I liked Starship Troopers. Heinlein's ideas about how the military should be run are brilliant. It is vastly important that officers understand what it is like to be an enlisted guy at the bottom of the ladder.
Dammit Shorty, let's hang out more next year.
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DynagripBreak me a million heartsHoustonRegistered User, ClubPAregular
I need to reread that and see if I take more away from it than I did three years ago
terrible. it was so fucking terrible
How come? I was 14 or 15 when I first read it, so I'll probably have a very different perspective on it this second time around.
well, it was another fine example of Heinlein's creepy old man fantasies getting shoved in your face. Every character was a hypersexual super genius. The writing sucked. And now stupid nerds use the phrase 'grokked' from time to time.
For some reason I'm feeling compelled to read War and Peace.
Then I look at how long it is... Ehhhhh
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FandyienBut Otto, what about us? Registered Userregular
edited September 2008
I've never read any Tolstoy. I feel like an illiterate slob because I've neglected the classics, but Russian literature like that usually requires you to have the literary predispotion of a bulldozer.
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Raijin QuickfootI'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPAregular
I read about a third of Anna Karenina and got bored. I keep trying to get back into it but I just can't.
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FandyienBut Otto, what about us? Registered Userregular
edited September 2008
Dr. Zhivago was really fuckin' good, though. I got more than two-thirds of the way through it and for some reason I never finished it, and, to this day, I feel bad about not getting to the end since I was pretty interested.
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JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
edited September 2008
Russian literature is what you read when your face is tired from smiling too much.
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Raijin QuickfootI'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPAregular
I've never read any Tolstoy. I feel like an illiterate slob because I've neglected the classics, but Russian literature like that usually requires you to have the literary predispotion of a bulldozer.
I always feel bad when I try to read a classic and I just can't get into it. Finishing Moby Dick became a passion for me. I hated almost every moment of reading it.
I've never read any Tolstoy. I feel like an illiterate slob because I've neglected the classics, but Russian literature like that usually requires you to have the literary predispotion of a bulldozer.
I always feel bad when I try to read a classic and I just can't get into it. Finishing Moby Dick became a passion for me. I hated almost every moment of reading it.
I love every Dostoevsky book I've read, except The Idiot. It's just so dull. I feel so bad about not finishing that book.
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Raijin QuickfootI'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPAregular
edited September 2008
Recently it was The Moviegoer that I could not finish. Also Darkness at Noon.
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FandyienBut Otto, what about us? Registered Userregular
I've never read any Tolstoy. I feel like an illiterate slob because I've neglected the classics, but Russian literature like that usually requires you to have the literary predispotion of a bulldozer.
I always feel bad when I try to read a classic and I just can't get into it. Finishing Moby Dick became a passion for me. I hated almost every moment of reading it.
I often feel the same way. Not to say I've never been engaged by classic literature, just that it's often much harder to become interested in. And out of most of my friends/acquaintances, I've been surprised to learn that I have the easiest time getting into and understanding that sort of thing, which speaks volumes about the general attitude of people towards non-contemporary literature.
How was Moby Dick, anyway? I've never read it, but my brother swears by Melville like he's some sort of God. I think he's read Moby Dick four or five times and annotated the shit out of his copies.
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Raijin QuickfootI'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPAregular
edited September 2008
Moby Dick was one of the most boring books I've ever finished. About 200 pages in I decided I was going to finish it simply so I could say I've read Moby Dick.
I just can't get into Melville's writing. He spends pages and pages talking about the biology and ecology of the whale...it's mind numbing.
i read the children's version of moby dick when i was real little
so now i just say that i've read moby dick
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JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
edited September 2008
Moby Dick is one of my favorite classics, but I won't deny that there's some heavy going in there. When he starts going on for pages about archaic nineteenth century marine biology, the temptation to put down the book is very strong.
But damned if the story itself isn't one of the best things ever written by an American. And besides:
Call me Ishmael. Some years ago--never mind how long precisely--having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off -- then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.
How can you not want to keep reading at that point?
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Raijin QuickfootI'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPAregular
edited September 2008
Moby Dick definitely has it's moments and it is a great story. It's just so slow to read.
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FandyienBut Otto, what about us? Registered Userregular
edited September 2008
Man, Jedoc, that is some awesome shit. I am going downstairs to our library to find my Dad's old copy of Moby Dick right after class.
Anyone read any Michael Chabon? I really got into Kavalier & Clay, so my wife bought me his whole catalouge for my birthday.
Kavalier & Clay: amazing period piece about youth, comics, WWII, love and the incredible act of growing up. If you are interested in the history of comics, World War Two era America or Have A Fucking Soul, you will like this book. Won the Pulitzer Prize.
Wonder Boys: Much darker in tone than the movie, really digs into the character of Grady more. nice rainy day novel about literature, hollywood, suicide and self distruction. Fun read for Lit. Nerds.
The Final Solution: A wonderful exepirement in prose, tied in with a twist of Sherlock Homles. Short fun read.
The Yiddish Policemans Union: Off the fucking chain. If you like Chandler's mystery novels you'll love it. Tone and feel of this novel is really deep and rich, pulls off the genre very well. This is being made into a movie by the Coen Brothers...can't wait.
Other Writers I'm fond of: Bukowski, Vonnegut, Kafka, Asimov, Leonard and Pirsig. can't think of the rest...
Anyone read any Michael Chabon? I really got into Kavalier & Clay, so my wife bought me his whole catalouge for my birthday.
Kavalier & Clay: amazing period piece about youth, comics, WWII, love and the incredible act of growing up. If you are interested in the history of comics, World War Two era America or Have A Fucking Soul, you will like this book. Won the Pulitzer Prize.
Wonder Boys: Much darker in tone than the movie, really digs into the character of Grady more. nice rainy day novel about literature, hollywood, suicide and self distruction. Fun read for Lit. Nerds.
The Final Solution: A wonderful exepirement in prose, tied in with a twist of Sherlock Homles. Short fun read.
The Yiddish Policemans Union: Off the fucking chain. If you like Chandler's mystery novels you'll love it. Tone and feel of this novel is really deep and rich, pulls off the genre very well. This is being made into a movie by the Coen Brothers...can't wait.
Other Writers I'm fond of: Bukowski, Vonnegut, Kafka, Asimov, Leonard and Pirsig. can't think of the rest...
lostwords
Chabon is most excellent. Loved Yiddish Policeman's Union to death.
Have you checked out any Jonathan Lethem yet? for some reason, I always get the two confused, in a good way.
I haven't heard of him. After I finish "Mysteries of Pittsburgh" I think I'm gonna check out "The Road" before it gets movie-ed, but I'll look him up after that. Any suggestion for a first book?
Read Lethem's Fortress of Solitude. Its about two boys that get superpowers and tracks their lives through the years. It sounds kinda lame, but it is a great read. Or maybe Motherless Brooklyn.
But yeah, probably best to read some cormac mccarthy first. after the road, check out blood meridian if you dug his writing style
Chabon is most excellent. Loved Yiddish Policeman's Union to death.
Have you checked out any Jonathan Lethem yet? for some reason, I always get the two confused, in a good way.
That's actually really weird. Gun With Occasional Music is better than anything Chabon's written. But I guess I haven't read the rest of Lethem's stuff, so I don't know if it's generally that excellent.
I finally finished Asimov's Foundation series. Don't ever fuck a girl from Alpha Centauri, she'll give you Aids.
Foundation, fuck yeah. I love Asimov. Indeed, that whole genre of older science-fiction is probably one of my favorite sorts of things to sit down and read. I've got a book of speculative essays by Asimov right here in front of me I'm pretty stoked about reading, and since he was an academic and an incredibly intelligent person, it'll be neat to read some non-fiction of his.
How much Arthur C. Clarke have you read? Or E.E. Doc Smith? And I suppose it doesn't quite fit into the same niche as the former two, C.S. Lewis did a fantastic job with Perelandra and it's sequels. I don't like most C.S. Lewis stuff seeing as he was a crazy fundie, but Perelandra is hallucinogenic and engaging and just incredible.
Read Lethem's Fortress of Solitude. Its about two boys that get superpowers and tracks their lives through the years. It sounds kinda lame, but it is a great read. Or maybe Motherless Brooklyn.
But yeah, probably best to read some cormac mccarthy first. after the road, check out blood meridian if you dug his writing style
Motherless Brooklyn is some of the best use of language I have seen in years. Lethem does a great job in translating Turrets to a stoccato style.
Ok, so Im about 1/3 through Soon I Will Be Invincible and it is pretty fantastic.
Seriously dudes, you guys need to read it if you haven't already.
I just finished this about a month ago. I would be extremely pleased if he released a sequel starring Dr. Impossible. He's been one of the best characters I've run across in awhile.
I'm reading Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman at the moment and am enjoying it quite a bit. I started with the followup to American Gods in the back, then started reading from the front again. I really liked all the stories in it so far except for October in the Chair, they tend to go some pretty strange places so far.
And Salmon, you should read Ode to Kirihito and MW. Both are really long, fucked-up, mind-blowing horror stories, one about a disease that turns you into a sort of dog-man, and one about a really deranged serial killer.
Moby Dick is one of my favorite classics, but I won't deny that there's some heavy going in there. When he starts going on for pages about archaic nineteenth century marine biology, the temptation to put down the book is very strong.
But damned if the story itself isn't one of the best things ever written by an American. And besides:
Call me Ishmael. Some years ago--never mind how long precisely--having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off -- then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.
How can you not want to keep reading at that point?
I liked Starship Troopers. Heinlein's ideas about how the military should be run are brilliant. It is vastly important that officers understand what it is like to be an enlisted guy at the bottom of the ladder.
Posts
How come? I was 14 or 15 when I first read it, so I'll probably have a very different perspective on it this second time around.
Then I look at how long it is... Ehhhhh
Read Anna Karenina instead if you have a hankering for some Tolstoy.
I always feel bad when I try to read a classic and I just can't get into it. Finishing Moby Dick became a passion for me. I hated almost every moment of reading it.
I often feel the same way. Not to say I've never been engaged by classic literature, just that it's often much harder to become interested in. And out of most of my friends/acquaintances, I've been surprised to learn that I have the easiest time getting into and understanding that sort of thing, which speaks volumes about the general attitude of people towards non-contemporary literature.
How was Moby Dick, anyway? I've never read it, but my brother swears by Melville like he's some sort of God. I think he's read Moby Dick four or five times and annotated the shit out of his copies.
I just can't get into Melville's writing. He spends pages and pages talking about the biology and ecology of the whale...it's mind numbing.
so now i just say that i've read moby dick
But damned if the story itself isn't one of the best things ever written by an American. And besides:
How can you not want to keep reading at that point?
Kavalier & Clay: amazing period piece about youth, comics, WWII, love and the incredible act of growing up. If you are interested in the history of comics, World War Two era America or Have A Fucking Soul, you will like this book. Won the Pulitzer Prize.
Wonder Boys: Much darker in tone than the movie, really digs into the character of Grady more. nice rainy day novel about literature, hollywood, suicide and self distruction. Fun read for Lit. Nerds.
The Final Solution: A wonderful exepirement in prose, tied in with a twist of Sherlock Homles. Short fun read.
The Yiddish Policemans Union: Off the fucking chain. If you like Chandler's mystery novels you'll love it. Tone and feel of this novel is really deep and rich, pulls off the genre very well. This is being made into a movie by the Coen Brothers...can't wait.
Other Writers I'm fond of: Bukowski, Vonnegut, Kafka, Asimov, Leonard and Pirsig. can't think of the rest...
Have you checked out any Jonathan Lethem yet? for some reason, I always get the two confused, in a good way.
I haven't heard of him. After I finish "Mysteries of Pittsburgh" I think I'm gonna check out "The Road" before it gets movie-ed, but I'll look him up after that. Any suggestion for a first book?
But yeah, probably best to read some cormac mccarthy first. after the road, check out blood meridian if you dug his writing style
That's actually really weird. Gun With Occasional Music is better than anything Chabon's written. But I guess I haven't read the rest of Lethem's stuff, so I don't know if it's generally that excellent.
so many
Read Monster.
Games: CoD4, Halo 3
Foundation, fuck yeah. I love Asimov. Indeed, that whole genre of older science-fiction is probably one of my favorite sorts of things to sit down and read. I've got a book of speculative essays by Asimov right here in front of me I'm pretty stoked about reading, and since he was an academic and an incredibly intelligent person, it'll be neat to read some non-fiction of his.
How much Arthur C. Clarke have you read? Or E.E. Doc Smith? And I suppose it doesn't quite fit into the same niche as the former two, C.S. Lewis did a fantastic job with Perelandra and it's sequels. I don't like most C.S. Lewis stuff seeing as he was a crazy fundie, but Perelandra is hallucinogenic and engaging and just incredible.
Motherless Brooklyn is some of the best use of language I have seen in years. Lethem does a great job in translating Turrets to a stoccato style.
Seriously dudes, you guys need to read it if you haven't already.
Jordan of Elienor, Human Shaman
I just finished this about a month ago. I would be extremely pleased if he released a sequel starring Dr. Impossible. He's been one of the best characters I've run across in awhile.
I'm reading Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman at the moment and am enjoying it quite a bit. I started with the followup to American Gods in the back, then started reading from the front again. I really liked all the stories in it so far except for October in the Chair, they tend to go some pretty strange places so far.
And Salmon, you should read Ode to Kirihito and MW. Both are really long, fucked-up, mind-blowing horror stories, one about a disease that turns you into a sort of dog-man, and one about a really deranged serial killer.
because moby dick is fucking awful trash
who am I addressing, by the way
did you two get like a joint account while I was gone or something
You got it, Box.
is it less boring than the anime?