It isn't Memories of my Melancholy Whores by any chance? I am pretty sure my next read must be Never Let me Go since I loved The Unconsoled. I finally got asked for my recommendation on reading by my bf who is suddenly tired of self help and said he was thinking of reading some Steven King. I told him instead to start fiction with something a little more heavy, Life of Pi which isn't my favorite since the author poses the threat of making the reader believe in God and he fell through on that one with me...
So tell me what you are reading and I will read it as well as the Kazuo Ishiguro work.
While you're waiting for Mr. Gamma to respoind, I'll semi hi jack the thread because I've got three books going right now and looking to add a 4th to the mix:
Darma Punks (memoir of a punk rocker turned buddhist)
Rule of Four (Da Vinci code on the campus at Princeton)
The Complete Guide to Rock and Blues Guitar (nuff said)
Now, Discover Your Strengths (required reading for work )
You are short on the good stuff, Lard! Don't make me start a 6mt.net book club in your honor!
Franzen? Ford? Ms. Donna Tartt? Where is your fiction, lad? Sorry just slipped into an accent because of that thriller I watched this weekend...when I should have been reading...
i just got done reading some fiction......the initially-sold-as-fact-but-now-the-author-was-exposed-and-had-to-admit-on-oprah-that-some-of-it-was-fiction work by james frey 'million little pieces'..... it actually was a good read.
Should you of asked this question a couple of weeks ago, I would of told you that I was re-reading certain letters and speeches from a Testament of Hope, The Essential Writings and Readings of Martin Luther King Jr. I always bust out this book around MLK Day just to get motivated to change myself and believe in people again. His prolific "I see the Promised Land" speech, othewise known as the Moutain Top Speech given on April 3, 1968 the day before his death has always moved me to tears. I read that speech every MLK Day since college.
RIP Coretta Scott King.
Aside from that, I've gone back to read some of the American classics. I was half-way finished with Joseph Heller's "Catch 22" until I forgot it in the cab en route to my departing flight from San Francisco. I'll have to pick it up again to finish it. That book is crazy.
House of Bush, House of Saud and Memories of my Melancholy Whores are the next two on my list.
i just got done reading some fiction......the initially-sold-as-fact-but-now-the-author-was-exposed-and-had-to-admit-on-oprah-that-some-of-it-was-fiction work by james frey 'million little pieces'..... it actually was a good read.
I didn't follow that controversy since it involved Oprah and her stupid book club that I have had issue with since the entire Franzen debacle after The Corrections was on her little list. I would marry Jonathan and no other man on the planet so I might have been biased, I did like her work in The Color Purple Movie but her ego gets on my nerves whereas I am in love with him.
I admit a curiosity now though about what that fric frac with frey was all about...if it was fiction I wonder why he didn't say I took license at certain points because I couldn't tell the truth? That is what I felt like Eggers did with that 100 page prolog portion of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
Should you of asked this question a couple of weeks ago, I would of told you that I was re-reading certain letters and speeches from a Testament of Hope, The Essential Writings and Readings of Martin Luther King Jr. I always bust out this book around MLK Day just to get motivated to change myself and believe in people again. His prolific "I see the Promised Land" speech, othewise known as the Moutain Top Speech given on April 3, 1968 the day before his death has always moved me to tears. I read that speech every MLK Day since college.
RIP Coretta Scott King.
Aside from that, I've gone back to read some of the American classics. I was half-way finished with Joseph Heller's "Catch 22" until I forgot it in the cab en route to my departing flight from San Francisco. I'll have to pick it up again to finish it. That book is crazy.
House of Bush, House of Saud and Memories of my Melancholy Whores are the next two on my list.
How did you like 100 years of Solitude?
I liked it fine and I can be very picky. If there was one more Aureliano or Jose Arcadio I think I would have screamed, however.
I haven't read a lot of auto or other biography, just a few. Nelson Mandela's autobiography. I was surprised by the fact that he was really not a passivist but more or less a true terrorist. Good book, though. Lust for Life about Van Gogh. Moon and Sixpence, Maugham's take on Paul Gauguin.
I prefer fiction, no question about it. That and Octane Magazine...
I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, when I first read 100 years of solitude I had to go back and forth to be sure I had the right Aureliano in mind. When I finished the book I felt as though I had gone on some magical journey and I couldn't believe what I just read.
You prefer fiction . . . but fiction is just a spin on reality.
I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, when I first read 100 years of solitude I had to go back and forth to be sure I had the right Aureliano in mind. When I finished the book I felt as though I had gone on some magical journey and I couldn't believe what I just read.
You prefer fiction . . . but fiction is just a spin on reality.
A better spin if you are reading the right works...I loved The Blind Assasin for example.
I wish I could start a book club - that would be fun. I had a very miniscule one with me and one friend but he never wanted to discuss them later. He's one very funny man.
I didn't follow that controversy since it involved Oprah and her stupid book club that I have had issue with since the entire Franzen debacle after The Corrections was on her little list. I would marry Jonathan and no other man on the planet so I might have been biased, I did like her work in The Color Purple Movie but her ego gets on my nerves whereas I am in love with him.
I admit a curiosity now though about what that fric frac with frey was all about...if it was fiction I wonder why he didn't say I took license at certain points because I couldn't tell the truth? That is what I felt like Eggers did with that 100 page prolog portion of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
i read frey's work under the recommendation of a friend and this was before i knew that oprah had pandered it. i read it because i was told that it portrayed the journey in all levels (physical, mental, spiritual, criminal, relational, etc.) that an addict took in his recovery. this was of particular interest to me because my ex-wife is a severe coke addict and eventhough she never sought help, i worked for years to first try and understand her situation and then try and help her.......i was not successful in either. i found frey's book to be very revealing in showing the thoughts, struggles, motivations, drives, and sources of an addict and their addictions. to me it served its purpose....whether it was fact or fiction......i feel i understand the ex's situation better.
Ah...I see I wouldn't need to read it. I am an addict, all my friends are addicts. I stripped butt naked ate the acid and went naked through the state of Kansas, few years later awoke in Vegas with a ring on my finger and had to get clean to take the ring off.
It probably would be overkill for me to read this book...but I see where perhaps the fiction entered the reality...would be easy to be tempted to go that route but still could keep the work on the level if he would have been honest. He should be honest if he wants to stay clean...honest with himself at the very least.
Kazuo Ishiguro, eh? Did you ever read Remains of the Day? I must admit, I never read it but I saw the movie (ohh how American) and only heard about his diverse cultural background, being born in Nagazaki and raised in England. How is he?
No I have not read that or seen the movie. A Pale View of Hills and The Unconsoled are high up on my all time favorites though and I almost watched an independent fiilm for which he wrote the screenplay but circumstances prevented that and I haven't tracked it down yet "for my viewing pleasure" as Clive Owen remarks of Natalie Porman's bending over and touching the floor in Closer.
I have my favorites and The Unconsoled was up there in the top ten for a time, though I liked the second one I read even better.
Ah...I see I wouldn't need to read it. I am an addict, all my friends are addicts. I stripped butt naked ate the acid and went naked through the state of Kansas, few years later awoke in Vegas with a ring on my finger and had to get clean to take the ring off.
It probably would be overkill for me to read this book...but I see where perhaps the fiction entered the reality...would be easy to be tempted to go that route but still could keep the work on the level if he would have been honest. He should be honest if he wants to stay clean...honest with himself at the very least.
i think where frey strayed into fiction was in his stretching the truth in his criminal portrayals in the book. he talks about being criminally hard and not backing down from anyone......that is part of his personna in the book.....he wants to use his inner strength and self to recover and not rely on a 12 step program based on a higher power.....he develops his character to have experienced all types and forms of addictions i.e., drugs, alcohol, sex, etc, to their extreme depths and then goes into his criminal activities that lead to jail time that were both fictitious. i thought he used these well in developing his character in the book.....apparently addicts were looking to him and his work as a mantra from a kindred spirit and they felt betrayed.
i think where frey strayed into fiction was in his stretching the truth in his criminal portrayals in the book. he talks about being criminally hard and not backing down from anyone......that is part of his personna in the book.....he wants to use his inner strength and self to recover and not rely on a 12 step program based on a higher power.....he develops his character to have experienced all types and forms of addictions i.e., drugs, alcohol, sex, etc, to their extreme depths and then goes into his criminal activities that lead to jail time that were both fictitious. i thought he used these well in developing his character in the book.....apparently addicts were looking to him and his work as a mantra from a kindred spirit and they felt betrayed.
Yes, well addicts are a fickle lot and often feeling like the world owes them something...
What are you reading, Gamma?
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