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Post by Crowfan on Apr 24, 2006 15:30:59 GMT -5
"The Black Death" by Philip Ziegler.
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Apr 24, 2006 18:57:50 GMT -5
"Star Trek: Tales From The Captain's Table" by various authors.
When I was really little, I enjoyed walking around book stores aimlessly, not having any cash with which to purchase anything. So titles often caught my eye. The "Captain's Table" books always looked really nifty (I knew just enough about Star Trek to recognize Captain Pike on his book cover.)
So when I saw this at the bookstore it reminded me of those simpler times and I couldn't resist. So far I've read a story from Riker and a story from Picard, and this is one time that judging a book by its cover has definitely paid off for me. Picard's story required a little extra effort to suspend disbelief for, but aside from that I was quite pleased.
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Apr 25, 2006 10:21:05 GMT -5
City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer. Awesome.
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Post by Don Quixote on Apr 25, 2006 10:23:50 GMT -5
An essay on Dr. Strangelove for a paper. Pretty darn interesting.
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Post by Chuck on Apr 25, 2006 13:59:15 GMT -5
The latest issue of The New Yorker
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Post by okeefe on Apr 25, 2006 17:40:49 GMT -5
The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov
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Post by leovinus on Apr 26, 2006 3:15:41 GMT -5
Nabokov is one of my favorites. The other day the wife and I were playing the little "if you were stranded on a desert island" game. I said that if I could only have one fiction literature book, I would choose Lolita. The prose is so pretty. Despite the actual plot, it is a beautiful book to read.
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Apr 26, 2006 9:06:18 GMT -5
What is it people like about Nabokov so much? Specifics, I mean. Everyone says "great prose," but what's an example? I ask because, although I've read Lolita and Pale Fire and enjoyed them, I've always felt like my literary tastes must be piss poor since I wasn't overwhelmed. I'm not saying I found fault with it, just that I didn't have the reaction I was hoping for.
Can someone convert me?
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Post by okeefe on Apr 26, 2006 9:28:57 GMT -5
This is the first Nabokov I've read, and had never read any criticism of him, so I had no preconceived notion about what to expect. I also have never written a literary criticism, so please bear with me as I flounder through my perceptions. He is extremely descriptive. He uses adjectives and adverbs in unusual ways, almost to excess. This helps me to perceive the people and worlds he describes vividly, visually, aurally, even the way he describes scents is detailed. His story lines, plots, etc aren't unusual per say, average 20th century European experiences, but the filter through which he describes them brings the sensations to the forefront. I guess you could say he's a very sensual or sensuous writer, not necessarily in the sexual or erotic sense, but as in "of the senses," i.e. vision, hearing, scent, touch, and taste. He uses lots of pretty words...me like.
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Post by marytylerless on Apr 27, 2006 21:14:13 GMT -5
I'm reading Dave Barry's Money Secrets. He's one of my favorite humor writers.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Apr 28, 2006 0:49:20 GMT -5
I'm now reading this thread.
Actually, I'm now reading what I'm typing as I type it.
I can't believe I'm the first to post this.
As for a real answer, I've recently finished all of Pratchett's Discworld novels for the first time. So, as with MST eps, I'm revisiting my favorites to pick up the things I missed the first time through. Right now, it's "Thief of Time". A very fun book.
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Post by Donna SadCat Lady on Apr 28, 2006 16:52:15 GMT -5
As for a real answer, I've recently finished all of Pratchett's Discworld novels for the first time. So, as with MST eps, I'm revisiting my favorites to pick up the things I missed the first time through. Right now, it's "Thief of Time". A very fun book. The Night Watch books are terrific. My favorite is probably Men at Arms, but really I'm fond of almost all of them. (The one where Sam Vimes has to fight the werewolves not so much.) I love Sam Vimes. From my current reading pile, some recommended selections: Does anything eat wasps? : and 101 other unsettling, witty answers to questions you never thought you wanted to ask - From the Q&A column in the magazine New Scientist, a book chock-full of scientists' answers to questions like "How fat would I have to be to become bulletproof?" and "Why does lager go flat faster than ale?" and "If I wanted to surf down a molten lava flow, what kind of surfboard would I need?" Freaks of the storm : from flying cows to stealing thunder, the world's strangest true weather stories by Randy Cerveny - The author does his best to verify and offer possible explanations of all sorts of strange weather -- ball lightning, rains of fish and frogs and even "blood," blue snow, tornadoes that pluck feathers from chickens, and many more. The science of Sherlock Holmes : from Baskerville Hall to the Valley of Fear, the real forensics behind the great detective's greatest cases by E.J. Wagner - a forensic scientist who's studied Victorian medical science comments on what Holmes could realistically have achieved. The history of fingerprinting is interesting. Note that there are some gross drawings (Victorian anatomical sketches) so this wouldn't be suitable for younger and more sensible viewers. Fiasco : a history of Hollywood's iconic flops by James Robert Parish - a good explanation behind the grotesque, ego-driven, money-burning sagas of the making of films from Cleopatra to Battlefield Earth. The story of The Wild Party was particularly intriguing, since I'd never heard of the film before.
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Post by Captain Hygiene on Apr 30, 2006 0:00:51 GMT -5
I'm curious, how fat would I have to be to be bulletproof?
And to stay on topic, I'm trying to find time to finish getting through Michael Crichton's State of Fear. Not a literature classic by any means, but because it takes the opposite stance on global warming as many scientists do, it has been a hot topic in the atmospheric science field. Since that's what I'm in, I figured I'd finally get around to reading it.
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Post by siamesesin on Apr 30, 2006 2:34:21 GMT -5
Been a while. Here I go.
Skeptic Magazine-Vol. 12 No. 1 2005 Far From The Maddening Crowd-Thomas Hardy Jackass:The Movie-The Official Companion Book-Sean Cliver Take A Thief-Mercedes Lackey
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Post by Crowfan on Apr 30, 2006 12:49:22 GMT -5
Busted Flush by Brad Smith. Very funny and witty.
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