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Little Mac posted:My favorite books change a lot. Maybe today there are... I didn't like Frankenstein, but I suspect a lot of that is because one of the worst teachers I ever had taught the book and I couldn't stand it because of that. I feel the same about a lot of Dickens. Ayn Rand is garbage and it is hilarious. It is dumb, but looking back I bet the two most influential books I ever read were both nonfiction, a children's biography of Theodore Roosevelt that I read when I was 6 or so, and my thermodynamics textbook.
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Sep 5, 2015 18:15
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Asiina posted:There are billions of books out there. If you're out of school and not required to read any particular book, why would you read it if you don't like it? I'm AWFUL at finishing things, even if I like something quite a bit. I agree with this sentiment very much.
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Sep 5, 2015 18:18
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BottleKnight posted:I like Infinite Jest but have started taking note summaries of each chapter after I finish it. Not because it's hard to read but just because of the bulkiness of the prose. I started reading on ebook before I had to switch to paperback just because of stuff like footnotes and referring back to previous chapters. I needed two bookmarks, one for the main text and one for the endnotes.
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Sep 5, 2015 18:34
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The Ninth Layer posted:I needed two bookmarks, one for the main text and one for the endnotes. I've heard of the poweruser 3 bookmark method, one for endnotes and one for the timeline.
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Sep 5, 2015 18:37
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The Ninth Layer posted:I needed two bookmarks, one for the main text and one for the endnotes. I had to stop reading House of Leaves for the same reason. I'd want to stop but would have no idea where to put my bookmark. Once I started getting redirected to appendices I gave up.
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Sep 5, 2015 18:38
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I didn't care for Infinite Jest even though I really like the footnotes gimmick and like the WAY he writes. I just couldn't get into it.
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Sep 5, 2015 18:41
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Asiina posted:There are billions of books out there. If you're out of school and not required to read any particular book, why would you read it if you don't like it? I can't think of any specific examples, but I've had long bus rides/time being stuck at an airport or something like that where I bought something and started reading it and like 20 pages in realized "this is going to suck"
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Sep 5, 2015 18:53
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Little Mac posted:My favorite books change a lot. Maybe today there are... I think calling Frankenstein wordy for the sake of being wordy is an unfair criticism. I really enjoyed it and feel it was very well written and feel like the issues you're having with the verbiage is probably just a timeframe issue ie it's from like 150 years ago. The style they wrote with back then is not for everybody though that's for sure.
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Sep 5, 2015 19:22
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Bookregrets... The Wheel of time series, seriously, gently caress that garbage I couldn't make it past the third book.
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Sep 5, 2015 19:24
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Power of Pecota posted:I can't think of any specific examples, but I've had long bus rides/time being stuck at an airport or something like that where I bought something and started reading it and like 20 pages in realized "this is going to suck" Some of the classics I had to force myself to read in some capacity. For no reason other than to say I read it haha One book I read I hated so much that when I finished reading a page I ripped it out of the book and threw it on the floor next to my bed. It was fun waking up to like 50-60 pages of a poo poo book on the floor next to my bed every day.
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Sep 5, 2015 19:24
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The only book I regret reading is Harry turtle doves alternate history book where aliens attack during ww2 and humanity has to band together to fight off the aliens rather than each other. Pure garbage writing even though the premise could have been hilariously awesome.
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Sep 5, 2015 19:26
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I haven't read very many "classics" but Catcher in the rye was good, so was lord of the flies,animal farm, Brave new world,Fahrenheit 451, and anything Vonnegut.
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Sep 5, 2015 19:27
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Finally back to posting from a computer after four months 
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Sep 5, 2015 19:27
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Little Mac posted:I didn't care for Infinite Jest even though I really like the footnotes gimmick and like the WAY he writes. I just couldn't get into it. DFW is a fantastic writer and I'm sad he's dead but also support his decision. I couldn't get into Infinite Jest either tho.
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Sep 5, 2015 19:32
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I love Tim Findley but Pilgrim put me off regular reading for about 3 years.It was just such a slog
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Sep 5, 2015 19:39
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CapitalistPig posted:Bookregrets... I may have told this story, I may not have. So some years back, I say to myself, it's a nice summer day, I'll ride my bicycle to the library and try a new book or series of books. This is a plan that can't go wrong. I go in, get the first book of the Wheel of Time, leave, decide that I'm going to take an alternate route back, find out that the alternate route doesn't actually have enough shoulder for me to ride my bike on, get a flat tire while praying I don't get pasted by one of the cars doing 50-60 just inches away from me, end up walking the bike back, the next couple of miles. I sit down in my apartment, bathed in sweat, knowing that my bike is hosed up such that I'll have to get it fixed before my next day of work - or possibly take off of work to get a new tube put in... So I get myself a drink, pick up my book, and glance at an open IRC window, see what's the news of the day. "Hey, did you hear the Wheel of Time guy died?" The book went back to the library unread. gently caress even trying if he wasn't going to finish the loving thing.
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Sep 5, 2015 19:44
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CapitalistPig posted:I haven't read very many "classics" but Catcher in the rye was good, so was lord of the flies,animal farm, Brave new world,Fahrenheit 451, and anything Vonnegut. I have a whole bunch of "classics" that I bought or were bought for me when I figured that I should read these out of some sense of obligation to say that I read them. Some were alright and I read through, but some I gave up on because I got 1/3 of the way in and realized I'm never going to like this and gave up on without a second thought. Fahrenheit 451 is one of those I gave up on. I could not get through the writing to the story, so I just stopped reading it. It may or may not be a classic, but Lord of the Rings is the same way. I love the movies and will still routinely watch the three extended editions back to back over a weekend, but those books are dull as poo poo. Some books I think are alright even though I know I am reading it with a very different message than what I'm supposed to. I think the protagonist in Brave New World is a loving whiny drama queen. Their society had issues, but it wasn't that bad just shut up with your moral highground. Catcher I haven't read since high school, but I remember thinking Holden was basically the worst. I don't know if my perspective on that would change. Now I don't worry about reading books I'm supposed to read, and just read things I enjoy. The young adult literature scene has exploded into some really great and easy to read books and when I can manage to find the time to read some fiction, I love reading something like Hunger Games, Divergent, Mistborn, Golden Compass, etc. I don't need books that challenge me to read them and are purposefully obtuse. I have enough difficult reading in my life via reading 50+ journal articles and theoretical books a month. I don't need that from fiction as well.
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Sep 5, 2015 19:45
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Pinterest Mom posted:DFW is a fantastic writer and I'm sad he's dead but also support his decision. I support his decision too, if only he'd reached it 25 years prior
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Sep 5, 2015 19:47
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Allen Wren posted:I may have told this story, I may not have. So some years back, I say to myself, it's a nice summer day, I'll ride my bicycle to the library and try a new book or series of books. This is a plan that can't go wrong. Joke's on you because Brandon Sanderson (who is the one who finished out the series after Robert Jordan died) is the better writer. But really you're the winner for not reading those terrible books.
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Sep 5, 2015 19:47
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Tremendous Taste posted:I support his decision too, if only he'd reached it 25 years prior I support a humans choice to kill themselves as well. It really worked out well for him. Do you also support John Kennedy Tooles decision to kill himself? What about Kurt Cobain? This seems like a really insane thing to support.
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Sep 5, 2015 19:57
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Tremendous Taste posted:I support his decision too, if only he'd reached it 25 years prior welp unbookmarking
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Sep 5, 2015 20:03
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It's just a matter of opinion, I wish dfw had been quicker because his work is trash
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Sep 5, 2015 20:04
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I put up some polls on the ESPN page for those of you who want to voice your opinions on the draft time/date. There are more than a couple of us who won't be able to do it until Tuesday next week I think so its between tues/weds/early thurs.
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Sep 5, 2015 20:17
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I think we should do the draft whenever no one but me is available so I can have all the good players.
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Sep 5, 2015 20:21
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My biggest book regret is that I went through an intense Chuck Palahniuk phase where I read all his books in about three months. Then a few years later I had a breakdown where a lot of the filth I'd read and watched rose to the surface and profoundly hosed up my perception of reality, and Palahniuk's stuff was some of the worst. I'm way more careful about what I put in my mind now. Taste you should go hang in the DFW thread. I pretty much universally can't stand his fan base and I know trolling is really low comedy, but these are people who get profoundly butthurt over really silly poo poo like "he always planned to kill himself and the pale king was meant to be finished by the reader"
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Sep 5, 2015 20:58
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Look Under The Rock posted:My biggest book regret is that I went through an intense Chuck Palahniuk phase where I read all his books in about three months. Then a few years later I had a breakdown where a lot of the filth I'd read and watched rose to the surface and profoundly hosed up my perception of reality, and Palahniuk's stuff was some of the worst. I'm way more careful about what I put in my mind now. I think trolling is one of the highest forms of comedy. And by that I mean it is funniest when you troll marijuana users, ideally from afar since they are violent and unpredictable people.
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Sep 5, 2015 21:02
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Magnus Gallant posted:I troll my brain with my body and vice versa I think ok time to use my right hand and then my left hand is the one I use instead! And I'm like D'oh got me again body.
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Sep 5, 2015 21:04
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How did I just quote the post that I posted??? My phone trolls me
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Sep 5, 2015 21:07
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snip
EccoRaven fucked around with this message at 10:44 on Mar 27, 2020 |
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Sep 5, 2015 21:09
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Allen Wren posted:I may have told this story, I may not have. So some years back, I say to myself, it's a nice summer day, I'll ride my bicycle to the library and try a new book or series of books. This is a plan that can't go wrong.
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Sep 5, 2015 21:39
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EccoRaven posted:I generally select books to read that I know I'll enjoy, but the only book I've tried to read but couldn't finish was Norwegian Wood. It was just so boring.
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Sep 5, 2015 21:40
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kaschei posted:You bike to work but can't put in a tube yourself? Well, we're talking about 2007 here. Also, I didn't have a spare tube. Or a tire-removal tool. Or a pump that fit on my bike. Look, I was broke.
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Sep 5, 2015 21:43
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Asiina posted:There are billions of books out there. If you're out of school and not required to read any particular book, why would you read it if you don't like it? I'm a really stubborn person, especially when it comes to books, and am determined to finish a book if I start it. The only two books I've abandoned halfway through are IQ84 and Grapes of Wrath. Other interesting books for people who might be looking for suggestions:
QuoProQuid fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Sep 5, 2015 |
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Sep 5, 2015 21:46
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Look Under The Rock posted:Quid there's a liberal Christian blog called Slacktivist that deconstructs Left Behind and points out the glaring theological flaws in it. It's brilliant and you should check it out. I'll definitely take a look at it, thanks. I read the first Left Behind book in the seventh grade and remembered hating it. I read it again, along with its sequel, in college after talking about it with a close friend and hated the book even more. EDIT: I just realized that almost all my favorite novels include characters who are driven insane by their own actions. QuoProQuid fucked around with this message at 22:01 on Sep 5, 2015 |
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Sep 5, 2015 21:55
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I'm not going to waste my time being stubborn about reading a book I don't like. I'm only hurting myself. Book, you have less than 100 pages to grab my attention, if you don't then you are terrible and not worth my time.
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Sep 5, 2015 22:44
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My least favourite read was Tess of the d'Urbervilles. It didn't help that the English teacher would say "as you can tell from this foreshadowing, major plot point X is obviously going to happen"
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Sep 5, 2015 23:07
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Dugong posted:My least favourite read was Tess of the d'Urbervilles. It didn't help that the English teacher would say "as you can tell from this foreshadowing, major plot point X is obviously going to happen" Tess is just the worst book in general. It's moralistic misery porn.
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Sep 5, 2015 23:45
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Allen Wren posted:Tess is just the worst book in general. It's moralistic misery porn. I love It
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Sep 5, 2015 23:45
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Dugong posted:My least favourite read was Tess of the d'Urbervilles. It didn't help that the English teacher would say "as you can tell from this foreshadowing, major plot point X is obviously going to happen" I hated it in school and did not get more than a third of the way through it. I also remember a lot of our discussion in class of it being about all the biblical allusions, etc. I went to it again a few years ago, remembering how much I hated it and regretting that since I liked almost everything I read in school and being one of the few I could not finish, and I actually really enjoyed it. In my case, I think I just had not been exposed to enough Victorian era literature in school so the prose itself was just a chore. It was honestly baffling to me going back to that novel what exactly had made it so difficult to make it through.
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Sep 5, 2015 23:51
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when I was in middle school I hated dickens cause his prose was boring. I now appreciate it.
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Sep 5, 2015 23:55
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