Books - check them out

[strongbad]

just finished the first two culture novels. liked them so much i forgot to post in this thread

consider phlebas
the first in the series, and is less about the culture itself and is rather a really solid scifi romp in a really solid universe. ive seen nerds online saying that you should skip this book (maybe because it doesn't actually take place in the culture) but I really enjoyed it and i think that it was a great prelude for the next book, just in terms of how the universe was laid out. really solid sci fi book with some really great ideas

the player of games[/i]
follows someone in the culture (the utopia that the series is mostly about) who is basically a scholarly "game master." very good and engaging, and you learn a lot about the culture and some other species. it got a little repetitive later on but i had a blast with it

maybe 20 pages into the 3rd book and it hasn't really gripped me like the first two did yet, but i've been busy w/ school so i can't really focus on it yet. many people say it is the best in the series though so im sure ill shy up to it

so far it is the most engaging and entertaining series i've read. about the same scale as dune but much more believable and interesting imo

[??????]

im reading cats cradle
its a creepy book

[strongbad]

im reading cats cradle
its a creepy book

yeah it is rather creepy

[??????]

im reading cats cradle
its a creepy book

yeah it is rather creepy

its happening

i used to be very into western mysticism and liked researching things like hasidic kabbalah (my ex was a hasidic jew and it bothered him i was so interested in his religion) but kinda stopped myself because new testament Christianity started to give me a lot of paranoia (i felt reassured reading nietzsche cos he targets this)
also i took a lot of acid and i freaked the fuck out and all of this was so terrifying
i kinda learned there was a reasoning why hasidic jews don't get taught about the talmund or the zohar or the kabbalah until late on

i replaced these with greek myth cos its a little bit more clearer and you kinda learn about Christian syncreticism along the way giving interesting ways of interpretation

[silvertone]

i havent been able to finish a book lately

[Samus Aran]

i just finished Fathers and Sons last night. it was good but i would have liked it more if the translation i had was a bit more accessible

but even then it's more interesting as a piece of russian history than as a "great classic book"

[Samus Aran]

i've been slowly going through VALIS, it is difficult for someone like me with very little theological knowledge

and today i bought:

Roadmarks, by Roger Zelazny
The Decay of the Angel, by Yukio Mishima
Ringworld, by Larry Niven
Flow my Tears, the Policeman Said, by Phillip K. Dick
Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Foer

[silvertone]

decay of an angel is the foruth book in a seires. you read the others??

[Samus Aran]

decay of an angel is the foruth book in a seires. you read the others??

nope i didn't know that before i bought it lol, oh well. i'll get the other three asap

[silvertone]

spring snow [first book] is the weakest, but essential for setting everything up.

runaway horses is #1 book and my favorite yukio book
temple of dawn is really good

decay of angel is good, but not as good as the other 2 but sitll great. depressing af.  but the whole serie//teraollogy w/e is juts #1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! love it.

[strongbad]

i've been slowly going through VALIS, it is difficult for someone like me with very little theological knowledge

valis took me forever to get through
i had the same problem but once you get farther to the end it kind of works out anyway

[silvertone]

spring snow [first book] is the weakest, but essential for setting everything up.

runaway horses is #1 book and my favorite yukio book
temple of dawn is really good

decay of angel is good, but not as good as the other 2 but sitll great. depressing af.  but the whole serie//teraollogy w/e is juts #1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! love it.

let me clarify that runaway horses is the second book in the series, but first in my heart

[Samus Aran]

got some more books today. unfortunately could not find the rest of the books in the aforementioned yukio series, so i'll just buy those online or smth

got some other good stuff tho:

Second Foundation, by Isaac Asimov
Crashlander, by Larry Niven
Silence, by Shusaku Endo
The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro
Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell

[TooB]

Anybody here ever read Ready Player One?

[strongbad]

Anybody here ever read Ready Player One?

yeah thought it was really good
parts of it are kind of cheesy (it compares itself to future harry potter or something stupid) but i really liked the overall setting and plot. very easy read too