Latest Gene Wolfe book you read (1-10 scale)

Music posts are a bannable offense.
Post Reply
User avatar
Admiral Dick Fart
One Of Many Accounts
Posts: 2180
Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2007 10:02 pm
Contact:

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by Admiral Dick Fart »

Scumfucker wrote:Admiral Dickfart, if you like Rules of Attraction, go ahead and read The Informers because that's being made into a film and you want to read it first before the movie comes out.

.
Just finished that a little while ago. It was awesome. I like how the stories tie together closely at the onset of the book, but by the end it gets harder and harder to put the pieces together until the reader is forced to draw his own conclusions. I also like the usual shout-outs to his other work, it makes reading Ellis' work a lot more enjoyable to know that it's all connected in some way.

Coming up:

finishing up those Lovecraft stories
Ian Fleming - Casino Royale
Bret Easton Ellis - American Psycho
Chuck Palahniuk - Stranger Than Fiction
a ton of other shit

I always like to have a full plate when it comes to reading, it makes writing that much easier when I have a ton of stuff inspiring me.
http://heavybreath.bandcamp.com
Heavy Breath, Hardcore for people who miss when Revelation and Victory were still putting out (good) shit
User avatar
father of lies
Sir Posts-A-Lot
Posts: 10421
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 6:17 pm
Location: MKE WI

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by father of lies »

2010 - 9
2061 - 8
3001 - 6
fvkk
Whee of the Dead
I hate my life.
Posts: 4127
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2007 10:24 pm
Location: New Jersey

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by Whee of the Dead »

The Stranger - Albert Camus 8.5
cranial separation

SEX WITH HER SEVERED HEAD
User avatar
Bored Sr.
New Member
Posts: 2099
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2008 3:29 pm
Location: Austin, Texas

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by Bored Sr. »

I just finished reading this:

http://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Inquisiti ... 896&sr=1-1

The reviews on the Amazon listing are hilarious...mostly either just WRONG or trolling or posts by authors of competing works. This book is curious in that it was finished in 1937, in London, by a Jewish scholar. So he's a little interested in state oppression... ;)

From the description of the Inquisition's torture methods:

"The prisoner is now laid upon his back in a wooden trough which has a barr running through ye midst of it upon which his back lies, and upon occasion his back bone is hereby broke and puts him to incredible pain. The torture of water is sometimes performed by forcing the prisoner to swallow a quantity of water and then pressing his body by screwing ye sides of ye trough closer; at other times a wet cloth is laid over the prisoner's mouth and nostrils, and a small stream of water constantly descending upon it he sucks ye cloth into his throat, which being suddenly removed draws away with it water and blood and puts ye unhappy wretch into the agonies of death."

Sound familiar?

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/feat ... hens200808
(totally insignificant) <--

"Endgame: underway." - Toilet Fleet

Image
Mr. Budd

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by Mr. Budd »

Reading Don Quixote again - best book ever.

Also pacing that with E.M. Cioran and have some Ghelderode on order.
danox3
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Posts: 2498
Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2007 10:52 am
Location: Rochester

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by danox3 »

The Pirate King - RA Salvatore

I am sucker for Forgotten Realms novels.
User avatar
Chevalier Mal Fet
O.G. Interwebber
Posts: 4658
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:02 pm
Location: Jersey City, NJ
Contact:

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by Chevalier Mal Fet »

Twenty or so more pages in The Brothers Karamazov, then onto Le Mort de Arthur, I'm going to start reading shorter books just so I can participate in this thread more.

Brothers Karamazov - 8/10 so far, still don't know how it turns out.
Dudes - check out my record: https://linktr.ee/illuminihilation
User avatar
Spooky Apparition
O.G. Interwebber
Posts: 4728
Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:12 am

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by Spooky Apparition »

Poe's only published novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838): 10/10.

This book is a trip, and one of the best 19th century American novels I've read; it's certainly far superior to anything else Poe wrote, this coming from a Poe fan. It starts out as a typical seafaring novel (although I'm inclined to believe this novel helped form the archetypal American sea novel... I'm looking at you Melville) and then descends into some dark, despairing shit. At some point, almost all of our American gothic tropes are represented, some of them Poe originals, some of them inherited from Charles Brockden-Brown, but always effective. The end is totally bizarre and caught me quite off-guard. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what happened....

Its only about 170 pages, so if anyone is a fan of Poe and has a handful of hours to kill, this is HIGHLY recommended.
Last edited by Spooky Apparition on Tue Nov 25, 2008 8:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Admiral Dick Fart
One Of Many Accounts
Posts: 2180
Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2007 10:02 pm
Contact:

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by Admiral Dick Fart »

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward - 9/10 - some of Lovecraft's stuff is overwordy and can bore, but this was amazing. I didn't want to put it down throughout the novella's entire length. Some very intriguing ideas and haunting imagery.

Stranger That Fiction - 8/10 - A lot of people don't like Palahniuk, but he has an individual voice and that translates very well to this nonfiction collection. My favorite stories in the collection all ended up being a lot shorter than I would've hoped, though. You can really tell where the guy gets the inspiration for his fiction.
http://heavybreath.bandcamp.com
Heavy Breath, Hardcore for people who miss when Revelation and Victory were still putting out (good) shit
Mr. Budd

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by Mr. Budd »

Spooky Apparition wrote:Poe's only published novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838): 10/10.

This book is a trip, and one of the best 19th century American novels I've read; it's certainly far superior to anything else Poe wrote, this coming from a Poe fan. It starts out as a typical seafaring novel (although I'm inclined to believe this novel helped form the archetypal American sea novel... I'm looking at you Melville) and then descends into some dark, despairing shit. At some point, almost all of our American gothic tropes are represented, some of them Poe originals, some of them inherited from Charles Brockden-Brown, but always effective. The end is totally bizarre and caught me quite off-guard. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what happened....

Its only about 170 pages, so if anyone is a fan of Poe and has a handful of hours to kill, this is HIGHLY recommended.

Will read - thanks.
User avatar
mithrandir
It's my lucky day!
Posts: 7789
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2007 4:04 pm
Location: desert sandwich

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by mithrandir »

Chevalier Mal Fet wrote:Twenty or so more pages in The Brothers Karamazov, then onto Le Mort de Arthur, I'm going to start reading shorter books just so I can participate in this thread more.

Brothers Karamazov - 8/10 so far, still don't know how it turns out.
curious, which translation are you reading? I like these updated versions on Russian classics done by the duo Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, I'm able to glide through these with perfect understanding, Crime and Punishment was so much more enjoyable reading their translation then the dusty old version from the from the 60s that I got from a used book store (I switched to the new translation while I was in the middle of reading that book), they also recently did War and Peace, which I look forward to giving that sucker a shot probably sometime in near future
User avatar
father of lies
Sir Posts-A-Lot
Posts: 10421
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 6:17 pm
Location: MKE WI

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by father of lies »

Admiral Dick Fart wrote:The Case of Charles Dexter Ward - 9/10 - some of Lovecraft's stuff is overwordy and can bore, but this was amazing. I didn't want to put it down throughout the novella's entire length. Some very intriguing ideas and haunting imagery.
He hated this book. The fawning over architecture and such is just ridiculous and boring. It was published posthumously, and I think it really isn't finished. It needed a rewrite. The story is a fucking 10 to be sure, but the endless babbling about columns and windows and shit makes the first half of the book a 6 for me. It picks up after that, obviously... Do not call up what ye can't put down...
fvkk
User avatar
father of lies
Sir Posts-A-Lot
Posts: 10421
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 6:17 pm
Location: MKE WI

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by father of lies »

Dawkins - The God Delusion audiobook (owning an ipod is totally killing me...) - 8

Pretty good. I laughed out loud a few times.
fvkk
User avatar
DeadWalrus
Freakin Insane & Stuff..
Posts: 2560
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:29 am
Location: beards and bad haircuts

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by DeadWalrus »

father of lies wrote:The Cat Who Walks Through Walls - Heinlein - 3
I did NOT like this at all.
I'm a big Heinlein fan and I agree, this book sucked hard. Try The Moon is a Harsh Mistress or Starship Troopers. Both are quick reads and excellent examples of sci-fi being used to experiment with different concepts of society.

I just finished Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal. 6/10. Should have been called I Love Metallica: The Metallica Story. It had some interesting history but it really only focused on a handful of specific bands. Bonus points for name dropping Corrupted and Burning Witch and interviewing Danny Lilker.

Currently reading The Best American Non-Required Reading 2006. A collection of essays and short stories edited by Dave Eggers. So far it's kinda lame (a list of Chuck Norris facts? Onion headlines? Seriously?) but I just started on an essay about a visit to the Chinese studios where they prepare cadavers for those art exhibits. You know, like in Casino Royal.

Also reading V for Vendetta and The Stars My Destination. V kinda sucks, I don't get the praise. Maybe it's because I didn't wear a trenchcoat in high school and I've never been big on revenge fantasy? I don't know. I've got a long train ride this afternoon so I'll finish that and maybe it'll blow me away.
User avatar
Barcass Grinder
I hate my life.
Posts: 4108
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2007 8:05 pm
Location: Iowa
Contact:

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by Barcass Grinder »

Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis
10/10

An axhausting 600 page biography on the guy who "wasted his life doing stupid doodles" and "never amounted to anything" and spent his entire life without ever finding hapiness. One of the coolest thing about this book was that the author was able to reprint strips that mirrored what what going on in Schulz's life, spilling his guts out in black and white thinly veiled as humor. Anyone interested in where the dark and melancholy comes from in his artwork? It's all spelled out in graphic detail in this book.

Without the strip reprints to illustrate the book, it would have been a 7/10 rating.
User avatar
ibn Horowitz
Electric Lucifer
Posts: 781
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 10:13 pm
Location: hamilton

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by ibn Horowitz »

A Scanner Darkly: 6/10
Really dropped off at the end I thought, and the personality split was clumsy.

The Secret Agent: 8.5/10
Fast-paced, I guess this is considered one of Conrad's more crowd-pleasing novels. Still has the usual extreme pessimism. Conrad is the fucking man.

The Orchard Keeper: 8/10
Last edited by ibn Horowitz on Sun Nov 30, 2008 6:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Scumfucker
Jesus never gave me that bike!
Posts: 4462
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2007 8:32 pm
Location: Downtown Los Angeles

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by Scumfucker »

Barcass Grinder wrote:Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis
10/10

An axhausting 600 page biography on the guy who "wasted his life doing stupid doodles" and "never amounted to anything" and spent his entire life without ever finding hapiness. One of the coolest thing about this book was that the author was able to reprint strips that mirrored what what going on in Schulz's life, spilling his guts out in black and white thinly veiled as humor. Anyone interested in where the dark and melancholy comes from in his artwork? It's all spelled out in graphic detail in this book.

Without the strip reprints to illustrate the book, it would have been a 7/10 rating.
You've sold me on this and I'm not even a big peanuts fan. I used to live in Santa Rosa where Shulz is from. At Sonoma State University, they named their new library after him.
User avatar
Chevalier Mal Fet
O.G. Interwebber
Posts: 4658
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:02 pm
Location: Jersey City, NJ
Contact:

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by Chevalier Mal Fet »

mithrandir wrote:
curious, which translation are you reading? I like these updated versions on Russian classics done by the duo Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, I'm able to glide through these with perfect understanding, Crime and Punishment was so much more enjoyable reading their translation then the dusty old version from the from the 60s that I got from a used book store (I switched to the new translation while I was in the middle of reading that book), they also recently did War and Peace, which I look forward to giving that sucker a shot probably sometime in near future
Penguin Classic Edition translated by David McDuff. No complaint about readability, only wish in longer works with so many cultural references that notes were footnotes, or if they have to be end notes, that they appear at the end of the chapter.
Spooky Apparition wrote:The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838): 10/10 - HIGHLY recommended
Strongly Seconded.

Also started reading a book I bought my dad for his birthday The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran by Hooman Majd son of a former Ayatollah, Khatami supporter and occasional Amadinhajad translator. Only got through ten pages of the introduction, but seems fascinating and will be stealing back from my dad when he's done.
Dudes - check out my record: https://linktr.ee/illuminihilation
User avatar
Admiral Dick Fart
One Of Many Accounts
Posts: 2180
Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2007 10:02 pm
Contact:

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by Admiral Dick Fart »

father of lies wrote:
Admiral Dick Fart wrote:The Case of Charles Dexter Ward - 9/10 - some of Lovecraft's stuff is overwordy and can bore, but this was amazing. I didn't want to put it down throughout the novella's entire length. Some very intriguing ideas and haunting imagery.
He hated this book. The fawning over architecture and such is just ridiculous and boring. It was published posthumously, and I think it really isn't finished. It needed a rewrite. The story is a fucking 10 to be sure, but the endless babbling about columns and windows and shit makes the first half of the book a 6 for me. It picks up after that, obviously... Do not call up what ye can't put down...
I don't mind the architecture stuff at all, I feel like it adds to the ambience and really sets up the character of Charles Ward.
http://heavybreath.bandcamp.com
Heavy Breath, Hardcore for people who miss when Revelation and Victory were still putting out (good) shit
User avatar
Black Jacques
Sweet Lord _______
Posts: 18315
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 4:14 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by Black Jacques »

Image

10/10
SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW
Image
User avatar
captain
Inhale/Exhale
Posts: 454
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:04 pm
Location: Yahweh

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by captain »

Barcass Grinder wrote:Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
7/10

Fuck, what a bummer of a book. I read it not knowing anything about it, just that it was considered a classic. There were just too many similarities between Holden's thinking and mine for me to not be uncomfortable while reading it. I didn't realize I was that negative until I saw it in print and realized how stupid it sounds. The part where his sister accused Holden of hating everything, then challenged him to name one thing he TRULY enjoyed and he wasn't able to come up with an answer floored me. Fuck.

I think I just read this book at the wrong time in my life. Had I read it as a teenager I would have been all "Fuck yeah, people suck!". Reading it as a 32 year old I thought, "Fuck - do I really sound like that?!". I've been bummed all week while reading it. I'm glad I'm done with it now. Maybe I can start smiling again soon?
Yeah, this book is defnitely a classic, but it can be a bit much if you are not in the right mindset. I prefer Franny and Zooey. I mean there are still the trademark Salinger plot points that are extremely depressing, but ultimately there is something about it that is uplifting.

I've been reading the Song of Fire and Ice series for the past couple of months, and right now I'm on the third one (A Storm of Swords?). I was never really into a lot of fantasy stuff (or at least since I was much younger), so I can't compare it to other authors or series, but I like it. For a fantasy work, I would give it about an 8.5/10 I suppose. The plot is great, based on The War of the Roses, and the story is told third person through the eyes of several different characters, with each chapter being a different character. Not a big magical element to it, but it is there.


I usually am reading 3 to 6 books at a time though, so also currently:

Steppenwolf - Herman Hesse
Michael Chabon - Maps and Legends
"Never follow a hippie to a second location" -Jack Donaghy
User avatar
father of lies
Sir Posts-A-Lot
Posts: 10421
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 6:17 pm
Location: MKE WI

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by father of lies »

Admiral Dick Fart wrote:
father of lies wrote:
Admiral Dick Fart wrote:The Case of Charles Dexter Ward - 9/10 - some of Lovecraft's stuff is overwordy and can bore, but this was amazing. I didn't want to put it down throughout the novella's entire length. Some very intriguing ideas and haunting imagery.
He hated this book. The fawning over architecture and such is just ridiculous and boring. It was published posthumously, and I think it really isn't finished. It needed a rewrite. The story is a fucking 10 to be sure, but the endless babbling about columns and windows and shit makes the first half of the book a 6 for me. It picks up after that, obviously... Do not call up what ye can't put down...
I don't mind the architecture stuff at all, I feel like it adds to the ambience and really sets up the character of Charles Ward.
I'm fine with the way it is in most of his stories. Here, it's just out of control. It's dry and dull. I think that had he done a rewrite, instead of shelving it (that's what happened right?!), we'd REALLY have something.
fvkk
Gay for Cock
Olde Timer
Posts: 5104
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:58 pm
Location: Bob Hoskins, NC

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by Gay for Cock »

Kafka for beginners - written by David Zane Mairowitz and illustrated by Robert Crumb :tup: . 10/10 Awesome little biography and a brief summary of his work.

Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer 10/10

Steppenwolf - Hermann Hesse 7.0/10 I read it 6 years ago and loved it, but I guess it didn't age well.

The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements - Eric Hoffer 9/10
"It is the maze that dreams. And I am lost."
User avatar
Barcass Grinder
I hate my life.
Posts: 4108
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2007 8:05 pm
Location: Iowa
Contact:

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by Barcass Grinder »

Scumfucker wrote:
Barcass Grinder wrote:Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis
10/10

An axhausting 600 page biography on the guy who "wasted his life doing stupid doodles" and "never amounted to anything" and spent his entire life without ever finding hapiness. One of the coolest thing about this book was that the author was able to reprint strips that mirrored what what going on in Schulz's life, spilling his guts out in black and white thinly veiled as humor. Anyone interested in where the dark and melancholy comes from in his artwork? It's all spelled out in graphic detail in this book.

Without the strip reprints to illustrate the book, it would have been a 7/10 rating.
You've sold me on this and I'm not even a big peanuts fan. I used to live in Santa Rosa where Shulz is from. At Sonoma State University, they named their new library after him.
It was a great book, maybe a bit too dry for some people, but I like my books dry and factual. I've been a Peanuts fan since childhood, more so as an adult, but I don't think you'd have to be a fan to enjoy this book. He was just an interesting guy.
Gay for Cock
Olde Timer
Posts: 5104
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:58 pm
Location: Bob Hoskins, NC

Re: Latest book you read (1-10 scale)

Post by Gay for Cock »

I'm only 140 pages into it but The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is already 10/10.
"It is the maze that dreams. And I am lost."
Post Reply