Just checked out Chuck Klosterman IV just based on all of your positive rants here, and I am digging it. Thanks, guys!

that book about Godard was very good. highly recommend to anyone interested in his cinema. it's written very well, and the analysis of some of the most "important" Godard's films is very helpful too.

got these two books recently, which i think will keep me busy for a while.

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry"

I'm just a sucker for "The Complete Idiot's Guide"s. It doesn't matter what the subject is, I'm just tickled by that title (Is it written by a complete idiot, or is it written for complete idiots, or both?).

After many a setback, I just finished this thing. I think I lost about 200-300 pages in there somewhere, but I feel it ended a lot better than I had expected.

just finished Capote's "in cold blood". great book. really liked it.

I read about 15 pages of this before losing interest. Anyone get much further?

In regards to Capote, would you suggest starting with Breakfast at Tiffanys or In Cold Blood? And also, do you know the book lengths of both (approximately)?

Breakfast at aTiffany's is about 100 pages or so. very short book that you could finish in a night or two. i read it in a day. it was just one of those books you don't wanna put down. In cold blood is over 300 pages, i think. a bit more denser. i'd say start with Breakfast at aTiffany's, and if you like it, read something on the internet about Capote and how he came to write In cold blood, and if you find it interesting definitely pick it up next.

when I read those two books, it reminded me of how i read Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby and Tender is the night. i started with Great Gatsby, which was rather short and i really enjoyed Fitzgerald's style, so then getting a bigger book by him like Tender is the Night was exactly how i wanted to proceed with that author.

The Soft Machine - William S. Burroughs

The "Sequel" to Naked Lunch, it's even more cut up than it's predecessor but came from the same manuscripts.

I just caved in and finally bought this yesterday. Wonderful stuff.

I read the whole thing. I thought it was better than Haunted, but not as good as his other stuff. I liked the ending, but the middle kind of sucked.

Catching up on my literary journals.

Just finished this this evening. Nothing earth shattering, but definitely entertaining. Better than Survivor at any rate.

Survivor is my favorite. :/

Me too.
I still haven't read anything by Chuck that impressed me nearly as much.

i read "survivor", "invisible monsters", "fight club" and a collection of short stories, but i didn't like any of those at all.

you're a persistent mofo, aren't you.

I'm sure if you just try 2-3 more, you'll come around.

i only read Lullabye. Kinda reminded me of David Foster Wallace, without the wacky footnotes or meta- attitude. Evidently I must try more.

I read a few. Really liked the first one, then realized with the next two that he really has his style down solid and I really don't need to read anymore of his books.

'Fess up, fellow book readers...

What have you read that has actually made you cry?

my confession...
two major characters' deaths in Bag Of Bones and The Dark Tower by Stephen King.

Tears of joy and sorrow at different parts.

I can't help but smile whenever I see someone recommend this. What an amazing book.

same here. i've read 3 of his books and it got old quick. unfortunately i'm having a similar experience with klosterman. the only thing that kept me reading IV was the desire to finish what i'd started.

Don Delillo - The Names

books never get me into that kind of state. films do, but not books. i think the reason is that most of the time i concentrate on the main plot, writing style, images, themes, and such instead of one character. so i don't feel attached to him or her, just to the book as a whole. i mean, i had this feeling a few times when i wanted to throw a book against a wall. i really thought it was that good.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (I wish he would write something that good again) and The Great Santini by Pat Conroy.

Just finished.

Half-way through.

On deck.

Cosigned. I gave this to my dad for Father's Day. He fell into a 9-hour reading marathon.

I have to admit that those J.S. Foer books make me well up a bit.
For downright depression (not so much crying) I have to go with Faulkner.

J.S. Foer made me get weepy too. Also, I think I creid when I read Middlesex. Love that book.

Also this one:



It's' really messed up and based on a true story. I read it a long time ago, but I'm pretty sure I cried.

bernard malamud, The Natural

finished this yesterday, it's a good book. several parts are very different from the movie. he has a great "old" style of writing and describing events & characters, definitely worth the read.

I've never cried from a book, but Dickens can bum me out.



I am loving it, but I have not enjoyed the subject of sexual intercourse when it has came up (twice so far). I mean, the book is fantastic so far, I love what I'm reading it's all very bleak and dystopian, but I just don't like reading about sex in books.

Probably because I'll never have any.

zero is moving into castana territory...


i started 100 years of solitude by marquez last night. after only 25 pages i'm loving it. this will be a terrific summer read.

Sex in literature hardly ever works. I'm trying to think of a book in which there was a sex scene written effectively.

Unless, of course, we are talking about painfully awkward sex scenes. I've seen many of those done to great affect.

That's a great book! I majored in Spanish, and we spent a lot of time dissecting the symbolism and parallels between the main family and the history of Latin American culture. I you like 100 Years, you'll probably also like The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende also.

in turn allow me to recommend the People of Paper from Salvador Plascencia. It's his wildly inventive first novel with a tragic cast of characters. Reviews I read compared his style to Marquez, it sounds like something you'd enjoy. Even if the story doesn't get you his creativity should keep you interested.

Thanks, I'll pick that up!

so rong!

Such a jam.

i thought about it, you know how when you read "100 years of solitude" without having any background in latin american history, but you'd still enjoy the book. at least i did. i only found out about the whole historical timeline after some time. but, do you think you actually loose some part of the reading experience if you don't consider the history part? cos it was certainly a pretty big matter for the author.

i like isabel allende too, by the way. i should start a thread about latin american literature. i'd love to get some recommendations.

I just started this one. Some friends convinced me to join their little book club and this is the pick of the month.

The White Hotel, by D. M. Thomas.

There's also a strange scene written in Stephen King's IT that, taken out of context, is quite nasty considering the age of the participants involved, but is actually a life-affirming moment that cements the bond between the novel's protagonists.

I wish I was reading this.

wow!!!

Has anyone read this:

i haven't read mailer yet, but this morning i decided i wanted to read something violent so i am now reading:



and after that:

^^^i have never read that hemingway and have been meaning to

what's everyone's top 3-5 Hemingway novels?