What Are You Reading?

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NYN
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Re: What Are You Wearing?

Post by NYN »

Fine point.
PKD wrote:- in a sporty maroon wrapper, twinkle-toes turned-up shoes and a felt cap with a tassel -
Joe Chip. Mad combo.
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Re: What Are You Wearing?

Post by rapoon »

Ronyn wrote:Fine point.
PKD wrote:- in a sporty maroon wrapper, twinkle-toes turned-up shoes and a felt cap with a tassel -
Joe Chip. Mad combo.

You ever finish this?

Ubik is still my favorite work by Dick. I tried to read VALIS (semi-biographical novel concerning his 'religious awakening' wrapped in a sci-fi setting) but only made it halfway through.

Other's recently read:

The Innovators - Isaacson attempts to run the gamut of technological innovations from Lovelace to 2015 AI. Pre-transistor period coverage is interesting, otherwise most topics simply lacked their deserved breadth (TCP/IP/Networking, GNU/Linux/*nix).
Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age" - Title speaks for itself. Fantastic. Underscores several of Jobs comments from the late-90's "Xerox could have owned the computer industry...".
Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet - Granular examination of the team that comprised ARPA(NET)/DARPA.

Neuromancer - Revisted this ~20 years later. The Anniversary edition includes a preface by Gibson including an admission that he is/was technologically inept and said ignorance was invaluable in allowing him to construct his world (Chiba, The Sprawl, Freeside, etc) absent realistic technological limitations.... fair enough. Almost 35 years after it's publication, when much of the techology has come to fruition, I find myself meandering through his technobabble. It doesn't help that Gibson has a Lovecraftian style of being excessively verbose at times. It's not bad, it just hasn't aged well.

On the table: A Confederacy of Dunces, The Soul of a New Machine, and The Illuminatus Trilogy
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by GaijinPunch »

How did Neuromancer age? I've been trying to get it from the library but it's checked out in the infrequent window I have open.
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Re: spray can full o' ubiquity

Post by NYN »

rapoon wrote:
You ever finish this?
Oh yeah.
Takes 'bout a month give or take for me to get through a book. Depends on page count, interest and accessibility to get into the groove of the piece. It's rather seldom I don't finish what I started. Maybe that's because I pick books myself. Made it through Wild Boys too, despite a jungle of stiffies and quivering buttocks. Which itself is fine. Just didn't expect the whole eroticism. Some may be a bit eye-rolling. Johnny you wanta? Yes Johnny wanta.

No limpness with this particular Dick. Some parts are quite horrorshow, at least to my mind. The expiration of Al Hammond. The threat of Pat Conley. And naturally the appearance of the true final boss. I don't know if others would dig the exchange of dialogue 'tween Chip and the other one, I think that was a fun bit. I have yet to find a PKD that doesn't hold up to me.

After that it was Franny and Zooey. Salinger was right to quit while he was ahead. That way readers can't get nostalgic over a certain period of writing. There are no pits, it's all up. Read his Nine Stories earlier this year and I guffawed about the possibilities to break it into another medium. Film, web comic, whatever. No, that's stuff you need to read. Can't get it that pure (undiluted) any other way. Feels similar to Dick in that regard.

I'm wrestling with Tender is the Night atm. Not in the groove yet. Fitzgerald because I re-read Gatsby earlier. Didn't think it was that great the first time around. The second time I could see through the jazzy (pompous?) lingo to the skull of the 'merican Dream. They say Tender is the Night is the night to Gatsby's day. So that's why.
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Re: What Are You Reading?

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GaijinPunch wrote:How did Neuromancer age? I've been trying to get it from the library but it's checked out in the infrequent window I have open.
I'm likely the dissident with that comment and it hinges on the divergence between Gibson's portrayal of 'Cyberspace' and the online, information inundated world we're in now. Case jacking in with his deck... his engagement with ICE and AI.
Gibson's descriptions conjure up scenes from 'The Lawnmower Man' and Rez. It was written on the cusp of an explosive event, whether Gibson knew it or not, the dust has settled and the terrain looks different than what was imagined.
Admittedly, it's silly of me to point out disparities between a work of fiction and how things actually unfolded, so I'll revise my 'it hasn't aged well' statement to it's shifted from cyberpunk/futurism to cyberpunk/retro-futurism.
If you haven't read it, I highly recommend Snow Crash.
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PKD
All this PKD talk had me at Half Price Books this afternoon grabbing copies of The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch and Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said :D
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by Stevens »

Anyone read Snow Crash? Read it a few years back and considering another trip through..
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Re: What Are You Reading?

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rapoon wrote: I'm likely the dissident with that comment and it hinges on the divergence between Gibson's portrayal of 'Cyberspace' and the online, information inundated world we're in now. Case jacking in with his deck... his engagement with ICE and AI.
Gibson's descriptions conjure up scenes from 'The Lawnmower Man' and Rez. It was written on the cusp of an explosive event, whether Gibson knew it or not, the dust has settled and the terrain looks different than what was imagined.
Admittedly, it's silly of me to point out disparities between a work of fiction and how things actually unfolded, so I'll revise my 'it hasn't aged well' statement to it's shifted from cyberpunk/futurism to cyberpunk/retro-futurism.
If you haven't read it, I highly recommend Snow Crash.
Noted... and TBH, I quite like this sub so I can probably handle Neuromancer. In fact, most scifi I've read lately (and am currently reading) are from the 60s and 70s.
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by EmperorIng »

2018 is the year I actually read things.

I can't believe I didn't actually update this topic to say I finished Moby Dick - it only took me a year until this past August. 8) There were some rough patches in there for sure (some chapters, very dry). Most chapters are a few pages long though, which makes it easier to absorb large (or small) chunks and still make progress.

Moby Dick is a weird and experimental book, which makes it totally unlike what I had expected. It hops around to different genres pretty frequently, and becomes a stage play at a few points. It's actually refreshing that a book raised up on a pedestal for so long actually has something to surprise me with. It really is a book about everything stuffed into a whaling voyage.

Afterwards, as my 'reward' I read a modern book about ancient whales: Nick Pyenson's Spying on Whales. I am very much 'in' to marine biology so I enjoy indulging in that curiosity. It might not excite people to read about an archaeologist reconstructing ancient whale bones/species and biologically examining the evolutionary path of modern whales. But it was for me! You gain a deeper appreciation for how fine-tuned the animals are for living in their environment. It naturally comes with a cautionary outlook on how modern civilization's habits and consumption are not in line with large-spread whale survival. It doesn't delve into doom-n-gloom but the implications are sobering enough. We can all start by using less plastic in our lives, for one.

All in all a very readable and fascinating book - made to let a dummy like me understand things about baleen and whale jaw composition.

A small stop along the way was Heart of Darkness, read after watching Apocalypse Now. This had been in my queue for over a year, but with only 90 pages it was finished quickly enough. It's a weird mix of casual racism and searing anti-colonialism, but that's to be expected for 19th century lit. The main thrust of the book, describing the miserable rubber farms and diamond mines, and going so deep into the jungle as to learn the 'truth' about civilization (or rather, lack of truth within civilization) is effective enough. An underappreciated part of the book is the protagonist coming back to London and is unable to communicate effectively with anyone.

I also finally finished This is Orson Welles. Being a big Orson fan, this was long overdue as I had started and stopped over the last two years. This time, because of my newfound job gave me a 30-40 minute train ride to and from work, meant that I now could have dedicated time (if I didn't fall asleep) to make some progress reading. The book is a series of interviews with Peter Bogdonavich (the raws of which you can find on youtube and elsewhere) talking about the full scope of his career. These are a little more structured and coherent than the more popular back-biting ramblings that get shared from Jaglom's Lunches with Orson (which while entertaining, are mostly Orson Welles bitching about people and the waiters). If you enjoy Welles movies, and have seen enough movies in general, the interviews are a fun read and full of interesting technical info and insights into movies. It even has a appendix with the script for cut scenes from The Magnificent Ambersons, which made for a nice coda after I had watched the movie and wanted to know how it should have ended.

After all of this, I'm now reading Kafka's The Trial on the train (The Trial? A train station? another Orson connection? :wink: ). Drily humorous and strange, much like The Metamorphosis, which I read last year.

The big library downtown (Newberry) is hosting live readings of Moby Dick that people can sign up for. I've been thinking of claiming a chapter. :mrgreen:
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by rapoon »

GaijinPunch wrote:
rapoon wrote: I'm likely the dissident with that comment and it hinges on the divergence between Gibson's portrayal of 'Cyberspace' and the online, information inundated world we're in now. Case jacking in with his deck... his engagement with ICE and AI.
Gibson's descriptions conjure up scenes from 'The Lawnmower Man' and Rez. It was written on the cusp of an explosive event, whether Gibson knew it or not, the dust has settled and the terrain looks different than what was imagined.
Admittedly, it's silly of me to point out disparities between a work of fiction and how things actually unfolded, so I'll revise my 'it hasn't aged well' statement to it's shifted from cyberpunk/futurism to cyberpunk/retro-futurism.
If you haven't read it, I highly recommend Snow Crash.
Noted... and TBH, I quite like this sub so I can probably handle Neuromancer. In fact, most scifi I've read lately (and am currently reading) are from the 60s and 70s.
Big Fan of /r/RetroFuturism/. You should definitely check our Neuromancer. :D
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by Stevens »

Stevens wrote:Anyone read Snow Crash? Read it a few years back and considering another trip through..
I am retarded sometimes. Didn't see that rapoon mentioned Snow Crash one post above mine.
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by GaijinPunch »

Big Fan of /r/RetroFuturism/. You should definitely check our Neuromancer. :D
I might do that next. Looks like I am miraculously going to finish my 5 English & 1 Japanese book per year rule. I did 5 English quite quickly, but didn't read anything from about April until I busted out Kesshou Seidan by Sakyo Komatsu. At 200 pages, and being a collection of short stories where the last is the title of the book, it's not too daunting. I should finish it in the next couple of days, just making the 1 year cut off. I really need to find a new J-author though.

As for Neuromancer, I just need to get off my ass and make it happen. I"m being overly cheap these days as I have realized that $5-$10 here and there adds up quickly. As such I try to make as much use out of the library as I can. Ironically the last library book I checked out I lost on a plane so that cost me $15. :|
I am retarded sometimes. Didn't see that rapoon mentioned Snow Crash one post above mine.
:) Was wondering about that. Must be added to the list though if two people randomly suggested it at the same time.
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by Randorama »

I am going through Michael Moorcock's Colonel Pyat tetralogy. By this point, I am only missing some of his short stories and more commercial works, from a completist perspective. It is hard to describe the feeling of reading an author I adored as a teenager, and that I still certainly like.

The key factor is that these days I feel too old to read prose and not feel amused (or even besumed) by authors' attempts to be profound. My job involves reading lot of "profound" stuff, so I tend to invariably feel that authors are at best naive in using whatever philosophical/political/scientific concepts they wish to use in their stories. Maybe that is why I cannot read Alan Moore's works or any other comic artists' outputs with a similar attitude.

Now, Pyat's stories are fun nevertheless, since they revolve around an anti-semite Ukrainian Jew who escapes from Ukraine before it is absorbed by the Soviets, and has colourful adventures around the world as a KKK member, Fascist sympathiser, and so on. The books are also written via the "unreliable narrator" technique, so they have their own literary charm. Moorcock seems to also have done his historical research before writing these works, so fictional liberties are taken with wisdom.

re: GP. Just to be a pedantic bastard: you worry about spending too much money on books? The whisky thread says "Hi!" :wink:
Still, loaning books from the library remains one of the great pleasures of life, especially for people who periodically relocate. Last time I had to ship books back to my home, I spent around 1000 AUD in fees, and my parents said that my rooms are full with...stuff.*

I am also catching up with comics (the American variety). I discovered that East of West (by John Hickman) and Chew (by some guys) are really great, and so is TheWicked+TheDivine. I am feeling too lazy to summarise them, but it seems that Image Comics in the last 5-8 years or so has started publishing great, variegated works.






* My parents are divorced, so I get to have two rooms, "like when you were a brat, and they are still full of books, video and table top games, other random stuff and who knows what else (maybe even printed porn!)" (my father's comment).
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by GaijinPunch »

re: GP. Just to be a pedantic bastard: you worry about spending too much money on books? The whisky thread says "Hi!" :wink:
Still, loaning books from the library remains one of the great pleasures of life, especially for people who periodically relocate. Last time I had to ship books back to my home, I spent around 1000 AUD in fees, and my parents said that my rooms are full with...stuff.*
Yes, indeed... I am not afraid to spend money on things that I enjoy. Anyone that's been here since "the good times" will remember that I had my fair share of ridiculously priced shit. The whiskey, ironically, often lasts longer than a book. I also don't re-read books so having them seems a bit goofy to me. For the record, I have loads of photography books (which are of course stupid heavy) so they'll cost me a fortune if I move overseas again.

I now basically don't dick around on my phone off of Wifi as to save $20 or so in data charges a month. (I shouldn't be dicking around on it when I'm out anyway, but the money is a nice incentive). I ride my bike in horrible weather. etc. etc. I scrimp where I can so I can afford some nice things.
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by Randorama »

Ah! The key problem is that food & drinks cannot be rented out to be "experienced", unlike books. Still, for some (say, many of my colleagues), a drawer full of books still remains as a status symbol of much well-read they are. I don't honestly worry about this kind of "face" issue, but the "collector" mentality may be stigmatised upon when more modern collectibles are taken in consideration.

My grandpa collected a certain type of ceramic dolls because they costed a fortune back in the day and their value only increased ever since, but criticised me when I would "collect" videogames (which I played...). He also had a vast library of books he never read, but he liked to show off, and wondered why I would read books on a 49" screen, and copy and paste passages I would deem useful (The "underline" function was a mystery to him...). Social norms on how to spend money on non-necessary goods make little sense regardless of the culture, don't they?

Personally, I would have gone bankrupt a long time ago if I wouldn't have been able to buy books, articles, etc. via my employers' libraries. Unis usually allow academic staff to download copies of books, effectively buying them for the staff member. In my last year at Stockholm U, I "bought" roughly 7k euros worth of books, including comics ("for research purposes", of course). That's roughly 7 months of rent saved (well, in Stockholm), and when I need to re-read anything, I can simply click a pdf file and search the relevant passage.

Speaking of picture books, I also recently "read" a commemorative book for the 40 years of re-opening of my current Uni, SYSU (The Great Timoneer decided that education was a problem for the true revolution, etc.).

I cannot read Chinese simplified characters, but the pictures tell a compelling story of people willing to leave in rather bare conditions to get an education (say, 8 students in a 14 square metres room, and so on). The smiles in the pictures often look genuine, which is telling about how much they appreciated the chances they receive for emancipation. Fairly moving, honestly...even though some students' dorms on campus are still fairly shit :wink:
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Re: What Are You Reading?

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I'm sure I will bitch about what my son collects, just as my dad did about me. However, I already made more money at about age 27 as my father did his last year before retirement. For that, I thank him (for sending me to college). I do try my best to at least make some dough out of my hobbies when possible, to mitigate the cost. At the end of the day, I would save way more by just watching Netflix only as my hobby. But would of course would not gain a lot of insight/skills/etc.

I think my dad would have eventually gotten into an eReader had he lived long enough. He had a digital camera (actually I bought him one in 2001 and he used it until he died in 2013). He had records but was not afraid of digital music. I believe his last books were paperback though. For me, I am not a huge fan of buying digital, mainly for the reasons listed by many members here. However, reading on a tablet, especially for someone who usually gives his books away when he's done, makes a lot of sense. Also, with the Japanese books, the quick lookup in the dictionary is a game changer.... game changer enough that I am considering re-reading the first few J-books I read in paperback.
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by Immryr »

got the gormenghast trilogy for xmas, looking forward to getting stuck into that.
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by BrainΦΠΦTemple »

been trying to read the sequel to ringworld, but it's a huge piece of shit.

also, to whoever mentioned neuromancer, yeah, that book fucking owns
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Re: What Are You Reading?

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GaijinPunch wrote:Kesshou Seidan by Sakyo Komatsu. At 200 pages, and being a collection of short stories where the last is the title of the book, it's not too daunting. I should finish it in the next couple of days, just making the 1 year cut off. I really need to find a new J-author though.
How did/do you like it? I've been meaning to find some good japanese sci-fi, but don't really know where to begin. Sounds like Komatsu would be a good place to start. Reading Japanese books on the kindle has been a godsend for me, really cuts down on the time needed to look up forgotten kanji/words etc.
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Re: What Are You Reading?

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blackoak wrote: How did/do you like it? I've been meaning to find some good japanese sci-fi, but don't really know where to begin. Sounds like Komatsu would be a good place to start.
This is my 4th book my Komatsu, and I would probably rate it as the least interesting. Not bad by any stretch, but the 3 stories before the titular one didn't leave too much of an impression, and the main story (which is still pretty short -- about 65-70 pages) is good but nothing amazing.

Of the others I have read:
Kami he no Nagai Michi: I would recommend this first. 5 short stories, and like Kesshou Seidan (and I think all of his short story collections) the longer story is the last and shares the title of the book. In this case, it's about 100 pages (half the book) and definitely held my interest. I recall at least one in the book being really hokey, but wasn't that long so I guess it gets a pass.

Kyomu Kairou: A contraversial read at this point. I think any hardcore fan will have read it, but it is famously incomplete. I believe there are 3 books in total, with quite a huge gap between at least two of them. I believe some were written in the early 90's and the last in 2000 or so. It gets to a stopping point, but it was clear it was not done. Not sure what the hell he was thinking as he died like 11 years later at the age of 80. :| The compilation runs about 400 pages, which I believe is pretty long by Japanese novel standards.

Hateshinaki Nagare no Hate ni: Without a doubt, his magnum opus. Originally serialized in SF Magazine, at one chapter per issue, it can feel quite disjointed at a times. The story spans millions of years, and incorporates a lot of different elements. Some arcs do seem to appear out of nowhere, and some seem to end quite abruptly. I really enjoyed it though. About 8 (of 10) chapters in I wanted to make sure I knew what the fuck was really going on and found an old site where a reader wrote an outline (on his second time through, as even he attested it can be hard to follow). Basically I followed as well as possible I feel, so trudged on. Definitely dug it, and might give it another go one day as I did not have it on the Kindle. This is about the same length as the Kyomu Kairou compilation -- a bit long. Anime nerds will notice an homage (English translation: title stolen) paid by Aim for the Top (episode 6).

FWIW, those three books fall into his "post human" works, so you get a similar vibe among them. Gordius no Musubime is supposed to be in a similar vein, and one of the characters in one of those stories is apparently, at least in concept, shared with Hateshinaki.

EDIT: Having just finished the book on the plane, there was a small appendix, so need to clean up the above. All of those mentioned, plus Kesshou Seidan are all kind in the same group. Not sure about Gordius no Musubime, but there are some main characters from Hateshinaki Nagare no Hate ni that are in Kesshou Seidan. Hard to explain but it's somewhat soft spoken. It's definitely not a sequel, but he was quoted in saying that many of his works are in the same universe. There are also other bits (not necessarily characters) that cross over from other aforementioned books. So, take all that as you will when deciding one. FWIW, in the appendix, Komatsu was quoted as saying Kami he no Nagai Michi was his favorite SF work.
Reading Japanese books on the kindle has been a godsend for me, really cuts down on the time needed to look up forgotten kanji/words etc.
Fo sho. One thing to note w/ Komatsu though is that the dictionary lookup will be quite frustrating at times. He likes to make up words w/ kanji... and I'm pretty sure the furigana is supposed to be the phonetic representation of the real word, but he's all artsy fartsy w/ the kanji. It's not a deal breaker but can be irksome. I'm going through Amazon.jp to find what they think are similar titles to try next.

Omake: A lot of the covers of the books are done by legendary illustrator Nobuyoshi Ohrai. Hateshinaki Nagare no Hate Ni on the right, and Kami he no Nagai Michi middle right on the left page.

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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by Blinge »

Immryr wrote:got the gormenghast trilogy for xmas, looking forward to getting stuck into that.
Ohh don't bother with titus alone..
I know you won't listen though :mrgreen:

As for Neuromancer I came to the latter two of the Sprawl trilogy years after reading the previous ones. It felt like a huge privilege to re-enter the world every time.
The problem with the latter two is I enjoyed them in the moment so much, then felt a bit unfulfilled afterwards. I'm a total glutton though. Given the chance, I would always ask for more and more until the concept is ridden into the ground and everyone else is bored/ book is trashed in reviews.
So i don't know, really.
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by Randorama »

GaijinPunch wrote:I'm sure I will bitch about what my son collects, just as my dad did about me. [...] Also, with the Japanese books, the quick lookup in the dictionary is a game changer.... game changer enough that I am considering re-reading the first few J-books I read in paperback.


I would conclude by saying that memorabilia and collectibilia can always turn out to be investments. The key lesson I learnt about my grandpa's dolls collections is that you never know what wacky "object" is going to command huge prices after a few decades or so. I guess that wine and liquors would qualify in this category, too, but maybe only a certain kind of book. Not the ones I read, I guess.

Re: digital reading. Yes: I read fiction/comics/etc. in a different language than English whenever possible, or I will lose any language skills beyond said language. I only speak and read languages using the Latin alphabet, but on-line dictionaries nevertheless avoid tons of problems. The same reasoning holds for e.g. any article/paper containing links or on-line references. I would say that my reading habits have become quite goal-oriented because of my job.

And now a more general question:

can anyone give me a brief synopsis of Kim Stanley Robinson's work beyond the Mars trilogy? A long synopsis is also fine, so thanks in advance :wink:
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Post by NYN »

The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book

Sweet stuff. Not sticky.
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by NZA »

I just started "The Conspiracy Against the Human Race" by Thomas Ligotti today.
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by Stevens »

Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris.

A collection of interviews with people at the top of their respective fields. The book is broken up into three sections: Healthy, wealthy, and wise.

I read every interview sans one in the healthy portion, it just wasn't very interesting. The sections with Peter Attia and Dominic D'agostino (especially D'agostino) were worth the price of admission on their own.

I skipped over the wealthy portion in its entirety. The wise portion was good, but only the chapter with a Navy Seal Commander sticks out.

Special shout out to Tim Kreider's Lazy: A Manifesto.

You can read it here - http://www.staystrongsc.com/blog/2017/1 ... -manifesto
My lord, I have come for you.
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Sparky
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by Sparky »

GaijinPunch wrote:
Big Fan of /r/RetroFuturism/. You should definitely check our Neuromancer. :D
I might do that next. Looks like I am miraculously going to finish my 5 English & 1 Japanese book per year rule. I did 5 English quite quickly, but didn't read anything from about April until I busted out Kesshou Seidan by Sakyo Komatsu. At 200 pages, and being a collection of short stories where the last is the title of the book, it's not too daunting. I should finish it in the next couple of days, just making the 1 year cut off. I really need to find a new J-author though.

As for Neuromancer, I just need to get off my ass and make it happen. I"m being overly cheap these days as I have realized that $5-$10 here and there adds up quickly. As such I try to make as much use out of the library as I can. Ironically the last library book I checked out I lost on a plane so that cost me $15. :|
Hi GaijinPunch,

Have you heard of OverDrive? It is a free book lending service provided by public libraries. You can check-out audiobooks, eBooks, and magazines that are part of their purchased catalog. You can check if it is available in your area. Here is a link to the Chicago Public Library OverDrive page:

https://chipublib.overdrive.com/

Here is an example of Neuromancer being part of their catalog:

https://chipublib.overdrive.com/media/612607

I use this frequently with a Kindle and iPad. Hope you find it useful if it works out for you. It is a good way to save money and space.
"Make-up! Jewels! Dresses! I want it all! Sigh... And some new accessories would be nice..."
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GaijinPunch
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by GaijinPunch »

I use OverDrive.... but apparently so do loads of other people. I have to put holds on a lot of those books and the timing doesn't always work out so well.
RegalSin wrote:New PowerPuff Girls. They all have evil pornstart eyelashes.
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wgogh
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by wgogh »

Stevens wrote:Anyone read Snow Crash? Read it a few years back and considering another trip through..
I am re-reading right now, just reached in the middle. It doesn't take itself seriously, and the portrait of a virtual meeting place (Metaverse) on the book is surprisingly close to what we have today with things like VR Chat.

"You can look like a gorilla or a dragon or a giant talking penis in the Metaverse. Spend five minutes walking down the Street and you will see all of these. [...] You can't just materialize anywhere in the Metaverse, like Captain Kirk beaming down from on high. This would be confusing and irritating to the people around you. It would break the metaphor. Materializing out of nowhere (or vanishing back into Reality) is considered to be a private function best done in the confines of your own House."

Yeah, basically just Second Life with a VR function.
Neuromancer and the Sprawl trilogy went for a more mysterious, almost spiritual Cyberspace, which was beautifully written. Thanks to Aleph, here in Brazil we always have the most awesome covers for the trilogy. Im tempted to buy everything again for the new artwork.
Image
Image
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rapoon
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by rapoon »

wgogh wrote:
...which was beautifully written.
I don't agree regarding his description of cyberspace, but he beautifully articulates getting high:

a white-hot column of light mounting his spine from the region of his prostate, illuminating the sutures of his skull with x-rays of short-circuited sexual energy. His teeth sang in their individual sockets
like tuning forks, each one pitch-perfect and clear as ethanol. His bones, beneath the hazy envelope of flesh, were chromed and polished, the joints lubricated with a film of silicone. Sand-storms raged
across the scoured floor of his skull, generating waves of high thin static that broke behind his eyes, spheres of purest crystal, expanding...


wgogh wrote:Thanks to Aleph, here in Brazil we always have the most awesome covers for the trilogy. Im tempted to buy everything again for the new artwork.
josan gonzalez. phenomenal artist. his style reeks of darrow and moebius.
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NYN
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while the pantheon was away

Post by NYN »

Not finished with one book, I started another.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is that alluring to me. I remember faintly that as a young 'un I never made it past the feuding families. Now I see them words as a big stream, a-carrying me through the narrative 'bout "sivilized" quality and low lifes, survival of the wittiest. Lie, borrow, stay alive. "Persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot."

How does Life on the Mississippi fare? Can a body tell?

On the funnies side I got all the remaining trades from DC's Young Animal. D00M PATROL: NADA, Mother Panic: Gotham A.D., Cave Carson Has An Interstellar Eye, Shade The Changing Woman. All wild and weird and wobbling. Another Animal is Eternity Girl who's about a rebooted shape-shifter who can't escape the circle of death and rebirth and is led to end it all. The heavy philosophics are very well matched by distinguished art styles. Bug! The Adventures of Forager is my first deeper dip into the now expanded Fourth World by Jack Kirby. Beware the Black Racer! What makes Bug sympathetic to me is that he is no muscle or wits type. He has no clobbering time or egghead monolog when encountering a situation, rather directing his actions to the beat of the scene. So, yeah, getting a New Gods trade was the next thing.
"I HAVE HEARD THE WORD -- IT IS BATTLE!"
"I've transmuted into a super being. I'll proof it by killing you." -NGIII ( words to kill by )
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CIT
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Re: What Are You Reading?

Post by CIT »

wgogh wrote:Thanks to Aleph, here in Brazil we always have the most awesome covers for the trilogy. Im tempted to buy everything again for the new artwork.
Image
Holy shit, the cover art is amazing! :shock:
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