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The Republic of Thieves is out?! also other book talk

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  • wirehead26wirehead26 Registered User regular
    Read whatever you want

    I will thank you!

    I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!!!
  • BalefuegoBalefuego Registered User regular
    unless it's Robert Jordan

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Grey GhostGrey Ghost Registered User regular
    Okay I'm about three quarters through Republic of Thieves and how much dialogue from this play I don't care about am I going to have to slog through

  • MysstMysst King Monkey of Hedonism IslandRegistered User regular
    Grey Ghost wrote: »
    Okay I'm about three quarters through Republic of Thieves and how much dialogue from this play I don't care about am I going to have to slog through

    I don't remember all that much play dialog, but then I tend to skip it anyway

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  • Grey GhostGrey Ghost Registered User regular
    Haha well looks like that's done

  • SnowbeatSnowbeat i need something to kick this thing's ass over the lineRegistered User regular
    so i've been reading shakespeare

    Macbeth and Coriolanus are amazing in how relevant and timeless they feel

    Hamlet is, as interesting and complex the plot is, much more of a slog. it might have something to do with the fact that pretty much every character has a thirty-line-plus speech

    next up: Richard the Third, because Year of the King is such a fascinating read

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  • ElderlycrawfishElderlycrawfish Registered User regular
    I started re-reading the Malazan series. I remeber enough to see the early seeds of storyline and appreciate where it's going to go, but it's also been long enough that I'm still feeling the impact of some of the bigger moments. Chain of Dogs. Capustan. Coral. Still such insane setpieces.

    And I'd forgotten how utterly unlikable the character in House of Chains was at the beginning.

  • SnowbeatSnowbeat i need something to kick this thing's ass over the lineRegistered User regular
    edited October 2013
    actually, if anyone here is interested in theatrical direction, acting, staging, or just enjoys reading an account of a unique profession written simply and beautifully, read The Year of the King

    Antony Sher is a fantastic writer and sketcher

    it's a shame he played Richard before the practice of recording stage productions became common

    Snowbeat on
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  • SolarSolar Registered User regular
    edited October 2013
    I pretty much only read fantasy and sci-fi because I like wizards and spaceships and to be quite honest those genres are so broad they can push pretty much any button I feel like at the time

    the day I read a modern day slice of life novel will be the day I run out of fantasy and sci-fi stuff to check out, given the size of the market this seems unlikely to be anytime soon

    Solar on
  • Grey GhostGrey Ghost Registered User regular
    But so much of that market is awful

  • MysstMysst King Monkey of Hedonism IslandRegistered User regular
    I like sci-fi, fantasy, humor fiction, and noir. combine two or three of those and you've got me checking your amazon reviews

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  • wirehead26wirehead26 Registered User regular
    Grey Ghost wrote: »
    But so much of that market is awful

    Well I only read a very select few fantasy titles.

    I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!!!
  • SnowbeatSnowbeat i need something to kick this thing's ass over the lineRegistered User regular
    Sher's book is much more than just a slice-of-life piece of fluff

    in fact, despite it being drawn mostly from his journals, he's cut out most of the stuff about his private doings

    it's really about the stage and the months of preparation and research required to really, truly act

    it also offers some insight on how Shakespearian players deconstruct the plays so that they can fit them to their personal visions (or, at least, how the Royal Shakespeare Company does it)

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  • SolarSolar Registered User regular
    Grey Ghost wrote: »
    But so much of that market is awful

    so much of every market ever is awful

  • SolarSolar Registered User regular
    Snowbeat wrote: »
    Sher's book is much more than just a slice-of-life piece of fluff

    in fact, despite it being drawn mostly from his journals, he's cut out most of the stuff about his private doings

    it's really about the stage and the months of preparation and research required to really, truly act

    it also offers some insight on how Shakespearian players deconstruct the plays so that they can fit them to their personal visions (or, at least, how the Royal Shakespeare Company does it)

    I wasn't making reference to that book

    just modern day slice of life stuff

    I have no opinion on that book you are talking about though I am sure it is very good

  • Lost SalientLost Salient blink twice if you'd like me to mercy kill youRegistered User regular
    I like

    Books

    RUVCwyu.jpg
    "Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
  • SnowbeatSnowbeat i need something to kick this thing's ass over the lineRegistered User regular
    Solar wrote: »
    Snowbeat wrote: »
    Sher's book is much more than just a slice-of-life piece of fluff

    in fact, despite it being drawn mostly from his journals, he's cut out most of the stuff about his private doings

    it's really about the stage and the months of preparation and research required to really, truly act

    it also offers some insight on how Shakespearian players deconstruct the plays so that they can fit them to their personal visions (or, at least, how the Royal Shakespeare Company does it)

    I wasn't making reference to that book

    just modern day slice of life stuff

    I have no opinion on that book you are talking about though I am sure it is very good

    ah, okay. i wasn't mad at you, i just like talking up books i enjoyed

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  • Grey GhostGrey Ghost Registered User regular
    Solar I wasn't meaning to give you a hard time
    Just commenting that eventually you gotta run out of the stuff in a genre that's actually worth reading

  • SolarSolar Registered User regular
    Well not really, no

    as I said

    sci-fi and fantasy are very broad

    new stuff comes out all the time, and there is a rich history of existing stuff to look at

    If I read a sci-fi or fantasy book every week, then I still don't really see things running out

    especially as you can't know how good something is until you read it

    I'm not interested, in a passing sense, in most other stuff and given that I am interested in the stuff I do read, I don't feel the desire to wander elsewere.

  • Grey GhostGrey Ghost Registered User regular
    Still doesn't explain the dubstep

  • SyphyreSyphyre A Dangerous Pastime Registered User regular
    edited October 2013
    I'm one of those who reads fantasy as the majority of my fiction reading. Nothing at all wrong with it, there is plenty of mediocre to great stuff out there.

    I admit I don't read much "realistic" fiction mainly because I can pull a good history book off the shelf, read about the Borgia family, and be fascinated.

    Syphyre on
  • PeenPeen Registered User regular
    I had a really interesting conversation with a guy in college about what kinds of books you can read and he honestly felt like science fiction and fantasy weren't good to read because it was escapism and there was too much going on in the world for escapism to be responsible. I was pretty blown away and a little bit sad for him, I mean my whole take is that I live most of my life in the real world, what the hell do I want it all up in my leisure time for?

  • DarmakDarmak RAGE vympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
    Solar wrote: »
    Well not really, no

    as I said

    sci-fi and fantasy are very broad

    new stuff comes out all the time, and there is a rich history of existing stuff to look at

    If I read a sci-fi or fantasy book every week, then I still don't really see things running out

    especially as you can't know how good something is until you read it

    I'm not interested, in a passing sense, in most other stuff and given that I am interested in the stuff I do read, I don't feel the desire to wander elsewere.

    Yes, all of this. When I read stuff that isn't sci-fi or fantasy and the like I tend to end up thinking "I could be reading something I actually enjoy like The Wheel of Time or The Lord of the Rings or something new that sounds interesting"

    And yeah, a lot of the books I like are considered bad but I don't care as long as I enjoy them..

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  • NaphtaliNaphtali Hazy + Flow SeaRegistered User regular
    Peen wrote: »
    I had a really interesting conversation with a guy in college about what kinds of books you can read and he honestly felt like science fiction and fantasy weren't good to read because it was escapism and there was too much going on in the world for escapism to be responsible. I was pretty blown away and a little bit sad for him, I mean my whole take is that I live most of my life in the real world, what the hell do I want it all up in my leisure time for?

    So let me guess, this guy had zero imagination besides being a terrible bore

    Steam | Nintendo ID: Naphtali | Wish List
  • lostwordslostwords Registered User regular
    edited October 2013
    So kindle matchbook just launched, basically gives you a chance to rebuy books on your kindle you've bought on amazon in physical format before at a discounted price. Kinda tempted to rebuy a lot of my faves, but the selection is still kinda barebones. Also god, i really wish I bought more books on amazon now instead of from borders

    lostwords on
    rat.jpg tumbler? steam/ps3 thingie: lostwords Amazon Wishlist!
  • OlivawOlivaw good name, isn't it? the foot of mt fujiRegistered User regular
    So apropos of nothing I tried to read Shards of Honor recently

    And I got about... a quarter of the way through? And I could not understand why that series is so beloved

    It was readable, I guess, but man it was trite as shit

    signature-deffo.jpg
    PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
  • BalefuegoBalefuego Registered User regular
    lostwords wrote: »
    So kindle matchbook just launched, basically gives you a chance to rebuy books on your kindle you've bought on amazon in physical format before at a discounted price. Kinda tempted to rebuy a lot of my faves, but the selection is still kinda barebones. Also god, i really wish I bought more books on amazon now instead of from borders

    This service seems built for me

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • MysstMysst King Monkey of Hedonism IslandRegistered User regular
    they got discworld on there cause that would eliminate a goodly number of my paperbacks

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  • OlivawOlivaw good name, isn't it? the foot of mt fujiRegistered User regular
    Balefuego wrote: »
    lostwords wrote: »
    So kindle matchbook just launched, basically gives you a chance to rebuy books on your kindle you've bought on amazon in physical format before at a discounted price. Kinda tempted to rebuy a lot of my faves, but the selection is still kinda barebones. Also god, i really wish I bought more books on amazon now instead of from borders

    This service seems built for me

    Nothing that I'd want to have on Kindle (yet) but this is exactly what I've been wanting since I got that damn thing

    Especially since I'm about to go on a trip and was just thinking that I'd rather not deal with packing a shitload of books and wished I could get some books I already owned on Kindle at a discount

    signature-deffo.jpg
    PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
  • PeenPeen Registered User regular
    edited October 2013
    Naphtali wrote: »
    Peen wrote: »
    I had a really interesting conversation with a guy in college about what kinds of books you can read and he honestly felt like science fiction and fantasy weren't good to read because it was escapism and there was too much going on in the world for escapism to be responsible. I was pretty blown away and a little bit sad for him, I mean my whole take is that I live most of my life in the real world, what the hell do I want it all up in my leisure time for?

    So let me guess, this guy had zero imagination besides being a terrible bore

    Not the second one, he was an extremely nice and fun guy, but possibly the first one. He was a super sincere poli-sci major who was really into social justice issues and somehow felt that escaping from the world's problems reflected an unwillingness to engage with them? We didn't get anywhere in the course of talking about it but it was really interesting to talk to someone with such a radically difference viewpoint from my own.

    Peen on
  • MolotovCockatooMolotovCockatoo Registered User regular
    Peen wrote: »
    I had a really interesting conversation with a guy in college about what kinds of books you can read and he honestly felt like science fiction and fantasy weren't good to read because it was escapism and there was too much going on in the world for escapism to be responsible. I was pretty blown away and a little bit sad for him, I mean my whole take is that I live most of my life in the real world, what the hell do I want it all up in my leisure time for?
    “Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”

    Killjoy wrote: »
    No jeez Orik why do you assume the worst about people?

    Because he moderates an internet forum

    http://lexiconmegatherium.tumblr.com/
  • NaphtaliNaphtali Hazy + Flow SeaRegistered User regular
    Peen wrote: »
    Naphtali wrote: »
    Peen wrote: »
    I had a really interesting conversation with a guy in college about what kinds of books you can read and he honestly felt like science fiction and fantasy weren't good to read because it was escapism and there was too much going on in the world for escapism to be responsible. I was pretty blown away and a little bit sad for him, I mean my whole take is that I live most of my life in the real world, what the hell do I want it all up in my leisure time for?

    So let me guess, this guy had zero imagination besides being a terrible bore

    Not the second one, he was an extremely nice and fun guy, but possibly the first one. He was a super sincere poli-sci major who was really into social justice issues and somehow felt that escaping from the world's problems reflected an unwillingness to engage with them? We didn't get anywhere in the course of talking about it but it was really interesting to talk to someone with such a radically difference viewpoint from my own.

    knew it

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  • SolarSolar Registered User regular
    Grey Ghost wrote: »
    Still doesn't explain the dubstep

    dubstep is amazing

    be silent, heathen

  • Lost SalientLost Salient blink twice if you'd like me to mercy kill youRegistered User regular
    On the flip side of the argument, of course, is the fact that science fiction at its best and most important is a medium for engaging in political commentary and exploring potential consequences or futures of present day socio-political issues.

    So I guess I feel like that guy is just, how do you say, wrong.

    RUVCwyu.jpg
    "Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
  • SolarSolar Registered User regular
    Also man if you are interested in social issues and literature which explores them then sci-fi will totally satisfy that desire

    there are loads and loads of sci-fi novels about that kind of thing

    fair enough, a lot of them are written by weird, military fetishists with a raging hard on for authoritarianism/libertarianism/etc

    But some of it is legitimately thought-provoking and insightful!

  • ElderlycrawfishElderlycrawfish Registered User regular
    I was all excited about checking out matchbook and found that I had a whopping 1 title available. Oh well.

    I'm sure more will become available later, or maybe I just didn't buy a lot of physical books from Amazon? Eh, whatever, it's still a neat concept.

  • Grey GhostGrey Ghost Registered User regular
    I have never bought a physical book from Amazon

  • Brovid HasselsmofBrovid Hasselsmof [Growling historic on the fury road] Registered User regular
    I read a lot of SF&F. Have been branching out a bit in recent years, read a bit of historical fiction and some straight drama.

    But yeah, I'm kind of with Syphyre on this one. If I want to read realistic stories there's basically an infinite number of books about real events that are just as good as any novel would be, and I get to feel productive because I'm learning real things at the same time, so bonus!

    I read fiction specifically to get away from Real Things.

  • Theodore FlooseveltTheodore Floosevelt proud parent of eight beautiful girls and shalmelo dorne (which is currently being ruled by a woman (awesome role model for my daughters)) #dornedadRegistered User regular
    I'm curious as to how y'all that are strictly sci-fi/fantasy folk would respond to modern fiction that heavily references such stuff

    FOLLOW-UP: if you ever feel like finding out and telling me, you should read The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

    it's a good 'un

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  • YaYaYaYa Decent. Registered User regular
    I'm curious as to how y'all that are strictly sci-fi/fantasy folk would respond to modern fiction that heavily references such stuff

    FOLLOW-UP: if you ever feel like finding out and telling me, you should read The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

    it's a good 'un

    this is indeed a really, really good book

    after Republic of Thieves I think I will skim through Redshirts

    and then

    and then

    Infinite Jest

This discussion has been closed.