Comments on: Read any good books lately?

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 10 Dec 2002 22:34:51 +0000

For some reason two very different books occurred to me: “A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole, and “Einstein’s Dreams” by Alan Lightman. The first because it’s raucously funny and entertaining and touching all at the same time, a true masterpiece; the second because it’s one of the most mind-expanding books I’ve ever read.

By: miguel

miguel — Tue, 10 Dec 2002 12:30:13 +0000

“The Discovery of Slowness” by Sten Nadolny.

By: James

James — Tue, 10 Dec 2002 07:25:10 +0000

Blindness by Jose Saramago.

Huge life-changing potential.

By: francis s.

francis s. — Tue, 10 Dec 2002 00:22:52 +0000

Rubyfruit Jungle really made me realise it was okay to be gay. Definitely high on my list of influential books. I haven’t read it since I was 14 or 15. I have my suspicions that it’s a piece of trash.

The Diary of Anne Frank is probably the saddest book I’ve ever read. I wept and wept when I read it when I was about 11. It made me realise how evil and wonderful the world is. I haven’t been able to read it since then, either.

By: miguel

miguel — Mon, 09 Dec 2002 12:56:31 +0000

Lots of Bradbury sticks with you. Or me.

By: Sue

Sue — Mon, 09 Dec 2002 02:13:46 +0000

Oh, and Bradbury’s story about the last dino, or whatever, that thing that fell for the foghorn….

By: miguel

miguel — Sat, 07 Dec 2002 02:17:04 +0000

I read a lot of Vonnegut in the 70s, and it influenced me as well. Slaughterhouse 5, some of the short stories, Breakfast of Champions, etc. What I like is the way a detail or a character or a line from a book, independently of the overall quality of the work will stick in your consciousness long after you’ve forgotten everything else about the book. Like the concept of time in Slaughterhouse 5. Or some image from Calvino’s “Invisible Cities” or the post-nuclear apocalypse automated suburban house in the Bradbury story going in with its programmed functions after its inhabitants had been reduced to shadows on its siding. Or the mobster in DeLillo’s “Underworld” going “I’m gonna decapitate your fucking head off”. Actually, a lot more stands out in “Underworld” than that one line. That’s the best novel I’ve read in a long time. I just finished “Fight Club” and liked it too.

By: Teresa

Teresa — Sat, 07 Dec 2002 01:33:40 +0000

One of my favorites is “Wicked: The life and times of the wicked witch of the west” by Gregory Maguire. On one hand, it is a really entertaining twist on the Wizard of Oz, and on the other hand, it makes some interesting comments on society, prejudices, and religion. It will probably never be a classic, but it is a fun read, none the less.

By: bran

bran — Fri, 06 Dec 2002 21:22:01 +0000

iain, why wouldn’t The Hobbit win you creds? it’s a literary classic.

i second the shout out for God of Small Things. (Arundhati Roy) an excellent novel…sticky sweet heat rising from the banks of a dirty river…yeah, i’d say that’s an image that stayed with me. ;)

By: dina

dina — Fri, 06 Dec 2002 19:19:01 +0000

Zizka, if you liked GoST, then you should really read Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children-it will blow you away. Despite his ego and his current string of bad books, Rushdie’s amazing. John Irving’s another (except for Son of the Circus).

By: zizka

zizka — Fri, 06 Dec 2002 09:12:17 +0000

God of Small Things. Absolutely amazing, magically written book. I have never seen a book combine whimsy (conversation of characters), local-color comedy (India), tragedy/horror, and political commentary all in the same book. Dickens comes closest but it’s a lot tighter, less sentimental, and less contrived than Dickens.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 06 Dec 2002 07:42:45 +0000

I just finished The Crimson Petal and the White, by Michel Faber. It was engaging, after you got past the narrative style, and really got you wrapped up in the story, so much so that when it ended, without resolving anything at all yet leaving so many threads trailing off into uncertain futures, I was pissed. I think I’d recommend it; it’s some mighty fine storytelling, good character development. I just hated the ending.

Books I will read over and over and over: the Gormenghast trilogy. The first two books (by Mervyn Peake) were made into a really pretty miniseries by the BBC (?), starring Stephen Fry, Christopher Lee, Ian Richardson, Fiona Shaw, Richard Griffiths, and the delectable Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. The books are even better, tho the third one if phucked up in a way the first two don’t prepare you for. So good. Think I’ll start them again.

By: iain

iain — Fri, 06 Dec 2002 06:16:39 +0000

I know this doesn’t earn many literary cred points but “The Hobbit” was a real imagination expander when I was 10.

By: tasha

tasha — Fri, 06 Dec 2002 05:23:25 +0000

-song of solomon, toni morrison
-ceremony, leslie marmon silko
and the most important,
-shardik by richard adams.

By: sue ( a different one)

sue ( a different one) — Fri, 06 Dec 2002 05:07:49 +0000

I like the underlying message in Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon about the values of maturity (aka age). She crafts an excellent story on a variety of levels.