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NGDBSS posted:Devil in the White City is fascinating but Larson had some historical inaccuracies or even wild speculation based on incomplete data. He also does a bit too much Great Man stuff for my taste. Do his other works follow a similar pattern? His most recent book, The Splendid and the Vile, is about London during the Blitz, and specifically focuses on Churchill, so it definitely falls into the Great Man stuff a fair amount without totally fawning over him. It was a pretty good read, though I found the details about England in general more interesting than the Churchill-specific stuff.
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Aug 9, 2021 18:49
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I read a lot as a kid, but fell out of it at some point. But I started playing Arkham Horror: The Card Game, and wanted to read (or in some cases re-read) the Lovecraft and Robert Chambers stories the game's campaigns were based on. That led me down a rabbit-hole of looking up other cosmic-style horror, and combined with my fiance discovering #booktok, I decided on House of Leaves. Finished it in two days. H.P. Lovecraft Generic review because what can I say that other people haven't. I reread Nyarlathotep, The Call of Cthulhu, Dagon, and most of the other short stories. I love the build-up of horror in Pickman's Model, the dream-like acceptance of powerless in the face of a world-ending horror in Nyarlathotep, and the descriptiveness of The Call of Cthulhu. It had been a while since I read most of these. The King in Yellow I read this after finishing "The Path to Carcosa" in Arkham Horror TCG, not entirely knowing what to expect. "The Repairer of Reputations" was the best one by far, and gave me the same sense of "Wait, what - if any - of what's happening is real?" as the card game campaign. Despite being written when Lovecraft was five years old, it's more modern-sounding, and I think could be rewritten to take place around now with minor changes. I reread some more Lovecraft after, and it allowed me to see how most of Lovecraft's writing either reads like someone describing a dream, or someone writing a letter. The latter is especially true when he's writing dialog. I know the guy had a lot of problems and phobias, so I can see why he'd write dialog that way. If there's any writing on that subject, let me know! House of Leaves I'm always cynical that something is going to live up to the hype, which is a good way stop myself from enjoying good media. But this was fantastic*. The good parts:
The bad parts:
* for the most part (-LifeLynx, Something Awful Forums, 2021)
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Aug 9, 2021 19:34
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NGDBSS posted:I recently finished Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar by Edvard Radzinsky. Radzinsky certainly knows his history, but he's also trying to portray himself as a neutral historian when he's not. If I had to sum up his viewpoint I'd peg it as "anti-revolutionary sentimentality". The text is fine with focusing on Alexander's reform efforts, but he spends too little time talking about the working classes they were supposed to serve or quite why the revolutionaries were the way they were. It's a work of palace politics, of the office of the tsar at the top, rather than a work using that tsar as a focal point in a larger system. Lol I didn’t even get through the fourth Hyperion book The first is good
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Aug 10, 2021 01:57
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LifeLynx posted:The King in Yellow Not sure if you know this or not, but the first season of the HBO series True Detective is heavily inspired by The King in Yellow. The season is quite good, and while some people feel the ending is a bit of a letdown, it's also the part that delves most deeply into the mythos, and is thematically appropriate even if the dramatic tension drops off a bit.
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Aug 10, 2021 04:26
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LifeLynx posted:House of Leaves Had anyone read HoL in an electronic version? I'm interested but I wonder how it comes across in digital as I rarely read dead tree books these days
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Aug 10, 2021 07:48
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nonathlon posted:Had anyone read HoL in an electronic version? I'm interested but I wonder how it comes across in digital as I rarely read dead tree books these days I tried and it was awful. But I got a physical copy and found it wasn't my cup of tea (I should maybe give it another shot though). So basically the format was hideous electronically but maybe it'd be better on someone who didn't bounce off it anyway.
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Aug 10, 2021 14:04
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Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls Not a "frog man sex novel", as a reader might infer from the description. It predates The Shape of Water by decades, and it's hard to ignore the similarities, despite each standing on their own merits. Like The Shape of Water, the sexual relationship between the characters, while present, is not at all the focus, and is covered in less than a page. Without a backdrop of film history, especially musicals, or the thrills of genre fiction like Shape, this novel is more interested in it's central character, Dorothy, and how Larry, the frog man monster, changes her life. Not an erotic novel, and not really a romance either. At the heart of the story is Dorothy, a housewife, still in her prime in her 30's, forgotten by her husband after a family tragedy, a crutch to her friends who aren't really her friends, who suffers under the weight of a self-diagnosed curse of having everything she cherishes destroyed. When she meets Larry, a creature deemed a danger and a monster by the institute he escapes from, she finds a new friendship, a new romance, a new secret, and most importantly, someone who feels as alien in her world as she does. I love the sense of melancholy, the sense of humor, and the charm of Dorothy and Larry's relationship. It's a short novel, full of details and short digressions that spell out a larger, deeper, sadder world and story. When it leans into the melodrama of the final act with it's soap operatic story turns, the novel is still grounded through Dorothy's experiences, and never feels forced. The mundanity of the magical realism/fantasy is one of the novel's core strengths. A genuine delight. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 14:30 on Aug 10, 2021 |
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Aug 10, 2021 14:25
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NGDBSS posted:
The main “protagonist” is portrayed as a man in a position of power, but helpless with all the wolves surrounding him. Larson is definitely too forgiving of Dodd, but I don’t get a great Man feel, just the lack of a critical eye. But I think that’s Larson. He falls a little too in love with his subjects. Nikaer Drekin posted:His most recent book, The Splendid and the Vile, is about London during the Blitz, and specifically focuses on Churchill, so it definitely falls into the Great Man stuff a fair amount without totally fawning over him. It was a pretty good read, though I found the details about England in general more interesting than the Churchill-specific stuff. Definitely Larson excels at world building, which is why I enjoy his books so much. I’d never use him as a reference, but he does a great job, imo, of giving the feeling of a historical time and place.
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Aug 10, 2021 15:47
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Lewd Mangabey posted:Not sure if you know this or not, but the first season of the HBO series True Detective is heavily inspired by The King in Yellow. The season is quite good, and while some people feel the ending is a bit of a letdown, it's also the part that delves most deeply into the mythos, and is thematically appropriate even if the dramatic tension drops off a bit. I watched that when it first came out, but I'll have to rewatch now that I'm more familiar with The King in Yellow. All I knew about it back then was that it was somehow related to a Lovecraft story I hadn't read yet. (I'd only read some of his more popular stories.) You've got a good point, the ending letdown would be less so knowing the source material.
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Aug 10, 2021 21:13
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Been having a really miserable year and haven't been able to focus on books in months, but I finally ended my reading drought with a book that had been sitting in my desk drawer at work since the beginning of the year: Water, Wasted, by Alex Branson of the Episode One podcast (and, once upon a time, the SA front page). I had enjoyed his previous book Into the Hills, Young Master, but it was a pretty slight read, simple and comedic and barely past novella length. This, on the other hand, is much more of a "real" book, and it's a really good one, a kind of magical realist thing about people dealing with their griefs and guilts in rural Missouri amid strange Bigfoot-related events as the Missouri River is about to flood. The setting really made the book for me, because Branson is from roughly the same part of the state as I am, and it's surreal to read about familiar but very parochial places in a novel, like the book was written for me in some way. I don't think that too many other people here, if any, would get the same uncanny effect, but I can wholeheartedly recommend to anyone interested all the same, with the caveat that the editing, as with Branson's previous book, is awful – the standard is established with a misspelling on the very first page. Into the Hills was self-published, but Water, Wasted was released by an actual publisher, and even if they are a small press, there's no excuse for this book to be without the bare minimum of proofreading. I really hope that Branson finds a better publisher for his next project or at least wrangles this one into giving his writing the attention that it deserves.
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Aug 12, 2021 05:33
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Finished up 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and holy hell that was an incredible read. Literally couldn’t put it down and finished it in 12 hours, with breaks only for eating. Been a long time since a book grabbed that much of a hold on me. Difficult to say why it’s so good without spoiling it, or even what it’s about, (and honestly I’d avoid reviews since so many spoil the big twist that happens a 1/4 way through the book.) Essentially it’s a murder mystery that takes place in a mansion in what I think is early 20th century. But there’s much more going on than what initially it seems. I will say that if you’re a fan of the Zero Escape series you should definitely check it out. Pros are definitely it’s intricate and mindbending plot, packed with plot twists in almost every chapter. Great dialog, memorable characters (even if many aren’t fully fleshed out), and strong prose. Cons are that many characters aren’t fully fleshed out, though in some cases for understandable reasons that will become apparent as you get more into the book. Also I’m still torn on whether the ending really ties all the various threads together satisfactorily. Looks like Netflix bought the rights to it so will be interesting to see how it translates on to screen. theblackw0lf fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Aug 15, 2021 |
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Aug 15, 2021 01:46
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theblackw0lf posted:Finished up 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and holy hell that was an incredible read. Literally couldn’t put it down and finished it in 12 hours, with breaks only for eating. Been a long time since a book grabbed that much of a hold on me.
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Aug 15, 2021 02:59
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I just finished The Long Sunset by Jack McDevitt. It's the latest book in his Academy series, which I read before and liked. The premise of the book is that right after human find evidence of an alien civilization, the main character of the series, Priscilla Hutchins, is set to go on one last mission - the government is shutting down interstellar spaceflight because they're afraid a more advanced alien species will find them and wipe them out. The characters all feel a bit like cardboard cut-outs: they're just they're to say the right lines to keep the story going. There's no emotion there, no sense they're real people. I was also really disappointed by how they instead on taking dumb risks that they had no business taking. The main character is supposed to be an experienced commander, but barely put up a protest when this happens. The story kind of just moves along then peters out. There's no real excitement. It can be incredibly frustrating at times because McDevitt puts up obvious strawmen when he's trying to make a point, but doesn't even knock them down. Worldbuilding is pretty good. I think this is where McDevitt shines, and it is something I remember from his previous books. Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend the book. To be honest, I found the book pretty bland. It doesn't feel like there's a real payoff at the end of the book. Narmi fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Aug 18, 2021 |
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Aug 18, 2021 04:56
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I am closing up on finishing Robert Lewis Taylor's "A Journey to Matecumbe" and I'm honestly shocked it hasn't been made into a Book of the Month choice yet for the Book Barn, nor has there been any hit of it on a forums search. I kind of don't want to spoil it because I went in on it blind and I loved it, but it made me laugh quite a lot reading it. I think, if I had to describe it, it would be some sort of a strange mix between Huckleberry Finn, Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog), and To Kill a Mockingbird. It's very funny for what I'd consider an adventure novel, and shockingly sad at times. EDIT: Corrected the supremely good Jerome K. Jerome's novel title. Olive Branch fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Aug 21, 2021 |
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Aug 21, 2021 04:45
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For my money, Larson's best book is Dead Wake, about the sinking of the Lusitania.
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Aug 22, 2021 01:07
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Just finished The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North. Not really a fan - exploring a character who lives multiple lives would be interesting, but it turns into a thriller halfway through and I would've preferred a more grounded story with Harry coming to terms with his existence and exploring his relationship with his family. I was hoping it would end with Harry asking an older kalachakra to go back and prevent the rape of his mother, saving her life but preventing his own existence but no this never occurs to him even though it's obviously within his power to make it happen.
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Aug 25, 2021 00:10
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Finally got around to reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. It was good, I can see why people like it, but there were a few things that I really didn't care for, to varying degrees: - The tone/style of the book. It seemed to be always joking. This kinda makes sense given the main character's personality, but I felt Weir should have toned it down a bit. - We don't see what happens on Earth while the mission is underway. It would have been interesting to see what happens to society as the suns dims. Or just what Stratt is up to at the end of the story. - Tons of mental math and "back of the napkin" calculations. At some point you'd think the scientists would just bring a calculator everywhere. Overall though still a good story and fund to read. Plus Rocky was the best.
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Aug 25, 2021 21:42
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finished Trieste by Daša Drndic a week and half ago, and it was pretty good, and bleak, stuff. I would probably rank this as one of the books on WW2 together with Primo Levi
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Aug 26, 2021 08:10
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Narmi posted:Finally got around to reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. It was good, I can see why people like it, but there were a few things that I really didn't care for, to varying degrees: This was pretty much my reaction entirely. This was the first "optimistic" book i've read in some time and it was a breath of fresh air. I did really like that Grace is revealed to have been a coward who was forced onto the ship instead of a noble hero who volunteered
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Aug 29, 2021 19:53
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clean ayers act posted:I did really like that Grace is revealed to have been a coward who was forced onto the ship instead of a noble hero who volunteered I wanted Weir to spend much much more time on this twist but like every other challenge/twist in his writing it’s neatly and quickly dispatched either through science, engineering, or shrugging of shoulders. The latter in this case. I get that his writing doesn’t really explore that kinda stuff but if he wasn’t going to seriously engage with the point I almost would rather it not have come out.
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Aug 30, 2021 05:52
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I felt like Weir handled that as well as he could since he couldn't really develop that further since at that point Grace is knocked out and loaded up onto the ship, then awakens with amnesia. And in the end new Grace develops a conscience/backbone (like Stratt said he would) and makes the choice to save Rocky and his people even if it means sacrificing his only chance of getting back to Earth (since he expect it means he'll die from starvation). It contrasts with his previous character that was begging and wailing not to be sent on the mission, even at the expense of letting Earth freeze, because he was afraid of dying and wanted to live just a bit longer. Even his conversation with Rocky mirrors Stratt's conversation with him. Narmi fucked around with this message at 16:17 on Aug 30, 2021 |
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Aug 30, 2021 15:48
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Trying not to derail too much but: I think the twist was really just the mechanism to use a flashback format. Once Grace remembers everything there isn't much reason to go back to any of the story from Earth so it really has to come at the end. The Rocky-people ending was what Weir was driving towards so there isn't much to really reconcile.
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Aug 30, 2021 16:24
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One thing that bugged me about the whole thing is that a big deal is made about how the primary team and backup team travel in separate planes/helicopters. I assumed from that that the teams would always be kept apart, so i was confused as to why both science specialists were in the same building
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Aug 30, 2021 23:22
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The Golden Rhinoceros: Histories of the African Middle Ages. Very good history book about the, well, you read the title already. It's told in very short chapters (only one more than 10 minutes i think). It takes you throughout the entire continent and across many centuries. I doubt i will retain many specific facts, but I liked it. While reading it it made me want to go there to stare at the pieces of rock that are the only thing that remains from a larger story I had no idea about. All tomorrows. Fun and short sci fi story. Stapledon's last and first men, but worse and with a lot less detail.
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Sep 4, 2021 17:19
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I just finished The Powdermage Trilogy after actively avoiding it for years because of flintlocks. My brain always made it seem like a hybrid modern fantasy but it's not. Also, I wasn't really feeling grand army narratives either after reading Malazan and The Black Company which I did enjoy. Usually, when I read multi-novel series with multiple points of view there's at least one where I wish their chapter would hurry up and be over with so I can get to the characters I care about but every POV in this series was compelling to me which is rare. Very good series.
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Sep 5, 2021 15:28
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The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon. I finished this several days ago, but I’m not sure what to think of it. There are some parts that made me laugh, but a lot of the descriptions became incomprehensible.Hexel posted:I just finished The Powdermage Trilogy after actively avoiding it for years because of flintlocks. Why is that?
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Sep 5, 2021 20:26
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Want by Lynn Steger Strong, and Life of the Mind by Christine Smallwood. These two books were published around the same timed and share a nearly identical subject, and they've been turned into a matched set by a dozen or so essays that noticed those two facts. (FWIW, Adjunct Hell is my favorite of that micro-genre.) They're both about about women working as adjuncts, dealing with children and money, and managing a life where they have achieved much of their over-educated dreams but still lack an ounce of professional success or stability. I read Want first. It's a depressing story about an extremely privileged woman wrestling with her personal demons while her financial stability slip away, even as her and her husband refused to make choices to improve it. But compared to Life of the Mind it was a goddamn beach read. Life of the Mind is about Dorothy experiencing the long effects of an abortion after a miscarriage, and she spends a lot of the book thinking about the bloody waste coming out of her body while she passively (so passively) struggles with her professional failings. Life of the Mind is more depressing than Want but also funnier. My favorite part of books on academia is the skewering of their field. In White Noise it was "Hitler studies", and in Life of the Mind it's "the politics of doors." Want never goes after it's own field, Lynn Steger Strong treats it with a sad amount of respect, and her protagonist spends her time reading and discussing legitimately good books. Both are good. Want is easier, Life of the Mind is better.
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Sep 9, 2021 18:16
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Time regained, and with that, the entirety of In search of lost time this is far and above the most wonderful reading experience I’ve ever had. and possibly the longest, in a good way
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Sep 13, 2021 16:01
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War in the Eighteen-Century World by Jeremy Black. While too short to sufficiently argue all of his points, the book does a good job of showing the interconnectedness of military operations in the period. Nadir Shah gets a lot of attention since the various wars and peaces between Iran and its neighbors, Turkey and Russia in particular, had huge consequences for their ability to wage war and intervene in other conflicts.
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Sep 13, 2021 17:48
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White Coke posted:The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon. I finished this several days ago, but I’m not sure what to think of it. There are some parts that made me laugh, but a lot of the descriptions became incomprehensible. They don't want you to know the truth. Bippie Mishap fucked around with this message at 04:00 on Sep 14, 2021 |
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Sep 14, 2021 03:55
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The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson Not really remarkable for me, but a good enough read! Some fun stuff with the world and setting, but the characters all seem kind of flat and the writing and plot feel basic, for lack of a better word. Did the job nicely, but not really feeling any urge to read on with the series any further
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Sep 14, 2021 13:20
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ulvir posted:Time regained, and with that, the entirety of In search of lost time you did it! Whereas, while I am enjoying Swann's Way very much, for me its like eating candy. Tastes good while you do it but not something I crave to do all the time.
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Sep 14, 2021 14:36
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Not the Messiah posted:The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson She flared pewter. He flared copper. She flared pewter. He flared copper. She flared pewter. He flared copper. She flared pewter. He flared copper. She flared pewter. He flared copper. She flared pewter. He flared copper. She flared pewter. He flared copper. She flared pewter. He flared copper.
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Sep 14, 2021 21:39
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Just finished Micaiah Johnson's The Space Between Worlds which had some really cool ideas and an enjoyable protagonist (not necessarily *likeable*, but enjoyable), but ultimately the book just felt kind of underdone. And now, because I'm apparently into multiverses right now, I've got Famous Men Who Never Lived next on the reading list.
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Sep 14, 2021 22:53
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Armauk posted:She flared pewter. he Pushed over the guard and Pulled on a window frame, and Pushed a coin towards the ground To give him credit the writings better than Elantris and apparently his later books are better still, but yeah - the constant wall of magic is happening! made my eyes roll more than once
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Sep 14, 2021 23:14
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Blue Core: Book One, by Inadvisably Compelled It was a bit disappointing. I like stories that focus on kingdom building/progression, which is a pretty niche genre, and this one was recommended too me. It was okay at first, but the author really started to lean on the whole "the protagonist is a genius and magic solve everything!" trope. Just way too much plot armor and deus ex developments.
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Sep 15, 2021 02:24
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Narmi posted:I like stories that focus on kingdom building/progression, which is a pretty niche genre, Do you mean stories about changing how a society functions over time? Or where someone/someones deliberately change it?
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Sep 15, 2021 02:52
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That's one take on it. Though "kingdom building" (or "nation building") is kinda a catch-all for stories that measure the main character's progression by essentially "measuring" the land they control. Not just obtaining more land, but resolving political tensions, natural disasters, wars, as well as technological and social development. Essentially, they're climbing from the bottom to the top of the political/social hierarchy, and implementing change as they do so. So someone changing society fits the bill, from that point of view. It would include how a society changes/functions over time as well. A Song of Ice and Fire is a pretty good example of a story that has kingdom building, though it's not exclusively about that. The Traitor Baru Cormorant as well. e: I just remembered, the best example would be the Foundation series (or at least the first few books). Narmi fucked around with this message at 20:24 on Sep 15, 2021 |
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Sep 15, 2021 03:10
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Might I recommend The Power Broker, by Robert A. Caro?
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Sep 15, 2021 03:14
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Sham bam bamina! posted:Might I recommend The Power Broker, by Robert A. Caro? Thanks, it looks interesting.
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Sep 15, 2021 20:25
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