Fantastica Meravigliosa Ipnotizzante

Baudolino by Umberto Eco One thing leads to another. So they say. Conveniently this coincides with the fact that reading, for moi, serves a single purpose. To learn. When I read something that is also entertaining, sometimes I'll get out of my chair, off the can, up from the cot and jump for joy. After … Continue reading Fantastica Meravigliosa Ipnotizzante →

Complicate More Complicate

December 9, 2009 Complicated, More Complicated The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb Things are complicated enough. To read a book that is as complicated as the complications your trying to un-complicate… Well, here we are. Nassim Nicholas Taleb is some kind of a genius and for a while he worked for a hedge fund. … Continue reading Complicate More Complicate →

Kafka Has A Shore

Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Murakami Say. Isn't/Wasn't Czechoslovakia landlocked? If so, could Kafka get to a shore with his cat? Or is it with his beetle? There's really not much to titles--either the title of this post or the title of the brilliant novel by Haruki Murakami. With that in mind, if you ever … Continue reading Kafka Has A Shore →

The Devil Didn't Make Him Do It

The Castle In The Forest by Norman Mailer Norman Mailer's last novel is "The Castle In The Forest". I picked up the book at some airport bookstore while traveling. A few months ago I finished "The Gospel According To The Son" and thought this would be a great follow-up even though I usually never read the … Continue reading The Devil Didn't Make Him Do It →

A Fifth Gospel

Send it to Rome, she said after I was finished, closed it, breathed a sigh of relief and put the book on the nightstand next to the bed. She rolled over and stopped me from turning the light out. Leave it on, she added while pulling the sheet down and revealing my sternum. Took you … Continue reading A Fifth Gospel →

Girl Things Wet

Feuchtgebiete by Charlotte Roche This post is NSFW. Note: If you plan on reading this book when it comes out in English then you might want to steer away from this post. I’ve taken the liberty of my own English translation of some of the text which might be kind of a spoiler. And so. … Continue reading Girl Things Wet →

Biology And The Mystery

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins It's clear why Richard Dawkins writes the way he does. For one, he's a great writer. Second, he's a mind that doesn't necessarily make a movie. That is, he's so friggin' smart that when he starts to talk or even when he starts one of his books, everything else … Continue reading Biology And The Mystery →

The (Non) Shock Doctrine

The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein If you haven’t discerned by now, I finished Naomi Klein’s book. I'm proud to say that I read it in two days. Seriously. It has a million and a half pages, although I might have counted a few twice. Here a few bullets to ease you into my world … Continue reading The (Non) Shock Doctrine →

Hey Nostradamus

A Novel by Douglas Copland Did a lot more posting last December (2006). Whoopee, eh. I was still in a blank then. After that, though, I finally got around to trying to actually write something cohesive again. You know, something not quite like this (post). It was also the time where I probably - and … Continue reading Hey Nostradamus →

Rosey Crucified

Sexus by Henry Miller As far as I'm concerned the only thing a novel needs is substance. Now put that in your hat and smoke it. The man of the hour is Henry Miller. And with him comes a dare. Ready? Ok. Try doing what I did. Read both Tropic novels back to back and … Continue reading Rosey Crucified →

Lincoln In Tuscany

Lincoln by Gore Vidal Subtitle: Cute Elitist Disguised As Former Teacher, Red States vs. Help, And A Few Thoughts on Gore Vidal's "Lincoln". But first some nonsense. Character X: The world is starving for variety and things dynamic. The world requires nothing from humanity and yet things static and universal seem to rule all - … Continue reading Lincoln In Tuscany →

Fiction Better Than Pseudo History

Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco See through the cult, beware of popularity, steer away from the crowd, swim up river, break through to the other side… THINK FOR YOURSELF. It's a long journey figuring out one's environment, aka figuring out the time and space that is you. One of the conclusions I've made in this … Continue reading Fiction Better Than Pseudo History →

Zypkin

Ein Sommer In Baden Baden by Leonid Zypkin Reading is still very difficult. Recently found out that one of the reasons it is so difficult is because of how I read. How not to do it is probably the same as gawking at a painting by Pollack, a time consuming endeavor. And so... every word … Continue reading Zypkin →

Explain It To A Three Year Old

The God Of Hell by Sam Shepard The hardest thing about living abroad for so long is not so much the distance and proximity I've put between myself and home. The whole idear of home has become an enigma anyway. The real problem has been watching the place closest to my heart from the outside … Continue reading Explain It To A Three Year Old →

The Stolen Child

The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue Recommended reading for those who like fantasy without the formulated, predictable Hollywood (or Disney) krapp. It must have been during middle school and my sister was in High School. My sister looked like Pocahontas and she was also a social butterfly. One day my sister had visitors from high-school. … Continue reading The Stolen Child →

Holy Blood, Holy Grail

Thoughts on: Holy Blood, Holy Grail Finding religion? Some find it in the perfect rumbling/tuned V-8. Others the clearest shot at a buck following at least seven doe. What about that perfect female in a bikini that you just gotta have? And then there's the American't Pauline evangelical that has been inscribed (indoctrinated) in us … Continue reading Holy Blood, Holy Grail →