The Reader’s Nook - The N&G Book Thread

Badams said:
What were your issues with it? My feelings on it are still pretty mixed after reading it earlier this year
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I just tried really hard to get into it, but found it mostly confounding, bleak, and heavy-handed. The narrative is very fractured, and not just in the sense that it’s being told by the narrator post-facto; there are a lot of moments where a person turns out to be a beast or vice-versa (and we’re meant to understand the significance of the person or beast without being told what that is), there are mentions of people and places I don’t have any understanding of, everyone is an enigma. It was just doing so much, and I had nothing to actually hold onto in terms of plot, place or character. It feels like James was trying to replicate oral mythology in doing so, but I just felt like there was a lot that the author understood which I did not.

I know these are all traits of the best fantasy writing, but I don’t think it worked here. And, based on my gripes, the fact that all reviews (and now descriptions in year-end lists) simply cover the back-cover description of “tracker sent to find boy” tells me that the book was just as slippery for other readers. I haven’t seen anyone dig deeper into the plot/characters, and nobody can even explain what they liked about it, or why they liked it.
 
Indymisanthrope said:
@Tyr and I talked about it a while ago. Whole series is on my to-read shelf. Someday. Someday.
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Indeed we did! I shall share my thoughts below.

ranbalam said:
Starting this...recommended by a friend. Has anyone here read this?
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I have read books 1-5. I purchased book 6 recently but am re-reading the series again over the holiday season prior to jumping into the last one, which I hear is a doozy. I am currently on book 2 again.

Karl Ove Knausgaard is a deeply introspective person and it comes across in a very vivid manner in his writing. He constantly analyzes the thoughts and reasons behind words and events almost as intricately as an anthropologist would. He also subscribes to the free-form thought association writing style that has been popularized by the autofiction genre (though I would contend that his writing falls more on the auto side). His writing will start by describing a specific event and devolve into a recollection of a previous event that has some anecdotal tie to the one he is initially describing. In some cases, he will jump to a third, and separate, event in his retelling of the first and second.

I say all that above to warn you about what you are about to undertake. The points above can either be positives or negatives depending on how you view writing. I have a strong affinity for the way he writes, even if he is wordy at times. Why take 15 words to say what could be said in 15 paragraphs? This seems to be the way he approaches not only environment building, but also character and dialogue structure. By the end of Book 1, you will know exactly how he makes his coffee (there is a lot of caffeine brewed in book 1), his thoughts on almost his entire family, how he ties his shoes, and what the lamp posts in Bergen look like in minute detail. LOL

In theory, his writing style shouldn't work. I've heard a couple people describe it as banal. But I COULD NOT STOP reading his books. His prose is both stylistic and heartbreakingly vulnerable. I initially tore through the first 3 books at lightning speed.

In short, I love these books. I talk about them regularly. But I only recommend them to certain types of people. I hope you enjoy it!
 
Ericj32 said:
Same, except I’ve only bought the first book. Interested in hearing your thoughts on it @ranbalam !
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I definitely will, I have barely cracked it open at this point...but even in the 15 pages I've read, I found that I wanted to get back to it soon.

Tyr said:
Indeed we did! I shall share my thoughts below.



I have read books 1-5. I purchased book 6 recently but am re-reading the series again over the holiday season prior to jumping into the last one, which I hear is a doozy. I am currently on book 2 again.

Karl Ove Knausgaard is a deeply introspective person and it comes across in a very vivid manner in his writing. He constantly analyzes the thoughts and reasons behind words and events almost as intricately as an anthropologist would. He also subscribes to the free-form thought association writing style that has been popularized by the autofiction genre (though I would contend that his writing falls more on the auto side). His writing will start by describing a specific event and devolve into a recollection of a previous event that has some anecdotal tie to the one he is initially describing. In some cases, he will jump to a third, and separate, event in his retelling of the first and second.

I say all that above to warn you about what you are about to undertake. The points above can either be positives or negatives depending on how you view writing. I have a strong affinity for the way he writes, even if he is wordy at times. Why take 15 words to say what could be said in 15 paragraphs? This seems to be the way he approaches not only environment building, but also character and dialogue structure. By the end of Book 1, you will know exactly how he makes his coffee (there is a lot of caffeine brewed in book 1), his thoughts on almost his entire family, how he ties his shoes, and what the lamp posts in Bergen look like in minute detail. LOL

In theory, his writing style shouldn't work. I've heard a couple people describe it as banal. But I COULD NOT STOP reading his books. His prose is both stylistic and heartbreakingly vulnerable. I initially tore through the first 3 books at lightning speed.

In short, I love these books. I talk about them regularly. But I only recommend them to certain types of people. I hope you enjoy it!
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Thanks for sharing...I'm going to give it a go!
 
Finishing up the latest book in the sci fi book club I have with my friends (which has shockingly been going for 2 years???). But it's called The Sparrow and it's by Mary Doria Russell, and it's v good.

Closing out 2019 with How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell. Didn't read nearly as much in 2019 as I would have liked, so this feels like a nice reset, and another goal to have for 2020.
 
Teeeee said:
I started A Brief History of Seven Killings last night. Before I realized what I have gotten myself into. Man, the reviews of this book are stellar but also frightening. This book might kill every single bit of my momentum to read 52 books in a year. Anyone else read it?

@Bennnnn - how are you progressing on that stream of consciousness book? Still enjoying it?
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A Brief History of Seven Killings is one of the best books I've ever read. It was not as challenging as some of the reviews led me to believe it would be. The reviews said 75% of the book is in patois and very hard to follow. Um, not even a little bit of truth to that. Patois is just a dialect, it isn't a foreign language. And just a tiny bit of reading comprehension skills make it not difficult.

I will say this - I am happy that I read a little bit about the lay out of the book. Each chapter is from a different person's point of view and we aren't told who that person is. You have to intuit or figure it out. And one of the characters is a ghost, which I could see being confusing if you didn't know. But the skill that Marlon James possesses to give each of these characters a distinct voice is stunning. Marlon does not treat the readers with kid gloves. He throws you into the middle of the story, trusting that you are intelligent enough to pick it up as it goes. And the reader has to trust that Marlon is leading us somewhere, even if you don't really know where you are or where you are going. But there is a point, there is a fantastic story contained in this book.

I highly recommend this. It is very long. But I devoured it. I couldn't wait to get a break at work to pick this up and read more.
 
Finally finished reading this, which took me an embarrassingly long time (like a year and a half).... mostly because it’s not the best written book I’ve ever read. Also because it would send me on musical journeys.
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on to this Christmas present from my dear wife:
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I finished The Testaments.

I should not have read it right after A Brief History of Seven Killings, which was brilliant and dense. The Testaments felt really easy and light and like a YA book, which I know it isn't. It was good enough. It was great to get an update on several of the characters from The Handmaid's Tale. There was some backstory to some other characters. I don't know. Not my favorite book ever but not bad. It will probably get lost in the shuffle and I won't think about it again.

I started Space Opera which is about a Eurovision type talent show for the entire galaxy. The loser gets annihilated. It's hysterical, not for everyone at all. @Waitressboy - I think you told me about this book. Have you read it?
 
Teeeee said:
. The Testaments felt really easy and light and like a YA book, which I know it isn't. It was good enough. It was great to get an update on several of the characters from The Handmaid's Tale.
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This is exactly how I felt. I read it right after I read The Handmaid's Tale for the first time and it felt almost trite in comparison. A sequel for a sequel's sake.
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
This is exactly how I felt. I read it right after I read The Handmaid's Tale for the first time and it felt almost trite in comparison. A sequel for a sequel's sake.
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Almost like taking advantage of the popularity of the show. And it kind of boxes them into a story line on the show, right? Cause the show takes place before The Testaments. So do they plan to have the show's story line move along towards the storyline of The Testaments?

It also is kind of a giant spoiler for the show.
 
Teeeee said:
Almost like taking advantage of the popularity of the show. And it kind of boxes them into a story line on the show, right? Cause the show takes place before The Testaments. So do they plan to have the show's story line move along towards the storyline of The Testaments?

It also is kind of a giant spoiler for the show.
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I do think she said she wanted to flesh out the world of Gilead thus the sequel but also she wanted to yes give the show runners of the tv show a guide on where it should be headed. In that sense, it’s kind of an odd book - like an odd reason for it to exist. I enjoyed it a lot, but it did feel much lighter in its prose compared to THT.
 
Teeeee said:
I started Space Opera which is about a Eurovision type talent show for the entire galaxy. The loser gets annihilated. It's hysterical, not for everyone at all. @Waitressboy - I think you told me about this book. Have you read it?
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It wasn't me but I've been wanting to read that book since I knew about it.
If you like funny books with black humor, I recommend Christopher Moore's books.
 
Waitressboy said:
It wasn't me but I've been wanting to read that book since I knew about it.
If you like funny books with black humor, I recommend Christopher Moore's books.
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Dammit - who was it??? Cause it was a funny as shit book. Rambling sentences, made up creatures and planets, biting humor. Give it a read, pal, you'll like it!
 
Teeeee said:
Dammit - who was it??? Cause it was a funny as shit book. Rambling sentences, made up creatures and planets, biting humor. Give it a read, pal, you'll like it!
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supahypeag said:
Have you heard of Space Opera, a space opera inspired by Eurovision?

www.barnesandnoble.com

Space Opera Author Catherynne Valente on the Out-of-this-World Appeal of Eurovision - B&N Reads

If you follow Catherynne M. Valente on Twitter, you’ve probably seen her Tweeting about something called “Eurovision.” Even if you haven’t, you might have heard a little something about her book Space Opera being “Eurovision in space.” Today, she joins us to explain what Eurovision is, why she...
www.barnesandnoble.com
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it was "Supa Hype - a G" or "Supahy Peag" or "Sup, a hype AG?"
 
Hey, glad you liked Space Opera! It's a weird book, so I was a little nervous that...ya know...you wouldn't.

Also, the name reads like "supa hype ag" as in "super hype aggie," a reference to my undergraduate college (Texas A&M). It was more or less my college email address.
 
supahypeag said:
Hey, glad you liked Space Opera! It's a weird book, so I was a little nervous that...ya know...you wouldn't.

Also, the name reads like "supa hype ag" as in "super hype aggie," a reference to my undergraduate college (Texas A&M). It was more or less my college email address.
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Very weird. Which is why it isn't for everyone. But I laughed at it a lot. Especially the part

where they wanted Yoko Ono to represent Earth. And since she wasn't available, Courtney Love. I was dying.
 
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