Just finished Kafka on the Shore. There were some nice moments, and I did think the world he created was a nice place to visit each day.
It was like drinking a chilled tall glass of water with cucumbers in it. Nice.
Did it blow my mind? No. But not all books have to do that. Competent writing. Good fleshed out characters. Sometimes the things he writes seem naive but then he’ll finish the thought and then…well, I just let that be part of the aesthetic. It’s not a difficult text or story to get into, and these naive parts contribute to that (I mean this in a positive way).
Speak, Memory is a masterpiece! Highly recommended.
Reading this one during a work trip to Denmark at the moment, pretty good so far.
not currently reading, but if you haven’t, now is the time.
Finished reading my sixth* book of the year, Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design by Henry Petroski.
*excluding comics
Finished Chester Himes’ A Rage In Harlem, recommended by a friend, which was great - a wonderful tone, that veers from laugh-out-loud funny to grim commentary to pulpy noir on the turn of a dime. Fun.
Now: possibly into The Cartel, after putting it off a while - I loved Power Of The Dog.
oooooh I’d love to hear what books that actually made people laughed out loud while reading. Here are two I remember seriously cracking up to:
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis and Is Everyone Hanging Out With Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling
Lucky Jim is perhaps my go-to for that much laughter; it makes me fully crack up on several occasions. Notably, the madrigal-singing, and Jim’s hangover (which is even funnier in context - especially when you discover where last night’s cigarette went).
I’m not super into comedy in my reading so I’m not maybe the best to make too many suggestions, but the old Woody Allen collections are pretty hilarious at times.
i enjoyed reading these when i was younger. maybe i still enjoy it, must try that out.
also, i think @bobbcorr likes this too judging from his profile picture
I just finished a book by Yoko Ogawa about the disappearance of “things”. (there is no english translation of this one). It’s… well i think i love that kind of subtle, slow, tiny-things literature that some Japanese authors do.
Before that, i read Broom of the System, by David Foster Wallace. I laughed out loud repeatedly during that read. It’s stimulatingly clever. I will be reading other works of that author soon.
Figured it was appropriate to share here cause I’m starting my Monome journey and I’m about to start reading some Ursula K. Le Guin- The Dispossessed. Love all the references with the modules and I’m a big fan of all her other work as well!
I’ve been working on “Super Cannes” by JG Ballard. Dude was so prophetic in such a sad way. Between this, “Millenium People”, and “Kingdom Come” he basically predicted our modern Trumpian America.
Oh wow that sounds great. I’m always interested to hear both sides of the coin- I’ll definitely wait to read after I’ve read The Dispossed tho. Thanks a lot for the heads up!
Reading this, Age Of Anger by Pankaj Mishra. A very very good book and so important to understand… I urge all who thinks about the current world situation to read it.
That book is a great one. Enjoy.
I’m really looking forward to it!
Excited for what comes next!
I can’t back this enough. I started with a book of her short stories, ‘The Birthday of The World’.
Yes on resistance and yes on refreshingly frank discussions of gender, sexuality, and alternative utopias.
Just re-read James Baldwin’s “Go Tell It on the Mountain”, amazing.
