What Are You Currently Reading?

[phoenix_indigo]

Figured that I'd just have a thread dedicated to what we all are currently reading. Quite simple really. :)

There seems to already be lots of posts started about books we've read; but well it would be good to keep track of what everyone's currently reading as well.

So, that being said...

What are you currently reading?

[phoenix_indigo]

I'll start.

I'm currently reading "Executive Orders" - by Tom Clancy

[Peace-Phoenix]

Currently reading Brick Lane by Monica Ali. It's sort of market research, as the novel I'm writing is of a vaguely similar genre. I've tried reading it before, since she's often compared to Zadie Smith and I quite enjoy Smith's work. However the first two chapters bored me last time and I didn't want to pick it up again. I'm giving it another go, in the hope that the rest of the book lives up to its hype....

[CaptainDave]

I've just finished 'Mr. Nice', DH Marks' autobiography type thing.

I'm about to start 'Snowblind' by Robert Sabbag.


I love the smugglers :-)

[CrucifiedDreams]

Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder
and
On The Road - Jack Kerouac - Which I'm having quite the time trying to get into. :confused:

[tomplus]

i found on the road to be boring and pretentious as hell... never 'got' it.

right now i'm slowly reading the music of life by hazrat inayat khan. instead of me embarassing myself by trying to explain what it's about here's the back cover: (click it)

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/8393/160307184622093087238x0nj4.th.jpg (http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=160307184622093087238x0nj4.jpg)


if you are in some way creative and feel there is a spiritual component to what you do or are just looking for answers then i really recommend this book. its very deep but at the same time written very beautifully and easy to read. it takes some open mindedness of course, but i think if you are coming to this forum then you are most likely open minded enough.

[phoenix_indigo]

i found on the road to be boring and pretentious as hell... never 'got' it.

right now i'm slowly reading the music of life by hazrat inayat khan. instead of me embarassing myself by trying to explain what it's about here's the back cover: (click it)

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/8393/160307184622093087238x0nj4.th.jpg (http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=160307184622093087238x0nj4.jpg)


if you are in some way creative and feel there is a spiritual component to what you do or are just looking for answers then i really recommend this book. its very deep but at the same time written very beautifully and easy to read. it takes some open mindedness of course, but i think if you are coming to this forum then you are most likely open minded enough.that book looks really interesting. let me know how it is once you get on with it more. :) and are you slowly reading it due to time or because it is a bit hard to get into?

[crummyrummy]

Holy Blood, Holy Grail
and on the shitter some Patterson book.

[phoenix_indigo]

Holy Blood, Holy Grail
and on the shitter some Patterson book.Which Patterson book?

[tomplus]

that book looks really interesting. let me know how it is once you get on with it more. :) and are you slowly reading it due to time or because it is a bit hard to get into?im slowly reading it because i really want to take it in, my mind tends to drift ;p i havent been reading that much recently anyway...

i can tell you now just 100 pages into it that its something you should definitely read if youre into that kind of thing. ive been looking for some spiritual writing on music for a while and have found most books to be either to heavy or too bullshitty. this is the perfect spiritual book for me. it covers extremely deep questions about existance and creation yet manages to be easy to read and comprehend. i love the way he explains how everything is connected and how music holds the key to it all :) o best not try and explain it, im terrible at writing. its weird, i can read it, take it in, understand it but when it comes to putting it back out i can't unless i spend ages thinking about it.

[phoenix_indigo]

im slowly reading it because i really want to take it in, my mind tends to drift ;p i havent been reading that much recently anyway...understandable. i've only gotten back into reading alot the past couple of years. i'd been so depressed for a long time and could never focus on a book long enough to stay with it. i would start say something small and light-hearted like Vonnegutt's Cats Cradle and it would take me 6-8 months to read it. Now that my mind is in better shape, I could read the same thing in a week or less.

Anyway ... sort of sidetracked there. :)

[Lagan]

powers of horror: an essay on abjection, julia kristeva
and
blood and guts in high school, kathy acker

[L.A.Matthews]

In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami.

[dapablo]

Stranger in a Strange Land - Heinlein

[Oz!]

The Testament of Gideon Mack - James Robertson..

[fountains of nay]

I'm reading two books at the moment;
"Gai-jin" by James Clavell
"The Essential Spike Milligan" with a foreward by Eddie Izzard

[lithium]

"The God Delusion" Richard Dawkins

[feral]

Started reading "The Book Of Dave" by Will Self last night, although I'd had most of a bottle of red by the time I'd started it so might have to start again tonight...

[Roffa]

Total I Ching by Stephen Karcher.

[Roffa]

i found on the road to be boring and pretentious as hell... never 'got' it.

right now i'm slowly reading the music of life by hazrat inayat khan. instead of me embarassing myself by trying to explain what it's about here's the back cover: (click it)

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/8393/160307184622093087238x0nj4.th.jpg (http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=160307184622093087238x0nj4.jpg)

well whaddya know - I didn't think I'd heard of this guy, but it turns out I have a couple of excerpts from his work in a collection called Music, Mysticism and Magic: A Sourcebook, edited by Joscelyn Godwin. I think that will be my beach reading for this afternoon.

[Lee Kaye]

Just finishing Animal Man TPB by Grant Morrison. Just about to start Divided Kingdom by Rupert Thomson. Sounds promising, the UK is divided into 4 quarters based on personality types.

[phoenix_indigo]

Just finishing Animal Man TPB by Grant Morrison. Just about to start Divided Kingdom by Rupert Thomson. Sounds promising, the UK is divided into 4 quarters based on personality types.Welcome to the forum, Lee. :)

That "Divided Kingdom" book sounds quite intriguing. Had to laugh at a review I found online as the person thought the idea of Great Britain being divided into 4 countries was strange. :eek: Sort of invalidates any other opinion they had really from that point on. Be sure to report back on whether or not you liked it. :)

[Peace-Phoenix]

Having forgotten to take Brick Lane to uni with me, I'm currently reading Ian McEwan's 'Amsterdam'....

[Red13Faerie]

im reading the day watch by some russian guy, probably called boris or somethin

[Roffa]

Having forgotten to take Brick Lane to uni with me, I'm currently reading Ian McEwan's 'Amsterdam'....I just read Amsterdam. Although it was compulsive reading I ended up finding it rather nasty and misanthropic. What did you think?

[Quoth the Raven]

Officially I'm reading "Principles of Anatomy & Physiology" and "Fundamentals of naturopathy" for my diploma. Other times, I'm reading Gormenghast - Mervyn Peake. Wonderful book, highly recommended (but not for those that lose concentration easily ;) )

[daisy_chain]

Other times, I'm reading Gormenghast - Mervyn Peake. Wonderful book, highly recommended (but not for those that lose concentration easily ;) )
gormenghast is my favourite book ever, i read my copy so many times it fell apart and i had to buy a new one. at the moment im reading the blind assassin - margaret atwood

[phoenix_indigo]

"Maximum Ride: Schools Out Forever" by James Patterson

started it yesterday already half done. :) Sleep made me put it down.

[egle]

Readin Of mice and men, very good read

[ripple]

Buddha Da by Anne Donovan (funny so far :) )
and the God Delusion by Richard D
Im going to have to stop this starting two books at the same time milarky.

[phoenix_indigo]

in the past I would frequently be reading two books at once, but it can get a bit confusing depending on the book. with the list of books i must check out ever expanding though i think i need another set of eyeballs and to at least double my reading speed.

so many great books, so little time.

[Roffa]

I just started Phantastes by George MacDonald (better known for his Curdie books).

I came across a beat-up copy in the £1 room at Sandpiper Books in Brighton, a couple of days after someone recommended it on an SF forum. Weird.

[Roffa]

Buddha Da by Anne Donovan (funny so far :) )
and the God Delusion by Richard D
Im going to have to stop this starting two books at the same time milarky. I loved Buddha Da - it does get a bit more serious later on.

You didn't say if the God Delusion was also funny.

[Roffa]

The Wicker Man, novelisation by director Robin Hardy and screenwriter Anthony Shaffer.

They're having May Day festivities in Brighton's Queen's Park as I type this, I can hear it from my flat and I keep expecting someone to say "And now for our more dreadful sacrifice ..."

[phoenix_indigo]

Yeah I know I said in another thread I was going to read "Wasp Factory" next, but I got distracted. First read the latest "Maximum Ride" book and now I'm reading:

"The Hades Factor" by Robert Ludlum

i tend to read books in the order I bought them. ;)

[lithium]

The Blank Slate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blank_Slate) by Steven Pinker, more non-fiction!

[Peace-Phoenix]

Ian McEwan - 'Saturday'

[Peace-Phoenix]

I just read Amsterdam. Although it was compulsive reading I ended up finding it rather nasty and misanthropic. What did you think?
Definitely misanthropic, and I think McEwan treated his characters very badly. At times it was hard to suspend disbelief - the thought that two life long friends would go to those lengths over something so trivial. I did like the characterisations though, and his writing style is compelling and powerful. Enjoyed it enough to buy another of his books....

[Roffa]

I see you just started "Saturday" - I really liked that one, I think it works a lot better than Amsterdam.

[L.A.Matthews]

1984

[Roffa]

The Holy Grail by AE Waite (yes, that AE Waite).

[CrucifiedDreams]

Dharma Punx by Noah Levine

[phoenix_indigo]

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

[Moon_Beam]

It - Stephen King

[J0hn]

Half blood Prince . Harry potter book. The Deathly hallows is in July. My prediction is that he will die with He who must not be named. Neither will live while the other survives.

[paulfreespirit]

daily sport .........talk about bazookas man .......wow .....

[Peace-Phoenix]

Half blood Prince . Harry potter book. The Deathly hallows is in July. My prediction is that he will die with He who must not be named. Neither will live while the other survives.
I predict Snape comes good in the end....

[J0hn]

In the Half blood prince, Snape reveals immediately that he is working for You know who. Draco is going to be a tool and snape vowed to protect him. Hope draco gets the crucious as I hate Draco for everything he is worth.

[Quoth the Raven]

Just started Scions of Shannara by terry Brooks :D
Picked up the next 3 in the series off a second-hand bookstall, found the first one + 2 other Terry Brooks on ebay for the princely sum of £6 including shipping!

[phoenix_indigo]

Just read "Memoirs of a Geisha" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memoirs_of_a_Geisha) by Arthur Golden. Absolutely loved it. Took me less time to read it than it did to get on the computer saying that I was reading it. ;)

[Roffa]

More than Human by Theodore Sturgeon

[phoenix_indigo]

Going to start Whit by Iain Banks.

Took a couple days off reading recently as my brain was starting to melt.

[Peace-Phoenix]

Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness....

[lithium]

Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness....:D

Can I recommend "Lord Jim" as well if you haven't already read it?

[Peace-Phoenix]

I've not read it. Heart of Darkness is the first Conrad novel on my list. Next up is Nostromo. Both of which I'm treating as research for my next novel....

[Roffa]

You should add Conrad's The Secret Agent to your list.

Me, I'm in the middle of Celtika: Book 1 of the Merlin Codex by Robert Holdstock.

[westham]

at the moment worthy living by master hsing yun.

[L.A.Matthews]

In The Absence of Men - Philippe Besson

[Red13Faerie]

Shogun by James Clavell, its soooo thick

[Kether]

Started reading In The Heart Of Darkness recently as well, after seeing it mentioned in Kong.

[Roffa]

The Iron Grail, Book 2 of the Merlin Codex by Robert Holdstock.

[dready_kolo]

Interesting Times - Terry Pratchett

[fountains of nay]

The Godfather [Mario Puzo]

[Moon_Beam]

On the road - Jack Kerouac

[phoenix_indigo]

The Matarese Countdown - Robert Ludlum

[phoenix_indigo]

The Acid House - by Irvine Welsh

[AmIAYou]

Reading...
Haroun and the Sea of Stories-Salman Rushdie
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists- Robert Tressell
Any activists or anarchists would be interested in the latter
especally its take on "The great money swindle"
currency is the key.

[scratcho]

Cruel & Unusual=Patricia Cornwell,a long way gone=ishmael beah, Armed Madhouse=Greg Palast.

[phoenix_indigo]

I like Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series. Have and have read all of them. :)

[Peace-Phoenix]

Iris Murdoch - 'The Philosopher's Pupil'

[phoenix_indigo]

Marabou Stork Nightmares - Irvine Welsh

[Red13Faerie]

Burglar on the prowl by Lawrence Block

[tomandhismuse]

The Madman's Tale - John Katzenbach

[Roffa]

Audrey: Her Real Story by Alexander Walker.

[Roffa]

Burglar on the prowl by Lawrence BlockI love those books! My favourite so far is The Burglar who thought he was Bogart. Also The Burglar who liked to quote Kipling is pretty good.

[gary hobnobs]

the great spirit -white eagle

[phoenix_indigo]

chapter 12 of Cameos & Curtain Calls ;)

[Peace-Phoenix]

Hehe, I've finally settled on a title, having been unhappy with every one so far. I decided that the title of chapter 12, Ouroboros, is an apt metaphor for the whole novel, so it's going to be called that....

[nextGENERATIONhippie]

this forum... lol j.k just finished Apathy by Paul Neilan

[Roffa]

Hehe, I've finally settled on a title, having been unhappy with every one so far. I decided that the title of chapter 12, Ouroboros, is an apt metaphor for the whole novel, so it's going to be called that....so the novel is like a serpent swallowing its own tail? Intriguing.

any connection with The Worm Ouroboros by ER Eddison?

[phoenix_indigo]

Hehe, I've finally settled on a title, having been unhappy with every one so far. I decided that the title of chapter 12, Ouroboros, is an apt metaphor for the whole novel, so it's going to be called that....woohoo!!!! we have a title! i really like that one too. i honestly wasn't fond of the other one, but well ... um ... didn't want to make you feel bad.
Ouroboros ... now there's a book I'd pick up if only to figure out what the title meant. :)

keep typing, Sal ... whatcha doing on here anyway? *big grins*

[phoenix_indigo]

going to try to start reading Canal Dreams by Iain Banks in the next few days. It's the shortest of the books I have at present and looks really interesting. :)

Thanks for all the recent recommendations from people as well. If you finish a book, try writing a little blurb about it to let people know how it was. :)

[Roffa]

The Long Ships by Frans G Bengtsson, "one of Sweden's greatest writers".

An everyday saga of Viking folk.

[Greengirl]

well im about to start reading the first book of the bulgarian chronicles.

[CrucifiedDreams]

Just picked up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. :D

[phoenix_indigo]

Just picked up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. :Ddon't tell me the ending :tongue: i can't get this just yet, and i just know that it's all going to be spoiled. in fact, i'm sure someone will probably (or rather should probably) post a thread about it in this very forum and i may decide to not read that thread until i get to read the book. :)

[CrucifiedDreams]

So far so good, get it! :)

[phoenix_indigo]

i'll try. bit tight on cash (as per usual) at the moment though. :( and well i have to go see the Simpsons this week. :)

[Roffa]

don't tell me the ending :tongue: i can't get this just yet, and i just know that it's all going to be spoiled. in fact, i'm sure someone will probably (or rather should probably) post a thread about it in this very forum and i may decide to not read that thread until i get to read the book. :)I'm thinking of avoiding the Internet, TV and newspapers, and wearing earplugs whenever I walk around town until I've read the book. Our local Borders was cleaned out yesterday apart from two copies of some special edition going for 35 quid, haha.

[fountains of nay]

I'm reading FREAKONOMICS, by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner. I love this book :D

[redyelruc]

No books left to read. no money for the one expensive shop with English books and the library closes a half-day on Wednesday.

HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!

[L.A.Matthews]

An American Dream - Norman Mailer

[Arthur Clayton]

Four Days In June ? about the battle of Warterloo

[Roffa]

Harry Thing and the Deadly Thingies

[phoenix_indigo]

No books left to read. no money for the one expensive shop with English books and the library closes a half-day on Wednesday.

HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!there's a thread somewhere in here about a Book Swap. didn't seem anyone was interested though, apart from Me and Mr. Matthews. *pouts*
I know, I know ... I have really lame books to swap. :(

[phoenix_indigo]

Harry Thing and the Deadly Thingies:lol:

[Greengirl]

The Red Pavilion

[Roffa]

Dublin by Edward Rutherfurd - £1.99 from the Oxfam shop.

[L.A.Matthews]

The Drought by J G Ballard, and The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien.

[Moon_Beam]

Woman at point zero - Nawal El Saadawi

[moonhawk]

The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by douglas adams. Jus finished harry potter 7 to.

[Roffa]

The Brightonomicon by Robert Rankin

[phoenix_indigo]

The Brightonomicon by Robert RankinThis post makes me wonder now if i picked up a book by the wrong Rankin *puzzled* someone recommended a Rankin to me as an alternative to Douglas Adams ... i thought it was Ian Rankin ... but seeing Robert Rankin I'm wondering if I remembered the name wrong.

So, Roffa, is it anything like Douglas Adams work?

[Roffa]

Yes, Robert Rankin is much closer to Douglas Adams or even Terry Pratchett than Ian Rankin's gritty tales of murder and skullduggery in Edinburgh. Hope this helps.

[phoenix_indigo]

Yes, Robert Rankin is much closer to Douglas Adams or even Terry Pratchett than Ian Rankin's gritty tales of murder and skullduggery in Edinburgh. Hope this helps.good thing i also like gritty tales of murder and skullduggery :tongue:

[IlUvMuSIc]

Q & A by some dude.

[fountains of nay]

"The Acid House" by Irvine Welsh. And the short story I've just finished reading is "Granny's Old Junk".

[IlUvMuSIc]

im reading The Helmet Of Horror now.

[Roffa]

How to be a Writer: Secrets from the inside, Stewart Ferris

(

[phoenix_indigo]

The Quickie by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge (mother-in-law bought it for me ... probably so she can read it after i'm done :D)

[steph_r]

Currently i'm just finishing up on The Godfather by Mario Puzo. An amazing read that I would highly recommend =D

[astaff]

The diary of "marie antoinette", and i just finished the "lucid view".

[phoenix_indigo]

The Bourne Ultimatum by Robert Ludlum

[steph_r]

Middlemarch by George Eliot

[IlUvMuSIc]

Lord Of The Flies by William Golding.

[fountains of nay]

ooo Excellent book! ^^^^^^^

[Moon_Beam]

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Bronte

[lithium]

"Life of Pi" Yann Martel

[Peace-Phoenix]

'A New History of Torments' - Zulfikar Ghose


Thoroughly enjoying it so far, captivating and with a dream-like quality to it....

[Peace-Phoenix]

Lord Of The Flies by William Golding.
One of my favourite novels of all time....

[Roffa]

The Millennium: a comedy of the year 2000, by Upton Sinclair. Published in 1924, based on a play from 1907, it may well be the first nuclear holocaust novel: the scenario is that all but 11 of the world's population perish when a scientific experiment with "radiumite" gopes wrong.

[fountains of nay]

I am rereading "The Hobbit" by Tolkien

[L.A.Matthews]

Gather Together in my Name - May Angelou
Nausea - Jean-Paul Sartre
Master and Man and other stories - Leo Tolstoy
and The Canterbury Tales - Geoffrey Chaucer

[IlUvMuSIc]

Lord of the Flies!!

I LOVE PIGGY!!! (he rocks)

[Roffa]

The Death of a Joyce Scholar by Bartholomew Gill.

[Peace-Phoenix]

Haroun and the Sea of Stories - Salman Rushdie

[Moon_Beam]

The diary of Samuel Pepys

[Roffa]

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd

[fountains of nay]

The Soddit

[phoenix_indigo]

The Business - by Iain Banks

[Roffa]

Ulysses. But then I suppose I'm always reading Ulysses - it's not a book you just read straight through and put down.

[Peace-Phoenix]

Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie....

[dollydagger]

Slaughterhouse Five - Vonnegut

[phoenix_indigo]

Slaughterhouse Five - Vonnegutooh excellent! :)

[dollydagger]

ooh excellent! :)

oh yeah! im loving it....its really interesting for me because my grandmother was in dresden when they were bombed in WWII.

..........................Plus, I love Vonnegut's writing

[Roffa]

Here's an interesting fact. My ancient copy of Slaughterhouse 5 starts with an excerpt from a history of the bombing of Dresden by the notorious Holocaust-denier David Irving. However, this seems to have been removed from the latest Penguin edition. Least, I couldn't find it when flipping through a copy in Borders recently.

[vikingchap]

Cracking read! very funny! its cracking open a few eggs inside my head.

vikingchap

[dollydagger]

Here's an interesting fact. My ancient copy of Slaughterhouse 5 starts with an excerpt from a history of the bombing of Dresden by the notorious Holocaust-denier David Irving. However, this seems to have been removed from the latest Penguin edition. Least, I couldn't find it when flipping through a copy in Borders recently.
I have a copy from 1972, and it's not in there....maybe its just that edition?? Maybe its a collector item??? you might have a rarity on your hands! Id look into that........is your copy from Dell publishing?? Mine is....it is the second printing June 1972. It says the first was Oct. 1971

[denise-louise]

krishnamurti - commentaries on living;

tolstoy - war and peace (as an experiment); http://www.hipforums.com/forums/images/newsmilies/5/various/25.gif

bridget wood - the lost prince;
a.a. milne - the house at pooh corner;
a biography of e e cummings
tony parsons - all there is

(yes, all at the same time). http://www.hipforums.com/forums/images/newsmilies/3/set12_b/book2.gif

[Peace-Phoenix]

Let me guess, 'War and Peace' has been on your all at the same time list for a good few years? :tongue:

[denise-louise]

Let me guess, 'War and Peace' has been on your all at the same time list for a good few years? http://www.hipforums.com/forums/images/smilies/tongue.gifi just started it hee hee but i sense it may be there for the next few years... luckily its a library book; that might hurry me up a bit... http://www.hipforums.com/forums/images/newsmilies/smilielol5.gif

[phoenix_indigo]

Here's an interesting fact. My ancient copy of Slaughterhouse 5 starts with an excerpt from a history of the bombing of Dresden by the notorious Holocaust-denier David Irving. However, this seems to have been removed from the latest Penguin edition. Least, I couldn't find it when flipping through a copy in Borders recently.the page before the first chapter of my copy has:

"the cattle are lowing,
the Baby awakes.
But the little Lord Jesus
No crying, He makes."


bizarre, eh?

and if you are wondering (as i'm sure you all are) mine is A Laurel Book, published by Dell Publishing in 1968


*edit*
and i get the award for the oldest copy of Slaughterhouse-five :D ... unless someone comes and dethrones me (oh wait, that's another thread).

[phoenix_indigo]

krishnamurti - commentaries on living;

tolstoy - war and peace (as an experiment); http://www.hipforums.com/forums/images/newsmilies/5/various/25.gif

bridget wood - the lost prince;
a.a. milne - the house at pooh corner;
a biography of e e cummings
tony parsons - all there is

(yes, all at the same time). http://www.hipforums.com/forums/images/newsmilies/3/set12_b/book2.gif i cant' keep track of that many books at once :eek:

can i ask what this experiment is? just whether or not you can read it?
apparently my mother read it once. i know she owns a copy and said she'd gotten through it. for me, i have yet to even think of trying.

[Roffa]

the page before the first chapter of my copy has:

"the cattle are lowing,
the Baby awakes.
But the little Lord Jesus
No crying, He makes."


bizarre, eh?

and if you are wondering (as i'm sure you all are) mine is A Laurel Book, published by Dell Publishing in 1968


*edit*
and i get the award for the oldest copy of Slaughterhouse-five :D ... unless someone comes and dethrones me (oh wait, that's another thread).Hmm, doesn't sound like David Irving ... I'm still hunting for my copy, but I think I got it in the 70s.

[lithium]

Here's an interesting fact. My ancient copy of Slaughterhouse 5 starts with an excerpt from a history of the bombing of Dresden by the notorious Holocaust-denier David Irving. However, this seems to have been removed from the latest Penguin edition. Least, I couldn't find it when flipping through a copy in Borders recently.My copy (Virago 1991) doesn't have it ... what's the quote?

[phoenix_indigo]

we should have a thread just for the opening quotes to Slaughterhouse-Five

and no, that wasn't David Irving, it's from the Xmas song "Away In the Manger"

[lithium]

"Pale Fire" Vladimir Nabokov

[denise-louise]

can i ask what this experiment is? just whether or not you can read it?
pretty much :sweatdrop

[def zeppelin]

The End of America - Naomi Wolf

And, The Unconscious God - Viktor E. Frankl.

[denise-louise]

:sleeping: ok, i gave up on war and peace on pg 140...no stamina, me. i did skim the epilogue and there was a profound section about bees and the greater scheme of the universe which is what i will take me as what i learned from tolstoy. :book2:

[Roffa]

you know there's a shorter version of War and Peace from an earlier manuscript, it's only 800 or so pages long. According to the publishers it's an easier read than the standard edition: "less war, more peace".

http://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Peace-Original-Leo-Tolstoy/dp/0060798874/ref=sr_1_1/203-4185328-2934325?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193133110&sr=1-1

[phoenix_indigo]

well denise-louise, you tried. guess the experiment told you all you were looking to find out ;)


i finally started Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (only been how many months since i bought it). Figured with Halloween coming up, I'd read this first before the Jeff Noon book I picked up. :)

[L.A.Matthews]

The Iliad - Homer

[Roffa]

which translation?

[denise-louise]

you know there's a shorter version of War and Peace from an earlier manuscript, it's only 800 or so pages long. According to the publishers it's an easier read than the standard edition: "less war, more peace"ta... btw, love your sig, may i add it to my koan collection please? :worthy:

well denise-louise, you tried. guess the experiment told you all you were looking to find out ;):&pffffhhfff...just found out i am ninny when it comes to serious classics, ha ha

[Roffa]

ta... btw, love your sig, may i add it to my koan collection please? :worthy:
sure ... it's a quote from a Donovan song btw.

[L.A.Matthews]

which translation?
It's Robert Fagles, and an introduction by Bernard Knox. I must say that the introduction is very well written and gives a lot of good insite into Homeric studies. Also, the layout is all in verse, unlike many Homer translations.

It seems like a very good edition compared to Oxford's.:)

[L.A.Matthews]

Oh it's published by Viking Penguin 1990, by the way.

[Roffa]

yes I have Fagles' translation too, also his Odyssey.

[L.A.Matthews]

Actually, do you happen to know where I can buy them for cheap? I have both copies, but they're my tutors from college and they're the type of books that need to be on my shelf.

[Roffa]

Actually, do you happen to know where I can buy them for cheap? I have both copies, but they're my tutors from college and they're the type of books that need to be on my shelf.Sorry, can't help. I did get my copy of the Odyssey at a remainder shop in Brighton as it happens, but that shop is long gone. Wordsworth do Chapman's Homer in a cheap edition but it starts to fall apart as soon as you open it.

[fountains of nay]

"Eric" by Terry Pratchett

and also

"Radiocarbon dating" published by Bowman and written by the British Museaum.

[Kether]

Revolt Against the Modern World by Julius Evola, and some works by Plato and Aristotle.

[IlUvMuSIc]

Finding Violet Park by Jenny Valentine.

[Roffa]

Sepulchre by Kate Mosse.

[phoenix_indigo]

Just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I thought it took me a lot longer than 2 weeks to get through it as well. :eek: (looking back and seeing my starting post)


I hope to start Jeff Noon's Pollen next. Not tonight ... er this morning as I should be off to bed, but soon in the next day or two. :)

[Roffa]

The Place of the Lion by Charles Williams

[J0hn]

I am in the library now. I might rent out The moon's a balloon. Or 1984.Currently reading: The simpsons Comic.It is my girlfriend's favourite. I nicked her copy;)

[laidback gilb]

just finished demonstorm by james barclay. very good book dont normally read fantsy books but this is a good one. going to buy the first lot now

[Roffa]

The Prisonhouse of Language by Fredric Jameson

[BobbyBalboa]

"Not on the Label" by Felicity Lawrence. It's crazy the sort of stuff that goes into our food these days.

[Roffa]

Alamein to Zem Zem, by Keith Douglas.

[IlUvMuSIc]

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, I dont care what they say its a book i like. (i got it from the library and the first date on the book was 1994!!! i was but a yr old then...)

[nynysuts]

The Girls by Lori Lansens. Read it before, but I felt like reading it again.

[nextGENERATIONhippie]

Passonate Declarations by Howard Zinn

[Libertine]

The Satanic B-I-B-L-E

Yes, that's the book for me!

[KyndVeggie4Peace]

Blessed.Are.You - Mother Teresa

It's a small book, but i'm reading it slowly, because I tend to take more in by doing it that way. It's a beautiful book also ... I love all of her writings. :)

[Roffa]

Porius by John Cowper Powys.

[lithium]

"Why Truth Matters" by Ophelia Benson and Jeremy Stangroom

[phoenix_indigo]

Song of Stone by Iain Banks

[fountains of nay]

Oppida by John Collis

[Quoth the Raven]

Got two on the go at the moment:
Wilbur Smith - The Quest
Stephen King - The Waste Lands

[Peace-Phoenix]

Yellow Dog - Martin Amis

His recent controversy in the news has shown him to be politically moronic, but he does write exceedingly good books, apparently....

[dollydagger]

Hocus Pocus-Vonnegut

[Roffa]

Grendel by John Gardner. (I'm still reading Porius too, but it's too unweildy to read on the way to work.)

[mellowthyme]

The Steel Bonnets - George MacDonald Fraser.

[nynysuts]

Life and times of the thunderbolt kid by Bill Bryson

[nerthus]

Merlin by Stephen Lawhead. part of the Pendragon Cycle. it's pretty good, not particularly memorable but interesting historically.

[L.A.Matthews]

The Aeneid - Virgil

[Roffa]

Merlin by Stephen Lawhead. part of the Pendragon Cycle. it's pretty good, not particularly memorable but interesting historically.That's funny, I just picked the same book for 75p at a second-hand shop. I read the first volume Taliesin and has a similar lukewarm reaction, also I got put off a little by all the preachifying.

[nerthus]

That's funny, I just picked the same book for 75p at a second-hand shop. hey that's how i got mine too. strange, people just don't want to hold onto this book obviously. i got arthur as well.

as for preachy, do you mean all of christian 'true Light' stuff?

[phoenix_indigo]

Lawhead is a Christian author guys. :) I did always like his books though, but then again I read him mainly between the ages of 12-17 when I was also full indoctrinated in the church. ;)

I still wish I could remember what the book was called that he wrote about the guys at Oxford (i think it was) that find a vortex to another time. Really can't remember though.

I've read all 6 of the books in that series (the last 3 some 10 years after I'd read the first 3) and really liked them. However, I've always been a big King Arthur geek as well. :D

welcome to the forum, nerthus. :)

[IlUvMuSIc]

well yesterday consisted of me reading Notes on a scandel (and i finished it too) The books upstairs so i couldnt be bothered to get it so i thought google it and it turns out

its a movie!!!! i am soo watching that. as soon as i can. lol

The book is by Zoe Heller.

[nerthus]

Lawhead is a Christian author guys. :) I did always like his books though, but then again I read him mainly between the ages of 12-17 when I was also full indoctrinated in the church. ;)

I've read all 6 of the books in that series (the last 3 some 10 years after I'd read the first 3) and really liked them. However, I've always been a big King Arthur geek as well. :D

welcome to the forum, nerthus. :)thankyou! =) happy to be here.

and i guessed as much. i don't think it matters though, i think (so far) that the book is fairly successful in showing the turmoil that a change in religion creates for those involved. it's something none of us will ever actually encounter, but it must be really difficult having everything you believe as truth wrenched away from you. i don't feel preached to either :P

i'm an arthur geek too! or at least used to be.

i'm also reading 'the handmaid's tale' for english lit which is looking much more interesting than expected, and 'un sac de billes' for french which is a really sweet book. plus finishing hamlet, and a book or two on the russian revolution.

[Scarlet101]

[QUOTE=

i'm also reading 'the handmaid's tale' for english lit which is looking much more interesting than expected, and 'un sac de billes' for french which is a really sweet book. plus finishing hamlet, and a book or two on the russian revolution.[/QUOTE]
The Handmaids Tale, is that Margaret Atwood?? Started reading that book, but never finished it. Can't remember why. We had to study Margaret Atwood and "Surfacing" in english lit-was quite a good book, but studying it like that was a nightmare!

Im currently reading Angela Carter "The Bloody Chamber". A collection of short, quite twisted Gothic fairytales. I would recommend it to anyone with a bit of spare time on their hands :)

[CrucifiedDreams]

Go Ask Alice.

[myself]

I'm currently reading 'Last Orders' by Graham Swift.

[nynysuts]

Follyfoot Farm!

[phoenix_indigo]

A Man Without A Country by Kurt Vonnegut (omg i know how to read non-fiction :tongue: )

[fountains of nay]

"Golden Arches East: Mcdonalds in East Asia" - Watkins

[phoenix_indigo]

The Book of the Dead - by Patricia Cornwell

[Roffa]

Hood by Stephen Lawhead (again) - a reimagining of the Robin Hood story.

Lawhead can certainly serve up a page-turner but is no great stylist and despite having lived in Oxford for several years can't quite shake off his Americanisms - he has an 11th-century Welsh king shouting "Get your sorry tail out here!" to his wayward son.

[phoenix_indigo]

Haha! That's quite funny. I couldn't imagine anyone saying that over here. That is a bit bizarre that he doesn't write more like an 'Englishman' considering he has lived here in England. I mean it doesn't take that long to pick up on some of the subtle differences in vernacular between the UK and the US.

Roffa, do you recall the Lawhead book I mentioned before about the college students that fall through some sort of time portal or vortex?


Now reading: The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs by Irvine Welsh

[nynysuts]

Since I have nothing to rad... Woman's weekly!! But I'm also reading The Merrybegot in my free lessons at school, which is about witchcraft and pagans and that, so interesting. I might actually have to buy an new library card so I can read it at home!

[Doublethink]

Coming towards the end of Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. I'm really enjoying it because I've recently read For Whom the Bell Tolls and the Great Gatsby so it puts a new perspective on them.

[CrucifiedDreams]

The Lovely Bones. What a book.

[Roffa]

Haha! That's quite funny. I couldn't imagine anyone saying that over here. That is a bit bizarre that he doesn't write more like an 'Englishman' considering he has lived here in England. I mean it doesn't take that long to pick up on some of the subtle differences in vernacular between the UK and the US.

Roffa, do you recall the Lawhead book I mentioned before about the college students that fall through some sort of time portal or vortex?
Yeah, he really doesn't have much of an ear for dialogue.

In this book he's decided to relocate the Robin Hood legend to Wales, which allows him to re-cycle all the Celtic lore he put into the Arhurian novels - it turns out that Robin is a corruption of Rhi Bran, "King Raven". I think there may be some shamanic journeying coming up.

And yes I recall you mentioning that book but can't place it.

[kraatok]

I'm reading Aldous Huxley - Between heaven and hell ... well good book ^^

[nerthus]

i finished the handmaid's tale by margaret atwood and i highly recommend it. it's really rather good. i reckon anyone who liked 1984 and that kind of thing will like it.

[Quoth the Raven]

Iain M Banks - Feersum Endjinn.
Bloody awesome. All sci-fi people should check it out ;)

[phoenix_indigo]

Iain M Banks - Feersum Endjinn.
Bloody awesome. All sci-fi people should check it out ;)See, now I saw someone say one time that Iain Banks only wrote pretensious sci-fi under the name Iain M Banks. So, so far, I haven't gone out of my way to attempt to read any of his sci-fi books, but love his fiction (except for when it gets a wee bit too pretentious). What's this one about that you are reading?

[Piney]

Wedding of the Waters by Peter Bernstein

the story of the Erie Canal.

24 Rail Trails of New Jersey.....not literature but some nice ideas for biking
on abandoned railway paths.

[starchild618]

The Hermetica by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy

[Moon_Beam]

Re-reading On the road by Jack Kerouac

[Quoth the Raven]

See, now I saw someone say one time that Iain Banks only wrote pretensious sci-fi under the name Iain M Banks. So, so far, I haven't gone out of my way to attempt to read any of his sci-fi books, but love his fiction (except for when it gets a wee bit too pretentious). What's this one about that you are reading?
Kinda hard to explain.. his sci-fi is a bit bizarre.
basically.. nope, can't even define it.
I'll copy one from amazon:
Amazon.co.uk Review
In a future where the ancients have long since departed Earth for the stars, those left behind live complacent lives filled with technological marvels they no longer understand. Then a cosmic threat known as the Encroachment begins a devastating ice age on Earth, and it sets in motion a series of events that will bring together a cast of original characters who must struggle through war, political intrigues and age-old mysteries to save the world. (B 4worned, 1 oph Banx' carrokters theenx en funetic inglish, which makes for some tough reading but also some innovative prose.)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feersum-Endjinn-Iain-M-Banks/dp/1857232739/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199894357&sr=8-1

[dollydagger]

just recieved a copy of Cosmic Bandidtos by A.C. Weisbecker

[Peace-Phoenix]

The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid....

[nynysuts]

The Merrybegot by Julie Hearn. S'bout pagans.

[nerthus]

the saga of the volsungs :D good old dragon slaying.

[Peace-Phoenix]

Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov....

[CrucifiedDreams]

Angela's Ashes

[Moon_Beam]

The Buddha of Suburbia

[fountains of nay]

The Anthropology of Religion by Fiona Bowie (2000)

[nynysuts]

Tesco magazine :(

[Quoth the Raven]

George Orwell - 1984

[nynysuts]

George Orwell - 1984Good book, that, have you read it before? Scares me a little, but just reinforces all my views on the world.

[Roffa]

Follyfoot Farm!They made a TV series of this in my dim and distant youth. I can still rememer the annoyingly catchy theme song. I wonder if there's a DVD?

[nerthus]

the eaten heart - unlikey tales of love by giovanni boccaccio.
its in a series of love stories so i thought, naturally, that they'd be soppy 14th century romances. turns out at least half of it is just medieval smut :) threesomes, adultery, and a handsome peasant seducing a whole nunnery of young (and pretty, of course) nuns.
good though, and very funny; i like boccaccio a lot more for it.

[nynysuts]

Adrian Mole-The Wilderness years. Only Adrian Mole I haven't read, so far not my favourite.

[Quoth the Raven]

Got 3 on the go at the moment:
Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
Myths & Legends of Native North America - Lewis Spence
Forward the foundation - Isaac Asimov

All completely different, all completely enjoyable ;)

[phoenix_indigo]

Glue - Irvine Welsh ... not my favourite of his by far, but still enjoyable. :)

[Moon_Beam]

The curious incident of the dog in the night time - Mark Haddon

[Roffa]

I am Legend - Richard Matheson

[nynysuts]

For some godforsaken reason- so me by Graham Norton. I don't even like Graham Norton!!

[L.A.Matthews]

Fear & Trembling - Søren Kierkegaard

[L.A.Matthews]

i finished the handmaid's tale by margaret atwood and i highly recommend it. it's really rather good. i reckon anyone who liked 1984 and that kind of thing will like it.
Really?:( I thought it was just a poor version of something similar to 1984 filled with a load of shite symbolism and feminist gob-shite.:(

[Ratty303]

I've just finished 'Mr. Nice', DH Marks' autobiography type thing.

I'm about to start 'Snowblind' by Robert Sabbag.


I love the smugglers :-)
Evenin' all! I'm new to this forum!

Snowblind's a great book! I like smuggler's tales too. Sadly as good as they are, most of 'em end up nicked!

Currently reading The Pistol by James Jones

[nynysuts]

Another follyfoot farm book, Monica Dickens was a real lefty!

[Orryl Oak]

Just finished 'The Quiet American' By Graham Green. A forensic exposition of human frailities and murky politicking set in a fragmenting Vietnam in the preceding days to the war. Has great resonance in the light of current conflicts like the M.E. Now reading 'Republican Party Reptile' by P.J O'Rourke. The guy is generally a dick, but it's great when his acerbic humour punctures certain righteous balloons.

[Moon_Beam]

The Righteous Men

[IlUvMuSIc]

^ rings a bell... hmm. thats probably me being me though =)

im reading Extras by Scott Westerfeld and i love it. I loved Pretties, Uglies and Specials - it was originally a trilogy but he decided to put more into it and im so happy he did.

[phoenix_indigo]

welcome to Ratty303 and Orryl Oak ... glad to see some new face.

I'm still reading Glue by Irvine Welsh, and enjoying it more as the story goes on. :)

[redyelruc]

Well, I'm readom gmy way through the local library, so not many new books for me.

At the moment I'm reading 'The Fall"-Camus. I'm enjoying it even if I find some of his language a bit irritating. I have yet to get to the meat of the tale, but I do think that there will be a lot of food for thought.

[Quoth the Raven]

David Pearce - The Hedonistic Imperative
Online book/long essay about escaping the ponderous nature of darwinian evolution, and the pursuit of ecstasy (the state of being not the drug) through biology and genetics.
www.hedweb.com/hedethic/hedonist.htm

[L.A.Matthews]

Well, I'm readom gmy way through the local library, so not many new books for me.

At the moment I'm reading 'The Fall"-Camus. I'm enjoying it even if I find some of his language a bit irritating. I have yet to get to the meat of the tale, but I do think that there will be a lot of food for thought.
I have a shitload of Camus to get through. I bought 6 of his books off eBay for Christmas, and my to-read list is just building up.

[ripple]

Sociology by Anthony Giddens, dont have time for anything else!

[IlUvMuSIc]

sunbathing in the rain xD
on the cover it says "a cheerful book about depression" that it made me smile and the fact its a memoir pretty much "sold" it for me (i got it from the school library)

[mrkite]

Sherlock Holmes :) a whole bunch of short stories

[IlUvMuSIc]

sunbathing in the rain xD
on the cover it says "a cheerful book about depression" that it made me smile and the fact its a memoir pretty much "sold" it for me (i got it from the school library)

[Roffa]

A history of myth, by Karen Armstrong.