I'm about halfway through Middlesex and I am so delighted by it. It is probably the best read in a very long time for me. The author's style is so immense in scale and has such a fate-oriented quality to it that makes even the most minute topics very shaking and exciting.
I read this a couple of years ago and loved it. He's a fantastic writer with a very dark sense of humour which I love.Originally Posted by Rye
You should read "The Virgin Suicides" by Eugenides as well. I remember laughing out loud throughout that book even though it's basically a book about 5 girls who commit suicide.
Though, I could just be a little bit disturbed...
The Girl Who Played With Fire is next on my list but right now I am reading Man's Search For Meaning by Frankl.
Has anyone else read the inheritance cycle, I want to talk to you about it!
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Finally finished East of Eden. Astonishingly beautiful work of art. Added to my "read once every few years" list. Would love to see a modern retelling in movie form, perhaps by the Coens. Reading The Hobbit now in preparation for the movie next winter. I've read it enough to practically have it memorized, but It's no less enjoyable now than the first time.
Also reading:
The Bhagavad Gita
Introducción a la literatura Hispano-Americana: de la conquista al siglo XX
ghostbread ~ Sonja Livingston
The Metamorphosis ~ Kafka
The Northern Clemency ~ Philip Hensher
Trying to shorten my pile of must-reads before the heavy part of the semester hits and I don't have as much time for reading anymore.
~ HC, I've read the series, but I'm not enough of a fan to want to discuss the books. I don't say that to bash the books, they were OK (especially considering they were written by a teenager, or at least the earlier parts of the series were) but considering all of the other fantasy literature that's out there that does what Paolini tried to do, but better, I don't think it's a worthwhile investment of time.
Last edited by chionos; 01-25-2012 at 01:41 AM.
I finished the Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and am on to the Last. Donaldson's writing style has changed a lot in the intervening years, but the character of Linden is even more relatable and sympathetic now, and her relationship with her adopted son as her life's purpose is really heart-rending (he is completely mute and unreachable after child-hood trauma and displays symptoms similar to severe autism). I won't spoil what happens to him (and I've only read the first few chapters) but Linden is driven back into the Land by seeking to protect him, and I assume that it will be her major motivation for getting back to her world. I'm really excited about this series and plan to get through the first 3 books in anticipation of the 4th and final novel.
I agree with that assessment - Umbridge is almost unnecessary and there's so much material that could have been edited/improved. Interestingly, it's the longest book in the series, but the shortest film, which says a lot.
I actually thought Faith of the Fallen was one of the stronger entries in the series, though nothing ever came close to matching Wizard's First Rule IMO. I would say the Pillars of Creation was pretty weak due to the almost complete absence of the main characters, and Naked Empire had poorly developed action and was bogged down instead by seemingly pointless and endless traveling. The Chainfire trilogy also had a really poorly handled and disappointing ending to the series. I haven't read the Omen Machine yet - I'm downloading it in audio book form, because I enjoyed the audio book of the Law of Nines.
Last edited by Vincent, Thunder God; 01-27-2012 at 09:48 PM.
"Kõrboja peremees" (Landlord of Kõrboja, if translated) by Anton Hansen Tammsaare, compulsory literature... It's a tragic love story sort of. Haven't read much, so I can't tell you about it any more than that.
Yes, "Middlesex" is a great book. It's one of my favourites. It's just so impossibly ambitious in its narrative, and it pulls it off. As said, you should also read "The Virgin Suicides". It's a completely different book, and not that long, but it's great. Eugenides makes some really good observations and turns them into great sentences. His newest book "The Marriage Plot" just came out. I haven't read it yet, but it should be a really good one too.I read this a couple of years ago and loved it. He's a fantastic writer with a very dark sense of humour which I love.
You should read "The Virgin Suicides" by Eugenides as well. I remember laughing out loud throughout that book even though it's basically a book about 5 girls who commit suicide.
Though, I could just be a little bit disturbed...
As for myself I just finished "Henry V" by Shakespeare today. I thought it was pretty meh - it just seems like there is nothing at stake in the narrative. It had it's moments, like I guess everything by Shakespeare does, but if I have to read Shakespeare and really enjoy it, I pretty much have to read one of his tragedies, like e.g. "Macbeth" or "King Lear".
I just started reading "The Porcupine" by Julian Barnes today as well. So far it seems promising.
Cat's Cradle was pretty disappointing for me. Vonnegut's style of writing had so much charm in Slaughterhouse Five, but was just not at all present here. I was looking forward to a book about the implications of having a weapon capable of destroying the entire world, but a good 85% of it was about the Bokonon religion. I guess I just don't "get" it.
Currently reading The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green. It finally arrived. About halfway through and am loving it. Hazel and Augutus are proving to be two of the best characters he has written: They are complex and really shine character through their adversity.
I'm rereading my Shakespeare collection. I'm starting with twelfth night to get it out of the way. I know it is supposed to be a comedy, but I don't like it nearly as much as say king lear.
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I'm on page 56 on this book
Economics in One Lesson
1984, for the second time. I'm going to read Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Fear and Loathing and The Rum Diaries next, in that order.
I love orwell, have you tried orson scott cards writings?
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I've been blazing through some books lately. During the last theatre show it seemed that all of the musicians who'd not yet read The Hunger Games picked them up to read during tacets. I blazed the whole trilogy in about 2 days and then finally decided to pick up a book my wife had been reading which was recommended to her by a friend. I wasn't that interested at first but oh man am I in love now.
The Name of the Wind was immediately followed by The Wise Man's Fear and now I'm absolutely dying to know how the trilogy ends.
Then returning to the them of reading series' everyone is into lately, I tried starting up A Game of Thrones. FML I'm having trouble getting into it. I'd tried to start the show a while back at the suggestion of friends and made it about halfway through the first episode.
I somehow thought the book would be better, but the opposite is true. Less exposition please. I can't be arsed to care about deep genealogies, family histories, lists of heirs and other such boringness. If I wanted to read that I'll go pick up Genesis and read the begat section a dozen times. I much prefer it when the author gets you started and builds the world around you as you go. Patrick Rothfuss did that so well with the Kingkiller books. I didn't care about Kvothe's world at first, but I got lulled in rather than bored out of the gate.
I'm probably going to keep pressing on with A Game of Thrones anyway. I'm sure I'll appreciate the depth later, but at the moment I'm just glossing over so much because I have no context for it. Such a waste. I just know that once I care later about the dozens of characters introduced so far... I'll have to come back and reread those sections much later when I have context.
If you can stick with it, Martin begins to connect the dots eventually. I had similar thoughts to yours when I first started reading the series, but it didn't take long to understand what he was doing. He builds his characters gradually, which may be annoying at first, but it's absolutely necessary.
The Rothfuss series looks interesting, it'll be on my next amazon order. Thanks.
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