So what are you reading now?

[DimesDan]

I tried this in another forum and it sank like a lead balloon.
So what are you reading now?

Ummm, this.

Everyone thinks they're a comedian!

As I'm sure you are aware as you're the first person to make such a dumbarse joke regarding reading this thread the OP meant what book people are reading.

Oh and after Over a Torrent Sea I decided to read One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night.

 

[Trent Roman]

Elsewhere, reading Factory Lives, a collection of 19th century working-class biographies (I needn't tell you what a barrel of fun that is) and just finished Paul Auster's City of Glass (good book, up until the last quarter or so).

May I ask why you didn't like the ending?

The book completely switches direction and topic, with only scant connection to what came before, and I was thoroughly frustrated by the vast sum of unaswered questions that persist from both the main narrative and the detour at the end. What had been an intriguing mystery dealing with pscyho-religious concepts turned into clichéd postmodernist narrative irresolution and vacuous nihilism. I continue to be mystified why some people seem to think deliberate absence of information is a sign of profundity.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Warp Coil]

Now that the semester is winding down (last paper due by Saturday), I'll try to pick up some reading until the summer classes begin. Picked up TTN: Over a Torrent Sea at Borders today. I may read that next, or I'll re-read Angel & Demons in anticipation for the movie's release. Whichever order I choose, those are my next two books.

 

[DimesDan]

or I'll re-read Angel & Demons in anticipation for the movie's release.

Is it as bad as The DaVinci Code and I wasn't aware a film adaptation of any of Dan Browns novels were on the horizon given the absolute shiteness of the last one.

 

[Trent Roman]

Of what I've read of him (mostly so family members would stop bugging me about how great they were and how much I was missing out not reading them), Angels and Demons is the one I disliked the least. He didn't seem to be impersonating himself quite as much as in the others, and the mystery is actually mysterious instead of the incredibly cheap tactics used to maintain the margarine 'suspense' in DaVinci Code.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Stevil2001]

The book completely switches direction and topic, with only scant connection to what came before, and I was thoroughly frustrated by the vast sum of unaswered questions that persist from both the main narrative and the detour at the end. What had been an intriguing mystery dealing with pscyho-religious concepts turned into clichéd postmodernist narrative irresolution and vacuous nihilism. I continue to be mystified why some people seem to think deliberate absence of information is a sign of profundity.

The thing about Auster is that the setups he devises and the atmosphere he creates and the prose he writes are so good, that I just don't care. Totally cop out if you want, dude, I just want to read whatever you say.

 

[Brendan Moody]

The thing about Auster is that the setups he devises and the atmosphere he creates and the prose he writes are so good, that I just don't care. Totally cop out if you want, dude, I just want to read whatever you say.

This.

Of course Auster's themes and motifs aren't all that novel; if I only enjoyed books that offered absolute novelty in those areas I'd have to find a new hobby to fill the remaining 95% of my leisure time.

I continue to be mystified why some people seem to think deliberate absence of information is a sign of profundity.

I don't know if "profundity" is the word I'd use- it's not a notion I find useful in life or in art- but I'm drawn to such works because absence of meaning within a system that seems to suggest it reflects my experience of the real world. I'm not a proponent of artificial "realism" in varieties of art that don't require it, but what I've read of Auster's work, despite its narrative implausibility, reflects something fundamental about the ambiguity of life.

vacuous nihilism

For those of us with the right mindset, "nihilism" is the farthest thing from vacuous, and indeed the only way of thinking about existence that isn't vacuous.

 

[Hoshi_Mayweather]

In terms of Trek, I'm now reading Before Dishonor...and I'm quite impressed.

 

[Stevil2001]

Having read Tamora Pierce's YA fantasy quartet Song of the Lioness back in the fall, I've just started the first book of the followup series, The Immortals, Book One: Wild Magic. I was a bit ambivalent at first, but a good character twist has just been introduced that could seriously improve this book if it's utilized well. Though one never knows when it comes to Tamora.

This week's grad school reading (only one week left!):
- The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe (read yesterday)
- The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Taken from Accounts by His Own Hand and Other Sundry Sources, Volume I: The Pox Party by M. T. Anderson (halfway through)
- Chains: Seeds of America by Laurie Halse Anderson (will read tomorrow... maybe)

 

[Trent Roman]

The thing about Auster is that the setups he devises and the atmosphere he creates and the prose he writes are so good, that I just don't care. Totally cop out if you want, dude, I just want to read whatever you say.

Meh. To me, that's prizing style over substance. While I do think style is important, I feel substance is moreso.

I don't know if "profundity" is the word I'd use

Not a word I tend to use, either; but it comes up so often in debates over the BSG finale (and for similar reasons) that I guess I just sublimated it here.

For those of us with the right mindset, "nihilism" is the farthest thing from vacuous, and indeed the only way of thinking about existence that isn't vacuous.

You misinterpret my intention. I'm not criticizing nihilism itself as vacuous, I'm criticizing Auster's approach to it, which I find as sophisticated as a preteen who has just discovered black nail polish. I'm an atheist: I readily accept that life is meaningless and that our systems of value are artificial constructs. But in such a realization, there are ways to constructively engage with nihilism, which I don't find to be the case here. Auster--or City of Glass, anyway--tapdances around antirealism, skirts with solipsism and mires itself in anomie. The book almost literally scampers off into a dark corner, rocking itself; and like I said, I just find it quite jejune, in addition to my other frustrations.

- The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Taken from Accounts by His Own Hand and Other Sundry Sources, Volume I: The Pox Party by M. T. Anderson (halfway through)

...the title?

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Tachyon]

Day Of Honor - Her Klingon Soul

Read couple of chapters already and I am feeling it. Good stuff.

 

[William Leisner]

or I'll re-read Angel & Demons in anticipation for the movie's release.

Is it as bad as The DaVinci Code and I wasn't aware a film adaptation of any of Dan Browns novels were on the horizon given the absolute shiteness of the last one.

Of what I've read of him (mostly so family members would stop bugging me about how great they were and how much I was missing out not reading them), Angels and Demons is the one I disliked the least. He didn't seem to be impersonating himself quite as much as in the others, and the mystery is actually mysterious instead of the incredibly cheap tactics used to maintain the margarine 'suspense' in DaVinci Code.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

I'm sure you'll both be glad to hear the news that Brown's next book, due this fall, is getting a 5 million copy first printing.

Excuse me while I break down in uncontrollable sobs again.

 

[DimesDan]

or I'll re-read Angel & Demons in anticipation for the movie's release.

Is it as bad as The DaVinci Code and I wasn't aware a film adaptation of any of Dan Browns novels were on the horizon given the absolute shiteness of the last one.

Of what I've read of him (mostly so family members would stop bugging me about how great they were and how much I was missing out not reading them), Angels and Demons is the one I disliked the least. He didn't seem to be impersonating himself quite as much as in the others, and the mystery is actually mysterious instead of the incredibly cheap tactics used to maintain the margarine 'suspense' in DaVinci Code.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

I'm sure you'll both be glad to hear the news that Brown's next book, due this fall, is getting a 5 million copy first printing.

Excuse me while I break down in uncontrollable sobs again.

I heard it was 6.5 million and why oh why would anyone with half a brain cell read such bollocks he creates!

 

[TenLubak]

Since being laid off, I had time to read some Star Trek books that have been on my shelf from months; somtimes years. From Jan to April 09 I've read Star Treks 1-10.
I am reading #10 Web of the Romulans by M.S. Murdoch. I enjoying seeing the way the Romulans used to be in the Original Series. Honorable (seems like them and the Kingons did a flip/lop). I enjoyed the computer/Kirk love interaction with Kirk talking the computer to give him control of his ship back for love cute. I like seeing the admirals interact with each other and UFP concilmen. Interesting that its not so much appreared in other TOS novels. Overall it has so far been an easy, enoyable, interesting, well-paced read.

The only thing annoying me is again TOS novels that have the crew in wrong uniforms. So far Black Fire, Abode of Life, and Entoppy Effect are the only novels where the crew would be in movie outfits since the changeover occured during the novel BlackFire, and according to Voyage's of the Imagination's timeline, which is really super, except sometimes hard to find certain novels, anytime before 6101.1 would be TOS uniforms not movies correct. I wonder why they made them almost all in movie outfits? it confuses the minds eye, especially if the writer contradicts that which makes my mind turn to clay...

 

[JD]

I belive that the Klingons and Romulans did do a flip/flop because when they did Search For Spock, it was originally going to be Romulans as the bad guys instead of Klingons. And instead of rewriting the Klingons to fit the series better, they just made a few minor changes.

 

[OmahaStar]

The only thing annoying me is again TOS novels that have the crew in wrong uniforms. So far Black Fire, Abode of Life, and Entoppy Effect are the only novels where the crew would be in movie outfits since the changeover occured during the novel BlackFire, and according to Voyage's of the Imagination's timeline, which is really super, except sometimes hard to find certain novels, anytime before 6101.1 would be TOS uniforms not movies correct. I wonder why they made them almost all in movie outfits? it confuses the minds eye, especially if the writer contradicts that which makes my mind turn to clay...

It's pointed out in the very book you are referencing (VotI) that the reason for this is entirely marketing. The artwork reflected whatever the most recent uniforms were on the big screen, regardless of when the story was set. This is not limited to just the first 10 books.

I mean, did we ever have a story with the crew's heads floating around in space?

Sometimes a cover is just a cover, and the contents inside shouldn't be judged by the cover.

 

[Trent Roman]

Coincidently, all my readings this week are actually re-reads: Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Wells' The Time Machine and Gibson's Neuromancer; good stories, all. On the non-fiction side, I'm reading through Mary Poovey's new book, Genres of the Credit Economy (this one I'd not read before; some parts are really good, others... not so much).

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[donners22]

I have started Myriad Universes - Infinity's Prism.

Having not read any of the Myriad Universe books and missed any discussion of them, I don't know if this is the first, but it has the earlier publication date of the two I borrowed.

I quite like the concept, and while it opens the door for a lot of fanwank, it also is undoubtedly challenging for the writer. The first story, A Less Perfect Union, was very good, aforementioned issue aside. Just onto the second now.

 

[KRAD]

There's no real order to the MyrU books, as each of the short novels stands completely on its own. You can read the six novels in the two books in any order you wish.

 

[donners22]

^ Excellent, thanks. I'll leave yours 'till last...