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

[father of lies]

Whitley Streiber - Communion -

[riley-o]

hesse - siddhartha - 10
camus - the outsider - 9

[father of lies]

John Keel - The Mothman Prophecies - 8.5

Best paranormal book I've read.

[ibn Horowitz]

Enduring Love - Ian McEwan - 7/10
Wild Town - Jim Thompson - 8/10
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester - 7/10

[riley-o]

The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester - 7/10

really ? i thought it was better than all that

[father of lies]

I had to read Siddhartha in high school, and I don't really know why, but I fucking HATED it. I went through it again maybe two years ago, and loved every god damn word. I need some more...
7000

[Pop1287]

Steppenwolf would probably be a good bet after that one...

After reading Hesse if I were you I would head into Hamsun's stranger works. Pan, Mysteries, etc. Pan = total black metal.

[Pop1287]

Gustav Meyrink - The Angel of the West Window (7.765/10)

http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Window-Deda ... 782&sr=8-1

"...Meyrink takes us into the slowly evolving nightmare of a man as he uncovers the secrets of his ancestor, John Dee; occultist and metaphysician to Queen Elizabeth I. Ultimately, one wonders whether the main character is losing himself in John Dee or if John Dee is dreaming the future of his own bloodline. Either way, the atmosphere is creepy as a crypt, and the labyrinth of deftly constructed alchemical symbolism marks Meyrink as an adept of literature as well as the Dark Arts "

Eh, yeah...kind of. The usual Meyrink insanity/difficulty of perception/narration and grotesque Kafkaesque interactions between people, great, evocative, surreal descriptions of religion, black magic, occultism, etc.

I have the Ariadne press version put out by Dedalus, it has a different cover than the one linked above...the same image Dover used for their old "Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage" volume.

[neckbeard]

N.T. Wright - The Challenge of Jesus 10

[ibn Horowitz]

The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester - 7/10

really ? i thought it was better than all that

The book was good, no question, but I wish that Reich and Powell had been more equal as adversaries somehow...and all that shit about the girl turning into a baby was dull as dishwater.

SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW

The girl and Reich being siblings felt a little stiff and kind of cheap. Liked how the book was unconditional in saying 'fuck you!' to Mary Noyes though...good for a laugh.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera - 7/10
I didn't even want to like this one.

[Idget Child]

I had to read Siddhartha in high school, and I don't really know why, but I fucking HATED it. I went through it again maybe two years ago, and loved every god damn word. I need some more...

I didn't hate it in high school, but the book definitely didn't register with me upon my first reading of it. A few years after that, I decided that I wanted to read it again since it would keep me busy for a while on the trains from Connecticut to NJ and I was immediately enveloped by the book. I read it cover-to-cover within my two train rides and it really made me reevaluate my lifestyle. I need to give it another read again to remind myself of that wisdom.

Unfortunately, I haven't read much more Hermann Hesse outside of Siddhartha, but he is a wonderful author from what I have read.

[Mr. Budd]

Taking a break from Rememberance to read's Shattuck's Proust's Way. HOLY DEEP INSIGHT. Jesus fuck that guy has this all dissected, splayed and smashed down to the elemental fineries.

On page 500 now...on pace for a pre-xmas finish. It's getting easier to read but I'm getting a bit bored of it. His prose is dizzy bliss but still... reading this has made me love Jarry's lyrical brevity and Krasnahorkai's less meandering verbal wanderings a bit more.

It's also made me love Rabelais and Cervantes more because I think they like their readers more. Proust keep his writings private and posthumous in many cases. Rabelais and Cervantes enjoyed the public exchange and celebrity of their weighty tomes for good reason - they were more likeable.

[12 Months of Mao]

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said - PKD
...I'll probably catch flack for this, but...6, 7? I like Dick, I enjoy his works, but every time I read one of his books I'm just not that struck by anything. There's always a cool premise, but I never feel like he ties it together in some way that gives the happenings a deeper meaning besides his own paranoia and insanity. Maybe that's the point? I rarely have any sort of empathetic relationship with the main character. I get what "happened" here but, without spoiling everything, I don't see why it would actually create this story.

Also read Minority Report on the shitter recently. Same score, same reason, even with a more basic explanation for what happened.

Gustav Meyrink - The Angel of the West Window (7.765/10)

http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Window-Deda ... 782&sr=8-1

"...Meyrink takes us into the slowly evolving nightmare of a man as he uncovers the secrets of his ancestor, John Dee; occultist and metaphysician to Queen Elizabeth I. Ultimately, one wonders whether the main character is losing himself in John Dee or if John Dee is dreaming the future of his own bloodline. Either way, the atmosphere is creepy as a crypt, and the labyrinth of deftly constructed alchemical symbolism marks Meyrink as an adept of literature as well as the Dark Arts "

Eh, yeah...kind of. The usual Meyrink insanity/difficulty of perception/narration and grotesque Kafkaesque interactions between people, great, evocative, surreal descriptions of religion, black magic, occultism, etc.

I have the Ariadne press version put out by Dedalus, it has a different cover than the one linked above...the same image Dover used for their old "Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage" volume.

I've got The Golem here to begin next.

[father of lies]

Flow My Tears is alright, but Three Stigmata it ain't.

[12 Months of Mao]

Flow My Tears is alright, but Three Stigmata it ain't.

That one, Valis, Ubik and Dr. Bloodmoney are still sitting on the shelf. Those seem to be some of the ones that people talk more about. Looking forward to those.

[neckbeard]

The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester - 7/10

really ? i thought it was better than all that

The book was good, no question, but I wish that Reich and Powell had been more equal as adversaries somehow...and all that shit about the girl turning into a baby was dull as dishwater.

SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW

The girl and Reich being siblings felt a little stiff and kind of cheap. Liked how the book was unconditional in saying 'fuck you!' to Mary Noyes though...good for a laugh.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera - 7/10
I didn't even want to like this one.

That guy's other book is even better GET ON IT

[riley-o]

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said - PKD
...I'll probably catch flack for this, but...6, 7? I like Dick, I enjoy his works, but every time I read one of his books I'm just not that struck by anything. There's always a cool premise, but I never feel like he ties it together in some way that gives the happenings a deeper meaning besides his own paranoia and insanity. Maybe that's the point? I rarely have any sort of empathetic relationship with the main character. I get what "happened" here but, without spoiling everything, I don't see why it would actually create this story.

Also read Minority Report on the shitter recently. Same score, same reason, even with a more basic explanation for what happened.

nah, i think that review is totally fair and agree with it (except for the part about not seeing why it would create the story-- because that's how the story happens ? i feel like i'm missing your point here.) but for me that adds up to being worth more simply because i'm so taken with his paranoia and style.

that said, yeah valis, radio free albemuth, three stigmata, divine invasion all add up to more and you'll probably get more out of.

[father of lies]

Also I don't like the short stories nearly as much as the novels, for the most part.

[neckbeard]

I read Flow My Tears when I was pretty young and thought it was stupid.

[Jack Mort]

I read Flow My Tears when I was pretty young and thought it was stupid.

I think you need to reread it.

[Phritz]

Taking a break from Rememberance to read's Shattuck's Proust's Way. HOLY DEEP INSIGHT. Jesus fuck that guy has this all dissected, splayed and smashed down to the elemental fineries.

On page 500 now...on pace for a pre-xmas finish. It's getting easier to read but I'm getting a bit bored of it. His prose is dizzy bliss but still... reading this has made me love Jarry's lyrical brevity and Krasnahorkai's less meandering verbal wanderings a bit more.

It's also made me love Rabelais and Cervantes more because I think they like their readers more. Proust keep his writings private and posthumous in many cases. Rabelais and Cervantes enjoyed the public exchange and celebrity of their weighty tomes for good reason - they were more likeable.

great pace, stud. it took me forever to read the whole thing, but i took one or two half-a-year breaks. i definitely need to see if i can get that Shattuck book (my library doesn't have it, )

500 pages means that you must be towards the end of "the way by swann's" - it's one of the best parts of the book. i read that part in a few days. ... but it gets even better. promise.

great points about rabelais and cervantes, but i think you might change your opinion on that a bit towards the end. but Proust did die shortly after he finished the book, so he did write in a race against death and he wrote in bed on tiny sheets of paper, which were then glued together and edited (i think) by his housemaid Celeste.

his style of writing is just impeccable. dizzying, yes, but even with his lofty constructions not a single awkward part, everything's just perfect. (even in the german translation).

[Mr. Budd]

I can send you my Shattuck if you'd like - I've finished it along with How Proust Can Change Your Life.

[Phritz]

a book exchange? i think i'd be down for that. let me see what i got in english.
also let me check first how much the Shattuck book is here, it might be cheaper than the postage from the u.s.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

1776/10

Never felt his fiction lived up to his other writing/speaking until I read this one. Excellent epic of the general conniving elitist douche-baggery of the founding fathers through the eyes of the most maligned hero of the revolution. Probably the best piece of historical fiction I've ever read.

[Pop1287]

I've got The Golem here to begin next.

That is one fucked up book...