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Wanderer

Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Wanderer »

I'm reading "How to Read Literature Like a Professor"
Nice little informative guide, even though I'm not going to be a literature professor.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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Oooh, I read that a long time ago. Should give it another look sometime.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Radio Blue Heart »

Just read "Freakenomics". Its a book of nonfiction about odd things that crop in statistics. That does not sound to terribly interesting, but trust me, it is!
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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I remember thinking the cover was neat when I was a kit.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Penwrite »

I'm currently reading Grant Morrison's "Supergods". It's half-autobiography, half-history of the comics industry from the viewpoint of the author. Really interesting stuff in it.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Radio Blue Heart »

Penwrite wrote:I'm currently reading Grant Morrison's "Supergods". It's half-autobiography, half-history of the comics industry from the viewpoint of the author. Really interesting stuff in it.

Grant Morrison is an awesome comic writer. I loved his work on "Doom Patrol". I think I will check out that book of his.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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Radio Blue Heart wrote:
Penwrite wrote:I'm currently reading Grant Morrison's "Supergods". It's half-autobiography, half-history of the comics industry from the viewpoint of the author. Really interesting stuff in it.

Grant Morrison is an awesome comic writer. I loved his work on "Doom Patrol". I think I will check out that book of his.
It's very good, and makes ya really think about comic books differently.

Although, spoiler alert, it turns out Morrison takes lots and lots, like really lots, of psychodelic drugs, like LSD. Makes a lot of sense...
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Sansash »

I recently read The Golden Compass (or Northern Lights) by Philip Pullman. It's an interesting work of fantasy/speculative fiction. It's such a shame that with the movie, about 30 minutes of filmed footage got cut from the ending by executives. They even rearranged the order of some events to try to make the picture work without the ending better. It would be wonderful if a director's cut were released on DVD, even if the restored scenes didn't have finished visual effects. Also it would be cool if the original voice for Iorek Byrnison played the part instead of last minute recast Ian McKellen.

I read The Hunger Games; pretty good; I found the narrative style interesting. People told me that the book had a cliffhanger ending that wasn't as good in the movie, but I wasn't so hooked by it; the book ending was a lot like the movie ending to me. Fascinating to discover details left out of the movie, like the dead tributes turned into zombie reaver werewolf clones or whatever they were.

I'm planning to start A Game of Thrones soon, having watched the first season of the TV series on DVD already. It seems I always want to read stuff that's already been adapted to the screen; I should next try something that hasn't already been put on film.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Radio Blue Heart »

Just picked up a very nifty book on independent film making called "Nightmare USA" by Stephen Thrower. It is a state by state survey of independent horror, science fiction and exploitation films and the people who made them.

Its really awesome and gave me a whole laundry list of movies that I must see!

Most of us are familiar with Lovecraft, but I thought that this was worth sharing here:

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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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Radio Blue Heart wrote:Just picked up a very nifty book on independent film making called "Nightmare USA" by Stephen Thrower. It is a state by state survey of independent horror, science fiction and exploitation films and the people who made them.

Its really awesome and gave me a whole laundry list of movies that I must see!

Most of us are familiar with Lovecraft, but I thought that this was worth sharing here:

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I WANT THAT BOOK!
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Sleet »

Is it a real book? I kinda wanna read it just because I'm curious how they'd pull it off.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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Sleet wrote:Is it a real book? I kinda wanna read it just because I'm curious how they'd pull it off.

Unfortunately, no. Its just something that I found on DeviantArt. I just thought it was amusing. It would be nice if it were real though.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Penwrite »

Something I've been thinking about. 1408 is about an EVIL FREAKING ROOM. The Shining is about an EVIL FREAKING HOTEL. It would be so awesome if Stephen King wrote a story connecting the two.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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Aren't a lot of his books about evil locations?
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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Sleet wrote:Aren't a lot of his books about evil locations?
Not that I know of. I mean, Christine's about an evil car, It's about an evil clown (though there is something a little off about the town he calls his haunting grounds), Cujo's about a rabid dog, Carrie's about a psychic girl pushed too far, and the Dark Tower series is about basically everything.

Besides, The Shining and 1408 share such a strange connection. 1408 is a hotel room and the Overlook Hotel is a, er, hotel. It'd be so easy yet fascinating to connect the two.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Liam »

The Black Tower series implies that all his stories involving supernatural horrors who intrude our reality through various locations and objects come from the dark dimensions beyond our reality the Tower is meant to keep separated. They're informally called Outsiders by fans and include Tak, Percy and "the Management" of the Overlook Hotel. They share common abilities like a fondness of causing storms.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Radio Blue Heart »

I just read "The Cosmic Religion" by Albert Einstein. I blew my mind!
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by MilesKingford »

I can't believe how far back this thread was, I guess books is not a popular subject.

Anyway, as mentioned in Joys and Sorrows, I have been reading a book called "How the World Works" by Noam Chomsky (as well as David Barsamian and Arthur Naiman). It has things written in that book that you could scarcely believe, and it is something which is severely downplayed, since there is little knowledge of anything written in that book in the mainstream (most of the documentation was written by Chomsky, while the rest was by a few people who were witness to those accounts but were largely ignored such as Reverend David Santiago, for example). After I read an article written by Chomsky, I became curious about him, and now I can see why he is such a high profile figure in his field, especially considering what stance he takes.

I should warn you that this book is NOT for the faint of heart. Though, on the other hand, it is akin to what we learn in World War II history class in Britain. So... I dunno...
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Radio Blue Heart »

I wouldn't say that books are unpopular. It just takes people time to get through them.

My latest book is "The Hellbound Heart" by Clive Barker. I finished "Cabal" not very long ago and decided to read another Barker novel. I don't want to give too much away, but this book was the basis for the film "Hellraiser".

I also read the stories "Midnight Meat Train" and "Rawhead Rex" from his anthology book "Books of Blood".

He is an excellent fantasy and horror writer. I highly recommend his works.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Nyaliva »

I like books but I rarely read them if not on the bus or something, and even then I tend to prefer my 3DS if I'm not already in the middle of a book.

Which is why I recently finished reading Roald Dahl's "Tales of the Unexpected" which is a collection of really cool short stories, I could knock over two in a 1 hour bus trip so I tended to read one and then decide if I'd rather read another or play my 3DS. Now I'm on to a collection of Edgar Allan Poe's stories, read in a similar manner.

In terms of full novels, I finished "Day of the Triffids" earlier this year which is awesome! One of the best science fiction novels I've ever read (although I REALLY want to get some Isaac Asimov novels soon, I saw a documentary on him and his stories sound amazing).

By the by, anyone doing NaNoWriMo this year? I keep wanting to but I've always got exams on, so I rarely have time.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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I participated in NaNoWriMo for about a week, until I realized doing so was while also right in the middle of three grad school writing classes is freaking stupid.

Anyway, I am currently reading The Last Unicorn. Love it!
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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I'm currently reading life of pi while waiting for the movie to come out to the theater.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Radio Blue Heart »

I had a lot of down time during the holiday break, so I re-read "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" by Hunter S. Thompson and "The A to Z of Horror" by Clive Barker.

If you have not read "Fear and Loathing" I highly recommend it. It is one of the few books I have read that has actually made me laugh out loud. It is hilarious! It is also a very important book about the American dream and the hippie movement.

I also started reading "American Psycho" by Bret Easton Ellis. My friends warned me about this book before I started reading it. They were right! If you thought that "A Clockwork Orange" was rough, this one takes the violence to a whole other level!
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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I would warn against Easton-Eliis's work in general. Reading his work is like punching yourself in the gut repeatedly. It's so good you can;t stop reading even though it's a mental ordeal to endure his bleak vision of the world and human nature. Or maybe I'm just a masochist.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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Probably just a masochist.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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Don't be ashamed I'm a masochist too. On the topic of it I would recommend the book "Venus in Furs." It was written by the man masochism was named after and is quite an interesting book about a man who convinces a woman he loves to make him her slave for a year to prove his love for her and eventually get married. It can be pretty strange at times but entertaining and maybe a bit educational. I rarely read books but I found it to be interesting enough.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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Sarnoff wrote:Don't be ashamed I'm a masochist too. On the topic of it I would recommend the book "Venus in Furs." It was written by the man masochism was named after and is quite an interesting book about a man who convinces a woman he loves to make him her slave for a year to prove his love for her and eventually get married. It can be pretty strange at times but entertaining and maybe a bit educational. I rarely read books but I found it to be interesting enough.
That sounds... disturbingly similar to 50 Shades of Grey.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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Sleet wrote:Probably just a masochist.
hush you
Sarnoff wrote:Don't be ashamed I'm a masochist too. On the topic of it I would recommend the book "Venus in Furs." It was written by the man masochism was named after and is quite an interesting book about a man who convinces a woman he loves to make him her slave for a year to prove his love for her and eventually get married. It can be pretty strange at times but entertaining and maybe a bit educational. I rarely read books but I found it to be interesting enough.
hmm that does sound interesting. If books along that vein are your thing you'd probably like Enemies a Love Story by Isaac Bashevis Singer. It's about a holocaust survival trying to juggle his wife and two mistresses in 1950's new york. Good stuff especially if you're into the whole philisophical-slightly existentialist type of novel.

I'm finally going to have time to knock out a book on my "to read" list over winter break. I'm kinda torn between 1984 by orwell and As I lay Dying by Faulkner. Anyone have any thought on either of those two novels?
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Penwrite »

1984 is a good book.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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1984 is good but it is super depressing. It's lessons are always relevant.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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Penwrite wrote:That sounds... disturbingly similar to 50 Shades of Grey.
Never heard of it but after looking on Wikipedia I think I'll look into that book now, it sounds potentially awesome.
Seth wrote:hmm that does sound interesting. If books along that vein are your thing you'd probably like Enemies a Love Story by Isaac Bashevis Singer. It's about a holocaust survival trying to juggle his wife and two mistresses in 1950's new york. Good stuff especially if you're into the whole philisophical-slightly existentialist type of novel.
That book does sound like it could be good and thanks for the recommendation.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Nyaliva »

Sarnoff wrote:
Penwrite wrote:That sounds... disturbingly similar to 50 Shades of Grey.
Never heard of it but after looking on Wikipedia I think I'll look into that book now, it sounds potentially awesome.
If you want some excerpts to hear before you buy it I highly recommend "Gilbert Gottfried Reads Fifty Shades of Grey". PLEASE NOTE I DIDN'T POST THE LINK BECAUSE IT'S VERY NSFW!!!
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Sarnoff »

Nyaliva wrote:
Sarnoff wrote:
Penwrite wrote:That sounds... disturbingly similar to 50 Shades of Grey.
Never heard of it but after looking on Wikipedia I think I'll look into that book now, it sounds potentially awesome.
If you want some excerpts to hear before you buy it I highly recommend "Gilbert Gottfried Reads Fifty Shades of Grey". PLEASE NOTE I DIDN'T POST THE LINK BECAUSE IT'S VERY NSFW!!!
Thanks, I think I will, but Gilbert Gottfried does not sound like the kind of person I would want to have reading it at all.

Edit: Wow that voice... I hope I don't read the whole book with Gilbert's voice now.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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Really? Personally, it would be the only way I would ever even consider reading it. :P

There's another guy who reads a good few pages of the book as like 50 different impressions including Elmo and Peter Griffin. I remember him being really good but I can't remember the video much. Probably a good thing though because what I do remember is exactly why I'm never going to read the book...
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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I didn't think it could get any worse than Gottfried... I was wrong. Those impressions were pretty funny, this book sounds kinda comedic now.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

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Radio Blue Heart wrote:1984 is good but it is super depressing. It's lessons are always relevant.
Good but super depressing is my favorite kind of book. so that works out perfectly.
Nyaliva wrote:
Sarnoff wrote:
Penwrite wrote:That sounds... disturbingly similar to 50 Shades of Grey.
Never heard of it but after looking on Wikipedia I think I'll look into that book now, it sounds potentially awesome.
If you want some excerpts to hear before you buy it I highly recommend "Gilbert Gottfried Reads Fifty Shades of Grey". PLEASE NOTE I DIDN'T POST THE LINK BECAUSE IT'S VERY NSFW!!!
I want this as a ringtone. (and I have enough evidence to say I don't want to read that book ever so that's a plus.)
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Dissension »

We... don't really deal in the discussion of pornographic material, regardless of level of explication.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Nyaliva »

Seth wrote:I'm finally going to have time to knock out a book on my "to read" list over winter break. I'm kinda torn between 1984 by orwell and As I lay Dying by Faulkner. Anyone have any thought on either of those two novels?
I meant to respond to this before, sorry Seth. "1984" is really good, the first part is very well written, the second part is good if you like a little romance (I personally thought it was a bit boring but it did fit in plotwise) and the third part is absolutely fantastic. All in all, well deserving of its praise. I haven't read the other book unfortunately, but I might look into it.

EDIT: Just read the wiki on "As I Lay Dying". It sounds really good, might see if it's at the book store.

On another note, recently started reading "Watchmen"! About half way through now.
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Penwrite »

Watchmen! Yes! Now there's an excellent graphic novel!
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Re: Reading Thread/Discussion

Post by Seth »

Nyaliva wrote:
Seth wrote:I'm finally going to have time to knock out a book on my "to read" list over winter break. I'm kinda torn between 1984 by orwell and As I lay Dying by Faulkner. Anyone have any thought on either of those two novels?
I meant to respond to this before, sorry Seth. "1984" is really good, the first part is very well written, the second part is good if you like a little romance (I personally thought it was a bit boring but it did fit in plotwise) and the third part is absolutely fantastic. All in all, well deserving of its praise. I haven't read the other book unfortunately, but I might look into it.

EDIT: Just read the wiki on "As I Lay Dying". It sounds really good, might see if it's at the book store.

On another note, recently started reading "Watchmen"! About half way through now.
Watchmen is one of the top ten pieces of fiction ever written, comic or otherwise. Hope you're enjoying it.

I'm leaning towards As I Lay Dying. Apparently Faulkner is a real trip to read. I really need to see what all the hype is about. But on the other hand everyone I know says 1984 is really good and I do love orwell. Maybe I'll have time to get through both......
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