|
|
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,081
... 10000+ posts
|
... 10000+ posts
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,081 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,342
Peacock Teaser 3000+ posts
|
|
Peacock Teaser 3000+ posts
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,342 |
I love Tom's Clacny's stuff. Keep in mind, my dad's read a ton of a lot more than I did. But Hunt for Red October, Red Rabbit, and Patriot Games were great reads.
"You're either lying or stupid."
"I'm stupid! I'm stupid!"
Megatron and Starscream
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
Hunt For Red October is the first, right?
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,342
Peacock Teaser 3000+ posts
|
|
Peacock Teaser 3000+ posts
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,342 |
It was the first 'Jack Ryan' novel, but Red Rabbit actually occurs first.
Very minor spoilers...not a spoiler if you've seen the movies...
I think the order is different from the movies, but it's been so long I can't remember. I think the movies are out of order. If I remember correctly, in Patriot Games, Jack already has Sally for a daughter and Cathy is expectly Little Jack. And by the time Hunt for Red October takes place, Little Jack is a todler and Sally's five or so. And when they made The Hunt for Red October into a movie, they omitted Little Jack, so that when Patriot Games came around, Cathy could be pregnant. But I can't remember if Red Rabbit takes place before or after Patriot Games.
"You're either lying or stupid."
"I'm stupid! I'm stupid!"
Megatron and Starscream
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
So should I read Red Rabbit first? Or does it matter?
The movies have taken on their own continuity. It would be impossible to keep them the same since the movies were are in a different order chronologically.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,342
Peacock Teaser 3000+ posts
|
|
Peacock Teaser 3000+ posts
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,342 |
Really, read whichever first. The situations and characters are all so different it doesn't matter. The Hunt for Red October was my first book by Clancy. It does mention 'the incident in London where Ryan stopped IRA terrorists from assassinating the Prince of Wales', but it doesn't go into so much detail that it ruins reading Patriot Games. (In fact, readers had to wait years in between Red October and Patriot Games to get details on how Jack got himself knighted by the Queen.)
It's hard for me to choose which book is my favorite. The Hunt for Red October has such an interesting concept (defecting Russian officers and the 'catapiller' sub system), but Patriot Games took a look at pre-September 11th terrorism and it's effects on the United States, as well as the politics of the IRA compared to the Soviet Union. Perhaps, since I'm more interesting in Ireland than in Russia, I find the factual portion of the novel more interesting, but I have reread both books several times.
"You're either lying or stupid."
"I'm stupid! I'm stupid!"
Megatron and Starscream
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
I'm gonna start with The Hunt For Red October. Just because that was his first and I've been wanting to read it for a while now.
Was Patriot Games a lot like the movie? I saw it about a year ago and thought it was good.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
Quote:
rex said:
Quote:
rex said:
About A Boy by Nick Hornby.
I've given up on this book.
I got about a third of the way through and lost all interest. All the characters were shallow and uninteresting. Probably one of the worst books I've attempted to read in a long time.
I need to rant about this book.
the main character, Will, is an ass. He lies about being a parent to get single women to like him. He ends up meeting Julia who is had a son, Marcus, who is twelve years old. Julia tries to commit suicide and is a complete ass. She doesn't care about her kid and cries all the time. Marcus becomes friends with Will behind his moms back. He says he needs a father figure but Will is just as immature as him. Marcus finds out that Will doesn't have a kid, and then Will comes clean with everyone. At this point I thought the Will would try to start over and stop lying. But no, he meets another woman and tells her that Marcus is his son, even though he is not. Then Will convinces Marcus to pretend he is his son around the new woman.
This is when I stopped reading it. I can't stand reading books where everyone is a liar and has no morals. I don't care how it ends. I read two-thirds of it before giving up. A book should have you completely hooked by then. None of the characters were relatable, so I didn't care what happened to them. I don't care if Will redeemed himself or not. By the time I stopped reading the book, I didn't care anymore.
There was no moral character in this book. This was like that horrible movie everyone recommended, Prelude to a dream. Dumb asses doing dumbass things to themselves, but in the books case, with out drugs. I hate stories like that.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,342
Peacock Teaser 3000+ posts
|
|
Peacock Teaser 3000+ posts
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,342 |
Quote:
rex said:
I'm gonna start with The Hunt For Red October. Just because that was his first and I've been wanting to read it for a while now.
Was Patriot Games a lot like the movie? I saw it about a year ago and thought it was good.
Sean Miller's fate is slightly different in the book. My dad and I still argue over which is better. But the overall plot is the same. It's the details that make is so different from the movie -- it's not that the movie contradicts the book, its just that the book goes into more detail.
"You're either lying or stupid."
"I'm stupid! I'm stupid!"
Megatron and Starscream
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
I don't remember the movie that well. I only saw it once or twice when it first came out.
Are all the characters the same? That way I could put faces to the names, which really helps when I read a book. Its one of the reasons I read so many Star Wars books.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,342
Peacock Teaser 3000+ posts
|
|
Peacock Teaser 3000+ posts
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,342 |
All of the characters are pretty much the same. Although I've always had the original Hunt for Red October Dr. Cathy Ryan in my head (she was the doctor on 'Star Trek'...I can't remember her name, but she was only in the movie for a few seconds). Plus I've always had my own idea of what Jack Ryan looks like, mostly because I read the books way before seeing the movies. I never did think Alec Baldwin or Harrison Ford were a perfect match. However, most of the secondary characters (played by Sean Connery, Sam Neil, Sean Bean, James Earl Jones, William Dafoe, etc), I've always mentally pictured as they were in the movies.
Oh, and I'll post my review of Lady Chatterley when I'm done with the third version. I'm almost done with the second.
"You're either lying or stupid."
"I'm stupid! I'm stupid!"
Megatron and Starscream
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
I forgot how many good actors were in the movie.
I'll start reading it tonight. I'm still trying to get through We The Living, and I need at least one book that will entertain me.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,153
Unbreakable 3000+ posts
|
|
Unbreakable 3000+ posts
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,153 |
Currently? The Lord of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Ring. It took some time to get past the first 50 pages or so...
Otherwise I like to read SF, have read several books by Isaac Asimov. I also like classics from the 19th Century, by Arthur Conan Doyle, Jules Verne, Alexander Dumas the older, etc.
"Batman is only meaningful as an answer to a world which in its basics is chaotic and in the hands of the wrong people, where no justice can be found. I think it's very suitable to our perception of the world's condition today... Batman embodies the will to resist evil" -Frank Miller
"Conan, what's the meaning of life?"
"To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women!"
-Conan the Barbarian
"Well, yeah."
-Jason E. Perkins
"If I had a dime for every time Pariah was right about something I'd owe twenty cents."
-Ultimate Jaburg53
"Fair enough. I defer to your expertise."
-Prometheus
Rack MisterJLA!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
I finished reading About A Boy Today. I knew I said I wan't going to, but I'm glad I did. The last part of the book was so bad it was funny. I'll have a review up soon.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 9,769
cookie monster 7500+ posts
|
|
cookie monster 7500+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 9,769 |
Currently reading "Out" by Natsuo Kirino. Its her first novel that's been translated from Japanese to English. Very creepy murder story. She's supposed to be one of Japan's biggest crime novelists - and from what I've read so far, I can see why. The whole murder/cover up as she writes it gives me the chills. Great read!
 Dear, sweet Harley Kwink...I'm madly in love with you. Marry me! We can go to Canadia. Or Boston or something. It'll be grand...You know the cookies are a given. They are ALWAYS a given. You could dump me tomorrow and you'd still get the cookies. Boston..shit, wherever dyke weddings were legalized. And where better to rub their little piggie noses in how bad they suck than right on their doorstep? What are they gonna do? Be jealous of you? Stare furiously at your tah-tahs? Not willingly give you cookies, but instead begrudgingly give you their cookies? Woman, time to wake up to the powers you wield - Uschi
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 28,009
Inglourious Basterd!!! 15000+ posts
|
|
OP
Inglourious Basterd!!! 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 28,009 |
Let me know how that is, Harley. I've seen it in bookstores, have had it recommended to my by Amazon, and have come oh-so-close to buying it. If you give it a good review after finishing it, I'll buy it.
Uschi said:I won't rape you, I'll just fuck you 'till it hurts and then not stop and you'll cry. MisterJLA: RACKS so hard, he called Jim Rome "Chris Everett." In Him, all porn is possible. He is far above mentions in so-called "blogs." RACK him, lest ye be lost! "I can't even brush my teeth without gagging!" - Tommy Tantillo: Wank & Cry, heckpuppy, and general laughingstock ![[Linked Image from i6.photobucket.com]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/JoeMama13/RedSoxBanner05.png)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,342
Peacock Teaser 3000+ posts
|
|
Peacock Teaser 3000+ posts
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,342 |
Finished the second version of Lady Chatterley's Lover, but I can't get a copy of the book until this weekend. So I'll read Rebecca, since I liked the Hitchcock movie so much.
"You're either lying or stupid."
"I'm stupid! I'm stupid!"
Megatron and Starscream
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,948
4000+ posts
|
|
4000+ posts
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,948 |
I just finished The Confusion, the second volume in Neal Stephenson's The Baroque Cycle. So now I get to start on The System of the World, the third and final volume. The thing had better be good. It's a thousand pages long.
Thing is- I can’t spell or type. I spell so badly my spell check doesn’t even know what I was trying to spell. And I have five Eisners HAHAHAHHA!!
-Brian Michael Bendis
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,081
... 10000+ posts
|
|
... 10000+ posts
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,081 |
- Works of Love by Soren Kierkegaard
- On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche (still)
- Proper Confidence and The Gospel in a Pluralist Society by Lesslie Newbigin
- Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity by Richard Rorty
- Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nieztsche
...four more weeks 'til graduation...
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 9,769
cookie monster 7500+ posts
|
|
cookie monster 7500+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 9,769 |
Quote:
Joe Mama said:
Let me know how that is, Harley. I've seen it in bookstores, have had it recommended to my by Amazon, and have come oh-so-close to buying it. If you give it a good review after finishing it, I'll buy it.
Heya Joe!
Okaybee, here's the dealio. It's a solid read and I enjoyed it overall, though I would be interested in discussing the fates of the four protagonists here and what it says about how women are viewed in Japanese society. (But I digress.) Before I get into this though, I am just letting you know that what I tell you (or anyone who read this) is nothing that you wouldn't find in the summary on the back of the book cover, so no bitching that I spoiled the story or something, kay? 
The story focuses on four women who, due to their unfortunate circumstances, work together in a non-descript factory job making boxed lunches during the night shift. One of the women snaps one night and kills her cheating husband. That's not really the big issue here though, as the murder itself only takes up two paragraphs in the entire book. The interesting part of this story is how this young, pretty mother enlists her co-workers into helping her dispose of the body and cover-up the crime. Part of the shock is how brutal and gory a manner the cover-up is done and how calcuating and manipulative each woman becomes in the aftermath in order to stay a step ahead of the police - and as it turns out, the yakuza as well.
The heart of this story lies in Kirino's ability to make her characters sympathetic, despite the horror of their actions. The ring leader in the cover-up, is Masako, who really is the soul of this book. Like each the other women, she is seeking an "out" of her sad and pathetic existence (hence the title), but it takes an atrocity of this magnitude to shake each of them out of their docile acceptance of their respective situations.
Kirino gives us a chilling look at how the yakuza works; the tension of trying to outsmart the police, and an obsessed crime boss both who are trying to either trap or kill these four; and the psychological effects and rationalizations that each woman comes up with in order to cope with what she has done. In the end the book is more about the desperate situations that drove these four to commit such extreme actions and and IMHO is also a commentary on the place that women have in Japanese society.
I hope this helps, without having given away too much of the details. If you read it, let me know what you think.
Dear, sweet Harley Kwink...I'm madly in love with you. Marry me! We can go to Canadia. Or Boston or something. It'll be grand...You know the cookies are a given. They are ALWAYS a given. You could dump me tomorrow and you'd still get the cookies. Boston..shit, wherever dyke weddings were legalized. And where better to rub their little piggie noses in how bad they suck than right on their doorstep? What are they gonna do? Be jealous of you? Stare furiously at your tah-tahs? Not willingly give you cookies, but instead begrudgingly give you their cookies? Woman, time to wake up to the powers you wield - Uschi
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 28,009
Inglourious Basterd!!! 15000+ posts
|
|
OP
Inglourious Basterd!!! 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 28,009 |
I'll check it out. 
Uschi said:I won't rape you, I'll just fuck you 'till it hurts and then not stop and you'll cry. MisterJLA: RACKS so hard, he called Jim Rome "Chris Everett." In Him, all porn is possible. He is far above mentions in so-called "blogs." RACK him, lest ye be lost! "I can't even brush my teeth without gagging!" - Tommy Tantillo: Wank & Cry, heckpuppy, and general laughingstock
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
I'm about half way through Hunt for Red October.
The library here is having a book sale and I found most of Tom Clancys hardcovers for a dollar each. I'm gonna go back tomorrow and buy them.
They also had Neil Gaimans "American Gods" for a dollar, so I got that also.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 507
500+ posts
|
|
500+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 507 |
Do audio books count?
I'm "reading" Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods.
Bringing a little order to message boards everywhere!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
So I went back to the book fair and got "Patriot Games" and "Red Rabbit" which are the two books that came before Red October, which I'm almost done reading.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,342
Peacock Teaser 3000+ posts
|
|
Peacock Teaser 3000+ posts
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,342 |
I think when I get back to my parent's house I'll pick up a few more Clancy books. I never finished Red Storm Rising, and I know my dad has others -- The Cardinal and the Kremlin, Politika, The Bear and the Dragon, and Clear and Present Danger. I may try some of those for my summer reading.
"You're either lying or stupid."
"I'm stupid! I'm stupid!"
Megatron and Starscream
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 22,618
Your death will make me king! 15000+ posts
|
|
Your death will make me king! 15000+ posts
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 22,618 |
The Year's Best Science Fiction
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 10,794 Likes: 3
Doog the MIGHTY 10000+ posts
|
|
Doog the MIGHTY 10000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 10,794 Likes: 3 |
just bought Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman, which is a collection of his short stories. I'm reading Murder Mystery right now. I already read it as a graphic novel but it's much more satisfying reading it this way.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
Finished Hunt for Red October. I thought it was good, but since I saw the movie first it took a lot of the suspense out of it.
Now I'm reading Watership Down.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 6,236
The Swizzler.... 6000+ posts
|
|
The Swizzler.... 6000+ posts
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 6,236 |
Just finished, "The Last Unicorn," awwwwwwwwww SO GOOD!!!!!! As awesome as Doyen said it was going to be.....wow...I love semi-happy endings!!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,342
Peacock Teaser 3000+ posts
|
|
Peacock Teaser 3000+ posts
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,342 |
Do not watch the cartoon. It was weird, just so you know. They're remaking a live-action version the movie, oddly enough with most of the original cast (Lee, Lansbury, Farrow).
The book was pretty good though. I loaned a copy of it my cousin.
"You're either lying or stupid."
"I'm stupid! I'm stupid!"
Megatron and Starscream
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 6,236
The Swizzler.... 6000+ posts
|
|
The Swizzler.... 6000+ posts
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 6,236 |
Really CJ? I heard I should "watch" the cartoon version after reading the book because it helps with perspective. Thanks for the forwarning though!
I don't know if it's a good idea to make it into a live-action version though....some things are just left better to the imagination.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 10,794 Likes: 3
Doog the MIGHTY 10000+ posts
|
|
Doog the MIGHTY 10000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 10,794 Likes: 3 |
"The Last Unicorn"? "Watership Down"? are you people getting your reading list from Donnie Darko?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 190
100+ posts
|
|
100+ posts
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 190 |
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Finding it more and more compelling as I read on...
By the pricking of my thumbs something wicked this way comes.....
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
Finished Watership Down yesterday.
I'm going to read Shardik next.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 340
300+ posts
|
|
300+ posts
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 340 |
Quote:
"The Last Unicorn"? "Watership Down"? are you people getting your reading list from Donnie Darko?
I can barely remeber "THe Last Unicorn," but "Watership Down" is badassed. There are a lot of deep existential themes in the movie. I haven't read the book, yet I think I'll put it on my summer reading list.
I'm also hoping to get to the last Dune prequel "Battle of Corrino." But, the last thing I read for fun was Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End."
I am a man with needs. Rack JLA!!!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
I posted a mini-review of Watership Down in this thread.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 5,813
I Am Groot 5000+ posts
|
|
I Am Groot 5000+ posts
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 5,813 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
Finished Patriot Games yesterday.
Very good book. I thought it was a lot better than Hunt For Red October. It had some odd points to it, but overall I really enjoyed it.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,081
... 10000+ posts
|
|
... 10000+ posts
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,081 |
Waking the Dead by John Eldredge
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
|
|
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
Because Cowgirl Jack kept bothering me about it, I read Sharpe's rifles by Bernard Cornwell. Good book. It was a little difficult to get into for me because of the time it was set in and I had some trouble keeping track of everything going on in the battles, but still a good book.
I'm going to read Sharpe's Eagle next, then Red Rabbit.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
|
|
|
|
|
