What are you reading?

frogus23 · Post by **frogus23** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 3:15 am

Also read 'The Castle' and the diaries & letters 1910-193? by Kafka.

The Castle is absolutely brilliant, although much like a superior re-writing of the Trial in lots of respects. Has anyone ever thought of basing a AD&D campaign on Kafka?

And I'm just starting a book of 19th Century French poets (started at the end - Rimbaud - and working backwards). I have never gotten into poetry at all, but Rimbaud is very enjoyable and much more subtle than English poets I've studied. I don't hold much hope for enjoying Beaudelaire 'My misery flows like the gruesome miserable tides of inexorable misery rah rah rah'

Macleod1701 · Post by **Macleod1701** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 3:17 am

Mostly I've been reading Robert Rankin books, just because they are so funny I have to be careful not to mess myself in glee!

Maharlika · Post by **Maharlika** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 7:57 am

Just finished "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," by Milan Kundera.

I find it interesting, the way the characters view their respective lives. Strange and alien to me, nevertheless worth pondering on.

Prior to that book, I read "The Bourne Supremacy." Real good read for me. Interesting how the lead character handles his "split persona." And yes, the movie sucks, big time.

@Fas: Rainbow Six, I like the way they took out the terrorists at the theme park. I like the way Clancy describes every detail of the fighting scenes. Makes me feel like actually watching an action movie.

Luis Antonio · Post by **Luis Antonio** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:03 am

Just finished the Captains Daughter, now I'm heading to The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, wich I had read when I was a youngster, at school. Lets see if I still like it

Cuchulain82 · Post by **Cuchulain82** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:34 am

A truly interesting read

Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything"

It is exactly what it sounds like- a simplified account of some of the astounding scientific truths about life, this planet, and even the galaxy. For example:

Did you know that Yellowstone National Park, the ENTIRE park, is actually a huge supervolcano that is approximately 30,000 years overdue for an eruption? The last time it erupted (approx. 630,000 years ago) the ash cause a volcanic winter globally for 4 years and may have reduced the number of human beings worldwide to a few thousand!

Did you know that bacteria have been found growing in nuclear waste, happily feeding on plutonium? Bacteria even survived in outer space on the lens of a camera for over two years!

Did you know that if you read this book you can annoy all your friends and be "that guy" at the party that no one wants to talk to? Yes, it's true!

But the book is still really great, and easy to read. Give it a shot!

fable · Post by **fable** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:18 am

[QUOTE=frogus23]The Castle is absolutely brilliant, although much like a superior re-writing of the Trial in lots of respects. Has anyone ever thought of basing a AD&D campaign on Kafka?

[/quote]

LOL! That's a brilliant idea, Frogus! I really like that. It would make a wonderful horror campaign.

Several other 19th and 20th century works recommend themselves as well, but Kafka is easily better than Lovecraft, just as the suggestion of social and moral disintegration is far more powerful than creating some 100 ft long fromage with tentacles.

And I'm just starting a book of 19th Century French poets (started at the end - Rimbaud - and working backwards). I have never gotten into poetry at all, but Rimbaud is very enjoyable and much more subtle than English poets I've studied. I don't hold much hope for enjoying Beaudelaire 'My misery flows like the gruesome miserable tides of inexorable misery rah rah rah'

I find that a small amount of Baudelaire will go a long way. Much the same can be said for Gerarld Manley Hopkins, who is one of the worst poets in the English language to translate. So much, like Baudelaire, is a matter with Hopkins of style, and both had very narrow ranges. Rimbaud is far more interesting than many of his better known contemporaries. If it weren't for the usual cultural homophobia, I suspect he'd be discussed openly (rather than simply in critical circles) as one of the finest poets of his period.

C Elegans · Post by **C Elegans** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:23 am

I am currently reading Wonderful, Wonderful times by Jelinek, the 2004 Nobel prize laureate in Literature. She is wonderful.

[QUOTE=fable]LOL! That's a brilliant idea, Frogus! I really like that. It would make a wonderful horror campaign.

Several other 19th and 20th century works recommend themselves as well, but Kafka is easily better than Lovecraft, just as the suggestion of social and moral disintegration is far more powerful than creating some 100 ft long fromage with tentacles.
[/QUOTE]

I agree it sounds like a brilliant idea!

I am always surprised by the lack of fantasy my RPG:ing friends have when it comes to create campaigns. Always the same old tedious Europe-in-the-middle-ages, very conventional, very stereotype...

jopperm2 · Post by **jopperm2** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 2:23 pm

[QUOTE=fable]LOL! That's a brilliant idea, Frogus! I really like that. It would make a wonderful horror campaign.

Several other 19th and 20th century works recommend themselves as well, but Kafka is easily better than Lovecraft, just as the suggestion of social and moral disintegration is far more powerful than creating some 100 ft long fromage with tentacles.[/QUOTE]

Hey! I happen to like lovecraft! I don't really care much for Kafka though. I just don't like the way it reads. My father used to read a lot of kafka though. I personally like the idea in fiction that there are evils far beyond what man can create. Not that I believe that's necessarily true, it's just fun to pretend.

It is a novel concept for RPGing though. perhaps it would make a good thread for the PnP boards.

I'm reading(sort of, when I have the time) The Hiram Key, Body for Life, and Duncan's Ritual, anyone read any of those?

frogus23 · Post by **frogus23** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 4:48 pm

Hey! I happen to like lovecraft! I don't really care much for Kafka though. I just don't like the way it reads. My father used to read a lot of kafka though. I personally like the idea in fiction that there are evils far beyond what man can create. Not that I believe that's necessarily true, it's just fun to pretend. It is a novel concept for RPGing though. perhaps it would make a good thread for the PnP boards.

Oh! The outrageous lycanthropy of it all

I read quite a lot of Poe recently which I loved - is Lovecraft similar?

the suggestion of social and moral disintegration is far more powerful than creating some 100 ft long fromage with tentacles.

But I'll bet you that Cthulu beanie-babies outsell Joseph K action figures...IOn the horror front, I just started a book of M. R. James' ghost stories. I'll let you know if it's any good.

Rimbaud is far more interesting than many of his better known contemporaries. If it weren't for the usual cultural homophobia, I suspect he'd be discussed openly (rather than simply in critical circles) as one of the finest poets of his period.

Interesting thing I noticed: Rimbaud's 'Le Bauteau Ivre' is exactly the same story as the Beach Boy's 'Sloop John B'...

jopperm2 · Post by **jopperm2** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 12:57 pm

Lovecraft is a different sort of thing from the rest of horror. Monster stories done right. There's also sometimes a mystery, plus a lot of plot twists. You can get some of the stories online IIRC and pretty much all libraries have his work.

Robnark · Post by **Robnark** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 6:36 am

I've just started Jonathan Coe's What a carve up!

it's rather good, despite the offputtingly punctuated title.

frogus23 · Post by **frogus23** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 10:21 am

The Ghost Stories of MR James were really brilliant, I will read them to my children.

I just read The Iliad. It is extremely exciting to start with but peters out. I read ***les blank verse translation, which was ****ing excellent. I have since looked at a couple of prose translations, and I think they are definately a waste of time...
The whole thing is very musical, with themes and repetitions that flow just like the riff in a New Order song or something. This might not be a good analogy. The edition I read had a very interesting long introduction and notes on the translation discussing the great difficulty of translating Homer's hexameter which has very strict rules on the distribution of syllables and emphases...Some examples from Dryden writing in a Homer-style meter in English sounded very contrived, and some examples of so called 'Alexandrines' in French (which are usually used to translate Homer apparently) looked good but have two less syllables, which doesn't seem very right...
Anyway I liked the uber quantities and of really gruesome violence, and the various different sides of a Bronze age hero exposed in the different captains and generals.

Interesting to note that CuChullain hero of the Tain in Irish myth has an almost identical personality to Achilles, although they are separated by 700-1400 years and a half of Europe. Archetypes I suppose?

Oh yes and the Gods are very amusing, constantly having squabbles, punch up, sulking, moaning at one another and being amazingly un-sly about their divine interventions.

Before that I read an abridged Memoirs of Casanova, which I would recommend. He is a thoroughly strange case, and has some important lessons
to teach in the value of humility IMO. He is also a fairly clever philosopher and theologian and introduces many important thoughts (usually as if they were his own). It is also a very vivid account of what courtly life was like in the 18th century, if you're interested, and a pretty salacious Boys Own adventure romp otherwise. And he meets everybody important who was alive at the time, so its useful for cross-referntial history. And he has sex with TWO NUNS! Huzza.

giles337 · Post by **giles337** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 12:58 pm

Well... I have just finished "From A Buick 8" by Steven King, and yet again am amazed at this mans ability to fluently jump between tenses, narrators, location, and periods of time, and still create a stunning, highly belivable novel. The man's a genius. And the book is highly reccomeded.

Denethorn · Post by **Denethorn** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 1:13 pm

I assume you've read/watched The Green Mile, giles? I'm thinking of reading some Stephen King, I was very impressed with The Shawshank Redemption film aswell, and apparently they're very accurate representations of the books.

I just finished reding Free To Trade by Michael Ridpath; whos books sit in a niche genre of financial thriller. Thats no bad thing though. Very entertaining and well written book, deals with the vast sums of money that move around the world and the dark crime and murders that follow it.

giles337 · Post by **giles337** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 1:28 pm

I've steered clear of botht he book, and the films of those two. IMO they carry to many clichés. If you insisit though, i'll check them out. Decided to read Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gentlys Holistic Detective Agency" now. Watch this space

Denethorn · Post by **Denethorn** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 1:34 pm

Shawshank and the Green Mile are ranked in my favourite films of all time; not sure about the books, but the films themselves where masterfully directed by Frank Darabont.

I've never read any Douglas Adams

. I bought the audio tapes of A Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy to listen to when I had a train journey down to Plymouth, and they were excellent, but never read the books. I've got a copy of The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe or something like that which came free with the Observer, so I'll make an effort to read that at some point.

frogus23 · Post by **frogus23** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 5:23 am

I thought the Shawshank Redemption was an adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo

"Giles, Dirk Gently's kicks arse

Denethorn · Post by **Denethorn** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 8:19 am

Well it was a possible influence, but I know it was based on Steven King's novella.

Vicsun · Post by **Vicsun** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 8:56 am

I borrowed a collection of Sartre's short fiction from a friend, and am rather enticed by his writing. After I'm finished with Sartre's fiction, I plan on going back to Camus's work; I have yet to read his essay The Myth of Sisyphus, which is a shame - it's something I've had the intention of reading for a while now and shouldn't take more than a few hours. I really have no excuse for not having read it

TheAmazingOopah · Post by **TheAmazingOopah** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 5:00 am

A few months ago, I read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I would have expected a court suspense drama, like 12 Angry Men, but then it turned out that the main character would be the daughter of the-lawyer-defending-the-black-man-accused-with-rape-in-Alabama-during-the-Depression, and the book became rather a warm-hearted child novel for adults, with the whole trial story eventually sneaking smartly in the book, stepping more and more into the center of attention during the second half. Nice book.

But that's not what I'm reading at the moment. The Hobbit by Tolkien, is what I'm (still) reading at the moment. I'm getting to the end now and I will continue with The Lord of the Rings after that. I had to make a short break, because I was forced to read a book by Ronald Giphart for Dutch class: Giph. Truly a terrible annoying book, probaly the worst I've read in my whole life. Though you guys quite certainly won't know it (good for you)