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Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010
All goons should read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, it's To Kill a Mockingbird but good.

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Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Big Mad Drongo posted:

I read John Cheever's short story "The Swimmer" a while back and it's really stuck with me. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a quick, accessible read about wealth, happiness and suburban life.

Any other authors/stories that combine a deconstruction of suburbia with surrealism?

There's a good movie based on this story too.

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

OldTennisCourt posted:

I love crime films and novels but I'd really like to read some of the best classics of the genre. I'm currently reading Hamett's Red Harvest, can anyone recommend some good classic Noir or any sort of crime/mystery novels that aren't airport fiction level garbage?

Jim Thompson, David Goodis

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Moacher posted:

Does someone who really loved the book want to chime in and maybe describe for me what Catch 22 means to them, or why it deserves all the praise it receives? I'd love to get a deeper perspective, and maybe some more explanation on the aspects I might have missed that make this novel one of the greats.

really funny drunk driving scenes

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Mel Mudkiper posted:

I've honestly never even bothered to read him because he seems Oprah book club-esque

same, except Tolstoy

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Mel Mudkiper posted:

This derail never would have happened if everyone read David Vann like I told them to

please go away

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Mel Mudkiper posted:

For example, its hilarious to me that people are acting like Bolano is old hat and trite when I got Savage Detectives day 1 when he was an obscure Chilean guy. Its nice to be ground floor on something important rather than wait for someone to tell you its important.

epic win!

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010
yeah there's not really a lot of variety in women's writing

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

A human heart posted:

what women have you read?

Marguerite Henry, Jk rowling

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010
against the country

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010
top 1 sports book: universal baseball association

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Franchescanado posted:

A lot of people I know love/revere that book and talk about how they laugh their asses off at it, but I always found Ignatius to be such a grating character that I only got through about half the book.

sometimes books have characters you're not supposed to like

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Franchescanado posted:

No poo poo, Sherlock, but sometimes characters actively annoy you, so you stop spending time with them.

stretch yourself

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Tim Burns Effect posted:

I think the 3.5 star rating on Amazon is deserved. Sorry Vann-wagon.

That's a good rating.

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

at the date posted:

(edit: To be clear, I mean cynicism about exactly how rugged and independent this Harvard grad's lifestyle actually was, being a mile outside of town in a highly developed area of New England, mixed with envy of his rugged and independent lifestyle.)

you gotta be kidding me!

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

A human heart posted:

Leg Over Leg by Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq sounds absolutely amazing but i haven't read it yet personally because my library ignored my request for it

it's good

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Invicta{HOG}, M.D. posted:

and to call DFW arrogant for writing a long book is dumb.

well she actually called him arrogant for expecting people to read it twice but we can't let any criticism of dead author man go unanswered

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Abalieno posted:

There is something that links those book that isn't "length"

girth?

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010
everyone go find a drug thread or something

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

A human heart posted:

I want Gerald Murnane to get it because he's extremely good and it might make more people read him.

I've only read The Plains and Inland but I agree

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010
now that the book is by long-suspected name x instead of name y i will never be able to enjoy it again

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

he's right that charles portis should win

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Mel Mudkiper posted:

I don't see what horrifying about the rotting corpse of a murdered hunter literally hanging over a campsite as a physical representation of moral condemnation

this guy is dark!

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Tree Goat posted:

This is the ideal situation because now the committee has an excuse not to award another American a lit prize for a decade and a half minimum, but the prize was not given to an American author, who would then put on airs above their station.

:discourse:

this is good

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010
idk about best but i read the jarvis and it was good

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Mel Mudkiper posted:

I've always theorized the reason everyone remembers Don Quixote attacking the windmill is because its on page 60 and most people never got any further

stunning and original theory

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

WAY TO GO WAMPA!! posted:

guys I think the most pure way to experience the Odyssey is to hire an old greek man to read it to me, any recommendations on where I can find an old Greek man?

http://www.oeaw.ac.at/kal/sh/index.htm

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

CestMoi posted:

The correct answer to should I read a prose or verse Odyssey is: you should read the Iliad

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Rush Limbo posted:

It really is an excellent book that feels like a culmination of all of Moore's work thus far, to the point where I'm kind of worried that he might die soon since that tends to be the case when a magnum opus like this is released.

It's also quite fun reading some of the critical reviews of it because the condescending tone from a lot of them is amazing. How dare a working class schlub create something we can't understand etc. has been the prevailing theme from a lot of people.

working class millionaire alan moore

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010
sot-ewed factor is always recommended

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010
manga is the superior fantasy vehicle

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010
the best books i read this year are the plains, the left-handed woman, and the charles portis anthology

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Slackerish posted:

I'm looking for books with unreliable narrators, preferably ones that are somewhat "weird" along the lines of Kafka. Did Nabokov do any unreliable narrators other than in Lolita or Pale Fire?

the good soldier

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010
Good writers don't write bad books

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Chamberk posted:

New Saunders is still the best book I've read all year.

Please read more books

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

pleasecallmechrist posted:

Hillbilly Elegy. Which did come out before the election.

You're as dumb as Coates

I'm reading Compass and it's cool so far.

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010

Mel Mudkiper posted:

To claim the level of proficiency able to appreciate literature in a foreign language in multiple languages if you started in adulthood is solidly impossible.

nah you can do this. who cares if you can't keep up with a native speaker, you're reading

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010
I was not aware of all this psychological evidence I'm going to stop working on the language I've been learning

Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010
who's the '50s cocksucker pioneer

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Officer Sandvich
Feb 14, 2010
autobiography of alice b toklas but most of them are good

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