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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.
Why I love Moby Dick, and why you should too.
Moby Dick. It is huge. It is dense. It is dripping with allegory, symbolism, and philosophy. It often slips into an archaic biblical cadence. Encyclopedic. Boring. Hilarious. Homoerotic. What more can a reader ask for?
The first time I read Moby Dick I struggled but made it through. I was expecting worse out of the encyclopedic chapters. I had prepared myself for worse. I knew something weird was going on. 'The Whiteness of the Whale' chapter really stood out as strange. It felt like the most important chapter. Was it just because the book was old that he got some of that stuff about whales wrong? It does not take much searching to find out that Melville should have known better.
Someone told me I should check out the lectures by Hubert Dreyfus on Moby Dick. These are nothing short of amazing and really opened the whole book up for me. I knew the pop culture understanding of the whale as allegory for the unknowability of existence and Ahab on a quest for meaning that does not exist. I was not aware of how deeply Melville wove that into the book. Dreyfus knows a lot about Moby Dick. It is impressive.
Call me Ishmael. Right from the first line, this person is a mystery. Ishmael? From the Bible? So we are not going to learn this person’s real name. He largely does not exist as a character in the action. He acts instead as a sort of lens through which we see the ship and its characters, especially Ahab. I do not think there is any other way to experience Ahab than through the lens of someone else. Nothing would make sense if told from Ahab’s perspective. Ishmael seems to embody the mystery of life. He revels in it, seeming to follow many mantras at the same time. He watches, listens, and records. He can be seen as a sort of anti-Ahab. Ahab tries to control the world. Ishmael tries to understand it.
Ahab. Insane. Monomaniacally driven to disaster. A whale bit off his fucking leg. This is not cool and he does not take it well. A whale does not just bite off someone’s leg and that is that. There must be an explanation, some reason for this act.
“The White Whale swam before him as the monomaniac incarnation of all those malicious agencies. But of all this, the Whale itself knew nothing.”
Melville makes a point to say the whale is indifferent. This drives Ahab completely insane. His war is against the indifference of the universe. What a character Melville has written here. He is a living myth. He does not even appear until Chapter 28. It is Shakespearean the way Melville delays his entry. Melville gives him just enough self-awareness to make him tragic instead of cartoonish.
The whale. White. The representation of all possible meanings, all wavelengths blended together in a polyphony of concurrent meaning. Also nothingness. No meaning. A blank. Ahab obsessively tries to force meaning onto this beast right up to his final moment, trying to force himself in front of the whale and failing. He is killed not by the whale’s intention, but by his own attachment. Then the whale just swims off and
“The great shroud of the sea rolled on as it rolled five thousand years ago."
In the end the color of the whale is more important than the whale itself.
A Squeeze of the Hand.
"Squeeze! squeeze! squeeze! all the morning long; I squeezed that sperm till I myself almost melted into it; I squeezed that sperm till a strange sort of insanity came over me; and I found myself unwittingly squeezing my co-laborers’ hands in it, mistaking their hands for the gentle globules. Such an abounding, affectionate, friendly, loving feeling did this avocation beget; that at last I was continually squeezing their hands, and looking up into their eyes sentimentally; as much as to say,—Oh! my dear fellow beings, why should we longer cherish any social acerbities, or know the slightest ill-humor or envy! Come; let us squeeze hands all round; nay, let us all squeeze ourselves into each other; let us squeeze ourselves universally into the very milk and sperm of kindness."
Published in 1851. You read this chapter and tell me what you think. I am not sure what is going on here. It is very mysterious, but so is the whole book. Homoerotic without any doubt.
Encyclopedia Dick. Some of these chapters are really tough. I hope you really like whales and whaling because you are about to learn a lot. But pay attention because there are gross errors ahead. You realize he has spent chapter upon chapter detailing whales and yet in regard to Moby Dick you have learned nothing at all. Do you think Melville did this on purpose to show us that no matter how many facts about whales or the world you learn, no actual meaning can be derived from those facts?
Just an example of the unparalleled quality of the prose. This is the scene where Pip drowns.
“Not drowned entirely, though. Rather carried down alive to wondrous depths, where strange shapes of the unwarped primal world glided to and fro before his passive eyes; and the miser-merman, Wisdom, revealed his hoarded heaps; and among the joyous, heartless, ever-juvenile eternities, Pip saw the multitudinous, God-omnipresent, coral insects, that out of the firmament of waters heaved the colossal orbs. He saw God's foot upon the treadle of the loom, and spoke it; and therefore his shipmates called him mad. So man's insanity is heaven's sense; and wandering from all mortal reason, man comes at last to that celestial thought, which, to reason, is absurd and frantic; and weal or woe, feels then uncompromised, indifferent as his God.”
Great moments in the book off the top of my head: Ishmael in bed with Queequeg. The sermon. Pip drowning. The bird at the end. The Whiteness of the Whale. Jonah.
Favourite line: "Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian."
i seem to be the only person who absolutely loved the structure of the story. it was a perfect ADHD format of story and ‘oh shit, here’s the context you need that is almost as long as the story…’ — loved it.
this is a great write up
I started reading The Chronicles of Narnia to my daughter at bedtime about a month ago and we started with The Magician's Nephew, which we just finished last night. I love these books. I more accurately, I love simple, straight-forward fantasy. There's just enough world-building in place to make it seem big and leave you wondering, but it doesn't beat you over the head with complexity.
And complexity is fine, and I love a good lore-heavy novel, but sometimes it's nice to just read "oh hey there was this world and a Kingdom called Charn and the queen was evil and magic and she basically nuked everyone into oblivion with magic. Anyway, here's Jesus Allegory Lion" Like that's fascinating, and while it leaves me wanting more it's fun to fill in the blanks with my imagination. Also I think the Wood Between Worlds might be one of my favorite places in all of fantasy.
On the subject of the religious subtext (bold, underscored, italicized subtext though it may be), I am agnostic and particularly disinterested in Christianity as a religion for my children (particularly the bitter flavor of it commonly found here in the US). But I honestly don't mind the allegory personally (though certainly understand why some people do!)
Jesus Allegory Lion made me lol
Yesterday I binge-read the first half of There Is No Antimemetics Division, by qntm. It's an older story which just received a newly edited release along with an audiobook recording.
The setting is based on the SCP Foundation and it explores the concept of an antimeme. An antimeme is any entity or object that suppresses all information about themselves.
It's interesting to explore how one would document and battle against entities that have antimemetic properties. If you're interested in unconventional or non-standard magic systems I think this fits.
Audiobook journey through the Revelation Space books by Alastair Reynolds. I'm on the third book of the original trilogy and have one book left with a few short stories as well. It's been a good sci-fi space journey so far but I feel like there's tons of missed opportunities. He set up a very interesting world, at minimum.
Physically reading through Look to Windward by Iain M. Banks. Seems like a different Culture book so far...but then again most of them are quite different!
I finally finished Blood meridian a couple weeks ago and it was heavy going but still rewarding in the end. Not sure I will rush back to it though.
To counter that I started Jingo by Terry Pratchett. about 140 pages in and its really entertaining and a nice easy read. Maybe not as funny as some of the earlier books but thats maybe also because the themes are a bit too relevant right now.
I've had blood meridian on my backlog for a couple years now, but have been reluctant to actually start because of how dark I've heard it is. Any words of wisdom?
I just finished the Watch storyline of discworld books, which i read in the unofficial story order floating around online. Jingo was probably my least fave of them, but still an easy and fun read :)
Take your time if you feel you need it. Id try read a chapter a day but sometimes id give it a miss just coz I didn't feel like reading it. Honestly its not really that bad im just super busy and stressed so it doesn't really make for comfortable reading.
It is still a great book and once I did start a chapter I did find that there was something about the prose that was captivating.
I’m back on the Brandon Sanderson train! I finished his novella The Emperor’s Soul in less than 24 hours and wow I was blown away. The narrative pacing while adequately describing a new magic system was really compelling. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy, no prior Sanderson reading required (it’s listed some places as an Elantris sequel but it definitely isn’t). It’s about a magic user who works to reconstruct the soul of an emperor who narrowly survived assassination.
I’m now reading an earlier published novel of his, Warbreaker. The initial worldbuilding and pacing I’m not loving so far, nor am I huge fan of the magic system, but I’m early so I need to give it some time. My plan is to go through and read as many of his standalone novels/novellas as I can bear and then maybe finally circle back to Mistborn era 2.
Warbreaker is interesting because you will encounter its protagonist later in a completely different book when you least expect.
Emperor's Soul is listed as an Elantris sequel for a similar reason. Both take place in the same world/planet. It absolutely doesn't matter for the story, but it's something to keep in mind later on when you have a clearer understanding of the bigger picture of Sanderson's shared universe.
You’re talking about Stormlight right? Without saying too much, I’m aware of the two (er I guess three) characters that overlap with different names (I’ve read all of Stormlight). I’m curious to see how and why exactly they end up as they do, but I’m not sure if that gets answered. Although if you’re talking about Siri then I have zero idea about that…
Now that I’m further into it I’m actually quite enjoying Warbreaker. I definitely feel he’s grown a lot as a writer since, but it’s a cool concept and I like the characters.
After my frustration with the ending of 'Satantango' by László Krasznahorkai I decided to pick up Kazuo Ishiguro's 'The Remains of the Day', it was also recommended by a reader here. Pretty good book! I think it suffered a bit in the quality of the prose, but is not bad writing at all. I just really like dense, archaic prose. I rated it a 6.5/10, maybe a 7/10. The last 50 or so pages really make the book and I think it could have been written to be more devastating emotionally than it was. It was quite short, 250 pages and I think it would have benefited by being longer. I've also started listening to 'My Cousin Rachel' by Daphne du Maurier. I've previously read Rebecca which is an amazing masterpiece. I've also read 'The House on the Strand and 'The Scapegoat' but I don't really remember much about them. My Cousin Rachel is really good so far and the prose the very beautiful, du Maurier has a real gift for the English language.
Now it's time for Moby Dick and I will be making another post in this thread in the next few days laying out my case for why I love Moby Dick. (I'm still working on it)
Have you ever read Never Let Me Go, also by kazuo Ishiguro? I really enjoyed the story and writing of that one, whereas I put down remains of the day about halfway through and didn't pick it up again.
I have not, Remains of the Day was my first his. I totally see why you would give up half way, I figured there had to be something at the end and kept going because it was so short.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Daphne du Maurier is on my list.
Rebecca is the book of hers you want to read without any doubt.
I finished the latest Slough House book, Clown Town, which was good. Mick Herron isn't quite le Carré level -- but he might be the closest we have right now.
I am often going on about how perfect STRIKE BACK is. I love a TV series that understands what it is and where it is. In this case, the series was on Cinemax from S02 on and they stuck to the formula for the most part. Anyway, its based on a book series, so I figured I'd read one. Strike Back by Chris Ryan is a decent book. Its got a nice, easy flow to it. It isn't cringy like the Orphan X series, but it definitely has its moments.
Next up is one of the following:
Recently finished Origins Of Efficiency, which is basically the www.construction-physics.com guy trying to figure out the core reason why the billion-dollar modular housing startup he worked at flopped so spectacularly (basically, why isn't modular housing "more efficient" than traditional craft-built housing, and what does "efficiency" even mean?). It goes through all sorts of stuff, like manufacture of incandescent light-bulbs.
...I've forgotten half of it already. It was pretty interesting though.
The Devils by Joe Abercrombie, which is a recent book. Joe is now successful enough to have nice fancy hardcovers with high quality illustrations and those unevenly cut pages that look cool and are difficult to turn! It's about a fantastically remixed medieval Europe in which all of the catholic church's priests are women, Troy still exists and there's magic, which up to a point affects - but doesn't seem to have changed beyond recognition - the course of history.
His writing remains interesting. Very accessible but not in a bad way; his book reads like pretty good, fairly grim TV shows? I'm not a huge fan of the rapid fire dialogue that's not always explicitly attributed to a character (curious, because I like to write like that up to a point.) But I always enjoy most of the colorful characters. I'm not sure he needed, strictly speaking, yet another character who is always in excruciating pain. Characters like Sunny are better!
I just finished Orbital by Harvey This is realistic fiction about astronauts on a mission. I was told before I started that it is philosophical. I agree that it is philosophical but I would add it's reflective and meditative. It doesn't have an exciting plot but it has a lot of insight and I found it pleasant and restful to read.
I'm about to start We are Legion (We are BOB) for the Tildes book club this month.
Rocky Beach: Eine Interpretation
I am sorry if talking about comics is not allowed here, but I looked at the "comics" tag and didn't find a "What are you reading" automated topic. Also, Rocky Beach is a spin-off of a book series so hopefully it goes.
So, Rocky Beach is, as said, a spin-off of the very popular "The Three Investigators" book series.
Directly from Wikipedia:
The books (and especially radio dramas - the so-called Hörspiele) are also wildly popular in Germany with over 200 books and episodes being written and recorded. It is meant for maybe a bit of a younger public, but the books and radio dramas are a load of fun and the cases are really interesting. It's great stuff for some light reading and something to listen to for falling asleep.
So, back to the original topic. There are now 2 really beautiful comic book spin-offs called "Rocky Beach: Eine Interpretation" and "Justus Jonas: Eine Interpretation" and I am reading the first one now. It is an reimagining of the future where the three investigators are all grown up and a bit of introspection into the characters. The first book (Rocky Beach) is 200 pages long, but I am taking my sweet time with it because it's really beautiful and I'm engrossing myself into the art and the story.
I'm looking forward to seeing what case they solve and I am getting a feeling what the case is going to be after going through 50 pages. And then, after that, I get to enjoy the second book. All in all, up until now, a great recommendation and an absolute recommendation whoever wants to give the book series and radio drama series a try, they are really good.
I had a non-fiction month, then a horror month, I guess now I'm in... female protagonist month? I subscribed to the fairyloot combo subscription after a while on the waiting list and have received two boxes so far. The books are undeniably pretty but I was a bit worried whether I'd enjoy them enough to justify the high cost. I'm leaning towards "probably not" but it's not bad enough for me to have canceled it yet. I do like the surprise aspect.
Of those I first read Alchemy of Secrets which was a definite "meh" for me. Not objectionable and certainly a super easy super quick read with the occasional decent bit, but overall it lacked anything really interesting and the twists really felt lazy. Just very generic of a type I don't super care for.
And then I read Never Ever After which had some of those same issues but nowhere near as bad. I enjoyed it overall and the family aspect I think contrasts well with Alchemy as it's very much the same setup but handled better in my opinion. Both seem to set up sequels and hook into a bigger world but Never felt much more complete about it.
I read Lessons in Chemistry as I got a nice copy for free. I did not care for it.
I've also been reading some of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel novels as I found a bunch in my local bookstore's basement. I mainly read through the Wicked Willow trilogy, which I really quite liked. I wish that was how the TV series had ended season 6, it's a much better rendition. The last book was especially good. I do wish they had "gone all the way" but I understand why they couldn't. I also read Angel: Love and Death (the only novel this month that isn't female protagonist) which was in the "alright" range and I'm finishing up "Chaos Bleeds" (I had the game when I was younger), which I'm finding a bit painful.
I started reading The Seventh Function of Language by Laurent Binet. I’m less than 100 pages in. I’m having a lot of fun so far. If you ever had exposure to literary criticism, academia, philosophy, you’ll likely get a kick out of this. I studied literature in university, so this really takes me back. Many figures in the space of literary criticism appear in the novel as characters and I’m surprised how funny the book is. Witty, smart, funny, just what I needed.