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Can anyone recommend books about the business side of Hollywood? The more recent, the better, but even something less contemporary is okay if it's really good.
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Aug 6, 2014 01:52
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Old Thrashbarg posted:Can anyone recommend books about the business side of Hollywood? The more recent, the better, but even something less contemporary is okay if it's really good. The Frodo Franchise by Kristin Thompson is a case study about Peter Jackson's LotR films: how they were funded, marketed, etc. I reviewed it on Goodreads as follows: I posted:Not really a making-of, but more of a scholarly examination of the Lord of the Rings movie franchise from inception to its long-term success and influence. As a Jackson fan and a LOTR fan, I really appreciated this book. The author had the benefit of being able to conduct her own interviews with many of the cast and crew, which lends this book a bit of an original voice.
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Aug 6, 2014 03:20
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Kumo posted:I've been reading some fairly dense, depressing books lately- Germinal, Johnny Got His Gun, Last Exit to Brooklyn -and I need a break. Check out the Brentford Trilogy by Robert Rankin. The synopsis may sound ott but they're definitely light and humorous.
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Aug 6, 2014 03:22
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Old Thrashbarg posted:Can anyone recommend books about the business side of Hollywood? The more recent, the better, but even something less contemporary is okay if it's really good. I liked The Big Picture in this area.
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Aug 6, 2014 03:41
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I need to read something that doesn't have muscly barbarians in it. Can anyone recommend any ~*romance novels*~ for me so I can learn the meaning of love? Don't mind if it was written yesterday or centuries ago, or if it's actually another genre with a really good love story in it, as long as it's well-written and not just Harlequin junk.
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Aug 7, 2014 03:42
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Smart Bitches Trashy Books should have you covered.
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Aug 7, 2014 04:22
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Soulcleaver posted:I need to read something that doesn't have muscly barbarians in it. Can anyone recommend any ~*romance novels*~ for me so I can learn the meaning of love? Don't mind if it was written yesterday or centuries ago, or if it's actually another genre with a really good love story in it, as long as it's well-written and not just Harlequin junk. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Don't be intimidated by the whole Russian Lit aura of impenetrability, it's extraordinarily readable and really, really good. I can wholeheartedly recommend the translation available on Project Gutenberg.
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Aug 7, 2014 04:55
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Soulcleaver posted:I need to read something that doesn't have muscly barbarians in it. Can anyone recommend any ~*romance novels*~ for me so I can learn the meaning of love? Don't mind if it was written yesterday or centuries ago, or if it's actually another genre with a really good love story in it, as long as it's well-written and not just Harlequin junk. Tristan by Gottfried von Strassburg. Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant. Honestly though, you don't need to read a ~*romance novel*~ (i.e., specifically a love story) to read a book with a good take on love. Love is a human universal, as such it's a pretty common theme in books. A book I didn't enjoy, Neuromancer, had a great line about loss in the context of love: quote:Once he awoke from a confused dream of Linda Lee, unable to recall who she was or what she ever meant to him. When he did remember, he jacked in and worked for nine straight hours. Or Kate Chopin's classic, The Awakening: quote:"Why?" asked her companion. "Why do you love him when you ought not to?" gatz fucked around with this message at 09:33 on Aug 7, 2014 |
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Aug 7, 2014 06:08
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Soulcleaver posted:I need to read something that doesn't have muscly barbarians in it. Can anyone recommend any ~*romance novels*~ for me so I can learn the meaning of love? Don't mind if it was written yesterday or centuries ago, or if it's actually another genre with a really good love story in it, as long as it's well-written and not just Harlequin junk. Of Human Bondage, by Somerset Maugham and Family Happiness, a novella by Leo Tolstoy.
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Aug 7, 2014 10:01
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regulargonzalez posted:The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Don't be intimidated by the whole Russian Lit aura of impenetrability, it's extraordinarily readable and really, really good. I can wholeheartedly recommend the translation available on Project Gutenberg.
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Aug 7, 2014 11:51
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I enjoy murdermystery/detective novels- I've read most of the Charlie Parker series by John Connelly and the Pendergast series to give some examples off the top of my head. I stopped reading for awhile and I'm looking to dive back in with a good mystery to hook me in. Does anyone have any recommendations for books/series?
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Aug 7, 2014 21:20
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Thanks, thread. I have some good material now.
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Aug 8, 2014 01:17
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legasaurusrex posted:I enjoy murdermystery/detective novels- I've read most of the Charlie Parker series by John Connelly and the Pendergast series to give some examples off the top of my head. I stopped reading for awhile and I'm looking to dive back in with a good mystery to hook me in. Does anyone have any recommendations for books/series? Not to sound like a smartass, but go to the top of the previous page.
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Aug 8, 2014 01:26
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funkybottoms posted:Not to sound like a smartass, but go to the top of the previous page. No worries, thank you!
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Aug 8, 2014 13:38
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Zodack posted:I just got to the beach on vacation with my folks, and I was wondering if there are some highly recommended fantasy novels I haven't read (I'm sure there are). Since fantasy and sci-fi novels are a dime a dozen at bookstores, it's hard to find something that really piques my interest and keeps me reading, especially if I'm going to be reading it on vacation time - the most valuable type of leisure time. I am looking for the same thing. I have a long commute and love listening to long rear end epic fantasy. Over the past year and a half I have listened to: WoT, GRRM, Sanderson (Mistborn, Way of Kings), Rothfuss, Scott Lynch, Abercrombie and a couple other one offs. I would enjoy something in the same vein, or Sci Fi, as long as it had some length to it. With Audible you get so many tokens every month and a 30 hour book gets a lot more mileage than a book that is only 10 hours. Zodac, I would highly recommend Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastard series that begins with The Lies of Locke Lamora.
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Aug 9, 2014 02:38
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Doc_Uzuki posted:I am looking for the same thing. I have a long commute and love listening to long rear end epic fantasy. Steven Erikson, the Malazan Books of the Fallen. Ten books (plus a bunch of spinoffs), all of them massive enough to break toes if you drop them. That should keep you busy for a while. The first one is Gardens of the Moon. Re Zodack: Have you tried Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos books? They're pretty fun.
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Aug 9, 2014 02:59
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DirtyRobot posted:To take this even further, War and Peace wouldn't be too bad here. I don't think I would really recommend Dostoevsky to anyone who is looking for a romance. The Idiot does have romance but it's much more philosophical than it is romantic. I think I would say the same for War and Peace. If you wanted a "realistic romance" and are specifically looking for classic Russian lit, Anna Karenina fits the bill and has a lot less rambling than War and Peace, though it is dark. Jane Eyre is one of my favourite classic romances and it has everything one could ask for in a satisfying love story. It has depth and human suffering but I think of it as a happy story for the most part. Charlotte Bronte is like Dickens in that her ability to evoke suffering is what makes you appreciate all the more her equal talent for bringing out warm fuzzies. Madame Bovary also keeps coming up when I search "romance" but anyone who mistakes this for a romance novel is seriously confused. It has "romance" but really the art of this book is similar to Anna Karenina, it's not supposed to be romantic, it's supposed to be realistic and make you see the folly of the characters. Uhhh The Rainbow and Women in Love are other suggestions but again these are not warm and fuzzy for the most part, they are dark and written to make you think. Of the little Jane Austen I have read I find her writing pretty bland but some of it has stayed with me and even though I haven't read Pride and Prejudice, it seems to be the quintessential romance, so you could give that a try. Fellwenner posted:Of Human Bondage, by Somerset Maugham and Family Happiness, a novella by Leo Tolstoy. Family Happiness is a great story, a personal favourite. The Doctor fucked around with this message at 03:41 on Aug 10, 2014 |
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Aug 10, 2014 03:38
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Zodack posted:I just got to the beach on vacation with my folks, and I was wondering if there are some highly recommended fantasy novels I haven't read (I'm sure there are). Since fantasy and sci-fi novels are a dime a dozen at bookstores, it's hard to find something that really piques my interest and keeps me reading, especially if I'm going to be reading it on vacation time - the most valuable type of leisure time. Have you tried Tad Williams's Memory, Sorrow & Thorn series? It was written in the early 90s, so it's not incredibly innovative in the genre, but it's wonderfully written, and GRRM has cited it as one of the books that convinced him that fantasy was still a viable genre. (The warring princes, Elyas and Josua, make an appearance in A Clash of Kings.) There's not a really strong magic system but the world is very vivid. He's announced recently that he's writing a second trilogy that's set 30 years later. I'm cautiously optimistic - his recent stuff is pretty okay.
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Aug 10, 2014 06:44
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The Doctor posted:Jane Eyre is one of my favourite classic romances and it has everything one could ask for in a satisfying love story. It has depth and human suffering but I think of it as a happy story for the most part. Charlotte Bronte is like Dickens in that her ability to evoke suffering is what makes you appreciate all the more her equal talent for bringing out warm fuzzies. Edit: Thanks again. Soulcleaver fucked around with this message at 07:41 on Aug 10, 2014 |
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Aug 10, 2014 07:27
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Soulcleaver posted:This is the only one recommended to me here that I've already read. I'll check out the others; I like depressing Russian lit just fine. I wouldn't say depressing, they're just not really romance.
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Aug 10, 2014 15:34
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Old Thrashbarg posted:Can anyone recommend books about the business side of Hollywood? The more recent, the better, but even something less contemporary is okay if it's really good. Last year I read a bunch of books about Hollywood and movie studios. The best ones were: The Men Who Would Be King by Nicole LaPorte about the creation of Dreamworks. DisneyWar by James B. Stewart about Disney's movie studio (There's some great history of Disney in here but most of the book is about Jeffrey Katzenberg's time as studio head and the break between Disney and Pixar). John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood by Michael D. Sellers which is about how the John Carter movie became a huge mess. This one wasn't particularly well-written but it was fascinating. Sleepless in Hollywood: Tales from the New Abnormal in the Movie Business by Lynda Obst which is about how Hollywood has been transitioning to tentpole blockbusters and reliance on foreign markets after the rise of piracy and the fall of DVD sales.
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Aug 11, 2014 00:01
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Recommend me a good book on learning proper grammar. I was given the Cambridge Grammar of English, it's a great reference but I'm looking for more of a textbook. I'm embarrassed to admit I don't even how remember how to diagram a sentence anymore. An actual textbook would probably be best, but I have no idea where to begin looking for a good one.
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Aug 11, 2014 04:36
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Happy Hedonist posted:Recommend me a good book on learning proper grammar. I was given the Cambridge Grammar of English, it's a great reference but I'm looking for more of a textbook. I'm embarrassed to admit I don't even how remember how to diagram a sentence anymore. An actual textbook would probably be best, but I have no idea where to begin looking for a good one. Warriners English Grammar and my favorite, The Elements of Style by Strunk and White
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Aug 11, 2014 04:43
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Anybody have any recommendations for Historical Fiction or Westerns similar in style and content to James Carlos Blake?
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Aug 13, 2014 21:12
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Edit: sorry double post
Borneo Jimmy fucked around with this message at 00:12 on Aug 14, 2014 |
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Aug 13, 2014 21:38
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Borneo Jimmy posted:Edit: Nevermind THe Man Who Was Thursdayby GK Chesterton
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Aug 13, 2014 21:42
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Does anyone have any good nonfiction about environmental pollution or industrial disasters, told from a human interest kind of standpoint? I'm currently reading a book called "An American River: From Paradise to Superfund, Afloat on New Jersey's Passaic" and am looking for similar stuff.
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Aug 13, 2014 22:26
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Mr. Squishy posted:THe Man Who Was Thursdayby GK Chesterton Not really seeing how Chesterton is similar unless this is a joke.
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Aug 14, 2014 01:56
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hallo spacedog posted:Does anyone have any good nonfiction about environmental pollution or industrial disasters, told from a human interest kind of standpoint? Somewhat tangential, but I really love Alan Weisman's The World Without Us.
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Aug 14, 2014 05:03
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funkybottoms posted:Somewhat tangential, but I really love Alan Weisman's The World Without Us. Thanks! I'm actually just interested in anything not too overly technical about what damage we've done to the earth so this is also perfect.
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Aug 14, 2014 12:40
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hallo spacedog posted:Does anyone have any good nonfiction about environmental pollution or industrial disasters, told from a human interest kind of standpoint? Alex Prud'homme's The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Fresh Water in the Twenty-First Century is an interesting read, but it will also depress the gently caress out of you.
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Aug 14, 2014 13:45
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hallo spacedog posted:Thanks! I'm actually just interested in anything not too overly technical about what damage we've done to the earth so this is also perfect. Yes, it is definitely a very readable book that also happens to pair nicely with a lot of my favorite apocalyptic fiction. Also of possible interest: Eric Schlosser's Command and Control and the documentary film Manufactured Landscapes. funkybottoms fucked around with this message at 14:04 on Aug 14, 2014 |
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Aug 14, 2014 13:57
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Selachian posted:Alex Prud'homme's The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Fresh Water in the Twenty-First Century is an interesting read, but it will also depress the gently caress out of you. Weirdly I have recently discovered that the severe anxiety episodes I have about the future are actually somewhat alleviated by reading about this topic, even when the outlook described in the book isn't very hopeful. So thank you for this. funkybottoms posted:Yes, it is definitely a very readable book that also happens to pair nicely with a of my favorite apocalyptic fiction. Also of possible interest: Eric Schlosser's Command and Control and the documentary film Manufactured Landscapes. Thanks! I've been looking for good documentaries on the subject too so I'll have to check it out. I think they did something about the same topic as Command and Control on 60 Minutes recently. EDIT: VV Don't want to crowd up the thread too much with film chat but thank you so much! VV hallo spacedog fucked around with this message at 14:25 on Aug 14, 2014 |
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Aug 14, 2014 14:04
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hallo spacedog posted:Thanks! I've been looking for good documentaries on the subject too so I'll have to check it out. I think they did something about the same topic as Command and Control on 60 Minutes recently. Man, his photography is so good that it makes me want to throw my camera away. And, speaking of companion pieces, Up the Yangtze is pretty good and there is fascinating, albeit brief, Vice episode called China's Ghost Towns that you should be able to find online very easily. You can also watch some really awesome episodes of Frontline (the PBS program) on their website, too- sort by topic and choose "environment." Oh, and if you wanna get artsy, there's always Koyaanisqatsi...
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Aug 14, 2014 14:24
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What books of the Bible are most essential? I'm going to read the Inferno and Paradise Lost and I'd like to go in having read some of the Bible. I'm thinking I'll read the first four books of the OT and the Gospels. What else, though?
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Aug 16, 2014 01:51
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Sir John Feelgood posted:What books of the Bible are most essential? It's been a while since I read The Divine Comedy, but you'll definitely want to read Revelations. Plus it's the best book of the bible just for being so fantastical and crazy
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Aug 16, 2014 05:45
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Sir John Feelgood posted:I'm thinking I'll read the first four books of the OT and the Gospels. What else, though? As for NT, I would of course read the Gospels (they cover mostly the same events but each was written for a different audience and all have sweet BONUS CONTENT), Acts, and Revelation. The rest is just Paul writing letters correcting specific doctrinal issues to the various churches and generally doesn't make for engaging writing. The NT as a whole is more philosophical and less crazy than the OT, and is the primary reason why most people ignore the OT in favor of it.
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Aug 16, 2014 10:03
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Sir John Feelgood posted:What books of the Bible are most essential? Maybe read the whole thing...?
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Aug 16, 2014 11:23
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Fellwenner posted:Maybe read the whole thing...? Please don't troll
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Aug 16, 2014 18:44
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Read John, as well. Honestly though, your question should also include "what translation of the Bible should I read?" since newer academic bibles have better manuscripts and such to be based on. Try the Oxford annotated Bible.
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Aug 16, 2014 19:38
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