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[charsace]

Congrats on finishing up Infinite Jest! For analysis, I'd recommend this guy's musing and insights followed by the full on plot analysis someone worked out.

Here are a few more novels I read recently, but was too lazy to post about in the reading threads at the time:

As part of my weakness for cheesy men's adventure fiction, I picked up the first volume of the Executioner series, War Against The Mafia. This is the book that introduced Mack Bolan, the Vietnam sniper turned vigilante who takes revenge against the mob for killing his family. That's not a spoiler so much as it's the opening chapter and the lead-off for 376 books and counting. I don't think I'll be reading all of them, mind you, but I certainly enjoyed the first book in the series. Mack Bolan is kinda like a fun loving version of the Punisher, who enjoys shacking up with Mafia women and cracking wise here and there as a change of pace between killing mob members left and right. It was a hoot and an incredibly fast read. I'm hoping to pick up a few more volumes today.

Next up was Friday by Robert Heinlein, a book I've been meaning to read ever since I first oggled the cover of a friend's copy in middle school. I somehow missed it when I read a lot of dirty-old-man Heinlein in high school so, inspired by someone's avatar around here, I snagged a used copy recently and tore through it in short order. It's about an artifical human named Friday who works as a courier for a mysterious Boss in the not too distant future. When she's cut off from her home base she undergoes a series of adventures in a sort of coming of age story. In true Heinlein fashion, a lot of this involves sex of one sort or another, with Friday's opinions on the subject being, shall we say, extremely relaxed. As far as late period Heinlein goes, this is a pretty great read; the man could make the phone book a page turner, so when he's dealing with a superhuman navigating various emergencies across the planet, it makes for a good time. It's also put me in the mood to read some more later Heinlein novels I've missed, and I'm hoping to score a copy of Job: A Comedy of Justice or The Door Into Summer today as well.

The last book I finished was Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith, a novel about a Ministry for State Security officer in the Stalinist era Soviet Union who tracks down a serial killer. The catch here is that the State officially has no crime and anyone who would suggest such a thing is probably an enemy of the state. Cue paranoia, exile, and all the totalitarian oppression you can stand. I went into this expecting something more along the lines of Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko novels, but where Renko has a black sense of humor about life in the late Soviet era, things in Child 44 are mostly non-stop grim, grim, grim. Then you throw in serial child murder and, yeah, it's not what you would call a happy read. Also, the way dialogue is written in the book is odd. Here's a sample:

- Why am I talking in italics and with a dash before my dialogue instead of quotations?
- Beats the hell out of me.

You get used to this pretty quickly but, like I said, odd. Overall I enjoyed the book but I didn't completely love it. I might read the follow-up novel The Secret Speech at some point, but probably not anytime soon.

FnordChan

Your welcome

I have to read that mafia book now.

 

[Supervlieg]

Rereading the illuminatus! trilogy again. Still awesome.

 

[nakedsushi]

Finished reading

It was just okay. My review:

I've been wanting to read something by Chiang for a while and as soon as I saw the art on the front of this book, I knew i had to read it. Unfortunately, it didn't deliver all that I wanted.

The title is both very apt and misleading. The short novel is about the life cycle of software objects, but more specifically, it's about a set of virtual pets, called digiums, which develop artificial intelligence. Most of the book covers how people react to the newly introduced digiums and how they get used to them and eventually find them obsolete.

What bothered me about this book was that I could only read it on an intellectual level. There are human characters such as the animator and trainer of the digiums, but they didn't feel very personal and even though each digium seemed to have their own personality, I didn't feel emotionally attached to what happened to them. Part of it could be the way the story is told, in a third person, present tense that reads more like an impartial journal article more than a novel, but I think part of it is also a lot that was left unsaid.

The Life Cycle of Software Objects brings up a lot of philosophical questions such as at what point do you call computer intelligence artificial intelligence, and at what point do you treat AI as a human entity including giving it rights over itself. Unfortunately, those points aren't really talked about much and there didn't seem to be many consequences if you went one way or the other in those arguments.

The biggest thing that bothered me was how it just assumed that AI was developed through nurture, and not nature, which seems like a very big assumption to make without many claims. One could say that the whole story is an example of nurture breeding AI, but that's like making a mathematical proof by contradiction and I'm not a big fan of that.

The ending of the book did bring up a question that will bug me for a long time, though. If we're not just walking, massive databases -- if what makes us human is the ability to learn through experience, if we produce AI that can do the same, would we give it the same rights we have?

 

[Sblargh]

Finished The Wild Palms by Faulkner, which was a bit difficulty, but very rewarding. All his characters are interesting and, oh, pain everywhere.
-
Starting now, by my favourite author:

The title in english is The Wicker Woman.
S2 my Anatole France.

 

[Frostburn]

I just started:

The last 3 books have been good but my main fear is that the series won't be satisfying in the end.

Still worth the trip, it will never live up to everything you want the ending to be but it is still enjoyable and the 4th book you are reading now was my favorite.

 

[Bowflex]

40 pages in and making me think bad thoughts about little girls.

 

[Kuraudo]

Why is Slaughter-house Five so popular? I'm not liking it.

Because it uses simple language to convey deep concepts via an absurdly funny story that juxtaposes the horrors of war. It's a literary masterpiece and you don't need to like it to appreciate it.

 

[hamchan]

Still worth the trip, it will never live up to everything you want the ending to be but it is still enjoyable and the 4th book you are reading now was my favorite.

Nice. I've decided to take a bit of a break from the Dark Tower actually, now I'm resuming this:

I took a break after book 3 a while ago, so I think it's time to start this up again.
So I've gone from one kinda bleak series to another one :lol

 

[Lard]

About halfway through

 

[Coldsnap]

Anyone here going to pickup Hawkings new book?

 

[besada]

Your welcome

I have to read that mafia book now.

I have up to issue #40, which is around the point Don Pendleton sold the rights to Gold and ghost writers took over and began making it stupid. Up until that point, it's basically Punisher for adults without the intrusion of silly superheroes. The writing is pretty basic, but if you ever loved the pulps, it shouldn't be a problem.

I just finished Greg Bear's SLANT and am about to begin FINCH by Jeff VanderMeer.

 

[charsace]

Read this right now.

The first book was a damn good read. Can't wait to see where this series goes.

I have up to issue #40, which is around the point Don Pendleton sold the rights to Gold and ghost writers took over and began making it stupid. Up until that point, it's basically Punisher for adults without the intrusion of silly superheroes. The writing is pretty basic, but if you ever loved the pulps, it shouldn't be a problem.

I just finished Greg Bear's SLANT and am about to begin FINCH by Jeff VanderMeer.

I just noticed the error of my post because of your quote.

Yes, I love pulp style books.

And for people that are looking for scary vampires you should look into David Wellington's vampire series. They are brutal, uncaring, killing machines in his books.

 

[Dresden]

War Music is awesome.

That is all.

 

[dasein]

 

[BanShunsaku]

About 100 or so pages in, the story is just starting to pick up. Pretty decent so far.

 

[KidDork]

My neighbour came over to my fence and insisted I read this. Not wanting to be a dick, I said I would. You know what's like when someone is excited about a book--you don't want to piss on their parade.

Apparently, this is what the show Bones--which I've never seen--is based on. And this is later on in the series, so I have no idea what's going on.

Last year, I lent her Hardcase by Dan Simmons. She lasted three pages before handing it back, horrified. Maybe this is revenge.

 

[peakish]

Previously read Gone, Baby, Gone and Prayers for Rain by Dennis Lehane. The first was incredibly depressing, the second quite good for 1/3 while you were figuring out what was going on, after that pretty standard. Enjoyed them both anyway regardless of the at times almost parody-like clichés.

Now reading:

The Man on the Balcony by Sjöwall/Wahlöö, the third book in the Story of a Crime/Martin Beck series. I love this series, it's still by far the best detective novels I've read and this book is one of the highlights. It's about a series of child murders in Stockholm in 1967.

Paprika, by Yasutaka Tsutsui. Been wanting to read this since I first got to love the movie adaptation by Satoshi Kon, and 1/3 through it so far I'm loving it. An extra bonus to the developments of the story is the constant comparisons to how the movie adapted some things, that's very interesting to think about.

 

[Dan]

Finished Zero History. I really enjoyed it although it gets a bit crazy with how small the world is. Everyone who needs to be found or talked to is already a friend of a friend. Little too much of every musician friend of Hollis' having a connection to her investigation for Bigend. Big spoiler:

Spoiler

I didn't mind the small world aspect when it came to Cayce Pollard's reappearance however, as that makes a lot of sense. Someone's out there beating Bigend in a small way in the fashion industry at his own game, it's totally appropriate for that to turn out to be someone already with a marketing/fashion background who spent time observing Bigend's own processes from the inside. I hugely enjoyed that reveal.

Paprika, by Yasutaka Tsutsui. Been wanting to read this since I first got to love the movie adaptation by Satoshi Kon, and 1/3 through it so far I'm loving it. An extra bonus to the developments of the story is the constant comparisons to how the movie adapted some things, that's very interesting to think about.

I've been meaning to import this for a while, but keep forgetting because it's not on my Amazon wishlist. Nice to hear it's good.

 

[nakedsushi]

Just got done with Grimspace. NOT RECOMMENDED. I forgot where I heard about it, maybe Felicia Day, but man, what an awful, cliched book. The main character is very cardboard and generic. The love interest is totally alpha, tough guy with issues but a heart of gold, and the story is like a very bad fanfic episode of Firefly. I guess that's what I get for straying from the Vorkosigan saga.

 

[Quake1028]

Just Finished

&

Now Reading

&

Reading Last Coyote on the nook.

 

[luxarific]

Just got this

and the new Gibson in. I love fall book season.

 

[Eaten By A Grue]

Just finished:

It was a pretty decent thriller. Not a spoiler: Basically guy travels back in time hour by hour to save his wife. If you are into time traveling type of stuff I suggest giving it a try. I can see this book being made into a movie.


I am buckling up for a long ride and starting:

 

[Dresden]

Actually finished War Music during break at work. Amazing stuff. Don't have much more to say about it--I'll read it again in a few weeks and let it sink in once more.

Started Curse of Chalion by Bujold to get ready for the next Vorkosigan book. This is great stuff, classic Bujold, with perhaps the most logical pantheon of gods I've ever seen in fantasy.

 

[perryfarrell]

Just finished that Franzen novel that's reviewed all over the place, Freedom. Really enjoyed it. Very good.

Franzen doesn't waste much time describing landscapes or interiors, which is a welcome change (he even gets a little dig in on Ian McEwan whose novels one character dislikes because of all the talk of interiors and plants). Franzen also badmouths Bright Eyes, the band. Nice.

The most interesting character is Patty. Married to Walter, they start a family while along the way hitting some rough patches. I think the strength of the book is in the accounts of the relationships, both the romantic ones, and the ones between parents & children. Dialogue's good.

It's perhaps slightly soap-opera-ish, in parts. And there are a few tiny issues with believability. But I liked it a lot overall.

 

[perryfarrell]

aaaaaand I just deleted Franzen's Freedom from my nook.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/10/smaller-than-life/8212/2/

One of the more scathing reviews I've read of a book by such a critical darling. Of course, now that it's made Oprah's Book Club it's sure to get excoriated by the elites.

^ You shouldn't delete it just because B. R. Myers says so. He's known to be a contrarian grumpy old man, picking fights, making little sense with his wacky 'Readers Manifesto' a few years ago.

You should read some reviews by people whose job it is to review or write novels.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Finished Catching Fire this evening. Good shit, can't wait to get the next one.

I think my favorite part was

Spoiler

Katniss hanging the old Head Gamemaker, Seneca Crane, in effigy

. Fucking brilliant and ice cold.

I appreciate that in the second book she further distanced herself from the two Bachman books and Battle Royale by adding other intricacies to the plot. Thus far, book 3 is pretty good, but not as good as the others. I guess the Games setting is

One thing that could use some work is information about the rest of the world. So far I assume Panem is the US, though it's more likely that it's set in North America. That's fine (and I'd really like a map for each district) but what about South America? Europe? I get that it's Katniss' story and we only know what she does, but still. I'm just looking for something to fluff the story out a bit.

 

[afternoon delight]

It's wonderful.

 

[-Kees-]

 

[Guileless]

I just finished a several-month-long reading of the Complete Works of Charles Dickens. Reading through those books has made me a better, faster reader and a better writer. They truly are amazing works and all memorable stories in their own right. My favorites would have to be Nicholas Nickleby and Old Curiosity Shop.

So you finished Bleak House? Kudos to you, sir.

 

[leroy hacker]

Pale Fire

Awesome book.

 

[Maklershed]

Finished Island Beneath the Sea and started Crescent

 

[Guileless]

The Damned United by David Peace--probably incomprehensible to non-football/soccer fans but an interesting experiment as a first person recreation of what an previously successful football manager in the 1970s (Brian Clough) was thinking while he failed spectacularly at a high profile new job. I would recommend the recent film adaption to Americans (with subtitles on) over trying to figure out the slang in this book. More f-bombs than any novel I've ever read.

Troublesome Young Men by Lynne Olson--readable account of British politics in the 1930s, the lead-up to how the Chamberlain government eventually fell to bring Churchill to power, and the renegade Tory politicians who made it happen and are now largely forgotten.

Millennium Falcon by James Luceno--standard Star Wars fare.

An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears--very long historical novel set in Restoration England. I've just started. It's very slow-moving so far, and would be better suited to being read in the wintertime when distractions are fewer in number. May shelve it until then.

 

[ymmv]

An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears--very long historical novel set in Restoration England. I've just started. It's very slow-moving so far, and would be better suited to being read in the wintertime when distractions are fewer in number. May shelve it until then.

I loved that book. It was filled with wonderful details about life during 17th century England, the beginning of the scientific method, etc. So many aspects of those times were so strange to a modern reader, it felt like reading a science fiction novel at times. And then there's the Rashomon method of looking at the same events through the eyes of various characters. It's both a terrific history novel and a great who-dunnit.

I recently bought Iain Pears' new book Stone's Fall, I hope it's just as good.

 

[KingGondo]

Still reading Blood Meridian, but I've been completely absorbed in The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman. Utterly engrossing stuff, and the most exciting part is that it's still being written as we speak.

Strangely, it reminds me quite a bit of Song of Ice and Fire, in the sense that while both are technically genre works (fantasy, zombie horror), they transcend their respective genres because of the strong characters and devastating plot twists. MAJOR characters are routinely killed off, just as in ASOIAF. And just as in Martin's books, while the world has the trappings of a typical work in its genre, the most interesting conflicts are between the characters themselves.

Highly recommended (and this is coming from someone who's not zombie-obsessed), and looking forward to the show on AMC.

 

[besada]

Couldn't find my copy of FINCH, so I'm re-reading VanderMeer's SHRIEK: AN AFTERWORD in preparation for when I finally find FINCH. I'd forgotten how amazingly good it is. I put it down last night and couldn't stop seeing one of the major images of the book in my head.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

I appreciate that in the second book she further distanced herself from the two Bachman books and Battle Royale by adding other intricacies to the plot. Thus far, book 3 is pretty good, but not as good as the others. I guess the Games setting is

One thing that could use some work is information about the rest of the world. So far I assume Panem is the US, though it's more likely that it's set in North America. That's fine (and I'd really like a map for each district) but what about South America? Europe? I get that it's Katniss' story and we only know what she does, but still. I'm just looking for something to fluff the story out a bit.

MockingJay is so shitastic I don't even know where to begin. I don't think I have seen a writer screw up their own series so badly. She clearly has no idea what she wanted to do with the 3rd book and so it has no direction. Terrible stuff

 

[Scottify]

Currently reading The Living Dead. A series of zombie related short stories. Some really great stories and very different than I would've suspected.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

I appreciate that in the second book she further distanced herself from the two Bachman books and Battle Royale by adding other intricacies to the plot. Thus far, book 3 is pretty good, but not as good as the others. I guess the Games setting is

One thing that could use some work is information about the rest of the world. So far I assume Panem is the US, though it's more likely that it's set in North America. That's fine (and I'd really like a map for each district) but what about South America? Europe? I get that it's Katniss' story and we only know what she does, but still. I'm just looking for something to fluff the story out a bit.

lol...forgot to complete my thought:
I guess the Games setting is more important than the rebels scheming/takeover.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Just finished this. I thought I would enjoy it more than I did. I've heard tons of praise for Pratchett and his humor but for my money I'd take Douglas Adam's anytime. Although, I did read a bunch of reviews on amazon that say that this is one of the weaker Discworld books even though it is the first. I might give another one a try at some point since they are so short but it won't be anytime soon.



Now, it's on to:

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

lol...forgot to complete my thought:
I guess the Games setting is more important than the rebels scheming/takeover.

Yeah you are completely right and will be proven more so once you finish the book. She obviously had a great idea that was the hunger games. The arena the fighting all that was where she had a lot of her inspiration and where the real draw of the book is. Outside of the arena she is clearly in unfamiliar territory and doesn't know how to write the series without them fighting for their lives. The book like I said just goes nowhere as a result and characters you have come to really enjoy end up being shallow husks of themselves since they are given no reason for growth.

 

[Guileless]

I loved that book. It was filled with wonderful details about life during 17th century England, the beginning of the scientific method, etc. So many aspects of those times were so strange to a modern reader, it felt like reading a science fiction novel at times. And then there's the Rashomon method of looking at the same events through the eyes of various characters. It's both a terrific history novel and a great who-dunnit.

I recently bought Iain Pears' new book Stone's Fall, I hope it's just as good.

It has received rapturous praise so I will give it every shot. It has started slowly though.

If you enjoyed it as a period piece about the genesis of science, I recommendGalileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson.

 

[VistraNorrez]

Just finished this. I thought I would enjoy it more than I did. I've heard tons of praise for Pratchett and his humor but for my money I'd take Douglas Adam's anytime. Although, I did read a bunch of reviews on amazon that say that this is one of the weaker Discworld books even though it is the first. I might give another one a try at some point since they are so short but it won't be anytime soon.

You didn't read The Light Fantastic? It's a direct continuation of that book, which is to say it's the other half of the story. And Colour of Magic is the weakest Discworld book.

 

[Dolemitesooner]

 

[FiRez]

I never liked the Stranger but recently I read The Myth of Sisyphus and it completely changed my concept of him, The Plague is better than I expected

 

[naib]

One review described it as Night of the Living Dead meets Michael Crichton. Sold!
I love me some zombie pap.

 

[sparky2112]

So you finished Bleak House? Kudos to you, sir.

Didn't you?

 

[nakedsushi]

Oh, somehow I thought it was a short story collection. If you found it disappointing, make sure to at least read some of Ted Chiang's shorts, which are almost uniformly awesome.

Yeah, I thought it was a short story collection too, but no. Just a short book. I think it would have been better if it were condensed into a short story, but as it is now, it feels too diluted. I think the huge time jumps between chapters (like when a year goes by) really alienates the readers from the story.

Am about 40% into this now. I started reading it yesterday at work while waiting for some script to finish and now I'm hooked. Someone described it as historical fiction + paranormal romance, but it feels more like alternate universe + paranormal romance.

 

[Guileless]

Didn't you?

I tried on two separate occasions and put it down each time after reading about 10-15% of it.

 

[crowphoenix]

I never liked the Stranger but recently I read The Myth of Sisyphus and it completely changed my concept of him, The Plague is better than I expected

The Plague is an amazing book. I read it in one of my favorite lit classes in college.

 

[Carlisle]

Amazing so far. Can't put it down.