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The Idle Book Log: unofficial recommendations for forthcoming Idle Thumbs Book Clubs.

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:devil: Meaning awful. :devil:

"Exceptional [in badness]". I love a word with an ironic connotation that has totally eradicated its literal denotation.

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Yes! I third the pick for The Art of Fielding. I don't even like baseball, but really liked The Art of Fielding. Wouldn't mind reading it again. My only concern is that it kind of has the same "feel" as A Sense of an Ending does in that it's kind of a bildungsroman centered on a male character. Not sure if we want to branch out between books.

I just finished this and I'll second that it is a very enjoyable book. The ending however left me feeling a bit hollow. Everything from the big climactic match onwards was...I don't know, it's not the type of climax I feel was a productive direction to take the book in.

That said, the first two thirds of the book are really, really good. There's some fantastic and thought-provoking aphorisms seeded throughout the solid prose. My favourite was probably (paraphrasing) "Adulthood is seen as the moment when your actions begin to have consequences; actually it's when they cease to do so". Very nice. The characters were really well-fleshed-out and I loved their interactions. My only criticism would be that Henry is in the end just too much of a cypher to everyone including himself. That might be the intended message for all I know but it was a niggle.

Finally, it's funny to read two so Moby Dick-centric books just before and after reading that book itself (Evidence of Things Unseen being the previous one). It definitely allowed me to catch some nice little references that were snuck in.

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Finally, it's funny to read two so Moby Dick-centric books just before and after reading that book itself (Evidence of Things Unseen being the previous one). It definitely allowed me to catch some nice little references that were snuck in.

I read an interview with the author where he said that Moby Dick was purposefully used to highlight how male relationships have evolved over the centuries, which is reflected in the way all the men in the Art of Fielding relate to each other. That's one of the reasons I loved this book so much; it really examines how modern men create bonds with one another, which as a woman, is endlessly fascinating to me.

But you're right, the ending tied everything together in too neat of a bow, but books so rarely get an ending of perfectly. I enjoyed this book for the story and characters it told.

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Hm. I can't say I found the 'male bonding' aspect of the book very relatable, but then I'm not American and so much of this book is intensely American.

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That's interesting -- what struck you as uniquely American? True, there is the small, liberal arts college in the Midwest setting and the fact that there's a lot of baseball references...ok, so you're right, there are a lot of 'American' things in this book.

At it's core though, I think this book is about friendship and how the evolve as we age, which I would hope is a universally relatable subject.

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The way that Henry and Mike are embedded in a college but focused so heavily on sports especially is something that is very American to my mind. The sports college thing is really weird if you don't grow up in it. It would be rather unlikely for such people to have much to do with college professors here.

Beyond that, I'm having trouble articulating exactly what it is, but the rather 'all in' nature of all the men in the book is also something that strikes me as very American. The total lack of reserve, of ways to prevent themselves from harm, if you see what I mean.

e: I thought about it a bit more and to me it seemed that the main theme of the book was 'choosing one's path in life' and the myriad foreseen and unforeseen consequences. Of course bonding/friendship factors into this, but it struck me as secondary.

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Sean and I actually discussed reading The Art of Fielding for the cast but we both kind of felt that the book has been SO heavily discussed in the literary world since its release that we would kind of be throwing our mere two cents into a Scrooge McDuck-like pile of cash. Of course, we just did an episode on The Great Gatsby...

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Sean and I actually discussed reading The Art of Fielding for the cast but we both kind of felt that the book has been SO heavily discussed in the literary world since its release that we would kind of be throwing our mere two cents into a Scrooge McDuck-like pile of cash. Of course, we just did an episode on The Great Gatsby...

Ah that's a shame, but understandable.

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I would like to third the reading of A Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Jan Potocki. It's such an incredibly delicious epic piece of frame storied fiction. It's one of the books I sell by hand to people at the bookstore I work at.

Topper by Thorne Smith would also be an excellent choice to come after both Gatsby and The Crying of Lot 49.

Thorne Smith is a forgotten jazz age writer that is attributed with having invented the 'American ghost'. His prose is poetic, but also fun. He is Fitzgerald and Wodehouse and proud, ecstatic alcoholism.

You all should give him a try. Seriously.

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It is pretty bad. (I have read this book.)

(It was better than Super Sad True Love Story at least. Probably shouldn't have beat Freedom for all the awards though)

Aww I thought both those books were really good. They both would be great book club books in that they: (1) are easy, short, and well-written; (2) bear on timely subjects (e.g. security state, debt, social networking); and (3) are amusing and affecting in about equal measures.

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Which two books? I enjoyed Freedom a lot, and while I had fun reading Goon Squad, I think GB's critiques against it are valid; once you get past the initial gimmick, there's really not a lot going for it.

Super Sad True Love Story was just plan awful though. It's a great warning sign of how terribly someone can mess up satire (all the Fox News jokes were particularly painful). I like Shteyngart when he's writing about Russian immigrants, not whatever Super Sad True Love Story was supposed to be about.

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I would love to hear the Thumbs talk about Ryszard Kapuściński's work. Especially his Afrikan books because they have that Far Cry 2 feel to them.

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I know that most people are enamored with 1Q84 and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but I'd really love to see Murakami's more emotional stuff discussed - like Sputnik Sweetheart, Norwegian Wood, or his short fiction.

I'll throw out a recommendation for Murakami's Dance, Dance, Dance as a perfect mix of his emotional and fantastic (as in "fantasy", but also fantastic as in great!) work. On recent re-reads it has surpassed Wind-Up Bird as my new Murakami favorite, it's also half the length so seems more appropriate for the cast (while nominally a sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase, I think it stands on its own just fine).

Also Douglas Coupland's 'emotional' works: The Gum Thief (may favorite of his), Eleanor Rigby ( definitely the most emotional ), or Hey Nostradamus! (somewhat topical wrt to school shootings).

Actually, Norwegian Wood and Eleanor Rigby back to back would make a great "books named after Beatles songs are real tear-jerkers" theme.

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the book has been SO heavily discussed in the literary world since its release

Where do people read that stuff? NPR?

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Just subscribed to the podcast and will catch up with the books I've read previously (Cloud Atlas and The Great Gatsby). Also keen to hear what you thought of the Pynchon and the only one of his books I've (attempted to) read was Gravity's Rainbow which I've given up on about 4 times after a hundred or so pages on each occasion.

As for a recommendation for a future book, how about one by Jim Dodge? All 3 of his main works are great (Fup, Not Fade Away or Stone Junction) and Stone Junction has a foreword by Pynchon.

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I just finished this and I'll second that it is a very enjoyable book. The ending however left me feeling a bit hollow. Everything from the big climactic match onwards was...I don't know, it's not the type of climax I feel was a productive direction to take the book in.

That said, the first two thirds of the book are really, really good. There's some fantastic and thought-provoking aphorisms seeded throughout the solid prose. My favourite was probably (paraphrasing) "Adulthood is seen as the moment when your actions begin to have consequences; actually it's when they cease to do so". Very nice. The characters were really well-fleshed-out and I loved their interactions. My only criticism would be that Henry is in the end just too much of a cypher to everyone including himself. That might be the intended message for all I know but it was a niggle.

Finally, it's funny to read two so Moby Dick-centric books just before and after reading that book itself (Evidence of Things Unseen being the previous one). It definitely allowed me to catch some nice little references that were snuck in.

I  also read that book after reading Evidence of things unseen and to me it felt like an empty book. It's like a lot of SSF or genre fiction where the authors just recreates what they have read before with a personal tweak here and there - the book's a pleasant read but when you finish it you realise that you will never think about it again till someone else mentions and all you will say it that "it was alright, an easy read". This review best expresses my thoughts about the book.

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/a-swing-and-a-miss/308943/

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Interesting review, thanks for the link.

 

I actually found myself going back to the book mentally every so often over the past few weeks but mainly in the process of adjusting my opinion downwards slightly, precisely for the reason that it wasn't sticking with me otherwise. A strange experience.

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...and while I had fun reading Goon Squad, I think GB's critiques against it are valid; once you get past the initial gimmick, there's really not a lot going for it.

 

See, that is interesting, because I completely disagree. I think if you sync up each writing style with who is writing, I think the form unifies with the content to create meaning. For example, to have a character with depression narrate in the second person is incredibly powerful. Everything ties together so wonderfully, as people bounce off each other with such delicate tenderness- it expertly explores that "whatever happened to that guy" thought that everyone has. To have a narcissist write a personality piece that is about himself as opposed to his subject is also pretty brilliant, and also a friendly jab as the 'gonzo journalism' movement (if there is even such a thing).

 

The book does have its shortcomings, though. The punk rock scene does not seem authentic. As someone who does really enjoy Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat, Bad Brains, etc, I can say (from even my limited experience) that the attitude, culture and the scene are slightly off in the book. It definitely feels like it has been researched, but not lived. Also, the future chapter is great, but the text speak is all wrong and I don't think Nine Inch Nails are going to sell ringtones for babies, no matter how satirical you are being.

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Sean and I actually discussed reading The Art of Fielding for the cast but we both kind of felt that the book has been SO heavily discussed in the literary world since its release that we would kind of be throwing our mere two cents into a Scrooge McDuck-like pile of cash. Of course, we just did an episode on The Great Gatsby...

 

Not to speak for the readership (being such a bright and literature bunch), but personally, this podcast / forum / broader community have been my gateway drug into that world.  Without this thread, I never would have known The Art of Fielding existed.

 

If the chance for an offhand reference or recommendation ever comes up, please don't hesitate.  I guarantee it's going to make someone out there very, very happy.  It is a hell of a book.

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Damn.. I just paid for an extra month of Audible because I tried to cancel my membership in a hurry and didn't notice you had to press "Continue Cancelling" several times. Now I feel 85 % stupid and 15 % cheated. So if you are planning on cancelling your gold membership after the free trial, make sure you do it properly.

It's a nice service but I find it increasingly difficult to focus on audiobooks. I missed much of For Whom the Bell Tolls, and now I will use my unwanted token to miss large parts of Lolita.

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A lot of people use Audiobooks to read along with the actual text. That way, you feel the performance of the book's prose, but follow quite easily because you are still actively reading. 

 

I've only done it a couple of times, but a lot of people swear by it. Amazon are trying to sell it as 'immersion reading', but ignore that and just get whatever copy of the text you can find. Just worth trying so you don't feel like you wasted so much money.

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Just started reading Cosmicomics, and loved the first story. Stylistically it reminded me of the Bruno Schulz short story I heard read on the New Yorker Fiction Podcast - Father's Last Escape, from his book The Street of Crocodiles. From what I've heard it's a similar style of work, lying somewhere on the spectrum between short story collection and novel. In any case, based on the one "chapter" I've experienced from The Street of Crocodiles, I think it'd be a good future book-cast pick.

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By the way, which edition of the Cosmicomics should we use?

I've borrowed Penguin Translated Texts' The Complete Cosmicomics and it's 400 pages long.

I don't know if it makes sense - I only read two stories so far, so I don't have a strong grasp of the overall structure - but since the Feburary cast is late, maybe it'd be good to have a selection of some sub-stories as a 'minimal set'?
 

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