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The Book Thread

Mihail

By Mihail
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Mihail

Mihail

Posted
Posted

Alright, since we don't really have a consistent thread about books, and because I have a feeling that most of our members are quite literate, I thought that maybe I could start up a thread concering the topic of books. So - general discussion, really. What you're reading at the moment, what you would reccomend to someone, etc.

I just finished reading "Time Out of Joint" by Philip K. Dick. Aside from the fact that he is a wonderful author, the book is great in and of itself, too. It isn't too heavy philosophically and I finished it in two days of light reading, but it makes you think about our perception of reality. I would reccomend it to any Philip K. Dick enthusiast. :)

What about you guys?

Anathema

Anathema

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I made a brief start the other day with The praise of folly from Erasmus, though I don't know if I'll get around to reading the rest of it anytime soon. Almost done rereading Heretics of Dune after wich I intend to finish up with Chapterhouse. I borrowed a copy of The kite runner from somebody but haven't read a single page yet.

To be honest I've got to do so much study reading that when I don't feel like reading a lot in my spare time.

Timenn

Timenn

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I'm re-reading The Wheel of Time series (by Robert Jordan) at the moment. Book Five (Fires of Heaven) to be precise. Series is very in-depth fantasy, that will end with the 12th book. Sadly the author has died before finishing the final novel. An author has been selected to finish the series, and I hope (and suspect) he will do a good job on it.

Mihail

Mihail

Posted
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Posted

Oh damn, I hadn't realised that there were threads this recent on the boards. I thought that if there was a topic on literature then it was half a year ago, at least... Well, I guess this can't really be undone, and I don't really see a point in deleting this thread(my precioussss...), so I guess it can go on...

Anuyway, I could never get into those long, in-depth fantasy series. Too many books, and by the time I got the next book in the series, my interest had practically dropped totally off of it. I blame my father for not doing enough to encourage my interest in literature. Especially now - both him and me being computer savvy, he tells me to "download the books from the net". Which is all fine and goo(and I have gotten a good number of books off the internet), but reading them on the computer is damn uncomfortable and printing them out isn't much better. What I would like is a real book, bound and with a normal cover, the smell of book paper - you know - wafting up from the open pages... *sigh* 

Dragoon Knight

Dragoon Knight

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My favourite genre of books would have to be Sci-Fi / Fantasy.  Hardly surprising, considering my interest in Dune, and probably the norm amongst the denizens of FED2k. :)

My favourite author would have to be Terry Pratchett - anyone who hasn't read the Discworld novels is missing out on hilarity coupled with excellent stories.  The way his writing creates a parallel to our reality, then proceeds to rip the piss out of it, makes it all the more entertaining.  I also enjoy the Lord of the Rings books, but little else by J.R.R. Tolkein - I feel that he tends to rattle on a bit.  In contrast, the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin is both expansive and engaging; I can't wait for him to get around to completing the next novel.

What is is about people with R.R. as middle initials making epic sagas? :P

Right now, I'm reading through the Dune Prequels again, to refresh my memory for reading Hunters / Sandworms.  I've finished with the House Prequels and just started The Butlerian Jihad.  Keep getting distracted from my reading by other things - gaming, watching episodes of Star Trek: Voyager, sleep... being unemployed has its perks. :D

Vanguard3000

Vanguard3000

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Right now, I'm reading Xenogenesis, by Octavia E. Butler.  It was recommended to me by a friend, and I found it at a used bookstore for two bucks or something.  I'm not crazy about the writing style, and it's a little repetitive at times, but it's not terrible.

I also just got the collector's edition of the Dragonlance Chronicles for my birthday the other day - hardcover, with gilt pages, and one of those oldschool ribbon-bookmarks attached to it.  The coolest thing is that it actually has notes from the authors in the margins, explaining what was going on while they were writing the story (which was based off of a D&D campaign they had).  And it's got Raistlin on the spine!  I read the individual Chronicles a while back, but I'm going to skim over it again and read the notes.

I just finished reading "Time Out of Joint" by Philip K. Dick.

Nice.  I'm a huge fan of his.  I have Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick, which includes a lot of his works that were made into films (Impostor; Minority Report; Second Variety/Screamers; We Can Remember It For You Wholesale/Total Recall).

Khan

Khan

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Right now I'm reading 'Light in August' by William Faulkner, as well as refreshing myself with various texts for my English exams. I don't think they really count though, until I reread them that is.

Andrew

Andrew

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Re-reading personal finance life insurance notes and Personal Financial Planning fourth edition book. Someone stupid in the family thinks I need life insurance... on top of life insurance I already have... and also wants some disability insurance...

They're getting suckered by the salesman. Either that or they plan on me dieing soon and want to make money off it. I only have a 0.1% chance of dieing this year according to mortality rates and I have no dependants.

Acriku

Acriku

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I'm re-reading The Wheel of Time series (by Robert Jordan) at the moment. Book Five (Fires of Heaven) to be precise. Series is very in-depth fantasy, that will end with the 12th book. Sadly the author has died before finishing the final novel. An author has been selected to finish the series, and I hope (and suspect) he will do a good job on it.

Timenn, sad to hear - I had no idea he died. I actually just (seriously, about 15 minutes ago) finished the second novel. I am so excited about this series! I've been searching for a really good and long fantasy series not written by Tolkien (the movies put a sour taste in my mouth).

I will begin the third installation, The Dragon Reborn, tonight :D

Vanguard, did you not mention Blade Runner on purpose? Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was a favorite of mine growing up.

Dunenewt

Dunenewt

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Right now, I'm reading Xenogenesis, by Octavia E. Butler.

She sounds suspiciously like a Dune character.

Anyway, right now I'm re-reading Dune, as well as Lithuania: The Rebel Nation, Preventative Diplomacy, and finally The Post-Soviet States.

TMA_1

TMA_1

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Reading A Brief History of Time. Hawking has an ability to explain the history and mechanics of relativistic and quantum physics in such an easy and wonderful way.

Mahdi

Mahdi

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I recently finish Caesar's commentaries ont eh civil war, which I much prefered over his commentaries on the Gallic war, even hough the Gallic war is thought to be the better book.  Goes to show how much difference the translator makes.

Speakign of translations.  A few months back I read the Odyssey and really enjoyed it.  A short time ago I started to read the Iliad and couldn't ge by the fourth page.  Why?  The translator decided to, get this, translate it into OLD ENGLISH.

Because OLD ENGLISH is ssssssssssssooooooooooooooo much more accurate to the times than modern English.

Bah.

Tatar Khan

Tatar Khan

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I recently finish Caesar's commentaries ont eh civil war, which I much prefered over his commentaries on the Gallic war, even hough the Gallic war is thought to be the better book.  Goes to show how much difference the translator makes.

Oh translator makes a lot of difference, Caesar's Gallic Wars were much easier for me to read than the Civil War. I found narrative of Civil War much more confusing.

Khan

Khan

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When you say old English, how old are you on about?

I'd guess it was probably shakespearean english, which is middle English I think (maybe Chaucerian). Beowulf is in old English and very hard to read.

MrFlibble

MrFlibble

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I remember reading some excerpts from Commentarii de Bello Gallico in Latin when I studied it in the university. It's not that I can read Latin willy-nilly though, for that I lack practice, since it's not one of my majors. From what I remember, Caesar's writing is very logical and well structured.

Vanguard3000

Vanguard3000

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Posted
[Octavia E. Butler] sounds suspiciously like a Dune character.

She does sound like she's from Legends of Dune, doesn't she?  And some of her characters are about as one-sided as a lot of the characters in Legends...

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