Coming off a literary high - please help

[CoteDAzur]

I just read Cloud Atlas and This Thing Of Darkness in quick succession, both epic, fantastic books of great scope and vision.

Now I don't now what to do with myself. Read another book, but what? What can I read now that won't be a huge disappointment after these two wonderful books that I have just finished?

Hi everyone - In the 5 days since I finished His Dark Materials #1, I started & finished Ghosts By Daylight for our book club. It was OK where it talks about war reporting, but quite boring when it goes into personal experiences on pregnancy, baby etc. I wouldn't recommend it. On the other hand, if anyone is interested in reading about a woman war reporter, Lotus Eaters is a great book.

Anyway, all to say no, I haven't yet read Slaughterhouse 5. It is in my Kindle, though.This morning, I was thinking about which book I should read next, and am leaning towards His Dark Materials #2 & #3, simply because if I read them after a good "adult" book, I'm probably not going to enjoy them.

pebblestack - Isn't it great? Thanks are due to Remus, who recommended it to me in the first place

The Worst Journey... Looks like another book for the Kindle. My Kindle is filling up quicker than I could read the books on it - I'm so happy

:)

I am currently without any fiction. Just read a book called, 'Mutants' and am currently reading another polar exploration one. The new Stephen King is out v soon though, so I do have something to look forward to.

What next though?

On my list =

Slaughterhouse Five
Dune
The Master And Margarita (sp?)
What else do I want?

Miracles of Life (autobiography of J G Ballard, a genius (imho) who was considered Britain's best living author until he passed away several years ago. Oh how I grieved ). Don't even look up Amazon reviews, Remus, trust me and just read it)

Not sure if already mentioned but:

Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
White Noise - Don Delillo
Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon

I am not reading another Thomas Pynchon even if he writes sci-fi.

Reading his V was the most painful AND futile literary experience of my life. "Oooh look how clever I am. Look how long my sentences are!" rubbish.

Infinite Jest looks interesting!

If you are interested in the subject of addiction, Philip K Dick's A Scanner Darkly is a brilliant book.

Ah, if you don't like V I wouldn't bother with any more Pynchon!

Big yes to Vonnegut - Sirens Of Titan my absolute fave.

Couple more:
Stone Junction - Jim Dodge
Foucault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco
Days Between Stations - Steve Erickson
Baroque Cycle - Neal Stephenson

Foucault's Pendulum - Great book
Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle books - His weakest. I have read all his books (and I mean all, including his novice stuff like the silly Zodiac) except Baroque stuff #2 & #3, because #1 was such a disappointment. He really shouldn't have tried romance. All the pirate crap was an embarrassment.

If you have enjoyed the Baroque books at all, you should try the better books of Neal Stephenson. Like Diamond Age. Or Snow Crash, selected into Time magazine's "100 Best Books in English of all Time". Or Anathem, but only if you feel up to it. Trying to understand that book made my brain hurt. I loved it

I've read most of the other Stephenson novels but not Anathem, it's on my Amazon wishlist!

Have you read Vurt by Jeff Noon, I thought it was good though the sequel was a bit rubbish.

Yes, I read Vurt. It was OK, I thought but not great. The whole feather in your mouth thing was a bit

How anyone can write a book like ReamDe after a book like Anathem is another question.

A better question is "What can anyone write after a book like Anathem?", actually.

Neal Stephenson is not a genius. Philip K Dick and J G Ballard were geniuses. Neal Stephenson is God