Book review thread

[Caerfanan]

Oh, I would highly recommend the books written By Eiji Yoshikawa about Miyamoto Musashi. I think they have been translated in many languages. The french titles are "La pierre et le sabre" and "La parfaite lumière"

[doc_bean]

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel by Susanna Clarke is simply one of the best books I've read in recent times. It's technically a 'fantasy' book, since it involves magicians and fairies, but it has little to nothing in common with the pulp genre that is usually indicated by the term 'fantasy'. It's a book which succeeds perfectly in creating its own little world, full of history and little details and touches. It's an 'alternative' history of (early 19th century) England, it manages to mix history with fantasy very well. It also doesn't skip on some of the issues with a magical world that traditional fantasy tends to avoid, such as religion. It certainly is deep.

It's also rather slow. It's not a page turner, only in the latter hundred pages does it really pick up the pace (it's a good eight hundred pages long). The first few hundred pages can perhaps be a bit of a chore to get throuhg, since they focus almost exclusively on the very unlikable character of Mr Norrel. But the writing itself is excellent, so you won't feel like you're wasting your time.

Highly recommended

(also, thanks to Lemur for first mentioning this book)

[Fragony]

*bump*

Last King of Scotland.

ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I saw the movie first, kinda liked it, it's nothing like the book. It could have been a much better movie actually, why exclude cool warscenes and a daring hostage liberation-action? Probably because it follows the strict rules of Hollywood, english bad, scottish good, Israewho? The main character sure is a lot more believable then the movie character, imho the only thing that saves the movie after having read the book is Forrest Whitacker, who is absolutily terrifying as Amir.

The Kite Runner <--

Incredibly moving. Read it. Really. Now. Excellent writing, great character, you will have a hard time sympathising with the main character at first, bit of a whiner, but you will grow fond of him eventually. The star of the show is afghanistan, it's pretty cliche in it's paradise gone wrong aproach, but the description of the afghan community, their life there, makes it hard to put it aside, cliches aren't bad by default.

[Kralizec]

Is that De Vliegeraar in Dutch? My parents have a copy, I suppose I'll have to borrow it one of these days if it's that good.

[Fragony]

Yeah, but it's horribly translated, english version is only 12 pleuro so it shouldn't press yours budget too much.

[Ramses II CP]

Sci Fi: Everything you can find by Stanislaw Lem. Lem is a Polish author who spent much of his life behind the iron curtain, and his take on science fiction is unique. Good translations of his books are fairly available since Solaris came out a few years ago. In particular I recommend Pirx the Pilot and The Cyberiad, both very accessable short story collections with a thoughtful bite.

Fantasy: I've been reading the Gotrek and Felix omnibuses from Warhammer's Black Libray lately. I can't say they're exceptionally well written, but they're $11 for high page count and highly entertaining reads.

Non-fiction: Collapse from Jared Diamond is a must read. It discusses the failed civilizations of the past, and points out some aspects our own civilization has in common with them. Also Dawkin's The God Delusion and Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. I'm about to start Hitchen's God is not Great, but for all his brilliance I usually find his writing too stilted and vitriolic to be convincing.

Political: The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright. Heavily researched and well composed background to the 9/11 attacks.

Seconding some from above, Ender's Game and Snowcrash are excellent. The Selfish Gene needs Dennet's more serious Darwin's Dangerous Idea as a companion, but both are already slightly out of date.

I bought Brian Herbert's Butlerian Jihad books on the assumption that no one could too badly %$&^ up such a great premise, and I was sadly mistaken. They're so terrible I couldn't bring myself to give them away free at Starbucks for fear of reprisal attacks by Left Behind nuts.

[Conradus]

I just finished Douglas Adams 'A Hitchhiker's guide through the galaxy'. Without doubt one of the funniest books I've ever read. Adams' style and humour are absurd, but they make me laught out loud. Few books can claim that.