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What are you reading? (December 2010)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
David Mitchell is some kind of writer. It's no mystery that I love Cloud Atlas. This is no Cloud Atlas but it's not really meant to be. It's Mitchell's first book, and although the strain at times shows, holy hell it's still good.
Here Mitchell tackles Eastern myth and history, everything from the Tokyo subway attacks to Buddhist spirit journeys, in short self-contained tales. At least they seem self-contained until their characters cross paths in unexpected ways.
The pleasant aimlessness of some of the Japanese stories recalls Murakami; the larger-than-life myth-making and storytelling remind me of Gaiman at his best; the unfolding religious history owes a little something to Umberto Eco. The book is a smorgasbord of different styles and genres, but somehow holds together.
I can't even imagine the amount of research and traveling Mitchell must have done to exercise such control of this material. But the writing feels both uniquely his and belonging to everyone, a vivid retelling and re-imagining of some of the stories and legends that have shaped the literary world.
nakedsushi
Member
^Nice. I read Cloud Atlas a few months ago and really liked it. I might pick up Ghostwritten after I make my way through:
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell
It's funny that you compare him to Murakami because I love Mitchell's writing, but I can't stand Murakami's.
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell
It's funny that you compare him to Murakami because I love Mitchell's writing, but I can't stand Murakami's.
nakedsushi said:
Well, it's hard to read a story about a twenty-something jazz lover who drifts aimlessly around Tokyo without thinking of Murakami. I know Mitchell is a big fan but his work is compared to Murakami's a lot and, this obviously intentional homage aside, I just don't see it.
Mitchell's writing has matured a lot since Ghostwritten though. I mean, CA's prose is just on another planet.
Which Murakami books have you read? I'm curious why you don't like him.
nakedsushi
Member
Mifune said:
I read Norwegian Wood twice on accident. I read it the first time, didn't like it and forgot about it. Then I read it a second time and didn't realize I had read it till the end. I still didn't like it.
I also read After Dark.
Considering Norwegian Wood is one of his more "normal" books that people say is a good Murakami newb book and I didn't like it, I didn't bother reading the rest. I think I started Wind Up Bird Chronicles, but obviously didn't finish and don't remember much of what I read.
I guess my problem with him is that he just writes and writes and the prose DOESN'T GO ANYWHERE. Also, it seems like he's always writing about the same person: an aimless twenty-something. I always end up hating his characters.
got phillip dick's four novels of the 1960's (man in the high castle, three stigmata of somebody, do androids dream of electric sheep, ubik) for christmas! library of america edition. such a beautiful volume. lordy. you people should check these things out..such nice books. anyway, won't be able to get started on it for a while, still reading winter's tale by mark helprin.
nakedsushi said:
I dunno, considering you read a fair amount of sci-fi/fantasy, I would recommend Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. That is, if you are willing to give him another shot. It's easily his tightest, most pointed narrative. It actually goes somewhere!
I like the sort of rambling stream-of-consciousness nature of his books, but I can see how you could be annoyed by his characters. I love the sad aimless loner types (I could relate for a while) but he could mix things up a bit.
Anyway, try Hard-Boiled and if you hate it, we will never speak of him again.
Maklershed
Member
Recommendation request: Books that are reminiscent of Mass Effect - exploration of unknown planets/space being the key.
Maklershed
Member
Drewsky said:
Close. I got 60 pages left and I love it. It kind of reminds me of Mass Effect in a way and now I hunger for more stories along the same line. And I already read Ship of Fools and thought it was fantastic. One of my favorites of the year.
nakedsushi said:Now that it's so close to the end of the year, I looked at my book stats and realized I read a lot of books this year! I'm disappointed that I didn't make it to 100 books, but I certainly read more than I did last year:
29,603 pages total
That's a pretty neat site to catalog the books you've read. Did you create a category for 2010 so that all your books read in that year go there?
nakedsushi
Member
Bii said:
No, I didn't create year categories. It just sorts them that way based on your "finished reading at" date for a book.
CajoleJuice
Member
Yes, they are awesome. I have the first two PKD collections and have quite a few more from LoA on my wish list.coldvein said:
CajoleJuice said:
glad somebody else knows of these guys. they are pricey, but so nice. the pages. the sturdiness. the compactness. the handsome covers. i've now got the PKD one and h.p. lovecraft's Tales. kerouac's road novels is next on my list.. i hope to collect these things forever.
CajoleJuice
Member
I've never even thought of them as pricey at all, going by the dollar-to-novel ratio. And yep, the Kerovac and Lovecraft collections are ones I have my eyes on as well. I want to also finish up my PKD collection, get the Crime Novels of the 1930-40s one, maybe check out some of the historical ones (Debate on the Constitution, WWII Reporting). Can see myself getting the Raymond Carver collection, as I'm reading Where I'm Calling From right now and it's fantastic.coldvein said:
Do it.
Got a Kindle for Christmas, and I absolutely love it. Such an awesome little device. So cool to be able to decide I want a book, and then have it pretty much instantly. And it took like zero time to adjust to reading with it. Anyway, downloaded Full Dark, No Stars as my first book. Pretty good so far, on the second story.
Freshmaker
I am Korean.
I just got a kindle, and made the horrible mistake of buying the following book blind.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0034G6632/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Good God. It's about on the level of the first short story I ever wrote as a high school freshman. (I can't say I tortured every paragraph like Lewis here did, but the overwrought hysterics of it all seems similar.)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0034G6632/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Good God. It's about on the level of the first short story I ever wrote as a high school freshman. (I can't say I tortured every paragraph like Lewis here did, but the overwrought hysterics of it all seems similar.)
Granger Danger
Member
Maklershed said:
Pinnacle of the genre.
nakedsushi said:Now that it's so close to the end of the year, I looked at my book stats and realized I read a lot of books this year! I'm disappointed that I didn't make it to 100 books, but I certainly read more than I did last year:
29,603 pages total
Holly Molly! 81 books in 1 year?! Where do you get the time!
I just about managed 28 (well I'm still on 28). You must be a fast reader? Just curious but your a gamer as well right?
What about the rest of you gaffers? How many books did you guys read?
i probably read.. ehh.. fifteen - twenty books this year. im trying to actually keep track of them with this goodreads thing now, so that by the end of next year i'll be able to have an actual number.
speaking of goodreads, gaf needs a new book-club book. come on people.
? for nakedsushi: how do you get your books to display by rating like that? i can only see a single column table or a bunch of covers. durrrr.
speaking of goodreads, gaf needs a new book-club book. come on people.
? for nakedsushi: how do you get your books to display by rating like that? i can only see a single column table or a bunch of covers. durrrr.
nakedsushi
Member
kinn said:
I guess I'm a pretty fast reader. The speed at which I go through books drastically increased after I got a Kindle. It's just so easy to pick something up and read with it. I read in the bath, on breaks at work, even on my commute to and from work thanks to the text-to-speech function.
Yeah, I game too, but I think on a day to day basis, I read more than I game. I game for maybe 1-2 hour at most a day, and then I'll probably read about 2-hours total a day.
coldvein said:
Are you on your review/stats page? What happens when you click the "details" button on the right? That's how I got to that page.
sparky2112
Member
Guileless said:
A lot of folks consider Bleak House his best (including me), so you're screwed.
Maklershed
Member
Finished up The Forever War last night, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm now on to They Call Me Baba Booey
They Call Me Baba Booey by Gary Dell'Abate
They Call Me Baba Booey by Gary Dell'Abate
Sounds good. I added it to my wish list. Thank you.Emonga said:
Pinnacle of the genre.
afternoon delight
Member
Can I makes suggestions?
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
The Great War for Civilization by Robert Fisk
Blood Meridian by McCarthy
Franny and Zooey by Salinger
Edit:
Bleak House is magnificent.
Dead Prince
Banned
nakedsushi
Member
survivor said:
I'm ready for this. Gonna try to finish it before school next Wednesday otherwise it will take me months to finish.
Geeze, so many people reading Way of Kings. I *want* to join the party, but after the heartbreak of Song of Ice and Fire STILL NOT BEING FINISHED I don't think I can do another epic fantasy that's not complete yet. Maybe I'll finish the Mistborn trilogy first.
kinn said:
I have a document going back three years or so listing all the books I've read, their length in pages, and how long it took me to read each. Really cool to go back and look at it, and I love seeing random stats (average book length, average time to finish a book, average # of pages read per day, etc). And of course at the end of each year I do a little year-end "summary", compiling my stats for the year and comparing them to previous years. Anyway, I don't have the document with me right now, but I remember that two years ago I read 49 books (I was shooting for 52, so close), last year it was something like 35, and this year I think it'll be 32 or 33. Having a Kindle now I hope to get back into the forty's at least this year.
I really recommend keeping track of the books you read in some form or another though. I think it's the kind of thing you really appreciate ten years down the road.
nakedsushi
Member
KidDork said:
I have the opposite problem. I'm not even past the beginning of DQ9 thanks to all the books that keep distracting me.
Bananakin said:
On that note, here are all the books Art Garfunkel has read since 1968:
http://www.artgarfunkel.com/library/list1.html
Kind of ridiculous. :lol
WiiRevolution1
Member
I usually supernatural books (mostly for teens and alot of vampire books, sometimes I read romance novels, other I read totally dark books. I sometimes read adult novels but stick to teen supernatural thriller novels mostly for some reason. Im seventeen btw)
Anywayz I only recently got into reading books this year and I usually read 3 at a time. Just got a kindle so some of these are just free books I found.
Just read:
Burnt Offerings (Anita Blake Book 7) By Laurell K. Hamilton
House of Dark Shadows (Dreamhouse Kings Series Book 1) by Robert Liparulo
Invisible (Ivy Malone Mystery Series Book 1) by Lorena McCourtney - Not a teen book but got it for free and when I start reading a book I usually get into it nomater what its about.
The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks - A very sickly take on Vampires. Liked it alot.
To Die For / Slumber Party Christopher Pike
Currently Reading:
Wish by Alexandra Bullen
Aphrodite's Kiss by Julie Kenner
To Die For / Weekend by Christopher Pike - Christopher Pike is my favorite author. Already read the Last Vampire, Alosha, and Remember Me Series and they are all awsome. Just got alot of his books and I plan to buy them all if I can sooner or later.
Anywayz I only recently got into reading books this year and I usually read 3 at a time. Just got a kindle so some of these are just free books I found.
Just read:
Burnt Offerings (Anita Blake Book 7) By Laurell K. Hamilton
House of Dark Shadows (Dreamhouse Kings Series Book 1) by Robert Liparulo
Invisible (Ivy Malone Mystery Series Book 1) by Lorena McCourtney - Not a teen book but got it for free and when I start reading a book I usually get into it nomater what its about.
The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks - A very sickly take on Vampires. Liked it alot.
To Die For / Slumber Party Christopher Pike
Currently Reading:
Wish by Alexandra Bullen
Aphrodite's Kiss by Julie Kenner
To Die For / Weekend by Christopher Pike - Christopher Pike is my favorite author. Already read the Last Vampire, Alosha, and Remember Me Series and they are all awsome. Just got alot of his books and I plan to buy them all if I can sooner or later.
kinn said:
14 this year, but I didn't read much (didn't read at all actually
) from Jan to June. So this year, I read..The Divine Comedy - Dante Alighieri
Dune - Frank Herbert
La Fortune des Rougon - Émile Zola
1984 - George Orwell
Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein
Ringworld - Larry Niven
Consider Phlebas - Iain M. Banks
The Player of Games - Iain M. Banks
Use of Weapons - Iain M. Banks
The State of the Art - Iain M. Banks
Against a Dark Background - Iain M. Banks
Feersum Endjinn - Iain M. Banks
Excession - Iain M. Banks
Inversions - Iain M. Banks
My favorite was Use of Weapons, but I enjoyed them all. Can't believe it took me a decade to get to 1984 after reading Animal Farm.
Currently halfway through Look to Windward by Banks.
For 2011, so far on the bookshelf I've got Banks' The Algebraist and Matter (we'll see about Surface Detail later, got to change authors a bit :lol ), Simmons' four Hyperion books, Reynold's five Revelation Space books, The curious incident of the dog in the night-time, by Mark Haddon, Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan, and La Sombra del Viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
2011 should be the opposite of 2010 though, I should have more time to read during the first half than during the second.
Bananakin said:
Same here. Got a kindle now so the amount I read should go up. Just think its so bloomin cool to be able to read a book on the kindle and then carry on from where you left off from on your iPhone (or other device with Kindle software on).
I plan to use that Goodreads website to keep track of what I read for 2011. Its a good time to start since its the new year almost anyway. I think we all should and see how we do this time next year. Should be good to see how we all do.