August 20, 2009
-
i need recommendations for fiction novels please. i seem to have plenty of non-fiction books on my to-read list, but barely any fictions, and i definitely need some easy reading to loosen me up between those long, dry non-fiction books.
if you need to gauge my tastes before recommending, the following are my recent fiction favorites.
The Killer Angels
American Pastoral
Clockers
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao***
i haven’t seen The Time Traveler’s Wife movie yet, nor am i really going to go out of my way to do. it was a great love story book that will unquestionably get screwed up by the film. rachel mcadams is great but eric bana doesn’t really have the romantic/dramatic talent to pull this one off, imo. and i’d much rather live with the fond memory of the book in my head rather than muck it all up with the crappy disappointment of the film.
am i being cynical? pessimistic? unadventurous? yes. also, hopefully, wise and educated. (i’m wise and educated, motherfucker!) i know how movies oversimplify and kill books. i know how Bana looks when he tries to do drama. i know how distracted i get when watching a movie after reading the book, especially so close together. “but that’s not how the book went…” the book was great and we’ll leave it at that.
besides. souxie said the movie sucked and that’s pretty much all i need to hear.
***
Comments (11)
i’m surprised you liked the time traveler’s wife! i think you’re the only guy i know that read that book. the book was awesome but the movie was disappointing, and for the same reasons as you suspected – there was no chemistry between eric bana and rachel mcadams, although i thought she did a pretty good job. i didn’t even shed a tear at the end of the movie. that being said, the movie isn’t THAT bad. i’d be curious to read what you thought about it when you do watch it. dont ever take my word for a movie review. i think starship troopers is a good movie (but in my defense it’s because it reminds me of the book enders game).
my friend gave me a book called Losing Julia. you might like it if you like stuff that has to do with war? its about an old man that fought in WWI and is thinking back on events during the war, and the woman he fell in love with. i’m not done reading it but i was pretty sucked in a for a while.
i’m also listening to david sedaris books and laughing my ass off on the subway.
i’m dying to see district 9! i’m still pissed i chose to watch gi joe instead. TERRIBLEEEE!!!
cormac mccarthy’s “the road” if you haven’t read it yet. if you have, then his “blood meridien” — dense, but very good.
jose saramagao’s “the gospel according to jesus christ.”
saul bellow’s “humboldt’s gift” — if you like the snap-snap of roth’s prose, you should like bellow.
louise erdrich’s “the plague of doves” — just awesome.
Everything by Douglas Adams starting with the Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series.
@souxie -
I saw a free screening of District 9 and then snuck into GI Joe. Even though I saw two movies for free that day (and District 9 was great), I still felt like I was owed something for sitting through GI Joe.
wait… Time Traveler’s Wife is fiction?
I’d make fun of you, but I’m gonna go catch it tonight.
District 9 was good.
you’re always cynical and pessimistic…but it’s kinda cute…
@supanamja -
haha your comment made me crack up! tell me you didnt cringe when the guy actually said “and knowing is half the battle”? i still shudder thinking about it!
@souxie -
I cringed and shuddered so much throughout that movie that I was afraid it had given me epilepsy.
@souxie -
@toskas -
@supanamja -
thanks for the recommendations. i have at least one of your recs queued up.
I recommend the book, Gilead. It’s beautifully written.
@pitpatpot -
read it. hated it. sorry!