Das Book: the very new reading thread

[Greg Nog]

All, right then.  So I shall.

In the meantime, though, I'm still going through another period of fancy gents.  I finished the Arséne Lupin collection (which was totally kickass, by the way), and I'm reading more Wodehouse right now -- Psmith, Journalist.  I also ordered one of those Mortdecai books coldie mentioned, that are supposed to be sort of Wodehouse-style gentlemanlery applied to high-class mysteries. 

So after I finish all this mincing about, it'll probably be exactly the right time to clear the palate with some more McCarthy.

[elpollodiablo]

I bought a bunch of books at a library sale a few months ago and hadn't really looked at them until today. I picked up what I thought was Cloud Atlas because you all seemed so fond of it some time back. The plan was to start it today, now that I've finished the Border trilogy. Turns out I bought THE Cloud Atlas, which is something else entirely.

[andronicus]

I'm kind of annoyed when authors overuse words, because then they get stuck in my head.  Some authors are so bad that I remember virtually nothing of the books when I'm finished except for the words they overused.  I just finished Perdido Street Station, and Mieville overuses:

oneiric (and variants)
etiology
susurration (and variants)

That last he overuses in Iron Council as well.  Stop doing this China.  You can say whisper.  It's a much better word, aesthetically.

[Andrew_TSKS]

hahah dude, don't ever read lovecraft.

[guanajuato]

I'm kind of annoyed when authors overuse words, because then they get stuck in my head.  Some authors are so bad that I remember virtually nothing of the books when I'm finished except for the words they overused.  I just finished Perdido Street Station, and Mieville overuses:

oneiric (and variants)
etiology
susurration (and variants)

That last he overuses in Iron Council as well.  Stop doing this China.  You can say whisper.  It's a much better word, aesthetically.

i think you're kinda dubbing this to your preference, no bad thoughts implied.

[das kranke Tier]

I bought a bunch of books at a library sale a few months ago and hadn't really looked at them until today. I picked up what I thought was Cloud Atlas because you all seemed so fond of it some time back. The plan was to start it today, now that I've finished the Border trilogy. Turns out I bought THE Cloud Atlas, which is something else entirely.

I actually went to buy Blood Meridian last night...they didn't have it, and so I picked up Cloud Atlas instead.  I'm so excited to be able to read fiction for a couple of weeks!

[das kranke Tier]

...and so I start Cloud Atlas on my lunch break and now it's going to take all the will power I can muster to put it down and go back to work

 

[elpollodiablo]

The one I got is about Japanese bomb balloons on the west coast during WWII. It's not that it doesn't look interesting, but it's not quite what I wanted either.

[das kranke Tier]

I was pissed that they didn't have Blood Meridian and I didn't know which other McCarthy to get (the only copies of No Country for Old Men were the movie advertisement copies, which I refuse to buy...I just hate that).

[elpollodiablo]

Yeah, I hear that.
Basically you should just wait until you can get a copy of BM, I think. I didn't find the Road all that spectacular.

[das kranke Tier]

girl let me borrow The Road and I absolutely loved it!  Hopefully that's an indication that I'll like the other stuff, though from what I gather it's quite different.

[elpollodiablo]

The last two novels (the Road and NCFOM) are very spare compared to everything he'd written previously, with the exception of a few novels from his Appalachian years. BM is absolutely his masterpiece, though.

[girl]

And while I can see that Blood Meridian is an important work, I preferred the starkness of The Road to anything else he's written. 

edit: Starkness isn't quite what I mean, but I can't think of an exact word. I love how the book is so spare, giving up only tiny details, yet painting a complete picture that tears your heart out.

[elpollodiablo]

I really dig dense, baroque prose. So BM was more up my alley anyway. It's also as close as he's ever come to writing a thesis on his aesthetic, so there's a lot to be mined and mulled over. Did love the Road and NCFOM; just not as much.

In other news, I'm finally reading Underworld. Don't know why I put it off so long.

[das kranke Tier]

I really dig dense, baroque prose.

You definitely need to get your hands on Cloud Atlas, then.

In other news, I'm finally reading Underworld. Don't know why I put it off so long.

Dude, I really really love that book...

[jebreject]

the only copies of No Country for Old Men were the movie advertisement copies, which I refuse to buy...I just hate that

Fuck, ME TOO! And it sucks 'cause I ordered All the Pretty Horses used offa Amazon, and I open up the package, excited as can be, and IT'S THE FUCKING NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE VERSION FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU SONSOFBITCHES CAN'T THEY TELL PPL THAT IN THE LITTLE BLURBS

[das kranke Tier]

I feel you, man.  Shit sux!

[jebreject]

Esp 'cause the cover is all blurry people embracing or something

[das kranke Tier]

I'm really glad I'm not the only one who can't stand that shit...I won't buy the "Oprah Book Club" versions of anything either...

[jebreject]

I wouldn't, but on The Road it was just a sticker I peeled off.

[das kranke Tier]

Yeah, but don't they have them now where it's not just a sticker?  It's like indelibly printed on the cover.

[YojimboMonkey]

You know what?  I have a movie-branded Lord of the Rings hardcover, and it doesn't bother me a goddamn bit.  Wasn't the first copy I've owned and it probably won't be the last.  I'm more worried about what's inside the book than what's outside it.  And if someone's looking at my bookshelves trying to figure out whether I bought the book before or after the movie came out, or before or after Oprah featured it, fuck it, let them think what they want. 

[das kranke Tier]

See, that's the thing though...it's nothing to do with being judged by others, it's just a personal preference.  It's like when there's alternate covers of a book or a CD and you're just preferential towards one of them.

[jebreject]

Yeah, I mean, it's more about the design than anything--NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE versions of books are always just UGLY. I mean, it's not just that--if I'm at a used book store, I will spend quite some time looking for the cover I find most aesthetically pleasing.

[das kranke Tier]

Case in point --> the 2 versions of From Hell