Do you try to be unpleasant? Or is it just how you are? Hemingway reads as if it were written for 12 year-olds - was it?

Just asking a simple question. I never saw what the big deal was about Potok. Thought you may be able to help out. Do you always take everything personally? Hemingway is poetic. Potok is not.

very unfortunately it is taking me forever... reading books for school and writing papers is kind of in the way, but i've been enjoying this greatly. again, wish i had more time for it...

So it would seem.

Agreed about the difference between the two. I actually cannot answer your question about Potok b/c - jesus god this is gonna sound ridiculous - I was about 12 the last time I read a Potok novel.

Oh, I guess that does answer the question.

You know I live in Faulkner's hometown, right? It's illegal to live here and not like him. As is almost everything else.

No I didn't know. You're in Oxford? Ever been to the Faulkner musseum there? How is it?

Yep, Oxford - home to writers and pretentious wannabe's.

It's his house, and it's nice enough. He wrote portions of his novels on the walls of his study, which is kinda cool. A lot of it is just, you know, the nice house of a nice, well-heeled Southern family. Looks a lot like Sandburg's place in Flat Rock, NC. It's about a five minute walk from my house, actually.

Finally finished. It gets a Recommended rating from me.

The first half can get strange and technical but once Dr. Fidourous enters the things really take off.

Anyway, like you I didn't do any research on the book until after I was done reading it.
I only picked it up because it won the Borders Original Voices Award and was looking for something different.

This guy's even got his own message board for the book that he participates in regularly.

It seems like he's having a lot of fun with the books success.

He even made a soundtrack mix for his book.

1) The Littlest Things by Lilly Allen from Alright, Still

I try not to think too much about a film version of my book. I get asked a lot about who I’d like to star in the movie if it happens and who I’d like to direct and I have to say ‘I don’t know’. This is because I know that if I started with fantasy casting it wouldn’t be too long before I had the whole thing storyboarded in my head, with all the camera angles, dialogue and effects in place. And if that happened, then when a movie eventually came along from someone else, I’d find myself disappointed, just because it wouldn’t be the way I would have done it. So I try not to go there at all.

Well, mostly. If there were one thing I could ask of the film people it would be for The Littlest Things to run over the opening credits of the film.

I love it that this song is so fragile, simple and everyday. It’s not a song that brings to mind gigantic conceptual sharks, or adventures, puzzles, codes. This is just a song about a girl missing a boy and a life that isn’t there for her anymore. That’s really the heart of Raw Shark for me.

What do you think film guys? Please..?


2) Hinterland by AiM from Hinterland

I listened to this song over and over when I first started work on The Raw Shark Texts – this tune was so influential in terms of feel and tone that the earliest draft of the manuscript even had the working title ‘Hinterland’.

Those fantastic spoken word samples: “I can’t name it. It’s just there, the thing is there and I have to go see it. The monster, the God, the rat, the snail – whatever’s out there I have to go see it and look at it, and endure it. Or maybe not endure it ... I can’t explain it. If I could I wouldn’t go” over a haunting, drifting, the-world-just-behind-this-one tune made this song something close to a style sheet in the early days of the novel.


3) End of a Century by Blur from Parklife

I love the familiar, day-to-day type of melancholy this song creates - a slightly sad and inevitable sense of ending which always manages to avoid feeling forced or overdramatic. A sort of natural ‘just is’ sense of entropy. “She said there’s ants in the carpet, dirty little monsters…”


4) St Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley from St Elsewhere

I’ve struggled to limit myself to one Gnarls Barkley track on the list. I thought about Storm Coming, Just a Thought and Crazy too, but in the end it had to be this one – that melancholy from the Blur track carries over nicely here and twists into something heartfelt, haunting and also slightly creepy.

How great is Danger Mouse? I’ve been working backwards from St Elsewhere via The Mouse and the Mask to the Grey Album. Speaking of which –


5) Encore by Danger Mouse from The Grey Album

Mixing the Beatles White Album and Jay Z’s Black Album is a stroke of genius, if you ask me. I love the game of it but also, the album itself is just stunning. A little forward momentum and energy for the playlist too. In the novel, Eric Sanderson finally climbs into his yellow Jeep and sets off to get involved in his own life about now.


6) La Rock 01 by Vitalic from Okay Cowboy

Just a thumping base with a spray of electronic squeaks and whistles for the first 50 seconds of this track, then a rough and jagged tune - somewhere between a keyboard and a jet plane taking off - starts to rise up from the depths of the song, getting louder and louder and louder until it’s threatening to burst your eardrums (you have to turn everything up for this one!).

This is the closest I’ve come to finding a conceptual shark take on the classic Jaws theme. La Rock’s a track just loaded with menace – it’s coming up, it’s coming up and it’s coming to get you...


7) Arigato by Fonda 500 from Spectrumatronicalogical Sounds

I was tempted to include either the wonderful Robotic Samba Programme or the heartbreaking Mexican Spaceman instead, but Mexican Spaceman is too sad and Robotic Samba is, well, it’s got robots in it.


8) Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying by Belle & Sebastian from If You're Feeling Sinister

I’ll settle down with some old story
About a boy who’s just like me
Thought there was love in everything and everyone
You’re so naive
They always reach a sorry ending
They always get it in the end…

This could be the Eric Sanderson theme tune! A beautiful song. If you haven’t heard Belle & Sebastian’s music, you really, really should.


9) Hells Bells by The Dandy Warhols from Come On Feel The Dandy Warhols

This slow, moody cover of the famous AC/DC guitar-strangler could have easily found its way onto the Kill Bill album, it’s all high noon and Clint Eastwood. This is showdown music at its best, and it’s just right for man-on-sinking-boat vs. gigantic killer shark....


10) Imagine by DJ Numark & Pomo from Blend Crafters

We’re hearing more and more about Cut Chemist but I’ve got to say Blend Crafters has made me a 100% Numark fan. Think it’s a great album from beginning to end, but the combination of hip-hop bass, tight piano loop and some sort of jazz horn on this John Lennon cover really is special – the tune manages to be familiar and new at the same time. That’s something I tried to push for with the end of the novel too.

Well, looks like Raw Shark Texts should be on my to-do list. Thanks guys.

If unusual usage of the text is your cup of tea, you should also try Mark Z. Danielewski's House Of Leaves.

Thanks, I'll put it on my list.

Forgot to mention www.houseofleaves.com has an extensive discussion board. And also, his sister Poe recorded the album Haunted around the same time he completed this book, and it is regarded as somewhat a "soundtrack" in some aspects. Highly recommended, with or without the book. Enjoy.

Poe as in the Poe as in "Angry Johnny" Poe?
Nice.

Yes.

Michael Moore's election guide. Hilarious.

Back in Paris they had happy moments together, like stills from a perfume ad (dashing hand in hand down the steps of Montmartre; or suddenly revealed in motionless embrace on the Pont des Arts by the lights of a bateau-mouche as it turned). There were the Sunday afternoon half-arguments, too, the moments of silence when bodies curl up beneath the sheets on the long shores of silence and apathy where life founders. Annabelle's studio was so dark they had to turn on the lights at four in the afternoon. They sometimes were sad, but mostly they were serious. Both of them knew that this would be their last human relationship, and this feeling lacerated every moment they spent together. They had a great respect and a profound sympathy for each other, and there were days when, caught up in some sudden magic, they knew moments of fresh air and glorious, bracing sunshine. For the most part, however, they could feel a gray shadow moving over them, on the earth that supported them, and in everything they could glimpse the end.

-The Elementary Particles, by Michel Houellebecq.

Just finished reading this. Incredible book.

Wait, you've had that quote in your sig forever--but you hadn't read the book yet?

Anyhow yes, it was rather affecting.

Quite liked this book. Of course, you have to tolerate Klosterman's nonfiction style to appreciate this novel, and the ending was a bit severe, but what I loved about this book was how perfectly he depicts life in a tiny prairie smalltown. As someone who spent a good chunk of my life in such a place, I can say that Klosterman nailed it. Absolutely nailed it.

Finished this book about a week ago and really liked it. I lived in Southeastern Illinois for four years as a high school teacher and agree that Klosterman nailed it.

The quote in my sig is actually from his H.P. Lovecraft essay, which I thought was great. I finally got around to actually reading one of his novels, though, and now I'm hooked. What's next? Whatever? Platform? The Possibility of an Island? I heard there might be some translation issues with the earlier two.

Defiance - How the Bielski partisans survived in the woods during WWII.

D'oh! From the tone and words "elementary particles" I assumed it was from that book. Maybe I'll read the Lovecraft next, then.

Really bad at reading one book at a time, so I am reading a few.

In case anyone ever wanted to read Shakespeare and was daunted by the fact that there are 36 plays...here is my list of the 12 to skip. The other 24 are musts to some degree.


Henry VI Part 1 (possibly his single worst play)
Henry VI Part 2
Henry VI Part 3
Titus Andronicus (a parody of Seneca?)
King John
Two Gentlemen of Verona (his worst comedy)
Love's Labour's Lost (fascinating from a historical/linguistic point of view - bad as drama)
The Merry Wives of Windsor (lame comedy with a fat fool masquerading as Falstaff)
All's Well That Ends Well ('Meausre for Measure' does this better)
Pericles (the half of this which doesn't suck was probably written by Shakespeare. Shame about the other half)
Timon of Athens (see above)
Cymbeline (though entertaining for its sheer absurdity to an extent)

What'd you think of Julie Taymor's Titus? Better than the play deserves?

I haven't seen it.

Oh, well then you should see it. Because it's really good.

I have a feeling Tony will hate it. It's a VERY polarizing film.

Reading Shakespeare isn't as thrilling as seeing it performed, but you can dig into the nooks and crannies of his language and see how damned smart the guy was, and how much of his verbiage still lingers in our lexicon.

Words coined by Shakespeare...

Nouns:

accused addiction alligator amazement anchovies assassination backing bandit bedroom bump buzzers courtship critic dauntless dawn design dickens discontent embrace employer engagements excitements exposure eyeball fixture futurity glow gust hint immediacy investments kickshaws leapfrog luggage manager mimic misgiving mountaineer ode outbreak pageantry pedant perusal questioning reinforcement retirement roadway rumination savagery scuffles shudders switch tardiness transcendence urging watchdog wormhole zany

Verbs:

besmirch bet blanket cake cater champion compromise cow denote deracinate dialogue dislocate divest drug dwindle elbow enmesh film forward gossip grovel hobnob humour hurry impedes jet jig label lapse lower misquote negotiate numb pander partner petition puke rant reword secure submerge swagger torture unclog

Adjectives:

aerial auspicious baseless beached bloodstained blushing circumstantial consanguineous deafening disgraceful domineering enrapt epileptic equivocal eventful fashionable foregone frugal generous gloomy gnarled hush inaudible invulnerable jaded juiced lackluster laughable lonely lustrous madcap majestic marketable monumental nervy noiseless oscene olympian premeditated promethean quarrelsome radiance rancorous reclusive remorseless rival sacrificial sanctimonious softhearted splitting stealthy traditional tranquil unmitigated unreal varied vaulting viewless widowed worthless yelping

Adverbs:

importantly instinctively obsequiously threateningly tightly trippingly unaware

What the heck is Love's Labours Lost doing on that list Tony?

Awesome play.

It's the one I felt guiltiest about including. It's almost a precursor of Joyce in its play of language. It has no character development to speak of though.

Started reading this again. One of my favorites.

I started reading this a little over three years ago and didn't quite make it to ancient Greece. I'm giving it another shot. At this rate, it should only take me the rest of my life to finish reading the 1184 pages.

Read this.



Now reading this.

To go into reread-for-the-1st-time since-high-school mode:


To reread and (maybe) finish:


To finally get under my belt:

You know that Dill in TKAM is based on Truman Capote, right?

Ahhhh!...makes sense, but since I haven't read it since 1988, I wouldn't have known that. The movie Capote (the reason why I got me In Cold Blood now) was where I learned about Harper Lee's relationship with him.

There are some who believe that Capote wrote much of it.

Capote is an amazing writer; probably my favorite. It's sad that he couldn't create a great fiction novel for shit. I've read a bunch of his works, and nothing really impressed me (in terms of story plots, twists, etc.) However, In Cold Blood is his absolute best work and my favorite book of all time. Really amazing stuff.

There are some who believe the earth is flat, too, Tony, but who fucking cares?

'Who fucking cares' could be applied to 95% of posts on a message board at any given time by anyone.

Indeed. I certainly apply it to myself.









Except when I don't.

Nor could he act...ever see Murder By death?

I kind of cared. Brain, you don't have to make a comment every time.

Great, maybe not. But The Grass Harp, while short and not especially innovative, is certainly a good read.

Ordered. Acme Novelty Library #19, by Chris Ware. Didn't realize this was even out.

Just finished The Virgin Suicides and now I'm depressed. It's weird. Reading the entire book, you know they're going to kill themselves. But when it happens it still hit me hard. The entire book is just really depressing. The decaying trees, the decaying house, the characters narrating from their forties. Such an overwhelming feeling of melancholy.

Haven't seen it. But I have seen both 'Capote' and 'Infamous.' I'm still debating as to who's performance was better; Hoffman or Jones.




The Grass Harp is one of the few works that I haven't read just yet. I just finished Music for Chameleons recently and, although his writing style and structure is so fluid and brilliant, the plots really let me down.

With all the hype surrounding Breakfast at Tiffany's , I was convinced it was a great book. Maybe it was the hype that killed it for me in the end, but I thought it was nothing more than just an OK read, particulary because it felt incomplete.

I recently decided to catch up with all the 'classics' that I wasn't forced to read in High school/College..

Just finished this:






Reading this now





Considering this one next:

1984 is a must, at the very least to see how prescient it was.

I MUST protest! Capote's voice comes from inside the moose head in this clip - now tell me that ain't acting!

Reading this now. The prose seems a little pedestrian coming off something as incredible as The Virgin Suicides, but I suspect it'll be a quick, enjoyable read none-the-less.