What are you currently reading?

[Brian]

I laughed long and hard at the cameo by real classical violinist Charlie Siem, whom I once gave a scathing review in the pages of MusicWeb and accused of being a fame-seeking narcissist. The fact that he'd show up in a viciously satirical Austenesque novel about the fame-seeking narcissists of Asia's upper classes is indicative of the author's awe-inspiring knowledge of the material. Every detail is perfect.

[Geo Dude]

Recently finished this, which is one of the best books I've ever read:



Currently reading:

[jlaurson]

Not sure how much sense it would make to read Thomas Bernhard in another language, or even without knowing his surroundings at least somewhat...

In the train from Vienna:

Wittgenstein's Nephew
Thomas Bernhard
Vintage
German link - UK link

Next, on the train to Vienna:

Mozart - A Life
Paul Johnson
Viking
German link - UK link

[Artem]

Do you like Thomas Bernhard?

[milk]

It's a wounded world.
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[Karl Henning]

So many families are difficult, aren't they?

[Karl Henning]

Not actually reading this at present, but it played well into a post my brother made on Facebook:

Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment With a Chainsaw

[milk]

So many families are difficult, aren't they?

Yes. And perhaps you know what Tolstoy said?
I think a lot of people might find that book illuminating. 

[North Star]

Very cool, sanantonio! Been enjoying those painters after watching Andrew Graham-Dixon's Art of America (BBC) series recently - and Feldman and Cage, too, of course.

[Karl Henning]

There was a fabulous de Kooning retrospective at MoMA a couple of years ago.

[listener]

a viciously satirical Austenesque novel about the fame-seeking narcissists of Asia's upper classes is indicative of the author's awe-inspiring knowledge of the material. Every detail is perfect.

I've just started this, your description hit the spot with me as I've worked with a lot of Asians... Laughing out on almost every page,   thanks for the recommendation,

[Artem]

Checked this out of the library yesterday and have been enjoying it so far.

[asin]0415936942[/asin]

I liked this book a lot when i read it earlier this year.

I followed it with Renee Levine Packer's This Life of Sounds: Evenings for New Music in Buffalo, which is less about expressionist art but more about Cage and Feldman. Good book too.

[Brian]

I've just started this, your description hit the spot with me as I've worked with a lot of Asians... Laughing out on almost every page,   thanks for the recommendation,

Glad to hear this! I finished the book. The entertainment never ends.

[Todd]

Going for some fiction in the form of Pat Barker's Regeneration, an historical novel about poet and British WWI officer Siegfried Sassoon and his treatment for the mental ravages of war.  Very writerly so far, and pretty good, but it lacks the punch and immediacy of All Quiet on the Western Front.  If it's good enough, I may very well go for the other two volumes in the trilogy.

[milk]

Just started this but so far it's pretty fun.

[Artem]

Recently, I finished reading Thomas Bernhard's authobiographical Gathering Evidence/My Prizes and a newly relesased collection of short pieces by Robert Walser titled A Schoolboy's Diary and Other Stories. I enjoyed Bernhard's book a lot. Not so much with Walser.

[mn dave]

Crikey! I've been reading all the wrong books! 
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[mn dave]

I am reading The Martian Chronicles. It is wonderful.

[Karl Henning]

Yes, the occasional preachy bit aside.

[mn dave]

Yes, the occasional preachy bit aside.

I haven't encountered anything I'd consider preachy but I'm not even halfway through yet.