obligatory what are you reading, what have you read-

Kurt fisken
Kurt blir grusom
Kurt Quo Vadis? All hilarious semi-childrens books by Norwegian Author Erlend Loe
The Da Vinchi Code by Dan Brown
Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (teh English)

Bought Deception Point (ye English) Yesterday, starting on this one when I finish Angels n' Demons. This Brownie fellow knows his writing..
 
Exitium said:
Currently reading: The Iron Council by China Mieville. Amazon describes it best:
China Miéville's novel Iron Council is the tumultuous story of the "Perpetual Train." Born from monopolists' greed and dispatched to tame the western lands beyond New Crobuzon, the train is itself the beginnings of an Iron Council formed in the fire of frontier revolt against the railroad's masters. From the wilderness, the legend of Iron Council becomes the spark uniting the oppressed and brings barricades to the streets of faraway New Crobuzon. The sprawling tale is told through the past-and-present eyes of three characters. The first is Cutter, a heartsick subversive who follows his lover, the messianic Judah Low, on a quest to return to the Iron Council hidden in the western wilds. The second is Judah himself, an erstwhile railroad scout who has become the iconic golem-wielding hero of Iron Council's uprising at the end of the tracks. And the third is Ori, a young revolutionary on the streets of New Crobuzon, whose anger leads him into a militant wing of the underground, plotting anarchy and mayhem.
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It might sound like simple fantasy, but let me assure you, it isn't. There's a lot of hidden metaphors and commentary over a variety of subjects that affect us in real life society. China Mieville makes for some very intelligent reading.
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Sounds awesome. If you haven't already, I strongly recommend reading Perdido Street Station, another one of his. I've almost finished it (been reading it whevever I get a spare 5 minutes), and I can't stop just going back every now and then and rereading select passages, like watching a favourite scene from a movie (or because I don't get what the fuck is going on). . A mate of mine is currently finishing off Scar, and says it's awesome. Not a very comprehensive review, but persuasive nonetheless.

Also reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, having just finished Snow Crash. Also occasionally rereading a random Wheel of Time book, just so I don't forget what's going on while waiting for the next fifty fucking books to come out, while he introduces another 1000 characters then takes the story back in time to the first book so we can find out what a whole bunch of people I don't give a rats ass about were wearing at the time or some such stupid shit.
 
Volkov said:
Also reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, having just finished Snow Crash.
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Also reading Cryptonomicon here. I think Stephenson is a fairly mediocre author but his books are good time killers.
 
gonzo13 said:
Hey lilfyffedawg,

I just thought I should mention that I think 1984 was a fantastic book. I am not exactly sure why you got bored when the main character started having sex but I thought I should mention that even as he was having sex, there were other things going on. Ultimately the story does not really revolve around sex, but since sex and love are large parts of humanity, and the whole purpose of the system in 1984 was to deprive people of their humanity, I don't see how you could avoid dealing with it in some way. It is not like Orwell put the sex scenes into the story as some cheap attempt at being edgy. Anyways, I recommend you finish it.

I also recently re-read Catch 22 by Joseph Heller which I believe to be one of the best books I have ever read. I am probably going to read it again soon.
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Aye, I understand where you're coming from with 1984. I don't really remember the specifics as to why I stopped, it may have been school reading interfering or something but it never did finish. I'll definitely be giving it another try though eventually, especially if you think so highly of it :). Hopefully will get it read this summer.

After finishing Replay (which was absolutely amazing, read it everyone!), I started reading Bible stories for Adults by... someone? It's a tough read for me though as I don't know much of the bible so a lot of the parody goes way over my head. Of course, I only read the first story so maybe I should delve deeper.

At the same time, I'm reading animal farm (should finish tonight). George Orwell is awesome... Anyone read anything of his besides 1984 and Animal Farm? They any good?
 
lilfyffedawg said:
At the same time, I'm reading animal farm (should finish tonight). George Orwell is awesome... Anyone read anything of his besides 1984 and Animal Farm? They any good?
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I've read "The Road to Wigan Pier", "Burmese Days", "Down and Out in Paris and London", and a few of his short stories and I couldn't recommend them enough. They're nothing like AF or 1984 but well worth reading.
 
Montez said:
I've read "The Road to Wigan Pier", "Burmese Days", "Down and Out in Paris and London", and a few of his short stories and I couldn't recommend them enough. They're nothing like AF or 1984 but well worth reading.
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Is it all satire? And after just finishing Animal Farm, it seemed like 1984 was VERY heavily influenced by the book. I was reading how the pigs constantly changed the past, changing from liking one farmer to the other... sounded a lot liek the whole Eurasia thing in 1984.
 
No, they aren't satirical at all, so if you're looking for more along the lines of those two books you'll be disappointed. "Wigan Pier" and "Down and Out" are autobiographical and mainly focused on poverty in the country and city respectively and Orwell's thoughts on it. Burmese Days is a fictional novel set in Burma - I'd have a hard time summing it up so I'd recommend reading a few summaries of it elsewhere. It could be considered subtly satirical, I guess, but more in the manner of other English novels of the time. Orwell was mainly a travel writer/essayist, and AF/1984 are pretty big deviations from his other writing.
 
Hrm.. I'll have to look for them next time I get into a book hunt. I've still a hardy pile at the house though so it might not be til summer time. Speaking of hardy... Anyone here read Thomas Hardy? I'm in love with his poetry and want to read his novels.

Anyone here read Jude the Obscure or any other such stuff? How bout his poems? Any fans, come on now!
 
Loxley said:
Gus said:
Kurt fisken
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Is that the one where they get that HUGE fish and then go sailing onto the sea with it? MY 6 year old cousin loves those books.
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Aye.. I laughed.

Your cousin has good taste in books..
 
Hrmm. I have a list of books I've read since ~2002. Kind of outdated, though, and I don't have it with me on this computer.

I can tell you though, that today I finished the last book in the Sherlock Holmes series, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by (Sir) Arthur Conan Doyle, after going the through the previous eight in the past two years or so.

It might be fun to note that nowhere in the entire series Holmes utters the widely known phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson. Elementary!".
Although he does refer to something being "elementary" maybe three or four times - over the span of thirty years, and never in conjunction with "my dear Watson".

Okay, OKAY. Boring.

-Gerko, quite elementary.
 
What are you doing here, Gerko?

There's no God-king election any time soon, ya know...
 
I know. I was just browsing/lurking. (as I often do) And this thread kind-of appealed to me because I'd just finished said book.

I'll try to post more at TO 's well, 'kay ?

Oh, and to keep on topic, I'll continue reading The Constant Gardener by John le Carré next. (was at around 1/3 when I shuffled it aside from some more Holmesian goodness)

-Gerko, "it's set in Kenya, but haven't seen any lions or tigers yet"
 
*smacketh*

Just finished Cronica de una muerte anunciada by Garcia Marquez.
 
I'm still on my graphic novel/comic book kick.

Just finished The Punisher: Welcome Back, Frank, by Garth Ennis. This series kind of re-invented The Punisher. It's much darker and basic than any of the previous Punisher series. The supporting cast is cool, especially The Russian (who made it into the recent movie, though he wasn't as cool).
 
Well, after rereading the entire Stainless Steel Rat series (I know, not great literature, but I have a soft spot for Harry Harrison), I promptly read The Girl Who Played Go, by Shan Sa, on the recommendation of a good friend.
 
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