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Whalley posted:What avenue of third person? Limited? Omniscient? Past tense? Present tense? Narrative first? Subjective? Objective? Omniscient? Fiction? Nonfiction? I guess this is what I get for being too vague. Yes, I read books. I just want a recommendation of a piece of third person fiction, preferably published within the last 10-15 years, that made you go "poo poo, what a beautifully written book". As for the type of third person, I don't care. Chamberk posted:Here are some good third-person books. Thanks! I loved War and Peace and Anna Karenina. One Hundred Years of Solitude is on my list so I'll definitely check that out.
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May 15, 2014 19:50
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Raspberry Bang posted:I guess this is what I get for being too vague. Yes, I read books. I just want a recommendation of a piece of third person fiction, preferably published within the last 10-15 years, that made you go "poo poo, what a beautifully written book". As for the type of third person, I don't care. Songs for the Missing, Stewart O'Nan
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May 15, 2014 20:07
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Can anyone shed some light on whether or not to read The Fell Sword by Miles Cameron? The reviews seem vastly mixed. I loved the Red Knight but what I loved was the fast pace of it, and I hear The Fell Sword is very slow.
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May 15, 2014 20:11
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Hello Book Friends. What are some good collections of short stories or essays? Good in a literature sense. Thank You and God Bless.
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May 16, 2014 19:31
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dongsbot 9000 posted:Hello Book Friends. What are some good collections of short stories or essays? Good in a literature sense. Thank You and God Bless. Consider the lobster and A supposedly fun thing I'll never do again. Both by David Foster Wallace
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May 16, 2014 20:38
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dongsbot 9000 posted:Hello Book Friends. What are some good collections of short stories or essays? Good in a literature sense. Thank You and God Bless. Fictions and The Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges. Duh.
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May 16, 2014 20:43
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dongsbot 9000 posted:Hello Book Friends. What are some good collections of short stories or essays? Good in a literature sense. Thank You and God Bless. Battleborn, Birds of a Lesser Paradise, Nine Inches: Stories, The Secret Lives of People in Love, Vampires in the Lemon Grove, God is Dead (which is a novel that reads almost like a short story collection), and any Sherman Alexie. I like Vonnegut, Bradbury, PKD, and Ursla Le Guin for short stories, but they might lean more genre than you'd prefer. The Best American collections are generally good, too (for short stories and essays).
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May 16, 2014 21:06
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It's a question with a million different answers, there are so many good short story collections out there. As far as single-author collections go, I'd recommend What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, by Raymond Carver, and Eleven Kinds of Loneliness, by Richard Yates. Also seconding the Salinger and Vonnegut recommendations.
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May 16, 2014 23:39
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All of Vonnegut's short stories are worth reading. I'm particularly fond of Look At The Birdie.
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May 17, 2014 00:12
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dongsbot 9000 posted:Hello Book Friends. What are some good collections of short stories or essays? Good in a literature sense. Thank You and God Bless. Off the top of my head: Nine Stories by JD Salinger, Where I'm Calling From by Raymond Carver, The Complete Stories of John Cheever, Rock Springs by Richard Ford. A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor and Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri.
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May 17, 2014 00:23
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I'm looking for a few recommendations since I've got an upcoming week at the beach. I like fiction but don't care for sci-fi. Some of the books that I've read (or re-read) in the semi-recent past that I enjoyed have been David Benioff's books (City of Thieves being my favorite), Beat the Reaper (a bit cheesy but fun), and my favorite book to read again and again, A Confederacy of Dunces. I like prep school classics like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next and The Sun Also Rises and of course Catcher. I've read Tom Robbins' Jitterbug Perfume and thought it was okay but a little drawn out. I don't want anything as deep as Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I tried to read The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and On the Road years ago and got bored and never finished. A couple that I've found on Amazon that I thought might be worth a shot are That's Not a Feeling and Where'd You Go, Bernadette but feel free to talk me out of those and/or recommend others. Non-fiction is cool, too, I just don't read much of it.
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May 17, 2014 01:08
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Easychair Bootson posted:I'm looking for a few recommendations since I've got an upcoming week at the beach. I like fiction but don't care for sci-fi. Some of the books that I've read (or re-read) in the semi-recent past that I enjoyed have been David Benioff's books (City of Thieves being my favorite), Beat the Reaper (a bit cheesy but fun), and my favorite book to read again and again, A Confederacy of Dunces. I like prep school classics like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next and The Sun Also Rises and of course Catcher. Have you tried Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon?
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May 17, 2014 01:25
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CestMoi posted:Have you tried Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon?
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May 17, 2014 03:12
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Easychair Bootson posted:I'm looking for a few recommendations since I've got an upcoming week at the beach. I loved Where'd You Go, Bernadette and it's a pretty light read, so go for that one. Based on the other books you said you enjoyed, I would also recommend The Virgin Suicides, The Bell Jar, Life of Pi, and maybe something by John Irving.
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May 17, 2014 03:52
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That guy asking for third-person books reminds me of when someone told me he couldn't read books written in the first person because, as he said, "I know I'm not the person in the book." He said he mentally changed the "I" to the character's name every time. I don't get it.
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May 17, 2014 05:24
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Sir John Feelgood don't get it
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May 17, 2014 06:15
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Sir John Feelgood posted:That guy asking for third-person books reminds me of when someone told me he couldn't read books written in the first person because, as he said, "I know I'm not the person in the book." Yeah, that doesn't make sense. If anything, my brain interprets it as the narrator / protagonist telling me his story, so of course he'd say I. Your friend's complaint would be more applicable to a book written in the second person (ala Choose Your Own Adventure books -- "You grab a knife off the counter and open the pantry door") because there it is explicitly telling you what you're doing and it's legitimate to say "No I'm not" That's probably one of the reasons we don't often see that perspective in books.
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May 17, 2014 09:45
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Here's a question: what are some of the second person books that could be recommended aside from the few titles mentioned on Wikipedia?
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May 17, 2014 11:44
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Rule 34 by Charles Stross is a pretty interesting story about the future of internet-crime investigation, told in second-person. edit: Have a blurb thing! back cover posted:DI Liz Kavanaugh: You realise policing internet porn is your life and your career went down the pan five years ago. But when a fetishist dies on your watch, the Rule 34 Squad moves from low priority to worryingly high profile. Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 12:01 on May 17, 2014 |
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May 17, 2014 11:52
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elbow posted:I loved Where'd You Go, Bernadette and it's a pretty light read, so go for that one. Based on the other books you said you enjoyed, I would also recommend The Virgin Suicides, The Bell Jar, Life of Pi, and maybe something by John Irving. Great, thanks!
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May 17, 2014 14:06
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Easychair Bootson posted:I have not, and I'm not sure that it's what I'm after, but for eleven bucks it might be worth checking out. I think I'm looking for something more accessible and less existentialist, but I do appreciate the rec. If you're interested in Pynchon, I always suggest Mason & Dixon which is a blast and a lot easier to follow.
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May 17, 2014 15:47
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It's interesting that for the books that do use 2nd person perspective, they are also present tense. 1st and 3rd person are past tense ("Hello", I said vs. "Hello", I say / John knocked on the front door vs. John knocks on the front door). As weird as 2nd person narrative is, it'd be even weirder in past tense.
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May 17, 2014 17:37
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I just finished up Frank Herbert's Dune for the first time, and as a big sci-fi guy thought it was a very good though not spectacular book. What's the general consensus on the sequels? Are they worth reading?
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May 18, 2014 09:22
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Quandary posted:What's the general consensus on the sequels? Are they worth reading? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJXYMDu6dpY
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May 18, 2014 09:55
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Quandary posted:I just finished up Frank Herbert's Dune for the first time, and as a big sci-fi guy thought it was a very good though not spectacular book. What's the general consensus on the sequels? Are they worth reading? Don't read the prequels or followups by his son unless you truly need to find out about SEAWORMS. or want to revisit characters through the magic of CLONES. Franks Herberts sequels to Dune got weird, culminating in sex-ninjas fighting the bene gesserit, the bene gesserit not understanding why people didn't like their benelovent tyranny, and finally clones recovering their pre-death memories through mind-blowing traumatic sex. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 14:31 on May 18, 2014 |
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May 18, 2014 14:27
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Quandary posted:I just finished up Frank Herbert's Dune for the first time, and as a big sci-fi guy thought it was a very good though not spectacular book. What's the general consensus on the sequels? Are they worth reading? The next two or three by Frank Herbert himself are "interesting" but not necessarily "good". After that they're just plain bad.
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May 18, 2014 16:11
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Sounds like it's more worth my time to move onto other books, thanks guys.
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May 18, 2014 19:24
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Quandary posted:I just finished up Frank Herbert's Dune for the first time, and as a big sci-fi guy thought it was a very good though not spectacular book. What's the general consensus on the sequels? Are they worth reading? Dune is a book that literally made history by becoming the firstr Science Fiction book to make it to the general best-seller list. It is a classic and one of the best examples of great world-building in fiction. None of the other Dune books are good. They go downhill book by book until they turn into nonsensical fake philosophy lectures. The franchise, acquired by the son and Kevin J. Anderson is just awful mushy badly written tripe. Read Dune and treasure it always. Avoid the rest to try to avoid tainting the original memory. Just my opinionŠ of course.
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May 18, 2014 23:06
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I dunno, God Emperor of Dune was pretty great. There, I got myself on at least seven goon hit lists.
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May 19, 2014 01:10
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The Vosgian Beast posted:I dunno, God Emperor of Dune was pretty great. Nah, you're right. In decreasing order of quality it's Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, Heretics of Dune, Chapterhouse: Dune, about a million miles, and then everything Brian Herbert ever did.
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May 19, 2014 01:24
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Can anyone recommend to me a novel set in Victorian London that you feel is a cool homage to the time period? Supernatural elements are a bonus. I don't mind steampunk (though the only steampunk novels I've read are "Boneshaker" & "Infernal Devices") as long as it is well done and doesn't take itself too seriously. Is "Map of Time" any good? Goodreads says "no", but Goodreaders seem to hate almost every steampunk novel ever written on principle. How about Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age"? Captain Mog fucked around with this message at 03:14 on May 19, 2014 |
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May 19, 2014 03:00
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I enjoyed The Map of Time and was a little confused by its Goodreads ratings. It's a fun read to be sure. I actually picked up Map of the Sky but I haven't started it yet.
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May 19, 2014 04:57
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Anyone have any horror recommendations? Preferably something recent, either long or short is fine. I'm thinking something that's more psychological horror-ish and less about serial killers, but I'll take anything that's good. Actually, doesn't have to be strictly horror either, something from another genre that's creepy or horror-esque would be fine too. Sucrose fucked around with this message at 05:56 on May 19, 2014 |
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May 19, 2014 05:51
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Sucrose posted:Anyone have any horror recommendations? Preferably something recent, either long or short is fine. I'm thinking something that's more psychological horror-ish and less about serial killers, but I'll take anything that's good. Have you read House of Leaves?
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May 19, 2014 10:27
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Captain Mog posted:Can anyone recommend to me a novel set in Victorian London that you feel is a cool homage to the time period? Supernatural elements are a bonus. I don't mind steampunk (though the only steampunk novels I've read are "Boneshaker" & "Infernal Devices") as long as it is well done and doesn't take itself too seriously. I'll recommend Michael Cox's The Meaning of Night. The guy knows his stuff when it comes to Victoriana, as opposed to 99% of neo-victorian/steampunk which is just some person who's watched a few BBC miniseries. I also enjoyed Map of Time as a kind of silly romp. I think Cox's book is better, but it is a bit more serious. Also, it's harder to find, but if you want a huge-rear end novel that'll last you forever, there's Charles Palliser's The Quincunx. He also just came out with a new book I haven't read.
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May 19, 2014 11:33
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Sucrose posted:Anyone have any horror recommendations? Preferably something recent, either long or short is fine. I'm thinking something that's more psychological horror-ish and less about serial killers, but I'll take anything that's good. I started reading The Troop by Nick Cutter after several people recommended it in the Stephen King thread. It's a fun read so far, and it has some gross moments as well.
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May 19, 2014 11:41
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Captain Mog posted:How about Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age"? It isn't set in London, let alone in the Victorian era. It is kind of fun and entertaining with all the usual Stephenson caveats, above all it lacks an ending.
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May 19, 2014 12:13
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Sucrose posted:Anyone have any horror recommendations? Preferably something recent, either long or short is fine. I'm thinking something that's more psychological horror-ish and less about serial killers, but I'll take anything that's good. Recent (I just looked back on my Good Reads for the last couple of years)? The Burn Palace by Stephen Dobyns Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone by Stefan Kiesbye Niceville by Carsten Stroud Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman I would also go with The Troop too. It was a fun read. It is really hard to find stuff recent that is good (if anyone knows any please speak up). I assume you already read all the good stuff that is not considered recent.
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May 19, 2014 17:44
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Sucrose posted:Actually, doesn't have to be strictly horror either, something from another genre that's creepy or horror-esque would be fine too. I've been finding Bake Butler's Scorch Atlas to be very unsettling. It's definitely not a horror story, more of a dreamy, surreal set of apocalyptic vignettes, but I'd certainly describe some of it as haunting.
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May 19, 2014 17:49
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mcustic posted:Here's a question: what are some of the second person books that could be recommended aside from the few titles mentioned on Wikipedia? Best second-person book I know of is Tom Robbins' Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas, but that can depend heavily on your tolerance for Robbins.
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May 19, 2014 18:27
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