Hellshadow
Member
Rereading the Dark Disciple Trilogy. I miss Dragonlance
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What are you reading? (August 2012)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
Rereading the Dark Disciple Trilogy. I miss Dragonlance
nakedsushi
Member
Finally slogged through this:
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Started off liking it, especially the science around it. Then it got so long and rambling with a lot of breadth AND depth. Ended up not caring what happened.
Someone said the 2nd book in this trilogy is a lot better. But now I'm scared of wasting my time reading it if I didn't OMG enjoy the 1st one.
Now on to some brain candy:
Blood Kin by M.J. Scott
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Started off liking it, especially the science around it. Then it got so long and rambling with a lot of breadth AND depth. Ended up not caring what happened.
Someone said the 2nd book in this trilogy is a lot better. But now I'm scared of wasting my time reading it if I didn't OMG enjoy the 1st one.
Now on to some brain candy:
Blood Kin by M.J. Scott
The Culture Vulture
Member
PoweredBySoy
Banned
Mackenzie 92
Member
Started this up
It's not bad so far. Mostly space opera with some anarchist political stuff thrown in.
Anyway, yeah I've said it before, but the Mars trilogy is really boring, imo.
It's not bad so far. Mostly space opera with some anarchist political stuff thrown in.
Anyway, yeah I've said it before, but the Mars trilogy is really boring, imo.
eattomorro
Neo Member
Awesome book so far. It just has this easy goin' flow about it...
Still plugging away at Tigana. It's a wonderful book so far, but holy jesus am I a terrible reader. Not when I'm actually sitting down with the book in front of me, I can fly through it. I'm just not dedicated enough to make sure I make time every day like I used to. Gotten lazy =[
Just finished up Mockingjay. Probably the weakest of the trilogy, the last 1/3 of the book had some weird pacing, and the last chapters in particular came off like she just didn't know how to end it. But overall, a decent series of books.
Now I'm on to -
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
I'm 3 chapters in, the prose is vastly different than anything I'm used to, and I have no clue what the hell is going on, but we'll see how this goes.
Now I'm on to -
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
I'm 3 chapters in, the prose is vastly different than anything I'm used to, and I have no clue what the hell is going on, but we'll see how this goes.
Rereading the Dark Disciple Trilogy. I miss Dragonlance
God, me too. I finished the chronicles saga years ago and have been wanting to go back, but can't dedicate the time these days. Such an incredible universe though, deserves so much more than that shitty animated film.
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
I'm 3 chapters in, the prose is vastly different than anything I'm used to, and I have no clue what the hell is going on, but we'll see how this goes.
If you are not too far in by now, you may want to drop the Constance Garnett translation for the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation which is [almost] universally agreed to be a better translation.
I have started reading the Belknap Press Harvard Annotated edition of Pride and Prejudice. Only about two chapters in. The annotations are very interesting, moreso than the book itself at this point.
Finished IQ84 by Haruki Murakami. Ultimately I did feel like the story was dragging on and that there were a lot of wasted pages with absolutely nothing happening. Also I felt the ending didn't give me as big a payoff as I was expecting it to. I liked the novel enough to read every single page but I just don't know if it was worth my time.
Now I'm going to read American Gods and then after that I plan to start reading the longest book ever, Proust's In Search of Lost Time.
Now I'm going to read American Gods and then after that I plan to start reading the longest book ever, Proust's In Search of Lost Time.
twisteddeeds
Member
finished
Now onto shouldn't take more than a few days though...
Then
Now onto shouldn't take more than a few days though...
Then
Just finished
One of the best books I've read in years. I usually not that into non-fictional literature but man, what a ride it was. I'm feeling so stupid right now for not being able to express my thoughts. It's one of those books that stay with you even after you've finished them (at least in my case). I wish I could remember the name of the Gaffer who mentioned Tokyo Vice in another thread, thanks! I'm probably going to pick up Yakuza Moon by Shoko Tendo some time.
Halfway through
Will pass judgement when i've finished reading but I enjoyed it so far. Will probably put it on hold for the next one though.
Ordered
Recommended by a friend and Gaffer. Should arrive today.
One of the best books I've read in years. I usually not that into non-fictional literature but man, what a ride it was. I'm feeling so stupid right now for not being able to express my thoughts. It's one of those books that stay with you even after you've finished them (at least in my case). I wish I could remember the name of the Gaffer who mentioned Tokyo Vice in another thread, thanks! I'm probably going to pick up Yakuza Moon by Shoko Tendo some time.
Halfway through
Will pass judgement when i've finished reading but I enjoyed it so far. Will probably put it on hold for the next one though.
Ordered
Recommended by a friend and Gaffer. Should arrive today.
Snowman Prophet of Doom
Member
If you're interested in history, Daniel Boorstin's "The Americans" trilogy -
The Americans: The Colonial Experience
The Americans: The National Experience
The Americans: The Democratic Experience
- are fantastic. Probably the best writing I've seen in the genre of history - strong sense of narrative development, lots of quotability. And honestly, alot of his examples are simply fascinating, for he chooses avenues of historical investigation that avoid many of the "big" events of American history but nevertheless give a great deal of insight into the zeitgeist of various times and places. Highly recommended.
The Americans: The Colonial Experience
The Americans: The National Experience
The Americans: The Democratic Experience
- are fantastic. Probably the best writing I've seen in the genre of history - strong sense of narrative development, lots of quotability. And honestly, alot of his examples are simply fascinating, for he chooses avenues of historical investigation that avoid many of the "big" events of American history but nevertheless give a great deal of insight into the zeitgeist of various times and places. Highly recommended.
Sickboy007
Member
Just bought this
Has anybody read the Aubrey–Maturin series (Master and Commander)? Where should I start? What books did you like the most?
Has anybody read the Aubrey–Maturin series (Master and Commander)? Where should I start? What books did you like the most?
Candeldandel
Member
It's bleeding 900 pages and I'm only 400 pages in. Decent book so far, more gripping than Snow Crash.
Awesome! I read that one earlier this year and loved it. I couldn't believe, actually, how much I loved it since it had more than one incident of super-duper math-y jargon for paaages, and it still was amazing.
Also, funny you mention Snow Crash, because that's what I'll be starting soon (after I finish A Clash of Kings).
Just start this today. I'm quite excited to start this.
I hate to make it two translation nag posts in a row, but if you are reading an English translation, read the Robin Buss translation. Nothing else is good enough.
I'm about 200 pages in. Having a similar problem with this one that I did with the last. I don't really care too much about many of the other characters other than Kylar and he is seriously short changed when it comes to page count. At least I can't see exactly where this one is going yet unlike the last one. Still a fun, light read though.
PhoenixSFT
Member
Now that I've finished up the absolutely fantastic
I'm moving on to
and
I'm moving on to
and
Syph Medwes
Member
Atlus Shrugged. Still haha. Granted, I only have time to read on the brief bus ride to and from work. I've never read a book that took more than 100 pages to get an idea of what was going on but now that I'm half way through the book I'm loving it.
Do people just read that book just so they can grimly announce that they've read it?
Snowman Prophet of Doom
Member
An excerpt from the first book, culled from the internet:
"How Orthodoxy Made the Puritans Practical
Never was a people more sure that it was on the right track. "That which is our greatest comfort, and meanes of defence above all others," Francis Higginson wrote in the earliest days, in New-Englands Plantation, "is, that we have here the true Religion and holy Ordinances of Almightie God taught amongst us... thus we doubt not but God will be with us, and if God be with us, who can be against us?"
But their orthodoxy had a peculiar character. Compared with Americans of the 18th or the 19th century, the Puritans surely were theology-minded. The doctrines of the Fall of Man, of Sin, of Salvation, Predestination, Election, and Conversion were their meat and drink. Yet what really distinguished them in their day was that they were less interested in theology itself, than in the application of theology to everyday life, and especially to society. From the 17th-century point of view their interest in theology was practical. They were less concerned with perfecting their formulation of the Truth than with making their society in America embody the Truth they already knew. Puritan New England was a noble experiment in applied theology.
The Puritans in the Wilderness -- away from Old World centers of learning, far from great university libraries, threatened daily by the thousand and one hardships and perils of a savage America -- were poorly situated for elaborating a theology and disputing its fine points. For such an enterprise John Calvin in Switzerland or William Ames in Holland was much better located. But for testing a theology, for seeing whether Zion could be rebuilt if men abandoned the false foundations of the centuries since Jesus -- for this New England offered a rare opportunity.
So it was that although the Puritans in the New World made the Calvinist theology their point of departure, they made it precisely that and nothing else. From it they departed at once into the practical life. Down to the middle of the 18th century, there was hardly an important work of speculative theology produced in New England.
It was not that the writing of books was impossible in the New World. Rather, it was that theological speculation was not what interested the new Americans. Instead, there came from the New England presses and from the pens of New England authors who sent their works to England an abundance of sermons, textual commentaries, collections of "providences," statutes, and remarkable works of history. With the possible exception of Roger Williams, who was out of the stream of New England orthodoxy anyway, Massachusetts Bay did not produce a major figure in theology until the days of Jonathan Edwards in the mid-18th century. And by then Puritanism was all but dead."
Reading Blood Meridian as well and having the same reaction as about fifty pages in. Just can't bother to give a damn about the protagonist or really anything that happens. Disappointing because this is the second book in a row where that's happened.
Will probably pick up Cloud Atlas again or Margaret Atwood's Year of the Flood next.
I saw it for $7 on the shelf as I was picking up my uni textbooks and though, hell, why not. Fantastic read, although it's not super deep; I would say it covers a large number of areas with moderate depth. One thing it constantly emphasises is how fucked up by modern standards Aussie (well, all) cultures were at the time; there's just a constant sense of imperialism, of racism, and worse things besides. How quickly things change. Not done quite yet, but...
Lamel
Banned
OH SHIT.
I am currently 70 pages into the count of monte cristo, and your post just made me realize I AM READING AN ABRIDGED VERSION.
Should I continue on with this, or get the unabridged? I feel like unabridged would be best...
Edit: So can you maybe tell me which publication of the book is best to purchase? This one seems to fit the bill...
http://www.amazon.com/Count-Monte-Cristo-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140449264/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343987137&sr=1-1&keywords=count+of+monte+cristo+penguin+classics
I feel so dumb. It didn't say anywhere on the cover that it was abridged. only on one title page deep inside the book did it say that...
The author also runs blog called Japan Subculture Research Center, some good stuff there now and then. Ps. while the book had interesting subject I find the author to be terrible writer.Just finished
One of the best books I've read in years. I usually not that into non-fictional literature but man, what a ride it was. I'm feeling so stupid right now for not being able to express my thoughts. It's one of those books that stay with you even after you've finished them (at least in my case). I wish I could remember the name of the Gaffer who mentioned Tokyo Vice in another thread, thanks! I'm probably going to pick up Yakuza Moon by Shoko Tendo some time.
D
Deleted member 1235
Unconfirmed Member
great short story of space colonisation from the point of view of some 'aborted' colonists.
not as good as 'wool' but definitely a good read.
now onto
aliens discover that humans are the best at music, so good that bunches of em drop dead upon hearing it. Then they discover that they owe us staggering amounts of cash for the piracy.
sounds amusing, read the first chapter.
The amount of crypto math jargon in this book is utterly astounding; there are pages upon pages of detailed explanation of how things function and peculiar amount of faffing by Neal about all sort of subjects ranging from scuba diving to intricate working of submarine. It might sound like a cumbersome read but boy, when everything clicks it really clicks.
Salvor.Hardin
Banned
Christ I hate my life. Forgot my copy of Left Hand of Darkness on the bus today and there's the slimmest chance that I'll recover it. I was just about finished. FUCK.
That is indeed the correct version. The abridged version is about half as long (~600 vs ~1200 pages) and mildly censored for stuffy nineteenth century audiences; most editions use the original anonymous 1846 translation. The Buss translation is pretty much your only real option for a complete, unabridged, and uncensored translation of the novel so:
Yes, switch to that.
Lamel
Banned
Yeah I am about to order it from amazon. I was dense enough to buy it from barnes and noble without really researching it (even though the book was under the guise of their "classics" collection), and did NOT make it clear it was abridged. Thank you very much. Luckily I haven't really read far enough for it to be a waste of time, phew.
FilthyLies
Member
Been slogging through some nontraditional and cultural sci-fi.
Very good at creating an uncanny and truly foreign atmosphere. Nice short and psychological, uses it's vagueness to keep you thinking. Kind of want to see the movie now.
Another oldie, like Solaris, and another novel which does a great job at creating a true sense of something absolutely extraordinary. Roadside Picnic isn't interested in explaining "The Zone", the way so many sci-fi universes today become self-obsessed. Interesting approach and surprisingly enjoyable.
Conspiracy/ mystery novel of sorts about the history of Malaria treatment (?). Yeah. Could not stand this book. A couple redeeming passages, but overall highly disappointing. Story doesn't come through and considering the characters are all flat and uninteresting, there's nothing to distract from the disappointing conclusion.
A fantasy novel launching out of tribal Africa and their belief in magic and juju. Fun story and touches on some of the political issues in the area with some subtlety, but more concerned with being a good journey.
A novel about a chemical disaster in India which leaves an entire city afflicted and the protagonist physically deformed and forced to walk on all fours. Now about 30% of the way through this-- the narrator is quite entertaining, earned enough goodwill for me to see it through to the end. Pretty funny, at points, despite the rather horrifying premise.
Very good at creating an uncanny and truly foreign atmosphere. Nice short and psychological, uses it's vagueness to keep you thinking. Kind of want to see the movie now.
Another oldie, like Solaris, and another novel which does a great job at creating a true sense of something absolutely extraordinary. Roadside Picnic isn't interested in explaining "The Zone", the way so many sci-fi universes today become self-obsessed. Interesting approach and surprisingly enjoyable.
Conspiracy/ mystery novel of sorts about the history of Malaria treatment (?). Yeah. Could not stand this book. A couple redeeming passages, but overall highly disappointing. Story doesn't come through and considering the characters are all flat and uninteresting, there's nothing to distract from the disappointing conclusion.
A fantasy novel launching out of tribal Africa and their belief in magic and juju. Fun story and touches on some of the political issues in the area with some subtlety, but more concerned with being a good journey.
A novel about a chemical disaster in India which leaves an entire city afflicted and the protagonist physically deformed and forced to walk on all fours. Now about 30% of the way through this-- the narrator is quite entertaining, earned enough goodwill for me to see it through to the end. Pretty funny, at points, despite the rather horrifying premise.
sparky2112
Member
Lots of us have read at least part of the series. The series is in chronological order, so just start with Master & Commander. Don't expect it to be easy, and read Post Captain before you ultimately decide on whether or not to continue.
I've read Master and Commander, Post Captain, HMS Surprise, and The Mauritius Command. Loved the first book, but in Post Captain and HMS Surprise Jack acts like a sniveling lovesick child half the time and that hampered my enjoyment a bit but overall if you find yourself enjoying the first book stick with it and Patrick will reward you with many sleepless nights. I personally would suggest reading Thomas Russell's Under Enemy Colors before dangling your feet in O'brian's water.
Finished
A+ book. I didn´t like the way he used Kate vulnerability to alcohol as a plot device, but that´s my only real annoyance with a book that really is close to sublime. Multiple times while reading it touched me in a way that made me put the book down and think about my own life.
I don´t know what to read next, got Philip Roth´s "Nemesis" and Diaz´ "The brief wondrous life of oscar wao" in front of me.
A+ book. I didn´t like the way he used Kate vulnerability to alcohol as a plot device, but that´s my only real annoyance with a book that really is close to sublime. Multiple times while reading it touched me in a way that made me put the book down and think about my own life.
I don´t know what to read next, got Philip Roth´s "Nemesis" and Diaz´ "The brief wondrous life of oscar wao" in front of me.
About halfway through this. Very good so far. Infuriating, though, in much the same way that Nickel & Dimed was. Your mileage may vary, I would assume, depending on your sociopolitical leanings.
Slowly making my way through what I suddenly realized was an intimidating tower of a backlog. Cloud Atlas after this maybe? Not sure yet.
I'll probably be reading through that book during winter break. I've gone through too many large-ass novels this summer. I'm still digesting The Fountainhead.
It wasn't that particular book, but I read an article based on that very topic. The author's name seems familiar too.
sparky2112
Member
Currently reading:
That's a slippery slope right there: a perfect bite-sized dose of Trollope - enough to suck you into his VAST output as a writer. Seriously, The Warden is an absolute must if you're a fan of 19th century English lit.