Whatcha Reading Now?

Posted:
in AppleOutsider edited January 2014
Couldn't find the old thread on the first 2 pages, so I thought I'd start one afresh.



I've recently finished reading David Mitchell's Black Swan Green, and although it was well written as are all of his novels, I can't say I liked it nearly as much as either Cloud Atlas or Number9Dream. Right after reading this book, about a middle class English public schoolboy, I read Irvine Welsh's Glue, which is about four Scottish lower class public schoolboys (who grew into young men of various levels of success), which I have to admit I found much more pleasurable and rewarding. Maybe I missed some profound insight or something in the Mitchell book... not sure.



Now, I'm reading Nabakov, specifically Ada or Ardour, which despite having thouroughly loved Lolita from start to finish and having also enjoyed a collection of Nabokov's short stories, I found difficult to get into early on. Fortunately, I kept at it, and about halfway through I'm really enjoying it. This is despite the fact that, like Lolita and unbeknownst to me prior to reading it, Ada is another story of a love too taboo to be written about by any other than this eccentric Russian overliterary genius.



Was it that having just finished something written in vulgar Scottish proletariat dialect (and following that with a brief return to horrorsmith Clive Barker), my brain wasn't tuned to the complex sentence structures and roundabout descriptions Nabakov so loves? I don't know, but I suspect that it was!



This has caused me to formulate an interesting hypothesis:



Does our brain tune itself so quickly to the language to which we are exposed?



I've also noticed a transference of the intellectual style of what I've been reading to what I've been writing. Case in point my post in PO about the definition of "victory" in the War on Terror. I don't think I could have written that a month ago when I was reading Welsh or Barker. While I admit I can never come close to being a Nabakov (and who the hell can?), or even a Mitchell, I do think what I read greatly affects how I write. Having observed this, I've come to the conclusion that were I to immerse myself in sophisticated literature of the style of Nabakov and Huxley, I may be able to maitain a certain style that I respect of myself within my own writing.



Of course that would all become boring very quickly...



Maybe it's time to read some Chuck Pahlaniuk so I can better flame the likes of SDW and Trumptman... LOL



Actually, it looks like the next book I'll be reading will be Michel Houellebecq's The Possibility of an Island so maybe you can look forward to me spewing out violent sexual annhialism in the near future.



But I digress...



So, whatcha reading?
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 65
    shawnjshawnj Posts: 6,656member
  • Reply 2 of 65
    shawnjshawnj Posts: 6,656member
    Naw, the plain-english movement is taking law schools by storm!



    You send the poorly-written, legalese crap to opposing counsel you don't like.



    I'm definitely taking some sort of human rights law elective when I get the chance.



    Other than that hideous stack of books I'm too familiar with, I'd like to finally polish off my Chekhov anthology, actually sit down and read an issue of Harper's or The New Yorker cover to cover, and maybe go to Barnes and Noble to pick up a random book off the shelves.
  • Reply 3 of 65
    Now ... "Flags of Our Fathers" ... excellent history lesson.



    Couple monthss ago... "I Am Charlotte Simmmons" ... almost funny (though it wassn't intended to be.) A pretty good take on US Universities and their focus on Sports.
  • Reply 4 of 65
    I'm reading "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova. Heard a review of it on NPR and it sounded intriguing. Well I'm about a quarter of the way through it and I'm getting a little bored with it. I had expected it to be a little more scarier and suspenseful.



    "Breathtakingly suspenseful and beautifully written, THE HISTORIAN is the story of a young woman plunged into a labyrinth where the secrets of her family's past connect to an inconceivable evil: the dark fifteenth-century reign of Vlad the Impaler and a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive through the ages. The search for the truth becomes an adventure of monumental proportions, taking us from monasteries and dusty libraries to the capitals of Eastern Europe--in a feat of storytelling so rich, so hypnotic, so exciting that it has enthralled readers around the world. "



    Maybe given the fact that I had just finished Neil Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon" before this one...
  • Reply 5 of 65
    One of the good thing about having a commute is I've started to read books again. Right now I'm reading The History of The I.R.A. by Tim Pat Coogan and I just finished a book that I would heartily recommend to all, The End of Poverty by Jeffrey D. Sachs. A very enlightening book that really makes you think.
  • Reply 6 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by trick fall


    One of the good thing about having a commute is I've started to read books again.





    Yeah, I'm commuting again and have been for about 6 months and I've read over FIVE books. About a book a month.



    1. A Scanner Darkly (Philip K. Dick was a genius, I'll be reading more of his work)

    2. Let It Blurt: The Life & Times of Lester Bangs (Greatest Rock critic of all time)

    3. The Adventures of Kavalier & Klay (Had this sitting around for a year, great book)

    4. Men of Tomorrow. Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book (The real story of the Comic Book business, also good)

    5. Cryptonomicon (I don't know, was interesting, exciting to read but the crypto stuff went over my head and the ending left me wanting...an ending)

    6. The Historian (Like I said, meh...)
  • Reply 7 of 65
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    Being an English teacher, I do little that is not reading.



    In the last 3 months...

    * - previously read



    For School:

    Night - Elie Weisel

    * Lord of the Flies - William Golding

    * Animal Farm - George Orwell

    * Native Son - Richard Wright

    * The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

    Rise to Rebellion - Jeff Shaara



    Personal Interest:

    Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach

    Demon-Haunted World - Carl Sagan

    The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins

    Mere Christianity - CS Lewis

    The Areas of my Expertise - John Hodgman (goddam hilarious)

    Partly Cloudy Patriot - Sarah Vowell



    Audiobooks are fantastic. If I'm not talking to someone I'm probably listening to a book on my iPod.
  • Reply 8 of 65
    shawnjshawnj Posts: 6,656member
    What are you back in school for?



    Edit: Ah I skimmed right over that first sentence. When did you decide to become an English teacher?



    "Marsha" the office lady or whoever push you over the edge?
  • Reply 9 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by groverat


    Being an English teacher, I do little that is not reading.



    In the last 3 months...

    * - previously read



    For School:

    Night - Elie Weisel

    * Lord of the Flies - William Golding

    * Animal Farm - George Orwell

    * Native Son - Richard Wright

    * The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

    Rise to Rebellion - Jeff Shaara



    Personal Interest:

    Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach

    Demon-Haunted World - Carl Sagan

    The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins

    Mere Christianity - CS Lewis

    The Areas of my Expertise - John Hodgman (goddam hilarious)

    Partly Cloudy Patriot - Sarah Vowell



    Audiobooks are fantastic. If I'm not talking to someone I'm probably listening to a

    book on my iPod.





    hmm im going to guess freshman english teacher?
  • Reply 10 of 65
    The Mormon Question. - Sarah Barringer Gordon



    (Not recommended.)
  • Reply 11 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ShawnJ










    I didn't know you and Colbert were cousins?
  • Reply 12 of 65
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    I quite like the idea of molding young minds, hence the teaching.



    8th grade
  • Reply 13 of 65
    Giorgio Agamben, The Open

    What animal would you like to morph into right before the world blows up?
  • Reply 14 of 65
    Stephen King's Christine.
  • Reply 15 of 65
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tonton


    Oh, Groverat, I envy you! I'd love that job...



    Right now I'm teaching 3 four and five year-olds, many of whom never learned a word of English thus far in their young lives. The books I'm reading this week are "Farmyard Babies" and "On the Farm (Lift the Flap)". LOL



    That's my part-time job.



    I also work as a full-time marketing manager in the printing industry... we print books, but strictly coffee-table...



    tonton:



    8th grade Texans are, for the most part, not the most willing English students.
  • Reply 16 of 65
    This semester in my novels class I have read:



    The Stranger by Albert Camus

    L'étranger by Albert Camus

    (This book was originally printed in french)

    1984 by George Orwell

    Watership Down by Richard Adams

    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

    (Sadly, our class did not have time to read it so we are watching the movie.)



    My favorite of these books was 1984. Having read Animal Farm last year I found it interesting how consistent Orwell was in how a society can be controlled. On the other end of this like/dislike spectrum is Watership Down. I hated that book. I didn't really see anything there to think deeply about. I didn't really like the writing style either. Adam's spent too much time describing stuff that didn't really matter. Like plants.



    That is all the reading we will have done. For the final I have to choose one of 25 books, read, analyze and then write a glorified book report on it. I'm thinking about choosing Heart of Darkness or Slaughterhouse 5. Anybody have any thoughts on those?
  • Reply 17 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by groverat


    tonton:



    8th grade Texans are, for the most part, not the most willing English students.



    haha.



    I feel sorry for Texas teachers.



    Really. Really. sorry :P
  • Reply 18 of 65
    The problem with me picking Fahrenheit 451 is that I've read it before. We are supposed to pick a book that we have not read. Thank for the critiquing tip. I'm a senior in high school, just so you know.



    Interesting what you said about Orwell. In class, our teacher mentioned Brave New World as some more reading to go along with 1984, but it is not in the curriculum.



    In my previous post I forgot to mention that I'm also planning on reading The Count of Monte Cristo and Catch-22 after I'm done with my novels class. I've heard that they're both really good.
  • Reply 19 of 65
    709709 Posts: 2,016member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tonton


    Gotta find the song by the Cure to go with the book as a soundtrack...



    'Killing an Arab' off of Boys Don't Cry (or The Singles collection).
  • Reply 20 of 65
    I seem to be one of the lite readers here, I'm re-reading The Cuckoo's Egg, also I'm newly reading The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian and Switching to the Mac by David Pogue & Adam Goldstein. I haven't searched too hard, but I haven't found a place where all the n00bs introduce themselves....so hello everyone!
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