I was just wondering what every one is reading these days? And of course if you are loving it or hating it and what not. I would start this thread by telling you all what I am reading but if you don't already know that...well, I don't even know what to say to that.
20 comments:
I just ordered Paul Farmer's Pathologies of Power which I'm going to read as my next non-fiction pick. I am currently listening to Freakonomics because I feel like I'm pretty much alone in not having read it and I am missing out on valuable water cooler conversation fodder. SOME people in this group don't consider listening to books to be actually taking them in (and said people have clearly never listened to Harry Potter). I'm riding to Chicago this weekend in the company of Zadie Smith and On Beauty (on cd). I'm still only starting to enjoy this book (about a third of the way through it) because every time I read a book about academia it makes me want to never, ever be around those people in any kind of personal or social capacity. (No offense to anyone). And I'm finally back into Gravity's Rainbow after a 6 week hiatus for various other things I had to read (and my new GR groove has only been interrupted by the passing crisis of THE BOOK'S SPINE BREAKING!!! Ugh). Who has finished this book btw? I feel like sometimes I am extremely into it and writing notes all over it, and then I will suddenly lose my foothold and wander around it blindly until I start to love it again. Thoughts?
matter of fact, scarlet z., i have now listened to harry potter, and i still don't quite know what to make of considering a book on tape as 'reading' the book. but thats not up to me.
i'm still reading, and still loving, bleak house. its weird to read such a tome. i have yet to put it down for more than two days, but still have 300 pages to go. its getting great though, mysterious and shit.
then i'm going to read Philip Roth, Plot Against America. FR, you ranted against this book. i'll ask why when i finish it.
Interesting, why did you rant against it, FR? I was far less than thrilled with it myself. But maybe that's because I listened to it on tape and therefore may as well have just been dozing or doing my nails, right?
As an aside, I usually only listen to books that are so far down my list of books to actually READ that I will probably not get to them in the next few, mmm, years? And I also listen to books that are fairly straightforward and easy to follow and that I may not otherwise get a chance to read, and that I don't care that much about reading (at least before reading them...sometimes after listening I realize that I unpredictably adore something, like Oryx and Crake). I would say that listening to books SOMEtimes adds more to the experience than reading alone-- see, for eg, David Sedaris or Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation. Hard to beat getting the humor from the writer's own voice...
i'm sure philip roth appreciates being seen as someone who is "easy to follow" and who you "don't care much about reading"
Jeeeeez. Yes, the truth is I am not that motivated to read more of his books since I didn't especially like the two that I read. And I am not saying that his ideas are simple, only that his language is easier to follow than a lot of authors whose work would be difficult to follow when read aloud. And everyone has writers who are that far down the list that someone doesn't care much about reading them. So until I am forced to read something that makes me unexpectedly love Philip Roth, I guess that he is far down my list of authors I want to pursue... no big deal.
jeez.
scarlet, touchy?
no no, just clarifying. you think I am a dirty roth-basher...
I've read the great big Gravity's Rainbow. I found that after 75 pages, I was extremely committed to it and loved nearly every bit of it.
I found it helped to not get preoccupied with attempting to understand every detail, but instead read it with a mind toward pure entertainment, which I consider it to be.
How can you not love Byron the Lightbulb? Or the ridiculous 2 page orgy? It's fantastic.
I agree, the writing is fantastic and hilarious and I laugh out loud quite a bit. Also agree on the not trying to understand every detail, since it eventually comes together in a broader sense and you would go nuts otherwise. Pure entertainment? Interesting. I'm not sure but I will tell you when I'm finished (in approximately 5 years...)
I'm sure you could analyze the text to death, but I personally find it more meaningful (at least on a first read), just to read it through. If, afterward, you are still inclined, I would read it through with a companion.
"Back at the apartment, he unpacked. I thought the cat had defecated on my bed until I realized that the object on my pillow was not a turd but a shriveled black banana he had brought all the way to Paris from its hiding plae beneath the bathroom sink. 'Here,' my father said. 'I'll give you half of it.'"
David Sedaris- Me Talk Pretty one day
Love him.
oops, don't know why that was anonymous. It was me, JSP!
Oh, David Sedaris! He is someone you can understand and laugh with a first time through...and better yet, you WANT to read him a second time.
reading harry potter again. needed something to break the day. i love jk rowling and not just for her money. all the harry potter books you can read hours on end and not feel like you have to take a break. i'm building up courage to read thomas mann's magic mountain next. i've made it half way through twice, wish me luck.
on beauty was good, just wait till the last chapter... oh, that last chapter. that book made me fall in love with rembrant.
Nice! I'm glad I have something to look forward to.
I thought Zadie Smith was notorious for having weak endings? Well, that's what I've heard anyway.
i never read the autograph hunter, bloom loved it, but white teeth didn't have a weak ending.
Hmm I love the idea behind this website, very unique.
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and i love your comment. thanks.
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