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Post by Beatende on Aug 23, 2009 17:10:56 GMT -5
Has anybody read any of the books/stories by James Havoc? Always wonder what really happened with him in Tokyo all those years back...
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Post by Beatende on Aug 23, 2009 17:40:24 GMT -5
Has anybody read any of the books/stories by James Havoc? Always wonder what really happened with him in Tokyo all those years back... Actually, The more I read on this the more I think it was just James Williamson's nom de plume, as he was the founder of creation books and the first novel published was by James Havoc. |
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Post by Charlotte on Aug 24, 2009 15:00:01 GMT -5
Currently reading NightWatch, by that russian fella.
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Post by Nickyboi on Aug 29, 2009 9:25:11 GMT -5
I feel Brett Easton Ellis is totally overrated. American Psycho was pretty unimpressive stuff, and Glamorama was toss of the highest order. I disagree with you on every element of this post ;D It may be that Ellis writes critics' books but then, as a critic, it's right up my alley. He captures my thoughts on crushing, mind-numbing modernity extremely well; its soulless emptiness, and the isolation and feelings of despair it can arouse. And he does it with a fantastic grasp of language and black humour. Easily my favourite American author, although I feel he may have peaked too early. |
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Post by Charlotte on Aug 29, 2009 9:50:40 GMT -5
I feel Brett Easton Ellis is totally overrated. American Psycho was pretty unimpressive stuff, and Glamorama was toss of the highest order. I disagree with you on every element of this post ;D As you are completely entitled to!  I don't like a lot of modern American writing. Brett Easton Ellis and Luke Rhinehart are two prime examples of writers who only move me to put a book down unfinished, or not even start it at all. That said, I enjoy reading American books from the 50's and 60's, when the beat generation was starting to come into it's own. I like seeing how the American Dream has failed to be realised. (Apart from the Catcher in the Rye, which was awful.) Those writers were genuinely shocking at the time, and there's a lot to be said for upsetting the establishment. Modern writers go to more and more extreme lengths to elicit a reaction from their audience, and I don't think it's all that clever. |
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Post by Nickyboi on Aug 29, 2009 10:06:18 GMT -5
The Dice Man is an excellent book, haha!
It depends what you want from a book, I suppose. As I often delight in telling people, I think that the written word is an inferior story-telling medium when compared to, say, cinema. So a book has to do something else, other than just narrate events - a book has the opportunity to use its textuality to its advantage, and is particularly well-suited to things like monologues and metaleptic games (the book being self-referential about its textual nature, either explicitly or subversively).
I agree that a lot of writers go out of their way to be "shocking" - I read an excerpt from a book by a chap called Carlton Merrick III, which is basically about a woman fantastising about fucking Jesus on the cross. It's not funny, and it adds absolutely fuck all to the story or the concept of the character; it's just an attempt to inject black humour that makes me sneer at it.
However, if we look at something about American Psycho, I think the violence is very clever. OK, it's extremely graphic, there's no arguing that. But The implication that it's all imagined sits really well alongside the way that every other character in the book thinks of Pat Bateman as being a real "softie" - someone that's compassionate, kind and considerate. It's an interesting opposition, and leaves us asking questions about the nature of personas - how far do we go to "fit in" and hide who we "really are" - and the depths of darkness that man is capable of exploring, despite an entirely different outward appearance. It also rips the shit out of yuppies, which definitely tickles me. So I think it does more than just try to elicit a reaction of horror.
As for Glamorama, it's difficult for me to comment since it's been so long since I read it.
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Post by ed on Aug 30, 2009 11:01:08 GMT -5
Apart from the Catcher in the Rye, which was awful. I rather enjoyed Catcher in the Rye, I thought Salinger's depiction of a teenager struggling with the loss of innocence was sharp and spot on. |
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Post by Wayne on Sept 4, 2009 6:32:40 GMT -5
Well done.
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Post by ad on Sept 4, 2009 11:38:19 GMT -5
Haha
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Post by Charlotte on Sept 4, 2009 11:44:26 GMT -5
Currently reading: this forum and a knitting pattern for a stripey jumper. My eyes are feeling a bit funny now.
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Post by Beatende on Sept 6, 2009 16:44:03 GMT -5
The Reading festival is over now so this thread should be allowed to die with dignity.
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Post by Nickyboi on Sept 7, 2009 2:52:19 GMT -5
Hurhur...
Noam Chomsky - World Orders, Old and New
Really enjoying Chomsky at the moment, although it really irritates me that he's far more brilliant than I will ever be. Well, until he dies; then I'll have the last laugh.
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Post by Billy on Sept 9, 2009 5:25:38 GMT -5
Just started:
Thomas Pynchon - V
Mind-boggling, but addictive, thus far.
Time you started getting out more Malky boy.
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Post by Nickyboi on Sept 9, 2009 8:07:47 GMT -5
You read any of On Ideology yet mate?
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Post by Billy on Oct 24, 2009 12:18:48 GMT -5
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