What Are You Reading?

[PainAmplifier]

Man, I loved My Immortal. Best badfic ever.

Badfic? That thing needs an efukt warning!

All I needed to do was get a glimpse of the wiki on that thing for my eyes to start screaming in agony, much less actually read it.

More so than bad writing, fanfiction really suffers from the work of what has to be teen yaoi fangirls...if you deleted all the fics with 'slash' or 'yaoi' tags you could probably fit all the remaining work onto a single floppy disc and have room left over.

[CMoon]

Started reading 'Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit' yesterday. At first put off by the translation, but started getting into the groove after a while. The author's background is in ethnology fuels the creation of a detailed and historically rich world. There were a few moments I felt like I was reading eastern mythology. I'll no doubt finish it up in a couple days, but it makes a nice diversion from Hunger Games.

Recently picked up 'Faust: Stretch out time', a book about the german experimental band. It's shorter than Moribito, but it will probably take me weeks to read it. Well, that's the way non-fiction is.

[Lordstar]

the engish release of High school of the dead is out finally. So I should be getting that in the post this week.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0316 ... ss_product

[borislaw]

I have enjoyed this book-board, although I Am not familiar with many of the titles people are mentioning. LAtely I've only been reading non-fiction. Would like to read some good fiction, but not sure what to pick. The geniuses who wrote most of my favorite books have long been dead and I don't want to keep reading and re-reading these same books again and again, although that is what I have been doing.

Any suggestions? Could someone point me to a book that is good to read, but also touches the soul and seeps into the very fibre of your being. Something along the lines of Nietzsche, Bukowski, Dostoevsky, Moby Dick, Dead Souls, The Stranger, NAtive Son, etc.

[CMoon]

Would like to read some good fiction, but not sure what to pick. The geniuses who wrote most of my favorite books have long been dead and I don't want to keep reading and re-reading these same books again and again, although that is what I have been doing.

I feel your pain. I really gave up on fiction for a while, but lately have found a lot of the teen sci-fi fantasy has actually been highly satisfying. But still, it isn't the same as the greats!

Any suggestions? Could someone point me to a book that is good to read, but also touches the soul and seeps into the very fibre of your being. Something along the lines of Nietzsche, Bukowski, Dostoevsky, Moby Dick, Dead Souls, The Stranger, NAtive Son, etc.

Huxley's Eyeless in Gaza, Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker and Pilgerman (maybe Fremder), McCarthy's The Road. Oh yeah, and definitely B. Traven's Death Ship. Death Ship is your new favorite book!

Also consider Kobo Abe if your deeply into Dostoevsky and Camus (I'm not sure I am so much, but Abe's Woman in the Dunes is still agreat read.)

As a really long reach, I also want to suggest something like Rilke's Duino Elegies (a collection of poems) which touch your soul and attempt to crush it with truth and beauty. I wouldn't recommend the duino elegies to many, but if you want to go all the way...

[PainAmplifier]

I have enjoyed this book-board, although I Am not familiar with many of the titles people are mentioning. LAtely I've only been reading non-fiction. Would like to read some good fiction, but not sure what to pick. The geniuses who wrote most of my favorite books have long been dead and I don't want to keep reading and re-reading these same books again and again, although that is what I have been doing.

Any suggestions? Could someone point me to a book that is good to read, but also touches the soul and seeps into the very fibre of your being. Something along the lines of Nietzsche, Bukowski, Dostoevsky, Moby Dick, Dead Souls, The Stranger, NAtive Son, etc.

I'm not going to say it's going to reach *deep*, but if you are looking for something more along the lines of moby Dick, you should try to get a copy of "Shark Man (Master Hunter of the Deep)" by Robert F Boggs.

It's a biographical book about Captain Frank Mundus, a charter captain who pioneered shark sportfishing and was pretty much the basis for the main character in the famous book/movie series Jaws. The way the book reads and the stories it recalls, reminds me quite strongly of the MASH tv series in its pacing/content. There's humor and seriousness all mixed together in a very engaging manner. It's only about 200 pages, so it's not a overly long read either. You can find it on Amazon or ebay if you search, although I was a bit shocked to see that the resellers were asking $150-$200 for the first edition and about half that for the reprint! (1977/2001) You might be able to find/request it from a library however, so it's worth checking there first.

[sjewkestheloon]

Any suggestions? Could someone point me to a book that is good to read, but also touches the soul and seeps into the very fibre of your being. Something along the lines of Nietzsche, Bukowski, Dostoevsky, Moby Dick, Dead Souls, The Stranger, NAtive Son, etc.

Philip K. Dick - Ubik, Valis, Martian Time Slip, A Scanner Darkly
Roberto Bolano - 2666, Savage Detectives
Thomas Pynchon - V, Crying of Lot 49

[CMoon]

Roberto Bolano - 2666, Savage Detectives

Expound man!; this one is new to me!

As far as PKD, I still think his short stories are the way to go.

[sjewkestheloon]

Roberto Bolano - 2666, Savage Detectives

Expound man!; this one is new to me!

As far as PKD, I still think his short stories are the way to go.

Roberto Bolano is possibly my favourite all time author and I only discovered him a few years ago. Spent most of his life as a roaming drug fueled Chilien in exhile writing poetry. When he hit his 40s he decided that he needed to earn some money for his family and so started writing novels.

Unfortunately he soon died (at 50 I think) and so only has a relatively small amount of work, much of which is in the process of being translated.

He writes about art, mainly poetry and literature, but his scope is astounding. His large novels, which I listed above, are filled to the brim with hundreds of characters that appear and disappear in a few paragraphs but are more memorable than many others in the history of literature that have 1000 pages.

2666 is a five part epic based around a fictional Mexican city in which there is a string of hundreds of unresolved murders of women. It takes in elements of de Sade, Borges, probably Melville, but remains completely unique. If pushed, I would probably list it as my favourite novel of all time. I often pick it up and read passages at random and I am considering giving another go through very shortly.

Savage Detectives follows a young poet as he becomes embroiled with a group of 'visceral realist' poets, and chronicals the lives of many characters that surround them. The narrative voice constantly shifts around, following the roaming geography of the characters.

He is incredibly warm, but also terrifying at times. Any adventurous reader would do well to become aquainted with these books.

[CptRansom]

Just finished The Great Gatsby (yes, I'm the worst English teacher ever) cover to cover in one sitting. I'm glad I slogged through the beginning, because it ended up being quite enjoyable and a little sad. I'm in a relationship with someone I was with once years ago and never even thought I'd see again after we were forced apart, so it's easy to identify with Gatsby and Daisy, and empathize with the tterror of wanting someone for so long, finally getting them back briefly, and then being ripped apart again. Glad I didn't read this in high school or it wouldn't have had the personal impact that it did.

Time to get back to Beyond Good and Evil so Nietzsche can continue to make me feel like an r-tard.

[Klatrymadon]

No Trubba. Really glad to see there's another Hoban fan here. I'm reading Riddley Walker again at the moment. Trufax.

[RNGmaster]

Catcher in the Rye, as school study lit, but I'd definitely read it privately. Only thing that bugs me is Holden - the narrator should never be this irritating, under any circumstances.

[CMoon]

No Trubba. Really glad to see there's another Hoban fan here. I'm reading Riddley Walker again at the moment. Trufax.

Indeed, when Hoban's on, he's one of my favorite authors. Even Mouse and his Child is great, though it's his adult books--namely Ridley Walker, Pilgermann, followed closely by Fremder and Medusa Frequency that stand out for me.

sjewkestheloon> Thanks for taking the time, I will check out Bolano at some point.

[CMoon]

Finished reading Moribito / Guardian of the Spirit. I know this was made into a rather lackluster anime (haven't seen it), but the book was very enjoyable though over far too fast. Very little action. Most of the time was spent explaining the mythical background of the world, despite the outside covers suggeting it was going to be a massive action adventure of sorts. A good read if you enjoy things like Journey to the West/Monkey.

I don't know if I like it enough to pick up the sequel, especially when I know there are actually several sequels which don't look like they are getting translated anytime soon.

[ED-057]

http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-bankos ... am-00.html

[beyonder]

- Phenomenology of Perception by Maurice Merleau Ponty
- Gestalt Psychology by Wolfgang Kohler

[Sandlegs]

Picked up Frank Herbert's short story collection Eye at Myopic books in Chicago. A whole illustrated Dune tour of Arakeen, and other stories.

[CMoon]

What books by Frank Herbert outside of Dune are worth reading? I really wish he hadn't dumped so much time into those dune sequels and invested more in original stories.

[Sandlegs]

There aren't tons of Herbert stuff that is amazing. The first three dune books are what he did best.

[CMoon]

There aren't tons of Herbert stuff that is amazing. The first three dune books are what he did best.

Gah! And I only really liked the first two! Shall stick to other authors.

[Dale]

Finished reading Dropping Fear not too long ago, damn good book.

[Heartwork]

I'm reading Kerouac's On The Road right now. Whoever recommended Bukowski would probably enjoy a lot of Kerouac's stuff too

[RNGmaster]

Oh dammit I love Bukowski. I got a book of his out of the library just from a list of authors - a giant collection of his poems. Made me real depressed for a bit, what with the relentless cycnicism, but he's a great writer who somehow makes poetry that can be read aloud without sounding pretentious.

[mesh control]

Post Office is a must read, Bukowski is much more digestible than Kerouac and I still can't figure out why people often compare him to the beats.

Personal favorite.

[CMoon]

For those of you keeping up with the exploding sci-fi/fantasy genre for teens, huge fucking props for House of the Scorpion. Just finished it minutes ago (the second book I've read on my kindle), and will read more by this author--Nancy Farmer. Mostly a teen book because the main characters are teens, and there's no sex and mostly allusions to profanity. If you've read Hunger Games, this is in the same family, and like Collins, Farmer knows how to expertly illicit emotions with sympathetic characters. House of Scorpion works a different pattern though, not at first announcing all her themes and letting them stew until the last 50 pages or so. Consequently, the beginning is a little disorienting, and we are not allowed to feel much for the character other than a weird fascination.

As the story opens up, we discover the main character is a clone (destined for organ harvesting--I know, that old chestnut) by the wealthiest drug lord on earth. Most of the sci-fi elements are only slightly futuristic, and as the novel proceeds, it focuses more on political and moral issues. It does not necessarily resolve these issues, but let's the reader decide for themselves.

One of my co-workers was a bit concerned that too much sci-fi got mixed up in political agendas, but in this case I think it is a good thing. I was thinking of how Julie of the Wolves documented the destruction of a young Innuit girl's culture. "Why should kids read something like that?" Well, I think young people sometimes are thinking more about their own concept of morality than adults do. So I'm really glad there are books like this and I hope their popularity means there is more to come.

PS--One last thing I loved about this book was the fascination with it's most evil character who we couldn't really hate. Too much time was put into developing him and allowing us to understand his evil. So much else in this book was easy to rally against, but the most evil person of all? It was hard not to cheer him on.

[mesh control]

Man, how much do you guys read a month?

I feel so slow when it comes to reading, even when I'm immersed in the subject, it takes me several months to finish a books.

[CMoon]

I used to read prolificly as a kid, but during college and after not so much. I'd have stints where I really didn't read much at all. Most of this was because I had problems finding authors I enjoyed, and non-fiction, although great, will never make for the fast, heart-racing read of good fiction. Lately though, I've started reading teen sci-fi/fantasy and I can read one of those in a couple days, or maybe a week. In a way its similar to manga, where you chug through a whole graphic novel in a couple hours. I'm not sure adult literature should take that much longer to read, but it really depends on your interest in the book.

It also depends on how much time you take a day to read. I typically spend an hour or so before I go to bed each night reading. That might be your woman or video game time.

[xris]

I might be on the really fast side of reading, I absolutely pour through books. If it's something I like, then it goes all 'Never ending story', and I will just be absorbed into it with all of my free time untill I'm done.
Just this week I have read, High Rise by J G Ballard, Help! A Bear is Eating Me! by Mykle Hansen, and I'm half way through Logan's Run by William Nolan. Help! A Bear is Eating Me! was hilarious, great read.
In the last couple of weeks I have also read; Pump Six by Paolo Bacigalupi (short stories, this guy is really, really good!), Suck It, Wonder Woman by Olivia Munn, Bukkake Brawl by Made In DNA (good sexpunk stuff, I would really suggest his short story collection, Blood and Bullets), War Slut by Carlton Mellick III. Also wrote a short story to put up on Goodreads. Yay! Reading!
I have a ton of stuff to read, so I'm just chunking through it, saving some of the best for later. I read really fast, but have good retention, and tend to re-read allot of my books, some several times. One of the thing that I learned awhile back is that heavy readers read differently. I'm not looking at the word and reading it left to right, sounding it out, I'm reading it as a whole, more like a symbol. The best example is the word, STOP. Your brain doesn't need to figure anything out, it just knows that word. So, people that read allot have the ability to read more and more like that. Don't get me wrong, I use my dictionary all the time when words I don't know show up. Heavy readers also fall into a ludic trance, with the information interacting with the brain in a slightly different way. On a good day this happens, and I'll slide through pages. Most of the time though, the tv is on in the background, but if what I'm reading is good I won't even notice. It's when I allow my thoughts to split is when I'll read and it won't hit my brain. I'll have to shake it off, and go back and re-read what I had just glossed over.
I rarely ever try speed reading, just doesn't work for me. A friend's gf is all freaky super genius, and watching her read is scary. It looks like she's flipping through it, turning a page every second or two. When I asked her, she said she reads it diagonally, then summarizes backwards really quick, then to the next page, with full retention..
Just keep reading! You'll gain speed as you go along.

[Acid King]

Angry Candy by Harlan Ellison. This is my first exposure to him and I'm really enjoying it.

War Slut by Carlton Mellick III.

How is this? I read Razor Wire Pubic Hair and enjoyed it. Dude dreams up some pretty crazy shit.

A friend's gf is all freaky super genius, and watching her read is scary. It looks like she's flipping through it, turning a page every second or two. When I asked her, she said she reads it diagonally, then summarizes backwards really quick, then to the next page, with full retention..

Grad school taught me similar skills. With nonfiction and journal articles it's easy to just plow right through them because of the formal way they are written and structured. This is my topic. This is my question. This is my argument. This is my support. These are my conclusions. You don't really have to read every word to understand what's going on. I would never do that with fiction and other stuff I read for fun though.

[xris]

War Slut was boring.. I've been on the fence lately as far as Carlton Mellick III goes, his work is a bit hit or miss. I've read a few of his books, and have only liked about half of them so far. He seems to be getting better though, with his writing being longer, and better developed. The book I would suggest the most for him would be, The Steel Breakfast Era, really strange zombie like tale of weirdness. And, it's a double book, with the second being The Decadent Return of the HI-Fi Queen and Embryonic Reptilian Injection by Simon Logan, which I really liked.
The bizarro genre is a difficult beast, I've read stuff I've liked, and hated. The best so far was Shark Hunting in Paradise Garden by Cameron Peirce, this book was so freaking strange.. I really liked Help! A Bear is Eating Me!, that was way better than I expected. Planning on reading Shatnerquake soon, a book about all of William Shatner's charas meeting each other, with shenanigans to ensue!