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Shane

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Hey now that I've powered through most of Dresden, time for a break.

Hey look!

I just got a copy of "Deadhouse Gates"!

Back to Malazan after 2 years

 

James

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The Secret History by Donna Tartt: Bunny might just be the most loathsome character in literature. Just an awful, unlikable person who was getting off on emotionally abusing anyone he ever met.  Apparently he was based on Bret Easton Ellis. Shocker.

 

It almost made the whole idea that the gang were struggling about whether to kill him ring false. He was so astoundingly unsympathetic and vicious I'm shocked they even argued about it. Realistically they'd have killed him within about five pages.

 

I liked the novel and the writer is obviously incredibly smart, but it seemed to peter out a bit at the end. The narrator was maybe the least interesting character in it, which didn't help.

Was just thumbing through the thread and noticed this. As bad as Bunny was, I hated Henry more. What a piece of shit that guy was. I hated that he got to kill himself - I was hoping Charles would off him when he came barging in. Not that Charles wasn't plenty fucked up himself. Really the whole crew was terrible people. I think Judy Poovey was probably the only likeable character in the whole thing.

I wish I'd read it as a teenager, which is when I read most of the other Brat Pack stuff, because I think it would have resonated with me a lot more. Reading it in my thirties, it was hard to give much a fuck about yet another group of soulless 20-somethings in some elite northeastern liberal arts college. And some stuff, like the bacchanal, was just so lame.

All that said, it's a great read that I flew right through.

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Hey now that I've powered through most of Dresden, time for a break.

I started listening to the first book this week. Definitely enjoying it so far. I like Dresden a lot as a character and James Marsters is aces as the reader.

So far, it reminds me a lot of the early Anita Blake books by Laurell Hamilton, before that series went off the rails.

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Hey now that I've powered through most of Dresden, time for a break.

I started listening to the first book this week. Definitely enjoying it so far. I like Dresden a lot as a character and James Marsters is aces as the reader.

So far, it reminds me a lot of the early Anita Blake books by Laurell Hamilton, before that series went off the rails.

Stay with it. Unlike the Blake books, Dresden just gets BETTER over time. The characters age, grow, learn things, don't stay the same, and occasionally die; y'know, all the shit that doesn't happen in Hamilton's books from about Narcissus in Chains onwards. The Changes/Ghost Story two-fer is some breathtakingly strong storytelling, and the books also benefit from a lot of hilarious humor, Dresden himself is the best wisecracking hero this side of Spider-man.  

 

I don't even remember what happened in the last Dresden book at this point.

In short:

Harry Dresden and his allies have more or less regained control over Chicago, but Harry is still living in self-imposed exile on the island of Demonreach. His evil fairy godmother Queen Mab visits him, and more or less forces Harry into accepting a job: teaming up with one of his worst arch-enemies, the diabolical fallen angel Nicodemus, to break into the treasure vaults of Hades itself. Various backstabbing and shenanigans ensue. Along the way, Nicodemus manages to trick Karrin Murphy into inadvertently destroying one of the three holy swords. The object of the heist turns out to be the freakin' Holy Grail itself, and pretty much everyone turns on and betrays everyone else. After his plans fall apart, a pissed-off Nicodemus tries to murder Harry's young daughter Maggie; but he's defeated when Butters of all damn people is revealed to be the next Knight Of The Cross, somehow turning the broken sword into an actual lightsaber (complete with Lucasfilm sound effects and everything). After the dust settles, Harry and Karrin finally end up kissing and decide to pursue their long-delayed relationship.

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Hey now that I've powered through most of Dresden, time for a break.

I started listening to the first book this week. Definitely enjoying it so far. I like Dresden a lot as a character and James Marsters is aces as the reader.

So far, it reminds me a lot of the early Anita Blake books by Laurell Hamilton, before that series went off the rails.

Stay with it. Unlike the Blake books, Dresden just gets BETTER over time. The characters age, grow, learn things, don't stay the same, and occasionally die; y'know, all the shit that doesn't happen in Hamilton's books from about Narcissus in Chains onwards. The Changes/Ghost Story two-fer is some breathtakingly strong storytelling, and the books also benefit from a lot of hilarious humor, Dresden himself is the best wisecracking hero this side of Spider-man.

I already have the second book waiting for me! I'm definitely appreciating the humor.

Can't believe these passed me by for so long. I was certainly aware of them, but why I waited? Who knows! Hell, the only reason I actually picked it up at all was because I'd heard Marsters was a good narrator. I'd say that I'm turning into a book snob, but most of what I've been going through lately has been rereading all the Stephen King books...

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Hey now that I've powered through most of Dresden, time for a break.

I started listening to the first book this week. Definitely enjoying it so far. I like Dresden a lot as a character and James Marsters is aces as the reader.

So far, it reminds me a lot of the early Anita Blake books by Laurell Hamilton, before that series went off the rails.

Stay with it. Unlike the Blake books, Dresden just gets BETTER over time. The characters age, grow, learn things, don't stay the same, and occasionally die; y'know, all the shit that doesn't happen in Hamilton's books from about Narcissus in Chains onwards. The Changes/Ghost Story two-fer is some breathtakingly strong storytelling, and the books also benefit from a lot of hilarious humor, Dresden himself is the best wisecracking hero this side of Spider-man.

I don't even remember what happened in the last Dresden book at this point.

In short:

Harry Dresden and his allies have more or less regained control over Chicago, but Harry is still living in self-imposed exile on the island of Demonreach. His evil fairy godmother Queen Mab visits him, and more or less forces Harry into accepting a job: teaming up with one of his worst arch-enemies, the diabolical fallen angel Nicodemus, to break into the treasure vaults of Hades itself. Various backstabbing and shenanigans ensue. Along the way, Nicodemus manages to trick Karrin Murphy into inadvertently destroying one of the three holy swords. The object of the heist turns out to be the freakin' Holy Grail itself, and pretty much everyone turns on and betrays everyone else. After his plans fall apart, a pissed-off Nicodemus tries to murder Harry's young daughter Maggie; but he's defeated when Butters of all damn people is revealed to be the next Knight Of The Cross, somehow turning the broken sword into an actual lightsaber (complete with Lucasfilm sound effects and everything). After the dust settles, Harry and Karrin finally end up kissing and decide to pursue their long-delayed relationship.

Also the parasite in Harry's head turned out to be a spirit of intellect, the daughter of him and Lash created by her sacrificing herself out of love for him. He gave birth to her safely though I can't remember what he named her.

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Mr Mercedes: So this is basically Stephen King's take on mass shooters/suicide bombers  I'd call it a return to form. I read it one go It gets a bit generic thrillerish by the end but along the way you get some interesting observations about the villain and the opening scene (and letter to the cop) are absolutely horrific. I'd say maybe King made the murderer a bit too smart for one of these mass killers but then James Holmes was booby trapping everything so it might not be that much a stretch.

 

That said I did think

 

The woman keeping the Mercedes at the end was all sorts of fucked up even if they tried to frame it as "fresh start" deal by painting it. Come on, lady, just send that thing to the fucking scrap yard.

 

I look forward to the inevitable movie or mini series, anyway.

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Mr Mercedes is on my to-read list; I'll probably get to it in a couple of months.

 

I am currently reading Radiance of Tomorrow by Ishmael Beah.  He is a former child soldier in the Ivory Coast, whose first book was a memoir of his experience.  This book is his first work of fiction.  It takes places in a country village 7 years after the civil war is over and people have begun to return to the village from refugee camps after the war had burned through their home and chased them away.  The people have gotten back to getting re-aclimated to their old ways of living when a foreign mining company sets up shop in town.  They offer much-needed jobs,   but there is also a cost to the environment and to their physical well being.

 

I am almost finished with the book; just about 40 pages left to read.  Pretty much everything that has happened in the book has been sad, if there is going to be an uplifting event in the novel, it hasn't occurred yet.  The only positive event was the re-union of families and friends upon their gradual return, but even that has been ruined by the mining companies' policies forcing the people to voluntarily displacing themselves from the village.  Although the events that affect the characters are depressing, many of characters do progress as human beings despite the shit they are forced to deal with.

 

One interesting thing about the book is the choice of language.  The language that the villagers speak with is influenced by their oral tradition of storytelling.  Their shared history influences the way that the people relate to their environment and to people around them.  Instead of saying that day turned into night, the author writes: "By the time they finished, the sun had successfully hidden itself from the eyes of the sky and put out its fire."  This difference in language helps form a uniqueness about the story.

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Guess what? I'm not going to talk about a genre horror title. I have just finished reading two of the greatest books ever written. They're by the same guy, Donald Ray Pollock. The first book, Knockemstiff is a short story collection set in his hometown of Knockemstiff, Ohio. The second book The Devil all the Time, takes some characters from the short adds some new ones and weaves the whole thing together in an apocalyptic homecoming story. This shit is the realest, grittiest stuff I've read since the great Harry Crews left us. Both books are in  paperback  or kindle or whatever. But I bought both signed firsts for a hundred bucks, cause that's how OSJ rolls. I think it may well be my wisest investment since picking up a copy of Karate is a Thing of the Spirit for three bucks. The bookstore owner thought it was a martial arts manual...

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I read "Devil All The Time" a few years ago. I remember thinking that the main characters were like the most evil version of Mickey and Mallory. I think that one of the reasons that I picked it up was that it is set in Southern Ohio. It is one disturbing look at my backyard.

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New Clive Barker book is out. I'm picking at the new Danielewski book currently, but I think I'll put it aside. I'm a sucker for Barker, who occasionally (once upon a time, at least) writes scenes that legitimately disturb me. And a book that further explores the Cenobite mythos certainly has the opportunity to do just that.

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I'm picking at the new Danielewski book currently, but I think I'll put it aside.

"I think I'll take Things Everyone Says Every Time The House Of Leaves Guy Publishes Any Other Book for $600, mister Trebek."  Man, what happened to Mark Z?  He published one hands-down stone-cold masterpiece which should go on to have a reputation as being one of the finest novels of the entire century, and since then has spent the rest of his career wasting our time with unreadable artsy-fartsy bullshit.
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I am just hoping that Pollock is working on a new novel. The guy is just incredible. I read Devil All the Time before reading Knockemstiff, so I think I'm going to give it another read just to see if I missed a few things. The way Pollock weaves the lives of his characters together was just brilliantly done. It was also one of the finest stories of place that I've ever encountered. He makes southern Ohio creepier than the deep south and that's hard to pull off. How the hell do you write one of the finest Southern Gothics ever written and set the motherfucker in Ohio? I've been to Ohio a few times, mostly Dayton, but now I have serious reservations about ever coming back, and I live in a plenty creepy place.

I read "Devil All The Time" a few years ago. I remember thinking that the main characters were like the most evil version of Mickey and Mallory. I think that one of the reasons that I picked it up was that it is set in Southern Ohio. It is one disturbing look at my backyard.

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I'm picking at the new Danielewski book currently, but I think I'll put it aside.

"I think I'll take Things Everyone Says Every Time The House Of Leaves Guy Publishes Any Other Book for $600, mister Trebek." Man, what happened to Mark Z? He published one hands-down stone-cold masterpiece which should go on to have a reputation as being one of the finest novels of the entire century, and since then has spent the rest of his career wasting our time with unreadable artsy-fartsy bullshit.

In fairness, House of Leaves was basically super artsy fartsy bullshit that fell on the side of readable and I still know people who couldn't get through it. It's a book where the gimmicks carry it instead of sinking it, but repeat attempts to catch that fire were always going to lead to burned hands.

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In keeping with my habit of being 5 years behind everything, I'm getting into David Wong's books. Dear God, this man is hilarious.  

 

Fred said, “Man, I think he’s gonna make a fuckin’ suit of human skin, using the best parts from each of us.”

 “Holy crap,” said John. “He’ll be gorgeous.” 

 

 

 

I burst out laughing on the train and got some weird looks.

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I finished reading "Le Grand Meulnes" by Alain-Fournier. The book was published in 1913, and it is the author's only book because he was killed in action in 1914.

It is an adventure novel based around adolescent schoolboys in 1890s France. The story starts when a new kid, Meulnes, comes to the small town school that everybody wants to be their friend. Through some misadventure, he winds up at a nobleman' s estate, where he meets a beautiful girl.

When he gets back to the school, he makes it his mission to go back to the estate to see the girl again, but he can't remember how he got there. The narrator joins Meulnes to piece together details to help him get back to the "lost domain".

It is a very readable book that falls into that sweet spot, in between complex and too basic language.

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I've finally got around to reading Flash Boys by Michael Lewis. All I have to say is that when I become God Emperor of the Universe, the first thing I'm going to do is shut down Goldman Sachs. 

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I need help on a book. It's something from the last ten years or so. I'm pretty sure the author is foreign and he sets his books in the early modern period or shortly thereafter in Scandinavia. Bleak, fishmonger's world. 

 

The one I read had two murderers/rogues, one smart, one not, but still dangerous, if addled. And they kidnap (?) a girl to play a con and it goes all sorts of wrong. Very bleak, dark humor. 

 

Any idea? Google isn't helping.

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Dear Leader: My Escape from North Korea by Jang Jin-Sung. Yeah this book is every bit is as horrifying as you'd think. The guy himself didn't have too bad a life by NK standards (he was Kim Jong Il's favorite poet for a while) but the stories he tells about some of the people he knew are hideous. People in Pyongyang seem infinitely better off: Jin-Sung is absolutely stunned when he leaves the city for a while to visit his old village and sees people starving in the streets and signs telling people they'll be executed for hoarding food, gossiping or thinking bad thoughts, etc.

 

Sometimes it verges on comedy: the ministry of writing people literally spend a whole afternoon trying to figure out if it's acceptable to mention that Kim Jong's cries when they're writing an epic poem dedicated to him pretty much because they know one wrong word can get them banished or worse.  But that's still rather terrible, so...

 

Everyone brings up George Orwell, but honestly, NK always makes 1984 look like a frigging fairy tale. The level of paranoia and scrutiny these people live with is beyond what the people in that book had to put up with. I didn't even know you couldn't get on a train without an official pass.   

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A couple of weeks ago while high, I ordered "Nightmare Of Ecstacy" the Ed Wood book and then completely forgot I did.

This past Friday was my birthday and when I checked the mail there was this book. So basically I bought myself a surprise birthday present. I devoured it that night. Highest recommendation , no pun intended. It's fucking fabulous, and the end with all the details about how sad his life ended up was chilling. Fantastic book.

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