Rolling "Books Recently Read" Thread

[slunken]

Originally Posted by Dogfighter28

I'm a HUGE McCarthy fan, and this is the second book in his Border Trilogy. The first being All The Pretty Horses, which is just brilliant. I've heard the movie is quite bad, but I couldn't help imagining Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as the leads... ha.

Anyway in this second one focuses on a boy in Texas who leaves his family to care for an injured she-wolf he finds in the mountains. He winds up in Mexico and some bad stuff happens along the way. Bleakness ensues. You could call it self parody if you want but he writes this stuff so well.

The descriptions of the Mexican landscapes are stunningly detailed and evocative. I am missing out by not being proficient in Spanish, as a lot of the dialogue, though simple, is in that language. I got most of it by context but there are some extended passages with some extensive Spanish speaking.

I'm looking forward to reading the third book Cities of the Plain, which starts with John Grady Cole from book 1 and Billy Parham from book 2 working together on a farm in Mexico. Their individual stories were not quite "loss of innocence", but they were definitely green at the start. Now they are hardened by years of being fucked by the brutality of life at the outset of the narrative.

Blood Meridian is still my favorite book, hope to reread it someday when I have a lot of time to myself.

The border trilogy has been on my readin list for forever. Got a hard copy of all three collated.

[MyOneAndOnly]

The Martian

good read. I found the narrative perspective shifts awkward. Otherwise a good scifi read

[FoolofaTook]

just started the road. thnx, thou fucker of dawgs.

[Mals Marola]

about to start this sure-to-be monster of a writing

[slunken]

Originally Posted by Mals Marola

about to start this sure-to-be monster of a writing

I wasn't terribly into this but alas I'm not a huge cross fan

Still trying to finish "I fatty" by jerry stahl

[Mals Marola]

i'm a fan but apparently it was panned by fans regardless

whatever, if it's even a fraction as good as Shut Up You Fucking Baby! i'll be enthralled

[FoolofaTook]

The Sword of Welleran

Soo good. Here's a sample:

Suddenly Rold leaped up, crying: 'Welleran! And the sword of Welleran!' And the savage, lusting sword that had thirsted for a hundred years went up with the hand of Rold and swept through a tribesman's ribs. And with the warm blood all about it there came a joy into the curved soul of that mighty sword, like to the joy of a swimmer coming up dripping out of warm seas after living for long in a dry land. When they saw the red cloak and that terrible sword a cry ran through the tribal armies, 'Welleran lives!' And there arose the sounds of the exulting of victorious men, and the panting of those that fled, and the sword singing softly to itself as it whirled dripping through the air. And the last that I saw of the battle as it poured into the depth and darkness of the ravine was the sword of Welleran sweeping up and falling, gleaming blue in the moonlight whenever it arose and afterwards gleaming red, and so disappearing into the darkness.

But in the dawn Merimna's men came back, and the sun arising to give new life to the world, shone instead upon the hideous things that the sword of Welleran had done. And Rold said: 'O sword, sword! How horrible thou art! Thou art a terrible thing to have come among men. How many eyes shall look upon gardens no more because of thee? How many fields must go empty that might have been fair with cottages, white cottages with children all about them? How many valleys must go desolate that might have nursed warm hamlets, because thou hast slain long since the men that might have built them? I hear the wind crying against thee, thou sword! It comes from the empty valleys. It comes over the bare fields. There are children's voices in it. They were never born. Death brings an end to crying for those that had life once, but these must cry for ever. O sword! sword! why did the gods send thee among men?' And the tears of Rold fell down upon the proud sword but could not wash it clean.

[Elphenor]

I'll get a sample of ur mom

[D.]

Meant to just get three from the library buttt that didn't work out. (The ones on right are from my stash.)

[D.]

i tried resizing that but i just can't internet.

[FoolofaTook]

The Fall of Babbulkund (Lord Dunsany)

"But all these sounds cease at the meridian hour, the jewellers in the market-place lie down in what shadow they can find, and the princes go back to the cool places in their palaces, and a great hush in the gleaming air hangs over Babbulkund. But in the cool of the late afternoon, one of the King's musicians will awake from dreaming of his home and will pass his fingers, perhaps, over the strings of his harp and, with the music, some memory may arise of the wind in the glens of the mountains that stand in the Isles of Song. Then the musician will wrench great cries out of the soul of his harp for the sake of the old memory, and his fellows will awake and all make a song of home, woven of sayings told in the harbour when the ships came in, and of tales in the cottages about the people of old time."

[FoolofaTook]

if any of you guys likes fantasy, you really ought to check this dude out.

[FoolofaTook]

also I am reading outer dark.

thnx Byron.

[ilikeplanets]

reading something called Wheat Belly :|

[FoolofaTook]

sounds like a bottom tier read, tbh

[ilikeplanets]

truly fucking is

[Dogfighter28]

I tried reading Wheat Belly when I was exploring nutrition. It's truly bad. The science in it is laughable. Guy is just trying to cause hysteria to get people to buy his products and services.

[FoolofaTook]

hey inner dark was incredible. i can't wait to finish the road. wish they had more of his stuff at the local library. dude does all kinds of crazy stuff with words.

[FoolofaTook]

lol inner dark hella stoner brain fart

[slunken]

finally finished "I, Fatty"

a solid C

[FoolofaTook]

so I was in jail (what else is new?). and I read some good books. they are:

Lord Jim - only read halfway thru cos I switched jails but holy mutherrfucking hell Conrad is fucking DEEP. I constantly had to reread shit, since I have a rather sluggish/stupid brain.

A Prayer for Owen Meany - Really good stuff. Amazing plot construction, symbolism, etc. Lots of Humor juxtaposed with really morbid stuff. Also deals a lot with religion, faith, etc. Which I appreciated due to my background.

The Island of the Blue Dolphins - Sad, but also courageous. I can see this stuff having a huge influence on Ursula le Guin. I like finding connections like that!

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: LOL D. Adams is a funny motherfucker! the paranoid android (eeyore reborn) is my fav character faw shure!

Macbeth - What is there to say about the IMMORTAL BARD which has not already been said? SCINTILATTINGLY SENESCENT!!!

Slapstick - Vonnegut is sooo sad and hilarious.

Games of Thrones - books 3-5, blergh I do not approve. sensational glop.

[D.]

I feel like reading would be the only way to stay sane in a shit sitch like jail. I mean, obvious comment is obvious.

Were those books in the clink library or can you have them sent to you?

[D.]

I'm currently reading Finders Keepers, the 2nd installment in Stephen King's current Bill Hodges trilogy. He's like a warm blanket, comfortable as hell and sucks you in. It's not a horror book but I'm engrossed.

[FoolofaTook]

I found the books over there. Jewels in a dungheap of romance and pulp fiction.

I believe people whose families care about them (who? me? bitter? no! never!!) can have books sent but it has to be straight from the publisher cos they used to smuggle shit like ACID that way back the day yo.

[FoolofaTook]

Also I am reading A Universal History of Iniguity by Borges RIGHT NOW!!!

[FoolofaTook]

and I am so very very sober

sigh.

[redbreegull]

Originally Posted by D.

Meant to just get three from the library buttt that didn't work out. (The ones on right are from my stash.)

did you read Go Set a Watchman? I'm not sure if I should or not. I've heard so many contradictory things about it. Some people feel very certainly that Harper Lee is totally senile and was manipulated into releasing it in the first place. Some say that it's a narrative mess that reads like a draft and ruins the legacy of To Kill a Mockingbird. Others say that it is actually a masterwork on American race relations, and reflects the truths and lessons on the subject we need to face in 2015 as opposed to 1960.

[coldestrose]

I feel the same way about Go Set a Watchman. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorite books, so I'm tempted to read this, but I also don't want to support it if the controversy surrounding it is true and Harper Lee was in fact manipulated into releasing it. The fact that it reads like a narrative is probably accurate. This was the novel she intended to publish with Scout being in her 20s. So the published version of Go Set a Watchman is essentially a first draft of a novel that was scrapped in favor of a book about Scout's past. It could be a masterwork, but it's still a draft of one.

[redbreegull]

by narrative I just meant story, as in a the story is a mess. I know the history of the text as best as it has been interpreted to the public, but it still shouldn't read like a draft of TKaMB since it was released as a sequel and not in the back of a Norton anthology edition or something. Maybe I would love it, I'm really not sure whether I should touch it or not. I really don't want to read it if Harper Lee has lost her mind, especially since she asserted for decades that she had said everything she wanted to say, cementing TKaMB as a total self-encompassing standalone.

[D.]

Originally Posted by redbreegull

did you read Go Set a Watchman? I'm not sure if I should or not. I've heard so many contradictory things about it. Some people feel very certainly that Harper Lee is totally senile and was manipulated into releasing it in the first place. Some say that it's a narrative mess that reads like a draft and ruins the legacy of To Kill a Mockingbird. Others say that it is actually a masterwork on American race relations, and reflects the truths and lessons on the subject we need to face in 2015 as opposed to 1960.

it's neither of those things. it's a fine book; doesn't ruin tkam but then again i only read tkam like three years ago so i don;t have a nostalgic attachment to it? obv tkam is classick but watchman is just fine as a standalone novel.

i don't have any issue with reading it even though the release sitch was sketchy but then again i pick and choose my sjw shit