nate fisher posted:Not a big King fan (his early stuff was mostly ok) but I have always found both the book and movie version of the Shining to be pretty good. I would say the Shining might even be his best book. If it's his best book, then he must be an even worse writer than I imagine, since a quick glance at any page of The Shining will feature uncolored, boring diction; unimaginative descriptions; and grammar and syntax mistakes that would be corrected in a first-year comp course (like talking about "a lobby" and then saying "It had cleared," using the passive voice when a lobby cannot clear itself; also he abuses adverbs at least as frequently as most pulp and popular writers, such as when a certain character will say something "shortly," as in, '"Shut up!" he said shortly,' but perhaps that's more my own tastes since Jane Austen uses the word, although with more elegance).
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Aug 2, 2010 23:48
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ONE TWO THREE TIMES TWO TO THE SIX/JONESING FOR YOUR FIX OF THAT LIMP BIZKIT MIX
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7 y.o. bitch posted:The second half is a little bit harder, but yeah, it's a pretty easy read, maybe even easier than Dubliners, but not quite as easy as Chamber Music. For me personally I would say the latter half of Portrait is probably a much easier read if you grew up Catholic and that if you didn't, you might want to read up on it a bit first.
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Aug 3, 2010 00:08
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Just started Death Dance by Linda Fairstein - I took it out from the library based on the story on the back which mad it sound like your typical Law & Order style romp of a book which is perfect for bedside reading to fall asleep. I'm about 50 pages in, and things aren't looking good. It's about a female ADA who prosecutes sex crimes and since the start it's been pretty much: "Almost all men are pigs and or rapists, and the ones who aren't have been injured in some way who need can only be made whole by a woman and they're also totally emasculated pussies." So far I've already seen a crotchety old judge who refers to the ADA as 'Sweetheart' and 'Toots' and releases to his own reconaisance a double accused rapist who is very much a flight risk. I'm not holding out too much hope for this one, but time will tell.
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Aug 3, 2010 04:56
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Just finished A Bridge Of Birds based off the respect it gets here and it is indeed a very charming story. The consistency of tone was a good balance after finishing before that Gravities Rainbow which i really started off not liking so much but the last half just went by in a frenzy. I'm thinking some Nabakov next, or possibly St. Petersburg which i just put on my kindle. Edit: Rarely do the books on NPR catch my intrest but Super Sad True Love Story looks alright. meanolmrcloud fucked around with this message at 05:27 on Aug 3, 2010 |
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Aug 3, 2010 05:15
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Just started Death Dance by Linda Fairstein - I took it out from the library based on the story on the back which mad it sound like your typical Law & Order style romp of a book which is perfect for bedside reading to fall asleep. I'm about 50 pages in, and things aren't looking good. It's about a female ADA who prosecutes sex crimes and since the start it's been pretty much: "Almost all men are pigs and or rapists, and the ones who aren't have been injured in some way who need can only be made whole by a woman and they're also totally emasculated pussies." So far I've already seen a crotchety old judge who refers to the ADA as 'Sweetheart' and 'Toots' and releases to his own recognaisance a double accused rapist who is very much a flight risk. I'm not holding out too much hope for this one, but time will tell.
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Aug 3, 2010 05:15
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Well, I've just started Lord of the Rings again. It's been a long time since I read it last, and I know a lot more about the mythology it draws from, and the background created for it now, so I think it'll be a pretty good time.
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Aug 3, 2010 05:40
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meanolmrcloud posted:Just finished A Bridge Of Birds based off the respect it gets here and it is indeed a very charming story. The consistency of tone was a good balance after finishing before that Gravities Rainbow which i really started off not liking so much but the last half just went by in a frenzy. I'm thinking some Nabakov next, or possibly St. Petersburg which i just put on my kindle.
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Aug 3, 2010 05:41
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BitVyper posted:Well, I've just started Lord of the Rings again. It's been a long time since I read it last, and I know a lot more about the mythology it draws from, and the background created for it now, so I think it'll be a pretty good time. Nah, I need to read LOTR as I did buy it.
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Aug 3, 2010 05:43
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7 y.o. bitch posted:If it's his best book, then he must be an even worse writer than I imagine It's really not. I'm not a huge King defender, but it mostly comes down to the fact that he: sits at his work table and bangs away -> puts away the rough draft -> writes something else -> finds the old work, shows it to agent -> doesn't edit or revise anything. I'm sure if he cared to, he would fix grammar and prose choices, but he can't be arsed. Sometimes he gets on a hot streak, sometimes he doesn't. He's very uneven.
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Aug 3, 2010 06:42
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vegaji posted:Are you talking about Petersburg by Bely? If so, that book is really, really good but so goddamned overwhelming. I almost feel like it's not worth it to read unless you do it in the original Russian. I have the new translation and it is pretty overwhelming: each paragraph is a steady, steady stream of semicolons.
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Aug 3, 2010 13:52
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I last week started in on volume one of Shelby Foote's The Civil War: A Narrative. I really enjoy it so far, but it does have a tendency to devolve into a sports-like play-by-play of the battles, which don't really captivate me. I'm hoping to have it finished in a few months and then take a break before jumping in on volume two.
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Aug 3, 2010 16:55
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vegaji posted:Are you talking about Petersburg by Bely? If so, that book is really, really good but so goddamned overwhelming. I almost feel like it's not worth it to read unless you do it in the original Russian. Yea, thats the one. I'll have to check what edition I got, I had no idea there was a new translation.
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Aug 3, 2010 17:16
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The Prodigal Mage by Karen Miller. It's a continuation of the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker books, called The Fisherman's Children series. Loved the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series and adored the Empress novels...
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Aug 3, 2010 17:46
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Being somewhat directionless in the next book I was to read, my wife's cousin told me I needed to check out the Hunger Games. So...about to start book 1.
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Aug 4, 2010 06:48
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7 y.o. bitch posted:If it's his best book, then he must be an even worse writer than I imagine He is. You haven't even gotten into his plots yet.
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Aug 4, 2010 15:09
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Just before i'm about to head on a train i'm starting Casino Royale by Ian Fleming. I found a website that has each book for $10 each so I may as well start reading the series.
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Aug 5, 2010 02:15
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Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb. Next in line is probably the third part of the triology. Also reading The player of games by Iain M Banks and will follow that one up with Use of weapons.
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Aug 5, 2010 15:58
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Just took advantage of the deal right now that Borders is running (buy 2 paperbacks get one free) to buy China Mieville's The Scar and Iron Council and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.
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Aug 5, 2010 16:19
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 Just started The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks. I think it's going to be good in spite of the hype around the book. I love me a good thriller, especially if there are some sci-fi touches. Syrinxx fucked around with this message at 18:16 on Aug 5, 2010 |
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Aug 5, 2010 17:55
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Just started Rabbit, Run by John Updike. Liking it a lot more than I thought I would.
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Aug 5, 2010 23:21
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Hit up the bookstore got some stuff: Empress Karen Miller The Riven Kingdom Karen Miller Shadowmarch Tad Williams The Last Wish Andpzej Sapkowski Not the usual non-fiction/essay stuff I usually get.
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Aug 6, 2010 01:55
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Syrinxx posted:
Hmm... yeah. I think there may be a certain degree of hyperbole involved.
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Aug 6, 2010 23:59
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Today I purchased two books: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, and The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace Going to get a beverage and start the latter - after reading a few pieces of DFW's non-fiction, and after knowing how much people enjoy Infinite Jest, I decided I had to read something he has written... and after a recent false-start on War and Peace I decided I didn't want it to be a massive tome 
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Aug 7, 2010 16:04
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A friend of a relative saw me eying a book on his shelf and insisted I take it: The Seville Communion, by Arturo Perez-Reverte. I've read his The Fencing Master and Le Club Dumas and loved them, and I've heard of some of his other books (like the Alatriste novels made into a movie starring Viggo Mortenstern (speaking of which, really need to watch that, after I read those)), but this one I hadn't heard of. It's interesting: as the front cover gushes, kindof a thinking man's Robert Ludlam. Of course, nowadays we would say Robert Ludlam was the thinking man's Dan Brown. Well written so far, but with a few of what I am recognizing as common Reverte tropes, and some eye-rolling stuff about the Vatican being all spooooky. To say nothing of the jacket blurb referring to the protagonist as both "worldly" and "enormously attractive". 
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Aug 8, 2010 05:51
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Just started Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves, famously the author of I, Claudius. I had previously enjoyed I, Claudius as part of a wave of classics and classical history reading some time ago, and was inspired to take this one on after reading The Guns of August (a really excellent bit of historical writing). Graves's style is a bit underwhelming thus far, but it may be that that's because the environment he describes in the early chapters, namely his experience as a public school student in pre-War Great Britain, is so alien. I'm looking forward to the chapters on his experience in the War, which I hope will be comparatively vivid and evocative. Also started A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn. It's a critical history focused (thus far) on power and class struggles. It has received a mixed critical reception, largely because of the manner in which it is sourced and because of a perceived lack of balance in the selection and focus of the material. I'm not far enough in to pass on either of these criticisms, but I would note that Zinn never purports to be writing a non-selective, broad based history - indeed quite the contrary. He is trying to shed light on matters that had received little attention in courses focused on statesmen and industrial or mercantile magnates. In this he so far seems very successful, and the book is highly lucid and readable. Very much look forward to getting through the rest of this one as well. Red Dad Redemption fucked around with this message at 22:32 on Aug 17, 2010 |
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Aug 9, 2010 01:04
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I picked up a few books over the last few days, most of them used Penguins: - Canterbury Tales - Chaucer - The Iliad (EV Rieu translation) - Homer - The Last Days of Socrates - Plato - The Conquest of New Spain - Bernal Diaz - Where I'm Calling From - Raymond Carver I'm looking forward to the last one the most. I'm a really big fan of Carver's writing and I'm glad I finally found a used copy of one of his books.
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Aug 9, 2010 02:13
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Currently reading: Moby Dick by Herman Melville. loving fantastic, about 100 pages left. and This Boy's Life: A Memoir by Tobias Wolff. Bought some books that I hope to finish by the end of the month: Age of Iron by J.M. Coetzee Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. I already own a copy of this, but I wanted Edith Grossman's translation. Can't loving wait to read it. I think I'm going to pick up Bleak House by Dickens as well. spabz fucked around with this message at 03:34 on Aug 9, 2010 |
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Aug 9, 2010 03:32
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Just started reading Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. It's like reading everything I've thought about writing for the last few years.
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Aug 9, 2010 12:26
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I am 41% through The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett on my Kindle, and loving the hell out of it. I first heard about it when several people I was travelling with through Africa in 2008 were reading it. I'd always meant to seek it out but only recently decided to buy it. I was at about 25% when the new miniseries based on it started. I watched most of the first episode but some of the events were out of order and I didn't want anything to be spoiled before I read it, so I stopped watching. I'll watch all those when I finish the book. Anyway it's great. It's a bit like Grrm's Song of Ice and Fire in that it follows the lives of a group of people (with different POV chapters) in a medieval society, only it's historical fiction not fantasy. So far my favourite characters are Philip and Aliena. William is such an insufferable prick but I like reading his chapters too. There's a fair amount of rape-imagining as well as real rape, so any fan of Grrm should love this.
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Aug 9, 2010 17:06
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Gorilla Salsa posted:Just started reading Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. It's like reading everything I've thought about writing for the last few years. I love that book. My wife made me read it and I constantly think about spinning my wheels. Now I've hit the point in my life (pre house buying) that if I liquidate everything, I come out ahead. I like the feeling. I just started Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. About 100 pages into it, just past the history part. I'm told it gets much better, but I like the style so far.
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Aug 12, 2010 21:25
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Just picked up Mary Roache's Stiff today. Heard her name and books mentioned a few times here and there and decided to check it out. I am only on the 3rd chapter, but I will say she does do a good job of keeping me interested in a topic that I might not normally by a book about. Also bought Spook so I have something else to go into once I finish this one.
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Aug 12, 2010 22:19
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7 y.o. bitch posted:The second half is a little bit harder, but yeah, it's a pretty easy read, maybe even easier than Dubliners, but not quite as easy as Chamber Music. Yeah second half was harder but I enjoyed it none the less. I have to say I liked Dubliners alot more after I finished it, I have Ulysses ordered so I am going to have a fun time reading that, I'll probably have to read it a few times. I am more than half way through The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I am really liking it although some parts are quite graphic and gave a good few shivers! The Girl Who Played with Fire is up next. Happyfacecrazy fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Aug 13, 2010 |
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Aug 13, 2010 19:07
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Not having read them since the early/mid-1980s, I did not know that the Barefoot Gen books by Mr. Keiji Nakazawa continued into 10 volumes. (!) So I'm reading them all, starting with two I own, Barefoot Gen and Barefoot Gen: The Day After. I'm up to volume 6. I now wish I hadn't done this on the grounds that it's deeply upsetting. Still. Project Gen.
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Aug 14, 2010 18:14
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Edit: Whoops! Wrong thread! I just bought w. Somerset Maugham's The Magician. He is my favourite author, and I like Crowley as subject matter, so it should be good. This is an early novel of his, so I am curious to see how sophisticated his prose is during the first few years of his writing. Besson fucked around with this message at 04:47 on Aug 16, 2010 |
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Aug 16, 2010 03:33
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I just started a compilation called "Sympathy for the Devil" which is a collection of short stories about the Devil. I really like fiction about the devil, I think it's kind of a fascinating topic, and the first few that I've read so far are really good. My favorite so far is called Beluthahatchie, about an old bluesman in hell. It has a bunch of stories by authors I've read before, like Stephen King and Neil Gaiman, but also a bunch by people I haven't heard of, so maybe I'll find some new authors to follow.
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Aug 16, 2010 03:58
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Dorepoll posted:Edit: Whoops! Wrong thread! Hm, I'd never heard of Maugham before, but I love the mythos surrounding Aleister Crowley so that definitely looks like a book I'd be interested in
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Aug 16, 2010 16:32
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Halfway through Ursula Le Guin's 'Lavinia' and loving the hell out of it. Don't know how it's taken me this long to read it, with Le Guin and Virgil both so high on my list of awesome authors. I could do without the terrible romance novel cover though. She chose her man and her fate. The price she paid was war. Urgh.
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Aug 16, 2010 16:44
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I was hoping some PROUST readers here would be able to help me. I'm looking for a set of In Search of Lost Time, and found this; I was wondering though, is there a preferred translation to this masterpiece that ranks higher than any others?
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Aug 16, 2010 20:04
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Abnegatus posted:I was hoping some PROUST readers here would be able to help me. Here are some excerpts for comparison; it's up to you if the penguin edition is worth the extra effort.
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Aug 16, 2010 21:25
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I've been reading Cao Xueqin's Story of the Stone (or Dreams of the Red Chamber) for the past week. It's pretty long (I'm only on chapter 16), so the translators split it up into five separate volumes. I'm reading the Penguin Classics translation, which so far has been pretty engaging. Highly recommend for anyone who likes East Asian literature, though I still have a long way to go with it.
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Aug 16, 2010 22:10
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