to-read
(301)
currently-reading (14)
read (421)
time-magazine-top-100 (57)
modern-library-top-100 (50)
postmodern-toasties (44)
boulder-public-library (43)
currently-reading (14)
read (421)
time-magazine-top-100 (57)
modern-library-top-100 (50)
postmodern-toasties (44)
boulder-public-library (43)
to-track-down
(35)
nobelles-lettres (31)
anthony-burgess-top-99 (30)
british-lit (25)
big-and-supposedly-difficult (18)
the-eller-cellar (15)
national-book-award (14)
nobelles-lettres (31)
anthony-burgess-top-99 (30)
british-lit (25)
big-and-supposedly-difficult (18)
the-eller-cellar (15)
national-book-award (14)
Drew
is currently reading
progress:
(page 64 of 796)
"All this exile to hard labor, and formerly with floggings, does not reform anyone, and above all does not even frighten almost any criminal, and the number of crimes not only does not diminish but increases all the more...And it turns out that society, thus, is not protected at all, for although the harmful member is mechanically cut off...another criminal appears to take his place, perhaps even two others." — Dec 23, 2015 08:10PM
"All this exile to hard labor, and formerly with floggings, does not reform anyone, and above all does not even frighten almost any criminal, and the number of crimes not only does not diminish but increases all the more...And it turns out that society, thus, is not protected at all, for although the harmful member is mechanically cut off...another criminal appears to take his place, perhaps even two others." — Dec 23, 2015 08:10PM
“The end of man is knowledge, but there is one thing he can't know. He can't know whether knowledge will save him or kill him. He will be killed, all right, but he can't know whether he is killed because of the knowledge which he has got or because of the knowledge which he hasn't got and which if he had it, would save him.”
― All the King's Men
― All the King's Men
“Te occidere possunt sed te edere non possunt nefas est." (Roughly, "They can kill you, but the legalities of eating you are quite a bit dicier.")”
― Infinite Jest
― Infinite Jest
“The truth is you already know what it's like. You already know the difference between the size and speed of everything that flashes through you and the tiny inadequate bit of it all you can ever let anyone know. As though inside you is this enormous room full of what seems like everything in the whole universe at one time or another and yet the only parts that get out have to somehow squeeze out through one of those tiny keyholes you see under the knob in older doors. As if we are all trying to see each other through these tiny keyholes.
But it does have a knob, the door can open. But not in the way you think...The truth is you've already heard this. That this is what it's like. That it's what makes room for the universes inside you, all the endless inbent fractals of connection and symphonies of different voices, the infinities you can never show another soul. And you think it makes you a fraud, the tiny fraction anyone else ever sees? Of course you're a fraud, of course what people see is never you. And of course you know this, and of course you try to manage what part they see if you know it's only a part. Who wouldn't? It's called free will, Sherlock. But at the same time it's why it feels so good to break down and cry in front of others, or to laugh, or speak in tongues, or chant in Bengali--it's not English anymore, it's not getting squeezed through any hole.
So cry all you want, I won't tell anybody.”
― Oblivion
But it does have a knob, the door can open. But not in the way you think...The truth is you've already heard this. That this is what it's like. That it's what makes room for the universes inside you, all the endless inbent fractals of connection and symphonies of different voices, the infinities you can never show another soul. And you think it makes you a fraud, the tiny fraction anyone else ever sees? Of course you're a fraud, of course what people see is never you. And of course you know this, and of course you try to manage what part they see if you know it's only a part. Who wouldn't? It's called free will, Sherlock. But at the same time it's why it feels so good to break down and cry in front of others, or to laugh, or speak in tongues, or chant in Bengali--it's not English anymore, it's not getting squeezed through any hole.
So cry all you want, I won't tell anybody.”
― Oblivion
“Without turning, the pharmacist answered that he liked books like The Metamorphosis, Bartleby, A Simple Heart, A Christmas Carol. And then he said that he was reading Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's. Leaving aside the fact that A Simple Heart and A Christmas Carol were stories, not books, there was something revelatory about the taste of this bookish young pharmacist, who ... clearly and inarguably preferred minor works to major ones. He chose The Metamorphosis over The Trial, he chose Bartleby over Moby Dick, he chose A Simple Heart over Bouvard and Pecouchet, and A Christmas Carol over A Tale of Two Cities or The Pickwick Papers. What a sad paradox, thought Amalfitano. Now even bookish pharmacists are afraid to take on the great, imperfect, torrential works, books that blaze a path into the unknown. They choose the perfect exercises of the great masters. Or what amounts to the same thing: they want to watch the great masters spar, but they have no interest in real combat, when the great masters struggle against that something, that something that terrifies us all, that something that cows us and spurs us on, amid blood and mortal wounds and stench.”
― 2666
― 2666
Women and Men
— 227 members
— last activity Nov 07, 2025 04:09AM
Women and Men began as a reading group for Joseph McElroy's masterpiece. It has developed into All Things McElroy. We have chapter threads for discuss ...more
Completists' Club
— 538 members
— last activity Dec 24, 2024 10:59PM
A group for those attempting to complete, or who have completed, the canons of their favourite writers. Share your canon-wide knowledge and opinion wi ...more
The Kindred Spirits
— 300 members
— last activity Sep 23, 2025 07:28AM
Place to meet and talk about anything.
readers advisory for all
— 5671 members
— last activity Sep 13, 2025 11:35AM
life's too short to read crappy books. this is why readers' advisory exists. feel free to join if you are looking for "a book like____" or "a book tha ...more
(In) Gravity's Rainbow(s)
— 26 members
— last activity Sep 23, 2012 10:45AM
Stephen M. has decided to read Gravity's Rainbow this summer. I think we should join him. ...more
Drew’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Drew’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Polls voted on by Drew
Lists liked by Drew






























