tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post2515990355088731073..comments2023-06-08T01:26:04.133-07:00Comments on A Fiercer Delight and a Fiercer Discontent: 2013 a Year in Books: Part 1 - Fictionstanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-3313115473462997502014-01-03T06:40:48.610-08:002014-01-03T06:40:48.610-08:00Stan,
My only thought is that you will start writ...Stan, <br />My only thought is that you will start writing more. <br /><br />When I look at stuff you and Tiffany are doing and capable of I'm humbled and thankful!<br /><br />My kids all read young adult fiction, I read some...just too busy for it.<br /><br />Looking forward to your non-fiction list. Just finished Gulag by Anne Applebaum. Kind of the gold standard in gulag history now. It's really good if you like the history of injustice, totalitarianism, and or just want to cry.jeff ellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12788942006438246579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-18988230880300901622014-01-02T06:26:32.456-08:002014-01-02T06:26:32.456-08:00Thanks friends. I REALLY appreciate the recomenda...Thanks friends. I REALLY appreciate the recomendations.<br /><br />Justin, I forgot you had recomended Passage. It was actually a fine book. Sometimes my expereince of an audio book has to do with what I multi-task it with. And i think passage was multi-tasked with Data analysis which means the book only gets 70% RAM (where data collection, driving and exersize can give it 90%). And Vital Phenomena is great...its brutal, but great. <br /><br />Tiff, Wow, a sentence summary would really improve this. I'll try to do that as I read next year. I am so self concious about how long these posts get, because, you know, internet. Your recomendations are going straight to my wish list. As if you didn't have enough recomendation cred, Saunders upped it.<br /><br />Also, I am still thinking about your 'book you want to read vs book you are given' question. I think my level of agreement is between 40 and 60% but I am still working out why. But what a great question. I'll respond over at that post with my charecteristic timelyness (but will shoot you a note as well). Also, after reading Saunders, I was emboldened to outline/getr to a 40% draft on two short stories on the plane yesterday.<br /><br />Liz, I really want to get into Prachett. Sadly Yolo library doesn't have any audio versions, which is what drives my fiction list (I know, super lame). But I'll try to get him in. And I'm adding Wheel of Time to the wish list on your recomendations as well.stanfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-62991137988779814712014-01-01T06:52:55.772-08:002014-01-01T06:52:55.772-08:00Love seeing your reviews, especially since I'm...Love seeing your reviews, especially since I'm writing my way to the end of my novel with the promise of a fiction reading blitzkrieg in March: read as many books as I can, do nothing else. (Being a writer means I can count this as work, isn't that awesome?)<br /><br />"Literature...should craft a fake world that makes reality more real, not that makes reality seem the way we want it to be." So true. That's why stories are so important to the human existence.<br /><br />If you like [some of] Neil Gaimon, you should look into Terry Pratchett's book "Nation." (I thought of it because Gaimon and Pratchett co-wrote the book "Omens" which is supposed to be good but I've never read.) Pratchett is light and witty but uses his voice ironically; a lot of what he has to say about humanity is dark yet with the potential for hope coming from the question of whether people can make the right choices or not. While "Nation" was written for kids, it is probably his best that I've ever read. I think you'll find what he says about religious-traditions-over-time interesting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-61015227887894541512014-01-01T06:10:22.192-08:002014-01-01T06:10:22.192-08:00I always love to read your posts on reading, to se...I always love to read your posts on reading, to see what we might have both read. A New Year's Morning Treat! I feel v. similar about Kavilier and Clay--I love LOVE LOVE LOVE Chabon, in the moment, I feel in love with his prose. But then, I do sort of forget them, after, except for the lingering sense that I have encountered something carefully made and lovely. That lingering sense, though, is more than enough. I read Telegraph Avenue this year, and while I like his stuff that at least sort of engages with fantasy better....well...I still loved it. Esp. the sort of groan worthy but cute cameo by Obama. My favorite of his might Summerland--with the kids--but I also liked the alternate history Alaska one the name of which I have forgotten, but which nails plot in a way that I LOVE. <br /><br />I was unfamiliar with some of the items on this list --I could have used a one sentence pitch/summary to maybe draw me in. But those are the hardest sentences EVER EVER EVER to write (seriously, I've had those sentences in articles take like an hour to write, and then had to rewrite them a zillion times). <br /><br />Based on this list, I recommend for you Pynchon's Bleeding Edge--a sheen of the fantastic/technological/video game world, but more. And some brilliance with language, though I think Alan Jacobs rightly at least calls into question the treatment of the black secretary--I THINK the inclusion of the character and the portrayal of her is ironic, but...). I recommend listening to it and just savoring. Also highly recommend A Visit from the Good Squad by Jennifer Egan. Also excellently listenable and sentences redolent with loveliness. <br />Tiffany Eberle Krinerhttp://www.wheaton.edu/englishnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-39103391812875036852013-12-31T22:12:49.626-08:002013-12-31T22:12:49.626-08:00Excellent as always. Just posted mine as well, tho...Excellent as always. Just posted mine as well, though as usual it pales next to yours. You may want to skip my review of the four GRR Martin books I read. I don't bear the same love, and am late to an over-hyped party, so I was farily critical. Also the whole hyper-rapr-y thing sort of weighed on me in the later books. <br />As per Passage, I agree. I know I was in love with it when it came out, but after reading the sequel, its flaws are more apparent.<br />Gaiman is heavy in my upcoming rotation...thanks for the tip on Anansi boys...I'll skip straight to American Gods and the Ocean at the End of the Lane. If you haven't read through the Sandman series, you might want to, even if you have to suffer the less serious graphic novel format. It's a fantastic story arc. <br />Regarding Norell and Strange, I have the same question of its brilliance, and eventually sided with it being brilliant. I wasn't as concerned about the rules of magic (as I was with Martin), because for me the book was much more about characters, and magic was simply a secondary issue. I thought it, and The Ladies of Grace Adiue (a companion piece) were great reads. <br />Glad to hear you read Kavalier and Klay. I wasn't as impressed by the ending either, but the overwhelmingly fantastic characters and dialogue made up for it for me. One of my all time faves, and completely, unexpectedly so. <br />I was suprised you liked World War Z. Like NOrrell, that was one of those books I was trying to decide whether I thought was really novel in its approach, or just sort of derivative. I liked the shifting perspective, but the lack of good style lost me. Then again, it's hard to write a halfway decent book about zombies that I won't finish. <br />Thanks for the review of Vital Phenomena...I was debating on this one, but it just got added to the 2014 list. <br />So funny to see our reviews of some of the same books, and the different takes. I admit I may be too harsh on Martin, but that may be in part due to his unwillingness to focus and pare away the unnecessary, and the lesser quality of the 4th book. Justin Bowerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11918590992060850747noreply@blogger.com