My job, aside from the occasional outage, is a pretty low-stress job. It gives me a lot of time to read, and I average between 2 and 4 books a week. Last week, I read HG Wells' "Time Machine" and "Invisible Man", both of which I enjoyed (surprising, because I'm not a huge Science Fiction reader). Today I started Joe R. Lansdale's "Captains Outrageous" and, one chapter into it, I know I'm gonna burn through this within a day or two. I'm also re-reading "The Shining" at home.
So...what are you reading?
The most evil men and women in history by Miranda Twiss.
I just finished reading the Star Wars: Thrawn Trilogy.
I will have a review up shortly.
I'm going to start reading The Zero Game by Brad Meltzer later.
I'm finishing up The Da Vinci Code. Interesting stuff. Won't spoil it for anyone, but it brings up a lot of fascinating points about the early Church and pagan symbology.
I wrote a review of
The DaVinci Code. Have you read Angels and Demons yet? I thought it was a better book.
michael moore's dude, where's my country
stephen king: desperation
Dante's Inferno
Aesop's Fables
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Cowgirl Jack said:
Atlas Shrugged
I bought this a couple weeks ago and have been putting off reading it. I've heard only good things about it.
Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton
And Legacy of the Drow by R. A. Salvatore
good stuff
Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson
The Rise and Fall of the British Empire by Lawrence James
The Sword of No Sword: Life of the Master Warrior Teeshu, by John Stevens
The Tao of Jeet Kun Do by Bruce Lee
Rise To Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938..by Stephen Ambrose & Douglas Brinkley
The Burma Road... by Donovan Webster..the story of the china-burma-india theater in WW II...
Both are excellent although I'm only halfway done with each...
The Cell ( science journal)
and a shit load of comics
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
Murder Mysteries by Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell
I had to read Sophie's World for a Communications class I took years ago. I didn't want to read it, then I didn't want to like it. I tried desperately to hate it, but I failed...it was a lot of fun. Edu-ma-cational, too. I might have to drag it out of my paperbacks shelf and re-read it...
I've been trying to read it for over a year now, but, as I have a tendency to read several books at a time and not finish them, I've never actually gotten all the way through. It's very frustrating...
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Chewy Walrus said:
Murder Mysteries by Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell
The comic? I read the short story and loved it. How is it?
The comic is great! I'd really love to see it adapted into a short film. I'd go see it and/or buy it...
Sure enough, I plowed through Captains Outrageous. Good book! Too bad it's probably the last Hap Collins/Leonard Pine novel that Lansdale will write...
I'm just starting
The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume One. Big book...big, thick ol' book...
That's nothing! Pick up a Russian novel like The Brothers Karamazov or War & Peace! Or, better yet, try and find the complete works of Dostoevsky or Tolstoy!
Volume One taps in at 700+ pages, including endnotes. Volume Two seems about the same. I'm not complaining. Just stating a fact. This won't be my standard "two days and done" reading.
Brothers Karamazov was well over a thousand, not including endnotes. I read the first one hundred pages but stopped when I realized the story hadn't even started yet...
Right now I'me re-reading the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook, 'cause I'm a big ol' dork!
I've finished Broken Summers - Henry Rollins' diaries from around the time he was raising money in support the West Memphis Three, by touring a lot of old Black Flag songs.
There's an upward curve with Henry's writing - it gets better and more insightful with each new publication. I remember reading his early books when it seemed like he was writing at the limits of his ability to express himself. He was having to drag those words out of himself and then hammer them down on the page and I admired him for it. Henry always gives it 100%.
New Scientist comes out Thursday and the August issue of MOJO. I've been given this scary CD ROM to review which is full of mantras and rituals aimed at disrupting the flow of linear time. Completely not my thing, but I've got to make notes on that and try not to be too flippant
It's this gigantic paperback.
It's called the Phone Book.
Apparently, they release a new one every year.
"The Tall Stranger", Louis L'Amour
"First Lensman," E. E. "Doc" Smith
I've been meaning to pick up Palahniuk's new collection of essays & interviews. Chuck is a literary genius!
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backwards7 said:
I've finished Broken Summers - Henry Rollins' diaries from around the time he was raising money in support the West Memphis Three, by touring a lot of old Black Flag songs.
There's an upward curve with Henry's writing - it gets better and more insightful with each new publication. I remember reading his early books when it seemed like he was writing at the limits of his ability to express himself. He was having to drag those words out of himself and then hammer them down on the page and I admired him for it. Henry always gives it 100%.
Is it as good as his spoken word stuff?
eeeek, you all are so into high litterature, and I'm sitting here reading Sci-Fi and Fantasy, I fee so illiterate, or inadequate
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Chant said:
eeeek, you all are so into high litterature, and I'm sitting here reading Sci-Fi and Fantasy, I fee so illiterate, or inadequate
I have an unhealthy obsession with Star Wars books so don't feel bad.
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Chant said:
eeeek, you all are so into high litterature, and I'm sitting here reading Sci-Fi and Fantasy, I fee so illiterate, or inadequate
Then read E. E. "Doc" Smith's "Lensman" saga. It's the LOTR of sci-fi. "Doc" Smith practically invented the space opera subgenre. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, from Buck Rogers, to Flash Gordon, to Star Trek, Star Wars, and (especially) Babylon 5, lifted ideas, concepts, and characters directly from E. E. Smith's stories.
Seriously, if you can get past the 30's-40's retro-tech (vacuum tubes instead of transistors and circuits... and the computer was a cute blonde who used a slide-rule) and the pulpishness of the dialogue, you will find a series of novels more action-packed than any James Bond story, more fast-paced than a Louis L'Amour page-turner, more militaristic science than all of David Weber's Honor Harrington series, and more grand and cosmic in scale than anything ever conceived by Tolkien... E. E. Smith invented not just a whole galaxy, but two whole galaxies, and even went beyond space and time altogether. And not just that, but the way he descibres fleets of massive, gargantuan superdreadnoughts, maulers, cruisers, battling it out like Armageddon in the void of space... his space battles are more vivid, intense, and exciting than ANYTHING George Lucas -- or anybody, for that matter -- EVER put on celluloid.
The are six books in the Lensman saga:
1. Triplanetary
2. First Lensman
3. Galactic Patrol
4. Gray Lensman
5. Second-Stage Lensman
6. Children of the Lens
The first two, Triplanetary and First Lensman, are essentially "prequels" that tell the back-story and lead up into the third book, Galactic Patrol, where the real story really begins. Think Star Wars. George Lucas was probably more than subconsciously influenced by these books: "I'll write the main story first, then go back and make movies about the history and back-ground later."
Just an example of some of the stuff Smith invented and/or pioneered:
1. deflector shields (called "defensive screens" in the books)
2. the inertialess drive (one of the VERY FIRST -- and definitely one of the most influential -- FTL space drives in science fiction)
3. the Galactic Union (the very first galaxy-wide government)
4. pirates in space
5. anti-matter bombs
6. secret organization of telepathic warriors
7. the "patrol" organizations of space
8. mental battles (telepathic combat)
9. "artificial planetoids" (think hundreds of Death Stars... not just one)
10. artificial gravity for spaceships
11. realistically-alien aliens
12. hyperspace/wormholes/boom tubes (called "hyper-spatial tubes" in the novels).
All of these things he either envisioned first, or made popular... and all of this in the mid-30's and early 40's.
I CANNOT, C-A-N-N-O-T recommend these books enough. If you claim you're a sci-fi fan and you've never read these books, than fucking shame on you. How can u say you're a fan of fantasy and never read Tolkien? It's the same thing. E. E. Smith is the fucking GOD of action sci-fi.
Non
So E.E. Smith was before Frank Herbert?
I recently finished Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five.
Last night I finished The Crucible by Arthur Miller and began Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author.
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TK-069 said:
So E.E. Smith was before Frank Herbert?
Oh, fuck yeah. His first series, Skylark of Space, which consists of four books, began in the late 1920's.
In these books, a professor discovers the secret of converting mass directly into energy, and immediately sets about designing a space-drive based on this principle. Half-way through the story he's on the other side of the galaxy and getting sucked into a dark star (black hole, before that term was coined). By the end of the book, he comes home in a spaceship over half the size of the original, armed to the teeth with alien weapons and protected by "dazzling screens of pure force" which can bend, refract, and even absorb electromagnetic energy. This was back in 1928 or 1929, I believe.
The "Skylark" series began space opera. The "Lensman" saga, however, defined it.
Robert Heinlein was a good friend of E. E. Smith's, and Heinlein even had one of his hero's accidently stumble into Smith's Lensman universe in one of his short stories. Heinlein has stated on more than one occasion that it was Smith's stories that partly inspired him to write sci-fi.
J. Michael Strazynski (sp?) worships Smith almost as much as me. In the forward of each book (the latest editions, from Old Earth Books), there are quotes from notable sci-fi authors like JMS, Asimov, David Weber, Frank Herbert, all heaping massive amounts of praise onto Smith. JMS has also stated Babylon 5 is the closest he could ever get to even TRYING to re-create what Smith did w/ the Lensman saga.
Herbert's use of force fields is based on the rules laid down by Smith: fast-moving objects, such as bullets and particles traveling at lightspeed, cannot pass thru a force field; on the other hand, something that moves relatively slow, such as a sword blade, knife, or ax, could penetrate a field, if the incoming strength and aim was just right.
Believe me, every contraption and contrivance of modern-day science fiction, from ray-guns, to Death Stars, on down to flight-belts and "speeders", came from Smith.
He IS the GOD of SCI-FI. Believe in him.
Non
just starting kings dark tower series....should make for some morbid dreams.
I can't read and I can't write down
I don't know a book from countdown
I don't care which shadow gets me
All I've got is someone's face
Money goes to money heaven
Bodies go to body hell
I just cough, catch the chase
Switch the channel watch the police car
I can't read shit anymore
I just sit back and ignore
I just can't get it right, can't get it right
I can't read shit I can't read shit
When you see a famous smile
No matter where you run your mile
To be right in that photograph
Andy where's my fifteen minutes
I can't read shit anymore
I just sit back and ignore
I just can't get it right, can't get it right
I can't read shit I can't read shit
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Grimm said:
Is it as good as his spoken word stuff?
It's along the same lines but his spoken word material is condensed down into annecdotes. The book consists of diary entries from 2002/2003 so it's more spread out. I've got a lot of Rollins spoken word CDs and I've seen him live on a couple of occasions, so whenever I read his books, I can hear his voice. There are some great moments in the book when he recalls his early days on the punk rock scene.
Some of the material is hard-going - Henry sets himself very high standards and expects everyone else to do likewise. When people fail to live up to his expectations he'll spend the next few pages complaining. Under the circumstances I suppose it's justified because a lot of the book deals with his efforts to raise money in support of The West Memphis Three who were convicted of killing three eight year old boys, but who were sent to jail on some very shakey evidence.
Real Ultimate Power--The Official Ninja Book by robert hamburger
You're reading a Ninja handbook written by a man named Hamburger?!
Finding any way to infiltrate Conan's place, aren't you?
....psych
Bradbury's 'The Martian Chronicles'
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sneaky bunny said:
just starting kings dark tower series....should make for some morbid dreams.
I tried reading the Gunslinger to the series. I found it too boring to keep my attention. King's subject matter is great. His style just dozes me.
yeah can be at times...i'm looking for something more dark.
Hey Rex, how is Atlas going for you?
Long book, only a third through it, but I really like it. And I normally don't like books with a lot of characters. More is less for me.
And, really, who is John Galt?
Besides F451, would anyone like to recommend Bradbury's other works? Just wondering.
I also picked up Sharpe's Eagle, the first book on Richard Sharpe. Awesome read! I must really like the time period or something, because the same things that I liked about Master and Commander.
On that note, has anyone reading the Master and Commander series? I was thinking of picking those up too.
I'm still reading Atlas Shrugged. Its really good so far. I'm still in the first third of the book. I've been reading some of her other books like The New Left: The Anti-industrial Revolution and Capitalism: The Unknown Idea.
They are both collections of essays Ayn Rand wrote for magazines and newspapers. The New Left might be one of the best books I have ever read. I'll probably have a review of it up in a couple days.
You know, these Richard Sharpe novels bring up a good point. Why can't guys bring their wives or girlfriends into battle? I'm sure that will make things less stressful...
Just finished part one of Atlas Shrugged. Very entertaining. The book took a huge twist and I'm really interested in where its going now. The whole who is "John Galt?" question really keeps you guessing on who he is.
Seven pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence
It's a great historical account of one of the most interesting wars in history. You gain great insights into the mind of T.E. Lawrence, as well as the Arab mind. It's very interesting and well-written.
funny fiction novel called bet me
Finished Atlas Shrugged. No spoilers, I promise.
Wow. Rand is a friggin' genius. I don't know if her theories are new to me, or if she's simply rewording something I've believed most of my adult life. I love the character of Dagny Taggart. The strongest female main character I have ever seen. Ever. I just want to be like her. It's amazing. Really powerful novel.
That being said, it was like 1000 pages with really little print. Anyone who thinks this is a weekend read better tackle Rand's Anthem first.
***
Sharpe's Eagle was another great read, though of a much different style. If you like historical war fiction, I really recommend this book. There is something really appealing about this character, and I think I appriciated Richard Sharpe even more since I was reading Atlas Shrugged at the same time. Sharpe and Dagny have little in common, but in Sharpe's Eagle you have this someone with no money, no family, and uses only his wits, ambition, and courage to survive. On top of that, he's annoyed by the Spanish, doesn't like the French, and is not found of lawyers. Holy friggin' cow. He's like a male 19th century version of me. Although I'm probably shorter too.
Next in the series is Sharpe's Gold. I'll probably pick that up tomorrow. My roomies have also shown an interest in seeing the Masterpeice Theater version of Sharpe's Eagle, so I may rent it for the weekend. Too bad there's no way to make a movie out of Atlas Shrugged. The person who has the rights to the book wont let anyone edit the speeches for a movie version...so there's no way it's going to be made. Bummer.
I still reading Atlas Shrugged. I might finish it in a couple days.
I got finished reading "Stranger Than Fiction" awhile ago.
It was meh. Not one of Chuck's better novels.
I glanced through that a couple weeks ago. Some were good, some were bad. Just like his novels he is really good, or really bad.
I just finished re-reading Hulk Hogan's autobiography.
Anyone have any suggestions for a humorous book?
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rex said:
Anyone have any suggestions for a humorous book?
No-brainer: Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, or Pratchett's Reaper Man. Both are hilarious. Or you can track down ANY of Christopher Moore's stuff. I'm partial to Bloodsucking Fiends, Practical Demonkeeping, or Lamb. And Bill Fitzhugh's Pest Control will make you laugh.
I'm currently reading Plato's Republic for my Ancient/Medieval Philosophy course. Not a bad read, given the fairly modern translation and helpful footnotes. Plus, I love the utopian/dystopian concept, so that helps enormously.
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Chewy Walrus said:
I'm currently reading Plato's Republic for my Ancient/Medieval Philosophy course. Not a bad read, given the fairly modern translation and helpful footnotes. Plus, I love the utopian/dystopian concept, so that helps enormously.
But is it funny?
Has anyone read David Eddings books? I remember when I was in high school all my friends loved them. Are they worth reading?
So I start a new job today in about 2 hours. I didn't sleep last night. Why? Because I was reading Atlas Shrugged before I tried to go to sleep. It was that damn good. I'm still not done but I should be soon.
I finished Atlas Shrugged today.
Great book. Although I probably ruined my eyes reading all the small print, I want to read it again. I have never gotten this emotionally involved with a book. I actually had dreams about events that happened. Although Ayn Rand is an athiest and I am christian, I still agree with her almost all of her philosophies. This book answered questions that I have had for as long as I could remember.
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Chewy Walrus said:
I'm currently reading Plato's Republic for my Ancient/Medieval Philosophy course. Not a bad read, given the fairly modern translation and helpful footnotes. Plus, I love the utopian/dystopian concept, so that helps enormously.
In addition, I'm also currently reading Zinsser's Inventing the Truth for my Creative Writing course and Wills' biography on St. Augustine for a class on the patriarch. Basically, it's all school reading at present... and nothing else...
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Joe Mama said:
Quote:
Chewy Walrus said:
I'm currently reading Plato's Republic for my Ancient/Medieval Philosophy course. Not a bad read, given the fairly modern translation and helpful footnotes. Plus, I love the utopian/dystopian concept, so that helps enormously.
But is it funny?
If you find philosophy funny... then yes.
Guevara, Che - Guerilla Tactics
Slaughterhouse-Five: Or, the Children's Crusade, A Duty-Dance with Death - Kurt Vonnegut
I think I'm going to read Sun-Tzu's, The Art of War now. Its another book that has been recommended to me by a lot of people.
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rex said:
Anyone have any suggestions for a humorous book?
Mike Nelson's Death Rat!
Also, Choke by Chuck Palahniuk.
Mike Nelson of MST3K fame?
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King Snarf said:
Choke by Chuck Palahniuk.
I've read Choke already. I'm a huge Palanuick fan.
Today I began reading The Wild Boys by William S. Burroughs. Although he never wrote seriously until he was in his 30s, Burroughs was a natural with language, able to vividly describe a scene with just a few well chosen words.
The Wild Boys opens with a Mexican street scene, centred around the balconies of an apartment building. The queer - Joselito shaves his chest, singing discordantly as his silky hair floats upwards and settles on the food laid out on the balcony above. His mother, Dolores, runs a newspaper kiosk and possesses latent magical powers. On evil eye days she causes her customers to go mad or give birth to stillborn children. When she has the sweet eye, she puts the newspapers away and sells flowers instead. Tio Pepe attempts to spread accidents and misfortune using the power of suggestion, either by standing in the middle of crowds muttering phrases such as “charred bodies” and “fire of unknown origins” or by whispering into the ears of sleeping drunks while kicking them repeatedly in the groin. Tio Mate is an old assassin who shoots a vulture every independence day. By the end of the chapter Pepe and Mate are individually plotting to kill the dog which the blind lottery ticket seller - Tio Gordo – uses to sniff-out torn or counterfeit notes.
William Burroughs was such an original and individual writer and thinker. His work has made great ripples in popular culture that many people aren’t aware of. Together with Brian Gyson he developed the cut up style of writing and recording, whose influence can be seen in the magnetic fridge poetry kits that you can buy in bookshops today and even in the culture of sampling in music. He coined the term ‘beat’ to describe the generation of counter culture writers he is commonly associated with. He also came up with the expression: ‘Heavy metal’. The makers of the film – Blade Runner purchased the title from Burroughs, who had been using it for an unrelated screenplay. I noticed Warren Ellis borrowed his concept of Heaven and Hell as two siege engines for an early issue of Planetary.
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THE Franta said:
Mike Nelson of MST3K fame?
Indeed. This is his first fiction piece. (I hesitate to call it a novel, though I'm sure it qualifies). His other books (non-fiction), Mike Nelson's Movie Mega Cheese and Mike Nelson's Mind Over Matters, are extremely entertaining as well.
May give it a whirl always preferred him as a writer rather than an actor.
I finished the first volume of The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Good stuff...I was surprised at how much I enjoyed these stories. They weren't as needlessly wordy as other stories and novels written at the time - yes, I know that authors were paid per word at the time, but more wordy doesn't always mean more gooder. I liked Doyle's charactization of Holmes, Watson, and almost all the peripheral characters. And the mysteries themselves were fun as well.
I'm taking a break from Holmes. Before I start in on Hound of the Baskervilles and volume 2 (how DID holmes survive his apparent death at the hands of Moriarty in "The Final Problem"?), I wanted to cleanse my palate. So far I've read Lansdale's Bumper Crop (short story collection). Great stuff, Lansdale's horror and weird fiction. Now I'm gonna read Bubba Ho-Tep - the short story AND script collected in one volume. Great movie, if you haven't seen it yet. Bruce Campbell is a great Elvis.
As a side note...what are the chances, Rob or another moderator, that this can get one of those thread push-pins like "What Are You Listening To?" has???
If rob ever made me a mod, the first thing I would do would be to sticky this thread.
REX FOR MOD!!!
Quote:
backwards7 said:
Today I began reading The Wild Boys by William S. Burroughs. Although he never wrote seriously until he was in his 30s, Burroughs was a natural with language, able to vividly describe a scene with just a few well chosen words.
The Wild Boys opens with a Mexican street scene, centred around the balconies of an apartment building. The queer - Joselito shaves his chest, singing discordantly as his silky hair floats upwards and settles on the food laid out on the balcony above. His mother, Dolores, runs a newspaper kiosk and possesses latent magical powers. On evil eye days she causes her customers to go mad or give birth to stillborn children. When she has the sweet eye, she puts the newspapers away and sells flowers instead. Tio Pepe attempts to spread accidents and misfortune using the power of suggestion, either by standing in the middle of crowds muttering phrases such as “charred bodies” and “fire of unknown origins” or by whispering into the ears of sleeping drunks while kicking them repeatedly in the groin. Tio Mate is an old assassin who shoots a vulture every independence day. By the end of the chapter Pepe and Mate are individually plotting to kill the dog which the blind lottery ticket seller - Tio Gordo – uses to sniff-out torn or counterfeit notes.
William Burroughs was such an original and individual writer and thinker. His work has made great ripples in popular culture that many people aren’t aware of. Together with Brian Gyson he developed the cut up style of writing and recording, whose influence can be seen in the magnetic fridge poetry kits that you can buy in bookshops today and even in the culture of sampling in music. He coined the term ‘beat’ to describe the generation of counter culture writers he is commonly associated with. He also came up with the expression: ‘Heavy metal’. The makers of the film – Blade Runner purchased the title from Burroughs, who had been using it for an unrelated screenplay. I noticed Warren Ellis borrowed his concept of Heaven and Hell as two siege engines for an early issue of Planetary.
Burroughs is really good. I have a cousin that used to loan me books to read and she got these big compilations books from this book club she was in. One of the comps was a Burroughs book that had Junkie, Queer, and Naked Lunch compiled together. Another was for Kerouac, and had On the Road, The Dharma Bums, and The Subterraneans. Good stuff.
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rex said:
Anyone have any suggestions for a humorous book?
Anything by Douglas Adams.
'Confessions of a Shopaholic' is pretty funny. But I doubt any man would be caught reading it.
Finished Sharpe's Gold.
I can't tell which of the two Sharpe novels I've read was better. Anyone who has seen Kelly's Heroes will enjoy the basic plot line -- the British army is out of money and needs a pile of gold currently in Portugal. Of course...no gentleman officer would dare rob these landlords of their gold...so send in Sharpe.
While the basic plotline is fairly simple (get the gold), like in Sharpe's Eagle, you are introduced to variety of men and women, each fighting the way in their own (dysfunctional) way. Men who like very very very independent women will enjoy Teresa. Sharpe certainly did. Like the previous novel, one of the themes is that birth and money means shit next to sense and determination.
As soon as I wrap up Return of the King I'm reading Sharpe's Rifles. This is where things get confusing. The order that the novels were published was Eagle, Gold, and Rifles. However, Rifles was a prequel, so when the Sharpe movies were made in the early 1990s, Rifles was the first. No big deal, but I want to read Rifles before the DVD I ordered comes in.
I'm currently reading the back of a box of Lucky Charms.
I was gonna read Bubba Ho-Tep, but I found myself in Virgin Megastore last night, just killing time, and ended up buying Reverend Horton Heat's new album and All I Need To Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger by Lloyd Kaufman. I love horror flicks and B-movies, so I'm diving into this first. More info to come...
"The Pauline Vision of the Resurrected" - Chapter Five of Eric Voegelin's fourth volume of Order and History, titled "The Ecumenic Age".
Not for lovers of an easy read... or haters of political philosophy...
Working on finishing up Of Wolves and Men by Barry Holston Lopez. About man's relationship to wolves through the years.
Okay, I've been looking and looking and looking for a copy of Simon Maginn's The Sheep without any luck. Any. I think the book is out of print in the US. Anyone in the UK read it or know where I can get it?
Oh, and I finished Return of the King. I rushed through The Lord of the Rings about six months before Fellowship came out, and I regretted speeding through the books. I take back every mean thing I ever said about Tolkien (okay, I took everything back a long time ago, but oh well). I even read the Appendixes this time. I had no idea some of the stuff from the movie was originally from the Appendix.
I assume you've read The Hobbit and/or The Simarillion? They're almost certain to be movies themselves in the future.
Rough Justice by Lisa Scottoline. I've read several of her books. They're legal dramas about an all-woman law firm in Philadelphia. The thing is, for all the drama, half the time I'm laughing out loud.
Maybe it's a girl thing.
Don't tell me they're nigh-invincible...
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TK-069 said:
I assume you've read The Hobbit and/or The Simarillion? They're almost certain to be movies themselves in the future.
Read The Hobbit sometime in high school. I bought The Simarillion, but my mother took it and hasn't returned it. I think the movies have made her quite the Tolkien-fanatic. She bought all the DVD versions (which angered my dad) the Risk version of the game (really angered him) and wants to get a chocolate Lab named Strider (as opposed to a yellow female named Maggie). I swear, if these movies had come out before I was born, my name would have been Eowyn.
Actually, that's kind of a kick-ass name...
Does she listen to Led Zepplin as well, Eowyn?
I wonder what name I'd have...
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Joe Mama said:
...All I Need To Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger by Lloyd Kaufman. I love horror flicks and B-movies, so I'm diving into this first. More info to come...
I polished this off. Good book. Some funny anecdotes. Some interesting stories. Lloyd goes all over the place in his narrative, but that's what I'd expect from Troma and Troma's public face. I probably will pick up his second book, Make Your Own Damn Movie!!!, but first I'm actually gonna read Bubba Ho-Tep and a couple of authors I saw at the Sci-Fi convention that came to Boston a couple of weeks ago...
Finished Bubba Ho-Tep. While it's not my favorite short story (that'd probably be On The Far Side Of The Cadillac Desert With Dead Folk), it was still a great read. I also enjoyed reading the script, which really was 95% loyal to the story. And both intros (to the story AND the script) were enjoyable, though Joe's was much better.
I'm diving into two books now:
Agents of Light and Darkness by Simon R. Green. It's apparently the first of his "Nightside" series (British posters, can I get a confirmation on that?). So far it's decent, but I'll finish it before I do a full review.
The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore. This is his newest and it's not published yet. I have an Advanced Reading copy because my gal and my best friend both frequent his boards. Thus, I have an "in" with the man. I'll actually be starting it tomorrow and my gal says I'm gonna love it. I've liked all his books, so I'm sure this'll be great. For those of you unfamiliar with him, let me STRONGLY recommend Practical Demonkeeping, Bloodsucking Fiends, or Lamb. All are hilarious and well-written.
I’m reading a biography of Jimmy Stewart, very slowly because I just don’t give myself enough time to read.
I’m also reading Tarzan and the Castaways. I wanted something for my car as I often find myself sat waiting for something in it and I wanted something I could pick up and put down fairly easily. Then I spotted this old Tarzan book on my shelf that I hadn’t read for years.
I’ll probably read some more George Orwell next. I recently read 1984, mainly because I thought I should. Various terms from it get bandied round a lot (big brother state etc) and I thought I ought to read it. I expected it to be okay if a bit dated, but I really enjoyed it.
just finished Bentley Little's The Association on recomendation of a friend and loved it!
Will be reading more of his stuff in the future!
Just starting CODENAME: Wolverine
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Franta said:
just finished Bentley Little's The Association on recomendation of a friend and loved it!
Will be reading more of his stuff in the future!
Just starting CODENAME: Wolverine
Yeah, I like Bentley Little's books. Check out The Policy--you may want to read the fine print on your insurance papers.
Now I'm to Sharpe's Sword and The Archer's Tail (the beginning of the Holy Grail trilogy).
Bernard Cornwell is making me broke.
The Insects - An Outline of Entomology
Because I've read lots of books on particular insect species but I don't have a good overall text on the subject.
The book covers a lot of ground and goes into as much detail as you'd probably want, unless you're a professor of Entomology.
Quote:
NurikoK98 said:
Quote:
Franta said:
just finished Bentley Little's The Association on recomendation of a friend and loved it!
Will be reading more of his stuff in the future!
Just starting CODENAME: Wolverine
Yeah, I like Bentley Little's books. Check out The Policy--you may want to read the fine print on your insurance papers.
Ive heard good things about THE STORE too...
just started STAR TREK:GAUNTLET
about Picard's first command on the Stargazer
I NEVER LEARNED TO READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Agents of Light and Darkness by Simon R. Green: He seemed cool at the con I went to, so I picked up this book, in hopes of getting into the series. It was decent, with a lot of interesting concepts and ideas, but the actual narrative left something to be desired. As far as I'm concerned, he committed three major sins:
1) Needless exposition. At random times, he'd offer insights into supporting characters that either weren't necessary or weren't wanted. Example of the former: one character, Suzy Shotgun, goes into a long history of her sexual abuse to explain a dream she had and her hatred of being touched by men. If this was done during a quieter time, I'd be fine. But it comes during an action scene, so all I wanted was for the story to move along. Example of the latter: the character who is in possession of the "Unholy Grail" goes to lengths to explain why he isn't a snivelling shit but, rather, is a misunderstood and lonely collector (think comic book geek amped to 11). I don't like the character, I'm unsympathetic towards him, and I just want to get to the upcoming "final battle" at this point. The explanation for why he went on this rant is lame, too.
2) Deus Ex Machina: Characters are randomly introduced specifically to die for or help out the main character, then disappear. I hate that. It's lazy writing.
3) Beating A Dead Horse: The last line of dialogue from the novel sums up my point: "But, please, don't come back. You guys are just too disturbing. Even for the Nightside." The Nightside is where this novel takes place. It's a section of London where it's always 3am, weird creatures live, and weird things happen. And the reader gets bludgeoned with this info. The Nightside - no mortal could ever visit. The Nightside - where demons and vampires and other creatures dwell. The Nightside - a darker section of the Twilight Zone. The Nightside - where Nowhereman and LLance can consummate their love. You get the idea the first couple of times you read it and, by the halfway point, you wanna scream "OKAY! I GET IT! THE NIGHTSIDE IS A SCARY WEIRD PLACE! SHUT UP ALREADY!!!" And it happens in other places, with other topics, like the main character's mother.
Of course, it didn't help that I figured out who the mysterious client is the moment he was introduced. I'll try a second novel, just to see if he hits his stride. I want to like this series. But we'll see.
Just started The Epic of Gilgamesh for my political philosophy class and am still reading Plato's Republic and Augustine's Confessions for other classes. Next week, I'll start on Resident Aliens by Hauerwas and Willimon. Lots of reading coming up for the Walrus...
I have about a dozen books by Peter David and Max Alan Collins each to read. Working on
The Pearl Harbor Murders by MAC right now. It features Edgar Rice Burroughs investigating a death at Pearl Harbor the day before the Japanese bombed it. It's part of a whole series of disaster books that he's written casting famouse authors solving mysteries while things go to shit around them. There's a Hindenburg book, Titanic book, Lusitania book and another one too that I keep forgetting about. Plus, I've got seven CSI books by him that I'd like to pop out. Also have 2 Knight Life books, 2 Road to Ruin books, 2 Star Trek books and Howling Mad all by Peter David sitting in a stack. Plus I found all his Psi-Man books laying around too. Then I've got Larry McMurtry's last three novels in the Berrybender narratives plus I've always got a stack of Louis L'Amour novels too.
Someday I'll actually read a real book...
I have about a dozen books by Peter David and Max Alan Collins each to read. Working on
The Pearl Harbor Murders by MAC right now. It features Edgar Rice Burroughs investigating a death at Pearl Harbor the day before the Japanese bombed it. It's part of a whole series of disaster books that he's written casting famouse authors solving mysteries while things go to shit around them. There's a Hindenburg book, Titanic book, Lusitania book and another one too that I keep forgetting about. Plus, I've got seven CSI books by him that I'd like to pop out. Also have 2 Knight Life books, 2 Road to Ruin books, 2 Star Trek books and Howling Mad all by Peter David sitting in a stack. Plus I found all his Psi-Man books laying around too. Then I've got Larry McMurtry's last three novels in the Berrybender narratives plus I've always got a stack of Louis L'Amour novels too.
Someday I'll actually read a real book...
Raymond E. Feist
Exile's Return
Conclave of Shadows - part 3
rufie I read the Titanic one...it was OK not up to his Heller novels...neither is the firs tElliot Ness one I read (although Heller hass a cameo).
Didnt know he was involving writers in all of the disaster one unique concept!
In the middle of Doctor Who TIME ZERO....quite nice....
i just finished another copy of Penthouse Letters, and I must say Bravo to the Frank Drabik fellow! that is fine writing!
hes got nothing on James Farrell....hes the King of Porn!
I hace the collected works of Farrell in leatherbound....just the way he likes his wimmens!
But what of the bondage collection by Jerry Davis?
Capital!
Have you seen Robert Putnam's Box Set?
no but i'd like to have Kobe Tai's box set on me!
Didnt you see her at a club once?
FUCK OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm sorry the correct response was fruck off...
i havent been attending rehearsals
we didnt get home til three in the morning!
I was blind for three days!
I wasnt reading about pee!
i dont know how to respond!
I wouldnt fuck her with Bea Arthur's dick...-Jeffrey Ross'
http://mateomonkey.diaryland.com/problems.html
Right now I'm reading "What If?The World's Foremost Historians Imagine What Might Have Been".
phew it was ALL only a dream....
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by some English guy.
NO, wait! What's this switch?
No, I'm kidding we're both going to die afterall.
The Dark Tower Part VII.
I liked it.
But not all of it. I though Steven King was a dick to introduce himself into the story. It was unnecessary and just some weird writer ego shit. It didn't ruin the story, it was just... unnecessary.
I thought the ending was well done and appropriate.
I read the first book in the 1970's so it was kind of cool to see it through.
"If I Had One More Wish" by Jackie French Koller.
Quote:
Kilgore Trout said:
The Dark Tower Part VII.
I liked it.
But not all of it. I though Steven King was a dick to introduce himself into the story. It was unnecessary and just some weird writer ego shit. It didn't ruin the story, it was just... unnecessary.
I thought the ending was well done and appropriate.
I read the first book in the 1970's so it was kind of cool to see it through.
about 60% of most of King's newer novels are unnecessary....
I don't think I've read a King story in ten years or so. I read INSOMNIA when it came out, but only because somebody lent it to me on a slow day at work, and the last one I read before that was either NEEDFUL THINGS or TOMMYKNOCKERS...
I find most of his writing to be a cure for Insomnia.
Working the wheel by Martin Brundle
I just finished readinf Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
One of my favorites right there.
I'm currently reading (for school, natch) Dante's Inferno and St. Augustine's City of God. Really enjoying Inferno!
I never read City of God. I'll look that one up.
Truth be told, I didn't know St. Augustine had any surviving books. Goes to show what I know.
He has several. I've read Confessions and On Christian Doctrine already this year and still have to read the Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love. You can also find essays that he's written, like On Baptism, which is a part of the "Nicene-Post Nicene Fathers".
finished the Dunwich Horror last night. I might start on To Kill a Mockingbird this weekend, but I really want to read The Call of Cthulhu.
Camus' Resistance, Rebellion and Death and The Fall
HEY SD yeah To Kill A Mockingbird is reallllly good! Hrm.....what am I reading? I'm really into mystery/suspense, legal fiction, and some forensic thriller books (I can't handle alot of blood and gore though). I should be reading something challenging to the mind like C.S. Lewis next week but for now I'm reading Mary Higgins Clark, just finished reading all of John Grisham's books (don't buy "The Bleachers" unless your a guy....its boring, Tami Hoag (really good suspense books but wayyyy too many graphic sex scenes so I quit reading her stuff), Catherine Coultier, James Patterson's "The Lake House" book which had very little plot (don't get it), Kristin Hannah's "Summer Island" is a really good mother/daughter book with a good ending, and I read THE AWESOMEST book ever that I found at Half Price Books, "Numbered Account" by Christopher Reich. Which reminds me.....gotta make a trip back out to Half Price Books this weekend. Gotta get something lots more educational and challenging to read
I am just a big mystery book lover kinda person......stems from the hidden pictures and puzzle solving as a kid I guess
As for Steven King.....the only novel I read of his was "The Stand" which was pretty good. I can't handle reading stuff that evil or horrific-gives me nightmare for weeks
I just picked up Diary by Chuck Palahniuk today. What I've read so far I've liked, but then, I've liked everything I've read of his so far. Speaking of, Pariah, have you read Stranger than Fiction yet? How is it?
I read part of stranger than fiction. Half the stories were good, half of them sucked. I wouldn't pay to read it.
I'm sorry, is you're name Pariah?
I actually just read it.
And unfortunately, I have to agree with Rex.
What sucked the most is the fact that Chuck Palahniuk's build up is boring half the time is ome of his books, but you're always surprised in the end by the outcome and how much the build up actually added to it. So when you get finished reading the story and have reached the conclusion but get know "Oh yeah!" surprise or "That was fucking cool!" ending, you just find yourself with wasted time--And not with the usual waste of time from like any other book you had to read that sucked, you feel like you're still WAITING even after the story's finished.
I'm pretty sure this is because I read all his books chronologically and got used to seeing his more classic routines, but not certain.
Finished Diary last night. Very. Fucking. Good.
Backwards motivated me...I'm now reading, "The Screwtape Letters' by C.S. Lewis...it's sooo good! Reads like a novel
"Screwtape" is a phenomenal book! I read it my senior year in high school and thoroughly enjoyed it!
"Mere Christianity" will always be my favorite of Lewis' works, though...
Picking up Angels and Demons tomorrow.
I just finished Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel Garcia Marquez for class. Up next is July's People by Nadine Gordimer.
Jon Stewart:
Naked Pictures of Famous People
Hey Chewey I SOO agree. Screwtape is awesome!!! Everybody at work thinks it's some sex book-pretty funny! I wanna re-read it again just to make sure I caught everything Lewis said. It's so fascinating the way he words complex thoughts and Christian theology...absolutely amazing!
My lil sis is taking a C.S. Lewis class next semseter...which I could
It sure has been a fun journey through Uncle Screwtape and his nephew Wormwood though
My roommate (an English major) was writing an artist profile on Lewis last night, so I was getting all sorts of interesting Lewis trivia as I was checking my e-mail. That Lewis lived quite a life, to be sure!
Tell him I want a copy of his paper!!!!!!! I wanna learn
It's sad that I started this thread, but haven't been here in a while, especially considering how much I've read since my last post. Here's an incomplete list, with quick review:
Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore. Funny book. A quick read. Definitely more enjoyable if you've read past novels, but still a good read. Night Of The Living Dead meets your town's Nativity Play.
Danse Macabre by Stephen King. Nonfiction. King discusses the horror genre from 1950 through 1980. Interesting and easy-to-read. I read it every October, then discover/rediscover some movie/book/TV show/radio show that's worth my time. Highly recommended.
The Rising by Brian Keene. Zombie Apocalypse. Keene juggles multiple characters and multiple storylines pretty well, but predictability and bad dialogue kill (NPI) what could have been a good novel.
Agitator: The Cinema Of Takashi Miike by Tom Mes. Retrospective/discussion of Miike's films. Dry reading, but interesting. Audition was #11 in Bravo's Top 100 Scariest Movie Moments. I would've liked some more opinion and review (synposis alone bores me). Reads like a college student's term paper.
Spiral by Koji Suzuki. The sequel to Ringu is more science fiction than horror, but it has some really unsettling "scenes". The translation is better here than in Ringu - it's more fluid and reads easier. Good book.
The Complete Bone by Jeff Smith. This has/had a thread dedicated to it somewhere in these boards. A great example of what is so good about comics. Disney fans will like this. Comic fans will like this. Fans of literature will like this. Incredible storytelling!!!
Currently, I'm reading Harlan Ellison's Strange Wine. I won't have to finish it before saying this: Harlan Ellison is one of the best science fiction/fantasy/horror/literature/comedy/nonfiction writers out there. I recommend ANYTHING you can get your hands on! After this, I'll probably grab his script for I, Robot (written in the 70s, deemed unfilmable by the technical standards of the time, and having nothing to do with the Will Smith movie) or re-read his script for the Star Trek episode City On The Edge Of Forever.
James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain
About a third-through Angels and Demons. Loving it.
Don't get your hopes up. The ending sucks ass.
I don't think it sucked as much as it was disappointing and a bit predictable. However, there were aspects of Deus Ex Machina in it that really didn't sit well with me. I dunno...maybe it did suck. But Da Vinci Code rocked!
I finished Strange Wine and loved it. There were quite a few stories that made their way into my nightmares. But not nearly half of them were horror stories, and the book is definitely worth your time.
I'm currently reading Ellison's The Glass Teat, followed by The Other Glass Teat. They're collections of essays he wrote about television and the world that are as relevant today as the were when originally written ('68/'69 - '71/'72).
You thought the ending was predictable? It was completely un-predictable. Its one of the worst endings of any book ever.
I thought the "big revelatory twist" was a bit predictable. But I agree with you, the more I think about it: the ending was lame.
I swear, no spoilers.
And endings are never predicable for me. I can't do mysteries very well.
I'm reading An Omelette and a Glass of Wine by Elizabeth David.
You can trace the cosmopolitan tastes of contemporary English society back to pioneers like Elizabeth, who set the ball rolling by attempting to broaden our tastes in food and promote good quality cuisine.
This book is full of short articles that she wrote for various magazines and newspapers. A mixture of food oriented travel writing, recipes and opinion pieces.
Quote:
rex said:
Its one of the worst endings of any book ever.
I think you're thinking of the ending of The Lord of the Flies. THAT was the worst ending of any book ever!
Good story. Ending sucked.
It's funny. I've known about that book for years but never bothered with it.
Don't bother wasting your time Pariah...just rent the video...horrible ending. I prefer happy endings were only the bad guys die!
Machiavelli - "The Prince"
Various Authors - Black Scenes (Edited by Alice Childress)
Picking up The DaVinci Code tomorrow.
Are you getting the original version, or the one that just came out with pictures of the paintings and works referenced?
Someone said the picture version is $20 at Wal-mart.
I'm re-reading Angels and Demons now for my next review.
Whatever's at the UF library...
If you get the old version, Dan Brown's
website has most the pics.
It was almost impossible to find a decent pic of the mona lisa when I read the book.
I am curremtly reading "Lord of the Rings" by Tolkien.
I know just about everyone & their weird cousin(aka LLance)have read this,but I never did until after I saw the movies.Thankfully it's different from the movies enough to where it's quite enjoyable & refreshing reading.It's amazing how much the movie differs from the book.Almost the entire first part of Fellowship of the Ring is totally different from the movie.I likes it a lot.
Dixie Victorious:An Alternate History of the Civil War by Peter G. Tsouras
Quote:
Stupid Dogg said:
finished the Dunwich Horror last night. I might start on To Kill a Mockingbird this weekend, but I really want to read The Call of Cthulhu.
". . .beneath strange R'lyeh Chthulhu lies, not dead but sleeping. . ."
". . .that is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die. . ."
Quote:
Danse Macabre by Stephen King. Nonfiction. King discusses the horror genre from 1950 through 1980. Interesting and easy-to-read. I read it every October, then discover/rediscover some movie/book/TV show/radio show that's worth my time. Highly recommended.
Picked it up at a used bookstore a few years back. Interesting reading.
Quote:
The Rising by Brian Keene. Zombie Apocalypse. Keene juggles multiple characters and multiple storylines pretty well, but predictability and bad dialogue kill (NPI) what could have been a good novel.
I've heard a lot of good stuff about this guy. He's got a short story "I am an exit" in a recent Horror Garage issue.
You should try Phil Nutman's Wetwork. Excellent zombie apocalypse tale.
I'll check out Wetwork. I think I've read some Nutman before. Keene isn't terrible, and I'll probably try him out again, but The Rising really disappointed the shit out of me. It wasn't like I was trying to figure things out ahead of time, y'know?
As soon as I finish Ellison's The Other Glass Teat, my reading choices are wide open. Do I re-read some Twain? James Herbert's Haunted? Some novels that were recommended to me by my gal - her message board-buddies sent her a few of their books? Or do I bite the bullet, hit the bookstore, and hope something jumps out at me?
Decisions, decisions...
So, since I'm on a waiting list for The DaVinci Code, I'm rereading Sharpe's Rifles again. For those of you wanting to begin reading the Sharpe series, this is probably the best book to start with.
P. N. Elrod's 2001 vampire novel Quincey Morris, Vampire.
I love vampire fiction, especially when the vampire is the protagonist.
I just got Digital Fortress out of the library. So far so good.
I liked it until I got near the end. Then the various "revelations" seemed a little too convenient or forced. But a decent read overall.
I quit reading it about halfway because of that.
You and I seem to have the same tastes in books, Rex. What was the last good one you read?
Atlas Shrugged. I can't recommend it enough.
Right now, I'm in the middle of Writers On Comics Scriptwriting 2. It's interviews with various comic book writers about how they got into the business, what their approaches to characters are, what their routines are, and what advice they have for anyone interested in writing. Interesting stuff, especially the script pages. The first book had Frank Miller, Kurt Busiek, Mark Waid, and a lot of almost iconic writers. This one features Bendis, Mike Carey, Andy Diggle, Brian Azzarello, plus plenty of others. Definitely worth your time. The Geoff Johns interview gave me a few nuggets of insight to post on the Johns thread.
Rising Sun-Michael Crichton
Haven't read this book in a couple years.
Quote:
Joe Mama said:
Right now, I'm in the middle of Writers On Comics Scriptwriting 2. It's interviews with various comic book writers about how they got into the business, what their approaches to characters are, what their routines are, and what advice they have for anyone interested in writing. Interesting stuff, especially the script pages. The first book had Frank Miller, Kurt Busiek, Mark Waid, and a lot of almost iconic writers. This one features Bendis, Mike Carey, Andy Diggle, Brian Azzarello, plus plenty of others. Definitely worth your time. The Geoff Johns interview gave me a few nuggets of insight to post on the Johns thread.
That sounds interesting.
I just finished From The Corner of His Eye by Dean Koontz. Best explanation for quantum theory I've ever seen. Actually, only explanation for quantum theory I've ever seen that didn't confuse the hell out of me.
I am re-reading THE BLOODY RED BARON by Kim Newman.
A novel that mixes vampires with a ficionalized account of the World War 1 trenches.
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Jim Jackson said:
I am re-reading THE BLOODY RED BARON by Kim Newman.
A novel that mixes vampires with a ficionalized account of the World War 1 trenches.
Great book. I assume you've already read Anno Dracula, which is the first book in Newman's trilogy. That book was amazing.
Those books sound interesting. I may have to pick them up.
They're very clever "alternate history with vampires" novels.
A few SPOILERS to whet the appetite...
The original, ANNO DRACULA, is set in Victorian England during the Jack The Ripper terror. Dracula has not been defeated by Van Helsing, but rather has survived and married Queen Victoria and is now Prince Consort of England. Vampires now inhabit London as citizens. The living and undead co-exist. Famous historical and fictional characters pop up throughout in usually clever, often funny ways.
The first sequel, THE BLOODY RED BARON, is set in Eastern France in 1918, during the Great War. Dracula is now Graf von Dracula, chancellor to Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Commander In Chief of the German and Austria-Hungarian war machine. Characters held over from ANNO DRACULA are now involved in trying to determine the nature of the Red Baron's Flying Circus; the Circus itself may be the crucial factor in the Allies' chances for victory. This book is told almost in vignette form, with the vignettes advancing the story without having a singular, unifying flow of plot like most novels.
The second sequel, JUDGMENT OF TEARS, is set in Italy in 1959. I haven't read it yet though I do have it. Que sera, sera.
My ex and I wondered, at the time of THE BLOODY RED BARON'S publication, if the author, Kim Newman, would dare to have vampires be a part of Hitler's Nazi Party. We presumed (and were proven to be correct in fact if not in rationale) that Newman would view the Nazis as monstrous enough in real life without having to fictionalize any monsters. So Newman skipped having vampires appear in World War II.
Cumsluts. It's a. . .gentleman's magazine. A classy publication.
I just found my copy of Choke. I'll re-read it and have a review up soon.
Finished up Sharpe's Company for the second time. It's probably the best book in the series I've read so far. Sharpe finds out he's a father, the general attacks one of the strongest fortresses in Spain, and Obidiah Hakesville is evil. Period. Next is Sharpe's Sword, which I have mixed feelings about. The other women Sharpe sleeps with (Josephina and Terasa) are somewhat admirable characters, but the bitch is this story isn't. However, Sharpe does learn his lesson, and the physical shit he goes through does redeem himself a little. Plus, there's a snotty Frenchman as a villian, and you just can't wait for Sharpe to kill the bastard. Then it's on to the new Sharpe books I bought -- Sharpe's Havoc and Sharpe's Enemy.
Attempting to start up Soren Kierkegaard's Works of Love. We'll see how that goes.
Reading Sharpe's Enemy...I can tell I'm going to like the secondary characters in it.
Ohhhh my goodness, I just finished reading Nicholas Sparks,
The Wedding and wow......I'm speechless. It was the sequel to
The Notebook but it ended sweeter, happier, and even better than the original one did. Wow, if only life could imitate the beauty of good books
Quote:
PrincessElisa said:
Ohhhh my goodness, I just finished reading Adolph Hitlers, Mein Kamf and wow......I'm speechless. Wow, if only life could imitate the beauty of good books
Lol bsams......your comment was soo funny :P Thanks for postin it!
I'm in the middle of Ben Elton's new book, Past Mortem.
Very good so far. His last two have shown too much influence from his old stand up routines, but t hat has been missing in this one so far (other than one small reference) which is good.
Now reading the first of the Master & Commander series by Patrick O'Brian.
I got Barbara Tuchman's The Guns Of August for Xmas. It's a well-written look at the events that precipitated World War I and its first month of establishing trench warfare.
I don't like books about welfare!
the curious incident of the Dog and the Night Time
Right now I am reading books that you guys have called American Classics. I started The Great Gatsby the other day.
Holy cow...Sharpe's Enemy had a couple of twists in it...I was bawling by the time I got to the end, and reread the last two chapters to make sure I wasn't mistaken. Holy friggin' cow...
Taking a break from Major Richard Sharpe and moving on to the writer that preceeded Cornwell in historical fiction. I picked up Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander and can't wait to start reading it.
I've been hearing some really good things about the Master And Commander books. I might look into them after I'm done reading the three books I'm currently reading.
http://www.hardcasecrime.com/This is a relatively new publisher who deals strictly in pulp crime novels. The author selection is amazing: you have some of the mainstays in the genre (Westlake, Collins, and Block fer example), as well as some people you may not have heard of (Pavia, Stansberry, and Aleas). I've read three so far and I plan on burning through the initial offering within the next two months.
The Confession was a bit predictable. But I liked the pacing and the author's narrative style.
Fade To Blonde is my favorite of the three I've read.
I'm almost done with
Little Girl Lost. I think I've got it figured out, but I'm not willing to put money on it.
If you're a fan of Hammett, Chandler, Ellroy, or Woolrich, please give this publisher a try. They're definitely worth your while. Plus I want to see this publisher grow and expand the line.
Quote:
rex said:
I've been hearing some really good things about the Master And Commander books. I might look into them after I'm done reading the three books I'm currently reading.
After 100 pages in, here are my comments:
First of all, if you liked the movie, you'll probably like the book. Keep in mind The Far Side of the World is actually the tenth book in the series. The first is Master and Commander. I like reading things in order.
The book is very detailed on how the warship operates. A little confusing for us landlovers, but since Dr. Martien is also not use to ships, his questions help answer questions for the reading. His character, as well as Jack Aubry's, are very much like their characters in the film. The only difference is that in The Far Side of the World their relationship is already established, while in the first book they meet each other while listening to a concert.
Later on when I finish the book, maybe I run a comparison between the Master and Commander series and the Richard Sharpe series.
I never saw the movie. I also have a horrible time keeping track of action. I'll try them anyhow.
I HATED the movie master&commander.......i mean he didnt even get the ship at the end of the movie, what was the point of watching it that long :P
You didn't miss much.
Seriously, it sucked.
Aw, you hate evrything! I liked it.
WILFRED OWEN, a new biography
A bio of the English World War I poet.
For the record, I like his poetry and he was gay.
10 points to the lad or lass who knows the title of Owen's most famous poem.
I liked, "Ender's Game"! A guy friend at work leant me his copy......it SO ROCKED! The ending kinda sucked but I really enjoyed it getting my mind off of everything!! I highly recommend it to the boys and Nicholas Spark's, "The Wedding" to the girls!
princess they are african american maels, okay? the term "boy" is offensive and quite frankly out of place here.
I tried to read enders game (my mom forced all the books on me) but there were just too many fart jokes in the beginning for me to take it seriously. Also I'm in the middle of three other books that I need to finish.
Finished To Kill A Mockingbird a couple of weeks ago.
InuYasha: Sengoku o-Togi Zoshi (a.k.a. A Feudal Fairy Tale) Vols. 1 - 8, by Rumiko Takahashi.
{i]SHAZAM!: From the 40's to the 70's, edited by E. Nelson Bridwell.
Quote:
ShazamGrrl1 said:
Finished To Kill A Mockingbird a couple of weeks ago.
Excellent, was it not?
Just finished reading Choke. I'll have a review up soon.
Don't be a choke tease now, Rex.
The
review of choke is up now.
I'm now reading "We The Living" by Ayn Rand.
A book called "how to pick up women while you're married."......pretty good read so far
Terry Pratchett's
Once More *(With Footnotes) . A collection of short pieces and nonfiction that no Discworld fan should miss.
One of the reasons why I spent the latter part of last week knocking slices of buttered toast off tables of different heights, or spent a half hour walking around the house blindfolded in order to test my echolocation abilities, is a book called The Velocity of Honey by Jay Ingram, which devles into the science behind everyday events.
Although the phenomena that Jay explores may seem trivial - why sweet wrappers make so much noise in the cinema, for instance - the explanations are fascinating and reveal the beauty, elegance and sheer complexity that underlies the boring and the mundane.
Today I bought Al Jazeera - How Arab TV News Challenged the World by Hugh Miles. Al Jazeera has completely altered the landscape of world news media because it promotes an Arab agenda in the same way that Fox and CNN promote an American or western agenda. I've read a couple of articles that breeze through its history but I'm looking forward to reading a more comprehensive account.
Fly Fishing, by J R Hartley.
took me ages to track it down.
I just finished,
Decipher. It was pretty good with the science/math/physics aspect, the ending just sucked.
The characters weren't that developed and I didn't like how the whole book seemed to summarize, "there is no God, no correct religion. Religion is just used to symbolize past events to help us with future ones."
I'm reading America: The Book.
Very funny. If you like the Daily Show, you will really love this book.
A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren. Lifechanging stuff. A great read.
About A Boy by Nick Hornby.
- Truth is Stranger That It Used to Be by J. Richard Middleton and Brian J. Walsh.
- On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche
- The Old Religion in a New World by Mark A. Noll
- About three other books plus articles for my independent study
...just six more weeks 'til graduation...
The first version of
Lady Chatterley's Lover. I'm on the second one now.
Although, frankly, I think it will be 'hard' to beat the ending of the first version:
Quote:
Till she had loved Parkin -- her Op. Yes, she loved him. He was a man, if he wasn't a gentleman. Anyhow there came a breath of fresh air with him, a breath of fresh life. My Lady's fucker, as he called himself so savagely! How he had hated her for not taking him fully seriously, in his manly fucking! Ah well! The future was still to hand!
You read some perverted stuff.
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rex said:
I'm reading America: The Book.
Very funny. If you like the Daily Show, you will really love this book.
I had to return this today, but I will buy it eventually.
The only problem I had with it was that is was set up like an actual school book. I hate how those are set up.
Labyrinth of Evil......the prequel to Episode III.
I'm only 10 pages into it......every time I lie down I fall asleep because of my pain medicine.......but I am starting to feel much better so I should make more progress tomorrow.
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rex said:
You read some perverted stuff.
The thing is, the book actually is a great story about class warfare in England between the two World Wars. It takes a look at what war does to indivuduals (Lady Chatterly's husband is a prime example) as well at the views between the upper classes and the lower classes (again, her husband is a prime example -- he cannot comprehend 'they' have feelings). Normally, I don't like books dealing with wealth and poverty, but this book doesn't automatically paint all rich people as evil and all poor people as good, so it didn't bother me. Lady Chatterly simply ignores class distintion. Perhaps because this takes place in Britian eighty or so years ago, the nature of the book doesn't bother me.
The basic storyline is this -- Lord and Lady Chatterly marry are married about a month before WWI. He leaves for the war and is injured, so that he's paralzyed from the waist down. Naturally, this means that Lady Chatterly becomes 'a married nun', which she does for several years, closing herself up. Eventually, Lord Chatterly jokes about how his disability shouldn't stop her from having fun, so Lady Chatterly takes up a lower -- the gamekeeper Parkin. She slowly realizes that while Lord Chatterly is never physically abusive, he does have a mental hold around her.
Lawrence is one of the few male writers that understand the female mind -- which is probably why I found this book so impressive. It manages to have an elegant style and beautiful descriptions of the countryside without ever bogging down in details (amazing for a British writer).
Just an example of the book's beautiful imagery. The novel takes a look at view that the soul is driven by two horses -- the savage black horse, and the delicate white horse. both Lady Chatterly and her husband think their black horses are dead. In reality, Lord Chatterly's lustful black horse has turned to viciousness (he takes pleasure in shooting the rabbits and birds more than he did before the war).
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"You would say the black horse has the right to all his desires?" he asked.
"Well, wouldn't you? Only at the right time, and in the right order. Don't you think, instead of the white horse and the driver both struggling to thwart the black one, they should say to him: Gently! Gently! Go gently, abd we'll go with you! Go quietly, without overturning the chariot, and we'll drive right in to the place you want...Either the black horse has a perfect right to his own existance and his own desire or gratification, or he shouldn't exist. And you say yourself, you feel you can't get through with a one-horse team. You are terrified if you think your black horse is dead. Yet you only want him to live, so that you can thwart him."
The other werid thing about this book is Lawrence wrote about three or four versions (due to some editing, maybe the publishers thought the first draft to dangerous to publish or something). So this is all in the first draft. The second one is a lot more detailed, which I like, but it's lacking in the atmosphere of the first version.
Damn. That was longer then most of my book reviews.
It does seem somewhat interesting, but not for me.
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Cowgirl Jack said:
Lawrence is one of the few male writers that understand the female mind
I find that unbelievable. I don't think any man could really understand the female mind.
I'm being insulting, I just don't think its possible.
From
As Good As It Gets:
Zoe: I can't resist. You usually move through here so quickly and I have so many questions I want to ask you. You have no idea what your work means to me.
Melvin: What's it mean?
Zoe: That somebody out there knows what it's like to be...
(taps her head and heart) in here.
Melvin: Oh, God, this is like a nightmare.
Zoe: Aw come on, just a couple of questions -- how hard is that? How do you write women so well?
Melvin: I think of a man and take away reason and accountability.
heh.
Thats the best line from that movie.
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rex said:
Damn. That was longer then most of my book reviews.
It does seem somewhat interesting, but not for me.
Actually, I'm planning on reading all the versions, so after I'm done reading them, maybe I'll post a review.
There is a movie version as well (which apparently had a tough time getting on the BBC due to the sex scenes). The movie is a blending of all the versions -- which to some people made it better than any single of the books.
As far as the 'male writers understanding women' comment, perhaps I should explain myself better. I am of the opinion that females cannot write men and males cannot write women. Dan Brown is a clear example of how NOT to write leading ladies. His women are all like Dr. Christmas Jones. I swear his next book will feature a Switz Oylmypic skiing champion that has a PhD in Literature and Theology and knows judo. And just about EVERY 'Romance novel' written by a women creates an equally unbelieveable male protagonist (aka SNL's 'The Lusty Woodsman').
All of Lawrence's characters (although slightly typecast) feel real. You can tell Lady Chatterley wants to find a balance between her lustful side (aka Parkin, who's name changes to something else in the later revisions and the movie) and her cultured side (Lord Chatterley enjoys reading to her in the evenings, which is a crappy substitute for sex). Lord Chatterley's nurse really does miss her departed husband and really hates her asshole of a boss.
While I do recommend the book, I can understand why some people wouldn't enjoy it. It was written in the 1920s-1930s, around the same time as books like The Great Gastby. However, the style of the book is almost completely Victoria (about 30-40 years before Gastby). In fact, Lawrence enjoys poking fun at the modern artists. Considering I only partially liked Gastby, I have no objection to that.
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Cowgirl Jack said:
Actually, I'm planning on reading all the versions, so after I'm done reading them, maybe I'll post a review.
yes. I'd like to see more books reviews here. Also if you or anyone else wants to review a book I already reviewed you can add it onto the thread or you can PM me and I'll put it after my review.
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And just about EVERY 'Romance novel' written by a women creates an equally unbelieveable male protagonist (aka SNL's 'The Lusty Woodsman').
Romance novels are all crap. Their the equivalent of romance movies, which are pure evil.
But I agree with the writing the opposite sexes part. Most books I've read by male writers write their women as victims. In almost all of Dan Browns books the women are always on the verge of being raped or killed. Thats one of the things I didn't like about his books.
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While I do recommend the book, I can understand why some people wouldn't enjoy it. It was written in the 1920s-1930s, around the same time as books like The Great Gastby. However, the style of the book is almost completely Victoria (about 30-40 years before Gastby). In fact, Lawrence enjoys poking fun at the modern artists. Considering I only partially liked Gastby, I have no objection to that.
The Great Gatsby is one of the most overrated books of all time. I was forced to read it my junior year and I hated it. I tried to read it a couple weeks ago and couldn't get past the first couple chapters. A lot of it has to do with the way its written.
Gatsby was the only book I read my junior year of high school that I actually enjoyed...
If I were a teacher I would replace Gatsby with something that will actually help kids, like Atlas Shrugged or some other book with depth.
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rex said:
If I were a teacher I would replace Gatsby with something that will actually help kids, like Atlas Shrugged or some other book with depth.
I loved Gatsby......maybe you're just too smart for the rest of us.
My guess is he's not smart enough to appreciate what has been heralded as "The Great American Novel"...
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Chewy Walrus said:
My guess is he's not smart enough to appreciate what has been heralded as "The Great American Novel"...
have you ever seen the A&E Biography on Fitzgerald......just a really great complex story.
Sorry I didn't buy into the hype.
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PJP said:
Quote:
Chewy Walrus said:
My guess is he's not smart enough to appreciate what has been heralded as "The Great American Novel"...
have you ever seen the A&E Biography on Fitzgerald......just a really great complex story.
I did... and I completely agree. Such a tortured life.
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rex said:
Sorry I didn't buy into the hype.
That is why you fail...
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rex said:
About A Boy by Nick Hornby.
I've given up on this book.
I got about a third of the way through and lost all interest. All the characters were shallow and uninteresting. Probably one of the worst books I've attempted to read in a long time.
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rex said:
All the characters were shallow and uninteresting.
Well, I suppose that explains why Hugh Grant was in the movie...
heh
I really need to find an author I really enjoy. I've been wanting to start reading Tom Clancy's books. Now seems like a good time to start.
I've heard Gaiman's novels are pretty good. I definitely enjoyed American Gods.
Yeah, but I have most of Clancy's books at my house.
I love Tom's Clacny's stuff. Keep in mind, my dad's read a ton of a lot more than I did. But Hunt for Red October, Red Rabbit, and Patriot Games were great reads.
Hunt For Red October is the first, right?
It was the first 'Jack Ryan' novel, but Red Rabbit actually occurs first.
Very minor spoilers...not a spoiler if you've seen the movies...
I think the order is different from the movies, but it's been so long I can't remember. I think the movies are out of order. If I remember correctly, in Patriot Games, Jack already has Sally for a daughter and Cathy is expectly Little Jack. And by the time Hunt for Red October takes place, Little Jack is a todler and Sally's five or so. And when they made The Hunt for Red October into a movie, they omitted Little Jack, so that when Patriot Games came around, Cathy could be pregnant. But I can't remember if Red Rabbit takes place before or after Patriot Games.
So should I read Red Rabbit first? Or does it matter?
The movies have taken on their own continuity. It would be impossible to keep them the same since the movies were are in a different order chronologically.
Really, read whichever first. The situations and characters are all so different it doesn't matter. The Hunt for Red October was my first book by Clancy. It does mention 'the incident in London where Ryan stopped IRA terrorists from assassinating the Prince of Wales', but it doesn't go into so much detail that it ruins reading Patriot Games. (In fact, readers had to wait years in between Red October and Patriot Games to get details on how Jack got himself knighted by the Queen.)
It's hard for me to choose which book is my favorite. The Hunt for Red October has such an interesting concept (defecting Russian officers and the 'catapiller' sub system), but Patriot Games took a look at pre-September 11th terrorism and it's effects on the United States, as well as the politics of the IRA compared to the Soviet Union. Perhaps, since I'm more interesting in Ireland than in Russia, I find the factual portion of the novel more interesting, but I have reread both books several times.
I'm gonna start with The Hunt For Red October. Just because that was his first and I've been wanting to read it for a while now.
Was Patriot Games a lot like the movie? I saw it about a year ago and thought it was good.
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rex said:
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rex said:
About A Boy by Nick Hornby.
I've given up on this book.
I got about a third of the way through and lost all interest. All the characters were shallow and uninteresting. Probably one of the worst books I've attempted to read in a long time.
I need to rant about this book.
the main character, Will, is an ass. He lies about being a parent to get single women to like him. He ends up meeting Julia who is had a son, Marcus, who is twelve years old. Julia tries to commit suicide and is a complete ass. She doesn't care about her kid and cries all the time. Marcus becomes friends with Will behind his moms back. He says he needs a father figure but Will is just as immature as him. Marcus finds out that Will doesn't have a kid, and then Will comes clean with everyone. At this point I thought the Will would try to start over and stop lying. But no, he meets another woman and tells her that Marcus is his son, even though he is not. Then Will convinces Marcus to pretend he is his son around the new woman.
This is when I stopped reading it. I can't stand reading books where everyone is a liar and has no morals. I don't care how it ends. I read two-thirds of it before giving up. A book should have you completely hooked by then. None of the characters were relatable, so I didn't care what happened to them. I don't care if Will redeemed himself or not. By the time I stopped reading the book, I didn't care anymore.
There was no moral character in this book. This was like that horrible movie everyone recommended, Prelude to a dream. Dumb asses doing dumbass things to themselves, but in the books case, with out drugs. I hate stories like that.
Quote:
rex said:
I'm gonna start with The Hunt For Red October. Just because that was his first and I've been wanting to read it for a while now.
Was Patriot Games a lot like the movie? I saw it about a year ago and thought it was good.
Sean Miller's fate is slightly different in the book. My dad and I still argue over which is better. But the overall plot is the same. It's the details that make is so different from the movie -- it's not that the movie contradicts the book, its just that the book goes into more detail.
I don't remember the movie that well. I only saw it once or twice when it first came out.
Are all the characters the same? That way I could put faces to the names, which really helps when I read a book. Its one of the reasons I read so many Star Wars books.
All of the characters are pretty much the same. Although I've always had the original Hunt for Red October Dr. Cathy Ryan in my head (she was the doctor on 'Star Trek'...I can't remember her name, but she was only in the movie for a few seconds). Plus I've always had my own idea of what Jack Ryan looks like, mostly because I read the books way before seeing the movies. I never did think Alec Baldwin or Harrison Ford were a perfect match. However, most of the secondary characters (played by Sean Connery, Sam Neil, Sean Bean, James Earl Jones, William Dafoe, etc), I've always mentally pictured as they were in the movies.
Oh, and I'll post my review of Lady Chatterley when I'm done with the third version. I'm almost done with the second.
I forgot how many good actors were in the movie.
I'll start reading it tonight. I'm still trying to get through We The Living, and I need at least one book that will entertain me.
Currently? The Lord of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Ring. It took some time to get past the first 50 pages or so...
Otherwise I like to read SF, have read several books by Isaac Asimov. I also like classics from the 19th Century, by Arthur Conan Doyle, Jules Verne, Alexander Dumas the older, etc.
I finished reading About A Boy Today. I knew I said I wan't going to, but I'm glad I did. The last part of the book was so bad it was funny. I'll have a review up soon.
Currently reading "Out" by Natsuo Kirino. Its her first novel that's been translated from Japanese to English. Very creepy murder story. She's supposed to be one of Japan's biggest crime novelists - and from what I've read so far, I can see why. The whole murder/cover up as she writes it gives me the chills. Great read!
Let me know how that is, Harley. I've seen it in bookstores, have had it recommended to my by Amazon, and have come oh-so-close to buying it. If you give it a good review after finishing it, I'll buy it.
Finished the second version of Lady Chatterley's Lover, but I can't get a copy of the book until this weekend. So I'll read Rebecca, since I liked the Hitchcock movie so much.
I just finished The Confusion, the second volume in Neal Stephenson's The Baroque Cycle. So now I get to start on The System of the World, the third and final volume. The thing had better be good. It's a thousand pages long.
- Works of Love by Soren Kierkegaard
- On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche (still)
- Proper Confidence and The Gospel in a Pluralist Society by Lesslie Newbigin
- Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity by Richard Rorty
- Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nieztsche
...four more weeks 'til graduation...
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Joe Mama said:
Let me know how that is, Harley. I've seen it in bookstores, have had it recommended to my by Amazon, and have come oh-so-close to buying it. If you give it a good review after finishing it, I'll buy it.
Heya Joe!
Okaybee, here's the dealio. It's a solid read and I enjoyed it overall, though I would be interested in discussing the fates of the four protagonists here and what it says about how women are viewed in Japanese society. (But I digress.) Before I get into this though, I am just letting you know that what I tell you (or anyone who read this) is nothing that you wouldn't find in the summary on the back of the book cover, so no bitching that I spoiled the story or something, kay?
The story focuses on four women who, due to their unfortunate circumstances, work together in a non-descript factory job making boxed lunches during the night shift. One of the women snaps one night and kills her cheating husband. That's not really the big issue here though, as the murder itself only takes up two paragraphs in the entire book. The interesting part of this story is how this young, pretty mother enlists her co-workers into helping her dispose of the body and cover-up the crime. Part of the shock is how brutal and gory a manner the cover-up is done and how calcuating and manipulative each woman becomes in the aftermath in order to stay a step ahead of the police - and as it turns out, the yakuza as well.
The heart of this story lies in Kirino's ability to make her characters sympathetic, despite the horror of their actions. The ring leader in the cover-up, is Masako, who really is the soul of this book. Like each the other women, she is seeking an "out" of her sad and pathetic existence (hence the title), but it takes an atrocity of this magnitude to shake each of them out of their docile acceptance of their respective situations.
Kirino gives us a chilling look at how the yakuza works; the tension of trying to outsmart the police, and an obsessed crime boss both who are trying to either trap or kill these four; and the psychological effects and rationalizations that each woman comes up with in order to cope with what she has done. In the end the book is more about the desperate situations that drove these four to commit such extreme actions and and IMHO is also a commentary on the place that women have in Japanese society.
I hope this helps, without having given away too much of the details. If you read it, let me know what you think.
I'll check it out.
I'm about half way through Hunt for Red October.
The library here is having a book sale and I found most of Tom Clancys hardcovers for a dollar each. I'm gonna go back tomorrow and buy them.
They also had Neil Gaimans "American Gods" for a dollar, so I got that also.
Do audio books count?
I'm "reading" Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods.
So I went back to the book fair and got "Patriot Games" and "Red Rabbit" which are the two books that came before Red October, which I'm almost done reading.
I think when I get back to my parent's house I'll pick up a few more Clancy books. I never finished Red Storm Rising, and I know my dad has others -- The Cardinal and the Kremlin, Politika, The Bear and the Dragon, and Clear and Present Danger. I may try some of those for my summer reading.
The Year's Best Science Fiction
just bought Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman, which is a collection of his short stories. I'm reading Murder Mystery right now. I already read it as a graphic novel but it's much more satisfying reading it this way.
Finished Hunt for Red October. I thought it was good, but since I saw the movie first it took a lot of the suspense out of it.
Now I'm reading Watership Down.
Just finished, "The Last Unicorn," awwwwwwwwww SO GOOD!!!!!! As awesome as Doyen said it was going to be.....wow...I love semi-happy endings!!
Do not watch the cartoon. It was weird, just so you know. They're remaking a live-action version the movie, oddly enough with most of the original cast (Lee, Lansbury, Farrow).
The book was pretty good though. I loaned a copy of it my cousin.
Really CJ? I heard I should "watch" the cartoon version after reading the book because it helps with perspective. Thanks for the forwarning though!
I don't know if it's a good idea to make it into a live-action version though....some things are just left better to the imagination.
"The Last Unicorn"? "Watership Down"? are you people getting your reading list from Donnie Darko?
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Finding it more and more compelling as I read on...
Finished Watership Down yesterday.
I'm going to read Shardik next.
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"The Last Unicorn"? "Watership Down"? are you people getting your reading list from Donnie Darko?
I can barely remeber "THe Last Unicorn," but "Watership Down" is badassed. There are a lot of deep existential themes in the movie. I haven't read the book, yet I think I'll put it on my summer reading list.
I'm also hoping to get to the last Dune prequel "Battle of Corrino." But, the last thing I read for fun was Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End."
I posted a mini-review of Watership Down in this
thread.
Finished Patriot Games yesterday.
Very good book. I thought it was a lot better than Hunt For Red October. It had some odd points to it, but overall I really enjoyed it.
Waking the Dead by John Eldredge
Because Cowgirl Jack kept bothering me about it, I read Sharpe's rifles by Bernard Cornwell. Good book. It was a little difficult to get into for me because of the time it was set in and I had some trouble keeping track of everything going on in the battles, but still a good book.
I'm going to read Sharpe's Eagle next, then Red Rabbit.
I have three books I've been planning to read for a while now:
Stupid White Men - Michael Moore (about halfway done with this)
Gasping for Airtime - Jay Mohr
Outrage - Vincent Bugliosi
I've just started Good Omens today by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet, and I also bought The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide with all five Hitchhikers stories plus a bonus tale. I was in the mood for offbeat british humor, I guess.
Good Omens is, by far, my favorite novel. It is absolutely hilarious. Prtchett is a genius. gaiman is a genius. ogether, they're unstoppably funny. If you like Good Omens, pick up Pratchett's Reaper Man, which is a close second for what book is the funniest.
I just checked out a bunch of Gaiman stuff from the library. I finished Stardust last weekend and loved it. I've moved on to Good Omens (a new RKMBs book club selection?) and after that, I'll start in on Neverwhere.
Neverwhere was amazing. If you're thinking about reading the comics adaptation read the book first.
I'm planning on reading American gods soon.
I'm reading Star Wars: Labrinth of Evil right now.
I'm reading Mike Resnick's Alternate Warriors and Harry Turtledove's Alternate Generals III.
I'm reading JK Rowling's Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire.
Heh, I just read Sharpe's Seige, but it left me in such suspense that I had to get a hold of Sharpe's Ransom and Sharpe's Waterloo. I'm on Waterloo now...I thought this series would decline in the later books, but really it's got this new power as the main character is slowly changing as peace threatens. I am SOOOOO doing a 'between the sheets' bit when I finish Waterloo.
And then, I plan on reading something very girly. Jane Eyre, anyone?
ANONY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ive missed you. Where ya been?
Quote:
PrincessElisa said:
ANONY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ive missed you. Where ya been?
I was killed off and ressurected by the Lazarus pits.
The last books I read were "Angels and Demons" and "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown. Also "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" by Mary Roach which was a fascinating informative book and what is done with dead bodies.
How'd I entirely miss this thread?
I'm currently starting up Book 6 of 7 of Stephen King's DARK TOWER series. It kicks an astounding amount of ass!
Just finished Good Omens by Gaiman and Pratchett today, which means I'll be moving on to Gaiman's Neverwhere tomorrow. I'm somewhat amazed at the proficiency with which I'm reading. I was never this fast while in school...
Just started The Crack in Space by Philip K. Dick.
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thedoctor said:
Just started The Crack in Space by Philip K. Dick.
Doctor, that sounds intriguing...what is it about?
About an accident opening a portal to a parallel universe and several people's desire to use it in different ways with PKD's usual take with craziness abound. It's the future US with the first black presidential candidate with a shot at winning, massive overpopulation and lack of jobs, racial tensions, and news clowns.
Sounds good! I might buy that. I'm into parallel universes, time travel, etc.
I'm still reading Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, am almost done, 80 more pages..at 734 pages, it's the longest book I have ever read! Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix is next, and hope to finish THAT before the NEW Harry book comes out in one month from today.
Doctor, have you read Poul Anderson's There Will Be Time? It's a good read about a man who can will himself backwards and forwards through time...
I've read some of Anderson's stuff, but not that.
PKD is a great sci-fi writer that you should check out. Hollywood has been dipping into his material for years. Movies like Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, Paycheck, Sceamers, Imposter, and the upcoming A Scanner Darkly all come from his work. (Though only Blade Runner, Screamers, and Imposter come anywhere close to the coolness of his writing) He's able to write both serious sci-fi; but most of his stuff has an absurd sense of humor. He's good at those Twilight Zone twist endings too. A lot of times he'll broadside you with an ending that's logical but unexpected because he doesn't like going for those Hollywood happy endings.
I'll buy this book, it and the author sound quite interesting.
Here are a few I can recommend :
Have Space Suit, Will Travel, & The Door into Summer ( these two are both Robert Heinlein books )
The Drive in 2 - by Joe R. Lansdale
The Harry Potter books, by JK. Rowling
The first seven Stainless Steel Rat books, by Harry Harrison.
Tunnel Through Time, by Lester Del Rey.
Out of Curiosity Have you ever read some of Harry Turtledove's Book's??
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General Zod said:
Out of Curiosity Have you ever read some of Harry Turtledove's Book's??
Have to admit, I never heard of him..what has he written, and what does he write about?
Finished Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, and have started reading Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix. Goblet of Fire was a great read!
Quote:
General Zod said:
Out of Curiosity Have you ever read some of Harry Turtledove's Book's??
Turtledove writes incredibly boring and drawn out Alternative Historical Fiction (like the KKK going back in time to give weapons to the South during the Civil War).
He also wrote a set of books that took place in a magical version of our world (Brittain was ruled by wizards or something) but the same events happened, one of which was the story of World War 2 but without Tech just Magic.
The guy has good ideas but manages to put about 1,500 characters in his books and you can't bring yourself to care for any of them.
Turtledove's short fiction is far and away more interesting and more finely executed.
last books i read were from the wheel of time series by robert jordan, and the death gate series, by i forget, but it was a good serious if weird.
I'm re-reading the X-wing books.
I finished reading The Dark Tower and I heartily recommend that series to anyone -- why I never read any King earlier I don't know...
The Skies of Pern by Anne McCaffrey (while on the train, commuting to work, about 2/3 of the way thru. It's poretty good, 1st Pern novel I've read in a long time)
and
Franklin & WInston by Jon Meacham (in my spare time at home, just started this AM only read the Introduction so far. I dig history & politics, so I'm pretty sure I'll like it. I'll confirm that after 100 or so pages)
Cheers!
The Leader by Guy Walters
Rogue Regime by Jasper Becker
Zorro by Isabel Allende. She writes beautifully.
Just finished The Immortal Count: The Life and Films of Bela Lugosi by Arthur Lennig.
James Patterson - Honeymoon
Neil Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors
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Chewy Walrus said:
Neil Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors
Great collection of stories.
I just finished Neverwhere over the weekend (sue me - I've been busy!) and loved it, so I bypassed Moore's Voice of the Fire and went straight for Smoke and Mirrors. I'm really enjoying it so far and here's hoping it gets even better (which - as it's Gaiman - I'm sure it will).
Just finished Zorro - excellent retelling of the legend. Allende deserves all the praise she has received for this book - highly recommend it.
Tried many times to get into Gaiman's American Gods and just could not do it. The story just never grabbed me, which was surprising given I usually like Gaiman's work.
Currently reading Playing With Boys by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez - its a chick lit/beach book written from the Latina's POV. She also wrote The Dirty Girls' Social Club (Las Sucias) and the fact that there was a Cuban Jew was what grabbed me. I kinda like reading a book where I can relate to some of the characters better because I get their cultural view points.
Just started - and am almost finished with - Jerzy Kosinsky's Being There. Review to follow.
American Gods by Gaiman, along with Troublemakers by Harlan Ellison and The Sandman: Book of Dreams by a variety of authors. Good stuff.
Harlan Ellison is one of my favorite authors. If you can track down Strange Wine, I heartily recommend it.
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Stupid Doog said:
American Gods by Gaiman
This is next for me in preparation for Gaiman's newest novel, Anansi Boys, which I believe is a sequel of sorts. The book is due out September 20th.
I actually decided to go back to American Gods and give it a second chance, and I'm really glad I did. Somewhere around page 137 Gaiman found the same kind of poetic rhythm that Sandman had. In a way, his writing reminds me of Stephen King (one of my fav'rit authors), in the sense that King also takes about 100-150 pages to find his groove before his tales really begin to flow. I'm almost done with American Gods and, like Chewy, will prolly pick up Anansi Boys.
While I wait for that to come out though, I'm gonna re-read King's Bag of Bones - haven't read it in years. Bones, IMO, is King's best book to date - it is King's usual horror genre, but with a twist. I personally think that its a love story at heart. Excellent read.
I'm still reading the X-wing series, once I'm done I'm going to read American Gods. If I like it, I'll review it.
How many of us are reading American Gods? Would it be possible to resurrect the RKMBs Book Club?
I've given up on the book club.
Now if you want a book discussed, review it, then others can review/discuss it as well.
'why do men have nipples...questions you'd only ask your doctor after your third martini'
this stuff great, excellent coffee table book if you have a sense of humour. can you really light a fart on fire, how fast do farts travel, how much spooge do men actually produce, so on and so on.
Finished American Gods - loved it. Ended up at the Wall Street Borders after court this morning - very dangerous place for me, as is B&N and any book store come to think of it - I end up spending a small fortune whenever I'm there. Picked up Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors; King's Desperation; Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen (another one of my fave authors); Empress Orchid by Anchee Min; Latina by various authors; a chick-lit book (junk food for the mind) and a Fodor's for South America, since that's where I'm planning to go next (Brazil? Venezuela? Dunno yet. Whichever has the best diving.) I have no idea when I'm going to find the time to read all of them....
Looked for another book from the Out author - but no others have been translated into English from what I can tell.
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harleykwin said:
Picked up Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors
I just finished this book about a week ago. There's some great stuff. "We Can Get Them For You Wholesale" sent shivers down my spine...
I would think that his shorts would be similar to some of King's short stories too.
I'm on page 200 of American Gods and I'm still not interested in it. Nothing has happened yet. Is there a point to this book?
There is. It picks up... trust me.
It can't get any worse than the gay taxi driver sex scene.
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rex said:
It can't get any worse than the gay taxi driver sex scene.
Yeah, that scene seemed to come outta nowhere.
Gaiman's writing in his novels is a bit slow, but WRT American Gods I liked the way he tied everything up in the end. Tres cool - I didn't see the twist coming.
Skinny Dip had me laughing my ass off - funny as hell - totally recommend it.
Read through most of Smoke and Mirrors - not nearly as good as I had hoped it would be - Stephen King does the same thing (Everythings Eventual, Skeleton Crew, Four Seasons etc.), but much, much better. Desperation was a good read, though I think that King's earlier works are better, but I still enjoy his writing immensely. Love that creepy, horror stuff - where the fuck he continuously comes up with these scary ideas, I'll never know. Great writer who seems like a cool guy despite being a Sox fan.
Rex, I'm curious as to whether you change your mind about American Gods once you're done with it.
Read American Gods last year. Thought it was very inconsistent. Some good stuff, I liked the bits with Odin and Loki, and the other remnants of fallen gods. But there was a lot of other stuff that seemed really pointless (said taxi driver scene, among others).
Dave mentioned once that this story grew out of a treatment Gaiman was working on for relaunching Thor at Marvel. Would've been interesting to see that.
I've noticed in Gaiman's writing that he either cannot or will not do action scenes. This worked to his favor in Sandman, which is a fairly slow paced and methodical series, but works against him in other places (1602 and the end of AG). Perhaps he thinks he'll lose his audience if he condescends to that. Or maybe he just can't do it.
the posts in this thread.
heh. I think I'll read some of the newer "Redwall" books. Anybody ever hear of 'em? They seem childish at first, but they're quite good.
I just finished "Needful Things" and "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" [respectively].
Good stuff.
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harleykwin said:
Rex, I'm curious as to whether you change your mind about American Gods once you're done with it.
I read a good chunk of it today at work, and its getting interesting now. I'll write a review of it when I'm done.
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Grimm said:
Read American Gods last year. Thought it was very inconsistent. Some good stuff, I liked the bits with Odin and Loki, and the other remnants of fallen gods. But there was a lot of other stuff that seemed really pointless (said taxi driver scene, among others).
It was the Odin and Loki parts that sealed the deal for me - that was what I enjoyed most about the book.
Joe Mama for Media X mod!
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rex said:
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harleykwin said:
Rex, I'm curious as to whether you change your mind about American Gods once you're done with it.
I read a good chunk of it today at work, and its getting interesting now. I'll write a review of it when I'm done.
Well...?
The review that never was
by Peter J. Pappas
He begged and pleaded with Rob every day
"Please make me a mod....I wont tell anyone you're gay"
So that magical day came one summer night
All he had to do was blow Rob......he didn't put up much of a fight
He was a mod now, he finally had some real power
He promised us Book Reviews to bore us by the hour
First the reviews were coming fast and furious
But then they slowed to a trickle.....how curious
The truth was out ....the mod was a lazy ass bum
and to think at one point I almost called him my chum
he's just a dirty Greek bastard with no ambition
let's remove him as mod ....I'll start the petition
Alas, once we remove him from power he'll get right back in
'cause he'll get Rob's cock right back in his mouth and rest his balls on his chin
Picked up and finished American Gods today. I liked it. I also picked up Anansi Boys and will burn through that tomorrow.
Finished re-reading Patriot Games last night, will post my review soon.
I hope it's as exciting as the American Gods review.
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r3x29yz4a said:
I just bought the sequel Anansi Boys (about Mr. Nancy's sons).
So far so good.
I just finished that one as well as American Gods. I loved them both. Anansi Boys was funny. I think I'll give Smoke and Mirrors a try next.
I'm re-reading Atlas Shrugged.
I'll probably get Anasi Boys by the end of the week. I'll post what I thought of it when I finish reading it in 2038.
Alternate Tyrants by Mike Resnick
I'm reading JLA's profile. I never noticed that "continues" was misspelled.
The Hardy Boyz autobiography!
lots of serenity threads.
Reading
Smoke and Mirrors now. So far so good. I also picked up
The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It has all four novels and fifty-six short stories. That should keep me busy for awhile.
Sometime down the line I would like to get
this.
Thought Smoke and Mirrors was the poor man's King.
I am, however, totally getting the Calvin & Hobbes book you linked to. I love Calvin & Hobbes and that compilation is going to be awesome!
I liked Smoke and Mirrors. In my mind, it was a pretty generous sampling of the various styles that Gaiman is capable of - from horror to mystery to modern mythology to erotica. Gaiman is one of the twentieth century masters. When children sit in classrooms a hundred years from now, they will learn about Neil Gaiman...
The Association by Bentley Little.Makes you think twice about moving into a gated community.
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Chewy Walrus said:
I liked Smoke and Mirrors. In my mind, it was a pretty generous sampling of the various styles that Gaiman is capable of - from horror to mystery to modern mythology to erotica. Gaiman is one of the twentieth century masters. When children sit in classrooms a hundred years from now, they will learn about Neil Gaiman...
I like Gaiman, for the most part - if for no other reason I will always consider him incredibly talented - one of the "twentieth century masters" as you put it - because of Sandman, but that said, Smoke and Mirrors just did nothing for me. If kids learn about him in your envisioned future it will be because of Sandman (and Death! Love her!) not because of Smoke and Mirrors or even American Gods...(which I liked)...
Give him time. He's still young yet, as writers go. I'm sure he's got a magnum opus brewing somewhere in that head of his...
"Give him time"? C'mon Chewy! Look at what the man has already written! IMO,
Sandman was his opus...
BTW:
love the sig...
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harleykwin said:
If kids learn about him in your envisioned future it will be because of Sandman...
Agreed. Sandman is one of the greatest stories ever written. Someday they will make a series of movies based on it, and they will suck because that's the way these things go.
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Brian Jonopolus said:
This book was a must read for me. Even though I am not a teen girl, I have often experienced the pressures of balancing, school, work, family, friends, and normal problems that come along with being a teenager. Trying to squeeze in surviving the social jungle is a challenge in itself, but with Donna Dale Carnegie's HOW TO WIN FRIENDS & INFLUENCE PEOPLE FOR TEEN GIRLS, it totally doesn't have to be.
In How to Win Friends and Influence People for Teen Girls, Donna Dale Carnegie, daughter of the late motivational author and teacher Dale Carnegie, brings her father's time-tested, invaluable lessons to the newest generation of young women on their way to becoming savvy, self-assured friends and leaders.
The book offers concrete advice on teen topics such as peer pressure, gossip, and popularity.
Teen girls, and people who sometimes act like teen girls, will learn the most powerful ways to influence others, defuse arguments, admit mistakes, and make self-defining choices. The Carnegie techniques promote clear and constructive communication, praise rather than criticism, emotional sensitivity, tolerance, and a positive attitude -- important skills for every one to develop at an early age.
Of course, no book for teen girls would be complete without taking a look at how to maintain friendships with boys and deal with commitment issues and break-ups with boyfriends. Carnegie also provides solid advice for older teens beginning to explore their influence in the adult world, such as driving and handling college interviews.
Full of fun quizzes, "reality check" sections, and true-life examples, How to Win Friends and Influence People for Teen Girls offers every teenage girl candid, insightful, and timely advice on how to influence friends in a positive manner.
It's one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read. This is an easy read, and it changed my life in terms of my social interactions.
I really wish I had it back in middle school in high school so I could have had a lot more friends!
One Hundred Stars!!!!
"The Book of Philip José Farmer"
"Ironcastle" by J.H. Rosny, translated and retold by Philip José Farmer
"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" by Ian Fleming
Just finished Gaiman's Anansi Boys and will probably pick up C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe in preparation for the movie this Christmas.
Read Patriot Games. So far its my favorite Tom Clancy book. It got a little far-fetched at some points, but over all it was a great book. next up is Red Rabbit.
I've finished "Lucky Starr and the big sun of Mercury" by Isaac Asimov and "Call for the dead" by John le Carré.
I currently read "You only live twice" by Ian Fleming and the P.J. Farmer books.
Working on "The Glass Inferno" by Thomas Scortia and Frank M. Robinson.
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Chewy Walrus said:
Just finished Gaiman's Anansi Boys and will probably pick up C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe in preparation for the movie this Christmas.
I just re-read this last night on the way home - brings me back - great little story. I am very psyched for the movie. That, Goblet of Fire and Walk the Line are three movies I am actually excited to see this holiday season.
Also recently read A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. It's gotten great reviews, but I shoulda known it was going to be "meh" when it became an "Oprah's Book Club" pick. It's the story of one guy's six week stay at a detox center. Depressing. Ugh.
Anyone read Gaiman's Anansi Boys yet? Any reviews/opinions on it?
I read
Anansi Boys. I really liked it, and would recommend it to anyone who thought that
American Gods was too dense and involved.
Anansi Boys is much more fun, dealing with the sons of Mr. Nancy - Fat Charlie (the normal one) and Spider (the godlike one) - after he dies at a karaoke bar... mid-song. There were several times when I couldn't help but laugh out loud. This book, due to the less serious nature (for the most part), was substantially shorter than
American Gods - which should make Reax happy - making for an easy read. (I read it in three days and I'm widely known among my friends as a slow reader.) Good read... and not really a sequel of
American Gods so much as a story inspired by one of its characters. I give it four of five icons of approval.
Loved
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I feel so very prepared for that movie now. There are a lot of movies coming out, or out already, that I wanna see (including that and
Walk the Line... and
Rent... and
The Weather Man... and
North Country... and a few that I probably don't even know that I wanna see yet)... but unfortunately, I don't have the funds to keep my theater-going streak alive.
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Chewy Walrus said:
I read Anansi Boys. I really liked it, and would recommend it to anyone who thought that American Gods was too dense and involved. Anansi Boys is much more fun, dealing with the sons of Mr. Nancy - Fat Charlie (the normal one) and Spider (the godlike one) - after he dies at a karaoke bar... mid-song. There were several times when I couldn't help but laugh out loud. This book, due to the less serious nature (for the most part), was substantially shorter than American Gods - which should make Reax happy - making for an easy read. (I read it in three days and I'm widely known among my friends as a slow reader.) Good read... and not really a sequel of American Gods so much as a story inspired by one of its characters. I give it four of five icons of approval.
Thanks for the review, I'll check this out.
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Loved The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I feel so very prepared for that movie now. There are a lot of movies coming out, or out already, that I wanna see (including that and Walk the Line... and Rent... and The Weather Man... and North Country... and a few that I probably don't even know that I wanna see yet)... but unfortunately, I don't have the funds to keep my theater-going streak alive.
I totally forgot about Rent. Here's the thing though, I saw the London production of this when Jesse Green was in it (apparently he's reprising his role in the movie - gahdamn the man can sing!) and the talent was fabulous, but I didn't love the show all that much - yet here I am kinda psyched and prepared to plunk down $10.50 to see it anyways. Maybe I'll like the movie version better - hell, that's what happened with Chicago...
I've never seen the show, but it's one of the many that I've always wanted to see. The movie'll have to tide me over 'til the show comes through Indy. I'm also looking forward to The Producers - one of my favorite shows ever (after Sweeney Todd and Les Miserables).
Have you ever seen
Avenue Q? It's the funniest show I've ever seen on B'way and given that you're fresh outta college, you could relate to a lot of what the story's about - muppets and all...
Airframe by Michael Crichton
Finished reading it yesterday. It was an ok book. Very forgetable though. Nothing really stood out about it. The twist at the end was predictable.
I'm going to read State of Fear next, I've heard some really good things about that one.
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harleykwin said:
Have you ever seen Avenue Q? It's the funniest show I've ever seen on B'way and given that you're fresh outta college, you could relate to a lot of what the story's about - muppets and all...
I've not seen it, but it's on my 'to see' list should I ever get to the New York area. I do own and love the soundtrack, though. Hilarious!
"The Man With The Golden Gun" - Ian Fleming
Insomnia by Stephen King. This title is completely appropriate considering it's 2:30 in the morning, I'm utterly exhausted and I still can't sleep!
Just finished Glass Inferno and started 1901.
Insomnia is an excellent book, 'kwin. I am reading Flowers for Algernon for the ump-teenth time, but I replaced "Charlie Gordon" with "Brian Jonopolus"...
For Your Eyes Only - Ian Fleming
For British Eyes Only...As for me, I'm currently reading Dan Brown's
Angels and Demons.
I'm hoping to read "A Midsummer Nights Dream" as soon as schools done for the semester. All I'm reading now is fucking text books.
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Stupid Doog said:
I'm hoping to read "A Midsummer Nights Dream" as soon as schools done for the semester. All I'm reading now is fucking text books.
you need to read text books to learn about "fucking"?
of course. we can't all be sexual fiends like you PJ's lol ;p
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Licence Renewed - John Gardner
I'm reading Jurassic Park now.
I've gotten re-addicted to Michael Crichton.
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PCG342 said:
Insomnia is an excellent book, 'kwin.
This was strange, in the sense that it was one of the few King novels that I didn't enjoy... I felt like I was struggling to finish it, which is rare when I read King's stuff.
Just finished reading The Witch of Cologne by Tobsha Learner. The first 300 pages were awesome, dealing with a Jewish woman's attempts at surving the Inquisition. The the last 150 pages just dragged. It was as if Learner finished the story at page 300, but had some sort of page requirement to fulfill and kept going long after the story should have ended.
The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind
Finished Jurassic Park last night. This might be Crichtons best book.
I'm gonna start The Lost World today, I haven't read it yet.
I'm now reading the No Man's Land novel by Greg Rucka.
Still readin DaVinci code,but got a few more books added to the queue the other day:
Eddie Guerrero-Cheating death,stealing life
William Regal-Walking a golden mile
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Nowhereman said:
Still readin DaVinci code
As am I. Personally, I don't think it's as good so far as Angels and Demons but I'll probably wait to pass final judgement 'til I finish it... maybe.
Angels and Demons was better. Except for the ending.
"Monster" by Frank Peretti sucked so for all you Peretti fans out there i.e. Sammitch/Meeko/Chewy......save yourself time AND monday. It sure ain't "This Present Darkness" that's for sure........just a story of people chasing genetically mutated apelike creatures......POINTLESS!
Do picture books really class as reading?
Unlike you, boys, who have to have pictures of EVERYTHING, I love books filled with words that leave much more to the imagination
Like "What do these words actually mean?"
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Nowhereman said:
Do picture books really class as reading?
Is that some kind of dutch slang?
Quote:
Like "What do these words actually mean?"
SHUTUP :P
Youre the one with the warped definition of lust........
American Hardcore: A Tribal History by Steven Blush
Memoirs of a Beatnik by Diane DiPrima
Cheating Death, Stealing Life by Eddie Guerrero and Michael Krugman
Forgiven by Vince Russo
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PrincessElisa said:
Quote:
Like "What do these words actually mean?"
SHUTUP :P
Youre the one with the warped definition of lust........
So even after showing you the dictionary definition of lust,you still say I have it wrong?
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rex said:
Quote:
Nowhereman said:
Do picture books really class as reading?
Is that some kind of dutch slang?
What the fuck are you talking about?
Quote:
PrincessElisa said:
"Monster" by Frank Peretti sucked so for all you Peretti fans out there i.e. Sammitch/Meeko/Chewy......save yourself time AND monday. It sure ain't "This Present Darkness" that's for sure........just a story of people chasing genetically mutated apelike creatures......POINTLESS!
In my mind, Peretti was a one-hit wonder who made it big because he followed a secular trend in a Christian market (please read: like everything in the entertainment industry labelled "Christian"). That having been said, the only Peretti I've ever enjoyed was This Present Darkness... and I haven't read that since middle school. So, I don't really know if I'd call myself a "fan"... but thanks for the heads-up anyway!
Ronin - Frank Miller - one of my cousins got it for me - never read it before...
Just finished The Da Vinci Code and need to start reading Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful sometime today...
The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams
James Bond: Colonel Sun by Kingsley Amis (writing as Robert Markham)
Finished read No Man's land, great book. If you liked the comics you should like the book.
Now I'm gonna go back to my Michael Crichton obsession and read The Andromida Strain.
check out the Andromeda Strain too!
Recently picked up Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum from the library and am slowly but surely making a dent. It's rather dense - hopefully, I'll be able to finish it before giving up on it, like I did Atlas Shrugged...
Quote:
Grimm said:
The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams
finished the essay/letters/writings portion and am now well into the Dirk Gently story.
also finished:
If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell
and Mythologies: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross by Chip Kidd and Geoff Spears
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Grimm said:
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Grimm said:
The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams
finished the essay/letters/writings portion and am now well into the Dirk Gently story.
also finished:
If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell
and Mythologies: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross by Chip Kidd and Geoff Spears
If you doubt the Salmon, order the Chilean Sea Bass instead.
perhaps I'll just get some pie instead.
I hear tell that PJP loves pie!
I heard he's more into strudel.
I've got Salmon of A Doubt in my stack to read, but I'll probably skip the Dirk Gently stuff. The first book bored the hell out of me, and I don't think I ever made it through the second...
I've got Sorrow's River by Larry McMurtry to read. I'm kinda behind, so I need to get my shit together to catch up.
Also started reading The Tenth Justice by Brad Meltzer. Read the first chapter about a month ago and should get off my ass and finish the book someday.
I always have a bunch of Louis Lamour books laying around. Someday I'll finish reading all the Sackett novels. I've made it about half way through so far...
And a shit load of Peter David Star Trek books too...
Just finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and will begin Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince within the half-hour.
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Chewy Walrus said:
Just finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and will begin Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince within the half-hour.
Make sure to call/IM/PM me when you finish so we can discuss.
I read Orson Scott Card's Children of the Mind last week...Actually, I started it about a year ago and got off my ass and finished it last week...And now I'm reading Ender's Shadow. That's going much quicker...
Just picked up Cell: A Novel by Stephen King. Now I could only find the time to read it...
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harleykwin said:
Just picked up Cell: A Novel by Stephen King. Now I could only find the time to read it...
I hear that. Hopefully, I'll be able to start it this weekend and have a JM Review up soon.
finally picked back up and finished Barker's Imajica.
Quote:
Joe Mama said:
Quote:
harleykwin said:
Just picked up Cell: A Novel by Stephen King. Now I could only find the time to read it...
I hear that. Hopefully, I'll be able to start it this weekend and have a JM Review up soon.
Let me know when your review goes up - I'm curious to know what you think about it.
Just finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and will start The Savage Nation (on the recommendation of a friend) before the end of the day...
Finished Cell and totally loved it. (yay insomnia! It gives you time to read!) It was so damn good! I will never look at my cell phone the same way again. LOL Usually King takes, like, 100-150 pages before things kick into gear, but this book raced right out of the gate. The first 50 or so pages were so bloody and graphically violent - it was fantastic! I found the initial violence more brutal than his usual descriptions of gore, but I don't want to spoil it for JM by saying why that was just yet. One of my favorites of his and a nice recovery from the last King book I read, Insomnia, which I found kinda dull and disappointing. Totally recommended.
Now, if I could only get some sleep...
Finished The Wandering Hill by Larry McMurtry and started Holy War, Inc. by Peter Bergen.
Someday I'll read the other two Berrybender Books by McMurtry...They've got great characterization and narrative, but their is no real plot. It just seems to be meandering...Not his best work...
Just finished A Clash Of Eagles by Leo Rutman.
I'm about to finish Sixth Column by Robert Anson Heinlein.
Mickey Spillane - I, the Jury.
The writing is really dated, but I find it kinda cute.
I've read "I, the Jury". It was pretty good, a bit uneven. I've most of the Mike Hammer novels and some other Spillane books waiting on the shelf.
What I'm reading now:
"The Salamander War" - Karel Capek
"Badge of Infamy" - Lester del Rey
I'm reading three books right now.
the Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton. I'm enjoying it, haven't read it in years. I'm gonna review a bunch of his books soon.
Bram Stoker's Dracula. I read this book a couple times in high school, now I'm struggling to finish it. I'll probably give up on it.
Star Wars: Outbound Flight By Timothy Zahn. I've been waiting more then ten years for this book. I've read the first couple chapters and its good so far. I will definitely review this one.
Have you ever finished Dracula? I quite enjoyed it.
I enjoyed it when I read it before, now it just drags on too long. I'm about half way through it now. Things are starting to happen, but I lost interest in it. It doesn't help that I'm reading three books at the same time either. I shouldn't even be reading two at the same time.
Three books is very hard.
As long as I'm here, I might as well actually post what I'm reading. I just finished Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman and I'm now reading The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.
Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle
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Killconey said:
As long as I'm here, I might as well actually post what I'm reading. I just finished Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman and I'm now reading The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.
I realize it's been a week or so, but what'd you think of Smoke and Mirrors?
Quote:
rex said:
I'm reading three books right now.
the Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton. I'm enjoying it, haven't read it in years. I'm gonna review a bunch of his books soon.
Bram Stoker's Dracula. I read this book a couple times in high school, now I'm struggling to finish it. I'll probably give up on it.
Star Wars: Outbound Flight By Timothy Zahn. I've been waiting more then ten years for this book. I've read the first couple chapters and its good so far. I will definitely review this one.
Finished Great Train Robbery. Loved it. I'll write a review soon.
Gave up on Dracula. I don't even feel bad about giving up on it anymore.
Outbound Flight was very good. I'll need to read it again before reviewing it.
Smoke and Mirrors was an amazing book and I'll loan it to you the next time I see you!
Killconey's fiance says:
I'm reading "How to Please Your Man" by Eve Salinger! It's a great book! I've learned more than I actually needed to know, which is probably a good thing in the long run! I'm also reading some sort of wedding planning book just to keep myself focused.
Quote:
Dr. Tran said:
Smoke and Mirrors was an amazing book and I'll loan it to you the next time I see you!
Killconey's fiance says:
I'm reading "How to Please Your Man" by Eve Salinger! It's a great book! I've learned more than I actually needed to know, which is probably a good thing in the long run! I'm also reading some sort of wedding planning book just to keep myself focused.
This, folks, is what we call a "good egg". Props to Killconey and the future Mrs. Killconey.
Psst. It's a "Mr." Killconey, Mr. Finn.
Truman Capote's In Cold Blood
Ryu Murakami's In The Miso Soup.
I read the DaVinci Code on vacation and loved it.
Quote:
Joe Mama said:
Quote:
Dr. Tran said:
Smoke and Mirrors was an amazing book and I'll loan it to you the next time I see you!
Killconey's fiance says:
I'm reading "How to Please Your Man" by Eve Salinger! It's a great book! I've learned more than I actually needed to know, which is probably a good thing in the long run! I'm also reading some sort of wedding planning book just to keep myself focused.
This, folks, is what we call a "good egg". Props to Killconey and the future Mrs. Killconey.
*hehe* I do what I can!
Ok, first off: the search engine thingy on this site sucks major ass.
Two: I can't believe I've been up for two and a half fucking hours - I'm so tired - I don't know how I'm gonna make it through work today. Insomnia sucks. Fuck.
Three: I just picked up a small little novellete by Stephen King called The Colorado Kid which, from the pulp inspired cover, looks like its a crime novel instead of King's usual fare. Still, I'm a huge King fan and I want to see where he'll go with this. I thought I had read most of King's stuff and so had gone looking for authors in the horror/creepy/chills-down-your-spine genre. Ended up picking up In The Night Room by Peter Straub as he has collaborated with King on other titles and I figured he could give me the same kinda chills.
Not even close.
What a disappointment! No thrills, no chills, no nada! How this guy earned such a stellar reputation I'll never know - didn't get one goosebump the entire time. Blah. Read Poe's tales to remind me what good creepy tales were like.
Hope Kid is as good as King's other works....
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harleykwin said:
Three: I just picked up a small little novellete by Stephen King called The Colorado Kid which, from the pulp inspired cover, looks like its a crime novel instead of King's usual fare. Still, I'm a huge King fan and I want to see where he'll go with this. I thought I had read most of King's stuff and so had gone looking for authors in the horror/creepy/chills-down-your-spine genre. Ended up picking up In The Night Room by Peter Straub as he has collaborated with King on other titles and I figured he could give me the same kinda chills.
Not even close.
What a disappointment! No thrills, no chills, no nada! How this guy earned such a stellar reputation I'll never know - didn't get one goosebump the entire time. Blah. Read Poe's tales to remind me what good creepy tales were like.
Hope Kid is as good as King's other works....
If you're looking for the Colorado Kid to give you chills, you'll be horribly disappointed. The Hard Case Crime line is dedicated to pulp mystery/noir/suspense/thriller novels. King's offering is basically a light mystery. It read like King was having fun writing it, and it definitely has a pulp feel to it. But it's a vast departure from the true horror novels he's written - it's essentially like From A Buick 8 without the Lovecraftian overtones and the cheated feeling you get after reading it.
Speaking of King, I just finished Danse Macabre...again. Before that, I read The Emerald Burrito Of Oz. Cute book with cool concepts...a quick read, though not a ton happens.
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
Three: I just picked up a small little novellete by Stephen King called The Colorado Kid which, from the pulp inspired cover, looks like its a crime novel instead of King's usual fare. Still, I'm a huge King fan and I want to see where he'll go with this. I thought I had read most of King's stuff and so had gone looking for authors in the horror/creepy/chills-down-your-spine genre. Ended up picking up In The Night Room by Peter Straub as he has collaborated with King on other titles and I figured he could give me the same kinda chills.
Not even close.
What a disappointment! No thrills, no chills, no nada! How this guy earned such a stellar reputation I'll never know - didn't get one goosebump the entire time. Blah. Read Poe's tales to remind me what good creepy tales were like.
Hope Kid is as good as King's other works....
If you're looking for the Colorado Kid to give you chills, you'll be horribly disappointed.
yeah, I read half of it on the way back from court (it's only 184 pages) and while I still enjoy his writing, it's not the horror tale I was looking for. Oh well.
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The Hard Case Crime line is dedicated to pulp mystery/noir/suspense/thriller novels. King's offering is basically a light mystery. It read like King was having fun writing it, and it definitely has a pulp feel to it. But it's a vast departure from the true horror novels he's written - it's essentially like From A Buick 8 without the Lovecraftian overtones and the cheated feeling you get after reading it.
Yup.
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Speaking of King, I just finished Danse Macabre...again. Before that, I read The Emerald Burrito Of Oz. Cute book with cool concepts...a quick read, though not a ton happens.
Did you ever finish Cell? What did you think of it?
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harleykwin said:
Ok, first off: the search engine thingy on this site sucks major ass.
You should PM rob and tell him to put a link to this thread at the top of the page, maybe with a picture.
and GA = golden age
Yeah, I pretty much buzzed through Cell. It was enjoyable, but it didn't have much in the way of scares. It seems to me that King, in his non-Dark Tower books, is more interested in character and dialogue than in actual plot. I cared about Cell's cast, and the violence was pretty shocking, but it didn't stick with me the way Salem's Lot does.
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rex said:
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harleykwin said:
Ok, first off: the search engine thingy on this site sucks major ass.
and GA = golden age
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Joe Mama said:
Yeah, I pretty much buzzed through Cell. It was enjoyable, but it didn't have much in the way of scares. It seems to me that King, in his non-Dark Tower books, is more interested in character and dialogue than in actual plot. I cared about Cell's cast, and the violence was pretty shocking, but it didn't stick with me the way Salem's Lot does.
I likes Cell a lot, but Salem's Lot, It, and The Stand are King's books that are in a different class all together.
Ever read Eyes of the Dragon? My fav Stephen king book. I also liked IT.
HATED HATED HATED Dreamcatcher. I refuse to see the movie, the book was too gross.
I loved IT. Creepy fuckin' clown... Eyes of the Dragon isn't ringing a bell, though. I'll look around for it.
I liked Dreamcatcher - the gross factor didn't bug me. The movie, however, was abysmal. You didn't miss anything WRT the movie.
And Kid was dissappointing. King got one point right in that book though: people want answers and closure - something Kid did not provide.
Eyes of the Dragon is a fantasy more than horror
Nothing beats The Stand...
Salem's Lot, It and The Dead Zone are classics also...
Eyes of the Dragon is decent, but not quite classic King...
And I've only read one of his books since Needful Things, and that was Insomnia. Haven't enjoyed any of his stuff for years...
The Once and Future Smurf.
When I'm done with that I'm going to read The DaGargamel Code.
finished:
Hardcore History by Scott Williams
Rise & Fall of ECW by Thom Loverro
I had the right to remain silent. . .but I didn't have the ability by Ron White
currently:
The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul by Douglas Adams
The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian by Robert E Howard
on deck:
The Big Nowhere by James Ellroy
The Bloody Sword of Conan by REH
Bran Mak Morn: The Last King by REH
I just got finished reading Finnegan's Wake.....After I finally trudged my way through the rest of House of Leaves.
Someone kill me.
After this, I'm just gonna go back to basics and start reading Notes From Underground again.
The Archer's Tale by Bernard Cornwell and
Desperate Networks.
Recently finished:- Bad Twin by Gary Troup
- Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
- Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
Currently reading:- The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
Forthcoming:- The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
- Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
Recently finished: A Murder of Quality by John le Carré.
Currently reading: A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke, Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, and The Ipcress File by Len Deighton.
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Chewy Walrus said:
Recently finished:
- Bad Twin by Gary Troup
- Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
- Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
Currently reading:
- The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
Forthcoming:
- The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
- Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
Chewy! You're alive! 
Just finished re-reading The Day After Tomorrow by Allan Folsom. Excellent, excellent book. Read like The DaVinci Code, but much, much better. The ending was pretty intense. Highly recommend it.
Now, re-reading The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy.
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rufusTfirefly said:
Nothing beats The Stand...
Salem's Lot, It and The Dead Zone are classics also...
Eyes of the Dragon is decent, but not quite classic King...
And I've only read one of his books since Needful Things, and that was Insomnia. Haven't enjoyed any of his stuff for years...
I read Insomnia a few months ago and was quite disappointed too. Just not up to his usual macabre goodness.
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harleykwin said:
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Chewy Walrus said:
Recently finished:
- Bad Twin by Gary Troup
- Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
- Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
Currently reading:
- The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
Forthcoming:
- The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
- Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
Chewy! You're alive!
For you, always!
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Chewy Walrus said:
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harleykwin said:
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Chewy Walrus said:
Recently finished:
- Bad Twin by Gary Troup
- Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
- Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
Currently reading:
- The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
Forthcoming:
- The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
- Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
Chewy! You're alive!
For you, always!
Thas my baby...
Finished Lords of Discipline (and then started taking those stupid tests...), but next up is Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez..vampires, zombies and werewolves - oh my!
DC Universe: Inheritance
Ollie annoys Bats! Roy punches Ollie! Ollie talks about he, Bats and Aquaman molesting their sidekicks! And thats all in the first chapter!
Writing for Comics with Peter David by. . .Peter David (strangely enough)
Recently finished: A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke & The Ipcress File by Len Deighton.
Reading (apart from ...the Triffids): My Gun Is Quick by Mickey Spillane & Enemy's Enemy by Jan Guillou. (If you're interested, it's the only novel of the Hamilton series translated into English, but you can find most or all books in German.)
Just finished To The Power of Three by Laura Lippman. Pretty good murder mystery...
I just finished Jack Ketchum's Off Season. And I will NEVER visit any non-city location in Maine. EVER. That said, I was going to start Ketchum's The Girl Next Door or James Carroll's Constantine's Sword or Sergei Lukyanenko's Nightwatch (the book that the movie's based on...a friend got me an advanced reading copy). But my Dad's been asking me about the book he got me for XMas, so I've started Rising Tide by John M. Barry. Good book so far.
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Joe Mama said:
I just finished Jack Ketchum's Off Season. And I will NEVER visit any non-city location in Maine. EVER.
Why? Never read this, so I dunno...then again, heading back to Bumblefuck, Maine next weekend, so is this info something that will scare the crap outta me?
Ultimate Spiderman collection limited edition (Great deal at Barnes & Noble for $12.50)
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harleykwin said:
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Joe Mama said:
I just finished Jack Ketchum's Off Season. And I will NEVER visit any non-city location in Maine. EVER.
Why? Never read this, so I dunno...then again, heading back to Bumblefuck, Maine next weekend, so is this info something that will scare the crap outta me?
Why you'd ask that of a native New Englander is beyond me, but I think I can sum it up with four words:
Inbred, incestuous, cannibal Mainefolk.
I know, not too far from the reality of that state but, yes, it made me say, "Ewwwwwwwwww" quite a few times. Definitely a one-eighty from the Maine that King writes about.
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
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Joe Mama said:
I just finished Jack Ketchum's Off Season. And I will NEVER visit any non-city location in Maine. EVER.
Why? Never read this, so I dunno...then again, heading back to Bumblefuck, Maine next weekend, so is this info something that will scare the crap outta me?
Why you'd ask that of a native New Englander is beyond me,
Um, because I didn't know and I figured you would...
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but I think I can sum it up with four words:
Inbred, incestuous, cannibal Mainefolk.
Heh. Funny you should say that, because I started humming the theme song to Deliverance when we were driving to the cabins in Maine, and the first thing I said when we finally got to the cabins was, "this place is where they film horror movies." Seriously, there is nothing around but woods, deer and the homes are miles apart - it was kinda creepy at night adn all I kept thinking of was Friday the 13th and the like - never mind some of the locals we met...
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I know, not too far from the reality of that state but, yes, it made me say, "Ewwwwwwwwww" quite a few times. Definitely a one-eighty from the Maine that King writes about.
Was it worth a read?
Just finshed Every Secret Thing, again by Laura Lippman. Not as good as the last book I read - problem is, with certain authors, they follow that same type of format over and over and so it wasn't too hard to figure out who the real culprit was in this one...
It was worth the read, as long as you know what you're getting into. Ketchum has a decent - not great, but good - style. He's not afraid to describe something in all its gory detail to the point where you find yourself squirming a little in your seat. Your description of where you're staying would lead me to advise that you read it AFTER you come home.
I'm reading Ketchum's The Girl Next Door at home...
Just finished: A Right to Be Hostile: The Boondocks Treasury - by Aaron McGruder. Funny as hell.
Goldfinger by Ian Fleming
Working my way through the Bond books. Jesus Bond was a misogynist! And Fleming was pretty sexist. This comes accross pretty clear from how thin the female characters are. But by and large I am enjoying the books.
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Steve T said:
Jesus Bond was a misogynist!
Did he walk on water so he could slap Mary Magdalene across the face and then make out with her before stopping Agent 006, Judas, from selling out Him and the rest of the Apostles?
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thedoctor said:
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Steve T said:
Jesus Bond was a misogynist!
Did he walk on water so he could slap Mary Magdalene across the face and then make out with her before stopping Agent 006, Judas, from selling out Him and the rest of the Apostles?
DAMN! Which movie is THAT??? Jesus Bond is a damned pimp!!!
"Wash my feet, you whore! Show a man how you wash a guy's feet!!!"
He turns water into Martinis. Shaken. Not stirred.
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thedoctor said:
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Steve T said:
Jesus Bond was a misogynist!
Did he walk on water so he could slap Mary Magdalene across the face and then make out with her before stopping Agent 006, Judas, from selling out Him and the rest of the Apostles?
I find it unnerving that this is what I first thought of when reading the name "Jesus Bond".
Get out of my head!!!
A simple lack of a comma leads to all kinds of possibilities.
There is a very funny book on that subject called "eats, shoots and leaves"
If only I had read it closer!
I'm currently reading The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and will (hopefully) be following it up with On the Road by Jack Kerouac and The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway.
Just finished Flood and Dead and Gone both by Andrew Vachss. Both are gritty, excellent books - I'm now hooked on his Burke series of novels. Also just ordered Shella on Amazon as I can't find it in B&N nor any of the smaller book shops in the city.
He was one of the authors recommended in rex's "rec me an author" thread and I am so glad to have picked up his books...
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harleykwin said:
Just finished Flood and Dead and Gone both by Andrew Vachss. Both are gritty, excellent books - I'm now hooked on his Burke series of novels. Also just ordered Shella on Amazon as I can't find it in B&N nor any of the smaller book shops in the city.
He was one of the authors recommended in rex's "rec me an author" thread and I am so glad to have picked up his books...
Yay!
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
Just finished Flood and Dead and Gone both by Andrew Vachss. Both are gritty, excellent books - I'm now hooked on his Burke series of novels. Also just ordered Shella on Amazon as I can't find it in B&N nor any of the smaller book shops in the city.
He was one of the authors recommended in rex's "rec me an author" thread and I am so glad to have picked up his books...
Yay!
Just finished Down Here too. Vachss fuckin' rocks - can't believe I didn't pick his books up til now...
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harleykwin said:
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
Just finished Flood and Dead and Gone both by Andrew Vachss. Both are gritty, excellent books - I'm now hooked on his Burke series of novels. Also just ordered Shella on Amazon as I can't find it in B&N nor any of the smaller book shops in the city.
He was one of the authors recommended in rex's "rec me an author" thread and I am so glad to have picked up his books...
Yay!
Just finished Down Here too. Vachss fuckin' rocks - can't believe I didn't pick his books up til now...
Shella was the first book of his that I read. After that, I scooped up everything he wrote. Flood and Strega are my favorite Burke novels, but I love all his stuff. He has two short story collections (I forget their titles) that have stories featuring a character named Cross. Also great, and Dark Horse released at least one limited series based on the character. If you can find it at your local comics dealer, check out Another Chance To Get It Right - a book he did to raise money for various child protection charities.
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
Just finished Flood and Dead and Gone both by Andrew Vachss. Both are gritty, excellent books - I'm now hooked on his Burke series of novels. Also just ordered Shella on Amazon as I can't find it in B&N nor any of the smaller book shops in the city.
He was one of the authors recommended in rex's "rec me an author" thread and I am so glad to have picked up his books...
Yay!
Just finished Down Here too. Vachss fuckin' rocks - can't believe I didn't pick his books up til now...
Shella was the first book of his that I read. After that, I scooped up everything he wrote. Flood and Strega are my favorite Burke novels, but I love all his stuff. He has two short story collections (I forget their titles) that have stories featuring a character named Cross. Also great, and Dark Horse released at least one limited series based on the character. If you can find it at your local comics dealer, check out Another Chance To Get It Right - a book he did to raise money for various child protection charities.
yeah, I've checked out his website http://www.vachss.com/ and looked around. He (and his wife, Alice, a former ADA in the Queens' DA's sex crimes unit) are outspoken advocates for abused children. His books focus on those themes - really sad, and his words have the ring of truth to them. I wonder if he was a victim himself as a child? His books cut just a little too close to the bone to just be something that he speaks of from mere observations made during his career.
I recently finished Caleb Carr's The Alienist and read whassername's The Giver last night. Jonas is totally dead.
Pain Management by Vachss.
Damn Joe (inna good way!) for recommending him - I'm hooked now...this is my 4th Vachss book in 10 days...
The Bible. Fantastic, albeit convoluted, story about the triumph of a vindictive God and his misbegotten spawn.
I didn't know you liked fiction...
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harleykwin said:
I didn't know you liked fiction...
It's a lot like reading an Anne Rice novel...enough historical fact and detail to make it seem almost beleivable. It falls short in the narration though. Fucking 'experimental' bulshit was penned by over 50 people. I hate 'high art'!
I'm still reading the Proud Tower, I swear I will get to your guys's suggestions soon.
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harleykwin said:
Pain Management by Vachss.
Damn Joe (inna good way!) for recommending him - I'm hooked now...this is my 4th Vachss book in 10 days...
This is the best compliment I could hope for. Aside from, "That was the best sex I've ever had!"
I read Caleb Carr's Killing Time yesterday instead of doing anything else. This was a very intriguing novel. I like how Carr writes because it gives me room to argue with the characters while I'm reading it. I don't have to take everything they say as 100% right; the reader is allowed their own ideas and interpretations.
The basic plot is in the near future (2023) with a faster, sleeker internet and a world of people who crave information and refuse the dicipline of knowledge. A group of renegade intellectuals try to prank the world into waking up to their apathy. Danger ensues.
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
Pain Management by Vachss.
Damn Joe (inna good way!) for recommending him - I'm hooked now...this is my 4th Vachss book in 10 days...
This is the best compliment I could hope for. Aside from, "That was the best sex I've ever had!"
Just picked up A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick. I've heard good things about this book.
Diary of a Lost Girl - Kola Boof this woman is a total fucking loop.
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harleykwin said:
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
Pain Management by Vachss.
Damn Joe (inna good way!) for recommending him - I'm hooked now...this is my 4th Vachss book in 10 days...
This is the best compliment I could hope for. Aside from, "That was the best sex I've ever had!"
Just picked up A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick. I've heard good things about this book.
Ok, I ended up starting Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen, instead of Scanner - that'll be next on the list instead. I frickin' love Hiaasen - his murder/mysteries are hysterical and he manages to create these characters that are so completely out there, and yet, still believable. Funny as hell.
As for Vachss' Pain Management - it was the first of his books that I didn't like. Maybe because the main character, Burke, was in hiding and wasn't in his usual NYC element - that coupled with the fact that both the female leads in this book really annoyed the living fuck out of me, and the whole reason for the "pain management" title wasn't what I've come to expect from Vachss and the usual themes he deals with - all of it just ended up boring me.
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sneaky bunny said:
Diary of a Lost Girl - Kola Boof
this woman is a total fucking loop.
Is it worth picking up, though?
I know I said I wasn't going to do it in the other thread, but I started re-reading The Stand yesterday.
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rex said:
I started re-reading The Stand yesterday.
It's really hard to get through on a second read. Without the mounting suspense...you realize just how dry the novel actually is.
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harleykwin said:
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sneaky bunny said:
Diary of a Lost Girl - Kola Boof
this woman is a total fucking loop.
Is it worth picking up, though?
so far its not a bad read. if not for some warped insight into bin laden but for the humour that he supposedly had her dance naked to rock lobster.
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klinton said:
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rex said:
I started re-reading The Stand yesterday.
It's really hard to get through on a second read. Without the mounting suspense...you realize just how dry the novel actually is.
I haven't read it in 12 years and hardly remember what happened in most of the book.
Spy thriller: 'The Looking-Glass War' by John Le Carré
SF: 'The Lovers' by Philip José Farmer
I just started F. Paul Wilson's "The Tomb". It's the first in his Repairman Jack series of novels. I'm only 65 page in (out of 400+), but I can barely get myself to stop reading it. I'm going to Borders tomorrow to exchange a duplicate gift I got for my birthday and I'll probably grab the next two or three in the series. Great stuff.
The fifth elephant by Terry Pratchet
I'm reaading a HUGE Ultimate Spider-Man collection Ariel and I got on clearance at Barnes & Noble. It goes from #1-39
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NotWedge said:
I'm reaading a HUGE Ultimate Spider-Man collection Ariel and I got on clearance at Barnes & Noble. It goes from #1-39
Good stuff.
Strega by Vachss (again).
Secrets of the Samurai: A Survey of the Martial Arts of Feudal Japan by Adele Westbrook
Black Panther: Who is the Black Panther? by Reginald Hudlin and John Romita Jr. (Actually, I finished it in 45 min.)
Tears for Water by Alicia Keys (again)
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harleykwin said:
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NotWedge said:
I'm reaading a HUGE Ultimate Spider-Man collection Ariel and I got on clearance at Barnes & Noble. It goes from #1-39
Good stuff.
Strega by Vachss (again).
Great fucking book.
At the risk of Vachss addiction, I'll pick it up from the campus library.
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Midnight Spectre 2.0 said:
At the risk of Vachss addiction, I'll pick it up from the campus library.
Seriously, for the most part, he's excellent. This is my 5th Vachss book in 2 and a half (3?) weeks. I'm curious to know if you end up liking his stuff.
I picked up a book of Franz Kafka's short stories at work last night and intend to read it sometime in the near future.
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harleykwin said:
I am, however, totally getting the Calvin & Hobbes book you linked to. I love Calvin & Hobbes and that compilation is going to be awesome!
I picked that up this week. It is teh awesome!!1!!1!EVAR!
Also been reading some stuff my girlfriend got me for my birthday- Batman: Year One and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Both of which I enjoyed very much.
I'm halfway through The Fountainhead.
Wow. This is one of the most underrated books I've ever read. A great additive are the glares I get from people around college when they see me reading Ayn Rand.
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Pariah said:
I'm halfway through The Fountainhead.
Wow. This is one of the most underrated books I've ever read. A great additive are the glares I get from people around college when they see me reading Ayn Rand.
HA!
I still haven't gotten around to reading the Fountainhead, but I will someday.
I would get horrible looks from people when I would read Atlas Shrugged at the university. I carried it around even when I wasn't reading it just to piss people off.
The authentic life of Billy the kid by Pat Garrett.
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Joe Mama said:
My job, aside from the occasional outage, is a pretty low-stress job. It gives me a lot of time to read, and I average between 2 and 4 books a week. Last week, I read HG Wells' "Time Machine" and "Invisible Man", both of which I enjoyed (surprising, because I'm not a huge Science Fiction reader). Today I started Joe R. Lansdale's "Captains Outrageous" and, one chapter into it, I know I'm gonna burn through this within a day or two. I'm also re-reading "The Shining" at home.
So...what are you reading?
Joe, find yourself a copy of "The Drive In 2", by Joe R. Lansdale. You'll enjoy it!
I am re - reading Lester Del Rey's 1966 book, " Runaway Robot", which features a robot named Rex who runs away with his human companion, Paul, whom Rex had been responsible for since Paul was 3. Paul is 16 in the book. It's a very nicely written book!
Suicide Hill - James Ellroy
I opened a festering can of worms earlier in the summer and decided to restart Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. I'm now in the 10th book, Crossroads of Twighlight. I think he's written the 11th already, but the series is supposed to end at 12. That sonovabitch better finish soon before I read these last books and forget all the details from this incredibly long series.
I know what you mean! I don't know if the series is going to end at 12 tho, there are a lot of plot points that need to be cleaned up. At one point it was said the last book would be 7 or 8, but that was obviously wrong.
I got that information from the website. I think that things are shaping up to where it might be able to end at twelve. A lot of the loose ends are tying themselves up and hopefully Jordan can have a kickass conclusion.
Finished Fehrenheit 451. Good book, better than I expected. I need to read it again.
I'm now reading the Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide by Douglas Adams.
(It was labeled as science fiction in the library.)
Good stuff. Hope you like it.
I'm reading Marker by Robin Cook.
Scream Queen by Edo Van Belkom. So far it sucks, but my OCD won't let me drop it now that I'm past the 100-page mark.
Yeah, I'm like that too - if I've gotten past the 100 page mark I feel compelled to try and finish it. Unless it is just so awful that I cannot justify wasting more time on it - which is rare, but it happens. The Devil Wears Prada was one such book. It was so fuckin' boring I just couldn't waste another second on it. And yet, Hollywood made that tripe into a movie. Go figure.
The only book I can think of that I couldn't finish reading was Once and Future king. I've tried reading it several times and can't get past the first chapter.
Right now I'm reading Night Watch by Terry Prachett.
Finished reading:
'The Lovers' by Philip José Farmer
'Robur the Conqueror'
'Master of the World'
'Paris in the 21th Century by Jules Verne
Still reading:
'The Looking-Glass War' by John Le Carré
Have recently started:
'A Journey toward the Center of the Earth' by Jules Verne
All good stuff.
Journey To The Center of The Earth is one of my favorite books. I read it in high school. The book was more fun than the movie. You'll love it.
I have seen a "modernized" movie in which the heroes uses a drilling machine to go down through the volcano. The network had some transmitting problem so I missed about half an hour in middle of the movie.
The book is indeed great.
Hey Rex, I bought 'Fountainhead' by Ayn Rand at a 2nd hand store today.
I still haven't read that.
Started reading 1984 today.
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rex said:
I still haven't read that.
I know I'll at least get one of the inspirations for Frank Miller's Elektra. But I doubt I'd buy it for full price.
Still haven't found "Anthem" in a 2nd hand store, so maybe I'll buy it new someday.
Due to the complete retardedness and incompetence of the Eugene bus system I have over an hour and half commute home from work.
that means I will be getting a lot of reading done. the Hitchhikers guide, The Black Dahlia, some Nick Hornby books and Animal Farm are all books I'm reading now or will be soon.
I liked "About A Boy". The movie wasn't too bad but it missed the early 90's deal.
I've finished "Journey To The Center of The Earth". Not sure what to read now (apart from The Mirror-Glass War). "King Salomon's Mines" or the 1st Modesty Blaise novel?
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Captain Sweden said:
I liked "About A Boy". The movie wasn't too bad but it missed the early 90's deal.
I like the movie, too, but had heard the book was better.
The book was so bad it was funny. Go to the link in my sig for my review.
Hmmmm...Interesting review...might or might not read the book someday..I have too many books here that are getting dusty waiting for me to read them.
Myabe if you stopped posting so much you would have time to read more books.
..and the damn tv too!
I used to read a LOT before I got cable tv, around 1989.
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Captain Sweden said:
I've finished "Journey To The Center of The Earth". Not sure what to read now (apart from The Mirror-Glass War). "King Salomon's Mines" or the 1st Modesty Blaise novel?
As the genius I am, I've started to read both.
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Beardguy57 said:
..and the damn tv too!
I used to read a LOT before I got cable tv, around 1989.
If you're TV got broken and you couldn't get a new one, would you start reading a lot of Star Trek novels and comics?
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Ariel AKA Warp said:
Right now I'm reading Night Watch by Terry Prachett.
I was in B&N the other day and remembered this name bc. you mentioned it - I picked up one of his books, but not before one of the sales girls recommended Christopher Moore to me - so I picked up The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove and Bloodsucking Fiends. They were ... ok. I was expecting much, much better from the way this chick kept going on and on about how great he was. His style was in the same vein as Carl Hiassen (except dealing with the supernatural) but he's not nearly as funny or entertaining as Hiassen. The quality of his writing was light and sweet, but not enough substance to sink your teeth into.
Just read Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart which was the novella that Hellraiser was based on. Really good. Now I'm reading Books of Blood, Vol 1-3 also by Barker. His stuff gives me the chills - different than King, but just as addictive.
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harleykwin said:
I was in B&N the other day and remembered this name bc. you mentioned it - I picked up one of his books, but not before one of the sales girls recommended Christopher Moore to me - so I picked up The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove and Bloodsucking Fiends. They were ... ok. I was expecting much, much better from the way this chick kept going on and on about how great he was. His style was in the same vein as Carl Hiassen (except dealing with the supernatural) but he's not nearly as funny or entertaining as Hiassen. The quality of his writing was light and sweet, but not enough substance to sink your teeth into.
Just read Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart which was the novella that Hellraiser was based on. Really good. Now I'm reading Books of Blood, Vol 1-3 also by Barker. His stuff gives me the chills - different than King, but just as addictive.
You...didn't like Bloodsucking Fiends...???
I'm not sure I can be friends with you anymore. I mean, Lust Lizard was okay, but Fiends is what made me pick up every book prior to and after. I don't see any "Pookie"s in your future until:
1) You admit that Practical Demonkeeping and Bloodsucking Fiends are funny books and you enjoyed them.
2) You send me boobie pictures.
3) You join voice chat.
4) #2 and #3.
Actually, let me be reasonable. Just do #4 and I'll be happy.
Mo. Forever you are Mo. -->
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harleykwin said:
Just read Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart which was the novella that Hellraiser was based on. Really good. Now I'm reading Books of Blood, Vol 1-3 also by Barker. His stuff gives me the chills - different than King, but just as addictive.
I'm absolutely sic for Barker's early stuff. Anything he put out prior to 'Thief' is bloody fucking amazing! You absolutely need to read 'Weaveworld', 'Imagica', 'The Great and Secret Show' and 'Everville'. You'll thank yourself for taking the time. They're all standout works that will leave you wondering how the fuck you ever thought King was worth reading.
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
I was in B&N the other day and remembered this name bc. you mentioned it - I picked up one of his books, but not before one of the sales girls recommended Christopher Moore to me - so I picked up The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove and Bloodsucking Fiends. They were ... ok. I was expecting much, much better from the way this chick kept going on and on about how great he was. His style was in the same vein as Carl Hiassen (except dealing with the supernatural) but he's not nearly as funny or entertaining as Hiassen. The quality of his writing was light and sweet, but not enough substance to sink your teeth into.
Just read Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart which was the novella that Hellraiser was based on. Really good. Now I'm reading Books of Blood, Vol 1-3 also by Barker. His stuff gives me the chills - different than King, but just as addictive.
You...didn't like Bloodsucking Fiends...???
It was cute at best. Sorry, but I just expected so much better. It honestly struck me as a book that was written for JHS level reading... and had as much entertainment value, *shrug* But if you insist that Practical Demonkeeping is worth the time, I'll pick it up and give Moore another chance...
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I'm not sure I can be friends with you anymore.
oh please! you ditched me for Pro a long time ago!
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I mean, Lust Lizard was okay, but Fiends is what made me pick up every book prior to and after. I don't see any "Pookie"s in your future
Pookie
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until:
1) You admit that Practical Demonkeeping and Bloodsucking Fiends are funny books and you enjoyed them.
I'll pick up PD bc you say its good and you were on the money with your Vachss recs, but BF? Meh. MEH! I say!
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2) You send me boobie pictures.
Get in line. 
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3) You join voice chat.
I tried! And it was a bust! Besides, you weren't even around last time!! you don't me anymore... damn Pro
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4) #2 and #3.
Actually, let me be reasonable. Just do #4 and I'll be happy.
Mo. Forever you are Mo. -->
I Mo! He's awesome! Call me "Mo"! He's only one of the best baseball players evar!!1!!! HA!
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klinton said:
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harleykwin said:
Just read Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart which was the novella that Hellraiser was based on. Really good. Now I'm reading Books of Blood, Vol 1-3 also by Barker. His stuff gives me the chills - different than King, but just as addictive.
I'm absolutely sic for Barker's early stuff. Anything he put out prior to 'Thief' is bloody fucking amazing! You absolutely need to read 'Weaveworld', 'Imagica', 'The Great and Secret Show' and 'Everville'. You'll thank yourself for taking the time. They're all standout works that will leave you wondering how the fuck you ever thought King was worth reading.
Let me tell you something - I love horror books and have recently gotten into horror movies (I netflixed Hellraiser right after I finished Hellbound Heart) but surprisingly never picked up Barker's stuff. A friend of mine who is also into horror books reccommended it and I cannot - I mean literally CANNOT - believe I never read his stuff before! He is absolutely fantaastic. Certain stories in Books of Blood have literally given me goosebumps (Dread immediatley comes to mind - it totally gave me the heebie jeebies), but they have all been great. I'm moving Friday, but I'm hoping that sometime this weekend I can get back to a bookstore to pick up more of his stuff. I'll pick up your recs as well. And I actually thought of you when I saw Hellraiser, bc. I remembered your Pinhead avatar when I first started posting here. The Cenobites are so cool. (and I also saw Hard Candy which I loved was an absolute mind fuck and scarier than half the tripe out there these days, but that's for the DVD thread.)
I'm also picking up a few Robert McCannon and Micheal Laino books. I've read Poe and Lovecraft - which seems to be a basic standard - but any recs as to other horror writers you like who may be flying under the radar?
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harleykwin said:
I'll pick up PD bc you say its good and you were on the money with your Vachss recs, but BF? Meh. MEH! I say!
In all seriousness, I'm curious: what did the bookseller say to you? How did s/he hype that novel? I love Moore's stuff - Demonkeeping and Coyote Blue are favorites, all well as Fiends and A Dirty Job (his new one). I'm surprised that the humor left you cold (heh) so I have to assume that the clerk verbally masturbated to Moore's output. I personally would've been a bit more reserved in my praise - Moore reminds me more of Pratchett than Hiassen.
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Get in line.
Fuck that. I AM the line!
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I tried! And it was a bust! Besides, you weren't even around last time!! you don't me anymore... damn Pro
Try again. Try HARDER!!!
(Oooh! That was sexy... )
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I Mo! He's awesome! Call me "Mo"! He's only one of the best baseball players evar!!1!!! HA!
Nice try, but your PEE-SYKOLOGEE won't work on me. No P-word for you until items #2 and #3 are met!
(Pro got all married and shit...there's an opening on my love list...y'know, if you're interested an' stuff...)
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
I'll pick up PD bc you say its good and you were on the money with your Vachss recs, but BF? Meh. MEH! I say!
In all seriousness, I'm curious: what did the bookseller say to you? How did s/he hype that novel? I love Moore's stuff - Demonkeeping and Coyote Blue are favorites, all well as Fiends and A Dirty Job (his new one). I'm surprised that the humor left you cold (heh) so I have to assume that the clerk verbally masturbated to Moore's output. I personally would've been a bit more reserved in my praise - Moore reminds me more of Pratchett than Hiassen.
I've never read Prachett(Going Postal is up next though), sos I can't comment on whether Moore's style is similar to his or not, but it seemed to me a poor immitation of Hiassen's style.
As for what sales chippie said - she just went on and on for 10 minutes about how fantastic he was and how he was "the funniest writer ever" blah, blah, blah...my expectations were really high after that and they weren't met...
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Get in line.
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Fuck that. I AM the line!
yes, but where does it begin and end?
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I tried! And it was a bust! Besides, you weren't even around last time!! you don't me anymore... damn Pro
Try again. Try HARDER!!!
(Oooh! That was sexy... )
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I Mo! He's awesome! Call me "Mo"! He's only one of the best baseball players evar!!1!!! HA!
Nice try, but your PEE-SYKOLOGEE won't work on me.
dagnammit!
Quote:
No P-word for you until items #2 and #3 are met!
(Pro got all married and shit...there's an opening on my love list...y'know, if you're interested an' stuff...)
I started The Fountainhead today and this time I will finish reading it. Seriously. I mean it this time.
Finished reading Vachss' Hard Candy. It was just ok. If you hadn't read some of his other books it would be very difficult to follow - it relied way too heavily on things that had occurred in other books for a new reader to understand. Plus, it wasn't as good as some of his other books.
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harleykwin said:
Finished reading Vachss' Hard Candy. It was just ok. If you hadn't read some of his other books it would be very difficult to follow - it relied way too heavily on things that had occurred in other books for a new reader to understand. Plus, it wasn't as good as some of his other books.
Mask Market just arrived from Amazon. Which means I have to plow through Gaiman's latest collection of short fiction, the works of Edogawa Rampo, and my annual reading of Danse Macabre before I can get to it.
Have you read Vachss' short story collections yet?
No, I haven't gotten to them yet. Good enough to pick up I assume?
I actually wanted to check out some of Barker's other books too - I really, really enjoyed
Books of Blood, so his were the books I was gonna pick up next... also, there's a new King book coming out soon and that is also on my list. And mebbe
Practical Demon Keeping to see if Moore is worth a further look, or this is the one example that your taste in novels sucks.
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harleykwin said:
No, I haven't gotten to them yet. Good enough to pick up I assume?
I actually wanted to check out some of Barker's other books too - I really, really enjoyed Books of Blood, so his were the books I was gonna pick up next...
Start with "The Great and Secret Show"...trust me.
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klinton said:
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harleykwin said:
No, I haven't gotten to them yet. Good enough to pick up I assume?
I actually wanted to check out some of Barker's other books too - I really, really enjoyed Books of Blood, so his were the books I was gonna pick up next...
Start with "The Great and Secret Show"...trust me.
Sweet - it's now on the list. 
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harleykwin said:
No, I haven't gotten to them yet. Good enough to pick up I assume?
I actually wanted to check out some of Barker's other books too - I really, really enjoyed Books of Blood, so his were the books I was gonna pick up next... also, there's a new King book coming out soon and that is also on my list. And mebbe Practical Demon Keeping to see if Moore is worth a further look, or this is the one example that your taste in novels sucks.
I like his short fiction. I actually wish he'd write more. Or maybe a Cross novel.
Klint suggests The Great And Secret Show. I prefer The Damnation Game. Considering my success factor, I don't think your dislike of Moore (you humorless lawyer, you ) should count towards my total...
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Joe Mama said:
Klint suggests The Great And Secret Show. I prefer The Damnation Game. Considering my success factor, I don't think your dislike of Moore (you humorless lawyer, you ) should count towards my total...
Damnation game was pretty good...seriously, cold cut plate from hell...heh.
But I still hold Kissoon as Barker's best character. The guy is just the creepiest mother fucker around. Lix, anyone?
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
No, I haven't gotten to them yet. Good enough to pick up I assume?
I actually wanted to check out some of Barker's other books too - I really, really enjoyed Books of Blood, so his were the books I was gonna pick up next... also, there's a new King book coming out soon and that is also on my list. And mebbe Practical Demon Keeping to see if Moore is worth a further look, or this is the one example that your taste in novels sucks.
I like his short fiction. I actually wish he'd write more. Or maybe a Cross novel.
Klint suggests The Great And Secret Show. I prefer The Damnation Game. Considering my success factor, I don't think your dislike of Moore (you humorless lawyer, you ) should count towards my total...
Sometimes the compilations of short stories makes for a better read than a long drawn out novel.
I'll prolly pick up both titles - if I like an author I have a tendency to pick up several books of their books at one time, so Barker looks like he's up next.
And I have a sense of humor - I'm friends with you, aren't I?
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harleykwin said:
And I have a sense of humor - I'm friends with you, aren't I?
Touche pussycat.
Recently finished Neil Gaiman's latest book of short stories entitled Fragile Things. I've got a few other books on the horizon, but I think I might hit some theological stuff (seeing as how I haven't read much of that lately). I just ordered The 10 Dumbest Things Christians Do by Mark Atteberry at work tonight, so I think I'll hold off on any major reading until I can get that...
First off, OMG Chewy's alive...
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klinton said:
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harleykwin said:
No, I haven't gotten to them yet. Good enough to pick up I assume?
I actually wanted to check out some of Barker's other books too - I really, really enjoyed Books of Blood, so his were the books I was gonna pick up next...
Start with "The Great and Secret Show"...trust me.
Shit, I stopped at Border's on the way back from court this moring and I picked up Damnation Game since I remembered that was one of the titles that you recomended, but passed on the Great and Secret Show - I'll get it next time. I also picked up Barker's Cabal; Shadows of Death and Waking Up Screaming both short story compilations by Lovecraft; and Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite. And that's after putting down other books because I didn't have enough room in my bag to carry more...
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harleykwin said:
Shit, I stopped at Border's on the way back from court this moring and I picked up Damnation Game since I remembered that was one of the titles that you recomended, but passed on the Great and Secret Show - I'll get it next time. I also picked up Barker's Cabal; Shadows of Death and Waking Up Screaming both short story compilations by Lovecraft; and Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite. And that's after putting down other books because I didn't have enough room in my bag to carry more...
Wait a minute. 
Were you shoplifting?
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thedoctor said:
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harleykwin said:
Shit, I stopped at Border's on the way back from court this moring and I picked up Damnation Game since I remembered that was one of the titles that you recomended, but passed on the Great and Secret Show - I'll get it next time. I also picked up Barker's Cabal; Shadows of Death and Waking Up Screaming both short story compilations by Lovecraft; and Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite. And that's after putting down other books because I didn't have enough room in my bag to carry more...
Wait a minute. Were you shoplifting?
No, silly doctor. I was carrying my brief for court and brownies for you. Mmmm, brownies...
By the by, I read Scanner Darkly (iIRC, you like PKD) and couldn't get into it. Has he written anything better that you'd recommend?
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harleykwin said:
No, silly doctor. I was carrying my brief for court and brownies for you. Mmmm, brownies...
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harleykwin said:
By the by, I read Scanner Darkly (iIRC, you like PKD) and couldn't get into it. Has he written anything better that you'd recommend?
Scanner Darkly is pretty much when PKD was losing his fucking mind due to all the drugs he took in the past. I recommend you get collections of his short stories with stuff like Minority Report, The Second Variety, and The Short and Happy Life of the Brown Oxford. A lot of good humor and twists. There is also the novella that Blade Runner was based on called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. PKD is a good writer, but I don't know if everyone will get into him. Even as a fan I kinda wonder about some of the things he keeps injecting into his stories like News Clowns.
Cool. I'll check those out when I'm done with the newest stash.
I'm halfway through Damnation Game. It's a Faust-like tale, which I didn't expect. I've never read the Marlowe or Goethe version (though I'm kinda curious now), but everyone knows the story (The Picture of Dorian Gray comes to mind right now). The only "Faust" I've ever read was the Quinn/Vigil comic book version which was sooooo hyped and so subpar. People got so up in arms over the art becaus of the graphic sex and violence Vigil drew (which was the only really good thing about the series), that they zoned in on the controversy and failed to focus on the writing, which while the story is a familiar one, was mediocre at best.
Not so, with Barker's version of this tale. I love this man's style of writing. He reminds me of King - not in the style of writing, but with the uncanny ability to hook his reader and draw them into the tale. And some of the gorier stuff is extremely well written. This is gonna be one of those books that is so good that you're almost sorry when you're done reading because its over.
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harleykwin said:
The only "Faust" I've ever read was the Quinn/Vigil comic book version which was sooooo hyped and so subpar. People got so up in arms over the art becaus of the graphic sex and violence Vigil drew (which was the only really good thing about the series), that they zoned in on the controversy and failed to focus on the writing, which while the story is a familiar one, was mediocre at best.
Don't let Grimm know you said that.
Also, if you'd come to Dragon*Con some time, we'd introduce you to Tim Vigil.
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thedoctor said:
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harleykwin said:
The only "Faust" I've ever read was the Quinn/Vigil comic book version which was sooooo hyped and so subpar. People got so up in arms over the art becaus of the graphic sex and violence Vigil drew (which was the only really good thing about the series), that they zoned in on the controversy and failed to focus on the writing, which while the story is a familiar one, was mediocre at best.
Don't let Grimm know you said that.
Also, if you'd come to Dragon*Con some time, we'd introduce you to Tim Vigil.
One of my favorite stories from 2005...
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Joe Mama said:
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thedoctor said:
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harleykwin said:
The only "Faust" I've ever read was the Quinn/Vigil comic book version which was sooooo hyped and so subpar. People got so up in arms over the art becaus of the graphic sex and violence Vigil drew (which was the only really good thing about the series), that they zoned in on the controversy and failed to focus on the writing, which while the story is a familiar one, was mediocre at best.
Don't let Grimm know you said that.
Also, if you'd come to Dragon*Con some time, we'd introduce you to Tim Vigil.
One of my favorite stories from 2005...
So, you managed to pick your drunkenself up off the floor at some point?
Do tell, do tell...
And doc: IMO, Vigil's art was the only redeeming thing in Faust. The dialogue seemed stilted and Jade annoyed the fuck outta me. Most of the characters just had no depth. The only character I liked (and was rooting for) was the evil bitch, Claire...
I'm tring to get into PKD but I'm finding myself continuing with King Solomon's Mines and Modesty Blaise 1st. Dunno why I felt needing to borrow PKD right now.
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harleykwin said:
So, you managed to pick your drunkenself up off the floor at some point?
Do tell, do tell...
Not if you're gonna take THAT tone with me!!!
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
So, you managed to pick your drunkenself up off the floor at some point?
Do tell, do tell...
Not if you're gonna take THAT tone with me!!!
But, but... I wanna know!
I finished Damnation - great read. Started Corpse - creepy read about a serial killer(s), but you have to suspend your belief from the get go. But Brite's writing is catchy.
And total non sequitur, working on the weekend sucks ass... 
I've been stuck here since 9:30 - I gotta get out of the office soon...
Yeah.
I already mentioned this to JM, but...I finished Corpse - it was good, not great. However, there came a point where I was felt she was just writing certain scenes - both the sex and graphic violence - for the shock value and not to move the story along. Like, "oh, I'm so cutting edge and only prudes will have a problem with what I write." Actually, that's how I felt about Vigil/Quinn's "Faust" too - like, in trying to be "oh so hip and daring," Quinn and Brite forgot that the writing had to be good and scenes should be written to get the story along.
Still, I would give Brite another shot - after I get through the stack of other books I bought...
Stephen King's newest book, Lisey's Story came out today - just picked it up on the way to work...
NYTimes review of the book...
HTTP://WWW.NYTIMES.COM/2006/10/23/BOOKS/23MASL.HTMLBOOKS OF THE TIMES | 'LISEY'S STORY'
Her Story of Him, Both Tender and Terrible
By JANET MASLIN
Published: October 23, 2006
This sentence is about to do the unthinkable: connect James Joyce and Stephen King. The comparison is not made for reasons of poetry, audacity or soul-searching: Mr. Joyce has a definite leg up in all those departments. But Mr. King has delivered his version of Joycean wordplay, idiosyncrasy, voluptuousness and stubborn, obsessive chronology in “Lisey’s Story.”
Here is a tender, intimate book that makes an epic interior journey without covering much physical terrain. It can move great distances while traveling no further than from a house (home to lonely Lisey Landon, the widow of a Writer á la King) to its neighboring barn (the late writer’s “mostly benign one-boy clubhouse”). The scope sounds modest, yet this book is haunting even by Mr. King’s standards. And he knows a thing or two about haunting.
This is no occasion to make great literary claims for Mr. King, or even to exalt his linguistic experimentation. His use of language in “Lisey’s Story” is so larded with baby talk that it borders on the pathological. Here is a writer who has a thousand ways of naming a toilet, and whose work can thus be an acquired taste. But “Lisey’s Story” transcends the toidy-talk to plumb thoughts of love, mortality and madness — and to deliver them with gale-force emotion. When Mr. King writes in a coda to this blunt but stunning book that “much here is heartfelt, very little is clever,” he is telling the truth.
“Lisey’s Story” sounds like Mr. King’s most honest work — even more than “On Writing,” his candid, common-sense literary credo, or the first part of “Dreamcatcher,” which described a physical calamity very much like what he suffered (in 1999) after he was hit and nearly killed by a van. In “Lisey’s Story” he takes that near-death experience one step further and kills off Scott Landon, stellar novelist. Lisey’s public role as the great man’s wife is best summed up by a photo of Scott in which only half of Lisey’s loafer is visible on the side of the picture.
Despite its title, and in keeping with Scott’s dominance in life, even Lisey’s so-called story is largely about him. He does not need to be physically present to make his mark. For Lisey, Scott lives “in her mind’s eye (where the past is always present).” And he lives in the pervasive, spooky sense that he has left her a legacy of hints, warnings and messages — not just in the real world but in a fantasy realm they have visited together.
Scott is of course also present in his writing. And the residue of his career looms large in her life. The one commonplace, garden-variety part of “Lisey’s Story” is a subplot that has Lisey menaced by a sadistic creep. But this sadistic creep, unlike most, is interested in acquiring the unpublished letters and papers of a big-deal author.
The greater part of “Lisey’s Story” is about Lisey and Scott’s long union. And Mr. King describes it in passionate yet wonderfully quotidian ways. “I come to you and you see me whole,” Scott told Lisey when he proposed marriage in 1979 — and the moment is as alive for her now as it was back then. “You love me all the way around the equator and not just for some story I wrote. When your door closes and the world’s outside, we’re eye to eye.” This book goes beyond those words to give a palpable sense of their enduring love affair.
It was deeply romantic, but also very strange. It should surprise none of Mr. King’s readers that Scott Landon, beneath the popular and presentable surface, beyond “his forehead, behind which all the exotic storyfish swim,” was one weird dude. The mind that generated all those wild (and wildly salable) horror fantasies was full of anguish, and “Lisey’s Story” hooks its narrative momentum to the gradual revelation of what Scott’s torment was like. The book loves Lisey enough to believe that once she gets to the bottom of Scott’s psyche she will be free to live a life of her own.
Now we get the “gonzo-bonkie” stuff (in one of Mr. King’s tamer locutions). Scott’s memories of his monstrous father have driven him to catatonia and worse. They will dredge up unspeakable memories before the book is over, and Lisey’s true capacity as a helpmate will be tested. In this marriage, more than just a secret language is shared; Scott’s pain is also something that belongs to both of them. She begins to enter into his private world of terrible memories, thoughts which reduced the living, adult Scott to talking like a terrified child.
“Lisey’s Story” also has a warmly candid sense of Lisey’s dealings with her several sisters, one of whom is nearly 60 and begins, quite startlingly, to channel Scott’s vocabulary from beyond the grave. She also shares Scott’s way of staring blankly into the distance — “or into the mystic, if you were a Van Morrison fan,” Mr. King writes. When Lisey learns that Scott consulted a doctor to arrange for this sister’s medical care “she wondered at what point in the conversation the doctor had asked Scott where he got his ideas.” In the midst of its capacity to shock and ravish, “Lisey’s Story” also has keen, witty insight into the world of a writerly superstar.
As Mr. King’s coda explains, “Lisey’s Story” is full of references to books, songs, poems and movies, all of which add up to the world that had meaning for Scott. Some of these allusions are more mischievous than others. Surely Lisey’s smoking Salem Lights has something to do with the way that “Salem’s Lot,” the second King novel and great early hit, rocked Stephen and Tabitha King’s world.
I've been slacking on my book reading lately, trying to catch up on all my comic reading instead. Last couple of books I read were a few Max Allan Collins novels (including "Road to Purgatory" which was excellent) and a couple of PAD ST novels. I'm still trying to slog my way through Larry McMurtry's Berrybender Chronicles, but his narrative style on these books keeps throwing me off. Someday. They're certainly nowhere near as good as his Lonesome Dove novels...Also picked up the mmpb of Anansi Boys today. Can't wait to get to that one. My copy of Devil in the White City keeps staring at me from the shelf also. Picked it up a couple of years ago, but still haven't gotten around to it. You'd think that since I've got an average of four or five hours of down-time a night at my job I'd get more read, but I keep getting distracted...Plus my Chief has finally decided to enforce the "no recreational materials on post" clause in our orders, so I'll have to wait awhile till that blows over again...*sigh*
Well, I had stopped reading it after 8 pages, then
picked it up again and stayed up very late last night finishing "Runaway Robot", by Lester Del Rey. Very good book about a 16 year old boy named Paul and his robot, Rex, whom his father had purchased when Paul was three years old while he was Governer of a city on Ganymede, 3rd of the 4 Galelian moons of Jupiter.
The family is going back to Earth..but Paul's robot, Rex, would cost too much to ship to there. It's the story of how Paul and Rex run away in order to be able to stay together.
Very good book! Now I'll have to get another book out of my collection. It feels good to be reading again!
I'm about 350 pages into The Fountainhead (or "Ayn Rands big book of rape and sexual deviancy"). Its good, but it goes over a lot of the same stuff thats in Atlas Shrugged.
I picked up The Martian Chronicles today. I should start on it soon.
The Fountainhead is, essentially, Atlas Shrugged. It's just a narrower scope of vision as far as her philosophy goes.
Now well into "The Man in the High Castle" by PKD.
I need to either pick out a book from my collection or re- read "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel", as it is my fave book, and I haven't read it in years!
just picked up the moon and sixpence.
I'm re - reading " Have Space Suit, Will Travel", by Robert Heinlein, published in 1958.
Am thinking of starting to read the Alex Cross series by James Patterson. The new one came out today and I loved the movie Kiss the Girls... any thoughts?
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Beardguy57 said:
I'm re - reading " Have Space Suit, Will Travel", by Robert Heinlein, published in 1958.
I like Heinlein. Have so far read "Sixth Column", his 3rd (2nd to be published) novel about an 'Pan-Asian' invasion of the USA and the resistance movement which fights it, "Double Star", a SF version of Mark Twain's 'Prince and the Pauper' which is also an allegory for the Civil Rights Movement, and "Citizen of the Galaxy", an SF version of Rudyard Kipling's 'Kim' about a boy's struggle against slavery.
Have finished reading "The Man In The High Castle" and "Blade Runner" by PKD, the dystopic "A Story of Days To Come" by H.G. Wells and "Modesty Blaise" by Peter O'Donnel. All good reads.
Now well into a Bulldog Drummond (a proto-James Bond) novel by Cyril McNeile 'Sapper' and a sci-fi novel by Australian author Bertram Chandler.
Welp I just finished reading Anansi Boys last week. It was good, but not great, compared to American Gods. Still good Gaiman worth reading.
Before that I read The Confessions of Max Tivoli, by I believe Sean Andrew Greer This was the best book I've read in a long while. I highly recommend reading it to everyone. It's about a boy born with a disease that makes him appear to age backwards, he starts life looking like an old man and ends up looking like a child. The story focuses on him and a woman he falls in love with, and how he tries to win her over each time he meets her in his life. She never recognizes him because of the disease.
And finally right now I'm in the middle of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
I should be done with the Fountainhead this week. Its surprised me and got good in the last part. I'll post a review soon.
Once I'm done with that I plan on catch up with all the other reading I've been putting off.
Just finished Max Brooks' World War Z, which was a fantastic read. Now I'm reading Theodore Sturgeon's Some Of Your Blood. Dunno what to make of it yet.
Reading "Footfall" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Could've been shorter, but most of it is thrilling so far.
Have finished "The Temple Tower" by Cyril McNeile "Sapper". Pretty good plot.
Almost done with Andrew Vachss' Mask Market. Another great Burke novel. Next up is Tim Waggoner's Darkness Wakes.
I hope to be reading HANNIBAL RISING by Thomas Harris by the end of this week.
Have finished "Footfall" and "The 39 steps" by John Buchan. Good stuff.
Now reading "Nemesis" by Isaac Asimov and "Beyond This Horizon", Robert A Heinlein's 2nd novel (the 1st to be published).
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Captain Sweden said:
Have finished "Footfall" and "The 39 steps" by John Buchan. Good stuff.
Now reading "Nemesis" by Isaac Asimov and "Beyond This Horizon", Robert A Heinlein's 2nd novel (the 1st to be published).
Heinlein is my favorite author. Love his older stuff, up to about 1960 best!
Asimov is pretty cool, too.
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Beardguy57 said:
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Captain Sweden said:
Have finished "Footfall" and "The 39 steps" by John Buchan. Good stuff.
Now reading "Nemesis" by Isaac Asimov and "Beyond This Horizon", Robert A Heinlein's 2nd novel (the 1st to be published).
Heinlein is my favorite author. Love his older stuff, up to about 1960 best!
Asimov is pretty cool, too.
I rate Asimov as my favorite, but if I had read Heinlein's juveniles as a kid my opinion might have been different.
Now reading "The Puppet Masters" by Heinlein and LoTR by J.R.R. Tolkien. Starting to read LoTR again (from where I last read) has been a New Years Eve promise to myself.
I'm re-reading Gaiman's American Gods. After that I'll probably pick up The Ruins by Scott Smith.
I got a veritable shitload of reading material for Xmas...
The last 3 RISING STARS tpbs.
Anne Perry's latest Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mystery, LONG SPOON LANE.
HANNIBAL RISING
a couple of GET FUZZY compilations
I just don't know where to start LOL.
Just finished Micheal Crichton's Next. Really awesome book on some 'what ifs' concerning genetics. The only thing is that there's a ton of characters...but it a way it's okay because they're all connected in the end. It just lacks a leading role (like Dr. Grant in Jurassic Park). All in all, another Crichton hit.
Cool. I wanted to pick that one up but wasn't sure if it was good or not. Have you read State of Fear yet?
State of Fear got misplaced during the move. Knowing my luck, it's probably with the plates.
Then go open the boxes labeled plates and read the book.
I...er...didn't label any of my boxes.
Yeah, I know, what was I thinking. I'm missing half my winter wardrobe, thank goodness it's been a mild winter.
I'm reading more Bradbury, currently on Something Wicked This Way Comes. I haven't been that impressed with his stuff so far. F451 is his only book I've really enjoyed.
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rex said:
I'm reading more Bradbury, currently on Something Wicked This Way Comes. I haven't been that impressed with his stuff so far. F451 is his only book I've really enjoyed.
I'm a big fan of Bradbury but I hate Something Wicked [...]. I suggest you check out the October Country collection of shorts - it has some good ones. The Illustrated Man is wonderful.
The Illustrated Man is the one I was gonna read next.
Last night I started Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere." I got halfway through by 11pm and am about to go read more. My favorite line so far was when Mr.V and Mr.C kill the V[...] guy (the Hunter had just pwned him) and the description went something like, "huge quantities of blood pooled out of him for he was a large man and had been keeping it all inside."
I give it no justice but I do't want to look it back up.
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rex said:
The Illustrated Man is the one I was gonna read next.
That's probably his best. It has this great story in it about space guys on Venus in the rain... one of my favorite stories by him. That and the opening short (I think) Veldt or something - with the kids and their nanny/playroom.
Better than F451? I don't know how he could top that book. Have you read that one?
Read it? I've had to buy it three times because I've worn it out from reading it (that and I dislike HC). While I adore Farenheit 451, it is farther from Bradbury's typical style - his comfort zone, if it may be. F.451 and Something Wicked are the only two novel stories he ever wrote, to my knowledge (since Illustrated Man is mostly a collection of shorts despite being tied together by one main short - and Martian Chronicals are based on the same idea but still a collection of shorts - and I never read Dandilion Wine so I dunno what that is - but now I have to take this all back because also did that one Halloween Tree which follwed the same pattern as Illustrated Man....
As my train of thought has derailed, yes. I love Farenheit 451 madly.
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Uschi said:
Last night I started Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere." I got halfway through by 11pm and am about to go read more. My favorite line so far was when Mr.V and Mr.C kill the V[...] guy (the Hunter had just pwned him) and the description went something like, "huge quantities of blood pooled out of him for he was a large man and had been keeping it all inside."
I give it no justice but I do't want to look it back up.
Neverwhere is second only to Good Omens as my favorite novel by Gaiman.
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Uschi said:
Read it? I've had to buy it three times because I've worn it out from reading it (that and I dislike HC). While I adore Farenheit 451, it is farther from Bradbury's typical style - his comfort zone, if it may be. F.451 and Something Wicked are the only two novel stories he ever wrote, to my knowledge (since Illustrated Man is mostly a collection of shorts despite being tied together by one main short - and Martian Chronicals are based on the same idea but still a collection of shorts - and I never read Dandilion Wine so I dunno what that is - but now I have to take this all back because also did that one Halloween Tree which follwed the same pattern as Illustrated Man....
As my train of thought has derailed, yes. I love Farenheit 451 madly.
I read it (and reviewed it, link in my signature) a couple months ago and instantly loved it. Its currently one of my three favorite books (along with Atlas Shrugged and High Fidelity). I've been recommending the hell out if it to everyone I know.
Jesus yes. Good Omens inspired me to live again. It also got me into Terry Pratchett.
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Uschi said:
Read it? I've had to buy it three times because I've worn it out from reading it (that and I dislike HC). While I adore Farenheit 451, it is farther from Bradbury's typical style - his comfort zone, if it may be. F.451 and Something Wicked are the only two novel stories he ever wrote, to my knowledge (since Illustrated Man is mostly a collection of shorts despite being tied together by one main short - and Martian Chronicals are based on the same idea but still a collection of shorts - and I never read Dandilion Wine so I dunno what that is - but now I have to take this all back because also did that one Halloween Tree which follwed the same pattern as Illustrated Man....
As my train of thought has derailed, yes. I love Farenheit 451 madly.
If IIRC Dandelion Wine is a mainstream/non-genre novel, propably about Bradbury himself.
Found an article here:
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Dandelion Wine
Followed by Something Wicked This Way Comes and Farewell Summer
For other uses, see Dandelion Wine (disambiguation).
Dandelion Wine is a 1957 semi-autobiographical novel by Ray Bradbury, taking place in the summer of 1928 in the fictional town of Green Town, Illinois — a pseudonym for Bradbury's childhood home of Waukegan, Illinois.
The title refers to a wine made with dandelion petals and other ingredients, commonly citrus fruit. In the story, dandelion wine, as made by the protagonist's grandfather, serves as a metaphor for packing all of the joys of summer into a single bottle.
The main character of the story is Douglas Spaulding, a 12-year-old boy loosely patterned after Bradbury. Most of the book is focused upon the routines of small-town America, and the simple joys of yesteryear.
[edit] Background and origins
As Bradbury writes in "Just This Side of Byzantium," a 1974 essay used as an introduction to the book, Dandelion Wine is a recreation of a boy's childhood, based upon an intertwining of Bradbury's actual experiences and his unique imagination.
Farewell Summer, the official sequel to Dandelion Wine, was published in October of 2006. While Farewell Summer is a direct continuation of the plot of Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes, a novel with a completely different plot and characters, is often paired with the latter because of their stylistic and thematic similarities. Together, the three novels form a Green Town trilogy.
[edit] Plot summary
Dandelion Wine is a series of short stories loosely connected to summer occurrences, with Douglas and his family as recurring characters. Many of the chapters were first published as individual short stories, the earliest being The Night (1946), with the remainder appearing between 1950 and 1957. For chapters who began as short stories, their original titles are given in parentheses below.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Chapter 1 — Douglas wakes up early on the first day of summer and performs an elaborate series of actions that coincide with the lightening of the sky and awakening of the townspeople. He does this in such a way that implies magic, thus setting the basis of the novel as collections of life events tinged with a degree of fantasy.
Chapter 2 (Illumination) — Douglas goes with his ten-year-old brother Tom and his father to pick fox grapes. While Tom and his father act like today is just an ordinary day, Douglas senses an inexplicable presence around them. When Tom initiates a friendly rough-and-tumble fight between the two of them, Douglas suddenly realizes what it is: the revelation that he's alive. He finds it to be a glorious and liberating feeling.
Chapter 3 (Dandelion Wine) — Dandelion wine is presented as a metaphor of summer here, bottled for the winter season of illnesses and wheezing. In Douglas' words: "Dandelion wine. The words were summer on the tongue. The wine was summer caught and stoppered."
Chapter 4-5 (Summer in the Air) — Douglas discovers that his feet won't move as fast as that of the other boys because his sneakers are worn out. He becomes entranced by a pair of brand-new Cream-Sponge Para Litefoot Shoes in a shop window, and thinks on how the need for a "magic" pair of sneakers to run in the green grass is something only boys can understand when his father argues against buying another. The local shoe seller, Mr. Sanderson, is initially resistant to selling the sneakers to Douglas, especially since he doesn't even have enough money to pay for them upfront. Douglas, however, convinces him to try on a pair of his own sneakers, which triggers memories in Mr. Sanderson of when he was a kid and ran like the antelopes and gazelles. He agrees to let Douglas have the sneakers in return for work done by him in the shop to pay off the bill. The story ends with Douglas speeding away in the distance and Mr. Sanderson picking up his discarded old sneakers.
Chapter 6 — Douglas shows to Tom a tablet that he is using to record his summer in, under two sections labeled "Rites and Ceremonies" and "Discoveries and Revelations." The contents are what would be expected for a kid, including a "relevation" that kids and grown-ups don't get along with each other because they're "separate races and 'never the twain shall meet.'" Tom suggests a revelation of his own; that night is created from "shadows crawling under five billion trees."
Chapter 7 (Season of Sitting) — Another ritual of summer is accomplished with the setting up of the porch swing as a place for night-long conversation. Douglas comments on how sitting in the porch swing feels somehow "right" because one would always be comforted by the droning, ceaseless voices of the adults. In keeping up with the fantasy-tinged atmosphere of the novel, the chapter gradually shifts from a realistic beginning, in which the family is setting up the swing, to an almost dreamlike conclusion, in which the grown-ups' voices are personified as drifting on into the future.
Chapter 8-9 (The Happiness Machine) — Leo Auffmann, listening to elderly people's gloomy and fatalistic conversations, insists that they should not dwell on such miserable topics. Douglas and his father, passing by, suggest to Leo that he should make a Happiness Machine. After the conversing people laugh at this apparently absurd idea, Leo becomes determined to do just that. A brief scene of him returning to his family of six children indicates his happiness at home, exemplified when his wife Lena asks, "Something's wrong?" after Leo expresses his desire to build a Happiness Machine.
Chapter 10 (The Night) — Interposed between Leo's story is another tale referring to Douglas' family. It starts out relatively uneventfully, with Tom running to Mrs. Singer's store to get ice cream at nine o'clock on the same night for him and Douglas. However, by nine-thirty, Douglas has not returned, which causes his worried mother to venture to the ravine with Tom. Tom, despite the darkness of the night, feels safe because he is holding his mother's hand and also because he has little understanding of Death. His sense of security, however, vanishes when he feels his mother's hand tremble and realizes that she is afraid, like him. The ensuing revelation that apparently unfazed grown-ups feel loneliness and pain too unnerves him and makes him aware of the darkness surrounding them. Just before he feels overwhelmed, Douglas and his friends return, breaking the spell of aloneness. Tom later tells Douglas that the ravine would not belong in Leo's Happiness Machine, thus contrasting the pleasures humans wish for with the realities they receive instead.
Chapter 11 (The Happiness Machine–continued) — In a relatively short chapter, Leo sits with his wife Lena on the porch swing in the night. Lena tells him that they don't need a Happiness Machine, but Leo says that he's going to build the Machine for others that would cure all melancholy. He is greeted with only silence, but is too preoccupied with noting the sounds of nature that would belong in the Machine to notice this foreshadowing.
Chapter 12 (The Lawns of Summer) — Another interception of Leo's story which re-focuses on the Spaulding family; Douglas' grandfather begins the day, happily reveling in the sound of the lawn mower running on their lawn, an indicator to him that summer has truly begun. Grandma, however, tells him that Bill Forrester, the man cutting their grass, is planning to plant new grass on their lawn that will only grow to a certain height, thus eliminating the need for lawn mowers. (Note: no such grass actually exists yet in the real world) Horrified at this, Grandpa gives Bill a firm lecture on how little things can matter more than the big ones, especially to experienced people like him. Bill attempts to change his mind, but only convinces Grandpa further of his position when he learns that the new grass will kill off the dandelions.
Grandpa finally pays Bill the cost of the grass flats in return for him not installing the flats in his lawn. He wakes up the next day to find Bill still cutting the lawn, having learned to appreciate the "little things," thanks to Grandpa.
Chapter 13 (The Happiness Machine — continued) — Leo, still obsessed with creating the Happiness Machine, asks Lena if she is "pleased, contented, joyful, [or] delighted." Lena gives a sarcastic reply which offends Leo who is taking his goal seriously, and they get into an argument. The squabble ends only when Lena realizes that she's burned their dinner for the first time in twenty years.
Leo then spends several weeks toiling in his garage to build his Happiness Machine. During this time, the state of his family disintegrates, but Leo is too busy with his invention to pay attention to his wife's warnings.
At last, Leo completes his Happiness Machine. Ironically, the Machine turns out to cause misery instead of the expected bliss, causing both Saul, his son, and Lena to weep after sitting in it. Lena explains to him that a Happiness Machine cannot be built for humans because it would only give them everything they wanted all the time, and produce no fulfillment. Furthermore, it makes them pine for things they shouldn't even be thinking about, such as when a dancing stimulation in the Machine caused her to miss the times when Leo would take her out for dances, hence causing them to feel only unhappiness about their lives. Leo, still disbelieving, decides to take a test run in the Machine himself, but just as he is about to do so, the Machine catches fire, and burns down to the ground.
After the incident, Leo comments to Douglas and his father that he's been a fool because the real Happiness Machine has been right in front of him all along. He shows them his newfound Happiness Machine running in perfect order — his family.
Chapter 14 — As the Spaulding family prepares to shake out the rugs, Douglas and Tom's imaginations turn this chore into a magical discovery, fancying that they see the happenings and neighbors in their town in the stains of one rug. A lavish metaphor at the end of the chapter describes Tom beating the rug so hard that the dust rises up to meet him, another surrealistic chapter ending possibly a reference to the Judeo-Christian belief that man was created from dust.
Chapter 15-16 (Season of Disbelief) — Mrs. Bentley, a seventy-two year old woman who saves all memorabilia from her past, finds her beliefs challenged by two girls named Alice and Jane, who meet her along with Tom and don't believe her when she says that she was young like them once. Claiming that she's lying, they run away laughing, leaving Mrs. Bentley infuriated.
The next time they meet, Mrs. Bentley shows them some of her relics, including a photograph of her as a child. Alice and Jane say that the objects don't prove anything, since she could have got them from another girl, and Mrs. Bentley's insistence that they will one day be old like her fails to unnerve them. They run away with her "stolen" possessions, further shaking Mrs. Bentley's confidence in the authenticity of her childhood. As she sifts through her memorabilia, she hears the voice of her husband speaking to her, explaining that the items don't really belong to her because they came from the past, not from the present she is living in now. Even affidavits wouldn't change the fact that she's no longer the self that the saved clothes and pictures were meant for.
Mrs. Bentley finally understands, and discards the tokens of her past the next day with the help of the girls and Tom. From then on, she lives in the present only, confirming the girls' belief that she was never young "in a million trillion years."
In a following chapter, Tom later tells Douglas of his relevation that old people never truly were young, which Douglas writes down in his tablet.
Chapter 17-18 (The Last, the Very Last) — Douglas and Tom are introduced to a living "Time Machine" in the form of Colonel Freeleigh who narrates incredibly vivid descriptions of his personal experiences, including a fatal bullet trick performed by Ching Ling Soo, being on the prairie with Pawnee Bill, and witnessing the Battle of Fort Sumter. His anecdotes draw the boys themselves into the detailed events, and all agree that the colonel is a true Time Machine.
Similar to the previous story in Chapter 14, there is an expository chapter in which Douglas and Tom record the story in Douglas' tablet and provide both casual and profound commentary on its implications.
Chapter 19 (The Green Machine) — Two elderly women, Miss Fern and Miss Roberts, take refuge in their attic after they accidentally run over Mister Quartermain while riding the Green Machine, believing him to be dead. Huddling together, they recall the time when they bought the Green Machine from a salesman as a noiseless, smooth form of transportation. The first week on the Green Machine went by like a dream, until the accident with Mister Quartermain. Fern and Roberts lament on how they did not stop or at least get help for him, and then resolve to not drive the Green Machine ever again. Later on, they learn that Mister Quartermain did not die after all.
Chapter 20 (The Trolley) — Douglas is horrified to find out that yet another form of transportation for the summer is about to be gone; the trolley run by Mr. Tridden, which will have its tracks replaced with new ones for a bus. Mr. Tridden offers the children a free ride, and Douglas, Tom, and their friend Charlie take it. During the ride, they comment on how a bus cannot emulate the feel and smell of a trolley, further emphasized by use of gorgeous imagery to describe the sights the boys see while in the trolley. When the trip concludes, Douglas reflects on how he will always remember the trolley tracks, even after they have been buried in reality. In a humorous reversal, the somber meditation on the vanishing of the trolley is punctuated by a brief snippet of Douglas agreeing to a game of kick the can, abruptly ending the chapter on a lighthearted note.
Chapter 21-22 (Statues — created for novel) — Douglas' best friend John Huff is introduced and described in this chapter as the ideal boy to be friends with. John, however, tells Douglas that his family will be moving tomorrow. In response to Douglas' protests, John comments on how he has suddenly realized that he's taken so many things for granted in his neighborhood that he can't remember most of them, including his parents' faces, and on how he's afraid that Douglas will similarly forget him. Douglas assures him that he has a perfect memory of his face, but ruins his claim when he can't remember that John's eyes are green.
Douglas attempts to enjoy his last day with John, but keeps on being reminded of the diminishing amount of time before John's departure. He tries a last-ditch effort to keep John from leaving by "freezing" him for three hours when the children play Statues. John refuses to play along and instead begins another round of Statues, in which he "freezes" Douglas instead just before he leaves for good. After he realizes that John is gone for good, Douglas, thinking of how statues stay still compared to humans who can't be controlled, yells out into the distance that he hates John.
Another expository chapter, this one the shortest yet at only one page, has Douglas asking Tom to promise that he will stay with him. He also says that he's concerned about how God runs the world, to which Tom replies simply, "He tries," most likely an accepting remark that life isn't perfect.
Chapter 23-24 — Elmira Brown, a high-strung woman, believes that Clara Goodwater, her rival for the position of president for the Honeysuckle Ladies Lodge, is a witch who is causing her numerous small accidents, including tripping over objects in front of her. Elmira accuses Clara of performing dark magic on her to sabotage her chances in the election, using information from her mailman husband about a stack of books for magic spells that was sent to her house. Clara, in response, says that the books are for her younger cousin, and claims that Elmira's accidents are caused by her own clumsiness. Unconvinced, Elmira brews a potion for herself to counter Clara's "dark magic," and brings Tom with her to the ladies' meeting as her "charm."
The potion, however, does not stop her from continuing to knock things over, and she in fact begins to feel strangely disoriented as she talks on the platform. Elmira loses the election yet again to Clara, who then draws from her purse a voodoo doll with several tacks embedded in it. A dazed Elmira asks Tom to show her the way to the restroom, but she makes a wrong turn and tumbles down a flight of stairs. Miraculously, she has no broken bones despite heavy bruises, and Clara apologizes to her and even offers a second vote to elect her as president. The story ends with all the women running up the stairs, laughing and crying at the same time. It is left unclear on whether Elmira's fall was caused by mental disorder, nausea after drinking her "potion," or real witchcraft by Clara.
Another one-page chapter shows Tom telling Douglas about his weird encounter with the ladies at the lodge, and they comment on how the town is full of magic, illustrating how kids view events differently than grown-ups do.
Chapter 25-26 (The Window) — Colonel Freeleigh, the same "Time Machine" the boys listened to in Chapter 17, has been confined to a hospital for his weakening health. His sole comfort is a phone in his room that he can use to dial the number of an old friend in Mexico City who lays his phone on an open window to allow him to hear the bustling noises outside. When the nurse learns of his phone calls, she tells him that she will give orders to take the phone away to prevent him from overworking his heart further. A desperate Freeleigh, feeling his chest pains worsen, dials his friend's number once more, begging for one last listening to the sounds of the city people. As his friend does so, Freeleigh immerses himself in the activity of Mexico City, thinking of how grateful he is for this reminder that the world is still alive and moving. When Douglas and the other children stop by for a visit, they find Freeleigh dead, still holding the phone. Douglas listens to the phone in time to hear "two thousand miles away, the closing of a window," a metaphor for Freeleigh's death.
In the following chapter, Douglas sits silently as Tom pretends to be a Civil War soldier, pondering on how with Colonel Freeleigh's death, all of his memories of the historical figures died too. Tom, however, fails to share in his brooding, only suggesting that he write his thoughts down in his tablet before resuming his play.
Chapter 27 — July has ended, and thirty-one bottles of dandelion wine have been made. Douglas, remembering his recent string of losses of friends and machines, wonders why each bottle looks identical and not representative of the day it was made on. He says out loud that August will be tedious and uneventful, to which his grandfather attempts to remedy his melancholy with a swig of dandelion wine and some ordered exercises.
Chapter 28-29 (The Swan) — Bill Forrester, with Douglas at his side, orders lime-vanilla ice at the soda fountain. His unusual request catches the attention of ninety-five year old Helen Loomis who invites him to visit her house tomorrow. Bill complies, and he and Helen start a friendly conversation about the appearances people keep up for each other, that soon diverges into Loomis acting as a "Time Machine" similar to Colonel Freeleigh to transport Bill into the pyramids of Egypt. Bill comments on how comfortable he feels talking to her, and Helen replies by reminding him that she's only an old woman. While lounging in his chair, Bill attempts to envision her as being young again; he succeeds for a moment in seeing "the swan," which he unintentionally says out loud, strangely disquieting Helen.
Bill continues to visit Helen every day for two and a half weeks, but only on the last day does he tell her what motivated him to visit her in the first place: a photograph taken of her when she was twenty. He had seen the picture in the newspaper for the town ball and intended to go to the ball to seek the beautiful girl it showed, until someone told him that the picture had been taken a long time ago and had been used by the newspaper every year since then to advertise the ball. Helen replies with an overview of a young man she once knew in her youth who was handsome but wild and reckless; he left her, but when she saw Bill at the fountain that day, she was strongly reminded of him — almost as if he was a reincarnation of her former companion.
Some time later, Bill finds Helen writing a letter addressed to him. Helen explains to him that she will be dead in a few days, and that the letter she is writing will come to him then. When Bill attempts to protest about the lack of time they have had together, Helen says that she believes that they will meet again sometime later — possibly in reincarnated forms. She tells him to marry and live happily, but says that he has to die before the age of fifty in order to ensure that when they are reincarnated, they will be of the correct ages and be able to meet and fall in love with each other.
Two days later, Bill receives the letter. Inside it is a note reading, "A dish of lime-vanilla ice."
The next chapter shifts back to the viewpoint of Douglas, who asks Tom on how come Mr. Forrester and Mrs. Loomis did not get a happy ending, as in the movies. However, the boys' attentions are quickly distracted from the subject when they arrive at Summer's Ice House, and turn to the legend of the Lonely One in the town, acting as an introduction to the next story.
Chapter 30-31 (The Whole Town's Sleeping) — Lavinia Nebbs goes out for the evening with her friends Francine and Helen to see a movie, but their outing is interrupted with their discovery of the dead body of Elizabeth Ramsell with her tongue sticking out, a telltale sign of the work of the Lonely One, a murderer known in Green Town for targeting attractive young women. Francine and Helen are distressed and concerned for their safety, but Lavinia is surprisingly nonchalant and calm about the whole thing. In fact, she seems to view the incident as a dash of excitement in her life, even after she learns that the druggist gave her name and address to a mysterious man. Continuing to insist that she is not in any real danger, Lavinia refuses to allow Francine and Helen to follow her home, causing Helen to suggest that she might actually want to die. Walking home alone, Lavinia declines the offer of a policeman to escort her, and starts across the ravine, breaking into a mad dash when her imagination begins playing tricks on her. She finally reaches home, safe and sound — until she realizes that she's not alone in her house.
In the expository chapter, it is revealed in the conversation between Doug, Tom, and Charlie that Lavinia killed the Lonely One by stabbing him with a pair of sewing scissors. Charlie berates Lavinia for killing off their main source of thrills, but Tom convinces him that the actual Lonely One is still alive because the man they took in looked like "a plain, everyday man who wouldn't pull the wings off even so much as a fly," instead of the tall, bulgy-eyed monster they think he should look like. Neither of them listen to Douglas who says that he was at the ravine at that time and witnessed Lavinia discovering Elizabeth's body, and thus can no longer treat the Lonely One as just an amusingly scary figure.
Chapter 32 (Good-by, Grandma) — Douglas' great-grandma, after countless years of assisting her family, feels that her time is expiring with a growing tiredness. She lies down in her bed amidst the protests of her relatives, waiting for her death. When Douglas asks her who's going to do all the chores she did around the house, she says that they belong to anyone who wants them, and reminds him that she will not truly be dead in his mind. As her family leaves her to rest alone, she returns back to the dream she was in before she was born, dying happily and peacefully.
Chapter 33 — Disillusioned by the recent deaths and losses, Douglas, by the light of a multitude of fireflies, writes for a long time on the shortcomings of things and people, associating them mainly with breaking down (machines) or death (people). He seems to be on the verge of a great revelation as he quickly scribbles at the end a summary of the dark side of his summer experience:
"SO IF TROLLEYS AND RUNABOUTS AND FRIENDS AND NEAR FRIENDS CAN GO AWAY FOR A WHILE OR GO AWAY FOREVER, OR RUST, OR FALL APART OR DIE, AND IF PEOPLE CAN BE MURDERED, AND IF SOMEONE LIKE GREAT-GRANDMA, WHO WAS GOING TO LIVE FOREVER, CAN DIE…IF ALL OF THIS IS TRUE…THEN…I, DOUGLAS SPAULDING, SOME DAY, MUST…"
However, the fireflies' light has gone out, so Douglas stops writing and releases the fireflies into the night. He then tries to fall asleep.
Chapter 34 (The Tarot Witch–created for novel) — Douglas takes Tom to the carnival to show him the mechanical Tarot Witch there. When Tom asks him why he wanted him to see her, Douglas says that he asks too many questions. He then thinks to himself that it's because he was initially elated when he realized that he was alive, before he realized that being alive meant that he must die someday too, no matter how much he wants to prevent it. No longer certain about his life, he wants to take comfort in something that he knows never will go away, i.e. the permanent amusements at the carnival. Douglas gets a typical fortune from the Tarot Witch, but the card she gives Tom is blank. Tom suggests that the Witch might have run out of ink, but Douglas insists that the blank card must have some special meaning. Thinking that she might have written a message in invisible ink on the back of the card, Douglas runs a match over it. He accidentally burns up the card in the process, but says that he read a French message from the Witch, calling for help. He comes to the conclusion that the Witch is really a princess trapped in hot wax that someone poured over her.
Douglas plots to "rescue" the Tarot Witch by overloading a machine with coins so that Mr. Black, the carnival manager, will use them to get drunk. Mr. Black, however, goes crazy and smashes the Witch's glass case. Douglas jumps in to stop him; just as Mr. Black is about to attack him with a knife, he passes out from his drinking. Douglas and Tom confiscate the Witch, planning to free her, but just as they reach the ravine, Mr. Black reappears and flings the Witch into the ravine, to Douglas' horror.
Later on in the day, Douglas and Tom return to where the Tarot Witch is lying. Douglas says to Tom that the Witch is really alive, and that someday he will be able to free her from the wax with magic spells so that the Witch will become just another figurine. As he mentions their fortunes, another blank card falls from her sleeve. Douglas exclaims that it must be written with her thanks and a prediction that they will "live forever."
Chapter 35 — Douglas comes upon Tom who is counting the times cicadas buzz every fifteen seconds to measure the temperature. Douglas reads the home thermometer as reading 87°F (31° C), but Tom, after finishing his count, says that it is actually 92° (33° C) Spaulding. Feeling woozy, Douglas begins subconsciously counting to the cicadas' buzzes too.
Chapter 36-38 (Dinner at Dawn) — This story focuses upon Mr. Jonas and his wagon full of discarded objects that he totes around town in the very early morning, allowing people to take what they need from it at no cost; many of them donating some of their old items to the wagon before it moves on forward again.
On a scorchingly hot morning, with the cicadas buzzing louder than normal with the rising temperature, Douglas lies in his bed, burning up with a fever. Tom and his mother attempt to cool him down, to no avail. In his fever, Douglas has hallucinations of long-lost people and machines walking past, including Mr. Tridden and his trolley, Miss Fern and Roberts riding by on their Green Machine, and Colonel Freeleigh popping up like a clock, all waving good-bye to him, which makes him cry out loud.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, Tom tells Mr. Jonas about Douglas' condition and says that he's afraid that he might die. Mr. Jonas gives him a set of wind-chimes to hang by Douglas' window, but they do not make a sound because there is no wind. Mr. Jonas visits the Spaulding residence to see Douglas at seven-thirty, but Douglas' mother says that he is not to be disturbed. By nightfall, Douglas is no better, and his family takes him outside in a cot, in the hope that he will be cooled by a wind.
Finally, at twelve-thirty, Mr. Jonas makes a stop with his wagon where Douglas is sleeping and leaves him two bottles filled with air containing soothing vapor and smells from the tropics and moisture-filled areas, on the condition that he pass this favor on to someone else. The bottles of air appear to work, as Tom finds Douglas breathing the same refreshing air in and out of his nose.
The next morning, the heat and the cicadas finally fade down with the coming of rain, and Douglas is well enough to write in his tablet again of his experience.
Chapter 39 (The Magical Kitchen) — Douglas' grandma is renowned in the household for her divine cooking for the entire family. Aunt Rose, however, threatens this magic when she questions Grandma's methods of cooking, and later persuades Grandma to organize her kitchen, wear glasses, and read from a cookbook while cooking. This systematic cooking that results, however, destroys the uniqueness and magicalness of Grandma's dinners for the rest of the family. In response to this, Grandpa bids Aunt Rose good-bye, but Grandma appears to have lost her touch for cooking.
While the rest of the members are awake in their beds, Douglas sneaks down to the kitchen and restores it back to its original chaos, getting rid of the glasses and the cookbook. The family heads downstairs to find that Grandma has reconnected with her cooking again as it was meant to be, and everyone enjoys a magnificent late dinner. The chapter closes with Douglas thinking on how he repaid Mr. Jonas by passing on his favor.
Chapter 40 (Green Wine for Dreaming–created for novel) — The final chapter of the novel concludes Douglas' summer, as he and Tom spot school supplies advertised for sale in a shop window. The boys reminisce about the events of summer with the aid of the labeled dandelion wine bottles, guaranteeing that they will remember this summer in their hearts. The Spaulding family stores away their porch swing for autumn, as others reverse their summer preparations as the season draws to an end.
The end of the novel echoes the beginning, with Douglas performing his waking-up act in reverse, pretending to switch the lights off and put everyone else to sleep before finally going to sleep himself, ending a very eventful and memorable summer.
[edit] Main characters
Douglas Spaulding — The protagonist of the novel, the entire summer is seen mostly through his eyes as a time of joys and sorrows. Douglas is imaginative, fanciful, and occasionally meditative on the state of the world. Most of the time, he aims to have fun as a 12-year old kid, but sometimes he lapses into philosophical brooding on topics, including life and death, more mature topics than what would be expected of his age. Bradbury has stated that Douglas is based on the childhood version of him, and in fact, "Douglas" is Bradbury's actual middle name.
Tom Spaulding — Douglas' younger brother, Tom is the more logical and skeptical one, often questioning his brother's seemingly inexplicable actions. Tom is also somewhat more childish and naïve than Douglas, often failing to understand the seriousness of Douglas' thoughts about his life; nonetheless, he often acts as the voice of reason when Douglas' imagination gets the better of him.
Charlie — A friend of Douglas and Tom, Charlie often hangs around with them. Charlie sometimes comments on a situation or on the behavior of other characters. Other than that, he gets little character development and acts as more of a side character for Douglas and Tom's adventures.
[edit] Analysis and themes
[edit] Structure of the novel
Dandelion Wine has been described as the first of Bradbury's nostalgic "autobiographical fantasies," in which he recreates the childhood memories of his hometown, Waukegan, in the form of a lyrical work, with realistic plots and settings touched with fantasy to represent the magic and wonders of childhood. Even with the focus on the bright days of summer, Bradbury, in his typical style, briefly explores the horrorific side of these events. The primary example is when Douglas' initial joy at realizing he's alive is dampened by the counter-revelation that he will die someday, which parallels his similar gains of knowledge and losses of companions during his summer.
[edit] Fear and acceptance
For many of the characters in Dandelion Wine, their contentment depends on the level of acceptance of imperfect aspects of their lives that they cannot change. Douglas, for example, realizes that with the knowledge that he is alive also comes the gloomy fact that he also must die. This depresses him to the point of investing his emotions in a carnival machine (the Tarot Witch) when similar investment in humans seems to bring only misery. Eventually, he decides to continue living after Mr. Jonas cures his fever with bottled fresh air. He sums up his experience with a jar labeled RELISH in his grandma's kitchen. The relish of life is the reason he chose to live; it symbolizes the ecstatic and unexpected pleasures that counterbalance the occasional bitterness of life.
Similarly, Mrs. Bentley must learn to give up her fear of old age by accepting that her younger days are permanently gone and that the only thing that matters is the present. Her relinquishment of her childhood relics signifies her liberation from the past and acceptance of her current self.
[edit] Technology
Machines, while not the main theme or motif, do convey a side theme on how technology, no matter how well-crafted or intentioned, is no replacement for human interactions with nature and community, a common theme in Bradbury's works.
The first example of this is when Grandpa tells Bill that a tidy lawn is no compensation for the loss of the simple pleasure of mowing the grass and also the elimination of dandelions, "weeds" valuable in their own way. While Bill initially sees the invention of grass that stays the same length as a time saver, Grandpa embraces the longer and old-fashioned methods because they let him work with his hands and with nature, something a physical invention cannot emulate.
Leo's story further emphasizes this point; he believes that a Happiness Machine will cure all ills, but the Machine does the reverse because he forgot to factor in humans' true needs. The true Happiness Machine he discovers at the end of his story is his family, the ultimate symbol of human intimacy and warmth.
The story of the Happiness Machine can also be contrasted with the “Time Machine,” an old man who nonetheless captivates the boys with his memories of historical events in a way no machine (such as the television) ever could.
[edit] Dandelions
Dandelions are a potent symbol of summer in the novel. While dandelions are only common growths in backyards and viewed by some as weeds, the Spaulding family treat them as valuable possessions, converting them from simple plants into a medicine for winter. The making of dandelion wine thus reflects the pattern of Douglas' summer; events and things that would be seen as mundane by grown-ups gain magic and appreciation through his unbound imagination and thirst for adventure.
Spoilers end here.
[edit] Literary significance and criticism
Please help improve this article by expanding this section.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. Please remove this message once the section has been expanded.
Critics consider Dandelion Wine to be one of Bradbury's best works, most effectively conveying the universal themes prevalent in his works, including spiritual growth and the dangers of technology.
[edit] Film and theatrical adaptations
Bradbury wrote a stage adaptation of Dandelion Wine in 1988.[1]
The novel was also made into a 1997 Russian film adaptation, titled Vino iz oduvanchikov.[2] Currently, there is no English film adaptation available for the book.
[edit] The novel in popular culture
In 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts named a moon crater "Dandelion Crater" for Bradbury's novel.
[edit] Footnotes
^ Earlier stage adaptations of Dandelion Wine were written by other hands.
^ Vino iz oduvanchikov (Dandelion Wine). The film was based on an unauthorized Russian translation of the novel; Article V of the Universal Copyright Convention, to which Russia belongs, allows unauthorized translations of foreign language works for which there is no authorized translation.
[edit] Sources
Reid, Robin Anne (2000). "Ray Bradbury: A Critical Companion." Greenwood Press.
Dandelion Wine: Themes, Motifs, Symbols
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandelion_Wine
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Uschi said:
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rex said:
The Illustrated Man is the one I was gonna read next.
That's probably his best. It has this great story in it about space guys on Venus in the rain... one of my favorite stories by him. That and the opening short (I think) Veldt or something - with the kids and their nanny/playroom.
Liked it a lot too.
Read Martian Chronicles as a kid and liked it then, must re-read it in English some time.
Just bought
The Snow Fox at B&N (along with a hardback edition of Crivhton's
State of Fear, only six bucks).
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780393326529&itm=1Here's the description:
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Lady Utsu, renowned both for her beauty and her cruelty, is the ward of the great Lord Norimasa. While Norimasa has been kind to Utsu, as a test of loyalty he forces her to kill her lover. When Utsu falls in love again, with Norimasa's prot g , the samurai Matsuhito, she flees the palace. Though they are unaware of the coincidence, Utsu and Matsuhito each adopt a pet fox named after the other, as surrogate for and symbol of their yearning. Their poignant reunion decades later in the snow country, mixing bliss and grief, becomes a transfiguring event. Schaeffer creates an atmosphere as delicate and precise as an etching, yet raw with violence. The story is permeated with cultural details, from palace etiquette to the customs of childbirth. It's a world of extreme gentility and utter barbarity: while the upper classes weave poetry into their formal conversations, peasants are slaughtered like animals, and victorious warlords display heads on spikes. As Utsu and Matsuhito experience passion and grief, the plaintive leitmotif is the fleeting nature of life. The plot doubles back upon itself, as Lady Utsu and Matsuhito recall earlier incidents in memory and dreams. This device adds depth, but it also slows the narrative; readers must be patient. In the end, however, the novel achieves a cumulative, transporting magic. Agent, Jean V. Naggar. 6-city author tour. (Feb.) Forecast: This is a perfect dead-of-winter book, and should entice readers with its elegant jacket image of a demure nude. The easy comparison is Memoirs of a Geisha, but Akira Kurosawa's film The Seven Samurai (Schaeffer's original inspiration) is a better reference point.
I'm in a samurai kind of mood at the moment.
Just finished Watchmen for the umpteenth time again today and am still debating what to tackle next. I'm thinking maybe some Brad Meltzer, but am as of yet undecided...
I gave up on Something Wicked This Way comes. I was 80 pages (I almost always give a book 80 to 100 pages before giving up on it) into it and realized I didn't care about anyone in the book and hardly knew what was going on. For whatever reason the book never grabbed my attention. I reserved Next at the library but it will probably be a couple more weeks before its available. I have no clue as to what book I'm gonna read next.
Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett. I love the Discworld books about the Watch and this is the one where it really starts to be the way it ends up. This book introduces Angua and it's the one where Detritus joins.
I started re-reading Catch-22 this week. It's faster the second time through.
I tried that a couple months ago but only read the first couple chapters. I can't remember why I never finished it.
The first time I read it was over an extended four years. I didn't get it until it was over, really. You have to know the pattern or it is just chaos.
The Texan is like Beardguy.
Apart from LoTR:
'Life of Pi' by Yann Martel. Good so far and has a 'classic' feal to it. It's easy to sympathise with the protagonist.
Re-reading 'Sixth Column' from 1942/48 by Robert A. Heinlein. I guess I like to read about how eviiiiiiiil Aseans destroy Western civilisation. Seriously, I think it's because it's easy to read, fast and exciting. Besides the zenophopia toward Japanese (think Pearl Harbour) and Chinese (China becoming Communist), it's IMO uplifting too see how the heroes builds a resistance movement (the title name) in order to regain liberty.
I got away from re - reading " Have Space Suit, Will Travel" ... I put it down for several weeks but got back into an old habit.. reading before I go to bed. ..am almost done the book, and need to pick out another one to read.
I have many unread books to choose from.
Almost done with Brad Meltzer's The Zero Game. Haven't decided what to read next - I'm think maybe some philosophy or theology, mayhaps...
Finished The Snow Fox. If you're a chick that likes samurai movies, this one is for you. And kudos for the writer for not making a generic happy ending. Just don't try to compare it to Memoirs of a Geisha. If this was made into a five-hour anime, I'd be pleased.
Also finished Tom Wolfe's I am Charlotte Simmons. Seeing as how I'm most familiar with his novel The Right Stuff (and the movie with Dennis Quaid), this book was a bit of a surprise. Still, the University of Florida was part of his 'campus tour' to understand college in the 00s.
The book was sort of scary with how many details he got right. Pretty blonde girls messing up their makeup throwing up at a frat party. Left-wing newspaper nerds against jocks and the administration. People with 1500 SATs (I think I scored higher than just about eveyone in my class and I didn't have that score) getting wasted on Friday nights.
Some people complain about Charlotte Simmins being too innocent for the novel. I disagree. Yes, she is a more extreme version of myself when I entered college, but that's not the point. Wolfe needed an extreme character to compare everyone else's extravagance too.
In addition, the other characters were just as interesting. There's a jock, a frat boy, and a nerd...but they're not limited to their titles. The jock wants to learn about Socrates, but he's afraid to because the basketball players are suppose to like studying. The frat boy is like the cricket in an old fable -- he's graduting, but even his 'brothers' can't get him a 90,000 job. He's also a modern-day Lovelace, for those of you familiar with Clarissa. The nerd swings from being likable (shows Charlotte the 'smarter' side of the school) and being creepy (looks up her name online so he can 'bump' into her for a second meeting).
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Beardguy57 said:
I got away from re - reading " Have Space Suit, Will Travel" ... I put it down for several weeks but got back into an old habit.. reading before I go to bed. ..am almost done the book, and need to pick out another one to read.
I have many unread books to choose from.
Reading right before getting to sleep is a great way to end a day.
a very big sherlock holmes collection. hes the greatest...
Next is 'State of Fear'. I'm excited.
Its good. I got the six dollar hardcover the other day. I'll probably read it again soon. Next is reserved at the library but I don't think I'll get it for another couple weeks.
Right now I'm about half way through 'The Fall of Atlantis' by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I've had this book for at least 15 years and have never finished reading it.
It's alright, but the pacing is way off. The spans of time go from single nights that last over chapters to months as you turn a page...with no indication of what is happening when for several paragraphs (often a page or two). It's very disorienting.
Finally finished reading " Have Space Suit, Will Travel ", by Robert Heinlein. Now, I must find another book to read....
And I will soon be reading TheThrawn Trilogy, which covers the time after Jedi ended. Written by Zhan. I got it on Amazon. Com.
I'm looking forward to reading it.
I'm forty pages into it. So far it's a murder mystery with the suggestion of supernatural activity. So far it's a good book.
Reading "Midas World" by Frederik Pohl. It's a series of linked short stories that shows what happens when extremely cheap energy (fusion) and intelligent robots change society. Highly recommended.
Stephen King's The Gunslinger
I'm reading a biography on Kevin Costner called "The Greatest Actor That Ever Lived". Incredible read. It also comes in novella form for Snarf.
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Chewy Walrus said:
Stephen King's The Gunslinger
the man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.
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Grimm said:
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Chewy Walrus said:
Stephen King's The Gunslinger
the man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.
Stoopid ol' gunslinger. STOP PICKIN' ON JOHNNY CASH!!!
Timothy Zahn - The Thrawn Trilogy : Volume 1 - " Heir To The Empire. "
I am told that this is the best set ( 3 books ) of Star Wars books.
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PJP said:
I'm reading a biography on Kevin Costner called "The Greatest Actor That Ever Lived". Incredible read. It also comes in novella form for Snarf.
Okay, I liked State of Fear. Started out really slow with some so-so characters, but it all worked out in the end. Very thought-provoking, which made up for the Crichton's usual flat characters (not to knock him, love his books, but he uses stock characters a lot).
I think I liked Next better, simply because I find genetics more exciting than global warming. That being said, these two books were also about science and politics in the new century -- something hinted at in his earlier books, but not with the same force.
finished Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury.
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Grimm said:
finished Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury.
That's a very good book.
it is. and not nearly stocked in stores enough.
I tried reading it a couple weeks ago. Couldn't get into it. I'll probably try it again sometime.
I bought The October Country some week ago. Apart from that one I have The Illustrated Man, Farenheit 451, Something Wicked This Way Comes and I Sing The Body Electric.
I read Martian Chronicles as a kid, remember it was very good.
Have finished:
Death Wish by Brian Garfield
Slan by Alfred Elton van Vogt
Have begun:
The World of Null-A by A.E. van Vogt.
All very fine novels.
Don't think I've ever posted on this thread before.
I've paged back thru 4 or 5 pages and am impressed by the diversity of books the RKMB crowd is into.
Are any of you fond of particular genres...to the exclusion of most others?
I like hard boiled crime novels. Some of the best are the Matthew Scudder books by Lawrence Block. They chronicle the life of Mr. Scudder in real time from the early 70s to the present. he's a former cop/Private investigator whose a recovering alcholic, his best friend is a career criminal and is married to a former prostitute. Great reads if only for Block's incredible ability to write a realistic New York City and craft characters that you can become emotionally invested in.
Another good series is the Prey books by John Sandford. They follow the life of Lucas Davenport, a Minneapolis cop that has a penchant for violence and womenizing. Again, the writing is such that you really care about the characters.
I also like most of Stephen King books. I especially liked the Dark Tower saga. I'm looking forward to the comic adaptation and I recently read that there are plans to bring all 7 books to the screen...hopefully big. I don't like some of his more recent stuff...I'm more interested in his stuff set in Maine as I like the continuity/crossover between books.
Greg Rucka has a nice series of books about a bodyguard named Atticus Kodiak. Agains great reads with great characters.
I've recently rediscovered James Patterson and his Alex Cross series. His newest is a doozy.
I've begun reading some of David Baldacci's work...Saving Faith, The Collector's and Last Man Standing being the most recent reads. His prose style is a little flowery and overly descriptive for me...kind of takes you out of the story...but, overall, they're entertaining reads and I will eventually work thru his enitire bibliography.
Currently, I am trying to get thru Thomas Harris's awful prequel to the Hannibal Lechter books, Hannibal Rising. I've had this book since mid December and I haven't made it thru 100 pages yet. Just a crap book but, eventually I'll finish it...if only becuase I paid almost full cover price for it. Hardcover, no less....
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THE Bastard said:
if only becuase I paid almost full cover price for it. Hardcover, no less....
Thats what libraries are for.
I started reading Next.
Timothy Zahn has a new Star Wars book out set after a New Hope that I plan on reading soon.
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rex said:
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THE Bastard said:
if only becuase I paid almost full cover price for it. Hardcover, no less....
Thats what libraries are for.
I started reading Next.
Timothy Zahn has a new Star Wars book out set after a New Hope that I plan on reading soon.
I'm not big on libraries. I enjoy owning the books. I believe what's in a person's bookcase can tell you a lot about them.
So do I. If I really enjoy a book I'll buy it and I've been trying to get all my favorites in hardcover. I just can't justify spending around 20 bucks for something I might only read once when I can get it for free.
Haven't read shit lately. I've resorted to listening to Books on CD. I'm gonna start Red Storm Rising soon.
I read a book a week from the time I was about 7 or 8 till I was in my early 30's.... and then I got cable tv. Several years later, a computer.
Now my reading is mostly online news articles
and Astronomy site stuff.
A friend tells me he does the audio book thing and prefers that to reading... I'm gonna check to see if my fave books are all on cd and look 'em up.
I'd like to force myself to read books again, but the 21st century is so full of distractions....
The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino
finished
Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard by Mark Finn (damn good read that dispells a lot of myths about REH that have grown up since his death)
and
It's Good to be The King. . .Sometimes by Jerry Lawler with Doug Asheville (very entertaining read by the Memphis legend)
just started
Lost Echoes by Joe R. Lansdale
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Grimm said:
finished
Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard by Mark Finn (damn good read that dispells a lot of myths about REH that have grown up since his death)
No relation.
I recently finished The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. I would highly recommend it - it's a quick read but definitely promotes thought and discussion. Good stuff.
Recently finished:
Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres
Michael Moore Is A Big Fat Stupid White Man by David Hardy and Jason T. Clarke
The Last Day by Helen Clarkson
Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals by Niall Ferguson
Red & Blue God, Black & Blue Church by Becky Garrison
Currently reading:
Luftwaffe Victorious by Mike Spick
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Grimm said:
just started
Lost Echoes by Joe R. Lansdale
started on Friday, finished on Sunday, a damn great read!
haven't started anything new yet.
The Brooklyn Follies, by Paul Auster. Funny and heartbreaking at the same time. Read it on the plane ride home and loved every second of it - one of those books that you're sad to see end - though I admit that part of the reason I loved it so much is because it took place in the neighborhood I grew up in - hell, the front cover pic was taken a block away from my elementary school (which is why I noticed the book in the first place) - reading it was like visiting home - every place, school, restaurant, etc. he mentioned, I have been to and have warm memories of. Auster clearly loves Brooklyn as much as I do, so it was kinda like reading something from an old friend.
Still, you don't need to know Brooklyn to enjoy this - great characters and moving without being sappy. Auster has an acerbic sense of humor. Good, fast read.
dragons of autumn twilight
Just restarted American Gods for the third time.
you lookin for inspiration, chewy?
Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book by Gerard Jones
I've been plowing through the Hard Case Crime novels and F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack novels. I just finished The Haunted Air, but I'm gonna take a break from Jack and read Caleb Carr's The Italian Secretary.
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Chewy Walrus said:
Just restarted American Gods for the third time.
Honey, it was good, but it wasn't that good...
He reads it for the gay sex parts.
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harleykwin said:
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Chewy Walrus said:
Just restarted American Gods for the third time.
Honey, it was good, but it wasn't that good...
It's one of my favorites. I plan to follow it up by reading Anansi Boys and Monarch of the Glen...
Have recently finished "Beyond the Blue Event Horizon" by Frederik Pohl and "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells.
Have begun "Heechee Rendezvous" by Pohl and "Star Maker" by Olaf Stapledon.
Will, among other books, read "Sandman" vol 3-8 by Neil Gaiman.
Just finished the (new) Tolkien book, The Children of Hurin.
The first chapter was complete hell. See, I liked The Hobbit except for all the hobbits and dwarves. Just not a fan of the little people. And I liked Lord of the Rings, but that is not bathroom reading. You know that chapter with the concil of Elrond, and all those elven princes they mentioned? I read the first few pages over and over again because I thought all the characters were important. And which elves were important? Elrond and Legolas.
The first chapter does open up with Hurin's massive family tree, and I ended up drawing a diagram to make sense of it all. (Here's a hint -- Christopher Tolkien must have known I was going to read this, because he stuck a family tree in the back, which also connected Hurin to Elrond. I, not being a Middle-Earth buff, did not link the two together.)
Anyways, after the introduction, I actually found the book to be quite interesting. At around 350 pages, it wasn't as long as The Lord of the Rings but was much more mature than The Hobbit. Plus, there's only one dwarf (who meets a bad end) and no hobbits. Just elves, men, and one badass wingless dragon.
The story actually ends sadly, and if I wasn't in the office, I probably would have started to cry. It was...epic...like I was reading Oedipus or Beawolf. The story is basically how Hurin fought Morgoth (who was the bad guy before that non-blinking eye in Lord of the Rings). Morgoth captured Hurin and cursed his entire family, then forced Hurin to watch said family fall apart. And while his son Turin is an asshole, even to his friends, you can sort of tell when things could have turned out right for him.
All in all, best thing by Tolkien I've read. Dear Peter Jackson, have a new idea for you...
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Grimm said:
Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book by Gerard Jones
finished over the weekend. A must for anyone interested in the early days of the medium and how things came together. it answered a lot of question I'd had (like how DC's characters went from the wild, often ruthless, sometimes pranksterish, pulp like characters of the early years to the watered down, almost neutered, boy scouts of the late forties and fifties. Here's a hint: it was a deliberate move on the publisher's part and it was a rigid moral code set in place that prefigured the later comics code).
it's also a nice companion piece to Chabon's Kavalier & Clay.
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Cowgirl Jack said:
Just finished the (new) Tolkien book, The Children of Hurin.
The first chapter was complete hell. See, I liked The Hobbit except for all the hobbits and dwarves.
I don't even know where to begin with that one.
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Just not a fan of the little people.
HEY!!!
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And I liked Lord of the Rings, but that is not bathroom reading.
LMAO
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All in all, best thing by Tolkien I've read. Dear Peter Jackson, have a new idea for you...
Isn't it rumoured that Sam Raimi may be doing the Hobbit? Or am I thinking of something else?
I'm reading Harley's diary.....it has several references to joe mama...WTF???
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Pig Iran said:
I'm reading Harley's diary.....it has several references to joe mama...WTF???
The diary was hidden in my panty drawer!
What were doing there?
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harleykwin said:
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Pig Iran said:
I'm reading Harley's diary.....it has several references to joe mama...WTF???
The diary was hidden in my panty drawer!
What were doing there?
My my MY!!! Or should I say
I'm in the early goings of Caleb Carr's The Italian Secretary. I enjoyed The Alienist and Angel Of Darkness, so I'm looking forward to his entry in the Sherlock Holmes mythos.
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
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Pig Iran said:
I'm reading Harley's diary.....it has several references to joe mama...WTF???
The diary was hidden in my panty drawer!
What were doing there?
My my MY!!! Or should I say
no, the heart eyes work....
You only want to you my lil grumbley friend bc he reminds you of me these days....
Quote:
I'm in the early goings of Caleb Carr's The Italian Secretary. I enjoyed The Alienist and Angel Of Darkness, so I'm looking forward to his entry in the Sherlock Holmes mythos.
I've had The Alienist sitting on my bookshelf forever and a day collecting dust. it's good? When I get a free moment (ha!) I'll try to start it...
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harleykwin said:
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Pig Iran said:
I'm reading Harley's diary.....it has several references to joe mama...WTF???
The diary was hidden in my panty drawer!
What were doing there?
I did not give him the key, I swear.
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Grimm said:
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harleykwin said:
Quote:
Pig Iran said:
I'm reading Harley's diary.....it has several references to joe mama...WTF???
The diary was hidden in my panty drawer!
What were doing there?
I did not give him the key, I swear.
A girl has no privacy anymore...
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harleykwin said:
Quote:
Grimm said:
Quote:
harleykwin said:
Quote:
Pig Iran said:
I'm reading Harley's diary.....it has several references to joe mama...WTF???
The diary was hidden in my panty drawer!
What were doing there?
I did not give him the key, I swear.
A girl has no privacy anymore...
But great privates!
The Alienist is one of the books my dad recommended to me. I approach it with caution (my dad reads James Michener, fer crissakes), but immediately got into and and blazed through it.
It was just there...like a coffee table book...only it smelled much better than coffee....
then damn dave finn's name came up....MO.
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Pig Iran said:
It was just there...like a coffee table book...only it smelled much better than coffee....
then damn dave finn's name came up....MO.
Jealous much? Bwah hah hah hah hahhhhhhhhhh!!!
I know what I'm going to be reading tomorrow: another EPIC iMPACT! review written by Joe Mama!
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
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Grimm said:
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harleykwin said:
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Pig Iran said:
I'm reading Harley's diary.....it has several references to joe mama...WTF???
The diary was hidden in my panty drawer!
What were doing there?
I did not give him the key, I swear.
A girl has no privacy anymore...
But great privates!
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The Alienist is one of the books my dad recommended to me. I approach it with caution (my dad reads James Michener, fer crissakes), but immediately got into and and blazed through it.
Cool. It'll be next...
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Joe Mama said:
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Pig Iran said:
It was just there...like a coffee table book...only it smelled much better than coffee....
then damn dave finn's name came up....MO.
Jealous much? Bwah hah hah hah hahhhhhhhhhh!!!
well, you both are named "David"...
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MisterJLA said:
I know what I'm going to be reading tomorrow: another EPIC iMPACT! review written by Joe Mama!
JOY!!!
Wait, what?
Rumor has it that Don West is gonna get skull-FUCKED by Abyss!
Spoilers!
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harleykwin said:
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Cowgirl Jack said:
Just finished the (new) Tolkien book, The Children of Hurin.
The first chapter was complete hell. See, I liked The Hobbit except for all the hobbits and dwarves.
I don't even know where to begin with that one.
Yes I know. Okay, I like the wizard and I liked the dragon. So sue me. I like the pointy hat look, and I can associate with Smaug more than any other Tolkien creature. Something about the way he loves his gold...
I will say I appriciate the hobbits inventing the phrase 'second breakfast'. Bless them and their hairy feet.
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Isn't it rumoured that Sam Raimi may be doing the Hobbit? Or am I thinking of something else?
I have no clue. For some reason though, I want Christopher Lee to be the voice of Smaug. I think that would rock. Or the voice of the dragon in Hurin. It's just the right length for a movie adaptation, but it is very dark compared to The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, so I don't know how people would take it. I mean nothing happy happened in the book. It was like watching Oedipus Rex -- you just want to warn the guy of his doom.
One other good thing about the book -- despite the jumble of family names, I didn't get confused like I did with the big elf book. I was getting Sauron and Saurmon mixed throughout the first two books. I was under the impression that the good guys were fighting one giant eye...with wizard powers. Wasn't until I saw the movie that any of it made any sense.
Sam Raimi might be directing the Hobbit movie. Its still a ways off so it might or might not happpen.
I'm trying to get through Catch-22 again.
Just finished
I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle. It's being compared to
American Graffitti and ...
Dazed and Confused No matter. Fucking hysterical. I knew I had to buy it when I started laughing out loud in B&N while reading the first few pages. Totally fun book. Go read it.
I read Neil Gaiman's Stardust on Sunday, good fairy tale book.
I now have American Gods and plan to read it this weekend.
Gonna start The Maltese Falcon by Dashell Hammett. Loved the movie, so...
Don't know if it's been mentioned but I recently read I Hope They Have Beer In Hell by Tucker Max.
Without question, the funniest book I've ever read.
Highly recco'd.
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THE Bastard said:
Don't know if it's been mentioned but I recently read I Hope They Have Beer In Hell by Tucker Max.
Without question, the funniest book I've ever read.
Highly recco'd.
I think you just found Grimm's epitaph.
epitah...? again harley use words for southerners...
Dude, if Grimm doesn't know what that means, nobody will...
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harleykwin said:
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THE Bastard said:
Don't know if it's been mentioned but I recently read I Hope They Have Beer In Hell by Tucker Max.
Without question, the funniest book I've ever read.
Highly recco'd.
I think you just found Grimm's epitaph.
more like "life motto."
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Knutreturns said:
epitah...? again harley use words for southerners...
yeah, cuz there's no one that's stupid in california.
Finished American Gods for the third time last night, then followed up by reading "The Monarch of the Glen," an American Gods novella (shh! Don't tell Snarf!) taking place two years after the events of the book.
Don't know what I'll start next...
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Grimm said:
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harleykwin said:
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THE Bastard said:
Don't know if it's been mentioned but I recently read I Hope They Have Beer In Hell by Tucker Max.
Without question, the funniest book I've ever read.
Highly recco'd.
I think you just found Grimm's epitaph.
more like "life motto."
Change 'beer' to 'scotch' and I right there with you...
Just finished THE Bastard's post.
I highly recommend.
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THE Bastard said:
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Grimm said:
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harleykwin said:
Quote:
THE Bastard said:
Don't know if it's been mentioned but I recently read I Hope They Have Beer In Hell by Tucker Max.
Without question, the funniest book I've ever read.
Highly recco'd.
I think you just found Grimm's epitaph.
more like "life motto."
Change 'beer' to 'scotch' and I right there with you...
Change 'scotch' to 'Jamesons' and I'll be joining you guys.
A Gentleman's Game by Greg Rucka, it's a Queen and Country novel in continuity with the comic. Good stuff
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harleykwin said:
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THE Bastard said:
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Grimm said:
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harleykwin said:
Quote:
THE Bastard said:
Don't know if it's been mentioned but I recently read I Hope They Have Beer In Hell by Tucker Max.
Without question, the funniest book I've ever read.
Highly recco'd.
I think you just found Grimm's epitaph.
more like "life motto."
Change 'beer' to 'scotch' and I right there with you...
Change 'scotch' to 'Jamesons' and I'll be joining you guys.
High end scotch (Johniee Walker Blue), high end Irish whiskey and beer...sexy latina lawyer...black guy with an large penis.
Hell is definitely where the party is....
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MisterJLA said:
Just finished THE Bastard's post.
I highly recommend.
First time...last time:
Rack JLA.
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THE Bastard said:
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harleykwin said:
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THE Bastard said:
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Grimm said:
Quote:
harleykwin said:
Quote:
THE Bastard said:
Don't know if it's been mentioned but I recently read I Hope They Have Beer In Hell by Tucker Max.
Without question, the funniest book I've ever read.
Highly recco'd.
I think you just found Grimm's epitaph.
more like "life motto."
Change 'beer' to 'scotch' and I right there with you...
Change 'scotch' to 'Jamesons' and I'll be joining you guys.
High end scotch (Johniee Walker Blue), high end Irish whiskey and beer...sexy latina lawyer...black guy with an large penis.
Hell is definitely where the party is....
It certainly sounds promising...
Hey, Joe Mama! I'm actually being forced to read Christopher Moore again by a friend who insists I try his crap out again, as she is convinced I would like him if I gave Moore another try, so "Fluke" and "Stupidest Angel" are now in my possession - to be read (hoepfully) between beer and BBQs this weekend...
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harleykwin said:
Hey, Joe Mama! I'm actually being forced to read Christopher Moore again by a friend who insists I try his crap out again, as she is convinced I would like him if I gave Moore another try, so "Fluke" and "Stupidest Angel" are now in my possession - to be read (hoepfully) between beer and BBQs this weekend...
Both are bad choices for you. Fluke is okay, but not one of his better novels and Stupidest Angel was written for the fans. Instead, try Lamb or A Dirty Job or send me a nekkid pic. Your choice...
Currently reading Roaring Lambs by Bob Briner.
Reading The Tao of War and The Art of War.
I swear, I don't plan on invading other countries at the moment...
Art of War was recommended to me by the same person that got me to read Atlas Shrugged, I bought it as the same time and still haven't read it.
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
Hey, Joe Mama! I'm actually being forced to read Christopher Moore again by a friend who insists I try his crap out again, as she is convinced I would like him if I gave Moore another try, so "Fluke" and "Stupidest Angel" are now in my possession - to be read (hoepfully) between beer and BBQs this weekend...
Both are bad choices for you. Fluke is okay, but not one of his better novels and Stupidest Angel was written for the fans. Instead, try Lamb or A Dirty Job or send me a nekkid pic. Your choice...
Fluke sucks. I've spent the day BBQing with friends (mmmm burgers and beer.... 
) and getting a tan (yay!) and reading this crappy, crappy book (boo!!!). Honestly, I can't believe this man has such a rabid following. I hoenstly just don't get it. I'm almost doen and I've spent the whole book waiting for it to get interesting...
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harleykwin said:
Quote:
Joe Mama said:
Quote:
harleykwin said:
Hey, Joe Mama! I'm actually being forced to read Christopher Moore again by a friend who insists I try his crap out again, as she is convinced I would like him if I gave Moore another try, so "Fluke" and "Stupidest Angel" are now in my possession - to be read (hoepfully) between beer and BBQs this weekend...
Both are bad choices for you. Fluke is okay, but not one of his better novels and Stupidest Angel was written for the fans. Instead, try Lamb or A Dirty Job or send me a nekkid pic. Your choice...
Fluke sucks. I've spent the day BBQing with friends (mmmm burgers and beer.... ) and getting a tan (yay!) and reading this crappy, crappy book (boo!!!). Honestly, I can't believe this man has such a rabid following. I hoenstly just don't get it. I'm almost doen and I've spent the whole book waiting for it to get interesting...
Tol'ja.
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
Hey, Joe Mama! I'm actually being forced to read Christopher Moore again by a friend who insists I try his crap out again, as she is convinced I would like him if I gave Moore another try, so "Fluke" and "Stupidest Angel" are now in my possession - to be read (hoepfully) between beer and BBQs this weekend...
Both are bad choices for you. Fluke is okay, but not one of his better novels and Stupidest Angel was written for the fans. Instead, try Lamb or A Dirty Job or send me a nekkid pic. Your choice...
Fluke sucks. I've spent the day BBQing with friends (mmmm burgers and beer.... ) and getting a tan (yay!) and reading this crappy, crappy book (boo!!!). Honestly, I can't believe this man has such a rabid following. I hoenstly just don't get it. I'm almost doen and I've spent the whole book waiting for it to get interesting...
Tol'ja.
Smarty pants.
Oh, and clearly, all that beer has lost me the ability to spell properly... oye.
Just finished reading "Choke" by Chuck Palahniuk. What a fucking boring book. Whiney, pitiful, uninteresting, bitter, pathetic lead character and the same lifelessness could be said for the supporting characters as well - I had to force myself to finish this. And the book was about a sexaholic, so you would think that maybe the sex scenes would've been decent, but like the entire book, those were mind numbingly dull too. How many fucking times can he say the line: "[X] isn't the right word, but its the first word that comes to mind." It got annoying and ridiculously predictable. I'm convinced that if he hadn't already been famous for "Fight Club" this book wouldn't have been published, that's how bad this tripe was.
Two sucky ass books in one weekend. Christ.
I could see how you wouldn't like that book...............if your a humorless lawyer who doesn't get dark comedy.
Its one of my favorites. That and Survivor are my favorite Pahalnuik books.
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rex said:
I could see how you wouldn't like that book...............if your a humorless lawyer who doesn't get dark comedy.
For it to be comedy, it would actually have to be funny.
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Its one of my favorites. That and Survivor are my favorite Pahalnuik books.
I'm actually gonna give him another try - the friend who loaned me this also loaned me "Haunted" and she seems to think that he's a great writer, so...one more try won't kill me.
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rex said:
Your dead to me.
Honey, you said that when I said that horse-faced Jessica Simpson was one carrot away from neighing.
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harleykwin said:
I'm actually gonna give him another try - the friend who loaned me this also loaned me "Haunted" and she seems to think that he's a great writer, so...one more try won't kill me.
Try survivor. Its a lot better.
Well, I gots manana off and since I have no plans (thank gob!) other than to lay out on my balcony tanning, drinking beer and reading a book - and since I already have "Haunted" in my possession, its up next. If it doesn't disappoint, like the last one did, I'll check out "Survivor"....
hmmmmm....harley tanning...
Yes, and I am still working on being a golden brown...
Just picked up "Grotesque" by Natsuo Kirino. She wrote a really fucked up murder story called "Out" that they translated from Japanese and published over here about 2 years ago. She's considered one of Japan's premiere crime novelists and it's about frickin' time that they translated another one of her works. She delves into the darkness of individuals' hearts in a way that gives me goosebumps. Looking forward to reading this.
That sounds up my alley, I might check those "out" (snicker).
Oh, Oosh...
Seriously, go read "Out" - it's creepy...
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harleykwin said:
Yes, and I am still working on being a golden brown...
Just picked up "Grotesque" by Natsuo Kirino. She wrote a really fucked up murder story called "Out" that they translated from Japanese and published over here about 2 years ago. She's considered one of Japan's premiere crime novelists and it's about frickin' time that they translated another one of her works. She delves into the darkness of individuals' hearts in a way that gives me goosebumps. Looking forward to reading this.
Didn't I recommend Out to you?
Great novel. I've got a stack of books that are keeping me from buying Grotesque, so I'll be interested in your opinion.
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
Yes, and I am still working on being a golden brown...
Just picked up "Grotesque" by Natsuo Kirino. She wrote a really fucked up murder story called "Out" that they translated from Japanese and published over here about 2 years ago. She's considered one of Japan's premiere crime novelists and it's about frickin' time that they translated another one of her works. She delves into the darkness of individuals' hearts in a way that gives me goosebumps. Looking forward to reading this.
Didn't I recommend Out to you?
No, I reccommended it to you.
http://www.rkmbs.com/showflat.php/Number/492300#492300
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Great novel. I've got a stack of books that are keeping me from buying Grotesque, so I'll be interested in your opinion.
I'm already 50 pages in. Kirino must've had a fucked up childhood.
So far its great though - I'll let you know how it is when I'm done.
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harleykwin said:
No, I reccommended it to you.
http://www.rkmbs.com/showflat.php/Number/492300#492300
Aye, lass. That ye did.
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I'm already 50 pages in. Kirino must've had a fucked up childhood.
So far its great though - I'll let you know how it is when I'm done.
This post alone makes me want to buy it. Thank Cthulhu for Borders coupons that come weekly.
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Joe Mama said:
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harleykwin said:
No, I reccommended it to you.
http://www.rkmbs.com/showflat.php/Number/492300#492300
Aye, lass. That ye did.
You know how I loves the Scottish accent!
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I'm already 50 pages in. Kirino must've had a fucked up childhood.
So far its great though - I'll let you know how it is when I'm done.
This post alone makes me want to buy it. Thank Cthulhu for Borders coupons that come weekly.
Go get it. Seriously, the narrator speaks of her sister's murder (don't worry, I didn't give nothing away that you wouldn't have read on the inside flap) and other subsequent fuckeduppedness (which I won't give away) in such a cold hearted, brutal manner - that more than anything so far has given me the chills...
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Uschi said:
That sounds up my alley, I might check those "out" (snicker).
Bought it today.
Son of Mxy is on the cover...
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Uschi said:
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Uschi said:
That sounds up my alley, I might check those "out" (snicker).
Bought it today.
Son of Mxy is on the cover...
heh...
Finished Out. It was good, entertaining. Silly loose end, who do you think was the pervert grabbing women at the abandoned factory? Or do you think it was just rumors and gossip?
Quote:
Joe Mama said:
Quote:
harleykwin said:
Yes, and I am still working on being a golden brown...
Just picked up "Grotesque" by Natsuo Kirino. She wrote a really fucked up murder story called "Out" that they translated from Japanese and published over here about 2 years ago. She's considered one of Japan's premiere crime novelists and it's about frickin' time that they translated another one of her works. She delves into the darkness of individuals' hearts in a way that gives me goosebumps. Looking forward to reading this.
Didn't I recommend Out to you?
Great novel. I've got a stack of books that are keeping me from buying Grotesque, so I'll be interested in your opinion.
There are not enough worda to describe how much I hated Grotesque. Seriously, what an incredible let down, not only because the first 50 pages started off so interesting, but really because Kirino's first English translated novel was excellent. Out was such a great book, and this was awful on so many levels I don't even know where to start. All three of the main characters were such hateful, cold hearted creatures that you couldn't muster up any emotion for any of them beyond complete disdain - or worse, indifference. There was not one character in this book that I could care enough to be interested in what happened to her. And the main narrator does such a complete 180 in the last 5 pages of the book - I mean, something so bizarre and out of character from how she had been portrayed in the first 462 pages - that all I could think was: "WHAT. THE. FUCK." when I read it.
Unlike Out, which made one pause and consider the role of women in Japan, this book is a scathing indictment of that same society and the value of the women in it. It was hateful and boring and I cannot believe that the same author who wrote the intriguing Out wrote this plodding, mind numbing, depressing book.
Seriously, Joe, don't waste your time.
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harleykwin said:
Quote:
Joe Mama said:
Quote:
harleykwin said:
Yes, and I am still working on being a golden brown...
Just picked up "Grotesque" by Natsuo Kirino. She wrote a really fucked up murder story called "Out" that they translated from Japanese and published over here about 2 years ago. She's considered one of Japan's premiere crime novelists and it's about frickin' time that they translated another one of her works. She delves into the darkness of individuals' hearts in a way that gives me goosebumps. Looking forward to reading this.
Didn't I recommend Out to you?
Great novel. I've got a stack of books that are keeping me from buying Grotesque, so I'll be interested in your opinion.
There are not enough worda to describe how much I hated Grotesque. Seriously, what an incredible let down, not only because the first 50 pages started off so interesting, but really because Kirino's first English translated novel was excellent. Out was such a great book, and this was awful on so many levels I don't even know where to start. All three of the main characters were such hateful, cold hearted creatures that you couldn't muster up any emotion for any of them beyond complete disdain - or worse, indifference. There was not one character in this book that I could care enough to be interested in what happened to her. And the main narrator does such a complete 180 in the last 5 pages of the book - I mean, something so bizarre and out of character from how she had been portrayed in the first 462 pages - that all I could think was: "WHAT. THE. FUCK." when I read it.
Unlike Out which made one pause and consider the role of women in Japan, this book is a scathing indictment of that same society. It was hateful and boring and I cannot believe that the same author who wrote the intriguing Out wrote this plodding, mind numbing, depressing book.
Seriously, Joe, don't waste your time.
dayum!
Do you blame Kirino herself, or could the translator have done a hatchet-job to the novel? I'm asking because I read Koji Suzuki's Ring trilogy years ago and, while the first novel seemed to suffer from the translator (great book that lagged in places), the other two novels were solid.
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Joe Mama said:
Do you blame Kirino herself, or could the translator have done a hatchet-job to the novel? I'm asking because I read Koji Suzuki's Ring trilogy years ago and, while the first novel seemed to suffer from the translator (great book that lagged in places), the other two novels were solid.
I don't know. It has the same cadence that "Out" had, so I don't really think that it comes down to something being lost in translation. Clearly, Kirino is none too fond of how the Japanese view their women - I got that impression with the first book, and you get clubbed on the head with that fact in this one. But in "Out" you cared about what happened to the characters, which is more than I can say for this one.
In "Grotesque" the main narrator loathes her sister, Yuriko, from early childhood because her sister was so beautiful that she considered her beauty monsterous. She is so bitter and cruel to Yuriko, and to her own mother as well, that you can't even feel a modicum of sympathy for her for forever being lost in her sister's stunning shadow. And her cruelty bleeds into her treatment of others, namely a girl named Kazue, who like Yuriko, also ends up as a murdered prostitute. Starting with her mother's suicide, and moving on to the murders of her sister and the girl she taunted growing up, the lead character is so completely indifferent to their deaths that if the she doesn't care about what happened to these people, why should we?
There was just a heartlessness in this book, and a cruelty of the characters that was a complete and utter turnoff for me. As one of the characters believes: "Sex is the only way a woman has to control the world." What a bitter, pathetic and cold way of looking at things. And if that is what Kirino truly believes, then I can think of nothing sadder than that.
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Uschi said:
Finished Out. It was good, entertaining. Silly loose end, who do you think was the pervert grabbing women at the abandoned factory? Or do you think it was just rumors and gossip?
Missed this post before.
I haven't read "Out" in 2 years - I would haveta go back and check on that last bit there.
No biggie, they just never actually had anything happen except from the Brazilian-Japanese man with the crush on M___ (uh, the main character).
Ok, so Dave Mama has recommended Vachss (yay!) and Moore (boo!) - so he's about 50/50 on his recs. I'm not sure if I should kiss 'im or consider his recs shite and never trust him again. But he recommended
In Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami because of our mutual like of
Out and I figured, let's see if he can improve his rating to a 2 outta 3...
I picked it up yesterday and read it last night (yay insomnia!) and totally loved it. It is very, very creepy. Kinda like Joe, but that's part of why I luvs him. Anyhoo, the ending was a little too abrupt for my tastes, but everything from the moment when Kenji, the narrator who guides tourists through the Japanese sex industry, suspects that "Frank" is a serial killer, to the moment when these suspicions are brutally and graphically confirmed - had me hooked. The descriptions of the murders are ... intense and a bit chilling and whether Kenji was gonna be next had me holding my breath. The last 50 pages were a complete head game.
Loved it. Dave Mama, you have redeemed yourself from your crappy ass Moore recommendation.
yay!
Quote:
harleykwin said:
Ok, so Dave Mama has recommended Vachss (yay!) and Moore (boo!) - so he's about 50/50 on his recs. I'm not sure if I should kiss 'im or consider his recs shite and never trust him again. But he recommended In Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami because of our mutual like of Out and I figured, let's see if he can improve his rating to a 2 outta 3...
I picked it up yesterday and read it last night (yay insomnia!) and totally loved it. It is very, very creepy. Kinda like Joe, but that's part of why I luvs him. Anyhoo, the ending was a little too abrupt for my tastes, but everything from the moment when Kenji, the narrator who guides tourists through the Japanese sex industry, suspects that "Frank" is a serial killer, to the moment when these suspicions are brutally and graphically confirmed - had me hooked. The descriptions of the murders are ... intense and a bit chilling and whether Kenji was gonna be next had me holding my breath. The last 50 pages were a complete head game.
Loved it. Dave Mama, you have redeemed yourself from your crappy ass Moore recommendation.
yay!
Yay!
I also recommend, if you haven't read anything by him yet, Elmore Leonard. He does crime novels (and westerns, but I haven't read many of those) that read quickly because he's a master at pacing and dialogue. Some of his novels have been made into films, including: Get Shorty, Be Cool (which was clearly a case of him doing a novel for the money), Out Of Sight, and Rum Punch (filmed as Jackie Brown). If you're new to him, I recommend those novels (with the exception of Be Cool, even if I am in the flick), as well as City Primevil, Cuba Libre, Pagan Babies, Glitz, and Killshot. But you can't really go wrong with any of his novels.
Quote:
Uschi said:
Finished Out. It was good, entertaining. Silly loose end, who do you think was the pervert grabbing women at the abandoned factory? Or do you think it was just rumors and gossip?
I haven't read the book, but I'm assuming it wasn't meant to be figured out.
Japan is notorious for "Chikan." Also known as the subway pervert. The problem is so terrible that they have to give women their own car. Barely ANY gropers have been caught since their anonymity is so easy to hang on to in the subway car. Plus, no one really cares except for the one's who get groped.
Anyway, has anyone ever read The Changing Light at Sandover?
No, but I'm reading alot of books written in Japanese.
Blaze - a Stephen King novel that he wrote under the pseudonym "Richard Bachman"...
I read the Bachman Books collection years ago, but I can't recall if that was in there. I do recall thinking that there was one story in there about a man having a nervous breakdown that would've been perfect for Charles Grodin (who later had a weird controlled breakdown on his talk show on CNBC. . .)
I read a Kurt Vonnegut yesterday, first of his I read, Slaughter-House-Five.
Good. I liked it, it was entertaining and had an interesting perspective. It didn't have the dazzle of a Neil Gaiman or the explosive cleverness of a Douglas Adams, but it was well worth the read.
The Dallas Woman's Guide to Golddigging with Pride. Actually a very funny read, though it ended a little fast.
Blaze - a Stephen King novel that he wrote under the pseudonym "Richard Bachman"...
Let me know how it is when you've finished.
I read the Bachman Books collection years ago, but I can't recall if that was in there. I do recall thinking that there was one story in there about a man having a nervous breakdown that would've been perfect for Charles Grodin (who later had a weird controlled breakdown on his talk show on CNBC. . .)
It isn't. It's an unpublished novel he did years and years ago that it seems he dusted off, updated/edited, and released.
Blaze - a Stephen King novel that he wrote under the pseudonym "Richard Bachman"...
Let me know how it is when you've finished.
So you can ignore my opinion adn read it anyway?
Will do, JM...
I read the Bachman Books collection years ago, but I can't recall if that was in there. I do recall thinking that there was one story in there about a man having a nervous breakdown that would've been perfect for Charles Grodin (who later had a weird controlled breakdown on his talk show on CNBC. . .)
It isn't. It's an unpublished novel he did years and years ago that it seems he dusted off, updated/edited, and released. [/quote]
Yeah, they mention this on the inside flap - apparently King wrote it in the late 70's (or early '80's) as Bachman and then left it to collect dust for 3 decades. He recently found it, re-wrote parts of it and -
voila! - new book.
Yay!
....said the Mad Hatter...
....said the Mad Hatter...
[quote=Joe Mama]
So you can ignore my opinion and read it anyway?
Will do, JM...
I didn't ignore your opinion of Grotesque. I haven't bought it and, if I do, it will be in softcover when curiosity overwhelms. I've got too many I'm working through (Hard Case Crime's offerings...F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack novels [I just finished Gateways]...Koji Suzuki's Birthday...etc)
Yeah, they mention this on the inside flap - apparently King wrote it in the late 70's (or early '80's) as Bachman and then left it to collect dust for 3 decades. He recently found it, re-wrote parts of it and - voila! - new book.
Yay!
"New"?
Methinks that King is starting to run of fumes, recycling novels an' all. Perhaps he should just fulfill my birthday wish and write the follow-up to Danse Macabre.
[quote=Joe Mama]
So you can ignore my opinion and read it anyway?
Will do, JM...
I didn't ignore your opinion of Grotesque.
Hi.
Happy/laughy smileys? See 'em? I'm playin' wit'choo! (damn, gotta 'splain everything to the Red Sox fan...
)
I haven't bought it and, if I do, it will be in softcover when curiosity overwhelms. I've got too many I'm working through (Hard Case Crime's offerings...F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack novels [I just finished Gateways]...Koji Suzuki's Birthday...etc)
Lemme know how Suzuki's book is...
Yeah, they mention this on the inside flap - apparently King wrote it in the late 70's (or early '80's) as Bachman and then left it to collect dust for 3 decades. He recently found it, re-wrote parts of it and - voila! - new book.
Yay!
"New"?
Methinks that King is starting to run of fumes, recycling novels an' all. Perhaps he should just fulfill my birthday wish and write the follow-up to Danse Macabre.
Could be - wouldn't be s'prised - the man has written some of the best keep-you-up-at-night horror tales for 35 years, it was bound to happen - but I love him, so anything I haven't read I'll see as "new" - even if it was written ages ago...
Hi.
Happy/laughy smileys? See 'em? I'm playin' wit'choo! (damn, gotta 'splain everything to the Red Sox fan...
I saw the smilies. The only one I recognize when it comes to you is
Without
I ignore 'em.
Hi.
Happy/laughy smileys? See 'em? I'm playin' wit'choo! (damn, gotta 'splain everything to the Red Sox fan...
I saw the smilies. The only one I recognize when it comes to you is
Without
I ignore 'em.
I hate you.
But you
have noticed what that Mo is the "mood" emoticon thinging I use all the time, no?
I hate you.
But you
have noticed what that Mo is the "mood" emoticon thinging I use all the time, no?
Yep, I saw that
is your "mood", just like mine. That's why I can laugh when The Bastard and the rest of 'em try to jockey for position...I know you're still my sweet baboo.
The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn
I hate you.
But you
have noticed what that Mo is the "mood" emoticon thinging I use all the time, no?
Yep, I saw that
is your "mood", just like mine. That's why I can laugh when The Bastard and the rest of 'em try to jockey for position...I know you're still my sweet baboo.
I hate you.
But you
have noticed what that Mo is the "mood" emoticon thinging I use all the time, no?
Yep, I saw that
is your "mood", just like mine. That's why I can laugh when The Bastard and the rest of 'em try to jockey for position...I know you're still my sweet baboo.
hey. ya cant stop a man from dreaming damnit!
The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton
Life of Reilly by Rick Reilly
1945 by Robert Conroy
Controversy Creates Cash by Eric Bischoff
Just finished reading the new Harry Potter book. It was pretty good, but Jesus Christ, at 759 pages, it desperately needed an editor. There were easily 150 pages that could have been cut out and in about 70-80 of those absolutely nothing happened.
Still, over all it was a good read, but if you haven't read any of the others before, you are screwed. There are too many references to past events in the other books for newbies to understand ...
I plan on reading those soon.
Book 4 is hands down the best one of the series and 3 and 5 are lacking, but overall its an excellent series. Very entertaining and worth the time it takes to read them all...
heh. harleys a nerd...
i
nerds...
Dude, I read comic books and hang out here.
Of course I'm a nerd...
i
nerds...
Just finished reading the new Harry Potter book. It was pretty good, but Jesus Christ, at 759 pages, it desperately needed an editor. There were easily 150 pages that could have been cut out and in about 70-80 of those absolutely nothing happened.
Still, over all it was a good read, but if you haven't read any of the others before, you are screwed. There are too many references to past events in the other books for newbies to understand ...
Hope you enjoyed the book, Harley.
I'm at about page 305...
I agree that some of it is filler, and it is a good read, so far.
I read the first six books,too.
It's good. Unfortunately, someone spoiled the ending for me, so it wasn't as suspenseful as it should've been for me.
Hope you like it, BG.
Damn, Harley, I am sorry the ending got spoiled for you!
Someone ruined Halfblood Prince for me in a chatroom two years ago.
I took my time about reading that book, failing to realize I wasn't just reading a book - I was part of a worldwide event!
I finished The Deathly Hallows yesterday. I'm still trying to figure out if I liked it or not. I don't want to spoil anything...but my all-time favorite died, and it was sort of out of the blue, and I really didn't see how it contributed. It's not that I object to the huge body count in the book, but about half of those seem to fit sort of odd.
Frank or Haggart was your favorite?
I was sad when Hermione lost her virginity and it wasn't with Harry.
Does harry get glaucoma?
I finished Spare Change today. Was a good read though was too smooth and'nice' for a homocide book. It was too much of a paper version of that rape and kill a girl show without everybody winning in the end. I Usually like Robert B. Parker's stuff. Think i'm gonna pick up Sleeping Doll and Happpy Endings this week.
Finished:
Players of Null-A by Alfred Elton Van Vogt.
Hector Servadac or Off on A Comet by Jules Verne. Some anti-semitism but otherwise a classic SF story by the master.
One Lonely Night by Mickey Spillane. Mike Hammer hunts down commies. Classic.
Begun:
Day of the guns by Mickey Spillane. About Tiger Mann, secret agent working for a private sector agency that do what the official organisations can't pull off. Very Cold War-ish.
A for Andromeda by Fred Hoyle and John Elliot. Plot similar to Carl Sagan's Contact, but written decades earlier. Aliens sends blueprints to a supercomputer to Earth.
Stjärnpesten (="Star Plague") by Denis Lindbohm. A tiny fraction of mankind hides under the Earth waiting for the mysterious and lethal plague on the surface to disappear. A plague that kills everything, including bacteria and virus. The people is forced to live under dictatorship.
It's good. Unfortunately, someone spoiled the ending for me, so it wasn't as suspenseful as it should've been for me.
Hope you like it, BG.
I finished Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows just about 10 minutes ago, Harley.
I can say that, in spite of a bit of filler, I love the book and enjoyed it very much.
I put it in with the other hardbound Harry Potter books.
I'm sorry to see the series end, but all good things..
And it need not end.. the books can be re-read.
I found Hallows to be quite suspenseful. I read it in 5 days, about 150 pages a day, which is a lot for me as I read rather slowly.
I agree with CJ - that the deaths were terrible. That is how life is. The ones you grow to know and care about die.
Fictional characters can seem so very real to us.. more so than we care to admit, sometimes.
No spoilers here - but it was a damn good book. Questions were answered. Mysteries were solved, and much was explained in great detail.
I give the book 5 out of 5 stars.
I don't mind terrible deaths. It just seems like half of them were done just for shock value.
Don't get me wrong. I love Lupin, he's my favorite character, I love werewolves, he rocks, and I was semi-okay with his death. The fact that he was dead, and no one saw him die, I'm not so hot with that. Besides, he made the stupid mistake of naming a godfather before jumping into mortal peril. First, you just into peril, then name your kid's godfather. Lupin clearly never watched any mafia movies.
And I'm sorry, but there's got to be a rule against going into mortal peril...what, three or four days after giving birth? Like I said, Lupin's death was okay (it was fitting for Mooney, Padfoot, and Prongs to be reunited). But Tonks? What the hell was up with that?
In other news, my coworker loaned me Hannibal.
In other news, my coworker loaned me Hannibal.
Please, if you value Red Dragon and Silence Of The Lambs, just give that book back. Give it back to your co-worker, give the non-commital "It was okay" when asked what you thought, and go read another book. Do not read Hannibal. I'm telling you this as your friend.
I'm reading Cornell Woolrich's Phantom Lady and Lawrence Block's Lucky At Cards.
More Potter spoilers below...
I don't mind terrible deaths. It just seems like half of them were done just for shock value.
I disagree. They were basically at war, and death is par for the course. When you first said that you're fav'rit was killed, I was trying to figure out who you meant, but Lupin? His death didn't suprise me at all - when it was announced that he was going to be a dad, I knew he was gonna take a dirt nap. A way to make things more tragic and whathave you. The only death that took me by surprise was Fred's. I didn't expect any of the Weasley's to go. His and Snape's death saddened me. Especially when you realized that Snape had done what he done because he loved Lily so much.
This was ok, but I felt it plodded - a LOT. The 80 or so pages when all they were doing was moving around and living in a tent? Nothing happened! Damn, all of that could've been edited significantly.
Four still is the most exciting of the books.
cause harry gets a handy?
cause harry gets a handy?
Judging by the movies (I've never read the books), Ron gets the handy from Hermione, and Harry gets all the credit.
I guess the off-screen deaths just sort of bothered me. I'm not a big Moody fan by any stretch, but I thought he got a raw deal too. As for the redheads...well, there are so many of them, I figured one of two was bound to die...
In other news, my coworker loaned me Hannibal.
Please, if you value Red Dragon and Silence Of The Lambs, just give that book back. Give it back to your co-worker, give the non-commital "It was okay" when asked what you thought, and go read another book. Do not read Hannibal. I'm telling you this as your friend.
Having never read
Silence of the Lambs or
Red Dragon and after only watching bits of the movie...I'm enjoying it.
Stjärnpesten (="Star Plague") by Denis Lindbohm. A tiny fraction of mankind hides under the Earth waiting for the mysterious and lethal plague on the surface to disappear. A plague that kills everything, including bacteria and virus. The people is forced to live under dictatorship.
Finished it. Short but exciting.
Started with Beowulf retold by Robert Nye. Good so far.
In other news, my coworker loaned me Hannibal.
Please, if you value Red Dragon and Silence Of The Lambs, just give that book back. Give it back to your co-worker, give the non-commital "It was okay" when asked what you thought, and go read another book. Do not read Hannibal. I'm telling you this as your friend.
I'm reading Cornell Woolrich's Phantom Lady and Lawrence Block's Lucky At Cards.
Finished it. Like I said, I have nothing to compare it to but the first movie, but I enjoyed it. The brain scene at the end was pretty disturbing...in a cool way.
Is the old 'Manhunter' movie any good? I'm kind of curious seeing Brian Cox as Hannibal.
In other news, my coworker loaned me Hannibal.
Please, if you value Red Dragon and Silence Of The Lambs, just give that book back. Give it back to your co-worker, give the non-commital "It was okay" when asked what you thought, and go read another book. Do not read Hannibal. I'm telling you this as your friend.
I'm reading Cornell Woolrich's Phantom Lady and Lawrence Block's Lucky At Cards.
Finished it. Like I said, I have nothing to compare it to but the first movie, but I enjoyed it. The brain scene at the end was pretty disturbing...in a cool way.
Is the old 'Manhunter' movie any good? I'm kind of curious seeing Brian Cox as Hannibal.
Manhunter, which is adapted from Red Dragon, is a surprisingly underrated gem of a movie. By the way, you should read Red Dragon - it's the best of the series.
I've just started Anthony Bourdain's
A Cook's Tour. I've been enjoying his TV show (the new season started last night), so i picked this up. If I enjoy this I may start picking up the mystery novels he's written.
Manhunter, which is adapted from Red Dragon, is a surprisingly underrated gem of a movie. By the way, you should read Red Dragon - it's the best of the series.
i roll with all that was said here...
I drove my Cadillac to the library, baby, and read the, uh... last ten pages of an Agatha Christie book.
Well, sorta. I read the last ten pages. After reading the preceding 265. And Then There Were None, also printed as "Ten Little Indians." It was alright, nothing really challenging about the read. It is simply for entertainment, whodunnit mystery, nearly unsolvable until she gives up the ghost after the epilogue. And by ghost I mean that one key piece of information not supplied in any form earlier. Otherwise an astute reader would have caught it. And I do mean myself.
You see, baby, you can do anything you wanna do! Live and let live: that's the essence, the summit, the very cornerstone of my philosophy. And baby, baby you know, baby you know you gotta, you gotta be! You gotta BE what you're going to BE!
(song ref. is "The Blues Song" by The Dead Milkmen)
Just finished reading Carl Hiassen's "Nature Girl" - I've mentioned before that I am a huge Hiassen fan - his stories are crazy, funny an entertaining, but while this was cute, it wasn't nearly as much fun as his other books...
I drove my Cadillac to the library, baby, and read the, uh... last ten pages of an Agatha Christie book.
Well, sorta. I read the last ten pages. After reading the preceding 265. And Then There Were None, also printed as "Ten Little Indians." It was alright, nothing really challenging about the read. It is simply for entertainment, whodunnit mystery, nearly unsolvable until she gives up the ghost after the epilogue. And by ghost I mean that one key piece of information not supplied in any form earlier. Otherwise an astute reader would have caught it. And I do mean myself.
You see, baby, you can do anything you wanna do! Live and let live: that's the essence, the summit, the very cornerstone of my philosophy. And baby, baby you know, baby you know you gotta, you gotta be! You gotta BE what you're going to BE!
(song ref. is "The Blues Song" by The Dead Milkmen)
It was also called Ten Little Niggers, when it was still OK to use the n-word. Heck, my translated edition from the 80's has that title translated almost directly. (Translated "back" it's Ten Little Negroe Boys".)
Finished Beowulf. Good read.
Finished "Day of the Guns" and started "Bloody sunrise" which takes off where the first book ended. I guess I'm a Spillane junkie now.
I'm re-reading the entire Harry Potter series, and have just started book one.
About halfway through Atlas Shrugged (again). Still enjoying it but the slow parts seem even worse now.
After that I'm gonna tackle the Harry Potter books.
reading The Scarlet Pimpernel, never have before
I'm actually enjoying it. plus, with all the hero/superheros it has inspired, I figured it's a bit of history.
Eight Men Out by Eliot Asinof
Rereading my Microbiology and Chemistry textbooks to prepare for a promotion test...
Have finished "A for Andromeda" and started with its sequel "Andromeda Breakthrough", both written by script writer John Elliot and astronomer/SF-author Fred Hoyle. As I've said before (here or some other place) the books have similarities with Carl Sagan's "Contact", but part from the concept "first contact with alien species through radio telescope" it's a different story. The books are actually novelizations of two BBC-series written by the same authors, but it's not a bad thing; compare with Arthur C Clarke's "2001" and "2010".
Have also finished "The Legion of Space" by Jack Williamson. It's a classic space opera with characters inspired by "The Three Musketeers" and "Falstaff" (by William Shakespeare). Despite that not THAT great, but a good pageturner.
Reading "Galaxy of the Lost", first novel in Gregory Kern's (nom-de-plume for E.C. Tubbs) Kap Kennedy series about a secret space agent. Decent pageturner if you don't mind "simple" entertainment.
Started yesterday with Alexei Tolstoy's "Aelita: Princess of Mars". Classic SF about two Soviet Russians who are the first men on Mars, discovering an ancient civilisation which suffers from a civil war (compare with the Russian Civil War after the October Revolution) and ruthless capitalism.
I'm actually enjoying it. plus, with all the hero/superheros it has inspired, I figured it's a bit of history.
When I was a kid, I thought that The Scarlet Pimpernel had existed for real.
Rereading my Microbiology and Chemistry textbooks to prepare for a promotion test...
Break a leg!
I mean, good luck.
Read Last Sons by Alan Grant (the Lobo book). Totally worth it. A bit of fun between the covers.
I just finished Warren Ellis' Crooked Little Vein. I plan to write a review but, for now, let me say this: Go get it and read it. NOW. Don't even wait for my review.
That's on my list to get.
Just finished 24 Carat Kids - fluff, junk-food-for-the-mind book in the vein of The Nanny Diaries co-written by a pediatrician who caters to the wealthy UES clientele. Cute, funny and damn if the doctor doesn't completely nail the sense of entitlement that permeates the Upper East Side like no where else in the city...
Now reading Everything Changes by Jonathan Tropper. I read his book called The Book of Joe a year or two ago, and it was laugh out loud funny and brilliant. Changes is just as entertaining...I think Tropper is becoming one of my new favorite authors...
Started with a juvenile mystery novel by Enid Blyton, titled "U-boat nest". Some kids takes a trip with a boat and gets caught in a storm. After landing on a small island they discover a threat to England (it takes place during or before WWII, so it's easy to get who the enemy will be).
Re-started Douglas Adams' Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide. Hopefully, I'll actually finish it this time.
I just finished Warren Ellis' Crooked Little Vein. I plan to write a review but, for now, let me say this: Go get it and read it. NOW. Don't even wait for my review.
read it last month. damn funny.
I just finished Warren Ellis' Crooked Little Vein. I plan to write a review but, for now, let me say this: Go get it and read it. NOW. Don't even wait for my review.
read it last month. damn funny.
Gonna go pick this up this afternoon if I have the time.
Just finished
Little Children by for Tom Perrotta - it was made into a movie with the beautiful Kate Winslet who IIRC was nominated for an Oscar for her performance. Started off as a good read, but the last 30 pages just ruined it for me. What a let down. Bleh.
I just finished Warren Ellis' Crooked Little Vein. I plan to write a review but, for now, let me say this: Go get it and read it. NOW. Don't even wait for my review.
read it last month. damn funny.
Gonna go pick this up this afternoon if I have the time.
Make the time. It's so worth it!
I'm currently reading
Crisscross by F. Paul Wilson. Another Repairman Jack novel. Good stuff.
I just finished Warren Ellis' Crooked Little Vein. I plan to write a review but, for now, let me say this: Go get it and read it. NOW. Don't even wait for my review.
read it last month. damn funny.
Gonna go pick this up this afternoon if I have the time.
Make the time. It's so worth it!
Oh man if only I had the time! I need a vacation!
I'm currently reading Crisscross by F. Paul Wilson. Another Repairman Jack novel. Good stuff.
Hmmm...I'm always looking for something new, so mebbe...
Oh, and run and get books by Jonathan Tropper - he is one funny bastard and I think you might like his style.
Currently poring over Nightmares & Dreamscapes by Stephen King.
Started with a juvenile mystery novel by Enid Blyton, titled "U-boat nest". Some kids takes a trip with a boat and gets caught in a storm. After landing on a small island they discover a threat to England (it takes place during or before WWII, so it's easy to get who the enemy will be).
Finished it. Was OK.
Still reading 'The Bourne Identity' and 'I am legend'.
Started to read John Wyndham's 'Out of the deeps', an alien invasion story.
Question: My sister goes through books like I do cheeseburgers. She liked Out and someone's number series (each title had the corresponding number -- unlikely detective woman solving murders accidentally, I think). She read the entire Harry Potter series in about a week or two, and is looking for another series like it (really long, intricate stories that she can really get into). She also liked Dune and is forever a fan of Douglas Adams.
Anything you'd suggest for her?
A lot of people like Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. If she's into fantasy, there are, like, six or seven books out. Harry Turtledove also has a shitload of alternate history books out. One deals with the confederacy winning the Civil War. Another is a series about aliens invading during the middle of WWII. It all depends on her taste for sci-fi.
Question: My sister goes through books like I do cheeseburgers. She liked Out and someone's number series (each title had the corresponding number -- unlikely detective woman solving murders accidentally, I think). She read the entire Harry Potter series in about a week or two, and is looking for another series like it (really long, intricate stories that she can really get into). She also liked Dune and is forever a fan of Douglas Adams.
Anything you'd suggest for her?
For long, intricate stories, I'd recommend F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack series (mystery/crime-solving plus supernatural elements) and John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee novels (found in the mystery section, and you're not beholden to starting with the first one and reading in order, though you can). Andrew Vachss' Burke stories are self-contained but reference past novels, so you'd be better off reading them in order.
A lot of people like Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. If she's into fantasy, there are, like, six or seven books out. Harry Turtledove also has a shitload of alternate history books out. One deals with the confederacy winning the Civil War. Another is a series about aliens invading during the middle of WWII. It all depends on her taste for sci-fi.
I'll tell her about Wheel of Time series, but she's a Historian and hates 'what if' books.
For long, intricate stories, I'd recommend F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack series (mystery/crime-solving plus supernatural elements) and John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee novels (found in the mystery section, and you're not beholden to starting with the first one and reading in order, though you can). Andrew Vachss' Burke stories are self-contained but reference past novels, so you'd be better off reading them in order.
Cool, thanks.
Question: My sister goes through books like I do cheeseburgers. She liked Out and someone's number series (each title had the corresponding number -- unlikely detective woman solving murders accidentally, I think).
James Patterson.
Not that I've read any of them, as unlike his earlier stuff, Patterson has long given up on writing anything interesting or entertaining.
She read the entire Harry Potter series in about a week or two, and is looking for another series like it (really long, intricate stories that she can really get into). She also liked Dune and is forever a fan of Douglas Adams.
Anything you'd suggest for her?
JM beat me to the punch, but Vachss' series is excellent and dark. I would also reccomend Stephen King as his books are usually a couple hundred pages ( anywhere from 500-800) and are creepy and good - though, try his earlier stuff as it is better.
Bag of Bones - is a favorite that has a twist than the usual horror fare.
So, spent a fortune on books yesterday. Picked up The Book of Illusions, by Paul Auster - I really enjoyed Brooklyn Follies so I figured another book by Auster would be good. Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert; Mass Market by Andrew Vachss - another book in the Burke series; Patriot Games, by Greg Rucka - I dig his comics, so want to see how he does without the pretty pictures; Brave Story, by Miyuki Miyabe. Not gonna lie, the cover of Miyabe's book totally reminded me of the Harry Potter stuff which caught my attention and its a fantasy in the same vein, so I picked it up. I've also been digging the Japanese-translated-to-English books, so...
And finally, I picked up and finished Crooked Little Vein, by Ellis. I...kinda liked it. He is a mad, psychotic genius and there are paragraphs of sheer brilliance and hilarity here, but I felt like I was reading a bunch of short stories that were thinly connected at best. It wasn't as good as I had hoped for, and given the fact that I am a fan of his comics book writing I thought I would enjoy it as much as that, but I didn't.
I'm reading my own story.
I am an egotistical motherfucker.
Actually I'm trying to work out how best to adapt it to screenplay form for Gooz's website.
Am starting Frederick Buechner's Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy & Fairy Tale and Aristotle's Poetics.
Finished the first Harry Potter book today. It was better than I expected.
I finished Cyril M Kornbluth's 'The Syndic', a mix of utopia and dystopia about a new American society ruled by a benovelent mafia.
Still reading:
The Book of Ptath by A.E. van Vogt (science fantasy)
Fear by L. Ron Hubbard (psychological horror)
Modesty Blaise: Sabre-Tooth by Peter O'Donnell (spy thriller)
Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett (thriller)
The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum (spy thriller)
I'm part of a bookclub at school and we just finished reading, "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. I learned a lot about the circus. It was a fascinating read with some over-the-top sex parts but it was well written.
We also read Jeff's favorite :P, "Angry Housewives eating Bon-Bons" which is a cute book it's just a really long read!
BUT my favorite book the past month was John Grisham's latest book, "The Innocent Man" which is a nonfiction book based on a trial in Ada, Oklahoma. It is really, REALLY good. I read the whole thing in about two days. I love reading a book that is well written and really educational. Definitely pick this one up if its, Wal-mart, target, or even at amazon!
What he says about the book:
Dear Reader,
Writing nonfiction has seldom crossed my mind—I’ve had far too much fun with the novels—and I had no idea what I was getting into when I started writing The Innocent Man.
This story, and the research and writing of it, consumed eighteen months. It took me to Ada, Oklahoma many times, to the courthouse and jail and coffee shops around town, to both the old death row and the new one at McAlester, to Asher, where I sat in the bleachers for two hours and talked baseball with Murl Bowen, to the offices of the Innocence Project in New York, to a café in Seminole where I had lunch with Judge Frank Seay, to Yankee Stadium, to the prison in Lexington where I spent time with Tommy Ward, and to Norman, my base, where I hung out with Mark Barrett and talked about the story for hours.
With every visit and every conversation, the story took a different twist. I could’ve written five thousand pages.
The journey also exposed me to the world of wrongful convictions, something that I, even as a former lawyer, had never spent much time thinking about. This is not a problem peculiar to Oklahoma, far from it. Wrongful convictions occur every month in every state in this country, and the reasons are all varied and all the same—bad police work, junk science, faulty eyewitness identifications, bad defense lawyers, lazy prosecutors, arrogant prosecutors.
In the cities, the workloads of criminologists are staggering and often give rise to less than professional procedures and conduct. And in the small towns the police are often untrained and unchecked. Murders and rapes are still shocking events and people want justice, and quickly. They, citizens and jurors, trust their authorities to behave properly. When they don’t, the result is Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz.
Ada is a nice town, and the obvious question is: When will the good guys clean house?
Just picked up Secret Society Girl by Diana Peterfreund; I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles, about the reign of Queen Elizabeth I as told from her POV; and I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson. I am actually looking forward to the movie, so I got curious enough to pick up the book which I want to read before I see it.
They had Rhett Butler's People which just came out and given that I am a die hard fan of GWTW I wanted to pick it up, but I read the first chapter in the store and just couldn't get into it. Maybe another time. CJ, I know you love Scarlett & Co. as much as I do - are you planning on picking this up? If you do, let me know what you think...
I just finished Vachss' Terminal. It was a lot more preachy than past novels, but still pretty good. I'm about halfway through Infernal by F. Paul Wilson, which so far is easily the weakest of the Repairman Jack novels. Prior to these two, I read Elmore Leonard's The Hot Kid, which meandered and took its sweet time resolving, but was still damn good. He just wrote a nonfiction book on writing, which I'll be starting once I've slogged through Infernal.
Just picked up Secret Society Girl by Diana Peterfreund; I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles, about the reign of Queen Elizabeth I as told from her POV; and I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson. I am actually looking forward to the movie, so I got curious enough to pick up the book which I want to read before I see it.
I ordered
I Am Legend and it should come any day now in the mail. Can't wait.
They had Rhett Butler's People which just came out and given that I am a die hard fan of GWTW I wanted to pick it up, but I read the first chapter in the store and just couldn't get into it. Maybe another time. CJ, I know you love Scarlett & Co. as much as I do - are you planning on picking this up? If you do, let me know what you think...
Actually, watching
Scarlet about ten years ago pretty much left such a bad taste in my mouth I have no desire to read any other GWTW books. I'm content with the original. Which, come to think of it, I haven't read in like eight years. I think it's time to reread...
Recently finished Jeremy Clarkson - I know you got soul.
Currently reading Jeremy Clarkson - The world according to Clarkson.
Started reading Nikki Sixx - The Heroin diaries, a month or so ago, but couldnt get into it.
I do have a whole pile of books to work through though.
Chris Jericho - A lions tale & Chris Walker - Stalker, are probably top of the list though!
Recently finished Jeremy Clarkson - I know you got soul.
Currently reading Jeremy Clarkson - The world according to Clarkson.
I've gotta see if those are available over here.
I read Fight Club one night last week. Quick read. I liked it better than the movie, personally. There's less exhibitionism in the book and one can focus on the main point of the story. It's a romance, definitely. And Tyler Durdon's a total gasbag. I don't get why so many people want so desperately to be him.
I didn't like the book. I thought the movie was a much better version, more coherent and it made more sense.
Palahnuik even says in the commentary that the movie is the better version.
Just finished re-reading Jimmy Breslin's The Church That Forgot Christ and I'm about to start Harold Coyle's The Ten Thousand and Ian Fleming's Goldfinger.
I didn't like the book. I thought the movie was a much better version, more coherent and it made more sense.
Palahnuik even says in the commentary that the movie is the better version.
I don't care. I enjoy the book more.
I think if I read the book first I would have liked it more but the movie was so damn good its the one that stood out more for me.
Yeah the movie stands out more, but the book, IMO, has better flow. More stream-of-consciousness type of event hopping.
and the ending is better, too.
After watching the movie I heard that they ruined the ending, I went to a bookstore and read it and thats what made my read the book.
The movie ending is the very definition of a Hollywood ending.
exactly. whereas the ending of the book feels more. . .real and true.
and the ending is better, too.
Yes.
Owner of a Lonely Heart.
Just picked up Secret Society Girl by Diana Peterfreund; I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles, about the reign of Queen Elizabeth I as told from her POV; and I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson. I am actually looking forward to the movie, so I got curious enough to pick up the book which I want to read before I see it.
I ordered
I Am Legend and it should come any day now in the mail. Can't wait.
I finished
Legend last night. Spoilers ahead.
There is just no fucking way that Hollywood is going to go with the ending in the book (which explains the title). I was really enjoying the story - the concept is nothing new (though at the time of its publication in 1954, it prolly was a fresher idea) - an apocolypse of sorts wipes out the world's population and one man is left alive. Well written, and the idea of explaining why people became vampires, and why garlic affects them, etc. was interesting - unfortunately, with Smith at the helm of the movie, I'm afraid this is going to turn into a standard horror movie instead of looking at the psychological impact that the end of human kind has on the protagonist.
That said, as much as I enjoyed it, I can't say that I liked the ending all that much. It explained the title, and it certainly was a twist I didn't forsee, but it was a little depressing as well. I would still recommend this book, though, as reading Neville's outlook in this new world was interesting and entertaining.
They had Rhett Butler's People which just came out and given that I am a die hard fan of GWTW I wanted to pick it up, but I read the first chapter in the store and just couldn't get into it. Maybe another time. CJ, I know you love Scarlett & Co. as much as I do - are you planning on picking this up? If you do, let me know what you think...
Actually, watching Scarlet about ten years ago pretty much left such a bad taste in my mouth I have no desire to read any other GWTW books. I'm content with the original. Which, come to think of it, I haven't read in like eight years. I think it's time to reread...
Never saw/read
Scarlett - once I heard that in that book she had Scarlett sell Tara (!?!?!?!?!) I knew the writer had absolutely ZERO concept or understanding of the character and I lost any interest in reading it.
Just picked up Secret Society Girl by Diana Peterfreund; I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles, about the reign of Queen Elizabeth I as told from her POV; and I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson. I am actually looking forward to the movie, so I got curious enough to pick up the book which I want to read before I see it.
I ordered
I Am Legend and it should come any day now in the mail. Can't wait.
I finished
Legend last night. Spoilers ahead.
There is just no fucking way that Hollywood is going to go with the ending in the book (which explains the title). I was really enjoying the story - the concept is nothing new (though at the time of its publication in 1954, it prolly was a fresher idea) - an apocolypse of sorts wipes out the world's population and one man is left alive. Well written, and the idea of explaining why people became vampires, and why garlic affects them, etc. was interesting - unfortunately, with Smith at the helm of the movie, I'm afraid this is going to turn into a standard horror movie instead of looking at the psychological impact that the end of human kind has on the protagonist.
That said, as much as I enjoyed it, I can't say that I liked the ending all that much. It explained the title, and it certainly was a twist I didn't forsee, but it was a little depressing as well. I would still recommend this book, though, as reading Neville's outlook in this new world was interesting and entertaining.
My translated edition must have been abridged: only about 150 pages, and for some reason "vampires" is replaced with "werewolves" (the latter doesn't change much, I hope). Does Neville or another character say something directly about Neville becoming a legend?
I'm reading old Valiant trades along with Cliffird Simak's Way Station and their awesome
Just picked up Secret Society Girl by Diana Peterfreund; I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles, about the reign of Queen Elizabeth I as told from her POV; and I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson. I am actually looking forward to the movie, so I got curious enough to pick up the book which I want to read before I see it.
I ordered
I Am Legend and it should come any day now in the mail. Can't wait.
I finished
Legend last night. Spoilers ahead.
There is just no fucking way that Hollywood is going to go with the ending in the book (which explains the title). I was really enjoying the story - the concept is nothing new (though at the time of its publication in 1954, it prolly was a fresher idea) - an apocolypse of sorts wipes out the world's population and one man is left alive. Well written, and the idea of explaining why people became vampires, and why garlic affects them, etc. was interesting - unfortunately, with Smith at the helm of the movie, I'm afraid this is going to turn into a standard horror movie instead of looking at the psychological impact that the end of human kind has on the protagonist.
That said, as much as I enjoyed it, I can't say that I liked the ending all that much. It explained the title, and it certainly was a twist I didn't forsee, but it was a little depressing as well. I would still recommend this book, though, as reading Neville's outlook in this new world was interesting and entertaining.
My translated edition must have been abridged: only about 150 pages, and for some reason "vampires" is replaced with "werewolves" (the latter doesn't change much, I hope). Does Neville or another character say something directly about Neville becoming a legend?
The English edition is only 170 pages. Unfortunately, the edition I picked up failed to mention that its
I Am Legend with a bunch of short stories, which ticked me off, as I was expecting more to the story.
How did they trade in vampires for werewolves? There's a whole section about how Neville is trying to understand why garlic affects them so, and the fear of crosses, etc - all things that people relate to vampires, not werewolves. Odd.
Neville is the one at the end who makes the connection that he is
their boogeyman. In fact, the final line in the story is "I am legend," which is what Neville thinks as he realizes that he will be the nightmare story that people will pass on down for generations.
Just picked up Secret Society Girl by Diana Peterfreund; I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles, about the reign of Queen Elizabeth I as told from her POV; and I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson. I am actually looking forward to the movie, so I got curious enough to pick up the book which I want to read before I see it.
I ordered
I Am Legend and it should come any day now in the mail. Can't wait.
I finished
Legend last night. Spoilers ahead.
There is just no fucking way that Hollywood is going to go with the ending in the book (which explains the title). I was really enjoying the story - the concept is nothing new (though at the time of its publication in 1954, it prolly was a fresher idea) - an apocolypse of sorts wipes out the world's population and one man is left alive. Well written, and the idea of explaining why people became vampires, and why garlic affects them, etc. was interesting - unfortunately, with Smith at the helm of the movie, I'm afraid this is going to turn into a standard horror movie instead of looking at the psychological impact that the end of human kind has on the protagonist.
That said, as much as I enjoyed it, I can't say that I liked the ending all that much. It explained the title, and it certainly was a twist I didn't forsee, but it was a little depressing as well. I would still recommend this book, though, as reading Neville's outlook in this new world was interesting and entertaining.
My translated edition must have been abridged: only about 150 pages, and for some reason "vampires" is replaced with "werewolves" (the latter doesn't change much, I hope). Does Neville or another character say something directly about Neville becoming a legend?
The English edition is only 170 pages. Unfortunately, the edition I picked up failed to mention that its
I Am Legend with a bunch of short stories, which ticked me off, as I was expecting more to the story.
I hope those stories are at least by Matheson. I have quite a bunch of his short stories, and his novel 'The Shrinking Man' (in the same TPB series which published my ed. of 'I Am Legend' and Hubbard's 'Fear' which I mentioned).
How did they trade in vampires for werewolves? There's a whole section about how Neville is trying to understand why garlic affects them so, and the fear of crosses, etc - all things that people relate to vampires, not werewolves. Odd.
Beats me. The publisher, B. Wahlström, seems to have specialized in abridging books in popular genres. (Same company published Mickey Spillane and other hardboiled detective authors. Spillane's books don't seem to be abridged, but Mike Hammer speaks a dialect from Stockholm. I guess the translator wanted him to speak in a manner familiar to the readers.)
Neville is the one at the end who makes the connection that he is their boogeyman. In fact, the final line in the story is "I am legend," which is what Neville thinks as he realizes that he will be the nightmare story that people will pass on down for generations.
I see.
In my ed., the title is "Varulvarnas natt", 'Night of the werewolves'. So instead of letting Neville think "I am legend", he is in his final rest, knowing that "the night of werewolves is over".
So, the translation changed the very point of the novel... Sigh.
(At least I know this now so I can buy the US edition with good conscience.)
I suppose a fair comparison is how Jules Verne has often been treated when translated to American English, but at least today, Penguin makes all their English translations complete (though without illustrations).
The English edition is only 170 pages. Unfortunately, the edition I picked up failed to mention that its I Am Legend with a bunch of short stories, which ticked me off, as I was expecting more to the story.
I did the same thing today at work! I'm like on page 168, and thinking, 'how much longer can this go on?' And then, bam, there's the ending. So apparently half the book is other short stories.
Neville is the one at the end who makes the connection that he is their boogeyman. In fact, the final line in the story is "I am legend," which is what Neville thinks as he realizes that he will be the nightmare story that people will pass on down for generations.
I kind of liked the ending. It had some bite (bad pun, bad pun). Have you see
The Omega Man? Because that ending is also pretty quick -- there's a whole different emphasis in that movie, but Neville ends up dying in the end too.
The same writer did tha episode of
The Twlight Zone with Shatner as the guy on the plane. So I'll think I'll check out his short stories.
The English edition is only 170 pages. Unfortunately, the edition I picked up failed to mention that its I Am Legend with a bunch of short stories, which ticked me off, as I was expecting more to the story.
I did the same thing today at work! I'm like on page 168, and thinking, 'how much longer can this go on?' And then, bam, there's the ending. So apparently half the book is other short stories.
The rest of the stories are good - the one with the killing doll creeped the fuck out of me! I actually got goosebumps...I was lying in bed when I was reading that, and I was tempted to check under the bed before I fell asleep!
Neville is the one at the end who makes the connection that he is their boogeyman. In fact, the final line in the story is "I am legend," which is what Neville thinks as he realizes that he will be the nightmare story that people will pass on down for generations.
I kind of liked the ending. It had some bite (bad pun, bad pun). Have you see
The Omega Man?
No, what's that?
Because that ending is also pretty quick -- there's a whole different emphasis in that movie, but Neville ends up dying in the end too.
The ending has grown on me. It was a bit abrupt, which I didn't like, but it makes sense. I will totally be surprised if that is the ending that Hollywood goes with.
Omega Man is the second adaptation of I am Legend on film. it stars Charlton Heston. Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price is the first.
Omega Man is also probably the reason Charlton Heston was president of the NRA.
Although I prefer Ben-Hur Chuck:
That man could wear a toga like no one's business.
Wow! The link works again!
Minor spoilers of the latest movie version of 'I am legend'.
The Will Smith version of 'I Am Legend' was pretty good, but I disliked the change from vampires to zombies and the point of the title and the ending. I might be over-analyzing, but I think the script-writers sneaked in a fundamentalist Christian message of "don't play God/don't play with nature". The virus which is supposed to be a cure against cancer, seems to be a nod to stem cell research and similar. There is also the belief of the woman who helped Neville and the village church in the end.
Most disturbing part was the credits line: Producer - Akiva Goldsman.
That man can transmute gold into lead.
(This review will also be posted in the Media thread about the movie.)
End of spoilers.
Finished:
Frederick Pohl's and C. M. Kornbluth's 'Wolfbane'. A story about an Earth hi-jacked by mysterious aliens, travelling into the cold, deep, space.
'The Universe Maker' by A.E. van Vogt. An original take on time travel and time paradoxes, as well as the typical van Vogt superman story.
'Empire of the Atom' and 'Wizard of Linn' by van Vogt. A combination of Robert Graves 'I, Claudius' and super-science space opera. Not so confusing as some of van Vogt's novels can be.
'The Bourne Identity' by R. Ludlum. Much different from the movie, don't think there is much similarity between the book and novel version apart from the Bourne character and the beginning with Bourne being rescued by sailors. Would like to see the TV-series from the 1980's.
Still reading:
'Final Blackout' by L. Ron Hubbard.
'Red Harvest' by Dashiell Hammett.
Will or recently started to read:
'The Bourne Supremacy' by Ludlum.
'The Beast' by van Vogt.
Wow! The link works again!
Your welcome.
Finished 'Final Blackout' by L. Ron Hubbard and 'The Beast' as well as 'The Weapon Shops of Isher' by van Vogt.
'Final Blackout' was underwhelming, despite I didn't expect much. Most annoying is that this "WWII never ended"-story (which take place in then-future 1970's) didn't mention the Nazis, and Germany only in one page. Evidently, Hubbard was more concerned about Communism during 1940 (when the novel was 1st published). Most thrilling was the speculation on the effects of atomic, biological and chemical warfare, while the stalemates mentioned must be inspired from WWI and "The Silly War" at th beginning of WWII. Hubbard underestimated the effects of blitzkrieg, tanks and new planes. The militarism reminds one about Heinlein's novels, but Hubbard is even more naive about its virtues and more cynical about civilians. Surprising end.
'The Beast' is another typical van Vogt superman story (from 1963). Surprisingly relevant today, because it has a sub-plot involving a female presidential candidate in USA (but no black candidate and the sitting president is different from Bush Jr). There are also some angry feminists and East German Nazi terrorists. I expected the story - about a man who discovers a new, alien, engine and who wants to give it back to its rightful owner - to take place all over the universe, or the galaxy, but unfortunately it doesn't go further than to the moon. The scope is instead over time rather than space (I won't explain because that would spoil the story too much.) Not as interesting as van Vogt's earlier stuff (Slan, the Clane of Linn-series, etc) but still a very good read.
'The Weapon Shops of Isher' begins as a time travel story and evolves into Social, even Libertarian, SF. In a far distant future, the only ones who can stand against the corrupt, feudal Empire of Isher are the Weapon Makers, their Shops and the energy guns they sell to the citizens. The guns can only be used for self defense and hunting (of specific species) and the Imperial troops and police men can't go inside or destroy the Shops. I only wish I had the sequel, 'The Weapon Makers of Isher', which follows the quest of Robert Hedrock, the immortal founder of the Weapon Shops.
Still reading 'Red Harvest' by Dashiell Hammett and 'The Bourne Supremacy' by Ludlum.
Half-way through 'The Silkie' by van Vogt, about the mutants - or aliens? - with the same name, who work for the benefit for mankind despite discrimination and their vast powers.
Finished "The Silkie". Good read but somewhat uneven.
Reading this novel about space warfare between humans and the shape-changing Rull:
Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs by John Lydon
The Sandman Papers edited by Joe Sanders
read H.G. Wells' The Time Machine and War of the Worlds. still plowing through a H.P. Lovecraft collection.
Got Ben Templesmith's Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse TPB and am very very happy.
finished the previous as well as Anthology of Graphic Ficion, Cartoons, & True Stories edited by Ivan Brunetti, Hellboy: Strange Places, and Criminal: Coward
This is excellent. The
Criminal series has become a favorite and is so flying under the radar.
This is excellent. The
Criminal series has become a favorite and is so flying under the radar.
yeah, I read Lawless in the bookstore last month and started getting inspired. haha. very underappreciated comic.
Finished "The War Against The Rull". The story was very conventional compared to other novels by van Vogt, but over all a good read. The title is something of a missrepresentation; while the novel is about a war, it doesn't portray any battles, like Heinlein's "Starship Troopers". It's more like a spy novel taking place in space. The message of co-operation between different races and cultures (including non-human, of course) is easier to digest than Heinlein's militarism, however.
Reading this novel about space warfare between humans and the shape-changing Rull:
Yesterday I found out that the cover originally from the magazine cover of another novel by van Vogt; The Players of Null-A.
Finished "Red Harvest" by Dashiell Hammett. Pretty good, was more like a series of episodes rather than an ordinary novel. Reminds me of "Sin City". Has several similarities with the movies "Yojimbo" and "A Fistful of Dollars", but the anti-hero is less cool and more human than the Ronin or the the Man With No Name.
Has started the short story anthology "Transfinite" with SF-stories by A.E. van Vogt and Isaac Asimov's SF-detective novel "The Robots of Dawn".
Finished "Red Harvest" by Dashiell Hammett. Pretty good, was more like a series of episodes rather than an ordinary novel. Reminds me of "Sin City".
well, Miller's certainly read Hammett along with Spillane. I posted this last year from an interview with Hart Fisher:
During the interview he got really cranky when I pointed out the spots he ripped Mickey Spillane off DIRECTLY from the novels. I mean, go read the Spillane books, you won't be as impressed with the writing on Sin City after that.
Invisible Monsters Chuck Pahlaniuk (sp)
Hocus Pocus Kurt Vonnegut
I could not get through invisible monsters. It was way too confusing for me. I was completely lost and confused about the plot and the characters. Is it worth trying again?
That book had me laughing aloud, serious. Once you read to the end and then read it again, it makes sense.
That's what I like about his books. They're written like a boiled-down Catch-22. It's all piecemeal and confusing 'cause reading and understanding requires you've already read it. Forces multiple reads, delivers every time. I like that.
Finished "Red Harvest" by Dashiell Hammett. Pretty good, was more like a series of episodes rather than an ordinary novel. Reminds me of "Sin City".
well, Miller's certainly read Hammett along with Spillane. I posted this last year from an interview with Hart Fisher:
During the interview he got really cranky when I pointed out the spots he ripped Mickey Spillane off DIRECTLY from the novels. I mean, go read the Spillane books, you won't be as impressed with the writing on Sin City after that.
I knew FM had taken
inspiration from Hammett, Chandler and Spillane, but
stealing complete events? On the other hand, I understand it's not that uncommon in the movie industry, so why wouldn't it happen elsewhere? Perhaps FM just wanted to pay homage. If you still have the link (to the article or the thread), please post it here. Sounds interesting.
BTW, Spillane took inspiration from one Carroll John Daly and his PI Race Williams:
http://www.thrillingdetective.com/race.html
Finished "The Robots of Dawn" and started with "Robots and Empire", both by Isaac Asimov.
Janet Evanovich TOTALLY ROCKS............HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
On the twelth book of the series!
Help Wanted
Bail Bonds Enforcement Agent: Must be able to lie, read, make phone calls and like having garbage thrown at you. High level of skill in running required. Ownership of car that you don't mind having trashed is a plus. Must own a set of professional handcuffs (the Pleasure Treasure does not carry "professional" handcuffs). Please apply at Vincent Plum Bail Bonding Company on Hamilton between Tender Loving Care Dry Cleaners and the used bookshop.
I also read, "Ninety Minutes in Heaven" (it was good too!) along with Mary Higgins Clark book called, "I heard that song before."
Finished "Robots and Empire". Not Asimov's best book, but reads like a good detective mystery and ties up the Robot, Empire and Foundation novels quite nicely, with some exceptions.
Now reading "Pebble in the sky", Asimov's 1st (Empire) novel. One of the main plots reminds one of H.G. Wells "When The Sleeper Awakes", and to a lesser degree, Buck Rogers.
Also reading "Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Classic old school sci-fi with just the right amount of adventure, exoticism and political incorrectness.
Now reading "Pebble in the sky", Asimov's 1st (Empire) novel. One of the main plots reminds one of H.G. Wells "When The Sleeper Awakes", and to a lesser degree, Buck Rogers.
Also reading "Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Classic old school sci-fi with just the right amount of adventure, exoticism and political incorrectness.
Finished both of them and "Vengeance is mine" by Mickey Spillane and "Last and First Men" by Olaf Stapledon. All make great reading.
Will follow with another Empire novel by Asimov; "The Currents of Space".
Will follow with another Empire novel by Asimov; "The Currents of Space".
Finished it. Great read with lots of relevance without taking away the thrills.
Now reading the Bulldog Drummond novel "Knock-out" by Sapper/Cyril McNeil and the short story collection "A New Dawn. The Don A Stuart Stories" by John W. Campbell Jr. The former a predecessor of sorts to James Bond, The Saint and Doc Savage. The latter is by the writer and editor who inspired Asimov, Heinlein and other great SF-writers, and the movie "The Thing" by John Carpenter.
Richard Hammond, is he in "Top Gear"?
Yes. He crashed his super fast car - and lived. God Bless Hammy!
Yes. He crashed his super fast car - and lived. God Bless Hammy!
The footage of that accident was horrible. That he lived was a fucking miracle. God bless Hammy, indeed!
Love that fucking show.
Richard Hammond, is he in "Top Gear"?
you are gay for actually having to ask.
Oh, and for the record, the book Flat out, flat broke is also Top gear related.
Perry McCarthy was the original black garbed Stig, and lost the job because he revealed in the paperback reprint of this book (I only own the original hardback version) that he was The Stig.
He was promptly replaced with the current Stig/Stigs!
I'm about eighty or so pages into Ender's Game. Really enjoying it so far. Its been over a year since I've read a book so hopefully this book and maybe series will get me back into it.
Yes. He crashed his super fast car - and lived. God Bless Hammy!
Thanks.
Richard Hammond, is he in "Top Gear"?
you are gay for actually having to ask.
Better be cheerful instead of being retarded.
Thanks for telling about the Stig guy(s).
Now reading the Bulldog Drummond novel "Knock-out" by Sapper/Cyril McNeil and the short story collection "A New Dawn. The Don A Stuart Stories" by John W. Campbell Jr. The former a predecessor of sorts to James Bond, The Saint and Doc Savage.
Finished the Sapper novel. Good page-turner.
Also finished the space opera novel "The Cosmic Engineers" by Clifford D. Simak from 1939 (his 1st novel). A great read with lots of Sense-of-Wonder, probably one of the best of this sub-genre.
The latter is by the writer and editor who inspired Asimov, Heinlein and other great SF-writers, and the movie "The Thing" by John Carpenter.
Still reading it.
Richard Hammond, is he in "Top Gear"?
you are gay for actually having to ask.
Better be cheerful instead of being retarded.
Thanks for telling about the Stig guy(s).
You are both gay and retarded, hows that?
Currently reading Critics Not Caretakers: Redescribing the Public Study of Religion by Russell McCutcheon.
I'm reading Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman, an interesting story about superheroes and supervillains.
I just finished Earth Abides by George Stewart. If you're into post-apocalyptic lit, this book should interest you; it's about a survivor of a global epidemic and his efforts to cope with the aftermath. It was first published in 1949 and is judged by some critics as one of the first great disaster novels of the modern literary era.
Catastrophe by Dick Morris!
Catastrophe by Dick Morris!
Interesting.
"East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Preparing for next school year!
Fast Food nation
Haven't read it in years. I don't agree with everything in the book but its still a good read.
The Narrows by Alexander C. Irvine
The Professors by David Horowitz
the lost symbol. Because I hate myself.
No need to tell us the obvious.
Meh. It's an amusing story. I don't see where it's gut busting funny.
Best autobiography ever.
Just to give a few snippets.
The opening dedication of the book:
"To all my enemies, I will destroy you."
Description of author on the inside of the dust jacket:
"Frankie Boyle is a comedian and writer who feels that a biographical note in an autobiography would be foolish."
A small section of the introduction:
"It's interesting for me to see the things people choose to get offended about and the things they let slide. Earlier this year I had to quit my Daily Record column over a moral disagreement. We disagreed over whether it was OK to make jokes about a dead child molester. It's not that I wasn't a fan of Michael Jackson - I was a big fan when I was 8. I didn't know it at the time, but I was his 'type'. For his London concerts Michael Jackson advertised for children in wheelchairs or with missing legs. What parent would agree to that? Look what happened to the kids who could run away! Those tickets sold out in minutes. An interesting attitude we have to paedophilia in this country: 'We don't want paedophiles round here ... unless they've really worked on their choreography.'
Sarah Palin's latest book, "Going Rogue." Almost done with it. It is SO good
Sarah Palin's latest book, "Going Rogue." Almost done with it. It is SO good
Who drew all the pictures in it?
"Arctic Drift" By Clive and Dirk Cussler.Pretty good but a bit preachy concerning global warming and energy crisises.
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
Cold War Hot by Peter G. Tsuoras
What If? by Robert Cowley et. al.
Just started Storm Front by Jim Butcher.
