What are you reading? - Page 11

IrishDizazter · 09-19-2005, 02:41 PM

Sorry for the late response, Thumper... The author of the Traveler is John Twelve Hawks...just finished the book over the weekend...pretty excited about it...definitely have a lot of questions. Let me know if you pick it up!

ThumperLM · 09-20-2005, 08:52 AM

No problem. I'll check it out after I finish "Zen and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig. Suprising book. Not at all what I though it would be.

Kimarhi Ronso · 09-21-2005, 03:44 PM

Song of Ice and Fire series.

Again.

It's a more adult outtake on fantasy, and I really enjoyed the series the first time through, and this time I'm learning the more intricate parts of the plot AND picking up on some of the suggestions of past characters and their input on the plot I didn't recongize the first time through.

SM · 09-21-2005, 08:45 PM

After some diversions I'm back on Nostromo, and finding out where all the data on the Alien DVD crew manifest comes from. Ship names, off screen characters - all Conrad.

Also interesting is the structure of Nostromo, in that, like Alien, the first third of the story all setting the scene, filling us in on the background of the main players in Sulaco with nothing really happening. It tells us very little of the title character however. That doesn't really come until towards the end of the second third.

Just started Part 3 yesterday.

Pretty heavy going up to about page 200, but chugs along quite nicely after that.

Vincent_Vodevil · 09-21-2005, 10:22 PM

Just got through "Cities of the Red Night" by William S. Burroughs. Like "Naked Lunch", I have a lingering feeling I've missed quite a lot of the meat of the story in the insanity of Burroughs' prose and will therefore probably have to go through it again when I'm ready to fully appreciate it. First impression is that "Cities" is more cohesive but still sporadic enough to be frustrating. The imagery is just as strange and interesting as in "Naked Lunch", though, if not moreso. I only wish the return of Dr. Benway had been more significant.

Currently wading through "Marquis De Sade: Justene, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and Other Writings", which is half essay and half Sade material. I'm surprised to learn that the good ol' Marquis is more revolutionary than pornographer, although that aspect plays a part. Interesting stuff. Very extreme, on a number of levels.

Next up on the list: Dante's "Divine Comedy", which I've been meaning to read for a while, and then "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski.

SM · 09-21-2005, 10:57 PM

Quote:

I'm surprised to learn that the good ol' Marquis is more revolutionary than pornographer, although that aspect plays a part.

I flicked through 120 Days of Sodom after seeing Salo, and it fair turned my stomach. I literally felt physically ill and had to put it down. I was quite surprised I could get such a reaction from simple printed words.

Renegade 2501 · 09-22-2005, 12:59 AM

I'm reading American Psycho right now, mainly because I want some clarification regarding whether what Bateman does is real or not. It's a pretty good read; the film followed it closely, at least so far.

Vincent_Vodevil · 09-23-2005, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SM
I flicked through 120 Days of Sodom after seeing Salo, and it fair turned my stomach. I literally felt physically ill and had to put it down. I was quite surprised I could get such a reaction from simple printed words.

I think Sade's stuff is much easier to digest if you've read a bit about the man before diving into his discography. Knowing his motives somewhat dulls the shock. In all honesty I'm already planning to forego shoving through the entire collection, but only because the man loves to repeat ideas until they've died and rotted. Three works in I already feel a bit exhausted.

Dempsey · 10-07-2005, 08:53 AM

Finished 'Harry Potter 6' and Stephen Kings 'Tommyknockers' a little while ago.
Started 'The Da Vinci Code', and will start Stephen Kings short story book 'skeleton crew' soon.

Renegade 2501 · 10-14-2005, 02:17 AM

After I finished American Psycho, I think that none of the things he did were real, just like the film suggests (only the film really made it more obvious, being a film and all). I still liked the book, and my God, the book is a hundred times more graphic than the film.

[spoiler=red]This murder shocked me the most: He knocks the girl out with a nailgun, then he nails her hands to the floor and then bites off her nipples. Then after cutting her up a bit, he puts cheese in her vagina and then has a giant, filthy rat crawl up it. Then he maces her like a dozen times and takes out her tongue, then he fucks her in the mouth (after drilling out all of her teeth), and after he maces her in the face some more, he saws off her left arm and, using it like a baseball bat, smashes her head until her face caves in (and I think all this happened over more than one day, but I can't be sure).[/spoiler]

J A Eyers · 10-17-2005, 04:04 PM

Yeah, I found that bit particularly appetising, too. Just like the bit where he hacks a girl's head off, then walks around his apartment with its mouth on his erect cock.

I met Bret Easton Ellis last week. The man is a god.

Renegade 2501 · 10-17-2005, 06:13 PM

That's pretty damn cool.

Kimarhi Ronso · 10-17-2005, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dempsey
Finished 'Harry Potter 6' and Stephen Kings 'Tommyknockers' a little while ago.
Started 'The Da Vinci Code', and will start Stephen Kings short story book 'skeleton crew' soon.

Skeleton Crew is pretty good. I remember reading it when I was like ten and for the next four weeks was like.

I like the novelette the most, along with the story about the grandma, the story about the man on the island, and the story about the kids on the boat.

Pretty good reads for the most part.

SM · 10-17-2005, 06:43 PM

Quote:

This murder shocked me the most:

Nah, the one with the rat fair turned my stomach...

And I still think he did it.

I finally finished Nostromo last week. As I said above the first 200 pages are very slow going, it picks up on the next 200, and the last 100 are difficult to put down. Very rewarding.

Started on The Measure Of All Things again. Tried reading this a couple of times in the last few years only to get distracted. Deteremined to read the whole thing this time.

Kimarhi Ronso · 10-17-2005, 06:49 PM

I tried reading some Conrad once. Heart of Darkness I think it was.

After I read the first sentence three times in a row and had no idea what he was talking about I stopped. :\

SM · 10-17-2005, 06:53 PM

The style can be difficult to get one's head around - the stuff was written 100 years ago after all. I'd recommend sticking at it though. Especially Heart of Darkness because a) it's short and b) it's basis for Apocalypse Now makes it a bit more accessible. It's a good place to start reading Conrad.

Kimarhi Ronso · 10-18-2005, 03:05 PM

I actually made it past the prologue or something. Or the first chapter. DOesn't heart of darkness have a prologue?

From what I can remember, almost every sentence in the book was made to stand for something else, which just added to the confusion.

I was like fifteen when I started reading it though, so maybe I'll give it another shot.

Adonis · 10-24-2005, 09:47 PM

I'm re-reading the Illiad and Oddyssey by Homer, again. My constant reading of mythologies is why I'm called Adonis.

grumble · 10-31-2005, 03:46 AM

I'm reading "His Master's Voice" - Stanislaw Lem

Hyperion · 10-31-2005, 05:05 PM

Battle Royale - Koshun Takami. Reading a second time to really get into the characters.

J A Eyers · 10-31-2005, 06:06 PM

I was reading Einstein For Dummies recently. But then it depressed me because I didn't understand all of it and it was supposed to be 'for dummies', so I stopped reading it.

Renegade 2501 · 10-31-2005, 07:58 PM

I'm re-reading Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead. Very interesting book, considering I'm currently taking a Medieval Studies class. It's based on an actual 10th century manuscript written by Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, about how he was basically forced to go on a journey with a band of vikings, and ends up fighting these strange people that come with the mist and slaughter the vikings (and eat them). I don't know if all that is true, but the actual manuscript is. It was made into the movie The 13th Warrior.

Dempsey · 11-05-2005, 05:05 AM

I finished the da vanci code and wanted to start reading stephen kings 'skeleton key'. I couldn't find the damn book so I started to read kings 'needful things' instead. So far it's "meh"ish.

The Drunkk Machine · 11-05-2005, 06:34 PM

Finished Fahrenheit 451, then BEE's Lunar Park. Wanted to read King's The Gunslinger but the library didn't have it so I've started Less Than Zero.

SM · 11-21-2005, 04:28 PM

After 3 years I finally finished The Measure of All Things about the 2 French guys who effectively invented the metre at the end of the 18th century. First few chapters are tough going, especially ones head around all the French names and places, but there's enough drama going on in France (they were measuring the meridian of Paris from Dunkerque to Barcelona in the middle of the French Revolution and wars with Spain and others that followed) and between the personalities involved to make it an engrossing read. Make a great film.

Now onto Ecstasy by Irvine Welsh.

Salvage Guy · 11-21-2005, 04:56 PM

Started reading Complicity by Iain Banks (note: no middle initial). A bit

at times but scarily personal considering I live near where it's set, so far.

SM · 12-05-2005, 06:41 PM

Finished Ecstasy last week. Fucken ace. Just like all of Welsh's other stuff.

Now on a spot of non-fiction with No Man Is An Island - A Study of Lee Kwan Yew by James Minchin. Tres dry.

Vincent_Vodevil · 12-06-2005, 09:42 PM

Just finished The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. Good stuff, even though the constant leaps in narrator and plot and the sing-song prose takes a while getting used to.

Currently into Pol Pot : Anataomy of a Nightmare. Pretty interesting, so far. I was surprised to learn that Pol Pot was politically apathetic and uninvolved as a young adult, especially in comparison to his Cambodian peers of the time, many of whom craved revolution ealry on. Ironic. Maybe foreboding too, in a way, regarding his future path.

noodle boy · 12-06-2005, 09:47 PM

Hmm, just finished reading Incompetence by Rob Grant. Good book, fairly deep story and plot setup for a comedy/mystery story. I nominate it as the official "required reading" book of the stupid forum.

MacCabbe · 12-08-2005, 12:25 PM

Die Haarteppichkn?pfer (The Hair-Carpet Tailors) by
Andreas Eschbach

For once, subtle, well-written sci-fi. An immense book. Surprising while coherent, and has plenty of original finds.

09-19-2005, 02:41 PM	#301 (permalink)
IrishDizazter Registered User Forum Fanatic Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 269	Sorry for the late response, Thumper... The author of the Traveler is John Twelve Hawks...just finished the book over the weekend...pretty excited about it...definitely have a lot of questions. Let me know if you pick it up!
	- All is fair in love and war

09-21-2005, 03:44 PM	#303 (permalink)
Kimarhi Ronso I thought what I'd do was.... Epic Poster Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Hooterville, KY, USA Posts: 16,269	Song of Ice and Fire series. Again. It's a more adult outtake on fantasy, and I really enjoyed the series the first time through, and this time I'm learning the more intricate parts of the plot AND picking up on some of the suggestions of past characters and their input on the plot I didn't recongize the first time through.
	Last edited by Kimarhi Ronso; 09-21-2005 at 03:59 PM..

09-21-2005, 10:22 PM	#305 (permalink)
Vincent_Vodevil Grand Guignol Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2003 Location: Hicksville USA Posts: 1,801	Just got through "Cities of the Red Night" by William S. Burroughs. Like "Naked Lunch", I have a lingering feeling I've missed quite a lot of the meat of the story in the insanity of Burroughs' prose and will therefore probably have to go through it again when I'm ready to fully appreciate it. First impression is that "Cities" is more cohesive but still sporadic enough to be frustrating. The imagery is just as strange and interesting as in "Naked Lunch", though, if not moreso. I only wish the return of Dr. Benway had been more significant. Currently wading through "Marquis De Sade: Justene, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and Other Writings", which is half essay and half Sade material. I'm surprised to learn that the good ol' Marquis is more revolutionary than pornographer, although that aspect plays a part. Interesting stuff. Very extreme, on a number of levels. Next up on the list: Dante's "Divine Comedy", which I've been meaning to read for a while, and then "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski.
	Penguin Farmer

09-20-2005, 08:52 AM	#302 (permalink)
ThumperLM Registered User Forum Fledgling Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 128	No problem. I'll check it out after I finish "Zen and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig. Suprising book. Not at all what I though it would be.

09-21-2005, 08:45 PM	#304 (permalink)
SM Network Interface 2037 Epic Poster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Network Interface 2037, WY Melbourne Posts: 15,284	After some diversions I'm back on Nostromo, and finding out where all the data on the Alien DVD crew manifest comes from. Ship names, off screen characters - all Conrad. Also interesting is the structure of Nostromo, in that, like Alien, the first third of the story all setting the scene, filling us in on the background of the main players in Sulaco with nothing really happening. It tells us very little of the title character however. That doesn't really come until towards the end of the second third. Just started Part 3 yesterday. Pretty heavy going up to about page 200, but chugs along quite nicely after that.

09-22-2005, 12:59 AM	#307 (permalink)
Renegade 2501 Caveat Emptor Hardcore Veteran Join Date: May 2001 Location: "Kahlifoania" Posts: 9,334	I'm reading American Psycho right now, mainly because I want some clarification regarding whether what Bateman does is real or not. It's a pretty good read; the film followed it closely, at least so far.

10-07-2005, 08:53 AM	#309 (permalink)
Dempsey You dig? Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: NSW, Australia Posts: 2,688	Finished 'Harry Potter 6' and Stephen Kings 'Tommyknockers' a little while ago. Started 'The Da Vinci Code', and will start Stephen Kings short story book 'skeleton crew' soon.

10-14-2005, 02:17 AM	#310 (permalink)
Renegade 2501 Caveat Emptor Hardcore Veteran Join Date: May 2001 Location: "Kahlifoania" Posts: 9,334	After I finished American Psycho, I think that none of the things he did were real, just like the film suggests (only the film really made it more obvious, being a film and all). I still liked the book, and my God, the book is a hundred times more graphic than the film. [spoiler=red]This murder shocked me the most: He knocks the girl out with a nailgun, then he nails her hands to the floor and then bites off her nipples. Then after cutting her up a bit, he puts cheese in her vagina and then has a giant, filthy rat crawl up it. Then he maces her like a dozen times and takes out her tongue, then he fucks her in the mouth (after drilling out all of her teeth), and after he maces her in the face some more, he saws off her left arm and, using it like a baseball bat, smashes her head until her face caves in (and I think all this happened over more than one day, but I can't be sure).[/spoiler]

10-17-2005, 04:04 PM	#311 (permalink)
J A Eyers Better ban'd than bland Godlike Poster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Southend, England Posts: 24,315	Yeah, I found that bit particularly appetising, too. Just like the bit where he hacks a girl's head off, then walks around his apartment with its mouth on his erect cock. I met Bret Easton Ellis last week. The man is a god.

10-17-2005, 06:13 PM	#312 (permalink)
Renegade 2501 Caveat Emptor Hardcore Veteran Join Date: May 2001 Location: "Kahlifoania" Posts: 9,334	That's pretty damn cool.

10-17-2005, 06:49 PM	#315 (permalink)
Kimarhi Ronso I thought what I'd do was.... Epic Poster Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Hooterville, KY, USA Posts: 16,269	I tried reading some Conrad once. Heart of Darkness I think it was. After I read the first sentence three times in a row and had no idea what he was talking about I stopped. :\

10-17-2005, 06:53 PM	#316 (permalink)
SM Network Interface 2037 Epic Poster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Network Interface 2037, WY Melbourne Posts: 15,284	The style can be difficult to get one's head around - the stuff was written 100 years ago after all. I'd recommend sticking at it though. Especially Heart of Darkness because a) it's short and b) it's basis for Apocalypse Now makes it a bit more accessible. It's a good place to start reading Conrad.

10-18-2005, 03:05 PM	#317 (permalink)
Kimarhi Ronso I thought what I'd do was.... Epic Poster Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Hooterville, KY, USA Posts: 16,269	I actually made it past the prologue or something. Or the first chapter. DOesn't heart of darkness have a prologue? From what I can remember, almost every sentence in the book was made to stand for something else, which just added to the confusion. I was like fifteen when I started reading it though, so maybe I'll give it another shot.

10-24-2005, 09:47 PM	#318 (permalink)
Adonis Registered User Forum Fledgling Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Fort Myers, Florida Posts: 58	I'm re-reading the Illiad and Oddyssey by Homer, again. My constant reading of mythologies is why I'm called Adonis.

10-31-2005, 03:46 AM	#319 (permalink)
grumble Registered User Forum Fodder Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 15	I'm reading "His Master's Voice" - Stanislaw Lem

10-31-2005, 05:05 PM	#320 (permalink)
Hyperion Princess Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 4,031	Battle Royale - Koshun Takami. Reading a second time to really get into the characters.

10-31-2005, 06:06 PM	#321 (permalink)
J A Eyers Better ban'd than bland Godlike Poster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Southend, England Posts: 24,315	I was reading Einstein For Dummies recently. But then it depressed me because I didn't understand all of it and it was supposed to be 'for dummies', so I stopped reading it.

10-31-2005, 07:58 PM	#322 (permalink)
Renegade 2501 Caveat Emptor Hardcore Veteran Join Date: May 2001 Location: "Kahlifoania" Posts: 9,334	I'm re-reading Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead. Very interesting book, considering I'm currently taking a Medieval Studies class. It's based on an actual 10th century manuscript written by Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, about how he was basically forced to go on a journey with a band of vikings, and ends up fighting these strange people that come with the mist and slaughter the vikings (and eat them). I don't know if all that is true, but the actual manuscript is. It was made into the movie The 13th Warrior.

11-05-2005, 05:05 AM	#323 (permalink)
Dempsey You dig? Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: NSW, Australia Posts: 2,688	I finished the da vanci code and wanted to start reading stephen kings 'skeleton key'. I couldn't find the damn book so I started to read kings 'needful things' instead. So far it's "meh"ish.

11-05-2005, 06:34 PM	#324 (permalink)
The Drunkk Machine see you - GET ME A ♥♥♥♥ING CURLY WURLY Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,353	Finished Fahrenheit 451, then BEE's Lunar Park. Wanted to read King's The Gunslinger but the library didn't have it so I've started Less Than Zero.

11-21-2005, 04:28 PM	#325 (permalink)
SM Network Interface 2037 Epic Poster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Network Interface 2037, WY Melbourne Posts: 15,284	After 3 years I finally finished The Measure of All Things about the 2 French guys who effectively invented the metre at the end of the 18th century. First few chapters are tough going, especially ones head around all the French names and places, but there's enough drama going on in France (they were measuring the meridian of Paris from Dunkerque to Barcelona in the middle of the French Revolution and wars with Spain and others that followed) and between the personalities involved to make it an engrossing read. Make a great film. Now onto Ecstasy by Irvine Welsh.

11-21-2005, 04:56 PM	#326 (permalink)
Salvage Guy Forum Officer Forum Officer Hardcore Veteran Join Date: May 2002 Location: Edinburgh, UK Posts: 8,460	Started reading Complicity by Iain Banks (note: no middle initial). A bit at times but scarily personal considering I live near where it's set, so far.

12-05-2005, 06:41 PM	#327 (permalink)
SM Network Interface 2037 Epic Poster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Network Interface 2037, WY Melbourne Posts: 15,284	Finished Ecstasy last week. Fucken ace. Just like all of Welsh's other stuff. Now on a spot of non-fiction with No Man Is An Island - A Study of Lee Kwan Yew by James Minchin. Tres dry.

12-06-2005, 09:42 PM	#328 (permalink)
Vincent_Vodevil Grand Guignol Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2003 Location: Hicksville USA Posts: 1,801	Just finished The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. Good stuff, even though the constant leaps in narrator and plot and the sing-song prose takes a while getting used to. Currently into Pol Pot : Anataomy of a Nightmare. Pretty interesting, so far. I was surprised to learn that Pol Pot was politically apathetic and uninvolved as a young adult, especially in comparison to his Cambodian peers of the time, many of whom craved revolution ealry on. Ironic. Maybe foreboding too, in a way, regarding his future path.

12-06-2005, 09:47 PM	#329 (permalink)
noodle boy Ennui-licious. Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Toronto Posts: 3,851	Hmm, just finished reading Incompetence by Rob Grant. Good book, fairly deep story and plot setup for a comedy/mystery story. I nominate it as the official "required reading" book of the stupid forum.

12-08-2005, 12:25 PM	#330 (permalink)
MacCabbe Occasionally Wont ! Hardcore Veteran Join Date: May 2004 Location: Paris Posts: 6,958	Die Haarteppichkn?pfer (The Hair-Carpet Tailors) by Andreas Eschbach For once, subtle, well-written sci-fi. An immense book. Surprising while coherent, and has plenty of original finds.