sufi

lala
so far it's a load of what i imagine are 80s tropes of scummy squatters and cold-hearted corporates all stuck together with a wide-eyed faux-naïf writing style plus a mythological subplot seems like it might get more interesting as it progresses.
possibly not! There's lots to enjoy though, and lots about the dark days of dissolute toryism that's familiar
 

william_kent

Well-known member
Mark Behm - The Eye of The Beholder

a @woops recommendation, and I'd back him up 100%

Excellent. Starts out like any other private eye novel, but the protagonist is mentally ill and it gets twisted real sharp, with the eye rapidly covering for the perpetrator

i don't want to say more because of spoilers, but it's strangely moving - only thing I want to say is he is shit at crosswords, I got the clue well before he did
 

woops

is not like other people
Mark Behm - The Eye of The Beholder

a @woops recommendation, and I'd back him up 100%

Excellent. Starts out like any other private eye novel, but the protagonist is mentally ill and it gets twisted real sharp, with the eye rapidly covering for the perpetrator

i don't want to say more because of spoilers, but it's strangely moving - only thing I want to say is he is shit at crosswords, I got the clue well before he did
pleased to see this post not only cos you enjoyed it but also cos i was wondering if you'd decided it was rubbish but were too polite to say anything,
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I've finished this now and read a book called I love dick.
Seems to be one of the most discussed books on the forum as this is the second or third time it's come up in this thread and I believe that there is also a thread about Kraus or maybe her magazine (Semiotext or something) where it comes up. I guess it's quite a dissensusy book one way or another.
 

woops

is not like other people
Seems to be one of the most discussed books on the forum as this is the second or third time it's come up in this thread and I believe that there is also a thread about Kraus
classic line from an article i found about her

"an artist who considers herself a failed experimental filmmaker is married to an older cultural theorist, a professor at Columbia; they move between country houses that they rent out for extra money (“It was a profitable scheme, but consequently, the pair are homeless”)"
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Yes... a strange life they created for themselves (he's dead now though right?)... made all the more complicated by inventing an obsessive love affair with a guy she didn't really know. The Dick stuff was the least interesting bits of the book I think, there was definitely some really good writing in there and some genuinely good ideas. A girl we knew was round our house and she saw it on the shelf and remarked something about how it was really annoying but also compelled you to read to the end and I think she nailed it as well as anyone else I've seen or heard express any opinion about it since.
 

woops

is not like other people
Yes... a strange life they created for themselves (he's dead now though right?)... made all the more complicated by inventing an obsessive love affair with a guy she didn't really know. The Dick stuff was the least interesting bits of the book I think, there was definitely some really good writing in there and some genuinely good ideas.
i'd go along with that
 

william_kent

Well-known member
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Run The Riddim: The Untold Story of '90s Dancehall - Marvin Sparks

Books about dancehall are pretty rare - I own one other, a dry, boring, but unintentionally funny academic text called Wake The Town and Tell The People ( an obvious PhD thesis turned into a book )*, so when this became available I snapped it up, and judging that it's now sold out and due for a second print run so did anyone else who was interested. I could be critical ( like it needs an editor ), but the guy has put in the time and effort to interview a number of 'industry people', and there's loads of information about producers, studios, artists, and even the dancers ( Ding Dong, Bogle, Carlene the Dancehall Queen, etc., ) that I'm not about to complain.

* Neon Screams is supposed to cover some dancehall, so maybe I own 3 books about it - still haven't read it yet though, so I can't comment
 

woops

is not like other people
i'm halfway through Journey to the End of Night, 500 pages of misanthropy pessimism and treachery is just what i need at the moment.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
2021 - best in bold.

Rebecca Binns (ed.) - They've Taken Our Ghettos: A Punk History of Woodberry Down Estate

Hari Kunzru - Red Pill

Christopher Hill - Antichrist in Seventeenth Century England

Evie Nagy - Freedom of Choice

Deleuze & Guattari - On The Line

Jo Bloom - Ridley Road

Richard Johnson - Grudge For Life: A Book About Ramleh

Sylvere Lotringer (ed) - Semiotext(e): The German Issue

Hooligan Press - Squatting In West Berlin

Sarah Schulman - The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination

Michael Rosen - So They Call You Pisher: A Memoir

Stewart Home - She's My Witch

Genesis P-Orridge - Non-Binary: A Memoir

Luke Turner - Out of the Woods

Jennifer Lucy Allan - The Foghorn’s Lament: The disappearing music of the coast

Philip Larkin - All That Jazz: A Record Diary

Judy and Fred Vermorel - Fandemonium! The book of fan cults and dance crazes

Fred Vermorel - Queen Victoria’s Lovers: Erotomania & Fantasy

Simon Napier-Bell - Black Vinyl White Powder


Rob Ray - A Beautiful Idea: History Of The Freedom Press Anarchists

12 Rules For What - Post-Internet Far Right: Fascism In The Age Of The Internet

Shon Faye - The Transgender Issue: An Argument For Justice

Koshka Duff (ed) - Abolishing The Police

Aaron Cometbus - Cometbus #59: Post-mortem

Kathleen Stock - Material Girls
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Must read Red Pill cos I really enjoyed his one I read this year.
Also, the foghorn one, I read about that somewhere and thought it sounded quite fascinating... I read the review with a mild tinge of sadness knowing that I would almost certainly never get round to reading it cos... no reason really. But just thinking of the sound of a foghorn - preferably in actual fog - sends a tingle down the spine.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I'm just reading a thing called The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers. Silly time travel fun that I'm rather enjoying despite a few kinda plotholes.
 
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