read any good books lately... - Progressive Rock Music Forum

I've been making my way through this one:

This is one of the biggest head trips I've read in a while, not in the least because of the ongoing disputes on it's meant as a defence of Social Darwinism or a satire of it. The author using an obvious pseudonym does not help.

I have no idea either. The prose shows a certain sense of skill and wit, but the actual content has an astounding tendency to make an insightful point of common sense only to follow it up with something completely idiotic... and as I said, I'm not sure when "Ragnar Redbeard" is being serious and when he isn't.

More than anything else it reads like a desperate attempt at imitating Friedrich Nietzsche both in thought and writing style, that by accident ends up somewhere totally different.

Edited by Toaster Mantis - December 31 2013 at 11:12

"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook

Last night I've finished reading this:

Even better than the short stories anthologized in The Name Is Archer. Plays lot like how I imagine Chandler's post-WW2 stories to, in that it turns loose that kind of romantic cynicism on the modernistic optimism of late-1940s/early-1950s California, except Macdonald's plot construction skills is at least on Hammett's level and he might be even better at characterization than either. The prose is also superb, he writes like Edward Hopper paints.

Which reminds me that I'm also reading...

Got this as a Christmas present: Biography of one of my favourite painters, the Russian Symbolist Nikolas Roerich about whom books are near-impossible to find here in the West so I'm very appreciative of it.

One of those books of political philosophy that are extremely influential but very few have read, I guess it doesn't help that it's been one of the most banned nonfiction books ever. Max Stirner's one of the grandfathers of both atheist existentialism and anarchist political ideology, but he hasn't become anywhere as well-known as the others probably because he doesn't fit anywhere as easily into neat "-isms" as them.

"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook

Another book from the 1970s about UFOs, but nowhere as "this is your brain on Hawkwind!" as the cover art suggests. It's actually very reasonable in how it examines the evidence for various theories, and spends less time on the extraterrestrial hypothesis than on which poorly understood or hitherto unknown natural phenomena might lie behind some UFO sightings.

"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook

Equality 7-2521 wrote:

JJLehto wrote:

Just ordered:

Blood Meridian and All the Pretty Horses because apparently McCarthy is like the greatest writer of his time. I've not even read The Road yet!

Also ordered Infinite Jest.

Preparing mind for scramble mode

You can play this game with McCarthy where you open any book to a random page, read a sentence, and it will be the best prose you've ever read. I think only Vladimir Nabokov can compare in this regard.

I will be sure to give that a try before I tackle him!

I have started Infinite Jest, and I've been interrupted by power outage and football games but so far so good. Hesitant to say much when not even 9% into this beast yet, but I like what's been going on.

It's actually been exactly what I was looking for. I wanted something challenging but not tooo much so. I attempted Danielewski and got hit outside the head. After a refresh attempted Pynchon but decided that was also a bit much at the moment, but thus far Infinite Jest has been a nice blend of all. It's challenging but still normally written (thus far) is building emotional connection but isn't a traditionally done novel in that regard.

I'll work up to those other works later.

Edited by JJLehto - January 12 2014 at 19:30

Finished On The Road by Jack Kerouac yesterday, now I'm moving on to A Farewell To Arms

I am getting ready to re-read through the Shannara series by Terry Goodkind. I read through the books available throughout highschool but it seems he never stopped writing books for that series. To be honest I really have not been able to get into any series after I finished the Wheel of TIme series last year so I am hoping that this will kick start my reading again.

Just started this, into the first two chapters already and all I can say is WOW. Such amazing writing!

"Market value is irrelevant to intrinsic value."

Arnold Schoenberg

Yes, actually....

Patti Smith's "Just Kids" reads more like a Sun Magazine long form than a rock and roll book. This is not about the rock icon's career, but rather about two young people falling in love in the gritty late 1960s New York of Andy Warhol's circle. The boy would be artist Robert Maplethorpe..

Patti met him completely by accident when the two were unknowns and basically homeless, crashing with friends. Their love affair was so sweet and later turned into a great friendship that survived decades, long after they parted ways romantically.

The book is so well written and well intentioned, placing their feelings and intimacies so honestly that there is zero sensationalism to the telling. Probably my favorite read of the year because it reminded me of what first loves feel like, and that is a wonderful time in life. :-)

JJLehto wrote:

Triceratopsoil wrote:

Finished On The Road by Jack Kerouac yesterday

I did greatly enjoy that one

Me too.

Now I'm done A Farewell To Arms so I'm going to start Suttree by Cormac McCarthy soon