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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Hey Anders,
you want a good 3 page goat story read the chapter in Lawrence Millman's Lost In The Arctic entitled "Getting My Goat".
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Erik of Oakland
Gym climber
Oakland
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the others got it right with Moby Dick
I kind of like Thom Jones's short stories
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Frog Man Junior
Social climber
CA
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Raydog- Good call ! I forgot about Jack London. One of the best for sure!!
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J. Werlin
climber
Cedaredge
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Raydog--
with you on the light weight stuff. And what could be better then Bukowski (Chinaski) on a rest day? Buk is one of the few writers whose stuff is as good or better when read in an altered state.
If you like Celine try and find Paradise by Herve Guibert. One of the very few books I've read multiple times. Very clean prose--5 Stars.
Between Buk and Hemingway there are Raymond Carvers short stories. Strong stuff, stories about regular people, with regular jobs and regular problems.
Just finished A Quiet American by Graham Greene. Excellent book and writing. Wasn't able to read it under the influence though.
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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My Dad told me that if you really know your Bible you can get even more outa Moby Dick. Unfortunately I don't know it well enough.
He had another good Moby Dick story. He was working as a substitute 7th grade English teacher somewhere in Marin County. Every day he would start the class exactly on time reading Moby Dick to the class. He would read it very fast. He said after the third day no one was ever late to class again.
What I didn't like about Something Happened is similar to what I didn't like about The Sportswriter, a Pulitzer prize winner by Ford.
1. I eventually wanted to grab the main character by the collar, back him up against the wall, "Enough with the constant desperate depression. Get your self together".
2. These books hold a mirror up to modern society. But the light is too harsh. "Wait, I live here already I don't need to read this."
For light entertainment. C.J. Cheryh as mentioned above.
My favs, which I've read many times.
Wave Without A Shore
Serpent's Reach
The Cookoo's Egg
Zander
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paganmonkeyboy
Trad climber
the blighted lands of hatu
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non fiction - SAS survival guide, collins gem book - pocket sized and chock full of interesting stuff that might save your life some day - everyone i've shown it to can't put it down...
(get that mind out of the gutter...)
favorite simpsons line - 'ishmael ! call me...'
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder
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J.Werlin -
I have copied your suggestions down.
Thanks.
Have not read much fiction for a while.
A movie was made about Bukowski with Matt Dillon playing his part. It is in fact really good - Factotem. You'll recognize parts from his stories for sure, the film got Linda Lee Bukowski's thumbs up.
Bukowski is only good if are not afraid to laugh until it hurts - at things which are true.
Raydog
Edit - the butts are not mine I don't smoke.
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Some not overly demanding books that I've enjoyed recently have been:
(Stars are for rest day suitabiliy as well as whether or not I liked the book. Books loose stars for making me think too much for the occasion.)
Life of Pi
Moo***
Jazz
Prodigal Summer (a great trashy novel for nature lovers) *
The Bill Bryson book about taking a road trip across the US. *
On Beauty ***
The Dirty Girls Social Club ***
Madeleine Albright's Autobiography
The Last Girls *
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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michael herr's "dispatches", absolutely. without question the best book on vietnam ever written, and along with "a farewell to arms", the best book on men, and women, at war.
read dispatches first, then read sheehans "a bright shining lie".
the two taken together will rock your world.
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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raydog -- i think the movie you're referring to is "barfly", and micky rourke played bukowski.
are you sure you're still not huffin' a bong dinger every now and again??? that short-term memory seems a bit shakey, brobrah...!
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder
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nope - Barfly is a different movie bvb - I watched Factotum only a few months ago.
There is also a documentary which is a must see for Bukowski fans - called Bukowski, Born into This. Testimonials from Tom Waits, Bono reciting Buks poems, Sean Penn talking about how Bukowski is the greatest poet of the 20th century by a mile.
Google it Bob, you know, that search engine thing in front of you, behind the single malt.
R
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Trusty Rusty
Social climber
Tahoe area
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 11, 2007 - 05:35am PT
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Pattern Recognition: W.Gibson
Factotum: Bukowski
Slaughterhouse-Five: Vonnegut
Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas: H.S.Thompson
No Country For Old Men: Carmac MCcarthy
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Robb
Social climber
Under a Big Sky
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Mar 11, 2007 - 04:38pm PT
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What about anything Hemmingway? Given the nature of the climbing community, I'm surprised his works aren't a mainstay.
Bob: "Islands in the Stream" is also very good, and you're probably right about Herr's "Dispatches".
PS: Spankin' Macarena baby!!!!
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Jingy
Social climber
Flatland, Ca
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Mar 11, 2007 - 05:50pm PT
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"Frog Into Princes" by Richard Bandler.
First heard of it at a slide show given by a climber, can't remember the name, but I'd met him in Yosemite about two weeks earlier.
Anyway, it's a good read.
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Anastasia
Trad climber
California
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Mar 11, 2007 - 07:57pm PT
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Gandhi, An Autobiography
The Story of My Experience With Truth
---------------------------
He explains how he developed his concept of active nonviolent resistance that he called "Satyagraha."
It is great stuff to think about when you're climbing.
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Jay Wood
Trad climber
Fairfax, CA
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Mar 11, 2007 - 11:38pm PT
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"The River Why" Duncan Entertaining 'finding onesself' story from young man's perspective. Fishing. Oregon.
"Sometimes a Great Notion" Kesey Also Oregon classic modern novel
"A Story Like the Wind" "A Far Off Place" " The Lost World of the Kalahari" ,others. van der Post Fantastic storytelling, detail and texture of pre- independence Africa
Moby Dick is my all time favorite novel, but not exactly an easy or casual read.
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BeeHay
Trad climber
San Diego CA
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Dec 30, 2007 - 10:57pm PT
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"So depraved that you couldn't even spank to it, well I did but most couldn't."
Is that a challange?
"Lone Survivor", Marcus Luttrell. Seals in Afghanistan. A gripping read for us non intelectuals. Anti-military folks, you won't like it.
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LuckyPink
climber
the last bivy
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Dec 30, 2007 - 11:15pm PT
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here's a really good one I'm reading now:
The Blue Sky by Galsan Tschinag, (or his born name: Irgit Schynykbajoglu Dshurukuwaa) Tuvan shaman, lecturer, poet, activist, this is the story of his young life in the high Altai, told in the style of the oral traditions of the cultures of Mongolia. Most of his work is in German or German translation. This is the first novel in an English translation. Enjoy!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galsan_Tschinag
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WoodySt
Trad climber
Riverside
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Dec 30, 2007 - 11:49pm PT
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Just about anything written by Joseph Conrad.
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