Random books thread

[dug11]

I just can't bring myself to read Franzen after The Corrections. I will give him a second chance at some point, I'm sure. But, man, did that book leave a bad taste in my mouth.

[Culturegeek]

Freedom is one of the greatest books of the decade. And I was pissed off that I thought so when I read it.

[misplaced validity]

It packed too much in for me (the environmental stuff in particular), and ultimately I didn't care about any of the characters. But then, it's no different than TV now where so many shows have characters that are so "flawed" that I can't stand any of them.

[Culturegeek]

(03-02-2015 10:01 AM)misplaced validity Wrote:  It packed too much in for me (the environmental stuff in particular), and ultimately I didn't care about any of the characters. But then, it's no different than TV now where so many shows have characters that are so "flawed" that I can't stand any of them.

I get it. I do. And I wanted to hate the book because Franzen is so face-punchable. But I've read it a couple times. The ending is glorious. The character work is so precise and human. I still care about these characters and I haven't read the book in years. He just gets it in a way I would not have predicted for him.

[Above the Title]

(03-02-2015 10:01 AM)misplaced validity Wrote:  It packed too much in for me (the environmental stuff in particular), and ultimately I didn't care about any of the characters. But then, it's no different than TV now where so many shows have characters that are so "flawed" that I can't stand any of them.

And the difference for me there is that on the anti-hero TV shows, I can mostly usually captivated by the performances. I don't have that in a book. I hated "The Corrections." I read it in my book club. Everyone else loved it. I wanted to throw it out of the moving subway car.

[Culturegeek]

(03-03-2015 03:36 AM)Above the Title Wrote:  

(03-02-2015 10:01 AM)misplaced validity Wrote:  It packed too much in for me (the environmental stuff in particular), and ultimately I didn't care about any of the characters. But then, it's no different than TV now where so many shows have characters that are so "flawed" that I can't stand any of them.

And the difference for me there is that on the anti-hero TV shows, I can mostly usually captivated by the performances. I don't have that in a book. I hated "The Corrections." I read it in my book club. Everyone else loved it. I wanted to throw it out of the moving subway car.

I guess I just fall in love with the language and insight. Franzen, in particular, has such acuity when dissecting the male ego that even when I recoil from his characters or scenarios (the talking shit section in The Corrections being a case in point) I'm still compelled to finish. But I also don't find that I need to "care" about the characters. Either that or I empathize readily.

[misplaced validity]

What should I read next between Devil In the White City, Lit, and Everything Is Illuminated?

[Culturegeek]

Devil in the White City, though all three are worth reading.

[misplaced validity]

I'll read the actual list later, but posting for possible discussion:
http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/boo...esq&dom=fb

[eurocheese]

All time favorites:
And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
Go Tell It On the Mountain - James Baldwin
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin
N or M? - Agatha Christie
One Day - David Nicholls
Sula - Toni Morrison
Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris
Stonewall - Martin Duberman
Lord of the Flies - William Golding

...are my Top 10 at the moment.