[Book Chat] "What's Everyone Reading" Thread

[M]

Nothing like the book other than it's about a war with bugs (some might consider this splitting hairs, i do not)
The movie wasn't even connected with the book until someone told the producers that there was this cool book with the same premise (again, space bug war). The rights were quickly snapped up

[teachu2die]

the movie and the book have a lot of surface similarities (same characters, roughly similar events), but the tone and messages are WILDLY different.
verhoeven couldnt' even finish the book, apparently, which he found 'depressing'.
the book is pretty much heinlein spouting off about civic duties and how children should be spanked. it's very earnest, quasi-fascist, and very very pro-military. it's so absurd almost seems tongue-in-cheek at times, but it most certainly is not. (and i loved the book, btw)
the movie is typical verhoeven - overblown, high-production values, 2-dimensional characters (well, i guess the book's characters werent' very complicated either), all with that sort of wry ambivalence towards mechanisms of control and societal machinations....verhoeven's adaptation is really a very subtle parody of the book...
(i prefer verhoeven's take on it, personally)

[Kishmo]

I always liked the movie. In my opinion, it's one of the best takes on a winning formula - "mankind vs. something completely not mankind." In any kind of human v. human conflict, there's always going to be, on at least some level, a dehumanizing of the 'enemy,' and as such an intrinsic level of disgust in the viewers. But when you have humans fighting not-humans, you can work around that "war is hell" mentality. I've always thought it's a very elegant way of getting around a moral block in one of Hollywood's stock situations.
Right up there with Aliens

[Scosglen]

I'm not much of a reader myself but I'm reading World War Z right now and it's one of the neatest books I've ever picked up.

If you haven't heard of it, it's a fictional future-history about what would happen if an honest to goodness zombie outbreak happened in the near future. The book is organized into dozens of vignettes as told by various survivors whom the narrator is "interviewing" to collect the human side of the zombie war. The character breadth spans from intelligence agents trying to figure out if rumors of some kind of "uber rabies" are real, down to regular citizens telling stories of survival when zombies bust into the neighborhood. (Though my personal favorites are the ones from the military, for obvious reasons :P)

Overall excellent book if hypothetical world-wide zombie war tickles your fancy.

[Michael]

I just finished WWZ like, a week ago. Good book, I'm impressed by the level of detail with which the author explored the zombie scenario. Some of it did seem a little American Pride, though.

[M2tM]

I've been reading the Temeraire series, I just finished the latest of the 3 published books so far. A fourth on the way... Peter Jackon bought the rights to make a movie about it.

It's awesome... The author has this to say about the most important thing about the books:

"I think the core of the books to me is Laurence and Temeraire and that friendship. Their bond. If you lose that, you lose something really key in the books."

Temeraire is a dragon. Of course it's awesome.

[needOptic]

I read the entirety of "Stranger in a Strange Land" and I'm fairly certain it's one of the shittiest books I've ever read.

:x Really? Care to explain? I thought that was one of the most thought provoking books I've read.


I guess I'm a little biased to RH work because most of his stuff carries a political and social message.

His Starship troopers book is, while very interesting, basically a rant of his about social responsibility and the military and I enjoyed it for what it is. The science fiction background is just a stage for him to express his views. Many criticize him for that book, and I personally feel some aspects of it could have been developed more. Like the main character, for example.

[CheerfulBear]

Sex, sex, okay, free sex for everyone, women are inferior, but wait, no, they're equal but only when it comes to sex. The moslem's name is Stinky. Some more sex, okay some ridiculous philosophy and stupid science fiction bollocks, okay some nonsensical religious ramblings, more sex.

I'm not even that politically correct, but some of the stuff in that book is just fucking absurd. I don't remember all my specific complaints with the book, probably because I thought they were stupid enough that I didn't need to remember them.

[teachu2die]

I read the entirety of "Stranger in a Strange Land" and I'm fairly certain it's one of the shittiest books I've ever read.

His Starship troopers book is, while very interesting, basically a rant of his about social responsibility and the military and I enjoyed it for what it is. The science fiction background is just a stage for him to express his views. Many criticize him for that book, and I personally feel some aspects of it could have been developed more. Like the main character, for example.

haha, yes, i very much agree. there is no plot and no character development whatsoever. the characters serve entirely as mouthpieces for heinlein, and events serve merely to trigger monologues. it's still pretty great, but you can't go into it expecting deep characterizations and complex moral dilemmas - cuz all you get is amusing quasi-fascist rants.
the best stuff in the book was about the neo-dogs. that was out of nowhere.
i haven't read stranger in a strange land, i probably will sometime in the near future.

[needOptic]

Sex, sex, okay, free sex for everyone, women are inferior, but wait, no, they're equal but only when it comes to sex. The moslem's name is Stinky. Some more sex, okay some ridiculous philosophy and stupid science fiction bollocks, okay some nonsensical religious ramblings, more sex.

I'm not even that politically correct, but some of the stuff in that book is just fucking absurd. I don't remember all my specific complaints with the book, probably because I thought they were stupid enough that I didn't need to remember them.

Hm. That's not how I interpreted it, but I guess I can see what you're saying. Everyone takes their own from certain literature.

[CheerfulBear]

haha, yes, i very much agree. there is no plot and no character development whatsoever. the characters serve entirely as mouthpieces for heinlein, and events serve merely to trigger monologues. it's still pretty great, but you can't go into it expecting deep characterizations and complex moral dilemmas - cuz all you get is amusing quasi-fascist rants.
the best stuff in the book was about the neo-dogs. that was out of nowhere.
i haven't read stranger in a strange land, i probably will sometime in the near future.

Okay, what you've just said about Starship Troopers (which I haven't read) holds the same for Stranger in a Strange Land.

[Manny C]

Hamlet 2: Ophelia's Revenge

When he unexpectedly inherits a creepy old castle in Denmark, Cameron tries to put his worries behind him, inviting his girlfriend and college buddies along on an overseas trip to check out the gloomy fortress. The plan is to get some serious partying done. Too bad nobody counted on the ghost of a drowned girl rising from her watery grave with vengeance on her mind!

Now the only question is: to die or not to die?

[Angel_of_Bacon]

Hamlet 2: Ophelia's Revenge

When he unexpectedly inherits a creepy old castle in Denmark, Cameron tries to put his worries behind him, inviting his girlfriend and college buddies along on an overseas trip to check out the gloomy fortress. The plan is to get some serious partying done. Too bad nobody counted on the ghost of a drowned girl rising from her watery grave with vengeance on her mind!

Now the only question is: to die or not to die?

Goddammit, the one time ever I have an appropriate moment to link the SMBC Hamlet 2 comic and I can't find the damn thing. :x

[Chris]

I think it was jettisoned from the site along with all of his older comics.

[hzrdUS]

I'm halfway through "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer, which was kind of a snoozer at first but is actually turning out to be quite gripping.

After graduating from Emory University in Atlanta in 1992, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska, where he went to live in the wilderness. Four months later, he turned up dead.

I just finished Updike's "Rabbit, Run." It's just... wow... depressing as hell but you can't put it down. I'm kind of questioning if I should read "Rabbit Redux." Has anyone here read it?

[CheerfulBear]

Into the Wild is alright until you realize that Christopher McCandless was a complete moron. I like that, right before he died, he wrote about how euphoric a bunch of blueberries were.

[M]

I just read I fatty by Jerry Stahl. Make me wanna watch some old silent movies. You be surprised how attached you get to the poor fat heroin addict.

[Benjamin]

Firefox was an ok book.

[Cornstarch]

WWZ is a good book same guy wrote the zombie survival guide, it was good as well.

I'm working my way threw the Asimov robot novel's. Right now i'm reading The robots of Dawn. Its been good so far but just now its talking bout sex with robots and how... well it gets graphic.

Im reading some kick ass geology bio's currently A seashell on the mountain top. I know I know too cool huh?

[john fei]

McSweenys Quarterly Concern No. 13

Get it now... the Chris Ware cover/poster is worth the full price of admission. Philistines.

speaking of chris ware, i just finished the ACME novelty Library. what a fantastic thing to have been done. i want to meet the Letterer. also, i think that the fat naked guy with the eye-mask is sort of about the author, or something.

a little depressing if you don't read the fine print.

[AliasTheJester]

terry pratchett - mort (again)

michael scott rohan - hammer of the sun (winter of the world, book 3)

hemmingway - the old man and the sea (again)

rene girard - violence and the sacred

yeah..

[TheAtomicMan]

I read the entirety of "Stranger in a Strange Land" and I'm fairly certain it's one of the shittiest books I've ever read.

His Starship troopers book is, while very interesting, basically a rant of his about social responsibility and the military and I enjoyed it for what it is. The science fiction background is just a stage for him to express his views. Many criticize him for that book, and I personally feel some aspects of it could have been developed more. Like the main character, for example.

haha, yes, i very much agree. there is no plot and no character development whatsoever. the characters serve entirely as mouthpieces for heinlein, and events serve merely to trigger monologues. it's still pretty great, but you can't go into it expecting deep characterizations and complex moral dilemmas - cuz all you get is amusing quasi-fascist rants.
the best stuff in the book was about the neo-dogs. that was out of nowhere.
i haven't read stranger in a strange land, i probably will sometime in the near future.

Starship Troopers is on the official Navy Reading List.
The more you know!

[Sonic]

I finally got around to reading Watchmen. I'm about halfway through. Its as great as everyone says it is. :shock:

[DMAC]

It's a really interesting book. I came across some annotations a little while ago that you might find interesting:

http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~wald/watchmen-index.html

[Flit]

I'm liking American Splendor quite a bit so far.