May '08 What are you reading?

[GoodKingJayIII]

Your taste in books seems very similar to mine. What did you think of "The Road"? Did you know it will be released as a movie later this year?

I like it. It's very sad and bleak, but McCarthy is a fantastic writer and has wonderful things to say. If you like his other books it's worth reading.

 

[Starman]

Your taste in books seems very similar to mine. What did you think of "The Road"? Did you know it will be released as a movie later this year?

I did hear about the film. I'm curious to see how it will turn out. I think Viggo is perfect for the role of the father.

As for the book, I loved it up until the end.

[sblock=Spoilers!]The son being taken in by that family almost felt like a cop-out. It just didn't seem to fit the tone of the rest of the book which was bleak beyond belief. Even if McCarthy was making a statement about faith - and the boy was certainly symbolic of something greater - it just felt too pat. If it had been more ambiguous, I would have liked the ending more. As it is, I really enjoyed the book and I don't hate the ending. I just felt let down by it. I'd still recommend it to people, though.[/sblock]

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

The Robert Fagles translation of the Illiad, Odyssey and Aeneid. I may not read them through, though studying them will occupy me for the next few weeks.

 

[Starman]

The Robert Fagles translation of the Illiad, Odyssey and Aeneid. I may not read them through, though studying them will occupy me for the next few weeks.

I really enjoyed his version of the Iliad. I keep meaning to get around to the Odyssey one of these days.

 

[Richards]

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Horrorshow, my little droogie!

I'm reading The Mammoth by John Varley. The premise: a billionaire looking to clone a mammoth finds a nearly perfectly preserved specimen frozen solid in the Arctic ice. Huddled next to it is a 12,000-year-old human figure. And...the guy's wearing a wristwatch.

I'm about a third of the way in, and it's been really good, but then I expected no less of John Varley.

Johnathan

 

[Richards]

Aren't there eleven books in Burrough's Barsoom series?

There are, but I recommend giving the last one (John Carter of Mars) a pass. It was written by Burroughs' son, and it's pretty crappy through and through. He changes the writing to third person, messes up descriptions of ulsios, and removes John from Barsoom altogether. I consider that book to be mere fanfic, and poor fanfic at that.

Johnathan

 

[Mark]

Horrorshow, my little droogie!

Very sammy, my only brother.

 

[sckeener]

I'm probably going to go insane...but I'm reading the King in Yellow