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

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Well, after almost 6 months, I have finished 2666.

Fascinating, unforgettable book. It's actually going to be difficult to let the whole thing go. Relationships with very long books (similar thing happened with Infinite Jest) can be complicated.
 
One day I'll have to give that one another try. I have such a long list of long books to get to; near the top are Gravity's Rainbow and Nabokov's Ada.
 
I was really pleased with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. That wasn't the book I was expecting based on the film.

So, I'm doing this reading challenge list thing and the next book is supposed to be "the scariest book you've ever read". I don't want to re-read something, so I'm looking for recommendations. I'd love to read House of Leaves, but I can't find my copy :sad:.
 
Reading DeLillo's Underworld now.

Lots of baseball jargon. I haven't got a clue what most of these words and phrases mean, but everything that goes around it has been pretty interesting so far.
 
I read A Wrinkle in Time for the first time since middle school, and it's not as good as I remembered it. The main character seemed so bratty, and the whole thing was just really weird. Creative, but weird. I know there are supposed to be some allegorical things going on in it, but I probably didn't catch all of them.

Now I'm reading The Shack. I got it at a used book store's warehouse sale, so it was almost free. (It was fill a bag for $10, so I threw in a lot of books that I wouldn't normally pay money for on their own.) I was curious about it because people either say that it changed their life, or that no one should read it because it's spiritually damaging, or something to that effect. So far it's just depressing.


Sent from my iPad using U2 Interference
 
Felt like it was time to catch up with James Ellroy, who began revisiting his "L.A. Quartet" world late last year with his new novel Perfidia.

Despite not having finished the last volume in his last trilogy, Blood's a Rover, I decided to just order Perfidia because I found it online for $4 including shipping.

Book showed up yesterday in what looks like unread condition, and to top it off, there appears to be Ellroy's autograph on the title page. I looked up pictures and it appears to match a common signature of his.

SCORE.
 
lazarus said:
Felt like it was time to catch up with James Ellroy, who began revisiting his "L.A. Quartet" world late last year with his new novel Perfidia.

Despite not having finished the last volume in his last trilogy, Blood's a Rover, I decided to just order Perfidia because I found it online for $4 including shipping.

Book showed up yesterday in what looks like unread condition, and to top it off, there appears to be Ellroy's autograph on the title page. I looked up pictures and it appears to match a common signature of his.

SCORE.
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Very cool.

I've only read The Black Dahlia, which I liked a lot.....need to read the others.

I'm reading Norwegian Wood.

And interesting book I read not too long ago is called "The Ballad of a Small Player". Check it out, maybe.

Also recently read "American Elsewhere" which was fun.

Finally read some Graham Greene, read then watched "The Quiet American".

Also some sci-fi geekery ensued with the first of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars books, "Red Mars". Been meaning to read these for ages now.
 
I haven't finished Blood's a Rover either for some reason. I think it got a bit too repetitive for my taste. I did like The Cold Six Thousand much more than I thought I would, especially since the radical staccato style took some time to get used to. But I'm very interested to hear if Perfidia is worth the time.
 
djerdap said:
Well, after almost 6 months, I have finished 2666.

Fascinating, unforgettable book. It's actually going to be difficult to let the whole thing go. Relationships with very long books (similar thing happened with Infinite Jest) can be complicated.
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This one is sitting towards the top of one of my piles. I need to take the plunge soon. Been reading a ton of books 500 pages or longer lately.
 
I'm halfway through Volume I of Knausgaard's My Struggle. It's taken a while and it's only been ok so far, but everyone really seems to love it so I'll probably give this and Volume II a shot before deciding whether to read the whole thing.
 
I haven't read that one yet. But the usual recommended starting places are Norwegian Wood and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, I think. The latter is on my to-read list.
 
They had a couple of other books by her. I know Norwegian Wood was not among them, but I'll give it a look when I go to the library this afternoon. This looking for a recommendation thing hasn't panned out well for me thus far.
 
gump said:
I really loved that. Very touching, some wonderful characters (the two girls, Naoko and Midori, in particular), great pop culture references too.
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3/4 done, enjoying it thus far. Touching indeed.

bono_212 said:
They had 1q84 at the library. Is that an ok starting place?
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Have not read it yet but it's on my pile of shit to read.

gump said:
I haven't read that one yet. But the usual recommended starting places are Norwegian Wood and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, I think. The latter is on my to-read list.
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Wind-Up Bird Chronicle was fantastic.

bono_212 said:
They had a couple of other books by her. I know Norwegian Wood was not among them, but I'll give it a look when I go to the library this afternoon. This looking for a recommendation thing hasn't panned out well for me thus far.
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The author is a he.
 
gump said:
I'm halfway through Volume I of Knausgaard's My Struggle. It's taken a while and it's only been ok so far, but everyone really seems to love it so I'll probably give this and Volume II a shot before deciding whether to read the whole thing.
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I'm well into Volume 4, which is the weakest so far but still a great read. The second half of Volume 1 is amazing - I hope you stick with it! I have been obsessed with the series and plowed through each book really fast but it's definitely not for everyone.


bono_212 said:
They had 1q84 at the library. Is that an ok starting place?
Click to expand...

bono_212 said:
They had a couple of other books by her. I know Norwegian Wood was not among them, but I'll give it a look when I go to the library this afternoon. This looking for a recommendation thing hasn't panned out well for me thus far.
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I haven't read 1q84 (it's been sitting here forever) but Wind-Up Bird is a classic and highly recommended as a starting point. I may be in the minority here but I also liked the newest one (Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki) and if your library has that one, I think it's a perfectly good starting point. Not his strongest by any stretch, but a nice introduction to Murakami's voice and style.

Huge Bolaño fan here but have yet to conquer 2666. All the books I want to read right now are huge and I don't have time.:angry:
 
joyfulgirl said:
I'm well into Volume 4, which is the weakest so far but still a great read. The second half of Volume 1 is amazing - I hope you stick with it! I have been obsessed with the series and plowed through each book really fast but it's definitely not for everyone.
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Good to know. I really enjoy his thoughts on writing. The childhood stories were a bit harded to get into, though it's clear that those formative years have a lasting effect. In any case, I'm curious to find out how he sustains the narrative throughout the books.
 
gump said:
Good to know. I really enjoy his thoughts on writing. The childhood stories were a bit harded to get into, though it's clear that those formative years have a lasting effect. In any case, I'm curious to find out how he sustains the narrative throughout the books.
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Book 2 was the toughest read for me but it is the one many people seem to consider the best. It was tough in that much of it is about parenthood which I generally have no interest in reading about (though this was not an ordinary parenthood book by any means). At the same time, it also covers the most intellectual territory - lengthy digressions about art and philosophy - which made it both challenging and rewarding. Looking back on it, I think perhaps it is the best so far though not the one I enjoyed reading the most.

Funny story about Book 3...I was sitting in a coffee shop completely engrossed in the very delightful Book 3 when Roxy Music's "Avalon" came on. I stopped reading and just felt this "ahhhh" moment. I love that song, who doesn't love that song, right? Well, apparently the barista didn't love that song because she stopped it abruptly halfway through the song leaving me and the guy next to me at exactly the same moment yelling, "Whoa!! You don't do that to Avalon!"

Fast forward a couple of hours, I'm back at home on the couch with Book 3 which I just could not put down. Suddenly there's the teenaged Karl Ove listening to Avalon, in pretty much the same "ahhhh" moment I had just had.
 
You know, this thread has been around so long you'd think I'd have stopped caring by now, but I still care.

Who the fuck is Benny Profane and why does he have a sick crew?
 
Picked up 1Q84 and a book called The Troop. Read the first chapter of each, the former is way better than the latter.
 
corianderstem said:
You know, this thread has been around so long you'd think I'd have stopped caring by now, but I still care.

Who the fuck is Benny Profane and why does he have a sick crew?
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I'm going to guess the discharged Navy sailor from Pynchon's V rather than the English rock band that existed from 1985-1990.

Thanks for reminding me to google that shit, it's been bugging me for ages.


I read Paul S Kemp's new Star Wars book yesterday. It was quality. I was curious to see what he did with Vader. All but 2 of his novels are in shared worlds (Star Wars and the D&D Forgotten Realms setting), but he's always done a particularly good job creating his own characters and stories within established geography and lore. And obviously Vader and the Emperor are much more iconic than any of the pre-existing characters than anything from the The Old Republic setting (or at least anyone who appeared in his novel Deceived). It worked pretty well, balancing characters we already know with enough canonical context, while spinning a fine tale of failed rebellion. Failed obviously isn't a spoiler, because you know throughout the book that the novel is set in between the prequels and original trilogy, and with that knowledge clearly one knows going in that Vader and the Emperor aren't going anywhere just yet. If you watch Titanic, you know the boat is going to sink. But unlike that shit movie, I was disappointed this book was over so soon.
 
So, joyful, you were right. The second half of My Struggle (Volume I) was really good, and got me into the series. Some of it was devastating, really. Anyways, just ordered Volume II, so I'm sold.
 
gump said:
So, joyful, you were right. The second half of My Struggle (Volume I) was really good, and got me into the series. Some of it was devastating, really. Anyways, just ordered Volume II, so I'm sold.
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:up: I'll be interested to hear how Vol. II goes for you.
 
I'm reading two books right now. The first, John Dies at the End, I picked up because I wanted something loose and fun to get me back into reading for entertainment after a long break due to work/class. Ironically, it's been a slog for me because the writing is so amateurish. A lot of tryhard attempts to be funny and it reminds me of too many other, better novels. It reminds me a lot of some of the manuscripts I've had to read for work. They ended up in the recycle bin.

Continuing along the surrealist addiction theme, I'm also reading Naked Lunch, which is flying by. Tremendous prose and sickly atmosphere that translates to a very memorable experience. I really fucking like this so far.
 
And now I've finished Naked Lunch. What a grotesque, bizarre, funny and engrossing experience it is. My only complaint is that the lack of plot prevented me from building much momentum as I read through the novel. Every paragraph felt like the start of a new story. But mostly it wasn't a problem because I just approached it as an epic piece of prose poetry and enjoyed the way the words worked together to form these strange images and scenarios.
 
Ha, I was just looking at an article that listed notable upcoming releases.

I'm excited about Patti Smith and the next Alli Bosh (aka the gal behind Hyperbole and a Half).
 
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