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What books have you read so far in 2004?

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BigWizz
 
Reply Mon 7 Jun, 2004 08:43 am
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Since I'm new here I thought I'd make a topic like this to gauge your reading interests, find some people who've read the books I've read and so on.

These are the 24 that I can remember. (I have a list around here somewhere, and I think I'm up to 32 total books)

<b>Flatland</b> - Edwin A. Abbott
<b>The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From The Living Dead</b> - Max Brooks
<b>Heart Of A Dog</b> - Mikhail Bulgakov
<b>If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of A B Movie Actor</b> - Bruce Campbell
<b>Waiting for the Barbarians</b> - J.M. Coetzee
<b>The Public Burning</b> - Robert Coover
<b>Dhalgren</b> - Samuel R. Delany
<b>A Frolic of His Own</b> - William Gaddis
<b>Omensetter's Luck</b> - William H. Gass (Currently reading)
<b>Carter Beats the Devil</b> - Glen David Gold
<b>Ape & Essence</b> - Aldous Huxley
<b>SlackJaw</b> - Jim Knipfel
<b>A Working Stiff's Manifesto: A Memoir of Thirty Jobs I Quit, Nine That Fired Me, and Three I Can't Remember</b> - Iain Levison
<b>Three to See the King</b> - Magnus Mills
<b>The Moviegoer</b> - Walker Percy
<b>The Crying of Lot 49</b> - Thomas Pynchon
<b>Portnoy's Complaint</b> - Philip Roth
<b>Blindness</b> - José Saramago
<b>Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas</b> - Hunter S. Thompson
<b>A Confederacy of Dunces</b> - John Kennedy Toole
<b>Roughing It</b> - Mark Twain
<b>Just a Couple of Days</b> - Tony Vigorito
<b>The Royal Family</b> - William T. Vollmann
<b>The Broom Of The System</b> - David Foster Wallace
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sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Mon 7 Jun, 2004 08:50 am
I've read about a third of those. Lesse, I'd guess you're male (er, I guess the nic could've told me that), and young -- college?

What'd you think of Portnoy?
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Miller
 
  1  
Reply Mon 7 Jun, 2004 08:53 am
What do you think of the new nonfiction, "Nemesis"?
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sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Mon 7 Jun, 2004 08:56 am
I only know the fiction "Nemesis", Agatha Christie I think. What's the one you're talking about? (I didn't see it on BW's list -- it's one you've read recently?)
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Miller
 
  1  
Reply Mon 7 Jun, 2004 09:08 am
sozobe wrote:
I only know the fiction "Nemesis", Agatha Christie I think. What's the one you're talking about? (I didn't see it on BW's list -- it's one you've read recently?)


I haven't bought it yet. I'm waiting for a paperback version to come out. It looks very exciting, as it concerns an alleged love affair between Ari Onasis and Jackie Kennedy's sister.

Other, even more exciting aspects of the book, concern the allegation that the Onasis family ( father ? ) paid bribe money to Moslem terrorists to prevent them from bombing the commerical airlines owned by the Onasis family. Someone on the radio mentioned , during discussion of the book, that Onasis's money actually paid for the murder of JFK. Whether the later is in "Nemesis", I can't recall.

I think you can buy the book from amazon.com or at least read a review of it.
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BigWizz
 
  1  
Reply Mon 7 Jun, 2004 09:13 am
.
Oops, I was looking at the wrong book, I have Portnoy's Complaint but haven't read it yet. I read Roth's "The Great American Novel" It was very good, I was surprised by that because I usually hate sports books.

Oh and 22, a Junior at a community college. (though I just changed my major so I'm not sure where my credits put me now)
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sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Mon 7 Jun, 2004 09:15 am
Yeah, the changing major thing. I became an English major in part because that's where all the classes I took just 'cause they looked interesting fit best.

I haven't read "Great American Novel" yet.

Which is your favorite of the books you listed?
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BigWizz
 
  1  
Reply Mon 7 Jun, 2004 09:25 am
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It's always hard for me to choose, I'd say it's a tie between A Frolic of His Own, and Just a Couple of Days.

Gaddis has always been one of my favorite authors, probably the best writer of dialog I've ever seen, but Just A Couple Of Days is such a hilarious book, It's sort of like a Dr. Strangelove meets Camus's The Plague.
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NeoGuin
 
  1  
Reply Mon 7 Jun, 2004 10:01 am
Gotta go to work, but I'll post my list later!
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kickycan
 
  1  
Reply Mon 7 Jun, 2004 11:34 am
Portnoy's Complaint - Philip Roth

I read a book by Roth recently, called "Sabbath's Theater". If Portnoy's complaint is anywhere near as perverted and sick, in the funniest ways, I'm sure I would love it.


1. Blindness - José Saramago
2. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
3. Roughing It - Mark Twain

My quick capsule review of these three, in order.

1. not great, but good, and an interesting idea.
2. Hilarious and brilliant
3. Interesting look at travel in the old days--I love Mark Twain!


Carter Beats the Devil - Glen David Gold

I have seen this book many times, and thought about getting it, but never did. Is it good?


Jobs I Quit, Nine That Fired Me, and Three I Can't Remember - Iain Levison

I like the title. How is this book?
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BigWizz
 
  1  
Reply Mon 7 Jun, 2004 07:36 pm
I have seen this book(Carter Beats the Devil) many times, and thought about getting it, but never did. Is it good?

Pretty good, The beginning and end are great but it drags a bit in the middle.


I like the title. How is this book?

A Working Stiff's Manifesto was VERY good, I was going to put it as the 3rd in my tie, but I just finished it and I always like books more right after I'm done reading them. The book is a dark cynical comedy about the "value" of an English Degree and it's value when finding a job.
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kickycan
 
  1  
Reply Mon 7 Jun, 2004 07:52 pm
Interesting. Thanks for the info.

So far this year I've read (other than the others I mentioned earlier)

Frankenstein--didn't like the writing style, but it was deep--I like that

A Separate Peace--for the second time--it is my all-time favorite book

"Wolves of the Calla" (or whateve it was called)--I grew up reading Stephen King, and I can't pass up any of his books--this one was better than most of his more recent ones

I'm sure there are one or two I'm forgetting about, but I also started reading "The Story of My Life", which is Cassanova's autobiography. I've realized that a 3,000+ page memoir might be a little too much for me, but I still pick it up every now and then. Maybe by the time I hit retirement age I'll be done with it. Smile

Anyway, that's my list.

Later
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sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Mon 7 Jun, 2004 10:23 pm
BW, I know just what you mean about liking books more right after you finish them. I have this book club and I always read the book at the last minute. (I read a 400 + page book in one day this time.) And I ALWAYS like the books! Even if they're dumb, I like them. I look back on all the books that have been read for the book club so far and it's a fairly stinky bunch, but I like them the day after... (And a lot of them are good for light reading. Fun, if not Literature by any stretch of the imagination.)

Yeah, an English major is useless. Except for writing books... which Levison did, so it's all kind of catch-22. Just read an article about David Sedaris (whom I adore) and how he has to like purposely put himself in humiliating situations so he can keep his outsider/ underdog cred.
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Wilso
 
  1  
Reply Tue 8 Jun, 2004 12:13 am
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, a few by Tom Clancy and a few by Ludlum (normally a single intelligence officer saving the whole world single handedly, usually from some conspiracy hatched by his own government).
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NeoGuin
 
  1  
Reply Tue 8 Jun, 2004 06:02 am
As some of you may remember, I decided to resolve to read one book a month. I'm pleased to announce that I'm 4 for 5.

January: Hegemony Or Survivial, Noam Chomsky: A look at America's Imperial Aims in the Middle East, and a look at our Imperial past.

Feburary: Blowback, Chalmers Johnson: While not about the Iraq situation, I saw a lot of similarities between some incidents that Johnson wrote about and now.

March: Koran: ABANDONED Got busy at my other job doing inventories and was unable to complete.

April: Historical Jesus: This was actually pretty interesting as there's a lot of non-Biblical evidence for the life of Christ.

May: Perfectly Legal: Basically a look at all the ways the elite dodge thier taxes, also seems to have a tone calling for Campaign Finance reform throughout.

CURRENT: Da Vinci Code

July: Tracks, Robyn Davidson

FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS

Wake Up--You're Liberal, Ted Rall

A book by Ellis Admur (relates to my studies of Aikido)

Divine Comedy, Dante

Soul Of A Liberal: Paul Wellstone

Minority Report/Payback/Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep: Philip K. Dick
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gustavratzenhofer
 
  1  
Reply Tue 8 Jun, 2004 06:47 am
I'm reading David Sedaris right now.

Damn funny stuff.
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Thalion
 
  1  
Reply Mon 14 Jun, 2004 12:41 pm
Freshman English Books (HS)

Death of a Salesman - Miller
The Importance of Being Ernest - Oscar Wilde
Hound of the Baskervilles - Doyle
Much Ado About Nothing - WS
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Angelou

Sonnets - various authors.


Non-School

Notes From Underground - Dostoevsky
Crime and Punishment - Dostoevsky
1984 - Orwell
The Stranger - Camus
Oedipus the King - Sophocles
Antigone - Sophocles
Hamlet - WS
Joshua - Girzone
The Left Hand of Darkness - LeGuin
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
Meditations - Descartes
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Gargamel
 
  1  
Reply Mon 21 Jun, 2004 01:13 pm
Bad Behavior--Mary Gaitskill
Two Girls Fat and Thin--Gaitskill
Because They Wanted To--Gaitskill
CivilWarLand in Bad Decline--George Saunders
Pastoralia--Saunders
Cathedral--Carver
Paris Spleen--Baudelaire
Here We Are in Paradise--Tony Early
Blood Meridian--Cormac McCarthy
Airships--Barry Hannah
Decline and Fall--Evelyn Waugh
Little Disturbances of Man--Grace Paley
Running After Antelope--Scott Carrier
Guide to the Blue Tongue--Virgil Suarez

I noticed Confederacy of Dunces on a few peoples' lists. I am reading that now. Holy crap, it's fun!
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Gargamel
 
  1  
Reply Mon 21 Jun, 2004 01:15 pm
Yeah, does anyone have recommendations as far as satire goes? You know, in the same spirit as Waugh, Toole, Twain, etc.?

Or just forget all those guys. Basically what are some FUNNY books you guys like?
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larry richette
 
  1  
Reply Sun 25 Jul, 2004 11:23 am
Gargamel--if you're looking for funny books, I have a few picks for you:

MYRA BRECKENRIDGE by Gore Vidal
MONEY and SUCCESS by Martin Amis
DIFFICULT LOVES by Italo Calvino--comic short stories
A COOL MILLION by Nathaniel West
the Alice books by Lewis Carroll
CONFESSIONS OF FELIX KRULL by Thomas Mann
THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY by Ambrose Bierce
TRAVELS WITH MY AUNT by Graham Greene
THE SUFFRAGE OF ELVIRA and MIGUEL STREET by V.S. Naipaul, also his HOUSE FOR MR. BISWAS
THE DEVIL AND MARGARITA by Mikhail Bulgakov
DEAD SOULS by Nikolai Gogol, the funniest novel ever written
Enjoy!
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