books to read

[AnotherHardDayAtTheOffice]

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Since I plan on picking up another Murakami novel soon, which one would y'all recommend? So far, I'm leaning towards either Norwegian Wood or The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I know some of you have been reading some Murakami lately, so I'd really appreciate some suggestions.

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Personally, I liked The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle a little more, but Norwegian Wood is absolutely worth reading.
My copy of Norwegian Wood (Jay Rubin translation) has a translator's note at the very end that gives a bit of background that may help you make your decision:



Once you read those two you will be well on your way to being able to play Haruki Murakami bingo  

Thanks man! I really appreciate your help and input. It sounds like I'll end up reading both, but I might just start with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Haha, having read Sputnik Sweetheart, I can already see what Murakami Bingo is all about. Seems like I should put that image on a chessboard as soon as I get to my next Murakami novel.

However, it will probably take a little while until I pick up another Murakami, for the sole reason that I finally started reading 2666. It's the only major Bolano work I haven't read so far. I'm already 130 pages in and I hope to power through all 1200 pages until about Christmas. I've been thinking about the perfect time period to read 2666 ever since I finished The Savage Detectives and last week I just walked into my local bookstore, read a couple of pages and figured I might as well do it now. I got exams coming up, winter is approaching and I kinda felt like reading a book that would take me down a rabbit hole. They didn't have copies of Norwegian Wood or The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, so I just stuck with good ol' Bolano. So far, I'm really liking 2666. I'm halfway through the first of five parts and it already feels very Bolanoesque. We'll see if that changes as soon as I get to the infamous part about Juarez murders.

[cookieboy]

Had an extra credit assignment where our teacher asked us to read Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for a Soul of a New China. I found the book cheap online so I figured I'll order a few extra books. Got another Murakami book (Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the Word which was recommended by someone on here), 2 books on mathematics, a book on oil painting, a book on drawing, a book on mindfulness meditation, 1984, Fight Club, Siddhartha, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and The Doors of Perception. Pretty pumped on the selections and intend to wait till the new year before I go for another batch of books.

[Grind King Rims]

Finally finished "The Unbearable Lightness of Being". Jeez, I'm a very lazy reader, but that was almost a year of me meaning to get through a 300 page book... Polished off the last hundred pages in like 2 evenings though, which is a lot for me.

A friend gave me some introductory books on Post-Modernism, which I know nothing about. Might flip through them next, otherwise it might be Frankenstein, the Elephant Man, One Hundred Years of Solitude or something old and well out of my range of comprehension, like James Joyce or Charles Dickens...

These threads are the best for recommendations.

[shark tits]

Finished the RZA book & another called 'tiger in a trance' about a kid following the dead, selling acid & getting much ass the whole time. Dece read if that's your bag. Started guerrilla warfare by che Guevara, book report by the wkend.

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

Finished the RZA book

I'd be down to read a RZA book.

***
reread "Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club" on a recent business trip and enjoyed even more the second time round.

[shark tits]

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Finally finished "The Unbearable Lightness of Being". Jeez, I'm a very lazy reader, but that was almost a year of me meaning to get through a 300 page book... Polished off the last hundred pages in like 2 evenings though, which is a lot for me.

A friend gave me some introductory books on Post-Modernism, which I know nothing about. Might flip through them next, otherwise it might be Frankenstein, the Elephant Man, One Hundred Years of Solitude or something old and well out of my range of comprehension, like James Joyce or Charles Dickens...

These threads are the best for recommendations.

[close]

A personal favorite... I gotta read it again.
Right now, I'm reading "What is Literature?", by Jean Paul Sartre, and feeling downright enlightened by it. I've read his Nausea before, didn't really enjoy it as I've been told I would. But that was as I was just starting college. That about covers it. I've been pretty mentally off this week.

I dug nausea, te-read it a few times. Once upon a time I had a crush on this Lesbo (who had a baby girl) & I audited philosophy class w/ her & borowed her 'sartre for dummies" & got hooked. Remember making out w/ her in boston, dropping in on the giant volcano at city hoapital, wallriding (bank riding) down stairs & sipping Sunday wine (back when couldn't buy package alcohol on sunday).
Went on sartre binge behind that, age of reason trilogy is my favorite, check those out & short stories. Never finished 'being & nothingness' but battled w/it til it got wet on a gainer (freight train).
To gism, if you weren't overseas & refered to me by my real name (shark tits) I'd totally lace ya w/ RZA

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

To gism, if you weren't overseas & refered to me by my real name (shark tits) I'd totally lace ya w/ RZA

okay, you're shark tits from here on in (sorry I wasn't around when you posted under that account). I'd be down for that lacing but yeah, you got the book from Rusty's parents too no? That's some treasure right there

[shark tits]

Yes suh, they're only 2 hours away so I've got so much memorabilia. I'm the type to give everything away & regret/resent afterwards (right now i wish i had all my honey back except rusty's folks & mike Leslie) but I'm ahead currently. Proximity & cost prohibitIve shipping being only issues. I'd love people to swoop by & I'd share it all but a few items

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

you're a legend mate!
(and I'd love to try your honey too)

[botefdunn]

Written in the early 90's,  it's interesting to read this now and remember the shape of things back then.

[shark tits]

Written in the early 90's,  it's interesting to read this now and remember the shape of things back then.

oh shit! that book kinda ruled. that and no more prisons were tight.
danny hoch [my avatar flipp dogg] did one called 'jails, hospitals and hiphop' which is more short stories of fictional characters than facts but gets the message across.

[botefdunn]

Danny Hoch, I'll try and keep an eye out for it. Bomb the Suburbs struck me in some weird way like that book "Evasion", the Crimethinc one about the kid squatting and stealing bagels. It's corny and naive  and uncomfortable at moments, but it captures something about the spirit of things and you can tell the writer has the passion.

[matta]

Does anyone else think Murakami is a horrible writer whose books are full of cringeworthy cliches, embarrassing cultural references, and shitty attempts at profundity or is that just me? kafka on the shore was PAINFUL.

[AnotherHardDayAtTheOffice]

Does anyone else think Murakami is a horrible writer whose books are full of cringeworthy cliches, embarrassing cultural references, and shitty attempts at profundity or is that just me? kafka on the shore was PAINFUL.

Not exactly. I only read Sputnik Sweetheart by Murakami (supposedly one of this weaker novels) a couple of weeks ago, but I loved his style. I love surrealist imagery and melancholy dripping from the pages, so Murakami is right up my alley.

I get your point though. I can totally see why Murakami - just based on my reading of one of his books - can come off that way.

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

Does anyone else think Murakami is a horrible writer whose books are full of cringeworthy cliches, embarrassing cultural references, and shitty attempts at profundity or is that just me? kafka on the shore was PAINFUL.

Do keep in mind that his works are mostly translated so it's not always easy to do his writing justice. Having said that I much prefer his short stories.

[matta]

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Does anyone else think Murakami is a horrible writer whose books are full of cringeworthy cliches, embarrassing cultural references, and shitty attempts at profundity or is that just me? kafka on the shore was PAINFUL.

[close]

Do keep in mind that his works are mostly translated so it's not always easy to do his writing justice. Having said that I much prefer his short stories.

ive considered that, but, ive read a pretty sizable amount of authors in translation, some i'm sure a great deal more "nuanced" than murakami and therefore more of a challenge to 'capture', and none of them have been particularly marred.

secondly, though murakami's writing pretty uninspired in my opinion, its more of the content that bothers me rather than the actual prose, and the translator would have to be taking some massive liberties to inject his writing with a buncha bad similes and contrived magical realism

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

I guess you just don't like Murakami then
*shrugs*

[Alan]

Currently reading this for a change of pace. I like it. And a lot of it is still relevant today regarding British society.

[SFblah]

About to start this. She broke the story on Baylor hiding rape charges on a football player. Fuck Penn State, Art Briles, and Baylor.

[7 year old]

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Does anyone else think Murakami is a horrible writer whose books are full of cringeworthy cliches, embarrassing cultural references, and shitty attempts at profundity or is that just me? kafka on the shore was PAINFUL.

[close]

Do keep in mind that his works are mostly translated so it's not always easy to do his writing justice. Having said that I much prefer his short stories.

[close]

ive considered that, but, ive read a pretty sizable amount of authors in translation, some i'm sure a great deal more "nuanced" than murakami and therefore more of a challenge to 'capture', and none of them have been particularly marred.

secondly, though murakami's writing pretty uninspired in my opinion, its more of the content that bothers me rather than the actual prose, and the translator would have to be taking some massive liberties to inject his writing with a buncha bad similes and contrived magical realism

how would you know?

[oyolar]

About to start this. She broke the story on Baylor hiding rape charges on a football player. Fuck Penn State, Art Briles, and Baylor.

Is this more about her investigation process/history of working on the stories or does it look into systems/structures and how this stuff occurs and is allowed to take place?

Regarding Murakami, I'm not a fan Gabriel Garcia Marquez/magical realism so even though I have yet to read any of Murakami, I'm worried I won't like it.

[matta]

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Does anyone else think Murakami is a horrible writer whose books are full of cringeworthy cliches, embarrassing cultural references, and shitty attempts at profundity or is that just me? kafka on the shore was PAINFUL.

[close]

Do keep in mind that his works are mostly translated so it's not always easy to do his writing justice. Having said that I much prefer his short stories.

[close]

ive considered that, but, ive read a pretty sizable amount of authors in translation, some i'm sure a great deal more "nuanced" than murakami and therefore more of a challenge to 'capture', and none of them have been particularly marred.

secondly, though murakami's writing pretty uninspired in my opinion, its more of the content that bothers me rather than the actual prose, and the translator would have to be taking some massive liberties to inject his writing with a buncha bad similes and contrived magical realism

[close]

how would you know?

because the writing was still good (though im sure better in the original language). unless of course the originals were bad and were improved in translation, which seems ridiculous.

[7 year old]

good is relative. i'm not trying to be a dick, but the truth is you don't know.
this is something that frustrates me because there are a bunch of authors i like that i feel i've never really read, because i can't read the language they wrote in. voices are incredibly specific.

[SFblah]

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About to start this. She broke the story on Baylor hiding rape charges on a football player. Fuck Penn State, Art Briles, and Baylor.

[close]

Is this more about her investigation process/history of working on the stories or does it look into systems/structures and how this stuff occurs and is allowed to take place?

Regarding Murakami, I'm not a fan Gabriel Garcia Marquez/magical realism so even though I have yet to read any of Murakami, I'm worried I won't like it.

It's more of the latter.

[oyolar]

 Nice. That's what I was hoping it would be like.

[AnotherHardDayAtTheOffice]

good is relative. i'm not trying to be a dick, but the truth is you don't know.
this is something that frustrates me because there are a bunch of authors i like that i feel i've never really read, because i can't read the language they wrote in. voices are incredibly specific.

It's a complicated question. I think you're right... to a point. If you read an author in translation, you're not only judging the author's writing, but also the translation. There's good translations and there's horrible translations and they can totally change your perception of a book. However, while the language of a book is totally affected by the quality of a translation, the plot and the characters aren't as much. And no matter how good or bad a translation is, it still went through enough editing to make sure it hits kinda close to home. It's not like you're reading a totally different book.

At the end of the day, I think it's really important to be aware of the fact that we're reading translations of Murakami's original writing. It's funny though: Murakami is way more popular outside of Japan than he is inside the country. This might also be due to his "Western" style, but it also means that the translations can't be all that bad, can they?

As for Murakami, even though he's considered a "magical realist", his magical realism is very different from Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I would even say that he's more surrealist than they are "magical realist". Murakami creates dream-like worlds, in which the boundaries between reality, dreams and imagination aren't all that clear. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, on the other hand, writes modern fairytales where, for example, a baby with a tail is born like it's no big deal.

[twinskates]

Finshed reading "Pic" from Jack Kerouac, really worth read it. Refreshing book

[7 year old]

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good is relative. i'm not trying to be a dick, but the truth is you don't know.
this is something that frustrates me because there are a bunch of authors i like that i feel i've never really read, because i can't read the language they wrote in. voices are incredibly specific.

[close]

It's a complicated question. I think you're right... to a point. If you read an author in translation, you're not only judging the author's writing, but also the translation. There's good translations and there's horrible translations and they can totally change your perception of a book. However, while the language of a book is totally affected by the quality of a translation, the plot and the characters aren't as much. And no matter how good or bad a translation is, it still went through enough editing to make sure it hits kinda close to home. It's not like you're reading a totally different book.

At the end of the day, I think it's really important to be aware of the fact that we're reading translations of Murakami's original writing. It's funny though: Murakami is way more popular outside of Japan than he is inside the country. This might also be due to his "Western" style, but it also means that the translations can't be all that bad, can they?

As for Murakami, even though he's considered a "magical realist", his magical realism is very different from Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I would even say that he's more surrealist than they are "magical realist". Murakami creates dream-like worlds, in which the boundaries between reality, dreams and imagination aren't all that clear. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, on the other hand, writes modern fairytales where, for example, a baby with a tail is born like it's no big deal.

I definitely get what you and matta are saying, it is a nitpicky point I'm making and ultimately not all that helpful unless you plan on spending your life learning the native language of every author you come across that interests you. and I guess I should be honest and say that I was mainly thinking of poets when I wrote that.

Pic is rad twinskates, cool to see someone else on here read that. I have the double book that has Satori in Paris with Pic and I was worried because Satori in Paris was terrible. all I could hope reading Satori was that Pic wouldnt suck and was pleasantly surprised!

[7 year old]

and since I'm supposed to be recommending books not dissecting them, Devil in the Flesh by Raymond Radiguet is a killer book in translation from french.

[AnotherHardDayAtTheOffice]

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good is relative. i'm not trying to be a dick, but the truth is you don't know.
this is something that frustrates me because there are a bunch of authors i like that i feel i've never really read, because i can't read the language they wrote in. voices are incredibly specific.

[close]

It's a complicated question. I think you're right... to a point. If you read an author in translation, you're not only judging the author's writing, but also the translation. There's good translations and there's horrible translations and they can totally change your perception of a book. However, while the language of a book is totally affected by the quality of a translation, the plot and the characters aren't as much. And no matter how good or bad a translation is, it still went through enough editing to make sure it hits kinda close to home. It's not like you're reading a totally different book.

At the end of the day, I think it's really important to be aware of the fact that we're reading translations of Murakami's original writing. It's funny though: Murakami is way more popular outside of Japan than he is inside the country. This might also be due to his "Western" style, but it also means that the translations can't be all that bad, can they?

As for Murakami, even though he's considered a "magical realist", his magical realism is very different from Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I would even say that he's more surrealist than they are "magical realist". Murakami creates dream-like worlds, in which the boundaries between reality, dreams and imagination aren't all that clear. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, on the other hand, writes modern fairytales where, for example, a baby with a tail is born like it's no big deal.

[close]

I definitely get what you and matta are saying, it is a nitpicky point I'm making and ultimately not all that helpful unless you plan on spending your life learning the native language of every author you come across that interests you. and I guess I should be honest and say that I was mainly thinking of poets when I wrote that.

Pic is rad twinskates, cool to see someone else on here read that. I have the double book that has Satori in Paris with Pic and I was worried because Satori in Paris was terrible. all I could hope reading Satori was that Pic wouldnt suck and was pleasantly surprised!

No, I think you're definitely onto something. At a certain point, one's gotta be a little pragmatic though... As mentioned before, I think it's really important to be aware of the fact that some works are translations. It's interesting... I feel like in the States, readers are more conscious of that. That's why people sometimes say "I'm reading a translation of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" instead of just "I'm reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle." I feel like over here in Germany nobody gives a shit. It's common for people, even literary critics, to criticize authors for their language, even though they were reading a translation.

Point in case: I'm about to read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and it turns out the German translation is a translation from English; hence, the translation of a translation. I mean, how ignorant is that? I'm definitely gonna read the English translation now.