I'm reading "A Death in Belmont," by Sebastian Junger, the guy who wrote "The Perfect Storm." It's a pretty good true crime story, revolving around the Boston Strangler.

In my experience, yours is a typical reaction to Goodwin's work.

I'm halfway through Gulliver's Travels (Part III). Part III is not as interesting as I-II. The irony in part III borders on heavy-handed and the Laputans, etc don't capture my imagination the way Lilliput(especially) and Brobdingnag did.

I'm currently reading "Justine" by Marquis de Sade, and am also lightly perusing a collection of prose from Robert Lowell. I just finished a short collection of Kafka and "Notes from the Underground" by Dostoevsky.

I didn't realize how much Sade influenced the latter two until looking.

Cam

I agree. I think I'm going to end up putting it aside until I finish a couple other things, then start from the beginning again. I was enjoying it very much when I started, so I won't be giving up on it.

I really like Bulgakov. This is my third or fourth reading of The Master and Margarita. I'm also a fan of his Heart of a Dog, which is excellent, if not as well known.

I loved it, but I also like postmodern lit. The novel is patterned after the form of Wittgenstein's Tractatus--although the paragraphs aren't numbered. It's also a surprisingly affective novel about the narrator's mental deterioration as she gets lost in language and a number a "facts" that keep popping into her head.

Be on your toes reading it: the narrator will mention one thing, which may reoccur a hundred pages later in an expanded or altered form.

If you like it, I'd suggest Steelwork by Gilbert Sorrentino as a complement.

yeah, i'm really into postmodern lit as well. the description of the book on wikipedia says the style is reminiscent of beckett, which means it'll probably be really interesting/infuriating. i remember you mentioned you're an english professor. what other philosophical novels could you recommend?

also, this is way off topic, how do you define post-modern lit? for example, my favorite contemporary writer is j.m. coetzee and although many of his peers could be described as post-modernists, i don't find much in his writing style that would distinguish him from, say, Camus. Thanks!

Just finished "Cat Among the Pigeons" by Agatha Christie

Currently reading "Moving Pictures" by Terry Pratchett (of course!)

Why of course?

Captain Sam Vimes is a character in other Terry Pratchett books. Pratchett, for those who have never heard of him, is a lot like Douglas Adams. Very good at word play and satire and dry Brit Humor.

I'll be reading Scarlett Thomas' "The end of Mr Y" this evening. It's probably the prettiest looking book I've ever bought - red and gold gilt cover with black edged pages, but unfortunately that's where the positive stuff ends.

It has props from Philip Pullman and Douglas Coupland on the sleeve, but tbh reviews from Elle/Cosmo would be more appropriate, as (admittedly only 60 pages through), it's reading like a slice of high end chick lit so far.

Also, the characters are ludicrously 2-dimensional. And the novel's theme? Metaphysics and the 4th dimension. Oh, the irony...

Trying to work my way back into involvement here. Time to reply to threads, duh.

I will be rereading Catcher in the Rye over the next few days. I read it a couple years ago, but have forgotten most details of it. Unfortunately, it was assigned for my Adolescence Lit class, so I will be going through it again.

I definitely need to get into the swing of school with reading more and interneting less (all while Loungeing more)!

Heh yeah you definitely need to operate at a higher level when school's in session.

Hope you enjoy your reread of Catcher in the Rye. I read it twice too, and really loved it both times, but it's been a long time. I'd be surprised if I didn't get a real kick out of it the next time I read it too.

This is one of the resources I often turn to for looking at some of the basic assumptions of postmodern lit:

John Lye's Explanation



Foremost, I think, is the notion that postmodern lit is self-relexive, that is, lit. that's aware of itself as a construct, a work of fiction rather than as a mirror of reality or an imitation of reality. A good example of this in short form is John Barth's story "Lost in the Funhouse" from his collection by the same name. And, believe it or not, its fun to read.

Here's a link to the story. The first two paragraphs will give you the general idea.

Lost
If you get through part of the story, you will also notice the references to Joyce's Ulysses along with Barth's parody of Joyce's style, another feature of postmodern texts.

Catcher in the Rye is among my favorite books. I should dig up my well-worn copy (the pages fall out from time to time). Now that I'm older and a true phony I should have a very different perspective.