What are you reading?

[esoxlucius]

it's a good book if you like science fiction with a slightly metaphysical twist to it.

So that would be like metaphysical escapism? I don't even know what that means, although I suspect that "Predestination" can be described as exactly that, lol.

The type of stuff that messes with your head. Not for me.

 

[jjohnwm]

Lol, I hate hummus! That's why I have never tried it and don't know what it tastes like!

Gotta keep an open mind...

 

[esoxlucius]

Lol, I hate hummus! That's why I have never tried it and don't know what it tastes like!

Gotta keep an open mind...

And what's wrong with hummers, a bit pricey but a nice vehicle!! Lol.

 

[JackEmerson]

I mostly read non-fiction and historical literature. I have been interested lately in Eastern expressions of religion, and as such I recently started reading Origen's treatise on Prayer (written approximately 220 AD).

 

[Something Fishy Here]

In the past, rather than just read one off books, I tried to go the "author" route. Pick an author who has written multiple books and then you have plenty to go at should you like their "genre" or "style".



I tried this as a freshman in high school, i read the long walk by Richard Bachman and really enjoyed it.... only to find out Bachman was really Stephen King. Still love most of his books but it's been maybe 26 years and i still stumble across one's i haven't read yet, and he keeps publishing...[/QUOTE]

 

[OutbackJack]

Just finished reading Blood Meridian.

That was a hard book to finish, especially that one scene.

Damn near cried as I held my 3 month old daughter.

 

[jjohnwm]

I liked Stephen King a fair bit back when he wrote horror schlock and knew that's what it was. Cujo...The Shining...The Stand (love that one!)...Christine...Firestarter...lots of others. He made lots of money, and I derived lots of mindless entertainment.

But, eventually...as happens with so many authors...he began to take himself a bit too seriously. We had a pact; he had been a writer and I a reader..but then one of us began to fancy him an artiste...and it wasn't me. I more or less lost interest. I actually thought some of his earlier Bachman books were superior to some of his later stuff.

It's like having your favourite burger joint suddenly decide that it wants to be a snooty steakhouse. It did a good job at burgers, but if you're a good cook, you don't suddenly become a chef just by calling yourself one.

Had to look up Blood Meridian; I like Cormac McCarthy, and a gritty hard-hitting novel doesn't need to be easy to read...if you trust the author and know what you are getting into...I may have to try this one.

 

[OutbackJack]

Had to look up Blood Meridian; I like Cormac McCarthy, and a gritty hard-hitting novel doesn't need to be easy to read...if you trust the author and know what you are getting into...I may have to try this one.

It's so gritty; like falling face first with an open mouth into the beach. I would like to think that I have an above average capability at reading and comprehension. Still, most of the book, I had to re-read passages. His prose is next level and is so smooth that you'll read far into a page; realizing you don't remember much about what you had just finished lol

 

[Something Fishy Here]

Those poor horror are still some of my favorite but i know what you mean. There's only 2 books of his i truly dislike, Geralds game anda good marriage, snooze fest. If i want still harboring a goal of reading all his work someday, i wouldn't have finished them, which is very rare for me. But there were several others where i felt like he was making it in our catering to the mainstream.

I have a good friend who thinks cormac is the best living author, so in turn I've read most of his work over the years. I recall blood meridian being one of my favorite, but it's been long enough that most of the raw details are washed away and only the bigger story is remembered. It was also one of my first forays into audio books so it was easier to absorb than reading and rereading his prose.

 

[jjohnwm]

His prose is next level and is so smooth that you'll read far into a page; realizing you don't remember much about what you had just finished lol

Very true. There are some authors who are wordsmiths that make one periodically stop and think "Wow! That was an amazing sentence/paragraph/phrase!" It's usually so simple, so sleek and streamlined and natural that you simply know you couldn't have stated it any better if you spent a month on that one line.

But there a few authors, and I think McCarthy is one, who write entire books like that. They might be writing about something relatively unimportant, perhaps filling in some backstory or something, and you laugh out loud at one moment and then are brought up short with horror at the next sentence. It's almost exhausting...but somehow the book is finished, you never put it down once, and you almost want to start it over again right now.

Finding an author like that and reading him at his best is a rare treat.

Edited to add: Audiobooks are to reading as Glo-fish are to aquariums.