What Book Did You Read Last Night??? (6 Viewers)

[Moods For Mallards]

I quite enjoyed the forensic analysis our English teacher did of the Mayor Of Casterbridge when we were studying it at LC. I'd say at college level it's a different kettle of grenades.

I didn't know that was on the old LC syllabus. Well I never.

 

[Lili Marlene]

Ordered. I want to do everyone else's masters.

Your primary reading list is on the previous page, get to work!

BTW if you can get past chapter 1 in that book, it's all plain sailing afterwards.

 

[Scientician 0.8]

Well I just finished Roth's Nemesis there. It's good but I didn't like it as much as I liked Indignation. Definitely better than The Humbling, thank fuck.

 

[Scientician 0.8]

I read about 50 pages of Fintan O'Toole's latest one today. He's a very good writer of stuff like this. Very easy to digest, although disheartening to read. It's over 200 pgs long but I suspect I'll be recommending it to people. He's suggesting solutions to our clusterfuckaroo of problems, which is nice.

 

[Jim Daniels]

Super Sad True Love Story.

Wasn't sure at first, but it's growing on me. Set in the not-so-distant future, which once again, does not seem like a very appealing place. When I was a kid, I thought the future was going to be ace, but practically every book I've read since has crushed that naive dream.

 

[rettucs]

reading this

Very interesting read really, but I wouldn't recommend it for a non-cycling fan. The contrast with Paul Kimmage's account of life as a professional cyclist, where everything was hardship and bother, is quite stark. With Fignon everything just came so easy to him.

This is an almost literal translation from the French which makes it a less than free-flowing read. One certainly wouldn't be picking the English version up for any literary quality. Hence I wouldn't recommend this unless you're interested in the story. Which I am.

 

[rettucs]

read about 2/3s of that yesterday. Its a shortish novel (~180 pages) and the narrative style will be familiar to anyone whose read the Savage Detectives. Its pieced together a little more cleanly than the Savage Detectives though, and makes for a much easier read. Overall, so far anyway, its excellent.

 

[David Kronenbourg]

anyone like ron rash? great short story here
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/interactive/2010/sep/22/hard-times-ron-rash

 

[Richie]

read about 2/3s of that yesterday. Its a shortish novel (~180 pages) and the narrative style will be familiar to anyone whose read the Savage Detectives. Its pieced together a little more cleanly than the Savage Detectives though, and makes for a much easier read. Overall, so far anyway, its excellent.

I'll give that one a look, I really liked some aspects of The Savage Detectives while being somewhat infuriated by the jigsaw-piece hundred narrators format, this one sounds like it might be more digestible.

I just finished this:

Quite understated in comparison to his earlier books, very little of the narrative trickery you might expect, just a nicely done slow-burning period piece about Dutch shipping traders in Japan at the start of the 1800s. Having said that the ending actually feels sort of rushed, it all seems to close out very fast after a lengthy buildup.

 

[rettucs]

I'll give that one a look, I really liked some aspects of The Savage Detectives while being somewhat infuriated by the jigsaw-piece hundred narrators format, this one sounds like it might be more digestible.

there are only 3 (maybe 4) characters supplying the narrative so that eliminates the need to spend the first couple of minutes of every passage trying to get your head around who's doing the talking, where they fit into the story, etc. Hence, yes, much more digestible

 

[nEiLo]

Patti Smith - Just Kids.
It's the best thing I've read in years. Only a few pages to go but I don't want it to end. Beautiful, touching, inspiring... blah blah blah... read it.

 

[hugh]

Patti Smith - Just Kids.
It's the best thing I've read in years. Only a few pages to go but I don't want it to end. Beautiful, touching, inspiring... blah blah blah... read it.

I really enjoyed this too. In the middle of that David Mitchell mentioned above. Slow start but it's picking up now ...

 

[IFF]

I'll give that one a look, I really liked some aspects of The Savage Detectives while being somewhat infuriated by the jigsaw-piece hundred narrators format, this one sounds like it might be more digestible.

i'm currently reading the savage detectives. my hope is to finish it shortly. at page 400 now.
that would does sound more readable. some sections of savage detectives have been toughish to follow but i'm enjoying it

i'd probably read "the skating rink" next year i think.

 

[hugh]

i'm currently reading the savage detectives. my hope is to finish it shortly. at page 400 now.
that would does sound more readable. some sections of savage detectives have been toughish to follow but i'm enjoying it

i'd probably read "the skating rink" next year i think.

As I'm sure I have said here before countless times, I loved The Savage Detectives. I can't think of another novel I've read in the last few years that has enthralled me so much. And I think I first heard about it on this thread. Nice one Thumped! I found it confusing if I tried to maintain all the details of all the characters and their relationships in my head at all times but I don't think that's really necessary anyway ... it works best as this giant tapestry of little stories and characters that all revolve around the two main protagonists and their story. I think it's an amazing book.

Only other one of Bolano's that I have read so far is 2666. I have been kind of wary of picking up any of the others because they just seem like minor footnotes to the two big ones that he wrote. But that's pretty dumb I suppose .... will probably read the Skating Rink soon enough ... sounds good.

 

[jonah]

I'm reading Asphodel by Hilda Doolittle, and so far I'm charmed. It seems a little... ah I can't think of the word... like you can see the trains of thought behind almost every phrase and juxtaposition, but I suppose it was genuine improvisation in the 20s.

Motive... I think it has a clear motive that at times is a little too apparent. I guess the whole point of writing is exercising personal motives, but the point of reading is to be as blind to them as possible?

 

[rettucs]

i'd probably read "the skating rink" next year i think.

I finished it last night. Only started it on sunday. Its a very easy-going read. And excellent. I'm not normally that gone on really short novels as I tend to feel authors don't leave themselves much scope for developing either characters or plot (John Steinbeck being a notable exception - his short novels are truly immense), but this was worth investing both the money and the few hours I spent reading it.

So don't wait til next year. Its nothing like Savage Detectives in terms of how heavy going and confusing it can be at times. Read it NOW!!

I ordered 2666 yesterday. Looks daunting but I'm looking forward to getting stuck into it.

 

[rettucs]

next for me

Invisible by Paul Auster. I've only read Timbuktu by him so far and loved it. Not sure why I chose this one over all his others, but I'll give it a go.

 

[hugh]

I ordered 2666 yesterday. Looks daunting but I'm looking forward to getting stuck into it.

I'll be interested to hear what you think of it. I didn't find it as engaging as Savage Detectives and I'm not sure the whole thing really hangs together as a novel but some of it is undoubtedly brilliant. The "Part About The Crimes" is nowhere near as gruelling and monotonous as it's often made out to be .... I think I need to read it again.

 

[Jim Daniels]

next for me

Invisible by Paul Auster. I've only read Timbuktu by him so far and loved it. Not sure why I chose this one over all his others, but I'll give it a go.

Good book, I really liked it. I think I prefer his early stuff though (ha! that old line) - Moon Palace and Music of Chance. He has a new one (Sunset Park) on the way, that they went Goo-Goo for on Newsnight Review the other night.

 

[rettucs]

Good book, I really liked it. I think I prefer his early stuff though (ha! that old line) - Moon Palace and Music of Chance. He has a new one (Sunset Park) on the way, that they went Goo-Goo for on Newsnight Review the other night.

Yes, a good read, with twists and turns I couldn't have envisaged from the summary notes on the back cover.

A word of warning to people who might read this - don't read any reviews (I read some last night, but at that stage I knew what it was about), they'll only ruin the plotlines for you.

a most uncomfortable read at times, but its so well written that you get through it in no time.