What Are You Reading? (8 Viewers)

No, not really, Johannes. Religions are completely lost on me.

You posted The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa a few weeks ago. Have you ever read Antonio Tabucchi?
 
Yes, Tabucchi was obviously an admirer of Portuguese literature and culture, and he actually wrote one of his novels in Portuguese, I reckon it was
Requiem: A Hallucination. He's probably best known for his novel Sostiene Pereira, filmed in 1995 with Marcello Mastroianni. The book title of the English translation is 'Pereira Maintains'. I do not know the movie, but, for my money, the book is definitely worth reading.
 
I'm reading Affliction by Russell Banks. I had it there for a while and picked it up to read the first sentence or paragraph just out of boredom I guess. 20 pages later I was in. I am much further into it and keep wanting to get back to it. So far it is a great one. The movie, as I vaguely recall, is really good. The cast is amazing. Written & directed by Paul Schrader it stars, among others, Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek and James Coburn.
 
I thought that you would like that one, roni :)

Yes, Nietzsche, Cioran, maybe Kierkegaard too. His life was somewhat kafkaesk.

But he was also a great Esoteric, corresponded and met with Aleister Crowley once and even helped him to stage a fake suicide, if I remember correctly.
 
Have been reading some books on Zen meditation lately. To wit:

everyday zen.jpg


zen mind.jpg


Especially the one by Charlotte Joko Beck I quite liked. The Suzuki is supposed to be a classic, if I get it right. It's not bad, but the one by Beck seems to have more everyday use, imho.

So after reading these and maybe also The Art of War by Sun Tzu I expect to conquer the world and become master of the universe pretty soon. So don't fuck with me.
 
Just finished Notes of a Dirty Old Man. Currently reading The Hunger Games Mockingjay, not a bad read actually. I have a large pile of waiting to be read which includes Journey to the End of the Night, Nausea, The Stars my Destination, etc etc. I'm on book 5 of the Dark Tower series... I love King, I think he's a great writer, but the Dark Tower is gargantuan. I can't wait to get them done and dusted if the truth be told. I have piles of books on the floor all around me, I should probably invest in a book shelf.
 
Yeah there's a ton of things I haven't read, I let my reading slide for a few years but now I'm making up for lost time :D

I read Hunger (Hamsun) a few weeks back, I enjoyed it a lot, crazy book! I'll read it again some day. I've still got Growth of the Soil to read... a couple of Buk poetry books (I'm not sure how to approach poems... keep turning the pages or dip in and out)

I'm having a good time anyway, getting back in to the flow and rhythms of reading.
 
"Redeployment" by Phil Klay. A collection of 12 short stories written by a veteran of the Iraq War. Twelve distinct characters in each story describing, in first-person, their role in the conflict. Marine grunt, Arab interpreter, chaplain, reconstruction supervisor, etc.. I liked that he gave equal attention to those clerks and non-combatants. It wasn't just drama and gunfire. A well-rounded group of stories that won The National Book Award for fiction in 2014.
 
Update to Slow Man by Coetzee:

It starts strong and well written. But about halfway through some postmodern metafictional all-knowing protagonist comes in which annoys the hell out of me and drags the whole novel down. It would have been a very good book about isolation, aging and pain, as a straight narrative, imho.

But this look-what-a-clever-postmodern-writer-I-am-shit stinks as showing off and doesn't even fit into the story. I don't get it.
 
Almost finished A Widow For One Year by John Irving. I loved Irving when I was younger, being especially captivated by his descriptions of New England but, for whatever reason, stopped reading him as I got into other writers etc. I would still list The Hotel New Hampshire, The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules as 3 of my favourite novels though. I've really enjoyed this one and been reminded what a good, if rather verbose, storyteller he is.
 
revival.jpg

Finished it today.

This is an odd one. If it was not written by Stephen King, I'd say this is a fair horror novel, even rather good, written by a guy heavily influenced by H.P. Lovecraft, obviously.

The first 250 pages (almost a short novel itself) or so aren't even a horror novel. There is no horror in it, it's a kind of portrait of the early Sixties in a rural god fearing American community. As that, it's a bit flat. It reads easy, but no catching atmosphere really, no deep psychological insight and so on.

Then the "horror" creeps in. And it's a very lovecraftian one. There is an ominous "other world" with unspeakable, unnameable creatures crawling around and somebody working very hard to open a door to this other world. Finally the door is opened and the horror revealed and it is ... ridiculous. Very, very flat, boring, nonsense. This is supposed to scare somebody? I don't get it.

So I don't know. For a Stephen King novel it's mediocre at best, like most of his recent novels, I'm sorry to say. Either he has lost his juice or he had plans with that novel that I don't fully understand.
 
I wrote a thread about a whole bunch of Bukowski books that I just found buried in one of my boxes. I was in Bukowski heaven being able to read these fantastic books all at once. It was like a fine delicious feast. I would read two books at a time and maybe nibble on one of the other books.

Here is a list of the books that I found in my box :
Notes of a Dirty Old Man; City Lights; I enjoyed this book tremendously. The wide range of Bukowski's writing is phenomenal .

I found a copy of the movie Barfly and I found it interesting to see that there is a scene in the beginning where a young black kid tries to rob the bar where Bukowski fights and hangs out. I vaguely remember the possibility that that scene was in the original movie when it came out on Showtime. The VHS tape copy that I have doesn't contain that robbery scene. I didn't read this whole book I just scanned through it .

Mockingbird Wish Me Luck; Black Sparrow; I have read this before and I read it again and I think this period of Bukowski's poetry was really enjoyable .

Hollywood ; Black Sparrow Press; it was very fun reading this book again. I had read it before back around 1992 to 1993. The front cover has aged very similarly to a used Bukowski book that I had bought recently off the internet before but now I can't remember what it was .

Post Office; Black Sparrow Press; it was also highly enjoyable to reread this book which I had also read around the 1992-93 era. This copy of Post Office has held up really well. Bukowski's writing really is straight forward without any embellishments in this novel. Tell it like it is and keep the pages turning.

Love is a Dog from Hell; Black Sparrow Press; it's really hard for a big fan of Bukowski to say this or that is their favorite book. But, I can say for certain that "Love is a Dog from Hell" is definitely one of my favorite Bukowski books of poetry. This book is flat out awesome. My copy has held up surprisingly well. I just noticed there is a little price tag on the back and it was $13 when I bought it.

The Most Beautiful Woman in Town; City Lights; this book has also held up really well. The price on the back cover of this book was $10.95. All of these stories were very sexually explicit. I wonder if a lot of these stories were some of the ones he sold to girlie magazines. I could see where women could be hateful towards him after they read a book like this. This is not the sort of book you would leave lying around for just anybody to pick up and read. I was stunned by some of the stuff written in this book. Charles Bukowski....you dirty old man!

As usual I am finished reading all of these books and I am looking for a new fix. I swear that I have read "Women" and "You Get so Alone at Times it Just Makes Sense" but I don't have the patience to start digging through some of these other boxes. So I just bought used copies of both of those books. I can't wait for them to arrive. I will once again be a happy Charles Somebody fan.
 
recently bought a used copy of Warhol's "a". (after wanting it for decades)
(the German translation is by one Carl Weissner, btw)

had to give up on it, even after trying many different spots inside the book.
It Is Totally Unreadable.
 
I'm reading a new book, just published, about the making of John Wayne's movie, "The Alamo", from 1960. It's called, "Not Thinkin'...Just Rememberin'..."
It's interesting if you're into movie history. It's a brick of a book, close to 1000 pages long, printed in small letters (damn!). It's 2 inches thick and weighs 3.1 pound. It not only covers the making of the movie, but also how Wayne put his political views into the movie, which are covered in two of the chapters called, Political Reflections One and Two. I guess the political stuff was typical of many movies made during the cold war and this was one of them.

7666
 
Me? No, I'm immortal! That's why it's no problem for me to read such a long book. :p
Seriously, unless it's really interesting, I'll just read the best parts, leave the rest, and start read another book. It's bad enough to waste money on a bad book, but it's even worse to waste one's time reading it too.
 
Reading Deep into a Dream-the life of Chet Baker-found it in the library discards for a quarter. What a POS he was. I went to go see Lets Get Lost when it came out so I thought there would be some value-the book is well written but he was a waste of space addict that miked it, people and music till he ended up on the pavement. The book, his addiction exhausts me-it must be hell to be ad
 
I'm no expert on Chet, but as a jazz fan, scholar, and performer, Chet Baker was a great performer, and a drop-dead, sellout anyone piece of crap as a human being. Maybe I shouldn't judge, but all accounts peg him as a complete douche. But man, he could swing that shit.
 
There's a few good poems about Henry Denander's encounters with Chet Baker in his book The Accidental Navigator (from Lummox Press).

I'm reading Money by Martin Amis. It's certainly an interesting take on the Generation X fuck up, with the central character being at once familiar and disgusting. There are some funny moments, like when the central character sees "Martin Amis" in the street and is very disparaging of what he sees as the stereotyped impoverished writer.
 
Just finished "All The Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr. This is more or less a YA novel with the teen male and female characters working their way through a complication that adults have imposed upon them (Nazi occupation of France). He's an 18 yr old German radio/electronics whiz kid forced into the Wehrmacht and she's a 16 yr old blind French girl hiding in the walled city of Saint-Malo. A valuable diamond of dark legend is being sought and the French Resistance works tirelessly... this has all the elements of romance/adventure shlock but Doerr is a much better writer than that. WW II Europe was hopeless place and the savagery it took to liberate it was costly. No one is really saved in the end but merely spared. Also the diamond in question comes with a fable that syncs up nicely with the main story. The chapters are short and poetic. His description of place is exquisite. This is good and tight storytelling.
 
hoochmonkey9 said:
My wife is reading that one. I'll probably read it when she's done.
Click to expand...

Yes - don't let my "YA novel" tag deter you or anyone else from reading it. If I could re-write my post above I would leave that comparison out. Something I also should have mentioned was the structure of the novel itself - 13 Parts which contain Chapters of only 2 to 5 pages each. It's great for picking up 10 minutes at a time and then returning to real life. Which Sam would appreciate his folks doing ;)
 
Read this recently for work related stuff, not saying it was a knee trembler or anything; just interesting.
Getting to the point... it's all about human communication and development, with emphasis on; pointing the finger, apparently a very important marker in what defines us, as uniquely human and fabulous.

upload_2015-4-27_12-22-47.jpeg


Alternatively, you could just read this and save a bit of time:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/how_babi...pointing_reveals_the_action_s_importance.html
Although it does inflate the work done at Max Planck in Germany, there was already a lot of evidence based published research in this field, but it moves it along more.
 
I read Pulp 15+ years ago. It was a girlfriend's copy. I have, like most of us here I assume, many of Buks books. I now own Pulp. Started re-reading it immediately. I forgot the dedication. Hi-larious.
 
Started reading Mr. Majestyk by Elmore Leonard last night at around six pm. Plan was to read a chapter or two and then watch some television but I ended up finishing the whole novel in one sitting. Absolutely riveting book. Drops you right into the action and never lets up. I love how sparse Leonard is with words. He gets right to the point.
 
Am reading the first biography of Bonnie and Clyde in German at the moment. Very interesting.

I was surprised to learn that far from any glamorous image those were mere scrawny teenagers, driven to crime by the Great Depression.

Especially Clyde Barrows story is a tragic one. Imprisoned into one of Texas toughest jail farms for petty theft he was tortured and raped by guards and inmates and mutilated himself to escape the murderous field-work. When he got out he was stamped with a mortal fear of ever having to go back to prison. That's why, whenever he got trapped by the police, he shot his way out.

If the facts in this biography are true, he never robbed or shot without reason, he simply tried to survive and stay out of jail while being a superb driver, a control freak and a fair talent with handguns.
 
Reading this.
I know, I know.
A lot of wasted words, but still: Some interesting and important ideas in there:

51f0VimWj9L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg(klikk)
 
Bonnie Parker wrote this poem while being on the run from the police together with Clyde

The Story of Bonnie and Clyde

You've read the story of Jesse James
Of how he lived and died;
If you're still in need
Of something to read,
Here's the story of Bonnie and Clyde.

Now Bonnie and Clyde are the Barrow gang,
I'm sure you all have read
How they rob and steal
And those who squeal
Are usually found dying or dead.

There's lots of untruths to these write-ups;
They're not so ruthless as that;
Their nature is raw;
They hate all the law
The stool pigeons, spotters, and rats.

They call them cold-blooded killers;
They say they are heartless and mean;
But I say this with pride,
That I once knew Clyde
When he was honest and upright and clean.

But the laws fooled around,
Kept taking him down
And locking him up in a cell,
Till he said to me,
"I'll never be free,
So I'll meet a few of them in hell."

The road was so dimly lighted;
There were no highway signs to guide;
But they made up their minds
If all roads were blind,
They wouldn't give up till they died.

The road gets dimmer and dimmer;
Sometimes you can hardly see;
But it's fight, man to man,
And do all you can,
For they know they can never be free.

From heart-break some people have suffered;
From weariness some people have died;
But take it all in all,
Our troubles are small
Till we get like Bonnie and Clyde.

If a policeman is killed in Dallas,
And they have no clue or guide;
If they can't find a fiend,
They just wipe their slate clean
And hand it on Bonnie and Clyde.

There's two crimes committed in America
Not accredited to the Barrow mob;
They had no hand
In the kidnap demand,
Nor the Kansas City depot job.

A newsboy once said to his buddy;
"I wish old Clyde would get jumped;
In these awful hard times
We'd make a few dimes
If five or six cops would get bumped."

The police haven't got the report yet,
But Clyde called me up today;
He said, "Don't start any fights
We aren't working nights
We're joining the NRA."

From Irving to West Dallas viaduct
Is known as the Great Divide,
Where the women are kin,
And the men are men,
And they won't "stool" on Bonnie and Clyde.

If they try to act like citizens
And rent them a nice little flat,
About the third night
They're invited to fight
By a sub-gun's rat-tat-tat.

They don't think they're too tough or desperate,
They know that the law always wins;
They've been shot at before,
But they do not ignore
That death is the wages of sin.

Some day they'll go down together;
And they'll bury them side by side;
To few it'll be grief
To the law a relief
But it's death for Bonnie and Clyde.
Click to expand...
 

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