Kids these days

My friend told me that the "Eragon" book was great. But I've decided not to read it , seems a bit too much LOTR for me.

I have a bunch of books to read from Xmas... but alas.... examiness.

the life without books will be much funner but much worser

Edited by Silverx, 10 January 2008 - 01:33 PM.

What?? What???! WHAT??

The fact that you use the words "funner" and "worser" show that you certainly need to read a lot more kid.

the life without books will be much funner but much worser

thats the thinking of a moron, readings fun, its a place were your imagination can be free and transports you to another world, if you read a good book you cant put it down and you lose track of time.

Reading is easy and simple, once you get into it, you'll be like me. I love to read, write, and (well maybe not so much) evaluate a lot of books. I have several series on my favorites list, all of which I've read quite a few times each. For instance:

Harry Potter
Inheritance (By Christopher Paolini. Basically Eragon and Eldest, and waiting for Empire)
Death Gate Cycle (By Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman)
Dragonlance (By Weis and Hickman again)
The Black Magician Trilogy (An excellent series, one that I recommend to intermediate and advanced readers.)

And of course several others not listed here that aren't parts of series.

I suggest starting out small, for me this would be somethin g like the Diadem series, an awesome series with magic and science fiction both. If that doesn't interest you, Deltora Quest is another interesting series, purely fantasy though. I couldn't imagine not wanting to pick up a good book and read for a few hours at a time.

Do you guys read anything besides fantasy/sci-fi...?

I don't read sci-fi. I like to read autobiographies of sportsmen (though I haven't done so for a year at least), humour books, business books seeing as thats my degree (currently reading a couple of books about Google atm plus Freakonomics) and for some odd reason I read a bit of John Grisham (mostly law stuff).

I'm guessing not, and I can sympathize, I used to read nothing but those either. It's really an understandable problem though - I'm pretty sure a lot of people are thrown off reading by the brutally poor examples of fiction that are often read in late elementary/early high school classes. That, combined with a generally poor average competence of said grades' teachers isn't really going to endear people to classic literature. I only really got access to good books in those classes by age 15 or so - before that all I really read was sci-fi. People of this type tend to see the normal literature as something to be studied at length in the classroom and not as recreation.

You could also point out that the majority of people who spend their time modding do tend to be sci fi and fantasy fans at heart, so any survey you give here is going to be heavily biased. The two genres (though actually I would consider a great deal of modern sci-fi to be fantasy) are both escapist literature, which also appeals to those who tend to frequent web forums.

Though scifi is hardly the worst genre nowadays - the number of people I see reading those cheap crappy CSI ripoffs (I lothe CSI with a passion) is amazing. You go to any bookstore and they have shelves filled with them!

I haven't read anything but sci-fi and dystopian fiction for a while though, so I guess I'm just as bad in the multi-genre department. I'll figure out how to work 1984 into my term paper for my Canadian Lit class somehow this term...

Edited by Nertea, 10 January 2008 - 03:58 PM.

im reading "the romance of the three kingdoms" which is a historical book.

i like storys

I understand that, Nertea... but I do feel people are missing out.

J.D. Salinger... Jack Kerouac... Henry Valentine Miller... Joseph Ferdinand Céline and Hunter S. Thompson even. There's alot of very enjoyable stories out there. Inspirational, shocking, touching... Alot of the things you are forced to read in class might be bad, or easily seen as such due to the fact you HAVE to read them, but there's some really good literature to be discovered. Controversial, carrying themes as psychology, development, various philosophical standpoints such as existentialism, nihilism, hedonism...

I've grown to love those first-person stories, seeing the world through a different perspective, gradually understanding the character's motives and thoughts. Just as immersive, if not moreso then general fantasy, sci-fi and highschool fiction.

1984 though... great stuff.

Edited by Matias, 10 January 2008 - 04:10 PM.

I read everything. Everything from Brave new world and 1984, to Jules Verne (though I suppose that could just be considered retro sci-fi) to 18th century literature by Ms. Radcliffe and Jane Austen to Patrick O'Brian to Ian Banks (non-sci fi stuff there. seriously screwed up) to a whole bunch of historical novels to King Solomon's mines to crime fiction to charles dickens to les miserables to .. well you get the idea... so yeah... I'll generally read anything put in front of me. Though I note a slant towards what might be thought of as classic literature there... and 18th century/based stuff... weeeee

Just finished Anansi boys.. that was good Rereading the mauritius command when I have moments.. one of my favourite Aubrey/Maturin stories.

Edited by Dain Ironfoot, 10 January 2008 - 05:33 PM.

i will make a book thats 1000 pages long it will be a best-seller even bigger than the bible it will be about revora's history of course it will be a must buy

i dont tend to read books like shakespeare and 1800-1950 books only exception i read was lotr & hobbit and unfinished tales.

Edited by elvenfury, 10 January 2008 - 08:29 PM.

I don't read sci-fi. I like to read autobiographies of sportsmen (though I haven't done so for a year at least), humour books, business books seeing as thats my degree (currently reading a couple of books about Google atm plus Freakonomics) and for some odd reason I read a bit of John Grisham (mostly law stuff).

Freakonomics. My favorite. Or rather was, until i realized it all came down to giving anything a monetary value, even the pollution/destruction of wilderness (potential loss of profits, increased costs of production/living). Otherwise it's elegant, though limited. But it's better than corporate business (profit = volume of sales minus cost of production, sales, whatnot). As a math geek, the limit is hit at a rather low end.

I'm guessing not, and I can sympathize, I used to read nothing but those either. It's really an understandable problem though - I'm pretty sure a lot of people are thrown off reading by the brutally poor examples of fiction that are often read in late elementary/early high school classes. That, combined with a generally poor average competence of said grades' teachers isn't really going to endear people to classic literature. I only really got access to good books in those classes by age 15 or so - before that all I really read was sci-fi. People of this type tend to see the normal literature as something to be studied at length in the classroom and not as recreation.

And that is where lies the problem. Anything read in class i abhorred. But anything outside i just loved.

I haven't read anything but sci-fi and dystopian fiction for a while though, so I guess I'm just as bad in the multi-genre department. I'll figure out how to work 1984 into my term paper for my Canadian Lit class somehow this term...

Dystopia is the way to go. Even if combined with science-fiction, there is hardly anything that can engross me better than something utterly possible and, with todays standards, in some parts true already.

The first books i ever read, btw, where Milne's 'Pooh', 1984, 2001 and 'Das Parfüm'. Never gotten around to watching the movie adaption of the latter, but i probably won't anyway. It was such a smash, i never even read it a second time for fear of spoiling my initial impression. Oh, and Tolkien's LotR, followed by the Silmarillion, which was somewhere in between those books.

The books i am still most impressed with, even today, are Cherryh's 'Company Wars' and other SciFi titles (Homecoming, Sunfall and more), plus 'Hyperion' (what was the author's name again?).

i dont tend to read books like shakespeare and 1800-1950 books only exception i read was lotr & hobbit and unfinished tales.

American & English literature from the 1800s (and early 1900s) is some of the best stuff you can find.

Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to mane a few.

Just to add to it: H. Rider Haggard's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a great read.

EDIT:

Dystopia is the way to go. Even if combined with science-fiction, there is hardly anything that can engross me better than something utterly possible and, with todays standards, in some parts true already.

You men like Fahrenheit 451 & The Children of Men
Movie wise, Escape from New York is one of my favorites of this genre.

Edited by Downfall, 10 January 2008 - 10:11 PM.

Just to add to it: H. Rider Haggard's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a great read.

What??? Thats a COMIC which has his character of Alan Quatermain in...

Beat Generation, Gonzo Journalism...

What??? Thats a COMIC which has his character of Alan Quatermain in...

Oops... my bad... I was just thinking about Quatermain (his chracter).
Total Brain Fart on my part

Edited by Downfall, 10 January 2008 - 11:22 PM.