Books To Read
Submitted by Kza on Tue, 06/15/2004 - 11:40
Tags:
- 334 by Thomas Disch
- All Tomorrow’s Parties by William Gibson
- Already Dead by Denis Johnson
- The Anarchists' Convention & Other Stories by John Sayles
- Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale [6/12/05]
- The Beast House by Richard Laymon
- Black Monk Time by Thomas Edward Shaw & Anita Klemke
- Blink by Malcolm Gladwell [7/27/05]
- A Case of Conscience by James Blish
- /Cat People/ by Kim Newman [2/5/05]
- The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke
- The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
- Cockpit by Jerzy Kosinski
- Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon [6/18/04]
- The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
- The Doll Who Ate His Mother by Ramsey Campbell
- Dream Brother: The Lives & Music of Jeff & Tim Buckley by David Browne
- The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard
- Faithful by Stewart O'Nan & Stephen King [7/8/05]
- The Forever War by Joe Haldeman [11/30/04]
- The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathen Lethem [11/20/04]
- Freedomland by Richard Price
- Galaxies by Barry N. Malzberg
- High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
- The History of Luminous Motion by Scott Bradfield
- Hothouse by Brian Aldiss
- House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
- H.P. Lovecraft: A Life by S.T. Joshi
- The Illiad by Homer
- Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
- Judgment of Tears by Kim Newman
- Kubrick by Michael Herr [2/13/05]
- Last Call by Tim Powers
- Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov
- The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
- The Midnight Tour by Richard Laymon
- The Mind Cage by A.E. van Vogt
- Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement
- Modern American Drama 1945-1990 by C.W.E. Bigsby
- The Müller-Fokker Effect by John Sladek
- No Enemy But Time by Michael Bishop
- Omensetter’s Luck by William H. Gass
- One Day, When I Was Lost by James Baldwin
- Orbitsville by Bob Shaw
- Palomar by Gilbert Hernandez
- Rebels on the Backlot by Sharon Waxman [6/28/05]
- Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett [6/3/05]
- /Reinventing Comics/ by Scott McCloud [12/2/04]
- Ring by Koji Suzuki
- Seven Plays by Sam Shephard
- The Stake by Richard Laymon
- A Third Face by Samuel Fuller
- This is Orson Welles by Orson Welles & Peter Bogdanovich [11/23/04]
- The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
- Twelve Plays by Anton Chekov
- /V for Vendetta/ by Alan Moore & David Lloyd [6/28/05]
- A Void by Georges Perec
- Welcome to Lizard Hotel: Children, Stories, and the Mystery of Making Things Up by Barbara Feinberg [8/28/04]
Author Comments:
I really don't read enough. Here's a list of books I own (a few I borrowed) that I intend to read this year. I thought if I made a list for all to see, maybe it would encourage me to read so I could check them off the list.
A good number of titles come from "Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels" by David Pringle.
bold: book read + date finished
/re-read/
I remember reading LUMINOUS MOTION back in my younger days and liking it a lot. Too bad the motion was terrible. Also, J.G. Ballard rulez, as the kids say.
Make that "motion picture."
Yeah, the movie version came and went without making a sound. The book was actually recommended to me a couple years or so (I think) before the movie appeared.
I've tried to get through Ballard's "Crash" twice, and it defeats me every time. Something about the intensity of the prose just drives me crazy. Liked "The Crystal World", though.
I like most of Ballard's mid-period stuff, especially "High Rise," "Concrete Island" and "The Day of Creation." I can't get through his recent works, though.
Those first two are Ballard books I've always wanted to read, but could never find, not even from the library. Also, the one with the guy who crashes his car and has to live in between the freeway, drinking water from his radiator (or is that "Concrete Island"?)
That's "Concrete Island" I do believe.
Cool. I'll keep an eye out for it. Coulda sworn it went by another title, though, either in the U.S. or the U.K.
From Amazon:
"On a day in April, just after three o'clock in the afternoon, Robert Maitland's car crashes over the concrete parapet of a high-speed highway onto the island below, where he is injured and, finally, trapped...."
Well, hell, that's it, aint it!
A few brief comments saying how you liked/disliked each book would add interest - do it for the sf, at least:-D
If, as I suppose, you are into both sf and drama then I recommend The Big Time by Fritz Leiber and Brightness Falls from the Air by James Tiptree Jr, and, perhaps, Double Star by Robert Heinlein.
Thanks for the recommendations, Bertie! I'll keep those in mind, and pass them along to my friend who consumes SF novels like I consume gummi bears.
Adding commentary isn't a bad idea; of course, considering the thick layer of dust this list has on it, it may be awhile.
May I also recommend Kosinski's "Steps" and "Being There?"
Hell, you can recommend anything you want. Whether or not I get around to reading it is a completely different question :-)
(the titles have been noted, however.)
So what were your thoughts on "Curious Incident"? I read it on a plane in July in about two hours and remember feeling distinctly underwhelmed.
I enjoyed it enough, I suppose, especially for the look inside an autistic mind, as fucking frustrating as that could be. One thing that bugged me is that it was sold as a mystery, and it really isn't (at least in the usual sense), and so I had expectations that weren't met. Don't know how in hell they're going to make a movie out of it, though.
How was 'This is Orson Welles'?
Very good. Except for the introduction and stuff at the end, it's all interview format, which makes for a quick cozy read (for me, at least). And reading about what really happened with The Magnificent Ambersons and It's All True is heartbreaking.
I really liked the book, in spanish is titled Citizen Welles.