What are you reading?

[eyobeez]

I'm trying to read Ulysses. I'm James Joyce fanboi (my avatar is his drawing of Leopold Bloom--now you know) and Ulysses is the shit but it's demanding... On Scylla and Charybdis right now, but I'll probably have to restart the episode 'cause it's been a week since I picked it up.

I'm also reading Epstein and Walker's Constitutional Law for a Changing America. It's the textbook for my political science class, but learning about the history and politics of the judiciary is way cool! Like I had never read a Supreme Court decision before, and cases like Marbury v. Madison, McCullough v. Maryland, etc. were really important building blocks for the American Experiment!

[coldbrightsunlight]

I've tried and failed to read Ulysses twice. One of these days I'll dust it off again and do a proper job this time. Only book I've ever put down.

[Jwar]

I've tried and failed to read Ulysses twice. One of these days I'll dust it off again and do a proper job this time. Only book I've ever put down.

Hah. I had to read that in high school. It's hard to read because of how it was written but it's an excellent story.

I'm currently reading Tom Piccirilli's Shadow Season. Awesome book by an amazing author who is sorely missed.

[dubkitty]

you read Ulysses in high school??? damn, i wish i'd had an HS English class like that.

[eyobeez]

I think my problem is that I'm trying to "read it perfectly" and that's why it's taking so long. When I just read and worry less about understanding each reference, it becomes a crazy, enjoyable ride.

Damn, Jwar, you read it in high school?! How did you feel about it then? I read it my junior year in college and it was lifechanging. Gonna finish it this time.

Dubkitty, yah, me too. I'd like to teach some of it in an AP English class someday.

[coldbrightsunlight]

you read Ulysses in high school??? damn, i wish i'd had an HS English class like that.

^

[dubkitty]

tfw you go to the library to pick up your interlibrary loan and they got the other book you ordered in, too. so now i've got Brix Smith's memoir, and an odd little academic thing called 50 Years of Recuperation of the Situationist International. i'm big on Situationist stuff.

i'm about 40 pages into Brix's book, and to say she's had a colorful life would be a decided understatement. i'm not even out of her childhood, yet i'm fascinated, and i'm not a Brix stan or anything. the prose style is kind of odd and a little grating for some reason i can't yet articulate, but you really get the sense that there's a person here telling you about it. so far, so good.

[dubkitty]

finished Brix's book. it's almost painfully honest, and her story is long--the book is 400 pages and only about 1/3 is her time with MES/The Fall--involved, and more than a bit heroic. i don't want to tell too much and spoil the story, but i will mention the most poignant moment, when Brix is waitressing in LA after splitting with MES, and the band James, who'd opened for The Fall in the past, come into the restaurant; one of them asks her "weren't you Brix Smith?" ouch. 8/10, highly recommended.

[D.o.S.]

Cosey's book was a bit similar in tone by what you're saying also highly recommended.

Ulysses is great, but Finnegan's Wake is the real good shit.

[dubkitty]

I will check the Cosey book out. i hear Viv Albertine's book is supposed to be terrific as well, and was in fact the inspiration for Brix to write her book. i like getting womens' perspective on the industry without the male groupies/ego/star-privilege stuff.

[coldbrightsunlight]

I've also heard great things about Viv Albertine's book. Need to read that one..

[Eivind August]

I've tried and failed to read Ulysses twice. One of these days I'll dust it off again and do a proper job this time. Only book I've ever put down.

You and me both.

Re: jwar - I read The Trial when I was eleven, and I am pretty sure it is why I am the way I am today. Expose kids to the real shit.

[eyobeez]

Cosey's book was a bit similar in tone by what you're saying also highly recommended.

Ulysses is great, but Finnegan's Wake is the real good shit.

I like you ^. I plan to read the Wake before I die. Ulysses is enough on my plate for right now though!

[ummohyeah]

i just finished this. easy read. well worth it -- informative, eye-opening, engaging without being charged. gilbert's voice and pace are refreshing. recommend to everyone, especially anyone concerned about the political landscape in the united states or even the western world.

[eyobeez]

That's going on the list.