As I stated in the movie thread (as of this post anyway), I am reading as much Shakespeare as I can and then watching a filmed adaptation to compare and contrast as a thought exercise for myself. Now I am reading King Lear and will be watching Akira Kurosawa's Ran (which is an adaptation of the play) immediately afterward. I am greatly enjoying it so far!
As I stated in the movie thread (as of this post anyway), I am reading as much Shakespeare as I can and then watching a filmed adaptation to compare and contrast as a thought exercise for myself. Now I am reading King Lear and will be watching Akira Kurosawa's Ran (which is an adaptation of the play) immediately afterward. I am greatly enjoying it so far!
Ran is by far my favorite Kurosawa movie and it is an excellent adaptation of King Lear.
As I stated in the movie thread (as of this post anyway), I am reading as much Shakespeare as I can and then watching a filmed adaptation to compare and contrast as a thought exercise for myself. Now I am reading King Lear and will be watching Akira Kurosawa's Ran (which is an adaptation of the play) immediately afterward. I am greatly enjoying it so far!
Ran is by far my favorite Kurosawa movie and it is an excellent adaptation of King Lear.
Ran is definitely the most beautiful, but it's not even close to being best overall. Have you seen High and Low?
I have seen High and Low. Easily in my top 5 fave Kurosawa films.
1: Seven Samurai 2: Ikiru 3: Throne of Blood 4: High and Low 5: The Bad Sleep Well
Rashomon isn't in there (would be if I bothered to extend it to top 10) because I don't like reliving an extremely uncomfortable rape scene. Other than that, it is genius (duh).
I enjoyed Way of Kings, but only by blanking out large sections from my mind. The story is from the points of view of Kaladin, Shallan, Szeth and Dalinar. You can very safely skip all parts of the story told from Shallan's point of view. Seriously. It'll be way better for you.
Then, if you want to read the second book in the series, catch up with her story again and treat it like a stand alone novel.
I enjoyed Way of Kings, but only by blanking out large sections from my mind. The story is from the points of view of Kaladin, Shallan, Szeth and Dalinar. You can very safely skip all parts of the story told from Shallan's point of view. Seriously. It'll be way better for you.
Then, if you want to read the second book in the series, catch up with her story again and treat it like a stand alone novel.
I actually really enjoyed her story; I'm really looking forward to when she gets over her baggage and cuts loose. Hell, for the first part I was way more interested in her over Kaladian. I hate flashback scenes, so I ended up skimming those. I'll definitely go back and reread them, but in the moment I couldn't care about Kaladian's angst.
I've started working my way through the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. I picked up the set for the Kindle a few months back when it was on daily sale and have just now diving into it. I'm only a few chapters into the books, but so far I'm liking what I'm seeing. The "magic" in the world hinges on people that are predisposed to having magical abilities being able to "burn" certain metals that they have ingested to generate various effects - being able to soothe or enflame emotions, enhancing the senses, toughening the body, and being able to pull or push metals toward or away from them (a la telekinesis) are just some of the abilities that have been exhibited so far. The main plot hook is that the world is divided into a caste system of an aristocracy and a slave class, with it all being ruled over by a supposedly omnipotent ruler. One former slave wants to help overthrow that. Basically it's looking like it's going to be partially a heist novel that happens to have fantasy trappings wrapped around it.
I enjoyed the first Mistborn, but was warned not to carry on to the next two books. I can't say if they are worth getting into.
I read The Alloy of Law, which is a shorter novel set in the same world, but a few centuries later, once science and technology is up to industrial revolution/steam punk times. Apparently the plan is to do more novels once it reaches modern times, then more once it's in a space/science fiction future. I like the idea of that plan, though I probably wouldn't read all of it.
I finished this earlier in the week, I just forgot to post about it here. The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker is one of the most interesting books I've read in a long time. It gives me a lot of hope that as long as technology continues to make people more connected, world peace (at least a prevention of war) is inevitable, not just a dream.
Finished up the latest Dresden Files novel, Skin Game, last night. I'm going to give it a week or so and then re-read it to see how it holds up - Jim Butcher's books are typically a quick read and I can usually knock them out over a weekend. It wasn't horrible and it wasn't great, but it's not like I'm expecting any of the Dresden books are high literature, anyway. The book seemed to hurriedly cut off at the end after dumping in a few more plot hooks for the next volume, which was a bit unsatisfying, and the the story as a whole didn't really feel like it made much progress in over-all plot development aside from some internal growth of Harry's character (after it finally hits him "OMG I have a kid, I should show up and be a real dad to her, and not just hang out on my island all the time"). Otherwise it was just another episode of Mab jerking Harry's chain to watch him dance. As a whole, it left me wondering how much of me continuing to read this series is just momentum, and how much is me actually enjoying the books.
Up next on the reading list is Horns by Joe Hill. After reading Locke & Key from IDW, I'm interested to see what his actual works are like, and as an added bonus it was available for Kindle on sale this month, so I figured, "what the heck, why not?" and picked it up.
Trying some authors I'd not read before. Sacrament by Clive Barker and A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin. Both of these books I understood on a very simple surface level. I could tell you what happened in them but I would not be able to point at the themes and subtle sophistication of them.
I first felt that way about The City and Stars by Arthur C Clarke a few years ago. I know there's something more but I need an essay or something to tell me what.
Do you guys ever find that?
Started the thousandfold thought this weekend. Seeing subtleties already.
Runaway American Dream is a book that subscribes to all the misconceptions of common Bruce fandom. I got 60 pages in before I couldn't stand it anymore.
Reading Catch 22, because it's both on the summer reading list and is one of the books we read for class during the year. What is this book I don't even.
Reading Catch 22, because it's both on the summer reading list and is one of the books we read for class during the year. What is this book I don't even.
You never read it before? I haven't read it since high school. Don't want to choose a book club that I've already read, but also want to make sure everyone has read it...
Reading Catch 22, because it's both on the summer reading list and is one of the books we read for class during the year. What is this book I don't even.
You never read it before? I haven't read it since high school. Don't want to choose a book club that I've already read, but also want to make sure everyone has read it...
I don't read fiction unless I'm forced to -- and usually not even then. I don't think I've finished a novel since 6th grade (I might have finished Gatsby in 10th, though, I'm not sure). It's just not my thing.
Reading "Round Ireland with a Fridge" by Tony Hawks (no, not the skateboarder). It is a very funny written story of the guy hitch-hiking around Ireland with a fridge to win a drunken bet. It reminds me a lot of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but of course less sci-fi.
Prince of Nothing is done. Dune by Frank Herbert, done.
Now I'm on with the Judging Eye. Seems a lot more linear this time round. There's no overriding "How did Maithanet know about the Scarlet Spires' feud with the Cishaurim?" mystery.
I've downloaded an audiobook of the Brothers Karamazov but I've not started it yet. I'm actually intimidated by an audiobook!
Comments
1: Seven Samurai
2: Ikiru
3: Throne of Blood
4: High and Low
5: The Bad Sleep Well
Rashomon isn't in there (would be if I bothered to extend it to top 10) because I don't like reliving an extremely uncomfortable rape scene. Other than that, it is genius (duh).
Such a use of weapons, when anything could become weapon.
If only I hadn't just finished a reread of The Darkness That Comes Before, then I might be enjoying this one more.
Then, if you want to read the second book in the series, catch up with her story again and treat it like a stand alone novel.
http://shelf-life.ew.com/2014/05/21/neil-patrick-harris-autobiography-choose-their-own-adventure/
I'm grabbing the second book as soon as I can.
I read The Alloy of Law, which is a shorter novel set in the same world, but a few centuries later, once science and technology is up to industrial revolution/steam punk times. Apparently the plan is to do more novels once it reaches modern times, then more once it's in a space/science fiction future. I like the idea of that plan, though I probably wouldn't read all of it.
Up next on the reading list is Horns by Joe Hill. After reading Locke & Key from IDW, I'm interested to see what his actual works are like, and as an added bonus it was available for Kindle on sale this month, so I figured, "what the heck, why not?" and picked it up.
I first felt that way about The City and Stars by Arthur C Clarke a few years ago. I know there's something more but I need an essay or something to tell me what.
Do you guys ever find that?
Started the thousandfold thought this weekend. Seeing subtleties already.
Can you identify the book from its map? - quiz
Turns out; yes, I can. 10 out of 10 (though one was a guess).
Now I'm on with the Judging Eye. Seems a lot more linear this time round. There's no overriding "How did Maithanet know about the Scarlet Spires' feud with the Cishaurim?" mystery.
I've downloaded an audiobook of the Brothers Karamazov but I've not started it yet. I'm actually intimidated by an audiobook!