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[slink]

I've been trying to get round to finishing off the Arabesque trilogy by Courtenay Grimwood, which is great, but I'm just pretty busy at the moment. My brother has got me to read this book by Tom Robbins that is supposedly great, has a very odd first line... Villa Incognita. Something about scrotum parachutes...

That and I finally got a copy of Cloud Atlas. I adore David Mitchell, almost as much as Murakami, so that ought to be a treat.

[PinkStainlessTail]

Just finished Simon Gray's Fat Chance, a fascinating little book about the time Stephen Fry ran away from a production of Gray's play Cell Mates. The book was actually written as events were unfolding, so Fry does come off as a bit of a jerk (no idea if he and Gray ever reconciled actually), but perhaps the most interesting part was just how sweet the "real" Rik Mayall apparently is.

[Nabubrush]

Just finished Simon Gray's Fat Chance, a fascinating little book about the time Stephen Fry ran away from a production of Gray's play Cell Mates. The book was actually written as events were unfolding, so Fry does come off as a bit of a jerk (no idea if he and Gray ever reconciled actually), but perhaps the most interesting part was just how sweet the "real" Rik Mayall apparently is.

That sounds like a fun book. Thanks for the heads up.

[AugustWest]

I'm reading (well, listening to) Umberto Eco's Baudolino which is terrific, thought provoking and funny all at the same time.

I just finished The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come which was weird because it is a 19th century novel set in my hometown and the surrounding areas.  Odd to read fiction that refers to places that you see everyday.

[miles]

I just finished The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come which was weird because it is a 19th century novel set in my hometime and the surrounding areas.  Odd to read fiction that refers to places that you see everyday.

Oh my God.  That is the specialest book to me.  I have a very old edition that was given to me by my late grandfather, because the boy and the dog reminded him of me and my dog.  It's one of my most treasured gifts.

Do they still publish it?  I want to read it again, but with a newer edition so I don't wear out the old one anymore than it is.

[AugustWest]

I just finished The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come which was weird because it is a 19th century novel set in my hometime and the surrounding areas.  Odd to read fiction that refers to places that you see everyday.

Oh my God.  That is the specialest book to me.  I have a very old edition that was given to me by my late grandfather, because the boy and the dog reminded him of me and my dog.  It's one of my most treasured gifts.

Do they still publish it?  I want to read it again, but with a newer edition so I don't wear out the old one anymore than it is.

I haven't the slightest.  I read it on my PDA, which is scary enough in itself.  If there's anyplace you could find a newer edition it would be here, so PM me and I'll do what I'm capable of to find you one.

[V-Adore]

Oh, man, what have I read since I last posted to this thread...

-- Nabokov's Pale Fire. Gorgeous and very, very strange. Maybe not Lolita-level good, but the narrator is significantly more interesting, and points for the structure.

-- About seventy pages of DeLillo's White Noise, before I got tired and gave up. Goddamn wretched book. Why is this regarded as one of the all-time greats?

-- The first ten pages of Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair, about five times. I know I should like this book but am having acute failure to get into it.

[Max]

you REALLY should pick white noise back up.  i didn't like how it started out either, frankly, and i only forced myself through the first half because david wallace thinks delillo is such a genius, and i will literally do anything david wallace tells me to do.

the second half the plot changes significantly, and i think it gets much more interesting.  so, there you are.  keep reading it.

[Ben-San]

The Eyre Affair is one of those books where you will only enjoy it if you find the concept and literary fanservice precious enough to let you overlook how badly it's written. I found it tolerable but occasionally got overwhelmed by a sense of "This is a world where all the things that I, Jasper Fforde, personally like have justly triumphed over all the things that I dislike, and all other right-thinking literary individuals should consider it paradise therefore and not look too closely at the illogic."

[jough]

I love "White Noise" with almost reckless abandon, and find there's lots to like on the first damn PAGE let alone the first 70 pages - but yes, the book does shift considerably in the second half.

I never thought of it starting off badly before, but then again, I've been reading books since before post-post-modern existed, so maybe you need to come at it from a pomo tradition to appreciate it as a pomo satire.

Although admittedly at first I found the Hitler Studies major to be a little *too* tongue in cheek, at least until I found you could major in Tupac Shakur at Stanford.

[V-Adore]

I dunno, the first seventy pages of White Noise made me want to inflict grievous bodily harm on Don DeLillo. I think it's best for my blood pressure if I let it sit -- but hey, whatever works for y'all.

The Eyre Affair... man, I don't know. Is there an actual novel under all the twee ideas?

[Mite]

The Eyre Affair... man, I don't know. Is there an actual novel under all the twee ideas?

Not really, but what twee ideas! I've loved all of the books so far, though I agree that the premise wears thin.

I'm currently reading The Autograph Man, which is excellent, though not much at all like White Teeth, and The Brothers Karamazov. This is my third try at reading the thing - I'd start it and then get too caught up in other things to keep track of it. But this is my spring break, so I'm flying through it this time. Next stop: Gravity's Rainbow.

[miles]

I just read Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and really enjoyed it.  This is probably the first superhero type comic I've read since grade school when I read The Punisher, like, once.

I was trying to decide between Dostoevsky's Demons, Train by Pete Dexter, or Midnight Children by Rushdie next, but I think I'll pick Train because school is not going to well right now, and Train will take less time.  I think Demons is next in line though, when school is over in three and one half weeks.  Also, still reading Tony Hillerman every once in a while.  It's so comforting for some reason, but I'm a bit worried because I'm almost caught up to his most recent novel.

Book related news:  I should be getting bookshelves this week!  I'm tired of all the stacks.

[Va]

I've been having trouble finding time to read ever since Lydia was born, which is actually kind of odd considering how much time I now spend with my ass planted in a chair with one hand free.*

I'm about halfway through Terry Pratchett's Bromeliad Trilogy, which is wonderful.  I'm looking forward to getting into The System of the World, which has been sitting on a bookshelf glaring at me for months.


* For the uninitiated, that's nursing, and I'm doing it right now.

[CortJstr]

I'm about halfway through Terry Pratchett's Bromeliad Trilogy, which is wonderful.  I'm looking forward to getting into The System of the World, which has been sitting on a bookshelf glaring at me for months.

I'm ~200 pages into System of the World. So far I like The Confusion better but that's only because I'm all about Eliza.