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read any good books lately... |
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The Wizard 
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Joined: July 18 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 7341 |
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 Posted: June 12 2006 at 23:16 |
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Zarqus: I too have been reading lots of H.P. Lovecraft! I've been binging on him hor the past few days, in the Mountains of Madness is my favorite! I think he's a mile ahead of Poe.
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Ghandi 2
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Joined: February 17 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1494 |
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Posted: June 13 2006 at 00:43 |
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I read all of the Robot and Foundation novels during one summer and reading a lot of his short stories recently, (The Empire series is in between those two on the timeline, but I skipped them) and I have come to the conclusion that Asimov is the greatest Sci-Fi writer ever. Not only is the volume of his body of work verging on insanity, but it's almost all good! Sure, some of his later novels sucked some, but they are still better than the **** Heinlein put out (and I like early Heinlein). I don't care what people say; Stanger in a Strange Land SUCKS! It is one of the very few books that I have never finished. The worst part was the the first 150 pages were actually pretty good, but then it really, really went downhill and I couldn't stand it anymore. Starship Troopers isn't that good either; oh boy, a bunch of philosophical nonsense from this guy's old philophy teacher. Now that's gripping military sci-fi!
Poe's problem is that he sucks unless he's writing dark stuff, although is dark stuff is good. I read about half of his short stories (it was a complete book of his short stories) and then I gave up because too many of them were bloody pointless. For example, his story The Balloon Hoax: he spends 30 pages describing how this guy was in debt and escaped the Earth to go the Moon, killing his creditors in the process. It is full of very bad science, and he finds aliens and some stuff happens and I think he stays on the Moon. Then the book ends saying that this was probably a hoax since the person mentioned in the letter (the story was a letter that had been dropped from a balloon) was seen at a bar in the next town 3 days ago.
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SO WHY THE HELL DID I JUST READ THIS 45 PAGE STORY!?!?
Although his detective stories were important because they were the first ones, I don't like them very much because Arthur Conan Doyle did such a better job with Sherlock Holmes. I highly recommend all of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Edited by Ghandi 2 - June 13 2006 at 00:49 |
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Zargus
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Joined: May 08 2005 Location: Sweden Status: Offline Points: 3491 |
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Posted: June 13 2006 at 07:38 |
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Yes i also must say i like Lovecraft much beter then Poe, alltough this is my first ever book i read by him i like it very much. I bought 2 books by him at the same time and the mountains of madness is in the other book im gona read it right away after finishing this one.
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Vompatti
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Posted: June 13 2006 at 10:05 |
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I also happen to be reading Lovecraft: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.
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Vompatti
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Posted: June 14 2006 at 14:07 |
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^ Finished that one and started Dostoevsky's first novel, Poor Folk.
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BaldFriede
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Joined: June 02 2005 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 10261 |
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Posted: June 14 2006 at 17:47 |
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Take a look at the title of the story again. Poe didn't name it "The Great Balloon Hoax" for nothing.  |
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 BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
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Xanadu
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Joined: March 18 2005 Location: Sweden Status: Offline Points: 186 |
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Posted: June 15 2006 at 06:59 |
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Great Great horror author who have been very overlooked over the years. Call of Cthulhu and The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath are among my favorite short stories
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"Oh, yes, sitting-the great leveler. From the mightiest pharaoh to the lowliest peasant, who doesn't enjoy a good sit?"
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crimson thing
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Joined: April 28 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 848 |
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Posted: June 15 2006 at 07:40 |
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Please forgive me butting in on your conversation (I have been lurking here for ages
 ), but I just wondered out of idle curiosity whether there was any connection between the book/story you just mentioned, "Call of Cthulhu" and the Caravan track "C'thlu Thlu". (The coincidence would be too weird; I'm assuming the answer is "yes", but it would be nice to have it confirmed.) The track I know & like; Lovecraft's book/story I don't know.....Thanks
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"Every man over forty is a scoundrel." GBS
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BaldJean
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Joined: May 28 2005 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 10377 |
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Posted: June 15 2006 at 09:52 |
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Lovecraft was influenced by Poe a lot ("At the Mountains of Madness" is a kind of a sequel to Poe's "Arthur Gordon Pym").
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 A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
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TheProgtologist
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Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: May 23 2005 Location: Baltimore,Md US Status: Offline Points: 27802 |
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Posted: June 15 2006 at 15:18 |
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Out of fresh reading material so I am re-reading the Ender series by Orson Scott Card.
Reading Ender's Game right now. |
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TheProgtologist
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Posted: June 15 2006 at 15:19 |
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I like HPL but he doesn't hold a candle to Poe. |
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Padraic
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Posted: June 15 2006 at 15:37 |
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Currently reading Doris Kearns Goodwin's biography of Lincoln entitiled "Team of Rivals".
Don't laugh, but "War & Peace" is probably next (a new translation is out that is supposed to be very good so I bought it). In general I enjoy history books and biographies, but I've also started on a Russian lit. phase... |
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Falling Flower
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Joined: June 14 2006 Location: Belgium Status: Offline Points: 1079 |
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Posted: June 15 2006 at 15:41 |
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I'm re-reading Sacajawea
It's my favorite book, true story about an indian woman, from her birth till her dead. I love it 
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 Tool makes the butterflies in my tumybox go woooooooosh |
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VanderGraafKommandöh
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Joined: July 04 2005 Location: Malaria Status: Offline Points: 89372 |
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Posted: June 15 2006 at 18:00 |
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You better start reading: The Master and Margreta by Mikhail Bulgakov. It's on my list of books to read. I also plan to read some Gogol eventually. |
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Xanadu
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Joined: March 18 2005 Location: Sweden Status: Offline Points: 186 |
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Posted: June 15 2006 at 19:59 |
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"The Overcoat" is a classic aswell as a good read. Hope to get hold of "Dead Souls" soon...
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"Oh, yes, sitting-the great leveler. From the mightiest pharaoh to the lowliest peasant, who doesn't enjoy a good sit?"
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NetsNJFan
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Joined: April 12 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3047 |
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Posted: June 16 2006 at 13:42 |
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Just Read "Six Days of War" by Michael Oren. Incredibly detailed look at the '67 Arab Israeli war.
Great quote from a general from the United Arab Command: "A war is comign and we'll be sorting out the results 50 years from now" --- how true!
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Marwin
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Joined: December 13 2005 Status: Offline Points: 166 |
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Posted: June 22 2006 at 13:57 |
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Now I´m reading Mikael Hakim by a finnish author Mika Waltari. In english I think the book is called The Wanderer and is the sequel to The Adventurer. It tells the tale about a finnish man in the 16th century and involves alot of historical events and people, but the character Mikael is ficitional. I really recommend it, especially to anyone interested in that historical period.
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Vompatti
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Posted: June 22 2006 at 14:40 |
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I'm reading The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy.
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VanderGraafKommandöh
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Joined: July 04 2005 Location: Malaria Status: Offline Points: 89372 |
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Posted: June 22 2006 at 21:05 |
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I plan to read some Plato very soon, but I suspect it'll get delayed, but I'll try read some later.
I also need to finish reading the following: Jorge Luis Borges - Ficciones Charlie Stross - Scratch Monkey Terry Pratchett - The Wee Free Men Charles Dickens - Martin Chuzzlewit Jim Christopulos and Phil Smart - Van der Graaf Generator: The Book Franz Kafka - The Trial George Orwell - Down and Out in Paris and London So I have a lot to finish! Wish me luck on this. |
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BaldFriede
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Joined: June 02 2005 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 10261 |
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Posted: June 23 2006 at 06:51 |
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No recent reading, but I highly recommend "Lempriere's Dictionary", a
novel by Lawrence Norfolk, for which he won the Booker Prize.
Note about that book:; The author did a lot of research for this book (it is settled in the late 18th century), although many things are inventions too. In a short epilogue he explains how far his research went; he gives the example of a pot of geraniums standing on a balcony of a certain house in Paris in his book, which really stood there at that the time the novel takes place! |
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BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
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stonebeard wrote: