Hux
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Posts posted by Hux
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I would suggest a board for...
21st century books
20th century books
19th century books
That's just what I'm used to and it feels easier to access reviews that way. I generally avoid people's book blogs. Feels a bit like I'm intruding on their private thoughts.
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I tend to click 'unread content' but if I don't see any books I've read, want to read, or might be interested in etc, I move on.
Which is a shame. I'm probably missing interesting stuff.
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Two fat blokes from the end of my street....
Thought hedgehogs made the tenderest meat
This cruel delusion.....
Brought about a conclusion
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Asking people to scroll through book blogs seems like asking a lot. I can't find a thread on this so will start one.
This was one of the most wonderful reading experiences I've ever had. The book is no classic but it's wonderfully written and profoundly engaging. I honestly couldn't put it down.
The story is fairly straight-forward and involves a man named Toru Watanabe reminiscing about his youth in the late 60s. After his best friend, Kizuki, commits suicide he becomes closer with Kizuki's girlfriend Naoko. They eventually have sex and Watanabe goes to university. Here he meets several characters, most notably Nagasawa and his girlfriend Hatsumi. Watanabe and Nagasawa begin going out drinking and meeting girls for sex. Watanabe then discovers that Naoko is in a sanitorium and struggling with her mental health. He writes to her, eventually visits, and they rekindle their romance. Naoko lives at the sanitorium with an older woman called Reiko (she tells a rather interesting tale about why she's also at the sanitorium which includes a story about teaching a 13-year-old girl to play the piano).
The Japanese really do have a way when it comes to writing erotica, don't they? That being said, it felt like there was a little too much sex being used as an alternative to other, more conventional expressions of affection. Maybe that's a Japanese thing. I don't know. Everyone seems to need emotional reassurance but only expresses it through sex. Then again, it was set in the late 60s so maybe that's why.
The casual use of sex aside, my only criticism would be the chapter where Murakami jumps ahead and tells us about the future of one of the characters. This felt out of place since the whole narrative takes place chronologically. Only at the very beginning of chapter one does he write from the perspective of being an older man in the late 1980s. Then we dive into the story when he's 18 and stay with that story. But suddenly, halfway through the book, he informs us of a character's fate and it felt a little jarring.
I'm reliably informed that this is Murakami's most conventional novel. I'm not sure if I'd like his other works as much but based on this, I will definitely seek out more of his work.
I honestly can't remember enjoying reading a book this much. Many people would assume that I might think the book is a masterpiece as a result of that (a mistake many contemporary readers make in my opinion). They think if the reading experience is good then that means the book must be also great. For me, it's more complicated than that. I tend to put books into 4 categories.
1) The reading experience is wonderful. The book resonates, stays with you, changes your worldview, overwhelms you.
2) The reading experience is wonderful. But the book quickly fades from memory, doesn't hold its grip.
3) The reading experience is awful. But the book still somehow resonates, stays with you, overwhelms you etc.
4) The reading experience is awful. The book doesn't resonate, has nothing meaningful to say.
Category 4 is thankfully the most rare, followed by 3, then 1. For me, most books (and certainly most contemporary novels) are in category 2, including this. People make the mistake of thinking that if they really enjoyed reading a book then that must mean it is great literature. But often it's merely competently written *cough* Normal People *cough* etc. This is why so many modern novels get hyped, win awards, then disappear completely.
I'd place this at the top end of category 2. Highly recommended.
8/10
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Norwegian Wood (1987) Haruki Murakami
This was one of the most wonderful reading experiences I've ever had. The book is no classic but it's wonderfully written and profoundly engaging. I honestly couldn't put it down.
The story is fairly straight-forward and involves a man named Toru Watanabe reminiscing about his youth in the late 60s. After his best friend, Kizuki, commits suicide he becomes closer with Kizuki's girlfriend Naoko. They eventually have sex and Watanabe goes to university. Here he meets several characters, most notably Nagasawa and his girlfriend Hatsumi. Watanabe and Nagasawa begin going out drinking and meeting girls for sex. Watanabe then discovers that Naoko is in a sanitorium and struggling with her mental health. He writes to her, eventually visits, and they rekindle their romance. Naoko lives at the sanitorium with an older woman called Reiko (she tells a rather interesting tale about why she's also at the sanitorium which includes a story about teaching a 13-year-old girl to play the piano).
The Japanese really do have a way when it comes to writing erotica, don't they? That being said, it felt like there was a little too much sex being used as an alternative to other, more conventional expressions of affection. Maybe that's a Japanese thing. I don't know. Everyone seems to need emotional reassurance but only expresses it through sex. Then again, it was set in the late 60s so maybe that's why.
The casual use of sex aside, my only criticism would be the chapter where Murakami jumps ahead and tells us about the future of one of the characters. This felt out of place since the whole narrative takes place chronologically. Only at the very beginning of chapter one does he write from the perspective of being an older man in the late 1980s. Then we dive into the story when he's 18 and stay with that story. But suddenly, halfway through the book, he informs us of a character's fate and it felt a little jarring.
I'm reliably informed that this is Murakami's most conventional novel. I'm not sure if I'd like his other works as much but based on this, I will definitely seek out more of his work.
I honestly can't remember enjoying reading a book this much. Many people would assume that I might think the book is a masterpiece as a result of that (a mistake many contemporary readers make in my opinion). They think if the reading experience is good then that means the book must be also great. For me, it's more complicated than that. I tend to put books into 4 categories.
1) The reading experience is wonderful. The book resonates, stays with you, changes your worldview, overwhelms you.
2) The reading experience is wonderful. But the book quickly fades from memory, doesn't hold its grip.
3) The reading experience is awful. But the book still somehow resonates, stays with you, overwhelms you etc.
4) The reading experience is awful. The book doesn't resonate, has nothing meaningful to say.
Category 4 is thankfully the most rare, followed by 3, then 1. For me, most books (and certainly most contemporary novels) are in category 2, including this. People make the mistake of thinking that if they really enjoyed reading a book then that must mean it is great literature. But often it's merely competently written *cough* Normal People *cough* etc. This is why so many modern novels get hyped, win awards, then disappear completely.
I'd place this at the top end of category 2. Highly recommended.
8/10
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There once was a man who stole stamps
From the distracted clients of holiday camps
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Tickety tock look at the clock..
I think that it's time to get ready to rock
Now here comes the answer
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Jock was a cocky from Oz
His fave Dickens' character, Boz.....
On reading the novel
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The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940) Carson McCullers
A superb exploration of loneliness and the roles we are forced to play.
The book revolves around a deaf/mute named John Singer. After his friend (also a deaf/mute) is put into an institution, Singer moves into a new room where, slowly but surely, four characters come to view him as a kind of spiritual leader. They go to him to tell of their woes, their frustrations, their dreams. Because he can't speak, he is forced into the role of listener (whether her wants to be or not) and they quickly transform him into a blank canvas for their worldview. Unbeknownst to them, however, Singer also has a life. He too requires a figure in his life whom can give meaning to his loneliness (this being his deaf/mute friend). That Singer has his own life never occurs to them. He has been unpersoned by them in their desire for him to have the answers.
The four of them begin to visit him on a regular basis. First, there is Biff the café owner who represents the middle-class view. Then Jake Blount, the working-class alcoholic. Then Dr. Copeland, the African American idealist. And finally, Mick, a young girl who dreams of being a musician but who is inevitably forced into conforming towards a more conventional role as a woman.
Each of these people are oppressed by the role they must play in life. Blount and Copeland seek answers in a simplistic and utopian form of Marxism. Mick in romantic ideals and Biff, the most important character in my opinion, in hoping for a better tomorrow.
The writing is wonderful, full of fluid and detached prose which works perfectly (despite often not being my cup of tea). McCullers has a great gift for telling a character's story whilst simultaneously placing you in another moment. She can switch between the two with ease. The narrative flows nicely and slowly builds a realistic world. At no point does she throw in an affair or a murder. The book essentially has no plot (my preferred type) and simply tells a self-contained story of lonely people looking to escape the chains that life has put them in.
I interpreted the ending as ultimately pessimistic though. It ends with Mick showing signs of slowly conforming to her role as a socially acceptable female. She now wears earrings, has embraced the 9 to 5, and is moving away from her tomboy persona. Some may view this as a positive (that she is blossoming) but I saw it as Mick succumbing to the social norms, to the daily grind.
Because, eventually, we all do.
A fantastic debut novel. Highly recommended.8/10
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A superb exploration of loneliness and the roles we are forced to play.
The book revolves around a deaf/mute named John Singer. After his friend (also a deaf/mute) is put into an institution, Singer moves into a new room where, slowly but surely, four characters come to view him as a kind of spiritual leader. They go to him to tell of their woes, their frustrations, their dreams. Because he can't speak, he is forced into the role of listener (whether her wants to be or not) and they quickly transform him into a blank canvas for their worldview. Unbeknownst to them, however, Singer also has a life. He too requires a figure in his life whom can give meaning to his loneliness (this being his deaf/mute friend). That Singer has his own life never occurs to them. He has been unpersoned by them in their desire for him to have the answers.
The four of them begin to visit him on a regular basis. First, there is Biff the café owner who represents the middle-class view. Then Jake Blount, the working-class alcoholic. Then Dr. Copeland, the African American idealist. And finally, Mick, a young girl who dreams of being a musician but who is inevitably forced into conforming towards a more conventional role as a woman.
Each of these people are oppressed by the role they must play in life. Blount and Copeland seek answers in a simplistic and utopian form of Marxism. Mick in romantic ideals and Biff, the most important character in my opinion, in hoping for a better tomorrow.
The writing is wonderful, full of fluid and detached prose which works perfectly (despite often not being my cup of tea). McCullers has a great gift for telling a character's story whilst simultaneously placing you in another moment. She can switch between the two with ease. The narrative flows nicely and slowly builds a realistic world. At no point does she throw in an affair or a murder. The book essentially has no plot (my preferred type) and simply tells a self-contained story of lonely people looking to escape the chains that life has put them in.
I interpreted the ending as ultimately pessimistic though. It ends with Mick showing signs of slowly conforming to her role as a socially acceptable female. She now wears earrings, has embraced the 9 to 5, and is moving away from her tomboy persona. Some may view this as a positive (that she is blossoming) but I saw it as Mick succumbing to the social norms, to the daily grind.
Because, eventually, we all do.
A fantastic debut novel. Highly recommended.8/10
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Fe fi fo fum.......
Said the father of a missing nun
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I love spaghetti the best
I dribble sauce down my vest
Now I'll have a plateful...
And be forever grateful
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If there's something I like in a book I usually just take a note of the page number.
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There was a young man from Glasgow ......
Who triggered a global fiasco
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2 hours ago, Hayley said:
Maybe disturbing was the wrong word, it has negative connotations that I didn't actually mean. The film looks really intriguing. Haunting was probably closer to what I meant. It is beautiful but it has a surreal quality and it feels quite emotionally complicated, if that makes sense.
Disturbing works as a description. It's all of those things.
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1 hour ago, Hayley said:
Madeleine's films are the only ones so far that I've actually seen but I'm discovering a lot of lovely new music from this thread!
I know it's the point, so cleverly done, but this is really intense and kind of disturbing!
It's a beautiful film with a beautiful score.
About a woman who discovers she has a strange connection with an identical doppelganger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqcgpRf31zU
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Wilhelmina would just stand and stare
At something they was barely there
On closer inspection
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A time when there was no war..
So peaceful it would make you snore
The bombs were unused
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A grumpy old soldier named Billy...
Looked down in his trousers when chilly
But what he saw there....
He just couldn't bear
A peanut instead of a willy
There once was a lad at the zoo
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A grumpy old soldier named Billy...
Looked down in his trousers when chilly
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When Margaret discovered S&M
She started to raise her hem
A man called Steve
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25 minutes ago, France said:
Let's agree to disagree on that one! What I really enjoy about most book groups if that in general people don't feel that you're attcking them personally if you don't share their opinion or liking for a book. Unlike most Facebook groups! (And a real life book group where one of the members got furiously angry when you didn't agree with her.)
What?
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Looks like I've won.
2021 Updates and Improvements
in Forum Updates
Posted · Edited by Hux
If it was very specifically a horror genre then it would go in horror. If it was a classic (Frankenstein etc) it might go in classics. I think the centuries boards are mostly for literary fiction that isn't that genre specific (which is most books).
For me, it's more about finding reviews easily and discovering new books as a result of that process.
A blog system seems intuitively resistant to the pursuit of encouraging discussion; like reading someone's diary then leaving a comment while they were sleeping. Dunno. Just feels a bit odd to me. Whereas a review somewhere more visible might encourage me to engage with the content.
Essentially, if someone writes a book blog and loves a book which I happen to hate, posting on their blog feels a bit like going to their house and throwing excrement at their windows. But if the review is in a public place, I'm simply criticising the book... not them (which is what it would feel like). Which, in turn, would encourage me to post more.