Jerry_L Posted January 23, 2014 Report Posted January 23, 2014 Complete Stories of Robert Bloch: Final Reckonings (Complete Stories of Robert Bloch, Volume 1) Quote
Jazzmoose Posted January 24, 2014 Report Posted January 24, 2014 Finally reading a book I've wanted to read for almost forty years. I won't say it was worth the wait; I'd rather have found it back in the seventies, but it is enjoyable. Quote
ejp626 Posted January 24, 2014 Report Posted January 24, 2014 Finally reading a book I've wanted to read for almost forty years. (Effinger) I don't think I've read this one, though I read a fair bit of his other work. Have you read When Gravity Fails, and then the rest of that Trilogy? I remember liking the first one a lot. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted January 25, 2014 Report Posted January 25, 2014 Wish I could say yes, but this is the first book I've read by Effinger. There are a few authors that slipped through the cracks for me, and he's one. Lafferty is another. Just never seemed to spot their books. Quote
ejp626 Posted January 26, 2014 Report Posted January 26, 2014 Wish I could say yes, but this is the first book I've read by Effinger. There are a few authors that slipped through the cracks for me, and he's one. Lafferty is another. Just never seemed to spot their books. Quite a few of his books have a humorous twist to them, esp. Maureen Birnbaum: Barbarian Swordsperson. I'd say When Gravity Fails et. al. is his most serious series, which sort of tapped into the whole Neuromancer/Snowcrash cyberpunk world. I might actually save them for last, as I think they are probably his highest achievement. Quote
Leeway Posted January 26, 2014 Report Posted January 26, 2014 Good bio. Agreed. Informative and intelligent on both the artist and the various "scenes" he became a part of. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted January 26, 2014 Report Posted January 26, 2014 W.P. Kinsells: Scars Interesting. I haven't read anything by Kinsella in years. I have to admit, I've kind of forgotten about him. Quote
jlhoots Posted January 27, 2014 Report Posted January 27, 2014 James McBride: The Good Lord Bird Quote
BruceH Posted January 28, 2014 Report Posted January 28, 2014 Road Dogs - Elmore Leonard Really fun book. Finally reading a book I've wanted to read for almost forty years. I won't say it was worth the wait; I'd rather have found it back in the seventies, but it is enjoyable. I remember noticing this title back in the 70s, when sf was the main thing I read. I didn't get around to it, either, but the title is one of those that sticks in your head. I vaguely recall reading some stories by Effinger that didn't do a lot for me. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted January 28, 2014 Report Posted January 28, 2014 I remember noticing this title back in the 70s, when sf was the main thing I read. I didn't get around to it, either, but the title is one of those that sticks in your head. I vaguely recall reading some stories by Effinger that didn't do a lot for me. It is extremely seventies, if that makes any sense. Heavy on the metafiction, at times bordering on silly. A child of the New Wave... Quote
BruceH Posted January 29, 2014 Report Posted January 29, 2014 I remember noticing this title back in the 70s, when sf was the main thing I read. I didn't get around to it, either, but the title is one of those that sticks in your head. I vaguely recall reading some stories by Effinger that didn't do a lot for me. It is extremely seventies, if that makes any sense. Heavy on the metafiction, at times bordering on silly. A child of the New Wave... Effinger struck me as very much a product of the New Wave, and not always in a good way. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted January 30, 2014 Report Posted January 30, 2014 (edited) I won't be surprised if I feel the same way, if the next book I read by him is similar. However, I do have a weakness for many new wave works. Except Ellison's At the Mouse Circus. What an overrated piece of crap. But then, that's a common reaction for me to Ellison's writing... Edited January 30, 2014 by Jazzmoose Quote
niels Posted January 30, 2014 Report Posted January 30, 2014 Laurent Binet - HhhH (Himmlers hersens heten Heydrich / Himmlers brains are called Heydrich) Quote
Jerry_L Posted January 30, 2014 Report Posted January 30, 2014 Mysteries of the Worm: Early Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos (Call of Cthulhu Fiction)Paperback – August 30, 2009 by Robert Bloch (Author) , Robert Price (Editor) , Steven Gilberts (Illustrator) Quote
niels Posted January 31, 2014 Report Posted January 31, 2014 Starting with this stone cold classic today: Ivan Turgenev - Ottsy i Deti (Fathers and Sons) Quote
ArtSalt Posted February 1, 2014 Report Posted February 1, 2014 I've the Noel Coward diaries on the go at the moment, he comes across as quite a stoic patriot, despite his tax exile status in the Caribbean. There's also no bitchiness in any of his character observations, which are engaging and full of empathy. The diary is much more mature and interesting than the first part of his autobiography Present Indicative which I find trite and shallow. After this I will probably read Future Indefinite which covers the war years. He didn't dig bebop though, in one of the posts just after the war, a young starlet takes him out clubbing in Chicago and they end up in a jazz club and he has to leave, as he can't stand the cacophony any longer. Back at the hotel his diary entry states that he realises he is 47 years of age, but quite sane. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted February 3, 2014 Report Posted February 3, 2014 Finished Entropy, and I've got to say, I was impressed. I knew that it was nominated for a Nebula, so I looked up the list to see what beat it: Asimov with The Gods Themselves. I want a recount. (Don't take that as a knock on the Asimov; i like it.) Quote
johnblitweiler Posted February 4, 2014 Report Posted February 4, 2014 finally read Dream of Fair to Middling Women - 25-year-old Beckett with lot of very Joyceish jesting and more jesting rather like Beckett got to later in Watt and the 2 great plays. It's a sort of autobiographical novel about the loutish Belacqua (Beckett's alias) and his lady loves, whom he describes savagely. Light, mostly fun, concluding with a hilarious dinner party scene. Great, masterful writing. Quote
ejp626 Posted February 4, 2014 Report Posted February 4, 2014 finally read Dream of Fair to Middling Women - 25-year-old Beckett with lot of very Joyceish jesting and more jesting rather like Beckett got to later in Watt and the 2 great plays. It's a sort of autobiographical novel about the loutish Belacqua (Beckett's alias) and his lady loves, whom he describes savagely. Light, mostly fun, concluding with a hilarious dinner party scene. Great, masterful writing. Hmm -- it sounds like something I would like. Maybe I should read it in conjunction with reading (or rereading) some Flann O'Brien novels. But probably not in 2014... Quote
Matthew Posted February 5, 2014 Report Posted February 5, 2014 Parting The Waters: America In The King Years 1954-1963 by Taylor Branch. I am amazed how little I know of Martin Luther King Jr., or the Civil Rights Movement, truly an abysmal ignorance, and I say that to my shame. Quote
paul secor Posted February 5, 2014 Report Posted February 5, 2014 August Kleinzahler: The Hotel Oneira Quote
ejp626 Posted February 5, 2014 Report Posted February 5, 2014 August Kleinzahler: The Hotel Oneira Is this a new one? I will have to check it out. Quote
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