what are you reading now?

grizzleb

grizzleb

Well-known member
I haven't read any Solzhenitsyn but I've heard that he can be quite smaltzy and sentimental. I'd check out Varlam Shalamov's short stories for gulag literature. No sentimentalism in sight, and extremely well written. Guy did like 20 years or something in the gulags.
 
D

droid

Guest
Denisovich is the best thing he's done. Cancer ward is ok. Archipelago is a slog.
 
blacktulip

blacktulip

Pregnant with mandrakes
I've found Solzhenitsyn's prose painful to read with the sole exception of Denisovich, which is a very special piece of prison literature, right up there with Cervantes and Eddie Bunker.
 
G

Gregor XIII

Well-known member
I read Denisovich as an 18-year old and just became obsessed with Solzhenitsyn. I remember The First Circle as amazing as well, probably his best work, while The Cancer Ward was really, really depressing. But it's been a long time since I've read anything by him.
 
Bangpuss

Bangpuss

Well-known member
So... anyone read anything by William Vollmann? Or, more to the point, has anyone read a lot, or even all of Vollmann's published work? The Atlas is excellent, if he indulges his love of loquacious descriptions of views from train windows a little too much.
 
V

viktorvaughn

Well-known member
I ended up reading Patrick White's Eye of the Storm on holiday amongst other things.

Brilliantly written but it seems to have dated terribly IMO, the portrayal of the women came off patronizing/sexist and the social mores and rules so far removed from now to be almost unrelatable to. Never heard of Patrick White before this but he's (one of) Australia's top ever written apparently :eek:
 
B

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
viktorvaughn said:
the social mores and rules so far removed from now to be almost unrelatable to.
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I regularly find this a problem when reading even early twentieth century literature. For example, Howard's End I found so often baffling in this way that it kinda ruined my enjoyment of it.
 
blacktulip

blacktulip

Pregnant with mandrakes
bandshell said:
A friend lent me their copy of Dispatches by Michael Herr. Some of it's a bit waffley but I'm enjoying it. HST-esque romp through Vietnam.

Reminds me of Catch-22 at times. The young marine who's received his orders to go home but keeps running back to the camp / bunker when he's about to leave, in particular.
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Dispatches is a classic of sorts (and part of the inspiration for Full Metal Jacket) but I vastly prefer the stories of Thom Jones (some set in Vietnam) and also Sympathy for the Devil by Kent Anderson. No one should miss Thom Jones.
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Recently re-read Austerlitz to see if it was as good on a second reason as I'd remembered it being from the first (answer: yes), and in the spirit of now-for-something-completely-different I picked up an edition of original Conan the Barbarian stories. It's one of those great reads that's simultaneously hugely enjoyable and utterly terrible at the same time. I don't think I've ever read anything so badly written, and I've read The Da Vinci Code.

Luka was right in that it's a bit like Beowulf, except he got it the wrong way round (Conan is reminding me of Beowulf, not vice-versa).
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
austerlitz and conan very good. i want to read howards kull. or krull or whatever/ theyre sposed to be good too
 
Benny Bunter

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
Luka I nicked that 'Kings of the mountains' book about Columbian cycling off my dad on your recommendation. I read it in two sittings and it was amazing, thanks for the tip!
 
woops

woops

is not like other people
Recently read by me

Miles : The Autobiography - Miles Davis (& ghost)
I suppose the narcissism is forgiveable when you consider the struggle - but most interesting as an account of the 50s and 60s jazz scene

Miracles of Life - JG Ballard
Pretty distressing really, implacable mayhem and berserk normality from the blogging mascot, more or less what you would expect

Jem and Sam - Ferdinand Mount
Not a Dissensus book, but a entertainingly and reasonably convincingly non-twee 17th century scribble, by David Cameron's cousin! /coat
 
Benny Bunter

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
Lucho Herrera was one of my heroes growing up

luchoherrera_zps2c8d6e2a.jpg
 
Benny Bunter

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
Yeah in our house at least, my Dad is a cycling fanatic, we used to sit and watch old tour de france videos all the time. The channel 4 coverage of the tour used to be great.

I used to like the Columbian riders the best cos they were always attacking in the mountains and the Polka Dot Jersey was the coolest looking one. Herrera was amazing.
 
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