What are you reading?

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
1984 is one of my absolute favorite books. It had such a profound effect on me after the first time I read it, I literally tore the book into two halves a few seconds after reading the last pages. I've read it a number of times since then and still love it. It grows even more on subsequent readings.

If you're fresh off of 1984, I'd actually recommend you read up on Modern Russian and European history, from 1900-1950s, particularly British policies during the second world war, and Russia's political atmosphere in the early 20th century, to see the reality from which Orwell based his ideas on, and how he saw the world feasibly turning toward this end -- so much so that he nearly named the book 1948. Very scary stuff. It might actually be more convenient to pick up a companion book to 1984 to have all these things explained without need for interpretation.
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Walter said:
1984 is one of my absolute favorite books. It had such a profound effect on me after the first time I read it, I literally tore the book into two halves a few seconds after reading the last pages. I've read it a number of times since then and still love it. It grows even more on subsequent readings.

I can see why you reacted that way. I was bewildered, angry and just plain defiant after reading the last third of the novel.
O'Brien is such a lunatic, yet he is treating Winston as if he's the insane one. One minute he's torturing him, the next he's his friend, and the writing is so brilliant you really feel as if you are Winston and that you can relate to why one minute he hates O'Brien and the next he loves him. Orwell was a genius.

Walter said:
If you're fresh off of 1984, I'd actually recommend you read up on Modern Russian and European history, from 1900-1950s, particularly British policies during the second world war, and Russia's political atmosphere in the early 20th century, to see the reality from which Orwell based his ideas on, and how he saw the world feasibly turning toward this end -- so much so that he nearly named the book 1948. Very scary stuff. It might actually be more convenient to pick up a companion book to 1984 to have all these things explained without need for interpretation.

I may need a break for a few days, but picking up a companion piece isn't a bad idea. I never read the novel in school, so I didn't get to analyze and deconstruct it like I did A Brave New World or The Great Gatsby.
 
If you're a fan of 1984, and dystopian literature as a whole, I'd highly recommend checking out We by Yevgeny Zamyatin... I don't think there would be a 1984 if it wasn't for We (though 1984 has a special place in my heart).
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
I started reading 1984 for a political science class (for a project), and subsequentially stopped and picked up one of the easier projects. I liked the writing, and enjoyed the story, it's one of the books I plan on reading before I start up Moby Dick agian.
 
I just finished reading The Wise Man's Fear (Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 2) by Patrick Rothfuss, and would definitely recommend this series. I can't wait for book 3 to come out.

Due to how great the Game of Thrones TV series is thus far, I'm pretty sure I'll be picking up book 1 today.
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
The Sound and the Fury: Currently loving this book a lot. I'm still reading through the second chapter of the book and Quentin is certainly a much easier character to understand than Benjamin.
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Timescape: Read this before, and liked it a lot. I'm four chapters into it so far and enjoying the horrible future past!
GregoryBenford-Timescape.jpg


Vampire_Hunter_Bob said:
Rereading Child of God. The book is simply amazing; even thought I'm rereading the book it somehow still gives me the feeling that I'm reading a whole new book. There's just so much I didn't catch on my first read through. I highly recommend this book to any fan of Berserk!

Loved, Child of God. The character of Lester Ballard is one of those characters that is so fascinating while still being one of the most vile characters I have ever read. As I said originally, this book I would recommend to any Berserk fan, or anyone that loves to read.
 
Vampire_Hunter_Bob said:
The Sound and the Fury: Currently loving this book a lot. I'm still reading through the second chapter of the book and Quentin is certainly a much easier character to understand than Benjamin.
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I love this book! So good.
 
Just finished the Time Machine for the first time. Wow, the movies butchered it.

Now starting the Iliad, Fagles translation.
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
I finished reading the final book in Dan Simmon's Hyperion Cantos (The Rise of Endymion) last night. These books were even better than I remembered; I last read them in high school. I highly recommend the series to fans of science fiction everywhere. You won't be disappointed.

I heard recently that Warner Bros. is working on a film adaptation of the first two novels (Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion), with director Scott Derrickson (The Day the Earth Stood Still) taking on the project. Not only has the screenwriter, Trevor Sands, not done much, but Derrickson's work has been less than stellar (no pun intended) so far. I really hope they don't ruin this beloved series of mine, but I'm not getting my hopes up. At the very least, they might make a cool version of The Shrike.

I started reading The Hobbit this morning. It's been over ten years since I read it last and I'm looking forward to a refresher before Peter Jackson's adaptations come out next year. I'll be reading The Lord of the Ringsafterwards.

Is The Silmarillion worth reading? I know it was published after Tolkien's death, so I've always thought of it like the Dune novels published after Herbert's. I know the two cases aren't identical, since Tolkien wrote a lot of The Silmarillion, but I just thought I'd ask. The same question applies to The Children of Húrin.
 

Gobolatula

praise be to grail!
LOL I just read "Shit My Dad Says" on the plane trip from New Jersey back to California.

"Shit My Dad Says" is based on the Twitter account of the same name. I didn't expect it to be so heartfelt. Really, it's the story of growing up with this cranky old dude who is actually a pretty smart fellow. Brain-smarts and philosophical-smarts as well.

It was a fun, silly book that definitely helped pass the time on the airplane.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Currently reading Anathem by Neal Stephenson. It's pretty cool so far, but I haven't got much time to read these days so I'm not that far in yet.

Rhombaad said:
I finished reading the final book in Dan Simmon's Hyperion Cantos (The Rise of Endymion) last night. These books were even better than I remembered; I last read them in high school. I highly recommend the series to fans of science fiction everywhere. You won't be disappointed.

I never read the two Endymion books. Are they as good as the first ones?

Rhombaad said:
I heard recently that Warner Bros. is working on a film adaptation of the first two novels (Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion)

What a terrible idea.

Rhombaad said:
Is The Silmarillion worth reading? I know it was published after Tolkien's death, so I've always thought of it like the Dune novels published after Herbert's. I know the two cases aren't identical, since Tolkien wrote a lot of The Silmarillion, but I just thought I'd ask. The same question applies to The Children of Húrin.

The Silmarillion is worth reading if you really like Tolkien's work in general. It's mostly compiled from his notes and it doesn't aspire to be much more than that.
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Aazealh said:
I never read the two Endymion books. Are they as good as the first ones?

They're quite different than the Hyperion novels, but they're very good. Simmons ties up a lots of loose ends regarding The Shrike, the AI TechnoCore, etc., while at the same time causing you to rethink some of the events that occurred in the original two books. If you liked the first two, I think you'll like these, as well.

I noticed a couple continuity errors, mainly having to do with the Hawking drive and Gideon drive (the latest Core gift bestowed to Man after The Fall of the Farcasters) and space/time relativity. But other than it, they're pretty solid. The only reason these errors bugged me is because the rest of his work is just so damn perfect. If anything, I blame his editor. :void:

Aazealh said:
What a terrible idea.

Even worse is that they're combining Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion into one movie. I don't know how that's possible without throwing out the majority of material in the first book (namely the pilgrim's tales).

Aazealh said:
The Silmarillion is worth reading if you really like Tolkien's work in general. It's mostly compiled from his notes and it doesn't aspire to be much more than that.

Gotcha. Is it considered to be canon, even though Tolkien's son, Christopher, had to write parts of it to fill in gaps and inconsistencies?
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Rhombaad said:
They're quite different than the Hyperion novels, but they're very good. Simmons ties up a lots of loose ends regarding The Shrike, the AI TechnoCore, etc., while at the same time causing you to rethink some of the events that occurred in the original two books. If you liked the first two, I think you'll like these, as well.

I noticed a couple continuity errors, mainly having to do with the Hawking drive and Gideon drive (the latest Core gift bestowed to Man after The Fall of the Farcasters) and space/time relativity. But other than it, they're pretty solid. The only reason these errors bugged me is because the rest of his work is just so damn perfect. If anything, I blame his editor. :void:

Alright, thanks for the info. I'll give them a shot one of these days.

Rhombaad said:
Even worse is that they're combining Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion into one movie. I don't know how that's possible without throwing out the majority of material in the first book (namely the pilgrim's tales).

Honestly the very idea is so wrong I wouldn't know where to start.

Rhombaad said:
Is it considered to be canon, even though Tolkien's son, Christopher, had to write parts of it to fill in gaps and inconsistencies?

Not as far as I know, but it's been a long time since I read Tolkien's work. Thinking that it would never be published, as he had written it for himself, Tolkien reused many elements from The Silmarillion for The Lord of the Rings. It'll definitely give you a better understanding of the world and its mythos though.
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
I finished The Hobbit last night and started in on The Lord of the Rings. It's been years since I've read it and am looking forward to doing so again.
 
I'm mostly done with The Iliad now. It's been a good read.

How do you guys feel about The Count of Monte Cristo? It has been recommended to me numerous times the past few months, and everyone seems to love it.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
MrSmit said:
How do you guys feel about The Count of Monte Cristo? It has been recommended to me numerous times the past few months, and everyone seems to love it.

It's a classic of French literature. Certainly a good read in the original language, but I can't speak for the English translation.
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
I finished As I lay Dying at the beginning of the month and decided to put Timescape on hold for when I finish my literature class. I've read so far, half of East of Eden (this isn't part of my class), finished Brave New World (read that in 5 hours) and currently reading Dead Man Walking (non-fiction, but I'm digging it).
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
What did you think of As I Lay Dying? I read it in college and was pretty depressed by the end of it. Brave New World is one of my favorites. Have you read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
Rhombaad said:
What did you think of As I Lay Dying? I read it in college and was pretty depressed by the end of it. Brave New World is one of my favorites. Have you read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

I meant to say The Sound and the Fury, but I've read As I lay Dying a while ago
I didn't really find it sad. I felt it was really suppose to be funnier in at least how after everything the family went through it was all about Anse getting a new wife and teeth
. Brave New World is fantastic, and one of the easiest books I have read. Once I put a dent in my reading list I'll give it a try and read it at a slower pace.

I've read the three chapters of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and loved it. I've wanted to read it, but I kept going back and forcing my self to read one of the sixty books I already own (I have bunch of books I still need to read). So as of right now I haven't started reading it.

EDIT: Just finished East of Eden, and reading Suttree. I'm going to finish this month with Light in August.
 

Th3Branded0ne

I'll be back.
I just finished reading Moby Dick. It was good, alot of explanation about the whale trade. Starbuck and Stubb were my favorites. Ahab too, but until he had more to say at the end of the book.
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
I'm about half way through The Two Towers, Book III, of The Lord of the Rings. I'm glad I decided to read it again and am enjoying it much more than I did when I first read it as a child, and then again in college. I downloaded the Encyclopedia of Arda app for my iPhone and it has been a great help whenever I need to look up a term, person or event in Tolkien's legendarium.

I was also surprised (having watched the films recently when they came out on Blu-ray) at how much of Tolkien's dialogue the filmmakers put into their trilogy. I'm even more amazed at how much they altered the characters and events in the books in order to adapt them to film. Reading the LotR again has given me a great appreciation for what Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens went through in order to successfully adapt such a monstrosity. While some hold them in great disdain for "ruining" Tolkien's novel, I'm actually quite impressed with how faithful they were. They got a lot of stuff wrong, but they also got a lot right. I can't see how anybody could top what they did and I'm glad they made the films when they did. I might never have gotten back into Tolkien's universe had it not been for those films.
 
I'm about to bust out some Guin Saga. I finished the anime recently (apparently, it only adapted books 1-16)with mixed feelings, and some fans told me that I really needed to go back read the manga, as the anime condenses or leaves out some events for the sake of brevity. I'll admit, I had to slog through the series up until the last 10 or 12 episodes or so until I hit pay dirt, but it was worth it in the long run. :beast: I could definitely see where Miura may have been influenced with certain characters, and certain scenes! I just hope more than five volumes are published Stateside! ;_;

I'm also attempting to read further into my copy of Sun Tzu's Art of War that I've owned for eight years...not working out so well. That book is so damned dry, when I open it up, sand and bleached cow skulls pour into my lap!
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
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Finally after over a year on hiatus Darkhorse finally continued Eden, me second favorite manga after Berserk. If any you guys are interested in a new manga similar to Berserk (obviously not a fantasy but similar in other aspects) I can't recommend Eden enough. Even if you don't want to invest in a whole new series the first four books alone are like one continual story that is basically one giant bloody battle that has everything from nosebleed induced computer hacking, giant mecha, terrorist warfare, sniping and the most brutal hand to hand combat i've ever witnessed on paper (i was actually squirming as the characters knocked each others teeth out and dislocated their bones). There was even a romantic scene in this last issue the reminded me of Berserk book 9 with Guts and Casca at the waterfall.

Amazing series. Incredibly underrated.
 
Oburi said:
<<image snipped>>

Finally after over a year on hiatus Darkhorse finally continued Eden, me second favorite manga after Berserk. If any you guys are interested in a new manga similar to Berserk (obviously not a fantasy but similar in other aspects) I can't recommend Eden enough. Even if you don't want to invest in a whole new series the first four books alone are like one continual story that is basically one giant bloody battle that has everything from nosebleed induced computer hacking, giant mecha, terrorist warfare, sniping and the most brutal hand to hand combat i've ever witnessed on paper (i was actually squirming as the characters knocked each others teeth out and dislocated their bones). There was even a romantic scene in this last issue the reminded me of Berserk book 9 with Guts and Casca at the waterfall.

Amazing series. Incredibly underrated.

Yes, I've been reading Eden for over 5 years, and it is my third most favorite manga series (after :guts: and
ganishka.gif
). In fact, in terms of its storyline and atmosphere, I've sometimes even imagined Eden to be exactly what Miura's earlier, pre-Berserk sci-fi drama Noa might have become like, had it been given an opportunity to be developed into full-length serialized manga.
 
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