Favorite books / What are you reading?

Well, i've just finished Dune, didn't started the second one yet, but it's by far one of the best sci-fi books i've ever read
But currently i'm reading The Catcher In The Rye because people talk about how much of a classic it is so i'm checking it out
 
I find Dune Messiah, the second part, to be the most weakest link of the chain, so don't let your expectations fly too high GabrielPliskin.

Akratus said:
Is this what a religious experience feels like?
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I think A Canticle for Leibowitz is much closer to a religious experience. Both literally and figuratively. :smile:
 
Akratus said:
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I'll send you one of my pics. Give me that effect, bro.
 
GabrielPliskin said:
...currently i'm reading The Catcher In The Rye because people talk about how much of a classic it is so i'm checking it out
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Somewhat funny anecdote: my 82-year-old mother just finished reading that, although I think she had read it before once long ago. I'm not sure what possessed her to start reading it since she mostly likes westerns and pioneer fiction.

Not surprisingly, she didn't like it much, although she agreed with me that the hysteria that book has caused over the years defies understanding. Why anyone would ever have thought it needed to be banned is beyond me.
 
Currently reading Shakespeare's play, Othello for my A Level Literature class, very much enjoying it.

We was given a 'wider reading' list of books by my teacher, it has a lot of the typical 'classic' works of literature but a lot of new texts, I'd share it if anyone wants me to but right now I don't have it with me.
 
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Othello is one of his best, but even at A-level, I doubt they'll do a decent reading of it.

Current reading/to-be-read list is...

Camus - The Rebel
Ewing's The Body: Photoworks of the Human Form
Basho's The Narrow Road to the Deep North
The Essential Kirkegaard
Russel's Proposed Roads to Freedom
Cahan - They all Fall Down (a retrospective of Richard Nickel's fight to preserve Chicago's architecture)

and a stack of some others/comic books and such.

If anyone has any recommendations based on the above books/essays, favourites from the list which I might like to place higher in my read order, etc, please do share with me!
 
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Star Wars - Shadows of the Empire. It's in my top 5 books, and this'll be the 10th time I've read it
 
GabrielPliskin said:
Well, i've just finished Dune, didn't started the second one yet, but it's by far one of the best sci-fi books i've ever read
But currently i'm reading The Catcher In The Rye because people talk about how much of a classic it is so i'm checking it out
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Dune, another book in my top 5. Absolutely brilliant
 
Alixian said:
I quite liked them my fave being Han Solo and the Lost Legacy, I love it how one of his droid companions is called Bollux
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Heh they had to change that one in the UK if my memories about trivia serve me correctly.
But yes, along with the Heir to the Empire trilogy (I found the Hand of Thrawn duology a little weaker due to the white washing of Thrawn), and the first Young Jedi Knights arc. (even KJA is bound to write something I like, he had his wife helping him with this one of course) and some of the X Wing books these are some of my favorite Star Wars book stories.

The Han Solo Adventures were some fun space adventure stories and I lament that Daley never wrote more Star Wars books as he really seemed to get the spirit of the old SW movies.
 
The Dutch Ghost said:
Heh they had to change that one in the UK if my memories about trivia serve me correctly.
But yes, along with the Heir to the Empire trilogy (I found the Hand of Thrawn duology a little weaker due to the white washing of Thrawn), and the first Young Jedi Knights arc. (even KJA is bound to write something I like, he had his wife helping him with this one of course) and some of the X Wing books these are some of my favorite Star Wars book stories.

The Han Solo Adventures were some fun space adventure stories and I lament that Daley never wrote more Star Wars books as he really seemed to get the spirit of the old SW movies.
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Yeah, the changing of Bollux for UK audiences was a bit of a Buzzkill. I wish they had kept it, it would've been a bit Pratchett-esque. I was lucky to get a copy of the US version from a friend when I was in my teens.

I like the Hand of Thrawn series, when you read it, the amount of animosity from Mara Jade towards Luke makes it almost hard to believe they end up doing the horizontal tango
 
Alixian said:
I like the Hand of Thrawn series, when you read it, the amount of animosity from Mara Jade towards Luke makes it almost hard to believe they end up doing the horizontal tango
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What I disliked about it is how Zahn tried to make Thrawn into an extremist with well intentions instead of simply this brilliant strategist who thought an Empire was more effective than a Republic like back in Heir.
I know that this was all done to foreshadow the coming of the Yuuzhan Vong but I did not like them or the whole deconstruction of the Star Wars universe to make it Dark and Gritty.
Of course I understand why the writers did it but I rather wish that they had left this era of SW alone if they wanted to tell yet more war stories and instead focus on a future or past period where there would be room for that.

Anyway I did not mean to respond to complain and all of this is moot anyway as it no longer plays a role.
 
The Dutch Ghost said:
What I disliked about it is how Zahn tried to make Thrawn into an extremist with well intentions instead of simply this brilliant strategist who thought an Empire was more effective than a Republic like back in Heir.
I know that this was all done to foreshadow the coming of the Yuuzhan Vong but I did not like them or the whole deconstruction of the Star Wars universe to make it Dark and Gritty.
Of course I understand why the writers did it but I rather wish that they had left this era of SW alone if they wanted to tell yet more war stories and instead focus on a future or past period where there would be room for that.

Anyway I did not mean to respond to complain and all of this is moot anyway as it no longer plays a role.
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I never like the Yuuzhan Vong stuff, I personally felt it was a dead weight the expanded universe.
What I do like was the whole saga around Soontir Fel. I have a few of those graphic novels
 
Alixian said:
I never like the Yuuzhan Vong stuff, I personally felt it was a dead weight the expanded universe.
What I do like was the whole saga around Soontir Fel. I have a few of those graphic novels
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Instead of the whole Yuuzhan Vong war I would rather have seen books on characters exploring the Unknown Regions that Thrawn opened up and the thousands of threats within that were hinted at.
I guess it would have been a bit more Star Trek but there would still have been plenty of room for action stories.
 
The Dutch Ghost said:
Instead of the whole Yuuzhan Vong war I would rather have seen books on characters exploring the Unknown Regions that Thrawn opened up and the thousands of threats within that were hinted at.
I guess it would have been a bit more Star Trek but there would still have been plenty of room for action stories.
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Amen to that
 
Alixian said:
Dune, another book in my top 5. Absolutely brilliant
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Definitely on my to-read-list. At the moment I'm busy with the Hyperion Cantos, though. Loving it so far! Definitely going to check out more by Dan Simmons.

I have Fahrenheit 451 lying around too. Gonna start with that once I finish The Fall of Hyperion.
 
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