What are you currently reading?

[ducon]

Read this:

 

The creation of the series with sketches, letters and stuff.

Darn, now I want to read the complete series.

 

I’m beginning to read this:

[Laocoön]

I am currently reading a short novel called Time's Arrow, by Martin Amis. It is clever and affecting, despite being based on a literary gimmick of sorts.

 

I am also reading a cultural history of the world's oceans called The Boundless Sea. At over 1000 pages of tiny writing, this is a long-term project. It's honestly a bit dull, and progress is slow, but it helps me sleep at night.

 

Before these two, I read Hons and Rebels, Jessica Mitford's memoir of growing up in a very unusual family. I recommend looking up the Mitford sisters if you don’t already know about them!

[Dusty_Rhodes]

Last year, I spent a lot of time reading. I'm hoping to continue this habit into 2024. Before Tolkien became my favorite author (by a far and away measure too), I would have said George Orwell was my favorite. I'd only read Animal Farm, Keep the Aspidistra Flying, and Homage to Catalonia. I purchased a box set of his fiction and separate editions of Homage and Down and Out in Paris and London (recommend to me by Mr. Hypnos here on DW, actually). I started with Burmese Days and I really rather hated it. The prose was spotty and the plot ended in an extremely unsatisfactory manner. I'll get into in the spoiler. 

 

Spoiler

At this point, Orwell must have never heard of "show don't tell." I'm give the nearly every characters explicit thoughts constantly. On one hand, it makes the emotions very strong and visceral, which I love. But it also strips all the complexity from the characters, like paint thinner of wicker furniture. Nothing is left to interpretation, and their actions don't feel as layered because I'm given the precise emotions and motives behind those actions. The plot was also depressing. Flory is a man in Burma, desperately lonely and self - loathing (like a lot of Orwell's characters). A young women comes to town named Elizabeth that he desperately loves, but who is either barely attracted to him or utterly digusted by him, depending on the part of the book. Flory is caught up in a local political feud (which would be fascinating, but unfortunately isn't focused on. Those sections are the most intriguing part of the book). Long story short, Flory is the hero of a local uprising, and it looks like the end of the conflict and marriage with Elizabeth is in sight. Until the leader of the feud, the bad guy, totally upends it all in the last few pages. This leaves Elizabeth hating Flory, so in response, he shoots his dog in the head, decides that it looks to grisly, and figures he better shoot himself in the heart instead. So, main character commits suicide and the fallout of that decision leads to numerous local problems and the bad guy winning. Horrible, unsatisfying end to a very middling book. It was at times brilliant, but mostly confused whether it wanted to be a painful romance or a political thriller. In the last few pages, everything goes wrong and the plot feels pointless and ruined. What I like about Aspidistra, is the inverse. In the last few pages, everything goes right and the plot feels justified and "worth it." Just skip Burmese Days if you're curious. 

 

Anyway, I've read and loved Keep the Aspisdistra Flying before, so I decided to cleanse my palette with it. I'm four chapters in and it's as good as I remember. The writing is much tighter, with may more "show don't tell." The characters and their philosophies are really intriguing to me. I find them relatable and understandable, but can also poke holes in them. I really enjoy characters like that in books, since it shows me how to point out short comings in my worldview. Anyway, it's about a book shop worker and poet, named Gordon, and his attempt to escape the "moneyed" world. He falls into complete poverty by his own choice, the necessity of his one - man war on money. It's a really beautiful book that looks at the pain class disparity brings, but also the importance of compromise and ultimately love. I haven't read it in a while, but it's one of my absolute favorites. I'll come back with a more detailed account when I finish reading it. 

 

Anyway, some notes: Gordon is a bad person. He's also relatable, and more importantly, learns a lesson at the end of the book. I love Orwell's ability to make such self - loathing and flawed characters, because they can reflect on the reader. We all have bad times, and Gordon feels like a concentration of those negative emotions. So reading the book is like plucking all of that out of your mind and reviewing it - at least that's how I feel. 

[Eon Toad]

Just finished Hyperion and now I'm starting The Fall of Hyperion.

[ChaseC7527]

Johny The Homicidal Maniac: The Director's Cut

 

[ducon]

Finished:

 

Beautiful book, with a lot of sketches and drawings from John Howe.

[Doom_Dude]

[Biodegradable]

HELLBOY! All of it, mate. It's been great fun so far. Been meaning to read it for years after being such a big fan of the Del Toro movies. Mike Mignola's artwork alone is incredible. Currently on Volume 3.

 

Edited March 1 by Biodegradable

[ducon]

Read:

 

I knew his 4-element group and his bottle but I did not know that he reformed teaching in Germany and that he made Göttingen mathematics school relive.

 

Now:

[Dusty_Rhodes]

On 11/1/2021 at 5:05 PM, Yumheart said:

Currently reading To Kill a Mockingbird for school. I don't dislike it, it's just not the kind of book I usually read. My two favorite novels are probably 1984 (wow, vewy owiginal) and Slaughterhouse-Five. I especially enjoyed Slaughterhouse-Five, it's got such a beautiful and zany sorta melancholy, it's hard to put into words.

I know I'm digging up an old post here, but have you read any other Orwell novels? I'm a big fan of his stuff that I have read, and am currently working through all of his fiction. I'm excited to get to 1984, as I've never read it. 

[Naarok0fkor]

No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Then you shall hear the surly sullen bell
Give warning to the world that I am fled
From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell:
Nay, if you read this line, remember not
The hand that writ it; for I love you so
That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot
If thinking on me then should make you woe.
O, if, I say, you look upon this verse
When I perhaps compounded am with clay,
Do not so much as my poor name rehearse.
But let your love even with my life decay,
Lest the wise world should look into your moan
And mock you with me after I am gone.

[LadyMistDragon]

I've been glancing at the latest release of Reload Magazine. Congrats to the team!

 

 

Edited March 5 by LadyMistDragon

[ReX]

Star Wars: Darth Vader

 

I must say that Disney/Marvel know how to make money. Each volume is just 20, count 'em, 20 pages long. The entire 6 volume "series" could have been published as a single f*ckin' book.

[ReX]

On 3/1/2024 at 1:59 AM, Biodegradable said:

HELLBOY! All of it, mate. It's been great fun so far. Been meaning to read it for years after being such a big fan of the Del Toro movies. Mike Mignola's artwork alone is incredible. Currently on Volume 3.

Also check out B.P.R.D. The artwork is consistent with Mignola's (as a lot of the art is by other artists) and many of the stories are by Mignola.

[Biodegradable]

1 hour ago, ReX said:

Also check out B.P.R.D. The artwork is consistent with Mignola's (as a lot of the art is by other artists) and many of the stories are by Mignola.

 

Way ahead of you, Rex! I plan on diving deep into Mignola's work. I've got over 20 years of cool stuff to explore!

[ducon]

Finished:

 

A book about early versions of the Silmarillion (up to the battle of many tears), commented, discussed and compared.

 

Then:

[PsychoGoatee]

18 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

 

Way ahead of you, Rex! I plan on diving deep into Mignola's work. I've got over 20 years of cool stuff to explore!

 

Very cool, I've been digging Hellboy lately too. Also, don't sleep on Savage Dragon! Savage Dragon/Hellboy is a cool team-up comic by Erik Larsen, from the pages of the ongoing Savage Dragon saga. Another one where it's all written by one person, and in Dragon's case all drawn by one too, Erik Larsen. Love those indie creator owned comics.

 

I'm also always reading Judge Dredd, especially The Complete Case Files, John Wagner is pretty much my favorite writer.

 

For novels, I'm in the middle of Neuromancer, also Guards! Guards! the Discworld novel. And also enjoy having audiobooks in the mix, in the middle of Rob Halford's, and the original Roger Rabbit audiobook.

Edited March 4 by PsychoGoatee

[ReX]

6 hours ago, ducon said:

A book about early versions of the Silmarillion (up to the battle of many tears), commented, discussed and compared.

Years and years ago I tried reading Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, but a lot of the writing was just too academic for me and I gave up. (Chris Tolkien did an admirable job of curating and editing his father's work, but the underlying material was just too arcane to be enjoyable.)

 

Speaking of arcane, it takes a person with patience and perseverance to get past the first 50 pages or so of The Silmarillion, an otherwise-brilliant work of story-telling.

[ReX]

@PsychoGoatee & @Biodegradable: Pick up anything by Ed Brubaker and you won't be disappointed, particularly his noir series, such as Criminal, Incognito, Fatale, The Fade Out, and Kill or Be Killed.

[Dusty_Rhodes]

6 hours ago, ducon said:

book about early versions of the Silmarillion (up to the battle of many tears), commented, discussed and compared.

 

Another Tolkien fan! I have The History of the Hobbit and most of the History of Middle Earth, but I've yet to read them. Did you enjoy reading these?

[ducon]

Of course, it gives another view on his world. For example, in a first version of Beren and Lúthien, Beren was an elf.

 

Finished:

 

How a man who sought the bins of mathematics found gold in them.

 

Then:

Edited March 10 by ducon

[LadyMistDragon]

Dress Her in Indigo

 

[Bubbabooie]

I just read Titanium Noir. A life-extending drug is developed that works by de- or re-aging a person, fixing old age, broken bones, or illness and sends you through puberty as an adult. The more you take it the larger and denser you become and it's reserved for the ultra-rich -- Titans. A Titan is murdered and a private eye is put on the case and he navigates legal and moral shades of gray tracking down the murderer. I thought I would enjoy it more.

 

Now I'm reading Book of Koli which I'm liking a lot!

[ducon]

Read:

 

I knew that he was the third L of the French mathematicians (with Laplace and Lagrange, who is from Italy) but not that he worked 50 years on number theory.

 

Now:

[LadyMistDragon]

[ducon]

Finished:

 

I knew that he proved the impossibility to solve a random fifth degree polynomial equation but he also worked a lot on elliptic integrals and elliptic functions.

 

And now:

[enigma101]

Goes into the histories of bands like The Minutemen, Black Flag, Fugazi and Sonic Youth. Very interesting if you want to read about pre-Smells like Teen Spirit indie and alternative music.

[ducon]

Finished:

 

Wow. I knew his work on logarithm and his bones but not that he was such a precursor (continuity, functions, binary numbers…)

 

And now:

[Biodegradable]

Here's a tower of Frank Miller comics I finished reading recently. I fucking love Sin City.

 

[LadyMistDragon]

The Mad Ship