books to read

[TheLurper]

Recently bought Thomas Piketty's Capital.

Interesting so far, but a lot more difficult than I had assumed.

[fakie nollie]

This has probably been mentioned before but Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. Read it with his voice as the narration and you're good for the remainder of May.

[AnotherHardDayAtTheOffice]

I'm about to wrap up Half of a Yellow Sun. Must-read for anyone who's interested in post-colonial Africa. I knew next to nothing about the Nigerian Civil War before reading this. If nothing else, at least I've learned what Jello Biafra's name was inspired by.



A friend recommended this book by French up-and-comer Édouard Louis and this book will be next. The snippets I've read so far sound really intense. It's about the author's coming-out in a homophobic environment and the atmosphere sounds as depressing as French novels get. I'm sure I'll love it.



The same friend also suggested this book, which he can't read himself, because a German translation hasn't been published yet. I had never heard of it but it sounds amazing. It's won a bunch of awards for journalism and non-fictional writing in 2019, and from what I understand, it's one of Obama's favorite books.

[MeanestCleanestPenis]

This has probably been mentioned before but Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. Read it with his voice as the narration and you're good for the remainder of May.

Love that book! Read it when I was working as a commis chef in a restuarant at 18. It had a big impact on me and is one of the reasons I spent a chunk of my life in Japan. Probably read it about 5 times.

Just finished Edward Snowden's book which I enjoyed, filled in some of the gaps in the story I had missed from tv/interviews etc. I don't think the next ten years are gonna be great for our civil liberties unless we don't all stop being so apathetic about them.

Just started 'No Longer Human' by Osamu Dazai. Only about 30 pages in but has a really heavy feel about. The author was a menace, multiple suicide attempts, one of which he lived but his wife perished. Probaly the next author I am excited to take a deep dive on.

Also bought 'The Cutting Room' by Louise Welsh after a friend recommended it.

[oyolar]

Finished Memory Police a few days ago. I liked it. Definitely resonates more given the situation we're in. I had more thoughts but they've disappeared in the meantime, no pun intended.

Haha nice. I really liked the atmosphere of the book. It felt like light and delicate to me? Hard to explain but that’s the best I could.

One of my favorite authors Alexandra Kleeman actually wrote a short story a few years ago that’s oddly similar to The Memory Police although less dystopian/authoritarian and more apocalyptic. It’s definitely a total coincidence as it was published well before the English translation was available but it’s a funny coincidence none the less. Good story too that feels very appropriate now: https://www.guernicamag.com/you-disappearing/

I took a break and read a bunch of New Mutants comics and listened to some audiobooks, but am reading The Revisionaries by A. R. Moxon now. I’m only about 1/5 into it but it has been fun so far! Pretty weird, Pynchon-esque kind of humor but less overwhelmingly crazy and complex.

[brycickle]

The same friend also suggested this book, which he can't read himself, because a German translation hasn't been published yet. I had never heard of it but it sounds amazing. It's won a bunch of awards for journalism and non-fictional writing in 2019, and from what I understand, it's one of Obama's favorite books.

This book is really good. Listened to the audio version. If you have any interest in the IRA and have ever heard of "The Disappeared" then I would definitely recommend it.

[drewsmahgoos]

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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.

[close]

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!

Yeah, I meant compared to other Russians. Other than a little calvino, borges, and some scifi here and there I'm pretty much stuck on Russian lit.

[jc]

Thomas Sowell is rad. read him.

[botefdunn]

Yeah, I meant compared to other Russians. Other than a little calvino, borges, and some scifi here and there I'm pretty much stuck on Russian lit.

I also really like a lot of Russians, though I'm by no means any kind of authority. My favs are Gorky and Solzhenitsyn, this is either a recommendation or a question as to whether or not you like them?

[Manny Fapuiao]

][/url
Beautifully immersive

[Mew]

ursula k le guin wizard of earthsea

[Keep_on_Chooglin]

Just finished Jack Black's (not that Jack Black) "You Can't Win" and I'd recommend it. It's an autobiography written by a homeless burglar in the 1920's and it's pretty fascinating.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Can%27t_Win_(book)#/media/File:You_can't_win_jack_black_first_edition.jpg

[Frank]

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/hakim-bey-t-a-z-the-temporary-autonomous-zone-ontological-anarchy-poetic-terrorism

[FleeceFlannel]

I know someone mentioned it years ago in this thread but I figured it’s worth another mention.  Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock is an interesting read.  It’s a good look into the lives of people living in a small midwestern town.  Crazy but real characters and it really gives you a sense of what it’s like to be there.

[Peter Zagreus]

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/hakim-bey-t-a-z-the-temporary-autonomous-zone-ontological-anarchy-poetic-terrorism

Hell yeah. Hakim Bey is always a fun read, but - full transparency - he was affiliated with NAMBLA and is definitely a proponent of man-boy love. Just FYI. I think most of his stuff is great.

I'm in grad school, so I have to pack in all my free reading over the summer. Right now I've got a bunch of stuff in rotation, including:
Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy
Revisiting a bunch of Henry Miller stuff
Philosophical works of Bataille, plus Blue of Noon
Carlyle's Sartor Resartus (sort of school related)
William Blake (hoping to read Northrup Frye in conjunction, but this might be asking too much)
Nietzsche, always

[oyolar]

Hell yeah on Bataille. I just read a recent collection of his poems translated by Stuart Kendall, who has been translating a lot of his stuff over the past few years. He’s a great Bataille scholar if you’re interested. I have a few of Bataille’s history / economics / theory books to read now but those always take me so much longer to finish so I have to be in the mood for them.

[ZachV]

I really liked 'All Quite on the Western Front' by Erich Maria Remarque, I dont know if it has been mentioned on this thread before (its a well known novel so possibly.) Its a fictional story from the POV of a German soldier named Paul set during WW1, Once I started reading it I couldnt put it down (might not be the same for others though.)

[jc]

This.

[Alan]

I really liked 'All Quite on the Western Front' by Erich Maria Remarque, I dont know if it has been mentioned on this thread before (its a well known novel so possibly.) Its a fictional story from the POV of a German soldier named Paul set during WW1, Once I started reading it I couldnt put it down (might not be the same for others though.)

Seconded. Great antiwar book.

[vindogg]

Just finished If I fall, if I die by Michael Chrsitie. He had a part in one of the anti social shop videos in the early 2000s it would seem. Anyhow, a good book to escape into in these times and it incorporates skateboarding in a natural and careful way. I'm sure some of you older heads will appreciate the graphic he chooses as his first deck. I haven't read his other books but I plan on it now.

[FleeceFlannel]

Just finished If I fall, if I die by Michael Chrsitie. He had a part in one of the anti social shop videos in the early 2000s it would seem. Anyhow, a good book to escape into in these times and it incorporates skateboarding in a natural and careful way. I'm sure some of you older heads will appreciate the graphic he chooses as his first deck. I haven't read his other books but I plan on it now.

I’m gonna order this one up.  Thanks for the tip!

[childhood]

https://wetransfer.com/downloads/fc115cd66f8b97da7ae83a860e4aa3b120200607171537/03927af0b0a8db65e025093a4a8dc06520200607171558/f037be

[shucknjive]

[childhood]

Posting this cause Ghislaine Maxwell just got arrested by the FBI:

https://wetransfer.com/downloads/310220c5e8477f153ee4a923f07355f320200702170502/742f2e11316575b6d92d42e26ddc0fd220200702170532/8b2995
I feel like the cover makes it look pretty amateurish, and it's written by conservatives, but that aside it's a pretty good rundown of his life, death, & connections. GM is discussed at length as well.

This is a good book review of it:
https://jacobinmag.com/2020/06/jeffrey-epstein-death-capitalism-book-review

[TheLurper]

I'm 4/5ths of the way through this and so far it is brilliant.

[Enrico Pallazzo]

Always been a fan, but as we descend further into our hell world I’ve been appreciating fantasy novels/series even more. Really nice to just turn the analytical side of the brain off and get lost in some solid worldbuilding. 

Gone through the Kingkiller Chronicles 1+2 and the Stormlight Archives 1-3 since quarantine kicked off, as well as the newest First Law book. Starting on the Farseer trilogy.

Anyone else switched to mostly pleasure reading? Any recommendations for non-Jerry Hsu sci fi/fantasy?

[phoenix1017]

Any recommendations for non-Jerry Hsu sci fi/fantasy?

The Winds of Change and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov - read that last summer and it was a chill sci-fi/fantasy collection, first time I've actually read Asimov. You should give some of his stuff a shot!

I've been reading lately:

Stephen King's IT. Really liked it, but yeah there's some weird stuff in there.

The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett Graff - an oral history of 9/11 - fascinating look at the day itself, just finished.

Cormack McCarthy, Blood Meridian - Solid western, very violent.

Unexplained: Supernatural Stories for Uncertain Times
by Richard MacLean Smith - Didn't really like this one, apparently it's based on a podcast? But I like the X-files so i finished it.

Surprise, Vanish, Kill - Annie Jacobsen. Halfway through, it's basically an interesting look at the history of the CIA.

About to start DUNE. Heard a lot of good things about it, and can't wait, especially with the movie coming out soon.

[I.C. Weiner]

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Any recommendations for non-Jerry Hsu sci fi/fantasy?

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About to start DUNE. Heard a lot of good things about it, and can't wait, especially with the movie coming out soon.

Dune is one of my favourites. Theres a really good channel on youtube called Quinns Ideas that explains it all really well too, if you want to really delve into the world.

I've just finished Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer. Written really well but cant believe it came out in the 1930s, and he really really hates women.

[VHS ERA]

I’m on a James Baldwin kick

[oyolar]

Last big book I finished was The Revisionaries by A.R. Moxon and it was good. A fun read for the most part and inventive, but it was about 600 pages and did not need to be that long. It did too much meta- stuff, focusing on the implications of writing / authorship / creation and those things didn’t gel, and ended up detracting from the totality of the novel. Which sucks because meta- narratives can be interesting and fun and I’m usually for them, but they just flopped here. I’m interested to see how he evolves since this is his first novel though.

Also blew through two novellas, You Should Have Left and The Hole, right after which we’re good ways to reset my reading after going after a big book.