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[Salvor.Hardin]

Just finished this

Haven't read a graphic novel this good in a while. Craig Thompson is a fucking master of his craft. Not only is the story telling great, but the art is incredible. Seriously, I could stare at the pages inside for hours. It's all beautifully hand crafted, and so dense with detail that I can't help but think it was a 6 years well spent for Craig Thompson.

 

[nakedsushi]

I finished this a couple of days ago:


The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson
It was an alright pop-sci book. The author got too self-effacing for my taste and I got bored of the book toward the end. But it does make you wonder if people you know are psychopaths.

 

[Heel]

Finished:

A collection of 10 short stories. Not many were complete duds. Especially liked Hinterlands. Looking forward to tackling Neuromancer pretty soon! Just didn't feel like jumping directly into it afterwards.

Currently reading:

I just finished Part II in the first book, when

Spoiler

the vault is opened after 50 years and Seldon speaks

. Loving this so far.

 

[Mumei]

Currently reading:

I just finished Part II in the first book, when

Spoiler

the vault is opened after 50 years and Seldon speaks

. Loving this so far.

I'm currently on Foundation and Earth.

'Tis pretty excellent.

 

[Clever Pun]

It's been probably 10 years since I read the Foundation series, I should really get back to them. I hardly remember anything about them anymore except that they were great!

 

[Monroeski]

Finally done, after about a month and a half -

Really enjoyed these two books. Would love to re-read the two after now knowing

Spoiler

who is a Starflyer agent and who is not

but I'm not willing to redo ~2,000 pages so soon.

Now moving on to -

and

 

[Cfh123]

Book One of his series about Alfred the Great. It's very good:

 

[Heel]

I'm currently on Foundation and Earth.

'Tis pretty excellent.

I'm wondering if it's best to read the original trilogy and loop back to the prequels, or stay with the series until the end and then loop back. How's it holding up after the original trilogy?

What do you think, GAF? Talking about Foundation.

 

[ultron87]

I'm more than halfway through Use of Weapons.

I'm still not sure what this book is about besides being a character study. I'm guessing this whole non-linear plot thing will come together at the end.

 

[aidan]

I'm more than halfway through Use of Weapons.

I'm still not sure what this book is about besides being a character study. I'm guessing this whole non-linear plot thing will come together at the end.

Heh.

 

[Kraftwerk]

I'm more than halfway through Use of Weapons.

I'm still not sure what this book is about besides being a character study. I'm guessing this whole non-linear plot thing will come together at the end.

Indeed. It is an amazing character study. And you just wait my good friend...

Please share your thoughts when you finish it in our very own Culture OT

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=448420

 

[Nappuccino]

I generally have a smile on my face throughout any Vonnegut book I read. I find his black humor inspiring rather than depressing. To paraphrase a quote I recently saw at the beginning of his novel Galapagos, he's a first-rate diagnostician of the human condition, even if he has no suggestions or prescriptions to heal us. He simply seems to write about our failings, with maybe a little hope under several layers of shit-tossing that someone will read his observations and figure out what it will take to fix everything.

I actually re-read Breakfast of Champions pretty recently. I forgot how prominently his Kilgore Trout character is in this story. This is the character Vonnegut uses to express his bleakest perspectives on our present and future. The book was written in 1973 but I think the blatant N-word usage is less about the region or the time period, but moreso just part of the novel's goal to make us seem, and feel, like awful, awful creatures.

Fun fact, there's a reference to Midland City in Galapagos that reveals something surprising about one of the characters in this book:

Spoiler

Dwayne Hoover's gay son, whom Dwayne had abandoned due to his life choices, and later brutalized at the outset of his mental breakdown, isn't even his son. He was sired by a 16 year old con-artist while Dwayne was away on business. Dwayne has no idea.

If his goal really was to make us feel like awful creatures then I think he did an alright job and your explanation for the use of the N-word makes sense... but I do wish that his point was a bit more clear considering the book makes the omniscient narrator (Who, I guess we could claim is actually Vonnegut based on the latter bits of the book) seem pretty racist. I think this could have been solved if he either made what we did to the African people seem worse (because he does a good job of pointing out how screwed up so many other things are that we take for granted- it seems like pointing out how screwed up their treatment was would have been a no brainer). Instead whatever comments he makes against their poor treatment is very subtle and other times undercut by his portrayal of some of the African American people in the book.

I did, however, like the bit where he talked about how these people suffered because he, the writer, wanted them to suffer and made it so.

It's Vonnegut's worst book, but I don't know if you've read any of his other works.

Really? I actually quite liked it apart from the lingering questions I was left with by the end. I've read Slaughter House Five, about 1/2 of Galapagos (which lost me) and 1/2 Deadeye Dick (which I lost).

I'd put Slaughter House Five at the top by far, but Breakfast of Champions is his second best that I've read. I finally found Deadeye Dick so i'll get back into that at some point.

 

[Dresden]

Almost done. Murakami talking about running, and inevitably, writing as well. Tedious sometimes, interesting otherwise.

I always say 'i'll read this next' but something else usually comes up and steals my attention. That said I'll probably hit up The Chess Machine by Richard Lohr next:

German writer Löhr resurrects a chess-playing automaton in his generously imagined debut novel. Set in 1770, Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen of Hungary, anxious to win the favor of Empress Maria Theresia, builds an engineering marvel: the Mechanical Turk, a chess-playing automaton. The Turk, though, isn't exactly as it seems; hidden inside is Italian chess prodigy (and dwarf) Tibor Scardenelli, hired by Kempelen to secretly control the contraption during its debut match in front of the empress.

It's either that or Ruins by Achy Obejas.

Just finished this

Haven't read a graphic novel this good in a while. Craig Thompson is a fucking master of his craft. Not only is the story telling great, but the art is incredible. Seriously, I could stare at the pages inside for hours. It's all beautifully hand crafted, and so dense with detail that I can't help but think it was a 6 years well spent for Craig Thompson.

I didn't like Blankets much, but this one just looks so beautiful, from the binding to the cover to the actual art itself. I've been tempted to slap down the cash for it for a while now.

I'd put Slaughter House Five at the top by far, but Breakfast of Champions is his second best that I've read.

I'm fond of Bluebeard, wouldn't call it his best but it's my favorite so far.

I remember liking Breakfast mainly for the crude drawings he put in there.

 

[AngelSoldier]

Next up it'll be the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I've seen the movies, but Skyrim really put me in the mood for swords and horses and magic and shit. So yeah.

 

[Nappuccino]

I'm fond of Bluebeard, wouldn't call it his best but it's my favorite so far.

I remember liking Breakfast mainly for the crude drawings he put in there.

Bluebeard is on my list- but I currently own Cats Cradle and Deadeye Dick so I'd like to finish them first.

 

[T.M. MacReady]

Just finished:

Loved it. Love what King did with the time travel concept. Like Under the Dome, I love when Stephen King takes a good sci fi idea and runs with it. Very enjoyable book.


Now I've gone and gotten myself into this whole mess:

Only just getting started, but I like it a lot so far. Got a long ways to go to get caught up though!

 

[braves01]

Next up it'll be the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I've seen the movies, but Skyrim really put me in the mood for swords and horses and magic and shit. So yeah.

That's funny, since Skyrim inspired me to finally read Beowulf.

 

[coldvein]

That's funny, since Skyrim inspired me to finally read Beowulf.

did you enjoy it?

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

That's the impression I get from those comments, too.

You may not like it, but there's nothing "bad" about Collins' writing. It's simple and perfectly-paced.

Well up until the third book that is certainly true. At that point I would argue everything in the book is bad.

How many people does King have get raped in his latest. King loves his raping!

 

[nakedsushi]

Finished this in one day!


Years of Red Dust by Qiu Xiaolong

Loved it! My grandmother's house was on a street just like the one described in the book, so it has a certain nostalgic charm for me, but also was an eye-opening read. I guess I never thought about how many lives turned upside down and ruined during the communist revolution.

 

[Ashes]

If you haven't seen this already, some of you guys/gals might be interested in this:

50 Movies. 50 Books. 1 Year

 

[Brazil]

Well up until the third book that is certainly true. At that point I would argue everything in the book is bad.

The three books have a consistent quality, IMO. I liked them all equally.

 

[Dan]

Yes! One of my favorite pieces of fiction. I try to get everyone I know to read it.

I wish Steve Martin would just quit acting entirely and just focus on his great writing, at least if he's not going to take on any good projects.

 

[hamchan]

The three books have a consistent quality, IMO. I liked them all equally.

I just finished Mockingjay pretty much 2 hours ago and it was a decent book, still full of that brutal violence I love, but I think it wasn't as good as the first two. The final quarter of the book felt really rushed to me and I think Collins would have done better to stretch some of the events near the end of the book out a bit. I also would have appreciated some closure on a few of the side characters too.

 

[Tesseract]

numbers - the language of science. a good primer for learning the history of number correspondence and succesion from primitive man to modern man.

the a to z of mathematics, a basic guide. a decent carryall math glossary from absolute value to zeno's paradox.

the nothing that is - a natural history of zero. fucking madness. details the mysticism surrounding zero in natural philosophy and thus the modern world.

 

[Brazil]

I just finished Mockingjay pretty much 2 hours ago and it was a decent book, still full of that brutal violence I love, but I think it wasn't as good as the first two. The final quarter of the book felt really rushed to me and I think Collins would have done better to stretch some of the events near the end of the book out a bit. I also would have appreciated some closure on a few of the side characters too.

I didn't think the events at the end were "rushed" because Collins seemed to want to convey the urgency of them. They really seemed to happen in a really quick succession, like a final sprint.

Spoiler

Well, actually, two. One that started when they woke up in the sewers with the mutts hissing "Katniss", and then another when they left Tigris' shop, the pods were activated, Gale was captured, Katniss reached the square, and the parachutes blew up.

About the side characters:

Spoiler

Most of them died, haha. I wanted to hear more about what happened to Johanna, but other than that... We get to know that Annie had Finnick's child, and that Gale was living in District 2. That's all I needed. I guess I just cared more about Katniss and Peeta.

 

[Fxp]

30 pages in, very slow start but I'm anticipating great things based on the reviews.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

I didn't think the events at the end were "rushed" because Collins seemed to want to convey the urgency of them. They really seemed to happen in a really quick succession, like a final sprint.

Spoiler

Well, actually, two. One that started when they woke up in the sewers with the mutts hissing "Katniss", and then another when they left Tigris' shop, the pods were activated, Gale was captured, Katniss reached the square, and the parachutes blew up.

About the side characters:

Spoiler

Most of them died, haha. I wanted to hear more about what happened to Johanna, but other than that... We get to know that Annie had Finnick's child, and that Gale was living in District 2. That's all I needed. I guess I just cared more about Katniss and Peeta.

I have a really hard time understanding why anyone that likes the pacing and the characters of the first two books can like the 3rd. Nothing that was good about the first two books is anywhere evident in the 3rd:
-Interesting love triangle between Peta, Gale and Katniss-Gone
-Tension building fights-Gone
-Whiny as hell protagonist that says Why me Why me every 3rd page of the book- Wait yeah thats still there.

Man now I am all fired up again just going through the Rolodex of my brain and recalling how utterly shitty that book is.

 

[braves01]

did you enjoy it?

Yeah, it was great and really quite moving, especially towards the end when

Spoiler

Beowulf fights the dragon alone while all his thanes run in terror

. I don't know how I managed to go through school without reading it. And, reading Beowulf inspired me to play more Skyrim.

 

[Brazil]

I have a really hard time understanding why anyone that likes the pacing and the characters of the first two books can like the 3rd. Nothing that was good about the first two books is anywhere evident in the 3rd:
-Interesting love triangle between Peta, Gale and Katniss-Gone
-Tension building fights-Gone
-Whiny as hell protagonist that says Why me Why me every 3rd page of the book- Wait yeah thats still there.

Man now I am all fired up again just going through the Rolodex of my brain and recalling how utterly shitty that book is.

I don't agree that the love triangle is gone, and while the tension from the arenas may not be present in the third book, there's still the constant tension from the fact that

Spoiler

it's freaking war and everything's fucked up.

In any way, I don't see what's the problem you have "understanding why anyone that likes the pacing and characters of the first two books can like the 3rd," because: 1 - People can like more than 1 thing; 2 - The characters and the world are the same in all three books, and if you cared about them in THG and CF, there's no reason why you wouldn't in MJ - unless you're only reading the books for the violence.

 

[Number45]

Just recently bought The Complete Sherlock Holmes and Lord of the Rings (1-3). Any chance I had of hitting my modest 12 book challenge for this year are gone already. :'(

 

[Anticitizen One]

Spoiler

IT'S GOOD

 

[VonRehausen]

This week:

An Optimist's Tour of the Future - Mark Stevenson

Turkish Gambit - Boris Akunin

 

[Monroeski]

Yes! One of my favorite pieces of fiction. I try to get everyone I know to read it.

I wish Steve Martin would just quit acting entirely and just focus on his great writing, at least if he's not going to take on any good projects.

I actually already finished it. A friend recommended it to me with basically the same words you just used, and while I don't put it on the pedestal he did it was a pretty decent read. Kind of Murakami-ish without the surrealism.

 

[VonRehausen]

Im a fan of Reynolds so Im looking forward to this. Just a shame its not available to buy a kindle version.

I got an email from Amazon yesterday saying they have shipped the paperpack I ordered so I reckon it wont be long before they release the kindle version as well.

 

[VonRehausen]

finished ICE by Vladimir Sorokin. ended in a strange scifi-ish place. cannot wait to see what happens next.. one book left in the trilogy!

Have you read Sorokins "Den Opritchnika"? What did you though about it?

 

[VonRehausen]

150 pages into Game of Thrones, already on its way to being my favourite book Perfect characterisation thus far

I was quite disappointed with the saga. I really disliked the fact that the chapters are never over 10 pages long. Its an insult to the readers capability to concentrate. Its like he is writing to ADHD kid with 10 second attention span. Makes perfect for TV-series scenes though. Unsurprisingly the books are 1:1 with the TV series so why bother reading the books when every scene has been superbly acted on wide screen already?

Another thing bothering me was the god awful dialogue. I mean is this really how low the standard american english as a literary language has sunk nowadays? Using words like "freak" in a fantastical/medieval world? It was just a pain to read really with anachronisms like that. Also the whole series a freefall in quaility after the 2nd book.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

I don't agree that the love triangle is gone, and while the tension from the arenas may not be present in the third book, there's still the constant tension from the fact that

Spoiler

it's freaking war and everything's fucked up.

In any way, I don't see what's the problem you have "understanding why anyone that likes the pacing and characters of the first two books can like the 3rd," because: 1 - People can like more than 1 thing; 2 - The characters and the world are the same in all three books, and if you cared about them in THG and CF, there's no reason why you wouldn't in MJ - unless you're only reading the books for the violence.

It's hard for me to fathom because the layers of depth that Collins had been adding to the characters is completely erased in the 3rd book there is no progression to any of them. Nothing is done well in the 3rd book. The action is terribly written. It's so bad there are times when I'm pretty sure the author has no idea what's going on. Then the subsequent events leading up to the finale are so over the top and cliche that for me any possible connection with the characters is completely lost.

I guess it's all the more frustrating for me because I really enjoyed the first 2 books and the 3rd book is such a drastic drop in quality it would be like going from Aliens to Alien 3.

 

[aidan]

I was quite disappointed with the saga. I really disliked the fact that the chapters are never over 10 pages long. Its an insult to the readers capability to concentrate. Its like he is writing to ADHD kid with 10 second attention span. Makes perfect for TV-series scenes though. Unsurprisingly the books are 1:1 with the TV series so why bother reading the books when every scene has been superbly acted on wide screen already?

Another thing bothering me was the god awful dialogue. I mean is this really how low the standard american english as a literary language has sunk nowadays? Using words like "freak" in a fantastical/medieval world? It was just a pain to read really with anachronisms like that. Also the whole series a freefall in quaility after the 2nd book.

Haha. Wow...

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

I was quite disappointed with the saga. I really disliked the fact that the chapters are never over 10 pages long. Its an insult to the readers capability to concentrate. Its like he is writing to ADHD kid with 10 second attention span. Makes perfect for TV-series scenes though. Unsurprisingly the books are 1:1 with the TV series so why bother reading the books when every scene has been superbly acted on wide screen already?

Another thing bothering me was the god awful dialogue. I mean is this really how low the standard american english as a literary language has sunk nowadays? Using words like "freak" in a fantastical/medieval world? It was just a pain to read really with anachronisms like that. Also the whole series a freefall in quaility after the 2nd book.

Wtf.....

Nice 3 post. Ladies and Gentlemen put on your suits.

 

[BanShunsaku]

I was quite disappointed with the saga. I really disliked the fact that the chapters are never over 10 pages long. Its an insult to the readers capability to concentrate. Its like he is writing to ADHD kid with 10 second attention span. Makes perfect for TV-series scenes though. Unsurprisingly the books are 1:1 with the TV series so why bother reading the books when every scene has been superbly acted on wide screen already?

Another thing bothering me was the god awful dialogue. I mean is this really how low the standard american english as a literary language has sunk nowadays? Using words like "freak" in a fantastical/medieval world? It was just a pain to read really with anachronisms like that. Also the whole series a freefall in quaility after the 2nd book.

 

[Deified Data]

Iron Council by China Mieville, finishing up the Bas Lag books. Just finished part 1 - so far, the least engaging of this loose "series".

 

[ymmv]

I was quite disappointed with the saga. I really disliked the fact that the chapters are never over 10 pages long. Its an insult to the readers capability to concentrate. Its like he is writing to ADHD kid with 10 second attention span. Makes perfect for TV-series scenes though. Unsurprisingly the books are 1:1 with the TV series so why bother reading the books when every scene has been superbly acted on wide screen already?

Another thing bothering me was the god awful dialogue. I mean is this really how low the standard american english as a literary language has sunk nowadays? Using words like "freak" in a fantastical/medieval world? It was just a pain to read really with anachronisms like that. Also the whole series a freefall in quaility after the 2nd book.

 

[Fjordson]

But...but...Storm of Swords is way better than Clash of Kings...

 

[hamchan]

Just recently bought The Complete Sherlock Holmes and Lord of the Rings (1-3). Any chance I had of hitting my modest 12 book challenge for this year are gone already. :'(

Don't count the Complete Sherlock Holmes as one book, but instead count each novel inside it as one, then you'll reach your goal easily lol.

 

[VonRehausen]

Wtf.....

Nice 3 post. Ladies and Gentlemen put on your suits.

No? Last time I checked all the chapters in the first book were about 8-13 pages long. Anything else? Or is it the usual ridiculing and bullying of the sole critic?

 

[VonRehausen]

 

[hamchan]

No? Last time I checked all the chapters in the first book were about 8-13 pages long. Anything else? Or is it the usual ridiculing and bullying of the sole critic?

Well I won't ridicule or bully you. I'll just say that I disagree with your opinions completely. I don't think the 10 page chapters are an insult to the reader's capabilities to concentrate. I don't think the dialogue is awful at all. Also even if the TV show is 1:1 with the books I don't see why that makes the books pointless to read. I'm a fan of both books and TV but if I had to choose between them I'd choose books. In ASOIAF especially I find the books to flesh out the world and characters a bit more than the TV show does.

 

[VonRehausen]

Well I won't ridicule or bully you. I'll just say that I disagree with your opinions completely. I don't think the 10 page chapters are an insult to the reader's capabilities to concentrate. I don't think the dialogue is awful at all. Also even if the TV show is 1:1 with the books I don't see why that makes the books pointless to read. I'm a fan of both books and TV but if I had to choose between them I'd choose books. In ASOIAF especially I find the books to flesh out the world and characters a bit more than the TV show does.

Thanks dude, I see we are just in disagreement here.

I found the dialogue and chaptering totally frustrating and a little undermining. Its like they are written for this MTV-generation(which I myself belong to btw)that can only deal with flashes of scenes like a proper Guy Ritchie movie. Its like the book is trying too much to be a tv-show or a movie. I just wasent satisfied with the way the story was carried. It even said on the cover this was supposed to be the American Tolkien...oh please.

 

[VonRehausen]

dp