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One flew over the cuckoos nest

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Undercoverlovers 100 REDUX

Recently I finished Identity Crisis which I dug the hell out of (especially since, I sadly admit, it was the first comic I've ever read) and just yesterday Christopher Priest's The Prestige.

I was slightly, only slightly, dissapointed with The Prestige because I had wrongly made the assumption that it was about dueling magicians who battle with stage trickery, or something. Which in many ways, it was, but it is far from a battle as one would assume. However, I did LOVE the book because of how damn well it was written and the simple and brilliant use of 5 different narratives. Unfolding the story through the various narrators was a slick move that masterfully established hate for certain characters, but upon an innocent switch to another character such hate is redeemed. I loved how even in the begining it hinted at all the hidden truths throughout the book and that even when nothing substantial is happening, it still captures the awe of watching an illusion and subtly trying to figure out the reality behind it. I recommend it to anyone who loved the wonder of magic as a kid.

And I am damned interested to see how the Nolan's have adapted the script. If they've kept the 5 seperate narratives, it'll be glorious.

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Horror's Not Dead
Latest Movie Review(s): Too lazy to keep this up to date. New reviews every week.

but i cannot focus, see! when i do i finish the book in like, a few hours and then i'm left bereft and upset that the refreshing text is GONE, gobbled up, no more left.

i think i've seen this salvatore name before ... i shall research. thank you!

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life without movies is like cereal without milk. possible, but disgusting. but not nearly as bad as cereal with water. don't lie. I know you've done it.

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
The **** Up by Arthur Nersesian
Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

Either of these any good?

Last week I read Kafka on the Shore (BY the Shore? AT the Shore?)... Umm, I've read less coherent books than this chatty nonsense but I still think Murakami is lazy. Well at least it's easy to read, and it's got some hot semi-incestual romance... it's got those two things going for it. The first fifty to a hundred pages had a lot of momentum, and even the weaker parts later on were better than the other Murakami novel that I've read.

This week I'm reading Martian Time Slip by PKD. I like it, but I think this'll be my last K. Dick novel for a while.

Have you read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle? I've been meaning to get to that one, but I've been busy.

No, the "other one" I referred to was Wild Sheep Chase, which was instantly forgettable. So much so that I instantly forgot it. I've heard Bird Chronicle is a better one, but I'm not in any hurry to read more of his stuff.

Well, I love them both, but you really have to be into that kinda thing.

They are definitely acquired tastes.

If you've read anything by Palahniuk before, you know what to expect with Choke. Of his stuff, it's my personal favorite because the characters are a whole helluva lot better developed and it's easier to get into the book. Plus, it kind of hits closer to home with me because my best friend is a mirror image of Choke's main character Vincent.

Running With Scissors was just amazing. It's a collection of memoirs by this Burroughs fella (who is one sick puppy) that chronicles his trials and tribulations through youth with at least four laugh-out-loud moments on every page. But ye gods some of the **** he pulled was pretty ****ed up. The guy's disturbed, to be sure. Despite that though, the man can write and Running With Scissors is one of the most entertaining things I've ever read.

But like I said, this kind of pitch black comedy is an acquired taste.

Well, I read and enjoyed Palahniuk's Fight Club and Stranger Than Fiction, so I'll probably check out Choke. If you say the characters are better developed, then I'm there. That was my one complaint about Fight Club.

I've been wanting to read Running with Scissors for some time now. I haven't read much black comedy, honestly, but I'm open to read anything (unless the author's name starts with "Nathaniel Hawthorne"). I've got a long list of "must reads" at the moment, but I'll definitely stick Running with Scissors somewhere close to the top. Thanks!

just finished Prince caspian, im working my way through the chronicles of narnia

My dad's given me this to read

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Just finished Chuck Palahniuk's Haunted. Horrible stuff. I really don't think i'm a fan of his. I don't know whether to cry or vomit. Just the most bleak stories.

On a lighter note i just finished Steve Martins Shop Girl. It was pleasant enough. It reads like an automobile manual for the thinking process's of men and women who are in or attempting to succeed in a relationship.

I'm currently reading Orwells Animal Farm and William Goldman's The Princess Bride. Loving them both.

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Pumpkins scream in the DEAD of night!

Ouch, is this the first Palahniuk you've read? If so, you probably should have started with something else. I haven't read it myself yet because I know what it is. I hear it's some of the most disgusting, vile stories you could ever read. I won't pass judgment until I read it (that is, IF I ever read it).

I attempted to read that one, and failed. It's not that I don't like Steve Martin (in fact, I loved Pure Drivel). I think it was just that the book seemed too, as you put it, "pleasant." I like "pleasant" as much as the next guy, just not a whole novel of it.

Kudos on Animal Farm. It's one of the most important books ever written, by arguably the best author of the 20th Century. If you haven't read it, I strongly recommend finding the time to read 1984. I finally read it a month ago, and now I can't imagine having never read it. It's THAT good.

Unfortunatly it was the first Palahniuk that i have read. I kind of knew what i was getting into because im aware of his style of writing, and i do like to be shocked, but its just continous, horrific, bleak, self destructive characters and stories that was hell to get through. And with not much of an ending either.
I know exactly what you mean. Its hardly a book of excitement. It's literally just a close study of the relationships of this 'Shop Girl'. It's 'nice' and well written. But not much else.
Thanks Sleez, i'm loving it so far, and as its a short book i should have it finished tomorrow i should imagine. And sitting on my book shelf just waiting for me is 1984. I Can't wait

I've read that Palahniuk likes to read selections from that book at public coffeehouse readings just to gross everyone out and make them depressed. Apparently, he goes so far as to recruit his writing students to attend these readings, and fake throwing up (holding runny oatmeal in their mouthes?) at strategic times for effect.

If you want to give Palahniuk another go, I'd suggest reading Stranger Than Fiction. It's tamer, more accessible, and VERY well-written. Most of the short pieces are articles he's written for various publications, and they are all interesting tales about stuff you've probably never heard about (like an annual farm combine destruction derby in the Northwest, or a trio of guys who's hobbies include building castles). Good stuff.

Currently reading: Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier

- I finished it and loved it.

- Went out and bought it right after I finished Eragon and finished it in three days. Paolini is such a great writer and I'm looking forward to the conclusion.

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"Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." -Patton 1970

I just bought -

Collected poems, Philip Larkin

Staying alive; real poems for unreal times, edited by Neil Astley

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i'm reading The shipping news - Annie Proulx, it was rather difficult to get used to her style after just having read the great gatsby, i actually thought about abandoning it, it seemed illegible, but i'm glad i stuck with it, it's an exellent novel....

i've also read Sputnik sweetheart by Murakami, The wasp factory by Iain Banks ( both exellent ) and The line of beauty by Hollinghurts - an absolute drag of a novel, completely overrated....

and i would like to take this oportunity and thank whom ever it was that suggested The time travellers wife, it's one of the best books i've ever read....

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http://www.last.fm/user/diezelpower/

Just re-read Catcher in the Rye. Next up is Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. Then possibly On The Road by Jack Kerouac which I started last year but never finished.

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"Like all dreamers, Steven mistook disenchantment for truth."