#94 & #95 - Book Report

List of books read since the last update.

Fiction:

Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut - Not as good as Slaughterhouse Five or Cat's Cradle but a decent Vonnegut to be read if you are a fan.

The Call of the Wild by Jack London - Great story about the Alaskan Gold Rush, as seen through the eyes of a sled dog. I read this in a collection of other Jack London stories, which all have the basic plot of people freezing to death in the woods. Recommended to read indoors and not in November in a tent like I did.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess - Saw the movie, read the book. Enjoyed it. Just discovered I read the American version i.e. without the last original chapter. Might have to go to a bookstore and finish it, see if it changes anything.

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald - Brilliant novel. Beautiful turns of phrases. Wish they had made me read it in high school.

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King - Four novellas by King. Worth reading.

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler - Liked The Big Sleep better but Marlowe remains a great character in any situation.

Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk - Another interesting novel by Palahniuk. This one is about a newspaper reporter who discovers there is an African culling song in a book of poetry. The poem is deadly to the listener, who are usually infants. He tries to track down and destroy all the copies of the poem. While that part is straightforward there is an abundance of weird characters, including the realtor who keeps reselling the same haunted house, several witches, and an ambulance driver who kills fashion models so he can have sex with their dead bodies.

Non - Fiction:

Life by Keith Richards - Autobiography of Rolling Stones guitarist. Showed me a couple of things 1) That Hunter S. Thompson was right: "once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can". And 2) perhaps one of the keys to life is to simply pursue your passion and money will follow. Or maybe have a desire to share your passion. All they wanted was to be the best Chicago blues cover band in London.

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer - Story of a disastrous climb to the summit of Everest in May 1996. Quote that sticks with me: Above 8000 meters is not a place where people can afford morality. Note that was not said by Krakauer, who I thought wrote well and IMO took the appropriate amount of responsibility for his decisions on that trip.