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Post by bookworm107 on Aug 6, 2008 11:04:53 GMT -5
I finished Breaking Dawn on Saturday. It was nothing close to what I was expecting, but I loved it all the same! It had such a cool plot line and everything. Not to mention alot more sexual references without actually saying anything, really. Team Edward all the way.
But, I also am reading the Homecoming series by Orson Scott Card. Since they are by him, I am guaranteed to have some twisted versions of reality and conventional thinking. I can't wait to finish them.
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Post by singoutloud on Aug 6, 2008 19:18:00 GMT -5
Heck yes Team Edward! Ugh I want Breaking Dawn so badly!!!!! I'm getting it Monday...so I've got something to look forward to  |
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Post by kaatopp on Aug 9, 2008 16:03:37 GMT -5
Well after I finished White Male Heart I finished The Giver, I read it 11 years ago for the first time and reading it now I found that it was still as magical, powerful, moving and complete relevant for our times. It's a great book period, but it is an INCREDIBLE book for children to read, shocking and surprising ... to read it as a child makes you think about things you never thought about before, like choice and the consequences of our actions, as well as the beauty of difference and uniqueness.
After I finished that I went a little nuts at the local library.
Picked up Zombie and Rape: A Love Story by Joyce Carol Oates, Enduring Love by Ian McEwan, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, and I have Coma by Alex Garland, Choke and Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk AND The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan on hold.
I started reading Zombie first and have nearly finished it. I could have finished it about 3 days ago since it is only about 170 pages and I only have 30 pages left. Its written in first person, sort of diary style by a very verrrrry screwed up 30 year old man. Basically the premise they tell you on the back of the book is, "It occurs to Q.P. one day that with the right male specimen he could create the perfect zombie to do his bidding and be the master of." So a lot of terrifying rape and botched lobotomies with ice picks ensue. I got pretty mad and fed up with the book and that is why I stopped with 30 pages left when I could have finished it easily. I will finish it I am just sort of annoyed with Joyce Carol Oates, seems she is writing this book simply for the sake of writing something disgusting and overly shocking. I think she is a much better writer than that. She is one of the great American writers of our time, one of my favorite books ever is a short novella by her called Beasts. I like her writing because she writes in a "gothic-grotesque" style, touching on the "psychological" and the "sexual". Not all her books are like that, mostly her short stories and novellas. I find them dark and interesting but Zombie was just a little too much. I'll give an official review when I've finished it.
Then I was about to start Enduring Love when I got I Am Legend in from the library, so I started that instead and it is AWESOME! Only about 80 pages in to it, but it rocks. I gotta get a move on and start reading quickly since I have so many books lined up!
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Post by kaatopp on Aug 11, 2008 3:20:48 GMT -5
Well I finished Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates and I finished I Am Legend by Richard Matheson.
Zombie I would give a 6 or a 7 out of 10. I didn't totally hate it but it was sort of a pointless read, I didn't get anything out of it, just ended up reading a random disturbing story but it was short so its not like I wasted a lot of time or something. At the end I was just left feeling like, well, okay ...
I Am Legend was completely awesome, I'd give it a 10/10. It is totally different from the movie but it was awesome. I didn't intend to finish it last night, it was so enjoyable I wanted it to keep going but its actually fairly short too. But anyway, I really recommend it!
I just started Enduring Love by Ian McEwan last night, at first I was unimpressed, bored even, with the first five or so pages, but I stuck with it and all of a sudden it turned into a really great novel. It's incredibly interesting, written so well, dealing with topics such as tragic death and obsession. For me I guess it is what you would call a "page turner," after each chapter I can't help but read more! I'm halfway through the book already, I stayed up all night reading! Official review to come after I finish it!
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Post by haley311 on Aug 11, 2008 19:34:30 GMT -5
After I finished that I went a little nuts at the local library. Picked up Zombie and Rape: A Love Story by Joyce Carol Oates, Enduring Love by Ian McEwan, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, and I have Coma by Alex Garland, Choke and Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk AND The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan on hold. I'm a big Alex Garland fan, I loved the Coma, even though it was really short. And it's really weird, I had to re-read it right after I finished. Have you read the Beach? It's definitely one of my favorite books! |
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Post by razzthekid on Aug 12, 2008 7:59:19 GMT -5
Ooo my brother bought I Am Legend recently. He didn't really like the ending i don't think but i plan on reading it sometime anyway.
I just finished The Motorcycle Diaries which i really loved. I watched the movie again straight after i finished it and even though they changed a few bits i still adore that movie. It's just beautiful.
Now i started On The Road Again which is the follow up Diary to TMD also by Ernesto Guevara.
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Post by kaatopp on Aug 14, 2008 2:07:19 GMT -5
I'm a big Alex Garland fan, I loved the Coma, even though it was really short. And it's really weird, I had to re-read it right after I finished. Have you read the Beach? It's definitely one of my favorite books! , yes, I love Alex Garland. I have read both The Beach and The Tesseract. The latter was good but the The Beach was AWESOME. LOVED IT. SO GOOD, lol ;D The Coma is waiting at my library now, picking it up tomorrow, so excited! Razzthekid, you should check out I Am Legend if you are curious, it is only about 170 pages long and its so freaking good. I enjoyed the ending personally, but regardless, everything leading up to it is just so damn good, interesting and well written, that I think it's worth a read! Rukia, you'll be interested to know that I just finished reading Ian McEwan's book, Enduring Love. I grabbed it off my library bookshelf on a whim since The Cement Garden and The Comfort of Strangers were not in stock, and it turned out to be pretty much the best book ever. Like I said in a previous post, in the first five pages I was impatient, unimpressed, and a bit confused (may just have been in a weird frame of mind, who knows) but I kept reading and it very quickly turned into such an interesting read, I could not stop reading it, I did not want to put it down! I have decided that I like it better than Atonement. Atonement will always be a wonderful book, especially as my first Ian McEwan read, and since the movie is brilliant (and James is attached to it! lol), I will always love it but Enduring Love is just awesome. I think you will like it more than his others because it is not as dark or depressing. The reader is not left with the uncomfortable feelings that On Chesil Beach and I think, as you described, The Cement Garden, can leave a person with. It is a much more optimistic and less disturbing or alienating or sorrowful book than his others. There are GREAT twists in the book, it is SO well written and it deals with a fascinating obsession. SOOOOOOO GOOD. I really really really hope you consider reading it Rukia! I really think you will love it! I was just overwhelming interested by the book, gosh, it was so good lol! I am giving it a 10/10I have The Cement Garden waiting for me at the library and The Comfort of Strangers is in queue, so I am looking forward to reading those and discussing those with you Rukia! |
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Post by haley311 on Aug 15, 2008 2:25:19 GMT -5
I'm a big Alex Garland fan, I loved the Coma, even though it was really short. And it's really weird, I had to re-read it right after I finished. Have you read the Beach? It's definitely one of my favorite books! , yes, I love Alex Garland. I have read both The Beach and The Tesseract. The latter was good but the The Beach was AWESOME. LOVED IT. SO GOOD, lol ;D The Coma is waiting at my library now, picking it up tomorrow, so excited! Good to see another Garland fan here.  I got the Tesseract a while ago, read 50 or so pages, and couldn't really get into it. His other books are so engaging, but I don't know what was with that one. I need to give it another try! |
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Olivia
Newly Infected
Posts: 29
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Post by Olivia on Aug 16, 2008 13:29:41 GMT -5
I'm reading The Empty Page - Fiction Inspired By Sonic Youth.
So, some of the stories are really really bad, but there are a few gems in there. I need to finish it!
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Post by ashleyrose09 on Aug 18, 2008 15:18:08 GMT -5
I'm reading Breaking Dawn right now.  |
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Post by kaatopp on Aug 19, 2008 15:25:09 GMT -5
Last week I finished The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan and The Coma by Alex Garland.
The Cement Garden I would give an 8-9/10.
I am surprised how much I really really liked this book. It was a super short read but I was really captivated and moved by the relationships between the four siblings in the book as well as the weird reality and life they managed to create for themselves in the wake of their parents' deaths. Strangely enough the incest moved me rather than disturbed me. I did not see it as a sexual, gross thing so much as a really deep and strange love between the siblings. I was really intrigued by the tight knit family the siblings managed to create and maintain through the whole book and I was even more moved by their love for each other in the final chapter and heart broken by what an outsider to the family does to their strange reality. I don't know, to me it was just a very interesting and different take on love and family. The topic of incest is always uncomfortable and unsettling but again I am astounded by the way McEwan writes and tells a story. I appreciate his voice so much because he makes me, as a reader, fall in love with characters and situations that are typically frowned up or considered "wrong" or "disturbing." My repertoire of read authors is very small when considering the number of authors out there but McEwan has an astounding ability to write about the human condition, love, sorrow and all the dirty, touchy subjects that emerge from imperfect hearts. I thought The Cement Garden was marvelous and beautiful.
The Coma 7/10
I was kind of disappointed by this. It was good but really pales in comparison to Garland's superb writing talent which can be seen in The Beach. The Coma was still an interesting and well written book, I finished it in one afternoon, but I was left wanting so so so so so much more. I am glad I read it as I am a huge fan of his but really it does not hold a candle to The Beach. I wish dearly he would write another book soon, it has been too long.
I am currently reading Orlando by Virginia Woolf. The main character transcends time, gender and sexuality, starting as a man in the Elizabethan era and ending four centuries later (I think) as a modern day woman. I am particularly interested to read this story of blurred gender and sexuality lines from the perspective of Virginia Woolf, considering she is a woman, a famous author and was writing in a very different time from our own. It is the first Woolf I have ever read and so far I am really really enjoying it.
Up next, in a to-be-determined order, The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe, Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson, Amsterdam by Ian McEwan, and Setting Free the Bears by John Irving.
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Post by nellie on Aug 19, 2008 15:44:21 GMT -5
I just finished Eclipse and now I read the time traveler's wife
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Post by rukia888 on Aug 20, 2008 22:31:44 GMT -5
The Cement Garden I would give an 8-9/10. I am surprised how much I really really liked this book. It was a super short read but I was really captivated and moved by the relationships between the four siblings in the book as well as the weird reality and life they managed to create for themselves in the wake of their parents' deaths. Strangely enough the incest moved me rather than disturbed me. I did not see it as a sexual, gross thing so much as a really deep and strange love between the siblings. I was really intrigued by the tight knit family the siblings managed to create and maintain through the whole book and I was even more moved by their love for each other in the final chapter and heart broken by what an outsider to the family does to their strange reality. I don't know, to me it was just a very interesting and different take on love and family. The topic of incest is always uncomfortable and unsettling but again I am astounded by the way McEwan writes and tells a story. I appreciate his voice so much because he makes me, as a reader, fall in love with characters and situations that are typically frowned up or considered "wrong" or "disturbing." My repertoire of read authors is very small when considering the number of authors out there but McEwan has an astounding ability to write about the human condition, love, sorrow and all the dirty, touchy subjects that emerge from imperfect hearts. I thought The Cement Garden was marvelous and beautiful. I actually liked The Cement Garden better than The Comfort of Strangers. It was very well-written, and it just held my interest more. I didn't really see the incestual relationship between Jack and Julie as out of any special, deep love or anything. To me, they were simply just experimenting with each other. I didn't like Julie at all. She was so manipulative, and she was definitely playing games with Jack. She didn't seem to care for her siblings at all. Most of the time, she was tanning herself in the backyard or off out with Derek. (Derek's so creepy by the way, wanting to become part of the family.) I didn't like Jack all that much either. He's so moody and didn't care to take responsibility either. Even though I didn't like the majority of the characters in The Cement Garden, I still felt really sorry for them. Especially for Tom and Sue. Tom definitely has gender issues, and his siblings just see it as some kind of game. Sue probably feels that she has no one to turn to in her grief. I just basically see this family as falling apart despite trying their best to stay together. They're deteriorating in their delusions and their reality, and it's quite sad really. I've only read a few pages of Enduring Love so far. At first, I was discouraged by your first remarks on how it was boring and all, but I'm glad to hear that it was good! I'll be sure to let you know what I think of it! I just finished Eclipse and now I read the time traveler's wife Oooh, I loooved The Time Traveler's Wife, Nellie! It's a very good blend of sci-fi (due to the time-traveling and all), drama, and contemporary romance. I hope you're enjoying it! Do let me know what you think of it! |
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Post by kaatopp on Aug 20, 2008 22:40:27 GMT -5
Rukia, do NOT be discouraged about Enduring Love, it is such a good read and I think you will really really like it. I think it is more refreshing than McEwan's other books, its not as heavy or depressing. It still deals with some serious issues but you don't feel smothered at the end. I really hope you like it as much as I did! Can't wait to hear what you think!!
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Post by nellie on Aug 21, 2008 6:04:03 GMT -5
The Cement Garden I would give an 8-9/10. I am surprised how much I really really liked this book. It was a super short read but I was really captivated and moved by the relationships between the four siblings in the book as well as the weird reality and life they managed to create for themselves in the wake of their parents' deaths. Strangely enough the incest moved me rather than disturbed me. I did not see it as a sexual, gross thing so much as a really deep and strange love between the siblings. I was really intrigued by the tight knit family the siblings managed to create and maintain through the whole book and I was even more moved by their love for each other in the final chapter and heart broken by what an outsider to the family does to their strange reality. I don't know, to me it was just a very interesting and different take on love and family. The topic of incest is always uncomfortable and unsettling but again I am astounded by the way McEwan writes and tells a story. I appreciate his voice so much because he makes me, as a reader, fall in love with characters and situations that are typically frowned up or considered "wrong" or "disturbing." My repertoire of read authors is very small when considering the number of authors out there but McEwan has an astounding ability to write about the human condition, love, sorrow and all the dirty, touchy subjects that emerge from imperfect hearts. I thought The Cement Garden was marvelous and beautiful. I actually liked The Cement Garden better than The Comfort of Strangers. It was very well-written, and it just held my interest more. I didn't really see the incestual relationship between Jack and Julie as out of any special, deep love or anything. To me, they were simply just experimenting with each other. I didn't like Julie at all. She was so manipulative, and she was definitely playing games with Jack. She didn't seem to care for her siblings at all. Most of the time, she was tanning herself in the backyard or off out with Derek. (Derek's so creepy by the way, wanting to become part of the family.) I didn't like Jack all that much either. He's so moody and didn't care to take responsibility either. Even though I didn't like the majority of the characters in The Cement Garden, I still felt really sorry for them. Especially for Tom and Sue. Tom definitely has gender issues, and his siblings just see it as some kind of game. Sue probably feels that she has no one to turn to in her grief. I just basically see this family as falling apart despite trying their best to stay together. They're deteriorating in their delusions and their reality, and it's quite sad really. I've only read a few pages of Enduring Love so far. At first, I was discouraged by your first remarks on how it was boring and all, but I'm glad to hear that it was good! I'll be sure to let you know what I think of it! I just finished Eclipse and now I read the time traveler's wife Oooh, I loooved The Time Traveler's Wife, Nellie! It's a very good blend of sci-fi (due to the time-traveling and all), drama, and contemporary romance. I hope you're enjoying it! Do let me know what you think of it! Sure will. I just started reading it so I don't know yet, but it seems pretty good to me! |
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I got the Tesseract a while ago, read 50 or so pages, and couldn't really get into it. His other books are so engaging, but I don't know what was with that one. I need to give it another try!
