grizzlym
Premium Platinum
I really like Murakami. Wind up Bird just smacked me between the eyes. His non fiction on the Sarin attacks is also a good read.
Favourite 5 Books
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I really like Murakami. Wind up Bird just smacked me between the eyes. His non fiction on the Sarin attacks is also a good read.
Love that book. Everything with the cat and the devil and the various other characters in his retinue is some of the funniest stuff I've ever read. Some of the satire flew over my head due to being a bit ignorant of the landscape in which it was written and what-not, but overall it didn't hinder the experience. The full moon ball is one of the most surreal and vivid scenes in anything I've ever read.
Midnight's Children.... similar genre [magical realism], to Master and Margarita but I don't know about Rushdie just yet. I tried to read The Satanic Verses but gave up halfway through. Too many obscure references from the Qur'an for me, I got confused about what was going on. I certainly didn't mind his writing. My point is, is it worth having another crack at him? I've got Midnight's Children at home somewhere.
Have you read any Gabriel Garcia Marquez?
I'm still yet to read Light in August and Absalom, Absalom, of his four major classics, so I feel my opinion could change quite easily. As I Lay Dying I think speaks a little more to my dark humour. I think all his books have that undercurrent of dark humour, but it's at it's peak in AILD, kinda like McCarthy's 'Suttree'. Otherwise, his prose and grotesque characters are brilliant through most of his work and hard to separate.
Reading this one at the moment. It hooked me in at the end of the first chapter with the two ladies talking about the dropped oil.
grizzlym
Premium Platinum
I find Rushdie a little like Umberto Eco: one book I loved, the others I found annoying. I loved Midnight's Children. That description of the groom only being able to see the body of his wife though the hole in the cloth was amazing. And I found, vocabulary gymnastics aside, Foucalt's Pendulum utterly engaging.
Yes, read Marquez many years ago.
grizzlym
Premium Platinum
It's a great book, no doubt. Enjoy the rest of it too.
- Oct 5, 2004
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Time to update mine;
1. Martin Eden - Jack London
- Ending is supreme - one of the best * you's of all time.
2. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
- Funniest book I've ever read.
3. The "Rabbit" Series - John Updike
- Love the characters, their development and the relationships.
4. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists - Robert Tressell
- Wonderful story of the working class.
5. Dead Air - Iain Banks
- Probably not his greatest work, but it really resonated and began my journey with literature back in 2002.
1. Martin Eden - Jack London
- Ending is supreme - one of the best * you's of all time.
2. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
- Funniest book I've ever read.
3. The "Rabbit" Series - John Updike
- Love the characters, their development and the relationships.
4. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists - Robert Tressell
- Wonderful story of the working class.
5. Dead Air - Iain Banks
- Probably not his greatest work, but it really resonated and began my journey with literature back in 2002.
In no particular order...
Jernigan, David Gates
Alone With The Horrors, Ramsey Campbell
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
Molloy, Samuel Beckett
Homeland, Sam Lipsyte
Jernigan, David Gates
Alone With The Horrors, Ramsey Campbell
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
Molloy, Samuel Beckett
Homeland, Sam Lipsyte
Great novel!
Brilliant, brilliant book. Also, I recently finished Malone Dies, and I loved that too. The Unnameable is next!
The whole trilogy is great. 'The Unnameable' can be tough, but it feels so rewarding by the end of it. Enjoy
I love Lipsyte's collection of short stories, Venus Drive. Liked The Subject Steve, but Homeland not so much.
I'm still yet to read Light in August and Absalom, Absalom, of his four major classics, so I feel my opinion could change quite easily. As I Lay Dying I think speaks a little more to my dark humour. I think all his books have that undercurrent of dark humour, but it's at it's peak in AILD, kinda like McCarthy's 'Suttree'. Otherwise, his prose and grotesque characters are brilliant through most of his work and hard to separate.
The Sound and the Fury and Absalom, Absalom! are two of the greatest novels I've read, but they're the only Faulkners I've really liked. Couldn't finish Wild Palms, and didn't like As I Lay Dying or Light in August. Only lukewarm about The Unvanquished, Sanctuary, and Intruder in the Dust.
I have mixed feelings about Faulkner.
'Venus Drive' is great, and I really liked 'TSS', although I think it loses steam in the second half. I was disappointed by his most recent novel, 'The Ask', but I'd like to give it another chance.
I feel like he needs to keep his novels short and lean. The denser and longer his stuff is the harder it is for him to sustain his humour -- thinking of Homeland, in particular. My take, anyway.
If you get a chance, you should read Apathy by Paul Neilan. * that made me laugh.
My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult I like her books and this one is a corker.
A Christmas Carol - Charkes Dickens Read this every Christmas.
Endless Night - Agatha Christie Great twist in this one.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larson All 3 Millenium novels are great.
My Call - Dean Jones Maybe not great literature but a very entertaining read from my favourite cricketer.
A Christmas Carol - Charkes Dickens Read this every Christmas.
Endless Night - Agatha Christie Great twist in this one.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larson All 3 Millenium novels are great.
My Call - Dean Jones Maybe not great literature but a very entertaining read from my favourite cricketer.
NiceCunnington
Premiership Player
Extremely difficult to narrow it down to five and it changes all the time, but I'll keep it just to novels and have a crack:
Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
Suttree - Cormac McCarthy
The Third Policeman - Flann O'Brien
A Separate Peace - John Knowles
The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
I've had that sitting on my kindle for ages. Knew I'd seen your avatar somewhere before.
Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
Suttree - Cormac McCarthy
The Third Policeman - Flann O'Brien
A Separate Peace - John Knowles
The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
I've had that sitting on my kindle for ages. Knew I'd seen your avatar somewhere before.
Ha, yes, I've actually had this avatar for so long, I'd forgotten where I got it from.
Interesting that you nominate Suttree. I think it's an impressive novel, but not as lovable or readable as McCarthy's westerns. Like Revolutionary Road, but have had several goes at Hemingway and he hasn't really done it for me. I've got For Whom the Bell Tolls on the bookshelf. Might have a go that.
NiceCunnington
Premiership Player
I loved Suttree. It has all of McCarthy's usual qualities but also a humour that was absent in his other novels that I've read. Harrogate, the moonlight melon mounter, is one of the funniest characters I've found in literature.
What Hemingway did you dislike? Some of his later stuff is supposed to be rubbish, but I haven't got there yet to decide for myself. The Sun Also Rises is definitely my favourite, but I also regard The Old Man and the Sea and A Farewell to Arms very highly. I liked For Whom the Bell Tolls but also had a few issues with it. He handled the dialogue very strangely; you'll know what I mean when you read it.
What Hemingway did you dislike? Some of his later stuff is supposed to be rubbish, but I haven't got there yet to decide for myself. The Sun Also Rises is definitely my favourite, but I also regard The Old Man and the Sea and A Farewell to Arms very highly. I liked For Whom the Bell Tolls but also had a few issues with it. He handled the dialogue very strangely; you'll know what I mean when you read it.
- Apr 28, 2008
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A lot of us on here seem to have loved Suttree.
Which is funny, because usually the ones you hear about are The Road and Blood Meridian, and All the Pretty Horses and No Country are relatively famous as well.
Until recently, Roger Ebert was the only other person I was aware of who had Suttree as their favourite from McCarthy.
Which is funny, because usually the ones you hear about are The Road and Blood Meridian, and All the Pretty Horses and No Country are relatively famous as well.
Until recently, Roger Ebert was the only other person I was aware of who had Suttree as their favourite from McCarthy.
Couldn't get through To Have and Have Not, only lukewarm about The Sun Also Rises, didn't like The Old Man and the Sea -- though I read that a loooong time ago, so I'm not sure I trust my opinion on that one. I've bought a few of his others because I've always intended to give him another go, but For Whom the Bell Tolls is the only one I don't have in storage.
Harrogate has always struck me as being a benign Lester Ballard (Child of God). Agree that the melon mounting was funny.
In a lot of ways I think Suttree is the odd novel out - not a criticism, just an observation. I don't have a copy handy, but that's the one where he really gets inside his protagonist's head. For the most part, McCarthy's style is rigorously external: you have to surmise what his characters are thinking from their actions and their words; he won't tell you. Also, in Suttree he gets down amid the mud and squalor and tries to capture the sensory world in a way that seems quite particular to that novel and not his others. Definitely an admirable novel, but I found it too slow and too laborious to really love it. My two cents.
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- The Tender Bar, JR Moehringer
- High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
- 'Tis, Frank McCourt
- Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero, Chris Matthews
- Up In The Old Hotel, Joseph Mitchell
- High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
- 'Tis, Frank McCourt
- Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero, Chris Matthews
- Up In The Old Hotel, Joseph Mitchell
bombermick
Norm Smith Medallist
Time for an update:
1. A Fraction of the Whole - Steve Toltz. Was no.1 before and nothing has changed, now that I'm re-reading it. Hilarious, but with a heart.
2. A Confederacy of Dunces - Funniest character I've ever read.
3.This is Where I Leave You - Jonathan Tropper. The insights into a 20- something male are marvellous, after his father dies.
4.The Green Mile - King writes in a great folksy way and can spin a yarn like no other. This is his best yarn.
5. The First Casualty - Ben Elton. He's better when he's not trying to be hilarious on every page. Easily his best novel.
1. A Fraction of the Whole - Steve Toltz. Was no.1 before and nothing has changed, now that I'm re-reading it. Hilarious, but with a heart.
2. A Confederacy of Dunces - Funniest character I've ever read.
3.This is Where I Leave You - Jonathan Tropper. The insights into a 20- something male are marvellous, after his father dies.
4.The Green Mile - King writes in a great folksy way and can spin a yarn like no other. This is his best yarn.
5. The First Casualty - Ben Elton. He's better when he's not trying to be hilarious on every page. Easily his best novel.
