| I thought over how to name this thread, and between something like "Enlightening pieces of literature" or "Fine literary taste", this might be a better, yet less creative, option, so that the people wouldn't get the wrong idea of possibly doing polls on books, or judging someone's literary taste. It could serve as a place where people discuss what they have recently read, give out recommendations based on preferences and so on, basically, general talk about pieces of literature that could be considered a fine read. So, what do you, fellow club members, like to read? Is there an underappreciated gem you've recently discovered, or is there a book you would generally recommend? Are you more geared towards novels or perhaps towards specific research topics? |
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| I can go more in-depth later, but my all-time favorite book ever is Mists of Avalon. It's the Arthurian legend told from the point of view of Moragaine le Fey as well as the other key women of the legend. Really wonderful (and enormous) book. |
| Sadly, I find myself reading not much of anything these days. I've been meaning to get started on the basics like Stephen King and my time watching Game of Thrones has sparked some interest in A Song of Ice and Fire (btw, is this not like one of the greatest names ever?). But, I just haven't made that plunge. It's weird, I used to find myself reading a lot in school. |
| "Yes, I have been deprived of emotion. But not completely. Whoever did it, botched the job." - Geralt of Rivia |
| My favorite book...I'd say that would be Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. It's about a village in Nigeria during the time of British colonialism, and the impact it had on their culture. I just really like the amount of detail that went into describing the whole culture before it got slowly deconstructed. |
Popka said: My favorite book...I'd say that would be Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. It's about a village in Nigeria during the time of British colonialism, and the impact it had on their culture. I just really like the amount of detail that went into describing the whole culture before it got slowly deconstructed. +1 Fantastic book. I myself just finished a couple of novels, some including Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, White Noise by Don Delillo, and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. They're all pretty solid works. For awhile I have been interested in Othello by Shakespeare, specifically for the character Iago, whom I believe to be one of the greatest villains in literature.. Anyway, that's just me rambling. |
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Amberleh said: I can go more in-depth later, but my all-time favorite book ever is Mists of Avalon. It's the Arthurian legend told from the point of view of Moragaine le Fey as well as the other key women of the legend. Really wonderful (and enormous) book. Neane1993 said: Generally I recommend The Culture Novels by Iain.M.Banks to pretty much everyone I know and generally speaking he's my favorite author and I'm not just referring to science fiction - period. Man's brilliant - his capacity for worlding, his clear and blunt style of writing, his dark tones and mature themes, his exploration of "human" nature, he's just legit. But he's definitely not the easiest guy to read, and he certainly leaves one desiring a more "traditional" story or even plot structure at times - in most of his novels, the protagonist doesn't get what they want, the bad guys usually survive or at least succeed to some degree before their defeat, a lot of people die, and the Culture ends up "winning" in a totally obscure and, frankly, messed up manner. A great example of this sort of atypical plot structure can be best seen in Banks' latest - The Hydrogen Sonata - or in Matter. Not all of them end sadly, but they never end happily, either. The brilliance of Banks lies in his exploration of possibilities. The Minds, the super-A.I. "rulers" of the Culture - are just so cool, and the Culture's anarchistic post-scarcity society is really the only utopia that I find truly satisfying - Star Trek's Federation is all nice and good and clean, but it's not HUMAN, it's too damned perfect, too exact. The Culture offers paradise, yet doesn't detract from the grim realities of existence. Now here's the thing to everyone reading this, You've got to prepare yourself for his level sort of heavy stuff: read Neuromancer or some other "lighter" reads, because Banks will blow your mind if you go in unprepared. Tis a shame that he will die from cancer a couple of months from now. Both sound very interesting, I'll definitely consider checking out both. |
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| Not really into many books (Or manga for that matter) but since we're on the topic I might as well mention that I really like 'The Outsiders' by S.E. Hinton. Mostly because of my undying love for anything related to the 1960s along with the characters and the coming of age themes. The last book I recall reading was Russell Brand's autobiography. |
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| Infallible list, do not steal. Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass and What She Found There (Lewis Caroll) Don Quixote (Miguel de Cervantes) Gravity's Rainbow (Thomas Pynchon) Infinite Jest (David Foster Wallace) Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov) The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoevsky) The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner) The Stranger (Albert Camus) Ulysses (James Joyce) War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy) So I'm guessing my precious eroge would go in a separate thread? |
opernliedMay 13, 2013 4:22 AM
| "I may be liberal arts to the core, but I am capable of thinking logically." |
Neane1993 said: corwin_r said: or is there a book you would generally recommend? Generally I recommend The Culture Novels by Iain.M.Banks to pretty much everyone I know and generally speaking he's my favorite author and I'm not just referring to science fiction - period. Man's brilliant - his capacity for worlding, his clear and blunt style of writing, his dark tones and mature themes, his exploration of "human" nature, he's just legit. But he's definitely not the easiest guy to read, and he certainly leaves one desiring a more "traditional" story or even plot structure at times - in most of his novels, the protagonist doesn't get what they want, the bad guys usually survive or at least succeed to some degree before their defeat, a lot of people die, and the Culture ends up "winning" in a totally obscure and, frankly, messed up manner. A great example of this sort of atypical plot structure can be best seen in Banks' latest - The Hydrogen Sonata - or in Matter. Not all of them end sadly, but they never end happily, either. The brilliance of Banks lies in his exploration of possibilities. The Minds, the super-A.I. "rulers" of the Culture - are just so cool, and the Culture's anarchistic post-scarcity society is really the only utopia that I find truly satisfying - Star Trek's Federation is all nice and good and clean, but it's not HUMAN, it's too damned perfect, too exact. The Culture offers paradise, yet doesn't detract from the grim realities of existence. Now here's the thing to everyone reading this, You've got to prepare yourself for his level sort of heavy stuff: read Neuromancer or some other "lighter" reads, because Banks will blow your mind if you go in unprepared. Tis a shame that he will die from cancer a couple of months from now. Been meaning to read those books for a while now, my mother is a huge fan of them |
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| Well, I never read that much in my life (I guess that's sorta ok since I'm pretty young), but recently I became very interested in literature, and I have a gigantic list of what I plan to read, even if it takes 20 years to read all of it. Currently my favorite book is A Song of Ice and Fire. |
opernlied said: So I'm guessing my precious eroge would go in a separate thread? This could also serve as a VN discussion thread, I don't see why not, many consider visual novels to be a different approach to the literary medium. Great recommendations guys, I was already considering to read some of the works you've mentioned, and now I've reaffirmed my interest for reading them. I like to read quite a bit, the only sad thing about that is that my funds are limited, and so I'm more or less one of those people that tend to hang around libraries a lot, except I'm not a drunk (for some reason drunks tend to hang out around public places such as libraries here), and I don't go there to read the newspaper. In a way, libraries are also a good thing where I live, since here many of the books that get translated from English, German or any other language, never get a reprint after initially being released, so there are only a dozen copies in circulation, of which most end up as library books, but the library has also it's limitations when it comes to new works, most of them never get distributed to smaller libraries, and the ones that do get to become a part of a library funds are for the most part mainstream literature, I am sure you can imagine which works those are. As for my preferences, aside novels, I tend to read about topics such as philosophy, psychology or sociology. Recently, I've discovered how great of an author Umberto Eco is, the closest description of his fiction would be "intellectual fun", it is somewhat hard to get into, especially considering obscure references, for example Foucault's Pendulum which I've finished recently, has numerous secret organizations and conspiracies mentioned, it would require at least an hour to inform yourself (at least superficially), about their background details and such to fully enjoy the book. The Name of the Rose is also a good book by him, it's like a medieval take on mystery novels, with numerous references yet again, contemplation of the nature of religion, God, and life in general. |
corwinrMay 13, 2013 2:20 PM
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Tetrapharmakos said: Making a list of my favorite books, or author, or whatever, it's hard so I'll just drop a suggestion; that would be Sarrasine, by Balzac, my favorite - well, one of the top three, at least - author ever. Not just for the post-structuralist masturbation made by Barhtes - not at all for this, if you aren't slightly interested in structuralism et similia - but for being an amazing piece of esthetical art, for Balzac's prose as usual, and human's knowledge. God, that seems pretentious ( namedropping Barthes, I mean ), right? Just read this, it's pretty good. Definitely some nice prose in there. Tetrapharmakos said: Finnegans Wake is better (bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk!) I like it, but there's something about not being able to understand most of it... ┐( o _ O )┌ corwin_r said: This could also serve as a VN discussion thread, I don't see why not, many consider visual novels to be a different approach to the literary medium. I don't know, it's just that VNs are so niche that another thread would be required to give them more attention and enlighten others (or something to that effect). There's also the issue that the majority of translations are essentially the result of a college student with a lot of free time, with an overall writing quality that is simply lackluster to what novels get. But I guess that's not going to stop me from namedropping Forest, Inganock, and Cross Channel. |
| "I may be liberal arts to the core, but I am capable of thinking logically." |
| I actually agree that VNs should go in another thread as they are, technically, video games. |
| I've been on a massive fantasy kick this past year and discovered some of the best books I've ever read. A Song of ice And Fire - 5 out of 7 books released. It is the most sprawling, dense, ambitious series with the most complex, multi-faceted characters I've ever read. It's a living, breathing world with living breathing characters that change and develop in shocking and exciting ways, fantasy tropes are built up and shattered and turned on their head constantly. Super engrossing and layered storytelling with enough juicy meat to discuss over the cooler for years to come. The First Law Trilogy + 3 Follow-up Novels by Joe Abercrombie. - Completed. Utter perfection. From top to bottom. The first trilogy alone is a masterpiece, yet the follow-up novels improve upon perfection which I thought impossible. Seriously, Best Served Cold is the most INSANE novel I've read in my life. It is a revenge tale that puts Kill Bill to shame, and though the villains are despicable, the rag-tag group of protagonists are even more fucked up, damaged and dangerous anti-heroes. This novel blew my mind, thes follow-up novels are simply infallible. Please read and tell me I'm wrong. (The First Law Trilogy = 1) The Blade Itself 2) Before They Are Hanged 3) Last Argument of Kings Followup Novels = 4) Best Served Cold 5) The Heroes 6) Red Country The Macht Trilogy by Paul Kearney - Completed. This is a fantasy retelling of Xenophon's Anabasis about a Spartan/Persian conflict, and revolves around phalanx warfare and conquest. It is a phenomenal trilogy with the best prose I've ever read in any book, better even than grandmasters George R.R. Martin and Joe Abercrombie. (The Macht Trilogy = 1) The 10,000 2) Corvus 3) Kings of Morning) The Demon Cycle series by Peter V. Brett - 3 out of 5 books released. Wonderful character driven series about a post-apolyptic world where demons are driving humanity to the brink of extinction. In these books we get to meet the protagonists when they are children and through several time-skips we literally grow up with them and witness all the events in their lives from an early age that shape them. Wonderful series, wonderful characterization. (The Demon Cycle = 1) The Warded Man 2) Desert Spear 3) The Daylight War Two more great but uncompleted fantasy series'...The Gentlemen Bastards series by Scott Lynch and The Broken Empire by Mark Lawrence. I am a gritty fantasy whore. |
| Ooo, what a lovely tea party. |
| I've been slowly delving into Kafka lately, lots of cool stuff there. The Judgement especially was amazingly surreal all of a sudden what with the unexpected reversal of, well, everything. Other recent goodies would be Crime and Punishment, which, although I felt it was rather poorly paced at times, presented a pretty engrossing and interesting story overall. Turgenev's Fathers and Sons was also pretty interesting. I read it right after Crime and Punishment so the difference in writing style was very noticeable, and a good change of pace. Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is currently my first Murakami book, and I certainly enjoyed it. Great blend of absurd fantasy. ...I was also pretty bloody surprised to see the main character talking about both he above books, right after I'd just read them. A Farewell to Arms was also splendid. Bloody depressing, and with more mentions of wine and cheese eating than I could bother counting. Reading through Song of Ice and Fire as well, just started on part one of the third book, pretty cool so far. I've also gone through the four first books in the Horus Heresy series, and they're pretty solid, definitely recommendable to anyone who's interested in spesss mehreens and grimdark scifi. Still have huge PTR list, the rest of Kafka's works starting with The Trial, Lovecraft's stories, The King in Yellow, War and Peace, Brothers Karamazov, The Idiot, Ringworld, Catcher in the Rye, Neuromancer, The Goetia (because lol demons), Rommel's Infantry attacks (because holy shit Rommel), anything by Shakespeare I haven't read, more of Hemingway and Murakami, the sequels to Dune, Zarathustra, Edda, Ulysses, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and lots more. |
GoldenBRS said: Has anyone read the dead and the buried? Reading so far and it is great! Quote from a reviewer: "There are several things you can count on when you pick up one of Kim Harrington’s books. First, that it’ll be entertaining, if a bit predictable. Second, that the main character will be likeable enough and that she won’t make incredibly stupid choices at every turn. Third, that there’s a decently plotted mystery at the center. Fourth, that she knows how to write sweet and believable romances. And last, that you’ll forget all the details in about a month or so. " I think I'll pass. =) When I start reading again I need to read some classics or things that will inspire me, haha. |
| I've heard of and kept one eye on the Malazan Book of The Fallen series, but it seemed like high-fantasy and I go for the character-driven over plot. I may get to it once I run out of other fantasy to read, but your statement of it not being remembered in 20 years is not a very ringing endorsement... All the books I mentioned including ASOIAF will be remembered for many decades to come, barring an unlikely flood of masterpieces in the coming years. If I'm going to buckle down and read several 1000+ page tomes, they better be fucking AMAZING otherwise my attention span will wander to better and more concise things. |
| Ooo, what a lovely tea party. |
| There's certain things that turn me off from fantasy and make it near impossible to pick up a book: Orcs, elves, dwarves, weird magical races with lengthy convoluted backstories, good-vs-evil, archetypal characters and boring character arcs, etc. These are things I associate with high fantasy. Though I may pick up Book of The Fallen in the near future (I was already thinking about it), I will probably never read any Robert Jordan. Sorry, I've heard enough people with similar tastes to me, who I trust, verbally tear those books to shreds. Most people who praise Wheel Of Time seem to do so from nostalgia mostly. On a different note, since you're a big ASOIAF fan you really really need to read Joe Abercrombie. He's got 6 books out, it's like ASOIAF except it's actually finished, with you know, ACTUAL payoff. ;) Seriously, go read, then you can get in touch with me to find out where to send my gift basket. |
| Ooo, what a lovely tea party. |
| Regarding your trepidation about the Western genre... the only book by Joe that remotely fits into a western mould is book 6. The other books are more war and adventure based. One of the POV characters in the first trilogy is like Tyrion spliced with the Hound. :) Glen Cook. I already have the first Black Company Volume. Haven't read it yet, and despite it's crazy races and magical powers I'm still going to give it a shot some time soon despite my better judgement because as you said, he did create the gritty fantasy genre. |
| Ooo, what a lovely tea party. |
Baman said: I've been slowly delving into Kafka lately, lots of cool stuff there. The Judgement especially was amazingly surreal all of a sudden what with the unexpected reversal of, well, everything. Other recent goodies would be Crime and Punishment, which, although I felt it was rather poorly paced at times, presented a pretty engrossing and interesting story overall. Turgenev's Fathers and Sons was also pretty interesting. I read it right after Crime and Punishment so the difference in writing style was very noticeable, and a good change of pace. Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is currently my first Murakami book, and I certainly enjoyed it. Great blend of absurd fantasy. ...I was also pretty bloody surprised to see the main character talking about both he above books, right after I'd just read them. A Farewell to Arms was also splendid. Bloody depressing, and with more mentions of wine and cheese eating than I could bother counting. Reading through Song of Ice and Fire as well, just started on part one of the third book, pretty cool so far. I've also gone through the four first books in the Horus Heresy series, and they're pretty solid, definitely recommendable to anyone who's interested in spesss mehreens and grimdark scifi. Still have huge PTR list, the rest of Kafka's works starting with The Trial, Lovecraft's stories, The King in Yellow, War and Peace, Brothers Karamazov, The Idiot, Ringworld, Catcher in the Rye, Neuromancer, The Goetia (because lol demons), Rommel's Infantry attacks (because holy shit Rommel), anything by Shakespeare I haven't read, more of Hemingway and Murakami, the sequels to Dune, Zarathustra, Edda, Ulysses, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and lots more. If you liked Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, I recommend also reading Kafka on the Shore and the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, both also by Murakami. Right now I'm on a Haruki Murakami haul. I recently finished Norwegian Wood and am close to finishing the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Next up on my PTR list is a plethora of classic Latin American lit starting with Conversation in the Cathedral by Llosa. |
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opernlied said: I think Pale Fire may be even better than lolita and Anna Karenina is arguably better than War and Peace, despite being less ambitious. Good list though.Infallible list, do not steal. Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass and What She Found There (Lewis Caroll) Don Quixote (Miguel de Cervantes) Gravity's Rainbow (Thomas Pynchon) Infinite Jest (David Foster Wallace) Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov) The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoevsky) The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner) The Stranger (Albert Camus) Ulysses (James Joyce) War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy) So I'm guessing my precious eroge would go in a separate thread? Oh, and ASOIAF went to shit after book 3. It was pretty good before that. No masterpiece or anything. Anyway here's some of my favorite literary works: Blood meridian (the judge ftw) Crime and punishment Brothers Karamazov Confederacy of dunces (ignatius is my idol) The Prince Candide Brave new world 1984 Catch 22 Gravity's Rainbow Siddhartha Henry V (dem speeches) King Lear Othello Merchant of Venice (if only for Shylock AKA one of the most tragic characters ever written) Hamlet Troilus and Cressida Julius Caesar Madame Bovary Billy Budd Farewell to Arms The Sun also Rises Lolita Pale fire Catcher in the Rye Dialogue Between a Priest and a Dying Man Philosophy in the Bedroom Justine The Great Gatsby One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Le Fleurs de Mal Leaves of grass The Iliad My "to read" list is simply massive though. |
PolyphemusMay 28, 2013 6:04 PM
| I am important. I have a girlfriend. Check out my podcast |
| I'll bite. How did ASOIAF go to shit after book 3? Also Storm was 'pretty good' in your estimation? XD Elaborate if you don't mind. |
| Ooo, what a lovely tea party. |
| I'm not interested in the reviews on Amazon, I know what they think, I wanted to know what you think. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Browne? Who is Browne? 7. I'll admit Dany's storyline in Book 5 is about as much fun as stabbing yourself repeatedly in the face with a dull spork. I get why it's there, I'm okay with it personally, but I won't defend it either. A lot of people hate her story in Book 5 and they're not entirely wrong. We'll just have to see what the payoff will be in Book 6. 8. 9. That is such a fucking shitty thing to say. And honestly I think that is the reason why you shit on the past 2 books, it's not moving fast enough for you and you don't believe you'll get a resolution. You are not alone in believing that. But it still makes you a cunt for saying it that way :D 10. To be fair do you really know what everyone has read? Near as I can tell we were only discussing books we've read recently but I could be wrong. Still don't have to be so english-major snobby about it. 11. Please do. Love to pick your brain even though you're kind of a prick, but we share a lot of favourite anime so there. :P |
| Ooo, what a lovely tea party. |
| Well ... Would not say I'm a connoisseur of literature by any standard ... but let's see ... - Elephant in the room for me would be Lord of the Rings so gonna just say, liked the setting, characters, plot (though wish the ring did more ...), etc. (and yes, I did read the books after the second movie, wasn't nearly old enough to be a hipster and go "I read those books before they ever made it in to a movie" ... since that would imply I'm over ... around 35 I think, not sure when that animated version of it came out) - Fallen Angels (I have always liked learning about the Vietnam War ... whether this book was "good" is probably left up to the reader, but it did a really good job of portraying the brutality of the war (like how the Vietcong would send women out w/ a baby in to military camps ... and the baby would be loaded w/ explosives), the issues of race (only slightly, in war, whether accurate or not, the person shooting at them quickly became a bigger annoyance than "the n*gger" (MC is black)), as well as things like the disdain of the draft) - Tales of the Otori (Basically was just a cool Japanese action / adventure book dealing with supernatural elements, as well as the MC was an assassin ... not "enlightening" at all but a good rather fast paced action, the Western equivalent would be the Night Angel trilogy if you are familiar with that, the two are somewhat different but similar in alot of ways too) |
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3nvy said: 8. Dude. I don't give a shit about wargs, dreams, or ravens. I care about the main story, not some irrevant sideplot. What significance has he had on the plot as a whole? It's disorganized. And that right there is why you hate how the books have gone. G.R.R.M is not interested in progressing the plot unless it's directly serving to develop the characters in interesting and rich ways. ASOIAF is probably the least plot-driven fantasy to come down the pipeline in decades. What it lacks in plot it greatly compensates for with complex and brutal character arcs filled with shades of grey. If you're a plot-person you're simply going to hate this series. I was merely goofing when I called you a snobbish prick. I realize this is the elitist board. You just touched a nerve by being overly flippant in dismissing the later books. But mainly about how crassly you referred to the author's age. Yes he is old. Doesn't mean a slight bit of tact can't be applied. He's said he will keep writing till the day he dies and I believe him. Many people have lived longer than he has, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that he will finish the series within 3-5 years, especially since HBO is lighting a major fire under his ass to hurry up and finish the books on his own terms. So talking like it's a foregone conclusion that the books won't be finished is just a dickish thing to say based on purely insensitive speculation. Regarding the books being disorganized... What can I say? It's all part of a larger narrative. It's simply not going to follow a linear formula employed in most other fantasy books, because the story being told is much larger in scope. By the way, there is this podcast called History of Westoros which is run by fans much smarter and observant than I'll ever be, and their breakdown of the later books along with theories and conspiracies has gone a long way to cementing for me the fact that the last 2 books are the most ambitious set-up novels written in the fantasy genre in a long time, filled with incredibly sneaky things that I never hoped to pick up on my first read. Listening to those guys talk makes me feel like a student whose failed history class after I thought I knew the material. |
| Ooo, what a lovely tea party. |
| Speaking of George R.R Martin, I read the novel Dying of the Light, which was the first thing he wrote and got published, back in 1977. Did anyone else even heard of it? I thought it was a very good science fiction tragedy. The characters are very well written and the last 4 or 5 chapters of the book (I forgot how many exactly there were), specially the ending, were amazing. Not saying it wasn't with out it's flaws, thought. The world wasn't that well constructed , specially since this is from the guy who later wrote ASOIAF, there's an awful lot of exposition and the themes were kinda forced on your throat sometimes, but it's still a really good book, and most of these flaws only happen on the beginning anyway. I also just finished reading The Little Prince and The Catcher in the Rye. Prince was a pretty well written and engaging short story. Most of the sociological allegories are pretty obvious, but it's never preachy or pretentious, and it does make you think about some things. Now Catcher was a different animal in it's entirely. I thought it was great, well deserving of the praise it got, one of the best and most complex characters I've seen and by far the best first person narration I've ever seen. |
| I haven't read Dying of the Light but I am about to read Tuf Voyaging by the same author. It was sold to me as Firefly if you swap Cap Reynolds for Alfred Hitchcock, which is a damn better pitch than I got for Dying of the Light. The Outsiders I read in school and Catcher in the Rye I wrote my English Thesis on (also on Little Prince, Of Mice & Men, and Great Gatsby) so it's hard for me to enjoy them as a fan without putting the microscope to them. It's hard to really fall in love with books you're made to read in school. |
| Ooo, what a lovely tea party. |
| The Outsiders is pretty much the only non-Shakespeare text I've had to read for school that I've actually enjoyed. I like Shakespeare's plays too, but I haven't read that many. My favourite is Midsummer Night's Dream. |
RarityRoyale said: The Outsiders is pretty much the only non-Shakespeare text I've had to read for school that I've actually enjoyed. I like Shakespeare's plays too, but I haven't read that many. My favourite is Midsummer Night's Dream. I recently got my hands on the Animated Shakespear series after remembering how it traumatized me as a young child. One of them is Midsummer Night's Dream which is one I haven't read at all so I look forward to it. I take it that one is more of a comedy. It'll be interesting to see him tackle something a bit outside his wheelhouse. |
| Ooo, what a lovely tea party. |
Eckilsax said: Shakespeare was just as much a Comedy / History writer as he was a Tragedy writer when it came to plays, if I am not mistaken.RarityRoyale said: The Outsiders is pretty much the only non-Shakespeare text I've had to read for school that I've actually enjoyed. I like Shakespeare's plays too, but I haven't read that many. My favourite is Midsummer Night's Dream. I recently got my hands on the Animated Shakespear series after remembering how it traumatized me as a young child. One of them is Midsummer Night's Dream which is one I haven't read at all so I look forward to it. I take it that one is more of a comedy. It'll be interesting to see him tackle something a bit outside his wheelhouse. |
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Matthew-san said: I also just finished reading The Little Prince and The Catcher in the Rye. Prince was a pretty well written and engaging short story. Most of the sociological allegories are pretty obvious, but it's never preachy or pretentious, and it does make you think about some things.. Really? I thought it was dumb and crazy preachy. And I hated the prince so much. If I was stranded in the middle of desert, about to die, and some 12 y/o alien kept whining and telling me that his sheep drawing was more important than me fixing my airplane, heads would roll. The whole things is just so heavyhanded and amateurish. It's a kid's book for a reason. |
| I am important. I have a girlfriend. Check out my podcast |
3nvy said: Really? I thought it was dumb and crazy preachy. And I hated the prince so much. If I was stranded in the middle of desert, about to die, and some 12 y/o alien kept whining and telling me that his sheep drawing was more important than me fixing my airplane, heads would roll. The whole things is just so heavyhanded and amateurish. It's a kid's book for a reason. Ooooh, then you haven't seen preachy my friend...the last two episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion are preachy, kids shows from the 80ths were preachy, The Little Prince is just really easy to understand. And sure, if I was stuck in the desert and some alien kid appeared asking me to draw him a sheep I would also be infuriated, but that's you taking a book that is 95% allegory literally. But I am fine with you not liking it. |
| When claiming something is preachy or bad please provide reasoning/examples to back your claim. We're not savages. |
| Ooo, what a lovely tea party. |
| As of late, a majority of what I've been reading are novellas. Joyce's "The Dead", Mann's "Death in Venice", Marquez's "Chronicle of a Death Foretold", Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilych", Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues", and a lot more. As for novels, I'm currently reading "The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz. I read "Drown" before, so I knew what kind of story I was getting myself into. It's beautiful so far. Definitely going to finish it. Also missed a chance to buy myself a copy of "Infinite Jest". Kinda frustrates me, but it's nothing I'd beat myself up about. Can any of you tell me which work by Camus is a "must read". I've read a bit of "Exile and the Kingdom" while I lingered in a book store, and I really enjoyed the way he writes. |
Matthew-san said: Allegories are supposed to work on two levels. Le Petit Prince failed on both, especially on the surface level. And the product was a juvenile book largely about how silly adults are. It took played out ideas like in these quotes: "On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." and "C'est le temps que tu as perdu pour ta rose qui fait ta rose si importante." and acted like they were new and exiting. That's fine for something that's solely a kids book, although the book is probably a bad influence on kids, but for a book that is lauded as being more than a kids' book and claims profoundness and depth, it's a huge failing. Oh, and Micromégas did it better. And sure, if I was stuck in the desert and some alien kid appeared asking me to draw him a sheep I would also be infuriated, but that's you taking a book that is 95% allegory literally. |
PolyphemusJun 25, 2013 4:57 PM
| I am important. I have a girlfriend. Check out my podcast |
| What all do you consider (perhaps a top 5 or 10) novels that are absolutely necessary classics that any literature aficionado must read? |
| I've been recently blasting through the works of Bret Easton Ellis. I just finished Less Than Zero after reading American Psycho for the first time. That novel was impressive, and it ended with two of the most shocking sucker punches I've experienced in a while. The first was The second was the end when I'd also like to share the passage in the book that damn near made my drink come out of my nose... |
EckilsaxJul 10, 2013 5:17 PM
| Ooo, what a lovely tea party. |
| Brother's Karamozov, Gravity's Rainbow, and Lolita are the first three that come to mind if we're talking about books that anybody who knows anything about literature needs to read. |
| I am important. I have a girlfriend. Check out my podcast |
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