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[SinisterMinisterX]

(If you have to ask what book I'm talking about below, I must wonder what cave you've been living in.)

Went to the bookstore 4 hours before midnight and got in line; got my copy about 1:00 am. Finished reading it about 20 minutes ago - less than 24 hours to do it. (And that's counting 3 hours for sleep, 6 for work, maybe 3 more for various chores.) It was well worth it.

She did a great job with that book. Each and every loose end wrapped up. Some major surprises, and even the things I was expecting turned out to be different than I expected.

I cannot imagine what the movie version will be like. I don't want to spoil anything, so let me put it this way: there are scenes in that book which boggle the mind in their vastness and their relentless, unbelievable violence. In fact, "violent" is the first word I'd use to describe it. Here's a musical analogy to describe how much more intense this book is compared to the others: the first 6 were like harmless pop music - say, Justin Timberlake - and by comparison, this last one is Dark Tranquility.

She said that 3 major characters would die in the book. I wonder which 3 she meant, because at least a dozen bite the dust. Like I said ... violent.

Great book.

 

[Raven]

Bah.  Temptation to finish series...too great.  I hope all the Potter-kiddies cried at their favourite characters being bumped off

Still, it's not like she needs all the characters, is it?  After all, it's the last book, so she can do what she likes. 

I still prefer Robert Jordan's method of killing characters, which is to develop them for about 12,000 pages, then have them die a horrible death without any warning at all.  As if to say, 'That's just life, folks!' 
I can only imagine what the final book is going to be like...it's probably going to have a body count to rival Rambo and Commando...put together.

On another side note, since I hate the little bespectacled git now, I'll be rooting for Voldemort's side all through the book.  Let's face it...evil is so much cooler.

And speaking of villains and fantasy, I highly recommend that everyone who likes good fantasy look into Robin Hobb's 'Assassin's Apprentice' trilogy.  Highly compelling, and while the cast and setting seem simple at first, it broadens out quickly.  And as for pure empathy, you actually begin to feel really strong hate for the main villain...which is a damn sight more than most modern fantasy novels with their cliched D&D villains.

 

[Onhell]

Bah indeed, might be great for 12-year-olds, but that's it

 

[Anomica]

I agree with you, Onhell. But since I've read all the others in the series (to keep up with the kids at home) I suppose I'd better read the last one as well

 

[Natalie]

Well I just finished reading that book. I like how lots of characters got bumped off, which makes the entire thing more realistic, and the final battle...can't wait to see the movie adaptation of that. As for the ending...isn't it just a wee bit too happily ever after or is that just me? Oh well...10 years of my life...end of an era really.

 

[Shrike]

I never got into Harry Potter, because at the time they became popular I was very much the counter-culture-man and thought that they looked far too "kiddy". Having just come out of my Lord Of The Rings-phase I thought it seemed derivative, and the glimpses I saw of the films didn't help. However, I'm planning on reading it sometime. If nothing else than for the ability to relate to my future pupils I have a feeling it'll be a very nice series to have as reading material in English-class.

I doubt they'd all enjoy Ender's Game or Slaughterhouse Five

Right now I'm almost finished with Ilium (Kafka will have to wait, I was in the mood for some scifi), and I'm loving it. It's been long since I was this engrossed in a book. Dan Simmons is one of the most remarkable authors today. I doubt there are many others out there that could weave together Shakespeare, The Iliad, and space-opera, and make it work. Highly recommended.

 

[Onhell]

I agree with you, Onhell. But since I've read all the others in the series (to keep up with the kids at home) I suppose I'd better read the last one as well

I just call that good parenting, knowing what your kids are reading and even being able to talk about it... kudos and of course a praise

 

[Anomica]

And speaking of villains and fantasy, I highly recommend that everyone who likes good fantasy look into Robin Hobb's 'Assassin's Apprentice' trilogy.  Highly compelling, and while the cast and setting seem simple at first, it broadens out quickly.  And as for pure empathy, you actually begin to feel really strong hate for the main villain...which is a damn sight more than most modern fantasy novels with their cliched D&D villains.

I agree, it's a great series. At the moment I'm reading her series "The Tawny Man" - it's still about the Farseers, but set about 15 years after the Assassin's series. It's a great work of fantasy fiction that I'd not hesitate to recommend to anyone that enjoys reading a good book with interesting characters and a good plot.

I'm also waiting on the next book in the following series: Steven Erickson's Malazan book of the fallen (book 8); Robert Jordan's Wheel of time (book 11?) George Martin's A song of ice and fire (book 5). To be into fantasy is expensive, since all good books are part of a 10-book series or something. Really annoying, at times

There you have a couple of really good series, if you're into fantasy and haven't read them yet. I would especially recommend Erickson's series "The Malazan book of the Fallen", which starts with the book "Gardens of the moon". It's a series that contains politics, sociology, religion, suspense, humour (plenty of good laughs) and seriously good plots. Also, he doesn't mind killing off his main characters every now and then...

Happy reading.

 

[Raven]

I agree, it's a great series. At the moment I'm reading her series "The Tawny Man" - it's still about the Farseers, but set about 15 years after the Assassin's series. It's a great work of fantasy fiction that I'd not hesitate to recommend to anyone that enjoys reading a good book with interesting characters and a good plot.

I'm also waiting on the next book in the following series: Steven Erickson's Malazan book of the fallen (book 8); Robert Jordan's Wheel of time (book 11?) George Martin's A song of ice and fire (book 5). To be into fantasy is expensive, since all good books are part of a 10-book series or something. Really annoying, at times

There you have a couple of really good series, if you're into fantasy and haven't read them yet. I would especially recommend Erickson's series "The Malazan book of the Fallen", which starts with the book "Gardens of the moon". It's a series that contains politics, sociology, religion, suspense, humour (plenty of good laughs) and seriously good plots. Also, he doesn't mind killing off his main characters every now and then...

Happy reading.

Book 11 of the Wheel of Time (Knife of Dreams) is out already.  I haven't read it (I'm waiting for the last book, then am going to read the whole series start-to-finish again), but it's supposed to be better than the absolutely dire Crossroads of Twilight.  Well, ok, the book had some good points, but the ending was about as bad as they get...and Jordan says that Book 12 will be the last book, if it's 5,000 pages long.

 

[Hunlord]

Knife Of Dreams is excellent. The build up for Tarmon Gai'don really starts, and some of the plots start to finish up, which is nice and satisfying.

Well I read Harry Potter. I thought it was decent, though very slow in parts, but when it got going, it was good. Not much that I can really say about it that no one knows already, so I won't.

Right now I'm re-reading Dumas' The Count Of Monte Cristo, the story of a man unjustly imprisoned and then trying to get his revenge on the people that did it to him. It starts off quite well, with Dantès' story, but after that part is concluded, I find it gets a bit muddled with various characters and locations mentioned (especially in the Rome segment). Still a very enjoyable read, and worth picking up.

 

[Natalie]

Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo is one of those books that I reread once every year simply because I love them so much (Lord of the Rings makes the list too ).

I'll comment on the rather good books I've been reading as soon as I remember the names of the authors...which probably means I won't do it 'till the very end of summer...

 

[national acrobat]

I'm halfway through "Selling Hitler" by Robert Harris. It's about the forged diaries of Hitler, which were believed to be authentic by a number of experts, and were published by a German magazine in 1983. It's a thrilling story, and very amusing in parts.

I'm a big fan of the author, Robert Harris, having read all of his novels. I recently finished his latest one, "Imperium", the first of a trilogy about Cicero.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm halfway through "Selling Hitler" by Robert Harris. It's about the forged diaries of Hitler, which were believed to be authentic by a number of experts, and were published by a German magazine in 1983. It's a thrilling story, and very amusing in parts.

There is a very famous (and very good) German film called Schtonk! that deals with this subject. It created quite a fuss when it came out in 1992, and I think it also got recognition abroad. The film is almost more famous than the event it depicts in Germany. Maybe there is a translated/subtitled version somewhere, you ought to find it... it's funny as hell.

 

[national acrobat]

There is a very famous (and very good) German film called Schtonk! that deals with this subject. It created quite a fuss when it came out in 1992, and I think it also got recognition abroad. The film is almost more famous than the event it depicts in Germany. Maybe there is a translated/subtitled version somewhere, you ought to find it... it's funny as hell.

Cheers, hopefully there's a subtitled version. If so, I'll check it out. In fact, from IMDB:

Plot Keywords:
Female Nudity / Beautiful Woman / Female Frontal Nudity / Nude Model / Hitler more

I'll watch it in German!

There was also a TV drama series based on Robert Harris' book, with a good cast, including Jonathan Pryce and Alexei Sayle.

 

[Anonymous]

Onhell, I'm not 12, but I belong to the Potter's fans.
Come on! The only fictionnal character who's been on Time Magazine cover!
The whole thing got a bit carried away, but it's a good series, well written, nice ideas from the author (good plot, suspens, etc.) and, especially, it got kids of the 21th century to READ. Not bad in the end, isn't it?

But, as I read the last posts, SMX, you are talking about "violence" for the 7th one, well have you read Le Comte de Monte Cristo? It's a kid book in France, that is what I call violence, much more perverse than the Potter lot (which is really cute in its way). Of course, it depends of the way you define violence. I think it doesn't mean "blood" or "force". I'm sure Natalie will understand it. At one point the printed word: "One" really gives you goose bumps. [I'm also a fan of this one, once a year also, it's a masterpiece, plus it happens at the down of the French Revolution – Noirtier de Villefort is one of my favourite character – and it's Dumas...]

On a more "light" note, lately I've discovered Jorn Riel (it doesn't seem to be published in English, but it is in German). Jorn Riel has spent some years in Greenland and tales about the myths and the stories of the Inuits. Some stories are very poetic, like (roughly translated) The boy who wanted to become a human being, or The Day before the Morrow. A nice reading.

 

[LooseCannon]

Harry Potter spoilers.

Spoiler

Le Hibou, the new book has people losing ears, people being burnt alive, a metric fuckton of deaths, explosions and snakes being decapitated.  I don't see how you can call that "cute".  Yes, The Count of Monte Cristo is worse...but still.  That doesn't make Deathly Hallows pleasant!

 

[Shadow]

I recently read The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut, an extremely funny, well, sort of science fiction novel. I say "sort of science fiction" because while it invents a number of scientific concepts to utilize in the plot, it makes no effort to explain them or make them seem scientifically plausible. According to the opening sequence, it takes place sometime between the Second World War and the Third Great Depression, during the unhappy time before humans realized they had to search for the meaning of life within themselves.

(Spoiler warning, skip to the next paragraph if you want to be surprised when you read it) The basic premise of the book is that a race of alien creatures from the planet Tralfamadore (famous from Slaughterhouse-Five) sends out a spaceship with a message to a different race light years away. However, during the trip a part of the ship's machinery breaks, and the messager is forced to settle down on a moon in some irrelevant solar system and await the delivery of a replacement part. The Tralfamadorians use their technology to manipulate the budding life on a nearby planet, shaping it into an intelligent race which will be able to create and deliver the replacement part. That planet is Earth, meaning that the entire purpose of humanity was to help repair a broken down spaceship, with most of its history being a way for the Tralfamadorians to send messages to the stranded messenger. The story then follows a number of characters on their various journeys through the solar system, the central point of which is the creation of the Church of God the Utterly Indifferent, based on the principle that mankind can do nothing to help or please an almighty god, which ultimately serve to provide said replacement part to the Tralfamadorian.

Stylistically, I found it reminiscent of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (and as I recall an interview with Douglas Adams praising this particular novel, it's probably not a coincidence) in its rather loose manner of storytelling - at first it seemed almost coincidental that things were wrapped up so neatly in the end - and generally the way Vonnegut writes; his way to phrase things and his use of rhethorical devices such as an invented children's encyclopedia to introduce plot points. All in all, it's an intriguing and highly entertaining read I'd recommend to everyone.

 

[Anonymous]

Harry Potter spoilers bis

Spoiler

Le Hibou, the new book has people losing ears, people being burnt alive, a metric fuckton of deaths, explosions and snakes being decapitated.  I don't see how you can call that "cute".  Yes, The Count of Monte Cristo is worse...but still.  That doesn't make Deathly Hallows pleasant!

I've got your point. Still, the writing of the facts is plain, direct. I guess what I meant was it's not disturbing. Even so there are deaths and casualties, there is no nightmares to follow. It is a children book. Hence, the use of the word "cute" and by opposition with Le Comte de Monte Cristo: there are an abyss between the characters's psychology in these two books.

 

[Shrike]

I was planning to read up on my Vonnegut this summer, but I never got around to it as Dan Simmons got in the way I've only read Slaughterhouse-5, but I loved it. So it goes.

As for Simmons, I finished Ilium and went on to the sequel Olympos, which so far I'm enjoying equally. But in between those I managed to squeeze-in Shakespeare's The Tempest and Browning's Caliban upon Setebos, since Ilium heavily alluded to both I figured I ought to acquaint myself with them.

It's the first time since I was sixteen that I attempted reading an original Shakespeare. And I quickly remembered why. That stuff is insanely hard to comprehend  Not only are the individual words archaic, but there's so many changes to the structure of the language, double entendres (using archaic vocabulary none the less ), so most of the time I was pretty much just reading the words. I could gather more or less what was going on all the time, but to actually be able to interpret subtext etc. was way beyond what I can do right now. Thankfully my mother had a copy she'd used in her days at Uni, which had both her notes as well as comments in the end, which made the whole thing a lot more worthwhile.

Oh, well, still got two semesters' worth of English lit-studies. By the time I'm through maybe I can move on with the rest I'd like to try Romeo & Juliet or Macbeth and see if they might be more straight-forward.

 

[Powergirl81]

I haven't posted in here yet, but I am reading something...

One of Wayne Grezky's autobiographies: "99: My Life In Pictures" with John Davidson, who was a former NHLer and commentator

I read his first autobiography ("Gretzky") like...10 years ago, and I really enjoyed it. I've read it at least twice. This one here starts off with an overview of his 21 year NHL career from 1979-99, and then it starts with pictures from when he was about 5 up until his retirement.

Another good auto. is Eric Lindros. Also, Ken Dryden's autobio isn't bad either!

I haven't been following hockey that closely lately, butr after finding a few hardcore hockey fans on this forum, I'll be paying more attention this season!