Book: I am a Shepherd. Folks like a man of God. Mal: No, they don't. Men of God make everyone feel guilty and judged.

'Safe'


We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good  

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."


sumi - Jul 17, 2004 5:23:38 am PDT #5147 of 10002
Art Crawl!!!

I just took "The Game" out of the Library. I haven't got very far yet but from the sleeve -- I liked the idea of a book character x-over with Kipling. . . although I can see where it might not work when actually done. Also, somehow I was surprised that it was already 1924.


Holli - Jul 17, 2004 7:25:58 am PDT #5148 of 10002
an overblown libretto and a sumptuous score/ could never contain the contradictions I adore

I think my favorite Pratchett is Thief of Time.

Polter, really? I'm odd, in that I don't especially like most of the Susan books, even though I love anything involving Death that she's not in. Don't get me wrong-- there isn't any Pratchett I actively dislike (well, maybe Soul Music-- no, wait, the "elvish" running joke), but I vastly prefer any and all Night Watch books, and most of the standalones.


§ ita § - Jul 17, 2004 7:28:32 am PDT #5149 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Soul Music had way too many "Well, aren't we just so clever?" moments for me. I stopped trying to parse the references. And I felt way too status quo at the end.


Polter-Cow - Jul 17, 2004 7:29:40 am PDT #5150 of 10002
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

I'm odd, in that I don't especially like most of the Susan books, even though I love anything involving Death that she's not in.

It was my first Susan book, and I don't think I've read any since. I liked her. I haven't read the Night Watch books because I've been told it's best to read them in order, since later ones may spoil the earlier books, and the library hasn't been kind to me in that aspect yet.

Another contender for favorite would be Lords and Ladies, which was my first.


Holli - Jul 17, 2004 7:31:47 am PDT #5151 of 10002
an overblown libretto and a sumptuous score/ could never contain the contradictions I adore

I think my least favorite Discworlds are the ones where he gets too obvious about drawing a parallel with real-world stuff-- Soul Music, Moving Pictures, that extremely odd one with the shopping mall (though I think that one introduces Reg, so I forgive it, and I also dearly love the UU wizards). He gets heavy-handed sometimes, but when he does it right you get Jingo, so I encourage him to keep trying.


Trudy Booth - Jul 17, 2004 7:34:03 am PDT #5152 of 10002
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart

A few busy days at work and I miss that Sam Waterston is mere blocks from my office!?!?!? t ::thwaps:: head on things

Where I went to kindergarten in 1974 they were teaching some then-trendy reading technique where you learned the completly logical phonetic spellings of everything (including literature translated into such so you had third graders reading shakespeare and stuff). I don't know what it did for my reading, but I'm a lousy speller to this day (as are several other people I know who were subjected to that program). I wish I could remember the name of it... my kindergarten class picture has all the funny writing on the bulletin board behind us.

In first grade I chaged schools and had Dick and Jane. I quickly grew bored with that and went for bigger and bigger books on my own.

My main source of books was the Harvest Festival. Every October the local hospital had a big fundraiser fair and at the end of the day they emptied out the book stall for a dollar a bag. This lead to very ecclectic reading habits and a still lingering tendency to be drawn to books by their color or texture or smell.

Reading in the car was a battle. My Mother had seen an article somewhere that it caused eyestrain and my books were a source of considerable consternation on any car trip longer than ten minutes. By Jr. High she'd either read something new or just given up. It was my one big rebellion.


Polter-Cow - Jul 17, 2004 7:44:23 am PDT #5153 of 10002
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

I think my least favorite Discworlds are the ones where he gets too obvious about drawing a parallel with real-world stuff

It was interesting to read the first few Discworld books (like Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic ) and see how much better he became later on about not trying too hard with his jokes and interweaving plots, and keeping a good pace. I haven't read any of ones you're referring to, but have you read The Last Continent ? Dear God. It's just ridiculous, and he doesn't even bother to make any sense out of it, and the narrative is practically non-existent.

Oh, oh. I forgot another contender for Favorite: Hogfather. I love the ones where he actually makes you think about the way the real world works because of how he's made Discworld work.


Amy - Jul 17, 2004 9:04:14 am PDT #5154 of 10002
Because books.

While looking for something else at the library today, I stumbled upon a Batman novel by Andrew Vachss. Anyone read this? Are there more like this?

I love the character/myth/universe of Batman, but am completely unschooled, if that's the word I'm looking for -- I know Batman pretty much from just living in the world, the campy Adam West series, the movies, and the newer Batman animated series, but I've never read the comics or graphic novels. Lately I've been tempted to get into them, maybe because I am very eagerly anticipating the new movie with Christian Bale and what I've read about the Year One story, but I'm little overwhelmed by how much stuff is out there and where to begin. The idea of a novel fascinated me, but I didn't pick it up because I have too much else to read right now. Any thoughts? Is Plei a big Bat fan, or am I confusing things?


Polter-Cow - Jul 17, 2004 9:09:05 am PDT #5155 of 10002
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

Is Plei a big Bat fan, or am I confusing things?

Does the Pope have legs?

Plei, by proxy, would have you read the Batman: Year One graphic novel. It's not very long, and Batman Begins is supposed to take its tonal cue from it rather than the previous movies. She would also recommend the novelization of No Man's Land if you don't want to read all five volumes of the graphic novel.

And any Batfan will also recommend The Dark Knight Returns.


Amy - Jul 17, 2004 9:11:37 am PDT #5156 of 10002
Because books.

Thank you, P-C, aka Plei-by-proxy. So the novelizations aren't awful, then? I've never read Anddrew Vachss, but I know he's fairly popular, and it was just interesting to see someone outside the comic universe taking a crack at a very beloved characters.

But...No Man's Land. Will look it up ASAP.

When do I get more stories to read, by the way?