Author Topic: What are you reading?  (Read 104514 times)

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Johannixx

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #440 on: October 17, 2009, 03:59:26 PM »
Started re-reading The Lord of The Rings, thought I'd see what i missed the first time i read it due to my young age.

I find that one gets better every time I read it.  It never gets old.

Tshern

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #441 on: October 17, 2009, 04:34:43 PM »
I have no translation for the name of the book, but it is a short one written by Ivan Turgenev. It might translate as 'The Diary of a Useless Man.' Anyway, I have a season for Russian writers at the moment. Pasternak, Bulgakov, Dostoyevsky, Turgenev, Gogol...

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kurashu

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #442 on: October 17, 2009, 11:57:07 PM »
Ilium and then Olympos again. We watched Troy recently and I needed to be reminded of good stuff based on the Iliad -- which is something I need to read as well.

Ruam

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #443 on: October 19, 2009, 06:07:01 PM »
Started reading the "Gotrek and Felix Omnibus" the other day, will probably keep a slow pace until the 2nd of November (when I have an exam). After that I will probably re-read "The Hitchikers guide to the Galaxy".

Tshern

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #444 on: October 19, 2009, 06:09:47 PM »
Reading Ivan Turgenev, but no idea what the book is called in English. 'Diary of a useless man' would be the direct translation from Finnish. On top of that, Samuel P. Huntington's Clash of civilizations is a book I carry with me now.

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Johannixx

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #445 on: October 20, 2009, 12:29:38 AM »
I finally finished "Shots Fired in Anger".  Very interesting in that you can really see the differences 33 years can make.  The first part of the book, dealing with the author's time on Guadalcanal, was written in 1946-47 and reflects his youthful enthusiasm for war.  He almost treats it as a lark, a romantic adventure, as he marches through the tangled underbrush and snipes some shellshocked Japanese after a US mortar barrage.  By the end of the story, he starts to shift from enthusiastic adventurer to, well, lazy.  He doesn't want to go gallivanting around the jungle on silly missions when organized Japanese resistance has finally been broken just to mop up some starving holdouts, and he is often lackadaisical in his attitudes towards orders.  The luster is gone, but he's still cocky.

The second part, detailing his time with Merrill's Marauders in Burma, was written in 1980.  In this part of the memoir, he is very cognizant of the potential to get killed, and though he still performs some youthful feats of braggadocio, he's well aware of the stupidity of the actions and chalks it up to youth.  By the end of the story, it's clear he just wants to fight the war and go home, rather than win some kind of ephemeral glory.  The Japanese have apparently taught him to appreciate tactics and the unique advantages of the US soldiers' equipment.  The Japanese loved frontal assaults with bayonets, which worked fine against poorly armed and trained Chinese militiamen, but failed miserably against veteran US troops armed with semi-automatic and automatic rifles and plentifully supplied with ammunition.  Still, throughout the book, George praises the steadfast determination of the Japanese troops, and the hardships they're willing to endure to win.  Several times he mentions that, had they been intelligently trained and led, they may well have won several of the battles.  He also vastly prefers most of their ancillary equipment, such as mess kits, backpacks, shovels and tarps, though he feels the US boots and uniforms are marginally better.  Both tended to rot away, but at least the US stuff was green to match the jungle instead of light khaki (though this made an excellent backdrop for his front sight).

All in all, a good read from the frontline infantryman's perspective, and has some interesting insights into guerrilla warfare as practiced by the US Army in WWII.

Johannixx

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #446 on: November 07, 2009, 11:34:22 PM »
Just finished "Backbone of the Wehrmacht:  The German K98k Rifle, 1939-1945" and "Backbone of the Wehrmacht II:  Sniper Variations of the German K98k Rifle".  Interesting reads, full of technical minutiae, such as full floorplans of the Mauser plant at Oberndorf, and a TON of photographs of various Karabiner 98 kurtz rifles.  I was somewhat disappointed that it didn't branch out into other 98-pattern rifles, except those directly in line with the Kar98k.  For example, there were examples of the Mauser Standard Modell (which was the immediate forerunner of the Kar98k), various Gewehr 98 and Karabiner 98b reworks, and the later Kriegsmodell (a stripped down Kar98k made in the last months of the war in a futile effort to boost production), but nothing was said of the G-33/40 manufactured at Waffenfabrik Brunn and issued to Gebirgsjager mountain troops.

So, in essence, the book was extremely narrow, but also extremely deep.

altpersona

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #447 on: November 08, 2009, 01:17:13 AM »
Gathering storm, book 12 of the wheel of time. might be top 3 in the series. definitely top 6.
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Alastar

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #448 on: November 08, 2009, 01:50:18 AM »
I really have to finish the wheel of time ...  at book 7 now...

Readint 20 ans plus tard, in original french, by dumas, it's the sequel to the three musketeers.

veekie

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #449 on: November 08, 2009, 07:15:34 AM »
Gathering storm, book 12 of the wheel of time. might be top 3 in the series. definitely top 6.
Yeah, it's got that 'zing' back.

Egwene's a total badass.
The mind transcends the body.
It's also a little cold because of that.
Please get it a blanket.

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I can barely read mine.

"Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. At 2:15, it begins rolling up characters."

[spoiler]
"Just what do you think the moon up in the sky is? Everyone sees that big, round shiny thing and thinks there must be something round up there, right? That's just silly. The truth is much more awesome than that. You can almost never see the real Moon, and its appearance is death to humans. You can only see the Moon when it's reflected in things. And the things it reflects in, like water or glass, can all be broken, right? Since the moon you see in the sky is just being reflected in the heavens, if you tear open the heavens it's easy to break it~"
-Ibuki Suika, on overkill

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[/spoiler]

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altpersona

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #450 on: November 08, 2009, 12:35:42 PM »
[spoiler] indeed she is. i was almost expecting her to fly... or hover out in the court yard..

12 books later.. i would have like to have seen more of Tam..

[/spoiler]
The goal of power is power. - idk
We are not descended from fearful men. - Murrow

The Final Countdown is now stuck in your head.

Anim-manga sux.


Johannixx

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #451 on: November 08, 2009, 07:06:50 PM »
Gathering storm, book 12 of the wheel of time. might be top 3 in the series. definitely top 6.

I told myself I wouldn't start up those books again until Jordan finished them.  Now he's dead.  Yeah, I know they got a new guy to finish the series, but still...

Eye of the World was a good book.  But three books' worth of dick-dancing around in the Aiel Waste bored the hell out of me.

Agita

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #452 on: November 08, 2009, 07:14:16 PM »
Currently reading a good bunch of books, most of them for school. Just finished reading Professor Unrat by Heinrich Mann for German class, have to read Monsieur Ibrahim et les Fleurs du Coran by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt for French class, and for English class I just finished Man in the Dark by Paul Auster and am currently reading a compilation of short stories by H.P. Lovecraft (gonna write an essay on him as preparation for my graduation exam). After that, I'll need to read four more books for German class by the end of the year. I already know I'll do The Threepenny Opera/Die Dreigroschenoper by Bert Brecht, and probably some stuff by Kafka. Maybe some Nietzsche, too (though I don't know of any real 'fiction' books by him - not sure if Thus Spoke Zarathustra counts). Any other suggestions on German authors?
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Johannixx

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #453 on: November 09, 2009, 10:42:43 AM »
Currently reading a good bunch of books, most of them for school. Just finished reading Professor Unrat by Heinrich Mann for German class, have to read Monsieur Ibrahim et les Fleurs du CoranMan in the Dark by Paul Auster and am currently reading a compilation of short stories by H.P. Lovecraft (gonna write an essay on him as preparation for my graduation exam). After that, I'll need to read four more books for German class by the end of the year. I already know I'll do The Threepenny Opera/Die Dreigroschenoper by Bert Brecht, and probably some stuff by Kafka. Maybe some Nietzsche, too (though I don't know of any real 'fiction' books by him - not sure if Thus Spoke Zarathustra counts). Any other suggestions on German authors?

"Sturmgewehr!  From Firepower to Striking Power" by Hans-Dieter Handrich was an excellent read.  And it's already translated into English for your convenience :)

Agita

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #454 on: November 09, 2009, 10:54:30 AM »
Currently reading a good bunch of books, most of them for school. Just finished reading Professor Unrat by Heinrich Mann for German class, have to read Monsieur Ibrahim et les Fleurs du CoranMan in the Dark by Paul Auster and am currently reading a compilation of short stories by H.P. Lovecraft (gonna write an essay on him as preparation for my graduation exam). After that, I'll need to read four more books for German class by the end of the year. I already know I'll do The Threepenny Opera/Die Dreigroschenoper by Bert Brecht, and probably some stuff by Kafka. Maybe some Nietzsche, too (though I don't know of any real 'fiction' books by him - not sure if Thus Spoke Zarathustra counts). Any other suggestions on German authors?

"Sturmgewehr!  From Firepower to Striking Power" by Hans-Dieter Handrich was an excellent read.  And it's already translated into English for your convenience :)
Actually, I don't need it in English, seeing as I'm Austrian. But thanks for the tip anyway.
It's all about vision and making reality conform to your vision. By dropping a fucking house on it.

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Agrippa

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #455 on: November 21, 2009, 06:07:48 AM »
Currently I'm reading Jim Butcher's Small Favor novel ten in the Dresden Files and the complete collection of The Dying Earth by Jack Vance. Yes I'm reading stories written by the man who invented the Vancian casting system. Think of it as a combination of sci-fi and fantasy in which magic is derived from science. The dialogue is very dry but the setting, distant future Earth with science based magic and rediscovered technological wonders (like elevators and cars  :D), is amazing. Vance does get much better at writing dialogue in his later works though. Much better. As for Small Favor, what other author would write a story involving satanic sorcerers, trolls and the Billy Goats Gruff. The heroes include an overworked, unappreciated wizard PI (Harry Dresden), honest cops who battle the supernatural, mobsters, a magically overpowered 12 year old girl, two modern day holy warriors (one of whom is agnostic) and valkyire security guards.

veekie

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #456 on: November 21, 2009, 11:29:35 AM »
You forgot the bit about Sanya becoming a holy warrior because hes a commie. :D

And the fallen angels.
The mind transcends the body.
It's also a little cold because of that.
Please get it a blanket.

I wish I could read your mind,
I can barely read mine.

"Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. At 2:15, it begins rolling up characters."

[spoiler]
"Just what do you think the moon up in the sky is? Everyone sees that big, round shiny thing and thinks there must be something round up there, right? That's just silly. The truth is much more awesome than that. You can almost never see the real Moon, and its appearance is death to humans. You can only see the Moon when it's reflected in things. And the things it reflects in, like water or glass, can all be broken, right? Since the moon you see in the sky is just being reflected in the heavens, if you tear open the heavens it's easy to break it~"
-Ibuki Suika, on overkill

To sumbolaion diakoneto moi, basilisk ouranionon.
Epigenentheto, apoleia keraune hos timeis pteirei.
Hekatonkatis kai khiliakis astrapsato.
Khiliarkhou Astrape!
[/spoiler]

There is no higher price than 'free'.

"I won't die. I've been ordered not to die."

altpersona

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #457 on: November 21, 2009, 01:06:07 PM »
3 pages into proust, this could take awhile
The goal of power is power. - idk
We are not descended from fearful men. - Murrow

The Final Countdown is now stuck in your head.

Anim-manga sux.


Agrippa

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #458 on: November 21, 2009, 07:48:11 PM »
You forgot the bit about Sanya becoming a holy warrior because hes a commie. :D

Correction, he's a Trotskite.

And the fallen angels.

Sorry, I just forgot to mention that. For some strange reason I'm rather keen on the idea of a multimagic system campaign. It would include divine magic, Dresdenverse style magic, Vancian magic and perhaps some sort alternative for Final Fantasy fans. As for Vancian magic think less slot per day and more slots at a time. Place a spell in your head and hold it until cast. Unfortuantely you can have at most seven such slots with out feats or class features like loremaster secrets. That said you can memorize a new spell to replace any spell you cast with out needing rest, just your spellbook. Of course most of Vance's wizards didn't have the presence of mind to bring their spell books with them on long journeys.

kurashu

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #459 on: November 24, 2009, 12:24:34 PM »
Currently alternating between Lovecraft and Jack Vance.