I need to read something. (3 Viewers)

[Absolutezero]

Oh no, they're gunna wreck it aren't they....
fuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Oh course. Would you expect any less of a major Hollywood film?

 

[Luxxey]

Providing some of my favourite authors. Not difficult to read (barring Ulysses) but with fantastic expression, rich storylines and layers of meaning.

Lionel Shriver - We Need To Talk About Kevin, The Post-Birthday World
James Joyce - Dubliners, Ulysses (tackle when you're ready)
Jeffrey Eugenides - Middlesex, The Virgin Suicides

Also, check out Arundhati Roy's God of Small Things. I'd heard rave reviews about it but personally I was disappointed. But hey, you might enjoy it.


I've got War and Peace sitting on my bookshelf.. I don't think I'll touch it for a few years. Though I did manage to get through Anna Karenina last year. The plot is.. very compelling. I'd recommend it too.

 

[Absolutezero]

I've got War and Peace sitting on my bookshelf.

Same. I think I might give it a go after the 90 or so books already on my list.

 

[sydchick]

Providing some of my favourite authors. Not difficult to read (barring Ulysses) but with fantastic expression, rich storylines and layers of meaning.

Lionel Shriver - We Need To Talk About Kevin, The Post-Birthday World
James Joyce - Dubliners, Ulysses (tackle when you're ready)
Jeffrey Eugenides - Middlesex, The Virgin Suicides

These. I want to read these.

But I'm also in a 50s American Novelist mood. I just need something to read, in that "genre"

But, elaborate on the Virgin Suicides, anyone?

I know it got made into a movie. Never saw it.

 

[Absolutezero]

Lionel Shriver - We Need To Talk About Kevin, The Post-Birthday World

This one caught my interest. Would it be worth buying a copy? What did you like about them?

 

[philphie]

all of Wilde's plays, his social wit is genius.


i often indulge myself in Jack London's The Call of the Wild, best novel on a dog haha.

 

[Luxxey]

But, elaborate on the Virgin Suicides, anyone?

I know it got made into a movie. Never saw it.

Blurb of my copy explains it best:

"The shocking thing about the girls was how nearly normal they seemed when their mother let them out for the one and only date of their lives. Twenty years on, their enigmatic personalities are enbalmed in the memories of the boys who worshipped them and who now recall their shared adolescence: the brassiere draped over a crucifix belonging to the pormiscuous Lux; the sisters' breathtaking apperance on the night of the dance; and the sultry, sleepy street across which they watched a family disintegrate and fragile lives disappear."

The most hypnotizing narration, told from the point of view of said boys (though merged into one narrator). Has very little dialogue. Tale about American suburbia. Lyrical, beautiful expression and lush imagery. Enchanting.

Also, for once the film doesn't bastardize the novel.

This one caught my interest. Would it be worth buying a copy? What did you like about them?

I think Shriver's novels are oriented to more of a female audience, but not exclusively so. She writes the sort of novel that, by the end, you fully understand not only the plot but the characters themselves (history, personality, motivations etc.) Shriver's grasp of language is impressive, and her novels have won several awards. What I most enjoyed was her character development, the background history, the little details, the twist - but most of all how they dealt with taboo issues, e.g. lack of maternal instinct, breakdown of a family, not all children are innocent, etc.

If you've read a synopsis somewhere and find the premise intriguing, I'd suggest buying a copy. I'd recommend We Need To Talk About Kevin out of the two (though don't be drawn by the shooting itself: it only features prominently in the last quarter of the book).

 

[Absolutezero]

I think Shriver's novels are oriented to more of a female audience, but not exclusively so. She writes the sort of novel that, by the end, you fully understand not only the plot but the characters themselves (history, personality, motivations etc.) Shriver's grasp of language is impressive, and her novels have won several awards. What I most enjoyed was her character development, the background history, the little details, the twist - but most of all how they dealt with taboo issues, e.g. lack of maternal instinct, breakdown of a family, not all children are innocent, etc.

If you've read a synopsis somewhere and find the premise intriguing, I'd suggest buying a copy. I'd recommend We Need To Talk About Kevin out of the two (though don't be drawn by the shooting itself: it only features prominently in the last quarter of the book).

I read a bit on WNTTAK, though not too much, as I didn't want to spoil anything. And the title of the Post-Birthday World just seemed to interest me, though I haven't read up on it (wiki didn't have a page ). I'll keep a look out for them. If I find them, I'll at least have a chance to look through them before making any decisions anyway.

 

[Graney]

Rand is shit. Thompson I'd just watch the movie.

I put it to you that you have never actually read any science fiction and are under the misconception that it's all high fantasy space opera shit like star trek. Most fantasy is a very bad pastiche of Tolkien influences, but sci fi is a very different beast, there is no relationship at all between typical science fiction and fantasy, thematically, structurally, philosophically they are a world apart.

The sci fi concept, as far as things I like, the setting and alternate technology are merely a vehicle for exploring radical philosophical ideas.

http://www.amazon.com/Scanner-Darkly-Philip-K-Dick/dp/0679736654

 

[x.christina]

kill the possum
james marsden

 

[sydchick]

Read it. It's pretty good, imo. And it's James Moloney, I'm pretty sure.

Love how he captures the abuse at its height and you really feel for Kirsty (yes?) and her little brother and wanting them to go in for the kill.

 

[x.christina]

Read it. It's pretty good, imo. And it's James Moloney, I'm pretty sure.

Love how he captures the abuse at its height and you really feel for Kirsty (yes?) and her little brother and wanting them to go in for the kill.

yeah moloney

i cried at the end. i really did

 

[sydchick]

yeah moloney

i cried at the end. i really did

So did I. I was absolute howling.

 

[dan2452]

Frankenstein i thought was pretty easy to get into actually


and try Cormac McCarthy or Matthew reily if youre daring

Matthew Reilly is a really good author to read:

Try reading Temple, or the Seven Ancient Wonders series

Also, Chris Ryan, Dan Brown, Although these are mostly guy books. However, other really good ones to read are Jane Eyre, Sherlock Holmes, and Animal Farm by George Orwell

 

[x.christina]

So did I. I was absolute howling.

it was such a subtle way of ending a book
eeeep crying

 

[ComingUpForAir]

The collected stories of Vladimir Nabokov

never read the dymocks 'best sellers' or whatever or anything buy australian authors, all shit.

 

[Mitteny]

I am probably a bit of a cliche, but I adored Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, and if you haven't read Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides I would have to strongly recommend you do.
Both are books that reminded me of why I love to read and that there is a point in continuing the arduous search for good books after all.

 

[Oscar Croshaw]

My all-time favourite book was "Magician" by Raymond E. Fiest. Beautifully complex and intricate book with a very believable storyline and realistic characters. Definate 10/10.

 

[showy]

You mentioned Burroughs- I've read 'Junky', the blurb describes it as 'a dark, powerful and mesmerizing account of one man's challenge to turn self-destruction into art.'

It's about drug addiction, obvs. Shocked America at the time, and is very easy to read. Like A Clockwork Orange it has its own vocabulary, which is contained in a glossary at the end of the book.

I really enjoyed it. Give it a go, it's quite short. You can get it in popular penguin version for ten bucks.

And agreeing with others, Lolita is amazing. The vocabulary is complex but it's incredibly lyrical, and equally beautiful and disturbing.

We've done Plath's poems in enx1, though I haven't read her novel, 'The Bell Jar'. Apparently some schools read it in year ten? It's supposed to be like The Catcher in the Rye. A word of warning though, Plath is a maniac. Her poetry provokes nightmares and increases enx1 student suicide rates. Not sure about the novel though, give it a go.

 

[ashie0]

I would recommend anything by Eugenides, Wilde, Burroughs, Nabokov, David Foster Wallace, Sallinger etc.