Books: Last Book You Read and Rate It

[kihei]

Who's the player who went to museums instead of bars?

 

[Ceremony]

Who's the player who went to museums instead of bars?

Dougie Hamilton

Apparently.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Dougie Hamilton

Apparently.

Considering the recent leaks we've seen since the trade, he really comes across as a guy who doesn't want to waste his time with stereotypical hockey culture.

 

[Papa Francouz]

Undoubtedly one of the most emotionally draining, difficult, and traumatic reading experiences I have ever had. In the book, it details the events both leading up to, during, and following the Columbine massacre in Colorado in 1999, and as a long-term resident of Colorado, I was surprised to learn just how much I did not know about the event. If you have any interest in reading about the event, I suggest you read this book. However, be warned that this book pulls no punches when it comes to its description of the event. If you are faint of heart, you might want to steer clear of this book. I've been having nightmares about the event ever since finishing the book, so that's another thing you should take into consideration before you dive in.

All in all, it's an incredibly descriptive and thorough examination of the entire ordeal, but reading it could have some side effects that you aren't expecting. Just be careful.

 

[Papa Francouz]

Double post

 

[kihei]

Warlight, by Mickael Ondaatje

Warlight is about Nathaniel, a man looking back at his childhood and still trying to make sense out of it. When he and his sister were quite young, not yet in their teens, both their mother and father abandoned them in order to help the British war effort in the early days of War World II. A pair of Dickens-like characters, the Moth and the Darter are given the responsibility of keeping an eye on the children. Although there occupations are dodgy as are many of their friendships, nonetheless, they make passable surrogate parents. While Rachel doesn't care if she ever sees her mother again, Nathaniel tries to piece together her story. He knows she helped with the war effort, but he is at a loss to fill in most of the blanks about her life and about his life, as well. Eventually he figures out that he will never have all the answers. Though eventually he finds out more, it is hard to say where this new information came from, whether it is genuine or just an elaborate surmise on his part.

My major complaint with Ondaatje usually is that his writing is often just too refined for its own good, a complaint that is very close to a complement from one perspective. But whereas I have sometimes found his prose bloodless and distant, Warlight has a subtle, almost ephemeral impact that I can't deny. Nathaniel, though no fault of his own, is in a bad position, and there is not much he can do to make it better even when his mother, though somewhat distantly, returns to the scene. Though not a dramatic sort, he is never going to get what he needs. His is essentially a very sad story, but it is told with elegance and grace--the delineation of a life that forever seems trapped in fog.

 

[jacobhockey13]

"Sudden Death", an apt play-on-words for a good read that tries to and mostly maintains a frenetic pace of excitement as a fictional match of tennis between Caravaggio and Francisco de Quevedo unfolds while the world around them spins and tumbles. Good.

A novel that just holds your attention and doesn't let go. The best bits of this novel personally for me weren't its inventiveness, which was immense, or even it's innovative second part–though that was great. It was the unexpected tenderness and sympathy. Of note is Bolaños' treatment of female characters; who are rich and just a much a part of the proceedings as their numerous male counterparts. Great.

"How I Became a Nun" is hilarious. Narrated by a young child who is a boy (according to others, that is) but that constantly uses feminine forms when referring to herself, the story just bleeds personality. The story starts with a bang that is masterful, but then does sacrifice steam in subsequent chapters. The writing stays clever throughout however. Great.

 

[kihei]

Fever Dream, by Samanta Schweblin

A dying woman named Amanda has a nightmare in which an apparition of a boy named David who is not her son tries to coax her to remember something important. That's really all you need to know. It is a quick read, 183 not too crowded pages, but one in which I frequently felt the need to backtrack and read over sections. This wasn't a chore at all--I was just wrapped up in the mystery of what it is she doesn't remember and revisiting previous moments helped me to make better guesses about what is going on. Samanta Schweblin achieves something haunting here and brilliant, as well. I'm not sure that I have pieced together everything, in fact, I'm pretty sure that I haven't, but what I have surmised is genuinely nightmarish, and on more than one level. Got the feeling, Fever Dream will stay with me a long time whether I want it to or not.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Note: Incomplete review as I've been very busy and seem to have misplaced my copy of Catch-22 God knows where and I've not the willpower to look for it/find it. Which I suppose says a ton.

80% of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961) - I don't think I enjoyed it as much as its more fervent admirers. It's littered with fantastic, humorous scenes and its off-the-wall narrative style is executed well while not being as difficult to follow as it would seem on paper - mostly because its very easy to take each chapter as its own entity - but with a novel constructed in such a manner, I think you're better off going with a limited number of characters instead of the massive amount Heller goes with here. It makes me completely unable to care about any of them, besides maybe Yossarian, who's got the greatest, most touching (and humorous) passage of the novel when he refuses to keep wearing his uniform and subsequently receives a bitter medal while stark naked and subsequently wanders around in such a fashion. The book's irony is also executed superbly by moments - such as the famous Orr's Catch-22 moment - but there's a consistent feeling of Heller trying really, really hard to show the reader just how oh, so clever he is and it gets grating by moments. Also, that he was able to get away with placing an adjective in front of almost every single noun baffles me. It can make certain passages appear bloated and exasperating without much of a reward - Charles Bukowski's " Writers bore you to death building you up to the grand emotion and when you get there, there isn't any. " feels like such an astute and precise observation here - and also his humanist approach, while enjoyable, loses some of its luster when the inevitable feeling of cleverness beings to seep in as compared to a Kurt Vonnegut, who's charm and kindness never appears false in his similarly minded works. Maybe some other time, for me. I'm more interested in some other stuff right now. I f***ing hate not finishing a book though.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

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Undoubtedly one of the most emotionally draining, difficult, and traumatic reading experiences I have ever had. In the book, it details the events both leading up to, during, and following the Columbine massacre in Colorado in 1999, and as a long-term resident of Colorado, I was surprised to learn just how much I did not know about the event. If you have any interest in reading about the event, I suggest you read this book. However, be warned that this book pulls no punches when it comes to its description of the event. If you are faint of heart, you might want to steer clear of this book. I've been having nightmares about the event ever since finishing the book, so that's another thing you should take into consideration before you dive in.

All in all, it's an incredibly descriptive and thorough examination of the entire ordeal, but reading it could have some side effects that you aren't expecting. Just be careful.

while i agree with the conclusions (it was a mass bombing gone wrong because the bombs didn't work; bullying was a bs media narrative; harris was a psycopath and klebold a suicidal depressive who tagged along), he omits evidence that doesn't fit his narrative, which i thought disappointing. his arguments are persuasive enough, imo, that he could include it and say, "So what?".

anyway:
Google Image Result for https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91W%2B9wdIvgL.jpg

brilliant. i won't try to describe it, it's something you should experience yourself.

 

[Papa Francouz]

while i agree with the conclusions (it was a mass bombing gone wrong because the bombs didn't work; bullying was a bs media narrative; harris was a psycopath and klebold a suicidal depressive who tagged along), he omits evidence that doesn't fit his narrative, which i thought disappointing. his arguments are persuasive enough, imo, that he could include it and say, "So what?”.

I haven’t done any outside research or extra reading since finishing the book, so I’m not aware of any omitted evidence. Do you have any other books or media you could recommend that I could check out to get more detail?

It’ll probably be a while before I get back to reading about Columbine, just because Cullen’s book was such a hard read for me. I’d still be interested to find out anything about the event that wasn’t covered in Cullen’s book, though.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

"Sudden Death", an apt play-on-words for a good read that tries to and mostly maintains a frenetic pace of excitement as a fictional match of tennis between Caravaggio and Francisco de Quevedo unfolds while the world around them spins and tumbles. Good.

A novel that just holds your attention and doesn't let go. The best bits of this novel personally for me weren't its inventiveness, which was immense, or even it's innovative second part–though that was great. It was the unexpected tenderness and sympathy. Of note is Bolaños' treatment of female characters; who are rich and just a much a part of the proceedings as their numerous male counterparts. Great.

"How I Became a Nun" is hilarious. Narrated by a young child who is a boy (according to others, that is) but that constantly uses feminine forms when referring to herself, the story just bleeds personality. The story starts with a bang that is masterful, but then does sacrifice steam in subsequent chapters. The writing stays clever throughout however. Great.

Any english or french translations for any of these works? My curiosity was piqued.

 

[jacobhockey13]

Any english or french translations for any of these works? My curiosity was piqued.

Yep.
Sudden Death by Álvaro Enrique / Mort subite
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño / Les détectives sauvages
How I Became a Nun by César Aira / couldn't find a French translation for this one

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Mary by Vladimir Nabokov (1926) - His first novel, a slim volume which concerns itself with Ganin, a Russian expat living in Berlin - a fairly obvious stand-in for Nabokov himself - living in boarding house with other expatriates. Ganin soon comes to discover that his neighbor, an annoying and overbearing man, is married to his childhood flame and that she is coming to join him in Berlin within the next week. Ganin becomes overexcited at the prospect and intends to steal her away, confident that he'll easily woo her in contrast to his crass opponent. This one is interesting, because there's a surreal effect going on of the book taking place in worlds within worlds. All of them self-sufficient. Germany and Germans are not bothered with, and the boarding house where various Russians live and interact serves as self-contained realm where nothing and everything happens, and within that world, Ganin creates a smaller, even more intimate one where he consistently recalls (and recreates) his fling with Mary, who never appears in the novel. Pondering ideas of nostalgia and memory, the book offers an artful approach to the subject, and like with most of the Nabokov I've read - I must admit, not all that much - there's moments of borderline transcendant prose interwined with overly detailed, bloated and commonly romantic fluff. I still thought the book was an incredibly enjoyable read, and Nabokov's snobby wit and humor is on display by moments here, but I did roll my eyes at certain passages, mostly when Nabokov was describing the romantic encounters between young Ganin and young Mary. With that said, I think this book contains one of the greatest passages I've ever read in the third chapter, which is seemingly detached from the rest of the story and towers above the rest of the book as if the glistening peak of a gargantuan moutain. Get a load of this.

" And in those streets, now as wide as shiny black seas, at that late hour when the last beer-hall has closed, and a native of Russia, abandoning sleep, hatless and coatless under an old mackintosh, walks in a clairvoyant trance; at that late hour down those wide streets passed worlds utterly alien to each other: no longer a reveler, a woman, or simply a passer-by, but each one a wholly isolated world, each a totality of marvels and evil. Five hackney droshkies stood on the avenue alongside the huge drumlike shape of a street pissoir: five sleepy, warm, gray worlds in coachmen's livery; and five others worlds on aching hooves, asleep and dreaming of nothing but oats streaming out a sack with a soft crackly sound. It is at moments like this that everything grows fabulous, unfathomably profound, when life seems terrifying and death even worse. And then, as one swiftly strides through the nighttime city, looking at the lights through one's tears and searching in them a glorious, dazzling recollection of past happiness - a woman's face, resurgent after many years of humdrum oblivion - all of a sudden, in one's mad progress, one is politely stopped by a foot passenger and asked how to get to such and such a street; asked in an ordinary voice, but a voice which one will never hear again. "

That's a masterstroke.

 

[Oscar Acosta]

Been a while since I've posted in this so I might fire off a few in a row:

 

[Oscar Acosta]

Man's Search for Meaning - Victor E. Frankl

I had heard a lot about this book, that it was a life changer for a person's outlook on life. I think I first heard about it because the guy from Coldplay loved it, not sure how that mattered to me since I don't know a single Coldplay song, but I digress - I seen it recommended multiple times after.

It's an interesting take on how humans can find meaning in anything to go on, in the worst of crisis. I obviously feel awful for Holocaust survivors and those that had to live through such trauma. I don't think it was overly helpful for anyone who hasn't been through hell and back.

A lot of the Psychology applied to it in it's wordy post-script chapters is outdated and mostly frowned upon in the academia of today, "stop feeling sorry for yourself, many people have it worse" etc.

Frankl obviously went through hell, and his resolve and self admitted luck, and choices got him through when others didn't. But to be like "they gave up and I didn't" is got me the wrong way. Who knows the mental state of another person, or why they'd go on.

5/10

 

[Oscar Acosta]

The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins

A random highly rated thriller, without much of the thrill. It does keep you guessing who is the murderer, but also telegraphs a mile away who isn't. It was fun enough to read, easy breeze, it's not a real brain twister though.
Like, take everyone who seems super obvious in the first 200 pages and it's the other guy. Twist!

I can see why it sold a lot, you can read the entire thing on an airplane and be entertained enough. In the end though it's just that.

3.5/10

 

[Oscar Acosta]

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark Manson

Saw a lot about this book, and I'm a bit of a sucker for a self-help book as I live in a cycle of daily self hatred so an easy Costco buy.

What did I take away from it? I don't know, a lot about being edgy to write a book. How to not give a **** about things I already didn't care about. How social media is people posting their best selves so don't compare yourself to them. How money doesn't matter because he has a bunch of it, or was able to work from home previously. How Manson made a lot of mistakes, but still travelled the world and banged a lot of women.

I wasn't really sure the point. That maybe you should throw all cares out the window because it worked for this guy who now has a best seller to top it off, or that his life is a cautionary tale of what not to do as it could have just as easily resulted in his ruin.

For those wrapped into Facebook and the like (I had deleted all mine a year prior to reading this) it may be helpful.

2.5/10

 

[LarKing]

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark Manson

Saw a lot about this book, and I'm a bit of a sucker for a self-help book as I live in a cycle of daily self hatred so an easy Costco buy.

What did I take away from it? I don't know, a lot about being edgy to write a book. How to not give a **** about things I already didn't care about. How social media is people posting their best selves so don't compare yourself to them. How money doesn't matter because he has a bunch of it, or was able to work from home previously. How Manson made a lot of mistakes, but still travelled the world and banged a lot of women.

I wasn't really sure the point. That maybe you should throw all cares out the window because it worked for this guy who now has a best seller to top it off, or that his life is a cautionary tale of what not to do as it could have just as easily resulted in his ruin.

For those wrapped into Facebook and the like (I had deleted all mine a year prior to reading this) it may be helpful.

2.5/10

Yikes I read this book like 6 months back and I think you really have the wrong message here. Manson is saying that you shouldn’t give a f*** about things that aren’t as important. Manson used to be a playboy and constantly traveled because he needed the feeling of being desired by other people. He never thought anything was enough for him. His main message is that how happy you feel depends on what your bar is to be happy. If you set your bar as being the best band in the world, but only finish #2, you will not be happy. But if you just set about being a better band than yesterday, you will have a better chance at being happy. You should give a f*** about the things that are important like your mother, or your favorite hobbies, or your girlfriend, etc. But giving a f*** about the little things is not as important. Care about the important things in life.

This guy explains it better than I do though -Book Summary: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

I would suggest re-reading this. Probably a top 10 book all time for me honestly.

 

[kihei]

The Only Story, by Julian Barnes

The Only Story starts with a question:"would you rather love the more and suffer the more, or love the less and suffer the less?" Narrator Paul states the question and proceeds to tell his story, the only story in anyone's life that matters. Paul and Susan fell in love when she was 48-years-old and he was 19-years-old, causing a lot of eyebrows to raise, especially in early '60s Great Britain. They became lovers much to the chagrin of her husband and daughters and his family. The novel is divided into three discrete parts. The first section paints a lovely romantic picture of their love; the second section digs deeper and looks at the pain, disillusion and death of love brought on primarily by Susan's alcohol addiction; and the third part serves as a sort of catch-me-up concerning where Paul is now (not a good spot) with a lot of philosophizing and rationalizing about the past. Barnes is an excellent writer who, I guess, just decided that he had to write the most depressing novel of the century. It's odd, though, that for all the time we spend with Paul and Susan, we never do find out what makes Susan tick while Paul remains a bit of a sketchy character himself and certainly not a thoroughly reliable narrator in any of the three parts. I was impressed by Barnes' technique, his ability to express the inner agony of broken people. But I won't miss hanging out with Paul and Susan. The novel feels a little like sitting at closing time in a bar next to the wrong person who thinks he/she has "got a little story you oughta know." (--Frank Sinatra reference there. Don't see those everyday anymore).

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Re-read some stuff...

Post Office (1971) by Charles Bukowski - A lovely and humorous little book, which mostly involves Hank Chinaski - Bukowski's alter ego - taking shit and giving it right back. A bit amateurish in its prose at times - too many capitalized words - but its heart is always in the right place, and there's some really poignant and organically kind moments between Bukowski and women, particularly with his beer-bellied Betty, the great love in Bukowski's life.

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut (1973) - Slightly waned impressions, mostly because I had placed it on such a pedestal. Still a hilarious and kind work, and its fragmented narrative, which is used to perfection to tackle a wide variety of humanistic subjects, works perfectly and feels genuiely original and satisfying amongst a sea of cheeky dick jokes. Another book with a lot of heart, and a variety of bit players who all have their moments. Still, what a feeling does one get with the ending, where the character of Kurt Vonnegut meets his creation, Kilgore Trout, who he's made suffer through a variety of books, and tries to make amends. I could have done without the bit where Vonnegut compares himself to Tolstoy releasing his serfs after his epiphany, but I've had few gut-punches such as this one, after Vonnegut promises Trout a bright future (which I know would need context but still...)

As Vonnegut begins to drift away into the distance...

" Here was what Kilgore Trout cried out to me in my father's voice: Make me young, make me young, make me young! "

Followed by the doodle of a crying Vonnegut...absolutely perfect.

The Depressed Person by David Foster Wallace (1998) - A masterpiece and one of the most horrifying works I've ever read. Chilling. Wallace digs into a human soul until there is nothing but smooth, rocky surface and then tries to crack it with his shovel. I read a few other ones from him that had their moments but this one really stuck with me.

 

[kihei]

The Science in the Soul, by Richard Dawkins

Science in the Soul focuses not on Dawkins' persuasive arguments against the existence of God so much as on his work as a evolutionary biologist, his day job. Yes, he makes room for more debunking of a Prime Mover, but his major focus of interest here is on the wonders of evolution. He brings us up-to-date with current theory, and, then spends a great deal of time debunking all of the arguments that creationists put forward trying to disprove evolution or, among the cannier critics, trying to undermine Darwin's theory. Dawkins is no Christopher Hitchens--he is a fine writer, often a witty one, but as a polemicist he just isn't quite as gifted at it as Hitchens was. That being said, there is no greater defender of rationality on this planet, at least not in English. His arguments are models of reason and clear thinking. As a scientist, he has high standards when it comes to proofs and facts, and he applies those standards to all of the topics of discussion that he engages upon here. For him, the world requires neither god nor biblical authority (among his best bits here is his taking the piss out of the Bible as a source of moral teaching) to be a wondrous place. He makes rationality seem positively sexy these days.

 

[Thucydides]

Man's Search for Meaning - Victor E. Frankl

I had heard a lot about this book, that it was a life changer for a person's outlook on life. I think I first heard about it because the guy from Coldplay loved it, not sure how that mattered to me since I don't know a single Coldplay song, but I digress - I seen it recommended multiple times after.

It's an interesting take on how humans can find meaning in anything to go on, in the worst of crisis. I obviously feel awful for Holocaust survivors and those that had to live through such trauma. I don't think it was overly helpful for anyone who hasn't been through hell and back.

A lot of the Psychology applied to it in it's wordy post-script chapters is outdated and mostly frowned upon in the academia of today, "stop feeling sorry for yourself, many people have it worse" etc.

Frankl obviously went through hell, and his resolve and self admitted luck, and choices got him through when others didn't. But to be like "they gave up and I didn't" is got me the wrong way. Who knows the mental state of another person, or why they'd go on.

5/10

I don’t disagree with your review, just finished this a couple months back & just want to chime in:

This book reminded me of the quote from Nietzsche “to live is to suffer, but to find meaning in the suffering is living”. Something along those lines .


I thought it had many layers to it, and spoke to how we are all going to go through something at one point or another, and when that happens go on fighting & living. I found it to optimistic & hopeful.

 

[Papa Francouz]

This was an incredibly frustrating read. Not because it was poorly written; far from it. You would expect the American justice system to dole out some kind of, well, justice, but that doesn't happen in this story.

Anyone older than myself likely knows the story of the West Memphis Three due to the story's popularity in the media during the ongoing investigation and following trial. However, to those of you who don't - check this book out. It's well-researched, well-written, and allows the reader to draw their own conclusions.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

So euh...what's going on with the book club? Is it still a thing?