books to read

[oyolar]

Adding the Egan book to my list, ta!

At the moment, I'm reading quite light fare fiction wise, Angels in the Moonlight by Caimh McDonnell. The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa is up next (thanks to Rich who recommended it here!). I read the first few pages the other day and I'm into it already.

Nice - let me know what you think of it!

Went through a few books since the last time this thread popped up:
Weather by Jenny Offill
Crash by J.G. Ballard
The Sorcerer’s Apprentices by Lisa Abend (great book about what it’s like to work a stage at elBulli. I devoured it in a weekend.)
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk.

Has anyone read Otessa Moshfegh? I tried to start Eileen but made the mistake of reading a profile on Moshfegh beforehand that really did not make her sound great and it turned me off on trying. So I’m waiting to forget that profile before I try her again.

And then for audio books, I listened to Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener, which got a lot of hype but fell flat to me. It sounded like every other tech person who was disillusioned by the tech industries memoir, except she actually almost made it a career. It didn’t break new ground at all. You All Grow Up and Leave Me by Piper Weiss was really good though. I finished listening to that in no time. A great memoir of a woman growing up while being coached by Gary Wilensky, this well-respected tennis coach who ended up being a child predator and killing himself after failing to kidnap an ex-student of his. A really good blend of investigative reporting and personal writing.

Decided that now is as good a time as ever and started Infinite Jest this past weekend. Wish me luck.

[Nosferatu]

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Adding the Egan book to my list, ta!

At the moment, I'm reading quite light fare fiction wise, Angels in the Moonlight by Caimh McDonnell. The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa is up next (thanks to Rich who recommended it here!). I read the first few pages the other day and I'm into it already.

[close]

Nice - let me know what you think of it!

Went through a few books since the last time this thread popped up:
Weather by Jenny Offill
Crash by J.G. Ballard
The Sorcerer’s Apprentices by Lisa Abend (great book about what it’s like to work a stage at elBulli. I devoured it in a weekend.)
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk.

Has anyone read Otessa Moshfegh? I tried to start Eileen but made the mistake of reading a profile on Moshfegh beforehand that really did not make her sound great and it turned me off on trying. So I’m waiting to forget that profile before I try her again.

And then for audio books, I listened to Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener, which got a lot of hype but fell flat to me. It sounded like every other tech person who was disillusioned by the tech industries memoir, except she actually almost made it a career. It didn’t break new ground at all. You All Grow Up and Leave Me by Piper Weiss was really good though. I finished listening to that in no time. A great memoir of a woman growing up while being coached by Gary Wilensky, this well-respected tennis coach who ended up being a child predator and killing himself after failing to kidnap an ex-student of his. A really good blend of investigative reporting and personal writing.

Decided that now is as good a time as ever and started Infinite Jest this past weekend. Wish me luck.

What did you think of Weather? I hadn’t read her first book so the short burst style took me a minute to get the pacing. I enjoyed it though.

[Nosferatu]

I'm Thinking of Ending Things is a really good suspenseful horror-thriller type book, I'm about to start re-reading it actually. It's semi-recent too.

https://wetransfer.com/downloads/cfb43b893890d5ab04813322743b24b020200406164012/ef37387e37f3174cb67570f7856eed1120200406164038/780696
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_Thinking_of_Ending_Things

I was thinking of picking this up soon. Charlie Kaufman is directing a movie of it.

[childhood]

Yeah that's actually why I read it in the first place. Really looking forward to that movie, hopefully it won't wind up getting delayed.

[oyolar]

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Adding the Egan book to my list, ta!

At the moment, I'm reading quite light fare fiction wise, Angels in the Moonlight by Caimh McDonnell. The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa is up next (thanks to Rich who recommended it here!). I read the first few pages the other day and I'm into it already.

[close]

Nice - let me know what you think of it!

Went through a few books since the last time this thread popped up:
Weather by Jenny Offill
Crash by J.G. Ballard
The Sorcerer’s Apprentices by Lisa Abend (great book about what it’s like to work a stage at elBulli. I devoured it in a weekend.)
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk.

Has anyone read Otessa Moshfegh? I tried to start Eileen but made the mistake of reading a profile on Moshfegh beforehand that really did not make her sound great and it turned me off on trying. So I’m waiting to forget that profile before I try her again.

And then for audio books, I listened to Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener, which got a lot of hype but fell flat to me. It sounded like every other tech person who was disillusioned by the tech industries memoir, except she actually almost made it a career. It didn’t break new ground at all. You All Grow Up and Leave Me by Piper Weiss was really good though. I finished listening to that in no time. A great memoir of a woman growing up while being coached by Gary Wilensky, this well-respected tennis coach who ended up being a child predator and killing himself after failing to kidnap an ex-student of his. A really good blend of investigative reporting and personal writing.

Decided that now is as good a time as ever and started Infinite Jest this past weekend. Wish me luck.

[close]

What did you think of Weather? I hadn’t read her first book so the short burst style took me a minute to get the pacing. I enjoyed it though.

I thought it was good but different from what I was expecting at first. It was similar to History. A Mess. which I read earlier this year in that both had weird premises and the author had to decide whether to take a more internal/personal exploration or explore the external, weird situation more. I thought and hoped both would explore the external situation more, but they both took the internal path. Which was fine, but it took a little more time to get into it for me then.

I didn’t expect the short blurb style either but I think it was an interesting way to kind of mimic text messages, tweets, social media posts, etc. and kinda reflect what it’s like to communicate and interact with the digital world today.

[Jagr]

i picked this up at a local bookstore like a week before everything got shutdown because of covid. i remember i could really feel the tension in some of the employees there, like they were a bit bummed every time i touched a book and potentially put my germs there. when you think about it bookstores are quite unsanitary in this way. but still awesome places and i want to visit them more when this virus situation chills out. my city has a lot of them which is a special thing.

anyways glad i found this book, i read and enjoyed the original book a lot, always fun to read about how well respected creative people in the past got to work. this one is exactly the same format and everything, except it focuses exclusively on women, which is cool. haven't started it yet but im sure it will be good like the first one

Didn't realize there was a second daily rituals book. I loved the first. Need to check out. I wish it was easier to support the local bookstores, especially used bookstores, in my town right now...none have online or phone ordering or anything like that.

[Fat Tire]

Yeah that's actually why I read it in the first place. Really looking forward to that movie, hopefully it won't wind up getting delayed.

Wes Watson sucks dick.

Started reading the Great Shark Hunt by Hunter S. Thompson, don't know why it took me this long to pick it up. Some really great stuff in here.

[brycickle]

Wes Watson sucks dick.

Was he your cellie? how do you know this? Inquiring minds want to know!

[givediptoboogieboarders]

Hop onn pop is dope

[Grind King Rims]

Hardcopy books are one of the only things i spend money on, but y'all ever heard of z library project? over 5million free ebooks, with really good titles, contemporary and out of print, texts, articles, and more...

 peep this: https://b-ok.cc/

For whatever reason, I presumed that the only books on this would be commercial flops or books I've never heard of.

Looked up a bunch of books from the past few pages of this thread and they're all on there for free. Registered an account and got the PDF's, emailed them to myself, gonna print them out at work because I can't really read a full book on a laptop.

Cheers for the recommendation.

[jason54]

The book thief- the story of a young German girl and her infatuation with books in the midst of World War II.

[Alan]

On a scale of 1-10, how sad is it?

[AnotherHardDayAtTheOffice]

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Adding the Egan book to my list, ta!

At the moment, I'm reading quite light fare fiction wise, Angels in the Moonlight by Caimh McDonnell. The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa is up next (thanks to Rich who recommended it here!). I read the first few pages the other day and I'm into it already.

[close]

Nice - let me know what you think of it!

Went through a few books since the last time this thread popped up:
Weather by Jenny Offill
Crash by J.G. Ballard
The Sorcerer’s Apprentices by Lisa Abend (great book about what it’s like to work a stage at elBulli. I devoured it in a weekend.)
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk.

Has anyone read Otessa Moshfegh? I tried to start Eileen but made the mistake of reading a profile on Moshfegh beforehand that really did not make her sound great and it turned me off on trying. So I’m waiting to forget that profile before I try her again.

And then for audio books, I listened to Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener, which got a lot of hype but fell flat to me. It sounded like every other tech person who was disillusioned by the tech industries memoir, except she actually almost made it a career. It didn’t break new ground at all. You All Grow Up and Leave Me by Piper Weiss was really good though. I finished listening to that in no time. A great memoir of a woman growing up while being coached by Gary Wilensky, this well-respected tennis coach who ended up being a child predator and killing himself after failing to kidnap an ex-student of his. A really good blend of investigative reporting and personal writing.

Decided that now is as good a time as ever and started Infinite Jest this past weekend. Wish me luck.

This one's been on my list for quite a while now. Haven't read anything by Tokarczuk yet. What was your impression?

[oyolar]

It was good! It was definitely what they described, which is a thriller and fairy tale mix. Very interesting and pleasant to go through. I wouldn't say it's the best thing I've ever read, but there are some interesting parts for sure. Her most recently translated Flights is supposed to be really good.

[drewsmahgoos]

I said it earlier in the thread but I'm reading Infinite Jest. The book is big but not daunting at all once you start on it. I'm generally into Russian Lit so I've knocked out some bigger books but this reads nothing like them. It's a blast to read and I literally laugh out loud at some of the shit that's written in it.

I haven't finished it but it's really hard not to think that David Foster Wallace is a genius after starting in on this book. His mastery of the English language is sincerely obvious from the start and it's a book that doesn't take itself too seriously which makes reading it that much more fun.

Anyone else read this book? Would love to talk about some Russian novels too if anyone has an interest.

[oyolar]

I just started IJ and our experiences could not be any more different. Granted, I’ve not had much time to dedicate to it and am only about 100 pages in so I hope I can get more into it.

[drewsmahgoos]

I just started IJ and our experiences could not be any more different. Granted, I’ve not had much time to dedicate to it and am only about 100 pages in so I hope I can get more into it.

Damn, sorry to hear that. I fell in love within the first 20 pages or so. I couldn't stop laughing from the beginning. What books are you generally a fan of?

[oyolar]

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I just started IJ and our experiences could not be any more different. Granted, I’ve not had much time to dedicate to it and am only about 100 pages in so I hope I can get more into it.

[close]

Damn, sorry to hear that. I fell in love within the first 20 pages or so. I couldn't stop laughing from the beginning. What books are you generally a fan of?

"Literary" fiction I guess is what it's generally classified as. I like experimental, post-modern stuff. Nabokov and Joyce are my favorite authors, as well as Knausgaard (haven't had a chance to read his fiction yet though), Danielewski (although his later stuff doesn't pack the punch House of Leaves did). I went through a Pynchon phase and still like him but haven't picked him up in a while.

I also really like DFW's non-fiction, but wasn't super into Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and hated The Broom of the System. But I heard IJ was exponentially better and have meant to read it for a while but I'm just not seeing it. It's a weird premise but it's stylistically the same as all of his other stuff and I just don't like his style for fiction.

[childhood]

I feel lame posting a pitchfork link, but this is worth checking out:
https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/the-curious-case-of-the-bootleg-david-berman-literary-collection/
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NSMNJBshcK9uNDizqQnL8Sk-YgQB5wCi5n_OWobbaus/edit
I've been listening to that Purple Mountains album a ton since being in quarantine, so I'm pretty excited to dig into more of his writing.

[MC Solaar]

Been reading Farenheit 451 in isolation in Sydney. The book is actually beautifully written, reads very fluidly, but I feel like a lot of actual plot is engulfed by description. Regardless, fucking good book so far.

[MC Solaar]

Also, finished Good Morning Midnight by Jean Rhys lately. Can easily say it is one of my favourite books of all time. Her writing style is mad.

[oyolar]

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I just started IJ and our experiences could not be any more different. Granted, I’ve not had much time to dedicate to it and am only about 100 pages in so I hope I can get more into it.

[close]

Damn, sorry to hear that. I fell in love within the first 20 pages or so. I couldn't stop laughing from the beginning. What books are you generally a fan of?

[close]

"Literary" fiction I guess is what it's generally classified as. I like experimental, post-modern stuff. Nabokov and Joyce are my favorite authors, as well as Knausgaard (haven't had a chance to read his fiction yet though), Danielewski (although his later stuff doesn't pack the punch House of Leaves did). I went through a Pynchon phase and still like him but haven't picked him up in a while.

I also really like DFW's non-fiction, but wasn't super into Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and hated The Broom of the System. But I heard IJ was exponentially better and have meant to read it for a while but I'm just not seeing it. It's a weird premise but it's stylistically the same as all of his other stuff and I just don't like his style for fiction.

Sorry to quote myself but I threw in the towel on IJ. I got about 140 pages in and realized I hated every second of it and when I decided to completely skip a section written in DFW's offensive AAVE literation and then debated skipping the next section which was a transcript of Hal (AKA DFW) jerking himself off over analyzing old TV shows, I realized this book was never going to be for me. Did some googling to make sure I wasn't crazy and found this, which perfectly encapsulated my feelings (although I actually enjoyed Finnegans Wake): http://www.cosmoetica.com/B326-DES266.htm.

This is a much longer and more angsty article that's overall kinda "eh" but does a good job of describing a tendency that has crystallized for me the more I read DFW and read about DFW and feel more secure in my conclusion that he's overall an arrogant person and an arrogant novelist with little to no capacity for humanism or empathy outside of that which he can directly relate to and twist to grandize himself (see his article "Back in New Fire," but also his highly criticized Signifying Rappers and Everything and More, and his bigotry and dogwhistles in IJ itself i.e. describing Hal, who he portrays as hopelessly pot-addled as “atavistically dark-complected,” his repeated use of the word “faggy” not as some insight into a character but as a narrative adjective, and his inclusion of a character that was not only forced to disguise himself (herself?) in women’s clothing but it was also revealed was basically forced to live in blackface for a year?): http://exiledonline.com/david-foster-wallace-portrait-of-an-infinitely-limited-mind/

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I realize that DFW actually perfectly describes himself in the book itself in a sentence that I’d probably say was ironic if only he didn’t hate that word and take himself super seriously: “a lot of it...was admittedly just plain pretentious and unengaging and bad, and probably not helped at all by the man’s very gradual spiral into...crippling dipsomania.”

[drewsmahgoos]

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I just started IJ and our experiences could not be any more different. Granted, I’ve not had much time to dedicate to it and am only about 100 pages in so I hope I can get more into it.

[close]

Damn, sorry to hear that. I fell in love within the first 20 pages or so. I couldn't stop laughing from the beginning. What books are you generally a fan of?

[close]

"Literary" fiction I guess is what it's generally classified as. I like experimental, post-modern stuff. Nabokov and Joyce are my favorite authors, as well as Knausgaard (haven't had a chance to read his fiction yet though), Danielewski (although his later stuff doesn't pack the punch House of Leaves did). I went through a Pynchon phase and still like him but haven't picked him up in a while.

I also really like DFW's non-fiction, but wasn't super into Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and hated The Broom of the System. But I heard IJ was exponentially better and have meant to read it for a while but I'm just not seeing it. It's a weird premise but it's stylistically the same as all of his other stuff and I just don't like his style for fiction.

[close]

Sorry to quote myself but I threw in the towel on IJ. I got about 140 pages in and realized I hated every second of it and when I decided to completely skip a section written in DFW's offensive AAVE literation and then debated skipping the next section which was a transcript of Hal (AKA DFW) jerking himself off over analyzing old TV shows, I realized this book was never going to be for me. Did some googling to make sure I wasn't crazy and found this, which perfectly encapsulated my feelings (although I actually enjoyed Finnegans Wake): http://www.cosmoetica.com/B326-DES266.htm.

This is a much longer and more angsty article that's overall kinda "eh" but does a good job of describing a tendency that has crystallized for me the more I read DFW and read about DFW and feel more secure in my conclusion that he's overall an arrogant person and an arrogant novelist with little to no capacity for humanism or empathy outside of that which he can directly relate to and twist to grandize himself (see his article "Back in New Fire," but also his highly criticized Signifying Rappers and Everything and More, and his bigotry and dogwhistles in IJ itself i.e. describing Hal, who he portrays as hopelessly pot-addled as “atavistically dark-complected,” his repeated use of the word “faggy” not as some insight into a character but as a narrative adjective, and his inclusion of a character that was not only forced to disguise himself (herself?) in women’s clothing but it was also revealed was basically forced to live in blackface for a year?): http://exiledonline.com/david-foster-wallace-portrait-of-an-infinitely-limited-mind/

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I realize that DFW actually perfectly describes himself in the book itself in a sentence that I’d probably say was ironic if only he didn’t hate that word and take himself super seriously: “a lot of it...was admittedly just plain pretentious and unengaging and bad, and probably not helped at all by the man’s very gradual spiral into...crippling dipsomania.”

Lol, interesting take on it. I can very much see why someone wouldn't like thins book. I think it's hilarious though and I really enjoy reading it. I'm not taking it very seriously though. I understand why you don't like DFW. A lot of his writing can be a bit much. That being said, I really think he nails it when it comes to capturing a certain vibe and that vibe is one that I've been really into lately.

You mentioned experimental post modern shit. Ever read any Calvino or Borges? Hopefully both but if not, you might enjoy Italio Calvino. In terms of post modern writing, he's certainly on of my favorites. Also, Autobiography of a Corpse by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky. Not exactly post modern but a great book nonetheless and definitely more experimental.

I like Nabokov... kind of. His writing is great but his opinion of Dostoevsky is silly and goes a long way in discrediting his opinion.

[oyolar]

Haha yeah, sorry that was such a detailed bitching about DFW. I dove deep because I thought I was going crazy. I can definitely see why people like him so much and like IJ because the things I don’t like in his fiction are what I like in his non-fiction.

I love Nabokov and partly enjoy his grumpy, asshole takes on other authors even if I don’t agree. I haven’t read much Dostoevsky, but know his opinion on him is highly contentious. It kinda makes sense when you remember Nabokov tried to downplay deeper meaning in his analysis and writings so they were really doing very different things with literature.

I have read Calvino and Borges and like them both but it’s been a few years since I picked them up. The only problem with Borges is I’m not a huge short story fan so I need to really be in the mood to go through a collection of stories. I’d rather pick up a novel or even a novella.

I’ll look into Autobiography of a Corpse - thanks for the rec!

[drewsmahgoos]

Haha yeah, sorry that was such a detailed bitching about DFW. I dove deep because I thought I was going crazy. I can definitely see why people like him so much and like IJ because the things I don’t like in his fiction are what I like in his non-fiction.

I love Nabokov and partly enjoy his grumpy, asshole takes on other authors even if I don’t agree. I haven’t read much Dostoevsky, but know his opinion on him is highly contentious. It kinda makes sense when you remember Nabokov tried to downplay deeper meaning in his analysis and writings so they were really doing very different things with literature.

I have read Calvino and Borges and like them both but it’s been a few years since I picked them up. The only problem with Borges is I’m not a huge short story fan so I need to really be in the mood to go through a collection of stories. I’d rather pick up a novel or even a novella.

I’ll look into Autobiography of a Corpse - thanks for the rec!

Krzhizhanovsky reminds me of a sort of soviet Borges or Calvino. If you aren't big on the short stories, you might not like him. Very creative writing though.

Even without attaching some deep analysis to his writing, Dostoyevsky is a beast of a writer. I think deep down inside, Nabokov resented him because he knew he would never be on his level. Nabokov is a great writer, a genius even, that being said, dude is nowhere close to Dostoyevsky in skill.  He may be remembered for centuries to come but he'll never be one of absolute best writers to come out of Russia.


I went on a big Russian tear for like six years. Every other book I read was a Russian to English translation and I got a decent amount of enjoyment from comparing translations and whatnot. I wouldn't even put Nabokov in the top 5. Even when it comes to other writers alive at the same time, Solzhenitsyn beats him out pretty easily when it comes to quality. I genuinely think, outward ego aside, Nabokov was smart enough to realize this. He realized it and added credence to his legitimacy by being overtly intelligent and attacking other writers that brought something to the table that he simply could not.

Sorry for my Nabokov rant but that's kind of how I view him. Really great but not the best and much more insufferable than he needs to be because he can't admit he's not the best.

I still like him though.

[drewsmahgoos]

Only thing I read from Nabokov is Despair. It was a mindfuck and emotionfuck as well, enjoyable yet disturbing. I think a lot of these Russian authors were puffing on the hashpipe heavily.

Lol, the hashpipe of suffering maybe. Most Russian shit I've read has a bleak undertone.

[drewsmahgoos]

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Only thing I read from Nabokov is Despair. It was a mindfuck and emotionfuck as well, enjoyable yet disturbing. I think a lot of these Russian authors were puffing on the hashpipe heavily.

[close]

Lol, the hashpipe of suffering maybe. Most Russian shit I've read has a bleak undertone.

[close]

true from the harsh winters and poverty and shit.. fuck around and read some Italo Calvino though, he was influenced by nabokov. but like weirder and trippier



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_on_a_winter%27s_night_a_traveler

I fucking love If on a winter's night a traveler. Read it like ten years ago the first time and fell in love. Such a trip to read. I've read a bunch of other shit by Calvino but IMO, If on a winter's night is the best.

[Madam, I'm Adam]

Recently finished The Spirit Level by Seamus Haney. There are some great lines of poetry in there. Loved his one poem The Walk.

[oyolar]

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Haha yeah, sorry that was such a detailed bitching about DFW. I dove deep because I thought I was going crazy. I can definitely see why people like him so much and like IJ because the things I don’t like in his fiction are what I like in his non-fiction.

I love Nabokov and partly enjoy his grumpy, asshole takes on other authors even if I don’t agree. I haven’t read much Dostoevsky, but know his opinion on him is highly contentious. It kinda makes sense when you remember Nabokov tried to downplay deeper meaning in his analysis and writings so they were really doing very different things with literature.

I have read Calvino and Borges and like them both but it’s been a few years since I picked them up. The only problem with Borges is I’m not a huge short story fan so I need to really be in the mood to go through a collection of stories. I’d rather pick up a novel or even a novella.

I’ll look into Autobiography of a Corpse - thanks for the rec!

[close]

Krzhizhanovsky reminds me of a sort of soviet Borges or Calvino. If you aren't big on the short stories, you might not like him. Very creative writing though.

Even without attaching some deep analysis to his writing, Dostoyevsky is a beast of a writer. I think deep down inside, Nabokov resented him because he knew he would never be on his level. Nabokov is a great writer, a genius even, that being said, dude is nowhere close to Dostoyevsky in skill.  He may be remembered for centuries to come but he'll never be one of absolute best writers to come out of Russia.


I went on a big Russian tear for like six years. Every other book I read was a Russian to English translation and I got a decent amount of enjoyment from comparing translations and whatnot. I wouldn't even put Nabokov in the top 5. Even when it comes to other writers alive at the same time, Solzhenitsyn beats him out pretty easily when it comes to quality. I genuinely think, outward ego aside, Nabokov was smart enough to realize this. He realized it and added credence to his legitimacy by being overtly intelligent and attacking other writers that brought something to the table that he simply could not.

Sorry for my Nabokov rant but that's kind of how I view him. Really great but not the best and much more insufferable than he needs to be because he can't admit he's not the best.

I still like him though.

Are you judging just his Russian novels compared to other Russians? I'll admit that I don't have the ability to judge that, but his English works stand over so many people. But also no need to apologize for the rant - I did the same about DFW!

[tura]

Before this topic moves on from DFW, anyone managed to read Pale King? I started to read it, but couldn't really find a good narrative thread to grasp. But I got hints of DFW's indepth self-effacing analysis, which is kind of what I like about him. Like in IJ, Hal being hyperliterate and analytical - like DFW - then, any time he's described in another person's narrative or in third-person there's this inexplicable revulsion about him. It seems like the whole idea of Pale King is acknowledging the monotony of trawling through endless, uninspiring data, and maybe finding ecstasy in it, which could be a self-indulgent reference about IF or Pale King itself, or a haunting last cry to explain himself. I remember a talk he did where he was trying to articulate to a group of students (?) just how uninspiring and monotonous adult life can be, and how the biggest challenge is to overcome the dread of boredom. Like the myth of Zen students being forced to mow a lawn with a pair of scissors.

But forgetting Pale king, I've just reread Skagboys by Irvine Welsh and highly recommend it. On the surface it just seems super violent, sexual, and needlessly offensive. But it has some of the most well-developed, real-feeling characters i've ever read, and is surprisingly moving and insightful in between fighting fucking and shooting up