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In the last month, I've read the following:

 

  • Siddhartha and Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse. Real masterpieces. The prolix, semi-poetic and redundant syle may seem a little annoying at first, but they are flowing, inspiring novels.
  • An essay on taoism (after reading Siddhartha and before Narcissus and Goldmund. It was key in understanding eastern philosophies' influence on Hesse and his 'obsession' for dualism/duality).
  • Buddhism and theosophy and Christendom, Moral re-armament and Islam, collections of Gandhi's writings, interviews, speeches. I'd never thought that Tolstoj and Gandhi wrote letters to each other.
     

​I'm currently reading Manfredi's Empire of dragons for the third time.

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In the middle of The Winter King. Liking this book so far. It has a slow build up, but its a great book. I love how Derfel, the main character, is a faithful Christian when he writes of his past, and despite that he hates the character Saint Sangmus but due to his authority Derfel has to BS his way around it and overly adores him in titles and flatterings that demonstrate just how much he hates him. Excellent writing in this.

 

This book has a lot of details, the depth of such in the Brythonic language amazing me, so I went to go look for a mod for Crusader Kings II based on the book, and I found that one exists! It is not only for the book series, but for the fickle time period that is Late Antiquity and Early Medieval (end of the Third Century Crisis of the Roman Empire, to the Rise of the Komnenoi and the First Catholic Crusade), a period that should seriously have its own name, and is set in Western Europe (not sure if it goes into Hispanisa or not). Unfortunately, the description of that bookmark, called 'The Winter King', looks to have stuff set from the second book, Enemy of God, as somethings don't line up, like Lancelot being a major character and the infant king Mordred now being a late child, so I have been spoiled of things that will probably happen at the end of the book I am reading. I am still going to finish it, however! The things make sense, considering where I am in the book, now i just have to read up how exactly Arthur gets there, along with the rest of the world.

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In the middle of The Winter King. Liking this book so far. It has a slow build up, but its a great book. I love how Derfel, the main character, is a faithful Christian when he writes of his past, and despite that he hates the character Saint Sangmus but due to his authority Derfel has to BS his way around it and overly adores him in titles and flatterings that demonstrate just how much he hates him. Excellent writing in this.

Good to know you're enjoying it, Iaredios!

 

 

Just finished The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt. A great Western, one of those rare cowboy noir books that pop up from time to time. Started Herman Wouk's Winds of War - the two part epic novel series that encapsulates the whole WWII experience. Loving it so far.

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Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. My brother purchased this a while back to see what all the fuss was about and he greatly enjoyed it. Seeing as it has been a while since I have read a book, I decided to heed his recommendation and read it. It's been good so far, and for the most part, the author does a great job of blending the biographical style with a more traditional novel style. I say "most part" because the introduction goes to significant lengths to inform the reader that the book is essentially a biography of Abraham Lincoln the vampire hunter and frequently reinforces this with entries from his vampire hunting journals, yet he occasionally switches to a more novel-like narration--it's a little difficult to explain what I mean. It's not jarring (as I said, he does a good job of it), but I've found myself wishing he would have stuck to one or the other. That said, I don't think he would be able to tell the story well enough if he did, and the unique approach is refreshing. I certainly look forward to reading further.

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I finished a clockwork orange.

Have you seen the movie yet? I'm not usually a fan of watching movies based on books, but I highly recommend doing so for that book. I think the movie adds a bit of "reality" that the book alone couldn't provide as well, and you get a voice attached to Alex's narration - a very fitting voice.

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Pagan Babies by Elmore Leonard. Depite an amazing blurb, it isn't one of Dutch's best. However, it is absorbing, has good dialogue and some memorable moments.

Reading Libra by Don DeLillo - a brilliant novelistic exploration of the effect on society of Lee Harvey Oswald and the J.F.K. assassination, pushing the assassination's metaphysical side to life. I can see how Ellroy was inspired to write American Tabloid and the rest of the Underworld U.S.A. trilogy after reading it.

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Their Eyes Were Watching God was actually a very good read. 

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Finished Dog Soldiers. Great read. Also onto volume 2 of Underworld U.S.A. -- The Cold Six Thousand. It's great. The really short sentences aren't as off-putting as everyone seems to think they are--I think they work rather well, though I'll agree with Ellroy's self-assessment of it having too much style and not quite enough emotion.

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Been a while since I've picked it up, but I finally got back to it.

 

The Winter King.

 

I can't believe where I stopped reading, because where I was at Arthur seemingly solidified long-lasting peace in the south Brythonic kingdoms, and when I continue almost immediately endless war seems inevitable. "That madness called love". Madness indeed.

Love the reference to the Trojan War, it was exactly what I was thinking of before it came up.

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Oh geez, I forgot to update it here. I finished So Long and Thanks for All the Fish and the short story Zaphod Plays it Safe. I've started Mostly Harmless.

 

This series seriously just gets better and better the more of it I read. SLaTfAtF was a rather unusual book in the series, I must say, for reasons I'm sure anyone who has read it will know. I definitely enjoyed it, though, I thought Arthur's and Fenchurch's little love story was nice.

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  • 2 weeks later...

After a couple of months of not reading The Winter King, first from toothaches, then immediately afterwards mourning the loss of my dog, I felt I was finally at a place where I could comfortably continue reading. And today, I got through a huge chunk of the book! Yeah!
 
Derfel (main character) was sent to Ynys Tedes, island capital of Benoic, on behalf of his warlord Arthur, who had an oath to the King Ban to fight invading Frankish hordes.  Characters introduced include Lancelot and Galahast.

Potential-Spoiler:

I can officially say that the name 'Lancelot' has been permanently tainted for me, for I despise this character and i wish to see him maimed Medieval Roman-style (a la Justinian II Rhinometus Heraklios). His half-brother Galahast is a cool guy and despite his illegitimacy, I would have hoped that he pull something like Arthur did and take over as legal heir (called an 'edling'); no point now as Lancelot's selfish evil doomed his country. I hate this character...

 

Knowing how in the old romance tales of King Arthur, Lancelot seduces Guinevere (Arthur's wife), I am sincerely interested how and when this book or the sequel(s) will incorporate and execute this.

Derfel's title for him, Lancelot: King of Nothing made me want to listen to a certain song of the same name. Haha.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just, very sadly, finished Mostly Harmless. I've loved this series.

 

I was a little disappointed that Fenchurch wasn't really in Mostly Hidden, I really liked her and Arthur's romance.

 

But anyway. That was a great series. Highly recommend it to anyone.

 

Now I'm on to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I love the movie, and recently found out that the book is actually semi-autobiographical, which is pretty interesting. Should be a fun read.

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Now I'm on to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I love the movie, and recently found out that the book is actually semi-autobiographical, which is pretty interesting. Should be a fun read.

Ah, the Gonzo madness of Dr. Hunter Stockton Thompson.

 

I've been reading some Don Winslow and am currently on Edward Bunker's No Beast So Fierce. A bona fides crime novel classic, written by a real criminal who really went through the mangler of the System.

EDIT: Finished No Beast so Fierce

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The Winter King, by Bernard Cornwell.

 

I have a book coming in called 50 Years in the Church of Rome, by Charles Chiniquy. A contemporary record written after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, it is a true story follows a canadian catholic priest Charles Chiniquy and his experiences in the Catholic Church. He meets a young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln in Illonois, and much later is asked by a now-President Lincoln to spy on Rome as he feels that the papacy is working with the Confederacy. I have been waiting to read this for a long time now.

 

 

EDIT: Finished The Winter King. Great book, thanks for the suggestion Erasmus. Kind of a sudden ending, but just about everything immediate to the book was wrapped up. I kind of want to get the next book right now, Enemy of God, but i already have two other books that need to be read, a dozen if you count those in a pile and in a small bookshelf.

 

50 Years in the Church of Rome came in, and the book size is huge but the text doesn't fill in the whole pages! A square of normal text surrounded by a thick border of blank space; i am certain that is why this is more expensive than other version, i thought the extra cost was because it was the unabridged edition. Dangit. I am sad that I finally have this book but it's still not what i want. I'm going to go see if I can send it back and get a different version.

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EDIT: Finished The Winter King. Great book, thanks for the suggestion Erasmus. Kind of a sudden ending, but just about everything immediate to the book was wrapped up. I kind of want to get the next book right now, Enemy of God, but i already have two other books that need to be read, a dozen if you count those in a pile and in a small bookshelf.

Glad to know you enjoyed it, Iaredios.

 

Finally finished James Ellroy's magnificent Underworld U.S.A. trilogy with Blood's A Rover. It's a grand book and very powerful, but not as great as American Tabloid. The main-arc ending felt like a bit of a letdown but the Epilogue was brilliant. I'd rate it higher than The Cold Six Thousand, enjoyment and style-wise but I liked C6K's character-consistency better.

 Also finished re-reading Pete Dexter's Deadwood. A very twisted, well-written and brilliant Western.

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Not "reading", per se, but I finished listening to the Hitchhiker's Guide radio show. Absolutely fantastic, 12 episodes spanning the first three books.

About a third of the way through Fear and Loathing, still slowly listening through an audiobook of Crime and Punishment.

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Finished Rodney Hall's Just Relations and Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs. Currently reading Larry McMurtry's classic Pulitzer-winning western Lonesome Dove and Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny (also a Pulitzer-winner).

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Recently (more or less) I have entertained myself with:

 

Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse. Probably a little too much existentialist for my liking. Suggestive and stimulating, but too prolix, not to mention that the main character/narrator is hateful from beginning to end, even if he does redeems himself in the final chapters - which are the most elegant, insane and surreal of all of Hesse's works. And there is jazz too.

 

Eragon by Cristopher Paolini. Finally got myself to read it, thanks to a friend who sent it to me as a present. I had previously seen the movie - hideous - and read the three other books in the saga, but never Eragon. It met the expectations. Great worldbuilding, though maybe with unnecessary details.

 

The antichrist by Friedrich Nietzsche. I do not agree with the totality of his thougths, but it's always a pleasant read.

 

Christian Jacq's Les enquetes de Setna quadrilogy. I'm not sure if I regret buying it, but I just can't resist Ancient Egypt. The ancient world is described efficiently, in a not so elaborate style, but with the right words as to make the reader get lost in it. The plot, and the leading love story, are quite ingenuous, at times even ridicolous. Really? The antagonist just wants Evil?

 

An essay on hinduism. A 'forced', but pleasant, read, since in the novel I'm writing the protagonist enters ancient India, and I needed to read up stuff about it.

 

Last but not least, The book of Qohelet. I was surprised how modern it is.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just finished Fear and Loathing. Fantastic book, and I was impressed how accurate the movie was to it.

Now, on to... Goblet of Fire? I started reading it like a year and a half ago but couldn't get into it for some reason, so I'll try again. I'm in a bit of a Harry Potter kind of mood right now, anyway. Might have something to do with how soon Hallowe'en is.

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Finished Lonesome Dove and The Caine Mutiny a few days ago. Tip-top, mind-blowingly good novels. If you love westerns you have to read Lonesome Dove. 

Currently reading Schindler's Ark (the film Schindler's List was adapted from it) and Pete Dexter's Paris Trout.

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Last book I read was, "50 Years in the 'Church' of Rome", by Charles Chiniquy. Monsieur Chiniquy finished his studies in Rome and is now a Catholic Priest but appears somewhat disillusioned by the order that he now serves. He was sent out to New York to convert a rich man so as to persuade him to leave his fortune to the Papacy but the man died before negotiations could finish. Now Chiniquy has been summoned to Illinois for reasons I have yet to get to.

 

Just finished Fear and Loathing. Fantastic book, and I was impressed how accurate the movie was to it.

Now, on to... Goblet of Fire? I started reading it like a year and a half ago but couldn't get into it for some reason, so I'll try again. I'm in a bit of a Harry Potter kind of mood right now, anyway. Might have something to do with how soon Hallowe'en is.

Ha, that's what happened to me. I read the first three Harry Potter novels, then when going into the 4th one I just couldn't get into it and abandoned the series. I wonder what it could be that causes that.

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Just finished Fear and Loathing. Fantastic book, and I was impressed how accurate the movie was to it.

Now, on to... Goblet of Fire? I started reading it like a year and a half ago but couldn't get into it for some reason, so I'll try again. I'm in a bit of a Harry Potter kind of mood right now, anyway. Might have something to do with how soon Hallowe'en is.

Ha, that's what happened to me. I read the first three Harry Potter novels, then when going into the 4th one I just couldn't get into it and abandoned the series. I wonder what it could be that causes that.

 

For me, anyway, I think it might've been because I was 50 or so pages in and they hadn't even gotten to Hogwarts yet. Or even the Quidditch game or whatever.

The biggest cause, though, might've actually been that, well, I forgot to bring it with me on a trip to Philly. I was going to bring it with me to read on the ride, but forgot, and once I got back I just didn't feel like picking it up again for whatever reason.

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Just finished Fear and Loathing. Fantastic book, and I was impressed how accurate the movie was to it.

Now, on to... Goblet of Fire? I started reading it like a year and a half ago but couldn't get into it for some reason, so I'll try again. I'm in a bit of a Harry Potter kind of mood right now, anyway. Might have something to do with how soon Hallowe'en is.

Ha, that's what happened to me. I read the first three Harry Potter novels, then when going into the 4th one I just couldn't get into it and abandoned the series. I wonder what it could be that causes that.

 

For me, anyway, I think it might've been because I was 50 or so pages in and they hadn't even gotten to Hogwarts yet. Or even the Quidditch game or whatever.

The biggest cause, though, might've actually been that, well, I forgot to bring it with me on a trip to Philly. I was going to bring it with me to read on the ride, but forgot, and once I got back I just didn't feel like picking it up again for whatever reason.

 

I actually read The Goblet of Fire first before going back to book 1 and reading the rest of the series in chronological order. And that, kids, is why you should never stay up late and watch parts of movies based on books before you read them.

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I'm currently reading Brian Greene's The elegant universe, almost done with it. While the main focus of the book is string theory and why it could solve our problems, it is an extraordinary essay for people without in-deep knowledge of physics to understand it. It explains concepts like speed, acceleration, gravity, general relativity and quantum mechanics in an intuitive and simple way. If I were to explain such concepts (or string theory itself) to someone else, though, I'd certainly fail.

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-snip

-snip-

 

For me, anyway, I think it might've been because I was 50 or so pages in and they hadn't even gotten to Hogwarts yet. Or even the Quidditch game or whatever.

The biggest cause, though, might've actually been that, well, I forgot to bring it with me on a trip to Philly. I was going to bring it with me to read on the ride, but forgot, and once I got back I just didn't feel like picking it up again for whatever reason.

 

I actually read The Goblet of Fire first before going back to book 1 and reading the rest of the series in chronological order. And that, kids, is why you should never stay up late and watch parts of movies based on books before you read them.

 

Haha yeah, I've actually seen the second half of Deathly Hallows Pt. 2. It was a while ago, though, so I don't remember it that well.

One of my friends (Toa of Anarchy on here, actually), read through the series completely out of order. I think he started on book 5, went to book 1, book 3, book 6, and so on, or something like that.

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Finished Paris Trout. A disturbing, but very well-written and gripping book. Have started Shusaku Endo's novel Silence, and it's already provoked more thought in the first fifty pages than a lot of novels do in twice that. Very excited for the upcoming movie.  

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River of Death by Alistair MacLean. I've read two other books by MacLean (The Guns of Navarone and Force 10 from Navarone) and enjoyed both; neither was deep, but as far as pure entertainment goes, I would consider them to be among the best of their type. I expected pure fun and twists from River of Death, but I was thoroughly disappointed to get none of the former and too much of the latter. The plot was convoluted and disjointed, the characters thin and inconsistent, and the few moments of action were boringly written and lacked any impact whatsoever (one particular scene, written from the point of view of characters inside a crashing helicopter, was so emotionless and dull that it could have passed for a helicopter being landed in a light wind for all the excitement that came through). Worst of all, the "major twists" that MacLean reserved for the last twenty or so pages were spoiled in the two-paragraph summary on the back cover of the book. I would stop short of calling it a terrible book, but it was certainly a disappointment and earns its place among MacLean's weakest novels.

 

Thankfully, Seawitch has proved worthy of Alistair MacLean's name, and while I don't think it better than the two World War II novels previously mentioned, I have found it to be enjoyable thus far. Like the Navarone novels, it relies a little too much on characters who are conveniently perfect at something (usually not mentioned until the plot reveals a situation in which that skill needs to be used) and there are a few too many "Such-and-such terrible thing could possibly happen and most likely should have happened when this took place, but thank goodness it didn't happen because that would have provided a complication that the author didn't feel like working out/didn't know how to work out" moments, but MacLean's consistency in this regard makes for a fun, light read that requires little in the way of thinking to enjoy. I doubt I will be enlightened about or more aware of some human condition by the time I am finished with Seawitch, but I will be content in being able to say that I enjoyed every page.

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I've finished Greene's The elegant universe. An instructive read on not-so-well-known aspects of modern physics, though I do not like the concept of multiverse he described in the final chapter. If it is legit to say 'like' in science; then again, as the author himself said, is there a point in spending time and energy into something that is purely speculative and could never be observed anyway? I have to say though that the idea of a universe engineered to produce such fundamental laws to birth the larger number of black holes (which are thought of as 'new big bangs', birthing other universes, in an evolutionary manner) is intriguing, but demoralizing.

 

I'm unsure what to read next. I want to plunge in Hesse's Siddharta a second time, but there is also Manfredi's new novel, Teutoburg, which I have bought weeks ago and has been waiting next to my bed since then.

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