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England2663 Posts
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
I had the book recommended to me by a few friends. It was a decent book, but the more it went on, the more it fell short. It's an intriguing mystery, but kind of low stakes. It loses what made it interesting about halfway through. Also a few more spoilery problems I have:
+ Show Spoiler +
I don't get why the main character is so invested in the mystery after a certain point. It's just curiosity.
The mystery of who Fermin is just dissolves away.
EVERY female in the book is beaten, killed, raped, impregnated, imprisoned or enslaved in some way.
The mystery is resolved in a 60 page section that just explains everything which, to me, isn't satisfying.
I don't believe the love between Daniel and Bea. It just suddenly begins and apparently lasts.
After nine months of locking his daughter away, Senor Aldaya still isn't over it and leaves her to die in there? Excessive even for this world.
Any black/white characters are just portrayed as one or the other. Julian becomes a tragic hero despite being a monster. Fumero is just a monster.
The mirror between Daniel and Julian doesn't really amount to anything and is pretty coincidental.
I probably have more issues, but can't remember them. It's like a worse Archimboldi story from 2666.
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Baa?21243 Posts
On January 10 2018 21:54 Flicky wrote:
I have money again now. I think you recommended three of the four to me.
I'm flattered lol. Which ones?
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England2663 Posts
On January 12 2018 08:30 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:Show nested quote +On January 10 2018 21:54 Flicky wrote:
I have money again now. I think you recommended three of the four to me.
I'm flattered lol. Which ones?
The Unconsoled, The Glass Bead Game (IN GERMAN WOAH) and The Easy Chain. There's still a bunch of Sheep recs in my list.
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I'm suddenly inspired to start back up on my leisure reading habit, especially now that I've gotten the hang of my new job. I'm gonna heed Cheep's advice and start with the The Lost Scrapbook, then reread The Moviegoer by Walker Percy, then try to push through Women and Men by Joseph McElroy, then come back to Dara's The Easy Chain.
Edit: My reread of Canticle will go on the back burner lol
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On January 09 2018 06:15 maybenexttime wrote:
I checked the series' name, and it's actually Mistborn. :-)
Alloy is the first part of an independent sequel series set in the Mistborn universe, but chronologically (and in terms of when it was written) it's the fourth book. I had fun reading alloy, but it's definitely more of a light book compared the initial trilogy, so my recommendation to start with mistborn: the final empire still stands.
Or you just read both 
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Baa?21243 Posts
I was super unimpressed by The Moviegoer personally. Someone called it "The Stranger, but in New Orleans and worse," and I'm inclined to agree.
On January 12 2018 09:46 Flicky wrote:Show nested quote +On January 12 2018 08:30 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:On January 10 2018 21:54 Flicky wrote:
I have money again now. I think you recommended three of the four to me.
I'm flattered lol. Which ones? The Unconsoled, The Glass Bead Game (IN GERMAN WOAH) and The Easy Chain. There's still a bunch of Sheep recs in my list.
Awesome :D
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I have a soft spot for Walker Percy works but I can see why The Moviegoer wouldn't work for some. A big part of why I like it deals in my personal ties to Catholicism and visits to New Orleans.
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England2663 Posts
On January 12 2018 10:11 farvacola wrote:
then try to push through Women and Men by Joseph McElroy
Let me know what that's like. Hadn't heard of it before, sounds like it could be special.
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On January 12 2018 01:00 Flicky wrote:The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I had the book recommended to me by a few friends. It was a decent book, but the more it went on, the more it fell short. It's an intriguing mystery, but kind of low stakes. It loses what made it interesting about halfway through. Also a few more spoilery problems I have: + Show Spoiler +
I don't get why the main character is so invested in the mystery after a certain point. It's just curiosity.
The mystery of who Fermin is just dissolves away.
EVERY female in the book is beaten, killed, raped, impregnated, imprisoned or enslaved in some way.
The mystery is resolved in a 60 page section that just explains everything which, to me, isn't satisfying.
I don't believe the love between Daniel and Bea. It just suddenly begins and apparently lasts.
After nine months of locking his daughter away, Senor Aldaya still isn't over it and leaves her to die in there? Excessive even for this world.
Any black/white characters are just portrayed as one or the other. Julian becomes a tragic hero despite being a monster. Fumero is just a monster.
The mirror between Daniel and Julian doesn't really amount to anything and is pretty coincidental.
I probably have more issues, but can't remember them. It's like a worse Archimboldi story from 2666.
this shouldn't matter but the high stakes ramp things up for me where it makes it seem a little more impactful, maybe a little more interesting. Anyways that's obviously a plot device that is "cheating," so to speak. It's sort of like a seemingly unnecessary romantic subplot that seems contrived just to spice things up a bit. The core of any good book is a story of success, a romantic/dating plot, or some sort of epic good guys vs. bad guys story. Literally there are no other plotline structures that are any good other than those three types. Since I've been working the night shift lately I have had more time to read or spend money on computer games made by engineering startups during the daytime. I have been reading the nonfiction book "The Art of Seduction" by Robert Greene as well as "Citadel" by John Ringo, which is excellent fictional sci-fi
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I just finished reading Carrie by Stephen King:
![[image loading]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51OloIlZrhL._SX296_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
It was an interesting book. I started it already knowing the plot of the book but nonetheless, it was still a good read especially for Stephen King's first published book. I'm a big fan of his works, and I just came into possession of a kindle and put all his works on it. I plan to read them all! I guess, you'll see a lot of Stephen King posts by me. Next up should be:
![[image loading]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51S5TovouBL._SX302_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
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Baa?21243 Posts
I read Laurus by Evgeny Vodolazkin. One review called it "Russian Name of the Rose" which I didn't find accurate at all; the only real similarity was close-ish time periods - medieval Russia as opposed to medieval Italy.
Laurus has a lot of langauge/word games, and transitions fluidly between contemporary (anachronistic) language, Old Russian, pseud-Old Russian, and various dialects. The translation replicates this with pseudo-Middle English and Middle English a lot, and some contemporary slang phrases. It also has a lot of interjected scenes of contemporary/later-than-14th-century-Russia scenes.
A fun book even if it wasn't exactly what I expected. It's about a doctor/Holy Fool who travels throughout medieval Russia and Europe, and makes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, taking on different names and living different lives, as what I presume was a way to show the multitudinous nature of the "Russian soul" or Russian experience.
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England2663 Posts
Little thought I was having:
Poll: How long is your "favourite" book?251-400 pages (7) 37% 401-750 pages (6) 32% 750+ pages (6) 32% <100 pages (0) 0% 100-250 pages (0) 0% 19 total votes Your vote: How long is your "favourite" book? (Vote): <100 pages
(Vote): 100-250 pages
(Vote): 251-400 pages
(Vote): 401-750 pages
(Vote): 750+ pages
Numbers are a little arbitrary and "favourite" book isn't always easy to answer, but do your best!
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My favorite book is The Stand by Stephen King. Its 1000+ pages
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Baa?21243 Posts
>having a single favorite book
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On January 16 2018 14:35 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:>having a single favorite book
This. I think we have found a traitor.
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England2663 Posts
V by Thomas Pynchon. I liked it quite a lot. Typically, took a little while to settle in, but it's quite different from Crying of Lot 49 with regards to accessibility. There are a lot more "ordinary" parts of the book where things are pretty easy to follow and you get character interaction that's more down to earth. But yeah, a very enjoyable read. Some great quotables (comparing old arguments to retching up bad food) and some amazing different sections of writing (the Fausto chapter stands out).
I think that I'm a little more used to Pynchon and I know what to expect has made this a really fun read. Definitely going to work through the rest of his stuff and save Gravity's Rainbow for near the end.
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V is my favorite Pynchon, I find it the best marriage of his spastic, scattershot style with what comes as close as possible to a coherent narrative. He comes back to that sensibility post Gravity's Rainbow in Vineland and Mason & Dixon too imo. I also highly recommend his collection of early stories, Slow Learner. I found that it really opened up his less accessible writing through giving you a glimpse of how he came to his unique style.
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England2663 Posts
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.
It's really good.
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Fuck yeah it is, you seem to be reading from a list of my favorite books lol
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EPT![[image loading]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/06/The_Buried_Giant.png/220px-The_Buried_Giant.png)
![[image loading]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/dd/When_Breath_Becomes_Air.jpg/220px-When_Breath_Becomes_Air.jpg)
