Fear Fantastique discussion
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What are you reading, folks?
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(last edited Jul 03, 2009 12:46AM)
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Jul 03, 2009 12:46AM
Yep, Phillip, love O'Brien (That reminds me, I don't have him on my goodreads lists!), have you read 'At Swim Two Birds' or 'The Poor Mouth'?
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No, but they are in the edition I have, which is Flann O'Brien The Complete Novels, from Everyman's Library. It's a nice edition. I read about his life and At Swim Two Birds in the introduction and I'm super excited to read that next. I HAD to go back and re-read Third Policeman, it really messed me up the first time around. O'Brien is a madman. I mean, what genre is he, other than mad Irish genius? He's his own genre.
Well, some people argue that he walks the line between nonsense and sci fi, but how do you define Lewis Caroll, or Pynchon for that matter?
Although it means he reaches less readers, I think O' Brien himself would have liked the idea that he is undefinable!
Although it means he reaches less readers, I think O' Brien himself would have liked the idea that he is undefinable!
Indeed, baffling his readers seems to have been his M.O.Nonsense and Sci-Fi, that's an interesting assessment. I would say he's like reading Irish Fairy Tales re-imagined by Phillip K Dick.
Phillip wrote: "i've been reading "The Third Policeman" (by Flann O'Brien) on this tour...i read it when i was in my 20's and it went way over my head. this time around i'm really enjoying it. has anyone read this..."I have The 3rd Policeman, but haven't started it yet
It may not be everyone's cup of tea but it had me laughing outloud several times yesterday. Just stay with it...it can be challenging. The end really took me by surprise the first time I read it.
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I think I saw those while flipping through a fashion mag at the store. Are they kinda like the novel version of a chick flick? Don't know, just wondering. I think it said something about a female detective who looks a lot like the murder victim she's investigating, so she pretends to be her and moves in the house where the victim lived with these people. I don't think it sounds like my kinda thing at all.
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The Likeness - here's my sum reaction to it - eh. I had high hopes. It's from Cassie's POV, the old partner of the guy in In The Woods. And yes, she does look exactly like a murder victim and moves into the victim's house (the entire squad pretends the victim isn't dead) in order to flush out the killer. It just came off as unlikely. In The Woods had a spooky atmosphere that really helped sell the story. The Likeness - not so much.
Oh well...
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Amy wrote: "Over 100 pages into The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters - enjoying it so far..."I have that but haven't started it yet. Let me know what you think.
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Next up will probably be the 4th book in the Y: The Last Man graphic novel series...
i was reading war and peace, but i got a bit bored with it and switched to The Place of Dead Roads, by William S Burroughs. I've read it a few times, but I was recommending it to some friends on another group and got into it and wanted to read it again. It might just be my favorite book my Burroughs.
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that sounds great, rob. i'm still trying to find flicker...i ordered it from black oak books, one of my favorite bookstores, but just realized they have gone out of business, and i should probably look for it elsewhere.still loving (for the fourth time?) william s burroughs' place of dead roads...kim carsons lives!
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what do you think? it's different than the film. the book has some sequences that weren't in the movie (obviously) that worked well in the narrative, giving it a grittier flavor that the movie..
I'm reading the first 2 Titus Crow books right now by Brian Lumley, never read any of his stuff. I'd say I like it so far. Also reading this really neat book called Child of the River- The First Book of the Confluence by Paul McAuley. It is extremely original and intriguing.
Phillip- I've got 3rd Policeman in my stack of books to start right off. I peeked at the first page. What a great 1st sentence; piqued my interest enough to move it to the top of my 'to read' pile."Not everybody knows how I killed old Phillip Mathers, smashing his jaw in with my spade; but first it is better to speak of my friendship with John Divney because it was he who first knocked old Mathers down by giving him a great blow in the neck with a special bicycle pump which he manufactured himself out of a hollow iron bar."
i love that book, it's one of the funniest and STRANGEST books ever....i hope you enjoy it!
i walked into a bookstore yesterday and saw the new thomas pynchon novel, inherent vice, on the counter so i picked it up. i'm only 20 pages into it, but so far it's classic pynchon.....and it's great to see what he does with the noir genre.
thanks for mentioning that, i'd like to read what they have to say. it's so great to see him riffing on los angeles (my home town) in the 60's. so far he's nailing it. he must do a lot of research, he always goes a great job of zeroing in on his locations.
i picked up the newest rolling stone (with obama on the cover) yesterday, but didn't see the review. did i have the wrong issue?i got a bit further into the book in the last 24 hours and am really liking it.
oh, thanks for that....i saw that one, but thought it was a special issue entirely devoted to michael.i am LOVING the new pynchon novel! it's so damn funny, and probably his most accessible book since vineland. and that's not a bad thing! it's kind of like reading the big lebowski, but on more mind-bending drugs than the coen brothers seem to have had at their disposal.
Phillip wrote: "oh, thanks for that....i saw that one, but thought it was a special issue entirely devoted to michael.i am LOVING the new pynchon novel! it's so damn funny, and probably his most accessible book ..."
Sounds great- I'll have to check it out!
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amy,right? i don't read a ton of horror, but that book rocked.
hey rob,
no worries. i finished the book (inherent vice) yesterday and LOVED it. pynchon so nails the LA i grew up in...i highly recommend it - it's one of his more accessible books, but that's not a bad thing. if you like the big lebowski, you'll love this book.
today i started a book of short stories by junishiro tanizaki. i just finished "terror", the story of a man who is terrified of trains that must travel to kyoto and osaka for military examinations...good story, pretty creepy depictions of phobias.
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I'll check out that Tanizaki book, Phillip...
i wasn't so into the tanizaki book, amy. it started out pretty good, but the rest of the stories were a bit disappointing. i would recommend the book i'm reading now: pastoralia, by george saunders - a collection of stories, some post-apocalyptic, but with empathy for his characters. i am on the fourth story in the collection (nearly done) and really liking his writing.
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i never rated it (does it really say that?) i just put it on my to read shelf...
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naw, i haven't read it yet, but it's possible that i nicked the wrong button and rated it by accident.
Just started The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins. As Halloween nears, I'm especially in the mood for spooky stories, specifically featuring ghosts and haunted houses.
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I am eager to hear what you think of the Gorey, Amy. I've been wanting to read a Gorey bio.
just finished samuel fuller's autobiography, a pretty fascinating read....what a character!now i'm re-reading a joan didion novel, the last thing he wanted. i've been wanting to re-read it for awhile. i read it when it first came out, but read it in chunks with long interruptions....wasn't ideal for this fast paced thriller.
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I've been wanting to re-watch that movie.What are you in school for?
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Reading Titus Groan, the first book in Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy. I started it because it's such a revered work in fantasy, but honestly I did not expect to like it. I have been more than pleasantly surprised - Peake's use of language is incredible (apparently he was a painter, and this really shows through). And, despite the fact that the characters seem at first to be nothing but eccentric grotesques, they've really grown on me.
I'm reading The Historian, aaaaaaaaand regretting it. I feel like I unintentionally entered an eating contest, and I'm 3/4 through the food. I'll be sick if I keep eating, but I feel obligated to finish.
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I've started Mortal Love by Elizabeth Hand - enjoying it so far...
i'm reading two books at the moment...well, i started to re-read pynchon's mason & dixon, which is awesome, but it's a big huge tomb in hardcover and i didn't want to drag it around on tour so i grabbed a paperback copy of northanger abbey, jane austen's only gothic novel. it's great so far, her humor is so sly in this one, written toward the end of her life when she had a lot more confidence as a writer. catherine morland, the main character, goes to bath with aunt on a holiday, and while she's there she meets a girl named isabella, with whom she develops a friendship; she has a brother who catherine is crushing on. isabella introduces catherine to dark gothic novels and invites her to stay at their mansion, northanger abbey, an old gothic castle, where catherine's imagination starts to run wild (and dark).
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Finished Mortal Love - it was a little unsatisfying, but very rich and dark - I'm an Elizabeth Hand fan, so I liked it, but it could've been better.
Just started Twilight Watch - back to the world of the Others!
i'm reading thomas bernhard's "frost", his first novel...one of the darkest books i've read in a long time. excellent, spare prose...and really intriguing. i have no idea where this novel is going to go.
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