What Are You Reading?

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Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
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The High Seas
The main character didn't know how to relate to people. He felt like in order to fit in he had to be something he wasn't and agree with people when he didn't. He felt like he somehow was born without an essential understanding of society that everyone else seems to have had. So he pretended to be happy and understanding while trying to destroy himself. He acted human, but felt he was not one. And the more he did the less he felt human. In order to cope with his sense of otherness he drank and tried to end his life multiple times much like the author did. The first person point of view and the blunt way the subject matter is handled... Well, the guy was talking about suicide the way we talk about the weather. This is fiction, but barely fiction.
Sounds very intriguing. Thanks, I'll have to add this to my teetering TBR pile.
 
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kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
Just finishing 'Salem's Lot for the umpteenth time, then starting The Good Lord Bird (James McBride). I'm a sucker for well done Civil War/post Civil War era fiction.
You should see if you can get a hold of a couple of books by Don Robertson- The Three Days, By Antietam Creek, The River And The Wilderness and Prisoners Of Twilight. Robertson is one of the authors that King mentions whenever he is asked who influenced him when he was young and wanted to be a writer. Robertson has written other books that were bestsellers such as The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread and its two sequels. He is a wonderful writer! While reading him you can tell that King borrowed heavily from Don's writing style.
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
You should see if you can get a hold of a couple of books by Don Robertson- The Three Days, By Antietam Creek, The River And The Wilderness and Prisoners Of Twilight. Robertson is one of the authors that King mentions whenever he is asked who influenced him when he was young and wanted to be a writer. Robertson has written other books that were bestsellers such as The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread and its two sequels. He is a wonderful writer! While reading him you can tell that King borrowed heavily from Don's writing style.
I will, and thank you! The Good Lord Bird stumbled badly in the (completely unnecessary) prologue--it's supposed to read as a newspaper article, but so few writers of fiction do that well (totally not kissing butt when I say SK is one of the few non-reporter background writers who have captured the style, in Carrie). It's a completely different skill than narrative writing. The book improved quickly, though, as McBride got into the meat of his story. :)
 

jacobtlong

Well-Known Member
Jun 13, 2008
3,646
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Mobile, Alabama
I began reading I Am a Cat by Soseki Natsume today. It is a collection of shorts told from the perspective of a cat. And each of the shorts sort of poke fun and analyze people (at least of that time and area) in a way that only a cat could. All the shorts together make for a long read at a little over 600 pages. And even the newest of these stories is about a hundred years old.

So it is a bit intimidating, but so far so good.
 

The Nameless

M-O-O-N - That spells Nameless
Jul 10, 2011
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The Darkside of the Moon (England really)
Along with bronchitis I have reader's block.:near_tears:
I had a readers block recently, hard turned a page in about 6 weeks. Hope you get better soon.

I'm still reading the same book as when I last posted on the old boards thread, butas this is a new site and all, I'm reading (and hopefully finishing within the next few weeks) the dark tower VII.
 
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