Beastie Book Club pt 2...

[MC Moot]

Hey people,

What ya been reading?
Anything you finished and thought "damn others must read this!"
I'm looking for something wicked funny,thoughts?

Satire: "Killing Yourself to Live : 85% of a True Story" Chuck Klosterman
(witty Spin magazine guy's account of road trip across the U.S.A to different sites where music legends breathed the last breath)

Short Story: "From Wild Ducks Flying Backwards" by Tom Robbins
(this was terribly disapointing,short stories and essay's are not his strong suit)

Satire: "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" by David Sedaris
(Another bigraphical,amusing,self reflection by a New York transplant)

Biography: "Jarhead" by Anthony Swofford
(didn't want to read it but had to...why the Marine Core or Military service is not for you)

Politics: "Speaking of Empire and Resistance - Conversations with Tariq Ali" Tariq Ali (The answer to Jarhead and other things about the Mid-East that bring you oh so down)

Cheers!

[abcdefz]

I'm almost done with To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm reading it for the first time.

Got a nice score at the library sale this weekend:

James Joyce - Ulysses (still haven't read it)
Stephen King - It (Supposed to be a good one; should be great for the bus rides)
Miguel de Unamuno - Abel Sanchez and other stories (no idea; looked interesting; Spanish author promising Quixotic madness, etc.)
Kurt Vonnegut - Cat's Cradle (I need a copy)
Shusaku Endo - Silence (no idea; looked interesting -- Japanese author, Christian story)
William Kennedy - Billy Phelan's Greatest Game (I've only read Ironweed, so...)
Graham Greene - A Burnt-Out Case (I need a copy)

Three dollars. (y)

[abcdefz]

I'm almost done with To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm reading it for the first time.







...speaking of which:

Does anybody else remember Bloom County ran a series about the proposed sequel, Kill Mo' Mockingbird? :D

[MC Moot]

[QUOTE=abcdefz]I'm almost done with To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm reading it for the first time.
Nice,the Gregory Peck film does justice to the book,Scout....

Got a nice score at the library sale this weekend:

James Joyce - Ulysses (still haven't read it)

Me neither hacked through "Dubliners" and "Portrait of the Artist..." found Joyce tough to digest,but felt some sort of obligation to read before travelto the isle...ya know?
Stephen King - It (Supposed to be a good one; should be great for the bus rides)
My favorite book,when I was 14! I think his scariest besides "The Stand" (co-authored)
Kurt Vonnegut - Cat's Cradle (I need a copy)
So simple,so brilliant,now there's a weapon of mass distruction,eh! I'm waiting on his new collection of correspondence....
William Kennedy - Billy Phelan's Greatest Game (I've only read Ironweed, so...)
You think you can get away not reading Kennedy and just doing all nighter of Woody Guthrie music?
Graham Greene - A Burnt-Out Case (I need a copy)
I have never read a Graham Greene title,please help
Three dollars.

Bravo!

[ms.peachy]

I'm just about finished with Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. And I read Gene Wilder's autobiography last week, can't remember exactly what it's called. Next up is something called Old Filth, my reading group's book this month - don't know much about it as yet.

I've enjoyed reading Crusoe; I do think I'll try a few more classics in the coming weeks. Maybe it's finally time to give Anna Karenina a go.

[kleptomaniac]

i've read the harry potter series up to book six

woohoo! :rolleyes: :p

[MC Moot]

I've enjoyed reading Crusoe; I do think I'll try a few more classics in the coming weeks. Maybe it's finally time to give Anna Karenina a go.

I've never read Crusoe,but the story has always interested me...Pierce Brosnan actually did a fairly good film version......I also caught a documentary on the actual sailor who the story is based on....bizarre stuff,sex with goats and such....cheers

[abcdefz]

[QUOTE=abcdefz]I'm almost done with To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm reading it for the first time.
Nice,the Gregory Peck film does justice to the book,Scout....

Got a nice score at the library sale this weekend:

James Joyce - Ulysses (still haven't read it)

Me neither hacked through "Dubliners" and "Portrait of the Artist..." found Joyce tough to digest,but felt some sort of obligation to read before travelto the isle...ya know?
Stephen King - It (Supposed to be a good one; should be great for the bus rides)
My favorite book,when I was 14! I think his scariest besides "The Stand" (co-authored)
Kurt Vonnegut - Cat's Cradle (I need a copy)
So simple,so brilliant,now there's a weapon of mass distruction,eh! I'm waiting on his new collection of correspondence....
William Kennedy - Billy Phelan's Greatest Game (I've only read Ironweed, so...)
You think you can get away not reading Kennedy and just doing all nighter of Woody Guthrie music?
Graham Greene - A Burnt-Out Case (I need a copy)
I have never read a Graham Greene title,please help
Three dollars.

Bravo!




...I like the Mockingbird film adaptation, too; reading this book, I admire Gregory Peck's performance even more. Nicely done.

Haven't gotten through any of Joyce's stuff yet, period. Not a bit. A few sentences, but otherwise, nada.

Ulysses might be a good book for this holiday weekend; I get the feeling it needs to be read in a big gulp, since the whole thing is the meticulous detail of 24 hours (right?). I think if I stall out, I'll never finish.

The Stand was written solo. Are you sure you're not thinking of another book -- one with Peter Straub?

Vonnegut... my favorite of his (not necessarily what I think is his best, but my favorite) is God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. I need to re-read Cat's Cradle in a big way -- it's been years.

Was the Kennedy/Guthrie comment rhetorical? If not, my answer's "no."

Graham Greene... really, really good, underrated writer (like John O'Hara, but better). A Burnt-Out Case is a terrific book -- world-famous architect, sick of it all, retires to a leper colony.

Other stuff of his you might've heard of: Travels with My Aunt, The Third Man (yes, that one), The Power and the Glory, The End of the Affair, Our Man in Havanna, The Quiet American.

[ms.peachy]

I've never read Crusoe,but the story has always interested me...Pierce Brosnan actually did a fairly good film version......I also caught a documentary on the actual sailor who the story is based on....bizarre stuff,sex with goats and such....cheers

I hate to disappoint you, but there is no actual goat sex in Defoe's novel.

Actually, there is no sex or anything vaguely like it anywhere in the book, save for one line towards the end after Crusoe has returned to England where he says something like "and I did take me in this time a wife, which was of no trouble or hindrance to me, and did but father three children, the last of which was the cause of said wife's early death in childbirth."

It's one of the peculiarities of the book that marks it out as being 'of its time.' No mention whatsoever of sex, not even a reference to the behaviour of sailors going ashore after months at sea. Also, the utter colonial viewpoint - of course, the 'savage' Friday is all to willing to submit to a position of servitude; of course, he learns English from Crusoe eagerly; of course, he is so very grateful to Crusoe for instructing him in the ways of Jesus Christ and vows if he ever returns home to his own kind he will share with them his newfound knowledge of and dedication to the One True God. It's downright laughable at times.

[Lex Diamonds]

Howard Marks - Mr. Nice

Michael Caine - What's It All About?

[fucktopgirl]

Paul Coelho
alchemist(inevitable)
the fifth mountain
the pilgrimage


Carlos Castaneda all is books are really good


if you like reading horror book
H.P .lovecraft is really great!

Vian
Sartre
nieztche

[instigator7022]

William Wharton - Birdy

I saw the end of the movie. It was the stupidest/funniest/most amusing ending I've ever seen. I came across the book in the library. I got it out. Besides me the last person who got it out took it out in 1990. So, I'm guessing it's not that popular, maybe it was popular when it came out in 1978?

Anthony Swofford - Jarhead

The BBMB incited me to read it. good book. quick read.



Servants of Twilight -Dean Koontz

Good so far

I've made it my personal goal to read all his books. I <3 koontz

[MC Moot]

Paul Coelho
alchemist(inevitable)
the fifth mountain
the pilgrimage
Carlos Castaneda all is books are really good
if you like reading horror book
H.P .lovecraft is really great!
Vian
Sartre
nieztche


If you like Castaneda you may want to check out Gabriel Garcia Marquez..."Love in the Time of Cholera" is one of my favorite reads....you may also dig Spanish poets Pablo Neruda and GarcÃ*a Lorca....I love "The Plague" by Sartre...when it comes to horror I think Clive Barker does it best...."The Books of Blood" have alot of characteristics that remind me of a modern Poe and Lovecraft....I have to read "The Alchemist" it's been recommended to me a few times (y)

[fucktopgirl]

If you like Castaneda you may want to check out Gabriel Garcia Marquez..."Love in the Time of Cholera" is one of my favorite reads....you may also dig Spanish poets Pablo Neruda and Garcêa Lorca....I love "The Plague" by Sartre...when it comes to horror I think Clive Barker does it best...."The Books of Blood" have alot of characteristics that remind me of a modern Poe and Lovecraft....I have to read "The Alchemist" it's been recommended to me a few times (y)

Gabriel GArcias MArquez "love in time of cholera"
what is the main unwinding of the story?
Pablo Neruda,i read some of his peoms,but i will have to go deeper on the matter!

[MC Moot]

I hate to disappoint you, but there is no actual goat sex in Defoe's novel.

Well,I guess I'm not really disapointed,eh ;)

The thing that struck me about the stranded sailor and the goat sex was that he would notch the ears of the goats he was fornicating with so he would know which ones not to slaughter for substanence,so very strange,tending to your flock I guess....

May I suggest another tale of survival without the colonial disposition or Christian rhetoric...."Life of Pi" by Yann Martel...a young boy a bengal tiger and a 12ft lifeboat,really,really good! :cool:

[MC Moot]

Gabriel GArcias MArquez "love in time of cholera"
what is the main unwinding of the story?

Well it unwinds like so: "Love in the Time of Cholera is set between the 1870s and 1930s in an unnamed city along the Caribbean coast of Colombia. It tells the story of a man who waits fifty-one years, nine months, and four days to be with the woman he loves....." (e-notes.com)

I think it's the most amazing "love" story ever written....for real (y)

[hpdrifter]

Since the first Chronicles of Narnia film is coming out soon lets remember what a cool author C.S Lewis was. He has a book called Til We Have Faces that is supposed to be amazing.

[abcdefz]

William Wharton - Birdy

I saw the end of the movie. It was the stupidest/funniest/most amusing ending I've ever seen. I came across the book in the library. I got it out. Besides me the last person who got it out took it out in 1990. So, I'm guessing it's not that popular, maybe it was popular when it came out in 1978?
[/COLOR]




HEART HEART HEART HEART

Terrific book. Heart heart heart.

...the book was (supposedly) a minor big deal when it came out. It was Wharton's first book, and published in his sixties, I believe.

The ending of that movie -- man. The first time you sit through the movie, that's a shocker/hillarious whopper of an ending. Oh, man.

Tell us what you think when you finish that book. Also recommended: A Midnight Clear and also Dad.

[Qdrop]

Lies and the Lying Liers who tell them: Al Franken
- just finished. very entertaining...somewhat enlightening, but i already knew most of what he was bitching about. i mean who DOESN'T know that Anne Coulter lies 90% of the time?
but the satire is priceless.

The Watchmen: Alan Moore
-just finished. fantastic. ground breaking in 86'...still relevant.

The Dark Knight Returns: Frank Miller
- same as above. fantastic.

Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie: Mark St. Amant
- decent. almost finished. a guy recounts his obsession with fantasy football- to point that he quits his job to play full time.

on deck:

Red Queen, Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature: Matt Ridley

The Killing Joke: Alan Moore

V for Vendetta: Alan Moore

[MC Moot]

Ulysses[/i] might be a good book for this holiday weekend; I get the feeling it needs to be read in a big gulp, since the whole thing is the meticulous detail of 24 hours (right?). I think if I stall out, I'll never finish.

Yeah I can understand that,I know that Ulysses is the book that introduces the main character in "Portrait Of the Artist...." I've beeen told I read it in the wrong order...
The Stand was written solo. Are you sure you're not thinking of another book -- one with Peter Straub?

Say what?...I thought that was the one with Straub....I think they have done 2 together,actually...but "It" will forever cement the fact that "Pennywise" is a very,very,very bad clown...not a band ;)

Vonnegut... my favorite of his (not necessarily what I think is his best, but my favorite) is God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. I need to re-read Cat's Cradle in a big way -- it's been years.

I'm a huge fan...although I saw him on The Daily Show recently and he is sliping in a big way,kinda sad.....I love his recurrent characters and fascination with volunteer fire departments,bizarre in the best way....recently I read "Mother Night" and was blown away by it,my sister saw him lecture years ago and when she asked him what his favorite American novel was he said "The Thin Red Line" by James Jones...I read that this summer,good stuff... (y)

Was the Kennedy/Guthrie comment rhetorical? If not, my answer's "no."

No sir just a little smart assed....I find the parallels between Guthrie's and Kennedy's artistic endeavors to be profound,similar subject matter,you know...ever see Jack Nicholson's "Ironweed"? ;)

Graham Greene... really, really good, underrated writer (like John O'Hara, but better). A Burnt-Out Case is a terrific book -- world-famous architect, sick of it all, retires to a leper colony.
Other stuff of his you might've heard of: Travels with My Aunt, The Third Man (yes, that one), The Power and the Glory, The End of the Affair, Our Man in Havanna, The Quiet American.

Huh...wow....alot of titles I'm familar with,recently saw Michael Caine in "The Quiet American"....nice,I'll try A Burnt Out Case,soon (y)

[MC Moot]

Lies and the Lying Liers who tell them: Al Franken
- just finished. very entertaining...somewhat enlightening, but i already knew most of what he was bitching about. i mean who DOESN'T know that Anne Coulter lies 90% of the time?
but the satire is priceless.

Franken is sharp,I'm waiting on the new one "The Truth-With Jokes"...."Oh the Things I Know" is a great way to kill a few hours (y)....you may get a big kick out of another SNL alumni's stuff "From Bush to Bush" and the "Lazlo Toth Letters" are by "Don Novello" aka father Guido Sarduchi...hilarious correspondence stuff...

[abcdefz]

Huh...wow....alot of titles I'm familar with




...yeah: he's one of those authors that you suddenly realize you're more familiar with their work (at least tangentially) than you'd thought.


recently saw Michael Caine in "The Quiet American".... [/COLOR]



..what'd you think? I'm curious about that movie.

[BGirl]

My nose has been buried in quilting and needlework books for a while, but I did manage to read a big chunk of Persepolis 2 on the train recently. So far it's as great as the first one (y)

[MC Moot]

[QUOTE=abcdefz
..what'd you think? I'm curious about that movie.[/QUOTE]

I enjoyed it,it has a great "look" cinematography wise,authentic setting,great continuity......Caine is great,the plot unfolds nicely....it flys by....I recommend it 4 sure...took me a while to warm to Brendan Frasers role but he pulls it out...the actress who plays the female lead is soooooo beautiful.....

[MC Moot]

Since the first Chronicles of Narnia film is coming out soon lets remember what a cool author C.S Lewis was. He has a book called Til We Have Faces that is supposed to be amazing.

I loved those books,turned me onto Tolkien....the only other thing I've read of his was a sci-fi trilogy called "Out of the Silent Planet" I think...wasn't big on it....I think there is a published collection of letters he exchanged with Tolkien debating religion,ideology,philosophy etc....he was a reverent Christian were as Tolkien leaned to a naturalist kinda disposition.....my cat is named Azlan ;)

[icy manipulator]

just read Mario Puzo's the sicilian

and Boris Starling's vodka

and just about to complete the Raymond E Fiest empire trilogy

[jackrock]

im working on Shindler's list

and im almost, just almost finished Good Night Moon... i'm at the part where he's saying goodnight to the comb.

[steve-onpoint]

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

[mikizee]

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

i almost bought that book, but ended up buying something else, is it any good? i have just finished reading 80 greatest conspiricies of all time. thats an awesome book.

[steve-onpoint]

i almost bought that book, but ended up buying something else, is it any good? i have just finished reading 80 greatest conspiricies of all time. thats an awesome book.

So far so good. The story involves a man who sets out on a journey to recover a Peruvian Manuscript which apparently has 9 insights ( i.e. 9 lessons or chapters). These insights cover the human soul's possibilities. And the Peruvian Govt is trying to suppress the information for fear of a global awakening by any means necessary.

The story resonates with me. (y)

[MC Moot]

i almost bought that book, but ended up buying something else, is it any good?.

It's a quick little read but it has a strange impact in that after reading it you begin to see, as the book suggests that perhaps there is no such thing as coincidence,we're all connected,for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction,etc.....it's been denounced as cultist and even perceived as the foundation for Redfields own form of new age religion/movement.....kinda like another L Ron Hubbard...it has a weird impact