What are you reading right now?

[Hazel Motes]

Heard it has really interesting prose, but apparently it’s a tough one to get into?

Ulysses is a lengthy novel, requiring multiple re-readings to fathom as to what is going on. But even then, no individual ever forms a firm conclusion. The novel pushes the limits as to what prose is able to be and certain parts feel unreadable (if you that try Finnegan's Wake). Certain parts I prefer over others but I am unable to hate it as a whole. Initially it may feel disjointed but there is a narrative and the characters do change.

My advice is to read it once, don't try to form too much of an opinion and take a few months away, if not a year, before coming back to it. When you feel able, read it again. People want understanding straight away but the greatest literature takes years to fully comprehend, if it ever does come to a single individual. It is a tired truism but nobody reads the same book twice.

I also recommend The Dubliners, Joyce's collection of short stories, but that does not prepare you for anything. It just happens to be very good and the book Joyce non-fans like.

Mrs Dalloway, Woolf's modernist work, may be a better start. Has similar goals to Joyce and it is easier to take in on first reading. Ford Madox Ford's The Good Soldier, though I am not a fan, is also worth reading.

 

[Alexander Thaut]

Been dipping into some old anthologies, get these if you can.

Weird Tales: The Magazine That Never Dies, edited by Marvin Kaye

Spoiler: List of works in anthology

Interim by Ray Bradbury
The House of Ecstasy by Ralph Milne Farley
The Stolen Body by H.G. Wells
The Scrawny One by Anthony Boucher
The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Lucian of Samosata translated by Sir Thomas More
Skulls in the Stars by Robert E. Howard
Eena by Manly Banister
The Look by Maurice Level
Methought I Heard A Voice by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt
Off the Map by Rex Dolphin
The Last Train by Fredric Brown
Ti Michel by W.J. Stamper
In the X-Ray by Fritz Leiber
Speak by Henry Slesar
The Pale Criminal by C. Hall Thompson
The Sombrus Tower by Tanith Lee
Mr. George by August Derleth
The Terror of the Water Tank by William Hope Hodgson
The Legend of St. Julian the Hospitaller by Gustave Flaubert
The Hoax of the Spirit Lover by Harry Houdini
Seed by Jack Snow
Masked Ball by Seabury Quinn
The Woman with the Velvet Collar by Gaston Leroux
Mistress Sary by William Tenn
The Judge's House by Bram Stoker
The Bagheeta by Val Lewton
Ghost Hunt by H.R. Wakefield
Funeral in the Fog by Edward D. Hoch
The Damp Man by Allison V. Harding
The Lost Club by Arthur Machen
Wet Straw by Richard Matheson
Mysteries of the Faceless King by Darrell Schweitzer
More Than Shadow by Dorothy Quick
The Dead Smile by F. Marion Crawford
The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Robert Bloch
Chicken Soup by Katherine MacLean and Mary Kornbluth
The Haunted Burglar by W.C. Morrow
Never Bet the Devil Your Head by Edgar Allan Poe
He by H.P. Lovecraft
The Brotherhood of Blood by Hugh B. Cave
The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan by Clark Ashton Smith
Men Who walk Upon the Air by Frank Belknap Long
A Child's Dream of a Star by Charles Dickens
The Perfect Host by Theodore Sturgeon
Why Weird Tales attributed to Otis Adelbert Kline

There's not much to say here. It's a list full of the Lovecraft circle, but also of plenty of classics from the pre-Lovecraft era and from the other revivals of the Weird Tales imprint. It's got Poe and Dickens and Stoker, which I'll accede. But it's got Houdini, which. . . I guess it makes sense?

The Hugo Winners vol 1+2, edited by Isaac Asimov. Also have Vol 3, edited by Asimov. There were 2 more volumes published, I recall.

Spoiler: Stories in anthology

Vol 1

Introduction by Isaac Asimov
“The Darfsteller” by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (Astounding Science Fiction, January 1955)
“Allamagoosa” by Eric Frank Russell (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1955)
“Exploration Team” by Murray Leinster (Astounding Science Fiction, March 1956)
“The Star” by Arthur C. Clarke (Infinity Science Fiction, November 1955)
“Or All the Seas with Oysters” by Avram Davidson (Galaxy Science Fiction, May 195
“The Big Front Yard” by Clifford D. Simak (Astounding Science Fiction, October 195
“The Hell-Bound Train” by Robert Bloch (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 195
“Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1959)
“The Longest Voyage” by Poul Anderson (Analog Science Fact -> Fiction, December 1960)

As you can see, nothing but famous masters. Hell, Bloch isn't even primarily known for his SF. He's a horror writer. Flowers for Algernon's short fiction edition gets anthologized a lot. I've read the novel, not the short work edition. Otherwise, it's a great list. Didn't expect Davidson, but I've heard good things. Leinster getting Hugos this late in his career is neat. Guy started in 1916 as a pulpster.

Vol 2

Here I Am Again, by Isaac Asimov
“The Dragon Masters” by Jack Vance (Galaxy, August 1962)
“No Truce with Kings” by Poul Anderson (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1963)
“Soldier, Ask Not” by Gordon R. Dickson (Galaxy, October 1964)
“Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman” by Harlan Ellison (Galaxy, December 1965)
“The Last Castle” by Jack Vance (Galaxy, April 1966)
“Neutron Star” by Larry Niven (If, October 1966)
“Weyr Search” by Anne McCaffrey (Analog Science Fiction -> Science Fact, October 1967)
“Riders of the Purple Wage” by Philip José Farmer (Dangerous Visions, 1967)
“Gonna Roll the Bones” by Fritz Leiber (Dangerous Visions, 1967)
“I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison (If, March 1967)
“Nightwings” by Robert Silverberg (Galaxy, September 196
“The Sharing of Flesh” by Poul Anderson (Galaxy, December 196
“The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World” by Harlan Ellison (Galaxy, June 196
“Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones” by Samuel R. Delany (New Worlds, December 196
Appendix: Hugo Awards 1962-1970

These guys all have great reps, some more than others. (I mean, you've got Vance and Ellison and Silverberg on one end and McCaffrey and Farmer on the other).

and, for fun, there's the contents of Volume 3

Introduction: Third Time Around, by Isaac Asimov
“Ship of Shadows” by Fritz Leiber (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1969)
“Ill Met in Lankhmar” by Fritz Leiber (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1970)
“Slow Sculpture” by Theodore Sturgeon (Galaxy, February 1970)
“The Queen of Air and Darkness” by Poul Anderson (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1971)
“Inconstant Moon” by Larry Niven (All the Myriad Ways, 1971)
“The Word for World Is Forest” by Ursula K. Le Guin (Again, Dangerous Visions, 1972)
“Goat Song” by Poul Anderson (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1972)
“The Meeting” by C. M. Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1972)
“Eurema’s Dam” by R. A. Lafferty (New Dimensions II, 1972)
“The Girl Who Was Plugged In” by James Tiptree, Jr. (New Dimensions 3, 1973)
“The Deathbird” by Harlan Ellison (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1973)
“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin (New Dimensions 3, 1973)
“A Song for Lya” by George R. R. Martin (Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, June 1974)
“Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54′ N, Longitude 77° 00′ 13″ W” by Harlan Ellison (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1974)
“The Hole Man” by Larry Niven (Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, January 1974)
Afterword by Isaac Asimov

Wild to think they just let Fritz Leiber's Sword and Sorcery get Hugos. Hell, I'm just realizing that Poul Anderson seems to come in second to Harlan Ellison. I'm guessing the Kornbluth and Pohl story was something Pohl finished because Kornbluth died in '58.

I'm only just dipping a little.

My novel reads are John D. MacDonald's Deep Blue Goodbye (pretty fun) and the SFBC Retief collection that's a 600 page brick. Laumer's underappreciated. Go check him out!

 

[ScurvyRat]

Currently making my way thru Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring.
Really, really enjoying it. They're just about to hit the Prancing Pony.
That Tom Bombadil stuff went on a little too long, but I found it incredibly fascinating.

Especially the part where

Spoiler: book spoilers

Tom straight up tells Frodo that he's a God who's existed since before Sauron. That's insane. I had no idea. He also puts on the ring..... And nothing happens? Crazy shit going on in Middle Earth and I'm totally here for it.

Makes me feel like a fucking faggot loser for not reading this until now and wasting my time on Sandersonson's JEWISH slop.

 

[Gaear Grimsrud]

I'm finally reading Moby Dick. I'm 33 chapters in.

It's a dense work, requiring lots of annotations to decode all the old nautical terms and historic references.

This morning I read a lengthy chapter that was just cataloguing all the different known types of whale. Stuff like that must be what people mean when they say this book is boring, at least in parts. I didn't mind it. The prose kept it from getting too dry, and these digressions make the book seem a grander, more epic experience than a simple adventure story.

The main narrative is pretty great and compelling, with great characters.

 

[ScurvyRat]

It's a dense work, requiring lots of annotations to decode all the old nautical terms and historic references.

This morning a read a lengthy chapter that was just cataloguing all the different known types of whale.

A legitimate criticism of Moby Dick is that its about 30% whaling manual, by volume.
You're far from the first to complain about this

 

[Richter Belmont]

I'm finally reading Moby Dick. I'm 33 chapters in.

It's a dense work, requiring lots of annotations to decode all the old nautical terms and historic references.

Chapter 32 is the longest um *educational* chapter and it’s the biggest filter for most readers I hear, but even when it comes up later it’s still fascinating to read about ‘cause ya can just tell the author’s love for the subject matter.

If you already like the characters and where the plot is currently heading, you are in for an absolute treat!

 

[Womble of Wimbledon]

My headcanon for Moby Dick is that Ishmael has autism and whaling is his latest obsession. Injects the whaling trivia with a shot of humour, I find

 

[Farmholio]

That Tom Bombadil stuff went on a little too long, but I found it incredibly fascinating.

Bombadil also receives an additional small mention in a later chapter.
Tom doesn't fit precisely with the rest of the mythological beings described in the Silmarillion, i.e. he is neither a maia nor a vala. He might be something akin to the personified spirit of the whole natural earth itself. In any case he doesn't have the kind of personal agency to do things like actively combat the forces of the Enemy. He only guards the small place that is his domain, and that too is vulnerable if all else is conquered. Until Sauron accomplishes that, Tom is virtually immune to the works of evil going on outside his borders.

 

[Safir]

Taiko: an epic novel of war and glory in feudal Japan, by Yoshikawa Eiji, translated to English and abridged by William Scott Wilson, and then butchered even harder by a Russian publisher.

I first read it in 2002, reread it about three times, made (paper) notes each time, and lost them in house movings (I didn't lose the """original""" paper book and currently have it next to me). This time I'm using the e-reader and an open sauce app that exports notes to plaintext.

Anyway, I forgot or didn't notice at the time(s), but it offers a reason for the notorious "Honnoji Incident" (the iconic Japanese traitor Akechi Mitsuhide betraying Oda Nobunaga).

According to the novel, the culprit was a Buddhist monk PSYCHOLOGIST in the pay of the Mori (long o) clan (Nobunaga's enemies). Said PSYCHOLOGIST diagnosed the at the time faithful Mitsuhide with treachery disorder, on his authority as a PSYCHOLOGIST, widely publicized his "findings", and fed the slander, particularly, through the widowed true belieber Buddhist nun Myoko, to her son and Nobunaga's favored attendant Mori Ranmaru (a different Mori, short o for "forest"), to Nobunaga.

Historically, neither Myoko nor any of her children had any quarrel with Mitsuhide or heaven forbid Nobunaga himself, the whole family was greatly favored due to the father's heroic death and the sons' loyal service. Mitsuhide fell into disfavor and got repeatedly publicly humiliated by the famously trigger-happy Nobunaga, became afraid for his life, and rebelled (not defected!) for real. Ranmaru and two other short-o Mori brothers died with Nobunaga, and one more died a bit later in the fallout. Therefore, per the novel, they were duped by a PSYCHOLOGIST into undermining their clan and driving their own family to the brink of extinction.

It is unclear what Mitsuhide wanted to accomplish: being just one of many generals, he demanded to get acknowledged as the de facto ruler of Japan while having no resources to beat competition and nothing to offer them (evidently he wasn't conspiring with long-o Mori or anyone else). No one sided with him, and even his army fled.

Wikipedia has this to say:

Alleged collaborators
The mastermind theory that someone behind the incident manipulated Mitsuhide Akechi to carry out Nobunaga's assassination is surprisingly new and has emerged since the 1990s.
(...)
[3] Ankokuji Ekei (the Mōri) theory

• The theory is that Ankokuji Ekei, a diplomatic monk of the Mōri, which was facing an existential crisis as Nobunaga himself was about to launch a full-scale offensive, arranged for Nobunaga's assassination on condition of the Mōri's full cooperation with Mitsuhide and Hideyoshi, and had it carried out.

(Ekei is the psychologist in the novel. The cooperation angle is absent from the novel and does not hold water historically.)

The moral: behead psychologists.

 

[qoop]

Gulag Archipelago.

This Solzhenitsyn guy is a quite the writer

 

[Candlelight Desolation]

I started Theodore Roosevelt's autobiography last night. I'm around 40 or so pages in, and it's really interesting seeing TR talk about his relatives and childhood and schooling experiences, though I'm looking forward to the badlands years as well as the POTUS years.

Pic related, the cover of the edition I've got:

 

[Hoof]

read quite a bit lately. I'll start with the most interesting and work my way down.

The Fisherman by John Langan. A good read if you're a fan of HP Lovecraft. Sort of written in his genre, but much less dry. Ultimately it's just Pet Cemetery with a Lovecraft skin. I liked it a lot more than Pet Cemetery, though I also don't share the same opinion of King as his mainstream appeal does. It was easy to breeze through and I felt it was a better version of an already existing novel.

I started Between Two Fires. really only got a 100 pages in, but I'm enjoying it so far.

Also started Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. Not where I'd start if you've never read Vonnegut, but if you have and enjoyed him, it's a quick read.

I read Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Not something I would usually read, but it's interesting to see what's popular. I would say most KF users should just check out the Apple TV series, it's probably not for you.

 

[Carnavoyeur]

I tried to read The Great Mortality by John Kelly but then I got to a chapter about the history of the persecution of Jews and I checked out. The majority of the book before that was boring and repetitive so I'm kind of glad the author gave me a solid reason to just stop reading.

I'm going to start Hiroshima by John Hersey tonight.

 

[Richter Belmont]

Ulysses is a lengthy novel, requiring multiple re-readings to fathom as to what is going on. But even then, no individual ever forms a firm conclusion. The novel pushes the limits as to what prose is able to be and certain parts feel unreadable (if you that try Finnegan's Wake). Certain parts I prefer over others but I am unable to hate it as a whole. Initially it may feel disjointed but there is a narrative and the characters do change.

My advice is to read it once, don't try to form too much of an opinion and take a few months away, if not a year, before coming back to it. When you feel able, read it again. People want understanding straight away but the greatest literature takes years to fully comprehend, if it ever does come to a single individual. It is a tired truism but nobody reads the same book twice.

Ok, I just started it yesterday and am about 30 odd pages into it and I'm already finding it borderline incomprehensible - I'm usually having to re-read multiple paragraphs because I'm just trying to wrap my head around which character is talking and what the fuck is actually being described. I can truly appreciate Joyce's skill with prose but I ain't quite understanding all of it.

I'm actually having fun with the challenge of it all so far, but I'm thinking that if I reach about page 100 and I'm still struggling this much I think I'll just have to shelve it for now.

The image of Stephen living in a tower really stuck with me for some reason so I might make a painting of how I imagine it in my head.

 

[Fields Of Rye]

Makes me feel like a fucking faggot loser for not reading this until now and wasting my time on Sandersonson's JEWISH slop.

i was gonna call you a retarded faggot for criticizing this generations Tolkien but then I remembered this generation is characterized by retarded faggots and the actual guy meant to carry the torch probably had his manuscript trash canned by a millennial booktocker

Like it’s wild how he comes off more bitchy and nihilistic than Robert Jordan in his “oh shit I’m gonna die of cancer phase” books 6-9 of the wheel of time came from.

 

[Dead Lion]

I have finally gotten around to the illiad. The translation autism was always very intimidating for me especially since most of the translations people recommend are low print English books, that’s expensive in Eastern Europe.

So I said fuck it and downloaded a Polish translation from the XVII century (from what i was able to gather it’s still the most popular one despite new ones appearing from time to time). Surprisingly readable language.

 

[Farmholio]

Has anyone ever read The Black Company series by Glen Cook?



I've just entered the third story arc, the Glittering Stone series. In all honesty, it's far from my favorite fantasy series, but it's certainly good enough to make me want to finish it. Pretty unchallenging read, very basic prose written in first person (mostly). Questionable usage of modern sounding English language, but really it takes place in an alternate universe so whatever. I discovered it because I watched (or at least listened to) mredders123's long retrospective reviews about the Myth series by Bungie.

Turns out Bungie ripped off a bunch of stuff from the first books of The Black Company. When mredders123 alluded to the series being (to paraphrase) "morally gray", I was intrigued. Can't say the series quite lives up to that appellation. Additionally, Bungie didn't actually take much of the literary substance from The Black Company, but rather lots of superficial details, which are pretty obvious when you know what you're looking for (Soulcatcher -> Soulblighter; The Taken -> The Fallen (Lords); etc). Honestly, Bungie's apocalyptic take is very different and I'd argue potentially more interesting.

That said, The Black Company is still fun, and I'm glad I found out about it. I like the vibe you get... not to spoil anything but the gist is like, you're in a D&D 3.5 edition setting with absolutely bullshit broken spellcasters running the show, and it's from the POV of a pitiful martial class character trying to make it through his day, with all the mundane concerns that come with it, peppered with some strange and disturbing encounters with the supernatural. Just don't expect particularly complex morality. It's not totally braindead good vs. evil but it ends up pretty close to black and white most of the time when you boil it down.

 

[Alexander Thaut]

Has anyone ever read The Black Company series by Glen Cook?

View attachment 7137884

I've just entered the third story arc, the Glittering Stone series. In all honesty, it's far from my favorite fantasy series, but it's certainly good enough to make me want to finish it. Pretty unchallenging read, very basic prose written in first person (mostly). Questionable usage of modern sounding English language, but really it takes place in an alternate universe so whatever. I discovered it because I watched (or at least listened to) mredders123's long retrospective reviews about the Myth series by Bungie.

Turns out Bungie ripped off a bunch of stuff from the first books of The Black Company. When mredders123 alluded to the series being (to paraphrase) "morally gray", I was intrigued. Can't say the series quite lives up to that appellation. Additionally, Bungie didn't actually take much of the literary substance from The Black Company, but rather lots of superficial details, which are pretty obvious when you know what you're looking for (Soulcatcher -> Soulblighter; The Taken -> The Fallen (Lords); etc). Honestly, Bungie's apocalyptic take is very different and I'd argue potentially more interesting.

That said, The Black Company is still fun, and I'm glad I found out about it. I like the vibe you get... not to spoil anything but the gist is like, you're in a D&D 3.5 edition setting with absolutely bullshit broken spellcasters running the show, and it's from the POV of a pitiful martial class character trying to make it through his day, with all the mundane concerns that come with it, peppered with some strange and disturbing encounters with the supernatural. Just don't expect particularly complex morality. It's not totally braindead good vs. evil but it ends up pretty close to black and white most of the time when you boil it down.

Read the first book, it's fun.

Glen Cook's not only still alive, but wants to add another book.


I do wanna try Cook's Garret P.I. books too.

 

[ScurvyRat]

View attachment 7137649

i was gonna call you a retarded faggot for criticizing this generations Tolkien but then I remembered this generation is characterized by retarded faggots and the actual guy meant to carry the torch probably had his manuscript trash canned by a millennial booktocker

Like it’s wild how he comes off more bitchy and nihilistic than Robert Jordan in his “oh shit I’m gonna die of cancer phase” books 6-9 of the wheel of time came from.

See my other posts about how he turned a great story into post-modern slop.

 

[Hugbox Kommissar]

Has anyone ever read The Black Company series by Glen Cook?

View attachment 7137884

I've just entered the third story arc, the Glittering Stone series. In all honesty, it's far from my favorite fantasy series, but it's certainly good enough to make me want to finish it. Pretty unchallenging read, very basic prose written in first person (mostly). Questionable usage of modern sounding English language, but really it takes place in an alternate universe so whatever. I discovered it because I watched (or at least listened to) mredders123's long retrospective reviews about the Myth series by Bungie.

Turns out Bungie ripped off a bunch of stuff from the first books of The Black Company. When mredders123 alluded to the series being (to paraphrase) "morally gray", I was intrigued. Can't say the series quite lives up to that appellation. Additionally, Bungie didn't actually take much of the literary substance from The Black Company, but rather lots of superficial details, which are pretty obvious when you know what you're looking for (Soulcatcher -> Soulblighter; The Taken -> The Fallen (Lords); etc). Honestly, Bungie's apocalyptic take is very different and I'd argue potentially more interesting.

That said, The Black Company is still fun, and I'm glad I found out about it. I like the vibe you get... not to spoil anything but the gist is like, you're in a D&D 3.5 edition setting with absolutely bullshit broken spellcasters running the show, and it's from the POV of a pitiful martial class character trying to make it through his day, with all the mundane concerns that come with it, peppered with some strange and disturbing encounters with the supernatural. Just don't expect particularly complex morality. It's not totally braindead good vs. evil but it ends up pretty close to black and white most of the time when you boil it down.

The Books of the North are definitely my favorite part of the series but it's all worth a read. Also for a ten book series the conclusion is actually pretty satisfactory in how it wraps things up.