Current reading material?

[Baconesque]

Unless you're a huge literary snob, you can't deny that The Davinci Code was really entertaining, though I have a huge problem with Dan Brown's mentality regarding historical fact.  While much of what he used in his book was actually true, more of it was conspiracy theory.  I wince when I heard that some high school was actually using The Davinci Code as a reading assignment.  Good as entertainment, but nothing much else.  On the other hand, I don't think it would make a very good movie, but that might just be me.

[Maaik]

Unless you're a huge literary snob, you can't deny that The Davinci Code was really entertaining, though I have a huge problem with Dan Brown's mentality regarding historical fact.  While much of what he used in his book was actually true, more of it was conspiracy theory.  I wince when I heard that some high school was actually using The Davinci Code as a reading assignment.  Good as entertainment, but nothing much else.  On the other hand, I don't think it would make a very good movie, but that might just be me.

They are making it into a movie.  If they don't Hollywood the shit out of it, it might be good, but I dunno, Ron Howard is directing it--and knowing all the detail he left out of A Beautiful Mind, the movie will probably be an entertaining pile of refuse.

If they get Richard Attenborough to play Teabing though, I'll be happy enough.

[laurenmvb]

just finished henry miller's essay on rimbaud, time of the assassins.

currently in the midst of dostoyevsky's notes from the underground.

[Lalitree]

I just finished Oblivion (liked it). Not quite sure what to pick up next--yesterday I got White Noise and A Confederacy of Dunces at a used book store, and I picked up Quicksilver (Neal Stephenson) at the same place about a week ago. Plus there also approximately 800,000 books in the house that I haven't read.

 

[Lalitree]

[/i]currently in the midst of dostoyevsky's notes from the underground.

Which translation? Coulson or Pevear and Volokhonsky??

[Scott CE]

White Noise is cuh-uh-uh-uh-LASSIC, IMO.  Read that first.

I haven't read Quicksilver, but I was not really as wowed by Cryptonomicon as a lot of other people I know.  Can someone make a case for me that the new trilogy is a better, more mature piece of writing than Cryptonomicon, and that I should give it a try?  I didn't dislike it, but I didn't think it was good enough to warrant reading 2000 more pages by the guy.

[laurenmvb]

i'm reading the pevear and volokhonsky trans.

[Lalitree]

Cool. That one's in my TO READ list too. I'm really interested in how different it is from the Coulson translation.

[laurenmvb]

i have not read the coulson trans, so i'm not able to make that comparison...i am quite enjoying the read, though.  nice, light summer reading, ha ha.

[SPACERACE]

In the past couple weeks I have read:
a dilapidated, communal copy of "The Man Who Folded Himself", by the guy who did the Star Trek books. It was awesome, and somewhat disturbing.
"Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World", by, of course, Murakami. Fricking incredible.
"Prey", by Michael Crichton, which I bought because the little used bookstore I was in had a slim selection. It was, well... it was Michael Crichton.
"Nowhere Man", by Aleksandar Hemon. Pretty good book, taps into my weakness for all things eastern European.
"The Middle of the Night" by Danial Stolar. A collection of mediocre short stories.

I've started but not finished:
"The Perks of Being A Wallflower". I forget the name of the author, but you all know the book, so it's not a big deal. I'll read the last half when I have the chance.
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime". Forget the name of this author too, and I do not plan on picking the book up again, since the writing style annoyed the hell out of me, apparently because I'm insensitive.

I'm going to read, as soon as I can stop being so lazy:
"Norwegian Wood" by, you guessed it, Murakami.
I might see if I can power through "The Most of Andy Rooney" just for kicks.

[Thermofusion]

My girlfriend thought she was forcing Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood on me but turns out I'm actually liking it.

[TheNames]

yeah, atwood's kclassic

[jebreject]

I never bothered reading A Confederacy of Dunces so that is what I am reading right now.  I like it.

[erin]

Birthday presents I received on Tuesday:

Everything You Need to Know About Latino History

and

Female Masculinity by Judith Halberstam

***

Chee-yah, like I _might_ have some free time to read anything other than school-related stuff right now!

[dino]

I really don't keep up on the literary world to well but i'm reading flannery o'conner's Wise Blood at the present and it kicks butt and is creepy. Huzzah!!!

[joedevivre]

Flannery O'Connors short stories also kick quite a bit of butt. If you like creepy southern tales often featuring the mentally and physically handicapped. She's easily one of the greatest (and by greatest I of course mean favorite) short story writers of all time.

[davy]

reading harmful to minors: the perils of protecting children from sex by judith levine right now.

basically about how we americans tend to freak out about the wrong kinds of sexual behavior. so far, her case is pretty strong.

[jebreject]

reading harmful to minors: the perils of protecting children from sex by judith levine right now.

basically about how we americans tend to freak out about the wrong kinds of sexual behavior. so far, her case is pretty strong.

I wanted to read that.

[TheNames]

I just finished reading Klima's waiting for the dark, waiting for the light, bacchai and electra by Euripides, and Omon Ra by Viktor Pelevin (which was enchantingly fucked up).
Also, I wanted to thank you guys for turning me onto Murakami, because i read Sputnik Sweetheart yesterday and it was amazing. One of the best books i've read all year.
I'm just getting started on Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching.

[Shelley]

reading harmful to minors: the perils of protecting children from sex by judith levine right now.

basically about how we americans tend to freak out about the wrong kinds of sexual behavior. so far, her case is pretty strong.

I wanted to read that.

Yeah, me too, or rarther I want to read that.

Right now I'm reading OIL! by Upton Sinclair which I am liking.
favorite line so far:
"...the boy's attitude was that of the old farmer with a new gold watch, who stood on his front porch in the early morning, remarking, 'If that sun don't get over the hill in three minutes, she's late.'"

And also I just cracked The Treasure of the City of Ladies written by Christine de Pizan which I might never actually read since I bought it in stead of borrowing it from the library.

[justinh]

from the library today:

the winter of our discontent by steinbeck
you shall know our velocity! by eggers
baudolino by umberto eco

i always thought that dave eggers would really annoy me, but after reading his intro to that best american fiction book, i decided i'd give this one a try.

[derrick]

Still working on Underworld, maybe 3/4 through now. I'm stretching it out at this point, trying to savour the language as much as I can. I love it all; my fear was that nothing would measure up to the baseball sequence(pafko at the wall), and it's true; nothing has, but that's not to say it's lousy. It's marvellous prose, and I'm wallowing in every chapter.

Is there any DeLillo I should steer clear of?(I've done White Noise, mao II, and The Names)  I saw Libra, Great Jones Street, and Running Dog used at PulpFiction today, and plan to go on a used book spree when my student loan comes in next week. I'm going to try to keep reading fiction through the fall semester; I've got two light PolySci courses(US Politics and Cdn Public Administration) and a heavier History course on the Cdn Prairies, so I should be able to keep at least a book on the go, if not in my hands everyday.

I've been meaning to read Cat's Eye for ages. A teacher in high school claimed it as his favourite Atwood, but was shy to recommend it as it's rather Toronto-centric, and maybe hard to enjoy on the same level for people who haven't lived there. My favourite Atwood novel is either Life Before Man or Oryx And Crake; really, though, her short stories are dearest to me.

[marbles cunningham]

Right now I'm engrossed in the fourth installment of Osamu Tezuka's eight volume biography of Buddha.  Tezuka, he of Astro Boy fame, has created the most enchanting and -- appropriately -- enlightening take on Siddhartha's life and philosophy.  Along with the historical account, O.T. has peppered the story with fictional characters and situations, which help to not only flesh out Siddhartha, but create a wonderful sense of atmosphere, drama, and comic relief.  The work is gorgeous, the clean cartoon lines of the characters come to life against their meticulously realistic backgrounds, and the grand narrative is breathlessly told.  I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that this is Tezuka's finest work, and, by extension, some of the best in the history of comics.

[redstar]

I finished reading Fight Club a few days ago, and now looking for something else to read.  Once classes start, I won't get any reading for pleasure in  

this thread has remined me that I own white noise but have yet to actually read it

[jebreject]

I finished A Confederacy of Dunces a while ago and now I'm reading Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan, which is so far is okay, but doesn't really live up to the hype given to it by my friends.  I went to the bookstore last night and picked up The Stranger by Albert Camus and Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man used for like two bucks each.