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Post by Martin Stett on Jun 26, 2019 22:36:19 GMT
So I'm reading The Golden Compass and going "wow, this is a great book" but I'm also going "why is this so controversial again?" Sure, the "Church" is involved but they could just as easily be any secret government organization doing bad things, I don't get why Christians are so dead-set against this booooo.....
Oh.
I just read Chapter 21. I... Um, I've been praising this book nonstop to my dad and he wants to read it. How do I gracefully tell him that he'll burn me at the stake for recommending this?
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Post by PromNightCarrie on Jun 27, 2019 21:13:11 GMT
Also reading Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived In the Castle. If this book is as good as other stuff I've read from her, she might enter my list of favorite writers.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2019 21:52:04 GMT
Also reading Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived In the Castle. If this book is as good as other stuff I've read from her, she might enter my list of favorite writers. I read this last summer, and I cannot praise it enough. It entered my favourite list and made me buy every Jackson book that I could find. I am jealous that you are reading it for the first time!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2019 22:02:29 GMT
Wicked Victorian Boston by Robert Wilhelm
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2019 19:06:17 GMT
The Journals of Louisa May Alcott by Louisa May Alcott
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Post by Martin Stett on Jun 30, 2019 2:35:18 GMT
Well, my dad is reading The Golden Compass. I'm trying to warn him off by saying that the ending isn't very good (it isn't) and book 2 is currently a clusterfuck of epic proportions (it is). Maybe he won't accuse me of cavorting with the Devil later.
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Post by jimmalone on Jun 30, 2019 15:09:58 GMT
Read Washington Square by Henry James. He was certainly a great stylist.
Now The Patrician by John Galsworthy. Similar to James he writes about the society and the nuances of their behaviour and moralic actions.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jul 1, 2019 10:09:31 GMT
Four Weird Tales - Algernon Blackwood - If you've read him you know he is a bit difficult and outdated - very descriptive and slow - sometimes maddeningly so - but that's kind of his eerie pull too. Had never read any of these 4 prior and 2 of them are kind of greatish if you know what you're signing up for - sort of like reading something you know no one else is in 2019 and maybe you shouldn't be......
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Post by jimmalone on Jul 2, 2019 8:12:57 GMT
Vernon Subutex 1 by Virginie Despentes
Disappointing.
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Post by jimmalone on Jul 3, 2019 12:01:57 GMT
Waguih Ghali - Beer in the Snooker Club
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2019 2:53:22 GMT
Baseball: A History of America's Favorite Game by George Vecsey
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Post by jimmalone on Jul 5, 2019 8:10:56 GMT
Jorge Amado: Teresa Batista Cansada de Guerra (Tereza Batista: Home from the Wars)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2019 3:49:01 GMT
When Women Played Hardball by Susan E. Johnson
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Post by DeepArcher on Jul 8, 2019 4:11:28 GMT
Recently finished House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski and I don't think I'll get over it for a good long while. Certainly one of the most special books I've read in a long time. Comparable only to the likes of Infinite Jest or a lot of Pynchon in its sheer audacity and the thoroughness of the writing. It's dense and often even frustrating but also impossible not to obsess over. One of the most innovative novels I'm aware of, it throws at you cryptic messages and sends you on spiraling journeys, furiously flipping pages to find a footnote, turning it upside down just to see, perfectly mimicking the experience of getting lost within an improbably large house -- your curiosity pulls you down one corridor and then another and so on until you're in a state of total confusion, and stuck with the frustration being unable to see yourself out. It's an eerie, brilliant epic of fantastical horror, and an incredible mosaic of this crumbling marriage and furthermore all of the lives their story affects. Loved this! I say this all the time, but I've rarely if ever meant it more than with regards to this book: there's nothing else like this.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2019 5:45:41 GMT
Recently finished House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski and I don't think I'll get over it for a good long while. Certainly one of the most special books I've read in a long time. Comparable only to the likes of Infinite Jest or a lot of Pynchon in its sheer audacity and the thoroughness of the writing. It's dense and often even frustrating but also impossible not to obsess over. One of the most innovative novels I'm aware of, it throws at you cryptic messages and sends you on spiraling journeys, furiously flipping pages to find a footnote, turning it upside down just to see, perfectly mimicking the experience of getting lost within an improbably large house -- your curiosity pulls you down one corridor and then another and so on until you're in a state of total confusion, and stuck with the frustration being unable to see yourself out. It's an eerie, brilliant epic of fantastical horror, and an incredible mosaic of this crumbling marriage and furthermore all of the lives their story affects. Loved this! I say this all the time, but I've rarely if ever meant it more than with regards to this book: there's nothing else like this. I got this book last year, seems very love it or hate it from what I’ve read. The Wallace and Pynchon shouts are pretty bold praise, especially the latter who at his best I don’t think anyone I’ve read can write as masterfully or interestingly as, but I’ll see for myself soon enough
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Post by DeepArcher on Jul 8, 2019 13:54:16 GMT
Recently finished House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski and I don't think I'll get over it for a good long while. Certainly one of the most special books I've read in a long time. Comparable only to the likes of Infinite Jest or a lot of Pynchon in its sheer audacity and the thoroughness of the writing. It's dense and often even frustrating but also impossible not to obsess over. One of the most innovative novels I'm aware of, it throws at you cryptic messages and sends you on spiraling journeys, furiously flipping pages to find a footnote, turning it upside down just to see, perfectly mimicking the experience of getting lost within an improbably large house -- your curiosity pulls you down one corridor and then another and so on until you're in a state of total confusion, and stuck with the frustration being unable to see yourself out. It's an eerie, brilliant epic of fantastical horror, and an incredible mosaic of this crumbling marriage and furthermore all of the lives their story affects. Loved this! I say this all the time, but I've rarely if ever meant it more than with regards to this book: there's nothing else like this. I got this book last year, seems very love it or hate it from what I’ve read. The Wallace and Pynchon shouts are pretty bold praise, especially the latter who at his best I don’t think anyone I’ve read can write as masterfully or interestingly as, but I’ll see for myself soon enough Not necessarily saying the quality of the writing is on the same level as those guys, just that that’s what Danielewski’s approach reminded me of. But honestly they’re kind of empty comparisons considering that what Danielewski does feels wholly original, for better or worse. It’s definitely the type of thing that really works for some people and doesn’t at all for others — but I hope you enjoy it when you get to it!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2019 17:43:18 GMT
I got this book last year, seems very love it or hate it from what I’ve read. The Wallace and Pynchon shouts are pretty bold praise, especially the latter who at his best I don’t think anyone I’ve read can write as masterfully or interestingly as, but I’ll see for myself soon enough Not necessarily saying the quality of the writing is on the same level as those guys, just that that’s what Danielewski’s approach reminded me of. But honestly they’re kind of empty comparisons considering that what Danielewski does feels wholly original, for better or worse. It’s definitely the type of thing that really works for some people and doesn’t at all for others — but I hope you enjoy it when you get to it! I'll let you know what I think. I'm really inexperienced with horror novels, outside of Stephen King - who I'm not a hugeee fan of - I've barely read any, so I'm looking forward to it. How unsettling did you find it? One of my friends swears it's the scariest book she's read lol.
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Post by DeepArcher on Jul 8, 2019 19:18:46 GMT
Not necessarily saying the quality of the writing is on the same level as those guys, just that that’s what Danielewski’s approach reminded me of. But honestly they’re kind of empty comparisons considering that what Danielewski does feels wholly original, for better or worse. It’s definitely the type of thing that really works for some people and doesn’t at all for others — but I hope you enjoy it when you get to it! I'll let you know what I think. I'm really inexperienced with horror novels, outside of Stephen King - who I'm not a hugeee fan of - I've barely read any, so I'm looking forward to it. How unsettling did you find it? One of my friends swears it's the scariest book she's read lol. I'm also not well-versed with horror novels at all ... I'm really not easily "scared" in general, even with some of the best horror movies, and to me this had the effect where it was definitely eerie and unsettling even though I was never really afraid at any point. Though it's certainly one of the most visceral books I've ever read especially given the format that it's presented in, Danielewski certainly does a great job of getting under your skin with some nerve-wracking suspense. I wouldn't call it scary per se, but certainly haunting...
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Post by jimmalone on Jul 9, 2019 7:55:31 GMT
A few short stories by Jorge Luis Borges. I'm not the biggest fan of short stories, but those are pretty good.
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Post by jimmalone on Jul 10, 2019 15:54:13 GMT
I read Dashiel Hammetts The Dain Curse today. Could barely put it away until I finished it (except when I got myself something to eat). Excellent novel. Thrilling, amusing, well written. Sometimes a bit too sensational for my taste.
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Post by jimmalone on Jul 11, 2019 10:01:44 GMT
Alexander Pushkin - Eugene Onegin
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Post by ibbi on Jul 11, 2019 21:27:11 GMT
I am reading Game of Thrones. I, the slowest reader on the Earth, began on Sunday and am 400+ pages in. I was previously reading The Magic Mountain, where I think it took me 2 or 3 years to get 400 pages in.
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Post by The_Cake_of_Roth on Jul 12, 2019 4:45:46 GMT
The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick Volume 2
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2019 16:36:43 GMT
Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson
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Post by jimmalone on Jul 13, 2019 17:16:34 GMT
Have to re-read Hideo Yokoyama's 64.
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