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Happy new year!
(Post shamelessly stolen from thread starters of the prior years)
Previous threads:
2011 (49 pages) 2012 (58 pages) 2013 (165 pages!(!!!)) 2014 (back to 75 pages ) 2015 (54 pages We miss you, sam) 2016 (18 pages boo) 2017 (17 pages I think we are converging)
Format: 1) What you just finished reading (or gave up half way through) 2) What are you currently reading 3) What you plan to read next
Try to post both the book title in text as well as image. The Amazon images usually work well. The random google images are sometimes too big or too small.
It would also be great if you could post a little something along with the books. Did you like it, why or why not? How was the plot, how was writing style, how was the character development? What makes the book you are currently reading interesting? It’s not 100% necessary that you do so, but it tends to foster lively discussion of books, which is really what this thread is all about.
Also, please try to keep criticism of entire genres out of this thread. If you didn’t like a particular book then feel free to say so, but it’s not terribly productive to state that you dislike all of science fiction or existentialist literature etc.
Use spoilers appropriately, obviously.
Thanks to Cambiumpackrat386Surth for the OP that I basically stole from last year
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Reading:
A comic on a jewish wartime profiteer in France during WWII. Quite interesting. In general, I still enjoy the Franco-Belgian comic culture which is quite distinct from the (mostly american) comics one gets in Germany.
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I'm about to finish "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov, both in Polish and Russian.
+ Show Spoiler +
I generally like the book. It's quite lighthearted with plenty of humorous moments, but also serious at times. Perhaps a bit random. Since I'm reading it in Russian as well, I've started noticing some references to the book in songs of my favourtive Russian band, 25/17. :-)
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Finished: The Long Earth series. It's ok, but somewhat unsatisfying. Pratchett and Baxter have some very interesting ideas, and Pratchett's character-centric writing style definitely complements Baxter's more descriptive style. However, the plots were generally not quite interesting enough and the resolution of problems was not very satisfying. I did like the eventual conclusion.
Reading: Seveneves. About half way through and it still feels as if the adventure has barely started. Stephenson is one of my favorite authors, and so far this book is not disappointing. Not sure I care for the JBF subplot that just started, but we'll see where that goes.
Upcoming: A whole load of Sanderson. I got the Alloy of Law trilogy here, and may have to reread the first two books of the Stormlight Archives before starting on Oathbringer.
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The Alloy of Law is high on my list of books to read (already bought it). Is Sanderson as good as people say he is?
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Sanderson is basically the best at “feel good fantasy” as I generally think of it. He’s good, but if you prefer darker, grittier, or more realistic fantasy you may be disappointed.
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United States15275 Posts
A Short History of Byzantium - John Julius Norwich. "Short" is a misnomer but at ~380 pages in small print, it's less of a haul than other primers on the Byzantines.
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First of all, Happy new year. Secondly, I wanted to thank everyone that took the time to answer my questions in the 2017 thread (why is there a new thread each year?). Also ty for the recommendations.
Finished this:
Didn't know it was a life advice/self help book, read it because I think someone had asked about it in last year's thread. Wrote a sort of rant about it on my blog here Basically: it's intended for the US reader (as an Eastern European I found the logic sometimes annoying); it has some good points about living in a consumerist culture that also likes to self-victimize, how taking responsibility for your actions and your state of mind is important, perspective and metrics for measuring experiences are crucial; can be frustrating because it comes up with flawed or superficial conclusions/statements at times, makes blanket statements, can sound patronizing at times, gives advice instead of actually explaining how to self-analyse and apply the concepts (tells you what to think instead of teaching how to think).
Next: thinking of trying the Malazan books but will probably get in some light Agatha Christie first
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For light crime stories, I recommend the Erast Fandorin series by Boris Akunin. :-)
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On January 03 2018 03:17 maybenexttime wrote: For light crime stories, I recommend the Erast Fandorin series by Boris Akunin. :-) Thank you for your recommendation, I had never heard of Boris Akunin before. I just finished the first book in the series, The Winter Queen.
Didn't do any research beforehand, jumped right in. I read it in English and you could tell that it was a translation, it sounded a bit clunky at times because, and I assume this is also true in the original text, the author uses a vocabulary that tries to evoke the late 1800's.
It did feel like a Ian Fleming novel at times (not only the plot but also the manner in which the protagonist, Erast Fandorin, is portrayed) which I thought was a bit weird for a novel written in the 90's. I assume the author is a fan of James Bond (and other similar works), there is a nod to the secret agent, a mention of a "oh oh 7 F English baron". Also think that Amalia B was supposed to be a sort of Irene Adler.
I didn't think it was particularly interesting until I got to the ending, which felt like taken from the new Sherlock Holmes show Now I'm considering going for next one in the series.
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I'm glad you liked it. You mentioned that you're an Eastern European. Do you speak a Slavic language? Since Boris Akunin is kind of popular in Slavic countries, perhaps it would be preferable to read the books in your native language? It's harder to translate from Russian to English than it is to pretty much any other Slavic language.
By the way, each book in the series is a different flavour of a crime story - conspiracy, espionage, murder, etc. :-)
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I think I'm gonna reread A Canticle for Leibowitz here in the next few weeks, it's been a long time since I last read it and I think it's easily one of the best Sci-Fi books ever.
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Currently reading:
and
and
and also
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Here is a list of books i read in 2017. If anyone is intrested in feedback dont hesitate to ask.
Henry Kissinger – On China Henry Kissinger – World Order Jeff VanderMeer - Annihilationy Jeff VanderMeer – Authority Paolo Bacigalupi – Water Knife John Scalzi – Redshirts Robert Harris - Conclave Robert Harris - The Ghost Robert Harrsis - Vaterland China Mieville – Embasytown China Mieville – The City & the City Salman Rushdie – Enchantress of Florence Janusz A. Zajdel – Paradyzja Janusz A. Zajdel - Cylinder van Troffa Ian McDonald – Luna: New Moon Ian McDonald - Cyberabad days Ian McDonald - The Dervish House Ian McDonald - Brasyl Swietłana Aleksijewicz - Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets Haruki Murakami - Hear the Wind Sing Haruki Murakami - Pinball, 1973 Dan Simmons – Ilion Blake Crouch – Black Matter Pierce Brown – Red Rising Michał Cholewa – Echa Cormac McCarthy - Child of God Steven King - The Dark Tower: The Gunslinge Steven King - The Dark Tower: Drawing of the Three Brandon Sanderson – Firefight Kim Stanley Robinson - 2312
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On January 04 2018 08:20 maybenexttime wrote: I'm glad you liked it. You mentioned that you're an Eastern European. Do you speak a Slavic language? Since Boris Akunin is kind of popular in Slavic countries, perhaps it would be preferable to read the books in your native language? It's harder to translate from Russian to English than it is to pretty much any other Slavic language.
By the way, each book in the series is a different flavour of a crime story - conspiracy, espionage, murder, etc. :-)
I'm from Romania, so smack between Slavic countries but speak a Romance language. Unfortunately I don't speak any of the slav languages (can sort of read Cyrillic but without knowing the meaning it's useless). I prefer reading in English because I like English, helps with keeping up my proficiency levels, it's usually easier to find it in En., I don't trust a lot of the translations - usually the En one is better.
@Silvanel are you reading 4 books at a time? why?
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I get iritiated or bored easily by some stupid things in books (or movies, shows etc.) so i need to take rest somtimes and focus on something else (different book-topic). Also in regards to books like that of Penrose its really hard and exhuastive to follow argumentation of author so i also take rest to chew up what i just read before coming back.
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The finest politician in the history of mankind, and a real look into the struggles of our history, how and what happens when politics is done right
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On January 04 2018 08:47 farvacola wrote: I think I'm gonna reread A Canticle for Leibowitz here in the next few weeks, it's been a long time since I last read it and I think it's easily one of the best Sci-Fi books ever. Just a few days ago I saw this one again in my shelf and was considering reading it again. Same as you, I have read it a long time ago but I remember it as great. I will probably read some French literature before though to try to beter understand this country.
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Is this book about Spanish empire good?
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Baa?21242 Posts
I just read The Easy Chain by Evan Dara. It's quite good. It starts off as a weird cross between William Gaddis' JR and American Psycho, and then goes batshit crazy with American pomo conceits. Very enjoyable, but also very strange.
His first novel, The Lost Scrapbook, which I read last year, was fantastic.
Dara's ear for dialogue and cadence of prose is great. Read up on him, he's quite a (non?)-character. Dara is also super-obscure and super weird. Go read him and feel hipster and underground~
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I read a lot of garbage on Kindle unlimited so I always feel intimidated by people who are posting smart people books in here that I don't read.
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Can You give some examples of "smart people books" ?
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did anyone read Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead?
found this in my local library and borrowed it, but havent found the time to read it yet, so i'd like to have an objectively feedback first?
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It's good but upsetting, definitely worth the read.
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Currently reading Malazan Book of the fallen 8 and I like it so far. Ericksen/Lundin is one of the most creative writers out there and I definitely recommend the series (despite it's slow and weird start) if you have a taste for high/dark fantasy.
On January 02 2018 03:55 maybenexttime wrote: The Alloy of Law is high on my list of books to read (already bought it). Is Sanderson as good as people say he is? Sanderson is an interesting fellow, his books have often interesting approaches in terms of magic and how it would possibly influence society. But his story arcs are somewhat similar. I definitely recommend Elantris and the mistborn trilogy, Alloy and Steelheart are more light (still fun though).
He wrote the best wheel of time book by far, a memory of light is a brilliant book and it isn't even his series.
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I checked the series' name, and it's actually Mistborn. :-)
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On January 08 2018 18:47 Silvanel wrote: Can You give some examples of "smart people books" ? The first page of the thread.
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On January 08 2018 11:49 Sermokala wrote: I read a lot of garbage on Kindle unlimited so I always feel intimidated by people who are posting smart people books in here that I don't read. A long time ago, when I was still a high-school student, I had a fantastic teacher in my German classes. What he taught me is to not be intimidated by Literature (with capital L). Instead, one should just try it and see if one enjoys it. The aim is not to understand every nuance and every subtle allusion but to enjoy what one is reading. This was certainly one of the more valuable things I learned at school.
That has been roughly 20 years ago now, and since then I like to vary the level of books that I read. Sometimes I read cheap crap, lots of genre fiction, sometimes what would generally be considered as high Literature. When reading the latter, I am certainly not getting everything (yeah, I read some stories by Borges...) but I am not afraid of those books. It turns out that my teacher was right and that those are more often than not fantastic, rewarding reads.
So don't feel intimidated by "smart people books"! Instead, if you feel like it, one day grab one of the classics and give it a try. If you want recommendations, you know where to find us And if not, that's OK as well as long as you enjoy what you are reading.
On January 04 2018 21:21 Silvanel wrote: Here is a list of books i read in 2017. If anyone is intrested in feedback dont hesitate to ask. Steven King - The Dark Tower: The Gunslinge Steven King - The Dark Tower: Drawing of the Three
You have read the good part of that series (or should I say bearable?). You should stop now. I actually finished the series thinking it might become better again. But no, the last books are just terrible.
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The Seven Songs of Merlin by T.A. Barron is a great teen fantasy read that I confess to finding fun even as an adult
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On January 09 2018 06:24 123Gurke wrote:Show nested quote +On January 08 2018 11:49 Sermokala wrote: I read a lot of garbage on Kindle unlimited so I always feel intimidated by people who are posting smart people books in here that I don't read. Show nested quote +On January 04 2018 21:21 Silvanel wrote: Here is a list of books i read in 2017. If anyone is intrested in feedback dont hesitate to ask. Steven King - The Dark Tower: The Gunslinge Steven King - The Dark Tower: Drawing of the Three
You have read the good part of that series (or should I say bearable?). You should stop now. I actually finished the series thinking it might become better again. But no, the last books are just terrible.
Seriously? I didnt find those books very good. A friend of mine told me it gets beter later (and that the middle books are the best).
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It depends the later books are VERY different than the first 3, some people like them better some don't. I have mixed feelings I read the whole thing and don't regret it at all but I doubt Id read again, on the other hand I could see reading just The Gunslinger again.
Its not a series that I would ever recommend to the majority of my friends who just read series fantasy.
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England2647 Posts
On January 07 2018 14:27 Carnivorous Sheep wrote: I just read The Easy Chain by Evan Dara. It's quite good. It starts off as a weird cross between William Gaddis' JR and American Psycho, and then goes batshit crazy with American pomo conceits. Very enjoyable, but also very strange.
His first novel, The Lost Scrapbook, which I read last year, was fantastic.
Dara's ear for dialogue and cadence of prose is great. Read up on him, he's quite a (non?)-character. Dara is also super-obscure and super weird. Go read him and feel hipster and underground~
Have piqued my interest here...
Just finished The Crippled God by Steven Erikson. I started them years ago and finally finished the series. An undeniably great series for fantasy (only ASOIAF comes close) but perhaps a slightly imperfect ending if that's a fair criticism.
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Yeah I'm gonna pick up that Dara piece, Cheep definitely piqued my interest as well.
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On January 09 2018 23:49 Flicky wrote:Show nested quote +On January 07 2018 14:27 Carnivorous Sheep wrote: I just read The Easy Chain by Evan Dara. It's quite good. It starts off as a weird cross between William Gaddis' JR and American Psycho, and then goes batshit crazy with American pomo conceits. Very enjoyable, but also very strange.
His first novel, The Lost Scrapbook, which I read last year, was fantastic.
Dara's ear for dialogue and cadence of prose is great. Read up on him, he's quite a (non?)-character. Dara is also super-obscure and super weird. Go read him and feel hipster and underground~ Have piqued my interest here... Just finished The Crippled God by Steven Erikson. I started them years ago and finally finished the series. An undeniably great series for fantasy (only ASOIAF comes close) but perhaps a slightly imperfect ending if that's a fair criticism.
Definitely fair. I found last three books (Crippled God, Dust of Dreams, Toll the Hounds) to be inferior to others. And so did my friends. I despised some of main plot arcs in those books.
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On January 09 2018 20:23 Atreides wrote: It depends the later books are VERY different than the first 3, some people like them better some don't. I have mixed feelings I read the whole thing and don't regret it at all but I doubt Id read again, on the other hand I could see reading just The Gunslinger again.
Its not a series that I would ever recommend to the majority of my friends who just read series fantasy. Same here. I would not recommend this series to anyone and if any I would only consider reading the first part again. But at the same time I know people that are absolutely crazy about this series. That just tells me that I should not trust their recommendations And in any case, maybe you want to trust the recommendation of your friend over some random internet strangers. But if you realize that you do not like the later books, maybe you want to stop at that point. I really won't get any better later on.
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Baa?21242 Posts
On January 10 2018 00:03 farvacola wrote: Yeah I'm gonna pick up that Dara piece, Cheep definitely piqued my interest as well.
On January 09 2018 23:49 Flicky wrote:Show nested quote +On January 07 2018 14:27 Carnivorous Sheep wrote: I just read The Easy Chain by Evan Dara. It's quite good. It starts off as a weird cross between William Gaddis' JR and American Psycho, and then goes batshit crazy with American pomo conceits. Very enjoyable, but also very strange.
His first novel, The Lost Scrapbook, which I read last year, was fantastic.
Dara's ear for dialogue and cadence of prose is great. Read up on him, he's quite a (non?)-character. Dara is also super-obscure and super weird. Go read him and feel hipster and underground~ Have piqued my interest here... Just finished The Crippled God by Steven Erikson. I started them years ago and finally finished the series. An undeniably great series for fantasy (only ASOIAF comes close) but perhaps a slightly imperfect ending if that's a fair criticism.
Good...good...
Maybe starting with The Lost Scrapbook though. It's a more coherent work IMO and has less "gimmicks," though if you're interested by the high-concept pomo flourishes then definitely go with Easy Chain.
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the books I most recently finished reading are "The Coming of Cassidy" by Clarence E. Mulford, & the 2nd "Girl with a Dragon Tattoo" book by Steig Larsson in the Finnish language
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England2647 Posts
On January 10 2018 06:10 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:Show nested quote +On January 10 2018 00:03 farvacola wrote: Yeah I'm gonna pick up that Dara piece, Cheep definitely piqued my interest as well. Show nested quote +On January 09 2018 23:49 Flicky wrote:On January 07 2018 14:27 Carnivorous Sheep wrote: I just read The Easy Chain by Evan Dara. It's quite good. It starts off as a weird cross between William Gaddis' JR and American Psycho, and then goes batshit crazy with American pomo conceits. Very enjoyable, but also very strange.
His first novel, The Lost Scrapbook, which I read last year, was fantastic.
Dara's ear for dialogue and cadence of prose is great. Read up on him, he's quite a (non?)-character. Dara is also super-obscure and super weird. Go read him and feel hipster and underground~ Have piqued my interest here... Just finished The Crippled God by Steven Erikson. I started them years ago and finally finished the series. An undeniably great series for fantasy (only ASOIAF comes close) but perhaps a slightly imperfect ending if that's a fair criticism. Good...good... Maybe starting with The Lost Scrapbook though. It's a more coherent work IMO and has less "gimmicks," though if you're interested by the high-concept pomo flourishes then definitely go with Easy Chain.
It's very hard and expensive to get Dara over here ($46 from the official website) so I went with The Easy Chain because it's the easiest to get a hole of via Amazon Global. Then we can talk about it and I can say I don't understand it. I'm pretty excited for my next few books coming in. I have money again now. I think you recommended three of the four to me.
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I just started rereading the kings fall or "kongens fald" in danish. I was inspired after i read this tread and people thinking about critical acclaimed books and i remember that i read this book in beginning of the new century after it was awarded to be best book of the last century in Denmark. The author Johannes V Jensen won the noble prize of his total work of books but that should be the best one (only i read). So after all these years i wanted to read it again. It is story about a farmers son and student that turns soldier, and his rise and fall to power is parallel to the rise and fall of the danish king and empire in the 15 century. As i remember the book it has violence, power struggle and twisted relationship that would appeal to many readers of dark fantasy, but the words and sentence is old fashioned and strange in the beginning of the read.
Other than that i really enjoyed Mark Lawrence "The Broken Emipire" trilogy in 2017, Really great fantasy i heard many people hate it as it is very dark, but surprised that i haven't seen reviews of it on this forum as many love fantasy and the more dark part of it. But if you don't like a main character that is more dark than nice than this book is differently not for you.
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England2647 Posts
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
I had the book recommended to me by a few friends. It was a decent book, but the more it went on, the more it fell short. It's an intriguing mystery, but kind of low stakes. It loses what made it interesting about halfway through. Also a few more spoilery problems I have:
+ Show Spoiler + I don't get why the main character is so invested in the mystery after a certain point. It's just curiosity. The mystery of who Fermin is just dissolves away. EVERY female in the book is beaten, killed, raped, impregnated, imprisoned or enslaved in some way. The mystery is resolved in a 60 page section that just explains everything which, to me, isn't satisfying. I don't believe the love between Daniel and Bea. It just suddenly begins and apparently lasts. After nine months of locking his daughter away, Senor Aldaya still isn't over it and leaves her to die in there? Excessive even for this world. Any black/white characters are just portrayed as one or the other. Julian becomes a tragic hero despite being a monster. Fumero is just a monster. The mirror between Daniel and Julian doesn't really amount to anything and is pretty coincidental.
I probably have more issues, but can't remember them. It's like a worse Archimboldi story from 2666.
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Baa?21242 Posts
On January 10 2018 21:54 Flicky wrote: I have money again now. I think you recommended three of the four to me.
I'm flattered lol. Which ones?
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England2647 Posts
On January 12 2018 08:30 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:Show nested quote +On January 10 2018 21:54 Flicky wrote: I have money again now. I think you recommended three of the four to me.
I'm flattered lol. Which ones?
The Unconsoled, The Glass Bead Game (IN GERMAN WOAH) and The Easy Chain. There's still a bunch of Sheep recs in my list.
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I'm suddenly inspired to start back up on my leisure reading habit, especially now that I've gotten the hang of my new job. I'm gonna heed Cheep's advice and start with the The Lost Scrapbook, then reread The Moviegoer by Walker Percy, then try to push through Women and Men by Joseph McElroy, then come back to Dara's The Easy Chain.
Edit: My reread of Canticle will go on the back burner lol
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On January 09 2018 06:15 maybenexttime wrote: I checked the series' name, and it's actually Mistborn. :-) Alloy is the first part of an independent sequel series set in the Mistborn universe, but chronologically (and in terms of when it was written) it's the fourth book. I had fun reading alloy, but it's definitely more of a light book compared the initial trilogy, so my recommendation to start with mistborn: the final empire still stands.
Or you just read both
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Baa?21242 Posts
I was super unimpressed by The Moviegoer personally. Someone called it "The Stranger, but in New Orleans and worse," and I'm inclined to agree.
On January 12 2018 09:46 Flicky wrote:Show nested quote +On January 12 2018 08:30 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:On January 10 2018 21:54 Flicky wrote: I have money again now. I think you recommended three of the four to me.
I'm flattered lol. Which ones? The Unconsoled, The Glass Bead Game (IN GERMAN WOAH) and The Easy Chain. There's still a bunch of Sheep recs in my list.
Awesome :D
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I have a soft spot for Walker Percy works but I can see why The Moviegoer wouldn't work for some. A big part of why I like it deals in my personal ties to Catholicism and visits to New Orleans.
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England2647 Posts
On January 12 2018 10:11 farvacola wrote: then try to push through Women and Men by Joseph McElroy
Let me know what that's like. Hadn't heard of it before, sounds like it could be special.
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On January 12 2018 01:00 Flicky wrote:The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I had the book recommended to me by a few friends. It was a decent book, but the more it went on, the more it fell short. It's an intriguing mystery, but kind of low stakes. It loses what made it interesting about halfway through. Also a few more spoilery problems I have: + Show Spoiler + I don't get why the main character is so invested in the mystery after a certain point. It's just curiosity. The mystery of who Fermin is just dissolves away. EVERY female in the book is beaten, killed, raped, impregnated, imprisoned or enslaved in some way. The mystery is resolved in a 60 page section that just explains everything which, to me, isn't satisfying. I don't believe the love between Daniel and Bea. It just suddenly begins and apparently lasts. After nine months of locking his daughter away, Senor Aldaya still isn't over it and leaves her to die in there? Excessive even for this world. Any black/white characters are just portrayed as one or the other. Julian becomes a tragic hero despite being a monster. Fumero is just a monster. The mirror between Daniel and Julian doesn't really amount to anything and is pretty coincidental.
I probably have more issues, but can't remember them. It's like a worse Archimboldi story from 2666.
this shouldn't matter but the high stakes ramp things up for me where it makes it seem a little more impactful, maybe a little more interesting. Anyways that's obviously a plot device that is "cheating," so to speak. It's sort of like a seemingly unnecessary romantic subplot that seems contrived just to spice things up a bit. The core of any good book is a story of success, a romantic/dating plot, or some sort of epic good guys vs. bad guys story. Literally there are no other plotline structures that are any good other than those three types. Since I've been working the night shift lately I have had more time to read or spend money on computer games made by engineering startups during the daytime. I have been reading the nonfiction book "The Art of Seduction" by Robert Greene as well as "Citadel" by John Ringo, which is excellent fictional sci-fi
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I just finished reading Carrie by Stephen King:
It was an interesting book. I started it already knowing the plot of the book but nonetheless, it was still a good read especially for Stephen King's first published book. I'm a big fan of his works, and I just came into possession of a kindle and put all his works on it. I plan to read them all! I guess, you'll see a lot of Stephen King posts by me. Next up should be:
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Baa?21242 Posts
I read Laurus by Evgeny Vodolazkin. One review called it "Russian Name of the Rose" which I didn't find accurate at all; the only real similarity was close-ish time periods - medieval Russia as opposed to medieval Italy.
Laurus has a lot of langauge/word games, and transitions fluidly between contemporary (anachronistic) language, Old Russian, pseud-Old Russian, and various dialects. The translation replicates this with pseudo-Middle English and Middle English a lot, and some contemporary slang phrases. It also has a lot of interjected scenes of contemporary/later-than-14th-century-Russia scenes.
A fun book even if it wasn't exactly what I expected. It's about a doctor/Holy Fool who travels throughout medieval Russia and Europe, and makes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, taking on different names and living different lives, as what I presume was a way to show the multitudinous nature of the "Russian soul" or Russian experience.
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England2647 Posts
Little thought I was having:
Poll: How long is your "favourite" book?251-400 pages (7) 37% 401-750 pages (6) 32% 750+ pages (6) 32% <100 pages (0) 0% 100-250 pages (0) 0% 19 total votes Your vote: How long is your "favourite" book? (Vote): <100 pages (Vote): 100-250 pages (Vote): 251-400 pages (Vote): 401-750 pages (Vote): 750+ pages
Numbers are a little arbitrary and "favourite" book isn't always easy to answer, but do your best!
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My favorite book is The Stand by Stephen King. Its 1000+ pages
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Baa?21242 Posts
>having a single favorite book
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On January 16 2018 14:35 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:>having a single favorite book
This. I think we have found a traitor.
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England2647 Posts
V by Thomas Pynchon. I liked it quite a lot. Typically, took a little while to settle in, but it's quite different from Crying of Lot 49 with regards to accessibility. There are a lot more "ordinary" parts of the book where things are pretty easy to follow and you get character interaction that's more down to earth. But yeah, a very enjoyable read. Some great quotables (comparing old arguments to retching up bad food) and some amazing different sections of writing (the Fausto chapter stands out).
I think that I'm a little more used to Pynchon and I know what to expect has made this a really fun read. Definitely going to work through the rest of his stuff and save Gravity's Rainbow for near the end.
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V is my favorite Pynchon, I find it the best marriage of his spastic, scattershot style with what comes as close as possible to a coherent narrative. He comes back to that sensibility post Gravity's Rainbow in Vineland and Mason & Dixon too imo. I also highly recommend his collection of early stories, Slow Learner. I found that it really opened up his less accessible writing through giving you a glimpse of how he came to his unique style.
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England2647 Posts
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.
It's really good.
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Fuck yeah it is, you seem to be reading from a list of my favorite books lol
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Baa?21242 Posts
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Yeah RIP, she was one of the best.
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My favorite book is still the first big book I ever read.
Martin the warrior by brian Jacques. It was this beat up paperback sitting on a bench in a park. My parents had lost me and I sat down and started reading it. I was halfway through by the time they found me and I refused to leave until they let me keep it.
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I have only every read The Dispossessed by her which I liked a lot but somehow I never tried any other book of hers. But after all the reactions on her death that I have seen, I am motivated to read more. Any recommendations?
In the meantime:
I am roughly halfway in, and so far not much has happened. I hope there will be more action later on...
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The Left Hand of Darkness is a must-read imo.
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I wasnt very found of her books. I liked early books of "Earthsea" and thats about it. Still her passing is of course sad.
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The Ones who Walked Away from Omelas is great too.
Funny that people were mentioning Pynchon on the last page, I just started
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Thanks for the recommendations! In the end, I picked up a short story collection before I saw your answers.
I have read the first few stories and they are magical. It makes me think that I have not read enough SF for quite some time. I will definitely pick up the left hand of darkness afterwards.
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didnt know that nunez returned from the dead neat
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Just finished.
The book is much more technical than i was expecting. Tons of math (geometry mostly). Not popular science at all. You need to know a lot about modern physics to follow Penrose arugemntation. Nicely written. My main problem with the book is that author discusses topics mentioned in title only briefly. He acknowledges that such problems exits. That some teories are "fashionable", that is easier to get grants to work on them than on other less fashionable teories. That faith and fantasy also plays a role in science. No deep analysis of this. You get tons of math instead.
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England2647 Posts
The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro. Was recommended this ages ago by cheep, almost bought it, put it off, almost bought it, removed it completely from my to read list then added it, bought it and read it.
I want to preface the below opinions and thoughts by saying I found this book relatively hard to get through for various reasons and almost painful in some sections (because of how it made me feel, not it being bad). If any of you are keen readers and have no gotten around to it, I would definitely recommend reading it. With that said, opinions and so on below.
+ Show Spoiler +With regards to the overarching weirdness of the book (surreal and farcical situations reminiscent of surreal English comedy, the bizarre and incognizant representation of time and space which almost reminds me of an old videogame or a bad movie), I was fine with that. Not even knowing if any of Ryder's relationships are even real and random appearances from old school friends from England being in what I've decided is Liechtenstein, that's all fine: I can handle weird and scattershot.
Many of the characters are just selfish, miserable and stubborn people that remind me all too much of many typical English people from my parent's generation and their progeny: completely concerned with themselves and not even appearing to be loving towards anybody, even their own children. When they interact, the absolute lack of actual conversation and the loop of stubborn selfishness between them just became hard to read - it was too real and too much like being a part of these conversations with their real world counterparts. In addition to that, the book constantly captures the mentality that some people are just unable to do certain things and a desperate and then a passionless clinging to convention. Refute, refuse or ignore anything that doesn't agree with you, your sentiments or any situation you've found yourself in (the silence between Gustav and Sophie, the fact that Miss Collins doesn't want you Brodsky.)
I think the more American school of thought of "anyone can achieve anything" or "anyone can grow up to be the president" is the complete opposite of the English way, which is a lot more defeatist and cynical: You tried, failed and so you'll never amount to anything. Don't bother, just do what everyone else does. If it's good enough for everyone else, it's good enough for you. Then we get this feedback loop of everyone in this town being monstrously formal and entirely miserable and unsatisfied and a need to appeal to the few people that have risen to some kind of prominence in the pre-approved "good" thing, which is this case is high-culture of music (but not poetry). I think the fact that one of the only characters still trying hard and being positive despite this is quite young (Stephan) With the uncomfortable sharing of personal information, we really get an idea of how depressed everyone is, while also seeing that no one actually wants their problems solved, they just want to complain about them. This is much more a part of the English people than the "stiff upper lip" representation people hear than you may realise as a foreigner.
Speaking of that, Ryder's insistence that he completely understands the place and the people he's visiting is also very English: not willing to actually learn the culture or admit mistakes, but just lording over it and judging it constantly - and means he never really seriously tries to be sympathetic or empathetic in any real capacity, making him exactly the same as everyone here. The formality of everyone involved almost acting as a block to actual interaction. This is something many friend who have moved here have remarked on - that the English say words and act politely, but it's either not felt or has no actual meaning behind it. Small talk of sorts.
Various parts of the plot can be taken as being exactly like the twee English movies that are so popular here - sickly sweet movies of past loves, happy families or pets and pretty much anything else you can think of. The way these usually just end up in failure despite success, or just literal failure is great to see as someone who doesn't get anything out of those films. These usually have some amusing moments and occasionally some warmer, more positive human moments, which are then almost usually drowned out by a flood of negativity. I find it interesting that one of the few genuinely nice things that Ryder doesn't mess up (praising Stephan) is still remembered by the end of the book (not that it helps much with the outcome of that).
Effectively for me, I take the whole book as a personal warning about turning out this way. About coldly giving up after failure and chasing the social norm (not questioning convention like having a wall in your town that blocks everything), about how selfishness and stubbornness completely delete any possibility of actual communication and about how stress and endless, forced tasks causes an endless loop of misery. The characters that were approaching happiness were much more open and carefree than anyone else and took actual time to relax and socialise in a casual manner. Compare the enjoyment of the group playing cards at the cinema/theatre, the people at any of the stuffy musical gatherings and the group at the Hungarian café.
"England: get some rest and warmly put someone else first for a change" in 535 pages.
I apologise for the disorganised bloat, but I could talk about how interpret this book for a long time. Best click post before I proofread over and over and keep adding to it.
How does this compare to Ishiguro's other work? Worth reading more of it?
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On February 06 2018 04:10 Flicky wrote:The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro. Was recommended this ages ago by cheep, almost bought it, put it off, almost bought it, removed it completely from my to read list then added it, bought it and read it. I want to preface the below opinions and thoughts by saying I found this book relatively hard to get through for various reasons and almost painful in some sections (because of how it made me feel, not it being bad). If any of you are keen readers and have no gotten around to it, I would definitely recommend reading it. With that said, opinions and so on below. + Show Spoiler +With regards to the overarching weirdness of the book (surreal and farcical situations reminiscent of surreal English comedy, the bizarre and incognizant representation of time and space which almost reminds me of an old videogame or a bad movie), I was fine with that. Not even knowing if any of Ryder's relationships are even real and random appearances from old school friends from England being in what I've decided is Liechtenstein, that's all fine: I can handle weird and scattershot.
Many of the characters are just selfish, miserable and stubborn people that remind me all too much of many typical English people from my parent's generation and their progeny: completely concerned with themselves and not even appearing to be loving towards anybody, even their own children. When they interact, the absolute lack of actual conversation and the loop of stubborn selfishness between them just became hard to read - it was too real and too much like being a part of these conversations with their real world counterparts. In addition to that, the book constantly captures the mentality that some people are just unable to do certain things and a desperate and then a passionless clinging to convention. Refute, refuse or ignore anything that doesn't agree with you, your sentiments or any situation you've found yourself in (the silence between Gustav and Sophie, the fact that Miss Collins doesn't want you Brodsky.)
I think the more American school of thought of "anyone can achieve anything" or "anyone can grow up to be the president" is the complete opposite of the English way, which is a lot more defeatist and cynical: You tried, failed and so you'll never amount to anything. Don't bother, just do what everyone else does. If it's good enough for everyone else, it's good enough for you. Then we get this feedback loop of everyone in this town being monstrously formal and entirely miserable and unsatisfied and a need to appeal to the few people that have risen to some kind of prominence in the pre-approved "good" thing, which is this case is high-culture of music (but not poetry). I think the fact that one of the only characters still trying hard and being positive despite this is quite young (Stephan) With the uncomfortable sharing of personal information, we really get an idea of how depressed everyone is, while also seeing that no one actually wants their problems solved, they just want to complain about them. This is much more a part of the English people than the "stiff upper lip" representation people hear than you may realise as a foreigner.
Speaking of that, Ryder's insistence that he completely understands the place and the people he's visiting is also very English: not willing to actually learn the culture or admit mistakes, but just lording over it and judging it constantly - and means he never really seriously tries to be sympathetic or empathetic in any real capacity, making him exactly the same as everyone here. The formality of everyone involved almost acting as a block to actual interaction. This is something many friend who have moved here have remarked on - that the English say words and act politely, but it's either not felt or has no actual meaning behind it. Small talk of sorts.
Various parts of the plot can be taken as being exactly like the twee English movies that are so popular here - sickly sweet movies of past loves, happy families or pets and pretty much anything else you can think of. The way these usually just end up in failure despite success, or just literal failure is great to see as someone who doesn't get anything out of those films. These usually have some amusing moments and occasionally some warmer, more positive human moments, which are then almost usually drowned out by a flood of negativity. I find it interesting that one of the few genuinely nice things that Ryder doesn't mess up (praising Stephan) is still remembered by the end of the book (not that it helps much with the outcome of that).
Effectively for me, I take the whole book as a personal warning about turning out this way. About coldly giving up after failure and chasing the social norm (not questioning convention like having a wall in your town that blocks everything), about how selfishness and stubbornness completely delete any possibility of actual communication and about how stress and endless, forced tasks causes an endless loop of misery. The characters that were approaching happiness were much more open and carefree than anyone else and took actual time to relax and socialise in a casual manner. Compare the enjoyment of the group playing cards at the cinema/theatre, the people at any of the stuffy musical gatherings and the group at the Hungarian café.
"England: get some rest and warmly put someone else first for a change" in 535 pages. I apologise for the disorganised bloat, but I could talk about how interpret this book for a long time. Best click post before I proofread over and over and keep adding to it. How does this compare to Ishiguro's other work? Worth reading more of it?
I did not read your analysis of "The Unconsoled." I have read "Never Let Me Go," "The Buried Giant" and "Nocturnes" (short story collection.). I liked by far most "Never Let Me Go." I liked this work because of the complexity of themes dealt with. It's like a little picture of life. The relationships and characters also felt real. to me.
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I got my lady to read The Remains of the Day and now she's starting The Left Hand of Darkness in honor of Le Guin. She mostly only reads easy pop lit, but has really enjoyed what she read so far.
:D
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Baa?21242 Posts
I'm really glad you finally read The Unconsoled and (seems to have?) enjoyed it Flicky
I've read all the fiction Ishiguro has published and The Unconsoled is by far the most unique of Ishiguro's oeuvre. FWIW, and I don't think you touched on this in your analysis, The Unconsoled was very much intended by Ishiguro to invoke a dreamscape. He also expressed surprise that it was regarded as abstract and obscure as most readers have found it.
Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day are usually where people get into Ishiguro. If you want another book about the English ethos, Remains is what you should read. It's a really fine book and I wholeheartedly recommend it. I would also, along very similar lines, recommend the short story Cellists from the Nocturnes collection.
Never Let Me Go is, IMO, a much more immature work (and there are reasons for that based on how Ishiguro evolved as a writer), despite being his sixth book after some very fine works. It leans a bit too heavily on its melodrama and "twist", which while good for immediate emotional impact (it's just a really, really sad book), it also doesn't hold up particularly well to reflection in the same way that many of Ishiguro's other works do.
The Unconsoled remains Ishiguro's masterpiece in my opinion, and I hope he will write another book that explores a similar style/theme. After that I would say Remains and The Buried Giant are very much worth reading.
If you're extremely interested in some specific niche-y things relating to Ishiguro's writing process and his unique experience as a Japanese-but-not-actually author, A Pale View of Hills/Artist of the Floating World are worth reading. Of those two, Pale View prefigures some of the things he explores in Unconsoled w/r/t narration and memory (though to be fair, literally every single thing Ishiguro writes is about "memory") and Artist is really interesting as something that's simultaneously extremely Japanese and extremely distorted from a Western lens.
I also wrote this for 4chan
+ Show Spoiler +Definitive Ishiguro Power Ranking:
>Canonical masterpiece tier The Unconsoled - S
>Beloved classic tier The Remains of the Day - A+ The Buried Giant - A+
>Delightful intro tier Cellists - A Crooner - B
>Flawed but touching tier Never Let Me Go - B+ >Novel experimentation tier A Pale View of Hills - B >Traditionally proficient tier Artist of the Floating World - B-
>Flawed experimentation tier When We Were Orphans - C Nocturne - C Come Rain or Come Shine - C- Malvern Hills - C-
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On February 10 2018 06:31 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:I'm really glad you finally read The Unconsoled and (seems to have?) enjoyed it Flicky I've read all the fiction Ishiguro has published and The Unconsoled is by far the most unique of Ishiguro's oeuvre. FWIW, and I don't think you touched on this in your analysis, The Unconsoled was very much intended by Ishiguro to invoke a dreamscape. He also expressed surprise that it was regarded as abstract and obscure as most readers have found it. Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day are usually where people get into Ishiguro. If you want another book about the English ethos, Remains is what you should read. It's a really fine book and I wholeheartedly recommend it. I would also, along very similar lines, recommend the short story Cellists from the Nocturnes collection. Never Let Me Go is, IMO, a much more immature work (and there are reasons for that based on how Ishiguro evolved as a writer), despite being his sixth book after some very fine works. It leans a bit too heavily on its melodrama and "twist", which while good for immediate emotional impact (it's just a really, really sad book), it also doesn't hold up particularly well to reflection in the same way that many of Ishiguro's other works do. The Unconsoled remains Ishiguro's masterpiece in my opinion, and I hope he will write another book that explores a similar style/theme. After that I would say Remains and The Buried Giant are very much worth reading. If you're extremely interested in some specific niche-y things relating to Ishiguro's writing process and his unique experience as a Japanese-but-not-actually author, A Pale View of Hills/Artist of the Floating World are worth reading. Of those two, Pale View prefigures some of the things he explores in Unconsoled w/r/t narration and memory (though to be fair, literally every single thing Ishiguro writes is about "memory") and Artist is really interesting as something that's simultaneously extremely Japanese and extremely distorted from a Western lens. I also wrote this for 4chan + Show Spoiler +Definitive Ishiguro Power Ranking:
>Canonical masterpiece tier The Unconsoled - S
>Beloved classic tier The Remains of the Day - A+ The Buried Giant - A+
>Delightful intro tier Cellists - A Crooner - B
>Flawed but touching tier Never Let Me Go - B+ >Novel experimentation tier A Pale View of Hills - B >Traditionally proficient tier Artist of the Floating World - B-
>Flawed experimentation tier When We Were Orphans - C Nocturne - C Come Rain or Come Shine - C- Malvern Hills - C-
I have to respectfully disagree with your analysis of "Never Let Me Go." This work has many puzzling qualities + Show Spoiler +Why did the children never leave Hailsham? Well for starters they don't believe they are human which is clear enough, but what are the obstacles keeping them from believing this? Riddle me that.
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I recently finished reading "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov, in both Polish and Russian (to improve my command of the latter), and "Through the Language Glass" by Guy Deutscher.
+ Show Spoiler +
The former was an enjoyable read, albeit at times a bit chaotic in terms of the narrative. It is a strange book, but recommended.
The latter is a book on how language influences the way we think and perceive reality. It is divided into two parts. The first part gives a historical account of the topic, while the second part discusses three ways in which language can affect our perception and thinking which are backed by actual scientific findings. I found the book rather interesting.
Currently, I'm reading the fourth installment in the series of crime stories about Erast Fandorin authored by Boris Akunin, "Death of Achilles". So far so good. On top of that, I'm studying "CALPHAD: A Comprehensive Guide", a textbook on computational modelling of phase diagrams.
+ Show Spoiler +
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Finished "the buried giant" and enjoyed it quite a bit. The prose was beautiful but still easy to read, the characters interesting and the themes about memory well developed. It has a very special atmosphere, basically creating an own myth here while playing with some mythology people are familiar with. The only real criticism i have is that the dialogue between our main characters, an old couple, is sometimes a bit too stilted and Axl should think about more nicknames for his wife This was my first Ishiguro and i plan to read more. Next book(s) i will read: When breath becomes air by Paul Kalanithi and The Road by Cormac McCarthy Both probably emotionally draining but i am interested in the topic of the memoir and i was looking forward to read a McCarthy book for some time now.
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Blood Meridian is way better imo; the most draining part of The Road is its lack of coherent phrasing and poor attempt at matching rhetoric with set and setting. It reminds me of how disappointing the intellectually disabled part of The Sound and the Fury was when I first read it.
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Blood Meridan is by far the best book by McCarthy (out of those i have read, about 7-8 including The Road) in my opinion.
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England2647 Posts
Just to make it fun, I liked The Road significantly more than Blood Meridian.
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I mean i will likely read both anyway
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United States15275 Posts
On February 12 2018 02:00 Silvanel wrote: Blood Meridan is by far the best book by McCarthy (out of those i have read, about 7-8 including The Road) in my opinion.
I'd say The Orchard Keeper is his best written work and his novels past that are slowly dragged down by the steadily plodding, pseudo-Biblical prose that leads to unintentional bathos.
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The Orchard Keeper was very weird, a little bit short for my taste. Also i liked the theme and story much more in Blood Meridian.
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Baa?21242 Posts
Blood Meridian was underwhelming. McCarthy writes good landscapes and atmospheric scenes but his subject matter and dialogue was a huge flop for me. I think the Biblical prose was by far the strongest part of the book, though, but he leans too heavily on just writing a Bible/Moby Dick/Paradise Lost fanfiction.
On February 11 2018 01:07 imgbaby wrote:I have to respectfully disagree with your analysis of "Never Let Me Go." This work has many puzzling qualities + Show Spoiler +Why did the children never leave Hailsham? Well for starters they don't believe they are human which is clear enough, but what are the obstacles keeping them from believing this? Riddle me that. Those are just plot issues and can be answered fairly straightforwardly. As in, they're children, and children tend not to be particularly proactive in exploring existential questions.
And I alluded to this earlier, but as part of Ishiguro's attempt to separate his works from realism, he did in fact go deliberately toward sci-fi and fantasy. However, as his first genre fiction-veneer work, NLMG was definitely amateurish. It has traits and cliches and elements of sci-fi but it's not really a true sci-fi novel, so it has some problesm with motivations and assumptions and "worldbuilding," because that's not the focus. I think it's less puzzling as it is simply indicative of a less mature work.
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United States15275 Posts
On February 12 2018 17:51 Silvanel wrote: The Orchard Keeper was very weird, a little bit short for my taste. Also i liked the theme and story much more in Blood Meridian.
By written I meant prose style. There's a little too much imitation of Faulkner and O'Connor in it, and McCarthy only finds his real muses in later works. However, I find his writing very strong in The Orchard Keeper: descriptive but terse, evocative without pointless meandering (unlike the deliberate meandering of say, Henry James). Then it slowly morphs into a macabre caricature of Raymond Carver with a lot of bad syntax.
However, it should be obvious I'm not a fan of the E.B. White School of Functional Writing. It tends to kill the aesthetic pleasure of writing and limit the expressive power.
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Just finished the 1st book of the soldiers son trilogy.
I've read halfway of assassins apprentice before (though I stopped in favor of reading travelers gate trilogy cause I craved for fantasy combat that time and I learned that that series didn't have much of it) so now I took another shot of reading her work( soldiers son trilogy).
As expected she makes the perspective of a child actually exciting as she did with her other series. Her characterization from shammans crossing is still superb ( It seems like shes the best fantasy author when it comes to it).
The book was mostly good also had incredibly infruating parts where she portrays the act of dehumanization and how she managed to make the protagonist being a ignorant society sheep quite believable. I did not like the conclusion of this book though it really didn't create any hype at all for next book even though this is a trilogy. Still though it still hooked enough to be motivated to continually read the trilogy
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On February 14 2018 20:40 goody153 wrote:Just finished the 1st book of the soldiers son trilogy. I've read halfway of assassins apprentice before (though I stopped in favor of reading travelers gate trilogy cause I craved for fantasy combat that time and I learned that that series didn't have much of it) so now I took another shot of reading her work( soldiers son trilogy). As expected she makes the perspective of a child actually exciting as she did with her other series. Her characterization from shammans crossing is still superb ( It seems like shes the best fantasy author when it comes to it). The book was mostly good also had incredibly infruating parts where she portrays the act of dehumanization and how she managed to make the protagonist being a ignorant society sheep quite believable. I did not like the conclusion of this book though it really didn't create any hype at all for next book even though this is a trilogy. Still though it still hooked enough to be motivated to continually read the trilogy Agree with your assessment. I found book 2 barely readable, btw. Book 3 is better, but not great. Real shame she couldn't keep it as interesting as the first 3/4 of the first book. In general, I find that (by far) the worst of her trilogies.
The Farseer Trilogy and the Liveship Trilogy are far far superior. I suggest you read those.
Tawny Man Trilogy is also good, but I haven't gotten through the last one yet. The first book seemed rather repetitive: there doesn't seem to be much she can still tell about Fitz, but she insists on dragging him out of retirement (again). I did enjoy the less formally structured Rain Wild Chronicles, although the first book is really slow (really really slow).
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On February 14 2018 22:38 Acrofales wrote:Show nested quote +On February 14 2018 20:40 goody153 wrote:Just finished the 1st book of the soldiers son trilogy. I've read halfway of assassins apprentice before (though I stopped in favor of reading travelers gate trilogy cause I craved for fantasy combat that time and I learned that that series didn't have much of it) so now I took another shot of reading her work( soldiers son trilogy). As expected she makes the perspective of a child actually exciting as she did with her other series. Her characterization from shammans crossing is still superb ( It seems like shes the best fantasy author when it comes to it). The book was mostly good also had incredibly infruating parts where she portrays the act of dehumanization and how she managed to make the protagonist being a ignorant society sheep quite believable. I did not like the conclusion of this book though it really didn't create any hype at all for next book even though this is a trilogy. Still though it still hooked enough to be motivated to continually read the trilogy Agree with your assessment. I found book 2 barely readable, btw. Book 3 is better, but not great. Real shame she couldn't keep it as interesting as the first 3/4 of the first book. In general, I find that (by far) the worst of her trilogies. The Farseer Trilogy and the Liveship Trilogy are far far superior. I suggest you read those. Tawny Man Trilogy is also good, but I haven't gotten through the last one yet. The first book seemed rather repetitive: there doesn't seem to be much she can still tell about Fitz, but she insists on dragging him out of retirement (again). I did enjoy the less formally structured Rain Wild Chronicles, although the first book is really slow (really really slow). Which one has more fighting farseer or liveship ? I just prefer fantasy series with more combat(I'm aware that robin hobb doesn't have much combat in her books)
Too bad book 2 might be terrible for me but I'll still give it a shot.
Seems like farseer is probably her work that receives th most attention
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On February 12 2018 00:42 farvacola wrote: Blood Meridian is way better imo; the most draining part of The Road is its lack of coherent phrasing and poor attempt at matching rhetoric with set and setting. It reminds me of how disappointing the intellectually disabled part of The Sound and the Fury was when I first read it.
have you read dostoyevsky's The Idiot?
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On February 17 2018 06:11 IgnE wrote:Show nested quote +On February 12 2018 00:42 farvacola wrote: Blood Meridian is way better imo; the most draining part of The Road is its lack of coherent phrasing and poor attempt at matching rhetoric with set and setting. It reminds me of how disappointing the intellectually disabled part of The Sound and the Fury was when I first read it. have you read dostoyevsky's The Idiot? Oddly enough, that was one of the first "high literature" books I ever read (it's one of my mother's favorite books) and I have a special fondness for it.
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I finished the Road and thought it was excellent. The style of prose is minimalistic, especially in dialogue but it fits perfectly for the setting we are in, that post apocalyptic scenario. McCarthy knows how to make you feel for the characters, how to paint a very bleak picture of humanity on the first look while still implying that there is hope regardless. There is no compromise in this book, other stories with similar concepts don't go the full way to realize their setting, this one definitely does exactly that and tells a very touching story of a father and his son in the process. Excited for McCarthy's other books now.
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I read the The French Lieutenant's Woman which was a post-modern take on the Victorian novel. It gave me a huge perspective on writing and reading and how the novel works and has worked in the past. Highly recommend.
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On February 17 2018 06:34 farvacola wrote:Show nested quote +On February 17 2018 06:11 IgnE wrote:On February 12 2018 00:42 farvacola wrote: Blood Meridian is way better imo; the most draining part of The Road is its lack of coherent phrasing and poor attempt at matching rhetoric with set and setting. It reminds me of how disappointing the intellectually disabled part of The Sound and the Fury was when I first read it. have you read dostoyevsky's The Idiot? Oddly enough, that was one of the first "high literature" books I ever read (it's one of my mother's favorite books) and I have a special fondness for it.
Interesting. I had a very, very hard time finishing "The Idiot" in comparison to the other dostoevsky's and prefer some of the other russian classic authors in general. In particular I preferred both major Tolstoy novels to any of dostoevsky's although they aren't really directly comparable.
I haven't read much of that sort of literature for quite some time though. And some of this other discussion about books/author's I haven't read is interesting to me.
As to Robin Hobb, I've only read Assassin's and Liveship trilogies, and neither has any "first person combat" type stuff to speak of. To be honest, if that is what you really want I guess I'd recommend R. A. Salvatore or something. The books aren't very "good" overall but their strongest facet BY FAR is the personal combat in my opinion. I re-read the first three Drizzt books this winter and enjoyed enough to consider trying to track down the rest which I have not read since high school although I remember the first 3 being kind of the best of them so I dunno.
My own reading in last two weeks. + Show Spoiler +Garbage stuff, I reread first two of Sanderson's Stormlight Archives then read Oathrbinger they are standard Sanderson ofc, not my favourite fantasy but he is definitely the best of modern "feel good fantasy", Reading To Have and Have Not by Hemingway. I REALLY like Hemingway and have been spacing the last couple books of his I havent read out. Only reading one every 2 years or so because the notion of having no more Hemingway's to read is very sad to me.
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The Idiot is definitely something of an acquired taste, a taste I happened to acquire pretty early on in life :D
Edit: Also shout out to Cheep, Hermann Hesse has a really cool short essay on The Idiot one can find here.
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On February 17 2018 23:55 farvacola wrote:The Idiot is definitely something of an acquired taste, a taste I happened to acquire pretty early on in life :D Edit: Also shout out to Cheep, Hermann Hesse has a really cool short essay on The Idiot one can find here.
fascinating, nay---moving. Hesse sure is a special writer. I remember reading steppenwolf for the second time after reading narcissus and goldmund and just getting it.
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I hate to mention it for fear of seeming like advertising, but I just released a novel on Kindle and I'd be glad to gift it to anyone who'd offer a review.
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Just finished:
The world is interesting - somwhere halfway between our world and total apocalypse (Bacigalupi standard i guess). This time the World is dominated by genetic/crop controlling corporations Monsanto style. With genetic engineering going out of control, humanity on verge of extinction from lack of food or mutated diseases and geneticaly modified animals/plants. Plot is ok i guess but in standard Bacigalupi fasion is like slice of the world. Nothing is finalized, it just some events and the history goes on. I liked middle part the most. Ddidnt like the ending at all. 6/10 to 7/10.
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I just finished the Third Book of Game of Throne (in an integral version), I found it better than the TV show
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Quality drops off quite steeply after book 3 though. I'm not really sure the writer knows how to finish the series. 7 years to write a book is ridiculous considering someone like Erikson wrote the malazan books 1-2 years apart.
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There is 12 years between Gardens of the Moon and Crippled God. However i would say that last few books by Erikson werent that good. So there is some merit to work longer on a book. 7 years is very long obviously but its always very hard to finish long series in style. Tiing lose ends, finding solutions to problems You left for later etc. There is also the fame and not really needing to work factor in regards to Martin which i heard is main source of delay. Dunno if thats true, just what i heard.
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I have Hyperion by Dan Simmons. This doesn't any prequel books that i can just read it immediately, right?
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On February 23 2018 03:31 RvB wrote: Quality drops off quite steeply after book 3 though. I'm not really sure the writer knows how to finish the series. 7 years to write a book is ridiculous considering someone like Erikson wrote the malazan books 1-2 years apart.
You shouldn't have told me that, now i'm feeling suddenly less motivated to go after the 4th book
I recently read for a second time all Asimov cycle of Robot and Fondation books. Love his writing (even though i read the french translation, and not his own words)
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On February 23 2018 05:26 goody153 wrote: I have Hyperion by Dan Simmons. This doesn't any prequel books that i can just read it immediately, right? Yeah, Hyperion is the first one.
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On February 23 2018 12:18 MajuGarzett wrote:Show nested quote +On February 23 2018 05:26 goody153 wrote: I have Hyperion by Dan Simmons. This doesn't any prequel books that i can just read it immediately, right? Yeah, Hyperion is the first one. And you should read it
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England2647 Posts
On February 23 2018 05:26 goody153 wrote: I have Hyperion by Dan Simmons. This doesn't any prequel books that i can just read it immediately, right?
Some of my friends don't agree, but I think you can just read that one as a standalone too. There's a sequel, but I didn't feel any need to read it despite adoring Hyperion.
I just finished The Easy Chain by Evan Dara. Reads like the source material for an amazing documentary and then does some really wacky stuff. Some of the wacky stuff really hit me and I got it, others was more open to interpretation. There's a basic plot in there which I think I got, but I can never be sure with books like this. Amazing book though, super enjoyable. Dara's writing is wonderful.
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Good to know. Alright then i'll read it (wasn't really planning to read it as a series tho i was unaware until i checked the list of books the author wrote from the cover). I hope this fulfills the hype of being a hugo award winner.
thanks
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https://www.maclehosepress.com/books/2018/1/16/a-hero-born
This released today and I encourage everyone to check it out.
I would take the LotR/GoT comparisons with a giant grain of salt though. They're not really comparable and presumably the comparisons are used because the the publisher decided that was the easiest way to market the book to westerners. It's honestly closer to War and Peace than it is to Lord of the Rings.
On February 23 2018 22:05 Flicky wrote:Show nested quote +On February 23 2018 05:26 goody153 wrote: I have Hyperion by Dan Simmons. This doesn't any prequel books that i can just read it immediately, right? Some of my friends don't agree, but I think you can just read that one as a standalone too. There's a sequel, but I didn't feel any need to read it despite adoring Hyperion. I just finished The Easy Chain by Evan Dara. Reads like the source material for an amazing documentary and then does some really wacky stuff. Some of the wacky stuff really hit me and I got it, others was more open to interpretation. There's a basic plot in there which I think I got, but I can never be sure with books like this. Amazing book though, super enjoyable. Dara's writing is wonderful.
Glad you enjoyed it.
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So you recommend this new translation in particular?
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does "closer to war and peace than lotr" mean its not really close to either of them, or are you actually comparing it to war and peace?
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Who here has read Moby Dick?
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I have; as far as classic lit goes, it's one of the best stories ever imo.
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On February 24 2018 03:47 The_Red_Viper wrote: So you recommend this new translation in particular?
This is the only translation released in English, outside of fan translations.
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On February 24 2018 03:47 The_Red_Viper wrote: So you recommend this new translation in particular?
This is the only translation released in English, outside of fan translations.
On February 24 2018 04:09 IgnE wrote: does "closer to war and peace than lotr" mean its not really close to either of them, or are you actually comparing it to war and peace?
I've been comparing Jin Yong with Tolstoy for years. They're similar enough imo.
On February 24 2018 04:21 Jerubaal wrote: Who here has read Moby Dick?
I would hope most people have but...
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OK thanks, didn't realize it was Moby Dick should be read in school, no?
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On February 24 2018 04:49 farvacola wrote: I have; as far as classic lit goes, it's one of the best stories ever imo.
why do you qualify it with "as far as classic lit goes?"
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I dunno, in my head, classic (Western Canon) lit at its best goes into a box separate from contemporary or non-traditional lit at its best. I'm not sure I can justify the separation though
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I feel like it's not very widely read. I listened to it on audiobook myself. I think it would be easy to miss its tone if simply read.
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Moby Dick is one of the most widely read books in America, I have no idea where you got that impression from.
Unless you mean people don't read literature much in general, in which sure I guess.
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Is it read outside the US? I don't know anyone who actually read Moby Dick (I'm planning to but still didn't read it yet).
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On February 24 2018 09:22 RvB wrote: Is it read outside the US? I don't know anyone who actually read Moby Dick (I'm planning to but still didn't read it yet).
It's not nearly as popular outside of the US. It's still decently well read though since it's once of the strongest contenders for "Great American Novel".
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On February 24 2018 10:50 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:Show nested quote +On February 24 2018 09:22 RvB wrote: Is it read outside the US? I don't know anyone who actually read Moby Dick (I'm planning to but still didn't read it yet). It's not nearly as popular outside of the US. It's still decently well read though since it's once of the strongest contenders for "Great American Novel". I think that very few people in germany have read Moby Dick. I think I am essentially the only one I know (not bragging, it was more a stupid accident but that is a story for another day). One reason might be that until quite recently there was no good translation from what I read. And reading the original is very hard for a non-native reader in my opinion.
Another reason is that of course every country has its own canon of books to read. For a German there are just not many compelling reasons to read Moby Dick, at least certainly less than for an american.
There are many abridged versions in German, though. Also children's book, comics and I have seen at least two pop-up book versions. So I think that most people know the story without having read the actual book.
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To me it seems like that book that everyone knows about but very few people have read. Even among circles of very well read people, I don't think many have read it.
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On February 27 2018 01:52 Jerubaal wrote: To me it seems like that book that everyone knows about but very few people have read. Even among circles of very well read people, I don't think many have read it.
They're not that well-read then.
The problem is, the vast, vast majority of people, even "readers," are not well-read at all. Reading is very much a tertiary (or even lower) form of entertainment these days, and within reading, actual capital-L-Literature is read by a very small number of people. But you simply can't call yourself well-read if you haven't read a good chunk of core canon works. So really, not that many people are well-read, period.
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Given the creep of easy and immediate access to both social and informational media, pursuing the path of being well-read takes a sort of dedication to solitude that a lot of people just aren't well-suited to.
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Also the evolution of storytelling in novels and the existence of editors makes the books like Moby Dick seem plodding at best. That novel can be work to get through even by the most dedicated readers because of its pacing. I was never been able to make it straight through Moby Dick.
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I put it down for months at a time and then would go back to it. How do you read books that are poorly paced? When faced with teh prospect of reading Moby Dick or The Lies of Locke Lamoria, I'll pick The Lies any day.
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Eh, I found its episodic nature perfect for short reads.
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On February 27 2018 02:26 Plansix wrote: Also the evolution of storytelling in novels and the existence of editors makes the books like Moby Dick seem plodding at best. That novel can be work to get through even by the most dedicated readers because of its pacing. I was never been able to make it straight through Moby Dick.
On February 27 2018 02:45 Plansix wrote: I put it down for months at a time and then would go back to it. How do you read books that are poorly paced? When faced with teh prospect of reading Moby Dick or The Lies of Locke Lamoria, I'll pick The Lies any day.
You just don't like literature that much if you can't sit down and read Moby Dick. There's nothing wrong with that per se, but you make the mistake of assuming you're a "dedicated reader."
On February 26 2018 06:23 123Gurke wrote:
Another reason is that of course every country has its own canon of books to read. For a German there are just not many compelling reasons to read Moby Dick, at least certainly less than for an american.
Yea this is certainly true. Englund drew a lot of criticism for calling American readers parochial and insulated, which I think was a fair observation. A lot of American cultural output diffuses to Europe/rest of the world thanks to American hegemony over most of the past ~80 years, but taken in isolation of that, a lot of American literature is very particular to American customs, concerns, experiences, and norms. And America is similarly not particularly engaged with European canons. Barely anyone reads Faust in America, for example.
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I’m not sure that finding Moby Dick a bit of slog precludes me from enjoying/liking literature. That is a big over arching. There is a lot of literature out there in the world and you are required to be super into all of it to “enjoy” it.
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I never said you have to have overflowing love of Moby Dick. But your inability to sit down and read Moby Dick, while adding the highly disingenuous and inflammatory comment of preferring Locke Lamora, then yes, I can reasonably assume that you don't really like literature that much. You might like reading and stories and sweeping narratives and books, but you probably don't harbor any special fondness of literature.
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What European literature from the last century would you say is comparable to Steinbeck, Hemingway and Faulkner? One issue with the comparison, though, is that these three writers were quite prolific.
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When you say that I don’t like literature, do you mean that I do not seek it out and read it recreationally?
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On February 27 2018 04:49 Jerubaal wrote: What European literature from the last century would you say is comparable to Steinbeck, Hemingway and Faulkner? One issue with the comparison, though, is that these three writers were quite prolific. Woolf, Joyce, Forster, Proust, and Conrad, to name a few.
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On February 27 2018 04:49 Jerubaal wrote: What European literature from the last century would you say is comparable to Steinbeck, Hemingway and Faulkner? One issue with the comparison, though, is that these three writers were quite prolific.
Faulkner has an easy comparison in the likes of Woolf and Joyce, though the latter is far superior. Steinbeck can probably be compared to people like Ford Maddox Ford, W. Somerset Maugham, and E.M. Forster, or even someone like Joseph Conrad.
Hemingway is an interesting case because he's very European in his experience, influence, and general style. He's not really representative of someone who's narrowly focused on a wholly American experience. He was very close with Joyce, for example.
On February 27 2018 04:54 Plansix wrote: When you say that I don’t like literature, do you mean that I do not seek it out and read it recreationally?
I don't know. It doesn't sound like it?
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On February 27 2018 04:59 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:Show nested quote +On February 27 2018 04:49 Jerubaal wrote: What European literature from the last century would you say is comparable to Steinbeck, Hemingway and Faulkner? One issue with the comparison, though, is that these three writers were quite prolific. Faulkner has an easy comparison in the likes of Woolf and Joyce, though the latter is far superior. Steinbeck can probably be compared to people like Ford Maddox Ford, W. Somerset Maugham, and E.M. Forster, or even someone like Joseph Conrad. Hemingway is an interesting case because he's very European in his experience, influence, and general style. He's not really representative of someone who's narrowly focused on a wholly American experience. He was very close with Joyce, for example. Show nested quote +On February 27 2018 04:54 Plansix wrote: When you say that I don’t like literature, do you mean that I do not seek it out and read it recreationally? I don't know. It doesn't sound like it? I am attempting to better understand you are asserting. If you are going to voice your assumptions if I like something, please do me the courtesy of expounding on what you mean. I may even agree with you.
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I mean, I don't know what you -do-, but I would hazard to assume that you don't really go out of your way to read literature. You might happen to read some literature as an extension of possible aforementioned preference ("reading and stories and sweeping narratives and books"), but you don't really make a concerted and systematic effort to engage with literature.
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its not that he doesnt like Literature, cheep, its that some of these bloviating fuddyduddies like melville didnt have editors to improve their pacing, and so plansix gets bored
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You would be correct, in so that I do not engage with literature directly or in any systematic fashion. My focus of study in college was history and education, which often brushes up against the historical impact of specific literary minds. In that aspect I have an appreciation of literature and the study of it, even if I rarely fell compelled to dive into a specific piece. Especially not at the expense of another history book or biography.
But I take issue with the idea that some sort of systematic engagement with literature is required to “like” it. Few people have the luxury to do so outside of their college years and such a study would come that the expense of other hobbies or activities. The word “like” is a poor descriptor if you are attempting to convey some drive to have a comprehensive understanding of literature. It is to slight. A word better suited to describe what dessert someone prefers than to describe a passion they devote themself to.
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there is nothing particularly special about your college years, and its a truism that "everything comes at the expense of other possibilities." active engagement with anything is work, not a luxurious pastime. just as eating trash is easier than cooking nutritious meals, and loafing around is easier than a regular exercise routine, consuming trivial content is easier than engaging with literature.
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Ok, I'd say those examples don't support the claim. Joyce is well known, if not well read. Maugham and Forster are never going to have the widest appeal, but they are known. Heart of Darkness is one of the most read books in American high schools.
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On February 27 2018 05:27 Plansix wrote: You would be correct, in so that I do not engage with literature directly or in any systematic fashion. My focus of study in college was history and education, which often brushes up against the historical impact of specific literary minds. In that aspect I have an appreciation of literature and the study of it, even if I rarely fell compelled to dive into a specific piece. Especially not at the expense of another history book or biography.
But I take issue with the idea that some sort of systematic engagement with literature is required to “like” it. Few people have the luxury to do so outside of their college years and such a study would come that the expense of other hobbies or activities. The word “like” is a poor descriptor if you are attempting to convey some drive to have a comprehensive understanding of literature. It is to slight. A word better suited to describe what dessert someone prefers than to describe a passion they devote themself to.
But this is precisely the definition of "not liking" something. If you liked literature (or sports, or history, or video games, or anything), you would make time for it. You sacrifice time spent on Facebook, watching TV, playing board games, whatever, for it. You don't actively dislike literature, but nor do you do anything to show that you do in fact like it. Note that liking something is different from being "okay" with it. I'm sure you're likely "okay" with reading literature, but it presumably ranks pretty low on your list of priorities, below things like learning about history and education, or reading stuff like genre fiction.
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On February 27 2018 05:36 Jerubaal wrote: Ok, I'd say those examples don't support the claim. Joyce is well known, if not well read. Maugham and Forster are never going to have the widest appeal, but they are known. Heart of Darkness is one of the most read books in American high schools.
Er, I don't know what the claim is, I thought it was just a question.
If you are referring to the claim that "Americans don't engage with world lit" (generalized), then I will point you to the statistic that somewhere around 3%, or fewer, of books published in America is in translation, far lower than most other countries. Amazon, with an initiative of publishing a paltry ~70 books in translation, is the largest single publisher of foreign fiction in America, having overtaken the previous leader of Dalkey, who did ~40 per year.
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I completely disagree. College and university are the time when people are given space to explore any number of topics of study in depth and select the one they have a passion for. That is higher education exists. It is completely possible to “like” a given subject, but not pursue a long term study of that subject. I liked the study of film and critique in college. I still have a passing interest in it and like to dive into that subject from time to time. It is not my profession or the main stay of my leisure time.
On February 27 2018 05:36 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:Show nested quote +On February 27 2018 05:27 Plansix wrote: You would be correct, in so that I do not engage with literature directly or in any systematic fashion. My focus of study in college was history and education, which often brushes up against the historical impact of specific literary minds. In that aspect I have an appreciation of literature and the study of it, even if I rarely fell compelled to dive into a specific piece. Especially not at the expense of another history book or biography.
But I take issue with the idea that some sort of systematic engagement with literature is required to “like” it. Few people have the luxury to do so outside of their college years and such a study would come that the expense of other hobbies or activities. The word “like” is a poor descriptor if you are attempting to convey some drive to have a comprehensive understanding of literature. It is to slight. A word better suited to describe what dessert someone prefers than to describe a passion they devote themself to. But this is precisely the definition of "not liking" something. If you liked literature (or sports, or history, or video games, or anything), you would make time for it. You sacrifice time spent on Facebook, watching TV, playing board games, whatever, for it. You don't actively dislike literature, but nor do you do anything to show that you do in fact like it. Note that liking something is different from being "okay" with it. I'm sure you're likely "okay" with reading literature, but it presumably ranks pretty low on your list of priorities, below things like learning about history and education, or reading stuff like genre fiction.
I’m sorry, I have to take issue with this interpretation of the word “like”. Someone interest for literature as a hobby isn’t obliterated when they have their first child and the majority of their time is taken up with keeping that child alive. I don’t have time to play Dota 2 right now in my life, but I still like Dota 2 and enjoy my interactions with it. What you are describing is strong than a casual interest in literature. I don’t disagree with your points, but the word “like” is inadequate to describe what you are attempting to convey.
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Having a passing interest in something doesn't qualify as liking something. I don't go around saying I like figure skating because I watch the Olympics once every few years, but I really enjoy it when I do watch it.
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That is liking figure skating. You find it agreeable and enjoyable, which are synonymous with liking something. Someone who purports to like cheese cake is not expected to seek a deep understanding of all versions of cheese cake.
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On February 27 2018 05:40 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:Show nested quote +On February 27 2018 05:36 Jerubaal wrote: Ok, I'd say those examples don't support the claim. Joyce is well known, if not well read. Maugham and Forster are never going to have the widest appeal, but they are known. Heart of Darkness is one of the most read books in American high schools. Er, I don't know what the claim is, I thought it was just a question. If you are referring to the claim that "Americans don't engage with world lit" (generalized), then I will point you to the statistic that somewhere around 3%, or fewer, of books published in America is in translation, far lower than most other countries. Amazon, with an initiative of publishing a paltry ~70 books in translation, is the largest single publisher of foreign fiction in America, having overtaken the previous leader of Dalkey, who did ~40 per year. I think this is mostly a commercial problem with other countries more then anything. American (and likewise other english speaking countries) releases can get a audience base thats larger then any other country before being considered for foreign publishing. While a book genre like litrpg's flourish in places like russia but struggle to tranlsate into English due to a lack of idea if its comercialy viable.
Just look at the Asian markets and Manga. There is a ton of it that never goes past native shores but is widly enjoyed in the west due to pirate-type fan translations.
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I'm talking about literature, not commercial fiction. And the American literary scene is rightfully considered insular by Europeans. Just see, for example, the proliferation and dominance of MFA programs on literary fiction in the anglosphere. By virtue of proximity and heritage, Great Britain is better than America in this regard.
And Americans do the least reading of "key national literature" of other countries. Stuff like Goethe/Holderlin/Schiller, Pushkin's poetry, anything beyond Inferno, any French lit that's not Camus-tier, etc.
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On February 27 2018 05:50 Carnivorous Sheep wrote: Having a passing interest in something doesn't qualify as liking something. I don't go around saying I like figure skating because I watch the Olympics once every few years, but I really enjoy it when I do watch it. Which means you like figure skating. I like asian food, i don't eat it more often than more readily available food. You could maybe say he doesn't like it enough to go out of his way to experience it as often as possible, but that's about it really. To get back to the topic of this thread, i'll start soon with "when breathe becomes air" and probably some fiction along with it. For the fiction it will probably be McCarthy's "no country for old men" because i wanna watch the movie after i read the book. Anyone read either of these two works?
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On February 27 2018 06:04 The_Red_Viper wrote:Show nested quote +On February 27 2018 05:50 Carnivorous Sheep wrote: Having a passing interest in something doesn't qualify as liking something. I don't go around saying I like figure skating because I watch the Olympics once every few years, but I really enjoy it when I do watch it. Which means you like figure skating. I like asian food, i don't eat it more often than more readily available food. You could maybe say he doesn't like it enough to go out of his way to experience it as often as possible, but that's about it really.
He doesn't like it enough to make pertinent comments on it, as evidenced by his disregard of Moby Dick in favor of genre fiction.
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I just finished up The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty, which I found to a very easy read over a long weekend. I’ve been turned off by most traditional European fantasy fiction of late, so it was nice to something new for light reading that wasn’t totally predictable.
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On February 27 2018 06:05 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:Show nested quote +On February 27 2018 06:04 The_Red_Viper wrote:On February 27 2018 05:50 Carnivorous Sheep wrote: Having a passing interest in something doesn't qualify as liking something. I don't go around saying I like figure skating because I watch the Olympics once every few years, but I really enjoy it when I do watch it. Which means you like figure skating. I like asian food, i don't eat it more often than more readily available food. You could maybe say he doesn't like it enough to go out of his way to experience it as often as possible, but that's about it really. He doesn't like it enough to make pertinent comments on it, as evidenced by his disregard of Moby Dick in favor of genre fiction. Do you always enjoy literary fiction more than genre fiction? Every single work you have ever read was superior to any commercial work? While i wouldn't agree with him on moby dick i think it's not a big red flag in general to dislike a specific work for whatever reason. Though i think this discussion doesn't really lead anywhere so i'll stay out of it from now on
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At this point, I might dive into Moby Dick again just to make sure my early 20 something self didn’t have shitty taste.
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taste is made not given a priori
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I don't think I asserted that quality of one's taste self evident through reason. It is also weird to shit post Kant and not bother to punctuate it.
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kant didnt invent the phrase "a priori"
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It was maybe like a month or two ago, but there was a Reddit post talking about how it was unnecessary to read all the encyclopedic entries in Moby Dick, which I thought was fucking absurd, so I ended up posting on another discord's literary channel and gave a short "this is what's wrong with people" rant.
A surprising number of people responded in favor of not reading the whaling chapters, which got me super frustrated, so I went back and reread Moby Dick just so I could refresh my mind and tell them they're wrong.
They never responded to me, but it was worth it. :|
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You are correct, Latin existed before Kant brought the word priori into popular vernacular with his writings.
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my excuse for not reading moby dick is that someone said it seems to be really affecting for people going through mid life crisis, so im saving it
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On February 27 2018 09:42 Zergneedsfood wrote: It was maybe like a month or two ago, but there was a Reddit post talking about how it was unnecessary to read all the encyclopedic entries in Moby Dick, which I thought was fucking absurd, so I ended up posting on another discord's literary channel and gave a short "this is what's wrong with people" rant.
A surprising number of people responded in favor of not reading the whaling chapters, which got me super frustrated, so I went back and reread Moby Dick just so I could refresh my mind and tell them they're wrong.
They never responded to me, but it was worth it. :|
This is like reading the Cliff's Notes of Shakespeare.
I feel like I've been shilling for my ventures too much, but I've been really pondering the future of idea dissemination, to give it a term. You might have seen a few of my essays in the blog sections. I'm not really sure that's going to gain any traction. So what then? Well Youtube is very popular in the political sphere right now. I'm not sure it fits as well for more complex ideas.
So if anyone has any ideas or wants to collaborate on anything literary or philosophical or whatever else you might want to talk about.
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Pretty sure you get nowhere in today's political ideasphere if it doesn't fit in a tweet or a meme.
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On February 23 2018 08:20 Mun_Su wrote:Show nested quote +On February 23 2018 03:31 RvB wrote: Quality drops off quite steeply after book 3 though. I'm not really sure the writer knows how to finish the series. 7 years to write a book is ridiculous considering someone like Erikson wrote the malazan books 1-2 years apart. You shouldn't have told me that, now i'm feeling suddenly less motivated to go after the 4th book I recently read for a second time all Asimov cycle of Robot and Fondation books. Love his writing (even though i read the french translation, and not his own words)
I enjoyed the 4th GOT book, slighty less than the 3rd but still enjoyed. Now time for the 5th.
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On February 27 2018 10:11 IgnE wrote: my excuse for not reading moby dick is that someone said it seems to be really affecting for people going through mid life crisis, so im saving it This is a good strategy. I'm not sure I have any good mid-life crisis works saved up, so I'll just force myself to listen to recordings of "Death of a Salesmen" performances on repeat once I get there
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On February 27 2018 21:14 farvacola wrote:Show nested quote +On February 27 2018 10:11 IgnE wrote: my excuse for not reading moby dick is that someone said it seems to be really affecting for people going through mid life crisis, so im saving it This is a good strategy. I'm not sure I have any good mid-life crisis works saved up, so I'll just force myself to listen to recordings of "Death of a Salesmen" performances on repeat once I get there I actually read a similar thing: apparently, Moby Dick is a book for men that are at least 40. I have already chosen the translation I want and my wife knows that I will want it for my 40th birthday in a few years.
Somewhat similarly, I have realized that I enjoy Hemingway even more now that I am a little older. I guess that topics like failure in life and getting older resonate more with me
Currently reading The Left Hand of Darkness. I like it so far, but progress is slow. (Even though some here seem to disagree, having a family and a job will cut into your reading time...)
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So will Hemingway make a mid life crisis better or worse? If one is planning for mid life crisis reading, I think he would one of the authors to avoid.
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I too have found that Hemingway gets better as I age, but I still maintain that his prose is a touch too sparse for my over-indulgent perspectivist tastes
Whether or not Hemingway would push someone towards matching his fate is beyond me; I've never found his works particularly depressing.
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On February 27 2018 16:56 Acrofales wrote: Pretty sure you get nowhere in today's political ideasphere if it doesn't fit in a tweet or a meme.
I'm not sure that's true, but it does need to be digestible and, I suspect, visual.
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On February 28 2018 02:04 Jerubaal wrote:Show nested quote +On February 27 2018 16:56 Acrofales wrote: Pretty sure you get nowhere in today's political ideasphere if it doesn't fit in a tweet or a meme. I'm not sure that's true, but it does need to be digestible and, I suspect, visual.
the real question is: are most people's stomachs weaker than they were 50 or 100 years ago, or was the audience for the ideas you are talking about always small (and relatively unchanging), in other words, does more democratic participation in media like youtube or twitter reduce total audience appetite for more logocentric media or does it only seem like they do because the relative audience size has always been so small?
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The tabloids have always had a wider audience than magazines with long form articles and critique. But both forms managed to find a place on the news stand. Youtube/reddit/twitter have been seen and styled themselves as a replacement for establishment media, but have mostly become the internet tabloids. Now with crowd(mob) sourcing to feed the best drama to those who want it.
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ok so what did you add to the discussion there?
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I’m sorry if you were confused, that may have been my fault. You asked if audience size logocentric or philosophic media had changed in 100 years. I would say no, they have not. The relative demographics for entertainment, long form, critique and philosophic media remain relatively unchanged, while the venue and mediums of delivery have shifted. The internet is not local news stand or a curated library, where logocentric media would have found a small, but consistent niche to exist in and be found by its small audience. If that space exists on the internet, it is challenge to find using google.
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it seems to me that the second half of your post contradicts the first half
"no it hasnt changed. except the internet is all trash."
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I do not believe so. The news stand is owned by a local business person and responds to the needs of a small customer based. The library is publicly owned by the community. The front page of the internet is owned by Facebook, Google, Reddit, Twitter, Microsoft, Netflix and other large, often multinational companies. The internet is driven by mass market capitalism, which has no interests in niche audiences.
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It looks like US Politics Mega-thread is leaking. What did You guys read recently?
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On February 28 2018 04:48 Plansix wrote: I do not believe so. The news stand is owned by a local business person and responds to the needs of a small customer based. The library is publicly owned by the community. The front page of the internet is owned by Facebook, Google, Reddit, Twitter, Microsoft, Netflix and other large, often multinational companies. The internet is driven by mass market capitalism, which has no interests in niche audiences.
netflix doesnt cater to niche audiences??? subreddits? twitter enclaves? do we live in an echo chamber or not??? you constantly traffic in undiscriminating cliches and end up contradicting yourself.
in other words, we are talking about a specific niche, not niches, generally.
see now youve distracted me from my main line of questioning.
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I finished The City of Brass and I’m now on the biography of Alexander Hamilton by Forrest Mcdonald. The biography is excellent and quite readable people that might not enjoy biographies. The specific section I just got through talked about Hamilton’s legal practice and that he was well known for having reasonable rates, which are details not often featured in most biographies about the founding fathers.
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but plansix, hows the pacing in that biography?
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Quite good for a biography, which is one of the major short falls of most mass market history writers. Compared to the John Adams biography by David McCullough, it moves at a reasonable clip and does not become bogged less than compelling details that do little to serve reader.
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Plansix and IgnE are having a little moment.
Currently reading Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins. Tackles themes of art and violence in the middle east, with his characteristic wit and zest for sentence structure. This book also makes me horny and has great descriptions and even some philosophy.
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presenting: the pornology thread
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On February 27 2018 22:54 Plansix wrote: So will Hemingway make a mid life crisis better or worse? I don't know. I still have some years to go until mid life crisis. But I can already relate better to many things he writes. I can maybe tell you in a few years if this thread is still around.
On February 28 2018 05:08 Silvanel wrote: It looks like US Politics Mega-thread is leaking. What did You guys read recently?
I agree. If you want to behave like this, there are plenty of places to do so. Just keep this out of this thread please. Thanks!
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On February 28 2018 05:25 Plansix wrote: Quite good for a biography, which is one of the major short falls of most mass market history writers. Compared to the John Adams biography by David McCullough, it moves at a reasonable clip and does not become bogged less than compelling details that do little to serve reader.
Speaking of good non-fiction, Mexico: A Biography of Power by Enrique Krauze was a great crash course in Mexican history.
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Here's a very short story (10min read) by Thomas Mann. An early unpolished one and not particularly indicative of his later work, you won't lose anything by skipping it, I found it curious though.
http://www.southerncrossreview.org/49/mann.htm
I don't know anything about this site, it's the one place I found the full text on in English with some quick googling.
+ Show Spoiler +The subject of how difficult it is sometimes to not take what you don't actually desire is something that interested me ever since reading The Fall, where the narrating character brings it up.
One of Mann's main early influences is Nietzsche, especially when it comes to mocking idealism, you can see that here without any subtlety.
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I think I've had my fill of foppish young intellectuals that seem to infest every novel of the late 19th/Early 20th century.
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On March 01 2018 05:15 Jerubaal wrote:Show nested quote +On February 28 2018 05:25 Plansix wrote: Quite good for a biography, which is one of the major short falls of most mass market history writers. Compared to the John Adams biography by David McCullough, it moves at a reasonable clip and does not become bogged less than compelling details that do little to serve reader. Speaking of good non-fiction, Mexico: A Biography of Power by Enrique Krauze was a great crash course in Mexican history. Interesting. I've put it on my used book watch list for when I am done with Hamilton. My Mexican history is thoroughly tilted towards the US, so that would be a good read. If you know any good books for the history of China, I am always looking for something that isn't some half assed translation.
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What do yo u guys think about your conscious writing style? It's one thing to analyze different authors or even to imitate them, especially in contrast, but one's own style seems a bit out of reach to totally control. Obviously there are some irritating conventions you can avoid, but the basic conceit seems like something that was decided by the zeitgeist. I feel like, to a greater or lesser degree, the prevailing style in almost every book I read is a sort of soft realism with frequent intense description or metaphorical description. Now you can look at a writer and say he has done this poorly (the worst problem I see is over floridness or clumsy metaphor) or well, but the rule seems to be the same.
What do you think?
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On March 14 2018 03:12 Jerubaal wrote: What do yo u guys think about your conscious writing style? It's one thing to analyze different authors or even to imitate them, especially in contrast, but one's own style seems a bit out of reach to totally control. Obviously there are some irritating conventions you can avoid, but the basic conceit seems like something that was decided by the zeitgeist. I feel like, to a greater or lesser degree, the prevailing style in almost every book I read is a sort of soft realism with frequent intense description or metaphorical description. Now you can look at a writer and say he has done this poorly (the worst problem I see is over floridness or clumsy metaphor) or well, but the rule seems to be the same.
What do you think?
I agree that prose styles are leaning towards realist style, which is most often concise and simple. I don't actually find that many metaphors with realism. I'm not sure what authors you are reading though. I like Tom Robbins and his prose style is very poetic and he describes with broad brush strokes. Not much of a realist but more of an imaginative fiction writer.
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Just finished reading Farenheit 451 for an assignment. I know its old but man! its critique of the censorship movement is so relevant today. I really loved also how Ray Bradbury wasnt locked into a rigid writing style, but wrote conveying emotions, darkeness and hopelessness with scentence fragments, and his self styled "jawbreaker" scentences. I think the ideas are deep, but his writing style isnt too heady so its accesible to most people.
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It's not about censorship. It's about a society that doesn't read.
I tried to teach it two years, but it's not a student favorite.
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On March 16 2018 08:40 Jerubaal wrote: It's not about censorship. It's about a society that doesn't read.
I tried to teach it two years, but it's not a student favorite. You are right, it's not about Government censorship. However In several interviews he says that the society that dosent read leads to censoring because its an extension of what we want. People only wanting to hear what they want and disregarding the rest. Like people who exclusively intake books, media, ideas that they agree with. In the back of the 50th anniversary book he gives examples about how Berkley and other colleges wanted him to edit his writings because they didn't have enough female or ethnic roles, mention of God or moral absolutes etc.He even says "There's more than one way to burn a book." So I think to say its not about censorship is incorrect. He isn't warning about totalitarian regimes, but becoming a society of ultimate appeasement and unversalism ie one that wants out of its own free will to burn books because they have something in them that will offend a minority( or majority) and upset the apple cart(many, many quotes to back this up), rather than having discourse about these issues.
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On March 16 2018 09:02 Gorgonoth wrote:Show nested quote +On March 16 2018 08:40 Jerubaal wrote: It's not about censorship. It's about a society that doesn't read.
I tried to teach it two years, but it's not a student favorite. You are right, it's not about Government censorship. However In several interviews he says that the society that dosent read leads to censoring because its an extension of what we want. People only wanting to hear what they want and disregarding the rest. Like people who exclusively intake books, media, ideas that they agree with. In the back of the 50th anniversary book he gives examples about how Berkley and other colleges wanted him to edit his writings because they didn't have enough female or ethnic roles, mention of God or moral absolutes etc.He even says "There's more than one way to burn a book." So I think to say its not about censorship is incorrect. He isn't warning about totalitarian regimes, but becoming a society of ultimate appeasement and unversalism ie one that wants out of its own free will to burn books because they have something in them that will offend a minority( or majority) and upset the apple cart(many, many quotes to back this up), rather than having discourse about these issues.
A lot of your analysis is correct, but this is like arguing that a suicide is a murder.
Bradbury's point was not that ideas would be suppressed by force but that society would do it to itself. These are radically different phenomena, despite whatever similar effects they have.
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Finished:
I found this honestly not as magical as her short stories. Still a very good book that treats questions that are often not treated in SF.
One issue for me is that she messed up the whole gender thing. I guess it is very hard to write on androgynous characters in english since there are only two pronouns and those are gendered. But in the short story on the same aliens that I read before it works out far better.
Nevertheless, definitely recommended. I have the impression that I will get more out of it when reading it again, so I will do so at some point.
Having read this, I decided to start a new reading project for the year 2018 (yeah, maybe I am a little late...): I will dedicate this year to the SF classics. I have always read a lot of SF, but I have somewhat neglected it over the last few years. So this will be going back to the roots to me. I will mostly focus on the classics, so nothing after, say, the 70s.
I will start this off with Heinlein. He is the one of the big three I know the least. I have only read Starship Troopers roughly 20 years ago, so I think there is much to explore. I was mainly considering two books: Stranger in a Strange Land and The Moon is a Hard Mistress since those seem to be his most well known books. Any recommendations which one I should start with?
After Heinlein I will see how I will continue. Maybe rereading some Bradbury,A Canticle for Leibowitz, The Forever War, The Dispossessed, ... Any recommendations?
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I personally found the Left Hand of Darkness a little boring. I enjoyed The Dispossessed much more. A recommendation of the classics is certainly Yevgeny Zamyatin's We as well as Roadside Picnic.
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England2647 Posts
Read The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa.
To note: I read it in Italian. Italian is not my native language and I'm not really at the level to truly read this book in Italian.
So it was a very slow read and more educational, than pleasurable. I liked the parts I could understand fluently and it has some lovely sections with beautiful writing. I look forward to reading it again when I'm better at the language.
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Baa?21242 Posts
I read it in English and it was generally competent but not spectacular. However I think the last few pages were masterfully executed.
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Reading Salinger's "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters, and Seymour: an Introduction."
Anybody have any thoughts on this one? Salinger's really hit and miss for me. When he gets it right, he nails it ("Franny and Zooey" really resonated with me), but a lot of his other work is meh at best.
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No country for old men The plot is very simple, a drug deal goes wrong, some guy coincidentally finds the dead bodies and a lot of money and tries to get away with it. A psychopathic killer and some cartell men are trying to get him though. All of that happens during the 80s close to the american-mexican border and our main character, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell leads the case. The writing style is very dry and simple, but it creates this special atmosphere of dread and an enormous intensitity. The themes of an everchanging society, human condition, guilt, morality, etc are worked out quite nicely. I liked "The road" a bit more, it was a stronger book emotionally, but i still enjoyed this one quite a bit and will read all of his work for sure.
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Last Read/Reading Now/Reading Next:
Millennium Trilogy - Technically all 3 I guess. Finished the first book and loved it and have maybe a couple hundred pages left of the 2nd and plan on starting the third one afterwards. Really enjoying it and plan on watching the movies after. I've seen that someone else has continued to series but it's gotten mixed reviews so I'm not sure if I will continue it after this.
Also reading next: Got these as well. I bought cryptocurrency for the first time this year and am really getting interested in the technology behind it all so I have been devouring any information I can find. These two books focus mainly on Bitcoin and how this all started in the first place.
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Finished:
Now reading:
I picked this up at a booksale a few weeks back because of the recommondation here:
On January 07 2017 07:34 corumjhaelen wrote: A bit less well-known, our national Conan Doyle, but on a much lighter tone, Maurice Leblanc. His character, Arsène Lupin, is a dashing burglar with a great sense of humour, and his light-hearted stories with tons of unexpected developments are a pleasure to read (cf L'Aiguille Creuse, 813, or simply Les Aventures d'Arsène Lupin, a collection of very short stories).
I have read the first short story and so far it looks fun.
By the way, a friend of mine is co-organizing a MOOC on science fiction. I thought this might be interesting to some of you, assuming you understand French. Here is the link: https://www.fun-mooc.fr/courses/course-v1:univartois 35002 session01/about
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from my understanding stiegg larson's books were initially incomplete; only the manuscript for all three books were completed before his death.
the plot lines in the third book involving one of the protagonists relative was left open to be explored in continued sequels; larson had a broad outline for what he envisioned but the new author who is supposed to continue decided against using this outline.
imo it's simply disrespectful to continue larson's work and continue releasing works featuring his characters when he has had no involvment with them. it's basically fan fiction.
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Baa?21242 Posts
Arsene Lupin is fun and Leblanc was a real character. He wanted to do a Lupin x Sherlock Holmes crossover (and wrote one called "Sherlock Holmes Arrives Too Late"), but Conan Doyle took issue with the idea. So LeBlanc wrote stories with detective "Herlock Sholmes" being outsmarted by Lupin.
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Does anyone know some good Chinese translated fiction books? I find that they're really hit and miss and I'm pretty gunshy now about trying to invest into something from china. I really liked reincarnation of the strongest sword god and Promise of ten years but a lot of the other wuxia is bizarre and dull to me due to the culture issues.
I want to expand my horizon of international books but I have little patience for buddist and daoism themes as I'm wholly unfamiliar with those religions. Russian litrpg books I can really dig but I'm strangly spare on anything out of asia outside of te light novel sphere.
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On April 16 2018 04:31 Sermokala wrote: Does anyone know some good Chinese translated fiction books? I find that they're really hit and miss and I'm pretty gunshy now about trying to invest into something from china. I really liked reincarnation of the strongest sword god and Promise of ten years but a lot of the other wuxia is bizarre and dull to me due to the culture issues.
I want to expand my horizon of international books but I have little patience for buddist and daoism themes as I'm wholly unfamiliar with those religions. Russian litrpg books I can really dig but I'm strangly spare on anything out of asia outside of te light novel sphere. You could try The Three Body Problem though it is a sci fi series.
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Baa?21242 Posts
On April 16 2018 04:31 Sermokala wrote: Does anyone know some good Chinese translated fiction books? I find that they're really hit and miss and I'm pretty gunshy now about trying to invest into something from china. I really liked reincarnation of the strongest sword god and Promise of ten years but a lot of the other wuxia is bizarre and dull to me due to the culture issues.
I want to expand my horizon of international books but I have little patience for buddist and daoism themes as I'm wholly unfamiliar with those religions. Russian litrpg books I can really dig but I'm strangly spare on anything out of asia outside of te light novel sphere.
none of those things are actually wuxia read legend of the condor.
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I'm just starting to read Metro 2033.
I played both game and the story was nice so I decided to read it.
So far it's ok (about 20% read)
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England2647 Posts
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. Not a whole lot to say. This book is as good as the premise, which is really interesting. Really great insight (I'm assuming) into life somewhere that I'd never considered (Mumbai) and the underworld throughout. Writing is fine, but with some really odd and bogus philosophy and quotes. The structure is a little fixed, in that every chapter ends with a reflective bite of philosophy and nostalgia or whatever, but otherwise the book was a pretty fun read. Don't expect huge depth, an intricate narrative or high levels of writing and you'll probably enjoy this quite a bit as these issues never really pulled me out of it.
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Just Finished:
This one is actually really good.
I'll be honest i thought from the book cover text it would be a letdown and overhyped. Turns out the book cover text barely did the book any justice on how complex, detailed and good it is.
If this is the first book of the series i think it might possibly be the best "first book" of a series i've ever read or maybe read. It is indeed self-contained as everybody said also one of the parts + Show Spoiler [almost made me cry] +The scholars story of why he was one of the chosen pilgrim about her daughter who is aging backwards. lol
However i will not look for the sequels i thought the ending + Show Spoiler [Hyperion Conclusion] +Of the 7 pilgrims eventually meeting the shrike as it ties all their hopes, dreams, purpose, journey and doom together is just almost perfect that knowing the details might actually ruin this for me. This feels like one of those stories that is better left alone.
In my experience usually novels that are based upon a game(MTG, dnd, video games etc) and not the other way around(Witcher being originally a novel before a game though i have not read it) are "just ok" and sometimes kinda underwhelming. This one is not the case of that.
It truly captures the spirit of the game Dragon Age(the book happens between Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age Inquisition) where every decision you make there will be a trade, how much are you willing to sacrifice and how much is too sacrifice for the sake of winning(or greater good).
If any of you played Dragon Age Origins. It captures the pragmatism of the wardens role to the core.
The approach of it's perspective is quite interesting too. You are looking at the perspective of somebody from past through the somebody reading it in the distant future.
I got lucky and read two great books which both of them almost made me cry at some point lol. I'm hoping that the next would be as just as great
Next Read:
Another Robin Hobb. Hopefully just as good as her Assasins Apprentice and Soldiers Son series.
Can anybody suggest me more scifi ?(i'm more into fantasy than sci-fi so i haven't read alot of popular and highly regarded sci-fi titles) Hyperion was pretty great.
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Ship of Magic is rough. I like Robin Hobb, but she has a habit of kicking the crap out of her heroes for protracted periods of time. The plot of that book is telegraphed very early, but still takes chapters upon chapters to pull the trigger.
Reading:
So far this seems like a sharp, snappy caper story. It gets right into the meat of it quickly and doesn't spend pages on plot dump style "world building".
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Is better or worse than her other works p6 ?
I'm quite acquainted with how she makes her protagonist suffer hell that sometimes i wonder if Robin Hobb is secretly a masochist lol
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Middle of the road. Better than that totally tedious Dragon trilogy. I would put the worst parts of that book on par with the most tedious parts Assassins Quest(worst title for a novel), aka the Skill Road. And I don’t mind her heroes struggling, but she is really bad about breaking up the struggle with other plot points or movements of relief. It is just a slog in some of her books. She is also prone to the fantasy world building plot dump, which is my reading kryptonite.
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alright I guess I'll read it since its not worse than her other books. I can sort of withstand her novels but admittedly it really takes alot of breaks in between to completely read her works cause it just triggers me lol
If you think her worldbuilding is a pain then you'll find her alright compared to Ericksons malazan. Great series really awful at introducing the world
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Finished recently:
One of the best nonfiction books i ever read. Not saying taht i agree with everything, on the contrary. But still this book is rich in details, superbly written and very interesting. A quality read.
Also:
This a RPG corebook. I have played the previous version. Now preparing for a new campaign. Havent played Fading Suns for a long time it was a nice read. Still i think they could have made many more fixes and improvements. Rulebook seems rushed, and game mechanic section is a mess. I found multiple bugs and inconsistencies. Still its the game world thats most interesting part of Fading Suns not mechanics.
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Just finished:
I found the middle of the book most interesting. Overall i think its a good read, but i found some scenes deeply disturbing. I didnt like main protagonist one bit. The "villains" namely Mayor Bentham Rudgutte and Mr. Motley are much more interesting, competent and easy to identify with. Heck, it seems like every side character is more intersting than Grimnebulin. Still a decent read like said above.
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I was told I would like really Perdido Street Station. To this day I have not taken a book recommendation from that friend ever again, because I could not enjoy that book. I appreciate that book by listen to how other people enjoy it and wonder what I was missing.
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Well, like i said there are things in this boook that put me off. A lot of things doesnt make sense. Still I dont think the story here is that important, the most valuable thing in this book is this picture of twisted city, with its twisted people, species, magic etc. The world presented in book doesnt make much sense and thats ok. You can look at it like its Cubist artwork painted with words. That picture is unique, twisted, kinda beautiful (the way that some people find victorian London or Industrial Manchester beautiful).
Or You can look at it as failed attempt at steampunk fantasy
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I've been told to try The City & the City.
Which I hear is more focused on narrative, while also keeping Miéville's signature weirdness that people like him for. I'm willing to give him another swing, since he is a good writer doing original stuff is hard to find. And I like my fantasy to not make complete sense or obey "rules", so that part of his writing never bothered me. It was not giving a shit about anyone in that book that bothered me more. But Perdido Street Station was his first book and came out in 2000, which was long before steam punk was steam punk of Etsy we know today.
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I liked the two China Mieville books I read. Is Perdido Street station very different from Kraken? I enjoyed his Gaimanesque take on alternate reality. With a touch of Lovecraft in there.
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It is part Frankenstein, part snap shot of a city that Mieville with a bunch of compelling characters at first blush. I personally never found any of them endearing, so I slogged through it because everyone else said it was amazing. The city is interesting, if a bit weird for the sake of being weird. I've never gotten back into Mieville, but I heard his later books are better paced.
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England2647 Posts
To share opinions, I didn't get much out of The City & The City either. Don't really remember details as it was a while back, but I wasn't left wanting to read more and I've since gotten rid of my copy.
Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon. It's pretty great. Nice to have the Pynchon style but easier to follow. He's a great author.
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On April 26 2018 06:40 Plansix wrote:I've been told to try The City & the City. Which I hear is more focused on narrative, while also keeping Miéville's signature weirdness that people like him for. I'm willing to give him another swing, since he is a good writer doing original stuff is hard to find. And I like my fantasy to not make complete sense or obey "rules", so that part of his writing never bothered me. It was not giving a shit about anyone in that book that bothered me more. But Perdido Street Station was his first book and came out in 2000, which was long before steam punk was steam punk of Etsy we know today.
I would rate City & City similiar to Perdido. Decent but not great book, with this Mievielle "weirdness" (although this is not general weirdness like in Perdidio but it all stems from one thing) and more action focused. With some additional work that book could be read as a commentary on comunist authoritarian states. The book i liked the most from him is Embassytown but that might be because it touches the topic that i love, namely langauge and comunnication barriers.
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Currently reading:
Although Im quite far already, probably will finish it with beginning of may. Already have the next book lined up. I like it so far, the new german edition as alot of referenced annotations for the french parts, some translations that are more literate to the Russian version and explaining references to other authors and their work.
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Just finished:
Its like a crossover between Matrix and Minority Report and little bit of Nonstop vibe. Its ok i guess but nothing spectacular.
This books depicts Germand occupied Paris after some sort of weird bomb awaken all kinds of surrealist artwork to wreck havoc. Germs reponds with waking to life their own art pieces. Short and easy to read. With a whole lot of references to surrealist works (with explanations at the end of book). Good read i would say.
I read Rushdie books for near magical descriptions of Persia, India, the world i dont know much of. The stories for me are secondary. I guess this one is ok, but nothing great. I have found most primary characters off-puting (particulary Bunji, India and Salimar) still i read them mostly as vehicule to showcase the world and style of thinking so its ok. Decent Read.
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I started with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami and quite like it so far. I am about a fourth into it and the usual mysterious atmosphere alongside the mundane daily life works wonderfully for me here. It's about Toru Okada who lives together with his wife Kumiko, he is currently jobless and their cat disappeared. While searching for it he meets quite a lot of peculiar people and it obviously doesn't end with the cat mystery. I cannot really say much about the themes yet, but a big one is relationships between people, the perception of knowing them truly which might just be an illusion in the end.
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I have read 1973-nen no pinbōru and Kaze no uta o kike. Didnt like it one bit. It was boring and pointless. The only advantage was its shortness.
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Has anyone here read the Gormenghast trilogy? Reading the first one now and debating whether I should continue.
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They're Made Out of Meat by Terry Bisson
I smiled all the time reading it. It's exactly how the title states the story. A very short story
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Just started this as some light reading. It is a pleasant, well written retelling of the best known Norse myths. Which are basically action movies in story myth form.
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Really interesting read, easy to understand science by a pretty damn good author. If you enjoy cooking, I'd definitely recommend it.
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On May 08 2018 22:19 Plansix wrote:Just started this as some light reading. It is a pleasant, well written retelling of the best known Norse myths. Which are basically action movies in story myth form. I read that recently as well, it's a good start for anyone interested in norse mythology. After reading it one surely wants more though.
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On May 09 2018 00:22 The_Red_Viper wrote:Show nested quote +On May 08 2018 22:19 Plansix wrote:Just started this as some light reading. It is a pleasant, well written retelling of the best known Norse myths. Which are basically action movies in story myth form. I read that recently as well, it's a good start for anyone interested in norse mythology. After reading it one surely wants more though. Yeah, I am hoping to find a second, more detailed book on the subject. But it is a great book to recommend to people who might not be interested in the more historical, scholarly books on the subject.
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On May 09 2018 01:08 Plansix wrote:Show nested quote +On May 09 2018 00:22 The_Red_Viper wrote:On May 08 2018 22:19 Plansix wrote:Just started this as some light reading. It is a pleasant, well written retelling of the best known Norse myths. Which are basically action movies in story myth form. I read that recently as well, it's a good start for anyone interested in norse mythology. After reading it one surely wants more though. Yeah, I am hoping to find a second, more detailed book on the subject. But it is a great book to recommend to people who might not be interested in the more historical, scholarly books on the subject.
the problem is that there just arent very many primary sources. i dont think there will ever be much "more" to norse myth than what youve apparently already read
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On May 09 2018 01:26 IgnE wrote:Show nested quote +On May 09 2018 01:08 Plansix wrote:On May 09 2018 00:22 The_Red_Viper wrote:On May 08 2018 22:19 Plansix wrote:Just started this as some light reading. It is a pleasant, well written retelling of the best known Norse myths. Which are basically action movies in story myth form. I read that recently as well, it's a good start for anyone interested in norse mythology. After reading it one surely wants more though. Yeah, I am hoping to find a second, more detailed book on the subject. But it is a great book to recommend to people who might not be interested in the more historical, scholarly books on the subject. the problem is that there just arent very many primary sources. i dont think there will ever be much "more" to norse myth than what youve apparently already read Of course. There are still books that lean into the anthropological origins of the myths surrounding Norse culture and how those are also reflected in other cultures. Like how the concept of burning realm of Muspelheim may have originated from a over arching cultural fear of fire. Specifically forest fires, which would have seemed apocalyptic to most accent cultures living it temperate regions, forest covered regions. But those books being something the layperson wants to read for pleasure is another matter all together.
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can you recommend some non fiction books?
especially physics, astronomy, electronics or computer science. All I can find is either too diluted or straight up textbook. Looking for something in between.
I realize when I recall subjects that I know well, I never remember the exact math behind it, but recall it as knowledge. But many books just dump math on you to teach. I think many technical subjects can be understood without delving into tidbits of math. Am I thinking wrong?
Grabbed an artificial intelligence book but it starts at page 1 with vague equations which I don't even understand what symbol represents what. At least explain what denotes what first ffs.
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are you talking about like light reads or actual textbooks? if the former i liked:
Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
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On May 09 2018 04:18 mantequilla wrote: can you recommend some non fiction books?
especially physics, astronomy, electronics or computer science. All I can find is either too diluted or straight up textbook. Looking for something in between.
I realize when I recall subjects that I know well, I never remember the exact math behind it, but recall it as knowledge. But many books just dump math on you to teach. I think many technical subjects can be understood without delving into tidbits of math. Am I thinking wrong?
Grabbed an artificial intelligence book but it starts at page 1 with vague equations which I don't even understand what symbol represents what. At least explain what denotes what first ffs. If you are interested in the foundations of mathematics that were studied at the beginning of the 20th century, I recommend Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth. It is a comic, but very well-done. Papadimitriou, one of the authors, is a very well-known theoretical computer scientist who really cares about these questions and it shows in the book. If you want something less light, I also recommend his book on computational complexity which in my opinion is still the best introduction into the field.
Since I fell a little in love with Le Guin, I read this last week: It's a book for kids or teenagers and according to wikipedia "Le Guin allows young readers to sympathize with Ged [the main character], and only gradually realize that there is a price to be paid for his actions". The problem for me as an adult is that the decisions of the main character are obviously stupid and it is clear that they will bite him in the ass later. So I could not relate to him at all. Maybe I am just to old, but at several points in the book I found myself wanting to scream at the main character because he is just so dense (despite being described as an extremely talended prodigy).
Apart from that, I quite liked the book. In particular, I really (as usual) liked Le Guin's world building. One thing that I found a little disappointing is that there are no strong female characters throughout the book, but I guess that was early on in her career (or simply due to marketing). I am planning to read the next book in the series soon.
I have also bought a pile of Lupin paperbacks from the sixties at a book-sale which I am planning to read.
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I dont think its the case of age. I had same feeling when i read Earthsea and i was teenager. Granted i have very analitical mind and i often find myself frustreted with decisions characters are making both in movies and books. I got authors use this to create more dramatic effects and plots but there are mutiple books/movies which do that without obviously bad decisions by characters.
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England2647 Posts
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol. The parts that are completed are a joy to read. The parts half done have their moments. I knew it wasn't finished when I started it and that makes it kinda alright, but the book would be undeniably better if completed - compared to say, 2666, which is much more of a complete novel despite also being unfinished. Obviously it's varying levels of incompleteness, but whatever.
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Just Read:
Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson ( 3rd book of the Stormlight Archives series )
I'm starting to believe that Sanderson isn't actually writing a fantasy series but a theraphy book disguised as a fantasy book to lure readers.
I don't know how he consistently manages to make every book of this series even better than the previous one, the scale/scope of it increasingly getting bigger. I think he keeps this up it's gonna easily end up there along with the likes of Malazan as one of the best epic fantasy series ever.
Also the amount of easter eggs is insane on this one (the pre-chapter texts letters from really important figures from other series of his making and other characters from other series casually bleeding into the series if you can figure them out from the way the character acts/talks/descriptions)
Blindsight by Peter Watts
This one just wow. I have read nothing like this before
The premise is quite simple it's a scifi novel about first contact it's presentation of the fermi-paradox in a very bleak way.
The themes/ideas it explores is great and it deals with futility. Fair warning though it's a great read bu it's the opposite type of book to one who inspires positivity so make sure you are in the mood to read something depressing and bleak also take some happy pills.
Also yes the book fulfills the title's sense.
The Call of Cthulhu by HP LoveCraft ` Read one these (heard HP Lovecraft since forever but never actually read one. ) and i finally know why he is different. All i can say about this one is that
Cthulhu is Lord and no discussions
I currently have alot of books in my plate and hopefully the streak continues of me reading all the stuff i like.
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Total Scope of Architecture by Walter Gropius. He's one of my favorite architects along with Eero Saarinen and Kengo Kuma. His philosophy about architecture practice and academia is interesting.
Read Player One. Not bad so far. I've heard both good and bad about it. Haven't seen the movie yet, so I wanna read this and then go in knowing, like Harry Potter, it won't be as good but decent enough.
Need to find and finish reading The Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie. I'm not a fan of industrialists, but he's earned my respect and admiration through the few chapters I have managed to read.
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I just bought two Kazuo Ishiguro books for my mom for mothers day. We have a tradition that i buy her books by most recent literature nobel prize winner and while doing that i found out that there wont be prize awarded for 2018. The reasons stated seem a little bit silly. Anyone have more information on this? In effect not awarding the prize is more a punishment for authors and readers then academy... Any opinions?
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If I'm not mistaken, the prize is just being postponed? I think they actually don't have enough members of the Academy right now to issue a legitimate award.
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On April 20 2018 01:21 goody153 wrote:Just Finished:
This one is actually really good. I'll be honest i thought from the book cover text it would be a letdown and overhyped. Turns out the book cover text barely did the book any justice on how complex, detailed and good it is. If this is the first book of the series i think it might possibly be the best "first book" of a series i've ever read or maybe read. It is indeed self-contained as everybody said also one of the parts + Show Spoiler [almost made me cry] +The scholars story of why he was one of the chosen pilgrim about her daughter who is aging backwards. lol However i will not look for the sequels i thought the ending + Show Spoiler [Hyperion Conclusion] +Of the 7 pilgrims eventually meeting the shrike as it ties all their hopes, dreams, purpose, journey and doom together is just almost perfect that knowing the details might actually ruin this for me. This feels like one of those stories that is better left alone.
I picked up Hyperion after reading this post and then blasted through the remaining 3 books of the Hyperion Cantos. Hyperion is an exceptional novel. The Fall of Hyperion is also excellent, and I think that it is worthwhile to read after reading Hyperion just because it provides a satisfying conclusion to Hyperion's rather abrupt ending. What's important to note is that Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion are self-contained. The next two books, Endymion and Rise of Endymion, relate to the first two books, but present a whole new story, that, in some ways, changes what you think you read in Hyperion. The explanation for why this happens is good enough, but I'm not sure how necessary it really was. Regardless, the two Endymion books are also good (I prefer the Hyperion books), but they are also absolutely heartbreaking, in large part because you can see what's coming from very early on. And the inevitably only becomes worse once you figure out what the final scene is going to be. I'm kinda on the fence as to whether this is bad writing as a consequence of the author not trusting the audience enough on these points to make the foreshadowing more subtle or if he's being deliberately "obtuse" to ratchet up the emotions.
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On May 26 2018 16:05 Silvanel wrote:Yes it is truly heartbreaking + Show Spoiler + That the church fails in the end Not exactly what I was getting at ;p
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The first one is definitely one of my favourite books. The second one is really great too. I enjoyed 3&4 but they were really different from the first two, I liked the non-linear narrative of the first one much more.
But overall there is just so much original stuff in the books. The study with the weird cyborg / hybrid of Lloyd Wright at Fallingwater, the aging back in time, the army of crucified and resurrected Catholics etc.., theirs really imaginative stuff in the books.
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England2647 Posts
The Waves by Virginia Woolf. I enjoyed To The Lighthouse more and was struck more by it, but I really love how Woolf wrote. There's something so tragically beautiful about just about everything here.
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On May 27 2018 08:17 Nyxisto wrote: The first one is definitely one of my favourite books. The second one is really great too. I enjoyed 3&4 but they were really different from the first two, I liked the non-linear narrative of the first one much more.
But overall there is just so much original stuff in the books. The study with the weird cyborg / hybrid of Lloyd Wright at Fallingwater, the aging back in time, the army of crucified and resurrected Catholics etc.., theirs really imaginative stuff in the books.
Illium/Olympos are very similiar in that regard. Did You read it?
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Does it have anything to do with Keats?
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On June 01 2018 05:27 Flicky wrote: The Waves by Virginia Woolf. I enjoyed To The Lighthouse more and was struck more by it, but I really love how Woolf wrote. There's something so tragically beautiful about just about everything here.
I thought that I really loved Virginia Woolf, too, but near the back of my mind there was a nagging sense that maybe her writing was a little too betrayed by a womanly Stockholm Syndrome. Then I read this piece by Nell Zink, where she says: For example, just last week I was reading bits of a latish Virginia Woolf essay to an intellectual friend, and we were both like “WTF is she 17?!” It was just plain dumb. The Prime Directive (never say anything negative about a living writer) permits me to say nothing negative about living writers, but the long-dead Woolf focused on the wrong things and loved tradition blindly. It wasn’t her fault; it was the male abusers and enablers who ran her world. But as Lessing puts it, “What’s terrible is to pretend that the second-rate is first-rate.” Having a list of favorite writers that’s very short and almost exclusively male doesn’t make me a sexist. It’s our sexist world that limits women’s experiences, turning even a privileged and urbane Londoner like Woolf into a chronicler of party preparations and boat rides. (I’d give you better examples, but recall the Prime Directive.) And I think there is something right about this, despite her writing's genteel beauty.
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Virginia Woolf is amazing I don't know what that writer's smoking.
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On June 01 2018 11:15 IgnE wrote: Does it have anything to do with Keats? Yeah, a lot, actually.
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Baa?21242 Posts
hyperion cantos is keats fanfiction
nell zink sounds retarded
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Gee guys you seem to have put a lot of thought into what she said, this successful author getting offered book deals to write actual literature.
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Baa?21242 Posts
yea but she sounds retarded
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England2647 Posts
On June 01 2018 11:22 IgnE wrote:Show nested quote +On June 01 2018 05:27 Flicky wrote: The Waves by Virginia Woolf. I enjoyed To The Lighthouse more and was struck more by it, but I really love how Woolf wrote. There's something so tragically beautiful about just about everything here. I thought that I really loved Virginia Woolf, too, but near the back of my mind there was a nagging sense that maybe her writing was a little too betrayed by a womanly Stockholm Syndrome. Then I read this piece by Nell Zink, where she says: Show nested quote +For example, just last week I was reading bits of a latish Virginia Woolf essay to an intellectual friend, and we were both like “WTF is she 17?!” It was just plain dumb. The Prime Directive (never say anything negative about a living writer) permits me to say nothing negative about living writers, but the long-dead Woolf focused on the wrong things and loved tradition blindly. It wasn’t her fault; it was the male abusers and enablers who ran her world. But as Lessing puts it, “What’s terrible is to pretend that the second-rate is first-rate.” Having a list of favorite writers that’s very short and almost exclusively male doesn’t make me a sexist. It’s our sexist world that limits women’s experiences, turning even a privileged and urbane Londoner like Woolf into a chronicler of party preparations and boat rides. (I’d give you better examples, but recall the Prime Directive.) And I think there is something right about this, despite her writing's genteel beauty.
I think to even imply that Woolf wasn't 100% aware of the society she lived in and how it affected her is somewhat foolish. Obviously to react to a snippet of this small passage is hard, especially as it doesn't (won't?) even cite a single example to prove their point. Woolf wrote about life as she saw it, fully aware of the restrained world that women lived through and she had broken mostly out of as it was when she was alive. On top of that, her prose is up there with the greatest authors in my (admittedly limited) opinion.
Do you find authors ripping on Gogol because he talked a lot about buying and selling serfs in Dead Souls? We don't do that anymore! What a privileged idiot!
=/
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two things:
1) i don't think anyone is 100% aware of the society they live in
2) just because they were flawed doesn't mean we have to blame them for it — but at the same time it may make their stuff less likeable
Maybe we need some Virginia Woolf passages to make the point.
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As someone who has spent a great deal of time reading and thinking about Woolf and her prose, I think she was definitely flawed in some respects that relate to her class views, but at the same time, she was at least somewhat aware of these flaws. Some of her essays bear this out I think, but I'll have to go find them this weekend perhaps
I also think Zink's criticism can be attacked rather easily, but I'll need time to demonstrate that.
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I think Kierkegaard is overrated.
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I'll add a defense of Kierkegaard to my to-do list as well then :D
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I thought Kierkegaard was unfairly reviled, actually. I didn't know there were people who appreciated him to the point of putting "defenses" of him on their to-do list, but I do believe he gets some unfair criticism... but being overrated is not one of them, as that would mean the majority thinks highly of him.
Or maybe that's just the people I hang out with who like to drag him through the mud.
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I studied literary genre and critical theory and then became a lawyer, putting on defenses or critiques of authors is par for the course I've decided to play on
Edit: I also happen to think that Kierkegaard is key to a properly rigorous understanding of how belief works or doesn't work, but I need to be off work before I can say why appropriately.
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maybe that is so, but his pseudo-hegelian, desperate attempt at a reconciliation between God and freedom seems hamstrung from the start. zink's criticism of woolf, that she loves tradition blindly and focuses on the wrong things may be true of kierkegaard. or perhaps he thinks about the right things while handicapped. and his prose, his style of equivalence-making, verges on ponderous equivocation.
his greatest strength may be the possibility of deliberately mis-reading him
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That all can be true and, nevertheless, I can go on recommending Kierkegaard (the "K-Man") to those appropriately-equipped without reservation because your criticisms, while well-taken, can very easily serve as the figurative bases for the "good" that can result from engaging with his works. Take your indictment of the K-Man's "desperate attempt at a reconciliation between God and freedom"; regardless of what he intended when he decided to ponderously equivocate in search of a ground floor on which to plant difficult to grow beliefs, there's a searching, inner dialogue-bound lack of satisfaction with the results that lurks beneath even his most famous and accessible phrases, and in a way, many of his "best" lines from works like Either/Or end up autological exercises in speaking with one's self in an attempt to find meaning that ends up fleeting, empty, or nonexistent in the first place.
Admittedly, this reading finds itself susceptible to an accusation of being a deliberate attempt at seeing things that aren't there, but I maintain that, particularly when read alongside complementary works, the K-Man can provide readers asking the right questions with answers that head in the "right" direction.
As for Woolf, I think similar concepts apply; it is precisely her somewhat stilted take on the stuff of experience and humanity that I find both charming and "useful" in the sense that her prose does an excellent job of reflecting the sentiments of her particular place and circumstance. In my opinion, that's actually one of the most profound qualities of Modernism; the various techniques and stylizations employed by Modernist authors have a way of expressing things about their relative place in the zeitgeist that is unique to the genre.
Ignoring all of that referential context, as many fans of authors do, is a mistake I think, and in the sense that your criticism of her jives with the many bad takes on her writings, I actually agree.
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surely one could do worse than the K-man. his plangent "faith, faith!" is surely more sympathetic than any cynical pascalian wager. and, to reference a contemporary man who goes by initials, isn't one of JP's failures his reading of Nietzche with Pascal rather than Kierkegaard? "believe because it is useful (to you)." perform the behaviors and your belief will be enacted in the world. that is what counts. tradition captures man's eternal nature and tells us what behaviors are best. no matter what you believe, you will be rewarded for repeating the past, like the lobster, which as specimen of its species, is not individual, does not have a history, and can do nothing more than repeat
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England2647 Posts
Wish me luck guys!
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On June 02 2018 09:00 IgnE wrote: surely one could do worse than the K-man. his plangent "faith, faith!" is surely more sympathetic than any cynical pascalian wager. and, to reference a contemporary man who goes by initials, isn't one of JP's failures his reading of Nietzche with Pascal rather than Kierkegaard? "believe because it is useful (to you)." perform the behaviors and your belief will be enacted in the world. that is what counts. tradition captures man's eternal nature and tells us what behaviors are best. no matter what you believe, you will be rewarded for repeating the past, like the lobster, which as specimen of its species, is not individual, does not have a history, and can do nothing more than repeat While I would wager that JP makes numerous other mistakes in his reading/implementation of thinkers like Nietzche and Jung, I think setting up a basis for comparison between Pascal and the K-Man makes a lot of intuitive sense.
Enjoy Flicky, that's the best Hesse work imo, though I'd imagine that reading it in its native German is an altogether different, if not more rewarding experience.
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Glass Bead Game is a phenomenal read. Excited that you're reading it in the native German.
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I just finished the Earthsea series. The first three books were OK but nothing special. But the last three were far far better. Instead of typical fantasy tropes, Le Guin writes about things that normally have no place in this kind of book: gender, weakness, getting old, death. Since There were nearly 20 years between the the third and the fourth book and I got the impression that she grew a lot as an author in that time. Maybe it was also simply that she probably did not have to write for money anymore after the success she had had before, so she just wrote about what interested her. So after all, I would recommend the series, and in particular I would recommend continuing even if you don't like the first three books to much.
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I finally got around to reading Perdido Street Station. The setting is as interesting as can be, and Mieville’s talent with prose is undeniable. However, the story itself was rather pedestrian, and the final resolution was less than satisfying. I am not sure that I really want to read any of Mieville’s other stuff.
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Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Really nice read about how we screwed ourselves over.
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Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945
First book on American history that I've read on my own... it's a small slice of time unfortunately but makes up for it by giving a very thorough picture. I'm embarrassed to be ignorant of my own country's history. It's been very interesting to read about the personalities of Hoover and Roosevelt, as well as seeing the birth of Social Security and other government programs that are so ubiquitous today.
Gargantua and Pantagruel
This is for fun reading. Enjoying the humor a lot.
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Just finished:
Very good read, still fun after all those years since publication, which we cannot say about a lot of sci-fi books.
Also
Which is typical Sanderson book. Very good writing, sometimes silly, sometimes funny, mandatory twist and good ending. Decent read.
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Pandemic by A. G. Riddle
Not a fan of Dan Brownish conspiracy theories, but it's a nice read anyway. I like the fact that the scientific part is done well (and I'm really into epidemics) and I'm devouring this book at a rapid pace.
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Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Good book. Would be great if Stephenson learned to moderate a bit since he could forgo like half of the content without any loss to value.
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Just finished reading "Its Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
Really good. Honestly if you have any issues with depression/anxiety. Read this book. You may relate and it will help. The author fought with depression/anxiety and this was his contribution for those suffering.
And right now I am reading "The Circuit" by Francisco Jimenez
Really SAD!!!!! About a migrant family trying to get by in old america.
Right now I am trying to read 1 - 2 books a month. I am doing pretty well. hehe
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i find it interesting to see what predictions came true and what was way off.
fascinating read.
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On August 07 2018 04:00 Obisp0 wrote:
And right now I am reading "The Circuit" by Francisco Jimenez
Really SAD!!!!! About a migrant family trying to get by in old america.
Just finished the book. and my heart has sunk! :,(
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Room by Emma Donoghue So far the dialogue is from a boy who is in this room with his mother. It read's like a child is telling the story so it is weird, but i like it. And I saw the movie so i am in for more sad reading
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1) What you just finished reading (or gave up half way through) Just finished "The first law" trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Tried starting on "The lies of Locke Lamora" after that one, but I just couldnt get into it, will try again after im done with what im currently reading
2) What are you currently reading "Shattered sea" trilogy by Joe Abercrombie
3) What you plan to read next Either give "The Gentleman Bastard" another go, or get into the Hyperion series which i just ordered. Or maybe dwell into a few novels i got lying around....Hannibal books, the road, I am legend etc
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On August 10 2018 00:08 Korean-MILF wrote: 1) What you just finished reading (or gave up half way through) Just finished "The first law" trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Tried starting on "The lies of Locke Lamora" after that one, but I just couldnt get into it, will try again after im done with what im currently reading
2) What are you currently reading "Shattered sea" trilogy by Joe Abercrombie
3) What you plan to read next Either give "The Gentleman Bastard" another go, or get into the Hyperion series which i just ordered. Or maybe dwell into a few novels i got lying around....Hannibal books, the road, I am legend etc I loved "the Road" it will make you cry. Cormac McCarthy has an interesting writing style.
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On August 11 2018 01:34 Obisp0 wrote:Show nested quote +On August 10 2018 00:08 Korean-MILF wrote: 1) What you just finished reading (or gave up half way through) Just finished "The first law" trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Tried starting on "The lies of Locke Lamora" after that one, but I just couldnt get into it, will try again after im done with what im currently reading
2) What are you currently reading "Shattered sea" trilogy by Joe Abercrombie
3) What you plan to read next Either give "The Gentleman Bastard" another go, or get into the Hyperion series which i just ordered. Or maybe dwell into a few novels i got lying around....Hannibal books, the road, I am legend etc I loved "the Road" it will make you cry. Cormac McCarthy has an interesting writing style.
Then that is next after shattered sea book 3
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Baa?21242 Posts
McCarthy is bad stop reading McCarthy.
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On August 11 2018 02:17 Carnivorous Sheep wrote: McCarthy is bad stop reading McCarthy. McCarthy is great, everyone should read McCarthy
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Maybe Blood Meridian but that's it
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On August 11 2018 02:17 Carnivorous Sheep wrote: McCarthy is bad stop reading McCarthy. but why, though.
I've only read No country for Old Men and The Road, and loved both. The only thing that sometimes gives me a head ache is the dialogue in his books. or at least the two I've read. He doesn't really say who is speaking. And doesn't use quotation marks. It's different, yes it breaks "rules" to writing, but it is not bad.
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On August 11 2018 02:36 Obisp0 wrote:Show nested quote +On August 11 2018 02:17 Carnivorous Sheep wrote: McCarthy is bad stop reading McCarthy. but why, though. I've only read No country for Old Men and The Road, and loved both. The only thing that sometimes gives me a head ache is the dialogue in his books. or at least the two I've read. He doesn't really say who is speaking. And doesn't use quotation marks. It's different, yes it breaks "rules" to writing, but it is not bad. If you loved no country as well (which i think is one of the weaker books, still good ofc) then you will enjoy the rest of his work for sure, have fun! I think them disliking his style (which is greater than life, almost biblical) was already brought up when i posted about reading some mccarthy, in the end it's just a personal opinion though (obviously)
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Yeah we've been down this path before
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On August 10 2018 00:08 Korean-MILF wrote: 3) What you plan to read next Either give "The Gentleman Bastard" another go, or get into the Hyperion series which i just ordered. Or maybe dwell into a few novels i got lying around....Hannibal books, the road, I am legend etc I just reread Hyperion a few weeks back. The first one is fantastic, the second less so but still OK. The first one is basically a collection of novellas, some of them highly disturbing for me. + Show Spoiler +As a father, the scholar's story was really killing me. Experiencing this is really a nightmare. That said, I enjoyed it a lot.
After that, I started reading The Virgin Suicides but that was just unbearably sad, so I decided to read something else for now.
So I started reading The Lord of the Rings. I have read it before, maybe 20 years ago. At that time I found it incredibly boring (still finished it, at that time I would still do that even with crappy books). I was in Oxford a few weeks back and maybe that is why I thought that now that I am old I might try these books again. I am a few dozen pages in, and frankly I enjoy it so far. Far wittier than I remembered.
Edit: For the record, I enjoyed both No Country for Old Men and Blood Meridian. I have not read any other McCarthy and maybe I never will.
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Blood Meridian and Suttree are firmly average novels.
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Well, feel free to not like Blood Meridian, but I don't think that 'average' is a good adjective to describe that book.
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Yeah some statements here are fairly interesting indeed :D Mccarthy is bad, blood meridian is average, holy hipsters
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I think average is a pretty fine word. It's not as bad as other American novels I have no taste for like Franney and Zooey, and it's nowhere as good as Moby Dick or The Recognitions.
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So I`m currenty reading "Shattered Sea" series, and getting well into book 3 now. But when I`m done with that, I`m not sure what serie to dive into next. The options are: -Ravens shadow -The faithful and the fallen -Broken empire -Hyperion -The Red Queen's War
Keep in mind that I loved "The kingkiller chronicles" and "The first law", and I really enjoyed the "Shattered Sea" series so far. That being said, does anyone who have read some, or more of these series got any recommendations to where I should start next?
Also any series like these you believe I absolutely should check out, don`t hesitate to tip me
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England2647 Posts
So catching up because I lost access to my TL account.
For those wondering about The Glass Bead Game, I took a break because I just couldn't focus on the German. Will finish it soon.
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. I was planning to read this one last as I'd been told about it being his toughest book, but someone bought it for me, so I thought I may as well. I have to say, this book was amazing and I found it really readable, more so than any of his others. The length of it meant that things had more time to breathe and everything was a little bit more linked and cohesive. Yes it was a sprawling and wacky plot, but it was always about the same area, which made it a lost easier for me than V (which I didn't exactly struggle with anyway). Additionally, I found the more emotional and "serious" parts that much more powerful in this book than in the other three I've read (V, Lot 49 and Inherent Vice for those not up to date on what I'm reading). Overall, it was a great read and probably my favourite of his books so far. Not sure which one I'll go for next, probably another of his more recent books.
Conversely, I read most of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. As you can probably guess by the "read most of", I didn't really get on with it. I was very disappointed with it and if it weren't for the fact that I generally trust sheep's recommendations, it could almost stop me trying anything else of his. It was very interesting to begin with, then just became a structured loop of reveals and reminiscing. After I got bored of this, I gave up on the book and looked up what happens online. I was about 2/3rds in and it basically went the way I thought it would. I know this book's power is supposedly in the emotional impact, but I just didn't really feel or care for anyone and the writing itself didn't do enough to hook me. I will say the way he talked about English schools was vaguely nostalgic, but that's about it. Compared to The Unconsoled, it's hard not to feel like Ishiguro sold out and wrote a pop-lit book to make some money.
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On August 17 2018 07:33 Flicky wrote: Conversely, I read most of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. As you can probably guess by the "read most of", I didn't really get on with it. I was very disappointed with it and if it weren't for the fact that I generally trust sheep's recommendations, it could almost stop me trying anything else of his. It was very interesting to begin with, then just became a structured loop of reveals and reminiscing. After I got bored of this, I gave up on the book and looked up what happens online. I was about 2/3rds in and it basically went the way I thought it would. I know this book's power is supposedly in the emotional impact, but I just didn't really feel or care for anyone and the writing itself didn't do enough to hook me. I will say the way he talked about English schools was vaguely nostalgic, but that's about it. Compared to The Unconsoled, it's hard not to feel like Ishiguro sold out and wrote a pop-lit book to make some money.
I picked up The Unconsoled after he won the pulitzer (or some other prize?). Couldn't finish it... was so relentlessly emotionless and bland, not to mention bizarre and absurd. I guess the latter was intended but I felt so impatient to get on with some kind of story, or some reason to keep reading.
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Baa?21242 Posts
The Unconsoled is one of the best books written in the past few decades and will be recognized as a canonical masterpiece in its time.
NLMG is one of Ishiguro's weaker books imo, but it makes sense since its his first foray into using genre fiction techniques/settings/narratives. Buried Giant is better. I did like NLMG though, maybe I'm a sucker for sentimentality and I don't need to like characters.
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On August 17 2018 13:17 Carnivorous Sheep wrote: The Unconsoled is one of the best books written in the past few decades and will be recognized as a canonical masterpiece in its time. .
Why do you think so?
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On August 14 2018 00:48 Korean-MILF wrote:So I`m currenty reading "Shattered Sea" series, and getting well into book 3 now. But when I`m done with that, I`m not sure what serie to dive into next. The options are: -Ravens shadow -The faithful and the fallen -Broken empire -Hyperion -The Red Queen's War Keep in mind that I loved "The kingkiller chronicles" and "The first law", and I really enjoyed the "Shattered Sea" series so far. That being said, does anyone who have read some, or more of these series got any recommendations to where I should start next? Also any series like these you believe I absolutely should check out, don`t hesitate to tip me Hyperion is pretty damn good but its not fantasy
I suppose broken empire(if you like a protagonist who's the assiest you've read like really mean one)
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Never Let You Go
or
The Unconsoled
for someone who hasn't read any ishiguro?
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On August 19 2018 08:38 goody153 wrote:Show nested quote +On August 14 2018 00:48 Korean-MILF wrote:So I`m currenty reading "Shattered Sea" series, and getting well into book 3 now. But when I`m done with that, I`m not sure what serie to dive into next. The options are: -Ravens shadow -The faithful and the fallen -Broken empire -Hyperion -The Red Queen's War Keep in mind that I loved "The kingkiller chronicles" and "The first law", and I really enjoyed the "Shattered Sea" series so far. That being said, does anyone who have read some, or more of these series got any recommendations to where I should start next? Also any series like these you believe I absolutely should check out, don`t hesitate to tip me Hyperion is pretty damn good but its not fantasy I suppose broken empire(if you like a protagonist who's the assiest you've read like really mean one)
Guess we got a winner. Logen in the first law and Thorn Bathu in Shattered sea is my kind of fucked up people.
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On August 19 2018 11:11 IgnE wrote: Never Let You Go
or
The Unconsoled
for someone who hasn't read any ishiguro? I only read buried giant so far and while i enjoyed it for its prose and thematic, i think the plotting was rather weak and his take on adding fantastical/fanatsy elements not fully realized. Is it a good starting point? Idk Sorry for not being of any help :D Started with the unconsoled now because it is apparently "a masterpiece", we'll see. As someone else said, pretty odd so far, almost kafkaesque but holds my attention (maybe because of it). Might be a mistake to read it as his second book if it's really his best, but hey i was a bit underwhelmed with the giant, so maybe this will open my eyes to the true potential of ishiguro
On August 20 2018 01:07 Korean-MILF wrote:Show nested quote +On August 19 2018 08:38 goody153 wrote:On August 14 2018 00:48 Korean-MILF wrote:So I`m currenty reading "Shattered Sea" series, and getting well into book 3 now. But when I`m done with that, I`m not sure what serie to dive into next. The options are: -Ravens shadow -The faithful and the fallen -Broken empire -Hyperion -The Red Queen's War Keep in mind that I loved "The kingkiller chronicles" and "The first law", and I really enjoyed the "Shattered Sea" series so far. That being said, does anyone who have read some, or more of these series got any recommendations to where I should start next? Also any series like these you believe I absolutely should check out, don`t hesitate to tip me Hyperion is pretty damn good but its not fantasy I suppose broken empire(if you like a protagonist who's the assiest you've read like really mean one) Guess we got a winner. Logen in the first law and Thorn Bathu in Shattered sea is my kind of fucked up people.
Pls read hyperion as well at some point though, definitely one of the best scifi (even if it is more of fantastical/philosophical approach than hard scifi) out there.
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Bad idea to start with The Unconsoled. Part of the book's intent as a buy product does make you kind of impatient/frustrated I think, and I feel like those feelings are not conducive to liking a book.
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On August 20 2018 01:26 The_Red_Viper wrote: Pls read hyperion as well at some point though, definitely one of the best scifi (even if it is more of fantastical/philosophical approach than hard scifi) out there. Well, hard SF sucks anyway ;-)
No, honestly, I never saw the appeal of so-called 'hard' SF. But that might be because I generally do not care if technical background and so on are realistic. To me SF is just a way to explore alternative realities, societies or generally possibilities for what might be. If this is done well (for example I think that in Hyperion it is done pretty well), I don't care about realism.
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On August 20 2018 04:20 123Gurke wrote:Show nested quote +On August 20 2018 01:26 The_Red_Viper wrote: Pls read hyperion as well at some point though, definitely one of the best scifi (even if it is more of fantastical/philosophical approach than hard scifi) out there. Well, hard SF sucks anyway ;-) No, honestly, I never saw the appeal of so-called 'hard' SF. But that might be because I generally do not care if technical background and so on are realistic. To me SF is just a way to explore alternative realities, societies or generally possibilities for what might be. If this is done well (for example I think that in Hyperion it is done pretty well), I don't care about realism. I only added that because some people are really strict with their scifi definitions, i agree with you though. In general i am not super keen on all the different genres being used so much, i get that it is used as marketing more than anything else, but in a sense it works against what art should be, creative.
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On August 20 2018 01:07 Korean-MILF wrote:Show nested quote +On August 19 2018 08:38 goody153 wrote:On August 14 2018 00:48 Korean-MILF wrote:So I`m currenty reading "Shattered Sea" series, and getting well into book 3 now. But when I`m done with that, I`m not sure what serie to dive into next. The options are: -Ravens shadow -The faithful and the fallen -Broken empire -Hyperion -The Red Queen's War Keep in mind that I loved "The kingkiller chronicles" and "The first law", and I really enjoyed the "Shattered Sea" series so far. That being said, does anyone who have read some, or more of these series got any recommendations to where I should start next? Also any series like these you believe I absolutely should check out, don`t hesitate to tip me Hyperion is pretty damn good but its not fantasy I suppose broken empire(if you like a protagonist who's the assiest you've read like really mean one) Guess we got a winner. Logen in the first law and Thorn Bathu in Shattered sea is my kind of fucked up people.
I went through kingkiller chronicle recently too and loved it.
Now started with brandon sanderson books and they are just so great. Really good, so would strongly recommend if you havent read them yet.
Stormlight archives might even be my favourite book series and i read tons. I now finished the first three mistborn, which are amazing too - but stormlight ranks higher for me.
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England2647 Posts
On August 19 2018 11:11 IgnE wrote: Never Let You Go
or
The Unconsoled
for someone who hasn't read any ishiguro?
Well out of those, I liked The Unconsoled, but not Never Let Me Go. However, I would go with this:
Do you like more surreal literature? Do you enjoy books that are more about literature as an art-form than plot? Have you read books considered difficult and enjoyed them?
I really enjoyed The Unconsoled, but I would say it was very hard to get through for it's confusing nature (it's not scattershot, it's just hard to follow by design, you'll see what that means when you read it). It's also emotionally challenging and dense.
----
Also, to anyone thinking about whether to read Hyperion or not, listen to everyone else and do it. It's a fantastic book.
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It's funny to see that at different times seemingly random books seem to pop up in this thread that everyone recommends and that disappear afterwards. This seems to be the case for Hyperion now: for a book that is more than 25 years old now, it is curious to see that it is recommended all the time this year while I have never seen it mentioned before in this thread. Don't get me wrong, it is a good book but I don't see where the sudden love is coming from. Am I missing something?
I still remember, a few years back everyone was telling me to read Heart of Darkness which seems to have disappeared now.
I wonder what the next book will be.
That said, I trust this thread more for book recommendations than most other places or people I know.
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On August 20 2018 09:02 Flicky wrote:Show nested quote +On August 19 2018 11:11 IgnE wrote: Never Let You Go
or
The Unconsoled
for someone who hasn't read any ishiguro? Well out of those, I liked The Unconsoled, but not Never Let Me Go. However, I would go with this: Do you like more surreal literature? Do you enjoy books that are more about literature as an art-form than plot? Have you read books considered difficult and enjoyed them? I really enjoyed The Unconsoled, but I would say it was very hard to get through for it's confusing nature (it's not scattershot, it's just hard to follow by design, you'll see what that means when you read it). It's also emotionally challenging and dense. ---- Also, to anyone thinking about whether to read Hyperion or not, listen to everyone else and do it. It's a fantastic book.
I am 1/4th in it now and it keeps being very motivating to read. Especially because of its surrealism, the mood ishiguro paints here is quite magical and reminds me a little of murakami (some people here will hate me for that statement haha). I would think you only really need to read the first encounter with "gustav" to get a good idea about the style of this book and if it catches your interest or not. Not saying it encapsulates every aspect of the work, but stylistically it is close enough to the general narrative structure for sure. (passive main character stumbling into new situations, big monologues by people around him)
On August 20 2018 18:49 123Gurke wrote: It's funny to see that at different times seemingly random books seem to pop up in this thread that everyone recommends and that disappear afterwards. This seems to be the case for Hyperion now: for a book that is more than 25 years old now, it is curious to see that it is recommended all the time this year while I have never seen it mentioned before in this thread. Don't get me wrong, it is a good book but I don't see where the sudden love is coming from. Am I missing something?
I still remember, a few years back everyone was telling me to read Heart of Darkness which seems to have disappeared now.
I wonder what the next book will be.
That said, I trust this thread more for book recommendations than most other places or people I know.
I think that's mostly due to recency bias in a sense. Hyperion isn't extremely old, a lot of mid 20s will have heard of it now by simply being interested to read some scifi. Some older works are mostly forgotten now, and that's exactly why this thread is great because you can actually discover things you maybe wouldn't have otherwise, as long as the more knoweldgeable people post about it ofc :D
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Hyperion is routinely put on lists of best sci-fi novels of all time, so it's like really well known.
The things I find most interesting in The Unconsoled is just the construction of the dreamscape and Ishiguro's experimentation with tinkering/twisting details of traditional realism to skew our perception of distance and space and time. Traveling from the hotel takes ten minutes. Coming back takes hours. At one moment, it's Ryder's "family," and in the next moment they're strangers. The three musicians that cross paths at numerous points are at the same time singular and distinct. The sidetracking that Ryder experiences is interesting in and of itself, but it's enhanced by just how well Ishiguro is writing a seemingly "realistic" novel in the most surreal of fashions.
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Cause well Hyperion is really damn good. Not a big "hard scifi" reader either(more of a fantasy guy) but Hyperion explores alooot of concepts like not just the customary scifi concepts like spaceexploration/cultural/religious-evolution/AI/etc but it actually explored concepts that you would see in slice of life(aka the bliss of domestic life which is not one you would see on SF).
Just the concept itself of 6 pilgrims who travel together and their story being told was well-executed.
Went to a trip with someone and borrowed her book
Normally i don't read self-help books(i usually hate them) but hey this one is ok. It doesn't sugarcoat shit and it doesn't drive you "to be positive" which usually what most self-help book contains. It doesn't tell you to pretend so that's good.
Would recommend this one(probably the only one i would)
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Recently finished:
Ending a little bit rushed like all books in the series. Superb writing as always with Sanderson but plot isnt spectacular. A decent and very quick read and conclusion to series. and
Good writing. Presenting a really grim look at EU and its enviromental/energy policies and general future of the world. The plot is ok i guess but the ending is really weird or someone could even say stupid. Dunno if it will be translated to english, its not a masterpiece but worth the time.
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So i just finished:
Which is very similiar to first book in the series. Same advantages and disadvantages as the previous book. Namely a lot of cool new ideas about NonEarth society and how it can develop the flip side is that some of those ideas doesnt really make sense. Writing is good. Ending surprised me in positive way, McDonalnd avoided going standard "rebels are succesful" way, i hope it stays that way if there is more books to come.
I dont think this one is translated into english. Reading it i felt like reading Eriksons Malazan Book of the Fallen only in Slavic edition. Gods, Demons, Spectres, Ascendants everywehere. Power overwhelming. Decent read but i doubt anyone not polish will find this book enjoyable without heavy commentary, it is realying ehavily on polish folklore, literary heraitage and history.
BTW: Guys, am i the last person reading books on TL?
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Currently reading "King of thorns". Book 2 of "The broken empire" trilogy. This is a rollercoaster of emotional carnage. 100 pages in, and I actually had to stop reading for a day or two. Can`t wait to see where the last book and a half takes me
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That means its good or bad? Or?
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I think "The broken Empire" books are excellent, but think they will divide people because main character is a antihero that does really bad things. But the writing is flowing, good dialog and even funny sometimes in a twisted way.
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The broken empire protagonist is probably the meanest protagonist I have read lol
You have to be willing to stomachs a protagonist who does inhuman things and not for the greater good most of the time just self-service or out of rage.
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I can really understand why people are really uncomfortable with the broken empire story for the terrible things that the main character does (even past the obvious worst two sins he commits + Show Spoiler +I'm talking about the nuclear bomb (god knows how that thing actually went off correctly) and the baby half brother he kills. I'm just as uncomfortable with the insinuations of the things he did before the start of the books with the " brotherhood" and the way he spends their lives one by one. As well as the twins and their fates I feel shitty about for some reason. ) and how he is supposed to get a good ending to his story somehow in the end.
Its still an important series that demonstrates at the least how to properly do an anti-hero who does terrible things and is a genius but isn't the joker but good I swear.
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On September 25 2018 01:38 Silvanel wrote: That means its good or bad? Or?
It`s quite good...and dark...and I love it
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I'm reading the "Saxon Stories" series that inspired the Netflix drama "The Last Kingdom". Really loving it!
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Finally got around to reading Hyperion, upon recommendation of this thread. The book is very good, but it has one of the least satisfying endings I have read in quite a while. It leaves the main story arc unconcluded. Nothing indicates that it was intended as a trilogy or series (although maybe that is just the edition that I have) and I wasn't prepared for a complete failure to finish things off.
+ Show Spoiler + And the templar's story is also left untold, nor do we learn what actually happened to him, which is clearly quite a significant subplot
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England2647 Posts
On October 22 2018 03:03 Acrofales wrote:Finally got around to reading Hyperion, upon recommendation of this thread. The book is very good, but it has one of the least satisfying endings I have read in quite a while. It leaves the main story arc unconcluded. Nothing indicates that it was intended as a trilogy or series (although maybe that is just the edition that I have) and I wasn't prepared for a complete failure to finish things off. + Show Spoiler + And the templar's story is also left untold, nor do we learn what actually happened to him, which is clearly quite a significant subplot
It was originally the first half of a book but was split up for publishing. The second part is called Fall of Hyperion.
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Authors and works I have read so far in 2018: Lucius Annaeus Seneca - Letters from a Stoic, Essays I and halfway through part II (I split them in three parts, it is nothing official) Epictetus - Discourses Marcus Antonius - Meditations Marcus Tullius Cicero - De Oratore and I am half through his speeches against Marc Anthony. Gaius Julius Caesar - The Gallic wars and The civil wars. Nassim Nicholas Taleb - The Incerto series.
I plan to read: I need to finish Seneca's essays. Then I will re-read De oratore and other works from Cicero. Re-read Discourses. I need to read Plato's dialogues and The Republic as well. Find other Stoic thinkers like Zeno and Chrizyppus.
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Why only Stoics? Personally, I find it helpful to reach outside the school to provide texture and context. Stoicism made more sense to me once read against the backdrop of Epicureanism, for example.
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Reading currently:
and
Just finished
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On October 22 2018 22:50 farvacola wrote: Why only Stoics? It is because of Taleb's books. In them he was "The Stoics this and that, Seneca was like this," so I developed this curiosity towards stoicism. And now that I am more into it and I am trying to act like one even though I have countless flaws, I am happier and sure with my decisions. I want to learn to act like Epictetus says a man should act. When I achieve it I guess I will look into the other schools as well. Surely they have valuable ideas.
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Just finished Nice story, sad, melancholic i kinda hoped there would be more about American Seccesion War since the books starts there but drifts away fast. Not much action. I defiently appreciate the mroe artsy ascpet of the book but i couldnt stand it if it was significantly longer.
In progress: Defienetly the weakest Sanderson book i have read so far. Or maybe i just got tired of his repetitive style.
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[B] In progress: Defienetly the weakest Sanderson book i have read so far. Or maybe i just got tired of his repetitive style.
I agree It's a rather weak start to an otherwise great series. Once you get used to the setting and the characters it gets really good.
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Goody153 thats some really great books You have there
And regarding Alloy of Law i dont thing Mistborn is weighting it down for me. I read Mistborn quite a while back and threated Alloy as completly different unrelated story. Its not weak by comparison to Mistborn thrilogy, its just weak in itself.
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On December 08 2018 21:57 Silvanel wrote:Goody153 thats some really great books You have there I agree for Blade Runner and Roadside Picknick, the latter being one of my absolute favorite books.
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On December 09 2018 06:20 123Gurke wrote:Show nested quote +On December 08 2018 21:57 Silvanel wrote:Goody153 thats some really great books You have there I agree for Blade Runner and Roadside Picknick, the latter being one of my absolute favorite books.
How about "Gods themselves" ?? I liked it very much. Though i admit it was long time ago.
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On December 10 2018 00:09 Silvanel wrote:Show nested quote +On December 09 2018 06:20 123Gurke wrote:On December 08 2018 21:57 Silvanel wrote:Goody153 thats some really great books You have there I agree for Blade Runner and Roadside Picknick, the latter being one of my absolute favorite books. How about "Gods themselves" ?? I liked it very much. Though i admit it was long time ago. I have never read that book. Generally, I have read very little by Asimov - only some foundation and his robot stories. And I did not like those at all. They have everything I don't like in bad science fiction. So it's safe to say that I am not the right person to ask about Asimov
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I know what You mean. Both Robots and Fundation have a lot of things i dislike. Plots and characters are not convincing most of ttime, and its actually pretty light on the science part. Gods themselves might be his best book (i heard such opinions) though i admit i really dont remmber much - other than i liked at least some parts of it.
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It's been a long time since I wrote here. So what have I read?
I finished the first three parts of The Lord of the Rings. They were actually more fun than I remembered them. Then I started part four, and, as I had feared, I stopped. That part with Frodo, Sam and Gollum traveling through bleak landscapes for hundreds of pages is just too damn boring! If anyone has any ideas that might motivate me to continue, I would be really happy since I would really like to finish this.
So after that I read
which was quite interesting but also a little depressing.
Afterwards, I read
which is very funny and very true in many places. I also realized that following the Graeber's definition I seem to have a bullshit job. But in contrast to the situations he describes, I am not suffering because of this but enjoying this a lot.
I am also reading
I still have a pile of those books waiting to be read. They are really fun.
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Good picks Gurke, those all look like fun to read.
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Yesterday i finished
(Image isnt loading for some reason, here is the link: http://warbook.pl/img/ksiazka/107/sente.jpg Which is fifth book (just recently published) in series which i really like. I would go as far as to say it is best military sf ever written and i hope it will be someday translated into english because it sure deserves it. Also i know author personally and he is a really cool guy.
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This is the fifth book - would you recommend the other four?
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First is by far the worse, as a matter of fact i know that it was series of short stories which were connected to form a novel becuase of market reasons, so it is a little bit clumsy sometimes. Still i very much recommend whole series, like i said it is by far the best military sf i have read. It focuses heavily on tactical space ship combat and special ops. And its superbly thought out in its aproach to how war in space could look. The third book in series "Forta" won Zajdel award in 2014 which is as You probably know most important polish award for fantasy and sf books. Which is a solid recommendation in itself. I would say You should defiently check it out if You like space ship combat and keep in mind that first book is worst (and has mostly ground combat).
Also who wouldnt like to read about future EU kicking ass of future US and getting its ass kicked by future China and all of them getting their ass kicked by AI.
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Fisher’s Capitalist Realism is a short book with a provocative thesis and some powerful prose. I don’t know that I agree with his empirical evidence regarding music (remix culture frozen in pre-corporated songs unable to produce the new; jungle music in the 90s being the last real musical breakthrough, etc.) and so his larger thesis on late capitalist aesthetics gets a bit tenuous, even if he’s not entirely wrong. It would have been interesting to hear what he had to say about youtube and the igeneration, since some of the commentary and evidence on that has changed quite a bit compared to even 5 years ago.
Graeber’s book on debt is better than the one on bullshit jobs.
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Furthermore, the rise of populism and the demise of “the end of history” may require a significant reappraisal of Fisher’s sense of stalled History
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Baa?21242 Posts
On December 19 2018 02:23 IgnE wrote: Fisher’s Capitalist Realism is a short book with a provocative thesis and some powerful prose. I don’t know that I agree with his empirical evidence regarding music (remix culture frozen in pre-corporated songs unable to produce the new; jungle music in the 90s being the last real musical breakthrough, etc.) and so his larger thesis on late capitalist aesthetics gets a bit tenuous, even if he’s not entirely wrong. It would have been interesting to hear what he had to say about youtube and the igeneration, since some of the commentary and evidence on that has changed quite a bit compared to even 5 years ago.
Graeber’s book on debt is better than the one on bullshit jobs.
sounds dumb. "le wrong generation" but in meme theory format.
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Critical theory in the context of music really hasn’t improved much over the last century, if IgnE’s recounting is any indication. Pretty much every critical take on the state of music reeks of Old Man Adorno’s anti-jazz ramblings lol.
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Baa?21242 Posts
adorno was right about literally everything though
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That may be; dressing what has already been said in contemporary drag nevertheless makes for poor criticism :D
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actually mark fisher published a blog under the name “k-punk” where he published music criticism and reviews. he liked Burial’s album ten years ago, and was probably above average for a music critic. i just don’t know how to make sense of music historically speaking and critical theory’s attempts to grapple with music seem fatally ad hoc and haphazard in general.
i still liked the book and think his writings on “hauntology” and boredom are pretty good
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The Francis Fukuyama’s musings about the End of History and humanity’s final form of government, economy and society have aged so poorly. It is firmly rooted in the 1990s boomer-ass regressive theory that human progress is linier and misguided faith in the mythical market place of ideas. But more importantly, Dragon Ball Z’s rise in pop culture has made me chuckle every time I read about his theories on the last form of government.
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Canada10904 Posts
Are these music guys who bemoan modern music the ones who are really big into atonality? (Particularly if they are complaining about jazz.) Because if so, my general feeling is that of Tolkien's response to his critics: "Some who have read the book, or at any rate reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing (music) that they evidently prefer."
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are Joy Division and Burial atonal?
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This kind of discussion on art/music is ages old. Mozart was target of pamflets accusing him of being simplistic, common and too focused on entertainment.
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Motzart is the Ariana Grande of his time and his critics are Tool super fans?
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Baa?21242 Posts
On December 19 2018 16:31 Falling wrote: Are these music guys who bemoan modern music the ones who are really big into atonality? (Particularly if they are complaining about jazz.) Because if so, my general feeling is that of Tolkien's response to his critics: "Some who have read the book, or at any rate reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing (music) that they evidently prefer." this is a stupid analogy. adorno would very much be in support of tolkien's practice of creating works for his own sake, with zero consideration of reception and the reader. adorno rightly identified the dangers of the commercialization of art and the encroachments of capitalism. atonality doesn't really figure into it beyond as a conduit through which a composer can free himself form the constraints of popular demand. his views on music is far more nuanced than "atonality good", considering he was an early champion of schoenberg et al.'s twelve tone technique - which is more or less diametrically opposed to atonality - for its artistic implications but was self-aware enough to see the limitations of "serialist orthodoxy" as more new music - darmstadt school, etc. - developed.
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On December 19 2018 22:49 Plansix wrote: Motzart is the Ariana Grande of his time and his critics are Tool super fans?
Traditional/folk music would be Ariana Grande, Mozart would be i dont know - Bon Jovi? Beethoven would be Black Sabbath and Haydn would be Tool.
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On December 20 2018 03:06 Silvanel wrote:Show nested quote +On December 19 2018 22:49 Plansix wrote: Motzart is the Ariana Grande of his time and his critics are Tool super fans? Traditional/folk music would be Ariana Grande, Mozart would be i dont know - Bon Jovi? Beethoven would be Black Sabbath and Haydn would be Tool. I really need to know the David Bowie and Prince of classical music composers. But I like this list.
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Baa?21242 Posts
On December 20 2018 03:06 Silvanel wrote:Show nested quote +On December 19 2018 22:49 Plansix wrote: Motzart is the Ariana Grande of his time and his critics are Tool super fans? Traditional/folk music would be Ariana Grande, Mozart would be i dont know - Bon Jovi? Beethoven would be Black Sabbath and Haydn would be Tool.
please dont post about music ever again
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On December 20 2018 04:12 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:Show nested quote +On December 20 2018 03:06 Silvanel wrote:On December 19 2018 22:49 Plansix wrote: Motzart is the Ariana Grande of his time and his critics are Tool super fans? Traditional/folk music would be Ariana Grande, Mozart would be i dont know - Bon Jovi? Beethoven would be Black Sabbath and Haydn would be Tool. please dont post about music ever again Man, you must be a blast a parties and reading groups. This and the “your analogy is stupid” post have really brought the fun to the discussion.
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Baa?21242 Posts
On December 20 2018 04:21 Plansix wrote:Show nested quote +On December 20 2018 04:12 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:On December 20 2018 03:06 Silvanel wrote:On December 19 2018 22:49 Plansix wrote: Motzart is the Ariana Grande of his time and his critics are Tool super fans? Traditional/folk music would be Ariana Grande, Mozart would be i dont know - Bon Jovi? Beethoven would be Black Sabbath and Haydn would be Tool. please dont post about music ever again Man, you must be a blast a parties and reading groups. This and the “your analogy is stupid” post have really brought the fun to the discussion.
aren't you the guy who's too illiterate to read moby dick?
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On December 20 2018 04:55 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:Show nested quote +On December 20 2018 04:21 Plansix wrote:On December 20 2018 04:12 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:On December 20 2018 03:06 Silvanel wrote:On December 19 2018 22:49 Plansix wrote: Motzart is the Ariana Grande of his time and his critics are Tool super fans? Traditional/folk music would be Ariana Grande, Mozart would be i dont know - Bon Jovi? Beethoven would be Black Sabbath and Haydn would be Tool. please dont post about music ever again Man, you must be a blast a parties and reading groups. This and the “your analogy is stupid” post have really brought the fun to the discussion. aren't you the guy who's too illiterate to read moby dick? Actually I’m dyslexic. Which limits my appreciation prose dense works like Moby Dick and other classics. Which is more the pity for me, since I’m unable to engage with the strongest part of many classic works and I suck at grammar. But I did buy a copy of Moby Dick after the discussion in this thread, because maybe this time will be the time?
What’s your excuse? Just a malcontent by nature?
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If only staff was here to make sure the forum bullies have to be more careful, OH WAIT
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On December 20 2018 04:12 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:Show nested quote +On December 20 2018 03:06 Silvanel wrote:On December 19 2018 22:49 Plansix wrote: Motzart is the Ariana Grande of his time and his critics are Tool super fans? Traditional/folk music would be Ariana Grande, Mozart would be i dont know - Bon Jovi? Beethoven would be Black Sabbath and Haydn would be Tool. please dont post about music ever again
I wonder which comparison exactly got You so worked up, the Mozart one?
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On December 19 2018 02:23 IgnE wrote: Fisher’s Capitalist Realism is a short book with a provocative thesis and some powerful prose. I don’t know that I agree with his empirical evidence regarding music (remix culture frozen in pre-corporated songs unable to produce the new; jungle music in the 90s being the last real musical breakthrough, etc.) and so his larger thesis on late capitalist aesthetics gets a bit tenuous, even if he’s not entirely wrong. It would have been interesting to hear what he had to say about youtube and the igeneration, since some of the commentary and evidence on that has changed quite a bit compared to even 5 years ago.
Graeber’s book on debt is better than the one on bullshit jobs. I actually did not care too much about what Fisher wrote about music and aesthetics in general, which might be a little silly since this is the bulk of the book. What I found most interesting is his description of the completely broken system of higher education in the UK. Since I know some people working at different universities there, I can confirm most of what he says. If you are not working at, say, Oxford or Cambridge, it's a shitshow.
Also what he has to say about the students he had to teach resonated a lot with me. Maybe I am getting old, but for me having cornflakes as breakfast in class is not normal behavior. Neither is wearing headphones or having telephone calls in the classroom during class. I have seen all those behaviors, and for me it was actually comforting that I am not the only one having such students and not being OK with it. I know that people have been complaining about younger generations forever, but still what I and my peers are seeing in our classrooms is beyond terrible.
Graeber also writes about the hell hole that UK academia is and I am glad that I decided not to go there but to France where we have our own problems but to me those are comparatively benign. We are also going in this direction of applying stupid techniques from management, but I am enjoying that things here as still roughly reasonable.
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Baa?21242 Posts
On December 20 2018 19:18 123Gurke wrote:Show nested quote +On December 19 2018 02:23 IgnE wrote: Fisher’s Capitalist Realism is a short book with a provocative thesis and some powerful prose. I don’t know that I agree with his empirical evidence regarding music (remix culture frozen in pre-corporated songs unable to produce the new; jungle music in the 90s being the last real musical breakthrough, etc.) and so his larger thesis on late capitalist aesthetics gets a bit tenuous, even if he’s not entirely wrong. It would have been interesting to hear what he had to say about youtube and the igeneration, since some of the commentary and evidence on that has changed quite a bit compared to even 5 years ago.
Graeber’s book on debt is better than the one on bullshit jobs. I actually did not care too much about what Fisher wrote about music and aesthetics in general, which might be a little silly since this is the bulk of the book. What I found most interesting is his description of the completely broken system of higher education in the UK. Since I know some people working at different universities there, I can confirm most of what he says. If you are not working at, say, Oxford or Cambridge, it's a shitshow. Also what he has to say about the students he had to teach resonated a lot with me. Maybe I am getting old, but for me having cornflakes as breakfast in class is not normal behavior. Neither is wearing headphones or having telephone calls in the classroom during class. I have seen all those behaviors, and for me it was actually comforting that I am not the only one having such students and not being OK with it. I know that people have been complaining about younger generations forever, but still what I and my peers are seeing in our classrooms is beyond terrible. Graeber also writes about the hell hole that UK academia is and I am glad that I decided not to go there but to France where we have our own problems but to me those are comparatively benign. We are also going in this direction of applying stupid techniques from management, but I am enjoying that things here as still roughly reasonable.
you'd have a heart attack if you walked into a US school then
On December 20 2018 05:54 Silvanel wrote:Show nested quote +On December 20 2018 04:12 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:On December 20 2018 03:06 Silvanel wrote:On December 19 2018 22:49 Plansix wrote: Motzart is the Ariana Grande of his time and his critics are Tool super fans? Traditional/folk music would be Ariana Grande, Mozart would be i dont know - Bon Jovi? Beethoven would be Black Sabbath and Haydn would be Tool. please dont post about music ever again I wonder which comparison exactly got You so worked up, the Mozart one?
it was more the display of holistic ignorance
On December 20 2018 05:25 Plansix wrote:Show nested quote +On December 20 2018 04:55 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:On December 20 2018 04:21 Plansix wrote:On December 20 2018 04:12 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:On December 20 2018 03:06 Silvanel wrote:On December 19 2018 22:49 Plansix wrote: Motzart is the Ariana Grande of his time and his critics are Tool super fans? Traditional/folk music would be Ariana Grande, Mozart would be i dont know - Bon Jovi? Beethoven would be Black Sabbath and Haydn would be Tool. please dont post about music ever again Man, you must be a blast a parties and reading groups. This and the “your analogy is stupid” post have really brought the fun to the discussion. aren't you the guy who's too illiterate to read moby dick? Actually I’m dyslexic. Which limits my appreciation prose dense works like Moby Dick and other classics. Which is more the pity for me, since I’m unable to engage with the strongest part of many classic works and I suck at grammar. But I did buy a copy of Moby Dick after the discussion in this thread, because maybe this time will be the time? What’s your excuse? Just a malcontent by nature?
go read it instead of wasting your time here
On December 20 2018 05:50 The_Red_Viper wrote: If only staff was here to make sure the forum bullies have to be more careful, OH WAIT
the bully that is the specter of philistinism looms large indeed
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On December 20 2018 23:46 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:
it was more the display of holistic ignorance
[
This might be true, but he has a firm grasp of sentence structure and punctuation.
On December 20 2018 23:46 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:
go read it instead of wasting your time here
I don’t consider respond your low effort posts a waste of time. You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself, it is unhealthy.
Maybe after I finally finish reading this biography of Hamilton.
From someone who suffered through endless dry historical text, this biography is well paced and doesn’t get bogged down in specific eras of Hamilton’s life. It also digs into interesting, lesser known aspects of his life like his legal practice. As a biography I am picking at slowly, I recommend it to anyone wanting a view of the founding fathers than isn’t all about worship and adoration.
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Just finished:
Great read. I love Watts as long s he doesnt try to sound smart. Final notes of his books are actualy their weakest parts, it is where it becomes apparent that he doesnt understand nearly as much of the topics he writes about as he would want us to belive. Lets stick to writing science fiction Mr Watts.
Still a great treat.
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On December 19 2018 00:01 123Gurke wrote:I am also reading I still have a pile of those books waiting to be read. They are really fun. Finished this now. Definitely recommended. In the last story, Lupin actually meets Herlock Sholmes - and of course he outsmarts him. The next part in the series is this Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès. While I am looking forward to this, for now I am reading a christmas present by my father in law.
I have finished the first part and so far it's fantastic.
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Everything about that book is fantastic.
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I think I might get back into poetry next year. Start with the classics (Frost, Poe, etc) and then delve into more contemporary poets. I also plan on writing more of my own stuff once things are stable. After poetry...maybe some biographies.
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Just finished:
Final and worst part of trilogy. Both on the language and plot level. Its much more tiring to read and we get no answers to questions set in first two books, only vague "contact with OTHER is impossible" which is known theme and You dont need three books to convey that message. This book is very close to border beyond which lies "waste of time" country.
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Oh my...been a while, so just gonna line em up!
Finished "The broken empire" trilogy (Prince\King\Emperor of Thorns). That was a dark ride, and I quite liked it, tho the ending was not what I was hoping for, but thats life.
Finished "The First Law" books 4-7 (Best Served Cold\The Heroes\Red Country+Sharp Ends). I just love "The First Law" universe. The characters, the world, the twists...I can`t wait till the new trilogy starts up this September (?). Stoked as fuck.
I read "The Road". Quite different, and quite grim, but an enjoyable read still.
Atm I`m not reading as much as I would hope. I started "Prince Of Fools" (The Red Queens War), but I`m really thinking about switching it out with "Kings of the Wyld", or "Red Sister". Will have to think about that.
By chance, does anyone know where I can pick up a Dune bundle, with the first 6 books? Dune\Dune Messiah\Children of Dune\God Emperor of Dune\Heretics of Dune\Chapterhouse:Dune
Was really hoping I could get a complete bundle, and not just buy the books one at a time. Looks better in the library I`m slowly but steadily building up
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Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa
Economics in One Lesson
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United States996 Posts
has anyone ever read 'worm' by john mccrae? i tend to have to finish what i start so at 1.68m words it's a heavy investment. i think it originally started out as a writing exercise and finished as a massive superhero book so somewhat dubious to how good it could be but have heard a lot of good things.
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Wrong thread. This is so 2018!
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