Books

[circus_brimstone]

I've been on a Haruki Murakami binge as of late: Norwegian Wood, After the Quake, and Dance Dance Dance. All great reads!

 

[RookParliament]

just started getting into Gene Wolfe's "The Book of the New Sun". it was originally 4 seperate works, and he has since expanded on the story. it is an epic tale of fantasy with a scifi edge, set 50,000 years in the future on some distant dying planet beneath a dying star. the social climate is pre-industrial, but 'artifacts' remain of electricity powered devices and similar advancements long since forgotten. it's expertly written with interesting philosophical ponderings and realistic characters. the narrator, also the main character, even lies directly to the reader in his recount of his story. it begins with the character, a journeyman from the guild of torturers, as he is exiled to a distant post for the crime of showing mercy to a victim.

Kudos on choosing another of the few really quality fantasy writers.
I just noted how much I enjoy the LOTR movies more than I do the original Tolkien novels. His characters are just so shallow and archetyped. They fit a big-budget Hollywood bonanza

 

[NeverIsForever]

I just noted how much I enjoy the LOTR movies more than I do the original Tolkien novels.

Agreed...which is unusual for me. It's a rare case where I prefer the movie to the book it was made about, usually because after reading the book I have set impressions of the characters and the movie never interprets them in quite the same way, often at the expense of character development.

Anyway...as for what I am reading right now: The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. It's fiction, and reminds me a tiny bit of stuff by Dan Brown...

 

[RookParliament]

Exactly. Anyway I just finished Amerika by Franz Kafka. Makes me wonder how good it would have been if finished and fully fleshed out.

Now reading the Cornelius Quartet by Michaeal Moorcock.

 

[Deadite]

I'm currently reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. I read Atlas Shrugged before that and really enjoyed it.

 

[kmik]

Her books are stupid and totally one dimensional. There's always a good and a bad guy... the totally heroic Randian intelligent guy surrondered by the bad bad communists who only want to suppress individuality and blabla

 

[NeverIsForever]

Enjoyed? Atlas Shrugged?

Not sure I'd use those words in the same sentence, but hey, to each his own

 

[10293847]

"Her books are stupid and totally one dimensional. There's always a good and a bad guy... the totally heroic Randian intelligent guy surrondered by the bad bad communists who only want to suppress individuality and blabla"

My thoughts exactly. Had to read that stupid book in college.

 

[speed]

She is just so mean-spirited. There is nothing deep, spiritual, or all that intellectually developed. You have to have one. If the most redeeming quality in humankind is making money, then she is the philosopher to read--must be why she is only read by white American males.

 

[Kenneth R.]

Her books are stupid and totally one dimensional. There's always a good and a bad guy... the totally heroic Randian intelligent guy surrondered by the bad bad communists who only want to suppress individuality and blabla

this is why i enjoy Gene Wolfe and George RR Martin so much. gray characters, not black vs white.

 

[anonymousnick2001]

Infoterror quite succinctly summed up my view of Ayn Rand and her...book.

To be honest, The Fountainhead was a great read. A well plotted story that seemingly worked, despite an unrealistic main character and a lame-ass speech at the end. I still enjoyed it, and the 700 pages flipped by quite briskly.

Atlas Shrugged on the other hand...I couldn't even finish it. It should be renamed "Propaganda to Justify Money-Grubbers." Her philosophy is better looked at as the psychological repurcussions of a heavily abused Communist thrust into a capitalist system and miraculously allowed to succeed. The book was an overlong piece of trash. Not epic in the least. In fact, quite silly. And far too obvious. At least the other books attempted to weave the philosophy into a story. AS shoved speeches down your throat every other page.

 

[unknown]

Currently reading an interesting book Zero: Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Charles S. (the last name escapes me at the moment). I'm not a math person, but the story of the evolution of the number Zero is pretty interesting so far. Anybody who might be interested should definitely check it out.

 

[Deadite]

Yes, The Fountainhead is a lot better of a novel than Atlas Shrugged, but I still enjoyed it because I actually found a book that I agreed with on politics. I don't care much for her "philosophy", but I do like the system of government she advocates (Libertarian).

 

[Krilons Resa]

Just Ordered:

Pyrrhonian Skepticism - [font=verdana,arial,helvetica][size=-1] Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
[/size][/font][font=verdana,arial,helvetica][size=-1]Michel de Montaigne - The Complete Essays (Penguin Classics) translated by M.A. Screech[/size][/font]

 

[Demiurge]

Yes, The Fountainhead is a lot better of a novel than Atlas Shrugged, but I still enjoyed it because I actually found a book that I agreed with on politics. I don't care much for her "philosophy", but I do like the system of government she advocates (Libertarian).

Libertarianism is the pits. Give me communism every day of the week and twice on sundays.

 

[recognize my loneliness]

My silent war by Kim Philby

 

[speed]

I just finished Celine's Journey to the End of the Night. It was pretty good; the beginning was very humerous.

About to start Spengler's Man and Technics.

 

[speed]

This thread needs to be resurrected. What are people reading these days?

 

[Deepest Green]

A collection of chinese prose and poetry.

 

[derek]

wild highway - bill drummond + mark manning
(re) reading, russels problems and ayers language
route 66AD - tony perrotet
assorted texts/articles of academic worth.