I’ve been reading a collection of Ibsen plays prompted by reading Thomas Bernhard’s Woodcutters which features his play The Wild Duck. Just finished Enemy of the People which was alright but a bit pompous and ended rather abruptly. I can seen why Bernhard had a sort of affinity for Ibsen, as they both were sort of self imposed exiles who hated the mentality of their birth countries to the point of obsessively criticizing them. When I was young I rather enjoyed reading plays but find them a bit stiff and hard to get into these days vs. novels written in the same period.
I’m reading Ubik by Philip K Dick. So far, so good! I’m about 30 percent in and very intrigued to see where it goes.
I just downloaded James Sallis’ Drive novel. Thought I already read it, but maybe I’ve haven’t yet. Waiting for that realization “wait… I’ve been here before.”
It’s weird, but ever since making art and music, it’s been hard rereading stuff and even watching narrative TV and movies. It’s like since I’m now thinking in terms of set ups and transitions and how to produce tracks with a certain emotional payoff, I’m super aware of it in popular media. And I can feel the manipulation too much since it tends to be heavy handed.
Plus, I’m also tired of the post modernist deconstruction of current tropes.
A friend loaned me these, I had not heard of them before. These books are like if me and all my crust punk friends from when I was 20 accidently became the scooby gang. Kinda fantasy, kinda horror, but doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Brilliant book, think it’s favourite of his.
How’s it going? I don’t remember it all now, but it’s a pretty wild ride.
So far, so good and weird and unsettling. I can’t help but get a feeling that not all is as it seems…eager to see where PKD takes this!
apparently PKD was also eager to see where it was going when he wrote it.
found it: starts at 36:20
i think that is what i heard somewhere in this interview…
My absolute favorites, and I read them every few years. These stories (and a few of his others) are some of the few that my brain paints perfect images to. Absolutely love these books. Virtual Light is pretty good too. Love the bridge theme. (badly copied in the JM movie…) It’s actually about time for me to read them again too I think. I have a little trip coming up, so maybe I’ll start then.
Side note:
I’ve always wanted to read some Proust since once of my teachers described his writing. Sounds both tedious and quite intriguing at the same time, so it’s been on my mind off and on over the years. I actually got some (translated and not) so at some point, I’m going to give it a whirl. 
I also read/consult this off and on:
I don’t read enough these days. Stupid internet.
I do keep something in my bag when I need to kill time, and lately that’s been Russell’s Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy. Something so tediously pedantic hardly seems like a good fit, but I get a lot of value out of this arrangement. I can absorb a chapter, or even just a section, in a sitting and then let it percolate even for months before I finally get it. It’s not unclear, the material is just deep.
In case anyone is swayed by that endorsement, the link above is to the Project Gutenberg page.
I am a horrible reader too these days and can’t stop subjecting myself to attempting to read difficult books but do at times find them rather rewarding even if I don’t finish them. But, the last book I flew through was Murakami’s Men Without Women which couldn’t of been anymore effecting despite being so easy to read…
That sounds like a difficult subject to do justice. Immediately, it brings up images of cartoonish villainy borne of children raised by the internet. But it is also the kind of thing that features notably throughout history, and I’m guessing that’s where the more interesting parts of the book are.
I love Murakami’s older work. Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is really in my top 10 (I’m due for a re-read). Men Without Women is IMHO the last great thing he wrote. I felt that 1Q84 was a long meander that didn’t pay off. And I didn’t finish Killing Commendatore, first one of his I ever put down.
I just finished The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho). It was similar in spirit to the movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. A shaggy hangout novel, but a well-done exercise in building a time/place and slowly unraveling a cast of characters. Less over the top than his earlier work, but the ending left me rattled (in a good way).
I personally felt like 1Q84 ended up worth it, but the first half was a bit of a slog, but I haven’t been able to get past the first few chapters of Killing Commendatore.
Wind-Up Bird and Kafka on the Shore are both in my top 10 fav books tho, I had dreams about being in a well on my first read through of Wind-Up Bird.
Oh, I will check out Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Haven’t read anything else by him. I was curious about the new Bret Easton Ellis book having read a few interesting interviews with him recently. While I don’t agree with all of his opinions I do respect the honesty and bravado he has.
Thank you for this!
the Ubik part is at 36:20 btw. 
I’m gonna finish Ubik before watching—thank you again for this!