I know that we've had this sort of thread at least 3-4 times...

Maybe even more times, but the truth is that I've just finished reading a book so fucking good that it deserved to write an entire new thread just for me to discuss about it...

Instead of doing a thread dedicated exclusively to that book, I tought that maybe it would be better to make the thread more useful, so, post your toughts on any book that you've finished reading in this thread...

If you want to...

So, withnout further delay, here goes my opinion on a great, great book:
Mario Puzo's: The Godfather.

Wow, is this book fucking awesome or what, I mean, it's captivating, cruel, funny, and so fucking cynical that it HAS to be considered one of the best books I've ever read...

And the ending fucking rocks...

Being a youngster as I am, I just got done reading Catch Twenty-Two. I need n convincing that it was a great novel, but I must admit I had trouble sitting down and reading too much of it at once. The humor of it was so abrasive that I needed to take it in small chunks. Genuinely funny and brilliant though.

Does anyone recommend Closing Time?

I sure had nothing to do this holidays...


Umberto Eco: The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana

Well written, and an essential read if you're a fan of Eco's since it's pretty autobiographic. It's about a sixtyish man who loses his biographical memory (he does know who Caesar was and the writings of Balzac, but doesn't recognise his wife and children). He tries to find out who he was (and is) by going back to the home where he grew up and go through the stuff that made up his everyday life as a kid: Comics, books, records, newspaper clippings...

The book didn't make an impact on me as his previous novels did (Baudolino still kicks my ass everytime I read it), because it adresses growing up in Italy in the 30ies and 40ies. Which is interesting from an intellectual point of view, but I just couldn't get attached to it emotionally. There is, however, an awesome chapter near the end of the book, dealing with rescuing partisans from the nazis, that more than makes up for reading the book.


Neal Stephenson: Snow Crash

Me likey. Cryptonomicon was the best reading experience I had this summer, so I had to read his first effort. And behold, it was fun. I think it's a bit rough around the edges (the ending kinda loses track of Hiro; the whole Metaverse concept is just far too sophisticated to be fun), but the book is filled with good ideas (I'm a green socialist, so I appreciated the nightmarish vision of a world in the grip of hyper-capitalism; the concept of viri in combination with linguistics was original) so it made a highly entertaining read.


Douglas Coupland: Generation X

Similarily, since I'm not an American approaching his fourties I can't relate to the book (and it's characters) on an emotional level. But it was well written, the stories the characters tell each other are inventive and gripping, and I read the book last night in one sitting instead of sleeping, so it does have something going for it.

The best book of 2004 was definitly Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.  

If you like Neil Gaiman at all, you have to check this book out.  It's so fucking good.

I just finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman, exquist book, dark and funny as a hell. Just started reading some China Mieville.

Motley Crue: The Dirt. Fucking hilarious, awe-inspiring, cringe inducing and tear-jerking. Worth the read.

V for Vendetta.

I got hooked up with Moore's portrayal of a facsist UK, and it was a good read. I can't imagine, however, how they want to turn it into a movie and do the source material justice. Also, I lost a lot of sympathy for V in the volume where he locks up Evie. I know that he did it to "educate" her, but damn, he deserved his ass to be kicked for that.

Going Postal.  I can't put my finger on what Pratchett is doing differently recently (Wee Free Men, Hatful of Sky, Monstrous Regiment) but I like it.  There is not so much obviously funny stuff, but deep down, you are really just laughing at everything.  Still, he remains the only reason not to wipe out the limey bastards.

Both volumes of Maus, which, if you're unfamiliar with it, is the tale of Polish holocaust survivor as told to his son.  The fact that it's a cartoon doesn't detract one whit from the impact of the story.  Pick it up if you can.

The Alienist by Caleb Carr.  His writing style sucked me in on the first page.