What are you reading?

[Squid]

The classics.

Moby Dick. The Adv. of Huck Finn. The Shobogenzo.

Alan Watts usually comforts my mind.

I'll give a nod to A.A. Milne as well.

 

[DeeEff]

Olen Steinhauer's Milo Weaver trilogy - finished The Tourist and The Nearest Exit, waiting a few days before starting An American Spy. Not le Carré by any means, but worth reading so far.

 

[DeeEff]

Slightly (but not entirely) off-topic, for logophiles:

One method of telling a story is to write separate plot threads that seemingly have nothing (or very little) to do with each other and gradually weave them together through the course of the story.

My favorite example of this is Stephen King's "The Stand", which I've read at least a dozen times over the years. Simply masterful storytelling.

There's gotta be a word that describes this writing style - anyone know what it is?

 

[Korven]

Right now, the latest issue of Fortean Times.

 

[netizen]

Hmm, I read the unabridged version of the The Stand, and I don't remember it being made up of disparate strands being woven together :/ Yes, there were stories of different people happening simultaneously, but they were all the same story by the end, they ultimately met up and made the story into a whole, iirc.

I found that Cloud Atlas was a very disparate book in regards to how it was woven together. The film took a lot of liberties with the characters and how they were interconnected.

IDK if there is a definitive writing style name for that fragmented style of nesting portions of a story with-in another story as a story. I know that Shakespeare did it in Hamlet on a few different levels; Tom Stoppard explored this in "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead".

 

[DeeEff]

Hmm, I read the unabridged version of the The Stand, and I don't remember it being made up of disparate strands being woven together :/ Yes, there were stories of different people happening simultaneously, but they were all the same story by the end, they ultimately met up and made the story into a whole, iirc.

Both of your sentences describe the concept I'm looking to "wordify", but at different levels. The "stories of different people happening simultaneously" is a deeper or more complete version of "disparate strands", and they were "woven together" when "they ultimately met up and made the story into a whole."

I am not an educated writer by any means, but was struck again by this writing style as I just finished "Walking on Glass" by Iain Banks (a.k.a. Iain M. Banks of sf Culture fame), which was basically three complete and unrelated stories told round-robin fashion that didn't come together until the very last chapter. This was Banks' second published book and as such lacked a lot of finesse, but was still quite a worthwhile read.

 

[Mick Morry]

At this moment this post.

Also Shelby Foote's books on The American Civil War. He was a brilliant historian.

 

[Korven]

The classics.

Moby Dick. The Adv. of Huck Finn. The Shobogenzo.

Alan Watts usually comforts my mind.

I'll give a nod to A.A. Milne as well.

Could you recommend me some Watts? Only heard a few odd audio clips so far.

 

[Squid]

The Way of Zen
Eastern Wisdom, Modern Life
Nature, Man and Woman
The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

Any of these are good reading. Get ready for a very verbose experience. Mr. Watts has a way with words that are seldom used.

 

[Korven]

Thanks!

 

[Mick Morry]

Ahhhh. Moby Dick. My favorite. I love the original movie of it too.

 

[dtown8532]

Just finished The Final Day at Westfield Arcade by Andy Hunt. A great fictional story revolving around the rise and downfall of the arcade. I highly recommend it to anyone who gets nostalgic about the great days of the arcade. Not a long read either. Only took me about four hours. Only bad thing. Absolutely no mention of pinball anywhere in the book. Only video arcade games. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it.

 

[netizen]

I am such an ADHD reader sometimes.

I walked away from Foucaults Pendulum after about 800 pages, read 2 more Jack Reacher books. Went back to Foucaults Pendulum for a couple hundred more pages, walked away again.

Re-Read Ender's Game, then read the sequel stuff that follows Bean; The Shadow Trilogy.
Foe some reason found myself on a Mech craze after re-Watching Robotech: the Shadow Chronicles recently so I started reading a few 30 year old Battletech novels. They were surprisingly good, so I read a few more, and now I have read 20 of them bastards, and there's still more.

 

[karl]

I remember I lent out my copy of Foucaults Pendulum 10 years ago before I had the courage to start on it myself, and I never got it back.

Did I miss anything good? (other than a really long book)

And about your Norwegian Troll observation (where did that one go) Looks like the fox have taken over all the love over here at the moment, sadly (Ah! those poor old trolls)

Edit: Sorry I mixed this thread with the tv show thread. Suits me for drinking and writing

 

[netizen]

I remember I lent out my copy of Foucaults Pendulum 10 years ago before I had the courage to start on it myself, and I never got it back.

Did I miss anything good? (other than a really long book)

It starts out really slow and goes off on very, very long tangents. If you're a fan of the theosophical, modernist, comparative anthropological type of stories/tales/myths then it should hold some interest for you; especially if you're into conspiracy tinged topics. I found a few parts that made me actually laugh out loud. The biggest laugh I got was the idea that isis unveiled was nothing more than a piece of propaganda put together by a group of academics in order to draw out actual hermetics in order to steal their secrets and then connect with other groups that had lost contact over the years.

In many ways Foucalt's pendulum is like The Illuminatus Trilogy or The Golden Bough, but it so very dry, and more about the people who believe and less about the events of the belief. IDK if I could actually explain it any better. Like I said, there are some wild tangents and it got really hard to keep the strings together after awhile.

 

[DeeEff]

Quote of the day:

"You hide your feelings like a cat in a spin dryer."

Clete Purcel to Dave Robicheaux in "Sunset Limited" by James Lee Burke

 

[superballs]

Right now im reading Two-Stroke Engine Repair and Maintenance.

Gripping...riveting, suspensful...a roller coaster ride of non stop adrenaline.

 

[dagwood]

The Way of Zen
Eastern Wisdom, Modern Life
Nature, Man and Woman
The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

Any of these are good reading. Get ready for a very verbose experience. Mr. Watts has a way with words that are seldom used.

These are great titles, however I find Watts' writing style peculiarly verbose and at times difficult to follow. Try and get your hands on his audio lectures, really good stuff!

 

[neglectoid]

The Way of Zen
Eastern Wisdom, Modern Life
Nature, Man and Woman
The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

Any of these are good reading. Get ready for a very verbose experience. Mr. Watts has a way with words that are seldom used.

squid, I knew I loved you for a reason.

 

[Timelord]

The Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

Timelord ...