Last Book You Read

[Erasmus Graves]

Finished Silence. Currently reading Peter Temple's The Broken Shore and Thomas Keneally's Schindler's Ark.

[Millennium]

I've finished Manfredi's Teutoburg. Eh. I think those critiques that half-discouraged me from buying it were quite right. It's filled with ups and downs, but the whole final part was rushed, and looked more like an historical essay than a novel.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Thanks to Crusader Kings II, I have a regained interest in Rome, though it not be the Rome of the Papacy, but the Empire. So I have temporarily put aside 50 Years In The 'Church' of Rome, and an reading Byzantium: The New Rome.

 

The book pertains more to cultural history instead of the military and dynastic history i am more familiar with, so this is an enlightening read so far. I also love that the author recognizes that the 'Byzantine Empire' is an incorrect name and the denizens called their realm the Roman Empire simply because it was the Roman Empire, and that for short it was dubbed Rhomania. That being said, it annoys me that the author went ahead to continue using 'Byzantine Empire' simply because that is what people are more familiar with. I am so used to this that when I read the word 'Byzantine', I mentally don't translate the letters as that, but rather as Roman. I can't wait for an author to put aside such rubbish, artificial naming and be accurate, be brave against those propagandists that persist on making the empire die a thousand years before it did for the wrong reasons, and help purge ignorance. It's no longer the renaissance or the enlightenment, such propaganda or propaganda-remnant is useless now.

[(Daedalus)]

When Heaven Weeps by Ted Dekker. I feel it necessary to state right from the beginning of his brief review that I have a sort of love/hate relationship with this novel, which is one of Dekker's earliest published novels, if only because it features most of the best and worst aspects of many of his later books. It reminds me of everything I love and everything I hate about some aspects of his novels, and that, in the end, leaves me feeling a strong desire to read every other Dekker book I own while also leaving me apprehensive about the prospect of reading through so many of the same elements, some of which are treated with so much enthusiasm as to be nearly bombastic, and thus mentally grating (if not draining). Regardless, I enjoyed the book from cover to cover, and while I will let it sit for a few years before picking it up again (which I discovered was necessary to enjoy and appreciate it), I will never be tempted to include it among my Dekker favorites, even if the message is one of his better ones.

 

And this is due largely to the fact that, unlike many of his later books, When Heaven Weeps (which is a fantastic title, in my opinion) is unashamedly Christian. While his later novels more often than not stick to themes and elements that can be interpreted in a Christian sense or a non-Christian sense (which, I should clarify, I do not disapprove of), When Heaven Weeps makes it clear within the first few pages what the book is going to deal with, and it holds true to that theme until the last page: When Heaven Weeps is, first and foremost, a novel about God's love.

 

To avoid breaking BZPower rules I will leave the details out, but a basic idea can be found in the story of Hosea and Gomer, which Dekker directly references. It is a fascinating and occasionally heartbreaking (I seriously teared up a few times during the first fifty or so pages) exploration of unconditional and unrequited love, most often in extreme and inexplicable circumstances--not just the giving of such love, but the sad, disturbing, and very real difficulty of accepting that love. All of this is portrayed like Hosea's love for Gomer, but with an increased human element that brings the message more closely home than Hosea and Gomer's might. Dekker also avoids using the Biblical story as a crutch; the inspiration is obvious and acknowledged, but Dekker takes it in a slightly different direction by using it not as a rebuke and warning but as an expression of Divine joy and pain. He also plays with other themes that naturally stem from the characters and plot--forgiveness and the acceptance of forgiveness, repentance, the struggle against addiction, even public image and the politicking involved with individuals in the public eye--but love is always front and center.

 

Unfortunately, this brings me to the enthusiasm I mentioned earlier. I mean, I get the point Dekker's trying to make about God's love, but the problem is that I would grasp that even without the near-melodrama he tiptoes near. In trying to express enthusiastic love, he often crosses the line to a degree of sappiness one might expect from a romance (and not necessarily a good one), a problem found in many of his novels that feature romance (to be expected from Obsessed, I suppose, but not necessary in some of his other works). I might not find this nearly as infuriating if it weren't for the fact that he expresses a surprisingly effective subtlety in almost every other aspect of his writing. He possesses a particular knack for expressing violence, foul language, deprivation, and despicable acts in ways that make it clear what's happening without going into much, if any, detail, and if he does go into detail (usually with violence), he does so with purpose and consciousness and never goes farther than a respectful nod at the boundary between what most would consider acceptable and what most would also consider controversial (granted, the same can't be said for some of his later novels, but that's another topic). It's a delicate balance that Dekker manages, and I often found myself wishing that his approach to love and romance was equally nuanced.

 

The plot here is not one of Dekker's better plots, but then I doubt it was intended to be. It largely serves the central theme of love, and while it occasionally teeters on the edge of believability--the event that begins to finalize the protagonist's "fall from grace," as it were, in addition to having a surprising lack of impact on the reader, is an almost ridiculously extreme and implausibly convenient move by one of the novel's antagonists--it ultimately doesn't matter, because it gets the characters where they need to be to finish the main story, which is, as I'm sure you've guessed, one of love.

 

I guess the question basically comes down to this: Did I enjoy it? And the answer is yes, despite my apprehensions and quibbles, and I certainly enjoyed it far more than I expected to. It also made me consider some personal stuff, especially in light of some other stuff that has happened in my life recently. Not to go into detail, but I was meant to read that when I did, and if I never read it again, I can at least look back on it and remember how it helped me at a certain point in my life. If I can ever achieve something similar with my own writing--even if for only one person--I will be content.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

When Heaven Weeps by Ted Dekker. I feel it necessary to state right from the beginning of his brief review that I have a sort of love/hate relationship with this novel, which is one of Dekker's earliest published novels, if only because it features most of the best and worst aspects of many of his later books. It reminds me of everything I love and everything I hate about some aspects of his novels, and that, in the end, leaves me feeling a strong desire to read every other Dekker book I own while also leaving me apprehensive about the prospect of reading through so many of the same elements, some of which are treated with so much enthusiasm as to be nearly bombastic, and thus mentally grating (if not draining). Regardless, I enjoyed the book from cover to cover, and while I will let it sit for a few years before picking it up again (which I discovered was necessary to enjoy and appreciate it), I will never be tempted to include it among my Dekker favorites, even if the message is one of his better ones.

 

And this is due largely to the fact that, unlike many of his later books, When Heaven Weeps (which is a fantastic title, in my opinion) is unashamedly Christian. While his later novels more often than not stick to themes and elements that can be interpreted in a Christian sense or a non-Christian sense (which, I should clarify, I do not disapprove of), When Heaven Weeps makes it clear within the first few pages what the book is going to deal with, and it holds true to that theme until the last page: When Heaven Weeps is, first and foremost, a novel about God's love.

 

To avoid breaking BZPower rules I will leave the details out, but a basic idea can be found in the story of Hosea and Gomer, which Dekker directly references. It is a fascinating and occasionally heartbreaking (I seriously teared up a few times during the first fifty or so pages) exploration of unconditional and unrequited love, most often in extreme and inexplicable circumstances--not just the giving of such love, but the sad, disturbing, and very real difficulty of accepting that love. All of this is portrayed like Hosea's love for Gomer, but with an increased human element that brings the message more closely home than Hosea and Gomer's might. Dekker also avoids using the Biblical story as a crutch; the inspiration is obvious and acknowledged, but Dekker takes it in a slightly different direction by using it not as a rebuke and warning but as an expression of Divine joy and pain. He also plays with other themes that naturally stem from the characters and plot--forgiveness and the acceptance of forgiveness, repentance, the struggle against addiction, even public image and the politicking involved with individuals in the public eye--but love is always front and center.

 

Unfortunately, this brings me to the enthusiasm I mentioned earlier. I mean, I get the point Dekker's trying to make about God's love, but the problem is that I would grasp that even without the near-melodrama he tiptoes near. In trying to express enthusiastic love, he often crosses the line to a degree of sappiness one might expect from a romance (and not necessarily a good one), a problem found in many of his novels that feature romance (to be expected from Obsessed, I suppose, but not necessary in some of his other works). I might not find this nearly as infuriating if it weren't for the fact that he expresses a surprisingly effective subtlety in almost every other aspect of his writing. He possesses a particular knack for expressing violence, foul language, deprivation, and despicable acts in ways that make it clear what's happening without going into much, if any, detail, and if he does go into detail (usually with violence), he does so with purpose and consciousness and never goes farther than a respectful nod at the boundary between what most would consider acceptable and what most would also consider controversial (granted, the same can't be said for some of his later novels, but that's another topic). It's a delicate balance that Dekker manages, and I often found myself wishing that his approach to love and romance was equally nuanced.

 

The plot here is not one of Dekker's better plots, but then I doubt it was intended to be. It largely serves the central theme of love, and while it occasionally teeters on the edge of believability--the event that begins to finalize the protagonist's "fall from grace," as it were, in addition to having a surprising lack of impact on the reader, is an almost ridiculously extreme and implausibly convenient move by one of the novel's antagonists--it ultimately doesn't matter, because it gets the characters where they need to be to finish the main story, which is, as I'm sure you've guessed, one of love.

 

I guess the question basically comes down to this: Did I enjoy it? And the answer is yes, despite my apprehensions and quibbles, and I certainly enjoyed it far more than I expected to. It also made me consider some personal stuff, especially in light of some other stuff that has happened in my life recently. Not to go into detail, but I was meant to read that when I did, and if I never read it again, I can at least look back on it and remember how it helped me at a certain point in my life. If I can ever achieve something similar with my own writing--even if for only one person--I will be content.

And to let you know, I enjoyed reading that.  I get emotional when i stop numbing myself and recognize divine love, so i think i would enjoy parts of this book. If I see it in book stores, I'll consider getting it. Thanks.

[Millennium]

The mistress of spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. I found it at a book trade a month ago due to my fascination for India, read it all in about a week.

Well. It's not what I expected. It's some sort of urban fantasy where certain indian women are trained in the art of channeling the powers of spices, and are then sent across the world to help those in need. The plot focuses on such a woman and her bazaar in Oakland, and how her position as a mistress is threatened when she falls in love with a mysterious american man (the rules of the spice mistresses forbid them to love someone above the others, or more than the spices) who is acquainted with the magical world, though not the indian one, but the native american one.

 

I will certainly read it again some time in the future.

[Kopekemaster]

trained in the art of channeling the powers of spices

 

That's quite bizarre.

 

Oddly enough, I've thought about writing similar about flour/bread/baking (although it would've been somewhat comedic).

[Millennium]

 

trained in the art of channeling the powers of spices

 

That's quite bizarre.

 

Oddly enough, I've thought about writing similar about flour/bread/baking (although it would've been somewhat comedic).

 

 

The spices in the novel are somewhat living 'things', that speak to the protagonist, and do strange things such as locking doors, moving objects from a place to another, whenever she breaks some rules or is in danger. If you'd like to create somthing similar, I will totally approve of it.

[Erasmus Graves]

Finished The Broken Shore - a very, very, fine crime novel - and Schindler's Ark. Currently reading Keneally's Bring Larks and Heroes, Marlon James's A Brief History of Seven Killings and Galveston, which is by the bloke who created True Detective.

[Millennium]

The house on the borderland by William Hope Hodgson. 

 

What the heck.

 

It's like Borges's surrealism meets Lovecraft's weird sci-fi horror. Did I like it? I don't know. I don't know what is Hodgson trying to say with this work (the first and I think the only one I'll read from him), and I bet he too did not know. Okay, it's suggestive, and it's got pretty intense suspence scenes - the phone vibrating scared me while I was reading it - but...I don't know. Lovecraft too sometimes didn't want to convey anything, just write down things that he'd seen in his dreams, but this doesn't look like the case, it's too contrived to be.

 

The opening poems are great, though.

Edited November 18, 2016 by Millennium

[Kopekemaster]

The house on the borderland by William Hope Hodgson. 

 

What the heck.

 

It's like Borges's surrealism meets Lovecraft's weird sci-fi horror. Did I like it? I don't know. I don't know what is Hodgson trying to say with this work (the first and I think the only one I'll read from him), and I bet he too did not know. Okay, it's suggestive, and it's got pretty intense suspence scenes - the phone vibrating scared me while I was reading it - but...I don't know. Lovecraft too sometimes didn't want to convey anything, just write down things that he'd seen in his dreams, but this doesn't look like the case, it's too contrived to be.

 

The opening poems are great, though.

 

Ooh, I'm going to have to check that out. Definitely sounds like my kind of thing.

[Millennium]

Cultures beyond earth by Magoroh Maruyama. A collection of essays detailing the psychological, social, political and of course scientifical and technological problems and precautions we'll need to deal with in the eventuality of an alien contact on Earth/Moon/our Solar System and on an exoplanet, and of plausible human societies outside Earth, in space, on near celestial objects or on exoplanets. Having been drafted in the late 70s, it is in many ways ingenuous by modern standards, and anachronistic (it postulated a Moon base in the 80s), but it is generally quite valid, especially speculating the social and biological aspects of possible aliens, even if it paints them too ideally (they are socially 'better' than us humans).

Edited November 26, 2016 by Millennium

[ToaTImeLord]

The Great Gatsby

4/10

 

I can see why it's a classic but it never keeps you on your toes there no big reveals or surprises except Daisy hits the girl not Gatsby.

Besides that nothing.

[Erasmus Graves]

Finsihed a couple of books - Galveston, Bring Larks and Heroes, William S Burroughs's Junky and Joyce's The Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man

[Kopekemaster]

The Great Gatsby

4/10

 

I can see why it's a classic but it never keeps you on your toes there no big reveals or surprises except Daisy hits the girl not Gatsby.

Besides that nothing.

Whaaaaat?

I mean yeah, it's pretty predictable, but I think it's a pretty great book nonetheless. I love the detailed look into the lives of various classes in the 1920s.

[Millennium]

History of the Conquest of Mexico by William H. Prescott. Or, History of Hernan Cortes, as it should be named. It does not care much about the Mesoamerican world, culture, and lifestyle, the beginning chapters about Aztec politics and daily life are vague and way too harsh, preferring to describe the intrepid, heroic character that Cortes has been through all his life. I must admit that Prescott's style is captivating, making me end the book in a few days, but he is too indulgent towards the atrocities committed by the Conquistadors, justifying them because they were moved by the 'superior' call to christen those unknown, 'unholy' lands, while judging the natives, all their achievements and all their works alwasy as inferior to those of europeans - although he was right in condemning the Aztec rule, which was the real cause of its fall.

Then again, as Prescott himself said about the deeds of the Conquistadors, one should judge him by the moral standards of his time, and not by those of our time. In this light, the book is an exceptionally honest work, and praiseworthy, for Prescott never visited Mexico, and his knowledge of the land was due to research that, without Internet, in the 1840s, was extraordinary to say the least.

[(Daedalus)]

I finished two Father Gilbert mysteries a couple weeks back, both by Paul McCusker, who also wrote the original Father Gilbert audio dramas back in the mid-2000s. They were better than I expected, especially the first book, and I was especially impressed by how well he handled many of the mature themes in both novels. He had handled similarly mature themes in the audio dramas just as well, but he seemed to feel a little more liberty in exploring them in print. It is rare, in my experience, for a Christian author to so candidly speak of sexual temptations and vices in fiction.

 

I also recently reread Jurassic Park and The Lost World by Michael Crichton. As far as thrills, excitement, and simple explanations of fairly complex scientific stuff are concerned, Crichton is quite skilled; as far as plot and characters go, however--not quite so skilled. I wouldn't consider any of his characters three-dimensional, and The Lost World's plot is kind of a mess. I mean, it's not terrible, but he had to do a lot of stretching to even set the events up, and by the end of the novel I wasn't even sure what the point had been. If it was purely to entertain, he succeeded, but his many Malcolm musings and pontificating would suggest otherwise. And speaking of Malcolm, I get the feeling that aside from being direct and philosophical, Crichton didn't really know what to do with him. Sure, the stuff he says is kind of interesting, but he ends up getting a leg injured in both novels and spends at least half of them lying down in a morphine haze. Also, I must say that I found Crichton's use of commas infuriating. He often used them in places they should not have been used, and it can't even be argued that he used them for effect; most of the time, they just destroyed the momentum of sentence, which was especially problematic in the more action-packed bits. Of course, that could have been his editor's fault, in which case Crichton's off the hook.

 

I am currently reading Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day. It is a non-fiction account of the events just before and during the invasion of Normandy in World War II, though it focuses more on the stories of the men involved (on both sides). I've read it before, and it is still an interesting read for those with an interest in World War II history.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Alright, on my nook (not book) I have a preview of the book The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian. it includes an extensive preface by another author, which delves into how the character Conan reflects  Robert E. Howard's psychological view of the world, which is quite glass-half-empty, a barbaric world with silly humans trying to build a world of rules (civilization) that will eventually disintegrate back into turbulent storms of the universe's whimsy; and Conan represents this by his inability to understand  magic and how he hates it, and how he can't stay in one place for too long or stay in the same occupation, and eventually ends up as a king, the symbolical hater of law becoming law itself.

 

Now, onto the first piece of literature, Cimmeria: the poem does a good job at capturing the world which the character Conan inhabits, or at least where he grows up in. Actually kind of reminds me of my own description for the homeland of the evil man-eating Red Giant lords in my project A Rude Awakening.  The second, a short-story by the name of The Phoenix on the Sword, is set late in Conan's life as king of a far away land known as Aquelonia, dark skinned people who who worship a serpent god named Set. He sticks out like a sore thumb, and after leading a revolution to be-rid the people of a tyrant, a conspiracy is brewing that has turned the people against him and they mourn their old king, and a conspiracy to end his life has overtaken much fo the royal court. My sample ended in the middle of it and it was just starting to speed up. i need to finish this, Howard has excellent writing that immersed me right away into this fictitious yet historically-inspired prehistoric Earth.

 

Here is a poem in The Phoenix on the Sword attributed to King Conan:

 

"When i was a fighting man, the kettle-drums they beat,

The people scattered gold-dust before my horse's feet;

But now I am a great king, the people hound my track

With poison in my wine-cup, and daggers at my back."

~ The Road of Kings

[Erasmus Graves]

Finished reading The Exorcist. It's a pretty good book, a surprisingly deep horror classic. I'd recommend reading the 40th anniversary edition - the original novel was actually a first draft and the 40th anniversary edition polishes up the prose and dialogue.  

I'm currently rereading Cormac McCarthy's No Country For Old Men. Brilliant book, one of my favourites.

[ToaTImeLord]

The Outsiders.

By S. E. Hinton.

Love this book so much.

[Kopekemaster]

I'm currently rereading Cormac McCarthy's No Country For Old Men. Brilliant book, one of my favourites.

 

You know, I need to read that. I watched the movie version (not knowing it was based on a book at the time) and absolutely loved it. Have you read Blood Meridan? That's another one of his that I've been meaning to read for a while.

 

Edit: Just finished listening to the audiobook version of Crime and Punishment. 14 cassettes, probably about 20+ hours long... I've been listening since March or so (just while taking showers for the most part), so it's been a while. But holy [nvm my bad language] that's such a good book. I loved it. Dostoevsky has a great writing style, and is fantastic at character building.

Edited December 21, 2016 by Kopekemaster

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? -- New Updates Edition , by John C Lennox


I watched a few videos with lectures by Lennox years ago, he and others deepened my views on things. Some of what I am reading correlates with what I saw him talk about, so I find myself reading it in his elderly Irish accent in my head. I was wondering when his 'Aunt Matilda's Cake' was going come up, and just got to that point, smiling at the memory of him talking about that and wondering even to thus day why he chose the name 'Matilda'.

Note: This is not a spoiler, just the More tag is being buggy. I just want to save room.

This book serves to restart the debate on 'science versus religion', showing that in reality the two are not at odds at all and can be very compatible, but the real struggle is one between philosophies and views of the world. Lennox does this very well and is open to all readers.

Lennox is a mathematician but has also had a lifetime experience of going (I imagine covertly) behind the old Iron Curtain (when it was still around) and encouraging religious discussion in communist rule. When he was young he was also taught by CS Lewis.

 

Edited December 31, 2016 by Iaredios the Hip Historian

[Erasmus Graves]

 

I'm currently rereading Cormac McCarthy's No Country For Old Men. Brilliant book, one of my favourites.

 

You know, I need to read that. I watched the movie version (not knowing it was based on a book at the time) and absolutely loved it. Have you read Blood Meridan? That's another one of his that I've been meaning to read for a while.

 

Edit: Just finished listening to the audiobook version of Crime and Punishment. 14 cassettes, probably about 20+ hours long... I've been listening since March or so (just while taking showers for the most part), so it's been a while. But holy [nvm my bad language] that's such a good book. I loved it. Dostoevsky has a great writing style, and is fantastic at character building.

 

I have read Blood Meridian, and it is phenomenal (quite possibly the most violent work of literature ever written). It's also one of the most linguistically brilliant novels of all time. I'm a big McCarthy fan. It's funny that you were listening to the audiobook of Crime and Punishment, because I'm listening to the audiobook version Brothers Karamazov on top of my reading.

 

Finished reading No Country For Old Men and Some Do Not (the first novel in Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End tetralogy, which is a little like Ulysses but older, easier, and set at a more interesting time). Currently reading Power Without Glory, a controversial Australian classic.

[Millennium]

Thus spoke Zarathustra by Friedrick Nietzsche. It's...weird. It has been difficult and long to read it all.

[Millennium]

Recently I've completed Archaeology of Ancient Egypt by T.H. James and The warrior, the hoplite and the legionary: armies of the classical world by G. Brizzi. Both have been inspiring and with interesting - and necessary - bits of information, and also quite pleasant to read - the former more than the latter. It's quite hard to achieve that kind of...pleasantness (?) in this sort of prose, which some, well, many, actually, if not most people, see as heavy,

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

I recently was able to buy The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, by Robert E. Howard, on my Nook. Loving the prose in this and am reading it immediately despite me getting a couple other books for Christmas. Those books being, Josephus: The Complete Works, and A Man Called Intrepid, by William Stevenson. Currently on the first story The Phoenix on the Sword, which i read part of it earlier as part of a sample but now i will have no such rude interruptions!

 

Such epic prose is getting my imagination flowing, perhaps it may inspire me to take up the figurative pen once more, ah-ha!

[Millennium]

Finished Ides of march by Manfredi. A thriller revisitation of the assassination of Julius Caesar and the days before it. Not one of my favourites, I'm not a fan of convoluted conspiracies - this was one of the reasons I did not particularily like his latest Teutoburg - but I have to say that this time he nailed the characters perfectly, not just Caesar but all of them: he interlaced historical figures and fictional ones really well. To draw a comparison with Rogue one, even if we all knew how it was going to end - Caesar being killed and the rebels obtaining the data - it still managed to keep your suspence high. Like: what's gonna happen next? Will they make it? How? I might read it a second time in the future.

[Queen of Liars]

Deus Ex: Black Light by James Swallow

 

Enjoyed it quite a lot, actually. The quality of writing is surprisingly good for a video game tie in, although it could have maybe cut down a bit on the action scenes. The story bridges the gap between the last two Deus Ex games, and while not an essential read for understanding the story, it's a nice supplement to it. The best part though is by far being able to experience more banter between Adam and Pritchard again, which is something I really missed in Mankind Divided (and why I really enjoyed the System Rift DLC).

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, by Robert E. Howard. Currently on the story God in the Bowl, it is like a murder mystery but with prehistoric warriors and a certain northern barbarian.
 

Deus Ex: Black Light by James Swallow
 
Enjoyed it quite a lot, actually. The quality of writing is surprisingly good for a video game tie in, although it could have maybe cut down a bit on the action scenes. The story bridges the gap between the last two Deus Ex games, and while not an essential read for understanding the story, it's a nice supplement to it. The best part though is by far being able to experience more banter between Adam and Pritchard again, which is something I really missed in Mankind Divided (and why I really enjoyed the System Rift DLC).

Been wanting the Deus Ex books. Glad to hear it is good if not great!

Edited January 25, 2017 by Iaredios the Hip Historian

[Ghidora131]

A Study in Scarlet, Conan Doyle.

[Kopekemaster]

Finally finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, been reading that for a while now. Just had a lot of reading for school so I don't get to it much, but my insomnia starting at 4:00 am the other day helped me get through a lot of it.

 

(oh, and I started the Order of the Phoenix, I think I'm going to finish reading through the HP series and then read Atlas Shrugged)

Edited February 7, 2017 by Kopekemaster

[UNDERlAIDZERO]

Inheritance, last year. I feel so ashamed of myself for letting so many opportunities to read another book (and stay up all night) slip by.

i started to read that as well in fact I haven't picked up the book in a while.

[Erasmus Graves]

Right, I'm not going to go over all the books I've read since my last post, but I'll fire out a few highlights:

- Power Without Glory (liked the TV series better, but it's good)

- A Man in Full, by Tom Wolfe (terrific, really underrated),

​- In the Lake of the Woods (brilliant).

- Wambaugh's Hollywood Station series (perhaps the only truly realistic series of police novels around).

- Zero K (DeLillo's latest, not one of his best but rather good)

- Fat City (slim but great novel, if you ever get the chance to see the film, watch it).

- Ironweed ​(terrific novel)

- Twelve Angry Men (gotta see the film now)

- Look Who's Back (Er ist Wierder da ​in the original German).

Edited March 5, 2017 by Erasmus Graves

[Imnotactive]

I'm currently reading Bailey's Story: A Dog's Purpose Novel.
 

 

I liked the novelization of the G2 animations and the book with the protectors that took place after the Toa defeated LoSS

Edited March 28, 2017 by jupoawp

[Iver]

I recently finished an intriguing story called "Project Pope." It's a sci-fi novel about robots who try and construct their own religion. Now I'm on "The Gift of Hadrborg."

[Erasmus Graves]

Legion, by William Peter Blatty. It's a thoughtful, leisurely paced novel, and a terrific sequel to a classic. It's better written than ​The Exorcist, ​too.

[Wiriamu]

Web of the Visorak

[Erasmus Graves]

- Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner. One of the best works of boxing fiction ever written. Tough and moving. Two of the short stories were adapted into ​Million ​Dollar Baby​.

- Rum Punch​. Very good novel by Elmore Leonard. Made famous by Tarantino's Jackie Brown​ - a terrific adaptation.

​- Black Wings Has My Angel. A brilliant classic noir, extraordinarily well written.

​​- Drive. Yes, the film was adapted from it. But they're very different. It's well-written and a quick read, but I think the film has the upper hand.

- Hard to be a God. An interesting classic Russian science-fiction novel.

- The March, by E.L. Doctorow. Why can't they write historical novels like this anymore  

- Street of No Return and Nightfall, by David Goodis. Classic noir novels.

- Masters of Atlantis. Charles Portis's only straight-up satire. Very funny and underrated. Never a dull moment, but it has dark undercurrents of sadness.

- And the [Not allowed to use this word so I'll say Donkey] Saw the Angel. Nick Cave's first novel. Interestingly written and gothic, if overlong.

- Sombrero Fallout​. Surreal and funny and sad. Well- and sparely written.  

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Justinian II of Byzantium, by Constance Head. I got this book for 45 buck (or was it 48?), and the first day I started reading it I read through half of it. It's short but very interesting, I am practically devouring the info in there. Though as per usual I have to force myself to mentally replace the word Byzantium/Byzantine to Rhomania/Rhomaion (which the author even points out is the accurate terminology but once again goes back to using 'Byzantium'. What the heck is up with authors doing this?!)

 

A shame that the ikonoclast period of the Roman Empire destroyed Justinian II's reputation with extensive propaganda and destruction of first-hand sources to the point where I had to find an expensive old book from the 1970's to get accurate information and can't just look it up on the internet.

Edited April 28, 2017 by Iaredios the Desert Dude

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Finished Justinian II of Byzantium, by Constance Head

 

Such a fascinating individual. Obviously flawed, what with the legends of his mission for revenge having some amount of truth to it, and a couple of unwise moves. Especially how he handled the debacle with Cherson after he regained his throne. I mean that seriously escalated quickly, results in him being decapitated and the Rhomaion state being thrown into anarchy for twelve years. But though lacking in details, the descriptions of his adventures in exile are very sparking to the imagination, and I would very much like to see a narrative story from his standing up for free-land owners that resulted in his mutilation by aristocrats by nose-removal and tongue-tip slitting and becoming Rhinotmetus (such mutilation by their theology making him unqualified to be emperor fo the Romans, the Deputy of God on Earth, King fo the New Jerusalem, he would not be deterred by this though...);through that decade in the 'scythian wilds' with his small band of friends he makes that leads to him retaking his divine throne with his 'unholy' gold-tipped face and an interracial marriage. Be it a book, even a manga/anime. It would have to have added stuff to it, but I want it done dangit (so long as what is known remains historical). He liked to listen to astrological oracles so they could tie this into it if they wanted to. 'You are destined to lose your throne by horror, you cannot escape this', sort of thing.

 

It could even spin off into something about the lowly shepherd Conon, nicknamed Leo (the Lion), who served Justinian II Heracleus while he was on his way back to take his throne back with a bulgarian horde, the shepherd becoming his scout and his loyalty making Leo climb the ranks of Roman politics, becoming a leader of soldiers and a diplomatic politician. So great was his reputation that Justinian began to fear him, and so gave him a surplus amount of money to go make diplomacies (trade, alliances, etc) with the barbarians of the 'scythian wilds', and after going there Justinian stripped him of resources and money, leaving him to die. But Conon the Lion (Leo) would prove his worth to his emperor while never forgetting this betrayal. He spent many years up there among the barbarians, adventuring deep into the middle of the eurasian Steppes (maybe even Mongolia), details here are also scant, but he eventually fulfilled his mission and crawled his way back to Constantinople with good news of his deeds, and by his glory Justinian II restored Leo his wealth and gave him even more. Leo would continue to be loyal, but when the Cherson Rebellion spiraled out of control and resulted in the decapitation of the gold-nosed emperor, Conon gathered a number of loyal soldiers and fled into self-exile back into the steppes. Rhomania would rot in chaotic anarchy for 12 years until Conon the Lion returned, now an Iconoclast from the wilds with his lot, and took the Roman throne by force, royally renaming himself as Leo IV, and brought peace to the land while forcing his iconoclastic views upon the Empire (which meant the banning of religious art, but sometimes resulted in zealots destroying all carved images of people and animals, including statues). As part of his revenge on Justinian II, he made sure propaganda was written to destroy his reputation and make him out to be a mad man that is best forgotten (a la Caligula or Nero).

 

I mean come on, this already sounds like something from a fantasy novel.

 

 

 

When I was almost done with the previous book, I ordered another one, this being the most expensive book I have now (originally 86 dollars but discounted to 76). Last book i read was The Empire of Manuel Komnenos, by Paul Magdalino.

 

I have already read through a good bit of it (I have been having a lot of free time at work recently). It is not as streamlined as Justinian II of Byzantium, but thankfully I have read The Alexiad and know about some other stuff so I can jump into the book and get to knowing new things. I wasn't aware of Manuel Komnenos also had a liking for mystic reading and astrology, though he seemed to be more addicted to it behind closed quarters when compared to other 'Christian' emperors, some generals completely ignoring his commands of campaign decisions because he relied ont he stars for them. At least the prophecy of 'your heir's name will begin with the letter A' technically wasn't wrong, though if he hadn't been told that then he wouldn't have took actions prevent bad things transpiring on the horizon but actually fueled and led to that direction (funny when that happens).