The Books/Reading Thread

[XSASweet]

i got The Hobbit for Christmas but havent started it yet, is it good?

I just finished reading it for the 3rd time or so, awesome read.

well, last book I finished was Hitchikers guide to the Galaxy. Awesome book tbh. Very entertaining. I could barely stop reading it.)

awesome books. You gotta get the rest of the series, and the dirk gently series too. He had such an amazing sense of humor, sucks he had to die with a book unfinished

 

[Einherjar86]

atm I am reading Physics of the Impossible, Blood Meridian, and The Watchmen ( INCREDIBLE!!!)

Man, you need to give Blood Meridian your complete attention. I just finished it about a week ago. It was one of the best books I've ever read, but it's not something of which the reception can be shared with other distracting works. It needs its space. It's an absolute colossus. I actually got shivers while reading the final lines.

 

[unknown]

I think "colossus" is a good way to describe it. phenomenal

 

[no country for old wainds]

it's sooooooooooooooooo good

 

[AchrisK]

Is that Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy?

 

[unknown]

yes

 

[Cythraul]

Ridiculous indeed. Especially with the triple if part(what the hell?)
I haven't done logic in a long time. How do you handle this stuff-- replace the statements with parameters and establish those causal chains?
A--->B----->A------>~B, etc.
Gah, what a mindfuck. Can't believe I used to love this once.

Actually, once you get it translated into the language of propositional logic, it's not quite as much of a mindfuck. Translating it is a purely mechanical procedure.

Let 'A' stand for 'Time is money.' Then,

(A -> (~A -> A)) -> (((~A -> A) -> A) -> (A -> A))

It turns out that the above formula is a logical truth. That it is a logical truth can be proven pretty easily using conditional proof.

1. A -> (~A -> A)​

2.(~A -> A) -> A​

3. A -> A​

4.((~A -> A) -> A) -> (A -> A)​

5.(A -> (~A -> A)) -> (((~A -> A) -> A) -> (A -> A))

Line 1 is the assumption for conditional proof. Line 2 is the assumption for a conditional subproof. Line 3 was obtained from 1 and 2 via hypothetical syllogism. Line 4 was obtained from 2 and 3 via conditional proof. Line 5 was obtained from 1-4 via conditional proof.

 

[Einherjar86]

it's sooooooooooooooooo good

Yeah, your praise for that book is actually what sold me on it. It was truly an incredible book. Holden is one of the most badass and interesting villains (if you can call him that) that I've ever encountered in a novel.

I actually got McCarthy's book Outer Dark for Christmas, which I'm pretty excited about. It's one of his earlier ones. Have you read it?

Is that Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy?

Yeah, definitely check it out. Have you read any other books by him?

 

[Evil?]

If I were to pick up some of his books, is there a order any of you guys would recommend reading them in?

 

[Einherjar86]

The only books I've read of his are Blood Meridian and The Road, but I would suggest The Road as a starting point. It's a very well-written, accessible book, and it's a truly heart-breaking story.

You can see lots of similar themes emerging in his novels, especially in his older novels. Blood Meridian (I've heard) shares some similar themes with the Border Trilogy. So, you could also start with those, if you're looking for thematic similarities.

 

[AchrisK]

...
Yeah, definitely check it out. Have you read any other books by him?

No. I really haven't read much at all. I had to do a search on the book title, plus the word "book" to find some info. But now that I started reading recently, I am looking for some good titles. When I saw it was a Western, that made me question if I was looking at the right book. That's why I asked.

I also want to know the answer to Evil?'s question.

 

[unknown]

I've read four of his books:Blood Meridian, The Road, No Country for Old Men and Child of God...I'd rate the books I've read of his in that order

that's not saying Child of God is a bad book, but there's something about necrophiliac hermits that sets some people off

 

[DarkBliss]

Thanks. I actually understood some of that. And the three consecutive "ifs" are the beginning of the embedded conditional clause that follows(guess I misread the sentence at first).

But onto babbling about books:
I finished Monday begins on Saturday by Strugatzky. It's fabulously written, although the subject matter is a bit too out there and heavy on the fantasy.(think of a more stylistically rich Harry Potter) Still, it was really enjoyable.
Then I read their Tale of the Three-- a fantasy allegory on Stalin's regime(or at least that's what I gathered from it), pretty convoluted and elaborate in style, but made priceless by the authors' subtle sense of humor which is evident in all their books.
And lastly, I read their short novella The Second Martian Invasion, a rather uninspired humorous take on Wells' War of the Worlds. A lazy exercise in style on the authors' part, I would say. Underdeveloped plot and lifeless forgettable characters made it quite a disappointing read for me.

 

[Zephyrus]

Just started this book, Rome and Jerusalem by Martin Goodman. It looks at the culture conflict of the Roman Empire and Judaism throughout history, and the modern repercussions of it. Quite interesting.

 

[AchrisK]

I am reading The Mark, which is like book 8 or 9 in the Left Behind Series. I had started reading this series years ago and left off someplace within this book.

I am also still slowly making my way through The Orthodox Church by Ware.

 

[Cythraul]

 

[AchrisK]

I was reading The Left Behind series for a while.

I think I left off at Desecration which is the 12th book of I believe of 16.

I was reading them 1 after another at one point and I became very bored with it.

I'll have to finish it in the near future.

I like Tim Lahaye, I've read several of his other novels as well.

Babylon Rising is a good series also. I read the first 2 books of that one.

Yeah, I must have also lost some level of interest. At the time it was atypical of me to be reading much at all, but I was really engrossed in the series, especially the first few.

Maybe I will look into that series in the future.

 

[XSASweet]

Just started The Dark Tower Part V The Wolves Of The Calla

I hope it's better than Wizards and Glass. That one was a tough read.

I think the 5th is the best one in the last half, the last one just being beaten out. Although the storyline with susannah sucks dick tbh.

 

[Einherjar86]

I'm reading the first part of Gene Wolf's Book of the New Sun. So far it's pretty good; a bit overwrought and loquacious at times, but a very interesting story.

 

[Cythraul]

Currently reading A History of Pagan Europe by Prudence Jones and Nigel Pennick.