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Topic Starter Topic: Re: currently reading....
Captain Mazda
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PostPosted: 03-20-2008 11:19 PM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


I need to try and grab a copy of Brian Fagan's "The Great Warming".
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Plan B
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PostPosted: 03-21-2008 12:22 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


That Bill Bryson's 'Short history of nearly everything'.

It's OK, but not very well written, IMO.
He drops a name, takes a page or two to describe the scientist and moves onto the next name.
Don't exactly know what I was expecting, but I miss a stronger context.
It all seems a bit chaotic, and doesn't make things more clear for me.

Only just started, so it may get better.
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Underpants?
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PostPosted: 04-10-2008 07:59 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Ryoki wrote:
I went a little crazy at the bookstore today:
...
Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army - Jeremy Scahill
....


what did you think?
great read, imhobbles
private, religio-right-wing special forces? scared?(tm), 2000-2008 fuckcakes mcdishwasher
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Ryoki
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PostPosted: 04-10-2008 09:25 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


If you liked Blackwater, also read Licenced To Kill by Robert Young Pelton for a different perspective of the same subject. Where Scahill explores the inner workings of blackwater, Pelton dives into the recent history of mercenaries employed by western goverments and spends time with blackwater guys in iraq and afghanistan. Scahill refers to Pelton a few times in his book, iirc.



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Underpants?
Elite
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PostPosted: 04-10-2008 09:38 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


libraried !
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R00k
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PostPosted: 06-13-2008 09:12 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Cormac McCarthy. Anyone ever read his stuff?

I just found out the other night that he wrote No Country For Old Men, which is supposed to be a great read (how could it not be?).

But he also wrote The Border Trilogy and a book called The Road, all of which are supposed to be pretty good.

Anybody here had any experience with his stuff and have anything to say about it?
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R00k
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PostPosted: 06-13-2008 09:16 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Also, I've now read all of the Hannibal books by Thomas Harris, except for Hannibal. He also wrote a book called Black Sunday, which Tom Clancy seems to have borrowed from in Sum of All Fears.

Anybody know if it's worth reading? It sounds like it may be a little lacking in the character development department.
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Grudge
Approaching the singularity
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PostPosted: 06-13-2008 09:47 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


R00k wrote:
Cormac McCarthy. Anyone ever read his stuff?


I just bought The Road, haven't started on it yet though. It came strongly recommended though, so I'm looking forward to it.
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R00k
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PostPosted: 06-13-2008 09:52 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


I'm going to the bookstore tonight, and was thinking about picking it up.

But I'm considering starting from the begging and getting The Orchard Keeper. All of his books seem to be very highly acclaimed.
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tnf
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PostPosted: 06-13-2008 12:56 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Just got the new Lee Child book (the Jack Reacher author). Good simple read, I need a break from all the serious shit I've been going through.

Have a long list for the summer though.
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zeeko
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PostPosted: 06-13-2008 01:19 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


man the road is fantastic.. it's an easy read; i think i did it in two sittings. start.it.now.

I'm reading a heartbreaking work of staggering genius atm. it's real swell.
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R00k
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PostPosted: 06-13-2008 01:46 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Thanks, I think I will. Have you looked at any of his other works by chance?

I'm assuming you were being sarcastic about the last book you mentioned - what is it?
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Memphis
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PostPosted: 06-13-2008 02:47 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Still hammering through the Discworld series. It's almost too much entertainment, every single one so far has me transfixed for hours giggling like a deranged furby. Pratchett's humour is sublime.
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Nocturno
A voice in the night
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PostPosted: 06-13-2008 02:56 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Caesar - Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy
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menkent
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PostPosted: 06-13-2008 03:30 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


funny, i just finished "First Man in Rome" about Caesar's uncle Gaius Marius. before that was the Dark Materials trilogy, which i rather liked after being pretty disappointed by the ending of Golden Compas.

now reading Mailer's "Advertisements for Myself" (fucking yawn- narcissistic wankery) and then Ostrowski's "How the Steel was Tempered" (a Soviet classic, supposed to be quite good).
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zeeko
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PostPosted: 06-13-2008 04:50 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers is actually a real book :-) it's good.
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Wabbit
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PostPosted: 06-13-2008 07:12 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Thud (part of the discworld series) - Terry Pratchett. It's okay.
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R00k
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PostPosted: 06-13-2008 08:46 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


zeeko wrote:
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers is actually a real book :-) it's good.

I wasn't questioning it being a real book -- just the "real swell" part.

menkent wrote:
funny, i just finished "First Man in Rome" about Caesar's uncle Gaius Marius. before that was the Dark Materials trilogy, which i rather liked after being pretty disappointed by the ending of Golden Compas.

now reading Mailer's "Advertisements for Myself" (fucking yawn- narcissistic wankery) and then Ostrowski's "How the Steel was Tempered" (a Soviet classic, supposed to be quite good).


How many languages do you speak/read, menk?
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Plan B
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PostPosted: 06-13-2008 11:56 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Iain M. Banks - The Algebraist

Fucking excellent stuff, as usual.
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Grudge
Approaching the singularity
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PostPosted: 06-14-2008 02:09 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Indeed, this past year I've gone through his entire catalogue. I'd say he's definitely my favorite (modern) SF writer.
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Unisaw
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PostPosted: 06-14-2008 07:19 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


The autobiography of Ignatius Loyola.
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l0g1c
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PostPosted: 06-14-2008 02:44 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig

I'd recommend this book if you like rhetoric, semantics, philosophy, etc. It's kind of a neat approach the way the author works it into the story. It's a little tedious in some areas, and I don't really agree with some of the points Pirsig makes, but all-in-all a pretty good read.
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menkent
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PostPosted: 06-14-2008 07:23 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


R00k wrote:
How many languages do you speak/read, menk?


i'm reading that book in German, as it was quite popular (or at least widely read) in East Germany. i'm really only fluent in engrish and zee german, but have bits and pieces of a few others. let's say two and four quarters languages :p
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R00k
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PostPosted: 06-14-2008 08:57 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Ah okay, I remember you mentioned some German reading before, and it sounded like you might be reading this one in Russian - just curious.

I've had 3 years of German, and done a little reading in it, but I've always been kinda fascinated with other languages in general, and have thought about learning Russian or Japanese. I tried French, but didn't really care for it.
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menkent
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menkent

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PostPosted: 06-15-2008 05:32 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


word. french is gay. i've known people who studied both russian and japanese and they seemed to enjoy both. russian has a rather odd phonology asn syntax - cool language though. japanese is naturally more fun if you like learning new writing systems.
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Dr_Watson
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PostPosted: 06-15-2008 01:07 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


R00k wrote:
Cormac McCarthy. Anyone ever read his stuff?

I just found out the other night that he wrote No Country For Old Men, which is supposed to be a great read (how could it not be?).

But he also wrote The Border Trilogy and a book called The Road, all of which are supposed to be pretty good.

Anybody here had any experience with his stuff and have anything to say about it?


Read blood meridian in the spring and I thought it was shit. :down:
Been soured on McCarthy since... and that bad taste has kept me putting off seeing no country for old men.

Also just finished both volumes of "El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha" ... Now I know why my Spanish teacher in high school was so big on it. It's really fucking long, but surprisingly funny and interesting. Having a modern translation (since my spanish fell out of my head years ago... i need to find it again) probably helps take the edge off of 17th century vocabulary. :up:

I'm starting in on a William Gibson craze for the summer. I've put off reading Neuromancer and its siblings for far too long. Only being part way into Neuromancer it's already comical how much of "the matrix" (including the name) was pulled out of the old cyberpunk literature.
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R00k
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PostPosted: 06-15-2008 02:55 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Funny. I went to the bookstore the other night and picked up The Road, and after flipping through several pages of Blood Meridian, I picked it up too.

I like it so far. What didn't you like about it? The story? The writing style in genera?
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R00k
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PostPosted: 06-15-2008 02:56 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


menkent wrote:
word. french is gay. i've known people who studied both russian and japanese and they seemed to enjoy both. russian has a rather odd phonology asn syntax - cool language though. japanese is naturally more fun if you like learning new writing systems.


Russian and Japanese both seem like they would be much harder to learn than German. Aside from sentence structure, German is a lot like English. Plus, with German I had the benefit of actual courses. Teaching myself either of the other languages is a little daunting, which is the main reason I haven't gotten into one of them yet.
Have you taught yourself any languages?
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Lieutenant Dan
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PostPosted: 06-15-2008 03:09 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


I picked up the Celestine Prophecy today.

Looks like a nice intriguing read.
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Ryoki
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PostPosted: 06-16-2008 07:05 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Guns, Germs & Steel - Jared Diamond

I bought this after someone on this board mentioned it in an argument a long time ago - can't remember who it was.
It sure is interesting, but i'm finding it goddamn complicated to read for some reason. It's very ...academic. Not bedtime reading material, so to speak, i'm kinda struggling through it.


The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq - Patrick Cockburn

A relatively short read and not much news for those of us who've been frequenting alternative news sites the last couple of years - but still very interesting. Also, the author is a funny bastard in a very cynical sort of way.


Spanking the Donkey: On the Campaign Trail with the Democrats - Matt Taibbi

Hilarious, scathing, angry, full of himself, full of wisdom.
What can i say? I'm a fan.



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Plan B
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PostPosted: 06-16-2008 10:57 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Plan B wrote:
That Bill Bryson's 'Short history of nearly everything'.

It's OK, but not very well written, IMO.
He drops a name, takes a page or two to describe the scientist and moves onto the next name.
Don't exactly know what I was expecting, but I miss a stronger context.
It all seems a bit chaotic, and doesn't make things more clear for me.

Only just started, so it may get better.



lol, only now remember posting that...better rectumify.
I still think the namedropping is annoying, but necessary.
The book made me learn stuff that should be common knowledge for everyone.
Standard reading material.
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menkent
menkent
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PostPosted: 06-16-2008 03:25 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


R00k wrote:
Have you taught yourself any languages?


nope - i have the benefit of many, many years in various universities. i don't believe it's possible to learn a language on your own. no text book or set of cd's i've ever seen could get you to the point that you could understand a tv show. you'd at least need to hire a tutor for an hour a week to make sure you're staying fairly idiomatic, or else you'll inevitably slide into filthy interference from your native language and come out with some weird pidgin.
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MKJ
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PostPosted: 07-26-2008 07:02 AM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


i was able to read, write and speak english before it was taught at school. how bout that
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Underpants?
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PostPosted: 07-26-2008 08:11 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


R00k wrote:
the road

enveloping and dark
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Wabbit
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PostPosted: 07-26-2008 08:32 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


I started "Pillars of Heaven" by Ken Folliet, got about a quarter of the way through and lost interest. I loved "The Eye of the Needle" by Folliet.




Last edited by Wabbit on 07-26-2008 06:48 PM, edited 1 time in total.
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