Now Reading

Haroun and the Sea of Stories - Salman Rushdie

and

The Hungry Tide - Amitav Ghosh

Thanks, robert moses. I'll try and pick that up for some good fiction.

Current reading:

The Lexus and the Olive Tree (it's funny reading it with 10 years hindsight to see how overhyped the internet was).

The Political Economy of Japan

Nausea (JP Sartre)

Next in line are a collection of stories by Franz Kafka and Political Essays of A. Camus

It'll be my last Delillo! (read them all except his first fiew)

that's a terrible book. have fun

lol

I'm reading Americana by Delillo, and it's quite good. White Noise was a strangely poignant novel, and it really resonated with me for some reason. This one is about the quality I expected from him.

libra and white noise are the only delillo novels worth reading.

I'll get Libra next then

right now i'm reading this

not terribly impressed. the writing is nice and controlled but the plot isn't very interesting. mitchell's previous books were basically just murakami rip offs and then the cloud atlas was a pretentious mess. he has the potential to write something great, but this isn't it.

Just finished Demian by Hesse and am about to start Magister Ludi (The Glass Bead Game).

simon fowles - the magus

it's fucking brilliant

soul of man under socialism by oscar wilde

  On 8/11/2010 at 3:14 AM, Coalbucket PI said:

Murakami - Kafka On The Shore

Read this one not too long ago. How's it coming along?

  On 8/11/2010 at 6:15 PM, green hausen said:

  On 8/11/2010 at 3:14 AM, Coalbucket PI said:

Murakami - Kafka On The Shore

Read this one not too long ago. How's it coming along?

Just finished it today, really loved it. Seen some tepid reviews and I suppose the Kafka character does seem a little bit inert but I thought it moved along nicely, and Nakata is brilliant. I was braced for a crushing and inevitable sad ending like Norwegian Wood, but for all the unanswered questions it has a certain closure to it. I'm still constantly amazed by how much you get the sensation of dreaming in his writing, that's one aspect that seems to completely transcend translators.

Not sure if I should just read some more Murakami straight away.

  On 8/18/2010 at 7:20 PM, Coalbucket PI said:

that's one aspect that seems to completely transcend translators.

what do you mean ? I think Murakami's got a pretty simple style. Alsoh he taught english abroad and if I remember well murakami's book are always translated to other languages from the english versions. I really don't think you lose that much reading his work in english, he must be supervising the translation himself.

edit : and i recommend you to read Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, which is just a bunch of short stories, this way you probably won't get overwhelmed

nice piece of german emigrant literature

  On 5/29/2010 at 2:55 AM, Atop said:

was thinking about reading The Magus as well, strange...

the last third of this book will FUCK WITH YOUR HEAD.

it's decidedly uncomfortable reading in places, it's starting to make me question reality in a house of leaves-ish sort of way.

nice...

  On 8/18/2010 at 7:28 PM, Babar said:

  On 8/18/2010 at 7:20 PM, Coalbucket PI said:

that's one aspect that seems to completely transcend translators.

 

 

what do you mean ? I think Murakami's got a pretty simple style. Alsoh he taught english abroad and if I remember well murakami's book are always translated to other languages from the english versions. I really don't think you lose that much reading his work in english, he must be supervising the translation himself.

 

 

edit : and i recommend you to read Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, which is just a bunch of short stories, this way you probably won't get overwhelmed

That sentence probably wasn't very clear. I mean that the way those parts are written doesn't seem to be affected by the translation. I got the feeling that some aspects are slightly different between translators but of course its hard to tell. But overall I think they translate very well. In The Elephant Vanishes I noticed I definitely preferred one of the translators, can't remember which one now.

I might look at Blind Widow, cheers

highly recommended

A fun, re-read of a book during my vacation. General science with a touch of humor :

this is kind of beyond review. i'm still forming an opinion of it, but it probably contains beckett's best writing. also his most tedious work. which is saying something, since all of his prose is tedious.