OT: What are you reading?
Thing about X-Ray, Matt, is that its not written as a traditional autobiography. Ray writes in the character of a young worker in a dystopian corporation who has to interview a cranky 70-year-old recluse Ray Davies. It becomes a dialogue between an imagined younger self and older self, while still telling the story of Davies and The Kinks. Of course, it will be most interesting to fans, but its as far from a typical autobiography as you can get.
Hmmm. That kind of piques my interest.
Just re-read Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman. Highly recommend it, easy read as it’s a play and about 80-90 pages long. Fantastic script. Also just read Lethem’s Wall of the Sky, Wall of the Eye collection of short fiction. Recommend that as well to fans of the genre.
I need a good long book to read, anyone care to throw some my way? Preferably fiction, but non-fiction is just as fun!
actually matt, i thought that too but guess what? he kept diaries.
he remembers EVERYTHING.
Have you read 1Q84 yet, Brentos?
That i have not, i will look into it. I was about to re-read Philip K Dick’s The Man in the High Castle, but i’ll put that on hold for a new read! thanks for the suggestion!
Whew, over 900 pages! i’m up for it. around this time two years ago i tackled Infinite Jest. Great read but finishing it was almost better than the actual book itself. I much prefer DFW’s non-fiction to his fiction, though his short fiction collections have been pretty swell.
@Brentos
Can you talk a little about Pillowman, without giving anything away? (The short length appeals to me.)
RIP Harry Crews .
Ghost Soldiers: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II’s Most Dramatic Mission – Hampton Sides
Tarzan of the Apes (1912) Edgar Rice Burroughs
Had such a good time with A Princess of Mars (much to my surprise!) I thought I would give Tarzan a look.
Empire of the Summer Moon
By S. C. Gwynne – The true story of the last Comanche chief, his white mother and the Texans who hunted for them.
A tad too sentimental and thereby romanticized, but a I-DID-NOT-KNOW-THAT myth-buster kinda read.
Got it yesterday and read the first two ‘years’. My anxieties are the exact same as these two guys.
I’m just finishing Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock and now I feel like I need a good long shower. Damn, has anyone else read this book? I loved every filthy, grimy, depressing story.
The Sea Wall Marguerite Duras
Not nearly so good as The Lover but I would think her remembrances in Wartime Writings probably closest to reality, The North China Lover is a bit confused as it starts as a screenplay and then settles down as a memoir.
Her descriptions of the sex games she played with the younger of her 2 brothers first appear here and one might question.
The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick [Hardcover]
Philip K. Dick (Author), Pamela Jackson (Editor), Jonathan Lethem
The body is unreadable – I read the footnotes only.
The fascination of the authors is PKD’s ability to create concepts. I don’t know, but given he correctly predicted the near future we now live in, I suspect that for everyone else the fascination is that he could have unlocked the secret of life in his Exegesis.
Think about your answer to that in the context of all things imaginary…. dream, dream of electric sheep.
What? You breakin’ your Faulkner streak?
For me: (finally!) The Metamorphisis – Franz Kafka
For the time being, yes. Part four of The Bear wore me out and on top of that the only two I’ve on hand at the moment I’m not ready to tackle again, yet.
Well it was a very impressive run. Glad to see you’ve decided to lighten things up with the side-splitting antics of Eugen O’Neill!
I would like to pick it up again sometime later, but figured on taking at least a brief intermission [been thinking about getting the Big Woods collection, even though two of the stories are, more-or-less, in GDM if altered somewhat.]
As far as side-splitting, at least the first one’s a comedy. ;) But I’ve been looking forward to reading more of his work, only have Long Day’s Journey and Iceman under my belt at the moment, and I’ve had the LoA volume sitting on my shelf since last December.
^ One of my favorites. I think it’s Nabokov’s best.
So you are the reason despair is on hold at sapl. Been reading war and peace, Out of sight by Elmore Leonard and becuase of Wu Wong I will be reading Nabokov’s autobiography speak, memory. Any one else read more than one thing at once sometimes?
Matt Parks
I find it hard to believe that Keith remembers enough stuff that happened to him to write a book ;)
Seriously, though, Ruby, thanks for the reco. I’d skipped that one because I’ve read so much about the Stones over the year I guess.
Actually, I did think of one recent one I really liked. Rodney Crowell’s is really good even if you’ve no particularly interest in his music.