What Are You Reading?

[sjewkestheloon]

So we have a current favourite album thread but nothing for good ole books.

Needed fixing, here it is.

I've had a brilliant run of 2 books that didn't make me want to vomit, a real achievement for me of recent times.

Roberto Bolano - 2666

A massive and sprawling cess pool of a novel (or 5), filled with needless events and strange impulses that make up humanity. I will now proceed to buy every one of Bolano's novels.

PK Dick - Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich

The last things I read by PKD were from very early in his career, and though enjoyable romps, they made me forget how good he could be at the top of his game. A chapter completely blind-sided me and caused me to re-read more carefully.

[emphatic]

Ian Fleming - Live And Let Die

[RedDeathRunning]

Shaun Gallagher's "How the Body Shapes the Mind" - it's a really interesting mix of philosophy and cognitive science concerning, well, the body's role in cognition. Anyways, a really good read for people into that kind of stuff.

[Super Laydock]

Hoffman's Hunger by Leon de Winter (in the original Dutch btw).

Impulse buy by me
But, only about 100 pages in, and liking the style and personages so far.
The cold war era setting intrigues me still and can't wait to get further in the story (it's my "on my way to/from work book" ).
The main character has a mindset I can relate to in a strange way (don't ask - I am no insomniac/constipated, blah blah guy or so, but still) which is why I like it so much so far.

[Joe T.]

There was a book thread but it was really old.

Regardless, I'm currently reading:

Paradigms Lost by John L Casti

Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson

and after I'm done with those I plan on reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.

[jonny5]

i dont read nearly as much as i used to, but i have been slowly working my way through all of william gibsons books again.....great stuff

aside from that i think the last book i read was richard morgans altered carbon....kinda cool cyber punk-ish near future with crazy tech.....i have a few of his other books but havent gotten around to them yet

[elfhentaifan]

articles in playboy magazines

[Ruldra]

College assignment:

[Dragoforce]

College assignment:

Ohh, I read that back in high school. Gave me the most god-awful personality for a few months.

I am re-reading At the mountain of madness, my favorite novella when it comes to Lovecraft.

[Arvandor]

I'm reading Catch-22 right now.

I highly HIGHLY recommend the Dresden Files (starts with "Storm Front" I think). Not deep or meaningful or anything, but oh so very fun, and real page turners.

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm reading Catch-22 right now.

I tried to start but didn't even get out of the hospital. I recall hating the protagonist too much.

[Ixmucane2]

Next in the fiction queue:

• The Lincoln Lawyer (Michael Connelly)
• Other Voices, Other Rooms (Truman Capote)
• L'Imperio (Federico de Roberto)
• various short stories by Federico de Roberto

Recently read fiction:

• The Red Badge of Courage (Stephen Crane)
  A milestone of American fiction.
• collected short stories by Roald Dahl
  Classics, although we now live in meaner times.
• Coraline (Neil Gaiman)
  The recent movie is more "version 2.0" than an adaptation.

Next in the RPG queue:

• Horror on the Orient Express (Call of Cthulhu)
• Cyberpunk 2013

Recently read RPG:

• The Fiendish Agents of Falkenberg; Curse of the Khalif; Race for El Dorado (Dream Park adventures)
  Some good ideas, but a lot of disregard for Dream Park's basic premises.
• Gamemaster Pack (Dream Park)
  Rather unneeded but well made lists of stuff.

Now reading:

• L'Illusione (Federico de Roberto)
  The life and loves of a Sicilian noblewoman in the second half of 19th century. Still a troublesome teenager as of chapter 4.
• Alice through the Mirrorshades (Paranoia adventure)
  A Cyberpunk 2013 crossover and spoof (characters are sent back in time to the "dark future" to meet cliché after cliché). From the early decadence period of Paranoia, but rather good.

[CMoon]

There was a book thread, somewhere, anyway...

My big discovery of the year was Cormac McCarthy (read The Road, Blood Meridian and No Country for Old Men very quickly in that order; NCfOM being the weakest of the three).

Before that I'd been reading Titus Groan (by Mervyn Peake) but The Road distracted me and I haven't gotten back to it.

In non-fiction, very slowly going at McPhee's Annals of the Former World and working my way through some books on plants and natural history of California.

Wish I could say I was reading more, but good authors are hard to find.

[kengou]

Right now I'm reading a few Batman graphic novels (just finished Year One, Long Halloween, Dark Knight Strikes Again, and Killing Joke, about to start All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder) as well as beginning to re-read the Dune series for the zillionth time. During the past summer I read through nearly all of Frank Herbert's non-Dune books, including Whipping Star, Dosadi Experiment, Green Brain, Eyes of Heisenberg, Santaroga Barrier (which is fantastic), and Eye. I might be forgetting a couple. Finally just last week I read through Soon I Will Be Invincible, which is a great little superhero parody/deconstruction novel not dissimilar to Watchmen in concept.

[incognoscente]

There was a book thread, somewhere, anyway...

Complete with a flippant Neon title, no less!

I viewed the old thread as book recommendations and this new one as more of a progress log, so I haven't merged the two. If there is interest in having the threads merged, it shall be done.

[Sandlegs]

I am reading the dune books as well. But at the moment, i have the eye of the world in hand. It is pretty good. i will probably buy all eleven more of the Wheel of Time.

[RGC]

.

[sjewkestheloon]

I really struggled with Catch 22, found sections of it almost incoherant. Maybe I should give it another go now I've got a few more years in me.

I started Friedrich Durrenmatt's The Judge and His Hangman after picking up a five novel collection at the weekend. He has been compared to Brecht and Kafka so I heartily look forward to delving in.

I've actually got a massive stockpile of novels and non-fic to read but I can't help myself in the purchase of more books. I always think that I will get to the books eventually, but I can't help but feel that I own books that I will never read.

Anyone here read any Roberto Bolano? I need guidance as to where to go after 2666.

[Aru-san]

Yotsuba&!. Does manga count as books, or are you specifically talking about novels?

[Joe T.]

I quite enjoyed Catch 22. It's been years now since I read it but I found it just couldn't be written any other way than the disjointed and almost digressionary manner that it was. The same story as anything other than a stream of consciousness wouldn't have worked.

[Super Laydock]

College assignment:

ah, "Il Principe"!
That's a classic must read & a stepping stone to understanding/putting into perspective politics.

[Daigohji]

Currently reading: How to Survive a Robot Uprising - Tips on Defending yourself Against the Coming Rebellion. While taking a comical tone in places, the author has a master's degree in robotics and gives an impressive overview of what's currently possible in the field, along with different possibilities for the future and how to survive when the buggers inevitably turn on us. Don't forget to keep an axe handy for hacking through the walls of your smart house.

[Lordstar]

im trying to get the right version of journey to the west as seen here ---> http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=5954

If anyone knows which one give me a shout

[getbonus]

The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. If you want to understand what is going on in the world and why, you need to read this book.

On a lighter note, Death Note, whenever I find the next volume.

[Ixmucane2]

I really struggled with Catch 22, found sections of it almost incoherant. Maybe I should give it another go now I've got a few more years in me.

Random incoherence (of war, and perhaps of life in general) is one of the main themes of Catch 22.
In other words, if you find whole sections incoherent it's not a bug, it's a feature!

[cools]

Still working my way through the Baen Free Library.

It's taking a long time, I'm barely able to read 15-20 pages before I start to fall asleep. The books are great, but my mind has finally associated reading with nodding off.

[CMoon]

I am reading the dune books as well.

I really wouldn't suggest reading ALL the Dune books, and there's arrogance in telling someone what to read, but in retrospect, I wish that I'd stopped after the second book; nothing good comes after that.


Dragoforce> Also reread 'Mountains of Madness' recently. I'm always glad to hear about people who recognize this story was out there and beyond the other stuff he was doing, especially given how one can't say Lovecraft without saying Cthulu. Well of course, with 'Mountains' you very much can. It's a pity we didn't get about 5-10 more years out of Lovecraft, as this and Shadow out of Time showed some incredible maturation on his part--as a science fiction author and just a damn good yarn spinner.

Did you hear that Del Toro wants to make a movie of Mountain of Madness??? He's definitely the dude to do it, if it will ever work.

[Acid King]

Rereading the Flowers of Evil.

[Icarus]

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Mmmm... Murakami. Excellent author, great writing style and great stories. Pick up Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman as well, if you've liked what you've read so far.

I'm reading Out by Natsuo Kirino whenever I get time to pick up a book. Brilliantly executed so far, very immersive. The last book I read before that was Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

[incognoscente]

im trying to get the right version of journey to the west

This is still on my to-read list, so I cannot say from personal experience which is best. My understanding of the main three English translation is as follows:

• Monkey, translated by Arthur Waley: abridged, but otherwise a very enjoyable, rollicking translation. Characters and humor are both captured well.
• Journey to the West, translated by Anthony C. Wu: unabridged and faithful, perhaps slavish, to the word. Good if comparing against a Chinese text, but otherwise can be a bit trying and dry. Lots of footnotes though!
• Journey to the West, translated by W.J.F. Jenner: unabridged but not word-perfect. While Wu may be more accurate to the original text, Jenner feels more natural in English, though still drier than Waley.

I have selected the Jenner translation for myself, though I don't know when I'll get around to reading it.



Currently reading: Dostoyevsky's Brothers Karamazov (trans. Constance Garnett). Down to the last quarter now, though I've enjoyed the characters so much that I almost don't want it to end.