So I know everyone around here loves music as much as the next guy. But how many of you guys out there read? I just finished "The Soft Machine," my third William S. Burroughs book, and I wanted some recommendations on what to read next. I'm suprised this hasn't come up as a topic yet.

Pretty sure we've had a book thread before; just we're all a bunch of illiterate motherfuckers who can't figure out what those squirmy line papers mean...

Anyhow, I'm reading The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen after taking about two months to read Yukio Mishima's Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Hopefully I'll get The Corrections down soon and can finally get round to reading Stephen King's On Writing. I hate King but my creative writing tutor abuses us every week to read it, so might give it a shot - at best it'll give me an idea on how to not write the type of sheer drivel King pumps out.

Oh, and as for recommendations, I believe every human being should read something by Haruki Murakami. Anything by him is highly recommended.

My cousin is really into Steven King and she only has nice things to say about him. I've never read anything of his and I don't really plan on it. I'd never heard of Haruki Murakami prior to your recommendation. I'll have to look into him, thank you. Any specifics?

My favourite Murakami novel is Kafka on the Shore, but its probably better to start with Norwegian Wood as its his most straightforward novel. Most of his writing tends to be a little more...philosophical, I guess. His biggest novel - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles - consists pretty much of a guy in a hole thinking about stuff for around 700 pages and Kafka on the Shore consists of two plotlines where not much really happens.

But Norwegian Wood is a pretty simple coming of age story, but filtered through Murakami's style.

I read a lot, but I have the bad habit of starting way too many books at once. >_>
Currently I'm reading:

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Minima Moralia by Theodor Adorno
Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

I don't know if I'll ever finish The Idiot, but the rest seem to be coming along swimmingly.

I'm reading When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops? By George Carlin,
and Bang! By Henry Rollins.

I'm reading Beyond Good & Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche at the moment.

I can't start a book without finishing what I'm reading, even if it takes me months and I build up a massive mental (or even physical) pile of books to check out.

What do you think of Naked Lunch? I fucking love that book.

tl;dr

james you my boy. that got a LEGIT LAUGH OUT LOUD out of me. u win.



i'm reading Middlesex by Euginides right now.

Am I being made fun of?

I read a lot (I even work in a library) but I have an absolutely terrible attention span. I'm in a lit class so I've had to read lots of Shakespeare and Kafka lately. I've been reading a lot of classics by choice as well: The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea by Yukio Mishima, The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, The Grass Harp by Truman Capote, Sexing The Cherry by Jeanette Winterson, Asylum Piece by Anna Kavan, Such is My Beloved by Morley Callaghan, A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O'Connor.
This thread reminded me I've been wanting to read Murakami too.

someone needs to write a book about Deerhunter--

i have two copies of "the Corrections" but still have yet to read it. lately i have been wanting to read his book of essays about being alone.

i am happy that people still read books: it gives me hope for the future...

oh, currently, i am reading a book about Lani Guiner, a law professor & civil rights attorney that was nominated for a Clinton adminstration Justice department position. basically looking for clues & parallels w/ our current situation...

Books Are Awesome