obligatory what are you reading, what have you read-

I started reading the Bible (no, that's no joke). Just finished Genesis and hope to pass through the holy book ( :wink: ) within a week.
Just got this idea 'cause my tutor talked two hours about the scientific world view. At this point I recognized that I don't know much about religious world views.
 
"Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo:Reading.
This needs no explanation.

"Nimed Marmortahvlil" by Albert Kivikas:Recently read.
Translation: "Names on Marble Tablet "
1918 - 1920
This book is written by a veteran of the Estonian war of Independence, a war of Estonia vs. Russia when communist ideal were spreading and adults were reluctant to defend their homeland.
Because of this schoolboys by the ages of 14-18 took up arms and joined as voluntary soldiers. They were accepted only because a the mobilization order did not really gather a proportionate army. Communist ideals spread quickly among the common and uneducated people and when mobilization order was given great number of commons actually joined the bolshevik army. Russia invaded Estonia and quickly defeated the initial, retreating small Estonian forces. Soon Estonian forces started to gather and advance, taking back the country. With no real training the estonian students barely managed to win the war and drive out the russians. Estonia became an official and independent country for the first time in history, but at a great cost, it lost a great number of educated people and students.

There was also a movie about the book, trailer is here http://www.taska.ee/nimedmarmortahvlil/trailer.htm.
 
I had to put down Les Mis somewhere after the battle of Waterloo.

Friend of mine loved the Stainless Steal Rat.

Currently just finished -

Warlord Politics and African States- kind of interesting read on the collapse of African states.

Political Topographies of the African State- more African state building.

For fun still reading Graham Greene, the Quiet American and Richard Stark, the Hunter (hardboiled coolness).
 
I am reading a book about the Manuscripts from the Dead sea.IIt really is a very impourtant one.
 
:: decides not to rant about people who take the Bible litterally ::

I'm currently sporadically reading "Goldene Regeln der Spieleprogrammierung" (original title "Golden Rules of Game Programming") by Martin Brownlow and haven't yet finished Niccolò Machiavelli's "Discorsi", so I guess one could say I'm still reading that one.

I although recently bought Thomas Hobbes' "Leviathan", but haven't even gotten around to take a look at it and it'll probably take a while till I get started with it.

As for Brownlow's book -- even as a novice I can tell that his code is reeks. Also, he has the annoying habbit of writing every custom function and class in uppercase (not only macros!), so it can get slightly irritating. The code is, of course, mostly written in C/C++ (or rather: very C-esque C++).
 
lol good Ashmo you NEVER want to rant about that. People get heated about that kind of stuff.

I have been reading Readers Digest... Thats right Reader Digest - The Worlds Last Mysteries. Published in the late 70's if memory serves me correctly. None the less it is definatley my style. All the good stuff is in there. Southern American cultures, Easter Island the black hole that hit Tuskany things of that nature..
 
Have any of you guys read the entire Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy series? I tried reading Restaurant at the End of the Universe but it seemed pretty bad compared to the first.
 
lilfyffedawg said:
Have any of you guys read the entire Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy series? I tried reading Restaurant at the End of the Universe but it seemed pretty bad compared to the first.
Click to expand...
Actually I have. The first one kicks ass, but the following ones are getting quite boring after a while.
 
I'm reading Aztec by Gary Jennings. It's about this old Aztec scribe captured during Cortez's little party-crashing in the 1500s retelling his life. It's wicked awesome.

Just finished the last book in Stephen King's The Dark Tower. Note to potential readers: stop reading after the fourth book. It's straight downhill from there and doesn't stop until it hits rock-bottom.

Before that I read Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, which I was greatly entertained though, even if the ending was really out-there.
 
I read a German translation of the entire series.

Irritatingly enough, it was readable.
 
Azure Stone said:
Just finished the last book in Stephen King's The Dark Tower. Note to potential readers: stop reading after the fourth book. It's straight downhill from there and doesn't stop until it hits rock-bottom.
Click to expand...
Meh, I cxould have told you that. :(

Which is a shame, becauseI thought the fourth book was pretty cool, mostly.
Then again, most series I've read have gone like that. It's not uncommon.
 
Big T said:
Azure Stone said:
Just finished the last book in Stephen King's The Dark Tower. Note to potential readers: stop reading after the fourth book. It's straight downhill from there and doesn't stop until it hits rock-bottom.
Click to expand...
Meh, I cxould have told you that. :(

Which is a shame, becauseI thought the fourth book was pretty cool, mostly.
Then again, most series I've read have gone like that. It's not uncommon.
Click to expand...

The fourth book was fantastic, and one of the only reasons I continued reading the series was the hopes that King would go into more about Mid-World and the shit that lead up to the fall of Gilead and the Good Man and all that. The first book was incredible, too.

The first two books in R.A. Salvitore's "The Dark Elf Trilogy" were okay. Not great, but a decent read. The third book was laughably horrible, as was the entire Icewind Dale Trilogy, and whatever followed that (Legacy of the Drow?) was so mind-numblingly terrible that I never could finish it.
 
Azure Stone said:
The fourth book was fantastic, and one of the only reasons I continued reading the series was the hopes that King would go into more about Mid-World and the shit that lead up to the fall of Gilead and the Good Man and all that. The first book was incredible, too.

The first two books in R.A. Salvitore's "The Dark Elf Trilogy" were okay. Not great, but a decent read. The third book was laughably horrible, as was the entire Icewind Dale Trilogy, and whatever followed that (Legacy of the Drow?) was so mind-numblingly terrible that I never could finish it.
Click to expand...

Dude. I can't believe you actually posted in this forum.
 
For my birthday I got either money or books...oh and one anime DVD.

-The Dark Tower books 1-4
-The Wheel of Time book 1
-Myth-nomers and Myth-conceptions (a weird series a close friend recommended all having "myth" in the title used as a pun.)

-Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (DVD)

Well Ive never gotten so many books and Im very pleased.

As for the Dark Tower...OMG I just became a permanent member of another fandom and that doesnt happen often! Ive only read up to the 30 page and its already settled in my mind, festering and brooding.

By the way Kotario. Now that my birthday is over I know what books I can buy without getting them as gifts. I asked you about Snow Crash, but I forgot about asking the name of the author. :roll:

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
The Orange Catholic Bible

"Thou shalt not disfigure the soul"

"Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind"
 
Member of Khans said:
lilfyffedawg said:
Have any of you guys read the entire Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy series? I tried reading Restaurant at the End of the Universe but it seemed pretty bad compared to the first.
Click to expand...
Actually I have. The first one kicks ass, but the following ones are getting quite boring after a while.
Click to expand...

It depends on how much you like the first one really. If you really like Adams' humor and style then it's worth reading the rest of them even though they aren't as good as the first. If you thought Hitchhiker's Guide was ok but didn't really love it, then don't bother with the rest as they don't surpass the original.

I will recommend "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" and "The Long Dark Teatime Of The Soul" though, both great books and have all the good things about Adams' without the "randomness" that some people find annoying or confusing in HGTTG.
 
The_Vault_Dweller said:
By the way Kotario. Now that my birthday is over I know what books I can buy without getting them as gifts. I asked you about Snow Crash, but I forgot about asking the name of the author. :roll:
Click to expand...

I'm rather sure you did ask me earlier, but in any case, the author is Neal Stephenson. Also: no Discworld novels?

'ah, Montez, the old Hitchhiker's Curse. Few remember that Adams actually wrote other books, and that they are pretty good.

To fulfill the thread's original intent: I just finished Luftwaffe Handbook 1939-1945, by Alfred Price. It's brief, but I suppose it is adequate for it's purpose. As the author states, it's a supplement to existing books on the subject.
 
Thanks Kotario.

I planned to spend $25 I had in a gift card, but since this week is going to be occupied with me getting paid an extra $100 to do yardwork that my Dad normally pays proffessional's $200 to do I can afford more. He said however that since I'll have little to no free time this week between work, college, and the yardwork that he request I spend the money on "fun" stuff. (I have a habit of hardly buying anything I want and hording money for an "emergency".)

I'll get Snow Crash and Guards! Guards! for sure. As part of reading to expand my mind as well I plan to get a book about general wilderness survival. Ive always loved nature and camped often growing up, but I learned lots of different skills in a patchwork of little lessons. I'd really like something to summarize everything and give me more info.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
Oh...

I began to read The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger only last Saturday (its now Thursday) and Ive already finished it. Right along with the plot of the book I feel like time has become compressed or expanded however. Perhaps I expected a book with such a story to be longer like 300-400 pages as are most of the books I read. Its all quite trite though as ultimately...I wanted to think of it as long since that seemed an accurate explanation for how...


I completely loved the entire thing. Everything! The writing is so blatantly imaginative I dont have to try to view the scene in my head. The descriptions of characters all seem so crisp and livid. The environment and history though...whoa. I couldnt help, but to be reminded of Fallout with the immediate western setting though it was trivial since it had more to do with the old west than with the Wasteland...until I read "The Way Station" where The Gunslinger finds the ancient machine that pumped water with an atomic engine. It then mentions how amazed he is to find something working from so long ago. That scene and a few others made me realise that its somehow post-apocalyptic. Not that I need a relation to the Wasteland to enjoy something. Its just ironic and very special.

I dont know how many times the book has been printed or how many of them are different. However my books 1-4 are two hardback, fist-sized books and two paperback, 8 1/2 by 14 books. Ive also seen larger hardback ones. The thing is my first book is the large paperback and I think the illustrations are the best I've seen to represent a story. I dont mean to sound childish since anyone can enjoy pictures, but they were few and only showed very well-described events that the reader would probably want to see most. I cant remove the second to last picture from my head...

http://www.thedarktower.net/artwork/1/book1-05.jpg

Hey! I just found a resource online with the pictures and two of them there are not mentioned book! Sucks since one of them is King_of_Creations avatar which I always thought was deceptively, alluring.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top