— Coffee-cat.NET

New at books @ cc.

1. Iranian Cinema: A Political History (EN) by Hamid Reza Sadr *
2. The Story of Film (EN) by Mark Cousins
3. Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination (EN) by Edogawa Ranpo
4. The Suns of Independence (EN) by Ahmadou Kurouma
5. Kampus Kabelnaya (ID) by Koesalah Soebagyo Toer
6. The Piano Teacher (EN-ID) by Elfriede Jelinek
7. Kembang Jepun (ID) by Remy Sylado
8. A Personal Matter (EN) by Kenzaburo Oe
9. Botchan (EN) by Natsume Soseki
10. The White Castle (ID) by Orhan Pamuk *
11. A Tomb for Boris Davidovich (EN) by Danilo Kiš *
12. The Encyclopedia of the Dead (EN) by Danilo Kiš *
13. Garden, Ashes (EN) by Danilo Kiš *
14. Death and the Dervish (EN) by Meša Selimović*
15. Against Interpretation (EN) by Susan Sontag

Others my brain’s too bogged down to write about: Farber’s Negative Space is witty, interesting and spot on at times, but in terms of taste we do not share much in common (I like Godard and Buñuel, but I kinda prefer Fellini and Bergman, admittedly bloated as they were, to the mavericks), Franzen’s How to Be Alone is embarrassing (no, it’s not freaking self-help, thank you very much) yet prods you to read on nonetheless due to that private, angry nature that I’m also guilty of, Kadare’s The Pyramid is OK, funnier at the beginning but gets a bit droning towards the end, Iggers’ Historiography in the 20the Century gives a great panoramic view of the subject (thanks Danny!), Sebald’s On the Natural History of Destruction is rather presumptuous, Perec’s A Man Asleep brings back my all-too-embarassing early 20s, Things freaks me out of my late 20s. BRING FORTH THE 30 AND I’LL DROWN MYSELF IN BOOTS AND COME OUT ALL BLOATED WITH STINKIN’ SEAWEEDS.

And ho ho ho to you too.