What Book Did You Read Last Night??? (2 Viewers)

[IFF]

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.

i really liked "invisible". i'd agree with your thoughts. the only other book of auster's that i read was "man in the dark" and i found "invisible" better.

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!!

next year is just 2 months away , i just have stuff on my to be read shelf ("skippy dies" by paul murray, "audacity of hype" by armando iannucci, "the other side of brightness" by colum mccann and "oddballs" by manchan magan while also "freedom" by frantzen is something i want to get) but i think it'll be soon that i will read it

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

Now I'm on C by Tom McCarthy.

it seems to have taken me over two weeks to get through this and its only 300 pages. Its not much good. random snippets from the short life of serge carrefax - his childhood at home, trip to Czechoslovakia to a health spa, flying in the first world war, heroin addiction in london, pointless trip to egypt. he dies on the ferry home. theres possibly more to this book that i failed to grasp but it was a bit too boring for me to care.

 

[rettucs]

the second Roth book I've had a go at (the human stain). About one-third through it. Thought it good enough to start with but now, in one of those lengthy retrospective passages, hes kind of lost me and I just want the book to be over. Maybe it'll pick up. I hope it does. But at the moment I'm not liking it much.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

one of those lengthy retrospective passages

you mean the ones where he starts going on about one of his characters early years? i hate that shit. there was a bit in American Pastoral (i think it was that one) where he started going on about gloves, the stitching of gloves, the leather, how his father had come from nothing in new jersey but learned all about fucking gloves and made himself into a great success. i find myself skipping over those bits.

 

[rettucs]

you mean the ones where he starts going on about one of his characters early years? i hate that shit. there was a bit in American Pastoral (i think it was that one) where he started going on about gloves, the stitching of gloves, the leather, how his father had come from nothing in new jersey but learned all about fucking gloves and made himself into a great success. i find myself skipping over those bits.

yep, exactly that. He goes on at length about one character, then in length about every member of his family, as well as in length about every bird this character shacked up with.

And I was completely thrown by one thing that made me think I'd missed something both important and obvious in the early part of the book. But I didn't. I just completely missed the point of what he was trying to do by introducing this thing that should have seemed obvious later on (I'm talking in rhyme here I know but those who've read this book will know what I'm on about). He just didn't do it very well, thats all.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

i dont think i finished the human stain

 

[Kermit McDermott]

Vicariously Pluming the depths of the heroin addicted rock star from the comfort of your armchair.

 

[Jim Daniels]

Bought three shortish ones in Waterstones yesterday.

Thanks to scutter for the Bolano tip. Started it while having a coffee upstairs in Waterstones and had to order a second mug. And thanks to hugh, I'm putting the Savage Detectives on my Christmas wish list

 

[Wobbler]

Over the past few weeks

and now I've started

 

[washingcattle]

Is Room any use ?

 

[Jim Daniels]

Is Room any use ?

I really liked it, but it would really depend on your feelings about a child narrator. Two female friends (early 30s) in work, didn't get very far with it, cause they found it too harrowing...

 

[washingcattle]

Harrowing is good. I'll give it a go.

 

[rettucs]

Is Room any use ?

Its quite clever but won't be everyone's cup of tea.

I reckon its worth the read all the same. And you'll get through it quickly so you won't feel like your time has been wasted if you decide you don't like it.

 

[hugh]

Thanks to scutter for the Bolano tip. Started it while having a coffee upstairs in Waterstones and had to order a second mug. And thanks to hugh, I'm putting the Savage Detectives on my Christmas wish list

I hope you like it! I just picked up "Nazi Literature of the North Americas" in the library yesterday. Got a few others to get through first but looking forward to it .... sounds nuts.

 

[Lili Marlene]

Amongst all the other nonsense I'm reading this

in the year 2010, any book that claims to deal with 'subversion' is looking for trouble, luckily Jack Zipes is an evenhanded fella who doesn't try and talk up fairy-tales to be what they're not or deal in "OMG I THOUGHT THIS STUFF WAS FOR KIDS" -ism. I'm about halfway through and so far so good, I can forgive the title as it comes from the early 80's rather than this post-banksy world we live in.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

I havent finished anything for ages now. I started reading Europe: A Faltering Project by Jurgen Habermas. Its quite interesting but most of it was going over my head and I had to look up every second word only to find out that the word referred to a big sprawling branch of sociology, philosophy or something. So then I knew what the word meant but I still didn't really understand what he meant by using it. Then I thought it would be a good idea to read Russell's History of Western Philosophy so that I might start to understand books like the Habermas one at some point in the future when I have done enough background reading on everything in the world. The Russell is interesting and easy to read, I haven't touched the Habermas one since but I need to finish it to get my annual total up to a respectable figure. I have a book about the IMF in front of me here which Im tempted to read to see what going to happen to us next.

 

[Wobbler]

Is Room any use ?

Yeah, it's decent.

 

[St. Fechin]

Mostly great, the notes are annoying though. I suspect I should have gone for the Penguin edition.

Here's his rather ... um, reductionist take on sexual intercourse:

...it is attrition of an entrail and a convulsive expulsion of mere mucus.

I other news, I met John Banville by chance in Waterstones earlier this evening and managed not to make a fool of myself (I think).
He seemed nice enough.

Weirdly, I'd spotted Terry Eagleton on Nassau St. about a half hour before.
What's going on?

 

[IFF]

And thanks to hugh, I'm putting the Savage Detectives on my Christmas wish list

on that, i finished "savage detectives" at the weekend. i really liked it.

also at the weekend, i finished "portnoy's complaint" by roth. it was ok but for me, it's not one of his best.

currently

skippy dies - paul murray
emma - jane austen (this has been given to me as a lend by my brother Colin)
books burn badly - manuel rivas

 

[rettucs]

sorry, are you reading Emma by choice?I don't think I want to speak to you anymore.That was my (first) leaving cert English book. I still have nightmares about it. I dunno what the obsession was with the olden day chick lit being put on the leaving cert every year (Wuthering Heights was on it the year I repeated)