The book thread.

Emphyrio · Post by **Emphyrio** » July 12th, 2023, 18:41

I finished a book! A rare honor. Iron Dragon's Daughter, congrats. Perfect pacing, not a single boring page. Yet at the same time it was so dense with implications that I feel mentally exhausted. I'll have to cool down with something lighter.

I'm also 2/3rds through The Wallet of Kai Lung. A series of picaresque fables set in fantasy qing china. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1076

maidenhaver · Post by **maidenhaver** » July 12th, 2023, 18:55

Non-fiction readers: give me a reason to read non-fiction, when its all written by pseuds squeezing facts through their bullshit worldviews, until what I end up consuming is just somebody's fantasy anyway. I can at least appreciate philosophers and theologians, the non-systematic ones who don't play scientist.

Klerik · Post by **Klerik** » July 12th, 2023, 19:21

Emphyrio · Post by **Emphyrio** » July 14th, 2023, 02:53

Borges described The Invention of Morel as "perfect". I got 2/3rds through and then skipped to the end to see if anything unexpected happened. It didn't. Litfags are retards. It's an early 20th century scientifiction Weird Tales story that's been bloated to twice its ideal length with the schizo/criminal /simp angst that litfags love.

Acrux · Post by **Acrux** » July 14th, 2023, 03:05

maidenhaver wrote: ↑ July 12th, 2023, 18:55
Non-fiction readers: give me a reason to read non-fiction, when its all written by pseuds squeezing facts through their bullshit worldviews, until what I end up consuming is just somebody's fantasy anyway. I can at least appreciate philosophers and theologians, the non-systematic ones who don't play scientist.

Don't read modern non-fiction, read classical works - Marcus Aurelius, Confessions/The City of God, Plato, The Prince, The Gulag Archipelago, etc

Suissant · Post by **Suissant** » July 14th, 2023, 03:58

I was recently rereading some Stephen King books from my teenager years (Carrie, Firestarter, Roadwork) and I was severely disappointed. What are you guys opinion on him?

Dead · Post by **Dead** » July 14th, 2023, 04:19

Goosebumps for adults

Post by **Nemesis** » July 14th, 2023, 14:30

Suissant wrote: ↑ July 14th, 2023, 03:58
What are you guys opinion on him?

Read the books he wrote under his Richard Bachman pseudonym: Rage, Apt Pupil, The Long Walk, etc. I enjoyed those more than whatever crap he's published recently.

NotAI · Post by **NotAI** » July 15th, 2023, 15:53

"Richard Bachman" books were surprisingly better written than his usual Stephen King labeled stuff. As good as his short fiction, which is what is really good.

Stephen King, IMO, believe it or not, is really (Really!) a short fiction writer. Rather than a novel writer.

It seems that's what he's really best at. Short stories.

His top three novels are all Richard Bachman labeled: Roadwork, The Long Walk, The Running Man, &c.

What are his best novels under his real name: what do ppl think?

Gunnar · Post by **Gunnar** » July 16th, 2023, 01:19

I remember liking It and The Stand. Tommyknockers to a lesser degree. His fantasy novel The Eyes of the Dragon was interesting to see his attempt at a different genre.

Suissant · Post by **Suissant** » July 16th, 2023, 01:31

I agree with you on the short stories thing. The Mangler is an excample of an hilariously stupid short story that he made work somehow. I liked the slowly becoming claustrophobic atmosphere of The Shining and the small town vibe of Salem's Lot. I liked the prologue of The Stand but hated everything after it.

Post by **Nemesis** » July 16th, 2023, 11:22

I read The Stand’s unabridged version only because I’m a completionist. The abridged version might be better for new readers. I also recommend 11/22/63.

Sweeper · Post by **Sweeper** » July 18th, 2023, 23:23

5 fucking months. That's how long it took for a books thread. I share this forum with fucking illiterate philistines.
Anywho, Demons remained the only major work of Dosto that I haven't read, and I'm finally rectifying that. The first 150 pages were introduction and build up, finally getting some pay off. Dosto, as you know, was a degenerate gambler, and he got paid by the page, which is why his prose fucking sucks. He needed the shekels.

General Reign · Post by **General Reign** » July 18th, 2023, 23:25

Truth is my books are kinda lowbrow. I have been reading the Dexter and Hannibal series along with the normal esoteric stuff that I am for sure going to Hell for reading.

Acrux · Post by **Acrux** » July 18th, 2023, 23:32

Sweeper wrote: ↑ July 18th, 2023, 23:23
5 fucking months. That's how long it took for a books thread. I share this forum with fucking illiterate philistines.

Are you sure you aren't the one with reading comprehension problems?

viewtopic.php?t=400-the-book-thread

General Reign · Post by **General Reign** » July 18th, 2023, 23:42

Acrux wrote: ↑ July 18th, 2023, 23:32

Sweeper wrote: ↑ July 18th, 2023, 23:23
5 fucking months. That's how long it took for a books thread. I share this forum with fucking illiterate philistines.
Are you sure you aren't the one with reading comprehension problems?

viewtopic.php?t=400-the-book-thread

I knew I saw one it just was dead as shit. Oh well. Someone can merge it.

Sweeper · Post by **Sweeper** » July 18th, 2023, 23:52

Acrux wrote: ↑ July 18th, 2023, 23:32

Sweeper wrote: ↑ July 18th, 2023, 23:23
5 fucking months. That's how long it took for a books thread. I share this forum with fucking illiterate philistines.
Are you sure you aren't the one with reading comprehension problems?

viewtopic.php?t=400-the-book-thread

Dude I searched the forum for a book thread.
Whatevs, you're still illiterate philistines as far as I'm concerned.
RUSTY SAVE ME FROM MY SHAMEFUR DISPRAY

Post by **Nemesis** » July 19th, 2023, 00:39

I’m currently reading Too Like The Lightning by Ada Palmer. The world building is interesting but the prose leaves a lot to be desired. I’ll press on.

Suissant · Post by **Suissant** » July 19th, 2023, 00:43

Reading The Long Walk by Stephen King. It's garbage IMO, but I didn't digest it enough to say why at the moment.

Tweed · Post by **Tweed** » July 19th, 2023, 00:53

Mods pls merge.

Emphyrio · Post by **Emphyrio** » July 19th, 2023, 13:24

Urth of the New Sun sucks. Take a drink every time Severian gets knocked unconcious and you'll be dead.

Post by **Nemesis** » July 19th, 2023, 23:24

Emphyrio wrote: ↑ July 19th, 2023, 13:24
Take a drink every time Severian gets knocked unconcious and you'll be dead.

The same goes for Harry Potter throughout the series. The guy is knocked unconscious so much there's no doubt he has brain damage.

Acrux · Post by **Acrux** » September 5th, 2023, 23:34

I don't usually do this, but I pre-ordered the newest Tim Powers book and it arrived today. It's of the type of his books I like best - based on real historical people and events but given a supernatural explanation.

https://www.baen.com/my-brothers-keeper.html

My Brother's Keeper wrote:
THE TRUE STORY OF THE BRONTË SISTERS AS ONLY TIM POWERS COULD WRITE IT.

This is a ghost story. It is a story about werewolves, and things that go bump in the night. It is a story of an ill-fated land, the pathless moors of Northern England so well chronicled in Wuthering Heights. And it is the story of a real family whose destiny it is to deal with this darkly glamorous and dangerous world.

When young Emily Brontë helps a wounded man she finds at the foot of an ancient pagan shrine in the remote Yorkshire moors, her life becomes contentiously entwined with his. He is Alcuin Curzon, embittered member of a sect working to eradicate the resurgent plague of lycanthropy in Europe and northern England.

But Emily’s father, curate of the Haworth village church, is responsible for having unwittingly brought a demonic werewolf god to Yorkshire forty years ago—and it is taking possession of Emily’s beloved but foolish and dissolute brother. Curzon must regard Emily’s family as a dire threat.

In spite of being at deadly odds, Emily and Curzon find themselves thrown together in fighting werewolves, confronting pagan gods, even saving each other from the lures of moorland demons. And in a final battle that sweeps from the haunted village of Haworth to a monstrous shrine far out on the moors, the two of them must be reluctant allies against an ancient power that seems likely to take their souls as well as their lives.

Published: 9/5/2023

Kalarion · Post by **Kalarion** » September 6th, 2023, 02:12

maidenhaver wrote: ↑ July 12th, 2023, 18:55
Non-fiction readers: give me a reason to read non-fiction, when its all written by pseuds squeezing facts through their bullshit worldviews, until what I end up consuming is just somebody's fantasy anyway. I can at least appreciate philosophers and theologians, the non-systematic ones who don't play scientist.

I know this is late. I'm kinda in the same boat as you, I'm coming to reading historical non-fiction very late in my life.

If you want Modern-era non-fiction, try Chesterton and Belloc. They're both good, but I loved Belloc's The Crusades: the World's Debate in particular. You could also try Kipling's military reporting.

I also second Acrux's recommendation of older non-fiction; Meditations, The Prince, The Art of War etc are all really well-written and their wisdom is considered timeless for a reason.

Emphyrio · Post by **Emphyrio** » September 22nd, 2023, 18:21

Is Joseph Conrad based or cringe? His stuff sounds like exactly the kind of thing I like but I'm afraid it will be cringe.

Dead · Post by **Dead** » September 22nd, 2023, 18:24

Novelists are inherently cringe.

Post by **WhiteShark** » October 5th, 2023, 10:49

Do other people stop frequently while reading to try and really picture the scene? I don't remember doing this as a kid; I'm pretty sure I just kept reading and formed only a hazy subconscious image. These days I find myself pausing after most visual descriptions to really nail down what things are supposed to look like. I think it gives me a greater appreciation for sensible descriptions, especially spacial ones.

Watser · Post by **Watser** » October 5th, 2023, 10:57

WhiteShark wrote: ↑ October 5th, 2023, 10:49
Do other people stop frequently while reading to try and really picture the scene? I don't remember doing this as a kid; I'm pretty sure I just kept reading and formed only a hazy subconscious image. These days I find myself pausing after most visual descriptions to really nail down what things are supposed to look like. I think it gives me a greater appreciation for sensible descriptions, especially spacial ones.

If the scene calls for it, absolutely.

SiMtRy · Post by **SiMtRy** » November 10th, 2023, 11:44

kinda burnt on reading this year. I read nabokov's lolita, Umberto Eco's Name of the Rose, Thomas Pynchon's Crying of lott 49, and shakespeare's Othello. Lolita was by far my favorite read. Nabokov's prose is really beautiful. after that i got a nice 3 volume boxset of everymans library's Edition of War and Peace but only managed to read about 200 pages of the first volume before being totally burnt out. besides that its mostly rereading stuff i've read, mostly excerpts from joyce's portrait of the artist as a young man, and a few of his short stories in dubliners.

I read a lot of poetry by the english romantic poet Byron and and william wordsworth and i enjoyed it.

on the non-fiction side of things, i read a few of plato's dialogues (ion, meno, and symposium iirc), and book 1-3 of his republic. pretty good stuff as far as im concerned.

for now i can't spare time to read anything since i got a project that i gotta finish off soon for my uni.

SiMtRy · Post by **SiMtRy** » November 10th, 2023, 11:50

WhiteShark wrote: ↑ October 5th, 2023, 10:49
Do other people stop frequently while reading to try and really picture the scene? I don't remember doing this as a kid; I'm pretty sure I just kept reading and formed only a hazy subconscious image. These days I find myself pausing after most visual descriptions to really nail down what things are supposed to look like. I think it gives me a greater appreciation for sensible descriptions, especially spacial ones.

I never have to stop to really visualize anything because the image forms as i read the passage, and a prettty vivid one at that.