The Books/Reading Thread
- Thread starter Matt
- Start date
mutantllama
Active Member
V.V.V.V.V.
Houses Ov Mercury
wandering_taco
Minstrel of Woe
Einherjar86
Active Member
Lots of famous writers were. That doesn't make it right, but genius is almost always accompanied by strange beliefs/ideals.
unknown
fuck ftagn
yeah he was. Some of his letters are pretty hysterical when viewed from a modern perspective
I also heard he was one of America's most prolific letter writers...writing something near tens of thousands of letters in his lifetime
Thoth-Amon
Hypochondriac
- Apr 4, 2006
- 6,821
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unknown
fuck ftagn
currently reading:
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon
left for the semester:
The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles (fuck you for writing such a long novel!)
World War Z by somebody er other
O, Pioneers! by Willa Cather
whatever
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon
left for the semester:
The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles (fuck you for writing such a long novel!)
World War Z by somebody er other
O, Pioneers! by Willa Cather
whatever
mutantllama
Active Member
Einherjar86
Active Member
So I'm still trying to work my way through Dan Simmons' Fall of Hyperion. I think the story is very engaging and the ideas are unique, but Simmons is really starting to get on my nerves, mostly for the following reason: he always identifies an allusion after he uses it. Every time a character quotes a famous writer, Simmons has another character say "Oh, Yeats." Or after Gladstone gives a very familiar speech and asks how it was, someone says "Very inspirational; and borrowed from Churchill."
Fuck Simmons, we all know you're a learned, intelligent scholar. There's no need to remind us every time you drop a damned quote. It's insulting to the intelligence of the reader.
Fuck Simmons, we all know you're a learned, intelligent scholar. There's no need to remind us every time you drop a damned quote. It's insulting to the intelligence of the reader.
no country for old wainds
Active Member
- Nov 23, 2002
- 26,625
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or an even more strange lack of them. yep, i've been reading shakespeare again.
lovecraft's personality is p much indistinguishable from his writing anyway, i'm not even sure it's possible to read his stuff without empathising with his general insanity
V.V.V.V.V.
Houses Ov Mercury
Einherjar86
Active Member
Finished The Fall of Hyperion; I have to say, it was difficult to push through (what with the fucked up "dream" scenario and Simmons scrambling through improbable sci-fi technical jargon in order to make some sense of the incredibly complicated web he wove). However, the end made it all worthwhile; what an awesome, huge, epic conclusion. I'm not sure if I'll give the Endymion books a try; maybe someday...
I bought Cormac McCarthy's Suttree a few days ago, so that's next on the list, when I have time in between all the research I'm doing for my undergrad thesis.
I bought Cormac McCarthy's Suttree a few days ago, so that's next on the list, when I have time in between all the research I'm doing for my undergrad thesis.
MasterOLightning
Optimator
Now that I'm working and spending quite a bit of time on the train, I'm working reading back into my schedule. Working on Hunter S. Thompson's The Rum Diary right now. It's the book he started at age 22, and it's not as rough around the edges as I expected. It's got a bit of a Hemingway meets Bukowski thing going on right now, which is right up my alley. Not sure if there's going to be much of a plot here, as none has really surfaced over a third into the book. A quick read and enjoyable enough so far.
Astrum
Psion
Just finished High Times' "Pot Smokers Handbook". two hundred pages, pretty goofy, mostly just a fun and quick read that gives you an idea of what youll find in the magazine and what the editors are all about. well smoking pot of course
Death Aflame
voice of dissent
- Feb 1, 2004
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Hyperion was better, but the second one is decent. And yeah in his sci-fi works he tends to make all his characters aware of previous literature, allowing him to easily comment on it through the characters within the context of their stories. It can be annoying, but I personally like it in some cases since I was generally not exposed to Yeats before reading Hyperion.
In all honesty, I would say he does a better job of incorporating previous literature into a sci-fi context with Ilium, as the discussions of literature between characters is narratively motivated and not done for allusion alone.
Zephyrus
Tyrants and Slaves
One of my favorites.
Currently reading:
And just ordered Xenophon's Persian Expedition and various dialogues by Plato from half.com.
