CruelDouglas: My 2020 In Literature

CruelDouglas 11.28.20	I read too many bad books this year and it leads me to the conclusion that I pick terrible books to be interested in.
Winesburgohio 11.28.20	1 is so fucking good (but so is 26 *extremely devil emoji), have u read any other Gass? i'm reading a collection of essays by him now, such an immaculate stylist
Jasdevi087 11.28.20	wanting to get into Ligotti at some point but his books are fucking hard to come by around here
CruelDouglas 11.28.20	I've read Omensetter's Luck and The Tunnel, but they were a while ago. In the Heart of the Heart of the Country is my favourite of the three, though. I have all his fiction ready to read, but I put it on hold this year because I was focusing on more modern stuff. But with some of the duds I read this year, I wish I had taken the time to read Middle C and Eyes instead. As for his essays, I've read a few, but I need to get more of his non-fiction. So far I've only read a couple that are in his Reader. I very much gel with his thoughts on writing and style. His ideas about writing very much Speak To Me. I want to finish the Stand before the new miniseries comes out, but I gotta say, I really really hated it. Almost all the characters are absolutely terrible and the writing is just so messy. Might just skip any more Trashcan Man chapters if I pick it up again. The worst reading experience of my life was trying to read that second Trashcan Man chapter. Made me want to gouge my eyes out.
CruelDouglas 11.28.20	@Jas: I think all his books aside from Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe are getting harder to come by, which is a shame. But BookDepository is a pretty invaluable resource for buying books worldwide, with the free shipping, but they don't always have what you're looking for.
Jasdevi087 11.28.20	yeah, it was Songs of a Dead Dreamer/Grimscribe I was looking to start with anyway, since I've just started short story writing myself
Jasdevi087 11.28.20	will check BookDepository anyway though cause I'm trying to get back into reading in general and kick some of my less productive habits
Sinternet 11.28.20	handmaids tale is better than most of your 5s
dbizzles 11.28.20	Haven't read most of this. Anything modern worth a look? Also, I liked Handmaid's Tale a lot, but not as much as Oryx and Crake. The series does well enough sticking to its own guns as well, imo. Read both of the Shirley Jackson entries. I liked them, but I didn't love them. Preferred Haunting to Castle, but not by much. Also, I haven't read any King, but the majority of my friends have told me to read The Stand first lol.
CruelDouglas 11.28.20	From this year, Breasts and Eggs is the book I would recommend most highly. The Devil All the Time is a bit older (2011), but also very highly recommended. As for King, I'd recommend The Shining or Pet Sematery first. Both vastly shorter than The Stand and much much stronger in terms of writing, plot, and character. I cannot for the life of me discern why anybody likes the Stand. All the women in that book exist to be fucked by a main character, get impregnated, or get killed. The plot of two warring sides of an army forming in the wake of an apocalypse is also nowhere near as exciting as it sounds. It's not a totally worthless read, and I'd argue some of it can be quite entertaining, but taken in as a whole, it is mostly garbage.
Winesburgohio 11.28.20	i don't think that assessment is entirely fair but it certainly is... very long. how gloriously wretched is Harold though! the true evil incarnate: the incel hope you have a great time with The Savage Detectives, Bolano is my favourite author probably
CruelDouglas 11.28.20	I have picked up four Bolano books this year but have yet to read any of them. The Skating Rink, The Savage Detectives, 2666, and The Spirit of Science Fiction. I'm very much looking forward to reading all of them.
ChoccyPhilly 11.28.20	Fuck me, 34 books in a year? I've read a lot for me this year and that's 4 books. Good list though. Enjoying the amount of horror that's here that I might have to check out
CruelDouglas 11.28.20	Here I was thinking I had a slow year, because I only read 3 books from Jan-March and then wasted half of October on The Stand haha Yeah I was trying to prioritise horror this year, because I also started writing horror this year. Best new horror I read in 2020 was The Only Good Indians, which I highly recommend, even if the ending was disappointing (for me, anyway, others seem to like it)
ChoccyPhilly 11.28.20	Looks interesting, I'll give it a shot! Only horror I've read this year was In The Miso Soup, which I'd highly recommend as you can get through it in a day. Other than that, I've been reading a lot of ww1 and ww2 books, mostly on the eastern front as it is woefully misinformed here
CruelDouglas 11.28.20	Ah yes, that one's actually on my very long list of books to check out. I'm pretty uneducated on WW1 and 2, this year I've mostly been collecting a lot of Vietnam War books, which I'll probably start on reading in the new year.
ChoccyPhilly 11.28.20	It's pretty interesting. As I've grown up in the UK, i only ever hear about the western front but the eastern front are where all the horrors of war really was. I think something like 4/5 german soldiers died on the eastern front in ww2 and the soviet union experienced almost 9 million military deaths. It's such a shame we never hear about stories on that front. The scale is truly unimaginable. Would definitely recommend
CruelDouglas 11.28.20	Yeah, I can see why you'd be interested. Similarly, I've been trying to get a lot of Vietnam books that don't specifically focus on America's side, I recently acquired a rather large tome on Australia's part in the war, and many written by Vietnamese people. I want to get more Vietnamese books on it from both north and south perspectives, but I suppose a lot haven't been translated
Jasdevi087 11.28.20	re:king, i used to read a lot of him in high school, and I'd say The Shining is easily his most accessible (i actually think it's more unsettling than the movie), my personal fav of his would probably be Misery tho, and Dolores Claiborne would be my underrated pick
sixdegrees 11.28.20	any recs for learning how to read?
Jasdevi087 11.28.20	just use kindle
robertsona 11.28.20	tend to think of my taste in literature as completely triangulated between virginia woolf's novels, anton chekhov's plays, and paradise lost
GhostB1rd 11.28.20	"any recs for learning how to read?" Detroit public schools.
CruelDouglas 11.29.20	Never got into Woolf, honestly. I need to read The Waves one of these days, though.
Jasdevi087 11.29.20	Woolf's great, but she can catch your attention lackin with her fucking paragraph long run-on sentences
Rowan5215 11.29.20	halfway through We Have Always Lived in the Castle right now, it fuckin owns. not sure if it's better than Haunting of Hill House yet
CruelDouglas 11.29.20	I reckon once you get to the end, you'll think it's better than Hill House. For me it is, anyway.
Rowan5215 11.29.20	I hope so, the character work is superb as usual but the plot is very static at the moment, I'm expecting it all to pop off soon also my rec for literally everyone itt: They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib. kept me sane through lockdown, some of the most beautiful and moving writing about music I'v ever read
CruelDouglas 11.30.20	We Have Always Lived In the Castle isn't really a plot-heavy book, it's definitely held up by its fantastic character work and atmosphere. The climax is incredible, though, and the ending is just wonderful.
dbizzles 11.30.20	Will check your recs, thanks.
CruelDouglas 12.01.20	Whenever you get around to them, let me know what you think!