VoidPhil

The Name of the Wind is the debut novel of Patrick Rothfuss, and the first in the Kingkiller Chronicle series. It's a great example of the fantasy genre done right, with an involved and interesting magic system, well-developed characters, an intriguing plot that seems to produce levity or gravity in the right situations, and a unique structure that sets it apart from other fantasy novels. Despite some minor imperfections, it's a great and very enjoyable book.

Knut Hamsun's Hunger is an excellent example of the naturalism movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Hamsun has a distinctive style that focuses on the body of his protagonist and his nervous and erratic behavior stemming from his near-constant starvation. Reading a book by Hamsun is almost as rewarding as reading about his life. Hamsun had a very interesting life for a turn of the century Norwegian.

William Gibson's Neuromancer is a landmark work of science fiction, one of the formative works of cyberpunk literature. Neuromancer foreshadows many of the current societal and economic issues surrounding capitalism and technology, and presents a compelling and disturbing vision of the future. As a big fan of science fiction, I wish I had read this book (and other Gibson works) far earlier. The most easily noticeable thing about Gibson's work is his writing style.

Sputnik Sweetheart is a novel by Haruki Murakami. It's my second Murakami novel after A Wild Sheep Chase. Sputnik Sweetheart is par for the Murakami course, striking a balance between generic semi-romantic novel and magical realist adventure. It was shorter and easier to ingest than several of Murakami's novels, especially his more recent ones, but it lacked some of the wonder that A Wild Sheep Chase engendered and that was special about Murakami.

Factotum is a semi-autobiographical novel by Charles Bukowski. It recounts several years of Bukowski's life prior to finding success as a writer. This is my first Bukowski novel, and I (like many other readers) have mixed feelings about Bukowski's writing. While I appreciate his honest rendition of “life as a bum”, I disliked his treatment of some subjects, particularly women. The novel begins in New Orleans, where the protagonist and Bukowski's alter ego, Henry Chinaski, has moved in search of something different from his hometown of Los Angeles.