Author Topic: Recommend me a book (Read 5252 times)

Billy Rygar · « **on:** July 20, 2007, 04:09:11 PM »

I have effectively quit reading The Gold Bug Variations for now because it is too exhausting and I need some rest from it. I'm reading On Chesil Beach right but its a very short read. So tell me what to buy.

Eduardo24 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:14:13 PM »

Harry Potter

ToxicAdam · « **Reply #2 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:15:54 PM »

Do you want non-fiction or fiction?

Mandark · « **Reply #3 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:16:01 PM »

QVT · « **Reply #4 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:21:45 PM »

I suggest Lolita by Vladdy Nabokov.

FlameOfCallandor · « **Reply #5 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:23:01 PM »

Long read but pretty good.

A very funny book

And one of my favorites.

Human Snorenado · « **Reply #6 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:26:32 PM »

You're a man of discerning taste Mr. Rygar, so you may have already read this. If not...

demi · « **Reply #7 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:31:25 PM »

Orson Scott's Card's Empire to prepare you for the amazing game adaptation to be released by the amazing Chair

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #8 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:34:40 PM »

My favorite SF book of the past ever.

Tauntaun · « **Reply #9 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:35:27 PM »

AMAZING writing!

TVC15 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:38:03 PM »

Listen not to Patel, this is the best science fiction book ever

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #11 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:39:39 PM »

TVC, if I send you a copy of Light will you read it? if so PM me your preferred shipping address.

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #12 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:42:23 PM »

Quote from: Synthesizer Patel on July 20, 2007, 04:34:40 PM

(Image removed from quote.)(Image removed from quote.)

My favorite SF book of the past ever.

Those are the same book right? Just different editions?

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #13 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:48:26 PM »

Dont let the covers fool you, this is the best fantasy series ive ever read. SOIAF has nothing on this series IMO. The series is into book 7 I think. Onlin 1-4 are in paperback in the states so far. The first book is a little confusing cause the universal laws in this series of books are...well kinda different. The second book Deadhouse Gates is one of the most hardcore badass reads ever.

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #14 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:48:38 PM »

if you want to read some quality fantasy -- see dune, driz'zt edition:

actually, i abso-fucking-lutely guarantee you will like these books, at least as entertainment, mister rygar.

QVT · « **Reply #15 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:50:06 PM »

This book thread is fucking awesome. Bakker is AMAZING. Harrison is amazing, Erikson I've heard from everyone I trust to be great, and Eco is cool.

R Scott Bakker is really great and you must all read it.

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #16 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:52:49 PM »

yes, same book, just diff covers. I actually prefer the UK trade paperback cover:

it's 10-dimensional space opera told in three different time periods (one present day, two future) with lots and lots of spaceships and fucking, and the whole thing ends up being ultimately more beautiful and life-affirming than anything ol' YHWH ever put into print.

If you like SF as a genre, can deal with a slight literary bent, and aren't afraid of stories that don't just retread the Campbellian archetypes then by all means, READ LIGHT.

Drinky: I should give Bakker another try. All the umlauts scared me off halfway through the first book.

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #17 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:54:42 PM »

rygar: the prince of nothing series is quality. bakker writes like the rape baby of tolkien and herbert. there's one REALLY hamfisted moment -- the climax of book 2 -- but the rest of it is great and the ending is wonderfully oblique.

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #18 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:56:16 PM »

bakker's a crazy-ass linguistic and semiotics professor at some canuckistan university, and he pretty much exercises his linguistics know-how every chance he gets, but oddly it comes across as very consistent rather than forced.

TVC15 · « **Reply #19 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:58:55 PM »

Patel, you can send me a copy of the book, but if I don't like it, you have to take me on a date to a linkin park concert.

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #20 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:59:24 PM »

mandark: i found strange/norell almost a little TOO steeped in its faux-victorian smugness -- i actually never finished it. it was cleverly penned, and the little digs at the austen prose style were much appreciated, but in the end -- well, 2/3rds to the end, to be honest -- the only word i could think of was BURGEONING. the book BURGEONED. my mom loved it, though, and she uses it along with a battery of anne perry novels to bookend her massive collection of the works of james herriot. BURN!

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #21 on:** July 20, 2007, 05:00:44 PM »

If you havent read I Am Legend yet read it before Will Smith rapes it.

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #22 on:** July 20, 2007, 05:40:59 PM »

is PoN done?

I started it cause I heard it was, then I also heard it was the first 3 books of a 7 book cycle. now I have some vestigial memory of there's going to be 1 transition book and another trilogy. true?

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #23 on:** July 20, 2007, 05:55:32 PM »

the first arc is done -- the third book has pretty much total closure.

Mandark · « **Reply #24 on:** July 20, 2007, 06:36:16 PM »

It's REGENCY, not VICTORIAN. Get it right!

I was practically raised on Austen which makes it a lot easier to get into stuff like Jonathan Strange and Patrick O'Brien's nautical novels. On the other hand, I get irrationally pissed off at filmmakers taking liberties with Pride and Prejudice.

JS&MN does drag in the middle, in that there are a lot of things happening, but with no real sense of urgency or direction. The finale is pretty cool though, as plots start intersecting, Strange breaks out the 31 point talent, and things speed up (the last 100-150 pages take place over one or two days, instead of the years that the rest of the book spans).

I'd recommend reading the rest, but that's cause I'm so completely in the tank for that book.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #25 on:** July 20, 2007, 06:39:00 PM »

I know these books aren't that deep, but they rock.

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #26 on:** July 20, 2007, 06:49:10 PM »

I gotta get Mandark's back on JS&MN. That book's got deep-ass class.

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #27 on:** July 20, 2007, 07:06:05 PM »

fuck, yer right. i tend to treat george through victoria as the same literary era, but that would be doing a massive disservice to ben elton's work on black adder III :'(

oh, and i can't pass this up: i think JS&MN was too ...

wait for it

...too...

AUSTEN-TATIOUS

..for me!

FlameOfCallandor · « **Reply #28 on:** July 20, 2007, 07:25:26 PM »

The best Sci Fi series of all time.

Everytime I read it, it's like a whole new story.

etiolate · « **Reply #29 on:** July 20, 2007, 07:43:57 PM »

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #30 on:** August 03, 2007, 03:14:55 AM »

LOL ALL U GUYZ WANT BUT IM READING:

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #31 on:** August 03, 2007, 03:32:17 AM »

wow, you actually read the book I recommended! I uh hope you liked it or else Keith and Drinky are gonna KILL MEEEE

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #32 on:** August 03, 2007, 03:33:09 AM »

Depends. If you want to get so pissed off that you contemplate writing the author in complaint, I suggest:

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #33 on:** August 03, 2007, 03:34:06 AM »

is captain bluebear good, btw? it has three strikes against it

1) I think the title is stupid
2) I think the cover is stupid
3) The main quote says something like, "as funny as Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" which is "as good as Watchmen" or "as evil as Hitler" levels of meaningless hyperbole in my book.

but I might read it if you guys want to read it

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #34 on:** August 03, 2007, 03:36:15 AM »

Quote from: Billy Rygar on August 03, 2007, 03:34:33 AM

Why would I reread House on Mango Street? Jesus.

Patel: I loved it. Full review to come.

yay! glad to hear. give me a Definite Recommend, then, and I will order it post-posthaste.

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #35 on:** August 03, 2007, 03:39:42 AM »

Quote from: Billy Rygar on August 03, 2007, 03:37:49 AM

Quote from: Synthesizer Patel on August 03, 2007, 03:36:15 AM
Quote from: Billy Rygar on August 03, 2007, 03:34:33 AM
Why would I reread House on Mango Street? Jesus.

Patel: I loved it. Full review to come.

yay! glad to hear. give me a Definite Recommend, then, and I will order it post-posthaste.
I meant Light, I just had to register my disgust with Cisneros first. Captain Bluebeard is awesome as well, I just heard an interview with him on the NPR a few weeks ago. Very interesting fellow.

I mean, recommend a book to me that you would Definitely Recommend. Is all. Is Bluebeard it? I feel like I need to hold up some "exchange" part of this book exchange.

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #36 on:** August 03, 2007, 03:41:19 AM »

Quote from: Billy Rygar on August 03, 2007, 03:34:33 AM

Why would I reread House on Mango Street? Jesus.

It's good to know I'm not the only man who hated that book.

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #37 on:** August 03, 2007, 03:48:14 AM »

yeah, I've read Murakami.

odd, I saw Blindness today on the desk of someone at work, but now I can't remember who. I remember the title cause I just finished a book called Blindsight and the title similarity struck me. I dunno anything about it, though. however I will now order it...blind!

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #38 on:** August 03, 2007, 03:52:05 AM »

btw I missed your comment the first time around about Banks. I had a friend in the UK send me all the Culture books about 18 months ago and OMG Use of Weapons, why is this not the most respected and clearly best book of all time. OMG.

btw, I'll send you my Light review but only after you finish your own! don't want to influence you unduly ;D

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #39 on:** August 03, 2007, 03:55:49 AM »

Quote from: Billy Rygar on August 03, 2007, 03:48:50 AM

Quote from: Phoenix Dark on August 03, 2007, 03:41:19 AM
Quote from: Billy Rygar on August 03, 2007, 03:34:33 AM
Why would I reread House on Mango Street? Jesus.

It's good to know I'm not the only man who hated that book.
The slavish devotion given that book is simply meant to set Cisnero's up as the spanish equivalent to Morrison, at least in terms of visibility. This doesn't, however, take in to account Cisnero's lack of talent.

qft

Unfortunately I had to read that in high school and do a paper on it. I hated the book, as did nearly every male student in the class. So I decided hey, why don't we all write negative papers on the book's "themes" and blatant sexism? Everyone agreed, but the day the papers were due I found out I was the only one who wrote a negative paper. To date it's the only below A grade I've ever gotten on a paper (it was a C), and I still debate my former teacher over it

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #40 on:** August 03, 2007, 04:01:42 AM »

Quote from: Billy Rygar on August 03, 2007, 03:53:35 AM

Banks even my wife loves Banks, and she g=hates the sci-fi. Wasp Factory is also OMG.

sadly I saw the ending of Wasp Factory coming from miles away, for much the same reason KOTOR failed to surprise me:

ending discussion of both

spoiler (click to show/hide)

As a former copy editor/translator, I am really highly attuned to the use (or lack of use) of gendered pronouns as well gender-neutral names. In these cases the lack of gender information is itself a highly red flag that the author has something up his/her sleeve. Once you're aware the author is planning "something," the rest of the clues in the plot tend to line up and make themselves known.

[close]

still a fantastic and memorable book. even bad Banks is awesome. Use of Weapons is fuck-awesome. Player of Games is a fun romp. Halo is good, too. I MEAN CONSIDER PHLEBAS.

Ichirou · « **Reply #41 on:** October 01, 2007, 10:28:19 PM »

I'm reading A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami right now, and it's pretty decent...not nearly as good as all the other stuff I've read by him, though.

Synbios459 · « **Reply #42 on:** October 02, 2007, 12:59:56 AM »

TVC15 · « **Reply #43 on:** October 02, 2007, 01:10:12 AM »

I just finished up Warren Ellis's Crooked Little Vein. It was . . . well, it was exactly what you'd expect a novel by Warren Ellis to be like.

Ichirou · « **Reply #44 on:** October 02, 2007, 01:14:01 AM »

How can synbios turn pages when he is reading a book?

And why is he recommending white supremacist texts like Mein Kampf?

Ichirou · « **Reply #45 on:** October 02, 2007, 09:22:32 PM »

Quote from: Billy Rygar on October 02, 2007, 02:17:56 PM

Quote from: Ichirou on October 01, 2007, 10:28:19 PM
I'm reading A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami right now, and it's pretty decent...not nearly as good as all the other stuff I've read by him, though.
I haven't read this one yet but my wife really enjoyed it. She said it would probably have been a let down if she didn't read it last out of all of his works (save Underground) and couldn't see where he had begun to form some the idiosyncracies that later came to dominate his work.

I finished Wild Sheep Chase today and it's definitely my least favorite of all his books thus far...I'm going to read a book of his short stories next. After that, Hard-Boiled Wonderland.

Ichirou · « **Reply #46 on:** October 02, 2007, 09:36:00 PM »

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman.

I prefer sentimental humanist Murakami to bizarro Kafkaesque Murakami, which is what Hard-Boiled Wonderland sounds like. That's why I keep putting it off though I bought it a while back.

Ichirou · « **Reply #47 on:** October 02, 2007, 09:42:32 PM »

No, I'm slowly making my way through his books...I still haven't read Kafka on the Shore, Dance Dance Dance, Sputnik Sweetheart, and Hard-Boiled Wonderland.

I figured I'd leave Dance Dance Dance for another time since it's apparently a pseudo-sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase, and I didn't enjoy that one as much as I have his other works. I thought Wild Sheep Chase was a very awkward blend of a sort of deadpan style with little bits of magical realism thrown in here and there.

Ichirou · « **Reply #48 on:** October 02, 2007, 10:00:34 PM »

Well, I'll get to all of them, eventually. They're sitting on my shelf back at my place.

I have to say, of all his books, I like Norwegian Wood best, which probably reveals me to be a rank sentimentalist.

Ichirou · « **Reply #49 on:** October 02, 2007, 10:02:09 PM »

I don't care, though. I haven't been as emotionally affected by a book as I was by Norwegian Wood, in a long, long time. :'(

Ichirou · « **Reply #50 on:** October 02, 2007, 10:06:24 PM »

After that is probably South of the Border, West of the Sun, and Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

For some reason, I suspect South of the Border is his most autobiographical work...a lot of the details just seem like they were taken directly from his personal experiences.

The one thing I do find sort of infuriating about Murakami is how passive his protagonists tend to be.

Ichirou · « **Reply #51 on:** October 02, 2007, 10:26:01 PM »

It's especially noticeable in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. The main character does nothing but stay in his house and half-heartedly search for his cat...I kept wondering if that book was supposed to be an indictment of the Japanese psyche.

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Author Topic: Recommend me a book (Read 5252 times)