Challenge: 50 Books discussion
*Retired* 2008 Lists
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Chris's 50 Books
4. War of the Worlds - HG Wells. Solid.
5. Choke - Chuck PalahnuikAbsolute garbage.
6. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test - Tom Wolfetrippy, doooood
7. The Left Hander Syndrome - Stanley CorenIf you're a decent, reputable right-hander, don't bother, you still won't care about our plight.
8. Fischer/Spassky: The New York Times Report on the Chess Match of the Century - Richard RobertsI'm sure Fischer's recent eulogy was choc full of kind things to say about the man. I would have read this to the mourners instead, i guarantee they'd change their minds about what a 'loss' the world suffered.
9. Blaze - Stephen King (as Richard Bachman)As usual for post-1990 King, nothing particularly good here. Decent.
Hallelujerr!!! As Mdeah would say! A friend of mind once said that to be left handed is to be as discriminated against as being gay.I haven't heard about this book but I will find and read it.
Strange how your comment has brought back a flood of unpleasant memories about a left handed childhood.
Lets See what Stanley has to say.
I hear a lot of that. I don't have any negative childhood memories from being left-handed short of the school desks that were obviously designed for the right-handed majority. Skipping class seemed to solve that issue.
Book 10 - Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis StevensonWhen you're reading 50 books in a year, might as well take the easy way out and select a few that you can finish on a train ride to work.
Book 11 - Slime - John Halkinif you dig sloppy and sleazy horror (remember Zebra books?) than Slime is right up your alley. if you haven't been lobotomized, don't bother.
Book 12 - Ancient Sorceries and Other Stories - Algernon BlackwoodI'd heard some good things about Blackwood, mainly comparisons to Lovecraft. I don't find much in common, but that ain't no thang; this is like a dash of Lovecraft, a cupful of Conan Doyle, and a jigger's worth of suspense.
Book 13 - Candide - VoltaireA re-reading of a classic. Probably just falls short of my ten favorite books.
Book 14 - We - Yevgeny ZamyatinI would highly recommend this. I doubt that counts for much.
Book 15 - Cat O'Nine Tales - Jeffrey Archer
As if helping to incarcerate people by passing rotten legislation wasn't enough for Archer, when he himself goes to the clink he rips off the inmates stories.
Shameless, but decent.
Book 16 - The Connoisseur - Evan S. Connell, JrSounded cool. Looked cool.
Was weak.
Book 17 - The Crawling Dark - Pauline DunnCheesy Zebra Horror, my first love. Didn't really stand the test of time.
Book 18 - Replay - Ken Grimwood
Toss "Back to the Future" and "Groundhog Day" into a blender and add some of the solemnity of impending and unpreventable sense of loss from "Eternal Sunshine..." and out pours Replay
Book 19 - Story of the Eye - Georges BatailleDoesn't even remotely live up to the hype.
I have to agree. Story of the Eye was a bit of a let down.
Book 20 - A History of Orgies - Burgo Partridgeperfect to be seen perusing at your girlfriend's family get-together. even better if her trollop cousins are open-minded....
Book 21 - Nine Tomorrows - Isaac Asimov9 pretty good sci-fi tales
'hear, hear' on your summation of choke. palahniuk is bad news bears.
Hey, that's one of the few Chuck books I haven't read, mostly because I heard it was bad. But I usually like his crazy stories, do you?
Book 22 - Crash - J.G. BallardA re-read, but it's been 10 years. It manages to remain awesome.
I have to agree. What are your thoughts of the movie adaptation?
Book 23 - The Fuck-Up - Arthur Nersesianweak. co-published by MTV?? i'm surprised they didn't make a sucky miniseries about this insignificant pizzle.
I think the movie is awesome as well. I personally think the casting is superb; you couldn't find a better-fitting troupe of weirdos and suspected perverts to pull it off as convincingly. I'm not usually watching the movie in search of any profound message.
Book 24 - The Seven Minutes - Irving WallaceI'm not one for 'courtroom drama', but this was pretty good. Definitely not sorry i read it.
Book 25 - Exquisite Corpse - Poppy Z. Briteif some chick told you she wanted to have a sex change for the sole purpose of laying the wood to Dahmer's rotting corpse, would you really care to read her book, which is strongly influenced by her desires? oh, you would..... it sucks for the rest of us that you weren't smothered with hay at birth.
Another re-read, but again, it's been a decade.
Moving totally sucks.......but, i'm pretty much situated now, i think, except for the fact i have no idea where the hell to put all my stuff, seeing as the g/f has made this townhouse her stomping grounds.Book 26 - Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
man sees little girl, man desires little girl, man acquires little girl, man abuses little girl, man reflects on his obsession. well written and pretty boring, i just couldn't work up excitement over this clown's painstaking and agonizing desciption of his lust for nymphettes.
Book 27 - The Asylum - John Edward Ames
In true Zebra horror fashion, this trudges along and then the end is just preposterously bad. The central character has some definition, all others are just there, not really worth caring a damn bit for.
Book 28 - Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller
One of the Top 100 Fiction and banned for obscenity, can you possibly go wrong? Entertaining at times, but i don't think it's quite worth all the hype. Certainly influenced many of the future fiends out there.
I thought Lolita was so boring. I'm glad I'm not the only one!
thank god i'm not the only one. half the book i was thinking to myself that H.H. needed a second hobby; the book was very one-dimensional, the entire work just paints a picture of a creepy pervert drooling on a park bench while leering at a playground. while i understand that's the point of the book (this obsessive fiend's compulsion), it's just boring as hell.
Book 29 - Against Nature - Joris-Karl HuysmansSince reading this peculiar work i've sat here pondering just which 'bookshelf' to put this on if i did have goodreads 'bookshelves'. As for a review; i'm just going to have to see what someone else said and blatantly rip them off (sorry, whoever that might be).
Book 30 - The Stranger - Albert CamusThird time reading this garbage; third time pondering what the acclaim is for.
Book 31 - Junky - William Burroughs
See above slander. Again, re-reading this after i unpacked and had a crappy week at work so wanted to justify clinging to some books. Why is this taking up my shelf space?
Book 32 - Just Before Dark - Jack MacLane
If you're one of the unitiated, go find a copy of this and join the club.
Pretty sad recent reading overall. I pretty much went into it knowing what to expect, and deserved what i got.
Book 33 - Downers Grove - Michael HornburgA perfect summation of why nobody cares about what happens in illinois. Pathetic.
Book 34 - Erewhon - Samuel ButlerPretty solid. I'm sure that will inspire someone to read this.
I thought The Stranger was decent, but I certainly agree that it is overhyped...maybe it loses something in translation (or I am just too dense to get it)?I was unaware that there was a novel called Downer's Grove. My cousin lived there for years. I can safely say that nothing interesting happens there. Interestingly, Sufjan Stevens has a whole record about Illinois. I'm guessing that it is more interesting than Hornburg's book.
Hey Bishop.The Stranger just didn't move me in any sort of way at all. I too, keep thinking maybe i don't get it, but i've come to the conclusion there is nothing 'to get'.
Downers Grove sucks, the town, the novel, etc. I don't know squat about Sufjan Stevens, but for some reason or another i've seen adverts for "Illinoise" about 500 times.
Book 35 - Holes - Louis SacharThe only work of Sachar's i was previously familiar with were the "Wayside School" books. And this pretty much started out in the same vein, promising. Silly, whimsical, good stuff. Sachar feels the need to break away from his forte and attempted getting across a 'serious' message, which just killed my enjoyment.
Book 36 - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark HaddonI found myself 'groaning' throughout this book. Completely weak.
Book 37 - Heart-Shaped Box - Joe HillWhat do you know, a contemporary book everyone is raving about that i actually liked!
Book 38 - Pimp - Iceberg Slim (Robert Beck)One of my all time favorite books. I probably find it entertaining for all the wrong reasons. Great for some inspirational trash talk prior to your next pimp-n-ho costume party.
Book 39 - A Separate Peace - John KnowlesTalk about a trip down memory lane; back when i was a student at Devon about be by enlished into the meat grinder known as WWII....or when i read this in high school. one or the other.
Always a quick, relatively enjoyable read.
Book 40 - Contact - Carl SaganSweet. Totally sweet.
Book 41 - The Catcher in the Rye - JD SalingerI'll probably never give this the respect everyone seems to think it deserves.
Book 42 - Inheritance - Owen Brooks
Go find a copy and read it, we can weep together.
Book 43 - Interstellar Pig - William SleatorGood, good fun. Aimed for the young adult audience, at least recommend it to a kid if you can't find a way to spare about two hours (seeing as you're so busy jackalakin around on the 'net).
Book 44 - Success - Martin AmisWould I recommend it, yes, only for some of the finer moments, which are incredible. Overall, I can't believe I've bothered with it twice now.
Book 45 - The Torture Garden - Octave MirbeauThis was a perfect choice to bring to the latest wedding I was dragged to, over the holiday weekend, no less.
Book 46 - The Good Soldier - Ford Madox FordI found this to be a very enjoyable read. The narration is rather interesting (although spoils any surprises you might desire) although the end of the book wraps up rather lamely.
Book 47 - Island - Aldous HuxleyImagine every element of Brave New World, but instead of imposing limitations on man's thought and behavior, these things assist in contemplation, freedom, and harmony. Don't assume this makes the book awesome.
2. Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
3. Peaceable Kingdom - Jack Ketchum