Books: Book(s) you are Currently Reading | Part 3

[Neil Racki]

Wanted my next book to be a classic work that is beloved ..

settled for well written porn smut w Bret Easton Ellis' Rules of Attraction.

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

Good read by one of my favorite writers. Relatively short but full of drama and intrigue, provides a lot of insight and context into the process of picking a pope.

 

[Turin]

Started The Book of the New Sun and man, Gene Wolfe is a challenging read

 

[Thucydides]

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

Started The Book of the New Sun and man, Gene Wolfe is a challenging read

and it only gets more challenging as it goes, the plot lines get less and less linear while the prose expands like a balloon. There's a part in the second or third book where he inserts a play into the narrative seemingly for the hell of it.

 

[BiolaRunner]

 

[Turin]

and it only gets more challenging as it goes, the plot lines get less and less linear while the prose expands like a balloon. There's a part in the second or third book where he inserts a play into the narrative seemingly for the hell of it.

Reading this gives me the same sensation as watching the last few seasons of Lost lol

 

[Osprey]

It's the first original Star Wars novel, released all of the way back in 1978, when the "franchise" was just one movie. I'm not far into it, but it's clear that it didn't age very well. Luke and Leia have crash landed on a planet and he repeatedly admires her beauty, gets uncomfortable being close to her and, no joke, imagines that her moist lips beckon to him. Suffice to say, I'm a little worried about where this is going. Of course, it's not the author's fault, since Lucas approved of the novel before publication, and not even Lucas knew at the time that he'd go in a very different direction years later, but it's an awkward read. That said, I still find it interesting as a time capsule of the late 70s, when fans probably expected Leia to end up with Luke and not Han.

 

[Turin]

What the hell did I just read? 9/10

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

as you can probably guess, this was a heavy, heavy read. It had everything from the explicit details of guys getting their legs blown off by an antipersonnel mine to miscellaneous bitching about C-rations (which were just about as hated as the Viet Cong). Lots of experiences, lots of emotions, lots of conflict both inner and outer. Each letter ends with a brief biography, including whether the writer survived, was wounded, or died in Vietnam, and it became harder and harder not to look ahead to see whether they made it out in one piece.

 

[Hippasus]

Number: the history of numbers and how they shape our lives, by John McLeish. Another U.K. author on the subject of history of mathematics. This should be a quick one for me.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Tim Matheson: Damn Glad to Meet You (2024)

Tim Matheson autobiography. And he's kind of a unique lifelong actor. He wasn't pushed by a stage mom. He happened to live in LA, and wanted to financially help his single mother. And he got some good parts early.. including the voice of 'Jonny Quest' (which I don't think is widely known/remembered). Then he goes thru the years reminiscing on Magnum Force, Animal House, etc.
Good read.. he seems like a pretty grounded celebrity.

(Ps- I couldn't post the cover image properly. Any issues for other posters, with the new forum?)

 

[Babe Ruth]

View attachment 992935

It's the first original Star Wars novel, released all of the way back in 1978, when the "franchise" was just one movie. I'm not far into it, but it's clear that it didn't age very well. Luke and Leia have crash landed on a planet and he repeatedly admires her beauty, gets uncomfortable being close to her and, no joke, imagines that her moist lips beckon to him. Suffice to say, I'm a little worried about where this is going.

Osprey, thanks for mentioning this. Based on your post I picked up a used copy off eBay.
I'm not really into expanded universe, but this is unique because it feels like original trilogy.
I still have about 50 pages left, but you're correct.. there was still a lot of unfortunate sexual tension between Luke & Leia at this point in the Star Wars universe. Good read for people like me, who really never cared past the first 3 movies.

 

[Turin]

Finally almost done. About 100 pages left in Citadel.

Looking forward to re-reading it one day. It's like doing a puzzle.

 

[Osprey]

Osprey, thanks for mentioning this. Based on your post I picked up a used copy off eBay.
I'm not really into expanded universe, but this is unique because it feels like original trilogy.
I still have about 50 pages left, but you're correct.. there was still a lot of unfortunate sexual tension between Luke & Leia at this point in the Star Wars universe. Good read for people like me, who really never cared past the first 3 movies.

Nice. I'm on the last chapter, so not much further ahead than you. I like to do my reading outside and bad weather slows down my progress.

I wasn't really into the expanded universe a year ago, either. Then, I read Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy last Summer and really enjoyed it. He wrote it in the early 90s, so it still feels like the original trilogy. I recommend it if you want more like this (but less awkward and more character true). My short review is here.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Nice. I'm on the last chapter, so not much further ahead than you. I like to do my reading outside and bad weather slows down my progress.

I wasn't really into the expanded universe a year ago, either. Then, I read Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy last Summer and really enjoyed it. He wrote it in the early 90s, so they still feel like the original trilogy. I recommend it if you want more like this (but less awkward and more character true). My short review is here.

Don't know how you felt, but.. the planet Luke & Leia crash on.. sounds a helluva lot like Degobah. The thick fog, the sinking mud, etc. Since this was written in between Star Wars & Empire, I wonder if Lucas was influenced by Splinter's setting? Or if Foster knew Lucas wanted to utilize a foggy swamp in his imminent sequel, so adapted that desire to this book (?)

 

[Osprey]

Don't know how you felt, but.. the planet Luke & Leia crash on.. sounds a helluva lot like Degobah. The thick fog, the sinking mud, etc. Since this was written in between Star Wars & Empire, I wonder if Lucas was influenced by Splinter's setting? Or if Foster knew Lucas wanted to utilize a foggy swamp in his imminent sequel, so adapted that desire to this book (?)

Yeah, I made the same connection and wondered the same things. I read that Lucas commissioned the novel to be the basis for a low-budget sequel to Star Wars in the event that the movie was only just a minor success. That's apparently why Han Solo isn't in it, because Harrison Ford wasn't under contract for any follow-up films. So, Lucas might've thought about having a swampy planet in the sequel and given the idea to Foster, or Foster possibly gave the idea to Lucas. There have been a few other things that have stood out to me, as well. For example, there's a point where Luke lifts a cannonball-sized rock with only the Force, just as he does in his training with Yoda in ESB. The idea that the Force could be used to lift objects wasn't established in the first movie, so did Foster come up with it or did Lucas give him the idea for it? I'm enjoying spotting and thinking about things like that that may've influenced or foreshadowed things to come in the film trilogy.

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

I'm not sure exactly how to summarize this book. Start with the obvious, I guess -- yes, Keanu Reeves did write a novel. Or rather co-wrote it with China Mieville, a guy who IMO could stake a claim to being the most creative writer alive today. The book is to my understanding part of a broader Keanu-made extended universe based around an 80,000-year old immortal named Unute, capable of dying but always resurrected afterwards, formed when his mother was impregnated by a bolt of lightning. The book is written in two narratives, the first a continuous sci-fi story of US special ops researching why Unute has his powers and how to recreate them. The second narrative is non-linear and includes different perspectives from people through history who encountered Unute, some of whom were killed brutally by him. I enjoyed the second narrative(s) more than the primary storyline, possibly because it seems like Keanu wrote the sci-fi story while Mieville wrote the historical parts. It is most interesting in touching on the ideas of why immortality would be a curse, and less interesting in trying to parse out what could make an immortal come into being (a god, entropy, a lost civilization's power). It is above all a very unorthodox book, one that I'm not quite sure lives up to its potential, but has a lot to offer by way of prose and philosophy.

 

[Neil Racki]

^^^ Was interested in that

Rules of Attraction - kinda f***ing sucked ... pushed through the last 100 pages or so .. really disappointed

Brave New World - next one up