im reading Hye on Rye

I've been a fan of Sir Terry Pratchett for many years and I've read all his Discworld books at least twice, most three or more times.

Now I'm enjoying Hogfather for the nth time. :p

Oh I downloaded those...will check them out soonish, even though I'm a little suspicious when it comes to such lenghty series...:\

OT: Haruki Murakami - Norwegian wood

There are several series within the Discworld series (The watch, the witches, Tiffany Aching, Moist Von Lipwig) and there are several stand-alone books as well, so .. the entry points are many. :)

You don't have to start with the Colour of Magic, his first book which I'll admit I consider rather weak compared to many of his others. I would suggest you start with perhaps .. Going postal, Guards! Guards!, Wyrd Sisters, The Wee Free Men ..

Books like Soul Music, Mort, Reaper Man, Pyramids, Small Gods, Monstrous Regiment and The Truth would also work as entry points, although some of these do have characters in them that appear in earlier books.

The film had no visceral style to it, Orwell was all ideas and no execution.
No real charm or pleasure in reading it, just simple and dry.

The theme and implications of 1984 are timeless true enough, but Bradbury is a better writer. I guess enjoyment in the process of storytelling is something you tight-ass literary elite pricks, wouldn't know **** about. :usehead:

I suggest a healthy helping of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Miyazki, and Tezuka.

And Ethan, John Updike hasn't been dead that long, show the man some respect asswipe.

He has a pretty distinctive writing style actually...

The Book of Chuang Tzu... pretty sweet.

Quit the name calling please. It is possible to have heated arguments without making derogatory comments.

I didn't even know Updike died recently; either way you missed my point. Good writing is about ideas (after all this is what a story is) not about flowery descriptions and overusing metaphors. The point I was getting at with Updike is he IS all execution (and the quality of his execution is one that's up for debate) and as a result of this not a very good writer. But hey if phrases like "groaning concussions" and "tinkling shivers" make stories appear well-written to you than whatever, have fun with your imagery wanking.