Postmodern Books: Categorized

The LA Times blog has provided a 61-item list of the most significant postmodern novels, but that's not the important part. Most lists are simply that — lists — and if you're lucky some short description of each entry, but not necessarily why the item's on the list.

This list, however, is awesome in its data-density. It starts out with an icon key: each book is identified by author, title, and then a series of appropriate icons representing such things as "self-contradictory plot," "includes historical falsehoods," "plays with language," &c. Those icons make this a far more useful list than the usual Cracked fare; it fills in not just the 'what', but the 'why' and 'how' of postmodern literature. And, if those book features aren't appealing (who doesn't a like book which include the author as a character?), it might help you avoid too-dense literature that won't appeal to you…like I said, not everyone likes dense postmodern literature. Also, check out the comments for some other suggestions that didn't appear on the list. Via.

Classics No More

The Second Pass has done something drastic: they have picked out several "classics," and decided that they're really not worth all that they're built up to be. Ballsy, but often necessary; as times chance, contexts move, and (from what I remember; I've only read a couple on the list), many of those books strike emotional chords with readers at the time, taking broad strokes at society and humanity in charged prose, but that won't give them lasting power. I could never imagine Kerouac continuing to have the resonance he's enjoyed for much longer; his stuff is so rooted in the time of the 50s and 60s, it was bound to lose relevance as time moved on. Via.

Naked Lunch, Disturbing Literature

Naked Lunch, William Burrough's revered drug-fueled tale of anal sex, turns 50 this year, having now addled the brains of more than one generation. I attempted to read this during my twenties, and the copy still sits on my shelf, only the first twenty or so pages with any discernible evidence of having been read. Couldn't make it through the book; it made me feel like all the Sam Shepard and Samuel Beckett I read during my theatre years did — that there was some huge joke on me, or on everybody, but I was the only one to recognize that the jumble of overwrought symbolism really meant far less than the literati would have you believe. The absurdist era never really appealed to me, no matter how much I tried, I just couldn't enjoy any of it, and it seems that none was ment to be enjoyed, but to pondered.

Burrough's masterpiece fills the #8 spot in PopCrunch's list of The 10 Most Disturbing Books Of All Time. Before I even opened the link I knew Naked Lunch had to be somewhere on the list, but I was curious about the rest. My greatest surprise was the number of disturbing books that had been made into movies: Blindness, Requiem for a Dream, American Psycho. What didn't surprise me much is that I hadn't read any of the books. I guess I'm too much of an optimist, that overly depressing and violent books really don't appeal to me. Maybe I'm missing out — many of these books also show up on others' lists of great works of modern literature, so it might be time to try one out. Naked Lunch is still off my list; I don't care if it has lasted through 50 years of literary acclaim, I'm not sure I could get any further than I had already read.

Via, Via.

Top UK Stolen Library Books

Scotland has had £223,000 gone missing from their libraries, largely from people not returning them. In the past, sterly-worded letters were about all the culprits would get, but the libraries are beginning to turn people over to collections agencies. The Top 10 List of Books Stolen:

1. Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets
2. Lovers And Players
3. The Diamond Girls
4. All Rebus novels
5. DSA Theory Test For Car Drivers
6. Street Child (unsure - possibly this?)
7. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
8. Discworld books
9. The Stand
10. And Then There Were None
    

Literary Band Names

Bookride has an awesome list of literary band names, including their sources. I've seen lots of shorter lists or 'top tens', but this is much more comprehensive than that. Some are kind of specious, while others I barely believe they're actually real bands ("Ungl’unl’rrlh’chchch"? Really?)

Non-Design Books For Designers

The question: if you're a designer, what non-graphic-design book has inspired you the most? Some excellent, esoteric, and un-designy picks, but with one subversively-designy book: The Color Kittens, a classic Little Golden Book recommended by Michael Doret:

(via)

25 Banned Books To Read

A little early for the usual Banned Book Week festivities, but it'll give you a head-start on your reading: 25 Banned Books You Should Read. What I like about this one is that it includes a number of books that aren't the usual Great Works Of Fiction and includes minor, but critically acclaimed, books that have seen opposition but haven't gotten as much press as Huck Finn or Lady Chatterly. Regardless of content, it's always nice to see a book list that includes something unexpected or unfamiliar.

32 Sci-Fi Must Reads

How To Split An Atom brings us the 32 sci-fi books that you should read -- which, in itself, provides no surprises because every book here has been identified as a great work of literature at some point in the past fifty years. The only books I was not familiar with are Accelerando by Charles Stross, Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan, and The Giver by Lois Lowry. Those three should maybe have been the focus of their blog post, with a little more info on why they belong on a list with A Clockwork Orange and 1984. Linking to a relatively uninteresting list is mostly a reason for me to give you an uninteresting list of those books that I've read:

1. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by PK Dick
2. War of the Worlds by HG Wells
3. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
4. Neuromancer by William Gibson
5. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
6. Brave New World by Adolus Huxley
7. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
   
8. 1984 by George Orwell
9. Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
10. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Wow -- less than a third; I've intended to read Animal Farm (on a sci-fi list?), Foundation, and Stranger in a Strange Land, but some on their list I really don't have much interest in reading. I once started I, Robot, which I gave up on due to boringness (which doesn't give me much faith in Foundation). Dune, The Time Machine, and Atlas Shrugged are all so ubiquitous that I've heard about as much about them as I'll get actually reading them. As for the humor/satire books like Ender's Game, Ringworld, and H2G2, I find them mildly amusing but I'm not drawn to them. Snow Crash intrigues me, but I read Zodiac and The Diamond Age and while both have their points, I'm not impressed enough with Stephenson's writing ability to put up with another book. And three William Gibson books? He's good, but I wouldn't consider him the source of almost 10% of the best sci-fi ever. And a Michael Crichton book -- while he's more of the entertaining vein of sci-fi, I haven't heard much good about Timeline, definitely not enough good to warrant it being on a list of recommended reading alongside HG Wells or Heinlein.

But, then, what good recommendation list doesn't invite criticism? The blogger does do well with the classics, maybe not so with stuff since the 70s, but I might also be missing something by not having read them. It's not like I have the guts to put together my favorite books and call them the books that everyone must read.

Favorite Obscure Books

The Village Voice has asked writers to list their favorite obscure books -- I'm not sure what makes for an obscure book, but I hadn't heard of any of the ones on their list, so I guess that's pretty obscure. My favorite obscure book? Lis Sails the Atlantic, by Lis Andersen. A young girl's dad, in the 1920s, sells everything and buys an ocean-going boat so they can sail the world and see what can be seen. It's supposedly a true story written by the 10-year-old Lis, and (I suppose this is the Daddy in me talking) it's very endearing; that sort of adventure just doesn't happen anymore, a girl's adventure on top of it, and it's not one of those "the parents aren't around so the kids handle everything" kind of story that dominates children's literature. It is, however, rather dated, and the descriptions of the ports they visit may be intriguing to me, but, when viewed through the eyes of a young Scandinavian girl born in the 19th century, the big picture might be lost on young readers. I've tried to get my adventuresome daughter to read it, but she's more into Goosebumps and vampires these days. *sigh*.

Speaking of Destiny: she's planning on reviving her book review website this summer -- it proved to be too much work during the school-year, but she'll have plenty of time to write over the break.