The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Thanks for the recommendation, jute and others, I'm 160 pages into Cryptonomicon and it's pretty fantastic. I picked up The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Grapes of Wrath too, both of which I'd somehow missed up to this point in my life.

When I was finding the book version of "Shopgirl" at the library the other day, I also picked up Steve Martin's "The Pleasure of My Company," which I enjoyed very much. The narrator starts out explaining how he was supposed to join Mensa except for a clerical error which caused his IQ to be reported as 90 rather than 190, and it goes onward from there. I like these books about people who just don't have it together; I never cared for Steve Martin a whole lot as a comedian, but I like the "New Yorker" style he seems to have evolved into.

For anyone who's ever invented their own "computerized" sports games (especially dice-driven ones, back in the day), Robert Coover's "The Universal Baseball Association" is a must-read...

Charles (KA)

king_arthur wrote:For anyone who's ever invented their own "computerized" sports games (especially dice-driven ones, back in the day), Robert Coover's "The Universal Baseball Association" is a must-read...

Charles (KA)

i almost checked that out from the library last week. it's on "to read" list.

i just finished italo calvino's cosmicomics. this is a crazy good collection of short stories. calvino takes scientific theories and bases stories off of them, using the same narrator throughout all of them (the narrator's name is Qwfwq.) for example, the first story is based on the idea of the moon having once been much closer to the earth. and the narrator takes different forms in all of the stories. in one he's a mollusk, in another mathematical formulae.

it's pretty experimental, but entirely readable and enjoyable.

Calvino is a literary god. Or was. He died a few months before I was born. Check out Cosmicomics, Invisible Cities, and especially The Baron in the Trees.

I'm currently reading a lot of Tennessee Williams. Summer and Smoke and Period of Adjustment both made strong impressions on me in the last week, and I'm tackling The Rose Tattoo today.

I'm about to get shootin' on Mao II by Don Delillo. I liked White Noise so then I tried Libra but the first chapter confused/bored me in equal measures.

You guys seem good. I think I'll take a list from you!

ddd wrote:I liked White Noise so then I tried Libra but the first chapter confused/bored me in equal measures.

You guys seem good. I think I'll take a list from you!

If you liked White Noise, may I suggest Underworld? Don't be daunted by its thickness. (Oh, if I had a nickle for everytime I heard that... snicker) Nah, but seriously. It's a pretty quick read.

sdurand wrote:

tviyh wrote:the brothers karamazov. it's pretty hefty, so this will be my umbrella answer for probably the next two months.

I read this a couple of years ago. Great book.

Steve

For one reason or another - I've neve actually finished this, but have immersed my self in it a few times over the years - it really is wonderful stuff. Those fat Russian books really drag you in - good for when you have nothing else going on arround you. I once spent several days floating on a cargo ship in the central Pacific with Anna Karenina - that was great.

I've got 2 x 15 hour flights coming up in a few weeks. Something by Leo or Fyodor will probably accompany me

Speaking of large books, I'm currently rereading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.

And I'm currently tackling Sabbath's Theatre by Philip Roth. Perhaps not so hefty as the books those Russian Greats used to chrun out, but it's quite a tome in its own right.

I can't read big books. But I did start VALIS, thanks to j$ for the rec.

Just picked up a volume of collected works by Seamus Heaney today. I'm not so educated in poetry, but I love the richness of his worditude. Also picked up Apocalypse by D.H. Lawrence on a total whim.

I've been reading Where I'm Calling From by Raymond Carver. His stories are hit and miss with me. Some of his stories are decent, but when he hits it, he hits it.

I also recently finished Italo Calvino's Baron in the Trees. Pretty much an awesome book.

My favorite Raymond Carver collection is probably Cathedral. It contains "A Small Good Thing", a radical and terrific revision of What We Talk About When We Talk About Love's "The Bath".

"A Small Good Thing" is great. The story "Cathedral" was probably my favorite that I've read of his.

Anyone seen Short Cuts? Robert Altman adapts a whole bunch of Raymond Carver short stories all into one movie. It's awesome. One of them, and perhaps the best-adapted, is "A Small, Good Thing." Unforunately, "Cathedral" was not one of them, but whatever. I like the Raymond Carver. Yes I do.

I'm currently reading Dr. Bloodmoney by Philip K. Dick. Far, far, far better than I ever expected a book of that title to be. Perhaps the scariest and most disturbing PKD book I've read yet.

Generic wrote:Anyone seen Short Cuts? Robert Altman adapts a whole bunch of Raymond Carver short stories all into one movie. It's awesome. One of them, and perhaps the best-adapted, is "A Small, Good Thing." Unforunately, "Cathedral" was not one of them, but whatever. I like the Raymond Carver. Yes I do.

Shortcuts is in my top 10 for sure. Great ensemble cast. Tom Waits is too cool.

jute gyte wrote:Tom Waits is too cool.

Seriously, Tom Waits is cool no matter what he does. Have you seen Fishing With John? He's even cool when he's putting a fish in his pants.

Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung.

That thing that Greil Marcus said about Lester Bangs - how one had to accept that the best writer in America wrote mainly album reviews - so true ... the man was/is a national treasure, and there should be statues of him, with his cock out, playing air guitar, in every main square across your fine, if slightly conservative, country.

Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre
I'm only a couple of chapters into it but I can tell it's gonna be a good one. He's great at injecting so much colour and flavour when talking about settings and people that would otherwise seem so depressing and dismal. In one particular bit (near the beginning so I don't count this as spoiler) he writes out a verse to Glen Campbell's Galveston (the version of which I've never heard, but I know the tune) and whenever I've seen lyrics written down in books before it never captures the mood of the song, but in this section the lines are interspersed with bits of descriptive text and it's fantastic. It made me dig out the version I had (the secret track on Straw's Shoplifting pop pickers) as soon as I got home. I like Luke Henley's music a lot, but it seems to be tailor made for this book as well, which is cool.

Other stuff I've enjoyed since last posting on this forum:
To Kill A Mockingbird - hardly needs a review. Needless to say, it was good. I've also got a copy of Huck Finn crying out to be read on my desk but I'm not sure if I can be arsed, I've heard varying reports on it. I'm eager for recommendations of that.

Enders Game (Orson Scott Card) - My friend has been going on about this book since we were about 11. It's pretty fucked up in a Sci-fi military way (Not in a Blue Velvet type way), and a bit mal-proportioned in terms of the depth some bits are covered in relation to other bits, but that's no biggie. I've heard there are lots more in a series, I'll probably read them too.

The Scheme for Full Employment (Magnus Mills) - This seemed one of those quintessentially British things to me as it was mainly based around our penchant for A) complaining and b) being lazy. So I enjoyed it, and it was short.

Look to Windward (Iain M. Banks) - The only time I've ever re-read a book of his (or anybody's for years for that matter), and he's fucking genius. It's not even his best book; so good.

Ender's Game I thought was great, and the rest of the series too. My wife just finished reading them. The other books are pretty different, so if you weren't into the military themes, the others should satisfy.

Huck Finn is definitely worth reading too. Named one of my cats after him (ok, that was just cause I liked the name).
-bill

David Sklansky's Theory of Poker, again. It's a tough read, but there's money in every page. It's an ugly yellow book, worth the twenty bucks or whatever they're asking for it.