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Radio Talmudist posted:How is Agatha Christie? Is she actually a good mystery writer? Agatha Christie wrote so much that it's hit or miss. I like all the Poirot stuff though, so I'd suggest starting there. Murder on the Orient Express is probably the best known one, and it has the best twist IMO. Most of Agatha Christie follows the same formula: Murder->Evidence collection->Solve the case. It's economical, but I like a little more "character" in my mystery which is why I recommend all of Benjamin Black's books. Black is the pen name of Irish author John Banville. His literary stuff is okay, but I love his mystery writing. Christine Falls, and The Silver Swan are connected, and The Lemur is a stand-alone mystery. I loved all three.
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Jun 20, 2009 18:47
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Hello Pity posted:I'm currently reading Mystic River by Dennis Lehane and am really enjoying it. Looking for some similar contemporary character driven stuff, not hard boiled detective thrillers or twisty-turny serial killer stuff. Lush Life by Richard Price. He wrote Clockers, and this is his newest one. It revolves around the murder of a white guy in a gentrified section of New York, but it;s really all the stories of the cops, killers, and the guy's co-workers caught up in the murder and how it affects their lives. It's one of my favorite recent novels.
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Jul 25, 2009 02:54
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thegloaming posted:I've been reading Paradise Lost, and while the annotations in my edition are certainly making sense of things, I think it's finally time I cracked open the Bible. I'm told it's been quite influential. It's not a book but I usually just use https://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com for any bible reading or quoting needs. A good book on scholarly study of the bible is this. It's Hebrew Bible/Old Testament only though.
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Nov 8, 2009 00:48
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Dr. Pwn posted:Hello, I would like to read books about serial killing and home invasion, preferably from the POV of the serial killer or home invader, that are not part of the Dexter series. Along with the other recommendations, I'll throw The Minus Man by Lew McCreary out there. The main character/narrator is a guy who serially poisons people. He moves into a small town and starts poisoning people and that sets off a whole string of events. The guy knows he could stop it all if he could only stop poisoning people, but he can't. It was made into a lovely movie, but the book is actually good.
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Nov 15, 2009 20:19
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DrGonzo90 posted:Anyone read Yann Martel's latest novel: http://www.amazon.com/Beatrice-Virgil-Novel-Yann-Martel/dp/0812981545/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1326237525&sr=8-3 ? Is it any good? Missed this the first time, sorry. I've read it and can't give a glowing recommendation. If you can find it on the cheap, go for it(I think the 11.20 on amazon for the paperback is too much, personally) but don't expect another Life of Pi. There is nothing "epic" about this book, even if the Amazon blurb says there is. An admitted author stand-in and a weird taxidermist argue about the taxidermist's manuscript for a play, that's the framing of the story. The best parts of the book are the bits of the manuscript we get to see which star Beatrice and Virgil (who are really two animals in the taxidermist's shop). It feels like the play was originally supposed to be the whole novel, but Martel ran out of time/gave up or the publisher didn't like it and so he threw this book together with the remnants. Parts of it are moving, and Martel's writing ranges from solid to outstanding (the play bits), but the story is small and quiet, and the ending is abrupt and unearned. It makes sense, storywise, but it's also a copout IMO. When I finished, I thought it was okay but forgettable, and recalling it now I feel the same way. At $5 in the remainder bin the book was a good buy, but I'd feel cheated if I had paid full price for it.
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Jan 19, 2012 01:36
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Evfedu posted:Does that take you through the structure of a plot and explain it with examples? I'm looking for something that does that, basically. What a pinch two is, where it goes and why you put it there. That kind of stuff. From a couple pages back, but Story Engineering by Larry Brooks is basically this. It's a quick read, meant for would-be authors, and it covers other territory besides plot, but it's got the info you want. It lays out plot structure and explains each point. Again, it's looking at plot from a writer's perspective rather than a reader's, but it does explain everything in a straightforward manner.
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Feb 16, 2012 06:49
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Vogler posted:The only book I've read in one sitting is How Fiction Works by James Wood. Mary Oliver's A Poetry Handbook. I used it in a creative writing class a few years back and kept it around because it was so helpful. There's also The Ode Less Traveled by Stephen Fry. It's all about metered stuff, but it's quick and fun.
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Feb 16, 2012 07:00
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Wiley360 posted:Over the past few weeks I have been binging on the Wire, the HBO show. I really love it and I'm familiar with David Simon's other books, but can anyone recommend any literature that's along the same lines as the show? EDIT: beaten! Richard Price's(he was a guest writer for The Wire) books Lush Life and Clockers. He has others, but IMO those are the most Wire-like. Clockers was also made into a movie directed by Spike Lee.
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Apr 1, 2012 02:31
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Maksamakkara posted:I am looking recommendations for "good novels" i.e. that are written well and more importantly have believable and well fleshed out characters. I am not necessary looking for classics but something contemporary. Subject can be anything from dragon slayer wizards to day-to-day life of modern bus drivers. I read mainly literary fiction so someone else will have to handle the wizards, but these are the last few modern novels I've read and liked: The Art of Fielding - Chad Harbach. There's a big, spoilery discussion about it in the "just finished" thread if you want to get an idea of what to expect(all the spoilers are covered up, of course). It's very well-written and believable, but has a couple problems. Most notably the female characters are just kinda...there. Freedom - Jonathon Franzen. My favorite book in the last few years. Follows a main trio of characters from college to middle age, their kids, etc. Some people love it, some people hate it. You can probably find it cheap used. If you like his style then you can check out The Corrections, too. Same kinda "big slice of life" deal. Chronic City - Jonathon Lethem. A very chill novel about a minor celebrity smoking a lot of pot with his weird friends and trying to figure out what reality they're in. Falls into the "not quite sci-fi" realm that I seem to like. Plus, Lethem's writing is polished without feeling flashy. The Hummingbird's Daughter - Luis Alberto Urrea. I mention because its sequel just came out: The Queen of America. Kind of a big history of Mexico mixed with some mysticism and Urrea's family history. Fun characters put in difficult situations, a coming of age angle, etc etc. Mainly I like it because after awhile all the characters start to feel like family. Netherland - Joseph O'Neill. A guy gets thrown for a loop when his wife leaves, gets caught up in the immigrant Cricket scene in New York City. That's a big oversimplification but that's the main story thread. All about the interesting characters the main guy meets. A quick read.
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May 28, 2012 17:34
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