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[pisskop]

I feel so slow, being only about a quarter way into "A Dance with Dragons". Luckily it is probably the longest book I will be reading.

I'm about eight pages into Gulag Archipelago since the year started- I read about forty before the challenge. It's dry, fascinating, and puts me to sleep faster than I can read it at night. Aaagh.

In the middle it gets actually interesting. . . and a bit perverse.  I found the trains fascinating.

[miauw62]

I haven't even properly started yet. Tough I'm nearly at the end of "Godverdomse dagen op een godverdomse bol", of wich I'm pretty much sure that it has no English translation. Still a fun book to read tough. It's the entire history of humanity in novel format, 200 pages.

[Sappho]

Finished last night, Book 1: Junky by William S. Burroughs, 50th Anniversary Definitive Edition (Formerly published as "Junk" and "Junkie")

Review:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This book wasn't exactly easy to read. Aside from being full of long-outdated slang, it is clear that this edition has been partially cobbled together from various manuscripts, editions, and notes. Several entire paragraphs were repeated in different parts of the book. However, once you get past these details, it is an excellent book. It gives the straight story about drugs and addiction, without any sugar-coating or apologies. The author makes a lot of really excellent (and well-stated) points regarding society, politics, law, human nature, and especially the truth about drugs, what they do, why people do them, and what addiction is all about. One of the best parts was Appendix 2, the "Introduction" to the original manuscript of the novel, which systematically addresses popular myths about drugs. I'd say the book is worth buying just for those few pages right there, and I can only think the world would be a better place if everyone had read them.

Highly Recommended to anyone who can handle the vocabulary and writing style

[fqllve]

It might be because I read some of his other works first, but I found Junky particularly easy to read. The slang he uses is mostly clear from context and it's very autobiographical and has the feel of being a direct report. It's also very clear and fast-paced and Burroughs doesn't really get bogged down in descriptions, but rather focuses only on the most essential details. It's completely different from his later works in style, but the seed of autobiography seen in Junky can be found in pretty much everything else he's written and I would definitely recommend it as an introduction to his work.

I actually don't remember any directly repeated paragraphs, although that would be typical of Burroughs style (there are several paragraphs in Junky that reappear almost verbatim, or oddly rearranged, in Naked Lunch and The Soft Machine) but it's been a few years since I read the book and while I read it twice, both those times I read it in about two sittings, so it's entirely possible I missed or have forgotten them.

I feel so slow, being only about a quarter way into "A Dance with Dragons". Luckily it is probably the longest book I will be reading.

Those books actually take me forever to read. I'm not sure what it is, but if I read them at my normal pace I have to take breaks where I don't read for a day or two. They easily take me twice as long as any other book of similar length, including stuff like The Brothers Karamazov. I dunno if it's Martin's style or the numerous chapters by characters I'm not very interested in, but I'm gonna be reading that book this year too and I imagine it'll take me longer than a week.

[Dutchling]

I'm reading the Silmarillion at the moment. Damn, I did not expect it to be so boring :/. Half of it is magical singing, the other half is weird Elven names which are all the same (vowel - consonant - consonant - vowel, seriously, come up with something new Tolkien >.>).

I'm at the chapter where Melkor will be (according to the chapter's name) freed though, so stuff might get  bit more interesting .

[Sappho]

Actually I think the fast pace is what made it difficult for me. He introduces no fewer than 6 characters in just over 2 pages near the beginning. I'm a very quick reader but I can't internalize that many characters that quickly, especially with just such short descriptions of each one. I need some details to be able to see the story happening in my head, and Burroughs didn't offer enough for that. I could never keep track of who was who, from the start of the book right up to the finish, and often even lost track of what city he was in. I think to really get everything out of this novel, I'd have to read it again, very slowly, and with a notebook to keep track of who's who and what's going on.

At least my reading went much faster after I realized there was a glossary in the back. It's true that you can deduce most of the slang meanings from context, but it makes reading a lot slower when you have to deduce along the way. After reading through the glossary once I was able to read and understand much faster. As I said, it was definitely a worthwhile read, and I got through it in 2 days, but it was one of the most difficult novels I've read in a long time.

[Dutchling]

I feel so slow, being only about a quarter way into "A Dance with Dragons". Luckily it is probably the longest book I will be reading.

Those books actually take me forever to read. I'm not sure what it is, but if I read them at my normal pace I have to take breaks where I don't read for a day or two. They easily take me twice as long as any other book of similar length, including stuff like The Brothers Karamazov. I dunno if it's Martin's style or the numerous chapters by characters I'm not very interested in, but I'm gonna be reading that book this year too and I imagine it'll take me longer than a week.

Heh. I read those way quicker than usual actually. When I really like a book, I'm done reading them way sooner than I'd like :c

[fqllve]

Actually I think the fast pace is what made it difficult for me. He introduces no fewer than 6 characters in just over 2 pages near the beginning. I'm a very quick reader but I can't internalize that many characters that quickly, especially with just such short descriptions of each one. I need some details to be able to see the story happening in my head, and Burroughs didn't offer enough for that. I could never keep track of who was who, from the start of the book right up to the finish, and often even lost track of what city he was in. I think to really get everything out of this novel, I'd have to read it again, very slowly, and with a notebook to keep track of who's who and what's going on.

I think the trick is that most of the characters aren't really all that important to remember. Part of what makes it so hard to remember them is that they aren't really given any characterization beyond what outrageous criminal things they do. A few characters reappear, but most of them don't reappear in such a way that their earlier appearances are important to keep in mind. The book becomes a lot easier to follow if you think of every section as a vignette and mostly self-contained and keep your focus on Lee instead of the various personalties around him.

Which isn't to say I don't think it'd be interesting to keep track of them but it does make the book a lot harder to read because Burroughs just breezes past everything.

I'm reading the Silmarillion at the moment. Damn, I did not expect it to be so boring :/. Half of it is magical singing, the other half is weird Elven names which are all the same (vowel - consonant - consonant - vowel, seriously, come up with something new Tolkien >.>).

I'm at the chapter where Melkor will be (according to the chapter's name) freed though, so stuff might get  bit more interesting .

I've not read the Silmarillion yet, but I don't think it really ever does. The thing I hear it compared to most is Genesis, so it doesn't seem very readable. From what I've heard, the stuff in the History of Middle Earth series is easier to read, because it's less condensed, but the stories themselves are unfinished and full of footnotes and commentary. But I haven't read those either so take that with a grain of salt.

[Sappho]

I've heard that if you can get through the first half of the Silmarillion, it gets a lot better. I've made about 6 attempts and never got that far so I can't confirm or refute that. There's no shame in quitting if it starts to drive you insane. Tolkien never intended for this stuff to be published anyway. It's all just a bunch of his notes collected and published after his death, basically.

[RedKing]

I'm one of those rare breed that really, really enjoys the Silmarillion. Mostly *because* of the style it's written in. It's archaic heroic saga stuff, like the Epic of Gilgamesh or the Illiad, and yes with more than a hint of Genesis to it as well.

[Sappho]

I enjoyed the Iliad. I couldn't really get immersed in the Bible though. I guess the Silmarillion is really more like the Old Testament than a classic Epic. : )

I wish I could get into it, though. I'm a massive fan of Tolkien and I feel like I'm missing something for never having gotten through this book.

Say, shouldn't I be reading now? My next book has to be a a non-fiction analysis of learning and education in 3-6-year-old children by Maria Montessori, translated in English and lent to me by my boss. It's interesting reading but BONE dry and hard to get through quickly. I might have to do this one in installments, with a different novel between each chapter...

Afterthought: actually, the novel I started writing, nearly finished but never quite got there, based on my QAGS game with a group of B12ers about 5 years ago was written in a half-tribute, half-mocking epic/genesis style. I should finish that effing thing and publish it already! It was something like 35,000 words and still only 3/4 done!

[RedKing]

I suppose a better classical analogy might be the Annals of Tacitus, when it gets into characterizing the politics and character of rulers, and their lineages, and so forth.

I think one of the reasons I love it is how Tolkien goes out of his way to explain that "okay, this guy? he's the grandson of this other guy, who killed this guy, which led to this happening, which led to this guy being taken prisoner..." The section on Turin Turambur is full of that. It's virtually a Greek/Wagnerian tragedy.

[Sappho]

Phew... one chapter of The Advanced Montessori Method (I) down. Definitely gonna need a recovery period for that. I think I'll re-read something fun next.

Montessori reading is interesting, useful, insightful, and should be required for teachers, administrators, politicians, and parents. But dear lord is it dense. I just read about 30 pages and I'm not sure I will be able to read anything much for the rest of the night. It's gonna take me the whole school year to finish this book!

[Lectorog]

I feel so slow, being only about a quarter way into "A Dance with Dragons". Luckily it is probably the longest book I will be reading.

I've read about ten pages of a short story by Lovecraft. (I have a collection I can count as a book.) Started today.
I tried to read The Lord of the Rings, but it was difficult. Put it down after a couple of pages. Maybe it'll be better after the introduction, but I won't skip it.
I'm going to the library tomorrow to get a bunch of books. Some I have listed to read, some that've been referenced in this thread, some that are very popular (easy reads?). I should be able to read at least a couple at any point.
Even in the best conditions I read about a page per minute. This is challenging for me indeed, but I hope I get some books read.

[i2amroy]

Second book down! Current total of 682 pages so far.

Spoiler: Books Finished (click to show/hide)

Valentine's Exile - E.E. Knight
Valentine's Resolve - E.E. Knight