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Post by losingmydignity on Apr 10, 2006 23:56:42 GMT -5
So you would consider Ulysses a psychological novel or a character study? Or Beckett's novel trilogy. I ask because those are the first books that come to my mind when I think of plotless books. Or Alain Robbe Grillet's totally non-linear books where he attempted to do without psychology altogether? (not totally successful in my opinion). You don't like that heavy-handed Theodore Dreiser statement making plotted kind of novel do you? And the New Yorker's stories usually have quite traditional kinds of plots and endings (think Alice Munro, et al.). I've never read Ricky Moody or David Eggers. I have a feeling I'm better off keeping it that way. I'm talking out my ass like usual. You're right on Ulysses and Beckett, just like you could also be with Woolf or other "modernist" and "post modern" writers. You're also right that psychological or character study is too limited for what I was getting at. I really meant "stories" that don't follow a conflict/resolution model (for which Robbe-Grillet is perfect). But then, I also didn't really mean that, because I actually like Beckett and Robbe-Grillet a lot. In truth, I was trying to sound smart and really only thinking of certain "post-modern" writers who act like narrative and plot is cliche that I find personally irritating (Eggers' crew...read the contributors to McSweeney's). Hardly enough to generalize. (And Moody can be fun but Eggers drives me up the wall. Of course I realize that he's one of those people who, if you don't like him, you're just not playing the same game...and I'm willing to admit that I'm just not into that game.) Truth be told: what bothers me in fiction is stuff that doesn't seem to enjoy being fictional. I mean that whether it be 19th century "realist" novels or recent short stories that try to capture a contemporary "mindset." I don't turn to fiction for a mirror of myself. I want to see what's possible, potential, interesting, or novel, not just a representation of what is. But why does this matter? It doesn't. I'm just not editing as I type. I find myself in agreement with everything you wrote here. And I'm not just being lazy. Damn....and I wanted to piss you off... ;D I don't think I can get with the McSweeney's crowd. That stuff is annoying.
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Post by Emperor Cupcake on Apr 11, 2006 23:52:22 GMT -5
Origins Reconsidered: In Search of What Makes Us Human by Richard Leakey.
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Post by Skellen on Apr 13, 2006 17:46:36 GMT -5
War and Peace by Tolstoy.
Once every few months I try and read a classic, but never seem to get very far. I'm totally going to do it this time though. I've read about 50 pages, and so far it's pretty good.
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Post by Emperor Cupcake on Apr 13, 2006 18:42:31 GMT -5
Stardust by Neil Gaiman.
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Post by Skellen on Apr 13, 2006 18:58:35 GMT -5
I love his books. Stardust is great.
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Apr 13, 2006 19:23:07 GMT -5
Neil Gaiman confuses me. On the one hand, he's capable of brilliant critical discussion of sci fi/fantasy of whatever form, and I read his non-fiction and attend his lectures at every opportunity. But apart from the Sandman stuff, I've always thought his fiction was run of the mill. That always surprises me given how dang SMART he is about the genre as a critic. But American Gods was just another premise genre novel, not much different than a lot of other stuff I've read.
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Post by Chuck on Apr 13, 2006 19:42:26 GMT -5
Dashiell Hammett - The Lost Stories
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Post by okeefe on Apr 16, 2006 11:18:36 GMT -5
I like Neil Gaiman's stuff a lot, especially Neverwhere, more so than American Gods. I just reserved Anansi Boys at the library.
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Post by In_Stereo on Apr 16, 2006 20:12:40 GMT -5
Ayn Rand: The Fountainhead.
Not a literary triumph, but her philosophy, the way it's manifested in the story, really does give one pause.
"Why is is so important--what others have done?... Why is truth made a mere matter of arithmetic, and only of addition at that?"
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Post by okeefe on Apr 17, 2006 21:22:20 GMT -5
Quicksilver, by Neal Stephenson
He's written science fiction, but this is an historical fiction set in 17th century Europe when money was transforming from something solid in your hand to something ideological on paper, and alchemy was morphing into physics. His style is somewhat dense in detail, but it makes for vivid imagery. He's quite deft with characterizations and multiple intersecting story lines.
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Post by Emperor Cupcake on Apr 17, 2006 23:46:55 GMT -5
Right now I'm re-reading a book from my library called Cross Dressing, Sex and Gender. It's a lot more interesting than I remember it being. After that I'm gonna read a new one I bought, called Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Rise and Fall of Madame X.
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Post by leovinus on Apr 22, 2006 11:30:42 GMT -5
I'm slowly reading Charles Hodge's Systematic Theology. I'm only on volume 1 (out of 3).
I noticed that back In January Mr. Atari wrote: "And for work, I've been reading commentaries on the Pastoral Epistles, ranging from John Calvin to John Stott."
What work do you do, Mr. Atari? By "John Calvin to John Stott", I take it that your work must have a Reformed bent.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Apr 22, 2006 17:06:09 GMT -5
What work do you do, Mr. Atari? By "John Calvin to John Stott", I take it that your work must have a Reformed bent. I'm a pastor. I started a new church about a year ago after being an associate at a large church here in Denver. Before that, I was a music pastor in Chicago. Theology is a hobby; most of my work is more people-intensive.
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Post by Chuck on Apr 23, 2006 19:32:01 GMT -5
Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein
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Post by Gemini Man on Apr 24, 2006 15:03:28 GMT -5
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
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