Gay Forum

Lucas_HG wrote:I've been trying to read Steppenwolf, but it seems that I simply cannot. Maybe if I had read it as a teenager, but now it just makes me want to scream... I'm kind of ashamed to admit it!

I tried reading Hesse in my teens. Just couldn't. And yet his works seemed very popular with teenagers when I was growing up.

If you want to read an intellectually stimulating piece of fiction, I'd suggest Vladimir Bartol's Alamut. It may be hard to find because it was translated into English only after the 9/11 attacks even though it had been written in the late 1930s. The story is very engaging on many levels. It can be read as a historical adventure novel (apparently it inspired the Assassin's Creed games), but is in fact a much more nuanced, allegorical piece of work raising questions on spirituality, faith and politics. But even if you don't get everything, the plot is still fascinating by itself.


I'm one-third through Michael Cunningham's By Nightfall. I don't know what to think of it yet. The stream-of-consciousness passages don't appear engaging nor are they particularly insightful. Yet. I think I know how the book is going to end, but I don't mind. This novel seems more about the exploration of the psyche and the meditation on the world around us, especially art.

Derek wrote:I couldn't get through it either.

asnicolas wrote:I tried reading Hesse in my teens. Just couldn't. And yet his works seemed very popular with teenagers when I was growing up.

Oh phew, I'm relieved to hear I'm not the only one! I've honestly been embarrassed by my inability to read Steppenwolf. I even enjoyed Cities of the Red Night by William S. Burroughs (not to mention Vellum and Ink by the brilliant Hal Duncan -- A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. books, by the way), so I don't think I'm too blond to read Steppenwolf, haha!

asnicolas wrote:If you want to read an intellectually stimulating piece of fiction, I'd suggest Vladimir Bartol's Alamut. It may be hard to find because it was translated into English only after the 9/11 attacks even though it had been written in the late 1930s. The story is very engaging on many levels. It can be read as a historical adventure novel (apparently it inspired the Assassin's Creed games), but is in fact a much more nuanced, allegorical piece of work raising questions on spirituality, faith and politics. But even if you don't get everything, the plot is still fascinating by itself.


I'm one-third through Michael Cunningham's By Nightfall. I don't know what to think of it yet. The stream-of-consciousness passages don't appear engaging nor are they particularly insightful. Yet. I think I know how the book is going to end, but I don't mind. This novel seems more about the exploration of the psyche and the meditation on the world around us, especially art.

I'm going to see if I can find Bartol's Alamut (making a note on my To Read list. ) I once took out Cunningham's A Home at the End of the World but I never got around to reading it before I had to return it to the library. That's the danger of doing like I do and taking out several books, haha. But what can I say, I just can't resist books! I must say though that your last sentence made me really want to read By Nightfall! (Going on my To Read list, too.)

Lucas_HG wrote:Oh! This sounds interesting. I've been trying to read Steppenwolf, but it seems that I simply cannot. Maybe if I had read it as a teenager, but now it just makes me want to scream...

I had a hard time with it, too. Didn't particularly like it at the time, although that probably had something to do with the fact I read Hesse's "Siddhartha" and "Journey to the East" first, and expected more of the "eastern mysticism" vibe. I found it frankly depressing, but I've probably just missed the essential point. I liked "The Outsider" by Albert Camus better, which has some similar themes, I think.

I'm loving this book!

not-what-i-want wrote:I'm loving this book!

They just get better and better! Angela and Solembum are my favourites~

Nicholas wrote:

not-what-i-want wrote:I'm loving this book!

They just get better and better! Angela and Solembum are my favourites~

I've actually never even heard of this book series before until my friend bought me this book xD

not-what-i-want wrote:I've actually never even heard of this book series before until my friend bought me this book xD

You're lucky that you only started reading them now, as all four are finished and published. I started reading Eragon when it first came out and Christopher Paolini is the slowest writer, ever! It took ten years from the first until the fourth was finally published. If you like it now, you're going to be in love by the end. Are you a fast reader?

The pomodoro technique.

Frigid wrote:The pomodoro technique.

How's it working for you?

Incredibly good.

Hadrian wrote:

Incredibly good.

Fuck

i need to get on this guy

I'm almost done with Wheel of Time. Halfway through the last book. Sanderson really has saved the series

Loop wrote:Fuck

i need to get on this guy

I'm almost done with Wheel of Time. Halfway through the last book. Sanderson really has saved the series

Start with "The Final Empire" - Book 1 in the Mistborn Series.

"Inferno" by Dan Brown. I know it's mainstream, but it was £4 in Waterstones so I had to buy it. It's not bad so far, actually. Plus it's not set in America, which is good for me as I didn't like the ones that were. (What can I say; I like the European touch!)

Nicholas wrote:

not-what-i-want wrote:I've actually never even heard of this book series before until my friend bought me this book xD

You're lucky that you only started reading them now, as all four are finished and published. I started reading Eragon when it first came out and Christopher Paolini is the slowest writer, ever! It took ten years from the first until the fourth was finally published. If you like it now, you're going to be in love by the end. Are you a fast reader?

10 years? wow haha. Sadly I'm a bit of a slow reader aha but I'd eventually read them all! Along with Game of Thrones and a bunch of other books I've yet to read! xD

I just finished Taking South Park Seriously and South Park and Philosophy for the lulz. Both are collections of essays linking South Park to common philosophical ideas, political ideologies and art history. The former was actually pretty interesting while the latter treats the reader like a child and seems to try and force South Park into a mold that fits the views expressed by the authors rather than take a (more or less) neutral approach and interpret from there. Was a rather tedious read.

Now reading A History of Korea by Jinwung Kim because my Korean History Professor is a snooze. It's ok so far, the factual content seems adequate but the writing style seems rather one-sided.

I read Escape from Camp 14 last week and finished Norwegian Wood today.

Escape from Camp 14 was interesting, insightful and shocking, illuminating an issue that is widely overlooked(the North Korean work camps).

Norwegian Wood though? Masterpiece. I was absolutely engulfed in the story, it felt like an autobiography of a fictional person, really.

"Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov

I'm about half way through Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes...it's really good so far, the antagonist is really f'd up After that, I'm gonna read the uncut edition of The Stand I bought for $9. 1400+ pages

The Deadly Sisterhood by Leonie Frieda.



It's narrative non-fiction to do with powerful women from renaissance Italy.
Haven't gotten too far through and people are accusing it of diluting the main women to tell the world context or uncritically retelling legends and rumours But I'm just going along for the ride.

I finished 5 more Murakami novels since this time last month. Bathroom breaks and short train trips add up.