B&N Book Spree

[zesty_pinto]

I have a Membership card, and a 10% off certificate, so I finally went in and went buying for whatever the hell I could get.

Ulysses - James Joyce
Tripmaster Monkey - Maxine Hong Kingston
The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov - Vladimir Nabokov (you think?)
Beginning Theory - Peter Barry
Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey - Isabel Fonseca
The Book of Guys - Garrison Keillor
Battle - R.G. Grant (because I technically got 40% off and it's a nice little coffee table read for war nuts like me)

This should probably keep me going for half a year in studies, easy. I still didn't find a book on Amerindian mythology(by the way, I think I'm one of maybe ten people in New York that actually refer to "American Indians" as Amerindians), but the book on gypsies will give me more background notes for my Great War fantasy piece. Theory I wanted because I still want to figure out what the hell makes postmodernism the way it is and anything else I haven't tried out yet worth looking into for literary purposes.

Keillor was a random grab; wanted something that sounded interesting from someone I never heard of. Joyce I'll probably work on when I feel sadomasochistconfident enough to study properly. Hopefully, it'll emphasize a little more of what I saw in Portrait of an Artist. I'm thinking of starting with Kingston because I really, really loved The Woman Warrior. To be honest, I was tempted to get more Plath so I could reach for more of a repressed narration, but most of her work was poetry, if I recall. Maybe I should reread The Bell Jar instead, though I'm not sure if I'm up to it again. Then again, anything's better than *another* rereading of "Peer Gynt." I think I've already picked up enough background notes in the text that could make me worthy of writing a Cliffs text on it.

By the way, I still have a request poll up if you want an icon for a crappy ass Christmas gift, so if you want one, then poll!

Edit: I chumped myself. I ended up ordering online for that book I wanted, another Kingston book I was recommended by a professor, and a collection of 1984 & Animal House. I feel so naughty.

Comments

[amanjo.livejournal.com]

1984 is pretty excellent. I'd be interested in what you think of it. I love those futuristic stories like Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451 and whatnot. Vonnegut also has a few like that. I really dig him, even though he was one of the crabbiest authors I've ever seen speak. Oh, yeah, and The Bell Jar is one of my most favoritist books, although I haven't read it in a while since it is rather depressing.

I won a B&N gift certificate tonight. I r0xx0r! What should I buy?

[zesty-pinto.livejournal.com]

Ah, I remember Brave New World. It's hard to believe how old the novel is when he's pretty much described the downfall of capitalist utopia. This was another one of those books that I felt people I know never actually *read* because they always thought it was about cloning and not society. The Bell Jar taught me a lot on repressed narrative.

Hmm, I'm not sure if it's your cup of tea or not, but Maxine Hong Kingston is surprisingly good stuff on Chinese immigrants and the woman in society. The Woman Warrior was surprisingly good.

[amanjo.livejournal.com]

That looks interesting; I will check it out. I read a lot of books like that when I was studying anthropology in school, and it was always fascinating to get a glimpse into someone else's culture. Thanks for the recommendation!