Dead End Follies discussion

I have a good pile of books to plow through but my main goal is to read Infinite Jest, the new Megan Abbott and the most Jim Thompson books I can find. How about you?

My primary reading goal of the summer is to finish up Richard Stark's Parker series. Other than that, I'm mostly going to try to read more books than I buy for a change.

Very good choice sir. Richard Stark is a fine noirist.

Benoit wrote: "Very good choice sir. Richard Stark is a fine noirist."

I think I only have three left to read.

Well, since the summer is starting today, maybe you want to have another goal. But yeah reading more than buying is a valid goal for any reader.

I was just thinking, today being the official first day of summer, that it might be time to pull out Infinite Jest.

I would command you for that miss...and I would be able to discuss it with you sometime in September

That would be grand - is this your first reading as well?

I am impressed with the Infinite Jest goals. Right now I'm just hoping to finish up with Beijing Coma before the end of the month. I'll move on to other goals after that.

@Cath: indeed it would.

@Alley: The Chinarican month doesn't seem to be a grand success with you?

@Ben I feel bad cos I'm really liking the Chinese authors and I do like Beijing Coma, but it's just so long. I want something to break it up but can't come up with anything that fits the challenge. I blame my lack of Spanish for not being able to find good PR authors

Some places are just so small, you know? It's hard to find breakout writers that come from out there. Some people are preoccupied by survival before they are preoccupied by art.

As soon as I go on holiday (6 work days left..not that I'mm counting or anything) I'm going to start attcking the Barney Thomson series by Scottish writer Douglas Lindsay. Satire, crime, humour..just my kind of thing...and I've already got all 7 on my kindle...waiting.

Right now: V by Pynchon. Next up, http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/92...

Personally, I'm more of a fan of historical fiction. However, I happened to risk it and pick up The Alchemist in the Shadows by Pierre Pevel. I had read his first book "The Cardinal's Blades" earlier and was not impressed, and I'm even less impressed by this one.

Normally, I like a lighter read now and then (and a story about the musketeer period should offer that), but this is getting ridiculously unbelievable as a concept and as a world. And the author seems not to have learned to write any better than he did with the first book (lots of repetition, as if the reader was likely to forget important points every 20 pages or so).

Still, I hope I'll finish this early on in my holiday (which starts at the end of this month) and can then turn to something better.

I'm reading The Long Days Wanes, by Anthony Burgess, and Knockemstiff. I know I'm late by the Knockemstiff party, but man, is it blowing my socks off nonetheless.

I just finished Westlake's The Hot Rock and Stark's The Hunter (fine piece of work), two same but different books by the same author. Am currently reading The Getaway, China Mieville's Perdido Street Station, Elmore Leonard's 52 Pickup, Faranheit 451, The Friends of Eddie Coyle and am looking at reading Lolita and Reading Lolita in Tehran.

I'm also thinking about reading Infinite Jest this Summer, maybe we can form a support group?

We could also hold hands and sign Kumbaya. I'm down. I'll start reading it at the second week of August, making it my official 2011 vacation book.

And holy shit, you read a lot of books at the same time.

For those of you planning to read IJ this summer, there are message board archives at infinitesummer.org that may be of interest. We did The Pale King this spring. Here is a group I headed up: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/4...

I'm getting ready to start Naked Lunch ( William S. Burroughs )... After that I was thinking of something hefty but up to date : Skippy Dies ( Paul Murray ) , The Instructions ( Adam Levin ) , The Pale King ( D.F.W. ).

Oh shit, you have got cracking on The Pale King yet? I thought you would've nabbed this right off the shelves.

I'm kinda building myself up for it . Been kinda slacking on my reading lately and I don't want to jump head first into a writer like Wallace .

Charlie wrote: "I'm kinda building myself up for it . Been kinda slacking on my reading lately and I don't want to jump head first into a writer like Wallace ."

If you haven't read Wallace yet, I strongly advise you to save TPK until last. Not because of any difficulty quotient, but because his philosophy kind of evolved with his career. As a mater of fact, I would read his novels in the order that he wrote them: Broom, IJ, TPK.

Just my opinion, obviously and however.

My immediate goal is to get through library books as quickly as possible. They have a bad habit of holds coming in 2-3 at the same time. Then get through some books for review. I want to try to get through the Castle books, and maybe hood and A Clash of Kings. And I was thinking of practicing my French by trying to read something in French.

I am currently reading The Electric Church by Jeff Somers. In my summer reading pile is American Gods, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Handmaid's Tale, House of Leaves, The Yiddish Policeman's Union and then some.

Ed wrote: "As a mater of fact, I would read his novels in the order that he wrote them: Broom, IJ, TPK. "

I'm with Ed. I spent years trying to read IJ, figuring that all the essays and stories I'd read by DFW would have me prepared, but could never get past 100 pages. Finally I read Broom, was able to get through it in one go, and I think that in some ways made IJ less intimidating. (It's still a book that I need to reread, though.)

I'm not much for planning my reading, but I'm finishing Olivia Manning's The Balkan Trilogy right now, and want to pick up some Karen Russell when I'm home in the States.