Now Reading

Bechuga, have you ever read The End of Mr. Y? I thought that you might like it (maybe?), having read your first novel (which I liked btw!). Not that they're particularly similar; just caught a vibe reading Mr. Y recently.

Reading KSR's 2312 now.

time to fail miserably at trying to read Infinite Jest. Here I goooooooooo.... (travels through warp hole)

^ The "urban" dialogue in that book is ridic. Either painfully tone deaf or painfully unfunny.

  On 2/18/2016 at 9:59 PM, baph said:

Bechuga, have you ever read The End of Mr. Y? I thought that you might like it (maybe?), having read your first novel (which I liked btw!). Not that they're particularly similar; just caught a vibe reading Mr. Y recently.

 

Reading KSR's 2312 now.

 

 

 

Have not read it but the name sounds familiar, will keep an eye out for it. And thanks, glad you enjoyed it! About to release my second, doing one last revision before the Amazon deadline.

RIP Umberto Eco

Anyone read his latest one?

Guardian article about Infinite Jest and the fact that is it now 20 years old >> http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/feb/15/infinite-jest-at-20-still-a-challenge-still-brilliant-emma-lee-moss

Franz Kafka - The Trial

Only just getting into it but enjoying it so far. Didn't realise you could ever be under arrest but go about your daily business at the same time?

  On 2/24/2016 at 7:51 PM, spratters said:

Franz Kafka - The Trial

 

Only just getting into it but enjoying it so far. Didn't realise you could ever be under arrest but go about your daily business at the same time?

I started reading it but gave up on it after (spoiler) I don't remember well but I think the main character had a weird convo with a woman at some point and gave her a kiss or something? I don't know, but the point is, up until that point the novel had been about a normal, regular relatable guy in a crazy situation. But at the point where he also started acting completely ilogically I was like "so that's what it's gonna be huh" and immediately stopped, I had a really strong reaction against that. Will pick it up again soon though

A hundred or so pages into Infinite Jest and I must say it may be hard to follow, but not hard to read. It seems like disconnected vignettes so far but they all make sense within the universe and the vignettes themselves are fairly straightforward so far. It's not like Gravity's Rainbow which reads like a dream fever and makes no fuckin sense

After taking a break from it, I'm like a third of the way through The Savage Detectives. I'm really at a loss trying figure why this was so praised. It doesn't even compare particularly well to the other Bolaño I've read.

  On 2/26/2016 at 1:29 AM, ThatSpanishGuy said:

 

  On 2/24/2016 at 7:51 PM, spratters said:

Franz Kafka - The Trial

 

Only just getting into it but enjoying it so far. Didn't realise you could ever be under arrest but go about your daily business at the same time?

 

I started reading it but gave up on it after (spoiler) I don't remember well but I think the main character had a weird convo with a woman at some point and gave her a kiss or something? I don't know, but the point is, up until that point the novel had been about a normal, regular relatable guy in a crazy situation. But at the point where he also started acting completely ilogically I was like "so that's what it's gonna be huh" and immediately stopped, I had a really strong reaction against that. Will pick it up again soon though

 

A hundred or so pages into Infinite Jest and I must say it may be hard to follow, but not hard to read. It seems like disconnected vignettes so far but they all make sense within the universe and the vignettes themselves are fairly straightforward so far. It's not like Gravity's Rainbow which reads like a dream fever and makes no fuckin sense

 

I was just past that point on my original post, I did find it weird and will probably struggle if that keeps happening, but as it's a "classic" I'll keep going for now.

Reading:

At home: White Teeth by Zadie Smith. Very good, very funny and smart without sound all know-it-all.

At work/on the move: A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. Brutal, harsh, intense and long!

Just realised both books deal heavily with Jamaica and have Jamaican (or part Jamaican) authors.

  On 3/1/2016 at 2:26 AM, Bechuga said:

 

At work/on the move: A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. Brutal, harsh, intense and long!

 

Great book

I'm just reading fucktons of JavaScript. My retinas burn.

still in tears after finishing The Brothers Karamazov just now

everyone should try to be like Alyosha & Ivan

Going to start with Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five now I think

Would like to be reading some good fiction. Too obsessed at the moment in absorbing Linux commands, looking to become RHCSA certified. Most of my reading is a PDF of Asghar Ghori's latest textbook during my commute, sometimes supplemented with watching Kali Linux videos for fun. CBTNuggets are a great resource for that type of stuff.

Finished White Teeth by Zadie Smith. Brilliant book! With a twist I genuinely did not see and gasped when I got to it.

Will definitely read her other stuff, although I have heard it's not as good. Then again, I heard White Teeth wasn't so good either and I loved that, so I will decide for myself.

Next: the current hype train Elena Ferrante.

Currently reading The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood

and still slogging through The Savage Detectives... worst Bolano I've read, why do people love this so much?

The Mammoth Book of Travel in Dangerous Places

I'm reading a book called "wtf". it's a collection of essays about people my age about growing up after 9/11: how the world changed, how they feel in that change and the challenges that go with it. Most essays are about 8 or 9 pages long, which makes it excellent toilet material.

I finished Contact the other day. That was a nice read.

I'm considering what to read next: I might get into another one of Azimov's foundations. I might read some Divine Comedy, or otherwise will focus my attention on rereading something like Dune or Lolita.

Yes, I too have seen covers of books.

Alexei Sayle - Stalin Ate My Homework. Quite fun, prefer his fiction I think, but I did briefly meet him at the signing of his second autobiography and got a handshake.

  On 3/13/2016 at 10:15 AM, double uv said:

I'm reading a book called "wtf". it's a collection of essays about people my age about growing up after 9/11: how the world changed, how they feel in that change and the challenges that go with it. Most essays are about 8 or 9 pages long, which makes it excellent toilet material.

 

I finished Contact the other day. That was a nice read.

I'm considering what to read next: I might get into another one of Azimov's foundations. I might read some Divine Comedy, or otherwise will focus my attention on rereading something like Dune or Lolita.

Foundation is great, even the sequels. Avoid the prequels though.

finally finished Bonita Avenue. it was good, but not great. would make a nice TV series!

it was overly long. there is so much fluff that could be cut out. not sure if anybody has read it here but the porn stuff kinda went nowhere and a few characters could have have been fleshed out more considering it's pretty lengthy, even one of the main characters could have been cut out and it wouldn't have made much difference (imo obvz lol bbq whtvr)

just started reading this

http://www.zedbooks.co.uk/paperback/refusal-of-work

too early to say but so far very interesting

John Yorke - Into The Woods. Interesting, although I suspect I am reading about writing to avoid doing any myself.