Up now over at RHUM.

Just finished it actually. A dark, interesting little book. I liked it more than Slaughterhouse Five.
I am curious about Vonnegut’s view of religion having read it – some quick research (and much of his novels) suggests he was an atheist, but I can’t see a definitive answer. His characters appear to knowingly [...]

Any serious travel is looking like it’s some time away at the moment – I’m thinking of New York (and looking through old photos) and wishing I was over there.
This is a remarkable building which still holds its own in a city full of amazing skyscrapers.

Fair to say I’m not hating it so far… 43 more free tracks to come, allegedly.

Studying in Melbourne this week.

I found this article interesting – new research suggests that exposure to the absurd or irrational may provoke higher levels of thinking – for example, pattern recognition – in humans.  The theory appears to be that when confronted with input which breaches the predictive model that our brains have established, we go into overdrive seeking [...]

Near Kapunda, South Australia.

Along with the wonderful V, I am reading The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas.  So far, I am hard pressed to think of a novel I have enjoyed less.
The novel apparently examines “identities and personal relationships in a multicultural society” and “taps into universal tensions and dilemmas around family life and child-rearing”.  So far, though, I [...]

I am thoroughly enjoying V by Thomas Pynchon so far.
The novel is roughly divided between the listless drifting of post WWII New York City, the byzantine European intrigues of pre-WWI Florence and the surreal horrors late 19th Century/early 20th Century German colonial Africa.  As well as being a fascinating read in its own right it [...]

Sorry for the lack of posts of late.  Meanwhile here’s a photo of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.

I’ve just posted a short review of A Stranger Here by Ramblin’ Jack Elliott over at Rhum: link.

This site is just… wow.  Like a clown dying, both creepy and hilarious.

(thanks to Erin)

Shamefully, I have never read this before.
Needless to say, it’s a fascinating insight into a strange American era.  The book is filled with tension between the sudden possibilities of life in the postwar United States – the trajectory hinted at in the Great Gatsby followed through to its logical conclusion where cars, sex, alcohol, divorce, [...]

We were stuck in traffic going through the Hoover Dam for nearly two hours – the Nevada police were operating some sort of mysterious checkpoint on the way into the state which slowed traffic to a crawl. Behind us Arizona was covered with scattered thunderstorms. As the sun set the stationary traffic was [...]

I have never read any Cormac McCarthy before.  This is grim, raw, intermittently violent, and relentlessly dark.  The style, which grated slightly at first due to its wilful simplicity (no ‘distracting’ punctuation and the like and very Hemingwayish) has grown on me, and despite conveying a bleak and difficult world the prose flies by.
The story [...]