Books
So, I know opinions on books are really, really subjective. But I'd still like some discussion about books. Wich one are you reading at the moment, wich one are you looking forward to, and wich one should every person own a copy of? Recommendations for different genre's etc.
At the moment, I am reading Digital Fortress by Dan Brown, last one I read was Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan, or Black Magician by Trudi Canavan, can't remember clearly. Everyone should own: Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy, The Idiot (Fyodor Dostojevskij), War and Peace by Tolstoj, and Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. |
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I've always been a fan of Clive Cussler, but other than that I don't really read books since gaming takes up so much time.
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Red Dwarf.
All of them. |
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Thud! by Pratchett wasn't bad, although I only listened to the audio version. I think that was the last fiction book I finished.
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I've enjoyed a lot of David Gemmel's books, but then i've always enjoyed heroic fantasy.
Get the Galactic Millieu trilogy by Jullian May, these books are something special. I also enjoyed a seires written by Julia Gray called the Guardian Cycle. They were orginal and inventive with an addictive storyline and good character development. Theres 5 in all I think. I'll edit this if I think of any more. (But get the Jullian May ones!) |
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I've just finished reading catch 22 which was pretty good and made me laugh an uncomfortable amount of the time (really it's uncomfortable when you laugh just after an appendisectomy). I'm rereading the elegant universe by brian greene for no real reason at the minute and I'm struggling through after the victorians by A.N. Wilson which I've been reading on and off for months and is good in parts but does a whole load of british social history which is about as interesting as watching my belly button considering its future options in life. I wouldn't really consider anything fictional "essential reading" but if you're looking for some sort of recommendation for something classical that you'd think would be a whole load of drivelling pretentious tripe but isn't I'd go for Paradise Lost. |
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im 30 pages away from finishing catch 22. then im going to read some of the politics i bought cover to cover instead of just a few sections.
(i only used what i needed :( ) |
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Oh yeah I forgot, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson is kind of fun too, although a little silly at times.
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I never found there was a requirement to read the previous books to know what was going on. Each one was disconnected to the others, but in a good way.
Also that was one of his earlier books, and everyone has rough patches :) |
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Also it's not that you have to, the whole point is that you can just pick one up and read it and you won't need to know anything from beforehand. It's just that it helps to identify with the characters and that's why a lot of people keep reading the books. It's similar logic for a lot of soap operas and shit like that. |
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I'm a huge fan of Tom Clancy and Ludlum. Clive Cussler is pretty good aswell.
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Also are you critising that logic or supporting it I can't tell :( |
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I'm not really criticising it. I'm just pointing out that you can find much better quality fiction elsewhere.
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since that i read a crappy book called "merde actually" which someone else got me for xmas. and i think perhaps The Brothers Karamazov should be in the top post rather than the idiot. I have heard from many people (including people here!) that it is his best work. I haven't read it though, despite reading the idiot, which is ace. |
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It's rather samey as his last n books, but I like the Vimes character and most of his "urban" profiles so I am relatively forgiving. It's certainly not a challenging read (or listen, in my case) but it flows quite well and is entertaining enough. |
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I came halfway trough Peace and War... then I quited. I found it a waste of time. And this was when I was in the army and had nothing to do :)
Tolstoj has some great novels though, who is well worth reading. I suggest reading Catch 22 and "A small town in Germany" (or is it a small city in Germany?) by John Le Carre. |
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edit: I prefer his later serious stuff to the early 'jokey' books, so I'm not just doing a "Discworld was better 10 years ago!" thing. |
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The reason I like thud! is largely to do with Vimes as well I think. He is certainly my favourite character of his, and one of the only main characters not to be stupidly powerful (Rincewind being the other obvious exception, but he still has the nigh unstoppable luggage to help him). This may have changed recently though, as Thud! was the first Pratchett I have read in a number of years and he seems to churn them out at a rate of knots.
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Nod, I agree on Going Postal, but the second half of the book was pretty good. For books to read, you should read John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden. I assume you've read Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm. |
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PS: Feet of Clay sucked. Jingo and Theif of Time are probably my favourite Discworld books, both of which were late(ish). |
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There was just a thread about books on the other forum :redface:
I'm currently reading Asimov's Guide to the Bible by Isaac Asimov and The troublesome offspring of cardinal Guzman by Louis de Berniere. I'm really liking Louis de Berniere books at the moment - the one i'm reading is the third part of a trilogy. Fictional yet based on fact, funny in parts, gruesome in parts, sad in parts, surreal in parts. It's great! Other writers: Bill Bryson Michael Moore Iain Banks Terry Pratchett John O'Farrell |
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Look at the city as a whole, how it runs, the inter-relationships between everything. Vetinari as a successful tyrant, the Guilds, the Watch, the other parts of the Disc. When Pratchett briefly cites events that you've read about in other books (e.g. the Watch having a werewolf), it's fascinating to see others' reactions to this. It's something that I appreciate and which I expect that you don't. |
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Night Watch is probably one of my favourite Discworld novels, and was relatively recent so I'm presuming he's not lost it.
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I'm currently working my way through the Dan Brown 4.
I read THE Dan Brown one a while ago, but personally I thought it was overrated. I'm currently reading Angels and Demons, which is a much better book in my opinion (and also vaguely interesting from a geeky point of view). |
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sorry :( |
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things i agree with:
-The technology-with-magic thing (the Gooseberry in Thud! is painful to read) -Nightwatch being Pratchett's apex thus far -Thief of Time and Jingo not being far behind -Hogfather being the watershed -the background operation of Ankh-Morpork suddenly being a frequent joy to read rather than non-existent (which I think probably really started around Jingo) things I disagree with: -Going Postal being called bad without mention of Monstrous Regiment. edit: oh, and men at arms is the exception. it was early, but had a darker tone and was absolutely ****ing fantastic. |
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Men at Arms was really really good, probably one of the best Discworld novels. It has to be balanced against Guards Guards! though, which sucked. Also, I liked Monstrous Regiment. The ending was dreadful, and it seemed like he had no idea how to resolve things in a coherent manner so just resorted to absurdity. But the rest of the book was ok. Going Postal, on the other hand, read like an inferior version of The Truth.
Also yeah, Night Watch was really cool. |
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"I comma square bracket recruit's name square bracket comma do solemnly swear by square bracket recruit's deity of choice square bracket...to uphold the Laws and Ordinances of the city of Ankh-Morpork, serve the public trust comma and defend the subjects of His stroke Her bracket delete whichever is inappropriate bracket Majesty bracket name of reigning monarch bracket...without fear comma favor comma or thought of personal safety semi-colon to pursue evil-doers and protect the innocent comma laying down my life if necessary in the cause of said duty comma so help me bracket aforesaid deity bracket full stop Gods Save the King stroke Queen bracket delete whichever is inappropriate bracket full stop."
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I used to read books once upon a time. now I listen to them on my iPod, which is actually more interesting. Plus I can play with my son and "read" at the same time. ace
I am currently listening to a very shallow book though "Why Men Don't Have a Clue, and Women Need More Shoes" I Just finished reading "Big Bad Wolf" by James Patterson. I read "The Da Vinci Code" ages ago, and "Angels and Demons" which was better. |
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PS What's planet simpson about t&f? |
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It wouldnt even be cool for fiction - it would take about 5 times as long to finish a book, plus it would be annoying reading passages more than once, plus you probably couldnt concentrate properlyl. It might be ok for horrible popfiction which you dont really care about anyway, but thats about it (and why would you read this sort of thing in the first place??)
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And now I can't remember much from it... It didn't leave a good enough impression on me to read it again but I do remember recommending it to people when I started reading it. |
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I finished Thud! not long ago as well, and thought it was rather good. Reading 'Velocity' by Dean Koontz at the moment, a crime/thriller type book which is rather good.
I won £50 of book tokens just before christmas, so went on a bit of a spree at Waterstones, so I have: 'The Innocent' (Harlan Coben), Thirteen Steps Down (Ruth Rendell), The Closers (michael Connoly), I am Charlotte Simmons (Tom Wolfe) and The Dwarves of Death (Jonathan Coe) to read. What a Carve Up!, The Rotters' Club and The Closed Circle by Jonathan Coe are all rather good, I would reccomend. oh, and the 'Goosebetrry' in Thud! was quite obviously a Blackberry 'parody' and not an iPod. |
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I couldn't remember what it was called, I read it some time ago.
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