WHAT are you reading right now?

[Shyandquietguy]

I bought and just started on the first book in the Redwall novels.

[Chugs]

I'm to stupid to read.

The last book I had read to me was "To kill a mocking bird"

It was good, I liked it.

[Emu]

I started reading Atlas Shrugged. This is going to be a long book. :(

[kellychaos]

The Sunborn by Gregory Benford. A continuation of his martian exploration series and not his best work but already a third into it. It's plot is excrutiatingly slow. He does have several earlier novels that I've like, though.

[Dina S Burroughs]

I started to read 'Nine Stories' by Salinger...but it pretty much just makes me angry as they all seem to follow the same format and end without any resolution. If anyone can explain anything about it to me...please do.

[Mr. Oysterhead]

The Art of War by Sun-Tzu.

[Master of Demise]

This thread.

[kellychaos]

"This thread" joke ++

[marmielake]

i bet alot of people posted the name of a book they thought was impressive to try and look smart.

[kellychaos]

Some more than once. :/

So what have you read lately, smartypanties?!

P.S. You better impress me! >:

[Emu]

I got some money for my birthday so I picked up like 20 books. Right now I'm trying to focus on Steven Pinker's How the Mind Works, but I'ma lso distracted by a bunch of other books I need to read. GERK

[marmielake]

hold on i have to look up an impressive book title

[kellychaos]

Be honest. We're all friends, here.

[marmielake]

im reading about quilt making
>:
its called the book on quilt making

[kellychaos]

Interesting reading? Good in patches? Bad in patches?

[marmielake]

no

[Pharaoh]

'The ****** of the Narcissus' by Joseph Conrad.

[xbxDaniel]

The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy.

[Womti]

I'm reading Night Shift by Stephen King.

[Fathom Zero]

The Steam-Punk Edition of Heavy Metal.

[executioneer]

the moon is a harsh mistress by bob heinlein :eek

[Johnny Couth]

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

[Pub Lover]

Neil Gaiman - 'Sandman'

Maybe I'll finish it this time.

[Miss Modular]

I just finished Mary Gaitskill's new one, Veronica. I got Mary McCarthy's The Company She Keeps today from Amazon, and I'd like to start it tomorrow.

[Marine]

book 4 by Aleister Crowley

[Pub Lover]

Neil Gaiman - 'Sandman: A Dream Of A Thousand Cats'

[kahljorn]

"book 4 by Aleister Crowley"
You shouldn't read Liber ABA until you have read Liber vel Jugorum. As far as crowlian yoga goes, Liber vel Jugorum is the first two steps. You don't want to start doing yoga(liber aba is based on yoga) until you've mastered those two or you could potentially go insane like Krishna.
http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib3.html
Doing pranayama and the asanas(energy working) come well after you've learned to control your mind, because you don't want energy in places in your mind that could 'activate your mind' when you can't control it properly. It can actually make you quite sick, especially if you are considering the asanas as a means to moving/freeing blood throughout the body.

I'm reading Cosmic Trigger by robert anton wilson. Good book.

[xbxDaniel]

Are the new Dark Tower series worth reading?

The Stand - Stephen King

[King Hadas]

Are the new Dark Tower series worth reading?
Its funny you should mention that because I just finished reading the first two books in the series and am starting up on the third one. I've really liked what I've read so far but I've heard some pretty steep criticisms about the later books.

[Fathom Zero]

Battle Royale: Volume 1 - Koushun Takami

[Terra]

Dean Koontz "Forever Odd." I read the first one "Odd Thomas" and that was great. This one hasn't grabbed me yet.

[King Hadas]

I just finished reading the third Dark Tower story, Charlie the Choo-Choo train has got to be the best example of foreshadowing I've ever seen in a book.

[Big McLargehuge]

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes can't understand what happens unless you understand how it all began.

[Emu]

I'm kind of reading three books:

"Lucy's Child" by Donald Johanson and James Shreeve - It'st he sequel to Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind. It's about paleoanthropology. :eek

"The Blank Slate" by Steven Pinker - I just finished "How the Mind Works" and was enamored so I picked this up :eek

"Under the Banner of Heaven: A History of Violent Faith" by Jon Krakauer - It's about freaky polygamist Mormons. :eek

[Moobs]

Just finished: Darren Shan - Trials of Death
Now reading: Darren Shan - The Vampire Prince

[xbxDaniel]

The Stand - Stephen King

[DrGonzo]

Cell-Stephen King

[Fathom Zero]

The Dark Tower VII by Stephen King
(We sure do like his novels, no?)

[executioneer]

i don't

[doopa]

I bought that "Fastfood nation" book and will be reading it on the plane tomorrow

[Sethomas]

I read that back in '02 for a Social Science class. The professor thought that we needed to be rounded out by something contemporary. I loved it, but the writing is banal and predictable. All journalistic articles of the past decade have the exact same structure to them (NOT the inverted pyramid), and Schlosser begins each and every chapter like he's doing a human interests piece in US Weekly. I guess it's because modern Americans don't like reading about facts and figures unless they're written as being one investigator's quest for the truth, which incidentally happens to be a bunch of facts and figures.

[Blasted Child]

I read Catch 22 by Joseph Heller when I'm not reading literature for my thesis.
I just finished Foucault's Pendulum which was one of my favourite books so far.

Jonny Couth:
I've been meaning to pick up Hesse again when I get the time, I really enjoyed Goldmund and Narcissus. Tell me what you thought of Siddharta when you're done with it

[Trash]

Koroshiya 1, book 10, page where Kakihara's penis gets chopped in half.

[Fathom Zero]

Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

The movie just took out all of the good parts and replaced them with action scenes.
It made interesting points about Value, Morals, and Character.
Very, Very Good.
Has my personal recommendation.

[Fathom Zero]

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/3336/05064sz.jpg

Heavy Metal: May 2oo6

[Terra]

I'm getting ready to read "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time" by Mark Haddon.

After that I'll be reading "Cell" by Stephen King. I hope that is a good one.

[morarity]

finished "Cyberia" by Douglass Rushkoff last night. I chose Communication Studies as my major because I had just read a couple books by him and he's supposed to be a "media theorist", but then I found out it wasn't a real major.

[Fathom Zero]

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/8314/fistfullofblood0re.jpg

Fistful of Blood by Kevin Eastman and Simon Bisley.

[Pharaoh]

I love rooting around old secondhand bookshops, and the other day I came across this old Kipling book of poems for £2.50, Songs From Books. It intrigued me because of the swastika on the cover, and also because the quality of paper and printing was so much better than today's issues. Of course Kipling used the swastika because it was an ancient Indian sign of good luck and peace and when the Nazis started to use the symbol he stopped using it. But I still felt a bit self-consciousÂ*when I bought it, and it reminded me of Winston Smith furtively buying an old diary in '1984'. Anyway although I don't usually like poetry much, I enjoyed reading it and I recommend it.

http://i1.tinypic.com/x3uzjo.jpg

[Pharaoh]

Also I'm enjoying reading Jarhead by Anthony Swofford.

[Novelist1982]

I am currently reading "Full Tilt" by Neal Shusterman. Its a psychological fantasy story.

[Fathom Zero]

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/8598/07068jx.jpg

Heavy Metal Magazine: July 2oo6

[Fathom Zero]

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

[WhiteRat]

Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis.

This is the first book in years that i've actually read and it makes me feel oh so productive.

[executioneer]

name of the rose by umberto eco

[Big Papa Goat]

The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil
I don't know if it's the way it's translated from German or what, but this book is weirdly hilarious.

[xbxDaniel]

I've got back into Clancy novels. Finished up Rainbow Six and Cardinal of the Kremlin recently. Going to get Clear and Present Danger soon.

[Terra]

Bleachers by John Grisham

[RaNkeri]

Bored of the Rings by Harvard Lampoon. God only knows how many times I've read this book sofar :/

[Novelist1982]

I am re-reading "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton. It is a book I read in high school, and I thought it was time to really understand what it was about.

[Fathom Zero]

I had to read that three times one year at two different schools. I knew so much about it at the end of the seventh grade, I hated it.

But, currently I am reading:

http://img331.imageshack.us/img331/4290/sum063vn.jpg

Heavy Metal Magazine: Summer o6

[Miss Modular]

V, by Thomas Pynchon. I'm almost halfway through it. :)

[Juttin]

I've been reading up on Nostradamus' Prophecies, and sometimes the authors try to interpret his way of writing them nito future events, and also match some with past events :/

[Fathom Zero]

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach

[WhiteRat]

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

[sadie]

i'm reading _it's all over but the shoutin'_ by rick bragg.

whiterat, is _less than zero_ the book the movie was based on, the one where robert downey, jr., gave the guy a bj for coke?

[Esuohlim]

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

I've been procrastinating for months to get around to reading that :(

[Seven Force]

Star Wars: Galaxy Of Fear - The Nightmare Machine

[sadie]

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

I've been procrastinating for months to get around to reading that :(
sick but good read, i thought.

[WhiteRat]

Yeah, I put down a good 70 or so pages yesterday after work and it's fairly interesting. If the opening pages don't hook you in, then I don't know what will.

[Cliff Steele]

sevenforce, I usta take the star wars galaxy of fear books to school and try to get my teacher to read them, but all the other kids wanted goosebumps. dicks

[Miss Modular]

I just finished reading Philip Roth's Goodbye, Columbus. Not bad.

[sadie]

i'm reading _it's all over but the shoutin'_ by rick bragg.
now i'm reading _somebody told me_, his collection of feature stories (mostly for the _new york times_).

[Trash]

Peter Benchley's Jaws: 10th print.

[Brandon]

Airships by Barry Hannah. Marvelous.

[Miss Modular]

Tom Wolfe's I Am Charlotte Simmons, and I'm having a hard time believing that the title character would be so sheltered.

[Trash]

A little booklet that dame with the Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper box set.

[Miss Modular]

Gore Vidal's Myra Breckinridge.

[Fathom Zero]

The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier by Bruce Sterling

[WhiteRat]

I finally finished Choke after 2 months of reading and I can say it's argueably the second best book I've ever read. (the first being Sideways Stories from Wayside School).

I just started Invisible Monsters. Hopefully it's as entertaining as Choke.

[Grislygus]

(the first being Sideways Stories from Wayside School).

Holy Blue Hell's Bells, I thought I was the only fan of those books.

[Esuohlim]

Invisible Monsters is sort of a frustrating read, but it certainly pays off in the end.

I just started Slaughterhouse Five.

And fuck yeah Sideways Stories From Wayside School :rockemoticon

[executioneer]

(the first being Sideways Stories from Wayside School).

Holy Blue Hell's Bells, I thought I was the only fan of those books.

why did you think that, everyone with a lick of sense likes those books :( do you not know a lot of people with a lick of sense :(

[Grislygus]

why did you think that, everyone with a lick of sense likes those books :( do you not know a lot of people with a lick of sense :(

I read the books in my elementary school, where I was the only kid smart enough to enjoy them (or books in general, for that matter), and in all the time since then I've only met three people who remembered the series. :(

[Juttin]

Yeah, Wayside School is Falling Down.
That was a great read when I was in elementary school.

[glowbelly]

oh hush up. nobody believes that you are capable of reading >:

[Juttin]

Yeah....you're right. I just kinda 'Shrug Off' what people type on here, as I can't read simple english text.


Oh, sorry.....WHAT? :/

[WhiteRat]

Invisible Monsters is sort of a frustrating read, but it certainly pays off in the end.


I hope that's true. I'm on the third chapter and so far i've came to the conclusion that it doesn't make any sense and it's boring as hell.

[glowbelly]

i think all of chuck p's books are boring as hell.

i haven't read the latest short story one. i might as i've heard that he has finally gotten away from telling the same story over and over again.

maybe.

[Esuohlim]

I hope that's true. I'm on the third chapter and so far i've came to the conclusion that it doesn't make any sense and it's boring as hell.

The first time I read it I gave up on page 80 or so because I was bored shitless, but over the summer I tried again, made my way through, and read the last 150 pages in one sitting.

It's not a bad book, but since the pieces dont fall together until about halfway through it's like a chore to try to enjoy it until then. I imagine it's way better the second time around.

[Fathom Zero]

Principia Discordia, Or, How I Found Goddess and What I Did to Her When I Found Her: The Magnum Opiate of Malaclypse the Younger by Malaclypse, Robert Anton Wilson, Kerry W. Thornley, and Loompanics Unlimited.

Phew.

[zeldasbiggestfan]

Silent Bob Speaks. Great book. Especially the GREASY SHITS.

[executioneer]

deryni chronicles

[Grislygus]

"Founding Bothers" by Joseph J. Ellis.

I heartily recommend this book to history enthusiasts. The events it talks about aren't anything new, but it provides interesting insights into the character of the American founding fathers.

[Juttin]

I'm reading Red Mars. It's...O.K., at the least

I'm just into the 3rd part,
and it mostly seems like a Soap Opera, only, in space/on Mars. :/
I'll still read through it, though

[Rongi]

I just started Slaughterhouse Five.

for some reason i never found kurt vonnegut's writing to be funny or interesting. i tried to read slaughterhouse five and cat's cradle, but i quickly lost interest

[WhiteRat]

World War Z.

I just got this book yesterday and I can't put it down. I'm only a hundred or so pages in but I would say the most enjoyable part of the book so far was when Larry the Cable guy got blown up by a grenade.

[xbxDaniel]

The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.

[BobDole]

Swords in the Mist by Fritz Leiber and Angry Candy by Harlan Ellison

[Emu]

the god delusion by richard dawkins

[executioneer]

freeway warrior: highway holocaust by joe dever

[noob3]

the post i am typing

[Rabid Child]

Sock By Penn Juliett from Penn & Teller

[tenno]

:) the intricatrices of the night, greg cook

[zeldasbiggestfan]

The encyclopedia of Rock and Roll (at least I wish I was :()

[ArrowX]

Halo: Ghosts of Onyx :nerd

[Esuohlim]

Time by Stephen Baxter (I heard it sucks but I've got nothing else)

[Rabid Child]

The Catcher And The Rye For School, So far they Said Goddam over 30 times.

[Shifty]

Alive - Piers Paul Read

[Dole]

The Catcher And The Rye For School, So far they Said Goddam over 30 times.

D- for basic observational skills on quite a fundamental level regarding this book

[WhiteRat]

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.

I read this book about 8 years ago and I just found out a few weeks ago that it was actually the first of a three part trilogy. So naturally I ordered all three off amazon.com

[kahljorn]

I remember i was supposed to do a book report in 4th grade and I chose that book and i did the entire book report on the first chapter. lol :( I got caught.

[Uncle_Sham]

The tag on the inside of ur moms panties.

[zeldasbiggestfan]

Your a fag.

DUNE.

[Uncle_Sham]

shut up wad

[Rabid Child]

Of Mice And Men for school

[Dole]

a mice and a man

[FartinMowler]

I pooped on your head

It's about a drummer who gets held down by all his band mates who one by one poop on his head. He ends up leaving the band but becomes a poop on the head offender pooping on his wifes head and foriegn people that get in his way.

[DehydratedPorkMan]

I think Catcher in the Rye breaks the record for saying goddamn the most. And Of Mice and Men is my favorite book about killing retarded people.

I'm reading the Iliad and the Oddyssey because I chose English as my major and my high school system didn't feel we needed to read it.

[Fathom Zero]

Henry VI, Part I.

[Grislygus]

So am I. As long as I don't have to read any more damned sonnets, I'm fine.

[Fathom Zero]

Amen.

[xbxDaniel]

All the King's Men

[Emu]

Over Christmas I read Why People Believe Weird Things, The End of Faith, and The Varieites of Scientific Experience. Right now I'm reading The Cosmic Landscape and re-reading The Demon-Haunted World. I'm also gonna try to finish Our Inner Ape and The Language Instinct, and start another book I picked up called Religion Explained.

[GADZOOKS]

The John Hodgman book about how he got the job playing PC in those "Mac makes fun of PC" commercials.

[DuFresne]

All the King's Men

My American History prof is gonna have us read that. Should I be pissed or happy?

[zeldasbiggestfan]

Romeo and Juliet.

Act I Scene i

Ive got a long way to go man :(

[GADZOOKS]

:lol

Can we limit this thread to reading for ENJOYMENT and not HOMEWORK?

[Fathom Zero]

Absolute Power by David Baldacci.

I've yet to see the movie.

[xbxDaniel]

All the King's Men

My American History prof is gonna have us read that. Should I be pissed or happy?

It's a quick read, and pretty entertaining.

Starting to go through Harris' books again, read his new book Hannibal Rising.

[sspadowsky]

Raymond Chandler- The Big Sleep

Less'n any of you didn't know, this was the main inspiration for The Big Lebowski, which makes the book that much cooler.

[zeldasbiggestfan]

Swan Song. Two words..... FUCKING DISTURBING.

[Emu]

Sex, Time and Power by Leonard Smalin.

[xbxDaniel]

Silence of the Lambs, Harris.

[SKATERMONKEY]

alphabet of manliness... again...

[kahljorn]

harry potter and the sorcerer's stone... again...
:lol lol

[SKATERMONKEY]

hehe .

[BlueOatmeal]

Marquis de Sade - Philosophy of the Bedroom.


The Smiths song - Suffer Little Childern got me interested in the Moors Murderers and that got me curious about Marquis de Sade. Then I found a pdf of it on supervert.com and thought "why not give it a read?"[/URL] (http://supervert.com/elibrary/zips/sade_philobed_pdf.zip)[URL="http://supervert.com/elibrary/zips/sade_philobed_pdf.zip"]

[xbxDaniel]

Catch-22

[Blue Fox]

i gotta read I Know Why the Cage Bird sings for english (srry Gadzooks) and i just have to say it's the worst book i've ever read, or at least the hardest to get through. I mean, i can read a book pretty fast but this one felt like it would never end. :(

Oh, and Twilight for pleasure. I luv that book! ^-^

[DistantJ]

WHAT are you reading right now?

This thread.

[xbxDaniel]

Hahahaha, that is so original and unique. Dude, you're like a comedy goldmine!

[DistantJ]

LOL
Sarcastic bitch

[Pub Lover]

Oh man, I am still working through Crime and Punishment. :(

[Shyandquietguy]

Slaughterhouse Five - Vonnegut

This will be the second book I've read of his!

[Fathom Zero]

Or you could just merge the topics, y'know.

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

Man and his symbols - C.G. Jung

[Dannibal]

Man and his symbols - C.G. Jung

You should be reading "If Chins Could Kill--the Bruce Campbell Story."

[bigtimecow]

i'm more than halfway through BONE (haven't picked it back up in awhile), have 3 achewood books that i need to make some use of, epicurus the sage that hasn't even been opened i don't think :x, but yeah

i think i'll start some of those this week

which more or less means that i won't

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

You should be reading "If Chins Could Kill--the Bruce Campbell Story."


If I start spending more time reading on paper as opposed to a monitor it would have been done by now. For all the work I put into getting the book back. :hourglass

[Cult_Status]

Clubland: The Fabulous Rise and Murderous Fall of Club Culture - Frank Owen

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 - Hunter S. Thompson

[RaNkeri]

The Horror in the museum - H.P Lovecraft and others

[bigtimecow]

i just read "a wonderful tale" again last night

great stuff

[kahljorn]

have any of you guys read VALIS by phillip k dick?

its my favorite book right now ;o

[Fathom Zero]

Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Chabon.

I wanna go back to Pittsburgh because of this book.

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

Just finished The Pirate King by R.A Salvatore. Moving back to Don Quixote again.

[executioneer]

have any of you guys read VALIS by phillip k dick?

its my favorite book right now ;o

NO BUT I SHOULD, I LOVE DICK

[kahljorn]

i think you should read thismdick immediately if you really love it

[Zomboid]

Reading "Such is my Beloved" right now, even though I was supposed to have it finished a while ago.

[stonewar]

digital Knight by Ryk E Spoor
Baen.com has some free digital books so the price is right and available right away unlike Metzer's Book of Lies where I am 93rd in line for at the library.

[Fathom Zero]

http://ddstranslation.blogspot.com/2006/08/introduction_16.html

The translation of Digital Devil Story by Aya Nishitani. It's... alright. But I don't feel the need to not read it, so I think I'm good.

[Asila]

Hogfather. Tis the season...

[Esuohlim]

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

[sloth]

nostromo by conrad

very slowly

[Fathom Zero]

Conrad has that effect on humans. I dislike him intensely.

We have to read The Heart of Darkness this year. He takes "saying lots about nothing at all" and turns it into "says nothing about nothing". every line in the book is utterly pointless.

[Sam]

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

[Sam]

And right before that I read Snuff by Chuck Palahnlahalnananiuk :rolleyes

[Zomboid]

Reading the Shining right now, but a buddy lent me Needful Things, and I have yet to finish that :(

[bigtimecow]

matthew ritchie: more than the eye
stelarc: the monograph

[/artfag]

[Sam]

The Further Chronicles of Conan by Robert Jordan

AND

The Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to Lovecraftian Cinema

[Zhukov]

I'm reading Tommy Sheridan's book Imagine.

[brokensaint82]

right now I'm re-reading Skeleton Crew one of Stephen King's many short story books. Also going through the Dark Tower series back to back since I bought the seventh just recently

[Big McLargehuge]

have any of you guys read VALIS by phillip k dick?

its my favorite book right now ;o oh hell yes, i love that book though my favorite pkd novels are ubik and the three stigmata of palmer eldrich

[Big McLargehuge]

also, read radio free albemuth, it is not officially part of the VALIS trilogy but it the precursor and where the idea of VALIS came from

[executioneer]

i liked flow my tears, the policeman said :( philip dick has great story titles

[Big McLargehuge]

i have been meaning to read that. but i don't order books off the internet, and i haven't seen it at any bookstores in town.

[Fathom Zero]

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh... wasn't satisfying. It didn't have a point and meandered about for no reason. The ending was underwhelming and wouldn't have made a difference if it ended fifty pages earlier or later.

[Sam]

Still reading Further Chronicles of Conan and debating Nightwatch or Monster Island.

[Zomboid]

The Shining was one of the best books that I've ever read :O

[executioneer]

i have been meaning to read that. but i don't order books off the internet, and i haven't seen it at any bookstores in town.

have you tried a libary

[Big McLargehuge]

my local library has two pkd novels and i bet you can guess which two

[Tadao]

Bookstores often have a way of ordering books. When they need a book, they leave the title on a piece of paper at night and the book gnomes get to work on it as soon as possible. Sometimes it takes a week though.

[Big McLargehuge]

i only go to used bookstores, in fact i only get books at bookmans (http://bookmans.com/) it is the single best book store ever.

[Big McLargehuge]

Asimov's Guide to the Bible

[Ant10708]

i only go to used bookstores, in fact i only get books at bookmans (http://bookmans.com/) it is the single best book store ever.obviously not if you can't find the books you want there

[Big McLargehuge]

yeah how dare a store only stock 43 of pkd's 44 novels :rolleyes

[Sam]

what kind of faggits is they? :rolleyes

[Big McLargehuge]

obviously pretty large ones :rolleyes

[timrpgland]

I just started getting into The Walking Dead. On Book 2. I like it so far. Depending on the pace, I can see it continuing to be good.

[Muadi'ib]

Right now I'm browsing between Doctor Who books, House of Mystery and I just started reading Hellblazer.

[Fathom Zero]

Essential Bill Hicks: Love All the People

[kahljorn]

My favorite thing about VALIS besides all the HILARITY is when he talks about gnosticism and philosophy. its awesome ;o

[kahljorn]

ordering books online is the bees knees! just order more than one ;o

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

Finished another chapter in Don Quixote. I blame the internet for me progressing through at a snails pace.

[King Hadas]

Atlas shrugged, not as boring as I thought it would be but I've made it half way through and I don't think I'll finish it, I don't see any reason to. I think I got the gist of what Ayn Rand was all about. For her, people came in only two varieties; herculean heroes of industry and horrible parasites. I'd say more about the book but right now I've got to go pick up my unemployment check and not pay my income taxes.

[Tadao]

Sounds like you should be reading Steinbeck.

[executioneer]

DEATHTRAP DUNGEON

[King Hadas]

Sounds like you should be reading Steinbeck.

I guess Steinbeck's view would be the opposite of Ayn Rand's then? Mind you I didn't stop reading Atlas Shrugged because the political message bothered me. The book is just to damn long and all though Ayn Rand has a real flare for writing parasitic characters her titans of industry are dull as hell and practically interchangeable. They go off on this pedantic rants about the need to be selfish and then there all chummy and knightly with other industry men, doing each other solids with only the knowledge there helping their bros out seems like a bit of a contradiction. They mostly speak in monologues too which isn't very natural. I did like the one where Dagny propounds point by point why she wants to be Henry's dirty, dirty concubine. Ayn Rand was pretty hardcore.

[RaNkeri]

Finished Frankenstein today, starting a book that contains all of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories next

[Tadao]

I guess Steinbeck's view would be the opposite of Ayn Rand's then?

I meant it towards your current situation of being out of work and the government wants some money from you. He wrote a lot about the depression era. It would by no means ease your pain or inspire you though. It would be like buying an emo new razors.

[King Hadas]

I was going for laughs, I didn't mean to make it sound quite so brutal. I don't have to pay income taxes because I haven't had an income in a long time and I don't actually get unemployment checks, I mooch off family rather than the government. The life of a parasite ain't all bad, you meet lots of interesting people, mostly mexicans:\

[kahljorn]

Atlas shrugged, not as boring as I thought it would be but I've made it half way through and I don't think I'll finish it, I don't see any reason to. I think I got the gist of what Ayn Rand was all about. For her, people came in only two varieties; herculean heroes of industry and horrible parasites.REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL. REARDEN METAL.

just skip ahead to the end of the book when John Galt gives his 50 page speech and you can get the gist of the entire book.

[kahljorn]

if you're reading the centennial edition it starts at the bottom of page 923

i liked the fountainhead way better, personally. but i think that's because its not as dry and you can appreciate its literary value -- or something.

[kahljorn]

also its better if you don't think of there being only two types of people but that there are just two types of ideologies which she is dealing with. Namely, "communism"/socialism and capitalism.

The book is just to damn long and all though Ayn Rand has a real flare for writing parasitic characters her titans of industry are dull as hell and practically interchangeable. They go off on this pedantic rants about the need to be selfish and then there all chummy and knightly with other industry men, doing each other solids with only the knowledge there helping their bros out seems like a bit of a contradiction.I kind of disagree with this ;o rearden and dagny for instance are way different types of people. From what I remember Rearden's character ends up having quite a bit of character development and some type of dilemma with his perceived weaknesses.
And usually when they do things for each other, note that its more for their own benefit than for their "Bros." Almost everytime they help somebody out its because they believe that it will help their business out. Like rearden sells the railroad industry a bunch of rearden metal for rails or something, right? But not only is he making a small profit but he's: Improving the transportation network which will let him transfer more resources at a faster rate (allowing him to produce more products faster), and move his products to sell easier -- improving his own industry. Dagny in return gets a high quality rail that won't degenerate. Also, it put his product out there and showed how useful it can be. Most times they help eachother its under conditions like that. Eventually they start helping each other out because they know that the economy is getting fucked and they are the only productive ones in society, and the more of them that crumble the more the economy is destabilized and their own industries would eventually crumble as well. Especially since many of these industries were co-dependent.
The ones that were helping their "Bros" were all the anti-dog-eat-dog people who thought they should be able to keep their industries open while not being productive.

[King Hadas]

Your right about the co-dependency thing, there's no reason they wouldn't be chummy with each other but something still rackles me about the Capitilist characters. I guess it's cause they didn't have any real faults (at least none by my standards). On the other hand I really liked the pro-socialist assholes, I'm not good with verbatim or I'd quote that one part where that young engineer tells Dagney off for suggesting he had to be good at engineering to get a job as an engineer.

Maybe I'll pick it up again and read just the last hundred pages.

[kahljorn]

how far did you get into it? the last 100 pages really aren't that worthwhile, the speech by John Galt is though...
the middle is pretty important though because that's when the economy starts to collapse. its pretty interesting, and if you like the pro-socialist bastards then I would recommend reading the whole thing really. They start to really fuck things up in the middle of the book.

you should read the fountain head :O that book is awesome. although the main character is again faultless ;]

[King Hadas]

I stopped reading after Dagney's number one peon realizes his also in love with her. At the end of the chapter he tells the mysterious stranger in the cafeteria about Rearden and Dagney's affair and the stranger, distressed, books it out of there (I assume his in love with Dagney as well).

I guess I'll just have to show some true world grit and finish the damn thing. You see I got side tracked with something else and when I got back to it I saw it's hugeness with fresh eyes. The pages are enormous and the print is so tiny. If this was in paperback I bet it would be more like 2000 pgs long. If it was non-fiction I wouldn't be having this problem but at some point in my life I picked up a lot of weird rules on when it is and isn't okay to read a book.

[kahljorn]

oh yea that's pretty far in. My paperback edition is like 1300 pages i think.

[King Hadas]

That's not too bad. I think I'll pick this back up after I finish what I'm reading right now. In reality I stopped reading Atlas Shrugged a few months ago. I use these "What are you ___ right now" threads as pretext to talk about whatevers on my mind.:\

At this very moment in time I'm reading Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham.

[kahljorn]

i dunno how i made it through atlas shrugged so quickly. I think it was cause some asshole basically challenged me to read it :rolleyes

what happened to preechr anyway?

[RaNkeri]

Just finished reading Watchmen

Whoa, just whoa

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

choke is a horrible book. What the hell is with all of his characters going to support groups and acting like they are cool anarchist types? It's so fucking typical and annoying. i bet he writes his stories while wearing sun glasses.

Which ones have you read?

[kahljorn]

that one and fight club pretty much ;\ I've thumbed through others, though. his writing style is always the same and douchebaggerly as well.

he's the new steven king :(

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

:(
Read Invisble Monsters. From what I know about you(That you look sexy in stockings....sorry, I'm drunk) you'd like it.

I've read a few of his others: Diary, Lullaby and wasn't impressed either.

Invisible Monsters is one of my favorite books though.

[kahljorn]

yea I've heard about invisible monsters. Maybe I'll try reading it, but the way he writes just makes me angry.

To be honest I have this self-loathing hatred for anything involving other trannies usually ;\ identifying with things makes me feel like an ass.

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

I think it was the first book he wrote, just not the first published. It's the reason I read his other work....which wasn't as good.

!!!Don't read any of the synopsis about it though, from what I've read of them they usually divulge way too much info. Stuff you don't get into till later in the book!!!

[RaNkeri]

I ordered "I am legend" roughly a week ago. It's supposed to arrive next week. Can hardly wait.

[King Hadas]

he's the new steven king :(
Whats wrong with King?:x

[kahljorn]

everything?

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

Just because there's not a "Book you're looking forward to" thread

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/02/monster-mash-up.html

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

[Preacher]

I'm finishing up the ultimate x-men run. great run until Colossus went for the dick. now it's just a massive boner kllr.

[Krythor]

Just finished James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. It was wonderful, and I found the ending quite moving.

Am currently halfway through Bram Stoker's Dracula, Samuel Johnson's A History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia and Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. Will be aiming to start Tom Woolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities and David Simon's Homocide: A Year on the Killing Streets soon, but they are both HUGE.

I need to start compiling ideas for my English Lit dissertation so I'm aiming to read as wide a variety of material as I can.

[the Platinum Poppy]

For my own part I'm currently reading a collection of the first Legion of Superheroes comics. It's marvellous. The best thing is how they're all completely crazy about sacrificing their lives for one another. As soon as one legionnaire finds out that there's some kind of mortal danger ahead, his/her first impulse is always to say nothing to the rest of the bunch, so that he/she can go on a solo suicide mission unhindered by the others. When the legion learn that there's a way to revive a slain buddy, which involves one of the others dying instead, they're all manipulating and scheming like crazy since everyone wants to have the honour of sacrificing his/her life for this.
I'm completely amazed that this is an american comic book... you'd think it was japanese or something, from the WW2 era.

[Esuohlim]

I'm about 150 pages away from finishing A Game of Thrones, which is the first in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by this nerd (http://www.midamericon.org/photoarchive/05conq005.JPG). I think it's pretty good, and for a fantasy novel it's not too gay. They sometimes say shit like "I will wed her and bed her, sir!", but I'm definitely buying the next one (which is 1200 pages, like I'm made of time >:)

[RaNkeri]

Finished Richard Matheson's I am legend today, i loved it. I've been thinking of reading Hell house next.

[ZeldaQueen]

Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon. Really.

In other words, the Hobbit with HP names. :|

[Pub Lover]

Finished Richard Matheson's I am legend today, i loved it.
I really liked the book and wish they would make a film of it.

A film with the book's ending.

[Big McLargehuge]

The Once and Future King. Totally rad. Wish i read it sooner.

[Tadao]

I finished Pratchett's "Making Money". I liked it. I'm always going to though so nothing new there.

I just ordered "Angels and Demons".

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

Motley Crue's The dirt. I don't really like their music nor do I think they have anything positive to say but it seems like it would be interesting at the least.

[Tadao]

You've never met Vince Neil then.

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

Not yet anyway. I think I meet him sometime in chapter 2.

[Tadao]

He came to buy appliances at a Sears I was working at. He acted like he was at Sharper Image :lol

[kahljorn]

Motley Crue's The dirt.

If this is the book im thinking of i talk about this all the time :Lol One of my friends had it and i thought it was funny to read a book about how cool some guys party-life was.

[90's Child]

I really liked the book and wish they would make a film of it.

A film with the book's ending.

They did, specifically the most recent one. But they changed it due to studio meddling and test audiences not liking it. And this is why, in my opinion, studio executives need to learn to leave the creative people alone to do their own thing and they'll be successful.

Anyway, I just finished reading Abarat. First book I've ever read b yClive Barker, and I have to say that I like it, and will probably be getting more of his books in the future.

[RaNkeri]

Button, button: Uncanny stories

A small collection of Matheson's short stories.

[captain516]

Clifford D. Simak's City.

[Kilgore Cod]

Death From The Skies! by Philip Plait, Ph.D.

[Otto]

The R. Crumb Handbook.

[RaNkeri]

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

[Esuohlim]

That's a good one, I should probably read it again soon :eek

[Fathom Zero]

It's my favorite. Bar none.

[kahljorn]

im reading the republic :(

[executioneer]

is that plato's republic, or dan brown's

[kahljorn]

lol plato's.

[Ant10708]

you just read plato for fun?

[Tadao]

People said the same thing to me. I would be reading the old long classics for fun and they all hated it because they were forced to in school.

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

Arabian Nights

[stevetothepast]

Mr T - The Man with the Gold, by Mr T

[Krythor]

I have officially started Bonfire of the Vanities and Ulysses, and have my sights set on The Awakening and Other Stories by Kate Chopin next.

I'm surprised that I'm enjoying Ulysses more than Bonfire of the Vanities; the latter has all the ingredients I look for in a novel, but Tom Wolfe's style is starting to grate on me. Maybe the internet has ruined ellipses for me, but he uses them far too much. I feel like I'm reading some horrifying 13 year old's blog when I see sentences like "he turned the corner... there are a lot of black faces here he thinks... the Bronx sure is scary..."

IT IS A GRAMMATICAL NIGHTMARE.