What are you reading?

[kamsky]

Céline's "Voyage au bout de la nuit." Been on the shelf for far too long, and figured I'd see for myself what you all were talking about.

Only about 70 pages into it... So far, have been surprised to find some of the writing to be very humorous. Acerbic, more than misanthropic.

[AKA*NYC]

Acerbic, more than misanthropic.

ditto...the man was a doctor with great empathy...hardly a misanthrope

[Magic1]

I liked the book. It gave me insights into the background of some events for which I had assumed I knew the whole story. So in that sense it was a worthwhile read. I think her thesis that free-market ideologues exploit moments of crisis to push through otherwise highly controversial policies is largely true. But the technique (seizing moments of crisis) isn't simply used by the multi-nationals, it's also employed by proto-authoritarian regimes. So really the book pivots on the union of free-market ideologues, the corporations they serve, and the ever-widening military industrial complex (now world-wide).

Klein tends to tip toe around the opportunities to philosophize rather than jump in. And at times I think this book would have been served better in the hands of a more philosophical author.

I like her most when she takes on the complicit Left. In No Logo, she criticizes the identity politics philosophy and campaigns for diversity as being anything but critical. And here, she briefly critiques the social justice or human rights campaigns as essentially skirting the key issue, that being the economic pillars causing such injustice.

[GucciAmen]

Sure, all the plays! Especially The Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest and Lady Windemere's Fan.

Also some essays - De Profundis, which is heartbreaking, his damning letter to his lover that ruined his life, The Artist as Critic, and The Soul of Man Under Socialism.

I ought to thank you for this list, Faust. I have heard of The Importance of Being Earnest before, so I will put that on the reading list first. De Profundis also looks very appealing.

I actually got into Master & Margarita about a week or two ago (once I had finally finished my other readings), just finished it. Thanks for this recommendation as well, beautiful love story and paints the devil (Woland, haha) in an interesting way. The allegories hidden beneath are what make it truly attractive however, like comparing Woland to Stalin. An essay contrasting Mephistopheles to Woland would make for quite a read, I think.

Should also add that I started Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids today. Just 40 pages in but it is written beautifully. Would already recommend just for Kenzaburo's writing style.

[Magic1]

The New Jim Crow - Michelle Alexander

[neongud]

Been on a fantasy streak for the last six months, a nice break from more "serious" litterature.

Have been reading A song of ice and fire, The first law triology, The kingkiller chronicles, and currently reading Mistborn. Been liking all of them. Feel free to suggest me more good fantasy.

[GucciAmen]

Finished up Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids awhile ago, Kenzaburo is a fantastic storyteller. Underlying allegory really got me, in my interpretation, it appears to be how innocence is lost in children as a result of adult vices. Reading some more Turgenev now (shame he isn't mentioned as often as Tolstoy/Dostoyevsky). His work is so unique, in the sense of how he lays out the personalities of the characters and the relations that ensue between them. Everything has a very lucid feel to it, I would go so far as to say it is incomparable to the works of other authors I have read thus far. Oh, and the work I am reading right now is, Home of the Gentry, great recommendation from this thread.

[Faust]

I am thinking to start the Earthsea cycle after we go through all of Sherlock Holmes with my daughter. Yes/no/maybe?

[eleves]

I am thinking to start the Earthsea cycle after we go through all of Sherlock Holmes with my daughter. Yes/no/maybe?

Been a while since I read through it. I don't remember any serious violence or assault, but... it's super-brutal on an emotional level. Won't post spoilers, but a lot of it is about loss (of belief, friends, lovers, power, everything), so may affect a young 'un more than you'd like.

Earthsea is so good, it's a very transporting series that is beautifully written, things that are hard to come by. It is a pretty emotional series for sure but despite this, I wish I'd started reading it when I was younger. A lot of my reading is relegated to the train or just when I have some time to spare in between things but Earthsea deserves the time to be enjoyed that is hard to come by nowadays. If you guys are already going through Sherlock Holmes, I don't think that Earthsea is a crazy jump as neither are particularly intended for adults anyway.

fit magna caedes: I saw your earlier comment regarding your fantasy list and I've been meaning to go through the Belgariad for some time now, have you read any of it? If so, what did you think?

[woof]

just finished the first book of the new sun from gene wolfe and it's v good, i dont usually like fantasy all that much but it's very nice. slow paced and descriptive but never as purple or sappy as gormenghast gets. the world building is believable in the sense that it is performed well by the author; he doesnt break character as obviously as weaker authors to info dump on the reader..

“How many people do you think there are in Nessus?”
“I have no idea.”
"No more do I, Torturer. No more does anyone. Every attempt to count them has failed, as has every attempt to tax them systematically. The city grows and changes every night, like writing chalked on a wall. Houses are built in the streets by clever people who take up the cobbles in the dark and claim the ground - did you know that? The exultant Talarican, whose madness manifested itself as a consuming interest in the lowest aspects of human existence, claimed that the persons who live by devouring the garbage of others number two gross thousands. That there are ten thousand begging acrobats, of whom nearly half are women. That if a pauper were to leap from the parapet of this bridge each time we draw breath, we should live forever, because the city breeds and breaks men faster than we respire."

[Kalior]

I'm thinking of picking up a new book but I can't decide between Starship Troopers (Robert Heinlein) or Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (Haruki Murakami)

any suggestions?

[Resonkuken]

The latter, just because I´m a Murakami fan. I bought it some weeks back, along with 4 other of his books. Haven´t got to it yet but he hasn´t disappointed me yet.

[GucciAmen]

x2, Murakami is a fantastic writer, I am eager to read another one of his works (perhaps Kafka on the Shore?). But that is 7 books from now... 8 if you include the Egon Schiele artbook I picked up.

[Kalior]

The latter, just because I´m a Murakami fan. I bought it some weeks back, along with 4 other of his books. Haven´t got to it yet but he hasn´t disappointed me yet.

which ones have you read so far?
the only other one I've read is Kafka on the Shore, which I enjoyed immensely but I still think I prefer Ryu over Haruki

[Resonkuken]

I´ve read Norwegian Wood, South of the Border West of the Sun and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. Now going through Kafka on the Shore (which I´ve neglected) and half way through After Dark.