What are you reading?

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #900 on: September 25, 2013, 08:26:56 PM »
The Great Gatesby.  Because of the adapted movie so I just want to feel the luxury atmosphere again through words.

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Chris Spaghetti

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #901 on: September 26, 2013, 12:39:05 AM »
The Great Gatesby.  Because of the adapted movie so I just want to feel the luxury atmosphere again through words.

I thought it was a terrible book.absolutely nothing happens until page 80/110

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Supertails

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #902 on: September 30, 2013, 05:02:54 AM »
I don't know, I'm a pretty big fan of The Great Gatesby.
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Saddam Hussein

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #903 on: September 30, 2013, 05:30:00 AM »
I liked the book, but being forced to super-analyze it for school kind of ruined it.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory

My English teacher in my junior year of high school was really big on this.

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Saddam Hussein

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #904 on: October 02, 2013, 06:32:56 AM »
And I have finished Men At Arms.  I loved it.  They're just something so hilarious about setting a police procedural/mystery in a fantasy universe.  Especially a character like Vimes.  I've seen this kind of character before, of course, dozens of times - but again, the fantasy setting just makes him so much funnier.

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Chris Spaghetti

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #905 on: October 02, 2013, 07:34:23 AM »
And I have finished Men At Arms.  I loved it.  They're just something so hilarious about setting a police procedural/mystery in a fantasy universe.  Especially a character like Vimes.  I've seen this kind of character before, of course, dozens of times - but again, the fantasy setting just makes him so much funnier.

Ah yeah, I'd forgotten Men at Arms, is that the one with the 'gonne?'

If you're reading them in order, the next one's Soul Music, which is one of my favourites.

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Saddam Hussein

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #906 on: October 02, 2013, 09:12:11 AM »
Yes, it's the one with the gonne.  I think Pratchett was trying to say something about gun control, but I'm not quite sure what it was.

And yes, I'm in the middle of Soul Music.  It's pretty good so far.

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Space Cowgirl

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #907 on: October 09, 2013, 10:52:35 AM »
I just started Foundation, by Isaac Asimov. I have no idea why I'm just now getting around to this series.
I'm sorry. Am I to understand that when you have a boner you like to imagine punching the shit out of Tom Bishop? That's disgusting.

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Roundy the Truthinessist

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #908 on: October 09, 2013, 07:13:42 PM »
I just started Foundation, by Isaac Asimov. I have no idea why I'm just now getting around to this series.

You're in for a treat.
Where did you educate the biology, in toulet?

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Chris Spaghetti

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #909 on: October 10, 2013, 12:22:33 AM »
I just started Foundation, by Isaac Asimov. I have no idea why I'm just now getting around to this series.

I read this last year, great series with a wicked, yet understated, sense of humour.

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Saddam Hussein

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #910 on: October 10, 2013, 07:09:35 PM »
Soul Music: Very enjoyable.  "Pathway to Paradise" and the obvious Sex Pistols parody made me laugh especially hard.  The only real problem I had with it was that the two main storylines really didn't work all that well together.  They had almost nothing to do with each other plot-wise or thematically, and so it felt really jarring whenever the perspective switched.  It was like on one side there was a lighthearted comedy going on, and then on the other side there was the Susan and Death subplot jumping up and down saying, "But wait, there's also a soft and emotional side to the book, let me show you!"  Part of what made Reaper Man so great was that it had the perfect balance of comedy and heart, and it was told in a such a way that it always felt natural, never forced or contrived.  Soul Music tried, but it just couldn't quite achieve that.

Interesting Times: A pretty decent read is about all I can say for this one.  Not a standout or anything, but I don't think it was meant to be.  Just a fairly straightforward sword-and-sorcery parody like the first couple of books, and for what it was, it was fun.
« Last Edit: November 07, 2013, 08:49:57 AM by Saddam Hussein »

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Chris Spaghetti

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #911 on: October 11, 2013, 01:00:31 AM »
Again, if you're reading them in order Maskerade isn't great, but I really liked Feet of Clay and then it's the incredible Hogfather (A Death novel) and Jingo (A Vetinari novel)

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Saddam Hussein

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #912 on: October 11, 2013, 07:05:44 PM »
Yes, I'm reading them in order.  I never read or watch a series out of order if I can help it.  It feels all wrong.

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Roundy the Truthinessist

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #913 on: October 11, 2013, 07:29:03 PM »
It's not as much an issue with this series as with most because there's very little continuity between the books.  That being said, I'm actually reading them in order too.  Just much more slowly than you.
Where did you educate the biology, in toulet?

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Space Cowgirl

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #914 on: October 12, 2013, 08:57:11 AM »
I'm nearly finished with Foundation and Empire. This series is much more fun than I expected it to be. I'm not sure if it's worth reading past the original trilogy, though. Have any of you read all of them?
I'm sorry. Am I to understand that when you have a boner you like to imagine punching the shit out of Tom Bishop? That's disgusting.

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Roundy the Truthinessist

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #915 on: October 12, 2013, 09:41:13 AM »
I only ever read the original trilogy.  I always meant to pick up the series afterwards but never got around to it.
Where did you educate the biology, in toulet?

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spoon

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #916 on: October 12, 2013, 08:15:16 PM »
Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon.
I work nights are get the feeling of impennding doom for things most people take for granted.

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #917 on: October 13, 2013, 12:28:45 AM »
About a week ago I finished Cloud Atlas. I thought it was really good, if really dense in a few chapters. But I really love the setup and the way it's written. "Letters from Zedelghem" was an absolutely gorgeous chapter, filled with musical prose and references and just afjkdsl. I loved "The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing" too, though. It's hard to say which of the six chapters was my favourite.

The day after I finished it I got Stephen King's new book, Doctor Sleep, which is a sequel to The Shining, which I read years ago and absolutely loved. I reminded myself about it a little, then started Doctor Sleep. I wasn't loving it, really, for the prologue and much of the first chapter. Then somewhere along there I started liking it more and more and got really drawn in, kind of obsessively, and was reading it nonstop. I was done by the next day. It's like 520 pages or so, and I read basically half of it, put it down to sleep, woke up and finished it. Just so, so, so good. It's not as scary as The Shining (it's honestly not very scary at all, though there were a few parts where the imagery had me creeped out), but it's the latest in King's recent bout of awesome character development and stories that matter because you care about the characters.
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Foxy

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #918 on: October 14, 2013, 10:47:30 AM »
Walden by Henry David Thoreau

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Space Cowgirl

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #919 on: October 18, 2013, 05:09:27 PM »
I'm reading Foundation's Edge. It's good.
I'm sorry. Am I to understand that when you have a boner you like to imagine punching the shit out of Tom Bishop? That's disgusting.

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Crudblud

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #920 on: October 18, 2013, 08:13:16 PM »
I'm still slogging my way through Dostoevsky's Which Young Depressed Russian Murdered the Old Depressed Russian? but I picked up Pynchon's Mason & Dixon the other day, which I'm looking forward to reading despite expecting to be somewhat out of my depth when it comes to the historical period in which it is set.

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Roundy the Truthinessist

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #921 on: October 18, 2013, 08:44:35 PM »
I'm still slogging my way through Dostoevsky's Which Young Depressed Russian Murdered the Old Depressed Russian? but I picked up Pynchon's Mason & Dixon the other day, which I'm looking forward to reading despite expecting to be somewhat out of my depth when it comes to the historical period in which it is set.

Have you ever read Dostoevsky's The Double?  Call me romantic, but I can't help but imagine it as a movie, set in modern-day New York (or even better, LA) starring Jim Carrey as both the protagonist and the titular character.

I just finished Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, by Jane Austen and some guy, which I found very amusing.  I'm reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde now, which I am also finding amusing.

Through it all, I'm trying to make my way through Finnegan's Wake.  I'm four chapters in and I think I have a pretty good grasp on what Joyce is trying to convey, although I really can't say I understand most of it.  There have, in fact, been passages that have made me laugh out loud.  I'm still not sure if I can say I'm enjoying it yet.  I'm starting to wonder if Joyce meant it as a practical joke, a sort of punchline to his brilliant career.  I would be making my way through it faster, but it's not exactly the kind of book I can sit there and read on the bus or in the break room at work.  Obviously I've been choosing substantially lighter fare for that.
Where did you educate the biology, in toulet?

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Saddam Hussein

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #922 on: October 18, 2013, 09:15:59 PM »
Highbrow, sophisticated fare.

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Roundy the Truthinessist

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #923 on: October 18, 2013, 09:57:27 PM »
Highbrow, sophisticated fare.
Yes, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters was quite highbrow.
Where did you educate the biology, in toulet?

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Crudblud

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #924 on: October 18, 2013, 10:27:09 PM »
I'm still slogging my way through Dostoevsky's Which Young Depressed Russian Murdered the Old Depressed Russian? but I picked up Pynchon's Mason & Dixon the other day, which I'm looking forward to reading despite expecting to be somewhat out of my depth when it comes to the historical period in which it is set.

Have you ever read Dostoevsky's The Double?  Call me romantic, but I can't help but imagine it as a movie, set in modern-day New York (or even better, LA) starring Jim Carrey as both the protagonist and the titular character.

I just finished Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, by Jane Austen and some guy, which I found very amusing.  I'm reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde now, which I am also finding amusing.

Through it all, I'm trying to make my way through Finnegan's Wake.  I'm four chapters in and I think I have a pretty good grasp on what Joyce is trying to convey, although I really can't say I understand most of it.  There have, in fact, been passages that have made me laugh out loud.  I'm still not sure if I can say I'm enjoying it yet.  I'm starting to wonder if Joyce meant it as a practical joke, a sort of punchline to his brilliant career.  I would be making my way through it faster, but it's not exactly the kind of book I can sit there and read on the bus or in the break room at work.  Obviously I've been choosing substantially lighter fare for that.

Nope, Brothers Karamazov is my first Dostoevsky novel, I do want to read more eventually but christ is he always this long-winded?

I'm still reading the Wake as well, I had to take a breather after 460 pages, it is very funny but it gets to be too much after a while of reading nothing else. Now I'm reading it very slowly, sometimes only a paragraph per session, but then some paragraphs go on for pages anyway.

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Chris Spaghetti

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #925 on: October 19, 2013, 06:02:43 PM »
Just finished The Long War by Pratchett and Baxter and found it to be a disappointment. After the relatively allow storytelling in the rest of the book, the ending felt badly rushed. The protagonist OS apparently trapped by a device which will kill him if he attempts to escape and there is nothing told about how he escapes to experience the happy prologue.

Next up, either crime and punishment or am Asimov short story collection.

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Lord Wilmore

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #926 on: October 20, 2013, 03:30:24 PM »
Wilmore, are you enjoying Anathem? I read Snow Crash not long ago and loved it. I've got a few Stephenson novels but I don't know which one to read next.


Sorry for the late reply. Anathem is good, but not great. Like, it's definitely not bad, and it's full of interesting ideas, but the characters just weren't that great. Certainly a drop in quality from Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, which I am fairly confident you will love - it's really, really good. Read it!


I finished Anathem, which was kind of huge and slow going, and then read A Room With a View by E.M. Forster. I'm now reading Dracula by Stoker. Spoiler: Count Vampire is a Dracula.
"I want truth for truth's sake, not for the applaud or approval of men. I would not reject truth because it is unpopular, nor accept error because it is popular. I should rather be right and stand alone than run with the multitude and be wrong." - C.S. DeFord

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Space Cowgirl

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #927 on: October 20, 2013, 04:10:29 PM »
Cool! I just started Foundation and Earth today, so when I finish I'll read The Diamond Age.
I'm sorry. Am I to understand that when you have a boner you like to imagine punching the shit out of Tom Bishop? That's disgusting.

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Chris Spaghetti

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #928 on: October 21, 2013, 01:56:07 AM »
Changed my mind, now reading 'stranger in a strange land' by Heinlein

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Crudblud

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #929 on: October 22, 2013, 10:20:19 PM »
Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels