The Official Book Thread

[Natzo]

^^ You won't regret reading that Natzo, good choice. Kafka's "The Castle" (at least "El Castillo" is the spanish tittle) is also very good.

I already bought George Orwell's Animal Farm to read when I finish Kafka's.

I for sure will check the Castle afterwards.

 

[Natzo]

This is termed deux ex machina and is regarded as poor writing/story telling. Sometimes it is used for comedic effect, but mostly the use of it is just someone being lazy or abusive to the audience.

Lost's final episode was a good example of Deus ex machina... but that doesn't mean it's lazy, abusive or insulting,though I thik it depends from person to person.


ps: epis. 19 of the First season was called Deus ex machina.

 

[tim290280]

tim it's deus ex machina (deuS not deuX) and i just didn't want to sound like a prick using latin, although It seems that you english-speakers love using it

We both fucked up

I prefer using the correct terminology, as ad-hoc is just as bad and not entirely accurate. I wanted to add the terminology in case you weren't aware of it so you could look it up and see other examples. I hate the use of it, but some shows laud it, like Star Trek (in fact Futurama lampooned this particular point).

Lost's final episode was a good example of Deus ex machina... but that doesn't mean it's lazy, abusive or insulting,though I thik it depends from person to person.


ps: epis. 19 of the First season was called Deus ex machina.

Clearly they didn't because mvsf1 disagreed with my points about this.....

But yes, they commonly used this and several other reviled techniques on Lost. It is one of the many things I disliked about Lost. Plus the finale was just lame, it was like a homage to deus ex machina.

 

[Storm]

Enough of this shit. There are book reviews on Lost's thread and now Lost chitchat in here?

Back to books: Thoughts about Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon? wikipedia article
I enjoyed it a lot, but i'm a computer scientist so my sense of humour and background is optimal for this book(s). I wonder what do people with other backgrounds think about it and if you got bored/lost when any member of the Waterhouse family goes ultra-nerd.

I also tried to read "Baroque Cycle" but i got bored in the third novel, original Cryptonomicon is much better imo (the storyline with Sir Isaac Newton in the first Baroque novel is kinda good but overall I find it mediocre).

 

[Skeptic]

Reading another John Grisham book. The Appeal. They are enjoyable easy reads.

 

[tim290280]

Enough of this shit. There are book reviews on Lost's thread and now Lost chitchat in here?

Back to books: Thoughts about Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon? wikipedia article
I enjoyed it a lot, but i'm a computer scientist so my sense of humour and background is optimal for this book(s). I wonder what do people with other backgrounds think about it and if you got bored/lost when any member of the Waterhouse family goes ultra-nerd.

I also tried to read "Baroque Cycle" but i got bored in the third novel, original Cryptonomicon is much better imo (the storyline with Sir Isaac Newton in the first Baroque novel is kinda good but overall I find it mediocre).

The problem isn't following the technical details it is whether they have any place in the book. If you have to explain a concept so that the reader/audience is up with the story then you need them, if they can be referenced without necessarily going into banal details then you should never ever go there. For example, guns appear in a lot of books and movies, but most of the time you don't need to say that you are using the X brand of the X type of gun with X loading of bullet that is of X variety, but if you have a scene that is describing a silent kill then you might mention subsonic rounds through a silencer or how accurate or reliable the weapon in question is.

 

[Rocky]

I'm reading graphic novesl because I'm too stupid to be captivated unless there are pictures.

Been working my way through a lot of Frank Miller's stuff and Alan Moore.

Thanks.

 

[fdelval]

i read THE BATTLE FOR STALINGRAD (William craig) some time ago, good in recreations, and very rich describing the miserable life conditions.
It doesnt go deep into human mind though.
Not that kind of book, but a good read for war books/movies fans who want to go beyond the bullets and explosions.



ps. i would give that kafka's book a try, im searching for more "classics" books, something i have always feared because of complex languaje, but now i feel in the mood for it

any more recommendations for a beginer?

 

[lifterdead]

Not a book, but I seriously recommend Max Tegmark's papers on physics. I was inspired after reading Neal Stephenson's Anathem.

Good stuff, and non-technical enough that laymen like me can still appreciate it.

[astro-ph/0302131] Parallel Universes

[0707.2593] Many lives in many worlds

[0905.1283] The Multiverse Hierarchy

[0905.2182] Many Worlds in Context

 

[tim290280]

I've been plowing through books this last couple of weeks:

Recoil - Andy McNab
Interesting story and felt like it was told from a soldier's perspective. Chapters were really short, which stuck out at me, but it was an easy enjoyable read. I'm just starting Liberation Day of McNab's now.

Dead and Kicking - Geoffrey McGeachin
Australian crime/thriller fiction and was pretty good. Very fast paced, easy read (polished the book off in roughly a day) and enjoyable. The author though was either trying to be too ocker/Aussie, or he was being satirical (I believe it had to be the former, unless he like subtle juxtaposition of class and elegance with "common" language). The other thing was it read like an Ian Flemming novel with more American bashing. This wasn't a bad thing, but I can see why it didn't appeal to a wider audience.

I'm pretty much convinced that I've read too many "arty" books. These last couple took me days to read, rather than feeling like a labour. I remember trudging through stuff like Robinson Crusoe, Prince and the Pauper, Faust, The Divine Comedy, etc. Sure they were great, but they were so much work for the reader. Now I'm realising that it doesn't have to be.

 

[Skeptic]

^^ this is why I like John Grisham books

 

[tim290280]

^^ this is why I like John Grisham books

6 months ago I would have fopped my interlectual e-penis around deriding you for liking Grisham books. Now I'm thinking I should actually read some of his stuff first.

 

[Souldestroyer]

The Egyptian by Waltari. A compelling story of Sinuhe, the physician of the Egyptian royalty. Love and passion, war and tragedy, immemorial beliefs and philosophical wisdom -a journey back in time thousands of years into an ancient and beautiful civilization.

 

[Skeptic]

6 months ago I would have fopped my interlectual e-penis around deriding you for liking Grisham books. Now I'm thinking I should actually read some of his stuff first.

I actually have an e-copy of The Divine Comedy, I might read it... but its either print it (fark that) or read it on my computer lol

 

[tim290280]

The Egyptian by Waltari. A compelling story of Sinuhe, the physician of the Egyptian royalty. Love and passion, war and tragedy, immemorial beliefs and philosophical wisdom -a journey back in time thousands of years into an ancient and beautiful civilization.

The description I read made it sound more like a history text book. Is it any good to read?

I actually have an e-copy of The Divine Comedy, I might read it... but its either print it (fark that) or read it on my computer lol

You'll need to print it out. It is quite hard going and reading it on the computer is not going to help. Do you have all three parts or just the first part? You also want to check which translation you get, there are several, one is much better than the rest.

 

[Skeptic]

hahaha, I'm pretty sure I have all three parts. Hrm... I'll have to check otu which translation I have.

 

[Natzo]

John Grisham?

recently bought playing for pizza.


I have to make an homage here, to a man who's books teached me great lessons, and that passed away this week.

NObel Prize winner, José Saramago.

I've read Memorial do Convento, the one I enjoyed the most.

and Ensaio sobre a cegueira a.k.a blindness.

great great books and writer.

rip.

 

[Storm]

Just to update my thoughts on "Song of Ice and Fire".
I'm going through the 4th book (last one already printed) right now and it's the weakest thus far, not bad but not as great as the others, specially considering that the 3rd one is just plain epic, best fantasy book i've ever read.
I just hope Mr. Martin finish the 5th one already and it's as good as the first three.

 

[tim290280]

^^ Are you reading them all in a row? Because I've found I don't like doing that as a general rule. Just a bit too much of the same thing.

I've just finished a couple more:

Liberation Day - Andy McNab
Pretty decent read, felt a bit like reading a Bourne film (not the books though, the Bourne books are nothing like the movies). I think I enjoyed this one more than Recoil but I'm noticing a pattern to the endings.

The Night Watch - Sergei Lukyanenko
Just finished this one. The movie wasn't a patch on the book, did not capture what little it used of the book at all. I didn't enjoy this book that much, more was fascinated by the take on life the Russian's must have. I've only read a couple of Russian novels, but this one really struck me with the morality and the "battle" of light against dark, good against evil. Completely different from what English speakers philosophies would be, and Americans would have had no doubt that good would triumph (the only time I haven't seen this is in The Wire).

About to start Matthew Reilly's Area 7, or possibly Lee Child's 61 Degrees.

 

[Storm]

^^ Are you reading them all in a row? Because I've found I don't like doing that as a general rule. Just a bit too much of the same thing.

I always have several books that i read at the same time, often times one sci-fi, one technical book and then something else. I also read a full one betw finishing the 3rd and starting the 4th, plus the 5th one still doesn't exists.
I agree with the "too much of the same" but on the other hand you don't want to forget characters and plots in a story like this one because it gets pretty "complicated" at times.