There definitely is a right way to interpret the book.
They're just one city that the inhabitants have psychologically trained themselves to perceive as partitioned.
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What are you reading? (May 2014)
- Thread starter Maklershed
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There definitely is a right way to interpret the book.
Nappuccino
Member
I might read it again, eventually. We'll see.
If you like it, I would check out Ron Chernow's other biographies. Ive read Washington: A Life, and thought it was great, and I have heard good things about his other books as well
PassiveObserver
Member
Norton Juster said:
Reading this classic. Never read it as a kid, but it holds up to a twenty-seven-year-old.
postcyberpunk
Banned
I don't know. Things are never that cut-and-dry with Mieville. I will admit it was like I was reading a different book once I took that reality as the "true" one. It's a fun book either way. Too bad the only other book I only appreciate from him is Kraken . He is a wild writer, but I just couldn't get into the Bas-Lag books.
This is essentially my reaction to The Urth of the New Sun:
Is this a recommendation gif?
You guys, you are going to expand my backlog even more! Stop it!
I know nothing about the author or his series! Why is he so amazing?
To give you a counter opinion from the GAF massive love fest of Gene Wolfe, I did not like it and stopped about a 1/4th of the way through the first one. I thought the characters were underdeveloped and the writing style and plot confusing for the sake of being confusing. Thats about the two biggest sins a book can make in my view. Perhaps the characters become awesome later and the shit actually starts to make sense, but I wasn't enjoying myself and there are a lot of other books out there to read.
Decided to start Bank's fiction books, I was hoping to hold out reading his fiction stuff for a few years but I am terrible at holding myself back, if i0the words exist my brain wants them.
About 1/5 through The Wasp Factory so far and holy shit, what a disturbing book, I love it, the last 10 years I have drifted to Fantasy, Science fiction or crime books I dont regret that but the start of The Wasp Factory takes me back to what initially drew me into reading. Always a reminder its good to mix things up but at the same time im glad I stuck to my genre's otherwise I wokld have already read this and the rest of Banks' stuff.
About 1/5 through The Wasp Factory so far and holy shit, what a disturbing book, I love it, the last 10 years I have drifted to Fantasy, Science fiction or crime books I dont regret that but the start of The Wasp Factory takes me back to what initially drew me into reading. Always a reminder its good to mix things up but at the same time im glad I stuck to my genre's otherwise I wokld have already read this and the rest of Banks' stuff.
Tragicomedy
Member
It's not a GAF love fest. It's a science fiction/fantasy love fest. I heard mad praise about his work long before I discovered this site.
Specifically to your point:
1) The characters are awesome.
2) Stuff does make sense, but not in the way it functions in most books.
3) The writing is superb.
It's really not like anything else I've read. I think that's a really good thing, but totally understand why people wouldn't like it. It's an insanely challenging and rewarding series.
Is the writing style accessible, or will I be taking an hour to read 10-15 pages, ala Lolita?
Not accessible, but not like Lolita. It's hard to explain. But reading Gene Wolfe requires a certain amount of patience and willingness to want to learn something new and engage with the book, rather than just passively absorbing a story.
They seemed pretty ill-formed when I gave it up, but I will take your word for it. Like I said though, I am not going to bother again because I loathe when authors make a book challenging by making it purposely confusing. I hate Pynchon and Joyce for the same reason. I am sure it serves some purpose, but I have to actually be invested in the book to give a damn, and thats a sure-fire way to make me not give a damn. Ill take authors like Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Mann when I want a challenge.
I'll give him a chance once I finish American Gods, Lord of the Rings (book 2 and 3), and Murakami's running novel. He shouldn't be that roug--
I'm doomed. I'll never complete the 50 books challenge if I read him.
What are your thoughts on Umberto Eco?
I tried reading The Name of the Rose like 10 years ago and gave up about halfway. I honestly can't remember much of anything besides me not caring about the characters at all. Another sure-fire way of me losing interest in a book.
You should avoid the Ghibli film entirely, because it's really bad.
CharminUltra
Member
Only a few pages in. Loving it so far.
Avoid avoid avoid avoid avoid. Terrible. That's what happens when you let Goro Miyazaki do anything.
They're both seminal works, you can't go wrong with either. But whatever you do, either finish New Sun first, or Earthsea. Don't switch between the two. While the Earthsea books are mostly self contained, the Book of the New Sun is one whole story, like Lord of the Rings. You'll have a really hard to figuring out where you are (even more than usual) if you weave the books with some other series.
Urth of the New Sun, the sequel, however, can be put off for a bit since its an explanatory work.
I recently picked up Claw of the conciliator again and I realized that Wolfe's style is very similar to dreams. Somehow you are always able to picture the specific scene you are reading perfectly, but as soon as you try to put it in context with what you have read before it gets blurry. I just read the scene where
. And looking back I think that a lot of the scenes in the books follow this "dreamlogic" which of course makes them hard to follow.
Everyone who ever tried explaining exactly what happens in a dream will know what I mean.
Severian runs through the House Absolute in search of his sword and than somehow retrieves it from a room that doesn't even seem to really be there.
Everyone who ever tried explaining exactly what happens in a dream will know what I mean.
postcyberpunk
Banned
I know that this wasn't addressed to me, but if you appreciate literary theory/academic criticism, he is fun. His theory is much better than his fiction though.
Foucault's Pendulum is a blast.
Ghibli can make bad films?! The world doesn't make sense anymore. I'll avoid it then.
I'm weaving through series for LotR, though I suppose that's much easier when I have seen the films five times over. Is it possible for an average reader to get through New Sun in a month's time?
Nevertheless, I'll give both series a go. Thanks for the thoughtful feedback!
thats the one I tried reading actually, lol. Like I said, its been a while
Tragicomedy
Member
I'm beginning my Dark Souls journey this evening and that sounds like a very apt comparison.
Honestly, while New Sun is considered his masterpiece, I began my Wolfe journey reading his Wizard Knight series. Both books are incredibly interesting and the main character is awesome. The benefit of starting with something like that is it still provides Wolfe's dreamlike world but in a much more accessible package. The writing is splendid, but that's a given with his work.
That's more like a fantasy bachelor's or master's degree, whereas the Book of the New Sun is straight doctoral work in the science fiction/fantasy front. Heck, I don't even know how to properly classify it other than to call it epic.
Ghibli is not a monolithic entity, but a collection of talented animators and directors. When people say "Ghibli", what they really mean is Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. It's kind of like Marvel Films in that sense.
Goro Miyazaki, Hayao's son, is the exception to the studio's history of consistent quality. He destroys everything he touches. His greatest sin is ruining Tales from Earthsea, which basically turned off LeGuin from anime forever.
We might have had more Earthsea anime adaptations if Goro DIDN'T FUCK EVERYTHING UP.
Goro Miyazaki, Hayao's son, is the exception to the studio's history of consistent quality. He destroys everything he touches. His greatest sin is ruining Tales from Earthsea, which basically turned off LeGuin from anime forever.
We might have had more Earthsea anime adaptations if Goro DIDN'T FUCK EVERYTHING UP.
I'll start with Wizard Knight then. Ease my way into his writing. Do I need to read all three books in the series right after another?
I was going to post a snazzy Youtube video of 'Country Road' but they have all been hit by copyright claims. :-(
Who would have guessed Miyazaki's son would screw up Ghibli's consistent prestige.
We should probably shift back to books before this thread becomes half books, half Ghibli films.
PassiveObserver
Member
Only a few pages in. Loving it so far.
Looked this book up because I wasn't sure if this is a PKD I've read or not, and turns out I have not. Horselover Fat is such a good protagonist name.
Maklershed
Member
I wish I could selectively erase certain things from my memory. If I could, I'd erase all knowledge of these books just so I can read them again. And I believe the Greg Bear and David Brin books are generally well regarded. I personally haven't read them.
Just finished a marathon on Foundation series that I put on hold for a long long time -April and May 2014.
Well. That was something. I read there were authorized sequel not written by Asimov, are they legit worthy sequel? They aren't another Dune bs, right?
MrAstronaut
Member
I'm currently working on the Sherlock Holmes books!
Tragicomedy
Member
It's just two books that you read back to back. The third one listed there is an omnibus collecting them.
Thanks for the book knowledge. I can afford to knock down a well-loved series. If I am getting a masters in a few years, might as well begin a difficult series. Hell I survived Hitchens, I can survive this!
YesNOnoNOYes
Member
Just finished Stevenson's Treasure Island
I think I might have enjoyed it a lot more if I had read it as a child. But, it was still a good romp. I enjoyed it. I started reading it after I watched Black Sails. Suffice to say, I think the tv series doesnt really do the book justice.
Currently reading China Mieville's King Rat.
I think I might have enjoyed it a lot more if I had read it as a child. But, it was still a good romp. I enjoyed it. I started reading it after I watched Black Sails. Suffice to say, I think the tv series doesnt really do the book justice.
Currently reading China Mieville's King Rat.
Wizard of Earthsea is engaging, beautifully written, and magical. I enjoyed it more than any of the Gene Wolfe books I've tackled.
For the record, I started but have never finished the New Sun series (got partway through the second book, I think). It had its strong points, but I found his style annoying as hell at times. I'll probably give them try again someday..
I finished one of his other books--The Sorcerer's House--fairly recently and enjoyed it a lot. Oddly enough, some of the same things I disliked about New Sun worked very well for me in that book, probably because it's more of an urban fantasy, so I didn't have to come to grips with an entirely new world while also having to wrestle with the quirks of his writing style.
edit// From reading some of the above posts, it sounds like I should also give the wizard knight books a try.
Gordon0Freeman
Member
Starting this tomorrow
Added it to my goodreads want to read list. Thanks for sharing, the book looks pretty awesome!
Fbh
Member
I was in for some medieval fantasy and someone recommended me Prince Of Throns by Mark Lawrence.
Finished it the other day and quite liked it. It's nothing amazing but I have to admit I had fun reading it. It's fast paced, easy to read and just overall enjoyable.
Plus I really liked the fact that:
I'm now starting King of Thorns. I've read a lot of people consider it to be better than the first one so this should be fun
Finished it the other day and quite liked it. It's nothing amazing but I have to admit I had fun reading it. It's fast paced, easy to read and just overall enjoyable.
Plus I really liked the fact that:
It's both a medieval fantasy AND post apocalyptic setting. I have to say I didn't see that comming at first
I'm now starting King of Thorns. I've read a lot of people consider it to be better than the first one so this should be fun
I'm definitely not on board the Gene Wolfe love fest. The writing is super inaccessible and it's like he doesn't even want people to read the book (shadow of the torturer) the way it just skips on any introduction and just drops you into a setting that doesn't make much sense. I realise this probably makes more sense further on, but having read the first hundred pages not having any idea what was going on and not caring about the characters I just quit.
I had forgot this came out last year so once I remembered it:
These books are quite a bit of fun. They are regency period novels very much inspired by Jane Austen, only in this world there is a type of illusion magic. The novels would be largely the same without the magic, but it is used to spice things up a bit.
These books are quite a bit of fun. They are regency period novels very much inspired by Jane Austen, only in this world there is a type of illusion magic. The novels would be largely the same without the magic, but it is used to spice things up a bit.
I had forgot this came out last year so once I remembered it:
These books are quite a bit of fun. They are regency period novels very much inspired by Jane Austen, only in this world there is a type of illusion magic. The novels would be largely the same without the magic, but it is used to spice things up a bit.
That cover is hideous. I want to punch everything on it.
Wow, thanks for sharing that insightful comment. It makes me wanna punch you.
oh the cover of books 2-4 are AWFUL, yet the first book had a pretty representative cover
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