Favorite books / What are you reading?

I'm reading it for a class, otherwise I would have been drunk and the book would have been in trash.
 
I'm currently reading a biography of Kurt Cobain entitled "Heavier Than Heaven" and Maddox's book "The Alphabet of Manliness".
 
I don't have a Times subscription, so i can't read the Gravity's Rainbow review......but, considering you raved considerably about the novel on the last page of the thread, i assume this isn't going to be one of those antiintellectualist "I didn't understand this book, noone else does, people only say they like it only to look smart!!!" type of reviews which plague the internet in regards to modernist literature :wink: Anyways, glad you enjoyed it, looking forward to it myself.

I was disappointed with Heart of Darkness when i read it a few years ago; i guess i was seeking the sort of feeling i got from 'Apolocalypse Now', but it seemed to me that the psychological journey of the film was very much Coppola's invention, added to the general plot of the novel. He is granted that success, in spite of the lack of good work he has done for 25 years or so. Maybe the style of novel just wasn't for me, maybe i'd like it better now---who knows.

I'm interested in reading Burgess and Nabakov, not having done so. Will browse. the library tomarrow
 
Unfortunately, most of my time is spent reading WSJ, Statistics for Business and Economics and learning Chinese characters >__<

I am currently on an extended reading session of Zelazny & Sheckley's "If at Faust you don't Succeed".
 
Knödelkarpfen said:
I was disappointed with Heart of Darkness when i read it a few years ago; i guess i was seeking the sort of feeling i got from 'Apolocalypse Now', but it seemed to me that the psychological journey of the film was very much Coppola's invention, added to the general plot of the novel.
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Interesting. I liked the book better than the movie.
 
I'm enjoying Pride & Prejudice, Mr. Darcy is my homeboy, he remind me a bit of me when I'm sober. I hope he bangs out Elizabeth.
 
UniversalWolf said:
Interesting. I liked the book better than the movie.
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Yeah, i read it a number of years ago, so maybe i was missing something. It's not that i respect myself for having this opinion :)
I am so taken by grandiose expressionism in film (i love Welles) that i was quite a sucker for Coppola's vision, so perhaps i just was predisposed not to enjoy the subtler tones of the novella. I'll give it another try one day.

I'm going to read some Phillip K. Dick here soon. I read a number of his stories and novels awhile ago, and i really just got a lot of delight from them.....Yes, many of his works involve a future dystopia, or alternate reality, with robots and space travel, etc., but his ridiculous and bizarre imagination and invention really go beyond these clichés of the science fiction genre."Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and "The Man in the High Castle" are his most popular, are they are indeed excellent.
 
Right now I'm reading John Irving's A Prayer For Owen Meany.

I've read World According to Garp which I loved to death. So far this one's pretty good too.
 
SimpleMinded said:
Right now I'm reading John Irving's A Prayer For Owen Meany.
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Yeah, that's a good one.

Finally got around to reading Ender's Game. Is it worth reading any more in the series?
 
Currently finishing the second book of the 'Millenium' trilogy, by Stieg Larsson. It's a classical but nonetheless very well executed thriller, and also an interesting take on the detective novel since most of the investigation is made by journalists or unusual characters.

I can't judge with accuracy because i'm not swedish, but there are some underlying statements and criticism about Sweden and its politics, how things such as state secrecy or violence towards women are dealt with. We never hear much about the nothern countries in southern europe, so it's quite interesting.
 
Knödelkarpfen said:
I am so taken by grandiose expressionism in film (i love Welles) that i was quite a sucker for Coppola's vision, so perhaps i just was predisposed not to enjoy the subtler tones of the novella. I'll give it another try one day.
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It's been quite a few years since I read the book, so my opinion of it should be considered suspect. :wink:

On the other hand, I'd seen Apocalypse Now a couple of times before I read the book, and I preferred the book. That might just mean I liked the movie less than most people, though. Still, Heart of Darkness is so short that you can hardly go wrong for such a small investment of time. Even if you don't like it you'll be done lickety-split.

Knödelkarpfen said:
I'm going to read some Phillip K. Dick here soon..."Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and "The Man in the High Castle" are his most popular, are they are indeed excellent.
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Yes. DADoES is very good. It's substantially different from Blade Runner, too, so seeing that movie will make the book more interesting rather than spoiling it.

SoberCounsel said:
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
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Man, I hated that book. I made it about 3/9ths of the way through and dumped it. The story is fine, but Oscar Wilde's writing style is intolerably snide and condescending. Downright bitchy.
 
I'm reading The Three Musketeers, as I was too much of an ignorant youth to have done it sooner. I have a bit of a tendency to bite off more than I can chew in a literary fashion however, so technically I am also "reading" Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead,, R. Wright's Moral Animal, Dennet's Consciousness Defined, Subways are for Sleeping by I forget whom, Robinson Crusoe, American Psycho, and re-reading Zelazny's Amber Chronicles.

Musketeers and Princess Bride are the only one's I'm really making progress on, though. :/
 
Knödelkarpfen said:
I'm going to read some Phillip K. Dick here soon.
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Considering the forum we're on, you should definitly try Dick's Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb, which is a take on how society in Western USA would reorganise after a massive atomic bombing. There are some fantastic ideas in there. It's probably my favourite one from him.
 
Cimmerian Nights said:
Finally got around to reading Ender's Game. Is it worth reading any more in the series?
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If you like the super children idea, read the Ender's Shadow series. If you liked the concept of genocide and clashes between species, read the rest of the Ender's Game books.
 
SimpleMinded said:
Cimmerian Nights said:
Finally got around to reading Ender's Game. Is it worth reading any more in the series?
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If you like the super children idea, read the Ender's Shadow series. If you liked the concept of genocide and clashes between species, read the rest of the Ender's Game books.
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I have only read Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide so far, and I like them very much.

I recommend them and will keep on reading more myself. :)
 
I've started The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. I'm liking it so far. I enjoy Danglars and his villainous plotting.

I also read the Watchmen comic book a few days ago, and I was very unimpressed. Graphic novel my ass, it's a comic book. Why do comic books always have zero character development?
 
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