Hatari Posted February 4, 2010 Author Share Posted February 4, 2010 Hmmm, greek myth mixed with modern day sounds really good. (Kinda like dark-hunters) American Psycho?! O.O interesting title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celice Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 I also want to throw in my support of Pride and Prejudice, which is randomly shatted on at times for reasons I don't fully grasp (the main character is a woman who is not dressed in tight black leather?) I throw back on an against, because it is shit :D Better than most Dickens works though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatari Posted February 4, 2010 Author Share Posted February 4, 2010 Isn't pride and prejustice an Jane Austin work? or were you comparing her works to the other author you mentioned? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inactive Account Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Pshaw. They're not even that crazy. Try reading Finnegans Wake. I dare you. I'm afraid I have to concede literary wimpiness after reading a few lines of that and deciding not to touch it with a ten-foot pole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Alear Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Isn't pride and prejustice an Jane Austin work? or were you comparing her works to the other author you mentioned? I'm almost completely sure it was the latter, and although I don't think that Dickens is so great everyone should know his name, I do find it funny that you refer to him as "the other author you mentioned" like you don't know who he is. (more because I expect everyone knows Dickens than because everyone should. I think Dickens wrote good stuff but he's not even in my top 50 probably). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatari Posted February 5, 2010 Author Share Posted February 5, 2010 (edited) heh, I think the only book I read by Dickens was a tale of two cities. While, I like history, the Reign of Terror usually makes me cringe. Edited February 5, 2010 by Hatari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Communard Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 My favorite series: The Abridged Ernest Hemmingway by Le Communard! Tell me, could you perchance spot any Important Human Themes in my work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 Tell me, could you perchance spot any Important Human Themes in my work? I see three overarching human themes: War, hunting and manliness. War is simple, not like the human interactions described toward the end of the passage. But it's simplicity is bad, because War is all-destructive. Not like Hunting at all. "The War had not been good" (Communard 1). War is a brutal motif, overpowering and dangerous. But sometimes War can bring out good things. Hunting is almost an alternate world within the real world, comparable to what many see for themselves in Hemingway's writing. On the one hand it's possible to find peace and meaning in Game, past the trials and adversity of the World of Hunting, though these things are long in the finding, just as the Game that carries them. "The game was scarce. Like love" (1). On the other hand Hunting is a form of escapism, and does not solve the human problems of life itself. The World of Hunting is a manly world though, and thus a good world. Masculinity can be seen as a combination of all that is good in hunting and war. "...a manly hunting, a good thing" (1). Like with hunting there is an alternate World of Manliness, but rather than being within the real world the World of Manliness is parallel to it. At their peak all of Ernest Hemingway's men walk in the World of Manliness, but they are all too often brought back by adversity caused by bad things such as War or a lack of success in Hunting. Manliness is increased by dogs, liquor, and the good aspects of War. Then there's love. But love is not a theme, because love is just an ephemeral perception and does not exist. "...love is not to be" (1). All human interaction, including pretensions of love, leads only to strife and unmanly behavior, like emotions. --- So long as we're talking about classics, let me put forward War and Peace. IMO it has more to offer than everything James Joyce wrote combined, and it takes less effort to get into. Hemingway is no joke either, I really enjoyed A Farewell to Arms. It was one of the two books I chose for a huge paper I had to write in eleventh grade comparing two literary works. The other was Catch-22, which is even more entertaining and accessible (I read that one when I was fourteen.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dracohon Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 heh, I think the only book I read by Dickens was a tale of two cities. I started reading that one a few ago, but ended up watching a movie version instead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatari Posted February 6, 2010 Author Share Posted February 6, 2010 LOL, movies are great, but usually fall far from the book *cough* HP/Twilight *cough* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kriemhild Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 (edited) Some of the books I read. I'll only mention each author once. In no particular order, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone by JK Rowling Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Eragon by Christopher Paolini Eldest The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton Sphere Airframe Jurassic Park Disclosure Rising Sun The Firm by John Grisham The Broker A Painted House The Brethren The Client The Street Lawyer The Poet by Michael Conelly The Black Echo Strombreaker by Anthony Horowitz Point Blanc Skeleton Key Eagle Strike Scorpia Dreamcatcher by Stephen King From a Buick 8 The Gunslinger The Green Mile The Cheater by RL Stine The Face The Betrayal The Burning A New Fear Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less by Jeffrey Archer Sons of Fortune To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee I, Robot by Isaac Asimov The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen L Carter The Ballad of Frankie Silver by Sharyn McCrumb The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams The Restaurant at the End of the Universe Life, the Universe and Everything So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish Young Zaphod Plays It Safe Mostly Harmless A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler Breathing Lessons Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot Princess Diaries: Take Two Princess Diaries: Third Time Lucky Princess Diaries: Mia Goes Fourth Princess Diaries: Give Me Five Princess Diaries: Sixsational Blessings by Anna Quindlen Final Target by Iris Johansen Pretty sure there were more but I can't remember atm. Edited March 8, 2010 by Proto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatari Posted March 4, 2010 Author Share Posted March 4, 2010 HP3 is by far my favorite. Sirius Black is my favorite character and Prof. M is my favorite professor from Hogwarts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kriemhild Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 One thing I really liked about HP3 was that, unlike nearly every single other time-travel story, this one actually made perfect sense. imo HP6 > 7 > 5 > 4 > 3 > 2 > 1. Probably would have enjoyed HP3 more if my siblings didn't spoil it for me. And Snape remains as my favorite char in the entire HP series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Alear Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 One thing I really liked about HP3 was that, unlike nearly every single other time-travel story, this one actually made perfect sense. imo HP6 > 7 > 5 > 4 > 3 > 2 > 1. Probably would have enjoyed HP3 more if my siblings didn't spoil it for me. And Snape remains as my favorite char in the entire HP series. The best part of HP3's time travel is that it was provided with the intention of allowing someone to do schoolwork. SCHOOLWORK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Alear Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 (edited) ... ... ... ... .. . SCHOOLWORK. Edited March 7, 2010 by SeverIan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuridSorcerer Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 When I spotted this thread I thought I might be the first one to recommend the Dragonriders of Pern series, but it was not to be. Had I more time to read I'd go through the books I have from the series and invest in some more. They're pretty cheap on Amazon, and well worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quanta Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 I'm sad that none of the people who mentioned classics mentioned any of the great Russian authors. Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov is probably one of my favorite books. Dostoevsky's short stories are also quite enjoyable (as are Tolstoy's). Never managed to read a Tolstoy novel though. Don't have the time anymore. I also am a big Orson Scott Card fan. I highly recommend to people who liked Ender's game that they read some of his short story collections. If you like stories based upon moral questions, short stories like Kingsmeat by Orson Scott Card are very cool. As far as greasy fantasy goes, I really like the Shannara series despite how utterly bloated it is at this point. The original book is pretty much a straight Tolkien rip-off (but a pretty damn good one) but later books roam all over the place. It's kind of an interesting setting. I really enjoyed the Wheel of Time series too. I can't argue that it's great literature, but screw that- it's very entertaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Alear Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 I'm sad that none of the people who mentioned classics mentioned any of the great Russian authors. Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov is probably one of my favorite books. Dostoevsky's short stories are also quite enjoyable (as are Tolstoy's). Never managed to read a Tolstoy novel though. Don't have the time anymore. Hero actually mentioned War & Peace. As far as Russian writers, I have only read a certain famous expatriate, and Dos' Crime and Punishment. I also read an excerpt of Karamazov in one of my high school english classes and I would like to read the full thing at some point. As far as greasy fantasy goes, I really like the Shannara series despite how utterly bloated it is at this point. The original book is pretty much a straight Tolkien rip-off (but a pretty damn good one) but later books roam all over the place. It's kind of an interesting setting. I really enjoyed the Wheel of Time series too. I can't argue that it's great literature, but screw that- it's very entertaining. Eh, great literature. As far as I'm concerned, the greatness of literature is based mostly on popularity. I don't mean that the works have no merit and people popularize them without reason. I mean that in my opinion, popularity creates discussion and discussion creates a wealth of viewpoints. Thus, even when I personally feel a book is very poorly written, if it's revered as a classic by most, there will be more critical attention paid to it and more will be unearthed from it. And as a reader, there's more anxiety to read it differently because a good reader comes up with new, original ways of reading a text, and therefore the text's life is perpetuated due to my motivation to preen my feathers with intelligent observations. I'm not saying that's ALL there is, I think most classics probably are "great", but I also think that what distinguishes a great work from its surroundings is the critical analysis surrounding it. That's why I think it's possible to get a lot out of reading something like the Wheel of Time. As a fairly popular fantasy book, I actually meet other people in the real world who have read it, which makes for a lot of discussion. I think the greatest drawback is the time between releases. This causes people to discuss the books as individuals by playing detective and trying to decode all the plot points. I don't think that it shouldn't be done, but I think the atmosphere of "see who can guess as much as possible before the next part comes out" creates a heavy reliance on the author's word on what happened. After all, any possible hole in the plot is seen as something to be explained by later works, and if the author doesn't resolve the plot such that there are no contradictions, some tend to detract from the work. Literature is past that by now, I should think! Even though I'm not into fanfics, either reading or writing, I do sometimes wonder if they're an outlet of critical activity, either in filling in blanks or saying that if something had been done differently, it would be more interesting or more consistent. I wonder if there is any fanfiction which instead tries to develop inconsistencies, confusions, and vivify the original work with irresolutions? (even better, growing the contradictions lurking already in the text?) TLDR: I feel like having lots of people to discuss things with increases the quality of a work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 (edited) I'm currently reading Children of the Lamp 2: The blue djinn of Babylon. (204/500 pages) And it said Sorry giO : "Asmodeus - one of the most horrible monster. It has 3 heads - One cow head, one sheep head and the head of a evil ogre..." So sorry giO And there was a djinn named Ishtar, too. She was the most powerful djinn of all. O___O Edited March 11, 2010 by Amelia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK-201 Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 The name Asmodeus along with all the other sisters/stakes of purgatory received their names from demons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Alear Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 And there was a doujin about Ishtar, too. She had the most powerful doujin of all. O___O Fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatari Posted March 12, 2010 Author Share Posted March 12, 2010 The best part of HP3's time travel is that it was provided with the intention of allowing someone to do schoolwork. SCHOOLWORK. Best thing ever! When I spotted this thread I thought I might be the first one to recommend the Dragonriders of Pern series, but it was not to be. Had I more time to read I'd go through the books I have from the series and invest in some more. They're pretty cheap on Amazon, and well worth it. I have some of the authors other books, sitting around...somewhere... I'm sad that none of the people who mentioned classics mentioned any of the great Russian authors. Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov is probably one of my favorite books. Dostoevsky's short stories are also quite enjoyable (as are Tolstoy's). Never managed to read a Tolstoy novel though. Don't have the time anymore. I also am a big Orson Scott Card fan. I highly recommend to people who liked Ender's game that they read some of his short story collections. If you like stories based upon moral questions, short stories like Kingsmeat by Orson Scott Card are very cool. As far as greasy fantasy goes, I really like the Shannara series despite how utterly bloated it is at this point. The original book is pretty much a straight Tolkien rip-off (but a pretty damn good one) but later books roam all over the place. It's kind of an interesting setting. I really enjoyed the Wheel of Time series too. I can't argue that it's great literature, but screw that- it's very entertaining. Never heard of those books. I'm not a fan of Tolkien. Hero actually mentioned War & Peace. As far as Russian writers, I have only read a certain famous expatriate, and Dos' Crime and Punishment. I also read an excerpt of Karamazov in one of my high school english classes and I would like to read the full thing at some point. Eh, great literature. As far as I'm concerned, the greatness of literature is based mostly on popularity. I don't mean that the works have no merit and people popularize them without reason. I mean that in my opinion, popularity creates discussion and discussion creates a wealth of viewpoints. Thus, even when I personally feel a book is very poorly written, if it's revered as a classic by most, there will be more critical attention paid to it and more will be unearthed from it. And as a reader, there's more anxiety to read it differently because a good reader comes up with new, original ways of reading a text, and therefore the text's life is perpetuated due to my motivation to preen my feathers with intelligent observations. I'm not saying that's ALL there is, I think most classics probably are "great", but I also think that what distinguishes a great work from its surroundings is the critical analysis surrounding it. That's why I think it's possible to get a lot out of reading something like the Wheel of Time. As a fairly popular fantasy book, I actually meet other people in the real world who have read it, which makes for a lot of discussion. I think the greatest drawback is the time between releases. This causes people to discuss the books as individuals by playing detective and trying to decode all the plot points. I don't think that it shouldn't be done, but I think the atmosphere of "see who can guess as much as possible before the next part comes out" creates a heavy reliance on the author's word on what happened. After all, any possible hole in the plot is seen as something to be explained by later works, and if the author doesn't resolve the plot such that there are no contradictions, some tend to detract from the work. Literature is past that by now, I should think! Even though I'm not into fanfics, either reading or writing, I do sometimes wonder if they're an outlet of critical activity, either in filling in blanks or saying that if something had been done differently, it would be more interesting or more consistent. I wonder if there is any fanfiction which instead tries to develop inconsistencies, confusions, and vivify the original work with irresolutions? (even better, growing the contradictions lurking already in the text?) TLDR: I feel like having lots of people to discuss things with increases the quality of a work. The TLDR is true...The dark-hunter series is massively huge and lots of fans. It even has it's own convention for the author. The time between releases is the most stressful thing when the series is good. ^_^, lucky me the authors I read, can publish fast. Last book of the Shifters Series in Oct. I'm currently reading Children of the Lamp 2: The blue djinn of Babylon. (204/500 pages) Fantasy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 (edited) Fixed. No, it's called "djinn" Secondly, my mother tongue isn't English. So grammar mistakes can happen. And yes, Hatari, fantasy. Edited March 12, 2010 by Amelia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kriemhild Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 I'm surprised that I'm not the only one here who mentioned Michael Crichton. I didn't think he was that popular. I was expecting more Stephen King, Anthony Horowitz, and Meg Cabot though but was disappointed. No, it's called "djinn" Secondly, my mother tongue isn't English. So grammar mistakes can happen. And yes, Hatari, fantasy. Something that me and ALS are always ready to point out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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