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JimBob 16:41 09-24-2005

Originally Posted by :
(4) The Killer Angels. [Gettysburg historical fiction] Highly Highly recommended.

Great book, ever seen the movie adaptation? On the 4th of July they usually marathon it on one channel or another.

Ice 16:58 09-24-2005

Originally Posted by Divinus Arma:

Next on the list:

(2) A Farewell to Arms [I have no idea]

It is a good book. I think you will like it, if you like WWI.

Seamus Fermanagh 17:05 09-24-2005

Originally Posted by Martinus:
Are the Battletech books goods?

Of course not! As literature they're dreck. Stackpole and the others are writers who wish to get paid. I wouldn't call them an artistic nil, but they are formulaic, brim-full of stereotypical characters, and constantly focused on plot twists and combat scenes.

All in all, they're a blast!

Seamus

Beirut 17:39 09-24-2005

(This discussion has been threadnapped and moved to the Frontroom. Why? Because we wanted it. )

1984 Brilliant novel. Without equal. Amazes me every time I read it. I find the part at the very end of the book, where he discusses the shortening of the English language down to some 500 words to be truly frightening.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Also brilliant and without equal.

The Tom Clancy series. They're simply good fun military thrillers.

All of Arthur C. Clarke's stuff. The master of sci-fi writing.

The Redezvous with Rama series was incredible.

King Henry V 18:59 09-24-2005

Originally Posted by Big_John:
the catcher in the rye.

I read that book a couple of years ago for school. I hated it with all my might. Badly written, poor vocabulary, rubbish plot. Bum-achingly boring. The only book worse than that is Cry, the Beloved Country.

Big_John 19:07 09-24-2005

Originally Posted by King Henry V:
I read that book a couple of years ago for school. I hated it with all my might. Badly written, poor vocabulary, rubbish plot. Bum-achingly boring.

hmm, maybe it takes a certain sensibility.

saligner.. badly written? ....

Taffy_is_a_Taff 19:18 09-24-2005

Isn't Iain Banks Scottish?

I liked the Crow Road and the Wasp Factory.

King Henry V 19:22 09-24-2005

Originally Posted by Big_John:
hmm, maybe it takes a certain sensibility.

saligner.. badly written? ....

Maybe not exactly bad writing, but the style wasn't good IMO. It didn't flow, definitely was not a page turner.

mercian billman 19:49 09-24-2005

Originally Posted by Divinus Arma:
These are the books I have read in the last nine months (in no particular order):

(1) The Virtues of War [It's historical fiction from the perspective of Alexander] Recommended.

(2) The Peloppenesian War. [History on same]. Very dry but gets more interesting at the complexities of Athens politics develops. Alchibiades is a fascinating dude.

(3) Gods And Generals. [Civil War historical fiction] Highly highly recommended.

(4) The Killer Angels. [Gettysburg historical fiction] Highly Highly recommended.

(5) The Making of the Roman Army [history on same]. Dry as a bone. Only good if you care. Fortunately I did.

(6) By Valor and Arms [civil war fiction] Decent.

Currently reading:

(1) His Excellency [biography of Washington] Very good. This is my nightstand book.

(2) Infantry in Battle [tactical scenarios of WW I. Factual history with analysis and lessons learned. Written in the 30s before WW2] Surprisingly good. Not nearly as dry as expected. This is my restroom-rack book. The scenarios are only a page or two at a time. Perfect.

Next on the list:

(1) The Last Full Measure [Civil War historical fiction]

(2) A Farewell to Arms [I have no idea]

Then I get to buy more! Yay!

Aren't all of those books on the Commandant of the Marine Corps reading list?

Anyways my favorite novels are, Hunt for Red October, Pride and Prejudice, Generation Kill (not really a novel,) and Starship Troopers.

I'm trying to read War and Peace right now, but "other" forms of literature keep getting in my way.

Reverend Joe 20:20 09-24-2005

Originally Posted by King Henry V:
I read that book a couple of years ago for school. I hated it with all my might. Badly written, poor vocabulary, rubbish plot. Bum-achingly boring. The only book worse than that is Cry, the Beloved Country.

Trust me- The Scarlet Letter is worse. Hawthorne spent an entire page and a half describing the way animals in a forest react to the frolicking of a little girl. A potentially good plot, muddied and lost in the meanderings of bad writing.

Mouzafphaerre 20:49 09-24-2005

Originally Posted by Beirut:
(This discussion has been threadnapped and moved to the Frontroom. Why? Because we wanted it. )

My favs? Well any Tolstoy, Dostoyesvski, Hugo, Hemingway or Steinbeck will do.
.

Martok 20:57 09-24-2005

Ah, another Steven Pressfield fan!

I have The Virtues of War, as well, although I enjoyed the first two books of his "Greek Trilogy" (Tides of War and Gates of Fire) far more. Of the three, I would have to say Tides of War is my favorite, and it alone puts Pressfield on my Top Five Favorite Authors list. As a matter of fact, I was just contemplating yesterday that I should really go the library and check out The Legend of Bagger Vance. I'm curious to discover if I can actually make it through a novel about golf without killing myself.

Probably my favorite author, however, is Stephen R. Lawhead. I love his 5 books of the beautiful Pendragon Cycle (6 books, if you include Avalon), as well as the three novels making up his Celtic Crusades trilogy. I also very much enjoy (and have) his stand-alone books Byzantium and Patrick: Son of Ireland.

So what is actually my favorite book? I think it's a virtual tie between Pressfield's Tides of War and Lawhead's Byzantium. I honestly couldn't say which is better, as it would the literary equivalent of comparing apples and oranges--both novels fall under the heading of Mythic/Historical Fiction, but the similarities pretty much end right there.

edyzmedieval 21:42 09-24-2005

2 novels made by a Romanian author, Vintila Corbul.

Fall of Constantinople - excellent novel, 2 volumes
Hurricane over Europe - also great, 1 volume, about the 19th century(diplomacy, wars....)

Seamus Fermanagh 22:03 09-24-2005

Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube:
He's a witch! Burn him!

A witch of bad taste, that is.

Well, apparently I'm joining that coven because I agree. I didn't think Salinger's writing was bad, but I had zero feeling for Holden. Kept thinking he needed a good slap in the head followed by a 3-year hitch.

At least one person here has taken a shot a Hawthorne. Good show! Decent plot drowned in its own meanderings. Lethargy in printed form.

Speaking of which, my personal peeve -- Dickens. I loathe his novels. Makes Hawthorne look crisply written. The anti-thesis of a page turner. He was, apparently, the rage of the British Empire, but since that was during the era of the opium wars I'm willing to forgive them -- it was not their finest hour. Maybe if they hadn't paid the bustard by the word he might have described a brick wall in less than a page and a half of space and I wouldn't have had to

when forced to read his dreck. Gah!!!!

Seamus

Taffy_is_a_Taff 22:18 09-24-2005

Charles Dickes: I like Great Expectation (even with the happy non-original ending) but he does go on and on and on.

George Orwell wrote a fun essay on why Dickens can be as annoying as taking a crap when you have no toilet paper (my simile not Orwell's).

Geoffrey S 10:26 09-25-2005

My favourite novels include 1984, Memoirs of Hadrian, The Last of the Wine, A Prayer for Owen Meany, and Setting Free The Bears. Though there are a lot more, I read quite a lot.

Mount Suribachi 10:56 09-25-2005

Originally Posted by Beirut:
(This discussion has been threadnapped and moved to the Frontroom. Why? Because we wanted it. )

Thanks Beirut

My all time favourite would have to be Catch-22. Both funny and heartbreakingly sad at the same time. People have described it as anti-war novel, I disagree, I think its more of an anti-military novel. Speaking as an Air Force brat, I recognise the lunatic situations in the book from a thousand tales told by dad, uncle, grandad and their friends.

The book I've read the most times would have to be Lord Of The Rings (must be in double figures by now).

Originally Posted by Mouzapherre:
My favs? Well any Tolstoy, Dostoyesvski, Hugo, Hemingway or Steinbeck will do.

I'm currently reading Crime and Punishment and man is it grim. The descriptions of people living in abject poverty.......depressing

Tricon 18:19 09-26-2005

"A song of Ice and Fire" series by George R.R. Martin
Almost everything by David Brin.

The_Doctor 18:25 09-26-2005

Originally Posted by :
Of course not! As literature they're dreck. Stackpole and the others are writers who wish to get paid. I wouldn't call them an artistic nil, but they are formulaic, brim-full of stereotypical characters, and constantly focused on plot twists and combat scenes.

All in all, they're a blast!

So it is worth reading them?

Kagemusha 19:36 09-26-2005

Mika Waltari´s:Sinuhe Egyptian,also from the same author Mikael Angelus and Turms Immortal.

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