Now Reading

Finished Dick's "A Scanner Darkly", became one of my favorites from him, sharp-written as usual with a beautiful ending. I still haven't found better than Ubik in his bibiography but that one came pretty close, very personal and well built.

I then started to read The Stand by Stephen King, in its full version. But I gave up after 300 pages (out of something like 1200 pages). It's really easy to read just like any other King novel, but really long, too easily understandable and, finally, boring. A big disappointment since the book's almost mystical status amongst fans. Earlier in the month I went trough Lisey's Story which was way better.

And finally I started reading Alice in Wonderland in its original version - thought I should give it a chance...

Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavic.

This is a really exciting non-linear novel. It tells the story of a lost people of central Europe - the Khazars - in the form of three dictionaries, which are actually more like encyclopaedias. Each one represents Christian, Jewish or Islamic sources and research on the Khazars, and through cross-referencing and synthesis you can construct the history of the people and how their empire fell.

The central issue is their conversion from their native religion to one of the three Abrahamic faiths in the 8th century. Nobody seems certain which faith they converted to, or why, but soon afterwards their empire fell and was almost erased from history. There's also a larger framing story to be uncovered regarding the original Khazar Dictionary - a 17th-century work, now lost itself, that this book is an attempt to reconstruct.

It's a brilliant, poetic novel - echoes of Italo Calvino, Borges, Nabokov's Pale Fire, etc. In fact, it's the kind of book Borges would have actually written a short story about... except it's here and you can read it. Highly recommended to anybody who likes "this kind of thing."

hey guys do you know any good book about Classical Music (history)?

that Dictionary of the Khazars sounds interesting. it's added to my list to look into.

does anyone here frequent any good forum on new text? a watmm for obscure non-fiction and weird fictions is what i'm dreaming of....

  On 12/7/2012 at 12:51 PM, Ron Manager said:

Anyway, now reading Kafka on the Shore by Murakami. He's tended to be a safe pair of hands for me, and this one sounds interesting.

Im also reading (unfortunately, a computer screen pdf of) this book right now. As with other Murakami i've read, there are many more 'i have things i need to do but want to keep reading another chapter' moments than other books. Quite engrossing

  On 12/16/2012 at 8:41 PM, StocKo said:

Finished Dick's "A Scanner Darkly", became one of my favorites from him, sharp-written as usual with a beautiful ending. I still haven't found better than Ubik in his bibiography but that one came pretty close, very personal and well built. I then started to read The Stand by Stephen King, in its full version. But I gave up after 300 pages (out of something like 1200 pages). It's really easy to read just like any other King novel, but really long, too easily understandable and, finally, boring. A big disappointment since the book's almost mystical status amongst fans. Earlier in the month I went trough Lisey's Story which was way better. And finally I started reading Alice in Wonderland in its original version - thought I should give it a chance...

The Stand is one of my favorite books. I love the flow, i love the environment and situation, i love the characters. I kinda feels like 3 books of a series combined into one but the length is nothing to complain about, fastest page turner i've read

Also, I wouldn't call call the ending of A Scanner Darkly beautiful. I thought it was sort of sad and hopeless if i remember correctly

  On 12/26/2012 at 6:57 AM, Danny O Flannagin said:

  On 12/16/2012 at 8:41 PM, StocKo said:

Finished Dick's "A Scanner Darkly", became one of my favorites from him, sharp-written as usual with a beautiful ending. I still haven't found better than Ubik in his bibiography but that one came pretty close, very personal and well built. I then started to read The Stand by Stephen King, in its full version. But I gave up after 300 pages (out of something like 1200 pages). It's really easy to read just like any other King novel, but really long, too easily understandable and, finally, boring. A big disappointment since the book's almost mystical status amongst fans. Earlier in the month I went trough Lisey's Story which was way better. And finally I started reading Alice in Wonderland in its original version - thought I should give it a chance...

The Stand is one of my favorite books. I love the flow, i love the environment and situation, i love the characters. I kinda feels like 3 books of a series combined into one but the length is nothing to complain about, fastest page turner i've read

 

Also, I wouldn't call call the ending of A Scanner Darkly beautiful. I thought it was sort of sad and hopeless if i remember correctly

It is sad and hopeless, just like most of Dick's endings in fact. But in the middle of despair sometimes emerge beautiful things (that was the feeling I got from reading the book).

As for The Stand...Maybe I should give it another go. The length never bothered me but it hasn't "clicked" with me yet (whereas It or The Dark Tower for example blew my mind since the first pages).

I got 3 Dave Eggers books for Xmas and I'm a 1/4 through 'A Hologram for the King' atm.

Good so far, easy read. I like Eggers.

Also listening to the Stephen Colbert book 'America Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't' & a book by David Eagleman called "Sum: Tales from the Afterlives', Nick Cave narrates a bit of that one.

  On 12/26/2012 at 12:39 PM, StocKo said:

As for The Stand...Maybe I should give it another go. The length never bothered me but it hasn't "clicked" with me yet (whereas It or The Dark Tower for example blew my mind since the first pages).

The first bit of 'The Dark Tower' is soooo good.

light-hearted easy going read. perfect for my mental state right now.

Finished Crash and the Sontag one. Reading Don Delillo's Point Omega at the mo ; it's my first of his and I'm loving the style of it

  On 12/20/2012 at 4:13 AM, logakght said:

hey guys do you know any good book about Classical Music (history)?

The lives of great composers by Schonberg

Norton Anthology of Western Music by Burkholder

The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross

  On 1/2/2013 at 3:59 AM, Philip Glass said:

  On 12/20/2012 at 4:13 AM, logakght said:

hey guys do you know any good book about Classical Music (history)?

 

The lives of great composers by Schonberg

Norton Anthology of Western Music by Burkholder

The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross

thanks! have you read any of them?

  On 12/27/2012 at 6:02 AM, mat said:

I got 3 Dave Eggers books for Xmas and I'm a 1/4 through 'A Hologram for the King' atm.

Finished 'A Hologram for the King'. It was a very simple read, Hemingway-esque in it's simplicity but not in it's greatness or content. Underwhelming ending for me, but as I reflected on it over the course of a few hours I appreciated it.

On to 'Zeitoun' by Dave Eggers. So far, better than 'Hologram...'.

  On 1/2/2013 at 4:15 AM, logakght said:

  On 1/2/2013 at 3:59 AM, Philip Glass said:

  On 12/20/2012 at 4:13 AM, logakght said:

hey guys do you know any good book about Classical Music (history)?

 

The lives of great composers by Schonberg

Norton Anthology of Western Music by Burkholder

The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross

thanks! have you read any of them?

Yeah man, The Rest is Noise is a masterpiece, but it's essays about the 20th century classical music. You'll end up understanding that everybody has copied everybody ha, and how important the transition from romantic to modernism was. Schonberg is an awesome introduction to every composers imaginable, but it's very opinionated and he hates Mahler lol. The other is a textbook, it's massive in two volumes with almost 1000 pages.

Neil Young: Casually Dressed Scarecrow Man

Just started D.T. Max's biography of David Foster Wallace. So far it is excellent.

reading Cloud Atlas (have not seen the movie). Bit of a weird book but very fluidly written and readable. It's sort of like any popular page-turner by Grisham or King, except it has pretensions of signifying something greater. However the pretensions don't seem to weigh it down, they're just sort of...there. It's certainly very enjoyable. Sometimes the cracks show through a bit, such as when American characters speak using English idioms (writer is English, apparently), or with ham-fisted exposition ("the will to power is _________"). Felt the first two sections were nearly flawless, then it stumbles with the American 1960's section a bit, sags further with present-day retirement-home segment, then rises a bit with the near future clone story (though I think this could have been even better in the right hands), then sags again a bit in the post-apocalyptic section.

Not sure what to make of it yet, really. Funny thing about it is despite the weighty subject matter it's very tongue in cheek, often pulpy, and arguably derivative, but in a harmless sort of way (and occasionally calls out its own references, such as when it references "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" in the old-folks-home segment. Is a writer still derivative when he calls out the sources he seems to be borrowing from?). Irrespective of any other layers of meaning, it's at least a big pleasure to read. Almost feels written by a talented and very effusive 16 yr old prodigy (though I guess it's too angst-free for that).

Currently reading:

Kill Everyone (poker strategy)

Gary Chaffee's Time-Functioning Patterns and Sticking Patterns (drum technique)

Murikami's Norwegian Wood

A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich, because Byzantium was fucking great.

Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.

  On 12/8/2012 at 7:46 AM, chenGOD said:

  On 11/20/2012 at 10:01 PM, Ron Manager said:

 

  On 11/15/2012 at 7:20 AM, 'chenGOD' said:

Economic History is mostly about as exciting as watching paint dry.

Hmm, sometimes maybe, other times I find it quite interesting and compelling. Looking at economic explanations for the end of the Roman empire (in the West), for instance, can be fruitful, and certainly provides a useful counterfoil to some of the more traditional arguments (e.g. blaming it on Christianity or barbarians).

 

Personally, I find a lot of European Economic Histories, especially those written by Europeans, to be tedious, racist, and startlingly ignorant of a lot of world history. Also the desire for neo-classical economists to apply market principles to everything is slightly maddening. Because a lot of the times, it was not a goddamned market that drove economics! Also Niall Ferguson should stick to reporting about straight history and leave economic analysis alone, and he really needs to get over the loss of the British Empire, lol.

Points absolutely taken about using economics and markets as catch-all explanations - that's ridiculous. I agree there is a lot of anachronism among many prominent economic historians. And Ferguson is a wanker.

  On 12/22/2012 at 2:19 AM, Marked x 0ne said:

  On 12/7/2012 at 12:51 PM, Ron Manager said:

Anyway, now reading Kafka on the Shore by Murakami. He's tended to be a safe pair of hands for me, and this one sounds interesting.

Im also reading (unfortunately, a computer screen pdf of) this book right now. As with other Murakami i've read, there are many more 'i have things i need to do but want to keep reading another chapter' moments than other books. Quite engrossing

On the whole I found Kafka quite enjoyable, but pretty mind-boggling. I think I'd like to read it again at some point, but I really liked it and raced through it. Not as good as Wind-Up Bird for me, but a very interesting book nevertheless.

  On 1/4/2013 at 1:49 AM, Iain C said:

A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich, because Byzantium was fucking great.

An excellent choice.

I recently finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy, as it seemed one of those books 'you should have read'. First of his I've tried, and I thought it was very good. Any other works of his in particular anyone can recommend? Now reading Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, which I read about a decade ago in school. It's even better than I remember... a true classic.

  On 1/4/2013 at 12:51 PM, Ron Manager said:

I recently finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy, as it seemed one of those books 'you should have read'. First of his I've tried, and I thought it was very good. Any other works of his in particular anyone can recommend? Now reading Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, which I read about a decade ago in school. It's even better than I remember... a true classic.

Blood Meridian. It's a transcendental western of apocalyptic nature.

Alan Watts: The Book

Just figuring out life.

  On 1/4/2013 at 12:51 PM, Ron Manager said:

  On 1/4/2013 at 1:49 AM, Iain C said:

A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich, because Byzantium was fucking great.

 

An excellent choice.

Yeah, I heard it was the best single-volume overview of the empire's history but it moves so fast and seems to gloss over some interesting details - which, to be fair, Mr Norwich mentions in the introduction. I probably should have got the trilogy!

  On 1/4/2013 at 12:51 PM, Ron Manager said:

I recently finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy, as it seemed one of those books 'you should have read'. First of his I've tried, and I thought it was very good. Any other works of his in particular anyone can recommend? Now reading Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, which I read about a decade ago in school. It's even better than I remember... a true classic.

Cormac McCarthy is great. I've read most of his novels and for my money the best is probably Suttree, especially if you like Faulkner. It's got more of that southern gothic family drama type stuff, some unforgettable characters, and it's also his funniest book.