Books 'n' Reading 'n' Such
Books I'm currently reading:
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" and "In Evil Hour"
-- which are slow but strangely engaging. I've misplaced "Chronicle" somewhere, which is unfortunate because I was halfway done with it.
William S. Burroughs, "Naked Lunch"
-- which is probably my favorite book I've ever read, so far (and I haven't finished it), next to "The Road"
Don Dellilo's "Underworld"
-- which I put down a while ago, right next to the beginning (because I just didn't like baseball and didn't particularly care about Jackie Gleason or Old Blue Eyes), but which I still want to analyze stylistically. Maybe it will help that I'm not really into the subject matter. That way I can pay more attention to the words.
Books I'm currently listening to:
Anita Amirrezvani's "The Blood of Flowers"
-- which is widly compelling when it shouldn't be. This book really shows the power of piling on the complications. Even when you know they're coming a 100 miles away -- perhaps especially when you know they are coming -- her polt twists keep you riveted. It's also wonderful to hear the reader's beautiful Iranian accent.
I recently finished John Updike's "Terrorist"
-- which was very well researched and had many good turns of phrase, but which was emotionally cold and hollow and, plot-wise, a little predictable (except for the end, which seemed (to me) like a cop-out). I will be reading more of John Updike's work, because this book -- while it is weak -- also gives me glimpses of some enormous strengths. I want to see them applied in a stronger story.
Also listented to two short-stories by John Cheever: "The Swimmer" and "The Enormous Radio".
-- I believe I had read "The Enormous Radio" in 5th Grade but had failed to understand it (if memory serves me right, it was in the same Text Book that contained "Harrison Bergernon" and "The Highwayman (came riding riding riding)" and a sort of badly-summarized version of Beowulf that soured me on the peom.) I enjoyed the story much more this time. It was a nicely bothersome story. "The Swimmer" was also interesting, but the dreaminess of it was unconvincing to me. I realize there's danger in dissing the classics, but it just didn't work for me.
-- I think Cheever's work fits well with the surrealism that's happening now. They are a little tame compared to my stuff and definitely to Jessup's and Muenzler's, but it's in the same vein. I have felt from the beginning that the surrealistic, dreamy creepiness wasn't particularly "new"; it was just finally spreading through SFF. These two Cheever stories bolster that opinion for me.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" and "In Evil Hour"
-- which are slow but strangely engaging. I've misplaced "Chronicle" somewhere, which is unfortunate because I was halfway done with it.
William S. Burroughs, "Naked Lunch"
-- which is probably my favorite book I've ever read, so far (and I haven't finished it), next to "The Road"
Don Dellilo's "Underworld"
-- which I put down a while ago, right next to the beginning (because I just didn't like baseball and didn't particularly care about Jackie Gleason or Old Blue Eyes), but which I still want to analyze stylistically. Maybe it will help that I'm not really into the subject matter. That way I can pay more attention to the words.
Books I'm currently listening to:
Anita Amirrezvani's "The Blood of Flowers"
-- which is widly compelling when it shouldn't be. This book really shows the power of piling on the complications. Even when you know they're coming a 100 miles away -- perhaps especially when you know they are coming -- her polt twists keep you riveted. It's also wonderful to hear the reader's beautiful Iranian accent.
I recently finished John Updike's "Terrorist"
-- which was very well researched and had many good turns of phrase, but which was emotionally cold and hollow and, plot-wise, a little predictable (except for the end, which seemed (to me) like a cop-out). I will be reading more of John Updike's work, because this book -- while it is weak -- also gives me glimpses of some enormous strengths. I want to see them applied in a stronger story.
Also listented to two short-stories by John Cheever: "The Swimmer" and "The Enormous Radio".
-- I believe I had read "The Enormous Radio" in 5th Grade but had failed to understand it (if memory serves me right, it was in the same Text Book that contained "Harrison Bergernon" and "The Highwayman (came riding riding riding)" and a sort of badly-summarized version of Beowulf that soured me on the peom.) I enjoyed the story much more this time. It was a nicely bothersome story. "The Swimmer" was also interesting, but the dreaminess of it was unconvincing to me. I realize there's danger in dissing the classics, but it just didn't work for me.
-- I think Cheever's work fits well with the surrealism that's happening now. They are a little tame compared to my stuff and definitely to Jessup's and Muenzler's, but it's in the same vein. I have felt from the beginning that the surrealistic, dreamy creepiness wasn't particularly "new"; it was just finally spreading through SFF. These two Cheever stories bolster that opinion for me.