Stuff you read this month.

I've been reading Made in America by Bil Bryson - a simple, humorous and very insightful at various aspects of American history and culture.

Post edited by: ravenus, at: 2007/08/19 18:09<br><br>Post edited by: ravenus, at: 2007/09/04 14:39

2nd part of Philip Pullman's Dark Materials series - The Subtle Knife. Again, more good ideas with a very rough descriptive style. Still, he seems to be doing a decent job tying together all the ends he's fashioned. A couple of important characters killed off at the end, too. Just have the last one to go through now.<br><br>Post edited by: chaxster, at: 2007/08/19 21:50

In the comics - Glenn Danzig's Death Dealer

Seems about meh-ish till now...

Read Orbiter. Now reading issue #3 of Nextwave. Seems alright up until now.

Finished Planetary issue #26. Will have to go through some of them again, I might have left some holes here and there that are to be filled in.

Also started Preacher today. Sexy

Re-read Mick Foley’s Have a Nice Day. Third time around and its still a pretty good read. Anyone who had even a passing interest in wrestling must read this book. Even people who never saw Foley fly off the top of the cage should find this pretty entertaining.

Also picked up Terry Pratchett’s The Truth. While not at par with the best of the Discworld books (Small Gods, Thief of Time etc) it’s a fairly good read and well worth the 270 rupees I spent on it. To be honest I haven’t come across a Discworld novel which blows yet. At worst they manage to be more interesting than the vast majority of books out there and so far I am yet to abandon one midway. Next in line – The Wee Free Men.

I finally picked up a copy of V for Vendetta so I’ll probably be reading that again over the weekend and wondering how badly they’re going to fuck up the Watchmen movie.

“Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willnae be fooled again!”

Finished The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. The protagonist is basically a younger version of Granny Weatherwax and the story is somewhat similar to Lords and Ladies with a larger role given to the Nac Mac Feegle. A very entertaining book and recommended reading for anyone who likes the Discworld novels. I'm definitely picking up A Hat Full of Sky – the next book in this arc.

Oh and as per this site Sam Raimi is going to handle the movie adaptation. I find it rather fitting that the site is called chud.com

loki wrote:
I finally picked up a copy of V for Vendetta so I’ll probably be reading that again over the weekend and wondering how badly they’re going to fuck up the Watchmen movie.[/quote]


From Hell, Watchmen, V For Vendetta are stellar works by Alan Moore. He's an epic talent. Enjoy.

I'm reading John Dolan's Pleasant Hell, just finished reading Matt Taibbi's Spanking The Donkey, which is sadly a collection of articles I'd already read, with a few new bits.

Post edited by: slashgod, at: 2007/09/04 14:17<br><br>Post edited by: slashgod, at: 2007/09/05 15:33

Read A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett. Decentish stuff which doesn't quite rise up to the mark set by The Wee Free Men. Might or might not check out Wintersmith now.

Finished reading The Scar by China Mieville. A huge sprawling narrative which managed to keep me interested for the majority of it's 800 or so pages. Classifying it in a genre would be a bit tricky since it's part sci-fi, part fantasy and part horror but all of it comes together pretty well. If you're into fantasy fiction which doesn't follow your standard sword and sorcery formula then this is definitely recommended reading.

So far I had only been able to read his short stories but now I will definitely be checking out the other books. suggestions welcome.

Next up - The Wind up Bird Chronicle.

loki wrote:
Finished reading The Scar by China Mieville...

So far I had only been able to read his short stories but now I will definitely be checking out the other books. suggestions welcome.[/quote]


Good show. I suggest Perdido Street Station, which was written before this one. I have to warn you that it's a lot more sprawling than The Scar and it occasionally gets maddening when he leaves important plot threads standing while he goes into hyper-detailed descriptions of hitherto unexplored parts of his world but I found it on the whole a more emotionally rewarding read than The Scar.

Me, I read a couple of stories from Michael Moorcock's collection London Bone. I feel rather boned over it, because both the stories were thoroughly unexciting reminiscences of old women in London about their childhood/youth. Seems tailored for sentimental geriatrics :puke:

Well, over the last month, I've been going through the King's works. Bag of Bones, Haerts in Atlantis, Dreamcatcher and Rose Madder. Revisited Salem's Lot, got bored midway and abandoned it. I find King to be really commercial, I mean at times you'd wish he was grittier and hardcore, bulk of his work seems to me to be like watching a feather float in the air. A mature version of children's fairytales. Anyone think so? Everyone I come across states King as their fav, if it's to fit in or not, I don't know. But I frankly get bored at times. I mean anyone who doesn't dig King at all here?

I dig King on a book to book basis. I love Different Seasons, Hearts in Atlantis, The Shining, The Gunslinger...and some others. I don't have a problem with him not being grittier and hardcore and don't see it as an essential part of his being a good writer. In fact he hits some awesome emotional notes with me in the sentimental first para of The Body novella from Different Seasons.

Ah, for me King is a great writer when he's on. While he has come up with a few clunkers in his time I personally like a lot of his early novels and short stories. When on he manages to do a pretty effective job of telling a story and while there are writers who do better in the blood and guts area I never considered that to be an essential part of my reading experience. So it works out fine for me.
Btw Salem's Lot is one of my favourite Stephen King books.

Much as i like Salem's Lot it seriously drags in the middle. But the last one-fourth is pretty good. King with a few rare exceptions most of which have been mentioned by ravenus is only a qualified success as a writer.

I very much tempted to read a Stephen King book going by the loads of good reviews online. Long time back I picked up Christine but i had to stop after a few pages because it was simply dragged a lot.

Would this book be similar to his best books or is it amongst his clunkers ?<br><br>Post edited by: sabman, at: 2007/09/06 19:49