What Are You Reading?

[Lordstar]

awesome thanks very much. I think im going to go for the Arthur Waley first. I keep hearing one of the endearing things about this book are the characters and humour so I will be going for this monkey. Then if I enjoy it I will back it up with jenner

thankyou so much dude.

[RGC]

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[Icarus]

The last book I read before that was Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

Another one I recommended to the other half, who practically threw it back in my face when she'd finished, saying it pales in comparison with nineteeneightyfour. True words, but harshly delivered I thought.

Ahh, George Orwell. I've read that as well, and thought it was very good. Both deal with similar subject matter, but they have completely opposing settings, and it makes the stories more interesting as you're looking at a near-future from different ends of the spectrum. But I wouldn't compare them though, as I consider them both essential reading for anyone interested in near-dystopian future fiction.

[RGC]

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[jonny5]

But neither is as good as that xtian Bale movie.

equilibrium.....great film too btw

agreed....1984 would have been much better with more 'gun-fu'

this also brings to mind another book....mockingbird by walter tevis....very much enjoyed that one

big ups to the OP....this thread is great

[unsane]

I have so many half-finished books it's sad. It's like everything else with me, i start tons of things but get bored very quickly. From most recently touched to least recent:

-Profiles of the Future, by Arthur C. Clarke
-Chapterhouse: Dune, by Frank Herbert (book 6, just started this and of course i'll finish this over time.)
-Harrington on Cash Games Vol 1, by Dan Harrington & Bill Robertie
-Connoisseurs Science Fiction, edited by Tom Boardman
-Science Fiction Stories, chosen by Edward Blishen
-Winning in Tough Hold'em Games, by Nick Grudzien & Geoff Herzog
-Complete Stories 2, by Philip K. Dick
-Polaris, by HP Lovecraft (want to slowly work my way through his short stories)
-Watchmen, by Alan Moore
-Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson (this one i actually read the first half, and then much later re-read the first half again cuz i couldn't remember anything, and now it's been so long that i'll probly have to start over again )

[jonny5]

I have so many half-finished books it's sad. It's like everything else with me, i start tons of things but get bored very quickly. From most recently touched to least recent:

-Profiles of the Future, by Arthur C. Clarke
-Chapterhouse: Dune, by Frank Herbert (book 6, just started this and of course i'll finish this over time.)
-Harrington on Cash Games Vol 1, by Dan Harrington & Bill Robertie
-Connoisseurs Science Fiction, edited by Tom Boardman
-Science Fiction Stories, chosen by Edward Blishen
-Winning in Tough Hold'em Games, by Nick Grudzien & Geoff Herzog
-Complete Stories 2, by Philip K. Dick
-Polaris, by HP Lovecraft (want to slowly work my way through his short stories)
-Watchmen, by Alan Moore
-Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson (this one i actually read the first half, and then much later re-read the first half again cuz i couldn't remember anything, and now it's been so long that i'll probly have to start over again )

awesome book

[kengou]

I am reading the dune books as well.

I really wouldn't suggest reading ALL the Dune books, and there's arrogance in telling someone what to read, but in retrospect, I wish that I'd stopped after the second book; nothing good comes after that.

Heresy! On the contrary, I wouldn't recommend anyone to only read part of the series. As a stand-alone book, the first one is fantastic, but it was only after I read the series as a whole (the six original books of course. Don't touch anything by that hack Brian Herbert) that I was totally blown away. It peters out a bit in Chapterhouse due to his planned sequel, which never came about (that drivel Brian put out called Dune 7 does not count), but every other book is incredible and offers something unique. At the very least you have to read through Children of Dune, which is probably my favorite in the series, but God Emperor is fantastic too. I can't say enough good things about this series so I'll stop now.

[Sparky]

I Am a Cat by Natsume Soseki.

[Acid King]

Another one I recommended to the other half, who practically threw it back in my face when she'd finished, saying it pales in comparison with nineteeneightyfour. True words, but harshly delivered I thought.

Blasphemy. Aside from the fact that Brave New World pre dates 1984 by almost 20 years, they're very different books.

Anyone who reads Brave New World should follow it up by reading Island. It's Huxley's counterpoint to Brave New World, where civilization visits uncivilization. Two of my favorites.

[RGC]

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[sjewkestheloon]

I really struggled with Catch 22, found sections of it almost incoherant. Maybe I should give it another go now I've got a few more years in me.

Random incoherence (of war, and perhaps of life in general) is one of the main themes of Catch 22.
In other words, if you find whole sections incoherent it's not a bug, it's a feature!

Indeed. Something I would probably appreciate after reading Auster, Delillo, Beckett, etc.

As for the Haruki Murakami books mentioned above, I would recommend that you read Wind Up Bird Man Chronicle and ignore the rest. They all have the same plot after you've read two. The guy must really be hung up on a disappearing girl.

Ryu Murakami on the other hand is well worth reading. Splatter fiction of the highest order. Reminds me that I need to pick up his novel upon which Miike's (spelling anyone?) Audition was based.

Finished the Friedrich Durrenmatt book last night and was mildly entertained. I spotted the twist a mile off and this sort of story has been done better by AC Doyle 10 times over at least. Now I'm reading the sequel, called The Quarry, which seems a vast improvement. Based around the potential twin existance of a medical professional and a Nazi war criminal.

[CMoon]

Another one I recommended to the other half, who practically threw it back in my face when she'd finished, saying it pales in comparison with nineteeneightyfour. True words, but harshly delivered I thought.

Blasphemy. Aside from the fact that Brave New World pre dates 1984 by almost 20 years, they're very different books.

Anyone who reads Brave New World should follow it up by reading Island. It's Huxley's counterpoint to Brave New World, where civilization visits uncivilization. Two of my favorites.

Thank you! Someone else gets it!

Actually though I think Eyeless in Gaza is probably Huxley's best work, but the setting isn't as interesting as BNW and Island.

[Icarus]

Anyone who reads Brave New World should follow it up by reading Island. It's Huxley's counterpoint to Brave New World, where civilization visits uncivilization. Two of my favorites.

Duly noted. Many thanks for the recommendation.

Recent talk of the game Dante's Inferno has prompted me to visit the Divine Comedy. Gruesome stuff, and I'm only halfway through Hell at the moment.

[Battletoad]

I´m currently reading "Der Krieg der Zwerge" from Markus Heitz. I don´t know if his books were translated into English, but the title means "The War of the Dwarves". I´m just getting a bit into the fantasy genre (don´t read that much books in general) and this 2nd part of the "Zwerge" series is seemingly as exciting as the first one.

[sjewkestheloon]

Just finished Friedrich Durrenmatt's The Quarry which was short and totally horrifying. A clear contrast with his first novel, featuring the same detective in a different situation.

Certainly philosophically and psychologically complex, it esques the conventions of the first novel by placing the protagonist in a position of intellectual power and insight, yet removing all of his ability to act and revealing his actions to be utterly foolish and helpless.

Lots of soliloquising (spelling anyone?) in a truely disturbing manner. I find abstract logic applied to horrifying ends far more terrifying that zombies tearing people's entrails out.

Now I'm trying to choose between Alisdair Grey's Lanark and Roberto Bolano's The Savage Detectives.

[alits]

I am trying to make my way through the dark tower series and am on the four book. I am not getting though it too fast though because I have to read a shit ton of textbooks for college.

[Ed Oscuro]

Hmm, I'll check out Island. The deal with BNW is that it deals with different subjects than 1984; Orwell was a close student of colonialism and language, but Huxley's commentary on drugs (not just the recreational sort, considering a time when British authors all would have known drugs in literature mainly through a lens similar to that of Arthur Conan Doyle, this realization of the potential of chemicals was a stunning break from the mold) and social order is still worthwhile. They both deal with dystopias, but if memory serves that's about it for common themes. BNW is more a story of people making crazy choices in hopes of keeping the "perfect" society going, where 1984 focuses on the (all too realistic in this one aspect) situation that arises when folks view the maintenance of political power as not only the central issue but the only one.

I recently reminded myself that I need to read the rest of "The Virtue of Selfishness" which was loaned (well, more or less given) me by a guy I know from college.

[Engineer]

The Fabric of the Cosmos-Brian Greene

Rage of a Demon King-Raymond E. Feist

Why I Am So Wise-Friedrich Nietzsche

Paradise Lost-John Milton

That's all at the moment.

[Joe T.]

I've had to read a bunch of history journals, text, and Charles Dickens for school which is interesting and all but I think the next book I'm going to try to read on my own time is Quantum Reality by Nick Herbert.

[RGC]

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[CMoon]

Just finished Neil Shubin's Your Inner Fish, which made for a very accessible laymens' introduction to some of the new biology (mostly evo devo stuff) and of course with a lot of focus on new discoveries in paleontology (notably tiktaalik). I'm not sure I was 100% satisfied since it is either too short and not focused enough, or too long and too general, despending on your tastes. Longer and broader might have been good. Either way, Carroll's Making of the Fittest may still be a better introduction to some of the new biology.



Currently reading (you guessed it), John Szwed's Space is the Place, the lives and times of Sun Ra. Currently 50 pages in and it is a highly compelling read for a musician's biography. Of course, Sun Ra was a pretty interesting dude, but still, I'm surprised how well it reads.

[ASK]

Working on A Brave New World right now, oddly enough. Bought it in my last buy along with Heart of Darkness, Eunoia and The Iliad. Took me about a year to get through Atlas Shrugged, picked it up on and off, so it's nice to have some stuff that I can get through at a much quicker pace. Saving The Iliad for last though, that's gonna take a while

Heart of Darkness is pretty disappointing having been a huge fan of Apocalypse Now, and not knowing how it's a retelling of the book. Apocalypse Now expands on all the parts that Heart Of Darkness leaves too vague to be satisfying (i.e., Kurtz). Still, a good short read.

Eunoia is a book of poetry by Christian Bok, it's broken up into 5 chapters, each representing a single vowel. Every word in each chapter contains only the vowel of that chapter. It doesn't even come across as gimmicky, so I'd recommend it if you're into that sort of stuff at all.

[alits]

A Brave New World is an amazing book enjoy it

[CMoon]

Sorry for the repeat, but those of you who are enjoying Huxley need to read Eyless in Gaza, it is his best book.

[Acid King]

Just got my latest crop of books for school. Right now I'm reading Why Parties? and The American Voter Revisited. I'd previously read the original American Voter so I'm interested to see what the updated research is like. I've been told that they reach the same conclusions the original study did.

[Ed Oscuro]

I Am a Cat by Natsume Soseki.

Doh, I need to find some of this guy's stuff and read it sometime.

Anyway, I need to get through some books, like Upstairs at the White House - a bit on the gossipy side but it's history. Memoir of the Chief Usher at the White House from the 40s through 1969. I've also been looking through The White House Transcripts, that exact edition. A bit surprised how nuanced the introduction makes things out to be - they even say that it wasn't at all clear that Nixon was absolutely finished politically by the release, "back room of a second-rate advertising agency in a suburb of Hell" notwithstanding. It was mainly just the resentment and astonishment of the public that did him in. It is making me rethink Nixon a bit, but I always knew he was a complicated guy.

[iatneH]

I recently read "The Remains of the Day" for the first time, I love the use of such eloquence in language, not to mention I was rather moved by the story. It was a borrowed copy but I will surely be purchasing one for myself to read again and again.

[jonny5]

deadworld....

waiting for the next issue of the walking dead....

[themachinist]

short stories of f. scott fitzgerald