The Reading Room

Mish

Mish

New member
So, anybody reading anything at the moment? I must admit until very recently I had completly given up on books and hadn't read anything in literally years. But couple of month ago I've been recommended the Twilight books, read all 3 and so totally loved them I just had to re-read them again, and look into other literature coz I had forgotten how much I used to enjoy reading.


At the moment I'm multi-tasking. I'm still struggling with Wuthering Heights, but it seems to grow more and more on me. Fuck those people used to write so damn cryptic 2 centuries ago though :eek:

And two days ago I stumbled across The Children of Húrin, by J.R.R. frigging Tolkien . It's surreal - the guy's been dead for 30 years, and his books still keep coming out. It must have been released sometime late last year, and with illustrations by Alan Lee I just couldn't have not bough it straight away. Have read a quarter so far and loving it. I wouldn't be surprised if a century from now his works will be regarded as official British mythology - it's just so vast and believable.

Anyone else?
 
Wuthering Heights I hated when I was reading but on reflection I thought it was a pretty good book. Working my way through a couple of classics; Frankenstein and Treasure Island. The LOTR is a book which I'm always reading through, a couple of pages at a time, in a never-ending cycle!!!

Have a bunch of Saul Bellow to get through too.
 
Right now I'm reading Great Expectations. I was forced to read it in high school, but just did the Cliffs notes thing. Now that I'm reading it on my own, it's an amazing story. I have about fifty pages left, I have a feeling shit is about to hit the fan, it's been building up for a while now. Before that I read 1984, my all time favorite book for about the fifth time. That read got me back into fiction. Before I re-read it, I had been reading non-fiction only for about 8 years. I just realized though, that there can be just as much information and knowledge taken from fiction books as non-fiction. Sometimes even more.
 
I love reading. I also write books, but I suck. Four and a half novels and one non-fiction book, The Little Shop of Lyrics.

My wife is a teacher and teaches Frankenstein now and then. It's so cool to relate to poor Victor and Elizabeth. Imagine how he felt on his wedding night to come in and discover that his creation snuffed out her life. That's horror.

Stephen King's horror is Bambi compared to that.

That are the Twilight books?
 
Xeries said:
I love reading. I also write books, but I suck. Four and a half novels and one non-fiction book, The Little Shop of Lyrics.

My wife is a teacher and teaches Frankenstein now and then. It's so cool to relate to poor Victor and Elizabeth. Imagine how he felt on his wedding night to come in and discover that his creation snuffed out her life. That's horror.

Stephen King's horror is Bambi compared to that.
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How cool is the fact that Marry Shelley got a premise for Frankenstein in a dream? Great novel!

I wouldn't go as far as comparing it with Stephen King though :cool: . It's like saying that Zakk Wylde's shredding is Fallout Boy compared to Jimi Hendrix :D

Xeries said:
That are the Twilight books?
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Did you mean 'what' ?
 
so far this year i've finished 2 books and am working on a 3rd.

"this is your brain on music" by daniel levitin--it's a very interesting book on the "musical psyche" if you will. highly recommended.

"the equation that couldn't be solved" by mario livio. it's fairly heavy, and i wasn't able to grasp all the concepts, but it's fascinating. group theory, symmetry, and such. lots of focus on evariste galois, whom i admire quite a bit...

now i'm about 100 pages into "what's so great about christianity" by dinesh d'souza. so far it hasn't been mind-blowing, but there's definitely some interesting info in there.

books on my shelf to tackle after that: the art of war, the fountainhead (rand), and god created the integers (hawking).
 
I love reading! I raed for at least an hour each night (last Fri night from 10pm until 2am).
I reread the Hobbit & LTLOTR every 2 years.(I teach the Hobbit as a literature/film study every year I don't rewad it). 1984 & Hamlet set my brain up with haywiring that has kept me reading since I finished them in the early 70's.
I reread most Orwell, Ben Elton, Hitchhikers Guide & The Azimov's Robot books every few years.
I'm a series junkie so I'm reading the Deverry, Wheel of Time, Ice & Fire, the Duncton Chronicles & something else I can't remember concurrently - when ever one of those authors releases one.
I've read almost all S King books & LOVED the Dark Tower until the last cop out book - it's a pity he can't write the last third of any novel or story! All intro, complication upon complication. He can even manage a recapitulation but each resolution almost always peters out.
Currently I'm well into the Discworld series - chewing gum for the brain - but at least it keeps my breath fresh & it's FUNNY.
Horror ! Have you read Robin Jarvis novels? Dark, evil books for kids: Deathscent is SUPERB & the Wyrd Sister Trilogy is terrific...
I'm pleased to read that the Children of Húrin is good. I've read everything up to it, The Silmarillion was hard yakka (bought the hardcover 1st edition when it came out in back in76 - or was it 77?) so I became cautious ! I'll keep an eye out for the new one now that it has a recco.
 
It the moment I'm really enjoying Sergie Lukyanenko's Night Watch trilogy. Yeah, the same thing the Night Watch and Day Watch movies are based on. The books are more like a modern day Lord of the Rings, or a more adult Harry Potter, a far cry from the movies, which didn't feature the use of any traditional magic.

I also really like the Pratchett's Discworld series, although I'll admit that I have been very lax in my promise to myself to read all of them.

And you guys are going to flame me, but although I loved the story itself, I didn't enjoy reading Lord of the Rings. I found Tolkein's writing to be far too over-descriptive, which detracts from what I prefer about books to movies, which is painting my own images. I don't want to read a whole 2 pages describing one leaf. I don't know where that puts me as a LOTR fan. The lore, the story and the characters fancinates me, but the text itself I don't enjoy.

I've read The Exorcist numerous times. I love that book. But please don't talk to me about that fucking travesty of a film.
 
The Harry Potter series was a very enjoyable, if not taxing, read.
I understand about Tolkien and detail being a turn off - it's why, along with the length - that kids prefer Jackson's laudible - if somehwat compromised, movies. To me, each rereading gives me more detail, a different perspective - each time intensly enjoyable &, yes, I always get leaky eyes at certain moments - woose that I am.
I'm getting through Pratchett fairly quickly - mainly copies from eBay - still averaging at AUS$20 a pop though. My mum is currently in hospital getting stem cell therapy post chemo & reading her way through my Discworld copies- she needs the giggle - not too shabby for 72 year old.
Ah, has anyone read the original Zodiac book? I've read it a dozen times & it's spooky each time.
 
I am doing installments of various books at the time.

Catcher in the Rhye - JD Salinger. My all time favorite book, I re-read it every few years.
Tale of two cities - I just started it so the verdict is still out.
Heart of Dakness - Joseh Conrad. Thought provoking.
My Revolutions - Hary Kunrzu. Its about the political movment in the late 60s, early 70s. Revolutionaries who thought they could change the world. Its set in London and loosely based on groups like the Armed Brigade etc. Very, very intersting read.

I just finished "to kill a Mockingbird" which now holds a very warm spot in my heart.


Mike
 
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"To Kill A Mockingbird" is one of my most favorite books. It literally brought a tear to my eyes at points.

I'm reading "The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales" by Pantheon press. There's 200+ stories, most of which I'd never read or heard of. The famous ones like Cinderella and Rapunzel are so different than the versions most people know. Example: Cinderella's sisters are beautiful, but catty, and end up getting their eyes pecked out by birds! Pretty sure that didn't happen in the Disney flick.

I haven't read Tolkein since "The Hobbit", when I was a kid a long time ago, but I enjoyed it enough back then.

Next up is probably a history of the the 12 Caesers.
 
legionserial said:
I found Tolkein's writing to be far too over-descriptive, which detracts from what I prefer about books to movies, which is painting my own images. I don't want to read a whole 2 pages describing one leaf.
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You mean the Longbottom Leaf aka "Pipe Weed" © by Tobold Hornblower :D ?

Lol I've bought the hardcover trillogy edition for just 6 quid last week so I'm reading it now - and except for the Tom Bombadil chapters that I have ultimately skipped, I don't mind the details at all. Otherwise I'd just read Fran Walsh/Philippa Boyens screenplay. I'm not in a rush, so I enjoy the in-depth lore, poetry and a zillion of names that are never mentioned again.
 
nubsy said:
I'm reading "The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales" by Pantheon press. There's 200+ stories, most of which I'd never read or heard of. The famous ones like Cinderella and Rapunzel are so different than the versions most people know. Example: Cinderella's sisters are beautiful, but catty, and end up getting their eyes pecked out by birds! Pretty sure that didn't happen in the Disney flick.
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Haha I actually hated fairy tales as a kid, but I had read that book. Loads of Disney's flicks are based on those stories - Cinderella, Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, etc.
 
Isn't it funny (ironic funny) that Walt Disney made so much money off public domain works, but we have his company's lobbying (=bribing congresscritters) to thank for the fact that relatively so few things are public domain. Because every time the original Mickey Mouse cartoons come close to becoming public domain, Disney Corp. spreads around another few million simoleons and the law gets extended.

Not just my rantings...look it up.
 
I LOVED the TOM sidetrack.
I have recordings of Tolkien reading/reciting Tom stuff - thoroughly enjooyable stuff.
I did a bit of a swerve of the barrow wrights stuff on my 1st reading.
 
legionserial said:
lol. Everyone hates Tom Bombadil. Poor guy :(
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Well I just agree with Jackson on this - what does he do for the story and the ring? He's exactly what rayc said - a sidetrack.

Besides, when JRR started writing the book, he intended to targeted the same age of the readers as with the Hobbit. Gradually it would become more and more serious, and Bombadil chapter seems more like an apendix, which you can just cut off without regret :cool:
 
Mish said:
Well I just agree with Jackson on this - what does he do for the story and the ring? He's exactly what rayc said - a sidetrack.
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I do believe there's a literary term for such characters, Bombadil is a Deus Ex Machina (sp?). I think it was important for Tolkien to include him as a nod to the enduring power of nature, and the fact that man's impact upon the world is very slight in the small scale of things; if you remember, Tom was able to handle the ring and vanish it into thin air - it had no power on him. He's also described as ageless and it's intimated that Bombadil will endure long after the passing of Elves.
 
Just finished Great Expectations. Wow! Didn't see that coming at all. The version I have includes both Dickens' original ending, and the ending that was ultimately chosen for the book. I have to say I like the original better, it gives Pip his just desserts for being a little prick. Had that book been written today, no doubt Pip would have ended up married to Biddy and living with Joe so the story could end up all hunkie-dorie, instead of how it did end with him losing his place in his old home, and losing his Expectations.
 
Telepaul - SPOT ON.
Well said, encore etc.
The wellspring of life - even elvish life - nature & its mysterious seemingly eternal rebirth.
We can see Tolkien's rural longings in the shire, his horror of the worst of the industrial revolution in Surman's construction/destruction, his optimism, (an amazing visualisation of post blitz London even), in the Shire's rebirth and his acknowledgement of the cost of the good, the needful, the necessary in Frodo & Bilbo's waning & wounds respectively.
There's so much HEAVY stuff going on of great import and gravitas that he offers, as a side track, a journey into the wild, capricious and non linear world of "nature" beyond the fields, dreams, imagination and influence of elf, hobbit or man. In terms of progressing the general story it seems it has little value but as a reminder of the innocence that can be lost, however inadvertantly, it's potent.
Have you read his short story Tree & Leaf? Or Smith of Wooton Major? Seemingly light & fey but, (more particularly the former), evocative, full of consequence and thoroughly charming.
 
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