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Last Read:
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Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman - Collection of short stories. Most were pretty interesting to me. Also got The Elephant Vanishes so I feel much more confident that when I get around to it I will enjoy it. His short stories still have much of the same elements of his novels.
Reading Now:
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To Kill A Mockingbird - I know, I haven't read it yet. Never read it in school (heard some schools ban it or some bullshit) so maybe that explains it. Saw it for $5 on Amazon so I decided why not. So far, not much has happened (only 50 pages in). Will probably also watch the movie after I finish this.
Don't know what I will read after this. I got the next couple books for Ender's Game (Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide) so most likely picking up one of those.
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On August 04 2014 13:53 RagequitBM wrote:
Just got done reading the second Game of Thrones book, and eh. Great story, but hate his writing style. Anyone have any good fantasy novel reccomendations? I really liked most of Forgotten Realms, and The Night Angel trilogy if that helps at all. Was going to try Mistborn that I saw earlier. Hopefully that one goes well
I sadly watched the series before reading the books and your complaint is what made me stop, since I already knew the major plot points. However I just finished book 1 of The Darkness That Comes Before, aka The Prince of Nothing. If you want something with completely original characters and ideas in fantasy you gotta hit that shit. Its dark and unforgiving, and doesnt bootstrap female characters, so its a hard read at times. It is also a slower read, and the POV takes some time to get used to, but dont quit it, hit it. Oh yeah the Consult are some scary ass villains. (The last interrogation scene jesus.)
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anyone finish colorless tsukuru?
brief review inc
+ Show Spoiler +
read through it in two evenings, i actually enjoyed the length, because there wasn't much to it. the story itself was compelling enough, the mystery around tsukuru being ostracized. It teetered around in to bits of that familiar murakami blend of magical realism but never actually put any life in to any of it.
there is a serious lack of interesting characters, and his journey reuniting with his old friends is pretty unrewarding -- i didn't like these people originally, and then after meeting them, i continued to not like them or care about them. then the books over
onward to wind-up bird chronicles
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On August 04 2014 13:53 RagequitBM wrote:
Just got done reading the second Game of Thrones book, and eh. Great story, but hate his writing style. Anyone have any good fantasy novel reccomendations? I really liked most of Forgotten Realms, and The Night Angel trilogy if that helps at all. Was going to try Mistborn that I saw earlier. Hopefully that one goes well
![[image loading]](http://dynamicliterature.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/eragon1.jpg)
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let's see what this asshole thinks about it
![[image loading]](http://250words.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/The-Ascent-of-Money-Ferguson.jpg)
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hey that sounds pretty interesting
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I also want to get on the Murakami hypetrain! Which of his books is a good place to start? And does by chance anybody know if the German or English translations differ a lot from each other?
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Kafka on the Shore and Norwegian Wood are his most acclaimed books. I would not start with the latter, though - it differs too much from the rest of his work.
My personal favourite is Sputnik Sweetheart. Also, it's short, so I would think it's a good place to begin.
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On August 19 2014 10:46 dmnum wrote:
Kafka on the Shore and Norwegian Wood are his most acclaimed books. I would not start with the latter, though - it differs too much from the rest of his work.
My personal favourite is Sputnik Sweetheart. Also, it's short, so I would think it's a good place to begin.
Well, I've read Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore, and 1Q84. While NW is certainly different, I found it to be the "best" of the three. I dunno, his stuff might just be too meta for me. I really enjoyed NW though, and Kafka wasn't bad.
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why don't you read Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
for a change
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Recently finished fantasy novel Half a King by Joe Abercrombie. While it’s a YA novel, (nothing wrong with YA, just seems very different from what he usually writes) and the first 40 pages were a little disappointing, things really took off after that. It started to really feel like a Joe Abercrombie novel, with vivid characters, a great narrative voice grounded in the character, and that wonderful gritty feel. Also, Nothing is hilarious, and one of the most quotable characters of all time.
Definitely recommended. Though Abercrombie’s other stuff, especially The Heroes, is better, I would say.
![[image loading]](http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1389378321l/18666047.jpg)
Another thing I recently finished is Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. Which just won a Hugo, making Ann Leckie–according to Mary Robinette Kowal’s twitter–the first person to win a Hugo, Nebula, and Clarke award in the same year.
Anyways, it’s a very interesting, entertaining sci-fi novel that switches gracefully between the past, where the main character is a sentient space ship with thousands of human bodies, and the present, where the main character is one (badass) person, struggling with various hardships on an impossible personal quest.
Highly recommended.
![[image loading]](http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397215917l/17333324.jpg)
I’m also finally finishing The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Which I’m not too crazy about, but I do like. I won’t go into it too much, because I’m sure everything about it has already been said.
Not sure what I'm going to read next. I might get back to you guys on that one.
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Finished:
![[image loading]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61RKsiVlYvL.jpg)
This took me more than a year. Actually I was not planning to finish it for some time, but someone from work told me that was his favourite book, so I thought I should give it another try. The second half was definitely better than the first, so I am glad I finished it.
Reading:
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Found this in my late mother in law's bookshelf. I only knew "War Is Merely the Continuation of Policy by Other Means" which is still cited regularly in germany. I have only read a few pages yet, but he definitely has a far more honest perspective on war than today's politicians: "War therefore is an act of violence to compel our opponent to fulfill our will." I will read a few more pages (the introductory parts on the nature of war), but I guess this is enough for me.
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Making slow progress... Some of the stories are great, some not so.
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Have you read The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi?
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Tsss, first part of Ficciones is the best. Fucking hilarious.
Slow reading with greece (was amaaaazing, will probably write a blog later), but I finished my Spinoza (really great), a nice polar (La Reine d'Amérique, Greenan) and I'm at about two third of Ovidus' Metamorphosis, which is a bit unequal, but a great read, and was ideal for my trip !
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Just read World War Z. The film really missed a trick imo. Such good material to work from  Very good read
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Can someone recommend me a good philosophy book on cosmology?
Thinking by myself I have arrived at the conclusion that either:
Everything was created by something that exists outside of time, therefore this thing itself doesn't need a cause. That could be a number of things(including god), or;
The cause and effect scheme known to humans must break down at some point, allowing for something to exist without a cause.
I'm partial to the first option - in fact I think the other scenario is ludicrous -, but even that is not leaving me satisfied. I would like to read more on the subject.
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obviously the multiverse as explained by lawrence krauss
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On August 20 2014 12:24 dmnum wrote:
Can someone recommend me a good philosophy book on cosmology?
Thinking by myself I have arrived at the conclusion that either:
Everything was created by something that exists outside of time, therefore this thing itself doesn't need a cause. That could be a number of things(including god), or;
The cause and effect scheme known to humans must break down at some point, allowing for something to exist without a cause.
I'm partial to the first option - in fact I think the other scenario is ludicrous -, but even that is not leaving me satisfied. I would like to read more on the subject.
Slavoj Zizek - The Indivisible Remainder. or maybe Tarrying with the Negative.
really though Zizek deals with this question in many places (often repetitively). The best place to look for a definitive version of Zizek's thought is _Less Than Nothing_ (which is sort of a big compendium of self-plagiarization, so it has everything that he's ever said mostly). What you are talking about is a theological question that has a very long pedigree!
I also recommend Manuel Delanda's _Intensive Science And Virtual Philosophy_ although this might come at what you are getting at more obliquely. But it is there.
edit: but seriously. don't ask questions like that. it doesn't lead anywhere good.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://img2.imagesbn.com/p/9780385722049_p0_v1_s260x420.JPG)
