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Author Topic: Books  (Read 36414 times)

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jsnlxndrlv

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Re: Books
« Reply #80 on: February 17, 2009, 01:15:03 PM »

You're in luck, Fort.  I still have yet to read it, and it's now on the list, alongside Yuri Slezkine's The Jewish Century as well as A Pattern Language by multiple authors.
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Alex

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Re: Books
« Reply #81 on: February 18, 2009, 02:14:43 AM »

I recently read through Dhampir by Barb and J.C. Hendee and proceeded to pick up the rest of the first set of books of The Saga of the Noble Dead after it proved to be a satisfactory read.

Although I feel less inclined to read them when my housemate, who is bigger on books than me (while being notoriously difficult about playing any new game ever), gives me snippets of it here and there and slowly saps my interest in it by doing so despite my clear disinterest in the practice.

 :facepalm: I can't tell if it's just me losing interest because someone else enjoys something else I do or just how zealous and excited they get about it.
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SCD

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Re: Books
« Reply #82 on: February 22, 2009, 10:45:36 PM »

For all the Canucks out there, I just read Renegades:  Canadians in the Spanish Civil War, a gift from my roomate for xmas.  I highly recommend this to any polysci/history nut from Canada. 

I lived in ignorance of the Spanish Civil War, but it seemed arguably as one of the last defenses against Blitzkrieg.  Specifically, in Order for the Third Riech to press east, having France, Spain and Italy Fascist was the easiest way to go about business, and the only ones who were willing to stem this was the Soviet Union, who gave a limited supply of arms, and soldiers through Communist Party Propaganda and Recruiting worldwide. 

As this fell during the great depression, there were many Canadian Labourers who felt the call, for a few reasons:  A lot of the volunteers were in labour camps away from the cities already due to the depression and for the same "bleh" that has led Canadians to volunteer for the four major conflicts that have followed. 

Also, I found it amusing, that like in all other wars, the Canadian Battalion were pretty adept at fighting, despite being a rag-tag organization, yet be "politically undesirable" in the eyes of the commies for leadership roles... 

A good read. 



I'm now on "The Gamble" by Thomas E Ricks.  As Petreaus is the great General of this era, I'm interested in knowing the background webs he cut through to get to the present state.. 
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Mongrel

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Re: Books
« Reply #83 on: March 19, 2009, 03:06:38 PM »

The Manual Of Detection, by Jedidiah Berry.

This guy is a newcomer (this is his first novel), but he displays a mastery of the writers craft that is rarely matched.

The book is basically Sam Spade meets Alice in Wonderland and it is was AWESOME.
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JDigital

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Re: Books
« Reply #84 on: March 19, 2009, 07:07:33 PM »

How To Be Free, by Tom Hodgkinson.

The author's pitch convinced me:
http://idler.co.uk/books/how-to-be-free/
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Mongrel

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Re: Books
« Reply #85 on: March 19, 2009, 07:17:10 PM »

How To Be Free, by Tom Hodgkinson.

The author's pitch convinced me:
http://idler.co.uk/books/how-to-be-free/

I'm not saying his sentiments don't have a deal of merit, but he seems to be advocation the other extreme when what we need is balance. There's a place for contemplation, relaxation, craftsmanship, and cooperation, but there is just as much a place for hard work, individualism, economies of scale, and clever machinery.

It's creating space for all of these that's always been the problem.

But it's his trumpeting the values of Chivalry that truly made me laugh. Chivalry and it's associated nonsense has been responsible for solid centuries of misery - and I ain't talking wimmin's lib.

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JDigital

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Re: Books
« Reply #86 on: March 20, 2009, 08:49:11 AM »

I agree, many of his ideas are impractical for most of us - for example, he suggests that we keep our own chickens. Still, he makes excellent points. What with climate change, suburban sprawl and credit crunch, a little mediaeval living might be what we need.
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Mongrel

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Re: Books
« Reply #87 on: March 20, 2009, 08:55:33 AM »

I know, but his reliance on cheap stereotypes instead of facts ruins his ability to argue his point, no matter how valid that point may be.
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Royal☭

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Re: Books
« Reply #88 on: March 20, 2009, 10:01:32 AM »

It's as if his tongue was planted in his cheek when he wrote the book.  I haven't read the book, but from the little press release he doesn't seem to be calling for us all to start being serfs who live under aristocratic nobles.  He pokes fun at people who share this unshakable belief that people in the past just knew how to live decently.  It's similar to how conservatives of today just thought all of America's wholesome, down to Earth morals all died out after the 60s.


Then again I haven't read the book.  For all I know he could suggest that the president be allowed to fuck our wives on the first night of marriage.

MadMAxJr

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Re: Books
« Reply #89 on: March 20, 2009, 10:11:06 AM »

Okay, http://www.gnooks.com/ is neat.  Put in the name of an author and it will show you related authors.  The closer they are mapped to the name, the more likely you are to like those authors.  So they claim.
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"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." - Bertrand Russell

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Royal☭

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Re: Books
« Reply #90 on: March 20, 2009, 10:15:21 AM »

It's like the music genome project, but for authors.  Interesting.

MadMAxJr

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Re: Books
« Reply #91 on: March 25, 2009, 12:53:00 PM »

At some point in recent history I finished the audiobook version of Ender's Game.  Very enjoyable, and the commentary from Card at the end was icing on the cake.
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"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." - Bertrand Russell

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LaserBeing

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Re: Books
« Reply #92 on: July 16, 2009, 12:21:59 AM »

Just finished Triplanetary and am... ambivalent. I really wanted to love it, but it hasn't sold me. I'm wishing I had started with Galactic Patrol or at least First Lensman, since my understanding is that Triplanetary was only added to the Lensman canon years later, and in fact doesn't have a single goddamn thing to do with anything.

I can appreciate Doc's exuberant writing style as he breathlessly describes the blinding megasplosions of unimaginably cataclysmic particle beams and scintillating force fields, but it moves much too quickly to build any sort of real drama. A titanic space battle of epic proportions will start and end within a single page, and the story as a whole is disjointed and ultimately goes nowhere. It's obvious that each chapter was originally published serially in magazines; there's an episode where a major villain previously thought dead is brought back and summarily killed off for absolutely no reason, all within the space of a single chapter, like bad anime filler. Maybe the novel format just doesn't do justice to the saga.

The characters don't help matters, as they are all ridiculously bland comic book caricatures and the dialogue is actually laugh-out-loud B-movie atrocious. They are impossible to care about except for their constant outbursts of hilariously out-dated 1930s slang. Between the one-dimensional characters, the excessive yet pointless spectacle, and the awesomely embarrassing sexism, it's like reading a Michael Bay film.

And yet! I am really digging the universe Smith is portraying here, and the sheer boyish glee with which he describes the catastrophic battles and ludicrously turbocharged space engines really is endearing. I feel like I am not approaching the work from the right frame of mind; if it were a movie or a comic I would probably love it, but for some reason as a book it is not meeting my expectations. I should love it, it's basically got all the ingredients. I'm told they eventually get space axes.

I want to take another crack at this. I will probably try to track down a copy of First Lensman and see if it clicks with me. I guess my question is: does it get better? Is it worth sticking it out to the bitter end, like a good Triplanetary officer would? Have any of you jerks even read this stuff?


FUN FACT: About a third of the pages in my edition of Triplanetary are actually taken up with a story Smith co-wrote with another guy with too many Es in his name, called The Masters of Space, which is utter retarded bullshit. It does not instill confidence.




P.S. I god damn never want to hear anyone call the animated Lensman movie a "travesty" ever again after this.

P.P.S. While reading up on the series it occurred to me that Samus Aran's name might have been originally intended to be a nod to Virgil Samms. She's certainly got the space armour, even right down to the "lens" on the back of her hand in Metroid 2, and she does hang out with space dragons. Someone get Gunpei Yokoi Yoshio Sakamoto on the phone right now, I need this confirmed! It's for science!
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Frocto

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Re: Books
« Reply #93 on: July 16, 2009, 01:49:41 AM »

If you like the Lensman book, let me know, I've been curious about that series for a while.
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Cthulhu-chan

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Re: Books
« Reply #94 on: July 16, 2009, 01:58:27 AM »

Starting to work my way through Iain Banks' Culture books.  I feel kinda silly for being so late to the game.
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Ted Belmont

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Re: Books
« Reply #95 on: July 17, 2009, 09:04:19 AM »

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Lottel

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Re: Books
« Reply #96 on: August 05, 2009, 10:26:27 PM »

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090804/stage_nm/us_books_twilight

"Twilight" Author Accused of Plagiarism


Who'd she steal from? A preteen girl with esteem issues?

*reads*

"A writer plans to sue "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer, accusing her of plagiarism by lifting passages from an obscure book she wrote called "The Nocturne" and using them in vampire romance "Breaking Dawn," an attorney said on Tuesday."

Similar name. Good. That's a good start.

*keeps reading*

"the passages in question involve few word-for-word similarities but that the two books have similar plot and character points."

Oooo. Not looking good for The Noctourne...

"In a cease-and-desist letter Williams sent to Hachette Book Group, he provided comparisons from the two books of a wedding, a sex-on-the-beach episode and a passage where a human-turned-vampire describes the wrenching change.
As another instance of similarities, Williams pointed out that characters in both books call their wives "love.""

Shiiiiit. Then they are just saying this for the money?

"He said Scott does not plan to seek monetary damages."

... What the fuck? Doing it just for what little publicity they can scrape?

"Scott made chapters from "The Nocturne" available online as she was working on the vampire book, which she wrote in her teenage years and released in book form in 2006"

Huh. So it's possible, I suppose, that Meyer's read the chapters? Is that what they are banking on? To get money? Wait. No money. Ummm...

What?
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Koah

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Re: Books
« Reply #97 on: August 05, 2009, 11:17:46 PM »

Assisted suicide via Twilight fans?
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Doom

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Re: Books
« Reply #98 on: August 06, 2009, 08:14:10 AM »

I guess attention seeking teenage girls never grow up. That's kinda cute.
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Mongrel

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Re: Books
« Reply #99 on: August 06, 2009, 10:02:30 AM »

Oh yeah, books. I read those.

- One-volume edition of both books written by Ernest Shackleton regarding his antarctic voyages.

I am a huge polar exploration nerd. I have way too many books on this shit and I still want more. I shifted into "read the originals" mode a few months ago, so there you have it.

- The Complete Sherlock Holmes.

Reread my battered copies during the week off. I dearly love Conan Doyle's Holmesian work, but it's funny as hell to watch him plagarize himself. Repeatedly.

"Wait... another man with a secret past, fleeing from a secret society from America? Or hay guyz... how about those big-game hunters with air-guns?"   :hurr:
"GODDAMNIT I TRIED TO STOP WRITING THESE I REALLY DID, BUT YOU BASTARDS WOULDN'T LEAVE ME ALONE."  :khaaan:
"..." :nyoro~n:

Next in the line-up:

- A new and detailed account of the fall of Rome, with more complete information than has been previously available (THIRD CENTURY FAIL). Been looking for something with more detailed information on the lost third century for a while.

- A book on the Chechen wars by a Russian foot soldier who served. Looks really good, though I'm almost afraid of what it'll contain.

- The Worst Journey In The World, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard. This has been cited by multiple folks as "the finest travel book ever written". Going to see if the book lives up to the bombast.
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