The Books thread.

vendetta · Post by **vendetta** » Thu May 01, 2008 4:31 pm

I just finished reading "The Idiot" by Dostoyevsky. I recommend it to anyone, it got me thinking for a week.

I need to work on my French again, so now I'll read "La vie devant soi" by Ã‰mil Ajar before going back to Africa.

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Thu May 01, 2008 10:55 pm

vendetta wrote:I need to work on my French again, so now I'll read "La vie devant soi" by Ã‰mil Ajar before going back to Africa.

Thought you were french speaking? La vie devant soi's pretty good, it'll have you thinking for at least another week.

Since you're around Montreal, try getting your hands on Dany LaferriÃ¨re's "Comment baiser avec un nÃ¨gre sans se fatiguer", it's brilliant.

Mad Max RW · Post by **Mad Max RW** » Fri May 02, 2008 12:05 am

I'm reading Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh mistress now. Halfway through and it's boring as fuck.

Nicolai · Post by **Nicolai** » Fri May 02, 2008 12:11 am

How is "Les Bienveillantes", susan?

atoga · Post by **atoga** » Fri May 02, 2008 2:51 am

just finished coetzee's 'youth' -- pretty pretty pretty good

vendetta · Post by **vendetta** » Fri May 02, 2008 3:20 am

S4ur0n27 wrote: Since you're around Montreal, try getting your hands on Dany LaferriÃ¨re's "Comment baiser avec un nÃ¨gre sans se fatiguer", it's brilliant.

ha ah! Ã‡a tombe bien, je vais aller en Afrique bientÃ´t.. je vais chercher sur st-denis.

I speak French alright, but you would totally see a difference between a quebecer and me. It's pretty flagrant.

Subhuman · Post by **Subhuman** » Fri May 02, 2008 3:29 am

Just started No Country for Old Men. It's no book for people who enjoy quotation marks.

Also I just re-read The Regulators by Richard Bachman/Stephen King and forgotten how fun it is, like a Twilight Zone episode directed by Quentin Tarantino. Desperation is even better. (Avoid the shit TV movie version with Ron Perlman at all costs, for the love of God.)

vendetta · Post by **vendetta** » Fri May 02, 2008 3:30 pm

Subhuman wrote: No Chocolate for Old Men.

That's how my roomates call the movie...

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Fri May 02, 2008 4:20 pm

vendetta wrote:
S4ur0n27 wrote: Since you're around Montreal, try getting your hands on Dany LaferriÃ¨re's "Comment baiser avec un nÃ¨gre sans se fatiguer", it's brilliant.
ha ah! Ã‡a tombe bien, je vais aller en Afrique bientÃ´t.. je vais chercher sur st-denis.

I speak French alright, but you would totally see a difference between a quebecer and me. It's pretty flagrant.

AchÃ¨tes le neuf dans une librairie, le format poche est pas cher(10-12$ peut-Ãªtre). J'Ã©tais certain que t'Ã©tais quÃ©bÃ©cois... tu viens de oÃ¹?

Nicolai wrote:How is "Les Bienveillantes", susan?

I read it last year, and I definately recommend it. Makes you realize how convincing nazi propaganda was, and how easy it was to become one yourself, I think. I would surely have been part of it. The homo side of the main character is a bit annoying at times, but you can get over it pretty easily.

Lots of people hated the style, saying it was like a UN report or something, hard, too cold and distant. But I thought the writing was fitting, and totally easy to read. It's 900 pages and I got through them in like a week.

Nicolai · Post by **Nicolai** » Fri May 02, 2008 7:08 pm

Sounds pretty tight. I'll probably have to read it in translation, though. My French has deteriorated too much since high school for me to be able to read anything more complex than Enki Bilal's stuff.

Currently reading Consider the Lobster, a collection of essays written by none other than my main man David Foster Wallace. It's a bit hit and miss, but the one on "Authority and American Usage" is worth the price of admission alone.

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Fri May 02, 2008 7:52 pm

Eh, if your french's shaky, you need to get the translation, or you'll miss on a lot. Each of the words are purposely used by Littell.

I'm currently reading a book by Laurent-Olivier David about the rebellions of 1837-1838, in Quebec, against the Brits. Sweet.

Nicolai · Post by **Nicolai** » Fri May 02, 2008 8:01 pm

Well, yeah, "I'll probably have to read it in translation" is meant to be read as "I'll read it in translation"

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Fri May 02, 2008 8:39 pm

Nicolai wrote:Well, yeah, "I'll probably have to read it in translation" is meant to be read as "I'll read it in translation"

Guess so, I was just emphasizing on it. Are you in your PMS?

Nicolai · Post by **Nicolai** » Fri May 02, 2008 9:10 pm

I'm mellow to the core, man

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Fri May 02, 2008 11:05 pm

That's why we all love you

vendetta · Post by **vendetta** » Sat May 03, 2008 3:30 am

j'ai vÃ©cu ici pas mal toute ma vie, mais en fait je suis anglais... le rÃ©sultat est que dans n'importe quelle langue je m'exprime j'ai l'air d'un Ã©tranger.

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Sat May 03, 2008 4:41 am

Anglais comme dans Royaume-Uni?

Caleb · Post by **Caleb** » Sat May 03, 2008 9:24 am

Not sure if i've posted on this before, but simply the best Cthulhu fiction in recent years has got to be "Shadows Over Bakers Street". Haven't yet had the chance to read all of the Holmes cannon(have the complete set), but the premise is Sherlock Holmes set in the cthulhu universe. Each story has a different author, and I can only think of maybe 2 that were merely okay. Simply amazing.

Mandalorian FaLLouT GoD · Sat May 03, 2008 10:25 pm

Mad Max RW wrote:I'm reading Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh mistress now. Halfway through and it's boring as fuck.

Tell me how it is because I sure as hell didn't finish it.

Tingel Tangel · Post by **Tingel Tangel** » Mon May 05, 2008 11:04 am

I'm now reading Lamb (or: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal) by Christopher Moore.

I found his A Dirty Job when in Tuscon in some huge messed up grand hall-like place that didn't really know what they main target or main product type was, so they had a bit of everything. I forgot the name. Anyway, the book was cheap, had a fancy cover and the story on the back made me laugh, so I bought it and chuckled all the way home on my 9-hour flight. Since then, I've been trying to find other Moore books in DK, but failed to do so untill Friday when I was on a quick-stop in Copenhagen and walked into this huge-ass bookstore that specialises in having the stuff that none of the other places have. Still cheap, in paper back version, so I bought Lamb and Fluke.

I like Moore's books so far - A Dirty Job had me laughing all the way through, and though I've only read about an eighth part of Lamb, I found myself actually lol'Ã¯ng several times so far.