What are you reading?

[bigchiefbc]

Currently making my way through "The Day Without Yesterday", which I though was going to be a straight cosmology book, but so far has been more of a biography of George LeMaitre. Pretty cool so far.

[HorseyBoy]

One a bit of a pulp kick

then you NEED to read this;

Thanks, RR Bigman. Read all of the Chandlers

[Chankgeez]

One a bit of a pulp kick

then you NEED to read this;

Thanks, RR Bigman. Read all of the Chandlers

What other pulp have you been reading, Horsey?

I may have some suggestions.

[snipelfritz]

I know it's not traditional pulp, but Skull Face is a really cool story that I'm surprised has never been adapted into a film or anything else.

[HorseyBoy]

What other pulp have you been reading, Horsey?

I may have some suggestions.

A bunch of early Lawrence Block ("Grifter's Game", "The Girl with the Long Green Heart", etc), Donald Westlake (stuff like "361" and "Somebody Owes Me Money"), all the Richard Stark "Parker" novels (including the Grofield spin-offs), anything by David Goodis I can get my hands on (love him - way up there with Chandler, James M. Cain and Jim Thompson to my mind; oftentimes he's better than all of them), Charles Willeford (read all his earlier stuff and just started on the Hoke Mosely novels), Chester Himes, Bud Clifton (a pseudonym of David Stacton, one of my favourite writers) and all the Georges Simenon romans durs I can find. Simenon does existential noir better than anyone. Guy was fucking phenomenal (as well as being a phenomenal fucker according to his many biographers).

[Uncle Grandfather]

Picked up J.G. Ballard's High Rise.

[Achtane]

Picked up J.G. Ballard's High Rise.

[Chankgeez]

What other pulp have you been reading, Horsey?

I may have some suggestions.

A bunch of early Lawrence Block ("Grifter's Game", "The Girl with the Long Green Heart", etc), Donald Westlake (stuff like "361" and "Somebody Owes Me Money"), all the Richard Stark "Parker" novels (including the Grofield spin-offs), anything by David Goodis I can get my hands on (love him - way up there with Chandler, James M. Cain and Jim Thompson to my mind; oftentimes he's better than all of them), Charles Willeford (read all his earlier stuff and just started on the Hoke Mosely novels), Chester Himes, Bud Clifton (a pseudonym of David Stacton, one of my favourite writers) and all the Georges Simenon romans durs I can find. Simenon does existential noir better than anyone. Guy was fucking phenomenal (as well as being a phenomenal fucker according to his many biographers).

Nice. Looks like a lotta good stuff. All the classics. I was gonna recommend Goodis if you hadn't mentioned him. I like Willeford a lot too.

I'm a big fan of Cornell Woolrich and George V. Higgins as well.

[HorseyBoy]

What other pulp have you been reading, Horsey?

I may have some suggestions.

A bunch of early Lawrence Block ("Grifter's Game", "The Girl with the Long Green Heart", etc), Donald Westlake (stuff like "361" and "Somebody Owes Me Money"), all the Richard Stark "Parker" novels (including the Grofield spin-offs), anything by David Goodis I can get my hands on (love him - way up there with Chandler, James M. Cain and Jim Thompson to my mind; oftentimes he's better than all of them), Charles Willeford (read all his earlier stuff and just started on the Hoke Mosely novels), Chester Himes, Bud Clifton (a pseudonym of David Stacton, one of my favourite writers) and all the Georges Simenon romans durs I can find. Simenon does existential noir better than anyone. Guy was fucking phenomenal (as well as being a phenomenal fucker according to his many biographers).

Nice. Looks like a lotta good stuff. All the classics. I was gonna recommend Goodis if you hadn't mentioned him. I like Willeford a lot too.

I'm a big fan of Cornell Woolrich and George V. Higgins as well.

I'm covered
And yeah, Goodis is great. As I said, I think he's a better writer than just about any of the other pulp guys, which doesn't necessarily mean he writes better books. His plotting can be a little loose and sometimes it's as if he doesn't know how to finish what he's started, but when he's on, he's on. I finished "The Wounded and the Slain" a week or so back, one I hadn't heard of before, and it was excellent. He even wrapped everything up nice and neatly.
And I just finished "Wonderful Years, Wonderful years" by George V. Higgins. Kinda liked it, although his later work feels a bit like he's been reading too much William Gaddis (who I love, but who sure ain't pulpy) and all he wants to do is dialogue. Still haven't found a book of his I like as much as "The Friends of Eddie Coyle".

[DarkAxel]

"The Diary of a Nobody" by Grossmith - part of the research for my BA thesis

and you know... the usual school stuff - Shakespear, Eliot, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Hemingway (ugh) etc etc

[Chankgeez]

I'm covered
And yeah, Goodis is great. As I said, I think he's a better writer than just about any of the other pulp guys, which doesn't necessarily mean he writes better books. His plotting can be a little loose and sometimes it's as if he doesn't know how to finish what he's started, but when he's on, he's on. I finished "The Wounded and the Slain" a week or so back, one I hadn't heard of before, and it was excellent. He even wrapped everything up nice and neatly.
And I just finished "Wonderful Years, Wonderful years" by George V. Higgins. Kinda liked it, although his later work feels a bit like he's been reading too much William Gaddis (who I love, but who sure ain't pulpy) and all he wants to do is dialogue. Still haven't found a book of his I like as much as "The Friends of Eddie Coyle".

Looks like I can recommend nothing to you.

Yeah, The Friends of Eddie Coyle is Higgins at the top of his game. Some people bust on him for being so dialogue heavy, but I like it.

[GardenoftheDead]

The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside 'The Room', The Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell

[jfrey]

Reading "To Green Angel Tower" part 2. Last book in this series - unless there is another forthcoming? Need to figure out what to read next.

[D.o.S.]

Reading "To Green Angel Tower" part 2. Last book in this series - unless there is another forthcoming? Need to figure out what to read next.

You already checked out Zelazny's Lord of Light, right?

[jfrey]

Reading "To Green Angel Tower" part 2. Last book in this series - unless there is another forthcoming? Need to figure out what to read next.

You already checked out Zelazny's Lord of Light, right?

I bought it. Haven't started it yet though. I hope I still have it with me. When I moved last time, I put 99% of my books in storage.

... 84%...