May- Dammit I nearly forgot and I am reading...
yeah, i bought that one after you mentioned it because of the second person. it's sitting on my dresser. i read the first page and really dig it.
I'm reading Goebbels. 
It's so interesting.
The third act saved that book for me, and that's only because of the secondary characters showing great dimension and humanity. Without spoiling it, I cared about the secondary characters to the extent that I should have cared about Bandini, but never did. What happened to them broke my heart and I wanted to shove Bandini's oranges up his ass even more because I blamed him. I didn't have to like Bandini, I just wanted to be able to relate to him on some level.
That said, the book succeeds in spite of the narrator being a dick. A tribute to Fante's talent as a writer. Funny, I read a biography called Full Of Life and came away from it admiring Fante as a father and artist. (Yes, I know it's a roman à clef novel. It's possible to like an author but hate his literary alter-ego.)
I couldn't stand the way he treated the waitress. It just kept pissing me off. I don't think he was being honest. He was being shocking. And that doesn't always make for a good writer. True you want your characters to act in ways that maybe shock you or surprise you, but they shouldn't be untrue to themselves to do it. I felt like he didn't know his own character very well.
I'm glad you brought that up. I'm not sure why people like Fante over Bukowski. At least Bukowski never makes his character act contradictory to himself.
Clown Girl was really good. Totally different than I thought it was going to be. At first I was getting frustrated because I felt like it was going nowhere. But it ended up being a nice story about personal growth. And this self loathing character I hated at first, I ended up really feeling for her by the end.
Last night I started Columbine by Dave Cullen.
I felt the same about Clown Girl. I wish her character had evolved a little more before the very end, though.
If I had a complaint, that would be it. She had a sudden burst of inpiration that makes her 'grow.' It could have been a bit more gradual. Drake kept hinting at it, but not enough throughout the book.
meh, double post.
yeah, Pete, i'm on a major second-person kick right now. i think more than anything it's just interesting because it's so rarely done, and it is so fucking difficult to do well. i've also got Ron Butlin's novel Sound of my Voice coming in the mail. it's also second person.
i'll have to check out the Auster book. i am sill yet to read him, but i have the NY trilogy on my dresser ready to go and i'm looking forward to it. also looking forward to reading The Thin Man. you recommended both of those to me, so we'll soon see how well you think you know my taste. oh, and the Quick and the Dead.
as for clown girl: i remember hating her because i thought she was so pathetic. that was in the beginning. but i remember really loving Monica's style. I really hope the adaption to film turns out nicely, and i'm looking forward to reading more from her.
For a first Auster book - I would say Oracle Night is a better intro than The New York Trilogy.
why is that?
The New York Trilogy is three stories. They were all a bit short for Auster's style. I just feel like, of the Auster I've read, that Oracle Night sums up his style the best.
The New York Trilogy is still really good. Don't get me wrong. lol.
I probably shouldn't have said anything because I know how you can get with ordering books. haha.
i know. now i'm like 'shit. well, i'll have to buy invisible and oracle night now!'
hahaha. it's all good. they get themselves read.
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace.
There is hope, but not for us.
Got my threads mixed up for a sec and thought I was in the "Worst Book" one, and was hoping to say, "So it was an appropriate title, then?"
Haaaaaa, nice. The title is in reference, I believe, to Wallace being assigned to write an article about cruise ships. It's the last essay in the bunch so I haven't gotten to it yet.
There is hope, but not for us.
Curious about this one, too. The friend who lent me Oblivion said he prefers DFW's essays over his fiction. If he ever figures out who he lent Fun Thing to, I'll have to borrow it.
would anybody tell me if i was gettin'... stupider?
let me know what you think, or if you finish. but what you think, either way. PM me, if you would rather not publicly trash the book.
Finished it today and it was fairly awful. Unnecessarily long and drawn out with very little happening and what did happen has been done a thousand times before. Also, I think The Girl was supposed to be cool but she just made me cringe. Maybe something got lost in translation here.
I often wonder that when i read a foreign novel. How much is the translator and how much is the author? I mean, you have people who go with the Borges method, which completely changes the work, and then you have others who try to directly translate, but lose rhythm and all that.
It's a tough game.
Eddy, do you still want Against the Grain?
Oh yeah, i forgot completely. Did i send you my address ever?
No, but go ahead and PM me.
I just read the first paragraph of 'The Secret History' by Donna Tartt and now I want to read the whole thing again, BUT I got 'Solar' by Ian McKewan today so that's it for my weekend.
Popcorn by Ben Elton
A friend who swears by Ben Elton lent me this. Apparently Elton used to write the Blackadder TV show.
Yes! Read Solar quick. And we can talk about it. I felt sick at the end. But there are so many hilarious moments in it, it is so great! McEwan says he hates comic novels, but if there ever was one of his books that is, it's this one. He's really clever.
Brentinlouis Wrote: What was that rule about being intentionally annoying?
i hate it when that happens!
seems to always happen to me with KMJ. i mean, there's others,but whe i think of opening paragraphs that mae me want to inhale the book into my brain--Kiss me, Judas takes the cake.
I finished Goebbels and Knockemstiff, now rereading The Gargoyle.
Everything Paul Schrader wrote. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Schrader
Starting with Light Sleeper http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Light-Sleeper.html.
I saw that film only once, twenty years ago, and it's still with me.
I'll move on to Affliction's script next
Then American Gigolo and Taxi Driver, then Raging Bull.
Yes! Read Solar quick. And we can talk about it. I felt sick at the end. But there are so many hilarious moments in it, it is so great! McEwan says he hates comic novels, but if there ever was one of his books that is, it's this one. He's really clever.
It's bugging me! The first few pages are all telling. I feel like I'm trapped in a plane with someone droning on a cell phone next to me, and I can only hear half of a really boring story. I hope it gets better. I read three pages and thought to myself "Not now". I may have shuddered. 
i hate it when that happens!
seems to always happen to me with KMJ. i mean, there's others,but whe i think of opening paragraphs that mae me want to inhale the book into my brain--Kiss me, Judas takes the cake.
I love when that happens! It happens to me with 'Penny Dreadful', my favorite Baer, and 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' by John Irving.
'The Secret History' is really damn good. I'm sucked in again.
I'm reading The Dirt by Motley Crue and Neil Strauss. Really enjoyable!
"Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested."
"Jemand musste Josef K. verleumdet haben, denn ohne dass er etwas Böses getan hätte, wurde er eines Morgens verhaftet"
Yes! Read Solar quick. And we can talk about it. I felt sick at the end. But there are so many hilarious moments in it, it is so great! McEwan says he hates comic novels, but if there ever was one of his books that is, it's this one. He's really clever.
It's bugging me! The first few pages are all telling. I feel like I'm trapped in a plane with someone droning on a cell phone next to me, and I can only hear half of a really boring story. I hope it gets better. I read three pages and thought to myself "Not now". I may have shuddered.
aww man. i just looked at the first three pages, and I think I was instantaneously hooked! He's a dirty old bastard, and yet I found myself liking him. I don't know, keep giving it a go. there are some crazy parts. It does get better.
I actually like your avatar! haha
Brentinlouis Wrote: What was that rule about being intentionally annoying?
Yes! Read Solar quick. And we can talk about it. I felt sick at the end. But there are so many hilarious moments in it, it is so great! McEwan says he hates comic novels, but if there ever was one of his books that is, it's this one. He's really clever.
It's bugging me! The first few pages are all telling. I feel like I'm trapped in a plane with someone droning on a cell phone next to me, and I can only hear half of a really boring story. I hope it gets better. I read three pages and thought to myself "Not now". I may have shuddered.
aww man. i just looked at the first three pages, and I think I was instantaneously hooked! He's a dirty old bastard, and yet I found myself liking him. I don't know, keep giving it a go. there are some crazy parts. It does get better.
I actually like your avatar! haha
awww, is right, I was so ready to fall in love with it and stay up all night reading. I am going to read it, though. Carefully, in case I want to return it!
Why wouldn't you like my avatar!?
I don't know! !
but yeah, give it a chance! I'm glad you are.
Brentinlouis Wrote: What was that rule about being intentionally annoying?
I loved this damn book. I've read two or three times. It's filthy good. Apparently it's been optioned for film bit have yet to hear any detailed info on that little project.
I love Motley Crüe.
Snake by Mary Woronov, a book I picked up in the Cult fiction shelf in a shop in Dublin, so far its Meh.
I loved this damn book. I've read two or three times. It's filthy good. Apparently it's been optioned for film bit have yet to hear any detailed info on that little project.
I love Motley Crüe.
I love it too so far! It's extremely entertaining, one of those books you don't want to put down. Just when you think it can't possibly get any weirder, these guys outdoes themselves over and over again.
I highly recommend it!
"Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested."
"Jemand musste Josef K. verleumdet haben, denn ohne dass er etwas Böses getan hätte, wurde er eines Morgens verhaftet"
what did you think of Knockemstiff? did you love it, or did everyone ruin it for you by putting it up on a pedestal?
Knockemstiff was good, I really enjoyed it, but I should try not to get carried away by what other people say. Having all these expectations is never good.
Very interesting before the World Cup.
Having all these expectations is never good.
yeah. i had a feeling it would be like that because everyone was saying how great it was, and it is, but i just feared it may lose some of its impact. damn. it's such a great book. beautiful, honest writing. read it again in a year, once you've forgoten what all us losers said and it'll be better.
That essay is one of the funniest things I've ever read.
but yeah, give it a chance! I'm glad you are.
It was pretty good once I got into it. You're right, it was very funny. Beard was some character, I really could not stand him, but I still enjoyed reading about him. I'm glad it didn't ruin smoked salmon for me! 
Now, 'The Infinities' by John Banville.
That essay is one of the funniest things I've ever read.
I really liked the part about how the ship captains don't really pilot the boat, they just stand around in their uniforms trying to look vaguely presidential. But they always wear sunglasses indoors, so they mostly end up looking like Third World strongmen.
There is hope, but not for us.
I Am Number 4 by James Fry writing under an alias, Pitticus Lore.
Levi, i started reading Saturday. About halfway through it.
Also, completely on accident, started reading Ender's Game for the fifth time and i can't seem to put it down for fear it'll keep the best from me. Loving it all over again, like i'm eleven again, sneaking in chapters between classes.
YES! I can't wait until you are done. After you read it, you just feel like....You've experienced something. that whole day, in his thoughts, in his life, I just loved it. So much happens you could never even believe. Just when you think everything is ok, it's not. Keep reading! I'm glad you started.
Brentinlouis Wrote: What was that rule about being intentionally annoying?
As absolutely idiotic as this sounds, I think the main reason why I can't get into sci-fi is because the whole time I'm reading it, I'm thinking to myself, "This is so unrealistic."
There is hope, but not for us.
haha.. oh jane. suspend your disbelief!
Me too, Jane.
It's one of the better second person POV's I've read. The "you" and the "your" words disappear from your mind after a few pages. It's also a good character study, and it's a fast read.