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What have you been reading recently?


Alorael at Large

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The topic is dead! Long live the topic!

 

—Alorael, who will throw in The Ringmaster's Daughter, a relatively normal and therefore still quite unusual novel by Jostein Gaarder. Unlike Sophie's World and therefore like his other books, it's definitely a novel and not a textbook. Like much of what he's written, it's very much concerned with the fiction.

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I recently read "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" by Jules Verne on a lark. Completely silly given what we know these days, but still a very enjoyable adventure tale.

 

I also recently read the graphic novel version of "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman. I have to say, I actually preferred the movie version.

 

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You know, having read three works by Gaiman - "Neverwhere," "American Gods," and "Stardust," I'm finding myself a little underwhelmed by him, and not understanding what all the hype is about. He's okay at telling what happens, but not very good at describing it. "Tristram and Yvaine had many adventures on their way back to Wall." Great. A lot of that detail would have been nice to flesh out the story a bit further. I think this problem may come from the fact that he got his big start with "Sandman," which had great artwork to describe all the details he omits.

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Gaiman's stories never seem to be about the stories he tells, really. It's the peripheral characters and the world or cosmology that make his writing interesting. That works well for world-building junkies (like me) and less for anyone who wants to read a novel.

 

[Edit: The great niper makes no typos.]

 

—Alorael, who thinks American Gods is just plain different enough to deserve hype, Good Omens is fantastic but heavily Pratchettized, and Neverwhere is a very mediocre story with a fantastic setting.

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Quote:
Originally written by Eggs don't belong on panels:
Gaiman's stories never seem to be about the stories he tells, really. It's the peripheral characters and the world or cosmology that make his writing interesting. That works well for world-building junkies (like me) and less for anyone who wants to read a novel.

—Alorael, who thinks i]American Gods[/i] is just plain different enough to deserve hype, Good Omens is fantastic but heavily Pratchettized, and Neverwhere is a very mediocre story with a fantastic setting.
The great sniper makes a typo! This must be preserved!
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Quote:
Originally written by Drakefyre:
Path to Power, by Robert Caro - the first part of the story of LBJ
Ever since his crappy presidency, people don't give the man the credit he deserves for being the brilliant politician that he really was. Let me know if it's an interesting read.
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  • 2 weeks later...

I have arisen from the toaster freshly buttered on a clean white china plate. Behold smile

 

I am reading The Wood Wife by Terri windling. It is a Mythopoeic award winning book. I have Neil Gaiman's Stardust waiting to read, I intend to read the book, then immediately watch the film afterward.

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Quote:
Originally written by Drew:
Ah, high school reading. Next stop for you: discovering the fascinating world of Ayn Rand, and then hopefully getting over it before college. smile
Nope. High school reading would be the great Latin classics.

EDIT: The reason I'm reading the books now is simple, I'm planning. Using these books as a foundation for my One World State...
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Quote:
Originally written by Kelandon:
I just re-read the Lone Wolf books. They were my original introduction to fantasy literature at about age 5, and they're now free online at Project Aon . Freakin' awesome.
Yeah, they're pretty well-written and well-balanced as gamebooks go, at least most of the time. Just... don't think too hard about the racial undertones in some of them. (Undertones? Ha ha. More like overtones.) Joe Dever's probably a BNP voter now. frown
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I recently finished A History of the World in 10½ Chapters by some Briton named Julian Barnes. It's a fictional account of the earth's history - how things "actually" went down, from Noah to now, and why our history books tell us what they do. Relatively unknown, but terrific. I recommend it, but it won't be easy to find.

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Rereading through my Chichton collection right now. Just finished Prey , hoping to grab Sphere and State of Fear while I'm home for spring break.

 

--------------------

The Silent Assassin is reading your mind.

Yes he is. No, this is not a stupid gimmick. Stop arguing. Believe it. No, he will never stoop that low.

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Quote:
Originally written by Thuryl:
Just... don't think too hard about the racial undertones in some of them. (Undertones? Ha ha. More like overtones.) Joe Dever's probably a BNP voter now. frown
I took it as typical fantasy fare; Tolkien's just as bad or worse, and that's trickled down into lots of other authors as a result.
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Quote:
Originally written by Kelandon:
I just re-read the Lone Wolf books. They were my original introduction to fantasy literature at about age 5, and they're now free online at Project Aon . Freakin' awesome.
Kel - you are awesome for finding that link - thanks so much! I have many fond memories of feeling grateful for hanging on to the firesphere from Book 3(?) through the whole series... smile
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Ouroboros is indeed great. I re-read it every few years. Eddison's other novels aren't as good; similar in style, but where Ouroboros is a rollicking yarn with a few spooky ideas for fun, the others are trying too hard to represent some obscure theme about dark-light symmetry or something, and too many characters are lifeless.

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Quote:
Originally written by Drew:
I recently read "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" by Jules Verne on a lark. Completely silly given what we know these days, but still a very enjoyable adventure tale.
Journey to the Centre of Avernum, more like. It is an excellent book, and a surprisingly okay movie as well. smile

Quote:
by Goldenking:
Animal Farm and Brave New World simultaneously. I'll through Nineteen Eighty-Four in the mix eventually. If only our societies were like that...
I'm reading The Republic by Plato in class. You should check out his "ideal state" if you aren't familiar with it. So far it looks like Sparta being taken over by Big Brother.
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Now lessee...

 

Right now I'm rereading A Song of Ice and Fire. Right now I'm in A Storm of Swords. In the last few months I've read at least:

 

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (which was an okay first book of yet another fantasy trilogy with good characters and dark humor, but a weakish overall plot.)

 

Domes of Fire by David Eddings (because I hadn't read anything by Eddings before. I was not impressed)

 

A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan (I'm pleased to report that absolutely nothing happened in it!)

 

Making Money by Terry Pratchett (It was okay, I guess.)

 

I also might have finished rere(possibly-re)reading the Prince of Nothing trilogy by R Scott Bakker (Things still didn't turn out well for Drusas or Cnaiur.)

 

That about covers what I've been reading (excluding school-related reading) since December.

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Kel: actually, it was referred to as a Kalte firesphere in later books. smile Currently back from vacation; moving on to the ones I never read...

 

20,000 Leagues under the Sea - not as good as Journey to the Centre of the Earth, in my opinion. While the 19th century take on the science stuff was fun, I don't know if he ever quite succeeded in developing the enigma of Captain Nemo quite enough. Still though - a fun ride.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've just read 'The Curious Incindent of the Dog in the Night-time' by Mark Haddon. I recommend this book to anybody who likes... uh... to read.

 

Before that it was 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close' by Jonathan Safran Foer, an equally heart-breaking and heart-warming story. Also by the same author, the wonderful 'Everything is Illuminated', made into a fine movie with Frodo Baggins. Lovely.

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I just finished re-reading the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis, throughly enjoyed it.

 

It's funny to get some adult perspective on books you read as a kid....I guess the same goes for movies too.

 

Next up I'm going to read "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel, I've heard it's good.

 

I don't seem to have as much time as I used to for reading books, I guess I'm on the computer too much, playing spiderweb software games tongue

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Presumably she means that, as an adult, she is aware of the religious indoctrination, while as a child it was subliminal.

 

Meanwhile I have finally got around to reading Dune. It's only taken me 14 years since deciding to read it, to actually open the thing. Ah the joys of procrastination...

 

Edit: corrected. Apologies to TobyLinn

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Quote:
Originally written by Micawber:
Presumably he means that, as an adult, he is aware of the religious indoctrination, while as a child it was subliminal.
Yes that is what I meant...and I'm a she by the way laugh

As an adult you are aware of the religious/christian aspects of the book, while when a child it sails right over your head. Actually I try not to pay attention to the religious aspect anyways, and just think of it a good fantasy story.

By the way I hope you like Dune, I read it last about 10 years ago and have to re-read it one of these days....this time I have the other four books (I only want to read the ones by Frank Herbert) and can read the rest of the series.
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