The Book Thread

[James Stevenson]

Good man. I think I'm gunna ignore all the discussion and borrow some Joe Abercrombie from my flatmate.

My god I read slowly. I was reading in a cafe today for like 2 hours, and I think I got through about 20 pages. That's pretty bad.

 

[Jason Waddell]

Good man. I think I'm gunna ignore all the discussion and borrow some Joe Abercrombie from my flatmate.

My god I read slowly. I was reading in a cafe today for like 2 hours, and I think I got through about 20 pages. That's pretty bad.

Too many distractions in cute winter coats?

 

[James Stevenson]

Ha! I wish! Moby Dick's really well written, but I have to say, you have to concentrate to understand what his sentences are saying. I find myself rereading a paragraph a few times and the only meaning I've taken in is that the builder sitting across from me was not happy with the quality of service he was receiving from the carpenters sitting across from him for the money he was paying them. Sadly no cute winter coats there.

 

[Jason Waddell]

Do I come across as a moron if I say that the further back a book was written the less I enjoy it? I just have no appreciation of the classics. There's a quote somewhere to the extent of "classics are books you don't want to read, but want to have read". I don't even want to have read them. Just give me some modern surrealism and punchy prose and I'm on board. Get with the times Melville!

 

[Chris Taylor]

Not in my opinion. There was no better example of modern language improving writing than that one philosophy class I had where I was required to read Immanual Kant's entire works. Fucking christ why wasn't the period invented until the late 18th century?

The first thing we had to read was a 75 page novella where he summarized his principals and theories because nobody fucking understood him the first time when he wrote 3 (THREE!) 4000+ page tomes detailing his philosophy. It took me 6 days to finish understanding the first chapter.

Mans was in dire need of an editor, shame anyone who actually had the education to understand him at the time was basically a competitor due to the distribution of wealth and education at the time.

 

[James Stevenson]

I completely understand where you're coming from. Absolutely there are books I want to have read but don't want to read. But actually I'm really enjoying Moby Dick, it's pretty engaging. It's just a little daunting.
On the other hand, stuff like Snow Crash which I really can't put down make me wish I could find books like that more often. (then again, even Snow Crash had these long chapters about glossolalia and some ancient history and whatnot that were a bit off-putting. But it was still hella engaging)

 

[Jason Waddell]

(then again, even Snow Crash had these long chapters about glossolalia and some ancient history and whatnot that were a bit off-putting. But it was still hella engaging)

I remember finding those parts interesting at the time, but now all I remember is something about information transfer via some cult underground sex sewer, and some unfortunate human data processor getting fucked until her system overheated and she caught on fire or something. In retrospect I don't really know what it was all about, but any author that can pull off naming their main character "Hiro Protagonist" has my respect.

 

[CML]

Do I come across as a moron if I say that the further back a book was written the less I enjoy it? I just have no appreciation of the classics. There's a quote somewhere to the extent of "classics are books you don't want to read, but want to have read". I don't even want to have read them. Just give me some modern surrealism and punchy prose and I'm on board. Get with the times Melville!

you are blowing it big-time if you don't think melville's got that surrealism goin' on, however, i concede i had no idea what to make of melville without having lived in new york / dropped acid. that being said read this it is the forerunner to American Psycho (dat subtitle) http://www.bartleby.com/129/

 

[James Stevenson]

I didn't find anything special about American Psycho except it made me feel horrible, repeatedly. I suppose that's cool. Maybe I just really hate that stuff after seeing enough ununseeable things on 4chan. Anyway the film was pretty tame compared to the book.

 

[CML]

the book is unreadable, the film is a masterpiece (not dissimilar to every sci-fi / fantasy work ever in that regard)

three great evocations of new york:
1. bartleby
2. american psycho
3. the power broker

lastly, i second chris that kant's philosophy is abominable, though it does explain why certain women i have dated are complete psychos

 

[James Stevenson]

Every now and then I cut a hole through a book so I can keep stuff in it. A while ago I did this for a place to keep exquisite corpses I'd done with people, so I went to a second hand bookshop and picked out a tome. It turned out to be pretty famous after I'd cut it up. So, The Bonfire of the Vanities, any of you guys read it? I went on to cut out sentences and words and put them together as I liked, so now that I've read some random bits of it I'm pretty curious to read the book.

 

[Jason Waddell]

http://riptidelab.com/paprika-book-review/

 

[Jason Waddell]

To elaborate, I talked to James while about midway through reading the book, and was feeling only so-so about it, but by the time I hit the rising action part I was really captivated by it and couldn't put it down. There's a moment where my brain went "yes, this is what I've been waiting for!", and from that point on it was pure indulgent chaos and absurdity.

The only thing to do now is watch the movie and say (snobbishly) that the book was better.

 

[James Stevenson]

That's high praise, that's quite a film.

I remember you saying you were unimpressed, so I was pretty happy to see your review turn out so much better.

 

[Jason Waddell]

Just going to point out, we've signed up for an affiliate marketing program through Amazon. I don't know if we'll really make anything from it, but if you buy something via the provided links in the article the site gets a percentage kickback. Of course, by no means feel obligated, but we're experimenting with the method for the moment.

 

[HannesVersmissen]

To elaborate, I talked to James while about midway through reading the book, and was feeling only so-so about it, but by the time I hit the rising action part I was really captivated by it and couldn't put it down. There's a moment where my brain went "yes, this is what I've been waiting for!", and from that point on it was pure indulgent chaos and absurdity.

The only thing to do now is watch the movie and say (snobbishly) that the book was better.

I've seen only the movie and i really liked it. contemplating about picking up the book. atm i'm experimenting with a nearby open bookshelf but maybe i'll read paprika in between.

 

[James Stevenson]

Hmm. I'll let you know when I'm going to buy something on amazon and you can link it here.

For the most part I try to get books second hand, I really like them that way. Books that are written in by total strangers are amazing. One time I bought a second hand record (Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem) and out of it fell a bunch of terrible family photos. I cherish them.

 

[Ryan]

The movie for Paprika is quite good. I would highly recommend it even if you haven't read the books. As far as book recommendations I saw someone mention Joe Abercrombie and his First Law trilogy is quite good if you're in to fantasy. Also I can not give enough praise to Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles. Only the first 2 books are out The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear but they're such an excellent read.

 

[James Stevenson]

I really want to read a bunch of adventure/travel books before I hitchhike massively and try to write one. So far I've read "On the Road" and about a third of "The Great Railway Bazaar". I want to read "Into the Wild" and I should probably read "The Hobbit" again. I just started Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris and London". Any other recommendations? There was some book about a guy hitchhiking around Ireland with a refrigerator, i think I better find that one.

I'm sure it sounds pretentious and ridiculous, but I feel like On the Road has actually really influenced the things I do. The beat generation guys just wanted to meet everyone in the world and know their thoughts. That's what I've loved about hitchhiking. Now and then I head to the center of London and hold up a sign that says "Please tell me a story". You just get people talking to you, it's brilliant. All kinds of people.

 

[Konge]

It's quite amazing just how much overlap there is in the books I've read with you people. Recent books I've read:

Started Discworld (Guards! Guards!, The Colour of Magic, Equal Rites, Mort) and loving it. Brave New World, which is that wonderful brand of classics which is engaging and very readable. The Emperor of All Maladies which is very good for a non-fiction injection in your reading plan, albeit a bit slow at times. Then I read a collection of Short Stories by Pratchett which I found at the airport because I had finished all the others; there was one called 'The High Meggas' which was the basis for the new series he's done with some dude called The Long Earth. The short story was pretty amazing, so that might be on the short list for further reading.

Next on the list: Blood Meridian, A Confederacy of Dunces, more Discworld.

One author I've been hugely impressed with lately is China Mievielle. I can't recommend it enough. His Bas-Lag series, starting with Perdido Street Station, is urban, gritty fantasy. Rather than the rural small towns of conventional fantasy, this is a modernized society, and he pulls it off perfectly. Embassytown was supremely interesting, though that might be colored by my pseudo-linguistic background, but the concept in and of itself was just mindblowing. The City and the City is a crime book I can get behind, thoroughly mind-warping and surreal - probably the best book I've read in the last five years.

 

[Jason Waddell]

Also I can not give enough praise to Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles. Only the first 2 books are out The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear but they're such an excellent read.

Yeah, these books are amazing, but Rothfuss just had a second baby, so there goes any hope of seeing Book 3 anytime soon.

 

[Konge]

I really want to read a bunch of adventure/travel books before I hitchhike massively and try to write one. So far I've read "On the Road" and about a third of "The Great Railway Bazaar". I want to read "Into the Wild" and I should probably read "The Hobbit" again. I just started Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris and London". Any other recommendations? There was some book about a guy hitchhiking around Ireland with a refrigerator, i think I better find that one.

I'm sure it sounds pretentious and ridiculous, but I feel like On the Road has actually really influenced the things I do. The beat generation guys just wanted to meet everyone in the world and know their thoughts. That's what I've loved about hitchhiking. Now and then I head to the center of London and hold up a sign that says "Please tell me a story". You just get people talking to you, it's brilliant. All kinds of people.

Fear and Loathing?

edit: Also, I enjoyed the post about the trip to Antwerp.

 

[James Stevenson]

Fear and Loathing?

...In Las Vegas? or.... hmm I thought Nietzsche had a book called "Fear and Loathing" but I can't seem to confirm that. I have read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and I think I definitely need to read it again. I've been working through Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone and I adore Hunter S. Thompson. I want to assimilate his ability to go off on tangents677t55555 (<--- cat wrote that). When he goes off on a tangent he still writes with intelligence and material, and even if it's just a random rant he writes with the confidence that his writing is good (and it is). I'd love to write like this.

 

[Konge]

You're probably thinking of Kierkegaard's "Fear and Trembling"? And yeah, In Las Vegas.

 

[Ryan]

Yeah, these books are amazing, but Rothfuss just had a second baby, so there goes any hope of seeing Book 3 anytime soon.

I know man. I'm so bummed. Those books really really suck me in and engage me.

Next on the list: Blood Meridian, A Confederacy of Dunces, more Discworld.

Blood Meridian is awesome. I love Cormac McCarthy. Also to bring the music thread and the book thread together check out Ben Nichols-The Last Pale Light In The West. This entire album is based off of this book.