It's not bad

Just not amazing.


Like I didn't hate myself while reading it.

Felt the same way about The Book Thief too.


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It's a pretty quick read, I'd say go for it if you're interested unless you'll regret reading something that's not quite amazing. I enjoyed it well enough.

I thought Station 11 was fantastic. Definitely worth the read.

I think it depends on your expectations. It's more character-based and literary than most apocalyptic SF. It was a surprise winner of the Tournament of Books. I thought Charles Finch, reviewing Benjamin Percy's The Dead Lands in The New York Times Book Review, made an excellent point:

Well, **** me. Saw the audiobook on sale a couple months back and decided why not, maybe I'll understand it better in this format. Nope. Inscrutable as ever. I don't think I realized anywhere near the full effect of Joyce's playful language previously, so there's that, but overall the audio is tough -- good as an alternate way of ingesting the book if you've read it before, but I'd warn first timers to stay away from the audio format and stick with paper.

'Round about the time Stephen covertly picks his nose and wipes it on the rock (chapter 3?) I decided I was going to need a little help deciphering the novel, especially with regards to blocking the action and figuring out whether we're in a memory or reality. So listener that I am, I picked up the Great Courses lectures by James Heffernan, and they helped a good deal even if I tentatively disagree with a couple angles he takes in his interpretation. It also helped to learn some of the culture and politics behind The Citizen, which fleshed out the backdrop for me significantly.

It's funny, I've read this book about once every ten years since my twenties (third time through now) and I've always liked it even if I've never come close to completely understanding it, but only this time did I realize the degree to which it has affected my own thinking about literature. Subconsciously, I've always found myself wondering why there's not more pooping and masturbating and tushkissing in the books I read, and now I can point back to Ulysses as being the seed for such thoughts. Okay, you can include style and technique in that lot, too, I suppose.

Sick part? I'm about to dive right back into the print edition . I figure now that I've got a fair grasp on the occurrences, and while I'm still immersed in Joyce's style, I'll hopefully be able to pay more attention to other things this time round. I've got Don Gifford's Annotations to go along for the ride (almost as big as Ulysses itself), and I'm debating whether to go full Gioco on the damn mess and pick up a copy of Burgess's Re Joyce and maybe the Bloomsday Book to boot. Might save them for another ten years, we'll see.

Damn, I'm lucky to make it all the way thru that Cream song.

That goes for most of theirs, apart from maybe White Room and Badge.

I like Hugh Kenner's Ulysses. In fact, I've read most of Kenner, one literary scholar who's fun to read.

This book is perfect: https://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Dreams.../dp/0375727485

Thank you!

Picked up Dark Matter from the library based on recs in this thread. Finished it in 3 days. A true page turner. Loved the concept, and the execution was very good. Got a little crazy in the end, but I think the internal logic of the book holds up. Definitely will be recommending this book to people

I finished The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham. I have a hard time being interested in novels that follow the love lives of aristocrats, and this short novel proved no exception. Some good character study about an irresponsible young British woman living in Asia, and some nice little twists here and there, but the story didn't do a whole lot for me. Not bad by any means, however not at all my cup of tea.

Looks very good -- might as well balance another book on my head.

For anyone interested, here's a podcast from Frank Delaney on Ulysses that I found. He's only up to Wandering Rocks so far, but I listened to a couple episodes and he goes pretty in depth. For instance, he points out a simple detail like a girl who walks down the street and a twig falls off her dress, then he traces it back to the couple rolling around in the bushes in a previous chapter. Ridiculous stuff that maybe in a thousand years I might pick out of the text on my own which makes having a guide through the book so helpful.

All Barry Lopez is good...a PhD in biology and prize winning poet in the same skin
His Of Wolves and Men is super too as is his books of essays
His forbear was Loren Eisely equally accomplished...

Eisley is another with that poetic sensibility. Highly recommend his All the Strange Hours,and in much the same sort of vein, Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and her autobiography, An American Childhood. Her dad, a scientist, was in Night of the Living Dead.

The History of the Russian Revolution.

Thought this year was apt to tackle this opus. 10% into vol 1.

Interesting, but Trotsky has the style of the pragmatist he was. There isn't much flower, or lyricism, just how it happened. There are a lot of factions, characters, places and such, that being in Russia, and having a poor knowledge of geography, I have no clue who or where. But it looks as though, things will get clearer as the revolution plays out.

It seems Trotsky just says it, then explains it in more detail later. E.g. The Petrograd district office gets burnt down, during the February revolution, but there is no explanation of by who or why, so far.

Not many laughs either, but one episode made me chuckle. The general of the Petrograd garrison keeps sending out troop detachment who mysteriously 'disappear'!, as the troops join the workers and soviets.

There are snippets of analysis too, but again, looks like much more to come later.

Philip Roth's The Plot Against America is an alt history novel where Charles Lindbergh is a Nazi sympathizer who gets elected president of the US. It's fairly political, which isn't my bag, but to counterbalance Roth focuses mostly on one Jewish family's perspective of the ordeal. Some of the reactions and hysteria are so on point it's hard to not relate it to current events.

Certainly the part about him being a Nazi Sympathiser isn't alt history...

Lincoln at the Bardo. George Saunders first novel. we should start a book thread. gonna have to get the audiobook because a whole cast of stars were involved.

I'm extremely intrigued by Lincoln at the bardo on audible.
was hoping someone ITT had listened to it n could give a review.

Yeah, I guess I worded that one a little weird.

I went down a wikipedia wormhole with Lindy and found out a few interesting things besides his antisemitism and the famous kidnapping. Like, he propounded the American family ideal but then went off to Europe and made a bunch of babies with I think three different women (two sisters, even). His flight across the Atlantic sounds harrowing as hell though -- having to fly ten feet above the ocean to de-ice his wings and whatnot. Also, because he toured so much, it's estimated that a quarter of Americans saw him in person at one time or other, which I can't imagine would even be possible today.

Lindbergh then led me into the history of flight and introduced me to Clyde Pangborn whose flight across the Pacific a few years later was even more mindblowing, including an arrest by the Japanese, confiscation of his detailed flight plans, a wingwalk at 14,000 ft., and an engine stall and diving jumpstart. Really fascinating stuff.

Well, all you have to do is read Finnegans Wake first and Ulysses will seem like re-reading about Dick and Jane.

As to the lack of sex or excretory function descriptions in novels, most writers (in modernity) are busy trying to write well and economically and spending words describing those functions usually detracts from engaging the reader, developing structure, moving the plot forward, developing tension or conflict or developing character. And, human nature tends to over-value those scenes. An example of such over-valuation is A Sport and a Pastime, (James Salter) a close to perfect novel that is usually remembered for its (appropriate) sexual content which is not the story.

Burroughs, Miller, and Selby's descriptions seem more like part of rebellious shouts against repression and censorship than real sex that is integrated into genuine lives. Shocking when written they've faded with time.

Heard good things about Octavia E. Butler and read Wild Seed to start. Very good and I'll be reading the second book in the series next.

Another Philip Roth -- the novella The Ghost Writer. I wasn't caught up in it -- story about a young short story writer meeting a mentor -- until a certain reveal cast everything in a whole new light. I like Roth's style, but after having read three of his books close on each others' heels, I do kind of wish he'd branch out of the first person, or something.



Gioco,
All good points, as usual. If I'm wetting myself a little in fear as I prepare to go through Ulysses again, well, you can imagine what happens when I think of diving into Finnegan's Wake. Of the Joyce companions you've (or anyone else ITT has) read, is there one that gives a good picture of the literary landscape surrounding Ulysses -- what led up to it and how it impacted the novel form? I had a feeling that I'd go a bit ape**** on Ulysses when I picked it up again, just trying to dissect it and pick apart Joyce's techniques, but now that I'm in its midst, I'm a little bewildered at the volume of criticism and interpretation this novel has spawned. If an expert such as yourself would deign to point me in a direction....

I was a little surprised to find how formative Joyce was for Joseph Campbell's ideas on mythology, but when I actually sat down and considered, it all made perfect sense. (The Vogler companion for Campbell you recommended to me a while back, by the way, ) I've also had that Salter book stashed on my to-read list forever. One of these days.



Deep,
Every time someone mentions Octavia Butler I think of Kindred, which is one of the best books I've read, so I always recommend it. It's one of those that's so good I'm a little afraid that anything else I read by her might not measure up. Which is silly, I know, and should be rectified as soon as I get a chance.

Thanks so much for posting the Frank Delaney podcast - really fantastic stuff. Bitesize 5 minute chunks of fascinating Joycean goodness read in a charismatic, engaging, illuminating way by Delaney. Despite taking a whole module on Joyce at university, I never actually finished Ulysses, so you might have triggered the resumption!

I've delved back to the blog archives of 2010 to start from the beginning; the explanation of the choice of Stephen Dedalus' name is just fascinating, a name so innocuous to a casual observer but thoroughly stuffed with allusion and reference and perfect hidden meaning for the character!