The Books/Reading Thread

[Beneath the beast]

Anne Rice-the vampire chronicles--so far i have read: interview with the vampire, the vampire lestat,the queen of the damned, the tale of the body thief--also been reading the witching hour

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

been reading a bunch of the Darkelf comics.

 

[unknown]

currently reading Tucker Max's book I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell...absolutely ridiculous

 

[Cythraul]

Currently reading One World by Peter Singer.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

Finally got around to getting King's new one "Duma Key" Will start later on tonight.

 

[tagradh]

 

[Zephyrus]

Francis Bacon's New Atlantis has gotten me more interested in the whole Atlantis concept. So I figured I'd get to the source of it. I just ordered Plato's Timaeus and Critias dialogues on Half.com.

 

[Matt]

New Atlantis is cool. I have to read that for some reason in Honors Lit

 

[CorpseDeception]

Fevre Dream is amazing. The protrayal of vampires as a totally separate species makes it more practical and more enjoyable overall.

 

[Vegard Pompey]

So, I just finished reading The Third Policeman. It's like totally surreal and completely fucked up and absolutely hilarious and it's all about bicycles and none of it makes any sense whatsoever and I love it and I definitely recommend it to everyone.

 

[Dak]

Finished A Game Of Thrones. The twists near the end were really good. Was the guy who took Arya a previous character, or am I just imagining things?

This whole series is right up there with LoTR in terms of quality fantasy. TBH when it comes down to pure enjoyment SoF&I is probably a better read across the board, since LoTR can get bogged down here and there in details. Not like Robert Jordan, but still.....

 

[~Neurotica]

Finally finished my fucked-up book for psychos about submarine saboteurs in WWII.

Now it's time for something relaxing. So its Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere.

PS: I'm glad I don't read fantasy.

 

[Dak]

PS: I'm glad I don't read fantasy.

Out of curiousity, why is that?

 

[~Neurotica]

Because mostly it's not serious and is gay and written by some potheads.
Read classics, I say.

 

[Dak]

Well I agree there is plenty of shit in the genre, but you can't throw out amazing series' like Song of Fire and Ice and LoTR because of the shit.

 

[~Neurotica]

Well I agree there is plenty of shit in the genre, but you can't throw out amazing series' like Song of Fire and Ice and LoTR because of the shit.

Thats why I marked out "mostly".
Still though... I think that people who are too much into fantasy are somehow not satisfied with their lives (boredom or something) and try to "escape" it getting into a fantastic world.
Fantasy plays with your imagination while serious stuff gives you information and makes you think and analyze.

 

[MasterOLightning]

Thats why I marked out "mostly".
Still though... I think that people who are too much into fantasy are somehow not satisfied with their lives (boredom or something) and try to "escape" it getting into a fantastic world.
Fantasy plays with your imagination while serious stuff gives you information and makes you think and analyze.

Fantasy lit and metal music have a lot more in common than you might think.

 

[~Neurotica]

I know it, tbh.
But in music the main part is still music and in literature - text (didn't mean to make a surprise out of it or anything).

 

[Einherjar86]

Fantasy plays with your imagination while serious stuff gives you information and makes you think and analyze.

Firstly, this is unfair and totally baseless. Fantasy books can't make you think and analyze? I know you said "most" fantasy, but in truth some fantasy novels deal heavily with issues common to modern life. It's dismissive to ignore fantasy simply because it takes place in an alternate universe. Truly intelligent fantasy works in an allegorical manner (look at Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire saga, or Bakker's Prince of Nothing Trilogy, or Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series). It's important to balance your plate with classics and modern novels.

Secondly, you don't read fantasy but you read Neil Gaiman? That sounds a bit contradictory to me.

 

[~Neurotica]

Firstly, this is unfair and totally baseless.

Not really that baseless, my friend.

Fantasy books can't make you think and analyze?

For some reason, I'm sure that the general idea of fantasy is not about making you think or giving you some life lessons.

Truly intelligent fantasy works in an allegorical manner (look at Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire saga, or Bakker's Prince of Nothing Trilogy, or Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series).

I will try to check it out. Thank you.

It's important to balance your plate with classics and modern novels.

I totally agree.

Secondly, you don't read fantasy but you read Neil Gaiman?

Yes, because I prefer to read books that are usually heavy for brains. And I read a lot of that shit, so Gaiman (or Marquez - magical realism, but it's still realism) is kind of relaxing for me, because his stuff is very "light" - and by this I'm "balancing my plate with classic and modern literature"