What are you reading?

[ig]

Good to see a other Murakami fan onsite, can't do any wrong in my eyes, also the end of Kafka left me a bit disapponted..

Not sure about "Kafka", personally. I enjoyed it at the time...but it hasn't left the lasting impression that some of Murakami's other novels have, and "Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" does a similar thing more thoroughly. Looking forward to reading the new collection of stories, though: not generally a fan of short stories, but Murakami's are often stunning.

Forensix - i've heard good things about Houellebecq, he's on my to read list..

"Atomised" is the one to read, I think. A really untidy and unpleasant piece of work, and very satisfying as a result. "Whatever" is just a pointless re-write of Camus, and Houellebecq isn't even vaguely in that league. "Platform" has its moments, but it's a bit of a shambles.

Any Beckett fans round here? (Cue silence.)

[sakurako]

Atomised - Michel Houellebecq, bought this ages ago just started it last week top book

this has just been adapted into a film as well by oskar roehler - tis out at the moment... I really wanna see the film as well as read the book

[nirz]

I really like baudrillard, When I studied his theory it helped me come to terms with the current state of the world, I find his obsession with image reflects the predominant concern of contemporary society.. ie how stuff looks (and perceived) and not the deeper issues which truly matter. Blackdowns piece on David Cameron sums the facile way politicians cort voters through how they appear (not just their visual image but public perception of the party they represent) and attempt to gain acceptance by a mass audience which sacrifices the tradition of voters being attracted to policy rather than the party tailoring policy to increase popularity. Baudrillards work of the past few years has become a bit stagnant, fourth order simulacra is his last good piece.

[narcossist]

Anyone into Camus at all?

I've read The Outsider and The Plague, both of which I really enjoyed. What else is worth checking for by him?

The Fall. on a dark tip but well enjoyed it, bit like Sartre's Nausea but better written in my opinion.

[antilynd]

this has just been adapted into a film as well by oskar roehler - tis out at the moment...

it's not bad -- for a german movie I haven't read the book so can't compare them tho. What I do know is that in the film all the philosophical parts of the book were left out...

[antilynd]

[adruu]

eh, murakami was sort of boring! i just didnt like wind-up enough to finish it, and never had the time to try hard-boiled.

he wrote an article in harper's last year though, on coincidence, serendipity and music that was pretty good. i dont think it is online.

I know this is pretty dumb, but i was filling out a friendster profile not too long ago and it struck me that a lot of my favorite writers have names that start with b
burroughs, benjamin, ballard, beaudrillard, baudelaire, borges -- i think there were more and i could add lenny bruce and auguste blaqui if i was really stretching it.

[ifp]

borges!

[smartkid]

Currently reading some old Garth Ennis "Preacher" comics series. Perfect for summertime.

And just finished "Numbers" by Viktor Pelevin.

[TRG]

I know this is pretty dumb, but i was filling out a friendster profile not too long ago and it struck me that a lot of my favorite writers have names that start with b
burroughs, benjamin, ballard, beaudrillard, baudelaire, borges --

Mine are Bukowski and Brautigan

[melody]

models being strangled with their own intestines makes for good reading.

[shonky]

models being strangled with their own intestines makes for good reading.

Now that's a book. Read it a few years back, much easier going than some of his work. Very under-rated in his black as hell comedy writing. Own or have read virtually all of his work

[metalboxproducts]

If your into films check Gods And Monters. Bit obvious, but very good

[dubweiser]

The Cosmic Serpent by Jeremy Narby.
Book about an expedition of an antropologist into shamanic culture of south america.

[measure d]

VALIS by PKD. Its basically an autobiographical account of how he went mad.

[3dm]

I'd recommend "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser which I read about a year ago.

It's enough to make you both Anarchist and Vegetarian reading about the horrors of abattoirs and so-called rendering plants (serious cruelty to the Human animal going on in there too) and the way the fast food corporations manipulate U.S. from an early age (targetted marketing, sponsorship of school curriculums, as well as fixing up the menus in the canteens), then go union busting if we dare to get organised against them.

Rumour is there's a film in the making of this book...

I'm currently dipping into a weighty tome called:
"Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics", which ranges from Futurist, Dadaist and Surrealist manifestos and articles to a treatise on 'degenerate art' by no less than Adolf Hitler himself, although I've yet to find the nerve to read that one!

Turns out that Leon Trotsky also wrote a fair bit about the role of art in the revolutionary society too, and put into writing how much he hated Stalin by this means too!

There's also some very interesting material about how the arts in the U.S. benefitted from Roosevelt's New Deal programme.

In other words, this book is an absolute treasure trove.

I've got a book about the painter Francis Bacon awaiting my attention after this.


(I felt like being contrary)

[melody]

models being strangled with their own intestines makes for good reading.

Now that's a book. Read it a few years back, much easier going than some of his work. Very under-rated in his black as hell comedy writing. Own or have read virtually all of his work

i found rules of attraction and less than zero alot easier to read than this one. i haven't touched american psycho cos i hear it's the most graphic piece he's ever written

going to see him do a reading from lunar park in august. i bet he's a million times more fucked up in person. awesome.

[subeena]

[subeena]

[img] http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/6482/onenomanyru5.gif that was supposed to be "one no many yeses"

[techmouse]

Just finished The Places in Between by Rory Stewart, which is an account of one man's trek on foot across Afghanistan in 2002, staying in villages along the way. A really interesting snapshot of a country in a weird kind of limbo. So much variation in people and custom over so little distance.

Just started A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick. Drug addled sci-fi psychadelia. Good so far. Film coming out later this year, directed by Richard Linklater and scripted by Charlie Kauffman.