I’ve decided to move the “What I’m Reading” stuff to a new blog. Not too sure why, it just seemed like the right thing to do.
Quick and painless book reviews, from “bran flake literature” that most people (including me) only read because they have to or think they should, to whatever I find in used book stores or the library when I have some time for leisure reading. Check it out?
What I’m Reading: Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone
I’m not a big fan of drug novels, or drug scenes really. I do think the author keeps good control over his characters and the language. Even while they are stoned/high/whatever other term they use for each substance, the story is still clear enough that the reader doesn’t wonder whether the author was also high while writing. We perceive exactly what we need to for each chapter, so that while we don’t learn more than a character does while limited to his or her perspective, we are also not left totally lost and floundering through a psuedo-drug-haze of our own. The control is what I’m focusing on, and there’s a 90% chance that control is the main part of a short response paper about the craft of this novel will focus on.
In other news, the way that unfamiliar terminology is used, couched in enough familiar language to make it clear what the terms (at least probably) mean, is another point I think I’ll bring up.
If you’re into psychological stuff, action novels, the drug scene, Vietnam, that sort of thing, you may enjoy this. Also, it has NOTHING to do with the film by the same title. No actual military stuff in this novel.
What I’m Reading:Time’s Arrow
This book is fantastic. You must read it. The whole timeline is reversed, so the narrator sees life going backwards. He’s not quite aware of it either, so he keeps thinking things arrive in the trash and are made pretty and then sold to stores, things like that. Also, best line went something like, “Creation is easy. Destruction takes a long time.”
Read it!
What I’m reading: Hard Times by Charles Dickens
Well, I’m not going to lie, I’m no fan of Dickens. I’ve decided to go into this with as little prejudice as possible, especially because I have to read the whole thing, like it or not, for class. So far I’ve read little and my opinion hasn’t changed much. As an older, more experienced reader, it’s not nearly as inaccessible, but I am still having trouble not drifting off and thinking about Pokemon and whatnot in the middle of reading.
What I’m reading: To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
While I can respect her as an author, this particular piece is not something I will ever enjoy. The modernist approach, relegating any and all action to the backburner in favor of mucking about in the character’s head, that is annoying. It’s something I’ve been warned away from in my own writing on multiple occasions, so to have it held up as an example of this period’s best it irritating to say the least.
The narrator and Mrs. Ramsey have very similar voices, which I can understand to some extent. What I can’t understand is why Mrs. Ramsey can’t let the other characters finish a paragraph before stealing the narrative back. There are a few instances where this happens in the same sentence and that is the worst.
It has been a long time since a book literally put me to sleep. As it was in the bathtub, that could have been very bad.
What I’m reading: The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
I haven’t done these in a while. Whoops.
I do not like this book. Honestly, if it hadn’t been assigned I would have put it down a few pages in. As it is, I reached the middle and cannot motivate myself to go further. It’s droning and long and drawn out. My teacher’s opinions on McCarthy being “the master of the craft” don’t make me feel any better about it. It’s inaccessible, it’s boring, and frankly I hate this kind of story anyhow.
First of the usual two, “Look, I made a vlog!” posts I do for each episode.
This one involves alcohol and www.thedrunkenmoogle.com. Also books/skype (it makes sense if you watch it) and general blithering. I am amazing at blithering.
I’m reading My Life and Hard Times by James Thurber for my Comedy in America class. He said we’d need to know it for the final but then sort of indicated he wasn’t sure if/when he’d assign it, so I’m gonna read it now just in case.
I’m reading The Wandering Unicorn. The author has a really good grasp on mythology and creates this enchanting reality, but it’s very easy to lose track of what is happening. This book is a perfect example of why a writer should show events and not just tell them. I’m having fun with it, but I keep missing major things like when the narrator became intangible and invisible and why, and I wish there was more development and interaction with other characters so I could feel more connected to the story.
I guess that’s a “what to watch for” lesson for my own writing.
Reading this now. The chapters are really short, which makes things nice when I want to read for just a few minutes before class starts or something. A fun read. I’d recommend it to people who like science fiction.
