Books and Literature.

[Guest WereWolf]

Just a quick laugh at Tarvius for casually mentioning reading the Inferno. The Divine Comedy is not something you casually read. However, if you have any interest in reading good books in the future, I highly recommend both the Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost. Two works of poetry that are alluded to more than just about anything besides the Bible and the works of Shakespeare.

 

That being said, over the past week I read:

 

Young Romantics: The Tangled Lives of English Poetry's Greatest Generation, by Daisy Hays.

 

I already had an interest in the subject, seeing as how Second Generation English Romantic poets are kind of my thing, but it's a very interesting book. Easy to read, I would recommend it to someone looking for some non-fiction. It's about the group of poets and intellectuals that developed around Leigh Hunt and Percy Bysshe Shelley during their lifetimes.

 

The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath

 

A quick read, following a young woman's descent into madness. Very much worth reading.

 

The Day After Tomorrow, by Robert A. Heinlein

 

No relation to the movie. This is very much a Heinlein book, complete with rampant Jingoism, religious philosophy, and a bit of racism thrown in for fun. I love it, but if you don't love Heinlein you won't enjoy this. Not his best book by far. Only one for Heinlein enthusiasts.

 

 

 

Also, Dune is great. I read all the Frank Herbert novels and enjoyed each one, though I wouldn't fault anyone for not going all the way.

[treacherous]

My community library didn't have one titled just "Dune", they're all "Dune - something or other". That was why I asked. Wasn't sure if the first had a subtitle or not.

So... guess I'll have to buy that one. Thanks.

 

 

the complete books of Dune.

[Guest LegendX]

the complete books of Dune.

Correction... I'll have to buy those ONES.

 

Thanks Treach.

[Guest Maestro]

I just read the Persepolis comics. Got 'em from the library. They tell the true story of a family of dissenters against the religious order, who survived the Iranian Revolution. Excellent. I'd rate them among the best comics I've read.

 

The description of "true life historical comic" probably makes you think of Maus, and it really is on par with that.

 

There's also an animated film adaptation, which is probably pretty good too, though I haven't seen it.

[Guest Maestro]

The Day After Tomorrow, by Robert A. Heinlein

 

No relation to the movie. This is very much a Heinlein book, complete with rampant Jingoism, religious philosophy, and a bit of racism thrown in for fun. I love it, but if you don't love Heinlein you won't enjoy this. Not his best book by far. Only one for Heinlein enthusiasts.

 

I enjoyed that one, too. It's sort of a funny experience simultaneously enjoying a book for its juvenile fun-value and for the fun of laughing at its outdated attitudes and fatuous racism.

[Guest Maestro]

I prefer non-fiction to fiction. One book I'd like to read is "Chariots of the Gods?" by Erich von Daniken. I also love to read the writings of Stephen Hawking.

 

I read that one a long time ago. Terrible.

[Guest Shockwave]

I'm trying to find this "Surviving Retail" Book that my manager told me about. Said it's funny as hell.

[Guest sirmethos]

currently (re-)reading A Time To Die. by Wilbur Smith.

 

next on the list(if i can find it <.<) is Clan of the Cavebear. by Jean M. Auel

 

 

if i can't find that one, then i'll see which David Eddings book i haven't left at my dads place.

[treacherous]

Just finished the Simillirian or however it's spelled. I can't decide whether I wasted a big chunk of my life or not.

[Guest Ruinus]

Re-reading:

H.G. Well's War of the Worlds, Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers and John Steakley's Armor, since those three are my favorite books of all time. I started to re-read the Warhammer 40,000: Last Chancer Omnibus, but it's too long for me to enjoy it again.

 

About to read:

H. G. Well's First Men on the Moon, and I'm going to ask a friend to lend me all of Iain Bank's Culture novels, since I started Look to Windward and Consider Phlebas but never finished them.

[Guest TheJ0ke]

Erm, I recently picked up a copy of George Orwell's 1984 from Borders.

Any thoughts on it (no spoilers please) before I start?

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

I found it depressing. Well written though

[Guest TheJ0ke]

I found it depressing. Well written though

Heh, well I didn't anticipate it being a happy pampy book.

[treacherous]

Resurrection!!

 

Read some Steampunk books -----> Leviathan -----> suck'd

Read some Sci Fi/Fantasy -----> Out of the Dark -----> Pretty cool/ Interesting twist ending

Currently reading some Classic Fiction -----> 1984 ------> Brilliant

[Sir Exal]

Don't you dare malign Scott Westerfeld, treach.

[treacherous]

I didn't dig it. What can you do? Besides I didn't malign him, I maligned Leviathan. It was "meh" for me.

[Mercenaryblade]

Wel recently I've fallen in love with a series of books about a WWII destroyer that somehow ends up in a parallel universe, there two races are at war one race evolved from Lemurs one from Raptors.

 

They're very well written, I like so many of the characters and they have plenty of action.

[Guest Mr. Outstanding]

Is 1984 mandatory reading for admins?

 

You know, the term "Orwellian" sprang to mind once or twice while traveling around here (particularly when my posts were erased and replaced with gibberish, which I can't say wasn't an improvement).

 

Anywho, 1984 was one of my alter ego's favorites (although I don't do much reading myself). The softy nearly wept during certain moments.

 

Dostoyevsky is a must, and not just because saying the name to your friends makes you sound smart. Crime and Punishment. If you like the Dexter series or the anime Death Note, you'll love Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. Doesn't get much better.

 

He (as in the flesh costume that I wear when I'm not Mr. O) has been reading Kobo Abe lately. The Japanese novelist. Interesting, kind of magical realism with a dose of existentialism. Kangaroo Notebook. The Ruined Map. Just ordered his most famous work, The Woman in the Dunes. Can't wait.

[Guest force_echo]

I had to read 1984 for school. I read Animal Farm for school too. They're candid, and I've always been a sucker for political works.

 

As for what I'm reading right now, its One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest. Not sure I like it, all the women are either stone cold bitches or whores, and the black men are sadistic sodomists. Plus the setting is a mental hospital, already scary, and made even more so by the POV of the narrator/main character.

[Guest TheJ0ke]

Is 1984 mandatory reading for admins?

Yes, I'm surprised Treach is sharing the fact that he hasn't read it yet...

 

The softy nearly wept during certain moments (you'll see what I'm talking about when you get to those parts, the Joke).

The hell are you talking about? I finished that book months ago... and then shortly after read Brave New World. You know, just in case I hadn't had enough of disillusioned people yearning for the past in a future "dystopia" (BTW, I personally don't think Huxley's "nightmare" would actually be as bad as he thought).

 

Also, Treach, you should totally read Brave New World right after 1984 too. I'm telling you it'll be awesome in the beginning when you go "Like OMG! That was so totally like something George Orwell would like write because the like theme thingies are so like each other!" or something like that... it'll definitely keep the Valley Girl drawl in Treach's head/when he shouts it out though. Then you also need to make sure you read Slaughterhouse 5 and Catch-22 right after each other. It's like the same experience just with more satirical war-gritty awesomeness and less sci-fi dystopia (Treach's new found Valley Girl accent stays though)!

 

 

As for what I'm reading right now, its One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest. Not sure I like it, all the women are either stone cold bitches or whores, and the black men are sadistic sodomists. Plus the setting is a mental hospital, already scary, and made even more so by the POV of the narrator/main character.

I read that last year for summer reading. I actually quite liked it (well, at least in comparison to the other shit they made us read). It's real weird in the beginning, but give it time. It gets better as you go along.

[IKA]

I just read the Elder Scrolls Book ---> The Infernal City

 

It's pretty good.

[Guest TheJ0ke]

Why can't James Joyce write more like the folks on Shmoop?

[Guest shellsbut]

well to start just read up on it as it states it is a step below TOAA by various sources and the writer Starlin stated the same afterward. So again nice effort doing nothing. Oh and it was also stated Thanos was being guided something greater acorrding to Starlin in interview.

Also the end of the series made all events in the series null and void. It never happened anyway.

 

Just picked up watchers for a read. I saw the movie ages ago and found out it was based on a Dean Koontz novel. THe book is quite good.

[AVP vs The Terminator]

Just finished The Tommyknockers by Stephen King. I didn't enjoy it as much as the other King novels I've read. Best part was the IT reference (Pennywise lives! ).

[treacherous]

Is 1984 mandatory reading for admins? <_>

 

Mandatory practice, not mandatory reading. If we read it, we'll be tempted to think for ourselves. We only get to read the Newspeak version. As for J0ke, I don't know how many times I've said that I don't read books without pictures. Ivan is the intellectual, I'm the fledgling dictator. I've already cut off six wive's heads and punched one (just ask Tarv).

 

Tarv is the nice guy. Landon is the Main Character. The rest of us are just living in his world.