Grass for His Pillow, being the second book in the Tales of the Otori series by Lian Hearn. Widely recommended for anyone looking for something fresh and new.
Tomorrow I will begin reading Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire and very soon after I will read Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.
Before They Are Hanged, Joe Abercrombie. I'm kind of torn on it, because as far as fantasy goes the prose is excellent and some of the characters are fascinating, but the plot seems... missing. Both of these are great reads.
Finished Runaway and I am delighted! Gonna reread it to get a finer feel for what I may have missed the first time...
Ham On Rye by Charles Bukowski. It's an autobiography in the voice of an alter ego, Henry Chinaski. Damn he had a depressing life growing up. And I thought mine was bad. It's close, but not that close.
I finished Williams this afternoon and I have to say, those were the most intense scenes of any play I've ever read and I would love to see it on stage. I think I'll begin Miller's play on Sunday; I still have a few short stories and poems I'm going to read first tomorrow.
You should try get a copy of Elia Kazan's film version, with Marlon Brando as Stanley. Very faithful, amazing performances. You should also try to read/see a play called That Face by Polly Stenham. And read Albee, of course.
Thanks for the suggestions aaron. I'll have to make sure to check out Stenham, and as for Albee, I've always wanted to read Who's Afriad of Virginia Wolf? since I liked the film version so much.
In my reading queue: Sophie's Choice - William Styron Spirit Walker: Messages from the Future - Hank Wessleman Runaway - Meg Cabot Vanished - Joseph Finder
I'm reading Double Vision by Pat Barker. It won the 1995 Booker Prize. It's so so easy to read but wonderful and evocative. I find her style really inspirational because she has that elusive craft where it all seems so easy. I'm taking a break from a book I found a little too verbose - The Siege by Helen Dunmore. Just wondering if other people persevere with books until the bitter end or do you give up if you're not enjoying it? I tend to stick with a book (unless it's diabolical) even when I feel dispirited. Even if there's a slight bit of mystery regarding the ending it will usually be enough to keep me committed.
^ Depends on whether or not I paid for it XD I don't like to feel like I wasted my money, so if I pay for a book I usually persevere, although since I generally only buy books that are award-winners/critically acclaimed/personally recommended by someone whose taste I trust, I'm not often disappointed.
I'm now reading "And another thing..." by Eoin Colfer. Terrible -- I probably won't stick it out. He keeps having to tell the reader what the characters' personalities are, because you can't tell from the dialogue or their actions. Any of the characters could spout any of the dialogue or do any of the actions. With all the talk about Single Transferable Votes in the UK at the moment, it seems that Colfer has a single transferable character.
I'm leaning more towards choosing award winners and personal recommendations now too. There's simply not enough time to get through the classics let alone the howlers. I almost want to read it because it sounds so bad!
