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regulargonzalez posted:
Hey man, I'm reading The French Lieutenant’s Woman (also by Fowles) and it's absolutely brilliant, so I picked up a used copy of The Magus. It may be a while but I will read it.
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Jun 17, 2014 03:15
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I really enjoyed his first novel, The Collector, which is about a kidnapper and his victim and is written from both perspectives. It also features some complex characters. I think Fowles does such a good job of conveying these real and convincing portraits of people, warts and all. In The Collector, it's hard to completely revile the kidnapper despite his heinous actions because he's such a put-upon nebbish in all other areas of his life, and conversely it's hard to wholeheartedly champion the victim, even though she is being wronged, because she has her own set of flaws. You end up having sympathy for both characters, which I think speaks to the strength of Fowles' character work. It's reminding me that I should add The Magus and The French Lieutenant's Woman to my read pile as well.
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Jun 17, 2014 03:58
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regulargonzalez posted:Tough to say more about this one without spoiling it, but the antagonist in John Fowles' The Magus (not fantasy, despite the title) has complex motivations that will leave you confused and guessing through most of the book. Gonna keep recommending this book until someone here actually reads it. Your recommendation has not gone unnoticed. Picked this up after your post and absolutely loving it 2/3rds of the way through. Reminds me a lot of Donna Tartt's The Secret History.
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Jun 17, 2014 04:57
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You have all warmed the cockles of my cold, dead heart.
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Jun 18, 2014 04:25
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I'm looking for a few good books dealing with exploration, survival, colonization or epic journeys. Fiction or Non-Fiction. Anything from the Oregon Trail and the Donner Party, to hard sci-fi planetary exploration/colonization. To narrow it down a bit more here are some things I've greatly enjoyed over the years; Jack London's stories. The Terror, By Dan Simmons. The Swiss Family Robinson. The Road, By Cormac McCarthy. Robinson Crusoe. Blindsight, By Peter Watts. Lord of the Flies. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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Jun 18, 2014 17:55
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Alone on the Ice - David Roberts Gives a general overview of the history of exploration of Antarctica, with a focus on Mawson's expedition in the 1910s. Mawson loses his dogs, two teammates and nearly all of his gear and has to walk back to camp alone. quote:Mawson was sometimes reduced to crawling, and one night he discovered that the soles of his feet had completely detached from the flesh beneath. On February 8, when he staggered back to base, his features unrecognizably skeletal, the first teammate to reach him blurted out, "Which one are you?" Touching the Void - Joe Simpson quote:Joe Simpson and his climbing partner, Simon Yates, had just reached the top of a 21,000-foot peak in the Andes when disaster struck. Simpson plunged off the vertical face of an ice ledge, breaking his leg. In the hours that followed, darkness fell and a blizzard raged as Yates tried to lower his friend to safety. Finally, Yates was forced to cut the rope, moments before he would have been pulled to his own death. I got kind of obsessed with the 1972 Uruguayan plane crash a few years ago and I've been meaning to read about it. Alive came out a couple years after the accident and in 2006 Miracle in the Andes was written by one of the survivors. I haven't read either so I can't vouch for them, but maybe they're good! DannyTanner fucked around with this message at 18:57 on Jun 18, 2014 |
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Jun 18, 2014 18:50
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Talmonis posted:I'm looking for a few good books dealing with exploration, survival, colonization or epic journeys. Fiction or Non-Fiction. Anything from the Oregon Trail and the Donner Party, to hard sci-fi planetary exploration/colonization. To narrow it down a bit more here are some things I've greatly enjoyed over the years; The Terror is based off the real lost Franklin expedition. Both The Man Who Ate His Boots: The Tragic History of the Search for the Northwest Passage (Anthony Brandt) and Arctic Labyrinth: The Quest for the Northwest Passage (Glyn Williams) have detailed histories of, naturally, searches for the Northwest Passage and a whole lot on Franklin. Both are equally good though their approaches are slightly different. It's not one continuous piece, but Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles does deal with colonization. As do several in The Illustrated Man, though not all of them are. Stephen King's The Long Walk (writing as Richard Bachman) is very good if you haven't read it. I have no doubt you've read The Grapes of Wrath.
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Jun 19, 2014 03:16
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I read tons and tons in high school and then took a very extended break. I recently picked up a Kindle Paperwhite and want to get back into it! I really enjoy fantasy and Sci Fi but even though I read a ton it was basically just Young Adult books and so on. I recently read Ready Player One and Ender's Game and loved them both! I really enjoy approachable books at least until I get myself back into the swing of things. I know some Sci-Fi and Fantasy can be very uh dense. Some of my favorite books of all time are The Giver, Jurassic Park, Rendezvous with Rama and (don't kill me) The Harry Potter series and most mainline Tom Clancy stories. Thanks in advance!
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Jun 19, 2014 03:52
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Talmonis posted:I'm looking for a few good books dealing with exploration, survival, colonization or epic journeys. Fiction or Non-Fiction. Anything from the Oregon Trail and the Donner Party, to hard sci-fi planetary exploration/colonization. To narrow it down a bit more here are some things I've greatly enjoyed over the years; Give Nexus: Ascension by Robert Boyczuk a try: my goodreads review posted:Bleak. Bleak, bleak, bleak. This book is like being repeatedly hit in the face with a giant hammer which has "bleak" stamped all over it. But although you may want to kill yourself once you've read it, it also happens to be a gripping dark sci-fi debut novel.
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Jun 19, 2014 04:23
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Disappointing Pie posted:I read tons and tons in high school and then took a very extended break. I recently picked up a Kindle Paperwhite and want to get back into it! I really enjoy fantasy and Sci Fi but even though I read a ton it was basically just Young Adult books and so on. I recently read Ready Player One and Ender's Game and loved them both! I really enjoy approachable books at least until I get myself back into the swing of things. I know some Sci-Fi and Fantasy can be very uh dense. Some of my favorite books of all time are The Giver, Jurassic Park, Rendezvous with Rama and (don't kill me) The Harry Potter series and most mainline Tom Clancy stories. You should definitely hit up on the second Ender's Game novel, Speaker for the Dead. It is as good as the first -- and I've read both a couple times. If you're going for something really approachable, anything Jack Reacher by Lee Child is great. I would start off with 61 Hours - they're pretty generic pulp adventure books but are absolutely excellent. My response to you saying Harry Potter is a Song of Ice and Fire (please don't kill / ban me) - they're really good, sort of a plot/intrigue meets fantasy meets dark sadism. I would definitely recommend them, they're by far the best true fantasy out there at the moment. If you're looking for some pretty basic stuff, I'd recommend (and these are in no particular order / genre): The Kite Runner Dune Life of Pi A Fine Balance Lord of the Flies If you post more specifically what you're interested in, I can give you some further suggestions.
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Jun 19, 2014 04:58
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Disappointing Pie posted:I read tons and tons in high school and then took a very extended break. I recently picked up a Kindle Paperwhite and want to get back into it! I really enjoy fantasy and Sci Fi but even though I read a ton it was basically just Young Adult books and so on. I recently read Ready Player One and Ender's Game and loved them both! I really enjoy approachable books at least until I get myself back into the swing of things. I know some Sci-Fi and Fantasy can be very uh dense. Some of my favorite books of all time are The Giver, Jurassic Park, Rendezvous with Rama and (don't kill me) The Harry Potter series and most mainline Tom Clancy stories. If you liked Ready Player One and I'm guessing you've probably read the Harry Potter books as well as some point you might want to try the Grossman twins - Lev Grossman wrote The Magicians which is kind of like Harry Potter grown up with some The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe thrown in, and Austin Grossman wrote You, which everyone compares to Ready Player One. Plus, twin authors, kind of neat.
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Jun 19, 2014 21:58
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Disappointing Pie posted:I read tons and tons in high school and then took a very extended break. I recently picked up a Kindle Paperwhite and want to get back into it! I really enjoy fantasy and Sci Fi but even though I read a ton it was basically just Young Adult books and so on. I recently read Ready Player One and Ender's Game and loved them both! I really enjoy approachable books at least until I get myself back into the swing of things. I know some Sci-Fi and Fantasy can be very uh dense. Some of my favorite books of all time are The Giver, Jurassic Park, Rendezvous with Rama and (don't kill me) The Harry Potter series and most mainline Tom Clancy stories. Hello I recommend you pick up THE MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY, A NIGHTMARE by G K CHesterton it is not anything like the things you said but it is good and short and free on Kindle
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Jun 19, 2014 22:09
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Disappointing Pie posted:I read tons and tons in high school and then took a very extended break. I recently picked up a Kindle Paperwhite and want to get back into it! I really enjoy fantasy and Sci Fi but even though I read a ton it was basically just Young Adult books and so on. I recently read Ready Player One and Ender's Game and loved them both! I really enjoy approachable books at least until I get myself back into the swing of things. I know some Sci-Fi and Fantasy can be very uh dense. Some of my favorite books of all time are The Giver, Jurassic Park, Rendezvous with Rama and (don't kill me) The Harry Potter series and most mainline Tom Clancy stories. You might like Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, then.
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Jun 20, 2014 04:33
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Hedrigall posted:Give Nexus: Ascension by Robert Boyczuk a try: Just bought this because it ticks all my boxes!
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Jun 20, 2014 12:51
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skrath posted:Your recommendation has not gone unnoticed. Picked this up after your post and absolutely loving it 2/3rds of the way through. Reminds me a lot of Donna Tartt's The Secret History. Based on you mentioning Tartt and reading the first couple of pages using 'Look Inside', I just ordered The Magus (for $3.50 brand new and free shipping on Ebay). It will be my post beach read when I get back.
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Jun 20, 2014 20:07
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WastedJoker posted:Just bought this because it ticks all my boxes! Well, I finished this in two sittings. Very enjoyable and an original story!
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Jun 20, 2014 20:51
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nate fisher posted:Based on you mentioning Tartt and reading the first couple of pages using 'Look Inside', I just ordered The Magus (for $3.50 brand new and free shipping on Ebay). It will be my post beach read when I get back. regulargonzalez posted:
Ok I just finished this book. Absolutely excellent. Well worth the time.
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Jun 21, 2014 00:01
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I can definitely recommend The French Lieutenant's Woman to those of you who are reading Fowles. It was excellent. On its surface, it's just a Victorian era love triangle, but the way he writes it, it's so much more than that. Fowles breaks the 4th wall a decent bit, making it a 1967 look at a 1867 romance amd occasionally inserting himself into the narrative. I loved it.
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Jun 21, 2014 06:25
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To whomever recommended Last Days by Adam Nevill; you failed to mention how LONG the book is. It's quite a hefty tome. I'm enjoying it though - the descent into madness is gradual and affecting. I am getting a True Detective vibe from the imagery. The way the book is written would work well in a mini-series too, imo.
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Jun 27, 2014 11:25
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I could really use a book right now that could make me cry, something powerful. Fictional history or very light sci-fi or post/pre/near apocalyptic (this especially) would be preferred. Things like self-sacrifice, suicide, people just giving up, etc really tug at my heart strings
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Jun 28, 2014 00:32
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Sandwolf posted:I could really use a book right now that could make me cry, something powerful. Fictional history or very light sci-fi or post/pre/near apocalyptic (this especially) would be preferred. Ben Winters' The Last Policeman series, Shute's On the Beach, Morrow's This is the Way the World Ends, Blake Butler's Scorch Atlas
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Jun 28, 2014 01:12
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funkybottoms posted:Ben Winters' The Last Policeman series, Shute's On the Beach, Morrow's This is the Way the World Ends, Blake Butler's Scorch Atlas Funny that you say that, I just finished The Last Policeman and was wishing it had a little more punch. The part that tore me up the most was Detective Andreas' death, but I wish it had delved into it more (suicides). Is On the Beach actually sad?
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Jun 28, 2014 01:17
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Sandwolf posted:Funny that you say that, I just finished The Last Policeman and was wishing it had a little more punch. The part that tore me up the most was Detective Andreas' death, but I wish it had delved into it more (suicides). It's more about the overall mood and feel of TLP, which I found to be quite affecting, kind of like The Children of Men, and Scorch Atlas bummed me out in a similar fashion. OTB is sad, but This is the Way... is the one that made me cry like a motherfucker.
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Jun 28, 2014 01:40
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Sandwolf posted:I could really use a book right now that could make me cry, something powerful. Fictional history or very light sci-fi or post/pre/near apocalyptic (this especially) would be preferred. Try Stewart O'Nan's A Prayer for the Dying. He makes an interesting choice with the use of second person narrative but I think it really works in the scope of the novel and actually emphasizes the intensity and the horror of the protagonist in this unthinkable situation. edited to add that I know it isn't post-apocalyptic but considering it's an entire town dying of a massive epidemic it might be close enough to impending collapse to work for you. Poutling fucked around with this message at 02:12 on Jun 28, 2014 |
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Jun 28, 2014 01:56
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The Road, Cormac McCarthy. Very powerful, one of the few books to make me cry.
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Jun 28, 2014 04:16
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e: nm not a good fit
DannyTanner fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Jun 28, 2014 |
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Jun 28, 2014 04:21
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Sandwolf posted:I could really use a book right now that could make me cry, something powerful. Fictional history or very light sci-fi or post/pre/near apocalyptic (this especially) would be preferred. Schrodingers Telephone http://www.amazon.com/Schrodingers-...inger+telephone is everything you are looking for and it's 99¢. I am not the author but I actually wrote him a fan letter, that's how much I liked it. I love a good sci-fi cry. About 120 pages. Maybe also The Nog Sisters by Ian Fraser. specklebang fucked around with this message at 07:54 on Jun 28, 2014 |
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Jun 28, 2014 07:43
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Could anyone recommend me a solid and readable biography of Dwight Eisenhower? I've been doing some light reading on him that got me real interested. His career as a general and some of the more left wing moves he made while president are what captured my interest specifically so if possible I'd like one that focuses more on his life starting at the military but I doubt most biographies get that specific so I'm fine with full life ones. I'm also hoping someone can recommend one that isn't incredibly dry since that's my problem with most biographies. I guess I'd also be interested in books specifically covering his presidential terms if anyone has any high recommendations there.
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Jun 28, 2014 16:02
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InequalityGodzilla posted:Could anyone recommend me a solid and readable biography of Dwight Eisenhower? I've been doing some light reading on him that got me real interested. His career as a general and some of the more left wing moves he made while president are what captured my interest specifically so if possible I'd like one that focuses more on his life starting at the military but I doubt most biographies get that specific so I'm fine with full life ones. I'm also hoping someone can recommend one that isn't incredibly dry since that's my problem with most biographies. For a long time, Stephen Ambrose's Eisenhower bio was the definitive version. Unfortunately, a few years ago, it was discovered that Ambrose had simply invented a bunch of interviews with Eisenhower. So while Ambrose's books are still a good read you can't trust their reliability.
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Jun 28, 2014 16:24
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Sandwolf posted:I could really use a book right now that could make me cry, something powerful. Fictional history or very (this especially) would be preferred. I just finished Maddaddam by Margaret Atwood and it had a lot of touching parts like this. The thing is though is that it's the last book in a series and I can't remember if the first two evoked the same type of feelings because it's been a long time since I've read them. It definitely fits the light sci-fi, pre, post, during apocalypse requirement perfectly and all three are worth reading regardless. WastedJoker posted:To whomever recommended Last Days by Adam Nevill; you failed to mention how LONG the book is. I read it on the kindle and it didn't feel long to me cuz I flew right through it. Yeah, it would make for some great TV like you said, the way it has the past and present parts seems like it would be easy to adapt for something like that.
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Jun 28, 2014 21:57
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Can anyone recommend a good place to start with J.G. Ballard? I keep hearing good things about him, but for some reason I'd got it into my head that he wrote crime fiction (not that there's anything wrong with that.) Empire of the Sun seems to be the most famous one, but the content makes it sound very bleak, and while I don't mind grim fiction, real world examples of inhumanity do grind me down so I try to space them out.
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Jun 29, 2014 00:52
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He wrote genre sci-fi, I can't think of any crime stuff. He mostly wrote about spods in the suburbs having sex & death like it's an art project. I enjoyed The Atrocity Exhibition, a collection of short stories with titles like "The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kenedy as a Downhill Motor Race", and, opening my copy at random, dialogue like "It's an interesting question in what way is intercourse per vagina more stimulating than with this ashtray, say, or between the angle of those two walls? Sex is now a conceptual act." Some people say his masterpiece is Crash, about wanting to gently caress car-crashes, which is basically a fleshed out story from the previous. He wrote tens of books in this vein, which you can delve into if you're digging it but they're rather samey. Of his more traditional sci-fi, I've heard good things said about The Drowned World, a post-apocalyptic book after the waters rose, but I've not read it and don't really know. And finally there's the biographical stuff which you mentioned, Empire of the Sun and its sequel The Kindness of Women. They're well-spoken of, even by people who don't want to feel up an overpass.
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Jun 29, 2014 01:07
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Doubtful Guest posted:Can anyone recommend a good place to start with J.G. Ballard? I read Crash and The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard because I kept hearing good things about him. Whoever is saying these good things is full of poo poo. J.G. Ballard is terrible.
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Jun 29, 2014 01:09
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savinhill posted:I just finished Maddaddam by Margaret Atwood and it had a lot of touching parts like this. The thing is though is that it's the last book in a series and I can't remember if the first two evoked the same type of feelings because it's been a long time since I've read them. It definitely fits the light sci-fi, pre, post, during apocalypse requirement perfectly and all three are worth reading regardless. I read it on kindle too. It felt like I was reading it forever. Usually that happens if the book is boring but I enjoyed it tremendously. It scratched my horror itch though so I'm back to fantasy fiction.
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Jun 29, 2014 09:39
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I'm looking for a book about the events leading up to the invasion of Grenada. Eric Gairy's rule, Maurice Bishop's coup, the many coups that followed, etc. e: Or any other stuff about the British Caribbean post-independence. Except Jamaica, I've already read a good deal about that. Sam. fucked around with this message at 04:20 on Jun 30, 2014 |
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Jun 29, 2014 23:50
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Could somebody recommend me a good history book on England/Britain/the UK, ideally only one book or a couple of volumes? Not one of those massive Oxford 12-part series or whatever, I don't have the patience for that. Obviously it would have to be pretty concise/limited but that's OK. It would also be good if it assumes no background knowledge on the part of the reader (I'm not British). I guess it goes without saying but I'd also like it to be... good. I read Robert Hughes' The Fatal Shore a few years ago, which is a history of early Australia, and he had a fantastic, almost novelistic or authorial way of writing which I really enjoyed. I'd love something like that.
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Jun 30, 2014 20:32
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Doubtful Guest posted:Can anyone recommend a good place to start with J.G. Ballard? His short stories are better than his novels, IMO. A volume of all his short fiction is already out in paperback and ebook versions. Maybe see if that tickles you.
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Jul 1, 2014 14:19
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freebooter posted:Could somebody recommend me a good history book on England/Britain/the UK, ideally only one book or a couple of volumes? Not one of those massive Oxford 12-part series or whatever, I don't have the patience for that. Obviously it would have to be pretty concise/limited but that's OK. It would also be good if it assumes no background knowledge on the part of the reader (I'm not British). Kinda depends on the scope of the history you want but you might want to look at Sarum by Edward Rutherford. It's a historical-fiction history of England from prehistoric times to the present, viewed through the lens of a few families living in the Salisbury region. It's pretty massive (800 or so pages?) but an easy and engaging read, very much in the James Michener style.
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Jul 1, 2014 14:38
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freebooter posted:Could somebody recommend me a good history book on England/Britain/the UK, ideally only one book or a couple of volumes? Not one of those massive Oxford 12-part series or whatever, I don't have the patience for that. Obviously it would have to be pretty concise/limited but that's OK. It would also be good if it assumes no background knowledge on the part of the reader (I'm not British). The Story of Britain by Rebecca Fraser is popular, but I couldn't get 5 pages into it before abandoning it, there were that many factual inaccuracies in the prehistory section. I can't recommend it, but it's out there. Peter Ackroyd is writing a multivolume popular history of England. The two volumes that are out, Foundation and Tudors, are readable and enjoyable, but are a little bit too focused on kings and priests and other important people for my tastes. Ackroyd's older London: The Biography is richer and more eccentric, full of strange anecdotes and words from "common" people, but it can be dense reading at times, and is focused (obviously) on London.
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Jul 1, 2014 17:27
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A while back I asked for a good Sci Fi/Fantasy/Action novel with a strong female lead who's motivation had nothing to do with children or a love interest. Someone recommended Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie, which I liked very much. My girlfriend told me to download the first book in the Silo series by Hugh Howie, Wool, before my business trip last week and it was loving awesome. So, if you're looking for a fun sci-fi/dystopian future novel with a female lead that isn't a terrible trope definitely check it out. It's like $5 on Google Play or Kindle.
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Jul 2, 2014 00:20
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