quote:Originally posted by Sarcasm Kid: My brother's tried finishing the Witching Hour since last year, but he says Anne Rice spends whole chapters just describing parts of the house.
A couple a years ago I read Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Several times in the book he spends pages just listing the type of fish and sea plants the protagonist saw. :snore:
-------------------- Five billion years from now the Sun will go nova and obliterate the Earth. Don't sweat the small stuff!
From: Boston | Registered: Aug 2003
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I just bought a bunch of books (non-fiction).
The one I just finished is "White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son" by Tim Wise. The book examines white privilege. Mr. Wise argues that 1) racism still exists, 2) that white privilege applies to all white people regardless of their economic status, 3) that white people need to acknowledge the privilege in order to combat racism, and 4) how the privilege actually hurts white people even as they benefit from it. He will make his point and then back it up with examples and personal anecdotes. The book is very straight forward and does not have a holier than thou attitude. Mr. Wise tells of some of his own mis-steps and when he was wrong. A couple of times he would write something to the effect "When will you..." but right after the "you" he would put in parentheses "will we".
The book does make you think.
-------------------- Five billion years from now the Sun will go nova and obliterate the Earth. Don't sweat the small stuff!
From: Boston | Registered: Aug 2003
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I've never read much pulp fiction (or anything by Howard) before and I have to say... I'm *loving* it! Absolutely perfectly what I need to be reading right now in between all my boring Uni study.
None of the stories have been particularly scary so far (though I'm not very far into it and it's a big book) and it's very much in that old-school horror vein where only the wicked get punished and the good/virtuous people usually escape from their horrible circumstances relatively scot-free. But as a diverse collection of short mysterious adventure/thriller stories with spooky/creepy undertones and larger than life characters - it's excellent.
It's gotten me definitely interested in tracking down some of Howard's other works (especially Solomon Kane) and also learning more about the man. I can't believe he committed suicide at only 30. What a tragedy!
Has anyone else read much of Howard's work? Any recommendations?
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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Not much lately. The damn diabeties has made it so my eyes can see great from three feet away and further, but close up...? pure shite. So, I'm not used to the glasses yet.
Really miss reading.
-------------------- Damn you, you kids! Get off my lawn or I'm callin' tha cops!
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I'm still chipping away at "Dust of Dreams" by Steven Erikson. Feels like I've been reading it for ages. Seems like lately the only time I really get to read is when I go to bed. So, 20 or 30 pages a day is all i manage.
Really good book though, tons of character moments and its really densely plotted. Almost every detail matters!
From: Fort McMurray | Registered: Nov 2004
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I love the early 'Anita Blake' books by Laurel K. Hamilton (the ones before it became soft-porn) and 'The Dresden Files' series by Jim Butcher (the last one really shocked the *you-know-what* out of me). Currently I am reading 'Let the right one in' on which the movie (2 movies with the same title actually) 'Let Me In' is based..... totally disturbing.
Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
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Read Dickens' "The Chimes" for the first time this afternoon. Let's just say there's no mystery as to why it's not as popular as "A Christmas Carol"...
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Just got A Hard Day's Knight by Simon Green. Loved it. Like I just said above, the plots are somewhat thin, but thats really okay, cause the characters and the depth of writing about those characters is freakin' outstanding.
-------------------- Damn you, you kids! Get off my lawn or I'm callin' tha cops!
quote:Originally posted by Sarcasm Kid: My brother's tried finishing the Witching Hour since last year, but he says Anne Rice spends whole chapters just describing parts of the house.
A couple a years ago I read Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Several times in the book he spends pages just listing the type of fish and sea plants the protagonist saw. :snore:
And thats when I quit with a writer. Its padding for page counts. The get so much per "word" and by that I mean a writer such as Piers Anthony would get so much for a book that went between 320 and 360 pages, because the word count that he was contracted for worked out to about that.
Once they start padding with worthless description its pretty much over for me. You want to give me a sense of the room, just a few details will give it to me because my mind will fill in the blanks. Unless its something very specific that the story hinges on, say it and get out.
-------------------- Damn you, you kids! Get off my lawn or I'm callin' tha cops!
I've never read much pulp fiction (or anything by Howard) before and I have to say... I'm *loving* it! Absolutely perfectly what I need to be reading right now in between all my boring Uni study.
None of the stories have been particularly scary so far (though I'm not very far into it and it's a big book) and it's very much in that old-school horror vein where only the wicked get punished and the good/virtuous people usually escape from their horrible circumstances relatively scot-free. But as a diverse collection of short mysterious adventure/thriller stories with spooky/creepy undertones and larger than life characters - it's excellent.
It's gotten me definitely interested in tracking down some of Howard's other works (especially Solomon Kane) and also learning more about the man. I can't believe he committed suicide at only 30. What a tragedy!
Has anyone else read much of Howard's work? Any recommendations?
I always loved that old pulp stuff. Very fun. I liked a lot of the classics as well, such as Poe and Verne.
-------------------- Damn you, you kids! Get off my lawn or I'm callin' tha cops!
posted
Just read the novelization of "The Wicker Man". Lot's of expansion on the themes and the characters, but of course the same end... poor Howie. LoL!
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Gilded Latten Bones by Glen Cook. Its part of the Garrett series, which I have read for years.
I hate to say it but so many of my favorites are winding down now, it seems.
Piers Anthony seems to have abandoned anything except Xanth, which frankly doesn't have the old appeal. Robert Asprin... has died. Terry Pratchett has early onset Alzheimer. Louis L'Amour is dead. Robert B. Parker is dead. James Lee Burke seems to be winding up his Robicheaux series. Spider Robinson seems to have closed down Callahan's. Roger Zelazny, the Great One as I call him, is gone. J.A. Jance seems to have closed out JP Beaumont. Dick Francis is having help from his son, and while its good, it doesn't have that old feel.
But I have found one or two that I like. Simon Green is good and A. Martinez is doing some really fun stuff.
I go into the bookstore looking for new stuff in the Scifi/Fantasy and it seems that the overwhelming majority is fantasy romance vampire stuff for women and teen girls.
No one seems to want to put out any stuff thats just fun scifi any more. At least, nothing that seems like it's in my wheelhouse.
-------------------- Damn you, you kids! Get off my lawn or I'm callin' tha cops!
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