What are you reading?

Rhombaad said:
I'd rather spend my time re-reading Feist's Midkemia novels or diving into Ian Fleming's Bond novels.
Click to expand...

Yes, reading can be fun, eh?  Especially when you DIVE! into it.  Kids, DIVE! into reading with rhombaad.  Has a nice ring to it, you could be one of those motivational speakers at elementary schools.  Tell kids about the importance of reading.  Unless of course rhombaad isn't your real name...  In that case the whole idea would be kind of silly.   :o
 
See, its that whole diving thing that gets me. Once I actually start reading, I can easily read for hours. Its just picking up the damn book thats the challange.
 
Wow, I'm surprised to see that only Oberi is a Dostoyevsky fan (though I may have missed others).

Oberi: if you haven't yet, read The Brothers Karamazov.

Currently, I'm in the middle of The Tale of Genji and The Third Policeman (b/c I'm a Lost fan).

Some favorites:

Romance of the Three Kingdoms (though it can be confusing at times w/ so many characters)
Journey to the West
The Ramayana (Ramesh Menon version)
Strange Tales from Make-Do Studio
A Farewell to Arms (this book is probably my 3rd favorite, after The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment)
1984 (how can you not like this book?)
Snow Country
Temple of the Golden Pavilion

I have many others I intend to read. I have to read Kokoro soon b/c they're always talking about it in anime.
 
12582981.jpg

Finished this just last week, and it was my second fastest reading ever. Just below Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which I read in a single day.

After Slaughterhouse, I thought the most natural follow up would be:
Catch22_cover.jpg
 
Scorpio said:
See, its that whole diving thing that gets me. Once I actually start reading, I can easily read for hours. Its just picking up the damn book thats the challange.
Click to expand...

Know what that's like. When I get into a book I can't put it down, but it takes a gun to my head to pick most of them up. I often take out a book from the library and don't even touch it.

I generally stick with classic literature from the 1800s, especially from the Industrial Revolution and on. The last book I read was Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, but more significantly before that I read The Count of Monte Cristo, all 1,400 pages. Took me a couple months, I'm a slow reader.

I was also really into Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. I read all 10 in a row within a year. I havn't read anything at all for many months now though.
 
An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations by Adam Smith. After that I have The Politics by Aristotle lined up anyone else read this?
 
Sanguinius said:
An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations by Adam Smith.  After that I have The Politics by Aristotle lined up anyone else read this?
Click to expand...

Sir, you are a hero.  I am a philosophy major (as well as history), are you as well? 
But anyway, if you find the empiricist movement to be of interst, I would recommend reading Francis Hutcheson and David Hume, they being the core of the Scottish Enlightenment along with Adam Smith.  Hume's Treatise and Enquiry are his foundational works, but any of his essays, such as Of Commerce, are quite intersting as well.  With Hutcheson, I would recommend An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections as well as An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue.  Also, Smith's Lectures on Jurisprudence are of interest.

If you want to get them on the cheap, as well as some very well done editions, go to www.libertyfund.org  They specialize in selling Natural Law and Enlightenment texts for non-profit, so most books are insanely cheap.
Sadly, Hume's Treatise and Enquiry are best done in the Oxford editions, which are rather expensive. Very well done, however.

Also, links: http://www.libertyfund.org/details.asp?displayID=1863

http://www.libertyfund.org/details.asp?displayID=1821

http://www.libertyfund.org/details.asp?displayID=1631

http://www.libertyfund.org/details.asp?displayID=1683


Anyway, always good to meet a fellow philosopher.
 
Didn't you know Aazealh? Pizza is the food of the Gods.  :troll:

Edit: Sorry, didn't respond to your question Bph, no I am not doing a course in philosophy or history, I am actually doing in a degree in economics. It is just an interest of mine and I consider myself more of a political scientist than a philosopher, but good to meet you all the same.
 
Ah. Well, it is still important to remember that political philosophy, as with Hume and Adam Smith, were Econ and Poli Sci in their own time, so you shouldn't discount them entirely in relation to your major. The Wealth of Nations is pretty much the beginning of modern economic theory after all. But anyway, it's still good to see that people are interested in philosophy; it has certainly fallen out of favor in modern academia, but at least there are nerds, such as ourselves, still reading it.
 
Taking a philosophy course right now and loving it. The stuff I'm reading is probably old hat to you guys (Plato, Descartes, etc.) but compelling stuff none the less.

For fun I enjoy just about anything by Stephen King (have actually read every one of his including the bachmen books) and Dean Koontz. (still have like twenty to go on him.)

I enjoy good fantasy, but it's hard work sifting through most of the tripe and crap out there to find something decent.
 
So, I never actually finished Catch-22, it was too similar (for me) to Slaughterhouse, which I had just finished, and I needed a change.
Don't get me wrong, what I'd read was enjoyable.

I will pick it up again, sooner or later.

So, in the interest of change I went with Cannery Row, by dear Steinbeck. It was absolutely wonderful.

To follow such wonderous words I chose Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. It was humorous at the beginning, but got old and became a chore to get through a chapter. I lost interest very quickly.
And I don't think I'll be picking it up again.

To wash that out of my system I got one of the greatest books I have ever laid my eyes on:
8633079.jpg


The man is my hero!
It's a series of interviews, but it is an absolute required text for ANYONE interested in making films.

WONDERFUL! :guts:
 
I'm going to picking this up fairly soon:

9780380803774.jpg



Slightly Green said:
The man is my hero!
It's a series of interviews, but it is an absolute required text for ANYONE interested in making films.
Click to expand...

Yes! I recently used Netflix's uber variety to finally watch Fitzcarraldo. I can fully see why you worship this chap, in terms of film making. The ending pissed me off to no end, but I appreciated why it had to happen. As for the actual task of pulling a River ship up a large (and bloody steep) hill, without special effects or computer generated images simply blew me away... glad to see someone else on the boards who at least knows of this guy.

Walter said:
Kurt Vonnegut died today.
Click to expand...

... :(
 
Uriel said:
Yes! I recently used Netflix's uber variety to finally watch Fitzcarraldo. I can fully see why you worship this chap, in terms of film making. The ending pissed me off to no end, but I appreciated why it had to happen. As for the actual task of pulling a River ship up a large (and bloody steep) hill, without special effects or computer generated images simply blew me away... glad to see someone else on the boards who at least knows of this guy.
Click to expand...
:guts:

May I recommend:
 
I've started "Beyond Good and Evil" by Nietzsche, but I think he's too smart for me. Maybe.
 
It may have been mentioned previously in this thread (me<--way too lazy), but anyway:

150px-Faust-Goethe.jpg


Faust. Kind of a hard read, and now I'm writing a report on it (due Tuesday :judo:).

0553211757.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif


Crime & Punishment. Very interesting and compelling story, had me riveted till the end.
 
FINALLY finished reading Catch-22. Amazing book, it does a great job juggling serious emotions while maintaining a hilarious irony throughout. My only real gripes are that the back and forth dialogues do start to get a little predictable by the end, and that when reading the book off and on like I did, the fact that the chapters aren't in chronological order and jump around quite a bit can be a little confusing. Overall though, amazing book that pretty much nailed my cynical side's sense of humor.

Not sure what to start next, I was either thinking of The Complete Sherlock Holmes, 1984, or perhaps Rise of a Merchant Prince by Raymond E Feist. Since this next little project will probably last me a year at least, it's a tough decision.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top