The board's server will undergo upgrade maintenance tonight, Nov 5, 2014, beginning approximately around 10 PM ET. Prepare for some possible down time during this process.
FAQ    Search

Board index » Word on the Street » Arts & Entertainment




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 5617 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1 ... 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133 ... 281  Next
Author Message
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Sun February 18, 2018 3:55 am 
Offline
User avatar
I Have A Third Nipple
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 7:41 am
Posts: 19695
Location: Cumberland, RI
durdencommatyler wrote:
Started Freedom. So far, I'm really digging it but I'm only about 70 pages in. It's my first Franzen.

I know people have strong feelings about him and his work. Would love to open a conversation about him.


The Corrections is high-point Franzen for me; I really want to re-read it. His first two novels are also good. I just feel like his last two have gotten overblown and the sort of things he just cannot write about (mostly women and sex) get magnified in a way where he kind of looks foolish. This doesn't mean there aren't good scenes and storylines. I just sort of end up shrugging my shoulders at the end.

_________________
McParadigm wrote:
lol


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Sun February 18, 2018 5:28 am 
Offline
User avatar
Legacy of Love
 WWW  Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:33 pm
Posts: 78190
Location: Anarchist Jurisdiction
Simple Torture wrote:
durdencommatyler wrote:
Started Freedom. So far, I'm really digging it but I'm only about 70 pages in. It's my first Franzen.

I know people have strong feelings about him and his work. Would love to open a conversation about him.


The Corrections is high-point Franzen for me; I really want to re-read it. His first two novels are also good. I just feel like his last two have gotten overblown and the sort of things he just cannot write about (mostly women and sex) get magnified in a way where he kind of looks foolish. This doesn't mean there aren't good scenes and storylines. I just sort of end up shrugging my shoulders at the end.

Do you have any specific examples from Freedom? I'm specifically thinking of his troubles writing women.


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Sun February 18, 2018 11:22 am 
Offline
User avatar
I Have A Third Nipple
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 7:41 am
Posts: 19695
Location: Cumberland, RI
durdencommatyler wrote:
Simple Torture wrote:
durdencommatyler wrote:
Started Freedom. So far, I'm really digging it but I'm only about 70 pages in. It's my first Franzen.

I know people have strong feelings about him and his work. Would love to open a conversation about him.


The Corrections is high-point Franzen for me; I really want to re-read it. His first two novels are also good. I just feel like his last two have gotten overblown and the sort of things he just cannot write about (mostly women and sex) get magnified in a way where he kind of looks foolish. This doesn't mean there aren't good scenes and storylines. I just sort of end up shrugging my shoulders at the end.

Do you have any specific examples from Freedom? I'm specifically thinking of his troubles writing women.


It's been a while since I've read it, but one of the clearest examples I can remember is a bit spoiler-y, so I won't go into details. The overall sense, though, is that nearly every woman in his books (especially the later ones) just needs a man to be complete, and many of them will give up their agency and their bodies to be with the one dude who's the man of their dreams. It happens just a few too many times for it to be just this thing he tries here and there. It's like Franzen has never sat down and asked a woman, "Hey, what really drives you? What's it like navigating a world that expects you to act according to a standard of femininity for men's pleasure? What does it feel like to be aroused?" Instead, he's either just guessing or--worse--deciding based on old and tired tropes.

Again: there's some engaging stuff all throughout his work, these things don't make it worthless, but the end of Freedom especially left a bad taste in my mouth (my wife read it at the same time, too, so we talked about it a lot) that was hard to shake.

_________________
McParadigm wrote:
lol


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Sun February 18, 2018 3:13 pm 
Offline
User avatar
Legacy of Love
 WWW  Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:33 pm
Posts: 78190
Location: Anarchist Jurisdiction
Gotcha. I'm already feeling a bit of what you're describing with Patty and Walter toward the beginning (I'm about 160 pages in) and starting to worry about it. But the writing otherwise is clean and strong. And I'm been moved by Walter a couple of times. These are well drawn characters for the most part. I'm not thinking of stopping, just trying to get a feel for what you expect going forward.


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Sun February 18, 2018 4:12 pm 
Offline
User avatar
I Have A Third Nipple
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 7:41 am
Posts: 19695
Location: Cumberland, RI
I asked my wife what she thought, too, and she basically said the same things I did (she thought the women eventually devolve into damsels). She did want to add, though, that she thought the the beginning was very strong. Especially (I think you're past this bit? Maybe not, it has to do with Patty's youth...proceed with caution)

Spoiler: show
Patty's sexual assault and the aftermath. Mrs. Torture said that the disbelief and uncaring that other characters in her life toss on her and how she internalizes it is so believable that it scared her. She thought that same level of empathy for female characters evaporated by the end.

_________________
McParadigm wrote:
lol


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Sun February 25, 2018 3:02 am 
Offline
User avatar
An enigma of a man shaped hole in the wall between reality and the soul of the devil.
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:13 pm
Posts: 39543
Location: 6000 feet beyond man and time.
If you want to lose any hope of a peaceful future

Image

_________________
RM's resident disinformation expert.

“And truly, if life had no purpose, and I had to choose nonsense, this would be the most desirable nonsense for me as well."


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Thu March 08, 2018 9:20 pm 
Offline
User avatar
Legacy of Love
 WWW  Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:33 pm
Posts: 78190
Location: Anarchist Jurisdiction
Franzen sure is into male fantasies about sex, huh.


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Thu March 08, 2018 10:53 pm 
Offline
User avatar
I Have A Third Nipple
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 7:41 am
Posts: 19695
Location: Cumberland, RI
durdencommatyler wrote:
Franzen sure is into male fantasies about sex, huh.


YA THINK

_________________
McParadigm wrote:
lol


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Thu March 08, 2018 10:57 pm 
Offline
User avatar
Legacy of Love
 WWW  Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:33 pm
Posts: 78190
Location: Anarchist Jurisdiction
Simple Torture wrote:
durdencommatyler wrote:
Franzen sure is into male fantasies about sex, huh.


YA THINK

:lol:


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Sat March 10, 2018 7:58 pm 
Offline
User avatar
I Have A Third Nipple
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 7:41 am
Posts: 19695
Location: Cumberland, RI
I'm not into true crime very much at all, but I've heard so many good things about Michele McNamara's "I'll Be Here In The Dark" that I decided to give it a shot. I'm about 1/4 of the way through and it is gripping, terrifying, disgusting, etc. It's great.

_________________
McParadigm wrote:
lol


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Sat March 10, 2018 8:52 pm 
Offline
User avatar
I've been POOSSTTIiiEEnngeeaahh
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:53 pm
Posts: 12077
I'm reading the second Bond novel Live and Let Die. It's horribly racist but there is an incredibly fun pulp spy novel under all that ignorance. I feel really guilty for enjoying it.


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Sun March 11, 2018 6:54 pm 
Offline
User avatar
Legacy of Love
 WWW  Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:33 pm
Posts: 78190
Location: Anarchist Jurisdiction
Simple Torture wrote:
I'm not into true crime very much at all, but I've heard so many good things about Michele McNamara's "I'll Be Here In The Dark" that I decided to give it a shot. I'm about 1/4 of the way through and it is gripping, terrifying, disgusting, etc. It's great.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Sun March 11, 2018 7:07 pm 
Offline
User avatar
I Have A Third Nipple
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 7:41 am
Posts: 19695
Location: Cumberland, RI
durdencommatyler wrote:
Simple Torture wrote:
I'm not into true crime very much at all, but I've heard so many good things about Michele McNamara's "I'll Be Here In The Dark" that I decided to give it a shot. I'm about 1/4 of the way through and it is gripping, terrifying, disgusting, etc. It's great.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:


I guess it's called "I'll Be Gone In The Dark" but whatever.

_________________
McParadigm wrote:
lol


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Sun March 11, 2018 7:16 pm 
Offline
User avatar
Legacy of Love
 WWW  Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:33 pm
Posts: 78190
Location: Anarchist Jurisdiction
Simple Torture wrote:
durdencommatyler wrote:
Simple Torture wrote:
I'm not into true crime very much at all, but I've heard so many good things about Michele McNamara's "I'll Be Here In The Dark" that I decided to give it a shot. I'm about 1/4 of the way through and it is gripping, terrifying, disgusting, etc. It's great.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:


I guess it's called "I'll Be Gone In The Dark" but whatever.

Yeah, but I knew what you meant.


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Sun March 11, 2018 7:18 pm 
Offline
User avatar
I Have A Third Nipple
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 7:41 am
Posts: 19695
Location: Cumberland, RI
Yeah. I could've easily read it in one day if there weren't diapers to change and a dissertation to write. I feel asleep with my Kindle on my face last night.

_________________
McParadigm wrote:
lol


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Sun March 11, 2018 7:19 pm 
Offline
User avatar
Legacy of Love
 WWW  Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:33 pm
Posts: 78190
Location: Anarchist Jurisdiction
Simple Torture wrote:
Yeah. I could've easily read it in one day if there weren't diapers to change and a dissertation to write. I feel asleep with my Kindle on my face last night.

Sexy


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Sun March 11, 2018 8:12 pm 
Offline
User avatar
Legacy of Love
 WWW  Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:33 pm
Posts: 78190
Location: Anarchist Jurisdiction
Finished "Freedom." Overall, enjoyable, though it certainly has its issues. Overlong, especially the final third of the book.


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Thu March 15, 2018 2:56 am 
Offline
User avatar
I Have A Third Nipple
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 7:41 am
Posts: 19695
Location: Cumberland, RI
The AV Club has this nice article up on the 100th anniversary of the first appearance of Ulysses (in serialized form--the book didn't come out until 1922), and it's basically an overview for people who have either tried to read it or wanted to and always been turned off, explaining why they should give it a go. It includes this fantastic summary: "The plot mostly consists of a dude walking around, thinking about things, and occasionally cranking his hog."

https://www.avclub.com/ulysses-turns-10 ... 1823524706

_________________
McParadigm wrote:
lol


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Thu March 15, 2018 11:40 am 
Offline
AnalLog
 Profile

Joined: Thu January 31, 2013 9:44 pm
Posts: 1855
The manuscript of Ulysses is one of the most amazing and odd items in Literature.


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: What are you currently reading?
PostPosted: Thu March 15, 2018 2:08 pm 
Offline
User avatar
Legacy of Love
 WWW  Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:33 pm
Posts: 78190
Location: Anarchist Jurisdiction
Currently reading:

Image


Top
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 5617 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1 ... 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133 ... 281  Next

Board index » Word on the Street » Arts & Entertainment


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 41 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
It is currently Fri March 29, 2024 7:13 am