The Best Book of 2005

[AllSussedOut]

... comes out April 4. Trust me on this one-- it has nothing to do with the hyperbole-happy (p)review in this week's Time-- it's just a safe bet that this book is going to be the best thing you'll read all year.

And if you haven't read "Everything is Illuminated" yet, then get moving, for God's sake.


http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0618329706.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[boogie down mikel]

I disagree

http://ffmedia.ign.com/harrypotter/image/article/594/594327/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-20050308103636194-000.jpg

[AllSussedOut]

i love harry potter, but this is not up for debate

[Dead Nigga Storage]

as much as i hate doing this twice in one year, i agree with ASO again...no debating about this. just sucks that it has to be too late for my birthday...not that i would mind any of you going ahead and purchasing this for me anyway.

[nathaniel]

yeah i want this

how did you read it already

[Jolly Bengali]

Am I right that it's a 9/11 novel?

Need more of an idea as to why it's so great to be excited for it.

[:bang:]

maggied nerdz been jizzing for months in anticipation. will pick up if i ever get back in the reading groove

[gravymaster]

ASO, can you give us a quick plot preview? I am lazy...

[scotty]

ok, my friend may just be fucking with me, but she told me the other day that she saw this on display in barnes and noble. amazon.com says it's shipping within 24 hours and i'm checking borders to get it tomorrow. such a nice surprise.

and yeah, i've been waiting 2 years for this so i am stoked as a motherfuck.

also, i'm assuming that mikel is under 14 and hasn't read real books.

[boogie down mikel]

mikel happens to be 21 and likes fiction as opposed to political books

[gil]

aso said "it's a safe bet". I don't think he's read it.

[nathaniel]

oh. well we knew that

[AllSussedOut]

despite the release date listed on amazon, i've heard this to already be available as well. so who knows.

that said, my expectations are extremely high based on his first book, as well as the plot summaries that are readily found on major book sites. i'll let you find them yourself, but trust me when i say that 9/11 seems more a setting than a plot device. nothing to be dissuaded by.

again - read everything is illuminated if you have not already done so. then read this book, come back here, and thank me.

[scotty]

i've already read two excerpts that were both pretty bomb. one was just some random thoughts to help people that oskar has and the other was a story about his grandfather losing the ability to speak.

[Rekart]

And if you haven't read "Everything is Illuminated" yet, then get moving, for God's sake.



Bought it last night. So far, great. I've got no idea on 2005 books, though.

"This girl Unbelieveable must be very majestic, I thought."

EDIT: Also, found this on the publisher's site: "The film of Everything Is Illuminated, directed by Liev Schreiber and starring Elijah Wood, will be released in August 2005."

[SeanOhio]

Snobs, a novel by the man that wrote "Gosford Park," is getting rave reviews. It probably won't be popular, though. There's another 9/11 book coming out soon, too, according to the NY Times.

[kelly]

picked this up yesterday and haven't been able to put it down ever since.

[AllSussedOut]

the foer book? where did you get it?

[kelly]

barnes and noble.

[scotty]

"
got it sunday. obscenely good.

[AllSussedOut]

Have it in my hands, and am turning to page one right now.

[matt]

here is a bump

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/0141023066.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

it costs 1.50 gbp, which i think is in the region of 3 dollars american, but it appears to be uk only (i could only find it on amazon uk). and it's 60 pages, and pocket-sized, which is always nice. however i'm still not entirely sure what it is

[AllSussedOut]

whoa... must find that

i'm about 1/3 of the way through, and i have read several passages that i would classify as "instantly memorable" or "best _______ ever."

if authors were commodities listed on the nyse, i'd buy the shit out of this kid.

[Mike Scully]

Awesome. Something to add to my summer reading list.

[nathaniel]

whoever does foers covers is fucking great

[verbal]

Sounds interesting.

[matt]

so i researched that lightning book

my research told me that, in addition to foer, there are a bunch of authors with books in a new 'pocket penguin' series, which i guess is for the seventieth anniversary of penguin

some titles that caught my eye..
'short short stories' by dave eggers
'happy birthday, jack nicholson' by hunter s. thompson
'martha and hanwell' by zadie smith
'otherwise pandemonium' by nick hornby

there are quite a lot more than that though. hooray for budget pocketsized books

i apologise for stealing this thread away from foer, sort of

[scotty]

finished the book this morning. aside from the slightly dissapointing ending this book was amazing. i wouldn't say as good as illuminated, but almost there and much more accessible. the flipbook at the end is pretty touching too.

[AllSussedOut]

dont spoil it, please

[Jouni]

The best book came out this month and it is by me (http://www.jounipaakkinen.fi/kirjat/appelsiini.html). ;)

[AllSussedOut]

make yer own thread, you wacky finn. :)

this was, as predicted, the best book of 2005. really, really super great.

it will be exceptionally difficult for anything to top this one, although many are pointing me toward ian mcewan's new novel, "saturday." shares a couple of themes, though i'm sure they are handled in a much different fashion.

[gravymaster]

I am intrigued by the rave reviews this book is getting, so I may pick it up. I have been looking for a new book and this one sounds interesting enough. Just a question ASO: Do I need to be familiar with the author's former works? Every review I have read seems to bring up Everything Is Illuminated and compare/contrast the two. Would it be better to read Illuminated first?

[Jolly Bengali]

Awesome cover Jouni.

And same question as gravymaster in terms of getting into Foer.

[nathaniel]

no not really

id say this one is a signifigantly easier read. theres a definite "what the fuck is going on" factor going the first couple chapters of ILLUMINATED, but here it comes pretty quickly

[AllSussedOut]

i agree with gilmore. the two share some themes, and certain character traits parallel one another... but each is a fully independent read.

i couldn't say which i like more, but perhaps you will know better when elijah wood stars in "everything is illuminated," coming to a theater near you this summer.

i wish i were kidding.

read both.

[Jolly Bengali]

File this under the "completely unfair and you all should be fucking jealous of me" department.

Teacher today starts talking about the book. She mentions that Foer himself is coming to my school on Wednesday, and my class is going to go talk to him. Then I buy Everything is Illuminated off her at the end of class, and I resolve to read it before then.

This is so undeserved, but I'll be sure to tell you anything great that happens there.

[AllSussedOut]

excellent, jb.

warning, though: he comes off as sanctimonious in interviews... a bitter pill who talks about his "art" like he's in the mnk or something.

hope i'm wrong, but i've heard him a few times and he has contempt to spare. i'd be most interested to hear how things go.

[scotty]

neal pollack told me about 5 times how much of an asshole foer is. neat.

[billi vanilli]

bump.

just started this tonight and i'm absolutely absorbed with every word. i had no idea what it was about when i picked it up in the library, and was kind of surprised when 9.11 was brought into it -- i had absolutely idea what the hell the book was about, i just remembered hearing it was good/great... and it really is an awesome book.

i wouldn't've bumped this thread, but jb's post intrigued me, and i wanted to hear about what happened with foer. was he as much of an shitsucker as people seem to think in this thread?

[kelly]

i loved this book (got it as a result of this thread!) and loved everything is illuminated even more.

[George]

The only 2005 released book I've read is "The Half-Blood Prince", so i am of no help in this debate.

[billi vanilli]

The only 2005 released book I've read is "The Half-Blood Prince", so i am of no help in this debate.
thanks for your valuable input. :uhh:

i'm gonna pick up everything is illuminated next... my school's library had extremely loud and incredibly close, but not everything is illuminated, which i thought was really weird.

anxiously awaiting bengali's reply.

[Mr. Sparkle]

everything is illuminated is the shit. such an amazing book. what he did with the english language is remarkable. i really need to read the new one, but i have no time.

[Rekart]

Everything Is Illuminated sticks with High Fidelity, 1984, and one of Palahniuk's books in my top four. EL&IC is in my top 10. Foer's writing is amazing, it's a completely individual style.

I could see him being an asshole, though.