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| Syd |
 Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 5:11 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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dlhavard wrote: Favorite Title: Bride of the Rat God by Barbara Hambly.
It is also a good read. Sort of half romance/half horror. Takes place in the 20s in Hollywood. Hambly manages to convey horror quite well.
I like the double whammy, Bimbos of the Death Sun and Zombies of the Gene Pool by Sharyn McCrumb. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| tirebiter |
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 1:42 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4011
Location: not far away
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| Favorite title: The Last Days of Christ the Vampire by JG Eccarius, a pseudonym for a really bad author. Great concept, crappy book. There's not a boner-popper anywhere in it. |
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| bart |
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 12:04 pm |
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Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2381
Location: Lincoln NE
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How nice, I inspired Lshap to create the neologism, "unboneresque."
I haven't read The Corrections, so I'm interested in what you think of it, Lorne. If you make it through. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 3:04 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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Quote: style trampling over substance |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| bart |
| Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 12:59 pm |
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Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2381
Location: Lincoln NE
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Picked up "Pale Fire" but couldn't get into it. Seems to be a longish poem, plus some fictitious scholar writing all this complex analysis of the poem. So it scared me off on two levels: I'm not much for long poetry, and I'm not much for books that read like something I was forced to slog through in college English classes only longer. I'm sure I'm missing something, but sometimes you just have to figure "chacun a son gout." VERY unboneresque.
Just finished: RC Wilson's "The Harvest" is another of his "the world changes suddenly" novels, and a sort of thematic predecessor to "Darwinia" in terms of humans who attain virtual immortality. Every bit as well-written, and as gripping, as Darwinia. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 1:23 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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bart wrote: Picked up "Pale Fire" but couldn't get into it. Seems to be a longish poem, plus some fictitious scholar writing all this complex analysis of the poem. So it scared me off on two levels: I'm not much for long poetry, and I'm not much for books that read like something I was forced to slog through in college English classes only longer. I'm sure I'm missing something, but sometimes you just have to figure "chacun a son gout." VERY unboneresque.
Just finished: RC Wilson's "The Harvest" is another of his "the world changes suddenly" novels, and a sort of thematic predecessor to "Darwinia" in terms of humans who attain virtual immortality. Every bit as well-written, and as gripping, as Darwinia.
I mean, look at the end of the introduction. Kinbote essentially recommends that you read the commentary three times (and the poem, if you have the time) and - buy two copies of the book! What kind of academic is that? |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| bart |
| Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 1:28 pm |
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Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2381
Location: Lincoln NE
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I'll have another look, then. But I'll warn you I've enjoyed adequate exposure to mockery and satire pointed at academics, so this is going to have to destroy bladder control to be worth my time.
No, seriously, I'll have another look.
Thanks for your patience. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 1:40 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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bart wrote: I'll have another look, then. But I'll warn you I've enjoyed adequate exposure to mockery and satire pointed at academics, so this is going to have to destroy bladder control to be worth my time.
No, seriously, I'll have another look.
Thanks for your patience.
Seriously, I do not usually recommend this, but try this method if you have a problem:
First, get a pad of sticky notes. Then, as you read the introduction, when you get to a reference to a note to a line in the poem, insert a sticky note there and read ahead to the note it references. When you get to another reference to another note to a line from the poem, insert another sticky note and go to that reference. Repeat as necessary. (Do not try to mark your place with fingers! You do not have enough!). When you have reached the last reference, start going backwards until you return to the start. This will give you a sort of guided tour to what you are getting into, and might help you slog through the poem by giving you the context of what's to follow.
By the way, the academic satire aspect of the piece is just a flavoring of the immense whole that is the best novel of the 20th century. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:31 pm |
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| One late night when I was stoned and living in Paris I got very hungry and it was another of those mental battles of "gee I'm tired, I'd like to stay in bed, but I'm also starved". As usual my stomach won out and I ended up at an all-night restaurant. I took something to read, I forget what, but it had a lengthly review of Pale Fire by Mary Macarthy. She just raved about it. Being a fan of Nabokov, I decided that I'd have to read it. It's only been 43 years but I haven't forgotten that decision and if I don't die first I will read it some day. |
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| bart |
| Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 11:48 am |
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Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2381
Location: Lincoln NE
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It does worry me that everytime someone tells me a book is the greatest novel of the 20th century, I find myself unable to read it.
Except for The Great Gatsby, which IS the GNOT20C. Or the greatest that doesn't require lots of sticky notepads and coaching and training. Though there are a few slow learners out there who need to have the blue and gigantic eyes of Dr. TJ Eckleburg explained to them. |
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| dlhavard |
| Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 1:19 pm |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
Posts: 1352
Location: Detroit (where the slow are run over)
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I don't mind being told that a book is the Greatest of the 20TH Century. But when someone tells me DaVinci Code is the greatest of the 21ST - I draw the line.
I still haven't gotten more than 1/4th the way through. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 1:57 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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dlhavard wrote: I don't mind being told that a book is the Greatest of the 20TH Century. But when someone tells me DaVinci Code is the greatest of the 21ST - I draw the line.
I still haven't gotten more than 1/4th the way through. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| grace |
| Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 4:28 pm |
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Joined: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 3214
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I had no problem zipping through The DaVinci Code. (Yeah, I'll admit to having read it - why do you ask?) While I don't think it's by any means even a good book, I did find it to be a super-quick read.
My understanding is, if you think the book's a disappointment -- well, the movie's even moreso. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 10:09 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4248
Location: Montreal
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Whatabunchofsnobs.
I ate up The DaVinci Code in three days (work days, by the way), and enjoyed it. Brown, if nothing else, knows how to string together a tall tale. Give the man his due - he's very good at the "What happens next" school of chapter-writing.
A great novelist? Please. His characters and style are effective, but puddle-deep. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 10:18 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4248
Location: Montreal
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Bart - 100 pages into The Corrections. The story picks up steam considerably after about 10 pages with the introduction of the son. He's every disappointment in life all rolled into a single, dyfunctional person. I feel for the guy immensely and want to see where he's going...
Whiskey - Your "Bingo" comment suggests you didn't consider the book to be the "Greatest American Novel!!" so many thought it was. Did you actually dislike it, or did it not match up to the hype?
Yeah, I know, why don't I read the damn thing and decide for myself? Fuck you - everyone's sleeping and I'm alone with a bag of Sun Chips. I'll post if I feel like it! |
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