Well, the mention of Pale Fire hasn't cleared the hall yet!
And I don't even have Sun Chips.

My RC Wilson habits have turned into monomania. Just finished The Divide which is his superb take on the Flowers for Algernon theme. Reads like a thriller, and makes good use of atmospheric Toronto.

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!

I put my book down. The author had just spent three pages describing a conversation between a main character and a large, imaginary talking turd, and frankly I was more than a little sick of the book. The author was far too aware of his own talent for my tastes; worse, he insisted in pointing this out to the reader and was constantly – metaphorically speaking – dancing across the page in top hat and tails. I could not even work up much enthusiasm for the book’s promised venture to what my wife refers to as “Used to be Poland” and the rest of the world calls Lithuania.

"dog piss haiku story"

I have no idea what that means. Refers to a story about a haiku about dog piss??

Gee, I'd like to try writing one.



Snow lies white, stillness
Until golden cascade falls;
Domain marked with pee.

Go for it. Which reminds me that the novel Snow Falling on Cedars -- its title is supposed to a line from a haiku, but it has six syllables. So do you just say "cedars" real fast, or is the required five syllables if you say it in Japanese, or what?

Good novel, though. His next novel I couldn't get into, it seemed self-indulgent or something.