How does anyone enjoy this book?! It's the deepest book ever to be written, even my English teachers were scared to touch it, because this book was so strong (It took us 1.5 hrs to analyse the first few pages). If anyone can read it by themselves and understand it, you are qualified to become an English professor (no joke).
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
Books
- Thread starter junior
- Start date
How does anyone enjoy this book?! It's the deepest book ever to be written, even my English teachers were scared to touch it, because this book was so strong (It took us 1.5 hrs to analyse the first few pages). If anyone can read it by themselves and understand it, you are qualified to become an English professor (no joke).
While Conrad's use of frame narrative (story within a story) is skillful, he hardly invented it, so no one is "stealing" from him.
If you liked HoD enough, check out Conrad's longer works such as Lord Jim. You might also like Chinua Achebe's response to HoD, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness.'"
Anyways, HoD is a great read. It was the source material for Apocalypse Now; whether or not you've seen the movie already, it's interesting to go back and watch it again after your first reading of HoD to see what you pick up on.
EDIT @ TrOwLa: HoD is generally taught at the high school level because it's accessible. It's short (my copy is 73 pages), and filled with plenty of obvious-enough symbolism and other literary devices that sixteen-year-olds can pick up on. I wouldn't say it's hard to understand.
Anyone know any good YA books? Read Hunger Games, Graceling, and other popular ones. I just don't know any new ones because I haven't read that genre in a while because it really went downhill, but maybe it's gotten better since I've gone. Also, no vampire, werewolf, love triangle, instant love crap.
For people who don't want to read long classics, I would recommend short stories by Mark Twain or Edgar Allan Poe. Mark Twain has almost an encyclopedia's amount of short stories. Some are 2 or fewer pages. Also Rappaccini's Daughter is a quick read.
For people who don't want to read long classics, I would recommend short stories by Mark Twain or Edgar Allan Poe. Mark Twain has almost an encyclopedia's amount of short stories. Some are 2 or fewer pages. Also Rappaccini's Daughter is a quick read.
Have anybody read the "GONE" series? They're Young Adult as far as I can tell, and rather exciting too.
Plot summed up quickly: Word without adults, some of the remaining kids get superpowers. Or rather, a town is trapped in a great impenetrable bubble and the adults somehow end up on the outside. Grotesque and intriguing stuff happens.
General spoiler alert: The deaths tend to be really family unfriendly. Especially in the later books.
I've read four of the books, translated to Norwegian, and am waiting for the fifth to come out over here. They might not get Nobel Prizes for the writing, or quite reach up to Harry Potter in creativity, but are an exciting read nonetheless.
The British YA series Tunnels is also quite cool, especially the first couple of books. As each book is written long after the release of the previous one, the development of the story is prone to wild author antics as it progresses. There was no overarching intent when the series was started, and it kinda shines through after a while. By all means, they are exciting, but kinda... detoriate as far as non-ridiculousness goes. Though, they are well-written and worth looking into. Especially the first one, and the second can also be strongly recommended.
Plot summed up quickly: Word without adults, some of the remaining kids get superpowers. Or rather, a town is trapped in a great impenetrable bubble and the adults somehow end up on the outside. Grotesque and intriguing stuff happens.
General spoiler alert: The deaths tend to be really family unfriendly. Especially in the later books.
I've read four of the books, translated to Norwegian, and am waiting for the fifth to come out over here. They might not get Nobel Prizes for the writing, or quite reach up to Harry Potter in creativity, but are an exciting read nonetheless.
The British YA series Tunnels is also quite cool, especially the first couple of books. As each book is written long after the release of the previous one, the development of the story is prone to wild author antics as it progresses. There was no overarching intent when the series was started, and it kinda shines through after a while. By all means, they are exciting, but kinda... detoriate as far as non-ridiculousness goes. Though, they are well-written and worth looking into. Especially the first one, and the second can also be strongly recommended.
I just finished Boris Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago and I can honestly say it's the finest piece of historical fiction i've ever read. It's rife with symbolism and explores such themes as rape and extramarital affairs, all set against the fascinating backdrop of revolutionary-era Russia. Seriously, it's a fascinating read.
Unfortunately I would not recommend reading past book one. The subsequent books oversimplify the themes from the first book (apathy to violence, viewing other societies through your own cultural lens, effects of war on children, etc) into basically "capitol is evil", and make the story more about katniss herself. The second book was easy to read because there was a lot of action, but the third one is basically a teen drama with one-dimensional characters. Neither really has the emotional effect that the first one did, though that might be because the concepts weren't new to me anymore.
If you're looking for a solid sci-fi book check out Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. It's an action/mystery book that is one of the most exciting things I have ever read, and it's very highly reviewed (on time magazine's best books iirc).
When I was much younger I read Ender's Game and that was my favorite book for a while, and when I re-read it a couple years ago it was still fantastic. It's a pretty quick read too, though at times you have to keep in mind that it was written for a younger audience (no different from the hunger games i suppose).
If you're more into books with aliens that save humanity and then interbreed with it, then the Lilith's Brood trilogy is for you! Although a lot of crazy shit is going on with humanity, the books are really about the development of the narrating character (Lilith in the first book, and one of her children for each of the next two). It's a very personal book, pretty much devoid of action but has the whole "psychological thriller" thing going on to keep it interesting.
Lots of apparent sci-fi fans in this thread, thought I'd give you all some good reading!
YesYesYesYesYes. These were recommended to me by many people and when I read them they didn't disappoint. Although if you value your sleep don't read them right before going to bed *shudders*. Yeah it's quite gruesome later in the series and everybody is cruel to everybody else, if you like hat stuff I'd certainly recommend it to you.
The university bookstore had Salman Rushdie's Joseph Anton on display when I was there the other day to buy some paper. I haven't read any of Rushdie's works before, but this memoir sounds pretty fascinating. I know it hasn't been out long, but does anybody have an opinion yet?
I would start with Shalimar the Clown (a very sexy book that can only be read properly in 5 hour binges) or The Ground Beneath Her Feet (not worthy of 5 hour reading sessions but proper transatlantic flight material in a pinch), those are good introductions to Rushdie. I have not read the new book though.
I've been reading a bunch of stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne lately and they have to be among the greatest shit ever written.
The man was a genius.
The man was a genius.
I mean I understand it was the style of the times but holy shit the scarlet letter has got to be the most tedious thing I have read in my life, including shakespeare and heart of darkness.
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood:
A rather dystopian view of the future, told in reterospect by the best friend of the anti-hero, who has a view for his own future, and engineers it. A very good book, although a bit off the wall at times. Its hard to say more without spoiling the climax of the book, but it is worth the read
I loved The Handmaid's Tale by Atwood. Gonna have to pick this up.
Read The Kite Runner 6+ years ago. It was actually pretty good. A lot more adult themes than I would have expected.
As someone who rarely reads new books, $14 seems ridiculously expensive (e.g. I recently bought the lotr trilogy for under $10)
Though I also bought the latest game of thrones book right when it came out for like $25 so I guess I'm a sucker too
I've just gotten off of a Tom Clancy run where I read Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon: (forget but it was the second one, I had read the first one earlier) and Dead or Alive. Great military intrigue; brings more of a personal "what decision do I make" kind of vibe not seen often where they focus simply on the battle and not on the moral decisions.
I personally enjoyed Freakonomics and the sequel.
I also read Amy Chua's The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom, something all of us Asians can relate to one or another.
Not a big reader on the whole though; not gonna lie.
I personally enjoyed Freakonomics and the sequel.
I also read Amy Chua's The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom, something all of us Asians can relate to one or another.
Not a big reader on the whole though; not gonna lie.
