Recently Purchased.

[Benny Profane]

http://http://houseofbaddesign.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/no_country-781558.jpg

Unlike many other people, the books I buy are always the next ones I read. I don't buy books and keep them stashed away on my shelf for too long. Just have to finish Gravity's Rainbow and then these will be tackled quickly, especially cause I got a honeymoon coming up and plenty o' time to veg and read.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I'm not seeing anything in your post.

[Benny Profane]

Fuckin A.

All I see are Red X's and I can't delete it or figure out what's wrong.

Anyway, I bought:

No Country for Old Men -- Cormac McCarthy
Vineland -- Thomas Pynchon
The Devil in the White City -- Erik Larson

Sorry for the screw-up.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Fuckin A.

All I see are Red X's and I can't delete it or figure out what's wrong.

Anyway, I bought:

No Country for Old Men -- Cormac McCarthy
Vineland -- Thomas Pynchon
The Devil in the White City -- Erik Larson

Sorry for the screw-up.

Nice. I've read No Country, which I loved, and own The Devil in the White City, but alas, I'm not like you. I buy books and they sit for awhile, mainly because I get caught up in a whim when someone around here is raving about something. I've had Devil for a year at least.

[Duncan]

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/8580000/8584803.jpg

[lovejuice]

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/8580000/8584803.jpg

nice...i remember you like steppenwolf which is my second favorite of hesse's. this book you just purchased in the first.

[Duncan]

nice...i remember you like steppenwolf which is my second favorite of hesse's. this book you just purchased in the first.

Yeah, I really dig Hesse. My preferences would go something like:

The Glass Bead Game
Steppenwolf
Siddhartha
Demian

I've got a few more books in the queue before I tackle this one, but it'll be interesting to see where it falls.

[dreamdead]

My Hesse ranking:

Magister Ludi: The Glass Bead Game
Siddhartha
Narcissus and Goldmund
Rosshalde
Gertrude
Steppenwolf
Demian
Beneath the Wheel
Peter Camenzind

[lovejuice]

and mine


Narcissus and Goldmund
Steppenwolf
Siddhartha
Gertrude
Rosshalde
Demian
Beneath the Wheel
Journey to the West


and yes i need to read The Glass Bead Game

[Lasse]

For about a dollar a piece:

http://www.listemageren.dk/blog/wp-content/images/horror/king_desperation.jpg

http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/dbremm/7035180.jpg

[Llopin]

Hesse for me:

1. Steppenwolf
2. Narcissus and Goldmund
3. Demian
4. Siddartha
5. Beneath the Wheel

Also, I liked Vineland by Pynchon, but that's the only one I've read by him and for what I know it's one of his lesser works.

[D_Davis]

Yesterday I bought:

http://www.alexholden.net/books/covers/Callahans_Crosstime_Saloon_f.j peg

http://www.sfsite.com/gra/0701/mplg.jpg

[Duncan]

I seriously did not need another book, but the 4:00 showing of I'm not There was sold out and I needed to kill time until 6:30. Therefore I wandered to the nearest bookstore and fumbled around until I saw this one, which is written by a guy who has been heavily recommended around these parts.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61360N7YMDL._SS500_.jpg

[Melville]

Something about having my own library of books to browse through is very appealing to me. Hence, I buy books compulsively and own literally hundreds that I haven't read. Gravity's Rainbow and Narcissus and Goldmund are two such books; let me know if they are worth prioritizing.

[Duncan]

Something about having my own library of books to browse through is very appealing to me. Hence, I buy books compulsively and own literally hundreds that I haven't read. Gravity's Rainbow and Narcissus and Goldmund are two such books; let me know if they are worth prioritizing.
I bet I'll get to this point some time. I always go into book stores telling myself I won't buy anything. Then, once I find something I want, I just tell myself that I eventually would have bought it anyway so I might as well just buy it now. I have found no counter argument.

[lovejuice]

just purchase this for my friend's birthday.

http://www.boksala.is/EN/images/bookcovers/0740763660.gif

i read some of it. even though i'm familiar with most, it's still hilarious.

[lovejuice]

the sale at my local library is such a let down. most of them are hardcover of authers i have never heard of or pop writers which i have a lot of respect for, but i don't feel like reading their work. the only thing noteworthy that i get from it is to the lighthouse, and christie's curtain.

[megladon8]

Bought these today with a gift certificate I got for Christmas...

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/6232/barkerha9.th.jpg (http://img169.imageshack.us/my.php?image=barkerha9.jpg)

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/294/baltimorecp8.th.jpg (http://img169.imageshack.us/my.php?image=baltimorecp8.jpg)

[EvilShoe]

Picked these up:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41HTD056KWL._SS500_.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/410MZ2FASWL._SS500_.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41yyuJd4kYL._SS500_.jpg

I almost bought The Demolished Man as well, but the cover was so horrendous I feared it would drive me insane.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Bought these today with my gift card. All were on sale:

http://www.freenyc.net/images/slamNH.jpg
http://www.bookswim.com/images_books/large/Water_for_Elephants_A_Novel-119186354010128.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516568A0M6L._AA240_.jpg


My son and I are halfway through the Silverstein book. He loves it.

[megladon8]

These came in the mail today...

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/1834/n78js3.th.jpg (http://img232.imageshack.us/my.php?image=n78js3.jpg)

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/6324/icvy6.th.jpg (http://img72.imageshack.us/my.php?image=icvy6.jpg)

[Sycophant]

Oh, aren't we just a horde of materialist horders?

What I got over the weekend:

Pride & Prejudice
A Canticle for Leibowitz
When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro
Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

Arrived in the mail today:
What the Maid Saw by Yasutaka Tsutsui
Film Art An Introduction by Bordwell & Thompson

[megladon8]

Please write about "Fragile Things" whenever you get around to reading it, Sycophant!

It's gotten totally mixed reviews - I'd be curious to hear what someone on here thinks of it.

[monolith94]

Don't buy books anymore. Not enough space. I interlibrary loan everything I need.

[megladon8]

These all arrived today...

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/5425/zeroxf2.th.jpg (http://img242.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zeroxf2.jpg)

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/5724/bloodiz4.th.jpg (http://img341.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bloodiz4.jpg)

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/610/fleshbd5.th.jpg (http://img299.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fleshbd5.jpg)

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/270/flowio1.th.jpg (http://img180.imageshack.us/my.php?image=flowio1.jpg)

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/1778/threerz4.th.jpg (http://img300.imageshack.us/my.php?image=threerz4.jpg)

[Lasse]

Two total random purchases I found cheap.

http://members.aol.com/tishede/greenmile.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/513W5DMHD6L._AA240_.jpg

[Sycophant]

Got in the mail today:

Novels:
Almost Transparent Blue by Ryu Murakami
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Graphic works:
32 Stories by Adrian Tomine
Telepathic Wanderers by Yasutaka Tsutsui

[Qrazy]

Decline of the English Murder - Orwell
Critique of Practical Reason - Kant
Anti-Semite and Jew - Sartre
Five German Tragedies - Lessing, Goethe, Schiller, Kleist, Grillparzer
The No Plays of Japan
Penguin Modern Poets 4, 2, 11 - Holbrook, Middleton, Wevill, Black, Redgrove, Thomas, Amis, Moraes, Porter

[jenniferofthejungle]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51YPT7YYYXL._BO2,204,203,200_P Isitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61X8CQ95SGL._BO2,204,203,200_P Isitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514aigj1HqL._BO2,204,203,200_P Isitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg

[D_Davis]

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/270/flowio1.th.jpg (http://img180.imageshack.us/my.php?image=flowio1.jpg)

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/1778/threerz4.th.jpg (http://img300.imageshack.us/my.php?image=threerz4.jpg)

Two amazing books. Three Stigmata is especially awesome, and quite profound.

[megladon8]

Two amazing books. Three Stigmata is especially awesome, and quite profound.


Yep, you and KF have become my official literature advisors :)

[D_Davis]

Yep, you and KF have become my official literature advisors :)

Did you ever pick up Weaveworld by Barker?

[megladon8]

Did you ever pick up Weaveworld by Barker?


Not yet, no. I've been...*cough*...Dick-ing around too much.

:P

[jenniferofthejungle]

Did you ever pick up Weaveworld by Barker?

This is one of a host of books I could never "get into". Weaveworld and Stephen King's Tommyknockers, were books I tried to read many times, but always abandoned after two or three chapters.

And the new covers for the old Barker books are incredibly lame.

[D_Davis]

This is one of a host of books I could never "get into". Weaveworld and Stephen King's Tommyknockers, were books I tried to read many times, but always abandoned after two or three chapters.

And the new covers for the old Barker books are incredibly lame.

I'll have to disagree on two of the three (I've never gotten into Tommyknockers either)!

:)

Weaveworld is among my favorite urban/dark-fantasy novels. I think it is an incredible work of the imagination. There are moments in it that I will never, ever forget. They've been burned into my mind.

I also like the new covers. I like that they are classier than the typical cliche-ridden horror cover. They add a bit of mystery to the work as well.

Although, this cover for In The Flesh is wicked cool:

http://www.clivebarker.info/bob5ush1.JPG

[jenniferofthejungle]

I far prefer the original covers to Weaveworld (it's what made me buy the book in the first place), Cabal, and The Inhuman Condition. I think if i had never seen or owned the originals I would have been happy with the newer covers, but since I know what they were like before I have trouble accepting these.

I'm like that with almost everything. I'm still in denial over the newer DVD cover of The Thing.

[megladon8]

My dad reminded me of the education plan we have through his work, where I can get certain things related to my education (books, DVDs - because I am in ScriptWriting and it relates to my field of study) which are partially paid for by this plan, as well as tax deductable.

So I made an order of 7 books from Amazon...

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/7065/wszn7.th.jpg (http://img212.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wszn7.jpg)

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/6489/citymy6.th.jpg (http://img297.imageshack.us/my.php?image=citymy6.jpg)

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/8254/adjdf1.th.jpg (http://img297.imageshack.us/my.php?image=adjdf1.jpg)

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/802/pdpw4.th.jpg (http://img214.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pdpw4.jpg)

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/2786/tdmif2.th.jpg (http://img292.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tdmif2.jpg)

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/2797/mthrq8.th.jpg (http://img250.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mthrq8.jpg)

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/9958/heartvc5.th.jpg (http://img214.imageshack.us/my.php?image=heartvc5.jpg)

[Sycophant]

That reminds me... I've been meaning to read Christopher Moore.

[megladon8]

That reminds me... I've been meaning to read Christopher Moore.


I'm reading "Lamb" right now and it's farkin' brilliant.

Just hilarious.

[Llopin]

So I made an order of 7 books from Amazon...

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/7065/wszn7.th.jpg (http://img212.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wszn7.jpg)

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/6489/citymy6.th.jpg (http://img297.imageshack.us/my.php?image=citymy6.jpg)

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/2786/tdmif2.th.jpg (http://img292.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tdmif2.jpg)

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/2797/mthrq8.th.jpg (http://img250.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mthrq8.jpg)

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/9958/heartvc5.th.jpg (http://img214.imageshack.us/my.php?image=heartvc5.jpg)

These are all excellent... specially Simak's and Sturgeon's, yet I'm kind of a sucker for them.

I recently got, second hand:

BÖLL - The Clown
JARRY - Ubu Roi and its sequels
PETRARCH - Anthology
MILLER - A Devil in Paradise

[transmogrifier]

Atonement
The Third Chimpanzee
What's Your Dangerous Idea?

[D_Davis]

Nice buys with the Bester, Sturgeon and Simak Meg.

You're going to love both. Way Station is just amazing, and you already know my thoughts on More Than Human. Although, I do have to say that I like To Marry Medusa more.

[D_Davis]

These are all excellent... specially Simak's and Sturgeon's, yet I'm kind of a sucker for them.


So why don't you ever participate in the sci-fi thread? Come on, now!

I've posted a bunch of Sturgeon stuff and just yesterday I posted some thoughts on Way Station.

We need some more discussion in that thread.

:)

[D_Davis]

1. Godbody - Theodore Sturgeon
2. The Perfect Host - Sturgeon short stories V.5
3. A Treasury of Great Science Fiction - anthology, 2 volumes (mainly for The [Widget], the [Wadget] and Boff)
4. The Werewolf Principle - Simak
5. Goblin Reservation - Simak
6. They Walked Like Men - Simak

[megladon8]

Nice buys with the Bester, Sturgeon and Simak Meg.

You're going to love both. Way Station is just amazing, and you already know my thoughts on More Than Human. Although, I do have to say that I like To Marry Medusa more.


Yeh I was trying to get "To Marry Medusa", but it seems to be completely out of print.

Any idea if it is going to return to print sometime?

[D_Davis]

Yeh I was trying to get "To Marry Medusa", but it seems to be completely out of print.

Any idea if it is going to return to print sometime?

There are 32 copies available for as low as 59 cents on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Marry-Medusa-Theodore-Sturgeon/dp/0375703721/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201029649&sr=1-1

And here is one for $6.50

http://www.powells.com/s?kw=To+Marry+Medusa&x=0&y=0

[megladon8]

There are 32 copies available for as low as 59 cents on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Marry-Medusa-Theodore-Sturgeon/dp/0375703721/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201029649&sr=1-1

And here is one for $6.50

http://www.powells.com/s?kw=To+Marry+Medusa&x=0&y=0


I'm just still a little iffy about buying stuff from independent sellers on Amazon.

As I said before, I've been ripped off many-a-time on eBay, and this seems very eBay-ish to me.

[D_Davis]

For the last 7 months, I've been ordering exclusively from the marketplace and I've never had a problem.

Order the one from Powells. They are totally legit. Largest book store in the world.

I'll be going there in a few weeks for a huge shopping spree!

[megladon8]

For the last 7 months, I've been ordering exclusively from the marketplace and I've never had a problem.

Order the one from Powells. They are totally legit. Largest book store in the world.

I'll be going there in a few weeks for a huge shopping spree!


They want $12.99 to ship to Canada, though, which is kind of ridiculous.

I'm sure it'll get back in print, or I'll find it somewhere eventually.

[D_Davis]

They want $12.99 to ship to Canada, though, which is kind of ridiculous.

I'm sure it'll get back in print, or I'll find it somewhere eventually.

Ah, that sucks. If I come across one when I am there, I'll pick it up for ya.

[megladon8]

Ah, that sucks. If I come across one when I am there, I'll pick it up for ya.


Oh, wow, thanks man :)

I'll give you $13.00 for shipping!

[Sycophant]

Just ordered:
Piercing (Ryu Murakami)
Slaughterhouse Five (Vonnegut)
The Stranger (Camus)
To Marry Medusa (Sturgeon)

[Llopin]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41FSo9nDbBL._AA240_.jpg
http://www.firsts-in-print.co.uk/pictures/aldis_somewhereeaast.jpg
http://www.bookrouter.com/im/juvelisbks/3223.jpg

For 3 € each.

[transmogrifier]

Slaughterhouse Five (Vonnegut)


I want to suffer a severe knock to the head just so I can get amnesia and re-read this book.

[SpaceOddity]

I got The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake

[Kurosawa Fan]

Found this at my library in the used book section for $2:

http://a2.vox.com/6a00c114132e97c40800d4141d0eaa 3c7f-500pi

[D_Davis]

I want to suffer a severe knock to the head just so I can get amnesia and re-read this book.

I totally understand this wish. I would love to be a virgin to The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, To Marry Medusa, and a few others again.

[D_Davis]

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/6489/citymy6.th.jpg (http://img297.imageshack.us/my.php?image=citymy6.jpg)



This edition is gorgeous. It's printed on heavy paper, it has a nice binding, and it just feels classy. I am reading this next, after I finish Time is the Simplest Thing.

[Morris Schæffer]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AXDhlKNdL._SS400_.jpg

[Duncan]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AXDhlKNdL._SS400_.jpg

That's written by my best friend's brother. Not that that really matters.

[Morris Schæffer]

That's written by my best friend's brother. Not that that really matters.

It doesn't. I won't rep you. ;) Anyway, I've read great things about this, leading me to believe it truly is definitive.

[Skitch]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AXDhlKNdL._SS400_.jpg



....must...buy....

[Qrazy]

Pascal - The Provincial Letters
The Shorter Novels of Herman Melville
Beckett - Eh Joe

[D_Davis]

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w205/MatthewPolly_photos/BritishCoverHalf.jpg

This is going to rock. From Amazon:


In this smoothly written memoir, 98-pound weakling Polly makes the age-old decision to turn his nerdy self into a fighting machine. Polly's quest for manhood leads this guy from Topeka, Kans., to the Shaolin Temple, ancient home of the fighting monks and setting for 10,000 chop-socky movies. As much a student of Chinese culture as he is a martial artist, Polly derives a great deal of humor from the misunderstandings that follow a six-foot-three laowai (white foreigner) in a China taking its first awkward steps into capitalism after Tiananmen Square. Polly has a good eye for characters and introduces the reader to a Finnish messiah, a practitioner of "iron crotch" kung fu, and his nagging girlfriend. We get the inside dope on Chinese dating, Chinese drinking games and a medical system apparently modeled on the Spanish Inquisition. The last hundred pages of the book lose focus, and Polly doesn't convincingly demonstrate how he transforms himself from a stumbling geek to a kickboxing stud who can stand toe-to-toe with the highest-ranked fighter in the world. Although Polly may fall short in sharing Shaolin's secrets, as a chronicler of human absurdity he makes all the right moves.


I've heard it is really good.

[Saya]

My local bookstore had a sale today so I picked up a couple of books.

A Game of Thrones (George RR Martin)
A Clash of Kings (George RR Martin)
Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov)
Crime & Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Caroll)
1984 (George Orwell)

[D_Davis]

Behold the Man - Michael Moorcock
The Iron Dragon's Daughter - Michael Swanwick
Dr. Bloodmoney - Philip K. Dick

[megladon8]

I got these free after being overcharged by the Science Fiction Book Club a few months ago...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/prodigy.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/snowcrash.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/lastdaysofkrypton.jpg

[transmogrifier]

http://soccerlens.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/moneyball.jpg

http://www.zimbardo.com/LuciferCover.jpg

[Melville]

I've been on a Buddhism binge.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GYyjS1L3L._SS500_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NSPMH3M9L._SS500_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41D3454AKSL._SS500_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/414FX40VHBL._SS500_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5174NAJDRHL._BO2,204,203,200_P Isitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU15_AA240_SH20_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41TAYFZ9A2L._SS500_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GM91XY47L._SS500_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41SFm3SHjfL._SS500_.jpg

[D_Davis]

I got the following at Powell's yesterday:

1. Solaris - Lem
2. A Choice of Gods - Simak
3. Where the Evil Dwells - Simak
4. Thorns - Silverberg
5. The Drowned World - Ballard
6. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea - Sturgeon
7. Venus Plus X - Sturgeon
8. The Enemy Stars - Poul Anderson
9. Act of God - Richard Ashby
10. Non-Stop - Brian Aldiss
11. Book of Skulls/Nightwings/Dying Inside - Silverberg
12. A Rendezvous in Averoign - Clark Ashton Smith
13. Cemetery World - Simak
14. Inside Outside - Farmer
15. The Crack in Space - Dick
16. The Cosmic Puppets - Dick
17. Dark Harvest - Partridge
18. Tales of Pirx the Pilot - Lem
19. Cities in Flight - Blish
20. The Last Dragon - McDermott
21. The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Wolfe


All in all, it was a good day of shopping. Powell's is so awesome; it is so overwhelmingly huge.

I saw a first edition Hobbit for $9,500 - it was awesome.

[megladon8]

Oh, nice, "The Crack in Space"!

I really hope you enjoy that one as much as I did. Granted I'm not nearly as versed in PKD's works as you are, but I thought it was quite brilliant.

[lovejuice]

I've been on a Buddhism binge.


speaking as a buddhist, the thing i most hate about my religion is its lack of any definite text. unlike the bible, we are not encouraged to read tripitaka. they take it that average person is too stupid to understand the text, so it's our monks' duty to read and translate it to us. i don't know...there's a lot of anti-intellectual going on here. (perhaps not unlike christianity.)

[Melville]

unlike the bible, we are not encouraged to read tripitaka. they take it that average person is too stupid to understand the text, so it's our monks' duty to read and translate it to us. i don't know...there's a lot of anti-intellectual going on here. (perhaps not unlike christianity.)
That's somewhat surprising, considering the densely philosophical material and intellectual tone of many Buddhist scriptures; I would have thought that the religious leaders would try to encourage individuals to engage with the ancient texts, especially in Theravada Buddhism. However, Buddhist texts do refer to "the foolish common people" quite often, so maybe their intellectual tone is only meant for non-foolish, non-common people. (Also, Theravada Buddhism seems to emphasize the idea that one must slowly work toward enlightenment over many life times, and that the foolish common people need to accumulate larger heaps of merit before they become ready for the monk's enlightened life, which might serve as an excuse for the elitism that you describe.)

[lovejuice]

Theravada Buddhism seems to emphasize the idea that one must slowly work toward enlightenment over many life times, and that the foolish common people need to accumulate larger heaps of merit before they become ready for the monk's enlightened life, which might serve as an excuse for the elitism that you describe.

"work" is a keyword here. theravada has a lot in common with marxism in that both are philosophies of praxis. you are supposed to act buddhism not just study it.

[Melville]

"work" is a keyword here. theravada has a lot in common with marxism in that both are philosophies of praxis. you are supposed to act buddhism not just study it.
Are you saying that's a part of the anti-intellectualism that you dislike?

[lovejuice]

Are you saying that's a part of the anti-intellectualism that you dislike?

indeed. it's a general belief that no matter how many buddhist text have you read, you are no better than a man who has "practiced" buddhism for a few days.

i'm not trying to argue one over the other. perhaps this idea of praxis might work in a more cultured places like europe or america. but in a semi third-world country, it's actually among those negative ideologies that eventually might run down thailand. now any hack who can't make it to college can boast of practicing "Samādhi" and suddenly every fucking people has to listen to him.

[megladon8]

I couldn't resist...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/darkharvest.jpg

[D_Davis]

Awesome meg, I think you're going to love it.

And have fun imagining how they're going to screw it up when it becomes a film!

[megladon8]

Awesome meg, I think you're going to love it.

And have fun imagining how they're going to screw it up when it becomes a film!


Is it being made into a film already? Or are you just saying if/when it happens?

[D_Davis]

Is it being made into a film already? Or are you just saying if/when it happens?

It's already been optioned, or so says wiki.

[megladon8]

It's already been optioned, or so says wiki.


Well that doesn't really mean much. Any book that gets published and is read by more than 2 people gets optioned for a movie.

I'm not even exaggerating - if you see it at a book store, the rights are owned by a film company.

[Qrazy]

The Honorary Consul (Graham Greene)
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Richler)
The Ambassadors (James)

[SpaceOddity]

The Honorary Consul (Graham Greene)
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Richler)
The Ambassadors (James)

Henry James fan?

[lovejuice]

Henry James fan?

i want to be. i read the bostonians because someone makes a strong comparison between that book and blithedale romance. i don't think i like the former as much though. any recommendation?

[D_Davis]

Daisy Miller is a great short story.

[SpaceOddity]

i want to be. i read the bostonians because someone makes a strong comparison between that book and blithedale romance. i don't think i like the former as much though. any recommendation?

I haven't read The Bostonians. My absolute fave book ever is The Wings of the Dove.
I've also read The Portrait of a Lady, The Aspern Papers, The Altar of the Dead, The Turn of the Screw, Daisy Miller, The Europeans and Washington Square.

*likes*

[D_Davis]

For one of my literature classes in college, I did a side by side comparison between Daisy Miller and Star Wars using Campbell's study of the hero's journey as the guide.

It turned out excellent. Totally floored the professor.

[lovejuice]

Daisy Miller is a great short story.

short story? i goog it, and it results in a 324 page novel. anyway, i'm immensely interested thank to you guys. will pick up either DM or WoD.

[Kurosawa Fan]

short story? i goog it, and it results in a 324 page novel. anyway, i'm immensely interested thank to you guys. will pick up either DM or WoD.

It's a novella more than anything else. I have this edition (http://www.amazon.com/Daisy-Miller-Penguin-Classics-Henry/dp/0141441348/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203192077&sr=8-2) and it's 128 pages. Haven't read it yet though.

[SpaceOddity]

short story? i goog it, and it results in a 324 page novel. anyway, i'm immensely interested thank to you guys. will pick up either DM or WoD.

*votes Wings of the Dove*

[D_Davis]

It's a novella more than anything else. I have this edition (http://www.amazon.com/Daisy-Miller-Penguin-Classics-Henry/dp/0141441348/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203192077&sr=8-2) and it's 128 pages. Haven't read it yet though.


I always considered it a short story, but yes, it is probably a novella.

[Velocipedist]

Just bought some Borges. What's his best?

[lovejuice]

ficcion is usually regarded as his best. but you probably want a recommendation from a fan, not someone who gives up on the author.

[SpaceOddity]

Just bought some Borges. What's his best?


*votes Dreamtigers*

[D_Davis]

Forever Free - Joe Haldeman
The Voices of Time (short stories) - J.G. Ballard
Bones of the Moon - Jonathan Carroll

[Duncan]

Just bought some Borges. What's his best?

I like Ficciones best.

[Qrazy]

I like Ficciones best.

Duncan what's your av from? I haven't seen it but my guestimate is Humanity and Paper Balloons?

[Duncan]

Duncan what's your av from? I haven't seen it but my guestimate is Humanity and Paper Balloons?

It's from the stock footage used in Tarkovsky's The Mirror. Comes sometime after that war footage montage.

[Qrazy]

It's from the stock footage used in Tarkovsky's The Mirror. Comes sometime after that war footage montage.

Woah. Time for a rewatch.

[Duncan]

Woah. Time for a rewatch.

I had the opportunity to see it in a theater last week, but let school work get in the way. The av is a sort of penance.

[Velocipedist]

It's from the stock footage used in Tarkovsky's The Mirror. Comes sometime after that war footage montage.

One of the many reasons why The Mirror is Tarkovsky's best!

[lovejuice]

One of the many reasons why The Mirror is Tarkovsky's best!

we can take this outside but from four or five films i watched, it's actually my least favorite.

but yes, in general the tark is awesome.

[Melville]

indeed. it's a general belief that no matter how many buddhist text have you read, you are no better than a man who has "practiced" buddhism for a few days.

i'm not trying to argue one over the other. perhaps this idea of praxis might work in a more cultured places like europe or america. but in a semi third-world country, it's actually among those negative ideologies that eventually might run down thailand. now any hack who can't make it to college can boast of practicing "Samādhi" and suddenly every fucking people has to listen to him.
At least Theravada Buddhism emphasizes ethical behavior--Zen and Ch'an Buddhism (at least some of their texts) say outright that all good works are irrelevant and that the cessation of analytical thoughts should be one's sole goal.

Back to the Tipitaka: can you recommend any specific texts (or a compilation of texts) from it? Most of the famous Buddhist texts that I hear about are from the Mahayana branch of Buddhism, so I'm never sure what to read from the Theravada branch. So far I've read The Dhammapada and various short selections.


I like Ficciones best.
Ditto.

[Benny Profane]

Mason & Dixon -- Thomas Pynchon

[Qrazy]

In Dubious Battle - Steinbeck
Zorba the Greek - Kazantzakis
A Season in Hell - Rimbaud

[Melville]

Zorba the Greek - Kazantzakis
That is one of the few canonical novels that I really dislike. Zorba and his layman's wisdom were just irritating.

[Qrazy]

That is one of the few canonical novels that I really dislike. Zorba and his layman's wisdom were just irritating.

Have you read any good Kazantzakis? This is the first I've picked up from him.

[Melville]

Have you read any good Kazantzakis? This is the first I've picked up from him.
That's the only thing I've read by him. It does have its good points (the downfall of its female character is a pretty affecting tragedy), and it's certainly highly acclaimed, so you might like it.

[lovejuice]

That's the only thing I've read by him. It does have its good points (the downfall of its female character is a pretty affecting tragedy), and it's certainly highly acclaimed, so you might like it.

i actually like it. from what i remember, the novel is really good natured, and even though characters get preachy at a time, to me, it never crosses the line and becomes irritating.

[Melville]

i actually like it. from what i remember, the novel is really good natured, and even though characters get preachy at a time, to me, it never crosses the line and becomes irritating.
I'm easily irritated.

[Llopin]

I've read a handful Borges and his "best" really depends on what you are seeking in his words. I think the most satisfying was El Aleph, although El Hacedor is truly his most personal. Ficciones is a must too.

[D_Davis]

Theodore Sutgeon, by Lucy Menger.

This is a 140 page critical analysis of his major works. It's a really nice library edition. Smells great, totally reminds me of being in a library.

Baby is Three, Volume VI of Sturgeon's short stories
The Saucer of Loneliness, Volume VII of Sturgeon's short stories

5 more volumes and I've got them all...

[EvilShoe]

Got these at a flea market for a grand total of 5.5 euros (8.2 dollars)!
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/0/0f/Death_of_a_Salesman_-_Penguin_Plays_cover.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MZ5F8R60L._SS500_.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41qI4%2BbtCJL._SS500_.jpg

[Duncan]

That Naked Lunch cover is way cooler than mine.

[EvilShoe]

That Naked Lunch cover is way cooler than mine.
It's not the cover that matters, but the content.

*hangs out with book, and picks up chicks together*

[megladon8]

Got these today...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/sharpteeth.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/badmonkeys.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/bambigodzilla.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/shadowworld.jpg

[Kurosawa Fan]

Got these today...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/sharpteeth.jpg


Weird, I almost bought this today. Instead I bought the following:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1179886347l/968634.jpg
http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1172268564l/157993.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51imt-zJMdL.jpg
http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1174413525l/394535.jpg


I've decided I need to stop buying books until I plow through about 20 of the books I have sitting on my shelf right now. There are almost more books that I haven't read on my shelf than those I have.

[megladon8]

Weird, I almost bought this today. Instead I bought the following:


Damn. I wish you had bought it - and you'll see why in a day or two.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Damn. I wish you had bought it - and you'll see why in a day or two.
Crap. I can guess why. Weird thing about it is I've never heard anything about it or its author. The cover just struck me while I was walking the aisles, and it sounded interesting.

[megladon8]

Crap. I can guess why. Weird thing about it is I've never heard anything about it or its author. The cover just struck me while I was walking the aisles, and it sounded interesting.


I'd never heard about it either.

Similar to you, the cover struck me while at Barnes & Noble, and after reading the back and then flipping through it, it seemed fascinating.

I thought about it for a day, and I'm glad I did because when we went to Borders today, they had it for 20% off. So I got it there.

[D_Davis]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/shadowworld.jpg

Awesome.

The only Ligotti book that is actually easily available.

Again, why is all of the best stuff impossible to find?

Many consider Ligotti to be the best writer working in the horror genre today.

He is absolutely brilliant.

You will never read anything like him. He has one of the most unique voices I've ever come across.

I would love to read more, but his books are so damn expensive, and so hard to find.

The work he did with Current 93 is some of the scariest stuff I've ever heard.

[megladon8]

Awesome.

The only Ligotti book that is actually easily available.

Again, why is all of the best stuff impossible to find?

Many consider Ligotti to be the best writer working in the horror genre today.

He is absolutely brilliant.

You will never read anything like him. He has one of the most unique voices I've ever come across.

I would love to read more, but his books are so damn expensive, and so hard to find.

The work he did with Current 93 is some of the scariest stuff I've ever heard.


Awesome, that's very promising coming from you :)

I flipped through it a bit and some of his prose reminded me of a slightly modernized version of Lovecraft.

And the reviews on the cover compare him to Lovecraft quite a bit.

Looking forward to reading it.

[Qrazy]

Bought Narcissus and Goldmund... Better be good or I'll hunt you all down and unleash a fiery vengeance.

[Duncan]

Bought Narcissus and Goldmund... Better be good or I'll hunt you all down and unleash a fiery vengeance.

It's good.

[D_Davis]

I flipped through it a bit and some of his prose reminded me of a slightly modernized version of Lovecraft.

And the reviews on the cover compare him to Lovecraft quite a bit.


I think the comparisons between Ligotti and Lovecraft are purely superficial, that is, he's just that good.

I believe, that in 50 years time, people will be discovering the true literary power of Ligotti, a lot like how Lovecraft is more respected now than when he was first writing.

More literary-minded people who normally shun genre will embrace him, and we'll be wondering what took them so long to do so and why an American author of this caliber had been overlooked for so long.

I only have Ligotti's Noctuary. Even that book you just got is hard to find for under $50. Most of his books sell for about $50-100, some quite a bit more.

I just don't get it. All you have to do is press print, and ship the books to a store, but no, the horror shelves are far too crowded with Bentley Little, Robert McCammon, Anne Rice and Anita Blake novels. Ugh. But such is the curse of fandom - the high praise of mediocrity.

[megladon8]

I think the comparisons between Ligotti and Lovecraft are purely superficial, that is, he's just that good.

I believe, that in 50 years time, people will be discovering the true literary power of Ligotti, a lot like how Lovecraft is more respected now than when he was first writing.

More literary-minded people who normal shun genre will embrace him, and we'll be wondering what took them so long to do so and why an American author of this caliber had been overlooked for so long.

I only have Ligotti's Noctuary. Even that book you just got, I can't find it for under $50. Most of his books sell for about $50-100, some quite a bit more.

I just don't get it. All you have to do is press print, and ship the books to a store, but no, the horror shelves are far to crowded with Bentley Little, Robert McCammon, Anne Rice and Anita Blake novels. Ugh. But such is the curse of fandom - the high praise of mediocrity.


Damn...if I had known that you were looking for a copy of "The Shadow at the Bottom of the World" I would have picked one up for you.

It was $12

[D_Davis]

Damn...if I had known that you were looking for a copy of "The Shadow at the Bottom of the World" I would have picked one up for you.

It was $12

Really? Where at?

[megladon8]

Really? Where at?


I got it at Borders.

I forget if it was $12 or $13 - I already have it packed away in my luggage so I can't check.

Unfortunately, I'm leaving NYC today so I can't even offer to pick it up for you before I go...sorry :cry:

[D_Davis]

I got it at Borders.

I forget if it was $12 or $13 - I already have it packed away in my luggage so I can't check.

Unfortunately, I'm leaving NYC today so I can't even offer to pick it up for you before I go...sorry :cry:

No worries man.

I'll check Borders website.

[D_Davis]

I picked this up today. A total blind buy:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41oW8ktAdnL._AA240_.jpg

Set in Hollywood and the Hamptons during the dead end of the 70's, Shallow Graves is a satirical retelling of the Parsifal legend. Our Holy Fool is the Professor, a half-breed orphan, who does research for horror films. He finds himself pitted against a cabal of satanic cults all vying for control of the clans at the great Feast of the Beast. Movie stars, human sacrifice, East Hampton society and the living dead are all strung together by thread of coincidence with needle sharp wit. The occult pulp fictions of our times are turned on their heads (the Spear of Destiny was stolen by Houdini at the turn of the century; Magdalene was black.) This dark satire on Hollywood, The DaVinci Code and The State of the Nation is a must read for all true fans of the bizarre.

[Sven]

Got Dawson's The God Delusion and Harris's The End of Faith today. Gettin' my atheist on.

[Kurosawa Fan]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51XB22YNDPL._AA240_.jpg
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0140035206.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
http://a1.vox.com/6a00c2251dbe128e1d00d09e82cae1 be2b-320pi
http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1166855923l/18077.jpg

[Sycophant]

Lord, I really need to read more Wodehouse.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Lord, I really need to read more Wodehouse.

This'll be my first. What have you read of his?

[Sycophant]

This'll be my first. What have you read of his?
Only one of the Wooster & Jeeves books. Right Ho, Jeeves, if I remember correctly. But it was a delightful read, a very breezy, very smartly written comedy of manners, the influence of which on the televised situation comedy, particularly those of British origin, is evident, and I mean that in the most positive way.

[Milky Joe]

Bought Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections today. Look forward to it.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Bought Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections today. Look forward to it.

That's the only book from Oprah's Book Club that I found mediocre. Franzen is much better writing for his age group, and when it's written from the parents perspective, the book really suffers. Still, it was decent, and worth reading I suppose.

[dreamdead]

Yeah, I concur with KF about Franzen. There's a vitality to those sections with the kids and their struggles that's missing from the more obvious narrative concerning the parents. Some of the book faintly lingers some three years after reading it, so it's not bad, but if I want something like this, I'll seek out DeLillo, especially since this book occasionally felt like DeLillo-lite.

[D_Davis]

http://www.rudyrucker.com/blog/images/lifeboxcover.jpg

I just got Rucker's newest (I think) non-fiction. It looks awesome.

His concept of the "lifebox" is awesome, and will definitely take blogging, video blogging, and social networking to a new level.

[Kurosawa Fan]

This just came in from B&N:

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VM71XDJXL.jpg

[D_Davis]

I've heard good things about that book, KF, and I love the cover.

I recently got...

http://www.ophicleide.com/images/And_now.jpg

Only three more volumes until I complete the collection...

http://www.fwomp.com/images/shadow.jpg

Finally found a copy for less than $40 - I guess they reprinted it. Finally.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n0/n2715.jpg

And I pre-ordered Leather Maiden, Joe R. Lansdale's new one that comes out in August.

[lovejuice]

This just came in from B&N:

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VM71XDJXL.jpg

read it, and submerge yourself in the gloriously erotic world and words of carter.

[D_Davis]

I just ordered a bunch of stuff from the marketplace:

Game-Players of Titan - PKD
Our Friends From Frolix 8 - PKD
The collected short stories of PKD volumes 1 and 2
Dark Gods - T. E. D. Klein
The Orphan
The Captive
The Beast - Stallman
The Draco Tavern - Niven

Books are awesome.

One of the main reason why I recently quit smoking is so that I might live longer so that I can read more.

[megladon8]

Sweet buys.

The marketplace? Amazon?

[D_Davis]

The marketplace? Amazon?

Yep. Pretty much the only place I get books from online.

[Kurosawa Fan]

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0060518499.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
http://cdn.harpercollins.com/harperimages/isbn/large/4/9780060854034.jpg

[D_Davis]

The Unlimited Dream Country - JG Ballard
Grey - John Armstrong
Sirius - Olaf Stapledon (really looking forward to reading this.)
Big Time - Fritz Lieber
The Best of Walter M. Miller Jr.

[Duncan]

Bought a copy of The Upanishads and V For Vendetta today. Bit of an odd combo.

[lovejuice]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/98/231495310_42c539f2b2.jpg

a kick-ass history on penguin cover.

[Marley]

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1573223026.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

http://pubpages.unh.edu/~laj8/choke.jpg

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0060735457.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Total came to $30

[Qrazy]

Sketches from a Hunter's Album - Turgenev
Rudin - Turgenev
Pensees - Pascal
Eugene Onegin - Pushkin

[EvilShoe]

Fables Volume 5: Mean Seasons

[Boner M]

My friend has a new job at a bookstore, so he gives me 20% discounts on everything.

Bought Sartre's Nausea and DeLillo's White Noise today.

[Llopin]

Derrida - Dissemination
Bataille - L'erotisme
Lispector - Agua Viva
Cioran - Aveux et anathèmes
Eagleton - Ideology

[D_Davis]

The Man With the Heart in the Highlands - William Saroyan

It's been a long time since I've purchased something from Saroyan, my favorite author of non-genre lit. I found a nice 1st edition this afternoon for only $20.

[Melville]

Bought Sartre's Nausea... today.
Awesome.

[Duncan]

Bought Cinema 1: The Movement Image by Deleuze, and V by Pynchon.

[Benny Profane]

Bought.. V by Pynchon.

Great. You reading this next?

[Llopin]

Great. You reading this next?

Forgot to mention it, I read this last month and it was pretty friggin' cool. He's really got a unique style of telling a story (I mean, a hundred stories), even if it's a bit hard to follow at first.

I'm leaning fowards to reading The Crying of Lot 49 the next, I've also got Slow Learner lying around. Mason and Dixon also intrigues me a good deal.

[Duncan]

Great. You reading this next?
Probably not. I've had Wuthering Heights on my shelf for about a year now. Figure I should make an effort to read some female authors. Maybe after that one though.

[Benny Profane]

Forgot to mention it, I read this last month and it was pretty friggin' cool. He's really got a unique style of telling a story (I mean, a hundred stories), even if it's a bit hard to follow at first.

I'm leaning fowards to reading The Crying of Lot 49 the next, I've also got Slow Learner lying around. Mason and Dixon also intrigues me a good deal.

Very glad you liked V. I was blown away by it. It's what made me want to read all his works in chronological order. I have one more to go...Against the Day.

Mason and Dixon is my favorite Pynchon so far. It's a great follow up to Gravity's Rainbow. Vineland came in between the two, but M&D is much more like GR, in terms of style and themes. But M&D is a lot more linear, not nearly as confusing, and has more "heart".

With regards to his novels being hard to follow, have you ever checked www.pynchonwiki.com?

If I were you, I'd read GR next, if only because I've found that going in order with Pynchon seems like the right way to read him, if only because he is constantly building and expanding upon his previous works. Even the characters are constant.

Pig Bodine appears in all his novels. In GR the character of Weissman is explored in much greater depth, and Kurt Mondaugen appears again, as well as "Bloody" Chiclitz.

[D_Davis]

Darkness and the Light - Olaf Stapledon

Considered one of the most important works in philosophical SF. In this volume, Stapledon examines two possible futures for mankind - one being dark, the other light.


Written in 1941 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1941), at the most frightening point of World War II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II), Stapledon projects two separate futures for humanity, depending not on the outcome of that particular conflict but on the failure or success of a future "Tibetan Renaissance" to influence the temper and ideology of the militaristic empires that threaten it.

I've heard it is one of the most thoughtful future histories ever written.

Should be fascinating.

[Kurosawa Fan]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51H215HG0ML.jpg
http://www.ianmcewan.com/bib/books/images/saturday-canadian.jpg
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51TANA1BM8L.jpg

[D_Davis]

The Great Divorce
The Space Trilogy - CS Lewis
The Method of Zen
Zen in the Art of Archery - Eugen Herrigel
History of Christian Thought - Paul Tillich
Questioning the Millennium - Steven Jay Gould
The Unreasoning Mask -Farmer
Rosemary's Baby - Levin
Deliverance - Dickey
Homeworld - Harrison
Islands in the Sky - Clarke
Dandelion Wine - Bradbury
Galaxies Like Grands of Sand - Aldiss
Expanded Universe
The Past Through Tomorrow
Starship Troopers - Heinlein
Necroscope - Lumley
Caves of Steel - Asimov
Wolfbane - Pohl
Mist
Bachman Books - King
Ringworld - Niven
20th Century Ghosts - Joe Hill
Beyond the Blue Even Horizon - Pohl
The Jonah Kit - Ian Watson
The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
Rocket Science - Jay Lake
The Peace War - Vernor Vinge
The Lottery - Shirley Jackson
The Sun also Rises - Hemingway
The Atrocity Archives - Charles Stross


All for $24.50

Nice!

[Philosophe_rouge]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Z4TMH4P6L.jpg

[megladon8]

I'm jealous, D.

There are no book stores like that around here.

[D_Davis]

I'm jealous, D.

There are no book stores like that around here.

It's a twice a year event here. All the books are donated and the proceeds go to the Seattle library system.

It's a win-win situation.

We get cheep books, and the SPL gets more money.

[Sycophant]

Nice diverse shipment from Amazon:
Dreams from My Father (Obama)
Tao Te Ching Pocket Edition (Lao-Tzu, tr. Stephen Mitchell)
Producing, Financing and Distributing Film (Buaumgarten, Farber, Fleischer)

[D_Davis]

The Creation - E. O. Wilson

A Voyage to Arcturus - David Lindsay: this one sounds really fascinating. It was written in 1920, and it is an early example of philosophical SF/fantasy. I guess it had a pretty major impact on C.S. Lewis. It comes with a little "warning" on the title page pointing out how the author's views on race are "of the times," and mentions that parents may want to discuss this aspect with their reading children. Interesting.

[trotchky]

I just ordered Robbe-Grillet's Repetition from the internet.

Pretty fucking amped to read it.

[megladon8]

Arriving in the next day or so...

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0060518499.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3356/9780060913076vb0.jpg

[Lasse]

For $2

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n4/n23637.jpg

[Kurosawa Fan]

Huge haul in the last couple days. First, my library had their annual sale and I picked up these:

The Death of Ivan Ilyich - Tolstoy
The Importance of Being Earnest - Wilde
The Jungle - Sinclair
Our Town - Wilder
Take the Cannoli - Vowell
October 1964 - Halberstam

Total: $4


Tonight we went to B&N and I got a bit out of control, picking up:

Ragtime - Doctorow
The Master and Margarita - Bulgakov
Then We Came to the End - Ferris
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Diaz
Good Omens - Pratchett & Gaiman

I need to stay the hell away from book stores for a long time.

[Benny Profane]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4119DJEK8ML._SS500_.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2c/Happydeatsg.jpg

[SpaceOddity]

Too bad you didn't obtain the version with this cover...

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/1476/tgvm7.jpg

*flaunts*

*shakes fist at the poisoned and mortal wound of the civilised world*

[D_Davis]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HW7Z9MS0L._SL500_BO2,204,203 ,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg

http://www.syndetics.com/index.aspx?type=xw12&isbn=1573220183/LC.GIF&client=loudp

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Y7051XD0L._SS500_.jpg


Kind of a themed purchase to help forge my Christian-Buddhist path.

:)

[lovejuice]

Kind of a themed purchase to help forge my Christian-Buddhist path.

just curious. why do you want to walk that path?

[megladon8]

Forgot to post these...they arrived at the beginning of the week...

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/492/vslf8.th.jpg (http://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=vslf8.jpg)

http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/3308/aohzg0.th.jpg (http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aohzg0.jpg)

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/7968/dhwsi7.th.jpeg (http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dhwsi7.jpeg)

[dreamdead]

For light reading after the semester's done:

http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/060803/134916__coronado_l.jpg

For the essay that's due on Monday:

http://www.stimmelopolis.com/dlibrary/covers/book/book43.jpg

[lovejuice]

For the essay that's due on Monday:
http://www.stimmelopolis.com/dlibrary/covers/book/book43.jpg

love it. i'm a fan.

[bac0n]

Picked up No Country For Old Men yesterday. I've been holding off seeing the movie until I could read the book. Can't wait to dig in.

[Boner M]

Picked up Nabakov's Lolita, Faulkner's The Sound an the Fury and Celine's Journey to the End of Night from the secondhand store today.

[EvilShoe]

Planet of The Apes and Anna Karenina are now in my possession, for the grand total of 0.40 euros.

[megladon8]

Ordered a copy of Thomas Pynchon's "Vinelands".

[megladon8]

"Vineland" came, but it's Spanish.

So I have to return it.

[Kurosawa Fan]

http://kenstein64.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/when-you-are-engulfed-in-flames-hardcover-small.jpg
http://kirstyne.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/alchemist.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KEEPHMMFL.jpg
http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/24350000/24359468.JPG
http://www.wwnorton.com/cover/spring08/004165.jpg

[Qrazy]

Seven Plays by August Strindberg
Eugene Onegin - Pushkin

[SpaceOddity]

Yay for Onegin and The End of the Affair.

[MadMan]

I got my hands on Roger Ebert's Your Movie Sucks. I had no idea the man reviewed Crossroads. Heh.

[Benny Profane]

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/export_images/600/600.x231.books.shark.jpg

[Skitch]

I bought Chuck's new one, Snuff.

[Benny Profane]

The Plot Against America -- Philip Roth.

[Lasse]

$1.5 =

http://www.culturevulture.net/graphics/glamorama.gif

[Kurosawa Fan]

On vacation I purchased:

The Other - David Guterson
The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
The Gathering - Anne Enright

[thefourthwall]

http://kenstein64.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/when-you-are-engulfed-in-flames-hardcover-small.jpg
http://kirstyne.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/alchemist.jpg


Is When You Are Engulfed in Flames as wonderful as the rest of his work? I keep thinking he's going to get old and repetitive, but he hasn't yet.

Thoughts on The Alchemist? My book club is about to read it, and I'm trying to figure out if I should purchase or library a copy.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Is When You Are Engulfed in Flames as wonderful as the rest of his work? I keep thinking he's going to get old and repetitive, but he hasn't yet.

Thoughts on The Alchemist? My book club is about to read it, and I'm trying to figure out if I should purchase or library a copy.

I haven't read either yet. The Sedaris book has received mediocre reviews for the very reason you mentioned, that it feels like we've heard these stories before. Still, the man is hilarious, so I'm sure it'll be worth the purchase.

[Thirdy]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61ccfV3Lz4L._SS500_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/410XB6FMYAL._SS500_.jpg

[D_Davis]

I just got the expanded and annotated version of JG Ballard's groundbreaking work of experimental fiction, The Atrocity Exhibition.

I've read excerpts before, including:

Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan
Plan for the Assassination of Jacqueline Kennedy
The Assassination of JFK Considered as a Downhill Motor Race
and
Note Towards a Mental Breakdown

This book was notoriously pulled and destroyed by its US publisher upon its initial release, and was considered highly subversive and dangerous.

[thefourthwall]

I just got the expanded and annotated version of JG Ballard's groundbreaking work of experimental fiction, The Atrocity Exhibition.


Yay for Ballard! And huzzah for your avatar! I'm glad that critical editions of his work are being published. While you probably know more about Ballard than I do, the one book of his I've read (High Rise) is figuring significantly into my dissertation.

[D_Davis]

Yay for Ballard! And huzzah for your avatar! I'm glad that critical editions of his work are being published. While you probably know more about Ballard than I do, the one book of his I've read (High Rise) is figuring significantly into my dissertation.

Cool.

I haven't read High Rise yet, but I do own it.

What is your dissertation on? Referencing Ballard might lead me to believe it focuses on something about modern urban living with some focus on the psychological impact of all-encompassing technology, or something...

Am I close?

[thefourthwall]

What is your dissertation on? Referencing Ballard might lead me to believe it focuses on something about modern urban living with some focus on the psychological impact of all-encompassing technology, or something...

Am I close?

Maybe, sort of. I haven't written much yet, so it's still a forming project. I'm looking at the role that space plays in the formation of a character's identity in modern British film and literature. High Rise is in a chapter on extreme, fantasy spaces, where I'm also considering using 28 Days Later and possibly Gaiman's Neverwhere.

[D_Davis]

Maybe, sort of. I haven't written much yet, so it's still a forming project. I'm looking at the role that space plays in the formation of a character's identity in modern British film and literature. High Rise is in a chapter on extreme, fantasy spaces, where I'm also considering using 28 Days Later and possibly Gaiman's Neverwhere.

Interesting.

You should definitely check out Ballard's stories "The Enormous Space" and "Report on an Unidentified Space Station," both are in the collection War Fever, and both have themes that will be beneficial to your study of space (not outer space, but space as in the areas in which stuff exists) and character - frighteningly so.

Also, check out the film Nowhere, directed by the guy that made Cube.

[thefourthwall]

Interesting.

You should definitely check out Ballard's stories "The Enormous Space" and "Report on an Unidentified Space Station," both are in the collection War Fever, and both have themes that will be beneficial to your study of space (not outer space, but space as in the areas in which stuff exists) and character - frighteningly so.

Also, check out the film Nowhere, directed by the guy that made Cube.

Thanks, I definitely will!

[D_Davis]

You could look at a large portion of Ballard's stories with this theme in mind and come up with all kinds of interesting connections.

I recently finished Running Wild (there is a review in the sci-fi thread), and the space in which the characters live, and the psychological impact such a style of living has, is the main catalyst for a series of brutal murders. In this case, Ballard examines the a high-security gated community.

[D_Davis]

I just bought the entire 007 series of books for less than $100, well, all except for Casino Royal with cheese and From Russia With Love which they were out of. The Half Price books down the street got a bunch of the newer Penguin trade versions of these - very nice retro looking covers.

I've only ever read Diamonds are Forever.

When I was it, I could not imagine how they ever adapted the film Bond from the book Bond. At first I didn't like the book because I was trying to read it with the tone of the films in mind. However, I soon realized that the books are far more hardboiled in nature. Bond is much grittier, meaner, and rougher. Once I realized that I should be reading it like a hardboiled noir, and not some fantastic super-spy thriller it made a lot more sense and I really liked it.

My friend has encouraged me to read the entire series in order - he says that Flemming develops Bond in a very interesting and rewarding manner.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I received a gift card to Barnes and Noble and picked these up tonight:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1172805105l/219780.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BELbb9FAL._SL500_.jpg

[thefourthwall]

I received a gift card to Barnes and Noble and picked these up tonight:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1172805105l/219780.jpg



I was just reading about this, and it looked intriguing; I'll be interested to hear your reaction.

[Ezee E]

That line in the film club...

sign me up!

[D_Davis]

The Traitor
The San Veneficio Canon - Michael Cisco
Ship of Fools
Terminal Visions - Richard Paul Russo
Mortal Engines - Stanislaw Lem

[D_Davis]

I'll Tell Them I Remember You - William Peter Blatty - Non-fiction account of his spiritual conversion and what made him a believer in life after death, and thus what inspired him to write The Exorcist

John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! - William Peter Blatty - a Cold War satire.

[Duncan]

The Idiot - Dostoevsky
A Tale of Two Cities - Dickens

Can you believe I've never read any Dickens? Every time I'm considering one of his books I decide something else looks more interesting.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Can you believe I've never read any Dickens? Every time I'm considering one of his books I decide something else looks more interesting.

I'm the same. I own three of his novels but have yet to pick one up and read it.

[Melville]

The Idiot - Dostoevsky
A Tale of Two Cities - Dickens

Can you believe I've never read any Dickens? Every time I'm considering one of his books I decide something else looks more interesting.
A Tale of Two Cities is my least favorite of his novels. I'd recommend starting with something else.

[Duncan]

A Tale of Two Cities is my least favorite of his novels. I'd recommend starting with something else.

Ah, really? I already know the plot to the rest of his really well known stuff, so I thought I'd read something fresh. What do you suggest?

edit: I also own Great Expectations. But...I dunno...my mental image of it is dusty and maudlin.

[Melville]

Ah, really? I already know the plot to the rest of his really well known stuff, so I thought I'd read something fresh. What do you suggest?

edit: I also own Great Expectations. But...I dunno...my mental image of it is dusty and maudlin.
I don't think that any of Dickens' books qualify as dusty: his prose is very lively and typically very humorous. As for maudlin... well, everything I've read by him is definitely sentimental and moralistic.

For interesting characters and themes, I think Great Expectations is his best. However, like most of his stories, it gets a bit bogged down by narrative convolutions. All the random hidden relationships between characters fit with the novel's theme of the contradiction between one's idealized views of society and the complexities of the real human relationships underlying that society, but I don't think Dickens really ties the plot and themes together as tightly as he should have. Still, it's really good.

For the most instantly memorable characters and scenes, I'd go with Oliver Twist. However, the plot twists in that one are really completely pointless.

A Christmas Carol is really good as well, but Scrooge's change of heart occurs ridiculously easily, which kind of makes the whole story seem irrelevant.

As for A Tale of Two Cities, it takes itself much too seriously, it has little humor, its presentation of the French Revolution is far too simplistic, and its plot is never really connected to all of its talk about the revolution.

[Qrazy]

Out of what I've read Tale of two Cities was the best (the others being Hard Times, Great Expectations), yeah it's not that funny but it's also his best prose. However I've heard that David Copperfield is really his best.

[Duncan]

I think I'm just going to go with A Tale of Two Cities. The milieu appeals to me the most, and it's shorter as well. If it turns out I don't like it finishing won't be as much of a chore.

[Benny Profane]

I think I'm just going to go with A Tale of Two Cities. The milieu appeals to me the most, and it's shorter as well. If it turns out I don't like it finishing won't be as much of a chore.

Read Mason & Dixon instead. Easy solution.

[Ezee E]

i got through half of David Copperfield.

I don't really intend to go further.

[Qrazy]

i got through half of David Copperfield.

I don't really intend to go further.

Read any of his others?

[Duncan]

Read Mason & Dixon instead. Easy solution.

I spent the last hour reading through quotes from V. and Gravity's Rainbow because of this.

Now there grows among all the rooms, replacing the night's old smoke, alcohol and sweat, the fragile, musaceous odor of Breakfast: flowery, permeating, surprising, more than the color of winter sunlight, taking over not so much through any brute pungency or volume as by the high intricacy to the weaving of its molecules, sharing the conjuror's secret by which — though it is not often that Death is told so clearly to fuck off — the living genetic chains prove even labyrinthine enough to preserve some human face down twenty generations... so the same assertion-through-structure allows this war morning's banana fragrance to meander, repossess, prevail.
It's about bananas.


Whoa.

[Benny Profane]

I remember that from the beginning of GR with Pirate Prentice. Tis grand.

[Benny Profane]

"Facts are but the Play-things of lawyers,—Tops and Hoops, forever a-spin.... Alas, the Historian may indulge no such idle Rotating. History is not Chronology, for that is left to lawyers,—nor is Remembrance, for Remembrance belongs to the People. History can as little pretend to the Veracity of the one, as claim the Power of the other,—her Practitioners, to survive, must soon learn the arts of the quidnunc, spy and Taproom Wit,—that there may ever continue more than one life-line back into a Past we risk, each day, losing our forbears in forever,— not a Chain of single Links, for one broken Link could lose us All,—rather, a great disorderly Tangle of Lines, long and short, weak and strong, vanishing into the Mnemonick Deep, with only their Destination in common."

M & D

[Kurosawa Fan]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/410kv8LKOUL._SL500_.jpg

http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1156885224l/249.jpg

http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1175562778l/529964.jpg


Barnes and Noble is going to break me one day.

[Ezee E]

Why don't you, y'know, finish a book, then buy one?

[Qrazy]

Why don't you, y'know, finish a book, then buy one?

Where's the challenge in that?

[Kurosawa Fan]

Why don't you, y'know, finish a book, then buy one?

I'm about halfway through the one I'm reading now. Close enough.

[Hugh_Grant]

I went through a huge Henry Miller phase in college, so I have a soft spot for the Tropics.
Since I read the the EW rave, I've wanted to read the Carr book. (Plus, he helms the NY Times Oscar prognosticator blog, The Carpetbagger.)

[Kurosawa Fan]

I went through a huge Henry Miller phase in college, so I have a soft spot for the Tropics.
Since I read the the EW rave, I've wanted to read the Carr book. (Plus, he helms the NY Times Oscar prognosticator blog, The Carpetbagger.)

I've read several raves thus far for Carr's novel. EW was the first place I noticed it, but a few other websites and periodicals have been gushing all over it. I held off on it last time I went to the store, but this time it was the first book I grabbed.

[Benny Profane]

Tropic of Cancer is pretty great the more it's sunk in. There are some passages (some that go on for a few pages, even) that are totally inaccessible and frustrating but they are relatively few and far between. The rest is actually quite observant and hilariously perverted. It's tough to keep track of the characters though, and the beginning it's hard to figure out what's going on. But I like it a lot more now that I think about it. The kind of book it would really pay to re-read.

[D_Davis]

A User's Guide to the Millennium - JG Ballard (a collection of essays including a wonderful one about SF written in the late 1960s - one of my favorites)
Love in the Time of Fridges - Tim Scott
Strangewood - Christopher Golden
What Dreams May Come - Richard Matheson
A Song Called Youth: The Ultimate Cyberpunk Saga (Eclipse, Eclipse Penumbra, Eclipse Corona) - John Shirley
Inner Eclipse - John Shirley
The Fabulous Riverboat
The Dark Design - Philip Jose Farmer
Light - M. John Harrison
Pattern Recognition - William Gibson

All for $50 - I love Half Price books!

[Sven]

The Dark Design - Philip Jose Farmer

I got about ten of this guys books that my library was going to throw away. Still haven't read any of them.

[D_Davis]

I got about ten of this guys books that my library was going to throw away. Still haven't read any of them.

Some of his stuff is excellent. The Riverworld books are really awesome, combining the best of the old pulps with some of the thought and subversiveness of the new wave.

[D_Davis]

S is for Space
R is for Rocket - Bradbury
Darker Than You Think - Jack Williamson
Use of Weapons - Ian M. Banks
Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers
Living Buddha, Living Christ - Thich Nhat Hanh
Two Masters: The Buddha and Jesus - J. Duncan M. Derret
The Complete Gospels - Miller/Funk

I love these eclectic book hauls, the clerks always look at me funny.

[Duncan]

Picked up a Samuel Taylor Coleridge poetry collection, most of which I've already read.

Also bought The Great Gatsby, which I really should have read about 7 years ago.

4 bucks each. Not bad.

[EvilShoe]

Got these:
Bonfire of the Vanities
Franny & Zooey
In the Name of the Rose
Kavalier and Clay
The Man in the High Castle
The Martian Chronicles
Rabbit Angstrom (the four novels collected)

Fables vol 6 & 7
Ex Machina vol 5
Walking Dead vol 7

[Duncan]

Beyond Good and Evil - Nietzsche
The Aenied - Virgil (I was planning to read this as I travelled through Europe, but the backpack it was in was stolen in Barcelona. Thievin' Spaniards.)

[Grouchy]

Beyond Good and Evil - Nietzsche
The Aenied - Virgil (I was planning to read this as I travelled through Europe, but the backpack it was in was stolen in Barcelona. Thievin' Spaniards.)
On a related note, they stole my backpack on the bus while I was sleeping last week.

Contents:

- Penguin edition of The Complete Sherlock Holmes
- Bookmarker I'd been using since I was 10
- Glasses
- Box of contact lenses
- Flask half-filled with whisky
- Cell phone charger
- Notebook with nothing but drawings
- Gozu and Diva DVDs from the video store
- Bela Bártok CD (copy, not mine, though)
- Zippo lighter fluid

I imagine that must've been one frustrated thief. It's all stuff that had value for me only. Fucking asshole.

[Grouchy]

So that I'm not accused of killing the thread:

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/13740000/13742883.JPG

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/412Z9FE2E6L._SL500_.jpg

Both new reads for me.

[Duncan]

Both new reads for me. Both are really good, but I didn't connect much with Naked Lunch. Powerful prose though.

[D_Davis]

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1933618027.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[D_Davis]

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1596060727.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

[Kurosawa Fan]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cf/Executioners_song.gif
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0679722610.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg



I wanted to buy Infinite Jest, which was at B&N a few weeks ago when I was there, but I guess the author's death has made it a hot commodity in town. They said they've had at least 20 people ask for it in the last two weeks, and they only had one copy in stock. Guess I'll wait for the hype to die down and try again later.

[Benny Profane]

The Mailer book is absolutely amazing. This needs to be said again. The Mailer book is absolutely amazing.

[Kurosawa Fan]

The Mailer book is absolutely amazing. This needs to be said again. The Mailer book is absolutely amazing.

Your high opinion is why I bought it. I was prepared to purchase two 1,000+ page novels yesterday. Damn everyone for grabbing Infinite Jest before I could. I should have bought it a few weeks ago when I was there.

[D_Davis]

Today I got:

The King in Yellow - Robert Chambers
Adrift on the Haunted Seas - William Hope Hodgson
Samurai Cat Goes to the Movies - Mark Rogers (a blast from the past for me)
The Dreamthief's Daughter - Moorcock
Total Eclipse - John Brunner
Majipoor Chronicles - Silverberg
A Choice of Gods - Simak
What's Become of Screwloose? and Other Inquiries - Ron Goulart
The Long Tomorrow - Leigh Brackett
The Years Best Horror Stories - Vol. 5
Shakespeare's Planet - Simak
The Man Who Fell to the Earth - Walter Tevis

[Thirdmango]

Antman 1-2
Runaways 1-2
Transmet number 4 completing the series for me.

[Mara]

Today was really, really slow at work and my manager was sick. I had trouble reading my Eleanor biography because of the constant interruptions, so I decided to head over to Border's at lunch to buy some lighter fare for funsies.

I got:

Nation by Terry Pratchett: New fantasy novel by a man I sincerely respect. Also had a great review in the Washington Post.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson. Apparently a huge hit in Europe, recently translated into English and released in the US. I'm not usually a big mystery reader, but there were two glowing reviews in the Post that got my attention.

And I got The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman, also based on a Post review. (I've got to stop reading that paper before I go broke.) This is a YA fantasy novel, obviously heavily influenced by The Giver by Lois Lowry. It was SO slow at work today that I actually finished the book before I went home, and I was mildly disappointed. It wasn't bad by any means, but it wasn't done as expertly as Lowry's book, and the ending was too rosy for a good dystopian novel.

I was also frustrated by the narration of the book, which apparently was written in the short-term future ("This was before the streets were air-conditioned," etc.) but occasionally seems to be written from our contemporary present, i.e., the past. I'm really not sure where she was going with that.

[D_Davis]

Yay books!

Today in the mail I got:

The Ceremonies - T.E.D. Klein
Alone with the Horrors - Ramsey Campbell

I now have all the books in my possession for my month of horror. I just finished the Ligotti book - which, by the way, is among the very best books I've ever read, and if you like good fiction consider checking this out - and next up is The Ceremonies.

[D_Davis]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41632NWJEDL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

I just this book by S.T. Joshi called, The Modern Weird Tale. It is a scholarly study of weird fiction, including the works of Lovecraft, Ligotti, Blatty, Klein, Campbell, and others.

One of the essays is called, Pseudo-, Quasi and Anti-weird Fiction: Thomas Ligott: The Escape From Life.

This sounds like it is going to be fascinating.

As I get deeper into the realms of weird fiction, Joshi's name is one that consistently appears as its premier scholar.

This volume contains an extensive bibliography, end notes, and not a single picture! It's probably really good and smart!