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um4mi wrote:

leyenda303 wrote:

lloydnoise wrote:

JBoy wrote:So if you read a well known book by a well known author that makes you pretentious?

or a hipster. it's a fine line to tread

The ultimate hipster book is Joyce's 'Finnegans Wake'. Anyone here going to claim to have finished it?

Lol i was thinking the same thing

My dad described Joyce as "fucking stupid" and said you might as well read a telephone directory. He hasn't finished "Finnegan's Wake".

I've not read any Joyce

Any reason why "Finnegan's Wake" is the ultimate hipster book?

[img]http://www.apermanentflux.com/wp-conten ... salids.jpg[/img

Justa bout to get started on the day of the triffids as well.

As for Joyce, I read Ulysses earlier this year and it has it's moments. Some of the chapters are incredibly engrossing, some of the most ecstatic and emotionally engaging passages I've ever read,while some you just have to push through.

The only time anyone ever reads Finnegans Wake is for a degree; not even psuedo-literary hipsters as the see what happens at the end on wikipedia approach doesn't really work on this one.

sonar wrote:[img]http://www.apermanentflux.com/wp-conten ... salids.jpg[/img

Justa bout to get started on the day of the triffids as well.

Quality read that one!

The worst dark sci fi/fantasy novel ive read is the bible, nice idea but poorly executed.

JBoy wrote: The worst dark sci fi/fantasy novel ive read is the bible, nice idea but poorly executed.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cutting.

Orwell's essays are great, enjoy them much more than his novels. Politics and the English Language in particular is one of my favorites.

sonar wrote:

JBoy wrote: The worst dark sci fi/fantasy novel ive read is the bible, nice idea but poorly executed.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cutting.

Thought it was pretty decent, considering the author wasn't that knowledgeable of the subject. It's not exactly
timeless though..

AxeD wrote:

sonar wrote:

JBoy wrote: The worst dark sci fi/fantasy novel ive read is the bible, nice idea but poorly executed.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cutting.

Thought it was pretty decent, considering the author wasn't that knowledgeable of the subject. It's not exactly
timeless though..

Apparently the author stole most of the ideas from previous stories and other people. Its also about 1500 years out of date by now but sales show that its still popular.

Trainspotting and The Acid House had me laughing out loud like nothing since.

james baldwin

Motorway to Roswell wrote:Any reason why "Finnegan's Wake" is the ultimate hipster book?

Because it's notoriously difficult so saying you've finished it makes you cool in their eyes. And because it's so difficult to ascertain any concrete plot you could probably just lie and claim you have finished it either way.

leyenda303 wrote:

Motorway to Roswell wrote:Any reason why "Finnegan's Wake" is the ultimate hipster book?

Because it's notoriously difficult so saying you've finished it makes you cool in their eyes. And because it's so difficult to ascertain any concrete plot you could probably just lie and claim you have finished it either way.

Fair enough. I knew it was notoriously difficult. There are a lot of difficult books which utilize non-linear narrative. I suppose it is considered the daddy though.

There's got to be something more hipster than Joyce. Mind you, the eye patch was pretty hipster.

I thought most hipsters barely had the attention span to read the tracklisting for the italo-disco meets ghettotech mix they'd just downloaded, let alone a book, let alone Joyce...

Trying to get respect by telling a hipster you've read Finnegans Wake seems like trying to get respect by telling a hamster you've proved Fermat's Last Theorem.

Samuel Beckett was a hipster

...as were Homer (Phobolopolous ne Simpson), & Evelyn Waugh
but they could fuckin write!

btw agree with AllNiteDream aboot Orwell's essays

dickens innit

I read Joyce's "The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" a few years ago, not too difficult and a pretty good story. He does have an odd style at first but you get used to it

sonar wrote:[img]http://www.apermanentflux.com/wp-conten ... salids.jpg[/img

Justa bout to get started on the day of the triffids as well.

Really enjoyed that. Plus it was probably the first (and only) book I've ever read that was set in post-war London. I thought it was quite amazing how much had recovered so soon after the war.

sonar wrote:Justa bout to get started on the day of the triffids as well.

Read that at the start of last year as part of my roots-of-sci-fi catchup... properly scary at times!

(Not a book to read in the dark... )

slothrop wrote:I thought most hipsters barely had the attention span to read the tracklisting for the italo-disco meets ghettotech mix they'd just downloaded, let alone a book, let alone Joyce...

Trying to get respect by telling a hipster you've read Finnegans Wake seems like trying to get respect by telling a hamster you've proved Fermat's Last Theorem.

fair point