What are reading?

sparkletarte · Post by **sparkletarte** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 11:55 am

The literary tomes thread got me on to this (I posted this there before making this thread).

What are you reading right now? Any book suggestions? Winter's coming, lots of time for reading!

I am reading an interesting book, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. It's by a Japanese author, um, Marasuki? or something like that. I like reading translated books, or rather books from other countries.

So far it's kind of science fiction but in the more fiction style if that makes sense. The main character has had his brain altered to do special data computations that have something to do with a unicorn skull that communicates through sound. At the same time, a scientist is developing a way to control sound- turn it up, down, or off- as well as ways to read the history of what a person or an animal knows through communicating with it's bones.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 12:03 pm

I'm dutifully plugging my way through "Cradle to Cradle" by an architect and a materials engineer who are trying to completely remake industrial culture.
Amazon's page
I got it at the library at work. It's okay, a little dry, but I am so charmed by the fact that there's a library at work that I check out a lot of books there (one at a time) and see how far I get. Mostly, I just read on the way home on the bus, if I'm gonna take time from my husband, I wanna read a novel. Just finished James Alan Gardners Radient and Sherri S. Tepper's the Visitor
Both were pretty gripping, but I'm not sure I retained much. I don't read the way I used to.

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 12:35 pm

I swear that I will one of these days finish "From Dawn to Decadence : 500 Years of Western Cultural Life 1500 to the Present" by Jacques Barzun. It's pretty thick. I've been working on it for a couple of years now.

samtzu · Post by **samtzu** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 12:36 pm

Tarte: I love Murakami... I gotta' read the one you're reading now.. It sounds great!

I'm doing the Complete Sherlock Holmes from the Strand Magazine from over a hundred years ago... With Sidney Paget's original illustrations. Simple, easy, absolutely wonderful. Holmes is such a freak, and Watson is such a rock... I love this shit. I'm in the middle of The Hound of the Baskervilles right now. My favorite, chilling, quote: "The footprints of a gigantic hound!" ooooh... I love it!

buckethead alien · Post by **buckethead alien** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 12:40 pm

House of Leaves ~ Mark Danielewski

Recommended by GE

tonytohono · Post by **tonytohono** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 12:43 pm

sparkletarte wrote:I like reading translated books, or rather books from other countries.

Have you read Out, by Natsuo Kirino?

Pretty fine novel, if you like your mysteries dark.

Actually Stephen Snyder is an excellent translator of the Japanese language. He also translated Coin Locker Babies and Gold Rush.

Rian Jackson · Post by **Rian Jackson** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 1:37 pm

theCryptofishist wrote:I'm dutifully plugging my way through "Cradle to Cradle" by an architect and a materials engineer who are trying to completely remake industrial culture.
Amazon's page
I got it at the library at work. It's okay, a little dry, but I am so charmed by the fact that there's a library at work that I check out a lot of books there (one at a time) and see how far I get. Mostly, I just read on the way home on the bus, if I'm gonna take time from my husband, I wanna read a novel. Just finished James Alan Gardners Radient and Sherri S. Tepper's the Visitor
Both were pretty gripping, but I'm not sure I retained much. I don't read the way I used to.

great book. the best part is that you can read it in the bath!

I'm still reading 'Left Hooks, Right Crosses'. It's fuckin' brilliant. Liberals critiquing the left, conservatives critiquing the right, and generally just more good indepth thought - which in itself i believe to be non-partisan - than any other anthology i've ever read.

big props to 'Macdeth,' Bacon's laugh out loud satire on the Clinton scandals using Shakespearean form. Almost nothing that i read makes me laugh out loud. Fuckin' awesome read. Learning a shit load.

bullD · Post by **bullD** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 2:00 pm

"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand

Buenisimo!!!!!!

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 6:37 pm

"The Tale of Genji", Kenzaburo Oe

Genji, the protagonist of the classic tale, bids a flock of geese he sees in flight to search for his wife's departed soul which has failed to appear even in his dreams. A great metaphore for Japane's lost soul after the end of the war. Oe won the Nobel Prize in 1994 for hiw works btw.

foolsfolly · Post by **foolsfolly** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 12:44 am

Nothing Sacred, Douglas Rushkoff
A stack of comic books
Waiting for The Runes of the Earth, Stephen R Donaldson to come in to the library. More Thomas Covenent!

Force · Post by **Force** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 2:40 am

What are reading?

Reading are essential, of course.

sorry couldn't resist.

Alpha · Post by **Alpha** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 7:02 am

The Blind Watchmaker

gigglesnort · Post by **gigglesnort** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 7:03 am

the eplaya discussion board.....i'm sucha loser....

sparkletarte · Post by **sparkletarte** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 3:07 pm

Yeah, the name of the thread is great.

Sam, perhaps I can send you my copy. I have a couple friends here who I think would like it- they are fast readers so I can send it down when they are done. It's getting some really bizarre and interesting twists. I had to stay up really late last night to read more.

Tiahaar · Post by **Tiahaar** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 9:33 pm

Just finished the fifth book of Wraeththu, "Shades of Time and Memory" by Storm Constantine. OOOooo, good stuff. But you must start at the begining, "The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit", the first book in the first "Wraeththu" trilogy if you are to enter their world.

Ms. Constantine has been called Britain's Ann Rice but I think she goes beyond that...the Wraeththu are a new race evolved from humans (very gay male roots too) "...far more beautiful than their parent race, and are endowed with psychic as well as physical gifts. They are destined to supplant humanity as we know it..." (from the back cover)

The fun part is I have these books at work, and two of my female co-workers have gotten hooked on the series and the very strong relationships forged among what would be males in our world, heheh.

The Starship Palomino is thinking of becoming Camp Wraeththu for 2005.

Tiahaar · Post by **Tiahaar** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 9:57 pm

Wraeththu
(for those whose interest is piqued Amazon has some great reviews)

Wind_Borne · Post by **Wind_Borne** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 12:28 am

Practical Statecharts in C/C++" by Miro Amek, Ph.D.

The part about heuristics and idioms... well you just have to read it yourself.

Discosybil · Post by **Discosybil** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 12:32 am

The Childrens Blizzard

True story about the "Great White Hurricane" that hit the Dakota, Nebraska plains in 1888. Children were caught in it walking home from school......................with the wind chill factor, the evening was -40

Wind_Borne · Post by **Wind_Borne** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 12:55 am

So I'm checking out this story called The Christmas Ship to see if it might be entertaining for my nieces.

It's the true story about a ship's captain sailing Lake Michigan just after the turn of the century (100 years ago). Every Thanksgiving he and his crew would return from northern Michigan with a schooner full of spuce trees and dock at the Clark Street bridge in Chicago to sell the trees right off the ship. After two decades this event became a welcome tiding of the Christmas season for the people of Chicago.

Then one year the crew filled the holds and decks with spruce trees, and placed one atop the mainmast as a emblem of their mission. The ship was so heavily loaded with trees that it dragged bottom leaving the dock in Michigan. Then, as more cautious captains brought their ships into the harbor, the captain of the Christmas ship sailed out for Chicago and right into a November gale. As the winds increased the crew reefed in the mains and sailed on jibs alone. As the rain froze to ice on the rigging the men tried to chip it off. All the while they pressed on for Chicago.

On Thanksgiving Day the storm reached Chicago; but the ship did not. The families of the crew, and the people of Chicago, waited anxiously as days passed without sign of the ship. After three weeks everyone gave up hope. As well they should have. The ship, overloaded with trees and heavy with ice, had simply gone to the bottom of the lake in 160 feet of water. All hands were lost.

The epilogue then went on to describe how the families of the crew pulled themselves together and went on with their lives. End of story.

What the hell kind of Christmas Story is that!?

sparkletarte · Post by **sparkletarte** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 3:01 pm

Now I have the Edmund Fitzgerald song in my head. Maybe you don't know it? Gordon Lightfoot? About a ship that went down in Lake Superior, also in November, in the 70's Very haunting. I love this song. And Gordie. I wish I could play him singing it, he's voice is perfect for this.

~~

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.

With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconson
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and the Captain well seasoned.

Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ships bell rang
Could it be the North Wind they'd been feeling.

The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T'was the witch of November come stealing.

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind

When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it's too rough to feed ya
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it's been good to know ya.

The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the words turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd fifteen more miles behind her.

They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the ruins of her ice water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.

And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.[/url]

Wind_Borne · Post by **Wind_Borne** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 3:33 pm

Yes. Great song. A real American working hero tradegy.

geekster · Post by **geekster** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 6:07 pm

Might I suggest this:

http://www.psywww.com/books/interp/toc.htm

As some on-theme reading that might spark an idea or two?

Rian Jackson · Post by **Rian Jackson** » Mon Dec 06, 2004 8:16 am

On to the next book!

I thought philospohy was calling, but it looks like 'Mayan Visions' is calling re: Chiapas and other suchlikes.

Got too isnpired by 4th World War.

other than that, i've been reading my own damn writing. Editing is a bitch but hell, i've been motivated.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 4:27 pm

Wind_Borne wrote:Yes. Great song. A real American working hero tradegy.

My former truck is almost old enough to have had steel made from a load of iron pellets that they ferried to detroit.

And the mrFishist had an uncle on that voyage.

GuinivereElise · Post by **GuinivereElise** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 5:00 pm

the perks of being a wallflower ....again.

invisible mosters by chuck palanhiuk.... again.

nymphomania; a history ...again.

naughty fairy tales from a to z ....again and again and again...

III · Post by **III** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 6:36 pm

reading the baroque cycle. kinda fun.

just finished jonathon strange & mr. norrel, i think it's going to stick in my head for a while. very nice, in a moody way.

does looking at porn count as reading?

Rian Jackson · Post by **Rian Jackson** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 8:57 am

I finally got my Refusenik books in the mail. (Refuseniks are Israeli soldiers who either won't serve in the army at all, because they see it as an occupation, or practice 'selective refusal' by refusing to serve beyond the Green Line, or in Admin. Detention Centers, or previously, in Lebanon.)

Anyway, not so much new info for me, since i know some of these cats in person, but it's good solid stuff to read. Very cool to watch how those trends grow...

robbidobbs · Post by **robbidobbs** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 12:19 am

I just finished Chronicles of Tao by Deng Ming-Dao.

I just received in the mail today Country of Marriage by Anthony Giardina.

Browsing thru Meditation for Dummies (a delightfully well written book), and Cerebus the Aardvark for the 2nd time.

Oh, and I read a computer as a function of my job, and a good chunk of my social life to boot.

Who says we're post-literate, we're fucking reading and writing on this fucking computer several hours per day. Think about how many english words whiz past our eyes every fucking day.

I tell ya, it just wasn't a good idea to leave the trees.

Fishy, you probably are onto something.

samtzu · Post by **samtzu** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 7:21 am

Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, by Janine M. Benyus... bioengineers trying to find out how nature does it, and then trying to figure out how we can do it so we don't impact the Earth as badly as we do...

Church and State, by Dave Sims is on deck. All Hail Lord Julius!

Rian Jackson · Post by **Rian Jackson** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 8:17 am

Finished the second refusenik book, 'Breaking Ranks'. It's even better than the first. Shamai Leibowitz has got my kinda judaism. I'm dying to meet most of the people interviewed. I'm thinking about looking for some of them next time I'm in Israel.

Reading a lovely little novel that i'd picked up at the library book sale a while back called 'The Feast of Love.' (Charles Baxter)

I rarely make time for novels lately, but this is so well written. Escapism... kind of...

What are reading?

What are reading?

Re: What are reading?

reading list

~

Wraeththu

shameless plug