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Underground > Books, Criticism & Writing >

2004: What are you currently reading?

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unheimlich manoeuvre

23:23 / 18.10.04

still making my way(s) through the Three Theban Plays.

Oedipus Rex *is* George W. Bush.

ONLY NICE THINGS

07:59 / 19.10.04

No he isn't. Oedipus is a hero whose devotion to the city he rules leads him on an investigative course where ultimately, in order to lift the curse on the city, he must take upon himself both the deferred wrath of the gods and the far greater curse of knowledge of his own guilt.

That is to say he is pretty much the opposite of George W Bush. He is intelligent, he actively wants to help the people he governs, and he accepts ultimate responsibility for his actions.

unheimlich manoeuvre

12:17 / 19.10.04

Haus, thanks for your help but i'm still reading Oedipus the King. At least there's a happy ending!

The Return Of Rothkoid

22:57 / 19.10.04

I haven't actively listed what I've been reading over the last year or so - bad Rothkoid - but I'm almost finished Boyle's Drop City, which is nice, but still hasn't taken the place of Water Music in my heart.

15:00 / 22.10.04

Pretty Straight Guys by Nick Cohen. If you don't want to get angry and even more pi**ed off at New Labour than you are already then DON'T read this book. But if you want a carefully put together argument about how we have no true left wing party of any description in this country then read on. Depressing but true.

CT

unheimlich manoeuvre

19:39 / 22.10.04

(threadrot)
Haus, the breadth and precision of your knowledge is quite simply ... amazing.
(/threadrot)

N-P: I read Nik Cohn's "Yes We Have No" a few years back, thoroughly depressing/enlightening social realism. have you read it?

...

I've just finished the Three Theban Plays. George W. is unfortunately not Oedipus Rex, no matter how much i wish he was.
Next on my list Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse. it says it is the most "violently misunderstood" of his works. i look forward to sipping the book slowly and enjoying the flavour.
Why, cruel world, are there so few books by Hesse?!?

00:59 / 23.10.04

(apparently because he decided he wanted to try painting instead)

I'm in re-read mode for some reason. Right now it's "The Rum Diary" by Hunter S. Thompson, which I read years ago, and next is a good "Hey! I haven't read this in 10 years!" re-read of the original Dragonlance trilogy! Dragons of Autumn Twilight here I come!

12:14 / 27.10.04

The System of the World. I've just started and am at the part where Queen Anne is dying and Sir Christopher Wren has promised to Make Things Happen for Daniel Waterhouse. Since I read Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd, I'm wondering whether Sir Nick will make a sinister appearance.

ONLY NICE THINGS

11:12 / 01.11.04

I've taken to picking up and reading random books from the recommended reading shelf of my local library - just finished Antietam Brown by Mick Foley, which is lightweight and fantastical, but quite fun. I can sort of see the Irving comparisons, but Foley is a far lighter writer, which I mean primarily in a good way...

Before that, and from the same shelf, I read "The Well of Lost Plots", by Jasper Fforde, which I was tempted to abandon but am glad I did not, as there was quite a good joke around page 327 which I would otherwise have missed.

Currently reading "Daughters of Darkness", a collection of lesbian vampire stories edited by Pam Keesey. So far unimpressive, but hope springs eternal...

11:42 / 01.11.04

I found the entire Wild Card series (not sure that's really the best link) in the basement when I moved in September, which I read three or four times as a teenager. I have ersolved to read them all now, but it's slow going because they're pretty bad. I'm only on the second book now.

I'm also reading Barbara Tuchman's excellent book "A Distant Mirror", about Enguerrand de Coucy in particular and 14th century France in general. It's pretty awesome.

In the rotating stack are Medieval Myths, edited by Norma Lorre Goodrich (also found in basement); Middlemarch, by George Eliot, and three Burroughs novels, The Soft Machine, Nova Express, and The Wild Boys, in one uncarryable volume.

15:00 / 08.11.04

inchocolate: Nope I haven't tried that but I know that he is an extremely prolific writer. I'll check it out. Thanks for the advice!

N-P

10:35 / 10.11.04

I'm reading The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh, which has possibly the worst handling of time of any novel I have ever read. It's meant to be one of these sweeping, 'over-three-genrerations' books, and yet the only indication that the characters have aged comes through casual mention of their growing infirmity. Which always comes as a bit of a surprise, since over the previous twenty pages (at the start of which they were twenty and in their prime) no mention has been made of the passage of time.

Despite this, I'm quite enjoying it -the descriptions of anything other than sex are excellent, which makes up for a lot of its faults, and the characters are engaging. Good for the commute, at least...

18:11 / 11.11.04

Currently I am reading Anne Rice's newest book in the Vampire Chronicles Blood Canticle, which is very good.

09:44 / 15.11.04

Just finishing up Don DeLillo's Cosmopolis, my first foray into his novels and I have been very impressed. A great deal in there about the nature of extreme wealth and power corrupting, the untouchability of the super-rich, the modern preoccupation with celebrity and wealth intermingling, the lack of support for those who "fail" in society, etc. He has a dry wit and spots details in life that sometimes get forgotten. Recommended. ABBA ABBA by Anthony Burgess next.

NP

Haus of Mystery

14:13 / 17.11.04

Hey Qalyn.. Always wondered about those books. They look dreadful, but there isn't a great deal of straight up superhero pulps around and I seem to remember some pretty respectable SF names attached to the project. Bolland covers too!

But, bad, yes?

12:22 / 18.11.04

I'm near the end of Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, a novel about a missionary family stationed in the Congo beginning in the late 50's. Has given me some terrible nightmares in the course of reading it.

I've been totally engrossed in the story, but sometimes it gets a bit over the top, particularly in the area of character development. Without giving out any spoilers, everyone's a bit too caricatured in their various attitudes toward Africa generally and the Congolese specifically... there seems to be a tendency of the author to delineate in black "this person is good," "this one is bad," which is curious given her skeptical treatment of rigid Christianity.

13:05 / 19.11.04

Have just finished ABBA ABBA by Anthony Burgess. Short but sweet and recommended. It suggests the fictional meeting between John Keats and the Roman poet Belli in 1820 just before the death of the more famous Englishman. ABBA comes from the form of poem they both tended to write and there is much wordplay here, as always with Burgess. I love his stuff so lapped it up. Also give it a try for both the history and translations of Belli's more lurid poems. Very dirty and very blasphemous, great fun.

NP

17:35 / 19.11.04

Just finished reading John Connolly's short story collection Nocturnes which is highly recommended. Its a collection of short horror pieces. A really good range of stories using all those traditional horror themes we know and love.

21:57 / 19.11.04

Finished Hesse's Steppenwolf again, and am reading Qi - the source of life-force, which is the best book I've read on the subject. It's in swedish, but I'll probably be translating it to english so look for it in a year or two...

22:48 / 19.11.04

On the last chapter of History of Everything (but too drunk to read it at the moment) then have the option of Quicksilver, Historical Illuminatus, English a History or The Unseen Hand....

21:09 / 20.11.04

Go for Quicksilver! (I'm reading 'The System of the World' right now). I'm loving these books, and dreading the end of the series. More! I want more!

I also just finished 'The Napoleon of Notting Hill' by G.K. Chesterton, which was one of those 'this book was written for you' kind of books... 20th century London is divided up into little fiefdoms with their own heraldry, provosts, and made up histories... so very appealing and fun.

Brigade du jour

22:10 / 20.11.04

Just started 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho, ten years after everyone else as usual!

It's a very easy read so far, seemingly to invite readers of all ages, levels of reading ability, etc. Which is mixed news, as I'm kind of skim-reading it, maybe only subconsciously taking it in.

I suppose I'll come back to it again some day and maybe make more sense of it. Reminds me a lot of Celestine Prophecy so far, way more than it does of the only other Coelho book I've read, 'Veronika Decides To Die'.

20:52 / 23.11.04

Consilience by Edward O. Wilson. The legendary Darwinist (I can write blurbspeak) is basically writing about how different fields can be morphed together in to a universal understanding of human knowledge, and how different fields of thought can inform one another. I can understand his thesis so far (he's been looking at the interaction of the hard sciences), but I look forward to how he argues his point with regard to fields like art and theology and literature. I'm plodding through it. Slowly.

The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek. Why capitalism rules. Although he has a slightly esoteric style at times (or it could just be that I need to take a paracetamol), it's going pretty well.

14:55 / 24.11.04

"I'm currently reading Don't just talk - do it, by Jerry Rubin, written in the american 60:ths... It's about the student revolt and spirit. I really enjoy it. Short texts with edge."

i read that and liked it, but it's almost kind of depressing. i mean, rubin's writing with all this certainty that global revolution is right around the corner, but (maybe my knowledge of sixties history is a little shaky) he's right at the tail end of the moment. that, and knowing he turned into a yuppie is really depressing too. it's interesting to see how much he viewed revolution as a youth identity movement, because it's obviously not sustainable, because, well, people get old.

also, it's pretty obvious that crimethinc was heavily inspired by this, too.

wembley can change in 28 days

09:49 / 03.12.04

A collection of Chekhov's short stories, lovingly translated (oh, how I love them so) by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volkhonsky. And oh, how I love Chekhov... it's not natural.

And if you're looking for Greeks and GW, I'd go with Creon. Creon is George W Bush for sure, only without the anagnorisis (so far).

The Photographer in Blowup

09:53 / 11.12.04

Going through some non-fiction at the moment: Bertrand Russell's The Impact Of Science On Society for University, and his Sceptical Essays just for fun. He's a nice guy on the whole, with some fairly challenging ideas and interesting propositions, and his prose just has a lovely sense of dry humour.

06:44 / 12.12.04

Got Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay as a birthday present, so haven't started Quicksilver yet. Just finishing Kavalier and Clay off. Now, though, I want to read Nepoleons of Nottinghill...

20:17 / 12.12.04

Richard Pevear and Larissa Volkhonsky - I'm reading their translation of Brothers Karamazov right now. Almost done. I might have to check out their Chekhov, even though I read a lot of it in the Ye Olde Penguin Classics version last year.

02:40 / 14.12.04

I'm reading Toni Morrison's LOVE right now and using Jane Smiley's MOO to put me to sleep (it's a one-word title month, for me. Next up: GILEAD by Marilynne Robinson. If you haven't read Robinson's first book, Housekeeping you are in for a treat; it is pure poetry.)

I recently read the curious incident of the dog in the night time by, ummm...what's his name again? Mark....something. I liked it. The autistic child narrator works very well--the book is short but pretty moving. (And how many novels are set in Swindon?)

And I read Nick Hornby like popcorn this summer for no particular reason. Then it was UNDERWORLD by Don DeLillo (drags in the middle; too much Lenny Bruce!)--I like his other works better (White Noise, especially.)

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Asar Nafisi. This is a great idea for a book. Wish she had done more with it. But it's still quite extraordinary. And I met her last year and I think I fell in love with her voice.

A bunch of Philip Roth (Portnoy's Complaint, Zuckerman Unbound, The Human Stain) because I want to read his new one, The Plot Against America. Anybody read it yet?

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

03:35 / 14.12.04

"Breakfast at Tiffany's," by Truman Capote. While I think it's too easy to let the Audrey Hepburn slip in, what Capote does withd dialogue enthralls me and Holly's far more captivating in this form. In fact, everybody is. And his character names are divine...! The pacing seems cracking, despite the mostly conversational scenes.

10:51 / 14.12.04

I'm reading a book of W. Somerset Maugham short stories on the train to and from work, which I am liking immensely -I've not read any short stories for a while now, it's good to have a break from novels. At home, I'm reading Peter Biskind's Down And Dirty Pictures, about Miramax, Sundance and all that mob, which is fun. I'm enjoying it more than I did Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, possibly because I've seen more of the films they're talking about.

Benny -I read Kavalier And Clay this year too, can recommend also Carter Beats The Devil, which is about a magician from around the same era. I read them in fairly quick succession, they go together quite well!

12:35 / 14.12.04

Just finished re-reading Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin. While I was reading it I started If Beale Street Could Talk. I'm afraid my heart may be in for a shredding with this one.

19:29 / 14.12.04

I got a copy of Carter beats the Devil, but never read it. Now it sits in a box somewhere. But I may get a copy out of the library. I also have a copy of Hiding the Elephant on my bedside table, about Houdini and the golden age of magicians. Could be a trilogy of complimentary books along with Kavalier and Clay.

What did you think of it, by the way? I really enjoy the almost surreal change mid-way, the sudden setting shift to Antarctia and all that stuff.

10:16 / 15.12.04

I loved Kavalier And Clay -the digressions are fun (for the reader at least -have you got to the nighttime in Antartica section yet?), and the big shifts in what's happening at the start of each part of the book worked well. Or rather, it's not always actually a huge shift, but I liked having to keep reading in order to see how what I was reading related to the plot. If that makes sense... Carter is more straightforward, and there's a lot more about the magic as well if you're interested in that.

Yes, I noticed you'd posted about Hiding The Elephant in one of the non-fiction threads, and was planning to read that next year!

17:56 / 16.12.04

Have just finished it. Loved the book, the way that it kind of relied on you accepting some pretty big leaps in story telling. The whole Antartica thing really is great (I love any story set in icy-wastelands though). Started Quicksilver now though, but as I'm working, I've managed about 6 pages a night before falling asleep, so could take me some time!

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