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What book are you reading now/have finished?

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  • Ahhhhhhhhh. Well, that does change things.
  • Not when there is a $10,000 scholarship for a good essay on the novel
    is it the one from the Ayn Rand Foundation in which you must demonstrate "an outstanding grasp of the philosophic and psychological meaning of The Fountainhead"?

    To accomplish this all you have to do is invert all your altruistic instincts. For extra credit you might exult the virtues of being able to enter a room like a bad mother fucker.
  • $10,000 is too little for that level of hypocrisy.
  • I am reading Dracula, and enjoying it very much so far. I was reading it on my phone on the subway, getting to the spooky part when you first meet the count, and then I looked up and saw a poster for the vampire diaries. Dracula's mustache could beat all those prissy vamps into the dirt.
  • The beginning of Dracula is amazing. The rest of the book is a litte hit or miss imo, though.
  • Dracula's mustache could beat all those prissy vamps into the dirt.
    Only Dan McNinja's might stand a chance.
  • I'm reading David Sedaris' Naked, a book about how to catch a baby when it shoots out of a woman, a Carl Jung collection and Brothers Karamazov.

    I just finished re-reading the first three John Carter of Mars books on a nostalgia trip.
  • The beginning of Dracula is amazing. The rest of the book is a litte hit or miss imo, though.
    I think that epistle novels are the worst way to write action. That's the big problem with Dracula.
  • The beginning of Dracula is amazing. The rest of the book is a litte hit or miss imo, though.
    Bummer! I am just a few chapters in. Still In Transylvania.
  • I just finished John Dies At The End. It was weird. But in a very, very good way.
  • John Dies At The End
    Did John die at the end?
  • I just finished John Dies At The End. It was weird. But in a very, very good way.
    I love John Dies at the End. Did you read it on the website?
  • I bought The Judging Eye today. I'll be taking it on my next work trip, so should finish it by the end of the month.
  • I just finished John Dies At The End. It was weird. But in a very, very good way.
    I love John Dies at the End. Did you read it on the website?
    I read the physical book, actually. Got it at a Borders that was going out of business for super cheap. I'll have to look at the website later, but I'm so glad there's more (and that a movie adaptation and a sequel are on the way).
    John Dies At The End
    Did John die at the end?
    Spoilers: He actually died like 100 pages in, but then he got better.
  • edited May 2011
    I just got A Song of Ice and Fire on my nook. At 3000 pages, I'm glad I didn't buy physical copies.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • Those are ebook pages, which are way smaller than normal book pages. It works out at about 700-800 paper pages.
  • edited May 2011
    Those are ebook pages, which are way smaller than normal book pages. It works out at about 700-800 paper pages.
    No, its all four books. The first one alone is like 800 pages in paperback. Ebooks dont paginate at one page per screen; depending on your font size it could be two or three screens per page.

    Or at least the nook does. I haven't used a kindle.
    Post edited by Special A on
  • Just finished The Warrior-Prophet and I'm trying to find an ebook version of Thousandfold Thought that'll work on my Kobo (all the ones I've found have ? for any non-standard letter, which in Prince of Nothing is like every third letter).
  • Just finished The Warrior-Prophet and I'm trying to find an ebook version of Thousandfold Thought that'll work on my Kobo (all the ones I've found have ? for any non-standard letter, which in Prince of Nothing is like every third letter).
    Have you tried #bookz?
  • Those are ebook pages, which are way smaller than normal book pages. It works out at about 700-800 paper pages.
    No, its all four books. The first one alone is like 800 pages in paperback. Ebooks dont paginate at one page per screen; depending on your font size it could be two or three screens per page.

    Or at least the nook does. I haven't used a kindle.
    Okay! I misunderstood. Have fun reading!
  • edited May 2011
    I just finished rereading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And I dont care what people think. I cried. And I will probably cry every time I read it. I read every book as they came out. I grew up with Harry. Granted I was 16 when the first book came out, but still. Now I am watching the movie.
    Post edited by KapitänTim on
  • I just finished rereading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And I dont care what people think. I cried. And I will probably cry every time I read it. I read every book as the came out. I grew up with Harry. Granted I was 16 when the first book came out, but still. Now I am watching the movie.
    I like it a lot as well. I don't understand the "bad writing" complaints of the series and of that book in general.
  • edited May 2011
    I don't understand the "bad writing" complaints of the series and of that book in general.
    The "bad writing" complaints are about the fact that the books are badly written. They're not bad stories, per se -- but the prose is pretty awful. However, most people who aren't big readers (and I'm sure some people who are) tend not to care about that, and I think that's fine.
    Post edited by Funfetus on
  • edited May 2011
    I don't understand the "bad writing" complaints of the series and of that book in general.
    The "bad writing" complaints are about the fact that the books are badly written. They're not bad stories, per se -- but the prose is pretty awful. However, most people who aren't big readers (and I'm sure some people who are) tend not to care about that, and I think that's fine.
    I've yet to see an actual example of clunky dialogue or really bad description. I don't think they're Ernest Hemingway or anything but they get the job done. You know which book has really clunky dialogue? Dune. Seriously. Harry Potter sounds like real people talking, Dune sounds like a group of robots that's found a grammar book and a dictionary from the 18th century.
    Post edited by progSHELL on
  • Harry Potter sounds like real people talking, Dune sounds like a group of robots that's found a grammar book and a dictionary from the 18th century.
    Except Dune is a book set in the far-future Dark Ages, where machines have been forsaken and everything is run according to impossibly complex feudal law strictures. It's supposed to sound that way. Rowling is a bad writer. One example: Rowling uses adverbial dialog modifiers ("said angrily," "said malevolently," "said sadly," etc.) constantly, which is a Greater Sin of creative writing. She is an excellent storyteller, but her writing is lacking. I'm saying this as an avowed fan of the series, who has been reading and rereading the books since he was in first grade.
  • One example: Rowling uses adverbial dialog modifiers ("said angrily," "said malevolently," "said sadly," etc.) constantly, which is a Greater Sin of creative writing.
    Okay argument over. Learning time begins...now. Why is using these adverbial dialog modifiers a bad thing?
  • edited May 2011
    I'm saying this as an avowed fan of the series, who has been reading and rereading the books since he was in first grade.
    Wow. I should go post that in the "things that make me feel old" thread.
    Okay argument over. Learning time begins...now. Why is using these adverbial dialog modifiers a bad thing?
    It's telling, rather than showing.
    Post edited by Funfetus on
  • edited May 2011
    I'm saying this as an avowed fan of the series, who has been reading and rereading the books since he was in first grade.
    Wow. I should go post that in the "things that make me feel old" thread.
    Wanna know something else? The first Harry Potter book was the first book I ever read "in my head" and the first one I ever re-read.
    Okay argument over. Learning time begins...now. Why is using these adverbial dialogue modifiers a bad thing?
    It's telling, rather than showing.
    Yeah, that makes sense to me. The idea is that the emotion should be conveyed by the content of dialogue and not the modifier.
    Post edited by progSHELL on
  • One example: Rowling uses adverbial dialog modifiers ("said angrily," "said malevolently," "said sadly," etc.) constantly, which is a Greater Sin of creative writing.
    Okay argument over. Learning time begins...now. Why is using these adverbial dialog modifiers a bad thing?
    This is also the favourite criticism of those who want to pick out bad writing. Personally I don't think breaking this one cliched rule makes one a bad writer, it just means you have a naive writing style compared to those more learned.

    What's really bad is when someone learns this rule, and then modifies the words without understanding.

    "Not now," she said angrily.
    vs
    "Not now," she said with an angry look on her face.

    "Let's do it," they said excitedly.
    vs
    "Let's do it," they said with excitement in their voices.

    "Yes," he said, nodding.
    vs
    "Yes," he said, tipping his head up and down.

    In these cases, the second examples are bad writing, not the first.
  • The idea is that the emotion should be conveyed by the content of dialogue and not the modifier.
    The emotion could be conveyed by a description of the character's actions, or facial expression, or a more vivid description of the tone. Using adverbs is just kinda lazy writing. It's not necessarily awful, but you're missing a lot of potential for more vivid imagery.
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