What are you reading?

sh0ck3r on 5/6/2009 at 21:54

Appealing to your own emotion and frustration hardly makes Heart of Darkness a monumental piece of world literature, even if it inspired a good movie. It's not drivel, but it's not Conrad's best work, nor does it rank anywhere close to the top in 20th-century lit.

Angel Dust on 14/6/2009 at 10:31

Just finished reading Heart Of Darkness. I would say that Chinua Achebe criticisms of it, especially regarding the fact that the native people are little more than 'props' for Marlow's tale, hold some weight but despite that I still found it an enjoyable read. Marlow may be a bit of a racist and misanthrope, prone to ranting but he was, for me, a fascintating and compelling character to spend several days in the head of.

Now starting The Executioner's Song by Normal Mailer.

Shakey-Lo on 14/6/2009 at 11:08

I liked Heart of Darkness better than The Secret Agent, the latter has much better plot (and humour) but the writing is better in the first. Both are great though.

Finished Einstein: His Life and Universe the other day and thoroughly recommend it to anyone with a passing interest. A great read. I actually got a bit teary eyed at the end (spoiler: einstein dies at the end)

Blake1 on 14/6/2009 at 13:28

Quote Posted by quinch

Cool camping - France. Lots of nice pictures.

Anthony Steinbock - Home and Beyond: Generative Phenomenology after Husser(http://bamboo-fiber-clothing.com) l

Koki on 14/6/2009 at 13:45

Just finished re-reading the (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrenturm_(novel)) Narrenturm trilogy, by the same guy who did The Witcher series(Blood of Elves). Except Narrenturm is better in every way and the level of detail - historical and otherwise - is just insane.

Too bad you'll never read either!

st.patrick on 14/6/2009 at 14:29

Quote Posted by Koki

I read the whole Witcher (at that time) tetralogy some ten years ago, and most of the short stories, too.

RavynousHunter on 14/6/2009 at 16:28

All I'm reading right now is a book on Visual Basic 6 (for lack of anything else to read) and some book on algorithm design I got off The Pirate Bay.

I know, I don't read any exciting fiction like the rest of you... I'm just a dullard who prefers his telly and/or games for his fiction.

demagogue on 14/6/2009 at 17:11

Now reading Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945.

Still near the beginning, everybody's relieved the war is finally over, or still in shock, rebuilding, hoping for good things ... but I have a bad feeling about the direction things are about to take... :sweat:

Edit: oh didn't see this.

Quote Posted by Blake1

Anthony Steinbock - Home and Beyond: Generative Phenomenology after Husser(http://bamboo-fiber-clothing.com) l

Riviting, isn't it?
I take it the bamboo thing is a hippy joke? I try to let my books counteract each other, so whatever touchy-feely vibes I got from Husserl (not sure there were any) is anyway about to be slapped away by the realpolitik of Uncle Joe and his East European misadventures.

Andarthiel on 15/6/2009 at 07:01

Neuromancer by William Gibson.
Fascinating read and I love the setting as well as some of the characters. Unlike most novels, Case isn't exactly a typical hero. He lives a bit of a shady existence in a grimy dystopian city which is what makes it interesting.
The only thing I can criticise it for is the constant tech jargon they throw around without always explaining what it means but I suppose you're not really meant to know.

Kolya on 15/6/2009 at 07:20

Gibson is great in using unexplained tech lingo to simulate a deep world. I felt it works best with terms that carry (part of) their own explanation like the mono-filament.