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That's OK because Bukowski's poetry is pretty atrocious IMO.
WRONG!!! You are atrocious, Kyle
Haha some of his poems are good, but the vast majority of them are bad poetry IMO. Kinda like Allen Ginsberg--has a few really really good poems but way more really bad ones. I guess I'm just a poetry snob.
How did the cars run with the lack of oxygen? Big hole in the ending for me unless cars don't need much oxygen in order to operate.
The population density of the area which is enclosed in the dome along with the relative short time frame of the story allows King to dodge the big changes that would be brought up by such a situation happening. This serves the narrative since it allows the nerdy scientific side of me to calm down and enjoy the story.
Abra and I coined a term for writers called "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon Syndrome". In case you haven't read that book, it's where a writer writes a detailed story for 95% of the book and then says "F*ck it." and wraps the rest up in 10 pages. I think this is what happened here. He builds and builds for around 1,000 pages then explosiongoodguydiesbadguydiesgoodguydiesbadguydiesdomeliftsfinish. Also, the answer to lifting the dome is to ask. Seriously? The whole idea of adolescent cruelty in an alien species was just very rough to me and didn't seem to fit in.
Haha, I think that's what King does best: writes crappy endings. NothingButFlowers and I have discussed that a few times.
I think King is a much better short-story writer than a novel writer; at least, his stories seem to end much better than his novels.
Haha some of his poems are good, but the vast majority of them are bad poetry IMO. Kinda like Allen Ginsberg--has a few really really good poems but way more really bad ones. I guess I'm just a poetry snob.
Ginsberg? Now you done quacked up twice.
I wouldn't call it snobbery, because the modern usage connotates superiority on your part, and I'm sure that myself and other poetry enthusiasts, poets,and English and Journalism majors on this board would strongly disagree with that notion. Simply a differing of opinion of what makes a "good poem". To each his own.
We're all a mess of paradoxes. Believing in things we know can't be true. We walk around carrying feelings too complicated and contradictory to express. But when it all becomes too big, and words aren't enough to help get it all out, there's always music.
The population density of the area which is enclosed in the dome along with the relative short time frame of the story allows King to dodge the big changes that would be brought up by such a situation happening. This serves the narrative since it allows the nerdy scientific side of me to calm down and enjoy the story.
Abra and I coined a term for writers called "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon Syndrome". In case you haven't read that book, it's where a writer writes a detailed story for 95% of the book and then says "F*ck it." and wraps the rest up in 10 pages. I think this is what happened here. He builds and builds for around 1,000 pages then explosiongoodguydiesbadguydiesgoodguydiesbadguydiesdomeliftsfinish. Also, the answer to lifting the dome is to ask. Seriously? The whole idea of adolescent cruelty in an alien species was just very rough to me and didn't seem to fit in.
Haha, I think that's what King does best: writes crappy endings. NothingButFlowers and I have discussed that a few times.
I think King is a much better short-story writer than a novel writer; at least, his stories seem to end much better than his novels.
I still prefer the books, but I did accept some time ago that reading them is more of an enjoy-it-for-the-journey-not-the-destination type of experience.
On the recommendations front... any particular Vonnegut short/essay collections stand out?
I've read Slaughterhouse Five, Breakfast of Champions, Cat's Cradle, Sirens Of Titan, Player Piano, Galapagos, maybe another one or two I'm forgetting (former coworker had a fantastic compilation in one huge book.)
Same visit I picked up Atlas Shrugged, I had found myself staring at the selection of used Vonnegut. It was all novels I'd already read, collections where I didn't know where to start, and TimeQuake. So I got TimeQuake and it's on deck.
Oh, follow-up note on Atlas Shrugged... about 125 pages in but haven't touched it in about two weeks. My girlfriend remarked that she can tell I'm not really digging it, because I normally go through books way faster than that one...
On the recommendations front... any particular Vonnegut short/essay collections stand out?
I've read Slaughterhouse Five, Breakfast of Champions, Cat's Cradle, Sirens Of Titan, Player Piano, Galapagos, maybe another one or two I'm forgetting (former coworker had a fantastic compilation in one huge book.)
Same visit I picked up Atlas Shrugged, I had found myself staring at the selection of used Vonnegut. It was all novels I'd already read, collections where I didn't know where to start, and TimeQuake. So I got TimeQuake and it's on deck.
Oh, follow-up note on Atlas Shrugged... about 125 pages in but haven't touched it in about two weeks. My girlfriend remarked that she can tell I'm not really digging it, because I normally go through books way faster than that one...
I don't know about short essays from Vonnegut but if you have read God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater you should go do that now.
Finished the first volume in 1Q84, and the beginning of the second is getting really good. I need to stop reading books that take 500 pages to get going. After this book I think I'll do something quick like a McCarthy and then knock off a few hundred pages of Infinite Jest. I started it after I finished Anathem and had to put it down after about 200 pages.
I thought 1Q84 was a great book. I like his others better, though. Murakami is an excellent writer. I love Wind-Up Bird Chronicle!
Post by The Third Girl on Mar 4, 2013 9:55:18 GMT -5
My best friend sent me Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks for Christmas so I plan to start that one soon. I had never heard of it but every book she has ever given me has been great so I trust her judgment,
On the recommendations front... any particular Vonnegut short/essay collections stand out?
I've read Slaughterhouse Five, Breakfast of Champions, Cat's Cradle, Sirens Of Titan, Player Piano, Galapagos, maybe another one or two I'm forgetting (former coworker had a fantastic compilation in one huge book.)
Same visit I picked up Atlas Shrugged, I had found myself staring at the selection of used Vonnegut. It was all novels I'd already read, collections where I didn't know where to start, and TimeQuake. So I got TimeQuake and it's on deck.
Oh, follow-up note on Atlas Shrugged... about 125 pages in but haven't touched it in about two weeks. My girlfriend remarked that she can tell I'm not really digging it, because I normally go through books way faster than that one...
I hate like hell that Chinua Achebe just died...one of the true world heavyweights; in many ways the anti-Conrad. If you haven't read his Things Fall Apart, I suggest you pick it up.
Post by ziggyandthemonkeys on Mar 28, 2013 14:48:58 GMT -5
Finished 18Q4. Pretty damn underwhelmed. Then at the end it lists suggested readings by other authors, with myself having read from the list Neal Stephenson, Kurt Vonnegut, and David Foster Wallace. This book was nowhere close to in their league as far as I'm concerned. If you like their books there is ultimately nothing to suggest you will like 18Q4.
Moving on. I think I will read Blood Meridian next. A good place to start into McCarthy?
Moving on. I think I will read Blood Meridian next. A good place to start into McCarthy?
Well since you asked...Blood Meridian is a perfect place to start. It is one of the most brilliant books I've ever read. After that go backward to Child of God or Suttree before diving into the Border trilogy. I loved his last two as well - easier reads for most folks and No Country's contemporary while the Road's well, in the future.
God I love Blood Meridian. I seriously think in 50 years older kids will be required to read it the way we were with Dickens or Melville. Well, I guess kids probably won't read in 50 years but you know what I mean.
I just finished Stephen King's Dark Tower series about a month ago. Wow what a read. Probably one of my favorite series. I was a Harry Potter fanatic so this bypassing that is a huge thing! I'm reading The Hobbit currently. I've never read it and after seeing the 1st movie I thought I should check it out. So far it's pretty alright.
If you like non-fiction, Banker for the Poor was a brilliant read. Especially if you like economics at all, it's really very interesting detailing a good amount of the development of microcredits (small loans).
I just finished Stephen King's Dark Tower series about a month ago. Wow what a read. Probably one of my favorite series. I was a Harry Potter fanatic so this bypassing that is a huge thing! I'm reading The Hobbit currently. I've never read it and after seeing the 1st movie I thought I should check it out. So far it's pretty alright.
If you enjoy the Hobbit, or Fantasy in general, check out Dragons of the Autumn Twilight. Its a trilogy, with other books that branch some of the characters into their own stories
Post by Dave Maynar on Mar 30, 2013 10:46:30 GMT -5
I got this from the library yesterday. I am excited to finally get to read it, but I will admit that I am also a little sad since this is the 14th and final book in the series. I have been reading on this series since around 1995, and I have to admit that part of me doesn't want to see it end. Nerd feels.
I just finished Stephen King's Dark Tower series about a month ago. Wow what a read. Probably one of my favorite series. I was a Harry Potter fanatic so this bypassing that is a huge thing! I'm reading The Hobbit currently. I've never read it and after seeing the 1st movie I thought I should check it out. So far it's pretty alright.
If you enjoy the Hobbit, or Fantasy in general, check out Dragons of the Autumn Twilight. Its a trilogy, with other books that branch some of the characters into their own stories
I read all those Weis & Hickman books back in high school, freaking LOVED them. I think it would be sweet if their world spawned a console game or two. I think that Forgotten Realms did, but I'm not sure.
Post by Vector Viking on Mar 30, 2013 12:18:50 GMT -5
For you guys that like all the authors who riff on Tolkien, try giving some old Anglo-Saxon and Norse lit a go. Once you get your brain into the mode where you can understand the flow -most of what I'm talking about here are epic poems- you can catch a glimpse of what inspired lit innovators like Tolkien and composers like Wagner (who wrote the Ring of the Nibelungs). Beowulf The Volsungsaga The Poetic Edda The Prose Edda The Sturlungasaga ...and a few others. Reading these you'll start to pick up where Tolkien was inspired (and in some cases, shamelessly lifted) names and themes that have inspired (and sometimes, shamelessly lifted again) the work of lots of the authors like Robert Jordan and people that we've been talking about recently in this thread. If you have an e-reader, LOTS of these kinds of works are available for free or very inexpensive.
If you enjoy the Hobbit, or Fantasy in general, check out Dragons of the Autumn Twilight. Its a trilogy, with other books that branch some of the characters into their own stories
I read all those Weis & Hickman books back in high school, freaking LOVED them. I think it would be sweet if their world spawned a console game or two. I think that Forgotten Realms did, but I'm not sure.
Post by Vector Viking on Mar 30, 2013 20:59:28 GMT -5
I haven't. I probably won't, as my tastes have changed quite a bit since then. I read very little fiction these days but I did dig them back in the day. Here are some suggestions for people who are into non-fiction, books I've read lately that I enjoyed very much: Influence - Robert B. Cialdini The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins Liespotting: Proven Techniques to Detect Deception - Pamela Meyer
