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Old 06-28-2008, 05:49 PM
grady
fac321
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 1,160
Re: currently reading?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Strangelet View Post
Thanks for the recommendation, will definitely have to pick up another one. what's next on the list? wind up bird chronicles?

What I loved most about the book was the sense of resignation combined with bewilderment. And not just because he's obviously mixing kafka with anime pop culture. I think the writer really sees the world this way. The honesty of it, outside of the device, I think was what hit me. This could potentially be a zeitgeist book by a zeitgeist writer. Like a jd salinger or jack kerouak, someone you best enjoy reading when you're young or young in spirit, forming your opinion about the world's mechanics. This time around being the anxiety and horrific dread of a kafka scenario injected with disco lights, kareoke and cowboy bebop. Strange, powerful dynamics of beauty and evil whirling around the individual in current times.

or it could be about sex. which is alright too.

great read.
Awesome! Glad to learn that you enjoyed it. Since recommending it to you I had an interesting argument with an individual who felt the entire conceit of the novel was very contrived and useless. You can't win over everyone I guess.

If you enjoyed that one a great deal I must ask if you would rather read another novel first or a short story collection?

If you're thinking novel, read his first novel A Wild Sheep Chase. While not technically his first novel it was the first to be translated into English. If a short story collection is what you may be interested in, The Elephant Vanishes is a worthy second.

My vote for you is A Wild Sheep Chase though.