Readers?

[Soft Morning, City!]

Any bookworms on here? If so, what are some of your favorites and what are you currently reading?

I'm big on Charles Bukowski, William S. Burroughs (Sr. & Jr.), Allen Ginsberg, James Joyce, Richard Brautigan, Thomas Pynchon, and a number of others.

Right now I'm smack in the middle of Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon. What a wonderful and frenetic book it is.

I also make it a point to read a few poems on any given day. Today I read some from Loading Mercury With A Pitchfork by Brautigan and Love Is A Dog From Hell by Bukowski.

So what are you guys into?

[phish]

Is your avatar a picture of burrows? I used to be a mad fan of 'beat literature' but haven't read any for a while. At the moment I'm going through some English classics (Hardy, Dickens, Austin, Bronte etc.) as well as Tolstoy and a few contemporary Japanese reads (Ishiguro, Murakami)

Nothing like a good book, a glass of malt whiskey and a prilla of snus

[Coffey]

I've been reading a lot of philosophy lately. I'm just starting Hobbes' "Leviathan," and just finishing Plato's "Republic" (for about the 4th time) the "Sophist," the "Statesman," and the combined dialogs collectively called "The Death of Socrates." I also love non-fiction about WWII, I just read Major Richard Winters memoirs called "Beyond Band of Brothers" and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the exploits of Easy company. I also love the poetry of Rudyard Kipling, for some reason it is really enjoyable to me.

[Stargazer]

I'm a big fan of Arthur c Clarke.
finished with the first rama book a wile ago.
gone get the second tomorrow.
Apart from that, it's a lot of Norwegian writers.

a big scandinavian tip to readers:
the Carl Hamilton series by Jan Guilou.
you should all take a look at his books.
But specially the Hamilton series.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Ha...l_character%29

[Backpacker]

Readers?

I recommend three books by David McCullough:
John Adams
The Path Between the Seas - building of the Panama Canal
The Great Bridge - building of the Brooklyn Bridge

[Subtilo]

Oh, what a nice thread!

I'm a HUGE beat-fan (I've actually taught classes about this specific literary era). Reading Kerouac (and also Ginsberg, Burroughs, Corso and Creeley) in my teens was almost like experiencing one of those satoris, Jack wrote so much about. On the Road was (of course) my first encounter, and there I was - 16 years old, confused - suddenly ready to devote my life to literature and poetry. Boom, what a blast!

At the moment I'm studying Greek tragedies (Homer's Iliad, Sofokles' Antigone, Aeschylos' The Oresteia and such). I'm also following contemporary Danish poetry closely, but I guess it wouldn't make much sense to mention names and titles here Also have time for some Günther Grass (Katz und Maus) and some amusing re-reading in Goethe's Die Leiden des jungen Werthers.

[Soft Morning, City!]

Funny thing: I never really saw why Kerouac was so great until this year. I had tried reading the Dharma Bums around the age of 15, but it didn't thrill me. At that age, I was much more smitten with Burrough's Naked Lunch and Junky and the cut-ups and things of that sort. But just this year, I've been re-reading Kerouac and I'm in love. His language just flows and seems so natural. I love it.

As cliche as it sounds, Howl is probably my favorite poem of all time. One of those things I can read over and over again and never get tired of.

As for the Greeks, Homer is wonderful. Haven't read the others you listed yet, but I'll always go back to Homer.

[phish]

I love Kerouac!! Read Odyssey and the illiad both amazing. Currently reading Milton's Paradise Lost. The prose is so beautiful. Am Absolutely wasted atm So take with a gain of salt

Karouac wrote most of his books on a single piece of paper that is why the flow is amazing. Ginsberg is also great. Got a poem by him (America) that was written 'as is' complete with mistakes and crossing outs.

First time I went travelling around Eastern Europe Karouac's works were my bible

BTW Soft Morning, City! Have you hear the version of howl read by Ginsberg himself.....mind blowing

[Subtilo]

Funny thing: I never really saw why Kerouac was so great until this year. I had tried reading the Dharma Bums around the age of 15, but it didn't thrill me. At that age, I was much more smitten with Burrough's Naked Lunch and Junky and the cut-ups and things of that sort. But just this year, I've been re-reading Kerouac and I'm in love. His language just flows and seems so natural. I love it.

:lol: Have you ever listened to his readings? Man, that's pure jazz!

I guess On the Road is the most important piece of beat-litterature on my personal list (due to the awakening factor), but books like Visions of Cody and - as you mention - Dharma Bums are very, very good too.

I've always found Burroughs' work interesting, not really because of his writing skills, but more because of his somewhat extreme concepts.

As cliche as it sounds, Howl is probably my favorite poem of all time. One of those things I can read over and over again and never get tired of.

Nah, this cliché is not a cliché for nothing. Howl is a fantastic poem, and besides, he never produced anything nearly as good after that (even though he actually wrote some quite interesting stuff in his old age).

Do you know Gregory Corso's Bomb-poem? The one thats shaped like a mushroom cloud?

As for the Greeks, Homer is wonderful. Haven't read the others you listed yet, but I'll always go back to Homer.

I would really recommend Aeschylos' trilogi The Oresteia. King Agamemnon, who sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia in the Trojan war, returns to his wife Clytemnestra with Cassandra, his new lover, by his side :shock: ... Clytemnestra kills him in anger (and revenge of her daughters death) and ignites a long, bloody curse on the House of Atreus. Very messy stuff. Best English translation is by Robert Fagles.

[Soft Morning, City!]

Subtilo:

Yes, Bomb is one of my absolute favorite poems. Beat to the core, with the whole "bing ye bong" section, but still lyrical and romantic enough to rival the Bard himself. Sad, Corso being so overlooked by so many. I quite like his stuff, especially Long Live Man and The Happy Birthday Of Death.

I admire Burroughs' writing style because it perfectly conveys the world of the nightmare. The swift cuts and digressions off into other realms of bleak and gallows humor... some of his stuff reads just like poetry. Naked Lunch definitely isn't his finest work, though. I prefer the Cities of the Red Night trilogy and his early work, namely Junky, Queer, and The Yage Letters.

Big on any Joyce? I've been plowing the dense fields of Finnegans Wake and despite the general strangeness of it all, it is quite beautiful. I've been reading it aloud and it may very well be among the greatest prose poems written by man.

[jmcphail]

Re: Readers?

You pretty much have my bookshelf at your house for some reason!

Gotta mention Alexander Trocchi, and Martin Amis, especially London Fields. Will Self, too, "My Idea Of Fun" is highly entertaining although I'm told he's a "wanker" in person.

I waver between Thomas Pynchon and Martin Amis a lot - they are both magnificent. Neil Stephenson takes his place on my shelves, too.

My recent "comfort reads" were the Chuck Barris novels "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" and "Bad Grass Never Dies", they're AWFUL but I couldn't help it! I know you're all laughing *with* me at this point.... ops:

I'm big on Charles Bukowski, William S. Burroughs (Sr. & Jr.), Allen Ginsberg, James Joyce, Richard Brautigan, Thomas Pynchon, and a number of others.

Right now I'm smack in the middle of Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon. What a wonderful and frenetic book it is.

[Soft Morning, City!]

Oh man, I had a friend who was telling me about those Chuck Barris books. I never quite summoned the courage to subject my brain to them, though at some later date I'd like to. Embarrassing and horrid literature is still literature... and sometimes it can be the best.

Never read Martin Amis, but my friend who originally turned me on to Pynchon recommends him. Any particular titles you'd recommend?

Pynchon is fantastic. The people who say that he is "unreadable" or "exceedingly difficult" are just trying too hard. I find the best way to read Pynch is to just sit back and smoke a spliff or have a couple of drinks and just dive headfirst into the digressions and flooding beauty of the language. And people tend to forget that a lot of what Pynchon writes is intended to have a humorous air about it. Lot 49, V., and GR contain some of the funniest passages I've ever read.

[jmcphail]

I'd recommend London Fields wholeheartedly; I think it would be comfortable and easy to sink into if you like Gravity's Rainbow, and revelatory in a similar way.

I agree about Pynchon's humor, Gravity has some very funny situations; there is an air of Yossarian in that story. Not hard to read at all, but it takes patience. My first Pynchon novel was The Crying Of Lot 49, a long time ago, but I still remember the absurd-mysterioso aspects that developed over time.

I had the feeling the Barris novels were cathartic for the author, and it led me to explore every YouTube video of The Gong Show I could find until I sated my unnatural fascination with the man. Not good writing, and not even good reading, but more like a date you can *never* let your friends meet.

I forgot to mention Eco's Foucault's Pendulum in my first post, another incredible story. Gave me insomnia until I finished it. Also Nicholson Baker's The Fermata, I felt I gained insight into a fetishistic, auto-compulsive plane of existence, very foreign-feeling to me.

Oh man, I had a friend who was telling me about those Chuck Barris books. I never quite summoned the courage to subject my brain to them, though at some later date I'd like to. Embarrassing and horrid literature is still literature... and sometimes it can be the best.

Never read Martin Amis, but my friend who originally turned me on to Pynchon recommends him. Any particular titles you'd recommend?

Pynchon is fantastic. The people who say that he is "unreadable" or "exceedingly difficult" are just trying too hard. I find the best way to read Pynch is to just sit back and smoke a spliff or have a couple of drinks and just dive headfirst into the digressions and flooding beauty of the language. And people tend to forget that a lot of what Pynchon writes is intended to have a humorous air about it. Lot 49, V., and GR contain some of the funniest passages I've ever read.

[Subtilo]

Subtilo:

Yes, Bomb is one of my absolute favorite poems. Beat to the core, with the whole "bing ye bong" section, but still lyrical and romantic enough to rival the Bard himself. Sad, Corso being so overlooked by so many. I quite like his stuff, especially Long Live Man and The Happy Birthday Of Death.

Exactly my thoughts! Corso has always stood in the shadows of his own friends, but in my humble opinion he's a far more precise (and actually better) poet than, say, Ginsberg ever was. Just take his splendid collection 'Gasoline'. Bang! Beat to the bone!

Big on any Joyce? I've been plowing the dense fields of Finnegans Wake and despite the general strangeness of it all, it is quite beautiful. I've been reading it aloud and it may very well be among the greatest prose poems written by man.

I must admit I have yet to discover Joyce. So far I've only read 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man', which (as far as I know) represent the transitional stage between a realistic Joyce and a more symbolic. A very fine book that surely made me want to dive deeper into his authorship. Guess I should get it on with 'Ulysses' now?

... Oh, yesterday I got 'On the Road - the original scroll' (Viking, 2007), a completely unedited reprint of ... yes, Kerouacs original 120-foot scroll. That's simply beyond cool! It a bit more explicit regarding sex'n'drugs and (this I find nice) all the real names are used (Carlo Marx = Allen Ginsberg, Ol' Bull Lee = Burroughs, Dean Moriarty = Neal Cassady etc.).

[Soft Morning, City!]

Subtilo:

Ah, the Corso... tremendous, and I'd have to agree that he was, overall, probably a better poet than Ginsberg. Ginsberg was far more prolific, but not all of his stuff is great work. I prefer Ginsberg's early stuff. Basically anything leading up to the wonderful Kaddish, and very little afterward. But with Corso, his early stuff didn't thrill me as much. I think he definitely got better and better with age. Ginsberg just seemed to get a little bit sloppy.

Honestly, I haven't read the entirety of Ulysses yet, just bits and pieces. I bought both Ulysses and Finnegans Wake at the same time and Wake stoked my curiosity more so than the other. Everybody told me to read Ulysses first, but I disobeyed. But if you've got the time to read both in order, I say go for it. The parts of Ulysses that I have read are beautiful and I definitely plan on reading it after I'm finished with the Wake.

Oh man, I want that Kerouac scroll reprint so bad. I saw it at Powells, the larg bookstore here, but I didn't have enough money to get it on top of my other purchases. But I'll soon go back and grab a copy. Way too cool to pass up on.