EPTOn February 17 2013 16:21 Cambium wrote:
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Just Read
The Fall of Hyperion
![[image loading]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51p3aocONWL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
This was a slight let down from the first book, albeit still a very pleasant read. I read the last 1/3 of the book in one sitting because I was dying to find out what happened to the characters and the fate of their world.
The Hyperion series was not an easy read. The write style was often times overly descriptive, but ultimately, the overarching plots were very complex, and often times, thought-provoking. What I didn't like about the second book in particular, was that, Simmons would, in certain chapters, state his ideals and philosophies point-blank through his characters, rather than leaving them for my interpretation through the stories themselves.
In any case, these were great books with lots of mind-fucks and inconsistencies, well worth a read.
Reading
Nothing to Envy
![[image loading]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51zcC6hFgpL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
Yet another book on North Korea for me, probably the last one if it doesn't tell me something I don't already know.
Next
Shantaram
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Behind the Beautiful Forevers
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The Fault in our Stars
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I'm really going to hold this book off for a bit, because there are such great expectations, I don't know how to approach it.
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On February 04 2013 00:27 Cambium wrote:
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Just Read:
Hyperion
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Okay, that was a great read. There were a lot of times when I couldn't put the book down until I had finished the whole chapter (and those are long, since there are only six of them).
I enjoyed the different writing styles, but, at times, the style would seem really contrived, and obviously not something the author is used to write.
Some of the stories were a lot better than the others, but overall, it was a very pleasant read.
Reading
Okay, the first book was great, except it leaves you with the biggest cliffhanger ever...
Next
The Fault in our Stars
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On January 25 2013 01:12 Cambium wrote:
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Just finished:
Mao's Great Famine
![[image loading]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FW5rLdXWL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
This was initially really interesting, but then it read too much like a history/fact book than a novel. The author only had a handful of sources and stories, and he kept on re-using these same examples to proof different points under different section of the book. I did learn a lot about modern Chinese history, of a period I've only heard stories of. While this book only offered one opinion, it did broaden my perspective, and made me realize how lucky I -- nay, China as a whole -- was that China did not turn out to be like North Korea.
While I was reading this book, I read a ton of wikipedia articles on the same topic, which interestingly frequently cited this book.
Strongly recommended for those who wish to learn more about 'the Great Leap Forward'.
Reading:
Hyperion
The Mao book was too dark, need something that pull me away from reality for a while... I might finish the entire series if the this one proves to be captivating enough.
Next
The Fault in our Stars
+ Show Spoiler +
On January 15 2013 20:00 Cambium wrote:
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Gave up on:
Destiny of the Republic
![[image loading]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51wVSPXy3pL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
Another exceedingly dry book, I really don't know why I even started reading it.
Reamde
![[image loading]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510i-6nzRJL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU02_.jpg)
I read over 60% of this book, and finally decided to give it up as well. I've really enjoyed Stephenson's previous works like Snow Crash, and to a lesser extent, The Diamond Ages. This book is excruciatingly long at over 1000 pages, and there were just passages after passages about irrelevant events that neither add anything to character development nor drive the plot forward. As a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese, I found the random Chinese phrases and names (loads of those) in the book as gimmicky nuisances, as they served no purposes other than to appeal to the 'nerdy' crowd who'd perchance find random Chinese phrases fascinating and chic.
The story itself was decent, but the book was just too long and uninteresting for the most part.
Reading:
Mao's Great Famine
So far so good, I've always had a keen interest in North Korean and Chinese histories.
Next
The Fault in our Stars
+ Show Spoiler +
Gave up on:
Destiny of the Republic
Another exceedingly dry book, I really don't know why I even started reading it.
Reamde
I read over 60% of this book, and finally decided to give it up as well. I've really enjoyed Stephenson's previous works like Snow Crash, and to a lesser extent, The Diamond Ages. This book is excruciatingly long at over 1000 pages, and there were just passages after passages about irrelevant events that neither add anything to character development nor drive the plot forward. As a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese, I found the random Chinese phrases and names (loads of those) in the book as gimmicky nuisances, as they served no purposes other than to appeal to the 'nerdy' crowd who'd perchance find random Chinese phrases fascinating and chic.
The story itself was decent, but the book was just too long and uninteresting for the most part.
Reading:
Mao's Great Famine
So far so good, I've always had a keen interest in North Korean and Chinese histories.
Next
The Fault in our Stars
Just finished:
Mao's Great Famine
This was initially really interesting, but then it read too much like a history/fact book than a novel. The author only had a handful of sources and stories, and he kept on re-using these same examples to proof different points under different section of the book. I did learn a lot about modern Chinese history, of a period I've only heard stories of. While this book only offered one opinion, it did broaden my perspective, and made me realize how lucky I -- nay, China as a whole -- was that China did not turn out to be like North Korea.
While I was reading this book, I read a ton of wikipedia articles on the same topic, which interestingly frequently cited this book.
Strongly recommended for those who wish to learn more about 'the Great Leap Forward'.
Reading:
Hyperion
The Mao book was too dark, need something that pull me away from reality for a while... I might finish the entire series if the this one proves to be captivating enough.
Next
The Fault in our Stars
Just Read:
Hyperion
Okay, that was a great read. There were a lot of times when I couldn't put the book down until I had finished the whole chapter (and those are long, since there are only six of them).
I enjoyed the different writing styles, but, at times, the style would seem really contrived, and obviously not something the author is used to write.
Some of the stories were a lot better than the others, but overall, it was a very pleasant read.
Reading
Okay, the first book was great, except it leaves you with the biggest cliffhanger ever...
Next
The Fault in our Stars
Just Read
The Fall of Hyperion
This was a slight let down from the first book, albeit still a very pleasant read. I read the last 1/3 of the book in one sitting because I was dying to find out what happened to the characters and the fate of their world.
The Hyperion series was not an easy read. The write style was often times overly descriptive, but ultimately, the overarching plots were very complex, and often times, thought-provoking. What I didn't like about the second book in particular, was that, Simmons would, in certain chapters, state his ideals and philosophies point-blank through his characters, rather than leaving them for my interpretation through the stories themselves.
In any case, these were great books with lots of mind-fucks and inconsistencies, well worth a read.
Reading
Nothing to Envy
Yet another book on North Korea for me, probably the last one if it doesn't tell me something I don't already know.
Next
Shantaram
Behind the Beautiful Forevers
The Fault in our Stars
I'm really going to hold this book off for a bit, because there are such great expectations, I don't know how to approach it.
Just Read
Nothing to Envy
This was a very pleasant read. Contrasting with previous books I’ve read on NK, this one was relatively more upbeat. Instead of focusing on the infamous gulags and prison camps, this book focused on normal citizens trying to live normal lives. This book is great because it didn’t talk about the calamities that westerns typically read about; it didn’t thrive on pompous description of famines and prison brutalities; instead, the focus was on how average citizens of North Korea silently coped with difficulties that are forever increasing and continually perceived as the norm.
The story follows five or so main characters of different backgrounds and social statuses, all connected in some way, and how they all eventually came to the realization that they had been living in lies, and ‘escaped’ (don’t really like this word, it’s closer to decided to leave illegally) North Korea via various different methods. There were stories on romance, on movies and gifts, on university enrolments and job assignments, on riding trains, on entrepreneurship, on technologies, and on just about any and every routine thing you can think of.
I like this book primarily because it makes a strong point that, even in North Korea, most people are still normal, not everyone is being tortured and abused in gulags. People still live, or at the very least, try to live normal lives. Aside from the awful regime, NKers are just normal people like everyone else.
Reading
The Round House
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I'm about thirty pages in, and it's quite a page turner.
First Man of Rome
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I read about ten pages of this, and I was so confused... I think I'll give this another try at some later point.
Next
Shantaram
Behind the Beautiful Forevers
The Fault in our Stars
I'm really going to hold this book off for a bit, because there are such great expectations, I don't know how to approach it.
![[image loading]](http://img1.imagesbn.com/p/9780743284264_p0_v2_s260x420.jpg)
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