Das Book: the very new reading thread

[guanajuato]

harrison rules! they should name a small country after him.

[C of heartbreak]

I just picked up A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines after hearing Janna Levin on NPR, and deciding that someone whose worldview so meshes with mine would write a book I'd have to read. And worldviews aside, she seems like a pretty awesome person.

[coldforge]

I think referring to Turing Machines ranks up there as one of my top 10 immediate ways to turning me off a novel.

[davy]

I'm still working on American Gods, and still really like it, but now that the semester's begun, I don't have quite as much time to devote to reading for fun.  I will finish it, though!

I ended up grabbing Anansi Boys for my ladyfriend because the hardcover was on sale for dirt-cheap when I was picking up American Gods.  I don't think she's started on it yet, though...

the only neil gaiman book i've read is neverwhere and it was horrid in the sort of way that i can't really imagine now that the same guy could write something i'd want to spend time reading in the future. i acknowledge that it's not one of his masterpieces or whatever, but man.

in other news, i really like dave eggers as a writer. i would call myself a fan. as a literary hipster celebrity, i could care less how he comes off. but i've loved all 3 of his books (i'm 2/3 done with what is the what right now), and i've loved each book more than the one before.

[Andrew_TSKS]

hah, neil gaiman is horrid, but dave eggers is awesome? i'm never taking a book recommendation from you again.

[davy]

i tend to put a little more stock in a writer's skill as a prose stylist than i do in their imagination. it's why i struggle sometimes to find science fiction and fantasy novels that i'll enjoy reading. those are two of my favorite artistic genres, but it's hard to find the right authors. the plot of neverwhere was neat--and it's why i finished it--but the writing was just terrible, a constant obstacle between me and my enjoyment of the book. it's occasionally the same with stephen king (though he can really nail it, sometimes). i'm sure that neverwhere is not the best book by which to judge gaiman, but it was an unfortunate first impression, that's for sure.

dave eggers, pretentious asshole that he may be, writes about things that interest me, he writes about them movingly, with an eye toward beauty, and his sentences flow with grace. i never expect to love a book of his when i pick it up, and i'm always pleasantly--one might say intensely--surprised by the end. so enough is enough, i figure...let's call it like it is: i'm a fan of dave eggers.

[elpollodiablo]

He writes about being an over privileged yuppie with a trust fund and way too many options in an interesting, moving way? Cause I just thought it was treacly pandering bullshit. But that's just me!

In other news, the 10th Anniversary edition of Infinite Jest has a foreword by Dave Eggers. Why!? That's like getting Chuck Klosterman to write the foreword to a Noam Chomsky book. That's like asking a muppet to baptize you child.


*I mean let's be clear I think Eggers is a terrible effing writer and it's got little to do with his background but when you want to make yourself the subject of your first 'novel' and do it in such a gimmicky, obnoxious way, you shouldn't be surprised that people will not only have a negative reaction to the work but to you as a person.

[andronicus]

Hey man Fozzy Bear went on to get a D.D. from a Quaker seminary.

Also, Animal is ordained in the ULC but he was so fucking cracked on PCP and amyl nitrate at the time I should hardly think it counts.

[guanajuato]

i think gaiman's an excellent prose stylist. his writing is full of polish but it never calls attention to itself. eggers writes a sentence and then the next sentence is like 'did you read the last sentence i wrote?'

[elpollodiablo]

'Wasn't that a clever but totally unnecessary sentence? Did you like the little wink-wink-nudge-nudge there? That was for you. Don't you like metafiction? Aren't I such a cute little self deprecating cunt?"

[guanajuato]

exactly

[davy]

i think maybe you guys stopped reading with heartbreaking work of staggering genius, because your criticisms don't really apply to what came after. he grew up a lot as a writer with the subsequent two novels, and as i said, i've liked both of them better than his debut.

[elpollodiablo]

Maybe you're right davy, but I hated AWSOG enough that I'll probably never read anything book-length by him ever again. Also the description of his second novel is so offensive and ridiculous I never even troubled with cracking it open.

[davy]

Also the description of his second novel is so offensive and ridiculous I never even troubled with cracking it open.

that "offensiveness" is sort of what it's about, though.

[Andrew_TSKS]

i just looked it up on wikipedia. here's the entry. read the section on "different editions". THIS is the kind of shit that makes me hate dave eggers's writing.

[davy]

i just looked it up on wikipedia. here's the entry. read the section on "different editions". THIS is the kind of shit that makes me hate dave eggers's writing.

i agree that's silly (i read the original hardcover and was pleased with it), but it's nothing when compared with something like house of leaves, which i know has some fans here on the board.

[Andrew_TSKS]

no, that's where i gotta completely disagree with you.

[elpollodiablo]

Mark Danielewski : Dave Eggers :: Deep Blue : Those shoes that people with clubfoot wear*



*This joke © C. Onstad, Achewood Indust.

[davy]

ah, fuck you guys.

[elpollodiablo]

Here is a drawing of a stapler

[alistarr*]

ceci n'est pas un readable novel.

in other news, i'm still doing okay with my "read more books!" initiative, and am ploughing through Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig. it's pretty ok! so far there's some dudes in prison and the whole thing's told in dialogue/silent thought of the characters, and most of it's the one dude recounting the stories of movies he's seen to the other dude. i think it was written in the 70s and i'm reading a translation. it's certainly drawing me in so here's hoping it doesn't suddenly get lame or anything, and render this description redundant.

[rockmeamadeus]

I'm reading



on the intense recommendation of a very good friend. Just started it. Could be really good.

[elpollodiablo]

I'm still reading Infinite Jest and also the Political Unconscious by Fredric Jameson

[Andrew_TSKS]

i'm reading the new stephen king novel, "duma key". everyone give me shit now.

[Doctor Bob]

You'll have to look elsewhere- I've no problem with Mr King.

I'm currently having my head blown off by a book (essay, really) called A Field Guide to Getting Lost, by Rebecca Solnit.