I Want To Read
I'm an avid reader. Or at least I like to think I am. But lately I haven't read a single thing. Well I have, but not out of choice. I think my english class turned off reading. The only things I've been reading was for english. And none of it has been good. We just finished Othello, and we now we are doing poetry. I haven't nothing against Shakespeare. I liked the Tempest and Macbeth, neutral on Romeo and Juliet, but Othello sucked. He's not a bad writer. He's just not a relevant one. It didn't help that Othello was he worse piece of writing. Poetry. I'm just not a poetry type of person. Nothings been awful, but nothings been good. Though my term 'awful' has been totally changed after I read the most horrible book imaginable. A Farewell to Arms. Hemmingway can't write. I think his first drafts of his book go something like this; war bad. Girl good. Booze better. Except without periods. Hemmingway's books are so bad they open the gates of hell. There not satanic, no. But they're so horrible that Satan himself opens a hellmouth right below the book to destroy it so he never has to hear it again. Daniel Steel has better writing style and Ayn Rand has superior character depth. Yes I just went there. The last stuff I read that was any good was Matthew Good's Manifesto(check it out here:http://www.matthewgood.org/tag/manifestos/). But I finished reading that months ago. Well all the good stuff anyways. But this is really annoying. I have three books that I bought that I haven't read, because I'm afraid of reading; war bad. Girl good. Booze better. Yet I know it won't. Well for two of three I know. The other one I can only suspect. But I'm doubtful Philip K. Dick writes anything like Hemmingway. All I want to do is read a good book but Hemmingway ruined it for me. My final exam is on the 22nd, and by final exam, I mean final. I'm done with school. Well high school anyway. But I want to read. I need to read. Has Hemmingay been so bad that I can't read ever again?
"The rat inside your brain rules the world."
Citizen Kane SUCKED!!!!!!! True fact.
Alcoholism is the cure not the disease.
I think your english class turned you off english.
Before you judge the quality of other people's writing, you might want to take a look at the way you constructed that post.
It's pretty annoying. When people use. So many periods. Creating many sentences. Instead of one. Or two. The post. Has no flow. It's all very stunted. You end up sounding. Like a robot. Commas. Semicolons. And other forms of punctuation. Are your friends.
So, in conclusion, I think you should be reading whatever you can get your hands on.
quick, kit. you left. the W. out.
of.
the when.
in
your.
fourth. annoying. sentence.
Edited. Thanks. Now I don't I look. Like a dummy.
I think your english class turned you off english.
Before you judge the quality of other people's writing, you might want to take a look at the way you constructed that post.
It's pretty annoying. hen people use. So many periods. Creating many sentences. Instead of one. Or two. The post. Has no flow. It's all very stunted. You end up sounding. Like a robot. Commas. Semicolons. And other forms of punctuation. Are your friends.
So, in conclusion, I think you should be reading whatever you can get your hands on.
I write like I talk, which can be short and choppy. It also like this, going back to, my english class. My teacher is a hard ass, dumb ass, well any insult that ends with 'ass'. Tough ass, tight ass, soft ass. Okay now I may be getting a little speculative. But I digress. My teacher demands that every sentence is about a singular idea, which kinda forced me to write so bluntly. Also I have an extreme dislike for long sentences. Trust me there is only so many times one can bitch about 'comma splices' before you replace every comma with a period just to hope that he may shut the fuck up. I can understand that it may be a little annoying. I'm venting. Everyone needs to bitch about one thing at least once in their life. Perviously I used more punctuation beyond a period, but my teacher failed a couple essay's(two) I wrote for misuse of a comma, when I should of used a semi-colon. My english didn't just ruin my reading, but my writing as well. Paradox much?
"The rat inside your brain rules the world."
Citizen Kane SUCKED!!!!!!! True fact.
Alcoholism is the cure not the disease.
Ugh, I'm sorry then. Sounds like you have an awful teacher! I'm sure you'll be glad to be rid of him - and now you can branch out and read and learn on your own terms and in your own way. I still stick by what I said about reading whatever you can get your hands on. Don't let a few shitty books or ones that weren't quite to your taste turn you off. There's a wealth of writing out there.
starting short is a good idea
SUNNY'S BLUES by james baldwin is my short story pick, but a good short novel is THE LONG TRIAL OF NOLAN DUGATTI by stephen graham jones.
www.triplebeard.com
http://darkroomreview.blogspot.com
“...There are so many ways of being despicable it quite makes one's head spin. But the way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people's pain. You ought to have some apprehension that the man you see before you was once even younger than you are now and arrived at his present wretchedness by imperceptible degrees.”
-James Baldwin
try Dostoevsky's Dream of a Ridiculous Man
http://www.kiosek.com/dostoevsky/library/ridiculousman.txt
and look! They made a movie of it!
You like short sentences but you don't like poetry? What poetry are you reading in class anyway?
You could start with something fun like Walter Moers. The City of Dreaming Books is one of my favorites of his, and if you really love books, it's a wonderful read. If you prefer something darker, I also love his book, A Wild Ride Through the Night.
Otherwise, go with Kit's advice and just read anything. That's how you find out what you really like.
some people just dont like poetry, RT. i dont really like it.
www.triplebeard.com
http://darkroomreview.blogspot.com
“...There are so many ways of being despicable it quite makes one's head spin. But the way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people's pain. You ought to have some apprehension that the man you see before you was once even younger than you are now and arrived at his present wretchedness by imperceptible degrees.”
-James Baldwin
What baffles me about this post:
1. You're STILL spelling Hemingway's name improperly, after several people have corrected you.
2. You think Shakespeare is irrelevant. Without buying into the bardolatry so prevalent in academic circles, you can still appreciate his work and see why he's so popular.
3. You seem to believe that Ayn Rand is considered untouchable as a writer.
4. You show an incapacity for subtlety so great that it makes me wonder why you even bother to read.
I don't want to pick on you. I AM bewildered, however. You're an avid reader? Then read. Don't let a couple of bad books encourage you to embarrass yourself.
thanks for sharing.blackhawk tactical pants.
— Spambot
"I could have done worse!" exultantly cried the murderer Lebret, sentenced at Rouen to hard labor for life. — Félix Fénéon
man, shakespeare sucks. i can say that to you as a human being, but as an english teacher i have to play up his strong points and make kids tell me what the word is means in this sentence as opposed to this one. as much as i think shakespeare is an exorcise literary sadism, the reading of shakespeare is not without its merits (unfortunately)
www.triplebeard.com
http://darkroomreview.blogspot.com
“...There are so many ways of being despicable it quite makes one's head spin. But the way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people's pain. You ought to have some apprehension that the man you see before you was once even younger than you are now and arrived at his present wretchedness by imperceptible degrees.”
-James Baldwin
I wouldn't say Shakespeare sucks, but it's obviously going to be a problem for todays generation who needs everything explicitly spelled out for them.
Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me alone.
~The Zen of Sarcasm
Uh, teacher.. I think you mean exercise?
I think Shakespeare is wonderful.
What I'm really wondering is what a highschool kid is doing reading 'Daniel' Steele.
BPL
Even though I enjoy Hemingway, I still enjoyed your synopsis
of him. Here's a book I think you might enjoy, "White Noise",
by Don Delillo. It's smart, funny and entertaining. Not like
Hemingway at all. Why don't you give it a try and let us know
what you think?
Daniel Steele sounds like a porno alias too good to abandon.
Almost finished reading Don Delillo's 'The Falling Man'.
His style is quite prosaic but very captivating.
mattmuffin
Uh, teacher.. I think you mean exercise?
I think Shakespeare is wonderful.
i didnt think that looked right, but i swear i spelled it your way and it said it was wrong, i know i got close to that, at least, and it told me none other than exorcising demons was right. i think the dictionary file in firefox is lacking.
*writes down correct spelling*
ive had trouble spelling that word forever.
www.triplebeard.com
http://darkroomreview.blogspot.com
“...There are so many ways of being despicable it quite makes one's head spin. But the way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people's pain. You ought to have some apprehension that the man you see before you was once even younger than you are now and arrived at his present wretchedness by imperceptible degrees.”
-James Baldwin
I think Chuck's way is right.
Even though I enjoy Hemingway, I still enjoyed your synopsis
of him. Here's a book I think you might enjoy, "White Noise",
by Don Delillo. It's smart, funny and entertaining. Not like
Hemingway at all. Why don't you give it a try and let us know
what you think?
White Noise is the only book to ever get me to fall asleep while reading it.
I'd like to thank all the novel recommendations, I hope I'll be able to get to all of them. I just started reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep(I always been wanting to read some Philip K. Dick) so hopeful I can get back to me former reading habit. I may finally be rehabilitated.
"The rat inside your brain rules the world."
Citizen Kane SUCKED!!!!!!! True fact.
Alcoholism is the cure not the disease.
Why don't you read a Chuck Palahniuk book? After all you are on his site. Another great book is Requiem For A Dream by Hubert Selby Jr.
Nicole-On-Mars
Finished Delillo's 'Falling Man' last night.
Christ... I don't know why I didn't see it coming, but by the last 2 pages of that book things became so clear. No use trying to explain it. That last sentence is chilling. A great read.
mattmuffin
I kind of want to pull out my hair and pluck out my eyeballs at this thread.
Shakespeare is irrelevant and Othello is his worst piece of writing?
Sigh.
You know in all the years I've been here I've never been sigged?
I'm actually listening to the audio version of this on my drives to work. I find his writing style and dialogue stiff and cold. But his stories are really good if you can get passed that.
they're frickin' androids. what did you expect?
Well...
a. Thanks for ruining the story. 
b. It goes beyond the dialogue.
c. I was sort of thinking they were all androids.
d. It might also just be the narrator reading the story, who honestly sucks.
A Clean Well Lighted Place is a good Hemingway short story. Try a book called The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski a solid inspiring coming of age story.