Books: What are you reading tonight? - Page 14

KilgoreTrout · #**131** 10-09-2007, 12:40 PM

Just getting around to posting a follow up about the Chris Genoa novel, Foop that I finished a couple weeks ago.

I generally enjoyed Foop. The narrative style was amusing in a Vonnegut-rip-off kind of way. Set in the not-too-distant future, the premise - a poor schlub doing his 9-5 at a time travel agency is sent back to 2001 to prevent nasty things from happening to his boss - is fun even though it's out there.

It pokes fun at new age religion, entrepreneurial zeal, and the blank-stare detachment of big city living. The protagonist is, for lack of a better term, a mess psychologically. He longs for corporeal contact rather than emotional connections. He is fully isolated from others. Regardless of his own efforts, he cannot connect with others, get along with others, or even interpret the speech/language of others.

There are numerous typos and font-size changes within the text that I think are there to level the reader (misspelled character names, verb tense changes, phonetic spellings, and alternating paragraphs of larger typeset). Either that or Genoa has a poor copy editor.

I was disappointed by the ending, which I thought was preachy in a slap-you-in-the-face way. It the same old story of humanity's preoccupation with material pursuits or pop religion or big business that leads to its basic wickedness when viewed from a distance. The funny twist is that the protagonist is so detached from his fellow human beings that he, too, is engaged in trying to prevent humans from evolving from apes.

It borrows/pays homage to themes in Sirens of Titan, Cat's Cradle, and even stylistically to Breakfast of Champions (e.g. it has illustrations and an unreliable narrator).

Bottom line is it was a good debut novel for Genoa, a quick and amusing read, but the ending seemed rushed/revised and didn't really fit with the playfulness of the rest of the book. This would be good for a plane trip, and would be good company for Tony Vigorito's Just a Couple of Days

Five-Star · #**132** 10-09-2007, 01:25 PM

I've got a huge stack of books to be reading but right now I'm working on <u>Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq</u>

Johnny Hughes · #**133** 10-14-2007, 06:45 PM

I am reading Peter Alson's Take Me to The River.

I am loving it and will give it a favorable Amazon review when I through. That's my new thrill, ordering books over the Internet and reviewing them. I am starting with people I know some.

My own novel, Texas Poker Wisdom, will come out in a couple of months. The early reviews are fantastic.

SoloAJ · #**134** 10-14-2007, 08:58 PM

I am about halfway through Freedom Writers now. I saw the movie a while ago. I went to a showing that was almost entirely teachers and it was funny to hear them laughing at certain things that I had no idea what was funny. Teachers are weird.

(Yeah, I'm going to be one in a couple years).

Enrique · #**135** 10-14-2007, 09:34 PM

[ QUOTE ]
My own novel, Texas Poker Wisdom, will come out in a couple of months. The early reviews are fantastic.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is it a fictional tale of a poker player?

A side question: when people say "novel" does that imply fiction?

Kimbell175113 · #**136** 10-14-2007, 09:55 PM

[ QUOTE ]

A side question: when people say "novel" does that imply fiction?

[/ QUOTE ]
It should.

I am reading Marisha Pessl's Special Topics in Calamity Physics at the moment, and I am loving it. Can't recommend it highly enough. (I'll come back to this thread, KilgoreTrout-style, with more of a review and a synopsis once I've finished.)

LeapFrog · #**137** 10-14-2007, 11:08 PM

[ QUOTE ]

Has anyone else read "The Mist" and have some comments?

[/ QUOTE ]

Bit of trivia -- this is being made into a movie. Andre Braugher is in it. Set to be released in Nov I believe.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0884328/

edit: sigh. another bit of trivia, I apparently have reading comprehension problems. AJ mentioned the movie above. Read the post but it somehow didn't make it inside my brain. I found out about the movie while looking for some Homicide LOS info on imdb.

Blarg · #**138** 10-15-2007, 04:20 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I am about halfway through Freedom Writers now. I saw the movie a while ago. I went to a showing that was almost entirely teachers and it was funny to hear them laughing at certain things that I had no idea what was funny. Teachers are weird.

(Yeah, I'm going to be one in a couple years).

[/ QUOTE ]

One of the more fun and infuriating things is figuring out what others know that you don't.

Enrique · #**139** 10-15-2007, 06:53 PM

The books I am reading tonight are:
"I am America (And so Can You)" by Stephen Colbert, just bought it today and have read the intro. It doesn't read as funny as the cover, hopefully it will get funnier.

"The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America" by Bill Bryson. I am about halfway through this book, I find the author very funny. I am enjoying it a lot. Also helps me decide which towns to skip and which ones to add when I plan my roadtrip across America.

james_stansky22 · #**140** 10-18-2007, 08:18 PM

"Water Music" by TC Boyle. This guy really knows how to take numerous loose ends and weave them into a beautiful story. Those of you who aren't familiar should pick up some of his stuff. "World's End" is really good too.