What are you reading?

[Stack]

/\ eeh, once you read one of his books, you've read them all. i had my palanhuik moment and i am still wondering why i have his books taking up space on my shelves.

true, aside from Choke and Haunted, I've not got much time for Chuck. His last release, Pygmy, was an absolute shambles.

Right now I'm reading Will Self's "How the Dead Live" and Hubert Selby's "The Room" for the third time.

[BSR]

received _les particules élémentaires_ as a birthday gift, just started it.

how is this one, mamaboy? i've never read houellebecq.

I think with Houellebecq things are getting worse as he moves from a pure "social criticism" kind of novel to a more science-fiction oriented kind of stories, a genre he doesn't master as well I would say. Thus, as Extension du domaine de la lutte, written after the essay on Lovecraft (a book I enjoyed), displays a modesty that enables it to be straightforward and sharp whereas the next novels, Les particules élémentaires, Plateforme and La Possibilité d'une île, seem too ambitious, less controlled and at the end often sink into ridicule. To be perfectly honest it is more of a crescendo, Les Particules are more readeable than the last two.

[svarturskali]

at the moment -

ghostwritten by david mitchell
(one of the best novels ive come upon in AGES)

under the jaguar sun by italo calvinho
(love this author and all he does)

eternal darkness by robert ballard
(one of my geek interests - deep sea oceanography)

i can highly recommend all.

[Sombre]

I finished Kafka's The Trial last week. I wasn't as impressed with this as with Metamorphosis. The latter was more moving IMO, although in The Trial he did convey his point, which I take to be total futility of one's efforts and their utter lack of importance in the face of an uncontrollable world. Needless to say, it left me feeling a bit empty.

Just started The Idiot by Dostoevsky, but I'll probably have to give it up, as classes start in less than two weeks.

[Faust]

You got the Trial right. I can see how you'd say that it's not as moving as The Metamorphosis, but Kafka's prose needs serious pondering and unraveling. You should read his short stories!

Maybe reading Dostoyevskiy right after Kafka is not a very good idea - unless you are on some miserable kick!

[Sombre]

Haha. I think you're right. I need something light and possibly humourous. Last spring I read Three Men in a Boat by Jerome Jerome, and Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman and had a blast. They took me at least 50% longer than usual because I had to pause in uproar so often. Maybe something similar is in order.

[mamaboy]

three men in a boat---super funny

[reborn]

received _les particules élémentaires_ as a birthday gift, just started it.

how is this one, mamaboy? i've never read houellebecq.

I read it (in english)...I found it interesting, but i think it probably lost a lot in translation (as everyone I know that read it in french could not stop talking about it).

[Vanna]

I finished Kafka's The Trial last week. I wasn't as impressed with this as with Metamorphosis. The latter was more moving IMO, although in The Trial he did convey his point, which I take to be total futility of one's efforts and their utter lack of importance in the face of an uncontrollable world. Needless to say, it left me feeling a bit empty.

Just started The Idiot by Dostoevsky, but I'll probably have to give it up, as classes start in less than two weeks.

I'd advise against this. My favorite Dostoevsky. In my opinion, I don't think he's written a more memorable cast.

[hanajibu]

I'd advise against this. My favorite Dostoevsky. In my opinion, I don't think he's written a more memorable cast.

I strongly second this, for favorite Dostoevsky.
i am currently reading (in galley-proof format) Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky's translation of Leo Tolstoy's short stories ("The Death of Ivan Ilyich", "The Kreutzer Sonata" etc) — I've not read any Tolstoy beyond the 'big two' but I dig it thus far. i just read (again in galley-proof form) Orhan Pamuk's latest, "The Museum of Innocence". i loved this. i've read everything of his in English translation and this may be my favorite... it's probably his most accessible, the prose less dense than "Snow" (but still lush and descriptive), the plot less confusing than "The Black Book".

[Schadenfreude]

you have 2 full weeks! sit down and read a chapter play boy!

[Faust]

Haha. I think you're right. I need something light and possibly humourous. Last spring I read Three Men in a Boat by Jerome Jerome, and Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman and had a blast. They took me at least 50% longer than usual because I had to pause in uproar so often. Maybe something similar is in order.

There is an adorable Russian film based on that book.

[Real Real]

i am currently reading (in galley-proof format) Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky's translation of Leo Tolstoy's short stories ("The Death of Ivan Ilyich", "The Kreutzer Sonata" etc) — I've not read any Tolstoy beyond the 'big two' but I dig it thus far..

Is Hadji Murat part of the translation?

[hanajibu]

Is Hadji Murat part of the translation?

yes! these are the stories: "The Prisoner of the Caucasus", "The Diary of a Madman", "The Death of Ivan Ilyich", "The Kreutzer Sonata" (what I am beginning now), "The Devil", "Master and Man", "Father Sergius", 'After the Ball", "The Forged Coupon", "Alyosha the Pot", and "Hadji Murat"

[mamaboy]

"cher ami"....never forget that babel worshiped mopassant....