Author Topic: Books and Literature (Read 76708 times)

Alfred F. Jones · « **on:** April 26, 2009, 07:04:39 PM »

DO NOT STEAL BOOKS FROM YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY, PLEASE - Voile Staff

I'm graduating in less than a month now, and so I have been looking through my house's bookshelves, raiding them for books that aren't mine and belong to the school in some way. Some of these are library books, some of these are school-assigned books, and still others are books from friends that I borrowed way back in sophomore year and haven't given back in two years. _Whoops...

These books include and are not limited to: Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky), The Tempest (~~piece of shit~~ Shakespeare), Life in Medieval England (by J.J. Bagley, I should give that back to my friend before I graduate...), the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams, this book too...), The Other Boleyn Girl (I still haven't seen the movie), The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco), Utopia (by Thomas More), Chronicle of a Death Foretold (~~piece of shit~~ Marquez) The Kindness of Strangers (by John Boswell, why do I have so many books on medieval England around here?), Notes from Underground (also by Dostoevsky), The Stranger (Camus), Magic Knight Rayearth (omnibus edition), Dracula (that ending sucked), and The Six Wives of Henry VIII (I am a history geek).

Oh, and a half dozen foreign language dictionaries (Spanish to English and back again, French to English, Japanese to English, Italian to English, and one anomalous guide to Yiddish.)

So, what have you guys been reading recently in the way of books?

Tengukami · « **Reply #1 on:** April 26, 2009, 07:07:38 PM »

Recently finished The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, and am re-reading A Man, A Cat and Two Women by Jun'ichiro Tanazaki.

Jana · « **Reply #2 on:** April 26, 2009, 07:29:48 PM »

I misread "The Kindness of Strangers" as "The Strangers," and then realized that it was on the list almost right underneath with my screen's resolution...

Anyway, of those, I've read "The Strangers" (we read a couple of Camus books in my senior year English class), the Hitchhiker's Guide series (I was originally just going to read the first one for a report, but because I read too fast, I ended up doing the whole series...) and Magic Knight Rayearth (many years ago; I doubt I remember all the details).

Looks like you have an interesting selection though. Did you read Lord of the Flies for school, by any chance?

Alfred F. Jones · « **Reply #3 on:** April 26, 2009, 08:07:19 PM »

Quote from: Jan-san on April 26, 2009, 07:29:48 PM

Looks like you have an interesting selection though. Did you read Lord of the Flies for school, by any chance?

Not for school. I read it outside of class... or tried to, because somehow I could not bring myself to read it. I think I stopped after the first twenty pages, an all-time low for me. I guess I just didn't have the patience for it at the time. I should try again someday.

And yeah, I do have rather... eclectic tastes.

Jana · « **Reply #4 on:** April 26, 2009, 08:16:51 PM »

Ah, that's a shame... Being all into psych, it was one of my favorites in Sophomore year. Another one I liked was Demian, by Hermann Hesse(sp?). I don't think any schools read it besides mine, though... And since it was a school copy, I didn't get to keep it.

I also did a fuck-awesome final project for Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie at the end of senior year. I had only discovered Touhou about a month before that, and my assignment was to creatively create a soundtrack to it. My inherent lack of creativity was a set-back, but with so much arranged music, it didn't take too long. I remember throwing in a song from the Melty Blood OST and something by Josh Groban that my mom had recommended to me... All in all, my teacher must have thought it was pretty weird. Thankfully, I didn't have to present it...

Mobius · « **Reply #5 on:** April 26, 2009, 08:19:54 PM »

My custom title says it all. I read a LOT. Any time you see me I'm carrying a book, and it's usually a different one each time. I really don't care if it's printed, handwritten, or electronic. As long as it's legible it can stave off withdrawal symptoms. For nonfiction, I usually read books on history, science, and mathematics. For fiction, it's sci-fi, fantasy, and mystery. Classic or contemporary, it doesn't matter.

Jana · « **Reply #6 on:** April 26, 2009, 08:22:03 PM »

Non-fiction? I actually read more of that than actual literature, I think... My favorites are the Hawking duo, A Brief History of Time and The Universe in a Nutshell... But my overreaching little brother lost them when he took them to school many years ago, and he still owes me new copies...

Easy Mode · « **Reply #7 on:** April 26, 2009, 08:24:07 PM »

I just finished reading Dog On It. It was way cute. Really good, too.
My favorite book today has got to be Running With Scissors. I know it's not supposed to be taken as such, but wow shota. That guy had such a crazy life.

Edible · « **Reply #8 on:** April 26, 2009, 09:25:17 PM »

I tend to have my nose in books when I'm not playing DS on the go.

Wheel of Time and Song of Ice and Fire series come highly recommended. I've started reading the first Malazan Book of the Fallen title as well.

Mobius · « **Reply #9 on:** April 26, 2009, 11:20:10 PM »

Quote from: Edible on April 26, 2009, 09:25:17 PM

Wheel of Time

Excited about the final book? I've read Brandon Sanderson's work and I think he's a worthy successor to Robert Jordan.

Edible · « **Reply #10 on:** April 26, 2009, 11:22:38 PM »

Quote from: Mobius on April 26, 2009, 11:20:10 PM

Excited about the final book? I've read Brandon Sanderson's work and I think he's a worthy successor to Robert Jordan.

Final books, unfortunately. We still have a ways to go. But yeah, though I haven't read anything of Sanderson's, I am very interested to see how he picks up the world Jordan left behind.

Nachtwanderlied · « **Reply #11 on:** April 26, 2009, 11:37:56 PM »

Final books?

That's good. I felt that 1 book wasn't enough to wrap up.

Also reading Gravity's Rainbow. It's very difficult to process.

Mobius · « **Reply #12 on:** April 26, 2009, 11:59:17 PM »

Quote from: Edible on April 26, 2009, 11:22:38 PM

Final books, unfortunately. We still have a ways to go. But yeah, though I haven't read anything of Sanderson's, I am very interested to see how he picks up the world Jordan left behind.

Fuck, I KNEW this would happen! At least I'll have a shit-ton to read. I don't want it to end so soon, anyway. Also, read the Mistborn trilogy. You'll like it.

Edible · « **Reply #13 on:** April 27, 2009, 12:02:30 AM »

Quote from: Mobius on April 26, 2009, 11:59:17 PM

Fuck, I KNEW this would happen! At least I'll have a shit-ton to read. I don't want it to end so soon, anyway. Also, read the Mistborn trilogy. You'll like it.

Oh, I think I've heard of that. Sanderson's epic fantasy offering, right?

Mobius · « **Reply #14 on:** April 27, 2009, 12:06:32 AM »

Quote from: Edible on April 27, 2009, 12:02:30 AM

Oh, I think I've heard of that. Sanderson's epic fantasy offering, right?

Yeah. They're kickass.

Edible · « **Reply #15 on:** April 27, 2009, 12:08:50 AM »

Quote from: Mobius on April 27, 2009, 12:06:32 AM

Yeah. They're kickass.

Thank you for not saying "epic". <_<

What's the name of the first book? I'll pick it up after I'm done with Gardens of the Moon.

Mobius · « **Reply #16 on:** April 27, 2009, 01:34:35 AM »

Quote from: Edible on April 27, 2009, 12:08:50 AM

Thank you for not saying "epic". <_<

What's the name of the first book? I'll pick it up after I'm done with Gardens of the Moon.

Some copies just say "Mistborn", but it's called "The Final Empire". Two is "The Well of Ascension", and three is "The Hero of Ages".

Ruka · « **Reply #17 on:** April 27, 2009, 03:14:58 AM »

I've been meaning to pick up Paradise Lost, but I can't seem to find it.

Edible · « **Reply #18 on:** April 27, 2009, 03:18:12 AM »

Quote from: Rukako Asakura on April 27, 2009, 03:14:58 AM

I've been meaning to pick up Paradise Lost, but I can't seem to find it.

:V

♛ Apher-Forte · « **Reply #19 on:** April 27, 2009, 04:23:42 AM »

read Revolutionary Road lately, awesome story.

Highly recommended:

Caligula

The story is wondrously portrayed, the characters beautiful and cruel...if I can write an essay over how good this book is I would draw up a thesis. This is the good shit and I highly recommend it.

Perfume - Story of a Murderer

Works well as a whole, I can't believe it is not butter type story, pulled a lot of references from this one in my Remi fic so it is worth the read, I believe most of you would enjoy this one.

Sylon · « **Reply #20 on:** April 27, 2009, 05:24:06 AM »

I was reading Isaac Asimov's Foundation series some time back. I really should borrow the rest from the library one of these days and finish it. If you're fond of sci-fi, it's a good read.

M. Burusu · « **Reply #21 on:** April 27, 2009, 05:41:40 AM »

I've actually recently been reading a book on writing -- Wild Mind: Living The Writer's Life by Natalie Goldberg -- and have been going through Goldfinger as well (hooray, Ian Fleming).

However, has anyone else ever heard of a [possibly old] detective novel by the name of The Taurus Trip? I forget the author and I'm too lazy to get it out from the dark, labyrinthine confines of my bookshelves right now to find out, but it's a fairly good read.

Pedonymous · « **Reply #22 on:** April 27, 2009, 11:32:39 PM »

I like... physics... and math... books.

I particularily like The Planiverse by A. K. Dewdney.

...Anyone ever read I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream?

Edible · « **Reply #23 on:** April 28, 2009, 12:28:14 AM »

Quote from: Pedonymous on April 27, 2009, 11:32:39 PM

...Anyone ever read I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream?

Years and years ago, because I saw the video game based off of it in stores.

It left me rather unhinged.

Mizuki-chan · « **Reply #24 on:** April 28, 2009, 02:18:17 AM »

Right now I'm reading a book about Japanese myths. I'm also reading Freedom Writers. I highly recommend it.

Gpop · « **Reply #25 on:** April 28, 2009, 03:17:19 AM »

Quote from: Mizuki on April 28, 2009, 02:18:17 AM

Right now I'm reading a book about Japanese myths. I'm also reading Freedom Writers. I highly recommend it.

Saw the movie. I liked it. I feel like reading the book itself.

♛ Apher-Forte · « **Reply #26 on:** April 28, 2009, 06:51:54 AM »

Has anyone here ever read the entire Ctulhu Mythos?

I mean all the stories that are written in letters by late Lovecraft?

I had this one called a collection of Lovecraftian Macabre and Horror, with an introduction written by Peter Bloch, which is really quite nice, but I am afraid today I find that the lack of Lovecraftian horror is missing from my book collection...

What other books should I look for with around this genre?

Pedonymous · « **Reply #27 on:** April 28, 2009, 10:48:00 AM »

I'm not sure, but you're really lucky to have that book. I've really wanted to start up The Mythos, but I can't find a copy of any of the stories...

WRATHIE_Beatrice · « **Reply #28 on:** April 28, 2009, 12:54:14 PM »

Agatha Christie's book are awesome.

Murder in the Orient Express is her classic.

♛ Apher-Forte · « **Reply #29 on:** April 28, 2009, 02:15:54 PM »

Quote from: wrathie on April 28, 2009, 12:54:14 PM

Agatha Christie's book are awesome.

Murder in the Orient Express is her classic.

Brad Meltzer says hello

Author Topic: Books and Literature (Read 76708 times)

Mobius

Easy Mode

Mobius

Nachtwanderlied

Mobius

Mobius

Mobius

Mizuki-chan

Gpop