Alyoshka

Which Sam Shepard plays do you intend to read? If you the 7 Plays by Sam Shepard volume, read Buried Child and True West for sure. If you have the chance, also try to read Fool for Love. All three mentioned plays are spectacular, especially Buried Child.

Let me know what you think of whatever you end up reading.

fallow

Just finished One Hundred Years of Solitude (one of the most depressing books I've ever read) and I'm getting ready to start The Sound and the Fury in ohhhh 20 minutes!

Darren H

Congrats for finishing One Hundred Years. I know that I should love that book, but, well, I don't. It was incredibly difficult for me to finish. Maybe I'll give it another chance some day.
I've actually read Buried Child and True West several times over the years. I think I even have a response to Buried Child on my Web site. This time I read a short play called Icarus's Mother, which is a wonderful snapshot of Cold War anxiety. Alyoshka, if you're a fan of Shepard, definitely check out Fornes. She's most known for Fefu and Her Friends. Like Shepard's, her plays will knock you flat, but leave you unable to adequately explain why. They're difficult to talk/write about, but they're unquestionably powerful. I just read another of her short plays, The Danube.

Also finished:

- Dr. Bloodmoney by Philip K. Dick. An enjoyable read and, at times, beautifully written.

- The Magic Christian by Terry Southern. The author largely responsible for Dr. Strangelove sends up capitalism. The hero, Guy Grand, is the only character who has ever reminded me of Ignatius Reilly.

Now Reading:

- In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason. This one is a pleasant surprise.

fallow

Why do you think that you should love that book? I personally thought it was great and rank it within my top 10 favorites, perhaps top 5, but I'll have to think about it again in a couple monthes.

KnightLerxst

Ghost Rider by Neil Peart

Darren H

Fallow, I only meant that there is so much about One Hundred Years that I admire, but, for whatever reason, I just didn't particularly enjoy reading it. I kept waiting to be blown away by the novel, to discover why it is so unanimously praised by critics who I greatly admire, but I was underwhelmed. Part of the problem may have been the situation -- I was reading it for a graduate comprehensive exam and under a time crunch. Like I said, though, I'll probably return to it in a few years when I have more time to wrestle with it.

fallow

Oh okay, I had just been wondering. I want to get to Love in the Time of Cholera eventually; a friend of mine said that it was pretty good.

MrKen

I picked up a copy of 100 years of solitude about 6 years ago and I still have not read it. I read Love in the Time of Cholera (most of it anyway) when I was traveling and I thought it was just ok.

Now for what I am reading/was reading:

I picked up about 100 books from the Brandeis book sale in Skokie IL last month and I'm slowly getting through them. The standout so far is definitely Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres. Fanstastic book. I grabbed it on a lark and had no idea it was even going to be moderately decent. Anyway, I also grabbed another one from the same author that day (something about a War of someone's Nether Parts) so I'll read that fairly soon. As for Corelli's Mandolin, I'm renting the movie as soon as my fiancee finishes the book.

Right now I'm reading Children of Amarid by Coe. It's alright so far. No better or worse than most fantasy series.

I know I read one or two other things since the last time I posted, but none stand out so I guess they are not worth mentioning.

Rayman

I am reading several and just finished one.

Just finished

The Emperor of Ocean Park

Currently Reading

The Journals of Lewis and Clark edited by Bernard De Voto
The First American: Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin

Both were inspired by recent trips to Eastern Oregon (Baker City Area) and to Europe (UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, and Holland). Benjamin Franklin connection is UK.

moorehed

Just finished Fight Club. Was a little dissapointed, not cause i didn't like it, but it was the last chuck p. book i had left to read and it only lasted me a few hours

i've got catcher in the rye, which i've actually never read, and i just picked up Cat's Cradle by vonnegut... suppose i'll start one of those soon... gotta get my room organized first...

krankins2

Just started Edo van Belkom's "Six Inch Spikes."

Darren H

I finished Bobbie Ann Mason's In Country yesterday afternoon and was amazed to find myself choking back tears through the last chapter. After reading two great Vietnam novels earlier this summer (Herr's Dispatches and O'Brien's Going After Cacciato), I was really moved by Mason's treatment of the veteran's experience back home. Really a beautiful, beautiful novel.

Just began: Bernard Malamud's God's Grace

mgursel

Just finished "A Tale of Two Cities" and I finally decided to tackle "Les Miserables". I just bought a nice edition and hope to start it sometime this week. By the way, has anybody read it and what did you think?

Amator

Just finished:
Black Like Me
Brave New World(reread)

Now Playing:
Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger(reread)
Narcissus and Goldmund, Herman Hesse

Pointyskull

Currently reading:
The Stone Monkey - Jeffrey Deaver

On deck:
Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser
Eric Meyer on CSS: Mastering the Language of Web Design - Eric Meyer

Beaver

I finished Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James M. McPherson. It's an excellent one volume overview of the Civil War. My only complaint was that there was so much info that the story lines jumped around a lot so the organization wasn't the best.

I am now trudging through the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. I really don't like it at all. I'm amazed at the good reviews this series gets. The plotting is poor, the characters are stupid, and the story is very heavy handed, over-melodramatic and simplistic. I'm glad I'm almost done with it.

freedexter

Finished:
Come Together - Josie Lloyd, Emlyn Rees
Good in Bed - Jennifer Weiner
Hole in My Life - Jack Gantos

The first two were these flaky, beach novels that were totally silly. The last was a very good YA Memior, although I wouldn't really see why I would give this book to a kid. Not exactly "Charlotte's Web" here...

Starting/Attempting to Finish:

The Silence of the Lambs - Thomas Harris
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
On the Road - Jack Kerouac

It's really difficult for me to get motivated, but I really want to finish the books. One day I've have to stop everything and just read all day.

RichardW

Just read:
The Cat Who Saw Red
The Cat Who Played Brahms

Trying to finish:
The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring

I started re-reading FotR after the movie came out and now I'm trying to finish it after watching it on DVD.

JaxComet

"Choke" by Chuck Palahniuk....

BoatDrinks

my script - it sucks.

Cat and Mouse by James Patterson

Inside the Mind of Sexual Offenders by Dennis Stevens

One Writer's Beginnings by Eudora Welty

dolorous

Andrei Platonov's "The Fierce and Beautiful World"
&
Lev Trotsky's "History of the Russian Revolution" (not often that one hears history according to history makers)

benedict

I have just finished re-reading Jack Womack's "Random Acts of Senseless Violence". Highly recommended if you are OK with challenging material and don't crave saccharine endings.

RevLiver

Since I never had to read it in high school or college, I'm finally (I'm 29) reading The Catcher in the Rye. Recently finished Bentley Little's short story collection The Collection.

tonyc3742

The Tenth Planet: Final Assault; final book in the TP trilogy. Not too heavy sci-fi.
Restroom reading is Goldberg's 'Bias,' very eye-opening.

fallow

Just finished The Sound and the Fury about 4 hours ago. Picked up Slaughterhouse-Five by Vonnegut on the plane and am about 50 pages into it.

I agree with the Sword of Truth series. I liked the first two books...but I just quit about 50 pages into the 5th book. It was a big waste of time.