Literate Elistist Thread: August 08 Edition

[Eric P]

I just finished The Comics Journal Library Vol 6: The Writers

From the cool passion of sci-fi and occasional comics writer Harlan Ellison to the soap opera explorations and genre twisting of X-Men writer Chris Claremont and Howard the Duck creator Steve Gerber, between 1966 and 1985 a generation of writers emerged that changed the face of American comic books forever. Many were fans every bit as much as they were professionals, creative artists working from an understanding of what felt right on the comics page forged by years of close scrutiny above and beyond the final sales figures. Some were tempered by exposure to new waves in cinema, new voices in writing, and new comics from Europe and Japan. Coming to comics at a time when the financial awards were poor and the chance for ownership of what one created was even poorer, these writers breathed new life into the dying icons of the past. Writers like Len Wein, Steve Englehart, Gerry Conway, Harlan Ellison, Marv Wolfman, Denny O'Neil, Mark Evanier, Mike Baron and Alan Moore infused comics like X-Men, Captain America, and Swamp Thing with a progressive social outlook that ran directly in the face of decades of simplistic might-makes-right pseudo-moralizing. Some made their careers in other writing fields but toiled in comics out of a sense of loyalty and passion; others became comic book writers just out of their teens and never left. They were America's comic book children come home. The Comics Journal Library: The Writers celebrates the ascendancy of writer-driven mainstream comic books with a series of revealing, in-depth interviews, many conducted at the height of their influence.

I found the Gerber and O'Neil interviews to be quite interesting.  The Ellison interview was just shameful.  Is Gary Groth still like that?  Seemed more interested in egging Ellison on and trying to lead the interview than in getting Ellison's real views.

I have also been reading all of Preacher, the Ennis/Dillon series.  I've just finished the 8th of 9 volumes last night.  Aside from the juvenile sexual and scatological elements, it's really quite good.  I'm going to try (lol) to avoid buying new books because I've got quite a backlog.

[Kestastrophe]

THANK YOU ERIC P

I am currently reading



I don't read sci-fi, so the ridiculous nomenclature was off-putting at first, but the story is pretty engrossing.



I really only purchased this to read The Matamorphosis, but I plan to read the other short stories as well. I don't know how I made it to 25 without having read it, but I enjoyed it while it lasted.

[Eric P]

THANK YOU ERIC P

I am currently reading

(Image removed from quote.)

i need to get that but am trying to put myself on a new book moratorium for the next month

[TVC15]

THANK YOU ERIC P

I am currently reading

(Image removed from quote.)

i need to get that but am trying to put myself on a new book moratorium for the next month

I buy too many books without reading them

[Howard Alan Treesong]

thanks for the reminder - Use of Weapons is out this week, and I need to rebuy it because

1) It's the best Banks Culture book
2) In fact, it's one of the best books I've ever read
3) Except my whore ex-girlfriend never returned my copy
4) MY UK HARDCOVER EDITION
5) WHORE

[Fragamemnon]

Currently have two books on my desk and nightstand:



This one is easy reading and very enjoyable for a historical nonfiction book. I like the fact that it's not the usual left-wing stuff I read on the internet regarding trade, which is far too protectionist and reactionary for my neoliberal leanings, and actually presents trade as a force for economic and technological growth and works as a conduit for the spread of progressive ideals to backward states.



Originally given as a gift to my wife from her father, both Belgian nationals. In the modern era of horrific and hopelessly corrupt and inept African governments, they still stand somewhat united against European and Western governments. Since they often bring up the lasting impact of colonialism as one excuse (of many) for their atrocities and barbaric behavior, I wanted to read this to better understand where they are coming from. It's a good read so far.

[Eric P]

THANK YOU ERIC P

I am currently reading

(Image removed from quote.)

i need to get that but am trying to put myself on a new book moratorium for the next month

I buy too many books without reading them

remember that box of 'cock i got?  I've read 20 pages of it.

[Madrun Badrun]

started marvin minsky's the emotion machine.

[APF]

THANK YOU ERIC P

I am currently reading

(Image removed from quote.)

Hey I'm almost done reading this, good stuff.

[The Fake Shemp]

I'm reading these:



But since I get a discount at my local comic book shop, I nabbed these:



Of those, the only ones I haven't read are Whedon's Astonishing X-Men and Moore's The Killing Joke.  But since I'm having so much fun rediscovering Watchmen, I figured I'd dive back into Ex Machina and The Long Halloween (plus I'm on a Batman kick).

I also got these as going away gifts from California:

[Eric P]

(Image removed from quote.)

That publisher seems to do nothing but crap zombie books except for that one.  So i was kind of interested in it, but frightened off by the pedigree of the rest of their line up

[The Fake Shemp]

It is sitting on top of my toilet, ready to be read in chunks while pooping.  I honestly haven't had much time to read it.  I'm too busy trying to push through Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (has there ever been a book so frustrating - it has moments of greatness and then long stretches of boring) and dissecting Watchmen.

[Kestastrophe]

It is sitting on top of my toilet, ready to be read in chunks while pooping.

I read that as "while pooping chunks" 

[Eric P]

I love strange and norrell.  I found it absolutely awesome from start to finish.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I love strange and norrell.  I found it absolutely awesome from start to finish.

/cosigned

no boring parts here

[Howard Alan Treesong]

(Image removed from quote.)

That publisher seems to do nothing but crap zombie books except for that one.  So i was kind of interested in it, but frightened off by the pedigree of the rest of their line up

sounds interesting, but it's $124 on amazon

free online however

http://www.johndiesattheend.com/1-1.html

free

[TVC15]

(Image removed from quote.)

That publisher seems to do nothing but crap zombie books except for that one.  So i was kind of interested in it, but frightened off by the pedigree of the rest of their line up

sounds interesting, but it's $124 on amazon

free online however

http://www.johndiesattheend.com/1-1.html

free

Why on earth is it so expensive?

[Howard Alan Treesong]

no idea. borders.com has it at $200, too

the website suggests I call my local Borders to see if they have it in stock, so I'm doing so. I can't imagine in-store copies are $200.

EDIT: Yup, snagged the last copy at my local Borders. $16.95.

real books

free

[TVC15]

no idea. borders.com has it at $200, too

the website suggests I call my local Borders to see if they have it in stock, so I'm doing so. I can't imagine in-store copies are $200.

EDIT: Yup, snagged the last copy at my local Borders. $16.95.

real books

free

So what are these 160-200 dollar prices?  Is this some uber edition?

[Howard Alan Treesong]

no idea. borders.com has it at $200, too

the website suggests I call my local Borders to see if they have it in stock, so I'm doing so. I can't imagine in-store copies are $200.

EDIT: Yup, snagged the last copy at my local Borders. $16.95.

real books

free

So what are these 160-200 dollar prices?  Is this some uber edition?

The book was originally published online, then cleaned up a bit for a limited print run at Borders only. That run is done and no more are being made. The movie rights got picked up so I'd imagine there's a speculation market driving up print copies.

The short description is "Douglas Adams meets Stephen King" which is fine by me. Here's hoping it delivers!

BTW, I'm nearly done with Mainspring ... I liked the worldview a lot but the characters are kinda bad, and the second half of the book takes a crazy left turn that I'm not really on board with. I'm also increasingly concerned this is the first book of an Epic Fantasy Cycle and not self-contained as I expected. :/

Whenever I read a good, but obviously flawed and not great genre novel, it always makes me want to write my own. Sure, I'm not Gene Wolfe and will never be - but I could beat this guy, right?

EDIT: Looking at the Amazon reviews, they all seem to pretty much agree - 4-to-5-star first half, 1-to-2-star second half. The author just completely ignores the worldview he's built up and goes off in this other stupid direction that makes no sense and is entirely boring. And the "sequel" set in the same world just came out a month ago. FAILSPRING

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I've been waiting for that

you will be afraid of chairs for like a month

[Eric P]

the website suggests I call my local Borders to see if they have it in stock, so I'm doing so. I can't imagine in-store copies are $200.

There is a copy in my local borders.  Let me know if you want me to pick it up for you.

BTW, I'm nearly done with Mainspring ... I liked the worldview a lot but the characters are kinda bad, and the second half of the book takes a crazy left turn that I'm not really on board with. I'm also increasingly concerned this is the first book of an Epic Fantasy Cycle and not self-contained as I expected. :/

oh dammit

that was one of my books to read.

i'm honestly having a LOT of problems with Light within the first 100 Pages.  I'm on the fence about it to be quite frank.  I may just give up and move on

[The Fake Shemp]

I took a break from Watchmen to read Whedon's Astonishing X-Men.  He should give up the lame television career and just write comic books and musicals.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

i'm honestly having a LOT of problems with Light within the first 100 Pages.  I'm on the fence about it to be quite frank.  I may just give up and move on

:'( okay

thanks for trying.

it's so good though :'(

[The Fake Shemp]

I think I'm going to go back into reading non-fiction after I finish my backlog.  The stuff Frag posted looked pretty interesting.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

so good :'(

I've read the entire book four times and the last 20 pages at least a dozen

actually, when I was at what was probably the emotional nadir of my life (October 29, 2005) it was rereading Light that made me able to feel again

the book is just magic

Willco, I didn't like Whedon's Astonishing run too much - probably I was biased against it, coming right after Morrison's New X-Men, and I know a lot of my problems with it (like bringing back costumes and codenames) weren't Whedon's fault, necessarily. But I still felt like it too quickly and immediately turned into a Joss Whedon Spectacular! c.f. Kitty Pride becoming the main character of the series all of a sudden.

[The Fake Shemp]

That sounded terribly Livejournal.

[TVC15]

the website suggests I call my local Borders to see if they have it in stock, so I'm doing so. I can't imagine in-store copies are $200.

There is a copy in my local borders.  Let me know if you want me to pick it up for you.

I'll take the copy, if it's still available.  I'll figure out something to get you in exchange.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

That sounded terribly Livejournal.

well, I did just go to a Paramore concert. where they dedicated one of the songs to their LiveJournal community

[The Fake Shemp]

Oh my God

[Eric P]

the website suggests I call my local Borders to see if they have it in stock, so I'm doing so. I can't imagine in-store copies are $200.

There is a copy in my local borders.  Let me know if you want me to pick it up for you.

I'll take the copy, if it's still available.  I'll figure out something to get you in exchange.

ok i'll swing out that way tomorrow.  i need to get my oil changed

[Eric P]

i'm honestly having a LOT of problems with Light within the first 100 Pages.  I'm on the fence about it to be quite frank.  I may just give up and move on

:'( okay

thanks for trying.

it's so good though :'(

it could just be that so far, there's no center.  there are several different story lines in different times and it's hard to keep them together.  of course i've only been reading it on the road so i may just need to sequester myself.  I'll try to tackle it after Preacher, which should be tonight

[Phoenix Dark]

Great great book; I've had to pull out the thesaurus a few times. It's very well written and everything flows together nicely. I especially like how vivid the writing is, often using simple, descriptive metaphors - also the dialogue is good.

I remember thinking The Ninth Gate was a pretty interesting movie until the last half hour or so when things went to...hell.


and of course I'm re-reading A Clash of Kings

[Eric P]

my first issue in my subscription of The Comics Journal came in today.

This is a huge, intimidating magazine.  There's a 30 page interview with Tim Sale, a 30 page review of the Steadman/Thompson book and then tons of other stuff.  Amazing.  I'm amazed i never really read it previous to now.  I think it was the rather singular attitude that Gary Groth as editor engendered amongst the staff of elitist snobbery to comics, something which i tend to not agree with (or rather, not agree with to the same depth for which GG and Co have a reputation)

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I finished the prologue of John Dies at the End and this book is fucking awesome. Like the blurbs promise, it's actually funny AND actually scary. I've copied the opening of the prologue into this thread for you (so you don't even have to go to the website) - if you like this, you'll like the book.

Solving the following riddle will reveal the awful secret behind the universe, assuming you do not go utterly mad in the attempt. If you already happen to know the awful secret behind the universe, feel free to skip ahead.

Let’s say you have an ax. Just a cheap one, from Home Depot. On one bitter winter day, you use said ax to behead a man. Don’t worry, the man was already dead. Or maybe you should worry, because you’re the one who shot him.

He had been a big, twitchy guy with veiny skin stretched over swollen biceps, a tattoo of a swastika on his tongue. Teeth filed into razor-sharp fangs, you know the type. And you’re chopping off his head because, even with eight bullet holes in him, you’re pretty sure he’s about to spring back to his feet and eat the look of terror right off your face.

On the follow-through of the last swing, though, the handle of the ax snaps in a spray of splinters. You now have a broken ax. So, after a long night of looking for a place to dump the man and his head, you take a trip into town with your ax. You go to the hardware store, explaining away the dark reddish stains on the broken handle as barbecue sauce. You walk out with a brand new handle for your ax.

The repaired ax sits undisturbed in your garage until the next spring when, on one rainy morning, you find in your kitchen a creature that appears to be a foot-long slug with a bulging egg sac on its tail. Its jaws bite one of your forks in half with what seems like very little effort. You grab your trusty ax and chop the thing into several pieces. On the last blow, however, the ax strikes a metal leg of the overturned kitchen table and chips out a notch right in the middle of the blade.

Of course, a chipped head means yet another trip to the hardware store. They sell you a brand new head for your ax. As soon as you get home with your newly-headed ax, though, you meet the reanimated body of the guy you beheaded last year. He’s also got a new head, stitched on with what looks like plastic weed trimmer line, and it’s wearing that unique expression of “you’re the man who killed me last winter” resentment that one so rarely encounters in everyday life.

You brandish your ax. The guy takes a long look at the weapon with his squishy, rotting eyes and in a gargly voice he screams, “That’s the same ax that slayed me!”

Is he right?

[Eric P]

so does it seem to be a breezy quick read?  like if i bought it tomorrow you think i could read it in like a week before i sent it to tvc?

[Vizzys]

sounds pretty awesome

[The Fake Shemp]

Yay, I spurred book discussion!

Cohen, I do agree there is good comic book writing (Whedon on X-Men!) and then there's great comic book writing (Morrison on X-Men!).  New X-Men is fantastic and it's what got me back into reading comics in the first place, but Astonishing is a fun and light read.  I do agree that there are forced bits from Quesada (the hardcover is pretty interesting, because you can see e-mail exchanges from Whedon to Marvel brass before he takes over and his ideas are immediately shot down), but Whedon works it in a way that doesn't insult the reader.

Not to mention, the book is funny.  I hate how serious most cape and spandex adventures have become nowadays and if Whedon is good at anything, it's geek humor.  The humor goes a long way here.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

so does it seem to be a breezy quick read?  like if i bought it tomorrow you think i could read it in like a week before i sent it to tvc?

yeah, it seems like a super fast read. not too long and the writing is humorous and clear, so it's like WORD CANDY nom nom nom

Not to mention, the book is funny.  I hate how serious most cape and spandex adventures have become nowadays and if Whedon is good at anything, it's geek humor.  The humor goes a long way here.

I hate Whedon's humor, it's so back-patting. :/

I'm curious about what Ellis will do with the X-Men. He just moved them to San Francisco ... a city which loves them! It's kind of a funny extension of the "mutants as civil rights metaphor" idea. But now they can operate openly and people like them and generally speaking they're not so fucking dire, so, it will be interesting to see what happens.

[Eric P]

the website suggests I call my local Borders to see if they have it in stock, so I'm doing so. I can't imagine in-store copies are $200.

There is a copy in my local borders.  Let me know if you want me to pick it up for you.

I'll take the copy, if it's still available.  I'll figure out something to get you in exchange.

i picked it up.  i'll read it then send it out to you.

[Phoenix Dark]

btw has anyone read Perdido Street Station? Any thoughts. The almighty Chairman Yang (from GAF) recommended it so it must be good.

[Eric P]

btw has anyone read Perdido Street Station? Any thoughts. The almighty Chairman Yang (from GAF) recommended it so it must be good.

yes it's excellent

read it right now

you'll see it's one of the first books that i suggested in the horrible fantasy book rec. thread on gaf.

[Phoenix Dark]

Ah.

might as well put my Borders rewards card to work

[siamesedreamer]

Picked this up a few weeks back in anticipation of my break before the next semester because the story caught my attention. I had no idea the author is the dude who wrote A Million Little Pieces.

Anyway, I read a bit of it last night and its amazing to me his writing style is even publishable. Simple grammar rules are tossed out the window. Run-on after run-on. Its ugly and distracting. I'm gonna try to power through it though.

 

[Phoenix Dark]

well as my HS english teacher once said after forcing us to read House on Mango Street: "once you reach a certain level of mastery over the english language you don't have to follow all the rules"

smh

[Howard Alan Treesong]

btw has anyone read Perdido Street Station? Any thoughts. The almighty Chairman Yang (from GAF) recommended it so it must be good.

it's really good, but I prefer The Scar pretty strongly. Perdido Street is probably a better starting point, it's more busier

[Cormacaroni]

China Mieville

Perdido Street Station is a hair more traditional in structure and setting, and thus possibly a better starting point. Can't go wrong with any of his stuff though, as long as you're prepared for some serious strange.

[Eric P]

China Mieville

Perdido Street Station is a hair more traditional in structure and setting, and thus possibly a better starting point. Can't go wrong with any of his stuff though, as long as you're prepared for some serious strange.

you can skip out on his first, i think.  it reads like a padded short story

[Howard Alan Treesong]

King Rat? yeah, sucks

so I finished Mainspring, WOW does it totally go tits up in the last 50 pages

unbelievable. sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings

[Eric P]

King Rat? yeah, sucks

so I finished Mainspring, WOW does it totally go tits up in the last 50 pages

unbelievable. sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings

But the av club suggested it for their summer nerd reading list.  that's honestly the main reason i bought it.  ah well.  Bottom of the ever shifting pile.

I was going to get into Light, but I need to knock out this other book so I can send it to TVC

[TVC15]

Also, PD, if you like The Club Dumas and are feeling a bit more ambitious, check out either The Name of the Rose or Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco.  They are easily two of the best postwar novels that have been written. 

Also, you might like The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.  That's a pretty breezy read, but it's pretty fun.  The ending is kinda dumb, but I never really expect things to have good endings anymore.

[Phoenix Dark]

Shadow of the Wind

Ruiz Zafón's novel, a bestseller in his native Spain, takes the satanic touches from Angel Heart and stirs them into a bookish intrigue à la Foucault's Pendulum. The time is the 1950s; the place, Barcelona. Daniel Sempere, the son of a widowed bookstore owner, is 10 when he discovers a novel, The Shadow of the Wind, by Julián Carax. The novel is rare, the author obscure, and rumors tell of a horribly disfigured man who has been burning every copy he can find of Carax's novels. The man calls himself Laín Coubert-the name of the devil in one of Carax's novels. As he grows up, Daniel's fascination with the mysterious Carax links him to a blind femme fatale with a "porcelain gaze," Clara Barceló; another fan, a leftist jack-of-all-trades, Fermín Romero de Torres; his best friend's sister, the delectable Beatriz Aguilar; and, as he begins investigating the life and death of Carax, a cast of characters with secrets to hide. Officially, Carax's dead body was dumped in an alley in 1936. But discrepancies in this story surface. Meanwhile, Daniel and Fermín are being harried by a sadistic policeman, Carax's childhood friend. As Daniel's quest continues, frightening parallels between his own life and Carax's begin to emerge. Ruiz Zafón strives for a literary tone, and no scene goes by without its complement of florid, cute and inexact similes and metaphors (snow is "God's dandruff"; servants obey orders with "the efficiency and submissiveness of a body of well-trained insects"). Yet the colorful cast of characters, the gothic turns and the straining for effect only give the book the feel of para-literature or the Hollywood version of a great 19th-century novel.

That sounds pretty interesting too.

[siamesedreamer]

I'm really digging my book. The run-on style is growing on me. Makes it very easy to read. 125 pages in and there still isn't a solid plot. Just unrelated stories about 15-20 different characters living in LA. Gonna be disappointed if their lives don't begin to intersect somehow other than where they live.

[Rman]

Mostly a non-fiction reader here.

[Eric P]

the follow up is good stuff, but the writing is less than stellar which leads people to attack the writing rather than the content

luckily you can get the article she wrote for Harper's which summarizes her main points in Shock Doctrine wrt Disaster Capitalism.
 

[chronovore]

btw has anyone read Perdido Street Station? Any thoughts. The almighty Chairman Yang (from GAF) recommended it so it must be good.

Yup. It's really good. The characterizations are nice, but really the city itself is the star of the book. Varying viewpoints shown through language are also well-handled; the birdman's thoughts versus how he conveys himself in human language is poignant.

That's right. I said "poignant."

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Finished John Dies at the End.

Overall, a very strong recommendation, A- to solid A. The only real slight against it is that the "novel" was written over several years in installments (something I didn't know going in), and you can kind of feel where the author let off and then picked up again a year later. It's almost more like three interconnected novellas with the same characters than one big, long novel. That said, it's both totally hilarious and utterly horrifying in places, often the same places. I would say that as the novel progresses it becomes less scary and more funny. Still, this is a major improvement over most horror novels which just become less scary and more distinguished mentally-challenged (c.f. Stephen King). The writing is breezy and honestly I was totally addicted to finishing the novel in a way I haven't been in quite a while.

In conclusion, if you like unknowable horrors from beyond the veil and dick jokes, you'll love JDate. I mean JDatE.

[Eric P]

i'm 100 pages in and i haven't hit any of the noticeable gaps, but this book is like morrison on acid channeling hp lovecraft's syphilitic dreams.

[The Fake Shemp]

You can all thank me.

[Eric P]

and I do

there's no way the movie version could live up to the book though