Likes: 
Faceplams:
I'm digging the interludes. But the main part I'm finding bland.
EDIT: 350 pages in. This book is a real chore. I really don't understand what people see in Gaiman.
Active Member
I'm digging the interludes. But the main part I'm finding bland.
EDIT: 350 pages in. This book is a real chore. I really don't understand what people see in Gaiman.
Last edited by aggroculture; 10-12-2012 at 09:03 AM. Reason: because i read more
Hierba Gatera
This but the 10pt type is killing my vision.Originally Posted by aggroculture
Last edited by Baphomette; 10-03-2012 at 07:22 PM.
Throbbing Member
This is no Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but it's a pretty solid novel.
A book authored by a bio-engineering pioneer. It's crazy fascinating, well written and has me oscillating between thinking technology really will save us and thinking it will be our doom.
Active Member
I found it a somewhat enjoyable, yet ultimately rather disappointing Hemingway rip-off.
Throbbing Member
Hemingway?! Well, I guess I'll have to admit I've only read The Old Man and the Sea. Rum Diaries is pretty far away from that book. I get the first hints of the more delirious and hallucinogenic Gonzo work that was to come rather than Hemingway. If anything he conjures a more cagey Kerouac in Rum Diaries.
Active Member
From what I recall, The Rum Diary is pretty much the Spanish parts of The Sun Also Rises (which I totally recommend btw) - but set in Puerto Rico.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...erto-rico.html
Throbbing Member
Probably the most insightful and painful book I've ever read.
I've found myself in this book, and I'm trying to get out of it.
Stubby Member
^ Given my ongoing relationship with the big D, I think I'll be steering clear of that one.
Just finished Iain M Banks' new SF novel The Hydrogen Sonata, which was just fantastic. Now enjoying some light-weight, straightforward heroic fantasy in the form of Robin Hobb.
Active Member
Lucky by Alice Sebold, got given it as a birthday present but it is a tough going read!
The Enhancer
Picked up a copy of "Beyond Band of Brothers: The war memoirs of Major Dick Winters". Pretty good so far.
Active Member
80 pages into this and already digging it a lot. Clive Barker is a great writer.
The Enhancer
"Right. Challenge the bastards on their own turf. Come screeching up to the crosswalk, bucking and skidding with a bottle of rum in one hand and jamming the horn to drown out the music ... glazed eyes insanely dilated behind tiny black, gold-rimmed greaser shades, screaming gibberish ... a genuinely dangerous drunk, reeking of ether and terminal psychosis. Revving the engine up to a terrible high-pitched chattering whine, waiting for the light to change ... "
I'm reading "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" right now, but then, I'm kind of ALWAYS reading it. I'm usually at some point or another in it while reading something else at the same time.
Right now that "same time" book is "Enemy At The Gates", the historical text by William Craig about the Battle of Stalingrad, later to be made into the not bad Jude Law/Ed Harris movie that takes up maybe 4 pages of the book!
Active Member
Read a couple essay compilations by Lewis Thomas, The Fragile Species, and On Late Nights Listening To Mahler's Ninth Symphony (?). Rehashes a lot of the same points but he has a pretty interesting take on things and ideas about science etc.
The Enhancer
World War Z!
Active Member
Often brilliant. Sometimes stupid, annoying, and off the mark, especially when it feels the need to throw meta-literary tricks at you, or belabors the same point over and over. But at its best, this book is incredibly thought-provoking and vivid. Some of the stories linger in your mind for quite a while.
Active Member
My Dad likes to give me books and this one was a draft that he got from a book agent in his office building. I feel so special. It's pretty good so far. I'm such a serial genre reader: first it was mysteries, then true crime, then book club fiction, then book club histroric fiction, then it was anything that won a Pulitzer, now I'm on to real history. I'm also slow - I really need to force myself to read.
Throbbing Member
Just finished reading "John Dies at the End". Holy fuck was it good. Poignant one minute. Bat-shit-insane the next. Anyone else read it?
Last edited by NIN64; 01-07-2013 at 04:13 PM.
Bite me
Haha I read the same way (genre), including the Pulitzer genre. That CtG book looks good!
My Dad likes to give me books and this one was a draft that he got from a book agent in his office building. I feel so special. It's pretty good so far. I'm such a serial genre reader: first it was mysteries, then true crime, then book club fiction, then book club histroric fiction, then it was anything that won a Pulitzer, now I'm on to real history. I'm also slow - I really need to force myself to read.
I'm back to attempting Niffenegger's "Her Fearful Symmetry." Much better this time around. So far.
Administrator
Stanislaw Lem - Solaris / Eden / The Invincible.
Epic stuff. I already read those in high school, but this book (I've got all three novels in one volume) holds much more appeal to me now when I'm 10 years older.
Last edited by fillow; 01-08-2013 at 09:46 AM.
Throbbing Member
Quite possibly the most challenging book I've read in a long time. It's very intriguing but demands my full attention. That is, it's not a good choice for when I'm drowsy or distracted.
Hairy Member
Started reading Sandakan, about the death marches in WW2. Christmas present.
I totally feel like Mark Corrigan.
Last edited by Minpin; 01-10-2013 at 12:42 PM. Reason: Removing busted picture link
Active Member
I really want to read that book!
Quite possibly the most challenging book I've read in a long time. It's very intriguing but demands my full attention. That is, it's not a good choice for when I'm drowsy or distracted.
Bite me
Which is exactly why that book, in all of its hardcover glory, has been sitting on my bookshelves for ions. Let me know what you think.
Quite possibly the most challenging book I've read in a long time. It's very intriguing but demands my full attention. That is, it's not a good choice for when I'm drowsy or distracted.
BACKROLLS?!
These are what I'm currently reading on my commutes to my course:
Active Member
The Last Empire- Gore Vidal
Throbbing Member
So I finished reading Wolf Hall. A couple people in here were curious about what I thought of it, so here's my review:
The first two parts were very, very slow, and a bit confusing at first. Once I got used to the writing style I had a much easier time with it. As I got into Part 3, I had a much easier time and found it difficult to put it down. I had to find a good place to pause until I would have the time to pick it up again. It's a very intriguing telling of the reign of King Henry VIII, as it depicts the life of a person who was a prominent figure but worked behind the scenes more often or not. I still maintain that because there are so many characters and so many things going on that it can't be read while distracted or tired since it needs your full attention to read and understand.
Now I've moved onto its sequel:
Bite me
^^ Thanks, @leo3375 !
Active Member
.net (24.24.2.1447)
Cloud Atlas. About 3/5 through. Avoiding reading anything about it so I don't see spoilers. The edition I have has the movie cover which looks crap. I hope it's a good movie. Skipped the author preface to avoid spoilers too. (It's happened before!) enjoying the book, the stack is starting to unwind now so I'm hoping it does so to my satisfaction.
Hairy Member
Currently reading A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin, which is only getting me excited for the new season of Game of Thrones.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
