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| Thread: Reading List |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 · «PREV / NEXT» |
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mvassilev
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posted May 07, 2009 02:47 PM |
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Nah, Akunin's books don't really have much literary merit. And Murakami is a post-modernist. 
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Lord_Woock
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posted May 07, 2009 02:53 PM |
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Dune.
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Yolk and God bless.
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mvassilev
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posted May 07, 2009 02:57 PM |
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Already read every book in that series (except for Paul of Dune), including the rather worse books by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. (Although Sandworms wasn't bad.) Brilliant series.
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Lord_Woock
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posted May 07, 2009 03:04 PM |
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I stopped at Heretics and I'm of the opinion that God Emperor of Dune is the best, followed by the original.
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Yolk and God bless.
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My buddy's doing a webcomic and would certainly appreciate it if you checked it out!
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mvassilev
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posted May 07, 2009 03:22 PM |
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I agree. GE>Dune>Children>Heretics>Chapterhouse>Messiah. Messiah's just not that great.
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Corribus
Hero of Order
The Abyss Staring Back at You
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posted May 07, 2009 03:33 PM |
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@ Binabik
I have to respectfully disagree with you about Lord of the Flies and Watership Down, but to each his own I suppose.
Clavel’s books are great, no doubt (well, the first three were – I thought they declined rapidly in quality starting with Noble House), but I was under the impression mvass wanted “classics”. If not, I could give you several recommendations in intelligent and well-written historical fiction as good as anything written by James Clavel.
Never cared for Dickens that much. His writing style is great but… well I can’t put my finger on why. Oliver Twist was ok, but you can have the rest of them.
@mvass
Yes, I’ve heard of Steven Pinker. I’ve also attended a lecture he gave on the use of profanity in language. He’s an amazing speaker. I tried to have my wife get his autograph for me at a reception after the lecture (because I had to leave early) but she chickened out. 
If you want to read a contemporary author who is probably the best wordsmith currently out there, I’d tell you to pick up something by Dan Simmons. The Terror was fantastic and Hyperion is great (though disturbing) as well. Another science fiction book you in particular might be interested in is the Hugo-winning Red Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. They’re dense, but there’s a lot to chew on (ecology, the future of economics, population control, etc.).
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I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later. -Mitch Hedberg
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friendofgunnar
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able to speed up time
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posted May 07, 2009 09:23 PM |
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damn I wish I had more time to read :[
I'll second Corribus's "Hyperion" btw. Don't bother with the sequels though, especially if you're trying to find answers to questions raised in Hyperion.
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mvassilev
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posted May 08, 2009 04:10 AM |
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Incidentally, here's a list of books that no one should ever, ever read. In no particular order:
The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler (Worst. Book. Ever.)
The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Rumble Fish - S. E. Hinton
Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
The Poisonwoood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare (It shouldn't be a classic. It's like the Superbad of the 16th century - but worse.)
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phoenixreborn
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Unicorn
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posted May 08, 2009 04:40 AM |
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Recommended:
Russell Banks Affliction
The Sweet Hereafter
Not recommended:
Ursula Le Guin A wizard of Earthsea
but 'The Diary of the Rose' was a chilling story.
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JollyJoker
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posted May 08, 2009 06:48 PM |
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Quote:
Incidentally, here's a list of books that no one should ever, ever read. In no particular order:
The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler (Worst. Book. Ever.)
You are a hopeless case. Raymond Chandler is just great.
For Science Fiction you shouldn't miss Philip K. Dick, especially if you like to think about what reality is. Hollywood has long discovered him, but there's a lot ground to cover with all of the stuff he wrote, and even his short stories have a lot going for them. It doesn't matter much, what you read, but I wouldn't start with Blade Rúnner (or Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep, as it was originally called). You might try UBIK.
Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron is a classic and an extremely enjoyable read.
I like Piers Anthony, if I want to read something optimistic (as opposed to dark) book. This guy was extremely productive, Fantasy as well as SF, and you may simply take a look into his catalogue.
Speaking of Fantasy, Michael Moorcock's Elric and Corum sagas are pretty cool.
For George Martin's Song of Ice and Fire it would probably have been better if he had finished it within 3 books...
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DagothGares
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No gods or kings
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posted May 08, 2009 06:55 PM |
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Well, try lovely bones, if you ever have the time for it
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DagothGares
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No gods or kings
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posted May 08, 2009 07:02 PM |
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Oh, OH!
THE MAGICIAN by Raymond E. Feist!
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phoenixreborn
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Unicorn
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posted May 08, 2009 07:03 PM |
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For Moorcock the first couple books were fun but after that I knew what would happen because they were all on the same template.
For Piers Anthony the Incarnations of Immortality series is always fun.
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mvassilev
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Undefeatable Hero
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posted May 09, 2009 12:56 AM |
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Quote:
THE MAGICIAN by Raymond E. Feist!
Already read it. Good book, though. 
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xerdux
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posted May 11, 2009 06:02 PM |
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I have read...
Harry Potter
Book 1-7. Reading them all in english now. I love brittish humor, I laugh all the time because the swedish version is written in an maturer way.
Eragon
All books that has come.
Deltoras Belt
Lol I was 8 years old and got so confused xD
Then after 2 years I discovered that the name Deltora was made from two great cities in the book.
Gief more.
All books.
Warcraft
Lord of the Clans, Day of the Dragon and ordering Rise of the Lich King (novelazation of Wc3 and Arthas life).
Some others, including the Wave.
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baklava
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Mostly harmless
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posted May 11, 2009 06:06 PM |
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Quote:
Nah, Akunin's books don't really have much literary merit.
How can you say they don't have much literary merit if you haven't tried them?
Certainly has more "literary merit" than Feist's "Magician" ^^
By the way, anyone here read Lovecraft?
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is. When you ain't got no
money,
you got the blues."
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mvassilev
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Undefeatable Hero
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posted May 11, 2009 10:42 PM |
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Xerox:
No. Just no.
Bak:
I've read some of Akunin's stuff. Not really my cup of tea.
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DagothGares
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Undefeatable Hero
No gods or kings
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posted May 11, 2009 10:44 PM |
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Why hasn't anyone suggested twilight? It'll help you score some chicks, unlike these others
By the way, just to name a foreign classic: Notre-dame de paris by Victor Hugo. Though, since it's romantic literature, it's likely you will hate it...
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Lord_Woock
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posted May 11, 2009 11:00 PM |
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Another favourite not present on your list: Catch-22.
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Yolk and God bless.
---
My buddy's doing a webcomic and would certainly appreciate it if you checked it out!
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mvassilev
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posted May 11, 2009 11:03 PM |
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That's because I already read it. Possibly the greatest book of all time. (Tied with Atlas Shrugged.)
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