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Loic · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 10:10 am Post subject:

I remembered once reading The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides (sic?). Suffice to say, it was depressing although it failed to incite suicidal thoughts, thankfully.

What I noticed about american fiction though is that the prose tends to be 'cleaner', for want of a better word. Convoluted structures are frequently eschewed in favour of a more direct storytelling style. It actually looks easy, but I think that this sort of prose belies the high level of skill that is needed to write in a crisp and concise manner.

PS: I find rappers a really ridiculous group of entertainers. Their favoured speech mannerisms do no justice to themselves; they dress sloppily and revoltingly. Theirs is a misspent life rapping on issues which nobody gives a damn.
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Liz · Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 4:56 pm Post subject:

Walker · Moderator Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 758

A couple of months ago I read American Psycho. It was both uncomfortable and funny to read. I guess the uncomfortable part is pretty obvious, you know, like when he tortures girls to death and such. Some of the funny parts were when he, Patrick Bateman, was talking to somebody, but was thinking about something totally different from what he and that 'somebody' was talking about. It'd start with some lines said by the one he'd be talking to, directly followed by a paragraph describing what he was thinking at the time. Some of that I recognized in myself. His colleagues' constant mistaking him (and others) for somebody else was also funny, and a sort of commentary by the author, I suppose. Maybe you who have not seen the movie or read the book have still heard of the scene in the movie where Bateman and some of his colleagues, just before a meeting, compare their calling cards. Bateman shows his new card and everybody's impressed, but another person's card impresses even more and Bateman starts sweating and has like a minor panic attack. There were some more stuff like that in the novel.

Having watched the TV-show Dexter and liking it to the thousand I felt I had to read the novel behind it, I went to the library and grabbed Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Unfortunately they only had a Swedish translation of it. As we all know, 'the book is always better than the movie', but this time it was the opposite (though it's not a movie but a series). The fact that I read the Swedish version probably had something to do with it, though. The story in Darkly Dreaming Dexter is pretty much what happens in the first episode in the series of the show.

And now? Why, I'm reading Mein Kampf! I must say I felt a little weird asking for it at the library. Also, when I told a girl at work today that I'm reading Mein Kampf I made a joke about my well-combed hair. It's one of those books you don't want to shout about. She said: "I suppose it's one of those books it might be interesting to have read... like the Bible". I agreed. I thought it might be interesting to read it, in a way. Has anyone here read it?

Walker · Moderator Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 758

A couple of months ago I read American Psycho. It was both uncomfortable and fun to read. I guess the uncomfortable part is pretty obvious, you know, like when he tortures girls to death and such. Some of the funny parts were when he, Patrick Bateman, was talking to somebody, but was thinking about something totally different from what he and that 'somebody' was talking about. It'd start with some lines said by the one he'd be talking to, directly followed by a paragraph describing what he was thinking at the time. Some of that I recognized in myself. His colleagues' constant mistaking him (and others) for somebody else was also funny, and a sort of commentary by the author, I suppose. Maybe you who have not seen the movie or read the book have still heard of the scene in the movie where Bateman and some of his colleagues, just before a meeting, compare their calling cards. Bateman shows his new card and everybody's impressed, but another person's card impresses even more and Bateman starts sweating and has like a minor panic attack. There was some more stuff like that in the novel.

Having watched (still watching) the TV-show Dexter and liking it to the thousand I felt I had to read the novel behind it, so I went to the library and grabbed Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Unfortunately they only had a Swedish translation of it. As we all know, 'the book is always better than the movie', but this time it was the opposite (though it's not a movie but a series). The fact that I read the Swedish version probably had something to do with it, though. The story in Darkly Dreaming Dexter is pretty much what happens in the first season of the show.

And now? Why, I'm reading Mein Kampf! I must say I felt a little weird asking for it at the library. Also, when I told a girl at work today that I'm reading Mein Kampf I made a joke about my well-combed hair. It's one of those books you don't want to shout about. She said: "I suppose it's one of those books it might be interesting to have read... like the Bible". I agreed. I thought it might be interesting to read it, in a way. Has anyone here read it?

Deborah · Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 11:26 pm Post subject:

Uriel · Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 8:24 pm Post subject:

I think my parents had it, but I never read it. It might even have been in German.
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An apple a day....

Rio · Expert Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 57

War and Peace, The Nun, Candide, Le Miserables, Jane Eyre, The Gambler, Crime and Punishment, Perfume, Casino Royale, Diamonds are Forever....those are the ones that are just on my mind.