What are you reading right now?

Mr. Charlie · 10-27-2015, 05:39 PM

Good translation and much easier to digest than many. Has lovely old pictures too. Woohoo!

Unknown Soldier · 11-02-2015, 10:34 AM

Recently got this and it's a large tome and as I know hardly anything about HP Lovecraft looking forward to reading it.

The Batlord · 11-02-2015, 10:40 AM

INTRO BY ALAN MOORE?! **** THE **** YEAH!!! i

Unknown Soldier · 11-02-2015, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

INTRO BY ALAN MOORE?! **** THE **** YEAH!!! i

Cool for sure and also the book is 852 pages full of photos and pics, and I'll be getting around to starting it later this week when I've finished reading Metro.

Chula Vista · 11-02-2015, 11:53 AM

Lovecraft is a total trip.

Reading The Mote in God's Eye.

The Batlord · 11-10-2015, 08:11 PM

Soon I Will Be Invincible

I'm lazy, have the attention span of a gnat, and have no motivation to do anything but listen to grindcore and watch Youtube videos of other people playing video games, so I haven't read an actual book in... never mind. But I've taken to listening to the audiobook version of this while I try to sleep/wake up for work, and it's pretty entertaining.

It will surprise no one to know that this is a superhero novel. Like, straight up. It's deconstructionist in that it plays around with comic book tropes, but it also indulges in them too much to be enjoyed by anyone who doesn't already accept them and love them: the heroes are more realistic than you would find in Marvel or DC, but they also have ironically unironic names; villains have island base, mad scientist labs; allusions are made to time travel, mind control shenanigans, and intergalactic wars between advanced alien species, which for some unexplained reason have something to do with heroes from our world; etc, etc, etc.

It's completely and utterly ridiculous, but takes itself seriously, while still being escapist literature at its most escapist.

It's definitely loves Watchmen, as it's a superhero tale of superheroes past their superheroing prime, but the villain is out to take over the world in as supervillainy a way as possibly, and the "hero" is "new to the game", and as such is still in awe of the whole thing, much like any comic book fan is supposed to be. Except that she's not as nearly as big of a dork. And the supervillain trades off first-person narrative chapters with the hero, so he's kind of the hero too.

I don't know if this book is actually mildly intelligent, or the author just thinks he's intelligent enough that his foolishly indulging in his comic book writer fantasies isn't dumb, but the book is still well-written enough that I kind of don't care. All I know is that I'm reading superhero prose that actually feels like prose and it makes me happy.

Chula Vista · 11-10-2015, 08:43 PM

Adding to my kindle.

Unknown Soldier · 11-11-2015, 11:35 AM

Pretty much nearly finished Metro and yer it deserves the hype it gets, after a somewhat sluggish start.

Mr. Charlie · 11-16-2015, 01:18 PM

A great book by the famous philosopher king. Have read it a few times but some books need returning to time and time again, if only to serve as a counterweight to the messages of our education, our culture and our society.

Some choice quotes:

"You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength."

“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”

“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”

“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.”

“No man is happy who does not think himself so.”

“The happiness of those who want to be popular depends on others; the happiness of those who seek pleasure fluctuates with moods outside their control; but the happiness of the wise grows out of their own free acts.”

“Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it.”

DeadChannel · 11-16-2015, 01:44 PM

I'm reading Something Like An Autobiography by Akira Kurosawa. One of my favourite filmmakers, and it's actually really interesting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Soon I Will Be Invincible

I'm lazy, have the attention span of a gnat, and have no motivation to do anything but listen to grindcore and watch Youtube videos of other people playing video games, so I haven't read an actual book in... never mind. But I've taken to listening to the audiobook version of this while I try to sleep/wake up for work, and it's pretty entertaining.

It will surprise no one to know that this is a superhero novel. Like, straight up. It's deconstructionist in that it plays around with comic book tropes, but it also indulges in them too much to be enjoyed by anyone who doesn't already accept them and love them: the heroes are more realistic than you would find in Marvel or DC, but they also have ironically unironic names; villains have island base, mad scientist labs; allusions are made to time travel, mind control shenanigans, and intergalactic wars between advanced alien species, which for some unexplained reason have something to do with heroes from our world; etc, etc, etc.

It's completely and utterly ridiculous, but takes itself seriously, while still being escapist literature at its most escapist.

It's definitely loves Watchmen, as it's a superhero tale of superheroes past their superheroing prime, but the villain is out to take over the world in as supervillainy a way as possibly, and the "hero" is "new to the game", and as such is still in awe of the whole thing, much like any comic book fan is supposed to be. Except that she's not as nearly as big of a dork. And the supervillain trades off first-person narrative chapters with the hero, so he's kind of the hero too.

I don't know if this book is actually mildly intelligent, or the author just thinks he's intelligent enough that his foolishly indulging in his comic book writer fantasies isn't dumb, but the book is still well-written enough that I kind of don't care. All I know is that I'm reading superhero prose that actually feels like prose and it makes me happy.

I read a book by him called "You" or something about some guy's experiences in the game industry. Surprisingly literary and actually really good writer. Heads above the guy who wrote "Ready Player One" (which I actually really enjoyed for what it's worth).

11-02-2015, 11:53 AM	#5415 (permalink)
Chula Vista Toasted Poster Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: SoCal by way of Boston Posts: 11,332	Lovecraft is a total trip. Reading The Mote in God's Eye. __________________ “The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

11-10-2015, 08:43 PM	#5417 (permalink)
Chula Vista Toasted Poster Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: SoCal by way of Boston Posts: 11,332	Adding to my kindle. __________________ “The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

10-27-2015, 05:39 PM	#5411 (permalink)
Mr. Charlie Shoo Thoughts Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: These Mountains Posts: 2,308	Good translation and much easier to digest than many. Has lovely old pictures too. Woohoo!

11-16-2015, 01:18 PM	#5419 (permalink)
Mr. Charlie Shoo Thoughts Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: These Mountains Posts: 2,308	A great book by the famous philosopher king. Have read it a few times but some books need returning to time and time again, if only to serve as a counterweight to the messages of our education, our culture and our society. Some choice quotes: "You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.” “No man is happy who does not think himself so.” “The happiness of those who want to be popular depends on others; the happiness of those who seek pleasure fluctuates with moods outside their control; but the happiness of the wise grows out of their own free acts.” “Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it.”