what are you reading?

I'm just up to where Keating is blatantly being some kind of loverat and at a function and has met Dominique Francon for the first time. Oddly, the head doorman at work told me he thought I should read Ayn Rand, and therefore with several glowing reccomendations I bought that and Atlas Shrugged. I'm enjoying it, purely on the basis that what I'm getting so far is that Keating's a bit of a dick and Roark, whilst stand-offish, comes across as more admirable for his single-mindedness and desire to do things his own way, regardless of the consequences. I can relate. 

Originally posted by Cable I recently finished reading 13 Philip K. Dick novels in 13 weeks. Best author ever.

Taking a cue from you and I'm starting a hardbound edition of 4 Phillip K. Dick novels that include: The Man in the High Castle, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and Ubik.

I just finished Jack Kerouac's Big Sur. I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as On the Road. He wrote Big Sur when he was almost 40 and already a famous author and idolized by beatniks everywhere. I sort of liked the fact that I read On the Road in my twenties so I've read both books at the same age Kerouac wrote them. Unfortunately, Kerouac was in a huge downward spiral of alcoholism at the time of Big Sur and it's a pretty depressing book IMO. There isn't as much excitement for life that made On the Road so fun. I also don't remember his "stream of thought" writing bothering me as much (but maybe it's just that my preferences have changed). Anyway, if I were advising someone to pick up one or the other, I remember enjoying On the Road much better.

I'm reading Dick too!
Right now The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, but I've read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Ubik and A Scanner Darkly. Great Man!

grrrrrrr....lol

Has anyone here read House of Leaves by Danielewski?

Originally posted by elixir86 grrrrrrr....lol Has anyone here read House of Leaves by Danielewski?

Yes I have. I was inspired like never before by the form of the book, but let down by the story. It really builds, builds, builds and then fizzles at the end in my opinion. I have only read it once though and would like to go back again sometime to see how it is on a second look.

Originally posted by JanO I just finnished "Hannibal: Pride of Carthage", a slightly novelized account of the seconf Punic War and it's main general. While slow to get going, a very nice look at the period and the main players. I bought a ectual Historical account of the era to see how much the author got right, and it's pretty amaqzing. The historical account is called "Carthage must be Destroyed", and it's a very nice popular/scholary read.

If you enjoyed that, you might want to check out Conn Iggulden's Emperor series. It's four novels about the life of Julius Caesar, fictionalized a bit to play up his relationship with Brutus. I read the first book and enjoyed it, but haven't finished the series yet. I guess it is going to be made into a trilogy of movies soon.





Edited by Cable - 12-May-2011 at 11:56am

It really isn't historically accurate because he changes facts when he wants to make a better story. In the book Caesar and Brutus are the same age and grow up together, which was not the case in reality. But the story is indeed good; you just have to overlook some of the inaccuracies. As for the prose style, if you look inside the book on Amazon they let you read quite a bit of the beginning.

I'm reading several books right now.  I'm actually doing more than reading.  I'm doing my own audio books on my computer with Audacity.  I'm currently doing First Blood by David Morrell again (because the first time it was with a regular microphone so it only comes in through one speaker), The Howling 2 by Gary Brandner, Spider-Man The Octopus Agenda by Diane Duane, and Double Fudge by Judy Blume.  I still plan to make other audiobooks including Watership Down, The Pagemaster, Spider-Man The Venom Agenda, and the Wayside School books.  I've already done audio books on all the other Fudge books by Judy Blume and The Howling 1. 

I finished A Game of Thrones, and I loved it!!! God, who knew fantasy could be this gritty? I ordered the second and third installments and can't wait for both to arrive. Someone told me that things get even worse later on (he keeps hinting aboput "the Wedding") and I fear for every character in the book... That's a GOOD feeling, y'all!!!!

Is anyone else reading 'Supergods' by Grant Morrison?

How was Venice Mastermind?

I'm currently reading Tangerine, collecting various short tales and The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Losing respect for Morrison. His book is equal parts about comics and equal parts about how awesome/horrific his life was. If he was going to write an autobiography, he could have at least done so without the pretence of it being about comics and superheroes. Between every description of a super-hero/ team that he writes about, we have to read through a glimpse into his life. Also, a man who can write two pages about the Claremont-era X-Men, but four and a half about his own creation that appeared in a Glaswegian newspaper is kind of flaunting his opinion of his own worth and contribution to the industry. Disappointing to the extreme.

I've finally started reading Dune. (I am so happy that I don't remember the end of the movie, or even the last half really)

I highly recommend Keith Richards' autobiography,Life, and Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff. It was kind of nice to take a break from fiction if only briefly. Life is just very entertaining and funny. I'm shocked Keith is able to remember all of this stuff, but obviously the drugs didn't affect his memory LOL.
Cleopatra reads a little more like a history book, but her true life is even more interesting than the movies about her. Schiff brings to light that everything we know about her was told by writers that lived in an age where a powerful woman was frowned upon and many were biased against her for political reasons. A lot of our assumptions of her may be unfair... but Schiff doesn't sugarcoat Cleopatra's flaws either. The leaders of the world at that time could be incredibly brutal by today's standards, including her. I can't think of many women from antiquity that have made as huge an impact culturally, and this book shows that she was a significant political influence and so much more than the "seductress" that we've learned about through 2000 years of art, literature, and drama.

Edited by Chazwinski - 07-Oct-2011 at 5:13pm