The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

recomended to me by late night pilgrim.

Set in the greater Toronto area. The Blind Assassin revolves around a woman's life as she lived it. The story line frequently jumps from present day to her younger life. Woven into the plot as well is a science fiction tale, narrated by an unknown man.

I found this to be a well written story, and it had a plot that propelled me to read faster, so I could find out what happened next. I would recomend this novel to anyone interested in comtemporary fiction.

I'm reading Jinx's "Invisible Frontier" right now. Though it hardly qualifies as "literature" in the usual sense of the word, it's not as terrible a read as alot of urbexers have painted it. Though their...cockiness (maybe that's not the best word but if you read it you'll understand what I'm talking about) and sense of self-importance is somewhat undermining. I'll give a fuller review when I finish it.

The last really good book I read was called "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay". It's by Michael Chabon. Basically, It's about this guy who left Prague just as the Nazi's were invading. He comes to America, and he and his cousin start a comic book, which is very successful. The story itself is kinda complicated, and I dont want to give anythign away, but basically its got all kinds of good stuff in it. One of the best books i've ever read.

I completly agree. This was another recomendation given to me. I found the plot to be riveting. The imagery and language that Chabon uses is at a level I had not seen before. Beautiful and moving. If you haven't read this, go and get a copy asap.


ps. Chabon just came out with a new book.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

The Rest of that series is pretty good to and if you like it read the other series about the boy named Bean.

The Beach by Alex Garland. It came before the movie and is a lot better.

My War Gone By, I Miss It So by Anthony Lloyd

If I'm looking for just a fun read, any of Clive Cussler's stuff.

Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown.

I'm trying to find K-PAX by Gene Brewer at a library around here. I've given Amazon.com enough of my money I'm trying to find books more like K-PAX.

Posted by Grozny I'm trying to find K-PAX by Gene Brewer at a library around here. I've given Amazon.com enough of my money I'm trying to find books more like K-PAX.

Have you read the book before? I'm just wondering how different it is from the movie.

No, I haven't. I imagine it will be just as good as the movie though. I really enjoy movies like that.

FEED by M.T. Anderson and PLEASE by Peter Darbyshire are two of my favorite books and best recommendations. I'm too drunk right now to type coherent summaries of each novel but you can click linkies.

Time for some PoMo fun
Lost in the Funhouse by John Barth
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
The Sand Child by Tahat Ben Jelloun
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Infinate Jest by David Foster Wallace
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius by Dave Eggers
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse: Story of an indian man seeking enlightenment. Great so far. As the back of the book says, its beautifuly written yet still simple to understand. Reading about Siddhartha's trials and tribulations in reaching enlightenment really makes me think about what is beyond death... Recommended to me by Mingo.

Kim by Rudyard Kipling: Just cus its the other book about India that I really liked. About a boy named Kim and his travels as he becomes an assistent of sorts to a Holy Man searching for a mystical river of truth and enlightenment. I liked this book alot more than The Jungle Books and I liked the Jungle Books alot. Kim has amazing characters that you really care about.

Posted by Maxwell Smart Siddhartha by Herman Hesse:

Yeah, I have that one, its really good. I picked up a beat-up paperback at my library discarded book sale. Then I was luck to find hard-cover version at half price books. (Siiddhartha in a hard-cover is kinda rare these days)

I'm almost done Siddhartha. I just got a big, original illustrations, original text and everything copy of Alice in Wonderland and Through the looking glass. I never saw the disney cartoon, but I love the song "White Rabbit" so im looking foward to reading it =D

Posted by Maxwell Smart I'm almost done Siddhartha. I just got a big, original illustrations, original text and everything copy of Alice in Wonderland and Through the looking glass. I never saw the disney cartoon, but I love the song "White Rabbit" so im looking foward to reading it =D

you need to watch this rendition of the movie
(my favortive movie ever. a stop-motion Alice In Wonderland created by a czech surrealist named Jan Svankmajer - he creates everything out of meat and animal bones and broken dolls... very cool..)

http://www.illumin.co.uk/svank/films/alice/alice.html

Most of the stuff I've been reading lately is non-fiction dealing with urban history, planning and politics. A few good books I've read lately are...

American Pharaoh by Adam Cohen and Elizabeth Taylor, it's subject being the late mayor Richard J. Daley and his rise in Chicago politics. A dense read, but I think anyone interested in urban American politics, especially the period from the mid-50's to the late 70's, would like this book.

How Cities Work by Alex Marshall. A short, very readable book about urban planning, specifically the (negative) effect car-culture and highways have on urban sprawl and how we live.

The Immortal Class by Travis Hugh Culley. A autobiographical book dealing with Culley's job as a bike messenger in Chicago. His observations about car vs. bike culture in Chicago are pretty interesting. I should probably say that Travis is a friend of mine so I may be a bit biased, but it really is a good book.

Okay, that's it for now...

-N

THD, that movie looks like its a trip to watch... Where did you find a copy of it?

Posted by Maxwell Smart THD, that movie looks like its a trip to watch... Where did you find a copy of it?

You can buy it off of amazon easily

I think that's where our copy came from

"Going Out" and "Bright Young Things" by Scarlett Thomas.
"Microserfs", "Girlfriend in a Coma" and "Hey Nostradamus!" by Douglas Coupland.
"Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson
"Norweigan Wood" by Haruki Murakami
"number9dream" by David Mitchell


just some of my faves.

Just finished "A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genuis", by David Eggers.
It was pretty good, if you don't mind the fact that it makes you a wee bit depressed.

Posted by Drie Just finished "A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genuis", by David Eggers. It was pretty good, if you don't mind the fact that it makes you a wee bit depressed.

I agree. But thats life. A little sad, a little odd. Now and then you get a handy diagram.