It's September. What are you reading?

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I stopped reading Acts of Contrition. I just couldn't finish reading a story where if the MC would simply speak the truth rather than speaking a convenient lie there wouldn't be a story!!
 
Currently reading William Faulkner's The Sound And The Fury. Found it difficult at first but starting to get into it now:)
 
Currently reading William Faulkner's The Sound And The Fury. Found it difficult at first...
That sounds familiar. I'm sure I started this many moons ago, and I think I still have it. If it gets more involving perhaps I should try again sometime. I always thought I ought to read more Faulkner - is this as good a place to start as anywhere?
 
That sounds familiar. I'm sure I started this many moons ago, and I think I still have it. If it gets more involving perhaps I should try again sometime. I always thought I ought to read more Faulkner - is this as good a place to start as anywhere?

This is the first time I've tried Faulkner and as a starting point - I'd say no (why the hell am I starting here I ask myself?:eek:).

The story initially is seen through the eyes of Benjy Compson who is somewhat retarded and struggles to articulate his view. The writing style reflects this and makes it very difficult to read. The book is seperated by dates (which are , in essence, very long chapters) and the good news is that the second date sees a change in perspective and - therefore - a change in writing style, which makes it easier to read.

That's about as much as I can tell you right now:confused:
 
Finished Diana Gabaldon's third book in the Outlander series. Now deep into The Drums of Autumn (4th book in the series).

Still reading Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters trilogy.

Also starting House of Leaves to see if it's as scary and creepy as everyone says.
 
The story initially is seen through the eyes of Benjy Compson who is somewhat retarded and struggles to articulate his view. The writing style reflects this and makes it very difficult to read.
Ah, yes, I remember what I found difficult about it now. I should perhaps give Light in August a go first instead. (It's all a bit academic right now as I'm on a Clifford Simak bender, but one day...)
 
Ah, yes, I remember what I found difficult about it now. I should perhaps give Light in August a go first instead. [...]

As I remember, Light in August wouldn't be a bad place to start. The introductory Faulkner I've seen used most often in college is As I Lay Dying which has multiple points of view and, if you're open to black comedy, is occasionally funny; it's a favorite of mine. I've heard that Sanctuary is also a good starting point.

The Sound and the Fury is a bit jarring at first, but the first section narrated by Benjy Compson is vital to understanding what comes after, and after a time it becomes easier to read.

My favorite Faulkner is Absalom, Absalom which is just gorgeous and intricate and sometimes suspenseful and at the end rather chilling. It's also frequently cited as a very difficult read. What I found with Faulkner is it's best to discover the rhythm of his sentences, and they have a pronounced rhythm, turn off your internal critic and just let that rhythm carry you. When I did that, I'd find myself 50 pages deep in no time, wondering how I got there and if I'd retained any of what I'd read. So I went back and skimmed and found, yes, indeed, I had picked up the plot, knew the characters, and had the foundation for the rest of the novel.


Randy M.
 
Started this for Halloween:

Only a few pages into it but I like the atmosphere and the writing. R. Chetwynd-Hayes is a fairly new discovery and like Jack Vance, Edmond Hamilton, and Van Wyck Brooks, I plan on grabbing everything of his I come across.
 
Started listening to Water for Elephants, rather odd and I have to wonder where it is going. But so far an interesting book.
 
About to start The Late George Apley (1937) by John P. Marquand. I don't know much about it -- it appears to be a social satire dealing with Boston society in the first third of the Twentieth Century -- but it's interesting to nore that the author won the Pulitzer Prize for this novel, while also writing popular fiction, particularly the "Mr. Moto" series of spy novels.
 
Finished Cabell's The Eagle's Shadow (subtitled "A Comedy of Purse-Strings"); not my favorite, but very nicely done. It was also interesting because, in the revised edition, Cabell included a controversy concerning the book's first publication which was held in the New York Times....

Have now moved on to the next (#16) of the set, The Cream of the Jest, with "The Lineage of Lichfield", subtitled "Two Comedies of Evasion". Here we return to the fantastic (and Poictesme) with a vengeance; we also see Cabell beginning to tie together the various layers of the structure of the "Biography" in ways which, for those who have read so far, show just how subtle and varied those various connections, foreshadowings, repetitions, and interrelated references are. Nor are they simply surface "lore", but integral to the themes and philosophical nuances of the "Biography" as a whole....
 
I haven't had a lot of time to read this month since I started taking a class for work...who's idea was that...arg

Still reading Goblin Moon. I think I have about 80 pages to go!
 
Fantasy: started The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan and dumped it some 90 pages in, as there's only so much of a petulent 30+ year old adolescent male I can take; moved onto The Briar King by Greg Keyes -- sticking with it for the moment despite grave reservations about characters and plot.

Science fantasy: Space Captain Smith by our own Toby Frost -- fun!

Crime: Stick by Elmore Leonard -- sparely written and he takes no prisoners with his dialogue, but enjoyable.

Non-fiction: The Tower of London: The Biography by Stephen Porter -- disappointing in its lack of detail and illustrations; rather better is The Spirit of Venice: From Marco Polo to Casanova by Paul Strathern, which is well-written and immensely entertaining.
 
Hey TJ, I read the Briar King and the other 3? books in the series in a row a couple years ago and actually really liked them a lot. I hope you stick with it.
 
I got off to a bad start with it, I have to say, with the rather boring and repetitious "Prelude" which is set hundreds of years in the past, so has nothing to do with the characters of the main story but seems shoved in there simply to start the book with lots of fighting, then the "Prologue" with the young girls which could be omitted without any loss at all, then the first five chapters with four different POV characters, none of whom are connected, and which includes a dream sequence, of all things, solely designed to get in fighting which isn't otherwise there. And don't get me started on rebellious, feisty, teenage Princesses...

I'll probably see it through to the end, but I'm really not that impressed with the characterisation nor the dialogue, so I'm certainly not going to be rushing out to buy book 2, but I might pick it up if I came across it in a second hand stall, which is where I got this one, in fact.
 
It is funny that you say all of that because before I did any writing, most things didn't bother me. Now I read books differently (even though I still enjoy a badly written book as long as it's fun) so who knows how I would react to this if I read it for the first time now. I did really enjoy them and there were a couple of really cool ideas in the books and some neat characters. IMO
 
I think it's very true about reading things differently. I'm sure if I'd read it a few years ago I'd have been a lot more accepting eg about the dream sequence, though that wretched Princess would still have annoyed me! To be fair to him, I can see (now I've got further into the book) that he is reaching past the cliché to show character development which will presumably take place in the next book. And Aspar is better drawn, and I am enjoying Stephen's storyline. There's just not quite enough there for me, though.
 
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