Servbot #42
Unconfirmed Member
I hear it's an American classic.
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What are you reading? (March 2016)
- Thread starter Maklershed
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I hear it's an American classic.
I've only read four (Left Hand of Darkness, A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Dispossessed) but my favourite is The Dispossessed. It's brilliant. I also loved LHoD when I read it, but I can't remember anything about it so.
And you don't have to read previous books set in the same universe first?
Thanks!
Hainish Cycle books are only loosely related. There's no real continuity or whatever. It's just a "set in the same galaxy" kind of deal. All read like ethnographs; some are literally told from that perspective.
Earthsea is more connected but it's still rather loose. You'll miss out a few references or callbacks but they're about as distinct as Discworld novels (across different protag groups, not within the same group).
Favorite Earthsea: The Farthest Shore
Favorite Hainish: The Birthday of the World Short Story Collection
Overall Favorite: The Dispossessed
I haven't read some of the earlier Hainish books, most of the standalone Hainish shorts, or the Eaarthsea shorts. Have read most of the other books. Outside of Earthsea and Hainish I read, but didn't finish, Lavinia.
Earthsea is more connected but it's still rather loose. You'll miss out a few references or callbacks but they're about as distinct as Discworld novels (across different protag groups, not within the same group).
Favorite Earthsea: The Farthest Shore
Favorite Hainish: The Birthday of the World Short Story Collection
Overall Favorite: The Dispossessed
I haven't read some of the earlier Hainish books, most of the standalone Hainish shorts, or the Eaarthsea shorts. Have read most of the other books. Outside of Earthsea and Hainish I read, but didn't finish, Lavinia.
Servbot #42
Unconfirmed Member
The stand is amazing book, it's honestly one of few books i think about sometimes, it stayed with me. One of these days i'm gonna read it again.
Just finished my long overdue reread of Stephen Kings... err I mean Richard Bachman's novel The Long Walk. What a dark but excellent story that I really think outdoes a lot of other "Kids fighting and killing each other in a contest" style of stories because the kids can't just kill one another, they don't perform for sponsors and tributes, they are just walking until only one person is left.
The basic idea is that the biggest sporting and cultural event of the year that is broadcast across the nation is the Long Walk. A hundred boys no older than 18 are chosen through a series of random drawings to compete for the ultimate prize, anything you want! Then they must walk, and keep walking, receive 3 warnings, and after that, a bullet to the head. They can't fight the other boys, can't get any help from outside people, can't even run away with the half tracks full of soldiers monitoring their every word, heart beat and motion.
I'd love to see a studio attempt a hard R rating adaptation of this novel to the big screen as I think it pulls off the horror of these types of scenarios far better than a lot of the fancier, more elaborate ones like the Hunger Games or the Running Man. Its just kids, walking until they can't walk any longer and then they get shot to death.
Gosh I need to get my hands on a copy of The Birthday of the World.
Well, internal chronological order puts The Dispossessed first anyway
Just finished my long overdue reread of Stephen Kings... err I mean Richard Bachman's novel The Long Walk. What a dark but excellent story that I really think outdoes a lot of other "Kids fighting and killing each other in a contest" style of stories because the kids can't just kill one another, they don't perform for sponsors and tributes, they are just walking until only one person is left.
The basic idea is that the biggest sporting and cultural event of the year that is broadcast across the nation is the Long Walk. A hundred boys no older than 18 are chosen through a series of random drawings to compete for the ultimate prize, anything you want! Then they must walk, and keep walking, receive 3 warnings, and after that, a bullet to the head. They can't fight the other boys, can't get any help from outside people, can't even run away with the half tracks full of soldiers monitoring their every word, heart beat and motion.
I'd love to see a studio attempt a hard R rating adaptation of this novel to the big screen as I think it pulls off the horror of these types of scenarios far better than a lot of the fancier, more elaborate ones like the Hunger Games or the Running Man. Its just kids, walking until they can't walk any longer and then they get shot to death.
FYI he seems to have lifted the idea for this novel from "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" I read this many years ago and only made the connection when I read Horace McCoy's book last year.
"They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" appears to be a novel about a dance marathon contest? And someone gets shot, but that's not a feature of the marathon. I dunno, maybe there's some other connection you're thinking of that I'm not seeing.
I haven't read past the first three, but I can't really imagine reading A Wizard of Earthsea -> The Tombs of Atuan -> The Longest Shore in any other order.
Excellent choice.
Rhomega Beta
Member
Done with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, onto Prisoner of Azkaban. I've also been going through each book, highlight stand-out quotes from the movie, first mentions of characters, etc. I love Kindle's highlight feature.
Rug Monkey
Member
Adult: Sex & Violence
YA: Just violence (also there's usually a young-ish pov important character)
Atraveller
Banned
Maklershed
Member
Finished What If? yesterday. Some of the question/answers were a bit boring but all in all it was a fun and entertaining read. Now for something completely different - Rustlers of West Fork
The Rustlers of West Fork by Tex Burns
If anyone has recs for other The Division like stories please share. Despite my obsession with the game I didn't realize I wanted a book like it until Ruruja mentioned it. :b
The Rustlers of West Fork by Tex Burns
Try Swan Song. In my opinion it's like The Stand but better and more focused. Bonus: there's a PMC threatening to take over the land and there is fighting amongst unique factions of bad guys i.e. the cleaners, rykers, etc
If anyone has recs for other The Division like stories please share. Despite my obsession with the game I didn't realize I wanted a book like it until Ruruja mentioned it. :b
Thanks for the tip, sounds great.
TwntyOneTwlv
Member
Just finished my long overdue reread of Stephen Kings... err I mean Richard Bachman's novel The Long Walk. What a dark but excellent story that I really think outdoes a lot of other "Kids fighting and killing each other in a contest" style of stories because the kids can't just kill one another, they don't perform for sponsors and tributes, they are just walking until only one person is left.
The basic idea is that the biggest sporting and cultural event of the year that is broadcast across the nation is the Long Walk. A hundred boys no older than 18 are chosen through a series of random drawings to compete for the ultimate prize, anything you want! Then they must walk, and keep walking, receive 3 warnings, and after that, a bullet to the head. They can't fight the other boys, can't get any help from outside people, can't even run away with the half tracks full of soldiers monitoring their every word, heart beat and motion.
I'd love to see a studio attempt a hard R rating adaptation of this novel to the big screen as I think it pulls off the horror of these types of scenarios far better than a lot of the fancier, more elaborate ones like the Hunger Games or the Running Man. Its just kids, walking until they can't walk any longer and then they get shot to death.
This is probably my favorite King book, followed by The Stand. It was definitely one of the few that actually scared me when I went through a King phase in high school. Great book.
Maybe you're right. My memory of those books is fuzzy. Certainly, Wizard should go with Tomb.
(I Am a Cat is so long)
Fun fact: When I was in college, I checked out I Am a Cat from the university library, then proceeded to not read it and forget that I had it quite entirely. I had a fine in excess of $100 when the library deigned to inform me that it was still out. I eventually found it and returned it and paid much less than what they were charging (which they eventually agreed to after too much arguing about the absurdity of the fine)... though I never did get around to reading it. :x
The conceits of the novels are the same, in that the main characters are participants in a continuous and meaningless exercise around which existential threats play out.
Ironically this reads like something out of the novel.
Almost through with A Memory of Light. Just over 100 pages left.
The Last Battle chapter being nearly 200 pages long is a pacing mistake for certain though. Annoying to take breaks during it... Also, it really feels like it should be multiple chapters thanks to many view points. Especially since it is not the last chapter, the following chapters are much shorter.
I do wonder if the chapter is one of the longest in any book. It is the longest in the entire Wheel of Time series for certain.
Overall, the book is pretty good, certainly among the better ones in the series, but ironically it feels like it should be longer or split to even more books. For such a monumental event, it feels too... short.
Too long chapter, too short book. Or something like that.
I love the name of the book, probably the best one in the series. Kind of melancholic yet hopeful, perhaps even victorious.
The Last Battle chapter being nearly 200 pages long is a pacing mistake for certain though. Annoying to take breaks during it... Also, it really feels like it should be multiple chapters thanks to many view points. Especially since it is not the last chapter, the following chapters are much shorter.
I do wonder if the chapter is one of the longest in any book. It is the longest in the entire Wheel of Time series for certain.
Overall, the book is pretty good, certainly among the better ones in the series, but ironically it feels like it should be longer or split to even more books. For such a monumental event, it feels too... short.
Too long chapter, too short book. Or something like that.
I love the name of the book, probably the best one in the series. Kind of melancholic yet hopeful, perhaps even victorious.
good summary. now i never have to read the book.
kerotan_eater
Banned
Finished Farenheit 451. I dont know how popular it is in the States, I get the impression it is, but it isnt really here in Australia. So I'll explain to those few who dont. It's a dystopian future about a world where books are burned and people live only caring for base disposable pleasures.
Solid sci-fi. Great setting, world, concept, ideas, good tension, great execution in all those areas.
Just a little unfortunate the main character couldn't really hold the story by himself, as I never really felt anything whilst reading it towards him. He was just a scared person for the most part. Thought the 'villain' was quite amusing, but he seemed quite peripheral to the overall story.
This is definitely an ideas book first. Definitely a cousin to 1984.
Solid sci-fi. Great setting, world, concept, ideas, good tension, great execution in all those areas.
Just a little unfortunate the main character couldn't really hold the story by himself, as I never really felt anything whilst reading it towards him. He was just a scared person for the most part. Thought the 'villain' was quite amusing, but he seemed quite peripheral to the overall story.
This is definitely an ideas book first. Definitely a cousin to 1984.
Atraveller
Banned
Started Hyperion, this is some good stuff, I expect to finish it this weekend after I got over the exams.
I'm still reading this. For me at least it's wildly inconsistent between the stories, with the first being the best by far.
AngmarsKing701
Member
Has a few similarities, but I also enjoyed Nelson DeMille's The Gold Coast.
You should watch The Wire.
In the second season, there is a brief scene where several characters happen to be discussing The Great Gatsby, and one of the characters gives his interpretation of the larger meaning of the work and what he got from Jay Gatsby's story. The scene also happens to work within the context of the show's story; the analysis of Gatsby happens to have applicability to a character on the show as well.
I think it was on NSW's eng. lit roster, one of the suggested paths anyway.
I totally forgot about that scene.
I started The Widow's House (book 4 of the Dagger and the Coin series) today. Without getting into details, book 3 had one of the most cringe worthy sequences I have read in a long time. I felt embarrassed for the character as I read it.
At the pass I have been managing, I should finish up this series in Early April. I haven't given much thought on what I will read next. I am already at the 40% mark of my 2016 Goodreads goal, so maybe I will tackle a long book like the Count of Monte Cristo.
At the pass I have been managing, I should finish up this series in Early April. I haven't given much thought on what I will read next. I am already at the 40% mark of my 2016 Goodreads goal, so maybe I will tackle a long book like the Count of Monte Cristo.
God, I remember having to write an essay on what the eyes on the billboard meant, hated that book.
Here's the scene Mumei is referencing.
EDIT: The greatest book reference in The Wire hands down.
wild wild rice
Member
As March comes to a close, I'm still working on Against the Day. About 600 pages in now. It's a damn good book.
Servbot #42
Unconfirmed Member
Wow that book is 1104 pages, that's insane...but then again i have read The Stand so it's not that crazy, i have added it to my wishlist.
wild wild rice
Member
Yeah, I've read a few biggies here and there. Haven't read The Stand, but I read It in high school and I remember that being pretty beefy.
Is this going to be your first Pynchon book? I heard complaints about it lagging in the middle, but it's kept a pretty remarkable momentum for such a huge book.
Servbot #42
Unconfirmed Member
The Stand is beefy, it was so beefy in fact that King's editors cut a bunch of chapters for the original release, they got added later when the book was re-released which is the version i read. Oh i have never read anything by Pynchon and many more crucial authors, i'm a pretty late bloomer when it comes to reading. I'll read Against the Day when i finish my backlog.
Hhhhhhmmmm. I finished Hyperion and I liked it a fair amount, with the Priest's story being the best and the rest falling somewhat short of it.
But I don't think I want to read three more books in this universe unless they're supposedly really good, and I thought people liked them less than Hyperion generally?
I'm starting The Water Knife and the Force Awakens adaptation (for no reason) and still reading Rum Punch and slacking hard on Count of Monte Cristo.
Someone take away my library card so I can stop starting new books.
But I don't think I want to read three more books in this universe unless they're supposedly really good, and I thought people liked them less than Hyperion generally?
I'm starting The Water Knife and the Force Awakens adaptation (for no reason) and still reading Rum Punch and slacking hard on Count of Monte Cristo.
Someone take away my library card so I can stop starting new books.
Fall of Hyperion isn't as good, and doesn't have the same narrative structure, but it does have some interesting story payoffs. I haven't read the other two, and am not really sure why they exist given the ending in the second book.
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