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Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?

Just finished "Eaters of the Dead". I actually liked it and the movie was almost on par with the book. Almost being the operative word in this one. I enjoyed it.

Currently reading the following graphic novels:
"Y" The Last Man - book 4
Scalped Book 1 (re-read since I now I have book 2-3 waiting for me!)
 
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His best collection yet! A must read for Neil Gaiman fans!
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
An excellent book.

Might I strongly recommend 'Animal Farm' (by George Orwell) as well, which is one of the best studies of the abuse of power and betrayal of ideals ever written - and written in an exquisite, deceptively easy to read, pellucid prose?
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I am deffintly going to read animal farm, sounds like a great book :)
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
An excellent book.

Might I strongly recommend 'Animal Farm' (by George Orwell) as well, which is one of the best studies of the abuse of power and betrayal of ideals ever written - and written in an exquisite, deceptively easy to read, pellucid prose?
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I wish there was an automatic link to this post, or one of the many you or i have posted before, every time someone posted that they are reading either Orwell tomes.

CLASSICS!
 
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pachyderm said:
I wish there was an automatic link to this post, or one of the many you or i have posted before, every time someone posted that they are reading either Orwell tomes.

CLASSICS!
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To be honest, I don't mind people enthusing about these works whenever they do come to trip over them; it is like a fresh - and explosive - discovery when you read them for the first time - and marvel at George Orwell's extraordinary understanding of how politics and power work, at his insightful analysis of the dynamics of totalitarianism.

With these books, he delivered two brilliant political amorality tales told with the searing insight and deceptive simplicity of a children's tale, written in a prose so brilliant, so spare, so stark, so chiselled and meticulous that you are left speechless with admiration (well, I was) when you read it.

On the subject of Animal Farm, it is very rare to come across a work of such political awareness written so beautifully.
This is an example of modern written English at its best - and a work of devastating political and philosophical insight too. Flawless, in my opinion.

fitshaced said:
I finished 'To Kill a Mockingbird' recently and really enjoyed it. Would any of you that have read it, recommend the sequel 'Go Set a Watchman' as in it's class?
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Haven't yet read it, so cannot comment on it. However, I loved To Kill A Mockingbird.
 
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agreed.

as for Go Set.. i've heard two sides: folks loved it for the different perspective or they hated it for the different perspective. i've not really seen an inbetween on it.
 
Thomas Piketty - or more to the point, his massive work 'Capital' - has been sitting on my sofa for a while. Next week will make a very good time to start the book, as tonight, I made a point of placing it at the very top of the (large) pile of books awaiting my attention.
 
I'm working through a few books the A+ curriculum, the 100$ startup and The autobiography of Malcolm X
 
The Martian- An astronaut marooned on Mars. It's keeping me interested. One of the draw backs of first person narrative is that since the guy is writing a first person journal you know he's still alive, which tends to suppress tension. I'm only 8 chapters in and fortunately the narrative is alternating with third person, where you share the the discovery of events with the character(s).

the-martian-cover.jpg
 
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Huntn said:
The Martian- An astronaut marooned on Mars. It's keeping me interested. One of the draw backs of first person narrative is that since the guy is writing a first person journal you know he's still alive, which tends to suppress tension. I'm only 8 chapters in and fortunately the narrative is alternating with third person, where you share the the discovery of events with the character(s).

the-martian-cover.jpg
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i loved that book and the movie. none of the things that are bothering you bothered me at all. ;)
 
Huntn said:
The Martian- An astronaut marooned on Mars. It's keeping me interested. One of the draw backs of first person narrative is that since the guy is writing a first person journal you know he's still alive, which tends to suppress tension. I'm only 8 chapters in and fortunately the narrative is alternating with third person, where you share the the discovery of events with the character(s).

the-martian-cover.jpg
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I thoroughly enjoyed the book all the way through. The movie was good too, but they had to skip over a lot a details to make the movie length it is. While watching the movie, I filled in a lot of gaps with my knowledge from the book.
 
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pachyderm said:
i loved that book and the movie. none of the things that are bothering you bothered me at all. ;)
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That's wonderful! :p I've not finished the book yet, and it's not things (plural), I'm simply expressing my preference for 3rd person narrative and youl'll have to accept that. ;)


SandboxGeneral said:
I thoroughly enjoyed the book all the way through. The movie was good too, but they had to skip over a lot a details to make the movie length it is. While watching the movie, I filled in a lot of gaps with my knowledge from the book.
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There is always a challenge to transistion from book to movie when it involves what the character is thinking, and the explanations he provides as to how things work. But for story telling purposes, I think from the explation stand point, 1st person for this story is effective, because by means of a log entry, he has a good reason to describe his thought processes, technical operation of equipment, and how he reaches the conclusion and decides on the actions he takes, although that can also be written as a third person narrative. :)

Generally speaking, one of the drawbacks of documentary filming or first person narrative, is that it's harder to express the big picture of events with many things happening at once. It's a singular view which for a person marooned by themselves is appropriate in a story like this, the drawback is you are reading "history" not current events.
 
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Huntn said:
... since the guy is writing a first person journal you know he's still alive...
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Or, is he? It could very well be that someone discovered his diary on the next mission to mars some 4 years later and is reading it. I mean, even when you can read Anne Frank's diary, it doesn’t mean she was still alive at the end of the war, does it?

You are in for a ride!
 
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cdcastillo said:
Or, is he? It could very well be that someone discovered his diary on the next mission to mars some 4 years later and is reading it. I mean, even when you can read Anne Frank's diary, it doesn’t mean she was still alive at the end of the war, does it?

You are in for a ride!
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Looking forward to it! :D To clarify, I'm saying as you read a log entry, you are reading history, written by that person who was alive at the time. I've all ready reached one point where the narrative could have abruptly ended, and I would not have a clue what had happened. :)
 
Huntn said:
Looking forward to it! :D To clarify, I'm saying as you read a log entry, you are reading history, written by that person who was alive at the time. I've all ready reached one point where the narrative could have abruptly ended, and I would not have a clue what had happened. :)
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i understand what you mean, and yes, when he is writing an entry he obviously must be alive to write it. however there are plenty of suspense-building moments, where you don't know what will happen next.

to an extent, the physical media of a book already gives you some hints about what is going to happen (or what is not going to happen): if you are at page 100 of a 500 pages book, it is very rare that the main character will kick it at that point. plus in most books it is not about the "if", it is about the "how'".

in any case, excellent book, one of the best i read last year. great movie as well.
 
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