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[Heron TSG]

I'm currently reading two books for fun, in addition to my textbook load.

The Epic Of Gilgamesh is my current (fiction?) book, and it's pretty rad. Gilgamesh's search for the plant 'How-The-Young-Man-Once-Again-Becomes-A-Young-Man' is one of the most awesome ones I've ever read about. Swimming to the bottom of the ocean takes some skill.

People and Nations: A World History is my current nonfiction book, and I've learned a ton. It's also the only history book I've ever started reading cover to cover. I'm currently on the French Revolution and how the French government changed forms four times in the years before Napoleon's rule.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

My schoolwork has consumed my life recently, so my only recent books are from it. Had to read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Catcher in the Rye over the summer. I found them to be pretty outdated. I'll never understand why the school insists on having us read books that exist to criticize the society they were written for, and that exist only in the past. The school also set up this "collective reading program" where all the staff, students, and administration are "required" (no real enforcement of it) to read a single book every year. This was the first year of that, and they gave us all The Hunger Games, which was decent, if somewhat restrained in content. It's obviously trying to be classified as a young adult novel, while I think it would be much better if the author just let go and allow the story to flow as seemingly intended without concern for self-censorship of content.

At the time of typing I'm preparing to read the next chapter of The Great Gatsby, which is akin to eating broken glass.

[Vector]

I'll never understand why the school insists on having us read books that exist to criticize the society they were written for, and that exist only in the past.

Because a past is a compass for the future, and our present society is more similar to our old society than we want to imagine.

[Solifuge]

Social compass or no, the Gatsby was still a softly steaming pile of crap wrapped in the American Dream. Or at least, so it seemed at the time.

On the subject of Da Book Club, we could start creating a list of books everyone has been meaning to read, and we could randomly pick a handful from the list every month, and provide some structured discussion. This is mostly the OCD talking, but it may be fun to read and discuss what we get out of certain books.

I've been meaning to read Nation by Terry Pratchett; it's not a book in the Discworld Series, but is instead a subtly alternate history story, told from the perspective of a Pacific Islander who has recently come of age, and it sounds really neat.

Spoiler: I try not to use them as a basis for judgement... but I'm a sucker for a good book cover. (click to show/hide)

[Rose]

Woo! book club!

I haven't been reading much, due to work, but the last book I read was "And I shall wear midnight", by Pratchett. very good book, and the rumor mill about it turned out to be true, he did bring back Eskarina. that makes me happy.

[Rose]

Yeah, nation is really good. not as  wacky as the diskworld stuff, but still really good.

also, I envy all you people with regular access to real books. all I have is the internet.

[Solifuge]

Japa, can't you order books via Amazon, or will they not ship to where you are?

[ein]

Just finished reading Jane Eyre for English.
It was good, not great, but not bad, except the middle part, with Jane not marrying Rochester.
That was just awful.
Anyway, that means I'm back to reading the Brothers Karamazov.
After that, I'm probably going to do some more Chekhov, because his stuff is much lighter and easier to read than Dostoevsky.

[Vector]

Social compass or no, the Gatsby was still a softly steaming pile of crap wrapped in the American Dream. Or at least, so it seemed at the time.

Man, I loved Gatsby.  Dunno why everyone else seems to hate it... but then, I also loved Moby Dick and The Scarlet Letter, so that might just be me.

On the subject of Da Book Club, we could start creating a list of books everyone has been meaning to read, and we could randomly pick a handful from the list every month, and provide some structured discussion. This is mostly the OCD talking, but it may be fun to read and discuss what we get out of certain books.

Yes.  Agreement.  I just think we need a little bit more momentum behind this, first.  Or rather, if we had more people saying "Book!" with responses to the book, or "wow, we all wanted to read that" going on, then it'd be easier.


That said, I recently purchased a copy of The Brothers Karamazov, and could see reading it in the near future.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Finished trudging through Chapters III-IV of The Great Gatsby.

So far?

Spoiler: it hurts (click to show/hide)

it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts

Hyperbole aside, I don't think I've ever hated a book more than I hate The Great Gatsby.

World War Z sits on my bookcase, unread. It beckons to me.

[ChairmanPoo]

We need our own sub-forum, that's what we need

World War Z sits on my bookcase, unread. It beckons to me.

It's not as good as you might think.

Then again, it's likely better than Gastby the Clueless, so your call

[Aklyon]

if we had more people saying "Book!"

Book!

[ChairmanPoo]

Book!

[Renault]

I'm surprised so many people here (okay, like three. Still.) dislike Gatsby. I love that book; its one of my all-time favorities.
Hmm. I guess with books, mileage really does vary, doesn't it?

[MaximumZero]

Loved Moby Dick, hated Gatsby and The Scarlet Letter, but most of all was To Kill a Mockingbird. I got kicked out of class several times for not understanding the apparent dichotomy between black/white people.