Whatcha Readin' While ILB is on the Rocks?

crimson petal and the white - michel faber
a feast for crows - george r.r. martin
out of the silent planet - c.s. lewis
the road - cormac mccarthy

reading:
against the day - thomas pynchon
gormenghast novels - mervyn peake

on deck:
the moonstone - wilkie collins
ragtime - e.l. doctorow

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/19712

...Powers has gathered critical comments that most writers would kill their grannies for. "Powers is a writer of blistering intellect," said the Los Angeles Times Book Review. "He only has to think of a subject and the paint curls off. He is a novelist of ideas and a novelist of witness, and in that respect he has few American peers." There's more in that vein, and more, and more.

So if he's so good, why isn't he better known? Let me put it another way —why haven't his books won more medals? It's as if juries have recognized the prodigious talent, the impressive achievement, and have put him onto short lists, but then have drawn back, as if they've suddenly felt that they might be giving an award to somebody not quite human—to Mr. Spock of Star Trek, for instance. He's got a Vulcan mind-meld on the critics, all right, but could it be that he's just not cozy enough at the core—that he's too challenging, or daunting, or— dread word—too bleak?

I'm kind of a little bit lost now. I've thought about little else for 30 whole days. I'm not sure what to do, really. Reading just doesn't have the same thrill as writing. I'm not getting the same buzz off it. Help me out guys, help me!!

I read Lysistrata today.

Class has wrapped up, except for finals, so I might have some more "fun reading" time, hurrah.

Now I'm 35 pages into Jonathan Raban's 'Sureveillance', which seems very promising.

Also reading anything by Ken Bruen, especially the Irish ones with Jack Taylor, The Guards, The Killing Of The Tinkers, The Magdalen Martyrs and now The Dramatist. He may even convince me to give Pelecanos another try.

I have Pnin on hold at the library which is also exciting.

Right now I seem to be reading A New Latin Syntax by Woodcock.

about to retry delillo's "players," and quickly making my way through rj smith's super awesome "great black way" -- it's even better than i thouht it was gonna be, damn!

i found delillo's players to be really formative. a lot of it is better developed in mao ii, for one, and i really disliked the smugness with which he treats his main characters for most of the novel.

i am now re-reading douglas coupland's life after god.

what i heard was that the mao-ii author was william gaddis. i have no idea tho.

i am reading 'aspects of the novel' and finding it a lot more than i imagined.

what i really should be reading is turkey: a modern history by eric zurcher, because i have a final exam on the late ottoman empire next monday. but, you know...

how did you like the hammett? i still think it's one of the best things i've read this year

Now I'm reading 'The Cardboard Crown' by Martin Boyd, first in a tetralogy of which I only have the first 2 books and the last 2 are out of print, alas. Yesterday I finished Max Frisch's 'Homo Faber', which must win Most Boring Narrator In Twentieth Century Literature, and come close in the Most Pseudo-Profundities category, too.

Now I'm reading "Mawrdew Czgowchwz" by James McCourt, which I'm enjoying as a description of extreme fandom. It's heavy going in a sumptuous sort of way. I like it, but I'm not sure I'm going to finish it, what with the mind-clouding distractions of the festive season in direct competition.

at any rate let this stand as a reminder to do a platonic dialogues thread once we get proper ILE back

Today I read more of "Twilight of the Idols" and started that Stein book about birthdays and names, which is so completely great. Is there a 20th C. poet better than Stein? One the one hand, I don't think that statement means anything, but on the other hand, holy crap she is great.

* tho i did get round to 'the unteleported man' and 'the cosmic puppets' recently

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0140445145.01._AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/2266026534.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V62579294_.jpg

Somerest Maugham - The Painted Veil

I'm partway through George Saunders' 'The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil', which is really good, although I'm wondering whether the consistency of theme for each story is going to wear me out before I get to the end of the collection.

in the inbox are:
michael herr-dispatches
david mamet-oleanna
milan kundera-the book of laughter and forgetting (began this and abandoned for oblomov...it was good but maybe not so much the frame of mind I am in)

Because he writes over and over again about both Bohemian New York and Blue Collar New York with that characteristic blend of anger and humor that is his alone.

All my reading might be doomed now that I have borrowed Martin M.'s PS2 for Katamari-rolling purposes.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401210821?ie=UTF8&tag=artandlies-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1401210821

thanks dad. i love the graduation present.

hahahahaha! See you in the spring sometime :) Once I get home again (possibly tomorrow), I still have to send you that "thing" for MM.

Maybe I should visit V before school starts up again.

now i'm finishing daphne du maurier's 'don't look now' and other stories.

Sara, what's 'Julie and Julia' like? It's in the pile of books I bought my foodie wife for Christmas, and I'm hoping it's not a dud.

Elvis, I'd forgotten about Tim Powers - I read 'The Anubis Gates' years ago, and really enjoyed it. Thanks for reminding me about him - must get more!

I'd suggest going with either Last Call or Declare next.

It's pretty funny; lots of swearing, though. (I worry that traditional "foodies" might find this offensive...) I read the blog while the Julie/Julia Project was actually happening and found it hilarious, so I was anxious to read the book. I haven't been disappointed; I hope your wife enjoys it!

Gore Vidal- Lincoln
Janwillem van de Wetering- Maine Massacre
Gore Vidal- Empire
Minette Walters- Acid Row
PG Wodehouse- Ukridge
Stuart Woods- The Run
Gore Vidal- 1876
Gore Vidal- Hollywood
PG Wodehouse- Do Butlers Burgle Banks?
Robert Tannenbaum- Irresistible Impulse
Howard Swindle- Jitter Joint
PG Wodehouse- Right Ho, Jeeves
Anne Tyler- Back When We Were Grownups
Leo Tolstoy- The Cossacks
Gore Vidal- Smithsonian Institute

A large Norton volume of Percy Shelley's poetry, as well as a couple of cantos from Byron's Don Juan. I was not overly impressed by much of it.

A failed attempt at reading Emma -- I only managed to finish the first volume.

Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations, which was very compelling and full of interesting insights. Also, one of the more demanding reading experiences that I have had in some time.

Four of Christopher Marlowe's plays, of which my favorite was Dr. Faustus. That bit about the fellow riding his horse into the water and then demanding a refund was hilarious. The dramatic excess of his plays is a strongpoint for me.

In process/Coming up:

The Caxton version of Le Morte D'Arthur, which is a long-term reading project.

Plays by Shakespeare and Aeschylus.

Wittgenstein's On Certainty, when I can find it in the coming week.

And I'm getting the Penguin Russian Short Stories collection tomorrow too. Right now I'm reading Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim in a final surrender to Sedaris mania and Pamuk's My Name is Red for a book club.

Am reading Gerard Woodward's 'August' now, which I'm loving, though I'm getting to the very bleak (but still very funny) parts. Before that I reading henning Mankell's 'Depths', which reminded me of a subzero (literally and emotionally) Tom Ripley, and the Persephone books reissue of the clever and gripping 'The Expendable Man' by Dorothy hughes.

I finished the Sedaris yesterday and have started John McGahern's Amongst Women. I read about his works in the TLS and thought he sounded like someone I'd want to read. I was right. His clear, authentic, piercing style makes a deep impression on me. I always feel sad that I learn about such great authors after their death.