Summer Reading

In article ,
Jay Pique wrote:

I'm just finishing up a book titled "Generation X - Tales for an
accelerated culture" by Douglas Coupland. It's not great, but it does
speak to some of the issues I'm currently wrangling with. And, more
importantly, it's whet my appetite for something with a bit more
substance - namely Ed Abbey. I've only read "The Fools Progress" and
I was wondering what of his you literary genii out there would
recommend for me next.

Hi Jay,

Personally, I think "Big Trouble" by Dave Barry is the PERFECT summer
read. As satisfying as an icecream sundae after a day at the beach. (Or
I guess to be on-topic-er: a chili w/ extra cheese and onions in a bread
bowl on a powder day) Witty, Convoluted, Ironic (and unintentionally
ironic as it lampoons airport security in a uniquely "pre-9/11" way.)
It's funny as hell.

Dark and depressing is fine by me.

I haven't started it yet, but currently, somewhere between Amazon's vast
underground storage facility in B.F.E. Kentucky and here is a book I'm
pretty excited about: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night-Time" by Mark Haddon (see www.amazon.com)

Here is a brief excerpt of a review: "The fictional author of "The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" was an autistic
15-year-old boy (named Christopher Boone) intent on solving the murder
of a neighborhood dog. Since the boy approached life purely with logic
and order, he was unable to face any situation with emotions or
feelings. This unique viewpoint made for an absolutely original novel
(rich with enchanting, honest, and intellectual prose) unlike any other
I have ever encountered."

I also started to read "Prague" but it has a sophmoric "I'll turn my
travel journal into a novel" feel that ruins it.

Dave

On Fri, 15 Aug 2003 18:28:40 -0600, Jay Pique
wrote:

I'm just finishing up a book titled "Generation X - Tales for an
accelerated culture" by Douglas Coupland. It's not great, but it does
speak to some of the issues I'm currently wrangling with. And, more
importantly, it's whet my appetite for something with a bit more
substance - namely Ed Abbey. I've only read "The Fools Progress" and
I was wondering what of his you literary genii out there would
recommend for me next. Dark and depressing is fine by me.


Can I sell you on a comic book or two? (OK, "Graphic Novels", for
those who feel they have to apologize for reading comix.)
There's _Maus_, by Art Spiegelman, which is the author's biography of
his own father, a Holocaust survivor, where the Jews are drawn as mice
(er, humans with the heads of mice), the Germans are cats, the Poles
are pigs (being half-Polish, I have to admit it's well-taken), and
the Americans are floppy-eared Golden Retriever-type dogs with jeeps
and guns. It's dark and depressing alright, but with moments of
remarkable light and hope. It's freaking brilliant.
And I just finished _Palestine_, by Joe Sacco, who spent a few weeks
as a sort of tourist-of-misery in the West Bank and Gaza during the
early '90s and then wrote it up as a comic book. Sort of an
inconvenient book if you're into moral clarity (i.e. simplicity), but
definitely dark, depressing, substantial and troubling.
You can probably find Maus at your local Borders or Barnes&Noble; for
Palestine you might need to hit a dedicated comix shoppe. If you read
either or both, lemme know what you think.

bw

Vern93 wrote:

pretty excited about: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night-Time" by Mark Haddon (see www.amazon.com)

Yes, that's on my list of must-reads.

Books I've enjoyed so far this summer:

No 1 Ladies Detective Agency - deceptively wise book about life in
Botsawana

Spider - I can't see how the film will match the book for sheer
creepiness. Also by Patrick McGrath, I liked Dr. Haggard's Disease.
Author's father was Medical Superintendent of Broadmoor, a mental
hospital where all the most serious psychos are incarcerated in the UK,
so he grew up surrounded by these nitters and has a real insight into
them.

The Eyre Affair - wacky sci-fi novel for lover of literature. You need
to know your books to get all the in jokes - I missed loads I'm sure. A
master criminal is kidnapping major characters from novels and holding
them to ransom.

The Lovely Bones - sounds depressing when you read the blurb but it's
not


I am also hoping to read the final chapter(s) of (obSki) Snow Death -
come on Seth !!!

In article , BrritSki
wrote:

The Lovely Bones - sounds depressing when you read the blurb but it's
not

YES!
That was an AMAZINGLY good book. I mistook it for some treacly chick
book at first but then read it anyway. It's a pretty fast read. Has
anybody read her other book? It think it's called "Lucky"

Dave

In article ,
bdubya wrote:

Can I sell you on a comic book or two?

In this genre, "The Watchman" is the best I've read. It should be at
B+N or of course Amazon. The only problem is, it's hard to look all
sauve and sophistokated at the coffee shop whilst reading it. But it's
among my top 25 favourite books. Dark, cynical, well paced, with action
and suspense.

Dave

On Fri, 15 Aug 2003 20:25:48 -0500, Vern93 wrote:

In article ,
Jay Pique wrote:

I'm just finishing up a book titled "Generation X - Tales for an
accelerated culture" by Douglas Coupland. It's not great, but it does
speak to some of the issues I'm currently wrangling with. And, more
importantly, it's whet my appetite for something with a bit more
substance - namely Ed Abbey. I've only read "The Fools Progress" and
I was wondering what of his you literary genii out there would
recommend for me next.

Hi Jay,

Personally, I think "Big Trouble" by Dave Barry is the PERFECT summer
read. As satisfying as an icecream sundae after a day at the beach. (Or
I guess to be on-topic-er: a chili w/ extra cheese and onions in a bread
bowl on a powder day) Witty, Convoluted, Ironic (and unintentionally
ironic as it lampoons airport security in a uniquely "pre-9/11" way.)
It's funny as hell.

Dark and depressing is fine by me.

I haven't started it yet, but currently, somewhere between Amazon's vast
underground storage facility in B.F.E. Kentucky and here is a book I'm
pretty excited about: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night-Time" by Mark Haddon (see www.amazon.com)

Here is a brief excerpt of a review: "The fictional author of "The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" was an autistic
15-year-old boy (named Christopher Boone) intent on solving the murder
of a neighborhood dog. Since the boy approached life purely with logic
and order, he was unable to face any situation with emotions or
feelings. This unique viewpoint made for an absolutely original novel
(rich with enchanting, honest, and intellectual prose) unlike any other
I have ever encountered."

I've heard that book spoken of a couple of times now - I think I'll
put it on the list. As I smolder in the valley of despair, the life
of an autistic looks strangely appealing.

I also started to read "Prague" but it has a sophmoric "I'll turn my
travel journal into a novel" feel that ruins it.

Are you going to finish it? I used to be religious about finishing
every book I started to read, but things have come off track over the
past few years. I remember at 16 trying to read The Rise and Fall of
the Third Reich, and only made it to the beer hall putsch. My dad was
bragging about having read it, so of course I felt it incumbent upon
myself to do the same. For several years that was my only
transgression. The next came with Bonfire of the Vanities. I just
couldn't get into that book at all for some reason, and have to this
day never read it.

Amongst my current (and growing) collection of partially read dust
gatherers are A Long Short War by Christopher Hitchens (my dad
insisted; I'd rather a root canal), Guns Germs & Steel, Fatal Shore,
Lies My Teacher Told Me and The Idiots Guide to Buddhism.

JP
*********************
L'Etranger.

In article ,
Jay Pique wrote:

I also started to read "Prague" but it has a sophmoric "I'll turn my
travel journal into a novel" feel that ruins it.

Are you going to finish it? I used to be religious about finishing
every book I started to read, but things have come off track over the
past few years.

I used to be completely compulsive about finishing any book I started to
read. Then something changed. I'm not sure if it was realizing that
there are enough good books out there to waste my time on a bad one.

Maybe it was finishing too many Anne Rice and John Grishom shlock only
to think "Why in the hell didn't I put that down after page 1"

Dave

In article ,
bdubya wrote:

Certain comix make you look too kewl for the average coffee-shop
denizen to recognize; only the truly cool can tell how cool you are.

Don't I know it, Daddy-o

Also, not to start a new sub-thread, but I wouldn't put Maus or
Palestine (non-fiction) in the same genre as Watchmen (heroes in
tights; aging and embittered, but still heroes in tights).

I was going to the catagory "exceptionally good comic boo- (ahem)
Graphic Novels" But I see your point. You know the ink for the Kiss
comic book was actually made out of the bands own blood. I think I
heard that somewhere....

On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 11:47:54 -0600, Jay Pique
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 10:56:11 -0500, bdubya
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 08:19:08 -0500, Vern93 wrote:

In article ,
bdubya wrote:

Can I sell you on a comic book or two?

In this genre, "The Watchman" is the best I've read. It should be at
B+N or of course Amazon. The only problem is, it's hard to look all
sauve and sophistokated at the coffee shop whilst reading it. But it's
among my top 25 favourite books. Dark, cynical, well paced, with action
and suspense.

Certain comix make you look too kewl for the average coffee-shop
denizen to recognize; only the truly cool can tell how cool you are.
Neil Gaiman's _Sandman_ would head this list (and would be my pick for
best-ever, personally), and also makes a guy into a magnet for a
certain type of moody, dressed-all-in-black hipster chick (memo to JP
there...)

Maybe I'm hanging out at the wrong places, but I've noticed a real
derth of dressed-all-in-black hipster chicks up here in Summit County.
Perhaps you and your woman would be so kind as to bring a few with you
for the next Tan-o-rama.

I'm sure they're there, just they're only dressed in black on the
INSIDE. On the outside, they're camouflaged in Patagucci and tanned
thighs.

Also, not to start a new sub-thread, but I wouldn't put Maus or
Palestine (non-fiction) in the same genre as Watchmen (heroes in
tights; aging and embittered, but still heroes in tights).

Heh - my roomy and I just had a discussion as to what superhero other
than Superman we would prefer to be. His girlfriend then tried
claiming The Wondertwins, which was so ludicrous that the conversation
ended shortly thereafter. Of *course* she couldn't be *both*
Wondertwins. I suggested that she stick with Gleek....

Lotsa laffs at the Wondertwins' expense:
http://www.seanbaby.com/superfriends...m#SUPERTHEATER
But I could still put their powers to good use.
"Form of....a snow snake!!" "Shape of......a terrain park!!"
(Mayhem ensues)

bw

"Jay Pique" wrote in message
...

Amongst my current (and growing) collection of partially read dust
gatherers are A Long Short War by Christopher Hitchens (my dad
insisted; I'd rather a root canal), Guns Germs & Steel, Fatal Shore,
Lies My Teacher Told Me and The Idiots Guide to Buddhism.

Maybe we should get this thread back to (ob)skiing topics?

Or almost, anyway. I'm currently reading Krakauer's _Under the Banner of
Heaven_ (all about Utah).

As for Vermont, I have a pile of Howard Mosher books. He writes about the
Northeast Kingdom of Vermont (where Jay Peak and Burke Mt are) with the feel
of a native. Best for capturing the falvor of the area are _Where the
Rivers Flow North_ (a collection of stories one of which was made into a
movie in which Michael J. Fox is the villain), _Deer Camp_ (non-fiction
about, duh, deer camps), and _Stranger in the Kingdom_ (fictionalized
treatment of a real Vermont case of bad race relations).