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Good Books?
- Thread starter Fantasy/Nightmare
- Start date
VKCA
(Virtual Circus Kareoky Act)
If you really liked enders game I'd suggest you read the shadow series first, it feels more like sequels to enders game then the actual sequels. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy speaker for the dead, xenocide, and children of the mind, I just think of them as more like another series not related to the enderverse at all.
Under the Dome by Stephen King. It's his newest one, and yeah, the premise is pretty much like the Simpsons Movie, but holy cow is the book good. I couldn't put it down, ended up finishing it in ten hours. Then again, I'm a rabid King fan.
Agreeing with House of the Scorpion. One of the few books that have made me cry.
The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan is really engrossing for true science vs. quack science nerds like myself.
Agreeing with House of the Scorpion. One of the few books that have made me cry.
The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan is really engrossing for true science vs. quack science nerds like myself.
I've been meaning to get back into reading. I have a list of writers I would like to read, but can anyone recommend what books to read by these people: Bertrand Russell, Schopenhauer, Franz Kafka. Thank you.
bertrand russell is famous both as a philosopher of logic and a social critic
if you're interested in his stuff on logic and mathematics, then read principia mathematica, which he wrote with alfred north whitehead. but you really have to know a lot about maths and symbolic logic going in - it's an attempt to create a system of logical axioms, from which all mathematical truths can be derived without paradox
as a social critic, he is very interesting and was hugely influential, and this is where i'm more familiar with him (PM is beyond me). he has a little collection called unpopular essays which will give you a good sense of his personality and thought
on education has been pretty influential, you might want to read that
lastly his history of western philosophy is fun and gives you a great grounding in the subject, though he is wrong about a few things (plato and kant; misunderstanding plato at least can be put down to his reading a bad translation)
with kafka, you want to pick up the metamorphosis before anything else. it is his best work. the castle and the trial are probably next on your list, and if you can find a collection of his short fiction it's well worth picking up. my favourites (aside from the metamorphosis) are a hunger artist and the penal colony
if you're interested in his stuff on logic and mathematics, then read principia mathematica, which he wrote with alfred north whitehead. but you really have to know a lot about maths and symbolic logic going in - it's an attempt to create a system of logical axioms, from which all mathematical truths can be derived without paradox
as a social critic, he is very interesting and was hugely influential, and this is where i'm more familiar with him (PM is beyond me). he has a little collection called unpopular essays which will give you a good sense of his personality and thought
on education has been pretty influential, you might want to read that
lastly his history of western philosophy is fun and gives you a great grounding in the subject, though he is wrong about a few things (plato and kant; misunderstanding plato at least can be put down to his reading a bad translation)
with kafka, you want to pick up the metamorphosis before anything else. it is his best work. the castle and the trial are probably next on your list, and if you can find a collection of his short fiction it's well worth picking up. my favourites (aside from the metamorphosis) are a hunger artist and the penal colony
Is that not impossible, due to Godel incompleteness?
I preferred The Castle to the Metamorphosis, myself.
goodness, why?
I appreciated the irony-to-the-point-of-farce. I'm just a big irony lover, and I thought that the satire was great, even if the narrative itself was not.
Some mistakes should be noted, though... in one part he says ambergris is derived from the giant squid, such poppycock. He also has a tendency to exaggerate numerical values: "ten-thousand trillion cells" are not in the human body, only about fifty trillion-- although it may just be hyperbole, considering his writing style.
Was that really the first one? He's had a lot of books about Drizzt, and I didn't think that one came along until midway, but I may be wrong.
EDIT: I was wrong, I was thinking of the later book when Jarlaxle gets the Shard, and Artemis goes and steals the sword.
I personally prefer the War of the Spider Queen series, myself. I tend to dislike the books that write drow against their nature; it's more interesting when they're backstabbing and conniving.
Just finished Logicomix. Epic
I'm reading the first book of "Book of the New Sun", and it's quite interesting. It's a fantasy told from a subjective point of view, but it's set in the far distant future of Earth (or Urth, as the characters call it), so when they talk about ancient relics, they are talking about things from our time and you have to think a bit about what they mean.
For instance, the main character describes a picture he finds of an armoured warrior, with a visor of gold with no eye slits or features, holding no weapons but a staff with a rigid banner, in a desert.
It's a nice change, I haven't read fantasy in a while, but it's still got the cerebral aspects of science fiction.
For instance, the main character describes a picture he finds of an armoured warrior, with a visor of gold with no eye slits or features, holding no weapons but a staff with a rigid banner, in a desert.
It's a nice change, I haven't read fantasy in a while, but it's still got the cerebral aspects of science fiction.
a lot of books do that. ;)I'm reading the first book of "Book of the New Sun", and it's quite interesting. It's a fantasy told from a subjective point of view, but it's set in the far distant future of Earth (or Urth, as the characters call it), so when they talk about ancient relics, they are talking about things from our time and you have to think a bit about what they mean.
For instance, the main character describes a picture he finds of an armoured warrior, with a visor of gold with no eye slits or features, holding no weapons but a staff with a rigid banner, in a desert.
It's a nice change, I haven't read fantasy in a while, but it's still got the cerebral aspects of science fiction.
I don't read much but would Artemis Fowl be considered be good? I read it a few years ago
I enjoyed the first few Artemis Fowl, then they got a bit dodgy, and now they seem to be good again.
I thought it retarded that the centaur language 'code' was supposed to be indecipherable, and yet it was the easiest code to crack. I still haven't cracked the code from The Eternity Code, though.
I thought it retarded that the centaur language 'code' was supposed to be indecipherable, and yet it was the easiest code to crack. I still haven't cracked the code from The Eternity Code, though.
i just finished animal farm, and it was a good read. I have a ton ton TON of books on my list to read, including one which i wrote down but cant remember the title. Another book I recently read that was really fantastic is 'Then We Came To The End' by joshua ferris. I really really reccommend it to anybody who wants a good read they can laugh at, but still have that emotional appeal
EDIT: the book i was talking about was 'A Long Way Gone'. It's supposed to be a really emotional read, about a child soldier in sierra leone who was separated from his family and forcedto be a child soldier. going to the bookstore soon, hopefully! Also I am starting 1984 tomorrow, and I have heard only good things. Looking forwad to read house of scorpions as well.
beeeep: I finished Fight Club, and frankly i am underwhelmed. It was a good book, but not my favorite, nor something i would want to read more that twice.
EDIT: the book i was talking about was 'A Long Way Gone'. It's supposed to be a really emotional read, about a child soldier in sierra leone who was separated from his family and forcedto be a child soldier. going to the bookstore soon, hopefully! Also I am starting 1984 tomorrow, and I have heard only good things. Looking forwad to read house of scorpions as well.
beeeep: I finished Fight Club, and frankly i am underwhelmed. It was a good book, but not my favorite, nor something i would want to read more that twice.
try the vampirates books, they're totally original. Not the standard girl falling in love with handsome guy vampire story either
i'm new, so now I feel compelled to share, I guess-
I'll recommend Freakonomics (along with its sequel), The Bourne Identity, Great Expectations (in retrospect), his dark materials...ya. I've heard of some book called "The Man Who Was Thursday," involves "anarchy," sounds pretty good from what I've heard, gotta find it. Somebody said they were about to read 1984? Heh... it's good, just not exactly...heartwarming...
I'll recommend Freakonomics (along with its sequel), The Bourne Identity, Great Expectations (in retrospect), his dark materials...ya. I've heard of some book called "The Man Who Was Thursday," involves "anarchy," sounds pretty good from what I've heard, gotta find it. Somebody said they were about to read 1984? Heh... it's good, just not exactly...heartwarming...