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Post by manticoreisthebastard on Apr 29, 2012 14:29:51 GMT -5
There is a butt load of Russian realism I need to catch up on, but they aren't fond of brevity.
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Post by ryan on Apr 30, 2012 8:53:06 GMT -5
I finished Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card in the last week sometime. He wrote the Ender's Game books right? I remeber enjoying those quite a bit. Just started this...
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Post by swilliam on Apr 30, 2012 20:25:39 GMT -5
Yeah, Speaker for the Dead is in the Ender's Game series.
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Post by ryan on May 1, 2012 11:25:46 GMT -5
Hmmm which book? It's been since high school since I read them... I think I read Ender's Game and then the follow up to that, I guess there were more?
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Post by swilliam on May 1, 2012 11:56:14 GMT -5
there are a TON of ender's game books. My wife got me a box set last year sometime, and Speaker for the Dead is the next one after Ender's Game, but the box set isn't the entire massive series, it's just 4 books.
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Post by distorthawaii on May 2, 2012 1:58:30 GMT -5
"Violence Girl" by Alice Bag
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Post by dooley on May 2, 2012 10:40:11 GMT -5
Enders shadow is fuckin awesome, it's a paralel novel to Ender's game but written from the perspective of Bean. Way more interesting point of view.
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Post by ryan on May 2, 2012 11:08:41 GMT -5
Enders shadow is fuckin awesome, it's a paralel novel to Ender's game but written from the perspective of Bean. Way more interesting point of view. THAT is the one that I read after I read Ender's Game, and yes, it was definitely awesome!!
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Post by swilliam on May 2, 2012 11:15:14 GMT -5
Last night my friend gave me a copy of The Mindful Carnivore which I can't wait to read!
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Post by ogx on May 2, 2012 11:34:35 GMT -5
I really liked Ender's Game, but haven't yet read any of the other books. I think i've loaned Ender's Shadow from the library at least a couple of times, but just never actually started reading it.
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Post by Torch the Mall on May 8, 2012 21:32:03 GMT -5
Just finished Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut which ruled, before that was At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft which I had a little trouble getting into until about halfway through (his writing style definitely takes some getting used to) but ultimately ended up being pretty down with and The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick which I found had some promising bits but didn't really go anywhere with them and was overall pretty underwhelming. Just been getting back into reading lately after probably a few years of not really picking up any books, nothing on the go at present so I'm gonna have to go borrow something from a friend. Before the school year started and I got swallowed up in work, my reading was pretty on point and this looks close to what I was reading up on just before the time went away (only replace The Man in the High Castle with Valis). I am hoping to get back to reading at least 60 pages in a single sitting again as opposed to disjointed bathroom reading sessions. I need to think of what to read up on outside of lesson planning. Jude the Obscure is possibly up in queue. That's good beach reading, right?
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Post by pep on May 9, 2012 18:47:07 GMT -5
Been trying to get into The Dark Tower series. Only about 40 pages into the first book. Seems like it could be OK. Haven't tried to read anything by Stephen King since High School.
Bought Game Of Thrones, complete with HBO Series cover so people will know I'm that jerk that didn't get "into" it until after the show. I also picked up Ender's Game based on all the talk of it in this thread and another Edward Lee book. Trying to stock up on tour reading. Will no doubt bring along my Lovecraft collection as well.
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Post by thrasheaderek on May 9, 2012 18:50:30 GMT -5
I recently read Desperation by King. It was pretty good, but by the end it was too Christian for me. I read the first few comic series of the Dark Tower, cool stuff.
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Post by manticoreisthebastard on May 9, 2012 22:18:42 GMT -5
The Dark Tower series is probably King's best material, along with the two Peter Straub cowrites if you are into the whole fantasy thing.
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Post by ogx on May 10, 2012 6:17:18 GMT -5
I loved the Dark Tower Series, it just got better and better with every book. Haven't read any other stuff by King so can't really compare it. I've heard The Stand would also be good?
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Post by manticoreisthebastard on May 10, 2012 12:15:14 GMT -5
The Stand is really epic, but the ending is a total buzzkill. All of the stuff written under the pseudonym Richard Bachmann is really good, especially Regulators which lies in a mirror dimension of the world of Desperation at the same time. I find his short stories to be his most effective and artistically pure writing, though.
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Post by pep on May 10, 2012 12:41:42 GMT -5
I read The Stand as a kid and also thought the ending was pretty convenient. Never read "IT" but that movie had a shitty ending too.
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gr0und
Big Brother Has A Nasum Hoodie
Posts: 18
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Post by gr0und on May 10, 2012 19:48:34 GMT -5
Currently reading: Root of Revolution: A History of the Populist and Socialist Movements in 19th Century Russia. Up next: Black Night, White Snow: Russia's Revolutions, 1905-1917 And then: Russia's Civil War Hit the jackpot on bargain Russian history at Half Price Books
And nothing says "Piss off, posers!" like reading H.P. Lovecraft on the beach. Especially if you have the 70's paperbacks with the melting skull.
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Post by Torch the Mall on May 10, 2012 22:11:54 GMT -5
How do those old paperback hold up for you? There are a few sellers who show up at Chiller Theater and I picked up a few good (and cheap) sci-fi short story collections from the '60s, but the pages are really brittle. My ex- would pick up some good trashy pulp fiction, too. Even though the collectors had some good stuff in sleeves, some other sellers had a lot of the bulk books had eczematous covers and rotten binding. Any chance that you have this copy? This is the one my ex has:
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gr0und
Big Brother Has A Nasum Hoodie
Posts: 18
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Post by gr0und on May 10, 2012 23:02:25 GMT -5
Actually, a lot of my book collection are those old paperbacks, and I have to say, it's hit and miss on the condition. I have several that are in great condition,but the vast majority are somewhat beat up. And several are basically falling apart. Of course, paperbacks were cheap and made to stay that way - they were there to be read and then thrown away. If you can find one that old in that great a condition, it was probably read once, put in a box, and stored for 30 years. But those will cost you. I don't have that much of a budget, so I don't concern myself with condition, but I will pick up a copy in better condition if I can get it cheap. That happens, sometimes, even with collectible books.
I can sure tell you who put out the crappiest quality books - Lancer. Just look at one funny, and it'll disintegrate. If you can find one of those in near oerfect condition, take it. Those books do not age well at all!
I actually have three copies of that exact edition. Lovecraft is my all-time favorite author, so I collect his books as well as having a reading copy. My reading copy of volume 2 is in two pieces, but my collection copy is maybe above average.
If you enjoy the author's works or like that particular story, it's worth having, no matter the condition.
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Post by pep on May 23, 2012 18:51:37 GMT -5
I love those old covers for the HPL paperbacks. The first book of his (and I guess "others") I ever found was the 2nd collection of Cthulhu Mythos tales. That cover was great. I believe I had the one pictured above and a few more and damn straight those books fell apart like crazy.
Ender's Game definitely grabbed me. Wanted to save it for tour but I'm about a third of the way done with it after two sittings. But I guess I can grab some of the sequels for the road.
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Post by swilliam on May 23, 2012 20:20:30 GMT -5
I read Ender's Game in a flash. Same with Speaker for the Dead.
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gr0und
Big Brother Has A Nasum Hoodie
Posts: 18
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Post by gr0und on May 23, 2012 22:58:07 GMT -5
My first Lovecraft book was the first volume of the Cthulhu Mythos (the melting skull edition). I was, what, eight? Ten? Scared the crap outta me! I don't think any author since has been able to convey atmosphere that powerful. Gave me nightmares. Made me a fan for life. Same thing happened thr first time I read Samuel R. Delany. Wrote the kind of characters I'd hang out with.
Loved Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, and Xenocide, but by the time Ender's Shadow came out, I had become unimpressed with his long-form work that I didn't bother with them. Sounds like I need to check them out after all.
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Post by yeastydeath on May 24, 2012 0:27:20 GMT -5
Finished Radio Free Albemuth last week, really enjoyed it, especially knowing the context in which it was written and the references to his own life experience. The religious themes weren't nearly as off-putting as I would have expected had I known they were coming.
Now going through Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges. The first book A Brief History of Iniquity is basically fictionalized or sensationalized accounts of real criminals.
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Post by ryan on May 24, 2012 7:18:30 GMT -5
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