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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.

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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.

2010 - 9
2061 - 8
3001 - 6

The Stranger - Albert Camus 8.5

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

Reading Don Quixote again - best book ever.

Also pacing that with E.M. Cioran and have some Ghelderode on order.

The Pirate King - RA Salvatore

I am sucker for Forgotten Realms novels.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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...

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

Pretty good. I laughed out loud a few times.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

10/10

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

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.

Kafka for beginners - written by David Zane Mairowitz and illustrated by Robert Crumb . 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

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.

I'm only 140 pages into it but The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is already 10/10.