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What are you reading?
I’m personally reading Windows Internals Pt.1
Hopefully I’m going to finish it soon so I can move on to my C book.
I’m personally reading Windows Internals Pt.1
Hopefully I’m going to finish it soon so I can move on to my C book.
Currently reading Snow Crash, it's pretty alright and there are glimpses of some good concepts but overall there's an inherent cheese so far, maybe it will pay off later on in the book.
That's the appeal though! Snow Crash is like reading the novel equivalent of a hilariously over the top action movie and I love it.
That's about right, still can't get over 'Hiro Protagonist'
Well he was right about one thing: you'll never forget it.
Try Diamond Age if you want to see Stephenson’s true potential. All the world building with none of the cheese.
I will add it to my list, thanks!
But chisled spam!
Diamond Age suffers from the same critical problem as Snow Crash IMO (which OP hasn't hit yet, if they're still reading it): Stephenson didn't figure out how to write good endings until, IMHO, Anathem. I loved Anathem but it didn't grab me until at least 200 or 300 pages in - that book is huge, and dense, and the start is REALLY slow and challenging because half the words are new vocabulary that doesn't exist outside of the book.
I kindly disagree. He still doesn’t know how to do endings lol. :) I haven’t read Seveneves yet though.
It was quite groundbreaking when it first came out, but I don’t know if it has aged well. Like most of Neal Stephenson’s books it starts quite strong, but then trickles out in a confusing ending. I loved Stephenson when I was younger, but he was never good at ending a book in time and tying together all plot points in a sane way.
Also I realize you might be missing some context. Snow crash was written in the late 80's as a parody of the gritty and edgy cyberpunk that was in vogue following the release of stuff like Necromancer and Bladerunner. That's part of the reason it's so ridiculously over the top.
Nah, I'm aware of the context and am a fan of cyberpunk and sci-fi in general it just gets to me sometimes. I don't want to say that the cheese is bad but yeah sometimes it's a bit much.
Should we assume you've read your Gibson or do you want some recommendations for him as well? :)
I haven't read Neuromancer >_< but it's on the list for sure.
Then I’m jealous that you get to read it for the first time. He is simply unparalleled.
Blasphemy! Read it now! It is one of my most favorite books if you cannot tell!
One of my favorites! It's got some cheese but I dig it.
Snow Crash is a fav. Have you come to reason yet? It is hard to argue with reason.
I'm entangled with long readings that stagnated, because things. In the last few months I was nearing my graduation (Italian literature), exams and anxiety for future together with some other events slowed me down, so I ended up with many concurrent readings that were going quite slowly, with also nearly a hundred books lying around. I've banned myself from buying new ones until I get a significant amount of those read.
My lengthiest reading by far is the Bible, in a project to read it and the Quran for a grasp of Abrahamitic tradition, because I'm interested in mythology and literature (otherwise I'm irreligious). I'm reading the Italian CEI bible and am around 2 Chronicles. It's taken me around 2 years, though I had no hurry. It being in a foreign language (Italian is my L3) makes it difficult, but the language of the book is surprisingly up-to-date.
I've also been reading the Platonic dialoges for some years, with only two left to read (Phaidros and Nomoi) and one to reread (his Epistles). I've read the bulk of it early on, but the last couple of years saw events that slowed all my readings down, and this project was the one that was affected the most. It was originally a project to read all of Plato and Aristotle, then some more; a project which I want to return to in the future.
I've recently started reading the Odyssey, after having read the Iliad some time ago. Another reading that stagnated for a while but picked steam again was Art through the Ages of Hellen Gardner.
These were the lengthy readings. As for casual ones, I'm reading a critical edition of Ossi di Seppia of Eugenio Montale, with a fifth of the book remainin from yesterday. Today I've also started reading a Turkish (my native tongue) translation Michel Butor's Essais sur le roman. I suppose after it I'll be reading Nuova Grammatica Finlandese of Diego Marani, which is an interesting novel with a linguistic twist. I also want to read or at least explore some master's theses in literature and comparative literature before I apply for a graduate programme.
edit: fix a couple typos and misspellings.
I've been meaning to read the The Odyssey. Perhaps I'll do so next, having just finished Doctor Zhivago today. Homer's Illiad was one of my first reads of classic literature several years ago following a strict diet of non-fiction for many decades. I've since enjoyed a wide range of the classics, including some ancient Greek texts (Plato, Socrates, Thucydides), which I hope to explore some more.
I just finished Guards! Guards! and I'm trying to decide which discworld book to read next. Definitely going to finish the watch series but I was thinking equal rites or mort next.
I remember r/discworld posting a suggested reading order for discworld. I always like to read in published order because I think it's good to grow with it as the author did, but I've never read such a huge series before.
Yeah it's pretty intimidating. I did try to start with the colour of magic years ago but I never got too far in. Guards was the typical recommended intro novel and after reading it I can definitely see why.
I'm just about to launch into The Expanse series.
The TV show is excellent and I've heard the books are even better.
Wes Chatham, who plays Amos on the show said in a podcast interview during the show's time in purgatory between the cancellation and resurrection by Amazon, that what he wanted most for his career was a fourth season. He read the books preparing for his role and said he desperately wants to see the events in later books represented - I think he says book 5??
That's encouragement enough for me. I did the same for A Song of Ice and Fire and that was immensely rewarding.
Since last time, I've finished The Death and Life of Superman, and replaced it with The Country of the Blind by Michael Flynn. I'm still reading The Eighties, though.
It seems I don't do as much reading as I used to. I used to get through 1 or 2 books a week. Admittedly, these days, I spend a lot more time on the internet - and not reading books.
Not since I was a kid and my dad took us all to the library once a month and we'd max our library card (6 books at a time.) These days it's a book every 3-4 weeks since I only read before bed and I'm a slow reader.
Since the least thread, I finished Cat's Cradle, Notes From Underground, Of Mice and Men, Siddhartha, the first volume of Maus, and Memento Park. I don't feel like getting in depth, but I was quite a fan of Cat's Cradle, Maus, and Memento Park, with the last of those being one of the biggest surprises I've had since I started getting back into reading. It was a random pick off the new shelf at the library, and it turns out to be one of my favorites ever. That's a great feeling.
I've just started Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation and returned to the first volume of Spice and Wolf. I'm also probably going to try out The Sun Also Rises, since I picked that up from the library as well. Never touched Hemingway, so we'll see how that goes.
Is it Hesse's Siddhartha? If it is, then I also suggest reading Steppenwolf and more that that the Knulp. Knulp is such a simple and down to earth story but yet it has been a very enjoyable read for me. It's an interesting contrast with Siddhartha's perseverence and patience, Knulp's resignation and having left himself to a flow which eventually consumes him.
It was. I thought it was pretty bad, but I'll try some other stuff eventually, since I have a friend pressuring me into it.
Wuthering Heights, it's fantastic. I'm a non-native speaker but I love the language (though I don't understand everything).
I just started Ringworld by Larry Niven.
Let me know what you think of it. The world building was fantastic I thought. The misogyny and plastic personalities for the female characters was a bit hard to take and I say that as a longtime Heinlein fan. It’s a book best read with a couple drinks nearby I think.
Just finished reading The Erstwhile by B. Caitling. Really weird fantasy novel. It's the sequel to his first novel The Vorrh and while I liked The Vorrh better, this book was a much less confusing read. Some really cool concepts centered around this twisted , almost perverted, version of Christian mythology in early 20th century colonial Africa.
Next on my list is The City and the City by the father of the new weird China Mieville. I've liked all the Mieville I've read so far, hopefully this doesn't disappoint either.
I'm still in the opening pages of the Vorrh after stalling on it a year ago. Very interesting language, but as you say, a confusing read.
I'm currently reading Conqueror by Conn Iggulden, the last in his series about the mongol empire. Apart from that I'm also reading God - A biography by Jack Miles
I read that series the battle scenes are still vivid in my memories, Conn Iggulden is amazing, which reminds me I've been meaning to read the last of the Emperor series, have you read those? It's Caesar and it's great too.
Yeah, they were my first introduction to him. I'm glad to have been late to the party though, so the last Emperor book was out. It's an important part of the story, in my opinion.
Have you read any of his other books, not Genghis or Caesar?
I tried War of the Roses but it wasn't my cup of tea, I downloaded Darien, Dunstan, and Falcon of Sparta but havn't started them yet.
Fair enough! I've been binge-reading him, so I'll probably start on something else afterwards and then read some more later on.
I started on Falcon of Sparta, it's pretty good.
Just finished the audiobook for Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah, it was a great look at what growing up in Apartheid from the perspective of a "coloured" person. I admit I don't have much knowledge of what went on in South Africa and just knew that Apartheid was about racism and virtual slavery, but learning the nuances from someone that experienced it first hand or second hand through stories from his mother was really interesting. The book is depressing, inspiring, tragic and funny all at the same time.
Also listened to Failure is an Option by H. Jon Benjamin, it actually feels a lot like Bob Belcher, of Bob's Burgers, wrote an autobiography. It was hilarious.
I'm reading a non-fiction book called "The Body Keeps the Score".
It's about trauma, PTSD and such.
I suffered an extended "incident" in an extremely hostile workplace, and I originally started reading this book to try and understand what was wrong with my body.
Man, that book is such an eye opener. Such harrowing stories, from sufferers of PTSD, abuse victims and such. It's really horrifying. But the power of the mind is truly insane!! The way people cope with the situations they were put in is nuts.
It's changed the way I view EVERYONE. You really have no idea what's going on with people.
I can highly recommend it.
I have a friend who's really into this series and recommends it frequently, but I have not yet attempted to read it myself.
Out of curiosity, what other types of books/movies/TV are you into?
Book 3 in the Stormlight Archive series, Oathbringer. I love this series. I can't wait for Brandon to finish. Also if book 3 ever comes out in the Kingkiller Chronicle's, I wouldn't hesitate to pick it up.
Reading through the Fallen Empire Series by Lindsay Buroker, on Book 5 right now. Light scifi books with some romance, pretty fast and easy to read.
I've been trying to get back into the Malazan Book of the Fallen. I got through Gardens of the Moon, and am near the halfway point of Deadhouse Gates.
I haven't finished Malazan yet (I took a break after the eighth book and haven't had as much time to read since), but I would definitely say "it gets better as you go" on the series. I found GotM a dense, hard-to-read slog (so many characters and places, not a whole lot of exposition) but I stuck with it because of all of the rave reviews I've read of the series, and it was definitely worth it.
Gardens of the Moon definitely pushes in media res to the limit, and it's a bit rough, but once I accepted that Erikson wasn't going to tell me everything up front it was easier to just go along and enjoy the story.
I've seen people compare Malazan to Glen Cook's The Black Company, but we don't just get the Bridgeburners' viewpoint. I think it's more appropriate to compare Malazan to Cook's Dread Empire novels. In those novels, Cook provides very little context or exposition, and his prose is even more spartan than in his later and better-known series.
I took a break on the eighth book, but actually just forgot about it until this thread. I might start on it again once I finish Talion: Revenant and The Black Prism.
Currently reading the Three-Body Problem. I haven't made time to read a book in the past month or two, though. I'll probably end up starting over, though, so I can remember who's who when I actually do pick it back up.
Just a few moments ago, I finished 64 Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff, which fell into my lap this morning and took almost no time to read, since I am in bed with a summer flu. Really sweet!
Also, started Democracy Now!: Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America by Amy Goodman, yesterday.
I also started Neuromancer by William Gibson, yesterday. FINALLY, lol.
I just today finished Doctor Zhivago, which I'd put off for quite some time as I've been quite fond of David Lean's film adaptation, still my all-time favourite movie, fearing that it wouldn't live up to my expectations or that it might otherwise tread upon my memories of the film. I was pleased, however, to discover my anxiety was misplaced. The book is brilliant, albeit somewhat uneven in places but a wonderful work of literature. I was curious whenever I came upon plot points that deviated from the film how they would be resolved, which distracted a bit from the story but in the end I also came to appreciate what a masterful adaptation was achieved in the film.
About half-way through the book I experienced a fortuitous bit of serindipity! Whilst searching our public television station's website for something I stumbled across a documentary entitled The Real Doctor Zhivago. It provides a wealth of biographical information about Pasternak and contextual background that informed the story, and documents how both the author and his book became pawns during the cold war.
I'm reading the poem collection Love, Death, and the Changing of the Seasons by Marilyn Hacker.
Currently reading Stephen King's The Shining. It's long, but a page turner for sure. i'm loving it so far, the writing is superb.
Windows Internals is a great book. Which C book are you planning on reading after it? IMHO there's no beating K&R
I'm going to read "The C Programming Language" because I just want to get some basics in stone, after that I'm going to move to a book about malware analysis, then a very basic ASM book, then "Introduction to Algorithms" and finally C++ Primer.
My final goal is having good knowledge of C++ and Reverse Engineering!
I've been reading Sci-Fi lately.
Mars, by Ben Nova
Artemis, by Andy Weir
Dark Run, by Mike Brooks
Recently finish How Not to be a Boy by Robert Webb, which was which was a fantastic, tragic and hilarious memoir and examination of masculinity.
Now reading House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski which I am really enjoying but it can be a bit much so I also have a Jeeves and Wooster going for when I want something a little lighter.
Currently reading "Death's End" by Cixin Liu, the final part in the Three-Body Problem trilogy.
A classic, Pride and Prejudice
I'm reading The Food Lab by J. Kenji López-Alt. He does a great job debunking lots of myths I was taught in junior high's Food Studies classes by using science. Searing doesn't seal in juices! The Maillard reaction and how to make use of it! How to properly boil an egg to varying donenesses! It appeals to both my love of food and science.
Baen has free nonfiction anthologies that are released yearly, been enjoying those lately. They cover a variety of real-world topics that have some connection to SF.