June 24, 2008

• If you like retro 50's high quality pulp fiction, try Dan Cushman. He wrote westerns like "The Pecos Kid," also foreign intrigue like his wonderful "Half Caste," which tells of finding the opalized fossil bones of *Borneo Man* hidden in a coffin left over from the Japanese occupation. He is SO great! (So VERY great, but relatively hard to find). Cormac McCarthy is great too, and still writing today. My current favorites.
• I'm theoretically reading "The Yiddish Policeman's Union," Michael Chabon. Which means I read two pages a month ago but haven't so thoroughly given up hope of finishing it that I've put it back on the bookshelf. Our woefully underemployed receptionist just finished "The Road," speaking of Cormac McCarthy, and raved about it.
• If you like Waugh (and I do) I would highly recommend "The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold," "The Loved One," "Decline and Fall," and "Handful of Dust." My faves. Ever try Fielding's "Tom Jones"? Talk about tasty--don't let the size or age scare ya, it's a ripper. Worth multiple reads. Fielding treats the reader like a chum and there's a larf on every page. Anything by Hunter Thompson is a sure bet. Even "Hell's Angels" is worth a look. I'd suggest "The History of Torture" by Daniel Mannix but it seems to be out of print. For light reading, I recommend scaring up a copy of John Lennon's "Spaniard in the Works" for some jolly fun with the language.
• I've just started another pass through my collection of Robert B. Parker's "Spenser" series and the Stone/Randall derivatives. Lovely summertime beach reading, and it gives some insight into the evolution of a popular American author over the space of 30+ years.
• Just one more... "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (le scaphandre et le papillon) by Jean-Dominique Bauby is short, sweet and juicy. And the backstory is stunning as well. Surprisingly un-depressing given its source.
• John Gray's Straw Dogs - Western humanism was a delusion and we're all fucked. Bit clever clever and dubious use of non-Western sources but thought-provoking in places.
• Murakami's Kafka by the Shore. It's excellent, and the best of the three Murakami that I've read (the others are Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Hard Boiled Wonderland). Read it read it read it.
• There are a couple of fab "what are your favourite books" threads in the archives too, which may be useful Books I've recently read that I heartily recommend: The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway (post-apocalyptic laugh-out-loud funny with truck drivers and ninjas and mimes); The Horrific Sufferings of the Mind-Reading Monster Hercules Barefoot, His Wonderful Love and His Terrible Hatred by Carl-Johan Vallgren (one of the best translations (from the Swedish) of any work of fiction I've ever read); The Moonstone by Wilike Collins (classic whodunnit by the man who invented the genre); Father Brown The Essential Tales by G.K. Chesterton (more whodunnits by the man who is arguably the genre's finest proponent); Going Dutch by Lisa Jardine (non-fiction about what really happened when William of Orange became King of England in 1689). Thanks for starting the thread Northern Exposed, I love hearing what the monkeys are reading!
• Move Under Ground Nick Mamatas
• Latest Murakami I read was After Dark. Haunting and not so deep into 'magic-reality' as Kafka or Wind-Up Bird but still so tasty. I love everything from him. Before that, Ballard's Super Cannes, harsh and savage but very interesting. I love Umberto Eco so my perennial recommendations from him are Foucault's Pendulum, which is a feast but also might feel a bit overwhelming and The Name of the Rose. Recently finished Island of Day Before, difficult but worth it. Last one was a Roberto Bolaños' The Savage Detectives, a big, unwieldy, at times difficult to follow but in the end satisfying saga about life in South America and Mexico from the 60s turbulence into the late 80s' confusion. Moving if you lived in those years in the region, illustrative to those that didn't.
• what really happened when William of Orange became King of England in 1689
• I just finished Big Bosoms and Square Jaws: The Biography of Russ Meyer by Jimmy McDonough. Fascinating stuff, if you're into...well, you know.
• Just went to the library this morning, and am looking forward to trying out Lady McBeth, by Susan Fraser King; Promise of the Wolves, but Dorothy Hearst, and Labyrinth, by Kate Mosse. Will let you know how they go. Nothing better than guessing at the library and then finding something engrossing.
• Speaking of Murakami: England-based monkeys might want to check this BBC show tonight.
• Just finished "Mr Pip" by Lloyd Jones, it's fairly good but I'm not sure I like it enough to read it again. Nonfiction: "Mistakes were made, but not by me" - a psych book about our inbuilt and unfortunate habit of screwing up and not knowing/admitting it. Up next in fiction: Mark Helprin's "Winter Tale".
• Our woefully underemployed receptionist just finished "The Road," speaking of Cormac McCarthy, and raved about it. It is indeed excellent. I've got No Country for Old Men lined up next. It seems every time someone asks this question I'm reading another Dan Clowes graphic novel ... these days I can only handle reading picture books without dozing off, so I'm reading Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, and I just finished Ice Haven, both of which are fantastic. Also James Lilek's Mommy Knows Worst is good fun too.
• I just finished From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain. A satire of comic book super heroes; very funny pokes, but deep and serious at the same time. Surprisingly relevant social commentary. I also just finished Battle Royale. It has a brutal reputation, but I'd say undeserved. I think it's scathing political commentary provokes the media rejection, and the body count is just used as an excuse. And a couple weeks ago I finished The Great Book of Amber. Fantasy that doesn't use standard cliches, and very fast-paced. Each Book in it (it's ten books long) has more going on than most trilogies have.
• I loved McCarthy's All the Pretty Little Horses, and really wanted to read the rest of the Border Trilogy, but got stuck in the middle of the middle book, The Crossing. I keep promising myself to get past that part, since my brother really loved the whole thing, but haven't been able to persuade myself. If you like cowboy stuff, I suggest Lomesome Dove, if you haven't read it. I even read some Zane Grey years ago, and enjoyed it. Most recently, I've been catching up on Gerald Durrell's books, especially those about his family. Flamboyant, eccentric Brits (back when that was expected)and Greek settings. What more could you ask? And, if you haven't read I Claudius and Claudius the God, you should. A lovely contrast between the few rightous Roman elite and the rest of the completely twisted Roman elite. You get murders, protests, family life under Augustus, craziness, incest, suicide, and foreign conquest, not necessarily in that order. Stories by Richard Brautigan may have limited appeal if you have no hippie leanings, but Tout Fishing in Ameria is a classic. Let's see, what else? There's good stuff out there by Elmore Leonard and James Lee Burke. And, you might try Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. Sorry my recommendations aren't at the top of the current best seller lists, but sometime you just need to go back at look at history.
• Also, sorry for some typos.
• Some of the other comments about graphic novels remind of the one I've just finished and loved: Dogs And Water by Anders Nilsen. It's about a man and his teddy bear wandering through the Arctic. There's hardly any words but lots of fine line drawing. It's mysterious, surreal, funny and captivating.
• Path, IMHO, McCarthy's ATPLH was the only one worth reading. Loved it. Lyrical passages. Wonderful description. Looked forward with great anticipation to the next one. Gagged. Couldn't finish it. Haven't liked any of his others. *shrugs* Gerald Durrell's books are great. Loved the family, loved his fascination with animals. Have to dig through the boxes and see if I still have some of them. Seconding the Claudius books. ANYTHING by John McPhee. Barry Lopez is good, too.
• I just read Gary Jennings' "Aztec" , and Vernor Vinge's "A Fire Upon the Deep".. i'd recommend the former, although the latter has its moments. Also I enjoyed the hell out of the Phillip Marlowe novels by Raymond Chandler.
• I'm reading Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series, which I'm enjoying quite a bit.
• If you're in the mood for science-y non-fiction, how about "Parasite Rex" by Carl Zimmer (gross, but oh so cool), "Proust and the Squid" by Maryann Wolf (about reading and dyslexia), or "The Arcanum" by Janet Gleeson (fascinating history on Meissen porcelain). Also, I second Flagpole's suggestions for Umberto Eco.
• Brautigan's Hawkline Monster is one of my all time faves. Still looking for a copy of the uh.. Babylon one. The detective novel.
• 45 by Bill Drummond, for the eccentric shenanigans of an ex-pop star.
• I just discovered this site, which allows share book recommendations with others (plus keep track of your own stack of books). This seems to be what you are looking for. We could start a MoFi group there. I just signed up. (If anyone else signs up, I'm here)
• My recent reading. I'm currently reading A Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil, and it's shaping up to perhaps be the best thing I've read in quite a while. BlueHorse, I also just picked up Labyrinth at the library and haven't started it yet. I'd be interested to know what you think of it. Suomynona, if you enjoyed Aztec, be aware that a) there is a sequel (Aztec Autumn) and b) that Spangle is even better.
• On the McCarthy tip, my favorite by him is a tie between No Country for Old Men and Blood Meridian. But then my tastes tend toward the darker/more horror-oriented, and those both fit the bill in their ways. The Road too of course, but I prefer the first two named.
• Elizabeth Hand's Generation Loss and the most recently out in paperback of Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series (#5) the question is, what am I gonna read next???
• The most interesting book I have read lately is 'The End of Mr Y'. I have also read an endless amount of Robin Hobb books on my endless commute. Also fun, but a different class of fun.
• McCarthy caught his stride early with "The Outer Dark." Dark for sure, it is. The saga of Rinthy and Culla Holme: their newborn baby exposed to the elements by Culla, Rinthy's brother. But she finds out it was taken by an itinerant tinker, and so they search after each the other. Bleak but incredibly beautiful, simple but deep with turn of the 19th century Appalachian horror. A lawless, chaotic time. (Just reread that one!)
• Ooh yes, The End of Mr Y. Great book. From about half-way, I didn't actually like the story very much per se, but it is astoundingly good writing. Very worth it.
• Isn't it weird how we all sound like grown-ups when we talk about books?
• Ooh, I like Elizabeth Hand. *Makes note to re-read*
• I just picked up Vol.2 of Queen and Country, which is as good as the first. Not normally the kind of graphic novel I'm attracted to, but whatever. It's fun. Finished Woody Allen's Mere Anarchy in a recent afternoon. Highly recommended. He uses bigger words than I'd thought. Lee Miller: A Life is currently on hold. Today, I picked up the French translation of Cohen's Book of Longing, being Livre du constant desir. I'll be giving that a go soon.
• StoryBored, I just fell in love with you. I'll leave it up to BlueHorse to make that a tag line.
• And, I'm still laughing.
• What path said :)
• THIS ARE SERIOUS THREAD. *snickers behind hand* I'm currently reading American Chica by Marie Arana. The public library recently had its annual clearout/sale and I spent $35 on 20 books, so I have a bit to get through between semesters. The Arana book is great, though.
• 'semesters'? You been hangin' out with the Yanks too long.
• Nah, sadly we do have semesters here now. I know.
• Ha-ha.
• I luvs ya too, pathy, mothy. Yummy monkeys. We must get married right away. Ah, to think that life could be so sweet. Bananas, books and a set of really good headphones.
• I am halfway through William Gibson's "Spook Country" and I am - to my unending surprise - absolutely loving it. "Neuromancer" was one of the single most formative books I've ever read. But that was over 20 years ago. I have read every single Gibson book since, and always end up shaking my head in sad confusion. Wha happen? It turns out that Gibson has been simply biding his time, laying the groundwork for "Spook Country." It is astounding, and heartbreaking, and compelling, and I am reading it as slowly as possible, because I will be sad when I have finished. "Spook Country" is "Neuromancer" reflected through twenty years of disappointment, real life, and hopeful dreams of the future squashed into a shabby pulp. "Neuromancer" made a slew of promises that reality failed to deliver, and it's as if the characters of "Spook Country" have stumbled through the last 23 years along with us. Molly is now Hollis, an aging former rock 'n roll star who dreams of making a living from her writing. She is manipulated into investigating a mystery through the facade of being hired as a journalist. She secretly knows that it's a fishy deal, but she goes along with it out of the hopes that it might be real, and because the expense account means she can stay in a nice hotel. And who knows? Maybe there's a publishing credit in it for her. Case is now Milgrim, a sad little man with a single, not-particularly-rare talent. He is strong-armed into helping another sad little man who has "kidnapped" him. Milgrim is pretty sure that he could escape whenever he wants, but why should he? He's on his dealer's bad side, and his captor provides him with free drugs and the occasional meal. Oh, I tell you, this book is just OUTSTANDING. And also kind of a downer. But still - OUTSTANDING. Even if the 2nd half totally stinks, the 1st half is absolutely blowing my mind. I'd consider it required reading for all current or former "Neuromancer" fans.
• A review of The Sex Lives of Others, showed up on 3 Quarks Daily today. Itr looks like an interesting read.
• Well, the correct title is "Intercourse."
• Re: Spook Country, it is a good title, but IMO his previous one, Pattern Recognition is a superior work. Set in the freshly shaken, post-9/11 world, it fuses everything from art, culture, consumer society and the emergence of the net as another brick on everyday life. So for those non-Gibson fans (many turned off by his previous stage as 'the father of cyberpunk' and what many considered hard to digest fiction): if you like SC, you can't go wrong with PR. And viceversa.
• I tried making a Monkeyfilter Group at Good Reads, but whoever makes the group becomes the moderator by default, and I don't want that. If someone else creates a MoFi group, I'll join it.
• Flagpole, I can't bring myself to recommend Pattern Recognition. Every time the heroine's situation gets complicated, she goes to the yoga studio. For pages at a time. (Or at least it seemed like it as I was reading.)
• Actually, it's Pilates : ) To be fair, she does take things under her control later in a more active manner. And the peculiar quirks of her character have to be taken into account. For me, the search for the 'Author' of the footage and its' emotional conclusion, plus the sub-plot regarding the protagonist's father make it quite a read.
• I just finished a Victorian-era mystery called The Angel of Darkness, by Caleb Carr. Lots of great New York historical research went into it, and it was a cracking good read. I'm feeling it's about time for aother readthrough of the Sherlock Holmes canon.
• I read Joe Matt's Poor Bastard in one go last night -- it was that good. Although I should have read it before I read Spent, which was also first rate. It's grat stuff for anyone who likes their graphic novels with lots of talking, self-loathing, and pissing-in-jars-to-avoid-the-shared-bathroom. Not for everyone, I know, but I'm not everyone, am I?
• You had me at pissing in jars. *adds to list*
• Queen and Country is ace. Propper spies who are miserable and bored etc. I love it. I agree that Pattern Recognition is superior to Spook Country, which is still great. I actually bought PR, which considering how mean I am is saying something.
• Hey, Underpants, you know that The Angel of Darkness is a sequel to The Alienist (which I thought was superior)?
• Yep! A used copy of The Alienist is on its way from Alibris. ;-)
• Just went to the library this morning, and am looking forward to trying out Lady McBeth, by Susan Fraser King; Promise of the Wolves, but Dorothy Hearst, and Labyrinth, by Kate Mosse. Will let you know how they go. Rushmc: Could NOT get into Labyrinth. How's it going for you? Was disappointed in Wolves, also. Should have known, when Jean Auel recommended it. Enjoyed Lady Macbeth Different take on her story. Not The Bard's Lady at all. Fictional account of Bodhe's daughter, the Lady Gruadh inghean Bodhe mac Cineadh mhic Dubh, crowned Queen in 1040, and her marriage to Mac bethad mac Finlach. Worth reading for the names alone! Read The Resurrectionist by Jack O'Connell Strange, but interesting. "About psychotic bikers, mad neurologists, and circus freaks wandering in search of salvation." Touted as "...twisted, surreal and beautifully enigmatic..." Could have been 30 pages shorter--tighter and more concise, but overall, thumbs up. StoryBored: Hmmmm, may have to reread Winter's Tale as I remember it, t'was good. StoryBored... eponysterical! Back to the library!
• What? Are you guys slow readers? Everybody fall asleep over their books? Why no more posts? Found out my library card needs renewed and can't do it till payday :( Fortunately, there's always a book around here. Am reading Umberto Eco's Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana--Different. Actually zoomed by to ask what you readers think of Amazon's wireless reading device--Kindle? Is this something you'd want? Me, I like books. Call me a Luddite, but there's nothing like the feel of a real book and the sound of pages turning.
• rushmc, I finished The Alienist last week and enjoyed it immensely. I'm finding myself hard pressed to say which was better, though. Maybe it's because I read out of order.
• Don't read the Caleb Carr science fiction book, Killing Time. It's really awful and a big shock after the quality of The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness. His Sherlock Holmes fanfic, The Italian Secretary, is okay though somewhat disappointing.