# Whatcha Readin' (June 09) Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 31, 2009, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254 "2009-05-31T11:25:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/161 "2009-06-29T15:32:44Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > Dear Og, I need a support-group to get through this book! I began it with patience, enthusiasm, and delight, but as a slowish reader, I fear I won’t gain enough momentum to get to the Big Twist that the reviews promise. Help, anyone? I loved the book, but I think it might be even **more** enjoyable if you knew the twist. If you want to know, go to the book’s discussion section at Amazon where one reader explained it to me (I wasn’t sure what happened). I plan to re-read it someday, and I don’t re-read much. Have you gotten to the mimes and the ninjas yet? ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/162 "2009-06-29T16:14:20Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I loved the book, but I think it might be even **more** enjoyable if you knew the twist. If you want to know, go to the book’s discussion section at Amazon where one reader explained it to me (I wasn’t sure what happened). I plan to re-read it someday, and I don’t re-read much. > > Have you gotten to the mimes and the ninjas yet? No mimes yet, only Master Wu’s story about trapping a ninja. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/163 "2009-06-29T16:36:55Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > Dear Og, I need a support-group to get through this book! I began it with patience, enthusiasm, and delight, but as a slowish reader, I fear I won’t gain enough momentum to get to the Big Twist that the reviews promise. Help, anyone? I just found my original review of it. I was kinder to it then than my memory has it. Here is what I said: > [@](#): > > Finally finished _The Gone-Away World_. Although I didn’t hate it, I am not as enamored with it as many on this board. The idea was very interesting. I said in another thread that I wanted to sit the narrator down and say: you don’t have to tell us \*everything \*that pops into your head. > > No doubt what I found to be self-indulgent “comedic” wanderings are the same things that make others say it is brilliantly funny. But much of it was not needed to further the plot. As I mentioned in another thread, as an experiment one night I only read the even pages of the chapters to see if it made a difference in my reading experience. It didn’t seem to and after I finished I went back and read the chapter properly. Sure, I missed tons of details of the kind that I referred to as wanderings above, but none of it seemed to really make a difference, for me, in the reading experience. > > The author did bring some those wanderings home and later tie them in at the end. > > I liked it well enough not to be too upset that I read it, not well enough that I would recommend it to someone I liked. Over all I found the concept for the Gone-Away world the most fascinating thing about the book. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/164 "2009-06-29T16:39:39Z")
Re-reading _The Bourne Identity_ … which I read for the first time in high school … and which I could not find a copy of without Matt Damon on the cover … and also which I make clear to everyone who sees me reading it that, while I did like the movies, I’m not reading it because Matt Damon is so dreamy. Goddamnit! ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/165 "2009-06-29T17:21:43Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > Dear Og, I need a support-group to get through this book! I began it with patience, enthusiasm, and delight, but as a slowish reader, I fear I won’t gain enough momentum to get to the Big Twist that the reviews promise. Help, anyone? Thanks for the input. AuntiePam, I read the spoiler on Amazon, which might help. I bought this as an ebook in a DRM’d format I can’t share with others, which I’m realizing makes it harder to give up on. I’ll try it again today…😛 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/166 "2009-06-29T18:12:14Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Yes, and he’s excellent. Should I read the other book/books first, or can I read this one solo? I’m only into the first chapter and it took me a bit to figure out the narration. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/167 "2009-06-29T18:19:06Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I loved the book, but I think it might be even **more** enjoyable if you knew the twist. If you want to know, go to the book’s discussion section at Amazon where one reader explained it to me (I wasn’t sure what happened). I plan to re-read it someday, and I don’t re-read much. > > Have you gotten to the mimes and the ninjas yet? This part alone has made me put Gone Away World in my queue at the library. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/168 "2009-06-29T19:42:37Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > Should I read the other book/books first, or can I read this one solo? I’m only into the first chapter and it took me a bit to figure out the narration. It’s the second of a series. I’d highly recommend reading them in order - Captain Alatriste is the first one: > **[Captain Alatriste: Perez-Reverte, Arturo, Peden, Margaret Sayers: 9780452287112:...](https://www.amazon.com/Captain-Alatriste-Arturo-Perez-Reverte/dp/0452287111)** > > Captain Alatriste \[Perez-Reverte, Arturo, Peden, Margaret Sayers\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Captain Alatriste It is very much a series that requires the reader to know what happened before, so reading 'em in order is a good idea (unlike say _Flashman_, which can be read in just about any order). It is a great series for having authentic period feel to go along with its swash and buckle. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/169 "2009-06-30T12:49:06Z")
Finished listening to The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters. I was very engrossed all the way through, but when it was all over I felt let down. There’s really nothing to suggest there was anything supernatural going on, except the characters saying they _felt_ something. Maybe the SSSs, or the scratch on Mrs. Ayres’ neck, but those could be explained. Also, I like to feel I know why the house is haunted…and I just didn’t think Susan (the child who died of diphtheria) seemed a likely spook. After reading **AuntiePam** and **jsgoddess** ’ comments in a different thread, I think I like their interpretation better. The Doctor was pissing me off all through the last half of the book anyway. Next I read House of Leaves. Pardon me, House. Too much work, not enough payoff. The Navidson stuff was interesting, but I never cared about Truant. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/170 "2009-06-30T13:21:39Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > It’s the second of a series. > > I’d highly recommend reading them in order - Captain Alatriste is the first one: > > [Captain Alatriste: Perez-Reverte, Arturo, Peden, Margaret Sayers: 9780452287112: Amazon.com: Books](http://www.amazon.com/Captain-Alatriste-Arturo-Perez-Reverte/dp/0452287111/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_k2a_2_txt?pf_rd_p=304485601&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-2&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0399153209&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1984MNK8JQNC5EDF0VAD) > > It is very much a series that requires the reader to know what happened before, so reading 'em in order is a good idea (unlike say _Flashman_, which can be read in just about any order). > > It is a great series for having authentic period feel to go along with its swash and buckle. Thank you! I am waiting for it to come in from the library. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/171 "2009-06-30T13:32:49Z")
Over the weekend I finished a collection of S. J. Perelman essays, and also read _The Time Machine Did It_, a short novel by Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder. The Perelman stuff was dizzying and so unique. In places, his style looked florid and dated (he loved throwing in French words when he could make an excuse to do so), but even when that was the case, it was twisted and wild, and I enjoyed seeing where the style came from. Swartzwelder did a very convincing job of writing a time-travel story featuring a fat, stupid detective. It’s a very light read, but most of the traits that make his Simpsons writing so good come through. I’ll pick up his other stuff after I whittle down my reading pile some more. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/172 "2009-06-30T13:37:45Z")
[Link to new July Thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=11293562#post11293562) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254.md?page=8)