What Are You Reading, Again?

[Rambuchan]

Here are the latest texts to go into the grey matter cogs:

~ Richard Burton and F. F. Arbuthnot's translation of "Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra" (again).
~ Plato's "Symposium", especially Socrates' speech.
~ More Borges! "Borges and I".
~ Currently working through "Guerrilla Radio: Rock 'N' Roll Radio and Serbia's Underground Resistance".

 

[mitsho]

I have no idea if that's correct - I'm Norwegian...

Oh well then... Anyways, words like these also exist in the German language, which I was talking of, but they are just not used (often). Btw. I was missing beforehand to note that this is the magic of the book: Süskind manages to describe these smells in a way that makes us think he reinvented the language... or something like this...

mitsho

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

That book on the history of google. can't remeber the title.

 

[schmiddi]

But there is no word like "sweet" (You don't say something like "sugarous" (?), do you?).

A dictionary gave me sweetish.

 

[tomsnowman123]

Dune by Frank Herbert.

 

[steviejay]

I tried to read the first discworld book, couldn't get into it.

Can't get into LotR, either.

I agree to both points, but I do keep trying with LotR

I'm not actually reding anything atm, which is quite bizarre for me. Think i'll try to finish Rivers of Gold about the history of the Spanish Empire. I read a bit but it got a bit dry. Seemed like the author seemed content to simply mentioned every single person who ever went to the new world rather than discuss how the empire rose up, but it could be ok....

 

[Flotsam]

The Killer Angels. Best book about war I've ever read, and I've read a lot of them!

 

[RameNoodle]

Dune by Frank Herbert.

How is it? I've heard from a couple friends that its a decent sci-fi novel, and its pro-religion to boot! I've also heard, however, that some of the sequels are absolute crap!

 

[tomsnowman123]

How is it? I've heard from a couple friends that its a decent sci-fi novel, and its pro-religion to boot! I've also heard, however, that some of the sequels are absolute crap!

I have found it to be a very enjoyable read so far. The best sci-fi I have read in a while (to be fair, I havn't read much lately).

 

[Narz]

Winning Chess Tactics by Yasser Seirawan

 

[Smellincoffee]

Starting on Contact, a fictional novel by the late Carl Sagan.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

How is it? I've heard from a couple friends that its a decent sci-fi novel, and its pro-religion to boot! I've also heard, however, that some of the sequels are absolute crap!

I;ve read the first 2 of the series and they are among the best and amazing SF stories i've read. I dunno about the others after Dune Messiah (the 2nd), i did hear they weren't as good as the first 2.

I agree to both points, but I do keep trying with LotR

I tried to read it too. But the way it was translated was i was feeling my IQ dropping with each sentence. I'll either read the english version or no version.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

To save my mind form being completely overwhelmed from Fabric of the Cosmos I'm also reading Danny Wallace's Join Me, about how he accidently formed a cult. His Yes Man book (in which he said yes to everything) was hilarious, and this seems to be shaping up the same way too.

 

[FredLC]

How is it? I've heard from a couple friends that its a decent sci-fi novel, and its pro-religion to boot! I've also heard, however, that some of the sequels are absolute crap!

I find your friend's interpretation to be missleading.

IMHO, Dune is not about SciFi; it's quite clearly a book on politics, with an unusual, more interesting set, to avoid it being rejected by a larger audience. But the political component is rather prevalent.

Also, the ironic bit is that, while the bok is indeed not secular, it reveres more the practicalities of a religious choice than a faith "per se", and it's fac-símile of islam is the most revered, to the madness of modern politics.

Regards .

 

[Turner]

Starting on Contact, a fictional novel by the late Carl Sagan.

Great book! A favorite of mine. The movie, I feel, didn't do it justice. But it was pretty good. And I know that CS had a large hand in it, and it went with his approval. So that's good enough for me.

Picked up Peter Watt's trilogy, starting with Starfish. Also reading The John Varley Reader: Thirty Years of Short Fiction. I already enjoyed him before picking it up, and with each story my respect for him grows. I can't seem to get enough of the Eight Worlds series.

 

[Bigfoot]

I read Stephen King's Cell, chiefly because one of my daughters gave it to me as a gift. Pretty dreadful stuff, lots of repetitive descriptions of gore and random violence. :thumbdown:

Much more to my liking, I recently read the English translation of Romain Rolland's Jean-Christophe series. Although quite lengthy, his prose is clear, straightforward and quite beautiful. There is a true reverance for life and the human spirit there which I cannot begin to do justice to.

Next up: Swann's Way (Marcel Proust). Don't ask me why I suddenly want to read French classics, it's just a whim really.

Regarding Frank Herbert's Dune, the original trilogy was way ahead of its time IMHO. I was less impressed by the subsequent books (Children of Dune and God Emperor of Dune -- perhaps others?).

 

[jalapeno_dude]

I really liked Dune. I try every few years, but I'm never able to make it past the second chapter of the sequel, though.

 

[Gilder]

I finished (after a great amount of time) A History of Britain Vol. I, by Simon Schama. I like British history and I had a hard time getting through that.

I dunno what I want to read next. I could skim through one of the Annals of America volumes. But I'm leaning towards The Silver Lady, or The Last Train North.

 

[Kyriakos]

Im not reading much atm. Mostly re-reading some stuff. It seems that i have already read more than i need to write anything in my little niche of human phobos

 

[puglover]

I just finished Screwtape Letters, completing my reading from the Complete Works of C.S. Lewis.

My next goal is to read some good modern fantasy, but I don't know where to start looking. Can someone give me a recommendation?