What are we reading?

[SiliasRuby]

kindles scare me. i'd prefer to read off a page, thank you.

Same here, and what happens when you break your kindle.

[cinemanarchist]

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.

[MacGuffin]

[Stefen]

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.

[Stefen]

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.

[SiliasRuby]

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.

[squints]

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?

[Stefen]

Just get Preacher. It's right down your alley sense of humor wise.

[polkablues]

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.

[polkablues]

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.

[Neil]

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

[polkablues]

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.

[Stefen]

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.



I just started last night. So far so good.

[cinemanarchist]

[MacGuffin]

Mmmmmm... New Chuck P.