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On March 21 2014 00:23 corumjhaelen wrote:![[image loading]](http://harveymansfield.org/files/2012/07/niccolo-machiavelli-discourses-on-livy.jpg) Discourses on Livy (Niccolò Machiavelli) Brilliant and much superior to The Prince, I recommend. In times where historical parallels flourishes in quite worrying ways, it is a book of great comfort.
I remember reading these two books when I was much younger and when I learned that Henry Kissinger love and used these books, I felt violated. >.<
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Man will do evil if given the occasion, as Machiavelli says 50 times 
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I've almost finished
![[image loading]](https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388228233l/499429.jpg)
Counting Heads
I must say I've been pleasantly surprised by this book. Its reminding me of the styles, settings, characters and pacing from the works of William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, and Philip K. Dick. I wouldn't say he's reached their level, but one can feel the potential being there.
[Edit preview is a nice feature, perhaps one should employ it use more often?]
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Has anyone read Bram Stoker's Dracula? I'm finishing up Count of Monte Cristo, and I could do with a little more adventure.
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Personally I don't like Dracula, its an okish story, but the formatting bothers me.
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Dang. Maybe I'll just read the three musketeers. Or perhaps a spy novel. Its been a while since I had a good spy novel.
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![[image loading]](http://akamaicovers.oreilly.com/images/0636920024064/lrg.jpg)
Programming C# 5.0 by Ian Griffiths
Better than I expected.
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On March 21 2014 04:44 packrat386 wrote:
Dang. Maybe I'll just read the three musketeers. Or perhaps a spy novel. Its been a while since I had a good spy novel.
My advice is The Charterhouse of Parma.
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Baa?21248 Posts
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I also found Dracula boring.
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Last 3 books I read (which weren't for my degree)
+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51e4bj4EwxL.jpg) Really enjoyed the story, but would have to say I prefered the first 2/3 to the final third of the book.
+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/Speaker_dead_cover.jpg) A great sequal to Enders Game, which I also loved. Will be reading the third book as soon as I can.
+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://akhilak.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/handmaidscover.jpg) Finally read this one at the constant naggin of my girlfriend, it's one of her favourite books. Finished it today, and I did enjoy it, but perhaps doesn't live up to some of the more high profile dystopian future novels.
Can't decide whether to read Farenheit 451 or Lord of the Flies next, both of which I have been meaning to for some time.
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On March 21 2014 04:44 packrat386 wrote:
Dang. Maybe I'll just read the three musketeers. Or perhaps a spy novel. Its been a while since I had a good spy novel.
Neither a spy novel nor a 19th century french novel but I would really recommend The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares if you want something entertaining. Also it's short, 150 pages or so.
It's mystery mixed with magical realism. Borges said "to classify it as perfect is neither an imprecision nor a hyperbole". What else do you need?
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On March 21 2014 04:20 lungic wrote:
I've almost finished
Counting Heads
I must say I've been pleasantly surprised by this book. Its reminding me of the styles, settings, characters and pacing from the works of William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, and Philip K. Dick. I wouldn't say he's reached their level, but one can feel the potential being there.
[Edit preview is a nice feature, perhaps one should employ it use more often?]
Looks like an interesting book!
I started reading this. My friend read it in his class and recommended it to me.
![[image loading]](http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1342691861l/15759484.jpg)
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I remember when I was learning english and my teacher read "The Raven" to us. I didn't understand a single word but the sounds were so nice that I didn't mind. Later, after studying and finally understanding the poem I came to appreciate it even more.
Ulysses is my 800-page Raven.
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I read Notes from Underground, The Master of Go and Kokoro this last week. All great books.
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Baa?21248 Posts
On March 23 2014 10:07 dmnum wrote:
I remember when I was learning english and my teacher read "The Raven" to us. I didn't understand a single word but the sounds were so nice that I didn't mind. Later, after studying and finally understanding the poem I came to appreciate it even more.
Ulysses is my 800-page Raven.
Wait till you get to Finnegans Wake.
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On March 23 2014 10:07 dmnum wrote:
I remember when I was learning english and my teacher read "The Raven" to us. I didn't understand a single word but the sounds were so nice that I didn't mind. Later, after studying and finally understanding the poem I came to appreciate it even more.
Ulysses is my 800-page Raven.
You should read Pale Fire.
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On March 25 2014 04:14 ThomasjServo wrote:Show nested quote +On March 23 2014 10:07 dmnum wrote:
I remember when I was learning english and my teacher read "The Raven" to us. I didn't understand a single word but the sounds were so nice that I didn't mind. Later, after studying and finally understanding the poem I came to appreciate it even more.
Ulysses is my 800-page Raven. You should read Pale Fire.
I was just thinking about getting it this last weekend, unfortunately I'm a bit short on money and I want to read The Bible and The Aeneid now so it'll have to wait a bit. I'm also not the biggest fan of Nabokov. I thought Lolita was good but not great, however as time passes I get the urge to read it again(this has also happened with Wuthering Heights and after rereading it I can say it's one of the greatest things ever written). The concept of Pale Fire sounds a lot more interesting, though.
On March 25 2014 03:58 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:Show nested quote +On March 23 2014 10:07 dmnum wrote:
I remember when I was learning english and my teacher read "The Raven" to us. I didn't understand a single word but the sounds were so nice that I didn't mind. Later, after studying and finally understanding the poem I came to appreciate it even more.
Ulysses is my 800-page Raven. Wait till you get to Finnegans Wake.
Yeah, Finnegans Wake first sentence is really fun to read even though I have almost no idea about what it means.
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Anyway, I'm not going to say that every single part of Ulysses was great. The ones I really grasped were amazing(especially Hades, Ithaca and Penelope), some I started well but ended up completely lost(Oxen of the Sun and Circe), and some I got through by sheer force of will because I understood almost nothing(Aeolus and Proteus).
However, so much is revealed later in the book that I think a second reading will be much more rewarding. I'll probably go through the novel again in some months.
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Now I'm reading The Turn of the Screw by Henry James and after I'll start again on The Aeneid.
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Fuck Virgil, too annoying to translate. Now finish Proust and Musil :p
Picked up as my light casual reading :
![[image loading]](http://images.betterworldbooks.com/019/Phenomenology-of-Spirit-9780198245971.jpg)
Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit.
As something more serious a fantastic novel written by Dumas : La femme au collier de velours (can't find the english name if it has been translated).
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EPT
