What Did You Read Today?

[Liam]

Hmm...Never Let Me Go was OK personally. I enjoyed it, but if I remember correctly, felt it started to drag somewhat.

I'm currently reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Thoroughly enjoying it as well.

[KONGO]

I have never been able to start American Gods, but I'm not really interested in it. I think I just felt like trying to read some Gaiman but I don't have an overly fond opinion of him to start, just from the people I know who really super omega-love him, found him irritating. Somebody tell me about it and convince me it's worth a read.

[Liam]

Personally, I like his writing style, and the development of the characters, specifically the relationships between the main character and the people he meets. He also seems to describe small-town American life in a way that seems to fit my own views on it, if not necessarily true (not having ever been to small town America myself).

Plus, the ideas that are presented are interesting, and told in a unique way.

[Skummy]

I like American Gods and Neverwhere quite a lot, and American Gods is probably the better of the two, as Neverwhere tends to take the easy route a little too often. Someone once described good fantasy as the intrustion of the fantasical on the everyday, and of past upon the present, and that's when Gaiman's at his best, particularly when the basic concept of the story is strong enough to distract from the fact that he's not necessarily all that great at writing characters.

I do really like Neil Gaiman, but even I've been almost convinced that I dislike him just through how some of his fans talk about him!

[DJ Ice]

EDIT: Wrong thread, whoops.

Edited August 18, 2013 by DJ Ice

[GA!]

I can't think what to read next. Any suggestions?

[Liam]

What kinda stuff are you looking for?

[Cymbols]

Slightly random this, but, does anyone who has read Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" mind if I PM them about a theory that I have regarding the theme of Monstrosity within the novel?

[HC]

Slightly random this, but, does anyone who has read Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" mind if I PM them about a theory that I have regarding the theme of Monstrosity within the novel?

I read it for school last year. I don't promise to be some literary genius, but I'll listen.

[Monkey D. Lars]

The Zlatan book, O boy what a guy.

[Skummy]

Just finished reading a 700+ page biography of Samuel Beckett. Not a single mention of André The Giant.

[KONGO]

Gormenghast. Brilliant.

Fuschia

[Skummy]

I'm really glad you liked it so much - it's probably my all-time favourite book, if you take Titus Groan and Gormenghast as a whole.

[stokeriño]

Just finished reading The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick.

Was pretty good, I think. When I read The Man in the High Castle, I found it rather a disjointed collection of character narratives without a satisfactory ending (and 'The Man in the High Castle' himself seemed largely pointless, besides being the only vague thing connecting a number of characters in that they all make mention of his book). So when I started reading this I wondered whether it would end up the same way. I.E. a solid world setting, great examinations of characters' internal motivations...but rather flimsily tied together, resulting in an anticlimax.

And nearly, very nearly, The Penultimate Truth avoids the last problem. Its weak point for me was Chapter 25, when...

Once Foote, Adams and Nicholas all end up at Lantano's demesne, Lantano does his great big THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED WITH EVERYTHING AND THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW AND YOU WILL HELP IN THESE WAYS splurge of explanation which just seemed so...

forced. I know the reasoning is that he's a time-traveller *and* 600 years old *and* he's been pulling the strings for all this, so he will know all these things, but it all came out so suddenly and with such completeness that it made all the interest I'd had in piecing together what was going on over the prior 24 chapters seem a bit hollow in retrospect. Perhaps this is just a problem with the plot being rushed, more than with the plot itself.

What I did like though, is how he only got time travel technology because of a mistake in sending Lindblom's 'alien' weapons back in time. This one piece of happenstance made me feel better about Lantano's place in the plot because otherwise it was all just too ordered/convenient/deus ex machina-ish.

Certainly felt better about the ending though. It probably helped that the point of the title wasn't all that clear (at least not to me) until the last page or few.

[jack95]

I started studying English Literature at university this year, which has given me the opportunity to read some interesting books. Here are my thoughts on a few of them!

ROOM by EMMA DONOGHUE- This won the Man Booker Prize a few years ago I think. It's about a child who lives in a single room with his Mum, having been locked away by a kidnapper. It's OK. The whole thing is narrated by the five year old which is a nice idea which doesn't wear thin as quickly as I'd expect, but still gets kind of tedious towards the end. The story is fairly bleak but there's a fair few spots of humour mostly revolving around the child's inability to understand things. Some of these are quite funny, others aren't. The plot has a nice pace, allows for some moments of genuine tension, and there's a fun twist in the middle that takes the story in a different and welcome direction, keeping things fresh. It's a much better read than I thought it would be but the concept isn't really my thing. 3 out of 5!

VARIOUS THINGS by NIKOLAI GOGOL- This is a collection of six short stories and a play. When I heard we were studying 19th century Russian literature I braced myself for the worst but these were a lot of fun, and something I thing I'd have enjoyed even more if I'd been able to read it for leisure. The tales range from sarcastic accounts of the mundane lives of the rich, to some super surreal stories involving a man missing out on promotion at work to his own nose, or another fellow who loses his mind and starts to believe he's the King of Spain. The writing style is such that I think I'd find it hard to digest a full novel, but in small doses I thought these were great. Four out of five!

REGENERATION by PAT BARKER- Another unexpected success! A book about the emotional traumas of British soldiers in the midst of World War 1 didn't seem like my cup of tea at all, but I thought Pat Barker did a fantastic job with this. The writing style was clear, there were a range of likeable characters, and the book never came close to falling into reverential hero worship like I feared it would. It was such a fascinating read, and one that you have a nice mull over. Minus a bit for the fact that once I finished the book I realised nothing had actually happened in it really, but still, four out of five!

I've also started to read 'The Falling Man' by Don DeLillo and 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy, neither of which I'm hugely enjoying. Falling Man is OK, I guess, but I think the Road is going to become pretty tedious pretty quickly, especially when McCarthy does things like describe the darkness as "autistic."

[Liam]

I loved 'The Road'. Excellent book personally. Didn't enjoy 'The Room', grew tedious very quickly.

[KONGO]

The Road isn't one of McCarthy's best but it's good. Not defending that particular line, but if your conception of good writing is "describe visual things with visual words only," then no, you won't like McCarthy.

[GA!]

I started the Gormenghast trilogy today so... See y'all in six months?

[Liam]

It is on my list at some point - the list is long, however.

[KONGO]

Started God's War: A New History of the Crusades. Like it so far, somewhat dry.

Reminds me I need to get a copy of Shake Hands with the Devil just for my bookshelf. It really annoys me that I react badly to old books. I love the idea of old books but I can't actually read them, start itching and sneezing. Have got my littlest broham an old copy of Titus Groan for Crashmash, may have to also get him a newer version or an e-book because he's got lots of allergies as well, dunno how he'll react. Hopefully he gets some use out of it.