Scots Taffer on 26/11/2009 at 01:22
Foucault is incredibly dense, but I found it a rewarding read even though I'm sure the lion's share of the historical tomfoolery sailed over my head.
june gloom on 26/11/2009 at 09:38
CIAPHAS CAIN, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM
theBlackman on 26/11/2009 at 10:00
Quote Posted by PotatoGuy
I'm planning to read it soon. Any thoughts about it?
Foucaults is a book you really have to pay attention to. You can't do, as some do, listen to music, or have the TV in the background. It requires your full attention and an open, if inquisitive mind. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Name of the Rose requires less concentration, but if history and the folly of man is your cuppa, then it has a lot to offer.
Also a very good novel. The plot is good, the politics and fanatacism of interest, and in some areas, not unlike the current mindset of many who fervently espouse "THIER" religious views over everyone else.
Plan on a very engrossing tale in both instances, but be well advised that they are not light-weight casual endeavors. You must pay attention, remember what came prior and concentrate (lose yourself in the story) to really enjoy them.
Thief players should have no trouble with that. The rest of the mob will probably give up because the pain caused by having to think will over whelm them. :ebil:
Judith on 26/11/2009 at 10:27
In case of the "Pendulum" is not that much the lack of the ability to think, it would have been an easy reading otherwise. It's more about the quite obscure knowledge it references to. Of course, you can read it anyway, but you won't get 90% of what's being presented in the book. Name of the Rose and Baudolino are much more forgiving in this case.
theBlackman on 26/11/2009 at 10:35
Quote Posted by Judith
In case of the "Pendulum" is not that much the lack of the ability to think, it would have been an easy reading otherwise. It's more about the quite obscure knowledge it references to. Of course, you can read it anyway, but you won't get 90% of what's being presented in the book. Name of the Rose and Baudolino are much more forgiving in this case.
True. You state the case better than I. It just shows to go you the slipping level of broadbased education. :)
Matthew on 26/11/2009 at 10:51
Quote Posted by dethtoll
CIAPHAS CAIN, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM
Nice. I'm re-reading
For The Emperor right now.
snowcap21 on 26/11/2009 at 12:35
Inspired by the thread here, I just got the draft of Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer from her website and already had fun with the first chapter. Such a dream of passion.*
Other reading "projects" are: book six (I think) of the Wheel of Time series - somehow keeps me hooked although I'm occasionally bored, and Cobra Trap by Peter O'Donnell - go Modesty (but not forever :( I've read the other novels as a teenager and hope this last collection of short tales will live up to that fun experience).
And because I'm now and then intellectually ambitious and don't want to go without mentioning it here, I just finished Herztier(Land of Green Plums) by Herta Muller. Not easy to read (I did have problems with many of her metaphors and sometimes wondered if she isn't too fond of them), but her style is unique and impressive.
edit: *Reading more of it made it worse.
Kolya on 3/12/2009 at 14:42
Quote Posted by gunsmoke
Just picked up "Catcher in the Rye" (Salinger). I have never read it, and I feel I am long past due.
seems to be the only book anyone ever reads by JDS. I thought it was pretty good, but not compared to
"Nine Stories" and
"Franny and Zooey".
On the other hand
"Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction" was pretty forgettable due to the long winded reflections on writing, the audience, etc. And that's pretty much all the books that are available, not counting a bunch of stories he wrote for the New Yorker, but which were never released in book form.
PeeperStorm on 3/12/2009 at 20:02
Quote Posted by Kolya
"The Catcher in the Rye" seems to be the only book anyone ever reads by JDS.
Maybe because that's the one that every sadistic bastard high school English teacher makes his students read. And then he makes you write a short story in JDS's style. And then he makes fun of the students and gives them bad grades just before going home and beating his wife while drunk, and getting arrested for it but getting released when the wife refuses to press charges, and then he shows up for class the next day with a hangover and begins the cycle all over again.
No, I'm not bitter. Why do you ask?
demagogue on 3/12/2009 at 20:07
Quote Posted by Kolya
"The Catcher in the Rye" seems to be the only book anyone ever reads by JDS. I thought it was pretty good, but not compared to
"Nine Stories" and
"Franny and Zooey".
I thought the same thing ... Well, I thought Nine Stories and F&Z were just as good as Catcher, at that high level. (They were doing different things so are sort of apples & oranges to me). One of my favorites from that first collection was "A Perfect Day for Bananafish"; so wistful and memorable even now. In that sense, that story and F&Z have stuck with me maybe more than Catcher.
