where to begin with the following authors?

[Esty]

Originally Posted by pale blue eyes

here I come.

Way to go Andy.

[AndySlash]

I'm the man.

[spa ced]

Originally Posted by twice

wtf

phew...i'm glad you said that...graveflower was making me feel like i made a bad decision by purchasing infinite jest...but if you like it...your opinion holds more strength with me than graveflower's opinion so that's good...

concerning pynchon...i have v. already...actually it was my brother's...but i sorta took it...but for whatever reason i've just never gotten around to it. so you think v. is a good place to start then? i like how you said i would drown if i went straight into gravity's rainbow...which of course is the book i hear most about when it comes to pynchon. i've always been sort of curious about the crying of lot 49...especially since yo la tengo has a song titled the crying of lot g...which seems to be a pretty obvious nod to pynchon.

[spa ced]

actually i almost even asked ira about the pynchon reference at a live show/q&a session with yo la tengo that i attended in austin once...i lament not asking who his other favorite authors were. =/

[spa ced]

Originally Posted by Oblivious

i love vonnegut(even if he has gone a bit off of his rocker in later years) and ballard. i think that with vonnegut you should maybe just work through the novels in chronological order or if you're just testing the waters maybe you should just check out welcome to the monkey house. but you should definitely read cat's cradle if nothing else. and as far as ballard goes - empire of the sun would be a good start but high rise and the unlimited dream company are also really good reads. but then again this is all just the personal opinion of someone that's already totally taken by both of these authors.

i remember back in the days of SPC...you used to go to SPC too right?..there was a chatter by the name of...shit..what was her name...well i don't remember her screenname but her real name was lisa grant and she was from cincinnati, ohio...and i remember her telling me once that she found an amazing boyfriend and one of the major things they shared was a deep deep love for vonnegut...which i thought was amazing...so yeah..i've definitely been interested in him since then..but only barely finally getting around to him.

[ChristHimself!]

Originally Posted by spa ced

bret easton ellis - american psycho

Originally Posted by alisonmonster

i couldn't read Ellis for this reason, it was so distracting. I enjoyed the movie though.

I can totally understand that, I know a few people who feel the same way. At first I was a bit because of it all, but in the end it was so worth it.

[daydreamer999]

Originally Posted by spa ced

phew...i'm glad you said that...graveflower was making me feel like i made a bad decision by purchasing infinite jest...but if you like it...your opinion holds more strength with me than graveflower's opinion so that's good...

concerning pynchon...i have v. already...actually it was my brother's...but i sorta took it...but for whatever reason i've just never gotten around to it. so you think v. is a good place to start then? i like how you said i would drown if i went straight into gravity's rainbow...which of course is the book i hear most about when it comes to pynchon. i've always been sort of curious about the crying of lot 49...especially since yo la tengo has a song titled the crying of lot g...which seems to be a pretty obvious nod to pynchon.

v. is pretty long and dense as well, so if i were you i'd read the crying of lot 49 first, just to see if you are going to dig pynchon's style or not.

Originally Posted by spa ced

phew...i'm glad you said that...graveflower was making me feel like i made a bad decision by purchasing infinite jest...but if you like it...your opinion holds more strength with me than graveflower's opinion so that's good...

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuck you

[spa ced]

Originally Posted by Graveflower

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuck you

yeah fuck you too. when i asked you about my mix you said you flat out hated it. i know there are songs on there you probably like...joanna newsom, final fantasy, and i forgot what else...but instead of saying something like "yeah it has some songs i like but overall i don't really like it" you were just completely shitty and wrote it off.
plus you've been an indirect dick to me recently several times on here. so yeah..fuck you.

[spa ced]

Originally Posted by daydreamer999

v. is pretty long and dense as well, so if i were you i'd read the crying of lot 49 first, just to see if you are going to dig pynchon's style or not.

you know...i think you're right...i just vaguely remembered that i actually had started reading v. once and felt that way...i think i should hold off and wait to read the crying of lot 49 first. thanks.

[myosis]

holy shit spaced, i think i remember you from SPC

[twice]

Originally Posted by spa ced

phew...i'm glad you said that...graveflower was making me feel like i made a bad decision by purchasing infinite jest...but if you like it...your opinion holds more strength with me than graveflower's opinion so that's good...

concerning pynchon...i have v. already...actually it was my brother's...but i sorta took it...but for whatever reason i've just never gotten around to it. so you think v. is a good place to start then? i like how you said i would drown if i went straight into gravity's rainbow...which of course is the book i hear most about when it comes to pynchon. i've always been sort of curious about the crying of lot 49...especially since yo la tengo has a song titled the crying of lot g...which seems to be a pretty obvious nod to pynchon.

TONY! hah. wallace is wonderful. he goes on some of the lengthiest tangents you will ever encounter but they're well worth the energy. if i can find his book i'll type out a short story for you soon if you'd like?

so pynchon...well i would say that since you have V there is no harm in taking a look at it. as someone previously said; lot 49 isn't as lengthy as V but it gives you solid exposure to pynchon's writing- which was my initial thought in posting it as a suggestion. be aware that any pynchon book you decide to pick up will be almost encyclopedic- full of esoteric references that will require some research if you choose to absorb it on that level. [i've read lot 49 four times and i still think i have yet to read it a number more. love it.]

here's a quick wiki:

Pynchon's second novel, The Crying of Lot 49, is also set in California. It was published in 1966, and won the Richard and Hilda Rosenthal Foundation Award. Although it is more concise and linear in its structure than Pynchon's other novels, its labyrinthine plot features an ancient, underground mail service known as "The Tristero" or "Trystero", a parody of a Jacobean revenge drama entitled The Courier's Tragedy, and a corporate conspiracy involving the bones of World War II American GIs being used as charcoal cigarette filters. It proposes a series of seemingly incredible interconnections between these and other similarly bizarre revelations that confront the novel's protagonist, Oedipa Maas. Like V., the novel contains a wealth of references to science and technology and to obscure historical events, and both books dwell upon the detritus of American society and culture. The Crying of Lot 49 also continues Pynchon's habit of composing parodic song lyrics and punning names, and referencing aspects of popular culture within his prose narrative. In particular, it incorporates several allusions to Nabokov's Lolita.


if you ultimately decide on picking V up, tony- this is a great reference site to help you along the way. let me know how it goes? i'm excited for you!

[spa ced]

Originally Posted by myosis

holy shit spaced, i think i remember you from SPC

what was your screename on SPC?

[spa ced]

Originally Posted by twice

TONY! hah. wallace is wonderful. he goes on some of the lengthiest tangents you will ever encounter but they're well worth the energy. if i can find his book i'll type out a short story for you soon if you'd like?

so pynchon...well i would say that since you have V there is no harm in taking a look at it. as someone previously said; lot 49 isn't as lengthy as V but it gives you solid exposure to pynchon's writing- which was my initial thought in posting it as a suggestion. be aware that any pynchon book you decide to pick up will be almost encyclopedic- full of esoteric references that will require some research if you choose to absorb it on that level. [i've read lot 49 four times and i still think i have yet to read it a number more. love it.]

here's a quick wiki:

Pynchon's second novel, The Crying of Lot 49, is also set in California. It was published in 1966, and won the Richard and Hilda Rosenthal Foundation Award. Although it is more concise and linear in its structure than Pynchon's other novels, its labyrinthine plot features an ancient, underground mail service known as "The Tristero" or "Trystero", a parody of a Jacobean revenge drama entitled The Courier's Tragedy, and a corporate conspiracy involving the bones of World War II American GIs being used as charcoal cigarette filters. It proposes a series of seemingly incredible interconnections between these and other similarly bizarre revelations that confront the novel's protagonist, Oedipa Maas. Like V., the novel contains a wealth of references to science and technology and to obscure historical events, and both books dwell upon the detritus of American society and culture. The Crying of Lot 49 also continues Pynchon's habit of composing parodic song lyrics and punning names, and referencing aspects of popular culture within his prose narrative. In particular, it incorporates several allusions to Nabokov's Lolita.


if you ultimately decide on picking V up, tony- this is a great reference site to help you along the way. let me know how it goes? i'm excited for you!

i would love to read that short story if its not too much trouble to type it up. it's not online already somewhere maybe? it could save you the trouble of typing it up if someone has done it already. but wow...that description of pynchon's work...wow...i get the feeling that i'm going to spend more time looking up references and what they mean and where they come from than the time spent reading the novels themselves...which are probably going to take quite some time on their own.

thanks for the reference site! i'm pretty sure i'll definitely need it. i'll let you know which pynchon book i ultimately decide to start with and let you know when i finish reading it. i think that short story would probably be the best introduction...just as a sort of preparation for the rest of pynchons work.

[myosis]

i've gone by AnkhRaid

[spa ced]

Originally Posted by myosis

i've gone by AnkhRaid

oh wow...yeah...i remember you.
and i just remembered lisa grant's username too....she was synthetase.

[spa ced]

do you remember ripcord? i used to love him. i met him twice...things didn't work out.

[myosis]

i don't remember many people... someone named tristessa, someone named SIVA, someone named jellybelly, someone named the_boy, someone named apathy, someone named ruby, her twin sister was porcelina...

so in short, not much to remember them by except their pumpkins song nicknames.

i remember your name is tony from texas (i think) and you're gay and you love hum. that's why i could match you from your profile.

[dean moriaty]

i haven't read everything by any of these authors [although with some of them i'm close]. i know you've already got your books but here are my recomendations incase you're interested. i'll stick to the authors i feel i can advise on properly. you should bear in mind that these are personal choices and recommendations; i'm not going to tell you what i think are the best books, more those that are a good start with the author. i've choosen those that are 1) relatively short 2) relatively easy going 3) pretty representative. that's not to say all of them are short or whatever, you get the idea...

j.d. salinger - catcher in the rye obviously although i guess you maybe had to read it at school. read it again for pleasure it's always a totally different experience when you do that

bret easton ellis - less than zero. his first book, not the best but easy going and short, it's also probably more applicable to your life than the others :D

margaret atwood - i've not read it myself but i'd go for the blind assassin

j.g. ballard - probably my favourite author. i'd go for high rise or cocaine nights as your first book. they're actually pretty similar stories. if you can get it easily go for cocaine nights first. i'd highly recommend not starting with anything pre-crash although i'd go for some of those later if you enjoy the later works. i like the crystal world a lot but i'd not suggest starting with it really.

at the moment i'm reading a spy in the house of love by anais nin, after that i've got three other books i brought to the states with me to pick from; one each by iain banks, j. g. ballard and ian mcewan.

[GlasgowKiss]

Just read the last page of all their books to save yourself the effort.

[spa ced]

Originally Posted by myosis

i don't remember many people... someone named tristessa, someone named SIVA, someone named jellybelly, someone named the_boy, someone named apathy, someone named ruby, her twin sister was porcelina...

so in short, not much to remember them by except their pumpkins song nicknames.

i remember your name is tony from texas (i think) and you're gay and you love hum. that's why i could match you from your profile.

i remember Iha...do you remember her? and her boyfriend at one time...i can't remember his screen name...and of course pale_princess who used to post here too...and corduroy...who i also had a little fling with for awhile...sadsoma was amazing...god i miss her so much. and then there was fear factory's ex heather...i don't remember her name...but she was neat...she tried to get me into the posies.
i remember carry the zero...he was great...and thelonious...who was also great.
so many amazing people...i wonder what they're all up to these days.

and netphoria wouldn't be here if it wasn't for SPC...andrew told me once that he created this messageboard because he didn't like that he couldn't be at SPC all the time and hear and engage in pumpkins talk...

[spa ced]

Originally Posted by dean moriaty

i haven't read everything by any of these authors [although with some of them i'm close]. i know you've already got your books but here are my recomendations incase you're interested. i'll stick to the authors i feel i can advise on properly. you should bear in mind that these are personal choices and recommendations; i'm not going to tell you what i think are the best books, more those that are a good start with the author. i've choosen those that are 1) relatively short 2) relatively easy going 3) pretty representative. that's not to say all of them are short or whatever, you get the idea...

j.d. salinger - catcher in the rye obviously although i guess you maybe had to read it at school. read it again for pleasure it's always a totally different experience when you do that

bret easton ellis - less than zero. his first book, not the best but easy going and short, it's also probably more applicable to your life than the others :D

margaret atwood - i've not read it myself but i'd go for the blind assassin

j.g. ballard - probably my favourite author. i'd go for high rise or cocaine nights as your first book. they're actually pretty similar stories. if you can get it easily go for cocaine nights first. i'd highly recommend not starting with anything pre-crash although i'd go for some of those later if you enjoy the later works. i like the crystal world a lot but i'd not suggest starting with it really.

at the moment i'm reading a spy in the house of love by anais nin, after that i've got three other books i brought to the states with me to pick from; one each by iain banks, j. g. ballard and ian mcewan.

very informative post...thank you so much...

Originally Posted by spa ced

yeah fuck you too. when i asked you about my mix you said you flat out hated it. i know there are songs on there you probably like...joanna newsom, final fantasy, and i forgot what else...but instead of saying something like "yeah it has some songs i like but overall i don't really like it" you were just completely shitty and wrote it off.
plus you've been an indirect dick to me recently several times on here. so yeah..fuck you.

get a load of this fuckin guy
lighten up