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

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Guess I'll wait for the movie on that one.


I just finished William Gibson's The Peripheral. Pretty much in line quality-wise with other recent works (very good but not earth-shattering), though the science fiction conceits are a little more ambitious this time around. It will be interesting to see if this is the start of a new loose trilogy within a specific world and some shared characters, or if he's going to be doing one-offs for a while.

Pattern Recognition is still his post-Neuromancer peak.

I'm trying to decide whether to dive into Murakami's 1Q84 right now, or finish up some shorter books that I've already started. The one I'm furthest into is John Irving's The Water Method Man.
 
I really thing Spielbergo will do great work with the material. But the book is amature hour.
 
I finished The Bone Clocks and The Road over the past week. The former was good, but possibly my least favorite Mitchell so far (I haven't read number9dream or Black Swan Green yet). The earlier stories related to young Holly were very captivating, but I really lost interest when I got to the chapters set in the future. I feel this is becoming the norm for Mitchell: I absolutely love his period stories (The Thousand Autumns... is my favorite), but I can't get into the sci-fi/futuristic aspects of his novels.

The Road, on the other hand, was brilliant. Possibly one of the best father-son stories I have read, specifically the heartbreaking aspects of parental fear of dying before a child. Chabon's review is really beautiful:

The Road is not a record of fatherly fidelity; it is a testament to the abyss of a parent’s greatest fears. The fear of leaving your child alone, of dying before your child has reached adulthood and learned to work the mechanisms and face the dangers of the world, or found a new partner to face them with. The fear of one day being obliged for your child’s own good, for his peace and comfort, to do violence to him or even end his life. And, above all, the fear of knowing—as every parent fears—that you have left your children a world more damaged, more poisoned, more base and violent and cheerless and toxic, more doomed, than the one you inherited.

And specifically, I really like how this fear stands in contradiction with the nature of the apocalyptic world he describes, created by present generations not caring enough about future generations (as in the climate change discussions).
 
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The Bone Clocks is definitely better than number9dream, which is way too derivative of Murakami. Like, so much that I often forgot I was reading a Mitchell novel.

But I do prefer Cloud Atlas, Thousand Autumns, and probably Black Swan Green to Bone Clocks, which has so much great stuff in it but didn't quite bowl me over by the end like the others.
 
I'm reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Norwegian Wood and having an absolutely wonderful time with both. Switching back and forth depending on my mood, but I'll finish up Androids in the next day or so at my current pace.
 
Followup post:

Finished both, loved both. Androids I finished almost immediately. I was struck by how much romance there was in the novel compared to Blade Runner. It's a warmer, more relatable narrative than that of the film. If I have any complaints, it's how quickly the wife's depression seemed to resolve itself, at least on the surface. I seem to recall her falling back into old habits at the end, but it's been a while since I finished it.

Wrapped up Norwegian Wood today. It was flawed, occasionally repetitive and had a slightly deranged view of sex (just how incredible of a lover was Toru anyway?) but the prose was wonderful and it had a terrific cast of characters. Midori was a real gem. This is a story that I needed to read at this precise moment in my life and I was greatly moved by its message, so I can overlook some aspects I didn't care for. I look forward to reading more Murakami.
 
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I'm about 3/4 of the way through the gargantuan 1Q84. Not his best work, but pretty typical Murakami despite the size, and a good enough read.

If Norwegian Wood was your first one of his, I'd suggest Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, or The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle to be next. Many fans consider the latter their favorite; I'm partial to the former. Both are definite high points.
 
When the sixth Harry Potter movie came out, I never went to see it. I had fallen behind in the books, having only read up to five. I really wanted to see it, but I never did, because I always felt the books were better than the films, not so much because the films weren't good (fuck they're great for the most part) but just what they left out was a shame. Unavoidable in parts, but a shame nonetheless. So I always said that I would see it when I read the books.

Then the internet started becoming a big thing. Like, that sounds stupid, but when I was a kid, if you wanted to use the internet you were chained to a computer. All of a sudden there was high-speed internet at uni. I got a job and there was internet there, too. Then computers were eschewed for laptops. Instead of fighting with my siblings for the computer, I just got a laptop and a really long ethernet cable. Then wifi came. I could sit in my room with my laptop. Then phones started getting smarter and all of a sudden you didn't even need wifi; you could be on the internet wherever you had good phone reception. This all started happening slowly from about 10 years ago, I'd say. Give or take a few years.

I used to LOVE reading. My parents will tell you stories of how often I would curl up with a book, whether it be fiction or sports stats, and just. read. But I think once the internet started becoming a thing, I got distracted. I got lazy. I could read... but that's so boring. and it takes so long. and you have to make a commitment to something that requires effort and a LOT of time and it might suck. What's happened of Facebook though? Or Twitter?

Now, I fucking ADORE the internet and technology. It has been responsible for a lot of happiness in my life. It fucking rules. I fucking hate people, usually either boomers or idealistic idiotic young people, who say that technology is "destroying our ability to communicate" or whatever. That's it's ruining lives. That's bullshit. Yes, it has drawbacks, like everything, but a) it's actually improved communication, objectively b) it has been good for so many things and c) you're fucking kidding yourself if you think that people who are now 55 wouldn't have been just as addicted as 15-year-olds are now if the technology existed when they were 15.

But, I will admit that the internet and the advancement of technology stopped me from doing something I really loved, reading, for a very long time. Like, 10 years. (Give or take a few.) And I never really liked that, but I'd try to start reading something and would just go back on my phone. Too hard basket. Who cares.

But in the last year or so, largely thanks to CBT, I've wanted to better myself. And finally getting back to reading is high on the list of things I want to change (other things include stop being proudly ignorant I'm not into film and start watching more of it. becoming a better cook. learning Italian again). But it's a slow, slow process.

My girlfriend is a HUGE Harry Potter fan. In the early days of our relationship, she would often go to relate IRL-things to it like, "OMG this is just like in Harry Potter when--" but I would stop her and say that I didn't want spoilers, because I never read books 6 and 7, nor saw the movies. "I want to read the books." And she would be indignant, like you've had all this fucking time, blah blah blah. Eventually she cracked the shits and told me if I didn't want her spoiling it, I'd have to at the very least watch the movies. I said no, I want to read the books. I want to get back into reading. I want to finish what I fucking started like 20 years ago.

Today, at 5:30-odd PM on a sidewalk in Melbourne's CBD, I shed a few tears as I reached the end of the first book. And I was really, really happy. Reading it was like catching up with an old friend you haven't seen in years, but you hit it off right where you left it. Memories start flooding back and you wonder, why had I stopped seeing this person? They're fucking great.

So yeah, I'm so excited to read the rest of the books and finally finish what I started. Watch the movies again. I'm like a little kid. And boom, just like that, I think I've got the magic back.
 
I don't know if anyone is still reading Knausgaard's My Struggle or not but I just finished Book 5 last night night and absolutely loved it. Back in form after a weakish, though still enjoyable, Book 4. I also had the enormous pleasure of hearing him read recently and it was fantastic. He gave a few spoilers for Book 6 which lead me to believe the series is going to end on an outstanding note.
 
I don't know if anyone is still reading Knausgaard's My Struggle or not but I just finished Book 5 last night night and absolutely loved it. Back in form after a weakish, though still enjoyable, Book 4. I also had the enormous pleasure of hearing him read recently and it was fantastic. He gave a few spoilers for Book 6 which lead me to believe the series is going to end on an outstanding note.

I'm starting Book 4 this weekend, just waiting to finish Funny Girl tomorrow or Friday. Good to know that there are nice things to look forward to, even though most people don't seem to love Book 4.

How was his talk? I was sorry to miss him at BAM recently, would have loved to hear him.
 
I miss this thread, and I'm sure everyone's still reading, so here's a book I just finished.

The Big Roads, by Earl Swift

I dug the hell out of this book. If you drive long-distance in the US, like I do every summer (just about), you have an interest in the interstates and other US and state highways. This book traces the beginnings of the interstate system from the 1920s to the mid-2000s. Swift has a LOT of details about the men and the laws that built the system, and how the system changed and was changed by the various government agencies and the people impacted by the interstate system.
 
I'm trying to read Moby Dick and struggling. How the fuck do people do it? Do people still read this shit? It's so fucking long and racist and not really as pertinent as I was expecting. It's mostly just the 19th century wiki article on cetaceans but without the cetacean needed joke. I'm about 250 pages in so the plot is beginning to start, but I sure hope a lot of cool whale monomania stuff happens soon.
 
I really don't see a reason to ever read it, to be quite frank.

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Oh fuck that book for real. Worst assigned reading in the worst class I've ever taken.

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I'm trying to read Moby Dick and struggling. How the fuck do people do it? Do people still read this shit? It's so fucking long and racist and not really as pertinent as I was expecting. It's mostly just the 19th century wiki article on cetaceans but without the cetacean needed joke. I'm about 250 pages in so the plot is beginning to start, but I sure hope a lot of cool whale monomania stuff happens soon.

I read it a few years ago, and half the book is the actual story, and the rest is Fun Facts About Whales (that are mostly wrong). The story itself is pretty good, but the rest can be skipped, except the chapter about making a poncho out of a whale penis; you've got to read that one. :lol:
 
Oh, and guess what! I'm several years late to the party, but the other day, I bought the 20th anniversary edition of Infinite Jest. I found it at Hastings for $12 while picking through their remains as they go bankrupt.
 
I used to work at a Hastings when I lived in Albuquerque. Fun times.

Wish I was there so I could feed off the carcass as well.

It was a popular hangout in high school and still a nice place to go just to have a leisurely browse at all the stuff. I'm going to miss it. :(

I once traded in a bunch of CDs for store credit and then bought a stack of books and some coffee, and I ended up spending just 10 cents for all of it. I felt like the Ultimate Shopping Champion.
 
I read the first three Song of Ice and Fire books over the summer, but now that the fall semester has started, most of what I'm reading is for the Early World Lit class I'm teaching. In the last four weeks, it's been:
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Genesis
Song of Songs
The Iliad
Oedipus Rex
The poetry of Sappho
The Medea

Next week we read Plato's apology then it's on to South Asia and China.
 
Just finished The Girl on the Train. It was one of those mystery/thrillers where you're like, hmm ok I think I know where it's all going, but there're still plenty of pages left so hopefully there's some other juicy twist left... oh wait there isn't. Wouldn't be as much of a problem if the book had something else to offer other than the central mystery, but there's really nothing else there, no compelling characters, nothing interesting to say. Could be one of the rare instances where a movie might improve on the book.
 
Yeah, I was really underwhelmed by the book - I might have just read it too late after all the hype. I even guessed whodunnit early on (and I never get that stuff right).

No interest in the movie at all.
 
I just finished The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi. Good read, a dystopian mystery set in near-future. Comes together really quickly towards the end though. Pretty sudden wrap-up, but a minor critique overall.
 
I'm reading Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. It's really hard to follow because it's based on a lot of vague dialogue full of spy jargon. I'm trying to think of what it's about exactly, and I can't even explain that. Spies talking about things? The movie is on Netflix, so I think I'll watch that after I finish the book so I can figure out what I just read. I became interested in the author after watching The Night Manager. I hope his other books are better, because I just bought two others.
 
I'm reading Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. It's really hard to follow because it's based on a lot of vague dialogue full of spy jargon. I'm trying to think of what it's about exactly, and I can't even explain that. Spies talking about things? The movie is on Netflix, so I think I'll watch that after I finish the book so I can figure out what I just read. I became interested in the author after watching The Night Manager. I hope his other books are better, because I just bought two others.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a classic in the genre, sorry you didn't enjoy it. LeCarre is a master, what an unbelievable career.

It's been a while since I've posted in here, so, just a few books I've read recently that I enjoyed a lot:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29430012-a-gentleman-in-moscow

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13330370-the-last-policeman

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24189224-city-on-fire

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23208397-underground-airlines

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22822858-a-little-life

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26245850-before-the-fall

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24612148-gold-fame-citrus

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18166987-the-ballad-of-a-small-player

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10365343-zone-one

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17934530-annihilation (All three books in this series were enjoyable, and I liked how they all had a bit of a different tone/feel despite being 100% related to one another)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17333324-ancillary-justice?ac=1&from_search=true (This whole series was good but this book was my favorite of the trilogy)

Also working my way through The Expanse series, finished the 4th book not too long ago.

Also, every book in the Night Soldiers series by Alan Furst has been a joy. They're slightly same-y and should probably not be read one after the other or anything like that, but they're all amazingly evocative and wry. I'm up to the 10th book in the series.
 
I'm working my way through your links, but have been meaning to ask - did you read the final book in the Passage trilogy? I remember you didn't care for the second book.

I enjoyed it, but a lot of the impact was lost by having so much time between the books that I had completely forgotten what had happened (I should have done a Wikipedia recap or something first).

Before the Fall was very good, and I really enjoyed the Last Policeman series.

Annihilation started out AWESOME but lost some of its oomph in the third book for me. Zone One also very good. I recall liking Gold Fame Citrus, but I think the first half was much stronger than the second.
 
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I'm working my way through your links, but have been meaning to ask - did you read the final book in the Passage trilogy? I remember you didn't care for the second book.

I enjoyed it, but a lot of the impact was lost by having so much time between the books that I had completely forgotten what had happened (I should have done a Wikipedia recap or something first).

Before the Fall was very good, and I really enjoyed the Last Policeman series.

Annihilation started out AWESOME but lost some of its oomph in the third book for me. Zone One also very good. I recall liking Gold Fame Citrus, but I think the first half was much stronger than the second.

I did read the third book and your memory is accurate. I LOVED the first one and found the 2nd to be not nearly as good. However, I did enjoy the 3rd and would place it between the first two. I agree, though, the time gap and my advancing age/# of books I've read makes it hard, sometimes, to maintain momentum or even a strong recollection of all previous events. I'll usually go back and at least read a synopsis of prior books, usually, to mitigate that a bit.

Before the Fall was pretty easy reading but also insanely hard to put down. I read it because the author is the show runner for Fargo. I'm going to read his earlier books.

The Annihilation series definitely ends better than it begins but I still was digging it at the end. I think they're making the first one into a film AS WE TYPE.

Zone One I dug just a lot. I don't read a ton of zombie novels (World War Z was the one I had last prior to this one) but the way this was framed and its focus really appealed to me, and I loved it.

The author of Gold Fame Citrus also has a collection of short stories out that I read prior to this novel, really liked that book as well. I don't read a ton of short story collections but this came highly recommended and so I went for it.
 
The Annihilation series definitely ends better than it begins but I still was digging it at the end. I think they're making the first one into a film AS WE TYPE.

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