Chaos Reading discussion
It's all about you
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What are you reading right now?
Petra wrote: "Hang in there. I think it'll be worth it. "I have to back youse guys up, it's totally worth it!
I started Against the Day yesterday and... seriously. Is it too early to say best Pynchon/book ever?? So far, a gang of baloon-riding adventurers with a book-reading dog and a paranormal detective who befriends a ball of lightning. Awesome.
Leo wrote: "Petra wrote: "Hang in there. I think it'll be worth it. "I have to back youse guys up, it's totally worth it!
I started Against the Day yesterday and... seriously. Is it too early to say best Py..."
Against the Day is my favorite Pynchon.
I will agree with Petra and Leo that it is totally worth sticking it out with Infinite Jest.
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Just put it on your currently-reading shelf, and when finished set the "read" date (which will ove..."
Thanks, that works.
just Started The Master and Margarita. I got to the middle of the The Witching Hour and it seemed repetitive with the history of all the Mayfair witches. Some editing would have been nice. I'll finish it... eventually.I really tried reading Infinite Jest but couldn't get into it. May try another time when I don't have a list of other books I want to read. Y'all keep giving me new ones to try! :)
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I'm about two thirds through Consider Phlebas which is Iain M Banks first culture novel. I'm also reading Goerge Eliot's Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life and The Storyteller of Marrakesh by Joydee Roy Bhattacharya
Finished a couple of nonfiction books: Salt: A World History, which was very informative and made me think a lot more about salt than I ever thought I would; and, Bodies from the Ice: Melting Glaciers and the Recovery of the Past, which was a fun children's non-fiction book with touches of archaeology and environmentalism.Now I'm picking up Pompeii and Winnie-the-Pooh
Theo, I have Salt on my bookshelf and hope to get to it soon. If you enjoyed that book, you may enjoy The Great Hedge of India: The Search for the Living Barrier that Divided a People, which has a lot of information on the salt tax imposed on the people of India.
Still reading The Pale King. I've never read anything like this, it is fascinating. Found this link on a Kindle site and thought some of you might be interested in yet another 'Best Of' list."http://www.abebooks.com/books/feature..."
finished The Master and Margarita 4 starsreally liked it. One of those books to have long discussions about. I can tell you what the story is but not what the book is about. Hard to sum up and hard to explain. Kind of like some paintings.
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really liked it. One of those books to have long discussions about. I can tell you what the story is but not what the book is about. Hard to sum up and har..."
I'm on my reread of this one. Love it even more the second time around. Definitely one that benefits from rereading with assistance of notes and commentary, given all the jabs at life under Stalinism as well as fairly esoteric religious references.
Whitney wrote: "Jan wrote: "finished The Master and Margarita 4 starsreally liked it. One of those books to have long discussions about. I can tell you what the story is but not what the book is about. Hard to su..."My TBR stack is getting bigger every day and now thanks to you and Jan, I have added The Master and Margarita. You both make it sound so good, I just can't wait anymore. This book is going to the top of the stack, as soon as I get it, everything else is likely to slide...
Karen wrote: "Still reading The Pale King. I've never read anything like this, it is fascinating. Found this link on a Kindle site and thought some of you might be interested in yet another 'Best Of' list."ht..."
Karen, I'm glad to hear this. I'm currently reading Infinite Jest and am finding it fascinating as well. DFW has a lot to say about a lot of issues. And he does it so well.
I have The Pale King and am looking forward to reading it. I'll need a DFW break after IJ, though. :D
I'm up for a Master and Margarita discussion..read it last Xmas, but saw the movie..(awesome) probably 5-6 months ago?
I finished Malevil, read Fool Moon(I just don;t know why you needed 4 different kinds of werewolves in one story), got caught up with Downton Abby, and am back to zombie books, just started Dust and Decay ( i know YA,but his books are a quick enjoyable read.
Tracy wrote: "I'm up for a Master and Margarita discussion..read it last Xmas, but saw the movie..(awesome) probably 5-6 months ago?" Wow! a movie? have to check that out!
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I um... finished... Crime and Punishment... No really I did. (hehehe...) I didn't abandon it so I could start The Satanic Verses at all.On another topic, I'm really enjoying The Satanic Verses :-)
Well..it's not ...exactly...a movie. More a mini-series. In Russian. With English subtitles. I had to buy a copy to get it. Worth it, I thought. Leo..didn't like Crime and Punishment? I have trouble with Rushdie, myself.
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There is an actual movie, not very good from what I understand. But I also quite like the miniseries you are talking about - and it's available on YouTube in a good quality video. Here's a link to the first episode: The Master and Margarita.
Funny, I just posted about this series a little while ago on another group!
Whitney wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Well..it's not ...exactly...a movie. More a mini-series. In Russian. With English subtitles. I had to buy a copy to get it. Worth it, I thought. Leo..didn't like Crime and Punish..."thanks Tracy, will check out you tube.
Leo: i first read Crime and Punishment in high school and liked it a lot. helps to have a teacher guiding you thru it.
I just finished John Sandford's "Secret Prey" which was so good I have immediately started "Certain Prey". These are books 10 & 11 in the Lucas Davenport mysteries and they are terrific reads!
Whitney wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Well..it's not ...exactly...a movie. More a mini-series. In Russian. With English subtitles. I had to buy a copy to get it. Worth it, I thought. Leo..didn't like Crime and Punish..."I started watching episodes last night on my 7" cheapy tablet. The quality was good tho. Its a bit strange how it is broken up in little episodes but I was enjoying it anyway.(mini-mini series!) Thinking of setting up a comfortable chair in front of the computer screen and watching tonight! thanks again for the link.
Finished Pompeii and Company Of Liars. Both were interesting, but both kind of fell flat for me at the end.Starting two YA reads now: Devilish and Among the Impostors. Don't judge! ;)
I finished Infinite Jest and loved it. Then I started a short book, Phantastes, but have decided that will be my lunch book at work. It's kind of slow but I'm half way through so I'll finish it. Maybe it'll pick up.
I've started reading Half of a Yellow Sun, which I'm really enjoying.
On my commutes, I'm listening to The Bluest Eye.
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One of my favourites! I laughed out loud the whole way through :)
Tracy wrote: "Well..it's not ...exactly...a movie. More a mini-series. In Russian. With English subtitles. I had to buy a copy to get it. Worth it, I thought. Leo..didn't like Crime and Punishment? I have ..."In the end I didn't like either of them haha! Had the same problem with the Karamazovs, just wished I was reading The Idiot for the first time instead... Some you win :) onto
Catch-22, which at almost halfway through I'm still not into, but constant confusion is the style = this face :S
Matthew wrote: "Reading John Dies at the End. Quite the page-turner!"
That book is too funny!
currently reading les miserable, east of Eden and hamlet! No idea what I'm trying to prove here.....but it better be proven after the two beastly tomes and the "English that sounds more like Latin" Hamlet....
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I'm still ploughing through The Pale King for the group read, but making faster progress now. Had to pause halfway through Brave New Worlds, but looking forward to jumping back into it. Unfortunately, I stopped at the beginning of a Cory Doctorow story, and i have a bit of a love/hate thing with that guy.
Also had to pause partway through A Corner of White, which is a shame as it's quite good. Still reading the odd bit here and there when I'm stuck in queues though.
Oh, and I'm looking forward to taking a Harlan Ellison break so that I can contribute to the short reads thread - I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream..
Just finished What Darkness Brings fast read. Its ok. Started reading The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter than You Think
I finished
and have startedThe Sacred Book of the Werewolf. The Russian satirist/mystic, Victor Pelevin
I finished Half of a Yellow Sun, which I didn't enjoy very much. I'm going away for a few days and will be taking along my ereader and a copy of American Gods. I'd like to finish reading Phantastes and get a good start on Gaiman's book while I'm away.
See you all on Friday!! Have a good week.
I just finished Christine and I think it would have made a better short story. I had the same thoughts about Pet Sematary, as well. They both have interesting, creepy plots that just get boring after awhile (at least to me).I've recently started The Floor of the Sky, which I thought would be a good modern counterpoint to O Pioneers! (which I read recently). The title even comes from Cather.
Jan wrote: "Whitney wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Well..it's not ...exactly...a movie. More a mini-series. In Russian. With English subtitles. I had to buy a copy to get it. Worth it, I thought. Leo..didn't like ..."Again, I will say, I really dug the Jesus-Pontius Pilate dialogue uber alles. That guy who played Jesus....holy Cheerist;)
Leo wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Well..it's not ...exactly...a movie. More a mini-series. In Russian. With English subtitles. I had to buy a copy to get it. Worth it, I thought. Leo..didn't like Crime and Punish..."I never had read the Idiot--is that the one about his epilepsy? I really should--been putting it off for 20 years...
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I'm with Leo on liking The Idiot the best of all D's major fictions. Maybe since we both like The Master and Margarita we'll have similar Dostoevsky tastes? Although for me, this was the one I had an excellent teacher for, so that may have tipped the scales. It is the one that incorporates his epilepsy in the main character.
For anyone who wants the next best thing to an awesome teacher for reading Dostoevsky, I highly recommend Wasiolek: Dostoevsky Major Fiction (CL. Doesn't look like it's still in print, but there are used copies available.
Whitney wrote: "Tracy wrote: "I never had read the Idiot--is that the one about his epilepsy? I really should--been putting it off for 20 years..."I'm with Leo on liking The Idiot the best of all D's major ficti..."
What exactly is Wasiolek, analysis? Translation? Criticism?
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Oh, yeah, that GR link contained no information whatsoever, maybe I should have double checked that. It's analysis. Like I said, Wasiolek is the next best thing to having a good teacher guide you through the books.
This link is a little better: Dostoevsky: The Major Fiction.
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finished The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter than You Think really good, started Hallucinationsalso good
Finished The Winter King and totally enjoyed it. This is a unique take on the Arthurian legends. Here is my review.http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/.... Still dancing with DFW. March 31 is getting close.
Whitney wrote: "I'm with Leo on liking The Idiot the best of all D's major fictions."Woohoo! Book-five :D
Just started The Man Without Qualities... Now I will appeal to my uni to not make me do exams and let me just sit and read it in a park somewhere, amazing breezy style, lovely metaphors and deep philosophy, and maybe even a stepping stone getting back to Proust!
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So very much on my TBR! Now must bump it higher. My reading list resembles a pinball machine since joining GR.
Just finished The Silent Land which was a terribly frustrating read because it could have been so much more. Still chipping away at Nation which I'm really enjoying and it kind of makes me wish that Pratchett had written more outside of Discworld.I'm going to make a start on The Dinner, don't have a lot of high hopes for it, but we'll see.
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That is always frustrating, when a book doesn't live up to its promise. The description makes this one sound great, in what way did it fall short?
Whitney wrote:"That is always frustrating, when a book doesn't live up to its promise. The description makes this one sound great, in what way did it fall short? "Where to begin really, I felt that there was too much padding, not a lot to the characters and the dialogue was a bit on the rubbish side of things.
Didn't help that I worked out what was actually happening early on.
It was a great premise with some genuinely creepy moments, and I suspect it would have been better as a short story.
I'm starting to see this as a trend with Graham Joyce.
Whitney wrote: "So very much on my TBR! Now must bump it higher. Now must bump it higher. My reading list resembles a pinball machine since joining GR. ."Yay! You won't regret it :D
Found my favourite sentence ever in it, saving for the review :-)
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You shameless tease!
Chaos Reading
Books mentioned in this topic
Egalia's Daughters: A Satire of the Sexes (other topics)Infinite Jest (other topics)
Infinite Jest (other topics)
All the Light We Cannot See (other topics)
The Handmaid’s Tale (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Felix Francis (other topics)Ali Smith (other topics)
Sebastian Junger (other topics)
Annie Proulx (other topics)
Elizabeth Gilbert (other topics)
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So far, I haven't been bored as much as overwhelmed with how long he can go on about a topic. I think his writing is wonderfully done, with descriptions that hit the nail every time be it mental, personal or interactional.
Hang in there. I think it'll be worth it.