Anybody read a good book lately?

mussa · February 20, 2007, 04:32:31 PM

I have not read anything by the genius of McCarthy, that will be my next book for sure.

And your right, King is a great storyteller. I wasn't saying he a master of literature or anything, I just meant to say he's the best at what he writes and that the Gunslinger series is his master.

mussa · February 20, 2007, 04:34:32 PM

Quote from: rjs246 on February 20, 2007, 04:03:26 PM
My problem with Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susanna and The Dark Tower was that King inserted himself into the story as a god figure. Which was unnecessary and ridiculously self-absorbed and took him WAY too far outside of the world he had created with the other characters.

I actually like the way he ended the story and The Dark Tower was better than the other two I just mentioned, but none of them can even come close to the first five books.

Okay, I see what your saying. Yea that was def. self absorbed, but he could of written jesus in himself and i would of still been glued to every word.

PoopyfaceMcGee · February 20, 2007, 04:42:37 PM

PET SEMATARY 2 was the greatest literary work ever.

rjs246 · February 20, 2007, 04:44:38 PM

Nuh uh.

mussa · February 20, 2007, 04:46:07 PM

Quote from: FFatPatt on February 20, 2007, 04:42:37 PM
PET SEMATARY 2 was the greatest literary work ever.

Too bad it was never a book and only a movie. douche. FOLFTKCP;QChopter...

PoopyfaceMcGee · February 20, 2007, 04:55:18 PM

Screenplays are literary works.

It was robbed come Oscar time.

phattymatty · February 22, 2007, 12:40:27 AM

Quote from: phattymatty on February 20, 2007, 01:18:58 PM
Started reading No Country for Old Men the other day.

Finished this book and it's pretty good. Not ready to anoint him the best writer of our generation but he does a really good job of mixing good ol' violence and action with relevant social commentary. the ending was not what i expected, and i'm not yet sure if it made it better or if it was a letdown. this might be one that i'll have to read again in a year or so. but i'll definitely be reading some more of his stuff.

mussa · February 22, 2007, 11:50:29 AM

I'm more than half-way through WWZ on two nights reading. I'll be done by nxt week, prob. Awesome so far.

rjs246 · February 22, 2007, 11:57:52 AM

Are you having dreams about it yet? Every night from the time I started until I finished I dreamt about the Zombie world war.

mussa · February 22, 2007, 12:21:24 PM

ya know i haven't noticed, yet. i know when i read the dark tower series, i would get crazy dreams.

Diomedes · February 22, 2007, 12:30:34 PM

Quote from: phattymatty on February 22, 2007, 12:40:27 AM
Quote from: phattymatty on February 20, 2007, 01:18:58 PM
Started reading No Country for Old Men the other day.
Finished this book and it's pretty good. Not ready to anoint him the best writer of our generation but he does a really good job of mixing good ol' violence and action with relevant social commentary. the ending was not what i expected, and i'm not yet sure if it made it better or if it was a letdown. this might be one that i'll have to read again in a year or so. but i'll definitely be reading some more of his stuff.

I have not read No Country for Old Men, but I have read The Road, The Crossing, All the Pretty Horses, Cities of the Plain, (which comprise the Border Trilogy) and Blood Meridian. Of these, the latter is his best.

One thing I've never associated with McCarthy is social commentary. And certainly not topical social commentary. Insofar as he writes about men in the world, and considers his nature, I guess you could call that social commentary...

rjs246 · February 22, 2007, 12:37:15 PM

It isn't John Stewart, up-to-the-second, pop social commentary, but I definitely see what phatty is saying.

You could call it 'considering the nature of things' or anything else, but in a broader sense it is certainly social commentary.

phattymatty · February 22, 2007, 12:38:10 PM

the whole underlying theme is how some people are just inherently evil and some are good. about how theres a whole generation of new people that are so different from how things used to be.

PoopyfaceMcGee · March 22, 2007, 09:47:52 AM

So, I had to take a long break from "Life of Pi" while I was studying for an exam. I started from the beginning a couple of weeks ago and polished it off yesterday. It's a hell of a story and one I'd recommend to anyone. I'm just glad it wasn't around when I was in high school, because I'm sure it's overanalyzed to shtein. You have to be able to appreciate it from all angles without being too certain of any specific symbolism or any specific truth.

Solid 4.5/5. I took .5 off for having "questions" at the end designed for discussion. Haha.

NGM · March 22, 2007, 05:34:39 PM

Just finished World War Z by Max Brooks on RJS's recommendation. I have to say I was really surprised at how good this book was. I went in expecting to be entertained certainly, but there were moments in the book that I thought were brilliant. For anyone who is in to any sort of fiction I suggest you read this book.

Up next, Blood Meridian by Corman McCarthy. Recommended by RJS and Dio.