what are you reading?

[nrh]

for books and so on

[Roscoe]

Read CITIES OF THE RED NIGHT, Burroughs' fantasia on sex drugs disease and the breakdown of pretty much everything. Got a lot out of it, even if it did start to wear out its welcome toward the end.

Up now, Donald E. Westlake's JIMMY THE KID, another of his Dortmunder comic novels about a bunch of criminals committing crimes, great fun and a good change of pace after Burroughs, and after the Westlake will come PLACE OF DEAD ROADS.

[liquidnature]

Currently slogging through 700 pages of Dickens' Sketches by Boz, which, having no unifying narrative, is somehow still pleasurable to read (sometimes). His observations, which are the entire substance of these sketches, are fascinating and humorous, but honestly just leave me wanting to read one of his novels instead.

Also reading a delightful old pocketbook-sized advent study called Christ and the Carols by William J. Reynolds.

[brian d]

funny you should mention that, i’m finishing up dombey and son right now. i never could get into short stories, partially from what you mention about the sketches. dombey isn’t the best of dickens, but it’s got some pretty compelling aspects.

[josiahmorgan11]

Have been reading very little and watching very little lately. Just had my debut prose-poetry-hybrid novella accepted by a publisher who I won't name for now as nothing is officially announced so I'll leave the announcement to them. Should be on its way as soon as February though depending on editorial process length (we are about 3/4 of the way through this now) it could be April-May.

Want to pick up Thom Jones. Reading Bo Burnham Egghead. Still on the Gass reader.

[flip]

congrats on the publication josiah! hope you'll let us know when it's out

[---]

That's very cool, man. Congrats!

[pabs]

josiah! As soon as it's available, I'll buy it! That's wonderful!

[rischka]

Congrats Josiah!

[Roscoe]

Congratulations, Josiah!

[Roscoe]

funny you should mention that, i’m finishing up dombey and son right now. i never could get into short stories, partially from what you mention about the sketches. dombey isn’t the best of dickens, but it’s got some pretty compelling aspects.

DOMBEY AND SON has been on my radar for a revisit for a while now. I remember enjoying it a lot both times I read it about twenty years ago. I find that I always confuse certain parts of it with MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT, though.

[kanafani]

I'm still reading the Spanish Civil War. Just wanted to mention that I just spilled a cup of tea on the book, so now I'm on the hook for paying the library for it.

[nrh]

just a handful of pages away from finishing 'the bell,' which is remarkably the first thing i've ever read by iris murdoch. it's a pretty striking book, and i'm definitely looking forward to reading more from her.

[josiahmorgan11]

will let you all know when it goes public via this or another thread.

my fav dickens might be edwin drood oops.

[Roscoe]

EDWIN DROOD is awesome, even though I can never understand why people think the mystery needs solving -- it's perfectly clear who did it.

[wba2]

Congrats Josiah!
Hopefully you'll let us know, when it's out.
I'm definitely gonna read it!

Last one I read was Francois Mauriac's penultimate novel Maltaverne from 1969 (actually the last finished work of his that got published before his death). Pretty good stuff.
After that one I'm currently reading an early novel by Maurice Blanchot (The Most High from 1948), and a great book with interviews with French writers from the 50s and 60s, which was published in the 80s (included are talks with Merleau-Ponty, Lacan, Giono, etc.)

[nrh]

went to book store, ostensibly to get presents for family, but just got bounty hunters by elmore leonard, black prince by iris murdoch, melville by jean giono, honeymoon by patrick modiano, and montage:life, politics cinema by mrinal sen.

[MatiasAlbertotti]

I'm on the last forty or so pages of Cegador: El ala izquierda by Mircea Catarescu, first part of the triology (I think it's called Blinding in english), and it's been a great ride through surrealistic Budapest during the communist regime; obsessions with butterflies, diseases and deformities, and of course his mother.

Also reading Apollonius of Rhodes Argonautica, and I'm enjoying it more than I though I would.

[patrick]

Picked up Virginia Woolf's The Waves from the library

Plan to finish Crime and Punishment first, then The Waves in the new year

[thoxans]

debut prose-poetry-hybrid novella

i'm gonna wanna autograph, josiah

[...]

Just finished Siri Hustvedt's excellent essay collection A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women and now I'm giving a reread to Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism since I can't really afford to buy anything new right now and Frye's always worthy of a reread to keep his outlines fresh.

And, yeah, congrats Josiah that's great! Just don't forget us little folk when you make it big

[wba2]

Currently reading Fundbüro (2003) by Siegfried Lenz.

The story is ostensibly taking place in Germany in the early 2000s, but seems more like it was written in the 1990s, and a lot of the stuff sounds like it's taking place in the late 1950s/early 1960s.

Great great great stuff!! Lenz must be one of the best German writers - ever. I need to read some of his older stuff from the 50s.

[josiahmorgan11]

Just received a delicious assortment of books & can't wait to dive in specifically to Josh Peterson's MISSING. Next year I'm really trying to get into exploitation texts from small publishers and also planning a full career reread of Stephen King. Will continue diving in & out of Williams Two: Shakespeare and Gass as well.

Thx for the well-wishes everyone

[sally]

I have spent Xmas day dozing & reading Dostoevsky (the gambler) just to avoid the unbelievably horrible UK terrestrial TV.

[...]

There are few things more depressing than TV on Christmas day. CNN was running a "special report" on Jon Benet Ramsey early this morning, which was possibly the best thing on the major networks.

[josiahmorgan11]

TV on Christmas is incredibly depressing. I have some Christmas money now, though, so maybe I will go and do some book-shopping or something in short accord. Anything anyone thinks I should pick-up? It's a relatively run-of-the-mill independent bookstore - they stock Pynchon; but only Gravity's Rainbow, Foster Wallace; but only Infinite Jest - Nabokov; but weirdly only Ada - lots of classics - they love Paul Aster - that kind of store.

Anyone got any recommendations on pickups? I was thinking maybe tomorrow I would head in and look for Ryu Murakami's Coin Locker Babies. Anything disturbing or extremely minimalist will suit my current-interests-alley

[---]

With respect to Paul Auster... you've read Moon Palace? One of my 2019 goals is to convince as many people as possible to read that book. It's not that it's my favourite book ever--it's my 6th favourite--it's just that I can't even envision anyone, or at least any straight/straightish male, not seeing some of themselves in the protagonist... he's just the universal sad_boy

[josiahmorgan11]

will keep an eye out for moon palace if they have it. if not will purchase online!

[kanafani]

[josiahmorgan11]

Alas they had no moon palace. Nearly picked up New York Trilogy but ended up instead buying de Sade's 120 Days of Sodom & Wittgenstein's Major Works