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Paragon8 posted:It's actually quite interesting. Wasn't Dickens or something the Tom Clancy of Victorian times? Broad populist literature? Same with Shakespeare. Maybe, if you want to essentially ignore the social context of Dickens work.
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Feb 12, 2012 20:25
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barkingclam posted:Maybe, if you want to essentially ignore the social context of Dickens work. Comparing somebody's popularity with something else doesn't mean you're comparing the quality of the work. As Mcustic pointed out it's hard to evaluate what will be seen as classics down the road, especially from our generation!
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Feb 12, 2012 20:53
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Paragon8 posted:It's actually quite interesting. Wasn't Dickens or something the Tom Clancy of Victorian times? Broad populist literature? Same with Shakespeare. I agree that some of our popular fiction is going to survive, but there's a difference between popular fiction and lovely fiction that happens to be popular. There were a ton of contemporaries of Dickens or Shakespeare or Dumas that were very popular that didn't survive because they weren't as well-written. I think Harry Potter will stand up fairly well and Twilight is going to disappear completely. I hope.
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Feb 12, 2012 23:30
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It's probably worth studying in 50 years why Stephanie Meyer has made more money than all the authors born before 1940 put together.
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Feb 13, 2012 01:28
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Paragon8 posted:It's probably worth studying in 50 years why Stephanie Meyer has made more money than all the authors born before 1940 put together. So she's made $100?
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Feb 13, 2012 09:12
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DrGonzo90 posted:I hope. Twilight has fantastical, self-flagellant notions of relationships/sexuality that will probably be looked at in the same vein as Madame Bovary's self-destructive freedom. Yes, I'm defending Twilight; whatchu gonna do?
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Feb 14, 2012 04:47
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MoaM posted:Twilight has fantastical, self-flagellant notions of relationships/sexuality that will probably be looked at in the same vein as Madame Bovary's self-destructive freedom. By dumb people, sure.
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Feb 14, 2012 05:55
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MoaM posted:Twilight has fantastical, self-flagellant notions of relationships/sexuality that will probably be looked at in the same vein as Madame Bovary's self-destructive freedom.
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Feb 14, 2012 07:27
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The thing about Bovary is that it's an intentional sendup of a "romantic" outlook on life. The point is that Emma B. ain't ever getting to Paris, but Bella never has to leave Forks. Ever. And it's supposed to be a good thing! I've drawn this comparison on the forums before, but I think Twilight stands a better chance at being something like Samuel Richardson's Pamela or Clarissa in that the work is simultaneously commercially popular and reviled, and it demonstrates a completely idiosyncratic and wild view of human (sexual) relations that, I think, will be an interesting thing for culture studies folks in ~100 years.
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Feb 14, 2012 23:37
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If it becomes our generation's Pamela, I really hope it means we're going to get a Joseph Andrews, too.
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Feb 15, 2012 00:04
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Is there a decent sci-fi series (or single book) with multiple well-developed fictional religions? (sci-fi noob) Rush_shirt fucked around with this message at 01:05 on Feb 16, 2012 |
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Feb 16, 2012 01:01
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thegloaming posted:Is there a decent sci-fi series (or single book) with multiple well-developed fictional religions? My gut here tells me Dune but it really comes down to how you're defining "multiple" and "well-developed." Other people might have a better sense for what you want, as I'm a bit out of the loop genre-wise at the moment. (Thinking more recently, Stephenson's Anathem has some of this going on, too. And if you want to be liberal with your definition of 'religion' then his book The Diamond Age is so incredibly about this kind of thing.) And if you're a sci-fi noob and you want to read about sci-fi in religion and you haven't read Dune then you probably should because it's pretty fundamental for the genre in that respect.
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Feb 16, 2012 04:13
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thegloaming posted:Is there a decent sci-fi series (or single book) with multiple well-developed fictional religions? Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Religions, cults, mystical orders, popes all the way through the four books in the series.
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Feb 16, 2012 07:44
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Thanks for the recommendations, H.P. Shivcraft and mcustic. It turns out I have a copy of Dune and I managed to snag the third book in the Simmons series off the "up for grabs" shelf at my work. I'll assume I should to start with first though, unless someone says otherwise.
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Feb 18, 2012 22:29
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I am looking for a word/phrase that is buried, I believe, in the Dresden thread. It describes the "scope creep" or "inflation" that occurs in a series when the hero just keeps getting gooder and gooder and the bad guys get badder and badder. Anyone know?
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Feb 19, 2012 00:22
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Zola posted:I am looking for a word/phrase that is buried, I believe, in the Dresden thread. Not having read the thread, do you mean "escalation"?
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Feb 19, 2012 11:40
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Eliza posted:Not having read the thread, do you mean "escalation"? No, although that word also describes it well.
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Feb 19, 2012 15:39
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I really don't know where to ask this question, so sorry if this is the wrong place. If it is, please let me know where I should go instead  I'm thinking of getting my mom an e-reader for her birthday. I was hoping someone could weigh in on them, since I know next to nothing about them: - my mom loves reading books and has mentioned wanting to try out an e-reader before. however she really likes the feel of books/flipping pages, but I guess there's no harm in getting her one anyway - she uses glasses when reading. I have no eyesight problems so I have no idea how these e-readers jive with that and how comfortable it would be to read from one - preferably there would be easy access to foreign-language books? specifically russian. It's kind of pointless if not since she doesn't read english books that often If anyone can give their recommendations or point me to somewhere that would make this decision easier, thanks!
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Feb 20, 2012 20:11
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Clocks posted:I really don't know where to ask this question, so sorry if this is the wrong place. If it is, please let me know where I should go instead http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3366619 That there is the e-reader megathread in Inspect Your Gadgets. Its a treasure trove of info. Personally, I love my Kindle. The e-ink is incredible and you can read it indoors and outdoors with ease. You can also adjust the font size so its bigger or smaller for her eyes.
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Feb 20, 2012 21:06
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http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3327487 Here is the thread for the Book Barns own e-reader thread. Another great resource when deciding what to get.
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Feb 20, 2012 21:07
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Oh man, I kind of just skimmed down IYG to see if there was anything like that but I guess I missed the thread. In hindsight I probably should have just searched for "e-reader" or something but I figured a forum based on reading books would be able to help. I'll go read through the threads now. Thank you!
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Feb 21, 2012 16:30
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I've noticed that in the last couple of weeks we've had three or four threads goons have created to promote their own self-published novels. Does anybody think that a goon self-publishing thread where anyone can post links/freebies of their own work would be a good idea, or would that be better relegated to Creative Convention?
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Feb 21, 2012 18:54
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The NYRB is having a big sale with their classics series. Some good stuff you can get for under ten bucks: Stephen Leacock's Nonsense Novels, Vasily Grossman's Everything Flows, Der Nister's The Family Mashber, William Gresham's Nightmare Alley. There's a bunch of cool stuff to choose from!
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Feb 24, 2012 19:51
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barkingclam posted:The NYRB is having a big sale with their classics series. Some good stuff you can get for under ten bucks: Stephen Leacock's Nonsense Novels, Vasily Grossman's Everything Flows, Der Nister's The Family Mashber, William Gresham's Nightmare Alley. There's a bunch of cool stuff to choose from! The lack of The Long Ships on this sale list makes me sad.
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Feb 25, 2012 01:27
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Cactus Jack posted:The lack of The Long Ships on this sale list makes me sad. I want that one, looks badass as hell. I still need to track down a NYRB copy of The Siege of Krishnapur...
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Feb 26, 2012 01:40
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Alright book barn, I have an English major type of question. What's the history of the concept of mind control in literature? As a fan of 19th century horror, I'm always interested in where some of the concepts that came to make up horror originated, and it occurred to me that the idea of mind control, or otherwise losing one's free will, is one i don't know much about.
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Feb 26, 2012 04:30
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clessness posted:Alright book barn, I have an English major type of question. What's the history of the concept of mind control in literature? As a fan of 19th century horror, I'm always interested in where some of the concepts that came to make up horror originated, and it occurred to me that the idea of mind control, or otherwise losing one's free will, is one i don't know much about. Wieland by Charles Brockden Brown was published in the U.S. in 1798 and is about a "biloquist" (I.e. a ventriloquist) who uses his gift to project disembodied voices into this sort of enclaved family's lives and drives them insane. The complication of the plot is whether or not the family can really be held accountable for what they do. It's not mind control as we think of it today, but I could see it as a forerunner to the idea. Poe was down on Charles Brockden Brown. It reads like it was written in 1798, though, be advised.
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Feb 26, 2012 17:12
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Hi all, I'm wondering if you all can help me with something. I'm looking for an out of print book and so far google, eBay, and the rest haven't been helpful. It's called "The Other Side of Peace" basically, it's just a collection of Israeli/Palestinian propaganda posters. I don't know the ISBN number and I can't even find a single mention of it on the web. Any idea where to look next? EDIT: ignore this I found it and feel like an idiot because I had the title wrong... Southern Vulcan fucked around with this message at 04:33 on Feb 27, 2012 |
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Feb 27, 2012 04:31
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Southern Vulcan posted:Hi all, I'm wondering if you all can help me with something. I'm looking for an out of print book and so far google, eBay, and the rest haven't been helpful. It's called "The Other Side of Peace" basically, it's just a collection of Israeli/Palestinian propaganda posters. I don't know the ISBN number and I can't even find a single mention of it on the web. Any idea where to look next? What was the right title?
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Feb 27, 2012 15:52
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I need some help finding a book and I hope you guys can help. The book was recommended to me 10+ years ago, it was a post-apocalyptic novel and the only thing that stuck in my head all these years was that it took place in a city and that one of the different groups of survivors was trying to kill themselves through exhaustion. Running and and screaming and waving their arms til they die. Ring any bells?
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Mar 7, 2012 12:57
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I believe you're thinking of In the Country of Last Things by Paul Auster, though I haven't read it.
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Mar 7, 2012 21:59
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I'm mad at this book: http://www.amazon.com/His-Dark-Materials-Spyglass-Everymans/dp/0307957837/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331177198&sr=8-1. It has that amazing cover and then I get it and the spine is the same red and black Everyman's Library puts on all their books (except the ones they put black and white on). Would it really have been that hard to make the spine the same colors as the cover? And guess what colors it is without the dust jacket.  I like Everyman's Library's editions but I honestly don't want to buy any more because they all look the drat same on their spines.
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Mar 8, 2012 04:31
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I dunno, I kind of like stuff that has the same spines: the old Vintage Contemporaries series, those Penguins with the color bar on top, etc.
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Mar 9, 2012 00:06
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barkingclam posted:I dunno, I kind of like stuff that has the same spines: the old Vintage Contemporaries series, those Penguins with the color bar on top, etc. I completely agree, I love the old Vintage Contemporaries, so beautifully done. Pantheon also released a Modern Writers series that had similar spines that looked so good together on the bookshelf.
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Mar 9, 2012 05:01
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TFNC posted:I believe you're thinking of In the Country of Last Things by Paul Auster, though I haven't read it. This might well be it, I'll have to check it out. Thanks man!
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Mar 9, 2012 13:21
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So, I'm finally getting around to reading The Shack by Wm. Paul Young at my mom's suggestion over Christmas. I'm not a very religious guy, but my mom is and I figured I'd do this to humor her. I have no problem with Christian literature if you're a fan of it, but why do they have to be so blunt with their references? I'm 30 pages in and there have already been five or more references to "the story about Jesus" or "his wife is a strong believer, but I have my doubts", or "Papa is her nickname for God". I don't read much Christian literature, but what I have read is always like this. Is there any popular Christian literature that is a bit more subtle with its undertones, or does it all assume we are morons/10 year olds and hit you with the religion like a lead pipe over and over again? Any critically acclaimed Christian literature out there? e: Holy poo poo, some critic compared this book to Pilgrim's Progress. No loving way. facebook jihad fucked around with this message at 21:06 on Mar 11, 2012 |
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Mar 11, 2012 20:35
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It's pretty hard to find any type of christian lit that doesn't beat you about the head and shoulders with faith and parable kinda stuff. I dug the Remy Chandler series though. It's an urban fantasy where the main character is an angel (not fallen, more like.. quit). It's a decent read, doesn't really come off as preachy, and the stories are kinda interesting. Only 4 books i think. I really enjoyed Saint by Mark Bailey. It's on kindle now for 99 cents, but I bought the paperback years ago. It's pretty nifty.
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Mar 11, 2012 21:14
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Can anybody link me to the purchase page of what they know to be the Peavar and Volokhonsky translation of War and Peace for the Kindle? I can't find a Kindle edition of the book that I can be certain is that particular translation. TIA
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Mar 12, 2012 12:33
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It looks like the only Kindle version of the P&V translation isn't going to be available until March 28.
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Mar 12, 2012 14:12
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crankdatbatman posted:I don't read much Christian literature, but what I have read is always like this. Is there any popular Christian literature that is a bit more subtle with its undertones, or does it all assume we are morons/10 year olds and hit you with the religion like a lead pipe over and over again? Any critically acclaimed Christian literature out there?
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Mar 12, 2012 15:15
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