The What Are You Reading thread (now with a simpler name)

[rjshae]

The Fabric of Civilization by Virginia Postrel. It's a history of textiles and its impact on civilization.

Interesting factoid: a viking sail took 385 days of labor to produce.

[the_dog_days]

13 hours ago, rjshae said:

The Fabric of Civilization by Virginia Postrel. It's a history of textiles and its impact on civilization.

Interesting factoid: a viking sail took 385 days of labor to produce.

That's 'cause vikings put love in every stitch.

[Guard Dog]

I just finished reading two Zane Grey novels The Last Plainsman and Riders of the Purple Sage.  They were both the literary equivalent of eating a bag of M&Ms. Enjoyable but probably not good for you. They had only a passing nod towards historical authenticity and were nowhere in the same vicinity as historical accuracy. But they were as entertaining as an old John Wayne movie.

Can anyone recommend a western genre fiction that is historically authentic? Gone To Texas  by Forrest Carter and Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy come to mind. 

[Gromnir]

18 hours ago, Guard Dog said:

 

Can anyone recommend a western genre fiction that is historically authentic? 

for gd, is one novel which is kinda screaming for recognition: the time it never rained.

from the goodreads blurb:

To the ranchers and farmers of 1950s Texas, man's biggest enemy is one he can't control. With their entire livelihood pegged on the chance of a wet year or a dry year, drought has the ability to crush their whole enterprise, to determine who stands and who falls, and to take food out of the mouths of the workers and their families. To Charlie Flagg, an honest, decent, and cantankerous rancher, the drought of the early 1950s is a foe that he must fight on his own grounds. Refusing the questionable "help" of federal aid programs, Charlie and his family struggle to make the ranch survive until the time it rains again-if it ever rains again.

the events o' the novel is based on the actual prolonged drought conditions o' the time, but am not able to say how authentic it were. 

is not one o' our favorites, but that ain't 'cause it is a bad novel. if you are expecting a whole lotta action, you will be disappointed, and from our pov, as a dyed-in-the-wool minimalist, the novel woulda' worked better as a short story as 'posed to a novel with a bit too much o' the typical western hard men doing hard work in a hard land schtick. 

nevertheless, if any western protagonist were meant to resonate with gd...

HA! Good Fun!

 

[xzar_monty]

18 hours ago, Guard Dog said:

Can anyone recommend a western genre fiction that is historically authentic? Gone To Texas  by Forrest Carter and Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy come to mind. 

No, but anyone interested in western genre fiction should read The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt, because its take on the genre is so unusual. If you've seen the movie, too bad, as the movie kinda sucks but the book is superb.

[Guard Dog]

Now reading

[rjshae]

Finished Persephone Station by Stina Leight.

It was mostly okay; a space opera with an LGBTQ+ cast. Checked most of the usual SJW boxes. Still kind of weird getting used to a character using a 'them' pronoun. The most relatable character  was actually the cyborg.

Here's a review:

'Persephone Station' Aims For The Stars — And Almost Makes It

[Achilles]

Did a re-read of this guy over the weekend. Looking forward to the movie

[Gorth]

Mostly low brow paperback stuff these days (Warhammer/40k novels)

I haven’t read those for a couple of years, so some catching up to do, as the lore keeps evolving 

Ghoulslayer and Gitslayer to see what Gotrek is up to these days (the old world ended and sadly Felix too)

 

Lords of Silence about the daily life of Deathguard legionnaires and leading into the preparation for Mortarion’s assault on the 500 worlds of Ultramar

[Guard Dog]

Now reading:

I have always been a big fan of memoirs, diaries, and eye witness accounts of historical actions. They offer an invaluable account of what life was like for the people doing the writing. But it must be understood they are not great references for actual history. A perfect example was one I finished a little while ago; Blood Red Snows. It was written by a man who fought in the Wehrmacht as a machine gunner at Stalingrad. You will learn nothing about the battle from him. Most of the time he didn't know where they were or what was going on. But if you want to get an insight on what life was like for a low ranking German soldier on the Eastern Front it's a great read. So far this book is in the same vein.

[Gromnir]

recent reads we would recommend:

At a shameful detention camp, an improbable football team

Covered with Night: A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America

One Mighty and Irresistible Tide: The Epic Struggle Over American Immigration, 1924-1965

disappointed with the following:

Empire of Guns: The Violent Making of the Industrial Revolution

a hard read with little payoff

HA! Good Fun!

[rjshae]

Reading The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth reveal about aliens--and ourselves by Arik Kershenbaum.

[Guard Dog]

20 hours ago, Gromnir said:

 

Covered with Night: A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America

 

This one looks interesting

[rjshae]

[LadyCrimson]

Not reading it but I randomly came across some video re: "the banned Stephen King book", where the topic was the out of print/pulled from publication Bachman story "Rage." And I was all "what?" I guess years and years and years ago, so it'd be sorta hard-ish to get a legit copy of it now - not impossible or anything, but ...

I had no idea. I still have my slightly tattered orange-cover US paperback of the four-book compilation (1986 or 1987) that has it in it. I guess I can understand why King pulled it but eh. Glad I never tossed that paperbook. Not that Rage was one of my fave stories of his. Of the Bachman novels the only one I liked a lot (a lot) was The Long Walk, which I read from a copy that my highschool library had, before Bachman was outed as King.

I wonder if that movie based on Long Walk will ever happen and if it does, if it'll be any good. Since Frank Darabont lost the film rights/someone else has it now, probably not. >.>

[Amentep]

I think the last director assigned to The Long Walk film was André Øvredal (Trollhunter, Autopsy of Jane Doe, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark).  Not sure if he's still on it, though, as he's working on The Last Voyage of the Demeter and, theoretically, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2.

Only Bachman books I ever read was The Running Man and Thinner, as I recall.  Although something in the back of my mind makes me think I might have read Desperation /The Regulators as well to compare the King vs Bachman versions of the story.

[majestic]

I wrote a book report on Rage and held a presentation back in high school. By far and large because I already read the book and didn't want to spend any effort, and our teacher was okay with picking a King Bachmann novel. Didn't some school shooter have a paperback edition and King had it pulled from print over that?

[Amentep]

4 school shooters are reported tied to Rage. One had done a book report on Rage before his rampage, and one had read it repeatedly. 2 shooters had copies of the book but not on them (closest was one had it in his locker).  After the last one, King let it and the collection with it in it to go out of print.

[the_dog_days]

4 hours ago, Amentep said:

4 school shooters are reported tied to Rage. One had done a book report on Rage before his rampage, and one had read it repeatedly. 2 shooters had copies of the book but not on them (closest was one had it in his locker).  After the last one, King let it and the collection with it in it to go out of print.

How many serial killers had a copy of the Carcher in the Rye?

Edited May 13, 2022 by the_dog_days

[Amentep]

4 hours ago, the_dog_days said:

How many serial killers had a copy of the Carcher in the Rye?

I don't know, the only people I know who committed crimes and had Catcher on them weren't  serial killers but stalker/killers - Mark David Chapman, John Hinkley, Jr. and Robert John Bardo.

[Achilles]

Interesting read, but I have a feeling I'm not the target audience

[Guard Dog]

On 5/12/2022 at 10:01 AM, Amentep said:

I think the last director assigned to The Long Walk film was André Øvredal (Trollhunter, Autopsy of Jane Doe, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark).  Not sure if he's still on it, though, as he's working on The Last Voyage of the Demeter and, theoretically, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2.

Only Bachman books I ever read was The Running Man and Thinner, as I recall.  Although something in the back of my mind makes me think I might have read Desperation /The Regulators as well to compare the King vs Bachman versions of the story.

The running Man novella was so much better than the movie. But of course Schwarzenegger would not have fit the starring role if they had been faithful

[Gfted1]

Isnt Bachman just a pseudonym for King?

[Amentep]

10 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

Isnt Bachman just a pseudonym for King?

Or is it...?

(That was more or less the thought that inspired King's The Dark Half)

1 hour ago, Guard Dog said:

The running Man novella was so much better than the movie. But of course Schwarzenegger would not have fit the starring role if they had been faithful

Yeah it was, but The Running Man movie was a good Schwarzenegger film.  So even if it wasn't as good as the book, I still enjoyed it.

 

 

[Guard Dog]

Don't know about that. The plot made no sense.  But then again it WAS a Schwarzenegger movie.