BenjaminBirdie
Banned
There are lots of words in the book. What do you mean?
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What are you reading? (August 2013)
- Thread starter Maklershed
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There are lots of words in the book. What do you mean?
I laughed. I'm currently reading And the Mountains Echoed. I'm about a quarter of the way through. So far so good.
sparky2112
Member
I trust your taste, so it would be a shame if I found that Cronin isn't 'all that' and then I had to beat you with a stick. I'm conflicted...
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
He's all that and, in addition, then some.
I reached a point in The Twelve where it was good but not really is super strong as The Passage, but still had these wonderful moving moments (which are the highlights of these books, even though there's plenty of exciting twists and turns of the plot) and then a third of the way into the book dude just levels you.
You read a lot of stuff about the books being thrillers or post-apocalyptic or whatever but their greatest strengths are in rendering all that genre stuff in the most heartbreaking way humanly possible.
It's like, Dark Tower, for me, was very much like Lost. I knew that these were the most thinly drawn characters but there were moments that just wrecked me in both, but a lot of it was just really situational. I never thought "Oh, gee, this is really getting me thinking about the human experience" it was "Ack! This character I've spent 5 books/season with! Whoa!!!"
Cronin is working on a level of heart that those two things only nailed maybe once or twice in the whole thing.
Like, remember that one bit in Dark Tower VII about the dude who worked his whole life at Tet Corporation? It's just one page about a dude in a pick up truck and it's the most beautiful thing you've ever read?
These two books are like whole entire books of that one page.
Mackenzie 92
Member
About a quarter of the way into this. Not liking it as much as the first 2, but still pretty
damn good.
Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
Think I'm gonna start The Twelve after this, pre-ordered it and then never read it ha.
damn good.
Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
Think I'm gonna start The Twelve after this, pre-ordered it and then never read it ha.
Just finished.
If I had to say it was somewhat predictable and some of the expressions and themes in the book where repeated ad nauseam, as expected out of a book that is centered around revenge. Some of the characters actually come across more comical than anything, like Nicomo Cosca, who despite being a tragic drunk is probably the most likable character of the lot. A drink, a drink, a drink!
Everyone else are just caricature's of a personae or another. Monza, a former farmer's girl who becomes a mercenary. Morveer, scientific person, poisoner and misunderstood by everyone ( actually, everyone sees him exactly for what he is ). Shivers is a barbarian from the north. Looks like one, thinks like one, speaks like one. Friendly ( a characters ) is a bit interesting because he has a compulsive disorder of counting everything around him, but in the end isn't particularly involved.
There were others too, course, and we get to see them go around the world making observations of a what shitty, twisted world they live in as they murder people for money and revenge. Before long the situation escalates and they become involved in larger battles, sieges of cities etc.
All in all a solid read, though I don't think the book ended on a particularly strong note.
If I had to say it was somewhat predictable and some of the expressions and themes in the book where repeated ad nauseam, as expected out of a book that is centered around revenge. Some of the characters actually come across more comical than anything, like Nicomo Cosca, who despite being a tragic drunk is probably the most likable character of the lot. A drink, a drink, a drink!
Everyone else are just caricature's of a personae or another. Monza, a former farmer's girl who becomes a mercenary. Morveer, scientific person, poisoner and misunderstood by everyone ( actually, everyone sees him exactly for what he is ). Shivers is a barbarian from the north. Looks like one, thinks like one, speaks like one. Friendly ( a characters ) is a bit interesting because he has a compulsive disorder of counting everything around him, but in the end isn't particularly involved.
There were others too, course, and we get to see them go around the world making observations of a what shitty, twisted world they live in as they murder people for money and revenge. Before long the situation escalates and they become involved in larger battles, sieges of cities etc.
All in all a solid read, though I don't think the book ended on a particularly strong note.
bengraven
Member
I would give almost anything to be in your shoes right now and re-reading them.
I hope to god at some point I'll find another series that does this to me, because they have been few and far between.
Just started on Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine after Mumei's recommendation. I wanted to get The Gendered Society as well but that's more of a textbook and expensive.
You should check your Half-Price Books or local library. I read an older (third) edition at the library and learned a lot. I'd still like to purchase the newest edition, though.
From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming
That was a much needed return to form after the middling Diamonds Are Forever. Really cool how Bond wasn't even present for the first third. Instead it was Russians planning on taking out the British super spy and building him up while Bond's side of the story featured the vulnerable Bond, unsure of himself and constantly deferring to others.
I've gotten through Quintessence by David Walton faster than I thought I would and have to say that for most of the book, it was fun and had a lot of potential. Then chapter 26 happened and then the rest of the book was like, oh NOooooooooooooooooooo. Course that's just my opinion, still glad I bought it, but the last bit was disappointing.
Now to go into full summer blockbuster adventure mode with Congo by Michael Crichton. Wonder if seeing the movie first will ruin it?
Now to go into full summer blockbuster adventure mode with Congo by Michael Crichton. Wonder if seeing the movie first will ruin it?
Started off very slow, almost to the point of boredom, but it finally got its hooks in and I can't put it down
I find the movie version (at least Part 1) far more succinct. Her prose is abysmally tedious (as one who forced himself to read through the entirety of this book over the course of two years) and I find the visual version drives the point across while being far more engaging (and vaguely topical).
Yeah, I'm hoping my school library has it. If not, a public library in NYC has got to have the newest edition, right? D:
You should check your Half-Price Books or local library. I read an older (third) edition at the library and learned a lot. I'd still like to purchase the newest edition, though.
I've only read a few dozen pages of Delusions but it's written in a much more informal tone than I expected. I can see Fine's sarcasm rubbing people the wrong way, but I'm having fun with it.
This month I'm still working my way through -
Seem to have been reading this for ages and ages, yet still only 17% of the way through, and not even into the beginning of WW2 yet. Utterly fascinating stuff though, and much easier to read and get a grasp on than I would have imagined for such a dense book.
Also currently reading -
First time through, and my hold on what is actually happening is tentative at some points, but I think I'm slowly grasping it. Not being all that well versed in the mythology it's based on, there's no doubt I'm missing stacks of stuff but it does make me want to pick up Herodotus' Histories at some point in the future.
Seem to have been reading this for ages and ages, yet still only 17% of the way through, and not even into the beginning of WW2 yet. Utterly fascinating stuff though, and much easier to read and get a grasp on than I would have imagined for such a dense book.
Also currently reading -
First time through, and my hold on what is actually happening is tentative at some points, but I think I'm slowly grasping it. Not being all that well versed in the mythology it's based on, there's no doubt I'm missing stacks of stuff but it does make me want to pick up Herodotus' Histories at some point in the future.
Just started The Passage last night. Gripped me right away and I'm only about 7% through so far. Didn't want to put it down but my body needed sleep.
sparky2112
Member
Heads up: Dexter Filkins' 'The Good Soldiers' is $2.99 today on Amazon. Bought in in a heartbeat. I think it's generally considered to be the best book out of the Iraq war. Although I thought George Packer's book was GREAT, so this one has a lot to live up to.
EverythingShiny
Member
Awesome, thanks for the head's up. Last book I read about the Iraq war was Imperial Life in the Emerald City and I quite enjoyed that one.
sparky2112
Member
Have it, haven't read it. I will, however.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Damn, Lawrence just went hella dark in Emperor of Thorns last night... holy shit.
O.DOGG
Member
Just finished The War of Art the other day. Remember seeing it recommended here on GAF. I would like to officially thank this unknown gaffer for the recommendation. Excellent book. I'm still processing it but I feel like it's just what I needed.
I'm not sure what to start on next. I'll pick something from this or last month's thread by tomorrow.
I'm not sure what to start on next. I'll pick something from this or last month's thread by tomorrow.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
finished this today. been reading it slowly almost all summer, not because i didn't like it, but because it's so vast with so many strands, characters, ideas i found it hard to really tuck down and read extensively like a more focused work. it's the tale of the members of two families and their friends in north west london, from the seventies (and before in flashback) to the eve of the millennium. mainly using them to look at the experience of multi-cultural london in the final quarter of the decade. there's a right wing politician in the uk called norman tebbit who posited that you should ask immigrants from south west asia - the most common origin of immigrants here - whether they support the english cricket team or the cricket teams of india, pakistan or bangladesh to see how assimilated they are into the culture. the book basically shows that this notion is way way too simplistic and shows in great depth that the relationship for immigrants with the dual pulls of their homeland and new world, notions of identity in a melting pot place without a fixed culture and how that filters down through generations, is incredibly complex, fraught with struggle, anxiety and conflicting manifestations.
there's a few things i didn't like about the book, the chalfens for example felt like a shitty version of franzen, the bits about genetics seemed a bit too neat and tidy thematically, but i loved its treatment of the central theme and i haven't found much that captures multi-cultural london like it. i also enjoyed her prose a lot, i found very readable and does a great job of unifying all these elements with great dialogue and a surprising amount of wit. there's also the risk when you want to write a big novel that says something that you don't allow the characters to shine through, yet while clearly often there to express ideas and no-one the individual focus on the book, she manages to make most feel vivid and interesting.
sparky2112
Member
This book, when released, went off like a bomb in the lit world. Smith was literally a celeb author overnight. She also a huge David Foster Wallace fan. I dig her, and I loved White Teeth.
do you have any opinions on her other books? i'd like to try more of her stuff
One of my favorite books. But I'm from former USSR so many jokes might work better on me. The Little Golden Calf by the same authors is golmine as well. I re-read those two books and The Good Soldier Švejk many may times as a teen.
Tragicomedy
Member
Reading Leviathan Wakes, which is really scratching my sci-fi/space itch. So far, so excellent.
It was recommended to me when someone saw me reading Bulgakov - The Master and Margarita. I haven't read that much russian litterature, a bit of Dosto and this by Bulgakov, do you recommend The Little Golden Calf before The Twelve Chairs? The only problem for me is to get them in Swedish, there has only been one publication of The Little Golden Calf in 1946, so it will be hard to find a copy. There is though another by Ilya and Petrov, which is Swedish is called "Kyssen överför infektion" which translates (my own translation, because I couldn't find which book they meant, obviously it's called something else in English!) The kiss "transfers" infection, it came out 1977. What do you recommend, and do you which book I am talking about?
Cuckoos Calling, just finished it.
I like it. In comparison to Casual Vacancy I think this was better written and had a tighter storyline. Casual Vacancy had too many characters.
I would like Rowling to turn this one into a series, I really liked the detective and his secretary, an would like more cases.
Hopefully it's success leads to a sequel.
I like it. In comparison to Casual Vacancy I think this was better written and had a tighter storyline. Casual Vacancy had too many characters.
I would like Rowling to turn this one into a series, I really liked the detective and his secretary, an would like more cases.
Hopefully it's success leads to a sequel.
Start with The Twelve Chairs, Ostap's adventures continue in The Little Golden Calf. I guess "Kisses transfer infections" should be the collection of short stories because it s a title of one of them.
TheWarrior
Banned
Just finishing up
B&N is late getting me my copy of this which released today, which I should start this week. Very excited to see how this wraps up.
B&N is late getting me my copy of this which released today, which I should start this week. Very excited to see how this wraps up.
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
Apparently this is #4 in ordering now. fml Anyhow, enjoyed it and was again surprised by the religious undertones that I know are present now but didn't in my youth. Faith in Aslan was such a big thing throughout.
The Horse and his Boy is 3? What a worthless book!
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
Apparently this is #4 in ordering now. fml Anyhow, enjoyed it and was again surprised by the religious undertones that I know are present now but didn't in my youth. Faith in Aslan was such a big thing throughout.
Yup, apparently it's chronological now.
Sir Hamish
Member
Has anyone actually seen a the Sea of Fertility tetralogy books with these covers? I love them.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...=Sea+of+f,aps,226&rh=i:aps,k:sea of fertility
Nice covers. I was thinking about reading these books, are they worth the time?
Murakami is the only other experience I have with Japanese authors but the time period and Japanese culture really interests me.
Just started on Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine after Mumei's recommendation. I wanted to get The Gendered Society as well but that's more of a textbook and expensive.
This looks pretty interesting. Does the book use any pictures or diagrams? Just wanna see if I should grab the physical copy or get the ebook version.
Finished 2666 by Roberto Bolaño! What a trip. Nice twist at the end. But there's no real end to it. Many of the countless loose ends are left hanging.
Next up... I really don't know. I'm going to start Oscar Wilde's complete works pretty soon, but that's another big book like 2666, with around 1200 pages, and I want to read a shorter work before that. And I have well over 150 unread books standing around here to choose from.
Thinking about, perhaps, one of these:
- Balzac: Cousin Bette
- Beckett: a random play or two
- Camus: The Plague
- Capek: Believe in People
- Chandler: Farewell, My Lovely
- Kahneman: Thinking, Fast and Slow
- Niffenegger: The Time-Traveler's Wife
- Pirandello: Six Characters in Search of an Author
- Roth: Portnoy's Complaint
Decisions, decisions...
Next up... I really don't know. I'm going to start Oscar Wilde's complete works pretty soon, but that's another big book like 2666, with around 1200 pages, and I want to read a shorter work before that. And I have well over 150 unread books standing around here to choose from.
Thinking about, perhaps, one of these:
- Balzac: Cousin Bette
- Beckett: a random play or two
- Camus: The Plague
- Capek: Believe in People
- Chandler: Farewell, My Lovely
- Kahneman: Thinking, Fast and Slow
- Niffenegger: The Time-Traveler's Wife
- Pirandello: Six Characters in Search of an Author
- Roth: Portnoy's Complaint
Decisions, decisions...
Grenouille
Member
I have a tough choise as well between The Master and Margarita and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Both books have been recommended so many times it's past time i read at least one of them.
No pictures or diagrams for Delusions of Gender so the ebook version should be perfectly fine.
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