Quake3World

Picked up H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness yesterday.

Been having a hard time putting it down.

'tis a classic, and probably my favourite Lovecraft story, although "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" is also utterly brilliant.

Myself, I'm currently reading the first novel in ten years by one of my favourite authors, Jeff Noon.
It's called "Channel Skin".
He's obviously been refining his style over the past ten years, experimenting in various mediums, and it really shows. His prose is tight, poetic and evocative. It's simply a joy to read.
I find myself rereading passages just to grasp the flow as he intended, pausing to contemplate the rhythm instilled in his descriptions.
Excellent stuff.

I also recently read Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea", which was enjoyable enough. It's a powerful story told in an interesting style which I'm still unsure about. It's direct and simple, and I can see why it would provoke mockery from modern readers.

Prior to that, a post-human / singularity / contact piece of Sci Fi from David Brin called "Existence". Interesting enough, although very representative of the sub-genre, which is becoming a little crowded at the moment.
The central conceit is an exploration of the Fermi Paradox:
"The apparent size and age of the universe suggest that many technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilizations ought to exist.
However, this hypothesis seems inconsistent with the lack of observational evidence to support it."

An interesting conundrum that the author explores with some neat twists, but overall comes across as feeling a little amateurish.

lovecraft

about to re-read 'the warriors' and 'the bag', in memory of Sol Yurick who passed away the other day at the tender age of 87.

Biographys

Too many to list but the last few

Roger moore - worth it

Michal caine - worth it

Clint eastwood - kinda worth it

Mackenzie phillips - whoa i gues it had some value

Reamde - Neal Stephenson

I would like to critique this book in the form of a one man play:

Me: Ah, a new Stephenson. I'm sure this will be edifying and weird.
Book: Yes, this will be a book about math and economy and philosophy and like, historical dudes - haha just kidding, actually i'm like 14 Die Hards all squished together!
Me: Shut up, I have to stop reading this and actually make a living and be sociable and stuff!
Book: You will not put me down!!
Me: Seriously though, people need to sleep occasionally.
Book: Bitch, i will TELL YOU when you can sleep!

eminem whatever u say -- yea ok

pat benatar - between heaven and a rock place-- yea ok

belinda carlisle- sealed lips-- yea ok

paul shaffer - well be here all night-- not bad

little house on the prarie nellie book-- yea ok

ice tea- memoirs - yea ok

iceberb slim pimp-- yea ok

and atm i'm reading slash's book

What's with all the biographies?

Ryoki wrote:Reamde - Neal Stephenson

I would like to critique this book in the form of a one man play:

Me: Ah, a new Stephenson. I'm sure this will be edifying and weird.
Book: Yes, this will be a book about math and economy and philosophy and like, historical dudes - haha just kidding, actually i'm like 14 Die Hards all squished together!
Me: Shut up, I have to stop reading this and actually make a living and be sociable and stuff!
Book: You will not put me down!!
Me: Seriously though, people need to sleep occasionally.
Book: Bitch, i will TELL YOU when you can sleep!

i have this on Kindle, started it, but couldn't get past the opening bit where they're shooting at tin cans in the gully

Snow Crash, Diamond Age and Cryptonomicon were good though

Ryoki wrote:Reamde - Neal Stephenson

I would like to critique this book in the form of a one man play:

Me: Ah, a new Stephenson. I'm sure this will be edifying and weird.
Book: Yes, this will be a book about math and economy and philosophy and like, historical dudes - haha just kidding, actually i'm like 14 Die Hards all squished together!
Me: Shut up, I have to stop reading this and actually make a living and be sociable and stuff!
Book: You will not put me down!!
Me: Seriously though, people need to sleep occasionally.
Book: Bitch, i will TELL YOU when you can sleep!

sounds excellent, will have to check it out. have to admit that one with the monastery really put me off him.

I started Dune a year ago, but sat it down to read other things and forgot about it. Picked it back up a week ago and I just finished part 2. Really good stuff. Not sure why I didn't finish it last year...

Oh, I also started Robinson Crusoe...

xer0s wrote:Not sure why I didn't finish it last year...

Prolly cause someone asked you a question and you had to stop and think.

seremtan wrote:i have this on Kindle, started it, but couldn't get past the opening bit where they're shooting at tin cans in the gully

He's the kind of writer that struggles at the beginning of a book, most of his books take at least 20 pages to get into.

4days wrote:sounds excellent, will have to check it out. have to admit that one with the monastery really put me off him.

Aye, that was certainly one of his lesser ones... i still finished it and it gets better towards the end, but not much. Reamde is so totally over the top though, good fun

Also:

Ann Applebaum - Gulag (excellent, though near the end all the non stop talk of misery and senseless waste of human life got a bit heavy so i had to read the rest in small, controlled doses)

Richard Lloyd Parry – In The Time of Madness (Brit journalist discribes what it was like to work in Indonesia in the 90’s, excellent but very haunting stuff. Contains highly crazy stories about headhunters and a genocide that didn't make the news.)

plan on getting Damn Few, Making the modern SEAL Warrior

same lad who played in Act of Valor

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/damn-fe ... 1111407492

Just read a lot of Jack Vance.
Atm. I'm reading 'not to mention camels' by R.A. Lafferty.
It's brilliant in excaggeration, strangeness, brutality and awkwardly inspiring.
I love his short stories and this is the first time i read a novel from him.
A new experience in reading...

Re: currently reading....

mrd wrote:Glad to see this thread again

I picked up 3001 and yes by Arthur C Clarke. First pages have me hooked

Wiki


EDIT: Good read but slow towards the end. 7/10

Whiskey 7 wrote:Re: currently reading....

mrd wrote:Glad to see this thread again

I picked up 3001 and yes by Arthur C Clarke. First pages have me hooked

Wiki


EDIT: Good read but slow towards the end. 7/10

You must be high. I posted that in the photos thread.

mrd wrote:
You must be high. I posted that in the photos thread.

Looking, can't easily locate? Link

Whiskey 7 wrote:

mrd wrote:
You must be high. I posted that in the photos thread.

Looking, can't easily locate? Link

viewtopic.php?p=967020#p967020

Now I understand

Silly me

Let Me off at the Top - Ron Burgundy

Er Ist Wieder Da (He's Back) - Timur Vermes



Hitler wakes up in Berlin in 2011, hilarity ensues. Very, very funny stuff

Is there a translated version of that?

Just finished Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku. It take a serious look at the scientific research currently underway in fields like medicine, technology, AI, energy, and space travel and makes short and long term predictions about how our lives will change over the next 100 years. Great stuff.



Just started Debt: The First 5000 Years.

I got my wife to read 3001 yesterday and although not into science fiction or Arthur C she still rates it as 5/10 which I think is not too bad for such an avid reader.

Note: She reads 5 or 6 books per week and I'd be lucky to do that in 5 years