What's The Last Book You Read?

[Bespin 8,480]

Currently reading this at the recommendation of my phychologist (but in french):

 

https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/fr-ca/livres/well-stressed-manage-stress-before/9781443430272-article.html

[Maglorfin 196]

I realize I'm really late with this one but recently, I have finally read The Girl on the Train. With all the hype surrounding this book, I was expecting a lot but ended up more or less disappointed. This one starts out slow and keeps moving even slower so I found it difficult to keep persuading myself to finish the book. The ending was equally unimpressive. I still haven't read Gone Girl (to which this one is apparently compared all the time) so I'm curious to see how it compares to this lukewarm effort.

 

I'm not sure if this is the right topic but if it ain't against the rules, I would like to point anybody interested - @Bespin, perhaps?  - to an extremely interesting book. It's actually a first-person account about burnout, anxiety, panic attacks and the like. It was a HUGE bestseller in Slovenia (still is, actually) so the author decided to have it translated and publish it on Amazon (currently, as an e-book only). (I actually had the honor of translating the book into English.) In addition to two or three other books, On Anxiety helped me immensely with my own burn-out ordeal two years ago and I'm sure it could appeal to many other people as these problems have turned into a kind of pandemic these last years.  Anyway, it's available here if anybody would be interested.

[Bespin 8,480]

Unfortunately, I usually read books only in french. But thanks for the recommendation!

[Nick1Ø66 4,710]

On 7/28/2018 at 1:27 PM, Bilbo said:

I finished listening to Ian Kershaw’s Hitler last night. Amazing book. It was about 46 hours long or something crazy like that but a fascinating insight into one of the most evil men in history. It’s almost a study in how a modern sophisticated society can be sucked into damnation by one man. 

 

It’d make you worried about Trump if he wasn’t a total fucking idiot. 

 

Damian Lynch was the narrator and he was excellent.

 

Did you read both volumes, or the one volume edition?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

It must be a rite-of-passage for every US President to receive the Hitler comparisons.

[Nick1Ø66 4,710]

Just the Republican ones.  That started with Nixon.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I do recall Obama getting the Hitler treatment too. Yep.

[Nick1Ø66 4,710]

Yeah I suppose so. All such comparisons are bunk, IMO.

[SteveMc 2,674]

Both sides throw the argument at each other.  Ignorance, mostly.  But ignorance can be dangerous.

[Bilbo 3,709]

1 hour ago, Nick1066 said:

 

Did you read both volumes, or the one volume edition?

 

It was an audio book of both volumes combined 

[Nick1Ø66 4,710]

On 8/1/2018 at 10:47 PM, Bilbo said:

 

It was an audio book of both volumes combined 

 

Ah. A work of endurance then. But an entertaining one to be sure.

 

Kershaw’s is certainly an authoritative work, no one can question that. But I’m sort of partial to the “great man” view of history, and Kershaw more ascribes Hitler’s rise to long term cultural forces and trends. Certainly there’s a lot of truth to the latter, but I don’t think that alone fully accounts for Hitler’s rise. In short, I don’t think the rise of fascism in Germany was inevitable…I think a lot of it had to do specifically with Hitler and his personality. Kershaw sort of dismisses Hitler as kind of lucky, hapless dolt. Anyway, I found the book a little dry to be honest.

 

If you’re interested (and haven’t read it already), for a more recent biography I can highly recommend German historian Volker Ulrich’s Hitler: Ascent, Volume I of his two volume treatment (Vol II is upcoming). It’s fantastic.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

1 minute ago, Nick1066 said:

But I’m sort of partial to the “great man” view of history

 

Mr. Ollivander, is that you?

[Nick1Ø66 4,710]

Yes.

 

And I'm afraid you really don't stand a chance.

[Bilbo 3,709]

On 8/2/2018 at 5:43 PM, Nick1066 said:

 

Ah. A work of endurance then. But an entraining one to be sure.

 

Kershaw’s is certainly an authoritative work, no one can question that. But I’m sort of partial to the “great man” view of history, and Kershaw more ascribes Hitler’s rise to long term cultural forces and trends. Certainly there’s a lot of truth to the latter, but I don’t think that alone fully accounts for Hitler’s rise. In short, I don’t think the rise of fascism in Germany was inevitable…I think a lot of it had to do specifically with Hitler and his personality. Kershaw sort of dismisses Hitler as kind of lucky, hapless dolt. Anyway, I found the book a little dry to be honest.

 

If you’re interested (and haven’t read it already), for a more recent biography I can highly recommend German historian Volker Ulrich’s Hitler: Ascent, Volume I of his two volume treatment (Vol II is upcoming). It’s fantastic.

 

I get what you mean. There’s a bit of hand ringing when it comes to Hitler but his sheer force of personality can’t be doubted. The Nazis would never have come to power without him. 

 

Germany could just have easily gone Commie after WWI if things had played out differently. 

 

Will keep that book in mind, thanks!

[pete 907]

I'm currently working my way through Sleeping Beauties, a recent collaboration between Stephen King and his son Owen. I also keep a reading diary - nothing too detailed - just I like keeping track of books I've read. Recently, I've been reading about 60 books a year, and I like noting simple things like start and finish dates. I'm anal like that. Here's the past few months:
http://peterdaley.net/home/2018-reading-2/

[ryanedson 0]

“The Nixon Defense” by John Dean. 

"Origin" by Dan Brown.

"Naomi Leon" by Pam Muñoz Ryan

[Naïve Old Fart 9,513]

On 8/1/2018 at 9:22 PM, Steve McQueen said:

Both sides throw the argument at each other.  Ignorance, mostly.  But ignorance can be dangerous.

Don't you know? Ignorance is strength.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

On 7/22/2018 at 4:12 PM, Not Mr. Big said:

I recently read The Master of Doom, which is about the creators of the hit video game "Doom".  I generally don't give a shit about video games/video game culture but this was a really enjoyable read for the "building a business from the ground up" aspect. 

The games industry is fascinating economically. If you want more of this type of narrative, I’d recommend Console Wars. 

[Loert 2,511]

"Notes from Underground" by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

 

This is about a man who thinks he's smarter than everybody else around him, who stays in his corner in his underground and overthinks everything. He feels immeasurable resentment towards the world and his innability to fit into society, yet does nothing to help himself. He antagonizes everyone around him, then begs for forgiveness the day afterwards, then goes back to antagonizing the day after. The catch, however, is that he doesn't believe that anything really matters. It doesn't matter whether people like him or dislike him, whether he likes or dislikes them in return. It doesn't matter how he feels. Fundamentally, nothing matters, and people who believe in notions such as justice and revenge, and strive towards them, are simply stupid, naive, and not as enlightened as the narrator, who sees through everything for what they really are - mere nothings. 

 

Despite it being a novella, I found it to be an exhausting and frustrating read, primarily because of how paradoxical the Underground Man's actions and thoughts are, and how, for all his exultations of higher intelligence and understanding, he is simply incapable of getting along with others and not letting his ego get in the way. But it is also uncomforting when you read something which you relate to, or have believed in yourself; in that sense, "Notes from Underground" performs as a mirror to your own "Underground".

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Sounds very relatable.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The Children of Húrin (J.R.R Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien. Read by Christopher Lee)

 

The most tragic tale of The Silmarillion, in longer form. In essence the life of Túrin, son of Húrin as he attempts to forge his life in defiance of a curse laid upon his family by Morgoth, the first Dark Lord.

 

A worthy and very important addition to the posthumous Tolkien releases. This mostly depressing story has many points of interest not mentioned in The Silmarillion. In particular the childhood of Túrin, his life in Doriath and the circumstances of his self-imposed exile.

 

Túrin comes across as a character trying to do what he believes in right and just, but who is ever thwarted not only by the curse upon his family, but also his own mood and temper. So that its not always clear when something goes awry if its the workings of Morgoth, or his own flaws.

 

Christopher Lee, as might be expected, does an excellent job reading Tolkien's prose. With the exception of when he's doing voices. In which  results occasionally misfire. I'm also not sure he entirely "got" the character or Túrin.

 

A very worthwhile, if depressing read.

 

 

 

 

 

[Pellaeon 593]

You might be interested to read the poetic version, The Lay of the Children of Húrin, which is also is doom-laden but is written with such relish and verve that it still has an overall heroic feel. It also goes into a lot more detail in the middle section, namely the death of Beleg, Túrin in Nargothrond, and the fall of Nargothrond. This section is bare in the prose version (typical of Tolkien… he tended not to complete stories he had already written in detail in another format).

 

If you like the style of the prose CoH, other writings you should check out include Of Tuor and His Coming to Gondolin (see ‘The Last Version’ in the recent publication—this takes place after chapter 12 of CoH) and The Wanderings of Húrin (Húrin goes to Doriath after Túrin’s death).

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I will await The Fall Of Gondolin!

[Pellaeon 593]

Nice! I’ve ordered the Deluxe version. Can’t wait to have it in my hands.

 

 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Looks good.

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

33 minutes ago, Pellaeon said:

Nice! I’ve ordered the Deluxe version. Can’t wait to have it in my hands.

 

 

I always like these sorts of sets, especially Tolkien's Middle Earth writings. The art and design are a masterpiece on their own, and the literature is nothing short of spectacular.

[Pellaeon 593]

Yeah. Tolkien is obviously not underrated as a writer of English fictional prose and poetry and as a scholar and an essayist and an inventor of languages, but he was absolutely a master as an all-around aesthete, too. His maps and paintings and sketches and jacket designs are something special. Pair that with quality binding, and you have quite the physical prize. I have been slowly collecting quality hardcovers from the 60s-90s (the 30s-50s editions are more or less out of my reach), and they’re all very, very nice.

 

Too bad he never tried his hand at musical composition, really. Though there is a recording of him singing “The Stone Troll” to an old English folk tune; and the vocal line of “Namárië” from The Road Goes Ever On (song cycle by Donald Swann) is by all accounts more or less Tolkien’s own musical idea.

Oh, and this!

 

 

 

 

 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The long Elvish songs he wrote for LOTR are rather lovely actually.

 

Such a cunning linguist.

[Holko 9,516]

J.W. Rinzler's Making of Star Wars (Enhanced Edition)

 

Detailed, informative and entertaining, covers most aspects of production to some degree. Loved it. A most admirable part of it is how it contains virtually no padding usual in documentaries ("little did he know how important his movie would turn out to be" or introducing new actors and crew members by immediately listing all their accolades they gathered since), instead we're going along the ride with the crew and know how they felt and progressed at the moment, "not knowing" how it's all going to turn out, based on vintage interviews. Only the closing few pages lists where some more prominent people went since. 

The added video and audio segments were nice, but ultimately inconsequential. Small extras, nothing more. 

 

I'd love to progress to Empire and Jedi, but Google Play Books asks an outrageously assinine price for them, and the Kindle app not only doesn't let me access the extra content because fuck me for using an Android tablet, but the bastard taunts me by showing the player and saying "This content is not available on your device, fuckface, suck our corporate dicks". I may have to put up with it, though, since they aren't that big of a deal (except things like the rough cut of the Rancor sequence... How many more items of this magnitude do they contain?). (Also, I won't have 4K80 and 4K83 to supplement them for a while ).

[Holko 9,516]

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

 

I always wanted to find out more about the proper old stories of Odin, Thor and Loki outside of the MCU, but I wouldn't have the patience to seek out and read the Poetic or Prose Edda, and random Wiki articles are too soulless for that sort of thing - this is perfect for me.

Many reviews state this, including one on the front cover, and I can only restate it: Gaiman here assumes a storyteller's role. It isn't a collection of clippings, nor complete rewrites - We're sitting in a mead hall while it's chilly outside, we're half tipsy, and Gaiman steps up to retell the old tale of how good and bad poetry were born (one of the most delightfully weird ideas in mythology that I'e ever come across, by the way). Sometimes, when the story and the audience's mood calls for it, the tone is more like a children's story (The Treasures of the Gods), sometimes more weighty and longing (The Story of Gerd and Frey), sometimes quite dark (The Last Days of Loki, Ragnarök), while always hinting little nuggets of what the rainbow or the earthquake is, why salmons have thin fins, or how nets were invented.

The characters are a bit different from what I'd imagined based on my very limited knowledge of these old roots - Odin is an immoral dick, Thor is immeasurably powerful but quite dumb, and Loki starts off just doing little pranks and mischiefs, fixing which causes him the most misfortune since he hadn't thought too much forward (getting his mouth sewn shut, that business with the horse...).

 

Overall I wouldn't say it's anything great, but quite a fun, relatively breezy read and a great introduction. Got exactly what I expected.

I have greater hopes for Stephen Fry's Mythos I bought this alongside.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Reading the great Stephen King. Elevation. 

[pete 907]

1 hour ago, JoeinAR said:

Reading the great Stephen King. Elevation. 

 

I just read, and really enjoyed it. Then I read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. I wish I had read it not knowing anything about it, but if I had known nothing about it, I would never have read it. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Jerusalem by Alan Moore

 

The audiobook, listened to over quite a large number of weeks, read with absolute precision and skill by Simon Vance, who won an award for it.

If you like Alan Moore, his persona, his politics, his writing style and the stuff he generally seems to be interested in, then this might be worth your time. 

But stay away if you don't feel like spending over 1200 pages being told about Northampton and why it's always been a poverty stricken place by an anarcho-socialist drug user who has a hell of a lot to tell about the subject, and many other subject that he feels are important to know.

 

This should be, completely insufferable really. I'm sure many would consider it a work of an ego-maniac, and scoff at it, never start it or quickly abandon it.

 

Those who finish it, and managed to take away something from it, which I certainly did, will find it worthwhile, and will preach it's brilliance, and will constantly recommend it to other people like fans of The Wire always seem to do.

 

I know I will!

 

Also, if you're not much of a comic book reader, by reading this epic tome you can now look down on people who claim Alan Moore is the best thing ever because they love Watchmen and V For Vendetta!

 

 

 

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,513]

On 9/13/2018 at 5:16 PM, Stefancos said:

The long Elvish songs he wrote for LOTR are rather lovely actually.

 

Such a cunning linguist.

Don't ask.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

[Bespin 8,480]

Two days ago I read a delivery menu, does it count?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No.

[Bespin 8,480]

Well, sorry, I wait for something as good as Harry Potter.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

That's your benchmark for great literature?

[Bespin 8,480]

30 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

That's your benchmark for great literature?

 

I have read Diana Gabaldon too.

 

[Bilbo 3,709]

Normal People by Sally Rooney.

 

its about two people who grow up together in rural Ireland and then go to university in Dublin and their complex relationship with each other. It’s set during the last recession so it’s basically about people like me living in the same time  as me and experience significant life events around the time I experienced the same things. It was brilliant but painfully real.

 

 

[Faleel 5,345]

On 1/14/2019 at 3:38 AM, Bilbo said:

Normal People by Sally Rooney.

 

its basically about people like me.

Does not compute...

[Loert 2,511]

Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning

 

It's about a group of 500 police officers from Nazi Germany belonging to Reserve Police Battalion 101 who, during the Holocaust period, were tasked with the killing and deportation of thousands of Jews in eastern Poland. These were mostly middle-aged, working class men from Hamburg, who were raised before the Nazis came into power and who, to put it simply, did not know what they were getting themselves into, and mostly had no active interest in the elimination of the Jewish population. And yet, despite this, and despite being under no total obligation to carry out the killings (i.e. they could opt out if they wanted to without punishment), the battalion as a whole murdered a minimum of 38,000 Jews between 1942/43, where at least 90% of the men carried out at least one killing.

 

This is my second time reading this book and it is perhaps the most devastating book I've read. It is deeply troubling to think how prone human beings are to fall into conformity, even when faced with the liquidation of all the Jews in a town ghetto, as in their first massacre at Jozefow where they murdered at least 1,500 Jews. It is very easy for us in the 21st century to treat the Nazi perpetrators as some "other" and to imagine that if we found ourselves in the same situation, we would be the white knights who were hiding the Jews and would know better. But the thesis of the book is that the vast majority of these police officers were not bloodthirsty killing machines who honestly believed in what they were doing, but ordinary men who were carrying orders - some of whom were previously involved in the Hamburg met police force, some who had ended up there because it was their alternative to being conscripted to the army - and what Nazi propaganda they had received during their training was actually quite inconsequential to their actions (as Browning argues at least, in the concluding chapter), and that at any rate it was not enough to turn them into killers.

 

Overall, I see this book as essentially a long, difficult look in the mirror, because, as the final sentence reads: "If the men of Reserve Police Battalion 101 could become killers under such circumstances, what group of men cannot?"

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Just a line up of my favourite books...

[Bespin 8,480]

Currently reading the Authorized bio of Roy Orbison.

 

Nice big book with beautiful never seen before pics.
 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,513]

Is it too soon for my GREAT EXPECTATIONS joke? 

[Bespin 8,480]

Huh?

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I have to wait 6 months till The Institute. Perhap my most anticipated Stephen King book in quite some time

 

[Holko 9,516]

MAUS, the graphic novel

 

Third read and it's just now dawned on me how meta this book is. On first read you say the main narrative of Vladek teling his son of his Holocaust experiences is a good, if not terribly original story with a neat (though seemingly just attention-grabbing) gimmick, on second read you begin to notice how the metanarrative of the son interviewing his father and going shopping and stuff deepens his character and presents him how he's become, on third read all the layers unfolded and I concluded that it's basically a complex study on how utterly impossible it it to honestly and fully represent a person, his life, experiences and personality.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,513]

STONER, by John Williams (not that John Williams).

It's good, but, geez, his wife was a bitch.