49pm
The Wordy Shipmates. I want to marry Sarah Vowell. Not gonna lie.
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post #2260 of 4874
10/20/08 at 12:13pm
I should confess that I started reading Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book around the same time as Wordy Shipmates, because I'm one of these ADD motherfuckers who's always reading more than one book at a time. And because the Gaiman is targeted toward young readers, I was able to finish that one faster than Vowell's book. Also, because it really hooked me -- I think it's the best thing he's done since Sandman, and surprisingly dark for a kid's book. SPOILER: I mean, it begins with a kid's entire family being stabbed to death. Some of the plotting you can see coming for a mile away, but it doesn't entirely shake out the way you expect. I'm also not sure about the mythology he builds around the larger story of this kid raised by ghosts in a cemetery -- for the most part, I wasn't totally behind that. I thought it would have been more effective if it was more mysterious and simple.

But I liked it a lot. The best thing I can probably say about it is that it's a book I'd read to my kids, if I ever planned on having kids.
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post #2261 of 4874
10/22/08 at 12:57am
Trying to understand my own generation and the whole Bro-culture. I just started reading Guyland.
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post #2262 of 4874
10/22/08 at 1:02am
all that movie talk had me picking up the Forever War...good stuff so far, only 70 pages in
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post #2263 of 4874
10/22/08 at 12:51pm
Just started Blindness. So far I'm really impressed, which means I'll probably be disappointed by the movie, but I'll cross that hurdle when I get to it.
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post #2264 of 4874
10/22/08 at 1:00pm
We'll just all assume you're live-blogging from a theater.
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post #2265 of 4874
10/26/08 at 3:19am
Once again, I'm putting the Vowell on hold to alternate between The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril and The Abstinence Teacher. I'm not impressed by the latter at all.
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post #2266 of 4874
10/26/08 at 1:30pm
The French Powder Mystery by Ellery Queen. Still fun, even after 70 years.
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post #2267 of 4874
10/26/08 at 7:43pm
I tried reading Peril did not find it interesting at all and gave up quickly. I would love to get my hands on the new Connelly book but it'll be a few months before the library gets it.
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post #2268 of 4874
10/26/08 at 8:16pm
I want to get a copy of The Wordy Shipmates, Sarah Vowell is awesome. Currently, I'm reading my script for "Of Mice and Men", we're presenting it here at the local little theatre, and we open on the 6th (I'm playing Lennie). Before I started the play, I had read "Crystal Lake Memories", "The Year of Living Biblically" by AJ Jacobs, and "Seagology" by Vern. I too have literary ADD, and usually read more than one book at a time. The Jacobs book was great, but not quite as good as his previous book, "The Know-It All."
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post #2269 of 4874
10/27/08 at 12:15am
Working my way through the Jack Kirby Fourth World Omnibuses (Final Crisis makes way more sense now). Next up, Nixonland by Rick Perlstein, then Little Brother by Cory Doctorow.
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post #2270 of 4874
10/27/08 at 12:19am
Some graphic novel goodness in my near future: Rick Veitch's Can't Get No, Jeff Smith's Bone, and another reading of Watchmen.
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post #2271 of 4874
10/27/08 at 2:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu View Post
The Abstinence Teacher. I'm not impressed...
You put Vowell on hold for this?
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post #2272 of 4874
10/27/08 at 2:54pm
I just spent a month reading The Brothers Karamazov, so fuck it, I'm reading Duma Key.
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post #2273 of 4874
10/27/08 at 5:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arjen Rudd View Post
I just spent a month reading The Brothers Karamazov, so fuck it, I'm reading Duma Key.
Let me know how that is, as I am trying to muster up enthusiasm for buying it. The description made it sound like a Floridian retread of Bag of Bones.
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post #2274 of 4874
10/27/08 at 5:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratty View Post
Let me know how that is, as I am trying to muster up enthusiasm for buying it. The description made it sound like a Floridian retread of Bag of Bones.
So far, that's it on the nose. I'm not sure where it's going, but it feels like your run of the mill enjoyable yet skippable King page-turner. It is in paperback now, though.
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post #2275 of 4874
10/27/08 at 6:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobClark View Post
You put Vowell on hold for this?
I loved Little Children, and it was only after I started reading it that I found an old post of yours where you rip into it. I'm kind of determined to finish it, but not by much at this point. You understand -- you're currently reading Children of Night. (Or were.)
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post #2276 of 4874
10/27/08 at 6:31pm
Reading David Benioff's CITY OF THIEVES. He's kinda Chabon-lite - a compelling storyteller with a good sense of characterisation and narrative but lacking Chabon's knack for beautifully rich, dense description. Don't want to sound like I'm dissing the author or the book, though, because it's crisp, clean writing that really draws you in.

Next in the pile: A GOOD & HAPPY CHILD, KING DORK and the third and fourth Scott Pilgrim books.
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post #2277 of 4874
10/27/08 at 6:35pm
City of Thieves, one of the many books I bought from 2008 I still haven't read. Good and Happy Child is the shit, though.
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post #2278 of 4874
10/27/08 at 7:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu View Post
I'm kind of determined to finish it, but not by much at this point. You understand -- you're currently reading Children of Night. (Or were.)
Summer Of Night. That's a completely different kettle of shit.
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post #2279 of 4874
10/27/08 at 8:10pm
True, true. And to be fair, I haven't picked it up in a couple of days. I kind of lost interest -- didn't grab me the way Little Children has. I think I will go back to the Vowell.
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post #2280 of 4874
10/27/08 at 8:49pm
Re-read SMAX by Moore and Cannon. Liked it better the second time though it still doesn't hold a candle to Top Ten Books 1 and 2.

Finished Zoe's Tale by Scalzi. Started slow and I wasn't sure he could pull off doing a book where readers of the Last Colony know how it ended. But it got better and was decent. Weakest of his books I've read though, more like a novella.

Read Infernal by Wilson. I love Repairman Jack books and seeing the newest one in HC at B&N reminded me I'm a few behind. Less action and more character development than his other ones but I enjoyed it.

Reading Dark Side of the Moon by Sandford. I like the Prey novels and was curious to see how the Flowers spin-off works. So far its good, but slow building w/o the intensity of the Prey books.
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post #2281 of 4874
10/27/08 at 9:08pm
I'm having trouble really getting into Blindness, I think it's the density of it all. I'm not giving up though.
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post #2282 of 4874
10/27/08 at 11:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu View Post
And to be fair, I haven't picked it up in a couple of days. I kind of lost interest --
That's just as well. It never goes anywhere.

Blindness is incredible, but gets pretty grueling. One part made me so angry I was ready to punch people on the train. I'd like to read his new book about Death taking an indefinite hiatus from one town.
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post #2283 of 4874
10/27/08 at 11:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Miller View Post
I'm having trouble really getting into Blindness, I think it's the density of it all. I'm not giving up though.
I thought it started strong and then slowed down a bit. I'm around page 135 in the paperback and it has started to pick up steam again.
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post #2284 of 4874
10/27/08 at 11:45pm
About fifty pages from the end of Klosterman's Downtown Owl. It's alright, not all that I'd hoped for.

After that I have Woody Allen on Woody Allen to finish so I can start my term paper, and I'm contemplating reading the new Lehane before I start on the four books of Woody's essays. Somewhere in here I'd also like to read The Road. I'm a horrible reader.
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post #2285 of 4874
10/30/08 at 11:43am
Death With Interruptions
Jose Sarmago makes with the dry humor.
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post #2286 of 4874
10/30/08 at 2:28pm
Reading Michael Palin's diaries at the moment. Mixture of good gossip about filming Python and some dull English countryside travelogue stuff.
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post #2287 of 4874
11/2/08 at 12:30am
I've started reading Reagan: The Hollywood Years by Marc Elliot.

Mind you I'm not a huge Reagan fan but this book fills in the gaps left by other Reagan bios and focuses on his acting years.
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post #2288 of 4874
11/2/08 at 12:33am
Blood Meridian. First time.

Better late then never.
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post #2289 of 4874
11/3/08 at 12:31pm
So, as noted in the "Essentials of Halloween" thread I started, there are certain stories and novels I try to read every October. Accordingly, I rambled through the following this year:

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving;

Something Wicked this Way Comes by Ray Bradbury; and

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: nobody writes Autumn and Halloween like Ray Bradbury.

Presently, I've got about 60 pages left in Gaiman's latest, The Graveyard Book. It might not be cool to say 'round these parts, but I love Gaiman's stuff. This, being a children's novel, is fairly predictable, but Gaiman's dark whimsy is as good as ever. I look forward to this being turned into a stop-motion extravaganza a la Nightmare Before Christmas.

Next up, I'm not sure... either The Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien or A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans. Maybe.
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post #2290 of 4874
11/3/08 at 12:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattioli View Post
The Graveyard Book. It might not be cool to say 'round these parts, but I love Gaiman's stuff.
Who's got a beef with Gaiman? I missed that memo. Of course, I usually miss the memos on things like that.

The Graveyard Book is very fun to read out loud.
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post #2291 of 4874
11/3/08 at 12:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bendrix View Post
Who's got a beef with Gaiman? I missed that memo. Of course, I usually miss the memos on things like that.
I think there's a general disdain for American Gods. I could be mistaken, however. For my part, I really dig American Gods. I don't have disdain for it, heck, I dain it.
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post #2292 of 4874
11/3/08 at 12:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattioli View Post
I think there's a general disdain for American Gods. I could be mistaken, however. For my part, I really dig American Gods. I don't have disdain for it, heck, I dain it.
Well, in the interest of full disclosure, I didn't care all that much for American Gods. But I'd say his batting average is still phenomenal. He could have rested on his laurels for Sandman all by itself if he didn't need to eat. Neverwhere is still my hands-down favorite, but I haven't really kept up with him recently. Choosing The Graveyard Book for my reader's advisory presentation is my return to the Gaiman fold, and I'm not disappointed.
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post #2293 of 4874
11/3/08 at 1:08pm
Bobclark: Maps and Legends is REALLY good. Chabon's essays on Sherlock Holmes, Howard Chaykin, and golems are the best, but the whole book is pretty excellent.

Right now, I'm re-reading Watchmen for a class I'm taking at the university, but tonight I think I'm going to start the George Carlin ominbus I picked up a couple weeks ago.
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post #2294 of 4874
11/3/08 at 1:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcjsavannah View Post
Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Much, much easier for me to get into than the Baroque Cycle (which I still have not slogged through all of the way yet).
Just finished this. The last half of the book is really good. This is the first Stephenson book that has a better finale than beginning, IMHO. Still, it's no Cryptonomicon, but then I'm a sucker for the Waterhouse family and Enoch Root.

Eyeball's Neal Stephenson rankings:

1. Cryptonomicon
2. Snow Crash
3. The Diamond Age
4. The Confusion
5. Anathem
6. Quicksilver
7. The System of the World

I enjoy them all, but this is how it stands right now.
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post #2295 of 4874
11/3/08 at 1:47pm
Song For My Fathers: A New Orleans Story In Black and White by Tom Sancton. He and my dad played together in the Black Eagle Jazz Band years and years ago so it's great to see his stories put together.
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post #2296 of 4874
11/3/08 at 2:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eyeball Kid View Post
Just finished Born Standing Up (great) and am now knee deep in Erickson's Toll the Hounds (all buildup so far, but the shit is starting to hit the fan in an exquisitely big way) and The Yiddish Policeman's Union (GREAT!).
Hey 'Ball, did you finish Toll of the Hounds? I read it and want to know your thoughts.

I finished three Prachett books, Mort, Sourcery and Pyramids. Pyramids was the best of the bunch. Making Money just came out in paper back so I'll read that after Glenn Cook's - The Books of the South. Digging it so far.
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post #2297 of 4874
11/3/08 at 3:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jay f View Post
Hey 'Ball, did you finish Toll of the Hounds? I read it and want to know your thoughts.
So I'm not the only Erickson freak around here? Neat!

Toll was better than I expected, yet had some failings. Most of the book is a setup, but things goes epic in the Erickson way. The last 200 pages are amazing. The whole Anomander Rake stuff was great, but one character I didn't give a fuck about, Nimander, really came out well.

Still is the best fantasy on the market.

EDIT: Speaking of Stephenson, I was wondering where to start. Snowcrash, or Cryptonomicon?
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post #2298 of 4874
11/3/08 at 3:24pm
Have you read Cook's Black Company books? They were recently rereleased in two collections. They used an Erikson quote on the back covers.

It is clear that they had a huge influence on his style. From Homage to blatent ripoff. Great stories though, all about the Bridgeb...er The Black Company.
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post #2299 of 4874
11/3/08 at 3:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Savage View Post
EDIT: Speaking of Stephenson, I was wondering where to start. Snowcrash, or Cryptonomicon?
I would split the middle, actually, and start with The Diamond Age, especially if you have any affection for Charles Dickens and/or the Victorian era in general. I certainly respect Stephenson's work after, and Snow Crash is a fun romp, but Diamond Age just hit all the right notes for me.
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post #2300 of 4874
11/3/08 at 3:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jay f View Post
Have you read Cook's Black Company books? They were recently rereleased in two collections. They used an Erikson quote on the back covers.

It is clear that they had a huge influence on his style. From Homage to blatent ripoff. Great stories though, all about the Bridgeb...er The Black Company.
Yeah, I read some, but Erickson is better. From the start Erickson said it's an influence, but the Malazan books aren't about the Bridgeburners per se. It's the scope of work that's staggering.

What did you think of Kallor, especially in this one?
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