What are you reading?

[nairb49]

Re: What are you reading?



Going nuts with stress at work, decided to pick up something light/fun this weekend and finally got </p>

Wicked; The life and time of the wicked witch of the west, Gregory Maguire</p>

</p>

Anyone read? clever concept anyways, the Wizard of Oz told from the viewpoint of the Witch.

</p>

[destroyed]

Re: What are you reading?



i just finished gibson's neuromancer</p>

dunno what next</p>

:(</p>

probably hasek's Good Soldier Schweik</p>

but i'm a bit intimidated</p>

</p>

::sigh::</p>

[Faust]

Re: What are you reading?

[quote user="destroyed"]

i just finished gibson's neuromancer</p>

dunno what next</p>

:(</p>

probably hasek's Good Soldier Schweik</p>

but i'm a bit intimidated</p>

</p>

::sigh::</p>

[/quote]</p>

</p>

Just do it. It's such a classic, and it's hilarious. I never read it in English, but I'd imagine you'll still be rolling on the floor laughing. Not a hard read at all.
</p>

[destroyed]

Re: What are you reading?



wow! thanks for the push. i will, i will!</p>

</p>

i wish i could read other languages, i don't suppose you can help with that though
</p>

[Faust]

Re: What are you reading?

Re-reading Zen and the Art of the Motorcycle Maintenance. It's like coming back home.

[Fuuma]

Re: What are you reading?

[quote user="Fuuma"][quote user="Faust"][quote user="blackforest"]


the curse of lono/ hunter s. thompson and ralph steadman</P>


the peculiar memories of thomas penman/ bruce robinson</P>


[/quote]</P>


Hah, what a coincidence! My wife gave me the illustrated hardcover as a New Year's present.</P>


[/quote]</P>


Great gift. The crazy englishman's illustrations perfectly complement Thompson's frantic prose.</P>


I'm reading "Éloges" by Saint-John Perse and "Theory of religion" by Georges Bataille. I'll probably try to ad a novel or something to the mix as a dual dose of poetry and philosophy tends to make one go crazy if it's not tempered by something else.</P>


[/quote]</P>
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As planned, took a pause from the philopoetry and reading this: http://www.amazon.com/Long-Tail-Futu...F8&amp;s=books</P>


Very interesting look at the way the web is transforming the market by giving access to niche products and effectively uncovering the fact that individuals were actually looking for a way to expand their tastes beyond the mundane. BTW this forum is a fine exemple of the long tail in action.</P>
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[nairb49]

Re: What are you reading?



Was browsing amazon, and lo and behold, one of the "customers who bought, also bought" advertisements came up with Good Soldier Svejk!
</p>

So, decided to give it a go. We'll see what happens.</p>

</p>

[destroyed]

Re: What are you reading?

^ heheheh. i misplaced my good soldier so i am reading FLOW MY TEARS THE POLICEMAN SAID by P.K. Dick in the interim

[Faust]

Re: What are you reading?

about to start What is Literature? by Jean-Paul Sartre

[Seventh]

Re: What are you reading?

lolita -- vladimir nabokov (blowing me away, freaking me out, making me laugh hysterically...)

[Faust]

Re: What are you reading?



[quote user="Seventh"]lolita -- vladimir nabokov (blowing me away, freaking me out, making me laugh hysterically...)
[/quote]</p>

I'm glad it makes you laugh. What an average American misses when reading that book is that it's a scathing critique of the boorish, inane America by an intellectual European. What they read it for is the sensation of a forbidden and perverted love affair.</p>

[laika]

Re: What are you reading?

Right on, Faust. BTW, the audio book of this (read by Jeremy Irons) is absolutely incredible. I frequently listen to it when I have writer's block--Nabokov's use of language is mind blowing, and Irons delivery is both scathing and tortured--just perfect.

[Faust]

Re: What are you reading?



[quote user="laika"]Right on, Faust. BTW, the audio book of this (read by Jeremy Irons) is absolutely incredible. I frequently listen to it when I have writer's block--Nabokov's use of language is mind blowing, and Irons delivery is both scathing and tortured--just perfect.
[/quote]</p>

Wow, I have to get that! His English is really mind-blowing, as is his Russian. It's amazing that a non-native English speaker can be that good. BTW, he translated Lolita into Russian himself, and he also translated Alice in Wonderland, I have a volume that has both English and Russian, and it's fun to leaf through.</p>

[dontbecruel]

Re: What are you reading?

[quote user="Faust"]

What an average American misses when reading that book is that it's a scathing critique of the boorish, inane America by an intellectual European. What they read it for is the sensation of a forbidden and perverted love affair.</p>

[/quote]</p>

I have to say, Nabokov would have been horrified by the idea that his novel portrayed America or Americans as boorish or inane. Humbert (who holds the views Faust describes) is certainly dramatised as an intelligent man, but his self-obsessed, vain cultural superiority blinds him to the emotional damage he inflicts on normal, loving people. Humbert is a moral vaccuum and the novel is worthless unless we gradually turn against the temptation to sympathise with him for his wit and intellectualism.
</p>

[Faust]

Re: What are you reading?

[quote user="dontbecruel"][quote user="Faust"]

What an average American misses when reading that book is that it's a scathing critique of the boorish, inane America by an intellectual European. What they read it for is the sensation of a forbidden and perverted love affair.</p>

[/quote]</p>

I have to say, Nabokov would have been horrified by the idea that his novel portrayed America or Americans as boorish or inane. Humbert is certainly dramatised as an intelligent man, but his self-obsessed, vain cultural superiority blinds him to the emotional damage he inflicts on normal, loving people. Humbert is a moral vaccuum and the novel is worthless unless we gradually turn against the temptation to sympathise with him for his wit and intellectualism.
</p>

[/quote]</p>

Well, that's what Rorty says. That's not how it seemed to me re:America. His wit and intellectualism is not sympathetic, it has no moral value attached - I agree there.</p>