Just an audio-book related observation: Adobe Digital Editions Overdrive is a piece of garbage. Unfortunately, this is the format my local library uses for its audiobook downloads.
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Prepare to put mustard on those words, for you will soon be consuming them, along with this slice of humble pie that comes direct from the oven of shame set at gas mark “egg on your face”! -- Moss
There are three rules that I live by: never get less than twelve hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city; and never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body. Now you stick to that, and everything else is cream cheese. --Coach Finstock
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Originally posted by SteelBlue View PostJust finished Swamplandia!. Quirky and dark."Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr Epstein."
Upon rejecting the Beatles, Dick Rowe told Brian Epstein of the January 1, 1962 audition for Decca, which signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.
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Originally posted by SteelBlue View PostThe Pale King by David Foster Wallace"Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr Epstein."
Upon rejecting the Beatles, Dick Rowe told Brian Epstein of the January 1, 1962 audition for Decca, which signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.
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Originally posted by Topper View PostWhat shade of dark? Dark as in cynical about human nature, the future of man or the depravity of the human soul?Originally posted by Topper View PostWhat is this about?
The book gets really mixed reviews from readers but got consistently positive reviews from professionals. Some readers don't like the split narrative, some felt the story was too slow, many felt the book was too dark. The darkest scene has been pretty controversial, and imo is the biggest reason for most bad reviews. It was a Pulitzer finalist in 2012, the year no prize was awarded. I really liked it.
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Ah crap, Topper I just realized you were asking about The Pale King. I'll just add it here. The Pale King is David Foster Wallace's final novel published posthumously. It was also one of the 2012 Pulitzer finalists. The book is about IRS agents in Peoria Illinois. Seriously. The book's central theme was boredom. Wallace used one of the most boring possible jobs staffed with some of the most boring people to drive his point home that most of life isn't filled with highs or lows, but day to day tedium, and those who learn to thrive in these boring conditions are the ones who have life figured out. This was a theme he hit on frequently in interviews over the past 10 years or so. Since he committed suicide in 2008, there's no way to know how the novel would have looked had he been able to clean it up. I'm guessing that much of the boring content was intentional, to make his point. But I have to believe there would have been less of it. Overall a good read but there are some tough slogs. The guy was brilliant, and I really enjoy listening on youtube to the various interviews he gave. If you're interested, here's a commencement speech he gave in which I can hear him developing the theme of The Pale King.
Last edited by SteelBlue; 12-30-2013, 07:34 PM.
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Just finished the Orphan Masters Son, on your recommendations. I don't care at all for the writers style, but I can't put my finger on why. He teaches creative writing at Stanford, so you would think he would have the mechanical stuff down, but I found him making a lot of mistakes a good editor should have caught--unclear pronouns and speakers and the like. Aside from the nit picking however, the book is worth the read for the look inside North Korea. I will no longer see Kim Jong Il as a quirky, sort of comical dictator. That regime is pure evil.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using TapatalkAt least the Big Ten went after a big-time addition in Nebraska; the Pac-10 wanted a game so badly, it added Utah
-Berry Trammel, 12/3/10
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A friend's daughter was recently called to serve in the Dominican Republic, and it got me in a mind to read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Best book I've read in a very long time. I can't recommend it strongly enough."The mind is not a boomerang. If you throw it too far it will not come back." ~ Tom McGuane
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http://www.amazon.com/American-Natio...erican+nations
It's fascinating and helps me understand why I've always looked down on my middle-Georgia relatives' politics and world view. And, why I really dislike Yankees. Also, linguistic maps make a lot more sense too.Last edited by wuapinmon; 01-01-2014, 10:32 AM."Yeah, but never trust a Ph.D who has an MBA as well. The PhD symbolizes intelligence and discipline. The MBA symbolizes lust for power." -- Katy Lied
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Originally posted by ERCougar View PostJust finished the Orphan Masters Son, on your recommendations. I don't care at all for the writers style, but I can't put my finger on why. He teaches creative writing at Stanford, so you would think he would have the mechanical stuff down, but I found him making a lot of mistakes a good editor should have caught--unclear pronouns and speakers and the like. Aside from the nit picking however, the book is worth the read for the look inside North Korea. I will no longer see Kim Jong Il as a quirky, sort of comical dictator. That regime is pure evil."There is no creature more arrogant than a self-righteous libertarian on the web, am I right? Those folks are just intolerable."
"It's no secret that the great American pastime is no longer baseball. Now it's sanctimony." -- Guy Periwinkle, The Nix.
"Juilliardk N I ibuprofen Hyu I U unhurt u" - creekster
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Originally posted by Non Sequitur View PostA friend's daughter was recently called to serve in the Dominican Republic, and it got me in a mind to read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Best book I've read in a very long time. I can't recommend it strongly enough.
I'd love to teach an elective class on Oscar Wao, Tolkien, and 1970's science fiction. I'd have to spend a couple of years outside of work reading and annotating Oscar Wao and the related texts to be able to do it, but it'd be a fun course. But, I want to teach one on The Wire first. I'll be working on that as a side project during my sabbatical."Yeah, but never trust a Ph.D who has an MBA as well. The PhD symbolizes intelligence and discipline. The MBA symbolizes lust for power." -- Katy Lied
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Originally posted by Jeff Lebowski View PostCS readers, Pulitzer judges, and all of the critics somehow missed all those errors. Good catch!
Another thing I really loved about the book--the completely believable deep love Jun Do/Ga had for Sun Moon, a woman he had never met, but who looked hot in some movies he saw. That really drew me in.
The Pulitzer is notorious for awarding academic pedigrees and timely political issues. I think this author capitalized on both. It's not a bad novel--it just seemed a little clunky for an award winning one. I'd still recommend it to anyone, just with a little reservation. It definitely opened my eyes to horrors I had no idea existed (assuming they're real--there are times when this feels like something the North Korean regime might write about the West).
Sent from my SCH-I535 using TapatalkAt least the Big Ten went after a big-time addition in Nebraska; the Pac-10 wanted a game so badly, it added Utah
-Berry Trammel, 12/3/10
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Originally posted by eldiente View PostWhat's with the criticism of critical reviews? You seem a little touchy lately. Website numbers in decline?"There is no creature more arrogant than a self-righteous libertarian on the web, am I right? Those folks are just intolerable."
"It's no secret that the great American pastime is no longer baseball. Now it's sanctimony." -- Guy Periwinkle, The Nix.
"Juilliardk N I ibuprofen Hyu I U unhurt u" - creekster
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Originally posted by eldiente View PostWhat's with the criticism of critical reviews? You seem a little touchy lately. Website numbers in decline?
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk*Banned*
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