What are you reading?

[Aquila ka-Hecate]

the unpleasant profession of Johnathon houge


my storage
found it near the top


sublime...

Love that one.

[SadisticCynic]

A couple I've read recently.

The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak. The story is about the contrast between having a history and feeling the weight of the past and having no past and longing for a history to call your own, and she does this by examining the intimate daily lives of two families, Armenian and Turkish,and how the spectre of the Armenian genocide overshadows those lives, often without the people involved being conscious of the fact. It's a really beautiful novel; I read the last 150 or so pages in one sitting. I'm quite sure I'll try and read through Shafak's bibliography.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I guess this one is famous so people know the main ideas, so I'll just say I really enjoyed it. In particular, I liked that it wasn't a simple 'tribe good, colonist bad' scenario, but just showed people and societies interacting and the effects they produce. I especially enjoyed the portrayal of how Christianity is (was?) used to undermine the structure of a foreign society by exploiting it's flaws, only to replace it with something much worse.

On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal by Naomi Klein. I love reading Naomi's work. It's rare to find something that makes me hope again.

[distrans]

city of inmates

conquest, rebellion, and the rise
of human caging in los angeles
1771-1956

Kelly lytle hernandez

[DuckAtreides]

Reading Dune again. Also Titus Alone, third in Mervyn Peake's satirical fantasy novel trilogy. Wonderful poetry: "A mule at prayer. Ignore him. Turn to me \ Until the gold contraption of our love \ rattles its seven biscuit boxes and the sea \ withdraws its combers from the rhubarb grove."

[Tom Servo]

Besides my Dune reading I'm also reading Philip K. Dick's "The Man In The High Castle". I should probably read more of his stuff, this is only the second novel of his I've read, having read "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep" years ago and I've read 2-3 collections of his short story collections over the years. It's all been good so I don't know why I don't read more of his stuff. I think it's usually because his stories/novels never sound as interesting as they actually turn out to be and it's just hard to get me to start one.

[Serkanner]

I think it's usually because his stories/novels never sound as interesting as they actually turn out to be and it's just hard to get me to start one.

I had the same experience and still have, every time I pick up another Dick novel. Almost all his novels and short stories are really worth reading and fortunately he has written quite an oeuvre.

[DuckAtreides]

I think it's usually because his stories/novels never sound as interesting as they actually turn out to be and it's just hard to get me to start one.

I had the same experience and still have, every time I pick up another Dick novel. Almost all his novels and short stories are really worth reading and fortunately he has written quite an oeuvre.

I haven't got nearly enough PKD. I took me watching Bladerunner though, to start reading him. And Bladerunner's not nearly as interesting as Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep? He's also one of the funniest writers I've read, though some of his jokes are so subtle it takes repeated reading to understand the punchline.

[Tom Servo]

He's also one of the funniest writers I've read, though some of his jokes are so subtle it takes repeated reading to understand the punchline.

Definitely. "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" (aka Total Recall) might be the hardest I've ever laughed while reading. It's not his more subtle comedy though, the story almost feel like the premise for a Kids In The Hall sketch.

[Naib]

Currently reading In Conquest Born by C. S. Friedman. It's an interesting space opera first published in the mid-80s. It's got a very big feel to it much the Dune has, but not nearly as intricate. I can see influences from many science fiction stories at work here. I'm not finished yet, but I would certainly recommend it for a Dune-ish experience.