What Book Did You Read Last Night??? (3 Viewers)

[rettucs]

anyone read Flannery O'Connor? I've heard good things but mostly from Americans. Anyone recommend anything by him?

 

[David Kronenbourg]

anyone read Flannery O'Connor? I've heard good things but mostly from Americans. Anyone recommend anything by him?

He's a she! And yes, Wise Blood is amazing - one of my favourite books. Her short stories are great too. Haven't read her other novel.

 

[rettucs]

He's a she! And yes, Wise Blood is amazing - one of my favourite books. Her short stories are great too. Haven't read her other novel.

hah, well I guess that's the first thing I've learned in 2017. Cheers

 

[MacDara]

Finished Kim Gordon's Girl in a Band the other morning. I liked it a lot, she doesn't couch her opinions in terms that would make them more palatable to men, though her descriptions of certain situations verge on wilful ignorance at times. I've got a review up on Goodreads if anyone wants a goo.

 

[chris d]

I picked up Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit on a W section whim in the library before christmas.

I was expecting it to be a bit heavy, but it was a super enjoyable read. Really like a Witches based Discworld. Full of spunky old girl english humour.

 

[David Kronenbourg]

Grimy

 

[Lili Marlene]

Finished Kim Gordon's Girl in a Band the other morning. I liked it a lot, she doesn't couch her opinions in terms that would make them more palatable to men, though her descriptions of certain situations verge on wilful ignorance at times. I've got a review up on Goodreads if anyone wants a goo.

added you!

I picked up Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit on a W section whim in the library before christmas.

I was expecting it to be a bit heavy, but it was a super enjoyable read. Really like a Witches based Discworld. Full of spunky old girl english humour.

You know I read that a few years back and it did almost nothing for me :/
I was pretty much bored the whole time and couldn't get into the writing at all.

 

[Lili Marlene]

Read some music books recently,

Bob Stanley's Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé and Simon Reynold's Retromania

Decent. Both of them take time out of their busy schedule to get some The Clash are shite moments in though. le sigh

 

[travispickle]

Currently reading The Lonely City - Olivia Laing; an interesting read but not an uplifting one. The chapters on Hopper and Warhol were great for her insights into their work. Plus it made me want to read more about Valerie Solanis.
Also, following Bowie's first anniversary I am dipping into Starman - Paul Trynka's excellent biography.

 

[Lili Marlene]

Midway through my first Virginia Woolf. It's extraordinary!

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How did you get on in the end?

I read this last week, a much uglier edition I got from the library (Wordsworth Classics BLUGH). It was extremely good, if quite difficult in parts, I feel i'd need to go back and read some of it again. I had to read a bit of an explanation to fully understand how all the stories linked up; I mean I got a fair amount of it, I think, but definitely not all of it. I loved how she jumped from the minds of character to character seamlessly as they interacted with each other (in physical space).

It's interesting how she partly wrote it because she hated Ulysses, apparently she saw Joyce as too much of a LOOK AT HOW SKILLED I AM AT WRITING writer, which he definitely 100% is. Mrs. Dalloway is much, much more refined and subtle (and shorter), there's no experimental fireworks drawing attention to themselves and it all just fits together beautifully.

I'm gonna take a breather for a while and then read some more.

 

[Jim Daniels]

How did you get on in the end?

I read this last week, a much uglier edition I got from the library (Wordsworth Classics BLUGH). It was extremely good, if quite difficult in parts, I feel i'd need to go back and read some of it again. I had to read a bit of an explanation to fully understand how all the stories linked up; I mean I got a fair amount of it, I think, but definitely not all of it. I loved how she jumped from the minds of character to character seamlessly as they interacted with each other (in physical space).

It's interesting how she partly wrote it because she hated Ulysses, apparently she saw Joyce as too much of a LOOK AT HOW SKILLED I AM AT WRITING writer, which he definitely 100% is. Mrs. Dalloway is much, much more refined and subtle (and shorter), there's no experimental fireworks drawing attention to themselves and it all just fits together beautifully.

I'm gonna take a breather for a while and then read some more.

Yeah I loved it too and agree it was difficult to keep up in parts. Will definitely read it again to get a better grip on it. But it is undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary pieces of writing I've ever come across.

That's interesting about the Ulysses connection. Maybe she was onto something!

I know this is daft, but I think I liked it / accepted it more precisely because it was a beautiful edition I had. I find this a lot with books. Ugly or dull covers, whether consciously or unconsciously, provide too much of a negative distraction.

For lighter reading, The Hours plays on the whole idea in a more straightforward and modern way.

 

[Lili Marlene]

Fuck lighter reading, this is modernism!

 

[Jim Daniels]

Lol!!!!

 

[chris d]

Only the second Deighton I have read. I am finding that you have to keep on top of these books. Some chapters I just couldn't remember what was going on but ploughed through like a legend.

 

[hydromancer]

Dion Fortunes the sea priestess first published in 1935. I am not to far into this but there are some ideas like past lives clairvoyance reincarnation etc. The two main characters perhaps know each other from a past life ? I suppose she can be listed with other turn of the previous century mystic types. I am enjoying anyway it is light enough reading.

 

[Cornu Ammonis]

Dion Fortunes the sea priestess first published in 1935. I am not to far into this but there are some ideas like past lives clairvoyance reincarnation etc. The two main characters perhaps know each other from a past life ? I suppose she can be listed with other turn of the previous century mystic types. I am enjoying anyway it is light enough reading.

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[eoinzy2000]

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Junot Diaz. Pretty damn good. Very entertaining

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

I know this is daft, but I think I liked it / accepted it more precisely because it was a beautiful edition I had. I find this a lot with books. Ugly or dull covers, whether consciously or unconsciously, provide too much of a negative distraction.

I agree on the covers thing, there's no reason to put a shitty one on a book. I don't know if I'd enjoy the book (as in the writing itself) but with a nice cover you get a beautiful object as a bonus. Anyway, I just saw this on twitter

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I kinda like both covers.

 

[Jim Daniels]

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Junot Diaz. Pretty damn good. Very entertaining

Yeah, loved it. His short stories are super too.

Long but great interview with him and Karen Russell here at the New Yorker. Dude is super articulate

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[travispickle]

Apparently there's been a big run on Dystopian novels coz of yer man across the pond, so I've just started Brave New World.
I think it might be where the Feelies took their name from?