Started reading before I thought I would. I am doing Pausanias' "Guide to Greece" and the part on Boiotia after having checked up the parts of the Theban royal house in Apollodorus' "Library of Greek Mythology". And after that comes more stuff like Thycidides and Xenophon and modern works on Boiotian history and archeology. For what reason? You might ask. Well, that's a bit of a secret for now.
Thanks guys. Ancient history has indeed become my kind of special area even while I wasn't really interested in ancient Greece many years ago my time at the uni showed me otherwise and while I've tried to branch out to Etruscans, Romans etc. the Hellenes remain at the core of my fascination. EDITED: And given how I am bit worn out of Athens and Sparta when it comes to Greece proper, I am turning my attention to other cities like Thebes, Elis, Argos, Corinth etc.
Last week of critical theory density, and it has a lot repetition in what I've read before, but they're difficult and I'm sure I'll see more in a second read through. Starting off with "Tradition and the Individual Talent" by T. S. Eliot, "Irony as a Principle of Structure" by Cleanth Brooks, and "The Intentional Fallacy" by Wimsatt & Beardsly. The only one of those I haven't already read is "The Intentional Fallacy," but Eliot presents a lot of concepts I agree with and would like to study further. Brooks is just difficult and needs rereading to understand. Later this week I'll get to "Creative Writers and Daydreaming" by Sigmund Freud and A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf. I completely disagree with Freud, but there are a lot of concepts in his work that show up in other criticisms, so I would like a clearer view on it with a reread. Also, I'm reading this long essay from Woolf again for two reasons. First, the writing style is very enjoyable and easy to read as it is a commentary with an obvious amount of strong opinions and emotions behind it. The other reason is that makes a lot of really good points about women writers at the time that I would like to study a bit deeper. Get through this week's difficulty, then I'll reward myself with something a bit lighter for the next two weeks.
I have just started Robert A Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I like to read reviews of the book I'm reading . The opinions are equally divided between the best book ever or one of the most boring .
Sounds like art to me To be honest I do the same with Amazon's review system, as that's where I buy most of books online. Heinlein's not bad, read a few stories of his.
I can't claim to have read all of Heinlein's work, but The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress is probably my favorite of his. It's been decades since I read it, though, and I might have a different opinion now.
It is interesting and real evidence the we are consistently changing . Our attitudes do go in both directions . A cherished book becomes unreadable and something we started can know be completed. Years ago did start to read a Stranger in a Strange Land . I found it a bit overrated and boring , maybe I will have another go.
This is probably my favorite all time science fiction book for a number of reasons. Good choice. Takes a bit to get into with the prison speech.
i have this book (bought it at a used book sale because one does not simply go to a book sale and leave empty handed), but I havent started it yet. Its literally been 5 years since I bought it for .75 cents. I've heard mixed reviews on it too....
I overall like it, but the style is quite odd, and if you don't like it from after a few chapters, you probably won't like the whole novel.
Can anybody recommend me a good fantasy, adventure book (with journeying) that is not YA? I mean it might be YA (not sure what this category includes or excludes) but more extreme. Not so PC and boring. I wanna read characters die and all. Started reading Dean Koontz's "Forever Odd". Not sure if the translation sucks but I'm not so into it.
Not sure if this fits the bill , however Gene Wolfe's The Book Of The New Sun It is considered,by some, to be the best fantasy books ever written. It is in four volumes , and I believe is longer than lord of the rings . so not a quick read .
Thank you for the recommendations. Both look interesting. I like that one is an assassin and the other an apprentice torturer. Surely, I'm going to check them out.
I am reading the 'Fowl Twins'. I am amazed that the author is able to suggest machines, devices and gadgets every second or so paragraph. Not only that, he his able to describe its purpose and origin within a few short sentences. This makes it an irritating, mesmerising and strangley adictive read.
Changed my mind and decided to re-read Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon and then see if I can finish off his trilogy, never got around to it last time. Netflix' Altered Carbon series based on the first book really wasn't that bad either.
I’m reading A Deal With Alejandro by Maya Blake but I also finished reading Half the World (2nd book in the Shattered Sea Series) by Joe Abercrombie. I’m about to start Half a War (the 3rd and final book of the Shattered Sea Series). I was not familiar with Joe Abercrombie’s work before reading this series but I notice that he he draws some things from Game of Thrones or maybe the author has been inspired by George Martin in some ways. For instance Half the World has a character (Thorn) who keeps the fingers of her dead father upon her for luck and in Game of Thrones Davos Seaworth keeps his own cut off fingers upon him for luck. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. I didn’t enjoy Half A King (book 1) as much as I enjoyed Half the World (book 2) and I don’t think there’s nearly as much magic in the books as Game of Thrones. However one thing I did like about it (if we’re to compare this series with George Martin) is that there aren’t quite as many deaths either (I hate it when characters I love get killed off) BUT the series was written for young adults so in some ways it is more child-friendly. Would I recommend the Shattered Sea Series so far?? Deffo.
I found this book at my library! I reeeeeeeeally want to read it, but the list of books i've started/checked out is already too long. who knows.... by the time I've actually finished them all, i'll have no desire to read this one
Just got the first of Joe Abercrombie's First Law series, The Blade Itself, for Christmas. I was persuaded after someone posted their thoughts on it here sometime ago. It also has a large number of reviews on Amazon so I'm interested to know if it stands up. I'm not normally a reader of this type of fantasy, Game Of Thrones, that sort of thing, so there's that too.
if you like graphic novels, I'd recommend Saga. its got your action, your sex, your death, your sci-fi/fantasy. humor, adventure, etc. The art is really good and the story is great too, and typically, the only graphic novels i've read are books i've had to read for class (Persepolis for college freshmen seminar, Marbles for art therapy, American Born Chinese for a children's literature class). This is the first graphic novel i've picked up on my own and actually liked. Its NOT YA. or at least, it shouldnt be, with the amount of graphic language and imagery. We've reclassified it as "Adult" at my library.
Been on a reading slump. Haven't found a book to keep my attention.. Going to the bookstore today, so I'll just pickup some Joe Abercrombie novel. Maybe his newest one, though I heard from fans that it's not so great. Opinions are like asses though, so we'll see.
