What has TMD been reading lately?

[jro]

Note: you may want to skip the next three paragraphs to get to my recommendations.

The problem with House of Leaves is that Jorge Luis Borges (an obvious influence on the author) foresaw it and demonstrated that such a book was unnecessary: most of the pleasure from such a creation lies not in the experience of it, but from considering its metaphysics.  Borges' great accomplishment as a writer was understanding how to tackle issues of infinity, eternity, and recursion in fiction in the space of a few pages.  Unfortunately, I don't think Danielewski adds much beyond pages to Borges' ideas.  The typographical cuteness (which extends even to different versions of the book, with different color coded words) is, well, cute, but seems completely disconnected from the tradition of such work in forms like concrete poetry or book art.  So while I found House of Leaves to be an amusing diversion (I stayed in bed one cold winter today and read it straight through), it's not a book that I think of as essential.

I keep telling myself that I should read a few of those Dan Brown books that everyone's talking about, but I heard he was like a more popular Umberto Eco. I've greatly enjoyed the Eco I've read, but I can't imagine that a "more popular" version of him would appeal to me, as I already think of Eco as a guilty pleasure.  I'm astonished when people tell me they find him unreadable, which is just about every time I bring him up.  I find "Foucault's Pendulum" more dynamic and exciting than "In the Name of the Rose", despite the utterly brilliant Maguffin of the latter (and the perfect villain!).  I think FP really demonstrates (and thus transcends) the limits of the genre of the "arcane mystery", while ItNotR seems more of a satire.

By the way, I read literary theory focusing on the poetics of fiction as a hobby, so if you think I'm nuts, you're probably right.

Recommendations:
Anyway, fans of the "fantastic" (not fantasy) should absolutely read some stuff by Borges (the recent Penguin Collected Short Stories is excellent, and collects most of his fiction output).  I can unhesitatingly recommend to everyone something by the Italian writer Italo Calvino, only what to recommend changes since he didn't constrain himself to one genre or style.  My favorite of his is probably the novella "The Nonexistent Knight", although the book that best showcases his talents is "If on a winter's night a traveler".  His skills as a storyteller are second to none.  Fans of science fiction, particularly the more cerebral stuff, should enjoy Stanislaw Lem.  He's best known for "Solaris" but I like "The Cyberiad" better.  If you like language games and logic puzzles, the book "The Princess Hoppy" by Jacques Roubaud is delightful, although you'll never find it anywhere.  You may have noticed these are all non-English-writing authors.  I could list some, but they're all a little out there, even compared to this stuff.

Random other amazing book:
Something Like An Autobiography by Akira Kurosawa (the film director) - I read this because I like his films, but the book is the equal of his best film work.  The clarity with which he confronts his memories is stunning.  His skill at verbal description is superb (and the wonderful story of how he learned the skill is told in the book).  This book should be taught as part of basic writing instruction.

[Bob The Builder]

Currently reading:  Alexandre Dumas: The Three musketeers (I like the way honor works in those times long gone)
Previous book:   Rudyard Kipling:  Junglebook (like the Mowgli-stories, sometimes mildly enjoyed a random story in between)
Next book: Ernest Hemingway: The old man and the sea
Really liked: J.K. Rowling, the Harry Potter books + Herbert Frank + son: Dune series

[Jacob Orlove]

It's something that I might read - but to me it feels like airport reading: you'll derive some pleasure from it, but only when you're stuck somewhere for several hours with absolutely nothing to do. Most books that I get to the end of, I enjoy them while I'm reading them and then look back and say, "that was pretty good"; I certainly couldn't do the latter part of that with Dan Brown.

The only reason I actually ended up reading Angels & Demons was because I was literally stuck in an airport for several hours, and needed something to do--it was certainly much better than many other books you're going to find in those newsstands.

edit: jro, have you read Cloud Atlas?

[nataz]

Previous book:   Rudyard Kipling:  Junglebook (like the Mowgli-stories, sometimes mildly enjoyed a random story in between)

I <3 Kipling! I've re-read the Jungle Book literaly 3 times this last semseter. It's interesting to note that the short stories actualy have quite a bit of lag between them, and were not originaly written as one peice.

Last Read: The Sun Also Rises/Sand County Almanac

I love Hemingway, and Sun was my last novel to finish off his collection. My fav. Hemingway will always be Islands in the Stream, but its hard to even count that b/c it was released after his death, and edited by family.

Sand County is great, Leopold deserves to be called on of the greatest conservation writers. I still like him better then Muir, but prob less then Thoreau. Edward Abby fits in there somewhere also with the Down the River collection + other rebellious stuff.   

Currently (re)Reading: Championship Hold'em (limit w/ test hands)/ Beyond (or twords depends on how you translate) Good and Evil

I play too much poker, and Good and Evil is just finishing up some Nietzsche that I started a while back. The Champ Poker series is worthwhile if anyone is interested in that kinda stuff (although if you are looking for a good story I suggest bringing down the house), and Nietczshe is, uh, well, Nietczshe.

I'm not sure I feel comfortable recomending him to most people, but I find its a pretty good back ground for a lot of my political though papers. Misinterpertation runs rife though, so I suggest reading multiple vesrsion by different editors (unless you feel confortable in German to read it in its original form), and then forming your own opinion. Oh, and the anti-semetic/Nazi lable is a pretty un-fair and narrow read. If thats whats stopping you from picking it up, do yourself a favor and give it a try. Avoid the "notebooks" because those were heavily edited with pre-existing goals, and never actualy put into any kind of book form by Nietczshe himself. 

Next on the List: Some crappy Dune prequel (I've read a couple so far, meh)/On The Genealogy of Morals   

[Jacob Orlove]

Next on the List: Some crappy Dune prequel (I've read a couple so far, meh)

Don't bother. Seriously. Those books are TERRIBLE.

[Bob The Builder]

Next on the List: Some crappy Dune prequel (I've read a couple so far, meh)

Don't bother. Seriously. Those books are TERRIBLE.

I do admit you have to be somewhat of a freak to like these...

[Bram]

Anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Especially 100 years of Solitude).

You should talk to my girlfriend.

Oh wait, maybe you shouldn't.

Right now, I'm reading:

"Hubris And Hybrids: A Cultural History of Technology and Science" by Mikael HÃ¥rd
"Human-Built World : How to Think about Technology and Culture" by Thomas P. Hughes
"The Winged Gospel : America's Romance with Aviation" by Joseph J. Corn

I've put aside fiction for a while in favor of these. Especially that last title I can recommend to anyone mildly interested in airplanes. Most recent fiction I read:

"The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana" by Umberto Eco
"The Dante Club : A Novel" by Matthew Pearl
"Lunar Park" by Bret Easton Ellis (still reading)

Next on the List: Some crappy Dune prequel (I've read a couple so far, meh)

Don't bother. Seriously. Those books are TERRIBLE.

Hmmm. I thought The Butlerian Jihad was sort of decent.

[Hi-Val]

I read Freakonomics over break. I liked it, but if you read it, remember to ask yourself what he's actually arguing. A lot of people think he's saying things that he is not.

House of Leaves is a favorite of mine. Smmenen has my copy currently.

I read Player Piano and Slapstick over Xmas break by Vonnegut, making my tally up to eight books of his that I've read. They weren't his best but they were sci-fi at its best. Stuff that could happen here on Earth, no star-trekky futuristic jargon, just philosophy wrapped up in a witty and compelling package.