The Idiot Board Readers Corner - General Discussion

Re: The Idiot Board Book Club

To quote the wikipedia article, "Fox 2000 and Ridley Scott's Scott Free Productions purchased the movie rights to this novel for $1.75 million USD in 2007, long before the book was completed."

I just finished the book last night, and it did not leave me disappointed whatsoever. I however cannot fucking WAIT for the second book to come out in 2012 (The Twelve). I would recommend this book to anyone, it was fantastic.

Spoiler

The end of the book left me completely chilled, when reading Sara's entries they always seem so hopeful, and the final one ends with the realization that they were recovered from the "Roswell Massacre." It completely blew my mind. I do have one question though. What was the deal with Theo and Maus living when they got attacked in the barn. They said someone shot the Viral (Galen), but Theo thought it had to have been a ghost? I was just a little confused by the scenario.

 

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Have you read The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss? It's one of the best fantasy novels I've ever read. Rothfuss created a fantastic main character and a very interesting world.

 

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If you guys like The Passage, make sure you check out The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. I usually wouldn't touch a dual-author book with a ten foot pole, never mind one that has a director as co-author, but this one is great. It too contains viral vampires but focuses more on the epidemic aspect. It's like The Passage minus the aspects from The Stand. It's also a trilogy with the second book, The Fall, that comes out in September.

 

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Yes , I read The Strain when it first came out and quite enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to the rest of the trilogy.

So far , The Passage is a bit better.

 

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Paolo Bacigalupi and Ted Chiang are two of, if not the, best living sci-fi authors. If you haven't read them, you're doing yourself a great disservice. I haven't read Bacigalupi's novel, but his short fiction is staggeringly good. Ted Chiang doesn't produce as much, but his novella, Story of Your Life, is also one of my all time favorite stories.

Read three of Bacigalupi's sample stories here (just scroll down the page). Read them from last to first -- descending order of quality in my opinion. The People of Sand and Slag is so fucking good it's not even funny.

As for Fantasy, Name of the Wind is the real deal. Very, very good book.

Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy is excellent reading. It has very good storytelling, an adult plot, and awesome characters. It's one of my favorite trilogies.

 

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Just finished Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. I can't say enough good about this book, there is some amazing insight into living out a purposeful, dedicated life. His study of "logotherapy" was fascinating and made me want to learn more even after I was done reading.

 

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I have reached the 2/3 rd's point of The Passage - / Justin Cronin.

The book did get a bit bogged down in the mid part with all the characters but is looking more interesting as things are starting to pick up again (I have been deliberately vague to avoid spoilers).

 

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I finished last week Nathan Millers Biography of Theodore Roosevelt. I have to say this was superbly written. He touched up on a few things Roosevelt left out of his Autobiography which helped fill in lots of the blanks if you're a history buff or just admire the man.

The one thing that did seem out of place for me is sometimes his word or phrase choice would seem a little on the esoteric side. He would either choose totally uncommon words or use sometimes uncommon culture references. The former I don't understand why he choose to do, but the latter might be due to the fact I'm only 27 so still don't understand older references.

Definitely pick this book up if you're a fan of history, politics or just want to learn more about TR.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

A friend actually recommended this to me after he found out I enjoyed Palahniuk's work. In particular he commented on the way it was written. He said it was some of the most beautifully crafted words he's ever read. Can you expand on any of this?

 

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Not sure exactly what you want me to expand upon; Nabokov's prose style makes even the mundane seem exciting, funny, and bizarre, with unusual similes and metaphors. He loves to play around with words and meaning in a humorous manner, using a lot of alliteration and assonance.

 

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I'm about 820 pages in James Clavell's 1100 page masterpiece Shogun. It's the first book in chronalogical order of his Asian Saga. I can't even fathom how much research and detail whent into making the story so rich and historically accurate. The first few chapters are kinda slow, like all novels, where they take their time in describing all the characters features and backgrounds. As soon as everyone is known though, it takes drastic turns. Starvation, generals making haikus while a man gets torture, plans of back stabbing, battles, etc.

If you want to start on Clavell, Shogun's a good place to start.

But if you want a speed read, Clavell's other book King Rat is also good. It's about a WWII Concentration Camp in Japan and the man dawned The King who smuggeles stuff in.
I Read the book in about a week or two and its about on par with Shogun

 

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I loved Shogun and read it on recomendation of a friend. He also told me that the other books in the series are not nearly as good as Shogun. Has anyone here read any of the others? Are they worth reading a thousand plus pages? To reiterate Shogun is one of my favorite books of all time.

 

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I read all of the Asian series when I was 14 or 15 from my Dad's book shelf, so my memory may have faded since then, but if I remember Shogun was, while great, one of my lesser favorites in the series. Noble House stands out to me as the one I enjoyed the most.

I would recommend reading the entire series. If you liked Shogun I don't think you'll be disappointed, despite your friend's warnings.

Ditto on King Rat. My interest in prison, prison economies, and bartering made this even more of a fun read.

I'm reading the Sherlock Holmes mysteries right now. They hardly need a recommendation, but I will add that I never realized how much substance abuse was foregrounded in these stories. Holmes is truly an addict.

 

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King Rat : This is a bit different from the others, shorter and more serious (it tackles the moral questions of survival), but still reads like a great adventure novel.

Tai-Pan : This is a key book in the saga (Noble House, Gai-Jin, and to a lesser extent, Whirlwind build upon it). Great set of characters, a lot of details, very tense, and the ending is perfect. My favorite is either this or King Rat.

Shogun : The first 2/3 of the book was extremely entertaining, but I found the final few hundred pages lacking compared to what happened before, and it didn't have the kind of climatic ending most of the others did.

Noble House : Again, an excellent one, but you'd better read Tai-Pan first.

Whirlwind : Suffers from the lack of an interesting central character (actually, none of the characters are as good as in the previous books), but the setting is a welcome change from Clavell's usual Far East stuff, and the book builds very well towards the finale.

Gai-Jin : I liked this one the least, none of the characters stood out and there were some bland parts. Still a decent read, but not on the level of the others.

 

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Interesting breakdown. I have only read Tai-Pan and The Noble House, but according to you, they are the two best?

 

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So I got a Barnes and Noble Nook for my birthday about a week ago. Easily one of the best didnt-ask-for gifts of my life so far.

Just downloaded and read Shit My Dad Says in less than 20 hours. Hilarious and a very easy and quick read (110 pages). Nothing there though if you're looking for analysis or an in-depth story. 4/5 stars for the humor, though.

 

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I think the two best are King Rat and Tai-Pan (can't pick one over the other), Noble House is almost as good. After that, I'd rate Shogun a bit above Whirlwind, and Gai-Jin is definitely the weakest. If you haven't read King Rat, go for it.

 

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I read this book ages ago and its a great read.

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick.

Its an account of the true story of the sinking of a whaling ship by a whale that inspired the story of Moby Dick by Melville. The ship is severely damaged and the crew face the grim prospect of a desperate journey in open boats across the Pacific Ocean and yes, they resort to cannibalism.

 

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I was concerned with the veracity of his statement. I vaguely know about the basis premise of the book which sort of weirded me out a bit. I'll have to pick this up based on both of your recommendations.

Focus: I've had it laying around for a while, but I just started reading The Prince and it looks to be a pretty good read and full of fantastic quotes. I'll have to give it a full review when I finish it.

 

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In case you were still wavering on whether to read it or not, I'll add a third recommendation. Nabokov is in my top three of writers, and Lolita is easily his most beautiful work (all around best I'd have to give to Invitation to a Beheading). Read it slow and take everything in, Nabokov doesn't waste a single word and if you are paying attention you'll catch impossibly veiled allusions and foreshadowing all over the place.

You have to understand about Nabokov, much of what he writes is meant to be a sort of parody on current social/literary themes. There is a constant theme of irony in Humbert Humbert's relationship with Lo, which for the most part keeps you from ever really being disgusted/offended by what is taking place. So again, read it, and then go read every other Nabokov novel.

 

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I spent the whole of yesterday (from 3-11:20) reading from roughly page 120 to the end of this book. I cannot say enough good things about it. Rothfuss created a world that I was completely immersed in, and apparently had trouble getting back out of due to my day off. To anyone who like Lord of the Rings, or any fantasy novel in general should go read this. I am almost sad I finished it because I will never get to read it for the first time again, it was that good. Now the waiting game for the second book in the series.