Books?

[Black Milk]

I've been revisiting some of my old favorite collections from Bukowski and actually acquired some new ones. Women will always be one of my favorite pieces of literature, and I absolutely love the collection in Love is a Dog from Hell. I plan to start Factotum in the very near future and I'm pretty interested in Pulp.

[MacabreEternal]

It is well written, I mean he could have very easily fallen into the trap of spouting his own opinions or (even worse) made it all conspiracy theory bollocks but he sticks to the facts. I am only at the Introduction and I am hooked. Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

Having left my original copy on a plane last weekI have had to buy this again, not many books I will replace so soon after just losing.

[RelentlessOblivion]

So as my new avatar and signature suggest I'm very much in a H.P Lovecraft mood. Currently reading The Call Of Cthulhu.

[GratuitousTK]

I'm about half way through Matter by the late Iain M. Banks. Some of the smartest space opera ever put to paper.

[RelentlessOblivion]

"The Dunwich Horror" by H.P Lovecraft.

[FatherAlabaster]

If @RelentlessOblivion is interested, here's an article about Dune, with a little bit of interesting background info. Nothing very important, but for a burgeoning Dune dork, every little bit helps.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/03/dune-50-years-on-science-fiction-novel-world?CMP=fb_gu

[RelentlessOblivion]

I don't really read articles about literature, art, or film. I prefer to learn about the universe an author has created through reading their books. Thanks anyway @FatherAlabaster

[FatherAlabaster]

I thought you'd enjoy this quote: "All manner of borrowings fromDune litter the Star Wars universe, from the Bene Gesserit-like mental powers of the Jedi to the mining and “moisture farming” on Tattooine. Herbert knew he’d been ripped off, and thought he saw the ideas of other SF writers in Lucas’s money-spinning franchise. He and a number of colleagues formed a joke organisation called the We’re Too Big to Sue George Lucas Society."

[RelentlessOblivion]

I was watching Episode IV earlier today and couldn't help but think Tatooine is exactly how I pictured the planet in Dune to be. I'd be proud that my work had played a role inspiring such a fine film. Totally understand wanting to sue for the theft of intellectual property though.

[RelentlessOblivion]

I hope there are no complaints but I felt this thread fit better in the Off Topic discussions and decided to unstick it as well.

[FatherAlabaster]

Stretching those wings, eh?

[RelentlessOblivion]

A bit yeah but given we weren't discussing books written about or by metal musicians it seemed more appropriate to throw this thread in with the movies and Mindy's selfies.

[FatherAlabaster]

A bit yeah but given we weren't discussing books written about or by metal musicians it seemed more appropriate to throw this thread in with the movies and Mindy's selfies.

It certainly belongs in the off topic section.

[RelentlessOblivion]

  I got one right???

[FatherAlabaster]

Just read "A Room With A View", since it was laying on the desk. It is a silly and entirely predictable romance, but it's also a very funny satirical take on the leisure class in early 20th C England, contemporary with Wodehouse. I'd recommend it to anyone who's into that sort of thing. A fun bit of light afternoon reading. 

[RelentlessOblivion]

Reading Edgar Allen Poe's The Fall Of The House Of Usher. Nothing like Edgar Allen Poe upon days bleak and dreary.

[Parker]

Just started re-reading the Necroscope series by Brian Lumley. Love these books but left off years ago after book 5, maybe this time I'll read all 12,000 or so books in the series.

 

BTW, has anyone ever read the story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman? One of the most disturbing stories I've ever read, think I'll re-read that soon too.

[RelentlessOblivion]

I've found myself reading a bit of H.P Lovecraft lately. I really do need to expand my knowledge of literature. Edgar Allen Poe, H.P Lovecraft, J.R.R Tolkien, and Stephen King are the only authors with whom I have a particular affinity at this time. For someone like me who quite enjoys reading (I now use the term loosely as I've taken to audiobooks with the disturbingly rapid decline in functional eyesight I'm experiencing) I stick to the same authors almost all the time. Obviously a fan of gothic and horror so perhaps some of my well read associates can be of assistance in this matter?

[FatherAlabaster]

Check out Clive Barker. It's been a while since I read his stuff, but I quite liked it. Weaveworld was an interesting book; he's written more overt horror, which isn't really my preference. You may also enjoy some of Neal Gaiman's novels, and try Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. 

[Parker]

Also, if you dig Lovecraft, you may enjoy his friend Robert E. Howard.

[Parker]

Reading Star Wars Aftermath. A good book, informative, but uses way too many sentence fragments. It's a fast moving book, which is good, and I think the fragments are meant to reflect the pace of the story, but they get way annoying. Otherwise a good read.

[Requiem]

On 15/10/2015 at 2:17 AM, Parker said:

Also, if you dig Lovecraft, you may enjoy his friend Robert E. Howard.

Damn Parker, I just saw your comment and agree 100%. 

Lovecraft and Howard are incredible.

[Tortuga]

*curses* I have to stop pressing on all kind of weird buttons here and messing up my posts...gggggrrrrrr!!!!

Never the less: I like gothic horror, but when it comes to books then fantasy is my all time favorite genre! But one book really stands out amongst my collection of Elfquest comics, War of The Spider Queen, and Dark Elves book series and that is The War of The Flowers by Tad Williams. Now I bet somebody is sniggering over that title, and in this case the Swedish title is much more fitting...roughly translated is is called...Last Departure to The Fae Realm.

The main character in the book is not really a metal head, but more of a hard rocker and by mysterious and tragic ways he ends up in another dimension together with his leather jacket, an old book, and the coolest red haired sprite ever! Now this other dimension is the Fae Realm, but not the one usually talked about in fairy tales but one with computers, goth clubs,  a drug called pixie dust, riots, and rebellion.

Now that is all I have to say for the moment or I will be giving away spoilers, but someone once refered to it as "Metallica meets Tolkien".

Read more about it here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Flowers

[Parker]

I'm reading Our Name Is Melancholy, The Complete Books of Azreal, by Leilah Wendell. The author claims to be the consort of the Angel of Death. An interesting read.

https://www.amazon.com/Our-Name-Melancholy-Complete-Pamphlet/dp/0944087043/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494507125&sr=1-2&keywords=our+name+is+melancholy

[Requiem]

So I'm finally sticking with 'The Silmarillion' and now intend to read the whole thing after two or three false starts.

I've read 'The Hobbit' twice and 'Lord of the Rings' twice, and I figured it's a pity that I haven't bothered to stick with 'The Silmarillion'. It takes a huge commitment though to get through those first 50 pages that are so dense with names, places, and Tolkien's love for archaic phrasings. For those who haven't read it, it's more about the lore than a traditional plot as it explains the creation of the universe which Middle Earth inhabits.

I was turning to the glossary at the back after every second or third paragraph so that I was 100% clear on what was happening to whom. I didn't want to miss a detail. By page 65 I really got the hang of it and the whole picture is starting to form. I think I'm at about page 70 now. 

I can thank Blind Guardian for the impetus by the way. I figured if a bunch of Germans can write a whole concept album on it then I, with my fancy book learning, could at least read it! 

I'm glad I'm reading it because I'm actually finding it very relaxing as the last thing I do before sleep. Normally I'm storming through books with reckless abandon, but with this I'm taking it slow in order to savour it, like a fine wine or the courtship of a beautiful woman.