Author Topic: books to read  (Read 431377 times)

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colin

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2670 on: April 08, 2017, 12:45:01 PM »

ChronicBluntSlider

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2671 on: April 09, 2017, 11:10:18 AM »
Reread revolutionary road recently and forgot how amazing it is. The last scene w john giving is so fucking good. And frank is such a douche. Giving a second crack at paradise lost right now.

Blue Fescue

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2672 on: April 11, 2017, 09:32:37 AM »
Both of Harlan Hubbard's books are very good.  one about living on a shantyboat for 7 years and then one about homesteading on the ohio river for 40 years.  such an amazing person.



« Last Edit: April 11, 2017, 09:34:58 AM by rfox »

Hefe43

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2673 on: April 11, 2017, 09:13:25 PM »


 
"It?s America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco, the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some twenty years earlier the United States lost a war?and is now occupied by Nazi Germany and Japan. In it Dick offers a haunting vision of history as a nightmare from which it may just be possible to wake."
 

Philip K. Dick also wrote the stories that Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, The Adjustment Bureau, and A Scanner Darkly Movies are based on
Tyshawn seems like the kind of guy to hate everyone at least a little bit

This Thing Of Ours

Dr-Feelgood

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2674 on: April 11, 2017, 10:48:00 PM »
Just finished Travis Barkers book, was never a huge fan but i always liked Blink, anyway a buddy got me the gift as a birthday present and im glad he did, the dude lived a pretty crazy life, Definitley worth the read


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But we sure as hell know what it aint
Wait we know what it is now too -
Falling down and gettin back up

BuckyFellini

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2675 on: April 20, 2017, 10:50:16 AM »
I see McCarthy mentioned a lot in this thread which is cool. I recently decided to finish reading through all of his novels. I had read everything from Blood Meridian to The Road but knew virtually nothing about the novels he wrote before that.

The earlier novels are different from the later ones in a few ways, one of the main differences being that they take place in the American southeast instead of the southwest/Mexico, which gives the books a much different feel to them.  The Orchard Keeper (his first) was good but more of a “normal” book, not really filled with the typical McCarthy craziness. Seems like he really came into his own with the next two books, Outer Dark and Child of God, which I liked a lot more.

Outer Dark takes place in Appalachia in the early 1900s. Has a little bit of a Deliverance vibe to it. Child of God takes place in rural Tennessee in the 1960s. Both books were really good. They don’t have as much violence as some of the later books (although there is undoubtedly still violence) but they almost feel more disturbed and twisted, mainly because of the subject matter they tackle (which includes incest and necrophilia).

Just started Suttree the other day which is the last book on the list for me.  Also takes place in Tennessee. Only 50 pages in and it also feels quite different from his other novels.  So far it is much more character-driven than plot-driven but too early to say how the book will unfold.     

After I finish Suttree I think I’ll have to read In Cold Blood based on this thread.

HFS40000

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2676 on: April 20, 2017, 01:38:20 PM »


I'm digging my way through House of Leaves and it's an absolute clusterfuck but also one of the coolest books I've ever read.  Danielewski has a newer series that I've been wanting to get into but I gotta finish this one first.



Universal Harvester is pretty good too, John Darnielle is one of my favorite lyricists and it translates really well to novels too.

Abyss1

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2677 on: April 20, 2017, 01:47:20 PM »
Just started this last night and got a pretty good chunk of it finished...  Really funny and informative. and it sold out of majority of Barnes and Nobles in 24 hrs




oyolar

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2678 on: April 20, 2017, 02:02:57 PM »
I'm digging my way through House of Leaves and it's an absolute clusterfuck but also one of the coolest books I've ever read.  Danielewski has a newer series that I've been wanting to get into but I gotta finish this one first.


HoL is fucking amazing. I've been keeping up with The Familiar too (about to finish the most recent volume this weekend) and it is even more insane. I'm happy to share my thoughts on it if you care.

lickcakes

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2679 on: April 24, 2017, 09:50:31 PM »
HoL is great! You'll find it in most indie artists' bookshelves!



This book was pretty good? I guess what I took most from it was to try not to suffer from being "oppressed" by rules, and instead, work them to your advantage... just like how we recontextualize architectural spaces into something wonderful.





Just started this today. Perfect for overthinkers.

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2680 on: April 25, 2017, 06:28:11 AM »


Was able to borrow this one (its like 90E online) and it was a great read.
Its an account of the 70 story basement under centre pompidou (aka centre beaubourg) and how they created a 'underground centre for alternative modes of culture'. it reads as a critique on (neo-) liberal values or how-it-could-also-be and the role of the art(ist)s within this transformation
Its written by Albert Meister (sociologist) but original publications even more obscure, the version i read was translated and re-printed by Luca Frei

Anyone familiar with Rodolfo Walsh?
read this one
and its really good, its one of the first acts of 'investigative journalism', 9 years before Truman Capotes 'In cold blood', which is often regarded as the first example + In cold Blood was written after the killers where convicted whereas Operation Massacre was the only serious investigation of the murder of tens of men and which also acted as an accusation to those who committed the crime but where protected by the (military) state

SFblah

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2681 on: April 25, 2017, 06:58:25 AM »
I picked this up the other day because for years I've had it recommended. Only read 3 chapters but really good.


Also just started this so too soon to say much on it.


HFS40000

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2682 on: April 25, 2017, 08:47:29 AM »
Expand Quote
I'm digging my way through House of Leaves and it's an absolute clusterfuck but also one of the coolest books I've ever read.  Danielewski has a newer series that I've been wanting to get into but I gotta finish this one first.

[close]

HoL is fucking amazing. I've been keeping up with The Familiar too (about to finish the most recent volume this weekend) and it is even more insane. I'm happy to share my thoughts on it if you care.

Just barely saw this. I'm about 400 pages into HoL so I've got a pretty decent chunk left. I bought the first book of The Familiar and flipped through it to see what I'm in for, it looks pretty insane. Isn't he supposed to do like 15 of them? I don't know how he can keep that all together but he's definitely working on another level than most writers. I'm at kind of a slow part in HoL but I think I'll try and power through it tonight and get to more of the weird shit.

Alan

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2683 on: April 25, 2017, 12:54:25 PM »
I finished Heart of a Dog by Bulgakov a few days ago. I've been avoiding it for years because I didn't want to be let down after Master and Margarita, but it proved to be a great novel.

Currently reading Suspended Sentences by Patrick Modiano. I like his style. Very unassuming and meandering, but interesting enough to keep you reading.


Anyone here read Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar? I am intrigued by its form:

"Written in an episodic, snapshot manner, the novel has 155 chapters, the last 99 designated as "expendable." Some of these "expendable" chapters fill in gaps that occur in the main storyline, while others add information about the characters or record the aesthetic or literary speculations of a writer named Morelli who makes a brief appearance in the narrative. Some of the "expendable" chapters at first seem like random musings, but upon closer inspection solve questions that arise during the reading of the first two parts of the book.

An author's note suggests that the book would best be read in one of two possible ways, either progressively from chapters 1 to 56 or by "hopscotching" through the entire set of 155 chapters according to a "Table of Instructions" designated by the author. Cort?zar also leaves the reader the option of choosing a unique path through the narrative."
Hosin' out the cab of his pickup truck
He's got his 8-track playin' really fuckin' loud

smellsdead

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2684 on: April 27, 2017, 04:25:26 PM »
Super excited to read this-
my brother sent it to me for my birthday
Also he had a book of short stories published recently which i ordered and should arrive soon
Peep it- https://issuu.com/lespresseseditables/docs/les_presses_e__ditables_-_baad
Peoples history is a must

AnotherHardDayAtTheOffice

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2685 on: April 28, 2017, 09:11:52 AM »

Anyone here read Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar? I am intrigued by its form:

"Written in an episodic, snapshot manner, the novel has 155 chapters, the last 99 designated as "expendable." Some of these "expendable" chapters fill in gaps that occur in the main storyline, while others add information about the characters or record the aesthetic or literary speculations of a writer named Morelli who makes a brief appearance in the narrative. Some of the "expendable" chapters at first seem like random musings, but upon closer inspection solve questions that arise during the reading of the first two parts of the book.

An author's note suggests that the book would best be read in one of two possible ways, either progressively from chapters 1 to 56 or by "hopscotching" through the entire set of 155 chapters according to a "Table of Instructions" designated by the author. Cort?zar also leaves the reader the option of choosing a unique path through the narrative."

Haven't read Hopscotch yet, but I'm about to. Same here, I love experimental fiction with that sort of style. It reminds me a lot of The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano. I'm sure Cortazar's work was a big influence on Bolano. Anyway, if anyone has already read Hopscotch, I'd be interested what you thought about it, too.

SFblah

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2686 on: May 01, 2017, 06:41:19 AM »
I just finished this which is really relevant at this time. Luiselli (Story of My Teeth) volunteered in NY immigration courts to interview children who travelled alone from South America and the answers to the 40 questions were used by their lawyer to help build their case on avoiding deportation. I can't imagine living in NY and then paying a coyote to bring your 10yr old up from Honduras, Guatemala, or El Salvador and hoping they make it.




Thrillho

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2687 on: May 01, 2017, 12:31:13 PM »
I just finished It, which took like a month because I read slow as shit and King insists on describing someone unable to scream for 3 paragraphs.

I saw the movie as a 4 or 5 year old and it scared me for years, so I wanted to understand better what I was so afraid of.  Also, the new movie is coming out and I just gotta be that "well, IN THE BOOK" guy.  I assume they won't be biting tongues and having a psychic arm wrestle through space in the new movie.  People want to see that clown.

I liked his overall appreciation and expression of childhood.  Kind of like in a Lovecraft story, the knowledge or truth of It destroys them, but not every aspect.  It ends their childhood.
It as a character was a let down for me, as I have come to almost expect from King's top tier bad guys.  Henry was much more interesting/scary, as well as the chapter of Patrick.  Tom seemed a little excessive and drawn out with no real point in the end.

Favorite parts:
Suicidal Bill stealing his dad's gun and shooting Teenage Werewolf in the face like 5 times.
Paul Bunyan statue coming to life.
Everyone using Eddie's resporator like a 6 Demon Bag.
Henry talking to the moon.
Eddie getting snaked by a scooter.

n0torious

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2688 on: May 01, 2017, 12:49:07 PM »


This was fantastic. If you like true crime, read it. The Osage tribe once had the wealthiest people per capita in the world, as their reservation contained lucrative oil deposits. But one by one they kept dying under questionable circumstances. The book reconstructs the case, focusing on an Osage woman who survived the slaughter, and the FBI agent J. Edgar Hoover sent to solve it. It's not like you *need* more examples of the soul corroding impact of white supremacy, but you get a particularly pummeling instance in Killers of the Flower Moon. Apparently Leo is going to make it into a movie.

SFblah

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2689 on: May 01, 2017, 12:57:33 PM »


This was fantastic. If you like true crime, read it. The Osage tribe once had the wealthiest people per capita in the world, as their reservation contained lucrative oil deposits. But one by one they kept dying under questionable circumstances. The book reconstructs the case, focusing on an Osage woman who survived the slaughter, and the FBI agent J. Edgar Hoover sent to solve it. It's not like you *need* more examples of the soul corroding impact of white supremacy, but you get a particularly pummeling instance in Killers of the Flower Moon. Apparently Leo is going to make it into a movie.

I heard this guy interviewed on a podcast and wanna read this so bad.

n0torious

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2690 on: May 01, 2017, 01:07:28 PM »
I heard this guy interviewed on a podcast and wanna read this so bad.

Same! Flew through it, gripping read.

oyolar

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2691 on: May 01, 2017, 08:23:23 PM »
Alan - Hopscotch sounds amazing.  I'll put it on my list but not sure when I'll get to it.

Expand Quote
Expand Quote
I'm digging my way through House of Leaves and it's an absolute clusterfuck but also one of the coolest books I've ever read.  Danielewski has a newer series that I've been wanting to get into but I gotta finish this one first.

[close]

HoL is fucking amazing. I've been keeping up with The Familiar too (about to finish the most recent volume this weekend) and it is even more insane. I'm happy to share my thoughts on it if you care.
[close]

Just barely saw this. I'm about 400 pages into HoL so I've got a pretty decent chunk left. I bought the first book of The Familiar and flipped through it to see what I'm in for, it looks pretty insane. Isn't he supposed to do like 15 of them? I don't know how he can keep that all together but he's definitely working on another level than most writers. I'm at kind of a slow part in HoL but I think I'll try and power through it tonight and get to more of the weird shit.

Depending on how you're reading HoL, you're probably further along than you think.  I remember when I read it, showing my friends my copy of the book and saying "I'm barely halfway through" but having like 2 or 3 bookmarks in the page and them saying "well, it looks like you've read a lot!" before I realized that I was more like 3/4 of the way through it.  I love that book and should probably re-read it sooner than later.

As for The Familiar, he's actually doing 27 volumes - which is even more insane.  It's basically like HoL and The 50 Year Sword but ramped up to a million and throw in more imagery and picture.  It's insane but what I appreciate about Danielewski is that it never feels random or pointless.  You feel ok trusting that he knows what he's doing and what he's aiming for.  He might not always succeed (see Only Revolutions), but it's never pointless. 

What I find so fascinating about The Familiar is that he's balancing 9 storylines and even though you know that they'll all eventually intersect, you can imagine that being dragged out in a meaningful, entertaining, and impactful way over 27 volumes.  Except they're already starting to intersect 4 volume in.  So that just makes me wonder how insane will it get later on?

But I finished Vol. 4, so I'm on to By The Night in Chile by Bolano.  It's neither an easy nor overly long read - I don't think Bolano is difficult to read but he's still thorough and dense and the whole book is around 110 pages long - but it's written as a rant basically so while it's easy to get wrapped up, you never are sure where you'll get a clean break to pull yourself out.  So if you don't have an hour to spend on the story, it's difficult to pick the book up.  Still intriguing but I'm basically reading it to try and get to my next Bataille book.

HFS40000

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2692 on: May 02, 2017, 04:05:52 PM »
Alan - Hopscotch sounds amazing.  I'll put it on my list but not sure when I'll get to it.

Expand Quote
Expand Quote
Expand Quote
I'm digging my way through House of Leaves and it's an absolute clusterfuck but also one of the coolest books I've ever read.  Danielewski has a newer series that I've been wanting to get into but I gotta finish this one first.

[close]

HoL is fucking amazing. I've been keeping up with The Familiar too (about to finish the most recent volume this weekend) and it is even more insane. I'm happy to share my thoughts on it if you care.
[close]

Just barely saw this. I'm about 400 pages into HoL so I've got a pretty decent chunk left. I bought the first book of The Familiar and flipped through it to see what I'm in for, it looks pretty insane. Isn't he supposed to do like 15 of them? I don't know how he can keep that all together but he's definitely working on another level than most writers. I'm at kind of a slow part in HoL but I think I'll try and power through it tonight and get to more of the weird shit.
[close]




What I find so fascinating about The Familiar is that he's balancing 9 storylines and even though you know that they'll all eventually intersect, you can imagine that being dragged out in a meaningful, entertaining, and impactful way over 27 volumes.  Except they're already starting to intersect 4 volume in.  So that just makes me wonder how insane will it get later on?


He's definitely really good at this.  All of the major shifts in form are eased into pretty naturally, so you feel it unfolding around you before you're in the middle of something crazy.  I'm surprised how engaged I still am even after things have nearly gone off the rails a dozen different ways, because he still plays by his own set of rules that keep it grounded enough to understand and keep a good grip on all that's going on.

shitsandwich

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2693 on: May 07, 2017, 10:27:49 PM »
Just started this last night and got a pretty good chunk of it finished...  Really funny and informative. and it sold out of majority of Barnes and Nobles in 24 hrs





I'm reading this too! I'm a big fan of his and even though he's talked about a lot of these stories on air its cool to hear the in depth versions. A lot of my reading has been kind of dense lately so its nice to read something easy and fun.

Peter Zagreus

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2694 on: May 13, 2017, 11:19:47 PM »





« Last Edit: May 26, 2017, 10:46:14 AM by Peter Zagreus »

SFblah

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2695 on: May 26, 2017, 07:30:33 AM »
Started this. Pretty weird so far.

shitsandwich

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2696 on: May 26, 2017, 09:27:44 PM »
I've tried to read Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevksy a few times but always end up reading something else. Has anyone read it and confirm its worth the read?

shark tits

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2697 on: May 27, 2017, 07:33:24 AM »
I've tried to read Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevksy a few times but always end up reading something else. Has anyone read it and confirm its worth the read?
i've had the same experience reading his 'the idiot'. every time i start it i end up getting kicked off the farm and leaving book behind/returning to library.
crime and punishment goes though! raskolnikov is about the greatest name for a character, the cop's friendly ways of banter to get the confession, the whore [good whore forced by capitalism? before revolution] and the shitty landlady.
also, taking responsibilty and some other concepts.
i liked it a lot and also karamazov. read notes from underground but don't really recall anything about it.

Grind King Rims

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2698 on: May 27, 2017, 08:52:42 AM »
Read Post Office by Charles Bukowski on a 4 hour flight last week. Despite how much of a piece of shit he is, I always enjoy reading his writing.

Meanwhile I've been 200 pages away from finishing A Little Life for about a month or two now.

shitsandwich

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Re: books to read
« Reply #2699 on: May 27, 2017, 12:22:30 PM »
Expand Quote
I've tried to read Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevksy a few times but always end up reading something else. Has anyone read it and confirm its worth the read?
[close]
i've had the same experience reading his 'the idiot'. every time i start it i end up getting kicked off the farm and leaving book behind/returning to library.
crime and punishment goes though! raskolnikov is about the greatest name for a character, the cop's friendly ways of banter to get the confession, the whore [good whore forced by capitalism? before revolution] and the shitty landlady.
also, taking responsibilty and some other concepts.
i liked it a lot and also karamazov. read notes from underground but don't really recall anything about it.

Alright I'm giving it another chance!