Now reading...

[Leeway]

Still on my Tolstoy kick:

In the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation.

[ejp626]

Still on my Tolstoy kick:

In the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation.

I read this a few months back. Some parts are really interesting, and some just drag...

[Leeway]

Still on my Tolstoy kick:

In the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation.

I read this a few months back. Some parts are really interesting, and some just drag...

I can see that, This is my second time through it, the last being quite some number of years ago. I find Tolstoy engrossing, but in 800 pages, there are going to be some longueurs, I suppose. I found it tougher going the first time. Also, I think having read War and Peace just before this, I feel more immersed in Tolstoy's authorial world.

[erwbol]

The first to arrive of two books recommended in the heated Crouch thread. The Baldwin piece is the same as the one

The other one will take some time to arrive as it was out of stock at amazon.co.uk at the time I placed my order.

[ejp626]

Keep putting Proust on the back burner. May just never finish, when it comes right down to it.

Renata Adler's Speedboat -- pretty disappointed with this actually; intentionally disorganized snippets of text/anecdotes that she admits cut off before they actually gel or cohere.

I think I'll be a lot more satisfied with Gregor von Rezzori. I have an early novel (Oedipus at Stalingrad) and a late novel (The Orient Express) checked out from the library. At one point, I owned a copy of The Death of My Brother Abel, but am not sure I still do. I'll keep an eye out for it.

[Larry Kart]

Does anyone know Frank Herbert's pre-"Dune" novel "The Heaven Makers," originally published in 1967 in Amazing Stories (probably as a serial)? In it a race of alien immortals, the Chem, ward off the ultimate blight of boredom by observing the various "stories" of human behavior. But in order to do so with maximum effectiveness one key presenter of these stories, Fraffin, begins to manipulate our behavior rather than to merely observe and present it to his fellow Chem. I remember finding it to be an insidiously compelling semi-paranoid tale, and several weeks ago I bought a used paperback copy of it. (Couldn't find it in any local library.) Hope it holds up.

It begins:

"Full of forebodings and the greatest tensions that an adult Chem had ever experienced, Kelexel the Investigator came down into the storyship where it hid beneath the ocean. He pressed his slender craft through the barrier that stood like lines of insect legs in the green murk and debarked on the long gray landing platform.

"All around him flickering yellow discs and globes of working craft arrived and departed. It was early daylight topside and from this ship Fraffin the Director was composing a story.

"To be here, Kelexel thought. Actually to be on Fraffin's world."

[erwbol]

I've attempted to read Dune, but it was not for me. Herbert's prose was poor.

I'm now rereading Ian M.Banks' The Hydrogen Sonata (the paperback contains a good interview from less than a year before his diagnosis with cancer). To me, Mr. Banks set the gold standard in science fiction with most of his Culture novels.

Edited December 10, 2013 by erwbol

[jlhoots]

Gary Burton autobiography - pretty good.

[jazzbo]

[paul secor]

John Dufresne: No Regrets, Coyote

[BruceH]

I've attempted to read Dune, but it was not for me. Herbert's prose was poor.

I'm now rereading Ian M.Banks' The Hydrogen Sonata (the paperback contains a good interview from less than a year before his diagnosis with cancer). To me, Mr. Banks set the gold standard in science fiction with most of his Culture novels.

I managed to get through Dune somehow, in High School, but didn't much care for it. Haven't been tempted to read any others ever since.

I've just finished re-reading The Hydrogen Sonata. The better Culture novels are very fun indeed. The rest are a mixed bag. But I'd have to count Banks as one of my favorite sf writers of the last 30 years or so.

[BillF]

This is probably the best of Murdoch's first eight novels which I've been reading in recent months. Fascinated to know what personal experience went into them, I've now got hold of a Murdoch biography.

[Jazzmoose]

I've attempted to read Dune, but it was not for me. Herbert's prose was poor.

I'm now rereading Ian M.Banks' The Hydrogen Sonata (the paperback contains a good interview from less than a year before his diagnosis with cancer). To me, Mr. Banks set the gold standard in science fiction with most of his Culture novels.

I managed to get through Dune somehow, in High School, but didn't much care for it. Haven't been tempted to read any others ever since.

I read the first three, back when there were only three. I never had any desire to revisit them or read anything else by Herbert. I feel that I've done my time, and should not be punished further.

[Bright Moments]

John Scalzi - The Human Division.

Scalzi is the best sci-fi got we got right now!

[kinuta]

I've attempted to read Dune, but it was not for me. Herbert's prose was poor.

I'm now rereading Ian M.Banks' The Hydrogen Sonata (the paperback contains a good interview from less than a year before his diagnosis with cancer). To me, Mr. Banks set the gold standard in science fiction with most of his Culture novels.

I managed to get through Dune somehow, in High School, but didn't much care for it. Haven't been tempted to read any others ever since.

I've just finished re-reading The Hydrogen Sonata. The better Culture novels are very fun indeed. The rest are a mixed bag. But I'd have to count Banks as one of my favorite sf writers of the last 30 years or so.

I'd be interested in reading some of the Culture novels.

Which ones would you suggest and what order should they be read in ?

[BruceH]

I've attempted to read Dune, but it was not for me. Herbert's prose was poor.

I'm now rereading Ian M.Banks' The Hydrogen Sonata (the paperback contains a good interview from less than a year before his diagnosis with cancer). To me, Mr. Banks set the gold standard in science fiction with most of his Culture novels.

I managed to get through Dune somehow, in High School, but didn't much care for it. Haven't been tempted to read any others ever since.

I've just finished re-reading The Hydrogen Sonata. The better Culture novels are very fun indeed. The rest are a mixed bag. But I'd have to count Banks as one of my favorite sf writers of the last 30 years or so.

I'd be interested in reading some of the Culture novels.

Which ones would you suggest and what order should they be read in ?

I would suggest "The Player of Games" and "Look To Windward" in that order. But I very much suggest first reading an essay by Banks titled "A Few Notes on the Culture" before any of the novels. It will give you the lay of the land. It's in the story collection "The State of the Art." Then you might read the title story in that collection, "The State of the Art," a novella about a Culture Contact ship visiting Earth in 1977. I read the story first and THEN the essay and wished I'd done it the other way 'round. I remember finding some terms a little obscure (such as 'Orbital' as a name for a type of habitat) but then the essay made them clear.

If you read the essay and don't like it, then you need go no further. Then if you don't like the novella, you need go no further. I went on to read everything, but I really wish I'd read "A Few Note on the Culture" FIRST, although reading it second certainly didn't kill things for me.

[jlhoots]

Jo Nesbo: Police

[erwbol]

I've attempted to read Dune, but it was not for me. Herbert's prose was poor.

I'm now rereading Ian M.Banks' The Hydrogen Sonata (the paperback contains a good interview from less than a year before his diagnosis with cancer). To me, Mr. Banks set the gold standard in science fiction with most of his Culture novels.

I managed to get through Dune somehow, in High School, but didn't much care for it. Haven't been tempted to read any others ever since.

I've just finished re-reading The Hydrogen Sonata. The better Culture novels are very fun indeed. The rest are a mixed bag. But I'd have to count Banks as one of my favorite sf writers of the last 30 years or so.

I'd be interested in reading some of the Culture novels.

Which ones would you suggest and what order should they be read in ?

I would suggest "The Player of Games" and "Look To Windward" in that order. But I very much suggest first reading an essay by Banks titled "A Few Notes on the Culture" before any of the novels. It will give you the lay of the land. It's in the story collection "The State of the Art." Then you might read the title story in that collection, "The State of the Art," a novella about a Culture Contact ship visiting Earth in 1977. I read the story first and THEN the essay and wished I'd done it the other way 'round. I remember finding some terms a little obscure (such as 'Orbital' as a name for a type of habitat) but then the essay made them clear.

If you read the essay and don't like it, then you need go no further. Then if you don't like the novella, you need go no further. I went on to read everything, but I really wish I'd read "A Few Note on the Culture" FIRST, although reading it second certainly didn't kill things for me.

The essay in question can also be found online here. Next, I would suggest getting one of the full novels, not the short story collection State of the Art.

Player of Games and Look to Windward are good suggestions. The high point in the series is Excession. That novel should not be read unprepared as it focuses most intensely on the advanced artificial intelligences called Minds. The early Culture novels (Consider Phlebas, Player of Games, Use of Weapons) lack this inward focus on the Culture itself. The final two, Surface Detail and The Hydrogen Sonata, are not to be missed.

I would (initially) avoid the following three: Consider Phlebas (not representative of the mature Culture universe & novels, overrated), Use of Weapons (highly overrated imo), Matter (the weakest of all).

[kinuta]

I've attempted to read Dune, but it was not for me. Herbert's prose was poor.

I'm now rereading Ian M.Banks' The Hydrogen Sonata (the paperback contains a good interview from less than a year before his diagnosis with cancer). To me, Mr. Banks set the gold standard in science fiction with most of his Culture novels.

I managed to get through Dune somehow, in High School, but didn't much care for it. Haven't been tempted to read any others ever since.

I've just finished re-reading The Hydrogen Sonata. The better Culture novels are very fun indeed. The rest are a mixed bag. But I'd have to count Banks as one of my favorite sf writers of the last 30 years or so.

I'd be interested in reading some of the Culture novels.

Which ones would you suggest and what order should they be read in ?

I would suggest "The Player of Games" and "Look To Windward" in that order. But I very much suggest first reading an essay by Banks titled "A Few Notes on the Culture" before any of the novels. It will give you the lay of the land. It's in the story collection "The State of the Art." Then you might read the title story in that collection, "The State of the Art," a novella about a Culture Contact ship visiting Earth in 1977. I read the story first and THEN the essay and wished I'd done it the other way 'round. I remember finding some terms a little obscure (such as 'Orbital' as a name for a type of habitat) but then the essay made them clear.

If you read the essay and don't like it, then you need go no further. Then if you don't like the novella, you need go no further. I went on to read everything, but I really wish I'd read "A Few Note on the Culture" FIRST, although reading it second certainly didn't kill things for me.

Thanks very much for taking the time to post a useful introduction. I'll proceed as you suggest. Cheers

I've attempted to read Dune, but it was not for me. Herbert's prose was poor.

I'm now rereading Ian M.Banks' The Hydrogen Sonata (the paperback contains a good interview from less than a year before his diagnosis with cancer). To me, Mr. Banks set the gold standard in science fiction with most of his Culture novels.

I managed to get through Dune somehow, in High School, but didn't much care for it. Haven't been tempted to read any others ever since.

I've just finished re-reading The Hydrogen Sonata. The better Culture novels are very fun indeed. The rest are a mixed bag. But I'd have to count Banks as one of my favorite sf writers of the last 30 years or so.

I'd be interested in reading some of the Culture novels.

Which ones would you suggest and what order should they be read in ?

I would suggest "The Player of Games" and "Look To Windward" in that order. But I very much suggest first reading an essay by Banks titled "A Few Notes on the Culture" before any of the novels. It will give you the lay of the land. It's in the story collection "The State of the Art." Then you might read the title story in that collection, "The State of the Art," a novella about a Culture Contact ship visiting Earth in 1977. I read the story first and THEN the essay and wished I'd done it the other way 'round. I remember finding some terms a little obscure (such as 'Orbital' as a name for a type of habitat) but then the essay made them clear.

If you read the essay and don't like it, then you need go no further. Then if you don't like the novella, you need go no further. I went on to read everything, but I really wish I'd read "A Few Note on the Culture" FIRST, although reading it second certainly didn't kill things for me.

The essay in question can also be found online here. Next, I would suggest getting one of the full novels, not the short story collection State of the Art.

Player of Games and Look to Windward are good suggestions. The high point in the series is Excession. That novel should not be read unprepared as it focuses most intensely on the advanced artificial intelligences called Minds. The early Culture novels (Consider Phlebas, Player of Games, Use of Weapons) lack this inward focus on the Culture itself. The final two, Surface Detail and The Hydrogen Sonata, are not to be missed.

I would (initially) avoid the following three: Consider Phlebas (not representative of the mature Culture universe & novels, overrated), Use of Weapons (highly overrated imo), Matter (the weakest of all).

Thank you, that's helpful information.

[jazzbo]

This was rather "meh."

Now reading

Love these novels.

[paul secor]

Daniel Menaker: My Mistake

Nothing spectacular, but some interesting info/gossip about The New Yorker and the publishing business.

[ejp626]

Gregor von Rezzori Oedipus at Stalingrad (1954)

This is an interesting novel so far, like a George Grosz tableau come to life, with a heavy sprinkling of Freud on the top.

[ejp626]

Gregor von Rezzori Orient Express -- apparently his last novel translated into English. Kain, which is truly his last (posthumously published?) novel has not been translated so far.

Also reading Marilynne Robinson's Gilead, which is more compelling than I had imagined. It basically in the form of a (very long!) letter that an elderly preacher is writing to his young son because he does not expect to see the son live even into his teens.

[BruceH]

I finally read some Elmore Leonard: The novel "Pagan Babies" and short story collection "Fire In the Hole." I liked them both.

[erwbol]

I'm a fan of the tv series Justified and would like to read some of the Elmore Leonard novels it was based on. Doe anyone have any recommendations on where to start?