What book are you currently reading?

[Laetca]

Bought Aristotle's Poetica and a book with a collection of plays by Euripides, Aeschylos, Sophocles, Aristofanes and some other guy. Because I had to. Why there's no proper second hand market for books that are used in a class year after year after year has always been a mystery to me. Now I spent almost 1000 old Belgian Francs on two books I probably will never touch once I pass the exam. Pure waste.

I'll let everyone know if they're any good. I'll do the same with the other five or six plays I should be reading now XD

 

[shtove]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Sir. Speedy @ Jan 7 2010, 07:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

What did you think of it, shtove?

I can't get my head around the book at all. It's an easy read, but Mr. Meursault is very strange...

Though you say you only remember that one bit. Nevermind then.[/b]

I remember where Meursault insults people in the hallway - salaud, charogne.

Camus used to be a goalkeeper, so I guess his take on life is like a French team turning up for the big match on a rainy day and shrugging their shoulders. Tant pis. I read more of Camus - La Chute and the essay on suicide - but none of it stuck. Pfff! Although I still smoke.

Beckett fails at the 'life has no meaning' stuff better: Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.

 

[shtove]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Laetca @ Jan 7 2010, 07:26 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Bought Aristotle's Poetica and a book with a collection of plays by Euripides, Aeschylos, Sophocles, Aristofanes and some other guy. Because I had to. Why there's no proper second hand market for books that are used in a class year after year after year has always been a mystery to me. Now I spent almost 1000 old Belgian Francs on two books I probably will never touch once I pass the exam. Pure waste.[/b]

Try ebay? The texts don't change, so should be plenty of old copies out there in all languages.

School books are a complete scam - the syllabus is tweaked every year on the recommendation of teachers who take back handers from the publishers and distributors, who are often former teachers and education policy makers. Money for old rope.

Anyway, they're classics - you should read them all the time!

 

[RC]

The bookstore where i worked at closed down a couple of weeks ago so i bought (and i'm not overexaggerating with this number) about 30-40 books for a price of about £10. You get some privelages.
I bought Holby's newest novel, Copelands most recent, i got shed loads of Stephen Baxter, Stephen King, tons of manga, casanova's biography, arthur c. clarke, a few random sci fi and horrors, indulged in phillip k. dick's collection, and Nobokov's selection.
I have so many books right now.
Given the rate that i read it should last me just over a year.
Starting with the Celestine Prophecy which i commenced a few days ago.
Can't wait.

 

[shtove]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RC @ Jan 7 2010, 10:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

The bookstore where i worked at closed down a couple of weeks ago so i bought (and i'm not overexaggerating with this number) about 30-40 books for a price of about £10. You get some privelages.[/b]

Why didn't you just nick them?

 

[RC]

Haha!
I was out of a job, i didn't want to have a criminal record to go with my unemployment thanks.
As much as i'd like to think i could steal from a big corporate company, i've had the threat of authority drilled into my head from a youngster - i don't think i could do it.

 

[Laetca]

Or you're simply an honest person and you don't steal?

So much is true about school books, I've had to buy new syllabuses for classes I was repeating simply because of all the little changes. Of course I could just copy those from someone who bought the new version but then I lose more on copying cards then if I buy the book.

Might put some of the books I'll never ever read again (like Traumnovelle, a.k.a. the book Eyes Wide Shut is based on, and now that I come to think of it, the majority of my German literature books, especially the modern ones. And bloody Faulkner, he might very well be a classic, I didn't enjoy reading that thing.) on eBay, free some space for new acquisitions.

I have books by some of the authors RC's mentions in a stack on one of the bookshelves, have yet to read them. Got them when I helped a friend clear out the study after her father died, she urged me to take any books I might be interested in since all the others would probably end up in the trash.

 

[feicarsinn]

Moving ontoday to "Islamic Imperialism" by Efraim Karsh. Apparently it gives a completely different perspective on the Islamic empires, ranging from the first Saracen conquests in the 7th and 8th centuries up to the Ottoman Empire, than many Western texts.

 

[Laetca]

Won't there always be a difference depending on the source?

 

[feicarsinn]

Well yes, but the funny thing is alot of the sources used are Western. Well I haven't started it yet so we'll see how it goes.

 

[roksport]

A Song of Ice and Fire - A Feast for Crows.

Re-reading -
The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfus. (favorite book)

 

[RC]

The Mist - Stephen King

Casanova: Actor, lover, spy, priest.

 

[cyRil]

http://www.rrr.org.au/assets/dissolution-by-c.j-sansom.jpg

Murder-mystery thriller, set in Tudor England. This is the first of 4; the series has been highly praised. Good read so far!!

 

[lucky_number_7]

at the moment i am trying to find book 7 of robert jordans the wheel of time was halfway through then lost it somewhere...

but id read anything by mitch alblom , and bernard cornwells newer stuff the warlord chronicles being by far the series ive enjoyed reading the most

and of course birdsong by sebastien faulks its just utter genius

 

[shtove]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (lucky_number_7 @ Feb 14 2010, 01:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

and of course birdsong by sebastien faulks its just utter genius[/b]

I'm stuck trying to finish that. Writing is vivid, but it's mostly about men digging about in the dirt. The "years gone by" romance doesn't interest me.

Reading Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I picked this up because I was told it had a better feel than Orwell's 1984 for government manipulation. He's not a great storyteller. Finding it hard to finish - again.

 

[feicarsinn]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (shtove @ Feb 21 2010, 01:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (lucky_number_7 @ Feb 14 2010, 01:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

and of course birdsong by sebastien faulks its just utter genius[/b]

I'm stuck trying to finish that. Writing is vivid, but it's mostly about men digging about in the dirt. The "years gone by" romance doesn't interest me.

Reading Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I picked this up because I was told it had a better feel than Orwell's 1984 for government manipulation. He's not a great storyteller. Finding it hard to finish - again.
[/b][/quote]

Great book that one. Not as good as 1984, but has an element of pantomine throughout which makes it quite enjoyable. The only trouble is you can kind of see where it's going from a good distance off.

I haven't had all that much time to read as of late what with the mocks starting on monday (damn integration, bain of my existance). Had a look at "Lepanto" by G.K. Chesterson the other day. It's a beautiful poem lyrically, really demonstateds the beauty that the English language can sometimes reach. Planning to have a look at the Parkinson autobigraphy over the next few weeks which should be fun.

 

[Charles]

Reading Grapes of Wrath now...The English these people are using is insane...

 

[Laetca]

After making fun of all the hopeless Twilight fans I decided to put the scepticism aside and find out what all the commotion was all about.

And I got sucked in.

It's not high literature, but being the hopeless romantic that I am, I'm loving it! Since the write explicitly mentions her inspiration in the story it's easy to see where she gets it, but I can understand why so many people/women are taken.
Still don't get the whole 'Edward/Rob Pattinson' thing though, watched both films so far.

Started reading Thursday, started the fourth this afternoon.

I wouldn't recommend it here though

 

[Olyy]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Laetca @ Feb 22 2010, 06:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

After making fun of all the hopeless Twilight fans I decided to put the scepticism aside and find out what all the commotion was all about.

And I got sucked in.

It's not high literature, but being the hopeless romantic that I am, I'm loving it! Since the write explicitly mentions her inspiration in the story it's easy to see where she gets it, but I can understand why so many people/women are taken.
Still don't get the whole 'Edward/Rob Pattinson' thing though, watched both films so far.

Started reading Thursday, started the fourth this afternoon.

I wouldn't recommend it here though [/b]

My girlfriend did exactly the same thing,
Hated the idea of it, read the first one just to confirm her suspicions and it sucked her in. She's now a huge fan

 

[RC]

I did the same.
Film was **** and i bashed it left right and centre, then i thought to myself, "How many films out there are ****, when the books are amazing?!" so my ex in Cali gave me Twilight and i happily put the book down about 100 pages in.
Bored out of my mind with the shite.
It's still on my bookshelf...gathering dust.