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On October 27 2013 04:34 Nouar wrote:Show nested quote +On October 24 2013 22:57 lungic wrote:
Just finished "A Feast for Crows".
I'd expected it to be dull and slow from reviews I'd read beforehand, but it was a nice easy read. Looking forward to read a Dance with Dragons later this year. I got the book in the shelf already, but I want to savour the story a bit first. I liked a Dance With Dragons, it's awesome, but I felt it didn't advance the story by leaps and bounds like the previous books did. If anything, it sets up for a grand book 6, but itself feels a bit stalled.... There's a shitloads of things happening though, but... I don't know, just a feeling. For Pratchett : take 10 guys at random, they will have 10 different favorites since he writes so many types of stories. There's bound to be a few for every taste.
Re: RR. Martin.
Yeah, more or less. Lots of stuff happens, kind of like in Dune. People converse and then people dies because of those conversations.
Re: Pratchett. The thing with Pratchett is that one needs quite a bit of knowledge about the theme he's writing about. Didn't find Lords and Ladies to be very good, or Masquerade for that matter, but I didn't know Shakespeare very well when I read them. IIRC Lords and Ladies is a theme on King Lear and Masquerade is based on the Phantom of the Opera. Knowing those works makes a hell of a difference to the story.
And by the way, I agree with you about Ian Esslemont. "Night of Knives" was nice, "Return of the Crimson Guard" was good, but Stonewielder and "Throne, Scepter Orb" just fell short. They shouldn't really have written a book about the Seguleh, because that removed all mystery about them. It's not as if he's out of ideas, and he's not a terrible author, but the execution leaves something to be desired. It could've been so much better.
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read all the pratchett books in 8th grade. Good stuff
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I read an interview by Pratchett and Gaiman at sfbok.se some years ago where the author had the pleasure of taking both these gentlemen to lunch. At said time they were busy discussing the evolution of the "Jolly Roger", from the point of how do you determine which motive to use? Which causes most fear in the victim? Where do you start? Then they go on a bit and takes a guess that perhaps they started with a tomato and two cross laid lobsters or carrots.
I know for sure that I would be damn scared if I was to be boarded by pirates that were coming after me with such a flag.
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![[image loading]](http://jacketupload.macmillanusa.com/jackets/high_res/jpgs/9780765315960.jpg)
Starfish by Peter Watts
Pretty awesome so far (I'm 250 pages in). It's really amazing to read about all this deep-sea stuff (Watts has a doctorate in marine biology so he knows his stuff) and all of it in a hard sci-fi setting. Recommended.
I think you can read/get all of his books here for free under the CC license:
http://www.rifters.com/
(navigate to Now -> Backlist)
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Recently read A Fire upon the Deep. I was rather disappointed since it had been recommended by so many people, yet did not deliver.
Just started Latro in the Mist. I'm just as excited for this one as I was for A Fire upon the Deep, so I hope this one does not disappoint.
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Just finished:
![[image loading]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51U2f9cRdbL._SL160_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-dp,TopRight,12,-18_SH30_OU01_AA160_.jpg)
Wonderful book. Franzen is phenomenal at showing how lives and relationships fall apart. As a college student, the parts dealing with how the parents fuck up their relationships with their college-aged kids were pretty brutal to read, but it was definitely worth it.
Now reading:
![[image loading]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CGcjNWkwL._SL160_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-dp,TopRight,12,-18_SH30_OU01_AA160_.jpg)
Dystopian near-future sci-fi. While it doesn't have much computer stuff, the overall feel is very similar to most cyberpunk I've read.
Next up:
![[image loading]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZXTVYzaGL._SL160_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-dp,TopRight,12,-18_SH30_OU01_AA160_.jpg)
If this is anywhere near as good as Atonement I'll be happy with it.
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vinge is just not really that great, sad to say
I liked rainbows end better than fire on the deep
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I better raise some money for this book :/
![[image loading]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41C5TJTA9HL.jpg)
Most of the books I have read about Burma in the Library of Congress, although very interesting are outdated. Tomorrow, I guess I will pay a visit to the library and look for more books on the Korean Democratization Movement and the Gwangju Uprising.
Also, I just finished reading much of the articles on the MIA and Culture Industry Reconsidered. I really wish I read Adorno sooner now :/
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On October 25 2013 10:57 sam!zdat wrote:I liked MLT a lot better than I expected to but I would not recommend reading his non-SF work (EXCEPT the transmigration of timothy archer) unless you are really a PKD fan and want to understand another side of him. Someday I am going to use MLT to good effect in a paper but it's not really something I would recommend to others. some of my favorite dick novels: dr bloodmoney do androids..? three stigmata of palmer eldritch ubik flow my tears the policeman said valis the transmigration of timothy archer man in the high castle scanner darkly edit: keep in mind that MLT was not published in his lifetime. if he weren't PKD it would never have been published. it's a minor work by a major writer. which is always worth something, but if you don't like it, stop reading it. unless you fancy yourself a PKD scholar, in which case you'd better read it and take notes 
Ah okay, well I do consider myself a fan of PKD, but not a scholar so I think I will stick with it but I don't think I'll be writing any notes haha. I didn't fully understand The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, I might have to give it another read sometime. Previously I didn't mind his non-scifi work, but for some reason I just seem to dislike all the characters in MLT.
That's a solid list, the only one I haven't read is Man in the High Castle, I'll have to order a copy. Palmer Eldrich is definitely one of my favourites, but it's another that I think I need to read again to fully grasp. Some others that I enjoyed were Maze of Death, Clans of the Alphane Moon, Martian Time Slip and Eye in the Sky.
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+ Show Spoiler +On October 03 2013 17:40 TOCHMY wrote:+ Show Spoiler +On September 20 2013 16:42 TOCHMY wrote:+ Show Spoiler +On August 26 2013 23:38 TOCHMY wrote:Finished: ![[image loading]](http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1178660247l/818123.jpg) I don't know what to say about this book... I guess I'm not really that satisfied by short stories. Some were good, some were weird and some were a waste of time. But regardless of how good they were, they didn't satisfy me. Still trudging through: ![[image loading]](http://anyiko.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/gabriel-garcia-marquez-one-hundred-years-of-solitude-04.jpg) It's going really really slow for me with this one. I just can't seem to find motivation to keep reading it. Partly because it's hard for me to comprehend what's happening sometimes, and partly because stuff is happening all over the place, much of which isn't that interesting to be honest. I know this book's been praised alot in this thread. I guess I'm one of those less erudite people in this thread. Just arrived: ![[image loading]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RSub0VjLWU8/TOJA8Hf53tI/AAAAAAAABKo/f50i99I2H9Q/s320/amsterdam.jpg) ![[image loading]](http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1343059311l/13578175.jpg) ![[image loading]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kHAI3kSeA2g/T37WZgx7lmI/AAAAAAAAFEU/K0EzME1t0qA/s400/The+Witcher+USA.jpg) I started The Last Wish today and it looks really promising! Best part is that I have a clear understanding of how the various monsters in the book looks like, since I played the game. Always useful! Finished: ![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c5/Elantris_cover.jpg/200px-Elantris_cover.jpg) I have yet to read a book by Brandon Sanderson that I didn't like. While Elantris is the book I've enjoyed least by him, it was still great. His character development skills is on another level. ![[image loading]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4f7SgzBsUIc/TSWglXIFFpI/AAAAAAAAAFs/yo-zkzakmvg/s400/amsterdam.jpg) I got recommended this book by an english teacher that comes to my work from time to time. His favourite author is Ian McEwan and he recommended me Amsterdam and Enduring Love. Amsterdam was... okay I guess. The main character is dead from page 1 and I didn't feel any kind of connection to the other characters in the book. I don't know really. The plot was okayish but the execution could be better. Currently reading: ![[image loading]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51wSPtNU0iL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg) Book 2 about Geralt the witcher. I love these books! Up next: ![[image loading]](http://functionalnerds.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/The-Emperors-Soul.jpg) Brandon Sanderson <3 Just ordered: + Show Spoiler + Finished: I can recommend these books to anyone who likes fantasy. I urge anyone who's played the games to read these books. They are absolutely amazing and I can't wait for the rest of the series to be translated. I'm currently halfway throught the third book (actually the second in the series, but the third translated book about The Witcher) Times of Contempt. Short, easy to read, distinct character development. I liked The Emperor's Soul, but it's not my favourite Sanderson. Currently Reading: ![[image loading]](http://img1.imagesbn.com/p/9780316219136_p0_v1_s260x420.JPG) Geralt <3 Up Next: ![[image loading]](http://www.adlibris.com/images/1439283/when-giants-walked-the-earth-a-biography-of-led-zeppelin.jpg)
I deviated a bit more from my 5 books of the month list. I passed by a local bookstore and they had sale on 2 Murakami books, namely After Dark and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
Finished:
![[image loading]](https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327199738l/2782082.jpg)
A short and nice story about a girl named Mari and her adventure through a night somewhere in Tokyo. Murakami is a genius.
![[image loading]](http://gatheringbooks.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/hm-danceukpaper.jpg)
Everyone. Put down the book you're currently reading and enjoy this masterpiece.
Currently Reading:
![[image loading]](http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348506712l/10137823.jpg)
About 60 pages in now. It's a book for young adults. Starts off pretty slow, like most of Sanderson's but I'm sure it will pick up soon.
Sanderson is one of my favourites. Yet, when I pick up a new book by him, I'm a little bit put off when starting. "Yet another of his weird magics to learn and yet another world." But he does it so well so I'm always left pleased in the end.
Up next:
I know all about Led Zeppelin already, but I hope this book will give me some new info that I didn't already know. A book for true nerds as far as I know.
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On October 29 2013 00:43 sam!zdat wrote:
it's not short stories
Dude I didnt even realise thanks for pointing that out lol.
Not used seeing names on chapters when it's Murakami. I took for granted it was short stories.
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Finally finished book one of The Capital. Brilliant book no doubt about that. People should read Marx, even if they're not really fond of him a priori, none of the cliché I had about him 8 years ago happened to be true. Now I'm probably going to read Eye and Mind (Merleau-Ponty) to see if I can understand him now that I'm out of high school. Plus I need something short. After, I'm tempted by Benjamin, Balzac, or Hegel's Science of Logic if I really feel brave.
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Reading one book at a time helps Not really out of it yet anyway... It did get a lot quicker past the first 200 pages, which I read at the quick pace of at best 10 pages an hour I think^^
+ Show Spoiler +Skipping classes does help A LOT too 
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Baa?21244 Posts
On October 11 2013 02:21 corumjhaelen wrote:
I need to read Life and Fate one of these days. Tell us what you think of Grossman !
Forgot about this until now, finished Everything Flows a few days ago.
It's hard to write down just what I want to say. I'll start, I guess, by simply saying that it was wonderful - great read, definitely recommended.
Everything Flows is a series of stories of various figures living through and past Stalin's rule in Russia, framed by the life of one man. Interspersed throughout the novel are random forays in philosophizing, historicizing, and even a short play. It was a ridiculously varied experience, and certainly not one commonly seen in prose fiction.
I think there were weak points - lengthy expositions on politics and history were not as good as, I think, the descriptions and pastiches and windows into the lives of the characters. It is in those short stories - ranging anywhere from a couple pages to a whole chapter - where I was most entranced. In elegant yet never lavish prose Grossman manages to repeat very familiar stories of life and suffering in 1930-1950 Russia in a way that still somehow seems fresh and insightful without appearing to do so.
I should cut myself off right now before I start gushing unintelligibly (or is it already too late?), but suffice it to say that this was a work that managed to really touch me in a way that I hadn't expected, nor really thought possible in just some random old book about the overplayed topics of suffering and poverty and misfortune.
I read the NYRB translation BTW, apparently Forever Flowing is another translation of the title? Definitely prefer "Everything Flows."
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On October 24 2013 22:57 lungic wrote:
And by the way, I agree with you about Ian Esslemont. "Night of Knives" was nice, "Return of the Crimson Guard" was good, but Stonewielder and "Throne, Scepter Orb" just fell short. They shouldn't really have written a book about the Seguleh, because that removed all mystery about them. It's not as if he's out of ideas, and he's not a terrible author, but the execution leaves something to be desired. It could've been so much better.
Good point about the seguleh. Removing the mystery definitely killed a little of the awe I had for them. I didn't really mind Esslemont's writing in comparison to Erickson, it felt very similar to me. But I definitely wasn't as engaged in his stories.
Just finished Lord of the Rings! The differences between the movies and the books really started to add up as the series progressed.
A couple key points from the books:
-Aragorn was stronger. He didn't seem like the "reluctant king" that the movies portrayed.
-Gandalf was more grumpy.
-Legolas wasn't a little bitch. He was more like a genuine Tolkien-elf: more cerebral.
-Frodo is easier to empathize with. You see more of his internal struggle and his inner battle with the ring was a lot more contested.
-Gondor is an actual nation. With vassals and territories. In the movie, I got the impression that Gondor = Minas Tirith. But really there are other important entities involved in its rule.
-Rohan wasn't as hesitant to aid Gondor. They really played that up in the movie.
-And of course, all the obvious changes like tom bombadil, scouring of the shite, etc
There is, of course, some disappointment comparing the books to the movies, but all the changes made in the adaption seem logical from a hollywood standpoint
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On October 29 2013 13:31 itkovian wrote:Show nested quote +On October 24 2013 22:57 lungic wrote:
And by the way, I agree with you about Ian Esslemont. "Night of Knives" was nice, "Return of the Crimson Guard" was good, but Stonewielder and "Throne, Scepter Orb" just fell short. They shouldn't really have written a book about the Seguleh, because that removed all mystery about them. It's not as if he's out of ideas, and he's not a terrible author, but the execution leaves something to be desired. It could've been so much better. Good point about the seguleh. Removing the mystery definitely killed a little of the awe I had for them. I didn't really mind Esslemont's writing in comparison to Erickson, it felt very similar to me. But I definitely wasn't as engaged in his stories. Just finished Lord of the Rings! The differences between the movies and the books really started to add up as the series progressed. A couple key points from the books: - Aragorn was stronger. He didn't seem like the "reluctant king" that the movies portrayed. - Gandalf was more grumpy. - Legolas wasn't a little bitch. He was more like a genuine Tolkien-elf: more cerebral. - Frodo is easier to empathize with. You see more of his internal struggle and his inner battle with the ring was a lot more contested. - Gondor is an actual nation. With vassals and territories. In the movie, I got the impression that Gondor = Minas Tirith. But really there are other important entities involved in its rule. -Rohan wasn't as hesitant to aid Gondor. They really played that up in the movie. -And of course, all the obvious changes like tom bombadil, scouring of the shite, etc There is, of course, some disappointment comparing the books to the movies, but all the changes made in the adaption seem logical from a hollywood standpoint
read silmarillion. Compared to it, LotR is the stuff of cheap paperbacks.
Also, sam's book maybe turning me into a marxist. However I'm remarkably convincable, so if I just read some Hayek afterward i should be fine.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2d/TCoM.cover.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51TO9uvcgiL._SY344_PJlook-inside-v2,TopRight,1,0_SH20_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
![[image loading]](https://www.marlowesbooks.com/bookimg2/058622s.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.one-episcopalian-on-faith.com/WindowsLiveWriter/reinventing.jpg)
