One hundred years.. was one of the best books I had the pleasure to read. Thanks for reminding me, I think I will reread it soon as well Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Currently: Neuromancer - William Gibson Will be reading: Harry Potter and the Bible - Richard Abanes Shadow Puppets - OSC!!! (My hold came through! WOOHOO!!)
Political 'MARXIST ECONOMIC THEORY' by Ernest Mandel I cant stress how interesting this book is, you have really got to read it for yourself. A good read for those wishing to find out in alittle more detail the theory of Marxist economics. Im planning on reading it again after i have read 'Das Kapital' by Karl Marx in an attempt to more fully appriciate the connection and refferences the author has made to it in parts. Cant find any proper reviews on this title. Cheers.
brief review Neuromancer was bloody AMAZING. Gibson is an artist with his words; from his first sentence <i>"The sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel."</i> you know you're in for an adventure. The ending was absolutely riveting. I read till 4 am, and now I'm too tired to study for my exam tomorrow. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I'm so screwed. *winces* --- --- --- --- Reading the first couple of chapters on Harry Potter and the Bible. First off, the writing style is terrible. Apart from the zillions of references, the continuous redundancy of occultism and witchcraft is grating on my nerves. The entire book can be summed up in a well-written 5 page essay. We freakin' get it!! The author has written over a dozen books on the occult; kind of says something about where his priorities lay, eh? It is also a sin to be so compelled to delve so deeply and so interestedly into the dark arts, even if the goal is to glorify God. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I think I will continue reading Harry Potter. Muah ha. --- --- --- --- So eager to start on Shadow Puppets .. alas, the damned exam is in the way. I'll have to save it for tomorrow. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Just started a reread of Thomas Hobbes' <i>Leviathan</i>. Also picked up a copy today of Erwin Black's the <i>Transfer Agreement</i>.
Last couple weeks. 1984 - Pretty good. Seems impossible to me, though. Of course, the Nazis and Germany seems impossible, too. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Trainspotting - About heroin addicted kids. Very good, if you can get into the Scottish accent that it's written in. Really good characterization and I could really empathize with the characters. Franco Begbie reminds me of one my friends. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Reading now - The Naked God by Peter F. Hamilton, part of the Reality Dysfunction series.
I need something really interesting to read. I read every genre. Anyone have a few really great titles to offer??Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Just finished reading: Language and Myth by Ernst Cassirer A Little Book Of Coincidence by John Martineau Still reading: The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins Just started reading: Essential Zen by Kazuaki Tanahashi Zen Poems by Peter Harris What is Tao? by Alan Watts Early Greek Philosophy (Penguin Classic)
I've finished reading "Anne Frank: A diary of a young girl" It was great! I'm almost finished with "Journey of Desire" by John Eldredge Will start reading "One Hundred years of Solitude" (English version) as soon as I'm done with Journey of Desire. Then, further on my line up is "Different by Design", and "Youngblood 2"
Just finished "Slan" by Van Vogt. All in all, a great book. So many surprises and twists..one really sad part too. It's about a subrace of superhumans and their oppression in a human dominated world, and one slan boys quest to find other slans like himself... it's a great book...GO READ IT
Finished "Shadow Puppets"! It was .... ok. Too much loveydovey. Not enough military tactics! Use of the word "baby" too much. :bugeye: And Achilles death was not the spectacular dramatic earth-shattering event I thought it would be! Reading: "Guide to the End of the World" - Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz "Handwriting Analysis" - Peter Dennis (Very cool) Have Read: "Dreamspeak: How to understand the messages in Your Dreams" - Rosemary Ellen Guiley (Poorly written and organized book. Very little real insight. Do NOT borrow! Note to self: In future, do not borrow books just because of naked people on front.) Will Read: "Blade Runner: Replicant Night" and "Blade Runner: The Edge of Human" - K.W. Jeter (Hope they are as good as they sound!!!) Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
They were Buried with Honor. I just picked up a new title, Emperor: The Gates of Rome by Conn Igguldon. It's his first book and so far its not that bad. Since I'm finally learning stuff about Julius Caesar (I've been wanting to for a while) I'm happy even if the writing isn't the greatest (but not the worst). I cruised through the pages rather quickly and give it a 8 / 10. Now I'll be starting 'One Great Mischief' by Allister Macleod. Edit: Finished the book, the last chapters made the book a lot better Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
General recommendations Some general recommendations; I noted the death of a "Best Books Ever' thread so I thought I'd cough up a few good ones, as I am not well-enough read to make an assertion to the "Best". - J.D. Salinger, Raise High the Roof Beams Carpenters, and Seymour Salinger is an example I use. When people ask where the novel is, I generally make a host of excuses designed to avoid this part of the discussion. There are people who write me off the page; Barker and Bradbury write the best genre fiction I know of; Joyce Carol Oates and Jack Cady leave me breathless. But I was having the dreaded conversation today about writers and noted, as always, that between fame, wealth, and literary influence, I would prefer to be the next Salinger than the next Oates or the next Stephen King. Within Salinger's work are recurring characters and themes. One need not read all of Salinger's work to get a full dose of this volume, but it is helpful if one is familiar with Franny and Zooey and Nine Stories (specifically "A Perfect Day for Bananafish"). If you're one of those who knows Salinger primarily for Catcher in the Rye, you're in for a treat. - Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird Possibly the greatest American novel ever written. The movie is even worth a watch, being one of the most outstanding adaptations of a novel I've ever seen. There is little to say about this novel other than to acknowledge that it is a perfect nexus of style, substance, and character. - Clive Barker, Weaveworld This massive novel was my first exposure to Barker, and is still my favorite. It is one of a few stories constituting the high point of the 1980s Golden Age of the horror literary genre. Barker is part of a pantheon of writers who made me want to write (Silverstein, Bradbury, Barker, Yolen, and others). - Robert McCammon, Boy's Life This is the end-all of the aforementioned Golden Age of horror. As King faltered with Four Past Midnight and Needful Things, as Barker labored over The Great and Secret Show and Imajica, as Streiber struck hard with Billy, Straub beat down the walls with Houses Without Doors .... Rober McCammon put this one down and everyone knew it was over. This novel is so damn good that it simply knocked the whole genre out of the water. It was a nexus of nostalgia and joy and fear and lexical artistry that left everyone wondering where to go from there. King killed off Castle Rock, Straub digressed further into suspense, Barker spun into the fantastic, and splatterpunk made another desperate grab for the spotlight. But ... Boy's Life is a bit like King's The Body mixed with the southern appeal of Lee's Mockingbird. - Peter Straub, Houses Without Doors Contains the story, "The Juniper Tree". This is the scariest story I have ever read. - Randall Kenan, Let the Dead Bury the Dead A strong showing from the "linked fiction" market where several short stories are intended to read as a collective. Rich language, interesting history, and a complex simplicity not unlike a peppery merlot. A compression of the black experience in the US. - Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried What can I say? He really is that good. War stories, but important ones. Linked fiction, perhaps my favorite example of the form. - Raymond Carver, Where I'm Calling From A collection of Carver shorts. Carver is one of the reasons I haven't developed a taste for post-Microserf cyberpunk ranting. Tight language, fast stories, and above all a sense of honest dignity absent from modern faux-literature. - Joyce Carol Oates, The Assignation Short fiction works. Not even stories. Oates is a stylist above all else for these fragments. But they're gripping, insightful, and tend to distort reality in the sense that you have to step back, shake it off, and remind yourself that these are just stories. - Jack Cady, The Jonah Watch This isn't a vital literary piece at all, but since Oates awarded Cady the Iowa Award in 1972, I often think of them in the same moment. Cady is an astounding writer. I recommend Inagehi or The Off-Season, the latter being exceptionally lighthearted. Singleton is an amazing and introspective piece. It's a tough read, though. The Jonah Watch has my fascination because it's a ghost story, a sea story, and above all else a study of a complex writer in motion. Much of what makes this book good to me is that I've spent a few years trying to figure Cady's writing. Where Bradbury, for instance, moves quickly so that you sometimes have to go back and count through the dialogue to figure out who is speaking (it doesn't happen if you're paying attention to what you're reading, but ...), Cady peppered the narrative with incidental dialogue that brings to mind more of the Jack Cady, actor and writer and teacher, than it does Jack Cady, sailor and trucker. You're not supposed to know who's talking because it's filler dialogue for rhythm's sake, and it's very well done in this occasion. It's a great story, though, and much recommended. - H.P. Lovecraft, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward If you find Poe stuffy, this will drive you nuts. But a number of zeniths reveal themselves. The novel is a lesson in lexicon and mood, a study in rhythm, and a paramount example of story construction. Incredibly thick, occasionally esoteric, and sometimes digressive language makes this short novel a difficult read, but if you ever want to know what horror writers aspire to, this is it. - Douglas Adams, "Hitchhiker's Trilogy" Six stories long (five novels and a novella), this monument to the late Douglas Adams forever changed a generation of readers. I can't even begin to express how vitally these books can affect one's perception. But parts of the Hitchhiker's saga are fundamental to me the way the Bible is to others. - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch A delightful romp. "British humor". Apocalyptic. Okay, I've ranted enough. Go read. :m:, Tiassa Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
<b>Currently reading</b> <i>To Say Nothing of the Dog</i> / by Connie Willis It's purported to be as funny as <i>Three Men in a Boat</i>, although I've never read that. Quite well-written, with a nice upbeat sense of progression. It's about time-travel and what happens when things go awry in the past due to blundering. <i>Fallen Dragon</i> / by Peter F. Hamilton I just couldn't get enough of his <i>Reality Dysfunction</i> series and so I waited til this came out in paperback and scooped it up. It's wonderfully hefty and has a unique enough plot and story to match Hamilton's previous books. <b>Highly recommend</b> <i>Gap series</i> / by Stephen R. Donaldson The first book, <i>The Real Story</i>, has one hell of a hook that just grabs hold of you. Great dark storyline, very well-developed characters, and a good ending. Gritty stuff. <i>It</i> / by Stephen King Yeah, I know I keep championing this novel every time I post about books. But it is just so exceptionally well-contained. One of those start-to-finish books that devours you, then spits you right back out. Very memorable. <i>Foundation Trilogy</i> / by Isaac Asimov A series which seems to pivot in a direction you would not guess upon reading the first book. It's been a bit since I've read the whole thing again (technology may be outdated), but it has some very classical themes of good, bad & questionable running throughout. <b>Attempted, but have put off (indefinitely)</b> <i>War & Peace</i> / by Leo Tolstoy I tried to get into this beast, but it abruptly changed story lines 100 pages into it and I just lost touch with it. I'd really like to get back into it, but since no one else I know seems to have finished it, I don't know if it's actually worth it. <i>Crime & Punishment</i> / by Fyodor Dostoevsky The first half of this was really quite riveting. Right up to the part where he kills his landlady and some of the time afterwards, I couldn't put it down. But then it seemed to get sidetracked on uninteresting tangents and I found a reason to put it down. Thanks! prag
Finished recently The Foutainhead by Ayn Rand Atlus Shrugged by Ayn Rand Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger Ordinary People Those books by Ayn Rand seem very brainwashing and convincing, but at least its for a good cause. Highly reccomended, at the very least to see a partisan opinion. Currently reading The Republic by Plato Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche Dawn by Theodore Dresier The Winds of War by Herman Wouk
Finished Reading: Fatal Cure by Robin Cook, Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan Just Began: Life At Blandings, by PG Woddehouse (hilarious!)
Green Eggs and Ham - Dr. Suess Gamepro Magazine - Some dudes Back of a milk carton - 1% Milk Microwave warantee card - GE Can I also suggest the "billboards" series, by "the street I take to work every day"?
