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

I have been reading a bit lately so my most recent and current are...

"Scar Tissue" - Anthony Kiedis

"Beautiful Boy" - David Sheff

currently

"PIHKAL" - Alexander & Ann Shulgin

The first 2 were really great reads and "PIHKAL" has been another that I just can't seem to put down.
 
Divided Kingdom by Rupert Thomson

A little slow going in the beginning but a good read, a dystopian brave new world of sorts you could call it. Google it if you're interested.

Also reading Six hats by Edward de Bono, $9.95 penguin classic orange cover special. He's an intersting man this guy.
 
I'm currently reading the John Constantine : Hellblazer comics started by Alan Moore. I really like them. The movie was stupid and basically only vaguely related. I loved Tilda Swinton in it, but she's almost always great. Neil Gaimen apparently wrote a few issues and I'm trying to track them down.
 
You have really become obsessed with Alan Moore haven't you?

Great choice for an obsession btw
 
"The Hour I First Believed" by Wally Lamb

Incredible. Columbine and war are the basis for drawing on chaos theories- that significant experiences in life, can cause even more significant consequences.

A tough read at 735 odd pages, but absolutely compelling once you get through the graphic Columbine story.


Yeah just finished this on the weekend. A very full-on story - had me crying more than once.

For a bit of light relief am now reading "god is not Great" by Christopher Hitchins. Nice timing for eostre weekend ;)
 
What's In The Boox?

Hi Fellows :)

I've jus' finish'd
the "Author's Preferred Text"
(I assume that means that the book
kick'd ass on The Book Club Guide;
which in itself,
is amazin',
as it feels like somethin' Straub & King would write
after they had "Chuck"ed in a handful of Nordic Casting Stones...)

of
Neil Gaiman's
'American God's'.

Lots of books you're ridin' a boat or flowin' down
the river,
but the swell
& undertow in this novel really captur'd me.

If you value these t'in's,
it won,
I think,
a NEBULA
& HUGO
award for Sci-Fi,
a Bram Stoker,
for Horror,
&
a Locus Award
(for Fantasy)...
...an' it fits un(l)evenly
into any of these categories.

I found it really hard to put down.

Alot of the novel feels like something has
jus' dissov'd on your tongue,
after you've read it,
a synapse fire too late
or too early fo' you to catch.

Enuff.
It's epic,
& I really enjoy'd it.

I've also finally got around to readin'
"The Quiet American"
by
Grahem Greene.

Which I've pick'd up
&
put down many times.

I reckon it requires alot of attention.

The narrator write with a lack of PLUR
that SPLATT,CMB & GM couldn't cum
into a bucket with a bunch of eggs yearin',
but the fishes swim,
slowly
in the the heat of Indo-China,
then evaporate
leavin' a fine film of
concise prose,
easier on us all when we make
scrapin's
an' consume with scotch.

I'm now readin'
"The Historian"
by Elizabeth Kostova,
a diff'rent take on the Vlad est. Impale Guy,
told throu the eyes of a girl tellin'
throu the eyes of heir Father.

It's intruigin',
an' feels like it might go somewhere
:)
UnDead.
 
I've also finally got around to readin'
"The Quiet American"
by
Grahem Greene.

Which I've pick'd up
&
put down many times.

I reckon it requires alot of attention.

The narrator write with a lack of PLUR
that SPLATT,CMB & GM couldn't cum
into a bucket with a bunch of eggs yearin',
but the fishes swim,
slowly
in the the heat of Indo-China,
then evaporate
leavin' a fine film of
concise prose,
easier on us all when we make
scrapin's
an' consume with scotch.

I came in to write about this one, too.

I'm really struggling with it. I was given it as a gift a few months ago, and would love to finish it, but I'm just not at all interested. I always feel like I would appreciate books like this much more if I'd studied them at school/uni. There is WAY too much going on for me to fully grasp the metaphors and complex relationships that are at play here. I also feel like I need to do a lot more research about the political history of Vietnam. As I read it I can almost see everything I don't understand and it makes for frustrating reading.

As Unsq said though, I really respect Greene's writing. There are no superfluous words and no words are wasted. He is telling us exactly what we need to know.
 
You have really become obsessed with Alan Moore haven't you?

Yes I'm definitely on a bit of an Alan Moore kick :)

UnSquare I loved American Gods as well. I really enjoyed reading it, and it sucked when it was over.
 
I'm reading Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. This is the first book I've read probably since my last Douglas Adams experience that has made me laugh out loud on a number of occasions. Who the hell comes up with a protagonist like that? Ignatius is the bomb!

Once again, as with a lot of my recent literature experiences, I have to thank UAN for this one.
 
'Employers sense in me a denial of their values.' He rolled over onto his back. 'They fear me. I suspect that they can see that I am forced to function in a century I loathe. This was true even when I worked for the New Orleans Public Library.'

I love you Ignatius. :D
 
New book obsession = Four Letter Word

It's a book of love letters written by some of my favourite modern writers. There's my beloved Margaret Atwood, Leonard Cohen, Neil Gaimen, Douglas Coupland, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and many, many more.

This book is appealing on so many levels. Not only does it resurrect the art of letter writing but it also made me remember/ realise what a wonderful format a letter is for a story. Some of the letters in here are breathtaking, but even the ones that aren't (*cough* Graham Roumieu) are interesting. We only hear one side of the story and it just feels so personal. Even when people are trying to be as open as possible, they still hold something back when speaking/ writing to someone else, so this letter format seems to have so much more restrained passion and tension than a first person narrative.

That being said, if you're looking for a book full of gushy love stories, this isn't it. Many of them are humourous, satirical and perverse. For me, it's the heartfelt stories that had the most impact, but this is almost definitely because of the letters they're surrounded by.

Heartily, highly and lovingly (ha!) recommend.
 
I almost bought that four letter word tonight, instead got my friend leonard by james frey (i just read a million little pieces recently and enjoyed it) also got catching the wolf of wall street, i think im going to regret this one having already read the wolf of wall street, i could only take so much of this guys arrogance last time round.

At the moment reading How language works by david crystal. interestingly, it's very boringly interesting, but i like it.
 
When You Are Engulfed By Flames by David Sedaris. My sister gave it to me for my birthday. So far it's okay. He's kinda funny. Not a book I would have bought myself.
 
I'm trying to read A Confederacy of Dunces but I stopped after page 80 because it's not very good.

Does it get better after the first 100 pages or something?
 
It's fucking brilliant the whole way through you git!

I'm reading The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Pretty funny so far. The fact that F. Scott was supposedly writing about himself, his peers, and his wife makes it more so. It's definitely taking self-analysis/criticism to new heights.

I also just finished reading Dirt Music by Tim Winton, which I think Yarn, I may have enjoyed more than Cloudstreet. Obviously it wasn't as epic but it reached me on a different level. Undecided though, as of now!
 
^ Yep, pretty much everyone else I know likes Dirt Music more! There was just something about Cloudstreet that really, really got to me.

Benefit: It's more of the same the whole way through so if you don't like it then don't bother!! It's not quite The Sound and the Fury. ;)
 
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