The Books/Reading Thread
- Thread starter Matt
- Start date
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fuck ftagn
The Ozzman
Melted by feels
Einherjar86
Active Member
Nice. If you're into military sci-fi, John Steakley's Armor is considered a staple. As is Heinlein of course, but I'm not as into Heinlein.
The Ozzman
Melted by feels
Not sure if I'm into it yet but given my interest in military shit and science fiction generally, I don't see why I wouldn't be
Einherjar86
Active Member
Revisiting some old books that I haven't looked at in a while.
I read portions of this a long time ago, never made it all the way through. Fucking insane book:
Read this a few years back for a seminar on The South and Modernism, but never had a personal copy. Bought one recently after watching the documentary 13th on Netflix:
I read portions of this a long time ago, never made it all the way through. Fucking insane book:
Read this a few years back for a seminar on The South and Modernism, but never had a personal copy. Bought one recently after watching the documentary 13th on Netflix:
Blurry_Dreams
Active Member
- Apr 2, 2018
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i'm a rationalist/secular humanist/atheist/moral relativist/whatever
i'm NOT a deity-worshiping person
I've been re-reading the OLD Testament, because, if you assume it's fiction, the Old Testament reads like a pretty good fantasy novel
i'm NOT a deity-worshiping person
I've been re-reading the OLD Testament, because, if you assume it's fiction, the Old Testament reads like a pretty good fantasy novel
Dak
mentat
Finished The Case Against Education. tl;dr: It was great. Caplan took what I thought in passing and from anecdote and added the data and fleshed out arguments, even to the point where things were worse than I would have thought. A solid exercise in confirmation bias!
Next on my list:
Next on my list:
Nate Skalman
What’s in the basket?
Not a fan of legal literature being my wife is in law school, but The Canon is a fascinating look at human power and control and it’s canonical origins of humanities laws- Sublimely sinister 
no country for old wainds
Active Member
- Nov 23, 2002
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attention mieville fans: a four episode adaptation of the city and city starts on the bbc today.
dwellerINTHEdark
Curator of the mausoleum
Einherjar86
Active Member
Unfortunately I don't get BBC2.
Speaking of Mieville, been reading this in my downtime--fucking awesome:
HamburgerBoy
Active Member
- Sep 16, 2007
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Sirjack
Stinkupuss
omg that book is fucking amazing!
I'd seen the ads but there has been no mention of Mieville so l thought it couldn't be. Fantastic.
What do you think are his best books?
I thought The City and the City was okay but I didn't really enjoy Embassytown and I gave up on Un Lun Dun, and it's pretty fucking rare that I give up on books. Figured I might try Kraken as a friend mentioned it before but if I don't enjoy it then fuck him.
Einherjar86
Active Member
I'm a Mieville fan, so I'm going to go ahead and answer too... 
First, if you've tried three of his books and they haven't really clicked, then I'm doubtful that you'll enjoy his other stuff. That caveat aside, I loved Embassytown; but I can see how people would find it unenjoyable. It's not an easy book to read, and the plot details are quite opaque (intentionally so, I think).
I thought Kraken was fun, but it's actually at the bottom of my list. It felt like Mieville just goofing off with a deliciously absurd magical scenario/setting, and showing off how well he knows his Herman Melville, but not doing much beyond that. The thing I love about Mieville is that he's clearly a master of genre fiction conventions, and he's experimented in various categories (as indicated below). I actually haven't read Un Lun Dun yet, so I can't comment on that one. Of the ones I've read, I'd rank them as such:
The City and the City (detective fiction)
Perdido Street Station (weird fantasy/Victorian steampunk)
Embassytown (science fiction)
Iron Council (weird fantasy/steampunk/western)
The Last Days of New Paris (fantasy/alternate history)
The Scar (weird fantasy/nautical fiction)
Kraken (weird fantasy)
I should also say that his collections of short fiction, Looking for Jake and Three Moments of an Explosion, are really good.
First, if you've tried three of his books and they haven't really clicked, then I'm doubtful that you'll enjoy his other stuff. That caveat aside, I loved Embassytown; but I can see how people would find it unenjoyable. It's not an easy book to read, and the plot details are quite opaque (intentionally so, I think).
I thought Kraken was fun, but it's actually at the bottom of my list. It felt like Mieville just goofing off with a deliciously absurd magical scenario/setting, and showing off how well he knows his Herman Melville, but not doing much beyond that. The thing I love about Mieville is that he's clearly a master of genre fiction conventions, and he's experimented in various categories (as indicated below). I actually haven't read Un Lun Dun yet, so I can't comment on that one. Of the ones I've read, I'd rank them as such:
The City and the City (detective fiction)
Perdido Street Station (weird fantasy/Victorian steampunk)
Embassytown (science fiction)
Iron Council (weird fantasy/steampunk/western)
The Last Days of New Paris (fantasy/alternate history)
The Scar (weird fantasy/nautical fiction)
Kraken (weird fantasy)
I should also say that his collections of short fiction, Looking for Jake and Three Moments of an Explosion, are really good.
The Ozzman
Melted by feels
Dak
mentat
Finished What Does This Button Do. Really interesting to get Bruce's perspective on the ups and downs of Maiden. Also really didn't realize he was a no shit pilot in the sense that it was a full time job threaded in and around touring and recording. I thought he was just licensed and flew the band for kicks.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2...-new-jrr-tolkien-book-to-be-published-in-2018
My most anticipated release of 2018, hands down.
