I'm generally OK with having an unrealistic voice as the narrator (or character). But I haven't read that one, so I can't really comment directly on it.

But that reminds me of an idea I had for a novel. It would focus on a boy who is not exactly a genius, but he is far, far, far more mature than he should be for his age, and so starting in elementary school, he can't relate to his peers at all, and by time he's in high school he takes to hanging out on college campuses to get a decent conversation. But he just winds up frustrated by the constant condescension as he becomes some sort of weird little mascot for the social cliques he frequents.

Herman Melville is my absolute favorite. Also a fan of James Joyce, William Faulkner, and more recently, Kurt Vonnegut.

I think that would be really interesting if there was some way you could make it a long short story split into periods of time or a short novel. Just vignettes.

I will preface my opinion with this- I did not read ELIC. I just picked it up, read the first few pages and then put it back down. I understand wanting to really create a character, but I felt like what he was going for was unrealistic. I want a human being. Not some weirdo you cooked up in your head.

On an unrelated note- just watched The Fighter. Friggin' A Christian Bale. That was incredible.

I just finished a book called The Wise Man's Fear tonight. Its the second book of fantasy series called The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss. Its brilliant. Seriously. If you're into fantasy at all, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Not sure what to read next...I have a pile of books and comics sitting here...I'll probably read Gibson's Bridge Trilogy.

Haven't posted here lately, so here's a quick update on what I've been reading.

After Everything Is Illuminated, I got back on Harry Potter, and read the sixth book. I'm kind of sad that I only have one more to go.

Then I tried reading Dubliners and just found it pretty dull. I read the first four stories, and a couple of them were OK, but ended just as they were getting good. I've been told there is a huge range between the best stories in there and the worst, so I may pick it up again later.

Then I read Junky by William Burroughs, and it was pretty good. Reminds me a lot of Bukowski. I was initially interested just because Cassidy in the Preacher comics says a character in there is based on him. It was pretty good, I may read some more Burroughs sometime.

Then I blasted through Mao II by Don DeLillo. It was really good. This is the fifth DeLillo book I've read. I loved Libra and Underworld, and didn't like Cosmopolis or White Noise. I may go back and try White Noise again sometime soon.

Now I'm halfway through Vineland by Thomas Pynchon. It's a LOT more straight forward than Gravity's Rainbow or V, but still has a lot of tangents and wackiness, and twisting of grammar.

This makes me think of the scene in Clueless where Christian is reading Junky in class.

I just finished The House of the Spirits. I love magical realism, but I'm not so big on books that hinge everything on how nuts the characters are. It wasn't a stretch to finish it, but there are other books I've enjoyed more.

Just started David Copperfield.

You're my new best friend. I need people to talk to about Pat Rothfuss and Kvothe! I'll second this recommendation whole-heartedly, if you like fantasy at all go pick up The Name of the Wind (the first book) now! I was going to suggest it to any fantasy fans anyway.

In terms of general fiction I'd recommend Scarlett Thomas, I read her book 'The End of Mr Y' a while back and I recently started 'PopCo', I've read a few books lately that I've struggled to really get into but hers I find myself almost instantly caught up and intruiged with the characters and the story.

I'm almost done with "Rabbit, Run" by John Updike. It's pretty dark, and I relate to some parts of it too much for my own good.

MY FAVORITE AUTHORS ARE DEFINITELY



KURT VONNEGUT

JOSEPH HELLER

TOM ROBBINS

DAVID SIMON - DUDE WHO WROTE THE WIRE AND THE BOOK ITS BASED ON

MARK TWAIN IS THE SHIT AS WELL!!!

If your going to read any Margaret Atwood it has to be Oryx and Crake. I didn't enjoy Handmaid's tale either, but Oryx and Crake presents a very different scenario. Full of science, technology and genetic engineering it features some amazing 'spliced' animals like pigoons. It starts of with the end of civilization and this one male character called 'snowman'.

Another great book is one by Michael Marshall Smith, it's amazing, Only Forward flits between that creepy scalp tingling feeling, when you know something bad is going to happen, to feeling as though you have come in from the rain to find a long lost lover with a million and two tickets to Rio. Disarming , poignant, brilliant, heartbreaking. It's mind bending.

I finished The Extra Man by Jonathan Ames a few days ago. It was pretty good. I feel like the last few books I read have been a little too dark, so it was nice to have a more comedic novel. It's been a long time since Ames' last novel, and I feel like his work in television and essay writing might help him a lot with his next work of fiction. Who knows when that will be though.

Now I'm halfway through the final Harry Potter book, and then I'm not sure what I'll read next. Maybe I'll re-read an old favorite.

If your a Rothfuss fan you should try Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman too. Also if the size doesn't daunt you, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke I read straight after The End of Mr. Y and I liked it better.

I have read both of those

I really got into Left Hand of God and want to read the sequel although I'm waiting for it to come out in paperback as that's what I've got Left Hand in and I'm funny like that. Conversely I really struggled to get into Jonathan Strange, I liked it but it never had me not wanting to put it down. It probably didn't help that I've had it recommended to me by a couple of people and so I had pretty high standards.

Well, hello then, best friend! No one else, except my wife, has read any Rothfuss!

I'm reading A Song of Ice and Fire now. Addicted would be a good word, I guess.

I'm pretty much always reading fantasy or science fiction.

I want to start reading Martin but I know what I'm like with watching tv/movie adaptations and if I read the books first they'll ruin the show for me which I quite enjoy watching so I'm planning to wait. It's hard though, I wanna know what happens!