Book thread: Distractions welcome

CptKemzik

I am starting to read translations of roman texts by the biographer Suetonius (Life of the Caesars), and the historiographer Ammianus Marcellinus (Later Roman Empire).

I am the uber nerd. Also a classics major, but these books aren't class related (yet).

Anjin-San

cormac mccarthy should write a cookbook

a really fucking grim cookbook

Zyrelax

Anjin-San wrote: »

cormac mccarthy should write a cookbook

a really fucking grim cookbook

A new spin on Blood Meridian, if you will. Instead of something horrible taking place every three pages, something delicious occurs.

Sars_Boy

Anjin-San wrote: »

cormac mccarthy should write a cookbook

a really fucking grim cookbook

the only recipe would be for a cold 3 year old can of beans

Kusuguttai

desolation stew
okay first you gotta boil some water
then you stew a cannibalistic person in that water. alive.
take that water with the cannibal in it.
take that cannibal stock and pour it over the shivering form of a just-raped woman

bake at 450 degrees

serve offscreen in a suggestively brutal fashion thus evoking the hopelessness of the dish

serves 3-5

moocow

The farther into The Children of Man that I read, the more and more different from the movie it gets.

What I'm saying is that the only things that are the same are the 0 birthrate and the names.

Lost Salient

I didn't like Poe until I listened to him read out-loud by Basil Rathbone. Now it is a Halloween staple.

Anyway, who was looking for good mysteries? I went on a mystery kick over Christmas. It happens sometimes. And I'm assuming you've already done the obvious, like Sherlock Holmes and Dashiell Hammett and Agatha Christie (who I've not read extensively myself). Also there's Wilkie Collins. I know there are some people here who are bats for Raymond Chandler but I haven't read him at all sooo I can't weigh in on that.

May I recommend in a slightly different but still mysterious mystery vein:

Whose Body? and the subsequent Lord Peter Wimsey books
No Graves As Yet and the rest of this series (Anne Perry's WWI series oh wait both of my suggestions so far involve WWI weird)
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
The Beekeeper's Apprentice and the following books by Laurie R. King
...I also like and read Cara Black's mystery series occasionally, which starts with Murder in the Marais.

The Maybe-Not-Quite-a-Mystery List:
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and various other Murakami books
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned (it's about a criminal!) by Walter Mosley

Anjin-San

poe actually had some neat adventure stories i cant think of by name at all

Iolo

moocow wrote: »

The farther into The Children of Man that I read, the more and more different from the movie it gets.

What I'm saying is that the only things that are the same are the 0 birthrate and the names.

Is it good? I adore the movie. I'm always on the lookout for novels that are good but are different from the good movie which I saw first (e.g. The Commitments).

I can't believe no one got past Hawthorne, Whitman, and Poe in the "There is no good American literature." flare-up. We did have a whole extra century in there. At the very least DeLillo, Gaddis, and Pynchon would like a word with some of you. A lot of words, actually.

I wish I could compel people to read White Noise, Carpenter's Gothic, and V. I also want to be able to lift slow cars out of the left lane with my mind, but that's a different story.

M.D.

I hope the second book of the Name of the Wind comes out soon.

lostwords

Mr. Defecation wrote: »

I hope the second book of the Name of the Wind comes out soon.

same here. it seems like i've been waiting forever for it. also waitign for scott lynch's third book. lies of loch lamorra and red seas under red skies was a pretty fun read

M.D.

lostwords wrote: »

Mr. Defecation wrote: »

I hope the second book of the Name of the Wind comes out soon.

same here. it seems like i've been waiting forever for it. also waitign for scott lynch's third book. lies of loch lamorra and red seas under red skies was a pretty fun read

I'm hoping for his third as well but from what I was reading he wanted to make a book about their adventures before the first book, to include lamorras love interest or something that was talked about but never actually introduced?

lostwords

boooo to that. prequels for books and movies in general are usually lame. go forward with the story, jeez

ChicoBlue

lostwords

DO YOU SEE

okay, thats a good prequel

MacGuffin

I haven't read the Red Dragon book, but Manhunter was a pretty good movie.

Peter Ebel

I read Red Dragon about 13 years ago. I thought it was good back then.

A Dabble Of Thelonius

Dead Legend wrote: »

louis l'amour too

Man, I love me some Louis L'Amour. Grew up reading his stuff.

You a good guy, DL.

satansfingers

i finished kafka on the shore last night, and i really really enjoyed it

Tam

I uh

I read Unseen Academicals a few days ago

Lost Salient

satansfingers wrote: »

i finished kafka on the shore last night, and i really really enjoyed it

Yessss!

Okay, so now that you've finished it... what did you think? Beyond really enjoying it? I mean, ultimately, what did you feel was the thread that bound Nakata and Kafka together?

Dead Legend

A Dabble Of Thelonius wrote: »

Dead Legend wrote: »

louis l'amour too

Man, I love me some Louis L'Amour. Grew up reading his stuff.

You a good guy, DL.

:^:

Quoth

Tam wrote: »

I uh

I read Unseen Academicals a few days ago

how did you like it

other people were having issues with some stuff

i thought it was solid but not his best

scarlet blvd.

Bulldog Drummond

Damn fine group of books
dude is kickin' ass and takin' names

Really though, they're fun and pretty awesome

Lost Salient

I've never read any L'Amour, but a few days back in some thread or other I mentioned I had a Louis L'Amour tape? It was a gag gift (along with Midwest Polka Band Hits) but it was actually totally awesome. Like, the best possible thing to listen to on a road trip. And then I found out that my grandfather loves Louis L'Amour, making him even more awesome than he already was.

I guess what I'm saying is I miss that tape, and I can't scoff at the Westerns section at the bookstore anymore.

Quoth

can anyone recommend stuff that is like the dresden files

this is for a friend who is more into mystery than magic but digs dresden

i honestly can't think of other good urban fantasy stuff

christopher moore is my only thought and he's more like douglas adams or neil gaiman

BusterK

Briefly considered starting The Fifth Elephant but instead went back to Moby Dick
I'll hold on to it here, just in case though

Antimatter

maaaaaaan BusterK

Tam

Quoth wrote: »

Tam wrote: »

I uh

I read Unseen Academicals a few days ago

how did you like it

other people were having issues with some stuff

i thought it was solid but not his best

yeah, I felt basically the same

Pepe's characterization was a little weird. I felt that the fashion part and then the dangerous side of his character were introduced too late.

I love all of Pratchett's geniuses, though, and Nutt was great
especially when he asserted his independence from Lady Margolotta

also, I like that a darker flavor was added to the Igors' past

edit: what problems did other people have?

BusterK

Briefly considered starting The Fifth Elephant but instead went back to Moby Dick
I'll hold on to it here, just in case though
Fortunately, I've finally started getting to the part with Ahab craziness so it's a lot easier

Blake T

Quoth this is a fantastic title.

Ignoring the fact that it is totally going to ruin me egosearching.

AMP'd

Zyrelax wrote: »

celandine wrote: »

Reading Eric Foner's history of Reconstruction. So good.

Is it the abridged or un-abridged version? Foner has managed to publish that book (or some iteration of its thesis) something like seven or eight times.

This is why he has a chair at Columbia, and I will be teaching at the local community college for the rest of my forseeable career.

Foner wrote our US History textbook

I asked my cousin to try to get me his autograph

Hooves

so the yiddish policeman's unionias one of the best books I have read in a long time and I am super frickin excited that the coen brothers are adapting it. Now I want to read some of chabons other stuff. any recommendations?

also I am currently re reading accidental masterpiece. its about art and why it is important. Its not pretentious or overwrought and if you are an appreciator of art it will remind you why.

AMP'd

Read Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay and Gentlemen of the Road immediately

Grey Ghost

Gentlemen of the Road, alt title: Jews With Swords

Quoth

damn it people i specifically asked for dresden knock-offs, you are failing me utterly you silly geese

Hooves

ordering both those books now

Balefuego

Quoth wrote: »

damn it people i specifically asked for dresden knock-offs, you are failing me utterly you silly geese

The Felix Castor series by Mike Carey is a decent enough Dresden knock-off

Quoth

it's not like the anita blake books is it

because those are the silliest of geese

Balefuego

no no no

It's like Dresden, but much more british.

It's written by Mike Carey, they guy who wrote Lucifer.