Last Book You Read and Your Review of It

[PeneloRatsbane]

I just read Lolita by Vladamir Nabokov, I thought it was brilliant, such a dark topic but writtern so romantically. Main characters you can pity, enjoy and despise all at the same time.

That's still my favorite book. Have you read anything else by Nabokov?

Got "The Original of Laura" for christmas and "Laughter in the Dark" is on its way in the post, should be here in the next couple of days (but we have severe weather warnings so it might be delayed ), then i think i will get another one, I just love the way he writes

I flipped through The Original of Laura in stores because it costs like 25 dollars for a skeleton of a novel that's less than fourty pages. I really want to buy it once it's paperback.

An Invitation to a Beheading is really great!

cool i'll be keeping that one in mind then

Yeah "The Original of Laura" is more a pretty little item, so i was glad i got it as a gift rather than cashing out for it myself, lol. I still enjoyed it though, despite the fact its so very short. I could see how, fleshed out, it would have been even more intreguing

[Cuchulainn]

I READ 'THE ROAD': IT WAS GOOD.

[Polaris]

Dead until Dark: Charlaine Harris

It was far better than Twilight. It's an entertaining book also nice for those who like crime/ mysteries books, but also the characters are grown ups, adults that have adult problems so I think it's not a masterpiece but it's nice to relax (and thank God vampires are evil there)

[Madame Adequate]

The United States of Atlantis - Harry Turtledove.

Interesting book, but perhaps it had a bit too much similarity to our own timeline. That said it was very well-written and enjoyable and I burned through it in like two days. Not, however, as good as I found The Guns of the South, by the same, which I finished reading a couple of days earlier. And which is sublime. I've now been reading American Front but I'm not so into that, mainly because it's so darned huge I know I won't finish it before it has to go back to the library.

[Raistlin]

I just finished Dragons of the Hourglass Mage by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, the third of their "Lost Chronicles" trilogy (about stuff that happened during the original Chronicles). I was disappointed, though possibly only because my expectations were very high considering it was all about Raistlin. Some of it did not make much sense, though. Still, a necessary read for fans.

[drotato]

The Dark Elf Trilogy omnibus by R.A. Salvatore.

Great book(s). A friend recommended it to me and it was much better than I thought. Story of a dark elf who grows up in the evil world of his heritage and his struggles in finding his morals.

^These. I just finished Homeland, and I'm going to start on the next one soon.
They are reaaaaaaallllly good. I love the way it is written. Salvatore is a great writer. He's very creative. :3

[The Man]

Dead until Dark: Charlaine Harris

It was far better than Twilight. It's an entertaining book also nice for those who like crime/ mysteries books, but also the characters are grown ups, adults that have adult problems so I think it's not a masterpiece but it's nice to relax (and thank God vampires are evil there)

That's one of the books I'm reading right now. Pretty good. And I definitely agree on the "far better than Twilight" assessment, but then, so is just about everything.

[Madame Adequate]

Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke.

Holy jumping ting smurfing brown Christ on a little red unicycle with a jester's hat on.

Best book I have read since Use of Weapons and Excession. One of the best sci-fi novels I have ever experienced.

[The Man]

Jim Butcher - Storm Front and Fool Moon

Good stuff. He's not going to redefine the fantasy genre or anything but he manages to combine an extremely entertaining (and often humorous) writing style with a fair amount of substance. I'll probably read the rest in this series; they only take me a few hours each.

[Kossage]

The Long Good-bye by Raymond Chandler. I heard this was a good hard-boiled detective book but I never expected it to turn out this great.

The characters are wonderfully complex and develop as the story goes on, the plot begins in relatively simple terms but becomes more and more complex as more surprising facts are revealed, and the vivid descriptions really help to set the mood for this almost dream-like writing style. The narrative keeps one in its grip throughout the whole novel, and the whole melancholic storytelling actually enhances the whole plot to a new level of bittersweet epic that I've rarely seen in this kind of fiction.

I also like the way how Chandler uses his protagonist Philip Marlowe's narration as social criticism of the US, and there are very interesting jabs at Chandler himself thanks to the inclusion of the writer Roger Wade.

Overall the novel was a pleasant surprise and it's definitely worth a read.

[rubah]

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde:

maybe this was good before modern science realized you can't transmogrify a man, or people realized that it is okay to lust after stuff (I assume. The book never goes into detail as to what Dr. Jekyll's fancies were) but god, this book was dreadful. Especially after the glorious Sherlock Holmes. The characters were unengaging, the presentation lackluster (I still think letters are a horrible way to express plot), and the terrors that Hyde commits are 1) physically doubtful, 2) not that horrendous.

In short, needs more scare-factor, shocking crimes, and less moralizing. I mean, [spoilers]this potion can separate the evil side of man from the regular man, but it can't do the opposite? Jekyll has a brief spout of spiritual growth, but it's inspired only by Hyde's evilness. You never get to see maybe Mr. Bienvenue, who is wholly good and wholly sinless. Okay, I get it, you think man is inherently flawed and sinful. BEAT US OVER THE HEAD WITH IT A LITTLE MORE K THX[/spoiler].

[Kossage]

Neuromancer by William Gibson. This is known as the cyberpunk novel which pretty much kickstarted the whole subgenre and basically made the term "cyberspace" known to a wider audience. The plot deals with a hacker named Case who is hired by a mysterious employer to hack into a certain database. Needless to say the plot gets much more complex pretty quickly as Case finds himself in a messier situation than he bargained for.

The plot is quite interesting although it's all over the place most of the time. The cyberspace segments are quite interestingly written, and the introduction of such terms as ICE, flatlining et al is quite fascinating. The characters themselves are okay although I don't think they're developed enough, which is a shame. Still, the characters are entertaining enough as they are and there are some gems such as a certain guy named Dixie who is hilarious. The eponymous Neuromancer also left a good impression on me too.

The most interesting stuff in this novel is obviously the detailed and complex setting which reveals more secrets in the background during repeated readings. It's the setting that helps to sell the somewhat bland story, and philosophical ramblings add depth to the overall narrative.

Overall the novel is worth a read not only because of its importance and impact on literary studies but also because it has a very fascinating view of a future world.

[Nice]

The Sorrows of Young Werther - Wolfgang Von Goethe

Werther is a philosophical rant machine as well as an emotional well of girly emotions. It's very interesting to read a book where the protagonist rebels against the norms of his day. I liked it...even though Werther cried like every 6-8 lines.

[Rye]

Reviving this thread. Daaaamn right, I am!

I just finished The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood. It was insanely fantastic. She is the master of dystopian lit, though this one was more looking at the end of the world actually happen, and what you become when your role in society is destroyed, as well as bringing up the subject of end of the world religion.

I'm reading The Blind Assassin now, also by Atwood. But I can say already that it is amazing. A novel, within a novel, within a novel, and I can't figure out which of the stories I love the most.

[Ouch!]

I finished the first book in Steven King's Dark Tower series. It made no bloody sense whatsoever, but I loved it.