I actually wrote a CL post to see if someone finds it lol. I always lose my Murakami books.
Anyone reed the new Jim crow
Why do I always buy audiobooks with white covers? Turns the whole face of my phone white and I cant see jack shit when I go to unlock it.
Iām listening to Glen Greenwaldās No Place to Hide. I think Iām going to stick to the nonfiction genre when it comes to audiobooks. Iāve recently listened to Ghost in the Wires, Spam Nation and just started No Place to Hide this morning. Iāve been burnt by not liking the way fiction stories are told in audio form. Its probably because the last fiction novels Iāve tried to listen to were by Salman Rushdie and Cormac McCarthy so Iāll take the brunt of the blame for books that I should have known wouldnāt translate well. I like this idea though, sticking to mostly nonfiction/biographical pieces from audible.
Read āThe Dispossessedā it is a utopia/distopia type book which explores interesting ideas. With LeGuinn, I like her because of how she decides to explore ideas, not for her plots. She is not a hard sci-fi writer, but writes from more of an anthropological point of view (most likely because her father was a well respected anthropologist). I also recommend her short story āField of Visionā if you are into stories that question reality.
Philip K Dick is one of the best writers at writing about reality/alternate reality. His stories are always great because the main characters are often put in a situation where they cannot distinguish the two. This leads to interesting self inspection.
LeGuinnās quality is uneven, but thatās just an artifact of having written a metric fuckton of material for widely different audiences over an extremely long and successful career. Her best stuff can hang with anyoneās work.
I donāt particularly like any of his plots, but reading his work is like drinking your favorite scotch. Itās just so pure and I want more NOW.
The Lathe of Heaven was made into a US public television film. It was good to watch once; I suppose if I had read it instead, Iād feel the same.
Thanks for the recommendations. Given what you wrote about Dickās work, I would strongly, strongly recommend Stanislav Lemās Memoirs of a Space Traveler: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy. Some of the stories there are the best examples of alternate reality I have come across.
Yeah, not so much. She is no more prolific than a Robert Anson Heinlein or Philip Jose Farmer, but in the 20+ works I have read by them they have never written anything as idiotic and boring as The Left Hand of Darkness, nor have they fucked up an ending as badly as The Lathe of Heaven.
LeGuin has talent and I donāt begrudge her success. But itās a crying shame that many of the people who praise her have never even read Sheckley, Harrison, Lem, Farmer, etc.
As for Haruki Murakami, he is one of my two favorite authors of all time. Still, if you didnāt care for Norwegian Wood, Iām not sure you will like his more fantastical stories.
Dude, I love me some Farmer and Heinlein, but both of them on occasion wrote some awful shit that is every bit as bad as LeGuinās awful shit. Submitted for your (dis)approval: A Feast Unknown and I Will Fear No Evil, authored respectively.
Aside from which, you are arguing against a claim I never made. I never said her bad stuff is good, I said her best stuff is.
Snagged Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Manās Fight for Justice by Bill Browder the other day and Iām already halfway into it. Itās a great non-fiction read imo about how one man discover Kremlinās corruption through financial dealings.
finished murakamiās hardboild wonderland and the end of the world. my first experience with a murakami book blew me away. crazy CRAZY shit, loved it. noir, unicorns, subconsciousness, shadows being their own peopleā¦incredible stuff.
im outi
Roberth
Reading Kurt Vonnegut for the first time. I just randomly bought Breakfast of Champions after remembering the awful Bruce Willis movie adaptation.
Iām liking it so far, feels a lot like Douglas Adams.
Still need to finish like a half dozen other books though, Iām really bad for starting and never finishing. I feel as though I just donāt have the attention span anymore in my old age.
Yeaā¦i hear you Duck Strong. Iām in the same situation- I have at least a 3 books that I started but never finished.
Finished Red Notice and holy shit, donāt ever visit Russia. This yt pretty much sums up the book.
Right now Iām reading The Way of the Knife. Iām only a quarter of the way through and itās pretty engaging but very confusing only because it goes real deep into Middle Eastern terrorist groups, some Iāve never even heard of. It also has a lot of Arabic names for things Iām not really familiar with. Still, itās pretty funny to see how the CIA went from being spies without the power to kill to Americaās main force on the ground over there.
At the same time Iām reading Faulknerās As I Lay Dying. I know this guy is an important American writer but I NEVER understand what the fuck heās talking about. Thank the heavens for Sound and the Furyās final chapter because it cleared up every damn thing.
Next up will either be Confederacy of Dunces or California. I guess Iāll decide then.
Finished listening to No Place to Hide and started The Future of War because apparently I like knowing just how awful everything can beā¦
I think Iām going to start using the kindle app on my tablet more often. I need a nicer lamp if I want to read physical books at night, my shit now lights up the entire damn room, whereas my tablet gets dim enough where it doesnāt hurt my eyes at night.
Still havenāt finished CoD because Transistor has downloaded my soul and controlled me for a week and a half. Started my rereading of Ready Player One for the book club last night on the tablet and man the footnotes on the e-version are pretty annoying already, donāt know if they are going to get better and canāt remember if they are in the physical copy or not. They are lame as shit in the first chapter.
Confederacy of Dunces is alright. Likeable book even if the characters themselves arenāt.
Probably not going to rock your world though, a little over rated.
Gotta read it though. Just to say I did.
Dude just get a Kindle paperweight. Its the best e-reader for reading at night with adjustable light. It has a great battery life, and the light does not strain your eyes like a tablet does.
8-Bit Christmas by Kevin Jakubowski. Buddy of mine got it for me as a gift and Iām finally getting around to reading it. Pretty good so far; itās like A Christmas Story but replace the BB Gun with a NES.
@J-ride : Damn niggaā¦how long did it take you to finish that book? Thatās one of the longest novels in history. Props for finishing it.
Been reading Scarcity: The new science of having less and how it defines our lives by Mullainathan & Shafir. Book is freaking awesome so far. Their research on why the poor stays being poor is very insightful. Itās a short book too; only 300+ pages.
If the copy of Baroque Cycle vol. 3 comes in today Iām going to post a āsqueeee!!!ā and start digging into it. I also got the first book of Ken Follettās Century trilogy, so itās going to be a good month for me reading wise.
Currently reading the Bible Gospel accounts, NWT version. Will read King James and Kingdom Interlinear as well. And Kindred, the book that someone on here recommended. Iām about 1/2 through it and itās very good. I love the premise of having a modern day slavery story. After reading the Narrative of The Life of Fredrick Douglas, itās a breath of fresh air.
