Literature thread

[ninwa]

If you don't mind reading books on a computer screen/can't find it at your library:

http://pdf-search-engine.com/
http://www.e-book.com.au/freebooks.htm
http://www.planetebook.com/
http://www.truly-free.org/ (not hosted on website - you need to send a request first)

[Noblesse]

Currently reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, of course by the marvelous Oscar Wilde. I've only read his plays before, so its really interesting reading his only novel. Although I think his writing style is more suited for the stage.

I finished reading Madame Bovary the other day, which I thought was rather good. The ending in particular I thought was fantastic.

Got a huge reading list to work through, however exams are coming up - and I keep eying my Harry Potter collection

[Russ]

Seeing that scene posted is always amusing

Got a huge reading list to work through, however exams are coming up - and I keep eying my Harry Potter collection

Movie marathon on the 17th then go to the midnight premiere.

@Madame Bovary, I put it down at some point and never picked it up again so it didn't really capture me I guess. Enjoyed the start though, for what it's worth. I will admit, though, I was hoping for a bit more licentious behaviour (does it pick up after about halfway?)

And whilst we're on the topic, who's read DH Lawrence?

[Noblesse]

Free public domain links (great for those with portable reading devices - Kindle FTW):
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.feedbooks.com/
http://manybooks.net/

[TrueLight]

hahaha Russ... your so harsh

[Russ]

hahaha Russ... your so harsh

Just on SoT. It irritates me for some reason I can't really explain

(the WoT picture is meant to be a joke)

[EvangelionZeta]

well that's a pretty common opinion of some people. they say that his stuff gets progressively worse, but from what I have read so far, I don't think I have enjoyed any other series so much.

What fantasy have you been reading, that SoT is the best thing you've read? Go read GRRM if you want real, gritty fantasy (it's never being finished though)

@EZ, I tried Ilium by Simmons and didn't like it so much. Would have preferred it much more if it focused only on the retelling of the Iliad, rather than his alternate story that accompanied it.

I agree in that the retelling of the Iliad was a lot more interesting than the alternate stories, but I guess they kind of had to be there to help the whole thing make sense in a science fiction context.  Although, I found the robots and their literary discussions quite amusing.

On that note, I'm a MASSIVE fan of The Iliad - freaking amazing epic.

[Russ]

My only regret was that when I went through VCE, we studied the Iliad at the start of the year and then everything else was bad by comparison.

[TrueLight]

hahaha Russ... your so harsh

Just on SoT. It irritates me for some reason I can't really explain

(the WoT picture is meant to be a joke)

yeah i know lol
sot doesn't bother me i love it all
i havent finished the series but yeah the last book i read i loved the whole chimes thing and jagang etc...
apparently the eye of the world from the wot is going to be a movie

[TrueTears]

My favorite authors are Paul Zeitz, James Stewart and probably Zuckerman.

Currently reading Elementary Set Theory by K. T. Leung, Doris L. Chen, great book, having heaps of fun reading it atm.

[Russ]

apparently the eye of the world from the wot is going to be a movie

I heard this as well, not sure how they're going to do it and all, with it being 13 odd books long

If you just read Soul of the Fire, you've got Faith of the Fallen next (I really shouldn't know this haha) which is considered to be either his best work or his worst, depending on who you ask. So look forward to that I guess. The final book in the series is also pretty decent.

[fady_22]

Unfortunately, he died at the age 44 from tuberculosis (TB, olololol, piss off).

Why has TB claimed the lives of so many writers/poets?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tuberculosis_victims#Writers_and_poets

[sillysmile]

well that's a pretty common opinion of some people. they say that his stuff gets progressively worse, but from what I have read so far, I don't think I have enjoyed any other series so much.

What fantasy have you been reading, that SoT is the best thing you've read? Go read GRRM if you want real, gritty fantasy (it's never being finished though)

@EZ, I tried Ilium by Simmons and didn't like it so much. Would have preferred it much more if it focused only on the retelling of the Iliad, rather than his alternate story that accompanied it.

no way i love sot at least it doesn't ramble on as much as wot

RJ has a whole host of issues, namely that his entire series can be summarised by this image:

[IMG]http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/7021/1ff36838ce9302096bbf68b.gif[/img]

But then...SoT...the 60 pages where Richard has a vision of the sacking of Galea is just 60 pages of TG expounding his agenda. And TG is the man who said that if you don't like his work, then you're not mature enough to understand it.

Sanderson's new book is brilliant, can't recommend it highly enough. Get it.

How did you find Anna Karenina?

Better than War and Peace, which I couldn't finish. AK starts pretty slowly, but it really picks up towards the end. There are some lovely scenes contemplating futility right at the end, when Anna has her big moment (not spoiling it, if you don't already know it). I'd recommend it if you like the style, but I do think that it suffers from a lot of hype about how brilliant it is. Same problem that Joyce has.

At points I felt like it did seem to drag, but a lot of the book is really just a commentary on humanity, which I really did enjoy. There's one character (forgotten the name and "lenin" is stuck in my head, which isn't right lol) who is apparently a self insert of Tolstoy, so he could just express honest opinions without having to work them into the personalities of his characters.

And there's a really beautifully written scene at a horse race.

Really?? I started it and got to about 1/3 before I had to return it and it didn't seem overly interesting. Should I try again?

If you read that much of it and didn't like it, then not unless you have some spare time over summer. It's great but it won't suddenly grab you just because I said so. Sadly, it was meant to be part of a much longer series but he died after completing it

well, I haven't read any books other than for school, but I have previously read many fantasy novels. It's fine if you don't like sot, but I do. Has anybody heard of the drizzt do urden series?

[TrueLight]

apparently the eye of the world from the wot is going to be a movie

I heard this as well, not sure how they're going to do it and all, with it being 13 odd books long

If you just read Soul of the Fire, you've got Faith of the Fallen next (I really shouldn't know this haha) which is considered to be either his best work or his worst, depending on who you ask. So look forward to that I guess. The final book in the series is also pretty decent.

me neither... theres really no details on it but it would be awesome cause i love moiraine too bad she dies.. but im not expecting it to follow the books to the tee

yeah im into the faith of the fallen now... richard is going to meet nicci
yep looks good so far
btw kahlan in con dar.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-IIJPITs6E
and this one ... oh painful...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScWlZmH1lts
love it though wasn't like in the books =(

[TrueLight]

ouuu russ... a song of ice and fire is going to be a tv series...woot
called game of thrones
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of_Thrones_(TV_series)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAZzCFPcLoo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVytEgSO0wQ&feature=channel

shrieks!