The Official Book Thread

[tim290280]

We have film threads, we have music threads. Well it is about time we discussed books that we read.

I'm sure we have all read various books that we'd like to comment on and share our thoughts on the material.

As long as this thread doesn't fill with tumbleweeds then I might even start an art thread for exhibitions and displays you've seen.

I'll start:
Recently re-read A Catcher in the Rye.

Why I keep wasting time with this book I do not know. I do not find the central protagonist interesting nor do I find the explorations (shallow at that) interesting. The overall story lacks for an actual movment or challenge to the character that reveals anything deeper. We are ultimately left with the same guy at the end of the book having suffered through a pointless journey to discover that he has an ultimately pointless existence to toddle through. Is this meant to be a comment upon the wastefulness of youth? Is it meant to comment upon our society in some way that I have missed? Can I just move on and not be tempted to read this again to see what I have missed?

I'll comment on a few others. I'll also mention that I'm about to read Mario Puso's The Godfather.

 

[Skeptic]

I've been reading 'Angels and Demons' by Dan Brown. It's of a similar vain to The Davinci code. Interesting if you aren't completely annoyed at how awesome Robert Langdon appears to be jerkoff1. The book is totally unbelievable. I'm not enjoying it much.

 

[tim290280]

^^ My partner says that Angels and Demons is pretty much The DaVinci Code II - more of the same.

Have to say that The DaVinci code was an interesting book and covered a lot of great facets of history to piece together an interesting and involving mystery. Although when all said and done I've read similar prose that is equal to or greater than this yet had less free Catholic Church publicity. Makes you wonder if Dan Brown paid off a cardinal to get this on the best seller list.

Also what is it with aging authors with the need for older central characters hooking up with much younger female counterparts? Can't we have a novel where the central character gets it on with someone their own age? Or maybe make the characters just that bit younger?

 

[Hypocrisy86]

Might wanna stop reading that book Tim, you might end up killing a still living Beatles member.

right now im just bout to start reading my two textbooks
"Lifes Ultimate Questions" - Ronald H. Nash

and

"Classics of Western Philosophy" - Edited by Steven M. Cahn

 

[FuManChu]

Read Brian Azzarello's Joker, for the 5th time. Greatest Graphic Novel ever written.

Still trying to hunt down the best horror novel ever...It was a bunch of short stories(possibly true) including:
*The Devil arriving in a small town, and doing battle with the priest
and
*The spirit of a man's wife watches over him in the form of a dove.

 

[tim290280]

^^

I have actually read the short stories you refer to. Can't remember who they were by, but I do remember being very young at the time. Even then they weren't all that scary. It was more the explorations of the characters and the supernatural/spiritual that was interesting. That is if I'm thinking of the same thing.

 

[FuManChu]

^^

I have actually read the short stories you refer to. Can't remember who they were by, but I do remember being very young at the time. Even then they weren't all that scary. It was more the explorations of the characters and the supernatural/spiritual that was interesting. That is if I'm thinking of the same thing.

Well if you remember dude, let me know...
I really want to get me hands on those stories again

I also think one was about a dude who found all these balls of clay...he walked along the beach throwing them into the ocean. Later he realised they were stolen jewels hidden in clay by pirates.

EDIT:
Found it dude,
Called Secrets of the Unknown by Gordon Hill.
I recommend it to everyone who likes weird sh^t.

 

[lifterdead]

I also re-read The Catcher in the Rye and was again disappointed. I just don't like J.D. Salinger's writing.....




Contact by Carl Sagan is fantastic. If anyone here ever wants a fairly realistic look at what would happen if the world ever received extra-terrestrial communication, this is it. Sagan does a great job of writing science fiction that avoids the perils of excessive fantasy that tend to plague the genre.

 

[thedon]

^^ My partner says that Angels and Demons is pretty much The DaVinci Code II - more of the same.

Have to say that The DaVinci code was an interesting book and covered a lot of great facets of history to piece together an interesting and involving mystery. Although when all said and done I've read similar prose that is equal to or greater than this yet had less free Catholic Church publicity. Makes you wonder if Dan Brown paid off a cardinal to get this on the best seller list.

Also what is it with aging authors with the need for older central characters hooking up with much younger female counterparts? Can't we have a novel where the central character gets it on with someone their own age? Or maybe make the characters just that bit younger?

angels and demons was written before da vinci code...i dont like dan brown.

catcher in the rye i enjoyed, didnt live up to the hype these serial killers give it, but it is a disturbing look into the teenage males head.


the green mile
the rum diary
hells angels
fear and loathing in las vegas ( as you can tell i am a hunter s. thompson fan)
a prayer for owen meanie
to kill a mockingbird

those are my all time favourite books

 

[tim290280]

angels and demons was written before da vinci code...i dont like dan brown.

He isn't that great. I've read other similar novels that didn't get any of the publicity and yet were far superior reads. He's kinda like Tom Clancy - entertaining, well researched, but an average writer.

catcher in the rye i enjoyed, didnt live up to the hype these serial killers give it, but it is a disturbing look into the teenage males head.

Maybe we just aren't serial killers or English literature teachers.

And I don't think it is a look into a teenage boy's head at all. I think it is particularly shallow in this context and also very fictionalised account of teenage id. I often have a shot at those who call Hitler evil, as it shows a complete lack of understanding of who and what Hitler was and the era he lived in. To have the cursary glance at a character or person (Hitler or Holden Caulfield) in this manner is to not only fail to understand it is to fail to grasp upon the reality. This leaves us open to, in the case of Hitler, another terrible/tyrronous leader rising in the future, and in the case of Holden, a failure to understand what it is to be a teenage boy and continue to have the disenfranchised youths that are a bane to society and at the highest risk ever of suicide.

the green mile
the rum diary
hells angels
fear and loathing in las vegas ( as you can tell i am a hunter s. thompson fan)
a prayer for owen meanie
to kill a mockingbird - the only one I've read on this list

those are my all time favourite books

I was going to insert a book recommendation here, but I've forgotten the name of it. I'll check the bookshelves at home and get back to you.

 

[tim290280]

I also re-read The Catcher in the Rye and was again disappointed. I just don't like J.D. Salinger's writing.....




Contact by Carl Sagan is fantastic. If anyone here ever wants a fairly realistic look at what would happen if the world ever received extra-terrestrial communication, this is it. Sagan does a great job of writing science fiction that avoids the perils of excessive fantasy that tend to plague the genre.

My mate had high praise of it too. I'd dismissed it as he also loved the Dune novels which I never got very far through.

 

[tim290280]

Ok just an idea to discuss in here; what/who are the books/writers that/who you have started to read only to put the book down out of apathy or disgust?

Kathy Reichs - made it about 50 pages into one of her books. My partner (an avid reader) made it a bit further before concluding it wasn't worth it.
The Dune Novels - in fairness the films were far worse.
Steve Harris' The Switch - a bit too graphic in describing how to kill and torture people. I almost did the same with American Psycho.

They are the ones that spring to mind. Any others people?

 

[FuManChu]

I wouldnt mind jumping on The Dark Tower bandwagon...
Any good?

 

[Line]

Good idea for a thread, though I very much enjoy The Catcher in the Rye, especially it's anti-hero protagonist. Anyway, IS tried something similar here, so I hope this works out better.

 

[lifterdead]

I can't stand Dave Eggers. I forced myself to read You Shall Know Our Velocity, then gave A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius a try. I stopped reading in Part III and left it on a bench at the bus station.




I've stopped reading several Stephen King books less than half-way through. Some of his writing is fun to read, but he writes complete crap as well.

Right now, I'm re-reading Shogun by James Clavell. It's one of my favorite books of all time.

 

[Hypocrisy86]

Im currently reading my two new textbooks still
Classics of western philosophy
and
Lifes ultimate questions An introduction to Philosophy

plus Ron Pauls The revolution A manifesto

 

[tim290280]

I can't stand Dave Eggers. I forced myself to read You Shall Know Our Velocity, then gave A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius a try. I stopped reading in Part III and left it on a bench at the bus station.




I've stopped reading several Stephen King books less than half-way through. Some of his writing is fun to read, but he writes complete crap as well.

Right now, I'm re-reading Shogun by James Clavell. It's one of my favorite books of all time.

I've had the same thing with Stephen King. I've got a lot of respect for him, but he swings from a visceral world and exploration to mindless meanderings. He wrote a few books of short stories that were fantastic but I think I've only finished a couple of his novels of the 5-6 I've started.

 

[Pickle]

im reading muscle mecca

 

[tim290280]

^^ As long as you've stopped fapping.

How about you read Valley of the Horses. You'd enjoy it. Well sections of it at least.

 

[lifterdead]

Valley of the Horses?

I've heard the title before. Any good?