What Book Are You Currently Reading?

[Gustaf]

It's his earliest IIRC, and certainly one of his angrier books. I've read quite a few of his, but not everything, and I didn't like everything I've read. (Also, Rushdie's German translations are horrid and unreadable. Though I don't think I checked the later books' German versions as I could get those in English at the library. I think some of the early ones were translated in a rush during the Fatwa controversy, and rushed translations always suck royal circumsized balls. That I never got far with Midnight's Children is at least partly due to the translation. They don't stock it in English.) But I liked this one a lot when I read it. Been a few years though.

Don't you mean Rushdied?

Ok, sorry about that. Anyway, it isn't the earliest but it's certainly early. I think it is the second after Midnight's Children, because the cover of my copy references that.

I agree on translations. Ever since my English became good enough I make a point out of reading all English novels in English.

[Gustaf]

Letter from the Earth by Mark Twain. It's pretty hilarious!

[Gustaf]

Kitchen by the greatly named Banana Yoshimoto.

[Gustaf]

The Captain and The Enemy by Graham Greene.

[Gustaf]

I just read The Captain and the Enemy by Graham Greene as well as Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck.

Now I'm going to do Heart of Darkness.

[Gustaf]

Just finished The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Before that I read Fiesta by Hemingway. Before that A Burnt-Out Case by Graham Greene.

[Gustaf]

Does nobody else ever read for pleasure? I reckon about 80% of the books in here are academic, intellectual, or technical. What's so bad about sayng you're reading Twilight?

Well, OK, bad example. But maybe some Tom Clancy? Bridget Jones' Diary? Jeffrey Archer?

I stopped reading those type of books when I turned...16? Something like that. I honestly don't enjoy poor literature all that much. I get a lot more out of good books so I mostly read those.

Last book I read was The Satanic Verses. Brilliant. Now I'm reading Dead Souls by Gogol.

[Gustaf]

So, after Dead Souls I read Dead-Eye Dick by Vonnegut. It was a funny little book. Then I read The Road which I absolutely loved. It really shook me and moved me to tears at times. I think I read something else but cannot for the life of me recall what right now.

Then there has been a stretch of limited time for reading for me, but I've been trying to get through Midnight's Children. Hope to finish it on my flight today. So far it's weaker than the other two Rushdies I've read. 

[Gustaf]

So, after Dead Souls I read Dead-Eye Dick by Vonnegut. It was a funny little book. Then I read The Road which I absolutely loved. It really shook me and moved me to tears at times. I think I read something else but cannot for the life of me recall what right now.

Then there has been a stretch of limited time for reading for me, but I've been trying to get through Midnight's Children. Hope to finish it on my flight today. So far it's weaker than the other two Rushdies I've read. 

I think this was my last post.

Finished Midnight's Children. It was nice but I liked it less than the other Rushdies I've read.

Since then:

White Nights early Dostoevsky, nice but a bit too romantic for my tastes.

Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Vargas Llosa, awesome entertainment, lots of fun.

The Pearl fantastically moving. I love Steinbeck.

The Great Gatsby slightly underwhelming to be honest, but still a good read.

The Western Lit Survival Kit very funny take on Western literary history. Highly recommended.

Cat's Cradle fun yet depressing. Typical Vonnegut. Very enjoyable.

The Red Pony less interesting Steinbeck, but my copy contained a gem of an even shorter story called Julius M...something. And that was fantastic.

England Made Me not Greene's best work, but set in Sweden so points for that. And, well, I love Graham Greene so I liked it a lot.

[Gustaf]

Oh, and currently I'm supposed to be reading Orlando. But I've been slacking off the reading a bit. :/

[Gustaf]

Gustaf wins this thread. Excellent taste.

Thank you!

I finished Orlando on the plane to Lisbon. A bit out there, as Woolf herself admitted. And I don't mean the transexuality or whatever you'd call it, but the lack of proper character development and weird digresses at times. Still, surprisingly funny and makes important points about gender roles. I'd say those points are a bit too obvious to a modern reader, but then I think of Atlas and I drop that comment.

Also had time to read Timequake on the way. Fantastic read. Then again, I'm a Vonnegut fan.

Now I'm reading The Plague by Camus. Liking it more than the Stranger so far.

[Gustaf]

I liked Moby Dick but it's not the greatest American novel I've read, for sure.

Really liked The Plague. Didn't know Camus could feel like some kind of atheist Victor Hugo.

Followed up with To Kill A Mockingbird. I sense that one ought to disapprove of it but I'm a sappy romantic so I just loved it.

Now I'm returning to Graham Greene!

[Gustaf]

I liked Moby Dick but it's not the greatest American novel I've read, for sure.

Really liked The Plague. Didn't know Camus could feel like some kind of atheist Victor Hugo.

Followed up with To Kill A Mockingbird. I sense that one ought to disapprove of it but I'm a sappy romantic so I just loved it.

Now I'm returning to Graham Greene!

I don't think one is supposed to disapprove of To Kill a Mockingbird. At least if one's American one's not.

What Graham Greene are you reading?

The Power and the Glory. Though after having drunk myself into a stupour at a bar called Oliver Twist I forgot it there.

So I'll have to pick it up today.

Then I may be mistaken. Then again, see Gully's post above. I think he's a decent indicator of these things, at least from a non-American perspective.

[Gustaf]

I've finished Sonnets from the Portuguese. The next thing I read is likelier than not to be either Steinbeck's The Red Pony or Herrick's Hesperides, but there are other possibilities as well.

Didn't like the Red Pony much but if you can find a copy which includes the short story Julius M....something, can never remember that last name, I really enjoyed that.

I finished The Power and the Glory and really liked it. Now I'm toning down and settling for a lighted read - A History of the World in 10½ Chapters by Julian Barnes.

[Gustaf]

I finished George W. Bush's book "Decision Points", about two weeks ago. I started a biography about Laura Bush, but I have not had time to complete it as of yet.

I literally have no idea how you could stand to do this.

Rare moment of agreement from me.

I finished the Barnes which I ended up quite liking. Now I'm reading Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates. Really liking it so far but I'm only like 10% in. It's looooong.

[Gustaf]

I finished Blonde, which was great although a bit depressing. And a bit long.

Then I read Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Totally amazing and had me in tears.

Tortilla Flat by Steinbeck, excellent read and lots of fun.

Torrents of Spring by Hemingway. I enjoyed it a lot, really funny. Doesn't seem to be generally liked though, but I'm a sucker for parodies.

The Moon and Sixpence by Maugham. Supposed to be great, but while well-written didn't really get to me.

Dracula Ugh. I'm not a fan of that genre. Too much fainting.

Currently I'm reading Röde Orm a classic Swedish viking tale.

[Gustaf]

Dracula Ugh. I'm not a fan of that genre. Too much fainting.

It's absolutely atrocious, isn't it? You have the obvious issues with that genre, you have the almost Bulwer-Lyttonesque prose, and random displays of grotesque racism.

Yes, yes, yes and yes.

"That good, good, sweet, sweet woman"

What sort of sentence is that?

[Gustaf]

I finished Blonde, which was great although a bit depressing. And a bit long.

Then I read Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Totally amazing and had me in tears.

Tortilla Flat by Steinbeck, excellent read and lots of fun.

Torrents of Spring by Hemingway. I enjoyed it a lot, really funny. Doesn't seem to be generally liked though, but I'm a sucker for parodies.

The Moon and Sixpence by Maugham. Supposed to be great, but while well-written didn't really get to me.

Dracula Ugh. I'm not a fan of that genre. Too much fainting.

Currently I'm reading Röde Orm a classic Swedish viking tale.

So, the first part of Röde Orm was nice enough. Left the second volume until later.

Then I read The Secret Garden. Cute little book but a bit underwhelming.

Short story by Vonnegut called 2BR02B which was all right but far from his capacity.

My main project at the moment is The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Murakami. Which is the best by him I've read so far. However. What is UP with this man and women who can't orgasm? It's like a dominant theme of his (at least in the ones I've read). Crazy stuff.

[Gustaf]

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Great book. Don't expect explanations though. It's Murakami (spoiler?).

Yes, I'm enjoying it. And I sort of saw that aspect coming.

[Gustaf]

Murakami's always felt a little same-y to me, in that he's more influenced than influential and cosmopolitan in a way that seems (for me, and this is entirely subjective) bland rather than cultured. He also can't write women to save his life. He's got really good instincts for imagery and mood, though.

I mostly agree with this. What's weird though is this: why do women love him so much?

Most women I know who are into literature like Murakami. Most men don't. But to me that's odd.

[Gustaf]

Finished Wind-Up Bird. Good read actually!

Now I guess I will move on to that Penguin book by Anatole France if I can find it again.

[Gustaf]

Murakami's always felt a little same-y to me, in that he's more influenced than influential and cosmopolitan in a way that seems (for me, and this is entirely subjective) bland rather than cultured. He also can't write women to save his life. He's got really good instincts for imagery and mood, though.

I mostly agree with this. What's weird though is this: why do women love him so much?

Most women I know who are into literature like Murakami. Most men don't. But to me that's odd.

Now that you mention it, this is true among people who I know as well. I don't know why that might be and I don't particularly feel qualified to theorize about it. It's definitely strange. Murakami's women have always struck me as very female-as-baffling-other-as-seen-by-self-absorbed-straight-male, especially in Sputnik Sweetheart, which one might think wouldn't have this problem but which, if it was intended not to, backfired horribly.

Yeah, I agree totally on all of that.

[Gustaf]

Now that you mention it, this is true among people who I know as well. I don't know why that might be and I don't particularly feel qualified to theorize about it. It's definitely strange. Murakami's women have always struck me as very female-as-baffling-other-as-seen-by-self-absorbed-straight-male, especially in Sputnik Sweetheart, which one might think wouldn't have this problem but which, if it was intended not to, backfired horribly.

I haven't read Murakami myself, but I also know many women who love his books. Could the answer be that Murakami actually understands women better than you think (or, understand them better than you do?)? Obviously, that may be totally wrong - and not having read his books I can't tell - but I kind of doubt that a writer with such a poor understanding of women could have such a large female fan base.

That's a harsh but fair point. I should add that I do know a number of women who also criticize this aspect of Murakami, so it's not just us. But to me it's more his attitude towards them that is odd than him not getting them.

I finished Penguin Island. Weird book and poorly translated, a fair bit of fun all the same.

Now I'm reading Down and Out in Paris and London

[Gustaf]

Finished Down and Out. Interesting read, although I did sort of mind the racism and anti-semitism. I also felt it wasn't sufficiently real for him - as far as descriptions of hunger and poverty go I've read better. Still liked it a lot, of course.

After that I did No Country for Old Men which was good but worse than the other McCarthys I've read. Also I had seen the movie so no surprises in it really.

Then a bunch of Wilde novels that were hilariously nonsensical. After that I finally got around to finishing The Quiet American which was fantastic. I really do love Greene a lot.

[Gustaf]

Finished Down and Out. Interesting read, although I did sort of mind the racism and anti-semitism.

Something he was himself quite mortified by in later life.

Yes, I read anti-semitism in Britain (is that what it's called?) and I feel he's a bit rectified.