Rolling "Books Recently Read" Thread

[FoolofaTook]

The Knight of the Woebegone Countenance, the Champion of La Mancha, the Flower of Chivalry:

[Run To Me]

I had Borges's Labyrinths before I gave all my good books away during a generous drunk. My favorite was probably the Secret Miracle but I liked em all. The Library of Babel is choice too:

There is no combination of letters one can make - dhcmrlchtdj, for example - that the divine Library has not foreseen and that in one or more of its secret tongues does not hide a terrible significance. There is no syllable one can speak that is not filled with tenderness and terror, that is not, in one of those languages, the mighty name of a god. To speak is to commit tautologies. This pointless, verbose epistle already exists in one of the thirty volumes of the five bookshelves in one of the countless hexagons - as does its refutation.

[D.]

haven't read much this year, unfortunately going through sum personal shit and have been thrown way off my schedule so i have to actively make time to read (usually i just did it at work)

read didion's year of magical thinking. very powerful. right now on pkd's dr futurity which is starting off strong

[FoolofaTook]

yeah babel is cool. have you read the aleph? i think that's one of his most famous ones. total mind fuck dude.

[FoolofaTook]

at the end of part 1 of the chronicle of the Knight of the Mournful Countenance, there are some sweet lines in a poem"

"Oh, the vain hopes we cherish all life long!
Thinking at last to find the rest we seek,
But shadow, smoke, and dreams are our reward."

[FoolofaTook]

finished don quixote

part two fucking senesceticated

[slunken]

Finished steinbecks "sweet Thursday "

Makes me want to fall in love

[redbreegull]

Originally Posted by FoolofaTook

finished don quixote

part two fucking senesceticated

ok, so I loved part 1, read it about 5 years ago... but after maybe 50 pages of part 2, I abandoned it. It just didn't seem to have much of the humor and life of the first one. I know it's supposed to be more philosophic and serious... convince me to pick it back up.

[TuralyonW3]

Read some Agatha Christie....

Crooked House and ABC Murders were both first class

[FoolofaTook]

Are those poirot's cases? Christie can plot like a mofo.

[slunken]

I read:

the Tony Iommi bio (meh - not enought dirt)
Adam Resnick's "Will Not Attend" (had about one funny chapter - the first one)
and Steinbeck's "Winter of Our Discontent" (good but not what i love about steinbeck)

awaiting two Erskine Caldwell books in the mail. Anyone read "Tobacco Road" or "God's Little Acre"?

[FoolofaTook]

Rbg check out part 2. Part I is hilarious but II, written ten years later, is way superior. cervantes has somevperfect chapters, like the adventure of the lion. flawless prose, multiple layers of meaning, etc.

its funny u guys mentioned steinbeck. i am reading his acts of king arthu. its prettyy good, mostly based on malory (whose morte d'arthur is fucking pentatuchal). After reading the pearl and grapes i would of never of thought that steinbeck would.of written about a bunch of lords who spent their time hacking each other to bits.

[slunken]

i think it was just me mentioning steinbeck

i'm slowly devouring his entire works. more than halfway done. above all, i've enjoyed cannery row and sweet thursday the most.

[TuralyonW3]

This is great so far. Tremblay's previous novel Head Full of Ghosts blew me away

[FoolofaTook]

You really are reading all of Steinbeck's stuff, Slunken? Impressive.

I am back into Patrick OBrian. Naval stuff of the Napaleonic wars is so fucking awesome. Here's a picture of the L'Orient blowing up during the Battle of the Nile (One of Nelson's big victories).

[freshfacedyouth]

i finished the grapes of wrath last night. i've never read a novel before where the characters felt so tangible, so completely alive

still can't believe that this part of the depression is largely ignored in american history

[FoolofaTook]

Dude those short poetic chapters in grapes... surefire senescence. I love it how he alternates gritty harsh realistic chapters with elegant little gems. grapes is a fucking masterpiece.

i should read more steinbeck.

[redbreegull]

Originally Posted by FoolofaTook

surefire senescence

band name

[slunken]

Originally Posted by FoolofaTook

You really are reading all of Steinbeck's stuff, Slunken? Impressive.

Read all of his fiction works by now. Skipped the non-fiction. Still championing Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday

[freshfacedyouth]

Originally Posted by FoolofaTook

Dude those short poetic chapters in grapes... surefire senescence. I love it how he alternates gritty harsh realistic chapters with elegant little gems. grapes is a fucking masterpiece.

i should read more steinbeck.

the parts where steinbeck lets his frustration spill onto the page are the best

[FoolofaTook]

if christjesus was still active he would post something about onan spilling his seed and the LORD smiting him for it

or something

[FoolofaTook]

The Crucible

Act 3 where proctor tells the truth to save his wife, while she lies to protect him, whereby they fuck themselves, is senescent.

[FoolofaTook]

So, like, I know you've been all like wondering where I'm at and all. Well, here's what I've been doing. Read these bitches STONED and all chronologically and shit instead of on dxm and in jail and all out of order and shit. Just over halfway through (there are 20 of them). And no, I am not a pathetic petty show off. Just sharing, yo.

[Run To Me]

Took, how do you read fiction stoned? I get too distracted by the sentence structures and my mind get to wanderin and never come back to the paragraphs. And then it's 5 pages later and I'm like uh was I sposed to be sympathize with this character? Or hate em? And does this author suck or what

Y'know? I can't suspend my disbelieves

[yo soy el mejor]

i am starting with books aimed at kids to help me with my spanish. i need to start reading spanish newspapers. there are a few around here.

[buzzard]

This is very much worth checking out or working towards.



Speakers of any major language should, too, as translated editions are very much available. I've already mentioned this, but fans of Kafka and Vonnegut are likely to enjoy.

[yo soy el mejor]

i like the cover. sold.

[cork_soaker]

not a book, but i've been deep into longform.org since coming across it recently. started with the "best of" lists

luv long form non-fiction (lo-fo-no-fic)

[FoolofaTook]

Stopped at 17, The commodore. Halfway thru and I can't read this shit. WTF Patrick, WTF. 16 straight winners and now this? MOTHER OF GOD

Run2Me: reading stoned is stupid really. I forget most of what I read. also I have a high tolerance so I don't usually get that high when I read. but its still a waste. though humor is great to read stoned.

[D.]

Have only read a few books worth noting this year. One was Moses Man of the Mountain by Zora Neale Hurston. It's basically a novelized version of the story of Moses.

It's dope.