What You Reading yo? March '05

Still flipping through [I]A Million Little Pieces[/I] by James Frey. School is taking up time from reading and I'm only a hundred pages in but I'm enjoying it so far.

Good call my man. I thought there was something amiss today. First of the month and no Jay "what are you reading posts" Eerie.

Anyway - I have just finished A Million Little Pieces only half an hour ago (posted reaction in OCBC). Very good indeed.

I'm about to start How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World, by Francis Wheen.

Finished [i]Blackbox[/i] in a couple nights, and now I'm about halfway through Maxx Barry's [i]Syrup.[/i]

It's a pretty easy read, which actually turned me off at first. Dunno why, maybe I didn't feel like I was challenging myself or something. Pffft. Anyway, it's fast and smart and funny, even moreso since I studied some market in college. Good stuff, I'll definitely pick up [i]Jennifer Government[/i] when I'm done with all my unread books and have a few extra bucks in my pocket.

Jase's REMEMBER TO BLINK. Just started it today.

[QUOTE=PGoutis01]Alright, since Jay isn't here to start this thread and I want to add to it now - I guess I'll start it.

Last night I finished Rubicon Beach by Steve Erickson. The book was really good and I posted a little more in the Erickson thread.

Today I started Drown by Junot Diaz. It's going really quick. If I don't finish it tonight, I'll finish it tomorrow.[/QUOTE]
You simply must read[I] Days Between Stations[/I]... better than [I]Rubicon Beach[/I]... in fact, I quite liked Rubicon Beach, but [I]Days Between [/I] and [I]Tours of The Black Clock [/I] were that much better.

[QUOTE=wfd]Finished [i]Blackbox[/i] in a couple nights, and now I'm about halfway through Maxx Barry's [i]Syrup.[/i]

It's a pretty easy read, which actually turned me off at first. Dunno why, maybe I didn't feel like I was challenging myself or something. Pffft. Anyway, it's fast and smart and funny, even moreso since I studied some market in college. Good stuff, I'll definitely pick up [i]Jennifer Government[/i] when I'm done with all my unread books and have a few extra bucks in my pocket.[/QUOTE]
I couldn't finish Jennifer Government, the guy just isn't a good writer. Besides which, William Gibson covered all of his points years ago... And William Gibson IS a good writer. Seriously the new Pynchon.

[QUOTE=wfd]Finished [i]Blackbox[/i] in a couple nights, and now I'm about halfway through Maxx Barry's [i]Syrup.[/i]

It's a pretty easy read, which actually turned me off at first. Dunno why, maybe I didn't feel like I was challenging myself or something. Pffft. Anyway, it's fast and smart and funny, even moreso since I studied some market in college. Good stuff, I'll definitely pick up [i]Jennifer Government[/i] when I'm done with all my unread books and have a few extra bucks in my pocket.[/QUOTE]
Was Blackbox worth slugging through? I got about 100 pages in and gave up.

I was going to read Blackbox for teh book club thing but its out of print and I hate ordering books I can't look at first.

I'm going to read Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

THE MAN WHO JAPED by philip k. dick. will report back.

Started the month reading The Dog Of The Marriage (Hempel) and a short story called Negative Reinforcement.

I miss Jay.

I haven't been reading much in the last couple weeks because of other priorities taking up space on my plate. My progress with "Cloud Atlas" has been slow and disappointing. I might cut my losses with that and pick up Coupland's "Eleanor Rigby" for BC, and after Ballerina praising the book many times in our conversations.

[QUOTE=Undertow]I miss Jay.

I haven't been reading much in the last couple weeks because of other priorities taking up space on my plate. My progress with "Cloud Atlas" has been slow and disappointing. I might cut my losses with that and pick up Coupland's "Eleanor Rigby" for BC, and after Ballerina praising the book many times in our conversations.[/QUOTE]

I miss him too! He was a great asset to the book club.

He'll be back soon. Rumour has it he's immersed in an Amy Hempel site, so good luck to him.

By the way: Get started on Eleanor Rigby. I'm looking forward to the discussions...(check the sig)

[QUOTE=Undertow]I miss Jay.

I haven't been reading much in the last couple weeks because of other priorities taking up space on my plate. My progress with "Cloud Atlas" has been slow and disappointing. I might cut my losses with that and pick up Coupland's "Eleanor Rigby" for BC, and after Ballerina praising the book many times in our conversations.[/QUOTE]

So, I have a question about this book. I read the back of it at the bookstore and it just sounds like a fat chick trying to get over being fat and make a life for herself (although in not such a mean sounding way). So what is it really about?

[QUOTE=Riddlegimp]I miss him too! He was a great asset to the book club.

He'll be back soon. Rumour has it he's immersed in an Amy Hempel site, so good luck to him.

By the way: Get started on Eleanor Rigby. I'm looking forward to the discussions...(check the sig)[/QUOTE]

I dig the sig. I was at the library the other day looking for Eleanor Rigby, but that was the only Coupland book it didn't have. I'm hesitant to check the other library I go to because their selection of new books is rather insulting. Not like I look at the new books there much, but when inspired to...*cough*bookclub*cough*

[QUOTE=Parkaboy]I couldn't finish Jennifer Government, the guy just isn't a good writer. Besides which, William Gibson covered all of his points years ago... And William Gibson IS a good writer. Seriously the new Pynchon.[/QUOTE]

I read the first chapter of [i]Jennifer Government[/i] over at nationstates.org, and was thoroughly unimpressed. It read like drafty workshop material. Pretty juvenile. I've enjoyed [i]Syrup[/i], though, which gave me mind to give it a second chance. Have you read both books? How'd they compare?

I've heard of Gibson for awhile, but never read any of his stuff. If he's Pynchon-esque, then I need to change that. Any recommendations for a newb to his work?

[QUOTE=Parkaboy]Was Blackbox worth slugging through? I got about 100 pages in and gave up.[/QUOTE]

I dug it. It read very much like a screenplay; not surprising, considering Nick Walker was a writer/director before he authored [i]Blackbox[/i]. Actually, it read like a Guy Ritchie screenplay, before Madonna pussified him. If you can keep your characters straight, it's worth reading through, just to find out how everybody winds up related to everybody else.

[QUOTE=wfd]I read the first chapter of [i]Jennifer Government[/i] over at nationstates.org, and was thoroughly unimpressed. It read like drafty workshop material. Pretty juvenile. I've enjoyed [i]Syrup[/i], though, which gave me mind to give it a second chance. Have you read both books? How'd they compare?

[/QUOTE]

I read both books, and loved Syrup...liked Jennifer Government.

Syrup, I think, worked so well because the character was like the writing style, spastic and scatterbrained.

Jennifer Government was a more compelling story, but I don't know if it had that same quality that Syrup did, although I still thought it was a fun read.

As for the comment that he isn't a "good writer"...it depends how you take that. If you're looking for entertainment, then I think he is. If you're looking for Faulkner, then he isn't.

But I think if you liked Syrup, you should stick with JG long enough to finish it. It also reads very quickly.

[QUOTE=snuffy]THE MAN WHO JAPED by philip k. dick. will report back.[/QUOTE]
That's one I need to read. Lies Inc. underrated, used to be under a different title and the rewrites show...BUT...seriously cool Dickian (a phrase?) ideas.

I assume you've read [I]Flow My Tears The Policeman Said, The Man in the High Castle, A Scanner darkly... and VALIS.[/I]

If you have not read the above... Go Seek Now!!!

[QUOTE=Parkaboy]That's one I need to read. Lies Inc. underrated, used to be under a different title and the rewrites show...BUT...seriously cool Dickian (a phrase?) ideas.

I assume you've read [I]Flow My Tears The Policeman Said, The Man in the High Castle, A Scanner darkly... and VALIS.[/I]

If you have not read the above... Go Seek Now!!![/QUOTE]

nope, zero for four. i have a lot of work to do, i can see.

[QUOTE=JustinHolt]As for the comment that he isn't a "good writer"...it depends how you take that. If you're looking for entertainment, then I think he is. If you're looking for Faulkner, then he isn't.[/QUOTE]

Duly noted, and agreed.

[QUOTE=Parkaboy]You simply must read[I] Days Between Stations[/I]... better than [I]Rubicon Beach[/I]... in fact, I quite liked Rubicon Beach, but [I]Days Between [/I] and [I]Tours of The Black Clock [/I] were that much better.[/QUOTE]
I have Tours of The Black Clock, The Sea Came Out at Midnight, and Rubicon Beach. I plan on reading Tours of The Black Clock soon. And Days Between Stations is on my amazon wishlist, so I will probably be buying it in my next order.

Haven't had much time to read lately but I am currently re-reading [U]The Virgin Suicides[/U]. I swear, that book just gets better every time I read it. Still trying to find a non-movie tie-in copy of THAT. Hopefully an old hardcover version (second hand, obviously) like the one the public library here has. I would totally steal that one if I didn't have to peel off the thin plastic cover to get to the barcode. If I were to peel it I would only have to remove part of it and then the book would look funny.

Riddlegimp- is [U]Eleanor Rigby[/U] really the next book club book? Wow. I totally missed that memo. That's awesome, though. Unless the basic membership doesn't include Book Club. In which case I'm as upset as I can be.

Undertow- I really hope that my constantly talking about [U]Eleanor Rigby[/U] won't set your expectations too high. I have a tendency to do that. But the book really [I]is[/I] fantastic.

[QUOTE=wfd]
I've heard of Gibson for awhile, but never read any of his stuff. If he's Pynchon-esque, then I need to change that. Any recommendations for a newb to his work?[/QUOTE]

I've read most of Gibson's books. I don't no about pynchonesque (ive only read "lot 49") but he is an amazing writer. I guess if you arent into sci-fi u may not dig him though. He wrote the shorts behind Johnny Mnemonic and New Rose Hotel. THey are both awesome stories, but apparently the movies blew. Never saw them myself. If you want to wade in the kiddy pool, start with either Burning Chrome which is a collection of shorts or Pattern Recognition, which is his newest novel. They are both great reads. Or, if you prefer to dive right in, start with Neuromancer then Count Zero and Mona Lisa overdrive cuz their kind of a trilogy. "The sky was the color of a TV tuned to a dead channel." That is probably the single greatest first sentence in any book ever.

done with my rant. I just finished Name of the Rose, which ive been reading for almost 2 months. Reading Rabbit, Run and some other junk. Waiting for Kiss Me, Judas to come in the mail.

[QUOTE=Ballerina]

Riddlegimp- is [U]Eleanor Rigby[/U] really the next book club book? Wow. I totally missed that memo. That's awesome, though. Unless the basic membership doesn't include Book Club. In which case I'm as upset as I can be.
.[/QUOTE]

Hi Ballerina,

I think that basic membership does cover the groups. Eleanor Rigby is the next book on the "CULT CLASSICS" discussion list.

Make sure you join in, sounds like you''ll have a lot to contribute!

Cheers

Riddle

I read Eleanor Rigby last year, it was decent, I'll save myself for the ocbc discussion though.

My reading list for this month is as follows, I only got two books read last month which is pretty much an all-time low, thoroughly ashamed of myself:

The Ghost Writer- Philip Roth
Ceremony-Leslie Marmon Silko
Tracks- Louise Erdrich(?)
The Dubliners-James Joyce

I might add more later if all goes well.

this prolly means i'm crazy, or at least no fun to hang around, but my two latest acquisitions are the recent pritsker edition english translation of the zohar and john perkins' shapeshifting. nonfiction, i know, i know . . .

[QUOTE=sacredchao23]I've read most of Gibson's books. I don't no about pynchonesque (ive only read "lot 49") but he is an amazing writer. I guess if you arent into sci-fi u may not dig him though. He wrote the shorts behind Johnny Mnemonic and New Rose Hotel. THey are both awesome stories, but apparently the movies blew. Never saw them myself. If you want to wade in the kiddy pool, start with either Burning Chrome which is a collection of shorts or Pattern Recognition, which is his newest novel. They are both great reads. Or, if you prefer to dive right in, start with Neuromancer then Count Zero and Mona Lisa overdrive cuz their kind of a trilogy. "The sky was the color of a TV tuned to a dead channel." That is probably the single greatest first sentence in any book ever.
[/QUOTE]
'For the Prettiest One',
Right on.
Like to add "All Tommorrow's Parties" to that list.
And that Molly might just be the single greatest female character ever created aside from Baer's Jude.

Finished up [i]Syrup[/i] on my lunch break today. Myeh. I'd still recommend it, but only on merit of entertainment value. It doesn't break any new ground, for sure, but it made me laugh, and y'know, that's enough.

Now, on to [i]The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.[/i] I read the first 20 or so pages in a Barnes 'n Noble a few months back, and have been itching to read it through ever sense.

[QUOTE=Parkaboy]You simply must read[I] Days Between Stations[/I]... better than [I]Rubicon Beach[/I]... in fact, I quite liked Rubicon Beach, but [I]Days Between [/I] and [I]Tours of The Black Clock [/I] were that much better.[/QUOTE]
Alright, I ordered Days Between Stations yesterday.

Finished Drown yesturday. To me, the stories in this book are ok. But, if you read all the stories and especially the last two, it makes the book really good. The last few stories really tie everything together.

Started Strangers by Taichi Yamada. It's the story about a guy going back to his home town and meeting a couple who totally resemble his parents at the age that they died. They are still in their 30's and he is now in his late 40's. I thought this book was going to be kind of corny, until I got to this passage on page 81:

"You may think this is a strange thing for me to ask after all this time, but..."
"What?"
"I don't know your name. I mean, since you don't display a name plate by your door."
"My word! What're you talking about? It's Harada, of course." The woman spoke my surname without a trace of self-consciousness, then burst out laughing. "This heat must have really gotten to your head. What child asks his own parents their name?"

Bret Easton Ellis had this to say about the book: "An eerie ghost story written with hypnotic clarity. He is among the best Japanese writers I have read."

[QUOTE=Vendetta]I read Eleanor Rigby last year, it was decent, I'll save myself for the ocbc discussion though.

My reading list for this month is as follows, I only got two books read last month which is pretty much an all-time low, thoroughly ashamed of myself:

The Ghost Writer- Philip Roth
Ceremony-Leslie Marmon Silko
Tracks- Louise Erdrich(?)
The Dubliners-James Joyce

I might add more later if all goes well.[/QUOTE]
The Ghost Writer was good.

[QUOTE=Echo]'For the Prettiest One',
Right on.
Like to add "All Tommorrow's Parties" to that list.
And that Molly might just be the single greatest female character ever created aside from Baer's Jude.[/QUOTE]
[I]All Tomorrow's Parties[/I] was excellent and Jude was inspired by Molly as I believe Baer said.

If you haven't read [I]Pattern Recognition [/I] yet, that too is excellent.

[QUOTE=wfd]I read the first chapter of [i]Jennifer Government[/i] over at nationstates.org, and was thoroughly unimpressed. It read like drafty workshop material. Pretty juvenile. I've enjoyed [i]Syrup[/i], though, which gave me mind to give it a second chance. Have you read both books? How'd they compare?

I've heard of Gibson for awhile, but never read any of his stuff. If he's Pynchon-esque, then I need to change that. Any recommendations for a newb to his work?[/QUOTE]
Well Neuromancer is his most famous and they just reissued it, but if you liuke Pynchon, [I]Pattern Recognition [/I] is heavily inspired by [I]The Crying of Lot 49[/I].

[QUOTE=wfd]Finished up [i]Syrup[/i] on my lunch break today. Myeh. I'd still recommend it, but only on merit of entertainment value. It doesn't break any new ground, for sure, but it made me laugh, and y'know, that's enough.

Now, on to [i]The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.[/i] I read the first 20 or so pages in a Barnes 'n Noble a few months back, and have been itching to read it through ever sense.[/QUOTE]
Wind-Up was great.

[QUOTE=PGoutis01]Alright, I ordered Days Between Stations yesterday.[/QUOTE]
Good deal.

[QUOTE=Parkaboy]The Ghost Writer was good.[/QUOTE]
I'm about halfway through it now. It's rich in description but not too wordy. Stories in stories so nicely told.

Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey

The Tesseract by Alex Garland

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Seuss

[QUOTE=urmynme]Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey

The Tesseract by Alex Garland

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Seuss[/QUOTE]
I think that Sometimes a Great Notion is the best thing that Kesey ever wrote.

Most people hated the Tesseract, but I really really liked that book.

Please Kill Me - Legs McNeil

[QUOTE=lofivinyl]Please Kill Me - Legs McNeil[/QUOTE]
What about the black hole thing, or was that online?

that's been independent online research...

[QUOTE=Parkaboy]and Jude was inspired by Molly as I believe Baer said.
[/QUOTE]
That I did not know, and yet I am not surprised in the slightest.

oh and currently reading, "Sock" by: Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller).
in a nut: it's about twisting the buddy cop story upside down and inside out, told by a 'bad' sock monkey called Dickie.
I'm amused anyway.

Strangers by Taichi Yamada was really good. Better than I thought it was going to be.

Started The Sea Came in at Midnight by Steve Erickson last night.

Backed up.

Dave Eggers - [I]How We Are Hungry[/I] (about 2/3 done)
Thom Jones - [I]The Pugilist at Rest[/I]
Arthur Neresian - [I]The Fuck-Up[/I]
Poppy Z. Brite - [I]Liquor[/I]
William S. Burroughs - [I]Junky[/I]

setting up my spring break (re)reading list. It'll probably consist of...
You Shall Know Our Velocity -- Eggers
A Brave New World -- Huxley
Fahrenheit 451 -- Bradbury
Pride and Prejudice -- Austen

Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis...

This book fooking sucks! And it's long as hell... But I made a promise to myself that, no matter how bad the book sucks, if I cared enough to start it, I have to care enough to finish it.

But man, I cannot wait for this vanity clad crap to be over with...

[QUOTE=JustinHolt]Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis...

This book fooking sucks! And it's long as hell... But I made a promise to myself that, no matter how bad the book sucks, if I cared enough to start it, I have to care enough to finish it.

But man, I cannot wait for this vanity clad crap to be over with...[/QUOTE]
I hated it too. Life's too short, I didn't bother finishing it and I can read [I]anything[/I].

I heard it was supposed to be his best. I've read all his others but looked at the back cover and didn't think much of it.

Currently reading:
The English Patient
You'll Never Eat Lunch in this Town Again
The Meaning of Hitler

[QUOTE=SnowWhite]I heard it was supposed to be his best. I've read all his others but looked at the back cover and didn't think much of it.

[/QUOTE]

This book is actually making me hate his other books as well, even though at the time I read them, I liked them...

I finished up to chapter two of [I]Stiff[/I] and it's very boring so far and, I'm afraid it's going to continue being very boring.