books to read

[shucknjive]

[ChronicBluntSlider]

I feel like I might’ve posted this 50 pages back when I first read it, but just reread Pale Fire by Navakov and was floored again. I love the extent to which he goes with the unreliable narrator premise and the footnotes, index, etc. are hilarious and I imagine influential upon DFW. I loved Lolita too but as far as I’m concerned Pale Fire is his best book.

[TurdyBird]

Anybody read Steinbeck's East of Eden? Worth it?

I can barely finish anything, as I get distracted easily, but I want to try and read it, as I have access to it

[Hairy Ballsagna]

For a while East of Eden was my favorite book. It’s great but it’s really long. After re-reading Grapes of Wrath I actually like that better and would recommend it over East of Eden for someone who has trouble finishing things.

There’s a lot of good shorter Steinbeck too, like Tortilla Flats.

[MichaelJacksonsGhost]

Anybody read Steinbeck's East of Eden? Worth it?

I can barely finish anything, as I get distracted easily, but I want to try and read it, as I have access to it

East of Eden may be my favorite book ever. I read it about 3 months ago and it just punched me in the stomach so hard. I had to put it down a couple of times just because it was so heavy. That being said, it’s worthwhile and I thought ultimately had a positive end. It’s a long one for sure, but I thought the length really helped to get into and empathize with the characters a bit more. Plus Kate is probably the best “evil character” I’ve ever read. Definitely worth a try.

[Cool Ceith]

Rereading this now after a thoroughly enjoyable Tom Wolfe binge. It's crazy how, 50 years later, her perception of California's counterculture and environmental challenges still rings true.

[TurdyBird]

Thanks for the input Hairy and Mike!!

[oyolar]

I feel like I might’ve posted this 50 pages back when I first read it, but just reread Pale Fire by Navakov and was floored again. I love the extent to which he goes with the unreliable narrator premise and the footnotes, index, etc. are hilarious and I imagine influential upon DFW. I loved Lolita too but as far as I’m concerned Pale Fire is his best book.

Pale Fire is so good. There’s so much going on. I’ve read it three times now (twice for two different classes in college) and the interplay of layers is awe-inspiring. Every re-read really reveals more and more. Nabokov is just a madman in a fantastic way. I re-read Glory on vacation, which I think is one of his underrated gems. They way he plays with time to do jumps back and forth in the main character’s life and to mask transitions is super fun. I remember having my mind blown when I pieced together what he was doing the first time I read it.

Can’t find the posts but there was a discussion between DFW and Pynchon and while I still have yet to read IJ, I can endorse DFW’s non-fiction collections (maybe except his most recent posthumous one) as worth reading. Avoid The Broom of the System, which is just trite and pretentious with little to enjoy in my opinion. GR is much more enjoyable in my opinion but I definitely did not have the time in my schedule to devote to it so it took me forever to finish it. So I’d say just be aware that it is dense, hefty, and confusing. But man is it fun and the ending is intense. It also has my favorite opening lines in all of literature.

I tried to read Knausgaard’s monograph on Mvnch a little bit ago but could not absorb any of it. I think I’m still reeling from finishing Volume 6 earlier this year and the toll that took so I’m shelving that for a little bit.

Aside from Glory, I’ve been in a reading rut lately. I tried getting into The Mars Room but couldn’t, I haven’t been super pleased by the past few things I’ve picked up, etc. so I gave myself a break and binge read like 20 recent X-Men comics this week which has been a nice palate cleanser haha. I’m going to start reading this sociology book on MFA programs by this fantastic ethnographer. I’m hoping getting away from literary fiction might reinvigorate me.

[Kumiko]

Finished the 5 book Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. I'm not going to bother with the sixth since it was written by a different author. It's such a fun series and is light and easy enough to read during lunches or wherever anything dense is bothersome to read. Vonnegut is a good comparable and I'll be chugging through a few more of his next.

[MichaelJacksonsGhost]

Just started War and Peace. See me in two months or so. I’m assuming someone on here has read it before—any tips for keeping the characters/scenes strait? After about 50 pages the characters are already starting to get pretty laborious to keep up with, and the footnotes/French translations are pretty disruptive.

[AnotherHardDayAtTheOffice]

Just started War and Peace. See me in two months or so. I’m assuming someone on here has read it before—any tips for keeping the characters/scenes strait? After about 50 pages the characters are already starting to get pretty laborious to keep up with, and the footnotes/French translations are pretty disruptive.

Keeping up with the characters in War and Peace is definitely the hardest part. Just find a list of characters that suits you on the web and keep it handy. It's not just that there are a lot of different characters, but that each character also has nicknames...

If you find all this too tough, just focus on the most important characters. War and Peace is definitely worth the effort you have to put in. Enjoy!

[S.]

Thanks for the input Hairy and Mike!!

East of Eden takes a bit of a commitment to get through. I used to be a huge Steinbeck fan and I think I have read most of his books, but I haven't been able to get through East of Eden. Grapes of Wreath, the pearl and of Mice and Men were great, but I have always loved his more comedic books more. My absolute favorite one was "Cannary Row".

[Peter Zagreus]

Some shorties I'm reading for school:

I've been sleeping on Charles Johnson. He works some good philosophical stuff into this one, including a nuanced take on race[ism]. Also features a "lost at sea" episode that makes me glad to be a land lubber.


A beautiful, heartbreaking story of one man's life in the rural American west during the first half of the 20th century, with just a hint of "magical realism," and all in a novella that you could read in an afternoon. Really moved me. Will probably read again.


40 pages into this one and it's been very sad, but exquisitely written. The protagonist, a young, Native American, WWII veteran and former Japanese POW, returns to his home on a withering reservation and is embroiled in personal and communal trauma. Silko brings out the conflict between "white" (scientific, imperialist) and "Indian" (naturalistic, shamanic) ontologies in a really profound and unsettling way (since we know who has prevailed in the conflict, and at what cost).

[MichaelJacksonsGhost]

Some shorties I'm reading for school:

I've been sleeping on Charles Johnson. He works some good philosophical stuff into this one, including a nuanced take on race[ism]. Also features a "lost at sea" episode that makes me glad to be a land lubber.

Charles Johnson is a nut. I read his Art of Fiction interview a while back (worth the read if your interested in that sorta thing) and he talks about editing his novels for, like, 7-10 years. I ordered Ox Tail online thinking it was gonna be this massive work and it was like 200 pages. Not to say that’s bad, I was just amazed he could spend so long editing a book of that length. Still haven’t read it though. How long is Middle Passage? I sort of assumed all his stuff is bout the same.

[50mm]

Anybody read Steinbeck's East of Eden? Worth it?

I can barely finish anything, as I get distracted easily, but I want to try and read it, as I have access to it

Wow, I was just about to come in here and post my love of Steinbeck. Started with Grapes of Wrath, then read like everything I could of his over the next 2 years. East of Eden is my favorite book. It's long but I loved it and didn't want it to end. When I was in the midst of reading all his stuff I took a trip to the Monterey and saw the lab he partied in that he basis Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday off of. Happened to show up the one day a month they give a private tour if you made a reservation, turns out some people didn't show and I got to see the place. Went to the museum as well and his house, which sucked because its not a restaurant. He's the man, supposed to be a new biography out on him this year. Favorite of all time.

[A.A]

Do audiobooks count? I listen to them when I'm doing stuff. Makes the voices in my head go away if you get what I mean.

Anything by Neil Gaiman is gold. American Gods was mind blowing.

[Peter Zagreus]

Expand Quote

Some shorties I'm reading for school:

I've been sleeping on Charles Johnson. He works some good philosophical stuff into this one, including a nuanced take on race[ism]. Also features a "lost at sea" episode that makes me glad to be a land lubber.

[close]

Charles Johnson is a nut. I read his Art of Fiction interview a while back (worth the read if your interested in that sorta thing) and he talks about editing his novels for, like, 7-10 years. I ordered Ox Tail online thinking it was gonna be this massive work and it was like 200 pages. Not to say that’s bad, I was just amazed he could spend so long editing a book of that length. Still haven’t read it though. How long is Middle Passage? I sort of assumed all his stuff is bout the same.

Wow. 7-10 years is nutty, indeed. There were definitely some cuttable turns of phrase in Middle Passage, but they were all working toward character development so, IDK. Tastes vary.
Middle Passage is just over 200 pages, and I've also got Dreamer on deck (about a guy who becomes MLK Jr's body double), which runs to 236.

There's something to be said for a concise novel/ novella. Most of my favorites are short, now that I think about it.

[RCB3]

Just read this and thought it was super interesting.

[childhood]

That Trails book looks promising, gonna try to check it out this summer.

Anybody read Steinbeck's East of Eden? Worth it?

I can barely finish anything, as I get distracted easily, but I want to try and read it, as I have access to it

Never read it, but I watched the 1950s movie adaptation with James Dean in it recently. I think it's still on Netflix.
Grapes of Wrath is really great too, like people were saying.

I saw this doc last year, finally read the book it's based on:

It's an infuriating book honestly, but it's an important topic to know about.

[ChronicBluntSlider]

Some shorties I'm reading for school:

I've been sleeping on Charles Johnson. He works some good philosophical stuff into this one, including a nuanced take on race[ism]. Also features a "lost at sea" episode that makes me glad to be a land lubber.


A beautiful, heartbreaking story of one man's life in the rural American west during the first half of the 20th century, with just a hint of "magical realism," and all in a novella that you could read in an afternoon. Really moved me. Will probably read again.


40 pages into this one and it's been very sad, but exquisitely written. The protagonist, a young, Native American, WWII veteran and former Japanese POW, returns to his home on a withering reservation and is embroiled in personal and communal trauma. Silko brings out the conflict between "white" (scientific, imperialist) and "Indian" (naturalistic, shamanic) ontologies in a really profound and unsettling way (since we know who has prevailed in the conflict, and at what cost).

You taking classes at UCLA? I took some novel writing classes there a few years back and we read middle passage and Skyped with Charles Johnson for a little guest lecturer/q&a one week. I guess the professor is friends with him and does it every semester. Johnson is a super chill thoughtful dude. He’s a Buddhist and is vegetarian, pacifist, etc. it’s ridiculous the amount that he wrote before he ultimately broke through. Just like thousands and thousands of pages.

[Peter Zagreus]

Expand Quote

[close]

You taking classes at UCLA? I took some novel writing classes there a few years back and we read middle passage and Skyped with Charles Johnson for a little guest lecturer/q&a one week. I guess the professor is friends with him and does it every semester. Johnson is a super chill thoughtful dude. He’s a Buddhist and is vegetarian, pacifist, etc. it’s ridiculous the amount that he wrote before he ultimately broke through. Just like thousands and thousands of pages.

Nah, I'm in an English program at a private college in Texas. We're doing a class on post-WWII, American fiction (written after the war, but not necessarily post-war in setting), and two of the books on the syllabus are by Johnson. As an undergrad, I had a friend who couldn't say enough good things about Johnson's work, but I didn't exactly trust his taste in fiction, which struck me as sort of sentimental. In retrospect, I was snoozing.

Sounds like your class had a good Skype experience. I never know what to say in those things...

[ChronicBluntSlider]

Yeah I tend to be judgmental about the questions people ask (“how do I write better dialogue?” “What’s your advice for getting published?”) but then inevitably am unable to think of anything myself and ask some asinine question of my own. He kind of directed the conversation himself though I think and made it informative and engaging enough. That class was otherwise a writing workshop so it was kind of a nice change of pace for the week.

[shucknjive]

i got these 2 but i dont know if i can read

[thebunsman69]

Currently reading this one--Bataille was quite a deviant (even for a Frenchman).

From his wartime diary titled Guilty:
“Laughing at the universe liberated my life. I escape its weight by laughing. I refuse any intellectual translations of this laughter, since my slavery would commence from that point on.”

[oyolar]

I fucking love Bataille as fascinating and obscure as he is. He’s not an easy read by any means but every so often, you get these perfectly poetic and crystallizing moments and lines that blow your mind and make it worthwhile.

If you’re interested in Bataille, I recommend this fantastic biography about him to help understand his life and works: https://www.amazon.com/Georges-Bataille-Intellectual-Michel-Surya/dp/1859841538

I read it years ago but should probably reread it sometime soon as I’m more familiar with a lot of his works. Maybe after I finish The Accursed Share whenever I get around to it.

[ChuckRamone]

I bought the Eye while I worked at the Strand but I still haven’t read it even though I’ve owned it for years. Will probably read it next since you guys reminded me of him.

[oyolar]

It can be a super fast read. Like “in two 60-90 minute readings fast” if you’re taking a decent amount of time or are slower as a reader (i.e. me).

I’d recommend reading it once through kinda quickly, without doing too much in the moment analysis and then reading it again a few days later at a slightly slower pace. You’ll get a lot more out of it the second time.

[Alan]

Finished Red Mars the other day. It's about the first colonizers of Mars and the struggle to preserve he planet against full on exploitation. It was fascinating but somewhat sluggish at times (but only because I was over the landscape and atmospheric descriptions). Even though it was published in 1992, I don't think it's terribly outdated since its strength lies in the human/social aspects of space colonization, rather than the geological/terraforming ones, although they overlap considerably. I definitely need a break from hard sci fi, though.




Currently I'm reading At Freddie's by Penelope Fitzgerald. It's a very short novel about a children's acting school in London that supplies child actors to West End theatres, run by the eponymous character. I'm only about 20 pages in but I really like the prose. Funny and melancholic at the same time.

[JB77]

Mr. Featherstone’s Famous Flower Cart, Elvis In Vegas, The Outsider.

[oyolar]

Just finished The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa.  It was just recently translated and wow.  I really liked it.  It was very...delicate I guess you can say?  But disturbing too.  I recommend it.



I'm going to finish this.  It's really interesting.  Crazy the things that experimental musicians are doing.



And then after I finish Lucier's book, I'm going to give Night Film by Marisha Pessl a read.  It's frequently recommended to fans of Danielewski so I figured I'd try it.  Apparently it's a love or hate type of book though so let's see how I feel.



EDIT: Ogawa cover was way too big.