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WeaponGradeSadness posted:edit: India takin' over this thread There are probably more blogs out there with better recs, but this is one that I read fairly regularly.
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Jan 5, 2011 04:30
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xcheopis posted:Apu's World has some reccommendations for books about India (fiction and non-fiction) by Indians (instead of Westerners).  Would anyone be interested in a separate thread for Indian literature? We've sort of overrun this thread and I think it might be cool if I made one to have our own place to recommend and discuss South Asian lit. If no one's interested I'll just let it go, though.
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Jan 5, 2011 05:22
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I'd definitely read a thread on South Asian lit, although I wouldn't have a lot to contribute at first. It's one of the areas I'm really lacking in so the more discussion the better, I say!
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Jan 5, 2011 07:53
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South Asian lit. Nice thread, will die out after a while - as did the Russian and Japanese lit threads - but I'll read it with great interest. Anyone up for it?
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Jan 5, 2011 14:28
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rasser posted:South Asian lit. Nice thread, will die out after a while - as did the Russian and Japanese lit threads - but I'll read it with great interest. Anyone up for it?  If someone more familiar with the rules wants to give it a shot, go right ahead. edit: wait, I think I saw what I did wrong. I may have used the "Hot" tag without realizing it was mod-only. I am retarded and didn't see the giant flashing sign saying not to use it right next to the text-entry field  . I was just going for a dumb pun about how popular Indian lit is in this thread and how hot it is in India/how spicy their food is. Yeah, I know, I've got a terrible sense of humor. Gonna try again. edit2: Thread's up now! Punished Chuck fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Jan 5, 2011 |
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Jan 5, 2011 17:09
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Anyone know a general book about grieving? I'd be particularly interested in one examining the scientific backing (or lack thereof) that explains why funeral homes, funerals, etc. organize things the way they do. Some sort of cross-cultural comparison of how different rites can be would be neat too. For example, long ago I read parts of This Republic of Suffering by Drew Gilpin Faust, which covered the ways American culture dealt with the extraordinary amounts of death coming out of the Civil war, how it created this idea of the "good death," etc.
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Jan 6, 2011 00:00
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I'm just a few chapters shy of finishing Susan Casey's The Wave and I'm really in love with it. Are there any books that are similiar to it, written like it or have similar topics that relate to this book.
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Jan 6, 2011 05:01
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screenwritersblues posted:I'm just a few chapters shy of finishing Susan Casey's The Wave and I'm really in love with it. Are there any books that are similiar to it, written like it or have similar topics that relate to this book. I'm reading this right now as well, and have been geeking out over it. A while back, I finished Sweetness and Blood which pretty much goes over the history of surfing, how it spread, and travels to different countries. I think The Wave is tons better, but if you're interested in surfing/travels/a little history you might enjoy it. I need a gift suggestion though, goons. She just finished reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series and greatly enjoyed it. She recently read The Help for a book club, and a couple others that she's enjoyed that come to mind are The Lovely Bones and The Blind Side. I can get you more recent reads if needed, but those are just what come to mind first thought.
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Jan 7, 2011 01:13
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I don't know if this is the right thread for this or not, but has anyone read City of Thieves by Benioff? If you have can you think of any books it's similar to?
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Jan 7, 2011 03:56
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ManMythLegend posted:I don't know if this is the right thread for this or not, but has anyone read City of Thieves by Benioff? If you have can you think of any books it's similar to?
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Jan 7, 2011 04:12
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Is there anything else like Checkhov? Also, I have no experience with this genre, but I recently read Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan and it was awesome. What are similar books that are good?
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Jan 7, 2011 19:51
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Doghouse posted:Is there anything else like Checkhov? It depends on what you're thinking of when you think of Chekhov. He had two or three different phases: in Russia I think he's more known for his short stories whereas Americans think of his plays. His early short stories were mostly very short indeed and tended to be funny, the best comparison I can think of is probably James Thurber. His later stories were longer and more serious, like "The Steppe" and "Ward Number Six," these stories aren't very similar to anything else I've read but John Cheever and Raymond Carver are at least somewhat similar. As for the plays, Chekhov and Henrik Ibsen are often compared, though I'm not sure if that's because their plays are that similar or just because they were active around the same time. I understand that George Bernard Shaw was influenced by Chekhov as well, and he wrote a play called Heartbreak House as an homage to Chekhov.
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Jan 8, 2011 01:46
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So I just tore through the first Wild Cards book in a day, and I'm hooked. Does anyone have any "realistic" superpowered character fiction they could recommend? Anthologies are fine.
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Jan 8, 2011 04:13
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For the past year or so I've become very interested in the history and culture of the Western Balkans, i.e. the former Yugoslavia (with a particular focus on Serbia). I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good book on Serbia and/or Bosnia-Hercegovina, especially on the lifes of ordinary people. Can be fiction or non-fiction, academic or popular. English, German and Italian are fine. To give you an idea, here's what's on my shelf about this broad topic: Andric, Ivo: The Bridge on the Drina Barnett, Neil: Tito Becker, Jens: Serbien nach den Kriegen Cohen, Roger: Hearts Grown Brutal - Sagas of Sarajevo Glenny, Misha: The Fall of Yugoslavia Handke, Peter: Abschied - Reise - Nachtrag Handke, Peter: Rund um das Große Tribunal Judah, Tim: The Serbs - History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia Kapor, Momo: The Magic of Belgrade LeBor, Adam: Milosevic - A Biography Markovic, Barbara: Ausgehen Mazower, Mark: The Balkans Norris, David: Belgrade - A Cultural and Literary History Popov, Nebojsa: Srpska strana rata Sundhaussen, Holm: Geschichte Serbiens - 19.-21. Jahrhundert Thomas, Robert: Serbia Under Milosevic - Politics in the 1990s Any help would be appreciated, thanks a lot!
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Jan 8, 2011 16:34
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schoenfelder posted:For the past year or so I've become very interested in the history and culture of the Western Balkans, i.e. the former Yugoslavia (with a particular focus on Serbia).
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Jan 8, 2011 16:54
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WeaponGradeSadness posted:Maybe try My War Gone By, I Miss It So. It's an account of the Bosnian war, where the embedded journalist is really embedded right in the middle of the action. It's pretty good. It's just about the war, not the culture or the lives of ordinary people, but it's probably one of the best for that particular point in Bosnia's history.
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Jan 8, 2011 17:11
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I'm going to Barnes and Noble tonight and wanted to pick up a work or two by Honoré de Balzac as I've never read him before. I'm sure their selection isn't huge, but it appears they have at least a few titles like Pere Goriot, Lost Illusions, Cousin Bette, and perhaps others. Any titles in particular that can be recommended for someone new to the author? Should I go with specific editons or would the B&N classic editions work just as well? Any translations that should be avoided? EDIT: Also, how is 2666 by Roberto Bolano and Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace? Jive One fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Jan 8, 2011 |
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Jan 8, 2011 21:21
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DrGonzo90 posted:It depends on what you're thinking of when you think of Chekhov. He had two or three different phases: in Russia I think he's more known for his short stories whereas Americans think of his plays. His early short stories were mostly very short indeed and tended to be funny, the best comparison I can think of is probably James Thurber. His later stories were longer and more serious, like "The Steppe" and "Ward Number Six," these stories aren't very similar to anything else I've read but John Cheever and Raymond Carver are at least somewhat similar. I should have specified. I meant his later short stories, like "the house with the mezzanine." They are so good.
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Jan 9, 2011 04:16
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Doghouse posted:I should have specified. I meant his later short stories, like "the house with the mezzanine." They are so good. OK, then check out the short stories of John Cheever and Raymond Carver definitely. Also came upon the names Katherine Mansfield and Victor Sawdon Pritchett after doing some googling, but I am not familiar with either of them so take that for what it's worth. I actually haven't read "The House With the Mezzanine," but I found a copy online that I'm going to read so if I think of any other similar writers I'll edit and add them.
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Jan 9, 2011 07:30
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ShutteredIn posted:On another note, has anyone here read Ismail Kadare and could recommend where to start?
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Jan 9, 2011 13:26
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WeaponGradeSadness posted:It sounds like you've got plenty of recommendations already, but I'd be remiss if I didn't try to push Alas, Babylon on you. It's different than a lot of post-apoc in the sense that it takes place right after a nuclear attack, as opposed to the years-later style of The Road, Fallout, etc, and deals with the immediate issues presented by such an attack. It's really good, it was my favorite book for a long time. I just came into this thread to ask a similar question, but based on my recent reading of The Inheritance of Loss and Shantaram, neither of which you seem to have.
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Jan 9, 2011 16:16
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" crap, as long as it offers some insight into the culture of India and/or the lives of its people. For reference, here's what I've got on the subject:
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Pantsmaster Bill posted:I just came into this thread to ask a similar question, but based on my recent reading of The Inheritance of Loss and Shantaram, neither of which you seem to have.
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Jan 9, 2011 21:08
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Everyone I know who's read Shantaram has loved it. It seems you get a very good feel of the culture from it, because it's apparently a true story. It's one of those stories that made me very happy for humanity, and moved me in parts. Inheritance of loss is...a hard read, but worth it, for me. It's not particularly happy though.
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Jan 10, 2011 00:04
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Pantsmaster Bill posted:Everyone I know who's read Shantaram has loved it. It seems you get a very good feel of the culture from it, because it's apparently a true story. It's one of those stories that made me very happy for humanity, and moved me in parts.
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Jan 10, 2011 03:31
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WeaponGradeSadness posted:Maybe try My War Gone By, I Miss It So. It's an account of the Bosnian war, where the embedded journalist is really embedded right in the middle of the action. It's pretty good. It's just about the war, not the culture or the lives of ordinary people, but it's probably one of the best for that particular point in Bosnia's history. 'sup, My way Gone By, I miss it so-buddy
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Jan 11, 2011 12:11
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I'm looking for a couple of things, and I guess they are fairly vague. Books about native peoples. Guns germs and steel, collapse, etc, really got me interested in human history. Books about cities. I'd like to read about how cities used to be compared to now, that sort of thing. Lastly, maybe something about math, it was always my worst subject, and I'd love to read detailed explanations of incredibly basic math things. Prince Reggie K fucked around with this message at 23:28 on Jan 12, 2011 |
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Jan 12, 2011 23:14
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I'm looking for a book that I saw a few weeks ago but have since forgotten about. It's a 1000+ page sci-fi book with a cloudy sky for it's cover. I've been searching Google and Amazon but no luck so far. The only thing I really remember is that the plot sounded fairly retarded, so I'm kind of morbidly curious about it.
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Jan 12, 2011 23:47
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gently caress TORNADO posted:I'm looking for a book that I saw a few weeks ago but have since forgotten about. It's a 1000+ page sci-fi book with a cloudy sky for it's cover. I've been searching Google and Amazon but no luck so far. The only thing I really remember is that the plot sounded fairly retarded, so I'm kind of morbidly curious about it. Maybe this? http://www.amazon.com/Androids-Dream-John-Scalzi/dp/0765309416 ?
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Jan 12, 2011 23:54
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Maybe this? http://www.amazon.com/Androids-Dream-John-Scalzi/dp/0765309416 ? No that's not it, the cover of the book I'm looking for just has a cloudy bright sky and the novel's title and author. There's no other details or drawings on it. Thanks for trying though!
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Jan 13, 2011 00:04
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Are you sure it was sci-fi? Because this is the first thing your description made me think of.
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Jan 13, 2011 00:11
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And I found it! Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Notable for having 100 pages of footnotes!
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Jan 13, 2011 00:50
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Prince Reggie K posted:Lastly, maybe something about math, it was always my worst subject, and I'd love to read detailed explanations of incredibly basic math things. I always suggest anything by Neil Stephenson; he loves to go into excrutiating detail on mathematical concepts and often uses real world examples to make them more understandable (I learned how ENIGMA worked thanks to his example of a broken bike chain!) For the really math-heavy stuff I suggest Snow Crash and Anathem (the latter especially, Snow Crash focuses far more on Sumerian Mythology, although it does explore the concept of binary languages in a pretty in depth manner).
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Jan 13, 2011 01:37
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I recently got a kindle (loving it by the way, I'd recommend them to anyone) but I don't really know what to read on it... Some of my favourite authors: David Eddings Tom Holt Andy McNab R. A. Salvatore Robin Hobb Jim Butcher Christopher Paolini I know, I'm a literary scrub In my defence, when I was young my dad had a bookshelf full of high fantasy and not much else, and I loved reading v v Also I kinda like sci fi but I haven't read much of it because there is so much to choose from and I don't know where to start...I am currently rereading the whole Forgotten Realms set of series (as a side note, is there a word for a group of series following the same story?) because I never got around to reading all of them in the right order. Once I am done with them I have heard great things about A Song of Ice and Fire, then hopefully the next Dresden Files will be out (oh god why did it end on a cliffhanger none of the others did and this is the only one I have had to wait for  ). After that, I'm kinda at a loss...EDIT: Also, I read A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawkings which was amazing, and if anyone knows of any similar books (preferably physics, but I guess other sciences too) I'd like to hear of them 
Infinite Monkeys fucked around with this message at 23:25 on Jan 13, 2011 |
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Jan 13, 2011 23:22
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gently caress TORNADO posted:And I found it! Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Notable for having 100 pages of footnotes! I'm not sure which is more amusing/horrifying, that you think Infinite Jest is scifi or that you think it "sounds retarded".
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Jan 14, 2011 02:42
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Conduit for Sale! posted:I'm not sure which is more amusing/horrifying, that you think Infinite Jest is scifi or that you think it "sounds retarded". It's a lovely, low-hanging fruit troll.
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Jan 14, 2011 03:11
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Is there a version of Don Quixote that is considered the best English translation? I've been wanting to read the book really badly ever since I saw Man of La Mancha, but googling brings up a bunch of different versions.
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Jan 14, 2011 04:03
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I'm looking for good books on the general history of the middle east. I've been recommended The Great War for Civilisation by Robert Fisk. Is that a good place to start?
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Jan 14, 2011 05:26
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teraflame posted:I'm looking for good books on the general history of the middle east. I've been recommended The Great War for Civilisation by Robert Fisk. Is that a good place to start? Cleveland, Modern History of the Middle East is used for a lot of Intro to Middle Eastern History classes. It's a very good book, though I don't know what changed in the 2009 edition compared to 2004 now Cleveland can't update it himself anymore (he's dead).
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Jan 14, 2011 07:26
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Lord Solitare posted:Is there a version of Don Quixote that is considered the best English translation? I've been wanting to read the book really badly ever since I saw Man of La Mancha, but googling brings up a bunch of different versions. Edith Grossman's version by a long shot.
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Jan 14, 2011 08:52
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I'm looking for stories about obsessive love, preferrably set in the 19th or early 20th century. Something along the lines of The Forsyte Saga, but less boring. Any genre is okay, but nothing too heavy. No torture or graphic rape scenes and Lolita is out. I just want a dark love story where the guy is a little twisted, but not so much that he becomes a monster.
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Jan 14, 2011 11:31
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