@GP. I'm half way through part one. It has certainly made me think, especially in relation to when I was teaching in secondary schools in Peterborough upto the early 1990s. I'm on our local (Anglican) Diocesan Board of Education. I will be recommending it to others there to read, especially the Director of Education.
Thanks, Greg! It's been nice to get some feedback on this one, because it took longer than most to write. It went through so many drafts I lost any distance from it and by the time it was done could not really tell how good it was, I had edited it so many times. We knew what we did not want to write (a standard academic set of essays or a chicken soup for the soul) but it was much harder to find the voice we were after. Responses so far have been good - nice to hear you are finding it helpful!
Each chapter is an related short story, like some of Mitchell's other books. Makes for a nice hour of reading at the end of the day. Mitchell is blurring the lines between magical realism, science fiction and fantasy in Bone Clocks and Slade House, a very enjoyable mix IMHO.
Hey, I'm reading this too! I made it through the first 300 and after talking to a friend who is a Pynchon fan, decided to skip to the last 25 pages. It feels like one of those challenging books people want to read, but few make it through.
Hey, I'm reading this too! I made it through the first 300 and after talking to a friend who is a Pynchon fan, decided to skip to the last 25 pages. It feels like one of those challenging books people want to read, but few make it through.
This was my second stab at the book, part one was the most difficult. I finished it a week or so ago, it took me about six weeks of reading a short stretch every night. I have read two other books since, although they were much shorter books (Eco, Numero Zero and Mitchell's Slade House). Gravity's Rainbow had some parts which were absolutely brilliant both in terms of the writer's skill and the use of satire. Other sections were dense and confusing, often unrelated to the main story line. Several times I wondered if Pynchon had an editor....not everything has to stay in the book!
I really enjoyed Pynchon's Inherent Vice, although that is Pynchon for Dummies (according to the Pynchon fans). Crying of Lot 49 is up next for me, but I might postpone it for a few other recent books I need to finish.
Gravity's Rainbow is one of my all time favorite books, and I can't think of anything I would take out! But yeah, it's not for everybody and it has a definitely weird structure. I feel sort of hesitant to even stick up for it. I don't really like being the guy who sticks up for weird books. Like Ted on How I Met Your Mother always talking about James Joyce. I like James Joyce too, but I don't like to talk about him because I don't want to be Ted. I'm probably more of a Marshall anyway.
But Crying of Lot 49 is way more concise and likeable. I'll have to get Inherent Vice sometime.
Inherent Vice has a much clearer plot than Gravity's Rainbow, although there and many similarities in style. One thing I was very impressed by in GR (more the IV) is the rhythm of the language. Sometimes he reels off a few paragraphs with an almost staccato rhythm, usually phrases describing the most mundane things.
I did about half of Ulysses then was distracted by real life. I will return to it someday, but there are may other things I want to read first.
As for weird books, I can understand that. I enjoy magical realism and avant-garde, genre bending fiction. I rarely recommend any fiction to people for that reason.
Catching up on a chunk of world history about which I know very little. This reads really well and is very informative, and seems well researched as far as I can tell.
I got rid of most of my books when I moved country, only kept the ones with sentimental value or that I am definitely going to read in the near future. This amounted to a couple of shelves worth still.
My current active ones are:
because I went to the Anne Frank Huis last weekend, and
because I watched the BBC version of that reasonably recently (though the book is a re-read.)
@kez I absolutely adored Feist's "Magician" trilogy (which apparently has grown further). Back when I read it, it was a trilogy of "Magician," "Silverthorne" and "A Darkness of Sethanon." I've been on the brink of re-reading "Magician" a lot lately.
@amclark2 I really enjoyed that particular volume from Morrison's "Doom Patrol." I haven't gotten around to reading the rest, but I felt that volume was a different kind of Morrison than other stuff I've read (and enjoyed immensely... well, not his superhero stuff with DC... but most things Vertigo and independent, def).
From the comics bin, I've been enjoying Mike Mignola's/Dark Horse "Lobster Johnson" series...
It's a WW2 era setting, and there's no superpowers... science heroes, great athletes, mobsters, detectives and the occult. I'm taking to it the same way I enjoyed Sandman Mystery Theater. Just fun storytelling and wonderful art.
From the non-comics bin...
Alex Garland - "The Beach"
-I began reading this almost twenty years ago, and then for reasons totally unrelated to the book, never got past the first 50 pages. But I was hooked. It was only recently that I recalled enjoying the opening pages and never finishing it. Rectified that situation and bought a copy the other day. Enjoying it now as much as I did then.
I watched it several times in high school (probably on betamax), and read the Mad Magazine parody as a much younger kid and had no idea why it was funny. I have also said "ultra-violence" several times today, mostly while discussing politics.
About 90 pages in. Interesting mix of travel and language. I hope to learn a little Arabic to speak with my wife's family. At least after I finish my dissertation.
While we're waiting, there will never be a better time to post my current reading: Actually the previous edition. I love me some Norton Critical Editions. Why yes, I was an English major.
Spoiler alert: they get kicked out. Actually, for those approaching this poem for the first time, I would definitely recommend the audiobook. Read by Anton Lesser, for you Game of Thrones fans.
It's a collection of sci-fi short stories all centered around a mega-city colony of earth on another planet in the future. It was cheap on Amazon one day; really been enjoying it.
Also currently working on the comic Grendel: Warchild
Just finished this a few days ago while in Kansas City grading AP English exams. I found it highly readable and engaging, especially for summer reading. I usually don't read memoirs and have been disappointed by some celeb memoirs for various reasons.
Comments
Craig
Started reading this a few years back and stopped. Now I've picked it up again....
Each chapter is an related short story, like some of Mitchell's other books. Makes for a nice hour of reading at the end of the day. Mitchell is blurring the lines between magical realism, science fiction and fantasy in Bone Clocks and Slade House, a very enjoyable mix IMHO.
This was my second stab at the book, part one was the most difficult. I finished it a week or so ago, it took me about six weeks of reading a short stretch every night. I have read two other books since, although they were much shorter books (Eco, Numero Zero and Mitchell's Slade House). Gravity's Rainbow had some parts which were absolutely brilliant both in terms of the writer's skill and the use of satire. Other sections were dense and confusing, often unrelated to the main story line. Several times I wondered if Pynchon had an editor....not everything has to stay in the book!
I really enjoyed Pynchon's Inherent Vice, although that is Pynchon for Dummies (according to the Pynchon fans). Crying of Lot 49 is up next for me, but I might postpone it for a few other recent books I need to finish.
But Crying of Lot 49 is way more concise and likeable. I'll have to get Inherent Vice sometime.
I did about half of Ulysses then was distracted by real life. I will return to it someday, but there are may other things I want to read first.
As for weird books, I can understand that. I enjoy magical realism and avant-garde, genre bending fiction. I rarely recommend any fiction to people for that reason.
Catching up on a chunk of world history about which I know very little. This reads really well and is very informative, and seems well researched as far as I can tell.
My current active ones are:
because I went to the Anne Frank Huis last weekend, and
because I watched the BBC version of that reasonably recently (though the book is a re-read.)
The whole list of my stuff is on Goodreads.
@kez I absolutely adored Feist's "Magician" trilogy (which apparently has grown further). Back when I read it, it was a trilogy of "Magician," "Silverthorne" and "A Darkness of Sethanon." I've been on the brink of re-reading "Magician" a lot lately.
@amclark2 I really enjoyed that particular volume from Morrison's "Doom Patrol." I haven't gotten around to reading the rest, but I felt that volume was a different kind of Morrison than other stuff I've read (and enjoyed immensely... well, not his superhero stuff with DC... but most things Vertigo and independent, def).
From the comics bin, I've been enjoying Mike Mignola's/Dark Horse "Lobster Johnson" series...
It's a WW2 era setting, and there's no superpowers... science heroes, great athletes, mobsters, detectives and the occult. I'm taking to it the same way I enjoyed Sandman Mystery Theater. Just fun storytelling and wonderful art.
From the non-comics bin...
Alex Garland - "The Beach"
-I began reading this almost twenty years ago, and then for reasons totally unrelated to the book, never got past the first 50 pages. But I was hooked. It was only recently that I recalled enjoying the opening pages and never finishing it. Rectified that situation and bought a copy the other day. Enjoying it now as much as I did then.
Having viddyed the cinema many times, I finally read the book. O my brothers, a fine book to stuff into my gulliver.
Somehow I've never seen the movie despite several readings of the book.
Craig
Warning: you need to want to read some theology. There's a more detailed blurb at the link.
Craig
But I won't like it!
Craig
Actually the previous edition. I love me some Norton Critical Editions. Why yes, I was an English major.
Spoiler alert: they get kicked out. Actually, for those approaching this poem for the first time, I would definitely recommend the audiobook. Read by Anton Lesser, for you Game of Thrones fans.
Craig
It's a collection of sci-fi short stories all centered around a mega-city colony of earth on another planet in the future. It was cheap on Amazon one day; really been enjoying it.
Also currently working on the comic Grendel: Warchild
May inspire a future trip!