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[SalmonGod]

I simply cannot stand Tolkein's writing style.

The thing about Tolkien is he wasn't approaching writing with the same goals as your typical fiction writer.  He wasn't aiming directly for entertainment or thought-provoking allegory.  He was an academic of languages and myth/folklore, and he wanted to invent a modern example of these inspired by a combination of the ancient ones he'd studied.  He even intentionally left huge blank spaces in his legendarium for other authors to fill in later, because he wanted this to be something that a new generation could take ownership of, the same way most cultures throughout history had their own unique legends.

So if you go into it expecting to be allegorically philosophized or whisked away on well-paced action plot, you're going to be disappointed.  You kind of need to approach it with an academic mindset, and you'll find plenty of entertainment and allegory incidentally along the way. 

Other media pick up on these things and accentuate them.  They do the same things with other ancient myths.  Reading direct translations of something like Beowulf isn't really all that entertaining the same way reading something by R.A. Salvatore would be.  It reads more like an account of historical events, which is only interesting in itself if you have an academic interest in these things.  But this doesn't stop people from using them as a launching point for making more entertaining media.

My love for Tolkien was something fostered by my parents, and enabled by the huge imagination, curiousity, and attention span I had as a child.  I was the only kid I knew growing up who could read 150+ pages in one sitting, and I think I'm also the only person who has less attention span as an adult than they did as a child.  It's not really something for everyone, and I don't hold it against the movies that they're 100% special effects action films, which is completely different from the feel of the books.  I just wish they had been more faithful.

If you want a book that is still very much Tolkien, but reads somewhat more like your standard modern fantasy novel, try Children of Hurin.  I very highly recommend it.  Beautiful story.  If Peter Jackson ever mentions it, don't be surprised if he disappears shortly after.

[bitterhorn]

I found the Lord of the Rings trilogy as well as the Silmarillion rather intolerable until I read them out loud, which transfigures them indescribably.  Pretty appropriate given the traditions Tolkien was inspired by.

[DrKillPatient]

I've got my eye on War of the Worlds and 1984. In terms of nonfiction, I'm currently reading The God Delusion and in the midst of ordering God is Not Great and The End of Faith.

Of course, there also my mandated summer reading, which, for the fourth year in a row if I recall correctly, documents another damn struggle against racism and slavery. Urgh, give it a rest already...

[Levi]

I've got my eye on War of the Worlds and 1984. In terms of nonfiction, I'm currently reading The God Delusion and in the midst of ordering God is Not Great and The End of Faith.

Of course, there also my mandated summer reading, which, for the fourth year in a row if I recall correctly, documents another damn struggle against racism and slavery. Urgh, give it a rest already...

1984 is a really fun read.  I recommend it!

[3]

Just finished reading Straw Dogs by John Gray. Interesting book. I've been... leaning in the direction of the argument presented in the book for some years now, but the author's obviously thought about such things a lot more than I have.

Began re-reading Kleinzeit by Russel Hoban. Dear God I forgot how well this thing reads. I'm somehow reminded of HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Of course, there also my mandated summer reading, which, for the fourth year in a row if I recall correctly, documents another damn struggle against racism and slavery. Urgh, give it a rest already...

This. So much this. It's not even beating a dead horse anymore, it's beating the dry bloodstain where its corpse was before it decomposed. It's like the schools can't think of anything besides "RAICSM IS AR BAWD" again and again and again and again. We get it already. You don't want kids to be racist, message received lound and clear now stop it. And then there's the inevitable "You don't like reading anti-racism stories year after year after year therefore you're automatically racist!" response that shows up whenever anyone calls them out on it. So annoying.

[Flying Dice]

Reading through A Song of Fire and Ice currently, as I finally managed to find a copy of the first volume. Also reading Night Watch, with the few Discworld novels I haven't yet read waiting behind that, as well as finishing up Steppenwolf and rereading The Wheel of Time trilogy series 14 (soon-to-be-15) volume saga for the umpteenth time. Sanderson had better hurry up, too, because finishing Jordan's work is a lot more important than whatever else he is working on. Also, waiting for David Weber to finish the next Multiverse novel, because that is the only work of his that I can stand reading. Considering rereading the Foundation series or the Dragonriders of Pern series once I finish up The Wheel of Time. Also, have Beowulf and a few random 1st volumes of different series sitting around waiting to be read. And I need to finish up the last quarter of the Necronomicon. I need to reread A Clockwork Orange, Nightfall, Battle Royale, (Offtopic: According to MLA, the Oxford comma is IN! YES!) and All Quiet on the Western Front. I need to finish Paradise Lost and start The Inferno. And I need to stop typing because I doubt anyone is going to bother reading this far.

[Willfor]

Sanderson had better hurry up, too, because finishing Jordan's work is a lot more important than whatever else he is working on.

You might not have heard the news, but Sanderson is currently the fastest fantasy writer in the world. He gets novels finished while taking vacations from writing novels. He is my hero.

Also, if you are not reading his other stuff, you are missing out. If I had one thing to say about him, if there is anything the man knows how to write, it is an ending that makes books worth reading.

[sluissa]

I'm reading The Blue Lagoon at the moment. Just got done reading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Not sure what I'll settle on next as I'm almost done with my current book.

[Lord Shonus]

The Sanderson-authored WoT novels seem quite a bit tighter than Jordan's, without sacrificing the scale and detail that I liked in the earlier books. Not sure if this was Sanderson or not, though. Jordan's last couple were much tighter as well.

[Flying Dice]

The Sanderson-authored WoT novels seem quite a bit tighter than Jordan's, without sacrificing the scale and detail that I liked in the earlier books. Not sure if this was Sanderson or not, though. Jordan's last couple were much tighter as well.

Actually, I got the same feeling. I think it might be because the plot is finally starting to get into a tighter spiral towards the conclusion, as well as because the characters are fully fleshed out, whereas earlier in the series Jordan had to deal with all of the unresolved subplots while also characterizing a very large cast.

Sanderson had better hurry up, too, because finishing Jordan's work is a lot more important than whatever else he is working on.

You might not have heard the news, but Sanderson is currently the fastest fantasy writer in the world. He gets novels finished while taking vacations from writing novels. He is my hero.

Also, if you are not reading his other stuff, you are missing out. If I had one thing to say about him, if there is anything the man knows how to write, it is an ending that makes books worth reading.

Don't get me wrong, I read Elantris and the first one or two Mistborn novels and enjoyed them quite a bit more than most other fantasy authors I've read, but the conclusion of the WoT saga comes first in my...

 

...book.

[RF]

Sanderson had better hurry up, too, because finishing Jordan's work is a lot more important than whatever else he is working on.

You might not have heard the news, but Sanderson is currently the fastest fantasy writer in the world. He gets novels finished while taking vacations from writing novels. He is my hero.

Also, if you are not reading his other stuff, you are missing out. If I had one thing to say about him, if there is anything the man knows how to write, it is an ending that makes books worth reading.

I wish he'd just hurry up and finish off the Stormborn novels. The first book set an amazing scene (even if very little actually happened...) and I want the rest to come along quickly. Mistborn is far less interesting.

[Bohandas]

Re-reading the novel Whargoul by heavy-metal musician Dave Bockie.

[Ephemeriis]

Of course, there also my mandated summer reading, which, for the fourth year in a row if I recall correctly, documents another damn struggle against racism and slavery. Urgh, give it a rest already...

This. So much this. It's not even beating a dead horse anymore, it's beating the dry bloodstain where its corpse was before it decomposed. It's like the schools can't think of anything besides "RAICSM IS AR BAWD" again and again and again and again. We get it already. You don't want kids to be racist, message received lound and clear now stop it. And then there's the inevitable "You don't like reading anti-racism stories year after year after year therefore you're automatically racist!" response that shows up whenever anyone calls them out on it. So annoying.

You know, I'm kind of sick of hearing this constant "RAICSM IS AR BAWD" drumbeat too...  And I used to think it was about time they gave it a rest...

But then you see the folks who came out of the woodwork during the last election cycle.  Who openly admitted that they weren't voting for Obama because he was black.  Not because he was a Democrat, or they didn't like his politics, or whatever.  But because of the color of his skin.

And then you've got that Justice of the Peace down in Louisiana who refused to marry an interracial couple.

And the KKK is still around.  They're trying to portray a kinder, gentler face these days...  Going up against extreme loonies like Phelps...  But they're still about white supremacy.

And let's not forget all the lovely racial profiling we're doing these days...  If you look even remotely middle-eastern you're in for a fun time.

I couldn't believe it when my own sister-in-law freaked out because my wife and I voted for Obama.  Why?  Because he is black.  She couldn't believe that we'd actually vote a black man into power.  She was so upset by the idea that she was spluttering and unable to form complete sentences.

Racism is alive and well.  We just like to tell ourselves that it's died off.

[Willfor]

I would like to think they are simply complaining that there are other social issues that they could be issued mandatory reading about instead of being told that there is only one major social issue that they need to read about. This is what I would like to think their posts are about, and perhaps not what they mean in reality.