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I started on Dhalgren a few days ago, which, after having just finished Les Misérables, is a refreshing stylistic departure: from one of the finest examples of tightly-woven classical narrative to what's perhaps a series of images more than anything else, fragmentary almost to the point of rivalling Burroughs (though thankfully a bit more cohesive, keeping some conventions). Is anyone else familiar with this one? I hadn't heard of it until being mentioned as partial inspiration for a certain David Bowie album, but then I've never been much for science fiction, so that may be explanation enough.
After that I'll probably make another about-face and read best-selling Middlesex, at the recommendation of a friend--actually she's going to mail it to me, so I suppose I don't have much of a choice there, but it seems interesting enough. Besides, my bookshelf seems to be slightly lacking in novels about intersexed Greeks.
From there, probably Lolita. I've only recently introduced myself to Nabokov, but from what little I've read I quite enjoy his style; have several other titles on my mental list, but this seems to be a general favorite among fans of his and so seems a sensible next choice.
Continuing with the general theme of desperation and alienation, that is to say being on the fringes of sanity/society as it were (Jesus is this getting depressing), next will likely be Notes from Underground, another long-standing recommendation finally remembered. Shamed to admit it'll be the first taste of Dostoevsky, though at least given its brevity should be a fairly convenient litmus. If things go well there'll be several more additions to the ever expanding long-term list of Things to Read, which I suppose bears something of a double edge--beginning to doubt whether I'll ever be able to fulfill it before I die, and if not it'll be one of my few regrets.
Rounding things off, Camus's Exile and the Kingdom, and possibly a couple of others depending on whether whatever edition I find includes more than the collection of novellas alone. (More exploration, having only read some essays and The Stranger, though being struck immediately by both; is anyone else beginning to see the trend of attachment and obsession I follow so often?)
Needless to say I'll have little time for the spaceships, which is at least partially intended.
After that I'll probably make another about-face and read best-selling Middlesex, at the recommendation of a friend--actually she's going to mail it to me, so I suppose I don't have much of a choice there, but it seems interesting enough. Besides, my bookshelf seems to be slightly lacking in novels about intersexed Greeks.
From there, probably Lolita. I've only recently introduced myself to Nabokov, but from what little I've read I quite enjoy his style; have several other titles on my mental list, but this seems to be a general favorite among fans of his and so seems a sensible next choice.
Continuing with the general theme of desperation and alienation, that is to say being on the fringes of sanity/society as it were (Jesus is this getting depressing), next will likely be Notes from Underground, another long-standing recommendation finally remembered. Shamed to admit it'll be the first taste of Dostoevsky, though at least given its brevity should be a fairly convenient litmus. If things go well there'll be several more additions to the ever expanding long-term list of Things to Read, which I suppose bears something of a double edge--beginning to doubt whether I'll ever be able to fulfill it before I die, and if not it'll be one of my few regrets.
Rounding things off, Camus's Exile and the Kingdom, and possibly a couple of others depending on whether whatever edition I find includes more than the collection of novellas alone. (More exploration, having only read some essays and The Stranger, though being struck immediately by both; is anyone else beginning to see the trend of attachment and obsession I follow so often?)
Needless to say I'll have little time for the spaceships, which is at least partially intended.
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