Whatcha reading this April?
Just got me Sun Tzu's ART OF WAR. It's a thin book with just the original translated text. No essays in between, no explanations, just the old school saying of Master Sun. Maybe Iater I'll read some more on what was written about the original text, but for now I'm gonna tackle it like this.
I also bought McMurtry's THE LAST PICTURE SHOW from the secondhand bookstore.
[QUOTE=Mr. Brown]Just got me Sun Tzu's ART OF WAR. It's a thin book with just the original translated text. No essays in between, no explanations, just the old school saying of Master Sun. Maybe Iater I'll read some more on what was written about the original text, but for now I'm gonna tackle it like this.[/QUOTE]
The art of war is not one of my bedside table books, it IS my bedside table.
[I]The Little Prince[/I] is excellent. Not read it in a long time, or in English but i'd like to. I love the illustrations.
I am currently reading [I]Byron: Life and Legend[/I] by Fiona MacCarthy. It has been described as 'one of the great literary biographies of our lifetime.' I've only read about an eighth of it (it's a beast of a book) but it's really good so far. Byron comes across as an utter asshole, unsurprisingly. In addition it is possibly the only biography to delve into his gay love affairs.
Next book on my list is probably going to be [I]Never Let Me Go[/I] by Kazuo Ishiguro. Despite being shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize last year it looks pretty mumsy but i'll give it a go. My mum gave it to me incidentally.
I saw the film of The Little Prince last night, it was okay. Some of the messages got lost but the important ones were all there. The song/dance numbers were unintentionally hilarious.
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[QUOTE=franc tireur]The art of war is not one of my bedside table books, it IS my bedside table.[/QUOTE]
Did it have an effect on how you live/lived your life and do you practice the text? Was it benificial to you?
i first read it when i was 14 or 15, and thanks to it i avoided the phase of political idealism that is often associated to teenage. the book is really about how to deal with conflict, and it's practical approach doesn't leave much to smoky ideology.
i read it again a few years ago when i started aikido, and it took a new meaning to me, because it's a written explanation of the technical principles of asian martial arts, only applied to armies instead of individuals.
if anyone's interested, sonshi.com is a site devoted to the study of The Art of War, with a forum.
also to read : Tao Te Ching (Lao Zi), the philosophical foundation of the SunZi.
[QUOTE=franc tireur]also to read : Tao Te Ching (Lao Zi), the philosophical foundation of the SunZi.[/QUOTE]
I read that some time ago and liked most of it. It has some very nice ideas and is at times quite poetic. Parts of it sounded to me like "how to be a fascist leader" but overall I really liked it. Last weekend I so happened to buy a 1921 edition of the text in German. I liked the hard covers and the old-book smell and all that.
The latest Adrian Mole book at the moment. It's like meeting up with an old childhood friend.
Then I'm gonna be reading some John Fante from the Bandini Quartet, In cold blood or Naked Lunch.
It's gonna be a good month.
This month I'll probably read Fight club (Palahniuk), Filth (Welsh), Fear And Loathing ( Thompson), Less Than Zero (Ellis), The Rules of Attraction (Ellis).
Depends on homework load.
I'm two chapters into Moore's "A Dirty Job"
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Tumble Home by Hempel and then maybe The Idiot by Dostoevsky, I'm in the mood to be completely absorbed in books this month.
my bedside table book at the moment is "La sombra del Viento" (the shadow of the wind) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
i'm reading "Haunted" on the subway
antes ser rico e saudavel do que pobre e doente
Right now, I'm reading [i]The Sun Also Rises[/i] by Ernest Hemingway.
I'm currently about halfway through [I]Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence[/I]. I have been getting through it pretty slowly, but so far it has been nothing short of fascinating.
[B]Thus Spake Zarathustra[/B] (Friedrich Nietzsche)
Vive la Germany !
after watching that factotum flick last night, today it was a trip to the bookstore to get Ham on rye, factotum, and notes of a dirty old man
[QUOTE=188416]Tumble Home by Hempel and then maybe The Idiot by Dostoevsky, I'm in the mood to be completely absorbed in books this month.[/QUOTE]
if you dig "The Idiot" make sure to check out The gambler, The Double amd a Dream of a ridiculous Man
Ive become a comeplte Dosteoevsky pimp here lately
[QUOTE=nathaniel parker]after watching that factotum flick last night, today it was a trip to the bookstore to get Ham on rye, factotum, and notes of a dirty old man[/QUOTE]
I have Factotum at the top of my rental list. Saw Barfly and it was OK.
LOVE BUKOWSKI.
He is my favourite and those three books are great choices. Also check out Post Office and Women.
And everything else.
Though I can't comment on 'The most beautiful women in town' cause I haven't read that one yet. Or hollywood. 
I need more money.
And if you like Bukowski you'll fucking love Fante. Read the Bandini Quartet.
[QUOTE=188416]
Though I can't comment on 'The most beautiful women in town' cause I haven't read that one yet. Or hollywood. I need more money.
And if you like Bukowski you'll fucking love Fante. Read the Bandini Quartet.[/QUOTE]
"The most beautiful woman in town" is my favourite of his short story collections. It's a good mix of his everyday-being-bukowski-and-drinking-gambling-fucking-and-fighting stories and some more crazy stuff as well. Like the story where he gets shrunk and used as a sex toy. Or the one where the president is kidnapped by hitler.
"Hollywood" is good but not as good as the rest of the novels. Still worth a read though, especially if you're interested in the less than spectacular workings of the movie industry.
I've read Ask the Dust which is great and am just about to start on the Bandini Quartet.
You and me should be friends cause we have awesome taste.
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
&
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
"The Room" .....Hubert Selby Jr.
Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa and I'm on my second read thru of House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski.
That might be all for this month. Yeah, I'm slackin'.
[QUOTE=188416]You and me should be friends cause we have awesome taste.[/QUOTE]
You just made yourself a friend!
Aww shucks, I'm a sucker for compliments.
[QUOTE=britrocker]You just made yourself a friend!
Aww shucks, I'm a sucker for compliments.[/QUOTE]
Well then secret admirer me back!
[QUOTE=188416]Well then secret admirer me back![/QUOTE]
Haha done.
You're not very secretive are you...
I put the B in subtle.
I just finished "Jesus and the Lost Goddes" - everything you know about Christianity is wrong!
The next book I will be starting is called "The Jesus Mysteries: Was the Original Jesus a Pagan God?" by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy. Seek the truth!
"Too many to list" by Various Authors
Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets
Shampoo Planet: Douglas Coupland
God's Debris: Douglas Adams
Pretty sweet, I know.
[QUOTE=TheCrunge]Right now, I'm reading [i]The Sun Also Rises[/i] by Ernest Hemingway.[/QUOTE]
Almost done. I'll probably finish it by tomorrow night. What should I read next? Sartre? Kierkegaard? Dostoevsky? Something else?
I'm at the Naked Lunch, for about the umpteenth time. Maybe this time I'll get past the rimjob part, but I doubt it. Any other Burroughs fans in here? Anyone other fans manage to never finish a single work?
[img]http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/fan/cw/allstars/apprentice_Robert.koskulics.gif[/img]
God's Debris is beyond badass. Gotten to the Religion War yet? Both great works, and Scott Adams has the title of being my favorite author who has written more books than he's read. Rare gift, to say the least.
[img]http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/fan/cw/allstars/apprentice_Robert.koskulics.gif[/img]
[QUOTE=Robert.Koskulics]God's Debris is beyond badass. Gotten to the Religion War yet? [/QUOTE]
Not yet. God's Debris was lent to me a few years ago by a computer programming teacher of mine who always talked about some cool things, so I took him up on the offer. I just started thinking about it the other day thinking it'd be good to read it again, so I picked it up. Found out about Religion War then and it will probably be my next purchase.
Okay, I finished [I]The Sun Also Rises[/I] on the bus ride home today. Just got back from the library. Picked up three books while I was there: [i]A Farewell To Arms[/i] by Ernest Hemingway, [i]This Side Of Paradise[/i] by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and [i]The Age Of Reason[/i] by Jean-Paul Sartre. Which one should I read? Hmmm...
The Age Of Reason - cause it rocks hardcore.
A few of my friends say I remind them of Ivich, so read it and maybe if my friends are right you'll know a little bit more about me.
Okay, I was leaning toward that one anyway. I think I will start with that one.
"V" by Thomas Pynchon. I'm totally reading his books in the wrong order. I read Gravity's Rainbow first and it was a bit like trying to eat an entire turkey in one sitting, with dessert.
[I]Fuck not with Rocketman [/I]
[QUOTE=bchordjam]Not yet. God's Debris was lent to me a few years ago by a computer programming teacher of mine who always talked about some cool things, so I took him up on the offer. I just started thinking about it the other day thinking it'd be good to read it again, so I picked it up. Found out about Religion War then and it will probably be my next purchase.[/QUOTE]
After seeing you guys talk about it I decided to download both books. I read God's Debris this morning and it was pretty interesting. I noticed several factual or logical flaws but there was a lot of valuble stuff as well. I might even try the affirmations thing.
I'll read The Religion War later today.
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I read The Religion Wars by Scott Adams, it's good. The main character, Avatar, reminded me a little of the hero in Dune. I loved the chapter called 'Mensa'.
I recommended it to my friend and he recommended me 'Freakonomics - A Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side Of Everything' by Levitt and Dubner. It's pretty interesting.
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Im half way through haunted, and after that ima start The Da Vinci Code, wanna read it before the movie comes out.
Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre and I'll be continuing Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (ugh!)
Tumble Home was so amazing. I think my timing in reading it was spot on, so much of it touched me.
The Idiot is going great so far but I haven't read much yet.
Just finished 'A Dirty Job'. It was so-so. Kinda 'Dead like Me' meets Shrek.
I just reached into the pile and pulled "Nothing Burns in Hell" by Philip Jose Farmer. I'll start it tonight.
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Birthday month, so I got the Zombie Survivors Guide (spectacular) and Amy Hempel's new one. Plus a couple of books on writing. Trainspotting once again goes unfinished.
[QUOTE=nathaniel parker]"Too many to list" by Various Authors[/QUOTE]
Did you giggle to yourself as you thought of this?
You probably did you sad sack.
:You_Rock_ :You_Rock_ :You_Rock_
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Lazlosdead/completeLazloSig.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE=the midas touch]Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre and I'll be continuing Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (ugh!)[/QUOTE]
Vernon God Little.. pretty funny book.
I'm reading Happy Baby by Stephen Elliott.
Deception Point - by this websites most revered author Dan Brown
Think for yourself. Question Authority.
I was sort of thinking about reading all the Hitchiker's Guides. I never read them. You know, something funny and light. Might be nice for summer.
Bastard, I was about to start a thread called 'Whatcha readin' this April, fools!'
I just read The Little Prince, it's a childrens book with lots of interesting little messages in it. Now I'm going to read 'River Out Of Eden' by Richard Dawkins.
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