Classic/10

Gonna take another go at it, last time I stopped after 100 pages. But have read the Passenger and Stella Maris since then and loved both.

I did the same thing the first time I read it. Got busy, lost steam, and put it down for a while. Started fresh when I had some more time on my hands to enjoy it and did not regret it.

not sure how to feel about this. Definitely relatable as someone gets stuck In There though

When I was in the middle of reading it, I always saw people saying how they were on their “second, third, fourth read” and I’d be so confused on why someone would want to go through this trek again but man.. I f***ing miss this book already. I genuinely miss the challenge, the world, the characters, his writing style, the endnotes, I miss the random stories and day to day life of the ETA kids, Gately’s mundane runs to grab groceries and the little details sprinkled about JOI and so much more.

This was so so good, DFW left us with an absolute gem.

Very solid start to the series. Pulls you in quickly.

8/10

Finished Convenience Store Woman, Remains of the Day and The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Around a 100 pages into War and Peace now.
Also started Dracula and still working my way through The Windup Bird Chronicle (it's true, this mf really can't write women but I do like the book lmao).

There are so many books I still want to read.
It's kind of hard to decide which to pick.
It's like sticking your hand into a grab bag, but through curation the items range from good to life changing.
And that's still a long distance.

Few lighter and shorter reads over the past few months. My next few reads will be the ASOIAF novels – House of the Dragon re-sparked my interest in the universe so I impulsively bought the books after seeing the show over 4 times.

Life for Sale (1968) – Yukio Mishima

The protagonist, burnt out by the inertia of mid-20s corporate office work, places his “life for sale” and ends up in a series of misadventures ranging from vampires, gangsters, espionage spies with rants about carrots – it has it all. Oh, and the book was originally published weekly in a Japanese Weekly Playboy, so there’s a bunch of sexy women who end up romping the protagonist.

It's silly; it’s pulp -- but it still manages to sting with edges of satire and existentialism. Tinges of Murakami about how some of the pages float by.

3/5

The Medusa Frequency (1987) – Russell Hoban

Another kooky novel which treads a beaten path – the tiresome tale of a novelist stifled by writer’s block – until he undergoes a strange procedure which in turns leads him to hallucinate the severed head of Orpheus who is bound to tell him the story of how he lost Eurydice.

Marred between confusing layers of science-fiction creations and unintelligible names exists an underlining question of what love and fidelity are. Funny, absurd, confusing, yet I couldn’t help plunging through. It’s like a David Lynch movie turned into a short novel.

4/5
-------------------————————————-
The Comedians (1966) – Graham Greene

Mr Brown, Mr Smith, and Mr Jones embark on Medea, a ship bound for Haiti. Protagonist Brown, the weary drifter who has been bequeathed a hotel; Smith, a naïve dreamer American who promotes vegetarianism; and Jones, a confidence man – all merge together under the backdrop of the grim realities of the brutality under “Papa Doc” Duvalier in 1960s Haiti.

The key theme of the novel is derived from the title. There is – perhaps a cruel irony – nothing funny in the novel. “Comedians” represent persons like Brown – people without purpose in life. Those not dedicated to a purpose, without integrity or courage. Whether that be weird vegetarians, communists, Catholics, whatever – there are few people in the world who truly have purpose.

The rest are just comedians.

3.5/5

I think Demons is actually the only major Doestoevsky novel I still haven’t read. Partly because I bought it real cheap as a used book and the pages look a bit too old school and gross, lol

Look up the novel I just read — Life for Sale. Might be up your alley

Mishima? Synopsis sounds good! Thanks

Burned through this in ten days. I don't think it was the best idea to pick this up after reading Infinite Jest. It felt much too heavy handed in it's themes and rudimentary with the writing. I loved the way he described Salinas Valley and the overall passage of time. It probably has my favourite name of any work of art though, "East of Eden" is a gorgeous title.

Wish there was an easy way of searching on this damn site. Or multi quoting. My review on East of Eden from last year echoed some similar thoughts:

“Now I must say that I seldomly indulge in Classic American Literature, as I find it a bit crap, and very samey — (no offence). But I was looking for a longer epic, with themes on human condition and thought provoking writing. As a result, I had to give Steinbeck’s self proclaimed magnum opus a go.

The prose is nice, and it flows well. The stories between Charles and Adam, and then Cal and Aron are extremely poignant. Steinbeck does well to get you so emotionally invested with all the heartbreak that occurs in this novel.

As expected, I think the novel largely lacks female voices — leading to what I can only assume is the largest unanimous gripe in the novel; the character of Cathy. She is so theatrically evil, to the point I found myself reading those chapters expecting Steinbeck to justify it in some way, but, it just never came…

As a whole, the novel is exceptionally well written and the core message of human condition coexisting with good and evil inside us all is perfectly met, but it’s not without its road bumps and teething problems. Timshel.
3.5/5”

I just recently finished Song of Solomon and it might be my favourite book of all time. I've read a bunch of good stuff this summer but that s*** was on another level imo especially the first half.

And about half of this

3/5

Johnson's semi-autobiographical fictional blitz of d*** abuse, dark humor, odd adventures, and state of being told through brief short stories brings everything you'd expect from the author. This is widely considered his most popular book but tbh probably my least fav of the other 2 that i've read (Angels and The Largesse of the Sea Maiden) its disjointed but still satisfying in its own way.

For fans of the film D****tore Cowboy, William H Burroughs, maybe a little Bukowski or Raymond Carver. I would also rec Johnson's other novels mentioned.

I need to read this

read it in hs it’s heartbreaking

Extremely but im halfway thru No Country for Old Men and it’s such a banger. Bell’s first person narrations are so vivid and organic. When he was explaining that the old sheriffs used to not carry guns and he mentions Jim Scarborough and says “that’s the younger Jim”. I really loved that little line for some reason.

Friends and Lovers by Eric Jerome D***ey

wanted to read something light and fun after finishing Babel. this was really entertaining and was the perfect chill read. I think it's pretty rare to get romance novels from the male perspective, specifically the black male perspective, especially in today's current market so it was really refreshing to have that for this book which is also set in the height of the 90s. black love, romance, friendship and drama all wrapped up in one. great stuff, will definitely be reading more D***ey. for fans of the show Insecure or 90s black romance films, definitely check this out.

4/5

quite a good read. 3.5/5

need to read the book have u watched the movie how does it compare?

Just finished A Game of Thrones.

It’s impressive how faithful the first season is to the book. It’s almost a 1:1 adaptation. Direct quotes from the book being used, little things like The Hound swinging into a bow when he fights his brother etc.

Can’t wait for it to veer massively from here.