Maji Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 A Dream of Red Mansions, and eh, it wasn't as boring as I thought it was going to be, but it still was pretty boring. I recently bought various Dostoevsky works, which I am excited about reading, especially coming out of a Russian History course this semester. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freohr Datia Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Uhhhhhhh I really don't remember I've been so busy reading school work~ Not only that but it's been a while since I've been to a library, even Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrhesia Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 ... i seriously don't fucking remember the last book i read everything has been nonfiction history lately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaia Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 (edited) Reread Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, does that count? It was like you'd expect: good. Edited March 24, 2014 by Gaia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aizenberg Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 a dance with dragons, and that was like 2 years ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wist Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 (edited) I read David Mitchell's number9dream a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't too fond of the story, but I thought the swoops and dives in and out of dreams, daydreams, and fantasies were handled fantastically well. I'd never read a book that handled stream of conscious so heavily in a way I was satisfied with; usually it comes across as pedantic, or is outright boring. The book's ending agitated me... as I can only imagine it was supposed to. I can see people claiming it's contrived (I haven't read others' reviews or impressions to confirm), but it actually fit the prevailing themes very well. I suppose the best way to to put it is I wasn't too fond of the story but I loved the structure enough to sustain me until my burgeoning investment in some of the characters resulted in me specifically putting time aside to read the book faster. Typically I read novels only during bus and train journeys. I was also just a bit curious about how Mitchell would treat Japanese characters in a Japanese setting given he has at least lived in the country. When it comes to East Asian settings, or many settings beyond the their immediately familiar realms really, most British and American authors draw on ignorant stereotypes and tropes, and their worlds are nothing more than fantastical imaginings borne of cultural depravity (which is of course fine as long as the work isn't trying to pass itself off as remotely representative of another culture). I'm still struggling with placing this particular book, but I suspect I'll give it a pass. I suppose I should at least write what the book's about. It follows Eiji Miyake, a 19 year old Japanese kid from Kagoshima, trying to find the by all accounts rich father who abandoned him at birth. In the first few chapters he simply prevaricates on making risky, uncertain steps he falls into fantasies about how events could play out before snapping back to reality. He unwittingly ends up getting caught up in events best not caught up in, some of them almost dream-like in absurdity. I haven't yet decided if I would make a general recommendation of number9dream. It usually take three months for me to decide on recommendations because my brain is dead slow. I'm sad some people can't remember the last time they read a novel. 8[ Edited March 24, 2014 by Wist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 9/10 of some gaunt's ghosts collection i brought to germany so i'd have something to occupy my time during train rides and shit to conserve ipad battery and nothing occupies time like junky wh40k fiction 9/10 because i got home with about 50 pages to go and never finished them. book's right behind me, too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrhesia Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 oi i read often it's just been a shitton of nonfiction lately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacLovin Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 The Re-Animator by Lovecraft. Idk if that counts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Masayoshi Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 So does the Odyssey count? That's the only one due to school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightmare Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 The First Men in the Moon. I have yet to finish it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 First King of Shannara by Terry Brooks I've been meaning to get into the Shannara series for awhile now so I went with its prequel, a very engaging read and nice darker fantasy then I usually read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 9/10 of some gaunt's ghosts collection i brought to germany so i'd have something to occupy my time during train rides and shit to conserve ipad battery and nothing occupies time like junky wh40k fiction 9/10 because i got home with about 50 pages to go and never finished them. book's right behind me, too... wait hang on that wasn't the last fiction book i read - i read a collection of short stories called TANG DYNASTY STORIES about last month. it was quite good. (seconding i read a lot i've just been librarying nonfiction books recently) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Specta Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 (edited) I think the last book I finished was Canticle by R.A. Salvatore. I enjoyed it. It would be In Sylvan Shadows but I got to the last two chapters and theeen misplaced it so I have no idea where it is right now Edited March 24, 2014 by Specta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Alear Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 (edited) Dune. Honestly, I am kind of disappointed with it after all these years. I'm now reading Desolation Island, which has treated me pretty well. Edited March 24, 2014 by SeverIan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinjaMonkey Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 (edited) Sherlock Holmes The Complete Stories is what I'm currently reading, before that it was Treasure Island. Edited March 24, 2014 by NinjaMonkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rewjeo Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 It's been a long time since I've read anything really substantive, but I just today read most of Tolstoy's short story The Death of Ivan Ilyich. I'm getting the feeling from this I get from a lot of older texts - the writing style just really doesn't work for me, but I'm sure once I finish it I'll appreciate the content and like it a lot more than I do right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau of Isaac Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I heard of but never read Shogun by James Clavell until recently after a friend recommended it to me. It's an amazing book, based around Tokugawa's consolidation of power following the Warring States era. It surrounds an Englishman who is stranded in Japan and gradually finds himself thrust into picking sides in what seems a coming war. They made a miniseries of it decades ago but it doesn't capture the book well at all. Definitely recommend it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ciarre Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Uh The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen. It's historical fiction set near the end of the WWI period and I thought it was pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ϲharlie Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 The last book I read was First Lord's Fury, the final book in the Codex Alera series. What I read of it was quite good, but I stopped reading it halfway through since I hadn't read the preceding books in the series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PM ME MARIANNE ART Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Huckleberry Finn and it was basically shit Better than Tom Sawyer though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrhesia Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 Question 240. What was the last non-fiction book you read, and how was it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Masayoshi Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Haven't read any nonfiction books lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor Odinson Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 My Italian textbook It is informative for it teaches me ~Italiano~ My math textbook is far less informative because fuck math textbooks with too many words and not enough numbers There's also Algorithm Design which is the textbook for one of my previous semester's classes, but it's actually well-written, informative, and entertaining at the same time so I read it for fun sometimes A+ book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRDRHAWK Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Last nonfiction I read was probably Theoren Fleury's autobiography, Playing With Fire. Really gave me a lot more insight into the fact that just because someone is a star in their sport that they aren't tortured individuals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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