Author Topic: Books (Read 174150 times)

Shale · « **Reply #1225 on:** June 20, 2014, 11:16:12 PM »

Re: the reveal at the end, current theory seems to be that Lopen is a "squire," which would mean he gets general Stormlight powers but no specific Surge and continues to act as one of Kaladin's sidekicks. Which would be fine with me.

Fenrir · « **Reply #1226 on:** July 03, 2014, 11:29:52 PM »

Crime And Punishment: The only pre-XXth century book I'd call actually entertaining (which might be a dirty word but I don't care)
The main character (extremely rude and proud, but with a strong and warped moral fiber) commits a crime, and unlike in every other piece of fiction you've read, he goes on to sabotage himself and puts himself at risk of getting discovered all the time. The guy slowly loses it, but is treated in a very humane way.
The book is very sincere and Russian. It's not boring like Tolstoï

Remembering the name of every character is impossible. It's Persona 2 all over again except with Russian names instead of Japanese. Some characters even have nicknames that have nothing to do with their actual name! The main character is named "Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov" and he's not even the worst one about it.

It's like hey there are two characters, Tatsuya Suou and Tatsuya Sudou, and the first one is either called Tatsuya or Sudou or Tat-sama or Baka, and the second one is called Tatsuya or Suou or Tatsu-san or Jenkins.

Glamorama (Still reading):
Every Bret Easton Ellis novel seems like the same thing (Flat tone + Brands everywhere + dark humour + vain, egocentric, morally bankrupt, either young or trying to be young, and extremely sexy characters + no real emotional connections between any of these characters) , with a twist:

- Less than Zero: It's the first book, there's no twist. Maybe the complete aimlessness.
- Rules of Attractions: Haven't read yet but I think there are multiple PoV?
- American Psycho: Murders
- The Informers: Collection of short essays instead of a book
- Lunar Park: Fake autobiography, actually turns sincere instead of staying detached
- Imperial Bedroom(s): Sequel to the first book 20 years later, with only fourty-fiftyish people
- Glamorama: Slowly turns into a thriller

Anyway I'm loving seeing one of BEE's main characters (maybe the biggest tool out of all of his characters yet, and that's saying something) in a thriller story. He just doesn't fit at all.
It feels strangely like the Big Lebowski in that way.

superaielman · « **Reply #1227 on:** July 03, 2014, 11:34:11 PM »

Read the wheel of time, Fenrir! Though IIRC the French translations were kind of spotty.

Grefter · « **Reply #1228 on:** July 03, 2014, 11:37:21 PM »

He just finished posting about enjoying Dostoevsky and you tell him to read WoT?

There is still Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot to enjoy.

Fenrir · « **Reply #1229 on:** July 04, 2014, 12:04:36 AM »

I don't want anything too long right now, and I also don't like fantasy elements that much anymore, so I'll stick with Fiodor...

I'm taking a break from Dostoevsky right now (His books won't have as much of an impact if I read them in a row) but I definitely plan on having read his four big books in one year?
Does it really get better than Crime and Punishment though? That was intense.

I'll probably try Pynchon or DeLillo next.

NotMiki · « **Reply #1230 on:** July 04, 2014, 03:02:12 AM »

Old and not boring? Hunchback of Notre Dame. Or The Count of Monte Cristo if you're feeling a bit campy.

Jo'ou Ranbu · « **Reply #1231 on:** July 04, 2014, 03:52:35 AM »

Quote from: Fenrir on July 04, 2014, 12:04:36 AM

I'm taking a break from Dostoevsky right now (His books won't have as much of an impact if I read them in a row) but I definitely plan on having read his four big books in one year?
Does it really get better than Crime and Punishment though? That was intense.

Notes From The Underground is downright gorgeous and quite different from Crime and Punishment (and I honestly prefer Notes). It's also much shorter.

Grefter · « **Reply #1232 on:** July 04, 2014, 06:25:19 AM »

I would go with a recommendation of Candide for great, short and old. Bonus points as IIRC it was originally published in French rather than Latin to ensure a broader audience. Voltaire pretty great.

Fenrir · « **Reply #1233 on:** July 04, 2014, 01:25:21 PM »

I already read Notes last summer, it was weird and great. Maybe not the best introduction to Dostoevsky

My teacher made us all read and dissect Candide when I was like 12 and I fucking hated it. No desire to revisit it.

superaielman · « **Reply #1234 on:** July 04, 2014, 01:44:42 PM »

The three musketeers was fun but I'm pretty sure you've read that.

Quote

He just finished posting about enjoying Dostoevsky and you tell him to read WoT?

There is still Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot to enjoy.

I can't stand reading anything along those lines, it's boring as shit. The entire point of reading for fun is to enjoy it. On that note, eat a dick Fitzgerald, you are the absolute worst and the Great Gatsby is a pile of shit that rivals Xenosaga.

Sierra · « **Reply #1235 on:** July 04, 2014, 01:49:33 PM »

Quote from: Fenrir on July 03, 2014, 11:29:52 PM

Remembering the name of every character is impossible. It's Persona 2 all over again except with Russian names instead of Japanese. Some characters even have nicknames that have nothing to do with their actual name! The main character is named "Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov" and he's not even the worst one about it.

This was my problem with Doctor Zhivago (one of those rare cases where I vastly prefer the movie to the book), except that had the additional bad habit of expecting you to remember who these random one-off ciphers were two hundred pages after their unremarkable first appearance. Crime and Punishment at least focused on a fairly compact central cast (and be awesome), from memory at least. I so couldn't immediately follow it up with more Dostoesvky, though. That is some of the densest writing I've encountered (English translation, at least).

Fenrir man I dunno about you but I would've been way too much of a dufus at 12 to appreciate Candide if I'd actually read it then.

Fenrir · « **Reply #1236 on:** July 04, 2014, 04:49:26 PM »

Quote

"The three musketeers was fun but I'm pretty sure you've read that."

Yep

Quote

"Fenrir man I dunno about you but I would've been way too much of a dufus at 12 to appreciate Candide if I'd actually read it then."

Oh yeah definitely. I probably didn't get anything about it.
And I got somewhat lucky I had to read a story with things happening in it, instead of like Madame Bovary.

Reading the same passages over and over and finding every figure of speech still killed the book for me and I don't particularly want to see it again.
Also I already know the ending. Candide really likes vegetables.

Quote

"This was my problem with Doctor Zhivago (one of those rare cases where I vastly prefer the movie to the book), except that had the additional bad habit of expecting you to remember who these random one-off ciphers were two hundred pages after their unremarkable first appearance. Crime and Punishment at least focused on a fairly compact central cast (and be awesome), from memory at least. I so couldn't immediately follow it up with more Dostoesvky, though. That is some of the densest writing I've encountered (English translation, at least)."

Crime and Punishment still had a prety big main cast, the important characters are
- Main character
- Mother
- Sister
- BFF
- Love interest
- Love interest's father
- Love interest's mother
- Future brother in law
- Pedophile
- Hercule Poirot
+ Some secondary characters you should remember, like killed woman, killed woman's killed sister, those three dudes with names that start with Z I couldn't tell from each other (I think there's Zazimov, Zametov, and another one), Pedophile's dead wife, Love interest's brothers and sisters, future brother in law's friend, the painters.

Thankfully Fiodor keeps things relatively simple at the beginning, he's (at least there) not one of those authors that throws a big party at the beginning with 150 characters and you have no idea which one is important and you should remember.

The Duck · « **Reply #1237 on:** July 04, 2014, 05:36:36 PM »

If you enjoyed Notes and Crimes and Punishment, then I don't think you'll get any writer fatigue from reading Brothers Karamazov, which I really like. I read them all in succession for a class in college and it was great. If you're afraid of that, then I would go to DeLillo's White Noise.

Hunter Sopko · « **Reply #1238 on:** July 04, 2014, 07:16:22 PM »

DeLilo's White Noise is great stuff, but there've been a lot of similar stories in books and TV since and sometimes I've known people to come out of it going "That was good but it feels like I've read it before."

I don't get the overstated Gatsby hate people seem to have. I agree it's not good, but it's a fairly breezy, quick read and easily forgettable. There are much, much worse books about terrible people being terrible that sear themselves into your soul much worse (Wuthering Heights anyone?). Does being forced to write a report on Gatsby for English in High School really turn that many people off to it?

As far as classics go, been meaning to start up The Gilded Age forever. Had it for a while and Mark Twain is pretty rad, so don't know whats been stopping me.

Fenrir · « **Reply #1239 on:** July 06, 2014, 03:08:47 PM »

Extremely relevant and deep discussion from Glamorama :
(I'm curious to know if the wrong Koopa is intentional, but probably yes)

"Shhh, I'm playing," I tell her. "Yoshi's eaten four gold coins and he's trying to find the fifth. I need to concentrate."

"Oh my god, who gives a shit," Alison sighs. "We're dealing with a fat midget who rides a dinosaur and saves his girlfriend from a pissed-off gorilla? Victor, get serious."

"It's not his girlfriend. It's Princess Toadstool. And it's not a gorilla," I stress. "It's Lemmy Koopa of the evil Koopa clan. And baby, as usual, you're missing the point."

"Please enlighten me."

"The whole point of Super Mario Bros. is that it mirrors life."

"I'm following." She checks her nails. "God knows why."

"Kill or be killed."

"Uh-huh."

"Time is running out."

"Gotcha."

"And in the end, baby, you ... are ... alone."

DjinnAndTonic · « **Reply #1240 on:** July 06, 2014, 03:28:37 PM »

You're only alone because your princess is in the next castle.

The glass is half-full, you tool.

Grefter · « **Reply #1241 on:** July 07, 2014, 02:25:00 AM »

Enjoy your castle full of dead bodies.

Luther Lansfeld · « **Reply #1242 on:** July 08, 2014, 03:45:07 AM »

The Fairy Godmother - Woot, finally finished my first full iPad game. Good book, very whimsical and didn't take itself too seriously. I enjoyed the silly adapted fairy tales as magic aspect.

superaielman · « **Reply #1243 on:** July 15, 2014, 08:38:19 PM »

The name of the wind: About 600 pages into this. Rothfuss is a gifted writer but this book has problems. Denna needs to seriously stop with the wandering in and out of the story, that shit got old 200 pages ago.

Dhyerwolf · « **Reply #1244 on:** July 16, 2014, 03:05:09 AM »

And yet, you know that she will be doing the exact same damn thing for the next 1400 pages (at least! I'm sure that it will be more). And I don't think you've even got to the truly egregious part of her wandering in and out.

superaielman · « **Reply #1245 on:** July 16, 2014, 08:16:40 PM »

Finished the Name of the Wind. The concept of the book is very cool (Examining a hero's life from his perspective and how his legends started, along with the price he pays) but I've got issues with it. There's the aforementioned issue with Denna and Ambrose being an absolute void of worth. Kvothe has a strong streak of Fitzchivarly level decision making. This is a bad thing. On the flip side, dude's literally good at everything he does. He varies between godmodding and being an utter fuckup with zero room in between. Author seems to have a Hobb level fascination with shitting on the main character as well. The book also ends with no real climax as well.

There's other things to pick at. I did enjoy reading the book a fair bit once I got into it, and the concept's cool. I want to read the second one before making a decision on this.

Captain K. · « **Reply #1246 on:** July 21, 2014, 09:01:44 PM »

Divergent/Insurgent/Allegiant: I enjoyed them. They were very similar to the Hunger Games, except HG had a strong first book and weak sequels, while this was the other way around. Story got much better as it went along. The only thing I didn't like was the split POV in the third book. Split POVs work when you're writing in third person. But when you're writing in first person it's very confusing to switch back and forth because everyone just says "I". I kept mistaking which character was narrating which chapter.

Fenrir · « **Reply #1247 on:** July 21, 2014, 11:24:46 PM »

Glamorama: This went to weird places later on. I can't really recommend it to anyone but peole who want their plot to become Drakengard / Lynch.

Brothers Kazamov: Sure is weird to see Fiodor as a narrator basically write from time to time "Oh yeah this character? FUCK this guy, seriously"

Lady Door · « **Reply #1248 on:** July 21, 2014, 11:32:45 PM »

Interestingly, I also just read Divergent/Insurgent/Allegiant.

Entertaining; I liked them better than Hunger Games because there was more ... depth? ... to the conflict underlying the action in the story. No more a deep, existential novel than Hunger Games was, but at least the characters felt more like they were doing something and actually struggled with the choices they made.

Teen romance drama is eyeroll, but it is a YA series so I get it.

--

Read Eggers' "The Circle," too. It was overly inflated but it did a good job helping you stick with the narrator and subtly keep you aware of how bizarre things are without forcing you at odds with the narrator before it makes sense. As a marketer in the digital space, it was especially compelling because it is the manifestation of every slippery slope argument ever made about the things I do.

A cheeky take on near-future dystopia. If you like that kind of thing, I recommend it! Similar-ish to 1984 and Brave New World without the overt allegories.

superaielman · « **Reply #1249 on:** July 22, 2014, 07:30:48 PM »

Quote from: Grefter on August 31, 2012, 09:07:10 AM

A Wise Man's Fear - Page 367 Kvothe describes how he lost everything he owned for th millionth time and specifically the item that prevents him from coming under opposing magic attacks.

FUCKING TABLE FLIP IS ONLY REASONABLE RESPONSE.

I enjoy the book but god fucking dammit I would like to go just 100 pages without Kvothe going broke. I almost think Patrick Rothfuss is a Marxist with his obsession with Kvothe's financial situation and the way it shapes his entire life.

Quoting this for goddamn truth. Rothfuss must've been super poor at some point because jesus christ Rothfuss.

I'm about 75% through A wise man's fear.

to the entire Fairie section. I like this book a great deal more than the name of the wind (Features 90% less shitting on Kvothe) but man. Kvothe taming the power of the wild fairie sex queen with his penis was so bad. *so* bad.

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Author Topic: Books (Read 174150 times)