The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!

[MonsieurHulot]

I'm reading The Stranger (L'Étranger) by Camus pour améliorer mon français as well as Against the Day by Pynchon. I like these two so much that I find myself neglecting studying. 

[Lolly]

I read Sun Tzu after seeing Paul Robinson read it on Neighbours when I was eleven or twelve. I promptly read the book in order to formulate an effective strategy to dealing with bullies. Good ol' War.

You go get 'em.

I'm reading The Stranger (L'Étranger) by Camus pour améliorer mon français as well as Against the Day by Pynchon. I like these two so much that I find myself neglecting studying. 

Ditto when I was reading The Book Thief.

ATM I'm reading the Communist Manifesto, just 'cause. Next up is Fahrenheit 451.

[brenden]

I'm finishing off Perks [again], moving onto Walden after my exams. Recently read Mrs. Dalloway and quite liked it, although it was very different to anything I'd read before.

[Lolly]

Recently read Mrs. Dalloway and quite liked it, although it was very different to anything I'd read before.

You can say that again.

[brenden]

HAHAHAHAHA. Honestly, I was really lost. I would normally read a book that size in a few hours or less. I started Thursday morning at some time and finished it in the afternoon on Friday. The hardest thing was not zoning out in order to identify the narrative jumps. Sometimes it was like "wait who the fuck is talking right now?"

[Lolly]

Preeeeeeetty much my reaction upon first reading. WTF WTF WTF IS GOING ON

[Lolly]

And Ulysses. Don't even ask. No I haven't finished it yet.

[dilks]

Are there any Don DeLillo fans here who could recommend a good follow-up to White Noise?

[alondouek]

I'm reading The Stranger (L'Étranger) by Camus pour améliorer mon français

Vraiment une bonne choix! L'Étranger était l'un de livres les plus inspirants que j'ai lu pour Français; c'était formidable. Peut-être que vous pouvez également essayer de lire Dumas et Hugo? Un peu difficile, mais certainement bon pour apprendre la phraséologie française.

ATM I'm reading the Communist Manifesto, just 'cause. Next up is Fahrenheit 451.

HAHA I thought I was the only person who read Marx and Engels for kicks I found the politics in the Manifesto to be fairly contrary to my own opinions, but it gave a really, really good insight into historical social and academic thought of the time. It's also interesting to see how a fair bit of the political and social rhetoric has remained pretty much the same in certain political domains as it was in the Manifesto...

Fahrenheit 451 is a beautiful novel. I read it the night before last year's English exam, and it definitely influenced the subtle sense of dystopia that I tried to introduce into my context piece. (NOTE to all English students reading this: Read books throughout VCE, and not just the ones you have to. You pick up expression and style that is really well reflected in the pieces you create).

And Ulysses. Don't even ask. No I haven't finished it yet.

Thinking about giving it a go after exams. Is it worth it?

[charmanderp]

Ulysses is the bomb. You may not enjoy it at all times but it's quite a spectacular read.

[brenden]

I agree with alon... A lot of my structural/narrative choices were influenced by S.King

[JellyDonut]

I'm reading The Stranger (L'Étranger) by Camus pour améliorer mon français as well as Against the Day by Pynchon. I like these two so much that I find myself neglecting studying. 

hipster

that's okay  though. the book person gave me the biggest dirties when i bought what is literature by satre and travels in hyperreality by umberto eco.

ive been reading maldorors by lautreamont.

[Lolly]

Vraiment une bonne choix! L'Étranger était l'un de livres les plus inspirants que j'ai lu pour Français; c'était formidable. Peut-être que vous pouvez également essayer de lire Dumas et Hugo? Un peu difficile, mais certainement bon pour apprendre la phraséologie française.

HAHA I thought I was the only person who read Marx and Engels for kicks I found the politics in the Manifesto to be fairly contrary to my own opinions, but it gave a really, really good insight into historical social and academic thought of the time. It's also interesting to see how a fair bit of the political and social rhetoric has remained pretty much the same in certain political domains as it was in the Manifesto...

Fahrenheit 451 is a beautiful novel. I read it the night before last year's English exam, and it definitely influenced the subtle sense of dystopia that I tried to introduce into my context piece. (NOTE to all English students reading this: Read books throughout VCE, and not just the ones you have to. You pick up expression and style that is really well reflected in the pieces you create).

Thinking about giving it a go after exams. Is it worth it?

 I'm also doing Revs concurrently, so I figured that reading the Communist Manifesto was a necessary supplement to my education. And maybe I can quote it in my essays.
Yeah , it's really interesting. I write in my books so I was scribbling like crazy about how THIS ARGUMENT IS LOGICALLY FLAWED and  THE BOLSHEVIKS DIDN'T EVEN DO THIS. It didn't take long to read so now I'm going through all of this extra commentary which makes up like 3/4 of the edition ( I'm still trying to figure out the link between Hegel and Marx but I haven't read very far yet.)

 Oh, and incidentally my friends are having a joint "Communist" party this weekend. ( Get it...Communist"? ) I'm going to buy them both copies of CM and come dressed as Alexandra Kollontai. NERDS LIKE TO DO NERDY THINGS ^______^

I'm the same as you guys in absorbing what I read and the way it comes out in my writing. I guess that's how language works. Yes, please do read books apart from the English texts, it's an extremely excellent pastime and boosts your vocabulary and your imagination and your ability to think logically and critically overall.
 
Reading Ulysses? You have to be really committed. Prepare to get your brain fried, but it's still well worth it. I got about a quarter of the way through and it actually took forever even to get that far and I haven't picked it up since. I do have the full intention of doing so, probably also after exams. I was new to existentialist-stream-of-consciousness-type-writing ( I think I was reading Mrs Dalloway around the same time). You'll miss a lot of the allusions to Greek myth and classic literature he pulls out, ( Joyce likes being a smart arse and writing things that will go waaaaaay over the head of the average reader) but don't worry about it. Just enjoy the writing. The prose is truly beautiful. If you can, get your hands on an audio copy because Joyce wrote with an ear for language. Hearing the sound and tone of words and the pacing of the sentences is half the enjoyment, although I suppose you could get a similar effect by hearing the sound in your head. Also be aware that Joyce doesn't discriminate about what he documents about the human thought process. ie: The main character is introduced while sitting on the toilet, (...) and there are countless explicit references, and I think the last chapter ( the really really really long one with absolutely no punctuation which ends in Molly saying "yes") is basically depicting Molly's thoughts and memories while engaging in intercourse. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Joyce takes the most high and noble human thoughts and then balances them with human carnality and crudeness. He's trying to tell the truth about every single aspect of the human condition and consciousness and...let's just say he doesn't miss a lot.   If you want to read it, anticipate a challenge in the way the text is written as well as the subject matter itself. Yet also expect it to be really invigorating read and insightful about human nature.

( A side note: Have you ever read the letters Joyce wrote to his mistress?....0__________0  ).

[Professor Polonsky]

Oh, and incidentally my friends are having a joint "Communist" party this weekend. ( Get it...Communist"? ) I'm going to buy them both copies of CM and come dressed as Alexandra Kollontai. NERDS LIKE TO DO NERDY THINGS ^______^

That's pretty fucking awesome.

[brenden]

I guess at that party, all guests will be equal, but some will be more equal than others?
I can see it now.

"The partiers looked from sober people, to drunk people. And from sober people to drunk people again... But already it was impossible to tell which was which."