Where did all the book threads go?
kitchenknight
4,922 Posts
Look, I like records, gossip, and football as much as the next guy. But, I feel like i'm over intellectualizing my waxidermy experience as a resident book geek, and we don't talk reading over here no mo'.So, here is what I'm on... 
Yes, I bought this edition because it is immeasurably better looking than the American release.Anyway, anyone read this? I read "Motherless Brooklyn," last month, and LOVED it. Even after toooo many folks told me to read it, it still outshown my expectations.But, this one I don't know about. I mean, obviously he is going for something bigger in this book, and that is to be commended. But, the language is so much less playful, and at the same time, it seems like he is OVERreaching on the writing...like every sentence and paragraph has to be weighted down by these heavy metaphors, similes, and turns of phrase. "Motherless Brooklyn," for all its silliness, had some BEAUTIFUL moments, especially the sex scene. This book seems to be trying to hard.Don't get me wrong. I'm turning the pages, and I dig it. Just seems like he is trying to be something he is not.Next on my list is this. Maybe. 
My "To be read stack," is out of control right now, so I reserve the right to switch. But, working for an NFL team, I find that I don't know anything about the history of the league. Especially compared to my knowledge on the history of baseball.But, DAMN, it is an interesting story! Started in a midwestern car dealership, the NFL has become a sports and marketing giant beyond ALL comprehension. So, that is next. Probably.What are y'all reading, what have y'all read? (to paraphrase Joyce Carol Oates, citing Bob Dylan...)
Yes, I bought this edition because it is immeasurably better looking than the American release.Anyway, anyone read this? I read "Motherless Brooklyn," last month, and LOVED it. Even after toooo many folks told me to read it, it still outshown my expectations.But, this one I don't know about. I mean, obviously he is going for something bigger in this book, and that is to be commended. But, the language is so much less playful, and at the same time, it seems like he is OVERreaching on the writing...like every sentence and paragraph has to be weighted down by these heavy metaphors, similes, and turns of phrase. "Motherless Brooklyn," for all its silliness, had some BEAUTIFUL moments, especially the sex scene. This book seems to be trying to hard.Don't get me wrong. I'm turning the pages, and I dig it. Just seems like he is trying to be something he is not.Next on my list is this. Maybe. My "To be read stack," is out of control right now, so I reserve the right to switch. But, working for an NFL team, I find that I don't know anything about the history of the league. Especially compared to my knowledge on the history of baseball.But, DAMN, it is an interesting story! Started in a midwestern car dealership, the NFL has become a sports and marketing giant beyond ALL comprehension. So, that is next. Probably.What are y'all reading, what have y'all read? (to paraphrase Joyce Carol Oates, citing Bob Dylan...)
Comments
when a friend heavily recommended it. It wasn't
until I went and bought it that I realized it was
Jonathan Lethem, whose early novels I read years
ago when they were new, and I was obsessed with Philip
K. Dick, who was name checked on the covers. I liked
those but forgot about him for years until picking up
FoS. I liked it, found myself caught up in it.
He seemed to be overwriting, but a part of me felt that
was almost on purpose, part of the homage to those edgy
70's young adult novels by writers like Richard Peck
and Robert Corimer.
Honestly, the thing that makes me uneasy reading Lethem
sometimes is that I feel almost too much of a kindship
with his work - as if he were writing novels that I would write
if I had the discipline. This goes back to the early books,
I remember scoffing at the cover blurbs "Philip K. Dick meets
Raymond Chandler!" thinking "too good to be true" but also
a little uneasy as if he had beat me to the punch. Same with
his newer work ... I'm the perfect target audience, white kid
raised in the 70's on comic books and records, roaming the city
streets looking for adventure. I couldn't help but love reading
it, but again felt like he was working my turf.
That cover's really good too. I bought a copy in Rome with this cover and was kinda disappointed. I like the black and white better.
I recently read this for the 3rd time. It's my most favourite book ever. It's just beautiful. The whole moth metaphor just breaks my heart.
I really like this too
It's a good, easy read.
I got into this by Auster too, it's better than another book of his I've read, and his wife Suri Hudsvest (her surname's probably spelt wrong) is a good writer as well.
I read this on the boat from Italy to Greece and absolutely loved it. The ending is amazing. Highly recommended.
But you must[/b] read God Of Small Things.
I have been reading this. Its really well written. I like the way it is structured covering each topic of the peace conference separately, as opposed to doing everything chronologically. So much happened that it would just get really jumbled if it was written any other way.
I am finishing this one up as well. It covers the unification of time. Some of the science stuff goes right over my head, but it is a good read.
Up next is this one. I found it at the good will for $3. I wanted to buy is when it came out but it is like $25 new so I was going to wait for paperback. It should be a quick read his usually are.
Deep, dark and astonishing. I love all his other books but this one was something else:
Strongly recommended, along with his other novels, especialy the essential Lew Griffin series.
LATE PASS: Read "Life of Pi". Highly recommended. Easy reading, creative, and great sense of humor.
Read this while traveling through Guatemala and Belize this summer. Lots of history mixed in with an anthropologist's story of traveling through the Mayan country.
Codebreaking in WWII. A data-haven in the present. Crazy connections between the generations involved in both. Lots of crazy WWII battles in the Pacific. Convoluted breakdowns of codebreaking and the use of randomness to use the secrets discovered from the broken codes. Hackers. Treasure hunters. Submarines.
Just read this for the first time. DAMN. if your a Nabkov fan and you havent read this, you need to so THIS SECOND. Its likely the funniest book i've ever read, and its written astoundingly well. One of my all-timers.
Just read this, and its very good. Its inter-connected stories ranging from a couple hundred years ago to the the future, all written in time-accurate style. Very well done. The section about the gambler/debtor musician is amazing. Some of the language is
I cannot co-sign this enough! One of my favorite "new" writers to have emerged over the past few years. His style is accesible and next level at the same time and all[/b] his books are worth seeking out.
Thomas Hicks - Fiasco
He's the military reporter for the Washington Post. Book is based upon extensive contacts within the armed forces, but isn't afraid to criticize them. Goes from the Clinton administration to early-2005. Excellent stuff if you want a history of current events in Iraq.
Currently reading State of War by James Risen from the NY Times. This is the book that broke the NSA domestic spying story. Book is OK, but not great. Has a lot of speculation about Bush and torture tactics at the beginning that is kinda of useless. Has some interesting stories, but not thought provoking in the end.
Not sure what I'm going to read next. Maybe Seeking El Dorado, is a compendioum of essays on African Americans in CA. One of the authors gave a talk at my school a couple years ago I got a chapter from the book that I actually use in my class now.
Either that or I'm going to re-read Mike Davis' City of Quartz about LA
thought i'd hate it... i totally loved it... great book...
just got back from a beach trip where i read: