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Sir John Feelgood posted:Haruki Murakami. I've read Give A Wild Sheep Chase and Dance, Dance, Dance a go (in that order, the latter's a sequel).
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Mar 23, 2014 21:00
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Adib posted:This is going to be a strange request, partly because I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for. Basically, I like English words a lot and wish I knew more of them. I know that having a basic understanding of Latin roots (and maybe other languages like Greek, depending on the discipline) would help me quite a bit with that goal. However, I don't have the time to actually take a college course or look for etymological patterns in the dictionary. I do have enough time to read on occasion, though, and am wondering if there's abook that fills you in on the essential roots that will significantly improve your English comprehension. Are you thinking something like English From the Roots Up could work for you? http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0964321033?pc_redir=1395431298&robot_redir=1
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Mar 23, 2014 21:19
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Sir John Feelgood posted:Haruki Murakami. I've read Listen to Ulvir. IQ84 has a lot of problems with it and is probably his weakest published work.
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Mar 23, 2014 21:22
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Adib posted:This is going to be a strange request, partly because I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for. Basically, I like English words a lot and wish I knew more of them. I know that having a basic understanding of Latin roots (and maybe other languages like Greek, depending on the discipline) would help me quite a bit with that goal. However, I don't have the time to actually take a college course or look for etymological patterns in the dictionary. I do have enough time to read on occasion, though, and am wondering if there's a book that fills you in on the essential roots that will significantly improve your English comprehension. Strange request indeed. Are you looking for a school textbook? You might have more luck in the book recommendation thread in the science, academics and language subforum. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3415084
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Mar 23, 2014 22:15
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I'd like a solid work on the character of Satan in the Hebrew and Christian bibles. Elaine Pagels' The Origin of Satan is good, but it's primarily focused on the actions of the early church; I'm looking for something more textually-focused.
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Mar 24, 2014 04:42
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End Of Worlds posted:I'd like a solid work on the character of Satan in the Hebrew and Christian bibles. Elaine Pagels' The Origin of Satan is good, but it's primarily focused on the actions of the early church; I'm looking for something more textually-focused. This is a one hundred percent serious suggestion, read John Milton's Paradise Lost. While it is not a study, it did a hell of a lot to influence people's perception of who and what Satan was.
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Mar 24, 2014 05:59
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Stravinsky posted:This is a one hundred percent serious suggestion, read John Milton's Paradise Lost. While it is not a study, it did a hell of a lot to influence people's perception of who and what Satan was. Yeah, this is a decent suggestion. Milton basically revolutionized the entire concept of Satan. From what I remember of my college classes, Satan prior to Milton was essentially the villain in mystery plays and little more; the whole notion of Satan as potentially seductive, etc., comes from Milton. The other thing to bear in mind with Milton though is that everything in Paradise Lost derives from Milton's synthesis of essentially all contemporaneous religious lore or theological theorizing, no matter how obscure; from about 1635 on Milton spent literal years just reading everything and most of the stuff in his work has some antecedent somewhere, but I'm not sure where you could look for a good critical breakdown of where Milton got all his various ideas re: War in Heaven, etc. I feel like at some point I've seen a suggestion for this topic but I can't remember it; maybe it was the Pagels book. Looking at the Amazon "customers who bought this book also bought" might give you some ideas. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 06:13 on Mar 24, 2014 |
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Mar 24, 2014 06:06
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Hey, I just finished The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. I believe it was recommended here, even. I really, really enjoyed the book and particularly the way it narrated the main character's life with beautiful prose and poignant moments that make one think back to their own life a little bit despite the book's rather larger-than-life story. If anyone has any suggestions for books in the same genre, I'd love to hear them.
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Mar 25, 2014 05:11
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Tosk posted:Hey, I just finished The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. I believe it was recommended here, even. I really, really enjoyed the book and particularly the way it narrated the main character's life with beautiful prose and poignant moments that make one think back to their own life a little bit despite the book's rather larger-than-life story. If anyone has any suggestions for books in the same genre, I'd love to hear them. Have you read anything by John Irving? You could try A Prayer for Owen Meany. It's an epic about two characters growing up in New England, one of them a shy but athletic type, the other, Owen, is an albino dwarf who is a devout Christian. It explores friendship, faith, fate, love, family, and the Vietnam War serves as a catalyst. It's very good and hits all the points you requested.
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Mar 25, 2014 13:09
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Looking for something Game of Thrones-esque that doesn't suck and is preferably written in third person. I've read all of Joe Abercrombie's works and the Locke Lamora series.
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Mar 25, 2014 17:40
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AStrangeDuelist posted:Looking for something Game of Thrones-esque that doesn't suck and is preferably written in third person. Malazan book of the fallen?
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Mar 25, 2014 17:48
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AStrangeDuelist posted:Looking for something Game of Thrones-esque that doesn't suck and is preferably written in third person. The Red Knight
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Mar 25, 2014 18:16
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AStrangeDuelist posted:Looking for something Game of Thrones-esque that doesn't suck and is preferably written in third person. R Scott Bakker's series starting with Prince of Nothing might suit. It's incomplete, but I enjoyed them on their own.
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Mar 25, 2014 19:14
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AStrangeDuelist posted:Looking for something Game of Thrones-esque that doesn't suck and is preferably written in third person. Not fantasy (at least, not of the dragons and magic type), but if the political machinations and scheming are one of the primary qualities you enjoyed about GoT, you could do much worse than Shogun by James Clavell. Really fun book full of intrigue and I reread it every couple years.
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Mar 25, 2014 20:18
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Franchescanado posted:Have you read anything by John Irving? You could try A Prayer for Owen Meany. It's an epic about two characters growing up in New England, one of them a shy but athletic type, the other, Owen, is an albino dwarf who is a devout Christian. It explores friendship, faith, fate, love, family, and the Vietnam War serves as a catalyst. It's very good and hits all the points you requested. Second the hell out of this. It is one of the most gentle books I have ever read. Just lovely all around.
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Mar 25, 2014 22:06
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AStrangeDuelist posted:Looking for something Game of Thrones-esque that doesn't suck and is preferably written in third person. The Heresy Within "Ties That Bind" trilogy - Rob Hayes Ink Mage - V. Gischler Prophets of the Ghost Ants - Carlton
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Mar 27, 2014 00:50
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AStrangeDuelist posted:Looking for something Game of Thrones-esque that doesn't suck and is preferably written in third person. Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles are fun as hell to read. He gets slammed for Magic School Supar Wizard Skillz, but I honestly really liked them. Anthony Ryan's Blood Song is great. The second book is due in two or three months. Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire trilogy starts off shaky, but gets progressively better. By the end of the first book I was totally into it. Subjunctive posted:R Scott Bakker's series starting with Prince of Nothing might suit. It's incomplete, but I enjoyed them on their own. I've read the Prince of Nothing trilogy, but haven't moved onto The Aspect Emperor. They are good, with some really interesting ideas (the Logos, The Darkness That Comes Before, etc), but suffers heavily from Fantasy Name Syndrome (mixed with Byzantine themes, just to make them extra-incomprehensible) and some seriously relentless grimdark. The siege portions especially. Makes GRRM and Abercrombie seem like Shiny Happy People. Oh, and way too much raping and black cum. Still, they are definitely worth reading, imho BrosephofArimathea fucked around with this message at 01:31 on Mar 27, 2014 |
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Mar 27, 2014 01:23
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Just finished The way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, I know the second is out but I want to read a different book before that to let some of the ideas from the first set in. I find when I chain read a series I get burnt out by them. Suggestions? e: Sorry I should of been more specific. I would like something a little lighter, I've heard the Locke Lamora series is good but I'm not sure how much of a slog it will be. Stereo fucked around with this message at 00:08 on Mar 28, 2014 |
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Mar 27, 2014 23:58
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Stereo posted:Just finished The way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, I know the second is out but I want to read a different book before that to let some of the ideas from the first to set in. I find when I chain read a series I get burnt out by them. "A different book" isn't much to go on; anything in particular you're loooking for? That said, my go-to recommendation when someone just wants something non-specific but enormously entertaining and amazing to read is The Magus by John Fowles
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Mar 28, 2014 00:06
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Stereo posted:Just finished The way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, I know the second is out but I want to read a different book before that to let some of the ideas from the first set in. I find when I chain read a series I get burnt out by them. I just read Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding, it's light and fun. Here's my review from Goodreads: my review on Goodreads posted:drat, that was fun. This was an uncomplicated, rip-roaring adventure story about air-pirates in a well-realised fantasy world. It had the vibe of the TV show Firefly, but its tone and character dynamics were different enough that it didn't feel like a clone. It also reminded me a bit of The Lies of Locke Lamora, with loveable underworld protagonists getting in over their heads in grander conspiracies. It didn't have the dark turn of Lies though; instead it kept the tone light throughout. That made this a book I can see myself coming back to when I want something cozy and fun to dip into.
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Mar 28, 2014 00:56
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Hello all, first time I've ever ventured into the book barn. I'm looking for a particular recommendation. I've recently become quite interested in the developing territories of America in the mid to late 19th century. Old/wild west type stuff. I'm sure there's got to be a really good book out there that describes a lot of what was going on across the frontier. Something with a nice balance between historical documentation and exciting outlaw type stories. Can anyone help?
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Mar 29, 2014 21:32
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Phillip Meyer's The Son has some of the elements you're looking for and was a really good novel. It concerns a Texas oil and ranching family but it incorporates a lot of history about how the Texas frontier developed into the plot and themes, with tons of stuff about Indian tribes, cowboys, frontiersmen and landbarons. The timeline does go beyond the 19th century though.
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Mar 29, 2014 22:21
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This isn't a "recommend me a book" question but there is no real better place to ask. Are there any Criticker style websites/apps to that my Mum's bookclub can use to catalogue all the books they have read, leave personal comments/notes and maybe even rate the books with a score?
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Mar 30, 2014 10:58
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Goodreads should do the trick for that, her book club can set up their own group and add books they've read to the group's 'bookshelf' with ratings and reviews.
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Mar 30, 2014 12:00
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Hedrigall posted:I just read Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding, it's light and fun. Here's my review from Goodreads: Thanks for the mention of it, I'm enjoying it so far.
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Mar 30, 2014 16:44
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Hello, Book Barn! I'm interested in reading biographies of famous musicians (Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky) does anyone have suggestions for something along those lines?
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Mar 30, 2014 21:06
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Just jumping in to say that anyone who likes fantasy, historical fiction or just really lovely contemporary prose might want to give some though to Nicola Griffith's [i]Hild:/i] Amazon posted:In seventh-century Britain, small kingdoms are merging, frequently and violently. A new religion is coming ashore; the old gods are struggling, their priests worrying. Hild is the king’s youngest niece, and she has a glimmering mind and a natural, noble authority. She will become a fascinating woman and one of the pivotal figures of the Middle Ages: Saint Hilda of Whitby. The Toast has a good article in which Hild is held up as the anti-Game of Thrones.
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Mar 31, 2014 17:48
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End Of Worlds posted:
That sounds very interesting and looks like a great book. Thank you for recommending it. However, I got to say that review is extremely stupid/insane. It's as if the writer couldn't decide between posting a positive review of Hild or a negative review of ASoIaF and then decided to do both things at once. The point of the article seems to be "Genre fiction like ASoIaF is really sexistic and contains a lot of rape ... oh, and Hild is a very good book written by a woman!", but it fails to link these two points at all and becomes a confusing mess. Why is it necessary to point out GRRM could have written his world without rape/sexism to show that Hild is worth reading? Walh Hara fucked around with this message at 18:24 on Mar 31, 2014 |
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Mar 31, 2014 18:18
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That reminds me. Please recommend me some historical fiction with (emphasis on this) jaw-dropping good prose. Something along the lines of Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang and Parrot & Olivier in America, or the "historical" portions of Peter Ackroyd's Hawksmoor. Any place or period before 1900 is good. (I've read Shogun, which has more of a bestseller than literary prose style anyway, but not much else in the historical fic genre.)
Time Cowboy fucked around with this message at 00:00 on Apr 1, 2014 |
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Mar 31, 2014 23:58
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Time Cowboy posted:That reminds me. Please recommend me some historical fiction with (emphasis on this) jaw-dropping good prose. Something along the lines of Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang and Parrot & Olivier in America, or the "historical" portions of Peter Ackroyd's Hawksmoor. Any place or period before 1900 is good. (I've read Shogun, which has more of a bestseller than literary prose style anyway, but not much else in the historical fic genre.) Robert Graves' I, Claudius seems like an obvious recommendation to me. Robert Graves is known both for his poetry (elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford) and his excellent historical fiction. He was actually very close to winning a Nobel prize for literature, losing to John Steinbeck, whose The Grapes of Wrath is also a historical novel you could consider (haven't read it, but since he won a pulitzer and a nobel prize and since it's a classic it probably has very good prose as well). edit: apparantly Grapes of Wrath is set in the great depression, so after 1900.
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Apr 1, 2014 00:30
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Time Cowboy posted:That reminds me. Please recommend me some historical fiction with (emphasis on this) jaw-dropping good prose. Something along the lines of Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang and Parrot & Olivier in America, or the "historical" portions of Peter Ackroyd's Hawksmoor. Any place or period before 1900 is good. (I've read Shogun, which has more of a bestseller than literary prose style anyway, but not much else in the historical fic genre.) Mary Renault, Patrick O'Brian, and Robert Graves are probably your go-to. Patrick O'Brian especially has an amazingly subtle and quick wit and immense characterization but when he decides to go Full Nautical he's possible denser than Melville. For Mary Renault I'd recommend Last of the Wine, The King Must Die, or Fire From Heaven. For Patrick O Brian start with Master and Commander and never stop, never ever stop. Honestly we should really have a historical fiction megathread; I'm not sure why we don't.
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Apr 1, 2014 02:24
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Walh Hara posted:Robert Graves' I, Claudius seems like an obvious recommendation to me. This was already on my to-read list, but I'll bump it from "eventually" to "soon." I should also get into more Steinbeck. Twentieth century classics are a major blank spot for me. Thanks! Oh, by the way, is Claudius the God worth reading after I, Claudius? I ask because no one ever seems to talk about it. Hieronymous Alloy posted:Mary Renault, Patrick O'Brian, and Robert Graves are probably your go-to. Patrick O'Brian especially has an amazingly subtle and quick wit and immense characterization but when he decides to go Full Nautical he's possible denser than Melville. Thanks! I've added those to my list.
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Apr 1, 2014 02:45
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Time Cowboy posted:Oh, by the way, is Claudius the God worth reading after I, Claudius? I ask because no one ever seems to talk about it. Yeah, all three of those writers are good enough that they don't really write bad books, just less-good ones. If you don't like the first novels you probably won't like the rest of what each of them wrote, though.
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Apr 1, 2014 02:51
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Time Cowboy posted:That reminds me. Please recommend me some historical fiction with (emphasis on this) jaw-dropping good prose. Something along the lines of Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang and Parrot & Olivier in America, or the "historical" portions of Peter Ackroyd's Hawksmoor. Any place or period before 1900 is good. (I've read Shogun, which has more of a bestseller than literary prose style anyway, but not much else in the historical fic genre.) The French Lieutenant's Woman and A Maggot, both by John Fowles
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Apr 1, 2014 03:38
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Time Cowboy posted:That reminds me. Please recommend me some historical fiction with (emphasis on this) jaw-dropping good prose. Something along the lines of Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang and Parrot & Olivier in America, or the "historical" portions of Peter Ackroyd's Hawksmoor. Any place or period before 1900 is good. (I've read Shogun, which has more of a bestseller than literary prose style anyway, but not much else in the historical fic genre.) The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
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Apr 1, 2014 04:58
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Asked this in the history thread, but I might as well as here too. Are there any good books on epidemiology or microbiology?
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Apr 1, 2014 05:49
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Spillover has been mentioned a couple times in this thread. You might check out Carl Zimmer's stuff. I really enjoyed Parasite Rex back in school.
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Apr 1, 2014 06:25
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Time Cowboy posted:That reminds me. Please recommend me some historical fiction with (emphasis on this) jaw-dropping good prose. Something along the lines of Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang and Parrot & Olivier in America, or the "historical" portions of Peter Ackroyd's Hawksmoor. Any place or period before 1900 is good. (I've read Shogun, which has more of a bestseller than literary prose style anyway, but not much else in the historical fic genre.) Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies both fit this. They're basically Thomas Cromwell's life story told from his POV. Oh, also Mika Waltari. savinhill fucked around with this message at 07:39 on Apr 1, 2014 |
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Apr 1, 2014 07:33
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Time Cowboy posted:Thanks! I've added those to my list. Oh! Oh! Also add The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. Again, his prose does get very dense sometimes.
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Apr 1, 2014 13:10
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Thank you, everyone! Those have all been added to my to-read list (which is currently nine pages long, but still).
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Apr 1, 2014 14:43
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