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Punished Chuck
Dec 27, 2010

foastwab posted:

Just finishing up Catching Fire, the second book of the Hunger Games trilogy. I've really enjoyed the first 2 books, especially the survival tactics they use in the arena.

I see Suzanne Collins has another trilogy, The Underland Chronicles. Has anyone read it? I'd love opinions.

I'm also open to any recommendations of other young adult literature (I guess that's the genre?) along the lines of Harry Potter/Series of Unfortunate Events. I'm a sucker for books that don't make me think hard and let me just enjoy a story.
I read the first Underlander and liked it well enough. I was like twelve when I read it so I don't remember a whole lot but I enjoyed it. Not as much as I did the Hunger Games, but it was worth a read. Never continued the series, though.

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Red Pyramid
Apr 29, 2008
Finished Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace, which makes him one of the few authors whose body of work I've read in its entirety. I'd put it off because I'd heard quite often, most notably from the author himself, that it's an immature, underdeveloped representation of his style, and I didn't want my sense of him to be tainted. Which was stupid. But the stupid's been rectified, mostly because I finally picked up Brief Interviews and knew I couldn't hold off for Pale King.

Thoughts from the DFW thread:

quote:

I'm nearly done with Broom. I'll probably have it finished tonight, after which I'll try to add a bit more to the discussion. Right now the motif that sticks out most to me is definitely the self/other distinction, as it seems to be a touchstone with every character and storyline. LeVache's fake leg, Rick Vigorous's obsession with possessing Lenore and maybe his oft-mentioned beret, Dr. Jay's hygiene schtick, of course Bombardini's quest to eat the universe - there's a constant fascination with the "membrane" (doc's words) that separates the characters from the world, specifically where it ends and what it means to be breached. I'm not sure how it all fits together yet but it's interesting.

I also just read Lolita for the first time a few weeks ago and the obvious allusions to that book in regards to Rick Vigorous's infatuation with Mindy is neat, and definitely made me rethink the character.

quote:

Broom definitely comes off as more pop-fictiony than anything else he's written in terms of plot, structure, etc. There's also alot more zaniness and slapstick - lots of mini little Eschaton-moments. The hilarious scene in the Gilligan-restaurant with the nursing home director and his sex-doll springs to mind. But yeah, the prose is pretty rigorously experimental and DFW changes up how he tells the story almost chapter to chapter - straightforward prose to naked dialogue exchanges, often with no indication of who's talking until context clues maybe halfway through, to occasional little side stories. In that regard it feels like a bit of a precursor to Brief Interviews. And it's still definitely a heavy, serious novel.

I liked it alot, although the ending turns into a bit of a frantic mess. Wallace likes to build and build up during his conclusions toward a fever pitch and then at the last moment pull back, and let the final blow take place off-page. Most of the time it works, but I'm not so sure it did here. That it has in common with Westward [...] from Girl with the Curious Hair, which I found pretty unbearable. Still, a minor kink in what was otherwise pretty great. It's definitely a contender for one of the funniest books I've read lately - right up there with Pynchon's Inherent Vice for laugh out loud moments.

Onto Pale Fire by Nabakov.

SassySally
Dec 11, 2010

foastwab posted:

Just finishing up Catching Fire, the second book of the Hunger Games trilogy. I've really enjoyed the first 2 books, especially the survival tactics they use in the arena.

I see Suzanne Collins has another trilogy, The Underland Chronicles. Has anyone read it? I'd love opinions.

I'm also open to any recommendations of other young adult literature (I guess that's the genre?) along the lines of Harry Potter/Series of Unfortunate Events. I'm a sucker for books that don't make me think hard and let me just enjoy a story.

Jr./ Sr. high teacher checking in...

I've heard great things about The Underland Chronicles both from students and other teachers.

I would recommend the City of Ember series. I loved those. The His Dark Materials series is technically YA, but it'll make you think... at least most people say it does... free will vs fate, good and evil, etc...

Lois Lowry's The Giver series is good. She's coming out with a fourth one next fall.

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod is fun. Young boy is half vampire/ half human and starts to really discover and deal with his vampire side.

Everlost is the first book of the Skinjacker's Triology of which the first two are out. I love those.

The Book Thief is great. And it's currently being reviewed by Mark at http://markreads.net/reviews/.

I haven't read it, but my kids really like the Pendragon series.

Wow. Well that was mostly series... I'm going to make a YA lit shelf on my GoodReads page. I apparently read A LOT of it!

foastwab
Sep 1, 2009

by XyloJW

SassySally posted:

Jr./ Sr. high teacher checking in...

I've heard great things about The Underland Chronicles both from students and other teachers.

I would recommend the City of Ember series. I loved those. The His Dark Materials series is technically YA, but it'll make you think... at least most people say it does... free will vs fate, good and evil, etc...

Lois Lowry's The Giver series is good. She's coming out with a fourth one next fall.

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod is fun. Young boy is half vampire/ half human and starts to really discover and deal with his vampire side.

Everlost is the first book of the Skinjacker's Triology of which the first two are out. I love those.

The Book Thief is great. And it's currently being reviewed by Mark at http://markreads.net/reviews/.

I haven't read it, but my kids really like the Pendragon series.

Wow. Well that was mostly series... I'm going to make a YA lit shelf on my GoodReads page. I apparently read A LOT of it!
All of these look great, especially the Everlost series. Also, my sister has been pushing The Book Thief on me forever, so I'll have to look into that. Thank you for the recommendations!

Stupid_Sexy_Flander
Mar 14, 2007

Is a man not entitled to the haw of his maw?
Grimey Drawer
Finished up Wolf Hunt by Jeff Strand last night.

Damned good book, and I can't recommend it enough. It's a terrific story, and I love the way Strand writes character dialog.

He is one of my favorite authors (still love the Mayhem series), and this one just adds to the collection of overall greatness.

If you are looking for a good book that involves "real" werewolves, meaning not the overly done romance urban fantasy "oh I am so tortured" bullshit, check the book out. You might dig it.

Evfedu
Feb 28, 2007
I am going to read this book and if it adds another book to the (growing) pile of "urban fantasy that people said was good but was actually a guilty pleasure at best" -i.e. all of it- I will hold you responsible.

Dubbean
Sep 1, 2004

milk teeth posted:

Finished All the Pretty Hroses last week and I can't start anything new. Keep thinking about the honesty of Cormac's characters,, and the glinting, solemn landscape. Maybe I'll take a break until I get thle next one.

I know what you mean. Cormac's characters are so deep that they are exhausting. I don't mean that is a bad way either. I mean there is some much information to take in a process that my brain needs a break less it become overloaded after finishing one of his books. Great reads though.

RaoulDuke
May 6, 2007

I was a victim of a series of accidents, as are we all.
Just put down Vonnegut's Galápagos. Like most all of his books the dark wit manages to be as heartwarming as it is incisive. However I still feel like I'm missing something when I read his novels. I love the prose, the great one liners and the sheer imagination but have trouble lining up the plot/action into an interpretable themes and what not. Perhaps I just get distracted by the appeal of the page turning entertainment of it and simply need to go through them again. Or it could be that the humorous treatment of serious/sad issues that I take for granted as a structural feature was primarily his creation and despite the fact its more or less commonplace at the moment was a significant literary innovation at the time. Would love to hear anyone else's thoughts on Galápagos specifically or other novels of his as I enjoy them so much I would like to glean as much as I can of what the text has to offer.

Stupid_Sexy_Flander
Mar 14, 2007

Is a man not entitled to the haw of his maw?
Grimey Drawer

Evfedu posted:

I am going to read this book and if it adds another book to the (growing) pile of "urban fantasy that people said was good but was actually a guilty pleasure at best" -i.e. all of it- I will hold you responsible.

Trust me, it will be awesome. Besides it's like 3$ at the kindle store :)

If it helps, this is very much NOT any type of urban fantasy. No elves, no vamps, no "secret underground world only certain people know exist", etc. It's straight up what it says in the plot synopsis. No more, no less.

SaviourX
Sep 30, 2003

The only true Catwoman is Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether, or Eartha Kitt.

Lynch's Red Seas Under Red Skies after a slow read.

Which was alright, very rushed at the end, and a middle part full of unnecessary details and plotting. And leaving it on the cliffhanger it does means nothing, considering he planned for seven books. It will be four years between the next one (in November) and that one, which sounds dangerously close to another fantasy writer we all know and love.

At least now I have much more tightly written books on my list that don't weigh in past 600 pages.

lycheeee
Jan 14, 2011

what up meat puck
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. I like Murakami a lot and I've read a lot of his other books casually, but now I'm in a class about him and I'm afraid I might get Murakami'd out from reading so much in a row. I have a feeling HBW/EOW will be the main catalyst for this -- it's such an all-encompassing book as far as Murakami's themes and style that I feel like reading anything else will just feel like a dampened or more simplified version of it at this point. I'm reading Norwegian Wood (for the second time) for class now and I find it enjoyable for sure, but we'll see how much more Murakami I can take.

NightConqueror
Oct 5, 2006
im in ur base killin ur mans
Just finished up 2666. It was an epic slog, but I really did enjoy the book. It's certainly one of the strangest things I've ever read, but somehow still kept me interested.

Ulio
Feb 17, 2011


Just finished Of Mice and Men, quite a tragic ending, that is not what I thought would happen in the end. Found kind of stupid how Lennie killed everything so easily but then again they did say he was amazingly strong.

Foyes36
Oct 23, 2005

Food fight!

lycheeee posted:

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. I like Murakami a lot and I've read a lot of his other books casually, but now I'm in a class about him and I'm afraid I might get Murakami'd out from reading so much in a row. I have a feeling HBW/EOW will be the main catalyst for this -- it's such an all-encompassing book as far as Murakami's themes and style that I feel like reading anything else will just feel like a dampened or more simplified version of it at this point. I'm reading Norwegian Wood (for the second time) for class now and I find it enjoyable for sure, but we'll see how much more Murakami I can take.

I go through Murakami spurts where I read two of his books in a row, then chill out for a bit before picking up more. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World was definitely the most surreal of his novels I've encountered so far, but I think Wind-up Bird Chronicle still affected me more emotionally as a reader. His short stories are the most recent thing I finished: if you haven't read any I really recommend them! He's got two volumes out, The Elephant Vanishes and Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. Both are classic Murakami.

Edit: Also, I would kill to take a class where I get to talk about Murakami books all day. Oh well.

Handsome Ralph
Sep 3, 2004

Oh boy, posting!
That's where I'm a Viking!


Boardwalk Empire

I liked the first 2/3's of the book since it dealt with political corruption and organized crime as much as you would think it would. The last third however, I felt was a bit of a mess and really not as engaging as the rest of the book. Basically goes from being a good behind the scenes expose about the corruption that ran Atlantic City, to an essay about how Donald Trump reinvented Atlantic City and why we need even more money poured into it to make it even greater. I'll be honest, reading the last chapter and afterward, I felt like I had been tricked into reading some lobbyists proposal, and it pissed me off.

Mr.Garibaldi
Feb 17, 2011

Victory for the forces
of Italian dignity.

Pfirti86 posted:

I go through Murakami spurts where I read two of his books in a row, then chill out for a bit before picking up more. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World was definitely the most surreal of his novels I've encountered so far, but I think Wind-up Bird Chronicle still affected me more emotionally as a reader.


I still get chills when I think about the last line of Wind-up Bird Chronicle. It was one of the most emotionally engaging books I've ever read by far.

Just finished The Amazing Adventure of Kavalier and Clay. It was, as promised, an amazing page turner that I couldn't put down. I am also living in NYC at the moment, and it was a great book to immerse myself in while walking around the city.

freebooter
Jul 7, 2009

Kavalier & Clay is so awesome - the chapter set in Antarctica is probably one of my favourite passages of fiction of all time.

It took me a while to realise, though - as someone else here put it - that with the possible exception of The Yiddish Policeman's Union, nothing else Michael Chabon has done before or since is anywhere near as good.

Nerdmann
Sep 21, 2007
I just finished Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake which was amazing because I am in a microbiology class and I loved reading about the post apocalyptic world she created when bioengineering ran amuck. It's almost a parable instead of novel. It's weird because everything I seem to read recently has some sort of environmental theme.

SpitztheGreat
Jul 20, 2005
The Count of Monte Cristo

Phenomenal. This book was recommended to me a few months back as I was trying to find some classics that I might actually enjoy. Not only did I enjoy this book but it has become my favorite story ever. I just finished it a couple nights ago and as I was laying down last night for bed I found myself deeply disappointed that I didn't have the story there to read. It was so good that I was even thinking about reading it again, and I've never read a book twice! I've decided to not do it and to move on but holy cow was I impressed.

For a book that was published almost two hundred years ago I found it to be very easy to read and assembled in a very modern way. I could not believe how all the characters came back in some meaningful way, and the reveal about who the Morcerf family is blew my mind. In fact I took my first picture with my new Iphone when the night before Albert and The Count are to duel Mercedes comes to the Count. The page ended with Mercedes revealing who she was to the Count. Upon turning the page the first thing I read is "Edmond, will you kill my son?" Remember, that the name Edmond has not been spoken out loud in probably 800 pages. The fact that she called him out and that it was the first line on a new page is easily the best moment I've ever had while reading. Just priceless.

A few points that did concern me, and I find that they're not too uncommon:

Mercedes: I think her story is probably the single biggest issue in the book that ages it. Of all the characters in the book that are touched by the Count/Edmond her's is the least satisfying. It's not even close, Mercedes just becomes a sad "old" woman and is left to feel bad forever. Now I probably would not have been satisfied with Edmond and Mercedes getting together, it just wouldn't have worked. But she's left with a very limited role in the story, with her high point coming in the bit that I mentioned above. And then we're left to presumably feel that she's right in her feelings of shame and guilt that she didn't have faith in Edmond's return from prison. The guy was gone for fourteen years before escaping, and from what we can tell she did indeed wait a very long time before marrying. But the book leaves her story as one who will cry for the rest of her days while the count rides off to find a new love. I'm not one to usually cry sexism but drat.

The monetary system: this one can't be helped so I find it more amusing than anything. It's very hard to tell how wealthy someone is when a book is using entirely foreign monetary systems from two hundred years ago. Livres and francs and many other currencies are interchanged throughout the book. To a reader who is not familiar with the systems it means virtually nothing. The immense wealth of the count is only somewhat understood later when he reveals his true fortune and the reader can compare it to the other major characters wealth.

Revenge itself: It's touched upon but I think many readers will rightfully take issue with how completely the count destroys his "enemies". The revenge becomes less and less meaningful. After the first two, especially Morcerf's suicide, the reader feels pretty freaking good that the bastards have gotten their's. But by the time the Count reveals himself to Villefort (and this is done intentionally I think) the reader and the story itself are not longer enthralled with the drama of it. Villefort is easily the most sympathetic of all the bad guys in the story and is made to suffer a punishment that the Count doesn't deserve to feel good about. Yes, the count goes back to his old cell and reflects and walks away with a clean conscience, but to me that didn't hold up. But it's only a major issue when we see how "easy" Danglar's gets off. That dude was the only really evil character in the whole book and yet his final punishment is handled in like twenty pages. For a book that is almost 1500 pages this was a giant blunder. Villefort is too easy to hurt/destroy because he's also the most "noble" of all the bad guys. The Count's whole plot of revenge shows how meaningless revenge can be when he has nothing more to take from Danglar's and yet it isn't enough of a punishment.

I could write much more but this has probably gone on too long. Unfortunately I don't have anyone around who has read the book within the last ten years to talk about it with so all of my thoughts on it have just been bouncing around inside my head. Thanks internet!

Bullbar
Apr 18, 2007

The Aristocrats!
I started and finished Less Than Zero by Brett Easton Ellis today. It's one of the only books I can think of that made me feel intensely uncomfortable to read as well as having my total attention.

lechunnel
Jun 16, 2007

Is that Ivana Trump?

CNN Sports Ticker posted:

I started and finished Less Than Zero by Brett Easton Ellis today. It's one of the only books I can think of that made me feel intensely uncomfortable to read as well as having my total attention.

Planning to read Imperial Bedrooms (which I finished just yesterday)? I have to say I wasn't particularly impressed, and I enjoyed Less than Zero (despite the discomfort).

Bullbar
Apr 18, 2007

The Aristocrats!

lechunnel posted:

Planning to read Imperial Bedrooms (which I finished just yesterday)? I have to say I wasn't particularly impressed, and I enjoyed Less than Zero (despite the discomfort).

I think I will, simply because it exists and I'm curious. I want to read some of his other stuff too, this being my first exposure.

Red Pyramid
Apr 29, 2008
Just finished Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. For those that aren't familiar the book has two layers - the first being the titular poem by a famous American poet, and the second being a commentary by the poet's adoring and somewhat deranged neighbor. Before I began reading I looked around for advice on how to approach the thing and basically came to the conclusion that there is no tried and true method, so I opted to follow up each Canto of the poem (there are four) by reading the commentary for those lines. It felt pretty smooth - the lines were fresh in my mind for the commentary, and just when the latter was getting to be too much I got to dip back into the former. It also helped pull the two layers together, as I feel if I had read the book front to back the huge differences between the two halves would've felt more significant - more like reading two books than one. The major issue I had getting into the novel, in fact, was reconciling the beautiful poem with the often silly yarns of the neighbor, who passes himself off as the exiled King of the imaginary Zemblan kingdom. As the novel progresses, though, both the characters and the way their stories relate become more fascinating, and I finished the book thoroughly blown away. Nabokov is really an incredible writer - I caught myself occasionally taking the commentary at face value and having to remind myself of the unreliable narrator, so convincing is the format that he's set up. Likewise seeing the commentator's delusions progress, and watching the way he misinterprets the poem and tries at every turn to find some echo of himself in it, either of his story or his prejudices, is great.

I plan to re-read the poem straight through tonight, as it really is fantastic. I'm sure there are countless allusions and tricks that went right over my head, so I'll probably end up re-reading the whole thing eventually, once I've scoured around for some answers.

dinosaurtrauma
Aug 13, 2006
why is my dinosaur so traumatic?

lycheeee posted:

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. I like Murakami a lot and I've read a lot of his other books casually, but now I'm in a class about him and I'm afraid I might get Murakami'd out from reading so much in a row. I have a feeling HBW/EOW will be the main catalyst for this -- it's such an all-encompassing book as far as Murakami's themes and style that I feel like reading anything else will just feel like a dampened or more simplified version of it at this point. I'm reading Norwegian Wood (for the second time) for class now and I find it enjoyable for sure, but we'll see how much more Murakami I can take.

Seconding, Thirding that Wind-Up Bird Chronicle will probably have the greatest impact of Murakami's books, it's just brilliant. I actually feel like HBW/EOW is less sprawling than some of his other stuff. Personally, it's hard to get burned out on Murakami, but if you feel that coming on, then take a break but you must read Wind-Up Bird.


I just finished The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, which I picked up after finishing and lovingNever Let Me Go. I really like this guys writing style, both novels seem to follow this format of just recollections from the protagonists life, and realizing what a huge impact certain conversations had on his life, that at the time were seemingly innocuous. The Remains of the Day is a lot more subdued and stuffy due to its protagonist and subject matter, but it still has this kind of melancholy feel that seeps through until you realize how depressing it is by the end, even though there hasn't been any kind of 'event' catalyzing that. Very good stuff.

KevinHeaven
Aug 26, 2008

I run the voodoo down

CNN Sports Ticker posted:

I started and finished Less Than Zero by Brett Easton Ellis today. It's one of the only books I can think of that made me feel intensely uncomfortable to read as well as having my total attention.

On a related note, I just finished Play it as it Lays by Joan Didion. This book was a huge influence on Less Than Zero, but I found it to be vastly inferior. Although the books were written in the same style, Play it as it Lays just seemed to lack whatever made Less Than Zero an interesting read.

Sam.
Jan 1, 2009

"I thought we had something, Shepard. Something real."
:qq:
Been Down So Long It Looks Up To Me by Richard Fariña. I can definitely see how that influenced Pynchon. It's a shame that the author died two days after it got published, he could have made a lot of good books.

Also, Catch-22. I lent a friend my copy of Gravity's Rainbow, he finished it three months later and said he actually understood it because he had read Catch-22 before. Probably going to buy another copy of Gravity's Rainbow when I have the time.

Incidentally, is there a Thomas Pynchon thread?

Sam. fucked around with this message at 23:23 on Mar 31, 2011

Kilonum
Sep 30, 2002

You know where you are? You're in the suburbs, baby. You're gonna drive.

Fall of Giants by Ken Follet, the first (and so far only) book in his Century Trilogy. Fictionalized account through the eyes of different men and women of the years 1914 (prologue is in 1911) through 1924. All of the Characters are fleshed out, and range from a fiercely conservative British earl, his liberal sister, his housekeeper and her miner brother, to a White House aide, a German noble, and some Russian workers. I can't wait until the next book comes out.

Wrojin
Nov 10, 2008

Quixoticist

Sam. posted:

Incidentally, is there a Thomas Pynchon thread?

There's this:
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3396729
but there's not much to it.

Try googling site:forums.somethingawful.com "thomas pynchon" and you'll see that the name does crop up, just not always in the same place.

Red Dad Redemption
Sep 29, 2007

Sam. posted:

Incidentally, is there a Thomas Pynchon thread?

In the OP of the Book of the Month thread, there's a Gravity's Rainbow thread linked from last February. As I recall, it was fairly well developed.

rasser
Jul 2, 2003
Salt by Mark Kulansky.
A great history of salt, its use, the extraction methods and the politics and history in which it plays a far greater part than I've known before.
Kurlansky is great at balancing the geeky details and overall pictures and giving you an impression that after reading this, you're a better educated foodie/amateur historian/geek than before. The way he takes you through varying fields of history including food, technology, politics, law, imperialism makes me want to read more books with a very limited subject and a large scope. The book is well researched and just as well written and he generally keeps the development of the book running smoothly while abstaining from showing off before it gets nauseating.

4/5. Really recommended for the above mentioned reader categories.

rasser fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Apr 1, 2011

BoredSith
Nov 5, 2008
I thought, you know, getting ready for baseball I would read a nice sweet fantasy book about the sport I love, by an author I love: Summerland by Michael Chabon.

Big mistake. Normally I would put down a book like this, but I was compelled to finish it. Put it this way, I've read it, so you don't have to. Give it to your local library so they can sell it for 50 cents.

But I've read 15 other books so far this year that almost make up for it, so it's not all bad.

barkingclam
Jun 20, 2007
Finished Dashiell Hammett's The Big Knockover earlier this week. It's a good collection of stories of varying length - the book calls them short novels, which seems like a stretch - and quality, mostly in the hard-boiled vein. One that stands out is Dead Yellow Women, a story about human trafficking, patriotism and a bunch of murders.

But there's also Tulip, which doesn't really fit with the rest of the book (or anything else Hammett wrote, really). It's part of a novel he started which seems more autobiographical than anything else. It doesn't read like the rest of the book and frankly, it's not that good. I can see why it was selected for this volume, but that doesn't make it much better.

Faude Carfilhiot
Sep 6, 2010
Finished The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick. This is the first book by Dick I've read and all I can say is that if the rest of his work is this good, than I can see why he's regarded as one of the giants of the SF-genre.

Beastie
Nov 3, 2006

They used to call me tricky-kid, I lived the life they wish they did.


Just finished LA Confidential by James Ellroy. It was pretty long, and way different than the movie. I enjoyed it though, and I'm not really a fan of crime dramas/mysteries.

Now to start Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes

GoldenNugget
Mar 27, 2008
:dukedog:

Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:

Finished up Wolf Hunt by Jeff Strand last night.

Damned good book, and I can't recommend it enough. It's a terrific story, and I love the way Strand writes character dialog.

He is one of my favorite authors (still love the Mayhem series), and this one just adds to the collection of overall greatness.

If you are looking for a good book that involves "real" werewolves, meaning not the overly done romance urban fantasy "oh I am so tortured" bullshit, check the book out. You might dig it.

I just read Wolf Hunt and it's great. Good value for 3 bucks. While it isn't a "deep" story by any means, it's really entertaining and could make a good action movie with witty dialogue. Are his other books this entertaining? I don't even like or care about werewolves.

Flaggy
Jul 6, 2007

Grandpa Cthulu needs his napping chair



Grimey Drawer
Just finished The First Law Trilogy by Joe Ambercrombie. Not bad at all, I was enagaged the entire time and now I want more. Probably pick up the other two books he has written in the same universe, although I wouldn't mind more adventures from Ninefingers.

Wrojin
Nov 10, 2008

Quixoticist

Flaggy posted:

I wouldn't mind more adventures from Ninefingers.

That crazy prick berserker Logen did have his charm. I think most fans of Abercrombie would like to see more of him.

Red Dad Redemption
Sep 29, 2007

Just finished War and Peace (Tolstoy) and Doctor Zhivago (Pasternak), both in the translations by Richard Prevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. It was something of a large bite (about 2300 pages total), so I haven't yet gone back to compare passages to size up the relative quality of the translations in any systematic way. Having said that, they both read very well in English, and the notes in War and Peace in particular were extremely helpful. I'd certainly recommend these editions to anyone wanting to take these novels on.

As to the content, War and Peace was just tremendous, and I enjoyed it much more than the first time I read it, many years ago. Excellent characterization coupled with a sprawling, vivid, believable set of characters entwined in a historical drama that unfolds naturally and with rich detail. Tolstoy depicts the inner life of each of the characters in a way that's not only authentic but often surprisingly touching. And along the way are explorations of the search for meaning among the main characters, the nature of mass movements and their leadership and the redemption of love. The main drawback for me was the relatively frequent interposition of Tolstoy's theory of history, but even that had something to recommend it, since this novel is something unique, a blend of novel, polemic and historical analysis that's very different from anything else I've read.

Doctor Zhivago was another matter. It was, I should say, engaging, and did present an immersive and personalized view (much more centered on a single character than War and Peace) of the chaos of revolution and its impact on the lives of two extended families. But the romance of Larissa and Zhivago was much less compelling than I expected it to be, appearing almost spontaneously, rather dryly and in the context of other commitments that weakened its force as a central plot point. Also, the character progression of Zhivago, particularly (but certainly not exclusively) the transition involved in his relationship with the commander of the partisans who conscript Zhivago, I found to be abrupt and hard to swallow. Worth reading, yes, but less than I had hoped.

Bob A Feet
Aug 10, 2005
Dear diary, I got another erection today at work. SO embarrassing, but kinda hot. The CO asked me to fix up his dress uniform. I had stayed late at work to move his badges 1/8" to the left and pointed it out this morning. 1SG spanked me while the CO watched, once they caught it. Tomorrow I get to start all over again...
The Day of the Triffids- Awesome sci-fi quick read by John Wyndham. It is very much a book of post apocalyptia but it is never too deep, it never slogs-- overall it has a very fast pace without seeming to ever lose the story. I would definitely recommend this if you are between too giant books.

The Crossing- My favorite author, Cormac McCarthy. I'm making myself work slowly through his works so that I don't read them all within a month. I read All the Pretty Horses a year ago and this was the logical follow. It has a very similar story with a different host of characters. It has several different, unpredictable climaxes (in that way, IMO, different from other McCarthy books) and character actions are often very unpredictable. It ends with the same drab depression that ends all McCarthy books-- makes you feel like poo poo. The prose is no where near as pretty as All the Pretty Horses or Blood Meridian but is still very nice and flows well.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?- Phillip K. Dick. The back story of Bladerunner. Bladerunner with more characters and more depth to Deckard. Very good read, I would recommend it to all BR fans

For Whom the Bell Tolls- Hemingway-- Amazing prose. I love the literal translation of Spanish into English. It gives a very good feel and understanding of constantly speaking and living within a different lingual culture. The dialogue is constant but the non-dialogue prose is very poignant and sharp. Very enjoyable read and it went very quickly.

We-Yevgeny Zamyatin- one of the first Utopian novels. Some say that Brave New World and 1984 drew a lot of themes from this novel and its obvious. The translation I read pointed very modern. I often stopped and wondered if this is what he had meant to say originally in Russian. Nonetheless, a very good read.

I'm now off to Cities of the Plain (McCarthy again), The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)

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Evfedu
Feb 28, 2007

GoldenNugget posted:

I just read Wolf Hunt and it's great. Good value for 3 bucks. While it isn't a "deep" story by any means, it's really entertaining and could make a good action movie with witty dialogue. Are his other books this entertaining? I don't even like or care about werewolves.
I'm about 15% in, and man oh man I can't get over how much I wish they'd just kill Ivan. Seriously, you have to kill him. Don't waste time, don't act tough, shotgun, temple, both barrels, burn the body. But then I guess they don't know they're in a shlocky horror-action book.

Other than that, yeah, it's light enough fun. And much better than the second Sandman Slim I just got through.

Kill The Dead - Richard Kadrey These books are so compellingly horrendous on almost every level. I had a proper rant on Goodreads I won't bore you with, but these books tell you so much about the gnarled, bitter, stunted psyche of their author that it really makes you feel uncomfortable at times. Like you've stumbled into an E/N thread about the posters "Best Friend".

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