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What are you reading now? vers. "So I don't end up being a fucking waffle waitress"

Hunter S. Thompson - Fear & Loathing On The Campaign Trail '72

I've never had to read a book whilst sitting next to my PC constantly looking up Wikipedia, especially just to discover persons of political importance during the campaign which led Nixon's re-election.

Seeing the parallels between this book and Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis would be worth reading the book itself, but it feels as though each page is becoming more and more saturated in bile the further Thompson reports on the campaign itself. It's a decent read, but it definitely isn't an easy one.
 
up all night said:
Due to the above, I'm going to the book store tomorrow to buy ... My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead
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Due to a stupidly disorganised Borders, I wasn't able to buy it, so instead I've been reading Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood.

As Mary Poppins said, Atwood is a bit of an 'old lady reminiscing' type writer, so if that isn't your thing then don't bother, but I love it. In this novel, the narrator is an artist (or 'painter' as she prefers) who is remembering her life between the ages of eight and twelve. There aren't many books that deal with this time period with any kind of complexity. As a twentysomething, even I look back at preadolescence as a time when everything was simple, however some of the stories in this book seem to be almost direct copies of my own experiences, and have made me think about it all in a completely different light. Problems we had at the time, have paled into insignificance, but I'd forgotten that, at the time, these things truly seemed as if they were LIFE OR DEATH issues. I love Atwood and I'm sure I will love her until I'm a wizened old lady reminiscing.
 
I'm reading Velocity by Dean Koontz. It's not going to win a pulitzer but I don't mind the odd Koontz. Kind of like watching an action movie.

The premise is pretty cool:

If you don't take this note to the police I will kill a lovely blond school teacher somewhere in Napa country.

If you do take this note to the police I will kill an elderly woman active in charity work.

You have six hours to decide. The choice is yours.
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That's from a note the protagonist just got. I'm hooked so far. I'd take the note to the police. Screw the old lady, she's had her time.
 
preacha said:
Hunter S. Thompson - Fear & Loathing On The Campaign Trail '72

I've never had to read a book whilst sitting next to my PC constantly looking up Wikipedia, especially just to discover persons of political importance during the campaign which led Nixon's re-election.

Seeing the parallels between this book and Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis would be worth reading the book itself, but it feels as though each page is becoming more and more saturated in bile the further Thompson reports on the campaign itself. It's a decent read, but it definitely isn't an easy one.
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It's an excellent book Not the usual style but similarish - some real political journalsm is in this book- it's appeal for me comes from the fact he was part of the McGovern inner circle & it's well worth reading.

I think he got fucked off at them ( the democrats) somewhat justifiably.

Aye it's both a good objective report and his subjective opinion upon much of it is aired as well. I think he pulled his punches a little seeing as he was so involved, but that's pretty obvious, revealing more about Thompson in some ways than the public persona & gonzo stuff could ever have done.

Different & worth it:)

As preacha said it'll be heavy going for for most Australian readers ;)
 
lostpunk5545 said:
I'm reading Velocity by Dean Koontz. It's not going to win a pulitzer but I don't mind the odd Koontz. Kind of like watching an action movie.

The premise is pretty cool:

If you don't take this note to the police I will kill a lovely blond school teacher somewhere in Napa country.

If you do take this note to the police I will kill an elderly woman active in charity work.

You have six hours to decide. The choice is yours.
Click to expand...


That's from a note the protagonist just got. I'm hooked so far. I'd take the note to the police. Screw the old lady, she's had her time.
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I've read this book (quite a few years ago and I don't remember it too well, to be fair), and like you was hooked at the beginning, but in the end I thought it was rubbish. I'll be interested to see what you think of it.
 
Just finished the novel of Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Pretty good actually, a fun, light read. Surprised at how much they changed for the movie, but that's to be expected I guess.

Currently reading The Book of Daniel by E. L Doctorow. I forgot how good his historical fiction can be, haven't read anything of his since I studied Ragtime in year 12 Lit. Also reading The War of the Worlds by H. G Wells. I've got a huge stack of books to get through before Semester 2 starts. My own fault for doing two Lit subjects but oh well! More books=fun and no boredom.
 
I've just started Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. I'm always intimidated and hesitant to start books which are claimed to be a classic or an 'influential' work. I know that generally they're going to fly right over my head until I give up and move on to something a little less demanding, so I'll have to see how I go with it.

To Readers of Sydney: Basement Books (at the end of the tunnel at Central Station) has an excellent collection of extremely cheap books - cheaper even than most second-hand stores. For $21 I got Heart of Darkness, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood and Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. Go there next time you're on a budget but want new books. Highly recommended.
 
I'm anti-classics (didn't enjoy On The Road, Tropic of Cancer, Catcher in the Rye!) but really got into HoD. Think you'll like it.

I'm reading Stross' Halting State, a near-future novel about a bank heist commited in a virtual MMORPG. It's very difficult to get into because the story covers 3 protagonists' points of view and written in the second person! WTF writes in the second person! I get what Stross is trying to do with the role-playing theme, but it just feels like Penthouse Letters without the sex.

Looking for something more mainstream next, maybe Chuck Palahniuk. Never read his stuff before, what's good besides Fight Club?
 
How could you not like Catcher in the Rye?

Heart of Darkness is very dense. It's pretty short, but once you unravel it you get this thing that is longer than lostpunk's colon. It also helps to familiarize yourself with some of the basics of European colonialism in central Africa and the formation of the Congo Free State, although you probably already know the basics: white man takes advantage of black man; spearchucking ensues.
 
I just didn't. It wasn't well written in anyway, nothing left much impression on me except a passage when the the teacher was talking to the kid. It ended abruptly, and when I turned to the last page, the first thing that came to mind was, is this it?

What did you like about it?
 
I thought it was very well written and very accurately captured the disenchanted entitelement of America's upper class in the mid-20th century. EVERY white urban affluent teenager (and a chunk of the middle class) can identify with Holden Caulfield; he's like their Messiah. Also it was very subversive for its time. Plus JD Salinger is one of the great insane literary icons of the 20th century and since his output is so limited we should cherish every morsel.

But mostly I love it because it is glorious and illuminates tiny pockets of the human mystery. Just like lostpunk's colon.
 
See, I get all that, I want to like the book, it's like a classic gee, and everyone keeps talking it up like what a great book it is. But I can't appreciate it, maybe for lack of a proper context to appreciate it in.

I'm sure the book was ground breaking and subversive for its time when it came out, but it's probably me that can't relate to it. I enjoyed Basketball Diaries more.

And I really didn't think it was well-written at all. But tha's subjective. I understand that Salinger succeeded in writing it from the kid's point of view, but that's like if I pretended to be a 12 yr old and write smething that reads like a 12 yr old, should I consider it well-written?

I also thought Henry Miller sounded like an obnoxious knob though :D
 
vurtomatic said:
And I really didn't think it was well-written at all. But tha's subjective. I understand that Salinger succeeded in writing it from the kid's point of view, but that's like if I pretended to be a 12 yr old and write smething that reads like a 12 yr old, should I consider it well-written?
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... or a book whose narrator is a 15 year old autistic mathematical genius a la The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-time. In my eyes, there are many different reasons a book can be considered well written, but an authentic narrator is one of them.

vurtomatic said:
I also thought Henry Miller sounded like an obnoxious knob though :D
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Well, he was an obnoxious asshole, so it would be hard to keep that out of his writing. Who ignores the existence of their son because he has Down Syndrome? Tosser. (I am thinking of the right guy, aren't I?)

edit: No, I'm not. I'm thinking of Arthur. Carry on.
 
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I've just started In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I know his name is well known but personally I know nothing about him or his works. I actually only picked up the book because there is a Bad Religion song structured around it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X79JSfUVOno) and I'm keen to find out where Brett drew inspiration for the lyrics from.

Too early yet to tell much about the book in large, but I'm liking the preemptive descriptive/setting paragraphs.
 
Lostpunk: I haven't read In Cold Blood, but I've got a book called From Hipsters To Gonzo which is all about new journalism and there was a significant section dedicated to Capote's approach to that novel which I found really interesting. One of the minor things I really admire about Capote was that he never recorded anything and he didn't take notes. He did everything from memory (albeit with some help from the notes taken by Nelle Harper Lee of To Kill A Mockingbird fame) due to his belief that journalists/ writers who take notes are creating a barrier between themselves and the interviewee. He wanted his subjects to be as honest and open as possible and if there's a tape recorder, or if they can see you writing down what they say, they're more careful with their words.

Another interesting note is that even though Capote was obviously writing about things he didn't witness, the New Yorker (who first published the novel) fact checker claimed Capote was the most accurate writer he'd ever worked with. Tell me how it goes.
 
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Done and done (as far as discussing it with you). I had a vague notion that the book was based on true events and you've confirmed that.

Also you should listen to that song, Greg's voice is awesome, it's very melodic for a punk song, and the lyrics are literature based. Everyone needs a little Bad Religion in their life.

Oh and as far as nomenclature I've no problem with you using my first name on here. It's hardly as identifying as yours :)
 
I'm reading The Devil Wears Prada. It was on sale in an airport so I figured I may as well buy it. I got it half price coz I bought Russell Brand's autobiography My Booky Wook.
 
I'm around half way through another Leigh Child novel called Bad luck and trouble. It's another novel based on Jack Reacher - Child's highly entertaining ex-military secret agent who always seems to get involved in some case of mystery, intrigue and action.

Like the others I've read in the series it's well-written, fast paced and very realistic. The characters are not schmaltzy in any way - even when Jack has sex, he's in and out in less than a night, no excess fluff about how they lay in each others arms, etc.
Plus there's explosions, weaponry and combat. Love it for an easy read. :D
 
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