4 ms·
Middlemarch is also my favorite classic novel. I didn't get anything out of Underworld (or White Noise). Don't understand why they're so acclaimed. Curious if y
by daxfohl 4y ago
Middlemarch is also my favorite classic novel. I didn't get anything out of Underworld (or White Noise). Don't understand why they're so acclaimed. Curious if you end up the same.
- oska 4y agoAs you are someone who's read both of those DeLillo novels, I'm curious on what your opinion of Thomas Pynchon is (if you're read him also).
- daxfohl 4y agoI read Mason and Dixon and half of Gravitys Rainbow. Brilliant author but too dense and too, eh, Pynchony, for me. I liked Marquez best of that era. That said I've more or less stopped reading fiction, feel like after hundreds of attempts I have yet to find anything life changing enough to be worth the investment.
- barbariangrunge 4y agoDo you still watch Netflix? If so, is that life changing enough? If not, what do you do for hobbies?
- daxfohl 4y agoCoding? I started contributing to google's quantum computing libraries last year (they did not create a wormhole) and now moving on to compiler development.
- oska 4y agoThanks for yr response. I've read Pynchon but not DeLillo, which is why I asked the question. > That said I've more or less stopped reading fiction, feel like after hundreds of attempts I have yet to find anything life changing enough to be worth the investment. This was interesting. I'm not going to argue against you stopping reading fiction because I don't see reading as a necessarily 'virtuous' activity. I think there can be value in it but there can be value in doing other things instead. I personally feel that I have come across a number of books in my time that were somewhat 'life changing' but I never read in a quest to find such books; my reading has always been done for experience/curiosity.
- daxfohl 4y agoFeel free to read DeLillo (obviously). I'm really curious what the fuss is about. I found the characters drab, the style uninspiring, the themes mundane. There must be something there but I didn't get it.
- oska 4y agoIf I did, I think I would try Ratner's Star, as that seems his most interesting novel (at least in what it attempted, whether successful or not). But I'm in no hurry.