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GypsyDeath
Zapped Profile
3575 Posts |
 Posted - 04/01/2004 : 08:26:44
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yeah, girlfriend in a coma is probably my favourite actually.
I was going to ask him when he gave a talk if it was related to the song...but er, I didnt.
actually he ws telling me how he actually desgned babies cribs when he was younger - he went to art school when he was like 20 or something in italy, dropped out, got a job and designed this cot, which they still use now. he was moaning about how he doesnt get any of the royalites. hehe
Boys go to Jupiter, Get more stupider,
Girls go to Mars, Become rock stars
Wanna fuck and fight in the basement? |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 02/10/2005 : 17:57:11
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A year later....
Anybody read "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides?
Amazing book, imho.
 I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
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shineoftheever
> Teenager of the Year <
Canada
4307 Posts |
Posted - 02/10/2005 : 19:14:17
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time on your hands K? I think i saw that writers name on the irvine welsh site and made a note to check him out next time at the library.
first book of the year for me was Couplands's Eleanor Rigby (good, but average for DC).
Since then:
Cock and Bull - Will Self - i liked great apes better
Skinny Dip - Carl Hiassen - he's becoming formulaic, still entertaining though
Complicity - Iain Banks - Awesome! liked it better than the business (wasp factory next)
No second Chance - Harlan Coben - fast-food mystery writer - fun (also formulaic)
I'm on Quantity Theory of Insanity by Will Self (short stories) and One to Count Cadence by James Crumley.
note: my favorite read(s) of '04 was the Dark tower series by stephen king. amazing IMHO.
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offerw
* Dog in the Sand *
South Africa
1264 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2005 : 09:05:40
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I just read The Master by Colm Toibin. It is a fictional account of the life of novelist Henry James (Portrait of a lady etc.) Incredible book.
wilhelm |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2005 : 12:10:56
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Incredible, you say Wilhelm? I might pick it up then. I have this Henry James/Edith Wharton fixation, not that the two have much in common once you really get into it. Thanks for the recommendation.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
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offerw
* Dog in the Sand *
South Africa
1264 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2005 : 12:31:47
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I haven't read any Henry James novels yet but after reading The Master I am curious to read some. Toibin draws a very detailed picture of the man's thoughts, how much is fact and how much fiction I am not too sure. I loved the book and definately recommend it if James interrests you.
I've also read another book which has some Henry James references, The Line Of Beauty by Allan Hollinghurst. It won last year's Booker prize but I think it sucks. Hollinghurst is playing the same tricks book after book and it is starting to read like old news.
wilhelm |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2005 : 12:39:45
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I heard that about the Hollinghurst book from a couple of friends who read it.
So I think I'll read the Toibin one instread. Thanks. Read some James and let me know what you think!
Onto another author...I just read Salman Rushdie's "Shame," which he wrote
in 83, I think, and I was shocked by how much I liked it. I suffered through
MIdnight's Children and Satanic Verses, could not get into either, but Shame
wowed me! Anybody else read his stuff?
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
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Cheeseman1000
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Iceland
8201 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2005 : 15:38:59
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So far this year I've read 'No.1 ladies detective Agency' by Alexander McCall Smith, and I'm nearing completion of 'Atonement' by Ian McEwan, which is very good. I clearly don't have as much time to spare as some of you people.
Ash wields the chainsaw attached to the stump where his hand used to be and straps a sawn-off shotgun across his back
Ash: "Groovy" |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2005 : 15:44:07
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What do you think of Atonement, Simon. I know you're not done with it yet, but I would love to hear your thoughts. It floored me. Just floored me.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
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Cheeseman1000
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Iceland
8201 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2005 : 15:46:58
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I'll let y'all know properly once I'm done (which may be a little while, I only get time to read on the way to work usually), but I love it so far. I think the first half was superb especially - I liked the views from different perspectives.
Ash wields the chainsaw attached to the stump where his hand used to be and straps a sawn-off shotgun across his back
Ash: "Groovy" |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2005 : 15:56:47
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Fair enough. I can't wait to hear what you have to say. For now, I'll only say that
it kept blowing me away. The first part was good and it got even better with the benefit of hindsight after I was done with the whole thing. Enjoy!
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
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Newo
~ Abstract Brain ~
Spain
2674 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2005 : 06:01:44
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Iīm reading Gravityīs Rainbow. I read it last summer and the one before and was going to leave the third time till this summer but thought screw the ritual. Has anybody else read this? I canīt get enough of it, itīs like a 750page bebop solo.
--
You know the man you hate? you look more like him every day. |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 02/22/2005 : 19:17:47
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A triple whammy!
Just read and shockingly enough enjoyed and would recommend
"Captain Corelli's Mandolin." Was reluctant to take up friends'
recommendation to pick it up, but I'm glad I did. Any book that has been
adapted to the silver screen is automatically suspect. I mean, jeez, Nicholas
Cage? Anyway, good book, especially for those readers who appreciate
historical research, etc. Lots of brutal battle scenes, too, a la the middle part
of Atonement, only it's the Italians getting their asses frozen, literally, in Albania
in the 1940s.
Stephen King's "On Writing." If you're not interested in a breezy how-to-write
manual, skip to the last part, for a riveting account of the freaky accident
that almost claimed his life and the subsequent recovery. (Excerpted in
The New Yorker a couple of years ago.)
My favorite writer ever, Vladimir Nabokov. "Invitation to a Beheading." So fucking
cheereful. So good. So good.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
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Elephant
- FB Fan -
Canada
240 Posts |
Posted - 02/22/2005 : 20:13:42
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I just read a awesome book. It was "Choke" by Chuck Palahniuck. Has allot of fresh ideas. It's about a sex addict who is going to sexaholic meetings to get action.
In-between this he pulls this scam where he goes to nice resturants and pretends he's choking, and has people save him. Then these people feel responsible for his life, and he proceds to write them letters requesting money for something like a opreation or a wisdom tooth to be pulled.
He's using this money to pay for his dieing mother, who is staying at this retirment home. Which probably some of the best chapters in the book take place in.
It was a really easy read too, it went pretty quick. I finished it in about 3 days, it was worth the time spent too. There are... 291 pages in it.
It's all about anarchist aciton, like allot of cool ideas. Talking about how when you hear the Waltz playing in a hotel lobby, that it is code for a bomb threat or something.
It also has some twists like "Fight Club" which I wasn't really expecting.
...and right now I'm reading "The Art of Deception" by Kevin Mitnick. which is so-so. Perosnally I think it's kind of boring, more so then I was expecting. It's not so much as a tutorial or a prevention tutorial, but more or less some stories about how someone might try to swindle you over the phone. |
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shineoftheever
> Teenager of the Year <
Canada
4307 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2005 : 01:53:22
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quote:
Originally posted by Newo
Iīm reading Gravityīs Rainbow. I read it last summer and the one before and was going to leave the third time till this summer but thought screw the ritual. Has anybody else read this? I canīt get enough of it, itīs like a 750page bebop solo.
--
You know the man you hate? you look more like him every day.
this explains the "what are you after" thread.
I'm what you call a repeat offender. I repeat, I will offend again! |
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shineoftheever
> Teenager of the Year <
Canada
4307 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2005 : 01:55:34
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i am almost finished wasp factory, WTF! this is awesome, i hope some of his other work compares, nothing i've read so far does (business, complicity). it reminds me of nick caves "when the ass saw the angel".
I'm what you call a repeat offender. I repeat, I will offend again! |
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Cheeseman1000
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Iceland
8201 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2005 : 07:51:42
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I loved Capt Corelli as well Kathryn.
I enjoyed Atonement as well. I'm not sure I enjoyed the second half as much, but it was still very good.
Ash wields the chainsaw attached to the stump where his hand used to be and straps a sawn-off shotgun across his back
Ash: "Groovy" |
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hWolsky
= Cult of Ray =
France
696 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2005 : 08:36:54
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Death in Venise by Thomas Mann. Daring, dramatic and bold...
I don't need a cure I need a final solution... |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2005 : 09:50:24
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Cheesey, you finished? I have waited patiently for your comments.
Ready, set.....post!
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
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Surfer Rosa
> Teenager of the Year <
4209 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2005 : 10:12:06
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Not a novel, but one of my more enjoyable recent reads - plus it has a lovely but brief Frank moment in it - Cider with Roadies by Stuart Maconie
I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2005 : 10:26:34
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what is that, surfer? a short story? and what's with the frank moment?
tell, tell.
i just got herzog by s. bellow. can't wait!
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
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Surfer Rosa
> Teenager of the Year <
4209 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2005 : 10:30:22
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Stuart Maconie was a writer for NME in it's glory days - he's got a story about drinking with Frank in a bar in Berlin where the photographer he's with loses it with the German bartender while Frank looks on bemused.
Loses it's magic in my retelling, but it was a wonderful moment for me, if I'd known Frank got a mention (albeit brief) I'd have read it ages ago.
I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2005 : 13:09:57
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Thanks, Surfer. How do I get a copy into my hands?
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
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Cheeseman1000
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Iceland
8201 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2005 : 13:14:54
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That was my comments! Picky ain'tcha?
OK, I liked the first half particularly (the momentous day that the second half refers to) - very interesting in revealing different perspectives and different angles at different times. The second half was more of a standard novel, albeit very well written. So, it didn't finish as well as it started, but it was still superbly written and a good read. (I may have been swayed, btw, through reading one too many war novels at school, I'm pretty sick of them by now).
Hmm, I want to read Captain Corelli again now. I'll have to finish 'The Snows Of Kilimanjaro' first - hemingway short stories. I really liked 'For Whom The Bell Tolls', and I'm liking these so far.
Ash wields the chainsaw attached to the stump where his hand used to be and straps a sawn-off shotgun across his back
Ash: "Groovy" |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2005 : 13:21:19
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Thank you, Cheeseman. I loved it, as you know. I loved the idea
of McEwan sitting in the National Archives diggind through soldiers'
letters back home, etc., all the research he did to come up with
those amazing scenes at the Dunkirk retreat.
My one complaint about Corelli's Mandolin (almost wrote "violin")
is all the romantic crap got in the way of the soldiers in the
brutal battlescenes. It's far more fascinating to see young
people's mettle being tested and personalities being changed,
morals tossed aside or kept, as situations emerge. The
fisherman-turned-fascist was an infinitely more compelling character
than the mandolin-playing romeo.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
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Cheeseman1000
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Iceland
8201 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2005 : 13:22:59
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Ah well, I'm a sap, what can I say?
Ash wields the chainsaw attached to the stump where his hand used to be and straps a sawn-off shotgun across his back
Ash: "Groovy" |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2005 : 13:29:51
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Meaning, you like all that romantic pap?
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
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Cheeseman1000
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Iceland
8201 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2005 : 14:50:18
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Of course. I proudly claim Romeo + Juliet in my top 5 films, and its only partly for Claire Danes.
Ash wields the chainsaw attached to the stump where his hand used to be and straps a sawn-off shotgun across his back
Ash: "Groovy" |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2005 : 17:21:12
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Ick. I almost walked out on that. I am so not a romantic. (I proudly claim
Apocalypse Now among my top 5 films.)
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
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shineoftheever
> Teenager of the Year <
Canada
4307 Posts |
Posted - 02/24/2005 : 02:01:39
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i was really disappointed with the ending to wasp factory, i was really hoping it was fight club kinda eric=francis type of thingy. great book nonetheless
next up: richard bachman, the regulators (i have to find out more of stephen king's dark tower universe, so awesome.
I'm what you call a repeat offender. I repeat, I will offend again! |
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Newo
~ Abstract Brain ~
Spain
2674 Posts |
Posted - 02/24/2005 : 05:41:28
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Of Salman Rushdie Iīve read Satanic Verses, East/West and Fury, which I loved, the Ground Beneath Her Feet was halfwonderful and halfawful, and I didnīt bother finishing Grimus, Moorīs Last Sigh, Midnightīs Children or Haround And Sea Of Stories. Shame is the only one of his I havenīt read or tossed flittering in the corner of the room.
--
"Here love," brakes on a high squeak, "itīs not backstage at the old Windmill or something, you know." |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 02/24/2005 : 07:42:35
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See, Newo, I couldn't stand his stuff (Satanic, Midnight's) but then
Shame just grabbed me. I truly loved it.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
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Surfer Rosa
> Teenager of the Year <
4209 Posts |
Posted - 02/24/2005 : 09:53:08
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quote:
Originally posted by kathryn
Thanks, Surfer. How do I get a copy into my hands?
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank
Amazon should have it.
I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 02/24/2005 : 11:56:39
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Muchas, Surfer!
btw, here's a photo of Mrs. Salman Rushdie:
and the author himself:
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
Edited by - kathryn on 02/24/2005 12:03:32 |
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Newo
~ Abstract Brain ~
Spain
2674 Posts |
Posted - 02/25/2005 : 03:47:52
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He reminds me of a hooded owl.
--
"Here love," brakes on a high squeak, "itīs not backstage at the old Windmill or something, you know." |
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Anyone read any great novels recently.
