I believe that I am walking into a well laid trap by the bean dip socialist, but Eggers was in the running for the Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction.
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I believe that I am walking into a well laid trap by the bean dip socialist, but Eggers was in the running for the Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction.
Don't call me a socialist, Stewy, or I shall lure you out onto the Wside highway "bike path" underpass to be maimed and killed by decrepid homeless people under the guise of a safe-recommendation for a nice run. Oh, wait....
Cryptonomicon is seriously boring. Diamond Age is OK.Quote:
Originally Posted by cj001f
"Zodiac" is the best book he's written (and the first). "Interface" is a great book, too. ("Stephen Bury" is a pseudonym for Neal Stephenson and his uncle.)
I thought Stephenson's first book was The Big U.
Snow Crash is still my favorite. I want a tattoo across my forehead that says, POOR IMPULSE CONTROL. :cool:
Better than fantastic. It is on quite a few friends' "best ever" lists. Everyone I know who has read it considers it amazing. That includes folks spanning the gamut from serious literary types to serious sci-fi geeks. Can't go wrong with it.Quote:
Originally Posted by AKbruin
I agree he's gotten worse as his editors have given him a freer hand it's a linear correlation. But, if Cryptonomicon is seriously boring, what does that make Quicksilver and the rest of the baroque cycle?Quote:
Originally Posted by Spats
The Big U was first.
If you want a taste of Stephenson style, try his nonfiction Wired article
Mother Earth Mother Board
Oops! Totally forgot about the Big U. Although he hated it so much that he wouldn't allow it to be reprinted for years, finally giving in after used prices got insane: "The only thing worse than people reading the book was paying that much to read it."
Don't know, I was done with him at that point.Quote:
Originally Posted by cj001f
Even Snow Crash didn't impress me as much as it did everyone else. It's like he was trying too hard: "Look! I'm like William Gibson, but ZANY!!!1!11!" That's why I liked Interface so much...it didn't feel forced.
I know that it now makes me terribly WT to admit in this thread but:
Cryptonomicon is a fucking great book. The ending is a "little" weak but other than that, you people are insane.
There have been few books that have made me laugh out loud. Cryptonomicon was one. Thank You for Smoking was another.
Thought of another book I really enjoyed a while back... 10 years ish... - In the Lake of the Woods by O'Brien.
Edit: Woods plural.
Anything by Tim O'Brien is good. Going After Cacciato is excellent.
I seriously think that's maybe the best novel I read those last 15 years. It's a genuine masterpiece IMO. The best from a great author.Quote:
Originally Posted by spindrift
In the last few years, I've been really impressed by Jens Christian Grondahl, a danish author. He really struck a chord with me.
The first book I read from him is Hjertelyd (french translation) and it was beeatiful. I don't know if it has been translated in English, I can't find it on Amazon.
Check him out.
(Oh, and I liked the Cryptonomicon.)
Edit 2 : I must add that my favorite author is probably Italo Calvino. I would read anything from him. MarcoValdo and If on a winter's night a traveler are just classics.
I just re-read "East of Eden"- it is a great book. I just started Cannery Row for the umpteenth time, one of my all time favorites.
For a short, quick read, that is hilarious, try "Pint size Ireland", or "The Sex Life of Cannibals". Both are travel books about small Island nations.
just FYI, but check out http://www.paperbackswap.com
Reading this thread made me want to buy a bunch of these books, and instead I listed 9 books that I'd happily mail to someone else and ordered three off this list that people who have them and are willing to mail them off will now send me for free. Cool deal. And a good use of the piles of books sitting in boxes that I know damn well I'm not going to re-read.
Just finished "The Fortress of Solitude" by Lethem. Great recommendation! The only thing is I wish I had a better familiarity with the music referrenced.
Cool, I'll have to get that next. I just finished "Motherless Brooklyn" which was also excellent.Quote:
Originally Posted by Griz
(And I just put it up on paperbackswap if anyone is looking for it...)
I like his stuff better than Gibson's. Gibson went downhill after Neuromancer, as it was the same...goddamn...formula...every...time. I still read them all though. Baroque cycle is a sad, sad thing. Cryptonomicon is great, but I do agree VERY wordy. Diamond Age and Snow Crash were his finest works though, despite Diamond Age's horrid ending.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spats
"Shanks for Nothing" the new one by Rick Reilly is a quick read and quite funny, perfect summer reading.
Ken Bruen is an excellent "new" mystery writer and "The Guards" is not to be missed if you're a fan of crime fiction.
a random bump for
"The Piano Tuner"
and
"Highways to a War"
Try out White Noise and The Underworld by Don DeLillo.
Embarrassing as hell but: Wicked was pretty fucking good... Its the story of the wicked witch of the west...
The Book Thief, by Markus Zuzak
Beautifully written, one of my favorites.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hutch
and x however many, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
philip caputo. I particularly liked Indian Country, Voyage, Rumor of War and Horn of Africa
I liked Chabon's Yiddish Policeman's Union and Gentlemen of the Road. Finn by Jon Clinch was an intriguing take on the backside of the world Twain created. Adrian Mckinty tells a good tale check out his "dead" trilogy.