RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Media What Are You Reading?

Finding any way to infiltrate Conan's place, aren't you?

como?!

sigh... nevermind.

....psych

Bradbury's 'The Martian Chronicles'

yeah can be at times...i'm looking for something more dark.

Hey Rex, how is Atlas going for you?

Long book, only a third through it, but I really like it. And I normally don't like books with a lot of characters. More is less for me.

And, really, who is John Galt?

Besides F451, would anyone like to recommend Bradbury's other works? Just wondering.

I also picked up Sharpe's Eagle, the first book on Richard Sharpe. Awesome read! I must really like the time period or something, because the same things that I liked about Master and Commander.

On that note, has anyone reading the Master and Commander series? I was thinking of picking those up too.

I'm still reading Atlas Shrugged. Its really good so far. I'm still in the first third of the book. I've been reading some of her other books like The New Left: The Anti-industrial Revolution and Capitalism: The Unknown Idea.
They are both collections of essays Ayn Rand wrote for magazines and newspapers. The New Left might be one of the best books I have ever read. I'll probably have a review of it up in a couple days.

You know, these Richard Sharpe novels bring up a good point. Why can't guys bring their wives or girlfriends into battle? I'm sure that will make things less stressful...

Back up to the top!

Just finished part one of Atlas Shrugged. Very entertaining. The book took a huge twist and I'm really interested in where its going now. The whole who is "John Galt?" question really keeps you guessing on who he is.

Seven pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence

It's a great historical account of one of the most interesting wars in history. You gain great insights into the mind of T.E. Lawrence, as well as the Arab mind. It's very interesting and well-written.

funny fiction novel called bet me

Finished Atlas Shrugged. No spoilers, I promise.

Wow. Rand is a friggin' genius. I don't know if her theories are new to me, or if she's simply rewording something I've believed most of my adult life. I love the character of Dagny Taggart. The strongest female main character I have ever seen. Ever. I just want to be like her. It's amazing. Really powerful novel.

That being said, it was like 1000 pages with really little print. Anyone who thinks this is a weekend read better tackle Rand's Anthem first.

***

Sharpe's Eagle was another great read, though of a much different style. If you like historical war fiction, I really recommend this book. There is something really appealing about this character, and I think I appriciated Richard Sharpe even more since I was reading Atlas Shrugged at the same time. Sharpe and Dagny have little in common, but in Sharpe's Eagle you have this someone with no money, no family, and uses only his wits, ambition, and courage to survive. On top of that, he's annoyed by the Spanish, doesn't like the French, and is not found of lawyers. Holy friggin' cow. He's like a male 19th century version of me. Although I'm probably shorter too.

Next in the series is Sharpe's Gold. I'll probably pick that up tomorrow. My roomies have also shown an interest in seeing the Masterpeice Theater version of Sharpe's Eagle, so I may rent it for the weekend. Too bad there's no way to make a movie out of Atlas Shrugged. The person who has the rights to the book wont let anyone edit the speeches for a movie version...so there's no way it's going to be made. Bummer.

I still reading Atlas Shrugged. I might finish it in a couple days.

I got finished reading "Stranger Than Fiction" awhile ago.

It was meh. Not one of Chuck's better novels.

I glanced through that a couple weeks ago. Some were good, some were bad. Just like his novels he is really good, or really bad.

I just finished re-reading Hulk Hogan's autobiography.

Anyone have any suggestions for a humorous book?

I'm currently reading Plato's Republic for my Ancient/Medieval Philosophy course. Not a bad read, given the fairly modern translation and helpful footnotes. Plus, I love the utopian/dystopian concept, so that helps enormously.

Has anyone read David Eddings books? I remember when I was in high school all my friends loved them. Are they worth reading?

So I start a new job today in about 2 hours. I didn't sleep last night. Why? Because I was reading Atlas Shrugged before I tried to go to sleep. It was that damn good. I'm still not done but I should be soon.

I finished Atlas Shrugged today.
Great book. Although I probably ruined my eyes reading all the small print, I want to read it again. I have never gotten this emotionally involved with a book. I actually had dreams about events that happened. Although Ayn Rand is an athiest and I am christian, I still agree with her almost all of her philosophies. This book answered questions that I have had for as long as I could remember.

Guevara, Che - Guerilla Tactics

Slaughterhouse-Five: Or, the Children's Crusade, A Duty-Dance with Death - Kurt Vonnegut

I think I'm going to read Sun-Tzu's, The Art of War now. Its another book that has been recommended to me by a lot of people.

Mike Nelson of MST3K fame?

Today I began reading The Wild Boys by William S. Burroughs. Although he never wrote seriously until he was in his 30s, Burroughs was a natural with language, able to vividly describe a scene with just a few well chosen words.

The Wild Boys opens with a Mexican street scene, centred around the balconies of an apartment building. The queer - Joselito shaves his chest, singing discordantly as his silky hair floats upwards and settles on the food laid out on the balcony above. His mother, Dolores, runs a newspaper kiosk and possesses latent magical powers. On evil eye days she causes her customers to go mad or give birth to stillborn children. When she has the sweet eye, she puts the newspapers away and sells flowers instead. Tio Pepe attempts to spread accidents and misfortune using the power of suggestion, either by standing in the middle of crowds muttering phrases such as “charred bodies” and “fire of unknown origins” or by whispering into the ears of sleeping drunks while kicking them repeatedly in the groin. Tio Mate is an old assassin who shoots a vulture every independence day. By the end of the chapter Pepe and Mate are individually plotting to kill the dog which the blind lottery ticket seller - Tio Gordo – uses to sniff-out torn or counterfeit notes.

William Burroughs was such an original and individual writer and thinker. His work has made great ripples in popular culture that many people aren’t aware of. Together with Brian Gyson he developed the cut up style of writing and recording, whose influence can be seen in the magnetic fridge poetry kits that you can buy in bookshops today and even in the culture of sampling in music. He coined the term ‘beat’ to describe the generation of counter culture writers he is commonly associated with. He also came up with the expression: ‘Heavy metal’. The makers of the film – Blade Runner purchased the title from Burroughs, who had been using it for an unrelated screenplay. I noticed Warren Ellis borrowed his concept of Heaven and Hell as two siege engines for an early issue of Planetary.

May give it a whirl always preferred him as a writer rather than an actor.

I finished the first volume of The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Good stuff...I was surprised at how much I enjoyed these stories. They weren't as needlessly wordy as other stories and novels written at the time - yes, I know that authors were paid per word at the time, but more wordy doesn't always mean more gooder. I liked Doyle's charactization of Holmes, Watson, and almost all the peripheral characters. And the mysteries themselves were fun as well.

I'm taking a break from Holmes. Before I start in on Hound of the Baskervilles and volume 2 (how DID holmes survive his apparent death at the hands of Moriarty in "The Final Problem"?), I wanted to cleanse my palate. So far I've read Lansdale's Bumper Crop (short story collection). Great stuff, Lansdale's horror and weird fiction. Now I'm gonna read Bubba Ho-Tep - the short story AND script collected in one volume. Great movie, if you haven't seen it yet. Bruce Campbell is a great Elvis.

As a side note...what are the chances, Rob or another moderator, that this can get one of those thread push-pins like "What Are You Listening To?" has???

If rob ever made me a mod, the first thing I would do would be to sticky this thread.