NEOPARADIGM
Banned
Go ahead and kill me now:
Truly awful.
Truly awful.
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What are you reading? (March 2011)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
they call it the desert spear for a reasonmike23 said:Just hit chapter 15 in
This author must have a rape fetish or something. Every other page it seems some man or woman is being raped. I'm finding it difficult to read and I've started to skim over the parts that are especially rape-y. I'm hoping it gets toned down later in the book, it'd certainly make the book more enjoyable for me if it did.
the spear is a penis dohoho
Witchfinder General
punched Wheelchair Mike
Future Babble - Dan Gardner
Just picked this up today. I've been looking forward to reading this for ages but it's been out of print until now.
Just picked this up today. I've been looking forward to reading this for ages but it's been out of print until now.
Speschal K said:Nice! Coincidentally, yesterday I was browsing a writing forum when I followed a link to John Scalzi's blog, Whatever, which I thoroughly enjoyed grokking for the better half of an hour. It makes sense that he is a big Heinlein fan, which led me to download/buy his novel, Old Man's War. I've seen it recommended on GAF before and I recall trying to get into it a couple years ago to no avail. Last night, I was highly entertained and managed to get through a fourth of the book rather quickly.
[/IMG]
Yeah it's great, sure some may say it's a bit to actiony but I like it that way. It's not clustered with complex theories and hypothesis that only a rocket scientist will understand, it's an easy and very enyoable read. Make sure to also get all his other books from this series, even Zoe's Story is great. You should also read the Takeshi Kovacs novels no matter what most of GAF says.
Started with the Ramayana and love it, probably will gift one to my niece once she's old enough to read. Illustrations are lovable and extremely well done (is to be expected from someone working at Pixar) and the story is told in a very fun way without any gory or violent details.
angelkimne
Member
What an excellent cover.
Anyway, I'm roughly two-thirds of the way through. Excellent book. The writing has that smooth flow and descriptiveness that only the best journalists can do. Coincidentally, the last book I read was Homicide: Life on the Streets by David Simon. Another (excellent) journalist who entered a violent and foreign world full of interesting characters and events made all the more so by the fact they're 100% real.
And same as homicide detectives, a soldiers job is nothing like film and TV would suggest. Much more repetitive, and much less exciting. Most enemy engagements consisted of simply spamming fire from superior weaponry until there was nothing left of cover nor enemy, or hiding behind the humvee while calling in artillery or air support.
The most surprising part was how sloppy and simple war was, with dozens of officers of varying ranks, some dangerously out of their depth. The marines rarely knew their ultimate objective, instead relying on simply the next goal given to them (e.g. advance north on road y). Orders were always changing and getting scrapped and replaced. Communication seemed mostly left to the officers and the best source of information for the troops was BBC, on their radio.Technology was constantly failing, supplies were often scarce. Many of the humvees had mounted grenade launchers which jammed constantly, as to work in the dusty/sandy conditions they needed a special lubricant which was absent due to some sort of supply problem.
The combat tactics were also so blunt... there was no CQC or intense cover to cover action - once they identified enemies from their vehicle they just blew the fuck out of them, and throughout the novel countless hamlets and villages and large chunks of town were demolished, whether by machine gun or artillery or cluster bomb. Civilian deaths were truly beyond count. And the oddest part is, I can't even blame the soldiers, it was usually not their fault. Just a product of the Fedayeen's guerilla nature and the stress of constant life-and-death situations.
Anyway, if it wasn't clear, I recommend.
Danielsan said:
daytripper
It may not quite fit the thread seeing as it is a comic, but my god what an amazing book. Started today and I'm about halfway through. It's so well written and the art and colouring are gorgeous.
Bumping this awesome cover again. I searched for this at Seattle Comicon but didn't end up finding it until I went to Barnes and Noble. Go figure. It was even on a "As seen at Comicon" display. Anyway, glad I found it.
The artwork and story are really beautiful. I'm happy to own is as I've already shared it with a couple friends who don't normally read graphic novels. Highly recommended.
Maklershed
Member
In line with Jay Sosa's complaint and for those that don't already know, nakedsushi of GAF/Goodreads has created a brilliant way to share a picture and url of a book at goodreads.com. All you have to do is go to goodreads, search the book you are reading, click on the link and then take a peek at the column on the right side of the page. At the bottom of the column there's a section title "share this book". Click on the "your website" link and a page will pop up. Copy the bb code at the bottom of the pop up and paste it here. It'll look like this:
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
I personally don't have a problem with the big pictures and I'm not saying you have to do this. Just letting people know to give an easy option when posting an image.
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
I personally don't have a problem with the big pictures and I'm not saying you have to do this. Just letting people know to give an easy option when posting an image.
HiroProtagonist
Member
Maklershed said:In line with Jay Sosa's complaint and for those that don't already know, nakedsushi of GAF/Goodreads has created a brilliant way to share a picture and url of a book at goodreads.com. All you have to do is go to goodreads, search the book you are reading, click on the link and then take a peek at the column on the right side of the page. At the bottom of the column there's a section title "share this book". Click on the "your website" link and a page will pop up. Copy the bb code at the bottom of the pop up and paste it here. It'll look like this:
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
I personally don't have a problem with the big pictures and I'm not saying you have to do this. Just letting people know to give an easy option when posting an image.
/add to bookmarks. Thanks. Lets see if I remember this.
Tim the Wiz
Banned
Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser
Royal Flash by George MacDonald Fraser
A month behind the book club, I had some fun re-reading the opening of The Flashman Papers. I've never gotten to some of the later novels, so it's probably not a bad idea to re-enter the series.
Mifune said:
Hoy. It was pretty weird, actually. I picked up Zeroville randomly off the shelf in the library after recognizing it from randomly skimming through a review online. I didn't expect much, but it was quietly enthralling all the way through, especially for me as a film-lover, as it opened up some reflection on the influence films have on us, and how they often intrude upon our perception of reality. I keep promising myself that I'll read more of his stuff soon-ish. I have the idea that I'll tackle his novels in publication order sometime or the other. (Just took a week and a bit to reply to that!)
Dresden said:
Are you on the Westeros forums, too? I remember seeing this up on the Lit section over there a while back.
sparky2112
Member
sparky2112 said:
His first, Then We Came to the End is a top-five all-time read for me, and the fact that this is so radically different just makes me admire him all that much more. Basically, Ferris is the real deal - no sophomore slump here.
I'm goona go 50/50 on this one - the first half was GREAT, the second, not so much. I'm not sure how it could have played out any differently and not been hokey, but still. The main character is a high-powered attorney/husband/father who is overcome with urges to get up and start walking, no matter what the circumstances/timing. It's interesting to see how his family tries to adjust and how his career crumbles, etc. The second half focuses more on the actual affliction, and that's where it loses steam.
This is one of those books that could probably be accused of being 'overwritten', but I don't really mind/notice such things as much (I don't consider myself to be an overly critical reader), but that doesn't prevent Ferris from making keen observations with devestating prose. For that alone, it was worth the read, but I enjoyed his first book much, much more.
VistraNorrez
Member
Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
It's really good, beautiful prose, but the violence and debauchery have made it a slow read.
Up next may be this bad boy (although subject to something light before, have to buffer it from Blood Meridian):
2666 by Roberto Bolaño
Picked it up at Borders with their 40% off. A bit surprised it was still there, but it was the only copy and as you see it's a weird 3 volume edition.
The name of the wind is fucking great! I like the writing in this way more than writing in the Joe Abercrombie books. The main character in name of the wind is a Mary Sue though.nakedsushi said:I recently read this and liked it a lot too. I thought the characters would become annoying, but they really changed and matured as the book went along.
Finished our bookclub book:
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
Hated it in the end. I give it 1 star.
Full review is in the bookclub thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=26441220#post26441220
Next up:
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
nakedsushi
Member
charsace said:
Nooo, now you've tainted me with this book. I hate Mary Sue's. I really liked the long setup for the actual frame of the book. Pretty unexpected. So far, I'm enjoying the pacing of it. Not rushed at all, but also not overly long and drawn out.
Oh yeah, with the goodreads cover shortcut/copy-paste thing. Should I make it grab larger book covers? I kind of started with the smaller ones since I didn't want it to be "OMG SO BIG" on the threads, but it seems like most people like posting big bookcovers, no?
Tim the Wiz
Banned
charsace said:
It can be argued that Kvothe's character arch is an attempted deconstruction of the archetypal hero's journey. For one, he certainly has flaws, which often escape his notice except in retrospect, and they constantly get him in trouble - as well as contribute meaningfully to the overall narrative. The ongoing frame story leaves no doubt as to the tragedy which is just around the corner due to his actions.
Night_Trekker
Member
VistraNorrez said:
Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
It's really good, beautiful prose, but the violence and debauchery have made it a slow read.
I wouldn't have finished it if I hadn't had it assigned to me for a class, but it's one of my favorite novels of all time now. Keep at it!
In other McCarthy news, the guy is working on a new novel! I'm unbelievably excited.
RepairmanJack said:
I got that book for a Christmas gift two years ago, the start of it is very very good, but about mid-way through he starts jumping perspectives of characters, and even adds more (albet minor) characters into the main story if i remember correctly.
I enjoyed it up until the end, but I honestly believe he used a cop-out at the end of the story, to explain why the dome is even there, and there are a few scenes later on that get a bit graphic (well for me at least).
It is a very interesting view on small town-society though. All of those "common" speak words do not get any better in the 1000+ pages though.
Bliany said:Bumping this awesome cover again. I searched for this at Seattle Comicon but didn't end up finding it until I went to Barnes and Noble. Go figure. It was even on a "As seen at Comicon" display. Anyway, glad I found it.
The artwork and story are really beautiful. I'm happy to own is as I've already shared it with a couple friends who don't normally read graphic novels. Highly recommended.
Finished Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights for the second time. One of my favourites. Compared to Jane Austen's books, WH's characters are so much more interesting. The only somewhat realistic character in fiction I can think of that is more diabolical than Heathcliff is Cathy from Steinbeck's East of Eden (but I hear there's a particularly evil one in McCarthy's Blood Meridian).
Also read a short story (also for school) by Stephen Crane: The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky. A nice little western tale.
Next up, either Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn (for school, never read it before) or Ibsen's poems (will complete my reading of his complete works).
Also read a short story (also for school) by Stephen Crane: The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky. A nice little western tale.
Next up, either Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn (for school, never read it before) or Ibsen's poems (will complete my reading of his complete works).
eznark said:
I'm halfway through Name of the Wind, and I am finding that the characters are a little black and white. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and blame it on first-book-itis, but there'd better be some more morally grey actions in Wise Man's Fear or I'll probably just write the guy off.
In the first book he seems like one to me. Reading the second book and he is different. One thing that bothered me is thatCyan said:
he didn't have sex with any of the women in the first book. They were throwing themselves at him and he didn't hook up with any of them.
Keep on reading. The book is great.nakedsushi said:
Edit:I'm sorry. Didn't mean to do that.
nakedsushi
Member
charsace said:
I spoilered that for you. Maybe you should do it to your original post. You totally spoiled that for me. Now I'm ruined for the whole book. Part of the good tension in a book is
waiting to see if the main character gets any action with the ladies
Well I just finished the Mistborn trilogy, which was pretty good. I liked the ending but towards the end of the 2nd and beginning of the third book, I was just trying to get through it. I guess it redeemed itself at the end. Working my way through ASOIAF again in anticipation of the series and the new book. I was wondering though if anyone had read this and what they're opinion of it was, as I am thinking of jumping into this after my re-read. I've heard good things about it, but of course I would like GAF's non-judgemental opinion....
Mo Man XIII
Neo Member
A Game of Thrones. Gotta finish it before the series starts.
VistraNorrez
Member
Night_Trekker said:
I read it everyday. I think it is great. And it's strange because I really want to finish it, it's compelling, but I can only take it in short bursts. I'm also glad I'm reading it on my Kindle because his vocabulary occasionally consists of words I'm not familiar with, and only half of the unfamiliars are even in the dictionary I have on my Kindle (WordNet 3).
The only other work I've read of his is The Road, which I also really liked, even if I didn't fall in love with it like a lot of people. More from him is always a good thing.
Gorgon said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue
"A Mary Sue (sometimes just Sue), in fanfiction, is a fictional character with overly idealized and hackneyed mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as a wish-fulfillment fantasy for the author or reader. Perhaps the single underlying feature of all characters described as "Mary Sues" is that they are too ostentatious for the audience's taste, or that the author seems to favor the character too highly. The author may seem to push how exceptional and wonderful the "Mary Sue" character is on his or her audience, sometimes leading the audience to dislike or even resent the character fairly quickly; such a character could be described as an "author's pet"."
Night_Trekker
Member
VistraNorrez said:
Yeah. I've read everything he's written so far, and I've enjoyed all of it. If he's written it, I can personally recommend it. (Unless we're talking about the screenplay for The Gardner's Son, which... is a screenplay and just doesn't work when read, in my opinion.)
nakedsushi
Member
Tyrion81 said:
I didn't like it at all. The first third was great. Then it just went downhill. It was also needlessly long. My main problem (plot spoiler) with the story was
that everything could have been solved fairly easily if people just communicated better.
Ultima ratio regum
Banned
I'm reading the "algebraic mind" and "Language, Consciousness, Culture: Essays on Mental Structure (Jean Nicod Lectures)".
But my backlog of books is up to the roof.
But my backlog of books is up to the roof.
ncsuDuncan
Member
Finished The Amber Spyglass. I'm really happy with the way His Dark Materials ended.
Also finished Dave Barry's History of the Millennium (so far). Not my favorite DB, but still funny.
Also finished Dave Barry's History of the Millennium (so far). Not my favorite DB, but still funny.
I just want to say screw you to GAF for turning me on to The Lies of Locke Lamora. Its my new favorite series, but the author has personal issues and the books are taking years longer to create I guess. So in a couple weeks I read both books(of like 7) and the third one was supposed to be released like 2 years ago already...
I hope he gets better! For himself, and because I love Locke.
I hope he gets better! For himself, and because I love Locke.
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Finished this today and was thoroughly disappointed.
The world of Panem is great but Katniss becomes so unlikeable by the end of the series.
phinious said:
I'll read the second but I'll be damned if the first didn't leave a bad taste in my mouth.
Nassimoluc
Neo Member
Can anyone recommend a true horror novel. I want one to actually scare/freak me out not some Stephen King thriller?
BannedEpisode
Member
Just reread In The Shadow of Man. Its a biographical/Zoological novel about Jane Goodall during the early years of her Chimpanzee research. It's one of my favorites and one of the things that compelled me to study Biology and Zoology in college.
Great Read.
Great Read.