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Rereading Frankenstein. I'm still not convinced it's very good, but I'm only a third through.
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What is everybody reading?
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hothstation
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I find older books are very hard to read. I read the Count of Monte Cristo, and tried War and Peace, but I just did not enjoy them. I find a book has to be made after the Great Depression for me to really enjoy it.
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I actually prefer a lot of older books - Dracula, for instance, is one of my favourites. I read it when I was a teen shortly after reading Frankenstein for the first time and I found it really engrossing. Both The Count of Monte Christo and War and Peace are in competition for being some of the longest books ever written; plus, one is translated from Russian, and the other from french, so probably not the most accessible examples!
rockefeller
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I’ve read a lot of Infinite Jest in the past, but I got tired of lugging the book around with me. I just bought a Kindle version.
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Currently reading this obscure gem and it's sequels: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Misfortunes-Alan-Smith-Randomverse/dp/1705547621
Moe_Syzlak
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I recently finished Exhalation by Ted Chiang . It was okay. I’ve realized that short stories generally aren’t in depth enough for me. Each of the stories was pretty good but only a couple really grabbed me and none kept me thinking the way good sci fi of this nature should.
Moe_Syzlak
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I just finished A Reason to Live by Matthew Iden. It had been recommended to me but I really don’t know why. It was a very standard detective mystery with tons of cliches, no real personality in the main character, and a mystery that was pretty easy to see coming. It wasn’t bad per se, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Your article is very content, very good, thanks!
writemyessaysos
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I have been trying to read one book for a long time and it still does not come to me, do you have any tips for perseverance?)
Moe_Syzlak
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Maybe try an audiobook. I like to read when I can but supplement the physical book with audiobooks that I can listen to when doing things around the house or running errands. It keeps the momentum going. I find if I put a book down for too long it becomes increasingly harder to return to it.
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And check out the Libby app. It's the audiobook version of Overdrive, which pairs with your local library for free audiobooks.
Just checked "War & Peace" off my bucket list. Really enjoyed it. It's got about a billion characters, but Tolstoy's writing is so clear and crisp that I had no trouble at all following all the various plot lines. The epilogue is super interesting -- in that he leaves his characters behind and just flat out dives into his philosophical take on human historical forces. There is no doubt in my mind that Asimov cribbed it for his Foundation trilogy. A great read.
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Just finished the Audiobook of John Dies at the End, have now started Reading This Book is Full of Spiders. Took a break from the new Buckaroo Banzai book because it's so dense. Also picked up a couple books from the bookstore the other day, no idea if I'm going to read them anytime soon or if they'll just end up on my shelf forever.
I'm a really bad reader.
I'm a really bad reader.
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I didn't intend to be reading that much this year, but I've somehow managed to read 14 books already. Now my 20-book goodreads challenge doesn't look like much of a challenge.
Some highlights so far this year (spoiler free):
The Sea Lady - H.G. Wells
Starts out pretty dry (pun unintended), with too much focus on social satire, favouring narration over dialogue and seemingly irrelevant scenarios. Too many characters are introduced at once with similar names, and it can be a little hard to keep track.
The second half really won me over though. More attention is given to the Sea Lady and her motives become more apparent. Some of her talk, addressing mortality from her immortal perspective and criticising the things humans waste their lives on, is compelling. Stakes crank up and some of the conversations surrounding the absurdity of the climactic scenario had me chortling aloud.
The ending pages see Wells indulging more in the parts of him I love: dark wit, profound speeches, and descriptive but cleanly constructed prose.
3.75/5
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
I could nitpick, but I won't. This is bleak, dense and depressing, yet not without a strand of optimism. A very sad and weighty story with a powerful ending.
4.5/5
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
This was my second read, and some of the flaws have become more apparent, knocking it down quite a bit (I had it at a 5!). But The Demolished Man is still a great read and I prefer it to Bester's The Stars, My Destination, even though I would say the latter is a greater accomplishment as a piece of science fiction (the world-building in that is unmatched). Demolished is smaller scale, but I find the lead anti-hero more compelling, and in general, it is a rare example of a character-driven story within a genre known for lacking substance.
I love the mad pace of it, the cat and mouse shenanigans set amidst a psychic-dominated future, where every thought is laid bare. When you boil it down, it's just a fun murder/mystery thriller set amongst a creatively realised sci-fi world, and the surreal off-the-wall presentation of the conclusion is icing. There's a cherry as well though - the cherry is Bester's unique writing voice and bizarre use of text formatting. Simply put, there's just nothing like it, and that alone makes it a worthy read, even if some elements don't totally hold up.
3.75/5
And a couple of short stories by Clifford D. Simak:
The Whistling Well
"The land was ancient. It had stood and watched and waited as ages swept over it, like cloud shadows passing across the land. Since time immemorial, it had stood sentinel above the river and had noted all that had come to pass."
Classic pastoral Simak. Slow-paced but beautifully written. Loosely fantastic, this is relatively grounded but an otherworldly atmosphere is cleverly conveyed, despite the naturalistic setting. There are some faintly Lovecraftian vibes in the final third, before Simak swaps horror for sentiment. As usual, he is more explicit than he needs to be, but thankfully not enough to mar this otherwise exceptional story.
4.25/5
The Marathon Photograph
"There was nothing much to see. It was rather horrible, of course, but the body, the man reduced by the absence of life, was so small and insignificant that it had little impact. Balanced against the brawling stream, the sweeping extent of birch and pine, the deep silence of the wilderness, the fact of human death cancelled out to very little."
Novelette. A quiet, pastoral sci-fi mystery with smatterings of Way Station. Nicely written, good atmosphere. Simak eventually gives a big exposition dump through dialogue, informing us of many things that feel somewhat tangential and perhaps best left a mystery. Nevertheless, the narrative does get back on track (bridged by a curiously cerebral scene, seemingly implying some kind of soul-rape), and things are left on a fairly dark and poignant note. A little messy overall perhaps, but I liked it. I have a feeling I would gain more of an appreciation for it on rereads.
4/5
Some highlights so far this year (spoiler free):
The Sea Lady - H.G. Wells
Starts out pretty dry (pun unintended), with too much focus on social satire, favouring narration over dialogue and seemingly irrelevant scenarios. Too many characters are introduced at once with similar names, and it can be a little hard to keep track.
The second half really won me over though. More attention is given to the Sea Lady and her motives become more apparent. Some of her talk, addressing mortality from her immortal perspective and criticising the things humans waste their lives on, is compelling. Stakes crank up and some of the conversations surrounding the absurdity of the climactic scenario had me chortling aloud.
The ending pages see Wells indulging more in the parts of him I love: dark wit, profound speeches, and descriptive but cleanly constructed prose.
3.75/5
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
I could nitpick, but I won't. This is bleak, dense and depressing, yet not without a strand of optimism. A very sad and weighty story with a powerful ending.
4.5/5
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
This was my second read, and some of the flaws have become more apparent, knocking it down quite a bit (I had it at a 5!). But The Demolished Man is still a great read and I prefer it to Bester's The Stars, My Destination, even though I would say the latter is a greater accomplishment as a piece of science fiction (the world-building in that is unmatched). Demolished is smaller scale, but I find the lead anti-hero more compelling, and in general, it is a rare example of a character-driven story within a genre known for lacking substance.
I love the mad pace of it, the cat and mouse shenanigans set amidst a psychic-dominated future, where every thought is laid bare. When you boil it down, it's just a fun murder/mystery thriller set amongst a creatively realised sci-fi world, and the surreal off-the-wall presentation of the conclusion is icing. There's a cherry as well though - the cherry is Bester's unique writing voice and bizarre use of text formatting. Simply put, there's just nothing like it, and that alone makes it a worthy read, even if some elements don't totally hold up.
3.75/5
And a couple of short stories by Clifford D. Simak:
The Whistling Well
"The land was ancient. It had stood and watched and waited as ages swept over it, like cloud shadows passing across the land. Since time immemorial, it had stood sentinel above the river and had noted all that had come to pass."
Classic pastoral Simak. Slow-paced but beautifully written. Loosely fantastic, this is relatively grounded but an otherworldly atmosphere is cleverly conveyed, despite the naturalistic setting. There are some faintly Lovecraftian vibes in the final third, before Simak swaps horror for sentiment. As usual, he is more explicit than he needs to be, but thankfully not enough to mar this otherwise exceptional story.
4.25/5
The Marathon Photograph
"There was nothing much to see. It was rather horrible, of course, but the body, the man reduced by the absence of life, was so small and insignificant that it had little impact. Balanced against the brawling stream, the sweeping extent of birch and pine, the deep silence of the wilderness, the fact of human death cancelled out to very little."
Novelette. A quiet, pastoral sci-fi mystery with smatterings of Way Station. Nicely written, good atmosphere. Simak eventually gives a big exposition dump through dialogue, informing us of many things that feel somewhat tangential and perhaps best left a mystery. Nevertheless, the narrative does get back on track (bridged by a curiously cerebral scene, seemingly implying some kind of soul-rape), and things are left on a fairly dark and poignant note. A little messy overall perhaps, but I liked it. I have a feeling I would gain more of an appreciation for it on rereads.
4/5
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I read the entire Expanse series since the show ended. I think the show was better than the book, the actors performances really adds a lot that you can't get on the page.
I also read Project Hail Mary, another great entry from Andy Weir, he's on my way to being my new favorite author.
I also read Project Hail Mary, another great entry from Andy Weir, he's on my way to being my new favorite author.