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Post by Dr. Dastardly on Jan 17, 2014 12:29:15 GMT -5
The description for that book includes: his early short stories "Under the Pyramids" (originally ghostwritten for Harry Houdini) and "The Music of Erich Zann" (which Lovecraft ranked second among his own favorites)
That first thing is interesting! And the second thing makes me wonder what his first favorite was. I haven't read either of those; maybe I will. |
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Post by Mrs David Tennant on Jan 17, 2014 15:02:46 GMT -5
I've been chipping away at a couple of books that I probably should have finished months ago. I'm about halfway through "At the Mountains of Madness" and "Winesburg, Ohio," the latter of which being way better than I remembered it from high school. I like what Madness is going for and appreciate it as the touchstone it is for sci-fi and horror, but it's losing some steam in its build towards a conclusion. Getting a little Longfellow and Neruda in too, here and there. Judith Tarr's A Wind In Cairo, telling the story of a spoiled Egyptian aristocrat of the twelfth century who's turned into a horse. Pretty good, taking place against the background of Saladin's rise to power and featuring a deceptively feisty heroine (not the horse, its mistress). Apparently came out the same year as Tarr's Ars Magica, her historical fantasy "biofic" of Gerbert of Aurillac, aka Pope Sylvester II; they make a pretty nice pair. Just started Diana Gabaldon's Outlander and am already squirming about fifteen pages in after Claire mentions her WW2 service with the "Royal Army." The characters are fun and engaging, and there's a slight Wicker Man vibe to their present environs, but I suspect I'll have issues with some of the cultural mistranslations all the way through. It's been recommended to me since the mid-90s, though, and I intend to see it through. The pile's getting smaller, and that's all that matters. A Wind in Cairo sounds interesting - I like that kind of thing. But the local library didn't have it. Have you read Household Gods, by Judith Tarr & Harry "Alternate-History" Turtledove? That one I liked a lot! I read Outlander many years ago and the 1st book isn't bad, but the series! Oh my god, she needs an editor. I had to stop reading it around book 4. |
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Post by Dr. Dastardly on Jan 17, 2014 18:13:55 GMT -5
Harry Turtledove! The author of my favorite book cover in the whole wide world.  Nazi unicorn! Nazi unicorn? Nazi unicorn. Nazi unicorn! |
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Jan 17, 2014 19:47:58 GMT -5
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Jan 17, 2014 19:59:57 GMT -5
Since I finished the January book, The Flamethrowers, early, and there was talk of reading All the Pretty Horses next month, I remembered that I have owned The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy for years now, but have yet to read it. It's probably the only McCarthy novel I have not read. I am about a quarter of the way into it, and I already love it. I've been working my way through McCarthy's Border Trilogy, and am currently about that 1/4 of the way through The Crossing. It's not my favorite McCarthy, but it's still fantastic. I've not contributed to this thread for quite a while, in large part because I've been really lazy about reading (I've just finished the first chapter of The Crossing, despite starting it about two weeks ago, but I finally finished All the Pretty Horses a while back, and it ranks just behind Suttree and Blood Meridian in terms of my favorite McCarthy. And I read Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man Is Hard to Find, which was also excellent. I'm hoping to pick up my reading pace in the near future while I still have time for extracurricular reading this semester. I'd like to finish The Crossing this weekend, and then it's on to Cities of the Plain to finish up the Border Trilogy, and then I'll probably read Crime and Punishment, which I've been planning to read in the near future for several months now. |
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Jan 17, 2014 20:07:32 GMT -5
I remember talking about Aphra Behn in the Shoutbox. I forget why.
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Post by Judkins Moaner on Jan 17, 2014 23:04:38 GMT -5
Judith Tarr's A Wind In Cairo, telling the story of a spoiled Egyptian aristocrat of the twelfth century who's turned into a horse. Pretty good, taking place against the background of Saladin's rise to power and featuring a deceptively feisty heroine (not the horse, its mistress). Apparently came out the same year as Tarr's Ars Magica, her historical fantasy "biofic" of Gerbert of Aurillac, aka Pope Sylvester II; they make a pretty nice pair. Just started Diana Gabaldon's Outlander and am already squirming about fifteen pages in after Claire mentions her WW2 service with the "Royal Army." The characters are fun and engaging, and there's a slight Wicker Man vibe to their present environs, but I suspect I'll have issues with some of the cultural mistranslations all the way through. It's been recommended to me since the mid-90s, though, and I intend to see it through. The pile's getting smaller, and that's all that matters. A Wind in Cairo sounds interesting - I like that kind of thing. But the local library didn't have it. Have you read Household Gods, by Judith Tarr & Harry "Alternate-History" Turtledove? That one I liked a lot! I read Outlander many years ago and the 1st book isn't bad, but the series! Oh my god, she needs an editor. I had to stop reading it around book 4. I really enjoyed Household Gods, especially since Tarr was around to curb what I suspect are Turtledove's declining faculties. Oh, Harry... the Videssos Cycle was actually great stuff, even if Videssos itself was a frequently blatant copy of high medieval Byzantium, his early short story collections were terrific (best of all, Departures has "Batboy," an early 20th century vampire story in the form of a Ring Lardner pastiche!), and I got a huge kick out of Guns of the South, even if it veered too near the kind of false equivalency that's marred so much discussion and interpretation of the Civil War. I could only take so many parallel history novels, though, especially as the jumping-off points bunched closer and closer together. There's what, two thousand of them now or something? I understood (from the AVC, perhaps), that he was paranoid about his kids' college finances or something, so that went towards an explanation, anyway. Not really planning to go past Outlander (if I ever finish) for much the same reason, as I've heard similar stuff from friends who've read Gabaldon's works. |
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Dellarigg
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Post by Dellarigg on Jan 19, 2014 14:06:07 GMT -5
Concrete Island, JG Ballard. I've read a few of his, and enjoyed them while being slightly frustrated that I don't out and out love them. Let's see if this one is the tipping point.
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clytie
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Post by clytie on Jan 19, 2014 19:19:34 GMT -5
My Henry James project continues with Washington Square.
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Dellarigg
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Post by Dellarigg on Jan 19, 2014 19:31:59 GMT -5
My Henry James project continues with Washington Square. Have you read The Master, by Colm Toibin? It's about James and the cost of his emotional reticence. Very, very good. |
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clytie
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Post by clytie on Jan 19, 2014 20:06:33 GMT -5
My Henry James project continues with Washington Square. Have you read The Master, by Colm Toibin? It's about James and the cost of his emotional reticence. Very, very good. I have not, but I'll put it on my "To-Read" list. |
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Post by Nudeviking on Jan 19, 2014 22:24:59 GMT -5
I'm reading the trade paperback of X-Men Messiah War in Korean, because it was cheaper than buying the English version. I will probably finish it on my way home today and will need to find some things to read because on Thursday I'm going to Germany, and I fear being stuck watching Man of Steel or some other bullshit during the flight.
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Post by Dr. Dastardly on Jan 20, 2014 9:16:18 GMT -5
I've heard great stuff about The Master. If I were insane enough to subject myself to a Henry James project, I would definitely add that in.
I'm continuing my Early Female Novelist segment with Fanny Burney's Evelina. Burney was a hugely popular late 1700s author, quite an influence on Austen, known for "social satire," which generally goes over my head because I'm so far removed from what it's satirizing; so far it seems mainly like a collection of agonizing scenes in which people are endlessly awful to each other. I'm engaged, I don't dislike it, but I'm not sure what to make of it.
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Post by MyNameIsNoneOfYourGoddamnBusin on Jan 20, 2014 18:21:26 GMT -5
To prepare for an upcoming job interview to become a corporate historian, a biography of the founder of a major company (not recommended for pleasure reading).
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Post by SensitiveSethPutnam on Jan 21, 2014 9:42:51 GMT -5
After deciding that I didn't have enough free time in the next week to start and finish The Flamethrowers, I instead started the next book off my lifetime reading list, The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. Oh man is it very Puritan/Christian, but regardless I'm actually somewhat enjoying it so far.
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Post by Dr. Dastardly on Jan 21, 2014 10:38:18 GMT -5
After deciding that I didn't have enough free time in the next week to start and finish The Flamethrowers, I instead started the next book off my lifetime reading list, The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. Oh man is it very Puritan/Christian, but regardless I'm actually somewhat enjoying it so far. Oh shit, that's on my list too! The Guardian is doing a series on the 100 Best Novels in English that I'm digging; their first entry was Pilgrim's Progress. |
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Post by SensitiveSethPutnam on Jan 21, 2014 13:28:02 GMT -5
After deciding that I didn't have enough free time in the next week to start and finish The Flamethrowers, I instead started the next book off my lifetime reading list, The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. Oh man is it very Puritan/Christian, but regardless I'm actually somewhat enjoying it so far. Oh shit, that's on my list too! The Guardian is doing a series on the 100 Best Novels in English that I'm digging; their first entry was Pilgrim's Progress. Very cool. Most of these are on my list, I plan at least on hitting Robinson Crusoe and Gulliver's Travels later this year. |
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Post by Dr. Dastardly on Jan 21, 2014 17:03:03 GMT -5
Very cool. Most of these are on my list, I plan at least on hitting Robinson Crusoe and Gulliver's Travels later this year. I like Robinson Crusoe. If you don't take it for granted that the narrator is reliable - "Is he, in fact, murderously insane?" - it's a lot more fun. Gulliver's Travels starts out great and then gets progressively more boring as it goes. It ends up being just okay for me. I'm psyched to read Nightmare Abbey; I'd never even heard of it. |
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jan 21, 2014 18:57:49 GMT -5
I've actually been reading from The Guardian's 100 Greatest Novels list for a while. Their original one. Not this one that just includes English language. I found some fun books on that original list. I think I just recently put Nightmare Abbey on my Kindle.
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Post by usernametoolong on Jan 21, 2014 19:04:14 GMT -5
Currently reading a book about the French Revolution, specifically 1792 to 1794, which were basically the years when they were killing each other. So much so that when following some massacres, some deputés tried to pass a law against what was basically lynching, they were accused of trying to stifle the revolutionnary ardour of the People.
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Post by Great Boo's Up on Jan 21, 2014 23:08:14 GMT -5
I got Song of Spider-Man, the tell-all book about the musical from the guy who wrote the book, for Christmas and had been saving it for an afternoon I had off of work and alone in the house. I find a good trashy showbiz book to be extremely relaxing.
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MissBeaHaven
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Post by MissBeaHaven on Jan 22, 2014 5:59:47 GMT -5
I got the last two books from Patricia Highsmith's 'Ripliad' series for Christmas, so now I'm starting from the beginning.
....And not sleeping as well at night.
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Dellarigg
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Post by Dellarigg on Jan 22, 2014 8:21:28 GMT -5
I got the last two books from Patricia Highsmith's 'Ripliad' series for Christmas, so now I'm starting from the beginning. ....And not sleeping as well at night. I've read the first two Ripley books, and a couple of her others (Strangers On A Train and Deep Water), with long gaps in between. There's something about her view of the world that really coats your skin. If you haven't seen the Malkovitch version of Ripley's Game, I can recommend it. It's one of those films I've seen umpteen times, and every time it's on I think, just the first five minutes ... then I watch the entire thing. |
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Post by Dr. Dastardly on Jan 22, 2014 11:09:12 GMT -5
I got Song of Spider-Man, the tell-all book about the musical from the guy who wrote the book, for Christmas and had been saving it for an afternoon I had off of work and alone in the house. I find a good trashy showbiz book to be extremely relaxing. That sounds enormously entertaining. |
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Post-Lupin
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Post by Post-Lupin on Jan 25, 2014 17:26:10 GMT -5
Just finished 'Shovel Ready', the 1st novel by Adam Sternbergh (culture editor, New York Times). It's like he wrote a cyberpunk-noir after reading a whole lot of Andrew Vachss. Interestingly Grim Meathook NYC setting, but the ending needed to be much more vicious to go with the rest of the tale.
Next up is the new Mike Carey, 'The Girl WIth All The Gifts'.
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Post by Dr. Dastardly on Jan 28, 2014 8:51:34 GMT -5
I realized last week that I had somehow gotten myself into a situation where I was reading seven books at once. Fuck! So I'm buckling down and finishing all of them:
- Evelina, Fanny Burney: well-written, popular 1778 novel about a boring couple falling into boring love. DONE
- Bobos in Paradise: Decent New Yorker article unbearably stretched to 250 pages; dated (2000) and full of easy jokes; lame. 85%
- What Matters in Jane Austen? Terrific (and extremely detailed) analysis of Austen's writing. 85%
- Herodotus: episodic and sometimes impossible to follow even with the many maps in my Landmark edition; contains some wonderful stories, and there's an undeniable thrill reading about Thermopylae from the guy who wrote it down first. Would not blame anyone who chose just to read excerpts. On the last of nine books now.
- Tale of Sinuhe: collection of ancient Egyptian poetry, which is very weird. Sometimes great; more often impenetrable. 75%
- Check the Technique: Oral histories of 36 classic rap albums from the artists. Indispensable and riveting. Maybe 20%? You have to listen to the album while you read each chapter, so this is going to take a while.
- Euripides, The Bacchae: not bad, but a little hard to get into; one of those where the ancient way of thinking was so different from ours that it's fairly bewildering. DONE
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Post by SensitiveSethPutnam on Jan 28, 2014 9:50:00 GMT -5
- Herodotus: episodic and sometimes impossible to follow even with the many maps in my Landmark edition; contains some wonderful stories, and there's an undeniable thrill reading about Thermopylae from the guy who wrote it down first. Would not blame anyone who chose just to read excerpts. On the last of nine books now. I've been eyeing the Landmark Herodotus for years now. I read the Penguin Classics version 7 or 8 years ago, so it seems rather wasteful, but I loved the Landmark Thucydides that much that I'd consider the waste. |
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Post by Dr. Dastardly on Jan 28, 2014 10:25:48 GMT -5
- Herodotus: episodic and sometimes impossible to follow even with the many maps in my Landmark edition; contains some wonderful stories, and there's an undeniable thrill reading about Thermopylae from the guy who wrote it down first. Would not blame anyone who chose just to read excerpts. On the last of nine books now. I've been eyeing the Landmark Herodotus for years now. I read the Penguin Classics version 7 or 8 years ago, so it seems rather wasteful, but I loved the Landmark Thucydides that much that I'd consider the waste. Well, it sure do look nice on the shelf. Especially next to Thucydides, I bet. Folks would think you're smart! The one problem with it is it's big. It's a total pain in the ass to read. |
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jan 29, 2014 2:23:25 GMT -5
I realized last week that I had somehow gotten myself into a situation where I was reading seven books at once. Fuck! So I'm buckling down and finishing all of them: I realized when I checked Goodreads today that I, too, am reading seven books at once. I am close to finishing two. So, I am narrowing focus on those. Should be able to get two more finished in the next couple weeks. It is crazy, though. I've been so bad this month, just picking up books and starting them, regardless of how many other books I am reading. I do this all the time! It seems like I go weeks without finishing anything. And then, suddenly I'll finish six books in a week. So, that said, I did start "Pere Goriot". I am about halfway through it. I might actually finish this one first as it is a very fast read and only about 300 pages. Everything else I am reading is really long. I also ordered three more books by Balzac which should be here tomorrow. (Yay for Amazon gift cards.) So, I think I really am going to do a lot of reading of French literature in the near future. I have these, plus the Stendhal I've been planning on reading. Plus, I am still plugging away at Proust "In Search of Lost Time". I also have Celine "Journey to the End of the Night" on my list. I probably should finish some of what I'm reading before I start "Lost Illusions", though. As it is also long. The last thing I want is to be into 5+ books which are all 500+ pages. |
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Post by usernametoolong on Jan 29, 2014 6:36:20 GMT -5
Still actively reading the three books mentioned upthread, but last night finished Clarice Lispector's Hour of the Star.
It was absolutely wonderful, short and to the point, rather moving.
I was reminded of Proust's assertion that great books are written in a foreign language, there was something uneasy in the style (it's apparently the same if not worse in the original Portuguese) that paradoxically just made you pay attention and drew you in.
A bunch of her stuff has just been republished in the UK, I'll probably make my way through most of it by the end of the year (they're all quite short).
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