The Bard Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 (edited) So in the past week or so I read Sum: Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman. Really wasn't a fan. It was fine and there were some nice parts but it just felt weak. The I read The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway which I enjoyed to a point and was bored to another point. Actually I think I might have hated it. And I just finished Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I need to meditate on this. I did enjoy it. So there are the three worst unhelpful reviews ever. Slaughterhouse Five is amazing. Remember the scene where he's in Tralfamadorian captivity, and he watches the WW2 film backwards. It's all just Tanks rolling in and soaking up damage and then leaving, but it's really cool and well done. As for Hemingway, I'm reading For Whom The Bell Tolls at the moment. I'm pretty compulsive in the way that I can't start another book until I've finished the ones that I'm on, and fuck me, this is beginning to bore me shitless. The man has no taste for the expressivity or aesthetic of a sentence. Either that or the words are purposefully constructed to induce a cold, desolate deadness in my soul. Edited January 8, 2013 by The Bard
Daft Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 I actually think the prose are purposefully constructed to induce a cold, desolate deadness in the soul. He reads like a loner. Might try another one of his books but life is too short. Which reminds me, I finished The Bell Jar. Not sure I was quite satisfied with the ending but it was an amazing book. I'm glad I read it, I'll never read it again. Weird thought.
Jim Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Final book came out today! On chapter 8, and oh my goodness is it amazing. You won't be disappointed if you make it to the end! I'm about 1/3rd through the first book, I'm really enjoying it but I am an incredibly slow reader due to the fact that I fall asleep after reading about 5 pages of anything =/ A song of ice and fire took me the best part of 14 months to work through :S
bob Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Extrapolating from that then, you should be done in about three years time!
Jim Posted January 18, 2013 Posted January 18, 2013 Off to the Lifeline Bookfest tomorrow, shall be good http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/books/bookfest-brings-out-the-bargainhunters-and-boffins-20130117-2cvuk.html Basically a massive 2nd hand book sale. Picked up tonnes of cheap stuff last year
Jim Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 Finished Eye of the World this week, on to The Great Hunt now... definitely hooked on this series The ending to the first was amazing.
bob Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 The endings to each book are the best - that man knew how to write a climax. Book 6 has an awesome climax.
Retro_Link Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 So I finished reading Before I Go To Sleep. It was ok, a good idea, but it was a bit predictable tbh... I saw the big plot twist coming all the way throughout the book really, so when it came there wasn't really any big revelation, and the very end of the book wasn't very satisfying either. But a decent story, a bit basic, but something different nevertheless. I'm currently reading The Night Circus. Utterly fantastic!!
Daft Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 What's Before I Go to Sleep about? So I started one of The Culture books, Excession to be exact. After all Jay's suggestions I went with none of them. My brother gave it to me and it was at hand so I'm just shutting up and reading. I'm enjoying it so far, even though a lot of the action bits went way over my head - really wasn't 100% sure what was happening.
Retro_Link Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 (edited) @Daft Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love - all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story. Welcome to Christine's life. Although described as a thriller, I thought it could have been more of one. I also felt there was a lot more scope for adventure with a setup like that, but this story is a very controlled one. It didn't quite live up to it's potential I felt. But it's really cheap so still maybe worth a read. Edited April 3, 2013 by Retro_Link
jayseven Posted April 4, 2013 Author Posted April 4, 2013 Excession is a great book - the Minds play a more central role, with the Interesting Times Gang leading the charge. It was revealed today that Iain M. Banks has gall bladder cancer, and isn't likely to even see 2014. There will be no more culture novels. Someone said that it's like losing two great authors at once. Such a shame. Algebraist (non-culture) and Matter are two recent and very strong sci-fi novels he's written, which you may want to look at after Excession, but I would still say Use of Weapons is a must-read (Player of Games is the best introductory book). Hydrogen Sonata is the latest (and thus last) Culture novel and it is very Mind-driven, but Bank's disgusting, distorted visions are pared down in this book compared to Matter and Surface Detail (hell, perhaps that's my favourite one? Hell dimension!), but I'm only 70% through.
gaggle64 Posted April 4, 2013 Posted April 4, 2013 Complicity is another of his great non-culture novels, I highly recommend you put it on your to-read list. It's full of neat touches, like a Civilisation-style videogame which he uses as a metaphor for the protagonist's fracturing state. But yes, Use of Weapons is mandatory.
Retro_Link Posted April 4, 2013 Posted April 4, 2013 I think The Night Circus could well go on to be my favourite book! Only 160/500 pages in, but I just love it!
Retro_Link Posted April 23, 2013 Posted April 23, 2013 (edited) Finished reading The Night Circus last night! The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. The black sign, painted in white letters that hangs upon the gates, reads: Opens at Nightfall Closes at Dawn As the sun disappears beyond the horizon, all over the tents small lights begin to flicker, as though the entirety of the circus is covered in particularly bright fireflies. When the tents are all aglow, sparkling against the night sky, the sign appears. Le Cirque des Rêves The Circus of Dreams. Now the circus is open. Now you may enter. I couldn't recommend this book enough, I absolutely loved it! It's written SO well, so amazingly descriptive that you feel a part of the world! Never known a book do that so well! I was already captivated by it after the first page! To give anything away about the book, it's story or themes would spoil it. Just read it! --- OK so got to buy a new book now, I'm thinking I might try Snow Crash? Edited April 23, 2013 by Retro_Link
Jimbob Posted April 23, 2013 Posted April 23, 2013 I'm still plodding on in the Song of Ice and Fire Series, just finishing off A Clash of Kings. Planning on getting the next one Thursday, but until then i've got Life of Pi to finish.
Daft Posted May 8, 2013 Posted May 8, 2013 Anyone read Pushing Ice? I'm about two thirds of the way through it and absolutely love it. It's kind of an epic space opera with a mix of Lost (the good aspects), Star Trek Voyager and Battlestar Galactica. Definitely recommend it.
jayseven Posted May 8, 2013 Author Posted May 8, 2013 I keep meaning to read Alistair Reynolds, but I tend to delve in just after an Iain M. Banks book and the hard sci-fi is trying to exercise my brain too much. I do need to stick with it because I do hear Chasm City is a good read (Pushing Ice being the most referred to novel, I'm sure it's great too). Let me know how you fare! I'm currently reading a zombie anthology (short stories), having just finished The Blindness by José Saramago. Quite a depressing vision of the degredation of mankind into little more than animals, with lots of god jism subtext. Read it in 4 sittings before bed, and each night I had such dire and depressing dreams. Quite a cruel book.
drahkon Posted May 9, 2013 Posted May 9, 2013 (edited) I need help. Looking for a good and not too complicated book about Quantum Mechanics/Physics and/or Thought Experiments. I've been reading some texts about Schrödinger's Cat and the Double-Slit Experiment but want to dive into the matter a bit more. Can anyone help me? @Supergrunch Finished reading The Night Circus last night! Bought it just now only because it has 'Circus' in it. I need to read again. Been neglecting my second biggest hobby for at least a year... Edited May 9, 2013 by drahkon
dan-likes-trees Posted May 9, 2013 Posted May 9, 2013 .... fucks sake. im sure im not the only one who hasnt finished Infinite and I do know what the scientific / philosophy thing is that you referred to, I'm sure im not alone - can you put that in a spoiler box for others?
drahkon Posted May 9, 2013 Posted May 9, 2013 When you've finished the game and you can sincerely say that I spoiled the ending for you, I am truly sorry. But to be honest, I don't think I spoiled that much. Only gave a slight hint about the theme of the game which will be revealed rather sooner than later, anyway. But still, sorry.
Retro_Link Posted May 9, 2013 Posted May 9, 2013 The Night Circus is amazing! Also read Clous Atlas if you haven't! I'm currently reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, it got good review and was nominated for book of the year etc... but 150 or so pages in and I hope it gets better!
dan-likes-trees Posted May 9, 2013 Posted May 9, 2013 When you've finished the game and you can sincerely say that I spoiled the ending for you, I am truly sorry. But to be honest, I don't think I spoiled that much. Only gave a slight hint about the theme of the game which will be revealed rather sooner than later, anyway. But still, sorry. Ok no worries - sorry, maybe a bit of an overreaction ha - having it spoilt is a big fear of mine, havent had enough free time to play it!
drahkon Posted May 9, 2013 Posted May 9, 2013 (edited) Also read Clous Atlas if you haven't! I have the book, but as you mentioned already in an earlier post, the first few pages are tough. I do know the English language quite well, but the 19th century language is probably harder to understand for me than it was for you. :p Maybe I'll give it another go, because you said the setting changes quite quickly. sorry, maybe a bit of an overreaction Don't worry. I actually was terrified that I spoilt it for you, but then I thought about it, and I'm pretty sure it's not that bad. Edited May 9, 2013 by drahkon
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