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What are you reading these days?
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction or poetry, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit.
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction or poetry, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit.
It's been a long time since I had time to read anything, and I'm in a period with a lot of stress, so I'm trying to make it a point to set aside some reading time as a means of enforced relaxation.
There's a book I've been wanting to read since I was a child but never got the chance because I was a poor kid and most of my reading material was from thriftshops and bookstore overstocks. I finally realized that I'm an adult with real money so I could buy a new copy if I really wanted, so I spent an entire $8 on Amazon for a paperback version of The Neverending Story.
I'm not terribly deep in the story yet, but I do love what I've read so far. It's kind of refreshing to read because you're also getting the reactions of Bastian while he's reading the book; it's kind of like talking about a movie with a friend while it's playing, but the fact that you're reading it gives it this sense of intimacy that you couldn't really get in real life because people tend to read at different speeds. But one thing I appreciate the most about the book is that it has this brisk sense of pacing that I can vaguely recall from other contemporary German fantasy, where the situation can completely change in the blink of an eye.
The NeverEnding Story is one of my all-time favorite "kids" movies (along with Labyrinth, Princess Bride, The Goonies, and Flight of the Navigator), but I honestly never knew it was based on a book. Your post inspired me to order a copy for myself though. So thanks! :)
Weirdly enough, I just came across this video about the lost version of The Goonies earlier today. It's weird to see how different it might have been from the movie that many kids of a certain age know inside and out.
Whoa, that video explains so much!!! I remember seeing a bunch of those scenes, that aren't in the theatrical release, when watching the movie as a kid... but I always assumed I was just misremembering it or had invented them in my head! But now I know the truth, that those scene (including the giant octopus attack, which I remember seeing!) were only shown on cable television. Thanks for sharing that video, and clearing up a bit of mystery from my childhood.
Well, the big fish have been hunted, onto smaller quarry. Just finished Jane Eyre, had a fun time there. It surprised me to find it a first wave feminist "reject independence, return to tradwife" thesis, which is deeply funny.
I've now started John Barth's Giles Goat-Boy or, The Revised New Syllabus, and Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. If you don't know anything about Giles, don't look it up. If you want a fucked up postmodern farce, read it, with no further background. It seems like knowing anything about it would ruin the effect to some extent. It's more interesting than fun so far, but Barth is obviously an excellent author. He feels so much warmer than Gaddis, Pynchon, or Delillo. It's postwar irony written in gall ink on vellum.
I started The Bluest Eye with a much stronger grasp on its themes and plot, but what was surprising was the ease of which I got sucked into the novel. It's short, and I tend to drink up that stream of consciousness stuff regardless, but it's beautiful, and I fear that when it's over I'll be wanting more.
Well, finished The Bluest Eye just earlier today. I was right about not wanting the prose to end, yet the last chapter was so...visceral, that I'm a little glad it's over. It's one of those books that takes such a specific perspective, and lays it out transparently across a parablesque tale linking together its various themes (social criticism, human struggle) with real characters like a little emotional diorama, with just enough space from the horror of its reality to be bearable.
I'm really glad I read it, and I can't wait to explore her other books. I just hope they're a little more optimistic.
Reading The Republic by Joost de Vries. A friend gave it to me, but I don't recommend it. I'm struggling to get through the beginning because I find it over the top and excessive. I think the writer too often dives into pointless scenes and details. (I have similar issueswith Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous.)
I like Ted Chiang's writing and restrained style. He's concise and precise with his words and disciplined about executing his ideas and exploring their implications and interactions. I recently read his Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom and was left awed. He explores a world that resembles our present own except people have the technology to ask their parallel selves questions. He doesn't explore anything ridiculous or outlandish. There is no anomaly that threatens civilization. Instead he methodically and convincingly reveals how mundane human nature leads to the technology's abuse.
I've been reading The Five by Hallie Rubenhold. It reexamines the Jack the Ripper case by not really worrying about who did it but instead focuses on the lives of the women who were killed. She basically uses the case as a way to look into what life was like in the late 1800s for European women (spoilers, it wasn't great).
Her conceit is that the case will never be solved (I think she's right), so we should focus on the victims and what lead them to cross paths with Jack the Ripper in the first place. She really digs into the lives of these women and paints a much richer picture of their lives than the classic "they were destitute prostitutes who had it coming because they were immoral" narrative that many other writers have gone with.
There's also an accompanying podcast called Bad Women: The Ripper Retold that's very well produced and a good overview of the book.
not much to say. i’m reading the Shining and it’s basically perfect. i figured it would be scarier or something, but (thankfully) it isn’t (i’m a wuss)
for me, I struggle to get into some of King’s writing… but when i’m in, i’m in deep.
I started After the Revolution by Robert Evans a couple weeks ago. It’s *okay*. I enjoy it so far but some of it’s pretty cheesy and any time he makes any references to specific streets or neighborhoods in DFW I laugh a bit and get taken out of it. I still am glad to support him and AK Press, though.
A series of hilarious and scathing books from The Idler, compiled from user-submitted stories: Crap Jobs, Crap Towns, More Crap Towns, Crap Holidays and Crap Towns Returns.
They're everything the name suggests, and are ranked from least to most worst. The town listings are interspersed with indignant interjections from local MPs, and the entire project has birthed the wonderful phrase, "Hull has turned a corner."