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[TTG]

Where would you rank Karamazov amongst his other work?

Second if I'm being objective, otherwise third. The Super Karamazov Bros are a part of a tier of Dostoevsky's best that includes: Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, Demons(The Possessed) and a collection of his short works. There's a clear delineation between those and stuff like The Idiot and House of The Dead.

Something to think about is Dostoevsky would pick a theme or a school of thought and make it an integral part of a book. So, when picking from his catalog, it helps to know what subject he will be tackling.

Crime and Punishment - Existentialism and Nietzche's Übermensch
Karamazov - Russian orthodox church and what we can sum up as iniquity or baseness of the human condition

I'll keep it to that because in starting Dostoevsky I would pick between those two. As much as I love Demons, there's no way I would have finished it if I hadn't read those two first. Man, there are sections of that book, like 100 page chunks, that I just had to plod through.

PS: Since DFW has surfaced yet again earlier on this page, I would recommend to anyone interested in Dostoevsky Wallace's essay "Joseph Frank’s Dostoevsky”. It's kind of amazing. At least look up some quotes or something.

 

[Piecake]

Second if I'm being objective, otherwise third. The Super Karamazov Bros are a part of a tier of Dostoevsky's best that includes: Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, Demons(The Possessed) and a collection of his short works. There's a clear delineation between those and stuff like The Idiot and House of The Dead.

Something to think about is Dostoevsky would pick a theme or a school of thought and make it an integral part of a book. So, when picking from his catalog, it helps to know what subject he will be tackling.

Crime and Punishment - Existentialism and Nietzche's Übermensch
Karamazov - Russian orthodox church and what we can sum up as iniquity or baseness of the human condition

I'll keep it to that because in starting Dostoevsky I would pick between those two. As much as I love Demons, there's no way I would have finished it if I hadn't read those two first. Man, there are sections of that book, like 100 page chunks, that I just had to plod through.

PS: Since DFW has surfaced yet again earlier on this page, I would recommend to anyone interested in Dostoevsky Wallace's essay "Joseph Frank’s Dostoevsky”. It's kind of amazing. At least look up some quotes or something.

Yea, Demons is absolutely fantastic. I think that was probably the most 'entertaining' Dostoevsky novel that Ive read. And the characters, my god, the characters! It has been quite a while, but I think Shatov (or maybe someone else - Damn Russian names) was absolutely fascinating.

Of course, the entertaining bit might be due to the translation. I read TBK and Crime and Punishment in the McDuff translation since I read both before P&V translated Dostoevsky. I read Demons in P&V's translation though.

 

[Dicktatorship]

I love that cover. I think I've heard of that book before, but since it isn't on my to-read list on Goodreads, perhaps not.



I mean, I've only read that, Crime and Punishment, and Notes from Underground, so you're better off asking someone better versed... but I think it was my favorite. Of course, I read Crime and Punishment and Notes from Underground in 2008, and Karamazov in 2012 so... I might feel differently if I were to read them again now.

I loved Crime and Punishment when I read it earlier this year. Possibly my favorite book but that's subject to change since I only began my journey through classic literature this year.

 

[Jintor]

I just finished Foundations (book 1, Asimov) after not reading anything for a few months besides a good animation primer. I really enjoyed it. Need more classic sci-fi, any recs? Eying Heinlein, Clark, maybe the rest of Foundations (but maybe need a break)

alternatively, female protag sci-fi in that classic mold would be good too if anything springs to mind.

 

[Alucard]

Like Jintor, I also just finished Foundation by Asimov.

My thoughts on goodreads...

So, Hari Seldon is a doomsday prophet who uses a mysterious mix of psychology, sociology, and mathematics to predict the end of the current empire in the next 1000 years. His solution? Get together a bunch of enlightened men to create a Galactic Encyclopedia that collects the sum of all human knowledge, and do it on the periphery of the galaxy. At least that's how things start. If only Asimov could have foreseen the Internet and Wikipedia, none of this would have been a problem.

It took me two full read-throughs to sufficiently "get" this book. My first time was around 10 years ago, and I just finished my second go-around to inform this review. I didn't really get into it the first time through; having loved Asimov's 4 robot novels, a bunch of his robot short stories, and The Gods Themselves, Foundation just felt far too different in structure and themes. Having read it again in my 30s, I understand much more of the politics involved, and the structure felt innovative and interesting. No true female characters and almost no talk of children or minorities keep this from a 5-star rating, but overall, a classic deserving of its status. 4/5

Next, I'm getting ready to start recording a paid online English Writing Course in 3 weeks, so I'm getting warmed up for my more hardcore research and structural ideas with this book.

30 pages in or so, so far. It's entertaining but also slightly condescending. I haven't learned anything new as of yet, but I've enjoyed just reading about all of the bad punctuation mistakes in everyday life, especially those in plain sight in ads.

 

[Alucard]

I just finished Foundations (book 1, Asimov) after not reading anything for a few months besides a good animation primer. I really enjoyed it. Need more classic sci-fi, any recs? Eying Heinlein, Clark, maybe the rest of Foundations (but maybe need a break)

alternatively, female protag sci-fi in that classic mold would be good too if anything springs to mind.

If you're looking for classic sci-fi, I'd go with something like Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. Or Asimov's robot novels. The Caves of Steel is a pretty simple but fun mystery book masquerading as a sci-fi story.

(not pictured: Robots and Empire)

 

[Prototype]

I'll have to check this out at some point despite the mixed reviews.

I had no idea until the movie thread, but everyone here seems to hate ready player one.

Would have figured of all places, a video game forum would have been it's home.

In any case, it was a really fun read and kept me hooked.

I'll be checking out his next book, Armada at some point now.

 

[Dresden]

Finished the City of Stairs. It really picked up for me around when the mhooooost made its appearance; the kind of like, twisted body horror it repped was sogood.

Time to finish Jhereg, and will read Americanah next.

btw would people be interested in like, a short story club of some sort? Maybe a story or two every two weeks.

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

Reading 12 Years a Slave. Finished off The Great Gatsby a few days ago.

 

[Alucard]

So, I counted at least 55 books on my shelf that I haven't read.

Definitely enough to keep me busy for at least another year and a bit. I feel disciplined enough not to buy too many new books until I get through this stuff.

 

[Dresden]

my dank reads for right now:

Is there such a thing as visionary science fiction? I have a feeling that this book is just that. Just look at that cover. It looks just as how the book reads. Incredible.

I love that cover. I think I've heard of that book before, but since it isn't on my to-read list on Goodreads, perhaps not.

I heard about Olaf recently in a Kim Stanley Robinson interview. Something I want to tackle at some point, some being key.

It’s interesting to watch Virginia Woolf encounter science fiction in the figure of Olaf Stapledon. When I talk publicly about Woolf it’s usually in this context. She read Star Maker, and Last and First Men also, and she admired them tremendously. She had no prejudices in literature, thus not against science fiction, which hadn’t even been named as far as she was concerned. She took Stapledon as just another experimental writer, doing stuff that she herself wanted to do, which was to write about deep time. It was lovely to watch her try to incorporate deep time in her last two novels, The Years and Between the Acts.

 

[Mumei]

Finished the City of Stairs. It really picked up for me around when the mhooooost made its appearance; the kind of like, twisted body horror it repped was sogood.

Time to finish Jhereg, and will read Americanah next.

btw would people be interested in like, a short story club of some sort? Maybe a story or two every two weeks.

Americanah is great!

And maybe on the short stories idea.

 

[Hanzou]

I have heard great things about Haruki Murakami over the years and I think I want to finally jump into his writing. Any recommendations on a good book to start with?

 

[Cade]

I'm reading Bird Box but I'm not into it. Same with Moondogs. I might start Foundation since I got the sexy BN hardcover with the trilogy.

 

[Wensih]

I'm a little over half-way through The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. There are aspects that I really like, but then there are aspects that remind me of Palahniuk and it really makes it a struggle to get through despite being a fairly fast read.

I have heard great things about Haruki Murakami over the years and I think I want to finally jump into his writing. Any recommendations on a good book to start with?

My girlfriend had to read some of his works for a Transnational Literature class last year. I think she mentioned that Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World was really interesting.

 

[Piecake]

Good book, I learned a lot. While it obviously focused mostly on the West Indies, it did a good job of integrating that history into a global context by showing how the New England colonies and England interacting with them. This history is really another example of how there probably wouldnt be a United States if it wasnt for slavery since New England was heavily reliant on the West Indies trade and slave trade. The US would certainly not have had any sort of urban society or cities by the 1770s without that trade. And without an urban port society, well, I don't see the revolution happening.

It was pretty interesting to read about the American Revolutionary War from this perspective. We come across as a bunch of greedy, traitorous scum that cared more about profits than the lives of English soldiers since we traded shamelessly with England's enemies while avoided trading with the English, who needed our basic supplies, due to the whole mercantilist system made it less profitable. The whole taxation without representation comes across as more of a high principled excuse, at least at first, to mask New England's desire for profit. Of course, there is no denying that the whole Navigation Acts and Mercantalist system was deeply damaging to the New England colonies who depended on the West Indies trade. That system benefited the sugar produces and the government at the expense of everyone else, and New England's economy got hit hard once England started enforcing the Navigation Acts with the adoption of the Sugar Act.

The book does have some issues though. It should really be called English Sugar barons. There is not much talk about anyone else, which I guess is fine since I imagine things are pretty similar. Plus, I would guess that language and time is the big issue. Another problem is that I felt that he spent too much time on the endless wars and narrative accounts of all the planters. All the wars were generally boring in this West Indies perspective and just kinda ran together. Basically, disease and incompetence just destroyed everything and left everything a mess.

I liked the narrative account of the sugar barons in the beginning because it gave it good context and these were the 'pioneers' and people who set up the colonies, but after the 3rd or 4th generation of these people I really stopped caring and didnt not need to read about their lives for pages and pages. I mostly skimmed those parts.

But yea, what a fucked up and brutal society. Just the sheer amounts of death from disease and the violence, drunkenness, and social disfunction is just staggering.

Now, onto

 

[Peru]

I honestly didnt bother with that when I opened my goodreads account. I just included what I read from that point forward.

I may do something inbetween. Can't pretend to represent what I read before hitting my 20s.

 

[Mumei]

Hanzou: Well, his first two books are being released in the U.S. for the first time this month in an omnibus edition, and together with A Wild Sheep Chase apparently form the trilogy of the Rat. So, why not start there?

I may do something inbetween. Can't pretend to represent what I read before hitting my 20s.

I doubt anyone over a certain very young age does so, honestly. I just put things I remembered, or books that I had as a kid that I still own and know when I got them (which would have been about when I read them). Or around when books came out; I read nearly all of the Animorphs book as they came out, for instance. There are obviously a lot of books that I checked out of the library, say, fifteen or twenty years ago that the library doesn't even have anymore, so I obviously can't include those.

 

[Hanzou]

I had no idea until the movie thread, but everyone here seems to hate ready player one.

Would have figured of all places, a video game forum would have been it's home.

In any case, it was a really fun read and kept me hooked.

I'll be checking out his next book, Armada at some point now.

Actually if you think about it. A video game forum hating ready player one probably makes sense. A lot of people feel that the book is pandering to them by just throwing out all sorts of 80s references to games. Someone who isn't so deep into games probably enjoys being reminded of those past games and pop culture a lot more.

I just finished Armada and while I really enjoyed ready player one. I found Armada to be much less enjoyable and kind of bland to be honest.

 

[Hanzou]

Hanzou: Well, his first two books are being released in the U.S. for the first time this month in an omnibus edition, and together wwith A Wild Sheep Chase apparently form something of the trilogy of the Rat. So, why not start there?

Oh wow hadn't heard about this. I will keep an eye on my library and see if they get it in.

 

[Quake1028]

Recommend me stuff from today's Kindle Daily Show sale. Right now looking at League of Denial and David Crockett.

 

[Mumei]

Recommend me stuff from today's Kindle Daily Show sale. Right now looking at League of Denial and David Crockett.

League of Denial is a great book!

 

[mu cephei]

btw would people be interested in like, a short story club of some sort? Maybe a story or two every two weeks.

I'm interested, depending. If the stories aren't for free online it might be tricky though.

I may do something inbetween. Can't pretend to represent what I read before hitting my 20s.

I added a fair amount when I first joined. Then just random books when I remember. I think there might be some way to add books without rating them. I'm not fussy; if I remember I read it, a book generally gets three stars (a lot of my ratings are three stars lol). I add books I read a long time ago because I'm getting to that point where I'm forgetting what I read, and I need a record somewhere.

 

[besada]

Public service announcement: George Saunders' first (?) story collection, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, is $1.99 on Kindle today...

And it's fucking brilliant, so go buy it!

And then go buy The Safety of Objects by A.M. Homes which is another brilliant short story collection by one of America's masters of the short form.

 

[BumRush]

I'm about 20% of the way through Hyperion by Dan Simmons and wow, it's excellent.

 

[Mumei]

And it's fucking brilliant, so go buy it!

And then go buy The Safety of Objects by A.M. Homes which is another brilliant short story collection by one of America's masters of the short form.

Yes! The Safety of Objects was the first and remains one of the best books I've read this year.

Spoiler

And yes, I will read that copy of May We Be Forgiven eventually

 

[Dresden]

I'm interested, depending. If the stories aren't for free online it might be tricky though.

ya, they'd all have to be free. I've had this thought now and then over the years, dunno if it'll actually start now. At least, after last night, I thought Ballard's 'Why I want to fuck Ronald Reagan' would be a good place to start from.

It's amusing at least to kinda assemble, mentally, a list of stories to go through, half of which would be things I've read and would like to see others read, and the other half being things I want to get to. So you'd have Symbols and Signs one week and Kai Ashante WIlson's Devil in America the next; both of which are free, the latter being up on Amazon as well and something that's on my kindle right now. There's a Yaa Gyasi story I've meant to read for a while on guernica; Granta is always a good source; and there's the wide array of online genre publications. It'd be cool if people read Munro but an online short story club insisting on Munro is probably doomed to an even greater degree of neglect.

I guess this leads into how I've been steadily but mostly slowly plugging away at Lydia Davis's collection. There's something really dreary about short story collections, especially ones that span a whole career, even if I've found it mostly interesting.

 

[besada]

I guess this leads into how I've been steadily but mostly slowly plugging away at Lydia Davis's collection. There's something really dreary about short story collections, especially ones that span a whole career, even if I've found it mostly interesting.

I've been reading Amy Hemphill's short stories, and have a similar problem. I keep setting it aside, reading something else, coming back and reading a couple, then drifting away again. One of these days I'll even finish it.

 

[mu cephei]

ya, they'd all have to be free. I've had this thought now and then over the years, dunno if it'll actually start now. At least, after last night, I thought Ballard's 'Why I want to fuck Ronald Reagan' would be a good place to start from.

It's amusing at least to kinda assemble, mentally, a list of stories to go through, half of which would be things I've read and would like to see others read, and the other half being things I want to get to. So you'd have Symbols and Signs one week and Kai Ashante WIlson's Devil in America the next; both of which are free, the latter being up on Amazon as well and something that's on my kindle right now. There's a Yaa Gyasi story I've meant to read for a while on guernica; Granta is always a good source; and there's the wide array of online genre publications. It'd be cool if people read Munro but an online short story club insisting on Munro is probably doomed to an even greater degree of neglect.

I guess this leads into how I've been steadily but mostly slowly plugging away at Lydia Davis's collection. There's something really dreary about short story collections, especially ones that span a whole career, even if I've found it mostly interesting.

Oh well, if they're free, count me in, for whenever you get it going. I don't often read short stories (other than stuff like PKD and Stephen King) so I thought it would be a good way to get into it. And Munro is on my radar, at least (the two A.M. Holmes books I have are novels). I shall google the other stuff you mentioned (I'll read the Ashante now, I'm awaiting his Wildeeps novella).

eta. Just finished Madame Bovary, which was great.

and now starting Augustus.

 

[Mumei]

eta. Just finished Madame Bovary, which was great.

Is that the edition you read? If yes, is that also translated by Lydia Davis, or is that just the deluxe edition Penguin sells?

 

[mu cephei]

Is that the edition you read? If yes, is that also translated by Lydia Davis, or is that just the deluxe edition Penguin sells?

Yes, I read this edition. It was translated by a Geoffrey Wall. I didn't know such a thing as Penguin deluxe editions existed, I've never seen one. But I see the Lydia Davis translation has rave reviews. Oh well. I usually pay attention to which translation I read, but I don't think it even occurred to me with this. Do you have a high opinion of the Davis translation?

 

[Mumei]

Yes, I read this edition. It was translated by a Geoffrey Wall. I didn't know such a thing as Penguin deluxe editions existed, I've never seen one. But I see the Lydia Davis translation has rave reviews. Oh well. I usually pay attention to which translation I read, but I don't think it even occurred to me with this. Do you have a high opinion of the Davis translation?

Well, my opinion is sort of irrelevant since it's the only translation I've read. I did really like it, though.

And yes, I quite like the Penguin Deluxe editions, with their deckle edges and french flaps and slightly larger size.

 

[Piecake]

Yes, I read this edition. It was translated by a Geoffrey Wall. I didn't know such a thing as Penguin deluxe editions existed, I've never seen one. But I see the Lydia Davis translation has rave reviews. Oh well. I usually pay attention to which translation I read, but I don't think it even occurred to me with this. Do you have a high opinion of the Davis translation?

I rarely pay attention to French translations. For some odd and stupid reason, I think that it should be 'easy' to faithfully translate something from French into English, while translating something from Russian into English is a difficult task.

I think this sort of reasoning is what doomed my reading of The Count of Monte Cristo.

 

[Mumei]

For some reason I rarely pay attention to French translations. For some odd and stupid reason, I think that it should be 'easy' to faithfully translate something from French into English, while translating something from Russian into English is a difficult task.

I think this sort of reasoning is what doomed my reading of The Count of Monte Cristo.

I'm afraid I don't follow.

And you sure seem to be adding books to read at a speedy clip.

 

[mu cephei]

I rarely pay attention to French translations. For some odd and stupid reason, I think that it should be 'easy' to faithfully translate something from French into English, while translating something from Russian into English is a difficult task.

I think this sort of reasoning is what doomed my reading of The Count of Monte Cristo.

Yeah, I never paid much attention to French translations. But I just cannot read the newer translation of Borges, for example, it's far too modern (I had to go for the edition of Labyrinths that has several different translators. Not that I've read it yet >.<). So it does matter to me for more than Russian.

Well, my opinion is sort of irrelevant since it's the only translation I've read. I did really like it, though.

And yes, I quite like the Penguin Deluxe editions, with their deckle edges and french flaps and slightly larger size.

Book anatomy I think deckle edges on paperbacks are a bit odd myself, though I just realised my Tale of Genji is a Penguin deluxe! It is rather lovely.

 

[Piecake]

I'm afraid I don't follow.

And you sure seem to be adding books to read at a speedy clip.

Oh, that is the reason why I read the crappy translation of that book because I really didnt think about the translation and just got whatever, even though Ive always paid close attention to translations when I am reading other foreign language novels, like Russian novels.

Hah! actually adding people to my goodreads account spurred me to get slightly more involved in it. Before, I basically just treated it as a record of what I read throughout the year and kept my wish list at amazon and my thoughts either written in the book or written down here.

 

[Mumei]

Yeah, I never paid much attention to French translations. But I just cannot read the newer translation of Borges, for example, it's far too modern (I had to go for the edition of Labyrinths that has several different translators. Not that I've read it yet >.<). So it does matter to me for more than Russian.

What is the newer edition of Borges? I have Collected Fictions.

Book anatomy I think deckle edges on paperbacks are a bit odd myself, though I just realised my Tale of Genji is a Penguin deluxe! It is rather lovely.

Yes, they're paperback but they're bigger and the "paper" part is quite a bit firmer than what you normally get in paperback so I think the deckle edge works. And french flaps!

Oh, that is the reason why I read the crappy translation of that book because I really didnt think about the translation and just got whatever, even though Ive always paid close attention to translations when I am reading other foreign language novels, like Russian novels.

Ooh. And especially mistaken in the case of that particularly bowdlerized Victorian translation.

Hah! actually adding people to my goodreads account spurred me to get slightly more involved in it. Before, I basically just treated it as a record of what I read throughout the year and kept my wish list at amazon and my thoughts either written in the book or written down here.

Just do what certain other people (they know who they are <3) and troll my to-read list for ideas.

 

[TTG]

Finished A Brief History of Seven Killings earlier today:

Discovered it through Mumei's Man Booker Prize thread. If you're looking for a taste of a culture in time you probably haven't experienced before this is a great option. If you're looking to be transported to a completely foreign land that's somehow so close by(to the US anyway), this is more than sufficient. Or, if you are particularly interested in the recent history of Jamaica, reggae to gangs to drug trafficking to political/civil unrest and CIA manipulation thereof, this is the book.

It started off somewhat slow and predictable and picked up speed from there, I really couldn't put it down for the last 200 pages. Good characters, time jumps and different settings handled well(and it's a lot to handle). Most of all, it's got a fascinating, fresh story to tell. I can see why HBO is interested.

Now it's back to Augustus.

 

[mu cephei]

What is the newer edition of Borges? I have Collected Fictions.

Possibly it's not a newer translation. But I went for Penguin's Labyrinths (various translators) rather than Penguin's Fictions (trans. Andrew Hurley) because for example I vastly prefer this

I owe the discovery of Uqbar to the conjugation of a mirror and an encyclopaedia. The mirror troubled the depths of a country house on Gaona Street in Ramos Mejia; the encyclopaedia is fallaciously called The Anglo-American Cyclopaedia (New York, 1917) and is a literal but delinquent reprint of the Encyclopaedia Britannica of 1902.

to this

I owe the discovery of Uqbar to the conjugation of a mirror and an encyclopaedia. The mirror troubled the far end of a hallway in a large country house on Calle Gaona, in Ramos Meija*; the encyclopaedia is misleadingly entitled The Anglo-American Cyclopaedia (New York, 1917), and is a literal (though also laggardly) reprint of the 1902 Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Although Labyrinths doesn't contain all his stories I know, and the other translations might not be as good (it's hard to tell going by 'look inside').

Yes, they're paperback but they're bigger and the "paper" part is quite a bit firmer than what you normally get in paperback so I think the deckle edge works. And french flaps!

Yeah, I think it's those cheap-looking new hardbacks with deckle edges I'm more thinking of actually. The quality of the Penguin deluxe (judging by Genji) makes it work well. And french flaps are nice

 

[Feebastic]

I'm currently a fifth of the way into James Clavell's 1100-page Shogun, the story of the first westerner to be ingratiated into Japanese society and culture in the 16th century.

Spoiler

AKA the origins of weaboos

In all seriousness it's pretty good so far, it's got me invested in the story and the fate of the protagonist, who's currently being kidnapped back and forth between rival warlords. My only gripe is some racially-based stuff that's kinda tacky and borderline offensive (though the book was first published in like the 70's or something) - there's a scene in which a bunch of courtesans are bathing the protagonist and they see his dick is the biggest dick ever (asians small dicks ha ha ha). It's a step away from 'me so horny'.

Fortunately this is pretty sparse, and the rest is good enough to more than make up for it. Characterisation is good, description is good, story beats and twists are good. Lots of major figures planning to betray each other very early on, which I imagine will pay off entertainingly in later pages.

 

[Cfh123]

The Twilight of Empire series.

Historical fiction about a centurion (commander) in a Roman legion. Picked up the first for $.99 on Kindle Amazon. Now onto the second. Very good. These sorts of books are often told from the perspective of multiple characters (a fantasy trope). I enjoy that it sticks with the point of view of one person rather than jumping around.

 

[Nuke Soda]

Finished that book yesterday too, so this is how I understood it:

Spoiler

They were searching through an abandoned house and found a nursery, everything was ransacked apart from a little table with a tea set, which stood in the room. It didn't have dust on it (which means it was touched recently) and was arranged so perfectly that Kirsten found it eerie.

And I guess this was before or during Charlie's pregnancy so she was out of it because she thought about children.

I guess the point of the whole sequence was for the author to get in her point that "what if it's ghosts, and they touch the tea set regularly" "don't be silly, if there are ghosts, there would be so many of them" "exactly" to drive home how many people died and are still "here" or something idk

Anyway, it's one of the things I disliked about the book and why I only gave it ~4 stars. The author just sets the story up to say these "philosophical things" way too often which makes it predictable in a way.
But I stand by my review from two pages ago

Thanks, scrolling back two pages.

 

[Alucard]

The Twilight of Empire series.

Historical fiction about a centurion (commander) in a Roman legion. Picked up the first for $.99 on Kindle Amazon. Now onto the second. Very good. These sorts of books are often told from the perspective of multiple characters (a fantasy trope). I enjoy that it sticks with the point of view of one person rather than jumping around.

These books sound engaging. If only they could have gotten a different quote on the second cover!

 

[Apt101]

Go Set a Watchman. Kind of boring 60-ish pages in.

 

[ThisGuy]

The Hobbit. Finally decided to read lotr. It's a really simple read, goes fairly fast. While mildly interesting I really hope lotr has more "depth" if that makes sense.

Fun fact: my youngest son, whose birth accidentally began on a trip to Gettysburg, has Chamberlain for a middle name. And, yes, he as since stood on the ground the 20th Maine defended.

That is a pretty cool fact. Good name too. Has a strong ring to it.

 

[Mumei]

Someone sent me a friend request yesterday, and I don't know who it is on GAF.

I also went to Barnes & Noble today to browse, and came across an interesting looking book:

The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies by Clark Ashton Smith, which is described as:

A much-awaited collection of prose and poetry from one of the great cosmic masters of the supernatural

Not just any fantasy, horror, and science fiction author could impress H. P. Lovecraft into calling him “unexcelled by any other writer, dead or living” or compel Fritz Lieber to employ the worthy term sui generis. Clark Ashton Smith—autodidact, prolific poet, amateur philosopher, bizarre sculptor, and unmatched storyteller—simply wrote like no one else, before or since. This new collection of his very best tales and poems is selected and introduced by supernatural literature scholar S. T. Joshi and allows readers to encounter Smith’s visionary brand of fantastical, phantasmagorical worlds, each one filled with invention, terror, and a superlative sense of metaphysical wonder.​

He was evidently friends with both H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, which perhaps does not speak well of his taste in friends (sorry, fans), but apparently does provide a point of reference for his writing, if that interests anyone.

The Hobbit. Finally decided to read lotr. It's a really simple read, goes fairly fast. While mildly interesting I really hope lotr has more "depth" if that makes sense.

If you really get into it, you should check these lectures out. Or you can read his book, which is basically the same thing. I think either adds a lot to the experience while still being very approachable.

Possibly it's not a newer translation. But I went for Penguin's Labyrinths (various translators) rather than Penguin's Fictions (trans. Andrew Hurley) because for example I vastly prefer this

to this

Although Labyrinths doesn't contain all his stories I know, and the other translations might not be as good (it's hard to tell going by 'look inside').

Hrm. I actually prefer that as well in terms of English readability. But we'll see.

Yeah, I think it's those cheap-looking new hardbacks with deckle edges I'm more thinking of actually. The quality of the Penguin deluxe (judging by Genji) makes it work well. And french flaps are nice

Yes, french flaps are also why I like the VIZ Signature and VIZBIG manga lines. French flaps make everything better.

Finished A Brief History of Seven Killings earlier today:

Good characters, time jumps and different settings handled well(and it's a lot to handle). Most of all, it's got a fascinating, fresh story to tell. I can see why HBO is interested.

Sounds great! Have you read any of the others yet?

 

[Icyflamez96]

 

[Alucard]

Finished this in 24 hours.

It's just weird to see this book getting 5-star reviews from people.

Thoughts below:

This is a fairly entertaining though sometimes self-important book about the poor state of contemporary punctuation. Much of the book feels half-baked, with Truss wanting to truly get at something substantial, but often ending up scratching the surface and merely being content with adding in one of the dozens of poor punctuation examples in this book and then saying, "Eh? Eh? This is pretty bad, isn't it?"

There is also an inconsistency in the message of this book. On the front cover, the sub-heading reads: "The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation". Truss's battle cry is also, "Sticklers unite". Sounds promising and like there will be some very hard facts and answers provided! However, Truss quickly admits that punctuation is fairly malleable once you really get down to it, and much of it comes down to a preference for style. Sure, much of the information regarding commas and apostrophes is undeniable in this book, but Truss then backs away from taking a hard stance at other points.

I finished this book in a day, and while it was enjoyable due to Truss's ability to keep things interesting with her obvious talent for writing, it felt oddly incomplete. Even the way it ended felt very sudden, as if someone had decided to stamp a period on the project where a semi-colon would have kept it going.

All of this said, I enjoyed this. The examples of poor punctuation are often entertaining; the basic rules for commas and apostrophes are important to refresh; finally, there likely is something new in here for you, especially if you're not someone who teaches reading or writing at some level.

I'd breeze through this and then get a dedicated style guide if you're really itching for more. 3/5

Next up:

I'm doing research for a paid video series I'm doing on English writing, largely targeted towards ESL learners, immigrants, high school students, or just those who need to improve their writing in general.

So yeah, no fiction books for me for a few months while I try to focus solely on this little project.

 

[Necrovex]

Yeah, I think it's those cheap-looking new hardbacks with deckle edges I'm more thinking of actually. The quality of the Penguin deluxe (judging by Genji) makes it work well. And french flaps are nice

This post reminds me I still have to read my Tales of Genji book. It stares at me every night, beckoning to be read. Considering I brought it with me to Africa, I should crack it open before my tenure is over.

 

[Haly]

I think I'm going to read Kokoro after Falling Free (hey Mumei! hey! listen!).