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It's really short and written in a casual style that makes it extremely easy to read. I can see why people might dislike the book but it seems surprising to me that people have apparently struggled to make their way to the end of it.
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Oct 26, 2017 23:36
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it's also like six pages long
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Oct 27, 2017 01:58
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I've got a couple: Colonel Roosevelt, by Edmund Morris - This is the third part of his Theodore Roosevelt biography, covering his post-presidency to his death. I loved the first two, and the writing wasn't worse, but I found it very depressing to read a full length history of TR's decline, especially since his life up till that point had been about bulldozing over problems. I don't think I even made it to his failed re-election attempt in 1912. Console Wars, by Blake Harris - I loved Masters of Doom, and I was on the lookout for other video game history/non-fiction. This one had good reviews, so I picked it up, but I hated it. It presents itself as narrative non-fiction where the author synthesized lots of interviews and filled in the gaps with well-researched best guesses, but it's written like a first timer's novel from someone who would much rather be writing screenplays. This book is seriously like 90 percent snappy incidental dialogue and punchy scene details, all of which add up to jack squat. Huge disappointment. I gave up four or five chapters in. The Gunslinger, by Stephen King - This one I tried to read when I was eleven or twelve. I got to the part fifty or so pages in where the gunslinger aborts an obese nun's devil baby by loving her with the barrel of his revolver until she orgasms (this is from memory, if it's a little off.) Let's just say it wasn't what I was expecting. I might go back to it someday.
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Oct 28, 2017 21:50
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I've read dense, challenging books, I've read terrible, irredeemable books, but the only book I absolutely couldn't finish was The Iron Dream. Sure, it's a parody and intentionally bad, but it's way too bad. I think I read until the start of the war or so, I still don't know how it endsRandallteal posted:The Gunslinger, by Stephen King - This one I tried to read when I was eleven or twelve. I got to the part fifty or so pages in where the gunslinger aborts an obese nun's devil baby by loving her with the barrel of his revolver until she orgasms (this is from memory, if it's a little off.) Let's just say it wasn't what I was expecting. I might go back to it someday. I don't remember that part 
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Oct 29, 2017 02:13
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Though I'm able to follow, appreciate and enjoy similiar books, I cannot wrap my head around Gravity's Rainbow. I've tried more than once.
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Oct 29, 2017 09:07
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Randallteal posted:
There's plenty of books I haven't finished because they got lost at some point and I haven't bothered to pick up new copies but the only book I think I've deliberately given up on was Un Lun Dun by China Miéville. I was a wee teen and my friend made it sound really neat and lent me his copy and I kept it for months after only reading out of it one time. I don't think he ever asked about it, nor do I remember what I told him when I gave it back.
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Oct 29, 2017 15:34
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That vampire trilogy I can't remember the name of.. Book one is basically jack the ripper Book two is tittled The bloody red baron and is WW1 Book there is tittled Dracula cha cha cha, set in the 60s The first two were great, set in our world, except Dracula is not killed by van helsing and is now openly out in English high society. The last book is a garbled mess not connected to real history and Drac is murdered "off screen" by an unknown towards the end.
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Oct 29, 2017 17:02
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504 posted:That vampire trilogy I can't remember the name of.. The question with these kind of books shouldn't be why you stopped reading them but more why you started in the first place
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Oct 29, 2017 23:58
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504 posted:That vampire trilogy I can't remember the name of.. That's the Anno Dracula series by Kim Newman. Never read them, but I recognized the Cha Cha Cha title. I think it's supposed to be a Wold Newton type thing.
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Oct 30, 2017 00:41
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A human heart posted:The question with these kind of books shouldn't be why you stopped reading them but more why you started in the first place my thoughts
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Oct 30, 2017 00:50
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hackbunny posted:I don't remember that part I don't either.
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Oct 30, 2017 01:10
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I gave up on American Gods. It got so samey with them driving to all these old gods only to be rejected with the same "You can't stop what's coming", that I stopped caring about what the big payoff might be. Also, I got the distinct feeling that writing the gods into the modern world made Gaiman feel very clever, and that Gaiman is a guy who really gets off on feeling very clever.
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Oct 30, 2017 07:53
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A human heart posted:The question with these kind of books shouldn't be why you stopped reading them but more why you started in the first place Because they were enjoyable? Why else does anyone read? A nice fresh one "The massacre of mankind" by Stephen Baxter. Written as a sequel to war of the worlds, Baxter tries to replicate the style of H G Wells and instead manages to produce a piece of "more English than the English" writing it takes an effort of the will to stay focussed on. Also, in this day and age, there is a deus ex machina.
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Oct 30, 2017 08:00
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504 posted:Because they were enjoyable? Why else does anyone read? They don't sound enjoyable.
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Oct 30, 2017 10:25
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A human heart posted:They don't sound enjoyable. Neither does anything given a 10 word description in a thread to complain about badly written books, Are you trying to sound cool? The goon mind hate of vampires inspired by Twilight ended a few years ago.
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Oct 30, 2017 14:54
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*dislikes bad things* woah now stop pretendign to be cool ,man
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Oct 30, 2017 16:26
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A human heart posted:They don't sound enjoyable. another constructive and worthwhile post, well done you keep at it, i'm sure the next one will get em
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Oct 30, 2017 16:29
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They're actually really fun, especially if you're playing spot the reference. Newman is essentially a schlock scholar and can't resist showing it off whenever possible.
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Oct 30, 2017 16:49
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504 posted:Neither does anything given a 10 word description in a thread to complain about badly written books, Are you trying to sound cool? The goon mind hate of vampires inspired by Twilight ended a few years ago. I'm not sure you get that guy's posting gimmick, friend
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Oct 30, 2017 17:43
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Lightning Lord posted:I'm not sure you get that guy's posting gimmick, friend My gimmick is that I have opinions and say what they are on a discussion forum.
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Oct 30, 2017 23:34
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I gave up reading this thread when I got to some moron making GBS threads on Anna Karenina.
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Oct 31, 2017 00:19
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A human heart posted:My gimmick is that I have opinions and say what they are on a discussion forum. You're gimmick is making no contribution to a thread while trying to impress strangers by pretending you're to cool to like anything. You should piss off back to hot topic.
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Oct 31, 2017 00:21
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I'm certainly impressed by his hating
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Oct 31, 2017 00:32
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A human heart actually likes plenty of things he just doesn't talk about them in the threads focused on things he doesn't like.
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Oct 31, 2017 01:48
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Mel Mudkiper posted:What I always liked about Romance of Three Kingdoms is that I read it in high school after playing Dynasty Warriors on PS2 and was like "I know the book is gonna be nothing like the game but I still want to read it." as someone who enjoys dynasty warriors in tyool 2017 - is it worth it maybe not reading the whole thing cover to cover but is it interesting enough to justify trying it
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Oct 31, 2017 02:36
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It's definitely worth at least trying. Most of the great classical Chinese novels are basically two -fisted adventure fiction* and pretty compulsively readable. They even have cliffhangers:quote:”We have just rescued this menial in a bloody fight," cried Zhang Fei, "and now he is rude to us! Nothing but his death can slake my anger." That said, it's really loving long, and there are literally hundreds of different characters to keep track of, although most of them get murked within a few chapters of being introduced. If you're interested, the text is up on this strategy games site, with annotations by players of Dynasty Warriors and other games so you should feel right at home. *except for Dream in the Red Chamber, that one's dull as poo poo
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Oct 31, 2017 05:26
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After blowing through the first three A Song of Ice and Fire novels in the span of a few months, I gave up reading A Feast For Crows fairly early on because the story went to poo poo and it was clear that GRRM would never finish the series, despite his protestations. I love the poo poo out of Game of Thrones, however, and I'm glad that's wrapping up next(?) year. I quit reading Eragon about halfway through after I had it pointed out to me that the story was a straight rehash of Star Wars, and wasn't all that well written either. It's quite telling that the dude who wrote the Eragon books hasn't published another book in six years since he finished that series.
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Oct 31, 2017 06:46
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nine-gear crow posted:I quit reading Eragon about halfway through after I had it pointed out to me that the story was a straight rehash of Star Wars, and wasn't all that well written either. It's quite telling that the dude who wrote the Eragon books hasn't published another book in six years since he finished that series. Then teenaged me found a whole community on the Internet for people who hated the books and had a couple years of really, really stupid fun.
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Oct 31, 2017 07:29
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nine-gear crow posted:After blowing through the first three A Song of Ice and Fire novels in the span of a few months, I gave up reading A Feast For Crows fairly early on because the story went to poo poo and it was clear that GRRM would never finish the series, despite his protestations. I love the poo poo out of Game of Thrones, however, and I'm glad that's wrapping up next(?) year. My ex absolutely loved Eragon and insisted I couldn't possibly criticise it until I'd read it. I didn't even make it through the prologue.
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Oct 31, 2017 10:16
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504 posted:You're gimmick is making no contribution to a thread while trying to impress strangers by pretending you're to cool to like anything. You should piss off back to hot topic. Wow you really destroyed him with this post there's no chance he's coming back from that.
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Oct 31, 2017 11:37
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Why don't you take your copy of Zettel's Traum back to Hot Topic, bitch
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Oct 31, 2017 11:42
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CestMoi posted:Why don't you take your copy of Zettel's Traum back to Hot Topic, bitch I actually did have to stop reading that because it was too large to carry around and it had to go back to the library.
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Oct 31, 2017 12:29
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Couldn't fit it in the pocket of your skinny jeans?
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Oct 31, 2017 13:42
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504 posted:You're gimmick is making no contribution to a thread while trying to impress strangers by pretending you're to cool to like anything. You should piss off back to hot topic. i can recommend not getting angry at opinions. it improves quality of life by a lot
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Oct 31, 2017 13:59
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ulvir posted:i can recommend not getting angry at opinions. it improves quality of life by a lot and so, inevitably, the "that sucks" shitpost is followed by the "u mad" shitpost. the cosmic ballet...goes on anyway, for content: I have a feeling John Langan's "House of Windows" is going to end up on this list. I was impressed with "The Fisherman" but House is slow and saggy af. Also stop awkwardly inserting your ruminations about 9/11 into all your books, Langan
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Oct 31, 2017 14:58
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Meyers-Briggs Testicle posted:as someone who enjoys dynasty warriors in tyool 2017 - is it worth it The Chinese Classics are all worth reading Well except for Dream of the Red Chamber
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Oct 31, 2017 15:53
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I'm going to read that one first
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Oct 31, 2017 16:10
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Ras Het posted:I'm going to read that one first You never struck me as a fan of laborious stories of unrequited love
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Oct 31, 2017 16:24
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They fit the aesthetics of the mysterious and sensual orient
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Oct 31, 2017 16:27
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CestMoi posted:Couldn't fit it in the pocket of your skinny jeans? Its a real struggle to be a hipster who also likes huge books let me tell you
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Oct 31, 2017 23:39
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