Second time reading Russian literature after Vladmir Nobokov's infamous Lolita. Am exactly 50% through this current book and I'm enjoying it a lot. Russian literature is looking very promising for me

This book basically rekindled my love of reading after two years of university where I barely completed 5 books

farvacola

United States18821 Posts

July 25 2016 02:51 GMT

#202

That looks like a crazy cover for a Dostoyevsky book, but yes, good stuff

Check out The Idiot next imo.

123Gurke

France154 Posts

July 25 2016 06:51 GMT

#203

18 euros is already the best market place price I see.

On July 25 2016 07:39 IgnE wrote:
The Savage Detectives is written for men in their 20s.

Oh, so I guess I am too old anyway. I should rather start reading books about getting old and preparing to die then and leave those other books to you youngsters. More Hemingway for me...

Surth

Germany456 Posts

July 25 2016 08:25 GMT

#204

On July 25 2016 07:39 IgnE wrote:
The Savage Detectives is written for men in their 20s.

Do explain.

Not disagreeing, just curious as to your reasoning

corumjhaelen

France6884 Posts

July 25 2016 08:34 GMT

#205

Also why am Ulises Lima ?
Reading Hobbes' Leviathan, I hate it even though it's sometimes comically stupid in the consequences (chapter 28 was therefore quite enjoyable). Only 250 pages left and I'll be able to start some Henry James

Surth

Germany456 Posts

July 25 2016 09:43 GMT

#206

oh man i had a course where one of the readings was James, hated it :X what are you reading by him?

Reading Taleb's Antifragility, its... mediocre. The style is readable but also incredibly annoying, and his way of arguing seems to be to show lots and lots of examples and alleging that they are all isomorphic without doing any of the necessary work to unearth their genealogies. Oh well, it is a new york times bestseller after all that purpots to be "the secret to success".

IgnE

United States7681 Posts

July 25 2016 23:10 GMT

#207

On July 25 2016 17:25 Surth wrote:

Show nested quote +

Do explain.

Not disagreeing, just curious as to your reasoning

It stirs a longing for cosmopolitan adventure that is best received in your 20s, because by your 30s it might only accentuate a perceived lack of personal freedom. Or you might dismiss its silly romance. Or resent the literary pretensions of adolescents growing up in the slums. It's a love story but it's not a marriage story, and so has a youthful subversiveness that might not be fully appreciated by the stodgy.

Surth

Germany456 Posts

July 26 2016 08:09 GMT

#208

I see. I was fearing you were going to compare it to On the Road or some one of the other terrible beat poets! I think, for one thing, the descriptions of Garcia Madero masturbating and fucking are simply hilarious in their ridiculousness. Oh, and that discussion about poets and their degrees of queerness (the german word used is "schwuchtel", which might be "fag" in the english translation. no idea what barrage of words is used in the spanish original). In general, I find poets and youthful rebelliousness terribly boring. If I met a character like Ulises Lima or Rayuela's Oliveira I'd probably get drunk very quickly and hate myself for not punching them. I just really really like the way Bolano writes.

It also just occurs to me that I had one course this semester writing about 1,500 words on literature every single week, and yet I can offer no analysis of the savage detectives. I hate analysing books. Art is so fucking shallow.

corumjhaelen

France6884 Posts

July 26 2016 08:13 GMT

#209

Yes the sexual stuff and the revolted youth part are hilarious. That meeting with Octavio Paz is almost as good as Garcia Madero getting a blowjob !
Also going to read The Golden Bowl Surth, I quite liked Portrait of a woman, but I like most of XIXth century bourgeois novels, and James is close enough.

Hellonslaught

Brazil0 Posts

July 26 2016 09:09 GMT

#210

IgnE

United States7681 Posts

July 26 2016 20:51 GMT

#211

On July 26 2016 17:09 Surth wrote:
I see. I was fearing you were going to compare it to On the Road or some one of the other terrible beat poets! I think, for one thing, the descriptions of Garcia Madero masturbating and fucking are simply hilarious in their ridiculousness. Oh, and that discussion about poets and their degrees of queerness (the german word used is "schwuchtel", which might be "fag" in the english translation. no idea what barrage of words is used in the spanish original). In general, I find poets and youthful rebelliousness terribly boring. If I met a character like Ulises Lima or Rayuela's Oliveira I'd probably get drunk very quickly and hate myself for not punching them. I just really really like the way Bolano writes.

It also just occurs to me that I had one course this semester writing about 1,500 words on literature every single week, and yet I can offer no analysis of the savage detectives. I hate analysing books. Art is so fucking shallow.

Is it youthful rebelliousness that bores you or rebelliousness per se? You like the life stamped out of your subjects, maybe. Kafkaesque resignation.

Surth

Germany456 Posts

July 26 2016 21:38 GMT

#212

I like rebellions, but rebelliousness usually doesnt usher in rebellions :X

Uldridge

Belgium4723 Posts

July 26 2016 22:30 GMT

#213

So I have the completed works of Kafka in my possession and after reading The Trial, I've landed on The Castle, which is really difficult to get through, since it's more or less the same thing imo. Question: is all of Kafka's work like this? His writing style is interesting, in that he can explain something extremely elaborate, even if it's the smallest thing, which produces huge sentences that can be quite hard to get into sometimes. I love the page long monologues, but sometimes it just doesn't progress the way I want it to. Maybe that's what he wanted to stir in the reader: frustration.

Also reading The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, real fun stuff, currently finishing Wizard and Glass. It doesn't have the same epic feel to it as his first 3, but I guess it's a nice love story. Any opinions about that? Anyone read the series to completion?

IgnE

United States7681 Posts

July 27 2016 01:51 GMT

#214

On July 27 2016 06:38 Surth wrote:
I like rebellions, but rebelliousness usually doesnt usher in rebellions :X

Visceral realism is a rebellion, man.

goody153

44088 Posts

July 27 2016 04:23 GMT

#215

Done with the final book. Hmm i kinda like the clear scars of war type of ending.

+ Show Spoiler +

And i knew Marina was gonna kiss John. Like in the epilouge when they met

They both lost their signifact other, it made sense in a way that they start gravitating towards each other.

Also i like how five ended up alone and adam is stuck in the prison for mogadorians to prevent people from just massacring the remains of his people who already surrendered.

Surth

Germany456 Posts

July 27 2016 12:09 GMT

#216

On July 27 2016 10:51 IgnE wrote:

Show nested quote +

Visceral realism is a rebellion, man.

how old are you anyway! what are the books of your generation, old man?! :D

zulu_nation8

China26351 Posts

August 05 2016 18:02 GMT

#217

I'm trying to get through DeLillo's White Noise, but it's just so, boring. Does anything happen later? I feel like something has to happen cuz everything seems to be building up to something happening. Maybe it's because the book is old, and the themes of consumerism, trappings of suburban life have come and gone already. I appreciate the way he writes, but it starts to become less impressive after a hundred pages or so.

Nyxisto

Germany6287 Posts

August 05 2016 20:00 GMT

#218

Haven't read White Noise but I've read his new book Zero K when it came out a few months ago and I wasn't impressed either. The whole theme of the book was interesting but there's nothing about his writing that does anything for me. I feel like he's not even enjoying writing his books. I read Falling Man years ago and had a similar reaction.

Also new Mieville novel coming out tomorrow. Almost missed that one, plot sounds absolutely crazy

Acrofales

Spain17957 Posts

August 07 2016 00:41 GMT

#219

On July 20 2016 16:40 Surth wrote:
Acrofales: I think Kraken is kind of like China Mievilles version of Terry Pratchett, if that makes sense. Not ony of my favorites of his, but still great fun.
....

I'd say very Gaimanesque, but I didn't get much Pratchett. I liked it, but since I have also read The City and the City, which is very different and I enjoyed it more; particularly the conclusion was great.

Right now I am reading:
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I chickened out from reading it in its original Spanish, but am enjoying Maria Jolas' translation. She took quite some liberties with the text, but it seems to work.

CosmicSpiral

United States15275 Posts

August 07 2016 03:30 GMT

#220

On August 06 2016 03:02 zulu_nation8 wrote:
I'm trying to get through DeLillo's White Noise, but it's just so, boring. Does anything happen later? I feel like something has to happen cuz everything seems to be building up to something happening. Maybe it's because the book is old, and the themes of consumerism, trappings of suburban life have come and gone already. I appreciate the way he writes, but it starts to become less impressive after a hundred pages or so.

I always found DeLillo to be an academic's idea of "insightful": a verbose style substituting for lucidity and power, clumsy metaphors everywhere and a scattershot attempt of covering themes at the expanse of exploring them. Some of the parallels he attempts to draw in White Noise border on the laughably absurd.

Maybe I'm being overly critical because I'm currently reading The Complete Works of Saki, and he seems to be effortlessly more insightful about the culture and class he skewers, yet never spiteful or overreaching (which is remarkable considering the deliberate ludicrousness of his short stories). It's a sad thing H.H. Munro isn't taught in schools. Unlike 90% of the standard high school curriculum, he manages to be stylistic and funny at the same time.

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