I don't remember exactly what their answer was, but it led me to the classic formulation that Kirth Gersen has misspelled and shall be publicly mocked for. Hee hee.
You've heard about the Quran -- how it's supposedly inerrant, so the Arabic language was actually restructured so that the grammatical errors in the Quran subsequently became the offical correct usage? So it is with me and any language I deign to speak in.
Vive moi!
Six library books arrived at once—spoiled for choice! Clearly, the best solution was to try to read them all at once. First three:
• Watchtower, recommended above (which will be my gym book for this week)
• Spinning Wool: Beyond the Basics: Upside: finally all the technical bits about wheel ratios and twists per inch are making sense! Downside: worksheets.
• Babayaga, a picture book version in Spanish to help me practice. I'd ordered it without actually reading the description, so it was a surprise when by the end of the first page
and by the end of the second page
but I'm learning a lot of useful vocabulary and past tense!
I was curious as to whether you read the whole Once and Future King or just The Sword in the Stone? I can totally see you hating the latter, but not so much the former.
Whatever volume in which the little kid gets turned into a hawk by Merlin, and there ensues a long, overly-smug, oh-so-clever exposition on how a hawk's feet are more important to him than his wings, and I kind of lost interest after that.
Yeah, that's what I figured. The cutesy, whimsical factor drops by half for the second book and then kind of disappears entirely for the third one.
• Babayaga, a picture book version in Spanish to help me practice. I'd ordered it without actually reading the description, so it was a surprise when by the end of the first page
** spoiler omitted **
and by the end of the second page
** spoiler omitted **
but I'm learning a lot of useful vocabulary and past tense!
And having looked up "comió" - all I can say is: ai, ai, ai!
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The last two fantasy novels I've read were The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. I was sorely disappointed in NotW, and found it to be tedious and overhyped, but I really loved the latter. The next ones will be Delirium by Lauren Oliver and [/i]Before They Are Hanged[i] by Abercrombie (the second book in the series).
Finished The Ill-Made Knight which was awesome! and Deuteronomy. All in all, I think it's safe to say that the Books of Moses could have used a better editor--oh, you don't want to me worship other gods? I hadn't noticed, you only say it EVERY OTHER PARAGRAPH! I also feel bad for the Canaanites... :(
Finished Hunger Games. It's not a bad book, but with all the hype I was kinda expecting a bit more. I am starting the Horatio Hornblower series by C. S. Forester. I need some nautical inspiration.
oh, you don't want to me worship other gods? I hadn't noticed, you only say it EVERY OTHER PARAGRAPH!
And yet the Jews failed to get the message, as you'll see in Judges and Kings.
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I'm reading Prince of Wolves, as I figure it might be helpful for my Carrion Crown game, and I'm enjoying it immensely!
Also, I've got The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games by Michael J. Tresca out from the library, but I think I'm done with it now that I've read the sections on pen and paper games. Might take a stroll through some of the books in his bibliography, though.
Finished Hunger Games. It's not a bad book, but with all the hype I was kinda expecting a bit more. I am starting the Horatio Hornblower series by C. S. Forester. I need some nautical inspiration.
And I just recently read through The Hunger Games trilogy. I liked the first two a lot; I thought the last one was uneven.
A fair way into Stephen King's 11/22/63, which I hadn't planned on reading, but it was given to me as a gift. One thing I'm enjoying a LOT is that King takes the tired old time travel schtick, which should be worn out beyond salvage by now, and injects it with all kinds of cool stuff -- like more pivotal events being exponentially harder to change (which for some reason keeps reminding me of "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut").
oh, you don't want to me worship other gods? I hadn't noticed, you only say it EVERY OTHER PARAGRAPH!And yet the Jews failed to get the message, as you'll see in Judges and Kings.
Spoilered for apostasy and misbelief
When you read the account in the Books of Moses you do, indeed, have to wonder why God chose the Hebrews. Interestingly enough, in at least the edition of King James Version that I've got, it has a footnote when the People of God are murmuring in the wilderness. "Murmur = complain, kvetch," the footnote helpfully reads. Hmmm, I wonder if there's going to be any other words in there of Yiddish origin?
Anyway, either the Pentateuch is the word of God as transcribed by Moses and the Hebrews were a particularly stiffnecked (and idiotic) people, or the books were compiled long afterwards by Jewish priests in disgrace who were looking for something to lay their shame upon; either way, it reads nowhere as well as Homer. I hope it gets better.
Also, A Candle in the Wind is making me cry. Poor, doomed love-triangles...
oh, you don't want to me worship other gods? I hadn't noticed, you only say it EVERY OTHER PARAGRAPH!And yet the Jews failed to get the message, as you'll see in Judges and Kings.Spoilered for apostasy and misbelief
** spoiler omitted **
Poe's Law in action. :)
After a brief hiatus, I am starting Book V, "Wolves of the Calla"I just started "The Gunslinger" by Stephen King.
I didn't even know the Dark Tower series existed until a few weeks ago.I am starting book II, "The Drawing of the Three".
The Gunslinger rocked!
Now, I am starting book III, "The Waste Lands".Starting Book IV !! "Wizard and Glass"
Just finished Book VI, "Song of Susannah"
Starting Book VII, "The Dark Tower"
.
DONE.
I finished reading the Dark Tower Series !!!
.
Some one just asked how long it took me to read all the Dark Tower books. I didn't know, but my posts are time-stamped. :->
Start: Aug 18, 2008
End: Aug 22, 2011
.
I'm calling it 3 years.
Finished The Once and Future King. Sob.
Anyway, I thought it was pretty f@*%ing awesome. Unfortunately, my copy doesn't include The Book of Merlyn, and I'm just whilin' 'way the time 'til the interlibrary loan arrives.
Any other books you hate, Kirth?
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Any other books you hate, Kirth?
Anything by Ayn Rand. Chick had a chip on her shoulder, coupled with a seriously misplaced case of idol worship, and willfully refused to look at reality when it conflicted with her Nietzschean imaginings.
---There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year-old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.
—Kung Fu Monkey (blog), March 19, 2009.
Just finished Death's Heretic, which I recommend highly. Next up: Form 1040 Instructions.
Just finished Death's Heretic, which I recommend highly. Next up: Form 1040 Instructions.
~snickers~ Good luck with the Form 1040 instructions. Oh, you must also make a sanity roll for every page read starting at a DC20 will save and adding one to the DC per page read.
Just finished Death's Heretic, which I recommend highly. Next up: Form 1040 Instructions.
Yay for being a low-level corporate stooge. Less forms to fill out. ;)
Hee hee! My taxes fit on one page! One of the few benefits of poverty...
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Anyway, thank you for the anti-recommendation, Kirth, but I went with Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut which I haven't read since I was, oh, 15 or 16.
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Speaking of writers who ruined my life, two Allen Ginsberg poems that struck me as really apropos while sitting in the parking lot at work this morning:
(I can't figure out how to do indentations, so I used bracket and periods)
Marijuana Notation
How sick I am!
[.....]that thought
always comes to me
{.....]with horror.
Is it this strange
[.....]for everybody?
But such fugitive feelings
have always been
[.....]my metier.
Baudelaire--yet he had
great joyful moments
[.....]staring into space,
looking into the
[....]middle distance,
contemplating his image
[.....]in Eternity.
They were his moments
[....]of identity.
It is solitude that
produces these thoughts.
[.....]It is December
almost, they are singing
[....]Christmas carols
in front of the department
stores down the block on
[.....]Fourteenth Street.
Gregory Corso's Story
The first time I went
[.....]to the country to New Hampshire
when I was about eight
[.....]there was a girl
I always used to paddle with a plywood stick.
We were in love,
[....]so the last night there
we undressed in the moonlight
[....]and showed each other our bodies,
then we ran singing back to the house.
I was lucky enough to see Ginsberg shortly before he died. The following year, I went to Lowell, MA for the annual Kerouac event to see Michael McClure perform with Ray Manzarek.
Later, a guy in his 20s (I was about 16) promised to intoduce me to Gregory Corso. He wanted me to follow him down a dark alley to the backdoor of a hotel. I have always suffered from a low Wisdom score, but even I didn't fall for that one! Come to think of it, I've avoided Beat poets since then.
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Anything by Ayn Rand. Chick had a chip on her shoulder, coupled with a seriously misplaced case of idol worship, and willfully refused to look at reality when it conflicted with her Nietzschean imaginings.
You know that scene in Fight Club where they're talking about which celebrity they would fight if they could fight anyone, and one of them picks William Shatner? I'd fight Ayn Rand.
I wouldn't. I'd give her the sexual experience of her life and then whisper in her ear, "Baby, the only thing that would make this hotter is if we had a collectivized economy!"
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I wouldn't. I'd give her the sexual experience of her life and then whisper in her ear, "Baby, the only thing that would make this hotter is if we had a collectivized economy!"
Given how deeply messed up the woman was, she would either get off on that because you just really showed her up or she'd knife you. No, strike that. She'd get off, knife you, and lie about it later.
There's an Objectivist supporting character on Mad Men that claims to be a part of her cult of personality and acts it on occasion. It's surprisingly effective when he does, but also a little disturbing since he tends to act the ways a viewer is probably expected to act in reaction to events. Given it's Mad Men, that's probably intentional.
I don't know much about her--I skipped the whole Ayn Rand phase by already being a communist when I was 15--but I read an Action Philosophers comic about her and I guess she had quite the racket back in the day--and then, like Medea, spitefully tore it all down when her lover and collaborator proved unfaithful.
I bet she was a tigress in bed.
You can find out if you want Doodle, I'm not going in there!
On topic: Just finished All Clear and burned through Doomsday Book; Connie Willis one of those writers who makes me want to read everything else she's written when ever I get a new book of hers.
Up next: To Say Nothing of the Dog. (Hers, not Jerome's.)
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In the middle of a couple of things The coming of Conan The Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard, The Necronomicon: a near complete collection of lovecraft's work in publishing order (my girlfriend bought this for me a few years back and about died and it's a beautiful hardback ^-^), Perdido Street Station, Distant Worlds, and just finished more or less the Pirates of the Inner sea. My big issue is that unless I'm reading during breaks at work I have a really bad case of reading ADD and switch between them as my focus flips, makes it soo hard to finish things T-T.
There's an Objectivist supporting character on Mad Men that claims to be a part of her cult of personality and acts it on occasion. It's surprisingly effective when he does, but also a little disturbing since he tends to act the ways a viewer is probably expected to act in reaction to events. Given it's Mad Men, that's probably intentional.
Great show! And my favorite scene with Cooper:
That's my second-favorite line in the whole series, after Draper's
Hippie: "You can't go out there, man! It's the cops!"
Draper (putting on hat and straightening tie): "You can't go out there. I can."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
There's an Objectivist supporting character on Mad Men that claims to be a part of her cult of personality and acts it on occasion. It's surprisingly effective when he does, but also a little disturbing since he tends to act the ways a viewer is probably expected to act in reaction to events. Given it's Mad Men, that's probably intentional.Great show! And my favorite scene with Cooper: ** spoiler omitted **
That's my second-favorite line in the whole series, after Draper's** spoiler omitted **
I had that scene with Cooper in mind as one of the times we really see the Objectivist in Bert. He didn't care about the facts of the matter when Pete brought it up to him, because having Don on staff was in his personal interest. Having Don on staff was still in his personal interest later on, so he puts the screws to the guy without the slightest hint of conscience.
It's really a terrific show. I'm not sure you should even call it TV. Each season is more like a novel with actors.
I don't know much about her--I skipped the whole Ayn Rand phase by already being a communist when I was 15--but I read an Action Philosophers comic about her and I guess she had quite the racket back in the day--and then, like Medea, spitefully tore it all down when her lover and collaborator proved unfaithful.
I bet she was a tigress in bed.
I haven't studied her at length myself, but from what I've picked up the woman was probably a sociopath. She apparently took some inspiration from a guy that kidnapped a little girl, demanded ransom, and on being paid returned the girl in pieces.
I dodged the Randroid bullet in my teenage years, though Atlas Shrugs was recommended to me. Instead I ended up reading Terry Goodkind. I didn't escape unscathed from that one, but the first few books were more typical fantasy with a side of BDSM which was at the time pretty novel to me. I went back and read them and then a few more in the series five years later and wanted to wash afterwards. He's one of Rand's followers, so I suppose I got Objectivism by proxy.
Alright Anklebiter, leggo my Achilles' tendon already...
Currently reading
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [JK Rowling]
Monkey Sonatas [Orson Scott Card]
Small Favor [Jim Butcher]
the Prefect [Allistair Reynolds]
the Bridge of Birds [Barry Hughart]
NB: these are all re-reads, I haven't made it to the library this week, so I tend to pick up whichever of the several I'm in the mood for, rather than running straight through one and moving on to another... when I have new fiction that I decide is good, I just tear through it at @bout Warp 8. I have the blessing/curse of reading very, very fast, coupled with another blessing/curse of excellent retention. Staying in fiction is a serious bit of work. As a result, I only OWN books I know I can re-read and enjoy... but even with these, I need to let at least a couple of months go by before I can be happy with just one re-read at a time...
Ugh, I had that misfortune too. :/
I dodged the Randroid bullet in my teenage years, though Atlas Shrugs was recommended to me. Instead I ended up reading Terry Goodkind.
I should have known something was up years prior. He had a rudimentary website up circa 1996 or 1997 where he painted himself as a conquering hero for getting granite cabinets for his kitchen. They said it could not be done!
But I was a teenager. I somehow stuck it out through the one where Richard builds a statue and then smashes it but I spent that book and the one or two previous constantly thinking about how stupid they were. Before that there were at least a couple of neat fantasy ideas, even if the stuff was otherwise pretty forgettable.
Alright Anklebiter, leggo my Achilles' tendon already...
Currently reading
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [JK Rowling]
Hem hem. I really disliked that woman. I've never read any of those other ones.
Well, Alitan, may I make some suggestions as to books that might slow you down?
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake. This book is the shiznit, son! No monsters, no magic, very little fighting, only 800 pages detailing in voluminous detail the corroding erosion of an ancien regime populated by a bunch of eccentric, sexually-repressed freaks. Either you'll love it or you'll hate it, but I bet it takes you a week to get through it.
Also, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. I had a Spanish professor in college who used to taunt us gringos with the poverty of our language. He'd go on and on about Cervantes and then wind up his pitch by declaring "...and all you have is Billy Shakespeare!" Hee hee! Anyway, Sancho Panza is the awesomest sidekick in all recorded writtendom and DQ ain't too bad, either.
Apparently, you should also check out Ayn Rand, who, I think, wrote long books.
Ayn Rand always makes me think of sex. When I was in high school I used to hang out with this young woman who was big into Rand. We'd argue and then do it. It was hawt--class struggle between the sheets!
I last saw her, oh, 15 years ago. She was back from college and admitted, before she took her clothes off, that she'd given up on Rand.
Well, Alitan, may I make some suggestions as to books that might slow you down?(stuff, snipped for length)
Apparently, you should also check out Ayn Rand, who, I think, wrote long books.
Hmmn. See, I'm a fantasy/sf enthusiast. I'll check out Gormengast from the library simply to prove you wrong, however. 800 pages won't take me a day. I (pardon patting own back) read extraordinarily fast.
Read part of DQ... tedium won, I didn't finish.
And after reading Anthem I swore a holy vow never to stain my grey matter with anything else by Ms. Rand. If I wanna get beat with a philosophy stick I can re-read the Golden Compass stuff by Pullman, thanx.
But I always appreciate recommendations, even if they turn out not to be to my taste.
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Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake. This book is the shiznit, son! No monsters, no magic, very little fighting, only 800 pages detailing in voluminous detail the corroding erosion of an ancien regime populated by a bunch of eccentric, sexually-repressed freaks. Either you'll love it or you'll hate it, but I bet it takes you a week to get through it.
Oh yes! Gormenghast (that's the second one in the series) is my favorite novel, I'd say.
Oddly, however, both times I've read it I've quit halfway through and then waited several months before picking it back up and finishing it. So yes, it can slow one down. :)
Oops! I meant the Gormeghast books: Titus Groan, Gormenghast as Trinite points out, and Titus Alone although the last one was unfinished before Peake's death.
Did you see that BBC adaptation, Trinite? I loved it.
It's not exactly reading material, but the twitter feed of @RealTimeWWII is awfully neat. Like it says on the tin, the author tweets at least one WWII news item from the current date every day. The plan is to go through the whole war day by day.
The Winter War finished up a few days ago. Neat stuff.
Samnell, have you read Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis? It's like a time travel world war two soap opera book (okay, fine, two books), and she makes the situation emotional.
Totally worth reading :)
I think the next book I read will be The Deed of Paksenarrion, once I pick it up.Which has arrived today. :) Hopefully I can start it tomorrow after finishing the yard work.
Just FYI, I think it rocks!
Basic D&D by Tom Moldvay
I finally finished the second volume of Carrion Crown, which is good, because I'm finally starting it tonight with my group. Almost finished with that Mythical Monsters Revisited, too.
Read the first 50 pages of Breakfast of Champions and I have to wonder if maybe I shouldn't have read this when I was so young. You know, like, maybe I'd be a banker, or a middle-level manager somewhere happily spinning my wheels.
Kids, don't read Vonnegut.
Since it's St. Patrick's Day weekend, I'm reading "Green" by Jay Lake. It's about a girl sold into slavery, trained to be the perfect lady, secretly trained to be an assassin, and then things go sideays.