Repug's book of the month club

[Mr. Blonde]

Originally Posted by THEINCREDIBLEdork

I also thought it was cool that this was written in 1985 and Scott had pretty much nailed the idea of "nets" and how memes would flow through them and influence peoples thoughts in the future.

Agreed, when I first read it I thought the exact same thing. He expands on it further in the next couple of books with Ender, Peter, Valentine and even Bean continuing the same course, basically trying to influence universal politics with forum posts; its interesting to see how he predicted the nets would be primarily used (and respected) for political and social debate and commentary, instead of what it is now. Basically he didn't account for the massive amount of trolls and e-tards, or maybe in his mind they existed but he felt like they were below the books/characters' class of intellect and therefore not worth mentioning.

But then again, if I recall correctly the government controls and monitors net access in the book, but it didn't stop child prodigies from creating fake accounts. Point being, maybe i'm reading the wrong forums but I honestly can't say i've read anything so profound on the internet that I can attribute it to one person and its globally life-changing.

[f3lix]

Is there a way to unsubscribe to a thread so it doesn't lurk at the bottom of the "unread" posts when I click on the new post link?

This thread is just gay.

[Mr. Blonde]

I also wish we could do that, except with other gay threads.

[THEINCREDIBLEdork]

mark forums read, under quicklinks faggots

[Repugnant Abomination]

Originally Posted by f3lix

This thread is just gay.

You are.

[Mr. Blonde]

Originally Posted by Repugnant Abomination

Yo,

The Road was the first book I read by McCarthy (I suspect the same can be said for most people) and ever since reading it I've been a big fan of his. If you liked The Road then you should check out his other books. Of his books I've read:

Blood Meridian
The Road
No Country for Old Men
All the Pretty Horses
Child of God

I consider myself pretty knowledgeable of his work at this point, so I feel confident in saying that if you liked The Road you'll definitely like Child of God. They have very similar feels to them.

Just finished The Road tonight, and I have two points of interest in regard to Cormac McCarthy:

1 - I've already seen No Country for Old Men (had no idea it was written by him till this thread btw...but also didn't really care then), i'm interested in his other books. Should I read All the Pretty Horses or should I just watch the movie? I've already read the plot on wikipedia.

2 - The trailer for the movie really doesn't look anything like what (i think) the books purpose was. Don't get me wrong, the movie looks good, but now that i've read the book i'm hoping the movie doesn't change the overall atmosphere McCarthy was trying to portray. (book/movie elitism, i know). They have either turned it into a Thriller/Chase movie, or they just took all the actiony scenes from the book and inserted them into the trailer to draw crowds. I'm hoping its the latter, and I really think it might be, because trailers have a history of misleading audiences slightly to the timeline of events/actual events (I remember seeing a few movie trailers and cool scenes from them, and these scenes were never actually in the movie).

For example, the man's wife (played by charlize theron) is portrayed as the trailer as making it sound like a chase film/she being present throughout the book by having her say lines that were exactly the same in the book, but neither a chase nor her being present throughout the book actually happens.


EDIT: After re-watching the trailer for No Country for Old Men I don't think I appreciated it as much as I should have and am re-downloading to watch.

One thing that McCarthy does REALLY well is implement common sense/human ingenuity into real-life situations in his books. Moreso in The Road than No Country I think, but they also were a lot different....No Country was more of a hide/seek/escape movie whereas The Road (while obviously having escape/hiding facets) was more about survival and the tools humans take for granted to stay alive. I wish there was more available on his life experiences, I would be very interested to read a biography about him.

[Repugnant Abomination]

I have to go to work in a minute, so I'll post more in depth on this later today.

1. No Country for Old Men is generally thought of as McCarthy's worst book. Of the 5 books I've read of his I agree. Great movie, sub-par book (at least by McCarthy standards).

2. All the Pretty Horses is a really good book, but if you're already read the plot then you'd be reading it more for the actual writing, and if that's the case I'd suggest Blood Meridian.

3. I'm not expecting The Road to stay very true to the book for reasons you already mentioned.

More later.

[Repugnant Abomination]

Nadine Gordimer (born 20 November 1923) is a South African writer, political activist and Nobel laureate.
Her writing has long dealt with moral and racial issues, particularly apartheid in South Africa. She was active in the anti-apartheid movement, joining the African National Congress during the days when the organization was banned. She has recently been active in HIV/AIDS causes.

Get a Life (2005) is an ecological novel by South African writer Nadine Gordimer.
The novel tells the story of environmental activist Paul Bannerman and his family. Paul is diagnosed with thyroid cancer and, after surgery and subsequent radiation treatment, has to live quarantined at his parent's place for some time. This significant change in his life also affects his family.

My understanding is this is a very "post Nobel Prize" effort by Gordmire, meaning it's not as good as her early work. In my opinion this book wasn't very good and I don't recommend it. I haven't read any of her other stuff and unfortunately this book has turned me off to reading any of her other books for a long time, unfair as it may be.



"Michael Cadnum puts us squarely into the alien environment of the 12th century in this well written and evocative novel of a young man's coming of age. Young apprentice Edmund is sentenced to go on Crusade for abetting his criminal master, and finds himself caught up in the excitement and terror of the Cause."

The cool thing about this book is that it doesn't sugarcoat anything - it's very realistic. All the glory, as well as all the agony and horror of the crusades is on full display in this novel. I give it a thumbs up.

Oh, and just to clarify, it is considered a young adult novel. Still, pretty good.

[Mr. Blonde]

Recently become interested in the Crusades (tonight, after a lesson i taught) its in the amazon cart.

[Dent]

Pedagogy of the Oppressed is the most widely known of educator Paulo Freire's works. It was first published in Portuguese in 1968 as Pedagogia do oprimido and the first English translation was published in 1970. The book examines the struggle for justice and equity within the educational system and proposes a new pedagogy.

[Repugnant Abomination]

Double.

[Repugnant Abomination]

Moby-Dick is a classic novel written in 1851 by American author Herman Melville. Originally misunderstood by contemporary audiences and critics, Moby-Dick is now often referred to as "The Great American Novel" and is considered one of the treasures of world literature. The story tells the adventures of the wandering sailor Ishmael and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab. Ishmael soon learns that Ahab seeks one specific whale, Moby Dick, a white sperm whale of tremendous size and ferocity. Comparatively few whaleships know of Moby Dick, and fewer yet have encountered him. In a previous encounter, the whale destroyed Ahab's boat and bit off his leg. Ahab intends to take revenge.

The book is very difficult to understand, mainly due to the complex ideas it deals with, but also because of the somewhat archaic language it's written in. Still, I'd recommend everyone at some point in their life sit down and try to read this book.

[THEINCREDIBLEdork]

Originally Posted by Repugnant Abomination

The book is very difficult to understand, mainly due to the complex ideas it deals with

Maybe its just above your reading level.

[vaga1220 *]

Complex ideas? the moral of the story is that you can't take revenge on nature.

[Repugnant Abomination]

The White Tiger is the debut novel by Indian author Aravind Adiga. It was first published in 2008 and won the Man Booker Prize for the same year. The novel studies the contrast between India's rise as a modern global economy and the main character, who comes from crushing rural poverty. Other themes touched on include the tensions between India and China as Asian superpowers, religious tensions between Hindu and Muslim, familial loyalty versus independence, the experience of returning to India after living in America, and corruption endemic to Indian society and politics.

This was a very good book - not a great book. Expect an entertaining and insightful read, but nothing amazing.

[Repugnant Abomination]

Olive Kitteridge (2008) is a novel by American author Elizabeth Strout. It is a collection of 13 connected short stories about a woman named Olive and her immediate family and friends in the town of Crosby in coastal Maine. It is also known as On the Coast of Maine. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2009, and was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award.

This was a fantastic book. Two thumbs up.

[Mr. Blonde]

YouTube - Coast Of Maine - Ivory

YouTube - Coast Of Maine - Ivory

[Fruitacious B]

This thread is sweet. As if my to-do list of books wasn't long enough...

Originally Posted by Ugly Bastard

Just finished the best novel I've ever read. It resonated with me in a way that is hard to put into words. I could see some of you liking it. I could see others of you not making it past the first five pages.

Hells Fucking Yes. Brilliant, brilliant novel.

Originally Posted by SittinOnDubsWGW

I picked up McCarthy's The Road today as well as Pygmy by Palahniuk.

I'll write reviews when I'm done. I'm taking both of them to work, so speed is dependent on how busy I am at work. Will probably read The Road first.

So have you finished Pygmy yet? I'm still in between on whether I'm going to read it. I nearly bought Pygmy last month, but the writing style couldn't convince me to drop the 12 bucks needed to own it. I'm just beginning Rant now, and I love the oral-autobiography style, but I don't think the whole dislexic looking writing style of Pygmy can keep me around long enough to finish it. Leave it to Palahniuk to do something like that, though that style reminded me of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time'.
------

If I may toss one in...

Tom Robbins has one of the most unique styles in modern literature. To quote Wiki (they summed it up well)...

"Still Life With Woodpecker is the third novel by Tom Robbins, concerning the love affair between an environmentalist princess and an outlaw. As with most of Robbins' books, it encompasses a broad range of topics, from aliens and redheads to consumerism, the building of bombs, romance, royalty, the moon, and a pack of Camels."

The small bits of poignant philosophy that Tom Robbins slips into his novels give him one of the best narrative styles I've ever seen.

[Mr. Blonde]

The only Tom Robbins book i've ever read was Jitterbug Perfume, lent to me and then stolen from a girl who blew me once. It was a pretty good book.

[SittinOnDubsWGW]

Originally Posted by Fruitacious B

So have you finished Pygmy yet? I'm still in between on whether I'm going to read it. I nearly bought Pygmy last month, but the writing style couldn't convince me to drop the 12 bucks needed to own it. I'm just beginning Rant now, and I love the oral-autobiography style, but I don't think the whole dislexic looking writing style of Pygmy can keep me around long enough to finish it.

Overall, it was OK. The writing style slows down my reading speed by quite a bit. There are a lot of little things that you have to think about in order to figure out exactly wtf Pygmy is talking about at times. The fact that all of his dialogue is completely broken english and weird could easily turn people off pretty quickly.

[Mr. Blonde]

Just finished A Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I had certainly heard of the book title and of Oscar Wilde before, but I had never read any of his works. This was lent to me by one of those hot chicks that moved in on my floor, and personally I get pretty annoyed when people lend me books without me asking for it, because then i'm obligated to read it, but i'm glad I did.

Basically for those of you who haven't read it, it has a lot of undertones for Wildes own battle with homosexuality, which he was tried and imprisoned for.

It focuses on Dorian, a young-twenty something who is apparently some gorgeous dude, who is completely innocent and boyish until this point in his life, and has been sitting as a subject for an up-and-coming painter, Basil Hallward. On such a day where Basil is painting a masterpiece of Dorian, he meets the very witty Lord Henry, Basil's friend, who about ten years Dorians senior. He basically corrupts him with words and opens him up to all sorts of new ideas about life, primarily that as he gets older he will inevitably lose his beauty, and this freaks Dorian out. He exclaims something about how he wishes the picture Basil painted of him (which the only three people who have seen it think is absolutely amazing) would take all of his sin and aging on itself, and he himself would keep his beauty forever. In doing this, he inadvertently makes a Faustian deal and the rest of the book is him coming to terms with his gift/curse, and his life and ponderings throughout.

It's a great book, and really short (about 230 pgs), and has so many witty remarks and truisms about society and life that it's definitely worth owning.

[Repugnant Abomination]

I've read it - pretty good book. Wilde's only novel, I think.

Fun fact: Bram Stoker based a lot of Dracula (the character, not the book itself) on Oscar Wilde.

[Mr. Blonde]

That's interesting; that's actually next on my read list. Sitting on my shelf as we speak.

[DJ FC]

I've seen his grave. It's very gay.

[Repugnant Abomination]

Originally Posted by Mr. Blonde

That's interesting; that's actually next on my read list. Sitting on my shelf as we speak.

I read it in college and had I not a professor who put the story in a broader historical context I would've absolutely hated it. I'd urge you to skip over it if it wasn't considered such a classic. If you're looking to read a good monster novel though I would definitely recommend Frankenstein. It's infinitely superior.