Sypha Nadon on 4/5/2008 at 06:06
Very few of the books I've read so far this year were that difficult to get through, with a few exceptions. Doris Lessing's "Briefing for a Descent Into Hell" (which is a great title) I ended up liking in the end but that was a really tough read, what with all the freeform imagery that went on for pages and pages at a time. And Guyotat's "Eden Eden Eden" was punishing... no plot, almost no punctuation, very few tangible characters, almost no dialogue, just page after page of unrelenting sexual depravity for almost 200 pages... after awhile it just became numbing to the extent it almost made me ill. On the other hand, I am interested in books that bring about such physical reactions, so I'm glad I finished it.
One of the more interesting books I read was "Exercises in Style," by the French writer Raymond Queneau, first published back in the 1940's. Queneau takes an unexceptional tale (on a crowded bus, a gawky man with a long neck accuses another man of deliberately jolting him, then sits down on a vacated seat. Later, the author sees this same man again in another part of town, in which the man is being advised by a friend to sew another button on his overcoat), then proceeds to do many variations on it, for a total of 99 variations in all. For example, he provides a metaphor version of the event, an anagram version, a haiku version, a novel blurb version, a Cockney version, a sonnet version, a mathematical version, a musical version, a pig Latin version, even an opera varation. It's all very clever, and very funny in light of the banal event that proved to be the genesis of the novel. At less than 200 pages and with very short chapters it's also a quick read... I finished it in under two hours myself.
Aerothorn on 5/5/2008 at 01:28
My dad is a total Pynchon whore, and found Against the Day pretty disappointing - apparently is was way longer than it needed to be. If you're going for a more straightforward novel, try Vineland; otherwise, you might as well just go ahead and read Gravity's Rainbow.
I've been meaning to keep a reading list for a while, but haven't. I read a bunch of Iain Banks' The Culture novels, and also throughly enjoyed Fires on the Plains, a classic Japanese WW2 novel.
Also, remember how I kept voting for The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break for book club? I re-read that too.
I miss book club:(
ilweran on 5/5/2008 at 20:45
I'm taking part on a 50 book challenge on the Richard Dawkins forum, I'm on 19 so far as I've been grouping together manga so that 3 or 4 equal one book.
Currently reading Affluenza by Oliver James and The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
Aerothorn on 6/5/2008 at 00:08
The Richard Dawkins forum?
Did Stronts bring you here?
ilweran on 6/5/2008 at 15:22
No, I only joined it last year and I've been here for 4. Not really posted there much this year, too many forums, not enough time, but I wanted to stick with the 50 book challenge. Plus I feel I've already helped the atheist cause enough by debunking my own religion.
I did wonder if it were the same Stronts as here, I guess that question is answered.
Aerothorn on 9/5/2008 at 20:45
Haha, I had no idea he actually hung out there, but that makes sense (we have a MASSIVE topic inspired by "The God Delusion" featuring some truly classic posts by Fett).
Sypha Nadon on 10/5/2008 at 19:38
Update:
26. The End of the World Book (Alistar McCartney) (May 1)
27. Foucault's Pendulum (Umberto Eco) (May 8)
28. Us Ones in Between (Blair Mastbaum) (May 10)
Wow, okay, I will say that "Pendulum" was kind of tough to slog through at points... especially the parts of the book that are just page after page of characters talking about the Templars or the Rosicrucians. Still, I'm glad I stuck with it, because I found the last 100 pages to be oddly moving. Not the most entertaining book I ever read, but it was very fascinating, and it's one of those books that I've tried picking up a few times in the past yet never made much of a dent in it... another such book is Donna Tartt's "The Secret History" which is what I think I'll read next... save "Gravity's Rainbow" for next month I suppose. I think I might re-read Stephen R. Donaldson's "The Man Who Fought Alone" soon also... that's one of my top ten all-time favorites and I try to read it once a year.
Sypha Nadon on 24/8/2008 at 04:59
Update:
29. "The Man Who Fought Alone" (Stephen R. Donaldson)(May 23) *
30. "Valis" (Philip K. Dick) (May 26) *
31. "Angels of Perversity" (Remy de Gourmont) (June 30)
32. "Monsieur de Phocas" (Jean Lorrain) (July 6)
33. "Inferno" (August Strindberg) (July 10)
34. "Soul Kitchen" (Poppy Z. Brite) (July 19)
35. "Monsieur Venus" (Rachilde) (July 20)
36. "A Haven" (J.K. Huysmans) (July 26)
37. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (Truman Capote) (July 30)
38. "Surfaces" (Thomas Moore) (Aug. 7)
39. "Bat-Wing" (Sax Rohmer) (Aug. 13)
40. "Convolvulus & Other Poems" (Kenneth Grant) (Aug. 14)
41. "Recollections of the Golden Triangle" (Alain Robbe-Grillet) (Aug. 18)
42. "Gamaliel/Dance, Doll, Dance!" (Kenneth Grant) (Aug. 23)
* = book I've read at least once in the past
reading plan:
rest of August:
"The Other Child & Other Stories" (Kenneth Grant)
September:
"The Red and the Black" (Stendhal)
"The Beetle" (Richard Marsh)
"The Street of Crocodiles" (Bruno Schulz)
"The Hearing Trumpet" (Leonora Carrington)
October:
"The Bell Jar" (Sylvia Plath)
"The Shadow at the Bottom of the World" (Thomas Ligotti)
"Diary of a Drug Fiend" (Aleister Crowley)
That should take me to #50. So I'd then have two months to read whatever I want... I'm thinking I might try to tackle the 4 Jean Genet novels that I've had forever now yet keep putting off.
Books I started reading this year but didn't finish:
"The Secret History" (Donna Tartt)
"Gravity's Rainbow" (Thomas Pynchon)
"Atlas Shrugged" (Ayn Rand)
"En Route" (J.K. Huysmans)
"Hell" (Henri Barbusse)
"Pasquale's Angel" (Paul J. McAuley)
Next year I might just concentrate on reading a few really big books, such as "The Recognitions" by William Gaddis. I want to give "Gravity's Rainbow" another shot also. I tried reading it in June but it was slowing me down so much I had to put it aside for now.
I made a big dent in my bookcases this year, yet I still have 120+ novels I have yet to read! Oh well, hopefully I'll get to them one day.
Aerothorn on 24/8/2008 at 06:15
My understanding is that Gravity's Rainbow is essentially impossible to really "get" on a first read. I know someone who had to just drag himself through it the first time, and upon re-reading it it became one of his favorite books. Kudos for giving it a shot - one of these days I will, but my book backlog is way too massive (too much gaming, not enough reading).
