Quake3World

Thud (part of the discworld series) - Terry Pratchett. It's okay.

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?

Iain M. Banks - The Algebraist

Fucking excellent stuff, as usual.

Indeed, this past year I've gone through his entire catalogue. I'd say he's definitely my favorite (modern) SF writer.

The autobiography of Ignatius Loyola.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.
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.

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.

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?

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?

I picked up the Celestine Prophecy today.

Looks like a nice intriguing read.

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.

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.

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.

i was able to read, write and speak english before it was taught at school. how bout that

R00k wrote: the road

enveloping and dark

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.

Underpants? wrote:

R00k wrote: the road

enveloping and dark

Is that an endorsement or critique?

R00k wrote: the road
enveloping and dark
Is that an endorsement or critique?

little of both, i guess.

Just started Everything and More by David Foster Wallace. I've been recommended other books by DFW, so this one caught my eye when I was looking for a book on cryptography (was in the math section). It's about how mathematicians have dealt with the concept of infinity. Pretty good read so far.

Decent into Chaos - Ahmed Rashid

I give it a

Just finished "Shadow and Claw", the first half of the Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. Now reading "Sword and Citadel", the second half of the Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.

i'm buy ey so if i doent have to read it i'm totally not going to

i like a nice nap instead heh