What Are You Reading?
- Thread starter HenryChinaski
- Start date
You both make me smile big and laugh. Thanks for the advice and humour.
This is true about reading on the toilet. It is bad for you. I had a biology professor back in 1982 or 1983 teach us about this. Without going into the details because it's sounds ridiculous when you try to explain it, but trust me you're not supposed to sit on a toilet seat unless your there to do your "business."
Well I've been doing this since I learnt to read about two years ago, so far no problem. Seriously though, when I finish my "business" I stop reading. The only problem with the kindle is, when you run out of toilet paper there's nothing to wipe your ass with.
Autobiography
In my childhood trees were green
And there was plenty to be seen.
Come back early or never come.
My father made the walls resound,
He wore his collar the wrong way round.
Come back early or never come.
My mother wore a yellow dress;
Gently, gently, gentleness.
Come back early or never come.
When I was five the black dreams came;
Nothing after was quite the same.
Come back early or never come.
The dark was talking to the dead;
The lamp was dark beside my bed.
Come back early or never come.
When I woke they did not care;
Nobody, nobody was there.
Come back early or never come.
When my silent terror cried,
Nobody, nobody replied.
Come back early or never come.
I got up; the chilly sun
Saw me walk away alone.
Come back early or never come.
- Louis MacNeice
In my childhood trees were green
And there was plenty to be seen.
Come back early or never come.
My father made the walls resound,
He wore his collar the wrong way round.
Come back early or never come.
My mother wore a yellow dress;
Gently, gently, gentleness.
Come back early or never come.
When I was five the black dreams came;
Nothing after was quite the same.
Come back early or never come.
The dark was talking to the dead;
The lamp was dark beside my bed.
Come back early or never come.
When I woke they did not care;
Nobody, nobody was there.
Come back early or never come.
When my silent terror cried,
Nobody, nobody replied.
Come back early or never come.
I got up; the chilly sun
Saw me walk away alone.
Come back early or never come.
- Louis MacNeice
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All The Assholes In The World...
Wait Until The Spring, Bandini or Dreams from Bunker Hill. The Road to Los Angeles is good too (and funny) but rather than being a true part of the quartet it's more of a prototype for the other Arturo Bandini novels and the family characters etc. don't match up with the other books. They're all good though, in my opinion. His other novels / novellas are good too.
The chronological order of the quartet is: Wait Until The Spring, Bandini then The Road to Los Angeles followed by Ask the Dust and Dreams from Bunker Hill
The chronological order of the quartet is: Wait Until The Spring, Bandini then The Road to Los Angeles followed by Ask the Dust and Dreams from Bunker Hill
Skygazer
And in the end...
Are you going to read the other three Bandini's before any of his other work, Joseph K? I love them all, but my favourite is definitely Wait Until Spring Bandini. It's beautiful, bittersweet and it hurts reading it at times, you care so much for the characters.
One thing I discovered recently which delighted me, was that he was influenced by W. Somerset Maugham's book: Of Human Bondage when writing Ask The Dust (also brilliant).
I've posted a link for you, hope you like it, ( it's 6 mins or so and from the 1940's, rather than 1930's) documentary drive around the Bunker Hill area of Los Angeles, where Arturo Bandini and of course, John Fante lived and worked. I love it; it just gives you a sense of place and time.
One thing I discovered recently which delighted me, was that he was influenced by W. Somerset Maugham's book: Of Human Bondage when writing Ask The Dust (also brilliant).
I've posted a link for you, hope you like it, ( it's 6 mins or so and from the 1940's, rather than 1930's) documentary drive around the Bunker Hill area of Los Angeles, where Arturo Bandini and of course, John Fante lived and worked. I love it; it just gives you a sense of place and time.
Well Sports Fans, I just got done reading "Pulp" and I see what everybody is talking about as to how it is not a very good book. My own feelings is that Buk was old, really old and he was just messing around. He was messin with us, the readers. I think he did this book for shits and giggles. He was just fartin around.
There were moments where he had me smiling or laughing so I am glad I read the book. I just ordered a used copy of "Shake Spear Never Did This" for 20 smakers. Me looking forward to getting that. I will drink coffee at my kitchen table while reading and I will glance to my right at times to see the squirrels and birds eating the seeds on the ground that I have thrown and there will be moments of joy in my life thanks to Mr. Bukowski.
There were moments where he had me smiling or laughing so I am glad I read the book. I just ordered a used copy of "Shake Spear Never Did This" for 20 smakers. Me looking forward to getting that. I will drink coffee at my kitchen table while reading and I will glance to my right at times to see the squirrels and birds eating the seeds on the ground that I have thrown and there will be moments of joy in my life thanks to Mr. Bukowski.
Why do you have squirrels and birds in your kitchen?
Good choice, Danny.
Love that book. Really entertaining and moveing. A bit under appreciated I always thought.
Here's a Swedish author that could nail a line down pretty tight:
Stig Dagerman: "To kill a child"
Stig Dagerman: "To kill a child"
Black Swan
Abord the Yorikke!
he nailed that one line down...
And in the fitful dreams of his nights he will try instead to gain back just a single minute of his life, to somehow make that single minute different...
And in the fitful dreams of his nights he will try instead to gain back just a single minute of his life, to somehow make that single minute different...
The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B by J. P. Donleavy
LickTheStar
Sad Flower in the Sand
Struggling through Women and Men by Joseph McElroy. Interesting. Good? Maybe... In another thousand pages, I'll tell you...
I've been tearing through The Golden Pools of Teardrop Falls by I.P. Daily. Oh hardy har. I'm still just staring at my book stack that keeps getting bigger because I have not been reading! I'm so ashamed.
I see this thread and it makes me think about carving out some serious time to start reading again and how important it is for my sanity. I don't know what happened to me that I began flaking out, but I really am ashamed to say that this stack is now getting dust on it, for a while now.
But I will List off some of the books in the stack.
Bossypants - Tina Fey
Art & Fear - David Bayles & Ted Orland (Again, because it changed my life the first time!)
The Gift - Lewis Hyde
The Diaries of Paul Klee - Felix Klee
Persist - Peter Clothier
Trust the Process - Shaun McNiff
The Torah - God (apparently)
Buddha Mind in Contemporary Art - Multiple Authors
Guerrilla Marketing for Artists - Barney Davey
Ellen Foster - Kay Gibbons
Relational Judaism - Dr. Ron Wolfson
Orange is the New Black - Piper Kerman
Beyond Belief - Jenna Miscavige Hill
So... I'll be back in a minute. I have some reading to do. Thanks for the inspiration. :)
I see this thread and it makes me think about carving out some serious time to start reading again and how important it is for my sanity. I don't know what happened to me that I began flaking out, but I really am ashamed to say that this stack is now getting dust on it, for a while now.
But I will List off some of the books in the stack.
Bossypants - Tina Fey
Art & Fear - David Bayles & Ted Orland (Again, because it changed my life the first time!)
The Gift - Lewis Hyde
The Diaries of Paul Klee - Felix Klee
Persist - Peter Clothier
Trust the Process - Shaun McNiff
The Torah - God (apparently)
Buddha Mind in Contemporary Art - Multiple Authors
Guerrilla Marketing for Artists - Barney Davey
Ellen Foster - Kay Gibbons
Relational Judaism - Dr. Ron Wolfson
Orange is the New Black - Piper Kerman
Beyond Belief - Jenna Miscavige Hill
So... I'll be back in a minute. I have some reading to do. Thanks for the inspiration. :)
I just gone done reading a few days ago "Burning in Water and Drowning in Flame" and it was fantastic. Back in 1994 I stopped reading Buk so I had something to look forward to. That's why I just got done reading it. I thought it was fantastic. There were numerous pomes in there that I hadn't seen before. It's always so fantastic when you get to read a new Buk poem because it is like discovering a new gem. I definitely noticed the rawness or strength of this early work. You can hear and feel the starkness of his life. If you put a poem of when he was 35 next to one when he was 65 you'll be able to notice the difference.
Every man and woman goes through stages of their life and the effects of time are writen into their personalities there is no doubt about that. When you're twenty you want to go out drinking all night and when you're sixty five you would like to enjoy a good cup of tea.
When I was reading "Burning" I could sense the hunger in these poems. It sort of like when a rock band is young and hungry compared to how they sound on their 4th album. These poems are from the early hunger days.
Every man and woman goes through stages of their life and the effects of time are writen into their personalities there is no doubt about that. When you're twenty you want to go out drinking all night and when you're sixty five you would like to enjoy a good cup of tea.
When I was reading "Burning" I could sense the hunger in these poems. It sort of like when a rock band is young and hungry compared to how they sound on their 4th album. These poems are from the early hunger days.
Hosh
hoshomccreesh.com
My favorite Bukowski book by far.
Forget about it.