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May 28
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Travis
is currently reading:
Gravity's Rainbow (Paperback)
by Thomas Pynchon
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May 06
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New comment on Travis's review of
The Myth of Sisyphus, and Other Essays
(see all 2 comments)
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May 02
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Travis
gave
   
to:
Last Night at the Lobster (Hardcover)
by Stewart O'Nan
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read in February, 2008
Travis said:
"A wonderful book about a man who loves running in a local Red Lobster restaurant, and the fundamental challenges he and his employees face in their lives and as part of the corporate machine. Though he is committed to the small mall establishment, he...more
A wonderful book about a man who loves running in a local Red Lobster restaurant, and the fundamental challenges he and his employees face in their lives and as part of the corporate machine. Though he is committed to the small mall establishment, he is failed by the back office of the parent company, which has decided (somewhat arbitrarily) to close the restaurant and essentially end this world he's grown to love (though would never admit it). It's not a bad world, but it doesn't offer much hope in terms of dreams or success, and the man accepts these limitations. It's just the world of work, performed by people who live with time clocks and mall patrons as a career outside the corporate world. But there is a price, and this book charts the final hours as he pays for the limitations of this world. ...less
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Travis
gave
   
to:
Then We Came to the End (Hardcover)
by Joshua Ferris
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read in March, 2008
Travis said:
"A pretty good book in the same style of the "Virgin Suicides", where the narrator is a collective "we" and details the decline of a Chicago advertising agency during the downturn of the dotcom collapse. There was nothing fundament...more
A pretty good book in the same style of the "Virgin Suicides", where the narrator is a collective "we" and details the decline of a Chicago advertising agency during the downturn of the dotcom collapse. There was nothing fundamentally at stake in the story - no lives or ideals hanging in the balance - but it was an off-beat and colorful collection of anecdotes about office life and the colleagues that come with low level corporate America. There were some touching moments, but never overwrought or heavy handed - how serious or invested can you be in a cubicle? That said, I enjoyed reading their stories, which was told almost as continuous gossip, and definitely laughed a few times. It was a quick read, and I read somewhere it was one of the best books of 2007 (though I'm doubtful... or worried about the publishing industry). ...less
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Travis
gave
   
to:
All the Pretty Horses (Border Trilogy, Vol 1)
by Cormac McCarthy
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Travis said:
"I read it, and liked it. But the story was so overwrought and dense, like the end of the world. It appeals to those dark souls whom see the worst in all people. Kind of like all his books. At least Faulkner (who clearly inspires him) had tremendous h...more
I read it, and liked it. But the story was so overwrought and dense, like the end of the world. It appeals to those dark souls whom see the worst in all people. Kind of like all his books. At least Faulkner (who clearly inspires him) had tremendous humor in his stories. Comedy and tragedy are the two sides of the same coin. McCarthy, skipped the comedy. My guess is it wasn't interesting to him (or just too hard). ...less
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Travis
gave
   
to:
The Sirens of Titan (Paperback)
by Kurt Vonnegut
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Travis
gave
   
to:
Slaughterhouse-Five (Paperback)
by Kurt Vonnegut
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Travis
gave
   
to:
The Myth of Sisyphus, and Other Essays (Paperback)
by Albert Camus
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Travis said:
"A book about the argument against suicide. I saw Sisyphus - and life, I guess - in a completely different light after reading it.
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Travis
gave
   
to:
Steppenwolf (Paperback)
by Hermann Hesse
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Travis said:
"Ugh, I did not like this book at all. I found the protagonist's viewpoint to be completely opposite my own on most of the points of the book. And I'd like to think I'm open to other POVs, but seriously, get a grip - bourgeois society is not the stifl...more
Ugh, I did not like this book at all. I found the protagonist's viewpoint to be completely opposite my own on most of the points of the book. And I'd like to think I'm open to other POVs, but seriously, get a grip - bourgeois society is not the stifling and horrific enterprise the book makes it out to be. It's not great, for sure. But the enemy of the intellectual? Maybe they should meet the Taliban. Or the Nazi... oh, wait - written in Germany, 1927 - maybe they have.
A book for people looking for a hero who's "finding/found himself as an outsider". Personally, that journey is not a magical one, and it's certainly not through any doors of perception that will lead you to someone new. ...less
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Travis
gave
   
to:
Siddhartha (Mass Market Paperback)
by Hermann Hesse
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Travis said:
"Liked it, but definitely not a book I'd affix my philosophical outlook to (as some have).
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