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Grex > Books > #3: What Was the Last Book You Read? | |
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| 25 new of 298 responses total. |
gelinas
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response 250 of 298:
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Jan 21 20:34 UTC 2002 |
I think the last book I read was _The_Return_of_the_King_. I'm currently
reading _Fire_Bringer_.
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davel
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response 251 of 298:
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Jan 21 23:27 UTC 2002 |
First time on the Tolkien, Joe?
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gelinas
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response 252 of 298:
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Jan 22 00:50 UTC 2002 |
Nope. I read it the first time in Sep/Oct '73; a month or later I dipped into
it for "research" and ended up reading the last half or more. Then I read
it again in Dec '73/Jan '74. And so many times since that I can no longer
count. It just happens to be the most recent book I've finished. :)
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cpnmonk
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response 253 of 298:
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Jan 23 15:04 UTC 2002 |
Read Tolkien quite a bit ago, when I was in high school in the early 90s.
What makes me chuckle is the large number of people who say "Wow the movie
was really awesome, I am going to read the triology right away!" My response
"Did you read the Hobbit?" "Naw...couldn't get into it." "Finish the Hobbit
and then try the triology, might be better that way." If you can't finish
the _Hobbit_, and correct me if others disagree, the triology is not going
to be much better
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gelinas
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response 254 of 298:
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Jan 23 15:37 UTC 2002 |
I disagree; I find LotR much more readable than _The_Hobbit_.
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orinoco
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response 255 of 298:
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Jan 23 17:20 UTC 2002 |
Interesting. You're the first one I've heard say that. I know lots of people
who _like_ LotR better, but even most of the fans seem to agree it's pretty
dense.
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rcurl
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response 256 of 298:
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Jan 23 20:31 UTC 2002 |
Harold Schechter, _The Hum Bug_, Pocket Books, 2001.
This is novel written in the first person of Edgar Allen Poe about a
series of grisly murders in New York City in ca. 1844, in connection with
which Poe is described as helping to investigate. There are many subplots,
the major one of which is Poe's association with P. T. Barnum and his
"American Museum" in New York of "oddities", of animals, objects, and
humans.
As far as the murder mystery theme is concerned, it is less skillful than
the real Poe's stories. There are a lot of subplots involving strange
characters, while real clues to the murders appear in contrived manners
and often much delayed - that is, the reader is not provided clues early
enough to get involved in the unravelling of the crimes.
Of much greater interest to me than the story was the persona presented
for Poe. He arrives in New York accompanied by his wife, who's name is
Virginia but who is called "Sissy", and referred to by Poe as his "wifey",
with much ado about his devotion to his delicate helpmate. Also in the
family is his wife's mother, who is spoken to as "Muffy". (In real life
Poe's wife is his first cousin, so his mother-in-law was also his aunt,
and this is briefly alluded to in the story.)
So Poe comes across as a somewhat fastidious romantic very solicitous of
his family members, devoting his time only peripherally to his writing.
This was very much at odds with my preconception of Poe from only reading
his stories and brief biolgraphies (usually emphasizing his drinking and
monetary problems).
A brief diversion in the story involves Poe suddenly deciding he wanted to
write a poem in his frequent theme of the death of a beautiful woman. He
titled the resulting work _The Raven_.
The more interesting character in the novel is P. T. Barnum, the ultimate
humbug, self-promoter, and bon-viant.
The author, Schechter, a professor of literature, has written the
non-fiction books _The A-Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers_, _Bestial_,
_Depraved_, _Deranged_, Deviant, Outcry, and the prior "Poe" novel
_Nevermore_.
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gelinas
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response 257 of 298:
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Jan 24 04:51 UTC 2002 |
There are two items for discussing Tolkien: 80, which is a general
conversation, and the (current) last item, which was started by asking about
the "meaning" of LotR.
Yes, LotR is "denser" than _The_Hobbit_, but I still find it easier to read.
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i
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response 258 of 298:
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Jan 25 03:40 UTC 2002 |
LotR is an adult book, Hobbit is a not-bad-for-adults kid book.
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gelinas
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response 259 of 298:
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Feb 6 05:29 UTC 2002 |
Sunday night/Monday morning, I finished Trevanian's latest offering, _The_
_Incident_at_Twenty-Mile_. Classic Western, but typical Trevanian, too.
Quite fun.
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mcnally
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response 260 of 298:
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Feb 6 06:19 UTC 2002 |
I'd never heard of Trevanian before a friend recently recommended that
I read the ultra-cheezy sounding spy novel "Shibumi." The way it was
described, it sounded just bad enough to be good..
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gelinas
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response 261 of 298:
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Feb 6 06:55 UTC 2002 |
Sounds like it was poorly described. But it's a big book; no short review
will do it justice.
I don't know that I would call his stuff 'great literature', but it is
certainly worth the time it takes to read.
I've liked all of his books that I've read: _The_Eiger_Sanction_, _The_Loo_
_Sanction_, _The_Main_, _Shibumi_ and _The_Summer_of_Katya_. Now I need
to find that collection of short stories I just found out about yesterday.
One of my English teachers started with _Summer_; she liked it so much
that she went looking for his other stuff. Boy, was she surprised by what
she found. I had read the others, so I was just as surprised by _Summer_.
Now, I see the similarities and links between all of his books, so I'm
inclined to re-read them.
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lelande
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response 262 of 298:
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Mar 15 23:55 UTC 2002 |
the sound and the fury
faulkner
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gelinas
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response 263 of 298:
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Mar 16 03:13 UTC 2002 |
The last one I remember finishing was _Airframe_ by Crichton; before that,
I read _Timeline_.
It passed the time.
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nikita02
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response 264 of 298:
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Mar 23 18:50 UTC 2002 |
The book that I'm currently reading is _The_Wheel_Of_Time_ Series, book number
five _The_Fires_Of_Heaven_. Is anyone else reading this awesome series by
Robert Jordan? These books are awesome, I've been recommending them to any
fantasy fiction fan I can get ahold of - at my school I suggested them to a
friend who inturn suggested them to his friends.. let's just say now like half
the class is reading his series, it is soo awesome. Exciting, Moving,
tastefully written, and in times very humourous.
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gelinas
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response 265 of 298:
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Mar 24 04:23 UTC 2002 |
I've been meaning to try Jordan. I'll have to add that to the list.
I finished _John_o'_the_Green_ a day or so ago. Written in the '30s,
probaby by an Englishman, but placed in the Age of Chivalry, with language
to match. The author was very fond of "stilly water". The language
didn't much disguise the '30s love/adventure story.
The frontispiece listed a good two dozen books by this guy. I don't think
I'll bother with them. Wish I could recall his name, though.
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davel
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response 266 of 298:
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Mar 24 12:35 UTC 2002 |
I also like the Jordan series very well. He's visibly improved (in things
like economy of style) as he's gone on. I'm beginning to wonder if he'll ever
get to the point where he can wrap things up, though. (And he's already put
in some hooks for a followup series, at that.) He's now done at least as many
books as called for by his early projections, and he's got so many plot lines
open that he can't reasonably finish in less than another couple of books;
these very large books are now covering a time span of a month or two at most.
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otaking
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response 267 of 298:
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Dec 3 02:51 UTC 2002 |
I just finished reading the Ender Quartet by Orson Scott Card. Ender's Game,
the first book in the series was a brilliant military science fiction novel.
The three that came after that had very interesting moral considerations, but
the fourth novel kinda fell flat to me. Overall, it's a great series though.
I look forward to readinf Ender's Shadow and Shadow of the Hegemon in the near
future.
Currently, I'm reading What If?, an anthology of alternate history scenarios
written by military historians. Very fascinating stuff.
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gizlnort
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response 268 of 298:
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Apr 3 18:02 UTC 2003 |
I just finished reading _1919_ by Dos Passos. A fascinating look at the
nature of World War I from the viewpoint of average individuals. Wonderful
fiction, and also part two of the USA triology
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polytarp
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response 269 of 298:
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Apr 4 04:47 UTC 2003 |
I finished !!!SALMAN RUSHIDIE"S !!! SATANIC VERSES1
I like butter, I like toast.
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dcat
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response 270 of 298:
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Aug 13 22:27 UTC 2003 |
Currently reading Archer Mayor's _Bellows Falls_, in which one of the side
characters is a police Officer named Padgett. Those who were at Huron HS in
the 80s/early-mid 90s may be even more amused by this than I am.
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cmcgee
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response 271 of 298:
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Aug 14 01:39 UTC 2003 |
Tanya.
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md
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response 272 of 298:
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Aug 19 01:59 UTC 2003 |
Dartmouth snotnoses (moi aussi, sniff) used to call it "Fellows
Balls." Probably still do.
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md
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response 273 of 298:
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Nov 2 19:25 UTC 2003 |
Just finished _Live from New York_, by Shales and Miller. It's
an "uncensored" oral history of Saturday Night Live. Interviews with
dozens of cast members, hosts, writers and others, broken up and
arranged by topic. Just about everyone gets his or her two cents in,
except for the dead ones. Lots of good gossip.
Now I'm browsing through _The Early Stories, 1953 - 1975_, by John
Updike. It was advertised in the last New York Review and gets a nice
notice by Lorrie Moore in the current New York Review (it's a small
club), so I went out and bought it. 838 pages. I have most of the
original collections, but I figuered what the hey. Wonderful book,
anyway.
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gelinas
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response 274 of 298:
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Mar 17 00:24 UTC 2004 |
I'm always reading, it seems. Recently, I finished "Tales from Earthsea" and
"The Other Wind", re-reading "A Wizard of Earthsea" between them. I enjoyed
the original trilogy when I first read it, but I didn't like the second and
third as much when I re-read them a few years back. The fourth book,
"Tehanu," just irritated me. I think "The Other Wind" just about finishes
Earthsea.
I also read "Don't Shoot the Dog", by Karen Pryor. A very interesting book.
I'm hoping to get a few others to read it.
Right now, I'm reading Gerry Spence's book on winning arguments (I don't
remember the exact title) and "MacOS X for Unix Geeks" (the Jaguar version).
Both have a lot to offer. :)
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