Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (16 Viewers)

[Uruk-Hai]

Next up is "Speaks the Nightbird" by Robert McCammon.

Pretty good. I think the period details buttress the plot a bunch. Not that the plot is bad - it's fine for the most part - but part of the enjoyment I had in reading it was the historical context. McCammon writes in a sort of pseudo Early American style, but it's easy to get into.I believe he has (or soon will) a sequel coming out.

I've just started Dan Simmons' Drood. I'm only a few dozen pages in, but I'm sure it's gonna be a good one. Simmons is so damned solid. He does character, dialogue, plot, and setting equally well - he's the only of my automatic-buy authors that I'm never worried about being disappointed in. And it appears he may be using an unreliable-narrator in this one - a tricky proposition, but one I'm positive that Simmons has the chops to pull off.

Let us know how Drood is. I haven't ready any Simmons since Hyperion. How is Ilium? I ordered that one on a whim.

Funny you ask about that one. Hyperion was my least favorite Simmons book so I read none of the related works. I don't think Ilium is though, right? The Hyperion/Endemion/Ilium books are the only Simmons books I haven't read (other than the first).I guess I should give Hyperion another chance since I like Simmons so much. Could've been my frame of mind when I read it, but I just couldn't get into the damned thing - too allegorical or something, I don't know.

Are all of them solid?

Right there with you. I've read everything else by Simmons, but tried Hyperion and gave up 50 pages in. Maybe I'm just not into sci-fi/fantasy enough.Glad to hear you're enjoying Drood. I'm trying to have enough self-discipline to wait for it in paperback so it can be a vacation book. Tough to carry a 900-page hardcover to the pool each day!

McCammon does have a sequel to Nightbird out - it's called Queen of Bedlam. My wife is reading it right now, really likes it, and I've always like McCammon, so into that setting I go.

I can dig it - this sucker's friggin heavy in hardback. If i were travelling on a plane, I wouldn't take it with me.

 

[Sand]

Next up is "Speaks the Nightbird" by Robert McCammon.

Pretty good. I think the period details buttress the plot a bunch. Not that the plot is bad - it's fine for the most part - but part of the enjoyment I had in reading it was the historical context. McCammon writes in a sort of pseudo Early American style, but it's easy to get into.I believe he has (or soon will) a sequel coming out.

I've just started Dan Simmons' Drood. I'm only a few dozen pages in, but I'm sure it's gonna be a good one. Simmons is so damned solid. He does character, dialogue, plot, and setting equally well - he's the only of my automatic-buy authors that I'm never worried about being disappointed in. And it appears he may be using an unreliable-narrator in this one - a tricky proposition, but one I'm positive that Simmons has the chops to pull off.

Let us know how Drood is. I haven't ready any Simmons since Hyperion. How is Ilium? I ordered that one on a whim.

Funny you ask about that one. Hyperion was my least favorite Simmons book so I read none of the related works. I don't think Ilium is though, right? The Hyperion/Endemion/Ilium books are the only Simmons books I haven't read (other than the first).I guess I should give Hyperion another chance since I like Simmons so much. Could've been my frame of mind when I read it, but I just couldn't get into the damned thing - too allegorical or something, I don't know.

Are all of them solid?

I read the Hyperion ones a while ago and they were really good. Ilium is a bit different - it is a planetary exploration type (Mars, Saturn, etc.) type book. So i am expecting something a bit different.Still think everyone who likes fantasy at all should be picking up The Golden Key. Spectacular book. My unsolicited advice of the day.

 

[piratemike]

Can someone explain this "unreliable narrator" concept to me like I'm high on marijuana?

 

[SofaKings]

Overlord by Max Hastings

 

[flysack]

I've been reading Gravity's Rainbow for like three years now. Every time I get into it, I put it down and for one reason or another, don't pick it up for months at a time, and end up starting over again. If you've ever read it, you'll understand why you can't just pick up where you left off. Love Pynchon's writing style, but man can it be hard to follow.

I absolutely love this book and I totally understand. It took me 6 months, but it was totally worth it.This is also why I rate it a 9/10 instead of 10/10. I also rate V. 9/10. While it's less compelling and all-encompassing than Gravity's Rainbow, it's 1000X more fluid, and it anticipates most of Gravity's Rainbow's themes.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Can someone explain this "unreliable narrator" concept to me like I'm high on marijuana?

wikiIn essence, it's when a story is told (usually first-person, but George RR Martin uses something similar in third) by someone who is:

a. intentionally lying to the reader about what he or she observed

b. unstable or insane, and thus is unable to accurately describe the action or filters it through a broken lens

c. doesn't know everything & misconstrues what he or she sees

Think of Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects as an example.

 

[D_House]

Just finished the expanded edition of Stephen King's The Stand based on recommendations here. Very good (but long) read. King can definitely be a little long winded, but there are multiple truly unforgettable characters here that made it worth it.

I picked up a couple paperback versions of classics on the cheap from Barnes and Noble, will be starting David Copperfield (another long read) next.

 

[Birdie048]

For some fast paced, action packed pages, try Matthew Reilly's books like "The Contest" - he sold the movie rights a few years ago.... still waiting....

or Douglas Preston's "The Codex".

Preston writes with Lincoln Child in an interesting series starting with "The Relic". My favorite book they wrote together is "Ice Limit" - a bit sci-fi and techo plus drama!

 

[Pooch]

Recently finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy and it was just as bleak as advertised, but good. Looking forward to the movie starring Viggo Mortensen.

Reading Blood Meridian now. Outstanding literature for such a violent novel.

 

[Tough As Nails]

Recently finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy and it was just as bleak as advertised, but good. Looking forward to the movie starring Viggo Mortensen.

Reading Blood Meridian now. Outstanding literature for such a violent novel.

In before shuke.

 

[thatguy]

I've been reading Gravity's Rainbow for like three years now. Every time I get into it, I put it down and for one reason or another, don't pick it up for months at a time, and end up starting over again. If you've ever read it, you'll understand why you can't just pick up where you left off. Love Pynchon's writing style, but man can it be hard to follow.

I absolutely love this book and I totally understand. It took me 6 months, but it was totally worth it.This is also why I rate it a 9/10 instead of 10/10. I also rate V. 9/10. While it's less compelling and all-encompassing than Gravity's Rainbow, it's 1000X more fluid, and it anticipates most of Gravity's Rainbow's themes.

Thanks for the motivation. I'll try to just forge through this time around instead of effin around. It seems like every time I get into it something in life comes up and I'm forced to put it down, and then I forget about it. I continue to read other books in the meantime, but am always scared to pick up GR again.I started with The Crying of Lot 49 which is also a much easier read and far shorter, and very very good I should add. I also have V. and Vineland in my queue.One book I did recently finish is White Noise by Delilo, which I liked quite a bit.

 

[shuke]

Recently finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy and it was just as bleak as advertised, but good. Looking forward to the movie starring Viggo Mortensen.

Reading Blood Meridian now. Outstanding literature for such a violent novel.

In before shuke.

DAMN

 

[shuke]

I've been reading Gravity's Rainbow for like three years now. Every time I get into it, I put it down and for one reason or another, don't pick it up for months at a time, and end up starting over again. If you've ever read it, you'll understand why you can't just pick up where you left off. Love Pynchon's writing style, but man can it be hard to follow.

I absolutely love this book and I totally understand. It took me 6 months, but it was totally worth it.This is also why I rate it a 9/10 instead of 10/10. I also rate V. 9/10. While it's less compelling and all-encompassing than Gravity's Rainbow, it's 1000X more fluid, and it anticipates most of Gravity's Rainbow's themes.

Thanks for the motivation. I'll try to just forge through this time around instead of effin around. It seems like every time I get into it something in life comes up and I'm forced to put it down, and then I forget about it. I continue to read other books in the meantime, but am always scared to pick up GR again.I started with The Crying of Lot 49 which is also a much easier read and far shorter, and very very good I should add. I also have V. and Vineland in my queue.One book I did recently finish is White Noise by Delilo, which I liked quite a bit.

Vineland was horrible. But that's the only Pynchon I've ever read.

 

[D_House]

I've also been slogging through Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller for some time now. I just don't think I get it, or maybe I just don't care enough to.

I can clearly see that this book was influential (Portnoy's Complaint definitely is indebted), and the writing can be great when it's not completely profane, but the story (or lack thereof) doesn't hold up and doesn't hold my attention. Plus all the characters are equally unlikable.

Really struggling to finish, but feel like I have to because it's considered a classic. Maybe someone can clue me into something I'm missing, or perhaps there's a big twist at the end that rewards the reader?

 

[Power Monster]

Just finished "Sharpe's Sword" and off to a good start with "Sharpe's Enemy" (Bernard Cornwell). "Sharpe's Sword" is a force! Great reading and Cornwell has done his homework on weapons, battle strategies and has a delightful "break neck" manner of describing characters, locations and emotional elements that are important to the main character and the never ending plot twists. "Sharpe's Sword" features the re-introduction of one of the most despicable individuals in this entire series A true pariah.

Finished "Last Train to Memphis" (Peter Guralnick). Very high marks!

Paging through "jamie's italy" by Jamie Oliver. Really enjoy his take on cuisine. It is simple, rustic and very creative. Looking forward to his other 8 books.

 

[Foosball God]

I'm currently reading Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett. I like his humor, and this one has made me chuckle numerous times while reading it.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

Six Degrees of Paris Hilton...very very interesting

 

[oso diablo]

Just bought Canaan's Tongue by John Wray

http://www.amazon.com/Canaans-Tongue-John-Wray/dp/1400040868

Conflicted on this one and not sure if I'll like it. Love Twain's stuff on this time. Hate the slave stuff. We'll see.

2/3 through this. I imagine the Redeemer character as a cross between Ben Linus on Lost and Billy Barty in Foul Play.

How you liking it? I've been curious about it since JB posted it. I love Ben Linus...

finished, and i can't recommend it. latter third degenerates into nonsense and gobbledy####. there wasn't a single major character i cared about. it's so aggravating because Wray shows stretches of brilliance.

 

[anborn]

recently finished the intelligent investor (graham), a walt disney biography (gabler), and airframe (crichton)...

picked up into thin air, and bringing down the house at the bookstore over the weekend.

 

[Tough As Nails]

recently finished the intelligent investor (graham), a walt disney biography (gabler), and airframe (crichton)...picked up into thin air, and bringing down the house at the bookstore over the weekend.

Into Thin Air is very entertaining. I think some others have talked about that book (and the fallout and battles over the 'real story') throughout this thread.

 

[facook]

Just bought Canaan's Tongue by John Wray

http://www.amazon.com/Canaans-Tongue-John-Wray/dp/1400040868

Conflicted on this one and not sure if I'll like it. Love Twain's stuff on this time. Hate the slave stuff. We'll see.

2/3 through this. I imagine the Redeemer character as a cross between Ben Linus on Lost and Billy Barty in Foul Play.

How you liking it? I've been curious about it since JB posted it. I love Ben Linus...

finished, and i can't recommend it. latter third degenerates into nonsense and gobbledy####. there wasn't a single major character i cared about. it's so aggravating because Wray shows stretches of brilliance.

Thanks for the info. Disappointed to hear that, though.

 

[Birdie048]

Just finished BLASHPHEMY by Douglas Preston.

Interesting twist on religion/faith issues regarding science.

The world's biggest supercollider, locked in an Arizona mountain, was built to reveal the secrets of the very moment of creation: the Big Bang itself.

The Torus is the most expensive machine ever created by humankind, run by the world’s most powerful supercomputer. It is the brainchild of Nobel Laureate Gregory North Hazelius. Will the Torus divulge the mysteries of the creation of the universe? Or will it, as some predict, suck the earth into a mini black hole? Or is the Torus a Satanic attempt, as a powerful televangelist decries, to challenge God Almighty on the very throne of Heaven?

Twelve scientists under the leadership of Hazelius are sent to the remote mountain to turn it on, and what they discover must be hidden from the world at all costs. Wyman Ford, ex-monk and CIA operative, is tapped to wrest their secret, a secret that will either destroy the world…or save it.

 

[Socrates11]

Just finished The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell. If you liked "Life of Pi" or enjoy looking at religion in a new way or just like good sci-fi...try this one out. It's a story about a group that made first contact on a new planet in the not too distant future. The build-up is a little long and the "pay-off" is fairly obvious...but the questions it hits and the philosophy of "God's Will" is very interesting. Not an all-time great here, but I'd certainly recommend it to somebody who liked Pi or read "The Shack". It's an easy, quick read...and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Just finished The Sparrow. Really enjoyed it on many levels. Will go ahead and check out Children of God now. Thanks for the tip!

 

[AlliKay]

Just started reading "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy - one of my smart and literary friends recommended it. Beautifully told story so far.

 

[oso diablo]

Finished: Bad Traffic, by Simon Lewis. You ever read a book that was so excellently written that it discouraged you from trying to write yourself? "I'll never be anywhere near that good." Well, this book is the opposite of that. Heard so much hype over this one that i was really surprised at how mediocre the writing was. "If a book like this can sell, well, i could do at least as well."

Now reading: The Chaneysville Incident by David Bradley.

 

[D_House]

I've also been slogging through Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller for some time now. I just don't think I get it, or maybe I just don't care enough to.

I gave up on this. I'm not big on the plotless, stream of consciousness type of narrative I guess.

 

[Daywalker]

I just finished Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. It is a good read, and an interesting take on some of the foibles of modern society, but not nearly as good as Lullabye or Invisible Monsters. I am currently reading Diary, also by Palahniuk. I'm reserving judgement on this one because I haven't reached the hook yet, but the build up seems to be leading me somewhere interesting.

I don't usually tear through one author like this, but his writing is very fresh, and interesting to read. First person narratives never caught my fancy in the past, but I have thoroughly enjoy his works. He has a very dark view of the world, and instills a heavy dose of puckishness into many of his characters. If anyone is looking for clever and bizarre stories, I would highly recommend Palahniuk.

Oh, and he was also the author of Fight Club.

I burned through CP after I first read Fight Club. Lullaby and Diary are my favorites, Diary is such a gut punch to me it's hard to re-read. I remember reading them both sitting in Swearengen's bar on the Deadwood set. Kind of a surreal place to read surreal work.He started losing with me Choke and Haunted was just torturous. Started in a direction that was more gross than enthralling. None of my reading friends liked it. Rant wasn't good IMO either. Part of it might be the "oral history" style mixed with his further descent into just plain gross. I'll give him a last shot when his new one comes out, hoping he returns to form because I really liked his earlier work. And he's from a podunk, dinky little truck stop town in Washington where I partially grew up and my brother had the misfortune of being born in.

Anyone see Choke? Waiting for cable as I heard it was not very good and I didn't like the director after working with him right before the movie came out.

I may be the only one who liked Haunted. I'd rank them

Fight Club

Lullaby

Haunted

Invisible Monsters

Choke

Survivor

Honestly, I don't remember one thing about Survivor. Very forgettable to me for some reason.

I did enjoy survivor, but it seemed that it took on a little too much of the blase attitude of the main character (Tender Branson). I liked the situations he was being put in, and the traveling cross country on mobile homes was brilliant, but Tender's attitude kind of deflated a lot of moments for me.As I mentioned earlier, the glory-hole scene really did jump off the page. Tender, inbetween bright red lips and a gun, having a deep conversation in the stall, was just solid writing.

Just finished Diary. Didn't really care for it. No really memorable or shocking scenes that stuck with me. Reminds me of a sub-par Rosemary's Baby.

 

[adonis]

A prayer for owen meany

 

[pantagrapher]

Finished No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July. Liked it, but something about it bugged me. She has flashes of brilliance though. Quick, enjoyable read.

Just started Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert. The only reason I'm reading this is because Woody Allen lists it as one of his things that makes life worth living near the end of Manhattan.

 

[Pooch]

Just started on The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein.

 

[facook]

Just finished "Speaks the Nightbird" by Robert McCammon. 3.5/5. Good, not great novel by an author that is highly skilled. I enjoyed the book, though there was a certain something lacking. Maybe I expected more tension or outright horror. Regardless, McCammon is highly recommended to anyone who is into the King/Straub wing of the library. Very very good writer.

Now on "The Silent Man" by Alex Berenson. Nice young author of modern espionage/CIA/war on terror sort of stuff.

 

[shuke]

Next up: Misery by Stephen King

God, I love King. 8/10Next up: Rumble Tumble by Joe R. Lansdale

 

[The Football Freak]

I just finished Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. It is a good read, and an interesting take on some of the foibles of modern society, but not nearly as good as Lullabye or Invisible Monsters. I am currently reading Diary, also by Palahniuk. I'm reserving judgement on this one because I haven't reached the hook yet, but the build up seems to be leading me somewhere interesting.

I don't usually tear through one author like this, but his writing is very fresh, and interesting to read. First person narratives never caught my fancy in the past, but I have thoroughly enjoy his works. He has a very dark view of the world, and instills a heavy dose of puckishness into many of his characters. If anyone is looking for clever and bizarre stories, I would highly recommend Palahniuk.

Oh, and he was also the author of Fight Club.

I burned through CP after I first read Fight Club. Lullaby and Diary are my favorites, Diary is such a gut punch to me it's hard to re-read. I remember reading them both sitting in Swearengen's bar on the Deadwood set. Kind of a surreal place to read surreal work.He started losing with me Choke and Haunted was just torturous. Started in a direction that was more gross than enthralling. None of my reading friends liked it. Rant wasn't good IMO either. Part of it might be the "oral history" style mixed with his further descent into just plain gross. I'll give him a last shot when his new one comes out, hoping he returns to form because I really liked his earlier work. And he's from a podunk, dinky little truck stop town in Washington where I partially grew up and my brother had the misfortune of being born in.

Anyone see Choke? Waiting for cable as I heard it was not very good and I didn't like the director after working with him right before the movie came out.

I may be the only one who liked Haunted. I'd rank them

Fight Club

Lullaby

Haunted

Invisible Monsters

Choke

Survivor

Honestly, I don't remember one thing about Survivor. Very forgettable to me for some reason.

I did enjoy survivor, but it seemed that it took on a little too much of the blase attitude of the main character (Tender Branson). I liked the situations he was being put in, and the traveling cross country on mobile homes was brilliant, but Tender's attitude kind of deflated a lot of moments for me.As I mentioned earlier, the glory-hole scene really did jump off the page. Tender, inbetween bright red lips and a gun, having a deep conversation in the stall, was just solid writing.

Just finished Diary. Didn't really care for it. No really memorable or shocking scenes that stuck with me. Reminds me of a sub-par Rosemary's Baby.

Apt description. I just finished it recently myself, and it had some interesting twists, but overall they felt unsupported through the plot. I know 1st person narratives have inherent difficulties in displaying all motivations of the major players in a story, but I still would have liked a little more to explain what made the villagers capable of such depraved indifference. I have to say though, that despite my problems with it, I still enjoyed Diary. He's clever and original enough that I would probably enjoy most anything he wrote.

 

[Black Sunshine]

I had read The Judas Strain by James Rollins a few months back so picked up three more of the Sigma Force series books that preceded it. Just finished the first, Sandstorm. I enjoyed it. Good escapist fare.

I've never been a big reader (takes me a long time to read), but I want to do more. Usually only read a 1/2 hour or 45 minutes at a time so it takes me a long time to finish a book.

I do have a whole bookshelf full of books i've purchased over the years, most of which I still need to read.

Not sure if I want to read the next Rollins book Map of Bones next or maybe something non-fiction like Ghost Wars by Steve Coll.

 

[Shrek]

A prayer for owen meany

One of my favorite books ever. I've read it twice, and despite the last time being over 5 years ago, many parts of that book stick with me. For those that have read the book and seen the movie that was loosely based on it (Simon Birch), you know how badly the movie pales in comparison to the book. Irving is just fantastic at creating characters.

 

[Gamblor]

Off and on glancing at A Dad's Guide to the Toddler Years . I don't know how I feel about these parenting books yet, whether they're very helpful.

Worth reading?

 

[shuke]

Off and on glancing at A Dad's Guide to the Toddler Years . I don't know how I feel about these parenting books yet, whether they're very helpful.

Worth reading?

The other one I read by this auther, called something along the lines of "Dad's Guide to the First Year" was very good. This toddler one was meh.

 

[beer 30]

Descending From The Clouds: A Memoir of Combat in the 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division by Stephen Wurst

Wurst, a rifleman, spent the most of World War II in the European Theater of Operations as a squad leader or platoon sergeant in Company F, 505. He made three of the four regimental combat jumps, dropping into Italy, Normandy, and Holland. Highlights include his baptism of fire in Italy during the Battle of Arnone; the jump on D-Day and the liberation of Ste. Mère Eglise (for which he was awarded a Purple Heart); a grueling month of combat in the hedgerows of Normandy (a second Purple Heart); the ferocious battle with the SS for the highway bridge at Nijmegen, Holland (Silver Star); and survival in the Ardennes, where he found himself as point man on his twentieth birthday, in a long, bitter march toward the shoulder of the Bulge.

Wurst's narrative, set against a carefully researched historical background, offers a unique view of the heat of battle as experienced by a noncommissioned officer in the 82nd Airborne Division. Initial chapters chronicle his training before mobilization, when he lied about his age (15) to the National Guard in Erie, Pennsylvania, and his later experience in a heavy weapons company of the 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. In 1941, Wurst was on a truck returning from First Army maneuvers in the Carolinas to Indiantown Gap Military Reservation when he heard the news of the attack at Pearl Harbor. He recounts life at Camps Livingston and Beauregard in Louisiana, and at the newly formed Parachute School at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he was stationed in the infamous "Frying Pan" area.

Descending from the Clouds portrays the passage from innocence to experience. Wurst begins as a 135-pound kid marching down his hometown streets in the National Guard, wearing the remnants of a World War I uniform and pulling by hand a water-cooled .30-caliber machine-gun mounted on a wooden cart. Five years later, he is a hardened platoon sergeant, leading his troopers through the frozen killing fields of "Death Valley" in Germany's Huertgen Forest.

His story is the story of the coming of age of the American military: fewer than twenty men per company who started with the 505 in the Frying Pan returned home .

 

[Gamblor]

Off and on glancing at A Dad's Guide to the Toddler Years . I don't know how I feel about these parenting books yet, whether they're very helpful.

Worth reading?

The other one I read by this auther, called something along the lines of "Dad's Guide to the First Year" was very good. This toddler one was meh.

Read that one too - thought it was alright. Library has this one so maybe Ill take a peek.

 

[D_House]

Polished off a couple quick reads recently:

The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. **** is an alternate history set in the US after an Axis victory in World War II. Like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? the nature of reality is a major theme in this book. A cool device that he uses is a novel within a novel wherein that novel is about an alternate history to that world, which imagines what would have happened had the Allies won.

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy was a real fast read since I watched the movie a couple times and the movie is very faithful to the book. I must say I enjoy McCarthy a lot - he writes not only beautiful prose, but very efficient. He can pack a lot of emotional punch with little dialog. The Coens captured that really well in the film, and this is one case where I think the film is equal to the book.

 

[adonis]

A prayer for owen meany

One of my favorite books ever. I've read it twice, and despite the last time being over 5 years ago, many parts of that book stick with me. For those that have read the book and seen the movie that was loosely based on it (Simon Birch), you know how badly the movie pales in comparison to the book. Irving is just fantastic at creating characters.

Irving's easily in my top 5 authors list.

 

[anborn]

just finished into thin air by krackaur... for those who had recommended it in this thread, thanks... solid book for anyone who likes mountaineering, climbing, or enjoys great adventure tragedy.

 

[Broncoholic]

just finished into thin air by krackaur... for those who had recommended it in this thread, thanks... solid book for anyone who likes mountaineering, climbing, or enjoys great adventure tragedy.

Funny, I just finished it last night myself, and came to post.The part with Rob Hall's radio calls to his wife were heartbreaking. I'll add that after reading that book I have no interest in climbing a mountain over 20k.

 

[anborn]

just finished into thin air by krackaur... for those who had recommended it in this thread, thanks... solid book for anyone who likes mountaineering, climbing, or enjoys great adventure tragedy.

Funny, I just finished it last night myself, and came to post.The part with Rob Hall's radio calls to his wife were heartbreaking. I'll add that after reading that book I have no interest in climbing a mountain over 20k.

ditto this. i think i'll stick to my indoor walls, or climbing outside in 50+ temps. heh.

 

[Bob Magaw]

Can someone explain this "unreliable narrator" concept to me like I'm high on marijuana?

wikiIn essence, it's when a story is told (usually first-person, but George RR Martin uses something similar in third) by someone who is:

a. intentionally lying to the reader about what he or she observed

b. unstable or insane, and thus is unable to accurately describe the action or filters it through a broken lens

c. doesn't know everything & misconstrues what he or she sees

Think of Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects as an example.

not sure if the same thing (but seemingly related)...i picked up the sound & the fury by faulkner & put it down after a few pages as unintelligible... i later found out that the POV of the narrator (at least in beginning) was a mentally challenged person... never went back to re-read, but that made sense...

just finished watchmen... brilliant, it was a revelation for me (i never had picked it up before, but was prompted by the upcoming movie, & a recent article in wired)...

currently reading a few non-fiction books in parallel...

tipping point by malcolm gladwell... superbly written but a little diffuse & all over the place... he does a good job of tying things together... definitely has a knack for making subjects/concepts interesting by illustrating them with information from seemingly disparate, far flung & previously unconnected fields/domains...

linked by albert-lazlo barabasi... by maybe the preeminent researcher in complex networks, very interdisciplinary, for the interested layperson (business? not necessarily mathematician, scientist, engineer), has a talent for metaphors & analogies (like caldwell), stripped of complex math... some overlap/intersections with tipping point, bit more abstract & high level...

on deck - sync (on how order emerges from chaos)...

 

[oso diablo]

Now reading: The Chaneysville Incident by David Bradley.

this was excellent. an overlooked gem from the early 80s. discovered by accident searching for books about the Underground Railroad.Now reading: Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite - by D. Michael Lindsey, a sociologist from Rice Univ.

This important work should be required reading for anyone who wants to opine publicly on what American evangelicals are really up to.

 

[Bob Magaw]

Recently finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy and it was just as bleak as advertised, but good. Looking forward to the movie starring Viggo Mortensen.

Reading Blood Meridian now. Outstanding literature for such a violent novel.

those were both great books... mccarthy must be one of the greatest living american writers (in the world?), & it wouldn't surprise me if he wins a nobel literature prize at some point in the future...when i hold up as a standard some of my favorite works of literature in the 20th century (such as narcissus & goldmund AND magister ludi: the glass bead by herman hesse & the plague by albert camus, imo mccarthy is at least their equal... actually i find hesse more insightful about spirituality & the human condition, but mccarthy's descriptive powers & emotional evocativeness nearly peerless)...

has anybody read suttee (suttree?) by mccarthy... movie critic ebert gave it very high praise in an unrelated review, & i believe some other reviews stated it might be his best work... since i've never read a bad maccarthy book (also read no country), my interest was piqued...

 

[Bob Magaw]

recently finished the intelligent investor (graham), a walt disney biography (gabler), and airframe (crichton)...picked up into thin air, and bringing down the house at the bookstore over the weekend.

really liked the disney biography... imo he was a genius in that he didn't have just one breakthrough idea, but multiple ones (feature length animation, nature documentaries, theme park, etc)... he also had very stong conviction in that many times he made these decisions against STRONG disagreement from advisors, & was eventually spectacularly vindicated...jazz & the western are oft cited as the two great indigenous american art forms... animation existed outside the US & before disney, but he took it to such a high level that perhaps his work should also fall into this category, as a great american art form (miyazake in japan has done phenomenal work, much later)...a tragedy that he died so young (about 65 in mid 60s)... he wanted to put the thrust of his future attention on his vision of planned cities like epcot... though maybe misguided in part, it would have been fascinating to see what this might have led to if he had lived to see his vision come to reality...* he also gets props for being a genius in terms of his gambling instincts... there were several times where he went "all in", mortgaging his house to complete movies, etc... if first feature animation snow white or disneyland hadn't been such massive successes, the company might have foundered... but they exceeded everybody's wildest expectations (except for maybe walt)...

 

[shuke]

Polished off a couple quick reads recently:

The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. **** is an alternate history set in the US after an Axis victory in World War II. Like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? the nature of reality is a major theme in this book. A cool device that he uses is a novel within a novel wherein that novel is about an alternate history to that world, which imagines what would have happened had the Allies won.

 

[shuke]

I'll add that after reading that book I have no interest in climbing a mountain over 20k.

Did you before?