Has anyone read China Miéville's Kraken? It sounds AWESOME.
It's in my to read pile, but I haven't gotten to it yet.
Dawn: Are you kidding? Dr. Keiser: I never kid about my amazing surgical skills.
'Bring On The Night'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
sj - Aug 15, 2010 4:37:14 pm PDT #11895 of 28343
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."
Calli - Aug 15, 2010 4:42:42 pm PDT #11896 of 28343
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs
So, I'm about 40 pages into An American Childhood, by Annie Dillard. Does a plot show up at any point, or is the whole thing just word pictures from the point of view of a kid in the 1950s ? 'Cause I'm still waiting for something to happen. Or even something to suggest something will happen between now and page 255.
Typo Boy - Aug 15, 2010 7:17:45 pm PDT #11897 of 28343
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
Hmm: Literary Buffistas, do you think the following a fair take on Defoe's views on faith vs works? (based upon Robinson Crusoe, Journal of the Plague Years and Moll Flanders.) :
===================
Defoe saw evil and improper acts as distractions that made it impossible to pay attention to God. Evil was always foolish in that it made you blind to God. Virtue included pragmatic self-interest so long as only proper action was taken in pursuit of that self-interest, and so long as self-interest was not all there was to you. Virtue did not ensure salvation, but salvation was unlikely, perhaps impossible without it. The virtuous had the choice of paying attention to God, in way the wicked did not, almost did not.
Defoe did not think you attained salvation by wrestling with the devil and winning. To Defoe, you obtained salvation by wrestling with God and losing.
Typo Boy - Aug 15, 2010 7:17:46 pm PDT #11898 of 28343
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
Volans - Aug 16, 2010 2:48:05 am PDT #11899 of 28343
move out and draw fire
Has anyone read China Miéville's Kraken? It sounds AWESOME.
I love the way he's described the magic system in it, but I'm not large with the Miéville love. I'll probably give this one a try tho.
I didn't find The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo all that slow, but I did skim the libel/corporate stuff. Or, I guess, the whole thing seemed slow, but that felt right for the story and the environment. When I finished I was like "that was good..." but it's been two years since I read it and I haven't felt any real desire to pick up the other two or see the movie.
Apparently I am totally disconnected from the zeitgeist.
Gris - Aug 16, 2010 6:06:19 am PDT #11900 of 28343
Hey. New board.
I liked the libel stuff. I'm not sure why. But I definitely liked the first book more than the second (haven't gotten to hornet yet) so I seem to differ from most.
megan walker - Aug 16, 2010 6:14:31 am PDT #11901 of 28343
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
I have a theory that you like the books according to what genre you prefer: mystery (1), thriller (2), legal thriller (w/ a hint of caper) (3). It's just a theory. I like all three, and didn't find the libel stuff slow, but I think they are very different books.
Amy - Aug 16, 2010 6:16:40 am PDT #11902 of 28343
Because books.
Gris, I usually only see you here or in Movies, so happy wedding! And honeymooning! And marriage!
megan walker - Aug 16, 2010 6:17:28 am PDT #11903 of 28343
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
Gris, I usually only see you here or in Movies, so happy wedding! And honeymooning! And marriage!
Yes. This.
Jessica - Aug 16, 2010 6:51:44 am PDT #11904 of 28343
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
Books I read on vacation:
The Poisoner's Handbook - awesome history of forensic science via jazz age New York true crime stories. The author has described it as a chemistry textbook disguised as a pulp detective story, which is spot-on.
The Bucolic Plague - also awesome, if a very light read. Finished this one in two days because the writing is so breezy and fast. Made me want to buy a goat farm.
Brasyl - best of the lot by far. If you tried Anathem and couldn't make it through (or if you did read Anathem and loved it) check this one out instead. It's a different take on the many- worlds theory but just as engrossing. The other books it reminded me of are the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons. Really strong world and character building AND quantum physics. Loved it.