Finished these finals. Now I'm gonna get back to The Parallax View by Slavoj Zizek. After that, The Indivisible Remainder, also by Zizek . . .also in that same series of small Radical Thinkers books as the one someone else posted.
I'm guessing this one's already been discussed to death here.
Just started...
I love Vollmann's writing, especially when working in a contemporary setting. Like most his books (fiction and non-fiction alike), this one drifts from area to area, year to year, finding common themes between a wide variety of "underclass" citizens. This one concentrates less on prostitutes and transients than most of his modern-day material, focusing more on beggars and disabled people he's encountered on his extensive travels, spending time with them collecting their stories and documenting what, if anything, they'd like to say to the (relatively) enormously priviledged people who'll read this book. So far the most memorable chapter dealth with a family wrecked by the male breadwinner's time spent working on a Chernobyl clean-up crew.
Can you give a capsule review of this one, Harvey? I see it around at lots of second hand bookstores, and it has almost come home with me several times. Is it worth the plunge?
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
Can you give a capsule review of this one, Harvey? I see it around at lots of second hand bookstores, and it has almost come home with me several times. Is it worth the plunge?
Not the best writing, but worth it for the perspective of someone who has lived in each of Mali, France, and the US.
He references music quite a bit so that's an added bonus as well.
My boss and buddy was raving about Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" to me on Friday night. Saturday night he gave it to me as a gift and said, "This book is too good for me to let you borrow, you have to keep it."
So i am 20 pages richer, enjoying so far and waiting for the pages to fly by.
My boss and buddy was raving about Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" to me on Friday night. Saturday night he gave it to me as a gift and said, "This book is too good for me to let you borrow, you have to keep it."
So i am 20 pages richer, enjoying so far and waiting for the pages to fly by.
This is one of his only works I haven't read. Is this the one his son finished after his death?
Ernest finished this one..there's a brief note in the very beginning that says where and when he was working on it and that he finished it in Cuba in the spring of 1960. The note is written by 'M.H.'
My boss and buddy was raving about Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" to me on Friday night. Saturday night he gave it to me as a gift and said, "This book is too good for me to let you borrow, you have to keep it."
So i am 20 pages richer, enjoying so far and waiting for the pages to fly by.
This is one of his only works I haven't read. Is this the one his son finished after his death?
It's a non-fiction account of living in Europe during the 20's. Pretty much The Sun Also Rises with real names and written while he's suicidally depressed.
I also enjoyed The Road. It is rather sparse and bleak ... sort of par for the course if you're familiar with his writing. The book doesn't necessarily "wow" you in the way that a book like Blood Meridian might, but it was thoroughly enjoyable.
And, as has been mentioned, don't let Oprah's stamp of approval steer you away. It isn't soft.
enjoyable and smart, but not a masterpiece by any means--
and this
very well written like pretty much any thing Coetzee, but not quite as good as his Boyhood (not to mention his fiction works).
I'm currently reading this
so far it's been riveting. I also need to finish Ashley Kahn's A Love Supreme...
I'm really looking forward to getting The Road, but I intend to finish McCarthy's Border trilogy first so it might be a while. And that aforementioned Hemingway novel has been sitting on my shelf for far too long.
That book had me in a vice-grip, I literally could not stop reading. It is the most horrible, gruesome, stomach-churning story ever put down by human hands, and very very good. I??d read the terrible tales at night and dream about flying and meeting all friends and stuff. It seems like my brain just had a negativity overload and decided to counter it... or something.
My boss and buddy was raving about Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" to me on Friday night. Saturday night he gave it to me as a gift and said, "This book is too good for me to let you borrow, you have to keep it."
So i am 20 pages richer, enjoying so far and waiting for the pages to fly by.
This is one of his only works I haven't read. Is this the one his son finished after his death?
It's a non-fiction account of living in Europe during the 20's. Pretty much The Sun Also Rises with real names and written while he's suicidally depressed.
Hmmm. I don't know if I want to get inside the head of a man who's about to eat a shotgun load. No
If you're looking for an alternate alternate history, this book is incredible...
It's a murder mystery that takes place in a jewish settlement in Alaska that was set up after the Jews were kicked out of Israel in 1948. The land is about to revert back to the US, and the yids are scrambling. The way he sets up this community and history, with all of the backstory, is incredible, and the detective is unforgettable. You never question the existence of the place because Chabon makes it seem so real.
If you're looking for an alternate alternate history, this book is incredible...
It's a murder mystery that takes place in a jewish settlement in Alaska that was set up after the Jews were kicked out of Israel in 1948. The land is about to revert back to the US, and the yids are scrambling. The way he sets up this community and history, with all of the backstory, is incredible, and the detective is unforgettable. You never question the existence of the place because Chabon makes it seem so real.
Comments
I'm guessing this one's already been discussed to death here.
Just started...
I love Vollmann's writing, especially when working in a contemporary setting. Like most his books (fiction and non-fiction alike), this one drifts from area to area, year to year, finding common themes between a wide variety of "underclass" citizens. This one concentrates less on prostitutes and transients than most of his modern-day material, focusing more on beggars and disabled people he's encountered on his extensive travels, spending time with them collecting their stories and documenting what, if anything, they'd like to say to the (relatively) enormously priviledged people who'll read this book. So far the most memorable chapter dealth with a family wrecked by the male breadwinner's time spent working on a Chernobyl clean-up crew.
+ about 20 related books and a truckload of articles for the Masters thesis
Can you give a capsule review of this one, Harvey? I see it around at lots of second hand bookstores, and it has almost come home with me several times. Is it worth the plunge?
Not the best writing, but worth it for the perspective of someone who has lived in each of Mali, France, and the US.
He references music quite a bit so that's an added bonus as well.
So i am 20 pages richer, enjoying so far and waiting for the pages to fly by.
This is one of his only works I haven't read. Is this the one his son finished after his death?
It's a non-fiction account of living in Europe during the 20's. Pretty much The Sun Also Rises with real names and written while he's suicidally depressed.
And, as has been mentioned, don't let Oprah's stamp of approval steer you away. It isn't soft.
enjoyable and smart, but not a masterpiece by any means--
and this
very well written like pretty much any thing Coetzee, but not quite as good as his Boyhood (not to mention his fiction works).
I'm currently reading this
so far it's been riveting. I also need to finish Ashley Kahn's A Love Supreme...
I'm really looking forward to getting The Road, but I intend to finish McCarthy's Border trilogy first so it might be a while. And that aforementioned Hemingway novel has been sitting on my shelf for far too long.
Have you read "Haunted"?
That book had me in a vice-grip, I literally could not stop reading. It is the most horrible, gruesome, stomach-churning story ever put down by human hands, and very very good. I??d read the terrible tales at night and dream about flying and meeting all friends and stuff. It seems like my brain just had a negativity overload and decided to counter it... or something.
Anyway, it??s a good book.
- J
A look at American race relations through the lens of music. Pretty eye opening so far.
Hmmm. I don't know if I want to get inside the head of a man who's about to eat a shotgun load. No
Epic and underrated.
If you're looking for an alternate alternate history, this book is incredible...
It's a murder mystery that takes place in a jewish settlement in Alaska that was set up after the Jews were kicked out of Israel in 1948. The land is about to revert back to the US, and the yids are scrambling. The way he sets up this community and history, with all of the backstory, is incredible, and the detective is unforgettable. You never question the existence of the place because Chabon makes it seem so real.
keywords: jewish, mystery, noir, alaska, chess, tlingit, humor, identity, immigration, emmigration
I think I'm reading this next:
I'm looking forward to that one. I just got around to reading Kavalier & Clay (as well as Mysteries of Pittsburgh) recently and was quite impressed.