books you've read !

[dragonfliet]

Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson

Not my favorite of the cyberpunk novels from the late 80's, early 90's haydays, but it's still a fun read. The sense of humor and enjoyment of wide-eyed wow mashed with the lowered eyelids of boredom and the of course I'm this cool attitude really drive this book quite well. Language is nice and dense with diverting tangents and the plot moves at a welcome clip. Of course, there are also lengthy monologues, which should have been trimmed into the let-me-show-you-how-it's-done narrative style of the rest of the book, given in metaphors and exaggerations instead of a lengthy recitation of source material (I DON'T CARE THAT YOU'RE GIVING CREDIT, THIS IS A NOVEL NOT A RESEARCH PAPER) and the action, while generally blissfully absurd sometimes falls into self aggrandizement, and unintentional comedy. My recommendation for those unfamiliar with the book would be simply to read the first two pages. If you love them, buy the book, if you're offput, then run from the genre. It's not for everyone.

I am particularly interested in how corporations are the post-nationalism. I really like that as major corporations have already swallowed large swaths of devoted acolytes, as nationalism had done, and the way that it's presented here, as absurd as it is (this is an absurd book) just works well as a social critique. I grow weary of those that read this book (we're discussing it in class) as a sort of prophecy rather than a cultural commentary, as it just doesn't support itself in that way, but works very well in discussing ideas of culture in a progressively technological society.

~Jason

 

[dragonfliet]

Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin

Ugh. This book is most easily comparable to Atlas Shrugged, only instead of capitalism vs socialism, we have women vs men. Don't get me wrong, Elgin is a far, far more talented of a writer than Ayn Rand and this book is certainly not the hack-work that is her biggest novel, not prone to 80 page speeches and ranting polemics, but nevertheless I couldn't possibly recommend this book to anyone but the most rabid man-hater who would then use this silly book as some sort of proof for her ridiculous distorted belief system.

~Jason

 

[Balton]

Luckily I am now directing my attention at Pyramids by Terry Patchett. Discworld novels never fail to make me laugh alot hard.

^and another one finished last weekend. On to Breakfast of Champions by Vonnegut which I have to stress starts off great. Pyramids was kind of a let down. The end of the book was a bit meek.

 

[Mister_Prophet]

If you like Science Fiction and if you like Westerns, I'd definitely suggest you look up Mike Resnick. Here's two of my favorites from him:

Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future: essentially it's a Western, but in space. Bounty Hunters and Fortune Seekers compete or form uneasy alliances in order to hunt down a legendary outlaw known as Santiago. The story is chalk full of larger than life characters who are all extremely interesting and well written. It's also an extremely easy and fun read, one of my favorite books of all time. Besides the great cast of characters, what I really love about this book is how it held my attention without doing all the cliche' sci-fi stuff. You might have a hard time finding it though, so I'd suggest ordering it online. The last print was an '04 edition so you should be able to find it somewhere.

The Outpost: Set in the same universe as Santiago but along a different timeline, the Outpost is like a collection of tall tales told between space faring travelers at a bar on the fringe of space. Imagine Star Wars Cantina where all the aliens, pirates, and smugglers talk about their experiences. The book is often hysterical and told in three parts. After you hear all the "exaggerated" accounts by the collection of characters, you're treated to the grimmer reality. It's an extremely entertaining book, and one of the only pieces of literature I have ever read that's made me laugh out loud so hard I had to put the book down for a moment.

 

[Balton]

On to Breakfast of Champions by Vonnegut which I have to stress starts off great.

I devoured breakfast of champions just 20 minutes ago and all I can think of is 'goodbye blue monday'. great read

 

[dragonfliet]

Les Guérillères By Monique Wittig

For being a book that includes the flaying of men and using their skins as books in the sex war, a style that presents things out of chronological time, more than once, contains absolutely no real characters (names are used but once or twice), a confusing narrative that has "chapter" (in quotes because there are no REAL chapters in this 150 page book that takes about 80mins to read) breaks in the middle of sentences sometimes, etc., I liked this. While I wouldn't recommend it to any but the weirdest of readers, it's simply got a number of interesting ideas that work surprisingly well. Not a great book, but a surprisingly interesting, funny, and unique one.

~Jason

 

[Balton]

Les Guérillères By Monique Wittig

For being a book that includes the flaying of men and using their skins as books in the sex war, a style that presents things out of chronological time, more than once, contains absolutely no real characters (names are used but once or twice), a confusing narrative that has "chapter" (in quotes because there are no REAL chapters in this 150 page book that takes about 80mins to read) breaks in the middle of sentences sometimes, etc., I liked this. While I wouldn't recommend it to any but the weirdest of readers, it's simply got a number of interesting ideas that work surprisingly well. Not a great book, but a surprisingly interesting, funny, and unique one.

~Jason

I thought I read weird books but you've proven me incorrect

A friend of mine has recommended me books by Hohlbein, anyone got anything to say about him as an author?

 

[NeoNite]

The savage debauchery of the leprose garden gnomes volume one.

What can I say? I couldn't sleep all night, and had a few bloody nightmares. But it was a great read, nevertheless.

 

[pine]

@ Balton: Well played, reading Breakfast of Champions. Easily one of my top 5 books of all time. Kurt Vonnegut is amazing; I love his beautifully simple philosophy.

@ Dragonfliet: Have you read Cryptonomicon yet? Another book on my top 5 list. Neal Stephenson is great. Also, I highly recommend The Robber Bride, if you're into Margaret Atwood. I wasn't such a huge fan of The Handmaiden's Tale (the prose style just got on my nerves or something) but I loved The Robber Bride. You're right about her being an astounding writer.

@ everyone: Don't listen to Snake-Fu, Clive Cussler couldn't write his way out of a wet paper bag. If you've never read one of his books, then you're on the right track.

Since the last books thread, I've read (among others):

John Steinbeck - The Grapes of Wrath
I was forced to read Steinbeck in high school and I didn't really get much out of it. I think I really wasn't a mature enough reader yet. After I picked up East of Eden while in the Peace Corps I decided I loved his writing and determined to read more. The Grapes of Wrath did not disappoint. Besides the book's important social message, it's simply an amazing literary work. The Joad family is totally convincing, the dynamics between its members a marvel of detail. Steinbeck understands people in a deep and sympathetic way and it makes his books a joy to read.

Kurt Vonnegut - Cat's Cradle
It's a lot darker and less funny than the other Kurt Vonnegut books I've read. The writing style is also a little more elaborate (I guess I'd say "literary"). This was one of his earlier books so it makes sense that the style would be a little different, although the insane plot is classic Vonnegut. His other books tend to talk about how life is absurd, human beings are dumb and flawed, and recommend that we probably shouldn't take ourselves too seriously, whereas Cat's Cradle pretty much concentrates solely on demonstrating how hopelessly stupid we are. It's not as much fun as Breakfast of Champions, but I'd still give it my recommendation.

Tom Robbins - Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Good, but not great. I was captivated by Tom Robbins at first, and he is certainly always an entertaining read because of his incredible writing style, but I have started to suspected that he's about 50% full of baloney whenever he tries to be philosophical, and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues seems to be trying a little to hard to say Something Important. I'm starting another Robbins book now (Another Roadside Attraction) and so far it's a lot better.

 

[SlayerDragon]

@ everyone: Don't listen to Snake-Fu, Clive Cussler couldn't write his way out of a wet paper bag. If you've never read one of his books, then you're on the right track.

I enjoy his books. I mean, don't pick them up and expect some kind of literary nirvana. The stories are entertaining, and that's all I read them for.

That being said I just finished The Ambler Warning by Robert Ludlum. It was a good enough read, but I felt like I had heard the story before somewhere.

 

[pine]

See, now there's an excellent alternative. Ludlum's books are exciting, and he can actually write.

 

[dragonfliet]

@Pine: I haven't read Cryptonomicon yet. I really want to as I hear nothing but great things about it, but it's such a massive book I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll add Robber bride to the list after Handmaiden and Oryx and Krake.

Cat's Cradle is actually my very favorite of Kurt Vonnegut books, still very funny, but yes, more literary by a little.

And yeah, Even Cowgirls get the Blues isn't Robbins' best novel, I prefer Another Roadside Attraction or Woodpecker in Still Life.

~Jason

 

[dragonfliet]

Dawn by Octavia Butler

I'm not entirely sure how to feel about this book. It's well written, and interesting but weird as all get out. It's also freakishly pessimistic, something that I don't really care for. In it, all mankind, due to our tendency to hierarchy, are doomed to war and infighting. It's really sad. it also proposes an end to the human race in general. I won't have a chance to read the next two books in the series for at least a few weeks, which is disappointing because I'm intensely interested in seeing what happens, but I'll certainly be reading them.

~Jason

 

[dragonfliet]

I have been remiss at updating this sucker

The Door Into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski

This book is a silly polemical ecofeminist sci-fi book that I wouldn't recommend. It's not just that the main characters generally act like 15year olds, it's not just that the book contradicts itself innumerable times, it's not just that I hate being preached at for 400 pages, it's that the book isn't very well written. No thanks.


After Rain by William Trevor

This book of short stories is CERTAINLY well written. William Trevor is often referred to as a "writer's writer" and for good reason. There is a technical proficiency that I long to emulate. Trevor writes stories about broken people who have (mostly) simple lives with an incredible depth and skill that I envy immensely. Of course, the downside is that he is very, very, very, very even handed. A lot of people love this, but I simply couldn't get into it. The tone is too even, the pace is too slow and while I was interested by the various short stories, by the various characters--their lives and the their deceptions (of others and of themselves), I had a very hard time deriving any enjoyment from it.

I do recommend checking out this book from a library. Perhaps you'll feel as I do (which is to say: awed by the talent, but lukewarm as to enjoyment), but perhaps you will simply be swept away by the deceivingly simple people that are actually much richer and much more complex and flawed than you would first think--much like people in reality.

 

[dragonfliet]

Adulthood Rites by Octavia Butler

Not too much to say other than that this is book 2 of the Lilith's Brood series (of 3), it's quite good and I'm dying to read the third (which will have to wait until after finals I'm afraid)

~Jason

 

[pine]

I'm working my way through quite a tome right now (Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson) so I dunno if I'll be able to interrupt your spree in this thread. But keep posting, I like hearing about those books.

 

[dragonfliet]

I'm working my way through quite a tome right now (Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson) so I dunno if I'll be able to interrupt your spree in this thread. But keep posting, I like hearing about those books.

Short books ftw! In general, I'll only read something if it's <400 pages as anything longer takes me disproportionately longer to read--it begins to feel like a chore I need to finish rather than something fun. Hope you're enjoying quicksilver though.

~Jason

 

[dragonfliet]

The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek

This book is freaking screwy. Okay, so the concept is great: a woman who's completely controlled by her mother. She's 30, a great pianist but not great enough to do that proffesionally. She teaches piano at a University, starts an affair with a student and refuses to have sex with him unless he complies with her horrifically detailed S&M requirements. It's got music, sex, voyeurism and all the trapping of awesome, but it's told in such a stilted way that the reader is alienated. There is no dialogue, even though there are scenes and characters talk to each other--conversation is buried withing the dramatic narrative. Sure, it's a great experiment I suppose, but it's annoying and confusing. Next, while a whole lot happens, I'm not really sure what to make of it. What should I take from this book? What sort of meanings do the actions have to the characters? While it's written in the omniscient viewpoint, it dips into character's consciousness at random intervals, very carefully keeping the reader from knowing what they are thinking at the most important times. Is this clever? I don't know, maybe. Is it Annoying? HELL YES!

She won the Nobel Prize for Literature, but then again, so did Doris Lessing. I'm beginning to think that you don't actually have to be a good writer to win a Nobel Prize.

~Jason

 

[das_ben]

Been some time since I last posted in here, I don't remember all books I've read in the meantime - since I'm on vacation I don't know what my pile of books looks like right now.

Isaac Asimov - The Robots of Dawn (Wikipedia). I found this to be worse than its prequels, especially compared to the Caves of Steel. Maybe I'm having a harder time relating to the futuristic, yet provincial spacer worlds than to the distopian, but believable Earth. Next in line is the last of the Robot novels, Robots and Empire.

Arthur Miller - Death of a Salesman (Wikipedia). The last time I read this was in school, and I found my fond memories of it not to be wrong upon consuming it again. I can only recommend this play to everyone, it is very easy to read (and, in fact, so short it can be finished in a single session) and a compelling account of a failed existence in America.

Gentry Lee & Arthur C. Clarke - Rama II (Wikipedia). First off, it is very noticeable that this novel was primarily written by Lee instead of Clarke - there are a lot more things actually happening, while Rendezvous with Rama was, at least to me, mostly focusing on the sense of wonder of exploring a new world. This doesn't make Rama II a bad novel. It just makes it very different and I can see why many fans of the first title in the series are so critical of the sequels. While there are some aspects I'm not overly fond of (such as the Sabatini character and some logical issues), I found the novel to be still very enjoyable and rich in 'engaging' (for lack of better words) content.

David Ryan & John Dumbrell (editors) - Vietnam in Iraq: Lessons, Legacies and Ghosts. I needed to read this one to write an article for my studies. As usually the case with compilations, the quality of the texts vary a lot - some delivered a compelling comparison of an aspect of the two conflicts, some bore with endless listing of numbers.

 

[dragonfliet]

After Dark By Haruki Murakami

Probably one of my favorite authors, Murakami isn't at his best here, but it's still a great read. Taking place between midnight and 6am, this very short novel (190 pages) has a hooker, a manager of a love hotel (takes place in Japan) a student, a model, and a few other characters. It's sometimes spooky (think the girl in The Ring), sometimes funny and definitely interesting. The dialogue was sometimes a little off, but it was otherwise really good. I definitely recommend it.

~Jason