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What are you reading? (August 09)
- Thread starter ItAintEasyBeinCheesy
- Start date
VistraNorrez
Member
Fleet of Foot said:
I read his On Writing book first, which is a good place to start and then I think the first few Dark Tower books, and then The Stand. I loved them all, but getting to his epics is a bit rough to start. Any new reader is best off starting with Carrie and the Bachman books. The Skeleton Crew story collection is also a good start.
I liked IT more than The Stand. Still haven't read Salem's Lot or Insomnia, hell a lot of the books that tie into The Dark Tower. I loved Desperation, though, it's a great precursor to something like The Stand.
King is a great writer. He doesn't deserve most of the hate he gets. He writes characters very well (maybe too well sometimes, it makes is books really long) and his prose is very fluid even if it isn't inspiring, but sometimes it can be beautiful. Dialogue can be clunky, but it's his style and after awhile you really enjoy it. He's deserved all the awards he's received.
Currently I'm doing a big series re-read which includes Lemony SNicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Harry Potter, and The Dark Tower. I alternate on them, 2 Lemony Snicket books for every one of the other series. I'm on the second round reading The Wide Window.
Right now I'm reading World War Z which is awesome. If they made a district 9 type movie off of this book I think it would be really cool. I'm also reading I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. Which is a pretty funny book, it's nice because they stories really aren't related so I can read a few and just come back a few days later.
Gamer @ Heart
Member
I just re read Harry Potter and the order of the phoenix and Half blood prince. I got a huge kick out of reading all those throw away lines about the locket in Sirius's house, the tiara, and the hogs head barkeep. I keep being surprised at how much i enjoy all those the parts where they simply deal with school and being teenagers as opposed to the magical elements which i found interesting on my first read through when i was younger.
Alucard said:
Actually, that is how I got into the series. I went to pick up the first HP book and I saw the first Percy Jackson book cover. I love Greek mythology and actually went to a middle school and high school centered on Greek mythology & culture. So I bought the book and then devoured the rest of the series
Anasui Kishibe
Banned
very refreshing
MaritalWheat
Member
Getting through this on my iPod, the text is out there for free. A pretty great read so far, and especially easy to get into if you've played STALKER (or I guess maybe seen the movie, though I have yet to do that).
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
Like twenty, twenty-five pages away from finishing Inifinite Jest Read No. 2. I sense open weeping not far off. There are moments in this book of such like deep tragedy and then just pure honest decency that are probably the most heartbreaking things I've ever read.
Hari Seldon
Member
Ok how hard of a read is The Road by Cormac McArthy? I should have read a little about it before I picked it up, but I don't want some book with ridiculously complex prose to read on my vacation.
Pyke Presco
Member
Finished up book 3 and 4 of GRRM's Song of Ice and Fire and after seeing a thread asking for recommendations on historical fantasy and recommending that the OP read Jack Whyte's Dream of Eagles series, I decided that I hadn't read it in quite some time so followed through on my own recommendation. Currently I have finished the first 3, and am sitting about halfway through book 4, The Saxon Shore. I fully intend to finish the series proper and maybe start on the 2 part follow up before I go back to school in a week or so. Took the last two weeks of summer off work so that I could relax for a little while before I go to finish the undergrad grind, and have found that I'm actually enjoying reading far more than playing games (though that is probably due to the fact that I'm still playing games from 2007 since this year has overall been garbage for me).
D
Deleted member 1235
Unconfirmed Member
Hari Seldon said:
you could probably finish the road while on the road to your vacation.
it's a GREAT story though
Hari Seldon
Member
catfish said:
Oh nice! That sounds great then!
Absolutely great read. Went through most of it on trains as I went round Germany and tried to make it last the who trip. It's not a page turner in the sense that at the end of some chapters you just have to put it down and savour the emotional point Laxness places you at, then perhaps go over the chapter again. I'm not so interested in Laxness' politics, but it is amazingly engrossing considering it is really just about a stubborn sheep farmer with his croft in Iceland. Very much recommended.
Wow, just got House of Leaves (along with American Gods, Lolita, Norwegian Wood and Zombie Survival Guide); it's huge! I planned to start it next week after I'm done with The Zombie Survival Guide but I guess I'll read American Gods first seeing how it looks like a tiring time-consuming read (I don't really have the time to pour on a big book with this semester, it seems better to save it for vacations). Really looking forward to it now, the size was definitely a pleasant surprise.
So far, The Zombie Survival Guide is not disappointing. I still think World War Z was more enjoyable/charming, though.
Also, I have not read The Road, or A Game of Thrones. Then again I thought any Murakami book was this thread's rite of passage. :lol
So far, The Zombie Survival Guide is not disappointing. I still think World War Z was more enjoyable/charming, though.
Also, I have not read The Road, or A Game of Thrones. Then again I thought any Murakami book was this thread's rite of passage. :lol
bbsting120
Member
Corum said:
I'm so, so sorry for you...
I felt the same way going in. Not the same coming out. : (
BruceLeeRoy
Banned
Just finished this yesterday.
What a absolutely depressing book.
I never ever thought it was going to end the way it did with so many unanswered questions but I assume that was the writers intention.
Man still reeling from it though. Anyone else here finish it?
Hachimaki said:
Only 60 pages left until I'm done. I've grown attached to Jake butI think bad things are going to happen to him =(.
I finally started it (I'm alterning between that and The Zombie Survival Guide). I'm just starting though (chapter 9 or something) so there's not a lot going on right now.
I'll post my impressions when I'm done with it!
(Jake is the Gunslinger name? Spoiler that shit!
Nah I'm kidding, doesn't matter much
AlteredBeast
Fork 'em, Sparky!
LOL. No. but you will see. Such an awesome series. Every book has been more enthralling than the last for me.
No. but you will see. Such an awesome series. Every book has been more enthralling than the last for me. ArachosiA 78
Member
Currently reading Stephen King's The Stand. Only about a third of the way through, but so far it's incredible. King is truly a master storyteller.
viciouskillersquirrel
Member
Started Magician by Raymond E Feist. First chapter, I must say, was extremely crap. It picked up at the second though.
ShadyLurker
Member
I'm a couple chapters into this:
It's managing to hold my interest so far.
It's managing to hold my interest so far.
ElectricGypsy
Neo Member
Just about to start
Half way through
Half way through
ItAintEasyBeinCheesy
it's 4th of July in my asshole
viciouskillersquirrel said:
Its his best book so its worth reading. Its a fun book.
Bout halfway through this now, chapters becoming very short 2-3 pages. Building up to some epic shit though, dunno if good or bad, oh the suspense.
crowphoenix
Banned
Finished up Brent Weeks Night Angel trilogy yesterday. The first book is absolutely fantastic, and though the second is weaker mostly due to the first fourth, it is completely redeemed by the awesome third book. The ending was a bit weak, but that didn't negatively impact the book too much. Wonderful series.
Fleet of Foot
Banned
BruceLeeRoy said:
Just finished this yesterday.
What a absolutely depressing book.
I never ever thought it was going to end the way it did with so many unanswered questions but I assume that was the writers intention.
Man still reeling from it though. Anyone else here finish it?
I did, and I loved it. I read it about 6 months ago so I can't remember all the finer details, but I remember being affected by it for a few days after I finished it. Wish I could give you more than that, but sorry it's a haze now.
Highly recommended to anyone else, though.
Hari Seldon
Member
Alright I just took a look at the first couple pages of The Road. I fucking hate this writing style. USE COMMAS SHIT HEAD!!!!!!! The plot and story better make up for this shit. Glancing through, I guess he doesn't believe in using quotes for dialogue either.
BruceLeeRoy
Banned
Fleet of Foot said:
The whole ending is depressing but the way he writes
Almondines death
Hari Seldon
Member
jon bones said:
Well why is this book considered good when there is writing like: "He walked over to the cave and pulled out his gun and looked down the hill and then smoked a cigarette." That is horrible by a middle school writing standard.
Hari Seldon said:
it's poorly written
it would have serious pacing issues - but luckily the story goes nowhere so it can take it's damn time getting there
it has a solid atmosphere but why this won a pulitzer is beyond me - doesn't hold a candle to Chabon's Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (totally different genre/writing style but it is my example of a pulitzer-quality book)
FINALLY finished it. It took me over a month...
Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb
I felt a mix of emotions while completing this book, and closing the door on the Farseer Trilogy. While Fitz's struggles and pain are once again the focal point of the story, it is what Hobb does with the supporting cast that will make you love or loathe this conclusion. Personally, I was left with a sense of respect for an author that does not guide her narratives into the expected places.
At the beginning of the story, Fitz is a ghost of his former self, and his rehabilitation into the world of the living is one of the hilights of the book. As he regains his strength and steels his focus to killing Regal, we once again follow him through numerous difficulties, and heaps of emotional anguish. Along the way, he meets a couple of new characters that leave a lasting impression on the reader. Starling and Kettle are great additions to this series, and I felt they often added a needed lightness to the book.
My only real complaint about this story is that it felt extremely drawn out, and that the conclusion, despite tying up most loose ends, left me with a sense of anti-climax. That could simply be that Hobb spent a good deal of time building up my disdain for certain characters, or my curiosity about other parts of the story, only to explain them all away in a few brief paragraphs. I felt that Royal Assassin shared a similar problem.
Regardless of its sometimes slow pacing, and despite this book requiring a fairly large commitment at 757 pages, the journey is worth it. The lessons I took away from it were largely centred around different ways of showing love, and the nature of personal sacrifice. It is not a perfect tale, but the lasting impression is one of reverence for Hobb's ambitious scope and imagination. 8/10.
Next up: The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb
I felt a mix of emotions while completing this book, and closing the door on the Farseer Trilogy. While Fitz's struggles and pain are once again the focal point of the story, it is what Hobb does with the supporting cast that will make you love or loathe this conclusion. Personally, I was left with a sense of respect for an author that does not guide her narratives into the expected places.
At the beginning of the story, Fitz is a ghost of his former self, and his rehabilitation into the world of the living is one of the hilights of the book. As he regains his strength and steels his focus to killing Regal, we once again follow him through numerous difficulties, and heaps of emotional anguish. Along the way, he meets a couple of new characters that leave a lasting impression on the reader. Starling and Kettle are great additions to this series, and I felt they often added a needed lightness to the book.
My only real complaint about this story is that it felt extremely drawn out, and that the conclusion, despite tying up most loose ends, left me with a sense of anti-climax. That could simply be that Hobb spent a good deal of time building up my disdain for certain characters, or my curiosity about other parts of the story, only to explain them all away in a few brief paragraphs. I felt that Royal Assassin shared a similar problem.
Regardless of its sometimes slow pacing, and despite this book requiring a fairly large commitment at 757 pages, the journey is worth it. The lessons I took away from it were largely centred around different ways of showing love, and the nature of personal sacrifice. It is not a perfect tale, but the lasting impression is one of reverence for Hobb's ambitious scope and imagination. 8/10.
Next up: The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
ItAintEasyBeinCheesy
it's 4th of July in my asshole
You should read The Tawny Man series straight away
