Whats everyone reading?

[Richmond Clements]

I'm reading The Last Theorem, by Arthur C Clark and Frederik Pohl.
I love me a bit of Clark, but this is a real struggle. The ideas are, as always, superb, but some of the character writing is appalling.

[klute]

Currently reading the death of superman and the alpha flight collection i bought last week

[HOO-HAA]

Just a little heads-up - we've been chatting about William Gibson on this thread. This month's SCI-FI NOW has a wonderful feature on Gibson. Well worth picking up.

[Kerrin]

"The Evolutionary Void" by Peter F Hamilton. Final part of a trilogy and as I can just about remember who the hell everyone is, very enjoyable.

[Jared Katooie]

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.

[Keef Monkey]

Just put down "Anno Mortis" by Rebecca Levene (a wee Tomes of the Dead number). Took me yonks to get through it because it really didn't do much for me for about the first 150 pages, but then inexplicably got brilliant. Loved it from then on.

Debating what to read next, am thinking Nick Cave's The Death Of Bunny Munro, its the oldest thing in the "to read" pile currently.

[HOO-HAA]

...am thinking Nick Cave's The Death Of Bunny Munro, its the oldest thing in the "to read" pile currently.

I tried that 'Ass kissed the whatever' one of his and couldn't get on with it at all. A little on the overwritten side for me.

[Mikey]

Heh! I presume you mean 'And the Ass saw the Angel', Hoo Haa.

I'd say it's superbly written! May not be up to scrutiny in other aspects but I  loved the style and use of language. More of a fevered mood piece I reckon.'...Bunny Monroe' on the other hand doesn't have that same lyricism.It's just grim as fuck.

I still haven't finished the Search for Habitable Planets book - haven't been reading much more for fun other than the prog and Meg recently.

M.

[Keef Monkey]

Heh! I presume you mean 'And the Ass saw the Angel', Hoo Haa.

I'd say it's superbly written! May not be up to scrutiny in other aspects but I  loved the style and use of language. More of a fevered mood piece I reckon.

Yeah I really enjoyed it too. Well I say enjoyed, feverish sums it up perfectly, its got a kind of queasy unsettling momentum to it. I can get why it would come across as overwritten, he seems to write in the same way he writes lyrics, so every line is loaded with meaning and metaphor and layers, so its not an easy read but still a very worthwhile one I thought.

[HOO-HAA]

...so every line is loaded with meaning and metaphor and layers, so its not an easy read...

Yeah, that's what I mean by 'overwritten'. I find his lyrics a lot more accessible, to be honest. I love Ol' Nick's music. I guess, though, with lyrics there is more scope for a richer style of writing to remain acessible. Perhaps we listen to lyrics and poetry with different ears than a line of dialogue or a paragraph in a novel? 

[Keef Monkey]

...so every line is loaded with meaning and metaphor and layers, so its not an easy read...

Yeah, that's what I mean by 'overwritten'. I find his lyrics a lot more accessible, to be honest. I love Ol' Nick's music. I guess, though, with lyrics there is more scope for a richer style of writing to remain acessible. Perhaps we listen to lyrics and poetry with different ears than a line of dialogue or a paragraph in a novel? 

Absolutely! Even though I enjoyed it you've still got a valid criticism there, I reckon the approach works better with songs because they're short experiences that you can then get more and more out of on further listens, so the denser the lyrics the better really. In a novel its fairly gruelling and you do feel a bit like you're being battered around the head with it. I quite liked it because it gave everything an overwrought almost biblical sense, which I thought worked given the subject and the main character's view of events. Only a few chapters into Bunny Munro but he does seem to have reigned it in a bit. Bunny's got a bit of a one track mind though!

[Roger Godpleton]

Just started The Witches of Eastwick, just finished The Sirens of Titan. Going on a Coetzee binge next.

Anyone else looking forward to that new Franzen?

[Pyroxian]

"The Evolutionary Void" by Peter F Hamilton. Final part of a trilogy and as I can just about remember who the hell everyone is, very enjoyable.

I've just started that, but spent the last two weeks re-reading the first two parts.

    Steve

[Richmond Clements]

Just started Ben Goldacre's Bad Science.

[House of Usher]

I doubt I shall ever live long enough to become as well read as Roger Godpleton.