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Post by Introvertigroo on Jun 1, 2020 17:04:19 GMT
The Demolished Pun
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Post by Introvertigroo on Jun 14, 2020 20:11:37 GMT
I am reading my Ellroy novels yet again, having already completed The Black Dahlia and now reading The Big Nowhere. I may need some new books.
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Post by miles on Jun 20, 2020 18:49:56 GMT
Terra got me started on Tardi. I am now reading his novelization of his father's 5 years captivity as a POW. I have some of his mystery stories ready as well. The Association bio was good, detailed and non-sensational. It does drag a bit in the second half, when the original group lost members and it was just a couple guys fronting the group, the hits were long past and the venues shrinking. Terry Kirkman, Jules Alexandar and Jim Yester wrote some great songs, and other guys were not slouches either. One interesting miss, they had the chance to record MacArther Park by Jimmy Webb and passed on it, making Richard Harris the unlikely benefactor.
Update: I just read an interview with Terry that pushed back hard on the Mac Park story. He said they loved it but only had 4 days to finish the album, it just could not be done.
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Post by Introvertigroo on Jun 24, 2020 21:32:44 GMT
I started rereading L.A. Confidential earlier, but I had to give my eyes a rest. Dog help me.
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Post by Introvertigroo on Jul 7, 2020 17:09:32 GMT
I'm reading Ellroy's White Jazz, and I am glad to say that eyes aren't bothering me. I have gotten used to my new glasses.
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Post by miles on Jul 7, 2020 18:53:36 GMT
I'm reading Ellroy's White Jazz, and I am glad to say that eyes aren't bothering me. I have gotten used to my new glasses. Maybe it helps that he kept his sentences short in that one.
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Post by Introvertigroo on Jul 7, 2020 19:43:18 GMT
I read somewhere that it wasn't a stylistic choice as much as an editorial one--the publishers complained that the manuscript was too long, so Ellroy chopped the verbs out of a bunch of sentences to cut down on word length.
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Post by miles on Jul 7, 2020 21:02:08 GMT
I read somewhere that it wasn't a stylistic choice as much as an editorial one--the publishers complained that the manuscript was too long, so Ellroy chopped the verbs out of a bunch of sentences to cut down on word length. I have some friends who are writers. One of them teaches his own system, basically showing how to construct stories that work. One of his main bits of editing advice is removing excess words, and as many passive verbs as you can.
As an apocryphal story, I like how he was kind of giving the editor/publisher the finger with his brutal edit, and then decided to adapt it as his style.
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Post by Introvertigroo on Jul 21, 2020 3:23:21 GMT
I am rereading some Peter Straub novels. I just finished Ghost Story, and I have just started Floating Dragon.
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Post by Introvertigroo on Aug 2, 2020 2:56:45 GMT
I switched from Straub to Hammett. The Thin Man, about eight chapters in.
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Post by Introvertigroo on Aug 9, 2020 2:26:06 GMT
Rereading The Dead Zone by Stephen King--I always thought this was one of his more underrated novels.
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Post by Nonsuch Ned on Sept 9, 2020 18:23:34 GMT
In my manic quest to consume all things Tenchi Muyo I have resorted to reading the fan translations of the novels only available in Japan. There are 17 "light novels" in the most expansive series so far. The 17th has not been translated by the translator and I just noticed that he has declared that he finds the novel so boring that he refuses to do a full translation. BUT he did put it directly through a Machine Translator...
Oh yeah... Google translations of Japanese.
I read it all this past long weekend. I got the gist. As far as I can tell, it is pretty boring. The writer loves to world-build. This novel is all about how our sci-fi hero is surviving when trapped on a planet full of magic. Chapter after chapter of how magic works, why herbs are so important, why the city has an underground city under the city, how to catch the burrowing beasts that are their main source of meat.
What bugged me a little about the non-translation was that the writer has been hinting at a new major character, one that has shown up in a separate story that takes place AFTER the events of the arc depicted in these novels... that haven't been finished yet. This current arc has barely begun. And this novel had that character on the cover. Ends up she was in a tiny section in the second to last chapter.
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Post by miles on Sept 24, 2020 18:04:18 GMT
Reading Riot On Sunset Strip, by Domenic Priore. Excellent, detailed history of the LA music scene circa 50s and 60s. Using the club scene on Sunset to tell the story. A bit tangential at times, but keeps the thread going.
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Post by Introvertigroo on Feb 20, 2021 19:52:46 GMT
Reading The Thin Man again, as it was still on my bedroom dresser from the last time I read it.
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Post by donavan on Feb 21, 2021 12:03:39 GMT
I'm currently reading The Fat Man. It won't fit on my bedroom dresser.
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