Summer Reading Series

Speaker

You guys want to do a little book discussion over the summer? I'm thinking three or four books of an author or a theme strung out with deadlines for having them read between now and september.

Suggestions? Anyone have an author they want to learn about and discuss?

Charles Kinbote

Well I have to read On The Origin of Species and Metamorphosis for school anyway, so I'll throw those out as potentials why not.

Aegis

I've picked up The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier recently, though haven't started reading it due to finals. If you go with an economic/political theme I wouldn't mind giving that a shot.

OhtheVogonity

I'm game.

I've got Ulysses and Foucault's Pendulum gathering dust on my shelf.

lunasea

I've been meaning to read The Brothers Karamazov, does that count?

OhtheVogonity

I'm feeling like this would be more likely to work with books that don't rank among the most difficult to read.

So I withdraw my nomination for Ulysses.

Charles Kinbote

I'd be down for some Dostoevsky, but I've already read the Brother Karamazov, so I personally would favor another one (Notes from the Underground?). However, if a lot of people want to read that, that's fine, as it's been a little while.

Malkor

How 'bout The Master and Margarita? We could do a Russian theme.

Mike Danger

I'll second Foucault's Pendulum.

Heck, toss in Name of the Rose, too. I probably missed half the Deep Significant Bits of that, anyhow.

Or, Book of the New Sun. I would eagerly welcome some discussion on that.

Jacobkosh

Mike Danger wrote: »

Or, Book of the New Sun. I would eagerly welcome some discussion on that.

We should really do just a straight-up Book of the New Sun thread, there seems to be a sufficient critical mass of people on D&D who've either read it or are wanting to read it. And it would be a good place to post definitions of the difficult words, explanations of the more obscure passages, theories about the plot, etc.

Ethan Smith

theme-Drug novels

-Requiem for a dream
-Trainspotting
-Fear and Loathing
-A Scanner Darkly
-other things?

DozingDragon

I'd be down for a Book of the New Sun run, or some Hesse and Nabakov.

Hachface

I nominate Cormac McCarthy. He's easy to read, he's literary, and I'm certain most PAers would enjoy him.

Oboro

I'd read any Russian author that isn't Dostoevsky. His prose is just too, too dense for me to parse and actually enjoy myself in the process.

Thanatos

The hell is Book of the New Sun?

I could join in on this, if the books were decent.

saggio

I need some easy to read prose to offset the dense philosophy I have to read this summer.

So. I'm in if there are some decent selections.

Jacobkosh

Thanatos wrote: »

The hell is Book of the New Sun?

Dude, it gets mentioned like every five posts in the book thread. But here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Wolfe

Charles Kinbote

Philip K. Dick is pretty light reading and is pretty good

of course I'm just crazy for Philip, Orwell, Huxley, Burgess, Vonnegut, etc etc

Thanatos

jacobkosh wrote: »

Thanatos wrote: »

The hell is Book of the New Sun?

Dude, it gets mentioned like every five posts in the book thread. But here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Wolfe

Oh, that's the guy who wrote Latro in the Mist.

werehippy

I'd be on board with this, though it was my burning hatred of Stiglitz that killed the econ version of this last summer. I swear that if I find someone a douchebag this time around, I'll be more moderate in my unceasing condemnation of them.

BobCesca

I'd be up for this. I'm not really fussy with the choice of books, though it'd be good to have a mix of past and present authors, different countries would be good too.

Bogart

jacobkosh wrote: »

Mike Danger wrote: »

Or, Book of the New Sun. I would eagerly welcome some discussion on that.

We should really do just a straight-up Book of the New Sun thread, there seems to be a sufficient critical mass of people on D&D who've either read it or are wanting to read it. And it would be a good place to post definitions of the difficult words, explanations of the more obscure passages, theories about the plot, etc.

So up for this. It's been a good long while since I re-read them. Would we include Urth of the New Sun?

Those of us who also have The Castle of the Otter can be all smug and knowledgeable about the obscure words.

lunasea

Ethan Smith wrote: »

theme-Drug novels

-Requiem for a dream
-Trainspotting
-Fear and Loathing
-A Scanner Darkly
-other things?

Oh man, not the same but in the same vein:
Football Factory
Doors of Perception (I love Huxley)
Last Exit to Brooklyn (Another great Hubert Shelby book)

Tarantio

Um, I still haven't gotten around to reading Dune.

What else would go with that?

Speaker

I'm kind of interested in Caesar Chavez.

Podly

Well I'm going to be reading The Recognitions and Infinite Jest, but if you all want to read Ulysses I'd be game for that too, seeing that it is my fucking signature and it is the best book ever written.

Cauld

I'm down for some reading, I've been meaning to get back into it. That said I'd prefer something I could enjoy, nothing too dense (I'm looking at you Dostoevsky)

Cheezy

I'd be down for this. I've been meaning to read Ulysses, Foucault's Pendulum, and The Master and Margarita, so I'll throw in my hat for any of those those.

Mahnmut

I'll play. Maybe some non-fiction could be fit in, too? I have been meaning to read Cradle to Cradle, for example.

nexuscrawler

Pods how many times you read the infinite Jest now

35?

nuclearalchemist

I've been thinking that I should reread Catch-22, although I wouldn't be opposed to some other books, either fiction, science fiction and fantasy (hardcord, not crappy stuff), maybe non-fiction.

Torso Boy

Shankill Butcher wrote: »

Well I have to read On The Origin of Species and Metamorphosis for school anyway, so I'll throw those out as potentials why not.

Fuck that. I'm all about the appreciation and analysis, but no matter how many times I read it I can't help but think of it as meandering crap.

I'm currently digging into Hunter S. Thompson and Robertson Davies.

And I have to complete Ulysses someday, just to say I did, so I'd be all for that. I think the only way I could get through is in a discussion-based setting...if I was alone, I might just hang myself.

The first page of Finnegan's Wake made me feel illiterate and sent me spiraling into a depression that lasted weeks. I have not gone back.

Podly

Torso Boy wrote: »

[

The first page of Finnegan's Wake made me feel illiterate and sent me spiraling into a depression that lasted weeks. I have not gone back.

It's virtually impossible to even read Finnegans Wake (no apostrophe) without having read Ulysses. The Wake is basically Ulysses on the most amazing steroids ever. I'm starting to piece it together -- I've read one whole section :P -- and I've read Ulysses four times.

I'd feel confident being kind of the discussion guide for Ulysses, both in terms of pointing out what is actually happening in the novel -- the plot is actually quite engaging once you learn how to extricate it -- and hilight the motifs if you guys want.

Torso Boy

Podly wrote: »

Torso Boy wrote: »

[

The first page of Finnegan's Wake made me feel illiterate and sent me spiraling into a depression that lasted weeks. I have not gone back.

It's virtually impossible to even read Finnegans Wake (no apostrophe) without having read Ulysses. The Wake is basically Ulysses on the most amazing steroids ever. I'm starting to piece it together -- I've read one whole section :P -- and I've read Ulysses four times.

I'd feel confident being kind of the discussion guide for Ulysses, both in terms of pointing out what is actually happening in the novel -- the plot is actually quite engaging once you learn how to extricate it -- and hilight the motifs if you guys want.

I think this is a fantastic idea.

Mike Danger

Bogart wrote: »

jacobkosh wrote: »

Mike Danger wrote: »

Or, Book of the New Sun. I would eagerly welcome some discussion on that.

We should really do just a straight-up Book of the New Sun thread, there seems to be a sufficient critical mass of people on D&D who've either read it or are wanting to read it. And it would be a good place to post definitions of the difficult words, explanations of the more obscure passages, theories about the plot, etc.

So up for this. It's been a good long while since I re-read them. Would we include Urth of the New Sun?

Those of us who also have The Castle of the Otter can be all smug and knowledgeable about the obscure words.

I finally found Urth of the New Sun at a used bookstore. I've not been so lucky with the Gormenghast trilogy, but that's another story.

I would probably kill a hobo to have a copy of Castle of the Otter.

Tarantio

nuclearalchemist wrote: »

I've been thinking that I should reread Catch-22, although I wouldn't be opposed to some other books, either fiction, science fiction and fantasy (hardcord, not crappy stuff), maybe non-fiction.

I read Slaughterhouse 5 in close succession with Catch-22. If you're going to read one humorous post-modern book about a misfit in WW2 that has a number in the title, you may as well read the other one.

Jacobkosh

Mike Danger wrote: »

I would probably kill a hobo to have a copy of Castle of the Otter.

It's included in the collection Castle of Days, which is considerably easier to get hold of.

Mike Danger

jacobkosh wrote: »

Mike Danger wrote: »

I would probably kill a hobo to have a copy of Castle of the Otter.

It's included in the collection Castle of Days, which is considerably easier to get hold of.

Duly noted. Thanks.

Mahnmut

If less august and more recent fiction is possibly on the list, I'd like to put in a word for John Crowley--probably Little, Big, though the Aegypt Cycle is more capable of sustaining discussion (it's also long). I hear his other stuff is good too, and I don't doubt it.

OhtheVogonity

Torso Boy wrote: »

Podly wrote: »

Torso Boy wrote: »

[

The first page of Finnegan's Wake made me feel illiterate and sent me spiraling into a depression that lasted weeks. I have not gone back.

It's virtually impossible to even read Finnegans Wake (no apostrophe) without having read Ulysses. The Wake is basically Ulysses on the most amazing steroids ever. I'm starting to piece it together -- I've read one whole section :P -- and I've read Ulysses four times.

I'd feel confident being kind of the discussion guide for Ulysses, both in terms of pointing out what is actually happening in the novel -- the plot is actually quite engaging once you learn how to extricate it -- and hilight the motifs if you guys want.

I think this is a fantastic idea.

Also, my grandfather told me I'd never truly be a man until I finished it.

Cheerios

lunasea wrote: »

Ethan Smith wrote: »

theme-Drug novels

-Requiem for a dream
-Trainspotting
-Fear and Loathing
-A Scanner Darkly
-other things?

Oh man, not the same but in the same vein:
Football Factory
Doors of Perception (I love Huxley)
Last Exit to Brooklyn (Another great Hubert Shelby book)

Don't forget Junkie and Naked Lunch.