Book Club Possibilities

sjewkestheloon · Post by **sjewkestheloon** » Thu May 04, 2006 8:43 am

Just finished reading Neil Gaimen's 'American Gods' last night and i've done my usual post uni thing of wanting to talk about it but finding i'm the only one who's bothered to pick it up.

which made me think of this place. are there many big readers here? would you fancy setting up a book club in which we nominate books and then vote in a poll for which one we all choose to read? it would also be a good way to read somthing that doesn't match your regular choice, and expanding your tastes can only be a good thing.

anyway let me know

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Thu May 04, 2006 11:50 am

I read quite a bit. However, I will never follow anyone's vote for what to read, no matter how well intended it may be. I wouldn't hold a popular vote on which game to buy or movie to watch next either. My mind is not a democracy. And life is too short.

Diabollokus · Post by **Diabollokus** » Thu May 04, 2006 11:52 am

You've got to read the big hungry caterpillar, bloody brilliant. soo many layers.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Thu May 04, 2006 11:52 am

I just finished to read "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro... It's not a reading I would suggest to everyone, though. Great novel but quite disturbing.

sffan · Post by **sffan** » Thu May 04, 2006 1:41 pm

I just read Lawrence Block's "All The Flowers Are Dying."

Any other Scudder fans?

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Thu May 04, 2006 1:57 pm

anyone read Brass? or Evasion?

Minzoku · Post by **Minzoku** » Thu May 04, 2006 2:40 pm

I can't get myself to go down to the library, because they're open when I'm most tired [stupid night shift!], and I refuse to buy lots of books I *might* like

However, I've recently read Dan Brown's books [all four: great ideas, kinda crap execution] and Diana Wynne Jones's Howl's Moving Castle [Miyazaki took SO MANY LIBERTIES it might as well have been a totally original movie entirely], recommending the latter more than the former. I'm probably going to read the Fodor's Guide to The da Vinci Code next to get clearer on all the stuff Brown got wrong, because it seems the least biased of all of them.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Thu May 04, 2006 3:08 pm

Minzoku wrote:I can't get myself to go down to the library, because they're open when I'm most tired [stupid night shift!], and I refuse to buy lots of books I *might* like

However, I've recently read Dan Brown's books [all four: great ideas, kinda crap execution] and Diana Wynne Jones's Howl's Moving Castle [Miyazaki took SO MANY LIBERTIES it might as well have been a totally original movie entirely], recommending the latter more than the former. I'm probably going to read the Fodor's Guide to The da Vinci Code next to get clearer on all the stuff Brown got wrong, because it seems the least biased of all of them.

I red Wynne Jones's book too, before seeing the movie. Nice, but not awesome... I wasn't too fond of the movie - which is uncanny as I'd never thought Miyazaki could disappoint me.

Ord · Post by **Ord** » Thu May 04, 2006 4:20 pm

I found American Gods to be utterly brilliant. I've always had a soft spot for Odin and he was portrayed brilliantly in that book. As for my own reading habits, well i'm a bit of a sucker for sci-fi stuff and i'm almost finished the epic space opera Judas Unchained by Peter F Hamilton. I'm about to read his Nights Dawn Trilogy, all three thousand and seventy pages of it.

It better be bloody good!
Geeky as fuck, but it's my thing.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Thu May 04, 2006 4:29 pm

Currently reading a bunch of Dumass <cough> ... just did Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, now reading Man in the Iron Mask. I dunno why I'm on this kick, but they're pretty entertaining at the least. Three Musketeers had some excellent slapstick.

SAM · Post by **SAM** » Thu May 04, 2006 4:45 pm

My recent reading?! Well, the 4th Novel of Full Metal Panic, I am serious.

ahnslaught · Post by **ahnslaught** » Thu May 04, 2006 11:08 pm

For you guys that read Dan Brown, did you think his stories are pretty predictable and characters completely boring? The thing he did well in both da vinci code and angels and demons is set up great backgrounds on the catholic church and all the rest of the setting, but as for the actual storyline, I found both books to be lacking. Plus, the characters are not too interesting, either, as the lead (the name escapes me right now) is basically ripped right out of a tom clancy novel in that he's absolutely on the right side of the law, he has all the answers, and basically has no flaws at all.

Both are quick reads, but are mediocre in my opinion.

Dale · Post by **Dale** » Thu May 04, 2006 11:27 pm

I just finished reading Battle Royale and I'm now reading Haunted.

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Thu May 04, 2006 11:40 pm

Agreed, [edit - w/ahnslaught] I'm not religious either. Kind of hard to describe what I dislike about Da Vinci Code (actually haven't read the other book) but it just seems like something I could have written in the 7th grade.

I'm currently working on War and Peace, with Othello lined up next, though I'd say on the whole fiction is pretty much a waste of time (except in the cases of ones like these, you know, Shakespeare, 1984, etc). This summer I'm hoping to teach myself Calculus and C++ when I'm not working...any recommendations for a beginners book on either (idiot's guide, etc) are appreciated. Should have learned them in high school but I was smoking weed and playing guitar at the time...bleh.

Capitalism & Freedom by Milton Friedman is a must-read for anyone. You'd think it's flag-waving bullshit by the title but I've learned so much about politics from this guy (can't wait to take a poli-sci course).

I read quite a bit. However, I will never follow anyone's vote for what to read, no matter how well intended it may be. I wouldn't hold a popular vote on which game to buy or movie to watch next either. My mind is not a democracy. And life is too short.

Nothing degrading about agreeing to read the same book as everyone else, the purpose is so that you can discuss the title and gain greater insights through alternate opinions. Honestly, non-conformity is vastly over-rated. School uniforms are proven to be a big help in various areas, switch from glasses to contacts and you'll get laid more, etc. I'm not advocating being an obnoxious twat and hating Jazz music because it isn't on MTV, but conformity is OK to a certain extent.

Sorry if I'm pissing anyone off with my wordy rants lately. I repeat what I learn, aids retention and I like to see other people's viewpoints, I could be wrong and all. College is so tight.

jp · Post by jp » Thu May 04, 2006 11:41 pm

I'd be cool with it. I love a good book!

howmuchkeefe · Post by **howmuchkeefe** » Thu May 04, 2006 11:56 pm

I've kinda got a backlog: I'm working through Three Kingdoms right now, and one of my buds from work loaned me his spare copy of Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver. Both are rather long.

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Fri May 05, 2006 1:23 am

Dale wrote:I just finished reading Battle Royale and I'm now reading Haunted.

very nice on both fronts... not that you were looking for approval or anything...

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Fri May 05, 2006 3:19 am

This is a convenient topic, since I'm thinking of reading a Salmon Rushdie novel as I recently read an interview with him about the Iran thing, and it occured to me I'd never read anything by him. Anybody able to recommend one of his books? They seem quite different from each other.

Minzoku · Post by **Minzoku** » Fri May 05, 2006 8:13 am

ahnslaught wrote:For you guys that read Dan Brown, did you think his stories are pretty predictable and characters completely boring? The thing he did well in both da vinci code and angels and demons is set up great backgrounds on the catholic church and all the rest of the setting, but as for the actual storyline, I found both books to be lacking. Plus, the characters are not too interesting, either, as the lead (the name escapes me right now) is basically ripped right out of a tom clancy novel in that he's absolutely on the right side of the law, he has all the answers, and basically has no flaws at all.

Both are quick reads, but are mediocre in my opinion.

I've said that I enjoyed The da Vinci Code better when I played it the first time, as Gabriel Knight III

Brown's best book was Deception Point. His worst was Digital Fortress--the exact opposite of the Wii: cool name, crap execution. [Wii is a good idea, crap name.] The problem is that since "Anyone can write a book," usually they DO. Instead of passing a great idea along to a great writer, they choose to retain all creative rights and make their great idea into a crap book. J.K. Rowling does this with Harry Potter--the writing is purely functional at best, and a lot of the story is predominantly filler, as much as some of my friends drool over that tripe. [I despise Quidditch, can you tell?]

Unfortunately, my absolute favourite author is dead

All hail Douglas Adams!

sjewkestheloon · Post by **sjewkestheloon** » Fri May 05, 2006 8:59 am

hey neon yeah my intentions were purely for expansion of a person's reading pallet and not a conformist 'you must read' so to the doubters please read the above. oh and othello is brilliant, try and see the kenneth branaugh (sp) film where he plays a fantastic iago.

i'm also quite intersted in reading a salmon rushdi book so i might have a quick browse in town tomorrow.

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Fri May 05, 2006 10:13 am

Minzoku wrote:Unfortunately, my absolute favourite author is dead All hail Douglas Adams!

Shortly after he died The Salmon of Doubt was published which I recommend to anyone who liked Adams. It contains the unfinished last Dirk Gently novel and several articles, musings and stories by Adams. This book in turn inspired me to read The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins.

@Neon
Individuality is overrated (most people do indeed prefer to be guided in some way) and I do agree that outward uniformity to an extend is helpful. Most of the time people don't listen to what someone says, but how. Still, I'm not very interested in helping others understand books that I don't care about.
_

I'm open to suggestions, though. Keep 'em coming.

Dale · Post by **Dale** » Fri May 05, 2006 6:18 pm

howmuchkeefe wrote:I've kinda got a backlog: I'm working through Three Kingdoms right now, and one of my buds from work loaned me his spare copy of Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver. Both are rather long.

I've read Romance of the Three Kingdoms great novel.

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Fri May 05, 2006 11:58 pm

Just finished reading a new translation of "The Art of War".

Good stuff, since much of the book deals with Chinese military history.

Minzoku · Post by **Minzoku** » Sat May 13, 2006 11:02 am

Ceph wrote:Shortly after he died The Salmon of Doubt was published which I recommend to anyone who liked Adams. It contains the unfinished last Dirk Gently novel and several articles, musings and stories by Adams. This book in turn inspired me to read The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins.

I agree, although reading an unfinished Dirk Gently makes me endlessly frustrated

I'd almost say read everything BUT that, if you're a completionist

Last Guardian · Post by **Last Guardian** » Sun May 14, 2006 5:28 pm

Damocles wrote:Just finished reading a new translation of "The Art of War".
Good stuff, since much of the book deals with Chinese military history.

You mean it isn't just a dry summation of principles any more ? If someone managed to make it a bit more flowing read by turning it into a historically accurate novel (close is good enough) I'd be very interested to hear the writer's name

.

@ Dale, which translation of RoTK did you read ? I've been meaning to pick it up for a while now but not quite sure which one to get.

Anyway, my latest and at the same time most memorable literary experience must be "The Master and Margarita by Boelgakov which is just utterly brilliant and hilarious from start to finish. Get it now.
It's actually so good that I don't wan't to read a new book for a while. I did buy "Crime and Punishment" last week but I just don't feel like starting it yet.

howmuchkeefe · Post by **howmuchkeefe** » Sun May 14, 2006 6:26 pm

I bought the Library of Chinese Classics Chinese-English hardbound edition of the Moss Roberts translation. I got it to replace my paperback edition of the Enlish-only edition, as I had lost the first book. I figured the hardbound books would be harder to lose, and hey, maybe I'll take a crack at learning Chinese someday.

It contains typographical errors, as the Chinese Classics paperback edition did. They pop up fairly regularly, but not often or badly enough to confuse things. I don't know whether the Chinese portion contains similar errors, since I can't read Chinese, and I haven't really read any other translations of the book. I believe the Roberts translation is different from the one at www.threekingdoms.com.

DC906270 · Post by **DC906270** » Sun May 14, 2006 6:49 pm

Ive recently finished, and recommend :

Hunter S Thompson "Kingdom of Fear" - Hunter's last book, a good read and fitting that it is 90% autobiographical, or is it???

Joseph Conrad "Heart of Darkness" - the book on which Apocalypse Now was based. Very linguistic, but on the whole pretty enjoyable and quite deep.

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Sun May 14, 2006 7:27 pm

Minzoku wrote: [I despise Quidditch, can you tell?]

J00 r t3h r0x0rz.

Last Guardian · Post by **Last Guardian** » Sun May 14, 2006 7:57 pm

howmuchkeefe wrote:I bought the Library of Chinese Classics Chinese-English hardbound edition of the Moss Roberts translation. I got it to replace my paperback edition of the Enlish-only edition, as I had lost the first book. I figured the hardbound books would be harder to lose, and hey, maybe I'll take a crack at learning Chinese someday.

It contains typographical errors, as the Chinese Classics paperback edition did. They pop up fairly regularly, but not often or badly enough to confuse things. I don't know whether the Chinese portion contains similar errors, since I can't read Chinese, and I haven't really read any other translations of the book. I believe the Roberts translation is different from the one at www.threekingdoms.com.

Cheers hmk, muy appreciado ! How did you guys find out about the RoTK books btw ?

Me ? I simply played too many Koei games and got really curious about the backgrounds of some of the characters.

howmuchkeefe · Post by **howmuchkeefe** » Mon May 15, 2006 2:00 am

Me ? I simply played too many Koei games and got really curious about the backgrounds of some of the characters.

Same for me.

ROTK3 was my introduction to the series, but I didn't buy the books until after my brother bought ROTK4 in 2001, pulling my nostalgia strings.