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Just finished Child of god by Cormac Mccarthy and it is one of the only books I've nearly had to stop reading, just really terrifying.
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Jan 16, 2013 11:53
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I've only ever owned paperback copies of Lord of the Rings, and I've decided to upgrade to a longer-lasting hardcover version. But I'm very picky about binding and paper quality, both of which are difficult if not impossible to gauge over the internet. Does anyone here own either of these versions of LOTR? If so, is the binding sewn or glued? And how is the paper quality, in terms of opacity, thickness, feel, etc? I hate the onionskin paper feel that thicker books sometimes have.  50th Anniversary, One Vol. Edition  Three-volume Illustrated Edition Thanks very much!
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Jan 17, 2013 07:11
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I own the Three-Volume illustrated version, the paper is pretty thick and completely opaque. I believe the binding is sewn, but I'm not entirely sure on how to spot the difference. I really like the illustrated version (I also own a paperback version of the 50th Anniversary, One Vol. Edition) because of the beautiful case and art in them. I don't really like how the books are sized though, they're pretty large and personally I'm not really used to reading books of that size.
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Jan 17, 2013 12:21
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AlternatePFG posted:I own the Three-Volume illustrated version, the paper is pretty thick and completely opaque. I believe the binding is sewn, but I'm not entirely sure on how to spot the difference. I really like the illustrated version (I also own a paperback version of the 50th Anniversary, One Vol. Edition) because of the beautiful case and art in them. I don't really like how the books are sized though, they're pretty large and personally I'm not really used to reading books of that size. Does the book being that size have the feel of a Large Print book? Or is the text reasonably sized? I'm being super anal about this, I know, I'm sorry.
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Jan 18, 2013 01:23
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Hatter106 posted:Does the book being that size have the feel of a Large Print book? Or is the text reasonably sized? The text is normal sized, it does not have the feel of a large print at all.
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Jan 18, 2013 01:59
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I'm reading Silence of the Lambs right now. I love the movie, it's probably one of the best horror movies ever made. In the book i'm up to Sterling having the moth found in the latest victim examined by the scientists. I's kind of boring honestly because I know everything that's going to happen. Think I might drop it and read Dominance by Will Lavender.
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Jan 19, 2013 04:45
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Has anyone picked up Lawrence Wright's Going Clear yet?
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Jan 19, 2013 21:21
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I haven't yet but I definitely will, his New Yorker article about Paul Haggis was fascinating.
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Jan 20, 2013 00:14
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His book on Al-Qaeda and 9/11 (The Looming Tower) was amazing, so I'm definitely interested in his new one.
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Jan 20, 2013 18:27
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I'm interested in it, but it's not officially for sale in Canada because of libel laws. I might order a copy from abroad once the price does down a bit.
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Jan 20, 2013 21:28
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What is the origin and purpose of "a novel" being written on book covers?
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Jan 22, 2013 03:09
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I'm not sure of the origin, but these days I think publishers throw that bit on the cover to make sure it's shelved in the fiction section?
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Jan 22, 2013 04:12
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UltimoDragonQuest posted:What is the origin and purpose of "a novel" being written on book covers? I suspect it goes all the way back to when novels were new (as in the meaning of the word novel) and the word was displacing the previous word "romance" in the 1600s. That is, to differentiate from the romances, they put "a novel" in the title. Edit: Yep,  from Wikipedia Carthag Tuek fucked around with this message at 06:38 on Jan 22, 2013 |
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Jan 22, 2013 06:31
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Has anyone read this chap? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Plunkett,_18th_Baron_of_Dunsany He was mentioned in another thread as having influenced Tolkien and Lovecraft and while I'm not expecting quite the same stuff, I'd still like to check him out. His 'Joseph Jorkens' character sounds a lot like Wodehouse's 'Mr. Mulliner' too.
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Jan 22, 2013 08:31
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At what point does 2666 start to pick up the pace? It's well-written and it is a big book, but I'm at page 135 now and I kinda feel like the story should start to be going somewhere soon.
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Jan 22, 2013 11:43
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Octy posted:Has anyone read this chap? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Plunkett,_18th_Baron_of_Dunsany He's brilliant and one of the greatest pre-Tolkien fantasy writers and you should read him. Start here: Idle Days on the Yann. He's been a big influence on pretty much everyone (Neil Gaiman's Stardust is very much inspired by Dunsany's work). The problem with him is he's got a pretty affected style that works for him but that other writers sometimes try to imitate with disastrous results. Here's Ursula K. LeGuin on Dunsany: quote:On the map of literature, I see Dunsany as a small, walled city in a desert, with opal walls and spires of bronze, and strange little streets, and a great gate made from a single tooth. The lord of the city is a generous host. It is not on the beaten path, but it is worth visiting.
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Jan 22, 2013 15:38
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Eight Is Legend posted:At what point does 2666 start to pick up the pace? It's well-written and it is a big book, but I'm at page 135 now and I kinda feel like the story should start to be going somewhere soon. Things really pick up after the part about the critics ends. That's probably something like 20-30 pages further from the spot you're at.
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Jan 22, 2013 23:18
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:He's brilliant and one of the greatest pre-Tolkien fantasy writers and you should read him. Start here: Idle Days on the Yann. Thanks a lot. On the scale of things he's pretty obscure so I wasn't expecting such a quick reply from soneone who had read him. My uni library has a bunch of his books too.
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Jan 22, 2013 23:29
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Octy posted:Thanks a lot. On the scale of things he's pretty obscure so I wasn't expecting such a quick reply from soneone who had read him. My uni library has a bunch of his books too. you can also get a bunch of them at Project Gutenberg
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Jan 23, 2013 04:18
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:He's brilliant and one of the greatest pre-Tolkien fantasy writers and you should read him. Start here: Idle Days on the Yann. "The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth" is all heroic fantasy in ten pages. And le Guin is right on the money there.
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Jan 23, 2013 13:40
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When Borders capsized a year ago, I lost access to the nearest bookstore within 50 miles. Yesterday, I made the trek to the Barnes & Noble's on the rich side of the island. First time I'd been in one in over a year and holy poo poo I was like a kid in a candy store. I love bookstores so much, you can just get lost in 'em and look at... everything! I saw some trashy-rear end middle grade fiction and I was like "oh man I want that!" I've never even read historical fiction and I saw some poo poo about like a confederate soldier looking for a long-forgotten treasure that would turn the tide of the war that was probably incredibly racist and I was like "oh man I want that too!" I had to tell myself "no, stop that, you don't actually want this book" so many times. I did pick up some cheesy middle-grade fiction and a hardcover compilation of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Got a deal on that fucker, just $15. Barnes & Noble, put a store in central Maui. You'll actually get sales that way instead of a bunch of looky-loo tourists who'll just go home and buy it there because even books are cheaper on the mainland. We have a great location where a Borders used to be, the mall's just plastering T-Mobile ads on the windows and letting it decay right now.
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Jan 28, 2013 05:27
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You don't have any independent bookstores there? That really sucks, I can do without being near a giant store but I like having a small one near my place so I can order stuff in and look at new titles and etc.
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Jan 28, 2013 21:47
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Wouldn't that be great! I think there's like one, but it's one of those creepy Christian bookstores that refuses to stock satanic literature (i.e., everything). Nobody's willing to front the risk, not that anyone who lives in the residential parts of Maui could afford to do that in the first place. All we have now is Amazon, but that just doesn't compare to going into a bookstore empty-handed and walking out balancing a huge stack of books. I wish I could afford to move to the mainland so bad, haha.
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Jan 29, 2013 08:57
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Is there a Tolkien Legendarium thread rolling about here? Do you guys think there would be much interest in one?
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Feb 4, 2013 20:53
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Ape Gone Insane posted:Is there a Tolkien Legendarium thread rolling about here? Do you guys think there would be much interest in one? I just got back into Tolkien in a big way, I would totally read that thread!
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Feb 4, 2013 22:11
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Hatter106 posted:I just got back into Tolkien in a big way, I would totally read that thread! I put something together quickly: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3532243
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Feb 4, 2013 23:58
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Quick question: I loving adore The Master and Margarita; I think it's currently my favorite book that I've ever read! I've only read the Ginsburg translation, though, which had 12% of the text expurgated. I wanted to read the whole thing. Does anyone recommend any translation in particular? I bought a copy of the Burgin/O'Connor translation, which I've heard the best things about, but I haven't gotten around to actually reading it yet.
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Feb 6, 2013 10:54
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Has anyone here read Ted Chiang? It's blowing me away how good he is. I read him, and it's like he's read everything I've ever read, and then a bunch of other stuff, too. I mean, I'm sure this is true of any number of authors, but in this case it's a palpable feeling I get while reading him. I don't know how else to explain it. My reaction after the first page of every story is Man, now this is a premise I can think my teeth into. Every premise is hard sci fi, but... not. I want to say it's hard philosophy, or linguistics, or any number of things, even though of course--I know, I know--hard sci has those things aplenty. Yeah, okay. Fine. But this is different. "Seventy-Two Letters" / "Vanishing Acts" is about semiotics and golums and naming, for example, and like a lot of his other work, the conceit isn't even remotely possible or really all that realistic--it's basically about magic, which of course is always all about naming and the weird power of language to shape reality. The titular story of Stories of Your Life and Others also has some semiotics, though it's more speech act stuff. I'm most of the way through Stories of Your Life and Others, after stopping for a bit, and there is a lot about free will and determinism in the other stories that makes me really need to go back and read the titular story, considering the conclusion it reaches. I also need to go buy more of his work. The availability on Amazon is disappointing.
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Feb 6, 2013 21:48
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Would anyone be interested in a thread about Gabriel Garcia Marquez?
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Feb 6, 2013 22:46
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The Erland posted:Would anyone be interested in a thread about Gabriel Garcia Marquez?  I figure we should show some appreciation while he's still alive. Besides, I love his writing style; it feels familiar and pacific, almost avuncular.
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Feb 6, 2013 23:50
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Does anyone have any recommendations for books about the process of songwriting? While I was getting my hair cut today, the dude was talking about this book he had long ago that was a series of interviews with different musicians about their songwriting process. He specifically mentioned Stan Ridgway as one of the people it interviewed but I can't find anything on Google. I want to learn more about how other people go about songwriting because I am finding my "process" falling short of what I want to do. But I don't know what alternatives there are. I just want some ideas 
ashgromnies fucked around with this message at 00:31 on Feb 7, 2013 |
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Feb 7, 2013 00:29
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The Erland posted:Would anyone be interested in a thread about Gabriel Garcia Marquez? If nothing else, it would tempt me to reread One Hundred Years. So yeah, that'd be awesome.
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Feb 7, 2013 06:07
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CloseFriend posted:Quick question: I loving adore The Master and Margarita; I think it's currently my favorite book that I've ever read! I've only read the Ginsburg translation, though, which had 12% of the text expurgated. I wanted to read the whole thing. Does anyone recommend any translation in particular? I bought a copy of the Burgin/O'Connor translation, which I've heard the best things about, but I haven't gotten around to actually reading it yet. If you liked M&M, try Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog, Zamiatin's We, Platonov's Foundation Pit, or something more contemporary with Pelevin's Omon Ra.
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Feb 9, 2013 18:03
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Does anyone know if Amazon reworked the Quick Picks on the Gold Box page lately? (Past month or so.) It used to be that they'd always have an extra ~5% off on 6-9 books that made sense based on what I've bought in the past. Lately, it's been an absolutely bizarre assortment of things that I would never buy. Today, it's 5 CDs (I've never bought music from Amazon), Keurig cups (don't have a Keurig), and a pet trimmer (don't have a pet). In the past week, there's been bath & beauty supplies, lawn maintenance chemicals, etc.
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Feb 9, 2013 22:11
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Anyone here read Bernard Cornwell? I just finished his latest Saxon chronicles book and i was wondering if there are any other authors like him. Dude can write a battle, for sure.
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Feb 11, 2013 01:54
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OH WORD SON posted:Anyone here read Bernard Cornwell? I just finished his latest Saxon chronicles book and i was wondering if there are any other authors like him. Dude can write a battle, for sure. Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series is pretty similar to Cornwell's Sharpe novels. Hervey is a cavalry officer rather than infantry, and they take place during the Battle of Waterloo and afterwards where Sharpe ends at Waterloo, but other than that they're fairly similar. Actually, if you haven't read the Sharpe novels I'd recommend those. I actually just bought the first book in the Saxon Chronicles the other day and was planning to start it tonight, so I can't directly compare the two, but I love the Sharpe novels. I bought the chronologically first one, Sharpe's Tiger, without ever having heard of Cornwell or the miniseries or anything before just based off a review on the back cover describing it as "James Bond in 1700s India" which is basically the best way to describe something to me to get me excited for it, and I've been a loyal fan ever since.
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Feb 11, 2013 02:19
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Lords of the north owns super hard, enjoy that. I'll pick up sharpes tiger right now. Thanks!
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Feb 11, 2013 02:28
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The Erland posted:Would anyone be interested in a thread about Gabriel Garcia Marquez? Speaking of good ol Gabo, anyone know why none of his books have been made available as e-books yet? I re-read One Hundred Years of Solitude once or twice every year, and I'd kill to have it on my e-reader 
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Feb 11, 2013 06:29
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hope and vaseline posted:Speaking of good ol Gabo, anyone know why none of his books have been made available as e-books yet? I re-read One Hundred Years of Solitude once or twice every year, and I'd kill to have it on my e-reader Not to be deliberately antagonistic but if you can read spanish then it's been made available. The article mentions that concerns of the e-book "borderless market" have slowed down the process. I'd also love to read his novels on the kindle; also War and Peace because the last good version I read was too big to comfortably hold in one's hands.
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Feb 16, 2013 06:12
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Where the hell can I buy the paperback version of A Dance of Dragons? Amazon has some weird pre-order thing going and it's confusing as all gently caress.
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Feb 18, 2013 20:15
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