what are you reading right now?

Let's talk Aguachile Alley

Postby joe » Wed May 15, 2019 1:13 pm

Just finished the last of the 'Karla' Le Carré books, Smiley's People. Definitely my favorite of his I've read so far. It is very tight, satisfying, with this strong melancholy and feel of ending. It was especially nice after the Honorable Schoolboy was a bit too unwieldy, with casually racist characters I wasn't as attached to.
User avatar

joe
 
Posts: 39446
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 8:14 pm
Location: horse kingdom

Postby shizaam » Wed May 15, 2019 1:54 pm

just finished up pilgrim at tinker creek. uh... any recs for more dillard? first i've read.
User avatar

shizaam
 
Posts: 14307
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2011 3:28 pm

Postby HotFingersClub » Thu May 16, 2019 6:03 am

Image
Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall
A long but extremely satisfying journey through the political netherworld of the Tudors. There's something giddy about following the guy who effortlessly outwits the other guys. And my god it is written SO WELL. I know everyone says this about Mantel but it really is amazing how she can just master a completely new style for each new book. It's a completely different beast from Beyond Black, which is also a masterpiece.

Now onto something much shorter:
Image
Alessandro Baricco - Silk
I loved his recent novel The Young Bride so this is my first dive into the back catalogue
Last edited by HotFingersClub on Fri May 17, 2019 10:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar

HotFingersClub
 
Posts: 3557
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2014 3:31 am

Postby Eyeball Kid » Thu May 16, 2019 2:34 pm

Image

I hope it's just one 120-page sentence
User avatar

Eyeball Kid
 
Posts: 47124
Joined: Sun Apr 04, 2010 1:17 pm

Postby i_am_agriculture » Thu May 16, 2019 2:56 pm

Image
Lot by Bryan Washington

Image
Only Americans Burn in Hell by Jarett Kobek

Image
Castle Gripsholm by Kurt Tucholsky
User avatar

i_am_agriculture
 
Posts: 368
Joined: Mon Dec 23, 2013 7:22 pm

Postby the upland trout » Thu May 16, 2019 3:05 pm

That looks great.
User avatar

the upland trout
 
Posts: 715
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 9:27 pm
Location: Philadelphia

Postby the upland trout » Thu May 16, 2019 3:05 pm

That looks great. (referring to the All My Cats book)
User avatar

the upland trout
 
Posts: 715
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 9:27 pm
Location: Philadelphia

Postby Kenny » Fri May 17, 2019 8:13 am

Finished a couple:

Image
Still my least favorite Orwell of what I read but had some really great bits. The ending was pretty good.

Image
My second Kipling and I liked it but a lot less than Kim where I was shocked by how good that was. I was also sort of surprised how much this was about the British army in India than the Indian people themselves that I thought from reading Kim/knowing about Jungle Book. Still, a quick page turning fun read

Image
I've recently been really getting into cricket so I thought I'd read this. Really loved it, from the Daily Mail blurb on the front I was a little worried that it would be pretty fluffy/Merrie England but it was surprisingly a pretty left-take if obviously a lover of Cricket and esp. after hearing so much about W.G. Grace (and his shamateurism still) I was ready for it to be elegaic about him and you can tell the author doesn't really think much of Grace. Fun book, though when it got to the post-WWII stuff I lost a little interest maybe because *I'M* a little interested in a Merrie England
[PEACE] [LOVE] [UNITY] [RESPECT] (stay posi)

You are a sacred being of light projected into reality for a purpose. Demand the right to your moment in this holographic gift with no rules, no borders, except for those you choose to accept and live by.

Without Labour there is no Rest; nor without Fighting can the Victory be Won ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

WOAH CLICK HERE
User avatar

Kenny
"Two Phones" Maccabee
 
Posts: 28676
Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2013 5:04 am
Location: The whole pub loving it

Postby HotFingersClub » Fri May 17, 2019 10:30 am

HotFingersClub wrote:Image
Alessandro Baricco - Silk
I loved his recent novel The Young Bride so this is my first dive into the back catalogue


This was okay, a haiku-esque fable about a silkworm trader torn between his wife in France and his contact's concubine in Japan. Difficult not to notice in 2019 that the concubine fantasy woman is an Asian girl whose "eyes did not have an oriental slant, and her face was the face of a young girl" and also she can't speak :?

Now:
Image
David Foster Wallace - Girl With Curious Hair
User avatar

HotFingersClub
 
Posts: 3557
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2014 3:31 am

Postby Plainsong » Sun May 19, 2019 5:54 am

Image
Really loving this so far.
User avatar

Plainsong
 
Posts: 2513
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2017 5:08 am
Location: Perth

Postby Riverchrist » Sun May 19, 2019 7:12 pm

Image Image

[Extremely dehydrated Butt-Head voice] Uhhhh... this sucks. The only compelling thing about it is its setting in the climate-destabilized U.S. of the near future. Aside from that it's a mediocre thriller written without style. Many things here irritate me in small ways: we learn how the main character pronounces his own name only after ~200 pages. Sentences are repeated almost word-for-word in different chapters because Bacigalupi writes in clichés. Corny tough-talking dialogue, much of which occurs at gunpoint. Constant double-crossing, to the brink of comedy. Characters are constantly "shooting looks," shaking their heads, fiddling with objects etc. while they talk. This is just filler. Yes I am jealous that this guy probably churns out pages quickly. He's eager to see his female characters socked, restrained, tortured and painfully fucked but I don't read it as ♫ misogyny ♫ so much as a tedious quota of sex and violence.
User avatar

Riverchrist
 
Posts: 13035
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 5:07 pm
Location: Ohmtown

Postby Tuba Gooding Jr » Mon May 20, 2019 2:11 pm

Der Richter und sein Henker - A fun, simple detective story that isn't too trying on my admittedly poor German. Although I feel quite comfortable with the material, I'm still a bit confused by how directional German prose fiction can be. I'm not really sure if this is a failure of my understanding, imagination, or what. I figure a native speaker is using the hinauf(s) and davon(s) to really construct the space in their head, but I usually end up feeling a sense of spatial disequilibrium.

Image
I'm gifted and gonna sell sex
User avatar

Tuba Gooding Jr
 
Posts: 1737
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2014 7:23 pm

Postby Smerdyakov » Mon May 20, 2019 9:51 pm

shizaam wrote:just finished up pilgrim at tinker creek. uh... any recs for more dillard? first i've read.


Teaching a Stone to Talk and Holy the Firm are both very good.
User avatar

Smerdyakov
 
Posts: 1121
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 7:34 pm

Postby Pris » Wed May 22, 2019 2:02 pm

Picked up Houellebecq's Serotonine after a break and finished it. Now reading Tanizaki's Some Prefer Nettles. Got his Quicksand lined up after that.
User avatar

Pris
 
Posts: 4791
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 4:22 pm
Location: Netherlands

Postby conductor » Wed May 22, 2019 8:35 pm

I'm trying to think of how I would explain to Barbara Tuchman that I'm playing something called "Cookie Clicker" while reading

Image
User avatar

conductor
 
Posts: 9691
Joined: Wed Oct 01, 2014 4:42 pm

Postby quadrivium » Thu May 23, 2019 3:18 pm

Image

sam was a guest on the antifada podcast
i'm pretty passionate about housing and urban planning so if you're interested in that along with capitalism and real estate, i highly recommend this book!
User avatar

quadrivium
 
Posts: 891
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2018 12:14 pm

Postby alaska » Thu May 23, 2019 3:30 pm

ooh quadrivium that looks great thx for the rec!!

i've been meaning to check out that other new jacobin book abt the teachers strikes too
On Hipinion, posters taxed their bonds and brotherhood, pushing themselves to the brink as a board and as buds.
User avatar

alaska
 
Posts: 6396
Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:36 pm
Location: Sunshine Coastline

Postby walt whitman » Thu May 23, 2019 4:35 pm

Image
“Short film, Long film, It’s ALL film!” - Walt Whitman
User avatar

walt whitman
 
Posts: 9646
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2011 3:26 pm
Location: a castle of narcissicism and insecurities

Postby quadrivium » Thu May 23, 2019 6:45 pm

alaska wrote:ooh quadrivium that looks great thx for the rec!!

i've been meaning to check out that other new jacobin book abt the teachers strikes too


i haven't heard of that before
what's the title?
User avatar

quadrivium
 
Posts: 891
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2018 12:14 pm

Postby adam sampler » Fri May 24, 2019 5:31 pm

Image

Image
User avatar

adam sampler
 
Posts: 1216
Joined: Mon Jul 10, 2017 11:43 pm
Location: Queens

Postby alaska » Fri May 24, 2019 5:55 pm

quadrivium wrote:
alaska wrote:ooh quadrivium that looks great thx for the rec!!

i've been meaning to check out that other new jacobin book abt the teachers strikes too


i haven't heard of that before
what's the title?


Image

:)
On Hipinion, posters taxed their bonds and brotherhood, pushing themselves to the brink as a board and as buds.
User avatar

alaska
 
Posts: 6396
Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:36 pm
Location: Sunshine Coastline

Postby i_am_agriculture » Fri May 24, 2019 6:21 pm

Image
Rock, Paper, Scissors by Maxim Osipov
User avatar

i_am_agriculture
 
Posts: 368
Joined: Mon Dec 23, 2013 7:22 pm

Postby fresco painter » Sat May 25, 2019 6:45 pm

Image

Image

Image
User avatar

fresco painter
Comptroller
 
Posts: 31305
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2012 10:13 am
Location: rare turtle

Postby fresco painter » Sat May 25, 2019 6:48 pm

the goshawk looks really promising, i didn't know TH White was that neat. I've reread jesus son and roughing it a bunch but i felt it was time again

that's the worst cover too of the goshawk, the other ones are way better

Image
User avatar

fresco painter
Comptroller
 
Posts: 31305
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2012 10:13 am
Location: rare turtle

Postby Kenny » Sat May 25, 2019 6:50 pm

The Once and Future King is one of my absolute favorite books of all time, tbh
[PEACE] [LOVE] [UNITY] [RESPECT] (stay posi)

You are a sacred being of light projected into reality for a purpose. Demand the right to your moment in this holographic gift with no rules, no borders, except for those you choose to accept and live by.

Without Labour there is no Rest; nor without Fighting can the Victory be Won ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

WOAH CLICK HERE
User avatar

Kenny
"Two Phones" Maccabee
 
Posts: 28676
Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2013 5:04 am
Location: The whole pub loving it

Postby woozy ducks » Sat May 25, 2019 10:03 pm

Anyone got any reccs for books set in Lagos?

Edit: Nigeria
Last edited by woozy ducks on Sun May 26, 2019 11:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar

woozy ducks
 
Posts: 24
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 3:50 pm

Postby deep blue meanies » Sun May 26, 2019 1:36 am

americanah? although it's only partially set there.

just started

Image

it's real good!
User avatar
deep blue meanies
 

Postby fresco painter » Sun May 26, 2019 11:00 am

Kenny wrote:The Once and Future King is one of my absolute favorite books of all time, tbh

That's what i knew TH White from but I never read it through all the way. Apparently he wrote this book right before Once and Future King but it didn't get published until way later

it's about how he moved to a house in the middle of the woods during the 30s and tried to train a hawk using a manual from the 1600s without knowing anything about hawk training. So he stayed awake for 3 days with this thing perched on his arm
User avatar

fresco painter
Comptroller
 
Posts: 31305
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2012 10:13 am
Location: rare turtle

Postby hadlex » Sun May 26, 2019 11:03 am

Image

I love Simenon but have only read his roman durs. This is my first Inspector Maigret and I'm really enjoying it. Maigret is almost like a proto-Philip Marlowe in his calm inscrutability.
User avatar

hadlex
 
Posts: 3378
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2018 1:16 pm

Postby Kenny » Sun May 26, 2019 11:46 am

I've only read Krull House by Simenon but I didn't really like it at all :-/ maybe I just didn't get it
[PEACE] [LOVE] [UNITY] [RESPECT] (stay posi)

You are a sacred being of light projected into reality for a purpose. Demand the right to your moment in this holographic gift with no rules, no borders, except for those you choose to accept and live by.

Without Labour there is no Rest; nor without Fighting can the Victory be Won ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

WOAH CLICK HERE
User avatar

Kenny
"Two Phones" Maccabee
 
Posts: 28676
Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2013 5:04 am
Location: The whole pub loving it

PreviousNext

Return to Aguachile Alley

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: A-Ok, Albatross, Architecture, Autarch, bluelips, CelticFC#1, chewy, crams, dadrocksampler, dan, Dirty Penny, Double McDouble, dr. badvibes, endoskeleton, Executive Producer, Eyeball Kid, Flossed Out, folkface, fosse, Fr. Blanc, gobot, Google [Bot], Grumby, hbb, i am rich, Jaboticaba, jewels, Kuma, launchpad, Littlelulusfanclub, Merciel, mynameisdan, No Good Advice, OKterrific, papi chulo, Poptone, powderfinger, rich uncle skeleton, Robert, Shotfrog, sultanpepper, trampoline, unbiaseddairylodge and 309 guests