#1858

Legendary comic “Prison Pit” just collected into an omnibus. Very cool.

9 Likes
#1859

I starting rereading the Black Company series, but forgot how vile they are in the first book and kind of didn’t have the stomach to keep plowing through without a break.

So I read this novella, and it was an absolute delight. Clever and funny and beautiful and poignant.

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#1860

Thanks. This one has been on my list for awhile.

1 Like
#1861

My latest batch:
Topless Cellist by Joan Rothfuss, straightforward bio of Charlotte Moorman’s non-straightforward life. Really interesting and quite a different take on 60/ 70s avant garde New York

The Glamour by Christopher Priest, very Christopher Priest-ish

Xenakis by Nouritza Matossian, nice Xenakis bio by someone who worked with him for 10 years

Also Rendevous with Rama and Lake Success and Consider Phlebas based on recommendations here, all good holiday reads, thank you for the tips.

6 Likes
#1862

I really liked the Matossian Xenakis bio. As someone without the technical background to get much from Formalized Music, I thought it had a great balance between technical detail and clear explanation, and his life was such a rollercoaster there’s plenty to get stuck into.

3 Likes
#1863

Just a note to this thread’s readership that this week’s Disquiet Junto communal music project is based on a quote from Ursula K. Le Guin’s novel A Wizard of Earthsea.

https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0451-ursulas-silences/

3 Likes
#1864

Just finished Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami last night. It’s the fourth novel by him that I’ve read and I loved it, the nature imagery in Greece mixed with his typical surrealism really blew me away. I’m obsessed with him right now and I’m currently working my way through his shorter books.

I read the first half of Little Women right before that so I’m finishing it now. At the recommendation of a few people where I work I’m going to give Knausgard’s My Struggle series a shot next.

4 Likes
#1865

I completely agree. This one is also quite good - Conversations with Iannis Xenakis by Bálint András Varga. Because he’s talking, he comes across as very straightforward and personable; he explains his approach in terms of the problems that he’s trying to solve, rather than as some vast incomprehensible mathematical theory. I find interviews can be a revelation - Walter Zimmermann’s Desert Plants is similar. He rings up La Monte Young who just says in a simple way that he won’t talk to him unless Walter can find some money to pay him for his time.
image

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#1866

This is next to the biography on the shelves of the library I work in! Definitely will be reading. Interviews can be a great way to cut through. There’s a good book on /by Werner Herzog (“Herzog on Herzog”), which is essentially an autobiography but via interviews, which gives it a very readable, conversational tone.

1 Like
#1867

I also got obsessed with Murakami and read his entire work. My favorite ones are “The Trilogy of the Rat” (Hear the Wind Sing/Pinball, A Wild Sheep Chase, Dance Dance Dance) – and “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle”.
If you like this type of surrealism you might also like Paul Auster: A little less surreal (or a little more subtle), but to me the mood is similar: Something’s weird here, but it’s hard to spot what exactly. I have the feeling that it makes you more active when reading and fuels your own creativity.

5 Likes
#1868

where were you able to find desert plants? i can’t find a copy anywhere, even in digital form.

#1869

Or

http://home.snafu.de/walterz/bibliographie.html

5 Likes
#1870

Thanks for the recommendation! Just ordered this :blush:

1 Like
#1871

20 characters of thanks!

#1872

I’m saving Wind-Up Bird for last, I’ve heard such great things about it. The Rat Trilogy seems so cool too, I think I’ll start that for my next Murakami. What were your thoughts on Kafka on the Shore? It impacted me a lot and I’m interested in hearing what others think about it.

I see him around all the time! Any specific recommendations from his work? That exact feeling is what I can’t get enough of and so far Murakami has been the only person I’ve read who really gets it. I’m dying for more.

1 Like
#1873

I liked Kafka on the Shore a lot. His more recent books are a mixed bag though. Some felt just too long and repetitive to me – sometimes even a bit kitschy (1Q84).

On Paul Auster: When you go to a book store and ask for a good entry point they usually recommend The New York Trilogy – which isn’t bad, but a typical early work, not as subtle and elegant as everything he wrote afterwards. I’d recommend to start with The music of chance (a novel) or The book of Illusions.

2 Likes
#1874

I get that. I enjoyed 1Q84 a lot but some parts were way kitschy (and long). I’ve heard many many bad things about Killing Commendatore (and everything else post Kafka, really) but I’m interested in it all.

Cool! I’ll check them out next time I’m working (at a bookstore!). That all sounds great.

1 Like
#1875

Just finished Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth a couple days ago. Full of convincing arguments and some more tired ones, especially about the lumpenproles! It’s hard to find anything these days with as much rhetorical style, bombast, and intent. He reframes nationalism in ways I had never considered.

Gotta finish up Ronell’s Crack Wars now and then move onto The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. Also thinking about breaking edge on my Murakami hiatus. I think I’ll go for Blind Willow Sleeping Woman.

4 Likes
#1876

I enjoyed Killing Commendatore. Thought the Colorless title was the weakest recent Murakami, but I also enjoy the slightly more fantastic and surreal side of his writing.

3 Likes
#1877

Fanon is heavy duty, can’t believe how spot on he can be sometimes. Also that Murakami collection has Birthday Girl which is my favorite piece of fiction I’ve ever read.

3 Likes