1. When You Are Engulfed in Flames: the latest collection of cleverness by David Sedaris.
Well obviously I recommend reading each and every one of his books, but this was definitely one of the better ones. I particularly enjoyed the random thought-provoking questions ("What was Jesus like as a teenager?" and "Why do you never see a baby squirrel?") scattered throughout the book but it's his twisted fascination with the morbid and macabre that I truly connect with. A section with the description of a Japanese hotel room and the simple instructions to follow in dire situations (hence the title). My favorite chapter, however, was how to play down your education after attending an Ivy-league school ("Who? Me? Princeton's not even that hard to get into"). And now I want a baby skeleton for my very own.
2. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close: My first book by Jonathan Safran Foer, recommended by a friend with exceptional reading taste. Utterly loved it, loved everything about it. I think this is the first thing I've read that mentions (and even somewhat centers around) September 11th that I didn't find trite or boring. I like books that are interspersed with letters or random images that make you feel like you're part of the narrator's life.
3. Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk. Completely disappointed, not only with the fanatically large print and severely lacking 150 pages (that is a novella in my opinion, not a book) but the story was... silly. Usually I find his random twistedness charming but I was just bored. A porn star sets out to make a record-breaking movie where she gang-bangs 600 guys... one of whom just might be her son? Chuck, my dear, I think you lost me at Survivor. 
One final question, why oh why was Love in the Time of Cholera (the film) made in English??
No comments:
Post a Comment