Now Reading

yeah I didn't even attempt to finish 'Nausea', I still own it but I have thought about throwing it away. Over-analytical, thought spirals meant to drive a person mad. Fuck you and your depressed emotional state Sartre. Give me Roald Dahl any day over that pretentious shit.

although Sartre did say, "Terrorism is the atomic weapon of the masses." I like that quote.

hm, lots of analytical ramblings about seemingly vapid shit, and an Algiers imperial connection that i can't really place. not my thing.

Just finished this off last night. An enjoyable read, set in Leningrad during the Nazi siege. Hungry for a new novel, will have to work back through this thread for some inspiration.

the Ball Street Journal

Haven't finished a book since Jeffrey Eugenide's "The Marriage Plot" in February or March.

Just started on DFW's "The Pale King" yesterday. I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

how do you guys read so much? serious question. i want to start reading more and i have the time for it, but i always find myself dicking around on the internet instead when i'm bored. if i start a book, i usually have to finish it in a few days or i lose interest. how can i improve my habits?

uh....read instead of not reading? it's very simple.

What helps me is finding a good unique place to read, away from computers/etc. I like sitting outside at a table in my yard, for example, and I always associate that spot with reading/thinking, so when I go there I can forget about other things and enjoy myself

Oh yeah and don't read something just because you think "it would be good for you" or whatever, only read about things you're really interested in and it will be hard to stop

  On 6/4/2012 at 3:05 AM, Hoodie said:

how do you guys read so much? serious question. i want to start reading more and i have the time for it, but i always find myself dicking around on the internet instead when i'm bored. if i start a book, i usually have to finish it in a few days or i lose interest. how can i improve my habits?

1/2 hour commute to and from work every day gets a chapter a day or so personally, and then maybe reading on weekends too

A good couch helps

Neal's basically disowned his first novel, but I'm still going to read it. Started a few pages last night; it actually seems closer to Neal's later early style (eg, Snow Crash) than Zodiac did.

I'm about a hundred pages into Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche

And what dost thou thinketh?

Hope you have the a decent translation and not the one that is all in Bible speak.

Destroy laws, make your own way, the spirit of gravity binding you to this world is misleading.

  On 6/5/2012 at 6:07 AM, Atop said:

Destroy laws, make your own way, the spirit of gravity binding you to this world is misleading.

one of my fav 20th --or was it 21th Century Schizoid Man books evar

the square root of negative one causes everything to be uncertain.

D-503 is profoundly disturbed by the concept of the square root of −1 — which is the basis for imaginary numbers (imagination being deprecated by the One State).

Just read Isaac Aimov's "the end of eternity", insanely good. One of the best books I've read.

starting Nietzsche's The Antichrist. never read any of his stuff, but from the few reviews and recommendations i looked up, this was suggested as a good summation of a portion of his philosophies. it's definitely involved, even only a few pages in. i find myself looking up some references he's making, which is usually a good thing imo, it usually means i'm learning something! ha

any suggestions on any online source for complimentary summations of sections, suggestions on key points to take away from anyone here who's read it, or anything else to enhance the reading experience? being in college the past few years has geared my mind towards taking notes and such, and this seems like the kind of book that it would be beneficial to do so with.

just finished erik larson's "in the garden of beasts".. good, very entertaining, kinda anti-climactic by nature, but it's a very good companion to chris (?) isherwood's "denying hitler", although isherwood's book delved a lot more into the specific social lives of nazi party higher-ups during the nazi's ascent to power, and so was more interesting that way. larson's book is (naturally) from a diplomatic perspective.

not sure what to read next..

  On 6/20/2012 at 3:09 AM, auxien said:

starting Nietzsche's The Antichrist. never read any of his stuff, but from the few reviews and recommendations i looked up, this was suggested as a good summation of a portion of his philosophies. it's definitely involved, even only a few pages in. i find myself looking up some references he's making, which is usually a good thing imo, it usually means i'm learning something! ha

 

any suggestions on any online source for complimentary summations of sections, suggestions on key points to take away from anyone here who's read it, or anything else to enhance the reading experience? being in college the past few years has geared my mind towards taking notes and such, and this seems like the kind of book that it would be beneficial to do so with.

not an online recommendation but i would highly recommend julian young's recent biography of nietzsche. it's a great read and young writes a sympathetic and moving portrait of the man infused with his philosophy (young has published two excellent monographs on nietzsche's philosophy of art and religion). there's also a companion website with recordings of nietzsche's musical compositions which should probably be the basis of a watmm compilation.

animal farm and jonathan stange (susanna clarke)

My mom gave me the kite runner, is it any good?

in the year 2889 (jules verne - 1889)

just finished Animal Farm... good

Starting jonathan strange and mr norrell

  On 6/9/2012 at 11:05 AM, Adam Beker said:

Just read Isaac Aimov's "the end of eternity"

i'm in for this