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[_Isaac]

Finally had the time to finish Changes. It was a fun read.

It doesn't sound like it.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Do you have a specific version of the Kalevala in mind? Perhaps på norsk eller svensk? I really wanted to read it a few years ago, but forgot about it until I saw your post. Thanks, it's now on my wish-list!

It's the Oxford Press edition, translated by Keith Bosley

 

[Tim the Wiz]

It doesn't sound like it.

No, it was a great ride. It's a (small) pity about the mini-cliffhanger ending, though.

 

[Wellington]

Finally reading World War Z. It's actually pretty good, I'm shocked. Super light read so I'm hopefully done with it next week. Considering either Tipping Point or Freakonomics next.

 

[Guileless]

It's been a while since I've posted in one of these threads, so I'll post what books I've finished since then:

The Coming of the Third Reich (Richard J Evans) - Fantastic book about the political conditions in Germany during the Weimar years and the atmosphere that led to the Nazis gaining power. I knew the Nazis were thugs and that pre-1939 Germany was political chaos, but I never understood the depth and breadth of it fully until now.

The Third Reich in Power (Richard J Evans) - Goes on from its predecessor from Hitler's siezure of power right up to the invasion of Poland. It details how the Nazi party operated, Hitler's drive to exterminate Jews and political enemies, his drive to a war economy from the very beginning and the insidious methods of total control they wielded over every aspect of German life.

The Third Reich at War (Richard J Evans) - Rather than follow the battles, it followed life under wartime Nazi rule, the beginnings of and organisation of the holocaust, the way the economy was run and the internal power struggles within the Nazi party. The way the first two books set things up, the end comes as the obvious conclusion to a war that had been planned since the 20s.

These books have taught me more about Nazi Germany and WW2 Europe than any others I've read previously. They're fantastic and I heartily recommend them.

So you read all three volumes back-to-back-to-back? That's a lot of Nazism. I have copies of all three that I have picked up for bargain prices, but I haven't started reading them yet. By all accounts it will be the definitive work in English for a long time.

 

[Kuraudo]

And during the time of it's release that was the status of everyone in college. It is certainly a book from a different era but it's impact can not be understated. Today we have a entire genre of literature, the young-adult novella, that simply repeats the story of a dissatisfied and disillusioned youth unable to find his place.

I did enjoy it, but I found it very repetitive. Every chapter had Holden meeting someone, failing to make a connection, deciding to look somewhere else. It certainly drove home his alienation, but it also made for a dull read. I did think it picked up towards the end though, and I began feeling awful for him during his interactions with his sister.

I think it did a good job of displaying his depression, and I could certainly relate to that, but there didn't seem to be any reason for him to be depressed in the first place.

 

[JeTmAn81]

Stieg Larsson is the shizzle fo sheezy. So sad he's dead.

 

[roosters93]

Really? Personally I thought they got progressively worse, with the first book being the best one.

Yeah I'm feeling that too and the third book just feels like a pt.2 to the second book.

 

[Blackace]

It's been a while since I've posted in one of these threads, so I'll post what books I've finished since then:

The Coming of the Third Reich (Richard J Evans) - Fantastic book about the political conditions in Germany during the Weimar years and the atmosphere that led to the Nazis gaining power. I knew the Nazis were thugs and that pre-1939 Germany was political chaos, but I never understood the depth and breadth of it fully until now.

The Third Reich in Power (Richard J Evans) - Goes on from its predecessor from Hitler's siezure of power right up to the invasion of Poland. It details how the Nazi party operated, Hitler's drive to exterminate Jews and political enemies, his drive to a war economy from the very beginning and the insidious methods of total control they wielded over every aspect of German life.

The Third Reich at War (Richard J Evans) - Rather than follow the battles, it followed life under wartime Nazi rule, the beginnings of and organisation of the holocaust, the way the economy was run and the internal power struggles within the Nazi party. The way the first two books set things up, the end comes as the obvious conclusion to a war that had been planned since the 20s.

These books have taught me more about Nazi Germany and WW2 Europe than any others I've read previously. They're fantastic and I heartily recommend them.

These are fantastic! The Third Reich in Power is one of the great reads about WWII Germany.

 

[Salazar]

Steven Erikson's The Bonehunters.
I quite like it, but then I'm rather devoted to the series at this stage. The sappers are truly awesome.

Zachary Mason's The Lost Books of the Odyssey.
Not remotely as cool as expected. Not even as handsome a book as I had hoped, and it really is a minor creative writing project that has been bicycle-pumped by a publisher's marketing department. Shame.

Still waiting on Athanasius Kircher's 'Theatre of the World' and Leon Battista Alberti's 'Hypnerotomachia Poliphili'. Two books in which I have invincible faith. I will crash-tackle the postman off his bike.

 

[way more]

I think it did a good job of displaying his depression, and I could certainly relate to that, but there didn't seem to be any reason for him to be depressed in the first place.

I'm glad you mentioned his depression because that diagnosis is what separates modern readers from those in the past. When it was written a rich, white, kid in college was not allowed to be depressed. That was something for lonely housewives or the legitimately insane both in literature and real life. So when Salinger detailed the minutiae of a lonely, sad life he provided a character that middle and upper class Americans could identify with.

Nowadays we openly discuss the angst of youth and view it as a hurdle to adult life. Young Adult Lit. has moved beyond to not only show a depressed character but show the growth and necessity of despair. I consider Catcher in the Rye to be the the prototype for young adult literature. Does anyone disagree?

 

[Eccocid]

Just finished Verne's Around The World in 80 Days and surprised at how good it was.

If you like Verne i suggest The Survivors of The Chancellor. It was one of the most depressing books i have ever read! It's about a group of people who try to survive on ocean after a shipwreck but damn it its fucking realistic and gets DAAAMN through the end.

Just noticed that i never had any chance to read this! Started yesterday its amazing, i wish Spielberg movie was based on the book more. Industrial age of London sounds like a more exciting setting than modern day USA.
PS: That was the best cheesecake i have ever had!

 

[Salazar]

I consider Catcher in the Rye to be the the prototype for young adult literature. Does anyone disagree?

I think prototype is altogether too strong. My word, yes. Look at least back to Hamlet, for heaven's sake.

Edit - A substantial, even shaping, influence on 20th century novels dealing with young adulthood, yes.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Yeah I'm feeling that too and the third book just feels like a pt.2 to the second book.

Yeah. The first one was an actual crime/mystery novel, with the second book being more of a crime/action novel with a link to Lisbeth's past. The third book was 'lol conspiracy' and a bunch of old farts trying to protect their secret cabal, making the book pretty damn dull.

 

[manofmandango]

I need a recommendation. I'm pretty close to being finished with the Death Gate Cycle series and I'm trying to decide what to read next.

OR

 

[Maklershed]

Had to put Alas, Babylon on hold for a few days while I read this:

A lady at work let me borrow it and I feel obligated to get through it as quickly as possible. I'm a little past the half way point. It's very slow but its oddly compelling and is holding my interest. I have a feeling the final hundred pages or so are going to be very interesting.

(also I stole the image from Amazon because I was terrified to google image search this book :lol)

 

[Karakand]

Stieg Larsson is the shizzle fo sheezy.

Espionage in Sweden by Mikael Rosquist (Tempus, 1988); Säpo Chief 1962-1970 by P.G. Vinge (Wahlström & Widstrand, 1988); Secret Forces by Jan Ottosson and Lars Magnusson (Tiden, 1991); Power Struggle for Säpo by Erik Magnusson (Corona, 1989); An Assignment by Carl Lidbom (Wahlström & Widstrand, 1990); and - somewhat surprisingly - An Agent in Place by Thomas Whiteside (Ballantine, 1966), which dealt with the Wennerström affair.

Mårtensson left home at 7.40 that morning. He got into his Volvo and drove towards the city but turned off to go across Stora Essingen and Gröndal into Södermalm. He drove down Hornsgatan and across to Bellmansgatan via Brännkyrkagatan. He turned left on to Tavastgatan at the Bishop's Arms pub and parked at the corner.

When he had got home the morning after the attack on Lundagatan, he opened the shoulder bag and spread the contents on the kitchen table. There was a wallet with an ID card, about 600 kronor, 200 American dollars, and a monthly travel card. There was a pack of Marlboro Lights, three Bic lighters, a box of throat lozenges, a packet of tissues, a toothbrush, toothpaste, three tampons in a side pocket, an unopened pack of condoms with a price sticker that showed they were bought at Gatwick Airport in London, a bound notebook with stiff black A4 dividers, five ballpoint pens, a can of Mace, a small bag with makeup, an FM radio with an earphone but no batteries, and Saturday's Aftonbladet.

"So far, not a thing. Neither of the victims is known to us. They seem to have been a conscientious pair. The woman was going to get her doctorate in a few weeks. This case gets top priority."
For Bublanski, murder always had top priority.

this is all actual stieg larsson writing i am not kidding

 

[Fanboydestroyer]

I'm making my way through Imajica by Clive Barker. I find it to be an interesting read. I'm not too far, around page 170, but from what I've read, I've found it to be quite entertaining. Next up is The Great and Secret Show also by Clive Barker. But then after that, well, I'm not sure.

What do you guys think I should read?

The first 3 Dune books by Frank Herbert?
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe?
The Bas-Lag novels by China Mievielle?
The Revelation Space Trilogy by Alastiar Reynolds?
The Night Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton?

 

[Salazar]

Night's Dawn, by Peter F. Hamilton.

That would be my favourite from the list. I'd not read a series before it that genuinely filled out the (billowing, faintly silly) name 'space opera'. It's deeply exciting.

Edit - You have, though, prepared a list that includes a few of GAF's most adored texts. You could probably not make a bad decision, and you should certainly not expect consensus.

 

[Fanboydestroyer]

Night's Dawn, by Peter F. Hamilton.

That would be my favourite from the list. I'd not read a series before it that genuinely filled out the (billowing, faintly silly) name 'space opera'. It's deeply exciting.

I have heard good things about the trilogy. It certainly is a long one though. O_O

 

[Tim the Wiz]

"So far, not a thing. Neither of the victims is known to us. They seem to have been a conscientious pair. The woman was going to get her doctorate in a few weeks. This case gets top priority."
For Bublanski, murder always had top priority.

So now we know what the CSI: Miami writers read in their spare time. :lol

I'm making my way through Imajica by Clive Barker. I find it to be an interesting read. I'm not too far, around page 170, but from what I've read, I've found it to be quite entertaining. Next up is The Great and Secret Show also by Clive Barker. But then after that, well, I'm not sure.

What do you guys think I should read?

The first 3 Dune books by Frank Herbert?
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe?
The Bas-Lag novels by China Mievielle?
The Revelation Space Trilogy by Alastiar Reynolds?
The Night Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton?

Dune and Book of the New Sun first. Mieville's Bas-Lag novels second. And the rest, if you must.

 

[Fanboydestroyer]

So now we know what the CSI: Miami writers read in their spare time. :lol



Dune and Book of the New Sun first. Mieville's Bas-Lag novels second. And the rest, if you must.

I'll admit that I am a little indimated to read Book of the New Sun, just because I've heard that it's a hard book to read/understand. But I do like a challenge. Dune has been on my list for awhile now, so I better get around to reading it, no excuses this time. And as for the Bas-Lag novels, well, they do sound cool.

Ok, so I'll be reading Dune (the first 3 books) Book of the New Sun, and then the Bas-Lag Novels. Followed by Night Dawn Trilogy, probaly.

 

[Kuraudo]

this is all actual stieg larsson writing i am not kidding

Good grief, that's awful. I'm baffled by how people like Larsson, Dan Brown, Stephanie Meyer etc can get published let alone gain popularity.

Edit: Fanboydestroyer, go for Bas-Lag! Perdido Street Station is the only thing keeping me sane right now.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

So you read all three volumes back-to-back-to-back? That's a lot of Nazism. I have copies of all three that I have picked up for bargain prices, but I haven't started reading them yet. By all accounts it will be the definitive work in English for a long time.

I actually read The Third Reich in Power first (picked it up at a thrift shop) and it was so good, I tracked down the other two. Apart from reading them out of order, I read them back-to-back. They're fantastically readable.

These are fantastic! The Third Reich in Power is one of the great reads about WWII Germany.

You're not wrong.

Funnily enough, having found out so much about what made the Nazis tick, I find villains based on the Nazis so much more creepy than I used to. Even Team Rocket from the Pokemon games actually seem evil now, since a lot of their dialogue reflects Nazi-like beliefs.

 

[Tim the Wiz]

Fanboydestroyer, go for Bas-Lag! Perdido Street Station is the only thing keeping me sane right now.

Have you read The Scar yet? Because that's not only better, but also his masterpiece.

 

[Arment]

Started this a couple days ago. Took me a while to finish Book 2 because my mom is in town for a couple of weeks, but once she's gone I plan on churning the rest out. Enjoying the hell out of it so far.

I'm also beginning to see the inspiration the creators of Lost talk about from this book. Very similar story structure (i.e. More focus on the journey, rather than the end) and themes.

 

[SoulPlaya]

In addition to all my classes I'm reading:

Michio Kaku's "Parallel Worlds"
Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything"
Alexandre Dumas' "Twenty Years After"
Dr. Li's "The Private Life of Chairman Mao"

All great.

 

[Monroeski]

this is all actual stieg larsson writing i am not kidding

Wouldn't the "actual" Stieg Larsson writing be written in Swedish? Or did he do his own English translations?

 

[Karakand]

Wouldn't the "actual" Stieg Larsson writing be written in Swedish? Or did he do his own English translations?

Pretty sure translation and source language won't erase away the shopping list realism, which is his most offensive quality.

 

[benita]

this is all actual translated stieg larsson writing i am not kidding

Fixed.

Edit: Just saw you're reply. I see where you're coming from but it's unfair to rag on those passages unless we can get a Swede to verify that they're representative of the quality of his native writing.

Anyway who gives a shit. He may not be Martin Amis but the books are the most compelling page-turners i've read in a decade.

 

[voodoojohn]

This is the first and only Murakami I've ever read, and this is actually my second read of it. I love this book. Vivid imagery and, I feel I can relate very well to the main character, Hajime. His personality and the nostalgia that tugs on him seem to mirror developments in my own life. I'll be picking up some more of this author's novels tomorrow, so any suggestions would be most appreciated.

 

[Maklershed]

Book GAF - I'm wondering if someone can help me. I read a book a few months ago that I liked and would like to check out more by the author but I forget now what the book was. Does anyone know what this might be - I remember it was set in the midst of WW2 in Lisbon. A young girl was tapped to be a spy for Britain and was sent to live with a rich family as a secretary. Also, she ends up meeting a guy was working in the SS but was sent to Lisbon to take a vacation.

EDIT: Found it ... The Company of Strangers by Robert Wilson

 

[Karakand]

Edit: Just saw you're reply. I see where you're coming from but it's unfair to rag on those passages unless we can get a Swede to verify that they're representative of the quality of his native writing.

Anyway who gives a shit. He may not be Martin Amis but the books are the most compelling page-turners i've read in a decade.

So his work can be good in spite of the fact that you don't speak Swedish and thus can't truly understand his writing (man it must really suck to live a life of such scepticism I sure hope you've never heard of the brain in a jar) but it can't be bad in spite of the fact that I don't speak Swedish and thus can't truly understand his writing. Got it.

 

[Peronthious]

As earlier in the thread, I'm still working through Ghost Wars (should have it finished up by Friday). But I picked up another book on recommendation which as so far turned out as expected:

It's informative, but definitely something to be read with a grain of salt. The book covers government intervention into economic affairs up to it's publication in the 70s from the 19th century and details how it was this intervention that caused many if the ills attributed to laissez faire capitalism.

 

[eznark]

So his work can be good in spite of the fact that you don't speak Swedish and thus can't truly understand his writing (man it must really suck to live a life of such scepticism I sure hope you've never heard of the brain in a jar) but it can't be bad in spite of the fact that I don't speak Swedish and thus can't truly understand his writing. Got it.

:lol

 

[Jay Sosa]

This:

Don't like it so far, the way it's told is a bit confusing an and the scottish accent doesn't help..

 

[xBigDanx]

I'm reading this right now:

Not sure what I think.. about a quarter of the way through and while it's not bad, it's not good either. No compelling reason to keep reading. But with the reviews I've seen of it, I feel like I should keep reading and just hope for the best.

 

[lochnesssnowman]

Finished Dune last month.

Moved onto one of the Roy Grace (crime / detective stuff) novels by Peter James - specifically Looking Good Dead - for some light relief (I lived in Brighton for five years until just recently - quite readable when you know the areas in question well). After that, I'll be starting The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass, recommended by a colleague at work.

Not sure if audio books count for this thread, OP doesn't say otherwise, but I'm also listening to Moby Dick, read by Frank Muller on my walks to and from work. It's very good. I started listening to books on the way to work last month with 1984, also narrated by Frank Muller.

 

[FiRez]

about to finish this one, it was surprising good, like a 1984 for kids

and picked this one (spanish translation too), since it was the only Kurt's novel in my local book store, and I have heard a lot about his works but I have not had the chance to read any of them.

 

[Fanboydestroyer]

Good grief, that's awful. I'm baffled by how people like Larsson, Dan Brown, Stephanie Meyer etc can get published let alone gain popularity.

Edit: Fanboydestroyer, go for Bas-Lag! Perdido Street Station is the only thing keeping me sane right now.

I have all 3 Bas-Lag novels. Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Iron Council. I am curious to know what you mean by they are keeping you sane.

Anyway, I have decided that after Imajica and The Great and Secret Show, I will be reading the first 3 Dune books, followed by the Bas-Lag novels, followed by The Book of the New Sun.

 

[Davedough]

After procrastinating on picking it up for so long, reading.

 

[Cep]

Probably the finest fantasy series I have ever read. That's saying something. I bought the paperback of The Judging Eye last week, and it was an incredible ride. It's weird how the great cover for it doesn't show up online, even the Amazon listing shows the wrong cover.

It ranks above--in my opinion--the works of the following authors:

Tolkien
G.R.R.Martin
Steven Erikson
Robert Jordan
Mervyn Peake
Chine Mieville
Gene Wolfe
Dan Simmons
Joe Abercrombie

and more. All of them my favorite authors. But Bakker is a god among men, as Kellhus was among the men of the Holy War.

You must be on crack, there is no way that this is possible.

*Runs to library*

As for me, I am just finishing my first Gene Wolfe novel.

Pretty good, but I expected more.

 

[Fanboydestroyer]

Actually I am kind of curious to hear the general. consensus on Gene Wolfe. I received The Book of the New Sun as a random gift from my dad. No idea why he gave it to me, and he himself never read it. Well I do plan on reading it, I was curious to hear what others thought of the book, as well as some of Wolfe's other books. I'm interested in reading The Wizard Knight, Book of the Long Sun, and The Solider Books.

 

[Dresden]

Actually I am kind of curious to hear the general. consensus on Gene Wolfe. I received The Book of the New Sun as a random gift from my dad. No idea why he gave it to me, and he himself never read it. Well I do plan on reading it, I was curious to hear what others thought of the book, as well as some of Wolfe's other books. I'm interested in reading The Wizard Knight, Book of the Long Sun, and The Solider Books.

It's odd, I always thought that the Book of the New Sun was the best he's ever written, but after a while I think Book of the Short Sun (which takes place after Long Sun--chronologically, and this isn't a spoiler, the books go Long Sun, Short Sun, and New Sun, which some fans call the Briah cycle) is the best book set in that universe. New Sun is full of hidden depths, but when your enjoyment of the book hinges on being able to plumb its depths--which is difficult at first, given how labyrinthine it can get--I'm not sure if I read on just to see if he mind-fucked Thecla. Admittedly, this was way back in high school. I should give it another read someday.

The Wizard Knight is a very odd set of books. I'm not sure what to think of it. I was really 'meh' on it at first, but I grew to really like it.

I can't comment on the soldier novels since I've yet to read them.

 

[Jay Sosa]

Was just about to post this. I'm just starting to read this now.

Have fun, I'm reading another book now (some scifi stuff) and it sucks so much compared to this..

just started this one:

looking forward to seeing where it goes.

My second favorite Sc-Fi series next to the Takeshi Kovacs novels, best was imho the last one.

Sure they're more actiony like ScFi GAF probably likes them but they're fun and not filled with complicated science terms and theories.

 

[benita]

What the fuck karakand?

I enjoy the millennium trilogy for the stories, not the diction. Not to say that you can't enjoy a book for either/both but to suggest that fluency in a particular language is necessary to appreciate both to the same degree is asinine. It also shows a pretty poor understanding of language and literature in general.

We can safely assume that the translated story and characters in the novels are far more representative of their source material than the diction of particular phrases but if you want to argue otherwise, be my guest :lol

No need to give me a break as cyan suggested, just don't be a prick for no reason. Especially when you're completely wrong.

 

[grumble]

Is list form okay? I'm a fast reader, and hate hunting for covers.

 

[Finn]

I had this sitting on my shelf for awhile now but never got around to reading it. Honestly, it wasn't bad. It was a quick read -- started it at like 2AM one morning, finished it the following evening. It's basically a set of short stories, all about one dysfunctional, broken family. Most of the stories focus on Sam Browne, his (many) failed relationships, and his relationship with his Australian mother and uncle. I dunno. It wasn't amazing but Pierce writes in a nice, easy to read way.

 

[Salazar]

Moved on to Reaper's Gale, by Steven Erikson. I'm committed to the series now, and will have to finish it. Still enjoying the books, although the last one could have been much more forcefully edited. Made shorter, that is.

For work, I'm reading Walter Jackson Bate's Samuel Johnson, which is the finest biography of the man. Peter Martin's is good, and Boswell was there, after all, but Bate has terrific powers of sympathy. The tension between the man Johnson wanted to be—a godly figure—and the man he felt he was, or might without heroic effort become, is so richly drawn out. Also reading Johnson's Selected Essays in the Penguin edition. They are, naturally, excellent: compressed, stern, moralising. He is above all emphatic about the benefit to the mind and soul of social activity, of conversation. An irony, or the potential for it, emerges when you consider that 'conversation' could very readily, in the eighteenth-century, be taken to mean 'sex'. Also reading Stephen Miller's Conversation: History of a Declining Art, which is glorious until it becomes a luddite polemic against the effects of email and mass-media.

 

[xBigDanx]

So I've put "Let The Great World Spin"

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images...ow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

to the side... I just can't seem to get into it. Like I said before, it's bad, but it's not good.

So I picked these three up in the meantime:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images...ow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images...ow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51LcM594U6L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

The one I've started is The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo... very good so far