What are you reading? Book discussions and reviews

[Darth Rage]

Reading Wizard's First Rule right now, but I am having a hard time getting into it; really just counting down the days until Wheel of Time book 12 comes out.

Is someone else finishing WoT 12? The author died a few years back, though he supposedly left enough notes for someone to finish it. That series started out great, but damn did it get boring.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Currently reading Lost Symbol too. I wish Brown wasn't writing for 6th graders. It's like every obvious thing that anyone who knows a bit about history would know, is some great mysterious revelation. The villain seems like the albino turned up to 11. And the laboratory in total darkness? It makes no sense.

 

[BadMoon]

Currently reading Lost Symbol too. I wish Brown wasn't writing for 6th graders. It's like every obvious thing that anyone who knows a bit about history would know, is some great mysterious revelation. The villain seems like the albino turned up to 11. And the laboratory in total darkness? It makes no sense.

Dave don't poo on the dark laboratory. Mr. Grumpy pants! I will agree on the villain. He is almost the exact same character.

 

[Agent0028]

Currently reading Lost Symbol too. I wish Brown wasn't writing for 6th graders. It's like every obvious thing that anyone who knows a bit about history would know, is some great mysterious revelation. The villain seems like the albino turned up to 11. And the laboratory in total darkness? It makes no sense.

That is part of my problem with The DaVinci Code, people act like that theory is some new amazing revelation. I knew about that theory long before the book. Still, it sounds like I better bump The Lost Symbol up a bit in the reading list since alot of other people are reading. Don't want to be left behind.

 

[BadMoon]

That is part of my problem with The DaVinci Code, people act like that theory is some new amazing revelation. I knew about that theory long before the book. Still, it sounds like I better bump The Lost Symbol up a bit in the reading list since alot of other people are reading. Don't want to be left behind.

Don't let Dave sway you. He's just mad we didn't play patty cake last weekend.

 

[wofford29]

Just finished "The Road" again. Not much can be said really. It's a masterpiece. I really don't think there is a better living author than McCarthy.

 

[The Entity]

I just finished Halo: The Flood. While it was a good book, I enjoyed Fall Of Reach more, because it had more character development and different storylines, where The Flood is basically the first Halo game in novel-form albeit with some extra missions and happenings of other characters than the Master Chief. All in all a good read, especially for Halo fans


Now on to Halo: First Strike

 

[wofford29]

Going through a McCarthy kick at the moment. I'm starting "Blood Meridian" again tonight.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Just finished "The Road" again. Not much can be said really. It's a masterpiece. I really don't think there is a better living author than McCarthy.

I understand The Road is a bit stylistically daunting - is it true there is no punctuation so you don't know who's speaking and where sentences end?

 

[wofford29]

I understand The Road is a bit stylistically daunting - is it true there is no punctuation so you don't know who's speaking and where sentences end?

There are periods and basic punctuation, but McCarthy never uses quotations and uses commas sparingly. It's his style but it's not hard to follow once you get the flow. He breaks up most his dialogue by the line.

Example...

Hi
How are you?
I'm fine
Good to hear

 

[Agent0028]

How the hell does someone get a book published without following the rules of grammar? It's not a criticism since I can see how the quotation marks aren't really necessary, but what's the point of not having them?

 

[wofford29]

How the hell does someone get a book published without following the rules of grammar? It's not a criticism since I can see how the quotation marks aren't really necessary, but what's the point of not having them?

Have you ever read anything by McCarthy? He can do whatever he wants with the words that he puts out on paper.

Seriously though, every author has a style and it's his. Which is amazing with the complexity of his works that he has a very minimalist style with punctuations. He doesn't do many interviews and when he does he never really talks about writing so I think the only time he mentioned it was to say that he doesn't feel they are neccessary. He's a lot like Faulkner and Steinbeck in that they didn't really follow the "rules" of punctuation for their time.

edit: I went looking for a quote from Steinbeck from his book of life letters that talked about his disdain for "proper" grammar and punctuation. It always made me think about McCarthy...

`I put my words down for a matter of memory. They are more made to be spoken than read. I have the instincts of a minstrel rather than those of a scrivener... when my sounds are in place, I can send them to a stenographer who knows his trade and he can slip the commas about until they sit comfortably and he can spell the words so that schoolteachers will not raise their eyebrow when they read them. There are millions of people who are good stenographers but there aren't so many thousand who can make as nice a sound as I can.'
-Steinbeck

 

[kobayashi93]

How the hell does someone get a book published without following the rules of grammar?

Not only did he get it published, he won a pretty good prize for it too.

I'm also gearing up for the film with a second read.

 

[Agent0028]

Interesting, I'll have to check one of his books out. Not having proper punctuation still seems puzzling to me though.

 

[The Entity]

I finished Halo: First Strike today. Another great Halo novel! But after reading three of them in a row, I'm going to give the Halo universe a rest. I am looking forward to the next parts though and I will defenitely read them too in a while!!!

The next book I'm going to read is probably Aliens vs. Predator: Prey

 

[devlinboy]

just finished the lost symbol, now i am reading jurassic park...again lol

 

[jinxx]

"The Halloween Tree" by Ray Bradbury. I've read it for 10 years consecutively every fall.

 

[agen_kolar]

I read "Where The Wild Things Are" yesterday.

 

[mfoga]

I finished lost symbol. Good book but the other two were better. The book started to loose my interest at the end where the others made me more interested as it went on.

 

[Sup3rman]

amazing!!