Now reading.

[Dirt]

Wuthering Heights
Shakespeare's Sonnets
Seneca's Essays

[Matthew Gallant]

This thread

[Jason McCullough]

The Diamond Age :D

[Mike Cathcart]

I've been reading the instruction manual to BCMG for the past few weeks. My goal is to play it sometime before the Playstation 3 is released.

[Tyjenks]

The first book of The Belgariad.

[Brian Rubin]

I'm concurrently reading both The Autobiography of a Seaman (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1585740616/ref=pd_sim_books_3/102-2001181-3307318?v=glance&s=books), which is about Admiral Lord Cochrane, the real-life inspiration of such characters as Horatio Hornblower, and After: How America Confronted the September 12 Era (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743237099/qid=1053455620/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-2001181-3307318), an excellent look at the life of ordinary and extraordinary American's following the September 11th terrorist attacks.

[graller]

The Da Vinci Code

[Contrai]

The Black Company books by Glen Cook

[XPav]

David Brin Uplift books.
The Diamond Age by Stephenson.
Some books on tanks.
Some Vernor Vinge.

That'll keep me ok for a couple weeks.

[Miramon]

Recently read:

By Rex Stout:
Some Nero Wolfe book, I forget the title, two stories related to black orchids. Nero and Archie are as entertaining as usual.

By Jasper Fforde:
_The Eyre Affair_
_Lost In a Good Book_
There is no way to explain these books in less than a page, so just go out and read them. Fun, and weird.

By Dave Barry:
_Tricky Business_
An amusing novel about various scum of the earth characters in South Florida

By Someone Or Other (I forget)
_The Risen Empire_
A OK first SF novel about an empire ruled bu technologically-created undead.

By, er, I think, Raymond Aren (sp?)
_The Dawn of Universal History_
A highbrow account of recent history focusing on the US in the cold war and Vietnam but also touching on many other nations and subjects. The author died in the 80s, and this book is I think written around 1972. A good relatively non-ideological history. The author is perhaps a bit over-enamored of Nixon based on his foreign policy (he doesn't discuss Nixon's domestic policy at all), but considering the atrocious results of Kennedy and Johnson's foreign policies, this is perhaps forgiveable. Also perhaps to keep in mind is that the author, being French, would naturally tend to overlook political corruption as a relatively minor sin (though it is also possible Watergate hadn't occurred when these essays were written.)

[Ben Sones]

Nothing, at the moment. I've been too damn busy. But I have Tad Williams' new book on my pile. That's the next one I plan to tackle.

[Case]

Just wrapped up Sharpe's Havoc by Bernard Cornwell (latest in the Richard Sharpe series).

Currently reading The Miocene Arrow by Sean McMullen. Interesting world construct, though the premise for its creation seems ludicruous.

Loyd Case

[Anders Hallin]

Right now I'm reading..
Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucault for class.
I'm thinking of picking up a few Roman era collections, it's been a while since the last time.

[Sean Tudor]

Wow. I don't know how you guys find the time. I haven't read a novel for over 3 years now. Simply too busy with work, family, and computer games.

The last book I managed to complete was Matt Reilly's "Ice Station". I think I have a backlog of 15 books that I haven't even touched. My wife refuses to buy me any more books as she knows I probably won't read them.

Although I am working my way through Advanced C++ but that isn't a novel.

[Captain Cookiepants]

Dave Barry: 'Tricky Business'

I've also shut my brain down since I spent last week reading every Holt book I could and am now reading the 'Get Fuzzy' books. Hilarious.

[Sparky]

By Jasper Fforde:
_The Eyre Affair_
_Lost In a Good Book_
There is no way to explain these books in less than a page, so just go out and read them. Fun, and weird.
These are great -- sometimes the dialogue can be ungainly and a bit derivative, but not in an annoying Neil Gaimanish way. Fforde's website (jasperfforde.com) is a lot of fun, too -- lots of background info on his alternate universe. I want a pet dodo.

[Tom Chick]

The last book I managed to complete was Matt Reilly's "Ice Station".

Oh dear, no wonder you enjoyed The Matrix Reloaded. :)

Shieldwolf, a sometime Qt3 poster, talked me into reading Ice Station when he described the gun fight over the killer whale infested pool. So I read it. He's not allowed to recommend books to me any more.

-Tom

[Met_K]

Re-reading the entire Dirk Gently series of novels by Douglas Adams at this moment.

I really, really miss him. The guy was one in a million.

[Sean Tudor]

The last book I managed to complete was Matt Reilly's "Ice Station".

Oh dear, no wonder you enjoyed The Matrix Reloaded. :)

Shieldwolf, a sometime Qt3 poster, talked me into reading Ice Station when he described the gun fight over the killer whale infested pool. So I read it. He's not allowed to recommend books to me any more.

-Tom

Didn't you love the escapist entertainment ? I thought it was a pretty good book considering Reilly was in his early twenties when he wrote it.

It beats being bored to death with some of Tom Clancy's later books. :wink:

[Case]

Shieldwolf, a sometime Qt3 poster, talked me into reading Ice Station when he described the gun fight over the killer whale infested pool. So I read it. He's not allowed to recommend books to me any more.

-Tom

May I recommend to you Sharpe's Eagle, by Bernard Cornwell?

Loyd

[voltaic]

Just finished:
The IRA: A History by Tim Pat Coogan

Currently in:
The State Within a State: The KGB and Its Hold on Russia-Past, Present, and Future by Yevgenia Albats (in English)

On deck:
The First World War: A Complete History by Martin Gilbert
Prey and Timeline by Michael Crichton

[Russ]

The Atlantic Monthly
Skeptic
Re-reading Fellowship of the Ring to one of my kids.
Trying to find time to read Walden and Dubliners.
Next non-fiction I want to read is The Third Chimpanzee. Anyone read it?

[Tyjenks]

Timeline by Michael Crichton

I was going to advise against it as I found it rather dull, but maybe you should just let me know what you think. I am hesitant to reccomend or dissuade anyone regarding anything after my Empire of Magic fiasco.

[Lloyd Heilbrunn]

Just wrapped up Sharpe's Havoc by Bernard Cornwell (latest in the Richard Sharpe series).

Loyd Case

I've read a couple of these and liked them, but most of the series seems only available in $13 paperbacks, which is obscene :(


I'm reading Fruit of the Poisonous Tree (Joe Gunther series).

[Case]

Just wrapped up Sharpe's Havoc by Bernard Cornwell (latest in the Richard Sharpe series).

Loyd Case

I've read a couple of these and liked them, but most of the series seems only available in $13 paperbacks, which is obscene :(


I've read all of them. They're consistently good, though the last half of the series is somewhat formulaic. I've got most of them in hardback.

My friends keep trying to get me to read the Patrick O'Brian novels, but I could never get into them, for whatever reason.

[Brad Grenz]

Recently finished the last book in CS Lewis' Space trilogy, which I enjoyed very much.

Now, well, I've just started Bram Stoker's Dracula.

[Tom Chick]

Now, well, I've just started Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Is that the one with Gary Oldman and Keanu Reeves?

-Tom

[Brad Grenz]

I can't tell from the wood engraving on the cover.

[Kevin Grey]

The Big Blowdown by George Pelecanos


But I have Tad Williams' new book on my pile. That's the next one I plan to tackle.

Wow, didn't even know he had a new book out. Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is one of my all time favorites.

[EviLore]

Last three books:

The Demon-Haunted World, by Carl Sagan. Came highly recommended, and though it seemed to be nothing new in the first couple chapters, I eventually found myself engrossed by the effectiveness of some of the presented arguments. Some pretty good stuff is substantiated.

The Gods Themselves, by Isaac Asimov. While sifting through the package of old science fiction paperbacks my uncle mailed me quite some time ago (until now relatively ignored), I glanced at this novel. The middle section tended to drag, as it didn't leave me feeling the curiosity that Asimov seemed to intend (kinda predictable), but the first and final thirds of the novel retained my interest.

1984, by George Orwell. Yeah, I'm an ass for not reading this sooner. Excellent.

Currently reading:

The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka. Yeah, okay, it's only 60 pages long, but I started it towards the end of last night. Pretty interesting, as of half-way through.


Next up:


Not sure. Robin hobb's Assassin's Apprentice came in today at the bookstore, so I might start that tomorrow. My only fantasy experience has been with LotR and ASOIAF. Hopefully not too hopeless a case compared to Martin's ridiculously good series.

[Alan Dunkin]

Now reading:

Fire by Sebastian Junger (second reading)

Carnage and Culture by Victor Davis Hanson (awesome, awesome book)

Almost done with both so I haven't figured out what next to start, though I need to finish reading Naval War in the Mediterranean 1940-43.

Need to re-start the military history book thread..

--- Alan

[Thierry Nguyen]

I just blazed through the four Harry Potter books, and am now starting up David Mamet's Three Uses Of The Knife and Italo Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveler.

Also trying to figure out what children's series to go for next: either Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, which Jeff is heartily recommending, or Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series, which is often described as "Die Hard with faeries" and has my friends giggle about faeries with nuclear weapons and crazy shoot-outs in London restaurants.

[Dean]

I only read one book at a time, and since summer's here I'm tackling the third volume of Shelby Foote's The Civil War.

My only complaint is that it's so big and heavy that a) I can't really take it anywhere to read and b) sometimes my arms get tired when reading it in bed.

But that Robert E. Lee was a pisser. I expected great things from Grant when he came to the Eastern Theater, but so far he's just thrown men at a meat grinder (I'm around May 17, 1864, just after Spotsylvania).

[Ben Sones]

Also trying to figure out what children's series to go for next: either Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, which Jeff is heartily recommending...

Jeff's right. Those books were excellent.

Artemis Fowl is good, too, but I'd read the Pullman books first.

[Jakub]

Almost done with both so I haven't figured out what next to start, though I need to finish reading Naval War in the Mediterranean 1940-43.
How interesting. I just read Army of the Dawn, a rather incomplete book about the American involvement in North Africa. The lack of information about the earlier campaigns really hurts the book.

[voltaic]

Timeline by Michael Crichton
I was going to advise against it as I found it rather dull, but maybe you should just let me know what you think. I am hesitant to reccomend or dissuade anyone regarding anything after my Empire of Magic fiasco.
Cool, will do. I had read everything of Crichton's up to but not including Airframe a few years ago in one fell swoop, so now I'm kind of cleaning up the last bits and pieces.

[Alan Dunkin]

How interesting. I just read Army of the Dawn, a rather incomplete book about the American involvement in North Africa. The lack of information about the earlier campaigns really hurts the book.

Since Atkinson's series is really about the evolution of the American Army in WW2 I'm not sure in that scope that earlier campaigns really need to be reiterated in any detail. It won a Pulitzer, and deservedly so, I thought.

--- Alan

[Rich4757]

Hey Brian Rubin, do you know where a copy of that Lord Cochrane autobiography can be found? I've been reading the Patrick O'Brian novels over the last few years in between other novels and would like to check out this book you mention. I've found a Heart of Oak: Classic book about Cochrane but can't find the one you mention.

[Alan Dunkin]

Have seen at least one at a few Half-Price Books.

--- Alan

[Fjollefjumpen]

Just finished "Lolita" by Nabokov. I really can't figure out what all the fuzz is about. Is this book really so great?

[DrCrypt]

Just finished "Lolita" by Nabokov. I really can't figure out what all the fuzz is about. Is this book really so great?
Yes, it is. In fact, if I believed in a stagnant rating system of quality for books, I might even go as far as to say it is the greatest novel of the twentieth century. Since everyone knows I hate everything, this is a pretty huge statement for me to make. In fact, I think I could make an equally compelling case for Pale Fire, another one of those Nabokov novels that leaves you feeling as if some twisted genius just handed you a synesthesoscope that revealed the world as an alien jungle pungent and sticky with sickening, unfathomable beauty. I've read Lolita about five times, and every time I read it I catch a new pun, or a new turn of phrase the leaves me breathless and reaffirmed in the absolute genius of Nabokov.

I'm curious if you read it in Norwegian, in which case the translation might have been an embarassment for a book whose emotional center of gravity flows equilibriously through its prose style. I doubt anyone could translate Nabokov, except maybe for Dmitri Nabokov, his opera singing, race car driving super son. When Nabokov hit it big in America, he didn't trust himself to translate his earlier Russian works into English - all accounts suggest that he just rewrote the damn books, which is why even a poor Nabokov novel seems just a shade less good than him at the top of his form.

If not, perhaps English being your second language hampered you? Nabokov is a difficult writer even for most native speakers. I've read Lolits about five times, and every time I read it again, I find some new treasure that I missed the first time. Every time I read it, I also have an unabridged OED next to me. If you are the typical "promiscuously skim over any sentence that doesn't illuminate its meaning to you in a flash" reader, you'll miss a lot of Lolita. Nabokov is a writer who assumes that his readers are as much of geniuses as he is, since he is really writing for himself - this is a pretty difficult burden for most people to handle. All I can say is, try again... the book is worth it.

Why exactly did you dislike Lolita?

[Alan Dunkin]

I see a counter-argument coming that if you didn't like Lolita you're not a genius since it was written by a genius for geniuses.

Of course, in that whole post you never once mentioned anything about why the book is great, other than the fact that translations are screwy and Nabokov is a genius.

--- Alan

[Doug Erickson]

Mortals, by Norman Rush.

[DrCrypt]

I see a counter-argument coming that if you didn't like Lolita you're not a genius since it was written by a genius for geniuses.

Of course, in that whole post you never once mentioned anything about why the book is great, other than the fact that translations are screwy and Nabokov is a genius.

That definitely wasn't a counter argument I was going to make, but it is certainly true that, like James Joyce, Nabokov has certain intellectual expectations of his readers going in. If you can't handle the fact that certain authors might not consider you to be their intellectual target audience, there's tons of other books to read. Why piss in the pool when the Olympic Committee tells you you aren't qualified to swim with the big boys? But I wasn't going to make that argument because enjoying a novel has nothing to do with understanding it or recognizing its quality, and you could certainly dislike Lolita for reasons that have nothing to do with "not getting it". Way to preemptively act threatened, though.

As for not specifying why Lolita is such a great novel - would some pithy blurb about its quality make you control your unreasoning rancor here? Frankly, I'm not sure anyone wants me to spend thirty pages applauding the the tissuey, multilayered splendence of Lolita's prose. Or that Lolita is novel writing at its finest because it makes a novel about child rape seem like a fairy tale of love lost in the magic of the pre-60's American landscape, while at the same time leaving the horror of what Humbert has done to the girl in the reader's plain sight - which we end up ignoring. Or how the power of the novel lies in the fact that it makes its narrator a monster, a rapist of children and a murderer, and yet, because we are charmed by him, the reader is transformed into his collaborator, his accomplice and his moral peer. Or how Nabokov then has the balls to offer Humbert (and by extension, ourselves) redemption, and how all of this is just a small part of what ultimately makes Lolita one of the most poetic, morally profound novels ever written. There are tons of essays written by scholars worthier than me that can outline all of these points for you... my opinion about Lolita's worth is hardly unique.

I'm not quite sure I get your attitude here, Alan. All I wanted was to know why he disliked Lolita so much, because I love the book and, if at all possible, would like to get other people to love it too. And if that bar of entry is a bad Norwegian translation or Nabokov's often difficult prose, I wanted to offer encouragement to keep at it and suggest reading the annotated Enlgish edition, which is really quite excellent. That being the case, your post seems like the reaction of someone who feels bizarrely threatened by ideas that I never actually voiced. Chill, man.

[Jason McCullough]

Or that Lolita is novel writing at its finest because it makes a novel about child rape seem like a fairy tale of love lost in the magic of the pre-60's American landscape, while at the same time leaving the horror of what Humbert has done to the girl in the reader's plain sight - which we end up ignoring.

That's a pretty good summary, actually.

[Jason Lutes]

Also trying to figure out what children's series to go for next: either Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, which Jeff is heartily recommending, or Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series, which is often described as "Die Hard with faeries" and has my friends giggle about faeries with nuclear weapons and crazy shoot-outs in London restaurants.

I'll also throw in a recommendation for the Pullman books. My girlfriend and I started reading them out loud to each other in our free time and couldn't stop until we'd plowed through all of them.

[voltaic]

Just finished Chricton's Timeline. And as a hapless victim of pop-novels, I lovzored it. Sword fights and quantum physics all together in one nice ceramic tile. <sigh> How quaint.

Actually I just can't get enough of Chricton's wishful thinking. His books always have the Jeff Goldblum character who can describe nearly everything scientific going on in the novel in reasonable detail. Jurassic Park, Andromeda Strain, The Sphere, and of course Timeline (Jeff Goldblum's role being played by the uber-dude Gordon). But pulpy retarded extrapolations about impossible technologies built on baseless theories? Oh, gotta love it.

I can't wait to start Prey next, although I think it will be after Blind Man's Bluff and Globalhead, both of which GMicek just forced down my book-consuming gullet.

[Toddy]

That being the case, your post seems like the reaction of someone who feels bizarrely threatened by ideas that I never actually voiced. Chill, man.

Maybe he's not threatened, but simply annoyed at someone who uses phrases like "the tissuey, multilayered splendence of Lolita's prose." Calling Wagner James Au! ;-)

Sorry, couldn't help that one. Not the wording I'd have used, though I agree with the sentiment. Nabokov was a brilliant author. The oddest thing about this thread is that I spent 30 minutes last night trying decide whether to re-read Lolita or Pale Fire. In the end, I couldn't decide, so I just went back to the biography of Heinrich Schliemann I've been meandering through over the past couple of weeks. Which is a very good bio and a real eye-opener regarding how the man was a massive fraud in almost every part of his life, but I'm strangely in the mood for fiction right now. It's David Traill's Schliemann of Troy: Treasure and Deceit, on the off chance that anyone else is interested.

I tried the Pullman books a couple of months back and got about 50 pages into The Golden Compass before losing interest. Just seems like the same old pretentious fantasy clap-trap to me. By the way, has anyone here read Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake? I've wanted to give it a try for some time now, though I haven't heard enough to take the plunge on buying one of the collected editions, as they're sort of pricey.

[Fjollefjumpen]

First of all, It's nice that someone bothered to answer :)


I'm curious if you read it in Norwegian, in which case the translation might have been an embarassment for a book whose emotional center of gravity flows equilibriously through its prose style.

Actually I did read it in Norwegian. It is an old translation (actually from 1959), and I've tried to do some research about the translator. He is called Odd Bang Hansen, and is an author himself. He is also an academic of some sort. I think it is concidered a good translation, but I'm not certain.



If not, perhaps English being your second language hampered you? Nabokov is a difficult writer even for most native speakers.

This wouldn't have been a problem for me (not to be boastful, but I've actually studied English at University level). At least it hasn't been before... I will try to read the book in English after I've finished my examinations this term, and maybe this will change my view of the book.


Why exactly did you dislike Lolita?

When you read this, keep in mind that I haven't studied any literature. I'm pretty sure real lit-crits could've posted better arguments than me.

And another thing - of course it's a good book. I've read plenty worse many times. The problem for me was that it wasn't great, and that's what it was supposed to be. I had more than high expectations. I had this book recommended by several friends, and I've naturally heard a lot about it from before. Maybe I was a little too excited...

The main flaw in this book is, in my view, the artificial manner the story is told (and this may be because of the Norwegian translation, but I'm not sure). By artificial, I mean that I can't believe that the words from Humbert comes from Humbert. I feel that Humbert becomes too 'constructed'. I just don't think Nabokov creates a believable character. I'm not a psychologist, and I haven't had lots of experience with madmen, but still, something just isn't right. Unfortunately, quoting from the Norwegian text won't help here, so I cannot give examples.

I've had the same problem when reading American Psycho too (no other comparison intended). Maybe I just fail to accept or grasp the concept of these types of protagonists.

[DrCrypt]

Maybe he's not threatened, but simply annoyed at someone who uses phrases like "the tissuey, multilayered splendence of Lolita's prose." Calling Wagner James Au!
Typo. I mean to write "the totally bitching way Nabokov... um, you know... writes" but then I spilled my forty across the keyboard, tried to suck it out from between the keys, which consequently necessitated actually depressing some of them in the pattern you saw. Then I accidentally clicked submit.

Fjollewhatever - I'd try again in English and see if you find it more compelling. I'm inclined to believe that part of the problem here is this Odd Bang character. Frankly, I'm pretty blown away to hear you compare the narration of American Psycho with Lolita. Not to pull a Brian Koontz here, but I haven't read American Psycho. However, I have seen the film and based upon the completely loathsome representation there, I can't imagine two narrators being approached more differently by their respective authors. If the Norwegian version makes you think American Psycho, though, something's wrong.

One thing to mention is that, unlike American Psycho, Humbert Humbert is clearly not insane, which is part of the power of the novel. He is a moral monster who ruins a girl's life in the pursuit of a sexual fetish, and hides that fetish from himself and the reader by window dressing it up with the internal logical structures of various fairy tales and love poetry. But, again, it is my belief that the novel is brilliant simply because, in the end, something about Humbert Humbert - the sneering, snooty, hyperjudgmental child rapist, hypocrite and murderer - is compellingly human and sympathetic to the reader.

Anyway, I would suggest at least trying the first few chapters of Lolita in English and seeing if they click for you. Thanks for your reply, by the way.

[Fjollefjumpen]

Frankly, I'm pretty blown away to hear you compare the narration of American Psycho with Lolita.

I didn't ("no other comparison intended" was maybe a little vague). I just said I had a similar problem accepting the main character in American Psycho, and that that may be a weakness in me reading books - not a weakness in either Lolita or AP. I agree with one thing though, Ellis cannot be compared to Nabokov.


Humbert Humbert is clearly not insane, which is part of the power of the novel. He is a moral monster who ruins a girl's life in the pursuit of a sexual fetish, and hides that fetish from himself and the reader. It is my belief that the novel is brilliant simply because, in the end, Humbert Humbert is compellingly human and sympathetic to the reader.

A man who hides his immoral side from himself, and at the same time is oblivious towards other people's feelings, may not be insane, but in my vocabulary they're called sociopaths. Therefore I cannot agree with your argument as a whole.

I agree in the human sympathetic part - you get an awful lot of compassion for a total monster when reading this book.


Anyway, I would suggest at least trying the first few chapters of Lolita in English and seeing if they click for you.

I will - but feel free to answer this one if you want. I like this thread :)

[Bub, Andrew]

So, I'm like reading this terrific analysis of Nabokov and Lolita by Dr. Crypt and a few others (heady stuff - reminds me of the volcanic arguments a class and I had about it in College) and the Voltaic, casually, waltzes in and trips me up by name dropping Crichton and Timeline. THEN the Nabokov argument continues unabated. Frankly I needed a few blank posts between them, for recovery purposes. My brain hurts.

Tyjenks, are you enjoying the Belgariad then? Tell Belgareth I said "Hi".

Ow.

[Jakub]

Since Atkinson's series is really about the evolution of the American Army in WW2 I'm not sure in that scope that earlier campaigns really need to be reiterated in any detail. It won a Pulitzer, and deservedly so, I thought.

--- Alan
Yeah, but he seems to treat the western Mediterranean as its own separate entity, a land without need for context. If he'd dedicated a small chapter, rather than a token paragraph here and there, explaining the Eighth Army/Afrika Korps engagements, I think that would help explain to new readers just why German troops found themselves retreating in the face of such an incompetent foe.

[Tyjenks]

Tyjenks, are you enjoying the Belgariad then? Tell Belgareth I said "Hi".

Yes and I will. Not quite sure how I missed it in my first trip through adolescence, but decided to go ahead while at the used bookstore.

I am not sure if it is because I ended up loathing the last book I read after finishing all 600 or so pages (The Runelords, sorry, but blech!). Maybe all this talk about the Belgariad being a fantasy classic is true.

Going from writing that is shite to someone who knows how to tell a story is a joy. Me likey.

[Alan Dunkin]

My contention that you treated Lolita extremely high-brow without ever really saying why it was so great.

I liked The Belgariad and even the Mallorean a like, and I suppose like Eddings generally very well, which I guess after Tolkien was the next fantasy series I ever read, though I started Eye of the World in there sometime (and Brooks too I think, though I've read a lot of his books never really dug them that well). Of course, I've given up pretty much on both Brooks and Jordan, so I guess George R.R. Martin is the new king :)

Runelords.. blah. It's blandness really makes you wonder why "David Farland" (a psuedonym) needed a new name.

--- Alan

[Tyjenks]

Runelords.. blah. It's blandness really makes you wonder why "David Farland" (a psuedonym) needed a new name.

--- Alan

It was 600 pages of sporadic build up. Every fifty pages or so I would say to myself, "Looks like something cool is about to happen." When nothing happened, I would sigh, but soldier on as something else seemed mildly interesting. I almost burned the book 8 or 9 times.

OTOH, David Eddings has been slowly building a little world for me to escape to. Not much has happened, but it is still 100 times more enjoyable a read.

[Dirt]

i found all the characters in the Belgariad to be annoying know-it-alls.

[Tyjenks]

i found all the characters in the Belgariad to be annoying know-it-alls.

Just like the majority of Qt3 forum members. No wonder I felt immediately comfortable with the characters.

[Rich4757]

I just finished Bones of the Earth by Michael Swanwick this morning. I still am not sure of what I read. None of the reviews for this book seem to tell you what it is really about. The jacket blurb on it leads you to believe the main plot is something other than what it is. I found the study of live dinosaurs in their native time to actually be nothing more than a backdrop for the real story which was the author’s unique take on time travel and its paradox's. I think they should have printed a flow chart in the book somewhere so you could follow the story and be able to tell where each character is and when each character is and which version of that character we are seeing. Each seems to appear at least two times at different ages in their life and none of them seem to have been born anytime close to another one of the characters but just meet somewhere in time. What gets bad is they all interact with each other even themselves at times often not recognizing a future or past version of another character that they have already met. The end of the book I'm guessing is supposed to make you feel outraged, astonished or insightful but all I felt was meh.

[voltaic]

So, I'm like reading this terrific analysis of Nabokov and Lolita by Dr. Crypt and a few others (heady stuff - reminds me of the volcanic arguments a class and I had about it in College) and the Voltaic, casually, waltzes in and trips me up by name dropping Crichton and Timeline. THEN the Nabokov argument continues unabated. Frankly I needed a few blank posts between them, for recovery purposes. My brain hurts.
For what it's worth, Bub, I have one of those kind of pretensious bookstores "edition" copies of Nabokov's Pale Fire but I haven't read it in so long I pretty much forgot what it is about. Ah, it's part of the "Everyman's Library" series from 1992, including a golden colored bookmark sewn into the binding. I can re-read it and post here if you like.

Ooh, I could read it in Russian and then start spewing serious pretentious drivel. Yeah. Nice. Let me know. :wink:

[Alan Dunkin]

My personal impression is that Swanwick is a complete and utter moron. That's just something I felt like sharing, so I probably would never ever buy any of his books, unless I was stranded on a desert island and if I had a book out of two to burn, and I had to choose between some swanky Swanwick title and Lolita.

:)

--- Alan

[mtkafka]

Trying to finish up the first Sword book in the RR Martin trilogy (3/4ths through). Its pretty good, but I just cant seem to focus on reading much these days. I always end up playing a game or watching tv...

etc

[mtkafka]

So, I'm like reading this terrific analysis of Nabokov and Lolita by Dr. Crypt and a few others (heady stuff - reminds me of the volcanic arguments a class and I had about it in College) and the Voltaic, casually, waltzes in and trips me up by name dropping Crichton and Timeline. THEN the Nabokov argument continues unabated. Frankly I needed a few blank posts between them, for recovery purposes. My brain hurts.
For what it's worth, Bub, I have one of those kind of pretensious bookstores "edition" copies of Nabokov's Pale Fire but I haven't read it in so long I pretty much forgot what it is about. Ah, it's part of the "Everyman's Library" series from 1992, including a golden colored bookmark sewn into the binding. I can re-read it and post here if you like.

Ooh, I could read it in Russian and then start spewing serious pretentious drivel. Yeah. Nice. Let me know. :wink:

Pale Fire is a pretty good 'academia' book/proem. The whole thing is really about a overly analytical fan of a Robert Frostlike? poet. Funny thing is the book is basically the story of a paranoid stalker. Its funny once you get whats happening. Kind of tries to make fun of the literary critic/biographer thing, where everything is overanalyzed. Theres also sort of the inner story of Pale Fire actually referenceing on the writer writer, of Zembla as Russia and Nabokov coming to America... ironically which has nothing to do at all with the story (Nabokox on himself I guess?).

etc

[sellthekids]

in rotation:
The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq by Kenneth M. Pollack --> the war ended before i had time to finish this...but i am liking it.

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain --> if you have never worked 'in industry' then this book will probably offended, scare, and trouble you; if you have, then you will find it hilarious.

on deck:
Prey by Michael Crichton --> my wife recommended it. plus we have a friend who just started working in the nanotech dept at Rice University , so i thought this might be interesing. i am going to supplement it with some reality by reading the one below

The Next Big Thing Is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business by Jack Uldrich --> which was recommeded by the head of Rice's dept. i think he recommended it for newbies like me ;)

[DrCrypt]

Theres also sort of the inner story of Pale Fire actually referenceing on the writer writer, of Zembla as Russia and Nabokov coming to America... ironically which has nothing to do at all with the story (Nabokox on himself I guess?).
Um, not to be contradictory, but yes it does. The entire point is that Kinbote believes himself to be King Charles of Zembla, and believes that Pale Fire was meant to be an epic poem celebrating his home before John Shade's wife pussy-whipped him into changing it. The entire book is a skewed parody of literary criticism, where Kinbote tries to prove all of this (oftentimes offering thirty page footnotes for single words in the poem) while at the same time authoring a posthumous, homoerotic love note to John Shade. The Zembla stuff is integral to the novel.

[Alan Dunkin]

in rotation:
The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq by Kenneth M. Pollack --> the war ended before i had time to finish this...but i am liking it.


A very good book I feel, Pollack knows his stuff very well and his previous book, Arab Wars, is quite frankly one of the best looks at arabs in the age of modern warfare that I've ever seen.

--- Alan

[mtkafka]

Theres also sort of the inner story of Pale Fire actually referenceing on the writer writer, of Zembla as Russia and Nabokov coming to America... ironically which has nothing to do at all with the story (Nabokox on himself I guess?).
Um, not to be contradictory, but yes it does. The entire point is that Kinbote believes himself to be King Charles of Zembla, and believes that Pale Fire was meant to be an epic poem celebrating his home before John Shade's wife pussy-whipped him into changing it. The entire book is a skewed parody of literary criticism, where Kinbote tries to prove all of this (oftentimes offering thirty page footnotes for single words in the poem) while at the same time authoring a posthumous, homoerotic love note to John Shade. The Zembla stuff is integral to the novel.

yes, you are correct! I couldn't have said it any better. My memory evades me.

etc

[Lloyd Heilbrunn]

Just finished Diplomatic Immunity by Bujold, much better than her last Miles book. Probably will start the new John Grisham PB next.

[Alan Dunkin]

Barnes & Noble has a nice selection of "Father's Day" books at 20% off for sale; visit your local one, should be at the front or near front isle tables.

--- Alan

[voltaic]

sellthekids: nice. I just started Prey yesterday, about 1/3rd through it now. I was going to wait but GMicek mentioned the nanotech and I had to hit it next.

[voltaic]

Finished Prey yesterday. Worst Crichton book evar, and I've read all but about three.

[Alan Dunkin]

So I'm not sure you can really make that assumption since you haven't read all of them... I thought the Terminal Man was pretty lame myself.

--- Alan

[sellthekids]

sellthekids: nice. I just started Prey yesterday, about 1/3rd through it now. I was going to wait but GMicek mentioned the nanotech and I had to hit it next.


Finished Prey yesterday. Worst Crichton book evar, and I've read all but about three.

wow. that didn't take long to dismiss.

i hope to start it this week. i don't think i have read a Crichton book since Jurassic and i really loved it, so my expectations are kinda out of whack. :shock:

[voltaic]

So I'm not sure you can really make that assumption since you haven't read all of them... I thought the Terminal Man was pretty lame myself.
MC has written about 23 books, and as I said above I've read all but about three. In truth, I've read all except six (I just checked his list of books, a few others managed to slip through my reading list). So I'm basing my opinion having read 17 of his 23 books. If I haven't read enough to have a valid point of view, well OK. File that as you will.


wow. that didn't take long to dismiss.

i hope to start it this week. i don't think i have read a Crichton book since Jurassic and i really loved it, so my expectations are kinda out of whack. :shock:
Well in all honesty, you're also talking about probably one of his best books overall. Jurassic Park is like a model of modern pop fiction. I guess I had really high expectations for Prey also (especially having just finished and really liked Timeline) but I dunno. Maybe it's just me. The technical aspect was as good as usual, I guess there were parts I just felt he kind of copped out on, not being as clever as in his other books. Still read it, as a bad MC book is still better than most other books.

[Jason Lutes]

Right now I'm reading A Language Older Than Words by Derrick Jensen, which is a long meditation on interspecies communication and the lies we tell ourselves to justify our destruction of the world. He's maybe a tad self-righteous, but the honesty and depth of his inquiry more than make up for it. A very affecting book.

Also reading Haruki Murakami's Underground, a series of interviews with survivors of the Tokyo sarin gas attacks. I love Murakami's fiction, and it's interesting to see how his sensibility jibes with a documentary approach to the subject matter.

[Alan Dunkin]

MC has written about 23 books, and as I said above I've read all but about three. In truth, I've read all except six (I just checked his list of books, a few others managed to slip through my reading list). So I'm basing my opinion having read 17 of his 23 books. If I haven't read enough to have a valid point of view, well OK. File that as you will.

I'm not talking about those Jeffrey Hudson books; I have no idea how many he wrote (I only know of one but I guess there are others).

Not including that there are thirteen fiction I believe and four nonfiction, so that's sixteen.

Oh hell, I dunno where I'm going.

--- Alan

[Tyjenks]

Well in all honesty, you're also talking about probably one of his best books overall. Jurassic Park is like a model of modern pop fiction. I guess I had really high expectations for Prey also (especially having just finished and really liked Timeline)

As with most instances on this board, good thing you did not listen to me. I thought it was a bit stale in both time periods. Glad you dug it.

[King Lupid]

I have always enjoyed Crichton's books (what I have read), though I think he has great ideas, but he just doesn't seem to be able to carry them through a whole book. Just my .02.

[voltaic]

Got my list from http://www.crichton-official.com.

Sorry, on re-examination 6 of those 23 are only movies. So for example they included both Eaters of the Dead (the book) and "The Thirteenth Warrior" (movie based on the book) as separate listings. That explains how so many slipped through my reading list as I haven't seen 3 of those movies.

So looks like 17 books, of which I haven't yet read four: Airframe, Electronic Life, Jasper Johns, and Travels.

King Lupid: agree totally. This was my problem with Prey. About two-thirds in it started to read like he decided fuckit, he has a deadline for his publisher or something.

And FWIW I'm currently halfway through Bruce Sterling's collection entitled Globalhead. For those keeping score, yes I read that fast when it's fiction. :)

[Rich4757]

Airframe was a lot like Disclosure, I would go ahead and read that one. My wife even liked it and she almost never reads. It's one of maybe 5 books I've seen her read in 10 years.

[triggercut]

in rotation:
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain --> if you have never worked 'in industry' then this book will probably offended, scare, and trouble you; if you have, then you will find it hilarious.


Or, if you've worked in the industry, you'll come to the conclusion that Anthony Bourdain's restaurants have used some execrable purchasing, sanitation, and service models.

I'd love for Chef Tony to put up a restaurant right next to my place here in the DC suburbs. I'd put the smug bastard out of business in two months.

[triggercut]

Currently finishing the utterly enjoyable If I Never Get Back by Darryl Brock. Originally published in 1986, this cult classic has been out of print for over a decade, finally reissued by Penguin/Plume. Not a great bit of literature, but fun as hell to read. If the fiction of W. P. Kinsella (you know, the guy who wrote Shoeless Joe and The Iowa Baseball Confederacy) turns your wheel, then this is essential.

The story has modern-day reporter (and frustrated former ballplayer) Sam Fowler transported back in time (never mind how) to 1869, where he improbably hooks up with baseball's first professional squad, the Cincinnati Red Stockings. Fowler ends up as a sub on the team, befriends a young Mark Twain, and somehow runs afoul of an early incarnation of the Irish Republican Army. It's good, silly fun, and if Brock's prose is occasionally overwrought, you forgive him since the level of historical research is fantastically deep, and the characters and story are so damn likeable.

Also reading: McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury Of Thrilling Tales, Edited by Michael Chabon. McSweeney's is the "literary magazine" famously edited by the enfante terrible of American Letters, David Eggers...only this time 'round, he's let his buddy, the far more enjoyable and personable Michael Chabon (Wonder Boys, Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Klay) take the reigns.

Chabon's premise for this collection of short stories is magnificent. Bored by the current state of the modern short story and the fact that the genre is basically restricted now to plotless, character-driven observations which end with some sort of epiphany (Raymond Carver's genius has done more unintentional damage to the modern short story than Quentin Tarantino's did to crime movies in the 1990's...). As Chabon correctly points out, as recently as the 1950's, when you said "short fiction", you might be talking about ghost stories, suspense stories, detective stories, tales of the macabre, historical stories, romance stories, stories of the sea, spy stories, war stories, etc. etc. In other words, plot-driven stories. Stories where *something happens*. Other than T. Coraghessan Boyle, (notably absent here, but Tom Boyle's got nothing to prove since the vast majority of his short fiction is plot-driven anyway) Chabon's right. So, in this thick volume we get stories from esteemed writers working outside their comfort zone, folks like Chabon, Nick Hornby, Rick Moody, and Dave Eggers. Some familiar plot-driven story spinners also show up, like Michael Crichton, Neil Gaiman, Glen David Gold, Elmore Leonard, and Stephen King. Some of the stories apparently miss the mark, from the reviews I've read, but so far Jim Shepard's Indiana Jones turn in "Tedford And The Megalodon" and Glen David Gold's "The Tears Of Squonk, And What Happened Thereafter" have both been charming and fun to read. Apparently a volume 2 is due soon.

[Alan Dunkin]

Michael Crichton is in there as well.

Since all our talk on Crichton, I realized I've had a pristine untouched since 1997 or so copy of Airframe sitting in the paperback stack that I haven't even read yet, so I started that last night and got about 1/4 of the way through it.

--- Alan

[Tyjenks]

Hyperion by Dan Simmons upon the suggestion of folks in the "Favorite Sci-Fi books" thread.

Wow is it good. All this sci-fi I stayed away from in the favor of fantasy and horror. What a silly, silly human I have been.

[Gav]

Theres also sort of the inner story of Pale Fire actually referenceing on the writer writer, of Zembla as Russia and Nabokov coming to America... ironically which has nothing to do at all with the story (Nabokox on himself I guess?).
Um, not to be contradictory, but yes it does. The entire point is that Kinbote believes himself to be King Charles of Zembla, and believes that Pale Fire was meant to be an epic poem celebrating his home before John Shade's wife pussy-whipped him into changing it. The entire book is a skewed parody of literary criticism, where Kinbote tries to prove all of this (oftentimes offering thirty page footnotes for single words in the poem) while at the same time authoring a posthumous, homoerotic love note to John Shade. The Zembla stuff is integral to the novel.

There's also a theory out there that Kinbote and Shade are the same person. (It's been a while since I read about the theory, so I don't remember the details).

Personally, I think "Pale Fire" is worth reading because it's just so funny, even on a surface level, where you don't try to dig down into the details. (Apparently, for instance, there's a lot of stuff to be found in the index, but I loved the book even without looking through the index).

Gav

[CheesyPoof]

I just finished Positively Fifth Street. If you like poker it's a good book to pick up. I felt the author went on tangents to pad his page count, but they don't last too long.

I want to pick up that book I read about here and on /., Altered Carbon. Sounds good.

[gdunbar]

Hyperion by Dan Simmons upon the suggestion of folks in the "Favorite Sci-Fi books" thread.

Wow is it good. All this sci-fi I stayed away from in the favor of fantasy and horror. What a silly, silly human I have been.

Yeah that one is really good. The sequels go down a bit but are still worth reading.

If you've been staying away from sci-fi just work through the recent Hugo and Nebula winners and you'll do well. I agree that fantasy as a genre doesn't have as much to offer as sci-fi.

Currently reading The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson.

Geoff

[Jim Hoffman]

Hyperion by Dan Simmons upon the suggestion of folks in the "Favorite Sci-Fi books" thread.

Wow is it good. All this sci-fi I stayed away from in the favor of fantasy and horror. What a silly, silly human I have been.

Oh, how I envy you your first-time experience of reading that trilogy.
Just don't go any farther. There are 2 more books, not as good. However, it is likely that curiousity will eventually get the better of you, and you will jump off that cliff. It is only a matter of time. Only then will you experience my disappointment and despair, forever ruining your Hyperion experience. Muhuahahaha

and, btw, I'm reading Peter Hamilton's Neutronium Alchemist, and The Language Police by Diane Ravitch (non-fiction)

[Troy S Goodfellow]

The Hellenistic World and the Coming of Rome by Erich Gruen

It's more fun than it sounds.

Troy

[Tyrion Lannister]

Hyperion by Dan Simmons upon the suggestion of folks in the "Favorite Sci-Fi books" thread.

Wow is it good. All this sci-fi I stayed away from in the favor of fantasy and horror. What a silly, silly human I have been.

Oh, how I envy you your first-time experience of reading that trilogy.
Just don't go any farther. There are 2 more books, not as good. However, it is likely that curiousity will eventually get the better of you, and you will jump off that cliff. It is only a matter of time. Only then will you experience my disappointment and despair, forever ruining your Hyperion experience. Muhuahahaha

and, btw, I'm reading Peter Hamilton's Neutronium Alchemist, and The Language Police by Diane Ravitch (non-fiction)

How peculiar, I felt that the sequels were better. On the other hand you seem to enjoy Peter Hamilton who I find as almost as unreadable as Nabokov, Crichton and Peake.

Just re-read some Terry Pratchett, always good. I am currently trying some J Gregory Keyes books that were recommended (Newton's Cannon etc). I haven't overcome his prose style yet, but they look promising. A very similar premise to Stephenson's next novel by the looks of it too.

Early Robert B Parker is good. I re-read those on a regular basis.

Stephen R Donaldson's Gap series is awesome and should be read by everyone. I will probably start re-reading these again later this year.

Industry Dwarf

[Jim Hoffman]

I really hated the first Hamilton book, it seemed like a lot of it was soft pr0n. But years later I picked it back up, and I'm liking the later books a little better. Not my favorite sci-fi, by any means.