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Whats everyone reading?

Started by Paul faplad Finch, 30 March, 2009, 10:04:36 PM

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O Lucky Stevie!

Just started Seize the day on my daily commute. Man, can this Saul Bellow write. He oughta be awarded a Nobel Prize for Literature or something.

Oddly enough, a small part of Stevie is anticipating down on his luck protagonist Tommy Wilhelm discovering that he's in actual fact an android.
"We'll send all these nasty words to Aunt Jane. Don't you think that would be fun?"

House of Usher

I don't even know what I'm reading at the moment!  :o

...but at least I haven't got to read anything for school any more!

Over the Christmas break I will, however, be reading Zarjaz #08. Cheers, Bolt-01!  :)
STRIKE !!!

Paul faplad Finch

Droid Files and Psi Files arrived today so I'll be digging into them soon enough. All new material to a relative newbie like myself so really looking forward to it.

Views in the relative thread when I'm done.
It doesn't mean that round my way
Pessimism is Realism - Optimism is Insanity
The Impossible Quest
Musings Of A Nobody
Stuff I've Read

I, Cosh

Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 22 December, 2009, 10:27:07 PM
Just started Seize the day on my daily commute. Man, can this Saul Bellow write. He oughta be awarded a Nobel Prize for Literature or something.
Henderson the Rain King completely blew me away and I went out and grabbed a fistful of his other books. None of which I've been able to finish as they're all about dreary middle-aged academics having affairs. I should really give them another chance.


Over the past week, inspired by Comics Should Be Good's top 100 storylines (Dredd didn't make it), I've been rereading Sandman. I'm just over two-thirds of the way through and ,sadly, I really haven't enjoyed it this time. All the criticisms of its empty archness and gothic, pseudo-intellectual posing which I used to scoff at seem to ring true this time and I keep being brought up short by the sort of florid, horribly overwritten descriptive prose which I've always associated with Gaiman's novels.

For such a well regarded series it's interesting how pedestrian the art is for the most part. There's the odd issue illuminated by a Bryan Talbot or P Craig Russell then your straight back to Kelly Jones or Sam Kieth next issue.

There are still great moments and excellent individual issues (usually the incidental short stories like Ramadan) but, overall, I feel like I've had a faithful old hound put to sleep.
We never really die.

wild-seven

Just started read 'The warriors' by Sol Yurick (you may have seen the thoroughly excellent film of it), I've only just started it and it seems like it's going to be good - had to skip the introduction though; 45 pages of rambling about existentialism*

*Blimey, I spelt this right FIRST TIME!
I was going to procrastinate but I think I'll leave it till tomorrow

House of Usher

I had a quick flip through Zarjaz #8 last night. Blimey! I'm sure it's the best one yet. Some fabulous artwork. I was especially impressed by Kenin Levell's. And Ben Clark! How long were you planning on keeping it a secret that you can draw? Nice one, dude. Well done to all concerned. That's a very fine fanzine.
STRIKE !!!

TordelBack

Just finished Arthur Ransome's We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea (this is the level of literature my brain can handle at the moment) - it's just a perfect story!  I loved Swallows and Amazons (book and movie) as a kid, but other than Swallowdale found the sequels pretty unengaging -  Peter Duck basically derailed me, and I never went on.  If only I'd tried this one.  Highly recommended, if you can handle the conventions of 1930's middle class children's adventures (and if you learned to read in the 70's you probably had to).

das

Raymond Roussel biography  @las press
dada's women  ruth hemud
a game of war   guy denord
a power governments cannot suppress   howard zinn

and finishing off my missing progs with a run from 1200-1400
thrill power overload indeed !!

Confusion is Better Than Sex

Dounreay

Just finished Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy. Not a bad read with a cast of characters who are all coniving shits and/or complete bastards. Loads of blood and snotters throughout.

Holiday reading is Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age, Neal Asher's Prador Moon and Richard Matheson's I Am Legend (cos you need to read something scary at Xmas) with the on-going Complete Tales of Para Handy for some laughs. Now how good is that?

But before all that, there is the annual re-read of A Christmas Carol, this very evening. 50-odd pages of sheer delight from Mr Dickens.

Make mine an egg-nog and Merry Crimbo to one an' all! 

O Lucky Stevie!

Quote from: Dounreay on 24 December, 2009, 03:19:50 PM
Richard Matheson's I Am Legend (cos you need to read something scary at Xmas)

Stevie's only recently read this myself -- it's a goodie.
"We'll send all these nasty words to Aunt Jane. Don't you think that would be fun?"

amberkraken

I'm reading 'The Martian Chronicles' by Ray Bradbury. I'd not read any of his stuff before, and everyone seems to start with 'fahrenheit 451', but I'm doing a free-form RPG about the first colonisation of an alien planet and thought it apt.
So far it's really good. It's short stories that are all set in the start of the colonisation of Mars. It can be very depressing at times but is also full of very black humour that makes you laugh instead of crying.

House of Usher

I was a devoted reader of Ray Bradbury as a teenager in the 1980s. I started with 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' and 'The Stories of Ray Bradbury' vols 1 and 2. He was a superb writer in his day.
STRIKE !!!

Colin YNWA

Just getting towards the end of "Showcase Presents: Booster Gold". Just straight forward 80s superhero comics but heavens to mergatrode such enjoyable straight forward 80s superhero comics. I thought this collection would be fun but didn't realise quite how much fun. What a romp! Fantastic stuff.

Got lots of reading for X-mas including a number of books about pirates that I'll be getting onto soon BUT next up is the new Charley's War (Volume 6) which I'm very much looking forward to.

blixab

Just about to start reading - The death of Bunny Munroe by Nick Cave - lets see whether his literature is as good as his lyrics!

amberkraken

I've read Bunny Monroe. I really enjoyed it, but it's clearly not foe everyone.
Warning: He does masterbate a LOT in the book. -and I couldn't help but picture Bunny as Nick Cave! (shudder!)