I could write a great novel if my neighborhood weren't so upscale (book thread)

[elpollodiablo]

Have you ever heard of Marmaduke

That is the joint

[andronicus]

Katzenjammer Kids.

Shit is raw as fuck.

[Greg Nog]

Finished Doc Savage, and it was pleasant enough.  Just started Black Boy, which is the first Richard Wright I think I've ever read.  I have a feeling I was supposed to read Native Son in high school, but didn't?

[Bernard]

Yeah, you probably were.

I finished 'Your Face Tomorrow' finally. Such a weird book, I don't know how to think or talk about it. I guess the thing to say is that I bought two more of his books and already want to re-read the first one, so I suppose I can say I liked it, but dang, what a weird book. Not as in weird stuff happens in the book, so much, but more as in, who writes a book that way? Kind of nothing happens, exactly? But it's not exactly stream of consciousness, either. There's some characterization happening, but also parts of it are poetic. There are some good quotable bits, but it's not that kind of book either, the kind that delivers lots of good one-liners. Part of the time I was reminded of that bit Stephen Colbert did where he was reading the thesaurus and couldn't stop himself. Nobody else read any Javier Marias? I'm so eager to talk to somebody about this.

[davy]

Hey people, you might want to check in at your local Borders this week. Mine is having a pretty massive $1 sale--some pretty nice titles, really (some of them in hardcover), and assorted other things, too. I got a $25 iPod hardcase for $1. Major score.

I don't know if it's just my store, but that seems somewhat unlikely. There's official signage, etc, which usually indicates a chain-wide initiative of some sort.

[girl]

I'm re-reading Sometimes A Great Notion (on my Kindle). I love this book more every time I read it. I'm still willing to call it my favorite book ever.

[diesel_powered]

Just started Black Boy, which is the first Richard Wright I think I've ever read. 

We read this in high school. It was definitely a turning point in my realization that everything I'd been told about black people up to that point had been total bullshit.

[davy]

I somehow managed to read Native Son like 3 times while never once touching a copy of Black Boy.

I quite liked Native Son, though.

[cold before sunrise]

An old pal on the coast with Dutch parents (who save everything) used to bring out big-papered ancient dailies to read over breakfast. Of all comics I'd rather go for Trucker Fags in Denial but don't know what's come out more recently.

Does anybody know if Catcher in the Rye is still flagged? 

[Aglaya]

I'm still reading A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth.  It's not bad, but it's a lot of book to commit to for a story that's only interesting at times.  It's similar to War and Peace in that it's a huge book with a large cast of characters set in a time period where lots of things are happening, but it's not as good.

[andronicus]

Just started Black Boy, which is the first Richard Wright I think I've ever read.  I have a feeling I was supposed to read Native Son in high school, but didn't?

Dude awesome.  I loved Black Boy when I was a kid.

We read this in high school. It was definitely a turning point in my realization that everything I'd been told about black people up to that point had been total bullshit.

...what did they tell you about black people?

[auto-da-fey]

I didn't read Native Son until college, in a Black American Literature class with this guy who did a very performative semester-long enactment of 60s-style Black nationalism that freaked the fuck out of the predominantly white students at my state school in western Wisconsin (it was only when I helped him move over the summer that I realized he was completely playing a role in the classroom).

I remember that class discussion:
Prof: Okay, where should we begin--race relations in this book? Wright's take on Communism? his style as an author?
Me: Can we talk about that scene in the movie theater where Bigger and his friend--
Prof: [cutting me off angrily] NO!!! [mutters under his breath for a good 20 seconds.] Someone else, we're skipping him today.

Later in the semester he talked about fighting crackers in the 1970s and kicking their asses. Dude was pretty awesome; I've actually been writing to some of my undergrad profs lately to say thanks and give them an update on my life, I should drop him a line.

[davy]

Ha! I totally forgot about that scene. How peculiar.

[diesel_powered]

We read this in high school. It was definitely a turning point in my realization that everything I'd been told about black people up to that point had been total bullshit.

...what did they tell you about black people?

A lot of textbook working-class racism, the kind of thing you see in All In The Family and Scorsese movies. On one hand, it took a long time to root that out of my subconscious, but on the other, being able to better understand where that thinking comes from is kind of a plus.

[donblood]

Over Christmas my mom asked what kind of books I like, so I ran down a list of authors.  Today I got an email saying she'd read a Rushdie book (though didn't say which one).  Her takeaway:  "It was weird.  It was about India."  Fucking A, mom, I bet both those things were 100% true.

[davy]

I wish my mom would take a leap like that. "Sure, let's see...I'm reading a Nicholson Baker book right now." Sadly, I can't really imagine her sitting through a 30-page article about fingernail clippers.

[davy]

Used a Borders coupon to buy this today:



It comes highly recommended by all the library journals and I'm excited to get all fired up about trains again.

[coldforge]

Is there a kind of dying American institution camaraderie there?



(Sorry, davy. But library journals recommending a book about trains is FUNNY.)

[Ignatius]

I ride on Amtrak at least monthly, and it's definitely the best way to see the length of the Hudson from Albany down. Except a boat, I suppose. What I'd really like is a big chunk of free time and an excuse to visit Chicago so that I can take a ride on the Lakeshore Limited, looking at rustbelt wastes and freshwater birds in equal measure.

I am deeply concerned that most Amtrak routes will be shut down before I get a chance to ride them.

[davy]

Is there a kind of dying American institution camaraderie there?



(Sorry, davy. But library journals recommending a book about trains is FUNNY.)

I mean, I hate to ruin a good joke and all, but statistically speaking, American libraries are busier than ever. And by "ever," I mean "EVER." A lack of optimum funding during a time of national recession does not a dying institution make.

[coldforge]

No, you're right

More hobos need internet now than ever

[davy]

Yeah because the recession hasn't affected anybody but hobos.

[milesofsparks]

I don't know if this belongs in the art thread or the book thread, but
http://picturebookreport.com/2010/02/12/it-begins-with-a-house/
dude is illustrating the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  first drawing:



I am so excited.

[Lucy]

Oh wow, that looks really neat.

[davy]

I saw that in my RSS feed yesterday...it does look promising!