Is it that time of the year again? =) Since the semi-annual Zornlist Summer Reading List thread hasn't started, I'll get the ball rolling this year. So here's a list of stuff I hope to get to read (in alphabetical order): - Jake Arnott's "The Long Firm" - Mark Danielewski's "House of Leaves" - Samuel Delany's "Dhalgren" - M. Gira's "The Consumer" - Iain Sinclair's "White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings" So, which should I read first? =) And something for your reading lists: Alan Moore's novel "Voice of the Fire" -- a secret history, told in interrelated vignettes, of some section of England that I can't remember. =) "Voice of the Fire" is equal parts Russell Hoban, Peter Ackroyd, T.E.D. Klein (and, I'm told, Sinclair) -- and, of course, Moore's previous work (particularly "From Hell" and "Promethea"). Later, Ben p.s. This was supposed to be the summer I was reserving for "The Recognitions," but I weakened at the last minute. http://members.tripod.com/~tamad2/ ICQ: thewilyfilipino / Yahoo!: sunny70
At 03:01 PM 6/6/02 -0700, Benito Vergara wrote:
Is it that time of the year again? =)
- Mark Danielewski's "House of Leaves"
I haven't read any of the other candidates (except Recognitions, which I'd say is for Gaddis completists only, read JR instead). However, House of Leaves is one of the few books I can remember that made my skin creep. For those who don't know (no spoilers here), the story concerns a family where they discover that their house is measurably larger on the inside than the outside, and the story is wrapped in an incredibly realistic scholarly commentary apparatus (read *all* of the footnotes) and extremely innovative typesetting for a widely available novel. Stunning on all levels, I cannot recommend this book too highly. I recently finished Russell Banks' tale of abolitionist John Brown, Cloudsplitter, which moved pretty quickly for an 800-page novel. I will say I found the novel much more traditional than some of Banks' earlier work, but still very well done. For thrillers, Jean-Christophe Grangé's Flight of the Storks was the most gripping, but I also enjoyed Hiassen's Basket Case. I also read Elmore Leonard's Pagan Babies -- anyone else think his earlier work is *much* better than the more recent stuff? For my recent non-fiction slogging, I'm slowly working through Francois Furet's Passing of an Illusion, a history of the idea of communism. I grew up in the USA in the 50s and 60s, where the worst thing you could call someone was a commie. This book gives me an extremely interesting context for that attitude, although so far (just finishing WWII) it has been much more Eurocentric than directly related to events in the US. It's a very nice addition to the series of 'history of the 20th century' books I've been reading over the last few years, including the likes of Hobsbawm and Johnson. np: Lutz Glandien, Fifth Elephant -- Caleb Deupree cdeupree@erinet.com
Personally, my reading list has turned to California anthropology. I just started Carey McWilliams' FACTORIES IN THE FIELDS, which reads like a fantastic novel of corruption. I'm reading -- and recommending -- California history to any and all who like a good crime story. SELECTED LETTERS OF DASHIELL HAMMETT has been on my bedtable of late, and is a wonderful read. Douglas Henry Daniels' Lester Young bio LESTER LEAPS IN was terrific bedtime reading -- everytime I read some, I fell asleep. Same with Patti Jones' attempted bio of Mose Allison, ONE MAN'S BLUES. Richard Su8dhalter's recent bio of Hoagy Carmichael, STARDUST MELODY, was much better. Michael Moore's STUPID WHITE MEN was a good read, if short on humor and long on anger. Didn't bother me a bit. Mike is justifiably pissed. skip h
Well, after reading a fairly inconsequential new novel set in the classical music world at the request of a fellow editor at one of my jobs (Christopher Miller's 'Simon Silber,' which pretty shamelessly borrows its narrative conceit from Nabokov's 'Pale Fire') and a brief, restorative dose of Philip K. Dick ('Ubik,' 'Galactic Pot-Healer,' 'A Scanner Darkly'), I've been deeply immersed lately in big, heavy, profound composer biographies. For those interested in the subject matter, I can't recommend Maynard Solomon's 'Beethoven' and 'Mozart: A Life' highly enough. The musicology is sound, and the psychological insight is illuminating in the extreme. Currently I'm about 100 pages into Jan Swafford's 'Johannes Brahms.' On the horizon: Frances FitzGerald's 'Way Out There in the Blue' (a study of the Reagan Administration's disfunction set against its backing of the original 'Star Wars' missile defense plan), Jonathan Franzen's 'The Corrections,' and the first four issues of Los Bros Hernandez's new Love and Rockets series, which I only just discovered today. Steve Smith ssmith36@sprynet.com NP - X, "Left & Right," 'See How We Are' (Rhino)
Has anyone read the new Sue Mingus book? The critics seem to have thought it too much about her and not enough Mingus, though how could it be otherwise? mb np: amy denio, birthing chair blues
-----Original Message----- From: zorn-list-admin@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:zorn-list-admin@mailman.xmission.com]On Behalf Of Caleb T. Deupree
I haven't read any of the other candidates
Well, Danielewski's book I heard about through the Ligotti mailing list, but I can't seem to remember reading anything else about it. I like Caleb's description of it -- it kind of sounds like an odd cross between "The Blair Witch Project" and my favorite Book With A House That's Larger On The Inside, John Crowley's "Little Big." Except that I know it won't be. Arnott I heard of because he was compared to James Ellroy in a review I read, and I needed a hardboiled fix. And Gira I know because of the Swans, whose (to tie this up with an earlier thread) early-90s albums need to be rereleased. I've also just cracked open (in the realm of non-fiction this time) E. Taylor Atkins' "Blue Nippon: Authenticating Jazz in Japan" -- on Japanese ambivalence about enjoying and creating jazz, its roots in anxieties about the authenticity of Japanese jazz, and its relationship to (Western) modernity. Looks really promising. As for Gaddis, maybe not this year. =) Later, Ben http://members.tripod.com/~tamad2/ ICQ: thewilyfilipino / Yahoo!: sunny70
_House of Leaves_ is amazing, esp for a first published novel. One of the more interesting books to hit the big time in quite a while. Kind of an HP Lovecraft meets Borges. Nice experimentation with form, and wonderfully playful and creepy at the same time. _Dhalgren_ is brilliant. Pure Delaney at his best, except for maybe Hogg. Almost required reading for anyone creating art, esp writers. One of his few that's as gripping emotionally as well as intellectually. _The Consumer_ I found dissappointing, but it's been a couple years. Perhaps I'd feel differently now. I remember liking the title story, but not much of the rest. Many of them seemed to be soley about shock value, and lacked real substance. Almost a dumbed down Splatter Punk style. This coming from a long time Swans fan. The Moore novel sounds interesting...one of the better writers of comics around, after maybe Chris Ware. I'd be curious to see him work in another format. On my to read shelf: _Libra_ by Don Delillo, _Blood of Mugwump_ by Doug Rice, _Hebdomeros_ by Giorgio de Chirico, Short Works by Octavia Butler, _Eunoia_ and _Pataphysics: The Poetics of an Imaginary Science_ by Christian Bok, and a slew of lit mags I need to catch up on. Good reading, everybody. Matt
My reading list: Daniel Clowes: "Eightball" - the latest issue, pretty nice; a new step in a new direction after "David Boring." Adrian Tomine- "Optic Nerve #8"- a beautiful and heartbreaking story that spans the entire issue. Chris Ware- the latest Acme Novetly issue. I'm ordering another copy to take apart and build. Neil Gaiman- "American Gods"- Modern fantasy the way I like it- with schlocky tuff-dood characters and metaphysical mayhem on a series of roadtrips. Umberto Eco- "Focault's Pendulum"- Like Aronovsky's "Pi" to the umpteenth exponent - on fake acid. Raymond Carver- "what we talk about when we talk about love" - He's got a schtick, but he's working it in a good way. andrew
on 6/6/02 10:00 PM, Andrew at ahorton@vt.edu wrote:
Raymond Carver- "what we talk about when we talk about love" - He's got a schtick, but he's working it in a good way.
That's some extremely classy stuff right there. CATHEDRAL also rocks the house. skip h NP: graham connah, GURNEY TO THE LINCOLN CENTER OF YOUR MIND
That's some extremely classy stuff right there. CATHEDRAL also rocks the house.
I'm really feeling it, and I can understand why people compare Daniel Clowes and Adrian Tomine to Carver. It's like Henry Miller minus the fucking. "Cathedral" is next on my list.
on 6/6/02 11:35 PM, Andrew at ahorton@vt.edu wrote:
That's some extremely classy stuff right there. CATHEDRAL also rocks the house.
I'm really feeling it, and I can understand why people compare Daniel Clowes and Adrian Tomine to Carver. It's like Henry Miller minus the fucking.
"Cathedral" is next on my list.
It's even more than Henry Miller. Carver was far more loving than Miller ever was. He's like the Dave Alvin of short stories (although I think his poems leave something to be desired). sh
and Adrian Tomine to Carver. It's like Henry Miller minus the fucking.
I am rereading sections of black spring, speaking of dirty love... and while we are on the subj of sex and books, I just finished tom robbins' Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates, it is by far one of his greatest books, its extremely current in world events [a few sections gave me chills] and probes the funnybone of our social taboos. other reads, Speed Tribes: Days and Nights With Japan's Next Generation, Karl Taro Last Exit to Brooklyn, Herbert Selby __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com
on 02.06.07 2:35 AM, Andrew at ahorton@vt.edu wrote:
"Cathedral" is next on my list.
I have a first edition hardcover of this looking for a good home. any offers? rl http://www.velocity.net/~bb10k CRISPELL; IBARRA; Wm. PARKER; RIVERS; SHIPP; D.S. WARE; COURVOISIER; ENEIDI; MANERI; MORRIS; SPEARMAN; THREADGILL; WORKMAN; Beckett Eulogy; Baseball & the 10,000 Things; Time Stops; LOVETORN; HARD BOIL; LUCILLE, a Reverential Journal of the Care of the Beloved Hag...
Since shit has been mentioned, I can tell you what I've been reading and still be on topic. Since most of my reading time is on the bus to/from work and that environment is not the most conducive to reading, page-turners work well for me. I've been on a thriller jag recently. I've read Carl Hiassen's "Basket Case". OK, but not that gripping. In the excellent category are a couple of not-yet-published books, "Money To Burn" by James Zagel and "The First Billion" by Christopher Reich. Zagel is a former Chicago federal district court judge, and that shows through the prose. The courtroom scenes are just a sidebar to the main story, but they're very sharply defined scenes. The heist itself occupies only a little of the story - the end game is what's happening here. The Reich novel is fast paced and just like a walk through a house of mirrors. Great fun. - Dave
On Fri, 7 Jun 2002 09:25:55 -0700 "David Egan" wrote:
I've been on a thriller jag recently. I've read Carl Hiassen's "Basket Case". OK, but not that gripping. In the excellent category are a couple of not-yet-published books, "Money To Burn" by James Zagel and "The First Billion" by Christopher Reich.
Talking about thrillers, what do people think of Lawrence Block? Any recommendations? Thanks, Patrice. NR: HISTOIRE: Claude Simon NP: PLI SELON PLI: Pierre Boulez
Is it that time of the year again? =) Since the semi-annual Zornlist Summer Reading List thread hasn't started,
I love these lists because even though I've been in the book business 15 years and a constant reader twice that long there's always something interesting I've never heard about. So: currently reading: Orson Welles Interviews Sienkiewicz - Quo Vadis Javier Marias - When I Was Mortal will read in the next couple of months: Jiminez - Caesar Against Rome Schodt - Manga Manga Trollope - Doctor Thorne Henry James - A Life in Letters Terry Pratchett - Moving Pictures, Eric (& then I'll have read all the Discworld books) Beevor - Stalingrad Brewer - Pleasures of the Imagination (18th cent. English culture) & I may finally get around to Simmons' Hyperion books and the recent Mingus and Bing Crosby bios but don't know if that'll happen; also keep wanting to read more Iain Sinclair but they've been checked out for ages comics: Alan Moore - Top 10 Book Two & Promethea Book One, Lafler - Bughouse, Robinson - Box Office Poison, Miller - Daredevil Visionaries 1, Steranko - Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD, Gerber - Essential Howard the Duck, Bendis - Powers Vol 2, more Walt Kelly and that new Krazy Kat collection I always find a bunch of interesting-looking stuff in the library that I bring home; if the first couple of chapters aren't impossibly dull I read the whole thing. Currently in the stack: Simoons - Eat Not This Flesh (about food taboos), Allen - Doubt's Boundless Sea (about Renaissance atheists/skeptics), Volo - Daily Life in the Age of Sail, Richardson - Georges Bataille (out of an entire shelf of English-language books about Bataille the only one that looked remotely like a biography; are there any bios?), Costen - The Cathars & the Albigensian Crusade, Etherington - Rider Haggard, & after reading a Guy Debord bio I'm hoping to re-read Machiavelli (& possibly Machiavelli In Hell which has been by my bed for a couple of years) and get to Gracian and the Sophists. Or then again I may just read comic books for a few weeks.... ----------------------------- Violinist Bauer-Lechner on Mahler: "The first thing he composed on paper at the age of six was a polka, to which he added a funeral march as an introduction." The Funhouse Journal http://wlt4.home.mindspring.com/blog/journal.htm
participants (13)
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Andrew -
Benito Vergara -
Caleb T. Deupree -
David Egan -
jason tors -
Lang Thompson -
Matthew Moffett -
Michael Berman -
Patrice L. Roussel -
Rick Lopez -
skip Heller -
Steve Smith -
s~Z