Literature.

[Mirinquads]

So you guys read anything good lately?

I have been out of the reading game for a while now, last I finished The Gunslinger series by Stephan King.. Dragged a little, and was much better if you toked up while reading.. Don't really do that much any more, so I thought i'd try my hands on something a little.. Heavier?

I got my hands on Notes from the Underground by Dostoyevsky.. I remember trying my hands on Crime and Punishment when I was like 15-16 or so.. Got half way through, but that shit was just too heavy at the time. The way he used situations to come to conclusions was so slow paced, and just couldn't keep my attention at the time.
Anyone read Notes, or would like to recommend me something ?

Oh and discuss books and shit I guess.

 

[NunyaBidness]

Huge Vonnegut fan. Finally convinced my wife to introduce Cat's Cradle into her book club, and she's hating it. I can't imagine anyone hating that book.

Only book I've read of Dostoyevsky is The Gambler for obvious reasons.

 

[Mirinquads]

Worth reading? It's not a 1000 page behemoth aye?

 

[NunyaBidness]

The Gambler, no, it's pretty stupid. Dostoyevsky was actually a degenerate roulette gambler and spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to beat the game. It's considered a lesser work, and probably turned me off of him in general.

It's very short though, like 120 pages IIRC.

 

[Napes21]

I enjoyed the Gunslinger series for the most part, although the point of it all did seem to get kinda twisted at the end IIRC. What types of books you into? Fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, etc.? Read a lot of fantasy shit growing up. Don't get to read as much nowadays between work, two little ones and trying to find time to cap/watch fights. I have a personal war with my DVR 24/7.

If you are into vampire / post-apocalyptic type shit The Passage by Justin Cronin wasn't bad. That's not really "heavier" reading though.

 

[Mirinquads]

I love post-apocalyptic / Cyberpunk / streampunk.. all that good shit. But I feel like I should educate my self a little, getting in some of the classics. Vonnegut is a good suggestion, keep em coming. - Actually been meaning to read Slaughterhouse 5, you rate that higher than Cradle Nunz? If you read it that is.

Did you read any of Kings horror Napes, and how'd you like it?

Recently read Guns, Germs and Steel too, that was a very good read if you're interested in history. Gives you an overview of how the different nations developed in the way that they did, gives scientific reasons why Africa for instance has developed slower than other countries, beyond the classic "lolz, brown people r stupider".

For Fantasy, I liked the Golden Compass series. Some interesting religious overtones and some really dark stuff in it as well. Film doesn't do it justice at all.

 

[Will]

I know not the same genre that you folk are currently focusing on but the best book I have ever read was How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie

 

[Das Jax]

But I feel like I should educate my self a little, getting in some of the classics.

Always a good idea (for what it's worth, I'm a big reading advocate). If you're used to easily accessible fiction and looking to make a transition, there's a whole slew of great stuff you should try before you start reading Russian literature. I'm actually a huge fan of the Russian classics, but even I find them daunting. It's just sooooo much text. I recommend reading some Jack London. The Sea Wolf and Martin Eden especially. Accessible and well-written, but also incredibly deep and thought provoking. Also, if he weren't already one of my favorite authors based on the merits of his writing alone, he was actually a straight up bad ass in real life... you should go read his bio some time. He was also a well-respected sports journalist (specialized in boxing) in his day.

As far as fun stuff goes, though, my favorite fantasy series is Game of Thrones (the show, though I do like it, doesn't even come close to the books) and my favorite sci-fi series is the Ender's Game Saga. In all honesty, I consider both series straight up literature and I'm not someone who uses that word flippantly. Also, based on your admitted wide-ranging interest in geeky activities, I think you'd particularly enjoy Ready Player One. If you haven't heard about this book yet, you will soon since the movie rights were recently sold to Spielberg.

Also, for what it's worth, I liked Slaughterhouse more than Cat's Cradle, but your mileage may very.

 

[Will]

I have read the entire series of dragon lance. Very surprised that has not been turned into a tv show.

Great series a mix of LOTR and GOT.

 

[ezflyer]

 

[Das Jax]

I have read the entire series of dragon lance. Very surprised that has not been turned into a tv show.

Great series a mix of LOTR and GOT.

You sure you read the entiiiire series? I'm pretty sure there were well over 100 of those DL books. Of course, the reason I know this is because I read most of them as well back when I was a kid with a library card. Now that I'm an adult though, I'm not sure how they'd hold up. I haven't looked at them in years and didn't care enough to stay current when they rebooted the series a while back. I actually met Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman at a convention way back when and got them to autograph a book. A big problem for me is that I read their "Annotated Chronicles" and I remember them talking in the margins about how all they really did was take generic D&D archetypes and flesh out their personalities. For me, it kind of ruined the magic a little bit. Having said all that... Raistlin is one of the coolest characters I've ever come across in a fantasy series.

Hah, man you guys really know how to press my nerd buttons.

 

[Napes21]

Read Guns, Germs & Steel a long time ago but remember enjoying that. Another good one is Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. Been a long time for me on that one as well but IIRC the first half is readable and interesting. The second half gets a little heavy on astro-physics and gets kinda tough.

I have read some of King's horror stuff but not a ton of it - not like a big King fan or anything. I had to read Misery in college - took an American Gothic Literature class that was pretty cool. I also read The Stand which is a post-apocalyptic / horror type book about a military virus getting released (Randall Flagg of the Dark Tower series comes into play in this book as well). I enjoyed both of those so wouldn't be opposed to reading more King if I had more time in life.

I liked Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air and Into the Wild a lot as well if you haven't read those yet. Into Thin Air is about ascending Everest. Into the Wild is about Alexander Supertramp's escapades into Alaska which was also turned into a movie starring Emile Hirsch.

I read the Dragonlance stuff too when I was a youngun - Raistlin was great. I was really into the RA Salvatore Forgotten Realms books for a while. If you are into light fantasy reading those are solid and will keep you busy for a while. Spinoff of those - the War of the Spider Queen series - also enjoyable. But that is probably the type of book you are looking to move past.

As far as "classics" I've read and would recommend: Count of Monte Cristo, 1984, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Iliad & Odyssey if you are into the Greek stuff, Lord of the Flies, Catch-22, Brave New World, Clockwork Orange, Animal Farm - been a long time for me on all these but I remember enjoying them at the time.

I vaguely remember finding The Prince (Machiavelli) and Art of War (Sun Tzu) interesting.

 

[Napes21]

Almost forgot - read some Kafka in law school and remember enjoying that. The Trial and The Castle. Both are attacks on bureaucracies basically.

 

[Mirinquads]

Damn, I forgot all about DL, read that shit when I was a kiddo.. Rasputin is straight boss tier.

I read Clockwork Orange really great stuff.

Read 1984 from Orwell, but was in english when I was like 15-16.. I think I had some problems grasping the concepts in the book - Maybe I should get Orwell another chance.

I have tried to start the Odyssey a couple of times, but goddamn.. that shit is heavy reading.

I think I will read The Prince (Machiavelli) if I survive the current ones. Thanks for the recomendations Napes, you cultured mfer you.

 

[Das Jax]

The problem with The Prince (as well as Art of War for that matter... also, fun fact, Sun Tzu didn't actually write most of it), is that there isn't a narrative of any kind. It's basically just a pamphlet on how to be a gangster that Machiavelli wrote in an attempt to ingratiate himself with the Medicis. It's interesting on a conceptual level, but actually reading it? Not exactly a page turner. I'd almost recommend reading ABOUT the book more than I would the book itself. But hey, at the end of the day, it's like 90 pages and then you can say you read it so you might as well go for it I guess.

 

[Napes21]

Just jogged my memory and not sure the subject matter would interest you (American Revolutionary War) but I also remember enjoying The Killer Angels and Gods and Generals.

 

[Das Jax]

The Killer Angels is a great book... I should re-read that myself.

 

[Mirinquads]

The problem with The Prince (as well as Art of War for that matter... also, fun fact, Sun Tzu didn't actually write most of it), is that there isn't a narrative of any kind. It's basically just a pamphlet on how to be a gangster that Machiavelli wrote in an attempt to ingratiate himself with the Medicis. It's interesting on a conceptual level, but actually reading it? Not exactly a page turner. I'd almost recommend reading ABOUT the book more than I would the book itself. But hey, at the end of the day, it's like 90 pages and then you can say you read it so you might as well go for it I guess.

Makes sense. Kinda the same problem I have with some of the Russian books.. It's like a stream of consciousness basically of some guys thoughts, and stories just going on and going on.. Can be hard to grasp the red line. Maybe I should actually get these things in my native language, but I think some things get lost when a book has to be translated through 2 languages. Plus my language is kinda flat and can be hard to express things as well as in english.

The Iliad & Odyssey - are these brutal to get through?

 

[marzwoody]

I was cool with cock gifs being posted everywhere, but threads like this are a little queer.

 

[The Naked Gambler]

Whenever I try to read classics because they're classics, I usually end up horribly bored. I need something about the work beyond acclaim to entice me (such as previous experience with the author.) Anna Karenina is the most mind-numbing (and "overrated", though I don't like that term) novel I've ever read, and the last chance I gave to novels that are classics but have no other appeal to me. Well written, sure, but it isn't even in the same universe as Tolstoy's other works, and it's incredibly tedious to boot.

I'll single out the Tao Te Ching as a book that influenced me heavily. Also Lolita, still the best-written book I've ever encountered and the author wasn't even a native English speaker. Insane. I'm a big fan of dystopian too, Mirin; check out I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream, also Roadside Picnic. I Have No Mouth is as dystopian as dystopian novels get, and Roadside Picnic is just ridiculously interesting.