I just finished “Nova” by Samuel R. Delany. Now I’m a quarter of the way through Heinlein’s “Stranger In A Strange Land”.
What are you guys reading?
Finished a few weeks ago: DARK STAR SAFARI by Paul Theroux
Read KEANE, his autobiography.
Am reading:
Penguin’s History of Economic Thought.
Evelyn Waugh’s Ninety-Two Days
Genius by Harold Bloom (the last of his books I buy)
Uh-oh. Now I’m going to have to dig out my copy of “Saint Jack”.
This one’s good.
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. It was a bit slow to start with, but it has become quite engaging reading.
Other books that I have read in the last month or so:
Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card
Shoveling Fuel for a Runaway Train by Brian Czech
A Life’s Music by Andrie Makine
Good subject Blueface.
I was halfway through Friedman’s “The Lexus and the Olive Tree.” What a brilliant and entertaining explanation of globalization.
Then I got sidetracked by “Base Instincts: What Makes Killers Kill?” by Jonathon Pincus MD. The author’s a neurologist who has interviewed/examined over a hundred killers on death row, and the book alternates between accounts of their horrific crimes, descriptions of their abusive childhoods and doctor talk. Gripping lurid details followed by thoughtful analysis and good suggestions for how to reduce abuse and violence. That was a quick book. Now back to the Olive Tree.
K-PAX by Dr. Gene Brewer
I rented, but never finished watching the movie based on this book, and so far the book is not much more exciting. I’ve only read a couple of chapters. If it doesn’t get any better I will put it down.
I am reading The Laramie Project, a play by Moises Kaufman and The Members of Tectonic Theatre Project…I hope to produce and direct it myself some year…yes…with Chinese students…
And for escapism I am just finishing John Irving’s latest effort The Fourth Hand…no bears or wrestling in sight, but he is definitely returning to the cheeky sexuality he so richly penned back in his 158 Pound Marriage / The World According To Garp / Hotel New Hampshire days. A good read as are most of his novels.
And just so I can wave my patriotism around, if you haven’t heard or read Canadian author Timothy Findlay, you can do yourself a real favour by getting some of this guy into you ( 
)…especially Not Wanted On The Voyage or The Wars…
keep turning those pages…
Just finished:
The Private Life of Chairman Mao: The Memoirs of Mao’s Personal Physician – By Zhisui Li
Working on:
Accordion Crimes – By Annie Proulx
[quote=“wolf_reinhold”]Just finished:
The Private Life of Chairman Mao: The Memoirs of Mao’s Personal Physician – By Zhisui Li[/quote]
That’s one I’ve long been wanting to get my hands on. I bet his account of the naked sirens in Mao’s swimming-pool makes “gripping” reading.
I’d ask to borrow your copy, Wolf, but I’m afraid it might be too sticky.
Just finished: Guns, germs & Steel by Jared Diamond.
Reading my way thru a Swedish one: “The Crusader” by Jan Gulliou.
I think he’ll do well in the US market.
Alleycat,
You might be interested in Buchholz’ New Ideas from Dead Economists, which I’m almost finished with.
I’m also reading Gilpin’s Global Political Economy. It’s dense and dry, but informative.
Kiln People by David Brin (surprisingly good, but so far very predictable)
[quote=“Mr He”]Just finished: Guns, germs & Steel by Jared Diamond.
[/quote]
Excellent!
Masters of German Art: Albrecht Durer
A Cambridge History of China: Volume 1: the Ch’in and Han empires
Polly Polar Bear (in Chinese)
2003 Children’s Writers and Illustrators Market
The Western Canon, by Harold Bloom (just to see why anyone takes Borges seriously as a writer)
The Dream of the Red Chamber of Commerce, by Lien Zhan
I thought Delany’s Nova is one of the best Sci-Fi books written in 70s … I re-read it every 3 years or so. Too bad a lot of his other stuff is so … heavy. Are any of Delany’s books still in print?
You may want to check out Gene Wolfe’s Shadow of the Torturer … it’s really quite amazing sci-fi/fantasy that requires multiple readings to appreciate all of the layers the author is working on. He is also a master of language … Wolfe includes words based on Latin or Greek roots, or mythology, that do not exist in our dictionaries but seem so real and fitting to the story. I think Shadow (and the three following novels in the “Book of the Old Sun” series) rank up there with Tolkien and Orson Scott Card’s best works.
Another topical book (for people concerned about Bioterrorism, and all of the posters to the “physical attributes” and “is there the ‘one’?” boards) is Frank Herbert’s The White Plague, which dates from the 70s or early 80s. The plot: An American scientist whose wife is killed in an IRA terrorist attack decides to get revenge by devising a plague that kills only women, and unleashing it upon the Irish and Libyans (who supported the IRA). Pretty scary thought …
I’m midway through Taipei People by Pai Hsien-yung (
Saw a bunch of titles by Ha Jin in Fnac at the weekend. So are they any good or wot?
[quote=“sandman”]
Saw a bunch of titles by Ha Jin in Fnac at the weekend. So are they any good or wot?[/quote]
I’ve loved every word of his I’ve read so far (“Waiting”, “In the Pond”, and “The Bridegroom”). It’s brilliant satire, hilariously funny, the best stuff produced by a mainland writer in years. And what makes it truly amazing is that he wrote it all in English, a language he picked up by listening to the radio (I’m sure it must have been the Beeb) while stationed as a soldier at the Chinese-Russian border. Quite a remarkable man!
[quote=“Omniloquacious”][quote=“sandman”]
Saw a bunch of titles by Ha Jin in Fnac at the weekend. So are they any good or wot?[/quote]
I’ve loved every word of his I’ve read so far (“Waiting”, “In the Pond”, and “The Bridegroom”). It’s brilliant satire, hilariously funny, the best stuff produced by a mainland writer in years. And what makes it truly amazing is that he wrote it all in English, a language he picked up by listening to the radio (I’m sure it must have been the Beeb) while stationed as a soldier at the Chinese-Russian border. Quite a remarkable man![/quote]
Thanks. So I should start with?