#984

Just finished Kim Stanley Robinson’s “New York 2140.”
Surprised by the optimistic tone.

2 Likes
#985

Just finished GEB, I found it really dense and I definitely liked the first half better than the second. Overall a interweaving and at times quirky read!

Edit: Ive been hunting down Allen Strange’s Electronic Music Systems, Techniques, and Controls (Ed 2). Ive been told online that it is the book for synthesis and sound design. I have found a few copies online, however they are too expensive. I have put in an inter-library loan, but it sounds like they are unable to find the book. Does any one have a copy they are willing to loan me? Let me know!

1 Like
#986

The Master and Margarita. Enjoying it hugely.

3 Likes
#987

Currently:

Publisher is trying to sell it as fantasy, but it’s really much closer to the surrealistic minimalism of Tom McCarthy (with a twist of William Burroughs). Author Brian Catling is a performance artist and a professor at Oxford.

Really gets the synapses crackling.

#988

@Loitering This is some of the best fantasy/ surrealistic fiction I’ve ever read. I’m currently almost done with The Cloven (book #3). It’s so so good.

#989

On the to-read shelf!

#990
  • Nixonland by Rick Perstein

This country has never been sane.

  • The Big Picture by Sean Carroll

I should know more about quantum

  • Educated by Tara Westover

I’ve never been as emotionally engaged in a memoir before.

#991

Mark Fisher K-punk review in the New Yorker… hoping this means a much wider audience…

8 Likes
#992

A fun, quick read. Cyberpunk libertarian dystopia with magic, but in a way that isn’t very Shadowrun-like. It managed to dance around the edges of a couple of YA tropes without really going there, so it felt kind of fresh in that sense.

#993

Just picked up The Ambient Century at a used bookstore where I was browsing to kill time. Lucky find :grinning:

2 Likes
#994

New László Krasznahorkai novel coming :slight_smile: In September :frowning:

I’ve read everything of his except for The Melancholy of Resistance. The balmy winter we’ve had thus far in New England hasn’t struck the right mood for it yet, but I’m sure it will soon.

#995

I’ve always been interested in getting into his novels. Which one would you recommend to start with?

1 Like
#996

The first one I read was Sátántangó, which kicked off a full-blown addiction. My favorite of his, however, is Seiobo There Below; it’s more a collection of stories, but its cumulative effect is overwhelmingly beautiful and disorienting. My understanding is that Krasznahorkai’s writing changed significantly after an extended period of time spent in parts of China and Japan, and Seiobo is indicative of that shift.

Krasznahorhai has some seriously exceptional English translators, and interviews with them are always illuminating. Here’s one with Ottilie Mulzet, translator of Seiobo.

Would love to read your thoughts if/when you dive in!

2 Likes
#997

I recently finished Jane Austen’s Lady Susan—the back cover called the title character “Jane Austen’s only femme fatale,” which was quick and very fun.

I also read Don DeLillo’s White Noise, which was delightful in its sense of anticlimax.

Now on to A Frolic Of His Own!

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#999

image

not quite finished with this, but it’s really dreamy and wonderful. Ballard said in the introduction that he specifically set out to avoid dystopian tropes, but it isn’t really purely utopic either. It’s a utopia where the biggest problem is people’s natures, which isn’t something I’ve encountered a lot of.

highly recommended

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#1000

Excellent, thanks for the insights. Being a fan of Béla Tarr, Krasznahorkai has always been on my radar but i’ve constantly forgotten to follow up on him. These will go into the reading queue…

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#1001

awesome cover. some of the stories read a little outdated to me, but i’ll try again. loving the idea of cloud sculptures.

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#1002

also my favorite of his. the collection that ND put out last year, The World Goes On is also a favorite (and War & War…) I love his work.

I’m rereading Joseph Mcelroy’s Women and Men yet again, it’s probably my favorite novel I suppose were I pressed to name one- there’s nothing quite like it.

Also just got a galley of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous and the new edition of Sweet Adversity both of which I’m super stoked to dive into!

1 Like
#1003

the repeating appearance of sound sculptures (generative, reactive, and possibly powered by some kind of biological element) is also really nice

#1004

Frolic is a fun, challenging book!

1 Like