Rate out of 10, give a brief review if you want. Mine are all pretty meme-y:
1. The Leopard by Joey Lampedusa, 9/10
>very good
2. The Recognitions by William Gaddis, 7/10
>much weaker second half
3. Stoner by John Williams, 8/10
>low-key
4. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, 6/10
>really stretching a not very original metaphor
5. Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges, 9/10
>awesome
>>8259469
What metaphor, OP?
>>8259473
maybe only i read it like this - the cities as physical representations of mind, or states of mind - a sort of combination between memory palace-type ideas and descriptions of cognitive architecture.
1. Blood Meridian, McCarthy, 8/10
Dense, cerebral, mythical. Definitely meant to be read more than once to fully appreciate. Incredible prose and static characterization.
2. Notes from Underground, Dostoyevsky, 7/10
I liked the introductory essay, but the protagonist felt like he lacked the control he made me to believe he had. Very strong resolution.
3. Catcher in the Rye, Salinger, 7/10
I only read it because I never read it as a teenager. Very strong characterization, entertaining narrative, theme was handled skillfully. Last act is super cozy.
4. Siddhartha, Hesse, 9/10
Elegant, eloquent, brief, compelling. Will definitely read again. Something everyone should read.
5. Stoner, Williams, 9/10
Excellent novel, perfect pacing and honest characterization. The only book that made me feel invested in the romance. Sublte, humble, quiet.
>>8259510
I also grew up without ever reading Cather in the Rye, but I don't ever seem to get around to it.
Do you like Dostoyevsky generally?
>>8259510
If you liked Siddhartha that much, you should definitely read his other works. Steppenwolf, Demian, Narcissus and Goldmund, and Beneath the Wheel are all terrific. I have his Journey to the East and Glass Bead Game as well, but haven't gotten to those just yet.
>>8259469
>Sabbath's Theater - Philip Roth
Finished last night, fucking fantastic. Acidic, inexhaustibly funny, Roth was at the top of his game writing this one. 10/10
>Double Indemnity - James Cain
Fun little pulp read, read it in 2 sittings, a good scratch when I was itching for hardboiled. 7/10
>Personal Days - Ed Park
Funny at first. Humor slowly dissipates for oncoming dread set to support the unsettling narrative, a little too much abstraction in the 3rd act for me, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. 7/10
>After Dark - Haruki Murakami
Quiet fun thats atmospheric but makes too many attempts at being profound and mystical. Think Twilight Zone by way of microbudget indie movie. 6/10
>Little Children - Tom Perrotta
Immensely enjoyable and funny inspection on the peculiarity of suburban life and the toll that missed opportunities can take on people approaching middle age. Blew through it, Perrotta at his darkest and most curious. 9/10
>>8259469
1. Barabbas 9/10
2. The Dwarf 8/10
3. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 7/10
4. Invisible Cities 8/10
5. A Confederacy of Dunces 8/10
>Slaughterhouse Five
It was alright. Kinda disappointed since people seem to shit themselves over it but I think most people are just proud of themselves for following a non-linear story.
>The Great Gatsby
Fantastic. Not much I can say about this that hasn't already been said.
>The Catcher in the Rye
It was fun. Kinda wish I read it as a teenager so I could have gotten the full effect but better late than never.
>Down and Out in Paris and London
Entertaining but preachy. Interesting to see what poverty was like a hundred years ago.
>Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Surprisingly emotional for me. I liked it a lot more than I expected to and some sections had me completely hooked. The descriptions of Hell were amazing.
1. Old Man and The sea, 7/10
>simplistic plot but good writing.
2. Of mice and men, 10/10
poor ol' Lennie
3. The Pearl, 7/10
The song of my family approves of this book.
4.Catcher in the rye 8.5/10
5. A monster calls 5/10
>>8259469
Don Delillo, Underworld
4/10, long-winded, mediocre writing
Ben Marcus, Leaving the Sea
10/10, first original thing since Borges
Catherine Lacey, Nobody Is Ever Missing
7/10, great writing but the philosophical reflections are pretty entry-kek
Lydia Davis, Almost No Memory
6/10, interesting and though provoking sometimes but usually kinda boring
Jacob Klein, Greek Mathematical Thought and the Origin of Algebra
10/10, completely resituates our contemporary intellectual bankruptcy by pointing to the way algebra set us back to an era philosophically pre-Greek
The God delusion - Richard Dawkins 9/10: logic never sounded so good
Hunger games (entire series): 7/10 overrated
>>8259508
You got it backwards cuz memory palaces and cognitive architecture were way later than Calvino. Calvino took it from Plato, who said the mind is shaped like the city that it develops in
>>8259746
>Dawkins
>more than 0/10
Git silly Rand bot
>>8259746
Seriously even b-flame Internet atheists write better than Dawkins
>>8259744
>being this dense
>>8259469
1984 5/10 because it inspired dystopian books like hunger games
Lolita. Second reading. 10/10
Game ofThrones. Junk food. Don't judge. This did inspire me to seek out some good fantasy. 6/10
If On a Winters Night A Traveler. 7/10. Experimental, hard to say how successful, but a good read for someone in a mental hospital.
Masters of Atlantis, Charles Portis. Funnier than I expected. Very funny in fact, although I honestly don't know that I 'get' the book 8/10
Pale King. 8/10.
Liked some parts enormously, type of thing. Others, type of thing, not so much. Clearly a fragment. Type of thing.
Shardik, Richard Adams. 6/10.
Part if a fantasy vibge after Game of Thrones. Wanted to read more 'literary' fantasy.
Mists of Avalon. 7/10.
See above.
Gravitys Rainbow. 4/10. Too pleb, didn't actually finish. Suspect this is a meme.
The Pearl, Steinbeck. 6/10. Good quick read, with a little bit if gut-punch
Buried Giant, Ushiguro.7/10.
Part of my non-Martin fantasy jag.
Wizard of Earthsea, LeGuin. 7/10.
Kids book. Fuck you.
>Eugene Onegin [A. Pushkin]
Enjoyed it but it didn't blow me away. I liked the duel a lot and can see why it's gone down as such a memorable moment
>Siddhartha [H. Hesse]
It has some simple life lessons in it that I think we need to be reminded of once or twice in life. Loved the part where Siddhartha finds work aswell as the part about his son. Feels like a book I'll revisit more than once
>Blood Meridian [C. McCarthy]
I enjoy McCarthy's prose but the endless parts about how the company moved between places got a bit tiring. The second half is brilliant however and the closing chapter is intense.
>The Idiot [F. Dostoevsky]
I'll admit that I felt that the middle part of the book (up until Ippolit's confession) was a bit slow and unmemorable but I think this might beat out Crime & Punishment as my favorite Dostoevsky. He writes such brilliant characters that I tend to miss them once it's over and I still think about Myshkin, Rogozhin and Nastasia Fillipovna
Right now halfway through Ulysses.
>>8259925
>literally posted 4
I also read some Beckett plays, Waiting For Godot and Endgame. Both genius, would love to see both on stage even if I feel that they work well enough in text. Will begin with the trilogy after Ulysses
>>8259774
>being this emptyheaded
Seriously, think-bashing belongs in /pol/ with the other Trump Queens
>>8259510
>I only read to fit in on /lit/: the post
Gravitys rainbow 9/10
Americana 6/10
Heart of the heart of the country 6/10
Stoner 5/10
Complete kafka 10/10
Joseph Andrews - 7/10 kinda funny
Waiting for Godot - (plays count?) 8/10 bit more funny
Flaubert's Parrot - 8/10 easy read
Dubliners - 7/10 not very funny
A Portrait of le artiste as a young man - 10/10 amazing
>>8259858
>Gravitys Rainbow. 4/10. Too pleb, didn't actually finish. Suspect this is a meme.
stick to GOT
from most recent to oldest
1. Absolom Absolom! by Faulkner
good book, confusing at times but it came together in a very satisfying way and the characters were great
2. The Waves by Woolf
Beautiful book, read it right after my grandma passed away, and I found it consoling. I often think about this book when going through my daily life which I think is the mark of a great book.
3. Moby Dick by Melville
Full of sections which were tremendously tedious and difficult, the book frustrated me but overall I enjoyed it because the end is fucking badass and I did find myself very attached to the characters.
Child of God by McCarthy
I am a fan of McCarthy, especially violent/depraved McCarthy, so I liked this one. Very bizarre at times, but Lester Ballard is a pretty unforgettable character.
5. In Cold Blood by Capote
One of my favorite books I've ever read. Reading this book you can tell how much work went into every single page. Really really inventive in my opinion.
Ulysses 10/10
Dubliners 9/10
To the Lighthouse 10/10
Wide Sargasso Sea 7/10
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man 10/10
Needless to say Joyce and Woolf are top-notch in their craft and created great works of art. Rhys is talented and the book was short, but ultimately I think it's nothing more than an interesting character study. It isn't bad, but I disagree with the idea of choosing such characters from an already notable and acclaimed work and reworking them.
From most recent to oldest:
>Ficciones
Really amazing, I can't wait to read more of Borges, still got stuff ahead of me.
>The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel
3 > 4 > 5 > 1 > 2
The third book dealing with marriage was the most interesting to me, with so many people being cited, and it was just great. 4 and 5 have a great adventure feel to it. First and second book are good at establishing characters, but I'd say I enjoyed them the least.
>Hunger
While the internal monologues of the main character reminded me of "Crime and Punishment", a book I greatly enjoyed, I couldn't get into this at all. I even read it at a bad pace, for example I've finished the book recently but started reading it earlier this year (Took me three readings to finish it, but the time between those readings was long, I could hardly make myself pick this up).
>Ulysses
Elder god-tier, the best book ever written, nothing will give me the same enjoyment as this
>Stoner
Amazing book, gave me the feels, especially at the ending.
1. Memories, Dreams, Reflection - C.G. Jung 6.5/10 - Seems erroneous on some parts, but others are worth reading if only to get a better view of the thinker. Alfred Ribi's Search for Roots is better if you want a more profound account of his experiences.
2. Mysterium Coniunctionis - C.G. Jung
8/10 - Very dense with information on the symbolical and psychological elements present within religion, alchemy. Had read this before the aforementioned book and was a surprise.
3. Too Loud a Solitude - Bohumil Hrabal
9/10 - Lovely. Read it. Might seem redundant to some but I see its beauty there.
4. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
7.5/10 - I enjoyed it but the end was underwhelming. Good prose.
5. The Greek Gods and the Eleusian Mysteries - George Meautis
8.5/10 - Concise book on greek mythology relative to the Iliad and the Homeric Hymn of Demeter.
1- Fogwill - Los Pichiciegos
9/10 instant classic
2- Carlos Busqued- Bajo este sol tremendo
8/10 modern masterpiece
3- Jose Hernandez - Martin Fierro
10/10 fucking canonical
4- Domingo Faustino Sarmiento - Facundo
9/10 obligatory
5- Jorge Asis - Los Reventados
8/10 funny as fuck
6- John Truby - he Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller
8/10 the best book about story craft ive read
currently reading:
Ficciones - Borges
Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco - Peter Shapiro
The Art and Craft of Poetry - Michael Bugeja
From oldest to most recent
>Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, by Sigmund Freud
8/10, very insightful, though it felt like a chore because of the dryness of the prose. Despite that, I recommend it.
>Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare
10/10, an excellent study on character development and symbolism. Juliet is waifu tier, and the Queen Mab speech is one of my favorite monologues.
>Macbeth, by William Shakespeare
10/10, a masterpiece, perhaps my favorite Shakespeare tragedy. Anything I could say couldn't start to make it justice
>The Immoralist, by André Gide
3/10, didn't like it at all, felt like a terrible chore, the themes were so evident and commonplace that I couldn't take any enjoyment off it; very typically French autofictional nouvelle. I give it a three because Marceline made me feel pity.
>The Sound of Waves, by Yukio Mishima
8/10, this one I read in Spanish. Very comfy book, I can actually picture it being made an anime series or movie. The themes were nicely conveyed and the characterization was good. It made me forget the bad taste that Gidé's novel left.
I'm starting to read The Truce by Mario Benedetti (in Spanish). I'm liking it a lot so far.
>Cormac McCarthy The Road
>Cannon
I can't even pretend, sometimes I hate people so much.
The Plague
5/10
Wasn't bad but I really didn't enjoy it
Gravitys rainbow
6.5/10
Really enjoyed parts of it, felt like it dragged on too much in the second half
Stoner
9.5/10
All around great story, highly recommend
Rant
7/10
Casual read, fairly entertaining
Yes I know you guys all hate him but his books are interesting if nothing else
The republic
5.5/10
Literally just people sucking Socrates dick and agreeing with arbitrary similes but it had its moments
>>8259469
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, 8/10
>very lifelike characters
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald 6/10
>muh, uh, symbolism
The Handmaid's Tale, 7/10
>feminism and speculative fiction; vivid prose
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore, 4/10
>"remember, remember the fifth of November!" kek
Benito Cereno by Melville, 7/10
>strong themes of master and slave; interesting characters and development even though its a novella (short story?)
>>8261249
ya stoner is epic! :D
Nigger of the Narcissus - 10/10
Heart of Darkness - 10/10
Youth - 10/10
End of the Tether - 8/10
moving onto the longer stuff now
>>8261330
>v for vendetta
embarassing
> Mao II - Don DeLillo 6.5/10
I am very much interested in the whole idea of simulacra and images so this was definitely a plus for me. However, I found the narrative a bit stale at times and as many people know DeLillo's dialogues aren't really of the best of quality. Still liked it.
> Henry David Thoreau - Walden 6/10
Dense and incoherent at times but it had its moments of brilliance. The chapter on solitude is perhaps the epitome of the book.
> The garden of Eden - Ernest Hemingway 7/10
Rough, unfinished manuscript by some considered Hemingway's weakest novel. Certainly had its flaws but I still enjoyed it. Found the ideas on gender and sexuality quite invigorating( haha Tumblr). Read it while on holiday in the French Riviera so that might have had something to do with me liking it so much.
> Tales of the jazz age - Fitzgerald 7,5/10
Short story collection in classic Fitzgerald style. Not very deep but still had some gems ( Benjamin Button and The Ritz)
> Middlemarch - George Eliot 9/10
Can't say I'm a Realism enthousiast but this blew me away. Probably the best novel in terms of character development and psychology that I've ever read
>>8259469
1. On the Road, 7/10, p good
2. F&L in Las Vegas, 7/10, p good
3. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace, 7/10, p good
4. Slaugherhouse Five, 7/10, p good
5. The Trial, 7/10, p good
I forget but I'm sure they were p good
1. The Stranger by Albert Camus, 9/10
>to-the-point, easy to understand, makes me feel smart
2. Henry V by Shakespeare, 9/10
>yeah woohoo fuck france
3. The Warrior Song of King Gesar, 8/10
>weird shit, but overall a good epic
4. The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli, 6/10
>his points are valid, but they feel like common sense, Art of War is much more worth studying
5. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, 2/10
>waste of time, just more fantasy schlock with greater acclaim
>>8259789
Kys pleb.
1. Light in August. 8.5/10
Joe Christmas is one of the best characters ever written, and Byron is the proto nu-male.
2. The sound and the fury. 10/10
One of the best book i have read. The feels, man, the feels.
3. Memoria de mis putas tristes. 7/10
Short. Elegant. Beautiful. Tackles the definition of love in old age.
4. Romancero gitano. 10/10
Es como pa' enamorarse de una gitana e irse a caminar por las orillas de guadalquivir.
5. The metamorphosis. 8/10
My father recently lost his job, and the book made me think about the way one sees other family members and the value give them. I think that in german, it would be a better read than in english.
Hamlet: 9/10
The book of the new sun: 10/10
Ulysses: 10/10
Life of pi: 3/10
Moby dick: 7/10
>Passion according to G.H. - Clarice Lispector
9/10. Really great, felt like I was reading some kind of Heideggerian novel.
The other 4 were technical and philosophy books.
1. Watership Down. 7/10
Inspiring story about what makes a good leader + cute rabbits
2. Catch-22 8/10
Hilarious during some parts, saddening during others. Overall a decent story about the inefficiencies of bureaucracy
3. Huckleberry Finn/Tom Sawyer. 7/10
Comical and emotional. Lots of adventure. The meaning I got out of it was that social stratification isn't limited by race, so I don't understand why people think blacks are prejudiced in this book.
4. Treasure Island. 10/10
Children's novel or not, I really enjoyed it. It was short and suspenseful, with action and adventure. It tells how a man is willing to do whatever he needs to and join any side to benefit himself.
5. Lord of the Rings series. 6/10
I'm not much for genre fiction, I guess. I appreciated the overall plot but the amount of worldbuilding made it a slog for me.
Beowulf
6/10 - I can see how important it is as far as influence and such, but I felt that the stuff in it has been copied so much that even the original starts to seem cliche. I don't really like fantasy to begin with.
Gravity's Rainbow - Pynchon
10/10 - Super funny but also incredibly insightful. The word play and misspellings and such kept me laughing throughout. The surreal and cartoonist scenes had me thinking of The Nose by Gogol in how things just change without any explanation but you just have to accept it and keep going. It's like that moment when you wake up from a dream and nothing made any sense but somehow it just worked while you were asleep.
Coraline - Gaiman
4/10 - It's a kids book and I pretty much got what I expected. It was a fun book and I'd probably give it an 8/10 or something for what it is but a 4/10 if just using the same scale as everything else.
The Duel - Chekhov
7/10 - I liked it. I felt like it was the next step in Fathers and Sons in sort of seeing how different people clash but these being the types of people who would have seen Bazarov as the normal guy rather than the radical new way of thinking. Then of course ending in the same way alone with other parallels and actually mentioning Turgenev and Fathers and Sons.
The Kreutzer Sonata - Tolstoy
9/10 - He takes the reader into the mind of a certain type of person in the same way Notes from the Underground does. Felt pretty raw and real. These types of people are defiantly still around and the book is still very relevant.
>>8259469
Iliad
Odyssey
Herodotus histories
V
Oblomov
I'm starting with the Greeks taking occasional breaks to read Pynchon or depressing Russian books.
Nothing big recently, but most of it enjoyable.
1. Zero K, DeLilo, 8/10
Dense and meandering despite its short length. Still, the story and its musings on language and the nature of death are pretty remarkable.
2. Misery, King, 9/10
King fan so I'm biased, but his prose in this was sharp, insightful, accessible. Story was great and its meditations on writing were wonderful.
3. Castle of Otranto, Walpole, 7/10
Flowed well in spite of the archaic language. Story was melodramatic but the characters were surprisingly strong. Sweet action too.
4. Breed, Chase Novak, 7/10
Interesting ideas, well drawn characters, and great scenes of horror, but the language was too often overwrought and the story, for its attempts to link itself to science, was often unbelievable without having me suspend disbelief.
5. Waiting for Godot, Beckett, 10/10
Wonderful. I may fundamentally disagree with Beckett's philosophy, but his presentation of human existence was potent and poignant.
>>8263767
>king fan
opinions discarded
>>8259754
nope. memory palaces are a very old idea - tied to alchemy. the book actually explicitly mentions it at one point. it doesn't really matter where he got it from though - the ideas, and the repetitive metaphor, are still the same.
>>8263784
Damn.
>>8262967
move on to absalom . . . it's objectively his best
>>8259510
>honest characterization
lol
>the protagonist felt like he lacked the control he made me to believe he had
No shit. That's the point.
>>8260128
>Child of God by McCarthy
Didn't even know this one existed. Is it a disappointment after reading Blood Meridian?
Nothing super patrician, just sampling some American lit to get ready for a seminar I'm taking next fall. This actually goes a couple months back - I've been reading a lot of poetry and anthologies lately, so I haven't finished many "full" books
1. A River Runs Through It, Maclean 3/10
Read this cause I was heading to Montana to visit Glacier and a few other parks this summer. The religion/flyfishing/art connection is so overdone and drawn out, the actual storyline gets lost and the reader can't enjoy the book on any level other than "muh sceneray". Worst book I've read in awhile.
2. Gilead, Marylnne Robinson 8/10
Very suprised by this book. Biased beause all of my family is from smalltown Midwest Christian communities like the one created in this book. Great depiction of the evolution of Protestantism in America over the past 100 years.
3. Giovanni's Room, Baldwin 9/10
Beautiful, I love Baldwin's statements on masculinity and his portrait of Paris.
4. The Gospel of Luke 7/10
I read the Gospels as a kid and forgot how well Luke does the months leading up to Christ's conception. Overall, I still prefer John as a gospel, but Luke is a close second
5. Go Tell It on The Mountain, Baldwin 6/10
Baldwin does a nice job tying the material world of experience with out-of-body spiritual experiences, giving typical African-American Christian narratives more context and depth, but I struggled to be moved by anything he says in this book. I had very little emotional attachment. I can appreciate what this book is doing, but I can't say I was anywhere near enthralled by it.
>The Hive - Camilo Jose Cela
5/10. Not as good as Borges, Faulkner, or other modernists. I don't know why they gave this guy a Nobel prize.
>Oriental Seven Day Quick Weight-off Diet - Norvell
6/10.
>Children of the New Forest - Captain Marryat
5/10. Barely grazes the decent as a children's novel
>Jacob and Rachel - Rosemary Hart
8/10. Always refreshing to read about a retold Bible story.
>Understanding and Improving Your Personality and Self-Image
6/10. Good enough.
>The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Murakami
Really don't understand why he's as popular as he is. This is the only book I've read of his and I enjoyed it but what an ultra passive protagonist. Interesting insight on marriage but the plot seemed to attempt to make connections that weren't there until it explained it in the last 50 pages of the book. If I'm missing something then let me know, I did like it.
>Cat's Cradle - Vonnegut
Second read. Fun journey with many interesting characters. A wild ride.
>Infinite Jest - Wallace
Took me eight months to read (I was also busy with other things, but no excuse). Really enjoyed it. Character and theme over plot took a little time to get used to (especially with the first 200 pages being just character introductions) but you really get to know the characters like close friends, even if you don't really want to be close friends with these people. Will read again eventually.
>On the Road - Kerouac
Second read. Really enjoyed it more the second time because I don't think I "got it" when I read it the first time. Made me want to get up and drive across America.
>V - Pynchon
One of my favorite books. Many excellent/ poignant/bizarre episodes and topped with weird humor.
>>8264805
Have you read GR? I didn't get IJ and dropped it after 100 pages of boredom.
I love Pynchon and I didn't really see any Pynchonesque (despite claims on the back) things in IJ.
The prose seemed to at lot lower quality, which was a bit off putting.
Do you think my standards were too high or does the style change drastically after 200 pages?
>>8262967
>I think that in german, it would be a better read than in english.
You have no idea just how true this is.
Human Condition was strong, but too short. It's a quality critique of what she sees as misconceptions of how a human should live and why everything without teleology sucks.
Iron Dragons Daughter was bizzare, entertaining and had surprisingly strong characterisation, but was too long for what it thematically had to offer, like a lot of fantasy. A solid work and recommend to anyone who likes weird stories.
Dialects of secularism were just notes for a symposium. It was probably great, but the notes are too short.
Wizard at Earthsea was extremely fun. Simple, well written, just great children literature.
Aquinas by Edward Feser was enlightening on the topic. A must read for anyone with an interest on the subject.
The Golden Transcendence was way too long and preachy, Wright just doesn't have the mind of a great thinker to pull the preaching off. A lackluster ending to an otherwise strong space opera.
Storm of Steel was all around strong, Junger being a fascinating persona and WWI making for a great story.
Return to the Whorl is probably the best novel I've read this year. Wolfe is superb at filling everything with masses of symbolism and is in science fiction the best at writing characters. The plot twist about the nature of the protagonist was some of the best I've ever read.
Heretics and Napoleon of Notting Hill is Chesterton at his best. If you like him, you'll love what's there. He's basically a Catholic Nietzsche.
>seiobo there below 9/10
one of the most mesmerizing reads in a while
the chapter on the egret hunting was particularly memorable
> : Scoop 8/10
great fun: Waugh's a master storyteller
>Le rouge et le noir 9/10
Bien que je détestais l'arrogance hautaine de mathilde lorsque je l'avais lu il y a 8 ans, maintenant je ne peux pas m'empecher de penser à elle
>Professor Borges a course on English literature 8/10
It's fascinating to be able to experience Borges as a lecturer. He teaches the class based on his personal preferences first and foremost, which is how no less than 7 lectures are dedicated to anglo saxon literature
>De avonden 8/10
pretty revolutionary and shocking for its time, it portrays the ennui of a Dutch youth and his self loathing which he expresses through a (at the time ) shocking cynicism.
In Cold Blood 10/10
grandiose
>Dubliners, James Joyce
9/10
loved most of the stories. Favourite is probably A Little Cloud or An Encounter
>The Brooklyn Follies, Paul Auster
4/10
Pretty Meh, awful ending. The second half is very weak, the first part has some endearing moments, the prose is quite good overall. Disappointing but not discarding Paul Auster entirely until I've read The New York Trilogy
>Salmon Fishing In The Yemen, Paul Torday
2/10
What the fuck did I read
>The Farewell Waltz, Milan Kundera
8/10
Loved it. Hilarious at times, slightly depressing, loved the historical digressions and the cynicism
>Fifty Grand and Other stories, Hemingway
5/10, pretty underwhelming. Didn't get much out of it.
>The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins.
4/10, I'm really not too keen on detective stories though I can appreciate the value of this book as a pioneer of the genre
>>8267253
Fuck, apparently I can't even count to five
>A Canticle For Leibowitz
8/10. Great ideas in an enjoyable package of prose. I'm a sucker for huge time leaps in narratives.
>No Country For Old Men
4/10. Should have just been a straight up screenplay. Disappointed that McCarthy missed the mark so hard where he has blown it away before.
>Suttree
10/10. Fucking masterpiece. Communicates more feeling and depth with written word than I feel like I ever have with anything I've ever said. I will be reading this again and again for the rest of my life. This is the kind of book I want to share with my son when he's old enough.
>Animal Farm
7/10. Funny little idea that is pulled off well with that stinger of an ending. Doesn't overstay its welcome.
>The Sea-Wolf
8/10. Stirring, enjoyable, exciting. Van Weyden's voice is still clear in my mind. This is a book every young twenty-something should read and pay attention to. Only thing keeping it from a 9 is the obvious Mary Sue that only distracts from an otherwise fantastic tale.
>Broom of the System, David Foster Wallace
6/10. Clever writing, but perhaps a bit too clever with DFW taking every opportunity to show off his talent. Plot didn't really go anywhere, but I suppose that was the point. His approach to basic post-modernist themes didn't really hold my interest.
>The Stand, Stephen King
8/10. Ending was a letdown, but I've heard King is known for weak endings. I was also disappointed that he introduced a supernatural element to the story early on and would've preferred a more realistic, post-apocalyptic tale. Despite this it was a fun, shlocky read and couldn't wait to get home from work every day to read more.
>And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie
3/10. I was hoping this would be the book that would make me like whodunits and detective novels, but sadly that was not the case. If this is the book that originated the 'someone in the house has been murdered and any one of us could be the killer' plot, it deserves some respect for that, but otherwise it's garbage. Contrived with paper-thin characters.
>A Supposedly Fantastic Thing I'll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace
10/10. Fantastic collection of essays. DFW's non-fiction voice seems so different from the one in his fiction. Funny, insightful and clever in a natural, elegant way. His writing is like watching a star athlete or master craftsman at work. It was a very humbling read. I can see why so many insufferable English majors end up being DFW wannabes and rightfully so.
>Consider the Lobster, David Foster Wallace
8/10. I was hoping for more of a good thing, but this seemed like a cobbled together bunch of leftover essays. The writing was still good, but the essays seemed less insightful and profound. They basically read like ordinary magazine articles. Maybe my expectations were too high after reading A Supposedly Fantastic Thing.
Currently reading:
>White Noise, Don DeLillo (and really enjoying it so far)
Likely to be followed by:
>Concrete Island, J.G. Ballard
>Winesburg, Ohio, Sherwood Anderson
>Freedom, David Franzen
the neon bible, john kennedy toole 6/10 good little story.
the pale king, david foster wallace 7/10 have good parts in it, i don´t know why the “irrelevant” chris fogle part hit me up in a strange way
the death of ivan illich, leon tolstoi 6/10 another good little story
brand´s haide, arno schmidt 8/10 lovable.
my brain is hanging upside down, david heathley 10/10 it´s a comic but i liked a lot, altough is simple and not too clever, maybe....
also a little little speech of jean genet “the criminal child” that it´s very recommendable
Here's what I've read recently:
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, 5/10
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, 4/10
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, 6/10
A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi Wa Thiongo, 7/10
Looking For Alaska by John Green, 8/10
The Tempest by Shakespeare, 6/10
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, 9/10
Currently reading: The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
