Books Part V, featuring Benny Profane and the Whole Sick Crew

[nielsgov]

Ooh, I haven't ranked the Cloud Atlas stories yet.

Frobisher - Sonmi - Cavendish - Sloosha - Luisa Rey - Ewing

 

[IWasBored]

I'm giving James Joyce another chance. Dubliners is way, way more enjoyable than Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Yes it is.

 

[djerdap]

I've read the first four stories and then I just had to jump to The Dead, because I was starting to get impatient and I wanted to read it in St. Stephen's Green right next to Joyce's bust in Dublin, since I was just passing through at the time. Which I did.

 

[LemonMelon]

I'm on the 9th story now. Finding it difficult to binge read this; there has been a great deal written about each story and I'm having fun digesting each story before moving on to the next one.

I really appreciate that I can pick up any one of these stories and casually enjoy it, yet the individual stories have enough in common to make them an engaging continuous read.

 

[bono_212]

I'll combine these two authors by mentioning that I'm currently reading David Mitchell's second novel, number9dream, which is so much in the style of Murakami that I keep forgetting it's not one of the Japanese master's works.
It's an uncanny impression.

More importantly, Mitchell has a new book coming out in the fall that seems to share some similarities with Cloud Atlas but with a different twist.

I may be more excited about this novel's release than any music or movie due before the end of the year:

David Mitchell: a storyteller of infinite richness | Observer profile | From the Observer | The Observer

I just managed to read a summary of what the new book is about. It almost sounds like a horror novel... Has he done that before?

 

[gump]

I haven't done this in a while, so here are a few recent notable reads:

The Executioner’s Song (Norman Mailer, 1979): this door-stopper of a book is everything I expected it to be and more. Mailer’s journalistic and observational approach to one of the most famous executions in America is a profoundly touching exploration of some of life’s key questions – life and death, spirituality, crime and punishment and human decay. And although this may sound very philosophical, the book is really a page-turner, and possibly the quickest 1000-page tome I’ve ever read. I believe part of my admiration for the book also comes from the fact that I knew very little about Gary Gilmore’s story, so did not have any pre-formed views about his trajectory (and how much popular interest it generated back in the day).

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Junot Diaz, 2007): Junot Diaz has perhaps the funniest, most vibrant voice of any young writers I’ve come across recently. The book is full of dominicanismos, and I think it gets all the little nuances of what it means to be a second generation immigrant in America. The story is sad, and often tragic, but Diaz has a way of making it light and fun without removing any of its significance. Great companion piece to Vargas Llosa’s The Feast of the Goat.

Fever Pitch (Nick Hornby, 1992): I’m an unabashed Hornby fan, and generally like everything he puts out. That said, this is probably my least favorite of his books (but I still give it 3/5 stars). The good: this is a great case study of obsession that most of us will relate to in one way or another (be it music, sports, what have you). You know when you feel you need to attend consecutive nights of a concert by the same band, because you would feel devastated if they played an obscure song in the concert you chose not to attend? Hornby gets that, like, perfectly. The bad: although I follow football, it’s hard to understand many of the references if you don’t know much about the English championship in the 1970s and 1980s.

American Pastoral and I Married a Communist (Philip Roth, 1997 and 1998): These are the first two volumes of Roth’s so-called American trilogy (even though the books are independent from each other), which are narrated by his alter-ego Nathan Zuckerman. The three novels are supposed to look at turbulent eras of American history, and how different main characters were basically led to a downfall due to society around them. American Pastoral looks at themes like race riots in Newark and the anti-war movement in the 1960s, whereas I Married a Communist looks – obviously – at McCarthyism and post Second World War America. Roth’s style is quite slow at times, but his character studies are precise, and the themes have enough emotional resonance to carry the books.

 

[IWasBored]

Isn't that whole obsession with sports/music/etc pretty much a common theme with Hornby? It's there in High Fidelity and Juliet, Naked at least. I think I liked A Long Way Down least, or perhaps never finished it since I barely remember anything about that book.

 

[gump]

I guess there's some level of that in most of his books, and definitely in the two you mention. Perhaps a bit less in How To Be Good and About a Boy. I guess it's a bit more notable in Fever Pitch because it's his football memoir and he's talking about himself.

 

[IWasBored]

You know what pretty much ruined the movie version if About a Boy for me? Changing the cd from Nirvana to the shake that ass song. It went from surprisingly tolerable despite starring Hugh Grant, to nope fail with that one seemingly minor change.

 

[djerdap]

I remember being positively surprised when Zoo Station suddenly started playing in that movie.

 

[bono_212]

Jesus, I didn't realize he wrote all of those. His ratio of movies to books has got to be up there.

 

[Rachel D.]

North Side Story had some funny tales of early U2, like Paul McG talking about how they had to stop the bus four times an hour before the band synchronized their bladders and how Edge and Bono fought over a chocolate bar on the bus, followed by Edge buying "a large amount of chocolate" at the next gas station. It also has Adam's full tour diary, in which almost every entry ends with, "and then we went out and got drunk," or "I don't remember what happened the rest of the night." The best part was his account of Edge staying up all night to catch the fleas in their hotel room and naming one of them Douglas.

 

[bono_212]

Am now reading Carrion Comfort.

Finished Book 1, so, roughly 1/4 of the way through. Really enjoying this book, but I think it kinda disappeared up its own ass for a little while there. Those talking/planning scenes from It for chapters at a time really killed the pace, but hopefully it moves back into something. Not that I mind conversation, mind you, but the book started soooo very creepy, I was looking forward to the atmosphere returning, and it's been quite a while.

 

[martha]

Fucking Aldous Huxley.

My God.

 

[IWasBored]

Aside from literature as an excuse to do mescaline, what's wrong with Huxley?

 

[martha]

He can't write an interesting book.

 

[IWasBored]

Having only read Brave New World, I'll buy that. While I didn't hate it, it's no 1984, and still barely what I'd call interesting (file under "excuse to trip on mescaline" ). And since that's the only Huxley 99% of readers ever read, I'll go with you're probably right.

 

[LemonMelon]

Didn't care much for Brave New World either. I found it preachy and obvious.

 

[martha]

Crome Yellow's nothing to get in a crash for on your way to the library.

 

[gump]

Just started The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. What a gruesome, intriguing first chapter.

 

[djerdap]

Did anybody get The Bone Clocks already?

 

[lazarus]

Shit, didn't realize it had been out for a week already.

But I'm in the middle of Jacob de Zoet anyway.

 

[No spoken words]

Did anybody get The Bone Clocks already?

I have it, it arrived in the middle of my reading "The Little Friend" so I could not start it immediately.

That being said, I'm done and will be starting The Bone Clocks tonight.

Cannot wait.

Laz, you digging Jacob de Zoet?

 

[bono_212]

Just started The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. What a gruesome, intriguing first chapter.

The end of the second part is one of my favorite things I have ever read.


I'm pretty sure I made this exact post about three pages back.

 

[No spoken words]

David Mitchell 4 LYFE.

 

[bono_212]

Only read two books, but I enjoy them both.



I'm getting to a point now, in Carrion Comfort where I'm beginning to find the whole thing tedious...and I'm only halfway through . It's weird, though, I still really enjoy the book, but finishing it is kinda turning into a tiny, tiny slog.

 

[No spoken words]

I loved Carrion Comfort.

And this motherfucker has read every book Mitchell has wrote, not that he has written that many. Well, every book except for THE BONE CLOCKS.

 

[bono_212]

I loved Carrion Comfort.

And this motherfucker has read every book Mitchell has wrote, not that he has written that many. Well, every book except for THE BONE CLOCKS.

Carrion Comfort is by Simmons, though, or was the second sentence independent of the first?

It's not that I don't like CC, it's probably the most geniunionly creepy thing I've ever read. When he describes some of the mental intrusions, especially the chapters involving Tony Harod, it's downright frightening. The problem is, I'm at the point now where

Spoiler

Willie had tried to get Saul to come with him, after Saul had been implanted with the radio transmitter, and was supposed to lead the Island Club to Willie. When Saul gets away again and runs into Gentry, it was about the 100th convenient escape to occur. And then they sit down to talk...some more.

But, the overall quality of the book more than makes up for any minor complaints. Thanks to you, I've read three other of Simmons' books. He's incredibly talented, I really love his work. This one is equally great, and I expect it to be a longtime favorite of mine.

Incidentally, I didn't think you'd read it, since you only have it on your Want-To-Read shelf on Goodreads

 

[lazarus]

Laz, you digging Jacob de Zoet?

Yes, though the dryer nature means I'm not plowing through it as I have with some of his other books.

I'm also in the middle of John Crowley's Little, Big. Which is another book it's hard to read fast.

So I'm taking my time.

 

[No spoken words]

Carrion Comfort is by Simmons, though, or was the second sentence independent of the first?

It's not that I don't like CC, it's probably the most geniunionly creepy thing I've ever read. When he describes some of the mental intrusions, especially the chapters involving Tony Harod, it's downright frightening. The problem is, I'm at the point now where

Spoiler

Willie had tried to get Saul to come with him, after Saul had been implanted with the radio transmitter, and was supposed to lead the Island Club to Willie. When Saul gets away again and runs into Gentry, it was about the 100th convenient escape to occur. And then they sit down to talk...some more.

But, the overall quality of the book more than makes up for any minor complaints. Thanks to you, I've read three other of Simmons' books. He's incredibly talented, I really love his work. This one is equally great, and I expect it to be a longtime favorite of mine.

Incidentally, I didn't think you'd read it, since you only have it on your Want-To-Read shelf on Goodreads

Carrion Comfort is by Dan Simmons, yes, I was talking about two authors in one post, WHAAAAAAT?