Books: Book(s) you are Currently Reading

[Wee Baby Seamus]

On the go:

This one came out just a few months ago, got it for Christmas. Nearly finished (about 100 pages to go). Mentioned it in the "Last book you read" thread the other day. Kershaw does a great job of tracing different movements throughout the interwar period especially. His stuff on the rise of fascist movements across the continent and why they only really took hold in Germany and Italy is really cool. It doesn't quite have the breadth I was hoping it would (I was hoping it would be much like Tony Judt's Postwar, which I suppose is an anomaly in just how much content it covers in an astonishing amount of depth).

On the stack right now:

I usually have 2 books on the go T once but one definitely falls by the wayside a bit more than the other for stretches.

Currently reading "Story" by screenwriting legend Robert McKee

And "The Ascent of Money" by Niall Ferguson.

Two fantastic works of non fiction. Story is currently in the lead.

I read The Ascent of Money over the summer. Really easy read, what Ferguson lacks in analysis a lot of the time he makes up for with good writing. That book is by a large margin his best, the other books I've read of his have been filled with far too much colonial apologism (a theme that's constant throughout his historical writing). He's far more in his element writing economics and finance than he is writing history.

 

[Deficient Mode]

How is the latter? I've only read Satantango but liked it very much. How does it compare?

(I'm assuming since you're reading about Tarr and reading Krasznahorkai that Satantango is already in your rearview mirror)

Satantango is indeed in my rearview mirror. I read the novel last summer and finally watched the entire film in one sitting last week. The Melancholy of Resistance forms the basis of the Werckmeister Harmonies (in fact the main episode of the book shares that title). Whereas Tarr's/Krasznahorkai's adaptation of Satantango in my view corresponded closely to the course of the story of the novel (of course the film is a different experience, and Tarr transformed the material in a lot of other ways), this book seems to differ more from the film. The Melancholy of Resistance is significantly longer than the novel Satantango, whereas the film adaptation of the former is only a third as long as the film adaptation of the latter. The novel thus seems to hold a lot of detail pertaining to the characters and plot omitted in the film, which is an odd experience, since both film and book culminate in the revealing of a power that is beyond explanation, and Krasznahorkai repeatedly emphasizes that the institutions in this society have lost their force and significance. It almost feels like cheating to understand more about the background of the story. It also makes me appreciate more the astonishing caesuras in the film version, how it was such a powerful film yet so fragmentary.

In my view, the novel is clearly richer than Satantango, where the world and characters were less multiple and different. Satantango basically ended where it began: anxiety and paranoia prevailed from the beginning. Everyone was spying on everyone else all along; the story tells how these forces are organized into the state. It seems like the Melancholy of Resistance has a lot more sides and more differentiated characters. To be sure, anxiety still predominates; we're still in a decaying world (although it seems to have decayed further). But now we get a far more extreme transformation of a character (Valuska) than any in Satantango and more different groups of characters (which was not always clear in the film). Somehow the political implications also seem more relevant today - what happens after the surveillance state rather than the story of the development of that surveillance state - plus the experience of the sublime, of the unexplainable, is far more powerful than the mysterious ringing bells in Satantango.

Basically, if you liked Satantango, I highly encourage you to read the Melancholy of Resistance. I'm going to try to finish it in the next couple of days and probably move on to more Krasznahorkai afterward.

 

[Prairie Habs]

Will take a peak at this demon cycle series you speak of.


****, I still have the last 4 books of WoT to read, the last book of the Malazan series, all the standalone stories from the Malazan series by esselmont and erikson, bunch of books from Abercrombie as well.


Suppose adding another new series to the backlog won't hurt though haha

I'm finished WOT but only starting Memories of Ice in the Malazan series. I love long series as you can really have stories and character arcs on an epic scale but it is definitely an undertaking.

Sometimes I need to take a break from a longer series so I just powered through Elantris in a day and half as well as my rereading of the Demon Cycle. If you like audio books at all I would say check out the Graphic Audio books for Demon Cycle. Its more like a radio play with a full cast, score, and sound effects. They are also popular enough that its pretty easy to find them through semi-legal means (if I'm allowed to say that).

 

[hototogisu]

Satantango is indeed in my rearview mirror. I read the novel last summer and finally watched the entire film in one sitting last week. The Melancholy of Resistance forms the basis of the Werckmeister Harmonies (in fact the main episode of the book shares that title). Whereas Tarr's/Krasznahorkai's adaptation of Satantango in my view corresponded closely to the course of the story of the novel (of course the film is a different experience, and Tarr transformed the material in a lot of other ways), this book seems to differ more from the film. The Melancholy of Resistance is significantly longer than the novel Satantango, whereas the film adaptation of the former is only a third as long as the film adaptation of the latter. The novel thus seems to hold a lot of detail pertaining to the characters and plot omitted in the film, which is an odd experience, since both film and book culminate in the revealing of a power that is beyond explanation, and Krasznahorkai repeatedly emphasizes that the institutions in this society have lost their force and significance. It almost feels like cheating to understand more about the background of the story. It also makes me appreciate more the astonishing caesuras in the film version, how it was such a powerful film yet so fragmentary.

In my view, the novel is clearly richer than Satantango, where the world and characters were less multiple and different. Satantango basically ended where it began: anxiety and paranoia prevailed from the beginning. Everyone was spying on everyone else all along; the story tells how these forces are organized into the state. It seems like the Melancholy of Resistance has a lot more sides and more differentiated characters. To be sure, anxiety still predominates; we're still in a decaying world (although it seems to have decayed further). But now we get a far more extreme transformation of a character (Valuska) than any in Satantango and more different groups of characters (which was not always clear in the film). Somehow the political implications also seem more relevant today - what happens after the surveillance state rather than the story of the development of that surveillance state - plus the experience of the sublime, of the unexplainable, is far more powerful than the mysterious ringing bells in Satantango.

Basically, if you liked Satantango, I highly encourage you to read the Melancholy of Resistance. I'm going to try to finish it in the next couple of days and probably move on to more Krasznahorkai afterward.

Very cool, thanks for the detailed write-up! Maybe I'll bump it up a few more spots on my to-read list.

 

[KapG]

I'm finished WOT but only starting Memories of Ice in the Malazan series. I love long series as you can really have stories and character arcs on an epic scale but it is definitely an undertaking.

Sometimes I need to take a break from a longer series so I just powered through Elantris in a day and half as well as my rereading of the Demon Cycle. If you like audio books at all I would say check out the Graphic Audio books for Demon Cycle. Its more like a radio play with a full cast, score, and sound effects. They are also popular enough that its pretty easy to find them through semi-legal means (if I'm allowed to say that).

WoT is what got me hooked on reading again (read a ton of Redwall as a kid but outside that not much). It gets a little
Bogged down in the middle there but it's still one of my favourites. The Dragon Reborn might be one of the best fantasy books out there.

I'm all about those giant epic fantasy series as well.

I'm going to definitely take a look at the Demon Cycle series. These audio books you speak of sound pretty interesting so perhaps I'll give those a shot.

 

[GB]

But my real question: Do people actually read more than one book at a time? I mean, sure, students do, but do normal people as well? (sorry, students ) I'm a serial reader myself--I don't even try to start a second book anymore.

I did, but now if I have more than one book at a time on the go I find that I finish none of them. Occasionally I'll put a book down, read something else entirely and then go back to the first book, (I've already done that once this year), but my days of having one book I read downstairs, one in bed, one at work etc are long gone.

At the minute I'm reading Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami. I just started it tonight. I've got about 15 books on my to read pile at the moment. I picked this one because Haruki Murakami's books are always an enjoyable read for me and the last book I read was a bit of a slog in places.

 

[jacobhockey13]

But my real question: Do people actually read more than one book at a time? I mean, sure, students do, but do normal people as well? (sorry, students ) I'm a serial reader myself--I don't even try to start a second book anymore.

I'm a student, and this year has been absolutely horrible for personal reading. I have no time and reading multiple books for school kills any desire to pick up a new one when a brief moment arises. I have assigned reading for English, for history, and for Spanish. A real joy. I also don't do any write-ups in the book thread because with sites that trawl the web for anything resembling written papers, I don't want to write something here and then not be able to to use it. Elena Ferrante has been a revelation, but I think I might have to hold off on her until Summer or at least until things start to quiet down.

 

[Dolemite]

Billy Idol's Autobiography

Two things I've learned

1) He's an amazing writer
2) I'm amazed he's still alive after all he's gone through

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Just got done reading '' The Devil '' by Leo Tolstoi...jeez, talk about writing an intense page-turner out of a very simple concept. What an amazing novella.

 

[Bee Sheriff]

Currently:

Utopia by Sir Thomas More

Next Up:

The Republic by Plato
Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Animal Farm by George Orwell

 

[chupanibre]

My copy of HP Lovecraft's Complete Fiction just arrived, didn't realise it was going to be as thick as the bible

Umberto Eco is my favorite living author. I have all of his novels and some of his other works, "History of Lists", "History of Beauty", etc.

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Luona was another fantastic books of his you should check out.

Thanks for the recommendation man, I most certainly will check it out. Really enjoying The Name of the Rose so far.

Currently:

Utopia by Sir Thomas More

Next Up:

The Republic by Plato
Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Animal Farm by George Orwell

What are your thoughts on Utopia so far? Worth reading?

 

[Thucydides]

Stellar first 50 pages. Read's like a Cormac McCarthy novel, except it's all true.

 

[kihei]

Fates and Furies, by Lauren Groff: A National Book Awards Finalist (US) about a marriage, first seen from the man's perspective and then from the woman's perspective.

 

[kdb209]

Recently read (or re-read):

11-22-63: A Novel by Stephen King
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clark

Currently reading:

The Lottery, and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson

 

[Hippasus]

Currently:

Utopia by Sir Thomas More

Next Up:

The Republic by Plato
Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Animal Farm by George Orwell

I'd love to read that someday. The Republic talks about the place of the arts, the meaning of justice, the Forms, . . . Very comprehensive. I would probably go for one of his shorter dialogues first, like the Timaeus (structure of the elements, or geometry of the world soul) or the Theaetetus (contains a sustained discussion on the theory of knowledge). In my opinion, a lot of Plato echoes Parmenides and the Pythagoreans.

 

[Eisen]

1Q84, Jude the obscure and The loneliness of the long distance runner.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Juggling two at the moment.

Death in the Face by Craig MacDonald

View attachment 87261

Mystery/crime series with dashes of historical fiction that I've grown fond of. Protagonist is a writer crossing paths with assorted real people and real events/crimes. Series is up to nine books now spanning 1920s to 1970s and hoping all around the world. Most are riffs on Hemingway (who appears as himself in a few of the books). This one is a an Ian Fleming pastiche (with Fleming, Yukio Mishima, Robert Shaw, Connery among those in supporting roles), but a pretty entertaining one.

And also I'm reading Smiley's People because John Le Carre is the best.

 

[hototogisu]

I'm currently reading Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan. Saw it on a bunch of 2015 best of lists and thought it sounded interesting even though I don't know anything about surfing. It hasn't really sucked me in yet but it's a long book and I'm not even 10% deep. Finnegan is a good writer so I'll keep reading but I'm not plowing through it with zeal yet.

 

[Deport Ogie]

Working my way through all of the Farseer books including the most recent Fool's Quest, which I have not yet read. All others will be a re-read.

 

[Thucydides]

 

[Prairie Habs]

Working my way through all of the Farseer books including the most recent Fool's Quest, which I have not yet read. All others will be a re-read.

How is the third one? I read the first two and really liked them, then when I was starting the final one it starts with a big time jump (I think that was it, this was a while ago) and it didn't seem like it would pay off the story in a satisfying way so I put it off for a while. I still meant to finish it but got distracted reading a different series and never got around to it. Is it worth going back to?

 

[kingsholygrail]

Currently reading So Anyway by John Cleese.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Just got through two short stories by John Cheevers: Goodbye, My Brother and An Educated American Woman. Really liked both, but I thought Goodbye, My Brother was more crushing (even though the final event in the second being worse).

 

[Toblerone]

A bit more than half way through American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

The story has me interested enough to finish the book and see what happens...but I'm not really that impressed so far. A little surprised since I've liked the other books I've read by Gaiman, and this one is quite highly recommended.

 

[Bee Sheriff]

What are your thoughts on Utopia so far? Worth reading?

Incredibly enlightening