Books you really want to read but stinky life keeps getting in the way...
I have a giant pile of books to read and some in particular I would love to sink my reading teeth into, but life keeps making me read other things...and do stuff...you know.
Here's my list:
[B]The Reef, A Backwards Glance and The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton[/B]-She's one of my favourites and I'd love to read about her life, she knew Henry James and F.Scott Fitzgerald! Speaking of whom...
[B]The Collected Short Stories of F.Scott Fitzgerald[/B]-I just pick it up sometimes and hold it.
[B]Microserfs-Douglas Coupland[/B]-People keep talking about this! Stop it! I'm mixed about Douglas Coupland, I really enjoyed Girlfriend in a Coma and Hey Nostradamus but hated Shampoo Planet, I thought it was stupid, for want of a better word.
[B]In a Glass Darkly by Sheridan Le Fanu and The Collected Ghost Stories of M R James[/B]-I've always been a spooky story aficionado but recently I've been neglecting my old loves: the gothic and the grotesque! I want to make it clear I was never a goth, however.
So what are yours?
A Farewell To Arms.
I've owned this book for over 5 years. I really want to read it, but there is always something else that I want to read more.
Hmm, when I first saw this post I read 'stinky' as 'snuffy', damn that snuffy, always getting in the way of my reading.
Amy Hempel, gates of the animal kingdom. I really wanna read it but the cheapest I can get it for is about a hundred quid (roughly two hundred dollars). That stinks.
I have plenty of free time right now so if i really wanted to read loads of books I could, for some reason I don't. I think that I might just be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of books that I want to read, there's so many that I'd need to stay up for reading for a month straight.
The book shops are crap here, even the big ones like Waterstones don't stock most of the cult recommendations. Although they seem to have about two hundred copies of The Da Vinci Code. That stinks.
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[QUOTE=mikandrewz]
The book shops are crap here, even the big ones like Waterstones don't stock most of the cult recommendations. Although they seem to have about two hundred copies of The Da Vinci Code. That stinks.[/QUOTE]
Amazon, Welsh guy....they have a postal service out there right?
[QUOTE=Vendetta]Amazon, Welsh guy....they have a postal service out there right?[/QUOTE]
Shutup ginger girl, I know, thats how I've been getting my books, sometimes I just like to look around a book shop though. Book shops are one of my favourite places.
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mikeandrewz,
I got a used copy of At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom for $10 bucks on half.com.
I just checked the site, though, and they're listing copies for $100 and $175. Keep an eye on this site, though, as maybe they'll get some new used copies in.
"The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding." — John Updike
who the hell is her publisher anyways? you'd think they would have noticed by now with demand pushing price that high that they could make a killing by reprinting the dang thing
but maybe they dont want to pay her anymore or they want to keep the price up to keep her name on everyones 'to watch' for list when they do come across one of her books
anyway, i dont know where i was going with this now
[QUOTE=anxious phoenix]mikeandrewz,
I got a used copy of At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom for $10 bucks on half.com.
I just checked the site, though, and they're listing copies for $100 and $175. Keep an eye on this site, though, as maybe they'll get some new used copies in.[/QUOTE]
It's a lot harder on amazon.co.UK though, since her books have never really been sold over here. Serious, we suck. Sometimes I wish we were the 51st state.
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51st is a little presumptious, maybe 53rd or 54th though
Ive had Beyond Good and Evil, a couple of Kierkegaard books, Son of the Circus by John Irving, Insomnia by Steven King plus the last play in Sartre's No Exit sitting here for months wishing to be read. Plus a couple of others that i got more recently. Then I went and bought Fiskadaro by Denis Johnson today. And i can never figure out why these books never get read...
Fuck Bush!
And his hypocrisy
And all the drones
Who gave him his presidency!
- "Lay off the Sauce" by Kill Conan
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS by Hemingway. That thick fucker be staring at me from the shelf. I know I know I know, yer getting yer turn, but lemme sneak in something else real quick here.
[QUOTE=Mr. Brown]FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS by Hemingway. That thick fucker be staring at me from the shelf. I know I know I know, yer getting yer turn, but lemme sneak in something else real quick here.[/QUOTE]
Same here. I've read the first chapter so many times that I could recite it for you (I won't though). I've read other Hemingway and loved it but this is just...too much.
[QUOTE=Vendetta]Same here. I've read the first chapter so many times that I could recite it for you (I won't though). I've read other Hemingway and loved it but this is just...too much.[/QUOTE]
I got to the part where they're all shacked up in the grotto but the way he writes all the stuff down is like so out there that every time I'm forced to put it down and then come back. Though I come back so late that I have to reread it all againa and now I can't almost be arsed. So I guess I'll have to come back to it in a few years when the first chapter is like fresh again or something.
I know this sounds a little, well, [I]pretentious[/I]...but I keep meaning to read the Bible. At the very least, the New Testament.
I remember when I first started English Lit A Level many moons ago our (pretty inspirational) teacher said that if you really want to get stuck into novels, literature, art and just about eveything written, painted or shrieked about in the Western World, a good knowledge of the King James and modern Bible is really useful.
Some day I'm gonna setlle down with a mug of holy wine and a body of christ sandwhich and read that doorstop chunk of religion.
You should find the bit where it says if your testicles get crushed, you are going to hell. I think its in deuteronomy somewhere, but im not sure where at the moment. But it really is in there.
Fuck Bush!
And his hypocrisy
And all the drones
Who gave him his presidency!
- "Lay off the Sauce" by Kill Conan
Seems fair to me, though I guess having crushed testicles must be as pretty friggin close to hell as you can get anyway.
I'm also keen to find the bit that says it's a sin to wear two different types of cloth.
[QUOTE=Riddlegimp]Seems fair to me, though I guess having crushed testicles must be as pretty friggin close to hell as you can get anyway.
I'm also keen to find the bit that says it's a sin to wear two different types of cloth.[/QUOTE]
I found the varying different views on whether bats are birds or animals thrilling. Also, that quote down there
V
!
It certainly leaves the reader in no doubt as to what was heard.
Clarity. That's what I like.
[QUOTE=mikandrewz]It's a lot harder on amazon.co.UK though, since her books have never really been sold over here. Serious, we suck. Sometimes I wish we were the 51st state.[/QUOTE]
Anything you can get on .com you can get on .co.uk. You just find the book's ISBN and do a search for it and if you say this doesn't work I wonder why it is that [I]I[/I] always have [I]all[/I] the books [I]I[/I] want.
[QUOTE=Vendetta]Anything you can get on .com you can get on .co.uk. You just find the book's ISBN and do a search for it and if you say this doesn't work I wonder why it is that [I]I[/I] always have [I]all[/I] the books [I]I[/I] want.[/QUOTE]
Some are still too expensive. The books that you want are obviously not the same as the books that I want so shut the hell up.
[url]http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0394571746/qid=1108325776/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_0_3/202-2267008-7328649[/url]
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[QUOTE=mikandrewz]Some are still too expensive. The books that you want are obviously not the same as the books that I want so shut the hell up.
[url]http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0394571746/qid=1108325776/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_0_3/202-2267008-7328649[/url][/QUOTE]
What crawled up your ass? Calm down Welsh guy. Be patient. Have a wank.
i have a stack of unfinished books:
hell's half acre, which is currently missing in all the moving boxes...
hey, nostradamus, which i started a couple of days ago and i might actually finish...
interview with a vampire
the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay, which i've been reading on and off for well over a year now...
destination: morgue!, i wish ellroy would finish a fiction work, goddamnit...
and
dude, where's my country...
all are great books, but stinky scummy life keeps getting in the way.
[QUOTE=Vendetta]What crawled up your ass? Calm down Welsh guy. Be patient. Have a wank.[/QUOTE]
Shut up ginge, I thought you were having a bit of a bit of a red-haid tizzy. You were certainly being condescending.
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can british folks NOT be condescending?
Hmm...Okay everyone, listen up. There seem to have been some side effects of 'The Anger Thread', If I seem pissed off or insulting please ignore it, it should go away soon.
Has anyone seen the Billy Connely (sp?) stand up when he spoke about how, after seeing his show, you may have a tendancy to swear a bit more than you did before? It's basically the same as that.
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[QUOTE=big S]can british folks NOT be condescending?[/QUOTE]
Yes.
[QUOTE=Riddlegimp]Yes.[/QUOTE]
I second that notion wholeheartedly.
My list:
Adventures in the Screentrade - William Goldmann
Being Dead - Jim Crace
L'etranger - Albert Camus (I started it then lost it.)
Eye of the Beholder - Marc Behm
Pole Dance - Tom Avery
Fight Club (the french version Franc got me)
[QUOTE=big S]i have a stack of unfinished books:
the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay, which i've been reading on and off for well over a year now...
[/QUOTE]
great book. despite its rather intimidating length, i was able to finish it fairly quickly (though not as quickly as i did The Brothers Karamazov, which i finished in 8 days while in Russia)
Fuck Bush!
And his hypocrisy
And all the drones
Who gave him his presidency!
- "Lay off the Sauce" by Kill Conan
[QUOTE=mikandrewz]Shut up ginge, I thought you were having a bit of a bit of a red-haid tizzy. You were certainly being condescending.[/QUOTE]
You can't take anything [I]I[/I] say seriously!
OMG
PGoutis01, Brown & Vendetta. Read your respective Hemingway selections. At once! I demand it! Farewell to Arms is so worth the read. For whom the bell tolls, while long, also has its good points.
Anyways, the books that have been mocking me are:
The Brothers Karamazov
Moby Dick
Iliad & Odyssey
Paradise Lost
They feel nice in my hand, and my friends are very impressed when they see them on the shelf, but, I haven't read them yet..
[CENTER]in a place far away from any one or anywhere, I drifted off for a moment[/CENTER]
I mean I'm sure it's good and I want to read Hemingway's book about his time in Paris, but it just never really worked out between him and me. Yet.
[QUOTE=Proton]OMG
PGoutis01, Brown & Vendetta. Read your respective Hemingway selections. At once! I demand it! Farewell to Arms is so worth the read. For whom the bell tolls, while long, also has its good points.[/QUOTE]
:eek: Yes Sir!
I really have been meaning to read it, but now I have so many books and then there is the book club and there is always something that I just bought that I want to fit in and blah blah blah. I have tons of excuses. I will be getting to it soon.
i'm also reading 'women' by bukowski which i will finish eventually.
Catch-22 was on this list until not too long ago. I tried starting it about 9 times before I actually made it past the first 50 pages. Now there are just too many to count. For Whom the Bell Tolls, House of Leaves, Kavalier and Clay, Crime and Punishment, etc, etc, etc.
[QUOTE=Rents]Catch-22 was on this list until not too long ago. I tried starting it about 9 times before I actually made it past the first 50 pages. Now there are just too many to count. For Whom the Bell Tolls, House of Leaves, Kavalier and Clay, Crime and Punishment, etc, etc, etc.[/QUOTE]
It took me about a year to read House of Leaves because I read half and then much later read the rest, that's sooo unlike me but it's so big. I get sleepy just looking at it, and the footnotes, OH THE FOOTNOTES.
[QUOTE=Rents]Catch-22 was on this list until not too long ago. I tried starting it about 9 times before I actually made it past the first 50 pages. Now there are just too many to count. For Whom the Bell Tolls, House of Leaves, Kavalier and Clay, Crime and Punishment, etc, etc, etc.[/QUOTE]
Freakin' sweet. Catch-22 was probably one of the first books I ever read where I really appreciated a book for the main ideas and subtle things in it. I read it my junior year in high school but I want to re-read it again, and soon. I actually just saw the movie at the library yesterday, but didn't check it out. Anyone know how the movie is compared to the book?
[QUOTE=Undertow]Freakin' sweet. Catch-22 was probably one of the first books I ever read where I really appreciated a book for the main ideas and subtle things in it. I read it my junior year in high school but I want to re-read it again, and soon. I actually just saw the movie at the library yesterday, but didn't check it out. Anyone know how the movie is compared to the book?[/QUOTE]
There are parts where the ideas and humor really translates well, but as in most cases, the book remains infinitely more complex. Still a good show though. I'd say it's worth the rent.
_Ulysses_ and _Finnegan's Wake_
I really want to read these one day, but the devotion and research materials necessary to do them justice just keep me from what seems a formidable task. But one day, Joyce, mark my words dear brother, I shall accomplish thy mountainous deeds - ha hah
[COLOR=DarkOrange]Sometimes I feel as though I may just fade away....but then I remember...
MY WORK[/COLOR]
[QUOTE=Jill's Bleeding Ulcer]_Ulysses_ and _Finnegan's Wake_
I really want to read these one day, but the devotion and research materials necessary to do them justice just keep me from what seems a formidable task. But one day, Joyce, mark my words dear brother, I shall accomplish thy mountainous deeds - ha hah[/QUOTE]
Dubliners is the March choice in the Literati Book Club.
It's not a bad place to start with Joyce because it's - well - short.
120 days of sodom by desade
that damn thing has been sitting on my shelf forever and ive never gotten around to it , you'd think with the subject matter that it would be one of the first things i read
oh well, one of these days