What you are reading

[altinkum]

Just got myself a copy of Carlos Ruiz Zafons Shadow of the wind, I read it a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it, just felt like reading it again. I also enjoyed Mitch Alboms Tuesdays with Morrie and have also read his short novel The five people you meet in heaven which I thought was a magical little book. Past reads also enjoyed were Mark Haddons Curious incident of the dog in the nightime ( adult version), Yann martels Life of pi and the rather disturbing novel Never let me go by an author which I can't quite remember right now other than it sounds Japanese.

Wendy

[Socializard]

i'm currently reading life of pi. i'm about 100 or so pages into it where the family makes the move to canada. tried to read it before and put it down. a friend suggested i pick it back up a week or so ago.

[Kevin]

I'm a little way into The Whole Hog. This is a book about pigs.

[Socializard]

been reading beautiful losers for the first time. got 12 pages left. its different. ive been enjoying it and all...but maaaaan oh man. alot of the descriptions were beautiful and sometimes even really funny.

in another forum someone mentioned a project where they read it with their dad. i could never do that. my dad would get bored with the book really fast.

[Socializard]

finished it! the ending was aye-yight.

[annie blue]

Socializard and Kevin, I noticed your comments about Murakami way back - I haven't been on this thread before. I bought 'Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman' last summer and was soooooooooooooooo frustrated with it. Each story started beautifully but the endings were so flat. I persevered only so far then one hot afternoon, other half and I were in garden, drinking vino and reading respective books. I said 'if this one doesn't have a good ending, the book's going over the wall'. He eventually leapt over into the allotment to retrieve it from the vegetable patch for me but I haven't touched it since.

Currently reading 'The Fortress of Solitude' by Jonatham Lethem - superb! Read 'Birdsong' and 'Chesil Beach' already this year. Both very good reading.

[Minna]

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[iknowitsover]

Engleby by Sebastian Faulks

I'm about 4/5ths way through it and my head has started to implode.... earlier on I was empathising with the guy and thinking "yeah I think like that too.." but now I'm worried... knowing what he has become am I bound for the same fate?

Anyone else read this?

[Socializard]

Socializard and Kevin, I noticed your comments about Murakami way back - I haven't been on this thread before. I bought 'Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman' last summer and was soooooooooooooooo frustrated with it. Each story started beautifully but the endings were so flat. I persevered only so far then one hot afternoon, other half and I were in garden, drinking vino and reading respective books. I said 'if this one doesn't have a good ending, the book's going over the wall'. He eventually leapt over into the allotment to retrieve it from the vegetable patch for me but I haven't touched it since.

Currently reading 'The Fortress of Solitude' by Jonatham Lethem - superb! Read 'Birdsong' and 'Chesil Beach' already this year. Both very good reading.

hey annie blue. sorry for the delayed response. murakami does end things a little awkwardly sometimes. kind of like his biggest influence raymond carver. sometimes it is frustrating...and sometimes leaving things in the air rings more true about life than anything he could spell out. whether that works for us as readers will of course vary...d'oh. blind willow is a collection of stories that happened for him throughout his career so some do feel hit or miss (unlike the elephant vanishes where he specifically set out for a short story collection at a specific point in his career). i thought blind willow's stories were a good collection (even my dad enjoyed the first few. we were on a flight together and he borrowed the book to help kill time.)....but i personally think murakami is a much stronger novelist. hope you give the guy another chance. i really loved the novel, wind up bird chronicle. i've read nearly everything hes written (that has been translated to english anyways...) and wind up bird and kafka on the shore seem to be my two favorites. "norwegian wood" was also an awesome novel. its a little short and not as filled with the magic realism that both wind up bird and kafka on the shore had for me.
anyways...i'm rambling and this is getting long. if you're looking to give the guy another chance i say check out wind up bird chronicle. definitely post your thoughts on it if you do get a chance to read it.

[Socializard]

forgot to post what i'm reading...

heart of darkness/the secret sharer by joseph conrad. loved apocalypse now so...

also, i really liked the movie 7 years in tibet. besides brad pitts' fake accent i thought it was great. i've got that book lined up to be read next.

[Manna]

I like doing it that way too - watching the movie before reading the book. It makes it much more possible to enjoy both.

[johnny7moons]

'A Buddhist History of the West', by an American academic-and-Zen-teacher called David Loy. Very highly recommended - he goes where other Buddhist writers have never thought of going.

After I've finished this, I'm going to do a two-week reading fast. I read far too much.

[annie blue]

No need to apologise socializard. It wasn't that long. I might give our friend another chance, I didn't dislike the stories just wanted more from them. I always judge books, films etc by the strength of the ending. I don't usually let anything beat me and will go back for another go. Maybe this easter weekend when I'm doing absolutely nothing I'll try the novels at some point too. In fact, I might go on to Amazon after here. 9.35 pm and time to settle down. Heavy day tomorrow But then 5 days off

[annie blue]

Socializard, 2 things, is the jonathanhicks link you? and, there is absolutely nothing wrong with rambling. i have turned it into an art form

I am going to bed now, honest

[Socializard]

hey annie blue. i wanted to try and explain where murakami was coming from in that collection. in the elephant vanishes...he set out for the short story set...and it feels more cohesive because of it i think. in blind willow...you have a random (well...not random random) collection of stories that he had written throughout his career. the kind of purpose the stories serve may not feel as prominent. my dad liked them...but he almost never reads fiction. so yeah... check out murakami's novels if you get a chance! hes one of my favorites.

the jonathan hicks link is me. but i'm only singing in the song blue moon. basically...i hate my voice. so i do alot of collaborations with both male and female singers...and enjoy writing guitar instrumentals too. thanks for noticing.



and manna...another movie i liked was chocolat. i watched it again the other night and its making me want to check out that book too.