I'm going to start reading some Patricia Highsmith. I know you all were dying to know that. At least it won't be more kiddie porn, like Nabokov or Howard the Duck or something like that.

finishing this



next up

Did anyone end up checking out the original Hyperion?

It was a hell of a book all told. One of the best science fiction novels I've read in years. Now I'm moving through the 3 sequels.

If anyone does pick it up, save yourself the trouble of having to go back out and buy Fall of Hyperion, Endymion and Rise of Endymion and just get the HYPERION CANTOS, which includes all four books.

and

I updated my blog, RXTT's Intellectual Journey, with some new reviews and a clickable list of all books reviewed so far, for your convenience! http://rxttbooks.blogspot.com/

Currently reading

I'm about 2/3 in and really enjoying it. The Shrike is a brilliant creation.

my new university progam is starting on monday
getting ready for classes with those two babies





p.s.: symbols, i miss ya

Yeah, you can say that again.

Finished the second book, and even though there are technically 2 more, I'm going to hold off for a while because vol. 3 & 4 (Endymion and Rise of Endymion) deal with an entirely different main cast, with a few exceptions, and takes place 300 years after the end of Fall of Hyperion.

When I found that out- that they weren't so much sequels as novels set in the same universe- I was a bit bummed.

Mostly because I found myself at the end of a book with nothing to replace it with.

I go through a very real kind of "withdrawal" when I let more than a day or two (tops) go by between finishing a book and starting a new one. It can really kinda fuck with my head if I have no clue what to read next, which is currently the case. I'm not a big re-reader, so old favorites are out.

Anyway, I'm starting to get shaky and weird, so if anyone has some dark sci fi to recommend, give me a shout.

OWWWWW (again)....

well, i replied to your PM.

good poets, those...!

I gave away around 150 books last week. Felt good, like getting a much-needed haircut. But looking around it really didn't make a dent in my random piles and packed bookshelves.

And then the library had a book sale. I came home with 20 new ones.

How many books are too many? However many I have. My life won't be long enough and I need the space.

HAHA! The wife and I just moved to a smaller apartment and I put away about 2/3 of my books in storage.

I kept the art books and the expensive books for my apartment. The only problem is that those are the biggest and heaviest books I own!

I need to cull my record collection. That is my next project once the apartment is all unpacked and everything is cool.

I want to reduce my LP's by at least 200 units.

That was my life a couple of years ago. Now I only crave emptiness.

For which you'll get some cash, right? I don't think I could get 10 bucks for 200 used, mostly ex-library books.


The ownership is burdensome, but I'm also being more honest with myself. I chose to admit that I probably won't be doing an in-depth study of Hegel in this lifetime, so the volumes of his stuff and all the commentary are sitting around for no good reason. Just an example. Time for "I might read this someday" to be seriously challenged.

Indeed. I will be selling off some records in the near future.

I donlt find my books or records burdensome. Burdensome is my wife's clothing, purses, and shoes!!!!!!!!!

right... same thing about re-reading things you know you won't-- like a bunch of comic books/graphic novels i sold cheap.

this has been mentioned by various comedians etc but we often use our bookshelves as social badges-- trophy cases-- taxidermied prey-- whatever. for show only. "look at how smart i am."

the truth is that-- if we're reading it, it's in our hands, if we read it, not a lot of reasons to keep it, if we haven't read it yet we probably won't get through that very large pile. yes there are books one reads and rereads-- but how many are they?

if you ever decide to go and study hegel after all, just go to the university library and have at it.

i'd rather not own any books at all. my dream is to be able to pay a subscription for monthly entrance to the Library of Babel (the one dreamed up by borges and realized by the internet). all the books are there-- always accessible from anywhere. the system keeps your notes and bookmarks, and you can cancel or suspend and renew whenever, and take with you everywhere.

that. that. that. be here already.


famous last words... :p

If only to be able to say that to one's self, never mind other people. But I ain't fooling myself no more.

Here's what it is: an ideal bookshelf should reflect the reader's interests and abilities. That's all. Anything beyond that is...well, beyond that.

finished the Coetzee essays.


Very interesting. some new/old books on my to be read stack now, The chapter on Dostoyevski was great

also just in





and



the last essay in the Coetzee prompted me to order this up from ms Ild for Xman

which sounds like a fascinating history of the English in S Africa (they were worse perhaps than the Dutch)

I have re-read all of Vonnegut's work 3-4 times at least. I have re-read Moby Dick 4 times. Same with Robert Howard books, Lovecraft, etc. I do not read much fiction, but I can definitely agree that once a novel is read, it can be ussually be given away/sold and no problem. This does not apply to the truly great books that affect you differently at age 20 and then at age 30 and then at age 40, etc. The classics are endlessly rewarding

Many of my books are art/reference books and most are non-fiction. I keep them because I always go back to find more information. I also keep them as collectibles, like my vinyl records. When and if the world loses the ability to use electrical grid I will still have my library and music collection.

There's obviously some deep psychology going on with keeping books. I have loads but live close to a hermit-like existence so they're not there to show off to others. So why do I do it? I won't re-read most of them and itd probably take me more than a lifetime to get through all the ones that I own but haven't yet read, even once (a large bulk of which I doubt I ever will). I don't know why I do it but I'm sure it's some kind of attempt at trying to define myself to myself.

i know what you mean. they end up being a sort of amulet more than anything. or badges, as i said. hey, we have a social relationship with ourselves after all.

i drove across the united states with crates and crates of books. it was painful and expensive but at that point i thought an indispensable sacrifice. many years and purges later, i still have a storage room (free, thank fuck) half-full with them. i have to go retrieve them some day so i can take them to the various used book people. but at least i know now i have to put them out there for others to use.

the other thing is that when it comes to scholarly books they may be influential at some point but eventually become dated and even obsolete. i mean, what are you going to do with something like a book of freudian literary criticism these days? it's like trying to eat an expired can of tuna from the 1940s that might give you a case of cognitive botulism.