What are you Reading?

[Mota Boy]

It's the return of a classic. The "What are you listening to" thread for the literate. Give a title and quick review. For those slack-jawed neanderthals who read Tucan Sam's puzzle/maze entertainment bonanza every day over a breakfast of multi-colored milk, this doesn't apply to you.

I recently finished up Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day and O'Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces and they were both quite amusing. I thought that Dunces dragged a bit during the middle, but the ending was worth it. A very good set of reads.

I'm not reading (be prepared to be awed by my literary abilities) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Yeah, I know. I'd read the first three books a few years ago, but I'd never read the latest two, so I decided to pick them up. However, as I began to read the Phoenix one (or the Goblet one, whichever's the Fourth), I realized that I'd forgotten much of the previous three. Then looking at the page count, I realized that it'd be about equal to reading the first three as reading the fourth, so I began at the beginning. I finished off the first one in under a day and am on my way to completeing the second at a similar pace. I'm also going to start Michael Chabon's latest book, The Final Solution in a bit, if that'll at least stop the English majors from sneering at me.

So, what's on your bedside table?

[latinospunkunidos]

the tunel by ernesto sabato
latinoamerican literature is one of the best literature
it talks about a famous paintor who meet a girl at one of his paintings exposition, looses her, get back with her again and then kills her.. im actually in the half of it. still have to finish it.. mabe by this week...

[meaning_of_life]

im reading this thread. but seriously, im reading great expectations at the mo, i need it for year 12 english. its ok too.

[Betty]

Meh, I already said in the other thread. And am now anticipating a good ending. Better not let me down now!

Mostly I am replying to say that Harry Potter rocks and I intend to read them all again in the summer, before the next is released.

[ThrashedThrasher]

I'm not reading anything yet which is bad because my teacher requires all honors English students to read at least one book a week and I haven't read one in about 4 weeks, but anyways I just got done reading two books. Jackdaws and A Night Over Water probably two of my favorite Ken Follett novels set in the time of the Nazis and all that good stuff. All of Ken Follett's books are good though.

Ahh, and then as a class we had to read this really trippy play called The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds by Paul Zindel...it was interestingly disturbing especially since he based the characters on his own family.

Then of course, we also read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (oh how I hated that fucking book) it was okay but I don't like books like that.

[Endymion]

Artificial Life VI: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Artificial Life (Complex Adaptive Systems) by Christoph Adami (Editor), Richard K. Belew (Editor), Hiroaki Kitano (Editor), Charles E. Taylor (Editor)
Introduction to Artificial Life by Christoph Adami
Elizabeth Must Die by Jeremy NeeDLE

the first two are closely related to my currently active research, and the last is literature at it's finest. yummy.

[Nina]

1)Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle [yes, still.]
2)Das Parfüm by Süßkind [yes, still.]
3)Bahnwärter Thiel by Gerhart Hauptmann [ooh, a new one!]

i forgot the quick review.

1) it starts with a car accident in which an american (Delaney)
hits an illegial mexican (Candido). the story takes place in
California. in the book, the completely different lives of the two
are shown, and basically compared. each chapter is about one
of the lives. both men have "matching" women, who play a big
role as well.
i hate it. because unfortunately, the story doesnt interest me
at all. AT ALL.

2) about a kid who has the ability to...smell. but in a really crazy
way. he smells things which are miles away and the way he
memorizes the smells is fascinating and like a sixth sense. and
in his rather younger years, he kills for that obsession of his. argh
i really dont know how to explain, but i am sure the people who
do read have read this book as well and know what it is about.
it takes place a few years before the french revolution (wasnt
it 50 years? dunno anymore) in paris.

3) havent started yet.

[RXP]

I don't ever get time to read because there's so much reading for my course. It sucks cause at school when I had the time I didn't care for reading now I don't and I want to read other things. Oh well.

[Vicky]

Going Postal - Terry Pratchett, but I've almost finished it :\

[4eh]

i read Robert Heinline - The Moon is a Harsh Mistresss! but my fav of him is "the Door to Summer"

[Noodles is gay]

The picture of Dorian Grey - Oscar Wilde
Symposium - Plato
The Oresteia - Aeschylus
Oedipus Tyrannus - Sophocles

[MirandaV]

The Guillotine

[Dio]

A book of some short stories by Guy de Maupassant... It's funny how about every second of his stories revolves around hookers :>

[Nicole]

Ben Elton - Stark. The world is going to die and the richest people in the world are conspiring this big plan because they know doomsday is coming... and who will save the world? a small group of hippies who have no clue. Hilarious.
Sara Douglass - The Nameless Day. Deamons rising up from hell style book. Tacky fantasy fiction.
Dostoyevsky - Crime and Punishment. Haven't read much because I'm trying to finish some other books first.
Neal Stephenson - Zodiac. Good so far.
Stephen Donaldson - The Chronicles of Thomas Coventant the unbeliever.

I read way too many books at the same time.

[y jask]

the screen on this pc. duh!

[wheelchairman]

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Kong Jesus by Robert Graves (a translation of his work King Jesus)

A Portrait, hmm I've only read about 50 or so pages so far. It was my mom's backwards idea of a good christmas gift. Insanely boring, the only thing worth reading so far was about the argument on Catholicism in the Irish Republican movement.

Kong Jesus is very good. It came out before the Da Vinci code, and is wonderfully detailed. It's even gone to explain certain things about theology, like that originally the Jewish God Jahve, had two mistresses, they formed a holy trinity. The book is based on the fact that Jesus is the song of King Antipater, who was son of King Herodes. And that Mary, (Miryam) was in the line of David. Joseph comes in as a person who is taking care of Mary after Antipater's execution.

All good fascinating stuff, worth the read.

[Sarallica]

I'm reading 1984 by George Orwell (for the third time) because I'm doing it for A level and also about 4 books about Spain in the 16th Century, also for A level. I don't have time to read as much/what I want because of school.

[original_psycho]

I'm curently reading the novel 'Sleepwalk' by John Saul...
but generaly, I like to read horror and psychological books, Stephen King and John Saul being my favourite writers...

[GreyCiel]

I got given a box set of Inspector Morse books for Christmas, so them. And I'm planning to slowly work my way through the Agatha Christie books I have. it'll take a while; I own over 70...

[Vera]

This is more the "things I'm supposed to be reading", but anyway...

Popular Music from Vittula by Mikael Niemi - I got it for Christmas and definitely want to read it again.

Some short stories by Tsehov - Again, a Christmas present.

Porno by Irvine Welsh - Re-read in Finnish, again, a Christmas present.

[Kitten]

I am currently reading the first chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Just started so there isn't much to tell as yet.

[Anya82]

I'm not very into books... I'm very lazy and lose interest easily.. but right now.. I'm reading:

The Perfume - Patrick Suskind
The culture of fear - Barry Glassner

[Inshane]

I just started; A way in the world - V.S. Naipaul

[TheUnholyNightbringer]

The Pegasus Forum - David Schofield

Just started reading it. Picked it up in The Works for £4.

[Dive]

The Oresteia - Aeschylus

The Oresteia is excellent. I'm currently reading a play, The Flies by Sartre, which is a reworking of the Electra-Orestes story. I'm also reading Beyond Good and Evil by the big N himself. I enjoy the Aftersong.

As for the Symposium, be sure to take Pausanias' advice.

[Tired_Of_You]

I'm reading 1984 by George Orwell (for the third time).


Same for me, but I just finished it. So now I'm reading nothing.

[fairy call]

I just read Enduring Love by Ian McEwan
And I just started with "Slaughterhouse five" from Kurt Vonnegut
and I still have to read something by Mervyn Peake

thats it

[Naz]

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, again :)

[Splinter X]

Black Hawk Down, Stalingrad, and Mythology.

[wheelchairman]

Beyond Good and Evil by the big N himself. I enjoy the Aftersong.


I've started reading it. Other things have unfortunately gotten higher priority (well not unfortunate, I just see books that I'd like to understand immediately and this way I tend to never actually finish a book.) I assume you've read Thus Spake, which really is fantastic, I was absorbed in it for two days straight.

1984 seems to be the most misunderstood book on a punk board.

[greencows12]

eye m reeding speealing 4 morons, it's gawsh dawrn hard

[nieh]

the Hitchiker series, and I bought America (the book) the other day, but haven't started it yet.

[Layna]

Ahhhh I forgot the name, but it's about Hitler and "English Grammar" :rolleyes:

[Just a Girl]

Enduring Love- Ian McEwan i have to read it for english and it's absolute shit. shit shit shit shit shit. i also have to re-read Trainspotting for english, but that is rather good.

[TheUnholyNightbringer]

You didn't like Enduring Love? Hm. How unusual.

[Subsidal]

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (I read the first three books in 30 days)

It is the summer holidays and soon Harry Potter will be starting his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry is counting the days: there are new spells to be learnt, more Quidditch to be played, and Hogwarts castle to continue exploring. But Harry needs to be careful - there are unexpected dangers lurking ...

The only reason why I'm reading that, or why I started reading Harry Potter is, that are the only english books I got I've never read yet and I wanted to read something in english. The other english book I got I've read 3 or 4 times now

[Nina]

the Hitchiker series

awesome!!______

[Vera]

I need to either buy that book or just borrow it from the library to re-read it.

H2G2 - rock!

[DUKESTER76]

PLAYBOY magazine. i subscribed to it like 3 years ago and got really hooked on it. it always has some good stories in it i can always enjoy and laugh to. this month they got a story on Howard hughes and how he lived a very interesting life
oh yeah and the pics are also pretty cool, but i alwyas gotta read the funnies first thing when i open it up

[Just a Girl]

You didn't like Enduring Love? Hm. How unusual.

everyone i know who's read it hated it, but that's prolly cos reading stuff in school ruins everything.

[Lullaby]

The secret window-Stephen king

[Subsidal]

You're reading that? Cool! I read that book months ago & I loved it! So fucking awesome. How far are you?

[Lullaby]

You're reading that? Cool! I read that book months ago & I loved it! So fucking awesome. How far are you?

so you got the same langoliers/secret window book? :)

Im on that part when he wanna talk to tom greenleaf but gregs doesnt come

[Subsidal]

Yeah, I got that book. Is yours also so (türkis & glänzend)? I hate that cover.
Is that part in the middle? 'cause actually I don't know what you mean now, I mean, didn't he wanted to.. you mean he wanted to go to tom with greg but he doesn't come 'cause he's already murdered by Shooter?

[Lullaby]

??gregs murdered???? :eek:

no Ive got that one with the johnny depp cover :p

[Subsidal]

loooooooooooooooooooooool :o

With the Johnny Depp cover? Why the hell is Johnny Depp on a Stephen King book?

[Lullaby]

loooooooooooooooooooooool :o

With the Johnny Depp cover? Why the hell is Johnny Depp on a Stephen King book?


cause he played Mort in Secret window

[Subsidal]

Yes, I know, but why is he on the cover when that book also contains The Langoliers? That sucks

[Lullaby]

Yes, I know, but why is he on the cover when that book also contains The Langoliers? That sucks


yeah...a bit...but its not bad..I like johnny depp so thats no problem :)

[Subsidal]

I don't like him, so it's a big problem to me :mad:

[Lullaby]

I don't like him, so it's a big problem to me :mad:


haev you seen pirates of the carribean?? :)

I actually just like him since that movie...oh and sleppy hollow was great too...lol...he was so funny

[Subsidal]

Don't think I saw that one and for the title.. I'm not interested in pirate movies

[Lullaby]

Don't think I saw that one and for the title.. I'm not interested in pirate movies

you should be ashamed!thats one of the greatest movies ever! :mad:

^anyway Ill forgive you.....but only cause I like you :)

[Holger estonia]

i read harry potter

[Subsidal]

you should be ashamed!thats one of the greatest movies ever! :mad:

^anyway Ill forgive you.....but only cause I like you :)

*erschüttert* Dammit, I don't like pirate movies in general, why should I feel ashamed of it? It's like you'd be ashamed of not knowing the Backstreet Boys!

[nitropenguin!]

I started reading Pure Dead Magic by Debi Gliori.

[Offspring_01]

I started reading Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy. I love his books.

[Lullaby]

*erschüttert* Dammit, I don't like pirate movies in general, why should I feel ashamed of it? It's like you'd be ashamed of not knowing the Backstreet Boys!


*cries* dont be so hard to me!!!Im just a lil 15 years old girl!! :(

[Mota Boy]

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (I read the first three books in 30 days)Read 'em in three. I'm now on Goblet, but I haven't started it yet. I've gotta take a break from this Potter chap, there are some little things about the books that annoy me. I guess I'll move on to Final Solution or a nice historical account.

[Subsidal]

@ Lullaby
Indeed, you're 15 years old, you gotta get connected to the real world now!

@ Mota Boy
You read the Philosopher's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets and the Prisoner of Azkaban in three days?

[SicN Twisted]

I'm halfthrough through the overlong but enlightening black book for Communism. It's an 800 page research paper (literally) about the crimes committed under Communism regime, from a Marxist perspective. It's really interesting to see Communism critisized objectively by people who geranlly believe it's it's ideal. The thesis, or what I'm understanding of it so far, is completely bullshit, but the facts are really interesting to learn.

[the_GoDdEsS]

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Kong Jesus by Robert Graves (a translation of his work King Jesus)

A Portrait, hmm I've only read about 50 or so pages so far. It was my mom's backwards idea of a good christmas gift. Insanely boring, the only thing worth reading so far was about the argument on Catholicism in the Irish Republican movement.



Joyce is brilliant with language. But I do admit that the beginning of the book is not really interesting. It gradually gets better though. Dubliners were more relaxing to read.

I'm currently not reading any good literature except applied linguistics books. So my list would include:

Andrew D. Cohen - Strategies in Learning and Using a Second Language
R. Kleinschroth - Sprachen Lernen
Bausch - Handbuch Fremdsprachenunterricht

Oh well.
I should get back to German 19th century literature soon.

[Vera]

@ Mota Boy
You read the Philosopher's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets and the Prisoner of Azkaban in three days?
It's not that big of an accomplishments. I read Phoenix in 2 days and the first three are about as long together as Phoenix.

[wheelchairman]

Goddess, I'm sure he's great. I just ain't literature's biggest fan, something about analysis and all that, I didn't really grow up liking that much.

However, tomorrow I'm picking up Fight Club from the Library, it should be good.

[Nina]

-warning-
rambling about the books i'm reading:

read "bahnwärter thiel" in 45 minutes, it was annoying
as fuck. i wish we didnt have to read such crappy books
when we're not writing exams about them. even lessing
is better than that, and that means quite a lot o.0

and tortilla curtain...FUCK. dont get me started. it took
me 90 minutes to read two and a half chapters, i just
dont get along with this book at all. i hate it to pieces.
i wish it wouldnt be sooooo boring. i wish it would have
more plot, and i wish that the pathetic excuse of a plot
which it does have wouldnt only be about raping and
eating disgusting food.

i'm bored.

[Izie]

Reading? Yes, I'm reading. Reading the goddamn lawbook. In Dutch. Dutch law terms kill me. And I hate them to no end.

Thank heavens that after it I'll be treated to the nice philosophy book.

And after the exams I might actually start reading normal books.

Yet again, poo.

[fairy call]

I'm reading "Titus Groan" by Mervin Peake, and I really really love that book, it's the first part of the Gormenghast trilogy.

[wheelchairman]

I owe the library 14 kr., that's under 3 dollars, and over 2 euros. So I'm not going to be reading much for a while, in a hope to avoid paying it. Well I have plenty to read here at home.

[Not Ozymandias]

Sandman: Endless Nights by Neil Gaiman

[Mota Boy]

@ Mota Boy
You read the Philosopher's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets and the Prisoner of Azkaban in three days?
Yeah, it's not that difficult at all. I'm a pretty slow reader.

Currently I'm reading:
Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen
-Christmas present from an aunt. Hiaasen is a pretty funny author. The underlying plot should be quite familiar - greed, corruption, cop story, love, etc. But there are enough quirks and variations to keep the book fresh and interesting and you can tell that he loves his location (South Florida).

The Final Solution by Michael Chabon
-Christmas present from dad. Chabon's a fantastic author and I love his work. The book, set in 1944, is about an aged detective trying to solve one last mystery about a mute German Jew and his parrot that keeps regurgitating long strings of number in German. I love his writing style. Fan-fuckin'-tastic.

Basic Writings in Existentialism
-From Kierkegaard to Camus, this is a survey of nine existentialist writers. I haven't read much philosophy, and I figure that an overview of a movement would be a good place to begin delving into the subject in earnest. I just began it and am still on 'gaard. He's a decent philosopher with fairly solid arguments, but I'm not a huge fan of his writings.

[ThrashedThrasher]

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey

Fuckin' awesome but weird book...I'm halfway through it would have been done by today but I had to start/finish The Giver - Lois Lowry for LA since yeah...I'm a bad kid and didn't finish before yesterday lol. The Giver was such a BORING book , gah. Perfect world my ass, nothing is perfect.


A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

Haven't started it yet, probably will tonight and finish it as well...

[lousyskater]

the last book i read was State Of Fear by Michael Crichton. finished it about a week ago, and it was a pretty good book.

[Dive]

Basic Writings in Existentialism
-From Kierkegaard to Camus, this is a survey of nine existentialist writers. I haven't read much philosophy, and I figure that an overview of a movement would be a good place to begin delving into the subject in earnest. I just began it and am still on 'gaard. He's a decent philosopher with fairly solid arguments, but I'm not a huge fan of his writings.

I just bought that book today (one of the books required for an existentialism class). Edited by Gordon Marino, right?

[Macko]

Conan by "everybody"
and everything by Terry Pratchet
He is god of fantasy literatury. ;)
But Now I am reading I, robot (in new edition )by Issac Asimov. It is good book, but I read better than this.

[sKratch]

reading Shrub, the book about Bush.

[Obie2trice]

Deskresearch, it`s interesting :)

[Not Ozymandias]

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

[GBH2]

im reading this thread. but seriously, im reading great expectations at the mo, i need it for year 12 english. its ok too.
same here, except mine is required for grade 9. one hell of a boring book.

[TheUnholyNightbringer]

Ah.. Great Expectations. Not quite as good as Oliver Twist, IMHO, but other than that, Dickens' best novel.

[Not Ozymandias]

Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

[SkunkIt]

Treasure Island.

[JohnnyNemesis]

"Monster: the Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member" by Sanyika Shakur, AKA Kody Scott. Raw, real, mindblowing stuff.

[fairy call]

I just started reading the second book of the Gormenghast trilogy by Mervin Peake, I absolutely loved the first one so I guess the second one will be ace too.

[Vera]

Good Omens by Pratchett & Gailman
Queer by William Burroughs
The Clockwork Orange by ...whatever that guy's name is.

[original_psycho]

'Carrie' by Stephen King
Great writer he is, yes indeed...

[HornyPope]

-The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
-Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

What happened to the 'Horse and His Boy'?


I hate those "list your current whatever" topics, but eh i'll play along this one time.

Currently reading: 1215, the year of the Magna Carta. Before that I read : 100 Most Decisive battles in History. Those two are very rare by my standards as I very seldom read books published past 1980. But history books are an exception to my rule. Before that : St Urbain Horseman by Mordecai Richler. Awesome book. Defiantly recommend it to anyone. I know Ozy will looooove the Jewish references, nicht wahr? Before that: few M. Bulkagov short stories that my mom insisted I should read. Might try and give "master and margarita" a shot but i'm not into novels at the moment. I also want to read some stuff by Garcia Lorca. Me and Dio been listening to this one Russian rock song (very good one) from the 70s that is dedicated to his memory and I just felt like getting to know the character a bit more especially since I once held a striking interest in the Spanish civil war.

[HornyPope]

Oh and of course I skimmed through the Decameron by Boccaccio to try and find some middle-ages wisdom.

[TripDickBoy]

I just finished reading a playboy mag. It was very well written.

[wliethof]

What happened to the 'Horse and His Boy'?


I just finished narnia. Awfully bible-ish. Started reading terry goodkind now. I like it.

[fairy call]

Mervyn Peake - Gormenghast
Tim Burton - The melancholy death of the oysterboy
and something else I forgot the title of =/

[HornyPope]

I just finished narnia. Awfully bible-ish. Started reading terry goodkind now. I like it.


I read it when I was 10. The bible-references were lost on me. Only later in life did I found out that Lewis was a devout christian and stuff who applied much of his belief into his books.

[slit_wrists]

im reading 2 books at mo; "and thats when it fell off in my hand" by louise rennison and scorpia by anthony horrorwitz!

[wliethof]

I read it when I was 10. The bible-references were lost on me. Only later in life did I found out that Lewis was a devout christian and stuff who applied much of his belief into his books.

hehe it's kinda obvious though! I wondered about how young kids can read that kind of english. I didn't know some words, something that never happens to me... and I read english books a lot!

I hate how the books end though. The end of the last book.

[Vicky]

the english is fun. and they're my books that he has :p
not reading anything at the moment.. skimming through my fruits book & my ancient egypt book sometimes

[Tired_Of_You]

Terre Des Hommes by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I have to read that for my French course.

[HornyPope]

hehe it's kinda obvious though! I wondered about how young kids can read that kind of english. I didn't know some words, something that never happens to me... and I read english books a lot!

I read it in Hebrew and the translation was fairly simple as I recall. Not sure if I read any really complicated English books at all in terms of unknown language. Maybe Joyce and Dickens? Not even. I find the language in Victorian-era books beautiful but nevertheless not overly complicated for the average reader. But compare Russian novels from a mere century ago to what it is today... what a striking difference. And the old cyrilic alphabet only makes matters worse. Not that you would know, but just take my word on it. I read the travels of Gulliver (all of them) in the "old Russian" (the book was printed in USA in the 50s by people who wouldn't recognise the changes to the alphabet the 1917 revolution brought) and I always kept the impression like I was reading fucking Ukrainian or something. I wonder how Jonathan Swift stories are its original format though... hmmm...

[Not Ozymandias]

What happened to the 'Horse and His Boy'?
That was published 5th, I'll read it after Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair.

If I was going to read it in the revisionist-history "chronological" order, I might as well start watching Star Wars with The Phanton Menace. *snicker*

Bagel-lover.

[wliethof]

the horse and his boy is 3rd, actually

ahh I didnt read the rest of your post.

[Pinocchio]

Sigmund Freud - The Interpretation Of Dreams , I´m not sure if that`s the name of the book in english but anyway. Funny book.. Anyone seen dreams lately? hahahaha...
Within 6 years I`ll graduate psychology as my major.
Freud self had some sort of a complex, as far as I´m concerned.

[Not Ozymandias]

That was published 5th, I'll read it after Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair.
If I make it that far. The first 2 were underwhelming. They started off with great ideas, but ran out of steam 3/4 of the way through. Still. they're interesting enough for me to give Dawn Treader a whirl.

This is what happens when you're a functioning illiterate until you're 20, you read things with a mind that's too old.

[HornyPope]

It only makes sense to read it third. It's far better than Dawn Treader and Silverchair I find (the latter being the worst of the collection). It's not the kind of stuff I would read as an adult though.

[Not Ozymandias]

Too late, I already snickered.

[ninth]

I started the last book of the Narnia series two or three times but it never really held my interest, eh it happens when you're 9. I'm currently reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series and I think that I'm on So Long and Thanks for all the Fish.

[Betty]

I loved the C.S. Lewis books, but also read them when I was 9-10 and so didn't catch any bible stuff.

Am now attempting to read Camus - La Chute but am SOOOO rusty on my French!

[wheelchairman]

My mom was at a thing organized by the American embassy and one of her friends was giving away books.

so now I am reading
Paul Robeson The Life And Times of a Free Black Man
by Virginia Hamilton

I'm looking forward to this, I have a cd of a live performance in Moscow. And whenever I was reading things written by or about the Black Panthers, Robeson was always mentioned as an inspiration.

[Anya82]

I'm reading:
"Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Hands On Training"
by Rosanna Yeung

It's a good book for those who want to learn that software, and are beginners

[Not Ozymandias]

Oh yeah:
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

[Subsidal]

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

[Grif]

Stephen Fry - "Stars' Tennis Balls", "Hippoponamus"

[HornyPope]

Bought three books today. The first one I picked was : Paris between empires 1814 - 1852. I was getting kind of tired of 19th century European social-politics, but I knew this 500 page book with small character contained a lot of little details I sought to find out, so I just had to buy it and give it a read slowely but progressively. To smoothen the reading, I bought 20th century speeches to occasionaly skim though and admire the Great minds of the past century--or at least their oral skills. It's an amazing collection of text and i'm happy to put my hands on it.

A third book I got is 1968 - the year that rocked the world . The name almost turned me off (I hate when the author pretends that his publication is o so fucking meaningfull to the rest of the world), but I caught a glimpse of the events it tells and it's indeed very fascinating--from the Prague spring, to the peace movements in the USA, the student protests in Mexico on the eve of olympics etc... I figured i'd give it a read as well.

Was gonna buy another interesting book on the history of the aftermath of the Black Plague, but it said it was a NY Best Seller on the cover page and it's this kind of crap that automaticly makes the book so much less attractive. See, im an elitist in litterature. I know that everytime the book is vastly acclaimed, it is because, wtih a very short list of exceptions, it was dumbened down and presented on the world market so that the idiots could have a read too. And I refuse to read anything maisntream.

[HornyPope]

Oh yah, I also wanna read some in depth information on the Egyptian Caliphate circa 9th century till 19th century? Anyone has any recomendations?

[Pinocchio]

Antonio Damasio

- Descarte`s error
- Looking for Spinoza

neurology.

[wheelchairman]

Oh yah, I also wanna read some in depth information on the Egyptian Caliphate circa 9th century till 19th century? Anyone has any recomendations?
Had no idea Egypt was a Caliphate, although hardly surprising if one thinks about it.

Anyways a good friend recently gave me some books:

The books she gave me to me, were quite many more than I had expected, she was really too generous.
-The first one is called Socialismens Ideer (Socialim's Ideas) by Erik Karlsson (from 1947),
-Socialismen mellem utopi og virkelighed (Socialism, between Utopia and Reality) by Benito Scocozza (I love Italian names) printed 1982 (I like old books),
-Den Demokratiske Folkerepublik Koreas socialistiske forfatning (The Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Socialist Constitution) 1972, very interesting, I also own Cuba's and the former USSR's constitution. Not a big fan of Korea myself, I've read some of the works of Kim Jong-Il (they are not communists, they believe themselves to be a higher form of Marxism that they call Juche, it's not a very scientific ideology, but it draws a lot from the Nietzchean übermensch theory (but it's more collective) and it's just bizarre, and his way of writing just gave me a headache.
-the Last marxist one, Udvalgte Skrifter Bind 1 (Selected Works, volume 1) - Karl Marx printed 1937. I look forward to reading this, I've read most of Karl Marx's major early works, but this should be much more theoretical in the dialectic way (as opposed to the economic way, which is just very heavy stuff.)
-Mit Liv med Martin Luther King (My Life with Martin Luther King)- Coretta Scott King 1970, this should go well with my other material, about a month or two ago I was really trying to study the African-American Issue and reading very heavily into the material of Malcolm X, Huey P. Newton (who fucking rocked) and Bobby Seales.
-and the best book of all, International Connoisseur's Guide to Cigars - Jane Resnick. I am definitely looking forward to reading this. I am quite the fan of cigars. (Smoke them basically whenever I have a good excuse, which can be as tenuous as just going to a party, or the upcoming election.)

I've finished the Cigar book.

[ey-drien]

The last book I read was "Waylander" from David Gemmell. His books are quite recommendable!

[Vicky]

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.

Got it cheap from someone on TSUK.. so yer

[wheelchairman]

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.

Got it cheap from someone on TSUK.. so yer
I wanted to read that, I heard it's rather good. The movie was interesting.

[Noodles is gay]

Petronius' Satyricon.


I borrowed it from my classics teacher :p

[fairy call]

Lewis Carroll - Alice's adventures in wonderland
Mervyn Peake - Gormenghast trilogy part 3: Titus Alone

[Dante]

A series of unfournate events

[Talman]

J.H Brennen - Nostradamus

[Mota Boy]

Had no idea Egypt was a Caliphate, although hardly surprising if one thinks about it.
Fool.

/has written a twelve page paper on the history of Islam in Africa
/starting at seven p.m the night before
/and got an A in the class

Anyway, I recently read how i became stupid, which is apparently all the rage in Europe, but is fucking idiotic. The premise seemed interesting (a man can't deal with being intelligent in this world, so he tries to make himself stupid so he can enjoy himself), but ultimately all it did was make me reject the idea that intelligence equals depression because I loathe the author so much I want to beat him to death with a boot [I also saw "Cube" this weekend, questionable premise, good story, bad ending]. Really, this book fucking sucks. Has anyone in Europe read it? He equates idiocy with capitalism: the protagonist's last step into oblivion is marked by his first step into a McDonald's. I thought Ayn Rand was a moron, then I read this and realized that she was just kinda smart but misguided.

And now I'm reading Anonymous Rex. It's a modern-day noir novel set in L.A. with occaisional jumps to New York, featuring a once-prominent P.I. whose partner died and now is broke with a nasty addiction. Oh, and he's a dinosaur in human disguise, as is 5% of the U.S. No, I'm not kidding. And it's actually pretty darn good. Next on the list is Get Shorty. If you have a reccomendation, through it at me.

[funkmonkey]

im re-reading catcher in the rye.
also Our Band Could be Your Life

[HornyPope]

Sounds like a shitty book. To be smart is to be able to think of ways to entertain oneself in order to make your existance a happier one. Why forfeit this asset and adopt a "normal" life style? How can you just forfeit your intelligence in the first place anyways?

I was bidding on a number of books on ebay this past week. So far I won: For Whom the Bell Tolls, Thus Spake Zarathustra, and Steppenwolfe. Will get to them eventually.

Oh yah i'd like to read your essay, Mota. Can you email it at hornypope at gmail dot com?

[Ken Jennings]

I'm reading this thread.

[Titus]

I read Angels & demons, by Dan Brown,
Gr8 book

[TheUnholyNightbringer]

The Pegasus Forum - Peter Schofield

(again)

[Dive]

Ecstatic in the Poison by Mr. Hudgins
Therapy by David Lodge

[Serafin Negro]

So much book: Silmarillion, Dracula, Faerie and Tartuffe.

[wheelchairman]

let's see I just finished

Victoria by Knut Hamsun, it's an alright book. The character development was interesting, the story was rather predictable though, interesting nonetheless, and it's short so it wasn't too terrible to read.

The Critique of the Gotha Programme by Karl Marx
I found this interesting, but it's mostly debates about theory with other socialists (Lassalleans) and wouldn't interest any of you really.

Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzche
Utterly fascinating, I highly recommend it. The description of the development and nuances of the Master and Slave morals is worth reading it just for that. The whole idea of the Will to Power as well is interesting.

Right now I'm reading:
On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzche, so far the first two essays are absolutely fascinating, possibly his most outstanding work that I've read yet. I highly recommend reading these. The 3rd essay is rather tedious, and not as interesting. After that I plan on reading Ecce Homo.

The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde, I read the first act, it's very good, very amusing. Definitely continue reading his stuff.

[gradeA]

i'm not too interested in reading;

but i am currently reading 'Mutiny on the bounty'

[Naz]

Im reading some books on theory and media for Uni.

[Izie]

Van beschrijving naar inzicht - inleiding in de statistiek.

Introduction to statistics, and I can't be bothered to translate the other.

And lots of other uni-books. But I have promised myself, as soon as I go home, I am beginning to read the collected works of Freud (that my darling father keeps somewhere in the closet), and then EVERYONE shall be doomed by my psychoanalysis! Ha!

[InnerBlueAByss]

Actually ive been revising alot of poetry lately. I was reading my friends upcoming collection of works that she is publishing.

[Vera]

"100 Years Of Solitude" by Marquez
"To Kill A Mocking Bird" by Harper Lee

Not certain about the titles, pretty much just translated the Finnish ones. Those I'm *supposed* to be reading, anyway. I've been very lazy with reading lately. Meh.

[RemainsUnseen]

I've been reading Wake Up I'm Fat by Camryn Manheighm

[Iddy]

the blind watchmaker - richard dawkins (for fun.. i worry myself :s)

for uni... a mass of medical anthropology texts (also kinda fun)

[Faust]

Daniel Goleman

-emotional intelligence

[fairy call]

prospect of the sea - dylan thomas

[the_GoDdEsS]

Wolfgang Klein - Zweitspracherwerb

You can tell it's language again.

[HeadAroundU]

I'm reading FERDO MRAVEC :D

[the_GoDdEsS]

I'm reading FERDO MRAVEC :D

Are you joking? I used to love him.

[Mota Boy]

Oh yah i'd like to read your essay, Mota. Can you email it at hornypope at gmail dot com?
Bah, I'd love to, but my computer kicked the bucket just a month ago. At some indefinate point in the future I could dig up a copy at my house, scan it and send it off, but I'll most likely have forgotten about it by that time.

It was a wonderful little paper subtitled "The Diffusion and Confusion of Islam in Africa", and it was a great class, taught by Mark Messier's brother.

[Subsidal]

I ended reading Harry Potter and actually wanted to read it in german. After the first two pages I stopped. It fucking sucks in german. Then I took a book by Stephen King but this I stopped after the half of the first page. Can't stand to read german anymore and 'cause I don't have any other english books I started reading

Shadows by Tom Bowler again

and after that I'll start reading Potter again if I won't get any new english books. But tomorrow I'll read

The Canterville Ghost again

'cause I'm going to a concert and that's really a little little book I can put in my pants pocket :)

[wliethof]

Middle East eader for my exam on monday.

[BuddyHolly]

I'm reading 1984 by George Orwell

[HornyPope]

I just got my Steppenwolf copy (by Hesse) in the mail. Gonna start it in a bit. I'm still reading Thus Spake Zarathustra but it's not the kind of book you follow from begining to finish.

[the_GoDdEsS]

I just got my Steppenwolf copy (by Hesse) in the mail. Gonna start it in a bit. I'm still reading Thus Spake Zarathustra but it's not the kind of book you follow from begining to finish.

Have fun. Steppenwolf is a schizo book.

[Black_Ball]

Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand.

[turb0negr0]

I'm reading Playboy. well actually i'm looking at the pictures.



How did I know that you were going to say that?

[Camilamazed]

I need to get used to it again.There has been a long time I don't read..... :o

[Radi0_havana52]

the pigman by paul zindal

[Killb0y]

Bolesław Prus - Lalka (Doll), almost 700 pages but in large format and with a small font, normaly it's over a 1000

[vintagepunkrock7]

im reading, Kings On The Catwalk, the Louis Vuitton and Moet-Hennessy affair. its about the big merger in the 80's. before that it was The Devil Wears Prada.

[original_psycho]

I'm reading The Blackstone Chronicles by John Saul for the second time. Damn, I love this book so much!

[intothevalleyofdeath]

im reading porn

[JoY]

absolutely NOTHING.
hah, I'm such a bum.

[Trip Boy]

Wakeboarding mag.

[wheelchairman]

Just finished On the Ideology of Morals by Nietzche, soon I will start Ecce Homo, the autobiography of Nietzche. And then that will be it on Nietzche for a few months me thinks.

[Trip Boy]

^ I read that one. Very good read.

[Subsidal]

I started reading Harry Potter again 'cause I can't stand reading german books anymore. But a friend wants to lend me another english book. The Soldier James Ryan or something

[HornyPope]

The Soldier James Ryan or something

Haha Endy.

I put away Steppenwolf for a while now and started to read for Whom the Bell Tolls. Beautiful. Can't believe I haven't read it before.


Turning their head and looking up they say, high in the evening sky, three monoplanes in V formations, showing minute and silvery at that height where there was still sun, passing unbelievably quickly across the sky, their motors throbbing steadily.
"Ours?" Anselmo asked.
"They seem so," Robert Jordan said but knew that at this height you could never be sure. They could be an evening patrol of either side. But you always said pursuit planes were ours cause it made people feel better. Bombers were another matter.
Anselmo evidently felt the same. "They are ours", he said, "I recognise them. They are Moscas."
"Good", said Robert Jordan. "They seem to me to be Moscas too."
"They are Moscas", Anselmo said.
Robert Jordan could have put the glasses on them and been sure instantly but he prefered not to. It made no difference to him who they were tonight and if it pleased the old man to have them be ours, he did not to take them away. Now, as they moved out of sight toward Segovia, they did not look to be green, red wing-tipped, low win Russian conversion of the Boeing P32 the Spaniards called Moscas. You could not see the colours, but the cut was wrong. No. It was a Fascist Patrol coming home.

[Iddy]

the logic of scientific discovery - Karl Popper

[MirandaV]

Antwone Fisher - Antwone Fisher.

[HornyPope]

Just finished Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. What a beauty.


I have fought for what I believed in for a year now. If we win here we will win everywhere. The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for and I hate very much to leave it. And you had a lot of luck, he told himself, to have had such a good life. You've had just as good life as grandfather's though not as long. You've had just a good as life as any one because of these last days. You don't want to complain when you have been so lucky.

[Subsidal]

I'm reading a book my class teacher lent me. It's 'There's Always a Price Tag' by James Hadley Chase. Just started, but seems to be interesting..


She had moved over to the bar where the light fell directly on her. I caught a glimpse of her shape under the misty folds of the negligee - a shape that sent the blood racing through my veins.
If I took the job, I'd be right next to her: day in, night out, and I wanted to be next to her more than I wanted anything else in the world.
'I'd like the job', I said, pulling my eyes away from her with an effort. 'I'd be glad of it'.
That's how it started. That's how I walked into trouble. Big Trouble.

[saska de o...]

I'm reading "Balladyna" :) dont u knw what is it? nevermind...

[fairy call]

the gormenghast trilogy by mervyn peake again, cause I like it so much

[Angel_of_Death]

This thread...

[Noodles is gay]

^ good books! (the Gormenghast trilogy)


right now i'm halfway through a load of different books, which is really wuite odd, but depending upon where i am depends which one i read:

Thucydides - history of the Peloponnesian War
Herodotus - The Histories
Plato - Protagoras and Meno
Oscar Wilde - Complete poetry
Rupert Matthews - The age of the gladiators; savagery and spectacle in ancient Rome
Dante - The divine comedy
Euripides - Hecube

[fairy call]

^ good books! (the Gormenghast trilogy)

I looove them so much, probably cause of Fuchsia, I really adore that character.
The cure made a song about her, about the part where she drowns
, it's really sad...

have you read all three? I don't like the last one too much, and im still in search of the bbc thing they made of it.

[Noodles is gay]

Yeah, good books - the TV thingy got me into them.

I didn't know the cure wrote a song related to them, cool!

[fairy call]

it's called the drowning man, and it's really beautiful (and oh so sad!)
But I read somewhere that Fuchsia in the books didn't really wasn't really the same as Fuchsia in the series =/

[Just a Girl]

- trainspotting and american psycho for school. we had to choose two books to compare for coursework.
- the beach. i can never find the time to read it though so it's taking ages.

[nitropenguin!]

I'm reading The Catcher of the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Probably the only one in my class who started it and is halfway through. My class is a bunch of lazy fucks, haha.

[live_fast_gurl]

i used to like the 'stormbreaker' series its sort of a kids book but anyway . .

[Isolated Fury]

"A Brave New World" for school

The Avatar series for me at home

I just finished "Jennifer Government" by Max Barry and ",Said the Shotgun to the Head" by Saul Williams.

[HeadAroundU]

I'm reading posts at the offspring forums :D

[4eh]

i like russian classical books, classical sciense fiction (not the new shit), but now i read books about geology (exactly about vulcanos) for my sciense work.

[Radi0_havana52]

Right now i'm reading John Saul's shadow's Its a good book its about suicidal 12 year olds.

[Rag Doll]

"Glengarry Glen Ross" by David Mamet

and then something by Arthur Miller....I'm thinking "All My Sons"...but I haven't decided yet.

[sKratch]

Oooh my friend megan let me borrow Invisible Monsters by Palahniuk and I gotta crack that sucker open.

[HornyPope]

Just bought Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway. It's a very short book so even with the upcoming busy week i'm to face, i'm sure I can finish it. I'm contemplating what to buy next. I heard Catch 22 was very good, and though I seldom listen to Popular opinion, the recommendations come from trusted heads so I think i'll go with that. Been meaning to read Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov for a while now, but I can't seem to find the original Russian version anywhere and I rather not bother with translations.

Oh yeah I also bought The Architecture of Computer Hardware and Systems Software. I want to expend my applied computer knowledge towards something more theoretical and detailed.

[sKratch]

Dammit I can't tell if you're kidding with the first few books because they're such cliche "you have to read this" books. Catch-22 is DEFINITELY worth reading. Probably my favorite book ever. It's not short, but by God it's genius.

[HornyPope]

Old Man and the Sea is a long overdue that always eluded me. I'm a big fan of Hemingway but sometimes you just can't read them all. Now I will. I had often the chance to read Heller but honestly I never respected American authors very much and nothing turns me off than modern Yanks screaming "omg this book is the shitz0rs" when I know they haven't read more than three world-renowed classics (and that's already generous).

But mad props to my Americans brothers in- Ernest, Mark, J.D., Alan and maybe H.P.. RESPECT!

[voodoomagik]

i'm reading tolstoi's 'war nd peace' for the 2nd time...love it!!!

[BuddyHolly]

after reading George Orwell's "1984", i'm now reading "Animal Farm" also by George Orwell...

[offspringrammsteinfan]

I'm reading imnosia from stephen king. :) Stephen king rocks! He's the biggest ramones-fan ever :)

[Paint_It_Black]

I just finished re-reading Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and enjoyed it far more than when I was 12. Of course it probably helps that I read it in one sitting rather than over about 2 months last time.

[HornyPope]

i'm reading tolstoi's 'war nd peace' for the 2nd time...love it!!!

You do? I never met anyone under 30 years old who genuinely enjoyed Tolstoi without trying to be pretentious. It used to be obligatory that all of Russia read it sometimes in university so it was frequant to see geeky Komsomol members engage in boring discussions about Tolstoi's pure and honest vision. Lame.

The Anna Karenina play was rather lovely though.

[offspringrammsteinfan]

Im reading playboy. It's a good read.

One of the best books in tha world. :D

[voodoomagik]

You do? I never met anyone under 30 years old who genuinely enjoyed Tolstoi without trying to be pretentious. It used to be obligatory that all of Russia read it sometimes in university so it was frequant to see geeky Komsomol members engage in boring discussions about Tolstoi's pure and honest vision. Lame.

The Anna Karenina play was rather lovely though.


yeah..i love tolstoi's way of writing...rather smooth and clean..i was into dostoievski for a very long time,and after reading some of his writings,i found pleasure reading tolstoi's works....i want to try gogol too...i heared great things about him but i never got to read any of his books!!!anyway i was focused for a long time on the romanian writers too..i dont know if u heared about marin preda or camil petrescu or liviu rebreanu ---but trust me dude...totally worth it..anyway much to talk about on this matter..take care..see ya!!

[Noodles is gay]

Oscar Wilde - the picture of Dorian Grey (for about the 4th time)

[Just a Girl]

Oooh my friend megan let me borrow Invisible Monsters by Palahniuk and I gotta crack that sucker open.

i fucking love that book

[Mota Boy]

Let's see where I left off... I finished up "Anonymous Rex", thoroughly enjoyed it and then immediately laughed to myself "What the fuck did I just read." (As you'll recall, it's the detective novel set in a world where a significant percentage of humans are dinosaurs wearing human suits). It's a good light read.

"Hell's Angels" by Hunter S. Thompson. It's a very interesting look into sixties Cali culture, and I love Thompson's point that the Angels would've gone extinct if the media hadn't picked up on their existance. The first page is brilliant, but ultimately it's not as well written as I'd hoped.

"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. I loved this book. It's a great portrait of the life of a travelling farm worker at that time and seems to me to be a less pure version of Hemingway's writing style.

"The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka. I liked the first part of the book, which I read as satire, but I got the feeling that it ran out of steam quickly and the ending didn't quite wrap up, though perhaps the reader's own tired reaction to the repetitive storyline is supposed to mirror that of the family's reaction to Gregor, but I could be reading too much into it.

"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain. I'm halfway through the book and I'm really enjoying it, though it has the tendency to drag at parts. Twain can be incredibly amusing and bitingly satirical, I love his contempt for humanity.

[sKratch]

Old Man and the Sea is a long overdue that always eluded me. I'm a big fan of Hemingway but sometimes you just can't read them all. Now I will. I had often the chance to read Heller but honestly I never respected American authors very much and nothing turns me off than modern Yanks screaming "omg this book is the shitz0rs" when I know they haven't read more than three world-renowed classics (and that's already generous).

But mad props to my Americans brothers in- Ernest, Mark, J.D., Alan and maybe H.P.. RESPECT!
I heard everything else by Heller is terrible. He tried to make something of a sequel to Catch-22 and it's supposed to be really bad. However, Catch-22 is an amazing book and I stand by it. READ IT BITCH.

[sKratch]

"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain. I'm halfway through the book and I'm really enjoying it, though it has the tendency to drag at parts. Twain can be incredibly amusing and bitingly satirical, I love his contempt for humanity.
I read that twice. Once when I was way too young to appreciate it, and once when I still wasn't old enough. I enjoyed it both times though, so maybe I'll read it once more again.

[fairy call]

yeah..i love tolstoi's way of writing...rather smooth and clean..i was into dostoievski for a very long time,and after reading some of his writings,i found pleasure reading tolstoi's works....i want to try gogol too...i heared great things about him but i never got to read any of his books!!!anyway i was focused for a long time on the romanian writers too..i dont know if u heared about marin preda or camil petrescu or liviu rebreanu ---but trust me dude...totally worth it..anyway much to talk about on this matter..take care..see ya!!

The schoolplay was Cholstomjer from him this year, it was nice

[KappaWing]

The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

A looooong novel about 4 brothers who are opposites. They all murder their loathsome father and continue along their own ways. They cross paths often and end up in different places. I'm only about half way through but it's a really good read. My only problems are that I keep getting the characters mixed up and the font is so small that I literally have to stick my nose in the book to read it! Well worth it though.

Programming in C - Stephan Kochan

Meh. I need to read at least the first few chapters of this book in order to modifiy some files that I must modify to enable certain features in my MOD.
It is long and boring, but it is explained very well and is easy to catch on to.

[HornyPope]

Voodoomagik,

What Romanian novels should I try out first? Give me titles. I'll see if I can find it online--since most local book stores probably don't carry them.

You know i'll probably give Tolstoi another chance one day. Just not anytime soon. I was 'encouraged' to read it when I was like ten, together with Pushkin (the father of Russian literature), and I had since developed a strong aversion to these two, evil, evil bastards.


You guys mentioned 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'. Well, I got it today. Gonna read it next. Heller is droped one spot down in the queue, much to Skratch's dismay I imagine.

I want to build a sizable library in my future house and i'm starting to buy worthy oeuvres regulary now. I want to stock up with books I once had borrowed from the library. Gotta also check out second hand stores to see if they can offer me a good deal.

[HornyPope]

Of course when I talk of Russian authors, i'm gonna get them in the original version. Fuck translations. Reminds me of a J.D. short story where a man sends his ex girlfriend a booklet of poems in German, and when she answers that she doesn't speak German, he mutters something about how she should learn up the language because the poems are totally worth it.

[HornyPope]

You should post excerpts of good books. Give me something fun to read. This talk of Tolstoi made me think of the war in Crimea and I remembered this poem by Lord Tennyson:


Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air,
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.

[ruroken]

What do you fucking think I'm reading?!?! Offspring posts!! Sorry, I'm reading Rurouni Kenshin, Chrono Crusade, and White Fluffy Clouds (imaginary reading because I wish I had it).

[HornyPope]

this thread deserves a post of its own.

[HornyPope]

I bought today:

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. I read this one ages ago as a little kid, and I wanted to re-read it and have it on my bookshelf. It's a very captivating book and i'm already hundred pages into the book.

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. Finally i'm gonna give this one a try.

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler. I haven't read it yet but its part of the series which I had discovered already in St. Urbain Horseman, and the latter was one amazing book. Seriously. It has HP's seal of recommendation through and through. Richler is in my mind the greatest Canadian author who, despite international recognition, never been rendered particulary famous outside Canada. Check it out.


Oh and I also bought and read Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell last week. I borrowed it from the library once, but it's the kind of book I wanted to have in my collection. George teaches us books tell a lot about one's personality, like the one time someone caught him with both Mein Kampf and some Stalinist "How to liquidate Troskyists and other revolutionary elements" and spent a while pondering his political affiliations as if curiosily reading one novel makes you a propponent of the dogmas stated therein. I chuckled, but only because the anecdote was laid out so nicely.

[HornyPope]

One of the more amusing passages from Orwell's experience in Spain:

The Spaniards are good at many things, but not at making war. All foreigns alike are appalled by their ineffeciency, above all their maddening unpunctuality. The one Spanish word that no foreigner can avoid learning is manana--tomorow (literally, 'the morning'). Whenever it is conceivably possible, the business of today is put off until manana. This is so notorious that even Spaniards themselves joke about it. In Spain nothing, from a meal to a battle, ever happens at the appointed time. As a general rule things happen too late, but just occasionally--just so that you shan't even be able to depend on their happening late--they happen too early. A train which is due to leave at eight will normally leave at any time between nine and ten, but perhaps once a week, thanks to some private wheem of the engine-drivers, it leaves at half-past seven. Such things can be a little trying. In theory I rather admire the Spaniards for not sharing our Northern time-neurosis; but unfortunately I share it myself.

[ThrashedThrasher]

I'm about done with :

For Whom The Bell Tolls - Hemingway

The Handmaid's Tale - fuck if I know who it's by..

A Midsummer Night's Dream - Shakespeare

I'm also going to go ahead and re-read A Clockwork Orange just because I have nothing better to do.

I don't see how anyone could be into those damn Harry Potter books...they're so...ugh.

[Punky Dudess]

BBC bitesize revisions' interpretation of biology for dumbasses. :D

[noone]

not read much books in last time. robinson crusoe is cool.
i read history books mostly. i am just reading world history, and history of croats by ferdo sisic

[TheUnholyNightbringer]

Bill Bryson - Down Under

I just love this book. I've read it 2 or 3 times before, but I just can't get enough of it. Like every other Bill Bryson book, it manages to give you beautiful imagery and incredibly detailed descriptions, and have you guffawing wildly in the same chapter. It's just wonderful.

[TheUnholyNightbringer]

The Handmaid's Tale - fuck if I know who it's by..

Margeret Atwood.

[Noodles is gay]

Steven Pressfield - Gates of fire
Balzac - old goriot
Euripides - Alcestis

You should post excerpts of good books. Give me something fun to read. This talk of Tolstoi made me think of the war in Crimea and I remembered this poem by Lord Tennyson

Lord Tennyson is amazing.

[fairy call]

gormenghast - mervyn peake

les enfants terribles - cocteau

[Noodles is gay]

les enfants terribles - cocteau

ah, you reminded me - that's on my reading list. I must get down to the library and take it out.

[fairy call]

haha, I have some other that inspired the cure too!
Do you want them? I can look it up for you

[Noodles is gay]

really? wicked!

I know about Camus' stranger and gormenghast but no others, and i'm always on the look out for good books to read!

[Mota Boy]

At the moment I'm almost finished with Treaure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. It's about pirates in the Caribbean, 'nuff said. Written so well that halfway through chapters I start hearing the buzz of tropical insects and the soft sound of far-off surf.

I'm about halfway through Bombingham by Anthony Grooms, a novel that flits back and forth between a black child during the civil rights movement in Birmingham and the now-man fighting in Vietnam. It's good, but not great. I mostly bought it though because it's giving me some perspective on the history of the city in which I'm living, and in that it's terrific.

I also just began reading Thus Spoke Zarathustra by the Nietzchmiester. I'm attending a local philosophy discussion group and that's the book of the week or so. I'd only had time to squeeze in the first twenty pages of reading, but my analysis kicked the ass of some philosophy major who was quoting the thing - the professor quoted a Nietzsche expert to back me up. He phrased it much better than I did, that Nietzsche "Feels that there are few geniuses that justify the mass of humanity." - that he has a romantic belief in a great man's potential, but is horribly pessimistic towards humanity as a whole. It's a great coffeeshop read, but I'm going relatively slowly as I take a pencil to the pages.

[HornyPope]

I just talked about Nietzsche with Izie today. Hope she doesn't mind if I posted the convo:

hp: i even read nietzshe lately a bit
hp: but its so overated
hp: but hoenstly i see so many kids quote ihm who have no fucking idea what are they talking about
hp: especialy those socialist kids
Iza: as they do with everyone and everything
hp: and politically correct kids
Iza: eep?
hp: and emotional kids
Iza: socialist kids and nietwsche?
Iza: z*
hp: yeah
hp: thats the irony
Iza: strange
hp: they just read few quotes and they get pumped up
hp: fucking idiots
hp: thats why it pisses me off

I found Thus Spake Zarathustra a bit overated except for certain bits. I'll post some excerpts if you like when I get back after practice. Is your copy spelled Spoke or Spake? Mine's the latter. I could never figure out the difference.

Treasure Island is a great book... for eight year olds.

And now to react to some other things i'm familiar with. You know i'm always tempted to reply to practictly every post but then i'd hate to seem like I have an opinion on every single book.

All things Camus rule. I'm the resident fan. I read Cocteau plays back in high school for French and I was very much entertained. And Robinsoen Crusoe of course, is amazing. As to Lord Tennyson, I only read one poem that I posted.

[fairy call]

really? wicked!

I know about Camus' stranger and gormenghast but no others, and i'm always on the look out for good books to read!

gormenghast by mervyn peake (the drowning man)
the stranger by camus (killing an arab)
les enfants terribles by cocteau (a letter to elise)
charlotte sometimes by penelope farmer (charlotte sometimes)
christabel by samuel taylor coleridge (poem) (a foolish arrangement)
and "adonais" is inspired by a poem Shelley wrote in tribute to Keats
The eyes of the poor by Baudelaire (shortstory) (how beautiful you are)

there you go, that was the list, I don't think I forgot one

[Noodles is gay]

thank you fairy call! :) I shall have to get down to the library methinks.

HornyPope: read more Tennyson!
I quite liked 'the birth of tragedy' by Nietzsche.

[Mannen som blev en gris]

The Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy or The Davinchi code? Can't decide.....

[wheelchairman]

Mota Boy, Thus Spoke is a great book. However it starts out quite slowly, which is a pity because it is brilliantly written and basically gives a good summary of the basics of Nihilism and the Super-man theory.

Diary of a Loser - Eduard Limonov
It's a good book, very nihilistic, morally speaking. Quite interesting. A pity the author is such a dick today.

[Mota Boy]

Treasure Island is a great book... for eight year olds
Pshk, get off your high horse. Treasure Island is a supurbly written book no matter what your age. Just because eight-year-olds can read it and it has no deeper meaning doesn't mean that we as adults should shun it. I never read it as a child and it's a cultural touchstone that I realized I should pick up, not to mention its simple pleasure as a "beach book" - should I choose to indulge in escapist reading then this is much preferrable to the latest Robin Cook novel. Not to mention the wonderful insight it gives me into the life of my progenity. I challenge you to stop by a bookstore, read the first chapter and then cast it off as overly childish.

Oh, and I'm also reading the Bible (New Testament)... slowly. If a more important book ever came out, I'll go out drinking and picking up women at bars for a whole year.

[funkmonkey]

crime and punishment. great book.

[Nina]

Theodor Fontane - Irrungen,Wirrungen

terrible book :(

[slit_wrists]

im reading 'ark angel' by anthony horrorwitz

[HornyPope]

shk, get off your high horse. Treasure Island is a supurbly written book no matter what your age. Just because eight-year-olds can read it and it has no deeper meaning doesn't mean that we as adults should shun it. I never read it as a child and it's a cultural touchstone that I realized I should pick up, not to mention its simple pleasure as a "beach book" - should I choose to indulge in escapist reading then this is much preferrable to the latest Robin Cook novel. Not to mention the wonderful insight it gives me into the life of my progenity. I challenge you to stop by a bookstore, read the first chapter and then cast it off as overly childish.

I read the book... when I was eight years old Lol. I'll be the first to jump to the defense of many ageless classics that kids and adults read alike, such as Little Prince, Jungle Book and other Kipling stories, Tolkien novels, Andersen short stories etc... but Treasure Island? I haven't uncovered the 'deeper meaning' to it. Wanna fill me in?

[UnityMinersrulz]

Tribulation Force jerry jenkins and tim layhae

[burning-the-high-life]

i just finished bloody jack, & Halo the fall of reach

[TheUnholyNightbringer]

I wanted to find a nice way to bump this topic, so I thought I'd type out a hilarious little quote from Down Under by Bill Bryson, the book I've just finished. I laugh out loud every time I read this.

"By the time I flopped into central Fremantle, it was late afternoon and I was comprehensively bushed. I went into a pub and downed a beer for medicinal purposes.

'You all right?' said the barmaid.

'Yeah,' I replied. 'Why?'

'Seen your face?'

I knew at once. 'Am I sunburned?' I asked bleakly.

She gave a frank, sympathetic but essentially deeply amused nod.

I peered past her into the mirror behind the bar. Looking back at me, mockingly attired in clothes to match my own, was a cartoon character called Mr Tomato Head. I allow myself a small sigh. For the next four days, I would be a source of constant concern to every elderly Western Australian and of amusement to all else. Then for three days more, as my skin flaked and peeled and I took on the look of someone just escaped from a leprosarium, the mood would change to universal horror and revulsion. Waitresses would drop trays; gawkers would walk into lamp-posts; ambulance drivers would slow as they passed and look over me carefully. It would, as always, be a quiet ordeal. In another three or four hours I would be in tender pain. Meanwhile, I was already a small wreck. My feet and legs hurt so much that I wasn't sure they would ever be of service to me again. I was as dirty as a street urchin and rank enough to be buried. And all of this so I could see a house I had no actual interest in seeing and then walk on to a place that I was now too tired to explore.. Sighing, I lowered myself gingerly from the bar stool and limped through the staring crowds to see if I could find a taxi to take me back to the city."

[Rye]

I'm reading The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide (the full collection) NOT because of the movie; I started before I heard about it.

[calichix]

A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemmingway. I hate Catherine. She's everything I don't like in a woman.

[Mota Boy]

A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemmingway. I hate Catherine. She's everything I don't like in a woman.
I hear ya' there. I didn't like Farewell nearly as much as I liked The Sun Also Rises.

I'm reading "Running with Scissors". It's a hilarious, completely fucked up book. I ate at a local pizzarria tonight and the waitress tried to pick up conversation about the book. "What are you reading? ... Really? I've been looking for something to read lately, maybe I'll look into that." I did my best to warn her. "It's the craziest thing you'll ever read - funny as Hell but really, really weird." I didn't want to be the one to refer the book with incestual paedofelia and beastialitylike behavior as casual asides. Basically, the book can be summed up in two sentiments - "Wow, my life is really boring." Quickly followed by "Thank God for that!".

Soon I'll start a biography of Lenny Bruce.

[satitania]

reading my lab manual *sigh*

make school go away

[0r4ng3]

right now? reading the forums, duh

[GreenTerror]

Revolution on Canvas (poetry from members of indie bands)

[HornyPope]

I think Catherine had the least memorable character ever. I could barely remember anything she did. Then again, I did read that book quite a while ago. For some reason she very much reminds me of a the women in the short story "Hills like White Elephants" by the same author.

My favourite Hemingway novel is For Whom the Bell Tolls.

[HornyPope]

Just a nice tidbit from Don Quixote I ought to write down lest I forget. Does it happen to you people often that you read a great passage worthy to note down but don't feel like interupting the book? Sometimes I would mark down the page on my pack of gum (because it's usualy the only paper I carry, and I refuse to write on the book in any form) but most often I just forget and whatever I wanted to quote gets lost. Poo.

"We are all us mortal--here today and gone tomorow, and Death eats the lamb as soon as the sheep, and nobody can promise himself more hours of life in this world than God wishes to give him, for Death is deaf, and when he comes to knock at our door he is always in a hurry, and neither prayers, nor force, nor scepters, nor mitres can delay him, as the common saying goes, and as they tell us from the pulpits."

[Betty]

A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemmingway. I hate Catherine. She's everything I don't like in a woman.

I read that not THAT long ago but have a terrible memory. One of the noteworthy things I remember was the bizarre hair obsession. I always think about that. How she would fan her hair out and he would sleep on it, and then he wanted to grow his hair out like her because he was so obsessed. If I recall correctly, anyway.

Cause my boyfriend hates sleeping anywhere near my hair, hell I hate sleeping with it anywhere near my face as well.

[calichix]

I think Catherine had the least memorable character ever. I could barely remember anything she did. Then again, I did read that book quite a while ago. For some reason she very much reminds me of a the women in the short story "Hills like White Elephants" by the same author.

My favourite Hemingway novel is For Whom the Bell Tolls.

well catherine is this little bitch who always says stuff like, "I'm not me anymore. I have no me. I'm you." and "I'm sorry. I won't speak. I'm a good girl. Tell me I'm a good girl?" It drives me crazy.

everyone loves the old man and the sea but I couldn't take it seriously cause it's a book about overcoming adversity from a dude who killed himself. I read it twice to try and appreciate it but it just wasn't happening.

[super nerd]

i was reading the whole collection of the hitchhikers guide and i also started berfore hearing of the movie, but my friend heard about the movie and took my book....grr.. now im reading When Thunder Rolled. it's about a pilot of an f-105 and his campaign over vietnam.. not my cup of tea but it passes the time.

[SkunkIt]

I'm reading, "I am Morgan le Fay", It's Authorian folklore, which i'm not usually into, but I looked this book up under "Fairies", I read the introduction, I still really don't know what it's about, but it looks interesting.

[phonesex]

codex, the






it's a great read

;)

[satitania]

biochem lab notes

gargggggggggggg

[Betty]

^ You sound like me... but I finished my last exam last week! Now I am just reading a thesis because it is what I will be working on for the summer.

[Mentally_Challenged]

I would be reading...
The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teenagers (My mother has strange taste).

I'm also reading
Key Stage 3 Mathematics: The Revision Guide.

EURGHHHHHHHHH :mad:

[notoriousdoc]

hitch hikers guide to the galaxy: the trilogy of four

great book

[satitania]

^ You sound like me... but I finished my last exam last week! Now I am just reading a thesis because it is what I will be working on for the summer.


what do you study?

[Punky Dudess]

the back of my gothica DVD....hmmmm

[Betty]

what do you study?

Chemistry.

[ThrashedThrasher]

Lords Of Chaos : The Bloody Rise Of The Satanic Metal Underground
by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Soderlind

And the Necronomicon