Assignment: Reading! :)

dorkelf

dorkelf

Active Member
No proper writing group can get by without having book discussions. If you've read something or are currently reading something and you want to share your thoughts about it, or if you want to share your favorite books and recommend them to others, post to this thread.

Since I'm starting the thread I might as well share what I'm reading at the moment - I've just begun an old D&D book, one of the first of its kind - "The Rod of Seven Parts" by Douglas Niles. I picked it up for a few bucks in a bargain bin - it grabbed my interest because the author went on to write the 'Kinslayer Wars' books, which were real gems from the Dragonlance series, just as good if not better than the famous 'Legends' books. I've only read the prologue and some of the first chapter so far, and The Rod strikes me as 'old-school' in every sense - the writing is very action-oriented, not particularly multi-dimensional, epic or even philosophical, but still compelling in its own way. I expect it will be a good read, but with a graduate class going on right now it might be a while before I finish it.

[Edit - ...and the fact that Dea stole it from me to read for herself! That won't delay me much though, Dea is a very fast reader]

Paul
 
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I just finished Frankenstein and I'm reading Dracula now. No, I'm not preparing for Halloween. :p I'm just trying to fill in the gaps in my woefully deficient knowledge of the classics.
 
Tek7 said:
I just finished Frankenstein and I'm reading Dracula now. No, I'm not preparing for Halloween. :p I'm just trying to fill in the gaps in my woefully deficient knowledge of the classics.
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I truly thought Frankenstein was the most boring book I've ever read, it is the only case were I believe that the movie is better then the book.
 
[toj.cc]phantom;189346 said:
I truly thought Frankenstein was the most boring book I've ever read, it is the only case were I believe that the movie is better then the book.
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When you read the classics, you have to remember that they were written at a time when the average reader had a much longer attention span. Modern writing is geared toward an audience raised on television; instant gratification is, often, the "highest good."

On a related note: I've heard a number of people complain that the first 130 pages (approximately) of The Lord of the Rings is agonizingly slow. They also complain that Tolkien spends "too much" time describing the natural setting. In the United States, we're surrounded by concrete and steel buildings on all sides. First-world countries, to a large degree, have lost the connection with nature that almost all authors of classic literature shared. There's a respect for and admiration of natural settings that you just can't develop staring at cubicle walls for 40 hours a week.

When you read the classics, you have to take the modern American mindset of "Entertain me, and entertain me now, because, by golly, I have it coming to me" and push it aside. It's difficult to push against the cultural flow, but turning off the television, putting down magazines, and avoiding advertisements in general is a good start.

Phantom: Please don't take this as a personal slam. I get a bit worked up when I start talking about the modern American "gimme, gimme" attitude and didn't mean to imply that you share this perspective.

By the way, if Frankenstein is the most boring book you've ever read, I'm guessing you haven't read any Tom Clancy novels? :)
 
I love classics :) - I studied Frankinstein in college, and I really enjoyed learning about the stylistic themes that propelled it. It was the only thing I enjoyed about that class btw.

I just read Tommy Tenny's "Hadassah" (now in movie theaters as "One Night with the King") I have to say it is one of the most amazing pieces of fiction that I have ever read. (and I have read a lot) The history he incorrorates, and the Godliness he brings to the story of Ester is incredible. I highly recommend it.
 
Right now im reading Eldest, sequel from Eragon. (Cant wait for the movie!!) um... its a great book i love it a lot. Warnings: not really anything to be warned about. few swear words nothing to terribly bad (it was written by a teenager so..).

I've just passed the half way marker so i cant say thats all the warnings i can give about it tho. Eragon has the same stats as Eldest so GO READ IT.



I also am in love with Raymond E. Fiest creation.
His Riftwar series are amazing i fell into those books and will never get out. Warnings: swear words nothing much from that. great books.

And last i am in the middle of the Ender's Game series. Great books. sci-fi, cant go wrong there. Warning: few words.

well those are my favorites. oh and BTW im almost done with the New Testiment THAT is a good book(s)! :D
 
Playing in Traffic is awesome, so is Dead Girls Can't Write Letters, as is Shattering Glass --- all of which are written by Gail Giles. They are considered among the top 100 on the ALA list for Reluctant Readers.

I took course on adolescent literature in college, we read banned books! I realized that a lot of texts considered 'adolescent literature' could be read later in life to discover a deeper meaning.

The above books are so interesting that once you pick them up you can't put them down. Then you get to the end of the book and you're like 'huh? what happened?' because the endings are so not what you expect.

I went back and reread them all from a different perspective.
 
I'm going to unstick this thread. There is already a good reading thread elsewhere on cgalliance and I need to clear out some stickies.

I'm about to read ten young-adult novels for my Maymester Young Adult lit class, will definititely be posting information about any outstanding books I read.

Paul
 
Yes. Yes it is. It ruined my eyesight. But on the other hand, my grammar and spelling is impeccable due to the overload of reading.

Last book I read was an Alfred Hitchcock collection.(Spellbinders in Suspense) Very good stories. :)
 
The Complete Works of Shakespeare, Volume One

and wouldn't you know it, I don't have Volume 2. At least it doesn't leave off in the middle of a play.

"'[cue Romeo] Thou art cruel, my-'... my what? MY WHAT?! WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH THIS BOOK?!"

[from across the house]

"STOP SHOUTING AT YOUR STUPID BOOKS!"
 
ChickenSoup said:
The Complete Works of Shakespeare, Volume One

and wouldn't you know it, I don't have Volume 2. At least it doesn't leave off in the middle of a play.

"'[cue Romeo] Thou art cruel, my-'... my what? MY WHAT?! WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH THIS BOOK?!"

[from across the house]

"STOP SHOUTING AT YOUR STUPID BOOKS!"
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Lol - your example reminds me of a classic old-time prank: gluing pages together in pulpit bibles.

"And Lot took unto him a wife, and she was..." [flip page] "four hundred cubits wide and fifty high."

Paul
 
That sounds amusing.

Babel-17, some selections of poetry by Keats, Tennyson, Byron, etc, A Game of Thrones (again-and not a book for kids:confused: ), The War Against the Rull-A.E. Van Vogt, but I'm not impressed so far, and part of Isiah.

Maybe I should just get "geek" tattooed on my forehead?
 
Whoa... 400 cubits wide. :eek:

Tattoos... I saw a book called The Tattoo Colouring Book once... didn't read it though.
 
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