New Book

[grobelaar]

Decided today to stop trying to read books that people tell me to read, or books that I should read for intellectual purposes and read books that I bloody well want to read - which means back to the wacked out science fiction... Seeing as in the last year or two I've managed to half read about nine books, and only finished one - which was a Phillip K Dick novel...

So I got an anthology of said author's short stories and as if to prove a point, i started reading it on the train home, had a lovely warm feeling like coming home from a long trip - PKD's preface on what is and isn't sf bought a huge grin to my face and I obviously entered PKD zone as I managed to totally miss my stop. Recently the short journey home has dragged unbelievable, I've even thought the trains were going slow - but tonight I missed totally...

So to Jeff, Aldous, Phil, Kurt, William, Bruce, Robert et al I'm sorry for deserting you, it won't happen again.

On the walk from the station, it made me think that if any of this lot get to know anything the people that are reading their books... (well the dead ones anyway, might get on your nerves if you will still alive... ...but it'd be cool if dead authors could live inside people for the time that the person is reading the book - or maybe living ones could do it too - it'd be quite handy I reckon)

[dirtyho]

If you haven't read A Scanner Darkly, I can't recommend it highly enough. It is my favourite K Dick.

[Marolo]

I like his ideas and have enjoyed reading several of his books but I don't think Phillip K Dick is what I consider an outstanding writer, in the sense that I don't think he masters the language in the same way as say someone like Gabriel Garcia Marquez does. imho
But saying that I do think his ideas were great and visionary in some ways.

[dirtyho]

Does a writer necessarily have to "master language" to be a great writer. I don't think so personally. Dick mastered ideas in his writing, this is a great achievement in my eyes, much literature is just description. Did you read Marquez in the original language or in translation, if you read it in translation then it is the translators mastery of language that has impressed you as much as Marquez.

[Marolo]

I have read 100 years of solitude in Spanish, English and Portuguese, but even though the translator too has to master the language, his job should be to faithfully reproduce the writing of the author.
Of course just mastering the language does not make a good writer but if you can combine mastering of language with mastering of interesting, original ideas than your off to a very good start.

[grobelaar]

Yeah, I’m not that bothered about this writing style thing – never seems to bother me, sometimes people say oh such and such style of writing is really difficult to get into – for example people say William Gibson is difficult to read. I never had any trouble – just drop straight in. I think this may be because I’m a consummate science fiction reader – sf is about concepts and ideas – often they are the ‘protagonist’ of the story. It’s very rarely do I come across books that I can’t read, but its also very rare that I actually notice anything about someone’s writing style.

Well that was until recently, for the last couple of years, since I got involved in organising parties, my reading has ground to a halt, and I stopped going to the cinema – simply because I didn’t have time. So I’ve been trying to work out why this reading block has occurred –

1) Fried my attention span – I’m slightly worried that my attention span isn’t what it used to be – this would explain difficulties in reading Virginia Woolf books.

2) Am going through a bit of a Damascus moment, in that hanging about with English lit student mate am actually finally analysing the writing style bit – but this is getting in the way of actually reading books.

3) Am just plain lazy and should quit griping and get on with reading and maybe writing something.

Am fairly certain that if I get round to writing, I’ll be in the PKD camp of shoddy writers… But shoddy can be a style too – I can’t help if those academic nobbas have written a load of horseshit about it yet. My mate is doing an English Lit degree and while he’s really enjoying and I enjoy hearing about what he’s doing – its scares the willies out of me – not because it sounds hard – but because it sounds like an awful lot of people have spent far too long analysing, studying, studying how to study, analysing how to analyse, studying how to analyse how to analyse… and so on…

But what stops me writing is a fear that I don't know how to write - which is true - maybe I should just forget it and get on with it

[Lady E]

i read constantly and some writers that i really enjoy for sheer trashy wicked pleasure - like jackie collins and jilly cooper, are terrible writers in terms of thier style but great at pace and carrying the plot at breakneck speed, which is the point.

i totally understand your william gibson thing grobelaar - i was unable to carry on after two chapters of neuromancer, depsite the first chapter being so rich in imagery it stays with me to this day. i couldnt follow what was happening because sci-fi just isnt my thing at all.

i got a first in english literature but im a total slag about what ill read and for what reasons. there are books for every occasion.

[mr franks]

i know what u mean emma with the gibson stuff - i like si-fi film but not books...

i have just started to read 'You Cant Win' by Jack Black only just started but wicked! (William Burroughs favourite book, he wrote the forward)