Whatcha reading???

[DarthDapor]

I respect your opinion on Cat's Cradle, Darth, but I would suggest reading more of Vonnegut, or at least understand his work to a greater degree, before making blanket statements about such an amazing and influential author.

ok, in all honesty, *and this is a spoiler if anyone cares to note*. In the end the leader of this political cult basically commits suicide the same way one of his disciples does! Not to mention the countless times where Ice-9 was basical destroying the earth, yet everyone simply looks at it as beautiful! I do not believe that social structures would act this way! I will say one thing that I do agree with about this work though, it wasn't about the cat or the cradle at all.

however, I'm totally willing to read more Vonnegut, but only because I'm not so willing to judge him based on the misadventures of Cat's Cradle. And we've had a lot of dystopian readings this quarter anyways so I really just wanted to take it all out on one of them. This would definately be a prime candidate.

[Drewsov]

Vonnegut was an amazing satirist; I'm happy to see, though, that you're willing to look at some of his other writing. Slaughterhouse Five is a stunning example of the man in action.

I'm still working on Lolita.

Nabokov was an amazing wordsmith... but the book's subject matter is simultaneously disturbing and depressing, especially in the way that the main character attempts to rationalize, justify and explain away his actions. What is even more disturbing, at least in my view, is that the story is basically a study of love. How it can turn a person into something different, how it can make them better and make them worse; essentially, the transformative aspects of the emotion, combined with a look at its consequences, both good and bad.

[Orodrist]

I just read Questions and Replies Between T'ang Tai-tsung and Li Wei-kung.

An excellent work. It was the last of the Seven Military Classics of Ancient China, a compilation of Chinese works on strategic thought. Questions and Replies served as a kind of summary of the previous six, written as a dialogue between a ruler and his strategist.

[TripExistence]

o_0

Anyways, I'm reading Angels and Demons, and the way it's going..it can't end well. Especially since I have to return it to the library TODAY. Recommendations on what new books to get? I'll see if my pitifully stocked library has it..

[Orodrist]

Get a compilation of the Seven Classics, you'll never lose a board game again, I swear.

Reading a declassified OSS manual I found on PG.

[TripExistence]

Get a compilation of the Seven Classics, you'll never lose a board game again, I swear.

I don't play board games.

moar sggstions plz

kthxbai

[Orodrist]

Then read "The Poor Man's James Bond"

[Drewsov]

o_0

Anyways, I'm reading Angels and Demons, and the way it's going..it can't end well. Especially since I have to return it to the library TODAY. Recommendations on what new books to get? I'll see if my pitifully stocked library has it..

Pick up The Brothers Karamazov. Great book... and it was by (basically) a Christian existentialist.

[TripExistence]

It would've been helpful to actually have the author's name...but I doubt the library would have it anyway.

They didn't have any Laurie Halse Anderson novels besides Speak. They didn't have the Markus Zusak book The Book Thief. And the kicker? I checked because I wanted to see if I was interested, and they didn't have ANY Stephen King books.

Anyways, I picked up The Hobbit, just because I haven't read it in so long. And, I also picked up Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams. Dunno, it looked interesting.

[Drewsov]

Karamazov is by Fyordor Dostoevsky.

[TripExistence]

I finished Down the Rabbit Hole. Unfortunately, I didn't find out it was geared toward...younger audiences until I actually paid attention to the back cover and such. That being said, it was a fairly competent mystery, especially when you're talking about pre-teen literature. Being a mystery, I was disappointed to figure out the villain half-way through the book, but fortunately for Mr. Abrahams I didn't figure out the 'why' until the final chapter.

B-

[Charley_Wilson]

I read Brisingr

[CountKrazy]

I read BRISINGR

You will be eaten alive, my friend. Eaten. Alive.

>.>
<.<

[TripExistence]

*eats C_W alive*

Seriously, I'm interested in reading that. Just to see if he can keep my interest.

I'm still working on The Hobbit. Why it's taking so long, I have no idea.

[Kendrik]

I may or may not have just loaded up a translation of Sun Tzu's The Art of War. So awesome. This stuff should be read by everyone... and not because everyone should know how to lead an army. It's huge for personal and relational success.