books to read

[oyolar]

If you like My Struggle, you'll like his other stuff but it is all quite different. In terms of his fiction, I've only read The Morning Star. I have a copy of A Time for Everything but haven't read it yet.

The Morning Star was very good. It felt very Knausgaard. It was hyper focused on details and really takes its time building suspense and feeling. I was worried I wouldn't like it but was very happy that I did. I was unsure what to do after My Struggle but I'm 100% on board with this series and will eventually read his first two novels and will likely re-read all 6 volumes of My Struggle again at some point. When I decided to make a concerted effort to finish The Morning Star (the effort was not because I couldn't get into the book but just because I needed to make personal time to read), I really fell into it and was amazed at how enthralled I got. I was very, very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

The Seasonal Quartet is mixed results. They're stylistically very different from My Struggle and that difference makes it super intriguing. Autumn and Winter are great - the individual chapters are great little glimpses into an entirely new way for KOK to write. I remember when I was reading Autumn in particular, there were moments where my mind was blown. I think it was a chapter on "Apples," but I don't have my copy close at hand to check.

Spring and Summer are different. They try to blend the styles of the first two Seasonal volumes and My Struggle and I personally hated it. The best parts are the Seasonal Quartet parts, not the My Struggle parts. The biographical sections feel like stolen valor and noncommittal. It feels like two books and styles smashed together vs. a glimpse into an author challenging himself to do something he hasn't done before. They're worth reading, and it seems many people really like them and I'm a minority, but they're drastically different from the first two Seasonal volumes. If you read them, feel free to skim and skip - you will not miss much.

So Much Longing in So Little Space is fine. I find Knausgaard's writing and criticism on art to be trite and tedious so a book that's just that doesn't get my recommendation.

[Alan]

Just finished this



From the publisher:
"Joe Sanderson died in pursuit of a life worth writing about. He was, in his words, a “road bum,” an adventurer and a storyteller, belonging to no place, people, or set of ideas. He was born into a childhood of middle-class contentment in Urbana, Illinois and died fighting with guerillas in Central America. With these facts, acclaimed novelist and journalist Héctor Tobar set out to write what would become The Last Great Road Bum.

A decade ago, Tobar came into possession of the personal writings of the late Joe Sanderson, which chart Sanderson’s freewheeling course across the known world, from Illinois to Jamaica, to Vietnam, to Nigeria, to El Salvador—a life determinedly an adventure, ending in unlikely, anonymous heroism."

So yeah, I liked it. I do love it when novelists take on non-fiction (think Steinbeck's Travels with Charley or GGM's News of a Kidnapping, so this is right up my alley. Even though Tobar calls this a fictionalized account, it still relies heavily on Sanderson's own diaries, notes, and manuscripts, as well as his correspondence with his family and friends. whom Tobar also interviewed. He also interviewed Sanderson's former comrades in El Salvador. It does drag on a bit in the last quarter before picking up again at the end. I've been struggling with finishing books in the past year or so but I got through this one in a matter of days, so I guess it's interesting, lol.

[Mr. Kamikazi]

Just bought a copy of the Sound & the Fury.

[Crust]

Meditations - Marcus Aurelius

Stoic ideas are an amazing tool to have in our mental repertoire for dealing with different types of stress in life

[brycickle]

"Read" these over my winter break. "The Wager" and "Fever in the Heartland" I listened to. All really good.

[botefdunn]

There are some schlocky elements to this, but it's a surf and by extension skate classic imo. It was written in the 50s and the sociological context is pretty interesting, exploring sexual and social mores in sometimes surprisingly open ways. Other times, it's expectedly dated.
The paratextual info about the father-daughter relationship is also interesting (the story is fairly biographical, related by a 15-year-old girl and ghost-written by her dad). Also kind of fascinating that the dad/author- who was a german-speaking landed immigrant in post ww2- played such a heavy role in documenting and defining surf culture and its slang for the mainstream.

[TableClearer]

40 pages into Great Apes by Will Self and it's been near impossible to follow - is it intentional for the story or just the authors writing style?

[Alan]

"Read" these over my winter break. "The Wager" and "Fever in the Heartland" I listened to. All really good.

I just listened to The Wager on BBC Sounds last week. It was an abridged version, though. Still very compelling. I am fascinated by the Franklin expedition and there are some similarities between these two expeditions so I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[matt_2993]

Reading "Down and Out in Paris and London" by George Orwell. Just fun reading these personal reflections of being broke as fuck in these cities from a hundred years ago.  Funny to read about old shitty kitchen working conditions and cocaine smuggling scams happening in the 1920s/30s

[Frank and Fred]

I enjoyed 'Down and Out..." also. You'll likely enjoy "The Road to Wigan Pier" and "Homage to Catalonia" also, especially if you feel like arguing with your local leftist about selling out the revolution.

I'm currently making my way through the three part autobiography of Jon Gnarr, Reykjavík's Anarchist mayor.

[SneakySecrets]

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

Always heard about it but was too intimidated to read it until some unknowable mental screw frayed and I finally decided to take the plunge… and I’m glad I did.

It’s a tad long, but it doesn’t really resemble anything I’ve ever read. It’s a surprisingly prescient dystopian novel set in an alternate near future where years are sponsored by corporate conglomerates.  It mainly takes place in an elite junior tennis academy and a nearby drug/alcohol recovery halfway house. 

It was written by this dude that I honestly don’t even know if I like, but who is talented beyond all reckoning.  He made a whole world you can both pinpoint and lounge in.  (Whoops can’t end a sentence in a prepositional.) He just kinda spilled his whole soul out on paper for everything he was worth; then, as someone with severe, clinical depression often does, killed himself in 2008  . 

Basically I’m just advertising for anyone that has read or wants to read this book so we can talk about it in PM’s.


The Dark Enlightenment by Nick Land

A tiny little condensed laser-beam of societal analysis.  A 3-4 casual-shit read (under 100 pages) ; would suggest some familiarity with major western philosophers.  Can’t look at the world the same way ever again.

The Machiavellians by James Burnham

A masterpiece and mind-expanding primer for anyone with an open mind that has lost faith in our modern democracy.  He runs through some major bulletpoints and cuts to the quick.  One of the best books I’ve ever read.

Free pdf
https://ia601307.us.archive.org/14/items/BurnhamJamesTheMachiavellians/Burnham%2C%20James%20-%20The%20Machiavellians.pdf

[Peter Zagreus]

I've been having a lot of fun teaching a bunch of tales from this tome. My students seem to be enjoying themselves, too. Really good bang for your buck if you want to get into "weird" fiction but don't know where to start.



Thought about assigning this one for an end-of-the-semester banger, but ultimately decided against it. Hyper-violent, absurdist satire of US racial history and race relations. It was a page-turner and pretty funny at points, but I didn't feel up to the task of herding my students through it.

Teaching this more digestible but no less absurd classic in its place:

[Ninj2]

We been rereading bomb the suburbs we found in the basement when we was cleaning and we should be watchoon tha game.
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31739340784&dest=usa&ref_=ps_ggl_18382194370&cm_mmc=ggl-_-US_Shopp_Trade0to10-_-product_id=COM9781887128445USED-_-keyword=

[breezer]

I enjoyed 'Down and Out..." also. You'll likely enjoy "The Road to Wigan Pier" and "Homage to Catalonia" also, especially if you feel like arguing with your local leftist about selling out the revolution.

I'm currently making my way through the three part autobiography of Jon Gnarr, Reykjavík's Anarchist mayor.

Down and Out is one of my all time favourites, mainly because of the Parisian section.  The English half is less memorable.  The only jarring thing though is anti-semitism.........even Orwell was capable of hateful tropes. 

[Keep_on_Chooglin]

Just finished Stonefish by Scott R. Jones. Big recommend for anyone into Sci-fi, horror:

[Candied cigarettes]

Bumping this because I’ve read some great books recently. I finally got around to reading The Post Office by Charles Bukowski. I’d read snippets before but never the whole book. Loved it.

I’ve also been on a TC boyle thing. I started with the Tortilla Curtain and liked it. However, I started When the Killing’s Done yesterday and am burning through that. Holy shit, so good. Without even finishing it I would definitely recommend it as the tc boyle book to read first if you haven’t read him before.

[newguy]

Zionists relations with Nazi Germany
Faris Yahya

https://michaelharrison.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Zionist-Relations-with-Nazi-Germany-Faris-Yahya-PSR-Beirut-1978.pdf

I dont expect anyone here to know who faris yahya is , but if youre interested/horrified by the genocide currently in progress at the hands of zionists this will likely help you make some sense of « how the fuck did we get here ».


And in case some of you wonder who might Faris Yahya be, here is a great article on the man.
https://liberatedtexts.com/reviews/zionism-as-a-fascist-ideology-zionist-relations-with-nazi-germany-by-faris-glubb/

[matt_2993]

Only ever got 200 pages into Dune years ago prior to Denis first movie.  Restarting it now has me super fired up and loving the first few chapters all ove again with a way better understanding

[gringo_viejo]

Been recommending Tamsyn Muir's locked tomb trilogy to everyone who will listen.
Also would definitely buy a deck with this graphic.

[GaryDahLegend]

I read Wonderful Fool by Shusaku Endo (guy that wrote Silence, that Scorsese Italian monks in Japan movie) a few months ago. If you ever wanted to read a story where JarJar Binks is the main character, have at it. I finished it. I don't regret reading it. It was as good as it could have been with such a terribly annoying protagonist.

[mrrobot1994]

I might have top few in every genre:

Finance/Investing
1. The Intelligent Investor
2. The big short
3. The accounting game

Economics
1. Economics in one lesson
2. Freakonomics
3. How an economy grows and why it crashes

phim sex trung quốc
Self help/ Personal development

1. Who moved my cheese
2. Eat that frog
3. How to win friends and influence people


Fiction
1. Harry potter series
2. The kite runner
3. A walk to remember

[Shtonk]

Has anybody on here recommended "Humankind" by R. Bregman? Perfect book for anyone looking for a more positive outlook on humanity and the potential for positive change

[Mywm]

Lost the passion for reading, trying to get back into it.
I'm returning to old favorites for now.
Read Mysteries by Knut Hamsun again. I love Nagel's retelling of his dreams and his ramblings. Hamsun is a master of rambling.
Also read some Robert Walser shit. Now reading James Joyce's Epiphany little texts. Never got into Ulysses or Finnegans Wake, but I love these sketches.
Aimless writing that somehow hits your soul is my kind of shit.

[botefdunn]

“James: A Novel” by Percival Everett


Its a retelling of Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn,” thru the story of Jim.

Very enjoyable book

funny I don't remember a Jim in Huck Finn, could you elaborate?

that was my clyde singleton impression

[MichaelJacksonsGhost]

I’m like 400 pages into The Tin Drum by Günter Grass. It’s sick. Took me like 150 pages to understand how the novel was working, but now I’m in. I read for like 2.5 hours today and was just totally in it.

[RoaryMcTwang]

^Good on ya, that takes me back.

Two I’ve read recently and can’t recommend enough:

Air Conditioning by Hsuan L. Hsu.

Determined by Robert Sapolsky.

[lamfordie]

Currently half way through reading Hyperion by Dan Simmons and Holy shit this book is amazing. Such great world building and attention to detail is above and beyond. Anyone else read it. I'm hooked.

[Shtonk]

If you're not a moron and desparate with the current world, Rutger Bregman's "Humankind" is a good book to read yourself and give away. Provides some good arguments for future discussions as well.

[Atiba Applebum]

“James: A Novel” by Percival Everett


Its a retelling of Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn,” thru the story of Jim.

Very enjoyable book

Loved the retcon they did in it. 


@brycickle might want to check out the movie Origin if you liked Warmth of Ither Suns.   It’s a narrative film about the author researching and writing Caste after publishing Suns



Very much loved Godwin, and not just the Heath references.   It’s about a guy who is trying to find this African kid who is supposed to be the next Messi for his agent brother

[PatrickSkateman]