I did read 1Q84. Liked CT better. Agree that it may be "fast" for Murakami. But that's definitely a sliding scale.
Books. For the literati among us.
- Thread starter FootyLovin
- Start date
Just biufht that book and the book on russian revolution on amazon***
Great thread! I away on vacation for two weeks and I'm going to download a couple of these suggestions starting with Neal Stephenson
My 3 picks:
My 3 picks:
- Any Human Heart by William Boyd is a great vacation read
- Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
- Check out Mark Kurlansky's books. Start with Salt: A World History - it is really fascinating Also the The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell has a great NYC basis.
Got it. Im probly gonna begin when school starts upagain
Attachments
I enjoy reading for 2 purposes to learn and to relax. At present do not read as much, have other pressing chores that have no time to read for pleasure.
Lately have not done reading but the best time of my life for reading , was when I was in high school. Hated the book reports but loved the reading. Some I have laughed and reread , cried , gotten angry , stopped eating beef for about a year
Here are some of my Favorites, titles or author that I can remember at the moment.
To Kill A Mockingbird,( have read it 5-6 times Love it (If all books were to be burned I would do my best to save ) Summer Of My German soldier, Othello, Lady Macbeth, The Diary Of Anne Frank, Centennial, Comma , Andromeda Strain, The Dragons of Eden, The Hot Zone...
Authors that come to mind: Robin Cooke, Eli Wiessel, Carl Sagan, Chrichton ,Donald Johanson. Have on mind to read Anne Rice now that she has converted to Catholicism. Preston...
Lately have not done reading but the best time of my life for reading , was when I was in high school. Hated the book reports but loved the reading. Some I have laughed and reread , cried , gotten angry , stopped eating beef for about a year
Here are some of my Favorites, titles or author that I can remember at the moment.
To Kill A Mockingbird,( have read it 5-6 times Love it (If all books were to be burned I would do my best to save ) Summer Of My German soldier, Othello, Lady Macbeth, The Diary Of Anne Frank, Centennial, Comma , Andromeda Strain, The Dragons of Eden, The Hot Zone...
Authors that come to mind: Robin Cooke, Eli Wiessel, Carl Sagan, Chrichton ,Donald Johanson. Have on mind to read Anne Rice now that she has converted to Catholicism. Preston...
PS: But having the word "literate" misspelled in the title of a thread about books will drive me nuts for eternity.FootyLovin for all I know it was a joke but please fix.
LOL . . . I think
FootyLovin wanted to give us a fancy foreign name "literati" word to describe us bookworms. I don't like bookworm.
You know like "Fashionista" for fashionable
came from Fashion and "ista " from Spanish
I've been slowly reading A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James, the 2015 Man Booker prize winner. Set in Jamaica in the 70s. It's really good, only going slow because it's pretty violent and I often don't feel like reading more than 2-3 chapters in a row.
Read the first three books (of four) of The Sea of Fertility by Yukio Mishima. Will read book four eventually, but the 3rd book was enough of a left turn that I decided to take a break. First book was early 1900s Japan, 3rd book was post-war.
Most other recent books were free Kindle books with accordingly mixed results.
Surprised the Game of Thrones thread hasn't invaded this one yet. We all must be busy.
Read the first three books (of four) of The Sea of Fertility by Yukio Mishima. Will read book four eventually, but the 3rd book was enough of a left turn that I decided to take a break. First book was early 1900s Japan, 3rd book was post-war.
Most other recent books were free Kindle books with accordingly mixed results.
Surprised the Game of Thrones thread hasn't invaded this one yet. We all must be busy.
Saw you mentioned reading Snow Crash in other thread. Very cool. About 1/4 of the way through The Magus. Very good so far. Top 5 fiction ever seems lofty from where I am so far, but that's a pretty high bar. And if the remaining 3/4 of the book lift it up to that status, then all the better.
If only 1/4 of the way through, then you haven't come close to what it has to offer..... enjoy the rest!
I'm looking forward to this one too, still waiting in line at the library.
Thanks for the recommendation!
"Spellbinding" is a cliche but I don't think it is too strong in this case. I finished the book last night and was still distracted this morning thinking it over. As much as I enjoyed it I can't help but feel a little bit tricked in way, I'm not sure how much any of the deeper meanings/insights that appear to be promised really pan out. But, then I'm not sure how much it matters when the ride itself is amazing. And there are so many wonderful parallels between the experience of the protagonist and the experience of the reader. The reader, after all always submits to the machinations of the author - and even when you think you have broken the author's "rules", how do you know that itself was not part of the authors intention?
There are some wonderful small details too. Like Conchis telling Nicholas early on not to wonder how, but why. And in one of Lily's and Nicholas's last meetings she pleads with him to remember not only why, but how. And Conchis telling Nicholas he burned all of his novels because it was not worth all of those words for one bit of truth at the end, which is deliciously ironic in reference to this novel in particular.
The most similar book I've read is probably "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco, which is bit lighter but incredibly fun if you can make it through the first hundred pages or so. I suppose they are both considered postmodern novels. I look forward to reading more Fowles.
Glad you liked it! And hope it lived up to my top-5 all-time billing!?!
I have tried a few other books by Fowles, and maybe I gave up too quickly, but nothing has drawn me in like The Magus.
Ulrich and
Lasker - Finished The Magus today.I enjoyed it. But sorry. I don't feel quite the same as you two. Found parts of it fascinating, enthralling. But also thought it would have been far better at half the length. Also reminded me of the movie The Game which I liked a lot. Generally it was one of those books that left me wondering - are people really smart enough to follow all of these references? Maybe you guys are. I wasn't.
Next up, I'm reading one of your suggestions Lasker - The Peripheral.
The Peripheral was amazing, perhaps Gibson's most well-written book, in a sense. At first you may not know what the heck is going on but then at some point the fog seems to lift and you're right in it. I've read that reaction from people any number of times, as well as after they put the book down saying they can't wait to reread it again in a year after it's had time to sink in. I'm definitely in that group, and I generally don't reread books, but that was my almost immediate reaction when I finished it.
I enjoyed it. But sorry. I don't feel quite the same as you two. Found parts of it fascinating, enthralling. But also thought it would have been far better at half the length. Also reminded me of the movie The Game which I liked a lot. Generally it was one of those books that left me wondering - are people really smart enough to follow all of these references? Maybe you guys are. I wasn't.
Next up, I'm reading one of your suggestions Lasker - The Peripheral.
This is tough. I'm about 4 or 5 chapters in and I really want to put it down. It feels like he is trying to make it extra difficult on the reader.
I'd say to keep going. And you're right, it *is* tough in the beginning. And actually it took quite a while for me to "get" it. Worth it though once things crystallize. I don't think he purposefully made it hard to read, it's just that there's no easy on-ramp into it, and no characters explaining things. You're just in it, right from the start.
I've read all his books, and seen him speak in person, so you could say I'm a fan. And I like his books. (Note the "like" and not the "totally love.") This one was similar, but once it "snapped into place" for me this one was his best.
You're not crazy, putting the reader Ina state of extreme disorientation and confusion for the first third of the book or so is kind of how Gibson operates - and I think he takes it farther in the Peripheral than any of his other books. Which is why despite being one of his best books it is maybe not the best place to start if you haven't read him before. I actually put down Neuromancer after a few chapters as a teenager for the same reason.
Now that I think of it is a bit odd that:
A) I think the deliberate withholding of basic information about the environment from the reader is basically a cheap trick
B) Gibson relies pretty heavily on this device in all of his books but especially Neuromancer and the Peripheral
C) I think Neuromancer and the Peripheral are his best books
Maybe I should reconsider A?
FootyLovin - I second Ready Player One!Here's my contribution:
- Cloud Atlas // David Mitchell // Sci-Fi // Great read if for nothing else other than the structure - 6 stories span centuries - each is told in chronological order, but only half the story - then after the middle story is told, it goes back to each story, in opposite order, and put the pieces together and complete the cliffhanger endings from the first half.
- I Am Pilgrim // Terry Hayes // Mystery, Thriller, Spy // American operative hunting an intelligent terrorist. Fast paced and well written.
- The Power Broker // Robert A. Caro // Biography // Super long at 1,300 pages, but an incredible read about one of the most interesting political figures in the US: Robert Moses. A must read for history buffs especially in NYC. Chances are he's impacted your life with all the things he helped build.
- Rant // Chuck Palahniuk // Fiction Satire // story about a bizarre serial killer written in the style of an oral biography
- Pillars of the Earth // Ken Follett // Historical Fiction // Family saga entwined in the building of a great cathedral - if you like Game of Thrones, this is for you, just without the magic