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Author Topic: Book Thread: Yes im very serious  (Read 6927 times)

EmperorNuthulu

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Re: Book Thread: Yes im very serious
« Reply #75 on: March 25, 2011, 11:47:20 am »

TBH Peter Hamilton's books feel like he had no clear idea on what he was trying to add, which makes it read odd (some parts read like they were overextended far beyond their actual importance, others were overconstricted, and others feel like a shaggy dog tale). The ND is particularily guilty (albeit the Confederacy duology also has it to a lesser extent). And I think he did it in the Void once again.

(mind you, I'm not saying that they are bad. They are entertaining enough. But they have this unpolished feel)

I think the only good parts of the void trilogy were the Edeard parts, the other parts just seemed dull. The last book also had Edeard basically exploit the crap out of his time travelling powers, making every problem almost instantly solvable.
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Nilocy

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Re: Book Thread: Yes im very serious
« Reply #76 on: March 25, 2011, 11:49:43 am »

TBH Peter Hamilton's books feel like he had no clear idea on what he was trying to add, which makes it read odd (some parts read like they were overextended far beyond their actual importance, others were overconstricted, and others feel like a shaggy dog tale). The ND is particularily guilty (albeit the Confederacy duology also has it to a lesser extent). And I think he did it in the Void once again.

(mind you, I'm not saying that they are bad. They are entertaining enough. But they have this unpolished feel)

I think the only good parts of the void trilogy were the Edeard parts, the other parts just seemed dull. The last book also had Edeard basically exploit the crap out of his time travelling powers, making every problem almost instantly solvable.

I think one of my favouite things about Hamiltons work is his exposition of all the different kind of worlds. Lothian was my favourite planet :)
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varnish

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Re: Book Thread: Yes im very serious
« Reply #77 on: March 31, 2011, 12:30:26 am »

My current reading: Found an old pamphlet from the 1950's about how the desegregation of schools was an evil plot by northerners to destabilize the perfectly reasonable and just segregated system that the south had. It is incredibly, horrifically racist, but it also serves as an excellent primer on how many people of that time thought.

If you want to learn history, don't read the history books you find at your local barnes and nobles/borders. Primary and secondary sources are where it's at/
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GamerKnight

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Re: Book Thread: Yes im very serious
« Reply #78 on: March 31, 2011, 12:41:35 am »

Heh.
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Criptfeind

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Re: Book Thread: Yes im very serious
« Reply #79 on: March 31, 2011, 12:44:16 am »

Sorta makes you wonder what things we do now a days that the future will look upon with horror. My guess is eating meat and voting for republicans.
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Lord Shonus

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Re: Book Thread: Yes im very serious
« Reply #80 on: March 31, 2011, 06:37:36 am »

My current reading: Found an old pamphlet from the 1950's about how the desegregation of schools was an evil plot by northerners to destabilize the perfectly reasonable and just segregated system that the south had. It is incredibly, horrifically racist, but it also serves as an excellent primer on how many people of that time thought.

If you want to learn history, don't read the history books you find at your local barnes and nobles/borders. Primary and secondary sources are where it's at/

Heh. I know exactly the pamphlet you mean. Not as bad as a lot of the stuff I see at work, but not good either.
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Strife26

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Re: Book Thread: Yes im very serious
« Reply #81 on: March 31, 2011, 06:41:38 am »

Alright, I'm going to reread Red Storm Rising on my plane ride home and then read Bolo (which my mom found during flood preparations) when I get there.
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Tellemurius

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Re: Book Thread: Yes im very serious
« Reply #82 on: March 31, 2011, 11:39:55 am »

Red Storm rising, how much is that?

Lord Shonus

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Re: Book Thread: Yes im very serious
« Reply #83 on: March 31, 2011, 11:48:02 am »

Pages or cost?
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Strife26

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Re: Book Thread: Yes im very serious
« Reply #84 on: March 31, 2011, 12:53:31 pm »

750-810 pages depending on the edition, 7-30 cover price, pretty cheap or free if you're getting it used.
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ChairmanPoo

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Re: Book Thread: Yes im very serious
« Reply #85 on: April 01, 2011, 09:20:55 am »

Been reading books from the Tramorea series. It's entertaining.

PD: also finished today "Cold Earth", by Sarah Moss. Quite disquieting psychological horror.
« Last Edit: April 03, 2011, 10:41:49 pm by ChairmanPoo »
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ChairmanPoo

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Re: Book Thread: Yes im very serious
« Reply #86 on: April 08, 2011, 05:43:09 pm »

Finished Bentley Little's "The burning"

Now reading Curtis Garland's "Sepulchral Wedding". Now, the guy is a hack, but at the moment I'm finding the story macabre enough. It's about a dissolute wealthy kid who has indebted himself heavily, jeopardizing his inheritance, and antagonizing his fiance's family (who has broken the compromise). But just when he is about to kill himself, there's a knock on the door. A man offers him enough money to pay all his debts and start anew, but in exchange he must wed a woman he hasn't met and spend a night with her, after which he will never see her again. He must agree to never remarry or try to declare the marriage null,  too. He agrees, but when he arrives at the house where the wedding is to take place, it turns out the woman is dead. Still, he goes through the ceremony -he has little choice, he's destitute otherwise-, and where I am now he is passing the "wedding night" with her (not in the biblical sense, thankfully), as agreed
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malimbar04

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Re: Book Thread: Yes im very serious
« Reply #87 on: April 08, 2011, 10:21:11 pm »

Currently reading Buddhism (by Damien Keown), and it's really interesting. I knew a lot of it (like being a historical guy, not having any supreme gods, and so forth), but I didn't realize that the original Buddha didn't believe in an immortal soul, and said before he died that he wasn't going to be reborn. That, and the whole reincarnation thing is apparently extremely fuzzy, with different Buddhists having very different beliefs about it.
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Tellemurius

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Re: Book Thread: Yes im very serious
« Reply #88 on: April 08, 2011, 10:22:25 pm »

Have you read Siddhartha yet?

malimbar04

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Re: Book Thread: Yes im very serious
« Reply #89 on: April 08, 2011, 10:23:37 pm »

Have you read Siddhartha yet?
nope, this is the first official book I've read on Buddhism. Well, I did read "The Art of Happiness" by the Dali Lama a few years ago, but I don't think that really counts.
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No! No! I will not massacre my children. Instead, I'll make them corpulent on crappy mass-produced quarry bush biscuits and questionably grown mushroom alcohol, and then send them into the military when they turn 12...
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