Starting Pamela today, planning my suicide for tomorrow.
|
|
# ? Oct 26, 2010 23:27 |
|
|
# ? May 30, 2024 12:03 |
|
I made a stop at the library, and once again picked up far too many books than I'll be able to finish by the due date. Currently reading: Angels by Denis Johnson Herzog by Saul Bellow Mourning Becomes Electra by Eugene O'Neill To read: The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James Beloved by Toni Morrison Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad Nohow On by Samuel Beckett In Praise of the Stepmother by Mario Vargas Llosa The War of the End of the World by Mario Vargas Llosa A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
|
# ? Oct 26, 2010 23:53 |
|
soupcan58 posted:I just picked that up today. I haven't had a chance to get into it yet, but I'm expecting terrific things. I hate to sound like a review from the back of the jacket or something, but some pages had me laughing out loud (by myself, mind you, which usually doesn't happen) and then cringing because it was gross/horrible (in a good way). The loving camcorder part... totally awesome. It really reminded me of Ghostbusters, but an alternative, insane, 'adult' version. EDIT: vvvvvvv Favourite book, right there. It'll all come together (sort of) eventually. Rupert Buttermilk fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Oct 27, 2010 |
# ? Oct 27, 2010 00:38 |
|
Renewed House of Leaves from the library, I'm really enjoying it. About halfway through, and I'm at the point where every little "typo" or scratched out line is starting to make me wonder if it means something more. I honestly have no clue what's going on, but that makes it better, somehow.
|
# ? Oct 27, 2010 00:42 |
|
Shadowmarch by Tad Williams. So far the beginning is pretty interesting, I know its a series of 4 books and I already bought the 2nd with the third on the way when its released in November.
|
# ? Oct 27, 2010 03:44 |
|
I am about 50 pages into Gormenghast (the second novel in Peake's series), and don't plan on reading the third since I heard it is not necessary and isn't as good as the first two. But add me to the list of people who will start reading Game of Thrones. I just bought it, and will jump into Martin's world for the first time once I finish with Gormenghast. I will want to read the book before the show comes on. Maybe after that, I will take a break from fantasy, or start reading from Robert Howard's Conan short stories.
|
# ? Oct 27, 2010 05:24 |
|
Side Jobs by Jim Butcher. I did already skip to the end to read Aftermath but I'm going to try to pace myself on the other stories I haven't read before. Ghost Story is a long time away.
|
# ? Oct 27, 2010 06:06 |
|
Just started The Trouble With Physics by Lee Smolin. It's a treatise on the nature of unification theory in science, and how room needs to be made available for competing cosmology theories. I think his main beef is that string theory has been given an invincible status, without good reason.
|
# ? Oct 27, 2010 06:45 |
|
.
cutie fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Oct 2, 2015 |
# ? Oct 28, 2010 19:40 |
|
I was at a thrift store and I got Homer: His Art and His World by Joachim Latacz and Homeric Questions by Gregory Nagy for $2 each, which is great because they appear to be unread. I'm really excited about the first one and from what I've read so far, I'd recommend it to anyone interested in Homer. I also picked up a book of Eugene Ionesco's plays and Aphra Behn's The Rover.
|
# ? Oct 29, 2010 18:09 |
|
Currently reading Pelham Grenville Wodehouse's Psmith, Journalist (1915). It's an extremely interesting story set against the backdrop of what life in New York was like, particularly the seedy underbelly of gang violence. Wodehouse, of course, spent a lot of time there and I understand a lot of the events are based on true stories.
|
# ? Oct 31, 2010 07:52 |
|
Facial Fracture posted:I was at a thrift store and I got Homer: His Art and His World by Joachim Latacz and Homeric Questions by Gregory Nagy for $2 each, which is great because they appear to be unread. I'm really excited about the first one and from what I've read so far, I'd recommend it to anyone interested in Homer. I'd like to know what you think of both of these once you've read them. After reading The Iliad, I've gotten interested in learning more about the history of his works.
|
# ? Nov 1, 2010 18:56 |
|
I bought a few books lately. In the last two weeks or so, I got Stross's "The Jennifer Morgue" and "The Fuller Memorandum", then ordered "The Little Prince" and the first Harry Potter book in Latin translations.
Pham Nuwen fucked around with this message at 19:52 on Nov 1, 2010 |
# ? Nov 1, 2010 19:37 |
|
barkingclam posted:I'd like to know what you think of both of these once you've read them. After reading The Iliad, I've gotten interested in learning more about the history of his works. I'm still only a few pages into the Latacz book, but I really think it's going to be great; it's well-written/translated and very interesting so far. The other book seems to be partly or completely available here-- http://www.stoa.org/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Stoa:text:2003.01.0006 --but it's far more abstruse and probably not what you're not looking for besides. I checked amazon and, unfortunately, the Latacz book seems a bit hard to get and really expensive. Since I got it for so cheap, I'd be willing to lend it by mail when I'm done if you're interested. In the meantime, The New Cambridge Comapanion to Homer is alright, a fair bit cheaper, and contains an essay by Latacz.
|
# ? Nov 1, 2010 22:49 |
|
Pham Nuwen posted:the first Harry Potter book in Latin translations. What the hell? This is a thing that people get and read? Ninja Edit: oh drat, so it is. Boggles the mind that people are fluent enough in Latin to read this.
|
# ? Nov 1, 2010 23:46 |
|
Sivlan posted:What the hell? I'm not nearly good enough to properly read it yet, but some of the stuff I glean is pretty interesting. I don't have it on hand but I'm pretty sure "motorcycle" got translated as "two-wheeled self-mover", which works reasonably well and doesn't look clumsy when in Latin.
|
# ? Nov 2, 2010 00:09 |
|
About a quarter of the way through One Hundred Years of Solitude. It's a great book, but god drat, it can be confusing some times. All the Spanish names, their father's names, their bastard children's names get mixed up. I constantly have to refer to the family tree at the beginning to make sure the person I'm reading about is who I think it is.
|
# ? Nov 2, 2010 05:16 |
|
Just started The Girl Who Played With Fire. The first book I thought was okay once it got fully into gear, but was hampered by that enormous dead zone where Blomkvist spends a hundred pages in a tedious cycle of drinking coffee, reading files and walking round the island (and also the oh hey, everything's suddenly worked out perfectly for all the good guys! ending). I'm 80-odd pages into this one, and already the pacing seems much better.
|
# ? Nov 2, 2010 13:08 |
|
wheatpuppy posted:Side Jobs by Jim Butcher. I did already skip to the end to read Aftermath but I'm going to try to pace myself on the other stories I haven't read before. Ghost Story is a long time away. I blew through it earlier this week It's got some great stories, and even the ones that kinda suck are still pretty good. Hands down favorite for just sheer and laughter has to be Harry's Day Off. Payndz - I haven't read any of the "Girl who did stuff" books, but are they pretty good so far? Based on what I heard from a few people about the first book, the protagonist starts out great but ends up being a giant douche who is a genius and therefore solves any problems/decodes any messages/can ensure world peace with only a tit and a paperclip kind of person (and I hate those). Sort of how the main character in that fantasy book (can't think of the title to save my life, red haired guy who could do no wrong, getting a story written about him, worked in a bar) could be read as Zapp Brannigan and it fits perfect.
|
# ? Nov 2, 2010 13:51 |
Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Sort of how the main character in that fantasy book (can't think of the title to save my life, red haired guy who could do no wrong, getting a story written about him, worked in a bar) could be read as Zapp Brannigan and it fits perfect. I'm guessing you are referring to Name of the Wind? I had never thought about it like that, but it fits perfectly. Still enjoyed the book though. edit; I'm starting Towers of Midnight by Brandon Sanderson/Robert Jordan when I get home. I'm excited. Dramatika fucked around with this message at 21:09 on Nov 2, 2010 |
|
# ? Nov 2, 2010 21:06 |
|
That's it! drat that's been bugging me all day. It was an ok book, and I enjoyed it for a while, but after page upon page of that guy being the next incarnation of jesus pretty much, it got old. Currently working my way through The Black Prism by Brent Weeks. It's pretty decent so far, but I kinda wish he would come up with another word for "fat", since one of the main characters is ALWAYS talking about how fat he is. I like him as an author, but I wanna buy him a thesaurus. It's got an interesting idea about color magic, and so far it's a decent read. I started it after I read another book sort of close to it, Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson.
|
# ? Nov 3, 2010 02:02 |
|
Bought The Regulators by Stephen King a couple of weeks ago. I'm just over half way done but argh since it's a parallel universe to his other book Desperation; I have issues keeping the characters in order. Odd enough story, his tend to range from mildy entertaining to paranoia inducing. Mostly just odd.
|
# ? Nov 3, 2010 17:33 |
|
I am reading 5 books concurrently as well as studying for exams I think I've taken on too much. Climbing Mount Improbable by Richard Dawkins World Without End by Ken Follett The Draco Tavern by Larry Niven The Dead Don't Cry by Mark Lopez Avatar: An Activist Survival Guide by nobody important
|
# ? Nov 4, 2010 11:07 |
|
Just started Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War this morning. It's a dry read, but it seems to be worth it thus far. I read Herodotus a while back and this is kind of the other side of the coin: where Herodotus was all about quoting oracles and attributing events to gods and fate, Thucydides is blaming people. I also started The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens a few days ago. I'm really liking it, it's a hilarious read. I'm kind of surprised too: I've never actually read anything by Dickens before, so I've always assumed he wrote really bleak and depressing books. And aside from an odd side tale here and there, Pickwick is a really fun story so far (and Sam Weller is pretty wicked).
|
# ? Nov 5, 2010 15:46 |
|
Reading The Stand extended version. I like it a lot but it's too drat long. I'm about 750 pages in out of almost 1200. Jesus. I've been reading it off and on for over a month. I can't believe I bought Under the Dome. That's going to have to wait, I just don't have it in me to tackle another book that is this long for a while. Next up is The Road or Catcher in the Rye.
|
# ? Nov 5, 2010 18:19 |
|
Started Pudd'nhead Wilson two days ago, finished the story itself last night but I'm on to the related "Those Extraordinary Twins", probably finish that tonight.
|
# ? Nov 5, 2010 19:17 |
|
Just began American Gods, it's pretty interesting so far.
|
# ? Nov 5, 2010 20:23 |
|
Henron posted:Just began American Gods, it's pretty interesting so far. I quite enjoyed it, but I did facepalm at the protagonist named "Shadow". Still, a very minor gripe against a book I enjoyed enough to have read three times.
|
# ? Nov 5, 2010 22:34 |
|
I picked up Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding today and at chapter eight. It was a real impulse buy and the best I can describe it so far is "Firefly after the watershed".
|
# ? Nov 7, 2010 00:39 |
|
Started Cat's Cradle this afternoon.
|
# ? Nov 7, 2010 02:00 |
|
Just burned through A Confederacy of Dunces, and it was one of the better books I've read in a while. It definitely cheered me up a bit after reading The Bell Jar, which was interesting but depressing. Next up: Lord of the Flies, followed by Catch-22. Being unemployed has given me the free time to read all of those books that have been on my list for forever.
|
# ? Nov 7, 2010 14:30 |
|
B B posted:Just burned through A Confederacy of Dunces, and it was one of the better books I've read in a while. It definitely cheered me up a bit after reading The Bell Jar, which was interesting but depressing. Next up: Lord of the Flies, followed by Catch-22. You've got two great books lined up there, hope you enjoy them! I've been meaning to read A Confederacy of Dunces for a while now, but never remember to look for it at the library.
|
# ? Nov 7, 2010 20:02 |
|
Pham Nuwen posted:You've got two great books lined up there, hope you enjoy them! I've been meaning to read A Confederacy of Dunces for a while now, but never remember to look for it at the library. The main character is the gooniest goon that ever gooned.
|
# ? Nov 7, 2010 20:27 |
|
I was visiting a friend yesterday and his town's library was having it's annual book sale (fill a bag for nine bucks), so I grabbed a bunch. Some highlights: Pamela, Winesburg, Ohio, The Shipping News and a couple Thomas Hardy novels. This about rounds out my book buys for the year.
|
# ? Nov 7, 2010 20:37 |
|
Hyperion by Dan Simmons. I've not read much sci-fi before but it's OK so far (120 pages in). I could have done with the priest's diary entries being a lot shorter. Having to slog through 70 pages of it after only 20 pages of introduction to the universe was a bit of a drag. Worth finishing? I also recently started reading the Dresden Files books. I enjoyed the first one but they are too repetitive and generally trashy and by the end of the third book I had had enough.
|
# ? Nov 7, 2010 21:05 |
|
I'm ~200 pages into The Good Soldier Svejk. I'm reading textbooks to prepare for starting school in January and I didn't want to pick up anything long to distract me, but 10 pages into Svejk and I gave over. It's good; I find it sort of funny while you're reading it, and depressing when you take a minute to reflect.
|
# ? Nov 7, 2010 22:15 |
|
Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Payndz - I haven't read any of the "Girl who did stuff" books, but are they pretty good so far? Based on what I heard from a few people about the first book, the protagonist starts out great but ends up being a giant douche who is a genius and therefore solves any problems/decodes any messages/can ensure world peace with only a tit and a paperclip kind of person (and I hate those). Sort of how the main character in that fantasy book (can't think of the title to save my life, red haired guy who could do no wrong, getting a story written about him, worked in a bar) could be read as Zapp Brannigan and it fits perfect. I'm enjoying the second book more than the first because the pacing is massively better, and things are actually happening on a regular basis rather than people just drinking coffee and eating sandwiches. The plot still depends waaaaay too much on coincidence, though: Salander just happens to see the crooked lawyer in a bar, at the exact moment the latter is talking to the very man he's hiring to kill Salander, and she decides to follow him until he meets the actual hitman because she's got ESP and can look 30 pages ahead, I guess.
|
# ? Nov 8, 2010 00:20 |
|
Just came home from a long day of work to find an awesome birthday present consisting of all 3 volumes of Penguin Classics new Lyons' translations of Arabian Nights. I have their older "best of" version with the Burton translation, but getting the complete 1001 stories plus extras sans the expurgation was a fantastic surprise.
|
# ? Nov 8, 2010 04:34 |
|
Jive One posted:Just came home from a long day of work to find an awesome birthday present consisting of all 3 volumes of Penguin Classics new Lyons' translations of Arabian Nights. I have their older "best of" version with the Burton translation, but getting the complete 1001 stories plus extras sans the expurgation was a fantastic surprise. Woah, now I have to get this. Thanks!
|
# ? Nov 8, 2010 06:11 |
|
|
# ? May 30, 2024 12:03 |
|
John Dies At The End by David Wong. I say I've just started it, I'm two days along and I've nearly finished. I would recommend this to just about anyone. It's a goon recommendation and I'm sure you've mostly all read it by now but it's about 2 losers in bumfuck nowheresville who stumble upon the ability to see ghosts/demons. It's really funny, it's dark, it's got believable action and I like John so much at this point I'm worried about the title. What's the story behind the author? Is he someone writing under a pseudonym? Has he done any other book?
|
# ? Nov 10, 2010 20:18 |