Books that you've read lately

Just read “hotel iris” which was mentioned upthread. It’s pretty much Every Day is like Sunday made into a slim novella of dubious sexual exploration in the sparse style of “the outsider” . I liked it but I wouldn’t have wanted it to be any longer, didn’t want to spend any more time with any of those characters.

I have decided short :books: are the thing.

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Any reason you read it? I hadn’t heard of Ogawa before so slightly surprised we both read it! On reflection, I think my gut feeling after putting it down that it was ‘a bit crap’ was perfectly on point.

(Re)reading You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman at the moment (can’t be bothered with Zizek when I get in from work). It’s pretty great—weird body horror shtick in a Cronenberg vein, with sort of sparse, disconcerting narration reminiscent of Miranda July’s The First Bad Man. Vogue’s blurb on the back says it “Fight Club for girls” which is perhaps the least accurate and worst blurb I’ve read in 2017.

I read it because I decided to try some of the books in this thread I hadn’t heard of before so it’s not a great coincidence! :slight_smile:

I think I must have enjoyed it a lot more than you. As someone who grew up in great Yarmouth I’m a sucker for detailed description of costal decaying towns

The descriptions of the town were my favourite parts by quite some margin

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I’ve never properly read any zizek but enjoyed some of his stuff i’ve happened to catch, film criticism, etc. Always get shouted at for saying that though. What’s a good starting point?

There are two modes of Zizek—one’s very approachable and funny and lucid, the other is basically incomprehensible and quite frustrating. I’ve found that Trouble in Paradise, First as Tragedy Then as Farce, and Against the Double Blackmail have been his most firmly in the first mode, and Trouble in Paradise covers a broad range for a small book so would start there. I could barely break the spine of Living in the End Times or Absolute Recoil. He’s got a new one out that I’ve not read (think it’s called The Year of Dreaming Dangerously) which may well be good, too.

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Finished Darktown.

It’s good although going in I hadn’t realised it was written by a white guy so I’m not sure how authentic parts of it will be. Still, a good noir thriller.

Just started Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.

Guy’s laid down the word ‘idiolinguists’, FFS. Hate authors using words you can’t even get a reliable definition from googling. :smiley:

Started reading ; Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
It’s short - but full of wisdom

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Like Richard Hammond.

I’ve just started the first book in the Three-Body Problem trilogy, after seeing it elsewhere and then praised in this thread - so I just ordered all three of them online without having read what it’s about (other than sci fi’ness). Looking forward to getting dug in.

Book related (and posted about in the theatre thread), I just saw a play based on the first story of Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy last night. Was excellent, and makes me want to read the book again.

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I have the whole trilogy. Do you mean this bit?

Physics :slight_smile:

I remember very much liking her linked short story collection, ‘Revenge’ and her two (I think) short stories I read on the New Yorker website.

Haven’t read anything else by her, though.

That play sounds good. I re-read New York Trilogy last year (or thereabouts). Keep meaning to expand on my reading of Auster; I’ve only read that and ‘The Book of Illusions’.

Bought revenge on a whim, it’s on the ever growing pile

Tenth of December by George Saunders.
Nice one, George. Very good. Not sure which my favourite story was. Possibly Victory Lap, The Semplica Girl Diaries (it’s probably this isn’t it?), My Chivalric Fiasco, the last eponymous story. They were all damn good though.
Going to have to read his new one soon.

Got the second Ferrante Neopolitan book, The Story of a New Name, and The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner out today.

I read one about a boy who can fly. I think it was Mr Fantastic.

It didn’t really go anywhere.

I’ve read about 4-5 Auster books. And I liked them at the time, very clever, very well written…but I am in no rush to read any more.

Memoir from Antproof Case by Mark Helprin. Gash.

Did you finish it? Bout the same way into it and i’m enjoying it except for the alternating chapters thing. Really hate it when novels do that

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Nah, I gave up not long after that post. Didn’t care about any of the characters or the story and found the reference to (non?)gender every other sentence a bit hamfisted, which is a shame because it’s a good concept. Glad yer enjoying it though!