The Books/Reading Thread

[Mentok]

Yeah, I read about it in this thread then did some research on it. Saw the part about the page layouts and hidden messages. Immediately went out and got it. Although reading through it, I have trust issues with both narrators. One is a compulsive liar and the other is a blind film critic.

 

[Einherjar86]

I've heard that takes about 200 pages to get into for the plot to really start (which is like most neal stephenson novels lately)

I'm on about page fifty and so far it's mostly background and environment setting; which I don't mind, especially when it comes to world-building. This is my first venture into Stephenson though; I hope I'm up to the task.

i bought the new york trilogy recently, along with day of the locust, huck finn/tom sawyer, the long goodbye, the scarlet letter.

The New York Trilogy is awesome. In the Country of Last Things was quite good also, albeit very depressing. It wasn't on the same level as New York though. Day of the Locust is a great book, enjoy!

I also have Auster's Leviathan waiting for me, which I'm excited about.

 

[unknown]

I don't know if Anathem would've been the best point of entry for Stephenson. I actually prefer his earlier novels to these new huge epics he's been writing. Snow Crash is a phenomenal and extremely enjoyable novel

 

[Badbird]

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...m=1&hl=en&sa=N&rlz=1R2ADBF_enUS332&tbs=isch:1


http://images.google.com/imgres?img...m=1&hl=en&sa=X&rlz=1R2ADBF_enUS332&tbs=isch:1

 

[Srontgorrth]

Currently reading Doctor Faustus for class.

 

[Srontgorrth]

So 2 people from my school have an opportunity to read a book and than go to a luncheon with the author.

The book this year is The Legend of Colton H. Bryant by Alexandra Fullr which basically is about some dude who dies on an oil rig in Wyoming, and although it doesn't seem that interesting the reviews are pretty good.

Has anyone ever read the book, or anything else by the author? And here's a link to the amazon page for it:

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Colton-H-Bryant/dp/B002HREL0O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268360817&sr=8-1[/ame]

 

[Einherjar86]

I haven't even heard of it.

I'm currently almost 600 pages into Anathem, and although I'm enjoying the book immensely I'll be damned if it isn't one hell of a tough read. Many of the concepts are pretty esoteric and the scope of the narrative is huge.

 

[Cythraul]

Recently finished reading the following:

Currently reading the following:

and also some journal articles such as "The Use of Knowledge About Society" by D.W. MacKenzie and "Saving Government Failure Theory from Itself" by Chris Coyne.

 

[Einherjar86]

I've never actually read any Kuhn, but Hubert Dreyfus has quoted him generously in his article "Heidegger and the Connection between Nihilism, Art, Technology and Politics" which I read for my undergraduate thesis, and I was interested in the quotes he chose. How is the book?

 

[Zephyrus]

 

[Einherjar86]

So I received an email this morning from Amazon suggesting that I preorder R. Scott Bakker's new book The Judging Eye since I've bought his books through them in the past. It's being released on March 30!

Except... I've already read that book. I read it over a year ago. Damn international release dates got me excited that the second book in the series was being released, when in actuality it's just the American release date. It's been over a year! Why the hell does it take so long?

 

[st3333phani3333]

I'm reading Gun Powder by Jack Kelly. I started it today and it is pretty neat so far.

 

[Einherjar86]

Finally finished Anathem. Had to force my way through some parts (it was incredibly dense at times, though interesting; and sometimes Stephenson's writing comes off as a bit juvenile, in my honest opinion); but over all I thought it was a good book. Stephenson navigates ably through current scientific and philosophical questions that vex us today and tries to weave his own version of what are not necessarily answers, but possibilities. The sense of unfolding mystery and epiphany in the book are perhaps its best aspects; the first 200 pages or so provide setting and character development (moreso the former rather than the latter), and then the next several hundred pages build upon this slowly developing mystery that the characters have to try and solve. Ultimately, it builds to a satisfying and quite apocalyptic ending.

Now I'm starting China Mieville's novel Perdido Street Station. I've read a portion of this before and found it interesting, but didn't have time to get into it. I'm just past the hundred page point now and it's a phenomenal and addictive book; Mieville depicts the depraved squalor of an organic/mechanical urban culture with unnerving ease, and some moments of the book are truly horrifying.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Bought yesterday after suggestions on Reddit led me to believe it is awesome. Was on Amazon for a penny. Fuck yeah.

 

[unknown]

hm! looks interesting to me

 

[Zephyrus]

My professor bought me this as a gift -

 

[Einherjar86]

Bought yesterday after suggestions on Reddit led me to believe it is awesome. Was on Amazon for a penny. Fuck yeah.

I've read his book Singularity Sky and it was phenomenal; I'm looking forward to reading the sequel. I haven't heard about Halting State, but I'm led to believe that most of his material is superb. Please post what you think of it!

 

[The Emptier]

About 3/4 through this one, a bit tough but i've underlined/marked a lot of great things in it.

I read this one often, it's' my favorite book...fucking love it. just had to read it again for this quick anchor paper i typed up (on my trusty typewriter ) i dunno why i love it so much but it's such a damn good book, can read it in one sitting.

got a stack of books to be read...not sure what i'll choose next

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Got through these two books last month (I'd read Interview and started on Lestat a few years ago). Anne Rice fucking rules. She does an incredible job at creating the personalities of these immortal creatures, who struggle to find a purpose to their existence over centuries or millennia of existence, and at describing how they react to the changes in human civilization along the way. She also writes with this intoxicating, almost psychedelic sensuality that brings her settings and damn near everything and everyone in them to life. I feel I'll have to read back over parts of this series over time just to remind myself how beautiful the world can be if you look at it a certain way.

Tonight I'll probably finish up Aldous Huxley's Literature and Science, another book I reading a while ago and didn't finish. I'll probably pick up a few other Huxley books at the local library soon, and I've also ordered House of Leaves on Amazon since Pat recommended it and the libraries here don't seem to have it.

 

[Blind Guardian]

I haven't started on this yet, but I've recently read Shakespeare and Strindberg, so I thought I might as well continue with this pretentious shit while I'm on a roll.