Now Reading

interesting interesting

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk

  ieafs said:

famous american folk singer reminisces about his childhood in depression-era oklahoma and then his subsequent road trips west with only a guitar on his back... i always liked that aspect of kerouac too, so i'm sure you'd like both of those books. seeds of man is written phoenetically like trainspotting or something, but once you get into it it's a great sort of evocation of backwater america.

oh man i love that phoentic aspect to welshs books. i'll definetely look these out thanks. i think i have some inner instinct/desire to go bum somewhere

edit: ordered seeds

  Squee said:

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk

is that his new one?

i noticed that choke has been made into a movie coming out soon. i forget what happened in that book but i remember liking it back in the d a y

kim stanley robinson - green mars

franz rosenzweig - star of redemption

stephen carter (ed.) - traditional japanese poetry

archimandrite zacharias - the enlargement of the heart

Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis

The Real Frank Zappa Book

Frank has very interesting ideas on music and art.

Reading the Bell Jar again

night-side by joyce carol oates; the wretched of the earth from frantz fanon

  Iain C said:

Reading the Bell Jar again

plath is awesome, and hot. i've not seen any pictures of her or anything, but manic depressives are sexy, until they gas themselves anyway, but you can't ask for everything.

Yeah the whole Plath/Hughes thing is a weird one. I've ALWAYS loved his poetry and I've always judged Plath (or rather her supporters) pretty harshly... but the simple fact is they were both two of the greatest poets of the 20th century.

I didn't like the Bell Jar when I first read it. But it's growing on me this time. I prefer her poetry... but I'm more of a poetry person anyway

BTW, if you've actually had a mentally ill girlfriend, you won't find them so sexy

  awkward said:

  ieafs said:

famous american folk singer reminisces about his childhood in depression-era oklahoma and then his subsequent road trips west with only a guitar on his back... i always liked that aspect of kerouac too, so i'm sure you'd like both of those books. seeds of man is written phoenetically like trainspotting or something, but once you get into it it's a great sort of evocation of backwater america.

 

oh man i love that phoentic aspect to welshs books. i'll definetely look these out thanks. i think i have some inner instinct/desire to go bum somewhere

 

edit: ordered seeds

started this last night and about 30 pages in I can tell i'm gonna like it. made me laugh when they set the floor of the truck on fire

  Iain C said:

Yeah the whole Plath/Hughes thing is a weird one. I've ALWAYS loved his poetry and I've always judged Plath (or rather her supporters) pretty harshly... but the simple fact is they were both two of the greatest poets of the 20th century.

 

I didn't like the Bell Jar when I first read it. But it's growing on me this time. I prefer her poetry... but I'm more of a poetry person anyway

 

BTW, if you've actually had a mentally ill girlfriend, you won't find them so sexy

ok ok ok. mildly disturbed then.

and i'm reading making money by pratchett.

I finally picked up a Complete Works of Shakespeare the other day so I'm reading a few of my old favourites before I go on to complete the gaps in my reading! It's sort of an ambition to read all of his plays. I'm reading Titus Andronicus at the moment, I've loved that one since I studied it aged like 16, it's so gratuitously violent!

Even now I curse the day, — and yet, I think,

Few come within the compass of my curse, —

Wherein I did not some notorious ill;

As kill a man, or else devise his death;

Ravish a maid, or plot the way to do it;

Accuse some innocent, and forswear myself;

Set deadly enmity between two friends;

Make poor men's cattle break their necks;

Set fire on barns and hay-stacks in the night,

And bid the owners quench them with their tears.

Oft have I digg'd up dead men from their graves,

And set them upright at their dear friends' doors,

Even when their sorrows almost were forgot;

And on their skins, as on the bark of trees,

Have with my knife carved in Roman letters,

Let not your sorrow die, though I am dead.

Tut, I have done a thousand dreadful things

As willingly as one would kill a fly;

And nothing grieves me heartily indeed,

But that I cannot do ten thousand more.

Any Shakespeare fans on WATMM?

really enjoyed seeds of man. got me back into reading as my favorite pastime/relaxing.

the ending was kinda abrupt though. made me wonder if he wrote anything after this timeline.

anyway now i'm reading

danny wallace - yes man

great read. i feel more positive just reading it. its like a self help book that is readable and has a story. being made intoa film with jim carrey too apparently. not sure if thats good or bad but the book is great.

the kite runner -

just started this as i'm reading yes man with my wife concurrently and shes got behind so shes got first book choice and she had kite runner for college reading and my best mate said it was good. s'good so far.

next up: the road - cormac mccarthy.

  awkward said:

next up: the road - cormac mccarthy.

I thought this was a brilliant novel. So atmospheric and evocative, it's got a really sparse and stripped-down, economic style, but at the same time the world is so vividly painted (in shades of grey). Brilliant!

I'm reading Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh, as well as Shakespeare, and poetry by E.E. Cummings

the rules of attraction by bret easton ellis

i'm reading all of his novels in order

then i'll start on re-reading carlos castaneda

consumer by michael gira. fuck......yes.

unbelievable

  Iain C said:

Even now I curse the day, — and yet, I think,

Few come within the compass of my curse, —

Wherein I did not some notorious ill;

As kill a man, or else devise his death;

Ravish a maid, or plot the way to do it;

Accuse some innocent, and forswear myself;

Set deadly enmity between two friends;

Make poor men's cattle break their necks;

Set fire on barns and hay-stacks in the night,

And bid the owners quench them with their tears.

Oft have I digg'd up dead men from their graves,

And set them upright at their dear friends' doors,

Even when their sorrows almost were forgot;

And on their skins, as on the bark of trees,

Have with my knife carved in Roman letters,

Let not your sorrow die, though I am dead.

Tut, I have done a thousand dreadful things

As willingly as one would kill a fly;

And nothing grieves me heartily indeed,

But that I cannot do ten thousand more.

 

Any Shakespeare fans on WATMM?

Aron's soliloquy is one of my favorite in the whole cannon, especially the bit about propping the dead bodies friends up on doors. It's pretty chilling.

  IRARI said:

the rules of attraction by bret easton ellis

i'm reading all of his novels in order

Just go straight Glamorama

The Zombie Survival Guide/World War Z by Max Brooks. Zombie-tastic!

almost three months later.....................

i'm still reading the count of monte cristo

  The Vidiot said:

Aron's soliloquy is one of my favorite in the whole cannon, especially the bit about propping the dead bodies friends up on doors. It's pretty chilling.

Be honest, you read it out loud don't you? It's OK, I do as well. I always try to read Shakespeare aloud unless I'm in an embarrassing public situation, even if it's just muttering it under my breath. The words just feel good to say!

  Iain C said:

  The Vidiot said:

Aron's soliloquy is one of my favorite in the whole cannon, especially the bit about propping the dead bodies friends up on doors. It's pretty chilling.

 

Be honest, you read it out loud don't you? It's OK, I do as well. I always try to read Shakespeare aloud unless I'm in an embarrassing public situation, even if it's just muttering it under my breath. The words just feel good to say!

Oh man, that's the only way to do it. I read them out loud all the time. And if you can memorize a few short passages you can impress people too!

  awkward said:

danny wallace - yes man

great read. i feel more positive just reading it. its like a self help book that is readable and has a story. being made intoa film with jim carrey too apparently. not sure if thats good or bad but the book is great.

just finished it. was worried the ending was sucking but he pulled it around. highly recommended to anyone who likes some light entertaining, a good positive message and stays indoors too much.

and hes from loughborough!

just ordered his first book about starting a cult called 'join me'.