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Just finished House of Leaves as a stop over in my summer plan to read all of Vonnegut's major works, I hear it had kind of a bad reputation here? I really enjoyed it and thought it was the most genuinely fun (and powerful, dark rooms give me the heebie jeebies now) that I've read in a while!
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Jul 2, 2015 07:49
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funkybottoms posted:I think the majority opinion is that HoL is enjoyable despite Johnny's story being kind of lame/annoying/overwrought/_____; I'm not sure if I remember anyone poo poo-talking the Navidson Record side of things. Wow, this is exactly what I thought. The Navidson Record was enthralling and had me flying through pages, whereas Johnny's stream-of-consciousness entries made my eyes glaze over. Overwrought is really a good way to put it. I know this book is similar to Pale Fire, but if you enjoy one, would you enjoy the other? I have a semi-pretentious friend who claims Pale Fire is WAY better.
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Jul 2, 2015 17:15
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Solitair posted:I remember Vonnegut's Hocus Pocus being great, but I'm just about the only person I've seen mention that book. I've read 'em all and I thought Hocus Pocus was one of the his best. I also loving loved Breakfast of Champions and Timequake, so I'm a weird Vonnephile. I just finished A Scanner Darkly and thought it was really good. The SF elements were extremely light and felt a little shoehorned in, not that it detracted fronts the story. I thought the pacing was a little wonky, with the final 1/4 happening too quick. I really liked the struggle of identity, and the whole section with Bruce was really well done and kind of haunting. I also finished Cloud Atlas which I thought was exceptionally well done. I also really enjoyed the concept that every section was transparently a literal story, from Ewing the novel to Luisa the screenplay to Sonmi the government conspiracy to Zach'ry the yarner. I've had a hard time gelling the total concept of what the book is, though, are there any good resources on this one? I'd to love to explore the novel more fully.
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Nov 2, 2016 09:52
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Love is a Dog from Hell by Chuck Bukowski. Great, sometimes too crass, but powerful in its misery. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Also phenomenal, impactful metaphors abound, it's spirituality was also extremely benign but still managed to impart some wisdom.
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Nov 18, 2016 08:12
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Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins Wow, what a colossal heap of poo poo from someone who's supposed to be a respected author. I've never seen a more one-dimensional than Leigh-Cheri. Bernard was an absolute idiot waxing philosophical left and right. If I ever have to read the word "peachfish" along with masturbatory descriptions of the main character loving, I'm closing the book instantly. I did enjoy a couple paragraphs and the two Kurt Vonnegut references.
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Dec 6, 2016 08:20
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Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson. I enjoyed the hell out of the pop linguistics but it seemed a little Anglo-centric and could tell some facts where straight up bullshit. Are there any better or other fun pop linguistics books out there? Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett which was awesome and really fun and really short so absolutely worth reading.
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Dec 20, 2016 07:37
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chernobyl kinsman posted:george saunders' lincoln in the bardo. a very quick read and super enjoyable Just finished CivilwarLand in Bad Decline recently by him too, fantastic read. Is all his stuff good?
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Apr 4, 2017 08:25
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Frankenstein. Pretty meh.
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May 21, 2017 14:15
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Major Isoor posted:Would you go so far as to call the book a monstrosity? Nah, it was pretty good from an internal philosophy perspective, duality of man as a god, stealing something from the gods but doing it imperfectly. Just a lot of waxing philosophical, I get it Victor, you love scenes of nature and narcissism.
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May 22, 2017 12:21
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Rolo posted:Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger. Which was your favorite?
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May 28, 2017 02:11
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grimmmy posted:Empires of EVE: A History of the Great Wars of EVE Online - Andrew Groen Does that mean there's a chapter on the scourge of Goonswarm?
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Jul 25, 2017 01:16
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Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. Fantastic book, enjoyed the prose and personalities, and even thought it painted a fairly impartial picture of Savannah. The main murder that the book centers around is also very enthralling, more so because of how everyone reacts to it, and less for the crime itself. Recommended.
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May 11, 2018 20:10
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CestMoi posted:People say this all the time like it somehow explains even a single thing about Invisible Cities Can you imagine missing the totality of a book like that
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May 22, 2018 17:52
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Zola posted:I don't know. The world-building itself was pretty intricate, it was how the characters moved within it. I actually enjoyed the world building enough to finish out the whole MaddAddam series, but I think your sense of disagreement with Crake to be kind of an ignored premise. The next two books take a much more naturalistic view on the same events, and after effects, but even then seemed to ignore a real counterpoint to Crake's actions. Honestly, the more I think about it, she probably did too much world building. Those books have such a fleshed out world it kind of ends up leaving many of the characters a bit one-dimensional. Many seem characterized by their relation to other, more central characters. Except Zeb and Adam though, I would have preferred the third book be entirely their perspectives.
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Aug 14, 2018 03:21
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I like the more meandering Vonnegut books a lot, so Hocus Pocus is actually one of my favorites, along with Deadeye Dick and Bluebeard.
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Jan 17, 2019 07:57
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Sexing the Cherry It sucked
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Jun 4, 2019 07:34
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C-Euro posted:Finished Breakfast of Champions on my ride into work this morning, my second Vonnegut after reading Slaughterhouse Five a couple years ago. I liked it, I'm sure it was edgier and more thought-provoking in the 70s before we were all terminally online but the message is still relevant. That plus the fact that it only took me three days to get through it has me feeling like I should pick up another Vonnegut sometime. BoC is great, in my opinion (huge Vonnegut fan) but it’s more like a distilling of a lot of his messages across multiple books. If you want something more literary go with Cat’s Cradle. Player Piano, his first book, is also underrated and the farthest from Vonnegut’s “style,” which some people find tedious.
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Oct 10, 2019 17:28
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Finished Three Body Problem - I was really disappointed. The first half set up these really cosmically horrifying questions and the second half was all about really rational, grounded answers. Maybe I don’t have enough experience with hard sci-fi, but I enjoyed learning legitimately about physics. I did not enjoy the big alien race from Trisolaris were incredibly humanized, I did not find any of their actions to be “inconceivable” to a human mind. I wanted them to be greater than us, but instead they were just us. I did enjoy the little juxtaposition of Evan’s claiming he wants “Pan Animal Communism,” but really it’s just an excuse to take out his anger on the human race.... much like REAL Communism claiming to be about the equality of the worker, when really it’s just an excuse to take out anger on the human race.
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Oct 18, 2019 17:51
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I never really noticed the subtext but I’ve always enjoyed the analogy that the marlin is a great work of labor and love from an artist, finally lashing it to their boat, only for the sharks (critics) to come tear it apart by sun up
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Dec 7, 2019 19:28
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What would you guys recommend for Pynchon then if someone didn’t really like the dreamy, absurd tone? I hear Mason & Dixon is fantastic and it sounds much more grounded than the rest.
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Dec 31, 2019 21:44
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If you enjoyed Civilwarland (which is fantastic) I would strongly recommend Tenth of December, which follows the tone and essence of Civilwarland perfectly. Pastoralia is also quite good, but less efficient than Civilwarland or Tenth
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Jan 18, 2020 21:05
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The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. What a cool little book, easy to read, fun stories, cool moments. The themes are surprisingly relevant to climate change, even though they were originally targeted towards Cold War-era destruction and colonization, so I didn’t find them as dated as some reviews seemed to indicate. It’s got me curious about my copy of Something Wicked This Way Comes. I never read any Bradbury in HS so I enjoyed Fahrenheit 451 and now Martian Chronicles quite a bit. Is SWTWC worth reading?
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Jan 22, 2020 03:35
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Peanut Butler posted:ursula leguin is the sci-fi author whose ideas stick in my head the longest after a read, usually. still think about The Dispossessed almost weekly and it's been six or seven months since I finished it so this lingering feeling isn’t going to go away? drat
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Feb 14, 2020 03:38
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Sham bam bamina! posted:It's one of his less popular ones, but I think you'd like Hocus Pocus more than that or Slaughterhouse-Five. It's probably my favorite Vonnegut. I’m a massive Vonnegut fan and both Hocus Pocus and BoC are among my favorites (along with Bluebeard, Deadeye Dick, and Cat’s Cradle)
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Feb 23, 2020 09:59
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Sham bam bamina! posted:Start with God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater or Jailbird or something for maximum cred. do not start with Jailbird start with Cat's Cradle or Player Piano Sandwolf fucked around with this message at 18:42 on Mar 3, 2020 |
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Mar 3, 2020 18:18
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Foundation by Isaac Asimov Fun science fiction that is effectively some Decline and Fall of Roman Empire wish fulfillment. I enjoyed the book a lot, political maneuvering and slow world-(galaxy-)building is exciting to me. I’ve heard every other book in the Foundation series is substandard compared to this one though, are literally any of them worth reading? The Hari Seldon Psychohistory thing is a fun thread to follow.
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Apr 16, 2020 21:53
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Mister Kingdom posted:I read most of Vonnegut's stuff in high school ( a loooooooong time ago) and have wanted to revisit him, but I'm afraid of what I might think now. You’ll appreciate it in new ways, honest.
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May 14, 2020 02:50
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Poldarn posted:I'm finding Discworld to be very horny, it just doesn't happen to any of the POV characters or on-screen. Mort is pretty horny
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Jun 18, 2020 02:41
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don longjohns posted:Zone One by Colson Whitehead. Now I am about halfway through Changing Planes by Ursula K. LeGuin. Eyyyy I read that earlier this year, I’m not sure I’ve found anyone else who’s read it. What did you think? I found it to be a very competent and I liked the story (still don’t think I get Mark Spitz) but overall seemed kinda gray.
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Oct 23, 2020 16:42
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Dr. Yinz Ljubljana posted:Currently in the midst of VanDerMeer's other trilogy called Ambergris and it's the fantasy equivalent - but in this one it's these tableaus of life at various points in history of this fantasy land with murderous mushroom people. Lovely. I didn't like the turn the Southern Reach trilogy took in the second book, is Ambergris more consistent throughout?
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Feb 8, 2021 18:50
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Book 1 was an incredibly atmospheric, suspenseful, thrilling story with enough open threads on the mystery to make me want to pick up the second one immediately. And then the second one is like bureaucratic droll that strips out everything good about the first one. I’ve heard they return to Area X in the third one but I’m not sure it’s enough at that point.
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Feb 8, 2021 20:37
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Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien This guy writes some of the best goddamned war books I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Things They Carried was better, but this is a close second.
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Jun 30, 2021 19:53
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3D Megadoodoo posted:I don't think I liked the horror porn. I was actually just planning to start Hyperion soon, can you be a little more specific without spoiling?
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Feb 10, 2023 20:17
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Gleisdreieck posted:Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk. In this one Chuck decided to try out magical realism and he really shouldn't have done that, spells and witchcraft do not fit his style. His worst novel that I have read so far. The only Palahniuk I ever read. I just remember the ending being so mean spirited and gross that I just never wanted to touch another of his works again.
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May 2, 2023 22:17
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Piranesi was fantastic, I’m very curious why you guys wouldn’t recommend it to folks? The slowly revealed gravity of the world the narrator inhabits, the slow reveal of the mystery. The narrator’s words feels like the thoughts of an alien at first. Just an absolute blast of a book.
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Jul 27, 2023 17:48
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