What book are you reading?

[Hax]

I'm just saying that I couldn't find any reference of that particular book being banned at any university in the Netherlands.

[Beskar]

Knowing Hax, he would be able to point it out at his University Library.

[Fragony]

I'm just saying that I couldn't find any reference of that particular book being banned at any university in the Netherlands.

Because there aren't any

[Hax]

Well, if you don't have anything to back up a statement like that, why say it in the first place? I'm more opposed to communism than most Dutch people, but I can't find anything about this issue at all.

EDIT: I just checked, Le livre noir du communism is in Leiden's University library, in the regular loan closed stacks. Same for the University of Amsterdam.

[Fragony]

Well, if you don't have anything to back up a statement like that, why say it in the first place? I'm more opposed to communism than most Dutch people, but I can't find anything about this issue at all.

EDIT: I just checked, Le livre noir du communism is in Leiden's University library, in the regular loan closed stacks. Same for the University of Amsterdam.

Never said it worked, that's the original French title and it's available in the library of every Dutch university, but activist teachers really tried to prevent that, not kidding you, I know you are way too smart to be bothering tricking you.

[Montmorency]

It's official: my little project is pretty much an utter failure.

I've been reading The Martian by Andy Weir. I absolutely love this book. It takes place in the not so distant future where we have a functioning Mars program. On the third man led trip to Mars some stuff goes down, and it results with one guy being stuck there. The problem is the next mission to Mars isn't for another four years and he only has enough supplies to last about one.

It's told through the juxtaposition of his log entries and the NASA crew back on Earth. NASA figures it out that he's still alive and is in a race to save him. It's witty, very suspenseful and isn't too far fetched as far as science is concerned. It's kinda like Cast-Away meets Robinson Crusoe.

Tenth of the way through so far. (Picked it up on this recommendation.)

They should have called it The Towers of Hanoi: The Novel.

[Furunculus]

reading Roger Crowleys history of Venice:

http://www.rogercrowley.co.uk/city.htm

Great read, essential for playing Empire (or CK2 I imagine).

[Spoonska]

I just finished up "One More Thing" by B.J. Novak. I had high hopes for this book because I'm a big fan of Novak's writing abilities on the small screen. That said it was thoroughly disappointing. Most of the stories were flat, unmotivated and unfunny. A large majority of the book I would say the stories aren't stories but just random thoughts. Especially towards the end of the book. There were a few gems here and there though. There's a story about a sex robot that falls in love with the guy that got her. He then proceeds to return her because that's not what he wanted. That was probably the best one, and had a really good commentary on relationships. Overall though, like I said, big disappointment for me. I'd give it a 2-2.5 / 5.

On deck is "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by N. Gaiman. I'm looking forward to this one big time.

[Fragony]

Well, if you don't have anything to back up a statement like that, why say it in the first place? I'm more opposed to communism than most Dutch people, but I can't find anything about this issue at all.

EDIT: I just checked, Le livre noir du communism is in Leiden's University library, in the regular loan closed stacks. Same for the University of Amsterdam.

Done, they were right to try to ban it, any proffesional integrety is lost, there are no remarks that can be verified at al, all they do is just claim things and want you to agree. Not falling for that. Fuck this book. Nice to have, but it is not something I can recommend don't try to make me stupid with fancy words. I don't buy it I notice it when you try.

[naut]

Decided to actually finish 1984 this time. I understand how, in the context of its publication, it became so widely acclaimed. But, honestly, it sucks. It reads like an angst ridden teen pouting, in exaggerated terms, about the injustices and machinations of the 'system'. OH NO COMMUNISM IS BAD. OH NO CAPITALISM IS BAD. This duality is no longer relevant, and is a mindset that has caused so much propaganda fuelled partisanship that it needs to be taken round back and shot through the head like the broken legged horse that it is.

It's more than that though. Blair's writing style is straight up dull. Duller than brown rice cooked in a brown pot over an electric stove in a brown kitchen. And the march of the plot... when he's not complaining about this that or the other thing he's got his characters doing sweet FA. If I want some sweet FA I'll go sit in the park and daydream. I WANT SUBSTANCE!

Three black-eyes and a bucket of crabs out of 10.

[HopAlongBunny]

Re-visiting Catch-22.
Read it in high school; I'm willing to bet it's even more relevant today.

[Fragony]

The Nanny Diaries, obviously a book for chicks, sis insisted. Tried it before but gave it up after two or three pages. It's really fun, it's full of that typically American FML humor, a horror-story untold.

[Montmorency]

Norman Stone's World War One: A Short History.

It's very brief, so the author gets to get away with making some very snappy and strong categorical judgements and statements.

So far, my favorite is in reference to an unfortunate jingoistic lecture given by the estimable Max Weber a few years before the war:

[Weber] talked what now appears to be gibberish, making less sense than Hitler[...]

This was received with rapture by the audience. It is one of the stupidest documents ever put together by a clever man, and hardly worth even parodying. Every step in the argument was wrong...

Sick burn.

[HopAlongBunny]

Just finished:

All Quiet on the Western Front: a novel
http://www.amazon.com/All-Quiet-West...a+novel+kindle

[Crandar]

Notes from the Gallows (Reportáž psaná na oprátce) of Julius Fučík.

Highly recommended to any Eastern-european suffering from reactionary emotions.

[AntiDamascus]

I'm just about to start "The Last Battle". Got it as a Christmas gift

[HopAlongBunny]

Finished:
The Road Back: a novel (sequel to All Quiet...
http://www.amazon.com/The-Road-Back-...=the+road+back

Started:
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
http://www.amazon.com/Capital-Twenty...-first+century

[Beskar]

Started a series last week called the Saxon Stories, currently on the second book "The Pale Horseman" by Bernard Cornwell. Starting with the Danish invasion of England and looks like it would end with its liberation.

[Fisherking]

A fun series. The latest addition comes out on 2 Sept. The Empty Throne.

Much more likely to be a finished series than anything written by GRRM.

[edyzmedieval]

Cambridge Medieval History

The volume on the closing of the Middle Ages.

[Moros]

The Early History of God: Yahwah and the other deities in Ancient Israel by Mark Smith. Quite worthy of a read even if slightly dated.

[Crandar]

"How gods are born and die" of Yemelyan Yaroslavsky.
Pretty horrible, even for the standards of 1923.

[Montmorency]

"Maximize rape" gets more hits on Google than "maximize killings".

I guess I know how I'm spending tomorrow night.

[rickinator9]

The rise of the Seleukid empire - John D Grainger.
I liked this book a lot. I learned a lot more about the Seleucids because of this book. I hadn't even heard of the babylonian chronicles before this book.

The Peloponnesian war - Donald Kagan
I had little previous knowledge of the Peloponnesian war before this book. Sure, I knew the spartans won and then lost their hegemony not too long after. This book goes into detail while still staying very well readable. I can't believe how stupid the Athenians were sometimes. They still had a chance after the blunder that was Sicily, but they wasted it by killing, banishing or just not reelecting their best navarchs.

[Gilrandir]

Decided to actually finish 1984 this time. I understand how, in the context of its publication, it became so widely acclaimed. But, honestly, it sucks. It reads like an angst ridden teen pouting, in exaggerated terms, about the injustices and machinations of the 'system'. OH NO COMMUNISM IS BAD. OH NO CAPITALISM IS BAD. This duality is no longer relevant, and is a mindset that has caused so much propaganda fuelled partisanship that it needs to be taken round back and shot through the head like the broken legged horse that it is.

It's more than that though. Blair's writing style is straight up dull. Duller than brown rice cooked in a brown pot over an electric stove in a brown kitchen. And the march of the plot... when he's not complaining about this that or the other thing he's got his characters doing sweet FA. If I want some sweet FA I'll go sit in the park and daydream. I WANT SUBSTANCE!

Three black-eyes and a bucket of crabs out of 10.

I appreciated the book because Orwell without visiting the USSR pinpointed life in it with such a precision that it seems he was there.
As for reading, Steve Runciman "The history of the crusades" and Jonathan Sumption "the Hundred years war" (volumes one through three).

[Gilrandir]

I'm reading The Silmarillion to begin yet another full journey through Middle-earth. This time I'm reading them in historical order rather than the order they were published (The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion) like I usually do.

If you wanna get deeper into how the Tolkien legendarium has developed, his son published ten-volume "History of Middle-earth" and "The children of Hurin" and "The Unfinished Tales". If you are interested, I can give more details.

[Gregoshi]

I've read Unfinished Tales (wish I could remember where I put my copy), The Children of Hurin and Volumes 1-4 of The History of Middle-Earth - volume 5 I have and is next to read. The History books are a tough read due to their nature though - incomplete or fragments of stories and multiple versions thereof. Still my favourite place to visit in all of fiction though.

[Gilrandir]

I've read Unfinished Tales (wish I could remember where I put my copy), The Children of Hurin and Volumes 1-4 of The History of Middle-Earth - volume 5 I have and is next to read. The History books are a tough read due to their nature though - incomplete or fragments of stories and multiple versions thereof. Still my favourite place to visit in all of fiction though.

You tell me! My PhD thesis was about Tolkien's legendarium.
"The history of Middle-earth" should not be viewed as a consistent book, but rather as a story of how THE STORY developed and grew in the creator's mind. The volumes you mentioned are the early stages of The Silmarillion development, then come those that deal with The Lord of the Rings, then those about The Silmarillion evolution after LotR was published. But if you are interested in characters and peoples of Middle-earth, I would recommend volume 12. I also like The atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad. She is a professional geographer and geologist, so she scientifically approaches the terrain described by JRR.

[Gregoshi]

My PhD thesis was about Tolkien's legendarium.

I bow before your Greatness!

I'll definitely check out volume 12 and the atlas. Thanks for the recommendations. It is much appreciated!

[Gilrandir]

I bow before your Greatness!

I'll definitely check out volume 12 and the atlas. Thanks for the recommendations. It is much appreciated!

You are welcome. To tell the truth, I didn't acquire any History of Middle-earth volumes connected with the LotR. To me the book is a kind of magic and I don't want the spell to disappear when I know how it is made.