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Posted: 2/16/2010 2:28 AM

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BigBoct

He/Him

Editor, Former player

Joined: 8/9/2007
Posts: 1692
Location: Tiffin/Republic, OH

I've recently been reading Stephen King's 7-book series The Dark Tower, and am currently about an hour or two from finishing the fifth book, Wolves of the Calla. So far, the series is very good. I'm also an avid manga (Japanese comic) reader; though the only series I'm following is Sakae Esuno's Future Diary, which is about a war of sorts between twelve people whose diaries can predict different aspects of the future.

Previous Name: boct1584

Posted: 2/16/2010 4:08 AM

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Dromiceius

Joined: 10/3/2005
Posts: 1332

A few of the high points of my bedtime listening from the last two years: Turn of the Screw — Henry James Heart of Darkness — Joseph Conrad 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas — Jules Verne The Invisible Man — H.G. Wells Bushido: the Soul of Japan — Inazo Nitobe I have 1984 on standby. Definitely looking forward to reading the rest of that. It's hard to "recommend" these things with a straight face, as they're things everyone has heard of. They're what I've been reading, at any rate. They're all free audiobooks, too. Available on archive.org. As for manga, Himizu is, I think, the best I've ever read. I can't really describe it as anything other than "hilariously bleak." Holyland is also fairly good, but seems to be meandering on the same "an enemy appears! Goku trains and defeats them!" shounen loop. Likewise with Shamo. Good if you like martial arts. Read it with some Final Fight or Streets of Rage playing.

Posted: 2/16/2010 1:39 PM

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Captain_Forehead

Player (79)

Joined: 7/7/2008
Posts: 873
Location: Utah

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, one of my favorites.

Posted: 2/17/2010 8:00 AM

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Walker_Boh

Former player

Joined: 4/16/2004
Posts: 1276
Location: Uppsala, Sweden

I just read Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte. Really good book. If you've seen the movie (Ninth Gate) it's quite similar, but none the less a great book.

/Walker Boh

Posted: 2/17/2010 1:24 PM

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Sticky

Joined: 2/26/2007
Posts: 1365
Location: Minnesota

1984 - an amazing book. One I will cherish forever, and will proudly proclaim as a part of library. Dark Tower Series - Currently on book IV. Excellent series, highly recommended. I don't "do" horror things; these books are everything but. Some are better than others, yes, but the overall story is extremely intriguing. I must admit, I don't much care for the girl.

adelikat wrote:

I very much agree with this post.

Bobmario511 wrote:

Forget party hats, Christmas tree hats all the way man.

Posted: 3/2/2010 11:42 PM

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Mukki

Skilled player (1099)

Joined: 8/26/2006
Posts: 1139
Location: United Kingdom

Dromiceius wrote:

I have 1984 on standby. Definitely looking forward to reading the rest of that.

Sticky wrote:

1984 - an amazing book. One I will cherish forever, and will proudly proclaim as a part of library.

On the topic of 1984, I finished reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley yesterday. It is difficult to think of one without the other... I've been raking my brain since then trying to decide which novel I prefer and I guess that it may be Brave New World. I just find it so much more interesting. It is often cited as a great Dystopian novel, but it could also be considered to be a great Utopian novel. It explores a world where everything is perfect; everyone is happy, world peace, the absence of complicated emotions. Through the novel we see how those things fundamentally affect what makes us human. Of course, Huxley's 'perfect world' shouldn't be taken as a likely outcome, but it definitely gives some food for thought. 1984 is also great. I loved it when I first read it, but then I studied it exhaustively in high school and have fallen out of favor with it since. Perhaps it is worth rediscovering, but not for a while yet. Both are definitely worth reading and both have relevance nowadays, but in completely different ways.

http://tasvideos.org/Mukki.html

Posted: 3/3/2010 8:58 AM

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Dromiceius

Joined: 10/3/2005
Posts: 1332

Huxley himself called his Brave New World a "negative utopia", which I suppose is identical to a "dystopia." In the end, the few who had seriously questioned their civilization didn't want to live there anymore, with the exception of that one guy. If that's a utopia, then I think a city of zombies would also have to be called a utopia. Zombies are too well-mannered to eat each other. They presumably don't get too bothered about anything, being more or less braindead. They're easily amused, too— they just stand around muttering "braaains." Still haven't gotten around to (re)reading 1984, unfortunately. On the horizon: The Brothers Karamazov. I guess I'm embarking on a bit of a Russian kick. The Seagull by Anton Chekhov was directly referenced in The Void, so I'm going to have to get more of that, too...

Posted: 3/3/2010 2:00 PM

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Sticky

Joined: 2/26/2007
Posts: 1365
Location: Minnesota

Has anyone read Jennifer Government by Max Barry? Wikipedia describes it as a 1984 like read, but with too little government intervention. I plan to pick it up sometime soon, but it will be a long time before I can seriously sit down and read it.

adelikat wrote:

I very much agree with this post.

Bobmario511 wrote:

Forget party hats, Christmas tree hats all the way man.

Posted: 8/14/2010 1:23 AM

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funnyhair

Player (118)

Joined: 5/13/2009
Posts: 700
Location: suffern, ny

I just finished reading And Then There Were None By Agatha Christie. I would really recommend this book, in general, especially to anyone who likes mysteries. It is also published as Ten Little Indians I have some more Pratchett to go through, then go through this to get some more recommendations. I will post more books here that I recommend later. Please note, I read a lot of Sci-fi/Fantasy, and Detective fiction. Every once in a while I pick up a classic.

[19:16] <scrimpy> silly portuguese [19:16] <scrimpy> it's like spanish, only less cool

Posted: 8/14/2010 10:48 AM

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henke37

Editor

Joined: 3/10/2010
Posts: 899
Location: Sweden

The head first series Pretty much the only good series of books about learning programming that has a plot. The plots are not just "stupid boy gets computer", but actual hilarious scenarios. Not only is it highly educational, it is a fun read too. The illustrations are highly relevant, yet they manage to make you laugh at the same time. When they can make a blowup toy a teaching aid, you know that they are the fun kind of teacher. They feature things as interviews with abstract concepts and more. "Tricks of ..." by Andre La Mothe not humorous at all, but still a pair of great books. You will be able to write and understand your own advanced 3d engine by the end of the books.

Posted: 8/14/2010 11:02 AM

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Warepire

He/Him

Editor

Joined: 3/2/2010
Posts: 2178
Location: A little to the left of nowhere (Sweden)

I am just done reading "How Not to Program in C++: 111 Broken Programs and 3 Working Ones, or Why Does 2+2=5986" A very amusing read and a little educational.

Posted: 8/14/2010 4:01 PM

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Scepheo

Player (146)

Joined: 7/16/2009
Posts: 686

I've yet to read 1984, but I'm quite sure I'll like it, as I can recommend Animal Farm (also by Orwell) to anyone. I've also finished the Sword of Truth series which I also though was very good. However, of all Fantasy, The Hobbit and everything by Raymond E. Feist stands out. I'd like to note that (almost) all his works take place in the same universe, creating a certain feeling of familiarity and recognition that I haven't found anywhere else so far.

Posted: 8/14/2010 4:50 PM

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BigBoct

He/Him

Editor, Former player

Joined: 8/9/2007
Posts: 1692
Location: Tiffin/Republic, OH

Since my last post ITT, I finished up The Dark Tower, which had a bullshit ending (Roland reaches the Dark Tower, enters it, climbs to the top, and time loops back to just before the beginning of The Gunslinger.), been reading the Star Wars 9-book cycle Fate of the Jedi, which is definitely better than the preceding 9-book cycle Legacy of the Force, and I've gotten interested in the manga The Prince of Tennis.

Previous Name: boct1584

Posted: 8/14/2010 11:32 PM

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Mukki

Skilled player (1099)

Joined: 8/26/2006
Posts: 1139
Location: United Kingdom

Looking at my bookcase now I have ploughed through a great deal of stuff since I last posted here. Here is the best of it: The Illiad / The Odyssey by Homer. Probably the most famous stories ever told. I've been telling myself to read these for years and when I stumbled across them in a second hand bookshop recently I decided to pick them up. All I can say is that they really hold up ~3000 years later and are very accessible to modern readers. The Illiad is very action packed and any fan of movies like 300 would love it. It is equally as gory/violent and exciting. The Odyssey is less violent and has a great deal of the fantastic. Any fan of fantasy novels would do well to look this one up. The final few chapters are among my favourite of any novel. What I loved most is how I could still relate to characters who were written of so long ago. The Trial by Franz Kafka. This was a great book. Anyone with any interest in the operation of justice should check this out. The lead character is summoned before a court for a crime that is not disclosed to him, because of this he cannot possibly defend himself. It is very fanciful and the miscarriages of justice are greatly exaggerated in order to emphasise the importance of an independent and impartial judiciary. Kafka wrote very little and his life story is very interesting and I look forward to reading more of his work. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami I've read a few of his books before. This novel, on the whole, is the best of what I have read of his as it is the best example of what he tries to accomplish. I found that the last 100 pages or so really seemed to drag, other than that it was a fantastic read. Murakami is a prolific Japanese author and the majority of his work explores how the work-centric attitudes and conventions that have built up since the war are severely depleting the rich spiritual heritage of Japan. The main character of this novel has recently quit his job as he does not like where his profession is taking him and has to occupy himself around the house as his career driven wife becomes ever more distant. His sedentary life becomes infiltrated by the fantastic as he meets with mediums and war veterans each with a tale that subtley turns reality on its head. I love his work as it contains many supernatural and odd events, but he integrates it so well into the text that it seems perfectly normal. Truly the hallmark of a talented magical realist writer. I'd recommend this book (and his work as a whole) to anyone with an interest in modern Japanese culture (of which I'm sure there are many here), but who are helplessly investigating it from a western perspective.

http://tasvideos.org/Mukki.html

Posted: 8/15/2010 2:48 AM

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Sticky

Joined: 2/26/2007
Posts: 1365
Location: Minnesota

boct1584 wrote:

Since my last post ITT, I finished up The Dark Tower, which had a bullshit ending (Roland reaches the Dark Tower, enters it, climbs to the top, and time loops back to just before the beginning of The Gunslinger.), been reading the Star Wars 9-book cycle Fate of the Jedi, which is definitely better than the preceding 9-book cycle Legacy of the Force, and I've gotten interested in the manga The Prince of Tennis.

I hate how susannah is written. I can't get past the fifth book >_> damn especial shit can suck a big one.

adelikat wrote:

I very much agree with this post.

Bobmario511 wrote:

Forget party hats, Christmas tree hats all the way man.

Posted: 8/15/2010 7:24 AM
(Edited: 8/28/2010 7:03 PM)

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kwinse

Joined: 5/13/2006
Posts: 283

Currently re-reading The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. It has a sequel Black House that retcons the story into the Dark Tower universe. I think Stephen King would do just fine writing his stories without trying to connect the majority of his stories, but that said the stories aren't bad in my opinion. boct1584: Maybe it's just me, but I kinda liked the ending. No matter what Roland accomplished, he still had some big sins to atone for, and it does end with a note of hope in the form of the horn. Also, just curious, did you read the revised version of The Gunslinger or an edition of the original release? I've not read the revised version, so I don't know what if any effect it may have on reading the rest of the series. EDIT: I saw a mention of Jennifer Government earlier. I love Max Berry, he is so funny. If you like the writing than I recommend picking up his other books Syrup and Company. He's also working on adapting a web serial Machine Man into a novel, which from what I read (I can't afford the serial right now so I'm stuck with only the free part) promises to be interesting.

<Zurreco> if so called professional players cant adapt to every playing field, theyre obviously not that great

Posted: 8/15/2010 10:28 PM

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phantom321

Joined: 7/15/2010
Posts: 11

House of Leaves - Mark Danielewski Anything by Lovecraft. Carrie - Stephen King (No one's mentioned this yet?) A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

Posted: 8/24/2010 9:41 PM

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moozooh

Senior Moderator

Joined: 8/4/2005
Posts: 5777
Location: Away

I'm trying to read Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, and it feels like playing IWBTG.

Warp wrote:

Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.

Posted: 8/25/2010 5:41 PM

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Sticky

Joined: 2/26/2007
Posts: 1365
Location: Minnesota

I am currently enjoying both Alice in Wonderland (Through the looking glass) by Lewis Carroll and The eye of the world by Robert Jordan. Jordan has ~10 books in an overarching storyline; I hope they are all excellent.

adelikat wrote:

I very much agree with this post.

Bobmario511 wrote:

Forget party hats, Christmas tree hats all the way man.

Posted: 8/25/2010 5:55 PM

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Derakon

Joined: 7/2/2007
Posts: 3960

Ah heh. The Wheel of Time series is notorious for getting bogged down after a strong start. Hundreds of pages go by without anything of significance happening.

Pyrel - an open-source rewrite of the Angband roguelike game in Python.

Posted: 8/27/2010 1:55 AM

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Sticky

Joined: 2/26/2007
Posts: 1365
Location: Minnesota

:( This makes me sad. Well, here is to getting through the first two books I own ;) Has anyone read any Dragon Star books by Melanie Rawn? I found it randomly in my bookshelf and will probably start reading it sometime soon. EDIT: I guess there are six books, entitled Dragon Prince and Dragon Star Trilogies

adelikat wrote:

I very much agree with this post.

Bobmario511 wrote:

Forget party hats, Christmas tree hats all the way man.

Posted: 8/27/2010 8:12 PM

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jimsfriend

Former player

Joined: 1/17/2006
Posts: 775
Location: Deign

Dragon star was bad. The first book sucked. The 2nd book really sucked. IMHO! I might have not even finished book 2, I don't recall. Maybe it would be ok if I was a 6th grader. I like the fantasy series Malazan Book of the Fallen or something.

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Posted: 8/27/2010 10:11 PM

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