The Book Discussion Thread

[Kurosawa Fan]

The Firm and Glamorama are both mediocre to the core. The only other one I've read is Desperation, which I really liked.

[Ezee E]

Someone gave it to me, so I've started reading Into the Wild, which is pretty damn good actually.

[Raiders]

Elsewhere on the Russian front, I am half way through Anna Karenina. It's a surprisingly quick read because there are so many characters to jump between. Ten pages with one, ten pages with another. Keeps things moving. That said, I haven't found the ideas presented particularly interesting, nor have I found the prose especially dramatic or moving. Compared to Dostoevsky, I find this novel quite disappointing. At least so far. We'll see how it turns out.

Interestingly enough, I think it was among Dostoevsky's (and Nabokov's) favorite books. Upon its release, they were both among the few who really loved it.

[SpaceOddity]

Interestingly enough, I think it was among Dostoevsky's (and Nabokov's) favorite books. Upon its release, they were both among the few who really loved it.

Nabokov hadn't been born.

[Sven]

The Firm and Glamorama are both mediocre to the core. The only other one I've read is Desperation, which I really liked.

Desperation rules. Have you read the companion, The Regulators? Even better.

[D_Davis]

The only one I've read is Desperation - it's totally awesome. A really great King book.

[Thirdy]

Any Chesterton fans around these parts?

[D_Davis]

Heads up bookhounds, there is a new Thomas Ligotti book being published in September. Even if you don't like him, you could probably buy the book and sell it for a profit in the near future.



He is a brilliant author, give him a chance if you haven't done so. This is a good opportunity since most of his books are almost impossible to find because they have small print runs.

First there was Poe, then Lovecraft, and now Ligotti. That we have a genre author of this caliber alive now, to celebrate, is a treasure.



"Thomas Ligotti is often cited as the most curious and remarkable figure in horror since H P Lovecraft. His work is noted by critics for its display of an exceptionally grotesque imagination and accomplished prose style. In his stories, Ligotti has followed a tradition that began with Edgar Allan Poe, portraying characters that are outside of what might be called “normal life” and rendering a grim vision of human existence as a perpetual nightmare. The stories collected in Teatro Grottesco feature tormented individuals who play out their doom in various odd little towns as well as in dark sectors frequented by sinister and often blackly comical eccentrics."

[Lasse]

I chose King's Desperation, and it seems pretty interesting so far.

[D_Davis]

I chose King's Desperation, and it seems pretty interesting so far.

It's a fun, quick, and exciting read. What you might call a "page turner."

[Benny Profane]

Finished The Plot Against America. It's a great story that seems like a pointless exercise at the same time. I'm impressed, but not dazzled by Roth's writing, so my thoughts are pretty conflicted at this point. I loved reading it but I have no idea what to make of it.

Moving on to Rabbit at Rest by John Updike. For those who haven't read any books in this series, what is your excuse?

[thefourthwall]

Any Chesterton fans around these parts?

I haven't actually read much just heard excerpts here and there, but he's always been one that I've wanted to read more of.

[Hugh_Grant]

As a relative newbie to this thread, I apologize beforehand if this subject has been discussed, but I will be teaching Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go as a part of the "Common Reading Experience" (or whatever the heck it's called) at the university where I teach, and I wanted the BDT's opinions.

[ledfloyd]

Finished The Plot Against America. It's a great story that seems like a pointless exercise at the same time. I'm impressed, but not dazzled by Roth's writing, so my thoughts are pretty conflicted at this point. I loved reading it but I have no idea what to make of it.

i kind of agree. i think Portnoy's Complaint is my favorite of his books i've read so far. i also liked American Pastoral a good deal.

[Thirdy]

As a relative newbie to this thread, I apologize beforehand if this subject has been discussed, but I will be teaching Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go as a part of the "Common Reading Experience" (or whatever the heck it's called) at the university where I teach, and I wanted the BDT's opinions.

My second favourite Ishiguro (after The Remains of the Day and before The Unconsoled). Very moving and humane, although it's been a while since I read it.

[Raiders]

About 100 pages into Magic Mountain and so far, so good.

[Raiders]

Nabokov hadn't been born.

:lol:

That was sorta mis-worded on my part. Regardless, he was still a fan.

[D_Davis]

Anyone ever read this:



It's the book that inspired Jodorowsky to make Holy Mountain. I just ordered it, sounds interesting.

"In this novel/allegory the narrator/author sets sail in the yacht Impossible to search for Mount Analogue, the geographically located, albeit hidden, peak that reaches inexorably toward heaven. Daumal's symbolic mountain represents a way to truth that "cannot not exist," and his classic allegory of man's search for himself embraces the certainty that one can know and conquer one's own reality."

[lovejuice]

Any Chesterton fans around these parts?

somewhere in this thread, i have expressed my love for the man who was thursday. it's only novel of his that i have read, and i absolutely love it.

[Benny Profane]

Duncan, did you ever finish V. and if so what did you think?

[Lucky]

While I really enjoyed the conclusion of City of Glass and its giant meta blur, I don't even have a theory for the ending of Ghosts. What propelled Black/White to do that? Maybe it's because I'm not too familiar with Walden, but I really can't even fathom an explanation. Looking forward to the final entry of the trilogy, nonetheless.

[Kurosawa Fan]

As a relative newbie to this thread, I apologize beforehand if this subject has been discussed, but I will be teaching Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go as a part of the "Common Reading Experience" (or whatever the heck it's called) at the university where I teach, and I wanted the BDT's opinions.

I didn't much care for it. It was a fascinating concept, but it felt too easy-going and never established any substatial dramatic weight. It all ended up feeling very inconsequential. I'm still looking forward to Remains of the Day, but Never Let Me Go was a big disappointment.

[D_Davis]

I'm about to start Ballard's The Atrocity Exhibition. Not really sure where to post thoughts. It's not S(cience)F, but it is S(peculative)F, and it is also considered to be one of the great experimental prose novels.

I'm not sure how I am going to read it.

Ballard envisioned it to be a sort pre-internet (1970s) hypertext novel. He encourages the reader to flip through randomly until a certain heading stands out, and to then read that passage. From here, we are supposed to branch out to the surrounding headers and passages as we piece together the narrative.

Or, conversely, it can be read from cover to cover.

There really is not right or wrong way to experience the work, but Ballard wrote it to be experienced according to the first example above.

I've read some of the segments ("Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan" is particularly memorable) and I am looking forward to reading the rest of this challenging, mind altering work.

[megladon8]

Thanks for the heads-up about the Ligotti book, D.

That's one I'll be sure to pick up.

[D_Davis]

Started reading The Atrocity Exhibition last night. Very unsettling. I feel like I am reading something I am not supposed to, as if its subversive nature might actually be harmful to me.

Like some strange kind of hallucinogenic drug. Taking it might open my mind up to new experiences, but there is a lingering fear that it could really screw me up.