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[Yoink]

Found a copy of Filth by Irvine Welsh the other day, in a vintage store whilst searching for flares/bellbottoms.
In good nick, for $10... not exactly cheap, but this was a "vintage store" as opposed to an actual op-shop, and I usually pay $10 at the ultra-cheap bookstore chain for much newer, less cool-looking editions of Welsh's novels, so it's not so bad. Also, they can be hard to find.
Anyway! As much as I've been enjoying Those Barren Leaves, I lack the self-control to continue reading anything else with an unread Irvine Welsh book just sitting there waiting for me to pick it up. Something about his writing just draws me in every time... so dark, so hilarious, so bleak and horrifying whilst also exhilarating... his books tend to scar one for life, but they are scars that one bears proudly.

It's good so far. Of course.
Only just getting into it, the first hints of the disturbing bigger picture are just beginning to become visible, but it will doubtless keep me guessing for a long while yet. Or, well, the whole book.      
At least Welsh's books tend to be so unputdownable that I should be able to blaze through it quickly and, after perhaps a brief stay in a psych ward recovering from whatever traumas the story's as-yet unknown direction will inflict on me, get back to Those Barren Leaves.     

[Parsely]

Update on my progress with Wheel of Time:
It's been months and I'm still on the first book. 250 pages in and not halfway done. This is one of the most boring books I've ever read in my life. This is worse than the Belgariad and that, even though it had the same intention of touring you by the hand through a fantasy land one conversation at a time, at least had a serviceable pace.

250 fucking pages and a flock of inconsequential characters and places have been introduced and left behind. Not to mention an entire hard journey was undermined because after they arrived at their destination, another character did the whole thing by themselves without the benefit of magic, invalidating what little catharsis we got when the party finally made it to the safety of the town.

And now more things of no importance are happening as the protagonist is closed off from any kind of influence on the plot by other characters who are older than him.

[A Thing]

There are some cool scenes in the Three Kingdoms.  Its been a long time since I've read it so I'm probably misremembering bits, but one of the ones that stuck in my head was when Cao Cao was wandering off by himself one time and came up on a hunters hut.

The hunter of course invited Cao Cao into his home for dinner.  He had to go out and catch some meat first though.  Unfortunately the hunting didn't go well, so he came back and rather than say "Sorry, I don't have any meat" he chopped up his wife and fed it to Cao Cao.   

Cao Cao clued in that he was eating the guys wife, and didn't mention it.  In fact, he was so impressed by the mans generosity and politeness that once he arrived back in his kingdom he arranged to send the hunter a bunch of bags of rice as a reward.

It's actually Liu Bei that happens to. Cao Cao just murders a whole family on suspicion that they're planning on killing him. Apparently staying at a villagers house was a real bad idea in ancient China.

Having never read the book I find myself desperatley hoping that this cao cao is not the protagonist.

Nah, Cao Cao is written that way because he's supposed to be the complete opposite of the previously mentioned 'main protagonist,' Liu Bei. He gets a lot more writing dedicated to him then most characters, but he's clearly meant to be a foil to Liu Bei and not the one your supposed to sympathize with.

As for Cao Cao himself, well, this is what he says in the novel after killing the family I mentioned before.

You can definitely make an argument that Cao Cao's a better leader then Liu Bei, though. Cao Cao managed to take over some of the most vital parts of China in a very short period of time after all.

[Spehss _]

Update on my progress with Wheel of Time:
It's been months and I'm still on the first book. 250 pages in and not halfway done. This is one of the most boring books I've ever read in my life. This is worse than the Belgariad and that, even though it had the same intention of touring you by the hand through a fantasy land one conversation at a time, at least had a serviceable pace.

250 fucking pages and a flock of inconsequential characters and places have been introduced and left behind. Not to mention an entire hard journey was undermined because after they arrived at their destination, another character did the whole thing by themselves without the benefit of magic, invalidating what little catharsis we got when the party finally made it to the safety of the town.

And now more things of no importance are happening as the protagonist is closed off from any kind of influence on the plot by other characters who are older than him.

In my opinion the first book starts off weak compared to some of Jordan's later books in the series. It's setting the scene and characters and starting the character development arcs of the three main characters. I found later books to be more rewarding to read as I'd get to see how events from the previous books would be building up into bigger and bigger outcomes, reaching the peak at the last books.

That said, the whole series is a big long read full of characters of varying relevance and there's definitely times where I think Jordan could've cut excess out. _{^{He seems to love describing all the different cultural nuances between the fantasy nations.}}

[Arx]

Yeah, if you're not interested in a thorough (sometimes too thorough) exploration of the world, Wheel of Time isn't for you.

[Tawa]

I got about a sixth of the way into the seventh book and stopped. There was so much filler that I just wanted to cross my arms beneath my breasts and tug on my braid.

[Yoink]

No.

No! Not another WoT derail!
Three Kingdoms derails are a-okay since as far as I can remember we haven't had a tonne of those in the past, plus it sounds like an actually interesting story. >.>
 

I've started reading Buddy Does Jersey. No, I haven't read Buddy Does Seattle, but my library only had the sequel for some reason. Oh well.
I really need to finish some books so I can pick up the pace working through all the stuff I have borrowed from the library, ugh. Both the current novels I'm reading are ones I own...

[Emma]

There are some cool scenes in the Three Kingdoms.  Its been a long time since I've read it so I'm probably misremembering bits, but one of the ones that stuck in my head was when Cao Cao was wandering off by himself one time and came up on a hunters hut.

The hunter of course invited Cao Cao into his home for dinner.  He had to go out and catch some meat first though.  Unfortunately the hunting didn't go well, so he came back and rather than say "Sorry, I don't have any meat" he chopped up his wife and fed it to Cao Cao.   

Cao Cao clued in that he was eating the guys wife, and didn't mention it.  In fact, he was so impressed by the mans generosity and politeness that once he arrived back in his kingdom he arranged to send the hunter a bunch of bags of rice as a reward.

It's actually Liu Bei that happens to. Cao Cao just murders a whole family on suspicion that they're planning on killing him. Apparently staying at a villagers house was a real bad idea in ancient China.

Having never read the book I find myself desperatley hoping that this cao cao is not the protagonist.

Nah, Cao Cao is written that way because he's supposed to be the complete opposite of the previously mentioned 'main protagonist,' Liu Bei. He gets a lot more writing dedicated to him then most characters, but he's clearly meant to be a foil to Liu Bei and not the one your supposed to sympathize with.

As for Cao Cao himself, well, this is what he says in the novel after killing the family I mentioned before.

You can definitely make an argument that Cao Cao's a better leader then Liu Bei, though. Cao Cao managed to take over some of the most vital parts of China in a very short period of time after all.

Damn, that video makes me wanna watch the whole movie.

[Max™]

Seeing this thread and having something in my head made me wonder if we have a "misleading but totally accurate synopsis" thread...

"Two buff naked dudes pound the hell out of each other in the hottest place you can imagine until one of them decides to end it by using his mouth."

Spoiler: Really not what it sounds like... (click to show/hide)

Invincible 140

Though that wasn't the last thing I read, just on my mind since the next one is due out soonish I think, last thing I read was The Delirium Brief by Stross and I don't even know how to begin doing a misleading but accurate synopsis there... "middle-aged couple try to work things out while dealing with a new boss and pushy evangelicals" maybe?

[Helgoland]

"A hitman and a boxer both start a new life. Unbeknownst to them, their paths intertwine."

- Pulp Fiction

[Max™]

Well played, though my first thought was "backseat accident leaves couple with some tough decisions" there.

[Starver]

"Two guys discard their clothes and chill, only to be interrupted by a couple of adventurous lovebirds out for their own fun, unaware of the more than 8" they are about to see..."?

(This aint things we're reading, any more. And, yes, I checked: Vincent apparently had 8.25" of handgun, Jules 'only' 7.25". Length, of course, not caliber.)

[redwallzyl]

The Insecure American: How We Got Here and What We Should Do About It

God its depressing.

[JoshuaFH]

I finished "The Future of Industrial Man" and honestly I could probably only understand half of it, the the half I could understand I loved the hell out of it.

It took me a hell of a long time to finish, despite it not being a very long book. Three days to finish one chapter, though I was honestly not reading as fast as I could, not even close. But after finishing it, I immediately felt some remorse for it being over already.

[Archibald]

Currently reading "What's Bred in the Bone" by Robertson Davies. Seems entertaining. Give it a try. Dunno how many people know about this author tho.