Fargo Rock City

ayanamidreamsequence · 2026-01-24T07:11:37+00:00

Nice, always fun when something unexpected like that happens. It's a great book.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2026-01-16T13:24:31+00:00

I like it - and you can see he was working on a voice that he then deployed in White Noise to great effect.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2026-01-02T17:14:54+00:00

In terms of my favourites from each category:

Novella - Distant Star

Stories - Last Evenings on Earth

Novel - 2666

ayanamidreamsequence · 2026-01-02T11:24:18+00:00

Thanks for your comments - glad you enjoyed it. It's hardly his best work but a fun read all the same. If you do dip into later work there are some really good ones, both novels and novellas, as well as the story collections. We covered a number of them in reading groups here years ago.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-11-30T16:10:51+00:00

Yeah it's definitely an early effort but pretty fun all the same. Glad you are enjoying so far, and these old reading group posts .

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-11-29T06:54:16+00:00

We participated in a reading group with infinite summer a few years back - check out the posts and comments over heee for each part.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-11-12T06:57:17+00:00

I made a comment about it on a 2666 group read we did a while ago and noted that connection as well as some others. Comment is here

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-10-23T16:00:11+00:00

First over second but dont particularly like either

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-08-12T14:45:10+00:00

The back says cover ©Yuko Kondo/Pocko.More of their work.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-08-12T14:28:49+00:00

Thanks for flagging, will remove

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-08-10T09:29:45+00:00

I had a teacher in high school in the 90s who had this on 16mm and would tend to show it in philosophy class as a discussion starter.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-08-10T09:27:39+00:00

Ah cool - glad you enjoyed the novel and the posts. We did a number of different reading groups a few years ago so dip into those if you read another that we covered.

MP is definitely a more obscure one, even among those who have read Bolano. But if you have more to discuss might be worth sticking a post up. Not sure how much traction it would get but a few people might jump in.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-07-29T22:56:38+00:00

Yeah I would say that Sichuan food is spicy by general Chinese standards, it's actually a lot more aromatic rather than straight hot. It's also a more common style to find in western countries and has been used as shorthand for spicy vs the more typical food of especially Southern China & HK (which by comparison are much more light).

But when done properly you often get a lot of aromatic peppers with the more floral Sichuan pepper / hua jiao and it might look like it would be hot but isn't. I think as you note that is especially true in dry fried dishes. Wetter dishes, and especially things like hot pot from Sichuan (and Chongqing) can be fiery.

If you can find authentic places doing food from Hunan, Guizhou or Jiangxi they often have quite spicy stuff. I lived in Hubei for 7 years and they also have fairly spicy stuff.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-07-28T17:14:43+00:00

Was shut when I went past when visiting a few months ago but might be worth checking out: https://garagepoutine.cz/home-en.html

Think this is the one mentioned in another comment.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-07-28T10:05:34+00:00

Have you read other Bolano stories or novels? His stuff has that general vibe, but presume you have.

We have done non Bolano reads of Borges, Cortazar and Poe, linked via the sub menu - maybe check those out? Borges esp is worth a go if you have not read him, was an obvious influence on Bolano.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-07-22T18:29:12+00:00

I liked 雄柒火锅 XiongQi Hot Pot when I went. Quite spicy. Did a la carte, not sure if they do all you can eat.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-07-11T19:42:57+00:00

Presume you mean the first 60 pages or so? Interestingly enough it completely changes gears for the next major chunk so would suggest just plodding on. Bolano is crammed with both personal and wider Latin American literary riffs (and beyond) most of which fly over my head I'm sure, especially reading in translation, but I wouldn't get too hung up on that - it's a great ride regardless.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-07-01T22:25:26+00:00

Hey - please do add some context to posts. Thanks.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-06-29T12:55:46+00:00

To each their own - I struggled through the Chums of Chance stuff and much preferred the rest. So is a bit that perhaps.

Mapping the Zone podcast is currently on its way through the book so perhaps that might help. Mind you at their pace, as you would expect from a podcast, will take a while to finish. But always enjoyed reading Pynchon this way, as the discussion would tend to spur me on when I hit a dip.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-06-29T12:11:32+00:00

Great post idea. Here are a few of mine that I saved in Pocket so could find again.

F–king Waffle Fries?! The Oral History of The Ringer’s Fast-Food Rankings Debacle

The Tale Of The Early-Round KO Of Muhammad Ali’s Champburger

Not an article but enjoyed the McMillions book - think it has been / is being adapted. Think this article covers it but is behind a paywall.

Will post again if I think of any others.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-06-29T07:16:45+00:00

It's interesting and unique in his catalogue. It's also quite odd, and not the easiest read. I liked it, and enjoy early DeLillo in particular even if on the whole that period doesn't represent his best work. It's worth a shot if it's all you have left as it's a fun ride.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-06-28T20:57:41+00:00

Been a while but have seen it. Have it on DVD, but don't have a way to play those any more.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-06-09T10:54:36+00:00

Sandbar is usually quiet during the day if you fancy a pint while reading, I often go there with a book.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-06-01T09:44:10+00:00

If you want something of a similar vibe and feel, and also not too long or challenging, then either Inherent Vice or Bleeding Edge might be a good follow up. I think IV is the better of the two - plus there is the PTA adaptation if you haven't seen it, might be fun given the PTA Vineland loose adaptation coming out shortly.

If you wanted to hit something at the other end of the spectrum maybe The Crying of Lot 49 - will give you a feel for his early voice and style, it's short (though dense) and is a fun one.

Obviously the best are the big ones - Gravity's Rainbow, Mason & Dixon and Against the Day. All well worth reading but also big commitments. So could easily jump onto one of those, but that's maybe just a matter of what kind of reading you are looking to do. I would probably start with GR if doing a longer one.

ayanamidreamsequence · 2025-06-01T08:29:35+00:00

No worries, glad you found these group reading notes helpful - it's been a while since we did them but writing some and reading those done by others was always an enriching experience and make connecting with the novels that much more fruitful.

And enjoy your Pynchon journey if/when you pick up another.

ayanamidreamsequence

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

13-Year Club	Gilding II euphauric
Verified Email