|
Ornamented Death posted:I almost always read introductions first. Used to, until the intro to Catch 22 spoiled the ending the first time I was reading it.
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2014 05:09
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 24, 2024 10:52 |
|
|
Ornamented Death posted:A question to Americans that have purchased books through Amazon UK: how well did they package the book(s)? I'm thinking of ordering a book, but I"m worried they'll ship it in one of the lovely envelopes that Amazon US loves to use. I've ordered books and gotten them in boxes. But for full disclosure, the last time I did that was three years ago, and I don't remember Amazon US uniformly using lovely envelopes until fairly recently, so maybe that's changed.
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2014 21:45
|
|
|
Pompous Rhombus posted:Used to, until the intro to Catch 22 spoiled the ending the first time I was reading it. I always skip introductions until I've read the text, but sometimes even that isn't safe - I was about a page into my B&N classic edition of The Age of Innocence when the first endnote explained the ending for me. Nowadays I just treat most of that stuff like it's been written for those already familiar with the book. Chamberk fucked around with this message at 23:03 on Jan 20, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2014 22:50
|
|
|
Suck it readers for the plot. Get owned by an academic's marginalia.
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2014 23:03
|
|
|
The introduction for Grapes of Wrath accounts for 9% of the book according to my Kindle, which seems a bit much. I got spoiled in the intro for Anna Karenina. Serves me right, I guess.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2014 00:31
|
|
|
In a lot of ways, it can be really useful to have some kind of historical/cultural grounding in many of these books because having a better understanding of the setting or time period or author's life/biases etc can make for a better reading. It's when they also throw in a lot of the literary criticism and interpretation stuff that it can really ruin it. Though some introductions are so very biased and fluffy, it's like reading a school book report.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2014 01:13
|
|
|
Yeah after being spoiled by the introduction of Titus Groan (terrible book, anyhow), I really try to avoid introductions. I used to skip prologues and epilogues as a kid as well.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2014 11:16
|
|
|
I'm about to sign up for the Indiespecable series through Powell's books in Portland. It's a series of books and other surprises that happens ever six weeks. It should be interesting to see what the books are every couple of weeks and what the extra things are. EDIT: It's also $40 every six weeks. screenwritersblues fucked around with this message at 23:53 on Jan 24, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2014 23:48
|
|
|
screenwritersblues posted:I'm about to sign up for the Indiespecable series through Powell's books in Portland. It's a series of books and other surprises that happens ever six weeks. It should be interesting to see what the books are every couple of weeks and what the extra things are. So it's like a book club?
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2014 07:37
|
|
|
EDIT: I am an idiot who did not see the recommendations thread. Please disregard.
VagueRant fucked around with this message at 12:57 on Jan 25, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2014 12:51
|
|
|
What are the go-to book communities out there on the internet? Like, blogs and forums, etc.? /r/books is beyond embarrassing and the goodreads forums/groups/whatever seem kinda clunky. The only book-related blog I have bookmarked is npr's book section, and even that I rarely look at. I wish there was a Giant Bomb equivalent for books.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 10:09
|
|
|
If I were you I'd check out The Millions as well as the book sections for good newspapers like the NYT, the Guardian, etc.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 11:30
|
|
|
Qwo posted:What are the go-to book communities out there on the internet? Like, blogs and forums, etc.? /r/books is beyond embarrassing and the goodreads forums/groups/whatever seem kinda clunky. The only book-related blog I have bookmarked is npr's book section, and even that I rarely look at. Well, of course, it depends on what you like to read! And also what you're looking for in a book "community". Personally, I rarely read comments on blogs and I don't even read most reviews - I just find reviewers with similar tastes to me and make a note to check out the books that they like. Goodreads is great for this, you can just follow your favourite reviewers and get an email digest at the end of the week. But anyway, here are some blogs I know of with lively comment sections. Stainless Steel Droppings - Scifi/Fantasy. Hosts a few popular reading challenges throughout the year, eg the 2014 Sci-fi Experience Smart Bitches, Trashy Books - Romance. A lot of poking fun at genre staples like heavily airbrushed stock cover photos, TSTL heroines, etc. Forever Young Adult - YA. I quit reading it because they do a ton of those TV recap posts (which drive me insane) but the reviews are generally OK. 101 Books - Classics. Guy reads his way through Time's 100 Greatest Novels list, lots of general literary discussion too. Whatever's "Big Idea" - Authors submit essays on the "big idea" behind their work. Mostly scifi/fantasy; I've found a lot of new authors this way.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 11:37
|
|
|
The Grey posted:So it's like a book club? That's what I get from it. There's no discussion or anything like that. They just send you a book with a few additional gifts every six weeks.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 18:44
|
|
|
Qwo posted:What are the go-to book communities out there on the internet? Like, blogs and forums, etc.? /r/books is beyond embarrassing and the goodreads forums/groups/whatever seem kinda clunky. The only book-related blog I have bookmarked is npr's book section, and even that I rarely look at. What exactly are you looking for? Because just about all book discussion on the internet is pretty bad and embarrassing.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2014 00:28
|
|
|
Regarding Infinite Jest--my paperback copy has this weird typo phenomenon where in various places, there are superscripts gone wild. I don't have the book in front of me so I can't cite an actual example, but in places the book l1o1o1k1s1 like t1h1i1s1. Does anybody know if this problem persists in newer copies of the book? I also have it on the Kindle, but I'm assuming those typos don't pop up there--I just feel like IJ is a book best read in physical form, but it drives me C1R1A1Z1Y1.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2014 16:18
|
|
|
Qwo posted:What are the go-to book communities out there on the internet? Like, blogs and forums, etc.? /r/books is beyond embarrassing and the goodreads forums/groups/whatever seem kinda clunky. The only book-related blog I have bookmarked is npr's book section, and even that I rarely look at. In terms of forums, World Literature Forum (http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/forum.php) is pretty good. The vibe is a little odd, probably due to a lot of ESL posters, but it's a good place to find out about international literature and complain about the Nobel Prize.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2014 16:44
|
|
|
Qwo posted:What are the go-to book communities out there on the internet? Like, blogs and forums, etc.? /r/books is beyond embarrassing and the goodreads forums/groups/whatever seem kinda clunky. The only book-related blog I have bookmarked is npr's book section, and even that I rarely look at. My (European) library supports/links to librarything.com (well, they link to librarything.nl which is the dutch version), which seems to be a very big and active forum/readers group.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2014 17:47
|
|
|
tonytheshoes posted:Regarding Infinite Jest--my paperback copy has this weird typo phenomenon where in various places, there are superscripts gone wild. I don't have the book in front of me so I can't cite an actual example, but in places the book l1o1o1k1s1 like t1h1i1s1. Does anybody know if this problem persists in newer copies of the book? I also have it on the Kindle, but I'm assuming those typos don't pop up there--I just feel like IJ is a book best read in physical form, but it drives me C1R1A1Z1Y1. That's probably the zillions of footnotes DFW infested his writing with.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2014 20:18
|
|
|
barkingclam posted:That's probably the zillions of footnotes DFW infested his writing with. Nah, they don't correspond to anything in the endnotes... It's definitely a typo--just hoping the newer editions don't have the same mistake.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2014 20:27
|
|
|
Stravinsky posted:What exactly are you looking for? Because just about all book discussion on the internet is pretty bad and embarrassing. elbow posted:If I were you I'd check out The Millions as well as the book sections for good newspapers like the NYT, the Guardian, etc. naptalan posted:Well, of course, it depends on what you like to read! And also what you're looking for in a book "community". Personally, I rarely read comments on blogs and I don't even read most reviews - I just find reviewers with similar tastes to me and make a note to check out the books that they like. Goodreads is great for this, you can just follow your favourite reviewers and get an email digest at the end of the week. Food Court Druid posted:In terms of forums, World Literature Forum (http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/forum.php) is pretty good. The vibe is a little odd, probably due to a lot of ESL posters, but it's a good place to find out about international literature and complain about the Nobel Prize. Walh Hara posted:My (European) library supports/links to librarything.com (well, they link to librarything.nl which is the dutch version), which seems to be a very big and active forum/readers group.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2014 22:05
|
|
|
Qwo posted:What are the go-to book communities out there on the internet? Like, blogs and forums, etc.? /r/books is beyond embarrassing and the goodreads forums/groups/whatever seem kinda clunky. The only book-related blog I have bookmarked is npr's book section, and even that I rarely look at. Assuming you have an ereader, I like these two: https://www.kindleboards.com https://www.mobileread.com They have a lot of good discussion about ereaders, ebooks, and just books in general. Kindleboards also has a lot of indie authors hanging out there.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2014 04:40
|
|
|
I've seen a couple of "Let's Read" threads floating around the site, and I'm interested in doing one for a series I've been a fan of for a while (not going to go into which, this isn't an interest check), but I had a couple of questions before I just dove into it. The first and most important question is; do I need to contact the author(s) to get permission first? Part of the Let's Read would be me posting excerpts from the books, and synopsizing the rest, and I could imagine an author being annoyed with that. The series has only been in print for maybe a decade, so it's not like the books are public domain, and I imagine I wouldn't have much trouble contacting the author(s), I just don't want to step on anyone's toes. When I comes to posting excerpts, how much is too much? Obviously, posting an entire chapter verbatim is out, but paragraph after paragraph of me describing what happens sounds equally boring. Is there anything else I should know first, or something I haven't though of?
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2014 16:45
|
|
|
So there's no BB mod right now. quick let's talk about movies or something
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2014 04:46
|
|
|
But the book is usually better.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2014 07:57
|
|
|
Unless it's star trek, in which case both the movies and books suck
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2014 16:22
|
|
|
barkingclam posted:Unless it's star trek, in which case both the movies and books suck I wouldn't say that about Star Trek, but it definitely goes for Percy Jackson.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2014 16:28
|
|
|
It's cool when both the book and the movie are great and you just can't choose. Ones where I've read or seen both but can't honestly choose: - Blade Runner - American Psycho - The Shining - To Kill a Mockingbird - Rebecca Also: I checked Google to see if there were any I couldn't remember (there probably still are), and I came across a website claiming that Lés Miserables the movie (the recent one) was better than the book. gently caress everything.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2014 21:07
|
|
|
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest One of my favorite books, and my favorite movie. They are very different, but really great in their own way.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2014 21:09
|
|
|
A Clockwork Orange would probably be just as good as/maybe better than the book if only it had the right ending instead of the cut off one.DirtyRobot posted:
Personally I think the film Blade Runner is way better than the book. The film's story is much more streamlined and there is just no way to compete with how loving gorgeous it is.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2014 21:39
|
|
|
I'm astounded that Anthony Burgess' prevaricated so badly over which ending he wanted. The longer one is much better, to my mind. Does anyone like anything else he's done? I tried The End of the World News but thought it was pretty bad. Or read the biography by Roger Lewis, which may be the most spiteful book I've ever read. e: The Maltese Falcon is a great film but a pretty lousy book.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2014 23:16
|
|
|
Jurassic Park is both fun on the page and on the screen.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 00:11
|
|
|
Doom was both a good movie and a good book
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 01:24
|
|
|
Mr. Squishy posted:I'm astounded that Anthony Burgess' prevaricated so badly over which ending he wanted. The longer one is much better, to my mind. I really loved Earthly Powers. It's occasionally slow going, but it has one of the best opening lines I've ever read: quote:"It was the afternoon of my eighty-first birthday, and I was in bed with my catamite when Ali announced that the archbishop had come to see me."
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 06:29
|
|
|
barkingclam posted:Doom was both a good movie and a good book Winner.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 11:45
|
|
|
DannyTanner posted:The introduction for Grapes of Wrath accounts for 9% of the book according to my Kindle, which seems a bit much. I read "Again, Dangerous Visions" recently and as fun as some of the introductions which seem to take up about a third of the book were, there were only so many stories about Harlan Ellison kicking a writer in the balls and spitting in his wife or whatever I could take.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 22:28
|
|
|
Is the current audiobook-humble-bundle worth checking out? There's some swashbuckling-vampire story that could be cool (in a campy trashy way), but I've never heard of the author.barkingclam posted:Doom was both a good movie and a good book Haha I read this as well! It's fun tbh
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2014 13:53
|
|
|
What are people's opinions about Scribd?
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 19:15
|
|
|
Blade Runner, Godfather, and Fight Club are all better movies than they were books. Actually, what the hell, I'll go there: just about every movie that's ever been made out of anything Philip K. Dick wrote is "better" than the source material. Dick was a genius but he was a deranged genius and his works tend to lack, for lack of a better term, technical integrity -- thematic unity, internal cohesion. I'm sure there must be cases where Dick's original was better than the resulting film but out of the ones where I've both seen the movie and read the source material, the movie was "better" -- more professional, more interesting, more technically proficient, more thematically complex -- than Dick's source material was (except possibly by implication). Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 20:29 on Feb 3, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 20:07
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 24, 2024 10:52 |
|
|
I just finished the deeply unsatisfying A Dance With Dragons (aka Game of Thrones Part Five: Dragon Boogaloo) and then cracked open a Jack Reacher novel - 61 Hours. I am THREE pages in and the difference in the quality of prose between the two authors is staggering to me.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2014 18:57
|
|