What Are You Reading?

[Absinthedream]

Sadly, Lemony Snicket is his pen name and very little is known about him, as he seems to avoid all contact with the press actively. Even his editor is not really sure what he looks like; there are no photos, either. He is an enigma, and all that he has published under the name of Snicket have been the Unauthorized Biography of Lemony Snicket and the series. One simply adores the name of his biography.
This is the first sentence of the summary on the back of the first book:
"Dear Reader,
I'm sorry to say that this book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant..."
And this is the last sentence:
"It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket."
If one posted any more of the jacket or any text within the book, she would probably be sued dramatically, and since one is a penniless student, one tries to avoid that sort of unhappy end.
Anyways, one is immensely relieved to discover that there are ladies other than her mother who enjoy Jane Austen, and now picks it up with greater cheer than one did the last time.
Cheerio.

[Zeade]

erm... i've read an interview from lemony snicket in nick magazine forever ago... yes... kiddie magazine, but what else is a girl to read at the air port?

anyways.... here's my list of current reading material:

"The Raven and Other Poems" by Edgar Allen Poe
"The Talisman" by Stephen King and Peter Straub (love this book)
"Ghost Story" by Peter Straub
"1984" by George Orwell (love this book)
"Tales from Moominvalley" by Tove Jansson (a kids book, but i love this one also... lol)
"All the Old Haunts" by Chris Lynch
"Black House" by Stephen King and Peter Straub
"A Parent's Guide to Teens and Cults" by Larry E. Dumont, M.D. and Richanrd I. Altesman, M.D. (heh... just for shits and giggles)
"Famous Tales of Mystery and Horror" by Edgar Allen Poe
Vol. 7 of the InuYasha manga... (just have to read it because of miroku...)
"Across the Nightinggale Floor" by Lian Hearn (wonderful book... totally recomend it for some light reading)
"Mason & Dixon" by Thomas Pynchon (for educational puposes)
"The Long Hard Road out of Hell" by Marilyn Manson
"'Salem's Lot" by Stephen King

as if you couldn't tell, i have a short attention span, and switch from book to book as i feel i need to... ^_^ summer so sucks when out of school...

oh, yeah, btw... stephen king is kick ass...

[Jane13]

Originally Posted by Jane13

I just finished Interesting Times, by Terry Pratchet (hilarious!), and I am currently reading Dracula, Frankenstein, Alpha to Omega, and a book of slavic myths.

I can now add The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckil and Mr. Hyde and other short stories and a book of poetry by Lord Byron to that list. My friend comes home from a job at a summer camp every weekend and we hang out at the bookstore.

[HombreLobo]

Currently I fund a book called: *gothe* The black book by J Papini and sems to be good...

[The_Crazy_Irishman]

Originally Posted by Zeade

"1984" by George Orwell (love this book)

brilliant book, better than animal farm I think, shame practically no one near me has heard of it

[charlottesometimes]

I've just finished rereading "Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I'm about to start "On Writing" by Stephen King which is about about... well... writing.

[Jane13]

I like your screenname, Charlottesometimes. That song rocks.

[The_Crazy_Irishman]

Originally Posted by Jane13

I like your screenname, Charlottesometimes. That song rocks.

It most certainly does

As to what I'm reading, well I'm reading at the moment H.P. Lovecraft: Call of Cthulhu and other weird stories (least I think it's that one). Then it'll be Science Fiction stories by Edgar Allen Poe, and finally (at least for the moment) It's the Swords of Night and Day by David Gemmel

[FireGaze]

Originally Posted by The_Crazy_Irishman

brilliant book, better than animal farm I think, shame practically no one near me has heard of it

I personally didn't like Animal Farm at all, and that's made me reluctant to read 1984. Animal Farm probably went completely over my head because my teacher made me read it in fifth grade... I was in "gifted" so she figured I would get it even though I was 10 or 11 :roll: . I will re-read it someday when I'm older.

Currently reading: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, Orlando by Virginia Woolf and Arthur Gordon Pym by Edgar Allen Poe.

[Loy]

Just finished "Auto Da Fe".

Fuck you Canetti, for stealing my idea for a novel 90 years ago!!!

[DelicateHorror]

I'm currently reading Great Horror Stories and internet versions of Animal Farm and Dracula. They're good but somehow nothing beats actually holding the paper in your hands. Besides it makes my eyes hurt. Alot.

Oh and FireGaze; 1984 is fucking brilliant. It's my favourite book but thats a personal opinion and I'll leave you to make your own.

[The_Crazy_Irishman]

Yeah, i find that I cannot read large amounts of text on a screen, does anyone know why this is. I also like the weight of a book, to me it just feels right

... Dear God I need to get out more :roll:

[Jane13]

I know how you feel, Crazy-Irishman. An average day this summer for me involves studying my German, reading, studying Japanese Kana, treadmill, playing guitar, and the internet. I'm not complaining though, because that's what I like to do... I know some kids that are forced by their parents to do some of my things. I guess that makes me a geek or something.

[black_fairy]

The City Of The Beasts, by Isabel Allende (The tittle is a translation of mine... The autor writes in Spanish.)

[Tenebris]

I am re-reading Chekhov's "The Three Sisters". It's amazing. Things come to the brink of working out OK, but then everything falls apart and ends in utter misery.

[anti_everything]

[quote="charlottesometimes"]I've just finished rereading "Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.[quote]

Ah! I can't find that damn book anywhere...grr :evil:

I'm reading Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett and I'm in the middle of rereading the fifth Harry Potter book (yep, I'm a big dork) but I let someone borrow it and need to get it back to finish it.

[Tenebris]

I absolutely love Terry Pratchett. Good Omens can be really hard to find in regular bookstores, which is why I had to get my copy online. Amazon is a good place to look, and I've had very good experiences with the people who sell used books through their site.

[OnMyOwn]

Well I am almost finished reading Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice. Im slowly reading The Vampire Chronicles. I dont have alot of time to read so I usually do it before I go to bed or there is no electricity(yes even at night with a little flashlight and candles).

[comatoast]

I am reading A way to measure time-contemporary finnish literature...eh..I picked it up at a yard sale

also picked up some clive barker stuff that I will get around to reading soon

[Morpheus_Noctifer]

I'm almost finished with The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl. This amazingly fast-paced, well-written book is set in Boston 1865 where a series of murders based on Dante's Inferno grip the city and only Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, J.T. Fields, and James Russell Lowell (who are working on the first American-made translation of the Commedia) can solve them. It's a pretty expensive paperback ($13.95!), but then again, I date myself by saying that I can remember when paperbacks were under $5.

I highly recommend this book to mystery fans, Dante fans, or fans of a good story.

[DelicateHorror]

Originally Posted by black_fairy

The City Of The Beasts, by Isabel Allende (The tittle is a translation of mine... The autor writes in Spanish.)

I've read an English version of this I think. Is it the one where the guy goes to the Amazon with his Grandma?

[black_fairy]

Originally Posted by DelicateHorror

I've read an English version of this I think. Is it the one where the guy goes to the Amazon with his Grandma?

Yes, it is. Now I'm reading the second part, The Kingdom Of The Golden Dragon, or something like that.... In it, the 'guy' goes with his grandmother and his friend Nadia to the Himalaya (it's correct so???).

[pitseleh]

This postal service-working summer I've been reading Glamorama, by Bret Easton Ellis, Ernest Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls, brilliant rebel writer Jens Björneboe's '55 book Jonas, and currently, as an inbetweener, Band Of Brothers by Stephen E Ambrose.

[Loy]

Pitseleh-Do you know if there's any way for us ugly americans to get any Bjorneboe with a decent translation? I read one story and it seemed that the translation was a bit off (made Jens sound like low-end Knut Hamsun).

Ah, and I haven't said this before, but I dig the Sleater-Kinney picture

[pitseleh]

I feel so sorry for you... :cry: The only available Björneboe material in English is his 1970 play Amputations, along with a bunch of poems. Hopefully there will be more translated works in time, as he was an author of razor-sharp intellect that needs to have a wider audience.

[And, yeah, dig Sleater-Kinney!]

Here's one of the poems that have been translated.

Ten Commandments for a Young Man Who Wants to Get Ahead
Translated by Esther Greenleaf Mürer

I
The first commandment's easy, quite:
The majority is always right.

II
Always think what folk will say.
Side with the strongest, day by day.

III
When in doubt, just shut your trap
Until you see for whom they clap.

IV
Think what opinions you should hold.
Alone, you'll be out in the cold.

V
Don't give your lofty instincts rein,
But stick to what will bring you gain.

VI
Tell people what they want to hear;
Move quietly through every sphere.
(For truth brings sorrow on your head,
While daily lies earn daily bread.)

VII
Never walk upright. Sidle forth
And warm yourself at every hearth.

VIII
Praise everybody to the skies;
A flock of friends will be your prize.
(This in-group paradise will be
Your best insurance policy.)

IX
Of gossip save up every bit
For your superiors' benefit.
(But not a hint from the consumer
Should reach the subject of the rumor.)

X
If you this last commandment heed,
Then your future's guaranteed:
Boldly espouse each cause in season,
But always act with prudent reason.
Stride bravely forward in life's war
One hour before your time—no more!


Some editing required, as I found there were indeed more novels in English translation available: The History of Bestiality trilogy, which consists of Moment Of Freedom, Powderhouse and Silence. The centrepiece of his volume of work, if you will. Highly recommendable. Also the novel Sharks. More plays as well: Semmelweis and The Bird Lovers. Additionally, his essays on anarchism, Degrees Of Freedom, can be found. Sorry for the misinformation. I didn't know there were that many!