Jimmy M.'s picture
Jimmy M. from New England March 30, 2014 - 5:09pm

Trying to figure out my summer reading; what do you guys think of these?

  • Mao II by Don DeLillo
  • Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradury
  • Night Film by Marisha Pessl
  • V. by Thomas Pynchon
  • The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks
  • The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
  • The Circle by Dave Eggers
  • Crash by J.G. Ballard
  • The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
  • House of Leaves by Mark. Z Danielewski

Any better suggestions from any of the authors above? Note: I've already read the following books by the above authors:

  • White Noise by DeLillo (thought it was just okay)
  • The Crying of Lot 49 (really interesting), Gravity's Rainbow (Actually started, haven't finished) by Pynchon
  • Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury (hate it)
  • Wonder Boys by Chabon (loved it)
  • A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Eggers (absolutely LOVED it)

So, yeah...thanks for your time, can't wait to hear your opinions!

Nathan Scalia's picture
Nathan Scalia from Kansas is reading so many things March 30, 2014 - 5:57pm

House of Leaves may take you the whole summer to read.

Jimmy M.'s picture
Jimmy M. from New England March 30, 2014 - 6:02pm

Maybe. Maybe not. I have a lot of time on my hands, and if I was able to finish Infinite Jest in about two months, I don't think I'll have a problem with House of Leaves.

justwords's picture
justwords from suburb of Birmingham, AL is reading The Tomb, F. Paul Wilson; A Long Way Down, Nick Hornby March 30, 2014 - 10:14pm

That's a hell of an ambitious list. You have your work cut out for you.

Wait, you hate Fahrenheit 451? You are the first that I know to say that.

Hope you make your goal!

jw

Jimmy M.'s picture
Jimmy M. from New England March 31, 2014 - 9:54am

jw, thanks, and yeah, I didn't really like F451, but I feel like I need to give it a second chance since it's been like almost six years since I've read it, but not right now.

justwords's picture
justwords from suburb of Birmingham, AL is reading The Tomb, F. Paul Wilson; A Long Way Down, Nick Hornby March 31, 2014 - 9:11pm

I loved the book but hated the film of The Bonfire of the Vanities, even though I like the principal players in it. The only two films (imho) made from books that worked better than said books was Jaws and Gone With The Wind; in each case the screenwriter cut out a lot of superfluous side stories that would have bogged down the movies.

Keep us posted on your progress!

Michael Thomas's picture
Michael Thomas from South Jersey is reading books April 1, 2014 - 5:04am

Stop what you're doing and start House of Leaves now. One of the strangest, scariest, coolest, most interesting and original books you can read. It took me about 2 months to read IJ too, but I finished HoL in like 8 days. It might not speak to you the way it did to me or others, but it's fun and moving at the same time. Hard to put down.

SConley's picture
SConley from Texas is reading Coin Locker Babies April 1, 2014 - 6:32am

I think Libra is Don Delillo's best work by far, although i'm not finished with Mao II yet. Libra is nice and long too, good for the summer.

MattF's picture
MattF from Tokyo is reading Borges' Collected Fictions April 1, 2014 - 7:08am

I also liked Libra a lot. 

Recently finished Chabon's Amazing Adventures of K&C. Not perfect, but a really fun read. Chabon writes brilliant sentences. I'd guess if you like Eggers, you'll like Chabon (not for the meta-stylings of AHWoSG, but there's some similar temperament in their work).

Jimmy M.'s picture
Jimmy M. from New England April 6, 2014 - 3:26pm

Michael- I'd love to start it right now, but with my classes, I don't really have the time. Besides, I have to read The Bluest Eye and a bunch of greek literature for school, and for fun I'm  trying to clear out my bookshelf (I think I have about 18 right now, including some really long and tough stuff like Gravity's Rainbow and Broom of the System). But, when I finish all of that, I'll definitely start House of Leaves.

MattF- I definitely get what you mean- when I read Wonder Boys, I really enjoyed Chabon's fun style and sentences, but it's not perfect by any means.

SConley & Mattf- I'm glad to hear some more response about DeLillo- I'm not really sure what to think of him after reading White Noise- I enjoy a lot of his ideas and some of his characters, but overall it felt sort of bland and too loosely put together for me. But I'll take your suggestion and go for Libra, its premise does sound really interesting.

justwords- I get that, there are a lot of book adaptations that I don't like (Ender's Game, for one), but then there's movies like Requiem for a Dream that really do the original novels justice. And thanks, I'll keep you posted!

L.W. Flouisa's picture
L.W. Flouisa from Tennessee is reading More Murakami April 7, 2014 - 6:27pm

I'll be reading:

  • The Holy Bible (For a review, I'm an atheist)
  • Tom Sawyer Part First
  • Hans Christian Anderson
  • The Secret Garden
  • Mary Poppins Opens The Door
  • Bread And Roses Too
  • Count Zero (I'm going to try to finish it.)
justwords's picture
justwords from suburb of Birmingham, AL is reading The Tomb, F. Paul Wilson; A Long Way Down, Nick Hornby April 8, 2014 - 12:04am

JL: I'm impressed with the amount of reading you're going for in addition to classes? Greek lit? Are you doing summer semester as well? When will you sleep? :) 

Ah, Requiem for a Dream-- very fine. 

You will need to clear some time to read House of Leaves, but it's well worth it!

Cheers!

Jimmy M.'s picture
Jimmy M. from New England April 8, 2014 - 5:09pm

justwords: Ha, the secret is not always reading for classes, and I've actually reduced the amount I need to finish on my shelf before summer reads, considering I only have like two or three weeks to finish everything currently on my shelf.

SConley's picture
SConley from Texas is reading Coin Locker Babies April 9, 2014 - 7:26am

Libra is a lot less aimless than White Noise. They're definitely different.

Jimmy M.'s picture
Jimmy M. from New England May 3, 2014 - 5:16pm

SConley- thanks, I'll definitely give it a try!

L.W. Flouisa's picture
L.W. Flouisa from Tennessee is reading More Murakami May 9, 2014 - 2:33am

I'm probably going to have to reschedule some things, so far:

  • Count Zero
  • Number The Stars
  • Great Gilly Hopkins
  • Bread And Roses Too
  • Harry Potter
  • The Dream Master - Roger Zalezney
  • Eve - For a review.