What are you reading now?

skunkushybrid said:
Do you not see the facts in fiction? Fiction can be just as educational as fact.
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true true skunk, factual fiction.. true i do enjoy fiction i suppose. i tend not to read thrillers and horrors or that kind of stuff though, i guess thats what i meant.
les miserables by victor hugo and candide by voltaire are both great cantputdown reads
 
skunkushybrid said:
I'd also highly recommend that people read a copy of Stephen Hawking's 'A Brief History Of Time.'
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that's a fantastic read. enlightening. also check out Carl Sagan's book "The demon haunted world-science as a candle in the dark".

for fiction: i just finished '20,000 leagues under the sea' and 'journey to the center of the earth', both by Jules Vern. i never knew what an amazing science fiction writer he was! and these were published in the later 1800s!
 
Reading is one of my favorite activities....

recent reads:

Young Men and Fire---Norman Maclean
This is a non fiction account of the original smoke jumpers--very good

Frankenstein---Mary Shelly
Nothing like the movies...no electrodes....deeply disturbing.

Balzac and the Chinese Seamstress---Dai Sigie
Warm hearted tale of Chi-coms secret love of Western literature.

Blaze---S. King---(Bachman)
mediocre by King's standard....nowhere near as good as Cell or Lizey's story

Foundation---Asimov
Interesting Sci-Fi

Disgrace---J.M.Coetzee
WOW! what a disturbing, thoughtful read...yikes

I am currently reading The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene...I loved his other books.

My favorite all time writer is Charles Dickens....simply the best...IMHO
 
morp said:
true true skunk, factual fiction.. true i do enjoy fiction i suppose. i tend not to read thrillers and horrors or that kind of stuff though, i guess thats what i meant.
les miserables by victor hugo and candide by voltaire are both great cantputdown reads
Click to expand...

Yeah, I get what you mean. I read a lot of the horrors and thrillers while I was still a teen. Nice and easy to read.

A good fiction writer, if you're interested in British history is Bernard Cornwell. everything is factually accurate. The only fictions are the main characters of his stories.

A good sci fi writer is Iain M Banks... he writes about spaceships that are living things... people live forever. I got to reading his sci fi through reading some of his modern fiction, he misses out the M then though and writes under just plain Iain Banks.
 
Whoever it was that said Dickens... I must agree. I read a few of his books as a child. Very, very good writer. He involves you in the story in a way that many writers would love to master. Stephen King has this talent too.
 
Wavels said:
Reading is one of my favorite activities....

recent reads:

Young Men and Fire---Norman Maclean
This is a non fiction account of the original smoke jumpers--very good

Frankenstein---Mary Shelly
Nothing like the movies...no electrodes....deeply disturbing.

Balzac and the Chinese Seamstress---Dai Sigie
Warm hearted tale of Chi-coms secret love of Western literature.

Blaze---S. King---(Bachman)
mediocre by King's standard....nowhere near as good as Cell or Lizey's story

Foundation---Asimov
Interesting Sci-Fi

Disgrace---J.M.Coetzee
WOW! what a disturbing, thoughtful read...yikes

I am currently reading The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene...I loved his other books.

My favorite all time writer is Charles Dickens....simply the best...IMHO
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Just interested on your take on Shelley? Why is she not classed as a visionary, a woman ahead of her time?

She was right, the key to life is electricity. Energy.
 
closet.cult said:
that's a fantastic read. enlightening. also check out Carl Sagan's book "The demon haunted world-science as a candle in the dark".

for fiction: i just finished '20,000 leagues under the sea' and 'journey to the center of the earth', both by Jules Vern. i never knew what an amazing science fiction writer he was! and these were published in the later 1800s!
Click to expand...

I'll keep an eye out for the Carl Sagan novel. Good ol' Jules Verne... certainly a man ahead of his time.
 
skunkushybrid said:
Yeah, I get what you mean. I read a lot of the horrors and thrillers while I was still a teen. Nice and easy to read.

A good fiction writer, if you're interested in British history is Bernard Cornwell. everything is factually accurate. The only fictions are the main characters of his stories.

A good sci fi writer is Iain M Banks... he writes about spaceships that are living things... people live forever. I got to reading his sci fi through reading some of his modern fiction, he misses out the M then though and writes under just plain Iain Banks.
Click to expand...

I highly recommend you read this skunk, peter f hamilton the nights dawn trilogy. 3 Really large books that leave you on a cliff hanger at the end of the first 2. Science fiction with lots of amazing ideas. If you wanna get it from the library or off ebay or something, its well worth a read, it really made me think about "the afterlife".
 
To be honest, I really don't like reading sci fi anymore. I love writing it, but it's rare that I will go out and read any these days. I only read the Iain Banks because I read his modern fiction first.

Wavels, I remember you telling me of an author and I struggled to remember his name, just as I'm doing now! Although I do remember reading a few of his books as a kid. Particularly the Harry Keogh books, the guy that could see and talk to the dead. It is the same guy isn't it, I forget his name... for some reason I can't get Richard Layman out of my head:confused:

Fuck, now I can't get Robert Ludlum out of my head!

Help!
 
closet.cult said:
that's a fantastic read. enlightening. also check out Carl Sagan's book "The demon haunted world-science as a candle in the dark".

for fiction: i just finished '20,000 leagues under the sea' and 'journey to the center of the earth', both by Jules Vern. i never knew what an amazing science fiction writer he was! and these were published in the later 1800s!
Click to expand...

I'm a big fan of Jules Verne, and H.P. Lovecraft...he was out there let me tell you, he's probably one of those authors that would creep me out if I ever met him in real life. I still read a lot of Stephen King's stuff (I read the Shining at least once a year). One of the newer horror guys that I really enjoy is Bentley Little, I think he's really demented. I'm also a huge Tolkien nerd. Have any of you Stephen Hawkins guys read the "Universe in a Nutshell"? And for all you history buffs out there you should check out Graham Hancock especially Fingerprints of the Gods....he is convinced that we have miscalculated the time line of humans. He's not a page turner but if you like history I would highly recommend some of his work.
 
Gygax1974 said:
I'm a big fan of Jules Verne, and H.P. Lovecraft...he was out there let me tell you, he's probably one of those authors that would creep me out if I ever met him in real life.
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Hi Gygax....Verne was prescient...HG Wells was a genius also....
Lovecraft was a one of a kind creepmaster....

IMO, historical fictions greatest talent is Tim Powers.... I LOVE this writer...
Annubis Gates, On Stranger Tides and Drawing of the Dark are fantastic reads.

"Tim Powers does it right! Combining the best of mythology and real history, he takes you on a rollicking magical adventure that is both tense and hilarious. You won't read a more plausible explanation for Western Civilization, or one that's half so much fun. So raise your glass to The Drawing of the Dark."
--DAVID BRIN

"Tim Powers is like no other. Tim Powers is granite where others are shale. Tim Powers chuckles like a river at night. Tim Powers is like a butterfly hovering at the pin, ruminating, eyebrow cocked, over the dancing angels. Tim Powers is not like any other, now and far into tomorrow."
--ALGIS BUDRYS
Editor of Tomorrow

Amazon.com: The Drawing of the Dark (Fantasy Masterworks): Books: Tim Powers

:joint:
 
skunk, i have read the wasp factory by iain banks but none of his scifi stuff, maybe one day i will indulge, thanks for the bump!

on a seperate point, anyone like any of the beat authors? i must say im a fan.
 
i really enjoyed stephen kings' "gunslinger series". a few of the books got slow but that's how he is. it a definite read though.
 
"A child called it" by Dave Pelzer, i couldnt even but the thing down i finished that book in a day and a half.
 
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