Xixax Film Forum

Non-Film Discussion => Other Media => Topic started by: edison on September 21, 2003, 11:20:03 PM

Title: What are we reading?
Post by: edison on September 21, 2003, 11:20:03 PM
If there is a topic on this already forgive me, i couldnt find one on a search.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0316735647.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=7560d18c60d32bb6a18419f9f9d3ac6673ad56f0)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: picolas on September 22, 2003, 01:00:55 AM
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Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on September 22, 2003, 01:08:10 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fart.half.ebay.com%2Fprod%2F343202.jpg&hash=67d5dc7198b6803ee0eaeb7201d3734f2bf5d289)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: GodDamnImDaMan on September 22, 2003, 01:58:33 AM
Mac cant read....
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: thedog on September 22, 2003, 02:12:13 AM
just finished...
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Flookinside-images.amazon.com%2FQffs%2Bv35lepmw194coKa6bf0eaaRuH4%2FG6LTAEFiq9ZYJZQqqVUepDGTqbOAOPeqvZ9f0z7l3G4%3D&hash=eb9762223f1bb16cd0227a2275ea7df88d6a96be)

now starting...
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Flookinside-images.amazon.com%2FQffs%2Bv35leqCTXbYb%2Fs8nN1NlgqNilVTsu12MZfW8XX6%2FE0jkRO9RprEH0OTNgQygFP9EQWj1rI%3D&hash=36c87bee261c5861bae3a59d1493d469c2c42191)

good stuff.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on September 22, 2003, 02:13:50 AM
There is a thread called Books, but I'm all for starting a new one.

I just finished Virginia Woolf's 'To The Lighthouse.' Now I'm about to start either Cormac Mcarthy's 'Blood Meridian,' 'Moby Dick,' or 'The Heart Of The Matter' by Graham Greene. I guess whichever one I pick up tomorrow will be the one I read.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: AK on September 22, 2003, 02:52:38 AM
I think everybody in here likes Palahniuk!

I just started CHOKE from him.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on September 22, 2003, 02:58:05 AM
I don't really like him too much (although as a person I think he's great). But I've only read Fight Club and part of Choke, so I really shouldn't form an opinion.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: aclockworkjj on September 22, 2003, 03:01:15 AM
Quote from: MacGuffin(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fart.half.ebay.com%2Fprod%2F343202.jpg&hash=67d5dc7198b6803ee0eaeb7201d3734f2bf5d289)
no shit Mac...swear, I actually have that same book.  Read it about a year ago...it's not too bad.  I haven't read a ton of screenwrittin' books, but I must say, I got the most...or made the most sense out of that one.  You are probably in it, but I joined some lame movie book club and got that as one of my freebie picks.  

www.stagenscreen.com

for those who don't know.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: AK on September 22, 2003, 03:07:38 AM
Quote from: GhostboyI don't really like him too much .

As I'm not american i knew him from fight club (and thought it was a hype) but then I read diary and lullaby in a role and love them...my next choice will be survivor
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleuth on September 22, 2003, 03:13:33 AM
Survivor is my favorite

I am Tender Branson
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on September 22, 2003, 05:03:44 AM
Gates of Eden by Ethan Coen

Killer in the rain by Raymond Chandler
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: md on September 22, 2003, 05:12:01 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fhmus.com%2Fimages%2Fmagazine%2Fhomepage%2Fmain.jpg&hash=53d39bd55033286847725b1e6f28bdf6f5dbf254)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cine on September 22, 2003, 07:29:58 AM
reading this for research/personal project but out of interest too:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0452009308.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=d6b02c813bcc179d080a090e5c3f1c7b1feb75e1)

reading this on the side:
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Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on September 22, 2003, 08:15:54 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0525947647.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=7f9715dc8ac8adf46fa1def479288a9a13802eaa)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Banky on September 22, 2003, 08:22:56 AM
Quote from: md(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fhmus.com%2Fimages%2Fmagazine%2Fhomepage%2Fmain.jpg&hash=53d39bd55033286847725b1e6f28bdf6f5dbf254)

no doubt  that she is still hot but she looks like she lost alot of weight

i think she looked better when she was a little thicker
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: budgie on September 22, 2003, 08:51:54 AM
Just started House of Leaves, and a book of essays called Bad Girls and Sick Boys.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Raikus on September 22, 2003, 09:16:26 AM
My wife read House of Leaves last year. She enjoyed it.

I'm still continuing my Dark Tower trek. Currently about 300 pages into the Wizard and the Glass. I'll have it finished in a couple of days and then it's anxious anticipation until the Wolves of Calla comes out.

Oh, and I recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It's real history and other interesting things that are mostly to taboo to be discussed.
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Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on September 22, 2003, 09:30:53 AM
October 7...

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Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Find Your Magali on September 22, 2003, 09:34:29 AM
I've been reading a few entries in "The New Biographical Dictionary of Film" by David Thomson, before falling asleep every night.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Dirk on September 22, 2003, 10:38:23 AM
Quote from: Jeremy BlackmanOctober 7...

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fak.buy.com%2Fdb_assets%2Flarge_images%2F255%2F33832255.jpg&hash=0145249e9fcd9103326cf3929246b9db32f6db13)

Can't wait  :yabbse-thumbup:
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Redlum on September 22, 2003, 11:13:06 AM
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (haven't seen the film yet) - Barris
Self reliance and other essays by Emmerson
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Vile5 on September 22, 2003, 11:23:28 AM
Autobiography (or something like that) by Akira Kurosawa

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Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on September 22, 2003, 11:44:37 AM
Quote from: Vile5Autobiography (or something like that) by Akira Kurosawa

When you're done with that, read this one:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0571199828.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=6b703b492cd1bf933fe911efa0df84f023e19d8f)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Find Your Magali on September 22, 2003, 11:48:46 AM
Quote from: MacGuffin
Quote from: Vile5Autobiography (or something like that) by Akira Kurosawa

When you're done with that, read this one:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0571199828.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=6b703b492cd1bf933fe911efa0df84f023e19d8f)


Yeah, I've eyed that one up at the bookstore a couple of times. But with it being a massive 848 pages, I could never picture myself having enough time to get through it.

So you give it a definite thumbs-up, Mac?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: RegularKarate on September 22, 2003, 11:57:19 AM
I don't have cash for a new book and no TX DL for a library card, so I'm re-reading Clockwork Orange slowly (it's so short) until next paycheck, at which point, I will purchase one of Chuck's books because I haven't read any and need to get on this bandwagon fast.
Once I'm done with that, I should have time to read the new version of the Gunslinger and re-read the rest of the series (minus Wizard and the Glass, but just because I don't like that one as a part of the series) just in time to pick the new one.
After that, if I like the Chuck book I select (I think I'll go with Survivor, seems to be a favorite), I think I'm gonna read something really oldschool... like Bram Stoker's Dracula... don't know... I have a huge list of books I need to read, the list, of course gets larger faster than I can read.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Teen Wolf on September 22, 2003, 12:02:04 PM
I just finished a book of collected reviews by Pauline Kael called I Lost It At The Movies. Right now I'm reading a biography of the Spanish architect Gaudi. Next up is a biography of Yukio Mishima, who was a revered writer and master swordsman.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Vile5 on September 22, 2003, 12:16:44 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin
Quote from: Vile5Autobiography (or something like that) by Akira Kurosawa

When you're done with that, read this one:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0571199828.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=6b703b492cd1bf933fe911efa0df84f023e19d8f)
yeah! i was looking for that book here in Lima but i can't find it grrrr... i hope going to Spain the next year, Spain is a kind of paradise of books and cheaper than in Peru...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ***beady*** on September 22, 2003, 05:59:32 PM
I'm reading Terry Pratchet...'Sourcery'.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: budgie on September 23, 2003, 06:43:35 AM
Quote from: RegularKarateI will purchase one of Chuck's books because I haven't read any and need to get on this bandwagon fast.
... (I think I'll go with Survivor, seems to be a favorite)

I just listened to the latest audioblog from Chuck's Diary tour, which may make a difference to the way you read him. It shouldn't, but oh, how it will. Juicy for all the FC lovers.

http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/blog.php
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Newtron on September 23, 2003, 06:58:35 AM
Quote from: budgieI just listened to the latest audioblog from Chuck's Diary tour, which may make a difference to the way you read him. It shouldn't, but oh, how it will.
For real.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on September 23, 2003, 08:53:28 AM
Pilgrim's Progress - by Bunyan
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Weak2ndAct on September 23, 2003, 06:31:57 PM
Re-reading "You Shall Know Our Velocity" by Dave Eggers and ready to dive into the Motley Crue book (it's been passed around amongst every male member of my family as if it were one one of V. Neil's girls).  Keep meaning to finish "Infinite Jest," I don't know how many times I've re-read that first 300 pages.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: RegularKarate on September 23, 2003, 08:31:47 PM
Quote from: budgie
I just listened to the latest audioblog from Chuck's Diary tour, which may make a difference to the way you read him. It shouldn't, but oh, how it will. Juicy for all the FC lovers.
http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/blog.php

are you referring to him coming here to Austin?  Are you saying I should hurry up and do some readin' before he hits here?

or did I miss somethin' else?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on September 23, 2003, 08:35:08 PM
No, Mr. Regular Karate, I don't quite get it myself...

But I enjoy his writing a bunch anyway.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on September 23, 2003, 08:46:28 PM
Agee on Film, by James Agee. I like it and his approach to reviewing movies. Smiliar to Kauffmann, but Kauffmann has learned from Agee and delved where Agee only can finely touch due to the severe limits of films in the 40s coming out of Hollywood.

I've also been getting into the magazine (thick and expensive, though), Foreign Affairs. Seems to be in abudance of knowledge on specifics where other political magazines just write with slant mostly. I like how it is specific experts commenting on their specific field only.

~rougerum
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: The Silver Bullet on September 23, 2003, 09:06:53 PM
About a quarter of the way into On the Road by Jack Kerouac.

QuoteI think everybody in here likes Palahniuk!
I think he's extremely overrated.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ono on September 23, 2003, 10:03:47 PM
I just finished this:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0446679917.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=1b38cfea37bc8734d17e56b5327c8cdf6e4e8789)
What can I say, I like Harry Knowles.  He doesn't seem to be too popular here, though.

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(This one will take a while.)  And this just looked damn interesting, plus I read some Pinker earlier for a Linguistics course I took about five years ago.

This one looks interesting, too:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Flookinside-images.amazon.com%2FQffs%2Bv35leo8jE%2BrUiOpOKSq2st9L%2FmFTT3u5lnP83X9dVnUebXznUxm21VZsKUllKUsZSjOgR4%3D&hash=d99c79ef5790249e8d9c87ff331011a4ffd3fc9c)

And, Diary, Chuck Palahniuk's new book.  I really need to read Fight Club, as it's one of my favorite movies.  I don't think Palahniuk is overrated, but I still don't know what I think about Lullaby.  Some parts were inspired, while others were way over the top.  Whatever.

Oh yeah, and a whole bunch of college texts I'd rather not touch with a sixty-foot pole, lest they indoctrinate me any further.  Or actually, probably just bore me.  :roll:  Leisure reading is always more fun than what's required of you.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on September 23, 2003, 10:09:01 PM
Hey, I'm down with Knowles. I wasn't too interested with his book, though...it provided some pleasant skimming, but not much else.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Cecil on September 23, 2003, 10:12:14 PM
xixax.com
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: penfold0101 on September 24, 2003, 06:49:39 AM
I got the Rum Diaries as i have big respect for the writings of Hunter and in anticipation of the film. But i just haven't had time to get into it, I've started it twice, had things to do and will have to start again when i next pick it up!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: budgie on September 24, 2003, 08:13:54 AM
Quote from: RegularKarate
Quote from: budgie
I just listened to the latest audioblog from Chuck's Diary tour, which may make a difference to the way you read him. It shouldn't, but oh, how it will. Juicy for all the FC lovers.
http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/blog.php

are you referring to him coming here to Austin?  Are you saying I should hurry up and do some readin' before he hits here?

or did I miss somethin' else?

Take down your pants, Mr. Lebowski, I'm going to slap your thighs.

Seriously, RK, I'm sensitive to your own need to attempt a wind up rather than deal with your own ambivalence and anxiety, but shame on you. Don't you agree that this kind of avoidance and laughing it off could be very damaging for other members of the board who might be struggling with issues of sexual identity and the problem of talking about their experiences and concerns with other men in particular? Some of the younger members have looked to you for advice and as a role model before now and you have been admirably supportive. What you are doing here is only encouraging people who might need you to repress their feelings, and we all know how miserable and screwed up that kind of behaviour is. Exactly what Chuck tries to fight with his novels. I hope by reading them you'll be encouraged to loosen up.

edit It seems the blog is gone, so you mayn't have heard it. In which case, I apologise a bit. (I'd still like to slap your thighs whatever. That fucking beautiful avatar is bewitching me.)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: AK on September 24, 2003, 10:46:11 AM
Quote from: The Silver Bullet

QuoteI think everybody in here likes Palahniuk!
I think he's extremely overrated.

I think his work was overexposed(looked) but in the end of the day i still wish more people (writers, directors, composers and others from art) were as creative and gutsy as he is
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: edison on September 24, 2003, 11:12:15 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0385722192.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=6b88f4b01bb568eccfd52c5a71ca0f17a0fda8a7)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: RegularKarate on September 24, 2003, 01:33:03 PM
Quote from: budgie

Take down your pants, Mr. Lebowski, I'm going to slap your thighs.

Seriously, RK, I'm sensitive to your own need to attempt a wind up rather than deal with your own ambivalence and anxiety, but shame on you. Don't you agree that this kind of avoidance and laughing it off could be very damaging for other members of the board who might be struggling with issues of sexual identity and the problem of talking about their experiences and concerns with other men in particular? Some of the younger members have looked to you for advice and as a role model before now and you have been admirably supportive. What you are doing here is only encouraging people who might need you to repress their feelings, and we all know how miserable and screwed up that kind of behaviour is. Exactly what Chuck tries to fight with his novels. I hope by reading them you'll be encouraged to loosen up.

edit It seems the blog is gone, so you mayn't have heard it. In which case, I apologise a bit. (I'd still like to slap your thighs whatever. That fucking beautiful avatar is bewitching me.)

Whoa...  ouch...

um... all I heard was him mention that he was in Austin and another where he said to ignore Entertainment Weekly and to take it easy (what was that about?)

Now I feel like I really missed something... does he want to be a chick or something?

P.S. your av looks like it's all sorts of ready for some thigh slappin'
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Derek237 on September 24, 2003, 07:30:59 PM
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Title: What are we reading?
Post by: mister mister on September 25, 2003, 07:21:22 AM
The last book I read was Bride Stripped Bare by Anonymous

Currently re-reading Clockwork Orange because I haven't got anything else, but its still cool to read.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: The Silver Bullet on September 25, 2003, 08:02:33 AM
What was Bride Stripped Bare like?

I read the foreword by the girl's mother one day while I was in a bookstore, but not the whole thing [for obvious reasons].
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: coffeebeetle on September 25, 2003, 10:18:23 AM
Hal Hartley's screenplay The Unbelievable Truth.  Next up: Trust.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: budgie on September 25, 2003, 11:52:05 AM
Quote from: RegularKarate
Whoa...  ouch...

um... all I heard was him mention that he was in Austin and another where he said to ignore Entertainment Weekly and to take it easy (what was that about?)

Now I feel like I really missed something... does he want to be a chick or something?


I really don't feel I can say now since it's been removed to protect Chuck. Never mind, just read Survivor, it'll still be great.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on October 04, 2003, 12:39:19 PM
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Title: What are we reading?
Post by: aclockworkjj on October 04, 2003, 12:44:11 PM
Mac...what did you think of that other book?  the character driven screenwritting one.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: molly on October 04, 2003, 12:57:32 PM
Chuck Palahniuk's Lullaby.
Has anybody read it?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: edison on October 04, 2003, 01:06:41 PM
Quote from: mollyChuck Palahniuk's Lullaby.
Has anybody read it?

I have and that means you should too.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on October 04, 2003, 01:07:47 PM
Quote from: aclockworkjjMac...what did you think of that other book?  the character driven screenwritting one.

Very good. 'Part 1 -The Character Driven Approach' was very informative and helpful in looking at different approaches to starting/writing. The last two parts were good, but didn't really relate to the screenplay I'm working on now and were kinda redundant for me (stuff I already know and have read in other books), but it would still be a great book to read and refresh one self before starting a new screenplay.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ShanghaiOrange on October 04, 2003, 01:12:29 PM
The Cinema of Loneliness :(
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: aclockworkjj on October 04, 2003, 01:17:06 PM
Quote from: MacGuffinVery good. 'Part 1 -The Character Driven Approach'
yeah I know what you mean...but if nothing else it at least gives you some good points to consider while writing.  But more along the lines of just sparking ideas.  Never the less, it's a pretty good read, as well as not to long.  I don't know if I really have an opinon on Ryan, but I would reccomend it to anyone writing...as it made me think about some things that I probably wouldn't have otherwise.  Mac, do you belong to that that book club (or anyone for that matter)?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on October 04, 2003, 01:22:57 PM
Quote from: aclockworkjjMac, do you belong to that that book club?

Not anymore since it went out of business.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: aclockworkjj on October 04, 2003, 01:42:58 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin
Quote from: aclockworkjjMac, do you belong to that that book club?

Not anymore since it went out of business.
wow...I didn't know that, but might explain why I haven't gotten anything from them in a while.  Oh well, I got a lot of pretty cool books from them, even some of the shitty monthly selections I got stuck with, cause I never returned the order card were good.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on October 04, 2003, 01:53:08 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0142002208.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=27dc5e5eae572c68079fe079252317b652c91c6a)

This book is a fun read so far, I've only finished the interview with the Coens. It's great to hear the experience put into anecdotal form, making it more accessible.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on October 04, 2003, 02:03:28 PM
Gamblor, I've long considered that book essential reading, ever since it was first published a couple years ago. Problem is, I haven't got to read it yet. :-( At least now it's out in paperback, no?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on October 04, 2003, 06:57:56 PM
I'm currently tinkering through 'Salem's Lot.  I'm over halfway through it and so far it is just so/so.
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F1340000%2F1343046.gif&hash=14ff84ccaeb24f694ac7c2dbe448db8a5b306e75)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on October 04, 2003, 11:34:34 PM
Quote from: godardianGamblor, I've long considered that book essential reading, ever since it was first published a couple years ago. Problem is, I haven't got to read it yet. :-( At least now it's out in paperback, no?

Yup, it's paperback now. I just happened upon it at Barnes and Noble for about $16. I totally recommend it just for the Coen interview, the Kevin Smith one is good, proves he's actually down-to-earth. Funny how I came to buy the book:

I saw that Sneakers was rereleased on DVD with a directors commentary, I fucking love that movie, but have it already. So, for me, it was 15 bucks for Sneakers or 16 bucks for the book. I chose the book because I felt it would have more educational value, even though the commentary might've been good, it was a tough choice.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sigur Rós on October 05, 2003, 03:44:15 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffilmweb.no%2Fill%2F008324.jpeg&hash=9a109a85f24e7ed5d263887e3895740a91ba8875)

This one is goooood!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Newtron on October 05, 2003, 07:20:38 AM
Quote from: GloriaI'm currently tinkering through 'Salem's Lot.  I'm over halfway through it and so far it is just so/so.
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F1340000%2F1343046.gif&hash=14ff84ccaeb24f694ac7c2dbe448db8a5b306e75)
Give up. It only gets soer.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Just Withnail on October 05, 2003, 08:23:07 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0142437239.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=18534161e889bf704113c595b1488def623b9949)

I'm nearly halfway through, and even though it's hilarious at times, there a moments where I just want to start something else. But by God, I'll finish this bastad!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Redlum on October 05, 2003, 08:59:56 AM
Don Quioxte! Man, thats a beast of a book, I admire your commitment to it. I'm too scared to pick it up from the shelf.

Just finished the great 'Great Gatsby' and about to start:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.obviouspop.com%2Fgonzo%2Fimages%2Frumcov.gif&hash=7a5cbc081efaaead4a2460c77920a51111e6326b)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ernie on October 05, 2003, 12:37:38 PM
I've been trouble keeping up with my voluntary reading with school in full bloom yet again. I still haven't finished "Sick Puppy" (by Carl Hiaasen) which I'm pretty sure I mentioned earlier in this thread. I neglected it over the summer cause of two big assignments for an AP class and an Honors class. I try to get a page or two in every once in awhile.

I just finished "Quentin Tarantino Interviews"...probably the fastest reading I've ever done. It was all in the hype of Kill Bill.

I'm about to finish "Scorsese on Scorsese", I'm looking to pick up "Stanley Kubrick Interviews" and "Burton on Burton" sometime soon.

I want to buy "Geek Love" and "Truck" by Katherine Dunn (I think that's her name) ASAP...those sound like fucking great books that I would really enjoy and I really don't want to mess around looking for them at a library. I heard Tim Burton is interested in adapting the former someday...that would be cool. I'm also looking for a book on directing actors. Not directing in general but specifically the work down with the actors. Also, I might look for a new screenwriting book. The last one I picked up is the one Mac's reading which I fucking hated with a passion. I almost set the book down when he was bitching about montages. I hate that guy. Before that I had "The Screewriter's Bible" which had some good stuff on it but it was too McKee-esque for me...lots of formulaic approaches, lots of formats. But it wasn't all bad...I got some good stuff out of it. But I haven't had the best luck with film writing books, I wanna get a really great one. That "character driven approach" one sounds kinda cool, I'll have to look into that.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: chinaski40 on October 06, 2003, 04:22:04 AM
i have been reading a lot of chuck buckowski and henry miller....but, if anyone has read these two....where do i go from here??  i need a good book to read on the level of these guys....
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on October 06, 2003, 09:34:45 AM
Quote from: chinaski40i have been reading a lot of chuck buckowski and henry miller....but, if anyone has read these two....where do i go from here??  i need a good book to read on the level of these guys....

Denis Johnson. The Story of O.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: molly on October 06, 2003, 09:46:42 AM
I tried to read "Tropic of Cancer", but gave up at page 75. Depressing. Couldn't force myself to go any further. You?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: chinaski40 on October 06, 2003, 02:24:24 PM
i enjoyed "tropic of capricorn" more, but i finished all of 'cancer', thought it was funny actually.  i like his later books and essays; he was sort of a modern day thoreau, or at least tried to be.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: chinaski40 on October 06, 2003, 02:26:07 PM
godardian,
(sorry, i don't know how to quote...do i just hit quote button and paste what you last said??)
anyway, what is 'The Story of O' about?  I know I've heard of it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on October 06, 2003, 02:38:21 PM
Quote from: chinaski40(sorry, i don't know how to quote...do i just hit quote button and paste what you last said??)

Click the 'Quote' button (https://xixax.com/templates/xixmac/images/lang_english/icon_quote.gif), on the right side of the page, of his post. His words will come up automatically.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on October 06, 2003, 02:39:47 PM
Quote from: chinaski40godardian,
(sorry, i don't know how to quote...do i just hit quote button and paste what you last said??)
anyway, what is 'The Story of O' about?  I know I've heard of it.

Quote automatically quotes.

Story of O is a bit of transgressive literary erotica which, in my opinion, is a lot more powerful on a sexual/metaphorical level than Henry Miller's work. It was published under the pseudonym "Pauline Reage" in France in, I believe, the 1950s. Nobody has ever discovered who the real author is.

You might also try Georges Bataille, also superior to Miller.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Duck Sauce on October 06, 2003, 05:05:51 PM
Less than zero
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ShanghaiOrange on October 06, 2003, 07:55:27 PM
The Short-Timers
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on October 06, 2003, 07:57:11 PM
Quote from: Onomatopoeia
This one looks interesting, too:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Flookinside-images.amazon.com%2FQffs%2Bv35leo8jE%2BrUiOpOKSq2st9L%2FmFTT3u5lnP83X9dVnUebXznUxm21VZsKUllKUsZSjOgR4%3D&hash=d99c79ef5790249e8d9c87ff331011a4ffd3fc9c)

This book is good so far.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Duck Sauce on October 06, 2003, 09:00:09 PM
Fast Food Nation have an anti-corporate slant to it?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MrBurgerKing on October 06, 2003, 09:05:42 PM
Yeah, I bought that book at the recommendation of everyone. I'm afraid to read it though, its' implications. This is an anti-fast food book? I don't know if I can handle that at this point. The destruction of what I love most.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on October 06, 2003, 09:06:04 PM
Quote from: Duck SauceFast Food Nation have an anti-corporate slant to it?

One could say that.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on October 06, 2003, 09:07:30 PM
Quote from: MrBurgerKingYeah, I bought that book at the recommendation of everyone. I'm afraid to read it though, its' implications. This is an anti-fast food book? I don't know if I can handle that at this point. The destruction of what I love most.

It's definitely Anti-Fast Food.

It'd be all herecy to you MrBurgerKing, so I suggest you stay away from it before your whole life collapses.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Duck Sauce on October 06, 2003, 10:00:25 PM
I havent ate any fastfood in over 4 years now, not a bite. But this anitcorporate thing... wont do. any other suggestions?


btw, Less Than Zero is ok so far, its getting kind of redundant and bland with the goto the party, do some coke, go out to eat... shit.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on October 07, 2003, 12:14:15 AM
Quote from: Duck SauceI havent ate any fastfood in over 4 years now, not a bite. But this anitcorporate thing... wont do. any other suggestions?


btw, Less Than Zero is ok so far, its getting kind of redundant and bland with the goto the party, do some coke, go out to eat... shit.

One person's "anticorporate" is another's call for some corporate responsibility. If even half the facts in the book are true- and it is QUITE well-researched- then the industry is badly in need of reform and regulation.

You're right that this anticorporate thing won't do, though... if you're talking about the way corporations tend to falsely whine "anticorporate" any time someone expects or even dares HOPE that they'll take responsibility for their actions and the way they treat their consumers and workers.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: NEON MERCURY on October 07, 2003, 12:55:50 AM
Quote from: EEz28What are we reading?


..posts from members of XIXAX.COM.......





:wink:
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: chinaski40 on October 07, 2003, 03:40:09 AM
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: chinaski40godardian,
(sorry, i don't know how to quote...do i just hit quote button and paste what you last said??)
anyway, what is 'The Story of O' about?  I know I've heard of it.

Quote automatically quotes.

Story of O is a bit of transgressive literary erotica which, in my opinion, is a lot more powerful on a sexual/metaphorical level than Henry Miller's work. It was published under the pseudonym "Pauline Reage" in France in, I believe, the 1950s. Nobody has ever discovered who the real author is.

You might also try Georges Bataille, also superior to Miller.


Appreciate the reccomendations.  Never heard of Georges Bataille.  I was wandering what you thought of H. Miller.  Do you like him and just find these authors superior?  or do you not find Miller enjoyable?  I like him for his realism.  He doesn't hide behind any metaphors or satire or any literary device.  I like him because he's honest and he's a nice companion to Thoreau and others of the sort (I love Miller's essays in the book "stand still like the hummingbird".  Although maybe not as good, but i think he has a great approach to writing.  Sure, he's not creative in the respect of coming up with clever storylines to make a point.  but i think he's clever, really perceptive and honest.  I think he's one of the few writers with truly no fear to write what he writes.  Many can write what he does, but they hide behind characters of their likeness, where Miller admits that you're reading about his life.  I've not read the authors you've mentioned, so maybe they do the same thing, but that's just what i feel about miller...this isn't meant to be a defensive post, just curious as to what your thoughts are...
on a different topic, have you read marvel proust and do you like him?  i've been curious about him for quite a while, but need some good input...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Duck Sauce on October 07, 2003, 08:05:02 AM
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: Duck SauceI havent ate any fastfood in over 4 years now, not a bite. But this anitcorporate thing... wont do. any other suggestions?


btw, Less Than Zero is ok so far, its getting kind of redundant and bland with the goto the party, do some coke, go out to eat... shit.

One person's "anticorporate" is another's call for some corporate responsibility. If even half the facts in the book are true- and it is QUITE well-researched- then the industry is badly in need of reform and regulation.

You're right that this anticorporate thing won't do, though... if you're talking about the way corporations tend to falsely whine "anticorporate" any time someone expects or even dares HOPE that they'll take responsibility for their actions and the way they treat their consumers and workers.

Why dont you read a book on the other end of the spectrum and at least try to balance your sources?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on October 07, 2003, 11:43:37 AM
Quote from: Duck Sauce
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: Duck SauceI havent ate any fastfood in over 4 years now, not a bite. But this anitcorporate thing... wont do. any other suggestions?


btw, Less Than Zero is ok so far, its getting kind of redundant and bland with the goto the party, do some coke, go out to eat... shit.

One person's "anticorporate" is another's call for some corporate responsibility. If even half the facts in the book are true- and it is QUITE well-researched- then the industry is badly in need of reform and regulation.

You're right that this anticorporate thing won't do, though... if you're talking about the way corporations tend to falsely whine "anticorporate" any time someone expects or even dares HOPE that they'll take responsibility for their actions and the way they treat their consumers and workers.

Why dont you read a book on the other end of the spectrum and at least try to balance your sources?

Fast Food Nation is an objective, subtle, extremely well-documented (both by personal contact and statistic) survey of its subject. If you can find me a similarly reasonable book contradicting anything (or everything) in it, I'd be happy to see if my local library has it.

Any person I know who has ever worked minimum wage in fast-food support the claims in the book, though. I really do have the feeling that the only people you'll find who try to claim anything in it is false or unreasonable are the people who stand to gain money or keep the (comfortable for them) status quo by doing so.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: coffeebeetle on October 07, 2003, 11:51:37 AM
Quote from: ®edlumDon Quioxte! Man, thats a beast of a book, I admire your commitment to it. I'm too scared to pick it up from the shelf.

Just finished the great 'Great Gatsby' and about to start:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.obviouspop.com%2Fgonzo%2Fimages%2Frumcov.gif&hash=7a5cbc081efaaead4a2460c77920a51111e6326b)

Enjoy.  Though at times it was slightly tedious, it's just plain fun to imagine Hunter S. Thompson going through some of the shit his alter-ego goes through (as I definitely get the sense this is thinly-veiled autobiography about his early years as a journalist.)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on October 07, 2003, 12:10:39 PM
Quote from: chinaski40
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: chinaski40godardian,
(sorry, i don't know how to quote...do i just hit quote button and paste what you last said??)
anyway, what is 'The Story of O' about?  I know I've heard of it.

Quote automatically quotes.

Story of O is a bit of transgressive literary erotica which, in my opinion, is a lot more powerful on a sexual/metaphorical level than Henry Miller's work. It was published under the pseudonym "Pauline Reage" in France in, I believe, the 1950s. Nobody has ever discovered who the real author is.

You might also try Georges Bataille, also superior to Miller.


Appreciate the reccomendations.  Never heard of Georges Bataille.  I was wandering what you thought of H. Miller.  Do you like him and just find these authors superior?  or do you not find Miller enjoyable?  I like him for his realism.  He doesn't hide behind any metaphors or satire or any literary device.  I like him because he's honest and he's a nice companion to Thoreau and others of the sort (I love Miller's essays in the book "stand still like the hummingbird".  Although maybe not as good, but i think he has a great approach to writing.  Sure, he's not creative in the respect of coming up with clever storylines to make a point.  but i think he's clever, really perceptive and honest.  I think he's one of the few writers with truly no fear to write what he writes.  Many can write what he does, but they hide behind characters of their likeness, where Miller admits that you're reading about his life.  I've not read the authors you've mentioned, so maybe they do the same thing, but that's just what i feel about miller...this isn't meant to be a defensive post, just curious as to what your thoughts are...
on a different topic, have you read marvel proust and do you like him?  i've been curious about him for quite a while, but need some good input...

Well, I tend to find "raw" very overvalued; pretending there is somehow not an inherent artifice in any act of creation seems crazy to me. I take the Wildean view of that kind of thing. So... that pretty much tells you all you need to know about my opinion on Miller. I certainly do think he had SOMETHING, but I also think he's overrated and that people don't see his flaws very clearly. There are some real problems with form, but people can't see beyond the content because the content is (was) so culturally important. He did write some very beautiful passages, though.

I have read little Proust, unfortunately. He's high on my list, though.

For fiction right now- I usually try to read one novel and one nonfiction book at a time- I'm reading:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.powells.com%2Fcgi-bin%2FimageDB.cgi%3Fisbn%3D0876858280&hash=59cbc8c7afadceb6260470d78d1604ec73efaa5c)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: TheVoiceOfNick on October 07, 2003, 12:53:36 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F64.95.118.51%2Fimages%2Fopti%2F2a%2F9b%2F0517542099-resized200.jpg&hash=56e3da8aefe576f976bd36b6f602e009e0325e28)

Yay, it'll be a movie in 2005!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Duck Sauce on October 07, 2003, 01:51:48 PM
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: Duck Sauce
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: Duck SauceI havent ate any fastfood in over 4 years now, not a bite. But this anitcorporate thing... wont do. any other suggestions?


btw, Less Than Zero is ok so far, its getting kind of redundant and bland with the goto the party, do some coke, go out to eat... shit.

One person's "anticorporate" is another's call for some corporate responsibility. If even half the facts in the book are true- and it is QUITE well-researched- then the industry is badly in need of reform and regulation.

You're right that this anticorporate thing won't do, though... if you're talking about the way corporations tend to falsely whine "anticorporate" any time someone expects or even dares HOPE that they'll take responsibility for their actions and the way they treat their consumers and workers.

Why dont you read a book on the other end of the spectrum and at least try to balance your sources?

Fast Food Nation is an objective, subtle, extremely well-documented (both by personal contact and statistic) survey of its subject. If you can find me a similarly reasonable book contradicting anything (or everything) in it, I'd be happy to see if my local library has it.

Any person I know who has ever worked minimum wage in fast-food support the claims in the book, though. I really do have the feeling that the only people you'll find who try to claim anything in it is false or unreasonable are the people who stand to gain money or keep the (comfortable for them) status quo by doing so.


Ive decided to place Fast Food Nation at the end of my long list of books, after reading I challenge you to a debate.  

:wink:
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on October 07, 2003, 02:00:38 PM
Quote from: Duck Sauce
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: Duck Sauce
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: Duck SauceI havent ate any fastfood in over 4 years now, not a bite. But this anitcorporate thing... wont do. any other suggestions?


btw, Less Than Zero is ok so far, its getting kind of redundant and bland with the goto the party, do some coke, go out to eat... shit.

One person's "anticorporate" is another's call for some corporate responsibility. If even half the facts in the book are true- and it is QUITE well-researched- then the industry is badly in need of reform and regulation.

You're right that this anticorporate thing won't do, though... if you're talking about the way corporations tend to falsely whine "anticorporate" any time someone expects or even dares HOPE that they'll take responsibility for their actions and the way they treat their consumers and workers.

Why dont you read a book on the other end of the spectrum and at least try to balance your sources?

Fast Food Nation is an objective, subtle, extremely well-documented (both by personal contact and statistic) survey of its subject. If you can find me a similarly reasonable book contradicting anything (or everything) in it, I'd be happy to see if my local library has it.

Any person I know who has ever worked minimum wage in fast-food support the claims in the book, though. I really do have the feeling that the only people you'll find who try to claim anything in it is false or unreasonable are the people who stand to gain money or keep the (comfortable for them) status quo by doing so.


Ive decided to place Fast Food Nation at the end of my long list of books, after reading I challenge you to a debate.  

:wink:

I accept. Considering that I actually look like this, though-

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imdb.com%2FPhotos%2FSs%2F0277296%2FK171-33A.jpg&hash=35101f07a155a2c1dfffe8e4cdcff14024787678)

-I think you might want to be VERY... CAREFUL what you say to me!

What, are you surprised? Can't a man be bookish AND a lumbering, musclebound behemoth! Stop diminishing me!  :wink:
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: chinaski40 on October 07, 2003, 02:20:58 PM
I've read parts of "the brothers karamazov" (until it was stolen, as was my 'notes from underground') and i've read "the death of ivan ilych".  
my question, on the russian novelists, is it really worth it to make it through "war and peace" or "anna karenina" or "brother's karamazov" or "crime and punishment"?  
I've wanted to read this titles, and i'm not afraid of long books, i just needed some feedback before delving into them.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on October 07, 2003, 02:22:51 PM
crime and punishment was slow at some parts, but for the most was a read that stays with you for a long time. I would definitely recommend it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on October 07, 2003, 02:23:26 PM
Quote from: chinaski40I've read parts of "the brothers karamazov" (until it was stolen, as was my 'notes from underground') and i've read "the death of ivan ilych".  
my question, on the russian novelists, is it really worth it to make it through "war and peace" or "anna karenina" or "brother's karamazov" or "crime and punishment"?  
I've wanted to read this titles, and i'm not afraid of long books, i just needed some feedback before delving into them.

I've heard Crime and Punishment rocked but was way too wordy and that War and Peace was nice, but when you're done you say to yourself "wow.  that was thin"
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on October 07, 2003, 02:25:49 PM
Quote from: SoNowThencrime and punishment was slow at some parts, but for the most was a read that stays with you for a long time. I would definitely recommend it.

Dostoyevsky is juicier than Tolstoy. With Tolstoy, it's nice to have an edition that gives you the historical context. I'm really not partial to battlefield "scenes" in novels, and I found the boredom of the ones in War and Peace to be exemplary. Anna Karenina is a much swifter read. Both have much to recommend them, but... I prefer Dostoyevsky, Gogol, and ESPECIALLY Turgenev to Tolstoy. Turgenev is wonderful.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on October 07, 2003, 06:58:45 PM
Dude, Where's My Country?

http://xixax.com/viewtopic.php?p=74180#74180
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: chinaski40 on October 08, 2003, 12:38:13 AM
reading 'ham on rye' for the second time.  i can't understand why this book is so great....i love it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on November 02, 2003, 09:46:12 PM
Into Chapter 3 and am so hooked:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0393319296.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=403d66f90b872bcd8a784dc94ed9989ba054162a)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: bonanzataz on November 02, 2003, 10:01:39 PM
oh, it's so good, Mac. very quick read, i finished in two or three days. i couldn't put it down.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleuth on November 02, 2003, 10:59:06 PM
Haha yeah, that one is so fucking wild
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Kev Hoffman on November 02, 2003, 11:02:41 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0375507523.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=f344a155332c96dc4bdac35fd4b416a4e61d0dec)

Just started.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: blackmamba on November 03, 2003, 10:51:44 AM
At the moment I am reading "A Canticle for Leibowitz" at school, and at home I am reading "Walt Whitman's Complete Works" for the billionth time.
I've read Invisible Monsters, good read.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on November 03, 2003, 10:54:17 AM
Bad Boy by Jim Thompson


it's a diamond in the rough -- highly recommended!!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on November 03, 2003, 06:45:06 PM
the da vinci code
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: RegularKarate on November 03, 2003, 06:46:37 PM
Tomorrow, it will be:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1880418568.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=b992eeae9555ee6ae177f341a9fc9251647450fe)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on November 03, 2003, 06:53:53 PM
Finally got my hands on Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Kal on November 03, 2003, 10:35:12 PM
I'm reading the new Al Franken book called 'Lies and the lying liars who tell them"... very good and funny...

The other day I went to B&N and bought a bunch of movie scripts and 'how to' film books... some of them really interesting

the scripts... magnolia, boogie nights, the matrix, pulp fiction, and a couple of foreign films.... i have some more but cant remember right now cause i'm in argentina
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on November 03, 2003, 10:42:22 PM
"The Best American Essays of 2003: The Best American Series" and specifically, I am reading right now Susan Sontag's essay Looking at War. Good stuff.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ©brad on November 04, 2003, 04:11:21 PM
i just finished this;

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crankycritic.com%2Farchive02%2Fposters%2Frulesofattraction_final.jpg&hash=53d2f61f0e78b6d1bf96ba608a8eece3d730f7c7)

the novel, that is, and i loved it. i had mixed (overal negative) reactions towards the film itself, but after reading the novel i'd like to take a second look at it.

it brings up an interesting thing about how u change, and more specicially, how ur tastes change over time. i saw this film maybe, well, whenver it was out in the theaters-- over a year ago? and at the time i thought it was overstylized trite w/ muddled motives. now i'm interested in revisiting it to see if i feel the same way. it could just be that avary's adaptation doesn't compare to the novel. i dunno.

woody allen was quoted as to hating 2001 when it came out, only years later to embrace the film as a masterpiece. so i guess the question is-- what films/books did u used to hate but have come to enjoy or even really luv over time?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pwaybloe on November 05, 2003, 10:03:15 AM
One of my favorite novels... although when I heard it was going to be filmed, I knew it would be difficult.  I think you and others who have read the book know what I mean.  Very ambiguous.

Avary did a good job, but I understood those who saw the movie wouldn't like it nearly as much as fans of the book.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sigur Rós on November 05, 2003, 02:01:11 PM
Rudyard Kipling - Kim
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on November 05, 2003, 03:44:57 PM
Quote from: The Gold Trumpet"The Best American Essays of 2003: The Best American Series" and specifically, I am reading right now Susan Sontag's essay Looking at War. Good stuff.

Have you ever read her essay, "A Century of Cinema"? One of America's finest essayists, particularly on cultural issues.

Me:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0802140270.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=f598c4e16a667c2016590fde9d2bf5fb4065b1cf)

...particularly for Haynes's introductory essay, which I can't wait to read. I wish he'd do more non-script writing, as he's always erudite and interesting.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gsus4 on November 05, 2003, 08:01:48 PM
no
lo
go

e
see
ry
der
ray
g
eng
bul
z

ch
ommmmmmmm
skiiiiiiiii

yumyumyuymyumyumyuymuymymyumy
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on November 05, 2003, 08:59:07 PM
Quote from: Gsus4 (maverick)no
lo
go

e
see
ry
der
ray
g
eng
bul
z

ch
ommmmmmmm
skiiiiiiiii

yumyumyuymyumyumyuymuymymyumy

Mmm...Noam Chomsky.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on November 12, 2003, 01:42:05 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ruthlessreviews.com%2Fpics2%2Fchinskill.jpg&hash=02e7dd1bff524833d5b6e70cb126fd10be94dfcc)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on November 12, 2003, 11:42:50 AM
Oh my gosh....I love that book!!  If you need any proof that Bruce Campbell rules, look no farther than this book.  The guy is hilarious  :)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: RegularKarate on November 12, 2003, 01:14:32 PM
I liked the first half better than the second, but it was enjoyable.

What I really liked about it was that you can tell that he actually wrote it and didn't hire someone to write it for him under his name.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on November 12, 2003, 10:01:29 PM
Quote from: GloriaOh my gosh....I love that book!!  If you need any proof that Bruce Campbell rules, look no farther than this book.  The guy is hilarious  :)

I'm into Chapter 3, and it is very funny so far.

Unfortunately, my copy is not autographed.  :yabbse-wink:
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: edison on November 12, 2003, 10:54:24 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0451210840.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=dc4edf785b37b755f641e77df7bdbee7f7508b4d)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: NEON MERCURY on November 12, 2003, 11:05:55 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F067104169X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=5c8affe3b52ea18006eed1f409cb55d5da186a6f)
....i never really knew how rough they had it.... :yabbse-tongue:
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on November 16, 2003, 05:57:56 AM
Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller; what i'm currently reading; also, i have 'walden' and some simpsons book in my bathroom that i'm slowly getting through.
currently looking for a cheap copy of 'dude, where's my country', but that probably won't be possible for some time....[/img]
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: molly on November 16, 2003, 07:18:28 AM
Quote from: classical gasTropic of Cancer, Henry Miller; what i'm currently reading; also, i have 'walden' and some simpsons book in my bathroom that i'm slowly getting through.
currently looking for a cheap copy of 'dude, where's my country', but that probably won't be possible for some time....[/img]

what did you think of Tropic of Cancer? I hated it, couldn't finish it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on November 16, 2003, 02:24:35 PM
oh, i meant capricorn.  i have read cancer though.  uh, i thought it was good.  of course, the way he refered to women and treated them wasn't as amusing as some people think.  i thought the book was interesting.  capricorn is a little more well thought out.  it's still has sexual content, but it doesn't seem to be as harsh.  And he does seem to have something he's trying to say in this one.
I heard he later apologized, to some extent, for the way he portrayed women in cancer, so I don't dislike so much anymore for that.  was that what you didn't like about the book?  or did you just find it to be a big mess, in which case, i could understand that too.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on November 17, 2003, 01:01:13 PM
Just bought 'to the white sea'...

I can't wait to start reading it...but I'll save it for work the day after tomorrow. I'm supposed to sit still and guard coats for 9 hours.

Excited as hell.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sigur Rós on November 17, 2003, 01:02:49 PM
You wanna know what I'm reading? I'll tell you what the fuck I'm reading!

Kipling- Kim
Virginia Woolf - Mrs. Dalloway
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on November 17, 2003, 03:35:05 PM
how's the virginia woolf book, sigur?  i have one of hers...to the lighthouse, i think, but i've never read it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on November 17, 2003, 05:28:17 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0060524367.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=0074fa34b549238bd9b2fb7e13457a4f3394a2b8)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: molly on November 18, 2003, 01:37:33 PM
Quote from: classical gasoh, i meant capricorn.  i have read cancer though.  uh, i thought it was good.  of course, the way he refered to women and treated them wasn't as amusing as some people think.  i thought the book was interesting.  capricorn is a little more well thought out.  it's still has sexual content, but it doesn't seem to be as harsh.  And he does seem to have something he's trying to say in this one.
I heard he later apologized, to some extent, for the way he portrayed women in cancer, so I don't dislike so much anymore for that.  was that what you didn't like about the book?  or did you just find it to be a big mess, in which case, i could understand that too.

I don't think he had anything special against women. He hated and despised everything, in every sentence he wrote. For that I find him snobbish. Like everything is wrong and ugly, except him. I mean, where's the meticulous description of his syphilitic dick? I appologize for my choice of words. This one seemed only appropriate.
I think he hated the whole world. Being swifty with words, he just gave as piece of his mind.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: coffeebeetle on November 18, 2003, 01:49:01 PM
Glamorama.  It's hilarious.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on November 18, 2003, 04:18:23 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0893816949.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=84b7866e49c0f703fe8afe1cec1890653979f868)

I was introduced to her work through Stanley Kubrick's references, and I love it. There's a retrospective going around to museums... I believe NY, LA, Minneapolis and Chicago, maybe San Francisco.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on November 19, 2003, 12:52:41 AM
Quote from: molly
Quote from: classical gasoh, i meant capricorn.  i have read cancer though.  uh, i thought it was good.  of course, the way he refered to women and treated them wasn't as amusing as some people think.  i thought the book was interesting.  capricorn is a little more well thought out.  it's still has sexual content, but it doesn't seem to be as harsh.  And he does seem to have something he's trying to say in this one.
I heard he later apologized, to some extent, for the way he portrayed women in cancer, so I don't dislike so much anymore for that.  was that what you didn't like about the book?  or did you just find it to be a big mess, in which case, i could understand that too.

I don't think he had anything special against women. He hated and despised everything, in every sentence he wrote. For that I find him snobbish. Like everything is wrong and ugly, except him. I mean, where's the meticulous description of his syphilitic dick? I appologize for my choice of words. This one seemed only appropriate.
I think he hated the whole world. Being swifty with words, he just gave as piece of his mind.

I do agree with you.  But it is that aggrevation and discontent that made him interesting, not to mention what he wrote about was more about liberating us from saying and writing what we thought and what we saw.  There is some goodness in his angry and narcissistic tone.  Holden Caufield hated everything as well, but then, he was a character and Miller is writing about himself.  
I like him in his later years, when he was more gentle and thoughtful.  Try "Stand Still Like The Hummingbird" if you can find it.  It's a collection of short stories.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: molly on November 19, 2003, 02:09:43 PM
thanks, I'll try to find it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sigur Rós on November 19, 2003, 02:52:17 PM
Quote from: classical gashow's the virginia woolf book, sigur?  i have one of hers...to the lighthouse, i think, but i've never read it.

Kind of boring but if you want to be sophisticated you have to read it....
No seriously the first 40 pages or so are pretty boring but then it starts to speed up.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: phil marlowe on November 19, 2003, 04:35:22 PM
i'm reading
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecwpress.com%2Ftomwaits%2Fimages%2Fwaitscover250wide.jpg&hash=afbacfac3a94fcf7922a92d4bc308e8d4aaea565)
and it's great
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on November 26, 2003, 01:14:05 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0375413863.01._PE30_PI_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=d451561f3bb74023699a45d0618645ac772ff072)

HIGHLY recommended for those thinking of doing post, having done post, or just a fan of his work. I'm blown away by the lucidity of Murch's ideas.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cowboykurtis on November 26, 2003, 01:20:36 PM
Quote from: godardian(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0893816949.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=84b7866e49c0f703fe8afe1cec1890653979f868)

I was introduced to her work through Stanley Kubrick's references, and I love it. There's a retrospective going around to museums... I believe NY, LA, Minneapolis and Chicago, maybe San Francisco.

i saw her exhibit in LA, absolutely wonderful. i bought the book.my fovorite is the picture of the old woman on the velvet couch with the bee hive hair. breathtaking.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on November 26, 2003, 07:24:21 PM
Quote from: Sigur Rós
Virginia Woolf - Mrs. Dalloway

My favorite book.

I'm currently reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, and am still making my way through Moby Dick at a slightly slower pace.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on November 26, 2003, 07:43:37 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.audiobooksonline.com%2Fshopsite%2Fmedia%2F1577311183.jpg&hash=67012a9d41859013f4eca43c99a509e670ff1806)
note...not the audiobook version
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ***beady*** on November 27, 2003, 04:25:43 PM
Do you know, I am STILL reading Harry Potter 5. Its taking me ages, because I keep getting side tracked and busy... But, I think, that I'm getting there. I got about a sixth of the book left.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on November 27, 2003, 10:01:12 PM
picked up a book i read about 20 times in 5th grade. The Giver, by Lois Lowry. it was my first favorite book... partially because it was banned. found it cleaning out my computer room the other day. it was kind of nice to read it again because it had been so long. anyone got any ideas for some good books to re-read?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: aclockworkjj on November 27, 2003, 10:04:35 PM
Quote from: Reinhold Messneranyone got any ideas for some good books to re-read?
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kidsreads.com%2Fart%2Fcovers%2F120w%2F0689710682.jpg&hash=ec2529fc414579ea14a910173933f223380bb190)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on November 27, 2003, 11:21:21 PM
Quote from: aclockworkjj
Quote from: Reinhold Messneranyone got any ideas for some good books to re-read?
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kidsreads.com%2Fart%2Fcovers%2F120w%2F0689710682.jpg&hash=ec2529fc414579ea14a910173933f223380bb190)

completely forgot about it... another one of my favorites. you rock.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on November 30, 2003, 11:59:36 PM
anybody read Siddhartha? sparknotes are good, but i'd like some interactive perspective.  i really want to read it, but i lost my copy of it. test on tuesday.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on December 15, 2003, 05:24:03 PM
I just finished reading "Ham on Rye".  A book that I think everyone should read and few have heard of.  I personally think that it puts "Catcher in the Rye" to shame, in that they're both 'rite of passage' or 'coming of age' novels.  Although this one is more honest, and more despairing.
Now I'm going to try and find my copy of "The Picture of Dorian Gray".  This is one of my all time favorite books and should be required reading for all.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Banky on December 15, 2003, 06:22:08 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.booksamillion.com%2Fbam%2Fcovers%2F0%2F38%2F549%2F872%2F0385498721.jpg&hash=cd7b47da83c1880433565b9190dfd8d2b6e30867)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on December 15, 2003, 07:26:44 PM
Quote from: Reinhold Messneranybody read Siddhartha? sparknotes are good, but i'd like some interactive perspective.  i really want to read it, but i lost my copy of it. test on tuesday.

I love Siddhartha -- it's a truly beautiful book. And Steppenwolf, also by Herman Hesse, is very good too.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on December 15, 2003, 07:54:47 PM
I loved Steppenwolf, but I haven't got around to reading Siddhartha, although i own it.   :oops:
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on December 16, 2003, 12:02:15 AM
ur mind.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Raikus on December 16, 2003, 10:23:51 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F64.95.118.51%2Fimages%2Fopti%2F9a%2Fe8%2F0060975768-resized200.jpg&hash=0b26062fb4f7be696915b0532c194d3dfc139ce9)

Don't be fooled by the movie. You should read this book if you want a portrayal about the beginning of the Vietnam War. It recounts both the American and North Vietnamese sides during the battles for the Ia Drang Valley. It also does a good job of explaining the foreign policy of the time and what was happening. The most true and accurate portrayal of what war is like that I've read written by the commanding officer and only reporter on the ground.

I was very impressed with it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on December 16, 2003, 10:45:09 AM
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1984!!!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on December 16, 2003, 03:05:41 PM
sonowthen,
that's one of the best and most important books ever written (in the modern age), in my opinion.  i'm actually loaning my copy to a friend at work today.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on December 16, 2003, 03:36:30 PM
Yeah, it's fucking flooring me.

I was one of few who never read it in high school. I can't believe not ONE of my friends even mentioned how amazing it was. Though I don't think I would've really grasped the subtleties at age 17...


I'm doing a dystopia double dip, with this, and then Brave New World next.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on December 16, 2003, 03:42:04 PM
Quote from: SoNowThenYeah, it's fucking flooring me.

I was one of few who never read it in high school. I can't believe not ONE of my friends even mentioned how amazing it was. Though I don't think I would've really grasped the subtleties at age 17...


I'm doing a dystopia double dip, with this, and then Brave New World next.

Eww... you should do Brave New World first, as it's vastly inferior, and save the best for last. One of the most poorly written "classics" I can think of. Aldous Huxley belongs with J. Fennimore Cooper in the annals of bad writing with mystifying longevity... Really, I think you'll find it the literary equivalent of some bad "message" movie.

Orwell, on the other hand, was quite the writer, quite the thinker (and, surprisingly enough to those who've "reclaimed" him) quite the socialist. Anyone ever seen the 1984 movie?

If you like Orwell, you should try Wyndham Lewis, another politically satirical English novelist (also famous painter). I'm in the middle of his The Revenge for Love right now, and it's pretty funny and pretty sharp.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on December 16, 2003, 03:43:56 PM
Ah... but the idea of State Control through Pleasure is how I see things, so I'm leaving that one for last.

BTW, don't try to ruin my reading experience by telling me Orwell was a "socialist". Icky.   :wink:
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: myadopteddaughter on December 16, 2003, 03:44:23 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.curledup.com%2Fbooks%2Fwicked.jpg&hash=22e781a440a79aef0b655b08699e0a28c0d9b27d)

I've read this probably a thousand times, but my brain is still disected and thrown back together everytime I read it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleuth on December 16, 2003, 03:45:01 PM
Quote from: SoNowThenAh... but the idea of State Control through Pleasure is how I see things, so I'm leaving that one for last.

BTW, don't try to ruin my reading experience by telling me Orwell was a "socialist". Icky.   :wink:

I thought of bringing it up, but I wanted you to read it first :(
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: myadopteddaughter on December 16, 2003, 03:47:52 PM
Umm, how is it possible not to know Orwell was a socialist?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleuth on December 16, 2003, 03:49:05 PM
Quote from: myadopteddaughterUmm, how is it possible not to know Orwell was a socialist?

Maybe he didn't read the Foreword
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: myadopteddaughter on December 16, 2003, 03:51:13 PM
But beyond that, it oozes from every word he writes. Anyway, I am not trying to be an attack bitch, i am just surprised.

Anyway, I liked Animal Farm over 1984.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on December 16, 2003, 04:02:30 PM
McSweeney's 12
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on December 16, 2003, 04:18:01 PM
Quote from: Slick ShoesMcSweeney's 12

Is that the one that looks like a book, with Joyce Carol Oates in it?

Eggers is able to get an impressive lineup. I love McSweeney's, but I just can't pile that on top of all my New Yorkers I haven't read. So much in-depth, interesting nonfiction and fiction by fine unknowns and some of my favorite authors, and I can't find the time or energy...  :cry:

I wish I had LOTS more time to read. I get in what I can, but... I love to read, and it just requires too much concentration for me to spend hours reading something worthwhile after a tough day at work.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on December 16, 2003, 04:28:15 PM
I just finished Dave Barry Does Japan and Dave Barry's Guide to Guys.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on December 16, 2003, 04:41:38 PM
Godardian--That was the last one. The new one is a paperback that has twelve stories from twelve unknown writers. Also, a number of "twenty minute" stories, or stories written in in twenty minutes, by some pretty well-known authors, Rick Moody and Jonathan Lethem among them.

One reason I like McSweeney's is because they publish stuff by first-timers who don't have agents or whatever and therefore cannot, would not be able to get published in a more well-known periodical.

I know what you mean, though, about not having enough time to read. You just have to pick and choose. I highly recomend picking up McSweeney's, though. In fact, the one you mentioned -- the one with Joyce Carol Oates, who contributed an awesome story by the way -- comes with a DVD that is pretty entertaining.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on December 19, 2003, 12:54:39 PM
Just started Air Guitar by Dave Hickey.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on December 19, 2003, 02:33:41 PM
I'm looking for a new author to read.  Perhaps something older, anywhere from the mid 1800's to the early 1900's, which i think produced some of the greatest novelists.  I've been on a binge of Wilde, but now...

Has anyone read anything by Proust?  I'm looking to get away from realism and into some more poetic writing.  Any suggestios?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on December 19, 2003, 02:41:16 PM
i finished     'The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' by Douglas Adams last week. great , great, awesome stuff but  i don't think i'll read the five books in a row...    

also , i read   a novel written by Guillermo Arriaga,   the screenwriter who  wrote  the ,um,  script for  'Amores Perros' and '21 grams'.  Now, you would think the novel should be a treat but it's very bland, and boring...    it feels like one of those bestsellers' you can grab near to the cashier at a Wal-mart.  you know,  the kind where  all that women do is "smile"   and  "wave goodbyes"  .    they also let their breasts be touched .  a lot.  

the main character's called Gregorio, fer fuck's sake.

i feel like a snobish brat bashing a book that way but i think that's probably the worst book i've read.


if you want to read a great , ambicious mexican novel , try  "In search of Klingsor" by Jorge Volpi.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on December 23, 2003, 08:49:26 AM
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:yabbse-thumbup:  :yabbse-thumbup:   ... so far
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on December 23, 2003, 09:40:09 AM
Quote from: classical gasI'm looking for a new author to read.  Perhaps something older, anywhere from the mid 1800's to the early 1900's, which i think produced some of the greatest novelists.  I've been on a binge of Wilde, but now...

Has anyone read anything by Proust?  I'm looking to get away from realism and into some more poetic writing.  Any suggestios?

One of my dear faves from the 19th century is ol' Thomas Hardy (esp. Jude the Obscure), but that might be too much realism... don't start Proust unless you're prepared for a year's worth! That is a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong novel! (Well worth it, but long).

For a more poetic novel that doesn't require that kind of time commitment, have you ever read anything by Genet (Our Lady of the Flowers)? Or Camus's The Stranger, maybe?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on December 23, 2003, 11:02:58 AM
Quote from: SoNowThen(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0586044345.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=f6267c0a27ef0d7bceb0e947abbc4797d43d6168)

:yabbse-thumbup:  :yabbse-thumbup:   ... so far

Do you not find it really poorly written, though? As I forced myself to read on, I progressively felt as though Huxley had the narrative talent to write billboards, maybe, but he's so clumsily didactic as to be laughable. And his ideas are, shall we say, not particularly timeless... It's so Cold War-leftover. He's not good at the blunt didacticism he practices, by any means; there's not a shred of grace or confidence (or competence, for that matter) in the writing. He's no Brecht or Lewis or Fassbinder. He's writing with mittens on his fingers, this one. His little hang-ups are beyond transparent: His horror of the assembly line and working life betrays his entrenched upper-class English aristocratic giant's-eye view, his abject horror of Leninist Marxism even more so, and his horror of sex is both nakedly one-sided (that's the literal meaning of "chauvinism," for those of you who listen to Rush Limbaugh and didn't know) and eye-rollingly prudish; it's like listening to a senile centenarian going on... and on... and on... for two hundred pages about how scandalous it is that the young ladies' skirts have gotten so damn short!

A much, much more relevant and interesting example of this kind of novel is, of course, 1984, or Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, which has an infinitely more accurate (and frightening) depiction of future-shock, not to mention the huge benefit of being written by an actual writer, not a pamphleteer.

QUASI-SPOILER AHEAD (don't read this, SoNowThen):

"Did you eat something that didn't agree with you?" asked Bernard.

The Savage nodded. "I ate civilization."

"What?"

"It poisoned me. I was defiled. And then," he added in a lower tone, "I ate my own wickedness."


Isn't that the literary equivalent of Julianne Moore's hilariously bad performance-within-a-performance in Boogie Nights (i.e. you'd think only a talented novelist would be able to write something like that, and as a parody of poor writing)? That's' from the last chapter, but yes, kids, virtually the whole book is written like that! Like a Harlequin romance novelist took Philosophy and/or Sociology for Beginners and decided to write a message-book!

For an astoundingly perceptive, wonderfully written, much more expansive novel on future horror, it's:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.powells.com%2Fcgi-bin%2FimageDB.cgi%3Fisbn%3D0385503857%26t%3D1&hash=cfba99b22c1759c3067c99febb083996f6f7d1a5)

If it's satire of utopian/Communist hypocrisy (and from Huxley's day) you're after, try the deliciously wicked:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.powells.com%2Fcgi-bin%2FimageDB.cgi%3Fisbn%3D0876858280&hash=59cbc8c7afadceb6260470d78d1604ec73efaa5c)

Neither Lewis nor Atwood are merely screeding or moralizing, as Huxley does; to any extent that they could be read that way, they've at least bothered to look into what they're talking about beforehand, and have a way with words (you'd think that would be a requirement for a novelist... well, it is for good ones). I would only use Brave New World as an example for a writing class of how not to write.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on December 23, 2003, 11:12:49 AM
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: SoNowThen(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0586044345.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=f6267c0a27ef0d7bceb0e947abbc4797d43d6168)

:yabbse-thumbup:  :yabbse-thumbup:   ... so far

Do you not find it really poorly written, though? As I forced myself to read on, I progressively felt as though Huxley had the narrative talent to write billboards, maybe, but he's so clumsily didactic as to be laughable. And his ideas are, shall we say, not particularly timeless... It's so Cold War-leftover. He's not good at the blunt didacticism he practices, by any means; there's not a shred of grace or confidence (or competence, for that matter) in the writing. He's no Brecht or Lewis or Fassbinder. He's writing with mittens on his fingers, this one. His little hang-ups are beyond transparent: His horror of the assembly line and working life betrays his entrenched upper-class English aristocratic giant's-eye view, his abject horror of Leninist Marxism even more so, and his horror of sex is both nakedly one-sided (that's the literal meaning of "chauvinism," for those of you who listen to Rush Limbaugh and didn't know) and eye-rollingly prudish; it's like listening to a senile centenarian going on... and on... and on... for two hundred pages about how scandalous it is that the young ladies' skirts have gotten so damn short!

A much, much more relevant and interesting example of this kind of novel is, of course, 1984, or Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, which has an infinitely more accurate (and frightening) depiction of future-shock, not to mention the huge benefit of being written by an actual writer, not a pamphleteer.

QUASI-SPOILER AHEAD (don't read this, SoNowThen):

"Did you eat something that didn't agree with you?" asked Bernard.

The Savage nodded. "I ate civilization."

"What?"

"It poisoned me. I was defiled. And then," he added in a lower tone, "I ate my own wickedness."


Isn't that the literary equivalent of Julianne Moore's hilariously bad performance-within-a-performance in Boogie Nights (i.e. you'd think only a talented novelist would be able to write something like that, and as a parody of poor writing)? That's' from the last chapter, but yes, kids, virtually the whole book is written like that! Like a Harlequin romance novelist took Philosophy and/or Sociology for Beginners and decided to write a message-book!

For an astoundingly perceptive, wonderfully written, much more expansive novel on future horror, it's:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.powells.com%2Fcgi-bin%2FimageDB.cgi%3Fisbn%3D0385503857%26t%3D1&hash=cfba99b22c1759c3067c99febb083996f6f7d1a5)

If it's satire of utopian/Communist hypocrisy (and from Huxley's day) you're after, try the deliciously wicked:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.powells.com%2Fcgi-bin%2FimageDB.cgi%3Fisbn%3D0876858280&hash=59cbc8c7afadceb6260470d78d1604ec73efaa5c)

Neither Lewis nor Atwood are merely screeding or moralizing, as Huxley does; to any extent that they could be read that way, they've at least bothered to look into what they're talking about beforehand, and have a way with words (you'd think that would be a requirement for a novelist... well, it is for good ones). I would only use Brave New World as an example for a writing class of how not to write.

Haha -- I didn't read the spoiler or anything else after it.

Hell no, I'm enjoying the writing, it's as if he's cutting his paragraphs like a film (that's how I imagine it, anyway). Plus his ideas are very much more in line with my own, so I'm completely on board thus far, though I'm only on page 40 or so.

BTW, I thought 1984 was a masterpiece. I see what you guys are talking about, with Orwell and his socialism, but I like how he's criticizing his own side just as much as everyone else's. But more than anything, I just look past the politics and appreciate the horror and hopelessness of it all. The ending devastated me, and the torture chapters were more intense than anything I've ever read before. And the nursery rhymes were an amazing touch -- particularily the one that I'd heard in Element Of Crime.

Both of these would make great flicks (new ones I mean... made by me...).
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on December 23, 2003, 11:23:41 AM
If you liked Orwell's evenhanded satire, you'd love Wyndham Lewis. It's absolutely unsparing about the worlds of art and politics (and the place the two worlds met in England during the Spanish Civil War). The blurb on back of my ancient Penguin paperback of The Revenge for Love ("not for sale in the USA") says, "There are ideals and there are men, and Wyndham Lewis focuses on men." And it's true; you might be able to guess what his ideals are, but only through his disappointment with those who, with their human nature, have failed them. Plus it's damn funny!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on December 23, 2003, 11:54:09 AM
Godardian, about Brave New World, I was gonna argue against some points you made, but I wish I had the book in front of me. I'll just make some points:

-I didn't get the impression that Huxley was appalled by sex in that old man kinda way, I dunno, I just didn't get that impression. It seemed like more of a shock-value thing, all in a literary purpose of course :-D

-Also, I think you missed some of the bigger themes hit at, like the idea of civilization vs. savagery when they go and visit the natives in their veritable zoo.

-How can you say his issues are Cold War-leftover when Orwell writes about socialism as well? Huxley's argument against capitalism can't be labeled Cold War if you don't do the same with Orwell. I don't know if that's entirely clear.

-Besides the fact that you didn't like it or the way it was written, don't you think the book was fucking hilarious? I mean, there are some really great parts in it. I don't see what you think is clumsy about his writing. (i.e. I need some examples)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: RegularKarate on December 23, 2003, 12:12:05 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Frocbo.chez.tiscali.fr%2FMax%2Fsf%2Fimg%2Fkdick%2Fubik.jpg&hash=2071ce061bfb90bb82454ff0b0a41d63904fcd75)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cyk on December 23, 2003, 12:17:13 PM
i've just finished "The Dungeon 2"

this guy had a basic plot line and his friends went of and wrote a book each...(there are six sofar)

apart from that i'm usually reading a Terry Pratchet book (any of them, over and over)

but read most things Sci-Fi/fantasy.

(there cheaper than drugs in the long run)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on December 23, 2003, 12:18:04 PM
I thought the example I used was awfully clumsy (though yes, it was hilarious... I assumed that was unintentional).

I meant Cold War-leftover in a "The Communists are coming!" sort of way. Orwell's book is a little bit more deep and encompassing, i.e. he's not just afraid of ONE fascist ideology, but the potential for fascism in any ideology.

"Civilization vs. 'savagery'" is just Thoreau-ism and fairly old hat. Gimme Claude Levi-Strauss on the subject any day; Thoreau is very perceptive and was very prescient about a sad nostalgia we have for a "simpler" time, but he stopped too short and failed to see that "nature" can be just as stressful as civilization (cities), and our feelings really are more sentimental ("simpler times" are imagined; noble simplicity can be attributed to any era we didn't have to live through) and not so acutely philosophical and meaningful as all that.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on December 23, 2003, 02:39:40 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.themodernword.com%2Fimages%2Fhouse_of_leaves.jpg&hash=2a73ebf61ee20ab3bbddfae8bf51936b09efd77d)
for the fifth time.

wau
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on December 24, 2003, 08:46:36 PM
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: classical gasI'm looking for a new author to read.  Perhaps something older, anywhere from the mid 1800's to the early 1900's, which i think produced some of the greatest novelists.  I've been on a binge of Wilde, but now...

Has anyone read anything by Proust?  I'm looking to get away from realism and into some more poetic writing.  Any suggestios?

One of my dear faves from the 19th century is ol' Thomas Hardy (esp. Jude the Obscure), but that might be too much realism... don't start Proust unless you're prepared for a year's worth! That is a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong novel! (Well worth it, but long).

For a more poetic novel that doesn't require that kind of time commitment, have you ever read anything by Genet (Our Lady of the Flowers)? Or Camus's The Stranger, maybe?

I've been wanting to read The Stranger for the longest time.  Is it not similar to Steppenwolf?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on December 24, 2003, 08:56:13 PM
Quote from: Pedro the Wombat(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.themodernword.com%2Fimages%2Fhouse_of_leaves.jpg&hash=2a73ebf61ee20ab3bbddfae8bf51936b09efd77d)
for the fifth time.

wau

I've heard some great stuff about this book...what's it about?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on December 24, 2003, 09:16:10 PM
Quote from: aClockworkWalrus
Quote from: Pedro the Wombat(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.themodernword.com%2Fimages%2Fhouse_of_leaves.jpg&hash=2a73ebf61ee20ab3bbddfae8bf51936b09efd77d)
for the fifth time.

wau

I've heard some great stuff about this book...what's it about?
haha, good question.

let's try and explain this.  it tells two stories at once, both quite good.  one is told through footnotes and letters.

a combined summary is sort of like this:
a guy finds a book a blind man wrote on various scraps of paper.  when he tries to put them together, it starts to consume his life...

both the consumption and the actual book are included within
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on December 24, 2003, 11:19:10 PM
House Of Leaves, if nothing else, is brilliant in its structure. I can't really judge the guy on his writing, since he changes styles so frequently throughout (which may be a plus or a minus), but it works very well in this context. The book scared the shit out of me. I was stuck in my apartment without a car or a job or anyone talk to and I read it in a few days and felt like I was going completely nuts. I had to give it to someone else afterwards because I didn't want it around anymore.

On the subject of Brave New World, I can see exactly where both SoNowThen and Godardian are coming from. It's far more entertaining than 1984, but it's definitely less complex and frequently awkward in its structure. It definitely does read like a movie, which is why it's a great read, but you'll find more substance in Orwell, or Bradbury, for that matter, with Farenheit 451. I wouldn't really say that Huxley was afraid of sex; coming from that time period, I imagine its purpose was to shock, and I think Huxley knew exactly what he was doing with that material. I think it's a valid piece of literature, though, at least as a precursor to 1984.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on December 25, 2003, 12:33:19 AM
I was pretty disappointed by house of leaves.  it begins really scary, then it doesn't pay off.  the ending was so lame.  and hoss's stories became pretty lame too.  but you're right, to tell an entire story via footnotes is pretty brilliant.

I'm reading The Man Who Was Thursday by CK Chesterton right now.  I'm a big fan of his mystery series, but this novel seems dated by like 100 years.  I hope it gets better.
I just finished several comicbooks, Ronin by Frank Miller, Dreamtoons (check it out at www.slowwave.com, it's pretty funny/ cool), and Black and White by Taiyo Matsumoto.  Black and White has to be one of the best things I've ever read.
Last month I finished Molly Ivin's new book, Bushwhacked.  That was good liberal literature, much more informative and "accurate" than Franken and Moore's new books, and it's argurably more relavent than Chomsky's new books too.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: bonanzataz on December 25, 2003, 01:12:17 AM
right now, i'm kind of reading the tao of pooh, confederacy of dunces, and heart of darkness, but i haven't gotten any pages done in a while. xmas season is busy busy busy.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on December 25, 2003, 02:00:19 AM
I had to put down Air Guitar for good after about forty pages. It just wasn't what I expected it to be. It read like a college textbook.

I just read Jokes Told In Heaven About Babies. It took about a half an hour. The book was pretty small -- 30 pages with illustrations on some of them. It was nice, though.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: rustinglass on December 25, 2003, 05:40:33 AM
Quote from: RegularKarate(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Frocbo.chez.tiscali.fr%2FMax%2Fsf%2Fimg%2Fkdick%2Fubik.jpg&hash=2071ce061bfb90bb82454ff0b0a41d63904fcd75)

Good for you! but don't get any ideas... I am doing the film!!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on December 25, 2003, 07:08:29 AM
I started Fight Club. It's pretty interesting to see how close the movie gets to the book, so far pretty goddamned close. The cold, sterile tone being used so far isn't very engaging, keeps you too distant. It was kinda hard reading the first three chapters, trying to tredge through all the stuff the movie covers in exactly the same way and trying to stay interesting in the disinterested tone of the narration. Hopefully it'll get better.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on January 01, 2004, 09:23:37 PM
I just tore through Scott Bradfield's 'The History Of Luminous Motion.' I picked it up at a friend's house on a whim, and at first thought it was an extremely well written character piece, a lyrical and slightly melancholy study of childhood. I was waayyy off.

Anyway, I'd definitely recommend it -- I have some quibbles, but any problems are certainly worth putting up with just to read Bradfield's prose, which is amazing. It comes with a plug from Michael Chabon on the cover, if that means anything to anyone (it did to me). The book I kept thinking of while I was reading this was 'Perfume.' Thus, I'd be interested in hearing what GT thinks of it, if it behooved him to read it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on January 01, 2004, 11:18:03 PM
I'm on my way to open up Choke by Palahniuk.  Mm-hmm good.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: myadopteddaughter on January 01, 2004, 11:59:17 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjollyroger.com%2Fcatch22.gif&hash=67441271f903d3df2553081ea0b0987dd7fbcb61)

This book was suggested to me by a very dear friend of mine. I am excited to read it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on January 02, 2004, 04:12:15 AM
That avatar! I hate it! hate it! Go away!!!! :)


The Big Sleep.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on January 02, 2004, 04:52:31 AM
nothing.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Redlum on January 02, 2004, 05:19:56 AM
Quote from: myadopteddaughter(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjollyroger.com%2Fcatch22.gif&hash=67441271f903d3df2553081ea0b0987dd7fbcb61)

This book was suggested to me by a very dear friend of mine. I am excited to read it.

Great book. One of my favourites.

At the moment I'm reading - The Great Shark Hunt by Hunter Thompson.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: RegularKarate on January 02, 2004, 01:38:25 PM
Quote from: rustinglass
Quote from: RegularKarate(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Frocbo.chez.tiscali.fr%2FMax%2Fsf%2Fimg%2Fkdick%2Fubik.jpg&hash=2071ce061bfb90bb82454ff0b0a41d63904fcd75)

Good for you! but don't get any ideas... I am doing the film!!

Let's RACE!

I seriously doubt that our ideas would be similar for this film.  There are so many ways it could be done.  but mine would be the best
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: molly on January 02, 2004, 01:43:39 PM
Franzen: Corrections
will they make a movie out of it?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on January 02, 2004, 01:52:13 PM
Quote from: mollyFranzen: Corrections
will they make a movie out of it?

Quote from: In another thread, MacGuffinHot off the anticipated success of THE HOURS, producer Scott Rudin and director Stephen Daldry are set to reteam to adapt Michael Chabon's novel THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY. Chabon, currently writing THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN for Sony, won a Pulitzer Prize for his work on that novel. KAVALIER follows two young Jewish cousins who use their own post-WWII experiences to create comic-books in their bedrooms. Daldry and Rudin are also working on an adaptation of Jonathan Franzen's THE CORRECTIONS, best known for being the book/author who snubbed the Oprah book group. Daldry would begin filming KAVALIER next and CORRECTIONS shortly thereafter. Rudin, who recently left his post on the Jim Carrey LEMONY SNICKET adaptation, would produce both.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on January 02, 2004, 03:45:20 PM
Quote from: mollyFranzen: Corrections
will they make a movie out of it?

Good show, molly! I LOVED that book. It made me think deeply and cry; two of my favorites.

My recommendation for your next book (if you like it): Jeffrey Eugenides's Middlesex. Two examples of the renaissance of the American novel. Both powerful, exceptionally written, rich masterworks.

Hopefully MacG will keep us posted on the status of the movie. If they can transplant the richness and relevance of plot and characterization from the page to the screen, it has the potential to approach the magnitdue and brilliance of Magnolia.

Me ("looking at" more than "reading"):

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F3931141330.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=b6e4e205d95f1bd324771c42eabf3bd1ecb10457)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: molly on January 02, 2004, 04:57:42 PM
corrections are 700 pages long and i'm very interested to see how will it look. I really hope they won't screw it up. I loved the way it's written, so funny and serious at the same time, so juicy.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: blueminded on January 02, 2004, 05:41:08 PM
first af all, i enjoyed brave new world...and it also seemed spooky to me.
when i first read it i thouht "this guy made predictions that seems to be kinda possible in the future"...the thing was...:i though that a few years ago, he thought it in 1931 when a brave new world was written.
Orwell's 1984 was an aumented proyection of the future in a present that contained stalinism and and an immediate past that saw the blooming of nacizm.
a brave new world was written before hitler took power in germany; in 1931 systematic terrorism wasn't the contemporary obsesive topic as in 1948; also the huxley's dictatorship was less brutal as orwell's.
so, orwell's 1984 in the context of 1948 seemed extremely convincent, but at least dictators are mortal, and circunstances changes.
nuclear war was a prediction of the whole world, but if we think that  we wont be destroyed by great power nations, it semms that porbabilities goes more to a brave new world innit?. haha
excess of population is the easiest way to the brave new world "nightmare", and excess of population is the road in wich were all walking.
anyway, i found this book "brave new world revisited", huxley wrote it 27 years after a brave newworld, and he wrote something like this:" i feel less optimistic that when i wrote a brave new world. the profecies ive made in 1931 seems to appear more quickly than i tought; but the interval between insufficient order and excesive order shows no sign to begin..." but...what about now?
well i recomend it, it's the objective point of view of the writer of a brave new world, and that give us a chance to understand a bit more the first one, that was more like a novel or a tale.

at the moment im reading steppenwolf by hesse (its like the fourth time) one of my favourites.

ciao.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on January 02, 2004, 08:09:04 PM
If I was to get into Timothy Leary, does anyone have any suggestions of where to start?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on January 02, 2004, 10:30:56 PM
Quote from: Walrus, KooKookajoobIf I was to get into Timothy Leary, does anyone have any suggestions of where to start?
dmt.

no, wait. that's terence mckenna.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on January 03, 2004, 02:10:49 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.overstock.com%2Ff%2F102%2F3117%2F8h%2Fwww.overstock.com%2Fimages%2Fproducts%2Fmuze%2Fbooks%2F0385509472.jpg&hash=831fdd48e1cb531c135dd6827b63d112f86ea433)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: A Matter Of Chance on January 03, 2004, 10:11:54 AM
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: mollyFranzen: Corrections
will they make a movie out of it?

Good show, molly! I LOVED that book. It made me think deeply and cry; two of my favorites.

My recommendation for your next book (if you like it): Jeffrey Eugenides's Middlesex.

I loved The Corrections and Middlesex, I think both are great books.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on January 03, 2004, 11:12:54 AM
Quote from: A Matter Of Chance
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: mollyFranzen: Corrections
will they make a movie out of it?

Good show, molly! I LOVED that book. It made me think deeply and cry; two of my favorites.

My recommendation for your next book (if you like it): Jeffrey Eugenides's Middlesex.

I loved The Corrections and Middlesex, I think both are great books.

:yabbse-thumbup:   :-D  :!:
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on January 05, 2004, 09:10:48 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0316769509.01.MZZZZZZZ.gif&hash=02c563e479221101dfad605d0f38a83a00d47694)

Makes Catcher In The Rye seem like feel-good morning television... old JD's a bit of a depressive (and that's why I love him).
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on January 05, 2004, 11:10:29 AM
Quote from: SoNowThen(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0316769509.01.MZZZZZZZ.gif&hash=02c563e479221101dfad605d0f38a83a00d47694)

Makes Catcher In The Rye seem like feel-good morning television... old JD's a bit of a depressive (and that's why I love him).

I got this and Franny and Zooey for the Christmas 2 years ago, and devoured them- they were read and re-read by New Year's.

My favorites are "The Laughing Man" and "Down at the Dinghy."
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on January 05, 2004, 11:14:16 AM
Yeah, I got both for Christmas this year!!


And so far, Laughing Man is for sure the best one.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on January 05, 2004, 11:18:29 AM
The Laughing Man is probably the most amazing short story I've ever read. If it's not, than whatever is would probably be from Nine Stories too.

If you haven't read Franny & Zooey yet, SoNowThen, do so. I'd be really interested in hearing what you think of it, actually, considering your religious beliefs. I tried to get one of my friends who is devoutly Christian to read it, but she hasn't yet.

I have this dream that Salinger will die and his writings from the past decades will be bequeathed to a publishing house and released intermittnently for years to come. Can you imagine how exciting that would be? Of course, it would probably include plenty of letdowns. The literary equivalent of the Star Wars prequels (as far as anticipation, not actual content).
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on January 05, 2004, 11:24:10 AM
You really think letdowns??? I can't imagine not loving every single thing I ever read by Salinger...

F&Z is right next on the list. Last year was the only year I haven't read Catcher at least once, so I'm feeling like I gotta make it up in '04.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: mogwai on January 05, 2004, 11:28:30 AM
just finished reading this one:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fw1.422.telia.com%2F%7Eu42243560%2Fwalk_this_way.jpg&hash=9c87d15e62b3509211c18e6fb81f64c2052fb0f4)

i'm going to read the following books:

the nirvana biography "come as you are" by michael azerrad.
the mötley crüe biography "the dirt" by neil strauss.
the john densmore biography "riders on the storm" by john densmore.

i love music.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Redlum on January 05, 2004, 12:00:43 PM
I really enjoyed Franny and Zooey. So much so I read it in one sitting. I didnt quite get what I was hoping from it because as with Catcher I think the characters wealth kind of distances me from them a little(which is why Max Fischer in Rushmore works so well for me).
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on January 07, 2004, 12:31:43 PM
About to begin You Shall Know Our Velocity.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: molly on January 07, 2004, 12:40:26 PM
has anyone read Atonement by Ian McEwan?
i started, then left it because i didn't have time. People say it's excellent, a real master work.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ©brad on January 07, 2004, 02:16:31 PM
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: A Matter Of Chance
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: mollyFranzen: Corrections
will they make a movie out of it?

Good show, molly! I LOVED that book. It made me think deeply and cry; two of my favorites.

My recommendation for your next book (if you like it): Jeffrey Eugenides's Middlesex.

I loved The Corrections and Middlesex, I think both are great books.

:yabbse-thumbup:   :-D  :!:

i read the corrections! it was incredible. however, i remeber having some trouble w/ the ending, and now that i think about it i can't really remember how it ended. read it a while ago, you see.

right now i'm in the middle of
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2Folmedia%2F620000%2Fimages%2F_622097_psycho_150.jpg&hash=cd14a93d4cd5516545af8f4687cc27d174959db0)
and it's most excellent.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on January 07, 2004, 02:21:59 PM
Quote from: mollyhas anyone read Atonement by Ian McEwan?
i started, then left it because i didn't have time. People say it's excellent, a real master work.

It is very, very good. I'd recommend it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on January 08, 2004, 10:57:36 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1840461225.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=a92e54d952aa97bc8bdab5ae1a83f019a3b677b3)
by david zane mairowitz & robert crumb
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on January 08, 2004, 11:30:53 PM
Woody Allen on Woody Allen:
In conversation with Stig Bjorkman
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on January 09, 2004, 06:23:58 PM
The new Vanity Fair arrived in the mail today.

"How Miramax Remade the Movie Business: Bonus excerpt from Peter Biskind's new book!" (Dare I read the "excerpt" and taint the book? I'm so on edge now!)

"Exlusive Photos: Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator" What, photos?!?! In Vanity Fair!?! You're kidding me, right? Of course I'll be devouring these, as well.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on January 10, 2004, 06:27:27 AM
i'm reading 'the brothers karmazov' and then i'll start on either 'dude where's my country' or 'the stranger', which i just got in the mail...it was $0.75 on half.com.......
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on January 10, 2004, 10:17:23 AM
Quote from: classical gasi'm reading 'the brothers karmazov' and then i'll start on either 'dude where's my country' or 'the stranger', which i just got in the mail...it was $0.75 on half.com.......

The Stranger is one of my favorite novels. It's such a quick read, yet so unforgettable... Brothers Karamazov also unforgettable, but not such a quick read.  :)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on January 10, 2004, 10:21:36 AM
yeah, "L'Etranger" is an amazing book.   a MUST (really) for 'The Man who Wasn't There' fans.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on January 11, 2004, 12:58:40 AM
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: classical gasi'm reading 'the brothers karmazov' and then i'll start on either 'dude where's my country' or 'the stranger', which i just got in the mail...it was $0.75 on half.com.......

The Stranger is one of my favorite novels. It's such a quick read, yet so unforgettable... Brothers Karamazov also unforgettable, but not such a quick read.  :)

Yeah, I'm excited about "The Stranger"; but my roommate told me that is was boring.  I can't see such a short book being boring, and one that is admired by so many people and aparently filled with so much thought and emotion.  I only question his opinion because he usually has good taste, but then, maybe it's just boring to some.  I'll find out for myself though.
As for The Brother Karamzov, I've already read half of it before, but it got stolen (who steals a Dostoevsky book??).  I'm starting from page one though to be able to absorb it all over again ( I can't wait to get to the Grand Inquisitor part).  I also recieved "Notes from Underground" in the mail, which was also stolen before I had a chance to read it.

"Atlas Shrugged" was the last 1000+ page book I read and it didn't take me too long, so hopefully "Brothers..." won't either.  Funny too, because as far as I can tell, Rand and Dostoevsky have completely different philosophies, it'll probably cause some conflicting emotions within me...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on January 11, 2004, 05:05:56 PM
The Outsider is  not boring.

Does anyone likes Kurt Vonnegut , Jr.?   I've only read Breakfast of Champions and fell in love with it... but it hinted  that his whole technique was a one-trick pony, whatever that may mean.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on January 11, 2004, 05:48:48 PM
Quote from: classical gas"Atlas Shrugged" was the last 1000+ page book I read and it didn't take me too long, so hopefully "Brothers..." won't either.  Funny too, because as far as I can tell, Rand and Dostoevsky have completely different philosophies, it'll probably cause some conflicting emotions within me...

Ugh, I hate Rand's philosophies. Did you ever see the Simpsons episode with the Ayn Rand Daycare? All pacifiers snatched from infant's mouths, and signs reading, "Helping is futile"? Funny stuff. I think Atlas Shrugged was even mocked on South Park once. A fascinating, extreme, scary individual, Rand was. Of course, most writers/philosophers are, regardless of how astute they might be... Can you imagine being the only other person sitting at a table with Ayn Rand and, say, Lionel Trilling or Hannah Arendt? Yikes! Get me outta there!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: A Matter Of Chance on January 11, 2004, 07:39:32 PM
Quote from: chuckhimselfoThe Outsider is  not boring.

Does anyone likes Kurt Vonnegut , Jr.?   I've only read Breakfast of Champions and fell in love with it... but it hinted  that his whole technique was a one-trick pony, whatever that may mean.

I read Slaughter-House Five and thought it was great.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Film Student on January 11, 2004, 10:12:05 PM
Anyone read any Donna Tartt? The Secret History is fucking amazing, as is The Little Friend.

Most recent (worthwhile) reads:

Why I'm not a Christian- Bertrand Russell
Letters to a Young Poet- R.M. Rilke
The Human Stain- Philip Roth
On the Road- Jack Kerouac
Naked Lunch- William Burroughs
Understanding Power- Noam Chomsky

Favorite book of all time:

Crime and Punishment
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on January 11, 2004, 10:20:04 PM
Quote from: Film StudentAnyone read any Donna Tartt? The Secret History is fucking amazing, as is The Little Friend.

Most recent (worthwhile) reads:

Why I'm not a Christian- Bertrand Russell
Letters to a Young Poet- R.M. Rilke
The Human Stain- Philip Roth
On the Road- Jack Kerouac
Naked Lunch- William Burroughs
Understanding Power- Noam Chomsky

Favorite book of all time:

Crime and Punishment

I've read Secret History. Long ago, when a teenager. Pretty good. Everyone says the new one is tons better, though. It's on my list.

I've always meant to read that Russell... all the rest on your list are sublime, except I've never cared so much for Kerouac.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Film Student on January 11, 2004, 10:55:50 PM
Quote from: godardian

I've always meant to read that Russell... all the rest on your list are sublime, except I've never cared so much for Kerouac.


Russell makes the strongest case for atheism I've ever heard. Having grown up in an extremely fundamentalist christian home, that says a lot.

A lot of people don't care for Kerouac, understandably... His writing is very dry and straightforward, but his abundance of joy and love for life shines through every page of On the Road, for me at least.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on January 11, 2004, 11:00:59 PM
Kerouac shares a love for life similar to mine...on the road changed my life...maybe all this joy for being and living is bullshit, but its made me a more positive person.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Film Student on January 12, 2004, 12:26:02 AM
Quote from: Pedro the WombatKerouac shares a love for life similar to mine...on the road changed my life...maybe all this joy for being and living is bullshit, but its made me a more positive person.

agreed.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on January 12, 2004, 11:25:53 AM
Plowed through Breakfast At Tiffany's over the weekend. That Truman Capote, he sure can write...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: RegularKarate on January 12, 2004, 03:13:03 PM
Kerouac really bores me.

I had a friend who was so big on Kerouac that when he was arrested and put in jail, he used his one phone call to call me to ask me to bring his copy of "on the road" he had left at my apartment.

I also really hate the way his name is tossed around.  It's too pluggy.

I can understand liking him, but please leave your copy at home in the bathroom where you read it... it's not the fucking bible, you don't have to get a shirt made or anything.

***note, I'm not talking about those here who have already said they liked it, I'm talking about others... people I don't like.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on January 19, 2004, 03:16:12 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fart.half.ebay.com%2Fprod%2F2686175.jpeg&hash=a7ae7e67c46c089d147043c5fa8c553c72adf0f2)

Also, for Chuck fans:

Chuck's hysterical, controversial short story GUTS will be in the March 2004 issue of Playboy magazine. Here's the blurb at the end of the February issue:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chuckpalahniuk.net%2Fimages%2Fguts_playboyblurb.jpg&hash=4830fad69d086db5d04b611a6cd2f8630e022168)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on January 19, 2004, 08:57:29 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F068486259X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=ee1a9e342e99b1766bc9c1ba02d5810db9082cba)

It's almost as good as Easy Riders...., which means that I can't do anything in my spare time but read it!!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on January 19, 2004, 09:36:56 AM
Quote from: RegularKarateKerouac really bores me.
i can't get into him either. at least it proves i'm not sum pseudo-intellectual prick.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on January 19, 2004, 10:11:51 AM
Quote from: MacGuffin(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fart.half.ebay.com%2Fprod%2F2686175.jpeg&hash=a7ae7e67c46c089d147043c5fa8c553c72adf0f2)

Let me know how Survivor is please, Mac.  I wanted to read it, but as with movies, I don't get around to reading movies or reading books without buying them.  I guess I feel the need to get my money's worth after I buy it or something, but please let me know how it is.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on January 19, 2004, 12:46:44 PM
I'm reading Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

I'm such a sellout.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on January 19, 2004, 01:58:18 PM
Quote from: SoNowThen(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F068486259X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=ee1a9e342e99b1766bc9c1ba02d5810db9082cba)

It's almost as good as Easy Riders...., which means that I can't do anything in my spare time but read it!!

Me too. That and Gulliver's Travels, but the Biskind is a complete easy-juicy read, which means you can just pig out on it day after day until it's done, which is bound to be sooner than you want...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on January 20, 2004, 12:51:30 PM
this belongs in  the What are we going to read? thread   but i can't wait to get the von Trier on von Trier... does anyone knows when it's going to be released?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ©brad on January 20, 2004, 01:25:21 PM
i'm currently obsessed w/ bret easton ellis. i'm just about done w/ american psycho, and man, it's intense. i've never read a book that has made me laugh, angry, disturbed, sad, wired, inspired, and disgusted as this fucking book has.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: NEON MERCURY on January 20, 2004, 01:32:45 PM
Quote from: ©bradi'm currently obsessed w/ bret easton ellis. i'm just about done w/ american psycho, and man, it's intense. i've never read a book that has made me laugh, angry, disturbed, sad, wired, inspired, and disgusted as this fucking book has.

that funny.you've mentioned that .b/c i'm 3/4 the way through  psycho..and i feel the same as you......that "Bethany " chapter.is phucked up....

but i guess that is part of the book's "charm".......i have lesss than zer0....and rules of attraction waiting to be read also.....

A QUESTION FOR THE BOARD:

If I like Bret Easton Ellis then i should read books by _____________
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ©brad on January 20, 2004, 01:42:40 PM
Quote from: NEON MERCURYthat funny.you've mentioned that .b/c i'm 3/4 the way through  psycho..and i feel the same as you......that "Bethany " chapter.is phucked up....

that it is. i mean, really, really, really fucked up. i was almost gagging. (i made myself take a break after that chapter.)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: lamas on January 20, 2004, 04:57:33 PM
Quote from: NEON MERCURY
If I like Bret Easton Ellis then i should read books by _____________

Read "Twelve" by Nick McDonell.  The author was 18 when he wrote it.  If I remember correctly, Bret Easton Ellis and Hunter S. Thompson praised the book when it came out.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pas on January 20, 2004, 05:18:59 PM
For all your suggestion needs in books, movies and music

http://www.gnod.net/
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SHAFTR on January 20, 2004, 06:07:38 PM
books I picked up for my Classical Film Theory Class

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F1130000%2F1133114.gif&hash=4361c32a70ace90860daac7164613db7064fecef)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F1130000%2F1133115.gif&hash=9dd5410852c4041e6c0f38029cde607a76370ff6)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F1280000%2F1288696.gif&hash=7d73770c03ff852a7662bf3f773e63935e82f032)

along with Vol 2

Film as Art by Rudolf Arnheim
and
Film as Film by VF Perkins
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on January 21, 2004, 03:40:46 AM
hey does anyone knows if the books that Kubrick recomended once on filmmaking actually exist?
I think one was written by Pudovkin.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on January 21, 2004, 12:00:50 PM
Songbook by Nick Hornby
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Myxo on January 21, 2004, 03:21:13 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fantasticfictionimages.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fn0%2Fn3283.jpg&hash=90c511112865aaa8f107f46f3b9646ceed3585b5)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F03110512011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7060000%2F7065229.jpg&hash=7a102f40eaf723a5973f65f996ec09b2955f5c55)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on January 21, 2004, 03:31:36 PM
does anyone here buys audiobooks? i don't.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ©brad on January 21, 2004, 08:47:49 PM
Quote from: chuckhimselfo.does anyone here buys audiobooks? i don't.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.angelfire.com%2Fca3%2Fseinfeld4%2Fimages%2Fgeorge2.jpg&hash=0ea84eedb407b70f85eebbc237e52a048c14e7c0)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: picolas on January 21, 2004, 08:59:57 PM
my record for most books getting semi-not-read at the same time.
dunno which to focus on.. barely reading any. 'cept finishing conversations...

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0679723161.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=1a3b4ce8b4824da5803691b0f17c796ab88f00e5), (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0385498721.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=de8ca4b348e24e45fdee5aa0e86ca1f5c061da03), (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0385722206.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=37cd1de7f648c444de5eda2dd3031ea225cc9356), (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0676974740.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=2a4ac08ff1cd0e5f9ffda8141a6c2234e0117275).
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleuth on January 21, 2004, 09:16:45 PM
I can't understand when people read multiple books
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cine on January 21, 2004, 09:19:06 PM
I can't understand when people have multiple orgasms.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on January 21, 2004, 10:00:14 PM
Quote from: SlorgI can't understand when people read multiple books
fear of commitment.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Myxo on January 22, 2004, 02:17:38 PM
Quote from: SlorgI can't understand when people read multiple books

I read the Sci-Fi at home before I go to bed and I read the Michael Moore book at work after I finish my lunch for about 30 minutes a day.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on January 22, 2004, 02:19:58 PM
Quote from: picolas;my record for most books getting semi-not-read at the same time.
dunno which to focus on.. barely reading any. 'cept finishing conversations...

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0679723161.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=1a3b4ce8b4824da5803691b0f17c796ab88f00e5), (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0385498721.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=de8ca4b348e24e45fdee5aa0e86ca1f5c061da03), (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0385722206.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=37cd1de7f648c444de5eda2dd3031ea225cc9356), (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0676974740.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=2a4ac08ff1cd0e5f9ffda8141a6c2234e0117275).

Survivor should be the last.

there, there you have it,  i don't like Chuck Palahniuk.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pas on January 22, 2004, 02:32:26 PM
Quote from: SlorgI can't understand when people read multiple books

It's cause it doesn't happen
Title: Harvey & Co.
Post by: Tommy Both on January 22, 2004, 03:52:19 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F068486259X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=ee1a9e342e99b1766bc9c1ba02d5810db9082cba)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on January 22, 2004, 04:11:22 PM
Quote from: CinephileI can't understand when people have multiple orgasms.

Fear of commitment.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: molly on January 22, 2004, 04:21:27 PM
penis envy
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: xerxes on January 22, 2004, 06:56:31 PM
just read:
you shall know our velocity
how to be good
life of pi

next in line:
white teeth
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on January 30, 2004, 07:03:17 AM
Quote from: Chuckhimselfo en Madrid.
there, there you have it,  i don't like Chuck Palahniuk.

Neither do I.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: The Silver Bullet on January 30, 2004, 07:55:33 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0316000647.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=7bbfb19168c145b2664f5ef6550d1eff641697dc)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on January 30, 2004, 09:14:36 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.chapters.indigo.ca%2Fcovers%2Fbooks%2F000%2F0679600000_b.jpg&hash=781a0685580ca3ed01bb476186197163a5fbebb2)


and I'm chasing it with Schrader On Schrader.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Film Student on January 30, 2004, 05:27:04 PM
can't decide which to focus on, but currently reading:

A Confederacy of Dunces
The Sun Also Rises
Beat Cinema
Underground U.S.A.
Title: Re: Harvey & Co.
Post by: A Matter Of Chance on January 30, 2004, 05:51:59 PM
Quote from: tommy_both(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F068486259X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=ee1a9e342e99b1766bc9c1ba02d5810db9082cba)

I just finished and loved this
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: myadopteddaughter on January 31, 2004, 10:03:48 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0679447393.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=8352de5b21587ffd61c2d8c5f0357cc25de9dd43)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: 82 on January 31, 2004, 01:00:26 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0060391685.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=29c9a4395408f96b484a0507a656cf36e1045c63)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeepneygang.com%2Fgraphics%2Fcryptonomicon.jpeg&hash=56b76c40cf002240e8318c7c07de18a9ae5b1fdf)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-jp.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0375704078.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=86dee0ad5b82fcef573f82f6f0db3f099a57979c)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cine on January 31, 2004, 03:48:47 PM
Just purchased and loving this book  :-D  :-D  :-D
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimage.inkfrog.com%2Fpix%2Fhudsonpix%2Fsilentclown1.JPG&hash=b047d500225b17f9c314096c9d73c01e1cb7da31)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: meatwad on February 01, 2004, 08:39:26 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0743243803.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=8ae0d691964e1db58c8d8b4a7ebd3f60cfdb115e)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on February 01, 2004, 08:53:32 PM
Quote from: SoNowThen(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.chapters.indigo.ca%2Fcovers%2Fbooks%2F000%2F0679600000_b.jpg&hash=781a0685580ca3ed01bb476186197163a5fbebb2)

With a moustache ilke that, how could he NOT be a nihilist?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reed Rothchild on February 01, 2004, 10:33:49 PM
im reading Story ;)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Redlum on February 02, 2004, 04:31:05 AM
Quote from: CinephileJust purchased and loving this book  :-D  :-D  :-D
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimage.inkfrog.com%2Fpix%2Fhudsonpix%2Fsilentclown1.JPG&hash=b047d500225b17f9c314096c9d73c01e1cb7da31)
That looks great!...Must find.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cine on February 02, 2004, 07:06:44 AM
Quote from: ®edlum
That looks great!...Must find.
Indeed... Must find... Out of print...  :P  8)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pwaybloe on February 06, 2004, 12:51:40 PM
After watching "A Decade Under the Influence," I started this:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0684857081.01._SCTZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=8b63cc64db1f083952596781072c69fb09738e91)

Detailed.  And Warren Beatty is a pimp.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on February 06, 2004, 12:53:38 PM
I'm three chapters into The Moviegoer by Walker Percy and loving it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: The Disco Kid on February 09, 2004, 05:46:43 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.imgmag.com%2Fimages%2Fbviens%2Fbook.jpg&hash=9b6a0c11b5393707b9d6d109e322cc8b2f60afb5)



Ive only been kicked in the nuts twice this week... I think its working
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on February 10, 2004, 10:01:19 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0440201969.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif&hash=4edb356be87a7e6c4b51f1155ce583dfe8ff9cbb)

Brilliant, as is all KV.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on February 10, 2004, 11:15:44 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0393324141.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=4ea8cc170f6105bf28bd327433b07ab328d264ed)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on February 10, 2004, 11:17:08 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xixax.com%2Ftemplates%2Fxixax%2Fimages%2Flogo.jpg&hash=bb3fef0d79edb6a64e431299b1d16cb1a68aea0c)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on February 10, 2004, 03:30:20 PM
Quote from: SoNowThen(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0440201969.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif&hash=4edb356be87a7e6c4b51f1155ce583dfe8ff9cbb)

Brilliant, as is all KV.

Good book.  My first foray into Vonnegut.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: mogwai on February 10, 2004, 03:54:42 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fw1.422.telia.com%2F%7Eu42243560%2Fmacguffinbook.jpg&hash=d86e95591459db87add0cac4deac5ef54774ca10)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pwaybloe on February 10, 2004, 04:02:48 PM
Awesome.

Mac looks pretty, uh, unhip.  But we'll blame it on the costume department.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: RegularKarate on February 10, 2004, 04:04:54 PM
Quote from: m©gwai(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fw1.422.telia.com%2F%7Eu42243560%2Fmacguffinbook.jpg&hash=d86e95591459db87add0cac4deac5ef54774ca10)

I just finished reading that for the third time.  It gets better each read.


The first time I read it, it blew my mind.  I got to page 124 and it just told me to go back and read page 72 again and, sure enough, there had been something I missed on page 72.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on February 10, 2004, 04:11:03 PM
What cover did you got? Mine changes every four days.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on February 21, 2004, 07:23:59 PM
Quote from: Walrus, Kookookajoob
Quote from: MacGuffin(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fart.half.ebay.com%2Fprod%2F2686175.jpeg&hash=a7ae7e67c46c089d147043c5fa8c553c72adf0f2)

Let me know how Survivor is please, Mac.  I wanted to read it, but as with movies, I don't get around to reading movies or reading books without buying them.  I guess I feel the need to get my money's worth after I buy it or something, but please let me know how it is.

Okay, just finished it, and I have to say it's my least favorite Palahniuk book (I have Choke and Lullaby left to read). I felt the characters and story took a back seat to explore his commentary about fame and celebrity. Of course it has Chuck's wicked sense of humor, and I liked the relation that both the cult and fame 'program' someone, but overall the book just felt like it was lacking character.

I'm now onto:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F068486259X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=ee1a9e342e99b1766bc9c1ba02d5810db9082cba)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: The Silver Bullet on February 21, 2004, 10:46:10 PM
Just finished Eleanor Coppola's Notes on the Making of Apocalypse Now.
It wasn't what I expected it to be, but I liked it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on February 21, 2004, 11:21:07 PM
Reading "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".  Very interesting so far.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on February 22, 2004, 04:07:55 PM
'fer all the Salinger fans:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0316769495.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif&hash=59eb69d9c3e2d691d647736bd1f81207086f31f8)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Redlum on February 22, 2004, 04:52:42 PM
Just finished Catch Me If You Can. Definately worth reading even if you've seen the film. I dont think the film demonstrates half of Abagnales genius or the brutality of that French prison he served in.

Im waiting for Werewolves in their Youth by Michael Chabon to arrive. After enjoying Salingers 12 short stories so much I thought it seemed like a good idea. I love Chabon. Like Hunter Thompson, I find his writing so damn enjoyable that I'd read anything he wrote.

Also thinking of getting A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. Any Xixaxer recomendations?

Also after 12 Storys, F&Z and Catcher - what other Salinger books are there?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on February 22, 2004, 05:10:43 PM
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban  :oops:
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Find Your Magali on February 22, 2004, 05:27:42 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1591840198.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=8c5583f7c59e8318c86e0b37b76c1b5a84d7b51a)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on February 22, 2004, 05:57:24 PM
steel beach
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on February 23, 2004, 05:00:05 AM
something that has nothing to do with movies or politics.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on March 01, 2004, 03:50:14 PM
The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories by Hemingway.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Just Withnail on March 01, 2004, 05:41:47 PM
The funniest book I've ever read:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0517072297.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=e09f646519aa0e6234842e63cd1574cba058ba4b)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on March 02, 2004, 08:50:57 AM
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.

Good read thus far (I'm only 100 pages into it).  Reads like an American version of a Rushdie novel.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cine on March 02, 2004, 09:21:15 AM
Quote from: WithnailThe funniest book I've ever read:
Got it. Love it. Agree with it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sigur Rós on March 02, 2004, 11:35:21 AM
Quote from: Psomething that has nothing to do with movies or politics.

porn?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on March 02, 2004, 06:09:48 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0747546290.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=087ca0863e2b1ac64a296c83ee4e6328081b1576)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Thrindle on March 07, 2004, 04:57:08 PM
Quote from: godardian(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0893816949.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=84b7866e49c0f703fe8afe1cec1890653979f868)

i saw her exhibit in LA, absolutely wonderful. i bought the book.my fovorite is the picture of the old woman on the velvet couch with the bee hive hair. breathtaking.

That picture is in an issue of Vanity Fair... Some very cool photography I must say.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cine on March 07, 2004, 05:24:28 PM
Arbus is one of my favourite photographers. I could stare at Boy With A Toy Hand Grenade for hours.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on March 13, 2004, 02:47:21 PM
Just started "Journey to the End of the Night".  Anyone read it?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on March 14, 2004, 11:15:27 AM
Quote from: hacksparrowMiddlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.

Good read thus far (I'm only 100 pages into it).  Reads like an American version of a Rushdie novel.

This is absolutely one of the best novels of recent memory. I loved it. Right up there with The Corrections.

Me:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F205.175.99.70%2F060x%2F0542884822.gif&hash=17c94a76619dd53d2e072bda8002cdea194cb2a5)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Redlum on March 14, 2004, 01:39:00 PM
Makes me long for the summer.
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0340424354.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=d4e8fb932a44c6a3b1a9d738c5502bf90bd40bad)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ©brad on March 14, 2004, 05:07:32 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0375703845.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=125f9690ec19b248686fa118f39467fea765f2ac)

well i guess i'm oficially obsessed w/ bret easton ellis now, cuz this book is unreal. took me a minute to get into it w/ Victor cuz he really is a complete dueshbag. the thing about american psycho is that even though patrick bateman is completely, completely despicable, you still kinda liked him. (maybe amused is the better term) here this victor dude is just a complete dick-- so in that respect, it was a little distancing. (for those of you who haven't read it yet, the protagonist is Victor, the kid from rules of attraction who goes to europe. lauren and various other charcters make some cameos, even patrick bateman shows up at one point)

ellis is surely one of the most talented, hard-biting satirists there is. his ability and detail in describing time/setting/era is almost scary.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on March 14, 2004, 05:20:11 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.overstock.com%2Ff%2F102%2F3117%2F8h%2Fwww.overstock.com%2Fimages%2Fproducts%2Fmuze%2Fbooks%2F0385484011.jpg&hash=4aa76a3b16fc66cad3216cbbfca4e1b453e4379c)

So far, this book is interesting.  Can't say I agree with all of Wurtzel's conclusions, but she does raise some very interesting points.  She rants on and on...with all kinds of pop culture references...creating very addictive reading.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on March 14, 2004, 05:22:18 PM
Quote from: Thrindle
Quote from: godardian(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0893816949.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=84b7866e49c0f703fe8afe1cec1890653979f868)

i saw her exhibit in LA, absolutely wonderful. i bought the book.my fovorite is the picture of the old woman on the velvet couch with the bee hive hair. breathtaking.

That picture is in an issue of Vanity Fair... Some very cool photography I must say.

I first ever heard of Arbus through the Stanley Kubrick biography from '96 or '97... went into detail about his friendship with Arbus through their shared love of photography, and how he paid homage to that famous photo above in The Shining. I had to find it right away, bought the book, and the rest is history.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Dirk on March 14, 2004, 05:43:46 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0060185406.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=7be4e8a1892bee596bf4a9ccc00795d51ce7ae1e)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on March 22, 2004, 02:12:26 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0195086473.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=e75ceab47e85fde8477dd4ae3ccd160c83a87aae)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sigur Rós on March 22, 2004, 02:17:22 PM
Mark Twain - The Mysterious Stranger

Awesome!!!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on March 25, 2004, 02:29:27 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0099388715.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=a899a43459497aa60d35a8a56f9e2ae27d953d81)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on April 06, 2004, 12:17:43 AM
Just finished: The Heart Of The Matter, by Graham Greene. May just be my favorite work of his yet.

Just started: Middlesex. 200 pages in and loving it.

Still finishing: Conversations With Wilder. Would have finished it already but it compells me to rent more of his movies every fifty pages or so.

Took back to library: Tocqueville's Democracy In America. The first 150 pages were great, but I was reading too many other things at the moment and ran out of time.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: BonBon85 on April 06, 2004, 01:16:34 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F1230000%2F1230224.gif&hash=93cee6d0281a138db2fe45764bb04b98ffb20427)

I've gotten into the habit of buying anything I can get for under $5 at the Strand and reading at work. Yay incredibly easy job!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on April 06, 2004, 01:31:09 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs1-images.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FA%2FY02Y6685168Y0026615.0001.04.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=2424870b38cba88da195e9fd23124d56fef3cb70)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Tictacbk on April 06, 2004, 01:47:30 PM
Just started reading Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett...hilarious
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on April 06, 2004, 03:01:39 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F8430603271.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=26879ad78f3d571a2626c892bc049d8974dd5b20)

Passionate Defense of The Spanish Language.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on April 06, 2004, 04:00:07 PM
Quote from: SoNowThen(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs1-images.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FA%2FY02Y6685168Y0026615.0001.04.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=2424870b38cba88da195e9fd23124d56fef3cb70)

:yabbse-thumbup:

It's not quite The Stranger, but excellent nevertheless... wouldn't seem to be up your alley, so congrats for squirming out of your pigeonhole!  :) What's next, Bataille? Genet? de Beauvoir?  :lol:

You read Myth of Sisyphus?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on April 06, 2004, 04:17:40 PM
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: SoNowThen(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs1-images.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FA%2FY02Y6685168Y0026615.0001.04.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=2424870b38cba88da195e9fd23124d56fef3cb70)

:yabbse-thumbup:

It's not quite The Stranger, but excellent nevertheless... wouldn't seem to be up your alley, so congrats for squirming out of your pigeonhole!  :) What's next, Bataille? Genet? de Beauvoir?  :lol:

Sartre, actually. And more Camus, seeing how I'm loving this one.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on April 06, 2004, 04:52:13 PM
Quote from: SoNowThen
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: SoNowThen(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs1-images.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FA%2FY02Y6685168Y0026615.0001.04.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=2424870b38cba88da195e9fd23124d56fef3cb70)

:yabbse-thumbup:

It's not quite The Stranger, but excellent nevertheless... wouldn't seem to be up your alley, so congrats for squirming out of your pigeonhole!  :) What's next, Bataille? Genet? de Beauvoir?  :lol:

Sartre, actually. And more Camus, seeing how I'm loving this one.

Myth of Sisyphus?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on April 06, 2004, 05:20:41 PM
Quote from: godardianThe Stranger

I thought it was called The Outsider in English. Funny thing is,  the real translation for  L'Etranger is The Foreigner  .

EDIT: yep, British version: (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0141182504.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=e41fd2955d6e7884fa06e62b1441c0de9a0f0d71)

American version:(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fworldgain.com%2Fskew%2Fneural%2Fwritings%2Fbooks%2Fimages%2FtheStranger.gif&hash=b5898d26461315411d78fe621fd55bb9c9a868d7)

French version: (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.almac.co.uk%2Fpersonal%2Ftimw%2Fbooks%2Fetranger.jpg&hash=e97cb53c7a1668a1694b46979f5b40f36f611872)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pas on April 06, 2004, 05:45:02 PM
Quote from: cronopio
Quote from: godardianThe Stranger

I thought it was called The Outsider in English. Funny thing is,  the real translation for  L'Etranger is The Foreigner  .

Étranger can mean foreigner, stranger and outsider.

I think Outsider fits best for the book. I also think L'Étranger is one of the finest piece of litterature of all time. So  :yabbse-thumbup:

Myth of Sisyphus should be read right after or at the same time as The Outsider, as said Sartre.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on April 06, 2004, 05:49:15 PM
I like Foreigner better .  :-D
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pas on April 06, 2004, 05:49:59 PM
Quote from: cronopioI like Foreigner better .  :-D

He is in no way a foreigner at any point in the book.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on April 06, 2004, 05:53:01 PM
Metaphor.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on April 06, 2004, 07:53:46 PM
That's so funny, cos Pas and I were just discussing this in PM's earlier today. Being stupidly English, I didn't buy the "outsider" version of this the other day, cos I thought they fucked up the translation :roll: . But now I'll grab it, now that I know better...

To please you all, I promise to get Sisyphus at the same time as Outsider/Stranger. Yay. Go existentialism!!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: El Duderino on April 06, 2004, 08:05:33 PM
I just finished "Breakfast of Champions" by Kurt Vonnegut today, excellent book. if anyone ever has a chance to read it, do so.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: doja on April 06, 2004, 10:35:05 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1563896001.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=e5a4c5a3a0b8fd6315d00a6acb317a313db3db38)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on April 16, 2004, 05:38:14 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.powells.com%2Fcgi-bin%2FimageDB.cgi%3Fisbn%3D0679781803&hash=02da4edb4622715e7238adc01bff19a6db5edc18)

Joan Didion - Miami
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sanjuro on April 17, 2004, 05:56:41 AM
ON THE ROAD
BY jack kerouac[/img]
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Redlum on April 17, 2004, 06:29:31 AM
The Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Find Your Magali on April 18, 2004, 12:14:38 PM
Interesting for those interested in (1) Microsoft, (2) modern hiring culture, (3) some gnarly puzzles, (4) getting hired in the tech industry

It's a fun read. Good job of reporting.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0316778494.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=ce84e00363d2c969a2ce174a24e7ba35e5ba4c7d)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on April 18, 2004, 12:30:56 PM
Just finished Middlesex. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant.

Moving on to The Bell Jar.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: bonanzataz on April 18, 2004, 09:48:32 PM
i got nostalgic and decided to start reading the chronicles of narnia again. i finished the first 2 books within 4 days, but now i'm getting bored. don't know if i'm going to finish dawn treader.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: El Duderino on April 18, 2004, 09:53:44 PM
yesterday, i decided to pick up a Goosebumps book. they used to scare me, now they're fucking hilarious.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: molly on April 19, 2004, 01:21:53 PM
I've just found in my inbox an e-mail from me, from that same email address, containing virus.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: rustinglass on April 19, 2004, 01:55:00 PM
was it a good read, at least?

you really should delete suspicious-looking emails
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: El Duderino on April 19, 2004, 06:29:34 PM
i just finished "The Da Vinci Code" it was good, but it's waaayyy overrated.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: molly on April 19, 2004, 06:54:15 PM
Quote from: rustinglasswas it a good read, at least?

you really should delete suspicious-looking emails

deleted, i'm not reading that stuff, it's all 26kb and from unfamiliar addresses
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on April 20, 2004, 11:46:24 AM
Training Mules and Donkeys: A Logical Approach to Longears by Meredith Hodges

.. It really is the most comprehensive guide on the market.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on April 20, 2004, 01:11:51 PM
Quote from: El Duderinoi just finished "The Da Vinci Code" it was good, but it's waaayyy overrated.

Yeah.  I read that one around Thanksgiving.  Interesting read but Foucault's Pendulum, it's not.

I started reading Angels and Demons a couple of weeks ago but I had to put it down; it's the EXACT same book as Da Vinci Code.  Like Dan Brown has a story template that he doesn't deviate from at all.  It's all there: woken up in the middle of the night, taken to some foreign landmark, there's an accomplished woman related to the deceased, an obnoxious police officer, a wild goose chase, and a killer on the loose working for an unknown mastermind. If you were considering reading it, don't waste your time.  The factoids are interesting but the book wears on you very fast, particularly if you read more than pop lit.  I had to put this down to read Peter Biskind's Down and Dirty Pictures.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: md on April 20, 2004, 04:02:59 PM
I feel guilty because I don't read as much as I should, but there are so many great movies I need to see.  how do you find time to read?

make time dumbass
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on April 20, 2004, 04:20:32 PM
I recommend GRABBING THE BOOK AND START READING. Seriously, the book won't read by itself.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: El Duderino on April 20, 2004, 07:13:08 PM
Quote from: cronopio inrockuptiblethe book won't read by itself.

book on tape.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on April 20, 2004, 09:10:06 PM
Quote from: mdI feel guilty because I don't read as much as I should, but there are so many great movies I need to see.  how do you find time to read?

make time dumbass

You don't even have to make time; I guarantee you have time in which to read that you pass up every single day. A prime example would be right now: why read this when you could read a book?

Honestly, though, from the ages of 14 to 19 -- starting at about the point I developed any sort of social life -- I had a lot of trouble reading. I've got a really short attention span -- if my parents weren't so holistic, they'd probably have put me on some ADD medication -- and it's only been in the past few years that I've developed the concentration I need to read at the volumes I do now.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on April 20, 2004, 09:22:38 PM
on the bus, train, in bed, when u've seen all the movies u want for one day.

between 9pm and midnite usually.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SoNowThen on April 21, 2004, 09:02:30 AM
While taking a dump, once a day, everyday. Not kidding. You gotta sit there anyway, why not read? I apply this to bus trips as well, but there's something to be said about the advanced concentration you can devote to a book when you are allowed to totally loosen your bowels.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: El Duderino on April 21, 2004, 01:47:42 PM
i read while crapping, but it's usually magazines.....perhaps the tide has turned and i will now start books. or book on tape
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on April 21, 2004, 02:19:37 PM
I usually have to devote all my concentration towards the matter at hand. A friend of mine, though, he read War and Peace in its entirety on the pot. It took him a couple of years, but still.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on April 21, 2004, 04:30:57 PM
Newspapers and magazines on the toilet.

"Serious" books on the bus/train. I'll also get into bed early so as to have time to read last thing before going to sleep.

Before my shedule got so hectic recently, I was taking a few hours a few nights a week to go to the graduate reading room at the University of Washington- vast space, total enforced silence, perfect place to just absorb yourself in a book.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on April 24, 2004, 04:03:11 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1564782131.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=13dda14f5e029ce55288f5d8f502a2aa8f4881a5)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on April 24, 2004, 08:49:36 PM
Lullaby - Chuck Palahniuk
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on April 29, 2004, 01:09:53 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.booknest.gr%2Fimages%2FGreat_apes.jpg&hash=ac7134fe030062b75b3c8a3e79ff7d2b057ff275)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on April 29, 2004, 01:32:05 PM
Madam Bovary - Flaubert

Devil In The White City - Erik Larson
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: coffeebeetle on April 29, 2004, 01:47:41 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F068817762X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=933ff5dbceb63ba6d9cc8920cc7b586f839dab06)

This is on hilarious read.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on April 29, 2004, 02:50:06 PM
Oh, I LOVE Music for Torching!! I actually went to see Homes read from it. She's a very funny person; her sardonic humor matches mine very closely. Great choice. Perfect novel for any Strangers with Candy fans here.

Me:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.powells.com%2Fcgi-bin%2FimageDB.cgi%3Fisbn%3D0140290117&hash=21743ec96b77b56820bed1f2fd325b8048c58eda)

Selected Non-Fictions - Borges
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: coffeebeetle on April 29, 2004, 02:52:32 PM
Yeah, her style of humor just seeps through the page, doesn't it?   :)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on June 07, 2004, 10:07:38 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F5400000%2F5401291.gif&hash=2b247e6fcd6e167e046cd3ea1d9a2295cf1d44ab)
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Thrindle on June 07, 2004, 11:25:09 PM
^

COINCIDENCE!

I JUST FINISHED THIS YESTERDAY!!! NICE WORK!!!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on June 08, 2004, 01:55:05 AM
I finished The Bell Jar last month (a copy with that very same copy). It appealed to the teenage girl in me. Objectively, it was good, although too clearly a mostly autobiographical first novel. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it's a shame Plath didn't live long enough to progress as a prose writer as well as a poet (although supposedly did write another novel, but burned it). Of course, had she not killed herself, The Bell Jar would lack the fatalist edge it seems to have.

I'm currently finishing Madame Bovary, which is great, and beginning (finally) Down And Dirty Pictures, although with markedly less enthusiasm than I had when I began Easy Riders, Raging Bulls.

Devil In The White City, by the way, is an enormously enlightening and fascinating read. I highly suggest picking it up if you're in the mood for some historical nonfiction.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Thrindle on June 08, 2004, 01:59:23 AM
Feels odd to admit this... but while reading The Bell Jar, I had to read it sporadically and without intensity.  Hit too close to home I guess.  The mind is so fragile...  and Plath captured that all too well.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on June 08, 2004, 11:31:36 AM
Lynch on Lynch.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on June 08, 2004, 02:35:34 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fart.half.ebay.com%2Fprod%2F166578.jpg&hash=079d4d772c87fa06b994a1806f6829fdf05fe17d)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: xerxes on June 08, 2004, 02:40:27 PM
i read the bell jar in high school when i was really angsty. needless to say, i loved it. i liked to read it again at some point.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on June 08, 2004, 03:22:37 PM
Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism, by Susan Jacoby
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on June 08, 2004, 05:17:41 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F006039322X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=320b0204c55d7b702a957d7425365052ddcd18da)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Dirk on June 08, 2004, 05:58:05 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1582343853.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=c9c710b636c7ba5cc929e0e8c358a63c1af077a3)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on June 09, 2004, 02:14:19 AM
"Ask the Dust" John Fante
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on June 09, 2004, 02:18:09 AM
Quote from: classical gas"Ask the Dust" John Fante
excellent choice

currently (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.atlasshrugged.tv%2Fimages%2Fbook_cover.jpg&hash=de1d401750a508a1ef8f03ddac940cfb226267b0)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on June 09, 2004, 10:36:27 AM
CHOKE


(Does anyone know any authors similar to Palahniuk?  I'm in a Palahniuk frenzy lately, I need more Nihilism (and no I don't mean Nietzsche nihilism))
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Dirk on June 09, 2004, 11:49:16 AM
Quote from: Mr. NamelessNumberHeadManDoes anyone know any authors similar to Palahniuk?  I'm in a Palahniuk frenzy lately, I need more Nihilism (and no I don't mean Nietzsche nihilism

J.G Ballard
William Burroughs
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on June 09, 2004, 12:13:47 PM
Quote from: Mr. NamelessNumberHeadMan(Does anyone know any authors similar to Palahniuk?  I'm in a Palahniuk frenzy lately, I need more Nihilism (and no I don't mean Nietzsche nihilism))

budgie recommended to me Chemical Pink by Katie Arnoldi, which is somewhat in same vein as a Palahniuk book.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: El Duderino on June 09, 2004, 02:36:43 PM
Quote from: Mr. NamelessNumberHeadManCHOKE

fantastic book. how did you like it?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: coffeebeetle on June 09, 2004, 02:58:08 PM
Paul Auster's New York Trilogy
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on June 10, 2004, 12:38:56 AM
Quote from: Pedro the Wombat
Quote from: classical gas"Ask the Dust" John Fante
excellent choice

currently (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.atlasshrugged.tv%2Fimages%2Fbook_cover.jpg&hash=de1d401750a508a1ef8f03ddac940cfb226267b0)

I had a complete love/hate relationship with this book after I read it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on June 10, 2004, 01:13:28 AM
Quote from: classical gas
Quote from: Pedro the Wombat
Quote from: classical gas"Ask the Dust" John Fante
excellent choice

currently (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.atlasshrugged.tv%2Fimages%2Fbook_cover.jpg&hash=de1d401750a508a1ef8f03ddac940cfb226267b0)

I had a complete love/hate relationship with this book after I read it.
that's what i hear from everyone that's read it, hopefully i'll be able to get through it...it's kind of a struggle.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Thrindle on June 10, 2004, 02:57:19 AM
Atlas Shrugged sits in my bookcase - untouched.  I have not had the guts to touch it... don't really even know what to expect.

I have fear.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on June 10, 2004, 02:14:41 PM
Quote from: coffeebeetlePaul Auster's New York Trilogy
i stopped at the second story. overrated.

maybe it was cool in the 80s..
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: doja on June 10, 2004, 02:42:54 PM
white nights - dostoevsky
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on June 10, 2004, 11:31:28 PM
Quote from: El Duderino
Quote from: Mr. NamelessNumberHeadManCHOKE

fantastic book. how did you like it?

I don't know what to think...

It's the only book (other than the Bible) that makes me a bit ashamed to be aroused.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on June 18, 2004, 04:48:47 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0385504489.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=2a730e545819ee3052a0ef2360410be6b20d9e0f)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Just Withnail on June 18, 2004, 06:12:31 PM
Just finished Peter Cowie's "Revolution!", surprised myself by finishing it so fast that I don't know what to start reading next.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: moonshiner on June 18, 2004, 10:20:36 PM
Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on June 19, 2004, 12:16:18 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1932234446.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=8beb7fee57b8e20cdc76727c9a40adb174a70b9b)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on June 22, 2004, 01:20:28 AM
I just finished Down And Dirty Pictures last week. My opinion can be found here (http://www.road-dog-productions.com/log13.html).

I felt like I needed to read some uplifting, rather blithely spirited literature, so  I picked:

As I Lay Dying by William Faukner.

Child Of God by Cormac McCarthy.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Myxo on June 22, 2004, 01:29:51 AM
This just shipped today.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0375414576.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=4ec345cdbca37e529fc5d78a94c1aae21fdc464e)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleuth on June 22, 2004, 01:30:45 AM
And how was it?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on June 23, 2004, 06:42:12 PM
Finished:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F5610000%2F5614404.gif&hash=e05f8e6332379c0f1a65911660ee76986a57df6d)
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

Half-way through:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7560000%2F7560231.gif&hash=d8feb549769897a8512b4946f6860732990d3cbc)
White Oleander - Janet Finch
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Thrindle on June 23, 2004, 09:12:59 PM
Quote from: GloriaHalf-way through:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7560000%2F7560231.gif&hash=d8feb549769897a8512b4946f6860732990d3cbc)
White Oleander - Janet Finch

AWESOME BOOK!  Makes the movie suck a big dirty pipe though, I'll tell you that.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on June 23, 2004, 10:22:03 PM
Quote from: GloriaFinished:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F5610000%2F5614404.gif&hash=e05f8e6332379c0f1a65911660ee76986a57df6d)
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

I read that a while ago, and am about to start on another one of his books "The Wanting Seed."  Anyone read that?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on June 24, 2004, 01:50:42 PM
Quote from: ThrindleAWESOME BOOK!  Makes the movie suck a big dirty pipe though, I'll tell you that.

I actually liked the movie (especially the performances) but, you're right, the book is far superior. I think the movie tried way too hard to be PG-13 when the book obviously isn't.  Lost a lot of depth that way.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on June 25, 2004, 01:41:21 PM
Currently Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller.

NEXT: Naked Lunch by William Burroughs
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on July 10, 2004, 12:52:09 AM
just started Candide.  

it's in this book anthology of world masterpieces or something.  so, i'm not sure if it's just an excerpt.  is it really that short?  less than a hundred pages?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on July 10, 2004, 01:32:30 AM
Quote from: Walrus, KookookajoobI read that a while ago, and am about to start on another one of his books "The Wanting Seed."  Anyone read that?
Yes! I love that book. I'll always wonder why there isn't a movie of it already, some of it is in tune with issues of today, in a way.

I just bought 'Stanley Kubrick, Director: A Visual Analysis' today. Haven't gotten too far into it yet, but it gives some amazing insight into Kubrick and how he worked (to me, anway) and I already love it. I could just be jumping to conclusions though.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on July 17, 2004, 07:10:32 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F1340000%2F1342406.gif&hash=c6cf451b9393314e65ca54bf6dda6021d79b9f2f)
She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: A Matter Of Chance on July 17, 2004, 08:18:26 PM
Summer Reading Time:

On The Road - Kerouac
The Grapes Of Wrath - Stienbeck (required)
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings - Angelou (required)
Satanic Verses -Rushdie
Shockproof Sydney Skate - Meaker
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Redlum on July 18, 2004, 07:28:11 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0747531455.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=0324c9c1a788636ef4f5ff18618aed1ef3f58545)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: FeloniousFunk on July 18, 2004, 08:39:19 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0385509472.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=3ab8edd08979d4cfe3ca5ad948ac58bed5a6e554) by Chuck Palahniuk
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on July 18, 2004, 09:40:30 AM
Quote from: classical gasjust started Candide.  

it's in this book anthology of world masterpieces or something.  so, i'm not sure if it's just an excerpt.  is it really that short?  less than a hundred pages?
It's pretty damn short. About 100 pages sounds about right.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: xerxes on July 18, 2004, 12:59:45 PM
i just started the wind-up bird chronicle after finishing sputnik sweetheart.  murakami is quite an interesting writer.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: for petes sake on July 22, 2004, 10:23:19 PM
crossed off the summer reading list:

Candide
The Magnificent Ambersons
Lolita
The Da Vinci Code
The Night of the Iguana
Sweet Bird of Youth
The Rose Tatoo

Currently reading: Pi, the script and Darren's "guerilla journal entries"
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: rustinglass on July 23, 2004, 04:47:54 AM
I just started reading The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumb-ass.
It's going to take me a while this fucker, two volumes, 760 pages each. but it's good so far.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: 82 on July 23, 2004, 03:55:16 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gladwell.com%2Fimages%2Ftippt_cover1.gif&hash=006f1b2e20e74c6f77b1077ab2a88d179810c78a)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1568582196.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=898d5082615843245a3b55a0be5501d945821207)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: coffeebeetle on July 23, 2004, 06:20:12 PM
Choke by Palahniuk

Savoring every fucking page of this one.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on July 24, 2004, 03:57:36 PM
Quote from: coffeebeetleChoke by Palahniuk

Savoring every fucking page of this one.

Good pick!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on July 25, 2004, 07:19:04 AM
everything not to do with movies.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on July 27, 2004, 11:27:22 AM
Quote from: 82The Tipping Point

Someone made a book out of the new Roots album?  :wink:  Seriously, it sounds interesting.  I'll be picking that one up myself soon.  

I'm on:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bookreporter.com%2Fart%2Fcovers%2F140w%2F0140131671.jpg&hash=0366cfa37168888644a4a527de3472997a759da1)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on July 27, 2004, 12:35:15 PM
The Cold Six Thousand By James Ellroy
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on July 27, 2004, 01:11:02 PM
Quote from: SiliasRubyThe Cold Six Thousand By James Ellroy

Forgot where I heard this but the best thing I heard about this book was that the title refers to the amount of sentences per page.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on July 27, 2004, 01:11:57 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fart.half.ebay.com%2Fprod%2F2296399.jpeg&hash=4781f9f68ec2b594c26bd0f0ef97e9a2881e573f)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on July 27, 2004, 01:40:23 PM
Quote from: hacksparrow
Quote from: SiliasRubyThe Cold Six Thousand By James Ellroy

Forgot where I heard this but the best thing I heard about this book was that the title refers to the amount of sentences per page.
Yep, that's about right. It's actually a noir set in the backdrop of Dallas, Texas on the day JFK was shot and the years that follow.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: mogwai on July 27, 2004, 01:44:57 PM
Quote from: SiliasRuby
Quote from: hacksparrow
Quote from: SiliasRubyThe Cold Six Thousand By James Ellroy

Forgot where I heard this but the best thing I heard about this book was that the title refers to the amount of sentences per page.
Yep, that's about right. It's actually a noir set in the backdrop of Dallas, Texas on the day JFK was shot and the years that follow.
is it any good? i bought it. a couple of years ago. but i found it hard to read. every sentence. consists mainly. of two. or three. words. i really. wanted. to. read. it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on July 27, 2004, 02:19:03 PM
Quote from: mogwai
Quote from: SiliasRuby
Quote from: hacksparrow
Quote from: SiliasRubyThe Cold Six Thousand By James Ellroy

Forgot where I heard this but the best thing I heard about this book was that the title refers to the amount of sentences per page.
Yep, that's about right. It's actually a noir set in the backdrop of Dallas, Texas on the day JFK was shot and the years that follow.
is it any good? i bought it. a couple of years ago. but i found it hard to read. every sentence. consists mainly. of two. or three. words. i really. wanted. to. read. it.
It takes some time and patience but, overall, it's definitely worth another try Mogwai. Gosh I hate when I incidently rhyme.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on July 27, 2004, 02:20:40 PM
If you can read NEON's posts, that book should be a breeze to get through.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on July 27, 2004, 07:55:07 PM
running with scissors by augusten burroughs, just finished it, high mix of emotions right now
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleuth on July 28, 2004, 12:15:27 AM
I just finished reading ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE and now I'm too excited to sleep
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SHAFTR on July 28, 2004, 01:44:36 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0393324818.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=3d4e2695efe44b55f5d44d1326f436eee3ef8188)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Myxo on July 28, 2004, 07:46:35 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0064471837.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=9a89356e6d6522874bf6873bf693773934eb9b5b)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on July 28, 2004, 08:34:54 PM
I'm reading the mens bible.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.longhairgroup.com%2Fmedia_kit%2Fcosmopolitan-june.jpg&hash=14a8900d63fab9f0ae89280e6fc39bde3aceb466)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on July 29, 2004, 01:09:30 AM
Quote from: ewardrunning with scissors by augusten burroughs, just finished it, high mix of emotions right now
Fantastic Book and if you like that I suggest read his other book Dry about alcoholism and the advertising industry.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on July 29, 2004, 11:44:04 AM
about to start it, thank you
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Thrindle on July 29, 2004, 09:57:38 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fruthlessreviews.com%2Fpics%2Fstaggeringgenius.gif&hash=1a3f6fae86a9fde324b070c1500de5cfe7014f67)
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genuis by Dave Eggers

So far, fucking brilliant.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on July 29, 2004, 11:29:54 PM
Quote from: ThrindleSo far, fucking brilliant.
still on the first hundred pages i see..
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on July 31, 2004, 12:19:28 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0140447334.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=27c03ad2283aef438a88226bfa1347ab760620b3)
Includes:
Ivanov
The Seagull
Uncle Vanya
Three Sisters
The Cherry Orchard
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Just Withnail on July 31, 2004, 05:21:28 AM
Quote from: ranemaka13The Seagull

Quote from: Withnail & IBastard asked me to understudy Constantine in The Seagull. I'm not going to understudy anyone, especially that little pimp. Anyway, I loath those Russian plays. Always full of women starring out of windows whining about ducks going to Moscow.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on July 31, 2004, 11:56:39 AM
Little Monsters by Palahniuk.

I am addicted to his writing style.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on July 31, 2004, 01:01:30 PM
Quote from: Walrus, KookookajoobLittle Monsters by Palahniuk.

Invisible Monsters. Chuck had nothing to do with the Howie Mandel film.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on July 31, 2004, 01:44:56 PM
Quote from: ...& I
Quote from: ranemaka13The Seagull

Quote from: Withnail & IBastard asked me to understudy Constantine in The Seagull. I'm not going to understudy anyone, especially that little pimp. Anyway, I loath those Russian plays. Always full of women starring out of windows whining about ducks going to Moscow.
:lol:
I bought it mainly for Ivanov. I saw a show on Ovation about the English production w/Ralph Feinnes performing in Russia. I liked what I saw, and it's extremely easy for me to obsess over something with the smallest amount of information about it.
For instance:
chamber dramas (or anything similar) =  :yabbse-thumbup:
Ralph Feinnes = :yabbse-thumbup:
Chekhov is Russian, hey! So is Tarkovsky! = :yabbse-thumbup:

It's sad, I know. :?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cyk on July 31, 2004, 03:16:39 PM
sorry but i'm a fantasy reader....(and clive barker)

right this moment i'm reading
David Eddings "the ruby knight"

it's good but not THAT good....

the book that became my new bible was
Clive Barkers "Imajica"
it works on every level for me.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on July 31, 2004, 06:12:21 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin
Quote from: Walrus, KookookajoobLittle Monsters by Palahniuk.

Invisible Monsters. Chuck had nothing to do with the Howie Mandel film.

Talk about being zoned out, I hardly remember even posting that.

I mean I am reading Invisible Monsters, but man what was going on...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: coffeebeetle on August 01, 2004, 08:35:31 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fantasticfictionimages.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fc0%2Fc774.jpg&hash=fd4252dbe6f993766b67501b7358b1f5ccc1d038)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on August 01, 2004, 11:31:28 PM
Emily Dickinson - Selected Poems

I'm catching up on some quailty poetry.  My favorite so far:

This is my letter to the world,
That never wrote to me, -
The simple news that Nature told
With tender majesty.

Her message is committed
To hands I cannot see;
For love of her, sweet countrymen,
Judge tenderly of me!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on August 11, 2004, 05:29:55 PM
Yesterday I bought Vanity Fair, Candide, and The History of Farting.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: bonanzataz on August 11, 2004, 06:13:18 PM
i finished this: (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F4070000%2F4078922.gif&hash=6955932096c859eb1312f912518e51de1b0ff5b2)
Perfume
Patrick Suskind


and am halfway done with this: (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7780000%2F7786444.gif&hash=e27df6beb4f9900eb22c6bac60c90f42997c4481)
Dress Your Family In Corduroy and Denim
David Sedaris


Perfume was so bizarrely fucked up. It started off slow but really (and I mean really) picked up in the end. I enjoyed it, I have to say.

I love Sedaris. Some compare him to Dave Eggers, but I think Sedaris is much better. I don't feel like he's talking down to me like I sometimes feel with eggers. after this one, I have to read the iliad for school. that might prove to be a chore.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Thrindle on August 11, 2004, 07:26:28 PM
Quote from: bonanzatazI don't feel like he's talking down to me like I sometimes feel with eggers.

I'm still reading reading AHWOSG by Eggers (I have a bad habit of putting of "finishing" books half-way through) and I know what you mean about him.  He can get a little preachy.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Just Withnail on August 11, 2004, 08:42:23 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0743250451.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=bff9f3d5a8d4b925ba8d10cf4f4e0206dce8b957)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: 03 on August 12, 2004, 09:43:34 PM
has anyone here read 'blood and guts in high school' by kathy acker? i finished it a few weeks ago, and i really enjoyed it. i would like to hear some serious comments on it, if anyone else knows this work.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: picolas on August 18, 2004, 12:07:03 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0451169514.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg&hash=768a39626012768dc77f935f1bc00a3153151426) oooooooooooooooooh gad.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on August 18, 2004, 01:18:20 PM
Martin Amis - London Fields.

If the rest of his work is anything like the first 120 pages of this book, I have a new favorite author.

Just found out that David Cronenberg is filming this next.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on August 22, 2004, 03:21:04 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0142004359.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=b90cd19cbd8215949437a5620e428c1a4b212f65)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: rustinglass on August 22, 2004, 03:28:33 PM
good?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cine on August 22, 2004, 03:34:28 PM
Quote from: rustinglassgood?
Well, I read it.. and all it made me do was trade in my camera equipment for a 1991 Plymouth Sundance.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on September 07, 2004, 10:56:19 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin(//EXTREME%20DV%20BOOK)

Me, too. Not bad. Kinda book I read out of order.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on September 07, 2004, 11:04:48 PM
Quote from: rustinglassgood?

Actually, yes. I like his other book: Feature Filmmaking At Used Car Prices, so this is really a good extension for DV.

Quote from: HedwigKinda book I read out of order.

I was doing that too.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on September 08, 2004, 01:15:23 AM
cassavettes on cassavettes

FUCKING INCREDIBLE!!!!!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on September 08, 2004, 01:28:52 AM
Quote from: ewardcassavettes on cassavettes

FUCKING INCREDIBLE!!!!!

I've been meaning to read that. What's incredible about it??
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Just Withnail on September 08, 2004, 09:38:04 AM
Have you ever tried to be on yourself?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ©brad on September 08, 2004, 10:01:34 AM
just finished

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.globalgourmet.com%2Ffood%2Fkgk%2F2003%2F0303%2Fkitchen.jpg&hash=bbb07df55c9422f0a0df0e7a61b5fd3affe31e66)

and it was brilliant, especially for anyone who's ever worked in a restaurant, or hell, anyone who's ever eaten in one.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: xerxes on September 08, 2004, 12:57:19 PM
i never really liked that guy.  seems like an ass.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on September 08, 2004, 02:50:50 PM
Quote from: kotte
Quote from: ewardcassavettes on cassavettes

FUCKING INCREDIBLE!!!!!

I've been meaning to read that. What's incredible about it??

without giving any goods away, i'll just say that its one of the mnost inspiring books on film i've ever read, and totally just reminds me of why i wanna make movies and do nothing else.  its absolutely invigorating.  i know thats not saying anything more than "fucking incredible" said, but seriously, dont hesitate, read it.  read it now.  then again, and again, and again...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on September 08, 2004, 05:25:32 PM
I just finished:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7090000%2F7091896.gif&hash=20b244e53f1d4440f1711c648e651c737c78d5ca)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

and just started:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7090000%2F7091898.gif&hash=4c001622b5d3877236789d52671f7cc993003f90)
The Importance of Being Earnest & Four Other Plays

I think the B&N Classics are the Criterion of books, but affordable.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on September 08, 2004, 05:38:26 PM
Quote from: eward
Quote from: kotte
Quote from: ewardcassavettes on cassavettes

FUCKING INCREDIBLE!!!!!

I've been meaning to read that. What's incredible about it??

without giving any goods away, i'll just say that its one of the mnost inspiring books on film i've ever read, and totally just reminds me of why i wanna make movies and do nothing else.  its absolutely invigorating.  i know thats not saying anything more than "fucking incredible" said, but seriously, dont hesitate, read it.  read it now.  then again, and again, and again...

I'll check that one out then... :)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on September 08, 2004, 05:59:16 PM
i couldn't finish atlas shrugged...i just couldn't.  so i picked something just as amibitious...
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fantasticfictionimages.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fn0%2Fn1054.jpg&hash=7a75b4e086f73fc47ebe1f104589be53a709d239)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ©brad on September 08, 2004, 09:29:07 PM
Quote from: xerxesi never really liked that guy.  seems like an ass.

ur mom is an ass
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: meatball on September 08, 2004, 09:40:09 PM
Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on September 08, 2004, 09:48:33 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0006530400.02.LZZZZZZZ.gif&hash=6b05acd8daa25998c5db1030e079e7a6315bd2df)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: 03 on September 13, 2004, 04:31:00 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0099283360.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=f8e256c08713e93c44a27e9b0b27fe901403be1b)
gracias cronopio
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on September 13, 2004, 06:01:06 PM
now , your life will change.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Thrindle on September 13, 2004, 10:59:07 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimage.guardian.co.uk%2Fsys-images%2FBooks%2FPix%2Fcovers%2F2003%2F09%2F18%2FDeadGirls.jpg&hash=6b2500a494a42484925a85d5c2045c2b83d5eb1d)
Short stories relating to women on Vancouver's Lower East Side.  Basically stories about prostitution, poverty, drug abuse... it's a potpourri.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on September 14, 2004, 10:47:28 PM
Atomised.

Thank you. Got it today. Can't wait to read it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on September 18, 2004, 06:36:58 PM
Just started:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0822321211.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=13df13cb97fcf9cdc0c8c6d612383fa28fe85f4f)

So far, interesting structure and wonderful personal stories from the time period.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: 03 on September 18, 2004, 06:44:33 PM
can i read over your shoulder
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: meatball on September 18, 2004, 10:05:00 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0919637264.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=d248765384087a3271ee53236ead1d216d05bda3)

You can read over mine any day.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Raikus on September 21, 2004, 09:33:53 AM
Just purchased The Dark Tower. Hopefully it will elevate the story back up to Drawing and Wasteland levels.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on September 23, 2004, 01:04:07 PM
Quote from: RaikusJust purchased The Dark Tower. Hopefully it will elevate the story back up to Drawing and Wasteland levels.

I went to Connecticut to get it signed by King.  Really nice guy.  And I'm totally downplaying how nervous I was when I met him.

And this one's definitely better than the last two so far (100 pages in).

Why is there no Stephen King thread?  Or is there?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on September 30, 2004, 02:56:47 PM
Received this in the mail earlier this week:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F04071516011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7960000%2F7961999.jpg&hash=cf21c41c1cc9eacca9b07bf9a6bc0344c5d07952)

Is there an equivalent of Rotten Tomatoes for book reviews?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on September 30, 2004, 05:50:13 PM
a third face: my tale of writing, fighting, and filmmaking by
SAMUEL FULLER

read now.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on September 30, 2004, 05:55:51 PM
live from new york.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ono on September 30, 2004, 06:41:55 PM
Quote from: petelive from new york.
:yabbse-thumbup:

Me: Inner Views by David Breskin (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0306808013/qid=1096587635/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/002-9297530-2237647?v=glance&s=books).  Again.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on October 07, 2004, 05:07:27 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbreakstate.wootang.net%2Fph%2FHoward%2520Zinn%2520-%2520People%27s%2520History%2520of%2520the%2520United%2520States%2520V.5%2520%28HTML%29_files%2Fimage002.jpg&hash=8a0b170363d6be2a7d277d6da55013b18fbebd0e)
A book like this should be in every classroom.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Squeo on October 07, 2004, 05:40:23 PM
Jeremy Blackman is my favorite person ever.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: coffeebeetle on October 07, 2004, 06:23:12 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1574888498.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=d2ea7226fb088d2b14a14eaa2d7e1356ec49645a)

Studpendous.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on October 07, 2004, 06:34:21 PM
I love Anonymous.  Primary Colors was great.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cine on October 09, 2004, 03:53:44 AM
Quote from: RaviI love Anonymous.  Primary Colors was great.
Thanks...


I said too much :yabbse-lipsrsealed:
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on October 09, 2004, 11:31:03 AM
two books picked up here in Taiwan:
"ten years, one dream"--a conversation with Ang Lee (until crouching tiger).
and "a world of sound and color", a book of photoessays by christopher doyle, greatest living DP today.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on October 11, 2004, 03:18:46 PM
Since this is Columbus Day... a few quotes from the first pages of A People's History of the United States...

Columbus, on the Arowak Native Americans]

"The Indians, Columbus reported, 'are so naive and so free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say no. To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone....' He concluded his report by asking for a little help from their Majesties, and in return he would bring them from his next voyage 'as much gold as they need . . . and as many slaves as they ask.' He was full of religious talk: 'Thus the eternal God, our Lord, gives victory to those who follow His way over apparent impossibilities.'" (4)

"They went from island to island in the Caribbean, taking Indians as captives . . . they had roamed the island in gangs looking for gold, taking women and children as slaves for sex and labor." (4)

"Total control led to total cruelty. The Spaniards 'thought nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades.' Las Casas tells how 'two of these so-called Christians met two Indian boys one day, each carrying a parrot; they took the parrots and for fun beheaded the boys.'" (6)[/list:u]
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on October 12, 2004, 08:34:55 AM
what do u want me to do about it
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on October 12, 2004, 10:12:41 AM
Umm... don't celebrate Columbus day?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Just Withnail on October 12, 2004, 02:41:32 PM
Coincidentally we Norwegians celebrated Viking Day yesterday.

Nah, we didn't.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on October 12, 2004, 05:14:09 PM
Quote from: Jeremy BlackmanUmm... don't celebrate Columbus day?
Does anyone really celebrate Columbus Day?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on October 12, 2004, 05:46:44 PM
Quote from: ranemaka13
Quote from: Jeremy BlackmanUmm... don't celebrate Columbus day?
Does anyone really celebrate Columbus Day?
department stores?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ©brad on October 12, 2004, 08:54:40 PM
banks.

on a side note, does it not piss anyone else off that banks in america close for every jackass, bullshit holiday? columbus day- closed. national ice cream day- closed. stupid banks.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on October 13, 2004, 11:46:35 AM
Know any good books on philosophy, fact and fiction?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on October 13, 2004, 11:52:46 AM
"sophie's world", that's a book on philosophy that is both fictional and nonfictional.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on October 13, 2004, 06:28:47 PM
and you'd have the advantage of reading it in its original language, sort of.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Just Withnail on October 13, 2004, 06:45:32 PM
Yup, I'll second that one. Great read.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on October 14, 2004, 08:47:33 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1400048591.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=30f13d86db8c41bae6d2f83799a35c44529c31c9)

Just finished this! One word: wow. What a hilarious, oddly moving and totally invigorating book --

by Aaron McGruder who does my favo: The Boondocks -- et al.

And the illustations by Baker are amusing in so many different ways (idiosyncracy, irony, whackiness, etc.)!!!

The story is of East St. Louis seceding From the US after they are totally disenfranchised in 2000 and forming their own country called BLACKLAND. (They have their own currency -- Sade is on the dime, and tonight's topic of debate, Who should get the one hundred dollar bill -- 2Pac or Biggie?)

Makes fun of everyone! White supremacists, Republicans (redundancy) including Bush Cheney Powell Rice Etc., black nationalists (the Neo Black Panthers confer and one of their mothers brings cookies into their meeting for them...eheh), Muslims, nerdy revolutionaries, everyone!

SUCH A BEAUTIFUL BOOK! Buy it, tell me if you like it.

Jeremy Blackman you must ,must ,must read this book!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on October 14, 2004, 09:07:54 PM
Quote from: HedwigJeremy Blackman you must ,must ,must read this book!
I think you're right. I love Aaron McGruder.

So he just co-wrote the text, basically?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on October 14, 2004, 09:19:49 PM
Quote from: Jeremy Blackman
Quote from: HedwigJeremy Blackman you must ,must ,must read this book!
I think you're right. I love Aaron McGruder.

So he just co-wrote the text, basically?

Yes, with Hudlin, the writer/director of Boomberang (?). Actually, it was originally a screenplay but they decided that Hollywood would never greenlight a story like that and instead turned into a graphic novel.

The book is fantastic but when I heard that it was originally intended to be a film I almost went insane thinking about how GREAT it could have been...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on October 15, 2004, 02:52:37 AM
Quote from: ranemaka13
Quote from: Jeremy BlackmanUmm... don't celebrate Columbus day?
Does anyone really celebrate Columbus Day?

*takes off party hat...whistle whistle
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on November 12, 2004, 05:56:35 AM
- Atomised

Finished it two weeks ago and man...does it change your perspective on things?

- The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Finished it in two days. Didn't make me laugh...but it's not supposed to. Made me shiver and cry though. A bit too sentimental perhaps but it made me think and that's what matters to me
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on November 12, 2004, 08:57:50 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.booksamillion.com%2Fbam%2Fcovers%2F1%2F40%2F003%2F201%2F1400032016.jpg&hash=c06d0eeb2e7a5410e707ee7d5668c2651c432436)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: tpfkabi on November 12, 2004, 06:14:47 PM
The Shining by Stephen King

i have wanted to read it for years and i'm wanting to see why King disapproves of Kubrick's adaptation.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on November 13, 2004, 12:16:35 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.catanna.com%2Fownwrite.jpg&hash=24fa03e8ffaa039df28f04c191f11031501a2f34)

And it's complete nonsense!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on November 17, 2004, 07:35:42 AM
Tuesdays with Morrie

Finished it this weekend. So simple, so sweet and so eye-opening.

I'm reading Sophie's World at the moment. Not sure if I like it yet, I'm only a couple of pages into it.
The letters are interesting but the whole Sophie part is so...hmm, don't know yet.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: bonanzataz on November 17, 2004, 12:03:18 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0743254430.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=802455469566e79b2580765f262fb768eca606b9)

i saw david sedaris at a reading about a month ago and he recommended it to the audience. it's a nonfiction story about a family where the mother is a coke addict, the daughter gets pregnant as a teenager and then falls in love with a heroin dealer, and the son is an up and coming gangsta (at this point in the book). it's very interesting and i read 100 pages in two days (it's a pretty long book and my attention span for nonfiction generally doesn't last that long) but i haven't read in a little while b/c i've got work. can't wait to finish it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Myxo on November 20, 2004, 09:54:33 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1401301347.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=de319ff2a1bf6521bf903f6ab9e60990d0170204)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: 03 on November 30, 2004, 11:14:05 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.militarymags.com%2FTARANTULA.jpg&hash=d3156f7351f545b9a3484537311746f43ca5bfcc)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Raikus on November 30, 2004, 11:22:08 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stephenking.s5.net%2Fimages%2Fcovers-posters%2Fbook%2520covers%2Fthe%2520bachman%2520books.jpg&hash=60e3108d604968013911735e2944ab1291bb2293)
Never was much into King, but after finishing the Dark Tower series I wanted to read some of his shorter stuff. Just finished 'Rage' and am starting 'The Long Walk' now.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on November 30, 2004, 02:04:43 PM
Glad to see I'm not the only one on a King binge.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fantasticfictionimages.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fn0%2Fn700.jpg&hash=15433f3ac90d431fddf6675a5a22a70625049d54)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on November 30, 2004, 02:16:52 PM
Quote from: Myxomatosis(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1401301347.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=de319ff2a1bf6521bf903f6ab9e60990d0170204)

I'm a big Carlin fan but I find that book cover and the title to be pretty stupid. His humour was never exactly SUBTLE but it seems like he's making the whole religious thing a bit...I don't know -- TOO blunt.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on November 30, 2004, 03:29:32 PM
So Carlin's got another shitty book out...

I couldn't even finish half of Napalm and Silly Putty.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on November 30, 2004, 03:42:48 PM
Quote from: Ravi

I couldn't even finish half of Napalm and Silly Putty.

Did you try reading it, or did you decide it sucked when you wanted to sound cool?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on November 30, 2004, 04:36:34 PM
Quote from: RaviSo Carlin's got another shitty book out...

I couldn't even finish half of Napalm and Silly Putty.

Hmmm....Napalm and Silly Putty was the first of his books that I read, and strangely it was my first exposure to him as well -- so I absoutely love it. Then Brain Droppings, I thought, was all right. But then I saw his comedy on tape, and there was one moment where he says, "Fuck Mickey Mouse. Fuck Mickey Mouse in the ass with a big rubber dildo, then break it off and hit him over his fuckin' head with it." -- and immediately, I was a fan.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on November 30, 2004, 07:21:48 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.library.hhpl.on.ca%2Fimages%2FRA%2FBooks%2FMov-bonfire.jpg&hash=b058afaab471fde50006aa4d085c44f3fbf5e821)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on November 30, 2004, 09:04:40 PM
Quote from: Pedro the Alpaca(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.library.hhpl.on.ca%2Fimages%2FRA%2FBooks%2FMov-bonfire.jpg&hash=b058afaab471fde50006aa4d085c44f3fbf5e821)

I thought Peter Griffin wrote that.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on December 04, 2004, 05:28:17 PM
Quote from: Walrus, Kookookajoob
Quote from: Ravi

I couldn't even finish half of Napalm and Silly Putty.

Did you try reading it, or did you decide it sucked when you wanted to sound cool?

I did try reading it, but I didn't like it. At least it wasn't as ranty as some of Carlin's later stuff.

Just bought this one

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0743230043.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=7dba3b28ed68f9035db144c85eecb1a8bba62b14)

and ordered this one

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.exoticindiaart.com%2Fbooks%2Fidd916.jpg&hash=27fb337e8ec7f86758e878e616cbf0f49264c5af)

but I'm saving them to read on the trip to India.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: tpfkabi on December 04, 2004, 11:14:50 PM
The Man Called Cash
by Steve Turner
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: jasper_window on December 06, 2004, 02:40:20 PM
Jesus' Son.  It's very good.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on December 06, 2004, 03:53:11 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbuy.overstock.com%2Fimages%2Fproducts%2Fmuze%2Fbooks%2F0452272319.jpg&hash=183d23a63db92519f2411b34b32bb1c01a97e450)

Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang - Joyce Carol Oates
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on January 06, 2005, 11:10:08 AM
some book I found at the movie theater called "don't think of an elephant."
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: tpfkabi on January 06, 2005, 08:14:39 PM
The Wilco Book
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on January 07, 2005, 02:07:41 AM
In The Blink Of An Eye - Walter Murch

I truly fascinating read about psychology, philosophy and also a bit about editing.

This is a great book about editing with lots of eye-openers.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sigur Rós on January 07, 2005, 03:21:30 AM
Paul Auster - The New York Trilogy
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on January 16, 2005, 07:47:34 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alianzaeditorial.es%2Fjpg_g%2Falianza%2FLB00052701.jpg&hash=a9875e6c1f2f7f12902b9fedb5999d60f521c214)

being the trendy whore that i am, i advice everyone to start reading it before all the buzz of its 400th anniversary comes. who knows, maybe Terry Gilliam will get back his Quijote project this year.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on January 23, 2005, 04:10:22 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F03122212011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7210000%2F7213730.jpg&hash=aea90000fc8539a517909f141b68787796eef275)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on January 23, 2005, 05:05:16 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0743242181.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=7bf43008f771d325486a6a1b1778b1de7cbcbb78)[/quote]
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on January 27, 2005, 06:31:38 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1559704977.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=ca4e44815444cc4e65c4114a8d708e1b6dc05160)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0375423079.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=9a7ea5f048acab2684648f3cb5512977b16934fb)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fantasticfictionimages.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fn3%2Fn18111.jpg&hash=42a88aeafd0b72aba29e02b5b8b3ba50fbf1f599)

the complete poems of william blake
the complete poems of john milton
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: tpfkabi on January 27, 2005, 06:51:20 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.relevantbooks.com%2FBooks%2Fhollywoodproject%2Fimages%2Ftop.jpg&hash=d8412accec157ce0bcf69eab7851e55fe9bdb5f0)

don't scoff at the Mel Gibson sticker. there is a chapter on Richard Linklater.

http://www.relevantbooks.com/

both  books on film i've read from this company author's have spoken highly of Magnolia.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cine on January 27, 2005, 07:01:30 PM
Quote from: bigideasboth  books on film i've read from this company author's have spoken highly of Magnolia.
Yeah, I heard that was a good movie..
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: classical gas on January 28, 2005, 02:27:28 AM
"Death on the Installment Plan"
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on February 04, 2005, 10:36:31 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.m-a-h.net%2Fsupport%2Fgraphics%2Fskingame.jpg&hash=81611223afe19d1c6062b1ff5aeb65b2ab64fc08)

Skin Game:  A Memoir - Caroline Kettlewell

Really painful to read, but the author's unflinching honesty sheds new light on the subject.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Raikus on February 10, 2005, 09:32:39 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.netribution.co.uk%2FMedia%2FFeatures%2Fweekly%2F39%2FGuerillaCover.gif&hash=7eb28c59f64c8dcd8760b9dbf6ad7f0e52b6f530)

Gearing up for the Filmmakers Group. Tons and TONS of helpful info in here.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on February 10, 2005, 12:39:28 PM
Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: peaceisourprofession on February 15, 2005, 08:22:45 AM
Helter Skelter
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on February 15, 2005, 11:59:36 AM
at the moment i'm flipping through the collected works of matthew brady, lotsa great stuff to see and extraordinarily interesting to read of the history behind each photograph.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: 03 on February 15, 2005, 02:47:49 PM
example magazine
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Redlum on February 15, 2005, 04:33:48 PM
Just finsihed The Lovely Bones. Look forward to seeing how PJ and his cronies handle the adaptation.

Now reading Frank Capras autobiography. Great read. Some really classic "old Hollywood" stories. Particularly those involving Mack Sennett.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Film Student on February 17, 2005, 12:03:39 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0375400168.01._PE34_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=26f0a3bfcb25048c406399ffe604b5d51a6eee28)

Anyone read David Thomson's "The Whole Equation"?

The girlfriend got it for me for V-Day, and only a few chapters into it... Entertaining and well-written, but a bit smug and scattershot so far...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on February 17, 2005, 12:05:23 AM
the short stories of vladimir nabokov.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Film Student on February 17, 2005, 12:06:38 AM
Quote from: Jeremy BlackmanSince this is Columbus Day... a few quotes from the first pages of A People's History of the United States...

    "They would make fine servants . . . With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want (1) . . . As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts" (2)
    [
Columbus, on the Arowak Native Americans]

"The Indians, Columbus reported, 'are so naive and so free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say no. To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone....' He concluded his report by asking for a little help from their Majesties, and in return he would bring them from his next voyage 'as much gold as they need . . . and as many slaves as they ask.' He was full of religious talk: 'Thus the eternal God, our Lord, gives victory to those who follow His way over apparent impossibilities.'" (4)

"They went from island to island in the Caribbean, taking Indians as captives . . . they had roamed the island in gangs looking for gold, taking women and children as slaves for sex and labor." (4)

"Total control led to total cruelty. The Spaniards 'thought nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades.' Las Casas tells how 'two of these so-called Christians met two Indian boys one day, each carrying a parrot; they took the parrots and for fun beheaded the boys.'" (6)[/list:u]

JB,  about 100 pages into this as well, and I'm just amazed... With each page I scoot a little more to the left...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SHAFTR on February 17, 2005, 12:18:17 AM
Quote from: Film Student
Quote from: Jeremy BlackmanSince this is Columbus Day... a few quotes from the first pages of A People's History of the United States...

    "They would make fine servants . . . With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want (1) . . . As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts" (2)
    [
Columbus, on the Arowak Native Americans]

"The Indians, Columbus reported, 'are so naive and so free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say no. To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone....' He concluded his report by asking for a little help from their Majesties, and in return he would bring them from his next voyage 'as much gold as they need . . . and as many slaves as they ask.' He was full of religious talk: 'Thus the eternal God, our Lord, gives victory to those who follow His way over apparent impossibilities.'" (4)

"They went from island to island in the Caribbean, taking Indians as captives . . . they had roamed the island in gangs looking for gold, taking women and children as slaves for sex and labor." (4)

"Total control led to total cruelty. The Spaniards 'thought nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades.' Las Casas tells how 'two of these so-called Christians met two Indian boys one day, each carrying a parrot; they took the parrots and for fun beheaded the boys.'" (6)[/list:u]

JB,  about 100 pages into this as well, and I'm just amazed... With each page I scoot a little more to the left...

I read Columbus 4 Voyages, crazy stuff.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on February 17, 2005, 11:30:17 AM
The Film Director's Intuition: Script Analysis and Rehearsal Techniques

One of extremely few books that actually talks extensively about the most important part in filmmaking: The characters, the people that plays the characters, imagination, intuition etc etc.
I've read a lot books on films and filmmaking but this is hands down the best one yet. Inspiring, empowering, a psychological jourbey into your characters, your actors and not the least yourself. Get it!

Platform
by Michel Houellebecq


Insane and hilarious. Perhaps not the depth of Atomised but still a thought-provoking philosophical journey. Again the main character is called Michel. But this Michel engages in sexual tourism in thailand. I've reached the middle so there's yet lots to discover but I like it. Some might see it as depressing and pitch-black. I do too but I see it as ironic. I can't see an actual person with the intelligence to write a book like this to have that kind of outlook on life.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on February 22, 2005, 09:55:21 AM
I just finished Platform. There is a powerful sentence in the last chapter that sums it up.

If I allowed passion to penetrate my body, pain would follow quickly in its wake.

It's sad how true this quote rings in reality...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: rustinglass on February 22, 2005, 10:06:42 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0099428083.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=f04904538bac4e947c760ef7503ee93ad3eed312)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on February 22, 2005, 01:34:48 PM
White Mughals by William Dalrymple
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on February 22, 2005, 05:24:59 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.overstock.com%2Ff%2F102%2F3117%2F8h%2Fwww.overstock.com%2Fimages%2Fproducts%2Fmuze%2Fbooks%2F1400049628.jpg&hash=85092199d7718c85f58bee833a30906255221115)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ono on February 22, 2005, 05:39:41 PM
In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch.  Thanks, Mr. Kotteeeeeeh.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on February 23, 2005, 10:39:54 AM
Quote from: ono mo cuishleIn the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch.  Thanks, Mr. Kotteeeeeeh.

So what do you think about it?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: A Matter Of Chance on February 23, 2005, 11:02:26 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cunepress.com%2Fcunemagazine%2Fximages%2Fbookcovers%2Fgemscovers%2Fwhatwetalk.jpg&hash=25f5138b4fb738d5c11b923f50050372c1e4112e)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: peaceisourprofession on February 23, 2005, 03:22:18 PM
Fast Food Nation
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: I Don't Believe in Beatles on February 23, 2005, 06:25:46 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F1310000%2F1314319.gif&hash=7069e81b713c49f156942748e65b3e055ed4a8f5)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Two Lane Blacktop on February 23, 2005, 08:55:09 PM
Citizen K : The Deeply Weird American Journey of Brett Kimberlin
by Mark Singer

I work with a guy who knew Brett Kimberlin, and he's making me read this so he can tell me what HE knows about this story. He says.  (Kimberlin is the guy who says he used to sell pot to Dan Quayle way back when; the book is written by a reporter from The New Yorker who tried to break the story back in the 1980s, with only partial success.).  It's not my usual fare, but it IS fairly entertaining.  

2LB
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on February 23, 2005, 11:27:05 PM
how many people have said they are reading xixax in this thread?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on February 24, 2005, 10:13:21 AM
Quote from: Stefenhow many people have said they are reading xixax in this thread?

The joke isn't funny, but it's all yours if you want to say it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: modage on February 24, 2005, 10:16:02 AM
Quote from: Ginger(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F1310000%2F1314319.gif&hash=7069e81b713c49f156942748e65b3e055ed4a8f5)
i watched that movie a few weeks ago.  it was good.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ultrahip on February 24, 2005, 11:38:49 AM
The Stranger by Albert Camus

[/i]
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slimepuppy on February 24, 2005, 03:06:07 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.overstock.com%2Ff%2F102%2F3117%2F8h%2Fwww.overstock.com%2Fimages%2Fproducts%2Fmuze%2Fbooks%2F1400049628.jpg&hash=85092199d7718c85f58bee833a30906255221115)

:yabbse-thumbup:  :bravo:

Read that for my dissertation on Night of the Living Dead. Talk about fun research... Though don't you think it gets a bit creepy after a while, 'cause he never plays it as a joke? I know I did.

I am now currently juggling several books (for fun and research):

Douglas Coupland - Life After God
Glen Duncan - I, Lucifer
Albert Camus - The Outsider
A.W.Yrjänä - Somnia
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sara Shagal on February 27, 2005, 10:03:43 AM
Roman by Polanski for the 3rd or 4th time.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on March 27, 2005, 02:30:38 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fart.half.ebay.com%2Fprod%2F3904452.jpeg&hash=60e4437115267286c2d75f8f196b22583034d8a6)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: atticus jones on March 27, 2005, 03:48:44 AM
the gospel according to thomas
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Cecil on March 27, 2005, 03:06:35 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ruthlessreviews.com%2Fpics%2Fcrue3.gif&hash=fb473c1f5a1efa5847ee6043bffb8731a07aa62f)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: mogwai on March 27, 2005, 03:10:42 PM
what do you think of it, cecil?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Cecil on March 27, 2005, 04:15:45 PM
im about 2/3 through and so far its very cool. but i was told that the rest isnt as great because its only about pam anderson
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: xerxes on March 27, 2005, 04:23:09 PM
kafka on the shore
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Redlum on March 27, 2005, 04:47:28 PM
Michael Chabon - the final solution
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reed Rothchild on March 27, 2005, 11:32:09 PM
the last picture show~
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on March 28, 2005, 12:51:41 AM
I wouldn't be surprised if the next few pages are flooded with:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fart.half.ebay.com%2Fprod%2F3010853.jpeg&hash=a09700db615fc0df77842d59bbd65ba4e699a455)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: atticus jones on March 28, 2005, 01:06:17 AM
alreadyreadit...iwontspoilitforyou
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on March 29, 2005, 12:12:20 AM
Let me guess..in the end...the oil and the killer and the undercover cop are all the same person?

Currently reading:
"Red Harvest" by Dashiell Hammett
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on March 29, 2005, 07:02:25 AM
One Hundred Years Of Solitude.

Fantastic.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on March 29, 2005, 12:54:46 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fart.half.ebay.com%2Fprod%2F4556102.jpeg&hash=156811ef1f118839114602ee0cb4213f3f6546f3)

Cherries in the Snow - Emma Forrest
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleuth on March 29, 2005, 01:04:37 PM
WHAT IS THIS "Image" THING I KEEP SEEING
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ono on March 29, 2005, 05:53:50 PM
If you're using Mozilla, that's how broken images appear.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleuth on March 29, 2005, 06:19:03 PM
aaaaaaawesome, except how come sometimes, in Mozilla, it has the picture symbol TORN in half?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: mogwai on March 31, 2005, 09:32:42 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldoflongmire.com%2Ffeatures%2Fromance_novels%2Fchili_supper.jpg&hash=f5915fb0637368f44b897fa4aee4d6b6b4de6a68)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cine on March 31, 2005, 09:35:05 AM
soon to be reading:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1566636140.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=87d576c1310d9fc3592169637a0fea73efb0a6cc)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on March 31, 2005, 01:35:56 PM
To The White Sea.

By far the best book I've ever read. It's poetic, violent and simple.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ono on March 31, 2005, 02:37:32 PM
Quote from: kotteBy far the best book I've ever read. It's poetic, violent and simple.
Kind of like Mein Kampf?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on March 31, 2005, 03:02:39 PM
Quote from: ono mo cuishle
Quote from: kotteBy far the best book I've ever read. It's poetic, violent and simple.
Kind of like Mein Kampf?

Kind of...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sigur Rós on April 06, 2005, 07:25:02 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0452283973.01._AA400_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=d62074d376b0cb4d4cf2235fbbf2d0d43f677ca9)
       Hari Kunzru - The Impressionist

If you like Rudyard Kipling and especially "Kim" then I recommend this.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: deathnotronic on April 06, 2005, 07:52:17 AM
bukowski - hollywood
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on April 06, 2005, 02:34:20 PM
Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: deathnotronic on April 06, 2005, 02:41:54 PM
Quote from: Reinhold MessnerHeart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad.

I tried reading that last year. I had to read each sentence like 3 times to comprehend it. I gave up 30 pages in.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on April 06, 2005, 03:09:06 PM
almost done with misery

it kicks the movies ass, by the way
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on April 06, 2005, 10:03:09 PM
http://www.believermag.com/

The strangest magazine ever. Especially here (http://www.believermag.com/nonbookreviews/).
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on April 06, 2005, 11:52:24 PM
Quote from: deathnotronic
Quote from: Reinhold MessnerHeart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad.

I tried reading that last year. I had to read each sentence like 3 times to comprehend it. I gave up 30 pages in.

that's too bad... so far, it seems like it'd really be great to adapt for the screen. it's got some really nice rhythm.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ono on April 06, 2005, 11:57:21 PM
Quote from: Reinhold Messner
Quote from: deathnotronic
Quote from: Reinhold MessnerHeart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad.

I tried reading that last year. I had to read each sentence like 3 times to comprehend it. I gave up 30 pages in.

that's too bad... so far, it seems like it'd really be great to adapt for the screen. it's got some really nice rhythm.
Hahahaha.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: jtm on April 06, 2005, 11:57:35 PM
Quote from: Reinhold Messner
Quote from: deathnotronic
Quote from: Reinhold MessnerHeart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad.

I tried reading that last year. I had to read each sentence like 3 times to comprehend it. I gave up 30 pages in.

that's too bad... so far, it seems like it'd really be great to adapt for the screen. it's got some really nice rhythm.

already done...
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.movieprop.com%2Ftvandmovie%2Freviews%2Fapocolypsenow.jpg&hash=2aee64e7e80268bd2ca04a8249dbc1e51a9305b5)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on April 06, 2005, 11:59:57 PM
<-dumbass.

good call.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: deathnotronic on April 07, 2005, 12:19:24 AM
I should probably give it another shot as it has been a year.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on April 07, 2005, 08:31:25 AM
It's funny when people make jokes and one guy doesn't get it.

I'm finishing up To The White Sea and I'm ecstatic. I'm thinking of reading Deliverance. Anyone who's read both, how's the book in relation to the movie, which I haven't seen. How is it different from White Sea?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleuth on April 07, 2005, 09:49:59 AM
I think Deliverance is right up your alley, give it a shot
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pwaybloe on April 07, 2005, 01:33:36 PM
Quote from: kotteI'm finishing up To The White Sea and I'm ecstatic. I'm thinking of reading Deliverance. Anyone who's read both, how's the book in relation to the movie, which I haven't seen. How is it different from White Sea?

I can comment on 2/3 of what you're asking.  I've read Deliverance and seen the movie, and the movie is actually pretty faithful to the book.  It varied only a slight bit from what I remember.  

If I had to choose one, I would go with the movie.  Mainly because the cinematography was done by my favorite DP (Vilmos Zsigmond).  Bow hunting is a major plus, too.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on April 12, 2005, 04:32:37 PM
Killer In The Rain - Raymond Chandler

The Third Face - Samuel Fuller
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on April 12, 2005, 04:38:56 PM
Quote from: kotteI'm finishing up To The White Sea and I'm ecstatic.

I haven't read Deliverance, but I'm always excited to see people reading To The White Sea - it's such an outstanding novel.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on April 12, 2005, 09:50:25 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lib.utulsa.edu%2Fspeccoll%2FJJoyce%2Fimages%2FEllmann_U1969_72.jpg&hash=5c2e961a1dbef6b9c254477f7134ad08cd84f934)

Skimming...

And I can't stop picturing Joyce himself utterting the words.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.losteye.com%2Fjjoyce.jpg&hash=5218e6eaf989b0fadddacdd84a7bb1af9aa77295)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: I Don't Believe in Beatles on April 13, 2005, 12:01:33 AM
If anyone feels up to it, you can read it here (http://www.robotwisdom.com/jaj/ulysses/).
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on April 13, 2005, 03:05:28 AM
Quote from: Ghostboy
Quote from: kotteI'm finishing up To The White Sea and I'm ecstatic.

I haven't read Deliverance, but I'm always excited to see people reading To The White Sea - it's such an outstanding novel.

Yes, it is.
The book is in 1st person, he's the narrator but on the last few pages Muldrow really begin to talk with the reader. Like we have this relationship and now he feels secure enough to speak. Can't really explain it, I'm reading too much into it but I found that to be great, anyway.

Spoiler.
The passage with the blind samurai had me literally jumping in my seat, I was so excited to have this book, this force in my hands. My best reading experience so far.
Losing 3 teeth, I found that the most disturbing in the book...I have a thing with teeth.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on April 13, 2005, 07:02:58 AM
Quote from: GingerIf anyone feels up to it, you can read it here (http://www.robotwisdom.com/jaj/ulysses/).
yeah, don't.

and jb, haha, that's what every copy should look like.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: meatball on April 21, 2005, 09:53:34 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com.edgesuite.net%2Fimages%2F1450000%2F1450870.gif&hash=4d5f8b3fc9fc54bbf05304b6320648faea5774cb)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: 03 on April 21, 2005, 10:23:29 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0919359086.01._AA400_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=21398a8ef5e08ae4bce1de7b87e25a67f11d7ed9)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on April 21, 2005, 11:00:52 PM
i'm disappointed in u, 03.

i've heard of that.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on April 23, 2005, 09:47:29 PM
Just finished reading this
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0312315945.01._AA400_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=273c589cf434e4b9ed38c206e41e2e2d0dcec997)

Burroughs' first memoir, Running with Scissors, is being made into a film.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Two Lane Blacktop on April 23, 2005, 10:14:38 PM
Quote from: kotteI'm finishing up To The White Sea and I'm ecstatic. I'm thinking of reading Deliverance.

I got to meet Dickey once when I was in college...  we had a friend in common, it turned out.  I didn't know I was going to meet him before it happened, and it freaked me out, but I was pretty much in awe.  

I only know Deliverance from the movie, but I'm a big fan of his poetry.  I know this is going to make this a long-ass message, but I have to paste in my favorite one.  It makes me want to cry every time I read it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE HEAVEN OF ANIMALS
Here they are. The soft eyes open.
If they have lived in a wood
It is a wood.
If they have lived on plains
It is grass rolling
Under their feet forever.

Having no souls, they have come,
Anyway, beyond their knowing.
Their instincts wholly bloom
And they rise.
The soft eyes open.

To match them, the landscape flowers,
Outdoing, desperately
Outdoing what is required:
The richest wood,
The deepest field.

For some of these,
It could not be the place
It is, without blood.
These hunt, as they have done,
But with claws and teeth grown perfect,

More deadly than they can believe.
They stalk more silently,
And crouch on the limbs of trees,
And their descent
Upon the bright backs of their prey

May take years
In a sovereign floating of joy.
And those that are hunted
Know this as their life,
Their reward: to walk

Under such trees in full knowledge
Of what is in glory above them,
And to feel no fear,
But acceptance, compliance.
Fulfilling themselves without pain

At the cycle's center,
They tremble, they walk
Under the tree,
They fall, they are torn,
They rise, they walk again.

-- James Dickey
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on April 24, 2005, 02:13:05 AM
That was really fantastic...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on April 25, 2005, 10:12:35 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F006075690X.01._AA400_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=29d49e4510b7ee376b737ccd8e2ee7a58f424e55)

So, that's why the American economy is in the shitter.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on April 25, 2005, 11:43:19 AM
I heard Richard Florida interviewed on the Al Franken show. He convinced me.

But apparently what he really means is "The Non-Arrival of the Creative Class." (The publisher didn't like that title.)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sigur Rós on April 25, 2005, 11:59:26 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cds.lastminute.com%2Fmall%2Fthehut%2Fcustomerimages%2Fproducts%2F60%2F61%2F0099437961.jpg&hash=b317bbaf1a76417d57e26f01b1da68c064d15fa8)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on April 25, 2005, 09:59:26 PM
The Captain Is Out to Lunch & the Sailors Have Taken over the Ship by Charles Bukowski
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on May 03, 2005, 01:12:01 PM
Mmmmmm... New Chuck Palahniuk

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0385509480.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=6c60a81e92678546dfc201e3207937a541289b2a)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: deathnotronic on May 03, 2005, 03:59:49 PM
Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0865475873.01._PIdp-schmooS%2CTopRight%2C7%2C-26_PE34_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=10c1811bfa7d07ec5c69cb3aa4d848a3fe46a9ae)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on May 05, 2005, 02:41:12 PM
Catch 22, by Joseph Heller

hey, wouldn't it be cool if somebody made a movie out of this one, too?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on May 05, 2005, 03:46:13 PM
Quote from: RaviThe Captain Is Out to Lunch & the Sailors Have Taken over the Ship by Charles Bukowski

i love this one so much,  it's so DOOMED. and it's enhanced by crumb's drawings


and those of you who like michel houellebecq, his next book's coming soon, don't know the title yet.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: jtm on May 05, 2005, 04:03:43 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmc.clintock.com%2Fsecond_floor%2Fbookcase_2%2FICON-images%2Fkitchen_confidential.jpg&hash=4aca57dede4d962daddc2b1cd48c4fbb75f425c7)

just finished this. it was a great read, especially if you've ever worked in a restaurant.  his descriptions of what it's truly like to be a line cook are spot on.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on May 05, 2005, 04:06:39 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F05021714011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F9070000%2F9078342.jpg&hash=db356b987bea1d9769427adde0e637ee934684e5)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Redlum on May 05, 2005, 04:26:45 PM
Just finished 'Atomised' and have started 'To the White Sea'. Both thanks to strong recomendations from this website. Thankyou :)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on May 06, 2005, 02:08:37 AM
Quote from: Jay Tee EmKitchen Confidential

just finished this. it was a great read, especially if you've ever worked in a restaurant.  his descriptions of what it's truly like to be a line cook are spot on.

Hehe, I just finished this yesterday and I agree. Great read!
Made me wanna be a cook for a minute... :)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on May 10, 2005, 02:34:30 PM
"Time Travel and Papa Joe's Pipe" by Alan Lightman

from his website:

Time Travel and Papa Joe's Pipe
Essays on the human side of science. By means of humorous anecdotes, fantasies, personal memory, parables, and scientific discussion, this book examines the artistic and imaginative aspects of the world of science. Essays include: "Time Travel and Papa Joe's Pipe," a meditation on the possibilities of time travel brought on by smoking his great grandfather's pipe; "Relativity for the Table," a discussion of Einstein's theory of relativity suitable for the dining room table; "Pas De Deux," an accounting of the laws of physics that a ballerina makes use of during her dance, presented as a pas de deux dance between the ballerina and nature; "A Visit by Mr. Newton," an imagined visit by Newton as a satire on the increasing specialization of science; "If Birds Can Fly, Why Oh Why Can't I?" a light-hearted but scientifically accurate musing on the biological and physical requirements for animal-powered flight, and others.


"Essays collected in a volume too small for the taste they build up in the reader." -- Toronto Star (Canada)

"The charming and cheerful essays in this collection show us the creative - even the whimsical - aspects of science." -- The Boston Globe

"A poetic touch and a consistently graceful style." -- Milwaukee Journal

"This is a pleasant look at science from a warm storyteller's point of view. It also contains some of the clearest explanations one is likely to find of involved astrophysical concepts." -- Sacramento Bee
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on May 16, 2005, 12:37:05 PM
Can someone give me some good recommendations for new experimental fiction? The library has nothing but classics, and I can't risk a blind buy online. I need something that I could peek into at Barnes & Noble.

Has anyone read anything by James Chapman or anything from Fugue State Press (http://www.fuguestatepress.com/)? Looks pretty interesting...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on May 16, 2005, 12:41:50 PM
JB , you should probably read this:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jtleroy.com%2Fimages%2Fbook_sarah.jpg&hash=6d3267484e64d1cd3290d32836901ca0482c022f)


it got published when he was 19 (!) and he also executive produced Elephant. if that leaves you interested, check out his website www.jtleroy.com
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on May 16, 2005, 12:54:01 PM
Quote from: Jeremy BlackmanCan someone give me some good recommendations for new experimental fiction?

This is a few years old, but I was just discussing Mark Danielweski's House Of Leaves the other day, and that definitely fits the bill of new experimental fiction. Narratively, it has its problems, but structurally, it's pretty brilliant. A bold experiment in storytelling through typography that almost entirely pays off.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on May 19, 2005, 10:02:10 AM
Fear and Loathing in America : The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist
by Hunter S. Thompson

I don't know much about Hunter and his work but this had me intrigued. I haven't read it but I'm thinking about it.

Anyone read it?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: jtm on May 19, 2005, 01:02:34 PM
Quote from: kotteFear and Loathing in America : The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist
by Hunter S. Thompson

I don't know much about Hunter and his work but this had me intrigued. I haven't read it but I'm thinking about it.

Anyone read it?

i read it here and there.  it's not really a book you need to sit down and read from start to finish before reading another book. it's just vol 2 of his personal letters that he wrote from 68-76 (vol 1 being The Proud Highway 55-67).... it's the closest we'll ever get to his biography and it's definitely a good read.

if ur looking to get into his work, i'd suggest you also pick up Hells Angels, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, F & L on the Campaign Trail and The Great White Shark Hunt.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on May 19, 2005, 01:16:16 PM
Quote from: Jay Tee Em
Quote from: kotteFear and Loathing in America : The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist
by Hunter S. Thompson

I don't know much about Hunter and his work but this had me intrigued. I haven't read it but I'm thinking about it.

Anyone read it?

i read it here and there.  it's not really a book you need to sit down and read from start to finish before reading another book. it's just vol 2 of his personal letters that he wrote from 68-76 (vol 1 being The Proud Highway 55-67).... it's the closest we'll ever get to his biography and it's definitely a good read.

if ur looking to get into his work, i'd suggest you also pick up Hells Angels, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, F & L on the Campaign Trail and The Great White Shark Hunt.

Great! Thank you.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on May 19, 2005, 01:19:35 PM
Quote from: kotteFear and Loathing in America : The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist
by Hunter S. Thompson

I don't know much about Hunter and his work but this had me intrigued. I haven't read it but I'm thinking about it.

Anyone read it?

It's great.  Like Jay Tee Em said, you don't need to read in chronological order but I'd suggest reading some of his actual work before you read his letters, if you don't know much about him.  I imagine the letters would work better if you know what projects he's referring to in them.

In either case, it's a good read.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on May 19, 2005, 01:21:48 PM
You know, I think I'll start with The Great White Shark Hunt.

How much does Fear & Loathing differ from the film?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on May 19, 2005, 01:27:52 PM
i'm lookin for a recommendation on a good book to get me into yoga. any suggestions?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: jtm on May 19, 2005, 01:28:43 PM
Quote from: kotte
How much does Fear & Loathing differ from the film?

not much at all but it's still really fun to read even if you've seen the movie before reading it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on May 31, 2005, 05:03:15 AM
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
by Patrick Süskind

People here got me really excited about it. Starting it today.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on May 31, 2005, 05:33:11 AM
And you'll probably finish it tomorrow, with a massive smile stretched across your face.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on May 31, 2005, 09:59:16 AM
Quote from: GhostboyAnd you'll probably finish it tomorrow, with a massive smile stretched across your face.

Hehe...great!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: socketlevel on June 01, 2005, 01:01:30 PM
city of glass, Paul Auster

-sl-
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ultrahip on June 03, 2005, 05:57:10 PM
EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE

by Jonathan Safran Foer.

I believe Foer is to contemporary literature what PTA is to contemporary cinema.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on June 03, 2005, 06:01:42 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.bestwebbuys.com%2Fmuze%2Fbooks%2F96%2F1570429596.jpg&hash=d05af4be3dc38ccf30a54966d3a901e989777f66)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Redlum on June 04, 2005, 05:14:14 AM
I just couldnt get in to "To the White Sea", to be honest I thought the internal monologue got a bit repetitive. Finding cover, blending with the environment, being like a rabbit. I was about 100 pages in so I might pick it up over the summer.

I just started "Say a Prayer for Owen Meany" and I'm enjoying that a lot more.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleuth on June 04, 2005, 05:20:53 AM
is your avatar from Ghostbusters 2
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Myxo on June 04, 2005, 04:39:39 PM
Quote from: Reinhold Messner(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.bestwebbuys.com%2Fmuze%2Fbooks%2F96%2F1570429596.jpg&hash=d05af4be3dc38ccf30a54966d3a901e989777f66)

Great book..
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on June 04, 2005, 06:19:45 PM
Quote from: ®edlumI just couldnt get in to "To the White Sea", to be honest I thought the internal monologue got a bit repetitive. Finding cover, blending with the environment, being like a rabbit. I was about 100 pages in so I might pick it up over the summer.

I just started "Say a Prayer for Owen Meany" and I'm enjoying that a lot more.

Ah, you passed up greatness for mere goodness! But to each his own. A Prayer For Owen Meany is a fine book. I'm not sure how I feel about John Irving, though - he's an excellent writer, but I haven't been anxious to pick anything of his up since the first few I read.

I'm currently reading:

The Orchard Keeper by Cormac McCarthy
Cassavetes On Cassavetes
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
And this wonderful graphic novel called THB from a totally amazing artist named Paul Pope.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: rustinglass on June 05, 2005, 03:42:10 AM
Quote from: Ghostboy
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene

I like this novel a lot. Have you ever read "The Confidential Agent"? It's my favourite Greene, it's like it could make the perfect film noir. Actually there is a film with Lauren Bacall, but I can never find it. I wonder if it's lost....
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on June 05, 2005, 10:01:47 PM
after reading this  (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0306809060.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=dff778e55af61d3fe5b2ec7cd6a5c5a307aff80a)

i am reading this  (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1853674834.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=8cb52487c5c8afc639c9003bd2f5ee533e15d24f)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on June 07, 2005, 10:33:39 AM
left (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.bestwebbuys.com%2Fmuze%2Fbooks%2F96%2F1570429596.jpg&hash=d05af4be3dc38ccf30a54966d3a901e989777f66) in the car. mom went to work.

starting:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ffbooks.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fn1%2Fn7589.jpg&hash=f30084f7cb67a893c6fba6a0a01d1d5882758238)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on June 15, 2005, 07:28:35 PM
Books that i got for graduation:

A Clockwork Orange
Franny and Zooey
Catcher in the Rye
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Island
Digital MovieMaking
Making Movies

... i won't have much if any internet access in july, so i plan to read those this summer.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: life_boy on June 15, 2005, 11:26:07 PM
I just started:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0520232666.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=23e8157451a2c864224d72fd0d091e125a1053c3)
A New Pot of Gold: Hollywood Under the Electronic Rainbow, 1980-1989
(History of the American Cinema, Vol. 10)

- Stephen Prince
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on June 16, 2005, 12:34:49 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0349116709.02._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=b1ecf6b1a69789bdc675e81758fcb82866692b41)

This book was pretty damn good, but the back cover is a little pompous for declaring him the wittiest voice since Mark Twain, it seems.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on July 01, 2005, 12:24:11 PM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050701/ts_nm/saddam_novel_dc

Saddam's novel a bestseller despite ban
By Ibon Villelabeitia


AMMAN (Reuters) - Move over     Harry Potter. In Amman's downtown bazaars, the bestselling book these days is     Saddam Hussein's bootlegged novel "Get out of here, curse you!"

Banned by Jordan on the grounds the 186-page tale of an Arab tribesman who defeats foreign invaders could harm relations between Jordan and     Iraq, Saddam's latest novel has become so popular booksellers say they can't keep up with demand.

"We had copies but they sold out after the book was banned," the owner of a kiosk in a busy Amman street told Reuters.

"We are waiting for the book to be published again. Even if it is banned I will ask for copies outside Jordan," said the vendor, who like most of those interviewed asked for his name not to be published.

"I had it before the government banned it but after the ban more people came to look for it," said another vendor, whose shop stands in a narrow alley where old men dressed in white robes fingered beads and drank tea.

"It's a very popular book here."

Saddam, who faces war crimes charges, is a popular figure in some quarters in Jordan, where -- like the ousted dictator -- the large majority of people are Sunni Muslims. There is also a large exile Iraqi community living here.

Portraits of Saddam smiling like a benevolent father figure are sold in some shops in gritty downtown Amman, where most residents are of Palestinian descent, next to pictures of Jordan's King Abdullah, a close U.S. ally.

Images of daily bloodshed in neighboring Iraq and reports of abuses of detainees at U.S.-run prisons have whipped up anti-American sentiment in the kingdom, where some regard Saddam as an Arab nationalist leader, analysts said.

"There is a lot of unhappiness in Jordan about what is going on in Iraq," said Joost Hiltermann, of the International Crisis Group.

"The images of violence and of Saddam in his underpants have reinforced the notion that the U.S. war is illegal and that Americans are in Iraq to humiliate Arabs."

Government censors can axe books in Jordan, but the ban has played into the hands of Saddam, credited with writing other works including "Zabiba and the King" and "Men and a City."

"You can't ban books in Jordan anymore. We have satellite and Internet," said vendor Hassan Abu Ali. "If I find copies I will sell thousands."

Believed to have been penned before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the book tells the story of Salem, a noble Arab tribesman representing righteousness and Arab nationalism, who defeats his American and Jewish enemies.

The tale describes how Salem unites divided Arab tribes in Iraq to defeat Hisquel, a foreign intruder who represents evil.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on July 01, 2005, 12:47:49 PM
Quote from: Gamblor Posts DrunkDress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

I'm reading this too.  Got to see David Sedaris in person a few weeks ago and got this book and Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules autographed.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on July 01, 2005, 04:45:12 PM
Quote from: Ravi
Quote from: Gamblor Posts DrunkDress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

I'm reading this too.  Got to see David Sedaris in person a few weeks ago and got this book and Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules autographed.
I just finished the latter. I really liked the story about the two middle-aged writer guys.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on July 02, 2005, 03:25:50 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Frecollectionbooks.com%2Fbleed%2Fimages%2FBB%2FTrumbo.gif&hash=b54c4ce49e8dde621b9c885748a72e9bfbb20217)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Kal on July 02, 2005, 03:49:14 PM
I just bought the book by Eric Chase Anderson "Chuck Dugan is AWOL". I'm going to start it tonight or tomorrow probably.

Also got "The Art of War", which is great to have and great to read every once in a while.

And I finished reading "Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders" which is a very good book aboutthe Stock Market, if anyone here is interested. My Dreamworks Animation stock is on the floor, and so is Pixar.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on July 19, 2005, 12:03:19 PM
By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
Finished it today.
It's the single worst reading-experience I've ever had. I hate having unfinished books on my shelf, the only reason I kept from from wiping a whore's ass with it.

It began with the Prologue. I thought, "Oh fuck, this can't be true." In 4 pages Mr. Coelho tells me all about what the book is about - Love, God, Faith - and how these two characters represent all of us. The subtext is simple: All he wants is to preach about God and Faith and Love but feel he needs a hollow story with razor thin characters to hide behind.

If you want to read this, read the prologue. Done!
...and you won't hate yourself more and more for every page you turn.


The Last Juror
Only fifty pages into this and I know I would hate this if I hadn't just read Piedra (thanks Paulo). Maybe this isn't bad, it could be the swedish translation. Now when I think about it, it is the translation. An exciting page-turning story written in fourth-grade swedish.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: 03 on July 19, 2005, 01:09:30 PM
confessions of a mask by yukio mishima
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Brazoliange on July 19, 2005, 01:16:28 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7210000%2F7213752.jpg&hash=dcebbc999509bf3022a191c97a2be01368e064f4)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on July 20, 2005, 11:07:30 AM
Just finished Bret Easton Ellis' Lunar Park.  Now I'm onto re-reading Stephen King's Dark Tower series.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ultrahip on July 20, 2005, 11:58:21 AM
Whoa! Wher'd you get Lunar Park? I thought it wasn't out til September!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pas on July 20, 2005, 12:38:41 PM
Do you guys like James Ellroy ? I just read his latest and I tought it was less good than his earlier... but his early early aren't so good... so I guess the guy is like some kind of y=x^2 graph
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on July 20, 2005, 02:29:44 PM
Quote from: Pas Rapso I guess the guy is like some kind of y=x^2 graph

best... analogy... ever.

In other news, I'm in the middle of Vonnegut's short story collection, "Welcome to the Monkeyhouse".  Currently, I'm marvelling over how television was able to take a bizzare, creative little six-page science fiction story called "Harrison Bergeron", and turn it into a ridiculous, bland two-hour TV movie, also called "Harrison Bergeron".  For shits and grins, read the physical description of the character in the story, and then look at Sean Astin.  Best casting ever.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: GoneSavage on July 20, 2005, 02:53:07 PM
Struth.  I think in the story he's like 7 feet tall, rail thin, and can leap extremely high.  I doubt Sean Astin can even leap over his pile of Burger King wrappers.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on July 20, 2005, 03:36:25 PM
Quote from: polkablues
Quote from: Pas Rapso I guess the guy is like some kind of y=x^2 graph

best... analogy... ever.


but wouldn't that mean that he's  exponentially good?


y=-x^2,  [0,57)  , no?

anyway:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0486250237.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=549fa8911e0b74b282f80956b2371f7af3ea9138)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on July 20, 2005, 03:40:22 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0374521727.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.gif&hash=695ae7cd3f7fc07a87b49e1add63c1c42e15ec70)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on July 20, 2005, 03:47:29 PM
Due to my move back home I had to put down Perfume for a while but now I'm close to finishing it. And I like it a lot. Though I do not see Jean-Baptiste as the good looking guy cast in the film.

Next up? Crime and Punishment...

I'm looking for good short story writers and collections? Any suggestions?
I know about and love the work of Ethan Coen and Raymond Carver...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on July 20, 2005, 04:05:46 PM
Quote from: kotteI'm looking for good short story writers and collections? Any suggestions?
I know about and love the work of Ethan Coen and Raymond Carver...
Get this...
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F8490000%2F8491532.gif&hash=262a21cd83f593f8afc506b18e1f1c73cea9bdc4)
"Among The Missing" by Dan Chaon. It's absolutely phenomenal. It is the sort of book that makes you think of your own life creatively. And I've never read Carver, but I've heard his name mentioned more than once by people discussing this book.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on July 20, 2005, 07:36:01 PM
Quote from: Ultrahip Lobster SupperWhoa! Wher'd you get Lunar Park? I thought it wasn't out til September!

I think they bumped it up to mid-late August but I lucked out and got my hands on an advance copy.  It's probably his most reserved book (relatively speaking, anyway), basically his tribute to Stephen King.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on July 21, 2005, 12:18:30 AM
Quote from: kotteThough I do not see Jean-Baptiste as the good looking guy cast in the film.
Quote from: Pubrickben whishaw..
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rada.org%2Fgrad03%2Fwhi.jpg&hash=6420274e8d02e71e130752f2008263c1477986f2)
oh yeah, he's a real looker!
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pas on July 21, 2005, 10:29:27 AM
Quote from: cronopio
Quote from: polkablues
Quote from: Pas Rapso I guess the guy is like some kind of y=x^2 graph

best... analogy... ever.


but wouldn't that mean that he's  exponentially good?


y=-x^2,  [0,57)  , no?


Haha yes I fucked up ... what's the one like a bell ???
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on July 21, 2005, 04:40:02 PM
Quote from: Pubrick
Quote from: kotteThough I do not see Jean-Baptiste as the good looking guy cast in the film.
Quote from: Pubrickben whishaw..
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rada.org%2Fgrad03%2Fwhi.jpg&hash=6420274e8d02e71e130752f2008263c1477986f2)
oh yeah, he's a real looker!

Well he's definitely not an Affleck, if that's what you're into.
But yeah, I'd call Whishaw good looking...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on August 04, 2005, 09:29:25 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.metrotimes.com%2Fsb%2F80697%2Fsex.jpg&hash=150b453b7a2145a2c0493eab32a0fe95048a62b2)


Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs -  Chuck Klosterman
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: 72teeth on August 04, 2005, 10:18:19 PM
How is it so far? Ive always wanted to read that one.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on August 06, 2005, 08:41:55 AM
Between a Rock and a Hard Place - Aron Ralston

The dude amputated his own arm, after being stuck...yes, between a rock and a hard place. After five days stuck he broke his own arm and cut it off with a fucking pen-knife.
Read it and your "film school or not" dilemmas will diminish. That's a real fucking decision.

...and I got a splinter under my nail last week and cried like a baby. :shock: (btw, that's the worst pain I've ever been through)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on August 06, 2005, 10:50:04 PM
Quote from: 72teethHow is it so far? Ive always wanted to read that one.

It's entertaining.  I mean...overall, it's hit and miss, but he makes some convincing arguments.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Thrindle on August 06, 2005, 11:47:47 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.proszynski.pl%2Fksiazki%2Fimages%2Fokladki%2Fmale%2Ftully1.jpg&hash=8310f5023a12fa66b8724e410d91aa49008b5cf3)

I've read this book about ten times.  I finished it again yesterday.  The jacket is deceiving, and so is the initial "blurb" on the back.  One of the best books I've ever read, that manages to get inside of a character and take you with her.  Not that you guys are going to read it, but it is an amazing read nonetheless.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Brazoliange on August 07, 2005, 12:01:17 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv720%2Fithica45%2Fhbpcover.jpg&hash=bf0a8ce9f823c73c3733b7106745e4fcd5695814)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on August 07, 2005, 02:48:07 AM
Currently reading:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F014044730X.01._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow%2CTopRight%2C45%2C-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=ad0eb289238eafc705f19d8cd8dcf9b2a5e6ac4a)
Moliere, The Misanthrope and Other Plays: A New Selection

and about to begin:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0140449175.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=19961484b2e459ffca3c5d1dd1380a3786d2d8f0)
Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

I'm alittle upset with the Moliere, since the rhyme scheme that I love so much have been done away with.
And I've been wanting to read Anna Karenina and other long-length classics for some time now.

And I got both of these at Shakespeare & Company. :yabbse-cool:
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on August 07, 2005, 10:03:16 AM
have you read Eight Plays, by moliere?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on August 07, 2005, 12:38:48 PM
Quote from: Reinhold Messnerhave you read Eight Plays, by moliere?
Nope.
I assume it has the rhyme scheme?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on August 07, 2005, 08:04:10 PM
sommofum do.

what i like about moliere is the meter... he writes reparte in a way that very few others are able.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Brazoliange on August 09, 2005, 05:37:11 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thezreview.co.uk%2Fposters%2Fposterimages%2FL%2Flasttemptationofchrist.jpg&hash=2413067b2c7cd94ad3d7c002bbd9192cbafff46a)

about to begin Moby Dick
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on August 09, 2005, 05:44:14 PM
I just read Snow Falling on Cedar for school.  I have no idea what to read next.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Brazoliange on August 09, 2005, 05:44:56 PM
try Stephen King's It?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on August 09, 2005, 06:00:43 PM
brazoliange: your thoughts on last temptation?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Brazoliange on August 09, 2005, 06:04:36 PM
really good if a bit long in the last 3 chapters; I need to go back and watch the movie again now, but I 'think' Scorcese lost a lot of the power some of the scenes could have had
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on August 10, 2005, 05:25:52 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theshorthorn.com%2Farchive%2F2005%2Fspring%2F05-apr-01%2Fn08.jpg&hash=01db35e5a82dbeb46d9e65a4135a28b43695f106)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on August 14, 2005, 05:53:53 AM
A Cook's Tour - Anthony Bourdain
Just had to read this after Kitchen Confidential, which I really enjoyed. This was almost as enjoyable. His writing is very funny and real. If one man could make a still-beating cobra heart seem delicious, Bourdain's the man.

...and after those two books I just had to get:

Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook
Just a cook book. Not much to comment on here...

...and yesterday I got:

Fools Rush In - Bill Carter
A non-fiction tale about a man who joins 'The Serious Road Trip', an organisation that dodges bullets and grenades to get food and supplies to the Bosnians UN can't reach.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Raikus on August 18, 2005, 10:24:34 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F157322314X.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=121f254d3a17388c3e0eca29eea732b4f1441e3c)

Some of you saw the author on the Daily Show a couple of weeks ago. Me, I recognized him as a guy I had a writing class with in college.

The book though, wow. Go buy it, read it, and feel how close some of us are to living this life, or how some of us through minor details can be swept up into something so chaotic.

It's a short read but well worth it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on August 19, 2005, 11:21:03 AM
rereading Cats Cradle, by Vonnegut
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on August 23, 2005, 12:22:20 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0571229948.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=f917e91217dc2166b8e378420ee6f197352412c2)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on August 23, 2005, 01:37:05 AM
^ that looks awesome.

finished cats cradle. i still love it... got a lot more out of it this time than i did in junior high.

read (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0691122946.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=cb442facf7bcd3d3f7d2083ae26c42df2a5ca0a0) the other night, too. it was just a straightforward, academic look at what the word "bullshit" means and what its place in conversation is. (it was wonderful)

now reading golapagos, by the ever-wonderful Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on August 23, 2005, 01:46:00 AM
Quote from: Reinhold Messnernow reading golapagos, by the ever-wonderful Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

I just tried to read "Galapagos" and only made it half-way through.  The only Vonnegut novel I started and didn't finish.  Regardless, he's one of the best ever.

Right now I'm (re-)reading:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp%2Fbimgdata%2FFC0142003387.JPG&hash=9b14a6db189ebd07d67efe4fb8079bc60026af4a)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on August 23, 2005, 02:57:22 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F9580000%2F9588432.gif&hash=b114d0f86beb0dfe0ed8ea1e62c97f33fc74047f)
Michael Chabon -- The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: bonanzataz on August 24, 2005, 02:15:17 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F1200000%2F1208049.gif&hash=c2b254383e59aa5f15d008a6049f74b3a9ab0c55)
and now i know my racism is innate and i should just die.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: SHAFTR on August 24, 2005, 02:59:35 AM
Currently Reading:  Ball Four
Currently Starting:  cinema of loneliness
Currently on Reserve:  Theory of Poker
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on August 24, 2005, 09:59:10 AM
Quote from: SHAFTRCurrently Reading:  Ball Four
Currently Starting:  cinema of loneliness
Currently on Reserve:  Theory of Poker

did you make that sound like a baseball lineup on purpose? the first one is a baseball book.

"at bat:
on deck:
in the pit:"
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on August 25, 2005, 07:29:36 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1564781879.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.gif&hash=1829505ca1d85f29f2f26678e52114d284ec1eda)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on August 25, 2005, 08:39:11 PM
Quote from: bonanzataz
and now i know my racism is innate and i should just die.

I told you that quite some time ago, honky.

I have On Bullshit on my desk, but I haven't read it yet.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on August 31, 2005, 12:27:06 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0618446877.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=adb8af8c27f974f2cc0463d9e669497c5d2b3d00)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on September 08, 2005, 06:17:20 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0201379376.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=755ee689b3582cc212f73d9fafef452162a0189e)

props to pubrick for the reco
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pas on September 08, 2005, 06:27:36 PM
Quote from: cronopio(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1564781879.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.gif&hash=1829505ca1d85f29f2f26678e52114d284ec1eda)

I was forced to do various Oulipo's in a writing class andI tough it was very stupid...until I plugged some of them in a short story and made it kick a thousand times more ass...so  :yabbse-thumbup:
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on September 08, 2005, 08:05:41 PM
Just finished reading:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0312421273.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=f3ab8567f8215971dedce75942f2c7a31f272f85)

I ended up liking it a whole lot better than I started out liking it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on September 08, 2005, 09:18:23 PM
Hardball - Chris Matthews.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on September 10, 2005, 06:47:12 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0786885688.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=f6cf607c8eb669426dca67b379cb7b8032884e58)

Shopgirl - Steve Martin
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on September 10, 2005, 10:31:21 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.answers.com%2Fmain%2Fcontent%2Fwp%2Fen%2Fthumb%2Fb%2Fb9%2F200px-Tropic_of_cancer.jpg&hash=d54e4baa76cecb0a0b12f65caddece6dbccc1d08)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on September 11, 2005, 03:55:56 AM
hot stuff comin' through.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on September 11, 2005, 06:37:49 PM
Hey, nipples!  Nipple, anyway.


Started reading:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww-personal.umich.edu%2F%7Ejbmorgan%2Fatlblu.gif&hash=5aa05d4f72a6fe4e6312d3582410dbe89a14d4e9)

It's basically an examination of the theory that the lost continent of Atlantis existed on what is now Antarctica, with ideas ranging from earth crust displacement to ice ages to global placement of sacred sites to ancient prophecy.  Somewhat less crazy than Von Daniken, and almost as fun.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on September 11, 2005, 07:02:09 PM
Quote from: Gloria(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0786885688.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=f6cf607c8eb669426dca67b379cb7b8032884e58)

Shopgirl - Steve Martin

i read it in junior high. didn't care much for it. how do you like it?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on September 12, 2005, 08:40:43 AM
Quote from: Reinhold Messneri read it in junior high. didn't care much for it. how do you like it?

I just started reading it (first few pages).   I'll let you know what I think as soon as I get a little further through it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Fernando on September 12, 2005, 03:43:03 PM
Finally started reading something.

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, so far so good.  :yabbse-thumbup:
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on September 14, 2005, 10:48:12 PM
Finally getting around to this:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fart.half.ebay.com%2Fprod%2F4550600.jpeg&hash=d9d08e3b1b01825cb81c15288d18149a0daa82e1)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ono on September 15, 2005, 07:33:11 AM
Quote from: Walrus Star[Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller]
Tell me about it.  Worth a buy?
Quote from: MacGuffin[Rebels on the Backlot by Sharon Waxman]
Tell us about it.  :-D (http://www.xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=7177&highlight=rebels+backlot)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: deathnotronic on September 15, 2005, 11:33:46 AM
the iliad
for my mythology/ancient history class(es)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on September 15, 2005, 03:30:23 PM
Quote from: ono
Quote from: Walrus Star[Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller]
Tell me about it.  Worth a buy?

I'd recommend it.  It's told with a lot of passion... when it's dirty, it's gritty and raw... when it's romantic, it is gorgeous and beautiful.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on September 16, 2005, 12:32:35 PM
Quote from: Reinhold Messneri read it in junior high. didn't care much for it. how do you like it?

It was just okay.  At points,  I felt that Steve Martin was spending too much time explaining things; he didn't leave much for the audience to figure out themselves.  I wasn't emotionally invested in the characters, either.  I didn't like how he explained exactly what every character was thinking; it took away from the story.  However, it was a quick read and had a few cute moments.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: 72teeth on September 21, 2005, 12:03:54 AM
Random Vin Diesel Facts (http://2prolly.com/diesel/)
funny funny funny...

"Vin Diesel is invisible under black light."
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on September 21, 2005, 02:42:29 AM
Vin Diesel is the 23rd element in the periodic table
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on September 29, 2005, 09:34:18 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.makingthemodernworld.org.uk%2Fstories%2Fthe_age_of_ambivalence%2F06.ST.03%2Fimg%2FIM.1072_es.jpg&hash=1ff0d808ed18288b1b4a5fdf486422d901bed01e)

Prozac Nation - Elizabeth Wurtzel
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Figure 8 on September 29, 2005, 10:17:16 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.capitolchoices.org%2Fimages%2Fresources%2FBook%2Fperks_of_being_wallflower_lg.gif&hash=6ba190db0b4fbb48b028104b961fdd905fea2ede)
After a ton of people told me to read it, I am finally getting around to reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: 72teeth on September 29, 2005, 10:20:04 PM
aw, that brings up good junior high memories...
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Kal on September 29, 2005, 10:44:21 PM
I dont think I've written anything here before... so here is a list of books I read lately (past few months)... recomendations all for anyone here (although some where already mentioned)

- Rebel Without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player - Robert Rodriguez

- Rebels in the Backot

- Blockbuster: How Hollywood Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Summer.

- The Fabulist

- The Cult of Mac

- Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

- The Art of War - Sun Tzu

- Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

- On Bullshit

- New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer - Bill Maher

- There's a hippie on the Highway - James Hadley Chase

- Why Do Men Have Nipples? Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini

- The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on October 01, 2005, 04:10:26 PM
about to start:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alianzaeditorial.es%2Fjpg_g%2Falianza%2F3460269.jpg&hash=d4d2935fb75f0d832dd5e20336d5ff49f3fc190f)

adolfo bioy casares - la trama celeste
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on October 01, 2005, 05:58:14 PM
Quote from: andyk
- Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

How is that? I've been looking into getting it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on October 01, 2005, 06:53:27 PM
fuckin' a. i got to college and stopped reading for pleasure. i'm disappointed in myself.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Garam on October 01, 2005, 07:53:33 PM
In my English literature class...

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.betweenthecovers.com%2Fimages%2F2296.jpg&hash=d7ca031e47f329a6e44160b316185472ede4834d)

and for pleasure...

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.planetzach.com%2FHellsAngels.jpg&hash=5d945a8d43f10aef76ac1d6fd3fedb3e07e40bc2)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: I Don't Believe in Beatles on October 01, 2005, 07:56:55 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.betweenthecovers.com%2Fimages%2F73110.jpg&hash=aaceb295b479a847423a4c2fd6d1eee27b43f5df)

I'm a bit over two-thirds into it - Hallorann is preparing to return to the Overlook.  It's nowhere near as interesting as I thought it would be.  I like the film much more.  Maybe it'll pick up a bit now that it's nearing the climax.

EDIT: Just realized that's a film poster - my book cover looks very close to that, only it's got a "By Stephen King" at the bottom instead of credits.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Myxo on October 02, 2005, 01:08:28 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0345352912.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=15044479b6581ee90000c5ccb2fca0b23d3248aa)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on October 03, 2005, 06:21:58 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fg-images.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FG%2F01%2Fciu%2Feb%2F24%2Fe26592c008a03fac642a6010.L.jpg&hash=9b05201ef00618bd337335ce3e2912ea4543243a)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: 72teeth on October 13, 2005, 04:27:13 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi17.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fb59%2F72teeth%2F0446670251.jpg&hash=07a0def87439afb05095878f456d1590cbb48a15)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cine on October 13, 2005, 04:35:25 PM
an eviction notice.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on October 13, 2005, 10:56:59 PM
Quote from: Cinephilean eviction notice.
unless it's been made into a movie, i don't wanna hear about it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gloria on October 15, 2005, 08:33:01 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.bestwebbuys.com%2Fmuze%2Fbooks%2F04%2F0743490304.jpg&hash=940d9005b32ef4ef90fa2ac31dfe79eb3199db2f)

Deception Point ~ Dan Brown
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pwaybloe on October 26, 2005, 09:54:57 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0740748475.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=171941af0d64ead9c01920ed36e6821b4d2748b9)

Just wanted the other fan(s) to know that this is out.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: mogwai on October 26, 2005, 11:13:36 AM
Quote from: GaramWow, that's great. I gotta get me one of them.
you can also buy them.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Figure 8 on October 26, 2005, 07:59:55 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0452278899.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=76a56dda767a5c3bff2c59e470105f5332606be2)

...and finally:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0385509480.01._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-dp-500-45%2C-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=62a7e799c2c6d9f00509769dc10f08bd889ca871)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on October 27, 2005, 12:30:26 AM
I hate posting in these threads, but this book is a true original. Tough read as well:

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on October 28, 2005, 12:56:32 AM
Quote from: The Gold TrumpetI hate posting in these threads, but this book is a true original. Tough read as well
the result of avoiding threads like this is the added weight given to when u do post.

apparently no library in my city has the book but i did manage to find these pics: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG97/fsa/gallery.html

the good and bad thing about books is that they hav to be purchased, or borrowed.. they hav to be held in hand. even if u could steal them online it woudln't be worth it.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on October 28, 2005, 01:16:07 AM
Quote from: Pubrick
Quote from: The Gold TrumpetI hate posting in these threads, but this book is a true original. Tough read as well
the result of avoiding threads like this is the added weight given to when u do post.

apparently no library in my city has the book but i did manage to find these pics: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG97/fsa/gallery.html

The photographs are by Walker Evans. They encompass a good 80 pages of the beginning of the book. When James Agee is given reign to write about the three tenant families he stayed with, the first 100 pages is really poetry done to the form of a novel. Very lyrical and you can't just read it. You have to say every line out loud to digest the words.

I'm on the second part, which is over a hundred pages of description. Agee goes to brutal lengths to describe everything he sees, from detailing every area of the farm to listing all the items in the houses. He tries to encompass all the descriptions in sentences to get it to play like a regular book. Classification of the book is historical. Agee says he wanted to not be an artist but a recorder in the purist sense. He also was very much influenced by Joyce's Ulysses, which unlike any novel, tries to encompass as much in a day as humanely possible.

Also, there are interludes of pure poetry.

I'm trudging though, taking my time. Its hard not call this part difficult and almost unhappy reading. But when the book gets going, it really gets going. Its writing that is very intimidating.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: killafilm on October 28, 2005, 02:57:54 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chiark.greenend.org.uk%2F%7Ejanetmck%2Fbookaweek%2Fbooks_pics%2Fvalis.jpg&hash=75fac224daf9637e16bb8017d1184831a698f7c2)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on November 01, 2005, 01:18:31 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0571220185.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=b8966f9740e5e8b64883067a4341a7810d278de0)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on November 01, 2005, 01:50:30 AM
hey i've got that one, too. what are your thoughts on it?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on November 01, 2005, 09:17:44 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.taschen.com%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2Foriginal%2Fms_bauhaus.jpg&hash=5b837b4c5de76d25ce8fe29502403691a4b4b1a9)
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on November 01, 2005, 09:21:37 AM
what is that?
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on November 01, 2005, 09:23:50 AM
a book on the history of the  german design school and its downfall  thanks to the nazi regime. taschen commands  when it comes to this kind of books.
Title: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on November 01, 2005, 01:32:34 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fg-images.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FG%2F01%2Fciu%2F11%2F70%2F3a8592c008a09dccc0285010.L.jpg&hash=8f4b4c14c1268c5daddfb2faef2b79be3f817c8b)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: A Matter Of Chance on November 07, 2005, 02:16:24 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F081121365X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=8916ede9652e770d43cea57024d4b4afa7709d8a)

:yabbse-thumbup: :yabbse-thumbup: :yabbse-thumbup: :yabbse-thumbup:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on November 07, 2005, 06:27:39 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sleazeroxx.com%2Fbooks%2Fscartissue.jpg&hash=7bccff6b09b813bef19ecd8fa5cb511b24088f45)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on November 07, 2005, 11:26:35 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0142002429.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=b61fa9a84b34a8d6437f201a2b7a7cbb3d09d1be)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on November 08, 2005, 12:36:46 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ardis.co.uk%2Fcollectable_books.jpg&hash=ea09131d96754e95fc1748304669f196bb8d34f4)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Raikus on November 08, 2005, 10:28:00 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.clarkesworldbooks.com%2Fimages%2Flarge%2Fbutcher_storm_pb.jpg&hash=c58e84cdcc546492d561e897a424f0cffb32ab69)

I just finished this. Enjoyable read. Quick, entertaining, not requiring a lot of thinking. It's a good come down book from all the above. I'll start on the 2nd in the series tomorrow.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Thrindle on November 09, 2005, 12:48:01 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.globecorner.com%2Fi%2Ft%2Fhousespi.GIF&hash=ce14f06e5d70c5c94e3814539ce6d2007565d219)
Awesome book, and good movie.  It's a semi-autobigraphical book by Isabel Allende (her uncle was president of Chile).  It chronicles four generations of an aristocratic Chilean family... from the turn of the century to the 1970's.  Really really interesting.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on November 09, 2005, 02:22:32 AM
Quote from: Thrindle on November 09, 2005, 12:48:01 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.globecorner.com%2Fi%2Ft%2Fhousespi.GIF&hash=ce14f06e5d70c5c94e3814539ce6d2007565d219)
Awesome book, and good movie.  It's a semi-autobigraphical book by Isabel Allende (her uncle was president of Chile).  It chronicles four generations of an aristocratic Chilean family... from the turn of the century to the 1970's.  Really really interesting.

Sounds a bit like One Hundred Years of Solitude.
How is it different? Cause I loved Marquez book.

Anyway...I'm reading Naked Lunch and I'm about to start The Idiot but I'm afraid it it will kill me. I hate having unfinished books.
Will read The New York Trilogy on my NYC vacation next week.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on November 12, 2005, 08:00:11 PM
After finishing Anna Karenina, I've decided to take a break, however brief, from the traditional novel.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F03122216011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7220000%2F7227922.jpg&hash=701187fee7d0bafc84e54a731df0ec6f564068a5)

"Illustrated novels," they call them.
A beautiful art style and exceptionally written.
I recommend this to any and every one.

They also have their own "indie" soundtrack that the kiddies are sure to love!

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2FB0002W1AQO.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=ab56581ba0415aace5bcd51022d0f8087078db0b)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on November 20, 2005, 04:14:58 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0571152236.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=61d3b68c367c6578f332b0aa685374b56db538b0)

This is great. The end of the first paragraph is only a hint at the greatness of this book and Paul Auster.

It think it's a perfect attitude towards storytelling.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on November 20, 2005, 07:58:41 AM
Quote from: kotte on November 20, 2005, 04:14:58 AM
[paul auster - the new york trilogy]

This is great. The end of the first paragraph is only a hint at the greatness of this book and Paul Auster.

It think it's a perfect attitude towards storytelling.
i think it's a bit overrated. in fact as you read on you may notice the novelty of his technique. that's what i didn't like about it, everything was so formulaic even in the ways he tries to surprise you.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on November 20, 2005, 01:11:34 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.britishbookshop.at%2Fshop%2Fimages%2Fproducts%2Fthumbs%2Fthm_831-3430C329DE331_1.jpg&hash=5f663ff23cb0f01497cc764ee596ce610693e216)

delicious!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Fernando on November 21, 2005, 12:05:24 PM
Just started.

Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0060936231.01._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow%2CTopRight%2C45%2C-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=6bdead94090466615a9fe0e2ab6c9e797e054e6c)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on November 21, 2005, 12:47:09 PM
i click, but the motherfucker won't let me search inside!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on November 21, 2005, 03:24:31 PM
Finally started:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F04121015011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F8820000%2F8825637.jpg&hash=ed64e2cf05a94a8b5b1885c6da91304de63f659a)

Thanks, GB. :yabbse-thumbup:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on December 03, 2005, 12:27:32 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-jp.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0451525566.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=40c281a66d32025b41cefaddc6fcc05ca66940af)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on December 03, 2005, 07:08:44 AM
Quote from: rené on November 12, 2005, 08:00:11 PM
After finishing Anna Karenina, I've decided to take a break, however brief, from the traditional novel.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F03122216011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7220000%2F7227922.jpg&hash=701187fee7d0bafc84e54a731df0ec6f564068a5)

"Illustrated novels," they call them.
A beautiful art style and exceptionally written.
I recommend this to any and every one.

They also have their own "indie" soundtrack that the kiddies are sure to love!

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2FB0002W1AQO.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=ab56581ba0415aace5bcd51022d0f8087078db0b)
wow i started reading this and then remembered seeing the cover here before. i'm about a third of the way through and have made my own soundtrack to it (smog, cat power, bonnie 'prince' billy, 13 & God, beth orton). should i steal the one u posted? does it add an element of self-consciousness to it? this is by far the fastest and easiest read i've had all year, the pages practically turn themselves. well i've enjoyed it a lot and will try to post once i'm done, so i don't care if i just jinxed it, i've got about an hour left in my playlist.

120 pages in just under two hours according to my playlist, i guess i'm reading it slow.. (i'd read 50 the nite before just waiting for letterman!) even at 2 pages a minute this massive thing would give u more than 4.5 hours of entertainment, with half the effort of a normal book. yeah it's a good break from the conventional novel, it's funny u had come off Anna Karenina cos i'm taking a break from Crime and Punishment.. comparable? i guess we'll never know.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on December 03, 2005, 10:41:32 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vintagelibrary.com%2Fbooks%2Fvonnegut%2Fvonnegut03.jpg&hash=cd3452f2ec01ae8bf48b5d3b0410e50203e8a03d)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on December 03, 2005, 01:28:14 PM
Quote from: Pubrick on December 03, 2005, 07:08:44 AM
wow i started reading this and then remembered seeing the cover here before. i'm about a third of the way through and have made my own soundtrack to it (smog, cat power, bonnie 'prince' billy, 13 & God, beth orton). should i steal the one u posted? does it add an element of self-consciousness to it? this is by far the fastest and easiest read i've had all year, the pages practically turn themselves. well i've enjoyed it a lot and will try to post once i'm done, so i don't care if i just jinxed it, i've got about an hour left in my playlist.
Yeah, I read it in a day or two. The fastest for me in a while. I think the only other novels that I'd read that fast were Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.
Karenina took me months, but soooo worth it.
As far as the soundtrack goes, well, it fits the mood to a T, to me.
You can preview three of the tracks on the author's site:
Doot Doot Garden (http://www.dootdootgarden.com/)

Quote120 pages in just under two hours according to my playlist, i guess i'm reading it slow.. (i'd read 50 the nite before just waiting for letterman!) even at 2 pages a minute this massive thing would give u more than 4.5 hours of entertainment, with half the effort of a normal book. yeah it's a good break from the conventional novel, it's funny u had come off Anna Karenina cos i'm taking a break from Crime and Punishment.. comparable? i guess we'll never know.
I'd considered reading Crime & Punishment after Virginia Woolf, but I think I need a lengthier breather still.

Happy to see you're enjoying Blankets, though. :bravo:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on December 03, 2005, 04:13:16 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pavementmagazine.com%2Fcrackup.jpg&hash=b144fbe333c55766e0fa3babcde1a4a974adcf43)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on December 04, 2005, 09:31:35 PM
Quote from: rené on December 03, 2005, 01:28:14 PM
As far as the soundtrack goes, well, it fits the mood to a T, to me.
You can preview three of the tracks on the author's site:
Doot Doot Garden (http://www.dootdootgarden.com/)
oh yeah i can see that working. too late now i finished it yesterday. amazing read, i second your recommendation to everyone.

it's weird, the weather right now is completely inappropriate, since basically the whole book is set in this snow-covered winter, i finished it on the hottest day of the year. :shock: i'm not even kidding, it was (as right now) at least 100° F. funny cos at one point craig's brother Phil cries in agony during a summer sequence about it being that hot. i was saddened by some developments later in the book, but ultimately it's a life affirming tale of faith and redemption, the kind i like!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on December 05, 2005, 05:22:35 AM
The Road to Hell
The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bokus.com%2Fbook_pics%2F074%2F322%2F0743227867.gif&hash=d36a13e4edcff0337267f770d00035d9efedb495)

Fuck Save the Children!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on December 05, 2005, 01:15:59 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.longitudebooks.com%2Fimages%2Fbook_large%2FALA52.jpg&hash=86a73eba24a003bdc5392824629fff0a61df87b2)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on December 05, 2005, 06:47:59 PM
Quote from: w a l r u $ on December 05, 2005, 01:15:59 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.longitudebooks.com%2Fimages%2Fbook_large%2FALA52.jpg&hash=86a73eba24a003bdc5392824629fff0a61df87b2)

Awesome.  If you haven't read it, I strongly recommend "Under the Banner of Heaven" once you're finished.  You'll never look at Mormons the same way again.

As for me, I just started:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F04080314011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F8040000%2F8049334.jpg&hash=b9e5eb79b523293cadb157f58029ae255b5c8e28)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on December 05, 2005, 07:32:06 PM
Quote from: polkablues on December 05, 2005, 06:47:59 PM
I strongly recommend "Under the Banner of Heaven" once you're finished. You'll never look at Mormons the same way again.

ok, i'm sold.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on December 09, 2005, 06:20:59 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0345336976.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=954eebbf3c80dc199d231907fd026f4f56b8c3c2)

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: I Love a Magician on December 10, 2005, 02:48:22 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1932416331.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=b141eb98330b55a249d5fbd782d9e6554619f5b0)

The Girl with Bangs is a great story.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Find Your Magali on December 11, 2005, 09:01:16 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.clarkesworldbooks.com%2Fimages%2Flarge%2Fgaiman_american_pb.jpg&hash=aece73b7ba6ce8f56d3c640c194ff5175433361e)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on December 11, 2005, 10:25:53 PM
goddammit i want to read lunar park for these vacations but i can't get it over here. some one send it to me.

edit:
physically send it to me
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on December 13, 2005, 03:11:36 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0679745653.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=1df66b57355d3b1414bcc248e7d71e4c27f2a261)

It includes three other stories, three of which I'm too lazy to find out right now.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on December 13, 2005, 06:44:16 PM
Quote from: rené on December 13, 2005, 03:11:36 PM
It includes three other stories, three of which I'm too lazy to find out right now.
Lunch at Tiffany's
Dinner at Tiffany's
Get the Hell Out of Tiffany's
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on December 21, 2005, 01:16:38 PM
I guess it's not so important now, and perhaps no one really cares, but the other stories were:
House of Flowers
Diamond Guitar
A Christmas Memory


And I've since moved on:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F04080612011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F8050000%2F8056081.jpg&hash=84fed7edbf06734f59c8e8639a8e923ec418b683)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on December 21, 2005, 07:09:32 PM
Quote from: rené on December 21, 2005, 01:16:38 PM
And I've since moved on:
(Oliver Twist)

Oh, is it based on the movie?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Figure 8 on December 21, 2005, 11:45:05 PM
I just started reading Last Exit to Brooklyn.  It's written really weird.  I'm not very far, though, so who knows what I'll end up thinking.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ©brad on December 22, 2005, 10:31:44 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0375412913.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=a50f3ac152c77c491bf413a521c228219365346c)

creeeepy.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on December 23, 2005, 12:58:40 AM
Can Cronopio borrow that when you're done?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on December 23, 2005, 02:14:43 PM
Quote from: Find Your Magali on December 11, 2005, 09:01:16 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.clarkesworldbooks.com%2Fimages%2Flarge%2Fgaiman_american_pb.jpg&hash=aece73b7ba6ce8f56d3c640c194ff5175433361e)

me too, as soon as i finish

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0974537632.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=e55c53996bdc3cec93b6c6b2562f191879477612)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on December 24, 2005, 09:39:28 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F05062115011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F9840000%2F9842130.jpg&hash=9f8c8e54f50c7b3e48f012c6a1308536e637525d)

i bought this a month ago and read it in a day i'm going through it a second time

and i'm almost done with this...

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F05042612011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F9570000%2F9572081.jpg&hash=076331360eb5979de5c3cc1791a3b5c4dfd92ddb)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on December 24, 2005, 01:08:29 PM
how is man without a country? i just read mother night, a story about a man with no country-- are the two stories related?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on December 24, 2005, 01:31:19 PM
Quote from: permanent username on December 24, 2005, 01:08:29 PM
how is man without a country? i just read mother night, a story about a man with no country-- are the two stories related?

It's not a novel, just a collection of non-fiction articles.  It's closer to "Palm Sunday" (his "autobiographical collage") than to anything else he's written.  It's good, though.  The man could write phone books and make them entertaining.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on December 24, 2005, 03:38:42 PM
does vonnegut have a place in a thread? i'd like to know some xixaxers favorite vonnegut novels
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on December 24, 2005, 09:02:35 PM
Quote from: squints on December 24, 2005, 03:38:42 PM
does vonnegut have a place in a thread? i'd like to know some xixaxers favorite vonnegut novels

http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=1994.0

the search button - it works.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on December 24, 2005, 09:08:03 PM
gracias
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: decemberlove on December 29, 2005, 01:46:44 AM
Ada, or Ardor - Nabokov
Anarchy, State, and Utopia - Nozick
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on December 29, 2005, 06:09:49 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0060932139.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif&hash=98a2de4e90652c0eee60b444e2886267ef6a41e7)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on December 29, 2005, 06:56:12 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0306813939.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=d1e82f0e2c6a28dc3a2f1935c4013733256535c1)

interesting, but not very well written. 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Brazoliange on December 29, 2005, 07:16:15 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.georgiaencyclopedia.org%2Fmedia_content%2Fm-2605.jpg&hash=61b78e04d06b0d266d07e139850da5f7ba3bb673)

and moby dick, but it got a bit slow.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on December 29, 2005, 07:30:23 PM
yeah those novelizations always butcher the original movie, huh?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on December 29, 2005, 07:34:13 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0553379011.01._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIlitb-dp-500-arrow%2CTopRight%2C32%2C-59_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=0096dd10f09f1ec2c01f751387374a16876e181c)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Redlum on December 30, 2005, 07:29:13 AM
Journey to the Centre of the Earth - Jules Vern

Supoib. Along with a load of other cheap penguin classics I bought, to be eligible for super-saver delivery. If you're ever a £1/$1 short these make double the bargain.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Brazoliange on December 30, 2005, 04:26:33 PM
Quote from: Pubrick on December 29, 2005, 07:30:23 PM
yeah those novelizations always butcher the original movie, huh?

I find it funny that you still think I didn't know Dickens wrote it before Polanski made the movie. Get off my back.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on December 30, 2005, 05:09:13 PM
Actually, I think P was making a reference to his favorite movie Airheads.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Find Your Magali on January 14, 2006, 12:54:19 AM
What SHOULD I be reading....
----------------------

'ACCIDENTAL GENIUS': INDIE GODFATHER OR RIOTOUS ICONOCLAST?

By DAVID THOMSON
The New York Times

   Anyone who ever met John Cassavetes, no matter what they thought of his work, has hungered for a biography that knew how to convey the fearsome, wild energy of the man, the wolfish appetite for spontaneity wherever it might lead and the scorch marks of the dangerous and the sinister. Whatever you think of him, don't forget that he was, in "Rosemary's Baby," one of the screen's most plausible and haunting sons of Satan. His laugh, his embrace, his offers of friendship and sympathy were as alarming as they were encouraging.
   But it's possible to have those mixed feelings in the arresting presence of other great American independent filmmakers: Nicholas Ray, Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola. And even in cases where research has to make up for a meeting, as with D.W. Griffith, David O. Selznick or Orson Welles, much the same thing is likely to be true. "Independence" has been with us a long time in American film, and was actually invented by a desperate yet sublime inability to share, whatever the ostensible method of film production being employed.
   Marshall Fine's "Accidental Genius" is, really, the first full life of Cassavetes, who died in 1989 at 59 and who is easily offered as a kind of godfather to the independent film movement in America. For years, it was assumed in film circles that the scholar Raymond Carney would sooner or later turn from his immense and exhilarating protestations about Cassavetes' greatness as an artist to a treatment of the life. Since well before the filmmaker's death, Carney has been issuing books in his gospel of St. John, and they are fine works, wrestling matches with the reader, and a hint of what a good teacher Carney must be. Recently, alas, he has fallen out with the Cassavetes estate by discovering an early version of the director's first film, "Shadows" (one that Carney reckons superior to the version Cassavetes released in 1959), and making it available for illicit screenings. There's no need to take sides in that dispute, but still, an imp of mischief wonders whether it isn't the eventual payoff for the amazing turmoil and confusion that somehow attend the business affairs of our movie geniuses.
   Fine isn't Carney's equal as a writer or as a dogged hound for the last truth. (Carney has probably spent more money researching "Shadows" than it cost Cassavetes to make.) And my heart sank as his book began: There are the automatic assumptions that Cassavetes is father to our rich age of independents, that "Faces" and "Husbands" are sources for "Brokeback Mountain," instead of a surveillance camera positioned by Antonioni and left to turn dysfunctional. There is the sketchiest treatment of Cassavetes' early life. He was Greek by origin, the son of an immigrant father who got himself into Harvard and later became a successful businessman. But Fine leaves those formative years woefully empty and prefers to settle for the young actor — half-hawk, half-rat — who came along just as James Dean kept on driving.
   Never mind; as soon as we get to "Shadows," this book jumps to life. For then it was, in 1957-58, that this restless Hollywood actor took it into his head to open a New York studio for actors that was virulently opposed to both the doctrines and the harsh criticism at the Actors Studio. Indeed, then and for years, Cassavetes' strength was close to his weakness: He hardly ever saw an actor or an actress do anything he didn't adore — especially if they had done it wrong, by accident or in defiance of his own plan. And in Cassavetes himself, there was often that look of glee or imminent cruelty that said, Just as soon as I get a fix on you, I'll do the last thing you expect. One reason for missing a good account of his boyhood is the plain evidence in Cassavetes that vital parts of him never grew up. Almost exactly the same thing was often said about Orson Welles; maybe this is the glory that rewards a culture that aspires so strenuously to staying young forever.
   Fine's book has been permitted by Gena Rowlands, Cassavetes' widow, but she has not poured out her heart. What that means is that the weird mob that Cassavetes encouraged as his group are still the witnesses to his life. And they were trained to ignore his shortcomings, just as very often he could be relied upon to tell them they were terrific. There is a school of thought that says Cassavetes discovered and fostered the greatest lights in American acting of his time, and obviously Rowlands must be accounted as the brightest, but other critics doubt his sure touch and wonder if, once he had gone past improvisation, Cassavetes didn't prove an awkward scenarist.
   I have a hunch that there was more room for drink, violence and sheer madness in his life than hero-worship can yet admit to. Never mind. This is a genuine attempt to get at the riot of inspiration and muddle. I'm not sure that Fine ever entirely settles in his mind what an "accidental genius" is, or ought to be. But this book is a terrific step forward in detailing the frenzy, the dread, the hope and the immense, self-destructive independence with which Cassavetes worked. There could be more on family; there could be a lot more on money. But I suspect in both areas we might come away shocked at how little the real Cassavetes noted either one.
   
   PUBLICATION NOTES:
   'ACCIDENTAL GENIUS:
   How John Cassavetes Invented the American Independent Film'
   By Marshall Fine
   Illustrated. 482 pages. Miramax Books. $27.95. 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sigur Rós on January 16, 2006, 05:13:03 PM
Milan Kundera - The Unbearable Lightness of Being

... :yabbse-thumbup: :yabbse-thumbdown:

EDIT: Just saw Walrus had red this as well, what do you think? Cause I really don't know what to think about it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on January 17, 2006, 10:32:44 PM
Quote from: sigurrós on January 16, 2006, 05:13:03 PM
Milan Kundera - The Unbearable Lightness of Being

... :yabbse-thumbup: :yabbse-thumbdown:

EDIT: Just saw Walrus had red this as well, what do you think? Cause I really don't know what to think about it.

I don't know what part you couldn't like... I rarely read something that makes me feel so uplifted.  What didn't you like about it?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on January 18, 2006, 06:02:12 AM
personally i didn't like the part where the policeman goes 'being light is kind of unbearable'. that spoiled it a bit for me.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on January 18, 2006, 11:37:26 PM
i didn't get to read as much as i had hoped before vacation ended. i started the da vinci code before bed a couple nights ago. i'm only half way into it, but it was an autographed copy, so i left it at my aunt's house.

i've got to read all of the books that kubrick adapted as well as a kubrick biography for a class this semester. that'll be nice.

even though i'm sure i've read them all thumbing through, i'm actually reading the collected poems of dylan thomas cover to cover.  after the installment of poetry that i just finished, i'm gonna read a chapter of a text book from last semester that i find interesting enough to want to finish it before i sell it back. it's Documentary: a history of nonfiction film by Erik Barnow. good stuff.

new room. having some trouble getting to sleep, i guess.


Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on January 18, 2006, 11:43:34 PM
I read this book about anorexia called the unbearable lightness of being thin!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on January 19, 2006, 08:02:26 AM
Quote from: cronopio on January 18, 2006, 06:02:12 AM
personally i didn't like the part where the policeman christina ricci goes 'being light is kind of unbearable'. that spoiled it a bit for me.

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on January 19, 2006, 07:55:46 PM
Quote from: cronopio on January 18, 2006, 06:02:12 AM
personally i didn't like the part where the policeman goes 'being light is kind of unbearable'. that spoiled it a bit for me.

Ok, I'll give you that.  The words in the phrase are abused a lot in the book, but it's still an amazing piece.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on January 21, 2006, 11:22:48 PM
The Jerusalem Syndrome:  My Life as a Reluctant Messiah, by Marc Maron

Apparently it is out of print, as used copies are going for over $40.  I found it at Half Price Books for $6.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on January 25, 2006, 11:12:08 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi11.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fa175%2FLeven321%2Fjpgegggggggg.jpg&hash=e9b72a6d72239340305afa0827385db371b6ff52)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on January 26, 2006, 12:02:43 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0299181642.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=a767210b5f0c02711201d42ab24cb37869b76fb0)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on January 26, 2006, 01:51:23 AM
Quote from: Hedwig on January 25, 2006, 11:12:08 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi11.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fa175%2FLeven321%2Fjpgegggggggg.jpg&hash=e9b72a6d72239340305afa0827385db371b6ff52)

nice, me too!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on January 26, 2006, 09:05:34 AM
Quote from: Gamblour on January 26, 2006, 12:02:43 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0299181642.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=a767210b5f0c02711201d42ab24cb37869b76fb0)
And how is this?
Good?
Informative?



Recommended?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on January 26, 2006, 10:07:36 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F04111116011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F8600000%2F8609113.jpg&hash=d670d230a54ec7736157dc5e80f48500016bb9f2)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on January 26, 2006, 01:40:57 PM
Quote from: Slightly Green on January 26, 2006, 09:05:34 AM
And how is this?
Good?
Informative?

Recommended?

So far, it does a great job of grounding the cultural and economic causes of the New Wave. I'm not very far into it yet, but I like it a lot.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on January 30, 2006, 03:53:01 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0066620384.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=c479a29eee9e8412a224a7d3f24cd505c7c0299c)

Re-reading
The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity

I'm looking for good books about Leadership and great leaders...can anyone help?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: meatwad on January 31, 2006, 11:56:49 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cinegeek.com%2Fimages%2Fbooks%2Fcarne_devoyage%2FCarnet%2520De%2520Voyage%2520Cover.jpg&hash=8c79861b675444dcae3bd24d8f91edcb666ac05f)

Carnet De Voyage by Craig Thompson

i read his book Blankets after seeing Pubrick, i think, talk about it in this thread. It was one of the best graphic novels i have ever read (granted, i have not read too many) and one day i planned on exploring what else this guy had did. my girlfriend works at a bookstore, saw that he had this book out, and bought it for me  :yabbse-grin:

for those of you who have not heard about it, or are too lazy to look it up, it's his travel sketchbook chronicling two months of wandering through Africa and Europe, doing research for his next book
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on February 07, 2006, 06:07:11 PM
this is my birthday present:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0714844462.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=169c92cbfda7c4c8751e2894fd9db4115906aae9)

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on February 07, 2006, 06:12:58 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F009917331X.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=07ebe40a47c979178d87c4dfda7534ae6e527314)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Brazoliange on February 25, 2006, 07:57:55 AM
grapes of wrath
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on February 28, 2006, 07:08:59 PM
i'm in the middle of both:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gingkopress.com%2F_cata%2F_mclu%2Fimg%2Fundemedi.jpg&hash=5917e0e145133c69a2d6d73a7f74d9b1cb053ed1)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2Ff%2Ff6%2FCider_house_rulezzz.jpg&hash=487f19b329bc56bccfa1d8c46be356db564d87b8)

i love irving novels, in particular this one.  they're so warm. 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on March 01, 2006, 02:38:56 AM
Anyone ever read:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F8820000%2F8829245.jpg&hash=460ae836393dd6dae8682e4b29ff592b73fbc4ac)

. . . it's really brilliant structurally, AND it has heart!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Just Withnail on March 01, 2006, 10:01:50 AM
Crap, I lost my original reply. Once more:

I read it, and because the recommendation on your blog some months ago, no less. I found Mitchell´s complete contol over speech patterns even more fascinating than the overall structure. In all of the episodes, I felt every character talked so completely psychologically, (and especially) socially and historically right. Of course, this is best illustrated by the future segments, which never felt like "future talk" at all. Which is basically true of his language in general, but especially his dialogue. In a book about the narrative threads of evolution, he predicts future ways of writing by knowing and showing the past ones. Now I´m not entirely shure if I remember this correctly, but I think I felt the contemporary segment was the most boring in form. Which is really a shame, as it should be the most daring. His future language is fun guesswork of where writing could end up, but I didn´t feel he tried to do something really "at the moment" with the modern piece, but rather that it was the most sterile. Maybe that´s some point I´m missing, or perhaps I remember it wrong? (the more I´m thinking, the more I´m guessing yes, and thinking of re-reading at least that segment). It doesn´t really matter, as I felt he more than covered the writing-with-modern-sensibilities with the whole of the book.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on March 01, 2006, 10:17:36 AM
a couple of textbooks..

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0571210775.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=953275446fcf39aca493288a1b7f505e03052a49)(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F070070678X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=a6adb2ec04990040c528703676a05a109d42ec48)

at least they have nothing to do with movies. :yabbse-smiley:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on March 01, 2006, 12:33:16 PM
Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography
by Edward Rice
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.isidore-of-seville.com%2Fburton%2Fburton2.gif&hash=398b31a0814c52a4050d558dbe0556079e28cbb5)

Burton was the paradigm of the scholar-adventurer, a man who towered above others physically and intellectually, a soldier, scientist, explorer, and writer who for much of his life also engaged in that most romantic of careers, undercover agent.

A sick sick man in the best possible meaning of the word...
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Thrindle on March 09, 2006, 05:09:22 PM
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx.  Yes... the movie is pretty much like the book... so far.   :) :) :)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: I Don't Believe in Beatles on March 09, 2006, 05:48:45 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fatomicbooks.com%2F43%2Fimages%2Fwomenbukowski.jpg&hash=341c552916bd9c00ad0215ebcd51cf96aee8fa5f)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on March 18, 2006, 01:41:02 PM
Quote from: Just Withnail on March 01, 2006, 10:01:50 AM
Now I´m not entirely shure if I remember this correctly, but I think I felt the contemporary segment was the most boring in form. Which is really a shame, as it should be the most daring. His future language is fun guesswork of where writing could end up, but I didn´t feel he tried to do something really "at the moment" with the modern piece, but rather that it was the most sterile. Maybe that´s some point I´m missing, or perhaps I remember it wrong? (the more I´m thinking, the more I´m guessing yes, and thinking of re-reading at least that segment).

You cannot believe how much I am  :oops: (embarrassed/happy) that someone actually took a recommendation from my blog. Could it be that blogging needn't always be a euphemism for a big virtual wank (or, kinder, an inconsequential journal entry)? Anyway, thanks for that.

Now, my impression--not to pretend I'm TERRIBLY familiar with the works of Mr. Martin Amis--was that the contemporary "Timothy Cavendish" segment of Cloud Atlas was meant to be a post-Thatcher ultra-cranky Amis, Jr.-like thing, which I believe has a certain amount of zeitgeist-ness to it in the UK, or did? I'm very open to thoughts on this.

Me currently:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww7.bookstore.washington.edu%2Fimages%2Ftitle_img_lg%2F15%2F823%2F1582345082.gif&hash=2c1156e556d9852acabe39de9cbcee3fe7da2374)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on March 18, 2006, 01:57:39 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sc.edu%2Flibrary%2Fspcoll%2Famlit%2Ftrimalchio%2Fgg1a.jpg&hash=af2aacaf6ec2979e4daab56826ecdfa0afd057e4)

loved it.  one of the quickest reads i've ever had, too. 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on March 18, 2006, 02:18:15 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0743244583.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=be1bcca842c4e698539c6804be2fdf68620ce016)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on March 18, 2006, 02:34:35 PM
i almost bought that today...tell me when you're finished: is it worth it? 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Red Vine on March 18, 2006, 02:51:51 PM
if you liked that book, you should pick up the No Direction Home companion book. made to look like a scrapbook. so great.

"a hard rain's gonna fall means something's gonna happen, man."
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: sheshothim on March 18, 2006, 06:49:01 PM
I REALLY liked The Great Gatsby.....not that that holds any signifigance.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0684800713.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=023e31459f18da4269d75c878cef73672cc143e3)

I'm liking it so far. It's one of those "fucked up love stories" once again. I just love it when things don't go perfectly.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Redlum on March 19, 2006, 11:33:15 AM
Quote from: JimmyGator on March 18, 2006, 01:57:39 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sc.edu%2Flibrary%2Fspcoll%2Famlit%2Ftrimalchio%2Fgg1a.jpg&hash=af2aacaf6ec2979e4daab56826ecdfa0afd057e4)

loved it.  one of the quickest reads i've ever had, too. 

Gorgeous cover.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on March 19, 2006, 05:32:21 PM
Re-reading my favorite book of all time. 

I lost my original copy, with this crappy cover design:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi35.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fd179%2Fpolkablues%2Ftttcpb.gif&hash=247a75d9c9f4578c0c0f5961d6367b446ccecf4f)

And replaced it with one with this awesome cover design:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi35.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fd179%2Fpolkablues%2Ftttcpb1.jpg&hash=7114d47e9b952a16970f1a7ee4e72aee1c8b1e91)

And am currently on the lookout for one with this cover, because it's rare and beautiful and I'd love to have it:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi35.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fd179%2Fpolkablues%2Ftttcuk.jpg&hash=08aed88ebb44ef2319815743d5681fd2f5afe57d)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on March 19, 2006, 08:31:33 PM
Finally, the quarter is over, and I have time to read FOR PLEASURE! I finished The Line of Beauty and am now on to:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gwtw.org%2Fimages%2FTheDarling.jpg&hash=ecfea7c54ace017fd18789ef33b96db37f442a31)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on March 28, 2006, 01:11:29 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0060899190.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_V56230238_.jpg&hash=fc86256a51cbe0c47d462382ad7a0ec774157436)

pretty fascinating
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on March 28, 2006, 01:21:59 PM
I'm just finishing up
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FG%2Fcovers%2F0%2F55%2F327%2F747%2F0553277472.l.gif&hash=8f652dd79c053899535a84e8259c77a5caad0c84)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on March 28, 2006, 02:51:24 PM
Gamblour, that's been suggested to me, but to be honest it doesn't peak my interest at all.  Would you say it's worth a read anyway?  It's not a priority since I know so little about it, but if you think it'd have universal appeal or anything, I might be more apt to check it out.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on March 28, 2006, 03:27:43 PM
Man I loved the things they carried.  i don't read enough, but that is the one book of fiction that i truly love from the past 15 years.  that one passage at the end about the girl ...  :bravo: i gotta re-read that sometime. 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on March 28, 2006, 04:13:03 PM
Quote from: JimmyGator on March 28, 2006, 03:27:43 PM
Man I loved the things they carried.  i don't read enough, but that is the one book of fiction that i truly love from the past 15 years.  that one passage at the end about the girl ...  :bravo: i gotta re-read that sometime. 

Read In the Lake of the Woods, too.  They flip back and forth between which is my all-time favorite.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on March 28, 2006, 09:53:06 PM
Quote from: Walrus on March 28, 2006, 02:51:24 PM
Gamblour, that's been suggested to me, but to be honest it doesn't peak my interest at all.  Would you say it's worth a read anyway?  It's not a priority since I know so little about it, but if you think it'd have universal appeal or anything, I might be more apt to check it out.

Are you talking about the French New Wave book? It's alright, it's for a class, but the course packet we have is much better. It's a collection of articles and essays about certain films and directors. I would say just watch every movie possible, and then find scholarly writings. Also, for future reference (and because I didn't know this until recently) it's "pique" not "peak".

Now I'm reading (and HIGHLY recommend both)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0140127224.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=66db8a0db379276bba305def1a3c827121357848)
and
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0671604295.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=347caea1b26fa235a634df9433e7b2d2275fbc89)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on March 28, 2006, 10:14:17 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F04032408011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7540000%2F7547655.jpg&hash=62a16c0ff57467520635101973b5a7d1c91e399a)

the reading got a little more urgent as I somehow developed dehydration within the last two days.  that's right, I've been sitting at home and drinking gatorade for a while now.  I thought it was fever at first so I made myself sweat for a day until today when I realized all symptoms pointed to dehydration so I'd been force feeding myself juice and gatorade.  since dehydration is like a symptom of cholera, I feel like I can identify a lil' bit more closely with the hero's pain.  that and being dumped.  two for two.  oh, we also both playing the violin.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on March 30, 2006, 12:14:44 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin on March 30, 2006, 11:26:55 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwwi.strandbooks.com%2Fisbn%2F0743292332%3Fpmax%3D1%26amp%3Bpwidth%3D105&hash=191b3aace11788cb77a9a34f6fbfaf96b5e59b90)

Me too!  Just picked it up yesterday!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on March 30, 2006, 12:16:16 PM
So my girlfriend ordered Strangers With Candy Vol. 2 for me for my birthday and sadly it never came. But she got her money back and bought me this instead:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0816637903.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=3e253177560e19431c247e4771dcd7f55f4fae5c)

anyone read this? I just cracked it
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on March 30, 2006, 01:37:12 PM
Oh, squints, you have GOT to make sure you eventually get the Strangers w/ Candy vol. 2 set. AND vol. 3 at some point. The "Jerri Blank is ILLITERATE!!" episode is on vol. 2, and it might just be my favorite of all of them.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reviewscout.co.uk%2Fimages%2FQ%2F5e9288218ce9bd1a6e1a53998d38bb37%2F0253203163.jpg&hash=6543eb24fd1bf1b743a399bef0661d957b638fa9)

and

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0743294165.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=5179a1d8d4575415e892490e0f70863b6b6fc5d0)

...which is really great because it has the short story, the screenplay, AND essays by Proulx, Ossana, and McMurtry about the process of adapting the story and seeing it as a completed film.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on March 30, 2006, 03:03:42 PM
Quote from: godardian on March 30, 2006, 01:37:12 PM
Oh, squints, you have GOT to make sure you eventually get the Strangers w/ Candy vol. 2 set. AND vol. 3 at some point. The "Jerri Blank is ILLITERATE!!" episode is on vol. 2, and it might just be my favorite of all of them.

I've got Vol. 1 & 3 but 2 is no where to be found. This is the second time i've ordered it and its not shown up. But they played a lot of season 2 on comedy central during the day last month, so i kind of remember most of the episodes. i want them all!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on April 03, 2006, 12:09:31 PM
Quote from: godardian on March 30, 2006, 01:37:12 PM(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0743294165.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=5179a1d8d4575415e892490e0f70863b6b6fc5d0)

...which is really great because it has the short story, the screenplay, AND essays by Proulx, Ossana, and McMurtry about the process of adapting the story and seeing it as a completed film.

Attention xixaxers:
Best Buy is giving this away free when you buy the DVD ($16.99).
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on April 03, 2006, 12:23:44 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin on April 03, 2006, 12:09:31 PM

Attention xixaxers:
Best Buy is giving this away free when you buy the DVD ($16.99).

D'oh!!  :doh:  Yet again, my haste costs me $$. I had the book before I even knew about the DVD release date, but not too much sooner....
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on April 04, 2006, 01:16:23 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1857988477.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=084bd9f3790aed13dfaa864f0c385fd3a1664c76)

i really wish i would've read this before seeing the film. Oh well, i just bought it today and i'm already pretty into it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: eloquentpilgrim on April 25, 2006, 07:20:27 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tesco.com%2Fpi%2FBooks%2FL%2F83%2F0340822783.jpg&hash=5f9f4c6ad4dc5c4f9e4e40a4cd3200a836db8a87)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloomsbury.com%2Fimages%2FEzine%2Fpromisecover.jpg&hash=61b945373ee078effe1098bfdce6c901961dc2fb)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on April 25, 2006, 10:02:35 AM
Quote from: eloquentpilgrim on April 25, 2006, 07:20:27 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tesco.com%2Fpi%2FBooks%2FL%2F83%2F0340822783.jpg&hash=5f9f4c6ad4dc5c4f9e4e40a4cd3200a836db8a87)

:yabbse-thumbup:  One of my absolute favorites in recent memory.

I am going to his reading here in Seattle tomorrow night.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on April 26, 2006, 05:25:29 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1930865473.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=ba1c510dd17dc7b9161a88d035ae1af75773aadb)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on April 27, 2006, 08:38:33 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fharoldshull.com%2Fdb5%2F00493%2Fharoldshull.com%2F_uimages%2FA20Tale20Of20Two20Cities.jpg&hash=b2953ef0e4ccc8923da529ca521b9c241e71e911)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on April 28, 2006, 12:57:17 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.walmart.com%2Fi%2Fp%2F09%2F78%2F01%2F41%2F18%2F0978014118173_500X500.jpg&hash=4d85fa268b2782d9466aa61c05fac4f22993c370)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: picolas on April 28, 2006, 04:08:52 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0756609356.01._OU15_PE9_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=c48c750554683c50065eb99029259e2bb1f4e73e)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on April 28, 2006, 08:03:51 AM
Quote from: kotte on April 26, 2006, 05:25:29 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1930865473.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=ba1c510dd17dc7b9161a88d035ae1af75773aadb)

how does it defend sweatshops? i'm just curious.


godardian, i've been meaning to read stuff by thomas mann. just letting you know stuff that i want to do.

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on April 28, 2006, 07:54:32 PM
Quote from: cronopio on April 28, 2006, 08:03:51 AM
Quote from: kotte on April 26, 2006, 05:25:29 AM
In Defense of Global Capitalism

how does it defend sweatshops? i'm just curious.


It doesn't...and why would it?
It only defends free trade...and the fight against protectionist states.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on April 28, 2006, 08:30:01 PM
Quote from: kotte on April 28, 2006, 07:54:32 PM
Quote from: cronopio on April 28, 2006, 08:03:51 AM
Quote from: kotte on April 26, 2006, 05:25:29 AM
In Defense of Global Capitalism

how does it defend sweatshops? i'm just curious.


It doesn't...and why would it?


Because without "free trade," "free international exploitation" of that sort would not exist. I'm not saying that people haven't always exploited people, but it seems to some of us that global capitalism unfettered by the proper regulations and safety nets has the unfortunate side effect of making perpetual mutual expoitation the official and unquestioned matter of course.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: edison on April 30, 2006, 10:00:00 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0140449248.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=94c91fa7f5fa6b779e118586508483fb98697f70)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on May 10, 2006, 08:05:15 PM
still reading
Quote from: Hedwig on April 27, 2006, 08:38:33 PM
A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
goes way beyond any other school-required reading i've known. way beyond. i feel like i should revisit Great Expectations (which i may have misunderstood when it bored the hell out of me a few years ago) to see if it's filled with the same withering insight, inspired description*, and gotdamn wicked tragedy as this masterpiece.

*the long descriptive passages were partially what bored me so much about great expectations. Tale of Two has made me realize what i guess is so revered about chuck's descriptive writing: it isn't meant simply to create a "mental image" of what he's describing, he manages to aim for something within his characters and settings by describing their exterior appearances. a several-page description of a throng of aristocratic party guests--their attire, their food, conversations--quickly becomes a scathing indictment of upper class haughtiness and complacency, or somethin. beautiful. i also didn't feel such a strong dramatic arc in great expectations, certainly nothing close to the increasingly tragic story told in a tale of two cities.

has anyone seen the film adaptations? are any of them, like, good.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on May 11, 2006, 11:57:44 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbesbookclub.com%2Fbookimages%2Fingram%2F039%2F470%2F0394708520.gif&hash=bf27169b9c77474708c613b07619284139a875dd)

Albert Camus =  :bravo:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on May 11, 2006, 12:57:51 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0060194995.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=13b224fd1bd1f609dc22787d87573857adfdce47)

...which I've never read before (I think 6th or 7th grade is about the right time to read this, though it's still engaging and well-written; it's just a tad simplistic and anodyne for an adult reader) and

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.bestprices.com%2Fcontent%2Fisbn%2F3X%2F067960023X.jpg&hash=827943feb9b1d4ad02a73036759b28499abf0327)


...which I plan to follow with a revisitation of Capote. My own (very incomplete) little mid-20th-century American Lit course....
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on May 11, 2006, 05:18:26 PM
I read often and I read a variety of books. I just post here once every 6 months. My contribution this time....


Just finishing:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F05021112011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F9050000%2F9056903.jpg&hash=1609e04ceed8d18e2b0d34913474d992bccbf830)

Going to start immediately afterward:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F04112916011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F8770000%2F8779426.jpg&hash=915300eceee8510677c0fd62867f86f1614b7f09)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on May 11, 2006, 11:55:29 PM
Those will both be hard to beat for pleasure reading, Lucid. Also try One Hundred Years of Solitude; it's just as slightly overexposed as Cholera is slightly underexposed, but well worth a read all the same.

Congrats on your matriculation!!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on May 12, 2006, 08:23:36 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbluepyramid.org%2Fia%2Fimre.jpg&hash=17bf4acdd6c5d438dc79440cbfffd2cf2670680a)

Absolutely brilliant so far!  I can't believe it's taken me this long to finally pick it up.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on May 13, 2006, 01:05:21 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.univie.ac.at%2FAnglistik%2Feasyrider%2Fdata%2Fgraphics%2Fhellsangelscover.jpg&hash=856d66108461f89e5ca686e69ac1d9ad8ffd924b)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on May 16, 2006, 08:13:23 AM
Quote from: godardian on April 28, 2006, 08:30:01 PM
Quote from: kotte on April 28, 2006, 07:54:32 PM
Quote from: cronopio on April 28, 2006, 08:03:51 AM
Quote from: kotte on April 26, 2006, 05:25:29 AM
In Defense of Global Capitalism

how does it defend sweatshops? i'm just curious.


It doesn't...and why would it?


Because without "free trade," "free international exploitation" of that sort would not exist. I'm not saying that people haven't always exploited people, but it seems to some of us that global capitalism unfettered by the proper regulations and safety nets has the unfortunate side effect of making perpetual mutual expoitation the official and unquestioned matter of course.

250 million children between the age of 5-14 work. 70 % work in agriculture which have nothing to do with international business and trade. That leaves 10-15 children working in the export industry.

Sweatshops and child labor are awful things but the fact is that the number of children working is decreasing with every year. Does it still exist? Yes, but what we are doing is judging The Third World by our own standards and values. Families are depending on their children bringing home money for their survival. In most cases the alternative isn't a happy easy childhood but starvation, prostitution and violence. The truth in this is confirmed by Save the Children who followed up on a village in Bangladesh that banned child labor, a result of the American congress decision to forbid import of goods from countries with child labor. Most of the children wound up in prostitution or jobs considerably more dangerous or dead. When western countries like the US or the European Union demand on-the-spot change in salaries and working conditions if we are to collaborate with them, we are not encouraging change but in fact hindering it. History shows that increasing trade and increasing conditions for workers goes hand in hand.
Sweden had lots of children working on farms or in factories just 200 years ago. What would have happened if other countries stopped doing business with it? Would Sweden have developed into one of the richest and most prosperous in the world?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on May 16, 2006, 09:05:59 AM
Quote from: kotte on May 16, 2006, 08:13:23 AM
Quote from: godardian on April 28, 2006, 08:30:01 PM
Quote from: kotte on April 28, 2006, 07:54:32 PM
Quote from: cronopio on April 28, 2006, 08:03:51 AM
Quote from: kotte on April 26, 2006, 05:25:29 AM
In Defense of Global Capitalism

how does it defend sweatshops? i'm just curious.


It doesn't...and why would it?


Because without "free trade," "free international exploitation" of that sort would not exist. I'm not saying that people haven't always exploited people, but it seems to some of us that global capitalism unfettered by the proper regulations and safety nets has the unfortunate side effect of making perpetual mutual expoitation the official and unquestioned matter of course.

250 million children between the age of 5-14 work. 70 % work in agriculture which have nothing to do with international business and trade. That leaves 10-15 children working in the export industry.

Sweatshops and child labor are awful things but the fact is that the number of children working is decreasing with every year. Does it still exist? Yes, but what we are doing is judging The Third World by our own standards and values. Families are depending on their children bringing home money for their survival. In most cases the alternative isn't a happy easy childhood but starvation, prostitution and violence. The truth in this is confirmed by Save the Children who followed up on a village in Bangladesh that banned child labor, a result of the American congress decision to forbid import of goods from countries with child labor. Most of the children wound up in prostitution or jobs considerably more dangerous or dead. When western countries like the US or the European Union demand on-the-spot change in salaries and working conditions if we are to collaborate with them, we are not encouraging change but in fact hindering it. History shows that increasing trade and increasing conditions for workers goes hand in hand.
Sweden had lots of children working on farms or in factories just 200 years ago. What would have happened if other countries stopped doing business with it? Would Sweden have developed into one of the richest and most prosperous in the world?


First, unless all those children are working in agriculture for their families or for products meant to be consumed only locally (which seems very unlikely to me--that's a LOT of children), it doesn't exactly have "nothing to do" with capitalism.

Secondly, if it's true that poor children in poor countries are so dependent on the Western world that when our jobs leave, they're forced into prostitution or death, then we need to take that problem a LOT more seriously than just leaving it up to the profit-driven whims of capitalism to solve.

Capitalism as a philosophy and as a system cannot be relied upon to put people ahead of profit, so the bottom line for me is that I can't understand why--especially at this moment in history!!--anyone would make the effort to defend capitalism unless they had some ulterior motive. It hardly needs defending; it's rampant and unstoppable. What needs defending is the idea that if capitalism is here to stay and will be the dominant ideology, then it MUST be mitigated by some form of socialism, as it is in some ways in most "capitalist" countries. Actual capitalism unleavened by some degree of socialism would be sheer, inhumane chaos--economically and socially unbearable for the vast majority of people.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on May 16, 2006, 10:27:56 AM
There's a difference between capitalism and a neo-capitalism.
Capitalism can exist with a careful socialist mindset.

But there's a broader perspective the anti-globalization movement, eg Attac, is missing completely.
Sweatshops are a necessary steppingstone towards industrialization, as it has been for us in wealthy countries.

Quote from: godardian on May 16, 2006, 09:05:59 AM
First, unless all those children are working in agriculture for their families or for products meant to be consumed only locally (which seems very unlikely to me--that's a LOT of children), it doesn't exactly have "nothing to do" with capitalism.

The thing is, it's actually true. We give these undeveloped countries extremely high tarriffs on agricultural products which disables them to compete with us on the same terms. What market is there left to compete in? The local market...but not even there, thanks to taxpayers in the west subsidizing wheet...when there is absolutely no need for it. We drive african farmers out of business at their local market.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on May 16, 2006, 12:55:08 PM
Quote from: kotte on May 16, 2006, 10:27:56 AM
Sweatshops are a necessary steppingstone towards industrialization, as it has been for us in wealthy countries.

Wow.  While you're at it, why not suggest that third-world countries give slavery a try?  After all, it was instrumental in the growth of the US economy in its first hundred years.  Also, did you know that eating babies is a surefire method of population control?

Sweatshops are not a "necessary steppingstone" towards anything except dehumanization and misery.  They're a steppingstone for a handful of industrialists to put their boots on the necks of the working class.  It wasn't until workers began to unionize in the US that the middle class began to thrive and the country became truly prosperous.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on May 16, 2006, 12:59:42 PM
If indeed sweatshops are a necessary stepping stone towards industrialization, perhaps we shouldn't be analyzing the need for sweatshops, but the need for industrialization.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on May 16, 2006, 01:44:09 PM
hahah, goddamn, i thought kotte had run out of crazy shit to say!

"sweatshops are a necessary stepping stone towards industrialization" :bravo:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: kotte on May 16, 2006, 03:33:01 PM
Look at all the countries that are doing well or are just getting out of poverty.
They have all gone through the process of industrialization in which poor-condition factories have always been a part. At the roots of a possibly blooming economy there are only resources for a machine, not the best or safest, but a machine. And as the machine is bad the productivity is low...therefore working hours are longer. Never have I said this is a good place to work, I would never want to work in a factory like that (maybe I would I the alternatives are what they are today). But it's a phase...there are the US and pretty much all of Europe to prove it.

The unions are a good thing and have improved the conditions of the workplace for millions and millions. But unions are a counterweight to the industry, but nothing in itself. The unionization is almost always welcome all around the globe. Exceptions exist and should be fought by all means possible.

I'm not gonna debate slavery. It's against every human right there is. It's counter freedom, on the opposite side of capitalism. True is that some factories do have extremely horrid conditions without any willingness from management to change and as I said, they should be fought.
Dictatorial states have shown to have the absolute worst working conditions for their people but these states seldom export anything, and thus do not have anything to do with globalization or capitalism. These states are striving for self sufficiency and most often fail (read North Korea).
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: A Matter Of Chance on May 16, 2006, 05:14:00 PM
Sorry to interrupt:

Long Day's Journey Into Night - Eugene O'Neill
AND
Illuminations - Arthur Rimbaud
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on May 16, 2006, 05:35:55 PM
we've been talking about garcia marquez a little bit, which makes me glad.  I just finished love in the time of cholera about three weeks ago and I'm delving into his short stories collections right now and they're not as fun as his novels--because most of his novels are comprised of 100s of short anecdotes and legends and stories already, weaved together to create a history or a life, reading his short stories is a little bit more underwhelming.

as for the sweatshop debate, saying that the children are better off in sweatshop according to their own regional standards is a half-assed orientalist myth.  but I have a feeling kotte will realize that he's wrong after his head cools.  he's just being precious right now.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: I Love a Magician on May 24, 2006, 05:11:41 AM
I bought Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood and Zadie Smith's White Teeth the other day. And McSweeney's 18 because I like feeling hip.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on May 24, 2006, 06:58:06 AM
Quote from: I Love a Magician on May 24, 2006, 05:11:41 AM
I bought Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood and Zadie Smith's White Teeth the other day. And McSweeney's 18 because I like feeling hip.
ah, yes, but are you reading them?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on May 24, 2006, 10:33:23 AM
I got my mom this:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fisbn.abebooks.com%2Fmz%2F00%2F15%2F0151011400.jpg&hash=89194a98e21dd5d5a0f388fa81fb4cbd9da0f650)

got myself this:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fisbn.abebooks.com%2Fmz%2F90%2F67%2F0679723390.jpg&hash=30080edecb3c396b36ad2731cf8e5f9374cb5a2f)

but I was reading a few pages of the book I was giving to my mom and got pretty into it, so I might swipe it for my trip to Taiwan this summer.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: I Love a Magician on May 24, 2006, 12:35:30 PM
Quote from: Pubrick on May 24, 2006, 06:58:06 AM
Quote from: I Love a Magician on May 24, 2006, 05:11:41 AM
I bought Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood and Zadie Smith's White Teeth the other day. And McSweeney's 18 because I like feeling hip.
ah, yes, but are you reading them?

One at a time. McSweeney's first because I prefer short stories. I bought the other two because I like their short stories so much.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on May 25, 2006, 07:45:28 PM
Quote from: I Love a Magician on May 24, 2006, 05:11:41 AM
I bought Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood

If you like it, check out Carson McCullers's  The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. It's as good as Wise Blood, of about the same region and period of American lit, and it has the edge in emotional excessiveness. It made me weep.

Me, for fiction:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pulitzer.org%2Fyear%2F2005%2Ffiction%2Fworks%2FGilead.jpg&hash=3cd480ce87a3511c75b4a798bb2879947b86f699)

...an American-Midwestern-Congregationalist Diary of a Country Priest (which is actually name-dropped by the first-person narrator--the novel, not Bresson's film). With this and Middlesex, the postmillennial Pulitzers are not nearly as awful as might be assumed.

For nonfiction:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0851706436.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=f1c29b82ca31202e2f048c64cb1d0df18ef20039)

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: I Love a Magician on May 26, 2006, 02:03:05 AM
Quote from: godardian on May 25, 2006, 07:45:28 PM
Quote from: I Love a Magician on May 24, 2006, 05:11:41 AM
I bought Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood

If you like it, check out Carson McCullers's  The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. It's as good as Wise Blood, of about the same region and period of American lit, and it has the edge in emotional excessiveness. It made me weep.

Awesome, thanks.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on May 26, 2006, 01:38:46 PM
Quote from: godardian on May 25, 2006, 07:45:28 PM
If you like it, check out Carson McCullers's  The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. It's as good as Wise Blood, of about the same region and period of American lit, and it has the edge in emotional excessiveness. It made me weep.
Great to hear some Xixaxers enjoying the authors I share a hometown with. The Carson McCullers House is the one widely used house for "Writer's Meetings" and Poetry recitals.
Cool beans. :bravo:

Anyway, here's my newest:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0671874349.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=fa450a8b6bb070cf2c657d1579785e89e38c2463)
Reccommended by some friends of mine who really want to film a chapter from this. Their enthusiasm excited me.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on June 02, 2006, 12:57:45 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0375507264.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=719e4e1fd68ebb92eda6ac5d25530845cb4c2fc9)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Just Withnail on June 02, 2006, 05:51:03 PM
Ohoh, how is it compared to Cloud Atlas?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on June 04, 2006, 01:43:31 PM
Quote from: Just Withnail on June 02, 2006, 05:51:03 PM
Ohoh, how is it compared to Cloud Atlas?

I just finished it. Short answer: Not quite as good. Long answer: Different enough from Cloud Atlas--and successful enough in its own way--to be well worth reading if you enjoyed Cloud Atlas. It's a bit more abstract and a bit more clever-clever, not as "mature" as Cloud Atlas, and without as much apparent emotional investment. But it's still wonderfully skillful.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cine on June 05, 2006, 02:11:53 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.tlavideo.com%2Fimages%2Fcatalog_gaybase%2F218261.jpg&hash=e0f5084b352cd2f31dc9e567e8d14158b770acb7)

love it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on June 12, 2006, 11:24:14 PM
Just finished:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0375724508.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=dc2ef184b8c87e7cd255445c0d00443879082eaa)

...I've really been on a Mitchell kick. A bit exhausting--not because of the difficulty, but because of a degree of scope and ambition that sometimes makes the reader reel--but so very worthwhile and rich. I'm going to be going on to his latest, BlackSwanGreen, after a brief Mitchell break, but I'm wondering if his body of work (four novels so far) forms a sort of pattern:  A global/multicharacter/horizontal work Ghostwritten, Cloud Atlas) followed by a local/single-character/"vertical" work (Number9Dream, BlackSwanGreen).

My Mitchell break will be courtesy the bucolic American Marilynne Robinson, whose quietly moving, serenity and contemplation-inducing Gilead--a novel I can comfortably call prayerful and mean it as a compliment--I have recently finished. Yes, next up is:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0312424094.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=ecd906e0a46b39cd1f2ba2d54bee3994a4bbb591)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on June 13, 2006, 10:22:04 PM
Just finished:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F140004460X.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=63c2d86914c4b6de52afdcb65270fa03b35267a1)

Currently reading:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1582346038.01._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow%2CTopRight%2C45%2C-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=60a1e97a4a576a05fe236461719d5d1dcc0ffd16)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F037542380X.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=c7803768d7500946f912699a42ed522558c08f13)

About to start:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1400078776.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=7b7b9485be87fc160dafe750bbd4f17b29f8f3f2)

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on June 13, 2006, 10:30:37 PM
can we get more theme/tones for these books like godardian did with marilynne robinson? as this is my primary source for book recommendations, i find it helps distinguish one intriguing cover/title from the next, and might make my sporadic library searches a little less random.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on June 14, 2006, 08:06:09 AM
Quote from: Ghostboy on June 13, 2006, 10:22:04 PM

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1400078776.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=7b7b9485be87fc160dafe750bbd4f17b29f8f3f2)


(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.calgarymovies.com%2FDVD%2Freviews%2Fpics%2Fmanwhofelltoearth.jpg&hash=4818519b155aae05899845f27643b7f7a43aaf6f)

if that helps. 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on June 17, 2006, 12:15:36 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0374299625.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=194bf0dd586bb82ef8f6b5f2d48dd6bddb0c1d27)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on June 17, 2006, 01:38:00 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rlc.dcccd.edu%2FUncommittee%2Fmarbook.jpg&hash=04cad93b8e132ecf4d2466f952731c874a685589)


These type of books are fascinating. Economics has never been the easiest category for me, but this is another theory book that tries to understand the economic world today from a left field idea. Shockingly, this author is very realistic for where he stands. He is well versed in the history of economics and is able to probe deeply into ideas and surprise me with the way he can overthrow past assertions with an easy confidence. Don't take this book as definitive, but it is a good book in the side bar category of looking at the world from an interesting angle.

The best part about reading this book is how philosophical he can be. Many of his ideas are have already been accepted but his final conclusions havent been. He tries go to after the tone of "how we are successful now" and "what the world should be like". Like any philosophy book though, it can get repetitive. He repeats simple ideas all the time but the creativity of his arguments make this worth reading. For my direct interest, the place of economics has been on the constraints to the output of good art. The way this book details how creative all outlets of business will need to be gave me a feeling of optimisim even if the situation is indirect to my interest.

Also don't take this review as definitive: I'm still reading it. I'm also not announcing the greatest book ever. I just figure posting here and saying why can get me more used to wanting to post here.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on June 17, 2006, 03:32:30 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fisbn.abebooks.com%2Fmz%2F2x%2F30%2F030680932x.jpg&hash=ef9437f9b39c6170c4b108394896a90183653cb1)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on June 17, 2006, 10:43:33 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.tlavideo.com%2Fimages%2Fcatalog_gaybase%2F184391.jpg&hash=58a9c615a7bc18c4f88083bbf909c50292253715)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on June 17, 2006, 10:47:51 AM
Quote from: Hedwig on June 17, 2006, 10:43:33 AM
I just read that a couple of months ago! Great pick. You'll be riveted, I guarantee.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on June 17, 2006, 11:12:48 AM
Quote from: Hedwig on June 17, 2006, 10:43:33 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.tlavideo.com%2Fimages%2Fcatalog_gaybase%2F184391.jpg&hash=58a9c615a7bc18c4f88083bbf909c50292253715)

ditto. 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: A Matter Of Chance on June 27, 2006, 06:03:54 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fantasticfiction.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fx1%2Fx6785.jpg&hash=a312e131117f0bf242add79a4cbd3c2caf3dbb79)

and

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.londonbooks.co.uk%2Fimages%2F475%2F0140434976.jpg&hash=9b9abef34735609f554e1daf19863d0f401b02ca)

and

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0930452496.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif&hash=b4cfa9cce592e425950ecd578002753b6e187a8f)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on June 27, 2006, 11:40:55 PM
Quote from: A Matter Of Chance on June 27, 2006, 06:03:54 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fantasticfiction.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fx1%2Fx6785.jpg&hash=a312e131117f0bf242add79a4cbd3c2caf3dbb79)

Oh....! Oh! Oh!

Congratulations. This is a formative text in my life, and I imagine it will have at least something to offer any reader.... My favorites: "One Culture and the New Sensibility," "The Imagination of Disaster," the ubiquitously anthologized (and rightly so) "Notes on 'Camp,'" and "Godard's Vivre sa Vie" (this book was the first I ever heard of Godard...ever. That's just one thing I have to thank Sontag for). If you like it, you have to try Styles of Radical Will. It's even better.

My reading at the moment:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0441478123.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=d726c683e1c877590097f93310ee6f238043e252)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on June 28, 2006, 12:00:42 AM
Against Interpretation also changed my life, and I have Godardian to thank for first calling her name to my attention. Styles Of Radical Will has a terrific Bergman essay, also.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on June 28, 2006, 12:34:56 AM
Quote from: Ghostboy on June 28, 2006, 12:00:42 AM
Against Interpretation also changed my life, and I have Godardian to thank for first calling her name to my attention. Styles Of Radical Will has a terrific Bergman essay, also.

:oops:   ....I'm just the messenger, but I'm so happy you read and enjoyed her stuff.  :yabbse-smiley:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on June 28, 2006, 08:56:46 AM
Just read:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F04011608011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7300000%2F7303129.jpg&hash=983223488836853a19e07d591bfbda4c84b62b3d)

Am reading:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F05021715011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F9070000%2F9079180.jpg&hash=dbc1d9078d355ff96e2e464c74e015708a320482)

Will read:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F06051815011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F11190000%2F11194026.jpg&hash=6365f5c654a8e52ddf1da7b1051c2358b2f32767)


(Wow, those images are probably entirely too big)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on June 29, 2006, 10:24:12 AM
I just bought a Hayao Miyazaki book titled "The Starting Point" in a bookstore here in Taiwan.  It contains all some 90-odd articles, manuscripts, sketches, interviews, essays, and journal entries, from Hayao Miyazaki.  That is one intelligent man with a lot to say about everything.  I especially love his view on the creative process and childhood.  He thinks it's a sin to consider the childhood an investment for the future.  He thinks five minutes in a child's life is more vital than 10 years of his adult life.  He also hates the idea of "family time" being a date between a kid and his parent.  He thinks the parent should simply bring the kid and a few buddies along for some trip.  Leave the kids be, and pay for everything.  He thinks children are born with two innate abilities--the ability to create things with their hands and the imagination that allows them to entertain themselves with the most mundane household items; anyone who rids a child of either deserves prison.  His contempt for wealth is so incredibly healthy and fun.  a few quotes:
"some people think the folks who make money are the smart ones.  I'll be happy if there are fewer of these people around.  These days they are always panicking, and they probably will be the same in the future.  they panic but they're out of ideas, and I just pray that they leave me alone."
"the economic boom is an era where idiots get to flourish, but frankly, all they are doing is advertising their own stupiditiy."

I love angry romantics.  they make the best films.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Raikus on June 29, 2006, 11:12:21 AM
Quote from: JG on June 17, 2006, 11:12:48 AM
Quote from: Hedwig on June 17, 2006, 10:43:33 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.tlavideo.com%2Fimages%2Fcatalog_gaybase%2F184391.jpg&hash=58a9c615a7bc18c4f88083bbf909c50292253715)

ditto. 
ditto to your dittos.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sunrise on June 29, 2006, 11:26:50 AM
Just finished...

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bfi.org.uk%2Fbooksvideo%2Fbooks%2Fcatalogue%2Fcovers%2Fbooks%2Fmodern_times.jpg&hash=a1121aa5fec5de56d4eb644d533efb16a2045b33)

Moving to...

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.booksamillion.com%2Fbam%2Fcovers%2F1%2F56%2F663%2F701%2F1566637015.jpg&hash=d45ce8efb40023a0481295ca18462b2c4c27fd27)

And by the sound of it I had better put Against Interpretation into my queue!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: samsong on June 29, 2006, 04:32:41 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp%2Fbimgdata%2FFC0060958324.JPG&hash=34dd9b21f190324b9a539f08f653e41ba59f95e8)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on June 30, 2006, 03:52:13 AM
Quote from: samsong on June 29, 2006, 04:32:41 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp%2Fbimgdata%2FFC0060958324.JPG&hash=34dd9b21f190324b9a539f08f653e41ba59f95e8)

One of the greatest books I've ever read...
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on June 30, 2006, 11:06:02 AM
Quote from: Sunrise on June 29, 2006, 11:26:50 AM
Just finished...

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bfi.org.uk%2Fbooksvideo%2Fbooks%2Fcatalogue%2Fcovers%2Fbooks%2Fmodern_times.jpg&hash=a1121aa5fec5de56d4eb644d533efb16a2045b33)

And by the sound of it I had better put Against Interpretation into my queue!

...even if you can find one of the essays in an anthology, take any opportunity you can to read some Sontag, esp. on culture/lit/film.

I LOVE the BFI monograph series. My faves are Marcus on The Manchurian Candidate, Taubin on Taxi Driver, Mulvey on Citizen Kane, and Paglia on The Birds (in some ways the book she was born to write).
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sunrise on June 30, 2006, 11:16:00 AM
The Modern Times print was the first I have read in the "regular" BFI Classics series. I have also read Heat and The Thin Red Line from the "modern" series. I have been meaning to read the Taxi Driver print for a long time...just never pulled the trigger. They seem to all be really great (and quick) reads. Thanks for the additional suggestions.

The only Sontag I have read is her essay/review of Persona from 1967. Based on that, and the endorsements from this thread, I will make a point to get to much more of her work.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on July 02, 2006, 11:24:44 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg132.imageshack.us%2Fimg132%2F7605%2Fpeanuts9cz.png&hash=3f738ae3f0e37aafc9867dd280386fa7ace97e04)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on July 08, 2006, 12:41:15 AM
Both of my texts of the moment are for classes.

For PHI100 (Intro to Philosophy):

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hup.harvard.edu%2Fimages%2Fjackets%2FL036.jpg&hash=604331a6f8eb95af51e09e38bcc52a195d5a895a)

...and jumping at my chance to read this for an independent project for HIS112 (U.S. History 1877-Present):

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ucpress.edu%2Fbooks%2Fpages%2Fimages%2F6923.jpg&hash=471b4349ec7256adabdf0c5f9938be78d57ff706)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on July 09, 2006, 03:23:17 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg86.imageshack.us%2Fimg86%2F76%2Fbookdryburroughs8ee.jpg&hash=7d380acef8e5a108719329d5f955839c4639f0a8)

I read Running with Scissors (the first part), then I read Magical Thinking (the third part) for some reason.  I think the library I went to didn't have Dry at the time.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on July 09, 2006, 07:02:51 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec3.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1400032822.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=992e02869eb8d0ba4d8c6c914792fda415fb2618)

After reading this, and Lullaby right before that, I'm getting a little frustrated with Chuck Palahniuk.  He's full of these brilliant, bizarre ideas, but he seems incapable of crafting them into a cohesive novel.  Lullaby, especially, felt like a watching a movie where the projector dies in the middle of the second act.

So I move onto this to make myself feel better:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0836221362.01._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow%2CTopRight%2C45%2C-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.gif&hash=f7b255f22014c5649b83ccb405524a0805e6195a)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on July 09, 2006, 08:45:57 PM
Quote from: polkablues on July 09, 2006, 07:02:51 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec3.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1400032822.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=992e02869eb8d0ba4d8c6c914792fda415fb2618)

After reading this, and Lullaby right before that, I'm getting a little frustrated with Chuck Palahniuk.  He's full of these brilliant, bizarre ideas, but he seems incapable of crafting them into a cohesive novel.  Lullaby, especially, felt like a watching a movie where the projector dies in the middle of the second act.


In defense of Palahniuk (since I'm clearly his only fan), you chose two of his lesser quality books.  If you'd like to give him another chance, I'd recommend Invisible Monsters or Survivor.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on July 09, 2006, 08:52:31 PM
Quote from: Walrus on July 09, 2006, 08:45:57 PMIn defense of Palahniuk (since I'm clearly his only fan), you chose two of his lesser quality books.  If you'd like to give him another chance, I'd recommend Invisible Monsters or Survivor.

I thought I was his only fan after budgie left.  :yabbse-undecided:

I'd say go in this order:

Invisible Monsters
Diary
Survivor
Choke
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on July 09, 2006, 09:10:32 PM
I'd happily give him another chance, especially now that I have some recommendations.  I enjoy his style, and I think he's an amazing, original thinker, but after I finished both of those books, it left me feeling like the whole was not even close to the sum of the individual parts.  I guess I'll read Invisible Monsters, and then if I'm still not feeling it, I'll move on to someone else for a while.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on July 14, 2006, 04:43:51 PM
I really enjoy chuck as well, but i fortunately read all his books in order they came out, with the exception of "stranger than fiction" and i found that haunted and lullaby were a let down for me...I believe that survivor was my favorite, but yes, i agree with polka on the simple fact of not following through with the great ideas...but regardless chuck p. is a great author...

something i thought was funny: a good friend of mine read lullaby and just quit reading the book with one page left, just thought that was funny.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: matt35mm on July 14, 2006, 08:44:25 PM
Quote from: Neil on July 14, 2006, 04:43:51 PM
something i thought was funny: a good friend of mine read lullaby and just quit reading the book with one page left, just thought that was funny.
I bet your good friend thought it was funny, too.  I bet he or she couldn't wait to brag to everyone within earshot with a pride matched only by Simba's.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on July 19, 2006, 02:07:36 AM
Quote from: Lucid on July 18, 2006, 11:44:18 PM
I'm starting this soon:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi2.tinypic.com%2F20ftd93.jpg&hash=c4d4f83e3fcf3e1a31595ba5c01e15f029b2aa8b)

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I've always been on the look out for a good historical book on the French New Wave. The description on Amazon makes it sound very enjoyable to read. I'm considering this already purchased with my next paycheck. I'll order it tomorrow.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: children with angels on July 19, 2006, 02:53:57 AM
Quote from: The Gold Trumpet on July 19, 2006, 02:07:36 AM
Quote from: Lucid on July 18, 2006, 11:44:18 PM
I'm starting this soon:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi2.tinypic.com%2F20ftd93.jpg&hash=c4d4f83e3fcf3e1a31595ba5c01e15f029b2aa8b)

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I've always been on the look out for a good historical book on the French New Wave. The description on Amazon makes it sound very enjoyable to read. I'm considering this already purchased with my next paycheck. I'll order it tomorrow.

It's really good! The best overview I've read of it really. Richard Neupert's a good, down-to-earth-type film critic/theorist. He's also written what is surprsingly the only film studies book ever to be soley about endings ('The End: Narration and Closure in the Cinema') - it formed the theorectical backbone of my undergraduate dissertation, which was all about the happy ending.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Derek237 on July 26, 2006, 12:37:38 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0879517344.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1056503931_.jpg&hash=5a59122f8b13a9c14760030eba4bc20f3feea897)

:yabbse-thumbup:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on July 26, 2006, 01:24:11 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1891830740.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V56259561_.jpg&hash=d45ce966c9ec9b88f81c66268e37a4fdf278f968)

Really interesting idea, but really not as good as it should be, coming from Alan Moore.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on July 28, 2006, 02:46:23 PM
The EW excerpt piqued my interest:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec3.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1592402135.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V56620064_.jpg&hash=8528b15301085b86a6f7859c43d97e4cb649e7fb)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on July 28, 2006, 03:44:24 PM
When will my philosophy class EVER be over????

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0140446044.02._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1067915325_.jpg&hash=6838d50c88268e89f82ae4008707d652e29a7289)

and

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0486217612.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=b2f40a8a44f637cd4b08934d064d18bc9b6429af)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on August 02, 2006, 03:48:09 PM
So, Heaven was a total snoozefest of astrology and long-dead people I'd rather remain ignorant of than read any more, so I quit The Divine Comedy. Seriously, Hell was SOOOOO much more enjoyable. :roll:
A week or so ago I picked up 1984 on appeal of my girlfriend. Now that that's through, I've started on with:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1204.g.akamai.net%2F7%2F1204%2F1401%2F04011610011%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7300000%2F7303234.jpg&hash=090595a347480927698042e3f13784516f2e09f4)(must be actual size)
while waiting for:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.greedyme.com%2Fitemimages%2F10904.jpg&hash=f22e8ff40d41fd599daaf5d2065041d66e020277)(I hear it's bigger in person).
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: matt35mm on August 02, 2006, 05:27:55 PM
I've been binge reading.  In the past 2 weeks...

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0316666343.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1134619144_.jpg&hash=1981f5c1c018a7fe03ef817e3abd39ec68cd1415)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.harperacademic.com%2Fcoverimages%2Flarge%2F0060838582.jpg&hash=59682c18f8de1771f262fdc8c3a561bb7e124431)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0395903718.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=5e9cae182d9cbe71485f49c89b4791daa2f6cf14)
(this is actually a book for pre-teens, but it was lying around so I just read it)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0465044050.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=942211283501e32d536667d3383253362bb7d7e3)
This is what I'm currently reading.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on August 02, 2006, 06:45:18 PM
Quote from: matt35mm on August 02, 2006, 05:27:55 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0465044050.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=942211283501e32d536667d3383253362bb7d7e3)
This is what I'm currently reading.

How is it so far?  That sounds really interesting to me.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: matt35mm on August 02, 2006, 07:44:10 PM
Quote from: polkablues on August 02, 2006, 06:45:18 PM
Quote from: matt35mm on August 02, 2006, 05:27:55 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0465044050.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=942211283501e32d536667d3383253362bb7d7e3)
This is what I'm currently reading.

How is it so far?  That sounds really interesting to me.
Quite good.  It's the sort of book that, if it sounds interesting to you, it will be interesting to you.  It's not fluff, but it's easy to absorb.  It's written by a psychologist, with how genetics affects human behavior and thought as the focus.  There are surprisingly few books that are specifically about that (usually genetics and psychology don't acknowledge each other).  It's under 200 pages, you could read it in a few days, so it's definitely worth the read.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on August 03, 2006, 08:27:51 AM
Finishing up:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wwnorton.com%2Fcover%2F031280.jpg&hash=3dbcda113cc06e73614b8fa8a6eab4bba576d58c)

Torn between taking this:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0743264452.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=c845cfa971f7340185f15426a70979bf1a127fd4)

or this:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.engadget.com%2Fcommon%2Fimages%2F3126770688156435.JPG%3F0.5232411011347333&hash=ae98fecb660a405324f2f0f737792685aeb18148)

on vacation with me next week.  Any suggestions?


Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: matt35mm on August 12, 2006, 01:48:43 AM
Just finished:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0671667513.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=a39eaa938f3d86b92f63a433a049577dd0362aca)

Classical music is something that's always been in the fringes of my life (my dad is big into it and has a great collection), but I didn't really ever get into.  This book helps a lot, and I've been listening to a lot of classical music recently.  I've always been interested in classical structure, actually, and knowing that chamber music had a huge influence over Ingmar Bergman's films (thus his sonata approach to character interactions), it was just time that I took a serious listen.  Listening is the most important thing, but like I said, the book helps, and the guy knows his stuff.

Now I am reading this:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.centerforbookculture.org%2Fmedia%2Fcovers%2Freadersblock.jpg&hash=f47b1b22d2d7c41f9d7250f8688c13be31369cea)

Very interesting so far.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on August 15, 2006, 12:37:29 AM
To see what all the brouhaha was all about:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1400031087.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1076541823_.jpg&hash=160e62a64de3bdb92dae77f8dd41b983fa81a533)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on August 15, 2006, 01:33:30 AM
Quote from: children with angels on July 19, 2006, 02:53:57 AM
Quote from: The Gold Trumpet on July 19, 2006, 02:07:36 AM
Quote from: Lucid on July 18, 2006, 11:44:18 PM
I'm starting this soon:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi2.tinypic.com%2F20ftd93.jpg&hash=c4d4f83e3fcf3e1a31595ba5c01e15f029b2aa8b)

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I've always been on the look out for a good historical book on the French New Wave. The description on Amazon makes it sound very enjoyable to read. I'm considering this already purchased with my next paycheck. I'll order it tomorrow.

It's really good! The best overview I've read of it really. Richard Neupert's a good, down-to-earth-type film critic/theorist. He's also written what is surprsingly the only film studies book ever to be soley about endings ('The End: Narration and Closure in the Cinema') - it formed the theorectical backbone of my undergraduate dissertation, which was all about the happy ending.

This book is pleasantly readable, but I also found it to be generally awful.

1.) The book is not a history of the French New Wave. It is an overview of motifs and major directors of the French New Wave.

2.) The book gives analysis of each filmmaker with a small bio plus a film by film analysis. The analysis spends too much time on plot digression and gives criticism that hardly goes beyond general points. Like too many professors of film, Neupert is too in awe of many of the French Wave directors that things he should argue instead become bad rationalizations. Those who care about film should see it as an amateur art still hundreds of years behind the major arts.

3.) The book ignores major identities of the French New Wave. The book gives lip service to the auteur theory that was started in the 1950s. I found that shocking. Of any theory after 1940 to sustain itself, the largest and most successful was by far the auteur theory. The filmmakers of the French New Wave popularized ideas that served as its origins. The theory went to gain importance in the film business and gain evolution in the sad business of university study. I think the major reason for the oversight is that the author knew the original ideas of the auteur theory were ridiculous, amateur and just plain awful. The book chooses to ignore that subject and others and loses credibility that makes it a complete analysis to the highs and lows of the French New Wave.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on August 20, 2006, 07:39:19 PM
Quote from: hackspaced on August 03, 2006, 08:27:51 AM
Torn between taking this:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0743264452.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=c845cfa971f7340185f15426a70979bf1a127fd4)

or this:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.engadget.com%2Fcommon%2Fimages%2F3126770688156435.JPG%3F0.5232411011347333&hash=ae98fecb660a405324f2f0f737792685aeb18148)

on vacation with me next week.

Took them both, finished them both, and now:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0393064530.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V60062427_.jpg&hash=5eccf94e036ec83197649a2396b894e7939de711)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on August 20, 2006, 09:44:51 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.timeinc.net%2Few%2Fdynamic%2Fimgs%2F060505%2F15281__possible_l.jpg&hash=58ad816955542761b264c4529bc4cc5bcb202dd0)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Raikus on August 22, 2006, 09:59:38 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0500050775.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=4c805c5ab0e5996b129019b99fa085e817f8b401)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on August 22, 2006, 10:15:24 AM
Just finished Maus, so
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec3.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FG%2F01%2Fciu%2F96%2F51%2F6cfed250fca0a156d0f72010.L.jpg&hash=c211ced4814ce72c8085b26d600d127174a64ad3)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: A Matter Of Chance on August 24, 2006, 10:08:31 AM
For school:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.houghtonmifflinbooks.com%2Fassets%2Fproduct%2F0618001905.gif&hash=a4c2e3737add792638ad64bdc9f9f685d3cedfd3) & (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmanybooks.net%2Fcovers%2Fconradjoetext96hdark12a.jpg&hash=7502204c940c683769f2b7c61cdef4722f68de9f)

For me:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ucpress.edu%2Fbooks%2Fpages%2Fimages%2F8503001.jpg&hash=1fcf2c9ee2a9bf4417d91eb40fc468afa1a32ca2) & (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.s8.com.br%2Fimages%2Fbooks%2Fcover%2Fimg6%2F728636.jpg&hash=619bf3e5933fd9847455dccb95adab9ae91ca04e)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on August 24, 2006, 09:07:34 PM
Quote from: A Matter Of Chance on August 24, 2006, 10:08:31 AM
For school:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.schwartzbooks.com%2Fmas_assets%2Ffull%2F27%2F0374521727.jpg&hash=9a74584f4929389b073b4b1f332595b951ef73e7)
Quote from: A Matter Of Chance on August 24, 2006, 10:08:31 AM
For me:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgustavhasford.com%2Fdispatches.JPG&hash=311391769332415ee0396d02475732190350e9e2)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Brazoliange on August 24, 2006, 11:55:37 PM
I read The Stand and The Tommyknockers over last week and Ender's Game last night. I'm thinking of starting Salem's Lot tomorrow.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on August 29, 2006, 06:39:35 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec3.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0807050113.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1077913566_.jpg&hash=2877da65e4608df706889815b9a56e137c9c673e)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on August 29, 2006, 05:22:35 PM
I bought it months ago and now finally have a chance to actually read it:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1400063795.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1123880369_.jpg&hash=5cfe9e754c9544298c46b3760ed31f261992a25e)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on September 06, 2006, 04:26:27 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec3.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0876850867.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1118441090_.jpg&hash=07006a14d39b94d291506002fc30e9b3408f4431)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on September 06, 2006, 05:16:45 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0140274987.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=723e7fd03b5685eb97a118097b91ef89fc1497c6)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: xerxes on September 06, 2006, 05:49:30 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fantasticfiction.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fn24%2Fn122069.jpg&hash=13b2bd87b4e412b20adfeefe9355ad0a6cb43552)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0316168815.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=f7b87d1b672015a59ae457fe582797f7d1dbc1a5)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0676973655.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=88a0e8ccf2d7ebf26aecc0442fd4ce519cf3de10)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on September 06, 2006, 07:29:43 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi35.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fd179%2Fpolkablues%2F0316930164.jpg&hash=33273b2e124d8f45be41919f6a61761bcc87fdfe)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on September 06, 2006, 10:15:01 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F10860000%2F10867814.jpg&hash=4e23be4c578818638f26cf953ea2d03629b60e40)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on September 09, 2006, 07:06:05 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi35.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fd179%2Fpolkablues%2Fabsolute_magic.jpg&hash=b7507e14e660cbef93fc4790edc8c2adcbd6d498)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on September 09, 2006, 10:07:13 PM
Wow, a Philip Roth novel mentioned. Too bad its his most disposable novel to date. Anyone who wants the perfect Roth novel should always trust in Sabbath's Theater. High comic genius.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on September 09, 2006, 11:54:06 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0415223768.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=4fe42922c11ecda553f3931c8d05af70f91b1d7a)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on September 11, 2006, 11:23:08 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7380000%2F7382132.jpg&hash=7cef28bee1b9836f2da401a16060e6ffe5b9d48f)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: modage on September 11, 2006, 09:08:32 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F11590000%2F11590166.jpg&hash=15f137e55dffce6dc785a036cafadaeb520d9f17)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on September 12, 2006, 12:32:16 PM
I have GOT to get the Vachon book....

I'm accidentally on a bit of a "queer theory" kick of late, it seems (I was assigned this one to review, but I found it impressive that it's been republished by the New York Review of Books Classics imprint, which to me is a mark of quality):

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec3.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1590171896.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V65620531_.jpg&hash=c3bbc4eb7f8fc8f04633ead4e4dc709b52b4ea98)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: matt35mm on September 13, 2006, 01:30:34 AM
Quote from: modage on September 11, 2006, 09:08:32 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F11590000%2F11590166.jpg&hash=15f137e55dffce6dc785a036cafadaeb520d9f17)
Moi aussi, in preparation for Ms. Vachon's visit to San Francisco.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on September 14, 2006, 11:41:15 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi46.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ff149%2Fsquints06%2Fscarystories.jpg&hash=ac3157faaee9894f4dce0a2739f75a8f0944d0fd)

these used to scare the shit out me as a kid. i dug them out of a box a couple of nights ago.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on September 14, 2006, 01:04:26 PM
Quote from: squints on September 14, 2006, 11:41:15 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi46.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ff149%2Fsquints06%2Fscarystories.jpg&hash=ac3157faaee9894f4dce0a2739f75a8f0944d0fd)

these used to scare the shit out me as a kid. i dug them out of a box a couple of nights ago.

Dude.  I loved those books.  The illustrations gave me years worth of nightmares.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: xerxes on September 14, 2006, 03:57:39 PM
wow, i think i need to go find my copy now. wasn't there another one also?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on September 14, 2006, 04:58:17 PM
Quote from: xerxes on September 14, 2006, 03:57:39 PM
wow, i think i need to go find my copy now. wasn't there another one also?

There were a bunch.  I had at least three when I was a kid.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on September 14, 2006, 05:00:29 PM
I remember the story of the litle black dog being my favorite.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on September 14, 2006, 05:40:08 PM
I'm trying to find a picture of it without having to scan it, but my favorite is the one where a spider lays eggs on this girl's face, she thinks its an infected blister and the picture is of them hatching all over her face (the girl looks like shelley duvall with severe addiction to crystal meth)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: children with angels on September 15, 2006, 05:19:52 AM
Quote from: godardian on September 09, 2006, 11:54:06 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0415223768.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=4fe42922c11ecda553f3931c8d05af70f91b1d7a)

This is a bit late, but I just wanted to take this chance to make you jealous, Godardian, by telling you that I was taught by Richard Dyer and got to know him quite well at Warwick University. He was the warmest, most charming guy - quite an achievement considering the intellectual heavyweight he also is: too many good academics I've encountered are offputtingly cold and superior. By way of a Christmas card before one vacation he casually put on a clip of Judy Garland singing 'Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas' as we were leaving. He's a sweetie.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on September 15, 2006, 03:26:15 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg69.imageshack.us%2Fimg69%2F7923%2Fmathinstinctmn5.jpg&hash=c19a956c0131a2816e2027b0479fd2a57305ff9b)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on September 16, 2006, 05:20:46 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.booksamillion.com%2Fbam%2Fcovers%2F0%2F37%2F542%2F318%2F0375423184.jpg&hash=fbb721e52ae45dde173e64adbc339f4d9209f514)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on September 17, 2006, 03:14:51 AM
Quote from: matt35mm on September 13, 2006, 01:30:34 AM
Quote from: modage on September 11, 2006, 09:08:32 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F11590000%2F11590166.jpg&hash=15f137e55dffce6dc785a036cafadaeb520d9f17)
Moi aussi, in preparation for Ms. Vachon's visit to San Francisco.

Yo también.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on September 26, 2006, 12:48:30 PM
I just finished:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1932664548.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V53951179_.jpg&hash=da5f41c210670d9ec40d828d593d351d69c21aa7)

...which is written by a good friend of mine.

I have gone on to:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0375406972.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1122535112_.jpg&hash=295a5239549234b75f461405e03772469832b572)(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0786716339.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V65786222_.jpg&hash=ac8a9deb1f899564800c88067442cbfbc8ba9300)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on September 27, 2006, 07:41:54 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tinkin.com%2Fkoolhaas%2Fkoolhaasfinal.jpg&hash=9d39a2027364575b748938414f35c12a38aad894)

content, by rem koolhaas.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Raikus on October 02, 2006, 09:59:26 AM
Quote from: cronopio on September 27, 2006, 07:41:54 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tinkin.com%2Fkoolhaas%2Fkoolhaasfinal.jpg&hash=9d39a2027364575b748938414f35c12a38aad894)

content, by rem koolhaas.
Also known as the first book to ever trigger epileptic seizures.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on October 02, 2006, 10:29:09 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0307346609.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V58782187_.jpg&hash=b6428085da3b68716a67a0060a4c0508c7fc8b30)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on October 03, 2006, 01:16:15 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi35.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fd179%2Fpolkablues%2F11176779.jpg&hash=07498846c92991c72de4af4d807393e0c9f335d7)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on October 06, 2006, 11:49:08 PM
I just breezed through the Vachon book in 36 hours (including work and homework time). What a read! Super-intellectual? No. But so rich in information and--not least--gossip. It's like Us Weekly for Todd Haynes and Mary Harron fans. Brilliant. I'm now on to:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1400042739.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V39066848_.jpg&hash=8a35432569c11c909f170b8b1b41397de47102b7)

and of course:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffilmlinc.com%2FMerchant2%2Fgraphics%2F00000001%2Fso06cover.jpg&hash=cfb30aa8ac7b67cbdef91b0f66324178c73c1d3c)

...which includes Paul Schrader's fascinating "Film Canon" article.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: last days of gerry the elephant on October 10, 2006, 02:16:31 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.chapters.indigo.ca%2Fcovers%2Fbooks%2F845%2F0060938455_b.jpg&hash=40b851af465e4ab8e1ba7e5c696efac7a8b334cd)

I'm half-way into it, I thought it would be better for some reason but at least it has some good historical facts. I'm sure most of you have read it by now.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on October 11, 2006, 06:02:53 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F10330000%2F10338904.jpg&hash=6d98ee6c591b30e17e7eed4a7c74764f86b02933)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on October 12, 2006, 03:16:22 AM
who you gonna kill?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Garam on October 12, 2006, 06:33:40 AM
I've never seen that cover before. It's very nice. Makes a nice change from the dull minimalist covers that come with most 'classic' books these days. This sort of thing:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0316769487.03.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=2ef2769de4130ee7d8569b42902994c224093768)


zzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZ...

Readin' 'Money: A Suicide Note' by Martin Amis at the moment. It's funny, but Marty can be a bit heavy-handed on the satires sometimes. It's more noticable in this than in London Fields or Success.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on October 12, 2006, 08:59:21 AM
Quote from: Pubrick on October 12, 2006, 03:16:22 AM
who you gonna kill?
A Beatle lost in New York.

Quote from: Garam on October 12, 2006, 06:33:40 AM
I've never seen that cover before. It's very nice. Makes a nice change from the dull minimalist covers that come with most 'classic' books these days.
Yeah, it's a wonderful design. They had the hardcover, too. If it weren't much more money than I was willing to spend, I would've gotten it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on October 12, 2006, 12:06:17 PM
The minimalist cover feels a lot more like the novel to me.  The one with the horse looks cool, but it looks like a book I'd find in a toybox.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on October 12, 2006, 12:17:33 PM
Quote from: Walrus on October 12, 2006, 12:06:17 PM
The minimalist cover feels a lot more like the novel to me.
catcher in the rye makes you feel like nothing with a bit of colour in the corner?

the horse cover at least takes a crucial part of the book and turns it into something visually arresting which will mean more after reading it. the minimalist cover is the most boring idea possible apart from removing the stupid corner. i imagine it speaks to ppl who think taking pictures of intersecting power lines is "deep, man."

it's true what they say about books and covers, but it's also not the whole truth. all else being equal, a good book with a good cover is better than a good book with a crap one.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Fjodor on October 12, 2006, 05:04:02 PM
Just finished:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fthebestnotes.com%2Fbooknotes%2FBell_Jar%2Fcover.jpg&hash=6b97f65c6ca658f923e11a507df9dddfedbe5ab1)

which was great, and reminded me much of that minimalist cover book of the last few posts

but, leaving me the choice for the next book to read between:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.penguin.com.au%2Fcovers-jpg%2F0141182571.jpg&hash=4e039721f6de38f4ac277be316e169db9ffef77a)

and

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sarahchampion.info%2Fimages%2FFear-and-Loathing-Russian.jpg&hash=375fb69350a853e53ec1ab304185f0b495e24a09)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on October 17, 2006, 06:26:41 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fchilangabanda.com%2Fpicts%2Ffabulas.jpg&hash=868d986a4b687d90f9e52caf870a4b5786c18a4a)

it's superb so far. very, very good.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on October 18, 2006, 04:11:11 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg55.imageshack.us%2Fimg55%2F8813%2F11115460hk7.jpg&hash=e387b1157fd5180b5c6da67eb56de9192a24280d)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on October 18, 2006, 10:01:03 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.road-dog-productions.com%2Fweblog%2Fmccarthy_the_road.jpg&hash=f44cb6a24c469aef8103550ea2e6023bcb19ba8b)

One of McCarthy's best, I think. My full review of it is here (http://www.road-dog-productions.com/cgi-bin/2006/10/the_road_1.html).
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on October 18, 2006, 11:17:27 PM
The most accessible, in my opinion, is last year's No Country For Old Men. You also might want to try All The Pretty Horses again - that's the first one I read, and it's tough but not so much as some of his other work.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on October 20, 2006, 12:00:40 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0312256868.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1080690892_.jpg&hash=16345d5795267d437148b4cf7564429cb97fcba3)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Mesh on October 20, 2006, 02:01:45 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F8500000%2F8506754.jpg&hash=5a7aa6ca6d8b0700b9d0528b242105c9a5288ad7)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Thrindle on October 20, 2006, 05:56:58 PM
Anyone read this???
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0307263118.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=29ec76990108b0396c0221aee77b2b63b6a25dcf)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on October 20, 2006, 07:45:09 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1560973390.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1056517501_.jpg&hash=6d4a04cd0f4e1787bddad50e246de189d3eaba05)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: gob on October 21, 2006, 01:49:20 PM
Quote from: Ghostboy on October 18, 2006, 11:17:27 PM
The most accessible, in my opinion, is last year's No Country For Old Men. You also might want to try All The Pretty Horses again - that's the first one I read, and it's tough but not so much as some of his other work.

Blood Meridian is a really superb book. I'd recommend to anyone and especially McCarthy fans to try and stick with it.
I wanna read No Country for Old Men but might hold out for the Coen Brothers movie before reading it. The Road sounded awesome when I read a synopsis last month. Onto the wishlist it goes.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on October 23, 2006, 11:07:18 PM
So, I ended up enjoying Catcher quite a bit. I loved the explanation Holden gave of the title.
By the end, my feelings toward the cynical little prick that is Holden Caulfield changed dramatically.

This next one's a quick read, but I'm personally very excited about it:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F8920000%2F8926704.jpg&hash=73cddd55dbff0e07da4a260d5dc9c75ca561a555)
It's signed, too.  :wink:
Most probably don't care of my experience at the Photography Convention held in Boone, NC two weeks ago, but I'll briefly share anyway.  :twisted:
First, it was freezing the night we arrived (my friends and I went camping, and I found myself unprepared for the most part), so waking up for the convention found us mostly miserable.
We were surprised that we somehow wandered into a Photo Con that held Photoshop in higher esteem than conventional photography. I swear, it was probably even sponsored by Adobe! [That was sarcasm. There was no actual proof that Adobe sponsored the event.]
The day started with a woman giving a VERY long lecture on Adobe's newest: Lightroom and another verison of Photoshop. While I found the information somewhat useful (I am required to have a working knowledge in photoshop for my computer graphics courses) and the logistics of the programs (especially Lightroom) were interesting, but it wasn't at all what I came 7+ hours for.
The rest of the day was spent looking at other artists so-called "photography" that liberally apllied photoshop to bring about the results. Granted, there may not be anything wrong, per sé, in using PS, but it's not something that I particuarly support in the realm of photography, so much so that I rarely even consider it such. Meaning (if that didn't make sense) if someone uses PS too much to add or subtract parts of their composition, I no longer consider it photography. Digital cameras are on (the lower part of) my shit list, too.
Perhaps I'm being a bit too strong here.
Moving on.
Finally there was a release. A very nice woman actually came and gave a lecture on the photos she took with her cameras! Large view cameras and pin-holes were all that she used! Oh, what a relief it was! (I later thanked her for it that night.  :wink: 8))
And then there was dear Sam Abell (he's pictured on the right of that book up there): documentary photographer, both personally and for National Geographic for many years, and inspirational speaker.
His lengthy, but enjoyable lecture, was a reinvigorating sermon. My friends and I found ourselves nodding to his thoughts and theories of photography in a way very similar to how a congregation nods when the preachers preachin' the Word.
But I don't want it to sound like I'm idolizing him. In a frustrating day, here was a man who admitted to not owning a computer or a digital camera; a man who claims those who use digital lack the faith inherent in photography.
After the Word was spoken, we had the opportunity to buy the book above and have it signed by him. When my turn came, I asked to shake his hand and thanked him for reaffirming everything I thought photography was supposed to be about.
He was very humble when I spoke to him and wrote, in amazing script:
For Brandon,
With appreciation for your thoughts and best wishes for you work.
Sam Abell.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on October 24, 2006, 02:26:11 PM
Along with some unpublished work(s) by friend(s), I'm reading:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0385503849.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V57219237_.jpg&hash=beb602b98e4eb8d832bac9781f4461ac7a00779c)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on October 25, 2006, 01:48:14 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg63.imageshack.us%2Fimg63%2F9219%2Fcovermaximumcityl2zc4.jpg&hash=dfc9163608843fb170891391ce90b4a6e7035cb7)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: elpablo on October 26, 2006, 06:54:21 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0671604295.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=9e987560dce64c28ce89c8558fe74a1ac35a8d99)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: last days of gerry the elephant on October 26, 2006, 07:16:40 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0385659806.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1077142047_.jpg&hash=47561db9fca49413b28f6335f788af892e2285b2)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: last days of gerry the elephant on October 28, 2006, 05:55:04 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1400042593.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1111181969_.jpg&hash=f1242f8218559a2a52f55056f36a697b6772a8a4)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on October 30, 2006, 01:11:34 PM
Another beautiful cover, this time with pages filled with pretty, blue print:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bookofjoe.com%2Fimages%2Fqffsv35lepomdk7ystzqpl4w5pyirppypobeinym.jpg&hash=34a1b5427972136f397f40ab8fbeb46645cdcffd)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: A Matter Of Chance on November 06, 2006, 07:47:09 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usask.ca%2Fenglish%2Ffaulkner%2Fimages%2Fcover3.jpg&hash=b52f41d8003310a9fd2dea80166bbdcc1e0d62c0) / (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0374526788.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=dade973142c97cdb4c44e057b821d980d2ccc24e)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on November 06, 2006, 08:29:02 PM
I've been meaning to read some Faulkner, but I keep getting sidetracked/forgetting.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Raikus on November 07, 2006, 01:24:05 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0060558121.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=1cd704ab57cf12a4e76478eab2bcbbb093628f08)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on November 16, 2006, 12:01:46 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1400043875.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V51817555_.jpg&hash=98495c812a10afd66684abba894cf60cd0b2c3f9)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on November 16, 2006, 05:41:51 PM
Quote from: Lucid on November 09, 2006, 10:34:54 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.illyria.com%2Ftob%2Fimages%2Fnapb.jpg&hash=dc99227a5cd64199048ed3a7367d0bb13515e61d)

Oh, hell yeah.

Tim O'Brien is my favorite author by far.  If you haven't read In the Lake of the Woods and The Things They Carried yet, do that next.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on November 16, 2006, 08:59:58 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0316769509.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=9d012064d5c9dc5ec1754517948ed6974b46fb59)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on November 16, 2006, 09:35:35 PM
nice cover.

I'm re-reading Tarkovsky's Sculpting In Time.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: I Love a Magician on November 21, 2006, 12:21:39 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.randomhouse.com.au%2Fsystem%2520pictures%2F9780099447092.jpg&hash=6b622956c14ad192fdaf6b93b215fcc4c9e7d6b9)

I'm about half way through it. Real good.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Fjodor on November 21, 2006, 05:04:29 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec2.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0099470462.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V58543535_.jpg&hash=5a13e1f3d35b330adb4adc7622c64e4e3c422b6b)

Strange, and difficult book (for a non-english reader). At the one side, I appreciate the creative sort of humor is attains, but at the other side, the style of writing really puts me off at certain points. Too much anarchy for a easy read, I guess.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: A Matter Of Chance on November 21, 2006, 06:02:07 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0060520604.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V61164901_.jpg&hash=950c7767b9e12a0024ebf505c26cca8416a58c72)

It's like Lawrence of Arabia or Reds, but with philosophers.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on November 21, 2006, 06:54:24 PM
Quote from: Fjodor on November 21, 2006, 05:04:29 PM
(Catch-22)

Strange, and difficult book (for a non-english reader). At the one side, I appreciate the creative sort of humor is attains, but at the other side, the style of writing really puts me off at certain points. Too much anarchy for a esay read, I guess.

I read a review once that describes the book as "not having been written so much as shouted onto the page."  The reviewer meant it disparagingly, but if I were Joseph Heller, I would take it as a compliment.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: gob on November 24, 2006, 03:06:35 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi83.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fj287%2FPantoinette%2Fcementgarden.jpg&hash=52f3a4b602c373a474301f1bf49cec2e7e2d679f)

I'm becoming an accumulative Ian McEwan fan. I really liked "Saturday" and "Enduring Love" (the film adaptation of which I think is very underrated). As far as "The Cement Garden" goes, so far so good...
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on November 27, 2006, 11:47:57 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjournald-unamateur.hautetfort.com%2Fimages%2Fmedium_cover-les-miserables.jpg&hash=1f21317f3798221a47382ecd1b13696bc3d05e42)

The thickness of the book looks like an exaggeration. Like those tomes you see in movies that weigh 20lbs.
It's daunting at first, just considering how long it may take me, but I'm looking forward to it.
More than any book I've read in the past few months.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on November 27, 2006, 12:05:42 PM
It's not hard. By the time I was fifteen I'd read it three times (I was a big fan of the musical in my youth).

I'm currently finishing up a re-read of Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man and am next weighing my options: Anna Karenina or Gravity's Rainbow? Hmmmm.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: matt35mm on November 27, 2006, 12:32:06 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1569471746.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1122491985_.jpg&hash=629392b0534bd04957aeeb64212e0f8127f41e63)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on November 27, 2006, 12:59:20 PM
Quote from: Ghostboy on November 27, 2006, 12:05:42 PM
Anna Karenina or Gravity's Rainbow? Hmmmm.
Haven't read Gravity's Rainbow, but I absolutely adore Anna Karenina. I couldn't recommend it enough.
Some day soon, I'll tackle War & Peace. :ponder:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: modage on November 29, 2006, 11:57:45 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1401200591.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=cdf6325f1da76d52ab72ea29b586cc3f15bbddc7)

happy birthday to me (yesterday)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on December 04, 2006, 08:50:43 PM
Quote from: modage on November 29, 2006, 11:57:45 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1401200591.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=cdf6325f1da76d52ab72ea29b586cc3f15bbddc7)

Just bought this today. I'm glad I waited until AFTER I saw the movie.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on December 18, 2006, 03:07:09 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec2.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0060823461.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V60587447_.jpg&hash=08818b0a5fb17130aba5f3081dc63ce7a5803ff1)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sunrise on December 18, 2006, 01:41:11 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.schwartzbooks.com%2Fmas_assets%2Ffull%2F0618680004.jpg&hash=4b3c42885199f7a7d18781c01a25abecf863eb7c)

Just finished it last night. Dawkins would be a lot more persuasive if he wasn't so arrogant and condescending. Regardless, many parts of the book contain incredibly effective arguments. It is much less a philosophical analysis of existential issues than it is all-out onslaught against theism and anyone out there that still doesn't believe in evolution. Despite dealing with Dawkins' nose so high in the air, it was a good read.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on December 25, 2006, 04:10:22 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec2.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0307345785.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V37535583_.jpg&hash=2369c9cc949d673ee0924df79229f3f5c3b218a1)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: last days of gerry the elephant on December 27, 2006, 10:33:50 PM
Damn that Deepak Chopra!

Anyways...
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0141183047.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1121695143_.jpg&hash=7f479025458c3fb16e5ce187c7664b8aaf0ec44b)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: A Matter Of Chance on December 27, 2006, 11:05:34 PM
Quote from: overmeunderyou on December 27, 2006, 10:33:50 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0141183047.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1121695143_.jpg&hash=7f479025458c3fb16e5ce187c7664b8aaf0ec44b)

Seriously, that is a fantastic choice. One of my favorite books.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on December 29, 2006, 02:48:14 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fantasticfiction.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fc1%2Fc7188.jpg&hash=2d6982159b73373b4dbe23a9270f44e5a3f9b349)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on December 29, 2006, 05:36:39 PM
i find it amusing that he named the book after a mediocre band.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on December 30, 2006, 09:50:46 AM
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fquimbys.com%2Fimages%2F0312282990.jpg&hash=e6c36ee151ad4efeaabbfc326e6ca05fe75bfdc9)

A Confederacy of Dunces
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hypernote.com%2Ffiles%2Fimages%2Fbooks%2FISBN_0802130208.jpg&hash=1b244669af4dc7f0e4f42f1ef17b6f4169784ae7)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on January 02, 2007, 07:46:36 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fesperanto.org%2FOndo%2FBorges.jpg&hash=584a87b931cf63a2982434ed3a08d9d6d1d83da6)

in my spanish class we've been reading a lot of borges.  unfortunately, i suck at spanish.  but good enough to know that i like him and want a good english translation of his best short stories, but i'm not sure which to go with.  the only requirement is that "the circular ruins" is in there cos that's my favorite so far.  can anyone help me out (and is there a better thread for this?)?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: last days of gerry the elephant on January 06, 2007, 10:10:04 PM
I'm trying to savor The Book of Disquiet, so I picked this one up this morning and finished it in a sitting (well it was a slow slow day at work).
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.palomar.edu%2Fenglish%2Fversaci%2Fimages%2FSex%2520Drugs.jpg&hash=f697ba439762f33d08a329c12c34825515cc1451)
Highly recommended, a fun and witty insight into modern pop culture.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on January 25, 2007, 05:58:19 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.6767.com%2Farchives%2Fdeath_of_superman_big_1.jpg&hash=d6faeb9144ad413bcf5f0e2f4ea2f4ff28c847e5)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on January 26, 2007, 08:46:50 AM
Quote from: cronopio on January 25, 2007, 05:58:19 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.6767.com%2Farchives%2Fdeath_of_superman_big_1.jpg&hash=d6faeb9144ad413bcf5f0e2f4ea2f4ff28c847e5)
Damn that doomsday.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on January 29, 2007, 10:39:54 AM
Just finished:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F1120000%2F1124066.gif&hash=1b8955b70772f8c416a928e051f4037376a57eb2)

Now reading:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F9900000%2F9900577.jpg&hash=7f5df75a71ba559863432828be5717a36853fdc0)
(Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Bethie on February 07, 2007, 02:25:50 AM
I just recently found out that David Sedaris is one of the greatest people ever. I finished Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim last night. Today I started Me Talk Pretty One Day. His other books should be arriving on my doorstep soon, I ordered them all from Amazon.

I've become slightly jealous of Hugh, his boyfriend.

throughout the day I tend to say "well one of my homes" to myself. and when David says that when hes in tight situation he'll feel the need to touch somebody's head, whenever I think of this, I find myself laughing, no matter where I am.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on February 07, 2007, 07:14:21 AM
Quote from: Bethie on February 07, 2007, 02:25:50 AM
I just recently found out that David Sedaris is one of the greatest people ever. I finished Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim last night. Today I started Me Talk Pretty One Day. His other books should be arriving on my doorstep soon, I ordered them all from Amazon.

I've become slightly jealous of Hugh, his boyfriend.

throughout the day I tend to say "well one of my homes" to myself. and when David says that when hes in tight situation he'll feel the need to touch somebody's head, whenever I think of this, I find myself laughing, no matter where I am.
yeah he's great. "the youth in asia" is one of my favorite stories ever.

have you heard him read his stuff? pretty amazing. there's a really funny recording somewhere of david and amy sedaris together reading "you can't kill the rooster." and amy plays the rooster.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on February 07, 2007, 05:30:07 PM
You can't kill the rooster is great. I've read Dress Your family...Me talk Pretty One Day, and Naked. Me Talk Pretty was my first and definitely my favorite. I believe someone has "borrowed" it and haven't seen it since.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on February 07, 2007, 06:48:58 PM
Bambi Vs. Godzilla-It's fantastic so far. Reading it a bit quick
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Bethie on March 01, 2007, 02:23:37 AM
Quote from: Hedwig on February 07, 2007, 07:14:21 AM
Quote from: Bethie on February 07, 2007, 02:25:50 AM
I just recently found out that David Sedaris is one of the greatest people ever. I finished Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim last night. Today I started Me Talk Pretty One Day. His other books should be arriving on my doorstep soon, I ordered them all from Amazon.

I've become slightly jealous of Hugh, his boyfriend.

throughout the day I tend to say "well one of my homes" to myself. and when David says that when hes in tight situation he'll feel the need to touch somebody's head, whenever I think of this, I find myself laughing, no matter where I am.
yeah he's great. "the youth in asia" is one of my favorite stories ever.

have you heard him read his stuff? pretty amazing. there's a really funny recording somewhere of david and amy sedaris together reading "you can't kill the rooster." and amy plays the rooster.

I'm going to see him read on April 1st (no joke). I think I'm going to pee my pants.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cine on March 01, 2007, 03:26:48 AM
Quote from: Bethie on March 01, 2007, 02:23:37 AMI'm going to see him read on April 1st (no joke).
the joke will be on you when i bring hedwig instead. :violin:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: md on March 04, 2007, 12:04:28 AM
Just finished
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F11810000%2F11819115.jpg&hash=facc75fb3a1adc0f5fbd2ee91c5ae3d33fb728c4)
Albeit real gossipy, it had some helpful tips on how to be a real asshole.

and am in the middle of this
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FG%2F01%2Fciu%2F6a%2Fdc%2Fbfbcb220dca00707b0e95010.L.jpg&hash=60fd1627bf4b4a80be77539a5c6a984f4d757171)
Paddy Chayfesky is my new personal hero. 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: samsong on March 13, 2007, 01:58:20 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kerouac.com%2Fimages%2Fnew60s%2Fstill.jpg&hash=16f53413ade706640efb75061f95ab650756c64b)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on March 13, 2007, 03:48:23 PM
is that a cigarette pack on the cover?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on March 26, 2007, 11:26:20 AM
I t'was reading this:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F8480000%2F8488929.jpg&hash=9fc18d4a377d09a28290b6d8e35df622de5fab50)

I t'am reading this:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F10860000%2F10867395.jpg&hash=e3ede9b589525921fb8254158a9898bfe5e8d76f)

and I t'will read this:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F8630000%2F8633079.jpg&hash=bfc76cc385fb381a1ab60280b1786d56211f7fc7)

Big and exciting books!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: picolas on March 30, 2007, 05:33:04 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec2.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0525949089.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=4c4b4342b5327a5ca5f6a0ad27bdfd57de671e3b)
so good. recommended to all.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Bram on April 03, 2007, 11:40:06 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geertmak.nl%2Fplaatjes%2FDeBrug_gr.jpg&hash=2223edf54aee373acaca4cf66e62f91f0259d3a6)
Translated: The Bridge. I like it so far, it reads like a documentairy.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: soma on April 03, 2007, 12:35:46 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1416532668.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=8e1fd498742b7c6ef05ec6b70507ec9691a926c9) (http://amazon.com/o/ASIN/1416532668/ref=s9_asin_image_2-hf_favarpcbss_2238_p/002-9218163-0162440?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=07ZSMQ7B0RD0F561S23V&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=279667601&pf_rd_i=507846)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on April 03, 2007, 11:51:38 PM
Chuck Palahnuik approved? I'm there.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.monicadrake.com%2FpageGraphics%2Fcover_shadow.jpg&hash=e95ce2f0bfaf47a2cf33af70b5631eab91971158)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Bram on April 04, 2007, 02:12:44 AM
Wow, that's one of the greatest covers I've ever seen given to a novel/book.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on April 04, 2007, 11:07:49 AM
Quote from: Meszahline on April 04, 2007, 02:12:44 AM
Wow, that's one of the greatest covers I've ever seen given to a novel/book.

And it has one of the steamiest/funniest clown-on-clown sex scenes ever written.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sigur Rós on April 04, 2007, 12:29:56 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0415287529.01._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow%2CTopRight%2C45%2C-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=9354eb0d37c82e19b772163aead1253fdb7d7106)

Foucault - Archaeology of Knowledge

After 5 pages you know that you are as stupid as a cow compared to this guy...
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on April 11, 2007, 08:39:32 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.douban.net%2Flpic%2Fs294.jpg&hash=e3ffb080d85215b79f6601e3926bcecd837ecdf6)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: md on April 17, 2007, 01:54:14 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.underview.com%2F2001%2Fletters%2Fagel.gif&hash=5ecd3592515a44087925797c04f3cf3c71995487)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on April 17, 2007, 02:54:18 PM
^ So did anyone get any of those frames? 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on May 01, 2007, 01:50:43 PM
Mmmmmmm... New Chuck.


(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F12520000%2F12529290.jpg&hash=408359aeb371e6c2846a5b4875acaa8f33cd73f2)


Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey - Chuck Palahnuik
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on May 01, 2007, 03:37:06 PM
Care to share?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sigur Rós on May 06, 2007, 06:48:38 AM
Quote from: MacGuffin on May 01, 2007, 01:50:43 PM
Mmmmmmm... New Chuck.

me too maestro!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on May 06, 2007, 06:54:10 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fg-ec2.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51KVBPK9KBL._AA240_.jpg&hash=624bd3436ca18afc511e12ed0b3844af3356b29a)

Just finished reading it. Very dark and bleak. It's gonna stick with me for a while (like a prehensile tail)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: last days of gerry the elephant on May 11, 2007, 02:13:20 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fg-ec2.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41PDJSVYABL._SS500_.jpg&hash=6815614ec191be59d452a8c7654fbf1e822653d7)

A great insight on targeted niche markets of big distributors like Netflix, Rhapsody, and Amazon. Demand for non-commercial music, movies, and books.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on May 22, 2007, 10:03:14 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F015626224X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=5853018712d867fb1b65072e51417ce5b55e37fc)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on June 09, 2007, 01:54:28 PM
Just finished reading these:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg503.imageshack.us%2Fimg503%2F6580%2F48677453uv2.jpg&hash=5ef1b78156e615d88634d57c3e366a938737a614)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.google.com%2Furl%3Fq%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0393035158.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg%26amp%3Busg%3DAFQjCNEiFasV3yC0TsqybmVh7-3QdF-kEg&hash=c8522ab5fa125946df3c8c76a0273ca5da202f3a)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Kal on June 09, 2007, 03:00:15 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2Fthumb%2F2%2F29%2FSteppenwolf_Cover%2528novel%2529.jpg%2F394px-Steppenwolf_Cover%2528novel%2529.jpg&hash=e66fbf243bb755aac5dcf5058c6ffe18e5cfdd5e)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on June 09, 2007, 04:19:13 PM
Quote from: Ravi on June 09, 2007, 01:54:28 PM
Just finished reading these:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg503.imageshack.us%2Fimg503%2F6580%2F48677453uv2.jpg&hash=5ef1b78156e615d88634d57c3e366a938737a614)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.google.com%2Furl%3Fq%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0393035158.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg%26amp%3Busg%3DAFQjCNEiFasV3yC0TsqybmVh7-3QdF-kEg&hash=c8522ab5fa125946df3c8c76a0273ca5da202f3a)

Do you recommend them, Ravi?  "Letter" is on my list of next books to read, along with Christopher Hitchens' book.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on June 09, 2007, 05:16:30 PM
Quote from: polkablues on June 09, 2007, 04:19:13 PM
Do you recommend them, Ravi?  "Letter" is on my list of next books to read, along with Christopher Hitchens' book.

I do recommend them.  "Letter" is Harris' response to criticism he received for The End of Faith.  The arguments in both books are simple and clear.  You can read either one first, but The End of Faith is longer than "Letter," which you can read in an hour or two.  There are a few generalizations in The End of Faith (and in "Letters") but the vast majority of the books are solid.  Harris concentrates mostly on Christianity and Islam.  I wish he would have included a chapter on Judaism, but maybe he'll tackle that in another book.  He briefly mentions Judaism in The End of Faith, but doesn't cover it as deeply as Christianity or Islam.

Hitchens probably takes a more strident tone than Harris,who himself has somewhat of a confrontational approach to religion.  I'm sure I'll read his book too.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on June 09, 2007, 06:34:26 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1594201226.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=983bdc26d2511c424dc28aaf81384f9bf43c03e2)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fantasticfiction.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fn3%2Fn18078.jpg&hash=5199616a5f28b3fdc57453b157cdf96ac81c2fd1)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: I Don't Believe in Beatles on June 10, 2007, 12:53:57 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi10.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fa110%2FStonerSunRising%2Fcover-les-miserables.jpg&hash=a673632df7269e67137e4324f357ffd1711f70c1)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on June 11, 2007, 02:12:00 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.booksamillion.com%2Fbam%2Fcovers%2F0%2F67%2F972%2F450%2F0679724508.jpg&hash=c7d1df72a7fc679843377d5186cb81496c194172)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Bethie on June 13, 2007, 01:01:00 AM
I'm reading Augusten Burroughs' Dry. I'm waiting patiently for his relapse.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on June 13, 2007, 11:19:36 AM
Quote from: Bethie on June 13, 2007, 01:01:00 AM
I'm reading Augusten Burroughs' Dry. I'm waiting patiently for his relapse.

haha, I just bought this yesterday at Borders cause it was on sale for like $4. I haven't read it yet. It will probably get on my nerves but it looks cool sitting on my shelf with all the other books I probablt won't read.

I've been told Homeland by Sam Lipsyte is very good and something I would enjoy, but I can never find it and I won't buy it online for reason I can't say (cause the government could be reading this) I hope to find it soon.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on June 14, 2007, 12:06:55 AM
Quote from: Ginger on June 10, 2007, 12:53:57 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi10.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fa110%2FStonerSunRising%2Fcover-les-miserables.jpg&hash=a673632df7269e67137e4324f357ffd1711f70c1)
Good luck with that. :shock:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on June 14, 2007, 12:31:22 AM
I read Les Mis two or three times by the time it was assigned my freshman year in high school. It's not hard. But then again, I was obsessed with the musical back then.

I'm reading this, and it's awesome:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fg-ec2.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51%252BWGiSjdiL._SS500_.jpg&hash=6741515a327db610201d5d36f1a4bb55ce0e626a)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on June 14, 2007, 12:55:09 AM
Quote from: Ghostboy on June 14, 2007, 12:31:22 AMI'm reading this, and it's awesome:

Isn't it? It's right up there with the Kubrick Archives.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on June 14, 2007, 06:24:02 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theage.com.au%2Fffximage%2F2006%2F12%2F15%2Froad_narrowweb__300x485%2C0.jpg&hash=dbc6459608392e780df982f62a6e7b6d340bd7fb)

just finished it.  my first mccarthy but i thought it was great.  now i desperately want to see his interview on oprah. 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on June 14, 2007, 06:34:52 PM
You can watch an extended version of it on her site. You just have to sign up for her book club.

Work your way backward through his work...you're in for a treat.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: last days of gerry the elephant on June 15, 2007, 12:15:34 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F31X5D0WTJ2L._AA240_.jpg&hash=c0121917f64d3e6e5116e20361c4412cab4dd6f6)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: children with angels on June 16, 2007, 12:30:40 PM
 :yabbse-thumbup: Franny and Zooey is still one of my favourite books.

Currently reading:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.totalcardboard.com%2Fimages%2Fsmall%2520book%2520covers%2Fgreat%2520apes.jpg&hash=6a05fdd96df5d13a6352151a55e3dcf03cc8ba80)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on June 16, 2007, 07:51:29 PM
Quote from: Ghostboy on June 14, 2007, 06:34:52 PM
You can watch an extended version of it on her site. You just have to sign up for her book club.

Work your way backward through his work...you're in for a treat.

thanks, i signed up.  oprah asked pretty boring questions, especially considering the circumstance, but mccarthy behaved exactly as i wanted him to.  the punctuation bit was enlightening though.  anyways, i already have all the pretty horses so that is going to be next.  after this: 

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjoyce.msk.ru%2Fnews%2Fdw03%2FM103_lot266.jpg&hash=ab9d5d483ea2b8c53d2a58959486d5fb7a183d6e)

this is going to be my summer of reading all the literature i should have been reading during high school.  its  my first joyce, like it a lot so far. 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: samsong on June 16, 2007, 10:19:16 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7540000%2F7547655.jpg&hash=ebe067cba554abffb1304aa7009ef8003d7268c6)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: modage on June 16, 2007, 10:52:34 PM
^ i just read the script for that.  it could very well be ridiculous.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: samsong on June 17, 2007, 03:13:43 AM
i didn't know a movie was coming.
ugh.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on June 17, 2007, 03:15:40 AM
I think they're trying to do 100 Years Of Solitude, too. Double ugh.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on June 19, 2007, 11:44:37 AM
This thread and the my job sucks thread are hopping lately.

Since when did everyone start caring about books? When you got a job?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Sheriff on June 20, 2007, 12:11:08 AM
hey guys, look what i just finished reading

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.scielosp.org%2Fimg%2Frevistas%2Fbwho%2Fv84n11%2Fa21capa.jpg&hash=66d1a40f2db73e1cf518da3b9ddd9e3db7493749)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on June 22, 2007, 10:58:53 AM
Even if you're not into martial arts, it's a real fascinating book.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FTao-Jeet-Kune-Bruce-Lee%2Fdp%2F0897500482%2Fref%3Dpd_bbs_sr_1%2F103-7486438-2359015%3Fie%3DUTF8%26amp%3Bs%3Dbooks%26amp%3Bqid%3D1182527756%26amp%3Bsr%3D8-1&hash=b766ea7979c5b598bc97b7cfe8f8ff4fa36a4ccd)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sigur Rós on June 23, 2007, 06:54:23 PM
Yochai Benkler - The Wealth of Networks

Together we are strong  :yabbse-thumbup:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: last days of gerry the elephant on June 23, 2007, 06:58:28 PM
Quote from: Depraved, Inc. on June 20, 2007, 12:11:08 AM
hey guys, look what i just finished reading

That cover is beautiful.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Bethie on June 30, 2007, 01:19:49 AM
I'm reading Augesten Burroughs- Running With Scissors now. I let my friend borrow Dry and she lent me RWS.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Kal on June 30, 2007, 11:33:49 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.audiobooksonline.com%2Fshopsite%2Fmedia%2FBrian_Weiss_Many_Lives__Many_Masters_abridged_compact_discs.jpg&hash=2fc5397002e4fbccf133e4af721855d35e9fdec1)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on June 30, 2007, 12:56:10 PM
Quote from: kal on June 30, 2007, 11:33:49 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.audiobooksonline.com%2Fshopsite%2Fmedia%2FBrian_Weiss_Many_Lives__Many_Masters_abridged_compact_discs.jpg&hash=2fc5397002e4fbccf133e4af721855d35e9fdec1)

That sounds interminable.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Kal on June 30, 2007, 05:40:39 PM
Its amazing... and he has like 3 other books that seem great too... I have been learning a lot about this stuff and its fascinating.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Raikus on July 03, 2007, 01:34:41 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ufoarea.com%2Fpictures%2Fcheney_tesla.jpg&hash=3660ba5b9afe1c8fcfcbe3fd70e56388d143c40f)
Pretty damned interesting.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on July 14, 2007, 01:44:42 AM
i just finished:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F21E8H3D1JSL._AA240_.jpg&hash=7788df0a868c164f2cf9249ab4b62912896fdc83)

and now i'm struggling through:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41XMK31CJSL._AA240_.jpg&hash=2cd44cd277448057340d9107331b85210fe80fda)


i just read The Road and No Country for Old Men back to back in about a week. I really dig his style (i've read Blood Meridian before) i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for somethings similar to McCarthy's work? any and all suggestions are more than welcome
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Bethie on July 16, 2007, 01:20:40 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcontent.vcommerce.com%2Fproducts%2F264%2F7992264%2Fmain-205.jpg&hash=36cd29c9549336c9c9943b0f863995fbf50fd4ab)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: gob on July 19, 2007, 04:25:08 AM
Just finished:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fantasticfiction.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fn34%2Fn174759.jpg&hash=817d6715d3853cea993016929f20815ccfde28b0)

Really good. Never read any Roth before. Has a great style.

Now reading:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Famericandigest.org%2Fmt-archives%2Fcancer.jpg&hash=6f34ddb023c2ad2249232d63daee78176a1d0542)
Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on July 19, 2007, 02:23:17 PM
Wow, a Philip Roth reference. I'm estastic. I'm going to read Everyman, but I'm waiting for it to become cheap on the used book market. Read his best novels like Sabbath's Theater or American Pastoral and you get a sense of how crazy he is. From what I've heard Everyman is pretty restrained.


I've been on a Saul Bellow kick all summer. I just finished The Adventures of Augie March and am going to get into Humbolt's Gift in the next day or so.


But right now I am reading Christopher Hitchen's God is Not Great. I'm a major fan of him and again he impresses. I've read numerous topical books by political pundits or essayists and each book they write is always underwhelming. They write too casually and don't add enough details to the subject. Hitchens always has more details than enough to cover the subject well.




Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on July 19, 2007, 03:11:34 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kingstone.com.tw%2Fenglish%2Fimages%2FProduct%2F046%2F0465002633.jpg&hash=6035814d014becb45e249132406816d4de8cf86f)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: last days of gerry the elephant on July 22, 2007, 05:48:36 PM
Quote from: gob on July 19, 2007, 04:25:08 AM
Tropic of Cancer

Unmade Beds & your post have inspired me to finally read this one.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on July 31, 2007, 03:42:34 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dessinoriginal.com%2Fboutique_us%2Fimages_produits%2F0714858013_f.jpg&hash=ee923703156fe85ca24a6a66d77cb674906b95e3)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on July 31, 2007, 07:18:22 PM
Quote from: gob on July 19, 2007, 04:25:08 AM
Now reading:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Famericandigest.org%2Fmt-archives%2Fcancer.jpg&hash=6f34ddb023c2ad2249232d63daee78176a1d0542)
Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller

me too!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Poobread on July 31, 2007, 07:31:01 PM
Quote from: squints on July 31, 2007, 07:18:22 PM
Quote from: gob on July 19, 2007, 04:25:08 AM
Now reading:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Famericandigest.org%2Fmt-archives%2Fcancer.jpg&hash=6f34ddb023c2ad2249232d63daee78176a1d0542)
Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller

me too!

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2Fc%2Fce%2FSein_ep304.jpg&hash=e65bf411d0cd49911cd436a36403c8dac02528c6)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on July 31, 2007, 07:40:38 PM
I like how that Seinfeld still is not a DVD capture but a picture of the TV.

I'm currently reading Perfume by Patrick Susskind.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Poobread on July 31, 2007, 07:48:02 PM
Quote from: Ravi on July 31, 2007, 07:40:38 PM
I like how that Seinfeld still is not a DVD capture but a picture of the TV.

I'm currently reading Perfume by Patrick Susskind.

Only the best on wiki.

By the way, I'm reading

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fartfiles.art.com%2Fimages%2F-%2FFear-and-Loathing-in-Las-Vegas-Poster-C10016639.jpeg&hash=bb14481c2ee5109ff71705dd19f78fac516287cc)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: samsong on August 09, 2007, 04:19:44 AM
sentimental education
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Raikus on August 09, 2007, 11:11:14 AM
Just ordered:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kerouac.com%2Fimages%2Fimagesnew%2F60s%2Fha.jpg&hash=fb34814a75ec07a4aad58113772e70e659ab8357)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on August 09, 2007, 06:47:35 PM
I've been reading quite a bit lately, the majority are Photo and Graphic Novels (which I think have their own thread, no?). But, here are two books that I've enjoyed most recently:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0872860175.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=c21ba76f4b5fbd7155fceb1ad79ec255b1641620)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcontent.answers.com%2Fmain%2Fcontent%2Fwp%2Fen%2Fthumb%2F9%2F90%2F250px-Neal_jack.jpg&hash=199c0c86fe57e45f89b63276d450f63395f47e7c)
My friend's letting me borrow this, and I plan on buying the uncensored 50th shortly after its release.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on August 11, 2007, 08:06:28 PM
i didn't like On the Road either. i'm hoping the movie's better.

and a recent wiki expedition led me through Ginsberg to WCW's Paterson, which i'm looking forward to checking out sometime this year.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Bethie on August 12, 2007, 02:54:01 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdeepdiscount-content.vcommerce.com%2Fproducts%2Ffullsize%2F5%2F8142005.jpg&hash=6338a6ecdbc4cb915ede2774a243ac1ec889a1ae)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on August 31, 2007, 10:52:29 AM
Little bit of Marrs, little bit of Sitchin.  They complement each other fairly well.  Sitchin explores the conspiracies laid out trillions of years ago, Marrs explores modern day conspiracies and they both sort of meet up in the middle in a strange fashion.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FG%2F01%2Fciu%2Fac%2Fb4%2F25e1e893e7a02327fea64110.L.jpg&hash=d05a4e5086dbe97bed3af476f9e3cb4d0dd177c7)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wingtv.net%2Fimages%2Frulebysecrecy.jpg&hash=bad5a77b85cb283644759a89b50f6e1e20ea072a)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: mogwai on September 03, 2007, 05:17:44 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimage.bokus.com%2Fimages%2F9789127114562&hash=c7aeffb7b3ea39f7a1ccf829965668f4aea66636)

fredrik strage - fans

this is a very horrifying read about fans stalking famous musicians. one of the most disturbing reads is about a german fan stalking agnetha fältskog from abba. to this day he still stalks her even if he's given various sentences. i don't know if this is available in english but if someone out there knows swedish then i truly recommend reading it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sigur Rós on September 03, 2007, 06:55:42 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41hJBIZu6rL._AA240_.jpg&hash=54bbe86dd695f2636e7368aba81cad81e5b24ae4)

Great, Great, Great! Funny, Funny, Funny!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on September 03, 2007, 11:38:04 PM
Whatcha ya'll readin for?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Kal on September 04, 2007, 12:24:48 AM
Quote from: Stefen on September 03, 2007, 11:38:04 PM
Whatcha ya'll readin for?

To not end up like you :)



I'm currently reading:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bookstore.artofliving.org%2FProductImages%2FWisdomfor.jpg&hash=6a7512ba63b1a6a942bbbbbabfd041e00d5ee5f3)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: maya kash on September 16, 2007, 12:14:55 AM
Just finished "It's Only A Game" and tried to buy "If I Did It" at B n N today but they was sold out.  Sorta like the Goldmans.

My girl is finishing "Trading Up" as I type.

Later we're gonna chow main.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on September 16, 2007, 12:21:59 AM
Quote from: maya kash on September 16, 2007, 12:14:55 AM
My girl is finishing "Trading Up" as I type.

you were sposed to be a girl.

bitch you's playin with my emotions.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Kal on September 16, 2007, 12:28:11 AM
lol

got excited for a minute there pubrick??
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: maya kash on September 16, 2007, 12:34:04 AM
cun't a girl luph a gurl in yo world?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on September 16, 2007, 12:34:53 AM
Quote from: maya kash on September 16, 2007, 12:34:04 AM
cun't a girl luph a gurl in yo world?

in my world, only i am loved.

longtime.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on September 16, 2007, 11:40:03 AM
When does one grow out of the cryptic posting phase?

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0316776963.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif&hash=d077c0033307bac6bacd6d6c01bfdc58e42a7602)

itz ulrite.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Sheriff on September 17, 2007, 03:52:34 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51JW9SW1G9L.jpg&hash=a980672ccee03dcc1ecd696906136dd3d3be71e4)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on September 17, 2007, 04:37:26 AM
This past thursday I got off of work a little late and went to the library to pay my outstanding fee.  I was also really really interested in finding a book called "the big con: the story of the confidence man".  I was reading in a magazine a few days before, in which two screenwriters said that was the definitive source for all things con artist related.  I couldn't find it at any of the book stores.  I went looking for it at the library, the librarian said it came up as "missing."  But, before leaving, she told me there was a 50/50 chance that a book labeled "missing" is floating around the library somewhere.  She gave me a code and I went after it.  I looked for the number a few times on the shelf and on the neighboring shelves, just to see if it was misplaced.  Nothing came up.  There were about 20 metallic carts with all these unshelved books.  I thought if the librarian gave me such a tip tonight, it must serve some kinda purpose.  I began looking through the carts.  First casually, just once-overing them for matching numbers.  Then I realized all of the carts ended with books that were one number off from my number (364.something).  I began combing through the carts.  After which I was on my knees, with my big-ass backpack, scouring the spines for the number.  Two carts from the end I got sandwiched by some dude who was trying to get by who didn't see me.  Then a leg tripped on my leg.  Then I found the book.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.madprofessor.net%2Fimages%2Fbigcon.jpg&hash=359add8d84fcbc5bd46270e7a055cc8a4ec89327)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on September 17, 2007, 06:08:10 AM
...and the con is that it's crap.

sucker!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on September 17, 2007, 07:46:15 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcarlos.emory.edu%2FBOOKSHOP%2FIMAGES-CRADLE%2FGnosticGospels-link.jpg&hash=fc9ac6f2fe18a6eae64294680c31d750f711ae36)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Kal on September 17, 2007, 08:02:23 PM
I recommend this book to everyone here with a soul (not Stefen)...

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.simonsays.com%2Fassets%2Fisbn%2F0743540697%2FC_0743540697.jpg&hash=81a62a86fd46caf2393e615f28d51bf0cedd0810)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: mogwai on September 25, 2007, 09:50:41 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51kggV47HsL._SS500_.jpg&hash=4a5e1241b3445d923a9b3e09705cb4a5d29bc049)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Heinsbergen on September 25, 2007, 02:05:29 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0345417941.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=0becae7339eb92bc1e50b534cfb351890ff1692b)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: children with angels on September 26, 2007, 07:08:03 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0679723161.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=174e30d10e9768cd62c36e11439d5d5e52e6234c)

Been meaning to read this forever and finally am - really pretty amazing. I love it when an iconic work actually lives up to its reputation.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on September 26, 2007, 10:14:58 AM
that book has some great covers.

that is not one of them.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: children with angels on September 27, 2007, 06:40:05 AM
They were clearly trying to downplay the sexy 12-year-old angle this time - and, honestly, what other angle is there...?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: w/o horse on October 05, 2007, 11:21:29 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F413RHBVFS2L._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow%2CTopRight%2C45%2C-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg&hash=c2585a891b938cb6c8331b29fb91d4725acb65f9)

Donald Barthelme - Forty Stories

I ditched the social scene on a Friday night to be alone with this one.  And to post here apparently.  And by social scene I mean we were going to go see Lust, Caution.  But man don't let that distract you from my praises for this book, which consists of short stories.  Bring this one into the toilet room.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: godardian on October 05, 2007, 11:38:40 PM
Quote from: children with angels on September 27, 2007, 06:40:05 AM
They were clearly trying to downplay the sexy 12-year-old angle this time - and, honestly, what other angle is there...?

In my first (ever) comparative literature class at University of Washington this summer, we read Lolita as part of a course with an "immigrant (to America) literature" theme. We read it with an eye to Humbert's foreignness to this nation (or perhaps its foreignness to him), and how "European" he is compared/contrasted with how "American" Lolita is. We talked about Nabokov's afterword and how he denies being anti-American, and to what extent we could believe that. (Methinks that if you have to write an afterword pointing out that your novel isn't anti-American, there's something to it.) It might sound like a stretch, but it was a really interesting class, and it was my chance to re-read a fine (and surprisingly FUNNY!) novel. But my next class was even more awesome--"Literary Modernism" with Baudelaire, Rilke, and Eliot for poetry, and Kafka's Metamorphosis, Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, and André Gide's Les Faux monnayeurs (The Counterfeiters) for narrative fiction. Woolf's novel is fantastic, nothing even close to daintiness or lady's-letters stuff I was expecting; instead, purposely difficult, near-nihilistic modernism.

Currently reading for my current class:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.babelguides.com%2Fimg%2Fcovers%2F067972186X_l.jpg&hash=2f100506773c7cb4c0b933470b8e7858d15717cf)

...and in my French class?

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F31DBXR0CVFL._SS500_.jpg&hash=328e0c32e50114721f443182ceba1aedfe229d4c)

...bien sûr!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on October 10, 2007, 04:23:30 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2Fc%2Fc5%2FI_Am_America_%2528And_So_Can_You%2521%2529.jpg&hash=29a79b382b242e183249d74c41499043a7206af9)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on October 19, 2007, 12:01:55 PM
just finished this...
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.erowid.org%2Flibrary%2Fbooks%2Fimages%2Ffood_of_the_gods.jpg&hash=7b7291e002454dedcfe7f23c9babd7d550dafb72)

and although I'm not fully recovered i just started...
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.seekerbooks.com%2Fimage%2Fskub%2F9780452009448b.jpg&hash=fc212e6ba55dc74ac22c2703cb2ec52fb0b26ecf)

buckle up.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on October 31, 2007, 01:41:39 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fg-ec2.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41CjJj-2L8L.jpg&hash=11e6bf6fda0f5c349cb76fcabae0ce8cd046d909)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleepless on October 31, 2007, 07:44:06 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F12430000%2F12436598.jpg&hash=43305e117367206600cbe6f658a300d0484c5dcc)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on November 12, 2007, 11:22:21 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F515TVZVM8VL._SS500_.jpg&hash=1973673d71b15dd88028b5674bcf7a7e594eba2d)

really interesting though sometimes he gets wacky and says these wacky things, not herzog wacky, just normal wacky.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on November 12, 2007, 08:45:32 PM
i'm getting bored and exhausted of my french litterature class, so I've decided to do some pleasure reading.

i've just begun Robert Graves' I, Claudius, which i found even the introduction to be enjoyable reading.

i've also started to collect those 'Conversational [language] in Seven Days!', beginning with Russian. Now there's some light reading.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on November 12, 2007, 10:53:17 PM
College Time:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41P22VQNMPL._SS500_.jpg&hash=9662c01106d732f83cb5cfc0207b5a09f09eb474)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstaging.thinkforyourself.org%2Frepository%2FimgLib%2F20060922_aWC_Books_GlobalizationAndItsDiscontents.jpg&hash=6d4cf119b6927d55f0f0d0ef1245e7ab9decf146)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on November 15, 2007, 08:08:11 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geocities.com%2Fdrunkenacid%2Fother%2Fbook02.jpg&hash=332ca047152de2a8a89249999c93e140301e7847)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F4102K46WXWL._SS500_.jpg&hash=d184a3c2062c6218b6006b1014c5efaf7b2e2271)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on November 18, 2007, 09:49:57 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-eu.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F2070419576.08.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=97269c70402e956ba56809935277a6bd75261a78)


and i found out recently that Air made an album called city reading, with this guy reading passages of the book while they play music.

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: mogwai on November 18, 2007, 11:24:35 AM
Quote from: Chest Rockwell on November 15, 2007, 08:08:11 PM"the fright of real tears"

how is it?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: last days of gerry the elephant on November 18, 2007, 12:28:54 PM
Quote from: cronopio on November 18, 2007, 09:49:57 AM
and i found out recently that Air made an album called city reading, with this guy reading passages of the book while they play music.

Yeah, if only the readings weren't in Italian.

Some pretty cool Air music on that album though, a few decent ones.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on November 20, 2007, 10:45:30 AM
Quote from: mogwai on November 18, 2007, 11:24:35 AM
Quote from: Chest Rockwell on November 15, 2007, 08:08:11 PM"the fright of real tears"

how is it?
Loving it so far. There's actually a section about the suture shot that has some ideas remarkably similar to a paper I wrote  :shock:. He still has yet to really mention Kieslowski. I love reading his criticisms. I've been going through it pretty slowly, but I'll post more when I finish if you'd like.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on December 03, 2007, 12:28:02 AM
She's winning me over in her interviews for Juno, so...

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F13910000%2F13914940.JPG&hash=cc686e250e7a87fd3ac65960d7a58b86ad4a6dfc)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on December 03, 2007, 12:36:45 AM
^ i still remember her letterman appearance promoting that book. dave is so easily impressed, the stuff she was saying was not even shocking. she's a cool nerd, tho. cool in that she has nice legs, is funny, and chose to not take the easy way out and become a gimp in a dungeon/farm somewhere as part of some perveted sex game where she has to also milk cows (http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=4153.msg211141#msg211141).

at least not for the rest of her life.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on December 03, 2007, 08:12:27 AM
Yeah, there's an interesting piece about her in the NY Times from Sunday.

I've started my long and arduous journey...I'm reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on December 03, 2007, 08:23:01 AM
Quote from: Gamblour. on December 03, 2007, 08:12:27 AM
I've started my long and arduous journey...I'm reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone.

why?

are you trying to bang a 14 year old Julie Taymor fan?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on December 03, 2007, 01:45:04 PM
This is for my own ill-read pleasure, trying to jump start my reading.

If I wanted to do that, I'd blow her mind with Donnie Darko or Memento, or something.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on December 03, 2007, 08:23:44 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F71SEJHM7DFL._SS500_.gif&hash=5cf48e251c6276a5eaf22f63ff3e2a357ea0dc2f)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: last days of gerry the elephant on December 07, 2007, 12:56:55 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ndpublishing.com%2FIMAGES%2Fimages%2FSartreNausea_s.jpg&hash=e15a806094f6a182d5cee2250bfe583bb5d06f9f)

I hope to finish it in a couple of weeks.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on December 18, 2007, 12:52:00 PM
Uhhh, I bought this at Goodwill for a dollar.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1055.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1055%2F1401%2F5h%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F7210000%2F7213727.jpg&hash=db2f80cd4b4308652727b11f760c8a0cb1056a10)

Any thoughts?
I'm only 50pages in and, while I am enjoying it so far, I'm beginning to feel that much of the writing is a bit extravagant, like an author too in love with his words. :ponder:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on December 18, 2007, 07:02:16 PM
Well, you paid the right price for it.  It's not a bad book, just terribly over-praised.  I spent the whole book thinking about how much better Vonnegut would have written it, had he written it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on December 19, 2007, 12:30:32 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F616PEYKBD9L._SS500_.jpg&hash=1e8b36ee00745a72f68df85527dadfca398a1783)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: A Matter Of Chance on December 22, 2007, 04:52:43 PM
For School:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51vfln5nxsL.jpg&hash=653c5f0c165ed8c725901b845daba794174d2ab0)(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2Fthumb%2F9%2F9f%2FInvisible_Man.jpg%2F200px-Invisible_Man.jpg&hash=6bc4f82214debf54e7564b1b1612c4a04ddc9116)

For Me:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.metmuseum.org%2Fstore%2Fimages%2FZ.bk.M8082.L.jpg&hash=474f230e865a2c0cd5ebb92467119b6f00a5686b)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: samsong on December 23, 2007, 10:13:26 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51RZSSKCTBL._SS500_.jpg&hash=24b5c45762d8a59c6f3317ae790db7f83f9f1707)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cinemanarchist on December 29, 2007, 12:42:48 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F510E6KH7CXL.jpg&hash=7eb938e4c8da20c7a5b6bd5edff58d60a359dba2)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on December 29, 2007, 12:52:30 PM
I got this for Christmas:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41A7RTJSA0L._SS500_.jpg&hash=c7d300237d7620aa5f77f666fbbb1b0a6fb4c650)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on January 08, 2008, 12:35:19 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dynamicforces.com%2Fimages%2FAbsBatmanLongHalloweenHC.jpg&hash=16dd39ba2352c1236696f252d31bba2453846620)
Sold some old shitty books over the weekend and picked this up.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on January 13, 2008, 12:39:08 AM
I read two or three books at a time so it takes me forever to get through any one book.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51WAZG7FKDL._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow%2CTopRight%2C45%2C-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg&hash=56377c94adf8721f1861456d8910cecf52e307f9)

(White Mughals by William Dalrymple)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41NRAQF4GZL._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow%2CTopRight%2C45%2C-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg&hash=b363dcbe46417cac4690477497e8f85eba81802f)

Next:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41U9%252Bvy3OTL._AA240_.jpg&hash=60b741b727072497478826ad904d7d25ac21c5c3)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: grand theft sparrow on January 14, 2008, 10:34:00 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmostlyfiction.com%2Fimages%2Fcover_L-O%2Fq_lb.jpg&hash=1bb28d9e01c4b681017a370f40510a4afb128989)

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: last days of gerry the elephant on January 14, 2008, 11:55:23 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.contentreserve.com%2FImageType-100%2F0887-1%2F%257BDB93BF5E-4B05-4F75-AADB-0C5F385F7B47%257DImg100.jpg&hash=4fd7862fd38b3169b4da8ed85f3f6f2e71aab544)

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on January 14, 2008, 06:43:54 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fantasticfiction.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fx1%2Fx6795.jpg&hash=896964c37d5985b26d421add71a8609a03a33fac)
Had to happen eventually, I suppose.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on January 15, 2008, 08:52:41 AM
Yeah, but that's not a bad thing. It's a good read, informative and easy to follow.

It helps if your write down every artist she makes reference to that you haven't heard of. It's a good way of opening yourself up to more and other artists.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on January 20, 2008, 08:22:10 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.harperacademic.com%2Fcoverimages%2Flarge%2F0060580615.jpg&hash=628cffa09098df2b0ca936283df66ea26e897bda)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleepless on January 26, 2008, 01:04:32 PM
Re-reading
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51PHS5226KL._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow%2CTopRight%2C45%2C-64_OU02_AA240_SH20_.jpg&hash=e3720fd56e1bf77a81a0180524b64fd2eda5186c)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on February 01, 2008, 03:44:26 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg402.imageshack.us%2Fimg402%2F5010%2Fcreatemgaecs3qs2.jpg&hash=928d46f6d1d360452b172bcabb4f2218e00da395)

Excellent book on teaching yourself After Effects.  I'm going to do a chapter a day.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on February 10, 2008, 06:17:26 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdeepdiscount-content.vcommerce.com%2Fproducts%2F971%2F7656971%2Fmain-205.jpg&hash=58ef273ef0b469ec72cdf1e9efb8646102750f29)

I'm imagining it with a big-budget, no dialogue, and brad pitt.

-got it on amazon for $0.02
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cinemanarchist on February 10, 2008, 08:27:23 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F518BGCS0KWL._SS500_.jpg&hash=b48cf496fed5a0a633252a93461f0ff34c17949f)

McSweeney's #13
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on February 18, 2008, 01:10:34 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fantasticfiction.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fn28%2Fn140809.jpg&hash=306503cb04718ae6d659734e8016813741ec7425)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on March 03, 2008, 12:06:37 PM
Spring Break's here and I want to read a real book again.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0142000655.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=3f4c2e0efab0912b285a2e6526633e0576855fb1)

This is fresh air.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: modage on March 10, 2008, 03:10:35 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsarama.com%2FImageComics%2FScud%2FScod01.jpg&hash=1f32f07d6dbfeb52ed387de9600c5882ea61f1e2)

after TEN years.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on March 10, 2008, 09:18:12 PM
Fine choice, Mod.

I need to go grab a copy, myself.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: gob on March 22, 2008, 06:31:54 AM
Just finished:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41CAPCX8P5L.jpg&hash=8f882c1a290638cb99a4eac1ec916ade7b46f65c)

Starting:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.harpercollins.com%2Fharperimages%2Fisbn%2Flarge%2F7%2F9780007149827.jpg&hash=8b6a9e9bca867148e033ad7ddd40a6db32a932a5)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pwaybloe on May 01, 2008, 10:04:45 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51TE65S0KZL._SS500_.jpg&hash=dd86c254ea27043f21f4a0d489ce97debe7befd7)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on May 01, 2008, 03:59:31 PM
Quote from: squints on February 10, 2008, 06:17:26 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdeepdiscount-content.vcommerce.com%2Fproducts%2F971%2F7656971%2Fmain-205.jpg&hash=58ef273ef0b469ec72cdf1e9efb8646102750f29)

I'm imagining it with a big-budget, no dialogue, and brad pitt.

-got it on amazon for $0.02

i finished this a bit ago and if anyone was thinking about reading it...do it! The ending is spectacular. I don't know if it would've made a great movie but its an awesome story.

So now we're on to this:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51cCYB7xPrL._SL500_BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow%2CTopRight%2C45%2C-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg&hash=13a8cf66311bc416697d94382da83de14ff4bde4)
Generation Kill.


This one is hard to put down.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on May 20, 2008, 02:07:52 PM
Mmmmmm... New Chuck Palahniuk.


(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41DqigbsG0L._SS500_.jpg&hash=0f9a84df09a0fc8fe64592578114ed28590092fb)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on May 21, 2008, 03:07:59 PM
Just finished these:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ericberne.com%2Fimages%2F7733468.jpg&hash=196b6c4cf2202122b3906336510b53792622a07d)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sensesofcinema.com%2Fimages%2F07%2F43%2Fdeath-of-cinema.jpg&hash=dd9bca5803a8b23b1b0063e0d5253fb4767cb20a)

The first was interesting and informative, and is recommended to any of those of you who are even remotely intrigued by sociology or the analysis of relationships.
It includes a brief article written by Vonnegut.
The second is mostly a theoretical treatise on film preservation; the title's a bit misleading. It could be (and was) read in 30 minutes. Scorcese wrote the preface. Interesting at points, confusing at others. This, in my opinion, is passable. I don't recall him actually coming to any sort of conclusion, except to say that if we truly wanted to preserve film, we just shouldn't show it.

And since I never know when I'll have xixax access, I'll go ahead and put what's on the menu:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sagepub.com%2Fupm-data%2F3093_Duck_B%26amp%3BW.jpg&hash=94a02f9a9adc553e795d2e93f90a02599805ceed)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F13740000%2F13745273.JPG&hash=5ea61152e6d71df57e8e9dd0ad5226ebee5188e8)

Bertolt Brecht, Cahiers du Cinéma, and Contemporary Film Theory by George Lellis

And finally:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F068482499X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=d007ef8707a8856348f680b486d81146dc8a04c8)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Raikus on May 22, 2008, 10:45:40 AM
Quote from: gob on March 22, 2008, 06:31:54 AM
Starting:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.harpercollins.com%2Fharperimages%2Fisbn%2Flarge%2F7%2F9780007149827.jpg&hash=8b6a9e9bca867148e033ad7ddd40a6db32a932a5)
Gob, how did Yiddish Policeman's Union stand up against Kavalier and Clay? I just finished Kavalier & Clay and want to read more Chabon, but I don't know if I want to follow it up with another heavy story or move on to Gentlemen of the Road. Any advice?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on May 22, 2008, 11:10:01 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51PDSATZWZL.jpg&hash=fe0dca7f3c89f6882877e30aa081b62c4ddc2c7b)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: samsong on May 22, 2008, 02:50:37 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.johncoulthart.com%2Ffeuilleton%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2007%2F10%2Flabyrinths1.jpg&hash=e46db1a091abc6f4d1aea01a9e0980be26f8f4f0)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: children with angels on May 22, 2008, 05:52:58 PM
^ A friend of mine is convinced that this book is the key to understanding INLAND EMPIRE. With the non-linear view of time as something that can diverge and re-merge in different paths, it kind of makes sense.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on May 22, 2008, 08:41:36 PM
garden of forking paths is one of my favorite stories.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: samsong on May 22, 2008, 09:24:14 PM
Quote from: JG on May 22, 2008, 08:41:36 PM
garden of forking paths is one of my favorite stories.

word.  i read it before buying the book and it blew me away.  "the circular ruins" is amazing as well.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on May 29, 2008, 12:59:02 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.impulsecreations.net%2Fcatalog%2Fimages%2F2503602494.jpg&hash=751ca7597367bd406767c2d304b695575bfc7efc)

Can't wait for June so I can snag the paperback of all the OOP back issues...  Mmm...
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on May 29, 2008, 04:43:08 PM
Scud! My brother and I used to love that.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F61aY1vg5ogL._SS500_.jpg&hash=4079d827f719c1e0d237490aac9ee7a5e87861de)

The pop-ups are fucking amazing.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on May 31, 2008, 10:56:17 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0679729976.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=35c9e4c543c1bb8107a46a9f61e3ffff999a6e7a)

can anyone recommend specific stories?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on May 31, 2008, 07:38:42 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin on May 20, 2008, 02:07:52 PM
Mmmmmm... New Chuck Palahniuk.


(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41DqigbsG0L._SS500_.jpg&hash=0f9a84df09a0fc8fe64592578114ed28590092fb)

I was driving from Texas to LA yesterday and listened to the audio recording of this, thinking it would keep me up and at least be light and entertaining. But blechh - Phalnaiuk just ain't my thing. His writing is so gosh darn obvious.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on June 10, 2008, 11:41:50 PM
I'm rereading Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco.

It was the first significant novel I ever read. Did so when I was 16. I always resisted reading but got into it because Foucault's Pendulum was once going to be adapted by Stanley Kubrick. Eco and Kubrick met to discuss doing the movie but Kubrick backed away from the project once Eco insisted on total control of the screenplay. I was such a Kubrick geek that I read every novel he tried to adapt but never did. Foucault's Pendulum was my first of these readings and also my favorite.

I recommend the novel to anyone who liked that The Da Vinci Code included the Knights Templars and discussion of the occult but were salivating for something more than very basic ideas. Foucault's Pendulum is very thorough and very wild.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on June 11, 2008, 04:02:39 AM
Quote from: JG on May 31, 2008, 10:56:17 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0679729976.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=35c9e4c543c1bb8107a46a9f61e3ffff999a6e7a)

can anyone recommend specific stories?

it is my favorite book

"christmas" and "sounds" are two of my favorites of all time.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: GodDamnImDaMan on June 20, 2008, 03:53:14 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cynical-c.com%2Farchives%2Fbloggraphics%2Fpoop01-vi.jpg&hash=50d19caf67f559e7f991732d4fbd4a1fec26b7e6)
My favorite book, ever.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on July 18, 2008, 08:25:02 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.themorningnews.org%2Ftob%2F2007%2Fimages%2Fcover-TheRoad-blaze.jpg&hash=a57480656d624739fc980914b3251a1cbee15472)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cron on July 18, 2008, 11:33:50 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51N0TZPZ54L._SL500_.jpg&hash=74ba1e4497335c5bd3ce31bca79cd43a4fff6f8e)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: 72teeth on July 19, 2008, 05:49:53 AM
Quote from: GodDamnImDaMan on June 20, 2008, 03:53:14 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cynical-c.com%2Farchives%2Fbloggraphics%2Fpoop01-vi.jpg&hash=50d19caf67f559e7f991732d4fbd4a1fec26b7e6)
My favorite book, ever.

apples poop!?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on July 19, 2008, 08:14:36 AM
Quote from: 72teeth on July 19, 2008, 05:49:53 AMapples poop!?

And in stereo.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on July 19, 2008, 12:50:55 PM
THE BLACK DAHLIA
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on July 19, 2008, 01:03:40 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bookstellyouwhy.info%2Fstore_pix%2Fproducts%2F13824.jpg&hash=edce768fb6b810dbbec8a2c28b7db761c5664bb7)

not half as good as I'd expected - I thought he was gonna do some crazy chomsky-esque readings into the use of language, but instead he just had these very ordinary opinions in very short essays.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cinemanarchist on July 19, 2008, 03:03:45 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51j%252B1UpAYFL._SL500_AA240_.jpg&hash=99da875ef9675a540020f8c0469c5259a47c7a36)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on July 20, 2008, 11:18:11 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F14390000%2F14399871.JPG&hash=5febb20cbdf71a1d05df9f540d9f745bb034ecc5)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Just Withnail on July 20, 2008, 01:16:20 PM
Oh yes oh yes. I've just started In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower. Swann's Way might be my favorite read ever.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on July 20, 2008, 01:59:55 PM
I'm not very far into it just yet, but it's really quit beautiful. I was surprised at how easy it is to follow, too. It's certainly something I've recommended to others, but it seems that whenever I mention Proust, the first thing that comes to their minds is Little Miss Sunshine....... I don't exactly know how I feel about that or those people.

Also, there's this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8rhIw_9ucA
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ghostboy on July 20, 2008, 02:23:01 PM
I'm reading Swann's Way right now, too. Really really beautiful.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on August 01, 2008, 08:38:31 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fantasticfiction.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fn25%2Fn126290.jpg&hash=fa290712f4aaaec5751b97f1b6b2e9f9a8c4677e)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: GodDamnImDaMan on August 01, 2008, 12:38:54 PM
Quote from: 72teeth on July 19, 2008, 05:49:53 AM
Quote from: GodDamnImDaMan on June 20, 2008, 03:53:14 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cynical-c.com%2Farchives%2Fbloggraphics%2Fpoop01-vi.jpg&hash=50d19caf67f559e7f991732d4fbd4a1fec26b7e6)
My favorite book, ever.

apples poop!?

You have to read the book to find out, ass. I'm not going to give you my opinions and beliefs, just so you can go blurt it in some book club and have everyone believe they came from your head! 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleepless on August 02, 2008, 10:54:57 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F513A36C1GYL._SL500_BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIlitb-dp-500-arrow%2CTopRight%2C45%2C-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg&hash=bd2822449d6c5e600e712762955ea29ad14993a6)(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51G6mcrwvuL._SL500_BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow%2CTopRight%2C45%2C-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg&hash=8f0b3a127917ded98b5a655c9f2987e6d19a0354)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on August 04, 2008, 07:58:02 PM
Quote from: Sleepless on August 02, 2008, 10:54:57 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F513A36C1GYL._SL500_BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIlitb-dp-500-arrow%2CTopRight%2C45%2C-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg&hash=bd2822449d6c5e600e712762955ea29ad14993a6)(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51G6mcrwvuL._SL500_BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow%2CTopRight%2C45%2C-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg&hash=8f0b3a127917ded98b5a655c9f2987e6d19a0354)

Just read this earlier this summer. While it was enjoyable I think Night by Elie Wiesel was a better holocaust memoir. All the parts with the guy arguing with his whiny father just got too old. Worth reading though..i guess. As far as graphic novels are concerned I'm trying to get through as much of Y: The Last Man before Lebouf ruins it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on August 17, 2008, 03:38:24 PM
Just finished reading the entire Harry Potter series. At a loss for what to do now. I've been watching the movies after I read the corresponding books. It's an interesting exercise in seeing how books get adapted, but mostly just a huge disappointment. As far as the films go, Azkaban has been by far the best, but I know everyone has their own unique view of each film. All of the other films are either cram too much (4, 5) or are way too long (1, 2). I'm kinda glad that 6 and 7 are being paced out to three films. Seems like they finally realized it's a jumble if rushed.

I think for the books, my favorites go 6, 7, 3, 1, 2, 4, 5.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleepless on August 20, 2008, 08:42:39 AM
Highly recommend to other writers:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.writersstore.com%2Fimages%2Fbooks%2F2783.jpg&hash=befe41367742edfcc41130335e070add953e3a9f)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on August 27, 2008, 06:45:48 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fg-ecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FG%2F01%2Fciu%2F66%2Fbf%2F7ab3b220dca0006793e81010._AA240_.L.jpg&hash=565c2e0481a27be414e92fabb7ab72f803212e69)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on September 02, 2008, 05:09:58 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51gmvyMAbGL._SS500_.jpg&hash=9ab79f6c48b667a5956ce6c0f2e683e1f9dcd8f2)

:drool:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on September 02, 2008, 09:36:54 PM
La Nausée by Jean-Paul Sartre
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sunrise on September 04, 2008, 08:35:04 PM
Just finished:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comicbookgalaxy.com%2Fblog%2Fuploaded_images%2Fmeoflittlefaith-758860.jpg&hash=a29930e4e7c1bd83b3a4e6e54623c5c7fb1fff7a)

Just started:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbfgb.files.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F05%2Fvonnegut.jpg&hash=c802e7667a53fdada643d2181c39790366be7ca4)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleepless on September 04, 2008, 08:44:24 PM
The Road.

Was struggling to get into it for the longest time, but read about 40 straight pages last night :)

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: gob on September 05, 2008, 03:31:29 AM
Quote from: Sleepless on September 04, 2008, 08:44:24 PM
The Road.

Was struggling to get into it for the longest time, but read about 40 straight pages last night :)



Me too. Just finished it yesterday. It's pretty astounding.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Bram on October 25, 2008, 05:10:06 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.douban.net%2Flpic%2Fs294.jpg&hash=e3ffb080d85215b79f6601e3926bcecd837ecdf6)

My first Murakami in English.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on October 25, 2008, 05:07:51 PM
What a wonderful book!

It's the only Murakami I've read so far, though I'm looking forward to reading his others (more specifically: Norwegian Wood and A Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World). I read it years ago, but some of the imagery remains as strong and compelling as the day I read it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Bram on October 26, 2008, 10:54:05 AM
I've read both Norwegian Wood and Hard-Boiled, which are brilliant, in their own strange way. Norwegian Wood emotionally tops Hard-Boiled in every way, but the last one is so hard to describe and understand that it's really worth the trip. And just when the final act comes in and the book makes you understand a bit more of what is going on, you'll feel more thrilled than the rest of the read. The thing is that it's the two-story-technique that makes it this wonderful, Norwegian Wood just blows you away with every sentence.

At least, that's how I've experienced it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on November 05, 2008, 10:05:42 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg171.imageshack.us%2Fimg171%2F240%2F14541969ij3.th.jpg&hash=e93e39b61e8bedf093b3cab26faff884de1175c0) (http://img171.imageshack.us/my.php?image=14541969ij3.jpg)(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg171.imageshack.us%2Fimages%2Fthpix.gif&hash=43c97d14c438b13250660d7aad530941124c8271) (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)

I'm reading this beautiful book.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Slick Shoes on November 05, 2008, 10:19:14 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg204.imageshack.us%2Fimg204%2F9029%2Fwelostthewarbigdk7.th.jpg&hash=68ba59b2841d4be1ab7ab5cdeb56d155030d68a8) (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=welostthewarbigdk7.jpg)(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg204.imageshack.us%2Fimages%2Fthpix.gif&hash=ae469cca1ebd1f29b46fb0ac620e5e79897125df) (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)


Also this. I bought and got it signed for my friend for his birthday, which is still several weeks away.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on November 07, 2008, 08:42:55 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51C0H7PG5AL._SS500_.jpg&hash=f6da24a8a671949f3de74e57f19ea7a727f2d654)
And also, a collection of all of Carl Barks' Donal Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics (http://disneycomics.free.fr/Ducks/Barks/index_stories_barks_date.html).
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on November 07, 2008, 08:23:53 PM
Just finished Truffaut's The Films in My Life, and just begun:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.frieze.com%2Fimages%2Fback%2Fp1924_filmosophy.jpg&hash=d9600189c3df5732763633179f6e282c11df5cc4)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on November 08, 2008, 12:15:41 AM
what's filmosophy about, falcon?

aw man. i'm in miami for the weekend but i'm leaving sunday and won't get a chance to hit up the miami book fair, which is full of so many AMAZING authors this year... art spiegelman, gore vidal, scott mccloud, cornel west, brian greene and zillions of others. :doh:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on November 08, 2008, 07:56:48 PM
Well, simply put, filmosophy proposes that cinema is made up of two-parts: the filmind and film-thinking. That cinema, and the film itself, has it's own intelligence, as a "film-being," and the film form is the film as it's thinking of the characters, objects, etc. It suggests that approaching a film with philosophy isn't the best way, but instead to experience film philosophically. In essence, Film is its own philosophy and way of thinking.

It sounds a bit out there, but really it's just suggesting that this may be an easier (better) way of experiencing and (more importantly) understanding a film instead of breaking it down in technical terms and completely ignoring the cinematics of the film while focusing only on the plot.

Does that make sense? I can't really go much further into it, since I just started and haven't gotten much past the introduction (where the above was explained).
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: matt35mm on November 08, 2008, 08:46:21 PM
(shrug)  Kinda sounds like what I already do, so it doesn't seem very radical based on that bit.  But I'd like to read it.

Other philosophers have already done some work on how cinema is a new and unique way to understand the world around us (i.e. do philosophy) and is thus important to "serious" formal philosophy.  Stanley Cavell is good to read on this, and Terrence Malick studied with Cavell, which I assume has had something to do with shaping Malick's approach to filmmaking and the structure of his films...?

At least this is the way that I've decided to blend film and my philosophy studies, rather than the relatively boring film-as-illustration-of-moral-dilemmas.  If you find Filmosophy interesting, I'd recommend reading some Cavell and maybe trying to find some texts on philosophy and theatre.  Thinking about the differences between theatre and film has been a very helpful way (for me anyway) of figuring out what cinema is and is not.

Anyway I'm still reading We Need To Talk About Kevin, which I started like 4 months ago.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on November 10, 2008, 01:12:54 AM
Quote from: The Perineum Falcon on November 08, 2008, 07:56:48 PM
In essence, Film is its own philosophy and way of thinking.
Hmm.... I'm not sure I buy this part, but let us know more about the theory when you finish the book. I guess I should know what exactly he means by "philosophy". I do agree that film should be looked at on its own terms as opposed to literary terms (plot) as you mention; most writers since the Cahiers guys have looked at film like this, though.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on November 13, 2008, 03:35:35 PM
Certainly, there's a history to this kind of thought and approach to cinema, and Frampton isn't trying to hide that. I'm still in Part 1, so I haven't gotten to his particular theories just yet, but he's already mentioned Cavell and Deleuze quite a bit, along with plenty of others. He's going over their theories and the history and at points mentions that, perhaps, this kind of thinking hasn't gone far enough yet.

So, Part 1 is more of a history lesson, giving some kind of context for Part 2, which is the "manifesto" of Filmosophy (I'd avoid using that word if weren't on the cover).

As I said, it's still too early to tell if this will all add up to much in the end, but so far I'm enjoying it (and have planned on picking up philosophies of the past).

I'll let you guys know how it turns out.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on November 13, 2008, 03:59:22 PM
Well, now you're just showing off.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on November 13, 2008, 07:06:59 PM
If I were showing off, Stephen, I'd flip my hair.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on November 13, 2008, 08:17:34 PM
touche.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on November 15, 2008, 11:30:56 PM
I'm not exactly a Bruce Campbell fanatic, but my theater is getting My Name Is Bruce, so we're carrying his books.  I picked one up and it's a lot funnier than I had imagined it would be.  Maybe I should've started with If Chins Could Kill, but whatever.  I'll get that one soon, I imagine.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.deadites.net%2Fbooks%2Fmake_love.jpg&hash=9266034208dc9b78b437b6253305805b9e0bc62d)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on November 16, 2008, 12:27:30 AM
Quote from: Walrus on November 15, 2008, 11:30:56 PMMaybe I should've started with If Chins Could Kill, but whatever.  I'll get that one soon, I imagine.

Chins is the better, funnier of the two.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on November 16, 2008, 01:24:24 AM
Then I'm actually glad that I'm reading this one first.  That way I can't be let down.  At least not as far as my future self is concerned.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on November 18, 2008, 08:29:36 PM
Quote from: Walrus on November 16, 2008, 01:24:24 AM
Then I'm actually glad that I'm reading this one first.  That way I can't be let down.  At least not as far as my future self is concerned.

i dunno man, what if you peak at 5,000?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on November 18, 2008, 08:54:58 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebnet.org%2Fsummerreading%2Fimages%2Fhigh_fidelity_1.jpg&hash=a5c9f79d62c5cbf38ba37c0fa73be79870b1ddda)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: puddnanners on November 20, 2008, 02:58:04 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51v91ZKZdHL._SL500_AA240_.jpg&hash=5d058b27890bda24656038f3b52a34987ecd9ac8)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm1.static.flickr.com%2F137%2F349581547_226a558637.jpg%3Fv%3D0&hash=90c955f935396382b5ccaa33b88a1161358bbea1)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Tictacbk on November 20, 2008, 03:23:03 PM

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages2.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fbttf%2Fimages%2Fthumb%2F1%2F13%2FAlmanacfront.jpg%2F300px-Almanacfront.jpg&hash=4ab3dff2c75c7897477d9e683f4a460581ef6d56)

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on November 20, 2008, 05:20:57 PM
^^ Planning a trip to 2015 in your DeLorean?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Tictacbk on November 20, 2008, 05:48:05 PM
turned out I had the wrong book the whole time...

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages1.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fbttf%2Fimages%2Fthumb%2F5%2F52%2FOh_lala.jpg%2F180px-Oh_lala.jpg&hash=3e5780cfcc4fa9895e12bdb4e6511cbb526f64b3)


Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cinemanarchist on November 20, 2008, 07:32:26 PM
50% off everything over at www.mcsweeneys.net  (http://www.mcsweeneys.net) Just picked up issues 23-28! Currently reading Maps & Legends by Mr. Chabon. 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: I Love a Magician on December 19, 2008, 01:29:14 PM
Quote from: puddnanners on November 20, 2008, 02:58:04 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51v91ZKZdHL._SL500_AA240_.jpg&hash=5d058b27890bda24656038f3b52a34987ecd9ac8)

book is the bomb. i love freedarko.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleepless on December 20, 2008, 08:16:00 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41KDQM4TVHL._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click%2CTopRight%2C35%2C-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg&hash=978f268546ea25fa06037b79d6eead829fbbc37d)(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41QqK3YHKnL._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click%2CTopRight%2C35%2C-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg&hash=21f3681a1986f7471f9178610fea495a2b1215c6)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on February 05, 2009, 11:31:52 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41q9D%252BDhngL.jpg&hash=2191efff1503b5785cc8fbd09e133db73d7e4d17)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on February 05, 2009, 12:49:21 PM
Audacity of Hope - it's good, he's a compelling writer, but it's really just kind of a idealistic approach to things, both a manifesto and a daydream. I think the current debacle with Daschle and company is sort of shattering the idealism he highlights here. Granted, it's a completely valid, inspiring point of view. But when no Republicans in the House vote for the stimulus package, what we have in common vs. what makes us different is a bit hard to swallow.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: private witt on February 12, 2009, 07:07:47 PM
Senate Republicans will do everything they can to hobble the stimulus package in order to say, "See, we told you it wouldn't work."  This is how they operate.  They run on a platform of, "Government doesn't work."  Then they get elected and prove it.

I just finished this, probably the weakest Abbey book I've read to date:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg19.imageshack.us%2Fimg19%2F7572%2Fblacksunnm8.jpg&hash=3fea4af4e2e6db707bd7c518dfef8f34cdd181f4) (http://imageshack.us)

It left me feeling empty at the end, I didn't care about any of the characters.  Many of his books leave you feeling the same at the end as you did at the beginning, but they're wholly entertaining and funny along the way.  Depressing stories can make great drama, but there's not much of either here.  If anybody's new to Abbey, start with 'Desert Solitaire' or 'The Monkey Wrench Gang'.  Both will satisfy.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on February 13, 2009, 12:40:29 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fg-ecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FG%2F01%2Fciu%2Fca%2F52%2F0a4981b0c8a046f6e669a110.L.jpg&hash=505c581a085aadf4bfdefec124972fb7b26adf38)

House of Leaves.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on February 13, 2009, 12:44:38 PM
god I hated that book. 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on February 13, 2009, 04:01:25 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stuartngbooks.com%2Fhempel_4_fisted_tug_buster_.jpg&hash=533dab0214e40db2c445f568b528a1289db1bae5)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: private witt on February 14, 2009, 12:44:24 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg164.imageshack.us%2Fimg164%2F4046%2Fmunkda7.png&hash=a696f85a0b08e27766a851d509f7b1982df48d76) (http://imageshack.us)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on February 16, 2009, 02:02:00 PM
I must have read this book multiple times over the past few years and here I go again. I start today on the road I've taken many times before. I don't want to go out because its way too rainy out there. (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bookclubs.ca%2Fimages%2Fdyn%2Fcover%2F%3Fsource%3D9780345434784%26amp%3Bheight%3D300%26amp%3Bmaxwidth%3D170&hash=692fbed324e02289e661fc2365be9ad896e0182f)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on February 25, 2009, 10:11:38 PM
Gonna start this one tonight:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.moviesense.nl%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2008%2F12%2Fthe-straw-men.jpg&hash=11eb179daae14d46b2b02f368958803308dbf999)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: New Feeling on February 26, 2009, 12:46:58 AM
last month I read the big three James M. Cain books, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, and Mildred Pierce and they were all fantastic and easy reads.  Very highly recommended, especially Postman and Pierce.  Double Indemnity is great too but is a little too similar to Postman.  I was amazed to find how much of a debt the Coen's "The Man Who Wasn't There" owes to all three of these.  Apparently it was their James Cain homagestravaganza.

Currently re-reading the complete J.D. Salinger, and I highly recommend all of his amazing stuff.

also reading 2666 in pieces.  So far so good.   


Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on March 03, 2009, 07:25:31 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tbpcontrol.co.uk%2FTWS%2FCoverImages_01%2F019%2F280%2F0192801724.jpg&hash=f636adbb852c65dc88ccf1cf37bd3f25850cd695)

wtf
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on March 04, 2009, 01:58:13 AM
Quote from: Neil on March 03, 2009, 07:25:31 PM
wtf
what the fuck?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on March 04, 2009, 02:53:01 AM
Quote from: Hedwig on March 04, 2009, 01:58:13 AM
Quote from: Neil on March 03, 2009, 07:25:31 PM
wtf
what the fuck?

He was expecting it to be set in the Vietnam war.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on March 04, 2009, 08:12:17 AM
we are on page 82...anyone care to comment? Or do we not give a fuck anymore about any of that stuff?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Fernando on March 04, 2009, 10:24:23 AM
Quote from: SiliasRuby on March 04, 2009, 01:00:36 AM
Knowing this, it could be 81% decent.

ha, when I saw that i thought of posting why not 82..

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Redlum on March 04, 2009, 10:43:06 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.penguin.com.au%2Fcovers-jpg%2F0141182865.jpg&hash=bfa934daf42a4e18794a0638234a26971fa3c6d3)

I have to say I was directed to this, in part because of the 'smudge of excriment' scene in Sideways. I haven't enjoyed a book so much in a long time, though. The interlinked narratives really render a rich image of IR's world - there aint a dud among them. I'm about half way through and hoping I get to meet Myrna Minkoff.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Chest Rockwell on March 04, 2009, 03:09:46 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F71Y0FWJ29YL.gif&hash=cc43235d0bdb360f7e4e7428f797ef441dd9f22a)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cinemanarchist on March 04, 2009, 04:34:58 PM
Reading this (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.firstshowing.net%2Fimg%2Flushlife-bookcover.jpg&hash=f63581c9d3b466182c9063f862fbcb4ad07b57ed) on this (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slashgear.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2008%2F11%2Famazon_kindle_2-480x360.jpg&hash=27edf57298ecd4c7887951346404363ae44e3a69)


Both are pretty freaking great.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: bonanzataz on March 05, 2009, 11:44:04 AM
kindles scare me. i'd prefer to read off a page, thank you.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.schweizer-usa.net%2Fcharles%2Fimages%2Flara%2Fholy-anorexia.jpg&hash=ca68f5b83dcfe643cc9788fb62571ef96aab00e7)

i haven't started it yet, but it's basically just comparing modern anorexics with nuns who would starve and self-mutilate for jesus throughout history. looks pretty great.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on March 05, 2009, 01:12:10 PM
Quote from: bonanzataz on March 05, 2009, 11:44:04 AM
kindles scare me. i'd prefer to read off a page, thank you.
Same here, and what happens when you break your kindle.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cinemanarchist on March 05, 2009, 02:08:27 PM
Quote from: SiliasRuby on March 05, 2009, 01:12:10 PM
Quote from: bonanzataz on March 05, 2009, 11:44:04 AM
kindles scare me. i'd prefer to read off a page, thank you.
Same here, and what happens when you break your kindle.

That would actually be less of a big deal than if you broke your iPod since everything you buy is stored on Amazon for you to redownload at any time. I was not a believer until I actually read from one and it's easier on your eyes than an actual book and I've got the NY Times and The New Yorker on there at all times. I could read all that stuff online but if I'm not going to do that this is the least polluting way to go about getting my news. It's got a 1 year warranty and I'm super anal about my toys and I don't remember the last time I broke anything (knock on wood.) Not sure if they'll take off or not but it really is fantastic and pretty much a literary iPhone in that I never want to be without it. That said, it is retarded expensive which will certainly prevent it from being but so widely accepted.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on March 30, 2009, 01:17:00 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bookfreeway.com%2Fisbnjpg%2F030681272X.jpg&hash=ac144381fcd48a1520e7d84692df260da507bda9)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on April 06, 2009, 09:34:09 AM
I FINALLY read Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road'

It had been sitting on my bookcase for over a year and I just never got to it. Something else always took over my interest. Well, this weekend I finally read it and it was great.

I've never really been a big fan of McCarthy's previous work. I mean, I appreciate them, but the subject matter isn't really my cup of tea, but this one was fantastic. A lot of people I've talked to said they found it a difficult read, but I found it very engrossing. The dynamic between the man and the boy is heartbreaking. They rarely ever talk and when they do talk it's mostly pertaining to their survival or fears. It felt very real. It didn't come off as corny at all.

Spoilers.

The ending kind of felt like a cop-out, though. These two people have been traveling forever, never coming across any "good guys" like themselves, then the man dies and a couple days later the boy is rescued by "good guys?" Kind of a cop-out if you ask me. I get that these people were carrying "the fire" (at least in the boys eyes) but still. A more realistic ending should have just ended with the boy waiting there by his father, then the end.

Regardless, it was an excellent read.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on April 09, 2009, 09:51:34 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.curledup.com%2Fbooks%2Fsexdrugs.jpg&hash=7c61572d0e115f19fb416c5e843a40b3a10b353b)

It's fun, but it really makes you realize how overrated the 90's are. The early to mid 90's specifically. Everyone just sat around watching The Real World and smoking BC Bud.

His writing has almost TOO many pop-culture references. I mean, if you're reading Klosterman, you should know what you're getting, but it's too much.

I'm going to finish it if only because my new years resolution was to finish every book I start, but it's fun and nothing else.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on April 09, 2009, 10:59:11 AM
Quote from: Stefen on April 09, 2009, 09:51:34 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.curledup.com%2Fbooks%2Fsexdrugs.jpg&hash=7c61572d0e115f19fb416c5e843a40b3a10b353b)

It's fun, but it really makes you realize how overrated the 90's are. The early to mid 90's specifically. Everyone just sat around watching The Real World and smoking BC Bud.

His writing has almost TOO many pop-culture references. I mean, if you're reading Klosterman, you should know what you're getting, but it's too much.

I'm going to finish it if only because my new years resolution was to finish every book I start, but it's fun and nothing else.
I LOVE this book. Its one of my new favorites.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on April 09, 2009, 03:43:46 PM
I wanna get into a new graphic novel but i dunno where to go?

I've read Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell, league of extraordinary gents, maus, sin city, y the last man, ex machina...a couple others. But i want something new. I've never read anything from Neil Gaiman. should i go there?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on April 09, 2009, 03:45:53 PM
Just get Preacher. It's right down your alley sense of humor wise.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on April 09, 2009, 04:55:28 PM
If you have a lot of time to spare, get the entire Sandman series and read them all in a row.  It's an epic, impressive body of work.  And if you're getting into Gaiman, I would say "Signal to Noise" and "Mr. Punch" are his best standalone works.

I'd also suggest lots more Alan Moore.  A lot of his later series work is pretty great, such as Top 10, Tom Strong, and his run on Supreme, which is one of my personal favorites.

Really, those two are the only comics writers I read with any regularity (I do back up Stefen with the Preacher suggestion, though).  Brian Michael Bendis has done some good stuff, and Jeff Smith's "Bone" series has a lot of redeeming qualities.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on April 23, 2009, 02:08:03 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi35.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fd179%2Fpolkablues%2Fsnuff.jpg&hash=09e820831ccb27b0aaa36f1c934d28bf43db3f3f)

I keep reading Palahniuk because I'm convinced he's eventually going to write a great novel, but every time I try I come away feeling let down.  Once again, it's just a bunch of good ideas tossed together into one big, bitter, not very filling salad.

I want to love his books, I really do.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on April 23, 2009, 02:39:21 AM
Quote from: polkablues on April 23, 2009, 02:08:03 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi35.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fd179%2Fpolkablues%2Fsnuff.jpg&hash=09e820831ccb27b0aaa36f1c934d28bf43db3f3f)

I keep reading Palahniuk because I'm convinced he's eventually going to write a great novel, but every time I try I come away feeling let down.  Once again, it's just a bunch of good ideas tossed together into one big, bitter, not very filling salad.

I want to love his books, I really do.

I read this on a road trip to New Orleans. I really wanted something good. Instead, it seemed to be pretty fucking silly, I haven't really considering analysing it in a critical fashion, although i would love to hear what do you think?

I started reading  Chuck because I thought he was expressing things in ways that i hadn't read before.  Turns out he MAY NOT even be located on the ice-berg(using "tip of ice-berg analogy).

With each new novel i read,like jude the obscure, or the stranger,or the plague, or even just fountainhead, i'm finding chuckie is falling to the bottom of the queue...if you will.

The things i'm reading now are a sophisticated way of doing things, however, maybe that is Palahnuik's charm.

i still enjoy reading him,but i don't really feel it has any sort of impact on me or anything with everything.... say post-lullaye



I don't know, just a thought, i discovered him when i hadn't read much. personal thing

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on April 23, 2009, 03:00:15 AM
Quote from: Neil on April 23, 2009, 02:39:21 AM
Quote from: polkablues on April 23, 2009, 02:08:03 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi35.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fd179%2Fpolkablues%2Fsnuff.jpg&hash=09e820831ccb27b0aaa36f1c934d28bf43db3f3f)

I keep reading Palahniuk because I'm convinced he's eventually going to write a great novel, but every time I try I come away feeling let down.  Once again, it's just a bunch of good ideas tossed together into one big, bitter, not very filling salad.

I want to love his books, I really do.

I read this on a road trip to New Orleans. I really wanted something good. Instead, it seemed to be pretty fucking silly, I haven't really considering analysing it in a critical fashion, although i would love to hear what do you think?

I started reading  Chuck because I thought he was expressing things in ways that i hadn't read before.  Turns out he MAY NOT even be located on the ice-berg(using "tip of ice-berg analogy).

With each new novel i read,like jude the obscure, or the stranger,or the plague, or even just fountainhead, i'm finding chuckie is falling to the bottom of the queue...if you will.

The things i'm reading now are a sophisticated way of doing things, however, maybe that is Palahnuik's charm.

i still enjoy reading him,but i don't really feel it has any sort of impact on me or anything with everything.... say post-lullaye



I don't know, just a thought, i discovered him when i hadn't read much. personal thing



I don't know, I need to digest the book a little longer before I can give any lucid analysis of it, but suffice to say, I think it might be time for Palahniuk to abandon novels altogether and just be a full-time short story writer.  I think it's an attention span issue; I always reach a point in his novels where I feel like he's gotten bored with his own story and is just hammering out pages until he can end it.  Lullaby was the worst offender in that regard.  That book may as well have ended in mid-sentence.

He's so full of great ideas, though, and he really is a unique voice, which is why I keep coming back.  I just need to go read some Tim O'Brien or Percival Everett or something to get the taste out of my brain before I can try any more Palahniuk.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on April 23, 2009, 09:23:24 AM
I feel the same way about Palahniuk. It's to the point where I don't even bother reading any of his new stuff because I know it's just going to be a hodgepodge of great ideas executed horribly.

He's very creative but he can't figure out how to put those creative ideas together to create a great story. I actually think he'd be better off not putting so many great ideas into his novels. He needs to take the less is more approach and stick to a few basic ideas and flesh them out.

He's like the author version of TOOL. You still have a soft spot for them, but you've moved onto such better music over the years.

Guts from Haunted is still epic, though. And Survivor is probably my favorite if only for the reason it was the first thing of his I ever read.

Anyways, right now I'm reading The Monkey Wrench Gang on a friends suggestion.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcontent-8.powells.com%2Fcgi-bin%2FimageDB.cgi%3Fisbn%3D9780060956448&hash=f2658b64882d105aea35f7677820a114c2438432)

I just started last night. So far so good.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cinemanarchist on April 23, 2009, 09:50:25 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwordbrooklyn.files.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F01%2Fbolano.jpg&hash=663901d86e34449676f1b0c3f26771277dc30085)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on May 11, 2009, 11:01:11 AM
Mmmmmm... New Chuck P.


(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.libraryjournal.com%2Farticles%2Fimages%2FLJ%2F20090402%2FPygmy.jpg&hash=d47aefecb30dbc51663388d98777278595be4639)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on May 11, 2009, 11:57:19 AM
I'd like to hear what you think about that...

I'm sinking into this.
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi43.tower.com%2Fimages%2Fmm100316437%2Fvirtue-selfishness-ayn-rand-paperback-cover-art.jpg&hash=eb7f22d45f8f37799bf608206e3bbfa18afaacfa)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on May 11, 2009, 11:59:39 AM
^SHOW OFF!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on May 17, 2009, 11:20:33 PM
Just twittered this, but currently reading (and about to finish) Jane Mayer's The Dark Side. A portfolio on torture during the Bush Administration, this book is not only convincing that criminal efforts were ongoing, but is very revelatory about the abuses being some of the worst in American history. I follow the news steadfastly and torture is currently a prime subject, but this book goes to exhaustive ends to show that the media is beyond simplifying the problems from the last 8 years.

This also was a finalist for the National Book Award. Deservedly so because the writing and research is, in short, depth. I recommend it to anyone who wants more information on the torture issue than short newsfriendly quips.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzflash.com%2Fstore%2Fimages%2F1194_200.jpg&hash=1a37aa6769ecfab3413544c331f37a121a028023)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on May 18, 2009, 12:49:45 PM
Quote from: Neil on May 11, 2009, 11:57:19 AM
I'd like to hear what you think about that...

Chuck's worst book. While, I'm very happy he dumped the multiple personal accounts of storytelling that he used in his last few books (Haunted; Rant; Snuff), the hero of this book talks in broken English that gets real old real fast. It's like learning a new language when you start (think Clockwork Orange), but once you get used to it and learn his alternatives of common English (Chuck does have a way with words after all), it just starts becoming longwinded. His take on the Bible Belt and middle America are funny, it's just that I wasn't laughing, which is a real disappointment in a Palahniuk book.


Onto this now:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhiddenyou.files.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F02%2F9781594743344_large1.jpg&hash=1a3374781a022379dd110f2695476f2f660f6f49)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on June 02, 2009, 04:18:06 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F31ZTQW3N1EL._SL500_AA240_.jpg&hash=7c3d11a6099b62b2c27f4d4f2d689c5d99b94d5c)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on June 02, 2009, 09:16:31 AM
Due to the current fist fight i'm having with faith a gap needed to be filled, and boy did this do the trick.

I highly suggest (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi43.tower.com%2Fimages%2Fmm100154193%2Ffear-trembling-soren-a-kierkegaard-paperback-cover-art.jpg&hash=7e3271d5114cdef84183053efcb8c885851698a2)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on June 07, 2009, 06:09:11 PM
I'm shocked to find that I haven't posted in this thread since mid-November. I've been reading even more furiously since then (with no more school to worry about, I've finally been able to focus on things that I actually want to learn about), and thinking the whole time that I'd been updating you all with books that you're very likely never to want to read (for the most part, there may be exceptions):

At the beginning of the year I tried Danielewski's Only Revolutions. Still haven't read House of Leaves yet, which I'd really have preferred to read (probably won't now), but the local library didn't have it, so I picked this up instead.
I didn't like it, couldn't really make sense of it. There's a lot of information on the page (though, not as much as House), but you don't really know what to do with it. There are lists and dates off to the side, but when am I supposed to read that? There's no flow or any real interaction between the lists and the "poetic" narrative next to it. The story begins on opposite sides of the book (basically, each cover represents one of the two lovers and as you read [flipping back and forth] the closer you get to the middle, the closer the characters become), and so you have upside down text as well. Certain words or phrases are bolded, but it's hard to say if they really hold any significance either.
Honestly, it just seemed to me that author was REALLY in love with his concept, words and, well, himself.

I didn't even make it to the middle, honestly.

David Lynch - Catching the Big Fish. I really enjoyed this. It's very simple and a very quick read. Kind of humorous, as well.
It's basically Lynch going on about his experience with Transcendental Meditation, the benefits that he has experienced, and a few of his thoughts on film (his own films and the work of a select few).

I began my linguistic study with Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue by John McWhorter. I followed this with Sociolinguistics by Peter Trudgill, The Story of French by Jean-Benoît Nadeau & Julie Barlow, and Words, Words, Words by David Crystal.

While all that was going on I made my first attempt at War & Peace. Didn't finish it. When people ask me what I thought of it, I always refer them to a Woody Allen joke I'd heard or read somewhere:
"I took a speed reading course and read 'War and Peace' in twenty minutes.
It's about some Russians." :yabbse-undecided:

Next was Ella Minnow Pea: A progressively lipogrammatic epistilary tale by Mark Dunn, for word-nerds.

Then The Pianoplayers by Anthony Burgess.

During this time I fell head over heels for Salinger and zipped through the last of his published works that I'd yet to read: Nine Stories and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction. Now, I'm just waiting for him to die.

And continuing my linguistic interest I picked up The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language by Stephen Pinker. Then it was The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way by Bill Bryson.

Followed by Norwegian Wood and A Hard-Boiled Wonderland & the End of the World by Murakami. Though the former was enjoyable, and the latter interesting (for a short time), I didn't enjoy either as much as Wind-Up Bird.

Then it was the wonderful Repetition by Alain Robbe-Grillet, the same guy who wrote Last Year at Marienbad, so you can have a wild guess at the structure of the book. If anyone else has read his work, I'd love a recommendation.

Woody Allen - Mere Anarchy, funny at first, then became repetitive (like some of his films).

and finally, catching us up-to-date:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fantasticfiction.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fn4%2Fn24432.jpg&hash=8e0885d248927fd7bc4e7f0003d2be973cd78df7)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Flatimesblogs.latimes.com%2Fjacketcopy%2Fimages%2F2007%2F09%2F25%2Finsurgent.jpg&hash=6e242600b833327a8891bb80aa631043f5f19e76)

Her - Ferlinghetti

and (at last)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F_FBEH9SuzMP0%2FSFH3HIrF7zI%2FAAAAAAAAAGY%2FS8eiq03j4Rw%2Fs400%2FEverything_is_Cinema.jpg&hash=ce15ad8946947adb4506f53f6282d3bb52b65e57)

(funny, i'm almost positive i've forgotten a few along the way....)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on June 07, 2009, 06:14:42 PM
I haven't liked anything by Salinger outside of Catcher in the Rye. But I REALLY love Cather in the Rye.

Where would you suggest someone who isn't familiar with Haruki Murakami should start? I've heard The Wind-up Bird Chronicle is his best but it's also his most difficult. Is this true?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on June 07, 2009, 06:25:31 PM
I should post more here because I read more than I do anything else. Switching up between fiction and political literature, I just got done with Mary Renault's Fire From Heaven and am now onto this:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41QRESSW84L.jpg&hash=1983ea014fc5a0ac5db0881d000d5da0d4b70538)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on June 07, 2009, 06:54:22 PM
Quote from: Stefen on June 07, 2009, 06:14:42 PM
I haven't liked anything by Salinger outside of Catcher in the Rye. But I REALLY love Cather in the Rye.

Where would you suggest someone who isn't familiar with Haruki Murakami should start? I've heard The Wind-up Bird Chronicle is his best but it's also his most difficult. Is this true?
I haven't really read a lot of Murakami, honestly. Norwegian Wood is, like, required reading in Japan apparently, but it's unlike anything else he's written. Though I had some difficulty getting through Hard-Boiled Wonderland that's because I started with Wind-Up Bird (which, I've also heard is his best).
So, I guess my suggestion and advice would be to NOT start with Wind-Up Bird, because it may actually ruin your experience with his other books.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on July 07, 2009, 03:37:52 PM
Huis clos, Jean-Paul Sartre

I've also picked up The Book of Martyrdom and Artifice by Ginsberg.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Kal on July 07, 2009, 07:52:08 PM
Wrote an article about one of my favorite writers and his books, and some other stuff about the transition to digital books, Kindle, etc.

If anybody is interested: http://www.andyk.net/blog/2009/7/7/chasing-chase.html (http://www.andyk.net/blog/2009/7/7/chasing-chase.html)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Alexandro on July 08, 2009, 01:31:24 PM
I just read Herzog's Conquest of the Useless and it's by equal parts hilarious, nightmarish, endearing and inspiring. He's a pretty cool writer. And the book really is like an inmersion in his tortured brain. Highly recommended.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on July 08, 2009, 01:45:32 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sleazeroxx.com%2Fbooks%2Fstraightwhisky.jpg&hash=77bdfa6da0a1640f4d498a9284df9df26450caea)

Some of its BS but I'm really enjoying it all the same.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on July 19, 2009, 02:58:26 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dianeticsscotland.org.uk%2Fimages%2FCopy%2520of%2520dianetics_sidebar_up.jpg&hash=bab2016dd1b0a5d99219d536aabe5186fb8a7947)

found this for 70 cents at the Goodwill. What in the actual fuck?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: socketlevel on August 07, 2009, 12:14:10 AM
Quote from: Neil on July 19, 2009, 02:58:26 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dianeticsscotland.org.uk%2Fimages%2FCopy%2520of%2520dianetics_sidebar_up.jpg&hash=bab2016dd1b0a5d99219d536aabe5186fb8a7947)

found this for 70 cents at the Goodwill. What in the actual fuck?

time to purge the thetans.  xenu is mad at you!

i just finished "Cockpit" by Jerzy kosinski.  recommend it, kinda a clusterfuck of anecdotes from an american spy.  fiction of course.  it's a descent into a strangely OCD'd sociopath's head.  same guy wrote "being there"

check it out
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fantasticfiction.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fn0%2Fn747.jpg&hash=2f0fc2fa67ea457f791be4a131dfc98b68635618)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on August 08, 2009, 04:37:56 PM
Thanks for the recommendation stefen!

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Farcona.files.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F09%2Fpreacher1.jpg&hash=c31cc514e2c779e8808d546aa3b27a9ad478645f)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on August 29, 2009, 11:24:38 AM
Quote from: socketlevel on August 07, 2009, 12:14:10 AM
Quote from: Neil on July 19, 2009, 02:58:26 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dianeticsscotland.org.uk%2Fimages%2FCopy%2520of%2520dianetics_sidebar_up.jpg&hash=bab2016dd1b0a5d99219d536aabe5186fb8a7947)

found this for 70 cents at the Goodwill. What in the actual fuck?

time to purge the thetans.  xenu is mad at you!

i just finished "Cockpit" by Jerzy kosinski.  recommend it, kinda a clusterfuck of anecdotes from an american spy.  fiction of course.  it's a descent into a strangely OCD'd sociopath's head.  same guy wrote "being there"

check it out

Just finished this. thanks for the recommendation! I picked up steps too, hopefully i'll get to that soon

A beautiful saturday, with the day off, and i'm going to be shooting some of the sequences from

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa1.vox.com%2F6a00f48cf30e43000300f48cf302a90002-500pi&hash=b7374a3d3ae8acb8ba109def72237c5c0f3009fc)

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on August 29, 2009, 02:00:37 PM
Quote from: squints on August 08, 2009, 04:37:56 PM
Thanks for the recommendation stefen!

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Farcona.files.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F09%2Fpreacher1.jpg&hash=c31cc514e2c779e8808d546aa3b27a9ad478645f)

Yeah, how fucking awesome is that shit?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Kal on August 29, 2009, 02:49:30 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgleesongleanings.files.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F02%2Fbook-pic.jpg&hash=da75c4d3f35875c7fa0c82fba61a55730f4998fe)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on August 29, 2009, 03:23:51 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sheilaomalley.com%2F4187PQX4SKL.jpg&hash=27ab189c89ebe87323f85dbc5ddb552ece621b12)

If you can't see this, its 'Helter Skelter The True Story of the Manson Murders'
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on August 29, 2009, 03:38:25 PM
Curious if she can write more than just vampires:


(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.renaud-bray.com%2FImagesEditeurs%2FPG%2F1001%2F1001157-gf.jpg&hash=0918e569ffa8c65d95c26d0d2839f514942dc4d6)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: RegularKarate on August 31, 2009, 04:10:16 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin on August 29, 2009, 03:38:25 PM
Curious if she can write
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on August 31, 2009, 04:41:23 PM
Quote from: RegularKarate on August 31, 2009, 04:10:16 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin on August 29, 2009, 03:38:25 PM
Curious if she can write

Nope!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on September 01, 2009, 03:32:32 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51QTRDX533L._SS500_.jpg&hash=41597b2d6c726138f3534cc7da4ea0ce35ea1bdd)

Supernatural violent western about a lone mercenary who is proficient at using almost any tangible object as a lethal weapon.  They do not make comics like this anymore.  Even when they try to remake them.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on September 01, 2009, 03:34:21 PM
Quote from: Walrus on September 01, 2009, 03:32:32 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51QTRDX533L._SS500_.jpg&hash=41597b2d6c726138f3534cc7da4ea0ce35ea1bdd)

Supernatural violent western about a lone mercenary who is proficient at using almost any tangible object as a lethal weapon.  They do not make comics like this anymore.  Even when they try to remake them.

any familiar writers?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on September 01, 2009, 09:21:39 PM
I'll get back to you on that, I've been on a big pulp western kick lately, but at this point it's hard to say.

I can however vouch especially for this constant classic that I reread religiously:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fg-ecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FG%2F01%2Fciu%2Fac%2F75%2F63e6828fd7a038778b6d7110.L._SL500_AA240_.jpg&hash=988822d4fc9b60180831e29c13d3344a087c0dad)

Swamp Thing: Love and Death

It's a great collection of Swamp Thing tales written by Alan Moore, who needs no introduction and one of DC's best, or at least my favorite, artists Steve Bisette.

Basically, Swamp Thing at its most poetic form, with art that just gushes with life like a wetland itself.  What's worth noting about this power team collaboration is that this Swamp Thing was DC's first series to be sold to comic shops directly and not newsstands so it could be printed without being approved by the comics code authority.  It is definitely much more matured than Swamp Thing has ever been, and never pushes the barrier into ridiculous supernatural elements that can alienate the viewer from relating to the scope and authenticity of emotion that a man made of moss is capable of having, especially for a human.

I really hope I'm not the only comic book nerd here.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on September 01, 2009, 09:45:18 PM
I love comic books I just hate most comic book movies.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on September 01, 2009, 10:30:10 PM
Quote from: Walrus on September 01, 2009, 09:21:39 PM
I really hope I'm not the only comic book nerd here.

Trust me brother, you're not.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on September 02, 2009, 01:20:05 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jameshyman.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2Fdirty_found_2_cover_med.jpg&hash=5856483d375eb0618651915bdc4b6c0366ee20e6)

Normally a fan of Found magazine, I'm surprised I never noticed one of their additional publications Dirty Found.  Pricier than the average Found, so I can't see myself dipping into Dirty as much, but I just had to get an issue. It's basically Found, but all the notes, polaroids, sketches, etc. are sexual, and they run the fair gamut from straight laced nude male or female to cross-dressers to peeing to use your imagination.

Needless to say, I am far from disappointed.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: socketlevel on September 02, 2009, 11:02:05 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbeinecke.library.yale.edu%2Futopia%2Fgallery_images%2Futf09.jpg&hash=75058a3a5e6486d94cc59d6fbd4cd30b3886fa57)

great book that gets into christianity and darwin
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on September 02, 2009, 11:23:25 PM
Really on Erewhon? I had a hard time enjoying it because the book was tedious on the everyday details about this foreign society. I chuckled at the good satirical moments that reminded me of English society, but those seemed few and far between. It felt like Butler was translating his scientific notes (which he took a lot of) to novel form when the originals would be more interesting because they would be revealing about our world. The world of Erewhon seems too foreign and fictional to care about on a scientific level. If the novel was more about the cultural world of Erewhon and used those details to mock our own culture, that would be more interesting.

But I recommend Samuel Butler's The Way of all Flesh. It's one of the first modernist novels and a perfect anti Jane Austen novel. Especially illuminating considering it was written in the late 1800s and is so scathing. It feels like was written in the last 20 years by someone who has no sentimentality or interest in that old romantic world. A great comedic work.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: socketlevel on September 03, 2009, 05:02:55 PM
i guess i kinda liked the detachment. that's something I'm not normally into, i just feel over melo-drama'd out by everything in current western culture.  normally i care about the cultural world, but i guess this was refreshing in that it didn't do that.  i like satire that does what you wanted from it, but not this time for me. it had a strangeness to it that i would put akin to wells' time machine or the scientific parts of watching master and commander, like a scientific analysis of Darwin and Galapagos, but instead it was all made up.  i found that approach fun, i don't know why i might just be a nerd that way.

i like to hear criticisms on Darwinism because that's actually the weaker voice by today's standards, and not some crazy creationist opposition but a compassionate sensible one.  now at the time this was written i'm sure more people felt the way butler did, so this is one of those rare books that is more poignant now.  that really fascinates me.

also, I'm agnostic myself, so when i feel either side is weighted too heavily i by nature look for a good opposite view.

I totally planed on reading the way of all flesh next, but since you recommend it highly, I'll make sure of it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on September 14, 2009, 06:22:07 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm1.static.flickr.com%2F30%2F42431731_96c01e53f3.jpg%3Fv%3D0&hash=566b6e6515e6f74027a9f50e493f9092e2b93af2)

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on September 14, 2009, 07:06:33 PM
Good luck, Neil.  Are you using any supplemental materials to help you get through it?  Also, have you read Ulysses?  If not, I highly recommend you read it first!  For that novel use Stuart Gilbert's companion James Joyce's Ulysses.  Lots of insight.  Also, Ulysses Annotated is helpful if a little overwhelming. 

For class/pleasure:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41UpMG00%252BrL._SS500_.jpg&hash=1c7d4fbd8a3d97b1ef32eaf9788045a55e0975b8)

For class/pain:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.diesel-ebooks.com%2Fmas_assets%2Ffull%2Fparent-9781595470546.jpg&hash=a6223e88da79c04a41fb2aaf2a803e69711e56ba)
(I couldn't find a cover of the edition I'm using.  The translation is by Hippocrates Apostle.)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: a.santi on September 14, 2009, 07:58:16 PM
Quote from: Pedro the Alpaca on September 14, 2009, 07:06:33 PM

For class/pain:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.diesel-ebooks.com%2Fmas_assets%2Ffull%2Fparent-9781595470546.jpg&hash=a6223e88da79c04a41fb2aaf2a803e69711e56ba)
(I couldn't find a cover of the edition I'm using.  The translation is by Hippocrates Apostle.)


aahh!! poor you..i was tortured with that at school. im more of a plato person myself.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on September 14, 2009, 11:03:21 PM
"supplemental" i like that.  I think my life is full of that, to be honest.  Fortunately, I read Ulysses first! My translation has probably been disregarded by this point, and also haven't read the annotated version, though, i'm looking online for that now. I remember how i felt when i'd read the bible for the first time when i was young, then i read the Odyssey, and felt even more compelled to move. Then i read Ulysses. slept for days, and re read the shit out of that, with a highlighter and pencil.  I read Portrait of an artist as a young man on a plane to North Carolina, and I only get books from this bargain book store, and they had some JJ poetry as well. 

Getting 70+ pages into it, i was considering basing an album off it, truly.  But i think that's just probably because I'm a lousy artist. 

And aristotle is the shit, sometimes you just disregard useless principles for the more important ones, the same with any other woman or man's mind.  Turns out i enjoy knit picking at philosophy, so when consumed in large amounts, it really works for me.  What problems are you facing with Aristotle?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on September 15, 2009, 02:00:58 AM
Or rather, what problems are you facing Aristotle with?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: RegularKarate on September 15, 2009, 11:17:59 AM
Quote from: Pedro the Alpaca on September 14, 2009, 07:06:33 PM
Good luck, Neil.  Are you using any supplemental materials to help you get through it? 

Looks like he's using a Guinness.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on September 15, 2009, 11:33:18 AM
Oi!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: GodDamnImDaMan on September 15, 2009, 02:14:09 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.chron.com%2Fphotos%2F2009%2F09%2F13%2F18299211%2FUS-VMA-KANYE-20090913EV.jpg&hash=20cc3068761e57b83873a7a39938dda364653b09)

Yo Neil, I'm really happy for you, I'm gonna let you finish, but Bunnicula was one of the best books of all time. One of the best books of all time!!!!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on September 15, 2009, 02:30:11 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fchiclibrary.files.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fkitchenconf.jpg&hash=1421936fe053d2ae53f0fd150d7f282b5e7b4cdd)

It's fucking awesome. I fell in love with his show, No Reservations, but the book is like a more hardcore version of the show. Tons of great anecdotes and hi-jinks from inside the kitchen. Good, good stuff.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on September 17, 2009, 05:04:39 PM
Quote from: Stefen on September 15, 2009, 02:30:11 PMI fell in love with his show, No Reservations, but the book is like a more hardcore version of the show.

That's good to know. His is the best show on the Travel channel. They can get rid of that bug eating guy.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on September 17, 2009, 05:10:09 PM
I recently got into this show, too.  It's incredibly engrossing.  Not just an excuse to look at food from around the world, but highly entertaining and enlightening.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on September 17, 2009, 05:34:05 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin on September 17, 2009, 05:04:39 PM
That's good to know. His is the best show on the Travel channel. They can get rid of that bug eating guy.

No joke. I'm always amazed by how many different animals' penises can be considered delicacies.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on September 17, 2009, 06:02:13 PM
Andrew Zimmern is cool, too. Yeah, so he eats dick. Big whoop. Bourdain is the man, though. I like how he's always talking about about Emeril, Rachel Ray and the rest of those choads that populate those shitty cooking channels.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on September 17, 2009, 10:00:25 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin on September 17, 2009, 05:04:39 PM
They can get rid of that bug eating guy.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.lardlad.com%2Fframegrabs%2F3G02%2F169.jpg&hash=586463ee66976553579fab6c70b233df25d82329)

my fifteen minutes of fame are over..
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on September 17, 2009, 10:36:46 PM
holy shit!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ono on September 17, 2009, 11:31:39 PM
Indeed.  Welcome back.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on September 17, 2009, 11:41:38 PM
We missed you
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on September 17, 2009, 11:44:45 PM
How anticlimatic.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: hedwig on September 17, 2009, 11:46:19 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi11.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fa175%2FLeven321%2Fmilitary-welcome-home-1.gif&hash=95645e19ef9a1a0d24e8a07cfa4b392568b533a2)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on September 18, 2009, 12:11:18 AM
stay p.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Bethie on September 18, 2009, 01:00:49 AM
Oh P. and too think i may not have even visited this topic. now it makes me wonder whats going on over in that video game thread. maybe i'm missing something.

ps I love Anthony Bourdain. He is so badass. didn't someone here recommend him to me? I dont watch his show but I now own all his books.. I even have his cookbook setting on top of my fridge. I don't cook so I never look at it, but it looks cool up there. I let my chef borrow Kitchen Confidential. Hes the type of guy that's like jealous of Bourdain. Seriously, as I was typing this my chef just text me, yes at almost 2am, to tell me he's on his way to the hospital. Bourdain would'nt go to the hospital.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on September 18, 2009, 01:08:06 AM
Bourdain would clean his wound out with some goose grease, put his unattached appendage on some ice, drink a glass of scotch and water, wrap his wound in an old apron, and learn how to cut carrots with his left hand because he's the fucking man.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on September 18, 2009, 01:20:13 AM
Quote from: Bethie on September 18, 2009, 01:00:49 AM
now it makes me wonder whats going on over in that video game thread. maybe i'm missing something.

nope.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: modage on September 18, 2009, 12:20:29 PM
Quote from: Stefen on September 15, 2009, 02:30:11 PM
KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL

by some coincidence i'm reading this too right now.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on September 18, 2009, 01:18:23 PM
Just finished reading:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdavidlavery.net%2FCourses%2F6650_7650%2FImages%2Fmorel.jpg&hash=e0bdee880fe0bcf6a9b3a256fb52137a4a822ddc)
Apparently, this was recently featured in an episode of Lost? I had no idea 'til I did a Google search. I bought it because of the cover, and the author's obsession with Louise Brooks. It's quite short (just over a hundred pages) and I thought it was a beautiful metaphor for cinema. Mmm.

Now reading:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.raisethehammer.org%2Fimages%2Ffenton_hardware_13.jpg&hash=2d3524dd7549c7307c75c21d85de0fba7935d903)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F_MuWNJtJ8XS4%2FR8Gbj6QCH7I%2FAAAAAAAAB_I%2FARWqpvJsgNU%2Fs400%2FRobbe-Grillet.jpg&hash=3da788086a152495191921e744f78582f3ab3624)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on September 18, 2009, 08:17:20 PM
Pubrick's new av is the bomb.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on September 19, 2009, 12:42:29 AM
Quote from: Stefen on September 18, 2009, 08:17:20 PM
Pubrick's new av is the bomb.

Have you finished reading it yet? I found it a bit puerile.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: a.santi on September 19, 2009, 09:07:02 PM
Quote from: The Perineum Falcon on September 18, 2009, 01:18:23 PM
Just finished reading:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdavidlavery.net%2FCourses%2F6650_7650%2FImages%2Fmorel.jpg&hash=e0bdee880fe0bcf6a9b3a256fb52137a4a822ddc)
Apparently, this was recently featured in an episode of Lost? I had no idea 'til I did a Google search. I bought it because of the cover, and the author's obsession with Louise Brooks. It's quite short (just over a hundred pages) and I thought it was a beautiful metaphor for cinema. Mmm.

oooooh...thats one of the best of argentine literature. what you think of it??
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on September 19, 2009, 11:58:15 PM
Quote from: The Perineum Falcon on September 18, 2009, 01:18:23 PMI bought it because of the cover, and the author's obsession with Louise Brooks.

Does he go into this obsession? Good timing, because I've been going through my Criterion Pandora's Box lately.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on September 20, 2009, 12:10:52 AM
That's my favorite Louise Brooks picture (and it was hers too), but the picture is tortured because it doesn't show the man who was reading to Louise. The contrasts between the two people is what made the picture amazing, but it's lost in that cover. It doesn't even show all of Louise herself.

She's a personal hero of mine and I'm glad more people on the board are becoming aware of her. Anyone who wants further reading about her, should read the excellent biography by Barry Paris. Also, a must read is her collection of essays called, Lu Lu in Hollywood. It has one of the best essays ever about Humphrey Bogart.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on September 20, 2009, 01:39:40 AM
Quote from: a.santi on September 19, 2009, 09:07:02 PM
oooooh...thats one of the best of argentine literature. what you think of it??

I pretty much summed up my feelings before, so I'm not sure what to expound on, but I'll give it a try (sorry if it's not satisfactory). And I hope I'm stepping around any spoils (at least they won't be explicit):

I certainly don't believe that i understood everything, and soaked up all it's meanings, because there seems to be a number of things at play here (especially something having to do with Argentina), but the cinematic allusions were what touched me the most. And, i guess, that would be the best word to describe it: touching. As silly as that sounds, it's the most succinct adjective to apply here (albeit, a bit simplifying). The idea of Cinema and what it could mean for Love is beautiful and the most memorable thing about it.

And that's about as far as the Brookes connection goes: she's never mentioned by name in the story. She is mentioned in reference to the author's personal infatuation on the back cover, and you certainly get a sense of his "obsession"--his feeling for this woman--but there are no explicit dedications to her. If she weren't mentioned by name on the back (or featured, lovely, on the cover), you'd never know. But, having that tidbit adds to it all the more, and made it a bit more identifiable for me. I understood that. And his dedication to her is not only a beautiful tribute to a woman, but to Cinema, if you ask me. (think Godard+Karina)

And GT, I found your observations very interesting, in terms of how perfectly the cover relates to the story itself, drawing another allusion to Brookes and Bioy Casares' tale. There is a reason it's edited like that, trust me, and it makes me appreciate the image all the more.

Definitely pick it up, and read it in one sitting.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cinemanarchist on September 22, 2009, 04:34:42 PM
The new McSweeney's App. Not sure if $5.99 is really worth it for six months, but you get short stories early as well as shorts that will appear in Wholphin. Something new each week in addition to easily readable versions to the stories on the website. Good little time-waster and I'll do pretty much anything to help them stay afloat.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: a.santi on September 22, 2009, 08:05:22 PM
hmm...so interesting.
I read that book years ago, and I read it without knowing of Louise Brooks (my book has a different cover) and definitely not thinking of cinema. What got my attention was the whole idea of eternity and repetition (or eternal return) and how it relates to obsession.
for such a short novel it deals with a lot of interesting topics. Can't remember many things having to do with argentina...

And now that you mention it...the metaphore of cinema is quite obvious, and really beautiful. I havent thought of it before.

Now I want to read it again, will do it on the weekend.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on September 23, 2009, 12:43:01 PM
I don't have it with me right now, but I believe Argentina or something was mentioned in sort of a rush, like a page and a half or something. It didn't add up to much for me, though I'm sure there was a theme there that ran thru it that I just couldn't pick up on. It may not even have been Argentina, incidentally, but I'll check on that.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Champion Souza on October 10, 2009, 10:06:39 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F_LJBbmgDCcNg%2FSpCctDUPhUI%2FAAAAAAAABY8%2FFtnnVvS4Wd4%2Fs400%2Fstarting_point.jpg&hash=b711e64e241f6262cdfdb6cbf7c957c39514a1b4)

So far I like it a lot.  There are a lot of essays about his thought process towards film making.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on October 10, 2009, 11:38:13 AM
i read Candide by Voltaire a little while ago. It's a great read for vonnegut fans as it was one of the most influential works to/on/for him. it's a very quick read full of rape, absurd violence, and endless despair but is definitely worth checking out.

by the way, welcome Champ... introduce yourself (http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=2.765)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on October 10, 2009, 12:09:26 PM
Quote from: Reinhold on October 10, 2009, 11:38:13 AM
by the way, welcome Champ... introduce yourself (http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=2.765)

He's way ahead of you on that one.  http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=2.msg232122#msg232122 (http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=2.msg232122#msg232122)


Anyway, currently reading:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi35.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fd179%2Fpolkablues%2Fimage_s4.jpg&hash=90dd18d22a6e4b549ff94166671d6bf8755e3e9b)

So far it's not as good as I hoped.  It's very disjointed and most of it feels like a first draft.  He goes into all the same themes and ideas as in his stand-up, but more than anything makes you appreciate how much funnier his delivery makes his material.  I don't want to sound too negative about it, though; there's still plenty that's making me laugh.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on October 10, 2009, 03:18:11 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buttonhole.com.au%2Fimages%2FSavage-Dragon_Baptism-of-Fi.jpg&hash=3971da4a0a936081be05a83d21b5082c38908ab4)

Image lines were incredibly hit or incredibly miss.  Savage Dragon was one of those incredible hits.  Also:  The Maxx, anyone?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on October 10, 2009, 05:14:26 PM
finally they translated starting point!  it's one of my favorites!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Champion Souza on October 10, 2009, 07:52:02 PM
Quote from: Reinhold on October 10, 2009, 11:38:13 AM
by the way, welcome Champ... introduce yourself (http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=2.765)

Yeah, I made a few posts here a long time ago.  I've been lurking off and on since then.  This site has always been my main place for film news.

Quote from: pete on October 10, 2009, 05:14:26 PM
finally they translated starting point!  it's one of my favorites!

Have you read it before in another language?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on October 10, 2009, 08:20:00 PM
yes in Chinese.
I was at a book store in Seattle and he had another book out called midpoint.  it was in a red cover I think.
I went on to read a few writers he talked about in the book.  you should do the same if their works were translated as well.

P, the book is out now.  go find it dude.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pas on November 25, 2009, 07:57:49 AM
Quote from: Walrus date= Somewhen

I have a hard time reading long books sometimes (or something like that)

I was having the hardest time finding the will to finish Anthem by Ayn Rand and I recalled I had bought the audiobook years ago. But I figured out later that I hate audiobooks. But... I put on the audiobook AND the book together and it wasn't too bad. Probably the lamest, most 2nd grader way to read a book but some are just hard.

So yeah, for what it's worth
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on November 25, 2009, 12:56:56 PM
you really think you don't get the full effect from audio books?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on November 25, 2009, 01:24:25 PM
Quote from: Neil on November 25, 2009, 12:56:56 PM
you really think you don't get the full effect from audio books?

I can't do audiobooks or a kindle. I never remember what I hear/read. I need an actual book. It's weird.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: socketlevel on November 25, 2009, 07:58:07 PM
Just finished it...

kind of research for a script, kind of amazing.  gets into the broad scope of the tunnels, whereas dark days put it more under the microscope of a few people.

highly suggest reading it:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi80.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fj176%2Fsocketlevel%2FMolePeople.jpg&hash=4b791eebcc7366b9439510a36365fcf0e6fc3e63)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on November 26, 2009, 03:24:49 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F1565112539.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=246238fbf71e6ff5ab31c0098b1603e2450a8463)


I'm reading the book itself. I'm a sports lover so my basic interest is self evident, but this book is amazing. Originally written in the early 1960s, the author went around the country talking to old time great baseball players. Ty Cobb had just died and a lot of other greats were nearing their end so the author got them all to contribute to this book and reminscience about their memories of playing baseball in the early 1900s. That's all there is to this book. Just over 300 pages of collected memories. It feels like priceless reading, really.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on November 26, 2009, 09:14:32 AM
socketlevel, i ride the 2 every day from harlem to soho and from time to time if the train is moving slow enough you can see these amazing abandoned stations or storage spaces or something in the light from the train-- they're absolutely covered in graffiti and look like pretty much the coolest place ever to explore. every time i see them i want to figure out a way to check them out (fully aware of the $500 ticket and possible jail time).
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: A Matter Of Chance on November 26, 2009, 10:31:51 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2Fthumb%2F0%2F03%2FSuper_Cannes_cover.jpg%2F225px-Super_Cannes_cover.jpg&hash=2cf37c1ab190daee054df7c96e0c00c02739a488)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhavenkimmel.files.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F09%2Ffalling_man_delillo1.jpg&hash=747b8a81534b6e7b0d5607ece8fb3ef0f3bde76f)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on December 11, 2009, 07:11:42 PM
Just finished Sadaris' 'When You Are Engulfed in Flames'. Starting 'The Stand' By Stephen King tonight. He's one of my literary heroes and I've read a lot of his stuff but not this.... Then I might re-read 'Helter Skelter'. I've become obsessed with that case.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on December 12, 2009, 02:20:50 PM
Quote from: SiliasRuby on December 11, 2009, 07:11:42 PM
Then I might re-read 'Helter Skelter'. I've become obsessed with that case.

If you're interested in Manson himself, this book is a very fascinating companion piece. 

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51993JQCGML._SL500_.jpg&hash=3de8c8012e06e60d714eff38c5ed303c9c7828b4)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on December 12, 2009, 05:31:23 PM
Its on my christmas wishlist.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on December 12, 2009, 10:55:24 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmail.google.com%2Fmail%2F%3Fui%3D2%26amp%3Bik%3D76d1600e27%26amp%3Bview%3Datt%26amp%3Bth%3D12584a8d49153676%26amp%3Battid%3D0.1%26amp%3Bdisp%3Dthd%26amp%3Bzw&hash=e4ee696f5e42b91ea771105c9a58e858c7d002bb)
couldn't find one online. took one, i should be working on finals.

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: socketlevel on December 12, 2009, 11:02:32 PM
Quote from: Reinhold on November 26, 2009, 09:14:32 AM
socketlevel, i ride the 2 every day from harlem to soho and from time to time if the train is moving slow enough you can see these amazing abandoned stations or storage spaces or something in the light from the train-- they're absolutely covered in graffiti and look like pretty much the coolest place ever to explore. every time i see them i want to figure out a way to check them out (fully aware of the $500 ticket and possible jail time).

you should read this for sure then, it's pretty amazing stuff. it depicts freedom tunnel in the 90s, where all the best graffiti was done. you kind of get a brief history of graffiti, more specifically american graffiti.  there is so much in that book, and it's told in an unapologetic tone. harrowing and bleak, check it out.

it's not just the jail time and ticket you'd have to be wary of, but mainly the wild west lawlessness down there.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on January 15, 2010, 01:45:24 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2Fthumb%2Fe%2Fe1%2FModestyBlaiseFirstEdition.jpg%2F200px-ModestyBlaiseFirstEdition.jpg&hash=0e83376a768eb50ea6fa6d920af1f3cba5f07db8)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on January 15, 2010, 09:12:07 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F416TQTXXJ6L._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click%2CTopRight%2C35%2C-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg&hash=24b4737fd25f867755c63be30672508304db742a)

Killer book, I encourage anyone interested in art/philosophy to check it out. We are the image culture.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on January 15, 2010, 11:21:22 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51FDocNaYSL._SS500_.jpg&hash=729a39a87a425403b6020d23e5a6196f45169c66)

Found this for $1 at a thrift store.  Heavily, heavily encouraged read.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Champion Souza on January 16, 2010, 10:21:59 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51Kc5gVepqL._SS500_.jpg&hash=bdd7172f1fe356c793bb6eb2b26d984d657a6c9f)
The Making of Fantastic Mr. Fox


(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41bDd1NS-UL._SS500_.jpg&hash=1c2c565a59c12f1aa5af3235a227af53f309eba9)
Heads On and We Shoot: The Making of Where the Wild Things Are


Sort of a holiday gift to my self.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Myxo on January 17, 2010, 05:35:47 AM
Just finished this. Haven't seen the film yet. Should catch it sometime next week.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv239%2FDreydin%2FCrazyHeart.jpg&hash=6ae7ef9d6012545f6f7edf32187e1f1fec29eecb)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on January 26, 2010, 12:19:28 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm3.static.flickr.com%2F2659%2F3974675999_4ebe909879.jpg&hash=4fa083ecc67d306803cb4e02bffe9fdb266e9f46)

For a contemporary fiction class.  I tried to read Gaddis when I was younger but failed miserably.  This is easier to get into than The Recognitions, but it is still difficult.  About 90 percent dialogue.  So far I'm enjoying it. 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: socketlevel on January 26, 2010, 08:46:46 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi80.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fj176%2Fsocketlevel%2F51FTC8S952L_SS500_.jpg&hash=47844b07ffb4d512753fa3c0286fdeb3b4713812)

very entertaining read about potentially the best Canadian film ever made.  If you haven't seen it rent "Hard Core Logo" via tarantino's rolling thunder shiz.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Derek on January 26, 2010, 09:37:01 PM
Finished Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace and What Is The What by Dave Eggers.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: picolas on January 26, 2010, 11:17:35 PM
Quote from: Derek on January 26, 2010, 09:37:01 PM
Finished Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
*applause*
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Derek on January 27, 2010, 07:51:43 PM
Quote from: picolas on January 26, 2010, 11:17:35 PM
Quote from: Derek on January 26, 2010, 09:37:01 PM
Finished Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
*applause*

Thanks, I feel good about that one.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on January 28, 2010, 02:15:24 AM
Quote from: Derek on January 27, 2010, 07:51:43 PM
Quote from: picolas on January 26, 2010, 11:17:35 PM
Quote from: Derek on January 26, 2010, 09:37:01 PM
Finished Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
*applause*

Thanks, I feel good about that one.

so what did you get out of it?

i hope more than just being able to say that you finished it.  :yabbse-undecided:

hav u read any other epic novels? i ask cos i read half of Ulysses last year and i'm about done with books that take up your entire life. but i got Inifinite Jest here in my hand and i'm thinking maybe i'll hav a better chance since it's sposed to be more FUN than WORK.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Derek on January 28, 2010, 11:11:28 PM
Quote from: ρ on January 28, 2010, 02:15:24 AM
Quote from: Derek on January 27, 2010, 07:51:43 PM
Quote from: picolas on January 26, 2010, 11:17:35 PM
Quote from: Derek on January 26, 2010, 09:37:01 PM
Finished Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
*applause*

Thanks, I feel good about that one.

so what did you get out of it?

i hope more than just being able to say that you finished it.  :yabbse-undecided:

hav u read any other epic novels? i ask cos i read half of Ulysses last year and i'm about done with books that take up your entire life. but i got Inifinite Jest here in my hand and i'm thinking maybe i'll hav a better chance since it's sposed to be more FUN than WORK.

I realized my pain threshold for reading something that big (and cumbersome, the endnotes are a lot of work you need to use two bookmarks) exceeded what I thought I had in me before I started it.

Really though, more than any other book I've read it articulated better than I ever could feelings of depression, and it was laugh out loud funny in many, MANY parts. Even the boring pages, and there are many, keeped you hooked just for the talent in the writing. I didn't go into it looking for any deeper meaning once I had finished it but it's the only book that I have that I would really want to pick up in 5 or 10 years and read again. DFW really understands the human condition (For lack of a better word right now) and addiction and tennis. Don't know if that answered it. I'm a bit tired.

I did miss it when I was done. I haven't read much in the way of epic novels. I did read Shantaram, which was pretty long too, but nothing in the vein of Ulysses. Lately I've read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Catch 22, A Confederacy of Dunces and Gargoyle.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on January 29, 2010, 02:14:36 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.illiteratemagazine.com%2Fuploads%2Fblog%2F79gfq7wp1.jpg&hash=efee6a615d05f25d8ec3e4190a0dd2843f5004c0) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_Totem)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjacketupload.macmillanusa.com%2Fjackets%2Fhigh_res%2Fjpgs%2F9780374271039.jpg&hash=096d426fc940536b8c770a9331082961a92bd3fd)

"The Antelope's Strategy" has to be the most brutal, honest, and profound book ever.  It's an oral history on the aftermath of the Rwanda genocide, when the killers were pardoned and sent back to live peacefully with the victims, and how traumatizing it is - but the interviewed subjects (both the killers and the survivors) were able to cut through the anguish and theater to describe their state of mind in very honest, profound manners.  I have never read anything like it.  most of these books end up focusing on the brutality or the theatrics, somehow the writer was able to circumvent that...it's an amazing book.  It's like Dear Zachary times 1000.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on January 29, 2010, 11:44:59 AM
Read This

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmikecane2008.files.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F11%2F2666cover.jpg&hash=592b2199ddcb10aa611522cc0443971f1db12c7a)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on January 30, 2010, 12:43:31 AM
infinite jest is worth it. i've read lengthy novels, but none the size or scope of infinite jest. (i have not read ulysses.) i read the first 400 pages or so over a span of about two months (in between other books) but i read the final chunk in about two days. its hilarious and heartbreaking and i think about it all the time.

if i didn't feel like it was a tad bit obnoxious to do so, i'd call it one of my two favorite books. the other would be suttree.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on February 08, 2010, 01:26:23 PM
L'Assommoir, Emile Zola

2666 is a fucking masterpiece, you guys don't know what yer missing........ :wink:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on February 08, 2010, 05:30:26 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.literarymasters.net%2Fimages%2Fenglish-patient_v5jt.jpg&hash=92d202e9bd8e7b7cdd54715618ee202c373db7df)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on February 08, 2010, 10:47:44 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fg-ecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FG%2F01%2Fciu%2F91%2F38%2Fc002228348a06488c861f010.L.jpg&hash=f96e4aaed2968ed77e36368549ed7c2220960900)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: matt35mm on February 08, 2010, 10:51:45 PM
That's the cover I want to marry.  :inlove:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on February 08, 2010, 10:55:30 PM
The movie is great, but the book is amazing.  It's a quick read, and so far it seems to be the best sci-fi I've ever read.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Derek on February 16, 2010, 08:40:34 PM
Quote from: The Perineum Falcon on January 29, 2010, 11:44:59 AM
Read This

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmikecane2008.files.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F11%2F2666cover.jpg&hash=592b2199ddcb10aa611522cc0443971f1db12c7a)

I just finished The Savage Detectives by Belano. I heard 2666 was not finished or a fairly rough draft by the time he died. Do you get this feeling from the book?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on February 17, 2010, 12:02:33 PM
Not at all. It could certainly deal with some editing here and there, but ultimately, had I never known that he died before it was "completed" I wouldn't have suspected anything. And from what I've come to understand was that Bolano was pretty close to finishing it.
It's massive and even more epic than Savage Detectives, with so many characters I began to lose track of them.

It's a wonderful book. Can't say more now; lunch break and all that shit. But definitely read it, if you enjoyed Detectives, you should enjoy this, too.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Derek on February 17, 2010, 11:05:30 PM
That was the biggest challenge of Detectives, the number of characters. Thanks, I've got a couple more in the queue but I'll read it soon.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on February 18, 2010, 10:31:05 AM
Just finished:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0375709827.jpg&hash=29e10f1b39b31c8e18194464a56e6fcf22418a24)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: mogwai on February 18, 2010, 12:30:31 PM
^

That reminds me of "Watchmen". Zack Snyder probably forgot to read it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reinhold on February 18, 2010, 12:35:09 PM
ravi, what did you think of the book?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on February 19, 2010, 12:42:52 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0192839632.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=cd43168a0817d2b32865df0e461fd2c4c0d60402)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on February 19, 2010, 01:32:58 PM
Quote from: Reinhold on February 18, 2010, 12:35:09 PM
ravi, what did you think of the book?

I'm not ravi but I love it.  it's not that instructional but it's very inspirational.  though the guy talks a lot about the details of his work, it's ultimately more about him and his genius than about the craft of editing or music or archetectural theories. 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on February 21, 2010, 02:31:26 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa0.vox.com%2F6a0123f1677f82860f0123ddd16e90860d-500pi&hash=0937c2e4830a5cc47bbced2b828ba6f93d6f1c36)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on February 21, 2010, 08:37:46 AM
Quote from: Reinhold on February 18, 2010, 12:35:09 PM
ravi, what did you think of the book?

I enjoyed it a lot.  Like Pete said, its not an instructional book, but it does some insight into how Murch approaches certain edits and sound design decisions as well as his insights into a given film's characters and themes.  Murch's knowledge of art and music are fascinating to read.  He's a man of many interests, and the book reminds you that editing isn't a rote technical job.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on February 21, 2010, 01:06:59 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.oregonlive.com%2Fvisualarts%2F2008%2F06%2Fmedium_joe1.jpg&hash=6d162f46ea2077e986676ca4ff78a9c99acfe37f)\

going through a novel a week for class; i get to meet the author of this one tomorrow.  excellent book so far
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on February 21, 2010, 10:42:38 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.obsessedwithsports.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F12%2Fbill-simmons-book-of-basketball.jpg&hash=faa79cdaad5c2593a71ddcf190500fea2b38616d)

It's one of the funniest books I've ever read. It's over 600 pages long and very comprehensive. GT you would love this.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on February 21, 2010, 11:30:36 PM
Quote from: Stefen on February 21, 2010, 10:42:38 PM
GT you would love this.

Good call because it was already the first book I was going to read this summer.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on February 21, 2010, 11:38:12 PM
It's over 600 pages long and each page has a couple footnotes so it's really 800 pages long. It's epic.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on February 22, 2010, 01:27:10 AM
its good, but i don't like the parts when he becomes the proto-american-dude and starts drooling over girls' racks, or when he gets over his head and starts talking about movies (eg. one footnote about "no country"). i know its a part of his style -  his digressions contain some of his best moments - but sometimes i find it grating and unnecessary. stick to the hoops!  
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on February 22, 2010, 01:33:57 AM
No way. It's LONG. The references to The Wire and Boogie Nights are necessary for a break from basketball.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on March 10, 2010, 11:32:40 PM
Quote from: modage on September 18, 2009, 12:20:29 PM
Quote from: Stefen on September 15, 2009, 02:30:11 PM
KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL

by some coincidence i'm reading this too right now.

Me three.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on March 15, 2010, 08:41:53 AM
After the Masterpiece, I had alittle Breakfast of Champions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast_of_Champions), following that with another reading of Repetition (http://books.google.com/books?id=YK4DyxSlqQoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=repetition,+robbe-grillet&source=bl&ots=5LCDMNCfmS&sig=8TaBLDPqtKSCZCbjd0XXDzgMNYo&hl=en&ei=uDieS8-6J8H68Aarnry7Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CAwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=&f=false), and I'm chasing all of that with Dr. Sax (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Sax).

I'm thinking my next read will be Les Enfants terribles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Enfants_Terribles)....
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Derek on April 07, 2010, 05:28:05 PM
In the last little while I've read White Teeth, The Catcher In The Rye (never read it before), Angela's Ashes and The Lost City Of Z. Z is a pretty interesting non-fiction read, kind of like a real life Indiana Jones story.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on April 08, 2010, 07:10:40 AM
The last few & New:

The Hunting of the Snark
Sylvie & Bruno
        "           Concluded
by Lewis Carroll

Hunger, by Knut Hamsun
Salt Seller (Marchand du sel), by Marcel Duchamp
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: children with angels on April 08, 2010, 07:52:29 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41NGZNJTSRL.jpg&hash=3e849d08af28b47522ba7ab9cd25a57aed9cb4fb)
Ann Swidler - Talk of Love: How Culture Matters

I recommend this really highly. The best analysis of the relationship between culture and our views of love (and ourselves, and our lives generally) that I've read.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on April 08, 2010, 11:14:11 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Flibrary.duke.edu%2Fexhibits%2Fpivotal-books%2Fimages%2Falongwaydown.jpg&hash=5a238c2a6327e978b097c55947035577f8f782cf)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on April 08, 2010, 02:24:50 PM
Quote from: children with angels on April 08, 2010, 07:52:29 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41NGZNJTSRL.jpg&hash=3e849d08af28b47522ba7ab9cd25a57aed9cb4fb)
Ann Swidler - Talk of Love: How Culture Matters

I recommend this really highly. The best analysis of the relationship between culture and our views of love (and ourselves, and our lives generally) that I've read.

Thanks for the recommendation. You got me to buy and read Robin Wood's book on Hitchcock which diversified my opinion on him. Recalling our Vertigo/Persona conversation, I think I could stand to better understand the importance of culture and be able to potentially extend it to movie viewing. I don't expect to transform a major opinion since I have enough disdain for the culture studies approach to film analysis, but I always hope to get more even handed about all forms of critical approach.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: children with angels on April 08, 2010, 03:10:21 PM
Oh, this isn't film studies, or even cultural studies (in fact, my least favourite parts of it are when it momentarily tries to be) - it's straight-up sociology. It's about culture in the broadest sense. It's based on interviews with the public about their views on love and marriage and how these views are put into practice, analysing the coherence and complexity of the underlying conceptual frameworks and how they influence action.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on April 08, 2010, 03:13:49 PM
Quote from: children with angels on April 08, 2010, 03:10:21 PM
Oh, this isn't film studies, or even cultural studies (in fact, my least favourite parts of it are when it momentarily tries to be) - it's straight-up sociology. It's about culture in the broadest sense. It's based on interviews with the public about their views on love and marriage and how these views are put into practice, analysing the coherence and complexity of the underlying conceptual frameworks and how they influence action.

Gotcha. Still, sounds interesting.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Derek on April 20, 2010, 03:35:11 AM
Just read Franny and Zooey, which is the only other Salinger I've read other than Cather...preferred Catcher, but it was still good. Also finished The Book Thief, which takes place in Munch during WWII. Recommend it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Robyn on April 20, 2010, 07:29:56 AM
I can't read.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on April 20, 2010, 10:12:06 PM
rebellious.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on April 21, 2010, 02:14:22 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brianevenson.com%2Fimages%2Fopen_curtain.jpg&hash=cdb3488b84739bc9017e819487c06bf7ca628d7d)

So I started out reading this with no idea where it would go, and now that I'm far into it I can say with confidence that this is one of the most disturbing fucked up things I have ever read.   Highly recommended.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on April 21, 2010, 03:52:41 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg1.fantasticfiction.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fc0%2Fc3362.jpg&hash=e3f29ded836f2378d24a7ce369300797772c7270)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F_2cCWjHaZUAI%2FRmdeQ9xiR6I%2FAAAAAAAAAJ4%2FWepn3Jw7HoI%2Fs400%2FBrautiganTheAbortion.jpg&hash=3914ee3869313d49ba61d8f9b780476e2fdb9ab5)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fciccoricco.net%2Fteaching%2FFinalProject07%2FTodd_House_of_leaves.jpg&hash=fd4cd128f862b01e0dbb3f2cf9733400ca2dfa8f)
Thought I'd give this a try, based on word of mouth. Didn't take long for me to realize how TEDIOUS it gets. Blah.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on April 22, 2010, 11:01:34 AM
Just finished this:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmauryk2.files.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2Fsociety_of_the_spectacle.jpg&hash=15bb57863b568fb2c1051ba1ec597ea118b19fc9)

Also, Debord was around and running in the same circles as many of the french new wave film makers.  so, here is the film version of this book.  A little dry, but a stance against the spectacle, no doubt.

Now, I'm starting (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fversouk.files.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fverso-9781844673438-emancipated-spectator-small.jpg&hash=31dc1379643e1ac48d45dc41df501b89a6949c2f)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pozer on April 22, 2010, 12:11:53 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fadventbooks.files.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F12%2Ftinkers.jpg&hash=44360425925874b92493bc64c602e66c361df622)

won the Pulitzer last week but ive had it for months now. its not long, started it over the weekend, nearly finished. very unique in narrative, took awhile to figure out what it was doing but i like what it's doing.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on April 22, 2010, 05:00:02 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fg-ecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FG%2F01%2Fciu%2Fea%2F42%2F5d6f90b809a0c39e6f266110.L.jpg&hash=c7f6e6db3e92d6c8d8c8d1014ae5746c470e2d61)

I left this out and my roommate read it.  Now all he wants to do is street art, but his idea of street art is incredibly pornographic flyers stuck to walls with wheat paste.  He's been working on some, and I mean, more power to him, but he wants me to get involved.  I've been tagging for a while, myself, but only little UPS labels, and even then they're just psychedelic, colorful designs.

He tried to pitch to me how the two of us should push his idea forward saying "The only downside is like, what, we go to jail?  Even then, that's not a huge deal, we won't be in for long.  I have a friend who got arrested for it, and he's right back it."

Either way, this book is incredible.  I recommend it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on April 22, 2010, 07:34:34 PM
Quote from: Neil on April 22, 2010, 11:01:34 AM
Just finished this:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmauryk2.files.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2Fsociety_of_the_spectacle.jpg&hash=15bb57863b568fb2c1051ba1ec597ea118b19fc9)



in the process of writing my third paper this semester concerning debord. I've had just about enough of his crazy ass.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on April 23, 2010, 01:27:10 AM
Quote from: squints on April 22, 2010, 07:34:34 PM
Quote from: Neil on April 22, 2010, 11:01:34 AM
Just finished this:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmauryk2.files.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2Fsociety_of_the_spectacle.jpg&hash=15bb57863b568fb2c1051ba1ec597ea118b19fc9)



in the process of writing my third paper this semester concerning debord. I've had just about enough of his crazy ass.

i'd like to read those.  with regards to craziness, can you blame the guy for witnessing the marx prophecy coming true?  Or at least witnessing late capitalism/state of exception take place.  I think as far as political phil
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on May 01, 2010, 11:08:08 AM
The Subterraneans, Kerouac

Venus In Furs, von Sacher-Masoch

Flicker, Roszak

Also, thanks Neil for posting Debord and Ranciere, i'd very much like to check those out.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pas on May 03, 2010, 09:21:57 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.bookdepository.co.uk%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fbook%2Fsmall%2F9781%2F8485%2F9781848563711.jpg&hash=3a084427a9d4cdc15379584ab359e78177e5bbd7)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on May 03, 2010, 10:39:33 AM
Quote from: The Perineum Falcon on May 01, 2010, 11:08:08 AM
The Subterraneans, Kerouac

Venus In Furs, von Sacher-Masoch

Flicker, Roszak

Also, thanks Neil for posting Debord and Ranciere, i'd very much like to check those out.

If that happens, i'd love to start some threads discussing Ranciere and Debord.  Things of this nature.  Maybe squints (sorry we didn't get to hang) would get in on it, he's the one who has written three papers on the guy, i'm attempting a twenty page bullshit on Rawls  "Justice as Fairness" and the tension that Debord's contribute to Rawlsian liberalism.



Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cinemanarchist on May 03, 2010, 01:18:01 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fg-ecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FG%2F01%2Fciu%2Ffc%2Fbb%2F4e24228348a0eba78e6cc010.L.jpg&hash=6025e3c796c5646898d91dd2ba783e07f8da9885)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fthejacketmuseum.files.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fconversations-with-woody-allen1.jpg&hash=c7dbf2984cb6a387cf0914c7b8fe7c5d3d3d6a58)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Captain of Industry on May 11, 2010, 04:48:28 PM
Book seemed like a mixture of conjecture and gossip when I skimmed through it.  Let me know if I missed somethin'.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: john on May 11, 2010, 05:59:09 PM
You didn't miss anything.

Waxman has, essentially, delivered a 400 page gossip column. Any sort of insight about these directors technique or style is reduced to moments of theatrics, indulgence, or stubbornness. It's all presented with this grotesque passive-aggressiveness that really shows Waxman as the bitter, irrelevant, useless "journalist" she is. Every critic I've spoken with has nothing kind to say about her writing.

It's a shame, too, because a book on PTA, Soderbergh, Tarantino, etc.. could be so much more interesting than this. As it is, it's worse than Easy Riders, Raging Bulls.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on May 11, 2010, 08:04:01 PM
your questions are being answered with bullshit. (http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=7177.msg172803#msg172803)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Alexandro on May 11, 2010, 09:31:50 PM
I skimmed once through that book and felt it was boring and totally off the mark about the filmmakers. It was trying to be like easy riders, raging bulls, but it's no close. That one was fun to read, yeah it was mainly gossip and conjectures, but it was awesome picturing all those guys like altman and ashby being stoned all day on set and scorsese and spielberg talking about movies...you know, FUN.

This one felt like a constant attack for no real reason.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on May 11, 2010, 10:13:46 PM
Quote from: P on May 11, 2010, 08:04:01 PM
your questions are being answered with bullshit. (http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=7177.msg172803#msg172803)

Man, yet another resurrected thread to make me really miss Daniel Robert Epstein. His articles are what kept me coming here so often way back when.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Captain of Industry on May 12, 2010, 12:31:00 AM
Quote from: Reelist on May 11, 2010, 07:41:12 PM
Idk wtf you guys are talking about. Like I said earlier its answering a lot of questions for me

I for one am talking about like a twenty minute skim in a Borders book store.  I'm not at all trying to debate the merits of a book I've only speculated to be bullshit, and what I mean is, please, tell me what's badass and what questions it's answering for you because I'm all ears.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: I Love a Magician on May 23, 2010, 12:25:43 AM
almost finished with
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usedbooks.co.nz%2Fimages%2FBook%2F0375709827.jpg&hash=d9dbefb69cc35388e1700079623f17af1c27edea)
and it's fucking great


with this next
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lafcpug.org%2Fimages_review_blink_eye_murch%2Fblink_eye_murch.jpg&hash=6a770929aa3460ea5aaacd425d5dc72a74603ea5)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Derek on May 26, 2010, 10:19:24 PM
Just finished The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I read that the original Swedish title is something like 'Men Who Hate Women'...probably not as commercial over here. It was good, I didn't quite get what all the fuss is about as it did seem a bit predictable and rushed near the end. Some long and redundant stretches in the mid-section of the book. I haven't seen the movie, but I think it would seem to be a cross between Insomnia and The Silence of the Lambs. I kind of hope Fincher doesn't remake this and turns his attentions to something else.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on May 26, 2010, 10:28:26 PM
Quote from: I Love a Magician on May 23, 2010, 12:25:43 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lafcpug.org%2Fimages_review_blink_eye_murch%2Fblink_eye_murch.jpg&hash=6a770929aa3460ea5aaacd425d5dc72a74603ea5)

that cover is gross. you can still see a fleshy pink bit in the bottom picture even tho her eye is closed.

they should've called it "in the blink of a STYE"
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on May 27, 2010, 07:49:06 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.southernculture.org%2Fcover_of_Lee_Durkee_book.jpg&hash=af7401dff7156bae32ff211d7f9da6eea6f4dc8a)
(the actual cover's not as sickly green as this)

Fucking excellent (so far).
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gamblour. on June 29, 2010, 10:46:33 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jewelry-boxs.com%2Fcatalog%2Fimages%2Fjohn%2520adams%2520by%2520david%2520mccullough-paper%2520back..jpg&hash=3a6757f9d29b9f722c79a8b26c0733b6e93f42aa)

Anyone read this? I'm about 100 pages in. It's so well written and compelling that I've been really enjoying it, but at a snail's pace. I'm not a fast reader. It's a great portrait of Adams, and a damn good historical perspective.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: modage on July 23, 2010, 10:07:27 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comicsbulletin.com%2Freviews%2Fimages%2F0805%2Fscottpilgrim1.jpg&hash=b775aff7fdd3b0bc6857db8b4ff80bbe29edce23)

I'm hooked.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on July 23, 2010, 11:05:18 PM
About to start this...
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi269.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fjj62%2FSiliasruby%2F51Dluh4rA3L_SL500_AA300_.jpg&hash=a74fbf52aebe1cc700dcdd13066bd3b96a26bee8)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cronopio 2 on July 25, 2010, 05:48:21 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.rei.com%2Fmedia%2F683101Lrg.jpg&hash=b75a618ea8f7ee33de8b8cc8d9a6a4b882c0caf0)

my grandmother's on treatment these days and i read about it and got curious. fuck cancer.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on July 25, 2010, 05:58:28 PM
reading a few things simultaneously.
been writing crime films and doing a lot of real-life research, which is almost more fun than writing.  and the books help me talk to them in a reasonably informed manner.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kiwitz.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2006%2F10%2Fkilling-pablo.jpg&hash=aad96dce31f543937c800fc181f6f863b0657d42)

it's about CIA's war against pablo escobar.  I heard it's turning into a film soon too.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ticklethewire.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2010%2F04%2Fstolen-art-book-300x300.jpg&hash=34c7aa533911ef86720419d1b8c7a7d0033ffe4b)

about FBI's first and only undercover agent handling stolen art and treasures.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on July 26, 2010, 04:07:15 PM
Quote from: cronopio 2 on July 25, 2010, 05:48:21 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.rei.com%2Fmedia%2F683101Lrg.jpg&hash=b75a618ea8f7ee33de8b8cc8d9a6a4b882c0caf0)

I'll be honest, I wasn't positive that he was in fact human.

Now I know.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on September 03, 2010, 05:28:26 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fterribleanalogies.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2010%2F06%2FChuck-Palahniuk-Tell-All1.jpg&hash=a33815cd65e52bbc078d29eeca4e029d214dff0f)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on September 05, 2010, 03:37:48 PM
Class:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0375701966.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg&hash=284da55ed8c39c43c23ef0e71137ef524aff4d88)

It's very good.  Indebted to Kierkegaard, but since Kierkegaard never wrote a novel, The Moviegoer it's as close as we can get.  A lovely meditation on Southern mores, the quest for meaning, and the movies. 

Fun: 
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimage3.examiner.com%2Fimages%2Fblog%2Freplicate%2FEXID34112%2Fimages%2Fresized_freedom_franzen.jpg&hash=60dc18721cc42b869c371aa3c581c7d99cdba5eb)

Perhaps the ugliest cover I have ever seen.  The Corrections got me started on serious fiction again, so I'm looking forward to this.  Anyone else going to read it?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jtm on September 17, 2010, 12:02:27 AM
Del James- The Language of Fear.

read this when i was 16 and just started re-reading it.

great collection of short stories.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fimgres%3Fimgurl%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnrdaily.com%2Fupload%2Fnews%2FLanguage_Fear_Review.jpg%26amp%3Bimgrefurl%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnrdaily.com%2Fnews_detail.asp%253Fid%253D1274%26amp%3Busg%3D__FJbp6akHLQ6BHxvA6yeu9RCHZ8w%3D%26amp%3Bh%3D300%26amp%3Bw%3D182%26amp%3Bsz%3D56%26amp%3Bhl%3Den%26amp%3Bstart%3D0%26amp%3Bzoom%3D1%26amp%3Btbnid%3DAQDYN1_TSrHNVM%3A%26amp%3Btbnh%3D155%26amp%3Btbnw%3D94%26amp%3Bprev%3D%2Fimages%253Fq%253Dthe%252Blanguage%252Bof%252Bfear%2526um%253D1%2526hl%253Den%2526safe%253Doff%2526sa%253DN%2526biw%253D1276%2526bih%253D599%2526tbs%253Disch%3A10%252C8%26amp%3Bum%3D1%26amp%3Bitbs%3D1%26amp%3Biact%3Dhc%26amp%3Bvpx%3D1077%26amp%3Bvpy%3D57%26amp%3Bdur%3D1190%26amp%3Bhovh%3D240%26amp%3Bhovw%3D145%26amp%3Btx%3D107%26amp%3Bty%3D139%26amp%3Bei%3DBPaSTITUEIvUtQOt9ITACg%26amp%3Boei%3DBPaSTITUEIvUtQOt9ITACg%26amp%3Besq%3D1%26amp%3Bpage%3D1%26amp%3Bndsp%3D23%26amp%3Bved%3D1t%3A429%2Cr%3A7%2Cs%3A0%26amp%3Bbiw%3D1276%26amp%3Bbih%3D599&hash=b15327fa4dad36fc5e9dfe353fc5a77324633188)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on September 17, 2010, 12:12:56 AM
Quote from: Pedro the Alpaca on September 05, 2010, 03:37:48 PM
Perhaps the ugliest cover I have ever seen.  The Corrections got me started on serious fiction again, so I'm looking forward to this.  Anyone else going to read it?

The Corrections felt like reading a smart, precocious kid emulating his favorite writers. I didn't get much out of it. I'll give Franzen another chance, though; he could have some good novels in him once he grows up.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on September 17, 2010, 03:27:11 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.barnesandnoble.com%2Fimages%2F77070000%2F77079665.JPG&hash=42b094bc104706778cbfe532e2c942e8614f7df6)

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on September 17, 2010, 03:32:30 AM
Is there anything new in that? God, their comics are the best.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on December 22, 2010, 09:37:42 PM
I just finished (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi269.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fjj62%2FSiliasruby%2Fimages.jpg&hash=3fa4c791cb946e65a2f5dc8d1d234d0b20dc8dff)

and about to start

The Devil in The White City
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on December 23, 2010, 11:06:34 AM
I might have to read that sometime after the holidays of course. Manson is the creepiest person alive, everything he says is just nuts and yet I can still understand how impressionable young people could go along with it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on December 23, 2010, 12:41:45 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uhmtAmwnDQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uhmtAmwnDQ)

The craziest thing is his attitude towards it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on December 23, 2010, 02:05:03 PM
he gives me the heeby jeebies
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on December 23, 2010, 02:53:37 PM
^ and he writes his own music http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBH5KkMImj4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBH5KkMImj4)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prometheusbooks.com%2Fimages%2Fsocialcontract.jpg&hash=b7de8facd4c9d3e3803e9cea128a150e2cec3f69)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on December 23, 2010, 03:04:41 PM
I got Charlie's whole album from 1969. If you want it let me know.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on December 23, 2010, 03:08:50 PM
you mean the one that was so important he put out that he literally killed for it? It makes me sick hearing his rambling ass song. He made a much better psychopath than a musician.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on December 23, 2010, 04:09:37 PM
If you mean LIE: The Love and Terror Cult, it is actually pretty fun and poppy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpx4ODP35VQ&feature=related

I mean, really, he's not as total a wreck as he's often portrayed.  I'm also not here to be his ambassador and suggest that he's necessarily sane or a role model in any sense.  I just think somehow he's become synonymous with ridiculous standards of batshit craziness.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: pete on December 23, 2010, 04:53:15 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Flondonkoreanlinks.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2010%2F10%2FDemick.jpg&hash=65bf3a869e71aa2042ae8d862eaccb7ddad7c1fc)

I'm really into the genre of non-fiction novels.  American authors are still good at something.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cronopio 2 on December 23, 2010, 08:43:51 PM
has anyone had theses phases in your life when the idea of reading an entire book is obnoxious? i hate it , you're never supposed to admit it, but sometimes reading is so unenjoyable to me, even if i enjoy writing all sorts of stupid things for myself. there. i hope it doesn't last soon.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: picolas on December 23, 2010, 11:08:04 PM
Quote from: cronopio 2 on December 23, 2010, 08:43:51 PMi hope it doesn't last soon.
:yabbse-sad:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on December 24, 2010, 12:07:59 AM
Quote from: cronopio 2 on December 23, 2010, 08:43:51 PM
has anyone had theses phases in your life when the idea of reading an entire book is obnoxious? i hate it , you're never supposed to admit it, but sometimes reading is so unenjoyable to me, even if i enjoy writing all sorts of stupid things for myself. there. i hope it doesn't last soon.


This happened to me for the first 14 yrs of my life.  Then i decided the special ed class wasn't the place for me.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cronopio 2 on December 24, 2010, 09:53:12 AM
hahaha , i'm sorry picolas. i was in a very fucked up state when i wrote that.

edit: god, i wish i had written "i hope it don't last soon" to make it perfect.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on December 24, 2010, 10:47:06 AM
sometimes you just try to read too many books at once. Usually the only books I have success with completing are memoirs or novels that movies are adapted from. You just gotta be invested in it or else you'll get bored, there's no shame in that.

I just read this:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbookcoverarchive.com%2Fimages%2Fbooks%2Fno_country_for_old_men.large.jpg&hash=0dd889e08e9b7832106d160c71f4b9b0df0c8d91)
It was good. The Coen's really captured all of the minutiae in this, especially with the dialogue. From what I hear, they kind of did the same thing with True Grit but I'll save myself from reading that. I'm going to see it today.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Myxo on December 25, 2010, 02:21:23 PM
Got this for Christmas. It's HUGE!! Can't wait to start reading. Never actually read a book this big before, cover to cover.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2Fd%2Fd8%2FThe_Red_Book_by_Carl_Jung%252C_2009.jpg&hash=7293cd1d71c9473a4a86ebae3ed2b501fbd42f0e)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on December 25, 2010, 11:20:18 PM
Quote from: Reelist on December 24, 2010, 10:47:06 AM
It was good. The Coen's really captured all of the minutiae in this, especially with the dialogue. From what I hear, they kind of did the same thing with True Grit but I'll save myself from reading that. I'm going to see it today.

Oh god, how can you feel they captured anything well from that novel? They took the main character, Tom Bell, and made him a background figure. He drives the outlook of the novel. The cat-and-mouse game between Moss and Chigurh is driven by the context of Bell's observations and experience. However, in the film, the chase between the two of them is what drives the film. The Coens don't even try to honor the tone of the novel until the very end when Bell is given more than a few minutes to speak and reflect. It's a gratification handjob with little effect to offset the other inconsiderations. I don't mind change when a film is adapting a novel, but all the changes here just low balled or nullified the themes of the story.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on December 25, 2010, 11:31:07 PM
They made it way better than the book.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: mogwai on December 26, 2010, 12:34:42 AM
Quote from: Myxo on December 25, 2010, 02:21:23 PM
Got this for Christmas. It's HUGE!! Can't wait to start reading. Never actually read a book this big before, cover to cover.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2Fd%2Fd8%2FThe_Red_Book_by_Carl_Jung%252C_2009.jpg&hash=7293cd1d71c9473a4a86ebae3ed2b501fbd42f0e)

Fuck the book, when's the movie adaptation coming out? :yabbse-wink:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Gold Trumpet on December 26, 2010, 01:04:35 AM
Quote from: Reelist on December 25, 2010, 11:31:07 PM
They made it way better than the book.

Fucking, nerd.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: modage on January 09, 2011, 01:24:53 PM
Quote from: Gold Trumpet on December 26, 2010, 01:04:35 AM
Quote from: Reelist on December 25, 2010, 11:31:07 PM
They made it way better than the book.

Fucking, nerd.

Is this comma confusing to anyone else?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Derek on January 09, 2011, 03:37:00 PM
Quote from: modage on January 09, 2011, 01:24:53 PM
Quote from: Gold Trumpet on December 26, 2010, 01:04:35 AM
Quote from: Reelist on December 25, 2010, 11:31:07 PM
They made it way better than the book.

Fucking, nerd.

Is this comma confusing to anyone else?

Yes. Though he has to have the last word, Fucking, nerd. is a nice respite from some windy, winding essays from an obscure, manufactured point of view that I usually look forward to giving up reading after the first paragraph.

I preferred the movie too.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on January 09, 2011, 05:32:17 PM
Cormac McCarthy novels always feel to me more like a long outline for a movie than a novel, anyway.  I admire sparseness of language, but not that fucking sparse.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Robyn on January 21, 2011, 04:35:45 PM
Just finished reading On the Road (must be my favorite book) again, and will start with The Dharma Bums now.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Stefen on April 04, 2011, 07:51:37 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F413JBZAMX4L._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click%2CTopRight%2C35%2C-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg&hash=2802a4d24aaf6cc5843c400a35c1370323fb49a0)

Just about to start it. HOPEFULLY.

I was thinking today about how ever since I got an iPhone, I've stopped reading. I haven't read a single book this year.  :yabbse-angry:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on April 05, 2011, 09:25:04 AM
Although it seems there are some quite absolutist statements in this book that very few could get away with, it is a very very  cutting edge voyage into genetic predisposition versus environmental surroundings with regards to opportunity and intelligence.  Definitely worth a read.


(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi43.tower.com%2Fimages%2Fmm112157901%2Fintelligence-how-get-it-why-schools-cultures-count-richard-e-nisbett-hardcover-cover-art.jpg&hash=2fb4c6e95e70d57d901fb30840011b7fd4b9d87a)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: SiliasRuby on April 08, 2011, 04:56:54 AM
Got finished with listening to these two audiobooks: The War For Late Night and The God Delusion.

Now starting 'Then everything changed stunning alternate histories of american politics jfk. rfk. carter. ford. reagan' By Jeff Greenfield

Thank You Audible...
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on April 16, 2011, 01:30:12 AM
Thrift store find.  I had always heard mention of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but never a strong enough recommendation to try it out, but I picked this up on a whim and it's absolutely brilliant.  In the first chapter alone I was just stunned by the language and detail used.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F513GEHVNTBL._SS500_.jpg&hash=f31800a1e76e82aa836a1aa88084768b3fa2416f)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on April 16, 2011, 04:16:02 AM
He's only one of the most celebrated authors of all time and the book you posted is an undisputed masterpiece..

That common knowledge wasn't strong enough recommendation for you?

Better late (and cheap) than never I guess.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on April 16, 2011, 07:01:37 AM
all I hear are good things about that book. I've been wanting to read it for a long time. The only Marquez I've read was in highschool, 'Chronicle of Death Foretold' I'm pretty sure it confused the shit outta me. Books are always better when you're not 'forced' to read 'em.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on April 18, 2011, 12:12:19 AM
Quote from: Pubrick on April 16, 2011, 04:16:02 AM
He's only one of the most celebrated authors of all time and the book you posted is an undisputed masterpiece..

That common knowledge wasn't strong enough recommendation for you?

Better late (and cheap) than never I guess.

Well, like I said, I had always heard mention of him, varying levels of praise, but no friends were discussing him, so there wasn't an immediacy to read it like there might be in regards to a book a friend might lend me to read so that we could discuss it.  Not that the only books I read are on recommendation, but unless I find it on my own to read solo (which, believe it or not, there are millions upon millions of books to choose from) I try to read suggestions so I can discuss the work with someone, which leads to enrichment of the book's message.

I'm not implying I found a rare, obscure gem, but I was surprised by how amazing this book is.  I'm not saying anything new now.  In fact, your post really says nothing beyond what I had already insinuated, you just needed it in your own language for your own purposes, I guess.  Fuck, I don't even know why I'm responding.  I guess I need it for my own purposes, too.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Mr. Merrill Lehrl on April 20, 2011, 11:06:19 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41Kp%252BZwtnWL._SL500_AA300_.jpg&hash=0c046c499ff0d55cfb26d84748a4a634cae8bddb)

Who else?  Let's book club.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on April 21, 2011, 01:22:55 AM
I picked it up, going to start in da mornin.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Mr. Merrill Lehrl on May 05, 2011, 08:59:06 PM
Did you begin Pale King?  I'm about done, probably would be done if I hadn't started posting on Xixax(!).

This is a really great and valuable demonstration of DFW's writing process:  http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/collections/digital/dfw/
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on May 06, 2011, 10:06:55 AM
Quote from: sundown all over on May 05, 2011, 08:59:06 PM
Did you begin Pale King?  I'm about done, probably would be done if I hadn't started posting on Xixax(!).

This is a really great and valuable demonstration of DFW's writing process:  http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/collections/digital/dfw/

Have about 90 pages left, had to read it in between a bunch of other stuff for school. NOT QUITE READY TO TALK ABOUT IT. that's a super cool link, btw, thnx.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Mr. Merrill Lehrl on May 10, 2011, 03:18:31 AM
Basically we're either going to have to get more people to read Pale King or the essential parts of my profile will remain inside jokes between you and me.  Let me know when you're ready to talk about it.

Also:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.indiebound.com%2F601%2F077%2F9781400077601.jpg&hash=08167bb1ac714abcd66d66831ce111d1f78c58c9)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pedro on May 10, 2011, 05:58:13 PM
How are you liking it, Merrill?  I have wanted to read Bernhard for a long while, but I have not had the time.  I started Correction, but within five pages I knew it was not something I could read casually.  It was recommended by a friend after I read Lynne Tillman's American Genius, which I quite enjoyed.  So for what it's worth, you should check out that novel.  

My last semester of college is winding up, so my only reading is for the essays I'm working on.  I'm most involved with:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hedweb.com%2Freproductive-revolution%2Fliberal-eugenics.jpg&hash=213c4bc0356b214a7734aceb3500e1639ef4a4b6)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Mr. Merrill Lehrl on May 10, 2011, 06:06:45 PM
Thanks for the recommendation I'll check it out!  It's too early in Correction for me to say much about it, although in these early pages it reminds me of Saul Bellow in certain themes and dreamy intellectual aspects.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Mr. Merrill Lehrl on May 10, 2011, 07:16:23 PM
Quote from: JG on May 10, 2011, 07:00:37 PM
I'm ready to talk about it now.

spoilers

So many penetrating moments in the book, but also terrific stretches of character and flashes of beauty.  Did you become bored in the moments that were meant to express boredom and thereby permitted by narrative logic to be boring themselves?  I admit I sometimes did, especially in the late chapter that's a long conversation between the equally boring (for completely different reasons) Meredith Rand and Shane Drinion.  Although that chapter had its shining moments too.  What do you think about its flaws as unfinished material and potentially inert subject material versus the development of Wallace's style and voice and the many successful moments?  I thought the pros vastly outweighed the cons.

A personal favorite chapter of mine was number 8, which is I believe Toni Ware's backstory.  Beautiful crushing prose and the most terrific landscape descriptions I've ever seen from Wallace.  David gets a blowjob from the Iranian Crisis in a closet due to a case of mistaken identity!  Classic, really funny David moments, also the long, long car trip to the IRS headquarters, although some of the self-referential aspects didn't click due to his early death, especially the beginning of his first chapter when he's talking about lawyers and publishers and stuff.  That's too bad.

I give the book a thousand golden moons.  What about you?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on May 11, 2011, 05:15:37 PM
Quote from: Merrill Errol Lehrl on May 10, 2011, 07:16:23 PM
Quote from: JG on May 10, 2011, 07:00:37 PM
I'm ready to talk about it now.

spoilers

So many penetrating moments in the book, but also terrific stretches of character and flashes of beauty.  Did you become bored in the moments that were meant to express boredom and thereby permitted by narrative logic to be boring themselves?  I admit I sometimes did, especially in the late chapter that's a long conversation between the equally boring (for completely different reasons) Meredith Rand and Shane Drinion.  Although that chapter had its shining moments too.  What do you think about its flaws as unfinished material and potentially inert subject material versus the development of Wallace's style and voice and the many successful moments?  I thought the pros vastly outweighed the cons.

A personal favorite chapter of mine was number 8, which is I believe Toni Ware's backstory.  Beautiful crushing prose and the most terrific landscape descriptions I've ever seen from Wallace.  David gets a blowjob from the Iranian Crisis in a closet due to a case of mistaken identity!  Classic, really funny David moments, also the long, long car trip to the IRS headquarters, although some of the self-referential aspects didn't click due to his early death, especially the beginning of his first chapter when he's talking about lawyers and publishers and stuff.  That's too bad.

I give the book a thousand golden moons.  What about you?

Firstly, I think the media strategy of talking about the book in terms of whether or not its actually boring is just sort of cute and unnecessary. Its a good book, and if its ever boring its not because of the subject matter. Its the same factor in a lot of his work. Wallace explained a lot, and, very often, dryly.

The chapter you mentioned (Rand and Drinion) was actually one of my favorites. Wallace's prose seems to me most effective when narrating from the perspective of another character (even if its "David Foster Wallace," though I agree - if there was one chapter that DFW's suicide cast a weird glow over - it was his "memoir" chapter.)  However, you mentioned Ch. 8, and if there is one chapter that I struggled with on my first read through - it was that one. So I guess that just shows you that we are different types of readers.

Ultimately, I think its a great work, though incomplete (as opposed to IJ, which feels complete in its incompleteness, ie. its decision to not further traditional plot points) ... It feels like a scattering of wonderful chapters from some masterwork, but, having read the notes at the end of the novel, maybe its better that way? Its like like having this really vast canvas, but no one room can hold the canvas, so its spread out across many rooms. You can see the work, but only in bits and pieces, and in this case, the doors to some of the rooms have been locked. But if you squint hard enough you can kind of see the whole thing. Could the guesswork ultimately be apart of the book's charm?

I would recommend Pale King first as a supplement to his other work, namely IJ, because if there is one thing this novel did for me it was clarify that Wallace's fiction was on a very specific track. I recall the Fogle's "doubling" chapter, which is essentially a novella, entirely readable unto itself.. In that section, Fogle discusses the effects of the drug obetrol and hits on a sentence that eerily recalls the opening moments of IJ ("I am in here...") Moments like that are abound throughout the novel, beyond thematic echoes - relationship dynamics, structurally...

I'll think about it for weeks to come. I too give it many gold moons.

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Mr. Merrill Lehrl on May 11, 2011, 05:59:51 PM
Quote from: JG on May 11, 2011, 05:15:37 PM
Its a good book, and if its ever boring its not because of the subject matter. Its the same factor in a lot of his work. Wallace explained a lot, and, very often, dryly.

I don't know if it's a media strategy so much as a natural reflex as a reader.  Sometimes the subject matter is boredom, and as a book on boredom you ask yourself what's boring about it, how is the author portraying boredom?  You're right and wise to say that conversation about boredom has become disproportional to larger questions, and I think that's because the book is new and it's one of the easiest and most obvious themes to tackle.  But we can ignore it if you want.

Quote
The chapter you mentioned (Rand and Drinion) was actually one of my favorites. Wallace's prose seems to me most effective when narrating from the perspective of another character (even if its "David Foster Wallace," though I agree - if there was one chapter that DFW's suicide cast a weird glow over - it was his "memoir" chapter.)  However, you mentioned Ch. 8, and if there is one chapter that I struggled with on my first read through - it was that one. So I guess that just shows you that we are different types of readers.

I thought in Chapter 8 and other moments in other chapters DFW was casting a kind of forlorn shadow over the midwest, tones of misery and longing like you see in southern gothic, but given the DFW twist.  These moments were really powerful for me.  I was potentially being hard on the Rand and Drinion chapter, and like with the boredom theme it's DFW himself who supplied me with the ammunition to criticize the chapter, in the form of Rand's observations on Drinion and vice versa.  Some of my favorite lines were in the chapter, and Drinion's levitation was a wonderful wtf.  It also has a richly textured and believable atmosphere.

QuoteUltimately, I think its a great work, though incomplete (as opposed to IJ, which feels complete in its incompleteness, ie. its decision to not further traditional plot points) ... It feels like a scattering of wonderful chapters from some masterwork, but, having read the notes at the end of the novel, maybe its better that way? Its like like having this really vast canvas, but no one room can hold the canvas, so its spread out across many rooms. You can see the work, but only in bits and pieces, and in this case, the doors to some of the rooms have been locked. But if you squint hard enough you can kind of see the whole thing. Could the guesswork ultimately be apart of the book's charm?

I plan to geek out and visit the university the papers are going to be stored at once they're released to the public.

QuoteI would recommend Pale King first as a supplement to his other work, namely IJ, because if there is one thing this novel did for me it was clarify that Wallace's fiction was on a very specific track. I recall the Fogle's "doubling" chapter, which is essentially a novella, entirely readable unto itself.. In that section, Fogle discusses the effects of the drug obetrol and hits on a sentence that eerily recalls the opening moments of IJ ("I am in here...") Moments like that are abound throughout the novel, beyond thematic echoes - relationship dynamics, structurally...

Yeah you alluded to this in the other thread, but I find it's really hard to convince people to take the time to read Infinite Jest, and I'm hoping the attention surrounding him right now might lead people to him in whatever form is most appealing to them, including the reading of Pale King first.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on May 16, 2011, 02:32:00 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fg-ecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FG%2F01%2Fciu%2F41%2Fe9%2F30e2e03ae7a0355c95212210.L.jpg&hash=2eb7d7da077735ecb2f66fe90ebed9bb67b3b36a)

Really comprehensive and articulate about the art of Japanese comics and the man who greatly pioneered what manga is today.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: 72teeth on May 16, 2011, 03:23:17 AM
just finnished "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro... now im reading "Middlesex" by Jeffery Eugenides... want to read Tom Perrotta now
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Mr. Merrill Lehrl on June 09, 2011, 05:35:36 PM
Speaking of DFW (which JG and I were), samsong's recent post reminded me of a great passage from the Writer's Thesaurus.

Quote from: samsong on June 09, 2011, 04:06:31 PM
personally i was really surprised that a film that utilized so many archetypes and familiar symbols/imagery could still be as moving as this was.

Quote
utilize
This is a puff-word. Since it does nothing that good old "use" doesn't do, its extra letters and syllables don't make a writer seem smarter. Rather, using "utilize" makes you seem like either a pompous twit or someone so insecure that he'll use pointlessly big words in an attempt to look smart. The same is true for the noun "utilization," for "vehicle" as used for "car," for "residence" as used for "home," for "indicate" as used for "say," for "presently," "at present," "at this time," and "at the present time" as used for "now," and so on. What's worth remembering about puff-words is something that good writing teachers spend a lot of time drumming into undergrads: "Formal writing" does not mean gratuitously fancy writing; it means clean, clear, maximally considerate writing. --David Foster Wallace

No offense to samsong who uses a lot of dynamic words in order to emphasize and dramatize his viewing experiences.  That's his style and everyone should have a personal style.

Also:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51mU1E1bgFL._SL500_AA300_.jpg&hash=76375514ba6e378fec8383b27c7baf703098aeda)

I want to read American Genius next, as this thread reminded me.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on June 25, 2011, 11:33:02 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbookcoverarchive.com%2Fimages%2Fbooks%2Fthe_gulag_archipelago.large.jpg&hash=8ca501750b79b105bb3c9be4507c06d6f057ced5)

I imagined this would be rough, being firsthand accounts both by the author and interviews with survivors of the Gulags... But it is absolutely brutal.  If your'e fascinated by the era and want to learn about the sheer hopelessness of forced labor camps, by all means, check out this book.  
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: children with angels on June 29, 2011, 11:36:32 AM
Does anyone happen to have a copy of the March 2004 issue of The Believer?

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstore.mcsweeneys.net%2Fimages%2Fproduct%2F_cache%2F35df9fcb543531cf147841c8c20edb7d.jpg&hash=097d0604fb74e2b553aeddf1a7e57b4ef3acdd5a)

I need to check some page number references for an article I'm writing. Specifically, I'm trying to find out the page numbers for the article 'Notes on Art So Bad It's Good', by Douglas Wolk. I realise it's an extremely long shot, but if anyone's able to help a brother out, I'd be eternally grateful!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Mr. Merrill Lehrl on June 29, 2011, 03:59:49 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F0811219178.01-1.MAIN._SX300_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&hash=1cb21ee78b4af10bd28ee699208d4a18dc1623e8)

Just came out. Any fans? Let's book club.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleepless on August 02, 2011, 12:08:09 PM
A quick search yielded no thread dedicated to comic books, so I figured this is as good a place as any... I'm not a huge comic book guy but every couple of years or so I get back into them again. Last time I did, I read the entire Tintin collection. But wondered if anyone had heard about the massive DC reboot? On August 31, they are releasing brand new #1's of 52 different titles (http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/the-new-52/), in what appears to effectively be a mass reboot on dozens of different titles.

I'm wanting to at least take a look at Aquaman and a few of those Batman titles; think it could be pretty cool. Anyone know any more on any of this? I don't know whether it's worth trying to pre-order some place to at least see which ones I'd be interested in, or whether it's likely most stores would be pretty well stocked so I can browse and choose.

Anyway.... discuss away...
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on August 02, 2011, 02:49:50 PM
Quote from: Sleepless on August 02, 2011, 12:08:09 PM
A quick search yielded no thread dedicated to comic books

You lazy bastard. (http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=8697.0)

Quote
I'm not a huge comic book guy but every couple of years or so I get back into them again. Last time I did, I read the entire Tintin collection. But wondered if anyone had heard about the massive DC reboot? On August 31, they are releasing brand new #1's of 52 different titles (http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/the-new-52/), in what appears to effectively be a mass reboot on dozens of different titles.

I'm wanting to at least take a look at Aquaman and a few of those Batman titles; think it could be pretty cool. Anyone know any more on any of this? I don't know whether it's worth trying to pre-order some place to at least see which ones I'd be interested in, or whether it's likely most stores would be pretty well stocked so I can browse and choose.

Anyway.... discuss away...

They'll probably be awful, this isn't really the first time something like this has happened.  And "why does it happen?", you may be wondering.  Because ongoing serials with no end in sight just keep expanding the mythos until it gets so unwieldy that not even the virginest fanboy can fathom what's happening.  I'm not really that stoked about the reboots because DC staples are all cuddly, child-safe shit heaps.

If you want to catch up on Aquaman and Batman, you should also catch up on Tiger Beat so you can stay hip to the pacing and plot depth.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleepless on August 02, 2011, 03:08:30 PM
I knew there was one! I swear I looked but couldn't find it! So what's the deal here, you seem to know what's going on. Are they actually rebooting all these titles back to issue 1, or are the existing titles continuing, these are just going to run parallel? It seems to be a case of the former, but I wonder if that won't necessarily stop them from bringing in older characters with all their baggage which new reboot readers won't be familiar with. An example of why this is concerning is the whole two Arthur Curry nonsense from when they tried to change up Aquaman a couple of years ago. I'm not too worried about them being too kiddie-safe, because I never really read superhero comic books growing up a whole lot, so I'm partly interested in this reboot for the sake of some square one onwards stories I can pass on to my son. He's still young enough now that he'd just rip the pages to shreds, but some years down the road it would be cool to pass of a stack of comics to him to discover.

Either way, I can't believe that what seems to be such a massive event concerning several prolific characters hasn't had much publicity. It's hardly like I live with my head under a rock, yet today was the first I'd heard of this. DC needs to get some better PR and marketing people.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on August 02, 2011, 03:19:28 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg703.imageshack.us%2Fimg703%2F7121%2Fwritingmoviesforfunandp.jpg&hash=5746d17209a151b281b1ce5fdac8e607189bb531)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on August 02, 2011, 03:46:13 PM
Quote from: Sleepless on August 02, 2011, 03:08:30 PM
I knew there was one! I swear I looked but couldn't find it! So what's the deal here, you seem to know what's going on. Are they actually rebooting all these titles back to issue 1, or are the existing titles continuing, these are just going to run parallel? It seems to be a case of the former, but I wonder if that won't necessarily stop them from bringing in older characters with all their baggage which new reboot readers won't be familiar with. An example of why this is concerning is the whole two Arthur Curry nonsense from when they tried to change up Aquaman a couple of years ago. I'm not too worried about them being too kiddie-safe, because I never really read superhero comic books growing up a whole lot, so I'm partly interested in this reboot for the sake of some square one onwards stories I can pass on to my son. He's still young enough now that he'd just rip the pages to shreds, but some years down the road it would be cool to pass of a stack of comics to him to discover.

Either way, I can't believe that what seems to be such a massive event concerning several prolific characters hasn't had much publicity. It's hardly like I live with my head under a rock, yet today was the first I'd heard of this. DC needs to get some better PR and marketing people.

All I know, is that they're re-imagining all the origins and everything so that new readers can get in at ground zero and longtime readers can be given the middle finger for sticking with the series for so long try out something new!

I'm not sure of the parallel nature, and fanboys will be fanboys, I'm sure they'll continue to eat it up.  I'm sure they'll continue to print the old ones, too.  But I'm not absolutely positive.


Also

Quote from: Ravi on August 02, 2011, 03:19:28 PM
Writing Movies For Profit

A coworker was raving about this, should I just pick it up?  Based on his description, it's an absolutely hilarious, edifying and quick read.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on August 02, 2011, 07:13:34 PM
Quote from: Sleepless on August 02, 2011, 12:08:09 PM
But wondered if anyone had heard about the massive DC reboot? On August 31, they are releasing brand new #1's of 52 different titles (http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/the-new-52/), in what appears to effectively be a mass reboot on dozens of different titles.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi35.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fd179%2Fpolkablues%2FCalvin-comicbooks.jpg&hash=a34e5bb7ab869a0184f4157c998ee9931e2f4166)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on August 04, 2011, 10:05:40 PM
just started inherent vice.


(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.filmmakermagazine.com%2Fblog%2Fuploaded_images%2Finherent_vice.JPG_jpg_595x1000_q85-723421.jpg&hash=211e86f7159649c00a89668a3edf6813dc6dab9b)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Ravi on August 13, 2011, 05:10:22 PM
Quote from: walrus, the on August 02, 2011, 03:46:13 PM
Quote from: Ravi on August 02, 2011, 03:19:28 PM
Writing Movies For Profit

A coworker was raving about this, should I just pick it up?  Based on his description, it's an absolutely hilarious, edifying and quick read.

Yes, its very funny and has a lot of good, practical advice about the process and politics of screenwriting. They make it clear that this is not a book about how to write your personal art film. It is about writing commercial films.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on August 13, 2011, 06:06:46 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fretroslashers.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F07%2Fshockvaluebook.jpg&hash=cfa7779f2bfa8b3639243ca1ca1406d3e2f84487)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on August 14, 2011, 08:39:49 PM
ooooh, I want to read that! I'm just fininshing this:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgustavelechat.files.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2Fdanse-macabre.jpg&hash=30789dcb1736f75ca6709f5cca875c0a78c53f14)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: socketlevel on August 15, 2011, 11:03:09 AM
Quote from: MacGuffin on August 13, 2011, 06:06:46 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fretroslashers.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F07%2Fshockvaluebook.jpg&hash=cfa7779f2bfa8b3639243ca1ca1406d3e2f84487)

Hey Mac how is this? worth the pick up?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on August 15, 2011, 04:14:06 PM
Quote from: socketlevel on August 15, 2011, 11:03:09 AM
Hey Mac how is this? worth the pick up?

It's very good. It's like a Spike, Mike, Slackers and Dykes of horror. It respects classic horror movies while telling how modern horror films pushed the envelope to make the genre not just about old, dark houses. Makes you wanna go back and rewatch films you've seen before and find others you haven't, or never even heard of.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: socketlevel on August 15, 2011, 08:04:27 PM
nice, I'll check it then.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on August 30, 2011, 11:36:00 AM
I found it yesterday at the library, I didn't realize that it was new. From the cover it looks like it's from the 80's. stoked.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleepless on September 26, 2011, 04:03:56 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51gBBWUC4mL._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click%2CTopRight%2C35%2C-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg&hash=caa9f756fdb32ba6732f51dbf32f902e28ab6886) (http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Bridge-Vintage-Contemporaries/dp/140003437X/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1)

It's been a while since I've read a really good book, but I picked this one up at Border's liquidation sale knowing nothing about it and at just five chapters in, I'm absolutely floored. I'm really, really loving it. It's a real joy to read, and I'm smiling as I read it just out of pure enjoyment of the writing.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: O. on September 26, 2011, 06:29:41 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F_PeHC_tpMyoo%2FTT8f4UqtnSI%2FAAAAAAAAAgE%2FMuQN8pGcYXE%2Fs1600%2Fthe-name-of-the-wind.jpg&hash=87d61c66caac54b24b100e319c71e032c4d17834)

I'm about 200 pages in and I've sort of stopped after I started watching Breaking Bad (addiction for addiction), but I intend to continue soon. It's a brilliant way to tell a fantasy story.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on October 06, 2011, 03:12:08 AM
Quote from: O on September 26, 2011, 06:29:41 PM
It's a brilliant way to tell a fantasy story.

what way is that? homoerotically?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: O. on October 06, 2011, 05:31:51 AM
yes
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: The Perineum Falcon on October 29, 2011, 09:35:02 PM
lots of other books read, but now this:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.complete-review.com%2Fimage%2F1Q84.gif&hash=5d49a888725e096aa7b1f37fe7acd82d8e4a1b9d)
anyone else?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on March 07, 2012, 12:22:37 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fc745.r45.cf2.rackcdn.com%2Fimg%2F2009%2Fconversations_with_scorsese.jpg&hash=78c96456b479c11423803804ebaf0094f524cea1)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: md on June 27, 2012, 08:53:53 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.catholic.org%2Fins_news%2F2011072541inside-scientology-promises-a-lot-and-delivers.6550693.40.jpg&hash=1f4652a066b2a403f6b2f1959a757dc59dd06a9a)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F_RhoiX9HEM_o%2FSrwHPQ634JI%2FAAAAAAAAAgI%2Fz0Es1ZF2wJU%2Fs400%2Fbook%2Bcover.jpg&hash=c7be5ce9e17ac1769f2d8297c42e4c9e49601f20)

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fraisedonhoecakes.com%2FROH%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F11%2Fkilling-lincoln-the-shocking-assassination-that-changed-america-forever-by-bill-o-reilly-and-martin-dugard-ROH.jpg&hash=a8736fec2c760d4589bf99089a26e15452ad8b2e)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on June 30, 2012, 09:51:29 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjacketupload.macmillanusa.com%2Fjackets%2Fhigh_res%2Fjpgs%2F9780374230593.jpg&hash=d88ad485c9627daf58c7fc60068235267abca7ca)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: MacGuffin on August 05, 2012, 12:26:05 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.betterworldbooks.com%2F143%2FWriting-Movies-for-Fun-and-Profit-Lennon-Thomas-9781439186756.jpg&hash=725ddb4bd24e5ed1eec4b889895f345c876dc055)

It's actually quite informative.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on October 27, 2012, 02:18:05 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdailydish.typepad.com%2F.a%2F6a00d83451c45669e2017c32c2be3c970b-550wi&hash=9afc8bb459e134a4dabc05f6b5d47b96eac89685)








Nah, I just finished reading this:


(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.oprah.com%2Fimages%2F201210%2Fomag%2F201210-omag-books-echols-284xfall.jpg&hash=008c4e98852f5f1a041899c6abfda29045bb0537)



It was awesome. I don't really know how to sell you on it, but if you've ever had any interest/skepticism about the West Memphis 3 case or Damien Echols, this a must read.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: wilder on December 27, 2012, 10:29:12 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F8UIN2.jpg&hash=751af5ae0bf3f01601af890fa12d7cf06bcec16f) (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Extreme-Metaphors-J-G-Ballard/dp/0007454856/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356668667&sr=8-1)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on January 03, 2013, 05:55:29 PM
These two:


(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.writersstore.com%2Fsystem%2F0000%2F4112%2Frebel-without-a-crew-robert-rodriguez_medium.jpg&hash=860cd258bdf583fcf5ea04f0be14af6e2239c0ac) (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.tcm.com%2Fimg%2Fproperty%2Fresized%2F879%2F00590659-381879_catl_500.jpg%3Fk%3D5191a464%26amp%3Bpid%3D356883%26amp%3Bs%3Dcatl%26amp%3Bsn%3Dtcm&hash=91e7e062a4cd29c91b126af22c5cdf5de61e717c)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Frederico Fellini on January 03, 2013, 06:12:09 PM
Just finished this: 



(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Freading.kingrat.biz%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F03%2Fhell-to-pay.jpg&hash=5dcef7dc3c5e6ef631000438d91eb0f8c93ff5a2)



It’s written by one of the writers of “The Wire”.  I like it so much I’m about to start reading it again. And if dreams do come true, I will adapt this one into a movie one day.... One day... 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Pubrick on January 08, 2013, 08:46:57 PM
Quote from: Freddie on January 03, 2013, 06:12:09 PMAnd if dreams do come true, I will adapt this one into a movie one day.... One day...

if it's that good, or just an easy ready to go adaptation as the blurb suggests, chances are someone already bought the rights to it before it was even published.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on January 09, 2013, 12:28:02 PM
just recently became a stones fan, do i just picked up, "life," by Keith Richards and can't wait to get to it.

Currently I'm reading my way through the Renissance with,

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51iyJBVPduL._SL500_AA300_.jpg&hash=5c6948afff80076bfbc5188b78679cfe9b636ff9)


Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Lottery on March 21, 2013, 04:14:31 AM
Gravity's Rambo.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Drenk on March 21, 2013, 04:49:57 AM
A gun comes across the sky?



Rerererereading that book.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Funderthought.files.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F09%2Fsabbath.jpg%3Fw%3D258%26amp%3Bh%3D397&hash=d70eba5679f3025c3cdde9261c5c8f45b05df5c9)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on March 21, 2013, 02:00:50 PM
just finished this:



(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.roanoke.com%2Fbackcover%2Ffiles%2F2011%2F02%2FBooks_ZombieSpaceWaste.jpg&hash=8da08c649c4776320ae8a241e2995dec67ce220d)


it was funny.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: 72teeth on March 21, 2013, 03:15:10 PM
The Marriage Plot
Jeffrey Euginides


its no Middlesex.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: squints on March 21, 2013, 10:47:54 PM
http://fictionallibrary.tumblr.com/ (http://fictionallibrary.tumblr.com/)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: 72teeth on March 22, 2013, 12:24:58 AM
yoink
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: cinemanarchist on April 09, 2013, 02:34:32 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F25.media.tumblr.com%2Ftumblr_mcgykgqQ8S1qd9a66o1_400.jpg&hash=81549a998f0f057c3d6a3e33c068017286d0d3eb)

Ken Levine (creator of Bioshock Infinite) listed this as one of his inspirations for the game, along with There Will Be Blood.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on April 09, 2013, 04:28:34 PM
I don't know anything about the book, but I can definitely see the fontspiration.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on April 09, 2013, 04:46:51 PM
Quote from: cinemanarkissed on April 09, 2013, 02:34:32 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F25.media.tumblr.com%2Ftumblr_mcgykgqQ8S1qd9a66o1_400.jpg&hash=81549a998f0f057c3d6a3e33c068017286d0d3eb)

Ken Levine (creator of Bioshock Infinite) listed this as one of his inspirations for the game, along with There Will Be Blood.

Fuuuuck, I literally just saw this at the bookstore for $1 and didn't even consider picking it up. I knew I remembered it from here!


This bad boy:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jonathanrosenbaum.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F04%2Finherent-vice6.jpg&hash=a27c4cc9b9fe89003d54061d8c2ba19d0431cb23)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on April 09, 2013, 05:21:45 PM
mmm. keep wanting to read inherent vice based on pynchon, avoiding 'cause of pt. feels confusing! but prob exciting either way :))
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ©brad on April 10, 2013, 09:57:08 AM
Yeah I'm holding out on Inherent Vice until after I see the movie.

Reading this now and it's amazing.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2Fthumb%2Fc%2Fc3%2FCover_of_Skippy_Dies_Novel_by_Paul_Murray.jpg%2F200px-Cover_of_Skippy_Dies_Novel_by_Paul_Murray.jpg&hash=e243d482138d72aff6bf1b826449d294c07c04c1)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: 03 on April 27, 2013, 11:11:07 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F_uBVYfbdkqG0%2FS89uxrVvj_I%2FAAAAAAAAAeQ%2FkItYbDkDh9U%2Fs1600%2Fparamo1.jpg&hash=0afef7787b435d3af44f867506179c63f2637f09)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: wilder on June 18, 2013, 03:48:07 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FRPRhmFE.jpg&hash=47cf7874173540531e46138d8ac86c2ef156c707) (http://www.amazon.com/Sleepless-Hollywood-Tales-Abnormal-Business/dp/1476727740/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371587296&sr=8-1&keywords=sleepless+in+hollywood)

Sleepless in Hollywood: Tales from the New Abnormal in the Movie Business - Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Sleepless-Hollywood-Tales-Abnormal-Business/dp/1476727740/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371587296&sr=8-1&keywords=sleepless+in+hollywood)


I read this this past week. Lynda Obst (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0643553/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1) (Producer of Sleepless in Seattle, The Fisher King, How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days, and the upcoming Interstellar) had written one book previously called Hello, He Lied (http://www.amazon.com/Hello-Other-Tales-Hollywood-Trenches/dp/0767900413), which was about the day-to-day trials and tribulations of her experience as a producer in Hollywood during the 80s and mid-90s. This latest book, published a little over a week ago, is about the transformation the film industry has undergone this past decade, and especially since the 2008 writer's strike, as seen from the inside.

What struck me most about the book was how it married all these topics everyone's heads are swirling around -- the media conglomerate's purchasing of the studios, the growth of international box office revenues in the past five years dwarfing domestic (and what that means for story and the kinds of projects that get made), the general inversion of film and TV quality as of late, the talent-studio relationship transformation (and death of star power), the decline of DVD sales and the rise of VOD and streaming as a substitute or alternative to theatrical releases, tentpole and franchise-think everywhere, the internet and video games replacing movies as the entertainment go-to, Intellectual Property as gospel, and spec-script buying as a dinosaur, into one cohesive, clear narrative.

Salon published an excerpt (http://www.salon.com/2013/06/15/lynda_obst_hollywoods_completely_broken/) from the book you can read online. The first chapter is also available to preview on Amazon.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: wilder on June 29, 2013, 07:52:44 PM
Obst was interviewed on this week's episode of KCRW's The Business (http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/tb/tb130701kevin_smith_on_fundi), beginning at the 8 minute mark.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: wilder on September 02, 2013, 05:26:51 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F7g82Pu2.jpg&hash=5ab9355b897b88a8d7549bf4b781087ffe665900)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Lottery on September 02, 2013, 09:11:10 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa248.e.akamai.net%2Forigin-cdn.volusion.com%2Fpav6b.ueqc3%2Fv%2Fvspfiles%2Fphotos%2FPEN314-2.jpg%3F1347584806&hash=8edf17eb9fce26c5c530033717d2c62632b8aeb8)
This again. I really need some new fiction.
Has anyone read Asimov's Foundation series? Is it good? His short stories are pretty damn good.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on September 04, 2013, 02:22:24 AM
i read two asimov robot books in high school and since then i've read random short stories, so i'm not helpful in that area. are you in the mood for sci-fi alone? if not, what other kind of literature tends to interest you?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleepless on September 04, 2013, 12:14:17 PM
Five new JD Salinger books expected to be published between 2015 - 2020 (http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/03/new-jd-salinger-fiction-documentary)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Lottery on September 05, 2013, 11:49:03 PM
Quote from: trashculturemutantjunkie on September 04, 2013, 02:22:24 AM
i read two asimov robot books in high school and since then i've read random short stories, so i'm not helpful in that area. are you in the mood for sci-fi alone? if not, what other kind of literature tends to interest you?

Not necessarily sci-fi but I want to read some of the good classic stuff. Otherwise, anything really (that said, I do feel like reading something post 1940s though). For reference, my favourite authors are (I think, there's probably someone major that has sipped my mind)) Kurt Vonnegut, Gabriel Garcia-Marquez and Cormac McCarthy.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Frederico Fellini on September 05, 2013, 11:58:17 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jonathanrosenbaum.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F04%2Fgravitys-rainbow-penguin.jpg&hash=0ef7f8f0e3d2937697cdf3c8b94784d75bdf078e)




I made it to page 92 today. It's fucking hard to read Pynchon. I actually spend less time reading it and more time googling references, historical facts and meanings of words I've never read or heard before. But it's fun.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on September 06, 2013, 04:14:31 AM
Quote from: Lottery on September 05, 2013, 11:49:03 PM
I want to read some of the good classic stuff.
post 1940s
Kurt Vonnegut, Gabriel Garcia-Marquez and Cormac McCarthy.

seize the day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seize_the_Day_(novel)) is saul bellow in 56, his fourth book, followed eight years later by herzog (!) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herzog_(novel)) (TIME magazine named it one of the 100 best novels in the English language since "the beginning of TIME")

saul bellow writes about people. people mania. classic existentialism

not a classic, not on wikipedia, a book (http://www.amazon.com/Spurious-A-Novel-Lars-Iyer/dp/193555428X) i'm reading mentioned béla tarr. this is the conversation's ending
QuoteBéla Tarr would discern what is absolute about my yard, W. says. He'd register its every detail in a twenty minute tracking shot. The sewage, the concrete, the bin bags and rotting plants . . . the yard would mean more to Béla Tarr than all our nonsense.

Béla Tarr said that the walls, the rain and the dogs in his films have their own stories, which are more important than so-called human stories. He said that the scenery, the weather, the locations and time itself have their own faces. Their own faces! Yes, we're agreed, the yard, the horror of the yard, is the only thing around here in which Béla Tarr would be interested.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Cloudy on November 21, 2013, 12:19:32 AM
QuoteBéla Tarr would discern what is absolute about my yard, W. says. He'd register its every detail in a twenty minute tracking shot. The sewage, the concrete, the bin bags and rotting plants . . . the yard would mean more to Béla Tarr than all our nonsense.

Béla Tarr said that the walls, the rain and the dogs in his films have their own stories, which are more important than so-called human stories. He said that the scenery, the weather, the locations and time itself have their own faces. Their own faces! Yes, we're agreed, the yard, the horror of the yard, is the only thing around here in which Béla Tarr would be interested.
[/quote]

Really enjoyed the quotage, been trying to consume as much Bela Tarr as possible. It's weird, it took me getting physically sick with a head-ache and fever to truly plunge into it. Now I can't leave, it's all so musical and flows unlike anything else.
The book doesn't sound like anything that would mention Bela Tarr. Interesting.
Also, this Saul Bellow quote seems totally relevant:
"The physical body is an agent of the spirit and its mirror. it is an engine and a reflection of the spirit. It is the spirit's ingenious memorandum to itself and the spirit sees itself in my body, just as I see my own face in a looking glass. My nerves reflect this. The earth is literally a mirror of thoughts. Objects themselves are embodied thoughts. Death is the dark backing that a mirror needs if we are to see anything."
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: JG on January 13, 2014, 07:07:05 PM
here are some of the best stories i've read in the past 6 months or so:

John Williams - Butcher's Crossing (novel)
Herman Hesse - Demian (novella)
Pushkin - The Captain's Daughter (novella)
Stephen Crane - The Open Boat (short story)
Carson McCullers - Member Of The Wedding (novella)
Dash shaw - Bodyworld (graphic novel)
Thomas Mann - Death in Venice (novella)
Herman Melville - The Happy Failure: A Story Of The Hudson River (short story)
Tobias Wolff - Desert Breakdown 1968 (short story)

what are yours?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: ©brad on January 21, 2014, 10:52:55 PM
I just met a girl who was a Mad Men writer's assistant during the first half of season four, until Matt Weiner told her to her face "You know, I need someone hotter in here." She was promptly fired and given a job at Breaking Bad. She said Vince Gilligan was the nicest boss she'd ever had, in and out of Hollywood.

Reason I share that is I just read this:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.aarp.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F07%2FDifficultMen_300dpi-197x300.jpg&hash=16bafaf453174c229c5169280bcd2a8e90647b0e)

A fun read that's 70% about the Sopranos and how the "golden age of television" is indebted to David Chase. A few other tidbits:

A David Chase writer's room seems scarier than Guantanamo Bay.
David Milch (creator of Deadwood, Luck) is by far the craziest of all these loons.
The road that let to make The Wire happen is almost as fascinating as The Wire itself.
Matt Weiner is a queen bitch and control freak.
Writers often run to the bathroom to cry after receiving "notes" from Weiner/Chase on their scripts. 
Vince Gilligan is a total mensch, as rare a showrunner as Breaking Bad is a show. 

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on January 22, 2014, 12:17:00 AM
in movie news, this week i watched david chase's not fade away, and, hey, question tv people: creatives who've homerunned in tv, have any of them later converted to cinema? what's the most exciting tv-to-movie conversion that's happened? not fade away didn't have exciting cinema
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on January 22, 2014, 05:46:43 AM
Did the movie have subtitles? Because I don't see what that has to do with reading...
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Frederico Fellini on January 22, 2014, 07:07:49 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.craniumfitteds.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Frobert-greene-mastery.jpg&hash=9083128abd153d4944ac7c93d670e16909cebf8c)




Just finished this one.  Instantly one of my favorite books ever, mainly because of how it relates to my situation right now.

Whatever you do in life, whether it is music or movies or writing, if you're gonna do it, THEN FUCKING DO IT, SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LET'S GET ON WITH IT... And once you do it, don't just do it, BECOME A FUCKING MASTER AT IT.

We have a finite existence here on this earth, inside these bodies, with the ability to think and take action. So just pick something that makes you happy and make it be your "vocation in life". Devote your life to it, truly enjoy it. master it and do your part to make the world a better place.

I honestly recommend this book to everyone who is still pursuing their dreams, especially here where pretty much everyone has a script written or trying to get a movie made.

BTW you can thank this book for me spending less time embarrassing myself in the shoutbox and more time doing real shit in real life that's gonna help my future.

10/10 book. Freddie has become The Master.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on January 22, 2014, 01:42:16 PM
Quote from: Reelist on January 22, 2014, 05:46:43 AM
Did the movie have subtitles? Because I don't see what that has to do with reading...
excellent example
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on January 22, 2014, 01:56:09 PM
Oh, i didnt see the post above yours  :doh: haha. You were on point. Excused


...but the answer to your ? Belongs in another thread
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on January 22, 2014, 02:18:25 PM
Quote from: Reelist on January 22, 2014, 01:56:09 PM
Oh, i didnt see the post above yours  :doh: haha. You were on point. Excused


...but the answer to your ? Belongs in another thread
two in a row, you're almost on fire

i think in the olden days tv was crazy and it never happened? not sure when it first happened. woody allen is an early example of a writer who began in tv. charlie kaufman began in tv. edgar wright did. i guess there's a potential list of people but, as reelist is pointing out, the timeframe is different because the golden age of tv is currently happening. the golden age tv people are working on tv. as a movie person, i'm excited to see if any conversions occur

that's what your book made me think about ©brad

i'm reading neuromancer
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on January 22, 2014, 02:27:47 PM
 :yabbse-tongue:
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on January 22, 2014, 02:33:58 PM
Quote from: ©brad on January 21, 2014, 10:52:55 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.aarp.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F07%2FDifficultMen_300dpi-197x300.jpg&hash=16bafaf453174c229c5169280bcd2a8e90647b0e)

Read this earlier last year, mentioned it in the shit box, but anyhow, it's definitely worth a read folks.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on May 14, 2014, 12:58:31 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FYhSxKGI.jpg&hash=8e53c8df22f61515b60a5ab8b0c4d81c363b20e0)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: BB on May 15, 2014, 10:12:08 PM
Any good?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on May 27, 2014, 03:32:35 PM
^yes very [<- i deleted another post where i said this to make this new post--]

sometimes books, movies, or music, a lot of art is sometimes really like a self-help event. experiencing art can be like taking a spiritual vitamin, i think

and new tab was so wonderful. so nourishing. so enjoyable. page-by-page i loved the hell out of it.  this quote is from page 3 or some other very beginning page, and it's an example of a quote i saved (there are many examples):

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FyB05cuk.png&hash=83417328650ae8ecea8941646419b08bcd2090eb)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleepless on May 28, 2014, 09:39:30 AM
Am so far on track to read one book per month so far this year (just counting fiction/novels).


So far completed...

The Returned by Jason Mott (crap)

The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ripley Under Ground, and Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith (all great, although the first half of Game is lacking Ripley, and the second half gets quite outrageous even for Ripley)

The Fear Index by Robert Harris (haven't quite finished yet, but so far I'm ripping through it, a great/easy/engrossing read)


Next up...
For Whom The Bells Toll by Ernest Hemingway (read a load of Hemingway short stories early last year, followed by his first three novels in order. This is the next one and from everything I've heard is his best.)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Drenk on June 13, 2014, 01:34:39 PM
I'm not reading it, but today I bought Ulysses at Shakespeare & Co. The first edition was published by S&Co in 1922 because WTF? is this book and OMG too dirty for the US. Sylvia Beach owned the place and was Joyce's friend. France did things! They published irish writers. Beckett kind of became a french writer, though. (And fucked Joyce's insane daughter.)

(Digression: some say that Joyce and Proust met each other once, but didn't talk to each other; Joyce complained about his eyesight and Proust about something else.)

They had a reproduction of the first edition. It looks nice.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi39.servimg.com%2Fu%2Ff39%2F11%2F65%2F95%2F74%2Fimg_2011.jpg&hash=165546496a1626c2148b116d4c5b60409dd8d6ca)

I read it in french but it had no real taste (you can't really translate it, I guess).
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on August 15, 2014, 03:15:09 PM
Snapped a pic of the books on my desk to give y'all an idea of what I plan to read, I'm halfway through about 3 of these and the rest I've abandoned altogether
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BvGu4yIIUAE7sHV.jpg:large)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Frederico Fellini on August 15, 2014, 03:22:42 PM
¨How to quit drinking without AA¨

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on November 14, 2014, 02:52:08 PM
there's a new coffee-table movie book. best of luck to the you this christmas

my favorite:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FV5vtCYZ.jpg&hash=e08387dae9ea3b3a6501ebb9ed6e6a79917154eb)(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FJxcpKxH.jpg&hash=f66786c9bc6510efe0c5c955083ac68b2918a07f)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FPjj6Emm.png&hash=f26d418dccea58eba712a172f88d5a1e175d5baa)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Lottery on December 02, 2014, 03:42:42 AM
Finished Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. I had first come across the book in Time Magazine many years ago but I soon forgot about it. I was writing something and I came across the book again during "research" and discovered some annoying similarities.  But yes, I finally read it and it was good. Slow to start and at times dull (and the style required some adjustment on my part) but it is a reasonably lengthy book and I was rather drawn into the world over the duration of the read. Some great characters, an interesting tale and (arguably) above all- a fantastically detailed and described world of magic and magical history (intertwined with real history too).

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2F4%2F4d%2FJonathan_strange_and_mr_norrell_cover.jpg&hash=3de5d9a237506626792144ece85240e71d3e7eb3)


EDIT:

Apparently there is an incoming sequel and a TV show. The world present in the story definitely deserves more stories but not necessarily a true sequel.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on July 04, 2015, 01:47:18 PM
Poetry because a poetry book co-written with me is finished today. We chose July 4 'cause holiday. Also, remembering I've read so few poems in my life, today I read two that are favorites to me, as Kubrick and Scorsese can be favorites to people who have seen like 20 movies and begin considering what's going on in those movie things they been seeing. In summary I know what's going on in these poems and I need them in my life, happy July 4, which no matter where you live is the day my poetry book was finished.

Richard Brautigan:

QuoteDeath Is a Beautiful Car Parked Only
for Emmett

Death is a beautiful car parked only
to be stolen on a street lined with trees
whose branches are like the intestines
of an emerald.

You hotwire death, get in, and drive away
like a flag made from a thousand burning
funeral parlors.

You have stolen death because you're bored.
There's nothing good playing at the movies
in San Francisco.

You joyride around for a while listening
to the radio, and then abandon death walk
away, and leave death for the police
to find.

Frank O'Hara:

QuoteWHY I AM NOT A PAINTER

I am not a painter, I am a poet.
Why? I think I would rather be
a painter, but I am not. Well,

for instance, Mike Goldberg
is starting a painting. I drop in.
"Sit down and have a drink" he
says. I drink; we drink. I look
up. "You have SARDINES in it."
"Yes, it needed something there."
"Oh." I go and the days go by
and I drop in again. The painting
is going on, and I go, and the days
go by. I drop in. The painting is
finished. "Where's SARDINES?"
All that's left is just
letters. "It was too much," Mike says.

But me? One day I am thinking of
a color: orange. I write a line
about orange. Pretty soon it is
a whole page of words, not lines.
Then another page. There should be
so much more, not of orange, of
words, of how terrible orange is
and life. Days go by. It is even in
prose, I am a real poet. My poem
is finished and I haven't mentioned
orange yet. It's twelve poems, I call
it ORANGES. And one day in a gallery
I see Mike's painting, called SARDINES.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on August 31, 2015, 01:41:06 PM
to be Frank with you, and you're Jerry, so we're Frank and Jerry having a conversation and what could go wrong from there, most humorous writers sound like bullshit to me. they don't need to blame themselves, it's only that there's hundreds of years of artistic philosophies behind them and i'm not as impressed by their humor as i am by that, especially by 80% of what i most cherish being explored, investigated and defined in the early 20th century. what then is a writer to do? you win my heart if you can of course. and to me, this page for example is Jenny Lawson shredding a guitar solo, crushing it, and i get her in a crystal clear way. i vibe with her note-for-note, i think you might too, and i'm in fact a yankee myself (hey south, you know what's in your soil, slavery and the Bush family, and I'm looking forward to Harriet Tubman becoming a face of American currency, and i sure hope you can get Jefferson Davis out of your parks, let's realtalk about how Cormac McCarthy came to see the world in his way from living in the south, and ya'll got smoked by a Yankee how a Yankee do it, you fucks, bless ya) --

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FK6FGzwd.png&hash=aec4ddcc4f2d2aab2fb15b1202f8ef360c9eecbd)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on September 01, 2015, 04:12:17 PM
it's becoming less surprising to me, why i click with Jenny Lawson:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FLK143YR.png&hash=76490d955936fafb433e22a00d1bdf91526dcbc3)

she gets me. quote from her next book Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things, which I've sampled while continuing to read Let's Pretend This Never Happened, which I quoted in the above post. I guess myself unlikely to read Furiously Happy when it comes out, since the two books have such similar writing style, but also that means I'm likely to finish Let's Pretend This Never Happened.

so another quote from Furiously Happy. since as long as I've liked art it's bothered me how people watch movies about difficult people and can like those movies, but then they meet a difficult person in real life and that makes them scared so they go home and binge watch tv instead. I think there's a difference between getting someone and caring about someone, and I can care about Jenny Lawson in a way that fascinates me from a variety of perspectives, including gender dynamics, but I know she does that thing which I need art to do to keep me going, to make me feel less alone in the world and less afraid of it, you know:

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Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on September 12, 2015, 04:56:23 PM
quick bio about my recent hero Jón Gnarr:

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^cover to part 2 in his memoir trilogy, which in January will be published by Deep Vellum (a Dallas publishing company that's entered the lit freeway in the fast lane), translated by Lytton Smith, who taught me with part 1's translation that the Icelandic alphabet has 32 letters without even a 'c' or 'w.'

i think that cover is badass and he's a respected badass. people who blurbed for memoir part 1, The Indian: Björk, Noam Chomsky, Yoko Ono, Lady Gaga.

the first book of his that was published in USA, by the always-amazing-to-me NYC Melville House, which book I haven't read and don't quite want to read (because i like memoirs since that's life as fiction, while autobios are biopics and you see the problem), his first book published in the USA is titled

Gnarr! How I Became the Mayor of a Large City in Iceland and Changed the World.

because also:
QuoteIn 2009 Jón founded The Best Party, together with a group of other artists. The Best Party won a landslide in the 2010 local elections in 2010 and Jón became Mayor of Reykjavík. Despite enthusiastic support from voters, Jón opted to govern for only a single term; in 2014 he left the mayoralty, and The Best Party was disbanded.

what happened was:
QuoteAccording to polls, a decisive majority of Icelanders name Jón as the person they most want to see become the next President of Iceland in the 2016 elections.

i know we think we're great and strong in America, but so what Trump and West want is to be Jón Gnarr, and it's better if you're just Gnarr anyway (my contribution to the ongoing USA topic of noticing Scandinavian countries are better at most things).

Then the seal to this topic, quotes from his book The Indian, which I like as much as I like the recently quoted Jenny Lawson, in fact discovering Gnarr and Lawson opened me up creatively and emotionally:

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+

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Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Punch on September 13, 2015, 10:06:34 AM
these two


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Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Neil on September 21, 2015, 04:24:32 PM
A friend showed me the documentary, "Manufactured Landscape," and I was blown away, so he let me borrow this:

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Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on November 11, 2015, 12:09:02 AM
while reading this book i kept reading my street's name and familiar descriptions so while wondering about this i messaged the author and told her where i live and read her book, asked her what up... then i learned from her the fact that this book mostly takes place exactly one block up from where i live...

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Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Garam on December 12, 2015, 11:42:31 PM
So this is from a book called 'The Price of Altruism', about a scientist called George Price, featured in Adam Curtis' excellent documentary All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace [2011]

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he was an American scientist who worked on the Manhattan project with Feynman and those guys and lots of other big historically important things. He tried to figure out the problem of altruism. If we're just programmed to send on our genes, then why are there martyrs, saints and heroes? You can even see it in the animal world. Darwin never figured it out, but Price and Bill Hamilton uncovered it.

I can't repeat the science jargon, but basically what it came down to is if there was a chance to save other people close to your genes, then it was beneficial for you to save them if that was the only choice. You died, but some of your genes were in the other people, and they let you live on, that sort of thing.

Finding out there's no such thing no such as selflessness really disturbed Price, so he went on the streets of London where he was doing some research at the time, and devoted his life to helping the homeless. This was in the early-mid 70s when London was a bit of a shithole (uh well...more so). He gave away all his shit and basically followed Jesus' teachings as if they were a precise mathematical formula. He got robbed blind by the homeless and was basically taken advantage of at every turn. He grew into more and more despair until eventually he killed himself by cutting an artery in his neck with a pair of scissors.

Here's a bit...

QuoteTo Mr Norman Ingram-Smith of St Martin-in-the-Fields he wrote in more detail about his wish to help solve the 'bag-storage-place-to-wash-and-change-clothes problem' of London's homeless. There were two explicitly Christian communes in the city: the Children of God commune on Walterton Road and the Jesus Family commune in South Norwood. Both were full-time evangelising outfits, and both prohibited drinking and smoking: "That's fine for those who want that, but there are many people in London who enjoy helping others but who smoke and drink moderately and want to hold jobs. So there is a need for communes or co-ops with more permissive rules."

The idea was to start such a commune by renting out a derelict house (not squatting; after all, the people living there would all have jobs, and it wouldn't be fair not to pay rent), and opening it up as a haven for homeless who needed help. Each member would decide what part of his or her possessions and income were turned over for common use to the commune. Particular effort would be made to get some members with skills useful for rehabilitating old houses: plumbers, electricians, and so on. It would be a happy and friendly place, 'with a bit of style and swing to it,' for advertising to help communal life seem attractive. Members would be encouraged to invite guests for meals and to stay overnight or longer. But this would not be a one-off; it was part of a much bigger plan:

The hope would be that other communes would spring up that similarly had permissive and flexible rules, with members holding jobs, some of which would have more social service emphasis. One desirable feature would be to have young people and old people living together. Some communes might include bedridden or blind people. Others might make a special effort to help alcoholics. And so on. It would depend upon what people were interested in doing. If the idea took hold and many communes were founded, a lot of problems could be alleviated, including the problem of giving homeless people in some cases homes, and in other cases a place to leave a suitcase, wash up, and change clothes.

Back in Little Titchfield, he was learning lessons of love from his lodgers. In the living room he had built an altar, covered by a table cloth and with a wooden cross standing atop it. It was rather simple, George thought, but he had plans for a more splendid one, with a skirt of black velvet and a top cloth of white velvet, surrounded on the sides and back by drapes of blue velvet. Then one day Bernardo asked for some Vaseline for his hair, and, apparently not noticing that it was an altar, wiped his greasy hands on its cloth, and – to George's horror – hung his underpants on the cross. Just as he was about to give him a piece of his mind, George came to see that this was Jesus telling him – through Bernardo – that the rich velvet altar cloths were the wrong way, the old way, the Old Testament way, whereas giving good clothes that he himself wanted to needy strangers was the right way, the way of Jesus the lord.

As much as living with strange men was educating him, the lease came to an end of June 24, and, feeling utterly unworthy yet to follow Jesus' true path of suffering, the least George could do was not to renew it. The peculiar American had been a godsend to the homeless of Euston Station and Soho Square for the past 3 months, but he had completely failed to plan ahead for his own sake. Now George was going to be homeless himself.

-

The first few nights he slept in his office at the Galton, but clearly this was no kind of solution. Ursula Mittwoch, a colleague at the department, offered that George stay with her family and do some tutoring for their teenage daughter who was just then preparing for an English exam. She remembered his stay with fondness. Her daughter loved George's clarity and marveled at how he seemed to know all the poems she was supposed to learn. Everyone enjoyed his good humour at breakfast and dinner, his utter considerateness, tidiness, and gentle manner. Even George himself was making a good time of it. "Thus far I have enjoyed being homeless," he wrote to his old family friend Dr. Gilfillan back in the US on July 3. "It is a good way to get acquainted with people."

But the Mittwochs' was only a short-term solution, as were fleeting stays at other friends' houses from the Galton. He'd moved most of his books and papers to Wolfson House, the abode of the Department of Human Genetics and Biometry at 4 Stephenson Way. But soon George was beginning to see that this wasn't going to be all that easy. Before he could create his 'Jesus people' commune, he would need to find a place to sleep.

Having to abandon George's apartment, too, Smoky was now once again behind bars. From Her Majesty's Prison, Pentonville, on Caledonian Road, he wrote on lined prison notepaper to thank George for the radio he had sent him, but also to explain his own philosophy. George might think that Jesus intervenes in people's lives, but Smoky was less salutary. "Let's be fair," he wrote, "if we do wrong we have to take the consequences." George's noble generosity was admirable, but in the end the price might be too steep:

Come to think of it, you are better off keeping away from the square, those people there have no respect for you, all they want is money and cider off you, you have to consider yourself now and again, do they worry about you, when you are broke and hungry. I doubt it very much...give them half the chance and they would squeeze you dry.

Selfless friendship was difficult to come by.

Talking about friends, where are all the ones who are supposed to be friends of mine (YOU EXCEPTED OF COURSE!) I haven't had even as much as a postcard off any of them. So I can assure you, I don't miss any single one of them, FRIENDS, people call them? They are or were only drinking acquaintances, I miss my drink and the privilege of walking the streets admittedly who doesn't in this place. In fact what purpose have these people got in LIFE? They live from one day to the next wondering where the next drink is coming from they hardly ever eat, have a bath, they won't work, honestly I think some of them would be better off in here, for a while.

He was praying that George and Peg Leg Pete find a place to rest their heads again. George was a rarity: a true and honest altruist. He needed to watch out for herself. "It's not very nice in the Bruce House," Smoky warned him of the Centrepoint homeless hostel on the aptly onomatopoeic Drury Lane. "Please don't stoop that low!" Then he added, "i would suggest that you post the cash to me in your next letter, if you can manage say £10 or £15."

Thinking little of his own problems, George had lately started to help old people around Myddleton Square near St Mark's Church, nursing them or running errands during the day and sleeping over nights when family found it difficult to stay. Murial Challenger, a congregation member, acted as the go-between. There was the frail octogenarian Mrs Rose on Chadwell Street, who wasn't doing all that well, and Mrs Abercrombie, likewise, on Goswell Road. After explaining that he shouldn't worry if the old ladies sometimes seemed 'changeable,' Muriel wrote to George:

Mr Eastop, 345 St John Street, could do with someone to walk beside him for a very short walk. It would be good for him to go out and not sit all day but he has lost confidence since a severe illness. His little wife is housebound too and is not much of a companion as she finds her deafness difficult to cope with.

George had seen Julia briefly when she visited in the beginning of August. She'd come over, she made clear, to buy some antique jewelry and small collectibles to sell at weekend antique markets back in Michigan. It was a sad coda to the hopeful days all those years ago, when World War II was ending and the future lay ahead. If there had been some miniscule, wild glimmer of hope that they should get back together despite all their history, it had to be put to rest now. With George homeless and making radical selflessness his life's philosophy, it was clear to Julia that her relationship with that handsome man she had encountered at the Met Lab, the promising scientist who had become the father of her daughters 25 years before, was finally, irreversibly dead.

George was staying at Bruce House now. Some nights a violent drunk would fight him over his cubicle, and always he would yield with a smile. During the day he'd walk to Euston Station and Piccadilly Circus to meet winos and beggars and see how he could help them. He was wearing a large aluminium cross against his chest, and twice already, he thought, it had come in handy. When he'd chanced upon two cases of police brutality to homeless men he confronted the coppers demanding they stop. Each time he was told gruffly that it was none of his business, and each time remarked that it was. Then, on both occasions, the policemen took a look at his cross and, silently if not entirely respectfully, retreated.

He had testified at Smoky's trial, but the testimony failed to shorten the sentence. Never mind, George wrote encouragingly, this would give Smoky time to make a true promise to Christ. "You asked me for suggestions about what to do when you get out," he offered.

Well, Smoky, I may be totally wrong, but since you ask me for advice i'll tell you what I believe. Your ideas, from what you've written to me, are about getting a good job, working regularly, going to Church regularly, and abstaining from drink. Well, I don't think you can manage it.

Instead George thought that he should take one or two drinks soon after he got out, that he should right away, even now in prison, stop attending church services, and that he should abandon ideas of getting a proper job and try to help the homeless instead. The reasons for all this ("by the way," George wrote, "this is very unconventional advice") were first, that not drinking entirely would only inevitably lead to a powerful urge for the bottle; second, that going to church was much less important than serving Jesus by loving and helping others; and third, that since he knew the streets better than anybody, helping homeless down-and-outs like himself would be the job he could accomplish with greatest skill.

If you try to manage a conventional, in-between life I think you'll quickly drift back to the way you were. So I think your only way out is to resolve that you're going to go to the other extreme and give most of your time and efforts to helping others, especially alcoholics. It's much the same way that some dangerous animals will attack a man if he tries to run away from them, but will run away from him if he goes directly toward them. So, in the same way, think of cider and wine, Soho Square and Bruce House and that whole way of life as a dangerous tiger that will hunt you down if you try to flee from it, but if you go directly toward it, armed with the 'rifle' of intending to hurt people, it will flee from you.

Sealing the letter and addressing it to Pentonville, George might really have written the advice to himself.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Garam on December 12, 2015, 11:43:22 PM
Quote'The Logic of Animal Conflict' made the cover of Nature in November 1973. 'Game Theory and computer analysis,' the authors concluded triumphantly, 'show...that a 'limited war' strategy benefits individuals as well as the species.' With the newly introduced and formally defined concept of the ESS, it was a paper that would impact the study of the evolution of behaviour dramatically. Down at Soho Square most days, searching for Aberdeen and Peg Leg Pete, George had other things on his mind.

"As I hardly need tell you," Al wrote to him from Buffalo,

the moral and religious precepts of the Gospel reflect a profound understanding of human nature. I would think they are intended to identify goals toward which we should strive, given our frailties...to live up to them literally may be to attempt more than human nature can manage and, I suspect, more than we actually intended. Trying to live up completely by such principles might produce little in the way of peace of mind. And, it would seem to me, that where behaviour based on religious precepts does not yield peace of mind, the eventual result will almost inevitably be the erosion of belief itself.

But George was deep in the forest on the path he had set for himself. "I can't remember whether I told you anything much about my way of life," he wrote to his brother, Edison.

I have no home, so use my business address as a mail address...Usually I wear brown Levis, sneakers, and a colourful shirt. Many times each month I find myself reduced to one penny, a half penny, or zero. Most of my possessions have been given away, including my watch and coat (but i'll have to pick up a coat somewhere now with winter coming on). Everywhere I go I keep running into down-and-out alcoholics, to whom I give when I have anything, and with whom I sit and drink from their bottle if they offer me a drink. Increasingly I find myself on the opposite side from the police. Many of my friends have done time, and I've been in a house that was raided and had my things searched then, but I haven't yet been busted...I do a lot of smoking, and also smoke cigarettes, though I haven't yet developed a fag habit. A substantial amount of my time is given to trying to help people in almost any way they ask me or seem to need help, whether it's by giving them money, cleaning a filthy kitchen, talking to a landlord, shopping for a housebound person, or trying to solve some mathematical problem for somebody here at work. A lot of this helping is of old people, especially women in their eighties. I live very cheaply and have been reducing my debts (which are large) fairly rapidly since I became homeless...in spite of vast amounts of time missed from work, plus eccentric behaviour such as sleeping here often and doing my laundry in the men's room and trying to borrow money from everyone in the department, my professor and the department chairman are friendly to me. (In fact, most people are friendly to me except the police, who seem to instinctively dislike me nowadays). I haven't gone to church for six or eight weeks, but I visit and try to help old people in connection with a church that I have often attended. I usually wear a cross of some aluminium-appearing or pewter-like metal around my neck, except that people keep asking me for it (especially old, sick people and down-and-out alcoholics) and I've given away seven of them and don't have any now and won't be able to buy another until pay-day). I generally try to say 'yes'.

Then he ended, 'And now what's up with you?'

It was an amazing transformation from the prim, short-haired, gangling IBM worker he had been just a short seven years ago. Even Smoky was really starting to get worried about him, as was Paul Garvey, a homeless wreck serving time at Her Majesty's Remand Centre in Richmond, Surrey.

But George was happy, perhaps the happiest he had ever been. A kind of peaceful quiet had finally descended on his soul. Lately he'd met 'a bloke named Keith who is a follower of the Guru Maharishi,' and the two enjoyed conversations on a park bench over chips and coffee.

He was enclosing a picture of himself, he wrote to Kathleen, taken in his office by a photographer; the best faculty photo, people said, in all of the department. In it he is wearing a colourfully striped shirt and dark bow tie, sporting a wry smile above a scraggly red beard, counterbalanced by fine hair brushed back above a broad forehead. Only the eyes confuse an otherwise joyful portrait: Tucked behind dark-rimmed glasses, one is small and kind, the other open wide and strangely empty.

He was feeling so good that he decided to send Kathleen a special surprise. His only likely source at the time was in Nottingham, where, he divulged to his daughter as if reading her a bedtime story, the sheriff who hunted Robin Hood had lived. But in the end he took out the quid's worth of pot, pressed between the pages of a C. S. Lewis book stamped for California. He had just moved to a new squat, and ended up smoking it himself.

Life among the destitute, as the 'Monthly Message' of the London Healing Mission newsletter admitted, was 'certainly never dull.' There was an alcoholic woman beater whose partner George had hid from him and who was demanding to know where she was. Increasingly he would come around the Galton, insisting to see George, and, when refused entry by the guard, would yell from the pavement and up to his office. George refused to divulge the woman's whereabouts and soon was keeping his own whereabouts secret, too. 'The reason for the secrecy,' he explained to Kathleen after half apologising for smoking the reefer,

is mainly one very difficult man who has been coming around where I work to look for me and causing trouble. A week ago Monday he pissed publically on the front steps of the genetics building, smashed a bicycle lamp, scattered the contents of some student's satchel around, and shouted his best obscenities.

The people he was living among and helping weren't always as friendly as he was, but, having been enveloped in a halo of serenity, George wouldn't allow this to dampen his mood. "I expect that one cover-illustrated article in Nature compensates for one urination at the front entrance to the building," he joked to Kathleen. His sense of humour was still very much alive.

The administrators at the Galton weren't happy about the down-and-outs who were showing up, still less for their urinations and assaults on students. Late in the fall, George had met a young IBM programmer from America at the Russell Square Underground Station who turned out to share his liking for Proust plus his total lack of direction and great inability in pronouncing unfamiliar names. Excited, George took him back to his office and they spent the evening talking about Proust and computer programming. As it happened, the young American was wearing blue jeans, leather boots, a green poncho, and had about a three-day stubble. Wary of George's exploits, the beadle immediately pegged him as an alcoholic and pressured Harry Harris into introducing a new rule against late night and weekend working without special permission. CABS tried to help by sneaking  George a key to the statistics library, but he was discovered. Soon he was no longer coming in to his office at UCL. Too quickly his colleagues at the department were losing contact with him. Most thought he'd gone off the deep end. "He'd certainly flipped," one of them recalled.

Then, in Mid-November, Al Somit arrived in London for a visit. The UCL photo may have made George look healthy and chipper, but that was only a head shot and after a rare shower to boot; the professional photographer hired by the Galton had obviously done some magic. In reality things were very different. Al hadn't seen George for about eight years and was dismayed and appalled at what he now found: he'd first met him in the weight room at the University of Chicago, offbeat perhaps but handsome and muscular and hard; now George was as sinewy and gaunt as an old man, the spring in his step all but vanished. He was grungy and oily and shabbily dressed, his teeth were beginning to rot, his outgrown hair was as brittle as hay, his fingers yellow from smoking. They joked together like in the old times at the co-op before Al shifted, inevitably, to a more serious tone:

"I'm not going to give you money for the new pair of shoes you obviously need unless you promise not to give it to these two leeches," he said to him in a coffee shop, eyeballing two alcoholics who had been on George's tail. George thanked him but said he couldn't make such a promise, and that no amount of convincing would help. It was the same old George, he thought, always contrary, always at the extreme. Holding his hand out with a smile to say good-bye, Al walked away from his old friend with the pound notes still deep in his pocket.

"It was nice to see you again though, in all honesty, I think I would have preferred finding you in somewhat other circumstances," he wrote upon his return to Buffalo, suddenly feeling worried and regretful.

It occurred to me, as I reflected on our discussion, that you may be confusing the notion of serving your fellow man with loving your fellow man. If the former, surely there are more effective ways than the one which you have adopted.

Then he added, with a candor far removed form their usual wise-cracking: "The latter may, in fact, be quite removed from your capacity – or mine."
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: wilder on December 14, 2015, 12:45:40 AM
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Cinema is full of neurotic personalities, but few things are more transfixing than a woman losing her mind onscreen. Horror as a genre provides the most welcoming platform for these histrionics: crippling paranoia, desperate loneliness, masochistic death-wishes, dangerous obsessiveness, apocalyptic hysteria. Unlike her male counterpart - 'the eccentric' - the female neurotic lives a shamed existence, making these films those rare places where her destructive emotions get to play.

Films covered include The Entity, The Corruption of Chris Miller, Singapore Sling, 3 Women, Toys Are Not for Children, Repulsion, Let's Scare Jessica to Death, The Haunting of Julia, Secret Ceremony, Cutting Moments, Out of the Blue, Mademoiselle, The Piano Teacher, Possession, Antichrist and hundreds more!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on December 14, 2015, 01:20:20 AM
Let me know if that's any good, it sounds up my alley.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Reel on December 14, 2015, 07:38:46 AM
Ditto. That's a nice snag and I'm always up for this kind of subtextual film criticism, the last one I highly enjoyed being "Men, Women & Chainsaws" ...of course, I'd need to rewatch a bunch of the movies listed first as they've just been sitting on my shelf.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on January 08, 2016, 02:36:59 AM
i'm not actually reading these chapbooks tonight, i'm staring at their covers online while feeling less alone in this universe:

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this one's a book from the writer of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, and i can relate to it by basic principle: [edit: i have no idea why it's on the Pion

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Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on March 21, 2016, 08:14:55 PM
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Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on April 10, 2016, 01:55:52 PM
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Wiki paraphrase:
City of Night is a gay novel written by John Rechy, notable for its exposé approach to and stark depiction of hustling, as well as its stream of consciousness narrative style. The narrator shares many characteristics, including his ethnicity and relative age, with the author at the time. City of Night inspired film director Gus Van Sant to write the screenplay for My Own Private Idaho. Toby Ross in his film "Paper Dreams" makes a clear mention of the book and the influence it had on his career and thousands of young men who used this book as an inspiration for migrating to the big cities and imitation of the protagonist's life style.

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Wiki paraphrase:
John Francisco Rechy is a Mexican American novelist, essayist, memoirist, dramatist and literary critic who has written extensively about gay culture in Los Angeles and wider America, among other subject matters, and is among the pioneers of modern LGBT literature. His debut novel City of Night, published in 1963, was a best seller and is widely considered a seminal work in 20th century literature.

quote from James Baldwin letter to the publisher regarding the book:

Quote[Rechy's] tone rings absolutely true, is absolutely his own... He tells the truth, and tells it with such passion that we are forced to share in the life he conveys... This is a most humbling and liberating achievement..

epigraph:

Quote"The City of Night: perchance of Death, But certainly of Night...."
--James Thomson, The City of Dreadful Night

book's first line:

QuoteLater I would think of America as one vast City of Night stretching gaudily from Times Square to Hollywood Boulevard--jukebox-winking, rock-n-roll-moaning: America at night fusing its darkcities into the unmistakable shape of loneliness.

paragraph of the book, from page 2, which made me have to make this post:

QuoteAt first the day was beautiful, with the sky blue as it gets only in memories of Texas childhood. Nowhere else in the world, I will think later, is there a sky as clue, as blue, as Deep as that. I will remember other skies: like inverted cups, this shade of blue or gray or black, with limits, like painted rooms. But in the Southwest, the sky was millions and millions of miles deep of blue--clear, magic, electric blue. (I would stare at it sometimes, inexplicably racked with excitement, thinking: If I get a stick miles long and stand on a mountain, I'll puncture Heaven--which I thought of then as an island somewhere in the vast sky--and then Heaven will come tumbling down to Earth....) Then, that day, standing watching Winnie, I see the gray clouds massing and rolling in the horizon, sweeping suddenly terrifyingly across the sky as if to battle, giant mushrooms exploding, blending in that steely blanket. Now youre locked down here so Lonesome suddenly youre cold. The wind sweeps up the dust, tumbleweeds claw their way across the dirt....

bold is my personal emphasis, just fucking tucked into a parenthetical mid-paragraph. italics are from the book.

what really itches my skin is how Los Angeles he is. better later than never, is the saying.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on April 20, 2016, 11:32:47 PM
^City of Night is flatout the best reading i've had since... The Savage Detectives, back-back, in terms of the empowering effects the writing is having on my perception of the possibility and potential of words.

so now i'm all up in words again, where i love to be. Maggie Nelson (http://www.amazon.com/Argonauts-Maggie-Nelson/dp/1555977359/) was a big factor as well. i quote her saying "artistry trumps mastery." i'm going to finish City of Night then supposedly i'll read next these books i'm buying in my frenzy:

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Quote"When you sell a man a book," says Roger Mifflin, the sprite-like book peddler at the center of this classic novella, "you don't sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue—you sell him a whole new life." In this beguiling but little-known prequel to Christopher Morley's beloved Haunted Bookshop, the "whole new life" that the traveling bookman delivers to Helen McGill, the narrator of Parnassus on Wheels, provides the romantic comedy that drives this charming love letter to a life in books.

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QuoteBest known for The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov is one of twentieth-century Russia's most prominent novelists. A Dead Man's Memoir is a semi- autobiographical story about a writer who fails to sell his novel, then fails to commit suicide. When the writer's play is taken up for production in a theater, literary success beckons, but he is not prepared to reckon with the grotesquely inflated egos of the actors, directors, and theater managers.

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QuoteA book length collaboration between two underground legends, Charles Bukowski and Robert Crumb. Bukowski's last journals candidly and humorously reveal the events in the writer's life as death draws inexorably nearer, thereby illuminating our own lives and natures, and to give new meaning to what was once only familiar. Crumb has illustrated the text with 12 full-page drawings and a portrait of Bukowski.

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QuoteThe Red Lobster perched in the far corner of a run-down New England mall hasn't been making its numbers and headquarters has pulled the plug. But manager Manny DeLeon still needs to navigate a tricky last shift with a near-mutinous staff. All the while, he's wondering how to handle the waitress he's still in love with, what to do about his pregnant girlfriend, and where to find the present that will make everything better.

Stewart O'Nan has been called "the bard of the working class," and Last Night at the Lobster is one of his most acclaimed works.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on April 27, 2016, 02:56:37 AM
i'm still currently ordering and ordering books, although aside from some pages it doesn't even count as reading them yet.

recently i've been chatting with people about the philosophy of solipsism and the fact that i have my solipsism and you have yours and we're all these people trying to get along, you know, and this is related to i care about these books now but i'm not sure there are many people here who do, but i don't hold it against you, since i probably don't care about your things (we can laugh about this).

this is human stuff and i'mma whatever-whatever disinterest.

the Greeks, you know. the cradle of Western civilization. they've been on my mind recently, since i figure everything i talk about in Automanifest the Greeks have mentioned. and i've been putting this to the test. which has, yes, produced its riches.

the first one i mentioned in shoutbox, it relates more to the movie The Witch than Automanifest, but i like how playful and rich with character it is:

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QuoteWritten towards the end of the second century AD, The Golden Ass tells the story of the many adventures of a young man whose fascination with witchcraft leads him to be transformed into a donkey. The bewitched Lucius passes from owner to owner - encountering a desperate gang of robbers and being forced to perform lewd 'human' tricks on stage - until the Goddess Isis finally breaks the spell and initiates Lucius into her cult. It has long been disputed whether Apuleius meant this last-minute conversion seriously or as a final comic surprise, and the challenge of interpretation continues to keep readers fascinated. Apuleius' enchanting story has inspired generations of writers such as Boccaccio, Shakespeare, Cervantes and Keats with its dazzling combination of allegory, satire, bawdiness and sheer exuberance, and The Golden Ass remains the most continuously and accessibly amusing book to have survived from Classical antiquity.

so where did thinking about this book take my thoughts? well into the idea of books, and in particular my fascination these days has been with picaresque novels, which are absolutely still my favorite types of novels. this is how wiki quotes it being described:

QuoteA picaresque narrative is usually written in first person as an autobiographical account.
The main character is often of low character or social class. He or she gets by with wit and rarely deigns to hold a job.
There is no plot. The story is told in a series of loosely connected adventures or episodes.
There is little if any character development in the main character. Once a picaro, always a picaro. His or her circumstances may change but they rarely result in a change of heart.
The picaro's story is told with a plainness of language or realism.
Satire might sometimes be a prominent element.
The behavior of a picaresque hero or heroine stops just short of criminality. Carefree or immoral rascality positions the picaresque hero as a sympathetic outsider, untouched by the false rules of society.

the idea of the picaresque novel and travel books and the idea of journeys and people encountered, things like that, basically the idea of storytelling for as long as stories have existed, that's my favorite stuff. so i did what? well i ordered the first book that established this idea:

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QuoteWhile elements of Chaucer and Boccaccio have a picaresque feel and may have contributed to the style, the modern picaresque begins with Lazarillo de Tormes, which was published anonymously in 1554 in Burgos, Medina del Campo, and Alcalá de Henares in Spain, and also in Antwerp, which at the time was under Spanish rule as a major city in the Spanish Netherlands. It is variously considered either the first picaresque novel or at least the antecedent of the genre.

The protagonist, Lázaro, lives by his wits in an effort to survive and succeed in an impoverished country full of hypocrisy. As a picaro character, he is an alienated outsider, whose ability to expose and ridicule individuals compromised with society gives him a revolutionary stance. Lázaro states that the motivation for his writing is to communicate his experiences of overcoming deception, hypocrisy, and falsehood (desengaño).

that's exactly what i still do today. absolutely. still the same human stuff. i'd say the contemporary update is one has to realize one's part of the problem too. or simply me as a person i am, i'm part of the problem, my problem.

looking forward to either fully reading these books or consuming their ideas alone. books and movies alike, i follow the compass in my heart, same as everyone with everything.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on November 29, 2016, 03:26:52 PM
(https://global.oup.com/academic/covers/pdp/9780198729181)

plot:

QuoteNew Grub Street opens with Milvain, an "alarmingly modern young man" driven by pure financial ambition in navigating his literary career. He accepts that he will "always despise the people [he] write(s) for," networks within the appropriate social circle to create opportunity, and authors articles for popular periodicals. Reardon, on the other hand, prefers to write novels of a more literary bent and refuses to pander to contemporary tastes until, as a last-gasp measure against financial ruin, he attempts a popular novel. At this venture, he is of course too good to succeed, and he's driven to separate from his wife, Amy Reardon, née Yule, who cannot accept her husband's inflexibly high standards—and consequent poverty.

the author's wiki is dramatic:

QuoteOn 25 February 1891, he married another working-class woman, Edith Alice Underwood. They settled in Exeter, but moved to Brixton in June 1893 and Epsom in 1894. They had two children, Walter Leonard (1891–1916) and Alfred Charles Gissing (1896–1975), but the marriage was not successful. Edith did not understand his work and Gissing insisted on keeping them socially isolated from his peers, which exacerbated problems in the marriage. Whereas Nell was too sick to complain about his controlling behaviour, some historians believe Edith stood up to him with arguments; whereas she may have suffered uncontrollable and violent rages as Gissing claimed in his letters to Bertz - from this distance in time it is impossible to know the truth. Gissing exerted his revenge - or protected the child from continual violent assaults since he stated in letters the child's safety was in danger - in April 1896, when Walter was spirited away without Edith's knowledge and sent to stay with Gissing's sisters in Wakefield. Gissing claimed this was to prevent the boy being a victim of Edith's violence, but he strongly disliked the way she represented him to his son. Alfred, the younger child, remained with his mother. The couple separated in 1897, though this was not a clean break - Gissing spent his time dodging Edith and afraid she might seek a reconciliation. In 1902, Edith was certified insane and was confined to an asylum. At this time he met and befriended Clara Collet who was probably in love with him, although it is unclear whether he reciprocated. They remained friends for the rest of his life and after his death she helped to support Edith and the children.

gloomy closing paragraph:

QuoteIn 1897 Gissing met H. G. Wells and his wife, who spent the spring with him and his sister at Budleigh Salterton. Wells said Gissing was "no longer the glorious, indefatigable, impracticable youth of the London flat, but a damaged and ailing man, full of ill-advised precautions against the imaginary illnesses that were his interpretations of a general malaise."

people who live and write of the tricky life i'm magnetized by owing to relatability.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on December 15, 2016, 09:16:32 PM
Unwrap My Heart (http://www.unwrapmyheart.com/) is about a teenage girl who falls in love with a mummy.

It's essentially a parody of Twilight and other supernatural YA romance.

23-min book reading here:

http://read-weep.com/#!/bonus-content.php/unwrap-my-heart-live-reading
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on January 14, 2017, 04:24:38 PM
i'm glad there's a post in here to help me remember when i discovered John Rechy's City of Night, which book, reminder, inspired Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho, was cited by David Bowie as his favorite book, has a James Baldwin letter of praise at its beginning, and it's absolutely the most impressive book from and about Los Angeles which i've heard of and read. the book was transformative for me and that's been mentioned now.

these are books published in 2016 which were transformative in my life --

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this book was also about my life, i could tell

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playfully terrified and similar to Walker Percy's Lost in the Cosmos

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it's a fucking book about a dude living in Yellow Springs, Ohio, off royalties from his self-published books, sold over the internet, and this whole concept plus reality makes me shit myself really

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sometimes one just lets oneself be marketed, short stories

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confession: i haven't opened this book yet, which arrived to me with that fucking cover and wrapped in plastic, and all i knew i just know this is a keeper

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legit called by some the golden age of nonfiction, our time period, and that's because women are writing awesome creative nonfiction, and this is a tops from the year, as Maggie Nelson's The Argonauts was last year

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bite-sized philosophy and a fractal narrative, plus he's Spanish-language, come on

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he's the Alex Ross Perry of the literary world, which means i kind of hate him and appear to like the same things he does

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never forget: trashculturemutantjunkie, and what bizarro fiction has created, the reading community they've built, from Portland, from sci-fi and fantasy and teenage feelings, they're basically kids books for adults, i adore the entire enterprise

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this is the Scandinavian version of American Mary, i.e. it's better focused and more introspective

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Scandinavian but also experimental, since the lines, you know, but really it's the same as everything else, just written differently

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it's not my first year reading her, is the thing, and basically she's exactly who i want to be

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two in a row, regarding writers whom it'd just be better if i was them, the poetry book sensation of the year, i bought it like everyone else

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poetry book, though in particular i like the inciting prose

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this is actually the most recent for me and i've barely read from it, so all i know is it has that sharp prose which is common, writerly, it's shorts, its 5.5x7 format trips me out, and it's a symbol here at the end for how this year i basically i looked around and found all this great writing currently being produced and easy as hell to run into okay
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on January 15, 2017, 06:58:21 PM
^ i was slightly surprised by the number, myself, plus later i thought of what i'd left out.

the first is actually the most influential novel of the year for me, so it's extra-ridiculous i'd forgotten about it, except also he's a longtime favorite, and the second is the first novelization of a movie i've ever read

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Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: wilder on August 14, 2017, 01:21:11 AM
Lauren Greenfield's recently published photography book. Video lecture by Greenfield below.

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Quote from: Lauren GreenfieldOver the past four years, I've been engaged not only in the process of making new work and photographs and a video for this project, but most importantly, in a process of analyzing and investigating my own work, thinking about what I've been witness to over the past 25 years. But this project is not about actual wealth. To clarify, it's really about the influence of affluence. It's about our aspiration to wealth, its connection to our identity, and that of the American Dream, and the way we emulate it, and package it, and export our notions of it, and the contagious virus that is the addictive culture of consumerism. My work considers wealth very broadly defined: so I'm including the currency of fame, the currency of branding, the currency of the body, the currency of youth...

I realized that this wasn't just the time that I worked and the themes that I followed, but actually there was this kind of seismic shift in both our values and our culture...and saw that we had gone from a culture defined by the Protestant ethic and the value of hard work and discipline and frugality...to a culture that prized bling, and celebrity, and narcissism.

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Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on August 19, 2017, 10:39:38 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Pa6R-h%2BtL._SX323_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

basically, when one is dead one doesn't feel sensation, so one does't feel bad (even if one's dead body is tortured, btw), so there is nothing bad about death. Cicero hardcore praised the Spartans, quoting "Set forth bravely, Spartans, today perhaps we will dine among the dead." he said everyone should read Roman writers, who used Latin, instead of only praising Greek writers, who should still be read, since Plato rules and Socrates forever seriously, but read them in Latin, he said. reading is helpful because the purpose of philosophy is to alleviate fear, dread, and anxiety. Cicero mad namedropped and shittalked. there are three different stories about a perfect gift being death. his point is that life is a pain in the ass throughout its entirety, and when it's over it's over. so live it, love it, you know. Cicero was yolo af i'm just saying.

this is my second favorite quote--

QuoteI speak of the dead, who are non-existent. We, who exist, wouldn't say we lack horns or wings, would we? Has anyone said such a thing? Of course not. Why? Because, when you don't have something for which you have no use or aren't by nature suited, you don't lack it, even if you perceive that you don't have it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Drenk on August 26, 2017, 07:45:34 AM
David Foster Wallace was a grammar nazi with his students but played around grammar in his works. Humans are fun.  :yabbse-grin:

The document at the end of this page: http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/press/releases/2010/dfw/teaching/#english


By the way: PTA was a student of Wallace, and maybe Wallace's story Little Expressionless Animals about Jeopardy inspired him for Magnolia, I don't remember the timing exactly but the short story was released at the end of the nineties. It's a great short story and PTA loved Wallace as a teacher so he probably read it.

Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: wilder on September 07, 2017, 11:58:40 PM
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To be published this month from The Visible Press (https://thevisiblepress.tictail.com/product/slow-writing-thom-andersen-on-cinema) (UK). First edition is a limited run of 900 copies.

Thom Andersen will be in person at Skylight Books (http://www.skylightbooks.com/event/thom-andersen-discusses-his-book-essays-slow-writing-tosh-berman) on October 12th
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on September 10, 2017, 04:43:56 PM
Publisher: Tin House Books (September 12, 2017)

QuoteIn these ten essays Jim Shepard weaves close readings of film with cultural criticism to explore the ways in which movies work so ubiquitously to reflect how Americans think and act. Whether assessing the "high-spirited glee of American ruthlessness" captured in GoodFellas, or finding in Lawrence of Arabia a "portrait of the lunatic serenity of our leaders' conviction in the face of all evidence and their own lack of knowledge," he explores how we enter into conversations with specific genres and films―Chinatown, The Third Man, and Badlands among others―in order to construct and refine our most cherished illusions about ourselves.

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(this is not what i'm reading but posting news about)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on September 29, 2017, 11:17:16 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/I1u89dR.jpg)

QuoteMary MacLane's I Await the Devil's Coming is a shocking, brave and intellectually challenging diary of a 19-year-old girl living in Butte, Montana in 1902. Written in potent, raw prose that propelled the author to celebrity upon publication, the book has become almost completely forgotten.

In the early 20th century, MacLane's name was synonymous with sexuality; she is widely hailed as being one of the earliest American feminist authors, and critics at the time praised her work for its daringly open and confessional style. In its first month of publication, the book sold 100,000 copies — a remarkable number for a debut author, and one that illustrates MacLane's broad appeal.

Now, with a new foreward written by critic Jessa Crispin, I Await The Devil's Coming stands poised to renew its reputation as one of America's earliest and most powerful accounts of feminist thought and creativity.

movie stuff --

Quoten 1917, she wrote and starred in the 90-minute autobiographical silent film titled Men Who Have Made Love to Me,[7] for Essanay Studios. Produced by film pioneer George Kirke Spoor and based on MacLane's 1910 article of the same title for a Butte newspaper, it has been speculated to have been an extremely early, if not the earliest, sustained breaking of the fourth wall in cinema, with the writer-star directly addressing the audience. Though stills and some subtitles have survived, the film is now believed to be lost.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on September 30, 2017, 11:06:12 AM
Quote from: jenkins on September 29, 2017, 11:17:16 PM

Mary MacLane's I Await the Devil's Coming is a shocking, brave and intellectually challenging diary of a 19-year-old girl living in Butte, Montana in 1902. Written in potent, raw prose that propelled the author to celebrity upon publication, the book has become almost completely forgotten.

In the early 20th century, MacLane's name was synonymous with sexuality; she is widely hailed as being one of the earliest American feminist authors, and critics at the time praised her work for its daringly open and confessional style. In its first month of publication, the book sold 100,000 copies — a remarkable number for a debut author, and one that illustrates MacLane's broad appeal.

Now, with a new foreward written by critic Jessa Crispin, I Await The Devil's Coming stands poised to renew its reputation as one of America's earliest and most powerful accounts of feminist thought and creativity.


This book has been a mainstay of my annual reads for the past four years. Originally published as The Story of Mary Maclane, it's available for free on archive dot org, if anyone is broke and needs to commune with the Devil.
excerpt:
QuoteYou are superb, Devil! You have done a magnificent piece of work. I kneel at your feet and worship you. You have wrought a perfection, a pinnacle of fine, invisible damnation.
     The world is like a little marsh filled with mint and white hawthorn. It is filled with things likewise damnably beautiful. There are the green, green grass-blades and the gray dawns; there are swiftly-flowing rivers and the honking of wild geese, flying low; there are human voices and human eyes; there are stories of women and men who have learned to give up and to wait; there is poetry; there is Charity; there is Truth.
    The Devil has made all of these things, and also he has made human beings who can feel.
    Who was it that said, long ago, "Life is always a tragedy to those who feel"?
    In truth, the Devil has constructed a place of infinite torture -- the fair green earth, the world.
    But he has made that other infinite thing ---Happiness. I forgive him for making me wonder, since possibly he may bring me Happiness. I cast myself at his feet. I adore him.
    The first third of our lives is spent in expectation of Happiness. Then it comes, perhaps, and stays ten years, or a month, or three days, and the rest of our lives is spent in peace and rest -- with the memory of the Happiness.
    Happiness -- thought it is infinite -- is a transient emotion.
    It is too brilliant, too magnificent, too voerwhelming to be a lasting thing. And it is merely an emotion. But, ah -- such an emotion! Through it the Devil rules his domains. What would one not do to have it!.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on September 30, 2017, 11:14:26 AM
xx.

Maclane was influenced by Bashkirtseff, whom i would also like to read someday.

(https://i.imgur.com/als4WyG.jpg)

QuoteNo one loves everything as much as I. Art, music, painting, books, people, dresses, luxury, noise, calm, laughter, sadness, melancholy, jokes, love, cold, sun, all seasons and weathers, the plains of Russia, the mountains above Naples, snow in winter, the rain of autumn, spring's follies, summer's tranquil days, and nights brilliant with stars.

In early fin de siècle Paris, Marie Bashkirtseff became a cause célèbre in artistic and feminist circles, and one of the most talked-about women in Paris. She lived as if possessed by a presentiment of early death, imparting to the world—during her swift and vivid passage through time—a legacy of startling beauty, extraordinary art and, perhaps most everlastingly, her magnificent Journal.

In keeping with her censorious era, the Journal, edited by her mother and published posthumously in 1887, was rampantly expurgated and cleansed. Madame Bashkirtseff made absolutely certain that none of her daughter's far-reaching and radical opinions appeared in the published pages. Likewise, she cleansed the journals of their often-embarrassing family rows, scandals and history. In spite of this vast and deep suppression of Marie's story, the French press hailed the journals as the true portrait of a great and dynamic young woman.

Now, 128 years after her death, Fonthill Press brings forth the most complete, unsanitized version of Marie Bashkirtseff's Journal ever published in the English language. In this fresh and timeless translation, Katherine Kernberger has returned to the original text—Marie's notebooks held in Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Her meticulous, decades-long research into Marie's life has resurrected the true, multifaceted literary self-portrait that Marie Bashkirtseff endeavored to reveal. Kernberger enables Marie to speak as she lived—scrupulously ambitious, seductively funny, warmly personal, and always thoroughly mesmerizing.

Excerpts

"I have not omitted one of my actions or one of my thoughts from this journal. I am real and natural, like souls before God."

"How short life is; how sad to live so little! How much women are to be pitied! At least men are free. They have absolute freedom in ordinary life—the liberty to go and come, to go out, to dine at a cabaret or at home, to walk to the park or to a café. Having liberty is half the battle in developing talent, and it's three-quarters of ordinary happiness. But you will ask, 'Superior woman that you are, why not take this freedom for yourself?' It's impossible, because a young pretty woman who emancipates herself this way blacklists herself; she becomes singular, talked-about, criticized, and censured. And as a consequence she is less free than when she observes those idiotic customs. So there's nothing to do but regret my sex and come back to my dreams of Italy and Spain. Giant trees, pure sky, streams, oleanders, roses, sun, shade, peace, calm, harmony, poetry, inspiration."

"L'art! If I didn't have these four magical letters in the distance, I would be dead. But for art I need no one else; I depend on myself. And if I fail, I am nothing and can't live any more. Art! I see it as a great light very far away over there, and I forget everything else. I walk with my eyes fixed on this light. I'm a little old to be starting, especially for a woman. But I will try."

"I would like horribly to pose in the gentlemen's studio—nude. People are ashamed to be nude because they are afraid they aren't perfect. Otherwise we would go out without clothes. The sense of "modesty" disappears before perfection, beauty being all-powerful, and it even prevents embarrassment and consequently suppresses any feeling of shame."

"I'm frightened by the flight of time..."
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on September 30, 2017, 12:37:04 PM
amid learning of these things, it's quite clear to me that i'll land at Anaïs Nin

(https://nikkimmascali.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/nin-diary.jpg)

the writer of Henry & June, which Philip Kaufman adapted (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099762/) after The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

she's rather clearly same team

(https://i.imgur.com/pk7iWxw.jpg)

QuoteSome people read to confirm their own hopelessness. Others read to be rescued from it.

all of the above are some of the reasons i will make my way to her, and there are other reasons, i'm saying here's a photo of her which could seal the deal itself, although there is much beyond this basically perfect photo of a person

(https://i.imgur.com/sZcR6HY.jpg)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on January 19, 2018, 09:04:32 AM
One of the most relentlessly horrifying, brilliantly rendered works of historical "fiction" I've ever encountered. Getting through it at a slightly slower pace than I'd like, my work schedule making it particularly difficult to just sit down and devour this morally-challenging (to put it lightly) behemoth. My highest recommendation, and I'm only about 300 pages in.

Bret Easton Eliis had this to say about it: "Almost finished with THE KINDLY ONES by Jonathan Littell which I bought when it came out years ago but only picked up in the last couple of months and am convinced it's a masterpiece—a 1000 page novel narrated by a young German rising through the SS in the final years of WW II with a guaranteed horror every seventy pages or so (Stalingrad, Auschwitz). I am not recommending this novel to everyone—it will be impossible for some people with a monstrous narrator. It's actually an overwhelming act of sympathetic imagination and I was both horrified and mesmerized and never bored even though the book definitely has—because of its immersive quality—its narrative digressions."
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on March 18, 2018, 07:57:53 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/8qJQqmI.jpg?1)

Rebecca Solnit slays, is basically what i'm saying. how did i find about her? not even from someone i know, no, but from the internet, she was just listed around the things i liked and there i went. the same thing happened with me and Mary Oliver. do i think Mary Oliver lives up to her reputation? that's another thing i'm saying. here's Solnit:

QuoteThe places in which any significant event occurred become embedded with some of that emotion, and so to recover the memory of the place is to recover the emotion, and sometimes to revisit the place uncovers the emotion. Every love has its landscape. Thus place, which is always spoken of as though it only counts when you're present, possesses you in its absence, takes on another life as a sense of place, a summoning in the imagination, with all that atmospheric effect and association of a powerful emotion. The places inside matter as much as the one outside. It is as though in the way places stay with you and that you long for them they become desires—a lot of religions have local deities, presiding spirits, geniuses of the place. You could imagine that in those songs Kentucky or the Red River is a spirit which the singer prays, that the mourn the dreamtime before banishment, when the singer lived among the gods who were not phantasm but geography, matter, earth, itself.

There is a voluptuous pleasure in all that sadness. and I wonder where it comes from, because as we usually construe the world, sadness and pleasure should be far apart. Is it that the joy that comes from other people always risks sadness, because even when love doesn't fail, mortality enters in; is it that there is a place where sadness and joy are not distinct, where all emotion lies together, a sort of ocean into which the tributary streams of distinct emotions go, a faraway deep inside; is it that such sadness is only the side effect of art that describes the depths of our lives, and to see that described in all potential for loneliness and pain is beautiful? There are songs of insurgent power; they are essentially what rock and roll, an outgrowth of one strain of the blues, does best, these songs of being young and at the beginning of the world, full of a sense of your own potential. Country at least the old stuff, has mostly been devoted instead to aftermath, to the hard work it takes to keep going or the awareness that comes after it is no longer possible to go on. If it is deeper than rock it is because failure is deeper than success. Failure is what we learn from, mostly.

A Field Guide to Getting Lost.

and on top of all that, she has a book dedicated to walking. it's titled Wanderlust: A History of Walking. you know it's like, clearly worth my time here, since i like to write about these things, and because of how well she writes.

she also wrote Men Things Explain To Me, which cover i had seen but which book i hadn't read. i knew about it. for some reason i thought Sheila Heti wrote it. Sheila Heti can "bring it" as well. Men Things Explain To Me brought mansplaining into the cultural lexicon, although that word isn't in the book and Solnit isn't a fan of it.

basically in life as far i can tell i share movie interests with gay men and writing interests with women.

honestly if i made a list of female writers slaying nonfiction it'd be a long list. that's truth.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: csage97 on April 04, 2018, 08:50:46 PM
Thinking about buying the new Space Odyssey by Michael Benson which is about the process of making 2001, but I'm trying to avoid the new hardcover price (which would be in Canadian where I am, plus the shipping). https://www.amazon.com/Space-Odyssey-Stanley-Kubrick-Masterpiece/dp/1501163930

Other books I've read recently:
-1Q84 by Murakami.
-The Master of Us All by Mary Blume. Read because of Phantom Thread.
-Poetry Notebook by Clive James. I don't always agree with him and his level of self-importance is off the charts, but that's what I enjoy about reading his stuff. Half the time, his arrogance and confidence in thinking he's right is funny and very entertaining, and then the other half he does have insight (he is really well read and intelligent -- and he's always sure to frequently point out the former to you ;) ).
-The Association of Small Bombs by Majahan. I bought it because, IIRC, it was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize. It turned out to be OK.
-A bunch of stuff by Evelyn Waugh. His novels are really funny and sort of absurdist. The Loved One is particularly a romp, and would also make a good modern film (I believe someone did do an adaptation way back).

I have some more on my shelf that I'll maybe get to, but none are totally grabbing my attention: Neuromancer by William Gibson, Adventures of Kavalier and Klay by Chabon, White Noise by Don DeLillo, Oil! by Upton Sinclair, Amsterdam by Ian McEwan. In all honesty, I'm in the mood for some good nonfiction, though, and I think something about Kubrick and his process is just the ticket (another that looks good is Stanley Kubrick and Me from his driver, Emilio).
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Fitzroy on April 08, 2018, 05:42:53 AM
Quote from: eward on January 19, 2018, 09:04:32 AM
One of the most relentlessly horrifying, brilliantly rendered works of historical "fiction" I've ever encountered. Getting through it at a slightly slower pace than I'd like, my work schedule making it particularly difficult to just sit down and devour this morally-challenging (to put it lightly) behemoth. My highest recommendation, and I'm only about 300 pages in.


This book came to my attention thanks to your recommendation. So far it's spectacular.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on May 03, 2018, 11:06:31 AM
Long Distance Runner recommendation in the shoutbox reminded me. Murakami wrote a great memoir of sorts about the creative endeavor, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. The PDF is up online, and I recommend it to any of yall looking for nonfiction or the observationz of a prose-legend. (http://coolschool-spb.ru/upload/What_I_Talk_About_When_I_Talk_About_Running.pdf)

Currently reading Kafka Goes to the Movies , having just finished John Hawkes' lush and invigorating novel Whistlejacket
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Robyn on June 08, 2018, 06:06:26 PM
just whitnail, let's introduce this book to an american audience!

it's a Norwegian book about a love and sex and stuff. it's good. and I am reading it now.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bokstugan.se%2Fbokbilder%2F13387.jpg&hash=f8ff59b836142786308da24e728645aa22b6728e)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Just Withnail on October 26, 2018, 07:05:24 PM
Oh my god yes! Sangen om den Røde Rubin. The Song of the Red Ruby. I remember absolutely loving it but it's about 11 years since I read it. It's the sequel to the also great "Lasso Rundt Fru Luna" ("Lasso Around The Moon"). They're about young Ask Burlefot who wants to be a violinist (?) and his love and sex adventures. They vere very really controversial in Norway and led to the so called Mykle case, trying to convict the author Agnar Mykle on obscenity charges.

I don't remember them in too strong detail, only floating images and massive amounts of sadness, frustration, fear, not knowing who one is or who one wants to not know that with, with small piercing moments of intense joy inbetween, often not spoken out in as that at all, but just as a description of gratitute for the way someone looks at you. In hindsight I can see that the feelings of weight in these relations he has throughout the book has mirrored the feeling of weigh I've ended up having in my relationships since I read it. Back then I hadn't seen the looks or wants he describes, but since I have and they've showed me a little how to handle them.

I do remember this heartwrenching speech at the end, when Ask has put his artistic plans away and is reading a very dry speech about...something? Don't remember, but it's something extremely dry and unromantic at some professional, a little conservative, gathering, reading from a piece of paper, but simultaneously, internally, pouring his heart out to his girlfriend who is sitting next to him, politely smiling. Outside: "boring, dry stuff, facts" and internally: "you know this is all for you? you know this speech is for you?". A horrible description of a scene that worked so perfectly for me, and that I'm about to seriously rip off for my own script.

KJ, do you know the part? I can't find my copy, could you maybe snap a foto of the part if you know which one it is? I'd love to read it again.

Edit: Christ, I just stumbled on somebody quoting the heartbreaking last line, that goes in the direction of the scene described above: Love is something other people don't know about. Love is a lonely thing.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Something Spanish on March 18, 2019, 08:32:19 PM
I've heard of coincidences, even experienced a few in my lifetime, but the ramifications of what I'm about to share with you are still freaking me the F out. It may certainly be taken as a minor occurrence of happenstance, still, like, man, it's really nuts to me. In short, this past Saturday, I was running on the treadmill listening to the Joe Rogan podcast. I have not been listening to it as of late, missing dozens of episodes in the interim. The previous day, Friday, I listened to a recent one featuring Bill Burr, dug it mucho, and followed it up the next day with an episode featuring a guest who recently wrote a book on Hunter S. Thompson. Out of the dozens upon dozens of episodes I could have chosen, that was the one I went with. Had never heard of this writer before, figured I like Hunter, I know Rogan is a fan his, so it'd be cool to hear the two talk Duke for two hours. During the podcast the guest mentions this book, a biography on Jan Wenner titled Sticky Fingers, as having some great Hunter related content, at the same time praising this Wenner book as just a great read in general. I'm thinking, sounds like a cool book, would like to peep it one day. Less than four hours later I'm in the pool of my apartment complex, go to take a leak, come out the bathroom only to notice a book laying on top on the trash lid. Curiously I pass by to see what book someone forgot or discarded, and it's a mint hardcover of Sticky Fingers. Like, holy shit man, that is weird, because had I not listened to this podcast I doubt I would have even thought about grabbing it, but told myself if no one claims it by the time I'm through with these laps that sucker is mine. Suffice to say, I'm 80 pages deep and it's a really good read. But what are the odds, out of all the books that this book would be placed in my path mere hours after learning of its existence. That's some life affirming shit man. Had to share that quickie tale because like i said, it's still freaking me out.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: csage97 on March 26, 2019, 04:14:41 AM
Quote from: WorldForgot on May 03, 2018, 11:06:31 AM
Long Distance Runner recommendation in the shoutbox reminded me. Murakami wrote a great memoir of sorts about the creative endeavor, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. The PDF is up online, and I recommend it to any of yall looking for nonfiction or the observationz of a prose-legend. (http://coolschool-spb.ru/upload/What_I_Talk_About_When_I_Talk_About_Running.pdf)

Currently reading Kafka Goes to the Movies , having just finished John Hawkes' lush and invigorating novel Whistlejacket

I like your style. I enjoy Murakami most of the time .... His stuff is often mundane yet strange, almost otherworldly. Pretty much essential descriptors of Murakami, so you know what I mean. I kind of want to check out his new one.

What I've read from John Hawkes has been great, though its very little. I like to buy my novels from the couple of used book stores in the city here if I can, and I've only come across one of his books once. I still want to read The Lime Twig.

On a note not specifically related to the quote above, and just a general nod at what I might be reading, I think I'll go back to Catch-22 since I've only read it once. What an amazing and hilarious romp. I need to read it at least twice.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on April 26, 2019, 04:29:30 AM
So far this year I've read Palahniuk'z RANT and INVISIBLE MONSTERS, both of which I thought are dangerously funny and insightful novels. Rant Casey's life presented as an oral history iz a perfect fit for Palahnuik to pervert his own mind-swap gamez and fractured narrative kink into the likes of all our retelling, misquoting, reframing wobble.

And Junji Ito'z UZAMAKI which iz a great manga of parables, obsession and body horror via the three dimensional spiral. Now currently on WELCOME TO THE MONKEY HOUSE, Vonnegut.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on May 19, 2019, 03:06:07 PM
Sarah Marshall has written a great piece on The Magic Kingdom and The Florida Project (https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-magic-kingdom-marshall), the intersection of illusion and exploitation.
QuoteYou could call it Cinderella grifting: the act of making yourself appear lovable enough, worthy enough of care and attention, to get the world to offer you a little kindness. Disney's Cinderella is where generation after generation of girls have learned that "a dream is a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep." Anything more active than dreaming, it seems—even wishing for something when you are awake, and conscious enough to witness the strength of your own desires—disqualifies you from getting what you want. It makes you greedy. It makes you bad. All you can do is be lovable enough for the creatures around you, the birds and mice and Disney tourists, to take pity, understand your lovability, and reach out to help.

The problem arises when we import this logic to the world beyond cartoons, where pain and poverty and trauma do not, as it turns out, make their victims passive, pretty, and gentle. We would like to believe that need is always legible and appealing: that the people who most need love and care will always be immediately lovable to us, and that the more love you need, the more love your very presence will cause to well up in the hearts of others.

It is hard for human beings to accept that it does not really work this way: that if you grow up getting hit, you will learn to hit back; that if you grow up in a world where there is no one to protect you, you will learn to protect yourself whichever way you can. In America, we have learned to unthinkingly apply the terms con artist and criminal and even psychopath to people who are, likely as not, behaving in the only way the world has taught or even allowed them to behave. The word that might be more useful to us than all of the above is survivor. Sometimes being a survivor means play-acting the kind of innocent, passive suffering that people who have been able to be safe for their whole lives need in order to believe that you deserve their help. And sometimes, it means something else altogether.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on May 19, 2019, 03:27:19 PM
that article is great in at least four ways
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on May 23, 2019, 03:06:59 PM
Just finished reading McCarthy's Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness In the West. Holy Hell, Judge Holden is one of the most haunting, brilliantly crafted antagonists in literature. Anyone read it?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: wilberfan on May 23, 2019, 06:52:49 PM
Since you were kind enough to ask, I'm actually reading Helter Skelter and Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography by Eric Idle.


An exceedingly odd combination, I will grant you. 
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Something Spanish on June 25, 2019, 08:52:51 PM
Infinite Jest. I'll let you know what I think when finishing sometime in 2020.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Something Spanish on July 11, 2019, 11:05:44 AM
A few hairs past the halfway mark of IJ, what a fucking marathon. The intelligent prose and occasional insightful passage keep me reading. It's very good so far, enjoying my time with it, just wish it required less commitment. This and Gravity's Rainbow were the books I wanted to read most since I've been in reading mode, getting through the former last fall, which started about 2 years ago with Helter Skelter, the remaining 3 are Ulysses, Kavalier and Clay, and The Corrections, as well as all Pynchon post GR minus IV. Shocked that I will have devoured GR and IJ with the span of a year. Never thought i'd Get through either. Jest is definitely less complex than GR, that one had me on Google constantly, this one just has me on the Dictionary app ever so often
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on July 11, 2019, 11:21:57 AM
Quote from: Something Spanish on July 11, 2019, 11:05:44 AM
A few hairs past the halfway mark of IJ, what a fucking marathon. The intelligent prose and occasional insightful passage keep me reading. It's very good so far, enjoying my time with it, just wish it required less commitment. This and Gravity's Rainbow were the books I wanted to read most since I've been in reading mode, getting through the former last fall, which started about 2 years ago with Helter Skelter, the remaining 3 are Ulysses, Kavalier and Clay, and The Corrections, as well as all Pynchon post GR minus IV. Shocked that I will have devoured GR and IJ with the span of a year. Never thought i'd Get through either. Jest is definitely less complex than GR, that one had me on Google constantly, this one just has me on the Dictionary app ever so often

Bravo! I will one day finally tackle IJ. As for Gravity's Rainbow, I've never read it all the way through, but I've dipped in to so many sections at random over the years that I figure I must have covered at least a significant portion of it. My favorite non-GR Pynchon is Against the Day! V is also good fun. Vineland's probably the easiest read next to Inherent Vice (and serves as a terrific companion piece). I also recommend watching Alex Ross Perry's first feature "Impolex".

I just started "Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties" and it. is. crazy. Pretty credibly reveals much of the accepted "Helter Skelter" Bugliosi-prosecutorial narrative to be utter bullshit. This case is endlessly fascinating.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on July 11, 2019, 12:40:16 PM
aww. senses of accomplishment are cool. glad you're sticking with IJ

i've been reading Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain, never once having to consult either google or a dictionary, and i'm constantly learning. it's the fullest expression of the human condition i've encountered, and the protagonist is a death obsessed troubled soul
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Something Spanish on July 11, 2019, 06:00:16 PM
got a super boost to finish it asap a little over two weeks ago when watching Only Lovers Left Alive, there's a scene where Swinton packs a valise full of books, IJ among them. took it as a sign to keep going.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on July 11, 2019, 06:27:15 PM
if you start slacking here it is in Paterson too

(https://i.imgur.com/MZROUPJ.png)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Drenk on July 24, 2019, 06:04:45 PM
I'm halfway through Ducks, Newburyport and I'm confident that it's a masterpiece. Here is an extract I selected (but almost every page, every sequence could have been...)

Quote« the fact that I think that's why people invented languages, so they wouldn't feel all alone with their terror, the fact that, I mean, we're all so terrified, who needs terrorists, the fact that the terror of being alone is enough to floor you, never mind the fear of mortality, fear of failure, the fact that, heck, just the medical bills have me cowed, without suicide bombers and school shooters muscling in, the fact that everybody's life is bound to go wrong eventually, because we all pass away, me, Leo, the kids, Mommy, Abby, ISIS terrorists, everybody, and that's the worst thing that could possibly happen, that you disappear off the face of the earth, the fact that the worst thing that can happen happens every time, eventually, to everybody, the fact that those ISIS people are just speeding things up a little really, 9/11, but there's no need for that, the fact that I don't believe they want to pass away either, the fact that they just don't know what they're talking about, because it's awful that most mothers pass away never knowing what'll happen to their kids, the fact that that's so sad, because you're supposed « to protect them, not desert them, and no matter how old your kids get you'll still want to know how they are, you'll always want to know,  It won't be long until we're there with snow, snow, snow , the fact that maybe I should just, like, zone out and be Zen or something, meditate, « levitate, contemplate nothingness, reach nirvana, communal crying, the fact that Ethan got me to promise him long ago that if I was ever really desperate, like suicidal or something, that I would tell him, which still really comforts me, the fact that I know he's there if I need him, the fact that I think he was kind of worried about me for a while, when I was a teenager, the fact that everybody should have that promise from somebody, a guaranteed listener if you're ever really losing it, the fact that I would call him too, if I ever had to, the fact that he's a sweet guy, a fun guy too, fungi, the kind of guy you're proud to know, the fact that these days we usually talk about Netflix, not suicide, the fact that he was so handsome when we were teenagers I liked to show him off around New Haven, if we went downtown or somewhere people from school might see us, in case they'd think we were a couple, the fact that it wasn't incest, the fact that I didn't want to be a couple, I was just proud of hanging around with such a handsome guy, bandwagon, chuckwagon beans, Chuck, The Odd Couple, the fact that I just realized that when this monologue in my head finally stops, I'll be dead, or at least totally unconscious, like a vegetable or something, the fact that there are seven and a half billion people in the world, so there must be seven and a half billion of these internal monologues going on, apart from all the unconscious people, the fact that that's seven and a half billion people worrying about their kids, or their moms, or both, as well as taxes and window sills and medical bills, shut-in, shutout, dugout, bullpen, the fact that that's not counting the multiple-personality people who must have several internal monologues going on at once, several each, momologs, Mommalabomala, Bubbela, blogs, vlogs, log cabins, Phoebe's Christmas logs, the fact that animals must have some kind of monologue going on in their heads, even if it's more visual than verbal maybe, the fact that bald eagles, certainly « always seem to be thinking about something when you watch them on the eaglecam, the fact that they're very alert, they're so alert it gets tiring to watch, the fact that they make me nervous, gripping a branch like that for hours on end and twisting their heads around all the time with those 350° turns, the fact that it's kind of disconcerting, the fact that they're not easily scared, I don't think, but they're very aware of danger, the fact that they keep everything in mind at all times, except when they're asleep, but then they're dreaming, and that's like a monologue too, in a way, the fact that sometimes you don't need the really long tin foil, I mean wide, the fact that sometimes it's too wide, the fact that I think a lot of people think all I think about is pie, when really it's my spinal brain doing most of the peeling and caramelizing and baking and flipping, while I just stand there spiraling into a panic about my mom and animal extinctions and the Second Amendment just like everybody else, twinge, back, the fact that Ohioans can talk the talk till the cows come home, but it's all show, the fact that really they're scared all the time, I bet, of being shot or foreclosed or fired or who knows what, nuclear war, the numbness of muted beings,  hot cross buns, hot cross buns, see how they run, the fact that nuclear war is probably imminent but nobody ever mentions it, the fact that it would be impolite to bring it up, ink, Ajax, mattress button, the fact that I like it when they give you a piece of cheese with your apple pie, the fact that an apple without the cheese is like a kiss without the squeeze, the fact that a kiss without the cheese is like an apple without the squeeze, community columbarium, lemons and limes, archeologists, Magna Carta,  London Bridge is falling down , the fact that life is so easily taken away, stolen, screwed up, jigsaw, the fact that a human lifespan isn't all that long, compared to planets or rocks or even trees, and I fill mine up with regrets and shyness, disappointments, « embarrassments, success and failure, and yes, pie, and music, longings, evasions, neglect, driving, chicken feed, nostalgia, and then back to regret, the fact that I am always trying to remember stuff, Remember, remember, 7 Up, Hawaiian Punch, Bo the dog, treason and plot, black leaves, white water, half-naked cousins in a motel pool, the fact that sometimes, in the middle of a long day, I look at a shadow and it seems like a little portion of nighttime, like envelopes of night that hang around in the day, and that comforts me somehow, because the time I like best is when the kids are asleep and Leo and I can go to bed, the fact that there's nighttime in clothing too, like pockets of darkness up a sleeve, or in your pants, or under your jacket, upskirting, secret nighttime, the fact that I dreamt it was night and I heard a strange crumpling sound, and in the dream I could fly, so I flew over to a dark hedge to see what was making the crumpling noise but I couldn't see anything except pure blackness, the fact that I kept peering into the blackness, hoping my eyes would adjust but they never did, »
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: csage97 on July 24, 2019, 11:04:54 PM
Quote from: eward on May 23, 2019, 03:06:59 PM
Just finished reading McCarthy's Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness In the West. Holy Hell, Judge Holden is one of the most haunting, brilliantly crafted antagonists in literature. Anyone read it?

Yep, I read it years ago, sometime in 2011. I remember loving the prose and some of the archaic language. Judge Holden was indeed haunting and strange. The Road was also good.

Quote from: Something Spanish on June 25, 2019, 08:52:51 PM
Infinite Jest. I'll let you know what I think when finishing sometime in 2020.

I keep forgetting to read this. I should make it next on my novel list ....

Quote from: jenkins on July 11, 2019, 12:40:16 PM
i've been reading Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain, never once having to consult either google or a dictionary, and i'm constantly learning. it's the fullest expression of the human condition i've encountered, and the protagonist is a death obsessed troubled soul

For whatever reason, I put down The Magic Mountain after a few days. I think it was the translation. The version I had was actually so dry, which I found strange because I loved Death in Venice. The prose was so great in the latter and was absent from Mountain, which makes me chalk it up to the translator.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Something Spanish on July 25, 2019, 10:26:16 AM
I really want to read Blood Meridian, it'll definitely by one of the next 8-10 books i take in. Never read anything by CM.

Have about 60p left on Jest. as someone who rarely reads fiction, particularly in the past decade, this is a really addictive book. been binging it like people binge Netflix series. think i would have enjoyed it even more if I were able to pace myself like 12-15 pages at a time instead of 25-40.

Ordered Against the Day the other day, sounds amazing, but still have V to rip through next. So many books to read so little time.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Something Spanish on July 25, 2019, 10:38:05 AM
That Ducks book looks to have unanimous praise, but Reading 1000+ page books is rough, no matter how good
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on July 25, 2019, 10:56:42 AM
Quote from: Something Spanish on July 25, 2019, 10:26:16 AM
I really want to read Blood Meridian, it'll definitely by one of the next 8-10 books i take in. Never read anything by CM.

...

Ordered Against the Day the other day, sounds amazing, but still have V to rip through next. So many books to read so little time.

Blood Meridian as an inaugural McCarthy read would be quite bold! It's a fair deal more dense than his other novels but far and away my favorite.

And Against the Day introduced me to my favorite (technically slang) word:

Absquatulate

verb (used without object), ab·squat·u·lat·ed, ab·squat·u·lat·ing.
to flee; abscond:
The old prospector absquatulated with our picks and shovel.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: csage97 on July 31, 2019, 02:00:06 AM
I love Against the Day! It sure is long, though ... as are a lot a of Pynchon's novels. There were parts in V. that I really enjoyed, but I found other parts to have some of his most dry writing. Other people might disagree. Despite all that, V. is still really mysterious to me ... like a scholarly tome containing secrets and insights that are just beyond the reach of my comprehension. Which is probably the way Pynchon wants it.

I think I'm going to read Infinite Jest or a Murakami novel next. Maybe Murakami's new one.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Something Spanish on July 31, 2019, 11:45:19 AM
finished IJ a few days ago, had to do some good old fashion Google sleuthing to make sense of it, but overall, the journey was a trip. now I'm reading Although You End Up Becoming Yourself, the interview book The End of the Tour is based on.
one thing i'll say about Jest is it had me laughing out loud at so many scenes, and not once did it bore. I read a lot of other people who warned about specific sections that were tedious to get through, those very sections were some of the best stuff in my eyes. going to read Every Love Story is a Ghost Story, a bio on DFW right after this interview book. Don't know why this fascination is with this author. In a way I think I read IJ just to read that interview book and this bio.

how did that Manson book turn out, eward?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Drenk on July 31, 2019, 12:00:10 PM
I'd say the only tedious part for me was the ESCHATON section; I actually skipped the end the first time I read IJ, so obviously I missed the whole chaos and couldn't quite understand why they were in trouble with the administration.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on July 31, 2019, 05:36:51 PM
Quote from: csage97 on July 24, 2019, 11:04:54 PM
For whatever reason, I put down The Magic Mountain after a few days. I think it was the translation. The version I had was actually so dry, which I found strange because I loved Death in Venice. The prose was so great in the latter and was absent from Mountain, which makes me chalk it up to the translator.

well. it has dry stretches is all. the beginning is not dry. im impressed by the beginning. its thematic force. but then after that explanations start happening. and oh it's a lil tough in 2019 to read two pages philosophically amazed by x-ray technology. it's taken me forever to read this book because some sections are like ugh. but when Mann soars he soars, and both his philosophy and prose style can soar. the man has extraordinary dexterity. at one point the narrator mentions patience as a formal intent within the novel. this book wants to move at the speed of life, which hardly ever moves at the speed we wish it would. and such beautiful things can spring up as if from nowhere, but really the seed was previously planted.

basically it can be so dry the reader can become quite thirsty. but overall it teaches me how to intertwine narrative and character better than anything ive ever read
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Drenk on August 05, 2019, 08:24:55 PM
I finished Ducks, Newburyport a few minutes ago; I loved almost every page of this 1000 pages novel with an intense passion, the rare kind, the ones you get when you encounter a novel with a voice and a rythme that moves you. It's the language and the content, in that case, that moved me. The sprawling mind of a mother of four kids—her worries, dreams, and thoughts about movies from The Apartment to whatever flick Harrison Ford has been in. I've been surprised by how eventful the book is. Not only do you get memories—of course, the narrator thinks about the past—but a lot of things happen during the course of the novel, too. And the characters are fantastic. Her kids. Her husband. Her neighbors. I miss them, already...

I found it very easy to read, very fluid...and since I'm currently editing a novel, I know how difficult it is for the whole thing to flow, I was very impressed by what Ellmann achieved there. It's funny, entertaining, heartbreaking. And a great book about the insanity of America, its absurdity, its violence...
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: csage97 on August 06, 2019, 07:48:09 PM
Quote from: jenkins on July 31, 2019, 05:36:51 PM
Quote from: csage97 on July 24, 2019, 11:04:54 PM
For whatever reason, I put down The Magic Mountain after a few days. I think it was the translation. The version I had was actually so dry, which I found strange because I loved Death in Venice. The prose was so great in the latter and was absent from Mountain, which makes me chalk it up to the translator.

well. it has dry stretches is all. the beginning is not dry. im impressed by the beginning. its thematic force. but then after that explanations start happening. and oh it's a lil tough in 2019 to read two pages philosophically amazed by x-ray technology. it's taken me forever to read this book because some sections are like ugh. but when Mann soars he soars, and both his philosophy and prose style can soar. the man has extraordinary dexterity. at one point the narrator mentions patience as a formal intent within the novel. this book wants to move at the speed of life, which hardly ever moves at the speed we wish it would. and such beautiful things can spring up as if from nowhere, but really the seed was previously planted.

basically it can be so dry the reader can become quite thirsty. but overall it teaches me how to intertwine narrative and character better than anything ive ever read

Hmm, that's quite an endorsement. I'm of course open to picking it up again. I have a copy of one of the Joseph books, which I found in a used bookstore. I was reading reviews and info about the Joseph series and saw that many readers wrote of a big difference between translators, and all recommended a certain translator over the other translators (and I remember they wrote that one of the translators falls really flat). All of that leads me to believe that the translation is important, as it should be, and I need to be selective about it.

And yeah ... the prose and philosophy really soared in Death in Venice. I love that novella.

I picked up Underworld by Don DeLillo, Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, and Infinite Jest the other day in the book store. I'm having trouble deciding which one to read first! I might go with Freedom to start.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on August 07, 2019, 12:17:43 AM
Translator for sure important.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on August 09, 2019, 12:38:17 PM
Finished Asimov'z FOUNDATION saga. A handful of books, but they whiz past you, the prose is especially sweet and cutting if you're used to reading more verbose authors like GRRM. I see slices of The Wheel of Time in Foundation. can't even begin to break this series down, it manages to address Atomic Age paranoia with the political lyricism and world-building of Ursula K Le Guin, include as many characters as ASOIAF, if not more, and yet, of course, only Asimov could weave the science into the fiction the way it's presented here. If you're looking to scratch a Fantasy/Sci-Fi itch, the first book will probably hook you for at least two more (it was originally a trilogy).

And then after that I read Invisible Monsters Remix, which is like playing a remastered record you love. I knew what I was getting into, and the new passages added enough dimension to a story I already adored that I can say, I think, the remix is the definitive version of Palahniuk's first novel. I dream of adapting this novel into a film.

And now, I'm dipping into the waters of I Ching, The Book of Change, as my leisure reading between legal/copyright texts for work. Really want to write about Jung + Pasolini + I Ching + Suspiria + Capitalist Realism, which all defo form a helix of organized chaos, but I lost all my notes on Suspiria 2018+Capitalist Realism when my macbook died earlier this month. I guess I ought to reread Capitalist Realism and take the notes all over again! Onward!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on September 03, 2019, 10:38:19 PM
having finished The Magic Mountain, i started reading Salman Rushdie's Quichotte, which is the second book of his i've read, after Midnight's Children of course

Rushdie is a smart guy. sometimes people are too smart to write good fiction. Rushdie is a smart guy interested in the art of literature. that is when things can really pop. Quichotte is a four-pronged narrative that envelops true and imaginary aspects of reality. it being fiction everything is imaginary, but in the narrative there is who is real and who is being created, though all are involved in the process of creation. the initial chapters have been a lot of context. this is from the end of the first chapter with Sancho, who is Quichotte's imaginary son, carved out of thin-air meteors in a sequence set at devil's tower with close encounters of the third kind explicitly mentioned. i think this section is Rushdie popping. there's a lot of imagination going on this sequence that's rationalizing a preposterous existence

(https://i.imgur.com/EM9Xodk.jpg?1)

(https://i.imgur.com/I2g0KoF.jpg?1)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Drenk on September 04, 2019, 05:56:56 AM
Quichotte. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize with...

Ducks, Newburyport!
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on September 17, 2019, 03:36:41 AM
Ducks, Newburyport might be in my path this year yet

this week i'll meet with Rushdie so i wanted to have read his book, that's why i read it

the writer of Quichotte being a character within the novel, it is a meta book. for example during one sequence Quichotte and Sancho visit a town of people transforming into mastodons, and later the writer expresses being influenced by Eugène Ionesco, Rhinoceros, and absurdism. a rational is provided for the mastodon sequence: this world right now is so crazy that absurdism feels natural. in one way that's explaining fiction, which is like explaining a joke, but Rushdie is demonstrating how the consciousness and subconsciousness of a writer make their way into what's written. a parody of Elon Musk exists, Evel Cent, who builds a portal to a parallel dimension to solve the crisis of the fabric of the universe becoming torn

now i am reading

(https://i.imgur.com/xEzPxRr.jpg?1)

because i wanted to read a straight shooter. this short novella is succeeding in satisfying that desire. it's an early entry into a story about a love affair between a human and a sea creature, which type of story recently appeared in del Toro's The Shape of Water, and the books Made for Love by Alissa Nutting and The Pisces by Melissa Broder

it's interesting to me how Rachel Ingalls paved the road which others have followed: outcasts are driven to sea creatures in a world that has failed them. her context is the miserableness of the suburbs like conveyed in Richard Yates's Revolutionary Road and whatnot. so imagine Revolutionary Road but with the wife developing a relationship with a sea creature named Larry by the way. Larry. god i love that name. this story is sharp and bright
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on September 18, 2019, 11:57:17 PM
this is an example of a line in Mrs. Caliban that really made me shake my booty for joy

QuoteDorothy was looking at the other people, most of them women, who wandered in small groups from one large glass case to another. And so it was that her attention was not really fixed on any one object when suddenly something seemed to loom in front of her.

and you see there, that second sentence, that's not a forceful sentence, and it's not a powerful message, no, it excites me from the power of its grace

now i am reading

(https://i.imgur.com/LFHbwUu.jpg?1)

and i talk about these things so that

1 i can practice sharing my opinion about the book/writer
2 for context when i shittalk BEE or Stephen King bullshit

just a reminder about Beckett, via wiki

QuoteBeckett's work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human existence, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humor

and yet he was associated with the Theatre of the Absurd and everything. that's a really powerful and winning combination for my tastes. along with

QuoteHe opened up the possibility of theatre and fiction that dispense with conventional plot and the unities of time and place in order to focus on essential components of the human condition.

so, of course, Watt, which he wrote while beginning to shift toward minimalism, has a rather abstract narrative framework that could be majorly offputting for some readers, including me on other days

me, i'm reading a book that disengages from an emotional thread? it's some magnetism thing that draws me towards the books i read. i finished Mrs. Caliban and idk i then felt that it was time to read Watt, which has proven correct so far

his tempo is just so impressive. his musicality. he speaks of serious subjects in a playful intellectual way that engages me and inspires me to have a broad perspective within the possibilities of writing
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on September 25, 2019, 02:20:46 AM
Watt really swept me away. i felt like a giddy teenager reading it. you know a couple years later Robbe-Grillet's La Jalousie will arrive. it was such a fucking different time back then. these days maybe we're good at making the narratives but i don't know if the same level of commitment is given to the shape of the narrative. the type of perspective. Watt is like an existential precursor to La Jalousie, not exactly but i like the sound of that
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on September 25, 2019, 11:13:06 AM
I have not read Beckett's novels, but I really love a handful of his plays - Krapp's Last Tape, Endgame, Not I, Act Without Words I and II, especially Happy Days, which begins with the words "Another heavenly day" as lights come up on a woman buried up to her waist in a mound of earth; Act II begins similarly, only she's buried up to her neck...that's why there's no third act lol

His musicality, which you mentioned, and precision remains unmatched. I remember hearing an interview with Edward Albee who was reminiscing about directing a production of Krapp's Last Tape back in the mid-70s, and as a little experiment decided to alter what was specifically noted in the text as a 4-second pause to a 2-second pause, and claims the entire thing essentially collapsed as a result.

Waiting for Godot, curiously, I've always been sort of indifferent to. Perhaps I'm just being contrary. I'll crack it open again.

Of course, there is the film "Film" he made with Buster Keaton in the 60s. Behold:



There's also a pretty great DVD boxset that I was obsessed with in college and used to check out of the library weekly, Beckett On Film. Exactly what it sounds like (except I believe it was all captured on video for the most part), featuring a host of great directors - Atom Egoyan, Neil Jordan, David Mamet, Anthony Minghella, among others - and actors - John Hurt, David Thewlis, Sir John Gielgud, Julianne Moore, Jeremy Irons, the great playwright Harold Pinter, Alan Rickman, Kristen Scott-Thomas, Michael Gambon... The films vary in quality, but it's totally worth checking out.

Thanks for the words on Watt. I think it's time I delve in to that side of him.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on October 10, 2019, 06:44:19 PM
i rewatched Lost in Translation, which movie i always struggle with and appreciate, and it's got that scene on the bed when for example Bill M says things get easier as you age because you know who you are and what you like

these are things i've been liking, i've read other books by all three, still though i mean

(https://i.imgur.com/xRHJ4BH.jpg?1) (https://i.imgur.com/Wf8807s.jpg?1) (https://i.imgur.com/hG1pbrn.jpg?1)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on October 10, 2019, 07:15:48 PM
Just got my first e-reader this week, an amazon Fire 7, and with Prime Reading I read Didion's Slouching Toward Bethlehem and am now chewing into The White Album. She's quite good at capturing the psychic temperature of a space by describing its minutia. Didn't know much about Didion before, and don't know how i feel about the term "New Journalism," but certainly her essays capture conservative panic in a poetic manner.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on October 10, 2019, 07:23:29 PM
yeah locals only it. hey please read Karen Tei Yamashita's Tropic of Orange and tell me about liking it so i'll read it too when you get the chance, thanks
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Something Spanish on October 11, 2019, 02:19:35 PM
more than halfway through V.
it's hard to believe pynchon was in his early 20's when he wrote it. the grasp of German colonialism in S Africa is inhuman.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Drenk on October 11, 2019, 02:26:23 PM
He has an encyclopedic mind. Small jokes/details in his novels, even seemingly outlandish ones, are often grounded—reality has always been Pynchonian, not just our fucked up times...
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on October 11, 2019, 03:13:27 PM
the word for that is "literature"
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on October 11, 2019, 03:34:41 PM
have a good weekend, Drenk. everything is okay
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on October 20, 2019, 04:25:41 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/beRVKqU.jpg?1)

it's like, oh shit. this brings it. just immensely intelligent and having so much literary fun. it's styled after for example Tristram Shandy and Tom Jones. a playful narrative with wild diversions. juicy, deft prose
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on November 19, 2019, 01:56:26 PM
After Didion I read Tropic of Orange by Karen Tei Yamashita and White by Bret Easton Ellis.

Tropic of Orange is an ensemble piece that takes place over the course of a week, but really it's clear which characters are giving the novel its momentum. So I could see how it'd be easy to put this book down when the focus shifts to the sideline. Where it excels is in the "certain realism" that Pasolini championed: you can believe all of this could happen, even when it pushes the boundaries of our reality. Like its lucha match between SUPERNAFTA and EL GRAN MOJADO, or the epidemic of poisonous oranges that threatens all of LA, we're reminded of how strange our personal routines are, how often they've been informed by infrastructure set up decades before us -- and that it could all disintegrate and leave us bare, sifting through modernity for sensations that feel true.

White is part memoir, part essay collection. Drenk and eward have written about it (http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=2156.msg358436#msg358436) in BEE'z thread. This book is a relief, an escape from the spectrum of extremes that frame our political and cultural discourse. Itself citing Didion, decades of film, and BEE'z battles with addiction, one gets the sense for how sterilized American culture has become -- and that, regrettably, en masse, the zeitgeist cries out for a pacifier or pitchforks, and no nuance in between.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on November 19, 2019, 02:19:54 PM
you do recommend Tropic of Orange or you don't?

BEE speaks in generalities that relate to pop culture because he wants to be more famous. Ben Lerner was talking about the state of literature being in a post-Ashbery state, responding to that tremendous voice. basically the zeitgeist has been trash since the 70s and the underground is always fertile
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on November 19, 2019, 02:30:04 PM
In the book he's hyper aware of his own bubble and the bubbles other Americans may be locking their attitudes within -- he frames the 70s in a vein that I found is similar to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'z, that the country was once "innocent" about how provocative we were allowed to be, in public and through mainstream art, and now it's all policed through mass media news outlets and social media.

Tropic of Orange was lyrical. I recommend anyone looking for an ensemble to piece to at least try it out. If you dont click with its rhythm after two or three character-chapters, it probably won't gel.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on November 19, 2019, 02:40:46 PM
lyrical, nice, nice. i feel happy with how the situation went, glad to hear

if one doesn't let oneself become bothered by mainstream in the first place, one doesn't feel bothered by its so-called policing. it's all hot air to me
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on November 30, 2019, 08:37:38 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/FAyE2aE.png)

it's from The Topeka School which i'm back into after letting Lydia Davis sidetrack me
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Drenk on December 10, 2019, 08:36:45 PM
Despite being already familiar with DeLillo, I was powerfully mesmerized by the intense strangeness of The Names, even if I read slowly, reading pages as if I had missed the meaning of the words. It's elusive in the best way: a linguistic and international thriller...


Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on December 25, 2019, 03:14:32 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/j4z874v.jpg)

how fortunate for me that i stumbled upon this by chance in an auckland bookstore. reading it today i'd compare it to the movie A Special Day (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076085/), these types of stories mean a lot to me, when two people meet and understand each other in a blue atmosphere
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on January 08, 2020, 06:28:20 PM
Teenage bloodbath: the 2010s in review (https://samkriss.com/2020/01/05/teenage-bloodbath-the-2010s-in-review/)

QuoteThe most interesting images in the new Star Wars films are the ones in which they literally ruin the original trilogy. There’s one in 2015’s The Force Awakens: the collapsed shell of a Star Destroyer, huge in the desert, jammed into the world at the wrong angle. There’s one in the most recent film, The Rise of Skywalker: the Death Star itself, its colossal eye fractured, splattered with seaweed on a savage moon. (2017’s The Last Jedi didn’t have any of these shots, which might be why it’s the worst of the three.)[1] What’s strange is that these images show us something completely different to the films themselves. They mark a recognition of linear time and death: something was here, and now it’s gone; here is the index of its absence. But the films themselves are spastically cyclical. The plot of The Force Awakens is exactly the same as the plot of the 1977 original. The Empire isn’t really in ruins, it’s just been rebranded. Nothing grows, nothing dies, nothing changes. The latest film pushes this even further. Even the mild innovations of the sequels were too much; nobody cared about the new crop of villains, so now it’s Palpatine again. Philip K Dick predicted this. ‘The Empire never ended.’

There’s a sort of Mark Fisher-ish point to be made here. In the modernist 20th century, culture produced novelty: new galaxies, new empires, new images and affects. Now, in the era of neoliberalism, it’s all repetition and pastiche; the best we can do is repeat ourselves. Disney is churning out soulless live-action remakes of its old cartoons at a frightening, industrial rate. These aren’t for children: they’re for people who used to be children, and aren’t any more, but never actually grew up. People who want to remember their childhoods, but this time with lots of CGI. Sappy idiots. Meanwhile, every other major blockbuster is either a sequel or a franchise. Pop music copies the forms of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Literature recoils into tedious 19th century realism. All we can do is rearrange the rubble of the past.

The most dramatic example of this isn’t actually Star Wars, which is a bad film, but last year’s The Irishman, which is a good film. This isn’t a question of subject-matter, whatever Scorsese himself might think. There aren’t that many subjects that really matter. American pop culture is capable of telling stories about five different types of people: cowboys, criminals, cops, capes, and couples. Star Wars is about cowboys. The Irishman is about criminals. But The Irishman is a good film because it’s not just a collection of intellectual properties, it’s about people. Again, Scorsese doesn’t really understand his own work: he seems to really think it’s about giving outward visual expression to the inner life of a realistically drawn character. ‘Human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.’ He thinks it’s still possible to create decent bourgeois art. But in fact, his real achievement is to turn up the volume on the raging nothingness of subjectivity. De Niro’s character isn’t a fully realised human being; he’s a fleshy instrument who obeys without really knowing why. ‘I deliver steak. I could deliver you steak.’ At the end of the film, he won’t say what really happened to Hoffa, even though every reason to keep his silence died a long time ago. He simply isn’t there, and this is precisely why he’s such a compelling figure. Scorsese’s previous film, Silence, was about the sense – advanced by theologians since Eriugena[3] – of God as a vast, all-powerful nothingness. ‘Am I praying to nothing? Nothing, because you are not there?’ This isn’t Andrew Garfield’s character losing his Christianity, but fully encountering it. The great revelation of Christ is an empty tomb. The absence of God is a religious experience, and the death of God is the condition of faith. And Foucault promised that the death of God would be followed by the death of Man.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on January 09, 2020, 01:38:47 PM
^i love the fire in it. does this same writer have an article expressing his desire for art? does he in fact mention this topic in the article linked to?

(https://i.imgur.com/zNY3hBJ.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/9S4QUpV.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/sBgHKj1.jpg)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on February 07, 2020, 06:57:15 PM
Not Knowing by Donald Barthelme (https://manoftheword.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/not-knowing-donald-barthelme.pdf)

QuoteArt is not difficult because it wishes to be difficult, but because it wishes to be art. However much the writers might long to be, in his work, simple, honest, and straightforward, these virtues are no longer available to him. He discovers that in being simple, honest, and straightforward nothing much happens: he speaks the speakable, whereas what we are looking for is the as-yet unspeakable, the as-yet unspoken.
[...]
Style is not much a matter of choice. One does not sit down to write and think: Is this poem going to be a Queen Anne poem, a Biedermeier poem, a Vienna Secession poem, or a Chinese Chippendale poem? Rather it is both a response to constraint and a seizing of opportunity. Very often a constraint is an opportunity. It would seem impossible to write Don Quixote once again, yet Borges has done so with great style, improving on the original (as he is not slow to tell us) while remaining faithful to it, faithful as a tick on a dog's belly. I don't mean that whim does not intrude. Why do I avoid, as much as possible, using the semicolon? Let me be plain: the semicolon is ugly, ugly as a tick on a dog's belly. I pinch them out of my prose. The great German writer Arno Schmidt, punctuation-drunk, averages eleven to a page.

Style is of course how. And the degree to which how has become what—since, say, Flaubert—is a question that mean of conscience wax worth about, and should. If I say of my friend that on this issue his marbles are a little flat on one side, this doesn't mean that I do not love my friend. He, on the other hand, considers that I am ridden by strange imperatives, and that the little piece I gave to the world last week, while nice enough in its own way, would have been vastly better had not my deplorable aesthetics cause me to score it for banjulele, cross between a banjo and a uke. Bless Babel.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on February 07, 2020, 07:58:09 PM
one may notice how high the bar is in literature
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on March 05, 2020, 02:27:41 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/bOMlTL1.jpg)

husband of Maggie Nelson, talked about in The Argonauts (https://www.amazon.com/Argonauts-Maggie-Nelson/dp/1555977359/)

basically he talks about so many of my favorite topics

(https://i.imgur.com/LQT2HmU.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/DtgVQzy.jpg)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on March 05, 2020, 07:01:43 PM
in terms of literary nonfiction he's as good as Maggie but in a different way. it's definitely the kind of thing that opens my ideas about writing when i read it

(https://i.imgur.com/pH54rwQ.jpg)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on March 20, 2020, 10:51:17 AM
The Literary Prize for the Refusal of Prizes by Ursula K. Le Guin (https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/12/06/literary-prize-refusal-literary-prizes/)

QuoteNewly shortlisted for the Sartre Prize is Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who turned down a fifty-thousand-euro poetry award offered by the Hungarian division of PEN. The award is funded in part by the repressive Hungarian government. Ferlinghetti politely suggested that they use the prize money to set up a fund for “the publication of Hungarian authors whose writings support total freedom of speech.”

I couldn’t help thinking how cool it would have been if Mo Yan had used some of his Nobel Prize money to set up a fund for the publication of Chinese authors whose writings support total freedom of speech. But this seems unlikely.

Sartre’s reason for refusal was consistent with his refusal to join the Legion of Honor and other such organizations and characteristic of the gnarly and countersuggestible existentialist. He said, “It isn’t the same thing if I sign Jean-Paul Sartre or if I sign Jean-Paul Sartre, Nobel Prize winner. A writer must refuse to let himself be turned into an institution.” He was, of course, already an institution, but he valued his personal autonomy. (How he reconciled that value with Maoism is not clear to me.) He didn’t let institutions own him, but he did join uprisings and was arrested for civil disobedience in the street demos supporting the strikes of May 1968. President de Gaulle quickly pardoned him, with the magnificently Gallic observation that “you don’t arrest Voltaire.”
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Alexandro on March 28, 2020, 12:50:14 PM
The Big Goodbye, Chinatown and the last years of Hollywood, by Sam Wasson, is a blast.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: csage97 on May 09, 2020, 11:35:58 AM
Just started Miles Davis' autobiography (written with Quincy Troupe). I'm at the part where he goes to NYC looking for Dizzy Gillespie and Bird. He spends a couple weeks or so hanging out in the 52nd street clubs and around Minton's Playhouse up in Harlem, and Bird is nowhere to be found. Eventually he gets word that Bird has some friends down in Greenwhich where these long-haired beats are hanging out. Reads in the paper one day that Bird is supposed to play some gig, word being that he may or may not show up, and he goes there and hears his name after some time: "Hey, Miles!" There's Bird, swollen-faced and eyes all red. Legendary stuff ....

It's cool to read that Minton's was the actual place where shit was happening before it went down to 52nd, before white people got hip to it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Sleepless on May 14, 2020, 05:21:11 PM
Two books. The first, I read in January, right before this whole coronavirus debacle, and the other I'm less than 100 pages away from finishing... Both recommended on their own merits, but also both enormously pertinent to the times we currently find ourselves living in.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51RvqurGSYL._SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_ML2_.jpg)

(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/5125jNq0oLL.jpg)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Robyn on June 13, 2020, 03:32:35 PM
Bought this after reading White Elephant Art vs. Termite Art and his essay on Taxi Driver. Looking forward to get familiar with him.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/415n6DWp9zL._SX345_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

I'm also reading Neuromancer. I think it's silly and it annoys me all the time, but also that's kind of what makes it a good time lol
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Fuzzy Dunlop on July 27, 2020, 05:55:15 PM
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51HUKH0iZ7L.jpg)

Really enjoying this so far. Classic Charlie Kaufman surrealism, featuring one of the most hilariously insufferable protagonists I've ever read. Shades of Confederacy of Dunces and Infinite Jest, but in a very specifically Kaufman way. Tons of cinephile jokes in there too.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Drenk on July 27, 2020, 06:45:35 PM
I concur. Fun read. That line opening a chapter at page 304 made me laugh out loud, considering everything I had just read: « I have come to the conclusion that I am ridiculous. »

That's also a goldfield for those who are interested in the subject of gender in Kaufman's work.

I've read Cosmos by Gombrowicz, which is a masterpiece, I'm always amazed and loved when confronted to works dealing directly and expansively with secret, weird thoughts I had—great book about life and fiction writing. I ordered Ferdydurke.

I've read twenty pages of Pessoa, Book of Untranquility, and, yeah, as I expected: perfect...

I've also kept some Henry James on the side for August.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on July 27, 2020, 08:02:42 PM
Slavoj Zizek's long-winded foreward to Christopher Lasch's 'The Culture of Narcissism'  (https://web.archive.org/web/20180901031814/http://theoryleaks.org/text/articles/slavoj-zizek/pathological-narcissus/)

6k words on Narcissism's psychoanalytic context and then after that, if you are interested in Zizek or Lasch, I would say the Foreword starts contending with Lasch at

QuoteAccording to Lasch’s basic thesis, which has been confirmed by the clinical analysis of the constitution of “pathological Narcissus”, the celebrated “breakdown of paternal authority” or the paternal ideal of the Ego is only one side of the process. Its other side is the emergence of a much more “irrational” and “cruel” law, the maternal Superego, which does not prohibit but orders, demands pleasure (by means of a constant grasping for “social success”, domination over other people and their exploitation with the aim of confirming one’s own narcissism) and which punishes “failure” much more severely than the “voice of conscience” of the ideal of the ego, with unbearable anxiety and extreme masochistic self-humiliation that can even lead to the loss of one’s own identity. What we are dealing with in “pathological Narcissus” is i(a) directly based on the cruel, crazy, “irrational” and “anal” Superego, instead of i(a) “mediated” by I(A). Lasch connects this process with certain fundamental changes in late capitalist social relations – in other words, with the onset of “bureaucratic society”. On the surface, this thesis may seem paradoxical: “bureaucratic man” is usually envisaged as the exact opposite of Narcissus, as the “man of the apparatus”, an anonymous individual dedicated to the organisation and reduced to the status of a cog in the bureaucratic machine. But according to Lasch, the psychological type, or a libidinal economy which corresponds to contemporary bureaucratic society, is in fact “pathological Narcissus”, who does not take the social “rules of the game” seriously and who is an unrelenting outcast interested only in manipulating other people to attain narcissistic satisfaction. The solution to this paradox lies in the fact that there exist three rather than two stages in the development of what can be called the “libidinal constitution of the subject in bourgeois society”: the individual of Protestant ethics; the heteronomous “man of organisation”; and “pathological Narcissus”. Lasch’s contribution lies in the fact that he was the first to clearly describe the transition from the second to the third stage. There is still talk of a phenomenon called the downfall or breakdown of Protestant ethics. Two classical descriptions of this process are The Organization Man by William Whyte and The Lonely Crowd by David Riesman. Riesman introduces a fundamental notional contradiction of the “autonomous” (selfdirected) and “heteronomous” (Other-directed) individual
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Scrooby on September 03, 2020, 04:53:49 PM
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/77/84/a8/7784a813b21b882ebcb38b5740d03ac8.jpg)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on September 03, 2020, 05:53:30 PM
the father of tragedy, after all. we're so used to genres, so familiar with narratives, it's hard for us to imagine what it was like before they even existed. except that's an exaggeration too, because really through human experience humans know these things, so here is the birth of tragedy in a formal manner
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Scrooby on September 04, 2020, 02:25:55 AM
Greek Tragedy in Hateful Eight and No Country for Old Men

1. The protracted mechanics of the interplay required between Major Marquis Warren and John Ruth before the Major is allowed onto the stagecoach, a painstaking interplay which puts the developing story on hold (recalling the foot rub conference in Pulp Fiction), has a close precedent in Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles (ll. 150–206), in which a long, drawn-out exchange regarding where precisely Oedipus is allowed to sit within a sacred spot is required before the developing story can continue.

2. Anton Chigurh's continual mindfulness for signs of blood on his footwear recalls Aeschylus' Agamemnon, when Cassandra envisions a "house of many horrors . . . slaughterhouse of men—its floor darkening the foot!" (ἀνδροσφαγεῖον καὶ πεδορραντήριον, l. 1092)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: csage97 on September 05, 2020, 12:34:21 AM
I've been at a weird point with reading lately. I was ripping through Haruki Murakami novels (read Men Without Woman and A Wild Sheep Chase recently), and moved on to Hard-Boiled Wonderland and just fell flat with it. I should probably try to stick with it, but it's not giving me the satisfaction of his other novels.

Quote from: Robyn on June 13, 2020, 03:32:35 PMI'm also reading Neuromancer. I think it's silly and it annoys me all the time, but also that's kind of what makes it a good time lol

I also tried picking this up again too but I just can't make it through .... All the abrupt location changes, often with little description .... I despise how you'll form a mental picture in your head of a scene or character, and then a few paragraphs later it's like, "They walked over to the twenty-foot pool in the middle of the room. Did I mention the pool before? No? Well there's one there now!"

Anyway, I'm in a bit of a funk with reading material. Antkind looks cool and I'm always up for some Kaufman. There's also a new Clive James book that's coming out (Fire of Joy) that I'll probably get. I often disagree with things James says and writes, but he often does so with such certitude that I find it humorous and entertaining. He goes about it all with style, wit, and enthusiasm too, and plus he's incredibly well read. All of that while getting me to think deeply about things and topics that are relatively new to me.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on September 05, 2020, 12:57:23 AM
i think you'd like Charles Yu's Interior Chinatown, to present you with a relatively safe option that's also contemporaneous and in line with your interests

QuoteThe novel uses the narrative structure of the screenplay format to tell the tale of Willis Wu, the "Generic Asian Man" who is stuck playing "Background Oriental Male" and occasionally "Delivery Guy" in the fictional police procedural Black and White but who longs to be "Kung Fu Guy" on screens worldwide.

a contention made is that the black v white racial battle excludes the asian element. where does an asian man belong in america? the backdrop is Hollywood and Yu also wrote for Westworld, was acclaimed for his debut novel How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: csage97 on September 06, 2020, 12:51:45 AM
Quote from: jenkins on September 05, 2020, 12:57:23 AM
i think you'd like Charles Yu's Interior Chinatown, to present you with a relatively safe option that's also contemporaneous and in line with your interests

QuoteThe novel uses the narrative structure of the screenplay format to tell the tale of Willis Wu, the "Generic Asian Man" who is stuck playing "Background Oriental Male" and occasionally "Delivery Guy" in the fictional police procedural Black and White but who longs to be "Kung Fu Guy" on screens worldwide.

a contention made is that the black v white racial battle excludes the asian element. where does an asian man belong in america? the backdrop is Hollywood and Yu also wrote for Westworld, was acclaimed for his debut novel How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe

Argh! I went out and bought the Kaufman novel. It sounded too good to resist .... I read a bit of the opening in the amazon preview thing and was hooked. I'll put Interior Chinatown on my list though. I like that it's shorter, as that might be what I need after 700 pages of Kaufman.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on September 11, 2020, 01:36:05 PM
in the new mcsweeney's, issue 61, there's a letter, from ismail muhammad, that describes my neighborhood and celebrates the black lives matter protests taking place there. "I couldn't help but smile in satisfaction. History had finally made itself known in those absurd precincts too." the comparison is of course the rodney king riots, which the "LAPD kept contained largely in black and Hispanic areas." although in fact it was largely funneled into Koreatown (further parts of the city blocked off) the point remains the same

i like reading a letter about my neighborhood. btw it mentions that the cop car was planted, well it doesn't directly say "planted" but it notes that it was an old cop car and thus implicit is that it wasn't an active cop car that was set on fire
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Scrooby on October 04, 2020, 05:16:44 AM
Warning to all white men with aspirations in this world:

Since this may be my last message, I may as well "come clean": the translation of the Oresteia of Aeschylus I posted on 3 September 2020 is mine.

I think I may have retired from life. My life was ruined over the weekend. This new book, my eleventh written book but my first published volume -- finally published after many years of struggle, of not giving up -- was destroyed unnecessarily in an international publication (The London Review of Books) simply because I am a white male. The injustice is out of this world, and all through the night last night I fought off it being my last. All I've ever done is to try to do good in this world. I've written (as yet all unpublished) books about the positive aspects of immigration in America ca. 1790-1820 and about the harrowing black experience in America in that same time; and my new 2020 novel is about a female character whom my agent said was "too smart" -- so I fired her. And the thanks I get is to be ruined, so crudely and so unfairly, simply for being a male, and by a woman who knows nothing -- nothing -- about me. A woman who has everything, a female author who is at the top of her profession, and instead of helping along a first-time published author, even with the gentlest of encouraging words, she ruined me. Ruined me simply for being a man. She has everything, but it's not enough; she needs to destroy everything in her path as well. Her name is Dr. Emily Wilson.

Why am I telling you this? To warn all of you. And because I really don't have any friends. And some of you have been nice to me over the years, and I thank you for it. I wish all of you all the best, and all the good luck available to you.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Alma on October 04, 2020, 06:23:09 AM
Quote from: Bleep on October 04, 2020, 05:16:44 AM
Warning to all white men with aspirations in this world:

Since this may be my last message, I may as well "come clean": the translation of the Oresteia of Aeschylus I posted on 3 September 2020 is mine.

I think I may have retired from life. My life was ruined over the weekend. This new book, my eleventh written book but my first published volume -- finally published after many years of struggle, of not giving up -- was destroyed unnecessarily in an international publication (The London Review of Books) simply because I am a white male. The injustice is out of this world, and all through the night last night I fought off it being my last. All I've ever done is to try to do good in this world. I've written (as yet all unpublished) books about the positive aspects of immigration in America ca. 1790-1820 and about the harrowing black experience in America in that same time; and my new 2020 novel is about a female character whom my agent said was "too smart" -- so I fired her. And the thanks I get is to be ruined, so crudely and so unfairly, simply for being a male, and by a woman who knows nothing -- nothing -- about me. A woman who has everything, a female author who is at the top of her profession, and instead of helping along a first-time published author, even with the gentlest of encouraging words, she ruined me. Ruined me simply for being a man. She has everything, but it's not enough; she needs to destroy everything in her path as well. Her name is Dr. Emily Wilson.

Why am I telling you this? To warn all of you. And because I really don't have any friends. And some of you have been nice to me over the years, and I thank you for it. I wish all of you all the best, and all the good luck available to you.


Although it sounds really painful, it's important to remember that this review, like all reviews, is just one person's opinion. I also wouldn't necessarily see it as indicative of the fate of "white men" in the world. Obviously more people liked your translation than didn't, as it was published in the first place. You got your book published, and to see your name in print! That's so cool, and something you should be very proud of.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Drenk on October 04, 2020, 10:19:11 AM
I understand the crushing disappointment, and this seems certainly unfair to compare you with scholars uniquely because you are white (I don't know your sociological background, but that's enough information to sense some gap in access to publication) but in no way does the article seek to destruct your work personally. It does precise, also, that translation is difficult, and that being a woman doesn't necessarily gives you more qualification to write and/or translate.

That may sound harsh to be reduced to data, but that means you were read and studied and incorporated, fairly or not, into a corpus. You exist.

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n19/emily-wilson/ah-how-miserable
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: polkablues on October 04, 2020, 11:30:01 AM
Thanks to Drenk and Alma for making the points I wanted to make in much more calm and compassionate tones than I would have taken (the phrase "for fuck's sake" definitely would have come up).

Bleep, I get it. Bad reviews suck. They feel unfair. But your translation didn't get reviewed badly because you're a white male. It got reviewed badly for all the reasons that the reviewer went on to elucidate in very specific detail. I'm sure it was painful for you to read! But it will be more painful to continue to live with your head up your ass, so I suggest you extract it and move on. This review will not define the course of your life, but how you choose to react to it might. Choose better.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on October 19, 2020, 06:33:08 PM
Only just began it but I find this an interesting case of public domain. Quite cool.
THE MARVEL UNIVERSE: origin stories (https://www.brucewagner.la/s/MARVEL-UNIVERSE-COMPLEAT-3.pdf)

(https://i.imgur.com/bPt4YJf.png)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on October 19, 2020, 06:55:39 PM
I just started it too!!! Really digging it so far. Big Bruce Wagner fan. His most recent interview on BEE and the one he did five years ago are both well worth checking out.

The story behind his ultimately deciding to go public domain with this one is its own very current brand of maddening.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on December 23, 2020, 02:55:04 PM
you know I began reading ballard's Crash, which has precedence in Naked Lunch, and subsequence in Palahniuk, it's so specifically sensationalized but there's a um hollow center. I get into it when I concentrate on its concentration, which yeah that is what reading is like, and I switched to

(https://i.imgur.com/L3KNjZn.jpg)

semiotext(e), transgender writer, heard about her through semiotext(e) but she also has this wonderful Maggie Nelson blurb

QuoteIn a happy paradox common to great literature, it's a book about not belonging that made me feel deeply less alone.

and here's a quote from The Freezer Door

QuoteLoyalty to scene masquerading as critical engagement--somehow this never fails to demoralize me. The hierarchies are different, yes, but they're still hierarchies.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: whateverman on December 23, 2020, 03:33:41 PM
Currently reading Corrigans A short guide to writing about film and Barbers Using film as a source. I read them before when doing film studies but Corrigans is a must in this course of scriptwriting we are doing. So freshening up I suppose. Dryyyyyy, but isn't all researched based shit that?
I might also have ordered a few gems for myself. Milk and Honey by Kaur being one of them and Nauseau by Sartre. Was gonna order The second sex but turns out my mother has a copy I can borrow. The joy of being the child of a book hoarder/journalist/writer :D
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Something Spanish on December 23, 2020, 06:14:49 PM
I have 350 pages left on Against the Day.
read I'm Thinking of Ending Things in a day before that, hated it. Loved the movie.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: wilberfan on December 23, 2020, 06:28:05 PM
It's not fabulous--he wastes a lot of page space describing scenes from the film--but it's my current selection in the Porcelain Wing of the library, and it's perfect for that.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on January 05, 2021, 10:51:12 PM
http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/romanticunderground.htm
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on January 09, 2021, 01:41:18 PM
New Yorker has a thing (https://www.newyorker.com/books/second-read/the-uneasy-afterlife-of-a-confederacy-of-dunces) about Confederacy of Dunces

QuoteEarly in the novel, Ignatius tells us, "I am an anachronism. People realize this and resent it." In 1968, Toole's hero mystified one of the country's finest editors of fiction. In 1980, he seemed harmless. Forty years later, this red-pilled malcontent calling for a theofascist revival seems something else entirely. Ignatius J. Reilly—the godfather of the Internet troll, the Abraham of neckbeards, the 4chan edgelord to rule them all—was no anachronism. He was a prediction.

a perspective indebted to our time
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: putneyswipe on January 19, 2021, 08:37:53 AM
I just finished Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities. I feel like this is one of those books people know about but isn't spoken about enough. Cosmic scale city type narratives are my favorite things.

I've read 3 or 4 Ballard novels since Covid hit and the best thus far is The Unlimited Dream Company - a suburban psychogenic fugue-state fable about a guy crashlanding into the Shepperton studios.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: putneyswipe on February 08, 2021, 09:34:35 PM

the best book I've read in a while. Started a few days ago and couldn't put it down. A fascinating cultural/economic history of Los Angeles written in the early 90s, reminiscent of Thom Andersen's doc but way more expansive. Probably the best non-fiction book about LA I've read aside from Reyner Banham's 'Architecture of Four Ecologies' (which is like the sunny, more optimistic version). Slightly dated, but still relevant and beautifully written. A must for my fellow LA xixax-ers, assuming you guys haven't already gotten around to it.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on February 08, 2021, 11:09:03 PM
Respect to it but I'm stuck on the mantra that journalism is for theater kids who can't sing and my bare minimum is that the la times headquarters has transitioned from a downtown stone inscription to el sugundo efficiency though a south african chinese doctor billionaire. the simple truth, as oscar wilde said, is that life imitates art not nice versa
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: jenkins on February 09, 2021, 12:20:13 PM
I do want to know everything in the book btw
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: putneyswipe on February 09, 2021, 05:08:10 PM
It starts out with some cultural history, then goes into the political history, who owned what, power struggles, etc. The last section details the story of Fontana's founding and development, which plays out like a dark noir. I think it is the strongest part of the book.

I should also note that forum subject of interest Joel Wachs is a character in this - PTA has def read this at some point
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: wilder on February 12, 2021, 11:00:27 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/a1q8z0F.jpg) (https://www.samtallent.com/book/signed-copy-of-running-the-light)

Debauched, divorced and courting death, Billy Ray Schafer is a comedian who has forgotten how to laugh. Over the course of seven spun-out days across the American Southwest, he travels from from hell gig to hell gig in search of a reason to keep living in this bleak and violent glimpse into the psyche of a thoroughly ruined man. Ex-inmate, ex-husband, ex-father - comedian is the only title Schafer has left. Trapped in the wreckage of his wasted career, Billy Ray knows the answer to the question: what happens when the opportunity doesn't come - or worse - it comes and goes?

Read this compulsively a few months ago. Big fan of the writing style (first pages are available to preview (https://www.amazon.com/Running-Light-Sam-Tallent/dp/B08579JYKF/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=sam+tallent&qid=1613148773&sr=8-1)), which the author said was largely inspired by The Dig (https://www.amazon.com/Dig-Cynan-Jones/dp/1566893933) by Cynan Jones. Think Reelist would love it.

It's cheaper on Amazon but if you buy direct (click the cover) the author makes 3x the price or something like that.

Stanhope blurbed it

Quote from: Doug Stanhope"Brilliant writing. Astounding. One of the best books I've read. Ever. The best fictional representation of comedy in any medium."
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: putneyswipe on February 14, 2021, 02:34:04 PM
Just quickly devoured these two excellent books by the art critic Dave Hickey... his insights and ease of perception are pretty astounding. Highly recommend these for the BEE fans, and WF if you liked Hito Stereyl's book you'll dig this
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on March 18, 2021, 08:54:55 AM
Corrigenda - Yusef Komunyakaa
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on April 21, 2021, 10:34:21 AM
Currently still on Infinite Jest (gosh, I really adore the Don Gately storyline bits. And also any descriptions of J.O. or Mario Incandenza's filmmaking), and taking breaks with Warren Ellis & Darick Robertson's TRANSMETROPOLITAN.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ezgg1ImVcAALg00?format=jpg&name=large)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ezgg1scVIAYW77V?format=jpg&name=large)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ezgg2wxVIA4HjwU?format=jpg&name=large)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Robyn on October 15, 2021, 08:16:57 AM
This one, which i found in a thrift store. Is it good? Not really. Am I still happy with the find? Hell yeah!

(https://i.ibb.co/xjzYCXN/IMG-20211015-122213.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/qk5Y2mh/IMG-20211015-122219.jpg)
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: wilberfan on October 15, 2021, 11:09:53 AM
Interesting.  I, too, am somewhat BONNIE AND CLYDE-centric at the moment.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Robyn on October 15, 2021, 11:29:26 AM
I own that one, too. Need to watch them all before reading it though.

Trantino called it one off his favorite books on film l, recently.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on October 15, 2021, 01:04:39 PM
Well gonna have to read it then, damn it.

Wilber, have you read The Big Goodbye yet?
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: wilberfan on October 15, 2021, 07:16:35 PM
Quote from: eward on October 15, 2021, 01:04:39 PM
Wilber, have you read The Big Goodbye yet?

I have, indeed.  The author came to our local library around the time of its release and did an interesting Q&A.  Fascinating stuff...
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Scrooby on November 25, 2021, 12:02:50 AM
Revenge is sweet.

https://www.odysseyandiliad.com/


O Muse, speak to me of the many-sided man,

of his many wanderings after his destruction

of the mighty city of Troy. Many people

and places he came to know, their ways and habits;

astray at sea he suffered much to save his life

and return home with his companions. But his men

would not be saved, but perished, for like foolish children

they ate the cattle of the sun-god Helios : so the men asea

day by day were denied their return. O goddess,

daughter of Zeus, begin where you will and speak to me. . . .           
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on November 25, 2021, 05:18:03 PM
Recently I read Kathe Koja's THE CIPHER.

Gosh, did I need that book. Entirely coated in angst, it's exactly the kinda horror novel that I like to fly through; character driven, steeped in ineffable sights and sounds that sprout from an abusive relationship. Nicholas' substance abuse at the onset rang true to me. And Shrike's acceleration toward death drive isn't pure curiosity: it's experiment. That I can relate to, too.

Submit
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Alethia on November 29, 2021, 12:16:26 AM
Been on a Stephen King bender as of late - read The Shining and Doctor Sleep, back to back. Today I read Misery over a mostly uninterrupted span of about 8 hours. Next up: Revival.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: Scrooby on March 30, 2022, 06:30:21 AM
Gods

But far above the battlefield, up in highest Olympus,
Athena Bright-Eyes observed the Trojans routing the Argives,
for her curiosity for the struggle was unbridled;
so in an instant she stepped down from the peaks of Olympus
onto the Trojan plain and into the battle assurgent.
Then Apollo, watching from high-walled Troy, accelerated
to her side; and she knew her brother supported the Trojans.
So the two met by the oak tree overlooking the Scaean gate.

https://www.odysseyandiliad.com/
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on June 03, 2022, 05:11:14 PM
I've been going through Kai Bird and Sherwin's AMERICAN PROMETHEUS in anticipation for Nolan'z film, and it's really fucking good. But sad/disheartening family business iz ongoing in my life and it robbed me of my spring enthusiasm. I sort of wanted to take a break from Oppenheimer's life to read something horrorific or that would jolt me into a state of appreciating what I have - 'it could always be worse.'

Well... I found this work after reading about cTom on Letterboxd, where somebody compared those films' obsession to Sotos. And I'd heard the name before through art-circle journals, namely, this collaborative work with Lionel Maunz (https://amphetaminesulphate.bigcartel.com/product/lionel-maunz-peter-sotos). So I ventured forth with the early work.

PROXY: Peter Sotos Pornography 1991-2000

Not for the faint of heart or mind, to put it lightly.

Disturbing and vile. True crime and fatal libido. My first foray into Sotos' writing after having listening to Whitehouse. As an exercise of mining your psyche, it's hard to think of books that'll warp you the way this collection might. Not even Sade or Bataille - where salacious approach feelz civilized compared to the violent honesty of Sotos' subject matter.

There is much to be discussed here, if ever you find someone with the gall and morbid curiosity to appreciate Sotos and talk it out loud. Queer culture's dangerous and diseased past - the bathhouse, the porn theater, the concrete assault. An unending truth of the tragic abduction and abuse of children - presented many times through excerpted/clipped documents from various cases. Screening questions of 'mental health' that actually prod at mental woundz. There's something astounding about all the research that Sotos must do for these projects.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on June 03, 2022, 08:12:29 PM
Oh, thank you for sharing this interview! I will be listening to it this weekend for sure. "[Sotos] was a good friend of Jamie Gillis" woah, interesting.

""This is deadly serious stuff. It's the kind of thing that if you read it and it gives you an erection, you may want to seek out a psychologist." LOL...

I think your instinct is right. The letterboxd association between cTom and Sotos  (https://letterboxd.com/fascistjockitch/film/song-of-the-blind-girl/)sort of described something similar; 'you walk away from it gaining the same thesis peter sotos collage work wants to instill in the person consuming it. like, obsessing over something to the point you develop your own pornographic interest in it. '

Certainly there were countless times when I knew it was going to be upsetting me to the point of not sleeping. But I wanted something that would distract me from any feelings of what's going on in my own life - and in that sense it totally helped. Yet, where it guides your mind is the deepest of depths and without remorse. Whole other can of worms if you aren't asking yourself 'why this,' or feeling afraid. At times I'd think "Dennis Cooper and Chuck Palahniuk can only imitate this" which izn't a slight to their abilities. Sotos is so authentic that there just can't be comparison.

And some of the excerpted portions will even cite people that are notable today for their strength. Kathleen Hanna quoted from ANGRY WOMEN IN ROCK, or Annie Sprinkle, notable sexologist. Not that that's required to legitimize the clipped portions, but that it allows for a very broad context. The work has much merit, but it's certainly touching on everything most people would rather not be reminded of.
Title: Re: What are we reading?
Post by: WorldForgot on June 18, 2022, 08:03:04 PM
I read Sally Rooney's novelz, and liked Beautiful World, Where Are You? the best. It sacrifices the simplicity in favor of layered annui - so it's much less 'romance' and much more youthful mea culpa. I especially enjoyed the discussion on Bronze Age collapse (culled from Josephine Quinn's "Your own ships did this!") and Catholic interpretation.

Rooney's observations work well because our agitated modernity iz so saturated in 'discourse' that it's a welcome respite to have essentially 'emotional smut' emails and texts between the four main characters ricochet and digress wrestling it for us, a sweet supply of self-pity and insight. Best friends and meaning, everyone wondering whether we can forgive ourselves for our intimate priorities amidst a rapidly spiraling global mess