Started reading Don Quixote - it's one of those classics I must read to be considered hyper-literate, I suppose (and none of my schooling ever covered it, oddly).
God damn is this a slog
Like, I was expecting jaunty, Baron Munchausen-esque frivolity... but it's really just soul-crushing.
Also, like 2/3rds of the way through and it's mostly stories within stories
Four chapters to tell a tale at an inn (or in a field, or on a mountain side) that adds nothing to the narrative nor the meta-narrative?
I highly recommend the Temeraire series of novels by Naomi Novik (at least the first three because that's all I've got so far so if they suck later I'm sorry).
It's a series about the Napoleonic Wars with dragons written in a style similar to Patrick O'Brian
So far they're super awesome!
This is a few pages back, but thanks for posting this because I hadn't even realised that Blood of Tyrants came out something like 3 months ago.
My white whale is probably Crime and Punishment. I don't know if I'll ever go back and finish it.
This translation is not only really well done, but very pleasant to read. I found it completely worth getting a second copy since i was not getting through the other translation I had. Pevear translation
Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
Huh. I hadn't even considered that there would be other translations and I might find one I like better.
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StraightziHere we may reign secure, and in my choice,To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered Userregular
My Infinite Jest experience has been like so:
First hundred pages were easy as heck. I didn't know what was going on, but I've read plenty of books like that before, and I resolved to just roll with it and keep going. It's very readable writing, all told.
After that I started to figure stuff out, and that slowed me down a bit, but I was still enjoying it. I just had to keep flipping back to certain endnotes.
Somewhere around three hundred in I got confused and really slowed down, which prevented me from reading more than a couple pages a night, which in turn meant my shitty memory started to decay, which made me more confused.
I got sick of moving so slowly and decided to fucking kill this book a week or so ago, and have spent several days when I read a hundred pages (plus or minus a chapter of endnotes) in one sitting. It's really thrilling and exciting to read most of the time now.
I'm at somewhere around 680 now. I'm considering going down to the café to work on it hardcore for a bit today.
I picked up Best Served Cold and No More Heroes at Half-Price about two weeks ago, when I told a buddy I was reading them he rushed over and gave me the First Law Trilogy and told me to read those first. I had made some progress into Best Served Cold already but put it down and followed his advice.
Now I'm halfway through Before They Are Hanged and I can't stop.
Finished up The Ocean at the End of the Lane and have just started The Sound and the Fury. I knew nothing about the book previously and tried to start it last night just before bedtime. That was a mistake, apparently you need to be on your game for that one.
It's very interesting so far, trying to piece together the narrative and understand things through the protagonists eyes. I'm still having a lot of trouble piecing together who is who, however.
I had a pretty good handle on what was happening and what I thought would happen, but I wasn't ready for that ending at all.
As I realized I was coming up on the end and Gately was getting injected with Sunshine I almost thought it'd cheap out into some "it was all a drug hallucination" thing.
Thinking about it a bit more I guess the book just decided to skip the actual part where it ties the stories together and leaves the happenings at the end of YDAU and most of Year of Glad unsaid.
Not gonna say I liked the ending, but it's impressive how everything's just left at a point where I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what happens in that time until the first chapter. I've got a shit memory and I don't spend a ton of time analyzing what I read, so I've probably missed a ton of stuff.
Might go back and reread it some day. Might not.
Flarne on
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Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
I picked up Best Served Cold and No More Heroes at Half-Price about two weeks ago, when I told a buddy I was reading them he rushed over and gave me the First Law Trilogy and told me to read those first. I had made some progress into Best Served Cold already but put it down and followed his advice.
Now I'm halfway through Before They Are Hanged and I can't stop.
You enjoying it?
I am about a third of the way into The Last Argument and I haven't really enjoyed it since nearly the end of the first book. But I keep going because..... uh.... I think someone told me it gets crazy toward the end, maybe?
I picked up Best Served Cold and No More Heroes at Half-Price about two weeks ago, when I told a buddy I was reading them he rushed over and gave me the First Law Trilogy and told me to read those first. I had made some progress into Best Served Cold already but put it down and followed his advice.
Now I'm halfway through Before They Are Hanged and I can't stop.
You enjoying it?
I am about a third of the way into The Last Argument and I haven't really enjoyed it since nearly the end of the first book. But I keep going because..... uh.... I think someone told me it gets crazy toward the end, maybe?
The series is way overlong especially in hindsight, the middle section is a complete drag. I barely even remember anything about the 2nd book.
But if you've sunk this much time into it you should see it to the end because the end is kind of like the whole point of those books.
Which is part of my problem with the series because it's basically just narrative trickery. It's a kind of trickery that I enjoy and the intent of what he's doing is really interesting but it would have been way better as one, or maybe 2 books.
I've heard the rest of his stuff he's written since is much better.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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Theodore Flooseveltproud parent of eight beautiful girls and shalmelodorne (which is currently being ruled by a woman (awesome role model for my daughters)) #dornedadRegistered Userregular
Anybody read Dissident Gardens?
I almost bought it yesterday
that is really the closest I've come to a book aside from Maddie on Things in like a month and a half, which kind of saddens me to realize
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Lost Salientblink twiceif you'd like me to mercy kill youRegistered Userregular
edited November 2013
I haven't read it.
That said get ye to a book store and make some bad decisions. My wishlist is epic and I bought three books this weekend, and like four others over the last month.
Maybe more...
I have a problem.
Lost Salient on
"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
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Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
I picked up Best Served Cold and No More Heroes at Half-Price about two weeks ago, when I told a buddy I was reading them he rushed over and gave me the First Law Trilogy and told me to read those first. I had made some progress into Best Served Cold already but put it down and followed his advice.
Now I'm halfway through Before They Are Hanged and I can't stop.
You enjoying it?
I am about a third of the way into The Last Argument and I haven't really enjoyed it since nearly the end of the first book. But I keep going because..... uh.... I think someone told me it gets crazy toward the end, maybe?
The series is way overlong especially in hindsight, the middle section is a complete drag. I barely even remember anything about the 2nd book.
But if you've sunk this much time into it you should see it to the end because the end is kind of like the whole point of those books.
Which is part of my problem with the series because it's basically just narrative trickery. It's a kind of trickery that I enjoy and the intent of what he's doing is really interesting but it would have been way better as one, or maybe 2 books.
I've heard the rest of his stuff he's written since is much better.
Yeah this is what I've heard (actually it might have been you that said it). I only just got around to starting book 3 after finishing the other 2 ages ago, and I probably wouldn't have bothered at all if I hadn't heard this kind of thing from several people. It's weird to have a book series I feel this way about which everyone I've spoken to seems to have a pretty unanimously high opinion of. My tastes arent usually controversial.
Not that I'm trying to slate the books, they're not that bad, just don't tick many of the right boxes for me and do a few things that annoy me. It's a shame because I loved most of the first book. Hopefully I'll enjoy the end of the third one too. If I do that will probably be enough to make me give some of his other stuff a try.
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Theodore Flooseveltproud parent of eight beautiful girls and shalmelodorne (which is currently being ruled by a woman (awesome role model for my daughters)) #dornedadRegistered Userregular
That said get ye to a book store and make some bad decisions. My wishlist is epic and I bought three books this weekend, and like four others over the last month.
Maybe more...
I have a problem.
I held it in my hands, said "I want to get this" out loud, coldly noted the 20% discount and placed it back on the shelf
I have this sort of weird frugality that is specific to bookstores
I don't know what the deal is! Need to cut loose up in
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Lost Salientblink twiceif you'd like me to mercy kill youRegistered Userregular
My
God
Are you made of iron? I mean I picked up six or seven books but only bought two and I was so proud
"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
That said get ye to a book store and make some bad decisions. My wishlist is epic and I bought three books this weekend, and like four others over the last month.
Maybe more...
I have a problem.
I held it in my hands, said "I want to get this" out loud, coldly noted the 20% discount and placed it back on the shelf
I have this sort of weird frugality that is specific to bookstores
I don't know what the deal is! Need to cut loose up in
Start like hitting up used bookstores?
Or just buy some fuckin' thrift store books. In between the paperback romance novels you can find some real gems.
I mean also in the paperback romance novels. Go with a friend! Have a race to who can find the first sex scene!
I picked up Best Served Cold and No More Heroes at Half-Price about two weeks ago, when I told a buddy I was reading them he rushed over and gave me the First Law Trilogy and told me to read those first. I had made some progress into Best Served Cold already but put it down and followed his advice.
Now I'm halfway through Before They Are Hanged and I can't stop.
You enjoying it?
I am about a third of the way into The Last Argument and I haven't really enjoyed it since nearly the end of the first book. But I keep going because..... uh.... I think someone told me it gets crazy toward the end, maybe?
The series is way overlong especially in hindsight, the middle section is a complete drag. I barely even remember anything about the 2nd book.
But if you've sunk this much time into it you should see it to the end because the end is kind of like the whole point of those books.
Which is part of my problem with the series because it's basically just narrative trickery. It's a kind of trickery that I enjoy and the intent of what he's doing is really interesting but it would have been way better as one, or maybe 2 books.
I've heard the rest of his stuff he's written since is much better.
I am enjoying it, yes. Like I said I started reading Best Served Cold and I told my gf "I love these characters." After two pages. She looked at me like I was a crazy person but she quickly read the same and whole-heartedly agreed. When I moved to the First Law trilogy I started noticing names and places that were mentioned in Best Served Cold so I've been eager to find out how things fit together.
Huh. I hadn't even considered that there would be other translations and I might find one I like better.
My first experience with that whole new idea was Beowulf. I had thought I just really disliked Beowulf. Nope. Turned out I just hated the awful half-prose translation in the Norton text. I actually love Beowulf in a good translation. haha
StraightziHere we may reign secure, and in my choice,To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered Userregular
Translations are so terribly important
I'm constantly finding myself annoyed by the lack of information when I'm trying to read something originally in a foreign language about what translator to trust
I spend a lot of time reading translator's notes in bookstores
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StraightziHere we may reign secure, and in my choice,To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered Userregular
See also- annotations
I tried to read an unannotated translation of The Divine Comedy a few years back; ended up spending more time on Wikipedia than on the book
Gave up because of that, and I'm gonna buy a good one eventually I guess
I first realised that translators were a big deal when I was reading Haruki Murakami. Stumbled across one that felt really off (or, well, more off than usual for Murakami) and it wasn't til I finished it that I realised it had been translated by someone else. It makes me want to check out some other stuff I've read interpreted by different people, like Kafka's work.
3DS: 2234-8122-8398 | Battle.net (EU): Ladi#2485
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Theodore Flooseveltproud parent of eight beautiful girls and shalmelodorne (which is currently being ruled by a woman (awesome role model for my daughters)) #dornedadRegistered Userregular
Are you made of iron? I mean I picked up six or seven books but only bought two and I was so proud
failure to treat myself is my superpower
and yeah, straightzi, the last couple I bought were super cheapos from a used book store, actually. But I do so love new books! With their new covers and
The series is way overlong especially in hindsight, the middle section is a complete drag. I barely even remember anything about the 2nd book.
But if you've sunk this much time into it you should see it to the end because the end is kind of like the whole point of those books.
Which is part of my problem with the series because it's basically just narrative trickery. It's a kind of trickery that I enjoy and the intent of what he's doing is really interesting but it would have been way better as one, or maybe 2 books.
I've heard the rest of his stuff he's written since is much better.
I am enjoying it, yes. Like I said I started reading Best Served Cold and I told my gf "I love these characters." After two pages. She looked at me like I was a crazy person but she quickly read the same and whole-heartedly agreed. When I moved to the First Law trilogy I started noticing names and places that were mentioned in Best Served Cold so I've been eager to find out how things fit together.
Spoilers for First Law
About halfway through The Blade Itself, I went to the bookstore and bought the next two. But I feel my reaction after reading Before They Are Hanged would've been MASSIVELY different if I didn't have LAOK cued and ready at the time. Had I had to wait months to get the next section of the story, the entire middle finger skyward to the notion of "The Epic Journey Of Protagonists Finding Object X" would've likely pissed me off. Instead, I just went " . . . damn . . . " and rolled straight into part three.
I like the entire series as a meditation on The Trilogy (with Revenge, War, and the Western in the next few books) but yeah, since the entire journey ends up with a near-reset on character development - specifically because what they look for the entire book isn't there - BTAH is mainly treading water. Well, not counting Glotka. Unfortunately, key pieces of info and characters that flow into other books are introduced (the brothers backstory, the Old Empire backstory, intro to Mauthis, intro to Cosca, Tolomei's foreshadowing, etc) so it's kind of necessary if you're going the whole hog.
Last pint: Turmoil CDA / Barley Brown's - Untappd: TheJudge_PDX
Don't think I was in the right headspace for the finale when I tackled it and Best Served Cold, or at least was expecting them to be something they weren't. I think I have Before they are Hanged lying around the house somewhere, picked it up but never got around to it.
For about the past year, I've really gotten hooked on Urban Fantasy. I started with The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, then read The Druid Chronicles series by Kevin Hearne. Now I'm finishing up The Hollows series by Kim Harrison.
I didn't care for the Anita Blake series Laurelle K. Hamilton's works, too much focus on sex and not enough on the sluething/adventuring and the magic aspects. I made it to the 10th book or so, but it was a slog after the first few. I also didn't like The Secret Histories by Simon R. Greene, as it was too much magical adventure and not enough urban/sluething.
Any recommendations for me in this genre? Is Patricia Briggs any good?
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StraightziHere we may reign secure, and in my choice,To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered Userregular
Posts
mine was one of those sounds that starts as a sigh and then turns into a groan of medium-sized rage
God damn is this a slog
Like, I was expecting jaunty, Baron Munchausen-esque frivolity... but it's really just soul-crushing.
Also, like 2/3rds of the way through and it's mostly stories within stories
Four chapters to tell a tale at an inn (or in a field, or on a mountain side) that adds nothing to the narrative nor the meta-narrative?
No thank you, sir.
This is a few pages back, but thanks for posting this because I hadn't even realised that Blood of Tyrants came out something like 3 months ago.
No idea how I missed that.
This translation is not only really well done, but very pleasant to read. I found it completely worth getting a second copy since i was not getting through the other translation I had.
Pevear translation
wish list
Steam wishlist
Etsy wishlist
First hundred pages were easy as heck. I didn't know what was going on, but I've read plenty of books like that before, and I resolved to just roll with it and keep going. It's very readable writing, all told.
After that I started to figure stuff out, and that slowed me down a bit, but I was still enjoying it. I just had to keep flipping back to certain endnotes.
Somewhere around three hundred in I got confused and really slowed down, which prevented me from reading more than a couple pages a night, which in turn meant my shitty memory started to decay, which made me more confused.
I got sick of moving so slowly and decided to fucking kill this book a week or so ago, and have spent several days when I read a hundred pages (plus or minus a chapter of endnotes) in one sitting. It's really thrilling and exciting to read most of the time now.
I'm at somewhere around 680 now. I'm considering going down to the café to work on it hardcore for a bit today.
Now I'm halfway through Before They Are Hanged and I can't stop.
It's very interesting so far, trying to piece together the narrative and understand things through the protagonists eyes. I'm still having a lot of trouble piecing together who is who, however.
Thoughts:
As I realized I was coming up on the end and Gately was getting injected with Sunshine I almost thought it'd cheap out into some "it was all a drug hallucination" thing.
Thinking about it a bit more I guess the book just decided to skip the actual part where it ties the stories together and leaves the happenings at the end of YDAU and most of Year of Glad unsaid.
Not gonna say I liked the ending, but it's impressive how everything's just left at a point where I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what happens in that time until the first chapter. I've got a shit memory and I don't spend a ton of time analyzing what I read, so I've probably missed a ton of stuff.
Might go back and reread it some day. Might not.
You enjoying it?
I am about a third of the way into The Last Argument and I haven't really enjoyed it since nearly the end of the first book. But I keep going because..... uh.... I think someone told me it gets crazy toward the end, maybe?
it's time
it's time for Infinite Jest
"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
The series is way overlong especially in hindsight, the middle section is a complete drag. I barely even remember anything about the 2nd book.
But if you've sunk this much time into it you should see it to the end because the end is kind of like the whole point of those books.
Which is part of my problem with the series because it's basically just narrative trickery. It's a kind of trickery that I enjoy and the intent of what he's doing is really interesting but it would have been way better as one, or maybe 2 books.
I've heard the rest of his stuff he's written since is much better.
I almost bought it yesterday
that is really the closest I've come to a book aside from Maddie on Things in like a month and a half, which kind of saddens me to realize
That said get ye to a book store and make some bad decisions. My wishlist is epic and I bought three books this weekend, and like four others over the last month.
Maybe more...
I have a problem.
"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
Yeah this is what I've heard (actually it might have been you that said it). I only just got around to starting book 3 after finishing the other 2 ages ago, and I probably wouldn't have bothered at all if I hadn't heard this kind of thing from several people. It's weird to have a book series I feel this way about which everyone I've spoken to seems to have a pretty unanimously high opinion of. My tastes arent usually controversial.
Not that I'm trying to slate the books, they're not that bad, just don't tick many of the right boxes for me and do a few things that annoy me. It's a shame because I loved most of the first book. Hopefully I'll enjoy the end of the third one too. If I do that will probably be enough to make me give some of his other stuff a try.
I held it in my hands, said "I want to get this" out loud, coldly noted the 20% discount and placed it back on the shelf
I have this sort of weird frugality that is specific to bookstores
I don't know what the deal is! Need to cut loose up in
God
Are you made of iron? I mean I picked up six or seven books but only bought two and I was so proud
"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
"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
Start like hitting up used bookstores?
Or just buy some fuckin' thrift store books. In between the paperback romance novels you can find some real gems.
I mean also in the paperback romance novels. Go with a friend! Have a race to who can find the first sex scene!
I'm starting this tomorrow!!!!!
I am enjoying it, yes. Like I said I started reading Best Served Cold and I told my gf "I love these characters." After two pages. She looked at me like I was a crazy person but she quickly read the same and whole-heartedly agreed. When I moved to the First Law trilogy I started noticing names and places that were mentioned in Best Served Cold so I've been eager to find out how things fit together.
My first experience with that whole new idea was Beowulf. I had thought I just really disliked Beowulf. Nope. Turned out I just hated the awful half-prose translation in the Norton text. I actually love Beowulf in a good translation. haha
wish list
Steam wishlist
Etsy wishlist
I'm constantly finding myself annoyed by the lack of information when I'm trying to read something originally in a foreign language about what translator to trust
I spend a lot of time reading translator's notes in bookstores
I tried to read an unannotated translation of The Divine Comedy a few years back; ended up spending more time on Wikipedia than on the book
Gave up because of that, and I'm gonna buy a good one eventually I guess
failure to treat myself is my superpower
and yeah, straightzi, the last couple I bought were super cheapos from a used book store, actually. But I do so love new books! With their new covers and
uh, plots
new... copyrights
Spoilers for First Law
I like the entire series as a meditation on The Trilogy (with Revenge, War, and the Western in the next few books) but yeah, since the entire journey ends up with a near-reset on character development - specifically because what they look for the entire book isn't there - BTAH is mainly treading water. Well, not counting Glotka. Unfortunately, key pieces of info and characters that flow into other books are introduced (the brothers backstory, the Old Empire backstory, intro to Mauthis, intro to Cosca, Tolomei's foreshadowing, etc) so it's kind of necessary if you're going the whole hog.
Steam - Talon Valdez :Blizz - Talonious#1860 : Xbox Live & LoL - Talonious Monk @TaloniousMonk Hail Satan
For about the past year, I've really gotten hooked on Urban Fantasy. I started with The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, then read The Druid Chronicles series by Kevin Hearne. Now I'm finishing up The Hollows series by Kim Harrison.
I didn't care for the Anita Blake series Laurelle K. Hamilton's works, too much focus on sex and not enough on the sluething/adventuring and the magic aspects. I made it to the 10th book or so, but it was a slog after the first few. I also didn't like The Secret Histories by Simon R. Greene, as it was too much magical adventure and not enough urban/sluething.
Any recommendations for me in this genre? Is Patricia Briggs any good?
PSN- AHermano
JJ Abrams' new weirdo mystery box of a novel
I've been wanting something in that weird Raw Shark Texts kind of vein so hopefully this will scratch that itch