Gromnir Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Ulysses is the reader moved? is the reader a better person for having read the work? great literature reveals to us truths 'bout the human condition we may not have recognized. 'course not all lit is meant to enlighten. some lit is mere meant to entertain. the books we likes best is both profound AND entertaining. our reading o' Ulysses were neither profound nor entertaining. were a tedious (as 'posed to challenging) read that made us long for it to end. ack. sure, joyce is is a fantastic writer. can even argue that he is the bestest writer o' english novels and short fiction with only a handful o' others making up a list o' viable challengers. am even willing to concede that Ulysses is well-written. 'course we still hate it. joyce intended to write a book so profound and dense that it would require scholars to be spending their entire careers to fully plumb its depths. *groan* am calling it self-indulgent piffle. we hate Ulysses, and we not mind admitting. HA! Good Fun! "If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence."Justice Louis Brandeis, Concurring, Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927) "Im indifferent to almost any murder as long as it doesn't affect me or mine."--Gfted1 (September 30, 2019) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walsingham Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 "Night of the Crabs", by Guy N. Smith. I tend to absorb the writing style of whatever I'm reading. In this instance I lost the ability to write completely for two months. Everything about this book is bad, and wrong. "It wasn't lies. It was just... bull****"." -Elwood Blues tarna's dead; processing... complete. Disappointed by Universe. RIP Hades/Sand/etc. Here's hoping your next alt has a harp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shryke Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 as with many others, i found great distaste for the Dune prequels, especially the Butlerian Jihad series it seemed like it wanted to cram in the origins of every single group of people in the original books - the Fremen, Navigators, Suk Doctors, Swordmasters of Ginaz, Bene Gesserit, etc the Shanarra series by Terry Brooks started off pretty average, but then just got worse and worse with things like the Voyage of Jerle Shanarra. i also remember finding another series he'd done - The Word and the Void. it started in a modern day type setting but with demonic possession and stuff. but then somehow it leads into the Shanarra series and all of a sudden there are elves, trolls, dwarves, gnomes, etc when your mind works against you - fight back with substance abuse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorth Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Stephen Donaldson's 'Thomas Covenant' books. The plot moves with all the pace of a pre-global warming glacier. Having read 3 books, I still don't know what it is about. Anything with Drizzt in it. Anything David Eddings after the Belgariad (it was fun in a McDonald junkfood kind of way the first 5 easily digestable paperbacks). After that, he might as well have asked 'Want fries with that?'. Edit to add: 'God of Clocks' by Alan Campbell, simply because it was such a disappointing ending to an otherwise great story, built up in the first two books. The guys used to be a games designer, go figure... “He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaftan Barlast Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 It's blasphemy, but I got pretty pissed trying to read "Crime and punishment" as a teenager. Got about 100 pages in, then gave up and read a synopsis instead. I couldnt fathom how you could stretch out what should have been a short story... into an 800-page brick I think I would appreciate it a lot more if I tried to read it again now, but I cant find it. Lost a ton of books through various moving shennanigans "Night of the Crabs", by Guy N. Smith. I tend to absorb the writing style of whatever I'm reading. In this instance I lost the ability to write completely for two months. Everything about this book is bad, and wrong. A very bold choice of litterature, mr Wally. Was it the cover or the title that lured you to read it? DISCLAIMER: Do not take what I write seriously unless it is clearly and in no uncertain terms, declared by me to be meant in a serious and non-humoristic manner. If there is no clear indication, asume the post is written in jest. This notification is meant very seriously and its purpouse is to avoid misunderstandings and the consequences thereof. Furthermore; I can not be held accountable for anything I write on these forums since the idea of taking serious responsability for my unserious actions, is an oxymoron in itself. Important: as the following sentence contains many naughty words I warn you not to read it under any circumstances; botty, knickers, wee, erogenous zone, psychiatrist, clitoris, stockings, bosom, poetry reading, dentist, fellatio and the department of agriculture. "I suppose outright stupidity and complete lack of taste could also be considered points of view. " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purkake Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 It's blasphemy, but I got pretty pissed trying to read "Crime and punishment" as a teenager. Got about 100 pages in, then gave up and read a synopsis instead. I couldnt fathom how you could stretch out what should have been a short story... into an 800-page brick I think I would appreciate it a lot more if I tried to read it again now, but I cant find it. Lost a ton of books through various moving shennanigans That's actually one of the few books that I enjoyed in school, but I guess our compulsory reading lists weren't very similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walsingham Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I believe I saw it lying around a friend's house. And being a teenage prick, into 'irony', I thought "Well, how bad can it be?" A very bold choice of litterature, mr Wally. Was it the cover or the title that lured you to read it? "It wasn't lies. It was just... bull****"." -Elwood Blues tarna's dead; processing... complete. Disappointed by Universe. RIP Hades/Sand/etc. Here's hoping your next alt has a harp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raithe Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I can ensure to pretty much get stoned at any fantasy group because I don't like Lord of the Rings as a read. I'm impressed as hell on a lot of levels with it, on the details, the way the world was crafted, how it all connects, and the impression it made on the fantasy genre in the years since.. But as an actual enjoyable read.. meh. It's never been one that's struck me as good writing. But then, my parents got me started on the likes of Enid Blyton, C.S. Lewis, and J.T. Edson... maybe that affected me as a kid... "Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowtrain Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 the Voyage of Jerle Shanarra. lol. See I just can't believe anyone would read that. I hope you borrowed it from a friend or a library so at least it didn't cost you anything. Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shryke Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 the Voyage of Jerle Shanarra. lol. See I just can't believe anyone would read that. I hope you borrowed it from a friend or a library so at least it didn't cost you anything. i found it at the library if memory serves i'm another of these apparent heretics who aren't all that fond of Lord of the Rings i found it amusing that people complained about the lack of Tom Bombadil in the movies. he really adds nothing whatsoever to the overall plot. the only thing that comes of those chapters of irritating and nonsensical songs is that the rest of the hobbits get swords from the barrows. that's it when your mind works against you - fight back with substance abuse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purkake Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 (edited) I just remembered the second half of Hyperion Cantos(Enymion and The Rise of Endymion) by Dan Simmons. The writing is still good, but making love a fundamental force of the universe is something that should stay as far away from sci fi as possible. Plus, the end was all wishy-washy and melodramatic. Edited July 12, 2011 by Purkake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoonDing Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I just remembered the second half of Hyperion Cantos(Enymion and The Rise of Endymion) by Dan Simmons. The writing is still good, but making love a fundamental force of the universe is something that should stay as far away from sci fi as possible. Plus, the end was all wishy-washy and melodramatic. He pulled off a similar trick in Ilium/Olympos. The ending of the words is ALMSIVI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purkake Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 I just hope that Terror is okay, I'm not really looking to reread Greek epics IN SPACE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raithe Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I just hope that Terror is okay, I'm not really looking to reread Greek epics IN SPACE. It wasn't quite reading it... but during the..hm.. early 80's they did a rather brilliant cartoon series.. Ulysses 31 - Basically Odysseus voyage home.. IN SPACE. I liked the initial setup of Terry Goodkinds Sword of Truth series.. but that swiftly went off the rails when he started putting the Aryn Rand influences in way too obviously. With the series finale basically being one big hand-wave deus ex machina movement in the space of a single chapter.... "Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowtrain Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I just remembered the second half of Hyperion Cantos(Enymion and The Rise of Endymion) by Dan Simmons. The writing is still good, but making love a fundamental force of the universe is something that should stay as far away from sci fi as possible. Plus, the end was all wishy-washy and melodramatic. I started Hyperion but didn't get very far. Can't remember why. Didn't Dan Simmons have some book about the devil coming back to earth or something, a sort of horror/sf crossover? I think I read that one. Can't remember. I had a bunch of Dan Simmons books at one time, but never did much with them. Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purkake Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 Hyperion is pretty much Canterbury Tales IN SPACE, but it's well written and qualifies as lit fic pretty easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcador Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Have to wonder what the fire selector on those FORCE rifles is, things fire flechettes, lasers, flame, grenades. Heh, reminded of the summer reading lists we had to do in high school. I chose Sea Wolf, because hey I liked Call of the Wild and White Fang was so so. Yeah no. Book is horribly boring, and that Captain takes longer to die than Trinity did. Why has elegance found so little following? Elegance has the disadvantage that hard work is needed to achieve it and a good education to appreciate it. - Edsger Wybe Dijkstra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purkake Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 Have to wonder what the fire selector on those FORCE rifles is, things fire flechettes, lasers, flame, grenades. Heh, reminded of the summer reading lists we had to do in high school. I chose Sea Wolf, because hey I liked Call of the Wild and White Fang was so so. Yeah no. Book is horribly boring, and that Captain takes longer to die than Trinity did. Rule one of science fiction is that no matter how awesome your gun is, you still need to go hand to hand with main bad guy. And now I remember all the time traveling bits as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoonDing Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I just hope that Terror is okay, I'm not really looking to reread Greek epics IN SPACE. More like half Greek epics, half Caliban upon Setebos IN SPACE. The ending of the words is ALMSIVI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth InSidious Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 And furthermore, his football kits are not cheap football kits! On-topic: The End of Mr. Y is pop-science wrapped in a postmodernist cover. Or to put it differently: it's the sort of book you expect ot be fun and amusing, and then find yourself reading fifty pages of having Baudrillard regurgitated by one character all over another. This particularly rapid, unintelligible patter isn't generally heard, and if it is, it doesn't matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oerwinde Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Don't you have friends who won't get off your case until you've read something or succumbed to high internet praise and forced your way through it just to see what all the fuss is about? I mean eventually you'll learn to avoid such things, but I'm sure there's that one book that lured you in with sweet promises and then let you down like a Peter Molyneux game. Or perhaps you decided to force your way through an all-time classic just to add that little bit of cultural identity to yourself even though you hated every second of the pretentious post-modern crap? Lord of the Rings? Seriously. Didn't hate it but forced my way through Fellowship then just gave up like 3 chapters into Two Towers. Just boring and badly written. The movies are better. Also hated the Great Gatsby. Had to read it for grade 12 english and after the chapter that just lists everyone he invited to a party I told my teacher I couldn't read that tripe and to just fail me on that section of the class. The area between the balls and the butt is a hotbed of terrorist activity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raithe Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Hm, not quite a hate.. but I first tried reading Bram Stoker's Dracula when I was about 8. Harker's descent into madness scared the bejeesuz out of me and I couldn't finish the book. Took me years before I could get back to trying to read it. On the vampire thing - Laura K Hamilton is a bit odd. She started writing some quite decent character driven murder/urban fantasy stories with the usual vampire/paranormal sexy erotic overtones.. which made an interesting series. But then she seemed to get lost in the whole "sexy vampire/paranormal" thing and produced a couple that were ...well.. sexually driven characters with some slight plot overtones. So maybe not hate again, but a certain level of dissapointment. "Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blarghagh Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 I haven't finished it yet, and I can't say I effectively hate it, but I'm struggling with getting through the first book of His Dark Materials. Lyra is just such a self-absorbed brat and I really don't care much what happens to her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purkake Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 Don't you have friends who won't get off your case until you've read something or succumbed to high internet praise and forced your way through it just to see what all the fuss is about? I mean eventually you'll learn to avoid such things, but I'm sure there's that one book that lured you in with sweet promises and then let you down like a Peter Molyneux game. Or perhaps you decided to force your way through an all-time classic just to add that little bit of cultural identity to yourself even though you hated every second of the pretentious post-modern crap? Lord of the Rings? Seriously. Didn't hate it but forced my way through Fellowship then just gave up like 3 chapters into Two Towers. Just boring and badly written. The movies are better. Also hated the Great Gatsby. Had to read it for grade 12 english and after the chapter that just lists everyone he invited to a party I told my teacher I couldn't read that tripe and to just fail me on that section of the class. I read the Great Gatsby pretty recently. It's certainly not the most exciting of books, but I like the time period and it certainly gets its point across. I guess everything is better when you're not forced to do it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gromnir Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 aside: great gatsby is an excellent novel, but am much surprised by the fact that it is taught near universal in US high schools. the book does gots universal themes, but am personally not thinking that it ages well. gatsby, the character, is a product o' a unique time in American history. maybe if the novel were taught specific in conjunction with US history classes covering the 1920s... but as the 1920's is not showing up much on standardized tests... *groan* am guessing that is not easy to choose Great books that don't offend anybody... or is 'bout racism. am doubting that being forced to read popular high school fodder such as farewell to manzanar, native son, to kill a mockingbird, kite runner, and night, 'mongst others, has inspired any student to become racist, but am gonna concede that we were sick & tired o' the racism theme in lit by the time we graduated... and that were +20 years ago. seems as if even more novels focusing on racism has been added to the required reading lists since we graduated. tedious and tiresome. nevertheless, leave you with lord o' the flies, catcher in the rye, moby **** and great gatsby once all the racism themed books is removed? is hyperbole... but it seems to close to the truth for comfort. HA! Good Fun! "If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence."Justice Louis Brandeis, Concurring, Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927) "Im indifferent to almost any murder as long as it doesn't affect me or mine."--Gfted1 (September 30, 2019) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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