February Reads

[beer good]

Cosmicomics - Calvino, Italo 5/5
The Castle of Crossed Destinies - Calvino, Italo 3/5
Exorcist - Blatty, William Peter 3/5
Sturm - Jünger, Ernst 3/5
The Night Watch - Waters, Sarah 4/5
Keith Richards: The Unauthorized Biography - Bockris, Victor 3/5

 

[beer good]

"Mao II" - Don DeLillo

What did you think of this? I read it years ago, but in retrospect, it's creepy how up-to-date it seems in its discussion of the nature of fanaticism and terrorism... if slightly naive, perhaps.

 

[missy]

my reads

This month, managed to read:

The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
Open House - Elizabeth Berg
Twelve Sharp - Janet Evanovich
A man without a country- Kurt Vonnegut (didn't like this one, too cynical without creative ideas - maybe he's just getting too old)

plus a Dutch book for my book club here, which surprisingly enough was a good one. I usually regard those books as an obligation since I don't think the Dutch have a good story writing culture.

 

[Stewart]

The War Against Cliche, Martin Amis

 

[SFG75]

I

would suggest sticking with the library, if possible. I wasn't that impressed with the book, although there were some bright spots. I definitely wouldn't recommend actually paying to read it, though. Just my 2 cents!

I've been curious about this one for quite some time now. Rumor had it that Bush even read it. From what I understand, it's an indictment of the modern student's fascination with gaining wealth and sex, as opposed to learning for learning's sake. Then again, Tom Wolfe has always been famous for being somewhat contrarian. I hope to read this one in April, whether I buy it or check it out from the library. The NYT had a solid review btw.

 

[imhere4beer]

OMG Bush reads?? I'm flabbergasted.

I think the book was meant to be shocking, and geared towards an older demograhic. I guess I'm not far removed enough from my college days to appreciate his motives for writing the book fully, but I did find the satire amusing. I'll look forward to your thoughts!

BTW- I had the same reaction to the movie "Kids," if you can remember that one? The critics and parents were completely outraged and disturbed by the film, but for my friends and I it was just an exaggerated version of our lives so we didn't find it shocking at all. I bet if I watched it again now, though, I would be horrified. I guess it's all a matter of perspective, is what I am trying to say.

Edit: And yes, I was a bad, bad kid. LOL.

 

[olguta]

What did you think of this? I read it years ago, but in retrospect, it's creepy how up-to-date it seems in its discussion of the nature of fanaticism and terrorism... if slightly naive, perhaps.

I enjoyed it. The ending though i thought was rather hurried. I did think it was very up-to-date also. The thing i did have trouble with was following the dialogue, i kept having to re-read to see who's talking